Pineapple nutrition facts

     One of the most prized and popular fruits, pineapple or "ananas" has an interesting history to narrate. The ananas plant is actually native to Paraguay in South America. It spread by the local Indians up through South and Central America and to the West Indies. Later, it was brought to Spain when Columbus discovered Americas’ in 1493, from where; it spread to rest of the world by the sailors (just like tomatoes) who carried it for protection from scurvy wherever they went.

Scientifically, it is known as "Ananas comosus" and belongs to the family of Bromeliaceae, of the genus; Ananas.

Pineapple is a tropical, perennial, drought-tolerant plant that grows up to 5-8 ft in height and spreads around about three to four ft. It is essentially a short, stout stem with a rosette of waxy long, needle-tipped leaves.

The plant bears several long, oval to cylindrical fruits during each season from March until June.

The fruit is described as compound (multiple) fruit that develops from many small fruits fused together around the central core. Its pulp is juicy and fleshy with the stem serving as a supporting fibrous core. The outer rough, tough, scaly rind may be dark green, yellow, orange-yellow or reddish when the fruit is ripe. Internal juicy flesh may range from creamy white to yellow and has a mix of sweet and tart taste with rich flavor. Each fruit measures in size up to 12 inches long and weighs 1 to 8 pounds or more.

Health benefits of Pineapple fruit

• Fresh pineapple is low in calories. Nonetheless, ii is a storehouse of several unique health promoting compounds, minerals and vitamins that are essential for optimum health.
• 100 g fruit provides just about 50 calories equivalent to that of apples. Its flesh contains no saturated fats or cholesterol; however, it is rich source of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber like pectin.
• Pineapple fruit contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain that digests food by breaking down protein. Bromelain also has anti-inflammatory, anti-clotting and anti-cancer properties. Studies have shown that consumption of pineapple regularly helps fight against arthritis, indigestion and worm infestation.
• Fresh pineapple is an excellent source of antioxidant vitamin; vitamin C. 100 g fruit contains 47.8 or 80% of this vitamin. Vitamin C is required for the collagen synthesis in the body. Collagen is the main structural protein in the body required for maintaining the integrity of blood vessels, skin, organs, and bones. Regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps the body protect from scurvy; develop resistance against infectious agents (boosts immunity) and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals from the body.
• It also contains small amount Vitamin A (provides 58 IU per 100 g) and beta-carotene levels. These compounds are known to have antioxidant properties. Vitamin A is also required maintaining healthy mucus membranes, skin and essential for vision. Studies have suggested that consumption of natural fruits rich in flavonoids helps the human body to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• In addition, this fruit is rich in B-complex group of vitamins like folates, thiamin, pyridoxine, riboflavin and minerals like copper, manganese and potassium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids, helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Copper is a helpful cofactor for red blood cell synthesis. Manganese is a co-factor for the enzyme superoxide dismutase, which is a very powerful free radical scavenger

Selection and storage

Pineapple or ananas season lasts from March until June when fresh fruits available in the markets at their best. In the store, choose that are heavy for their size. While larger fruits will have a greater proportion of edible flesh, there is usually no difference in quality between a small and large-size pineapple.

Choose fruit that should be free of soft spots, mold, bruises and darkened "eyes," all of which may indicate that the fruit is past its prime. Some people judge freshness, ripeness and quality by tapping a finger against the side of the fruit. A good, ripe pineapple has a dull, solid sound while immaturity and poor quality are indicated by a hollow thud. It stops ripening as soon as it is picked; therefore, choose a fruit with a fragrant sweet smell at the stem end. Avoid those that smell musty, sour or fermented.

Ripe ones perish quickly if left at room temperature. Since they chill sensitive and cannot be stored in the refrigerator for long periods, better use as early as possible. However, if not readily eaten you may place the ripe fruit in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, for later use.

Preparation and serving method

Pineapple can be cut and peeled in many ways. Usually, the crown and the base of the fruit are chopped off with a knife. Then, to peel the fruit, place its base side down and carefully slice off the skin, carving out any remaining "eyes" with the tip of your knife. Once the rind is removed, cut the fruit into your desirable sizes.

One may also use pineapple "corers" to make the job easier. While they provide a quick and convenient method for peeling and coring pineapples, sometimes, they result in waste of a good amount of fruit since they often cannot be adjusted for different-sized fruits. Similarly, some markets offer devices that will peel and core the ananas, but once again, this process may waste some fruit.

Here are some serving tips:

• Fresh ananas sections are a great addition to fruit salads and in toppings.
• Fresh pineapple juice can be a refreshing intra-day drink.
• It also used in the preparation of desserts, jams, and jellies.
• The fruit is used in a variety of delicious pineapple recipes, mainly as a flavoring ingredient.

Pineapple fruit contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain that may cause excessive uterine bleeding if consumed in large quantities during pregnancy.

The Benefits of Lemon Water in the Morning

Many years ago, a friend’s mom told me that she never starts her day without a warm glass of lemon water. She said it makes her feel great and really starts the day off on the right foot. I should add that this woman is a natural health nut and really looks as great as I’m sure she must feel! She also taught me never to drink something cold first thing in the morning, as the cold temperature can shock your body.

Years passed, I moved away, and I never really thought about the lemon water again… Until this past summer when I decided to try it for at least a week to see what was so great about it. And I’m happy to report that it’s definitely all it’s made out to be!

I did some research to find out the health benefits from a more scientific perspective, and was very impressed with what I found:

• Aids digestion – The warm water helps stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, and the lemon helps loosen any toxins in the digestive tract.
• Detoxifies the skin and body – As a natural diuretic, lemons help flush the body of any toxins by increasing the rate of urination. Their high vitamin C content also removes impurities from the blood, leading to clearer, more radiant skin.
• Boosts immunity – Lemons are high in both vitamin C, which is great for fighting colds, and potassium, which stimulates brain and nerve function and controls blood pressure.
• Helps curb the coffee habit – The first few days of drinking my lemon water, I also had my regular morning cup of coffee, only to find my self with some slight jitters by mid-morning! So, I realized that the lemon water is a healthier replacement.
• Helps with weight loss – Lemons are high in pectin fiber, which helps keep the body fuller, longer. They’re also a mild diuretic and very alkaline; alkaline bodies have been shown to lost weight faster.

Some Guidelines Before You Start

Water Temperature: Your water should be lukewarm to mildly hot, so try to keep it right around body temperature. Cold water will shock your body, and boiling water will kill the beneficial enzymes present in the lemon.

Protect Your Teeth: Because of the acidity of the lemon, it’s best to drink your lemon water through a straw to protect your teeth. I love using my reusable glass straw for this!

Fresh vs. Bottled Lemon: This one’s a no-brainer, but fresh squeezed lemon is better than the bottled stuff. I just fill up my glass with water, squeeze a lemon wedge over the water, then drop the wedge into the glass, stabbing it a few times with my straw to release more of the juice and the fibrous pulp into the water.

Health: Carrot, Beet Root and Apple

This MIRACLE DRINK has been circulating for a long time. It is worth your while to take note. There is a celebrity Mr.Seto  who swears by it. He wants to make it public to draw the attention of people who have cancer. This is a drink that can protect bad cells forming in body or restrain its growth! Mr. Seto had lung cancer. He was recommended to take this drink by a famous Herbalist from China. He has taken this drink diligently for 3 months and now his health is restored, and he is ready to take a pleasure trip. Thanks to this drink! does not hurt

It is like a Miracle Drink! It is simple 
You need one beet root, one carrot and one apple that combine together to make the JUICE !

Wash the above, cut with the skin on into pieces and put them into the juicer and immediately you drink the juice. You can add some lime for more refreshing taste.

