If you read a lot of fitness magazines and blogs (as I often do), you’re told a confusing variety of complex advice. It makes your head spin. You’re told that eggs, butter, and meat are bad for you. Then another crowd will tell you those same things are actually good.

Then you’ll hear running is good for you, and the bodybuilding and primal crowds will scoff at longer-distance running.

You’ll hear that lifting weights is the best way to get into shape, and others will laugh at that. You’ll hear a million variations of the best workouts, of when to time your nutrition, of how to periodize your workouts, of how to measure fitness, of what supplements you need to take ….

It’s enough to make you want to give up.

Fortunately, fitness doesn’t have to be that complex.

In fact, you can boil it down to two simple rules:

1. Get your body moving on a regular basis; and

2. Eat a moderate amount of real, whole foods (with occasional indulgences).

If you stuck to those two rules and stuck with them for a while, you’d get fit. Doing one but not the other will result in an improvement in health for many people (not all), but it would be incomplete health. Do both most days of the week and you’re on your way to health and fitness.

The two rules above are all you need … however, most of us need a little more detail, so here’s a more complete set of simple fitness rules. As always, remember that 1) I’m not an expert — this is just stuff that’s worked for me; 2) this is for healthy adults — people with health problems should seek the advice of professionals.

1. Get moving. Try to do some kind of physical activity most days of the week (4 or more days if possible). If you have an aversion to exercise, don’t think of it as exercise. Just think of it as a way to get your body moving in some fun way. It can be dance, yard work, hiking, a nature walk, a swim, basketball, rugby, cycling, even housework if you do it vigorously enough.

And it doesn’t have to be the same thing each day. You are recommended just for the sake of simplicity, that you do find a regular time slot you could do your daily activity, most days of the week. I prefer mornings but others enjoy lunchtime or after work.

2. Enjoy yourself. Whatever activity you choose, it has to be fun. If you don’t like it, move on to something else. Focus on the fun part, not the hard part. Or learn, to enjoy the hard stuff! Again, make it fun, or you won’t keep it up for very long. To make sure it’s not too hard, start easy. Focus on just getting moving and enjoying the activity. Start small, and build up with baby steps.

3. Slowly add intensity. Once you’ve been doing an activity for a little while, and you’re in decent shape, it’s good to add some intensity. But slowly — if you add intensity too quickly you’ll risk injury or burnout. So let’s say you’ve been doing some walking for a couple of months — you should be ready to add a little jogging or fast-paced walking, in small little intervals.

If you’ve been running, try some faster-paced intervals (take it easy at first) or hill workouts. If you’ve been strength training, be sure to add weights (safely) or decrease rest time or add more reps or sets. If you’re playing a sport, really speed things up, or focus on explosive movements. Intensity is a great way to get yourself in shape and have an effective workout in only 20-30 minutes.

Here’s a great way to do bodyweight exercises with intensity: do a circuit of bodyweight exercises (such as pushups, pullups, squats, burpees, Hindu pushups, lunges, or others) and do as many circuits as you can in 10 or 15 minutes. Next workout, see if you can do more circuits. It’s great!

4. Minimal equipment. There are a million different exercise gadgets out there, from ab machines to elliptical trainers to a whole slew of weight machines at the gym. Your rule should be: keep it simple. You can do amazing things with bodyweight exercises — in fact, if you are a relative beginner, you should start with bodyweight exercises for at least 6 months before progressing to weights.

You don’t need cardio machines — just go outside and walk, run, bike, do hills, climb stairs, sprint. Even if you do weights, a barbell or dumbbells are all you need — stay away from the machines that work your body at angles it’s not meant to use (although cable machines aren’t bad).

Even better, get outside and do sprints, pushups, jump over things, pick up big rocks and throw them, do pullups from a tree, climb up rocks, swim, do a crabwalk or monkey walk, take a sledgehammer or pick and slam it into the ground, flipping tractor tires, and generally get a great workout with very little equipment.

5. Just a few exercises. Bodybuilding routines will have you doing 3-4 different exercises per body part. That’s too complicated for most people. Keep it simple in the weight room: squats, deadlifts, presses, chin-ups or pullups, rows. You can do a lot with just those lifts.

Of course, you’ll want to mix it up eventually with some variations, but no need for 10 different ab exercises or things that focus on your rear deltoids or use swiss balls. If you’re doing bodyweight exercises, enjoy things like pushups, burpees, squats, lunges, pullups, dips, planks. Pick a few and do some circuits with little rest.

6. Eat real foods. One of the most important rules on this list, because if you don’t eat right (most of the time), it doesn’t matter how much exercise you do — you’ll get fat and unhealthy. Aim for real, whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible.

That means stay away from processed, refined, fatty, sugary foods. Veggies, fruits, lean meats, dairy, nuts, beans, whole grains, eggs, seeds. Prepare them yourself if possible — convenience foods often have added ingredients, as well as extra salt, fat, sugar, and preservatives. If you follow this diet — with the plant foods making the bulk of the diet — it’s hard to go wrong.

7. Eat less. Most people eat too much, and eventually, it shows up as fat. To lose that fat, we need to eat less — it’s really that simple. Of course, if you eat the real foods mentioned above, you’ll probably consume fewer calories, but even so, it’s smart to reduce how much you eat overall, at least until you reach a healthy level of body fat (and even then, you shouldn’t let it all go).

