Self-Help Tips on Surviving Depression

December 18, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Self Help

Si101 asked:


Many people suffer from depression and it is one of the most difficult phases to through. There are several causes of depression such as failed relationship, career-related problems and school pressure. Depending on the intensity of the difficulty, depression can sometimes lead to serious medical conditions.

According to studies, depression is a condition that exists in the mind and many cases are psychological. People who are going through this situation can easily get out of it if they can realize that they are indeed in need of help. They must be open to the idea of treatment or lifestyle change. On the other hand, those who want to survive depression but do not wish to undergo extensive medical and psychological treatment must consider self-help tips about depression. Many books offer self-help tips on different subjects and if you are in need of one about depression, here are some self-help tips that will provide you the basic things to survive the condition.

You need to have hope. Be optimistic in life and do not let negative thoughts control you. It may seem difficult but you can ask help from family and friends for support.

Have time for exercise. Physical training tends to be an antidepressant, help in proper blood circulation, and increase the oxygen in the brain. Exercising can help you avoid thinking about bad things and stay away from depression. Keep yourself motivated and having any kind of exercise that makes you healthy and strong can be a very good therapy for depression. You can have discipline through doing exercises and discipline is known to be an important aspect in dealing with depression.

It is important to maintain a healthy diet. Having good nutrition is vital for the brain and body to be able to work well. A balance diet is necessary and it is advisable to consume organic food to prevent health problems caused by preservatives and chemicals.

Have a positive outlook and laugh as much as you can. Laughing can bring many benefits and helps in the production of body chemicals, which puts you in high spirits. Watching comedy films and television shows can help you feel better.

Learn breathing technique. Whenever you feel stressed, just close your eyes and breathe well. Slowly inhale through the nose and slowly exhale through the mouth. Do this technique five to ten times so that you will feel more relaxed.

You need to have enough time of rest. The quality is more important that the hours of sleep. It is necessary to have a habitual sleeping schedule and commit yourself with it. One of the signs of depression is not being able to sleep therefore; having proper sleeping patterns can be a good start to survive depression.

Be creative and make use of your right brain. You can attend creative schools such as cooking, painting or dancing classes. Focusing your attention to creative activities can give you the opportunity to meet new people and gain more friends. Keep yourself busy with different enjoyable activities and eventually, you can no longer think about depression that once controlled you.



Tips for Healthy Skincare Cosmetics

December 17, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Interior Design

Laurel Levine asked:


Skincare cosmetics should be good for your skin’s health. If you have started to see some of the signs associated with aging skin, it is particularly important that you avoid certain ingredients, because they are damaging. Here’s a look at the bad, the good and the best.

Bad ingredients make a bad product, but there are so many of them in skincare cosmetics, that it is hard to know where to begin. I came up with this list, although it is surely incomplete, of ingredients to avoid when you are shopping for beauty aids.

  • Added fragrances or essential oils, whether natural or artificial, because they are toxic to the skin’s cells and prone to cause allergic reactions.


  • Artificial preservatives of any kind, because they are the number one causes of allergic and adverse reactions. Natural vitamin E is an effective preservative, but cosmetic companies like artificial preservatives because they are cheap.


  • Oxybenzone, benzophenone and other sunscreens designed for use on a daily basis, because studies have shown that many of them increase free radical production and activity. Free radical damage is one of the primary causes of the appearance of aging skin.


  • Mineral oil, petrolatum, paraffin wax, petroleum jelly, liquid paraffin, because they clog the pores and interfere with natural rejuvenation processes.



There are lots of other bad ingredients in skincare cosmetics, but if you avoid the ones listed above, you’ll see your appearance start to improve, as your skin’s health improved. Now, let’s look at the good stuff, starting with a word about good nutrition.

Poor nutrition plays a role in all of our health problems. People who focus on good nutrition throughout their lives live longer and look better than others in their age group. The signs of aging skin can be corrected with the proper supplementation.

If you are not taking a good daily multivitamin and an omega3 fish oil supplement, then you should start. But, your appearance and the health of the epidermis can be greatly improved with topical creams and lotions that contain nutrients.

