Healthtips , Health News, Health Care and Fitness,Health and Nutrition Tips

The simple Surya Namaskar that has been practiced in India for years has recently found a whole lot of takers.  And if you want a good start to your day, what better than the Surya Namaskar, which is known to have a host of health   benefits . There are 12 different poses to do in a Surya Namaskar and you're known to have finished a complete round when you've performed two consecutive sets.   - You don't need to be doing yoga regularly in order to practice the Surya Namaskar. If performed correctly, this   exercise   does not strain or cause injury. If performed in the morning, it relieves stiffness, revitalises your   body   and refreshes the mind. Do it during the day and it will instantly boost you up, practice it after sundown and it helps you unwind.   - Not only does the Surya Namaskar give you a great stretch and keep you fit physically (it is extremely beneficial for your joints, ligaments and improves flexibility and posture), but is also does wonders f

Today, when a sedentary lifestyle is the rule, people's health is deteriorating day by day. Eating healthy just requires a little planning. Here are some shortcuts to a healthy body. Everyday, without our knowledge, a faint little feeling in the stomach prompts us to involuntarily look at the clock.  Then the revelation hits us – it is evening and we have not had the time to eat our lunch. In today's times, where a sedentary lifestyle is the rule, it's observed that the health of people is deteriorating day by day. They have started taking themselves and their body for granted. They don't even remember when they last had a proper meal. Eating healthy just requires a little planning. Here are some shortcuts to achieve a healthy body:   Breakfast is a 'must'  Start your morning with some breakfast, be it a piece of fruit or a whole wheat bread. Put oatmeal into a thermos of hot water, and you could even let it sit overnight. In the morning, you shall have hot

The complete loss of smell — anosmia  — can be temporary or permanent, depending on the cause. Loss of smell caused by a common cold will clear up on its own. Loss of smell related to an obstruction of the nasal passage, such as polyps, will clear up when the obstruction is removed. Loss of smell related to other causes, such as aging or a brain tumor, may be permanent. Anosmia isn't necessarily a serious condition in and of itself, but an intact sense of smell is necessary to fully taste foods. So loss of smell could cause you to lose interest in eating, leading to weight loss, malnutrition or even depression. Loss of smell also prevents you from smelling things like spoiled food or smoke. CAUSES Acute sinusitis     (sinus infection) Loss of smell due to problems with the inner lining of your nose Anosmia can be caused by temporary or permanent irritation, or destruction of the mucus membranes lining the inside of your nose. This can be caused by: Hay fever Common cold Influen

Acidity   and   heartburn   are due to presence of too much acid in the stomach that causes exasperation of the   gastrointestinal   casing. This causes a blazing pain. When this excessive acid leaks back into the throat this inflames and the reaction of heartburn is produced. Causes of Acidity and Heartburn The following circumstances can create excessive acid in stomach causing  acidity and  heartburn . Consumption of  rich and spicy foods Eating speedily, very fast devoid of proper chewing Eating hurriedly while beneath stress Inappropriate sleep Alcohol utilization Pregnant women may undergo because when the baby grows, the uterus exerts force on the digestive area Overweight people may bear because of unnecessary pressure on their digestive tract. Avoidance of Acidity & Heartburn A number of people are more prone than others to  acidity  and  heartburkal  as they have difficulty in digesting some foods. Bananas have defensive action against the  acidity  and  heart bur

Even the best laid weight loss plans can go awry... Let’s take a look at the top 10 reasons why those extra kilos refuse to budge – and what you can do about it. You stand at the door of your wardrobe and bite your bottom lip, wondering whether you will finally fit into that pair of jeans you bought and vowed you would lose the weight to wear. And, Damn it, you still can’t get them done up! What’s gone wrong? Unfortunately there are many reasons you don’t lose weight as quickly as you would like, or find the needle of the scales is stuck on a particular number and refuses to budge. 1) You have no goal Not setting achievable goals is a little like getting into a car and just starting to drive, without any idea of where you are going. After all, how are you going to know when you have reached your destination? With weight loss, if you don’t set a target, it’s easy to forget about the challenge, and as time drags on, that goal doesn’t get any closer. Decide how much weight you want to lo

When you're overweight, it's not only the clothes that don't fit anymore - everything else can go downhill from there. Before you lose more of your confidence, perhaps it's time to get to the root of the problem. Your clothes don’t fit and you’re getting crankier with each passing day (all right, try each passing week, month, year…) not having enough control to stop yourself from eating and too big a size to raid the mall clearance sales with your girlfriends and score good deals on “normal” sizes. You’ve faced yourself in the mirror countless of times, making a hasty inventory of your rolls and bulges, and gradually get this sense of helplessness despite the media barrage of how to  lose  weight  (quick!) People say that it’s all a matter of control and discipline. Others will say that it’s got something do with genes. Others will say that it’s all a matter of “firing up” your metabolism so that it will work for you. Doctors will advise you to get a check up for hormon

