How To Lose Body Fat - 4 Key Tips

Knowing how to lose body fat is something that will shave a lot of time from your journey to achieve the results you desire. Of course it's going to take some effort on your part to reach your fat loss goals but having a "road map" to attain those goals helps a lot.

In order to have an understanding of how to make the body lose fat, it's important to know how the fat is deposited in the body. Your body needs food to acquire the necessary energy to function and feed its cells. The energy in food that your body needs is commonly referred to as calories. The more calories the food contains the more fuel the body can acquire from it. Your body must first digest the food before it can use the energy in the food. As the level of difficulty in digesting the food increases, the more the number of calories burned also increases.

Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the three categories of fuel that the body uses. This fuel nourishes the body and keeps the body functioning. The calories that are left over end up eventually being stored in the fat cells. Your body uses a part of the food's fuel for nutrition while the excess fuel ends up being stored as fat in the "fat cells" of your body.

Fat cells are often deposited in the chest, hips and the region around your waist. As the cells become bigger, your physique acquires a doughy look. The body has a limited number of fat cells, and there is only so much fat these cells can store. Once the threshold is reached, fat begins to accumulate in the muscle lining of your arms and thighs, creating some relatively unattractive limbs.

Here are four secrets for burning fat:

1 - Eat fat burning foods

2 - Add fat boosters to your diet

3 - Increase water intake

4 - Build muscles

If you focus on these four things, you'll be well on your way to developing a beautiful toned body. The only thing standing in the way of a lean sexy physique is you. Make these fat burning tips a part of your lifestyle and you will see results in a matter of weeks. The right diet plan will show you how to combine the fat burning foods to keep your body melting away the flab. There are countless delicious recipes to make the switch painless. Add a weight lifting exercise regime and you will sculpt your body into an object of desire.

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Peripheral Neuropathy and Diabetic Foot Ulcers

What is peripheral neuropathy?

One of the major complications associated with diabetes is peripheral neuropathy. This process of nerve damage gradually takes place after many years of having diabetes and uncontrolled blood sugar. The condition affects the sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves of the body. Muscle strength and balance are diminished with motor neuropathies. While autonomic neuropathies manifest as loss of hair and disfunctioning sweat glands in the lower extremity and can present as erectile dysfunction in very advanced cases. Sensory deficits, which include numbness, tingling or even pain, are often the first symptoms to develop. Many people that are developing the condition may not notice the gradual onset of symptoms. Diabetics may be unaware of of these gradual changes until their doctor informs them that they have the condition. Some may experience shooting pains in their feet that become worse at night, making it difficult to sleep.

Lack of sensation in the lower extremity can be very dangerous because it increases the risk of developing sores, open wounds and ulcers on the feet. If the wound becomes infected, there is a likelihood that the infection can spread and amputation of the affected limb may be necessary if it is not treated soon enough. Losing a limb becomes a large burden for patients in their daily activities and adds additional costs to their medical care. Because of this, it is recommended that a comprehensive foot exam be performed annually in all diabetics.

Muscle weakening associated with motor neuropathy acts as an added detriment because it can lead to development of foot deformities, such as hammertoes, bunions or limitation of motion in joints of the lower extremity. These defomities may rub on shoe gear and cause skin breakdown. Coupled with a numb foot, these deformities increase the patient's risk of developing foot wounds.

Foot exam The physical exam involves a thorough review of the skin health, blood supply, nerves and muscle strength of the lower extremity. The skin is assessed for hair growth, any discoloration and wounds. Diabetics have an increased risk of developing poor blood supply also known as peripheral vascular disease. This in turn greatly increases their risk of acquiring a dangerous infection and non-heeling wounds of the feet. The neurological portion of the exam involves measuring the patient's ability to feel a small flexible fiber under their feet with their eyes closed. Additional testing evaluates their ability to detect vibratory sensation. Patients that develop peripheral neuropathy may not be able to tell the doctor when the bottom of their feet is touched with a monofilament. These patients are at an increased risk of developing unnoticed foot wounds.

Diabetic foot wounds - how are they treated? Repetitive trauma to the foot leads to development of a hard callus, which increases pressure on the foot when the patient walks. The person with a numb foot continues to exert pressure on the callus, which forms a deeper wound that can subsequently lead to infection. An ulcer develops when a break of the skin occurs. The depth of the wound plays a large role in how serious the infection can be and how it can be managed. A rim of callus usually surrounds the wound. Once the wound becomes infected, the foot may become red, leak fluid, and may have a foul smell. As the infection progresses, thick yellow fluid can leak from the wound. It is important that callus and any wound is medically evaluated and appropriate medical treatment is started as soon as possible. Initial treatment involves debriding the wound to remove any dead tissue covering in order to expose the underlying healthy tissue in the wound. Any callus that surrounds the wound is also removed. A culture is obtained to find out which bacteria are involved with the infection so that appropriate medical therapy with antibiotics can be initiated. Negative pressure wound therapy a small vacuum placed over the wound can be used in some cases to quicken the healing process. Some of these infected ulcers may require intervenous antibiotics and hospitalization.

