Thursday, January 22, 2009

Helping a Parent with High Cholesterol

By Expert Author: Lac Tran

Are you a chartered member of the so-called "sandwich generation", struggling to take care of your aging parents while simultaneously raising your children? Such a tug-of-war between generations can be maddening enough, but when you add your mother or father's high cholesterol in the mix, it can be downright life-destroying.

If you have a parent with high cholesterol symptoms who has been hesitant to check out methods to lower cholesterol (or defiant about their high cholesterol, even after a physician's diagnosis), you may need some gentle ways to them lower cholesterol without seeming too pushy. Here, we'll explore some methods of nudging mom or dad toward treat their high cholesterol symptoms.


Make Healthy Low Cholesterol Meals for Your Parents

Many older adults aren't fond of cooking for themselves anymore, so they tend to either eat at "home cooking" (aka, "lard laden") restaurants or at home with prepackaged high sodium, high fat microwavable meals. Such fare is simply not helpful to lower cholesterol, and may even be inching your parent toward dangerously high cholesterol levels.

The next time you're making a healthy meal, why not freeze a portion to deliver to your parents as a surprise? Your food should be high in vitamin C to promote lower cholesterol, high in fiber, and, of course, low in saturated fats and calories. Learn to cook with spices and your parents will never notice that they're eating something "good" that may reduce their high cholesterol symptoms.


Take Your Parents for a Cholesterol-Busting Walk

Exercise is an excellent way to tackle high cholesterol symptoms. However, most aging adults don't get the recommended 30 minutes a day, three days a week, of moderate activity that they need to lower cholesterol and keep their hearts in tiptop shape.

It will go a long way toward helping your dad lower cholesterol if you invite him on a weekly "walking date" with you and/or your kids. Even a parent who is generally sedentary may jump (though not literally!) at the opportunity to spend some time with the grandkids.


Offer to Shop for Your Parents, and Get Lower Cholesterol Foods

Finally, it may behoove you to offer your shopping services for your parents. That way, you can choose the bulk of the groceries going in and out of your mother and father's home. As the "dietician", you can ensure that items which clog the arteries and therefore promote high cholesterol are replaced by more heart-healthy choices.

Best of all, you can be very subtle. If your dad adores peanut butter, get the low fat or all natural version. Does your mom crave loads of chocolate? Rather than getting her bags of candy, there are plenty of healthy alternatives to satisfy even the most ravenous chocoholic. Are they fond of pizza? There are lower cholesterol versions of them in your grocer's freezer or at the natural food store.



Again, you don't ever have to confront a parent about his or her high cholesterol. Instead, you can simply insert these "sneaky" ways to make sure you have your folks around for many more years to come.
About the Author/Author Bio

Vitamin support for High Cholesterol treatment
(http://www.mitamins.com/disease/High-Cholesterol.html) , bd@mitamins.net

Friday, January 16, 2009

4 Foods That Speed Up Your Metabolism and Burn Fat

When it comes to burning fat it seems like everyone has a great pill that can make you melt away the fat. What a lot of these people do not want to tell you is that there are actually a whole host of foods that burn fat. You can pick these up at your local grocery store and add them to your diet today. Here are four of the top fat burning foods.

The first is grapefruits. A lot of people have heard of the grapefruit diet and assumed that it was just because fruits in general are healthy for you. While that is true the grapefruit is a little bit special. All citrus fruits are high in Vitamin C and that is essential for burning fat. Fruit also has pectin which can break down fat and force it from the body. But grapefruits also are high in galacturonic acid. Galacturonic acid is a little known secret ingredient in the grapefruit that has been shown to be a natural fat destroyer. Adding grapefruit can work wonders for your fat burning ability.

Another addition to a fat burning diet that is essential but often overlooked is water. That is right just plain old water. It is thought that a large amount of water per day is essential for good health and fat burning in general. One of the best side effects to this in my opinion is just the extra full feeling you get from drinking water. Drinking water can help you to not really crave those in between meal snacks that can usually knock you far off from your goals.

Olive oil is another essential grocery store item that should be on your list for its health benefits. I first started paying close attention to olive oil when I read a news story about a woman in the Middle East that lived to be the oldest woman in human existence. I forget her exact age but it was something crazy like 123 years old. One of the things she said she does every day is to drink a full glass of olive oil. While this is popular in that region it just goes to show that the studies claiming huge health benefits from olive oil are correct. The next time someone tells you that fat is bad for you remember this woman. Olive oil is basically a good fat and she drinks a full glass of it every day.

Healthy snacks such as a natural beef jerky are essential to keeping yourself away from bad snacks like processed foods and candy. If you go the beef jerky route just make sure you pick a healthy natural version without a lot of processing and added chemicals. It is easy to steer in the wrong direction and load up on sodium if you are not careful.

Foods that burn fat are not as hard to find as the pill pushers would like you to believe. The next time you are at the grocery store make sure to stock up on some of these healthy fat fighters and laugh at those infomercials the next time they come on the television.
Fitjudge.com author Christopher Fox offers honest reviews of the top diet and fitness programs. Visit http://www.fitjudge.com for the whole story on the top diet and fitness programs that get proven results.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Tips To Get Beautiful Nails - For A Beautiful You!

by: Darren Brent

Not just your face but even your hands say it loud when you need to get that perfect impression in a board meeting or on a special person. Your perfectly manicured nails look good and say it loud about how well you maintain yourself. However, nail care is essential for both men and women and few tips that will help you get that perfect nails sitting at home. So, say good bye to expensive salons and French manicurists.

If you devote a little care even once in 15 days your nail will look beautiful, giving you an edge over the others in today's world of competition.

1. Get a basic nail kit that has the necessary tools but is not prohibitively expensive as brand names do not mean great nails! Nail kits are available at every drug store so you can find one that suits you easily.

2. Wash your hands with a herbal based soap and lukewarm water and let it dry. When the nails are soft, they are easy to cut and file. However, be careful as improper filing can weaken the nails. Use a nail file and shape up your nails according to our desire with easy, gentle strokes. File from the side to the middle along the edge of the nail for the best results. Do not apply pressure on the top which will cause then to crack and break.

3. If you apply nail polish, do not put a thick coat and leave it. Beautiful, well manicured nails require 2 to3 coats of nail polish applications to give them that smooth, glossy finish.

4. As with hair and skin, nails also require attention. A well balanced diet and drinking plenty of water keeps the nails shiny and smooth while dehydrated nails look chipped and dry too.

5. Regular nail care is important and occasionally do apply cuticle oil to moisturize and soften your cuticles and nails. This will help the nails to look fresh and smooth, even without nail polish.

6. Never use alcohol based lotions or nail polish removers as they tend to weaken the nails and dehydrate them. The chances of fungi and other microbial infections increase when the nails are cracked and brittle. Always go in for natural, organic nail care products to safe guard tour skin and nails.

7. Unhealthy habits of biting nails also lead to unhygienic nails and spoil the look of the hands. So, if you are prone to it, give it up! If you follow these tips, you will have healthy, beautiful nails and hands in a short time span.
About The Author
Darren Brent writes for the http://www.onestoptreatment.com We provides information on all aspects of finding Nail Care,The information provide by our SKIN CARE EXPERT!. You can find more details and tips about Nail Care in our education center.