Things to avoid in cold and flu season – tips for a healthy lifestyle
I hate those days when I was staying at home with a runny nose, with sore throat, fever and muscles aches. Those days are far away now and my secret how to stay healthy isn’t actually a secret. I bet you’ve heard about the benefits of having a healthy lifestyle, a moderate and a balanced diet and about having a regular physical activity. It’s of no use denying the obvious: all these may be included without any doubt in our ‘natural prevention list’. Below you’ll find some great advice on how to avoid things that suppress your immune system making your body more sensible to infections. Prevention is possible only if your immune system is ready to fight with any condition. How to make that possible and how to enhance your body’s natural defences?

Preventing colds and flu, staying healthy during cold and flu season

Cold and flu relief, natural remedies for cold and flu

At least for the cold and flu season try to except/use less/avoid/:

1. Smoking. A cigarette smoked once in a while isn’t a decisional factor in suppressing your immune system but smoking regularly makes your body weaker when confronting with infections in general and seasonal diseases in particular.

2. Junk food. It saves a lot of time but the saved time is then spent curing the conditions junk food may favour including cold and flu. Unhealthy eating habits

3. Avoid sugar or high sugar foods. It’s a fact that sugar decreases your immune system that’s why excepting sugar from your diet is very important. Also try to avoid artificial sweeteners.

4. If you’re stuffy avoid milk because it would thicken mucous making it harder to drain.

5. Showering very often and showering with soap would make skin more sensible to bacteria and microbes.     Hot shower benefits

6. Alcohol drinking would also make your body weaker by depressing the immune system.

7. Contacting with people who manifest obvious cold and flu symptoms.

Remember things to avoid and be especially careful in this cold and flu season

Great motivational facts about benefits of exercising regularly

If you’re exercising a lot for loosing weight and didn’t lose a pound, if you don’t exercise at all because don’t see the reasons for doing that, than this article would be something motivational for you. Have you ever noticed that every article about a healthy living, a healthy lifestyle or fighting with depression or stress contains this simple advice: Get at least 15 minutes exercises a day and you’ll feel better? But have you really asked yourself what are the ‘miraculous’ benefits of exercising regularly? Below there’s a list with the most important benefits sport can bring you.

1.    Helps fight chronic diseases. Exercising you improve your blood pressure and cholesterol levels that fact decreasing your chances of suffering from such conditions like type II diabetes, heart disease (human heart facts) and several cancer types (cancer prevention tips). It was also proved to be one of the causes of delaying onset of dementia.

2.    Helps fight seasonal illnesses. Cold and flu will stay away or would be more difficult to catch if you’re doing your exercises regularly. Cold and flu prevention tips

3.    More energy. It may look like a paradox but the more you move and use your energy, the more it feels like you have a lot of it.

4.    Improves your mood by raising your serotonin levels decreasing at the same time cortisol levels (stress associated hormone) in your blood.

5.    Improves cognitive functions (like memory and learning).

6.    Improves the quality of sleep. Exercising regularly you’ll have a good sleep. It would also help to fall asleep more quickly. Lack of sleep symptoms

7.    By exercising you’ll improve your sexual life. A great physical fit and more energy are always going side by side.

8.    Sport or simply exercising in the morning would bring a relief to those depressed or anxious. A simple walk would make difference and you’ll feel that in only 10 minutes.

9.    It’s a great appetite stimulant. Just remember to temper your appetite after exercising and at night hours.

I hope these several benefits would be motivational for you when starting or continuing exercising. Try to find your personal benefits and keep them in mind for those ‘lazy days’ when you don’t want to move a muscle.

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Tips for good nutrition – basics of good nutrition

‘There is no sincerer love than the love of food’ so said G. B. Shaw.

If you are reading this post, it means that you are interested in good nutrition tips and keeping your body healthy.  We first need to understand how our diet influences our health.  Once we get the basics of this, we are able to find a proper balance in our diet to enable us attain proper nutrition.

Excesses, imbalances and deficiencies can negatively affect the entire body and all of its functions.  Science has proven that many diseases affecting us are related to our diet intake and exercise.