One way to do that is by eating slowly and mindfully until you’re just satiated (not stuffed). Another way is to eat smaller meals and watch the portions. A third way is intermittent fasting. However, if you do it, be sure to consume the real food in moderate amounts, and reduce your calorie intake if you’re looking to lose fat.

8. Give it time. This is what gets many people — they expect to see results immediately, within the first month or so because the magazines they read make it seem so instantaneous. But real fitness rarely happens this way — it’s a process and a lifestyle change.

If you started out in really bad shape, really overweight, begin with ring habits like quit smoking and start running. A year later, run a marathon and be vegetarian. A year after that, Start exercising regularly, so you will make progress, but still a long way to go.

After some time, you will be in great shape — slimmer and more muscular and much healthier. But accept the fact that it takes time. You didn’t gain the fat overnight, and you won’t lose it that way either. Learn to enjoy the process, enjoy the activities, enjoy the healthy, real food, and you’ll get healthy and fit almost as an afterthought to this new, amazing lifestyle.

Below are the rules of fitness. I believe that any one of these tips in isolation could drastically improve your health, fitness, training, or physique. Try to apply as many as you can and watch on as your body transforms into the lean and strong machine that you’ve always dreamed of …

1. Log Your Workouts – Tracking your workout is essential. It’s the only way you can truly judge if you are making progress. Plus, if you ever find yourself out of shape, you can check back with the training you were doing at the time and repeat it to regain the conditioning.

2. Mobility Drills – Exercise isn’t all about aesthetics, we also have to look after our body and ensure that our muscles and joints work fluently through a full range of movement. Daily mobility drills like stretches can help keep your body working as it was intended to. This one gets more and more important with every passing year.

3. Intermittent Fasting – Skipping breakfast could be the best move you ever make. Intermittent fasting or once a week can keep your body’s natural growth hormone active for longer, offset the aging process, and help keep you lean.

4. Eat accordingly – We all know there are recommended daily allowances for things like calories, but it’s easy to forget that our actual lives fluctuate rapidly from day today. We rarely expend exactly the same amount of energy two days in a row, so it stands to reason that we should approach food intake on a day-by-day basis. If you exercise a great deal on Monday and do nothing but chill out and relax on Tuesday, you’re going to need more fuel on Monday than Tuesday.

5. Ice Baths – Taking an ice bath or hitting a plunge pool after a heavy training session can significantly speed up the recovery process. It squeezes the blood out of your muscles whilst you’re in the water, meaning that when you get out your hit by a flood of brand new oxygen-rich blood. It’s agony, but it’s worth it!

6. Progression – Exercise is all about progressive overload, so don’t get caught up in a rut doing the same workout over and over again with no forward momentum. People who aim to ‘maintain’ often end up going backward. Do more each time you work out – even one extra rep over an entire session is enough to represent progression.

7. Learn how to time your workouts – You have to be able to predict when you’ll get the most out of your training sessions. It’s an individual thing: you may find that you just don’t have the same output in the evening as you do in the morning or vice versa. Experiment with different training times and find what works for you.

8. Use of supplements To Preserve Muscle – Usually supplements are not recommended, but there might be one that helps to protect your hard-earned muscle that seems like a no-brainer. You can take one supplement in the mornings (due to intermittent fasting) as well as pre and post-workout to prevent catabolism. It’s such a small price to pay for ‘muscle insurance’

9. Train Your Legs – Don’t be the ‘every day is upper body day’ guy. So many make the mistake of never training their lower body and end up with an unbalanced physique, both aesthetically and functionally. Training your legs properly will raise your testosterone and growth hormone production and actually make your whole body more anabolic.

10. Train Your Glutes ( muscles of the buttock ) – So now you will start training your legs. But are you really training your whole leg? Do you realize how important your glutes are to your athletic performance, not to mention how attractive they are to the opposite sex? Ladies like a pert, toned bottom just as much as men do. Hit your glutes hard and regular. Use weighted lunges, deadlifts, and hip extensions to develop the perfect man butt.

11. Train You Calves – After training glutes start with your calves. Nobody likes calf training, because, well, it hurts. There are so many nerves down there that genuine calf training if pretty painful- but when all is said and done, that’s no excuse to leave them off your agenda. Weighted calf raises once a week should be enough to bring them up. People notice calves, believe me!

12. Talk To Experts – Guesswork is the worst thing you can do in the gym: it leads to poor results and a lot of wasted time and money. If there’s a question you don’t know the answer to, just ask a pro. You don’t have to sign up with a personal trainer, just ask one in the gym or via email. Most love what they do and are pretty happy to help.

13. Get Your Mind Right – I once read a study that up to 13pc of gains from a workout can be the result of simply performing it mentally. Be focused and think about what you want to achieve. Get your mind in the game. Know your outcome for every workout and what your overall fitness goal is; your brain is more powerful than you think.

14. Avoid Crash Diets – Unless you have been at your ideal weight for some time and regularly eat balanced, healthy meals, you really have no business at all doing any kind of diet. And even then it would be to achieve an advanced goal like competing in an event or doing a photoshoot. Crash diets tend only to lead to a loss of muscle and are, by definition, temporary. Avoid diets at all costs and just focus on the basics of healthy eating.

15. Drop Your Ego – Nobody cares how much weight you lift. Nobody is watching and nobody is tracking. What does draw attention is the terrible lifting technique. Lifting well beyond what you can handle just to look good in front of other people is pretty much the same as tattooing “I’m insecure about my strength” on your forehead.

