Health Beauty & FitnessHealth, Beauty, Fitness Tips

Are you tired of those days of the months where you can not zip up your jeans without having to lay down on the bed, breathing in, or jumping up and down to get into one leg? Then you get irritable to top it off? You are not alone. Ninety percent of all women suffer from different degrees of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Marilyn Glenville, PhD, wrote in her book Natural Solutions to PMS that there exists up to 150 possible symptoms that can make you feel terrible and that there are ways to treat some of the most common premenstrual problems.
Mood Swings The idea here is to gain control of your blood sugar by eating small meals regularly. Failure to heed this advice allows your blood-sugar level to decrease and adrenalin levels to increase. The hormone, adrenalin, screws up your normal hormone balance resulting in mood swings. Eliminating caffeine and sugar from your diet will also help prevent irritability. After three menstrual cycles, you will notice a real difference. Keep a stash of health snacks such as nuts, oatcakes, and fresh fruit to minimize your craving for foods that will make you feel worse. Definitely, cut out potato chips and chocolate from your diet. To combat a mood swing, take a multivitamin containing large amounts of B vitamins. This helps to reduce stress and give you more energy. Bloating You need to stay hydrated. Not taking in enough fluids makes your body retain any existing fluid you have. This results in swelling, which makes it difficult to fit into your clothes. Minimize or eliminate your salt intake in the weeks prior to your menstruation to help reduce PMS bloating. Eat lots of watery foods, and cut down on your caffeine intake because it can dehydrate you thus worsening your problem. To deal with bloating, drink herbal teas containing natural diuretics like dandelion, watercress, and celery to minimize your body’s water retention. Fatigue Maintain your blood sugar. This is tantamount to ensuring there is enough gasoline in your car to keep it going. Eat snacks often so that you do not “crash” in the late afternoon. If you consistently feel fatigue, check with your health care provider to eliminate the possibility of anemia or thyroid disorders. To help eliminate fatigue, consider taking coenzyme Q10 (coQ10). Coenzyme Q10 helps to release energy by burning fat. It is a great vitaminomimetic (vitamin-like substance) in case PMS causes you to feel excessively sleepy or tired late in the day. Headaches and breakouts The liver is responsible for detoxifying all hormones your body makes when you are in the premenstrual mode. When the liver does not function as it should, symptoms manifest themselves in the form of skin breakouts or PMS-related migraines and/or headaches. Do not overwork your liver by drinking alcoholic beverages since alcohol will take priority in the liver’s metabolic functions over the hormones. To minimize headaches and skin breakouts, consider taking milk thistle which enhances liver function. Zinc supplements are optimal for the skin and general menstrual hormonal imbalances. Breast tenderness Water retention is primarily the cause of breast tenderness. In addition, there is a molecule found in coffee and chocolate called methyl-xanthines that can make the breasts feel very tender and uncomfortable to the touch. Get rid of these from your diet and concentrate on being properly hydrated. To help get rid of breast tenderness, vitamin E has been shown to be beneficial for premenstrual breast pain and swelling. Cramps Get regular exercise to relieve cramps. The endorphins released are naturally occurring opiates. You do not have to engage in strenuous exercise, but consider doing something mild like yoga or cycling to help increase blood flow to the pelvic area and relieve cramps in the abdomino-pelvic region. Exercise also helps with any vomiting, diarrhea, and/or constipation that are many times associated with menstrual cramps.

For supplemental solutions to cramps, try magnesium to help relax the blood vessels and muscles. Magnesium helps to open up blood vessels and promote blood flow to the pelvic region. A lack of magnesium in the diet can cause blood vessels to become spastic allowing PMS symptoms to get worse.

If you continue to have the same habits towards your health, weight, diet, exercise, and fat, than you will continue to live with the same body that you have now, instead of living the ultimate healthy lifestyle that you deserve.

If you are not happy with your life, you need to change what you are doing. You need to stop what isn’t working, and find something that will work. If you keep doing the same things you will get the same results. I would like to point out the reason that sometimes we need to change what we are doing if we are not happy with who, and what we are.

‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.
If you find something that works, keep with it. A Football team will keep running a successful play until the other team figures out a way to stop it.
Here are a few simple examples of the Law of Cause and Effect: -If you exercise, you get stronger. -If you eat too much, you’ll get fat. -If you save your money, you’ll become wealthy. -If you don’t maintain your car – it breaks down. (Usually at an inconvenient time) -If you spend more than you make, you could end up being a financial slave to a credit card company, lose yourself-respect, or possibly lose your house.

The person who is likely to succeed is a person who in their spare time, takes night classes, home study classes, attends workshops, searches out information to help them achieve their personal goals, and doesn’t give up, no matter how difficult it may seem.
The person who usually fails is the person who comes home from work and spends countless hours watching television, is not motivated, and gives up too easily. They are missing a key ingredient which is a burning desire. This is not something you can purchase, it is something that you can create in yourself, just through positive self talk.

