Category: Healthy Lifestyle

How to Make the Most Out of Your Acupuncture Session

More and more people in Western societies, including Australia, are learning of and appreciating the many benefits of TCM, particularly acupuncture, in the treatment of various ailments. Sadly, because of the ever-increasing importance of acupuncture in modern medicine, there is an increasing number of unscrupulous organizations setting up clinics like mushrooms without the necessary permits, licenses, and certifications as to their qualifications for providing authentic TCM. I, for one, am quite hesitant about going to these clinics as it can definitely impact both my general health and my perception of TCM. So, how can we make the most out of our acupuncture session if we cannot even trust the reputation of the clinic?

One particularly effective way of mitigating this concern is by seeking a Chinese acupuncture clinic in Melbourne with good reviews only. My belief is that if there are too few people saying good things about a particular clinic, then there must really be something wrong with the clinic. Either it is not duly certified and recognised by accrediting organisations or it does a shabby job of providing acupuncture.

You see, making the most out of your acupuncture session really has to start with the establishment of the trustworthiness of the clinic. For instance, if you are actively looking for Chinese acupuncture for relaxation, it is imperative that the clinic you are considering is duly licensed and certified in the art of acupuncture for relaxation purposes. While certifications can provide us with the peace of mind regarding the validity and credibility of a TCM clinic, positive reviews also help us get a feel for what’s it like to receive treatment in such a facility.

For many individuals, only the first-hand experiences of others who have tried the service will suffice to extinguish any doubts they may have about the clinic. These experiences are often written in the feedbacks, reviews, or even comments made about the clinic. That’s why my girlfriends and I typically spend hours browsing through online community forums in search of the most rewarding experiences of acupuncture patients. We believe that by ensuring the credibility of a healthcare organisation, we can also ensure the quality of treatment that we will receive. That’s the first key step to how we can make the most out of our acupuncture session.

Secondly, it is important to learn something about acupuncture by reading. There are many books and online resources to help us gain a little more understanding about this ancient medical art. I found out that by learning something about acupuncture, the more engaging the sessions became. It’s more like reading your lessons before going to school so you’ll be better prepared to add on to the knowledge. Additionally, if there are some concepts or principles that we don’t understand during our readings, we can raise these during the actual acupuncture session itself. For example, we all know that acupuncture involves the insertion of surgical-grade needles through the skin. What many of us don’t know is why these needles have to be inserted in certain parts of the body only and not anywhere else. If we read through the texts on acupuncture, we’d discover that it has something to do with TCM practitioners call as meridians. Now, during our acupuncture session, we can then ask our acupuncturist to explain in greater detail what meridians really are. He will even show us. I know because mine did.

Third, it is equally crucial that we follow the recommendations of our acupuncturist. While it’s true that Chinese acupuncture involves piercing the body with long sharp needles, it is just a single aspect of the holistic nature of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It’s like this. Acupuncture unblocks any obstruction to the flow of chi – or life energy – in our body. You don’t expect to have the needle stuck in your skin forever, do you? So, there must be a way in which the recently relieved blockage or obstruction is kept that way so we will feel a lot better. To help us in this aspect, our acupuncturist will recommend a variety of medicinal plants and herbs as well as other therapeutic modalities we can perform to help augment the therapeutic benefits we obtain from acupuncture. It is through this seamless integration of acupuncture, medicinal plants and herbs, the consumption and avoidance of certain foods, and other therapeutic modalities that we are able to optimize the many benefits we reap from a single session of acupuncture.

Perhaps the most important thing we can do to make the most out of our acupuncture session is to have an open mind. I know this is quite difficult for most of us. Believe me when I say that it is like climbing a mountain without our gear. The point is that, with an open mind, we are basically helping ourselves become more receptive to the idea that acupuncture can really help. While western medicine calls this the placebo effect, I fondly call it the power of will. Let’s just say I wasn’t always a believer of TCM, especially acupuncture. But after freeing myself from the constant thought of acupuncture not working for me, things started improving. It would seem that acupuncture had been working all along. But since my mind was more preoccupied with thought of acupuncture’s ineffectiveness, there was no way I could see the positive benefits.

