When you think of eating disorders, you think of Karen Carpenter or one of Hollywood’s young starlets.  But, these disorders don’t just affect girls and women.  Men and boys can be just as affected by them.

Eating disorders are not new and neither is their existence in the male population.  The reason you may not have heard about it is the stigma attached to having a problem controlling your food.  According to a Harvard study (2007), as much as 25 percent of those in the study were anorexic males and 40 percent were binge-eating males.  For a condition that has been decidedly “female”, these are high numbers.

The effects of eating disorders are more readily noticed among girls.  Wearing tight-fitting clothing or other outfits that show their shape reveal the skin and bones that mortify parents and friends.  Girls are also more likely to confide in a friend about their “new diet” than guys are.

Men and boys can hide the results of their eating disorders better than women and girls.  Furthermore, changes in their body are quickly attributed to anything but an eating disorder.  Parents don’t even think that an eating disorder can affect their son.

Even the males themselves are not likely to admit that they have an eating disorder.  Being associated with a “girl’s disease” can be seen as unmanly or feminine.  For fear of being called names, they hide their pain and their obsession with food.

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep

A good night’s sleep is more important than you may realize.  Those seven to nine hours of rest time affects your entire body for the coming day.  If you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep, here are ten ideas to turn your rocky night into smooth sailing.

1. Adjust the temperature in your room.  You may not have a separate control but the entire household can benefit from a cooler temperature for snoozing.  High humidity makes it harder to fall asleep comfortably.

2. Resist the urge to do any work or watch television in bed.  When you perform other tasks in the bedroom, your brain doesn’t associate your bed with sleep only.  When you turn on the television, the mind revs up instead of slowing down for rest.

3. Play soothing music.  Slow, instrumental tunes lull the body and the mind to sleep.  It can be a nightly signal that sleep is coming and the body will begin to relax.

4. Diet and exercise can improve sleep patterns.  Extra weight on your body frame can lead to leg and/or back pain.  Lying down can shift the weight and make it uncomfortable to sleep in certain positions.  Even losing ten percent of your body weight can lead to a more comfortable and sustained sleep.

5. Take a warm bath or shower before bed.  Use soothing bath oil cleansers like lavender and chamomile to put you in the mood for relaxation and sleep.  Light a few candles around the tub to enhance the effect.

6. Begin a night-time routine to induce sleep.  Too many of us go right from working or doing chores to hopping in the bed.  The mind is still reeling with tasks done and those still to be accomplished.  At least half an hour or 45 minutes before bedtime, begin a ritual of bathing, massage, soothing music, darkening the room, meditation and other things to prepare for bed.  Try the same routine each night.

7. Go to the bathroom.  You don’t want to wake up from a sound sleep to urinate.  Going to the bathroom before sleep leads to longer periods of rest.

8. Go to bed at an earlier time.  Length of sleep time is as important as the quality.  For body function, it is recommended that you sleep at least seven to nine hours each night.  Better sleep leads to waking up on your own instead of hitting the snooze button.

9. Don’t drink caffeine before bed.  Some people have a relaxing cup of tea, but tea contains caffeine which is a stimulant.  Instead of getting sleepy you get more wide awake.

10. Don’t eat before bed.  Food in the stomach can lead to heartburn (especially if you are overweight).  Some say eating before bed causes bad dreams but that is an old wives tale.

Sleep is important for body function and cellular repair.  Without enough sleep each night, you are more affected by stress and disease.  Protect your body and boost your immune system with these sleep ideas.

What do you eat more of raw foods or processed foods?  If you have a hectic schedule, fast foods may fit into your plan but they are not the healthiest for your body.  Find out the benefits of eating raw foods and how to fit them into your lifestyle.

What is it about raw foods that have people gravitating towards them?  Raw foods were meant to be digested by your body.  Processed foods came along as a way of preserving meats and other perishables.  The refrigerator used to be called an ice box because it really was a box of ice that kept fresh meats and other foods cold until ready to eat.  Salting and sugaring came into use as preservatives in lieu of using the ice box.

Raw foods are edible in their natural state.  A little washing gets the dirt off but otherwise they can be eaten fresh out of the garden.  Think of tomatoes, strawberries, green beans, cantaloupe and other foods.  When eaten fresh, all of the nutrients inside are transferred to your body where they can be used.

Food that contains no preservatives or processes that alter their natural state are easier to digest in the body.  Raw foods from plant sources contain their own enzymes to aid in digestion.  The reason is that plants are living things.  Less effort is needed by the body to produce enzymes to break down these foods.