In addition to antibiotics and debridement pressure from the shoe and the ground must be reduced or eliminated to allow the wound to heal. Offloading pressure from the wound sight is accomplished in many ways. Sometimes a wheelchair or crutches are needed to completely remove weight from the foot. An orthotic or shoe insert with cutout areas under the wound can reduce pressure from causing additional damage. There are also many other ankle-foot braces and cast that remove pressure from the foot. One of these braces is the Bledso Boot. This boot has a layer of auto-molding foam in the foot bed, which reduces pressure on the wound. It also prevents movement at the ankle therefore reducing friction that can cause tissue breakdown. Another type of device made to eliminate pressure from the bottom of the foot is called the Toad Brace. This apparatus is molded to fit and grip around the top of the lower leg and the knee. This construct floats the foot off the ground and completely offloads the bottom of the foot. After the wound heals it will be necessary to use an offloading orthotic and a shoe designed to fit this inner sole.

If you have peripheral neuropathy, it is important to check your feet daily for wounds. Areas of your feet that receive high pressure may develop calluses, which increase the risk of a wound forming in that area. Seek help early from your doctor so that a proper treatment regimen can be started. A wound that is deep and does not heal leads to further complications, such as bone or systemic infection. Disregard for the condition of your feet, especially if you are diabetic, can lead to loss of a limb.

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Protect the Health of Your Family Through Food

There are many choices your family makes that won't be left up to you. Every time they take a risk or choose something unhealthy, it may not be under your control. Think for a minute about spinach muffins making headlines because they looked so good; in fact, a true story the muffins were loved until the word spinach was mentioned. Seriously, healthy does not mean the food has to be unappealing or taste bad.

If you're the one who does the shopping and cooking in your family, then you can help your family achieve better health. Recently, there have been many books that teach moms and dads how to "sneak" healthy ingredients into meals, like blended vegetables going into brownies, for instance.

What's going to happen as your kids get older? They'll just reach for a brownie - because they're not being led in how to make healthier options. The problem for most families occurs when one member (usually the one who shops and cooks) declares some sort of health-fest for the family, resulting in groans and backlash.

Instead of making this a punishment, help your family make smaller tweaks to their diet that build up into lifetime better nutritional habits. For example, instead of having a platter of brownies on the counter, have a bowl of fresh, organic fruit.

If your kids want something fun, then find ways to make it fun, like creating a shish kabob with fresh fruit that they can dip into Greek yogurt, filled with probiotics. Or use special fruit-cutting tools to make shapes.

If your kids are used to eating a favorite meal, but you think it's unhealthy, look for ways to improve the health of the meal instead of throwing it out for good permanently.

For example, if they love it when you make fried chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls, just make some basic swaps. Take the skin off the chicken add red and green pepper rings on top, drizzle it in olive oil and bake. Make it fun for the kids now it is Christmas tree chicken.

For the mashed potatoes, try sweet potatoes or red potatoes with skin instead. Or bake potatoes and vegetables with the chicken with some spices and herbs.

If rolls or any type of bread are a mainstay at your dinner table, switch to rolls made with whole grains. It's best if you bake it from scratch - a bread maker can even do the job for you!

And add more to your meals, too. Add leafy greens to the mix so that your kids learn to enjoy the right kinds of vegetables. Sauté them in a little drizzle of olive oil and garlic and let the kids enjoy the flavor.

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10 Key Vertical Jump Performance Qualities

10 Key Performance Qualities

With that out of the way we should now rapidly head in excess of 10 nexus qualities that you'll be utilizing and keeping tabs on within the projects. Remember that none of these qualities or preparing systems exist totally in seclusion yet they are exceptionally critical..

1. Control and solidness Obviously before you can advance most extreme force, quality, speed, or all else, -you have to have the ability to stabilize and control your own particular bodyweight and control negligible burdens. Control and security is identified with coordination and studying. With regards to studying another aptitude or development, this ought to be the introductory centering. In the event that you've never done a specific development previously its best to begin off light and moderate for the purpose that you can study the right exhibition. When you've studied erroneous development designs those awful propensities might be tricky to break so its fundamental you study how to do every development accurately. After you have enough experience you can then proceed onward.

2. General Strength-The objective here is to reinforce the muscles included by including extra stacking. An attention ought to be put on right system with less accentuation on the burden.

3. Go of Motion-Range of movement is otherwise called adaptability. You have to have a certain level of adaptability keeping in mind the end goal to anticipate damage and optimally do the developments in your game. In the vertical hop, if your upper foot regions and calves are tight to the point that you can't accomplish the coveted go of movement then you hazard genuine harm. Then again, its not essential and could indeed be unfavorable to have the adaptability of a flexibility specialist. It is crucial that an insignificant measure of adaptability be looked after yet adaptability preparing won't do inexplicable occurrences.