So today I am asking you to make a change in your life! If you are not healthy and happy, and you continue to do the same things that are not working than you are insane. So as Susan Powders would say “Stop The Insanity”. Make a commitment to change and develop the burning desire mindset.

Kimberly Jamieson [http://www.healthypainfreeliving.com] Has achieved success in living, maintaining a healthy active lifestyle. She has helped inspire and motivate thousands to achieve this life. To learn more about women’s health and wellness, overeating, weight loss, exercise, proper eating habits. Visit [http://www.healthypainfreeliving.com]

Men and women may be equals in many ways, but there is no mistaking that they are biologically different and that they have different needs to keep their bodies working at their peak. Women face different health challenges than men and may deal with other diseases in different ways. Some of the most common conditions that can face both men and women include: cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, diabetes and obesity. Of these conditions, obesity may have the most impact on overall health as it can cause or worsen the effects of the other conditions.

What Are the Differences in Nutritional Needs for Men and Women?

Everybody needs the three macronutrients, carbohydrates, fats and proteins in their diet, as well as the many micronutrients that they get from healthy and well balanced diets. However, men and women need differing amounts, as do adult women and girls. Every stage in a woman’s life gives her different health challenges and different nutritional needs. For adults:

Calcium:

- Women under 50 need 1000 mg per day

- Over 50 need 1200 mg per day

- Men need 800 mg, the amount in about three servings of dairy (too much calcium can lead to prostate cancer in men)

Iron:

- Women under 50 need 18 mg per day

- Women over 50 need 8 mg per day

- Men need 8 mg per day

Omega 3 Fatty Acids:

No established nutritional needs or guidelines for amount however, men should only get Omega 3s from marine based sources because of the threat of prostate cancer from other sources.

Protein:

Need based on height, weight and activity level for both men and women.

Fiber:

- Women under 50 need 25grams per day

- Women over 50 need 21 grams per day

- Men under 50 need 38 grams per day

- Men over 50 need 30 grams per day

Why Women Need Protein

Protein plays a major role in the human body, actually being necessary to every cell and every process that it accomplishes every day. Protein is the hardest of the macronutrients to digest, keeping the body full for longer and is needed for building lean muscle mass. In addition to this process, the body needs protein to heal during injury or illness as well as to keep the immune system strong and healthy. Protein also plays a role in sleep, digestion and ovulation.

There is a debate about protein in relation to osteoporosis. The common misconception is that too much protein in the average diet can leach too much calcium from the system and lead to or exacerbate osteoporosis, especially in those who are susceptible to the condition. The theory states that protein increases the amount of liquid waste created in the kidneys which is then flushed out through the bladder, including the calcium that the body needs. Because many women are not getting enough calcium to begin with, this increased amount will create a harmful deficit.

It is now thought that women who are getting enough calcium in their diet are not adversely affected by protein intake and that they would benefit from a slightly increased protein amount. In addition, these women would also benefit from some weight bearing exercise before their body starts showing the effects of osteoporosis.

Other Benefits of Protein for Women

Protein, especially soy protein, has been shown to have many benefits for women that are related to relieving the symptoms of menopause including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, bone loss, kidney and gallstone diseases and other. The proteins are also shown to reduce the risk of developing certain cancers and diabetes, increases the control of previously existing diabetes and improves the overall cholesterol profile.

Miso, a fermented soy bean paste has also been shown to decrease the risk and incidence of breast cancer in Japanese women with those consuming three or more bowls of miso soup daily having a 40% decrease in breast cancer risk.

The Right Amount of Protein, Regardless

All women should have several health tests done at the recommended intervals in their life to monitor and watch for certain diseases and conditions. In addition, women should have a consultation with a nutritionist or dietician to define the right number of calories for them and to further define the right diet that they should follow including the right number of carbohydrates, proteins and fat every day.

A woman’s protein needs changes during her lifetime including her youth, pregnancy, and during her senior years. An active, athletic woman will automatically have a higher protein need than a sedentary woman. A pregnant or lactating woman will have a higher protein need than one who is not pregnant. Women who are recovering from illness, surgery or injury will have a higher protein need than a healthy woman in her age group. Protein need is very individual and is determined by life stage, weight and activity level.

The Right Type of Protein for Women

In addition to having the right amount of protein in the diet, it is important to have the right type of protein in the diet as well. Protein can come from either plant or animal sources. Animal proteins, including eggs and dairy are complete proteins because they have all nine essential amino acids (amino acids that the body cannot create on its own and must have supplied) while plant proteins are not complete.

Soy protein is the exception to this rule. In addition to dietary protein sources, there are a number of protein supplements which can be beneficial to a woman’s diet for a wide variety of reasons. Whey protein, for instance can be useful for keeping blood pressure and cholesterol within normal limits.