If you can’t bench, squat, deadlift, and curl with immaculate technique, it may be time to drop down a weight, develop authentic strength, and come back to lift heavier another day. If it really respects you’re after, that’ll be how you earn it.

16. Get Outside – You don’t have to be cooped up in the gym for every workout. There are plenty of opportunities to get outside and train in the fresh air. Sprints, circuits, and TRX workouts all provide a great opportunity to head to your local park and enjoy the fresh air.

17. Have A Mantra – When times get tough in the gym and you just don’t feel like you have the will to train, you need yourself a mantra to get you through. “You Never Know Your Limits Until You Push Through Them”.

18. Dress To Impress – Dressing well in the gym can make a big difference in how you feel. Feeling good in your gym kit adds motivation and makes you feel that all the effort you are putting in is worthwhile. You can also use it as an intrinsic motivator: if you only have tight-fitting gym wear it’s pretty clear for all to see when you aren’t in shape, so you won’t stay there long.

19. Don’t Look For Shortcuts – Don’t go by philosophies about whether performance enhancers like steroids and potent thermogenic are inherently right or wrong. Neither should even be considered without truly earning your right to say that you have reached your natural potential the old fashioned way.

If you are hoping to find the perfect physique at the bottom of a pillbox, you are setting yourself up for a lot of disappointment.

20. Train In Phases – Your body gets used to the same exercise stimulus after about four to six weeks, grinding your progress to a halt. Switch stimulus by training in six-week phases. For example, this could mean switching from a hypertrophy phase to a muscular endurance phase followed by a fat-loss phase.

Plan your training 24 weeks in advance and always switch up to a new phase after six weeks. This is how athletes and bodybuilders train. Success leaves clues; follow what the pros do and you won’t go far wrong.

21. Get Over Setbacks Quickly – Everyone experience setbacks in life. Health and fitness are no different. The most common exercise setbacks are typically injury and illness. When you get struck down, rest up, recover, and when you feel like you can train again, return with vigor.

Never get down in the dumps about a setback. Yes, it’s frustrating, but time is going to pass anyway so the sooner you get back on the horse the better.

22. Oil The Machine – Exercise takes its toll on your muscles, joints, and tendons so be sure to take steps to repair the damage. These might include using a foam roller, getting a sports massage, using cold showers and saunas for hot and cold therapy, and just making sure you get enough sleep.

23. Basic Supplementation – There is a lot of debate as to whether supplements are worth the money we pay for them, or if they even work. The way I see it, the cost to benefit ratio is just too highly stacked in our favor to ignore.

Because of modern transportation and supermarket logistics, by the time our food reaches us it often no longer contains the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals that nature intended. To account for this you are recommended that everyone take a multivitamin and a multi-mineral supplement.

At such a low cost, why would you not want to take your shot at optimal health?

24. Cultivate Your Environment – Making progress isn’t just about what you do in the gym. It’s just as important to cultivate a living environment conducive to your fitness goals. Aim to create a system for healthy food delivery, make your supplements easy to reach for those early morning training sessions, and make sure you have enough training kit on constant rotation. There’s no worse excuse for not training than having no clean kit!

25. It’s You vs You – Never be disheartened by the progress or condition of others. Everyone has their own genetic make-up, their own goals, and their own demons. All you need to concentrate on is being better than you were yesterday.

26. Be A Mentor – Remember what it was like to be young and starting out in fitness? Or your first day in the gym? The experience you accumulate over time may feel unimportant to you, but it represents small nuggets of gold for someone starting out. Be available to those that need encouragement, help, and guidance.

27. Don’t Get Boring – Sure, it’s great having a totally ripped physique and being the most muscular guy in the room. But don’t get so obsessed that it’s all you think and talk about. If you can’t lead a normal life because of your exercise goals, it may be time to stop and think. Dedication is one thing but obsession is never healthy.

28. Never Let Anyone Hold You Back – Peer pressure is a powerful thing, but you have to overcome it in pursuit of personal fitness. Remember that when people try to make you feel guilty for not drinking or for staying at home on a Friday night, they’re mainly doing it out of a sense of jealously.

If you’ve decided that your fitness goals have the number one priority in your life, don’t let the carping of others detract from them.

29. Get Compound – Never substitute tried and tested compound exercises in the name of isolation or the latest exercise craze. The classic exercises have earned their status because they’ve been tried and tested over time. Be sure that your strength training regime includes exercises such as squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, shrugs, lunges cleans, and presses.

30. Avoid Overtraining – Overtraining occurs when you train too hard, too frequently, and don’t get enough rest. Overtraining literally feels like having the flu and will completely take you out if you let it grab hold of you.

Be sure to take adequate rest between workouts, especially when attempting intense programs or coming back after a lay-off. If you start to feel fatigued, experience an elevated heart rate while resting, or feel like your workouts are deteriorating for no reason, it’s time to take a break.

31. Get Tested – The more you can learn about your body the more information you can act on to get the results you are looking for. Body composition, hormone analysis, food intolerance, and metabolic gas exchange tests are all available relatively inexpensively given how much they can aid your training efforts.

32. Get A Training Partner – Enlisting the help of a friend to keep you focused and accountable can pay dividends over time. A great training partner gets you to the gym when you least feel like it, motivates you to train past failure, and celebrates your achievements with you.

