by admin | Jun 4, 2022 | Health
Does Your Child Have Constipation?
Children have constipation just like adults and perhaps more often since they sometimes don’t like to eat food that has a lot of fibre – vegetables and more vegetables. Children with constipation can use the same natural remedies as adults, but in lesser amounts.
You can use these guidelines for children 3 and older. Children should have a bowel movement every day. It would be best for them to have at least two, if they are eating three meals a day. If your child is having three or less bowel movement per week, it is time to get worried and take action.
If you use some natural remedies, and your child still has only 3 or less bowel movements per week, then it’s time for you to take your child to see a doctor. Continual constipation can reflect a more serious condition, especially if your child is eating the foods that promote natural bowel movements.
Here is a list of things that you can do for your child with constipation. In fact, these recommendations are also good for you if you have constipation.
- Drink more water – children are very active and will perspire more than an adult during the day and lose water. If the body needs water, it will take from the stools and make them hard and difficult to expel.
- Eat more fibre – fruits and vegetables is where the fibre is. Using artificial fibre and laxative products is not a good idea. The body can become dependent on these products and lose its bowel sensitivity and colon wall tone.
- Having a bowel movement when it is time – teach your children to go to the bathroom when they get the urge. A lot of times they will put it off if they are playing or doing something they like. Putting it off will de-sensitise the colon and it will stop giving the bowel movement signal after a time. This will lead to constipation.
- Use natural products that promote bowel movements – there are many fruits and vegetables that promote bowel movements. Use these as snacks. In cases where you use a natural remedy that is bitter, remind your child that it is medicine to help them go to the bathroom more frequently.
Drinking Water
Have your constipated child drink more water throughout the day. Use distilled water. Minimise the use of sodas, tea, and sweetened juices, as these are not water. Eating fruits and vegetable provide the body with distilled water since they contain up to 70% water. Drink unsweetened fruit and vegetable juices which provide water and promote bowel movements.
Eating Fruits and Vegetables
The best time to give your child fruits is in the morning. From the time they wake up to noon time is when the body is detoxifying. Heavy foods like meat, milk, cereal, and eggs hinder the detoxifying process. Fruits and their juices accelerate the detoxifying process and promote bowel movement, provided no protein or carbohydrates are eaten. A good breakfast is simply a bowel of fruit. A glass of fresh juice can also be provided.
When in season use a big bowl of watermelon and cantaloupe slices. Otherwise, use a variety of seasonal fruits. Use fruits as a snack between meals. But do not give fruits after a meal as desert. Wait 2-3 hours after a meal before giving fruit. This helps digestion and promotes bowel movements.
Vegetables should be eaten with each meal at noontime and dinner. Vegetables provide water, fibre, and an array of minerals and vitamins necessary for good digestion and colon function.
To make the salad more appealing for your child add raisins or pieces of apple to it.
Look to my other articles for Natural Constipation Remedies. For a child, any herbal products that are used as a constipation remedy should be used at 1/3 the amount listed for an adult. If in doubt always check with a registered homeopath, naturopath, herbalist or doctor.
by admin | Jun 3, 2022 | Health
Brief Introduction To Rheumatoid Arthritis
This is according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.
You might not know it, but you could be suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Although rheumatoid arthritis is commonly associated with the older generation (people over the age of 65), the disease is found in younger generations – even including children. How could you tell if you have it?
Well, if you’re experiencing morning stiffness for no apparent reason (feeling like you had done a lot of strenuous exercise the night before, for example), you might be suffering from one of it’s symptoms. As mild as you might think morning stiffness is, you really ought to give it some serious thought and consult with your doctor because if that morning stiffness is related to rheumatoid arthritis, you can work to prevent it from disabling or crippling you later on down the road to a point where you can barely function. But rheumatoid arthritis isn’t just a physical condition. It has the propensity to tax your mental and emotional state of well-being too.