Women and Protein: A Case Study

Linda, age 55, is entering menopause. She is a small framed Asian woman, putting her at increased risk for osteoporosis so she is afraid of the information that she is reading about protein and that condition. She is not eating very well because of this fear and becomes very ill. In addition, she is miserable dealing with the menopause. She goes to her doctor and admits that she is not eating and that she is afraid. The doctor sends her to a nutritionist and also sends her to the lab for blood work and a Dexa scan (a test for osteoporosis that will measure her current bone density). Linda is borderline in the testing, meaning she will start medication for osteoporosis. She is prompted to start taking a calcium supplement as well as increasing the amount that she is getting in her diet. She is also told to increase the amount of protein in her diet which will help her stay active and will also help her ease the symptoms of menopause as well.

It seems that it is easier for women to be attacked by the physical comforts than men. For example, women have to struggle with menstrual pain and the delivery pain. In fact, women have six fatal defects of the physical health. In order to help women improve the physical health, six defects will be explained as follows to arouse women’s awareness.

The first defect is the changeable immunity. The immunity of the female body is rather changeable. Women are easier than men to be attacked by serious diseases, such as lupus erythematosus, rheumatic arthritis and thyroid disorders. However, women are stronger than men to resist some minor diseases like cold and fever.

The second defect is the heart disease. Generally speaking, the average age of women to get heart disease is later than that of men. However, once women get heart disease, the results are rather serious. For example, various symptoms like weariness can be caused. The medical experts have advised that women should control the body weight so as to protect the heart. In addition, women with high cholesterol should decrease the intake of egg yolk.

The third defect is the gynecologic cancer. Gynecologic cancer can cause serious harms to the female health. As the cancer shows no obvious symptom in the early days, it is easy for women to miss the best time for treatment. The gynecologic cancer covers various kinds of cancer, such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical carcinoma.

The fourth defect is the weak ligament. The female ligament is congenitally weak. What’s more, it always takes women a long time to cure ligament of the ligament is hurt. According to the medical research, the ligament always becomes weaker during the menstruation.

The fifth defect is the slow metabolism. Compared to the rapid metabolism inside the male body, the metabolism inside the female body is relatively slow. Therefore, it is necessary for women to decrease the intake of cold and unripe foods. What’s more, women should keep the belly and legs warm in everyday life. In addition, women should drink wine in a moderate amount, as the liver inside the female body can not resolve alcohol rapidly and effectively.

The sixth defect is the weak digestive system. The medical research has proved that it is easy for women to get chronic constipation and intestinal diseases. Therefore, it is important for women to maintain the balanced diet in everyday life. For example, they should increase the intake of foods which can improve the detoxification, such as kelp and honey. Take kelp as an example. Kelp contains abundant protein, dietary fibers, calcium, carotene, riboflavin and various trace elements.

It is now known that stress can actually stop you losing weight especially around your middle. Stress can cause your body to secrete high levels of cortisol hormone into your bloodstream, because of your body’s “flight or fight” response to stress. Stress can be either psychological (mental and emotional) or physical.

Cortisol is secreted by the adrenal glands and is actually important for the regulation of blood pressure, the immune system and many other functions. Cortisol can be good in small amounts but high levels can lead to an increase of abdominal fat, which can lead to heart attacks, strokes and can also increase your bad cholesterol levels and decrease your good cholesterol levels.

High levels of cortisol can also decrease your bone density, leading to osteoporosis and loss of muscle tissue, which will also slow down your metabolic rate, and it can also increase your blood pressure along with other problems.

Each of you will react differently to stress; some of you will produce more cortisol to a particular stress while others will produce less. It has been found that those of you that produce more cortisol will actually eat more food as well, in particular carbohydrates.

What you need to do to combat producing too much cortisol is to learn ways to relax and also to maybe change your lifestyle.

Relaxation can be achieved in a number of ways either by exercising, mediation, yoga or breathing to start with.

Maybe one of the easiest and simplest ways is breathing. This is done by gently breathing in through the nose, gently expanding your abdomen and then gently expelling the air through your nose pulling in your abdomen at the same time. Whilst breathing out the air you need to focus on that breath. After several breaths in and out you should start to feel yourself relax. You need to practice doing this exercise a few minutes a day to start with building up to five minutes in the end. You can also practice this when you are feeling stressed or when things are getting on top of you. Just a few minutes can slow your body down and help it to feel relax.

Life style changes can be like changing your eating habits for a healthier diet, getting enough sleep, or even organizing your time more efficiently so that you do not feel so stressed. Also looking after your body will help your body to cope with stresses that you come across during your day.

So if you are exercising frequently and eating properly but still not losing any weight especially from around the middle then maybe you are suffering from high levels of cortisol caused by stress. Look at ways to solve the problem and hopefully then you should see a difference in your weight and around your middle.