Right Health Advice

Healthy Anger Outlets

2010-04-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

If there's one thing that makes anger an annoying emotion to feel, it's the fact that it's hard to find an outlet that works effectively in lifting the weight this emotion brings.

Some people become violent and that doesn't help resolve the issue. Others choose to push their feelings to the farthest corners of their mind. But that too doesn't help. In fact, keep anger boxed in for too long is bound to get you consumed by it.

There are many ways to express anger in a healthy way. Here are some examples:

Journalling. Write about how you feel. Some say it actually feels like talking to a confidante. Some people attest to the fact that once they've written off how they felt, they immediately feel better.

Shadow boxing. Punch your anger off. The exercise helps boost endorphin levels in the brain. So aside from having duked out your anger through your punches, you also boost up your feel-good hormones.

I personally lean towards journalling because I feel better once all my thoughts are out of my head. Reading them once over helps me see things in a third party perspective and understand whether I've been irrational or not.

By: Abbey Yap

Simple Ways To Cut Back On Calories

2010-03-24T12:40:00.000-07:00

Most people dread hearing the word diet because it's like willingly subjecting yourself to food torture. Think what you want, but dieting (or at least healthy eating) is ultimately for your own good.

The thing with some dieters is that they think they can immediately cut back on their food consumption on their first day. That isn't the case. A lifetime of eating fastfood will never be changed that

fast. You have to do it slow and steady so the habit of eating right will stick.

To help you get started on your diet, here are some tips to cut back on calories without overwhelming yourself:

Poach your eggs instead of frying them.

Pick on dried fruits instead of caramel cubes.

Snack on fresh fruits instead of loads of chocolate bars.

Steam your vegetables with flavor-infused water instead of sauteeing them in butter or oil.

Trade your caramel-coated popcorn with the air-popped variant.

By following these simple eating habit changes, you can cut back on at least 100 calories a day. If you keep at it, you'll notice yourself get closer to your weight loss goals.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

How To Improve Your Chances of Conceiving

2010-03-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Some couples are lucky enough to get pregnant easily. However, others aren't as fortunate. Some of the unlucky pairs have difficulty conceiving because of existing physical conditions. There are also those who lower their chances because of the lifestyle they keep.

If you're one of the many who want to get pregnant but seem to have a hard time doing so, here are some tips that might help you get the baby you want:

1. Drop your vices. Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption have been linked to infertility in women and decreased sperm health and motility in men.

2. Watch your weight. This entails being careful about your food choices and incorporating 30 minutes of exercise in your daily routine to keep your weight in check.

3. Don't let stress get to you. Stress can upset a woman's menstrual cycle and in turn, affect her ability to get pregnant or prepare the body to conceive.

4. Be careful with the medicine you drink. Certain prescription medications lower a woman's chances of getting pregnant.

To better improve your chances of conceiving, both you and your partner should see a doctor for tips on how to better your health in preparation for your attempts to get pregnant.

By: Abbey Yap

Hugs For Your Health

2010-03-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

I feel comforted and relaxed when I receive a hug from a friend during tough times. I think it's from the love the comes across with the hug. What do you think?
It's amazing how studies are now showing that hugs offer us a lot of physical health benefits. It's been proven to improve one's overall physical and mental health. Here are some of the benefits hugging offers:

Hugging increases oxytocin levels in the body, which is good for couples because it makes them feel closer to each other. Oxytocin, after all, is the “bonding” hormone.

Hugging lowers stress levels. When couples hug and pump up their oxytocin level, they promote a stronger support system which, in turn, makes stress more bearable and prevent cortisol (stress hormone) levels from rising.

Hugging improves heart health. Because hugging lessens stress and anxiety, it ultimately protects us from the effects of stress (hypertension, racing heart, etc.).

Hugging reduces pain. It has also been noted to tone down symptoms of Alzheimer's disease like restlessness, pacing, and searching.

Seriously, what are you waiting for? With all these benefits to get from hugging, why aren't you out there hugging the people you love?

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Healthy Super Bowl Snack Alternatives

2010-03-05T13:03:00.000-08:00

I remember the recently concluded Super Bowl games. I remember how excited I was to organize a viewing party at home – food, drinks, company – everything had to be in order.

Well, speaking of food, we usually get hotdogs, greasy burgers, and fries when we watch games. But this time, I thought I'd serve something different, something healthy. I chose to make chicken ceasar wraps.