This Miracle Drink will be effective for the following ailments: 

1.  Prevent cancer cells to develop. It will restrain cancer cells to grow.
2.  Prevent liver, kidney, pancreas disease and it can cure ulcer as well.
3.  Strengthen the lung, prevent heart attack and high blood pressure.
4.  Strengthen the immune system
5.  Good for eyesight, eliminates red and tired eyes
6.  Help eliminate pain from physical training, muscle ache
7.  Detoxify, assist bowel movement, eliminate constipation. Therefore it will make skin healthy &  LOOK more radiant. Its God sent for acne problem.
8.  Improve bad breath due to indigestion, throat infection,
9.  Lessen menstrual pain

There is absolutely no side effect. Highly nutritious and easily absorbs! Very effective if you need to loose weight. You will notice your immune system will be improved after 2 week routine. Please make sure to drink immediately from the juicer for best effect.

WHEN TO DRINK IT:

DRINK IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING WITH EMPTY STOMACH! AFTER ONE HOUR YOU CAN EAT BREAKFAST. FOR FAST RESULTS DRINK 2 TIMES A DAY, IN THE MORNING AND BEFORE 5 P.M. 

YOU WILL NEVER REGRET!

IT DOES NOT COST MUCH MONEY! 

Feel Good Factors

 Feel Good Factors (FGF) is a mental therapy which you can use in order to overcome your stress levels up to some extent. This is a technique in which you talk to yourself about the positive things which have happened in your past or currently happening.  You trigger the sense of "feeling good" about these blessings and achievements and train your brain to divert your focus towards the positive aspects of life instead of only thinking about crisis. You remind yourself that the more you do this self talk, the higher are the chances of reducing your stress levels because FGF and peace of mind are directly proportional to each other.

When you are in stress, you might think that you don't have anything nice to feel good about. Wrong! In fact, you can use your positive mindset and easily find good things around you to feel good about regardless of your circumstances. Remember the fact that blessings in your life fall in several categories (Social, Professional, Financial, Mental, Physical, relational, educational, technical, vocal, recreational, possession of home/car/bike and so on). So, in case you lack in one category, does not mean you are in deep crisis. There are billions of people on earth living on a lower scale than you.

While you analyze your current problems and thinking about the possibilities to resolve them, you must spare some dedicated time for FGF therapy on daily basis. Remember the fact that when you are in stress, your thought process gets impacted and does not produce the best results hence the germs of negativity need to be killed by FGF technique. The more you practice FGF, higher degree of gratitude starts developing in your brain which will result in immediate positive impact on your mental, physical and spiritual health.

Check out the below beautiful stanza which you can start practicing starting today:

When your head is on the pillow 
and the day is almost done
Count God's blessings
Count them one by one.

What is a Healthy Balanced Diet?

A healthy diet doesn't mean surviving solely on bird seed, rabbit food and carrot juice! The new approach to eating healthily means we’re positively encouraged to eat a wide range of foods, including some of our favourites – it’s just a question of making sure we get the balance right.

As no single food provides all the calories and nutrients we need to stay healthy, it’s important to eat a variety of foods to make a balanced diet. Meanwhile, most nutrition experts also agree that mealtimes should be a pleasure rather than a penance. This means it’s fine to eat small amounts of our favourite foods from time to time.
A balanced diet means eating plenty of different foods from four main groups of foods and limiting the amount we eat from a smaller fifth group. Ultimately, it’s as simple as eating more fruit, veg, starchy, fibre-rich foods and fresh products, and fewer fatty, sugary, salty and processed foods.

The following guidelines for a healthy, balanced diet are all based on guidelines recommended by the Food Standards Agency.

Bread, Other Cereals and Potatoes

Eat these foods at each meal. They also make good snacks.

Foods in this group include bread, breakfast cereals, potatoes, rice, pasta, noodles, yams, oats and grains. Go for high-fibre varieties where available, such as wholegrain cereals, wholemeal bread and brown rice. These foods provide carbs, fibre, B vitamins and small amounts of calcium and iron. They should fill roughly a third of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:

• 2 slices bread in a sandwich or with a meal
• a tennis ball sized serving of pasta, potato, rice, noodles or couscous
• a bowl of porridge
• a handful of breakfast cereal

Top tips for slimmers: Carb-rich foods might have received a bad press in recent years, but they’re not as ‘fattening’ as many of us think they are. It’s what we add to carbs that pushes up their calorie content, for example, adding butter to bread, frying potatoes to make chips or serving pasta with a creamy sauce. For example, 1 slice of wholemeal bread contains around 75 calories and 0.7g fat. Add 10g of butter to that slice of bread and it provides 145 calories and 8.2g fat.

Fruit and Vegetables

Eat five different servings every day.

Foods in this group include all fruits and vegetables, including fresh, frozen, canned and dried products, and unsweetened fruit juice. Choose canned fruit in juice rather than syrup and go for veg canned in water without added salt or sugar. These foods provide fibre and a range of vitamins and minerals. They should fill roughly a third of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:

• a piece of fruit eg apple, banana, pear
• 2 small fruits eg satsumas, plums, apricots
• a bowl of fruit salad, canned or stewed fruit
• a small glass of unsweetened fruit juice
• a cereal bowl of salad
• 3tbsp vegetables

Top tips for slimmers: Fruit and veg are low in calories and fat but high in fibre. This makes them particularly good foods for helping to fill you up. Adding plenty of veg or salad to meals can also help it to look like you still have a full plate of food and aren’t depriving yourself.

Milk and Dairy Foods

Eat two or three servings a day.

Foods in this group include milk, cheese, yogurt and fromage frais. Choose low-fat varieties where available such as semi-skimmed milk, reduced-fat cheese and fat-free yoghurt. These foods contain protein, calcium and a range of vitamins and minerals. They should fill no more than a sixth of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:

• 200ml milk
• a small pot of yoghurt or fromage frais
• a small matchbox-sized piece of cheese

Top tips for slimmers: These foods are packed with calcium, a mineral that helps to keep bones and teeth strong and healthy. However, research also shows that the calcium found in low-fat dairy products helps the body to burn fat, especially from around our midriff.

Meat, Fish and Alternatives

Eat two servings a day.

Foods in this group include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans, nuts and seeds. Choose low-fat varieties where available such as extra-lean minced beef and skinless chicken and don’t add extra fat or salt. These foods provide protein and a range of vitamins and minerals, especially iron. They should fill no more than a sixth of your plate at mealtimes.

Typical serving sizes:

• a piece of meat, chicken or fish the size of a deck of cards
• 1-2 eggs
• 3 heaped tablespoons of beans
• a small handful of nuts or seeds

Top tips for slimmers: Avoid adding extra fat to these foods when you cook or serve them. For meat, fish and chicken, try grilling, baking or dry roasting rather than frying and boil, scramble or poach eggs.

Fatty and Sugary Foods

Eat only small amounts of these foods.

Foods in this group include oils, spreading fats, cream, mayonnaise, oily salad dressings, cakes, biscuits, puddings, crisps, savoury snacks, sugar, preserves, confectionery and sugary soft drinks. These foods contain fat, sugar and salt and should only be eaten occasionally.

Typical serving sizes:

• a small packet of sweets or a small bar of chocolate
• a small slice of cake
• a couple of small biscuits
• 1 level tbsp mayo, salad dressing or olive oil
• a small packet of crisps

Top tips for slimmers: These foods tend to be packed with calories so your waistline will benefit from eating less. You don’t need to avoid these foods completely – just limit the amount you eat.

How to Make Your Plate a Slimming Plate

It’s really easy. Stick to the same proportions of the different foods on your plate but choose lower-calorie foods from each section. If you want to be really strict, you could also replace any fatty and sugary foods on your plate for extra fruit and veggies.

