Blog of pua.melia409

Many people have come to the realization that their favorite time of the year is also the part of the year that they dread the most, due to the stress and hassle that comes with their own allergies.  Allergies affect a very large number of the world???s population.  Symptoms range from the mild ones that can be controlled with a simple over the counter medicine, to the serious ones that can cause far more disruptive health problems such as various nasal and ear infections.  It???s no wonder why some people who have to deal with these allergies feel like they need to hide themselves away during allergy season.  If you are one of those people, there are some things that you can do to better prepare yourself for the approaching allergy season.

One of the best ways to help lessen your allergy trouble is to know everything there is to know about the particular allergy, including what types of foods that can help set it off.  For instance, the pollen that is in the air that you breathe can cause a reaction when coupled with certain foods that you may eat such as different fruits and nuts.  Another good idea to help combat allergy season is to stock up on certain types of over the counter medicines such as non-drowsy antihistamines and nasal sprays.  These will offer you some measure of relief when the allergy symptoms come calling.  If watery, itchy eyes are a staple for you during allergy season, then something as simple as wearing sunglasses to keep the pollen out of your eyes can work wonders.

Choosing your outdoor activities and the time of the day that you are outside can also be of major significance to the allergy sufferer.  Doing work in the yard during the peak morning hours when the pollen count in the air is at its highest is probably not the best of ideas.  If you must work outdoors, wearing a surgical type facemask can help filter the air you breathe.  While indoors, instead of opening windows it may be better to run the air conditioner instead to keep the air in your house as pollen free as possible.  One more thing you can do is to take a shower before bedtime and wash your hair.  This will keep anything that you have acquired on your body throughout the day from getting on your sheets and pillows.

Allergy season can be a frustrating time for those who suffer, but using the above mentioned tips will certainly help alleviate some of the aggravation.

For more information on how to battle your allergies, click here!

Simply put, the more that you know about your health the better.  However, the fact is that many people tend to have a very care free attitude when it comes to their health.  When a problem arises they find a way to assess it and deal with it, but they are not interested in taking the time to find out what may have caused the problem to begin with.  Sure, they may take steps to prevent the problem from resurfacing again, but odds are that they might not keep a very close eye on the situation.  Although this is a very easy way to live life, the simple truth is that it???s also a dangerous one in some instances.  After all, it???s possible that not taking the time to know what is happening to your body can cause you and your health a great deal of harm.  A small problem can grow into a much larger one if not addressed in a timely fashion, so it???s important to know everything you can as soon as you can.

It???s also important to know everything about your health so that you can better inform any doctor or physician about your health history.  Odds are the more that you can tell them, the better treatment you will receive.  Telling your doctor about any allergies that you might have to certain medications can potentially save you from a life threatening situation.  Try to keep a record of all the major ailments and illnesses that you have encountered in the past, as this will certainly help the doctor as he addresses any current problem that you may have.  Besides your own health history, it???s just as important to know your family???s health history as well.  This can play a determining factor in many health problems you possibly could encounter, so the more you know about the past will certainly help you in the present and future.

If there is something that is ailing you, then by all means you should look into finding out everything that there is to know about it.  Not every type of treatment or medication works for every single person, so the more you know about the problem the more options you will have when addressing it.  Quite simply put, the more you know about your overall health, the more safe and secure you can feel in your everyday life.  Besides that, if a problem does arise you will be much more prepared to handle it.

For more information on how to take care of yourself, click here!

Holiday dishes are DELICIOUS, the unfortunate reason, they are full of fat. Now this may be somewhat of a stereotype considering the many health conscience people in our world today who rely on health and nutrition websites, magazines, and other sources for low calorie and low fat dishes. But for the majority of us who still enjoy the flavorful traditional dishes, here are a few statistics to keep in mind that may keep you from reaching for that second, third, or maybe even fourth helping.

You???re not American if you don???t like apple pie right? Right, well considering the fact that America has one of the highest obesity rates what I am about to tell you next may not shock you. Apple pie is one of the fattiest holiday dishes made by Americans. One sixth of a piece of pie his 300 calories, 15g of fat, and unimaginable amounts of sugar. Now multiple that by two pieces and most women are at half of their daily calorie percentages.