To make this, you'll need:

6 ounce piece of grilled chicken diced

low carb whole-wheat tortilla

2 tablespoons of light Caesar dressing

2 ounces of shredded romaine

1 tomato cut into wedges

it's very simple, you just mix the chicken, ceasar dressing, romaine lettuce, and tomato in a bowl, put a generous serving into the tortilla, and fold.

This dish helped me deliver a high-fiber, high-protein delight to friends who came over to enjoy the game with us. It was a fun night and I wish we could do it again next season.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

How to Make Work More Fun For You

2010-03-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

We keep jobs to cover our expenses. But this doesn't necessarily mean that we like working. Unless you're really rich, I don't think you have a choice regarding keeping a job.

Since we can't afford to lose our jobs, we might as well find ways to make it as enjoyable as possible. Here are some great ways to make work a little more fun:

Make your workspace more comfortable – Check if your area is too bright, if your chair is too hard, or if you have too much clutter on your station.

Manage work stress – Avoid getting caught in a tight spot by accepting tasks you don't fully understand. Don't play hero by signing up for tasks that are not yours to take.

Stay healthy – Don't let yourself go hungry while at work. Take your meals on time and snack when necessary. Also, take five to 10-minute breaks every couple of hours to relieve your body of work strain.

There are other ways to make work a more fun place to be in, you just have to develop your own techniques. Remember, you're doing this for your own sake, not anybody else's.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Breaking Down Weight-Loss Routine Boredom

2010-03-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

When trying to lose weight, you're advised to concentrate on certain kinds of foods and perform certain exercises twice or thrice a week. Most of the time, people follow the rulebook to the T that they stick to what's written and fail to change it.

It's not necessarily wrong to stick to what your doctor/fitness instructor/dietitian told you to do. However, your main antagonist here is boredom. You stick to doing or eating something for quite sometime you're going to want to do or eat other things.

Chances are, when you're under the impression that you can't break away from the set diet or exercise, you feel more tempted to just drop your weight loss program right there and then.

To prevent this from happening, make your weight loss plan a mix of a lot of different exercises and menu plans so that you won't feel boxed in or feel bored. Change your exercise set every week or plan a new menu list for the next. There are lots of things that you can do to shake up your weight loss strategy and prevent you from falling out of interest.

What do you think?

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Healthy Snacking 101

2010-03-01T13:50:00.001-08:00

I'm guilty of snacking when I've nothing to do. Most of the time, I just reach out and grab a bag of chips and snack away. Before I know it, the bag's almost out. I believe I'm not the only one who has these little moments.

How do we get over this guilty pleasure? My bet is on healthy snacking.

Although we're accustomed to eating salty chips or sugary treats for snacks, there are tasty yet healthy alternatives for us to munch on like:

dried fruits instead of chocolate chip cookies

freshly squeezed fruit juice instead of fruit flavored drinks

ice-cold water instead of sodas

If you can't give up your favorite sinful snack of choice, then why not try to work with it? Try to trim down your serving proportions into a smaller one. One good way to do it is to not carry the entire bag or box with you. Instead, take some and put it on a plate to regulate your consumption.

By learning how to snack healthy, you prevent overeating and avoid gaining excess weight. Who knows, if you keep at it with this habit, you might even lose some weight?

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Simple Ways To Cut Back On Calories

2010-02-26T12:41:00.001-08:00

Most people dread hearing the word diet because it's like willingly subjecting yourself to food torture. Think what you want, but dieting (or at least healthy eating) is ultimately for your own good.

The thing with some dieters is that they think they can immediately cut back on their food consumption on their first day. That isn't the case. A lifetime of eating fastfood will never be changed that fast. You have to do it slow and steady so the habit of eating right will stick. If you cannot do this then I think you need medical advice.

To help you get started on your diet, here are some tips to cut back on calories without overwhelming yourself:

Poach your eggs instead of frying them.

Pick on dried fruits instead of caramel cubes.

Snack on fresh fruits instead of loads of chocolate bars.

Steam your vegetables with flavor-infused water instead of sauteeing them in butter or oil.

Trade your caramel-coated popcorn with the air-popped variant.

By following these simple eating habit changes, you can cut back on at least 100 calories a day. If you keep at it, you'll notice yourself get closer to your weight loss goals.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Which is Healthier: Coffee or Tea?

