Essential Health Tips for Desk Workers

Working at a desk may look safe, but it can take a toll on your physical and mental health. While the occupational hazards in an office are different from those at a construction site or hospital, it’s still wise to take some precautions.

A growing number of studies have raised concerns about the effects of sitting for long periods, which can include increased risk of heart conditions, diabetes, certain cancers, and weight gain. That’s especially troubling considering that the average American spends more than 10 hours a day sitting. Add job-related stress to the mixture, and you can see how the consequences can start to add up.

Learn what steps you can take to counteract the downside of your desk job. Start with these ideas for protecting your health and wellbeing.

#1 - Adjust your posture.

Slouching can cut off your circulation and make your lower back ache. Try drawing your shoulder blades down and back to open up your chest. A lumbar support pillow may help too.

#2 - Take frequent breaks.

Studies show that moving around about every half hour reduces the negative effects of sitting. In fact, it may be even more effective than regular exercise. Make it a habit to stretch or walk around your office for a few minutes.

#3 - Align your wrists

Typing with bent wrist could lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. You can prevent it from resting them occasionally, and ensuring your workstation is set up ergonomically. Make sure the hights of your seat, table and computer are right and fit you, so you don’t be forced to keep in the wrong position.

#4 - Rest your eyes.

If your eyes are dry, and your vision is blurred, you may be staring at the computer screen too long. Look away occasionally and do eye exercises like blinking or staring at something in the distance.

#5 - Stay hydrated.

Drinking plenty of water helps to maintain your body temperature, metabolism, and heart health. Aim for 8 glasses a day.

#6 - Bring snacks.

It’s easier to resist the vending machines when you have a supply of wholesome foods. Good choices include nuts, baby carrots, and hummus. This way you’re unconsciously consuming healthy food and staying far from those junk food!

#7 - Pack your lunch.

Save money and calories by bringing your lunch to work. You can prepare it the night ahead if you tend to run out of time in the morning.

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If you read until here, you probably find out that all these tips could be bound together. For example, you could set an alarm for resting 10 mins every hour. During your rest, you can inspect yourself if you’re in the right posture(not slouching, chest opened), make sure that you move around(go to washroom), and finish one glass of water! Try these tips and tell us if you feel any difference after all in the comment!

Tips to Increase Serotonin - The Happy Hormones

More than 90% of your serotonin stays in your intestines where it helps to regulate your digestive system. It still has so much impact on your mood that it’s part of the formula for many antidepressant medications.

Try out these activities to help increase serotonin:

#1 - Exercise regularly.

Physical movement is one of the simplest and most effective ways to stimulate serotonin. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise each week. Play sports, take fitness classes or go for a walk.

#2 - Eat carbohydrates.

You may crave certain comfort foods because calories from carbohydrates trigger serotonin. Choose complex carbohydrates like whole grains rather than refined products like cake and cookies.

#3 - Take B vitamins.

Both dopamine and serotonin respond to B vitamins. Smart sources include brown rice, legumes, and leafy green vegetables.

Other Happy Hormones

Besides dopamine and serotonin, there are several other hormones that can help you to feel happy, including estrogen, progesterone, endorphins, and oxytocin. Try these techniques to maintain healthy levels of these hormones and feel happier:

#1 - Treat menopause symptoms.

Menopause and perimenopause cause major hormonal changes, including a drop in estrogen. Talk with your doctor about what options are appropriate for you. You may be able to manage your symptoms naturally or you may want to consider hormone replacement therapy.

#2 - Manage stress.

At any stage in life, stress hormones can interfere with any of the happy hormones. Keep tension under control with meditation, deep breathing, and other relaxation practices.

#3 - Be kind.

Oxytocin earns its nickname as the love hormone. It’s involved in social bonding as well as birth. Research shows that it contributes to life satisfaction, so help it along by being generous and affectionate.

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Most of the habits that boost your happy hormones also support your overall wellbeing. Stay cheerful and healthy. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, manage stress, and talk with your doctor if you notice any symptoms that interfere with your daily life.

A Guide to Boosting Your Happy Hormones - Dopamine

Understanding your happy hormones could help you to enhance your emotional wellbeing. Substances like dopamine and serotonin play a significant role in regulating your moods.

What are hormones? They’re messengers secreted by your glands and carried through your bloodstream. Even in tiny amounts, they can cause major changes in your body. They also need to be kept in balance because they interact closely with each other.

You can usually keep them functioning well by using gentle, natural methods or following your doctor’s recommendations if you develop a deficiency. Learn more about your happy hormones and how to make them work for you.