Eggnog, a rum based drink enjoyed by many people in our country. Personally, I can???t stand the stuff but for one reason or another it has become a staple during the holiday season. Unfortunately, only one glass of eggnog contains 340 calories, 20g of fat, and again a ton of sugar. I know it can be difficult to give up a favorite food or drink but if you???re watching your weight you should consider moving to some hot spiced apple cider with whiskey.

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows is another holiday dish I have never enjoyed, however, it is found at most all Thanksgiving meals. I know your waiting for it so here it is; one serving of this dish has about 300 calories, with 49g of fat.

Now I realize that completely forgoing a holiday meal is unrealistic and eating the health mark stuff isn???t satisfying enough during this season so instead of taking multiple servings of a dish you know is high in fat, take just one. This will prevent a lot of guilt, I promise.

For more information on holiday dishes and some tips to make them healthier, click here!

We all know that baking is a huge part of not only Thanksgiving but of Christmas as well. There are few people who abstain from baking cookies, pies or cakes during the holiday season. Unfortunately, baked goods usually mean unwanted calories, fat and sugar.  Lucky for us though there are many ways to make our holiday baking healthier. Here are some of those tips!

The first thing to remember when it comes to changing a baking recipe is to make small changes and to limit the number of changes. Making all of the following changes can make for some interesting baked goods so take all of these suggestions with a grain of salt.

The first thing you can do to make your baking a little healthier is to include some wheat flour instead of using entirely all purpose. The standard ratio for this change usually half and half. Depending on the baked good though this can make for a rather dry good so make sure you play with the recipe to see what works best with all of your recipes.  

Another easy change that can be made is to reduce the amount of sugar within a recipe. Sugar makes for both unwanted sugar and unwanted fat. Most of the time recipes actually call for more sugar than is really needed so using less sugar is okay. The standard deviation for this suggestion is about one fourth, which also means one fourth the fat and sugar.

In order to sustain flavor in your recipes while changing the amount of sugar you put in you can add other flavors. Tasty baking flavors that offset the reduction in sugar include cinnamon, vanilla or nutmeg.

Also, to reduce the fat within your baked goods you can often times use vegetable oil in place of butter or shortening.

So remember this holiday season if you are looking to reduce your caloric intake while still indulging in all the delicious holiday dishes, making your baked goods healthier with these tips is a good way to do so. For more information on healthy baking and cooking, click here!

Do you love the rich and delicious holiday meals you and your loved ones make but hate the calories and fat that is almost a certainty? Well having done some research online I found some healthy recipes for what I consider to be staple holiday foods. Let me share.

Egg Nog notoriously has ridiculous amounts of calories, fat and sugar but so many people have a hard time saying no when it comes to having this delicious rum drink. Here is a recipe for a low fat and low calorie substitute:

1 quart skim milk

1 cup fat free egg substitute

½ cup fat free instant vanilla pudding powder

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 reaspoon rum extract

Freshly grated nutmeg

With all that delicious fruit an apple pie should be healthy but the truth is each slice can have as muc has 750 calories and 30 grams of fat. For the most part the crust can be to blame, so try this whole wheat pastry flour recipe to add fiber and lower the saturated fat by replacing butter with canola oil.

1 ¼ cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1.4 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

½ teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

¼ cup reduced fat sour cream

3 tablespoons canola oil

4 tablespoons ice water

To prepare crust: Whisk whole-wheat flour, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Cut butter into small pieces and, with your fingers, quickly rub them into the dry ingredients until the pieces are smaller but still visible. Add sour cream and oil; toss with a fork to combine with the dry ingredients. Sprinkle water over the mixture. Toss with a fork until evenly moist. Knead the dough with your hands in the bowl a few times"the mixture will still be a little crumbly. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead a few more times, until the dough just holds together. Divide the dough in half and shape into 5-inch-wide disks. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Who would have ever thought that a vegetable dish would be considered bad for you, well I am here to tell you that green bean casserole has been rated one of the top five unhealthiest holiday dishes. Here is a recipe that doesn???t skim on the flavor but definitely skimps on the fat and calories.

1 lb frozen or fresh green beans

1 can low sodium or reduced fat cream of mushroom soup

¾ cup skim milk

Pepper

1 large oinion

Flour

Salt

For fresh green beans clean trim and cut. Add some water to a pan and cook beans until almost tender while they are cooking make the frazzled onions. Peel onion and cut in half slice very thin. Spread out and salt them let set 1 minute but no longer. Put some flour in a bag add onions and shake until they are all coated shake off excess spray skillet add onions and spray them also cook turning frequently until brown and crisp. Drain green beans and mix with the soup, milk, pepper and half of the crisp onions. Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes then top with the rest of the onions and cook another 5 minutes.

While these dishes certainly don’t stand for all holiday favorites they are among the highest in calories as well as the fattiest. If you would like more healthy holiday dish recipes, click here!

With Christmas nearing you are inevitably seeing delicious peppermint candy canes being sold in your local grocery store.  Candy canes are one the best selling candies during the holiday season and are have multiple uses, including being used as Christmas tree decorations. Obviously eating them as a treat is the most popular use, but did you know that ingesting peppermint actually has health benefits for you?

Foremost, peppermint soothes the human digestive tract which in turn limits indigestion and results in less flatulence. Peppermint also helps alleviate stomach conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome and has been found useful in treating stomach cancer and gallbladder disease.

Peppermint has also been shown to stunt the growth of many different types of bacteria and fungi. This in turn has been found to help relieve symptoms of allergies and asthma.

Finally, while many of you are probably not going to go around rubbing candy canes all over yourselves, peppermint oil has been found to help relieve tension headaches. And the mere smell of peppermint has been known to relieve stress.

So when you???re trying to decide what to have as a treat this holiday season reach for that candy cane and you who knows you may feel better after consumption than before!

For more information on the health benefits of peppermint, click here!

Have you ever heard the saying ???an apple a day will keep the doctor away???? Well now studies are beginning to show that moderate alcohol consumption, such as a glass of wine an evening with dinner may in fact have positive health effects. Now this article isn???t to suggest that prolonged and excessive alcohol consumption will be detrimental to one???s health, because it will, it is merely to suggest that indulging in a regular glass of wine is not harmful to your health.

A study called the ???French Paradox??? has confirmed that moderate wine consumption can be associated with a significant reduction in all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease and cancer among men. The study also found that moderate wine consumption was associated with a 30% reduction in the death rate from all causes; a 35% percent reduction in death rates from cardiovascular disease; and an 18-24% reduction in death rates from cancer.

In women, moderate alcohol consumption can cause fewer kidney stones. This study found that in all there was an approximate reduction of kidney stones of 39%.

Moderate wine consumption can also be associated with a reduced risk of stroke, a recent study says. Researchers believe that wine???s protective effects may be linked to disease fighting compounds other than alcohol. The study explicitly found that those who drank wine in moderation either daily, weekly or monthly had a 16%, 34%, and 32% reduced risk of stroke, respectively.

A glass of wine each day has also been found that create a lower risk of atherosclerosis than either abstainers or heavy drinkers. Atherosclerosis is a gradual build up of fatty deposits in arteries and is the leading contributor to coronary disease and fatal heart attacks. The study suggests that a glass of wine with dinner delays the absorption of harmful lipids.

Overall, researchers around the world have found that moderate alcohol consumption can be associated with a longer life. Moderate drinkers, they say, appear to be at a lower risk for all causes of death including cancer and other chronic disease. Ultimately, scientists say that the lowest mortality rate occurs in those who consume one or two drinks per day. So for all you wine drinkers out there raise your glass and cheers to a longer and more fruitful life!

For more information on the health benefits of wine, click here!

If you are someone who is constantly on the go, and your daily routine is filled with various activities, then odds are you have very little time for exercise.  However, it???s important to know that adding some form of exercise to your busy schedule can be a great benefit to your health.  It doesn???t have to be an activity that will take a great deal of time, or even one that is overly strenuous and will tire you out for the rest of the day.  In fact, even the simplest exercise routine can be a great reward to your overall well being.

Exercising daily can pay huge dividends, and the benefits of doing so are as many as they are important.  One of the great benefits includes a healthier body structure, and with a healthier body comes healthier bones and increased mobility.  Reduced risk of many common diseases is another excellent benefit of exercise.  The chances of having diseases such as diabetes, colon cancer, and heart related diseases can all be reduced greatly.  Maintaining a healthy weight and reducing or preventing the development of high blood pressure are other great benefits.  Besides the physical rewards, there is also less of a chance you will be bogged down with depression or anxiety.

The hardest part, however, is trying to find the time to fit exercise into your day.  Here are a few different ideas that can help you add some sort of exercise to your day.  For starters, if you work close to home and it???s possible for you to get there by walking or bicycling then by all means do so.  This is perhaps the easiest way to adding exercise to your schedule when you feel there is little time to do so.  A little extra daily walk certainly won???t kill you, and in fact can help add years to your life instead.  While at work, stretching at your desk or cubicle is a simple exercise you can do.  Using your lunch break for a quick walk or jog is another great idea.  Instead of crashing on the couch when you get home from work, try and find a chore or outdoor activity that you can do to keep yourself busy.

As you can see, only good things can come of you adding exercise to your busy day.  If you can work in just a little bit of exercise into your schedule, you will begin to look at your life in a whole new way.

For more information on fitting exercise into your day, click here!

There are a substantial number of people who develop serious health problems due to the protein known as gluten.  Gluten is found in wheat, barley, and rye.  The consumption of gluten can cause an allergic reaction in some people, while others are faced with an illness known as celiac disease.  Celiac is a disease of the small intestine that can cause chronic diarrhea and fatigue among other things.  Although the number of people affected by celiac disease was once thought to be rather small, it seems the number of cases is constantly on the rise.  This doesn???t count the number of people who may have the disease and simply pass it off as something else while remaining undiagnosed.

The solution to the allergic reactions to gluten as well as celiac disease is a gluten-free diet.  A gluten-free diet is one that is void of any of the ingredients of foods that contain gluten, as well as any type of food that uses gluten as an additive.  This obviously includes many types of grain based breads and cereals, of which the market is bountiful.  Besides wheat, barley, and rye, it is also a good idea to avoid any food containing oats as the studies on their effect on those choosing to be gluten-free is still up for debate.  So what are good food options for those who are on a gluten-free diet?

Some of the best foods you can add to your gluten-free diet are fruits and vegetables.  Perhaps the best thing about that fact is that basically any fruit or vegetable can be included in your diet.  You won???t have to search for gluten-free labels on cans or boxes to determine whether or not you are able to eat what???s inside.  Instead, it???s as easy as going down to your local supermarket or out to your own personal garden and choosing the fruits and vegetables of your choice.  As long as you are not cooking them with foods or sauces that contain gluten, you are good to go.  In fact, a gluten-free diet is very comparable to that of a vegan diet.  Just make sure that you balance your diet so that you are getting all that you need.  There are many gluten-free breads, pastas, and dairy products to help you achieve a natural balance.

A gluten-free diet doesn???t have to be void of many of the things you enjoy, especially with a full variety of fruits and vegetables there for the choosing.

For more information on gluten free diets, click here!

Many people have a hard time sticking to their diet without the temptation of suckle turkey, decadent desserts, mashed potatoes and yes gravy. You tell yourself, it???s the holiday season so I will give myself a break from my diet but the next thing you know Thanksgiving turns to Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve turns to Christmas Day, Christmas Day turns to New Years Eve and New Years Eve turns to New Years Day. The by the time the holidays are over yours pants are snug again. Let me just tell you that it is possible to thoroughly enjoy the holidays without completely breaking your diet, here???s how.

The first key to not over indulging on a holiday is to eat throughout the day, don???t fast in the morning in order to prepare for the evening meal. Fasting doesn???t make your stomach bigger but it does make you ravenous, causing you to eat much more than you normally would.

Before you leave your house to eat, or if you???re eating at home, grab a handful of nuts such as almonds, cashews, or walnuts. This food will fill your stomach with some healthy proteins that will make you feel less hungry and therefore less likely to overindulge in the holiday meal.

If you can???t swing having some protein before the big meal take only one serving of dishes such as mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls and butter or anything else with high fat content. Instead, eat multiple servings of vegetables. This way you can have everything you want but without the guilt and you will still leave the meal with a full stomach.

Try also to stay away from alcohol. When you drink excessively your liver stops absorbing sugars and cause your blood sugar level to drop causing your brain to think it needs to eat to raise it back up. Drinking one glass of wine or having one beer probably won???t do it but watch your alcohol intake to avoid overeating.

One last thing that will save your diet during the holidays is to indulge. When you are craving a piece of pie, a glass of eggnog or anything else, don???t deprive yourself because of your diet. Resisting what your body craves only makes it want it more so when you finally do give in you are more likely to overindulge. Instead, have a small slice, glass or serving that will give your appetite what it wants without eating too much.

For more information on how to stick to your diets during the holidays as well as to find healthy holiday recipes, click here!