33. Relationships Do Not Spell The End – There is a curious phenomenon that has been observed while working in the fitness industry: when men enter a long-term relationship, they let their training, physique, and diet go to ruin. If you were in shape when you met your partner and you aren’t now, something is wrong.

Think about it like this: if you were only in shape during the dating process, you were effectively erecting a facade. Obviously life hands us family demands and unforeseen circumstances than can affect training.

34. Avoid Ab Obsession – Revealing a rippling six-pack is all about having low body fat. Too many people spend way too much time training their abs to oblivion and wondering why they never show. Truth be told, you need 10pc body fat or lower to have visible abs and that is best achieved through a clean diet and a steady mix of total body strength training and well-planned cardio. Work your abs as frequently as you would any other body part; no more, no less.

35. High-Intensity Cardio – When trying to get lean you are recommended two types of cardio: high and low intensity. High intensity provides a great way to increase the number of calories burned throughout the day. Intervals, sprints, and high-intensity workout drills are all great options for that metabolism spike

36. Low-Intensity Cardio – Low-intensity cardio is defined as exercise that keeps your heart rate between 105-120 BPM. At this heart rate, you might not burn as many calories as with the high-intensity stuff, but you do burn a higher proportion of those calories from fat. Low intensity provides a great tool in your quest for leanness that won’t affect how you recover from your other workouts.

37. Sport Specific Training – We’ve come a long way from the days of one-size-fits-all resistance training. If you take part in a sport at any level you can vastly increase your performance by training specifically for it. For example, runners may want to work on strengthening their legs and core to support them in a long run, whilst rugby players should be doing extra work on speed agility and quickness to improve their game.

38. Acknowledge Age, But Don’t Be Limited By It – No one can ignore the passing of time, but it’s simple enough to adapt training and account for changes in your body as the years pass. For example, it takes a little longer to recover in your forties and fifties than it does in your twenties, and you start to lose some muscle if you don’t actively work to maintain it. That being said, age is no reason not to have great health. Be the outlier and don’t allow the idea of ‘age’ detract from your goals.

39. Experiment – Don’t be afraid to experiment on yourself. Change your training stimulus and try new workout programs to see what works for your body. Do you respond best to jogging, sprinting, or walking when trying to get lean? If you don’t know, you should find out – you may stumble on the blueprint to your perfect physique.

40. Train On An Empty Stomach – If training on an empty stomach can work for your schedule, you may stand to benefit from an instant increase in performance and gain an ace up your sleeve in the battle against body fat. It sounds counter-intuitive, but fasting before exercise really can help: without a store of food to turn into energy, your body turns to its own fat cells, burning away some of the excess blubbers. It also delivers a huge insulin spike after training, kick-starting the recovery process right when you need it.

41. Range Of Motion – Aim for a full range of movement with every exercise you perform. This allows more muscle fiber to be stimulated and damaged, meaning greater muscle growth. Controlling the pace of movement will also help.

42. Hydration – Perhaps one of the most overlooked principles of fitness. Even the smallest degree of hydration can significantly affect your exercise performance, mood, and ability to problem-solve. Remember that every single ailment humans are subjected to can be improved with water. So, it stands to reason that if we want to perform, we must stay hydrated.

43. Drop The Weight Worry – Unless you’re a boxer, what you weigh when you stand on a set of scales doesn’t really matter. Instead, the important aspect, in terms of feeling fit and looking good, is your body composition. Is your weight comprised of a lot of blubbers or good, toned (and heavy) muscle?

44. Prepare For Running – While probably the lowest barrier to entry in terms of picking an exercise pursuit, running is not as simple as just heading out of the door – at least not if you want to optimize your body to perform. Running demands a lot of your body, especially over long distances. Head to the gym to develop your quads, glutes, hamstrings, calves, core, and shoulders to make sure your body can withstand the strain running puts on it.

45. Visualize – Have an idea of what you would like your body to look like and hold that image in your mind. You can revisit the image whenever you need extra inspiration. It’s a very powerful technique that has worked for many of the world’s best bodybuilders – and, because it’s all in your head, no one has to know what you’re thinking.

46. Keep Nutrition Simple – Great nutrition doesn’t have to be complicated. Always opt for the highest quality food sources you can get your hands on. The closest you can get your food to the way it occurs naturally the better. Keep protein high to maintain muscle, opt for low glycemic index carbohydrates, try to get plenty of unsaturated fats, and eat as many leafy greens as you like. Simple!

47. Take A Week Off – Sometimes the best thing you can do for your body is nothing at all. After a really hard six-week training phase, it’s usually a good idea to take a complete week off training. This allows your body to fully repair and recover from the grueling demand you’ve put on it. If you really can’t bear to be away from the gym, opt for a 50pc week. No one can keep going full pelt forever.

48. Pre & Post Workout Nutrition – Pre and post-workout meals are probably the most important meals of the day. At least, they are the meals that should be most thoughtfully constructed. Ensure that your pre-workout meal is going to provide enough energy to get you through the exercise by consuming high G.I food sources (like white rice and pasta) that will provide an immediate burst of energy. Post-workout, you need to kick-start the recovery process so keep the high G.I carbs, but add protein and additional supplementation to start the repair process.

49. Have A Plan – Every time you enter the gym you need to have a plan. You should know exactly what exercises you are going to perform, for how many sets and how many reps you are aiming for. Without this, you will waste time and possibly select the wrong exercises. The same applies to nutrition: every day you should know how many calories you need to consume.