Our bodies require carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins, fats, fiber and most importantly water.  While there are numerous ways to achieve a proper nutrition on a daily basis, a summary of these tips is listed below:

* Drink water.  Our bodies comprise 70% water.  We therefore need a water intake of at least 8 glasses a day in order to balance the functioning of our body.  The temperature of your water does not really matter.  Fruits and vegetables can provide a big percentage (about 20%) of your water needs.

* Don’t skip meals. Eat breakfast lower your calorie intake over lunch and dinner.  Your body responds to skipping meals by converting the food you eat (when you eat) into energy.  It tends to go into a survival mode and this greatly affects your metabolism.  You end us storing excess glucose or food as fat.  Therefore, if you do not skip meals, your metabolism is balanced and you will be healthy naturally.

* Vegetables and fruits should also be eaten in plenty.  Five servings of vegetables and fruits each day contribute to good nutrition tips.  These foods are high in vitamins and fiber and low in calories.  Instead of feeding of sweetened snacks, take fruits in-between meals as snacks instead.  Ensure you have fruits and vegetables in your daily menu. Good vegetables to eat

* Control your protein intake.  Lean protein is recommended as it contains low cholesterol levels.  Foods to avoid when you have high cholesterol, Cholesterol healthy foods

Protein is also good for muscle build up and is an excellent source of iron.  Consider eating fish and white meat as these have little cholesterol.

* Take a daily fiber diet every day as this enhances your bowel function.  Whole grains help you achieve your fiber needs daily.

*People in longevity zones consume most food as soon as they are harvested, raw, or use low-temperature cooking methods. These factors preserve most of the micro nutrients in these foods

*Frequency of nutrition. I recommend eating Japanese-style — several light dishes in the morning and afternoon, and one major meal at the end of the day. Please note that children and young adults may eat more often and more in general, because their digestion is directed toward growth, and is several times more efficient than that of a healthy adult at ages 40-50

* Exercise.  Daily exercise is essential for a healthy body.  In fact, most doctors recommend 20 minutes a day exercise to keep you fit.  Your risks of life-changing diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases decrease with regular exercise.

A new study suggests that exercising in the morning, before eating, can significantly lessen the ill effects of a poor diet. More important, however, is the impact fasting exercise can have on your insulin regulation (insulin resistance is the root cause of most chronic disease. Making maintaining proper insulin regulation a primary factor of longevity.

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Strawberries health benefits – Find out diseases that can be prevented or treated with these miraculous berries.

You’ve heard it before that a diet reach in vegetables and fruits can help you combat cardiovascular disease, cancer, and prevent or delay the onset of many of the effects of aging. It’s a statement that can’t be denied. About strawberries has been said a lot of things and many of you know about allergy caused by these berries. But we’ll try to focus only on positive qualities of strawberries.

Strawberries are an excellent source of vitamin C, manganese, dietary fiber, iodine, potassium, folate, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, vitamin K, riboflavin, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium and copper.

It has been shown that strawberries significantly reduce liver cancer cells due to ellagic acid present in them. It also can be found in many red fruits and berries including raspberries, blackberries, and cranberries and of course strawberries. Ellagic acid prevents the destruction of P53 gene by cancer cells and can also bind with cancer causing molecules making them inactive.

Studies have shown that strawberry consumption can increase anti-cancer activity on cancer cells of the breast, oesophagus, skin, colon, prostate and pancreas.
An interesting study was carried out on a group of 1000 elderly people, and found that those eating the most strawberries had a risk of developing cancer that was only 33% of the risk in those eating none.
A study published by Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry shown that regardless of the cultivars, strawberries reduce significantly the rate of cancerous liver cells.

Like many other berries, strawberries contain high amounts of antioxidants; in particular anthocyanins type 2 and ellagitannins. Anthocyanins have been shown by several studies to be effective in reducing risks of developing cancer, cardiovascular disease and inflammation-related diseases. Anthocyanins have a function similar to cyclooxigenase inhibitors (such as aspirin) but without side effects being a safer version of aspirin in their anti-inflammatory proprieties. A study at Lane University suggests that the high levels of antioxidants in these berries help neutralize the destructive effects of free radicals helping repairing the tissues by giving a boost of vitamin C. Strawberry extracts have also been shown to inhibit COX enzymes in vitro, which inhibits the inflammatory process. Anthocyanins contained in strawberries greatly reduces the rate of mutation in cells, which is a direct measure for the risk of developing cancer and diseases such as atherosclerosis.