This is because arthritis can change the way you work, the way you interact with your family, and the way you entertain yourself with recreational activities. You might even know someone with rheumatoid arthritis and have observed how this disease changed not only his or her mobility, but also his or her outlook on life. Those of us without rheumatoid arthritis tend to take our ability to move anyway we want for granted, but when that ability slowly disappears right before our eyes, it’s no surprise that we get depressed about it.
But it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. With proper diet, medications, education, support, and prescribed exercises, you could work to prevent the most severe forms of the disease – or at least prolong the worst case symptoms.
Arthritis works in two ways. First, it inflames the muscles, ligaments, and cartilage that sit in-between joints. And it’s this inflammation that causes the pain, swelling, and heat. Those are symptoms that are typical indications of an injury and they’re vital to understanding more about this disease. Second, arthritis works by releasing enzymes that basically consume or otherwise destroy the muscles, ligaments, and cartilage that have become inflamed to a point where they’re not very useful and don’t allow for easy movement. In the worse cases, cartilage disappears completely and as you can guess, this is extremely crippling and uncomfortable.
That’s why we call rheumatoid arthritis a disease. Typically, inflamed muscles, ligaments, and cartilage are the result of an injury, like falling on the knees for example. But with arthritis, no injury has to occur. In fact, arthritis is a type of autoimmune disease and the cartilage inside joints is one of the things that it destroys. And any joint can be affected – one, two, maybe even more but most of the time, the disease targets fingers, hips, feet, and knees.
by admin | Jun 3, 2022 | Health
Could An Oxygen Colon Detox Improve Your Colon Health?
A healthy colon is a vital part of a healthy body. The colon, along with the small and other sections of large intestines, are a major area where the nutrients in food are absorbed. If the colon is not clean, it cannot fulfil this important task. Not only that, the impacted faecal material that builds up in the colon and intestines releases toxins into the bloodstream. You are in effect getting toxins instead of nutrients – not a very good trade.
Symptoms that a colon detoxification might be in order include tiredness, PMS, headaches, and of course, constipation or diarrhea. There are a variety of ways colon cleansing can be done, including colonic irrigation, enemas, dietary fibre, and laxative herbs. These methods can help, but each has some negative points according to some physicians.
An unusual therapy I heard about the other day was explained to me as ‘’another natural option for colon health, which is to use an oxygen-based colon cleanser. This method uses magnesium oxide that has been treated with oxygen and ozone. This substance will react with the hydrochloric acid in the stomach to release oxygen. The oxygen gets into the bloodstream to nourish all parts of the body, but it does more than that. It also nourishes the favorable bacteria that live in the digestive tract.
Unfavorable bacteria in the digestive tract will give you vomiting, diarrhea, and cramps. Favorable bacteria compete with the unfavorable ones for living space. An oxygen-based colon detox will encourage those good microbes, for better all-around health.’’
So how exactly does it work? The therapist I met explained that :
‘’An oxygen-based colon health product creates a chemical reaction that releases oxygen and melts the impacted material in the intestines and colon into gas and liquid. It will make you need to stay close to a bathroom for a day or so while you eliminate the material from your colon, but you will feel much better afterwards.’’
She continued:
‘’Look for an oxygen-based colon detox product that is available in a capsule form. Make sure it does not include ascorbic acid among the ingredients because ascorbic acid is an antioxidant. An antioxidant will undo the good that could be done by the oxygen. A good ingredient to look for, however, is GE-132’’. ( I must admit I had not heard of this so thought I had better research this a little- I suggest you do too and make up your own mind.
‘’This is the germanium-132, which is good for the health of the immune system. It also facilitates and adds oxygen. It is considered to be a nutrient that is helpful for many ailments.
Cleansing the colon can help with weight loss. Many people who have eaten an average diet for years have accumulated ten to twenty pounds of impacted faecal matter in their colons. An oxygen-based colon cleanse will help the body eliminate this material, resulting in a quick loss to jump start your weight loss plan. Follow up the cleanse with reasonable portions of healthy natural food. You should have enough energy after the cleanse to start an exercise program, too.’’