50. Consistency Triumphs In The End – With all the advanced training principles, dieting secrets and magic bullet supplements at our disposal, the people who really succeed in fitness are the ones that keep things simple and consistent. After a great workout and the clean meal will trump any genetic or synthetic advantage over time. Decide where you want to be, take the first step, and don’t stop until you achieve it. Honestly, it really is that simple.

Being truly healthy is not just the absence of disease or illnesses. Good overall health is a balance of many aspects of life: a healthy diet, regular exercise, getting enough sleep, professional and personal care, and healthy social interactions. But with the many stressors in life, it can be quite challenging to maintain good health. Following fundamental steps will help you achieve better health and fitness.

Stay hydrated – Keeping yourself hydrated does not only fuel your cells, it also helps in regulating body temperatures and heart rate. Water is one of the main things you lose if you are doing an exercise and it is important to replenish what is lost to keep your body hydrated.

Calories do count – Calories in and out sums up a lot how well a diet works. The general rule of thumb – if your goal is to lose weight you need to burn more than you are consuming every day.

Get to know your macros – Protein, fat, and carbohydrates. They all matter, and affect how quickly you see results. If your goal is to lose weight, stick to the high protein, and lower carbohydrate diets. When you do eat carbs, eat them after a workout. Get your fats from good sources like healthy oils and quality meats.

Food should be a nutrient, not a drug – Think of your body as a Ferrari. You want to put in the best fuel you can at least 80%-90% of the time. People often use food as an anti-depressant, and choose treats with little nutrient value that they think will make them feel better. Foods containing high-fructose corn syrup as well as sugar, fat, and taste enhancers can lead to behavioral reactions similar to those caused by drugs such as cocaine.

Your mind and brain need a breather – Taking a few moments out of the daily grind is essential to reduce stress, which makes you vulnerable to illness. Ways to give your mind and brain a “time out” include breathing exercises and meditation. You can elicit a “relaxation response” by performing diaphragmatic breathing, in which you hold your breath for a second, then slowly exhale through the mouth while focusing on a word or phrase

Recovery is as important as the exercise itself – During exercise, recovery is an essential component that enables the body to adapt to the stress created by exercise, helps restore muscle glycogen, and allows for repair of body tissue. If you don’t recover, your pulse rate is going to go up every morning instead of down, and then you’ve got a problem.

Be Social – Social people are predisposed to better health. There are health benefits to being pro-social as opposed to focusing socially on the self. Social support and expressing love can improve overall resiliency, and your capacity to give social support also has a tendency to feedback to you and pay dividends to your own health.

Keep attainable, realistic goals – Mix some reality into your training plans as well as your aspirations for healthy living. Setting goals that aren’t attainable is a recipe for disappointment. When setting up a diet or exercise regimen, striving for an A+ rather than a B isn’t the best option. Getting a B+ is pretty damn good in healthy living.

Think long term, not short – It doesn’t matter about your weight or fitness a month from now or two months from now; it matters a year or two from now. Long-term health is more important than setting an arbitrary weight-loss goal for two months from now. People take these really short-term outlooks. They try hard and then quit.

Keep healthy snacks handy – Keeping a handy snack wherever you go is essential for your fitness goals. This is a very important reminder especially when you are traveling. The tendency to get hungry and overeat during pit stops when you drive for long hours or when you travel is a high risk. Just make sure to prepare or keep healthy snacks and always avoid junk foods when traveling.

Protein and nutrition are good for you – Protein is one of the major building blocks of the human body. Microscopically, your muscle breaks down after working out, but over the next 24 hours, it rebuilds. The rebuild of muscle is where you gain strength, making protein a crucial part of this process. Proteins assist in speeding up recovery from the previous intense exercise. Lean meat is always a good source of protein. Green, leafy vegetables, and nuts are also good options if you are on a vegan or vegetarian diet.

Myth #1 – Thinner people are healthy, heavier people are not: You can’t tell how healthy someone is just by looking at them. It’s totally possible for a thin person to be completely sedentary (or a chain-smoker…or both). And it’s also possible that someone who technically has an “overweight” body mass index (BMI) to work out regularly, eat lots of healthy fruits and vegetables, and otherwise follow healthy habits.

Myth #2 – You need to drink 8 glasses of water a day: Nope. OK, yes, you should be drinking water throughout the day, and you’ll definitely be healthier if you drink water instead of drinks with a lot of added sugars (like soda, juices, and other sweet drinks). But everyone’s hydration needs are a bit different, and the specific number of eight glasses isn’t based on any actual research. The general rule of thumb about staying hydrated: Drink enough water throughout the day so that your urine is pale yellow. The darker your pee, the more dehydrated you are.

Myth #3 – Natural is healthy, and chemicals are bad for you: Cyanide is found in nature, and water is a chemical compound (H2O, anyone?). Don’t pay too much attention to buzzwords. Instead, if your goal is to eat healthily, focus on eating more vegetables and fruits, ideally ones that aren’t covered in pesticides, as well as other whole foods. Less processing is generally better because it means you’re eating more nutrients per calories. But the occasional processed food is also totally fine as part of a balanced diet.

Myth #4 – Breakfast is the most important meal of the day: The research on this is mixed, actually. Probably a better way to look at breakfast is: Are you hungry in the morning? If not, then don’t force food into your body when you’re not feeling it. If you are hungry, then you should eat — and if you choose something healthy (with a good combination of protein, fiber, healthy fats, and some carbs), all the better.