Strawberries have been linked with effecting blood vessels, platelets and lipoproteins positively, which can reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases.

Besides their beneficial effects on cancer and heart disease, the antioxidant qualities of strawberries are also good in the process of reversing the course of neuronal and behavioural aging. Due to this positive effect strawberries are helpful in slowing the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease reducing at the same time the effects of this disease. A key ingredient in strawberries is folate which is a main part in the manufacture of red blood cells and a possible aid in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s.

You must also know that a serving of strawberries will provide you with 200 mg of potassium, that in its turn helps regulate the electrolytes in your body, lowering your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Another important health benefit of strawberries is their effect on skin; they also help clean the blood of harmful toxins. Strawberries when rubbed on teeth and gums remove tartar and strengthen and heal the gums. Data reported in a study indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration which is the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

Eat strawberries everyday and stay healthy!

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Lonely people are often sick

Know the ‘side effects’ of loneliness and of being unsociable. It’s more serious than you ever thought.

Psychologists are convinced of the fact that loneliness is not less harmful for people than smoking or overweight.

The lack of relation with other people not only makes us unhappy, but has a negative influence on the health of our body and soul. This conclusion was drawn during a scientific research.

The feeling of seizure and isolation increase the blood pressure, the stress and the general level of tiredness and increase the chances to get Alzheimer disease.

Besides, this feeling decrease the strength of will and persistence, a fact that influence the health, the capacity of body to follow a healthy way of life.

The result of the researches in this sense were presented by professor John Cacciopo from the Chicago University on the yearly conference of the American Association of Science Development.

According to professor Cacciopo loneliness not only lead to a change of mood, but is also connected with the development of resistibility of normal blood flow through cardiovascular system.

Loneliness lead to the increase of the stress hormone called cortisol which influence the immune system and lead to the increase of the arterial pressure and development of depression.

Loneliness or social isolation leads to the disturbance of deep sleep and fast progress of Alzheimer disease.

As the professor states in many cases the difference between a lonely person and a popular one is equivalent to the difference between “a smoker and a non-smoker”.

Professor said: “This discovery overwhelmed us.  My colleagues and I were surprised to find out the consequences of the social isolation. It proved how important is the communication for each of us”.

Lonely people are usually weak. They make less physical exercises, consume more calories. In order to fill their sensation of comfort these people eat much fat and sweet food.  
John Cacciopo explains that loneliness decrease the capacity of control. After a difficult day lonely people may serve one or two glasses of scotch. The third will give total relaxation.

Professor Cacciopo is one of the founders of the new science called social neurology. According to him the human need in communication with other people has deep evolutionary roots.

In the past, in order to survive people had to cooperate, besides, it cooperation it was easier to raise the children. In order to develop people had to increase their altruism and cooperation.

The physical pain serve as a prompting to change our behavior, for example, we don’t put our hands into fire as a reflex. In the same manner, during the evolution the loneliness led us to certain actions – it is a signal from our ancestors for the necessity of “building” social connections.

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Facts about a healthy, restful sleep – Easy and natural ways to beat down your insomnia.

Some popular classicist once said: Life is sleep. The opposite is also correct: Sleep is life. It is possible that sleep for a human being is more important than food or water. This is why in Middle Ages one of the most brutal forms of torture was the wakeful state to last for a few days. As a result the person became crazy and consequently died.

Sleep is life!
For most of the people even a little lack of sleep for one or two hours per day may have serious consequences.

A permanent deficit of a healthy sleep lead to damaging of the immune system, to decreasing of intellectual capacities, there are also negative consequences for the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract organs. Even the way we look depends directly on the fact how well do we sleep. The unhealthy color of our face is a consequence of sleepless nights. A proven fact is the direct connection between the insomnia and the obesity. The scientists state the fact that the growth hormone which regulates the distribution of fat throughout the organism is synthesized mostly during our sleep and people who pay attention to a healthy night sleep have more chances to preserve their figure and shape.