2010-02-23T13:22:00.000-08:00

These days, more and more products are claiming to be filled with health benefits. Two of such products are coffee and tea. The question is, which one is healthier?

Tea and coffee are both known as diuretics, they make you pee a lot. In a way, they help expel toxins quicker, but in the process, also make us lose excess water too.

Both coffee and tea are high in caffeine. This makes them both very effective stimulants. However, coffee drinkers have a tendency to manifest more anxiousness and jumpiness than tea drinkers because coffee contains a much higher concentration of caffeine.

Coffee and tea have both been noted for being rich in antioxidants. Only this time, tea takes the point because it has more antioxidants than coffee. It has been proven to help prevent cancer, lower blood pressure, and fight plaque formation on teeth, among many other health benefits.

Suffice to say, although both drinks have a relatively good effect on our health, tea appears to be healthier as it provides us with more health benefits than coffee.

So what are you waiting for? Let's get some tea brewing and drink up for your health.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

The Myth of the Broken Penis

2010-02-19T11:52:00.001-08:00

When you hear of someone talking about a broken penis, the natural reaction is to laugh. Is that some kind of joke? How can you break your penis when it doesn't even have bones?

How can you fracture your 'member', you might wonder? Penile fracture, priaprism to people in the medical community, happens when something causes the corpus spongiosum or the muscles surrounding the urethra to break and bleed out into surrounding tissues.

Priaprism happens when you miss your aim during intercourse. For example, you thrust and miss the vaginal opening, and instead hit the thigh with a certain amount of force. That force can burst the corpus spongiosum and cause it to bleed. Accidents, as well as sudden pending of “morning wood”, can also cause penile fracture.

The reason why it's called a fracture is because most often than not, you hear a loud cracking sound, similar to that of a bone breaking, when the corpus spongiosum bursts.

Surgery is the only treatment for penile fractures. There are blood clots and debris to remove. Leaving it untreated is out of the picture because it may significantly affect a man's ability to function in the romance department.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Quit Smoking For Your Loved One's Sake

2010-02-18T13:37:00.001-08:00

Smoking is a menace to one's health. It's very addictive and quite hard to quit. I know because I've tried to stop smoking so many times before I succeeded.

You want to know what the best advice my doctor gave me about stopping smoking? He told me to think of my loved ones.

If you think about it, it's actually the soundest advice I've heard. Nothing wakes a smoker up to the realization that he should REALLY quit smoking than the fact that his habit is going to jeopardize his loved one's health. If you don't care for your own health, think about that of the people you live with.

Second-hand smokers actually feel the effects of smoking before the actual smokers do. They tend to develop respiratory tract-related diseases that they shouldn't even have. A good example of such conditions are emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma.

If you're like me and live in a house of non-smokers, you might want to stop and consider whether you want to be responsible for the health conditions they may develop from your smoking or not.

What do you think?

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Choosing the Right Cooking Oil

2010-02-11T14:12:00.001-08:00

We use oils for cooking – sautéing, frying, flavoring, etc. However, with more and more negative health effects being linked to different cooking oils, people are not more conscious about wanting to choose the healthiest oil to use for cooking.

So I ask, which cooking oils are healthy?

I searched the net to shed some light to this question and found the top three healthiest oil for cooking:

1. Canola oil. It's high in monounsaturated fat which is good for the body, and low in saturated fats which have been linked to various diseases. It also contains a certain omega-3 fatty acid which we don't usually have in our diets.

2. Olive oil. Preferably the extra virgin variant. Aside from being high in monounsaturated fats, olive oil also has phytochemicals that protect against cancer and lower bad cholesterol level.

3. Macadamia nut oil. Yet another oil rich in monounsaturated fat, macadamia nut oil possesses a distinct nutty flavor that works well with fish and chicken.

Keep in mind, though, that even if these oils are healthy, they still contain fat and should be used in moderation. Always remember that even the healthiest things, when used excessively, can be bad for the health.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Evil Snack Items Lurking Behind the Counter

2010-02-08T11:48:00.000-08:00

There is evil lurking in our grocery aisles. Believe me, a lot of the snack items we usually pick up during grocery runs are actually the worst snack choices possible. All we need is to eat healthy snacks for our future. Or even get online health consultation for us.