So, if you really want to make the most out of your acupuncture session, you’d have to have an open mind. You’d have to seek only reputable clinics, follow your acupuncturist’s instructions, and learn before you attend your sessions. These worked for me and my friends. I’m sure it will, too, for you.

AcupunctureHealthy Lifestyle

Every Woman Should Get in the Water to Get and Stay Fit

SwimmingAustralians are known the world over as fun beach-goers, great swimmers, and excellent surfers. In fact, perhaps because we are surrounded by the vast Pacific, Antarctic, and Indian Oceans, we are naturally inclined to the water. I, for one, love swimming. It’s a great way to get fit and stay healthy. More importantly however, is that there are other benefits of swimming than just physical fitness. It also helps you feel good about yourself. Of course, for some, it’s one great way to flaunt their bodies in a swimsuit or even a bikini.

Swimming is an excellent workout to develop cardiovascular endurance. The mere fact that you are constantly keeping yourself afloat makes your muscles to be working all the time. And every time muscles work, they need oxygen. The more forceful their contractions, the more oxygen they will need; lest, they go into oxygen starvation mode. To help in the delivery of oxygen, the heart must be able to pump more blood. Initially, it does this by pumping very fast to meet the metabolic demands of the body. However, over time, it also tires and every pumping action is delivering lower amounts of oxygen. That is why you have to rest as well and literally catch your breath.

Once replenished, the heart can resume pumping blood at a rapid pace again. Sadly, doing so for a prolonged period of time damages the elasticity of blood vessels. So, the heart will have to think of a better way to deliver more oxygen without necessarily having to increase the heart rate. Good thing, with repetitive exertion, the muscles of the heart grow bigger and longer making them more efficient at pumping. You know that you have reached full cardiovascular endurance when you are doing Olympic-paced butterflies and your heart rate is still at a steady pace. This is what separates athletes from mere health buffs. The heart is able to meet the metabolic demands of the body by strengthening the force of its contraction without increasing its rate.

This also helps you tone your muscles. Personally, I have seen well-toned arm and leg muscles primarily because of the constant use of these muscles. The reason for this is because you are working against water resistance. Studies show that swimming is equivalent to doing resistance training using light weights in the gym. Additionally, since water pressure is relatively constant, the amount of resistance force is directly proportional to your physical exertion. The more forceful your swim strokes are, the greater is the resistance value. This should help you get a more toned body.

I have a friend who has respiratory problems. I think she has asthma. Whenever we go to the gym, she would readily fall short of breath and make it difficult for her to continue. However, if we go to a swimming pool or even the beach for a dip, she doesn’t get any asthma-like symptoms. The reason for this is that air in the swimming pool is relatively more humid than that in the gym. Moist air allows oxygen in the atmosphere to be absorbed in the alveoli of the lungs faster and more efficiently. Additionally, it does not dry the airway passages which can otherwise irritate the airway surfaces and trigger airway spasms. Furthermore, swimming can be very beneficial in improving overall lung function. As you will be working on your breathing, you also tend to train your lungs to fill to their maximum capacity.

In relation to being an excellent cardiovascular endurance training, swimming makes for an excellent weight loss program. For example, if you weigh around 55-60 kilograms like I do, swimming freestyle at a fast pace can help you burn as much as 600 calories per hour. If you do the butterfly, you will burn around 650 calories an hour. Treading water in a fast and vigorous manner can help you burn around 590 calories. Now add this with eating sensibly and you can have your ideal weight in no time at all.

Perhaps what really motivates me to keep on swimming is the mental tranquillity it provides after the swim. Studies have proven that swimming can help boost the level of endorphins produced by the brain. This is what gives you that overall feeling of mental calmness and relaxation right after swimming. You may feel your heart pounding off your chest but your mind is as clear and calm as the peaceful sky.

Different individuals can derive different benefits from swimming. For me however, the best benefit is its ability to make me feel good about myself physically and mentally. It definitely makes me fit and complete.

FitnessHealthy Lifestyle

Understanding the Benefits and Drawbacks of Food Supplementation

 

The continuing quest for the world’s most accurate and most comprehensively sensible answer to healthy living have brought men and women to the conclusion that dietary supplements might as well prove the key to what they are looking for.