For example, the statistics prove that people that sleep 4 hours per day have 74% more probability to get fat  than people that have a normal sleep of 7-9 hours per day. In case a person sleeps 5 hours per day he has 50% probability to get fat, in case of 6 hours of sleep, the percent is 23.  According to the last statistics the rate of mortality in people sleeping 6-7 hours per day is lower than for the rest.

These are average statistics, but the situation is individual for each persons: for some of us 4 hours is enough to regenerate, for other it is necessary to sleep for about 10 hours. It is important to base on your own sensations: if you woke up without alarm clock and feel rested it means you had a good night sleep. But you feel weak and tired during the whole day, you loose the sense of concentration, fell apathy, irritability, it means you had a bad, incomplete night sleep. The symptoms of insomnia are unique.

Make your own sleeping process
The most effective solution for insomnia is the hypnosis. This is not the only method, and not at all the most effective. If the problem has not yet became a chronic imbalance of the sleep function you may use a simpler therapy.

Regime
The easier method to solve this problem is to make a stable regime: to go to sleep and to wake up at the same hour everyday. Due to this banal regime you’ll help your organism to create a certain reflex. You will have to respect this sleeping regime even in weekends when the temptation to lie in bed in the morning is much stronger.

What is the optimal time to go to sleep? There’re different opinions in this matter. Some scientists advice to follow the inner instincts: when you feel a sleepiness state you should go to bed. But the most of the opinions are that better sleep is between 23.00 in the evening until 05.00 in the morning, and especially the interval between 02.00 and 04.00.

Tranquility
Before sleep is not recommended to make fitness and to watch horror or action movies – all these factors excite our organism, which is not recommended before sleep.  The only types of physical exercises that are recommended before sleep are (muscle) stretch exercises, a slow walk and sex.

Hot shower
A good hot shower, or better bath, is very relaxing for our body. For a stronger effect you may add in bath volatile oils (for example geranium, lavender, etc.) or aromatic salt with relaxing effect.

Hot shower benefits

A good dinner
Eating much before sleep is a taboo! Try to eat at least with 3 hours before sleep; in this case the feeling of heaviness in your stomach will not divert your organism from relaxation. It is also not recommended to totally avoid dinner because a howling stomach is also harmful for a normal sleep. If you didn’t manage to have your dinner with 3-4 hours before sleep, you may consume some fruits or vegetables except citruses and grape.

Traditional remedies
In order to combat the insomnia you may also use several popular recipes.  It is useful to serve a little relaxing infusion or chamomile, mint, hop, Melissa or valerian tea. A classic method is to drink a glass of hot milk with a spoon of honey. Regarding to valerian, the dry root of this plant may be put into a little bag close to your pillow. The same effect has the volatile oil of lavender. It will fill your room with a nice relaxing aroma.

A comfortable bed
A large attention should be paid to your bed. It is more comfortable to sleep on a hard mattress. It is also more useful, because in this case we avoid getting osteochondrosis. It is better to forget about feather bed and soft pillows. A good pillow shouldn’t be very high; your neck should be in the same line with body.
Such a trifle as the color of furnishing may be also very important for your sleep. It is considered that dark colors, or blue and green nuances guarantee a good sleep, while red furniture may have an opposite effect.

Medical assistance
If you have a permanent insomnia it is recommended to consult your physician. Somnifacients in sale are in most cases effective and harmless. But a chronic insomnia may lead you to such problems as heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes and other serious diseases.

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Knock out your insomnia!

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Stimulate brain activity – best way to stay young

Human brain. The last studies about brain activity and about what can influences our mind.

As many of you know the intellect is in strong connection with growing old. If you keep and increase your intellect when growing old you may forget about such diseases as Alzheimer’s and many other aging problems.

