Body Care Facts & Health Tips

Sleep is an indispensable part of our life. Good night sleep relaxes us and makes us feel refreshed and healthy. The sleep is a part of the human body’s cycle. Human works at daytime and sleep at night. In case one does not sleep sufficient time at night he or she falls ill. How to get a good night’s sleep is a very important question as everyone out of three person faces the problem of insomnia in her or his life. Some other people face the problem of oversleeping due to faulty lifestyle.

Following points need to be kept in mind for proper sleep:

• We should never sleep too much. One should wake up early and sleep early at night. We can set our sleeping cycle according to our requirements if we make a firm decision. Although for some days we will find it difficult to wake up early in the morning. But once we set our sleeping pattern we will not face any difficulty later on.
• We should do physical exercise in the morning in order to get good sleep at night.  Exercising makes our body tired and fatigued and we get sound sleep at night. But care should be taken while doing exercises one should do light exercises before going to bed at night.
• When one is not having sound sleep at night he should not take naps in the morning as it can further affect the sleep cycle. In the day time we should try to remain busy and alert. Try to sleep at night and remain active during the day.
• Sleep at a fixed time at night, and get up at a fixed time in the morning. This schedule will make one feel light and active for the whole day.
• Taking a warm bath at night also boosts the sleep of the human body. The person having insomnia or lesser sleep should avoid cold shower at night time.
• Doing stretching exercises before sleeping is also very beneficial for inducing sleep at night. There are many types of books available in the market that tells various stretching exercises. In case one suffers from short of sleep these stretching exercises are really handy.
• Intake of warm milk also promotes sleep, as it contains special amino acid the tryptophan. This tryptophan affects a chemical serotonin in our brain which results in sound sleep. Further intake of wheat bread along with milk doubles the amount of sleep on have during the night.
• Avoid the consumption of caffeine at night as it is known to cause sleeplessness. Caffeine stimulates our nervous system and blocks the sleep.
• Do not take alcohol as it disturbs the sleep cycle. Although alcohol induces sleep, but it results in faulty and disturbing sleep cycle. One suddenly wakes up from sleep early in the morning after taking alcohol at night.
• Also avoid sleeping pills as these affects the sleeping pattern at night.
• The room where we sleep should have the right temperature and should be calm and peaceful.  Noises also disturb the sleeping cycle. One finds it difficult to sleep in a noisy room. The humidity levels should also be kept favorable, as the room heater reduces the humidity levels of the room. Person sleeping in a less humid room fails to get sound sleep.

Sleeplessness or insomnia is a very common disorder and every one out of three people suffer from it. Insomnia results when one finds it difficult to take full night sleep and feel irritable and stressed out during the day. When a person suffering from insomnia approaches a doctor, the doctor usually prescribes that person sleeping pill. Sleeping pills are actually ‘sedative hypnotics’ and they induce sleep in human beings.

There are various types of sleeping pills or anti-anxiety pills most common among them are Librium,Ativan andValium. These drugs help the person to have a sound sleep and get rid of sleep related disorders. One should take these medicines under the advice of an expert physiatrist. The most common side effects of sleeping pills are given below:

• These drugs cause drowsiness
• These drugs are habit forming and one become addicted to them.
• These sleeping pills also cause sedation and make the person lazy and lethargic.

The recently introduced sleeping pills are safe to use and are free from the traditional side effects of the earlier sleeping pills. Few latest sleeping pills that do not cause common side effects are Ambien, Sonata and Lunesta.

The above given sleeping pills cause less drowsiness and are not habit forming like older sleeping pills. The traditional or commonly used sleeping pills have certain side effects that are given below:

• The person taking sleeping pills have a sensation of burning in hands or legs.
• The appetite pattern also changes when one takes these sleeping pills.
• The person taking sleeping pills suffers from the problem of constipation.
• In some cases the person complains of diarrhea.
• The person using sleeping pills finds it difficult to maintain his or her body balance.
• The person experiences the feeling of dizziness.
• The mouth and throat of a person taking these sleeping pills face the problem of dryness.
• The digestive system of the person taking these sleeping pills experiences gas related disorders.
• The problem of headache is also the most commonly reported side-effect.
• The individual taking sleeping pills have unusual dreams.
• The body part of the person taking the sleeping pills starts trembling or shaking.
• The body of the person becomes weak and the feeling of tiredness is reported.

These are the most commonly and less serious side-effects of the sleeping pills. These side effects although are disturbing but are not serious. There are some serious side-effects of these sleeping-pills.

Parasomnia is a complex disorder that results from the intake of these sleeping-pills. The effects of this disorder are given below.

• In this disorder one starts walking while he or she is sleeping.
• Some time the person suffering from this disorder starts eating while sleeping
• A person sometimes starts making phone calls at night.