 

Naturopaths are staunch supporters of dietary supplementation. While some members of the medical community are already attesting to the importance of dietary supplementation, it still requires more solid evidence, more clinically-proven tests, to really cement its published benefits on human health and well-being.

 

The passivity, if not downright apathy, of some members of the medical community regarding food supplements is perhaps borne out of the wholly commercialized marketing of online food supplements with little to no indication of well-publicized, clinically-controlled, and highly randomized studies that should show undeniable truth to the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation.

 

While the scientific community continue to debate on the merits of food supplementation, with the medical rationalists on one side and the naturopaths and nutritionists on the other, it is often best to become fully aware of the advantages and disadvantages of food supplementation.

 

The Benefits of Food Supplements

 

As the word itself, food supplements cannot take the place of high quality, well-balanced food. However, in today’s highly-charged and often very stressful work environments and emotionally packed lifestyles, who has the luxury of eating three square meals a day? Well, perhaps there are still those, including two snacks in between.

 

However, looking at the quality of the food consumed today, majority are processed and fast. A breakfast will usually be composed of coffee and doughnuts. For lunch, it will be a roll and a piece of chicken breast deep fried in pork fat then dipped or slathered with fatty gravy. Dinner will almost be the same.

 

Eating habits like this clearly makes one substantially deficient in some of the essential nutrients needed by the body. That is why food supplementation will be necessary. Furthermore, people with certain disease conditions like lactose intolerance can add a few food supplements in their diet. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies can greatly benefit from food supplementation.

 

People who are strict vegetarians, while generally healthy, might not be able to get the much needed certain types of proteins and fats that can be derived from animal sources. Sometimes, the things people do to stay healthy can create other problems for them. Skipping milk altogether can significantly predispose your to bone density problems. While calcium can be obtained from several vegetable sources, you will have to consume a whole bunch of these veggies just to supply your daily requirement for calcium.

 

Special groups of people can also benefit from food supplementation. Growing children, pregnant women, the sick and debilitated, and elderly persons can all benefit from food supplementation because of the varying requirements for development. Absorption problems among the elderly will require supplementation. The immature digestive systems of babies will also benefit from food supplementation. The increased metabolic requirements of the pregnant and the sick will also require food supplementation.

 

Food supplements are just that, as supplements. They are not designed to take the place of adequate nutritious food. And under no circumstances are they to take the place of drugs in the treatment of certain diseases.

 

The Disadvantages of Food Supplementation 

 

The one thing not really going for food supplementation is its lack of truly credible and very testable experimental studies – ones that will prove beyond reasonable doubt of the effectiveness of food supplements. While there have been studies about its effects, the results have been taken to be merely a product of chance. This is particularly true in the wide disparity of study results.

 

Leaving the scientific debate to the experts, ordinary household consumers must be made aware of the disadvantages or drawbacks of food supplements.

 

Overdose or toxicity has been reported in not one or two cases but many cases. Hypervitaminosis or even excessive serum concentrations of minerals in the body can lead to a host of problems that may require medical attention. Furthermore, some food supplements can adversely affect the potency or mechanism of action of certain drugs. And this is why the medical community is quite adamant when it comes to the efficacy of food supplements in patient care management.

 

The key thing to understand is that food supplements should not take the place of regular high quality, nutritious, and well-balanced diet. The best way to determine the right amount and frequency of supplement intake is to consult with a specialist. In that way, you are assured of maximizing its benefits.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRtDrUEfoGo

Healthy Lifestyle

The Essence of Achieving a Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy 2The body is like a machine that needs fuel to work, run, walk, play and carry out all of your daily tasks. Just like any machines, your body needs fuel too. Food here becomes the perfect fuel to rejuvenate, refresh and help your body to perform at its best. The ball is in your court, and you are the captain of your body. Therefore, making the right decision is all in your hands.

 

Binge eating, depression, boredom, call it anything you like, but these are just lame excuses for you to grab a bite and not giving it any kind of thought. Some people call it as instant gratification. The truth is, we become what we eat. In other words, you should be a conscious eater, and decide what you want to become. You should be aware that the food you eat does not only provide you with nutrients, but also aid in the functioning of your body.

 

Of course, achieving a healthy lifestyle is not all about food. While there is no magic formula or special technique to help you achieve fast results, there are some positive things you can start doing now to see the outcome later on.

