Are you not satisfied with your look because you are overweight? Obesity and overweight have always been associated with human appearance and physical beauty. Most of the time overweight people are considered unattractive and in worst cases they turn into laughing-stock in the society. There are many occasions in the life of an obese person when he is ashamed of his own physical appearance and suffers from inferiority complex. At times he does not even have a social life. But the curse of obesity does not end with the deformation of a body. Obesity or being overweight is not just a matter of physical beauty; it has the power to have a menacing affect on your health that may be life-threatening.

Yes, this is true! Obesity has the power to succumb your health condition. You will be horrified if I tell you that according to CDC researchers, an estimated 300,000 American deaths per year are related to obesity. Obesity experts say that the patients with morbid obesity which is of BMI 40+ or malignant obesity of BMI 50+ remain at a high risk of premature death.

Let me tell you about the diseases which come along with obesity;

· Stroke and Heart Disease

· Diabetes Type 2 or noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus

· Cancer of Colon, Rectum, Prostrate, uterus, gallbladder, cervix, ovary and breast

· Osteoarthritis

· Gout

· Gallbladder Diseases

· Sleep Apnoea

Obese or overweight people are more likely to suffer from the above mentioned diseases twice as compared to people of normal weight. Moreover there are certain other diseases that are very closely related to obesity; i.e. deep vein thrombosis, breathing problems, chronic venous insufficiency, fatty liver disease and health risk of expectant mother and baby etc.

There are certain symptoms that signify greater risk hence it is important for every obese person to have knowledge about the same. In case of central or abdominal obesity there is a higher risk of weight-related physical problems. Abdominal obesity is a warning sign of cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance syndrome.

Again, women with waist circumference of about 35+ inches and men with waist measurement of 40+ inches are endangered with more susceptibility towards diseases. You can also check your waist-hip ratio in which a woman with a waist-to-hip ratio of more than 0.8 or a man with waist-to-hip ratios of more than 1.0 are considered “apples”. This is a condition of bigger health risk owing to their body fat distribution.

But there is always light at the end of the tunnel. You can reduce the chances of developing heart disease or a stroke by losing just a small amount of weight. A 10 percent reduction will be enough to improve your heart function, blood pressure, and levels of blood cholesterol and triglycerides. Many researchers have proved that you can develop your health condition just by losing as little as 10 to 20 pounds. Is not it an easy answer to your obesity induced health problems?

Check your BMI and tighten your belt. It is your time to shed a few kilos, if not for beauty, may be you will do it at least for the sake of your health. Get set go!!

_____________________________________________________

The author, Monalisa Hyden, addresses health and fitness related issues. If you wish to help yourself and your loved ones, you can log on to http://www.adipexpower.com for more information and advice.

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If you are not taking care of your health you are telling yourself that your body, and thus you as a person, is not important. If you want to have a high self-esteem you need to tell yourself that YOU ARE IMPORTANT.

Think about somebody that you love very much. It may for example be a friend or it may be a family member. Imagine that this person got ill. Wouldn’t you wish for that person to become healthy again? If you could, wouldn’t you want to do everything that you could possibly do to help that person get better? If you really love somebody you want that person to be as healthy as possible and feel as good as possible all the time. You want to help that person to be at his/her optimal physical state both in the short-term and in the long-term.

Your level of self-esteem is basically your amount of love towards yourself. The higher self-esteem you have the more you will also be able to love others. In order to raise your self-esteem you need to act as if you already had a high self-esteem. You cannot start to love yourself more if you are constantly treating yourself as if you didn’t. Therefore, in order to raise your self-esteem you need to take care of your own physical health because that is what you would do if you really loved yourself.

A person with high self-esteem considers herself/himself important. This is NOT the same as considering oneself to be MORE important than others. At the contrary, the higher value you consider yourself to have the more value you will be able to see in others. If you think that you are an important person, then it becomes obvious that you will want to take care of the body that is supporting you and keeping you alive. Taking care of that body involves eating well, exercising, resting and so on. If you neglect your physical health you’re sending the message to yourself that you are not important enough to be taken care of. On the other hand, if you do take care of yourself, you’re sending yourself the message that you are important enough to have an ideal health so that you can live longer and develop your potentials.

Take care of your health and self-esteem will follow!

Liv Miyagawa – The Self-Esteem Coach

Liv Miyagawa, The Self-Esteem Coach, helps people all over the world to raise their self-esteem and to reach their personal goals. She opens people’s eyes to their own strengths and helps them to figure out what it really is that they want to get out of life. Liv helps people to find out exactly what steps they need to take to reach their goals, and she supports them and motivates them on their journey towards a more fulfilling future. http://www.livmiyagawa.com

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In these times of greater transition, many seek answers to life’s deeper questions. Many are drawn to wondering, just what might be done about the issues that seem daunting. What might we do about: Climate Change, over-population, pollution and ongoing wars?