Life in a modern technological society requires of us a stronger amount of intellectual inputs. Mankind wishes to accelerate the intellectual growth by using different artificial methods. One of these methods is meditation. The neurophysiologist Richard Davidson (Wisconsin University (USA)) and his colleagues made the brain scan of some Buddhist monarchs who had advanced experience in meditation process as well as of several voluntaries who meditated for the first time. The experiment proved that monarchs during meditation process have an increase in activity of the brain waves (the so-called gamma-waves).
Learn to meditate for a better relaxation, concentration, for a better health and for a clear mind. There were written a lot of articles and books about meditation and its techniques but the quickest way to learn how to meditate is to quieten your thoughts and mind and let the positive thoughts scatter your mind.

The hypnosis may also regulate the activity of several parts of the brain, which are responsible for solving of so-called cognitive conflicts, connected with the attention.There is another possibility to become smart at instant – it is called the “medication for stupidity”. According to the prognosis of the experts of British national center “Prevision” in the next 20 years there will be worked out a series of biochemical medications that will stimulate the intellectual activity of the man. But these medications may also be a considered as doping, a fact that will limit their use, for example for pupils or students during their exams. Or, in other case the “intellectual vitamins” will be used by all the students and will put them in similar situations.

The most “cool” method is the stimulation of brain using different impulses. Thus, in South Korea there is a society called “The order of Genius”. Its members conduct different experiment to increase the intellect using certain sonic rhythms. The brain cells, called neurons, may be in a dormant state and when we “wake them up” we begin to rationalize faster and more efficient. In this purpose they use music and colors. A man with a stronger intellect has a more various sound and color diapason in his encephalogram. The mentally retarded patient has a monotonous brain melody, and their “rainbow” is characterized by predominant red-orange tones. If we affect several parts of the brain with combined laser radiation (it contains magnetic, micro-waves, infrared and electric waves) the encephalogram suffers a change. A few children who have different psychic deviation were submitted to this test.  Their IQ increased and the mood over falls diminished, they became more literate and attentive.

You may increase your intellect by improving your memory. You may do it every day: read a lot, be curious and interested in a lot of activities, have a hobby, learn something new every single day. And remember – it’s never too late to do something.

Antioxidants. A close view

Antioxidants and their power on human’s organism.

Some of the antioxidants are so powerful and so close to us but we don’t even know their names or the products that contain them.

Bisabolol. It is contained in the flowers of chamomile. It has a calming and anti-inflammatory effect.

Melatonin. It represents a hormone which is produced in hypophysis. The speed of melatonin formation depends directly on the amount of light which enters the eye retina during 24 hours. It is considered to have a decisive role in regulation of sleep process and wakeful state. Due to its liposoluble character proprieties it penetrates easily the cell membranes, protecting them from peroxide oxidation.

Buy melatonin supplements

Carnosine. It is a dipeptide, which contains the histidine amino acid. It’s present in many tissues, especially in muscular tissue. Carnosine has strong antioxidant properties, a fact that made the dietary supplements and cosmetics manufacturers to use it in their products. It influences the activity of ferments and bind the heavy metals ions, decreasing their toxic effect. Lately, much attention is paid to the research of immune modulating and different healing properties of carnosine.

Bromelain. It is an extract of pineapple which contains a series of proteines – ferments which dissolve the proteins. The dietary supplements using bromelain are very popular. They have anti-inflammatory and fibrinolytic effects, decrease the blood pressure. In cases of local administration bromelain has the property to clean the wounds and increase their healing.

Curcumin. Curcumin is the active ingredient of the Indian spice turmeric. Over the last few decades hundreds of small scale studies haveproven scientifically what Indian people have known for centuries that curcumin has the ability to halt or prevent certain types of cancer, stop inflammation,improve cardiovascular health, prevent cataracts and kill or inhibit the toxic effects of certain microbes including fungi and dangerous parasites.

Ginkgo Biloba Extract. The Ginkgo tree is the oldest living tree on the planet. Ginkgo acts as a booster of blood flow to the brain and throughout the entire body. It increases metabolism efficiency, regulates neurotransmitters, and boosts oxygen levels in the brain which uses 20% of the body’s oxygen. Ginkgo has two groups of active substances, flavonoids and terpene lactones, including ginkgolides A, B, and C, bilobalide, quercetin, and kaempferol. The ginkgolides have been shown to control allergic inflammation, anaphylactic shock and asthma. In addition, Ginkgo is a powerful antioxidant.