Are there any other tips to help me eat healthily?

As well as aiming to fill your plate with foods from the four main food groups – and not eating too many foods from the smaller fifth group – health experts recommend we all do the following:

Eat more fish

The Food Standards Agency recommends we all eat two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oil-rich such as salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines, pilchards or fresh tuna. All fish is a good source of protein and many different vitamins and minerals. Plus, oil-rich fish are also a good source of omega-3 fats, which help to keep our heart healthy. In particular, omega-3 fats make the blood less sticky and so can help to prevent blood clots. They also keep the heart beating rhythmically and lower levels of triglycerides, a type of fat that’s found in the blood, high level of which are linked to heart disease and diabetes.

Eat fewer saturated fats and trans fats

As well as cutting down on the total amount of fat that we eat, it’s also important to make sure we’re eating the right sorts of fats. Foods that are rich in saturates or trans fat increase the amount of cholesterol in blood, which in turn, increases our risk of heart disease. In contrast, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats help lower blood cholesterol levels and so reduce the risk of heart disease. Foods that are rich in saturates include fatty meat and meat products, butter, lard, cream, pastry, biscuits and full-fat dairy products.

Many processed and fried foods such as pies, takeaways and cakes also contain trans fats. These fats tend to be found in products that use hydrogenated vegetable fats or oils as an ingredient. In contrast, unsaturated fats are found in foods like pure vegetable oils such as sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil, oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds.

Many manufacturers are now using a ‘traffic light’ colour coding on their food packaging to help customers identify whether a product is high in both the total amount of fat and the amount of saturates. Red indicates the product is high in fat or saturates, amber indicates the product contains moderate amounts and green means it has a low content. If this system isn’t used, the Food Standards Agency says products with 20g fat or more per 100g and 5g saturates or more per 100g contain a lot of fat or saturates. Products with 3g fat or less per 100g and 1g saturates or less per 100g contain a little fat or saturates.

Watch out for hidden sugars

Many sugary products such as sweets, cakes, biscuits and soft or fizzy drinks contain few nutrients but are high in calories. As a result they are sometimes described as providing ‘empty’ calories. If you’re not sure whether a product contains a lot of sugar, check the label.

Start by looking at the ingredients list. The higher up sugar appears in the ingredients, the more the product contains. Look out for ingredients like sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, invert sugar, corn syrup and honey, too – they’re all types of sugar. Looking at the values for sugars in the nutrition information panel on food packaging can be a little misleading as the figure includes both added sugars and naturally occurring sugars. This means fresh fruit may be labelled as having a medium or high sugar content.

However, this is due to naturally occurring fruit sugars. That’s why it’s also important to look at the ingredients list. As a guideline, the Food Standards Agency says that 10g sugars or more per 100g is a lot of sugar while 2g sugars or less per 100g is a little sugar.

Have no more than 6g of salt a day

Too much salt increases the risk of high blood pressure, which in turn is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. While most of us no longer add salt to cooking or meals, around three quarters of the salt in our diet comes from processed foods such as some breakfast cereals, soups, sauces, bread, savoury snacks, pies, pizza, takeaways and ready meals.

As a result, it’s important to eat fewer of these foods and to opt for those that contain the least salt. Identifying the salt content of foods can be difficult as many food labels only state the sodium content. To calculate the salt content, multiply the sodium value by 2.5. As a simple guideline, the Food Standards Agency suggests that foods with 1.25g of salt or 0.5g of sodium per 100g or more are to be high in salt. Those containing 0.25g salt or 0.1g sodium per 100g or less are low in salt. Meanwhile, products claiming to be ‘reduced-salt’ may still contain quite a lot of the white stuff – reduced-salt means the product only needs to contain 25 percent less salt than the standard product.

Drink plenty of water

Drink around 6 to 8 glasses (1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, every day to prevent dehydration. As well as helping the body to get rid of waste products and toxins in the urine, water transports nutrients and oxygen around the body in the blood, it acts as a lubricant for our joints and eyes, it helps us swallow, it cushions and protects our nerves and it helps control our body temperature.

Research also shows that drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated can do everything from helping with weight control and beating tiredness to boosting concentration and fighting wrinkles. Water is also one of the best choices for keeping teeth healthy and free from decay.

Stick to sensible limits for alcohol

Health experts recommend women drink no more than 2-3 units of alcohol a day and men no more than 3-4 units daily, where one unit equals half a pint of standard strength beer, lager or cider, or a single measure of spirits. A glass of wine is about 2 units and a bottle of alcopop about 1.5-2 units. As well as damaging your liver, alcohol is high in calories, so regularly drinking large amounts of booze can contribute to unwanted weight gain. In contrast, drinking less alcohol can often help people lose weight.

Don’t skip meals, especially breakfast

Skipping meals may seem like a good way to cut calories when we want to lose weight. However, research shows that when we miss a meal, most of us overcompensate by eating more later in the day and so end up having even more calories. When we skip meals, our blood sugar levels drop dramatically and this usually leaves us feeling low in energy, tired, hungry, irritable and suffering with carb cravings. As a result, we usually end up grabbing food that’s packed with fat, sugar and/or salt but low in nutrients. For example, if we skip breakfast, where we usually eat a bowl of cereal and fruit juice, we might save 250 calories. However, by the middle of the morning we feel so hungry we end up grabbing a bar of chocolate and can of fizzy drink to pick us up – and that provides around 400 calories, loads of fat and sugar, but few nutrients.

Skipping meals also means we end up skipping vital vitamins and minerals, which we tend not to replace during the day. This makes us harder to meet our daily needs for these nutrients, particularly calcium and iron, with the result that we may end up deficient in them. This in turn means we are more likely to suffer with health problems such as anaemia due to a lack of iron or osteoporosis in later life due to poor calcium intakes when we are younger.

Smoking and Heart Disease

 Smoking and heart disease? Most people associate cigarette smoking with breathing problems and lung cancer. But did you know that smoking is also a major cause of heart disease for men and women?

About 20% of all deaths from heart disease in the U.S. are directly related to cigarette smoking. That's because smoking is a major cause of heart attack.

    A person's risk of heart attack greatly increases with the number of cigarettes he or she smokes. Smokers continue to increase their risk of heart attack the longer they smoke as well. People who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day have more than twice the risk of heart attack than non-smokers. Women who smoke and also take birth control pills increase several times their risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and peripheral vascular disease.

Cigarette smoke not only affects smokers. When you smoke, the people around you are also at risk for developing health problems, especially children. Environmental tobacco smoke (also called passive smoke or secondhand smoke) affects people who are frequently around smokers. Secondhand smoke can cause chronic respiratory conditions, cancer, and heart disease. It is estimated that around 35,000 nonsmokers die from heart disease each year as a result of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.

How Does Smoking Increase Heart Disease Risk?

The nicotine present in cigarettes causes:

• Decreased oxygen to the heart.
• Increased blood pressure and heart rate.
• Increase in blood clotting.
• Damage to cells that line coronary arteries and other blood vessels.

How Can Quitting Smoking Help My Heart and Lifestyle?

Now that you know how smoking can be harmful to your health and the health of those around you, here are some ways quitting can be helpful. If you quit smoking, you will:

• Prolong your life.
• Reduce your risk of disease (including heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, lung cancer, throat cancer, emphysema, ulcers, gum disease, and other conditions).
• Feel healthier. After quitting, you won't cough as much, you'll have fewer sore throats, and you will increase your stamina.
• Look better. Quitting can help you prevent face wrinkles, get rid of stained teeth, and improve your skin.
• Improve your sense of taste and smell.
• Save money.