4. Most extreme Strength-Here the center is on reinforcing the musculature by lifting greatest burdens. This significantly upgrades a muscle's greatest energy yield. Assuming that you were to endeavor a greatest quality stage without first improving fundamental molding there might be a high danger of harm. To outline this, recognize an activity, for example the squat. Provided that you've never executed a squat previously and you promptly go in the rec center and attempt to create a 1-rep most extreme (max out), there's a chance you'll harm yourself. An improved path is to study the right development exhibition utilizing level loads and more redundancies (general quality and soundness). Give careful consideration to structure and work the right muscle bunches. After you've done this, you can slowly start to include supplemental stacking and progress towards maximal quality preparing.

5. Most extreme Power-Power (energy x velocity) is a mix of quality and speed. Basically any sort of preparing can qualify as force preparing provided that there is some load that must be moved and you "center" on moving quick. You can prepare for force utilizing your bodyweight, your bodyweight with a supplemental burden, lifting light loads, or endeavoring to move an overwhelming load rapidly. A large portion of the preparation routines used in this manual will either straightforwardly or by implication sway power. Most extreme quality preparing, because of its intrinsic slower development rates, may not generate a mess of force throughout its execution, yet it will support your quality levels and that will empower you to put out additional compel which makes as additional power.

6. Beginning Strength-Starting quality is the capacity to in a split second apply loads of power at the precise starting of a development. Attempt this. Sit in a seat in a "prepared to bounce" position. Determine your butt is touching the seat. Right away without shaking retrogressive basically hop up from this dead stop position. This is an illustration of beginning quality and additionally includes rate of power improvement. Much the same as any possible quality, it could be prepared and progressed. Your muscles could be prepared to fiery breakout snappier.

7. Power Absorption Training-This is the capability to retain and stabilize high offbeat or negative powers and is the first stage in advancing incredible plyometric force. In the vertical bounce, the unusual strengths are the drives that are made as you execute a brisk countermovement or bow down before you hop. You can likewise see this when you run-up into a hop stop and need to stop or turn around course so as to convert your level mass into a vertical development. These developments make a great deal of energy as the negative development (or erratic) makes your muscles and tendons stretch, which makes a social affair of vigor. The strengths you accumulate are then saved in the tendons and muscles, making your tendons enactment such as an extended elastic band. So as to outperform at this you initially need exceptional levels of essential quality as well as husky control. Having the capacity to retain vigor is an essential to the following step, which is reactive preparing.

8. Reactive preparing This is the aftereffect of having the capacity to "discharge" bunches of saved vigor after you osmose it. Reactive preparing is otherwise called plyometric preparing, inversion quality, versatile quality, and static-spring capability. They all basically mean the same thing. Reactive preparing can explain a noteworthy part of exhibition in any physical attempt. In the prior illustration at what time you sat down and delayed on the seat before bouncing, were you equipped to hop as high as you ordinarily do? Most likely not. That is since you would commonly reflexively execute a snappy ¼ squat, or countermovement, only before your hop. The contrast between your vertical bounce with and without a countermovement is what amount of extra compel you're getting from reactive commitments. This quality is additionally exceedingly trainable. Certain drills permit you to expand both vigor ingestion capacity and reactive capability. Together they make up plyometric preparing. This theme will be demonstrated in additional detail later.

9. Short reaction reactive preparing This sort of preparing contrasts from normal reactive preparing in that the switch from "down" to "up" happens a great deal snappier and is almost totally reflexive with small voluntary info. Case in point, take a gander at the contrast in the time you use modifying heading from down to up in a vertical hop done with a running begin vs the time your foot uses on the ground throughout a max speed sprint. Which one happens faster? The faster the development, the shorter the reaction time, and the more stupendous the reflexive power commitments have a tendency to be. Sprinting is a definitive showcase of reactive or plyometric preparing. The developments happen excessively fast for much voluntary energy yield or "strain". In much the same way, executing an uni-parallel one legged hop after a run-up likewise qualifies as a short reaction reactive action in light of the fact that the development happens much quicker then a normal vertical hop. Certain drills are better for this sort of preparing.

10. Speed of movement/quickness/velocity-When you expand the power and control behind your developments and afterward increment indisputably the pace at which you move, you bamboozle both planets. The qualities above will fundamentally expand the "torque" behind your developments. At the time you join together that with an increment in total speed your outcomes will be far unrivaled. How quick would you be able to turn your framework now and again? How quick would you be able to move your appendages without respect to drive? Will you get flies with your uncovered hands? How frequently would you be able to tap your feet set up in 5 seconds? Luckily, you truly don't must be all that "quick" to enhance your vertical bounce or even your running speed. There is a mix of physical qualities required for optimal exhibition and ordinarily quality and power yield for every pound of bodyweight are more essential then the capacity to truly move your appendages quick. Be that as it may, enhancing speed of development never damages. It could be finished by heaps of work on being quick and advancing an optimal brain to muscle connect, better figuring out how to control your muscles. 