If properly formulated, your skin’s cells can absorb those nutrients. If you have aging skin, the cells will literally “soak up” this nourishment, because it has been “starving” for it. The ingredients to look for in skincare cosmetics include:

  • Peptides, tiny protein fragments that are the building blocks for new cells. Research has shown that creams containing peptides encourage the production of new cells and fibers.


  • Vitamin E, coenzyme Q10 and other antioxidants, because they prevent and repair free radical damage.


  • Kelp extracts because they contain vitamin A, calcium and other minerals that balance moisture content. Wakame kelp has been shown in clinical studies to correct an amino acid deficiency that is normally present in aging skin cells.


  • Avocado oil, for use at night, because it is rich in essential fatty acids (not to be confused with essential oils)



The best skincare cosmetics contain all of these good ingredients and more. Get you skin healthy again and your appearance will improve, almost like magic.



Description of Dietary Guidelines for Americans-health

December 10, 2009 by admin  
Filed under Health

Robert Baird asked:


In response to criticism of the american diet, the US department of Agriculture (USDA) and department of health and human services (DHHS) established the following recommendations that are the basis for the dietary guidelines for Americans

Eat a Variety of Foods

The best way to plan a nutritionally balanced diet is to eat a variety of foods according to the food guide pyramid . This helps to ensure that the recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) of essential nutrients-substances that cannot be made by the body and must be supplied through the diet are provided. Rdas represent sufficient amounts of the more than 50 essential nutrients necessary to meet the needs of nearly all healthy people in the population . The food guide pyramid is helpful for determining how many servings from each food group should be included in your diet.

The foundations of good nutrition are variety and moderation. No one food or food group provides all essential nutrients in adequate amounts. Furthermore, you should consume a variety of foods within each food group. Potatoes are a good example of how foods within a group vary in nutrients and calories: ounces of baked potato yield 98 calories, whereas 3 ounces of potato chips yield 470 calories. Similar examples within food groups include skim milk and ice cream, beans and bologna, olive oil and butter, and whole-wheat bread and doughnuts.

Balance Food Intake With Physical Activity: Maintain or Improve Weight

The achievement and maintenance of a desirable body weight or composition are complex issues and are treated separately in this text. For a complete discussion of principles for maintaining desirable composition by balancing food intake with physical activity.

Choose a Diet Low In Fat, Saturated Fat, and Cholesterol

Perhaps the greatest shortcoming of the american diet is the abundance of fat. The dietary guidelines call for no more than 30% of total daily calories in the form of fat, of which no more than 10% comes from saturated fat. A good percentage ratio is 10: 10: 10 for saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fat.

Choose a Diet With Plenty of Grain Products, Vegetables, and Fruits

Starch and fiber belong to the carbohydrate family of nutrients. Carbohydrates are the primary energy source for the brain and nervous system, and they are necessary for burning of fat at rest and during physical activity in other tissues. Dietary guidelines recommend that complex carbohydrates make up at least 45% of the diet. A 2000 calorie diet that meets the DRV of 300 grams achieves the even higher level of 60% of calories from carbohydrates.

Americans seem to be getting a message that carbohydrate intake needs to be increased. Ten year comparisons show that consumption of fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and canned vegetables are in a long-term upward trend. During the past 20 years, consumption of fresh fruit has increased from 91 pounds per person per year to 120 pounds; fresh vegetables (excluding potatoes) increased from 80 to 103 pounds; and canned vegetables increased from 97 to 111 pounds. Potato consumption has also increased from 68 to 77 pounds; the downside of this trend is that one third of potatoes end up frozen that means high fat french fries.

Carbohydrates supply energy in the form of sugar, or saccharides. The simplest form of carbohydrate is the monosaccharide, which includes glucose and fructose (fruit sugar). Fructose is the sweetest of simple sugars. Disaccharides are double sugars, meaning that they are pairs of monosaccharides chemically linked. Included in this group of sugars are sucrose, or table sugar; lactose, or milk sugar; and maltose, or malt sugar. The last group of sugars is the polysaccharides, which are composed of many single monosaccharides. Polysaccharides are also called complex carbohydrates. They include starch and several forms of fiber.