How To Quit Smoking

There's no one way to quit smoking that works for everyone. To quit, you must be ready both emotionally and mentally. You must also want to quit smoking for yourself, and not to please your friends or family. It helps to plan ahead. This guide may help get your started.

What Should I Do First to Stop Smoking?

Pick a date to stop smoking and then stick to it.

Write down your reasons for quitting. Read over the list every day, before and after you quit. Here are some tips to think about.

• Write down when you smoke, why you smoke, and what you are doing when you smoke. You will learn what triggers you to smoke.
• Stop smoking in certain situations (such as during your work break or after dinner) before actually quitting.
• Make a list of activities you can do instead of smoking. Be ready to do something else when you want to smoke.
• Ask your doctor about using nicotine gum or patches. Some people find these aids helpful. There are also drugs to help you quit smoking, such as Chantix and Wellbutrin.
• Join a smoking cessation support group or program. Call your local chapter of the American Lung Association to find one.

Heart Attack Causes and Treatments

Heart Attack Causes

Most heart attacks are the end result of coronary heart disease, a condition that clogs coronary arteries with fatty, calcified plaques. As blood flow is gradually impeded, the body may compensate by growing a network of collateral arteries to circumvent blockages; the presence of collateral vessels may greatly reduce the amount of heart muscle damaged by a heart attack. In the early 1980s, researchers confirmed that the precipitating cause of nearly all heart attacks is not the obstructive plaque itself, but the sudden formation of a blood clot on top of plaque that cuts off blood flow in an already narrowed vessel.

While the step-by-step process leading to heart attack is not fully understood, major risk factors are well-established. Some can be controlled. Of these, the main ones are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle. Stress is also believed to raise the risk, and exertion and excitement can act as triggers for an attack.

Men over the age of 50 with a family history of heart disease are predisposed to heart attack. High levels of estrogen are thought to protect premenopausal women fairly well from heart attack, but the risk increases significantly after menopause.

Heart Attack Diagnosis

A cardiologist, a heart specialist, relies on various tests and scans to diagnose a heart attack and to identify sites of blockage in the arteries and tissue damage. Test recordings of electrical activity within the heart, supported by blood tests, provide data for an initial assessment of the patient's condition. Images of the heart and coronary arteries supplied by angiograms and radioisotope scans locate specific areas of damage and blockage. Ultrasound tests called echocardiograms evaluate the heart's function. With such data, the doctor can pursue proper treatment and anticipate potential complications.

Heart Attack Treatment

A heart attack is a medical emergency that must be quickly addressed by conventional medicine. Alternative medicine cannot compete with standard drug and surgical therapy during the emergency and follow-up phases of heart attack treatment. However, alternative medicine may make valuable contributions to heart attack prevention and recovery.

Conventional Medicine for a Heart Attack

Heart attack victims are usually hospitalized in special coronary care units (CCU) for at least 36 hours. Standard drug therapy includes a painkiller such as morphine, vasodilators such as nitroglycerine to expand blood vessels, beta-adrenergic blocker drugs to calm the heart, and aspirin to reduce clotting activity. In some cases, clot-dissolving drugs like tPA or tenectaplase (TNKase) are also given. These drugs are most effective if given within a few hours of the beginning of a heart attack. Emergency angioplasty, and possibly surgery, might be performed to remove a clot, reopen a clogged artery, or bypass blocked arteries.

Once past the critical phase of a heart attack, patients continue to receive beta blockers to slow the heart, nitrates to increase heart blood flow, and blood thinners such as heparin, clopidogrel, Brilinta, Effient, or aspirin to prevent further blood clotting.

How does a woman's experience of heart attack differ from a man's?

    Twenty percent of women will not have the same symptoms from a heart attack that a man has, and instead of the classic, there's an elephant on my chest or chest pain radiating into the neck and down the left arm, which is thought to be the classic picture, and what I was taught in medical school. Fully 20%, that's one out of 5 women will have instead epigastric pain or feeling of indigestion, which may or may not radiate to her back. She will become very short of breathe and nauseated and you can imagine when a woman like that, who is not assertive, comes into an ER room and she meets an uniformed triage nurse or physician, she can be sent for an upper GI series or a gallbladder series because she's having a quote gallbladder attack and given valium for her hyperventilation, when in fact, she's having a heart attack. One of my favorite stories is that I appeared in the emergency room to see a patient of mine who had reported herself to the emergency room with just those symptoms, and I walked in to see her, and my intern said to me, not knowing who I was, now you have to be very careful not to misdiagnose this, because 20% of women have just these symptoms when they have a heart attack. I said is that right, I'm very glad to hear you say that. So at least at the level of the young trainee, I think we are making a good impact.

How to Handle Heart Emergencies

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a sudden, unexpected death caused by loss of heart function (sudden cardiac arrest). It is responsible for most ''natural deaths'' in the U.S., with about 325,000 adults dying each year. SCD is responsible for half of all heart disease deaths.

SCD occurs most frequently in adults; the risk rises with age. SCD affects men twice as often as it does women. SCD is rare in children, affecting only one to two per 100,000 children each year.

Sudden cardiac arrest can be reversed if treated within the first few minutes. The American Heart Association promotes these four steps, called ''the chain of survival:"

Early Access to Care. Quick contact with emergency care is essential. Call 911 (in most communities) or your local emergency number immediately.
Early Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). Learning CPR is the greatest gift you can give your family and friends. If performed properly (see below), CPR can help save a life until emergency medical help arrives.
Early Defibrillation. In most adults, sudden cardiac death is related to ventricular fibrillation. Quick defibrillation (delivery of an electrical shock) is necessary to return the heart rhythm to a normal heartbeat. Many public places -- such as malls, golf courses, and airports -- have automated external defibrillators (AEDs; see below) available for use in emergency situations.
Early Advanced Care. After successful defibrillation, most patients require hospital care to treat and prevent future events.
These four steps can increase survival as much as 90% if initiated within the first minutes after sudden cardiac arrest. Survival decreases by about 10% each minute longer.

What Is CPR?

CPR is an emergency technique used to help someone whose heart and/or breathing has stopped.

When a person's heart stops, blood stops circulating throughout the body. If a person stops breathing, the blood can't get oxygen. Therefore, it is vital for people in this emergency situation to receive medical treatment, such as CPR, within the first few minutes of the event.

By administering a combination of manual chest compressions and artificial, or "mouth-to-mouth," respiration, the rescuer can breathe for the victim and help circulate some of the blood throughout his or her body.

CPR does not restart a heart that has stopped, but it can keep a victim alive until more aggressive treatment (defibrillation) can be administered.

CPR is not difficult to learn, and many organizations offer courses in CPR, including the American Heart Association, the American Red Cross, local community centers, health clubs, and YMCAs.

What Is an AED?

An AED -- which stands for automatic external defibrillator -- is a device used to administer an electric shock through the chest wall to the heart. The device has built-in computers that assess the victim's heart rhythm, judge whether defibrillation is needed, and then administer the shock. Audible and/or visual prompts guide the user through the process.

Who Can Use an AED?

Most AEDs are designed to be used by non-medical people such as fire department personnel, police officers, lifeguards, flight attendants, security guards, teachers, and even family members of people at high risk of sudden cardiac death.

The goal is to provide access to defibrillation when needed as quickly as possible. CPR along with AEDs can dramatically increase survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest.

Can an AED Shock a Person Who Is Not in Cardiac Arrest?

No. An AED treats only a heart in an abnormal rhythm. If a person is in cardiac arrest without such a rhythm, the heart will not respond to electric currents. CPR should be administered until medical help arrives.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest

How Is Sudden Cardiac Arrest Different from a Heart Attack?