Well, I have to admit I’ve heard of many forms of colon cleansing and do agree they are great for overall intestinal health, but this one specifically had passed me by, however when I looked into it more there were many oxy based cleanses, so I do suggest if it interests you, to do lots of research and check out all the many different oxygen-based products and grab a cuppa beforehand because there are a lot!!
Happy colon cleansing
by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Health
How Common Is Therapy And Why
Realizing It’s Okay To Ask For Help We’ve all been in a situation in which we needed help. Despite that, many people feel some sort of discomfort when they have to ask for assistance, be it for something personal, in a work environment, or even just to ask for directions.
This phenomenon led to a stigma surrounding mental health and therapy, which has proven to be detrimental for most people and their mental wellbeing. However, in recent years there’s been a shift in the way we perceive therapy entirely. More and more people are starting to understand that it’s never a bad idea to take care of yourself and ask for help when you need to. With this in mind, here is how common therapy has gotten in the last few years and why.
The Numbers
One in four people in the world experiences at least one diagnosable health problem throughout their life, and roughly one in every eight receives some sort of mental health treatment. This number is almost double compared to that from ten years ago, which is a positive fact considering that around the same number of people have had mental issues then and now.
Depression has been the leading mental diagnosis for the last few years, with it affecting roughly 11% of the population, or around 792 million people. Here is where we should mention one very important thing about mental health: around half of all lifetime illnesses start by the age of 14 and 75% by the age of 24.
Although this might sound scary at first, we can use this knowledge to our advantage by being more mindful of this age group and taking care of their mental health in the very beginning. A positive statistic concerning this statement is that younger people are much more likely to seek help actively. The number of people under the age of 35 that are not only okay with getting mental health care but are intently searching for it is way higher than that of older generations, and this is definitely a step in the right direction.
The Reasons
Most people start this journey because of something specific – either an event or newly formed feelings or thoughts. Although they might not be able to explain exactly how this is affecting them, they realize that something has changed and have decided to seek help.
Another reason why people go to therapy is to get advice on self-discovery or personal relationships. This is connected with the fact that it’s always helpful to have an objective and well-informed opinion on something that troubles you, especially if you’re unsure how to fix the problem yourself. Others start going to a psychologist because they’ve noticed their health is getting worse with seemingly no reason – maybe they’re having trouble sleeping or feel out of breath, perhaps their immune system is down, and they feel stressed all the time.
Whatever it is, they’ve noticed something is up with the way their body usually is and want to understand why this is happening.
However, not all inciting reasons are negative.
Some people start going to therapy to become the best version of themselves and become more confident – they see going to a psychologist as a boost to their lives in the direction they’re aiming for.
Take-Home Message
Regardless of the specific occasion people go to therapy for, they have shared that taking care of themselves in this way has had a positive effect on some aspects of their life and their future. Despite the different reasons and outcomes, therapy is a good idea for most people because it is strictly individual and, as such, can help with pretty much anything.
It has become a common part of the lives of more and more people that want to change themselves for the better and understand the world and their place in it.
Do YOU go to therapy? Share your experience below!
by admin | Jun 1, 2022 | Health
Cheat Meals VS Refeed Days
We’ve all been there. You’re cruising along in your healthy eating routine, consistently making good food choices, and hitting the gym regularly. But then something happens to derail you- a birthday party, vacation, or just a bad day at work.
Suddenly, you find yourself overeating and skipping workouts. Before you know it, you’re right back where you started- or even worse off than before, because a cheat meal turned into a cheat day, then a week, etc.
You get the point.
So how do you avoid this vicious cycle of yo-yo dieting? Well, Lately there’s been a lot of talk about cheat meals and refeed days in the fitness world. Some people swear by them, while others think they’re a waste of time. So which is it?