Blue-green alga contain a wide range of antioxidants in the form of specific trace minerals, amino acids, vitamins, and especially pigments – an impressive variety of carotenes along with potent green and blue pigments. Depending on the source of blue-green algae, the amount of phycocyanin can range up to 15% of its dry weight.

Supplements high in antioxidants

User’s Guides to Antioxidant Supplements Books

It’s never too late to learn and it’s never too late to find out something new. The antioxidants ‘lesson’ will be very useful to you next time you are doing your shopping.

Green tea, blueberries or whey – be informed about antioxidants and their properties.

Our bodies are constantly utilizing oxygen for a range of vital functions. In the process appears chemicals known as free radicals that have unpaired electrons which traveling inside the body are trying to steal electrons from other molecules. This process is known as oxidation and there are a lot of antioxidants that are the remedy to this problem. Antioxidants have the function to neutralize free radicals; some of the antioxidants have proven to have anti-inflamatory properties.

Antioxidants benefits

Antioxidants are substances that may protect cells from the damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Free radical damage may lead to cancer. Antioxidants interact with and stabilize free radicals and may prevent some of the damage free radicals might otherwise cause.

Examples of antioxidants include beta-carotene, lycopene, vitamins C, E, and A, and other substances.

Extras of the green tea. It contains phenols – substances that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. The experiments proved that green tea decrease the redness and other effects of sunburns; decrease the level of skin irritation, caused by different surface-active substances of washing materials.

Milk Thistle Extract: Milk thistle is a plant native to the Mediterranean. It usually grows in dry, sunny areas. The active ingredient is called silymarin. Consisting of a group of compounds known as flavonolignans, silymarin helps repair liver cells that have been damaged by alcohol and other toxins. Silymarin also has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Most milk thistle based products are standardized to contain 70-80% silymarin.

Blueberries. Much research has shown that blueberries provide health benefits in the areas of anti-aging, antioxidant action, disease prevention, treatment of urinary tract infection, improving eyesight and controlling cholesterol. Blueberries are powerful antioxidants. Anthocyanin, which is the pigment that makes the blueberry blue, is the key antioxidant responsible for these benefits. Researchers believe that the phytochemicals in blueberries may reduce inflammatory processes in tissues by increasing cells membranes ability to allow vital nutrients and chemical signals to pass in and out of the cell.

Whey. The low-molecular proteins fraction of the whey represents the most active factor, because it contains amino acids, growth factors and antibodies. Whey also contains the amino acid called glutamylcysteine which is necessary for the synthesis of glutathione – one of the main antioxidants.

Mexican Red Beans. The flavonoids that give Mexican Red Beans their bright-red colour are extremely powerful antioxidants. These beans are also a good source of fibre, folic acid, and carbohydrates.

Grapes antioxidants. They have the property to render harmless the radicals which are formed during inflammations, thus, preventing the skin irritation.

Prunes: Or dried plum, contain an unusually high concentration of unique phytonutrients called neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acid. These substances found in prunes and plums are classified as phenols, and their function as antioxidants has been well documented. They are especially good at neutralizing a particularly dangerous oxygen radical called superoxide anion radical, and they have also been shown to help prevent oxygen-based damage to fats.
The ability of prunes to fight free radicals is boosted by beta-carotene. Beta-carotene acts as a fat-soluble antioxidant, eliminating free radicals that would otherwise cause a lot of damage to our cells and cell membranes.

What do you choose? Junk food or healthy products? Whatever your choice will be you have to know about antioxidants and the products that contain the biggest amount of antioxidants.