  Sudden cardiac arrest is not a heart attack (myocardial infarction) but can occur during a heart attack. Heart attacks occur when there is a blockage in one or more of the arteries to the heart, preventing the heart from receiving enough oxygen-rich blood. If the oxygen in the blood cannot reach the heart muscle, the heart becomes damaged.

  In contrast, sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the electrical system to the heart malfunctions and suddenly becomes very irregular. The heart beats dangerously fast. The ventricles may flutter or quiver (ventricular fibrillation), and blood is not delivered to the body. In the first few minutes, the greatest concern is that blood flow to the brain will be reduced so drastically that a person will lose consciousness. Death follows unless emergency treatment is begun immediately.

   Emergency treatment includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation. CPR is a manual technique using repetitive pressing to the chest and breathing into the person's airways that keeps enough oxygen and blood flowing to the brain until the normal heart rhythm is restored with an electric shock to the chest, a procedure called defibrillation. Emergency squads use portable defibrillators and frequently there are public access defibrillators (AEDs, ambulatory external defibrillators) in public locations that are intended to be available for use by citizens who observe cardiac arrest.

 What Are the Symptoms of Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

Some people may experience symptoms of sudden cardiac arrest, such as a racing heartbeat or feeling dizzy, alerting them that a potentially dangerous heart rhythm problem has started. In over half of the cases, however, sudden cardiac arrest occurs without prior symptoms.

What Causes Sudden Cardiac Death?

Most sudden cardiac deaths are caused by abnormal heart rhythms called arrhythmias. The most common life-threatening arrhythmia is ventricular fibrillation, which is an erratic, disorganized firing of impulses from the ventricles (the heart's lower chambers). When this occurs, the heart is unable to pump blood and death will occur within minutes, if left untreated.

What Are the Risk Factors of Sudden Cardiac Arrest?

There are many risk factors that can increase a person's risk of sudden cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac death, including the following:

1. Previous heart attack with a large area of the heart damaged (75% of SCD cases are linked to a previous heart attack).
2. A person's risk of SCD is higher during the first 6 months after a heart attack.
3. Coronary artery disease (80% of SCD cases are linked with this disease).
4. Risk factors for coronary artery disease include smoking, hypertension, family history of heart disease, and high cholesterol.

How To Cook Genuine 'CHICKEN'

Spicy Kerala 'CHICKEN FRY'

Ingredients

1. Chicken-(medium sized pieces)- 500 gms
2. Onion-sliced- 1/2 cup(one medium sized)
3. Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
4. Oil- as required

For Masala paste

1. Kashmiri chili powder- 2 tsp( or to taste)
2. Coriander powder- 1 tsp
3. Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
4. Fennel seeds- 3/4 to 1 tsp
5. Black pepper corns- 1/2 to 1 tsp
6. Green chilies- 1 or 2 nos( according to taste)
7. Ginger- 1 inch piece
8. Garlic- 3 to 4 large cloves
9. Vinegar- 1 tsp
10. Water- as required
11. Salt- to taste

Directions

• In a blender,combine together all the ingredients listed under 'For masala paste' and blend to form a smooth paste.
• Rub this onto the chicken pieces and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
• In a heavy bottomed pan cover and cook the marinated chicken until it is 3/4 th done.Keep aside
• Heat oil in a pan( use oil just enough to shallow fry the chicken pieces) and add the cooked chicken pieces , sliced onion and curry leaves,fry until it turns golden brown,carefully turning once or twice in between.
• Add more curry leaves if required.
• Serve with rice or chapathi.

Green Tea: Good or Bad?

Green tea has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat everything from headaches to depression.

The leaves are supposedly richer in antioxidants than other types of tea because of the way they are processed.

All types of tea (green, black and oolong) are produced from the Camellia sinensis plant using different methods. Fresh leaves from the plant are steamed to produce green tea, while the leaves of black tea and oolong involve fermentation.

Green tea is alleged to boost weight loss, reduce cholesterol, combat cardiovascular disease, and prevent cancer and Alzheimer's disease.

We've teamed up with the British Dietetic Association (BDA) to examine whether the myriad health claims about green tea are supported by the evidence.

Green tea contains 

B vitamins, folate (naturally occurring folic acid), manganese, potassium, magnesium, caffeine and other antioxidants (notably catechins)

The evidence

Cancer

There is no evidence that drinking green tea protects against different types of cancer. A good quality study from 2009 reviewed 51 studies involving more than 1.6 million participants. The studies looked for an association between drinking green tea and cancers of the bowel, prostate, breasts, mouth and lungs. The authors of the review concluded that the evidence of a link between green tea and cancer was weak and "highly contradictory".

Weight loss

It is thought that the antioxidants catechins and caffeine in green tea may have a role in helping the body burn more calories – sometimes referred to as speeding up the metabolism – which can help weight loss. Green tea preparations used for losing weight are extracts of green tea that contain a higher concentration of catechins and caffeine than the typical green tea beverage prepared from a tea bag and boiling water. A well-conducted review from 2012 of 18 studies involving 1,945 people found no significant effect of drinking green tea on weight loss.

Cholesterol

There is increasing evidence that both green and black tea are beneficial for cardiovascular disease prevention. A good quality review from 2013 of 11 studies involving 821 people found that daily consumption of green and black tea (as a drink or a capsule) could help lower cholesterol and blood pressure thanks to tea and its catechins. The authors of the review caution that most of the trials were short term and more good quality long-term trials are needed to back up their findings.

Another good quality review from 2011 found that drinking green tea enriched with catechins led to a small reduction in cholesterol, a main cause of heart disease and stroke. However, it's still not clear from the evidence how much green tea we'd need to drink to see a positive effect on our health, or what the long-term effects of green tea consumption are on our overall health.

Alzheimer's disease

Evidence of a positive link between drinking green tea and Alzheimer's disease is weak. A 2010 laboratory study using animal cells found that a green tea preparation rich in antioxidants protected against the nerve cell death associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Whether these lab results can be reproduced in human trials remains to be seen. As such, the findings do not conclusively show that green tea combats Alzheimer's disease.

The dietitian's verdict

Alison Hornby, a dietitian and BDA spokesperson, says the evidence about green tea's health benefits are inconclusive.

She says: "In the Far East, green tea has been used as a treatment for a variety of conditions ranging from arthritis to weight loss, as well as a preventative measure for diseases such as cancer, although the evidence for the majority of these conditions is weak or lacking.

"However, as a social drink, it appears to be safe in moderate amounts, so lovers of green tea can continue to enjoy it."

Advantages of Blood Donation

As per below article blood donation improves your cholesterol level, blood pressure level, get rid of excess iron, saves someones life, reduce chances of suger, liver problems etc... so please donate blood every 3 months approximately.

Blood donation, the voluntary act of allowing one's blood to be drawn out of body has many advantages besides giving that wonderful feeling of saving someone's life. Most of the time it is an act of charity, though sometimes many people donate blood for money and other incentives. The blood donated is stored in blood banks, to be subsequently used for transfusion.

No doubt the first and foremost advantage of donating blood is the exalted feeling of saving someone's life. If we donate the little excess blood in our body, it could save someone's life without creating any problem for us. Instead it would help to alleviate some major health problems like heart diseases. Blood donation is an excellent way to get rid of excess iron accumulated in our body due to its overconsumption. Excess iron in the body can stimulate the formation of free radicals, which are responsible for causing damage to body cells and tissues. Free radicals are also associated with many diseases like heart diseases and cancer.