Are cheat meals and refeed days good or bad for you? In this post, we’ll take a closer look at both concepts and help you decide whether or not you should be using them in your own workouts.
Stay tuned!
What Are Cheat Meals?
A cheat meal or cheat day is a planned indulgence in foods that are typically considered unhealthy or taboo.
Cheat meals and cheat days can be helpful for people who are trying to lose weight or maintain their weight, as they can help prevent feelings of deprivation and allow people to stick to their diets over the long term.
However, it is important to note that cheat meals and cheat days should not be used as an excuse to eat unhealthy foods indiscriminately. Rather, they should be seen as a way to enjoy unhealthy foods in moderation.
What Are Refeed Days?
Contrary to cheat meals/days, where the goal is to take a psychological break from the chains of dieting, refeed days are meant to be functional. In the fitness world, people on a weight loss diet will frequently have a ‘refeed day’ where they consume significantly more calories, typically via increased carb intake.
The goal here is again, to get a break from dieting, but also, to stimulate the metabolism, so that it doesn’t excessively slow down like it usually does on a diet.
What’s The Difference?
Now, at first glance, cheat meals and refeed days may sound very similar, and to a certain extent, that’s true. Both provide extra food to help you break the chains of dieting, but when you look deeper, they are also vastly different. Why? Because cheat meals are typically, well, just one or two meals and are not really planned.
What this means is that as we said, cheat meals can easily turn into cheat days. On the other hand, refeed days are way more planned and calculated, as your goal would be to eat at a slight surplus of calories, but not too big of a surplus, so you can avoid gaining excess weight.
Here’s Our Chunk Of Advice
The question here and now is, should you go for cheat meals or refeed days? And in our opinion, it doesn’t really have to e that binary.
Why not both? We know for a fact that the only mandatory thing for fat loss is to be in a caloric deficit. What this means is that you can have a mini cheat meal every day, without affecting your progress negatively. That is, of course, as long as the balance is in favor of nutrient-dense foods, rather than ‘cheat’ foods.
And we’re giving this advice a lot lately – Have some of your favorite cheat foods more frequently while maintaining a caloric deficit! This way, these foods will become less special and thus, your cravings for them will decrease. Then, incorporate refeed days weekly, and the diet won’t even feel like a burden anymore!
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. The cheat meal versus refeed day debate. Both sides have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide what works best for your body and your goals.
If you do choose to indulge in a cheat meal every once in a while, make sure that it’s truly worth it – meaning that the majority of your diet is still healthy and balanced. And if you prefer to stick with refeed days, be sure to plan them out carefully so that they don’t derail all your hard work.
At the end of the day, both methods are viable options for people on a diet; it just comes down to finding what is more sustainable for you!
by admin | May 30, 2022 | General, Health
Ramadan Tips | Part 1 – Foods To Eat During Ramadan
The holy month of Ramadan is a 4-week period, during which Muslims fast, avoid certain foods, abstain from pleasures, and pray more often. Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection and one of the main goals of it is to become closer to God.
However, due to the exclusion of certain foods, it is recommended that you pay a bit more attention to the nutritional side of Ramadan, especially if you are an active trainee. In this article, we’ll give you a list of the foods you should focus on during the holy month.
The Change Of Habits
One of the things about Ramadan that we need to pay more attention to, is that it MASSIVELY shifts your eating frequency & pattern. During the holy month, Muslims consume food ONLY before dawn (called “Suhoor”) & after sunset (Called “Iftar”). This leaves a big window of fasting time, meaning that your morning & evening meals should be abundant in nutrients, to keep you energized and satiated for the entire duration of your fast.
Suhoor Foods
If you want to have energy for all your physical and mental activities between Suhoor & Iftar, you MUST make sure that your first meal is dense in nutrients.
