U.S. Health and Fitness Updates
Mood:  bright
Topic: Weight Management
Parents have been a major influence on their children. Who ever said “it is important that the children don’t fall into bad company but how can we prevent them from mixing with their parents?

Jokes apart a recent research has shown that parents especially mothers do influence the eating habits of their daughters.

Mothers influence daughters in their diets says a study in the Journal of American Dietetic Association as reported by Reuters Health. When mothers ate more fruits and vegetables daughters too followed suit. Get the entire story at Reuter Health

United States Department of Health & Human Services has an excellent website with the small steps you can take to lead a healthy lifestyle. Don’t forget to download the PDF ‘Informational Guide for Parents Regarding Healthy Lifestyle for the Whole Family’ at
Small Steps

Srinivasan
Global Health network

Preventing Overweight and Obesity ? Are You Responsible Enough?
Topic: Weight Management
Obesity is now assuming epidemic proportions. Worldwide there are over 1 billion overweight people and out of that more than 300 million in the obese category. With the U.S. weight loss market alone grossing over $46 Billion, and projections of 1 trillion by 2010, obesity, diet control and weight control nutrition is assuming increasing concern among health planners especially the WHO.

The fully industrialized countries account for about 80 % of the overweight with rest falling in developing countries. U.S alone accounts for whopping 150 million people in the overweight category.

Obesity and overweight puts one under the risk of various disease and disorders such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart related problems, certain types of cancer such as breast cancer, cancer of the colon and kidney etc apart from numerous problems related to respiratory and muscular systems.

Apart from these diseases, the social and financial cost of overweight and obesity is very high, affecting social, mental and financial health of this huge proportion of the world population. Loss of productivity and the attendant cost to society, low self esteem, lower quality of life adds up to immense financial burden on the individual and the governments.

There is a tremendous amount of action by various governments worldwide, NGO’s and institutions like WHO in creating the right policy framework, dispense information to increase awareness and creating the right environments to combat this epidemic.

However the responsibility of fighting this menace rests with the individual as the governments can only do so much.

So what can you do to fight overweight and obesity?

1. Prevention is the Key. If you are not overweight start right now to make changes in dietary habits and lifestyle to prevent increase in your weight.

2. Monitor your weight on a weekly basis. Any increase over 2 Kg’s in the permissible height/weight ratio set the alarm bells ringing.

3. Avoid high energy foods, packed foods, overcooked foods like pizzas and burgers which are high in calories but low in nutrients to prevent accumulation of fat.

4. Eat natural. Increase your intake of green and leafy vegetables and fruits which are loaded with nutrients. A salad bowl is much better than a burger if you are in a hurry and have no time for a proper meal.

5. Change in lifestyle. High stress lifestyles require more energy dense food which are high in fat. A rushed and stressed lifestyle may not be conducive to your future physical and financial health. Your high stress job may be high paying but extracting a huge future financial price and may not be worth it after all. A Balance in work and social life is a must to combat stress related gorging.

6. Designing and building in the required physical activities and exercises into your daily regime to improve metabolism and burn fat. A 40 minutes walk 5 days a week, a 3-4 day schedule in the gym, climbing a couple of floors rather than taking the escalator, planning an outdoor schedule during the weekends, cutting down on the television and taking up a hobby involving physical activities are all ways which will surprisingly keep off those pounds of flab and make you fitter. Weight control is better than weight loss which is a more painful process.

7. Keep height/weight charts, calorie count charts of food items, daily nutritional charts on your desk or somewhere you can see frequently to remind you constantly of your health objectives.

8. Reading regularly about obesity, diet control, weight management, nutrition, health and fitness, holistic living practices could be of great help. Knowledge is the fuel which sets in motion the prevention.

Finally it is important to remember that overweight and obesity are not mere physical or health problems but a major financial issue. Your future wealth and happiness depends on your levels of productivity in an increasingly competitive world. Fitness and good health is the key to financial freedom in term of your earning potential and your savings against all those huge medical bills.

Srinivasan
Global Health Network

Quick Weight Reduction and Diet Control Products May Be Harmful
Topic: Weight Management
Many of the products related to weight management and diet control promise the sky in quickly reducing your weight. They may work too and reduce your weight may be a little too fast. But quick weight reduction may not be permanent. They may indeed be harmful to your health. The ideal weight reduction per week is 1 to 2 pounds. Anything more may leave you weak and may wreak havoc with your physiology. . The ideal weight loss goal should be 10 % of your body weight in 6 months.