The right thing is to take the advice of psychiatrist before taking these sleeping pills. The psychiatrist alters the dose of the sleeping-pills after checking out the condition of the patient. These sleeping-pills can react with other medicines and result in certain undesired effects. The undesired effects can be some time of a very serious nature.

Food habits can make or break your health. When you are on a diet, you may be really happy that you are finally consuming nutritious food which will help you lose weight and attain your health goals really fast. But there may be specific problems which may throw a spanner in the works of your best laid plans. Excessive eating at night is one such habit, which may even become a disorder if you let it be.

Who does not love a midnight snack? But when this occasional snacking becomes a habit, you may find it going all downhill from there on. And soon you may find yourself having a bigger meal than your dinner in the middle of the night! But for your own good you should check your night cravings at the earliest possible point of time.

This is because; eating recklessly at night can ruin a hard day’s schedule of diet and exercise, which you stuck to, so religiously in order to attain your health goals. You will be eating only unhealthy snack food at night because that’s what cravings are for.

But why can’t you stop eating at night? There may be several reasons behind this if you consider this problem as one which is similar to binge eating. Research shows that depression, anxiety, interpersonal problems, boredom, and dieting are few of the main reasons behind night eating.

Snacking at night on sugary foods can have a comforting effect on your system. This is because the simple sugars present in these foods create a feeling of euphoria and energy-rush when they mix with the bloodstream. This can give you a morale boost when you are depressed or sad due to professional or personal problems.

Boredom may also be the reason why you walk up to the fridge late at night and gorge on the candies, pastries and other sinful delights. When you are not tired enough to fall asleep, you may find hunger building up within you and will soon want to take a look at what’s there to eat. This is a bodily response, because the longer you keep awake the more energy you need.

You may also be on a very strict diet during throughout the day. So subconsciously you hate all your meals from breakfast to dinner. And when the rest of your family is asleep at night, you feel the urge to indulge yourself in some delicacies you have been denied throughout the day. This can also lead to a night-time eating marathon, because you want to cheat!

There may be the fact that your diet is providing you insufficient calories and nutrition. This may leave you hungry even after dinner. Thus, you cannot help yourself from making guerrilla attacks on your fridge in the middle of the night!

Moreover, if your fridge is stacked with god food while you are on a diet, this urge to cheat may grow even stronger.

While these are the primary reasons behind night time eating, you must make sure that this does not become a disorder of any sort for you.

Gaining excess weight maybe something you never wanted, but it happened nonetheless. But what you must do instead of crying over spilt milk is to make a concerted effort to lose the weight you have gained without further delay. And if then you find that you simply cannot lose weight, you will be joining the thousands of overweight people who have the same complain. Before crying hoarse over the fact that you cannot lose weight, you need to ask yourself whether you have tried hard enough and in the right manner.

It’s easy to say that you cannot lose weight. But the fact remains that if you combine a nutritious yet calorie-controlled diet along with a well-planned workout regime, there is no way on earth that you will not lose weight. So, the fault probably lies with your effort. Perhaps you think, you are trying, but actually you are not!

Sometimes when you are substantially overweight, making small changes to your lifestyle or diet is not enough. So, you may have given up on frequent visits to fast-food joints (but the home-made brownies and turkey roasts are still there for you) and try to take the stairs instead of the elevator (which is all the exercise you do in the day), but is that enough? Certainly not!

If you brand these cosmetic changes to your diet and lifestyle, as your ‘effort’ to lose weight, then you should know that you are not trying at all! An actual attempt to lose weight should be a lot more than this.

You should:

• Consult a dietitian to know exactly what you should eat, in order to consume no more calories than what your body needs. You have to discuss your specific goals so that the professional can easily understand what you want and chalk up a detailed diet plan containing food items, portion sizes and a calorie counts.
• Stick to such a diet plan, come what may. Holiday season, parties, picnics and vacations should not derail your diet.
• Consult a fitness trainer or hire a personal trainer. A fitness professional can understand your specific exercise needs and draw up a detailed routine of the workouts which will be the most beneficial for you. They will also help you understand each exercise and complete them in the right manner. You can workout at home, by buying equipments or simply join a gym. Do whatever, suits you, but get professional help when it comes to exercise.
• Let go of all unhealthy habits, such as drinking and smoking, sleeping late, midnight snacking and all else that comes in the way of your health goals.

If you try hard enough, there is no way you cannot lose weight, unless you have specific health issues preventing you from losing weight. In that case you must seek medical advice and try to find out the best course of action. But if you are otherwise fit, the right exercise and diet, along with honesty and dedication on your part can help you achieve weight loss in due course of time.