Iron overloading is also thought to increase the risk of heart diseases. Besides, iron oxidizes cholesterol, which is harmful for the arteries. Hemochromatosis is a genetic disease characterized by excess accumulation of iron in the tissues due to improper metabolism. The disease can cause damage to many organs like pancreas, adrenal glands, etc. It may also causediabetes, liver diseases and heart diseases. So, donating blood on a regular basis would help you to regulate the level of iron in your body. Studies have shown that donating blood regularly can be beneficial for the heart and circulatory system and can reduce the risk of heart diseases, especially among young people.

Besides, blood donation also burns the extra calories and reduces your cholesterol level. After donating blood, the count of blood cells decreases in our body, which stimulates the bone marrow to produce new red blood cells in order to replenish the loss. So, it stimulates the production of new blood cells and refreshes the system.

Before donating blood, your hemoglobin level will be tested. If it is low, then you will not be allowed to donate blood. Besides hemoglobin, your blood pressure level and body weight will also be checked. In addition, your blood will also be examined for detecting the presence of five diseases, namely, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, Syphilis, HIV/AIDS and malaria. If you are not suffering from these diseases, only then you will be allowed to donate your blood.

There are no major disadvantages of donating blood, except that sometimes one may experience a drop in blood pressure due to hypovolemia (a state of reduced blood volume), which may necessitate cancellation of donation. Sometimes, one may also experience mild nausea or dizziness for a short while. But if you compare the health benefits and mental satisfaction that comes from saving a life, you will feel that benefits of this act of charity is not only restricted to the recipient, but also helps the donor immensely.

How often can one give blood?
Regulations in the United States allow people to donate whole blood once every 56 days. The waiting period between donations can be different for other blood components. For example, donating only platelets in a process called apheresis requires only a 3 day wait before a person can give again. Donating two units of red blood cells through a similar process doubles the waiting period to 112 days.

Positive Thinking Through Self talk

Positive thinking helps with stress management and can even improve your health. Overcome negative self-talk by recognizing it and practicing with some examples provided.
Is your glass half-empty or half-full? How you answer this age-old question about positive thinking may reflect your outlook on life, your attitude toward yourself, and whether you're optimistic or pessimistic.
In fact, some studies show that these personality traits — optimism and pessimism — can affect how well you live and even how long you live.With this in mind, take a refresher course in positive thinking. Learn how to put positive thinking into action. Positive thinking is a key part of an effective stress management strategy.

Understanding positive thinking and self-talk
Self-talk is the endless stream of thoughts that run through your head every day. These automatic thoughts can be positive or negative. Some of your self-talk comes from logic and reason. Other self-talk may arise from misconceptions that you create because of lack of information.
If the thoughts that run through your head are mostly negative, your outlook on life is likely pessimistic. If your thoughts are mostly positive, you're likely an optimist — someone who practices positive thinking.
Living longer and happier through positive thinking
Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:
• Decreased negative stress• A sense of well-being and improved health
• Better coping skills during hardships
It's unclear why people who engage in positive thinking experience these health benefits. But one theory is that having a positive outlook enables you to cope better with stressful situations, which reduces the harmful health effects of stress on your body.
How positive thinking gives way to negative thinking. But what if your self-talk is mainly negative? That doesn't mean you're doomed to an unhappy life. Negative self-talk just means that your own misperceptions, lack of information and distorted ideas have overpowered your capacity for logic and reason.
Some common forms of negative and irrational self-talk include:
• Filtering. You magnify the negative aspects of a situation and filter out all of the positive ones. For example, say you had a great day at work. You completed your tasks ahead of time and were complimented for doing a speedy and thorough job. But you forgot one minor step. That evening, you focus only on your oversight and forget about the compliments you received.
• Personalizing. When something bad occurs, you automatically blame yourself. For example, you hear that an evening out with friends is canceled and you assume that the change in plans is because no one wanted to be around you.
• Catastrophizing. You automatically anticipate the worst. You refuse to go out with friends for fear that you'll make a fool of yourself. Or one change in your daily routine leads you to think the entire day will be a disaster.
• Polarizing. You see things only as good or bad, black or white. There is no middle ground. You feel that you have to be perfect or that you're a total failure.
You can learn positive thinking
Instead of giving in to negative self-talk, weed out misconceptions and irrational thinking and then challenge them with rational, positive thoughts. When you do this, your self-talk will gradually become realistic and self-affirming — you engage in positive thinking.
You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it takes time and practice — you are creating a new habit, after all.Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them.

Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else. Examples of typical negative self-talk and how you might apply a positive thinking twist include:
Negative self-talk

• I've never done it before.
• It's too complicated.
• I don't have the resources.
• There's not enough time.
• There's no way it will work.
• It's too radical a change
• No one bothers to communicate with me
• I'm not going to get any better at this.

Positive spin

• It's an opportunity to learn something new.
• I'll tackle it from a different angle.
• Necessity is the mother of invention.
• Let's re-evaluate some priorities.
• I can try to make it work.
• Let's take a chance.
• I'll see if I can open the channels of communication.
• I'll give it another try.

Practicing positive thinking every day
If you tend to have a negative outlook, don't expect to become an optimist overnight. But with practice, eventually your self-talk will automatically contain less self-criticism and more self-acceptance. You may also become less critical of the world around you.
Practicing positive self-talk will improve your outlook. When your state of mind is generally optimistic, you're able to handle everyday stress in a constructive way. That ability may contribute to the widely observed health benefits of positive thinking...

Short Story: The Monkey with The Wooden Apples

There once was a happy monkey wandering the jungle, eating delicious fruit when hungry, and resting when tired. One day he came upon a house, where he saw a bowl of the most beautiful apples. He took one in each hand and ran back into the forest.
He sniffed the apples and smelled nothing. He tried to eat them, but hurt his teeth. They were made of wood, but they were beautiful, and when the other monkeys saw them, he held onto them even tighter.
He admired his new possessions proudly as he wandered the jungle. They glistened red in the sun, and seemed perfect to him. He became so attached to them, that he didn't even notice his hunger at first.
A fruit tree reminded him, but he felt the apples in his hands. He couldn't bear to set them down to reach for the fruit. In fact, he couldn't relax, either, if he was to defend his apples. A proud, but less happy monkey continued to walk along the forest trails.
The apples became heavier, and the poor little monkey thought about leaving them behind. He was tired, hungry, and he couldn't climb trees or collect fruit with his hands full. What if he just let go?
Letting go of such valuable things seemed crazy, but what else could he do? He was so tired. Seeing the next fruit tree, and smelling it's fruit was enough. He dropped the wooden apples and reached up for his meal. He was happy again.

Like that little monkey, we sometimes carry things that seem too valuable to let go. A man carries an image of himself as "productive" - carries it like a shiny wooden apple. But in reality, his busyness leaves him tired, and hungry for a better life.
 Still, letting go seems crazy. Even his worries are sacred apples - they prove he's "doing everything he can." He holds onto them compulsively.

6 Sex Mistakes Womens Make

Ladies, be honest: when your sex life becomes a little humdrum, out comes the mental catalogue of all the ways your partner isn’t quite measuring up.  Guys tend to get a bad rap when it comes to understanding women’s bodies and what turns us on, making them easy targets in the blame game when sexual satisfaction starts to wane.  And sure, they make their fair share of bedroom errors. But as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. As it turns out, top sex and relationship experts say that women make plenty of sex mistakes of their own.  Here’s what they have to say about the six most common mistakes women make in the bedroom and what you can do to get the satisfaction you so rightly deserve.

1: Not Initiating Sex With Your Partner

Many of us worry about ladylike behavior.  We don’t want to appear pushy or come on too strong for fear of being labeled aggressive. According to Les Parrot, professor of psychology at Seattle Pacific University and author of a new book called Crazy Good Sex, failing to initiate sex is one of the biggest mistakes women make.