That is not the case with processed foods or processed fruits and vegetables.  The pasteurization process removes any harmful bacteria, which is good.  The heating process, however, removes major nutrients that are the reason for eating fruits and vegetables in the first place.  Added preservatives need enzymes manufactured by the body to break them down for nutrient use.

Raw foods contain natural sugars which can feed the sweet cravings we have developed over time spent eating processed foods.  It takes longer for raw foods to digest, meaning you are not hungry as often and your blood sugar remains stable throughout the day.  Want to give your kids fruit juice?  Juice the fruit yourself for a natural sugary taste that provides a bundle of good vitamins and minerals.  Your kids will love the natural taste of raw foods when they are started on that type of diet from a young age.

There are foods like potatoes, cabbage and sweet potatoes that are cooked before eaten.  Cooking these raw foods at home supplies more nutrients than the canning process.  You can make sure that they are not overcooked and therefore lacking much nutritional value.

It’s not realistic to think that you will eat raw foods all the time.  Meat can’t be eaten raw and most people arenít willing to give it up.  But, there is a solution.  Eat your meat, but eat it in limited quantities while filling up on raw foods like fruits, vegetables and nuts.

Using apple cider to treat certain ailments is an old folk remedy that people are still using today.  The basis of the remedy has been fashioned into a diet that centers on the use of apple cider vinegar.  This diet makes use of many of the proven health benefits of this vinegar.

Origins of Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is made from fermented apple juice.  Once you have created apple cider, you could stop there and enjoy this refreshing fall drink.  But yeast and sugars are added to the apple cider to create a more acidic environment leading to the production of apple cider vinegar.  The vinegar is used as an ingredient in many recipes and as a condiment for foods like cabbage or fish.  It can also be a reducing agent when creating sauces.

Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar

For many, many years, people have used apple cider vinegar to treat conditions of the body.  These benefits are still viable today.  Apple cider vinegar contains many minerals and vitamins that the body needs on a daily basis, including vitamin A, C and the B vitamins.  Important minerals like calcium, magnesium and phosphorus are also present.

Apple cider vinegar has been known to lower cholesterol levels.  Because it is made from apples, this liquid contains the fiber found in apples.  Fiber helps remove fat and cholesterol from the system before it is excreted from the body.

This vinegar is also good for intestinal health.  It is a fact of life that we will eat something that doesnít agree with us.  Diarrhea removes harmful substances from the body but also good flora from the intestines.  The pectin in apple cider vinegar can help to replenish the good bacteria as well as protecting the intestines from other harmful substances that led to the diarrhea in the first place.

If you have diabetes or are at risk, swallowing a little apple cider vinegar each day can help your blood sugar.  Blood sugar levels can be out of control in the diabetic person.  Fiber in apple cider vinegar functions in the absorption of excess glucose in your bloodstream to help avoid sugar spikes that lead to problems with diabetes and also food cravings that lead to weight gain.

Apple Cider Vinegar Diet

The diet consists of drinking up to three teaspoons of apple cider vinegar before each meal.  It is said that this process will rev up your metabolism and help you to lose weight.  Apple cider vinegar can control blood sugar levels and this can hinder those bothersome sugar cravings that derail your diet.

One drawback is that ingesting so much of an acidic substance can harm your mouth and throat.  In your mouth, acid can damage the tooth enamel.  This is the outer protective layer on each tooth.  Once it is gone, it doesn’t grow back.  And just like vomiting, excess acid in the throat can burn the lining and cause strictures.

Are you looking at the apple cider vinegar diet?  While you look at the health benefits of this vinegar, consider using in moderation for the health benefits and to avoid any negative effects.

What is art therapy?

It is a mental health discipline that uses various art media to deal with mental issues that an individual experiences.  Art therapy works for all age groups.  It teaches interpersonal skills, conflict resolution, deals with trauma, stress, depression, behavioral issues and other mental challenges you might face.

A typical art therapy program uses painting, drawing, sculpting, and other media to encourage self-expression on the part of the client.  Through their art, they learn to express their emotions and the therapist can “see” what they are feeling or trying to hide from others.  Art therapy has been helpful to people from all walks of life and in a variety of settings.  From hospitals to community centers to wellness centers to church groups, art therapy can break down walls and reach the individual inside to change their lives.

Hello guys!

Summer is around the corner, and for the next week Healthful Goddes is going to dedicate a segment “For The Body” with information about: Tai-Chi, Judo, Akido and Kickboxing!

The first article of “For the Body” is about Tai-Chi, the martial art considered to be a form of meditation. People practicing Tai Chi, also known as “players” learn to emphasize not only slow, deep breathing but rhythmic movements as well. This assists development of a focused and calm mind.