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Food: Energy Boosters and Energy Losers

What and how to eat to boost your precious energy and prevent you from 'walking through treacle' at 4pm each afternoon.

Feeling tired all the time? Can't seem to get yourself going in the morning and desperate to flop into bed at night?

Follow these few simple tweaks to your daily eating habits and double your energy levels in just five days!

Energy Boosters

1. Eat at least two low GI meals a day

Many of the carbohydrate based foods that we eat on a daily basis such as breads, pasta, rice, cereals, cakes and biscuits are highly processed, refined and lacking in their natural fibre therefore, once eaten, they are broken down very quickly causing our blood sugars to surge. These surges are followed by a sudden drop leaving us feeling tired, lethargic and lacking in concentration.

Research shows that swapping fast releasing, high GI, foods for lower GI alternatives such as wholegrain cereals, rye bread, wild or basmati rice, beans, pulses and fresh fruit and vegetables is an excellent way to significantly increase your energy.

2. Avoid all processed foods, avoid the plastic sandwich and the biscuit with the tea break. These will only rob you of precious energy.

3. Eat only natural foods, take your own wraps for lunchtime, you will feel good both energy wise and cash wise, saving yourself a small fortune at the end of the week.

4. Drink plenty of water and limit yourself to a couple of cups of tea or coffee per day. Caffeine robs you of energy, sabotages your weight loss and dehydrates you, drink it sparingly.

5. Simply switch from making carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, cereals, rice or potatoes the biggest ratio of food on your plate to fruit or vegetables instead. This way, you'll keep blood sugars stable, hunger and food cravings at bay and, because we naturally prefer to eat carbs with fats (think bread without the spread, baked potatoes without the butter and crackers without the cheese), you'll automatically cut back on your fat intake too.

Energy Losers

These are the foods you want to avoid if you want to boost your energy.

1. Avoid all processed foods. Why? Because they contain additives, preservatives, colourings and flavourings. These are not natural for us and can contribute to ill health and weight gain.

2. Avoid large quantities of bread, rice, pasta and potatoes. It is easy to pile these onto our plates as a 'filler'. In fact all of these foods are high in sugar and will often result in creating cravings and tiredness. Pile your plate with dark green leafy vegetables or big salads instead.

3. Avoid grazing on sweets and biscuits. The added sugar is detrimental to your blood sugar, will create cravings and tiredness particularly around the middle of the afternoon. Typically this is just the time when you have them to boost your energy. Be warned they have the opposite effect.

4. Avoid sugar free or low sugar fizzy drinks. Again they boost the blood sugar giving you a small peak in immediate energy which dissipates very quickly leaving you flagging, feeling tired and irritable and craving a chocolate bar.

5. Avoid sugar or sweeteners in your tea or coffee. Oddly both sugar and sweeteners provide us with an increase in blood sugar giving us a minor and short lived in energy which very quickly results in tiredness and lethargy. Sweeteners can also be carcinogenic so don't even bother with them.

Re-fuel - don't drool!

Fuel yourself up regularly to get the most form your energy and to feel great. Often people make the classic mistake of ignoring their personal needs and not planning their food for the day. Therefore they resort to eating nothing at all and then consume the entire contents of the fridge the second they walk through the door. Or they snack on processed rubbish all day long that is high in sugar, high in fat, high in calories and low in vital vitamins and nutrients.

If you were to drive from London to Edinburgh with only a little petrol you wouldn't expect your car to keep going on the 'promise' you'd fill it up when you get there -so why is it that that's exactly what we expect our bodies to do when we race through the day on an empty stomach drooling over all the fatty, sugary foods as we go? Instead, switch to eating the majority of your calories during the day when you need them most.

How?

Eat three meals, breakfast, lunch and evening meal plus two healthy snacks.

Always have a healthy, low GI snack such as a small handful of nuts, seeds, a low fat yogurt, some fruit or a wholegrain cracker topped with cottage cheese mid- morning and mid -afternoon.

Swap calorie-packed evening desserts for a low-fat yogurt or fresh fruit.

Don't have foods in the house that you know will tempt you into nibbling in the evenings.

Brush your teeth straight after dinner. You'll be amazed how effective that can be at stopping you from heading back into the kitchen!

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What Exactly Causes Constipation and How to Prevent It!

In a normal healthy person, the bowel movement or the emptying of the bowels is supposed to happen swiftly and with ease. If you have had difficulty ever since you were a child, you may have come to realize that some amount of straining at emptying of the bowels is normal.

It is not.

It is supposed to happen with complete ease with no straining whatsoever. However it doesn't mean that if you have to strain a little, once in a while, it is wrong. Occasionally if you have to strain a bit, it is not a big deal. But for the most of the time, the movement is supposed to happen kind of automatically.