 

Listen to Music

 

In the morning, take at least 10 minutes from your tight schedule to listen to your favorite playlist. Put some inspiring or energetic music on your mobile device (or simply turn on your radio) and let the beat energize you inside. Music has the ability to manipulate the body into thinking that it is full of energy.

 

30-minute Workout

 

This is easier said than done when you are extremely busy every day. But a bit of physical exercise each morning is all it will take. You do not have to run ten miles or go to the gym. Physical activity can help increase the temperature of your body and jump-start your metabolism practically anywhere. You may jog at the same spot, do yoga, go biking around the block, or perform some aerobic exercises at home.  All these activities can help you achieve a healthy lifestyle.

 

Drink Coffee

Yes, it may come as a surprise to you, but drinking coffee is not that unhealthy after all. Although, this does not imply that you gulp down cup after cup of coffee all day long. Preferably, two mugs each day is fine, or three at the most. Caffeine helps in reducing the risk of gall stones and kidney stones. It also boosts your metabolic rate. Studies have also shown that two to three mugs daily of your favorite coffee can counter symptoms of depression and diabetes as a result of old age. And so, go ahead and enjoy your hot cup of coffee, which you have always thought was doing harm on your body.

 

Choose Optimism

 

Negative energy can grow inside a person through his thoughts, or even by absorbing the negativity of another person. This kind of energy can seep through your persona and affect you emotionally and physically. So how can you get rid of these negative energies? Well, optimism is key. Keep a well-balanced body and mind. Tell yourself that there is nothing terrible that can happen. Make your subconscious mind believe in the positive energy that is around you. Meditate and try to communicate with your deeper soul. It may be challenging to do at first, but this can be achieved with practice.

 

Healthy 1As the eternal battle of the healthy versus the unhealthy continues, it is really up to you to decide whether or not to eat the food that benefits you and to do the tips stated above. All things considered, it is a little bit of everything that you eat and do that determines how you will be able to achieve healthy lifestyle. Getting sick causes a chain reaction in life because the normality of your daily routine becomes paralyzed. This results to unproductivity in the workplace and a degree of unhappiness to the family. Prevention is always better than cure, therefore, consider health as the most important aspect in life which you should pay serious attention. Click here for more health articles like this one.

Healthy Lifestyle

Practices to Avoid During Pregnancy

avoid

There are a lot of women that wonder as to what’s okay during pregnancy and what is not. The below mentioned tips will help you have a healthy pregnancy. Talk with your doctor if you have other concerns or questions.

High Doses of Caffeine: Coffee acts as a slow poison for the baby. So, when you consume high doses of caffeine during pregnancy, it has an adverse effect on the health of the baby.

Illegal Drugs: You should avoid illegal drugs. However, if you do use drugs, allow this pregnancy to be a changing point in your life by giving up the harmful drugs for the health and babtywellness of the baby.

Junk Food: Yes! Junk foods such as Hot Dogs are not good for the baby. Rather, you should take a healthy diet for these 9 months. It will only be a small sacrifice for the wellness of your angel.

Raw Meat: You should not consume or eat raw e meat or meat that has not been properly cooked. It’s because raw meat does not provide energy to the mothers, but it enhances the work of the digestion system and it is also not good for the health of the baby.

Smoking and Drinking: All of us are aware that women tend to ignore this warning. It is a taboo to smoke during pregnancy, and more so not in the first trimester. Soft drinks and cola can be a good alternative, while the hard alcoholic drinks are strictly prohibited.

Stress: One of the most important things to do is AVOID STRESS. You should not undertake any activities that expose you to any kind of stress, rather you should stay relaxed.

X-Rays: You should make it a point to not come under the scanner of the X-Rays and scans during the period of pregnancy as much as possible. You should tell your doctor about your baby and postpone the x-rays until delivery. Only, if it is extremely urgent or severe, you can have a scan and that too after the first trimester.

The above list is a Not To Do list and it will be only good for your health. At the same time, it will also ensure that your baby stays fit and fine inside your womb. You can come across lots of other suggestions and advices on a pregnancy blog or website. In this way you can stay happy and healthy during this lovely phase of your life.

 

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