water keeps your body healthy

Ways Water Keeps Your Body Healthy, Part 2

Read Part 1 here (Link to Part 1)

If you can’t commit to drinking 8 glasses of water a day, that’s alright. Hydration by way of water-rich fruits contributes to attaining fluid balance in your body. Ingesting water aside, interacting with water, being near water keeps your body healthy. We hope that these encourage you to make water a big part of your daily life.

A Warm Bath Makes You Feel Less Lonely

Have you ever wondered why you feel so much better after soaking in a warm bath? Research has found out that the reason why we find comfort in a warm bath when you’re lonely is because it substitutes for the physical interaction and emotional connection. The warmth triggers the release of oxytocin, the hormone responsible for putting you at ease and connected. It’s similar to the rise of temperature when you’re physically close with someone, an event that also triggers oxytocin.

Less Intense Hangovers

Remember dehydration-triggered headaches? That’s similar to what happens during a hangover. On a night out, drink a glass of water for every glass of alcohol. It’ll lessen the pain of a hangover when you wake up the next day. You’ll be visiting the bathroom more often, but it’ll pay off in the end and it keeps your body healthy.

Think More Clearly

Proper hydration can go as far as affecting your brain – not just dehydration-triggered headaches, but the shrinking of brain tissue too. When you’re dehydrated you brain has to work twice as hard to perform at its best. That was observed in a study involving students who were to take exams – those who bought water with them got better results than those who didn’t.

It’s a Natural Cleanser

Water constitutes the biggest part by volume in any natural cleaning material – whether for your home, clothes, dishes, body or your face. They pack cleansing power without the toxicity. Better for your health, your pets and the environment!

Gargle – It Keeps You Healthy

In a study conducted during the cold and flu season involving  400 participants, it was found that those who gargled with water have fewer chances to get their upper respiratory tract infected and their symptoms were mild during instances that they did.

Water-Rich Fruits Can Hydrate You Too

Fruits like cucumber, watermelon, strawberries and vegetables like cucumbers, lettuce and celery have the most water content. These are a great way of replenishing bodily fluids in an appetizing way. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendation is for adults to eat 2 cups of fruits and 2.5 cups of vegetables per day.

Living Near Bodies of Water is Good For Your Well Being

Some people find their health improving during a stay near the coast. It might be the relaxing sound of the water. Ambient sounds are the trend these days with gently pouring rain, beach waves and the bubble of fountains among the most popular options. For some people it’s easier to focus on work with these sounds in the background. Whether that or the view, the smell of the sea or the sun, spending time near water will do you some good.

Swimming is Good For Your Mind and Body

In a study conducted over 8 months, swimming was found to improve a person’s physical and mental health. It’s a very physical activity impacts free cardio that burns a lot of calories. Plus, there’s the feeling of solace in the pool when the rest of the world recedes in the silence.

Ways Water Keeps Your Body Healthy, Part 1

Water is around us, within us, and in a way, we too are water. The human body is ⅔ water. Its presence and absence influences 100% of the processes in our body. Here 7 ways why you should bring a bottle of water with you to keep your body healthy.

Help you lose weight Which Keeps Your Body Healthy

It’s not that it does something covert like inducing hormones in your body that water is so good at helping you lose weight. It simply makes you feel fuller thus curbing your appetite, even more so if you drink water before meals, which in a study was found out that those who drank water before eating lost weight faster than those who didn’t. And sometimes, you’re probably dehydrated and mistook that feeling for hunger. The next time you need a bit of boos, drink some water.

Helps you exercise during warm weather

Working out in the heat is usually fine, but a very important precaution should be taken: before getting out there, make sure to hydrate yourself. You’re losing that water to sweat so always make sure to replace those lost fluids. 

Keeps your digestive tract moving

Eating foods with lots of fat and fiber requires a lot of water to break down. Your trips to the bathroom will get easier and faster if you’re not constipated, and instead of looking for a quick and dirty solution, treat the cause: just drink more water. If you’re dehydrated, you’re pushing more stress on your kidneys and liver when it these waste products could easily pass through the urinary system with enough water.

You might avoid bladder cancer

Bladder cancer might be uncommon, but it exists. It is preventable, through – increased fluid intake – that fluid being water – reduces the risk of contracting it. Again, it’s not doing anything extraordinary – drinking water frequently, and resulting in frequent urination prevents the buildup of carcinogens. Hydration may also reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer. 

Hydration prevents headaches and Keeps you Body Healthy

Newsflash: constant headaches are a sign that you’re probably dehydrated. It’s also a migraine trigger. Headaches caused by dehydration can quickly be cured by drinking 2 cups of water and you’ll feel relief within 30 minutes. You’ll have to do more if it occurs frequently: drink 2 to 4 cups within 1 to 2 hours for relief.

It keeps your kidneys healthy

These bean-shaped organs do a lot to regulate your body’s waste, blood pressure and keep your bodily fluids, so give them a lot of love! Again, it doesn’t take much. Just remember to drink water as much as you can, avoid hard drinks and don’t hold your pee!

It gets you energized

Another sign of dehydration is fatigue and lethargy. Just like dehydration-triggered headaches, the only cure is to drink water. If you’re wondering why caffeine, tea or energy drinks don’t work for you, it’s probably because you just need water. 

Your joints and cartilages are lubricated

Water helps keep bodily connections like joints and cartilages are lubricated, hydrated and supple. Cartilage, the material that coats the edges of the bones and prevents them from banging against each other, is 85% water.