Formally constipation is defined as a condition in which there is difficulty in emptying the bowels. Bowel movement becomes infrequent. The difficulty is present in very much all bowel movement. Also in constipation feces becomes hard. According to National Institute of Health (NIH) a bowel movement of less than three times a week qualifies as constipation.

Intestinal muscles and intestinal walls are made to handle soft feces. If it hardens too much, the intestinal muscular movement cannot empty the bowel with ease.

Lets understand a bit more of what goes on in our intestine to get a better idea about constipation.

When partially digested food is in the small intestine, it is pretty much in a liquid form. When the food enters the large intestine from the small intestine, it is in complete liquid form.

Within the large intestine, the water is absorbed from the liquified partially digested food. This makes the food semi solid (still very soft) and gives it a shape. This transformation of liquid to a semi solid shape is taking place when food is travelling through the large intestine.

As the bulk forms in the large intestine, the walls of the large intestine detect the presence of the partially digested food. If food remains shapeless liquid in the colon, the presence of the food is not recognized by the intestinal wall.

If the presence of food is detected by the intestinal wall in the large intestine, it triggers the muscular movement in the large intestine. This pushes the content of the large intestine forward towards the rectum.

An important characteristic of the colon is that as soon as the partially digested food enters the colon, the walls of colon start absorbing water from the food. The colon wall will keep absorbing the water as long as the contents are present in the colon and as long as there is water.

The implication is that as soon as liquified food enters the colon, it starts losing water. By the time it has lost all the water, if it cannot form enough bulk, it will be trigger enough muscular movement in the colon to propel the contents forward.

You can see that the food content needs to have bulking agent to trigger the proper muscular movement in the colon. Only if there is proper muscular movement in the colon, the contents will progress towards the rectum and the proper elimination will happen.

Also the food content needs to have enough water. If there isn't enough water entering into the colon, the feces will become hard fast. Hard feces cannot travel easily through the colon. It slows down and causes difficulty.

With typical western food habits, what happens is that by the time all the water is absorbed in the colon wall, there isn't enough bulk formed in the remaining semi-solid mass. And the colon walls don't contract enough as they don't detect enough mass.

This causes the content of the colon get stuck and not move in the colon. This leads to even more water loss if there is any water left. What you get is constipation.

As you can see that lack of bulking agent or lack of water could cause constipation.

You may wonder what is this bulking agent? Yes it is the dietary fiber. But it is a very specific type of fiber. It is insoluble fiber. The soluble fiber doesn't usually bulk up. But the insoluble fiber is the one that bulks up.

As the name suggests insoluble fiber doesn't get dissolved in water. But it actually absorbs water and swells in the size. It can increase in volume by up to 20 times its original size! This property of insoluble fiber to swell up or bulk up is crucial in helping the colon detect the presence of the contents and get the muscle movement going. Hence it is critical that you have enough of insoluble fiber in your diet.

Usually any food that has dietary fiber, has both soluble fiber and insoluble fiber. But their proportions vary and they may have more or less of insoluble fiber. Some common examples of foods high in insoluble fiber are legumes, cereal bran and certain vegetables like okra.

Another cause of constipation is ignoring the urge. When you ignore the urge, the stool will stay longer in the colon. As mentioned earlier, as long as the stool is in the colon, it will keep losing water. The stool will become drier, which will lead to constipation.

Unfortunately in our day-to-day lives, we often have all three causes of constipation present altogether. Our diets are low in fiber, we don't hydrate enough and we frequently resist the urge. No wonder, constipation is so widespread.

Sedentary lifestyle also contributes to constipation. It turns out that physical activity stimulates the large intestinal muscles. Physical activity plays a key role in maintaining a healthy transit time through the colon. Although the actual mechanism is not known but it seems to have mechanical origins. It is not difficult to imagine that moving legs would stimulate the digestive organs.

Stress is also a major reason that contributes to the constipation. When we are in stress, our body deploys fight or flight response. It shuts down parts of the body which are not essential at that moment and diverts the blood flow and the neural activity towards the other parts of the body where it thinks it is more needed.

Unfortunately during the stress response, the digestive system get low priority. Blood flow is diverted away and neural activity directed towards the intestines is at least subdued. Digestive hormone activity slows down and intestinal movement slows down. This leads to both indigestion and constipation as digestion pretty much comes to a halt temporarily.

More frequent stressful episodes leads to the frequent shutdown of digestion and more constipation.

Human large intestine holds hundreds of different types of bacteria. Most of them are beneficial ones which have a symbiotic relation with the host. Some of them are not so friendly. But usually there is a balance between two types of bacteria.

There is growing evidence that the imbalance of bacterial flora is responsible for many digestive disorders including constipation. We inherit gut flora at birth. The use of antibiotics, probiotics and prebiotics can change gut flora.