Tai Chi is an enjoyable activity for those of all ages and fitness levels. Each individual can practice the postures and movements in a manner relative to their own level of fitness, energy and state of mind. Each individual starts where they are, and learns at their own pace. It can be beneficial to the fittest athlete, the teenager and everyone in between. You may even find those in wheelchairs as part of a group practicing Tai Chi in the park near your home. You could take part even if you don’t think you could be coordinated or agile enough. These are all aspects you can learn at your own pace.

Traditional Chinese Medicine states that disease results from weak and impaired flow of qi (pronounced chee) through the meridians. There are fourteen main energy meridians which link internal organs and the entire physical body with the mind and emotional systems. These meridians arenít visible; however, you can detect them by the energy which moves through them. With the gentle movements of Tai Chi these energy channels are opened, thereby allowing the rhythm of the movements of the muscles, spine and joint to release energy through the body. This flushes out any stagnant qi, replacing it with fresh qi that is newly oxygenated.

The slow pace of Tai Chi provides the effect of performing a body scan to clear any place where there may be tension building up or stored. By releasing the grip of debris in both mind and body, we allow more space for positive aspects such as love and light to enter our lives. Aside from the meridians Tai Chi uses to work the internal organs, it also clears the joints of any potential debris in those areas, such as calcium deposits. This benefit is a result of the different movements requiring the body to rotate to about 95% of its ability. Tai Chiís health benefits are being quickly discovered in western medicine.
Health and life are simple reflections of our mind state. Body and breath move along with the mind. This encourages cleaning out any roadblocks which normally would keep us from moving forward. These roadblocks keep us locked in emotional and psychological patterns that arenít always healthy. The empowerment of “meditation in motion” can keep us in the train of thought that change itself is a constant in our lives, and new beginnings always follow closures.

Whenever stress and tension start taking their toll on health and well-being, it would be wise to look to those who have attained that level of harmony within the body.  Whether one is seeking to find that silence, relaxation and focus of thought, or if what is wanted is a gentle fitness program to increase flexibility and overall general health, Tai Chi would be an excellent place to start.

We all hate them!
Acne affects adults and teenagers alike! Trust me, they do not discriminate! If you are prone to acne, maybe your diet can reduce the incidence of it in your life.

Acne can be caused by a poor diet. Everyone assumed eating too much chocolate or candy caused acne breakouts on the face. Although that myth was debunked, it doesn’t mean that your way of eating won’t have any bearing on preventing acne.

Acne can have many causes. They all work together to make you miserable with whiteheads and blackheads. But the basis is that acne is caused by excess sebum (oils) clogging pores that contain hair follicles.

Metabolic changes can affect your skin. Stress can cause the types of changes in hormones that can trigger acne. Eating a diet high in fat and processed carbohydrates, with a high glycemic index, can bring about the same changes in your body that cause acne outbreaks.

Hence, we are back to the diet question. It could be the difference in your acne. Diet alone won’t stop acne from being a problem but it does help tremendously.

Your skin is an organ. When you feed not-so-good things to your body, your organs show the damage. For acne sufferers, that means your skin shows the result. Now, your acne can be a combination of unfortunate genes and diet, but changing your diet could help reduce your acne.

As a society that is going green, we are trying to do the same with our bodies. Detoxification is the process of eliminating harmful substances from the body. These diets are designed to aid the natural process of detoxification already in motion in your body.

Have you heard of body burden? It refers to the amount of toxins in your body. Testing urine, liver function and blood work is said to determine your body burden.

A build-up of toxins in the body can be blamed for many conditions of the body. Some symptoms of body burden may be feeling tired or sluggish; if you are getting sick more often or if you suffer from frequent headaches. This could mean that your body may need to be detoxified. A detox diet is supposed to eliminate the toxins lurking in your body so that can you feel energized and full of life again.

How do they work?

Basically a detox diet is going to work by retraining your body to process foods. The diets usually begin with a fasting period where no food is eaten. The body begins with a clean slate. Lots of water and only certain foods are eaten in the next phase to help eliminate toxins. Many detox diets recommend a colon flush to clean the intestines.

Once the detoxification is finished, you can resume normal eating again. This diet is a radical treatment and should only be performed once or twice a year, however depending on the diet creator it may occur more times. Everyone from teens to baby boomers and ordinary citizens to celebrities are trying detoxing diets for health and weight loss reasons.

Pros

If your body is in a state of poor health because of the level of toxins in your system detox diets supporters say that the body may hold on to toxins in fat tissue. Detox diets are designed to get at those toxins. According to them, detox diets have been shown to increase energy and reverse sickness.

