Tag: Be Healthy

7 Reasons Camping Is Beneficial for Your Health

If you want to make the most of your time with friends or family, then you should look into camping. There are many activities to indulge in, ranging from fishing, campfires to hiking and biking. But there is a lot more to camping than meets the eye.

Camping interestingly has numerous health benefits. In fact, spending time outdoors camping can add years to your life. Not sure how? Here are 7 reasons for you to consider.

1. Exercise

When you are camping, you get a great deal of exercise. You get to partake in different activities, like the ones mentioned above, which in turn allow you to burn those extra calories in no time. Additionally, exercising outdoors and doing as many activities as you can also benefit your heart and lungs greatly.

2. Healthy Food

During your camping trip, your options are limited when it comes to the food you can actually consume. Basically, you have to make do with meals that can be grilled or cooked on a campfire.

If you choose foods that require preparation, your digestive system will get a break from all the fast food you have had previously. Also, rather than taking pies and candies, promote healthy eating by taking fruits, nuts and granola bars instead.

3. Sufficient Sleep

The best part about camping is that you can sleep in for as long as you like. The environment and quiet nature will do wonders for you when it comes to getting proper sleep. After a tiring day of activities, you will find it incredibly easy to doze off under the starry sky. Rest assured, with sufficient sleep, your body will function more effectively than ever before. Surprisingly your sleep cycle will improve by leaps and bounds.

4. Decreases Anxiety and Depression

Based on research carried out, green spaces are known for decreasing depression and anxiety. By camping, you will break away from your hectic lifestyle. It is here where you can develop clarity to better understand yourself.

5. Socialization

Tired of your everyday routine? Well, that is where camping comes into the picture to give you the much-needed break you need from your place of employment and otherwise. Since you will get time with your friends or family, you can socialize and learn more about them, without any distractions of course. Socialization, according to the American Journal of Public Health, can increase your lifespan and defeat memory problems.

6. Fresh Air

Once you have set up camp, you can finally take a deep breath of fresh air, which alone will make you feel refreshed. The feeling of excitement is not because of the long vacation, but because of all the surrounding greenery. Said greenery gives off high-quality oxygen, which improves brain functionality, all the while making you feeling happier and decreasing stress levels as well.

7. Sunshine

Whether you are camping in your RV or sleeping outdoors, it really does not matter. The bottom line is that spending time outside will have a positive impact on your health. Apart from that tan you always wanted, the sun gives your body the Vitamin D it needs to absorb phosphorus and calcium so that your teeth and bones stay strong.

Now that you know of the health benefits that lie in store for you on your next camping trip, pack your Canvas tentASAP. Remember, the more you stay outdoors, especially with your friends or family, the better you will benefit in more ways than you can imagine.

Author Bio:

Judy Robinson is a passionate health and lifestyle blogger. She loves to write on healthy lifestyle, travel, fitness 101 and DIY related topics. Follow @judyrobinsonfor more updates.

Boosting Your Health – What More Can You Do?

You’re working out more, you’re indulging less. Your health and wellbeing have become more of a priority, and you’re already seeing results. So what more can you do? It’s true that fitness and good health go hand-in-hand. But to really reap the benefits of all that exercise, you need to make sure your diet is working just as hard. There are plenty of tweaks you can make, and there are plenty of other tricks and tips to give your health a boost too.

Teas And Other Hot Drinks

There are plenty of herbal teas available on the market now. Many are available on your supermarket shelves or your regular grocery store. Why drink herbal or fruit teas? Not only will the extra fluids help you to maintain good hydration, but they can provide a range of other benefits too. Some can boost your immune system, and others can help you to relax. You can find teas with infusions of lemon or honey to help with a sore throat. Did you know that a hot lemon water can help your body start the day?

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Supplements

Most of us know to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables to ensure our bodies receive all the nutrients they need. But many of us still fall short on portion sizes when it comes to vegetables. And it’s quite difficult to eat quite the variety necessary for everything a healthy body might need. This is where supplements come in. According to this blog, you can find supportive nutrition to help with a range of problems like low energy or weakened immune system. As this kind of supplement is naturally sourced, it can help your body without the nasty side effects of chemicals.