Best sources of antioxidants – best foods with antioxidants

A USDA study analyzed the antioxidant content of commonly consumed foods. Researchers tested over 100 foods. Here is a ranked list of the top 20 fruits, vegetables and nuts:

1. Small red bean (dried), 1/2 cup
2. Wild blueberry, 1 cup
3. Red kidney bean (dried), 1/2 cup[br[
4. Pinto bean, 1/2 cup
5. Blueberry (cultivated), 1 cup
6. Cranberry, 1 cup (whole)
7. Artichoke (cooked hearts), 1 cup
8. Blackberry, 1 cup
9. Prune, 1/2 cup
10. Raspberry, 1 cup
11. Strawberry, 1 cup
12. Red delicious apple, 1
13. Granny Smith apple, 1
14. Pecan, 1 ounce
15. Sweet cherry, 1 cup
16. Black plum, 1
17. Russet potato, 1 cooked
18. Black bean (dried), 1/2 cup
19. Plum, 1
20. Gala apple, 1

If you want to live longer, you must nourish well

It is considered that healthy nourishment is a guarantee for a longer life. Nevertheless, it is considered that a constant diet does not guarantee at all the longevity. Certain recent discoveries of the American scientists emerged as a shock: people with excessive weight live longer that thin people!

This fact is proven by the statistics published by an American Center for Prophylactics and Diseases control. In general the researches explain this using the fact that fat people are more preoccupied with their health. Being aware of the fact that they are in a group of risk they permanently check their blood pressure and undertake special physical exercises in order to loose weight.

Slender people, usually, don’t see the necessity to undertake health-improving procedures. But that is not all: fat people, due to their desire to eat, are nourishing much more healthier and their organism always receive the necessary microelements, while thin people restrain themselves from food and as a result they don’t consume a number of useful substances.
The American geriatrician Thomas Pearls came to the conclusion that many of long-living people never respect diets and usually don’t undertake physical exercises. For example, Helen Reichert who has 100 years old at that time eats everything she wants, whenever she wants. The same way of life is carried by her sister which is 98 and her brother which is 90. And neither of them has serious problems with their health.

Helen recalls: “I never listened to anyone. Even when I was little I wasn’t an obedient child. I can’t say that being a girl I had a sleeping time, or carried physical exercises or ate fruits. I was doing everything inside out”. Pearls also remarked the fact that long-living persons don’t limit their ratio, allowing themselves to eat everything fat or sweet. Nevertheless they consume everything in limited quantity. May be this is their main secret?
At the same time starvation may be also useful. American doctors discovered the fact that in extreme conditions the organism of mammals process a special protein, the so called “protein of life”, which increases the survival potential for at least twice. The scientists estimated the fact that the regular processing of this protein may prolong human life till 180 years. This is why it’s useful to starve from time to time.

Another study used data from an ongoing health survey in Canada that followed over 11,000 adults. It proved that compared to people in the ‘normal’ weight category, those classified as overweight with a BMI of 25-29.9 were 17% less likely to die.

• underweight were 73% more likely to die
• obese with a BMI 30-34.9 had about the same risk of death as a ‘normal’ weight person
• Extremely obese people with a BMI of 35 and higher were 36% more likely to die.

Yet another interesting thing: How is body fat measured?

Waist circumference measurement and body mass index (BMI) are the recommended ways to estimate body fat. A high-risk waistline is 35 inches or higher for women, and 40 inches or higher for men.

The body mass index formula assesses body weight relative to height. It’s a useful, indirect measure of body composition, because in most people it correlates highly with body fat. Weight in kilograms is divided by height in meters squared (kg/m2). Or multiply weight in pounds by 703, divide by height in inches, then divide again by height in inches. In studies by the National Center for Health Statistics,

* BMI values less than 18.5 are considered underweight.
* BMI values from 18.5 to 24.9 are normal.
* Overweight is defined as a body mass index of 25.0 to less than 30.0 (consistent with U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans). A BMI of about 25 kg/m2 corresponds to about 10 percent over ideal body weight.
* Obesity is defined as a BMI of 30.0 or greater (consistent with criteria of the World Health Organization), or about 30 pounds or more overweight. Extreme obesity is defined as a BMI of 40 or greater.

Obesity is associated with many diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties during sleep, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis. Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive dietary calories, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, though a limited number of cases are due solely to genetics, medical reasons or psychiatric illness

As a conclusion, if you want to live longer, there is no sense to pursue all your life a vegetables diet. In this case organize “starving feasts”, or eat everything but keep within limits!

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