When my sister and I were little, our mom always gave us honey and lemon when we had a cough. It's a natural cough remedy and better for you than the medicines on the shelves. It was also easier to get us kids to ingest that than the horrible-tasting cough syrups! Honey soothes the throat and lemon works as a natural expectorant to alleviate coughing. The lemon is also antibacterial. To make this syrup, boil a whole lemon for 10 minutes. When it's cool enough to handle, roll the lemon on a cutting board or other hard surface to release more of the juices. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice (using cheesecloth or other filter to keep pulp out) into a pint of honey. Take one spoonful as needed. You can also add glycerin, but that sort of freaks me out, so I use it straight.
We work out hard, eat right and try to live a healthy lifestyle. And we all want our parents and families to be around forever. I tell my mom and stepdad all the time, the benefits of exercising regularly and that I want them to be as healthy as possible. So, if your lifestyle isn't enough to convince them, maybe sharing this statistic with them will be. Starting to exercise later in life can have significant results on one's overall health. In a study in Hypertension, investigators looked at 28 men in theri 20s and 60s and found that the older men's blood vessels were generally more constricted, increasing their risk of hypertension and heart problems. Eight of the elders began walking about 5 hours per week and after 3 months their blood vessel function resembled that of a 20-year-old! So, try to convince your parents and other older relatives that it's never too late to incorporate healthy habits and it can increase their longevitiy and their quality of life.
We all pick sunglasses based on their contribution to our overall fashion and potential for looking cool. Well, we SHOULD be choosing them based also on their protection of our eyes. Sunglasses can protect your peepers from future damage by shielding them from UVA and UVB rays. Make sure that the glasses you choose filter out both of these types of rays. Look for a label that specifically states 99 or 100 percent UV protection. Since rays can still sneak in over the tops and sides of glasses, wearing a hat is a good idea if you will be in sunlight. Also, be sure to wear protective goggles to protect eyes in the snow or water as both can reflect the sun's rays. Wearing sunglasses can also help prevent wrinkles, because you are not squinting in the sun! So, look cool, but protect your eyes while doing it!
Congratulations on getting through the holidays! Hopefully you were able to steer clear of colds and flus and stress that run rampant this time of year. With New Year's Eve approaching us next week, it is time to think about changes we can make in our lives in 2008 to better our health mentally and/or physically. I have several resolutions I am going to work on this year, but I think it's important to select one health-related resolution since we all have areas in our lives where we can improve. So, mine is with flossing. I am going to become a regular flosser, knowing the health benefits of doing so. It seems sort of minute, but it's an area I need to work on, and the benefits are worth it. I invite you to take a look at your own life, and find some place where you can improve your habits, and share it with our audience, if you like. Making small sacrifices or changes can make big strides in your life!
Today’s topic is one that I came across in my research and found interesting. As women, we may take a man’s erection for granted, but it’s truly a scientific marvel. I found the following information rather interesting. Here is the science behind an erection:
At its most basic level, an erection is a matter of hydraulics. Blood fills the penis, causing it to swell and become firm. But getting to that stage requires extraordinary orchestration of body mechanisms. Blood vessels, nerves, hormones, and, of course, the psyche must work together. Problems with any one of these elements can diminish the quality of an erection or prevent it from happening altogether.
In many cases, an erection really starts in a man's brain. A sight, a touch, a smell, or perhaps just a memory sparks intense activity in the hypothalamus, an area near the base of the brain. Electrical signals of sexual arousal travel from the brain down to an area in the lower part of the spinal cord. Nerves in this area signal nerves in the pelvis, which tell arteries to let blood into the penis and cause an erection.
Direct genital stimulation can also cause an erection, but different nerve pathways are involved. In this case, the sensation is carried by the pudendal nerve, which runs from the penis to the sacral nerves in the lower spine. The sacral nerves then send messages that cause the arteries in the penis to admit blood.
See, I told you it was interesting!
Source: AOL Health
I want to wish all of the readers of Daily Health Bits, a happy, safe, and healthy Thankgiving! Be thankful for the health you have, and think of ways you can improve it so you have even more to be thankful for next year! Enjoy turkey dinner!!! Gobble Gobble
September 6 is Do It! Day AKA Fight Procrastination Day. What better reason to get something done that you’ve been wanting to do, but keep putting off? We are all guilty of it; we get too busy with other things or figure we can do it tomorrow. Ever noticed that the time it takes worrying about a project you haven't completed takes even more time than actually doing the task? So, today, thing about something you’ve been meaning to do, and get it done! And, how about turning every day into Do It! Day? Figure out the reasons you are procrastinating, and make strides to change them. My task today is to steam clean our carpets. I’ve been making excuses not to do it, and finding other “more important” things to do, but today, our carpets will go from taupe to cream again! Have a great day, and tell us your accomplishment in the comments section!