Gut flora is a huge topic that we will discuss at length in later articles, but there is growing suspicion that antibiotic use can cause constipation through gut flora imbalance.

Normal intestinal muscles propel stool for elimination. This muscular movement towards the end is called defecation reflex. If one loses defecation reflex, the stool gets stuck and due to extra water loss, one gets constipated.

Stimulant laxative stimulates the colon wall to cause the defecation reflex. Overuse of such laxative could cause the colon wall to become insensitive. Which may cause one to lose the defecation reflex and associated constipation.

Muscle relaxant can interfere with normal intestinal muscular movement and could cause the stool to get stuck.

Aging can also cause muscles to become weak. This would mean less strong defecation reflex and associated constipation.

Long term diabetes can cause nerve damage to the nerves responsible for proper intestinal muscular movement. This may lead to improper colon muscle movements and loss of defecation reflex and associated constipation.

Surgery can cause temporary paralysis of the intestine and could cause stool to get stuck and later constipation.

Having learned about causes of constipation, it is obvious that you would expect to know more about the cure and prevention of the constipation.

I have listed major causes of constipation like lack of dietary fiber, proper hydration and the stress. One can address those issues to try to prevent constipation. There are other remedies which can help with constipation.

We will discuss the prevention and cure of constipation at length in future articles.

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5 Tips to Boost Your Health in a Natural and Fulfilling Way

The body is a complex network of systems that has so many demands. One of the demands the body has is the right diet. When we eat, we give it what it needs, but sometimes it is important to supplement these foods with others in order for the body to fully achieve all its requirements. What are the different types of the supplements and their benefits in our bodies?

1. Vitamins

Vitamins are important. They are classified as micronutrients as they are not required in large quantities. They help to boost the health of our bodies. Different vitamins have various functions. They help to build up the immune system, joints and bones. Some of them enhance the absorption of some medication in the body. They also contain anti-oxidants that prevent against radicals produced in the body. All of them are available in the market as supplements.

2. Proteins

These are the body building materials in our bodies. They help the body to remain healthy by enabling the white blood cells to fight off diseases. These protein supplements can be found in form of some smaller substances called amino acids. These are essential especially in promoting the health of your skin, enzymes, hair and some body organs. Whey protein is another type or protein supplement. It is usually made from coagulates of milk. The best whey protein will also help in building up muscles.

3. Minerals

These can be major or minor. Most major minerals are found in the everyday foods that we take. However the minor ones need to be added to the body through supplementation. They may be called minor but they are important in our bodies. They maintain the functioning of the body. These can be gotten from nature or they be synthesized in the food labs and be provided in forms of tabs, capsules or syrups.

4. Fatty acids

These are fat derivatives. In as much as fat seems to be harmful to our bodies, there are some which are good. These are usually known as the good cholesterol and are essential to the functioning of our bodies. These fatty acids supplements can be derived from fish and other plant seeds which contain fats. They boost the functioning of the brain and also provide an alternative source of energy for the body.

5. Herbs

These are derived from plants. So many plants around us have health benefits. The locals know some while others have gotten approvals by the food and drugs administration. These need to be taken in moderation, as some are known to be toxic in large amounts. They can also interfere with the functioning of some other medications.

Supplements are widely available and in many forms. Remember though that natural foods are the best supplements you can have. Too much of these supplements may be detrimental to your health.

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7 Best Upper Body Strength Exercises From a Medford Personal Trainer

Strength training is very important for any overall fitness program and having a strong upper body has many advantages. Having a high level of overall lean muscle can aid in a long term elevation of your metabolism and the upper body features some very large muscle groups including the pectorals major (chest), rhomboids and latissimus dorsi (back muscles) along with the entire shoulder girdle. Balanced upper body strength also helps develop good posture which can give the look of a lean, slim body. Another advantage is that effective strength training will develop a very athletic and fit body and everyone wants their arms to look good, right?

In terms of upper body training; I approach this as I would any other area. Train your larger muscle groups and movements because that is how the body moves and in doing this you burn more calories, recruit more muscle fibers, and elevate your overall work rate. This should be the staple of your program and then be sure to add in some accessory exercises in order to keep a balanced state around each joint and to prevent injuries.

All of these exercises will recruit large muscle groups which in turn burn more calories during the workout and elevate the metabolism for a long period of time after training.