Myth #5 – You can ‘spot target’ certain body parts for weight loss – like blasting your belly fat by doing crunches: Unfortunately that’s not how it works. Working out specific muscle groups can make those muscles stronger, but doing a large number of crunches isn’t going to do anything to your belly fat. Ditto lunges and your thighs, and tricep dips and your upper arms. And so on. That’s because muscle doesn’t turn into fat: It grows and gets stronger underneath whatever fat you have. And you also can’t do any exercises that target particular areas of fat.

This all means that if you are trying to lose weight in a particular spot, you’ll need to reduce your total body-fat percentage through a mix of exercise and a modified diet.

Myth #6 – You shouldn’t exercise if you are pregnant: Actually, it’s perfectly healthy (and even recommended) for pregnant people to get regular exercise throughout their pregnancies, as long as they’re not pushing themselves harder than they did before they were pregnant.

Myth #7 – Taking vitamins and supplements will make you healthier: There’s growing evidence that you don’t need to take all the vitamins and supplements you think you need to take. You do need vitamins, but if you’re eating a balanced diet, you are likely to get what you need from your food.

Myth #8 – Doing hours of cardio – such as running: is the best exercise to do to lose weight: If you get on the treadmill in a steady-state, your body will get back to its normal metabolic rate within a couple of hours. That means you’ll return to burning the normal amount of calories that you usually do. But if you do metabolic resistance training, your “afterburn” lasts a lot longer — for 24 to 36 hours (or more) after you stop exercising. Metabolic resistance training is actually a much more efficient way to burn fat than running or elliptical-ing for hours.

Myth #9 – Women who lift weight gets bulky: Everyone’s body has a different response to different types of workouts, and some people are more prone to getting bigger, more noticeable muscles than others. But you’re not going to get incredibly jacked (like, muscle-mag jacked) unless you’re actively trying to. Metabolic resistance training with weights is actually a way more efficient way to burn fat than just doing cardio. And not to mention: Lifting weights is great for your health, for your heart, for your strength, and more.

Myth #10 – You are eating for two when you are pregnant: Most doctors recommend that you only eat about 300 extra calories a day when you’re pregnant — not enough food for two whole people.

Myth #11 – If you have a cold, you should take vitamin C to make it go away: While regularly eating foods rich in vitamin C before you get sick might shorten the duration of your colds, taking vitamin C after you’re already sniffling won’t do a damn thing.

Myth #12 – Detox diets or cleanses will purify your body of toxins: Nope. That’s what your liver and kidneys are for. As for detox diets that involve actual food — they may force you to eat more fruits and vegetables and whole foods than you normally do (which is good for you!), but you’re not flushing impurities out of your system. You’re just adding a lot more fruits and vegetables. And potentially not enough calories, depending on the diet.

Myth #13 – Working out will make you lose weight: Most studies show that working out alone, without dietary changes, won’t actually have any noticeable weight-loss effects. That being said, fitness + eating fewer/more nutritious calories is the healthiest and smartest way to burn fat and get in shape, if that’s something you want to do. But if you’re looking at which is more effective at losing weight — only working out or only eating less — eating less will win.

Myth #14 – Antibiotics will help a cold or the flu: Colds and cases of flu are caused by viruses. Antibiotics only work on bacterial illnesses and will be completely ineffective at making you feel better or shortening the length of your cold or flu. The only reason your doctor should prescribe your antibiotics for cold or flu is if your illness has progressed to a bacterial infection (such as pneumonia, for instance).

Myth #15 – Low-fat products are better for you than full-fat products: A lot of low-fat products might have added sugars or carbohydrates to make the food taste better (since so much of the good taste comes from the fat). Also, more and more research is finding that fat (at least the kind that isn’t trans-fat) isn’t the enemy anymore. As long as you’re not eating too much of it, a little fat in your diet can be good for you.

Myth #16 – Yoga is so gentle it won’t cause injuries: Be careful or you might be saying ouch instead of om. Researchers found that yoga can causes injuries often than anyone thought if not done rightly. Yoga has many benefits—from increased flexibility and strength to lower blood pressure. To avoid trouble, make sure you’re doing your poses safely, listen to your body, and let your instructor know about any existing injuries or limitations.

Myth #17 – Stretching before a workout is necessary: Reaching for your toes before a workout—aka static stretching, the stuff we were all taught to do in gym class—can actually cause injury. You should save that type of stretching for after your workout. Before working out, warm up with some light cardio and then do movement-based, dynamic stretches, like arm and leg swings, which properly prime your muscles and will provide the foundation for a better workout.

Myth #18 – machines are safer than free weights: Sure, with a machine, you won’t drop a barbell on your foot (or worse), but you could still hurt yourself. Machines that restrain the form can lead to chronic pain in the joints. Make sure that your range of motion is not compromised.  No matter which technique you use, a pro should give you a lesson.

Myth #19 – Rest days aren’t necessary: You need recovery days for those muscles to rest, just like you need sleep every day. Think of your recovery days as days for your muscles to sleep. In addition to increasing your potential for muscle strains, stress fractures, and joint. Working out without the proper rest and recovery can lead to bigger issues like extreme fatigue, hormone imbalance, and mood swings. So take a day or two off after an intense workout, but make sure to incorporate movement in those days to stay limber and active.