“Most guys feel like they are always the initiator and that sets up disequilibrium on the passion scale in the relationship,” he says.  Generally, men want to be pursued by their partners just as much as women do.

Holding onto outdated ideas about sex roles also inhibits satisfaction with our sexual relationships, says "Dr. Ruth," aka Ruth Westheimer, PhD, a psychosexual therapist, professor at New York University, and lecturer at Yale and Princeton universities.  “They used to think that women are less interested in sexual activity and I don’t want to say that anymore. I think there are women who are as interested in sex [as men].”

Show your interest by taking the first step from time to time.  Your partner will likely appreciate it, and you may find a new level of satisfaction in taking responsibility for your sexual experience, something Westheimer feels strongly women must do.

2: Worrying About What You Look Like

Thinking about how you look during sex stops you from enjoying yourself and ruins your chances of achieving an orgasm.

“Don’t think about the fat on your belly or the makeup on your face,” advises Westheimer.  “Concentrate on the pleasure of the act.  You must give yourself permission to have an orgasm.”

“Men want their wives to abandon themselves in sex play, and that’s not likely if she is anxious about her physical concerns,” Parrott says.

Helen Fisher, PhD, a cultural anthropologist at Rutgers University and author of a new book called Why Him, Why Her, says men don’t notice half the things women obsess about anyway.
“It’s amazing what men don’t notice if you’re enthusiastic, energetic, interested in them, and flexible minded.”

According to Fisher, there is an evolutionary explanation for the selective blindness men show to our physical flaws. For Darwinian reasons, says Fisher, men are (unconsciously, of course) looking for women who are able to bear healthy babies.  Starting millions of years ago, men who attracted fertile women and had a lot of children lived on. Those who couldn’t died out.  Although maybe not as necessary today, Fisher says that primal survival mechanism lives on.

“Men are much more attracted to women who show signs of health and youth and fertility.  Rather than worry about the shape of your waist and hips, worry about your energy level and enthusiasm and interest in him,” Fisher advises.

3: Assuming Sex Is Casual for a Man

Westheimer believes we should all let go of old-fashioned notions, such as women are not sexual or that sex is just sex to men.  “For some men, sex is a very important act.  Don’t minimize it.”

The research, says Parrott, supports the idea that both men and women find sexual intimacy in the context of a committed relationship to be more satisfying.


“Numerous research studies make it very clear that the people who have the best quality and most frequent sex are married couples. That says a lot about the inadequacies of ‘casual sex,” Parrot says.

In a study being conducted by Fisher and her colleagues of university students engaging in one-night stands, the numbers show that men are just as serious about sex and relationships as women.  In fact, more than 50% of women and 52% of men who went into a one-night stand, according to Fisher, reported that they did so hoping to create a longer relationship.  One-third of them actually did so.  What’s the lesson?

“Never assume that a man is not romantic,” Fisher says. “Two huge mistakes in this culture are that women are not sexual and that men are not as romantic [as women].”

4: Believing He’s Always Up for Sex

Sure, most teenage boys are ready and willing just about any time you ask, but not true for men.  The pressures of everyday life -- family, work, bills -- can zap a man’s libido.  This comes as a big surprise to many women, and often his lack of interest in sex is something we take personally.

“It comes as such a shock [to women] that they just don’t believe it,” Fisher says about the reaction many women have when their partner says they aren’t in the mood for sex. “They know themselves that they are not always interested in sex but they still love the man.  But when they discover he doesn’t want to have sex, they think, ‘he doesn’t love me.’  Not true.  He just doesn’t want to have sex.”

5: Not Giving Him Guidance

Talking very directly about sex, what we like and don’t like can make us feel uncomfortable, even with a partner we’ve been with for a long time and otherwise feel close to, says Parrott. But it’s the only way to achieve a satisfying sexual relationship.

“A woman must take responsibility for her sexual encounter,” says Westheimer.  “No man can bring a woman to orgasm if she doesn’t take responsibility for her sexual experience.  Even the best lover can’t know what she needs without her letting him know.”

The good news, according to Fisher, is that men very much want to please women.

“If you can tell them in a way that doesn’t kill their ego, they will appreciate it,” says Fisher.  She advises women to sandwich what they don’t like in between five things they do, because he’s listening.  “You won’t find out until the next time you’re in bed with him.  But men do listen, particularly if you’re quite clear about it.”

6: Getting Upset When He Suggests Something New

After a couple has been together for a while, it’s natural to want to spice things up with a little variety.  Just because your man wants to try something new doesn’t mean he’s unhappy with you or your sex life.  In short: Don’t take it personally.

Still, it’s important that you tune into your comfort zone says Parrott.

“Nobody should ever feel obligated to do something they don’t want to do in the personal and intimate area of sexuality,” Parrott says.  “If your man asks you about trying something that’s outside of your morals, make it clear that it’s off limits for you and explain why.  Of course, do this in a loving way as best you can.  If it is something that is not really a moral issue for you but you still don’t want to, again explain why.  If it is a simply a startling request and you’re initially uneasy about it, try not to overreact.  Instead, let him know you need some time to think about it.”

10 Spices That Heal: Cancer, Diabetes, and More

There’s good reason to season: Doctors and dietitians agree that your spice rack can be just as essential as your medicine cabinet when it comes to preventing and treating disease. Research consistently shows that many spices and herbs have medicinal qualities and can help prevent everything from cancer to the common cold. We asked two experts–Glen Aukerman, MD, medical director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Ohio State University Medical Center, and Ruth Knill, PhD, LAc, a Chinese herbalist–about the spices and herbs that best improve overall health. Here are their picks, plus easy ways to work them into your diet.

Cumin: Prevents Cancer
HOW IT WORKS: It’s no surprise to many spice researchers that cancer rates are lower in India, where cumin is a diet staple. Studies show that the curcumin in this spice inhibits the enzymes that help cancer cells invade healthy tissue and also keeps tumors from developing the new blood vessels that help them grow. TRY TO GET: 6 teaspoons of seeds or 1/2 teaspoon of powder a day. USE IT: Toss a bowl of root veggies, such as sweet potatoes, parsnips, cauliflower, and turnips, with olive oil and 1 teaspoon cumin powder. Bake at 300 degrees for 25 minutes or until tender, and add salt, pepper, and chopped cilantro to taste before serving.

Ginger: Calms Nausea
HOW IT WORKS: Chinese medical texts dating back to the fourth century BC tout ginger’s antinausea properties, and modern clinical studies offer scientific proof that it works–a substance in ginger shuts down a nerve receptor in the body that triggers the vomiting reflex. TRY TO GET: Juice from 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger or 1/2 teaspoon dried ginger four times a day. USE IT: Add 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger and a few drops of toasted sesame oil to your usual tuna salad recipe for an Asian-style flavor.

Basil: Combats Colds
HOW IT WORKS: Basil is rich in antioxidants, which help boost immunity. It’s also an antimicrobial, which fights the germs that can cause colds. TRY TO GET: 1 to 2 tablespoons a day. USE IT: Toss 1 tablespoon chopped basil into a shrimp stir-fry during the last 3 to 5 minutes of cooking. Or slice strawberries, toss with honey, and set aside for 15 minutes until juicy. Then top with a few tablespoons of finely chopped basil.

Cinnamon: Fights Diabetes

HOW IT WORKS: People with type-2 diabetes have difficulty processing insulin, the hormone that tells cells to remove excess sugar from the bloodstream. But studies show that cinnamon contains a substance that can help cells respond to insulin. The result? A reduction of blood sugar levels by an average of 18 percent to 29 percent, according to a recent Pakistani study. TRY TO GET: 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon (or one stick) a day. USE IT: Mix 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon into 2 tablespoons peanut butter, and spread over apple slices.