Here are my top 7 upper body strength exercises and an explanation of technique:

1. Chin Ups 
o Muscles targeted: Upper back, biceps, shoulders, abdominals 
o Use a close, reverse grip with palms facing you 
o Start with arms straight and retract your shoulder blades 
o Look up toward the bar and drive your elbows down toward your ribcage as you elevate your chest to the bar 
o Squeeze your upper back muscles as you get to the top 
o Raise your chest as close to the bar as possible and slowly descend 
o Perform as many as you can with good posture and no swinging 
o These can be modified by placing a band or a partner's hand under one knee for support

2. Push Ups 
o Muscles targeted: Chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, abdominals, lower back, hip flexors, oblique 
o Place your hands shoulder width apart with elbows facing back 
o Elevate onto your toes and tighten up your abdominals, hips, and glutes 
o Look at the floor and slowly lower your body down, trying to touch the floor with your nose 
o Exhale as you forcefully push back up to the starting point 
o Can be modified with medicine balls, physio balls, and weight vests for difficulty

3. Bench Press 
o Muscles targeted: chest, shoulders, triceps 
o Lie on the bench with your feet flat on the floor 
o Grip the bar at a shoulder width position 
o Squeeze your upper back muscles (lats) to help stabilize your shoulders 
o Keep your lats and glutes tight to the bench for stability 
o Take the bar off the rack and position it just above your chest, elbows locked out 
o Slowly lower the bar to your chest without touching 
o Forcefully drive the bar straight back up and exhale

4. Barbell Bent Over Row 
o Muscles targeted: Upper back, biceps, shoulders, abdominals, lower back 
o Slightly bend your knees, lean forward and push your hips back 
o Flatten your lower back and tighten your abdominals 
o Tuck your chin and position the weight below your belly button, arms straight 
o Retract your shoulder blades 
o Row the weight up to your ribcage, pausing at the top to squeeze your back 
o Keeping your chin tucked and back flat, lower the weight to starting position and repeat

5. Dumbbell Standing Shoulder Press 
o Muscles targeted: Shoulders, triceps, abdominals, lower back, oblique 
o Position your feet shoulder width apart 
o Hold 2 dumbbells, one at each shoulder 
o Looking straight ahead, engage your abdominals 
o Press the weight over your head with palms facing forward 
o Exhale as you press and fully extend your elbows 
o Slowly return weight to starting position and repeat 
o Be sure to keep your back tight and straight as you raise the weight

6. Body Weight Dips 
o Muscles targeted: Triceps, shoulders 
o Position yourself on a dip bar with eyes straight ahead 
o Place your hands in the middle of the bar and elbows pointed straight back 
o Slowly lower your body down to the range of your shoulder joints 
o Keep your elbows pointing back through the entire set 
o Exhale and strongly push your body back up, locking out your elbows for maximum benefit

7. Ring Rows 
o Muscles targeted: upper back, biceps, shoulders, abdominals 
o Rings are rarely found in gym settings but if you can get your hands on these, they are great 
o Set up the rings on the top of a squat rack at waist height 
o Lie on your back with legs straight and retract your shoulder blades 
o Grab rings and pull your body up as high as you can 
o Squeeze your upper back and shoulders at the top 
o Slowly lower to the bottom, keeping tension on your back 
o Make these more difficult by elevating your feet or wearing a weight vest

All seven of these exercises are great for developing a lean and athletic upper body with great posture. Making these exercises the staples of your training program will ensure high levels of strength and calorie burn due to the intense nature of each movement.

Give these movements a try as a replacement to typical gym machines and isolated movements. Use these in conjunction with large lower body movements to develop a full body training plan of 5-7 exercises.

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Strength Training - Why Do It and How to Start

It is generally well known that we lose bone mass as we age, a phenomena that affects women more than men and that far too often results in bones that are weak and prone to break, especially in the hips, wrists and shoulders. Unfortunately, although in many cases surgical procedures now produce excellent results (we have a number of clients that have returned to running after hip replacements), too many people don´t fully recover from the stress of the operation and never regain the quality of life that they previously enjoyed. In the worst cases, this leads to a sometimes rapid decline in general health and an untimely death.

It is widely accepted that weight-bearing exercise helps to slow bone loss and may even in some cases be able to reverse it, which is why "cardio" exercise such as walking and running (in moderation) can be very beneficial. However, when it comes to targeting the bones of the shoulders and arms, strength training is essential. Such exercises can also enhance the benefits of the weight-bearing cardio activity on other joints, probably because the effect of the tendons pulling on the bones stimulates bone repair or growth.

Equipment such as free weights, machines, resistance bands and medicine balls can all play a part in making strength training fun (or at least more fun!). However, you don´t have to invest in equipment or join a gym to do strength training. Body weight can also provide an effective training medium. If dedicating time to strength training really doesn´t appeal, adding a few press ups (or push ups for our American readers!) to your daily routine is a great place to start. When that becomes a habit, you can look at adding more exercises and developing your programme.

How do you start doing press ups when you can´t even do one?! Simple, do five! In my experience, it is best to avoid doing press ups on your knees, as very few people ever progress from there to the full exercise and therefore never reap all of the benefits of this "whole body" exercise. Instead, try this:

Adopt the standard press up position - Lie with the body raised off the floor, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, arms extended and body straight.

