Health Pearls: Health Tips for the Health Consciousness
Ingredients for a Successful Diet
Your body runs on energy supplied by food. Unless your body receives the nutrients it needs to function properly, it will not perform to its full potential. Whether eating a routine meal, preparing for an athletic event, or dieting to lose weight you should eat a well balanced diet. This should include the four basic food groups. Diet is a life long process. When dieting to lose weight, be careful of “fad” diets. Your caloric intake should be adjusted to a comfortable degree that you can live with. When a person cuts back their caloric intake too much, it resets their metabolism resulting in an overall weight gain when they go back to eating their regular diet.
Pearl: Scrutinize every morsel you put in your mouth.
What is Exercise?
Many people feel they get plenty of exercise at work, but is this really the kind of exercise that will improve their health? Chances are, it probably is not. To get beneficial exercise to maintain cardiovascular fitness, one needs to do an aerobic type exercise at least 20 minutes three times a week. This means getting your heart rate up to 60-80% of your maximum heart rate and keeping it there for 20 minutes. Good aerobic activities include walking, jogging, swimming, and bicycling. Many people find that this increases their energy and improves their sense of well being.
Pearl: Make time for exercise and do some aerobic activity that you enjoy.
Fine Tuning Your Body With Drugs
Are there any “recreational drugs” which can fine tune the body or increase performance. Actually steroids have been shown to improve performance with high intensity workouts. However, the side effects of liver toxicity, diabetes, impotence, and acne counteract any physical gains attributed to the steroids.
Alcohol is a depressant which decreases one’s level of consciousness and impairs judgement. Alcohol also acts as a toxin to the liver and can cause direct damage to the liver. It can also cause breast development in males, decreased testicular size and impotence.
Can cocaine make you high? Yes, it can make your blood pressure high. High blood pressure leads to strokes and heart attacks.
Pearl: Avoid drugs. There are no “recreational drugs” which can safely fine tune your body. See your physician if you feel your body needs medications for “fine tuning”.
Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, sodas, and chocolate. Too much caffeine can cause nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, heart burn, caffeine withdrawal headaches, and pain with fibrocystic breast disease.
Pearl: Avoid caffeine if you are suffering from any of these problems.
The Most Addictive Substance
In the World
Tobacco is one of the most addictive substances in the world. More people are addicted to tobacco than any other substance. The most common cause of death among smokers is lung cancer. Smokers also suffer from increased numbers of respiratory tract infections as well as carrying around a smoky odor with them where ever they go. Chewing tobacco is associated with increase risk of lip, mouth and throat cancer.
Pearl: Don’t start smoking or chewing tobacco. If you already have — Good Luck! You will need to stop or else risk developing cancer.
Health Risks of Sex
Pelvic inflammatory disease is the leading cause of infertility among women. It is commonly caused by chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease. Certain strains of Human Papilloma Virus which causes genital warts have been linked to cancer of the cervix and scrotum. It is another sexually transmitted disease. HIV is also sexually transmitted and causes AIDS. There is no cure for AIDS. The best treatment for sexually transmitted diseases is prevention. Abstinence is 100% effective. After abstinence, partner choice can help prevent coming down with sexually transmitted diseases. If you pick a partner who has not had sex with anyone, and you have not had sex with anyone, your lifetime chance of coming down with a sexually transmitted disease is practically “0” if you stay with this partner. If you have several partners, or a single partner with several partners, your risk becomes very great for coming down with a sexually transmitted disease.. Condoms are also effective against spread of sexually transmitted disease but are not 100% effective. One study shows that the risk of coming down with HIV infection is 1 in 6 with the use of condoms where one partner has HIV infection.
Pearl: The best treatment of sexually transmitted diseases is prevention and abstinence is 100% effective. For those who are sexually active, careful choice of their partner and use of condoms decreases risk of infections. If you are sexually active, see your physician regularly to screen for sexually transmitted diseases and their complications.
Pregnancy can also be a health risk associated with sex. For women at extremes of age (young or old), going through pregnancy and delivery can be hazardous to their health or even result in death. Any time you have sex it can result in pregnancy. In fact, among adolescents, 22% become pregnant within one month from the time they first have intercourse. One should not have sex until they are ready to start a family and take care of a baby. One should never have sex without birth control when pregnancy is not wanted. One should remember that even with birth control, pregnancy can occur.
Pearl: Wait until you are ready to have kids before having sex.
Bottom Line