It is best to avoid products which have harmful chemicals and drugs to induce weight loss. Check the labeling carefully to find out the ingredients

Weight reduction and obesity control is a complex issue requiring careful monitoring and advice by expert nutritionists. Weight management is also a process of change in lifestyle to make the gains permanent and maintain a healthy body. Lifestyle changes may include your diet, physical activity and your attitude to health and fitness.

Check out the websiteNational Institute of Health for plenty of details on weight management, diet control and nutrition issues.

Warmly

Srinivasan
Global Health Network

Alternative Medicine and Therapies ? What, Why and How of it
Topic: Herbal Health
Alternative Therapies and alternative medicine has been gaining ground along with conventional treatments. Alternative therapies have been practiced for thousand of years especially in the east commonly known as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Modern medicine has replaced such therapies due to its ability to quickly suppress the symptoms and treat the specific physical condition with pharmacological and surgical methods evolved after much research.

However the modern medicine too has severe side effects due to its toxicity and chemical interference in cellular functioning. This has resulted in alternative therapies and alternative medicines gaining ground. The inability of the medical science to quickly tackle the outbreak of immunity related disorders and disease like Aids and SARS have rekindled the interest in alternative therapies.

Alternative therapy and medicine has also gained respectability as more and more clinical trials and research is establishing the efficacy of its treatments.

Alternative therapies have very simple principles.

The body can heal itself. You only need to facilitate the self-healing process.

Prevention is the key to healthy living. The alternative medicinal system stresses on prevention of disease through a change in diet, use of proven herbs and lifestyle changes which while preventing the disease also helps in dealing with the basic cause of any disease.

Each system of alternative medicine has their own complex method of diagnoses and treatment; broadly they focus on balancing the energies in the body as well as the emotional aspects of disease. Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine as well as homeopathy works on the principle of assisting the body to heal itself.

All treatments in alternative therapy use medicines which are directly derived from botanical sources - ingredients in plants. They are generally safe in moderate doses if they are prepared with pure essence of such botanicals and unadulterated with any form of chemicals.

Selecting the right herbal products

There are plenty of spurious products in the market with tall claims. Buy only from the best source after verifying the background and credibility of the company.

Don’t go by claims of miraculous cures. You need to understand how each product works and go by the research available on the herbs along with the traditional history of healing.

Buy the herbal or food supplements only after verifying whether company is meeting with the quality standards and test certifications. Check whether the ingredients on the label are as per the claims on the advertisements.

Plenty of information is available from the website of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or NCCAM website for complementary and Alternative medicine.

A final word of caution while using alternative medicines and therapies, whatever the claims made or facts about the medicinal and curative properties do not stop your regular treatment recommended by a doctor.

It is best to use these products as a preventive and for good health. Do not use the products for symptomatic relief but for therapeutic use.

Use the alternative medicine as complementary or as an adjuvant therapy to your regular medicine. Use of herbal remedies as a preventive or as food and health supplements is the best way to go as you do not run the risk of interference with your regular treatment of any disease or disorder.

R.G. Srinivasan is a Certified Trainer, Writer and Author.He is passionate about alternate therapies and holistic herbal medicine. Check out his site at http://globalhealthnetwork.tripod.com

Health & Disease - Karma of Healing
Mood:  special
Within each one of us resides the divine healer. All healings come from within and not outside. Once the healer within is set in motion the healing takes effect.

Like all physical problems, health and fitness must be addressed within. The true realization of our health condition being part of our Karma or Actions sets in motion the counter measures-that is corrective actions.

All negative health conditions, disease and disorder is primarily brought about by too many wrong food habits including overeating, eating too much heavy or cold meals, frequent snacking, imbalance in sleeping habits, lack of exercise or physical activity, over indulgence in smoking and drinking, stress and of course to some extent on environmental pollution.

These are the ills of modern society which needs correctives urgently. To combat the problems of modern living and equip our body with the healing properties, Ganoderma is a blessing sent to mankind.

Ganoderma has a healing and medicinal history of over 4000 years documented in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Though it grew in rare environments and treasured as the elixir of life and used by only kings, now advances in cultivation methodologies has made it possible to grow ganoderma in the same simulated environmental conditions.

Much research has been done by various universities and action of ganoderma as a medicinal herb on the human body is well documented.

It removes toxins from the body

Balances the bio-electrical and Bio-Chemical factors

Regulate Organ Functions

Repair Cell Damages

Enhance the Immune System

Prevent Cell Damage

Prevents Ageing

Check out some important resources on the effects of ganoderma at the Japan Reishi Website

Srinivasan
Global Health Network