Breathe

The breathing techniques promoted in the different styles of Yoga can offer many health benefits. Some are described as cleansing breaths. These are thought to boost your immunity to colds and other common viruses. Other breathing techniques can boost your energy levels or provide deep relaxation. You don’t have to join a Yoga group to benefit. Many of these techniques can be found on YouTube or other websites so you can practice them at home.

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Sleep

Sleep may be more important to your overall health than you think. It is especially important for your mental health. All of the experiences of the day are carefully sorted and filed away when we sleep well. Without that quality sleep, you might find you become more confused and forgetful. Sleep is also thought to play a part in resetting hormonal cycles. No wonder we become emotional when we’re tired from a lack of sleep!

Socialise

It is thought that socialising is essential for good mental health. It is also considered to be essential for boosting your immune system. Frequent interactions (in person, not online) trigger different chemical reactions in the brain that in turn provide happy feelings, and better physical responses. So don’t stay in watching TV alone. Get out there and reap the health benefits of a fun night out with friends.

 

Get On Your Bike: 5 Reasons To Take Up Cycling

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Don’t let that bike rust away in the shed. There are plenty of pros to cycling that can make it the ideal way of getting around. Here are just a few reasons to get on your bike.

It will keep you fit

Cycling has all kinds of health benefits from building muscle to helping joint stiffness to helping circulation and breathing. It’s the perfect aerobic workout and one of the best ways to lose weight. Cycling however is not only healthy for the body, but the mind. Whilst cycling, you totally replenish your body’s supply of oxygen, providing fresh oxygen to the brain which helps with concentration and work productivity. Health.harvard.edu lists some of the major health benefits.

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It’s faster than walking

When it comes to getting around locally, cycling can be twice to three times as fast. If you usually walk to work, cycling could allow you to leave the house later, which could in turn allow you to wake up later.

And it’s more eco-friendly than driving

Meanwhile, for those that drive short distances to work, taking your bike instead could be a much greener way to get to work. Bicycles don’t use up fuel and don’t damage roads as much as cars leading, leading to less repairs. Meanwhile, whilst there are some fossil fuels burnt up during the manufacture of a bicycle, it’s nothing compared to the manufacture of a car. For helping you to feel happier about your carbon footprint, taking the bike to work instead of a car could be worthwhile.

Cycling

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It’s family friendly

Cycling can be a great family bonding experience. Whether you go a bike trip along roads or simply cycle around the park, the kids will love it and you’ll all improve your fitness from it. Even for kids that are two young to cycle, there’s the option of trailers as available at sites such as BikeTrailerHub.com. You can also pursue cycling as a holiday activity – there are plenty of vacation hotspots around the world that specialise in cycling.

It’s also cheap

Riding a bike is also remarkably cheap. Your biggest cost is going to be the purchase of the bike itself, which may be a few hundred if you’re looking for a professional model. However, after this, you won’t have common driving costs to worry about such as insurance or fuel or parking or road tax.

Bike repairs are generally cheap as you can go DIY on most of them. Even if you do visit a professional to get your bike fixed, it’s unlikely to set you back as much as a regular car repair. Few people would ever swap out a car for a bike, however you could lower your driving costs by taking the car less and a bike more. Cycling may even save you on extra costs in the long run. For one, it will keep you healthier longer, which could lead to fewer medical bills in the future.

 

 

Been Let Down By Your Medical Care? Here Are Your Options

We live in a very fortunate time, in 2017. The quality of medical care in most western countries is very high, and whether you have public healthcare or rely on your insurance, you can usually find the help you need fast. We put our trust in those working in the healthcare profession, simply because we have few reasons not to. After all, these people are trained professionals, so most of us have no qualms putting our health in their hands. But what do you do when something goes wrong? Of course, all medical procedures go exactly as they should 99.9% of the time – however, if you are one of the rare few who experiences a fault with your procedure or service, this can be little consolation. Receiving a botched treatment, or having your time wasted with the wrong type of treatment or medication can be incredibly infuriating, not to mention potentially dangerous to your health. If any of these scenarios happen to you, here are a few options you will want to take into consideration.