Today we’re going to put our focus on Dopamine:

Your brain’s pleasure and reward systems depend largely on dopamine. Dopamine is one of the reasons why you feel warm and fuzzy when you receive a compliment or any positive attention. It also helps with executive function and motor control.

Use these strategies to boost your dopamine levels:

#1 - Fulfill your goals

Adding to your accomplishments is a natural way to increase dopamine levels. Give yourself something to strive for each day and celebrate your victories.

#2 - Limit sugar

Your diet matters too. Excess sugar and saturated fat can inhibit dopamine production. Cut back on empty calories and switch to healthier fats. Omega-3 fatty acids found in foods like fish and nuts actually boost dopamine.

#3 - Get some sun

Have you ever felt so good after an afternoon under the sunshine? It probably because Vitamin D. It strengthens your bones and may increase dopamine. Spend time outdoors each day and check labels for foods fortified with vitamin D.

#4 - Listen to music

One study found that dopamine levels increased by as much as 9% when volunteers listened to music that they enjoyed. Create playlists for exercising, working, and other daily activities.

#5 - Have fun.

While music may be especially influential, other healthy pleasures work too. Make time in your schedule for hanging out with family and friends and working on hobbies and other things you enjoy.

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“How about serotonin?” you asked. Yes, stay tuned! We’re going to talk about it and some other happy Hormones in the next article.

5 Tips Train Yourself in Healthier Sleep Positions

Before we start with the tips, we would like to make sure that you are aware of how important a healthy sleep position is and the advantages of learning it. Sleeping well is vital to your health and well being. It can help you avoid aches and pains. Just by modifying your sleep position, you can help reduce your risk for chronic headaches and pain in your lower back and neck.

It also makes you breathe better. Lying on your back automatically helps you to draw full breaths from your diaphragm. You can wake up feeling more refreshed and have more energy all day. The last but not least, improving your sleep is free. There's no charge for learning to sleep on your back. With a little effort, you may be able to avoid buying expensive mattresses and other sleep aids.

Let’s take a look at these tips and try them out!

#1 - Practice lying on your back.

It's easy and it's good for you. Lying on your back helps to keep your spine in alignment. Just lie down for 10 minutes or more. Make sure the back of your head and shoulders touch the mattress. Slip a rolled-up towel under your neck or use a small neck-roll pillow.

#2 - Try to fall asleep on your back.

If you want to convert to sleeping on your back, try starting out on your back when you get into bed. If you're very tired, you may find it easy to fall asleep in that position and start making it a habit.

#3 - Try to stay on your back.

Even if you want to sleep on your back, you may wind up changing positions while you're slumbering. Just return to lying on your back as often as possible. You can also put pillows or rolled-up blankets alongside your body to help keep you in place.

#4 - Use pillows to modify any sleep position.

The strategic use of pillows can make any position healthier. When sleeping on your back or side, put a pillow between your knees to take any strain off your lower back. Hugging a full-length body pillow can help stomach sleepers learn to sleep on their sides.

#5 - Do some stretches when you get out of bed.

Everyone can benefit from doing at least 10 minutes of stretches when they first get up. Target your neck and shoulders or any area of discomfort.

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Position yourself to sleep well and suffer fewer aches and pains. You spend about one-third of your life sleeping, so use the time wisely. With some simple changes in your sleep position, you can wake up feeling refreshed with an excellent source of energy throughout the day.

The Evaluation Of Three Common Sleep Positions

The way you sleep at night is so important. If you can train yourself to use healthy sleep positions, you'll get a better night's sleep and all the health advantages that come with it.

Let’s look at three common sleep positions and the evaluation of them:

#1 - Back Sleepers

Do you sleep on your back? Most experts agree that sleeping on your back with no pillow under your head is the ideal position. This allows your spine to maintain its three natural curves at the lower and middle back and near the neck. It also encourages deep breathing.

#2 - Side Sleepers

Side-sleeping, as know as fetal poison. Many studies confirm that the fetal position is the most popular, especially among women. It can be relatively healthy if you use pillows and stretches. This will compensate for any tendency to press on nerves by resting your head on your arm or to twist your lower spine by hiking one leg up too high.

#3 - Stomach Sleepers

Sleeping on your stomach puts a lot of strain on your back and neck because they’re not in a neutral position. It also compresses your lungs, making it difficult to breathe correctly. This position could help with the snoring problem but most of the experts would not recommend you to keep this position still. Even if it feels comfortable, you may wind up with chronic aches and pains.

Summary

No matter which sleep position you prefer, there is a way to adjust to a good position that will do the body good. It’s almost all related to a good quality and right size pillow. We’ll talk about how to train yourself and sleep in a better sleep position in the next article. What you can do now is to recognize how you sleep and what you feel about it.

A Healthy Diet Combined With Cheese For Cheese Lovers

In the last article, we mentioned the health benefits we could get from cheese. It’s not only good for our hearts, bones, and teeth but also helps us consume more protein and good bacteria. It gets us more Vitamin D and B12, which help us on bones, immune(Vitamin D), brain functions, and blood cell formation(Vitamin B12).

Hence, this week we’re going to talk about how to put them into our daily diet. Here are seven tips for you to start a great and healthy diet with all your loved food in it!

#1 - Limit your portions

While cheese is a nutritional powerhouse, the calories add up fast. One ounce of cheddar contains about 115 calories. That’s about the size of four regular dice.

#2 - Choose soft cheeses.

Most soft cheeses are lower in calories than hard cheeses. In addition to cottage cheese, you may want to try ricotta, mozzarella, and feta. Neufchâtel is also a delicious substitute for cream cheese with only one-third of the fat.

#3 - Add to vegetables

How you eat your cheese counts too. Think of it as a flavoring rather than the main course. Grate it onto salad greens or make a light sauce with nonfat milk.

#4 - Serve with fruit

Make your desserts more wholesome. Instead of cakes and cookies, end a meal with figs and Camembert or blackberries and Brie.

#5 - Sprinkle on soup.

Soup is a filling way to start a meal, especially if you liven it up with a little cheese. Some tasty pairings include topping off an onion soup with a layer of Gruyere or garnishing a black bean and spinach soup with shavings of Manchego.

#6 - Bake your own pizza

Instead of ordering a pie with double cheese and pepperoni, make your own lighter version. Use a whole wheat crust and top it with more spinach and less mozzarella.

#7 - Go natural

Check the labels to be sure you’re buying cheese rather than cheese products. Processed cheese is often lower in protein and calcium and higher in calories and fat.

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Stop saying no to cheese, instead, let’s try out all these tips and have our favorite cheese every day! Enjoy your life in the healthiest way.

The Health Benefits Of Cheese That You Don’t Realize

Cheese may be healthier than you think. Evidence keeps growing about the nutritional benefits of cheese, and there are ways to enjoy it that are less fattening than a double cheeseburger.

If you’ve been cutting back on cheese because you’re trying to lose weight and protect your health, it may be time to go back to eating the foods you love. Take a look at the latest news about cheese and how to make it part of a balanced diet. Here are six benefits you can get from cheese!

#1 - Protect your heart

While cheese is a major source of saturated fat and sodium, it may actually be good for your heart because of the way its molecules work together. Calcium appears to keep some harmful fatty acids from breaking down.

At the same time, full fat dairy products contain a fatty acid called Palmitoleate that is known to neutralize the effects of saturated fatty acids, fight inflammation, and reduce the risk of diabetes.

#2 - Build your bones

You probably know that the calcium in cheese strengthens your bones. A single ounce of cheddar provides about 20% of your daily needs.

#3 - Consume more protein

Protein is another important building block of bones, muscles, and hormones. It also speeds up your metabolism and helps you to feel full. Most cheeses contain almost as much protein as fat.

#4 - Enjoy good bacteria

Microorganisms in your digestive tract affect your immune system and body weight for better or worse. Cheese is full of the beneficial bacteria that you want to cultivate.

#5 - Strengthen your teeth

Calcium isn’t the only reason cheese is good for your teeth. When you eat hard cheeses, you reduce the acids in your mouth that can cause cavities.

#6 - Get your vitamins D and B12

Cheese is one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, another requirement for healthy bones and immune functioning. It’s also a good source of B12 that’s central to brain functions and red blood cell formation.

Summary

Eat your mozzarella with pride, knowing that it’s packed with essential nutrients. By controlling portions and making smart choices, you can enjoy cheese while you watch your weight.

A Gradual Approach to Healthy Eating

A healthy diet is the most important component of overall health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, changing your diet can be extremely challenging. It’s very rewarding in the short-term to eat unhealthy foods. It feels good to eat chips or a chocolate bar.

Broccoli feels good, but only when you look at yourself in the mirror six months in the future. Change your diet and change your health for the better with these strategies:

#1 - Start with the end in mind

What is your ideal diet? This is important to figure out before going to the next step. Moving from your current diet to a ketogenic diet is very different than moving to a vegan diet.

Do some research regarding which diets are healthy for someone with your current health status. Also, consider your food preferences. For example, if you love meat, a vegan diet would be quite challenging. Or we can see our doctors for more personalized advice.

#2 - Break the diet change into steps

Start slowly. Massive change is usually too challenging to maintain. Give yourself several months, if necessary, to completely change your diet. If you’re feeling even moderately uncomfortable, you’re going too fast.

Start with small changes. For instance, you might decide to cut back on processed carbohydrates and replace those calories with beans or lentils. Keep moving the ratios in a positive direction until you’ve reached your goals.

#3 - Cut back on unhealthy foods

You can’t just add in healthy foods. It’s important to limit the unhealthy foods, too. Good foods add to your health, and unhealthy food steal it away.

Imagine you eat three candy bars each day, but you only want to eat one. You could have 2.5 candy bars each day this week. Eat two the following week, and so on, until you’re not eating any at all. It’s slower than you might like, but it works.

Make a list of all the unhealthy foods you regularly consume. Create a plan for minimizing their presence in your diet.

#4 - Consider your beverages

Beverages can be loaded with calories and unhealthy chemicals. They’re easy to consume and don’t take up a lot of room in your stomach. Drink a lot of water and satisfy your thirst that way. Wean yourself off unhealthy beverages slowly.

#5 - Find foods you enjoy

If your new diet calls for nuts, find some nuts that you enjoy. If you hate cashews, don’t eat them. If you love apples, but don’t like bananas, then don’t eat bananas. Look for options that fit your diet that appeal to you.

#6 - Understand that perfection isn’t necessary

Is a couple of candy bars each week going to be a problem? Of course not. It’s not important to be 100% perfect to gain all the health benefits a diet has to offer. If 90% of your meals conform to your diet, you’re doing extremely well. 80% is decent. 70% isn’t too bad. Avoid beating yourself up because you had an error in judgment or a weak moment.

Summary

What type of diet do you want to adopt? This is the important first step. Slowly adapt your current diet to match your new diet. This can take several months to do effectively. While it’s tempting to make rapid changes, they simply don’t work for the vast majority of the population.

Find foods you enjoy that support good health and keep your calories under control. That’s really the primary goal regardless of the specific diet.

Cold Showers vs. Hot Showers - The Reasons Why We Give Cold Showers A Try

Do you feel that waking up and having a warm shower is the best thing on a winter’s day? The question is what type of shower is the best for you. There are many people who advocate a cold shower, at the same time, there are others who take warm showers and hot saunas every day.

Naturally, hot showers feel much nicer and are very relaxing, but is a cold shower healthier?

Taking a cold shower might not be on your list of things to do today, but research shows some pretty major reasons why you might want to give it a try. Consider these reasons why cold showers might win the great shower debate:

#1 - Better for your skin

Cold showers are better for your skin in many ways. First off, think back to early humans. Coming across warm water was a very unlikely scenario for early humans and our skin and body have not been able to adapt to warm water as a benefit ever since.

Not only do cold showers help to close pores and allow less dirt and grime to get into your skin, but it is also better for the natural softness and feel of the skin. This is because a warm shower can dry the skin, especially when used with traditional soaps.

#2 - Accelerate Muscle Repair

Just finished a tough workout and notice that your muscles are a tad stiff and sore? Cold showers can work in the same way as an ice bath to help limit inflammation in the muscle and speed up recovery.

#3 - Wake You Up

Has anyone ever dumped a bucket of cold water on you? Probably quite the chill, but it woke you up, right?

Cold showers can also help to put you to sleep. This is because your core body temperature will generally drop just before and during your sleep. Allowing your body to cool down with a cold shower before sleep can actually help you to fall asleep faster.

#4 - Can Help With Fat Loss

Cold showers can help you lose both weight and fat. This is because cold showers help to encourage the use of brown fat and the direct loss of white fat throughout the day. Brown fat produces energy to heat you up from the cold shower.

#5 - Circulatory benefits

As your skin gets colder from the cold water, your body reduces blood in your skin and sends extra blood to your core to heat you back up again. This process reduces inflammation and circulates the blood in the deeper tissues and internal organs faster, also bringing them an oxygen boost.

Summary - Things To Keep In Mind

Taking a cold shower is not a quick fix to your health. Yes, cold showers can help to improve some aspects of your vitality, but it is somewhat limited.

For instance, taking a cold shower would not be the best idea during times when you have the flu or other illnesses as stepping out of a cold shower might put a strain on your immune system that’s already fighting your cold or flu.

Be smart about your showers and start to move into a cooler shower day by day. Your utility bill, skin, and muscles will thank you for it.