Which common foods am I talking about? I'm going to name the top three most evil snacks:

1. Sodas. For every 12 ounces of cola you chug down, you drink 150 empty calories, 10 teaspoons of sugar, corn syrup, and other artificial sweeteners. These are all chemicals and not a lot of helpful nutrients that we're sucking in.

2. Sour cream & onion potato chips. Every time you munch on chips, you ingest empty calories, fat (saturated, transfats), sodium, and MSG. That sounds like a little number that would eventually do your heart in the long haul.

3. Mass-produced chocolate chip cookies. I'd bet you didn't know that one small cookie piece has 80 calories, 4.5 grams of fats, and a whole lot of sugar. Not only is this bad for your teeth, but the transfat in commercially produced pastries isn't good for the heart too.

If you want to find out more about these evil snack foods, visit the original article here.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Tips to Avoid Over-Eating

2010-02-05T14:25:00.001-08:00

Obesity is a global problem that needs to be addressed. Admit it or not, one of the reasons why it's grown to that scale is because we all have a problem controlling the way we eat. People tend to overeat without having ample physical exercise to work it off.

excess food consumption + no exercise = weight gain = obesity

But I've come across some helpful tips on how to avoid overeating. Let's me share a few of them with you:

Wait 10 minutes before heading back for seconds. Your stomach may not be aware that it's full just yet, so give it a few minutes to, well, digest.

When given a big serving, eat a healthy portion and have what's leftover wrapped to go. You don't have to force yourself to finish the food if it's too big.

If you have the habit of eating out of the bag, kick that habit. Put an adequate amount in a bowl or plate and put the bag aside. There's a tendency to keep eating when you see that there's still lots to munch on.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

The Best Health Advice

2010-02-03T13:50:00.000-08:00

It's funny how the best health advice was given to me by someone who isn't in the medical profession. Want to know what that advice was? It was so simple that I didn't even think about it myself.

I was told to stop sweating the small stuff.

It's actually good advice, if you think about it. Stress actually appears as a trigger for health conditions like insomnia and fatigue. And being a constant worrier, I often find myself stressing about any and every little thing under the sun. In turn, I'm always feeling tired and have difficulty sleeping.

I can't say that I've completely let go of my nasty worrying habit, but I'm learning to start to let little things slide.

You think money and time are big issues? What if your health starts to suffer? You'll have that on top of money and time constraints. That's not good.

If you don't stress over minor problems, your mind stays clear and sharp enough to find ways to deal with your concerns. Aside from that, you pretty much save yourself from stress-induced diseases too.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Live Long and Prosper

2010-02-01T13:20:00.000-08:00

I think everybody would like to live long enough to see our grandchildren have lives of their own, don't you agree? However, taking our lifestyle habits into consideration, living that long seems like an impossible dream. Or is it?

According to an article that I've read here, there are simply lifestyle changes we can make to help extend our lifespan. Here are some of them:

Break down meals to five small portions a day. Instead of stuffing yourself during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, why not divide it into five evenly spaced, equally portioned meals just enough to provide you with energy throughout the day.

Drink lots of water. Healthcare professionals recommend 8-10 glasses of water daily, and it's for good reason. Water will help flush out toxins in the body.

Ditch the elevator and use the stairs instead. With most jobs done over the computer, we'll need all the physical exercise we can get. Climbing stairs is as good as any exercise.

Of course it'd take some practice before you get the hang of such lifestyle changes. The key to it is to have the will to want to change these habits to be healthier and live longer.

By: Abbey Grace Yap

Where Do You Get Healthcare Advice From?

2010-01-27T13:29:00.001-08:00

These days, people rely on the Internet for information on almost anything and everything under the sun. We trust it enough to use it to look for a good restaurant to eat at, a great movie to watch, and we even use it to look for common solutions to simple health concerns.

But is it all that reliable, especially when it comes to something that concerns one's health?

Before we delve on this question further, let's look at the other side of the spectrum. There are people out there who don't trust the Internet for health advice but believe in old wives quack cures. Isn't that more risky?

Personally, although some quack cures have worked, I'd prefer to get my advice online. Of course nothing beats seeing a doctor face-to-face if it's about serious conditions. But at least, I know that there are trusted health sites out there with articles written by actual healthcare professionals that I can use to remedy my simple health concerns.

How about you, where do you get your health advice from?

By: Abbey Grace Yap