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The world’s most popular legal drug

by admin on February 28, 2013

the worlds most popular psychoactive drug

Caffeine is the world’s most popular psychoactive drug. Yes, that’s right, it’s a central nervous system stimulant. The fact that caffeine is found in so many different foods and drinks, is deeply rooted into world’s culture and is legal – all that makes it the most widespread psychoactive drug in the world. Each part of the world has its’ caffeine – Americans have sodas, Arabs have their kahve, the Chinese drink teas. Everyone loves caffeine. How much do we know about it?

Coffee, in particular large Starbucks servings, seems to have most caffeine according to MayoClinic. Teas, on the other hand, have milder amounts of caffeine. At the same time, teas (especially green tea), are packed with useful substances, which makes them lower cholesterol level and supposedly even prevent cancer. This puts teas slightly above coffee that does not have any of the health properties.

The worst way to get your caffeine, however, is from soda drinks and energy drinks. Those beverages are packed with sugars, colorants, artificial aromatic substances and much more. The whole “energy” component consists of injecting several teaspoons of sugar with caffeine into your system, which makes you hectic for a short while and leaves you in low spirits and dehydrated for the rest of the day.

Stimulating properties of caffeine have found application in weight-loss as well. The famous green coffee diet relies on caffeine as part of its’ effectiveness, (click here to learn more about the rest fat burning properties of green coffee), because caffeine increases body energy consumption and tones your tissues better.

If you love drinking tea or coffee, there is nothing wrong with it. Be sure, however to cut down on the amounts you drink, because if you abuse it, your body develops tolerance, pretty much taking the pleasure out the whole process. And stay away from the energy drinks,since their effect is so short-term.

3 Cheap Ways to Introduce Wellness Programs to Your Small Business.

by admin on January 28, 2013

wellness tips for small businesses - cheap ways to control staff health

image source neowin.net

If you are running a business, you want to maximize your profits. Surely you have heard about wellness programs that large corporations introduce in order to keep their staff healthy and happy and at the same time to reduce healthcare related costs. Now, even if you don’t have large HR-related budgets and are just running a small business, there are cheap ways to introduce wellness programs to your workplace. Even if they do not bring you huge savings, you will definitely make your business a better place to work at for your staff.

Here’s our small list:

Make a list of available health and behavioral resources.

This really won’t cost you anything. You can distribute flyers, make a poster or do it in any other way you come up with. You can list government agencies, volunteer organizations and NGOs in your area that deal with substance abuse help, fitness and weight-loss advice as well as stress management. Sometimes having seen some place mentioned before is crucial for getting timely help.

Control the stress level.

Uncontrolled stress leads to blood pressure issues, appetite disorders and many other conditions. Be sure to employ some stress-management tips at your workplace. You might not be the best boss, you know. Still that does not make you a bad person, it is just something to consider: so let your employees have a say and a way to release their stress.

Formalize lunch-breaks.

Make sure you have a lunchbreak schedule, so people can sit down, enjoy their meal and get back to work. Snacking and grabbing fast food at work is not only unhealthy, but counter-productive. Forbid your staff to eat at workplace and make a dining place, even if it’s a symbolic one. Set a lunch schedule if your production requires someone’s constant presence, and make sure the schedule can be observed.

The above three suggestions can get you started with more ideas. You can get more info online, both from corporate wellness companies and regular media – but don’t neglect your employees’ health, even if you are running a small business!

The Most Frequent Car Accident Injuries

by admin on January 22, 2013

the most frequent car accident injuries

Have you ever been in a car accident? Do you know someone who has? Are you constantly concerned about getting into one?

Car accidents are something that simply cannot be avoided no matter how hard you try. While most accidents are minor and you can get away with just a few scratches & bumps here and there, there is no reason for you to take it easy. Car accidents can be very serious and result in life changing injuries or death. Let us now look at some of the common injuries that occur in car accidents:

1. The most common areas of your body that are affected during car accidents are your back and your neck. Whiplash is a term that describes one of the most frequent car accident injuries. It occurs when you head is violently jerked in any direction. Your neck will hyper extend and your tendons & muscles can get severely damaged even if you are driving at very slow speeds. Usually you get a whiplash-type injury when your car is hit from the rear, as Seattle power plate chiropractic‘ statistical data reveals.