Followed every diet in the book, but love handles still giving you nightmares? Well, celeb dietician Anita Bean has come to your rescue with her new no-nonsense strategy for a proper diet that can help you shun fat forever.  Anita, 46, has published  Slim Secrets  , which gives a safe diet based on scientific facts from her 18 years of experience. "Many diets make wild promises but the usual rule of thumb is that the wilder the claim the less likely it is to work. Any diet is going to work in the short term because you are going to eat fewer calories but often the proposed eating plan is not sustainable," the  Daily Express  quoted her, as saying. Slim Secrets  , addresses the psychology and emotions behind dieting which she feels is the main barrier to long term weight loss. "Before you begin working out whether you are going to have broccoli or a chocolate cookie, the starting point of any diet has to be sorting out your emotions. You have to start taking contr

Endometriosis occurs when the tissue that makes up the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium, begin to grow outside the uterus in areas such as the fallopian tubes, ovaries, the outer layer of the uterus or the lining of the pelvis. The ovaries release eggs and produce the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone. These hormones help prepare the uterus for the implantation of a fertilized egg. At the beginning of the menstrual cycle, hormone levels increase; that signals the uterus to thicken it’s inner lining and, making it easier for a fertilized egg to adhere to the inside of the womb. If pregnancy does not occur hormone levels drop and the thickened lining is shed from body during menstrual bleeding. Endometriosis occurs when the tissue that makes up the inner lining of the uterus, the endometrium, begin to grow outside the uterus in areas such as the fallopian tubes, ovaries, the outer layer of the uterus or the lining of the pelvis. The endometrial tissue outside the u

You don't have to acquire a taste for olive oil, seaweed or soya to maintain a low-fat, healthy diet. Indian cuisine can be healthy too, if it's cooked with oil and ingredients that take care of your heart and health.  Ayurveda suggests you include all tastes — sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent — in at least one meal each day, to help balance unnatural cravings. Here are 12 foods that can help you lose weight and gain health:   Turmeric   : Curcumin, the active component of turmeric, is an object of research owing to its properties that suggest they may help to turn off certain genes that cause scarring and enlargement of the heart. Regular intake may help reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or bad cholesterol and high blood pressure, increase blood circulation and prevent blood clotting, helping to prevent heart attack.   Cardamom  : This is a thermogenic herb that increases metabolism and helps burn body fat. Cardamom is considered one of the best dige

Ladies and gentlemen, this one's for all you gym haters. If you are among those who dreads the sight of the treadmill and can't bear to get onto the   exercise   cycle and are still dying to lose those extra inches, don't worry. We give you a lowdown of some fun activities that you can indulge in. Now here's the catch. Not only will these activities help you in your weight loss quest, indulging in them will also help you learn a new skill. So are you ready to burn those calories and have fun too?   Read on...   Bollywood Aerobics  Step aside plain, simple aerobic routines, this is the day and age of Bollybics — that's what Bollywood Aerobics is popularly called. Have you realised, those super sexy jhatkas and matkas our Bollywood heroines do with so much ease can indeed make for a perfectly fun workout. "Adapted to the beats of popular filmi music, Bollybics is an aerobic workout that helps burn intense calories while   dancing   to your favourite songs,&q

Diabetes India has the dubious distinction of being the diabetes capital of the world. The International Diabetes Federation estimates that the number of diabetic patients in India has more than doubled from 19 million in 1995 to over 41 million now. Up to 11 per cent of India's urban population above the age of 15 has diabetes. Cancer Cancer is the second biggest cause of death in India, growing at 11 per cent annually. There are 2.5 million cancer cases and four lakh deaths a year in India. In 1991, six lakh new cancer cases were diagnosed; that figure has now risen to eight lakh. Smoking one to seven cigarettes daily doubles the cancer risk. One in five Indian men dies between age 30 and 69 due to tobacco-related cancers. Chronic Diseases and Lifestyle Chronic diseases are typically long-lasting conditions that can be controlled but not cured. They are among the most costly health problems and, ironically, the most preventable. South Asians have the highest incidence of coro

E ven seemingly gentle antibiotics may severely disrupt the balance of microbes living in the gut, with unforeseen health consequences, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. An intimate study of three women given ciprofloxacin showed the drug suppressed entire populations of beneficial bacteria, and at least one woman took months to recover. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, supports the common wisdom that antibiotics can damage the "good" germs living in the body. It may also support the idea behind the development of so-called probiotic products including yogurt with live cultures of bacteria. The researchers tested the three volunteers daily, giving them a five-day course of the commonly used antibiotic ciprofloxacin twice during the 10-month study. They ran DNA tests on stool samples from the volunteers to determine what kind of microbes were living in the gut. "The effect of ciprofloxac in on the gut microbiota was prof