Conflict exists between nations, neighbors and family members, in large part due to the conflict within individuals themselves. And being so inter-connected, and sharing one planet; everything anyone does, affects all others to some degree. So my question becomes, what can I do, for my own well-being, that may also benefit the good-of-all?

In a world where not all have their daily needs met, what makes for health and well-being and enjoyment of life? In the physical realm there is what I eat, what activities I do, the lifestyle I choose, and the care I take. The emotional is healthy according to the company I keep, the thoughts I entertain, or the environments in which I reside. The mental and psychological require balance and this can be maintained through just taking time out to relax and be. Attitude is a key, as is being aware of just what thoughts I allow to occupy my mind. For those interested in wholeness, Spirit is also a part.

All of these areas go to support me in maintaining health, and giving support to the natural healing properties that the human body has inbuilt. One of the problems I see in the modern world is where people are so busy and occupied with matters outside of their own well-being, that they forget to relax and to allow this natural homeostasis. We forget just how important it is to well-being to just be.

There are many simple ways to assist one’s health and enjoyment of life by just making time to relax. Relaxing is induced through choosing to smile, learning to accept life as it is, allowing change and embracing change, as well as remembering what we did as a child and to play. As children found a myriad of things to delight us, and usually through play. As adults we often get lost in the fears, worries and mind-stuff.

Surely, part of our wealth of inheritance is what we experience when we are healthy, rather than in straining to survive the world at all. We live in abundant as well as challenging times, and it is perhaps critical that we begin to focus on the gifts that we have, rather than on the never-ending stuff that distracts us from our enjoyment of what is. Perhaps this is a good time to identify what is really important in our life and to choose enjoyment rather than stress. To give more attention to – that which creates joy.

Arjuna Govindamurti is an educator, writer and freelance actor who lives in Daylesford, Australia. For three decades he has pursued an understanding of “the human condition” and what makes for optimal health, well-being and wholeness. Arjuna has a deep interest in human well-being as well as the health of the Earth itself. Arjuna presently edits and administers Deva Wings Publications whose aim is to offer education in spiritual psychology, holistic philosophy and transformational paradigms. See http://www.devawings.com for further information.

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I have always followed doctors’ orders.  But lately, I’ve started to wonder if that’s a good policy, per se.  Case in point:  Mammograms.  We’ve been told that mammograms save lives with early detection to prevent or minimize the effects of breast cancer.  And with advances like digital mammography, I really hadn’t questioned the common wisdom or given it much thought beyond the fact that I was due for a screening.

The Visit:
Armed with my doctor’s referral, I arrived early at the special wing of the hospital where mammograms are conducted.  I chatted for a moment with the receptionist, confirming what I’d been told about the new digital method. She said it was much better than the old film x-rays, quicker, more accurate, and not at all painful.  A breeze, she said.  These were all the same things my doctor had told me, so I felt relaxed and worry-free when I took the requisite hospital gown into the dressing room to get ready for my close up.

The Betrayal:
I was smiling as they led me into the x-ray room.  Granted, that smile slipped a bit as the technician told me to place my right breast onto the glass tableau that had been raised and adjusted to fit my height.  But I held my ground, steady on.  As she began to lower the top piece of glass, a niggling worry began to form.  Hold up, I thought. This is the exact same thing they do with the film X-rays.  So where’s the difference?

I tried to push back these thoughts, staving off the panicky feeling of being trapped.  Surely with digital film, they don’t bring that glass down all the way…   But they did.  Lower.  And lower.  And lower still.  Squashing my poor mamacita so impossibly flat, tears leaked from my disbelieving eyes.  If my breasts had of been grapes, we’d have had wine.

The Questioning:
It had all been a pretty lie, and I had bought it lock, stock, and barrel. And maybe that’s how it had to go down to get me into that screening, I don’t know.  But of this I am sure:  that’s the day I started looking at things differently.  The doctors, the tests, the people who support it all.  I began to ask myself questions about these procedures that we’re told we need:  How effective are they? How often do we really need them? Are they safe? And who really benefits?  I had the questions, and now I needed answers.

Mammograms: What and When?
According to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health, a mammogram is a picture of the breast, obtained by X-ray, and there are two types:  diagnostic and screening. The screening mammogram is recommended yearly or biennially, for all women over the age of 40.  Recently, according to a CBS news report, a government panel (the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, USPSTF) came out with the controversial recommendation that women wait until age 50 to start being screened.  The reason for this is because they believed that the benefits of early screenings were not worth the harm (emotional and otherwise) caused by possible false positives resulting in biopsies that really weren’t necessary. But the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist, as well as other entities like the Mayo Clinic, said NO, we should continue recommending mammogram screenings starting at age 40.  This recommendation was backed by the findings of one particular Swedish study, involving more than a million subjects.  The study showed that women who had screenings in their 40s, were 29% less likely to die of breast cancer.

The diagnostic mammogram on the other hand, is an after-the-fact tool, used to investigate lumps, pain, changes in skin texture, or changes occurring from one screening to another. The diagnostic mammogram is more involved and more time consuming, because unlike screening mammograms, more pictures are taken, and suspicious areas are magnified to aid diagnosis.

Film vs Digital: Which Method Is Better?
Just like in photography, it depends on who you ask. And at any given time, each side has a point.  Supporters of the traditional film X-ray say that digital imagery is not any more effective in cancer detection and costs more to boot. They claim that the change from film to digital X-ray is a direct result of aggressive marketing campaigns and successful political maneuvering by the manufacturers of the digital screening equipment.  These ploys created such a strong public demand, that the insurance companies were forced to adopt the new method.

In a medical news article on Medicalxpress.com, researchers found that with women who have yet to experience menopause, are in their 40s, and have dense breasts, digital mammography might be more effective at detecting cancer. As previously stated however, the risk of a false positive is higher in these cases than with film.  Proponents of digital mammography site convenience, immediacy of results, image adjustment, and the quick and easy storage, retrieval, and transfer of the images as some of the benefits.

Ultimately however, the answer to which method is better really depends upon factors and circumstance; neither method wins out totally, with both methods performing about the same for women in the 50+ age bracket.  So it really comes down to what your medical facility offers, and what your insurance provider will cover. And I’ve learned that it pays to call ahead and ask questions about methods and insurance provision for procedures, facilities, and staff.

Check back for the next installment: Mammograms: The Painful Truth – Part Two, where we explore the meaning of the screening results, and your options.

About the Author

This article was written by Maureen Page, VP of Discount Security Cameras, your source for quality security cameras and security camera systems. She enjoys sharing her love of technology, reading, and music with her husband and two children in Jacksonville, FL.

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Most of us, at one time or another, have faced some sort of overwhelming challenge. Whether it be in business, relationships, or health – some challenges can take us for a loop, places where we don’t want to go… if we allow. We’re human – even the most seemingly, perfectly grounded person – struggles at times.

If you’ve been severely challenged or are presently worrying and stressing over a difficult situation – try showing a bit of thanks – gratitude – for all that IS working right in your life. And, build from there. Gratitude is powerful.

Did you know that next to immunodepressants, gratitude heals organ transplant patients fastest?

The Mississippi University for Women found out in a study that patients who kept a gratitude journal scored better in mental health tests than those who didn’t, even when they started off at the same level of mental health. They generally healed faster, had more vitality and were happier.

It doesn’t stop there – those who are unwell are not the only people who benefit from an attitude of gratitude. The debate continues as to whether material well-being and happiness makes a person grateful or whether it is the other way around. Tests were done where participants were all of the same income level, their lives were more or less the same in terms of satisfaction and happiness and their mental health was at par.

Some were asked to keep a gratitude journal and others were asked to go on living as usual. After 2 months, the people who kept gratitude journals showed significant leaps in happiness and well-being. They said they were much more energetic and felt that they got what they wanted. They felt that they traveled towards their goals faster.

What is the connection between gratitude and well being?

There’s really no single explanation, but there’s agreement on one thing: the more grateful you are, the more positive you feel about life and about yourself, and the more you achieve.

Gratitude helps you see all things in their perspective. In the past, when you’ve felt grateful for something or someone – did you see how suddenly that thing’s or person’s value swelled and became even more meaningful to you?

If you wake up and immediately give thanks for a great, blue sky, you’ll notice that the day seems much richer. If you give thanks for your spouse, your brain has a way of picking it up and making you see even better things about them and this makes you feel happier. Happiness leads to well-being.

Gratitude also makes you focus on the things that you’re grateful for and you therefore attract more. It’s the old law of attraction, which holds that what you think about grows. If you’re grateful for strong, fulfilling relationships, they tend to grow and therefore you’ll be happier. If you’re grateful for a strong business, it will grow and you’ll feel more fulfilled.

Does it really matter why gratitude leads to well-being?

You now know that it does, so why not start to practice it. How would you gain from being able to put your challenges in perspective, faster? I was able to start making positive moves to create the outcome that I preferred. Yes, it required a time commitment. In fact, as a busy woman, fitting “gratitude time” into my day was very difficult at first. But, I found the time because it was that important.

I discovered that if I wanted to do it, I had to set aside a time for nothing else but “gratitude time” and my journal had to be in a place where I couldn’t ignore it. After awhile it became my habit – the first thing I do before I get out of bed.

I think about and write down what I am grateful for. The more grateful I am, the more I have to be grateful for – the better I feel and the more productive I am throughout my day. What a powerful way to start your day!!

I encourage you to make a gratitude journal. Plan it in such a way that it’s in your path everyday and you can’t ignore it. You’ll find that after days, even just hours of your first journaling, your perspective will be different and you will have given yourself more time to go forward and focus on what matters most.

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What is Health?

How do you define health? Is it a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being? Is it merely the absence of disease or infirmity? Or is health a resource for everyday life, rather than the objective of living; a positive concept, emphasizing social and personal resources as well as physical capabilities?

Good health is harder to define than bad health (which can be equated with the presence of disease), because it must convey a concept more positive than mere absence of disease, and there is a variable area between health and disease. Health is clearly a complex, multidimensional concept. Health is, ultimately, poorly defined and difficult to measure, despite impressive efforts by epidemiologists, vital statisticians, social scientists and political economists. Each individual’s health is shaped by many factors, including medical care, social circumstances, and behavioral choices.

Health Care

While it is true to say that health care is the prevention, treatment and management of illness, and the preservation of mental and physical well-being, through the services offered by the medical, nursing and allied health professions, health-related behavior is influenced by our own values, which are determined by upbringing, by example, by experience, by the company one keeps, by the persuasive power of advertising (often a force of behavior that can harm health), and by effective health education. Healthy individuals are able to mobilize all their physical, mental, and spiritual resources to improve their chances of survival, to live happy and fulfilling lives, and to be of benefit to their defendants and society.

Achieving health, and remaining healthy, is an active process. Natural health is based on prevention, and on keeping our bodies and minds in good shape. Health lies in balancing these aspects within the body through a regimen consisting of diet, exercise, and regulation of the emotions. The last of these is too often ignored when health advice is dispensed, but can have a pronounced effect on physical well-being.

Diet

Every day, or so it seems, new research shows that some aspect of lifestyle – physical activity, diet, alcohol consumption, and so on – affects health and longevity. Physical fitness is good bodily health, and is the result of regular exercise, proper diet and nutrition, and proper rest for physical recovery. The field of nutrition also studies foods and dietary supplements that improve performance, promote health, and cure or prevent disease, such as fibrous foods to reduce the risk of colon cancer, or supplements with vitamin C to strengthen teeth and gums and to improve the immune system. When exercising, it becomes even more important to have a good diet to ensure that the body has the correct ratio of macro nutrients whilst providing ample micro nutrients; this is to aid the body in the recovery process following strenuous exercise.

If you’re trying to lose weight by “dieting”, don’t call it a diet, first of all – successful dieters don’t call what they do a “diet”. A healthy diet and regular physical activity are both important for maintaining a healthy weight. Even literate, well-educated people sometimes have misguided views about what makes or keeps them healthy, often believing that regular daily exercise, regular bowel movements, or a specific dietary regime will alone suffice to preserve their good health. Despite the ever-changing, ever-conflicting opinions of the medical experts as to what is good for us, one aspect of what we eat and drink has remained constantly agreed by all: a balanced diet.

A balanced diet comprises a mixture of the main varieties of nutriments (protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, and vitamins). Proper nutrition is just as, if not more, important to health as exercise. If you’re concerned about being overweight, you don’t need to add the extra stress of “dieting”. No “low-fat this” or “low-carb that”; just healthful eating of smaller portions, with weight loss being a satisfying side effect. Improve health by eating real food in moderation. (For many reasons, not everyone has easy access to or incentives to eat a balanced diet. Nevertheless, those who eat a well-balanced diet are healthier than those who do not.)

Exercise

Physical exercise is considered important for maintaining physical fitness and overall health (including healthy weight), building and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system. Aerobic exercises, such as walking, running and swimming, focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance and muscle density. Anaerobic exercises, such as weight training or sprinting, increase muscle mass and strength. Proper rest and recovery are also as important to health as exercise, otherwise the body exists in a permanently injured state and will not improve or adapt adequately to the exercise. The above two factors can be compromised by psychological compulsions (eating disorders, such as exercise bulimia, anorexia, and other bulimias), misinformation, a lack of organization, or a lack of motivation.

Ask your doctor or physical therapist what exercises are best for you. Your doctor and/or physical therapist can recommend specific types of exercise, depending on your particular situation. You can use exercises to keep strong and limber, improve cardiovascular fitness, extend your joints’ range of motion, and reduce your weight. You should never be too busy to exercise. There’s always a way to squeeze in a little exercise, no matter where you are. Eliminate one or maybe even two items from your busy schedule to free up time to fit in some exercise and some “YOU” time. Finding an exercise partner is a common workout strategy.

Emotions

You may have heard about the benefits of diet and exercise ad nauseam, but may be unaware of the effect that your emotions can have on your physical well-being and, indeed, your longevity. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life. Mental health is how we think, feel, and act in order to face life’s situations. Prolonged psychological stress may have a negative impact on health, such as weakening the immune system.

Children are particularly vulnerable. Caring for and protecting a child’s mental health is a major part of helping that child to grow into a normal adult, accepted into society. Mental health problems are not just a passing phase. Children are at greater risk for developing mental health problems when certain factors occur in their lives or environments. Mental health problems include depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depressive illness), attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, schizophrenia and conduct disorder. Do your best to provide a safe and loving home and community for your child, as well as nutritious meals, regular health check-ups, immunisations and exercise. Many children experience mental health problems that are real and painful, and they can be severe. Mental health problems affect at least one in every five young people at any given time. Tragically, an estimated two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need. Mental health problems can lead to school failure, alcohol or other drug abuse, family discord, violence, or even suicide. A variety of signs may point to a possible mental health problem in a child or teenager. Talk to your doctor, a school counselor, or other mental health professionals who are trained to assess whether your child has a mental health problem.

Control your emotions. If a driver overtakes you on the wrong side, or pulls out of a side road in front of you, don’t seethe with rage and honk your horn; You’re hurting no one but yourself by raising your blood pressure. Anger has been linked to heart disease, and research has suggested that hardening of the arteries occurs faster in people who score highly in hostility and anger tests. Stay calm in such situations, and feel proud of yourself for doing so. Take comfort in the knowledge that such aggressive drivers only increase their own blood pressure. Your passengers will be more impressed with your “cool” than with your irascibility.

If you are in a constant rush, feeling that every second of your life counts, just slow down a little. Yes, every second does count, but consider the concept of quality of life. Compare how you feel when you’re in a hurry with how you feel when you’re not. Which feels better? Rushing everywhere increases your stress level. The body tries to overcome stress by making certain physiological adjustments. Some time after you slow down, the physiological adjustments and the stress symptoms revert to normal. If you don’t ever slow down, the physiological adjustments and the stress symptoms persist. It is this persistence of the body’s response that matters. You may develop physical, physiological or psychological problems, and may not be able to lead a normal life. Many cases of stress are somehow connected with money, or rather the lack of it. Such people struggle to make ends meet or to acquire more material possessions. This brings us to our final discussion: attitude.

Attitude

It is always pleasant to enjoy the fruits of our labors, of course. Sometimes, however, it seems that whatever we do, it’s just not enough to be able to afford that new car or that foreign holiday. So, what do we usually do then? We work harder, longer; we increase the stress on our minds and bodies; we spend less time with our families and friends; we become more irascible and less likeable people. If you find yourself in this situation, just stop for a moment, and consider: Is it all worth it? What is the purpose of life? Surely it is to be happy. You’ll probably be happier if you adopt the philosophy that true quality of life is not to be found in material things. If you convince yourself that you want less, you’ll need less. If you need less, you’ll cope with life more easily, and the happier, and therefore healthier, you’ll be. Buddha called this “enlightenment”. Enjoy a “good-health attitude”. Focus on your abilities instead of disabilities. Be satisfied with what you have, rather than be dissatisfied about what you don’t have and probably never will have.

If you simply cannot cope with a healthy diet, exercise and emotional control, but genuinely prefer to eat junk food, be permanently drunk, be under constant stress, and be disliked by others, then enjoy your life while it lasts, but understand that the trade-off is that it will probably not last long. If you accept this willingly, you’ll be happy. There is some merit in the philosophy that it is better to live a short, happy life than a long, miserable one.

Conclusion

Personal or individual health is largely subjective. For most individuals and for many cultures, however, health is a philosophical and subjective concept, associated with contentment, and often taken for granted when all is going well. The evidence that behavioral factors such as diet, physical activity, smoking and stress influence health is overwhelming. Thus, health is maintained and improved not only through the advancement and application of health science, but also through the efforts and intelligent lifestyle choices of the individual and society. Perhaps the best thing you can do for your health is to keep a positive attitude. Optimal health can be defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual health. Maintain a positive attitude!

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“Optimum health is not just the absence of disease but the presence of wellness in mental, emotional, physical, spiritual and social areas. Some would also include financial health.”

Introduction

Optimum health is essential at all levels, from the individual to the society we live in to the environment around us. We have to start thinking of wealth not just in terms of possession of money and properties but also the possession of mental, emotional, physical, social and spiritual well-being.

Mental Health

The truth is mind is the forerunner of all states.

With a proper mindset, a poor man can still be happy. Conversely, if the mindset is not right, no matter how much material possessions you may have, you may still be a very unhappy person. Thus, Gandhi said, “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not enough for even a single person’s greed.”

So a healthy mind is one that possesses a mindset that can lead to happiness and contentment with self and the world around us. It provides clarity of thoughts, good insight and the ability to see things through an unbiased mind.

To be able to see things through an unbiased mind is no small feat. It is extremely difficult to note or observe the unfolding of events and phenomena without judging. We habitually associate emotions or feelings to events, and allow such emotions to direct our actions. Our likes for certain things and dislikes for others are closely associated with our emotions.

Emotional Health

It is our emotions that lead us to act impulsively at times. Thus a high level of self-awareness in this area is extremely useful. In fact, it is essential to our well-being. After all, things and relationships that may take us years to build can be destroyed in a moment of anger.

There are positive and negative emotions. Positive emotions such as love, compassion and joy should be cultivated, while negative emotions such as fear, anger and hate need to be eradicated.

When asked about this, a wise sage of India once illustrated with a story:

An old man said to his grandson, “Boy, I have two tigers caged within me. One is love and compassion. The other is fear and anger.”

The young boy asked, “Which one will win, grandfather?”

The old man replied, “The one I feed.”

At times, it may seem that we have no control over our emotions. This is not true. The truth is how well we manage our emotions depends on how aware we are of our emotions, particularly on the arising of our emotions. The earlier we are able to note the arising of our emotions, we better we can manage them.

More and more researches are showing that our well-being is closely linked to our emotional and mental health. Our body’s immune system is generally enhanced by positive mental outlook and emotion. Conversely, it is depressed by negative mental and emotional states. Thus, stress, worry, anger and fear are some states that may lead to physical illnesses such as hypertension, cardiac diseases, peptic ulcers, depression and a host of other ailments.

Physical Health

To maintain an optimum physical well-being, therefore, requires us to focus not only on our body but also our mind and emotions.

On a physical level, our body can be kept healthy through adequate sleep and rest, proper nutrition, regular exercises and a healthy environment that is free from pollution.

Spiritual Health

Throughout the ages, wise men have consistently informed and taught us that we are essentially spiritual beings.

Although medical science has not been able to reveal to us our spiritual nature, there are many indirect evidence that we would be foolish to ignore. Stories from people who had gone through a near death experience (NDE), or dying people with heightened nearing death awareness, or simply a cure from an ‘incurable’ disease all suggest that there is more to life than just the physical state.

Major religions of the world all based their teachings on the belief that we are essentially spiritual beings. According to these teachings, our physical existence is secondary.

While it may be true that we should focus our life more on our spiritual nature than our physical nature, it would be difficult for the majority of people to do so, at least not immediately. Things cannot change overnight. Mindset, however, can, and that is perhaps the best place to start.

Financial Health

However, on a more mundane level, most people are still stuck on how to survive from day to day, where to get the next cheque to pay for the house installment, so on and so forth.

Practically, therefore, we need to look into ways to achieve a financial state that would theoretically free us from the constrain of ‘forced’ work. This is where the concept of financial freedom is so attractive. According to this concept, one should strive for a state where we have one or more than one source of income that can be generated passively, that is, even when we don’t work.

This is what Robert Kiyosaki termed as ‘passive income’.

According to him, passive income can only be achieved by becoming an investor or a business owner, not a sole proprietor or an employee. To become an investor or a business owner, you must spend the time and money to acquire financial intelligence. Unlike IQ or EQ, you can acquire financial intelligence through self education.

To get a financial health check-up, consult an accountant, a banker or a financial planner you can trust.

Healthy Relationship

“No man is an island, entire by itself.”

As a medical doctor, I am in a unique position to confront and comfort dying patients. One of the most important thing that I have observed is that dying people do not ask about their money or possessions. Instead, they focus their remaining energy and strength on trying to heal wounded relationships. It is as though there is an inherent need to get a proper closure to a relationship.

Thus, forming and cultivating a healthy relationship is important for our well-being. Unfortunately, this is something we often ignored until it is too late. If there is any forgiving to be done, or the need to be forgiven, leaving things to the last minutes may end up with an unfulfilled desire for a closure.

Knowing this now, shouldn’t we spend more time and effort in improving our relationship with our loved ones, especially with our parents, spouse, children and siblings?

Dr Tim Ong is a medical doctor with 15 years of experience in family medicine. He is also a speaker, trainer and counsellor in his community. He has a personal website at KlinikOng.com

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The end of Memorial Day means one thing: the summer is here. And what better way to kick-start some fun in the sun than by consuming one of the most flavorful tropical fruits the season has to offer— pineapple. But aside from its yellow-golden center appropriately resembling the sun itself, this fruit actually provides a magnitude of health benefits that can aid in longevity. To learn how pineapple can improve your overall health, continue reading below.

Fights Sickness and Viruses. Pineapple is loaded with tons of vitamin c and antioxidants—two substances your body needs to remain healthy. These substances diligently work to fortify your immune system so that harmful toxins, better known as free radicals, don’t attack your body and result in certain illnesses such as the flu and the common cold.  While illnesses such as the common cold may not seem too life-threatening, free-radicals have also been linked to causing serious diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Thus ensuring that your body’s defenses are in tip top shape is crucial.

May Prevent/Alleviate Arthritis and Respiratory Diseases/Pain. Because pineapple is an excellent source of vitamin c, it will naturally help strengthen your bones which may help fight against rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. But because pineapple is also filled with bromelain—a substance that experts say reduces inflammation in the body—it may not only help alleviate the pain associated with arthritis (which by definition is the “inflammation of the joints”) but it may also help subside the pain with other inflammation-inducing illnesses such as bronchitis, sore throats, acute sinusitis and even asthma.

Helps Regulate Weight. Pineapple is a metabolism boosting food and like with all other foods that increase metabolic rate, pineapple can help you lose weight. This is because it takes more energy to digest pineapples. The more energy one uses to digest food the more calories he or she can burn. Thus   in-turn you will be able to replace fat with muscle more easily while working out at the gym.  To reap the most calorie-burning benefits, it’s usually best to consume pineapple about an hour or so before your planned work out.

Improves Oral Hygiene. Lastly, consuming pineapple can help you maintain kissable breath all day long. This is because pineapple contains special digestive enzymes that rid the odor that may be lingering from food in your stomach. The watery fruit also helps keep your mouth moist— a condition that is not only connected to bad breath but also gum disease and tooth decay.

Author Bio:

This guest post is contributed by Leslie Johnson, who writes about health, green living, parenting related articles at masters in health administration.

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We have all heard the saying ‘laughter is the best medicine” but how much truth is there to this statement? Apparently a lot! Research has found that happiness itself may cause good health, and may be as important a factor as certain unhealthy habits such as smoking. A study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined the link between happiness and a number of health factors in 200 Caucasian adults, age 45-59 years, all of whom worked for the government in London, England. The study assessed each participant on a work day and weekend day, measuring them at work and play for a number of criteria including blood pressure, heart rate and stress hormone (cortisol) levels. Participants were measured under normal conditions and after a mental stress test. Under each condition participants ranked their happiness on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). There were no differences in happiness between people who were married or single, male or female or of varying socioeconomic status; however the happiest participants had the best results across the board for the health markers. I.e. happier people had lower heart rates, and an average of 32% lower levels of cortisol which can have a direct effect on other elements such as blood sugar.

Another study exposed subjects to the cold virus and found that happy people were less likely to get sick, and if they did contract the virus, displayed fewer symptoms. (Source: Carnegie Mellon University). Happy people are less likely to have surges of cortisol, which decreases immunity and makes you more likely to get sick.

Positive, happy people are also more likely to take good care of themselves, have a stronger support system, and live longer. One of the most convincing studies was done on a group of nuns who had almost identical histories, eliminating variables such as diet and socioeconomic background. The study involved this group of nuns each writing an auto biological sketch of her life upon acceptance into the convent, and then examining these sketches six decades later. The study found that the content of these sketches was surprisingly indicative of whether these nuns were still alive, and how healthy they were. 90% of the nuns that had written positive and cheerful sketches were still alive at age 85, while only 34% of the least cheerful nuns were alive. The happiest nuns actually lived a full 10 years longer!

Do you want to be happier, healthier, and live longer? Who doesn’t! But the million dollar question is “How?” Here are 7 strategies to increase your current level of happiness:

1. Make your negative thoughts positive: Aynsley Smith, director of the sports-medicine research center at the Mayo Clinic has a simple method of training her students to focus on positive thoughts. She has her students carry a clicker pen around with them and whenever they notice they are dwelling on negative issues, they are asked to click the pen. This acts as a trigger to change one’s ‘thought channel’.

2. Keep a gratitude journal: Studies show that people who practice grateful thinking on a regular basis can increase their natural level of happiness significantly. Grateful thinking encourages us to be aware and spend time thinking about the positive experiences, things and people in our lives. Keeping a gratitude journal is a simple process – grab a blank notebook or journal and each night before you go to sleep, think of five things you are grateful for and write them down. Review your day and write down anything that made you feel good or that you are appreciative of – big or small. You can review your entries daily and develop a pattern of seeing things in a positive, grateful way.

3. Exercise: Many tactics to increase our happiness are short lived and actually end up making us feel worse. I.e. an extra glass or two of wine, indulging in too much chocolate ice cream, etc. Exercise not only helps in the short term, but has lasting effects that are more conducive to long term happiness. Exercise helps to reduce anxiety and increase feelings of happiness due to the release of endorphins (feel-good hormones). Regular exercise is also thought to improve sleep patterns, bringing us to another important element in increasing your happiness.

4. Sleep: Sleep deprivation has a profound effect on your happiness. Studies show that a bad night sleep is one of the top reasons for being in a sour mood at work, whereas one extra hour of sleep at night can do as much if not more for your daily happiness than a $60,000 raise. We mentioned that exercise is related to a regular sleep cycle, but the two are actually interrelated. Being well rested means you are more likely to commit to a regular exercise regime, particularly if you exercise each morning, before your work day takes over.

5. Emphasize and utilize your strengths: rather than spending your thoughts and energy on correcting the things you do ‘wrong’ or that need improved upon, emphasize and utilize your strengths – find tasks that relate to your strengths and put them to work! Strength-use leads to feelings or pride and accomplishment, resulting in greater happiness.

6. Show kindness and compassion daily: Volunteer your time to a cause that means something to you. Be a listening ear for a friend in need. Perform random acts of kindness on a regular basis. Helping others has a dramatic effect on our own happiness. Sonya Lyubomirsky, Psychology professor at Stanford University indicates that this is most effective when all five acts are performed on the same day. Professor Lyubomirsky’s instructs,

“In our daily lives, we all perform acts of kindness for others. These acts may be large or small and the person for whom the act is performed may or may not be aware of the act. Examples include feeding a stranger’s parking meter, donating blood, helping a friend with homework, visiting an elderly relative, or writing a thank you letter. One day each week, you are to perform five acts of kindness. The acts do not need to be for the same person, the person may or may not be aware of the act, and the act may or may not be similar to the acts listed above.”

7. Set SMART goals: That is goals that are specific, measureable, attractive, realistic and time-framed. The likelihood of achieving SMART goals is much greater, and achieving your goals leads to greater confidence and happiness. Each time you achieve a goal that you have set for yourself, you are one step closer to creating your ‘ideal life’.

The first step to achieving greater happiness is having an understanding of the implication being happy has on the rest of your life. We all deserve to live long, happy, healthy lives; take matters into your own hands, start with the above strategies and get happy today!

Terrene is a marketing coordinator with Noomii, a coaching resource center for life coaches. Noomii has an extensive directory of life coaches worldwide.

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Often times our own, personal wants and needs become low priority. Whether the reason is because of our fast paced society, or we simply do not have the energy; either way this is not a healthy way to live. See, the extended hours many of us put into work and other activities is time that could be better spend working out and improving our overall quality of life. Not only do we suddenly not have time for proper exercise, but thousands live off of diets filled with processed, sugary foods. The combination of these two factors is quite dangerous to mankind.

Have you ever noticed a feeling of lethargy or just simply a lack of energy? Look at the people you surround yourself with and pay attention to their energy levels too. See, you do not have to be sick to be “ill”. Thing is, people see these symptoms and rush off to the doctor for a quick fix, but this does not fix the underlying problem; your overall health.

See, while diseases and infections can be taken care of by a doctor, your overall health cannot. A doctor sees health as the lack of a sickness, whereas health is really determined by how your body functions. Your health is your responsibility, no one person can make you do what it takes to lead a healthy life.

At some point in your life you need to ask yourself – “Am I getting everything I can out of life or am I merely just getting by?” We stay so busy that we thing dragging through each day is normal and that is the only way to live life. But, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Living a lifestyle in this manner leads to nothing but a dark and gloomy life in comparison to what it could be.

It is time that, as a society, we stop depending on doctors and medications to “fix” us. If you are not suffering from a true infection or disease and are simply blaming your lack of motivation on illness, you need to seriously re-evaluate your life. Health comes from what you put into your body and the activities that you perform, not from the number of medications that you are taking or the ability of your local practitioner. There is no “cure” for this “condition” of stress and laziness that so many suffer from; not a cure you can get from a prescription anyway.

Rather than depending on medicine to cure your so-called ailments, it is time to get off the couch and take your health into your own hands. Your health is nearly entirely up to you. The more you exercise and the cleaner you eat, the healthier you will become. Your body needs fuel to function properly, and without the right type of fuel it begins to feel lethargic and stops functioning as it should. It also needs a certain amount of exercise as exercise is what gives it the motivation to produce more energy for you to get through each day.

So, ask yourself “Do I want to be healthy by definition of “not sick”? Or do I want to be healthy by definition of in good health from the inside out?” If you have chosen the latter then you are finally in the right mindset to get the most out of life; including a few extra years at the end if you approach it right. Take you healthy into your own hands, start eating natural, whole foods and working out and you will begin to feel like a new person in no time at all.

Do you want to discover the secret to rejuvenating your body, regaining lost vitality and improving the quality of your life? Download my free ebook “I’ve Found the Fountain of Youth – Let Me Show You Too!” http://www.over50looking30.com

Carolyn Hansen is a certified fitness expert and fitness center owner who in her nearly 30 years of fitness and bodybuilding competition experience she has helped thousands of people start their journey towards losing weight, becoming strong, fit and youthful at any age.

Sign up for her free newsletter on Weight Loss Tips http://FitnessWeightloss.com and get her free report “Discover ‘Secrets’ That Most People Will Never Know About To Really Lose Weight”.

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