Some of the most common symptoms of whiplash include neck pain, swelling, muscle spasms, headaches, etc. You could also sprain or fracture your neck in an accident.

Back pain is also a very common symptom of car accidents. If the pain is still present after a few days it may be an indication of a deeper problem. In this case, you should get yourself checked up immediately.

2. Your knees, legs, arms & hands can also be injured when they collide with hard surfaces in an accident. You may even suffer concussions if your head bangs into a hard object. If that occurs you should monitor your health very closely over the next few days to ensure that there is no internal damage.

Very often you could also cut or bruise yourself which although very minor is nonetheless an injury.

If you have been in an accident it is very important that you get yourself proper medical attention irrespective of whether you are feeling fine or not. Your body may have some internal problems which may not be affecting you currently but will sooner or later cause you immense discomfort and pain. Sometimes, these problems could take years to start affecting your day to day life. It’s best to nip them in the bud.

The main reason your body does not react to these injuries right away is because of the rush of adrenaline through your body. It’s always good to get a complete physical checkup after an accident. This checkup can also include x-rays or even MRI’s and CT scans. The x-rays help identify fractures to any of your bones and the scans help identify any damage that is caused to your soft tissue.

The treatments for these injuries range from very simple remedies like rest to extreme treatments including surgery. Most of the times, rest is the perfect solution as any damage that you have caused to your body just requires time to heal. The doctor might also suggest some physical therapy to aid with the recovery process. Whatever the case is, make sure to consult a physician and leave nothing to chance.

Tips on dealing with muscle cramps.

by admin on January 20, 2013

tips on dealing with muscle cramps

Muscle cramps are known to almost anyone leading an active lifestyle and doing any sort of sports exercise. It’s a painful involuntary contraction of a certain muscle in your body that seems to come and go without any reason.

Muscle cramps are generally not a serious condition but they cause a lot fo inconvenience due to their sudden nature. Basically they emerge during a sports activity and brutally disrupt it, forcing you to stop what you’ve been doing abruptly.

For instance, muscle cramps in legs are dangerous while swimming because they basically make the leg unusable and you get disoriented from that as well as the sudden pain shock. As a result drowning becomes a very viable danger.

Same way, muscle cramps that appear as you are running can cause you to trip or fall which would bring about some damage.

The nature of cramps is not absolutely clear although the common assumption is that they come from muscle fatigue and lack of two important minerals in our body: sodium and potassium.

If you start getting muscle cramps, do not panic but keep in mind that something is off in your body. Either the mineral or fluid balance is not good or you are over-training, or you did not stretch enough before the exercise. Mental and physical preparation is crucial for any physical activty, so never skip on your stretching.

The best immediate remedies for muscle cramps would be to try and relax, stretch the contracted muscle, massage it with finders and breather deeply. After you’ve given your muscle some time off and reached relaxation, you will be good to go again.

If your cramps persist consider consulting professionals. A sports rehab clinic, like Kinetic Sports Rehab in Seattle, would have all kinds of specialists necessary to fix an overtrained body: massage therapists, chiropractors, kinesio taping professionals and much more.

What is “gluten-free”?

by admin on January 12, 2013

berries are gluten-free

Gluten-free foods are a huge trend. People concerned about their health and diet prefer buying gluten-free foods since it has become common knowledge that gluten is best avoided, just as any other typical processed food ingredient.

Gluten is formed by several proteins. They are

  • albumins
  • glutelins
  • globulins
  • prolamins

Wheat is known to have most gluteins and prolamins, while rice and corn has a lot more albumins and globulins.

Generally speaking, processed foods have most gluten proteins, so if you wish to reduce gluten in your diet, make it your first step to give up processed foods. By processed foods we mean any sauces (ketchup, gravy, store-bought mayonnaise etc.), store-bought soups, soup mixes and broth cubes, liquors and some dairy. Remember, gluten proteins are natural thickeners and flavor enhancers, so whenever you think the food in front of you has been thickened or enhanced – try to pass on it.

If you want to learn more about Gluten sensitivity (or Celiac disease), watch this video: