The Six Meals A Day Diet - How And Why It Could Revolutionize Your Fitness Plans

Sounds simple enough doesn't it? - eating 5 or 6 meals a day as opposed to our standard 3 meals a day. Eat twice as many meals and you'll lose weight, feel better and be healthier. Almost too simple.

But until you try it you won't believe the benefits.

The aim of this article is to give you a very quick overview of the subject and based on my own experiences (I've been eating like this now for 8 months) to convince you to at least give it a try.

So let's look first of all at the benefits of the six meals a day diet...

1) No Snacking

When you eat a proper meal every 3 hours or so during the day it cuts out the need or want for snacking. Why bother with a bit of chocoloate if you know you're going to be eating a proper meal in the next few hours? Eating regularly keeps those "pangs" at bay.

2) Less Surplus Calories

By splitting your normal daily intake of food into 6 smaller meals you'll be consuming far less per meal. This means that your body will be regularly refuelled with smaller amounts of energy.

Typically, excess calories in your body will be laid down as fat for later usage, which is the typical result of a huge meal.

However if you're consuming fewer calories per meal, there will be lower levels in your body meaning there is far less chance of putting on weight.

In addition, eating more regularly "primes" the metabolism and encourages fat burning when you're not eating so not only will you be unlikely to put on weight but you will likely burn off any existing fat far easier.

3) Less Energy Slumps

You know the energy slump that you can feel in the early afternoon just after you've had lunch? That's because your body is working so hard to digest the huge meal you just ate.

By eating more regularly you'll smooth out these "peaks and troughs" of energy in your body keeping you going for longer and feeling better.

What's more, dieticians are increasingly believing that it is these energy spikes that can result in the onset of diabetes so you'll be greatly reducing your chances of ending up with this unpleasant disease.

Now the potential downsides of the six meals a day diet and what to do about them...

1) Eating Every Few Hours Is Impractical

Many people think that eating every 3 or 4 hours is going to be hard with such a busy life. Actually when you get into the routine it's not hard at all. Develop a list of healthy, tasty foods that you enjoy that you can munch quickly if necessary. Anyone can eat a quick sandwich or down a meal replacement drink during their coffee break in the morning and afternoon at work. Breakfast, morning break, lunch break, afternoon break, when you get home, early evening.

That's 6 meals managed easily.

2) How Do I Cope With Meals Out?

If you decide to adopt the six meals a day diet as a regular part of life rather than a crash diet, how do you cope with meals out? An evening at a restuarant? A birthday party?

Easy. You just budget for it. Go, enjoy yourself just like normal. Then get back to the plan afterwards. Don't let yoyur social life suffer just because of your diet, but *do* get back on as soon as possible and make these "meals off" as seldom as possible.

There's a reason why people who love food tend to be grossly overweight.

3) How Do I Fit It Around My Family?

Many people worry that as they eat with a partner and/or children it will feel strange to be eating one small meal while everyone else eats a huge meal.

Don't worry - you can easily prepare a healthy yet tasty meal that everyone can enjoy and you just eat a smaller portion. Eat slowly and you won't be finished ages before everyone else. And if they love you, they'll support your decision.

So go try it. I assure you that you won't look back!

Prevent Influenza. Get Vaccinated!

As many as one in five Americans is infected with influenza, a serious respiratory disease, every year. Now is the time to protect yourself and your family from this severe and sometimes deadly illness.

Vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of the influenza virus each season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urge anyone who wishes to reduce their risk for the flu to get vaccinated now.

Influenza immunization is especially important for people 50 years of age and older, children 6 months up to 5 years of age, anyone with a chronic health condition (such as asthma or diabetes) and pregnant women. Close contacts of these groups (like health care workers, parents, siblings, grandparents and babysitters) should also get influenza vaccination.

Experts are predicting that more than 100 million doses of influenza vaccine will be available this year-more than ever before. Influenza normally does not peak until February each year, and vaccination is still beneficial even when the flu begins to be seen in your area.

CDC recommends that anyone desiring to avoid influenza should get vaccinated. Influenza vaccination still remains the best way to prevent influenza, and health care providers should vaccinate every person meeting the criteria for receiving influenza vaccination. This recommendation is particularly important for health care workers and others in close contact with persons at high risk for influenza complications.

"Now is the time to make sure you and your loved ones are protected against influenza and its serious complications, which can include pneumonia," said National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) Medical Director Susan J. Rehm, MD. "Getting immunized will help prevent missed work and school days, as well as trips to the doctor or hospital caused by the influenza virus."

NFID recently did a survey of Americans and found that many believe that by December it is too late to get vaccinated. This is alarming because vaccination should continue throughout the winter to help prevent spreading the illness among friends, family and coworkers.

"Getting vaccinated each season is important because the influenza viruses change every year," said LJ Tan, PhD, Cochair of the National Influenza Vaccine Summit. "A new influenza vaccine is made before each season to help provide the best protection."
About Influenza
Influenza symptoms can include fever (usually high), dry cough, headache, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and muscle aches. It also can cause extreme tiredness that may last days or weeks.

Anyone can get the influenza virus. It is spread from person to person, mostly by coughing and sneezing. People (including young children) can spread the virus to others before symptoms appear and for many days after they begin.

Although vaccination is the first line of defense against influenza, prescription antiviral medications may be helpful in preventing and controlling the spread of influenza. Antivirals can also be used for those who cannot receive influenza vaccine because of egg allergies.

Quit Smoking With Homeopathics

There are so many alternative therapies available to mainstream medicine. When you want to Quit Smoking it may be worth your while to try something holistic before going straight to your doctor for the latest prescription. Homeopathy has been around for a couple of hundred years, and is a completely harmless natural medicine, where they believe in the concept of like treats like.

Homeopathics can be very difficult to grasp in concept. The simplest way to describe the idea of like treats like would be to give an example. This is not a real treatment, but just a story to help your understanding. Imagine there was a rare green rose found in the Himalayas, and whenever anyone touched it their skin would turn green. A homeopath may discover that using a small extract from the rose, then diluting it to the point where no scientist could even detect its presence, it could be used to cure the exact same rash the rose caused.

The system needs to be explained further as to why they dilute everything so much. It is because of water vibration and the fact that water absorbs the vibration of what it's mixed with. In making a medicine they begin by mixing a small amount of the substance, then they dilute and mix, dilute and mix, until what is left is actually virtually only water, but with the vibrational properties of the “green rose extract”.

It is an amazingly complex system, and each prescription is unique to the individual. They do not only treat for physical ailments but also mental and emotional problems. Homeopathics will not cure you of your addiction to cigarettes, but it can help with the withdrawal symptoms and the root of the cause of why you smoke. In this way they treat all addictions the same.

If you went to a homeopath for help with quitting smoking, they would asses your mental, emotional and physical state. They use treatments that are from animals, plants and minerals. Some remedies they may prescribe for addiction could be argentums, arsenicum or tuburculinum. The idea would be to purge the symptoms of withdrawal and the need to smoke from the person and help the body restore its balance and energy.

There hasn't been many studies recorded on homeopathy. The few that have been done in the area of addiction suggest that a person who quits smoking and uses Homeopathics is twice as likely to give up for good. Homeopathics are also said to assist people in being responsive to counseling and hypnotherapy. So if you combined the two you would have much more chance of success.

Controlling High Blood Pressure The Right Way

If you seek out the help of your doctor and follow his/her advice, you can start controlling high blood pressure. Controlling high blood pressure is not a difficult task. The difficult part is initially finding out that you have high blood pressure (hypertension). With the symptoms hard to detect before bringing you close to mortality, this problem is often called the "silent killer".

If you find out that you have hypertension, you can start controlling high blood pressure quickly. With proper medication, altering your diet, and changing your lifestyle you will soon see that your blood pressure goes down. If you aren't interested in changing your lifestyle or food habits, you will have a difficult time controlling high blood pressure. Since a cure isn't possible for high blood pressure, a lifetime commitment to taking care of your body is necessary. Once you start controlling high blood pressure, the chance of experiencing problems like heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure will decrease.

Basic Methods for Controlling High Blood Pressure

The first thing that a doctor will recommend for controlling high blood pressure is changing your diet. For example, you will have to reduce your salt intake because salt causes your body to retain water. This is known as edema, which is where you excrete less water through urination. This increase in water puts pressure on the blood vessel walls, thereby causing hypertension.

So instead of using salt, you will have to try a salt substitute or other seasonings on your food for added flavor. This is a quick and easy way to start reducing hypertension.

Another thing that doctors recommend for controlling high blood pressure is losing weight. Obesity and high blood pressure have a strong positive correlation. When you see your doctor he/she will check your weight and give you suggestions on how to best lose weight.

One type of diet that has become highly recommended by doctors for controlling high blood pressure is called the DASH diet. DASH stands for "dietary approaches to stop hypertension". This diet was actually created by the US government and was given high ratings in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1997. The main aspects of the DASH diet is that you want to increase your intake of fruit, vegetables, dairy, meat, chicken and fish protein, fiber, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, while avoiding carbohydrates and food high in fat and oil. With the DASH diet people can start controlling high blood pressure and lose weight easier.

Other products that you need to avoid in controlling high blood pressure include any tobacco or alcoholic product. You are allowed to have as many as two alcoholic drinks per day, but the less the better. Even if you are great about sticking to the DASH diet, you can still have difficulty controlling high blood pressure if you continue to use tobacco products and excessive amounts of alcohol. If you don't feel that you can control your tobacco and/or alcohol intake on your own, make sure to ask your doctor about where you can get help.

Controlling high blood pressure requires you to get moving. Lack of exercise is also correlated with hypertension. So you will need to find a way to add exercise to your daily routine. This can be a simple as parking farther from work to get more walking into your day. Whatever you can do to increase the amount of movement you do during the day will help in controlling high blood pressure.

Your doctor may also prescribe you medications called "antihypertensives" to help in controlling high blood pressure. With the medications, exercise, decreasing alcohol and tobacco intake, and altering your diet, you will be on your way to controlling high blood pressure.

Eradicate Mental And Physical Fatigue With Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil is distilled from melaleuca, native tree of Australia. Tea tree oil carries strong aroma which is antiseptic in nature and is also used in medicine for curing and healing.
It is antibiotic and has been proved beneficial in various fungal and other infections such as cold, flue, thrush etc.

The best part of using tea tree oil is that it removes the mental fatigue and fills the mind with enthusiasm and energy. In other words, it is also a means to build positive attitude towards life. Tea tree oil is considered as good and beneficial for immune system.
Tea tree oil is antiseptic in nature and an element which makes it as antiseptic is "Terpenoids". Thus, it is very beneficial in healing cuts, burn, wounds, acne, boils, lice, yeast infection, athlete's foot, dandruff, psoriasis etc.

Tea tree oil is multipurpose oil that is not only is antiseptic in nature, rather it is also used in creams, lotions, soaps, shampoos and various other ointments. So, in order to know the uses of tea tree oil, there is a need to categorize the uses in following groups, which are as follows:

-It is used for healing: cold, boils, acne, burns, fungal infection, infectious toenail, ulcers, pimples etc
-It is used as ingredient in skin care: soaps, lotions, deodorants and various other beauty and body care products.
-It helps in enhancing beauty of hairs: shampoos, oils, anti-dandruff and also revitalize damage hairs.
-It has been proved that it provide relief in arthritis pain
-Other than above uses, tea tree oil is also used in mouthwash, toothpaste because it is also useful in fighting with all the teeth problems.

Despite of all its advantages, the person must be little cautious while using tea tree oil as sometimes it can be allergic to some of the people. Tea tree oil must be used in diluted form, that is, undiluted form of tea tree oil can cause irritation, itching and redness. It should not be used internally as it can affect the immune system adversely, which further can result in problems like diarrhea, sleepiness etc. And, however, if these symptoms are seen, the person must immediately concern a doctor.

Pregnant women, children's and pets must keep themselves away from tea tree oil as it can affect them adversely. Thus, tea tree oil is charismatic gift of nature which fights with all the fungal, bacteria and viruses' infection.

The Dangerous Side Effects Of Accutane

Accutane is believed to be the most effective treatments for severe acne and is usually taken for less than a year for quite a hefty cost per pill. Because it's seen to work effectively it seems like a blessing but the underlying truth is that there are dangerous and serious side effects involved. This really is cloak and dagger stuff.

It's quite widely known that Accutane can cause birth defects in unborn children if mothers are using the prescribed drug but it also appears that there are a lot more dangerous side effects including and elevated risk of heart problems, liver problems and depression, so much more than doctors had expected.

A study put together with some 14000 applicants taking the prescribed drug showed abnormal findings for the levels of cholesterol and poor liver function, these returned back to normal once the drug had stopped being taken. High levels of cholesterol doesn't necessarily guarantee a heart attack and low liver enzymes does not mean that you have cirrhosis of the liver, but I would think that in any situation if this was taken for any prolonged periods of time then this could certainly lead to problems in the future.

Depression has also been a major underlying side effect that people have felt when being prescribed Accutane. It appears that Accutane has been linked to that of more than one hundred suicides around the world, although coroners have said that there is no clear evidence that the drug is too blame how comes there have been so many deaths when people started to take the drug? Whereas the manufacturer claims it is safe and the deaths were part of an underlying problem there is still a warning on the leaflet claiming that patients may be at risk of becoming suicidal. Up until recently this is what has been believed but results from test conducted on mice have proven that after the drug was administered they behaved in an unnatural way recognized as depression but more tests would be needed to see if the same effects happen in humans.

There have been many concerns over links to depression and suicide for many years, the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority) have received over 1500 reports of suspected adverse events experience by people who have taken the drug since it was licensed in 1983. In 38 cases there have been fatalities of which 25 have been none other than suicide. The MHRA claims the safety of Accutane is under constant scrutiny.

Good Healthy Body Aids Success

Having a healthy and shapely body will definitely enables one to be able to concentrate more on their work, and therefore breeds success.

With a good and healthy body, you will not get sick often. Do you have friends who get sick often? How do they look like physically? Do they exercise often? I probably do not think so.

Therefore, it is very important to plan a few hours out of your hectic week to exercise, so as to keep your body warm-up and healthy, and also keeping your mind alert. When you mind is alert, you will be able to work more effectively and efficiently. With a good physical body, you will also not feel tired often.

Nowadays, a lot of executives are too busy earning money by working long hours everyday; they have totally neglected their health. Sometimes, their bodies have already sent them warning signals, but they just ignore them, and in the end their bodies cannot take it anymore and break down.

So I urged everyone to exercise regularly. Eat more fruits and have a healthy diet. Health is the utmost important thing in this world. Even if you have billions of dollars, but with a bad health, you will not live to spend the billions.

Allergic Rhinitis And Its Causes

Allergic rhinitis is an atopic disease, which is inherited from the parent. If both your parents have allergic rhinitis or other respiratory diseases such as asthma, tuberculosis, and emphysema, the probability that you have these kinds of respiratory diseases is 50%. If one of your parents has respiratory diseases, the probability that you inherit their diseases is 25%. If both of your parents do not have any respiratory diseases, your chances to have respiratory diseases are no more than 12.5%. Sometimes, what has happened during pregnancy can cause allergic rhinitis to the newly born baby. The immunological status of the mother during pregnancy may cause the newly born baby has allergic rhinitis. Pregnant mothers who are smoking, drinking coffee and alcohol usually have poor immunological status, which can also cause newly born infant has allergic rhinitis or other respiratory diseases. This is because all these acts can cause high IgE antibody level in umbilical blood. Apart that, using bottle-feeding to feed milk to infant, early introduction of several kinds of food and early exposure to certain allergens and pollutants can cause nasal allergy to the newly born infant.

Allergic rhinitis symptoms change with age. At the earlier stage, children are mostly sensitive to seasonal allergens. After they have grown older, they usually become sensitive to perennial allergens. Therefore, after they have got over the symptom that is caused by seasonal allergens, they may still keep on the symptoms due to the perennial allergens. When the children grow older, they may have higher risk to have bronchial hyperreactivity and asthma. 17 to 19% of them will have asthma after grow up. To protect them from getting asthma, perennial immunotherapy should be used at the early stage. Moreover, the risk of getting asthma does not depend to age when the allergic rhinitis started, family history of atopic disease, sex, severity of symptoms at the starting period and treatment.

Allergic rhinitis started when the atopic individual meets the antigens that are able to stimulate the IgE response. So, what are substances that can act as allergens? Allergens usually are airborne particles, which have molecular weight ranging from 30 to 40,000 daltons and also with diameter ranging from 2 to 60 µm. Most of them have diameter more than 15 µm, which can deposit onto the nasal, pharyngeal and ocular surface. Chemically, these particles are proteins, which link to some small unit of carbohydrate. Particles that have these kinds of characters are pollen, acarids, animal dandruff and fungi.

Pollens that are released from grams, weeds and trees during breeding season usually cause seasonal allergic rhinitis. Only light pollens that can be pollinated by wind can exist in air and cause a high natural exposure to the allergic rhinitis patient. The seriousness depends to the concentration of the pollens in the atmosphere. Individual with allergic rhinitis who lives in suburban area will be seriously affected by these seasonal pollens compared to the one who lives in city. Surrounding temperature also gives an impact to the pollens concentration in air. Usually, in warmer environment, plants release more pollens compared to cold environment. Most of the plants breed in late spring and summer that is the warmest season. Windy weather will cause the pollens scatter around in air and this will cause the most exposure to the allergic rhinitis patient. The better day is rainy day. Rain water can wash all the pollens in air and bring them down to the ground. Surrounding air becomes fresher and cleaner after raining.

The main culprit of the perennial nasal allergy is house-dust mites. The acarids that are commonly found in the house dust are Dermatophagoides pteronyssimus and farinae, Euroglyphus maynei and Blomia tropicalis. Substances that are directly responsible to the nasal allergy from these dust mites are their body and metabolic products. Usually, mites grow rapidly in damp and warm climate. Therefore, sensitization to acarids depends to where you are actually living. Nasal allergy for patients who live in tropical and equatorial regions have higher possibility causes by acarids because these regions climate is promote mites growth. House-dust mites grow at maximized concentration when surrounding humidity level is between 70 to 80 % and with the presence of high temperature. Nasal allergy symptoms will develop when the level of dust mite concentration reaches 2 µg/g in air. Conversely, in high mountains with dry and cold climate have lowest level of dust mites because this climate prevents the mite growth. Animals also are the other source of aeroallergens. These aeroallergens are present in the animal’s saliva, feces, urine and dandruff. Therefore, nasal allergy can be caused by domestic animals such as cat and dog and also wild rats and mice.
Air pollutants enhance the sensitization of the nasal allergy by the allergens. Air pollutants can be divided to two groups that are outdoor pollutants, which are released from industrial works, automobile exhaust and domestic heating, and indoor pollutants such as tobacco smoke, furnishings, wood and coal burning and heater. Chemically, air pollutants consist of oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and black smoke. How actually air pollutants enhance sensitization of nasal allergy is not completely clear. This may be due to air pollutants easily irritate the respiratory mucosa and make it prone to allergic sensitization. Air pollutants have negative impact to the nasal epithelium and ciliary beat, which are responsible to the clearance of allergens. Furthermore, some pollutants can enhance the releasing of the mediators that induce inflammation such as histamine, prostaglandins and leukotriene C-4.
Apart from that, some pollutants also can stimulate synthesis of the IgE antibody directly. When allergen binds two IgE molecules together on the mast and basophil cells surface, primary chemical mediator; histamine, will be released and it will cause nasal allergy. Therefore, we can affirm that allergens can easily enter into our blood stream through our nasal mucosal membrane if we have chronic inflammation, not enough IgA antibody, impaired ciliary beat and also with air pollutants around us. IgA antibody is very important to our body because it prevents allergens from penetrating through our nasal mucosal layer. Monounsaturated oleic acids, which can be found in cold-pressed extra virgin olive and coconut oil, hazelnut or filbert oil (or the whole nuts), green and ripe olives, and almonds can increase IgA antibody in our body. Besides oleic acids, vitamin A also can increase IgA antibody, which can be found in cod liver oil, pumpkin, cooked carrots, sweet potatoes/yams, squash and other yellow or orange vegetable.