Cons

On the other side, researchers are saying to use common sense. The body is designed to clean itself on the inside. The liver and the urinary system filter out impurities and remove them from the body, leaving the nutrients that we need to nourish the internal environment. Also, if you are eating junk food and you give that up for a detox diet, returning to that same junk food will bring back your previous condition.

Any diet that promotes fasting and food restrictions is not safe for teenagers. Their bodies are still growing and restricting nutrients can hinder that growth from occurring properly.

Researchers say detox diets may not help you lose fat. The substance that is leaving your body in quantity is water. You drink so much of it to remove toxins that you are bound to lose some water weight. But, as soon as you begin eating normally it all returns.

Doing too many colon flushes or taking detox supplements that are basically laxatives can alter the internal environment of your organs. It may flush out the good flora in your intestine and leave you prone to bad bacteria. The lack of proper nutrients in this type of diet further alters your body function with no useful nourishment being introduced.

If you try a detox diet, be careful. Eating a diet high in fiber and healthy natural foods will probably do the same thing as a detox diet, only with fewer (if any) side effects.

Green Clean: The Environmentally Sound Guide to Cleaning Your Home

A review

There is a revolution going on in America – a green revolution. The latest front is in the home, as households across the country try to adopt new ways to keep their homes clean and healthy, while helping the environment too. With the book Green Clean, you get the definitive, step-by-step guide to cleaning better while using non-toxic, ecofriendly products.

Green Clean briefly begins with the history of cleaning, and how we started to turn away from natural cleaning methods and began to use the toxic chemicals that are contained in our modern cleaning agents today.

Then it gives an introduction to green cleaning, including the tools needed and steps to the process.

The book also take you room-by-room, giving you a green guide to cleaning for each one. You will learn how to clean different types of surfaces such as walls, floors, countertops, sinks, appliances, furniture, carpeting and clothing, using all natural methods.

The latter part of the book talks about storage, disposal, and recycling of hazardous household products, including a handy chart with the type of product listed, matched with the best way to dispose of it.

Room by room and stain by stain, this book breaks environmentally conscious cleaning into simple principles and easily mastered techniques that let readers set their own goals so that they can develop their own cleaning plan.

You will also find recipes for safe, simple, and economic cleaning solutions, and the lowdown on the best eco-friendly cleaning products on the market today. (Hint: Just because it says it’s green doesn’t mean it is).

This book is filled with information so that you as a consumer can make informed choices about what you will and will not tolerate in your home.
You need to be more aware of your choices, and think about the chances you are willing to take with cleaning products.

Or, you might decide that you want to make less of an impact on the environment. Whatever the reason, Green Clean will help you make smart choices for every room of the house.

If you decide to change what you use to go green and clean, you can make informed choices thanks to Green Clean. It is an indispensable reference for today’s modern, environmentally friendly home.

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Other natural cleaning products include:

White Vinegar
Vinegar is also great for killing germs and deodorizing around the house. It is ideal for cleaning coffee pots, countertops and cookware, and anywhere else where you might have lime scale.

It may also be used with baking soda to unclog drains and to act like scrubbing bubbles to scour around the house.  Vinegar is safe for most surfaces, but caution should be used with fabrics, since vinegar can dissolve the fibers of acetate fabrics.

In addition, it is excellent to put in the wash to help disinfect, and lock in the color dye in any cotton fabric, such as new jeans.

Lemon Juice
Lemon juice has a pleasant scent, and it is also great at cutting grease. It can lighten stains on surfaces and fabrics, and does an excellent job of removing tarnish on many metals. It should not, however, be used on silver.

Baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, white vinegar, and lemon juice can be used on their own or mixed with each other or other common household ingredients to make cleaners suitable for almost any job.

For a powerful all-purpose cleaner and sanitizer, you can mix 2 teaspoons of borax (good for keeping down bugs), 4 tablespoons of vinegar, 3 cups of hot water and 1/4 tablespoon of liquid soap.

A simple mixture of half vinegar and half water is great for cleaning windows.
A mixture of baking soda and liquid soap makes an effective countertop scrub.  Dishwashing detergent also makes a great sink unblocker and can even clean and unclog toilets if you leave it to stand for 10 minutes, plunge, and flush.

Having a clean home doesn’t have to mean relying on a bunch of heavy-duty chemicals or expensive cleaning products. You don’t have to stuff your kitchen cabinet with glass cleaner, toilet cleaner, bathroom cleaner and so on.

The truth is, you can find almost everything you need in your kitchen for pennies, ingredients you can use for many other things besides just cleaning.

Making your own natural cleaners might take a little more effort, but it is less expensive and better for your own and your family’s health.

If you love a clean house, but are concerned about the amount of chemicals you’re using, get started today, for a greener tomorrow.