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Try not to lash out

When something has gone wrong with your medical treatment, it is fairly likely that it happened either because of human error or because of a data mix-up (i.e. the electronic system that processes patient information failed in some way). Neither is excusable, but they DO happen – some medical professionals have even expressed concern that longer working hours are resulting in more slip ups from staff. Either way, a mistake that affects you can quickly leave you feeling angry, let down, and distrustful of the system. You may find yourself shouting down the phone at your hospital receptionist and writing angry posts on local forums. While making formal complaints is advisable, try and remain calm for the most part. Your complaints will be taken much more seriously if you do, and you will also put your health under much less strain too.

Find an alternative doctor

If you have suffered a botched surgery, going in for further surgery may be the last thing on your mind. But usually, it takes a subsequent surgical procedure to fix the mess created by the previous one. A common example of this is breast implant revision surgery, which many women go through each year. Paying for cheap cosmetic surgery overseas might seem more friendly to your budget initially, but remember, these types of surgeries can easily come back to bite you.

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Claim compensation

As the saying goes, when there’s blame, there’s a claim; and you may be entitled to a payout to compensate for any mistakes made by your doctor/surgeon. Check your health insurance policy to see what you are covered for. Normally, you should be able to (at the very least) claim for things like missed wages while you are in recovery. Or, depending on the situation, you could even have a potential medical negligence case on your hands, meaning that you could be owed a huge sum of money for the inconvenience.

Health? It’s Only Skin Deep!

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Our skin is the one sure sign of age. There is nothing worse than looking older than your age and looking after our skin, and our body is the best way of fighting off old age. Eating processed foods and indulging in bad habits over the years will do a lot of damage outside and in, but here are some easy and effective methods to looking after your skin and reversing the clock.

Losing Weight

If you carry the unaffectionately named “spare tire” around your belly, losing it is always one of the best places to begin to help you look and feel younger. There are plenty of ways to do it, from eating the right foods to methods like cold laser fat reduction treatment and making sure you exercise, but the best thing is to have a combination of methods with the right lifestyle choices. A diet always sounds like a temporary measure, but it’s a lifestyle choice you need to make so you can keep the weight off. The effects of excess fat increase stretch marks, and if you find yourself with more stretch marks post weight loss, then having a diet rich in collagen will help you to regain that elasticity. Collagen is found in heavy amounts in foods like bone marrow, so you can make a healthy bone broth to drink, or make into gravy using the bones of the animal.

Reducing Stress

Not an easy thing to do in the modern world, but stress will show up in lines on your face and inside too. Too little stress is bad, but too much stress can result in elevated levels of cortisol which will impact on your ability to grow muscle and put you in a constant state of anxiety. We can all do with giving our lives a makeover to give our skin a makeover! By learning stress-controlling techniques that work for you, you can begin to make your life, overall, a better one and by cutting down on unnecessary extra activities and begin to focus on what makes you happy it will have a massive benefit, inside and out.

Rejuvenate

Recharging isn’t just about getting the right amount of sleep, but it’s about understanding when to take a step back and get a mental break or physical break from things. As mentioned, stress is the big one to cut back on, and by making sure you can recover in ways that benefit you, you will be a much healthier person inside and out. Exercise is a very basic way to rejuvenate and to encourage the body to perspire, getting rid of toxins, but you can also find ways to cleanse your body by detoxifying. And this can be by having a glass of water with a bit of lemon in the morning, or by engaging in activities that reduce stress and anxiety, such as yoga or Pilates. But while one of these methods will work, it’s best to try a combination, and combined with a healthy diet, you will be cleansed, and it will show on your face.