Want more benefits of drinking water? Check out Part 2 here!

Corrective Chiropractic

Non-Fitness Related Benefits of Working Out

You’ve probably worn your ears off listening to the predictable drone of the benefits of exercise. Yes you’ll get healthier, but is that enough to motivate you to run more miles on the treadmill? Does the thought of sweating it out for a slimmer waist or leaner muscles not cut it anymore? Maybe you haven’t heard of the non-fitness related benefits of working out!

Gain Actual Work-Life Balance

Your job and personal life gets a boost from the aptly-named industry journal Human Resource Management found out workers who found time to exercise during the work week found more work-life balance more than others. It’s all thanks to the boost of endorphins during exercise – they’re less stressed about facing their work life.

It Makes You Better at Sex

If you’re still procrastinating on hitting the gym, then maybe knowing how it’ll spice up your sex life will make you think twice. Pumping iron, doing squats and planks improves your performance in bed and it’s not all about your physical form. Experts and studies say that regular physical exercise heightens your arousal, even if you haven’t had any in a while. 

You Can Get Better Pay

Remember how you’re required to undergo a full physical exam before you’re hired? The HR managers want to know if you’re healthy enough to hire. Once you’re in there’s a chance that you’ll be paid much more than those you aren’t. In a study conducted by the Journal of Labor Research they discovered that employees who regularly  exercise made 9% more than those who didn’t. 

Reduce Your Risk of Developing Lifestyle-Related Diseases

Warding off diseases is a no-brainer benefit that you get from exercise. The most common illnesses you’ve heard of – breast cancer, heart attacks, high blood pressure, stroke, hypertension, diabetes – those are preventable by hitting the gym.  Physical activity is most natural and cost effective way to stay away from getting those illnesses.

Boost Your Brain Power

If you sit in front of a computer for long hours try to move around every once in a while. An article in Neurology suggests that high levels of cardio activity when you’re 18 to 30 years old improves your brain power. Blood is pumping faster in your body during exercise, feeding your brain so it’s able to think better.

Ward Off Wrinkles

If you’ve spent a fortune on face creams that don’t work, maybe it’s time to try another approach to look younger. The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine suggested that frequent exercise for people in their 40s had skin similar to people in their 20s and 30s.

You’re Happier

Elle Woods said it best: “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t”.

benefits-of-tea

Benefits Of Tea For Your Mind And Body

Tea, coffee’s older, more sage has survived the wave of trendy new drinks that we’ve seen come and gone. And yes, there have been exciting new twists on tea lately on its own is still a popular beverage.

But aside from being older than coffee, millions of drinkers have a reason why it’s their chosen cup of poison.

It’s two-fold effects benefits both the mind and body to achieve the state of Zen.

EGCG: For the body

Tea, regardless if it’s black, green, yellow, or white is loaded with polyphenol antioxidants that help fight against free radicals.

Let’s take matcha green tea for example.

Its main polyphenol is EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) is three times greater than regular green tea. But how does this impact your health? What are free radicals anyway?

If you can still remember high school chemistry, atoms are surrounded by electrons that orbit in layers called shells. The inner shell has a required number of electrons per shell that needs to be met before going into the next layer.

When an atom has incomplete atoms in its outer shell, they go rogue and bond with other atoms (“oxidation”) to complete the needed electrons.

When certain parts of a cell are oxidized, it fails to function normally. If enough functions are impaired, the cell dies. These microscopic events can have serious ramifications to your health, from aging, cancer to Parkinson’s disease.

This is where antioxidants come in. Known as “free radical scavengers” they seek free radicals and neutralize them by donating an electron before it oxides other atoms. Once the shells are filled, it stabilizes and stops being toxic to cells.

The abundance of antioxidants can benefit your health in the following ways:

  • Reduce the risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, the whole lot of them: breast, colon, colorectal, skin, lung, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, ovarian, liver, prostate, head and neck, and oral
  • It may support heart health by alleviating the risk factors of heart disease – reducing blood pressure, cholesterol and the accumulation of plaque in the blood.
  • Promotes weight loss, especially if taken in conjunction with the caffeine in tea.
  • Recent research suggests that EGCG plays a role in improving neurological cell function and preventing degenerative brain disease. There’s also a link found between a higher intake of green tea and the reduced risk of age-related brain degeneration along with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

L-theanine: For the mind

What makes tea amazing is that it does so by doing much for your body, it does amazing things for the mind. The L-theanine amino acid is found in both green and black tea. It’s found in a limited amount of food, mostly tea and mushrooms.

By influencing nerve impulses in the brain, it causes the release of hormones that bring a sense of calm over you. It’s recommended that your drink tea if you want to improve your mental focus. Specifically it improves the entirety of your mental health:

  • You’ll sleep better. During the metabolism of l-theanine, it encourages your brain to produce more alpha waves and reduce beta waves, which keeps your head clear so it’s easier for you to relax and fall into sleep.
  • Have you been offered a cup of warm tea to “help you relax”? There’s an actual scientific study conducted on this, the results of which lead the researchers to conclude that it’s not a placebo effect. Rather, l-theanine reduces a person’s resting heart rate to bring about the feeling of relaxation.
  • Increased cognitive performance. L-theanine on its own can improve a person’s attention span and reaction time. Together with caffeine (which tea also possesses), it keeps you focused and alert which can lead to the improvement in number skills.
  • Lose weight. The physical wellness bought by l-theanine is its ability to curb hunger and prolong the feeling of satiation. The result of eating less will lead to weight loss.