• Keeping the body straight, bend the elbows and lower the shoulders and hips towards the floor - only go as low as you can to be sure that you are going to be able to do five repetitions. If that means that you only flex the elbows one inch, great! Do five "1-inch press-ups" every time you get the chance.


• With this approach, you will find that you quickly progress to making the final press up two inches, then three, then four and so on until you can do five full press ups. After that, keep adding repetitions until you can do twenty. You will be surprised how quickly you will progress with just a little bit of effort.

A few words on correct form:

• Before starting the exercises, "activate the core" by lifting the chest, drawing in the stomach slightly and tightening the muscles of the butt (the "glutes").
• When the arms are in the fully extended position, the shoulder blades should be "open". As you lower the body towards the ground, you should feel the shoulder blades move together.
• Hold the head level. Fix the gaze slightly forward and actively engage the neck muscles to keep the head from dropping.
• Breathe in on the way down and out on the way up.

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Why Is Healthy Living So Damn Hard?

We all know the rules: eat healthy food, exercise for 30 (or 60 or 90 depending on who's talking) minutes a day, don't smoke, don't drink, don't don't don't. We know the rules but we break them every day!

We make New Year's Resolutions every single year, and we break them almost immediately. We promise ourselves, "tomorrow's the day" and then we break the rules. And we beat ourselves up over it.

I say "we" because everyone I've ever met does this: body builders, overweight office workers, grandmothers, kids, everyone. They just do it to varying degrees.

And if everyone does it, the first thing you can do is stop comparing yourself to everyone else who is "perfect" and finding yourself a mass of imperfection by comparison! Forgive yourself for your failures, your slips, your bad habits. Forgive yourself.

The second thing you can do is to stop thinking of your bad habits as "rewards". If you think of chocolate covered almonds as a reward, then whenever you feel bad you are likely to grab a handful of chocolate covered almonds. If you think of french fries as a reward, then you're going to eat this "bad food" too often. Start thinking of the long-term rewards of healthy living, instead of thinking of it as a punishment.

Next, keep a journal. A journal holds you accountable, to yourself. And you have to start thinking about your accountability to yourself. Internal motivation, or motivation that comes from within, is a stronger motivation than external motivation, or motivation that comes from others. No one else can keep you on track. And it's harder to lie to yourself and rationalize your bad behavior than it is to lie to others.

And lastly, baby steps! If you've been eating junk food for three meals a day for 20 years, you can't expect to have a perfect diet overnight. If you've never followed an exercise program, then you can't start with a full training regimen instantly. Start slowly and build up your good habits. Remember, it's taken a lifetime to create the bad habits, it's going to take a little while to replace them with good habits. The good news is that as you make small changes, you'll see the changes in your life. Not only will you get healthier, but you'll find yourself not even wanting your old habits back. I know it's hard to believe now, but soon fast food french fries will make you a bit queasy when you eat them.

(The exception to this rule is addiction, check with your doctor first, but often quitting cold-turkey is the most effective way to beat an addiction like smoking.)

These steps will keep you on track towards the healthy life that you want, and that you deserve.

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Drug Free Back Pain Treatments That Work

A growing number of Americans are suffering from back pain, these individuals are using a variety of novelty treatments that do not work and in some instances injure your back even more. If a person is experiencing back pain they should not ignore it and hope it gets better, pain is how the body tells us something is wrong and needs to be addressed. What most people do is take over the counter (OTC) pain medication to help numb the ache they feel in their back or try those novelty treatments they have seen on the Internet or television.

What a person should do is visit a local chiropractor who is a medically trained and licensed professional that specializes in the treatment of back pain. If you are scared about the costs of going to a chiropractor your medical insurance will cover most if not all of the services that the doctor provides.

Once you schedule an appointment with your local chiropractor the doctor is going to ask you a series of questions to get a sense of your overall health and whether you have conditions like hypertension or may be pregnant. After these initial questions have been addressed the chiropractor is going to have you go for X-rays to get a better understanding of your spine.

Now that the chiropractor fully understands the condition of your spine they will proceed to treat your back pain with their highly specialized chiropractic techniques. The techniques will bring your spine back to its normal shape while at the same time increasing the amount of blood reaching the tissue in your back. As the circulation increases in the area that is feeling pain you will notice the intensity decrease. The majority of people who go for treatments have reported an immediate improvement in their condition after the initial session with their local chiropractor.

You need to schedule an appointment with a chiropractor right away to have your back pain treated. With each passing day your condition will worsen until you reach a point where you cannot even get out of bed. By going to a chiropractor now you are going to experience a remarkable improvement in your overall condition without using any drugs or gimmicks.

When sourcing for a chiropractor to help you make sure they are licensed to provide these services. These medical doctors are regulated by the state and if they are not licensed you should not use their services. You can get rid of your back pain without the use of drugs by seeking out a chiropractor now.

If you are suffering from back pain and desire relief you should find a Chiropractor in Maple Grove MN who can help provide you with long term pain relief.

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