Myth #20 – You can burn off last night’s fast food with a trip to the gym: Calories are not interchangeable, because foods aren’t all the same. So, unfortunately, those fries will be staying with you a lot longer than the side salad you probably should have chosen instead. The type of food you’re eating will cause your hormones to store or burn fat, boost or crash metabolism, and build or break down muscle.

Myth #21- No pain, No gain: There’s a difference between post-workout soreness and pain. The former is something called delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which happens when you get microscopic tears in a muscle and inflammation. Do not push past the pain—listen to the pain to understand what your body needs. If you have tightness in your soft tissue, work on mobility on your recovery day. If your legs are sore, try upper body or cardio. And if you’re experiencing sharp, shooting, or persistent pains in your muscles, joints, or ligaments, it’s time to see a doctor.

Myth #22 – Hot yoga is the best yoga workout: People practicing hot yoga say they reap more benefits than they would with traditional yoga.  But when you’re exercising for 90 minutes in a room that’s 105 degrees and 40 percent humidity, things can go really wrong. In fact, a recent study found that some participants’ core body temperature rose to 103 and one reached 104.1, which is medically concerning. As a result, the Council advised that participants increase their water intake and that instructors take more care to gradually adapt people to the heat of the room. So, be aware of the risks, and take a break to hydrate if you start feeling overwhelmed.

Myth #23 – The lower the lunge, the better the results: Lunges strengthen and tone your legs and butt, and they can actually help you avoid knee injury if done properly. If done improperly, you can extend too far and hurt your knees. The correction is simple: Don’t let your knee go out of alignment past the ‘toe line.’ Instead, keep the knee stationary over the ankle.

Myth #24 – Mental fitness has nothing to do with physical fitness: Your body affects your brain more than you may realize, especially as you get older. Researchers have found that older adults who did well on cardiorespiratory fitness tests also experienced more brain activity while learning and did better on memory tasks than their less-fit peers. And the more fit participants were, the more brain activity they exhibited.

Dietary supplements are wildly popular. Million of people take at least one supplement, running up a collective tab of over billions of Dollars. It’s easy to see why supplements are such big sellers. The public has a legitimate desire for good health, and the supplement industry has a strong desire for good sales.

Medications are regulated by the FDA. Before a prescription or over-the-counter drug can be sold, the manufacturer must submit data supporting its safety and efficacy, and after the medication is approved, the FDA continues to monitor adverse reactions. Even with all these safeguards, problems still occur, prompting the FDA to withdraw many medications and to require strong warning labels on others.

Manufacturers can sell these products without submitting evidence of their purity, potency, safety, or efficacy.

For most claims made on product labels, the law does not require evidence that the claim is accurate or truthful. In fact, the FDA’s first opportunity to weigh in comes only after a product is marketed, when it can take action against products that are adulterated, misbranded, or likely to produce injury or illness. Since nearly all supplements are used without medical supervision or monitoring, most of the estimated 50,000 adverse reactions that occur in the United States each year go unreported.

How do we really know –

If a supplement’s label or ads won’t give you reliable information, how can you find out if a supplement can help — or, for that matter, hurt? Although it’s a slow process, careful, objective medical studies provide the guidance that counts.

In most cases, scientific investigations of supplements start with simple observational studies, in which researchers compare the health status of folks who take a particular supplement with the health of people who don’t take the supplement. It’s an important effort, but the results don’t always hold up. So the next step is to conduct randomized clinical trials, in which volunteers are assigned by lot to take either the supplement or an identical-looking placebo (“dummy pill”) while researchers track their health. In the best studies, neither the volunteers nor the researchers know who is getting the real thing until the code is broken at the end of the trial.

What do we know

Everyone wants to know if supplements can help. It’s a good question. Here’s where we stand today — but you should keep an eye out for new results since recommendations will change as scientific studies trickle in. Unfortunately, in most cases, the studies have failed to confirm our hopes, though there are exceptions.

Many people take supplements in the belief that they will preserve health or ward off illness; many others use supplements in an attempt to treat specific conditions that have already developed. We’ll have a look at popular supplements in both categories, starting with preventive supplements used principally by healthy people.

It’s easily one of the most common questions, as supplements transformed from a niche market into a perceived quick fix for everything from fat loss to increasing your strength. Stop taking diet pills as supplements instead following effective supplements can help you reach your health and fitness goals faster.

1.Weight Loss – Your Goal:  You want to lose that spare fat, feel better about yourself, and show those skinny jeans who’s boss. – GREEN TEA EXTRACT

Fighting the battle of the bulge can often feel like a futile effort when you see those pounds creep back on just months, weeks, or mere days after you lost them. Fortunately, there is a supplement that can actually help you shed those unwanted weights and keep them from coming back: Green Tea Extract. The results reveal that supplementation with catechin-rich green tea yielded a 12 percent increase in fat oxidation over a 24-hour period. If you’re worried that the potential caffeine jitters you get from green tea will outweigh the supplement’s benefit, never fear; research suggests that green tea has plenty of fat-burning potential in both its caffeinated and decaf forms.

2. More Energy – That second (or fifth) cup of coffee isn’t cutting it and you need some energy fast. – VITAMIN B12

There’s no denying we’re in an energy crisis — and we’re not just talking about oil prices. Adults are sleeping less and working longer. While you could just hand over your credit card and open up a tab at your local coffee house, taking some B12 might just help you get the energy you need without all that extra caffeine. B vitamins have long been heralded for their energizing properties, and it’s no wonder why; B vitamins help your body extract nutrients from your food, turning them into usable energy. Even better, vitamin B12, or cobalamin, can help you fend off iron deficiency anemia, a major cause of energy suppression.