Jogging is a healthful and fun activity. It can be both physically and socially rewarding. Most major cities offer jogging trails to provide extra safety. You can also use indoor tracks at gyms or outdoor tracks at parks to get your daily jog in. Getting together a group of friends to jog with you can make your morning jog all the more rewarding. Here are some more tips and benefits in relation to jogging.

Cardiovascular Health

Jogging does more than just make you lose weight and feel better. It can greatly improve your cardiovascular health by strengthening your heart. Regular jogging increases the capacity of your circulatory and respiratory system as well.

Aids in Digestion

Women who suffer from digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome will find a huge change after they begin to jog regularly.  Jogging helps to move things through the body. It aids greatly in the digestion of food and can greatly benefit those who suffer from gastrointestinal issues. If irregularity is an issue for you jogging may be your answer.

Lose Weight

Jogging doesn’t only help you lose weight by burning calories. Jogging also strengthens the leg muscles and even increases your metabolism. By increasing the speed at which you metabolize food, jogging helps to make you exercise and diet plan more effective.

Your Figure

Jogging does a lot for your figure. Though joggers appear very thin they tend to have extremely strong legs. This is great for supporting the body and can help to cut down on joint pain and arthritis.

Another benefit of jogging is its support of the female figure. Jogging will not cause the body to amass a great amount of bulk muscle as other exercises might. For this reason it is a popular sport for women who seek to have sleek bodies without unsightly muscle mass.

Get Better Sleep

Men and women who jog regularly are far less likely to be insomniacs. Getting a good jog in the morning will not only help you to feel better and more alert during the day but it will help you to get in bed on time at night.  Getting sleep at night is a vital component to maintaining health and a normal weight, so doing anything that can help you get more restful sleep is a great idea.

Reduce Stress

Jogging is a fantastic way to reduce stress. Though many people jog in groups it can be a very relaxing and almost meditative activity. All of that time spent zoned in to your radio and the open road can help you to clear your mind of undesirable thoughts and stress. People who jog regularly are far less likely to suffer from anxiety, depression, and stress.  It is a powerful natural mood stabilizer.

Osteoporosis Prevention

Regular joggers have a very low incidence of osteoporosis. This is because regular jogging helps to build up your muscles and improve bone strength. This along with regular consumption of calcium can help to prevent osteoporosis later in life.

Exercising for women is often disregarded by the slender or happily plump as an activity only for those who wish to lose weight.  The truth is that regardless of your weight, exercise is a necessary part of the human experience and women stand to benefit from regular exercise in a lot more ways than just waist size.

Stress Reduction

Photo by andria.richards

It is no surprise that women tend to be far more stressed than men on average. Women today often work 40+ hours a week outside of the home and are still left with the majority of household tasks and child rearing. Between this issue and natural DNA women everywhere are feeling the stress.  Regular exercise can help to decrease those ever present worried, anxious feelings.

Exercise is one of the best ways to combat stress in women. It works so well because exercise causes the body to produce endorphins.  These endorphins in turn make women feel good and otherwise help to regulate the stress hormones that the body is producing.  Within a few weeks of regular exercise, even if it is just a twenty or thirty minute walk a day, you will begin to notice a huge difference in your disposition.  This is the exercise at work.

Better Sleep

Exercising can help to balance a woman’s circadian rhythm making it easier for her to sleep through the night and wake in the morning.  There is a reason that we feel the need to stretch when we wake up. Stretching when you first wake up helps to keep you alert.  Conversely, stretching and light exercise at night can help to keep you asleep.  We all know that better sleep has plenty of benefits of its own, so exercising to achieve it can help you in a multitude of ways.

Osteoporosis Prevention

According to the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission osteoporosis strikes around 1 in 5 women over the age of 50.  Exercising regularly throughout life can have a great impact on your chances of getting osteoporosis.

Women who exercise regularly, especially beginning prior to their 30th birthday are able to build up a good amount of bone density.  When exercise and a calcium rich diet are combined to improve bone density, osteoporosis can often be prevented.

Some of the best exercises for preventing osteoporosis include weight training exercises that help to build muscle and strengthen bones.  Strength training exercises like Yoga and Pilates can also help to prevent Osteoporosis later in life.

Cancer Prevention

Not only will regular exercise help to prevent osteoporosis but many scientists believe that it can also help to decrease a woman’s chances of getting cancer, especially breast and ovarian cancer.  Though the reasons aren’t exactly clear, plenty of evidence supports the fact that women who exercise regularly do not get cancer at the same rate as those who live a primarily sedentary life. This is probably one of the best reasons for starting to exercise regularly.

Exercising to lose weight is great, just don’t think because you are in good shape or naturally skinny that you will not benefit from regular exercise.  Losing weight is only one of the many reasons that regular exercise for women is incredibly important.