Rosemary: Improves Memory

HOW IT WORKS: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,” Ophelia said to Hamlet more than 400 years ago. Today, a variety of studies back up Ophelia’s claim. The ursolic acid in rosemary inhibits the breakdown of a neurotransmitter essential for memory. TRY TO GET: 1 to 2 teaspoons a day. USE IT: Make a rosemary-infused simple syrup by mixing 1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 sprigs rosemary. Bring to a boil so sugar dissolves, and let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Drizzle over a fall fruit salad of chopped apples, pears, and red grapes. Use 1 cup syrup to 4 cups fruit.

Garlic: Reduces Cholesterol

HOW IT WORKS: Although researchers disagree about how effective garlic really is at lowering cholesterol, a review of several studies conducted by the Linus Pauling Institute found that people who took garlic for three months had a 6 percent to 11 percent reduction in total cholesterol. Because garlic is an antioxidant, it may prevent the oxidation of cholesterol in the arteries. TRY TO GET: 3 to 5 crushed cloves a day. USE IT: Roast up to 5 garlic cloves, and add to homemade hummus before pureeing.

Nutmeg: Lowers Blood Pressure

HOW IT WORKS: “Warming spices” like nutmeg can bring blood from the center of the body to the skin. This helps disperse the blood more evenly throughout the body, reducing overall pressure. TRY TO GET: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon a day. USE IT: Steam 1 head of broccoli and one potato until soft, and then puree with 1/4 cup butter and 4 to 5 gratings of fresh nutmeg or 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

Cloves: Helps Arthritis Pain

HOW IT WORKS: According to Chinese medicine, cloves have hot and moving properties that relieve arthritis pain caused by cold and stagnation. Cloves contain a phytochemical that interrupts the pathways of a protein complex in the body that’s been linked to inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. TRY TO GET: 1/2 teaspoon a day. USE IT: Saute 1 cup fresh parsley (finely chopped), 1 clove garlic (crushed), 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and 1 teaspoon cloves in 1 tablespoon olive oil. After 3 minutes, add 4 cups shredded rhubarb chard, and fry until soft and tender, about 5 minutes. Serve hot with chicken or fish.

Turmeric: Curbs Inflammation

HOW IT WORKS: An ancient spice that gives curry its deep golden-orange color, turmeric reduces the inflammation in the body that causes pain. Curcumin, a component in turmeric, inhibits cell enzymes that contribute to inflammation. TRY TO GET: 1/2 to 1 teaspoon a day. USE IT: Add a dash to organic canned soups, such as tomato, lentil, or black bean varieties.

Thyme: Eases a Cough

HOW IT WORKS: Thyme is an antispasmodic, which helps with bouts of nonstop coughing. Thyme’s antiseptic properties also make it very effective against inflammation of the throat, which can cause coughing. TRY TO GET: 2 to 3 teaspoons a day. USE IT: For a simple vinaigrette, whisk together 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme leaves with 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

7 Bad Habits Holding You Back!

A change in bad habits leads to a good change in life…

Here are seven bad habits many of us repeatedly struggle with:

1.  Mulling over past hardships. – You'll never see the great things ahead of you if you keep looking at the bad things behind you.  You are exactly where you need to be to reach your goals.  Everything you've been through was preparation for where you are right now and where you can be tomorrow.

2.  Holding on to things you need to let go of. – Letting go doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things in life that should not be.  Sometimes letting go is what makes us stronger, happier and more successful in the long run.

3.  Letting one dark cloud cover the entire sky. – Take a deep breath.  It's just a bad moment, or a bad day, not a bad life.  Everyone has troubles.  Everyone makes mistakes.  The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.

4.  Spending time with people who make you unhappy. – People can be cruel, and sometimes they will be.  People can hurt you and break your heart, and sometimes they will.  But only YOU can allow them to continuously hurt you.  Value yourself enough to choose to spend time with people who treat you the way you treat them.  Know your worth.  Know when you have had enough.  And move on from the people who keep chipping away at your happiness.

5.  Not making time for those who matter most. – Too often we don't realize what we have until it's gone.  Appreciate what you have, who loves you and who cares for you.  You'll never know how much they mean to you until the day they are no longer beside you.

6.  Discrediting yourself for everything you aren't. – STOP discrediting yourself for everything you aren't.  START giving yourself credit for everything that you are.

7.  Giving up who YOU are. – Remove yourself from any situation that requires you to give up any one of these three things:
 1) Who you are.
 2)  What you stand for.
 3)  The goals you aspire to achieve..

Sure Steps to a Brighter Life

"In the long run, our attitude towards life's lessons - and the direction our life takes in life - are one and the same; show me someone who resists the Light of Life's correction in the course of his or her soul, and I will show you someone whose destiny is the darkness of total self-enclosure."

Even though the Truth is never further away from us than our wish for its awakening and self-healing insight, there are distinct moments in life when it comes closer to us than others. Unfortunately, almost all of these important, potentially life-changing moments are entirely missed because what is wrong with us, our false nature, always sees Truth as an attacking enemy. Let me show you what I mean so that the next time Truth makes an unexpected appearance in your life you will recognize it for what it is -- a friendly and beneficial force that is on your side. Permitting the Truth to do what it is intended to do will permit you to be what you want to be -- which is happy.

Never are the healing powers of the Truth so close by as when a crisis is at hand. A crisis always precedes any real inner-advancement because real spiritual growth is a process of removing self-blocking thoughts and feelings. The reason a crisis must precede each new level of authentic self-unity is that the crisis, whatever it may be, points out where we have been holding onto a particular belief, a shaky pretense, or some flattering but deceptive self-image that is in conflict with reality. Where there is conflict there is always pain; and by the time this unconscious kind of psychological or emotional pain reaches the level of our consciousness, we generally experience it as some kind of a crisis. This explains why a crisis is a close encounter of the truthful kind. The previously invisible internal conflict, which is always at the root of any personal crisis, is now temporarily visible. We can say this in another way. A crisis arises when some inner-lie we have unconsciously been telling ourselves is about to surface and be seen as a lie. Let's take an example or two.

Maybe a man pictures himself as always being in control of his own life, but now he's suddenly aware that he can't stop drinking -- or talking -- or endlessly worrying. He has reached a turning point.

A woman has always thought of herself as being loving and kind, but all at once she begins to notice how critical and cruel her thoughts are towards others. She sees she only does things for others to have them think of her as being kind, and this fills her day with resentments. She has reached a turning point.

In both instances, where the terrible cost of living from lying but flattering self-images has suddenly become conscious, the only alternative that the false self has, as the author of these self-deceptive lies, is to start blaming everyone and everything for the unhappy circumstances. This system of self-subterfuge is almost fail-safe for the false self. By seeing to it that everything outside of it is constantly laid to blame, it keeps you fighting with life instead of learning from it. It is really very cunning. The more you take the side of defending what is wrong in you, the more the Truth that exposed the unconscious wrongness appears to be against you.

The Truth never causes pain. The only pain in a crisis is the false self's resistance to the Truth. A crisis only becomes a breaking point when we fail to use it as a turning point. In order to transform a crisis into a personal turning point in your life, you must wish to be shown the lesson in the crisis rather than allow yourself to be convinced by it that the world is against you. This Higher Wish, followed by your willingness to endure a new kind of pain, gives birth to a Higher Consciousness in you that belongs to your True Nature. This Elevated Consciousness never has to solve a crisis because it never has one in the first place.

"In the long run, our attitude towards life's lessons - and the direction our life takes in life - are one and the same; show me someone who resists the Light of Life's correction in the course of his or her soul, and I will show you someone whose destiny is the darkness of total self-enclosure."