Furthermore, you should choose food sources that are not too dry, but rather ones that will keep you hydrated, as well as drink plenty of water during meals. The latter is important because as per the Islamic rules of fasting, no food or drink can be consumed during your fast.
And so, each Suhoor meal has to :
- Keep you satiated
- Keep you energized
- Keep you hydrated
- Provide micronutrients
Here are our best picks for Suhoor foods:
- Eggs
If you’re fasting for 12 hours, you MUST make sure to have high protein & high dietary fat foods in your diet, since this is what will keep you satiated for the most part. Eggs are one of the best foods you can have during the holy month, simply because they provide plenty of quality protein, fats, and micronutrients.
The best thing? Eggs can be boiled, scrambled, and even made into an omelet – Whatever your taste buds like!
- Starchy vegetables, fruits & Oats
To further boost the satiating index of your suhoor meals, you can include food products that are abundant in dietary fiber & quality carbohydrates. Dietary fiber is not really absorbed by the body, but it slows down digestion, thus granting a gradual increase of energy & a full stomach for longer.
The best picks here are starchy vegetables like carrots and potatoes, along with fruits and oats.
- Micronutrient-rich products
Now, especially when Ramadan falls in the warmer months, it is very important to consume food products that have decent amounts of vitamins and minerals in them. This is important because, during warmer months, you sweat a lot during the day, thus excreting water & micronutrients that your body needs.
The best food products you can have during suhoor, which will give you those micronutrients, are foods like milk, yogurt, as well as fruits, and veggies.
Iftar Foods
Alright, it’s been roughly 12-14 hours since your last meal and it is now time to break the fast with a post-sunset meal! As important as Suhoor is, it’s just 50% of the whole thing, as iftar nutrition too, requires more of your attention. One of the key considerations is to break your fast with a balanced plate, which will still allow you to meet all the body’s needs for essential nutrients and compensate for any elements you may have lost during the fasting period.
It is also recommended that you start off with the lighter foods on your plate, to wake up your digestive system and signal it that it’s time for a large meal!
Here are our best picks for your iftar meals:
- Halal meats
After a prolonged period of fasting, your body will LOVE a solid amount of high-protein food. Halal meats can be consumed during iftar, as they will give your body plenty of essential protein, fats, as well as certain micronutrients like iron.
This, in turn, will keep you full and satiated and won’t leave your stomach to screech in the time before you fall asleep. TIP: Try to break your fast with a healthy drink and eat some fruits before eating any meat.
- Fruits & Vegetables
As we already mentioned, fasting, and especially fasting during the warmer months, may lead to the excretion of certain essential vitamins and minerals. This is why, even at iftar, it is important to consume vitamin & mineral-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. You can (and should) assemble two plates of leafy and starchy vegetables, along with fruits like bananas, citrus fruits, dates, and raisins.
- Nuts
If you tend to be someone who’s hungry all the time, then perhaps the best way to deal with this is to consume nuts! Nuts are low in volume, high in calories, and rich in dietary fats, along with certain micronutrients. Still feeling hungry after a bowl of meat, vegetables, and some fruits? Eat a handful of nuts!
Take-Home Message
For the most part, Ramadan is a time during which one must be more focused on one connection with God, as well as their own spiritual path. Though this is a time when any physical pleasure should be avoided and reflected upon, you still have to give your body the nutrients it needs, to sustain healthy functioning.
Ultimately, because you will be fasting for the most part, you must focus on a couple of things:
- Eating protein & fat-rich foods to keep you satiated
- Eating vitamin and mineral-rich foods to optimize physiological function
- Drinking plenty of fluids
By taking care of all 3 aspects, you will be able to have enough energy for the entire day, without having to think too much about food, during your fast. Now, it is important to know what to eat during Ramadan, but one of the most important things is to know what to AVOID.
In the second part of the Ramadan article series, we’ll give you insight on some of the WORST food/drink choices you can make during Ramadan.
See you there!