3. Lower stress –  Your job is stressful. Your family’s stressed. Your finances are stressful. You need some serious decompression. – MAGNESIUM

While you can’t pop a pill due to workload at an office or lighten your workload, you may still be able to find some stress relief in a bottle (and one that doesn’t contain any alcohol, at that). The results of a study found that, among a group of 264 patients, those given magnesium and plant extract supplementation reported significant improvements in their anxiety.

4. Increased brain function – Boost your brainpower and channel your inner genius. – RESVERATROL

If given the choice, who wouldn’t opt to be a few IQ points smarter, or retain their mental focus as they age? While we can’t promise that any supplement will help you figure out cold fusion, resveratrol seems like a pretty great choice when it comes to boosting your brainpower. A study by researchers reveals that resveratrol helped reduce memory loss and preserved cognitive function in Alzheimer’s patients. Resveratrol has also been linked to reduced belly fat and reduced overall weight, which links to improvements in the brain’s metabolic rate.

5.Softer Skin – Skin so soft babies will be begging for your secrets. – ALPHA LIPOIC ACID

Forget shelling out hundreds of bucks for skin products; the right supplement could be all you need to get that soft, smooth skin you’ve always wanted. Research suggests that ALA can attract and help your body filter out free radicals that can cause skin damage, and a study found ALA effective at increasing blood flow, potentially plumping up your skin and making it appear healthier and more youthful. Get the luminous complexion you’ve always wanted today by adding the Healthy Foods That Give You Glowing Skin to your menu!

6.Fewer Wrinkles – You want to stop fine lines and wrinkles before they start and make those existing indicators of the aging process disappear. – VITAMIN C

We can’t turn back the clock, but we can make sure that the years aren’t being etched into our skin as we age. Research suggests that vitamin C may be an effective means of boosting skin’s natural collagen production and increasing the linking of fibroblasts, improving skin’s firmness and texture, too. Fortunately, Nature Made’s vitamin C supplements contain more than enough of the stuff to keep you smooth —just one pill packs as much vitamin C as you’d get in 20 oranges.

7.Better Heart Health – A healthier heart so you can stay active well into your golden years – OMEGA 3S

Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the world, killing more people than Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, respiratory infections, HIV/AIDS, and car accidents combined, according to WHO data. Fortunately, fighting back is easy: just add some omega-3s to your routine.

Research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids are an effective means of improving heart health and reducing your risk of heart disease. Even if you’re already dealing with heart disease, omega-3s may still provide some relief; omega-3s reduce the risk of hospitalization and death among people with heart disease by as much as 9 percent.

8.Healthier Teeth – Getting a smile so bright your friends will have to wear shades. –  FOLIC ACID

While we’d never suggest you replace regular dental check-ups with a supplement, a little folic acid in your routine may make those trips to the dentist a whole lot more pleasant. Research suggests that supplementation with folic acid can help aid healthy tissue growth in the mouth while reducing the risk of oral lesions, thrush, and gum disease.

For those who are trying to become pregnant, folic acid is particularly important; not only can it reduce the risk of spina bifida and neurological issues, it can also foster the development of healthy teeth and gums in utero.

9. Lower Cholesterol – Getting your cholesterol in such good shape that your doctor high-fives you on the way out of your visit. – GARLIC

It may be less-than-ideal for your breath, but when it comes to your cholesterol, garlic can’t be beaten. Fortunately, you don’t have to risk scaring off others with your garlic breath to get those benefits; garlic pills will do the trick, too.

Research published suggests that garlic can help lower bad cholesterol, slashing your risk of heart disease and stroke along the way. And when you’re ready to get those cholesterol numbers down even further, add cholesterol-lowering Foods with Fiber to your menu.

10.Silky hair –  Hair so silky and shiny you could use it as a mirror. – VITAMIN E

Those lush locks you’ve always wanted can be yours before you know it —no pricey shampoos or salon treatments required. Popping a couple of vitamin E capsules can help promote the growth of healthy scalp tissue and reduce inflammation that can lead to flaking, dryness, and dull hair.

Even better, you can break open those capsules and rub the vitamin E directly on your hair for a deep conditioning treatment that can help ward off split ends.

11.Less Acne –  Skin that’s clear, calm, and bears no resemblance to the hormonal mess you were dealing with in high school. – VITAMIN B2

From hormones to sweat to environmental pollutants, there are countless factors that can keep even the most vigilant face-washers seeing spots pop up on their skin. The good news? Vitamin B2 might just be what you need to heal what ails you. A deficiency in B2 (also known as riboflavin) has been linked to breakouts, as well as redness and inflammation of the skin.

12.Improved Gut Health – A healthier gut, improved metabolism, and a stronger immune system, to boot – LACTOBACILLUS ACIDOPHILUS

Hosting 70 percent of your immune system, your gut is a major control center in your body, but not everyone knows how to keep their gut bacteria happy and fruitful. Fortunately, supplementing your usual food with some lactobacillus acidophilus can help you keep your immune system, belly, and metabolism healthy by promoting better gut health.

Lactobacillus is a beneficial bacterium that promotes the growth of healthy bacteria in the gut, making your body more effective at digesting your food, improving your immune health along the way as the good guys in your gut grow in number.

13.A Healthier Vegan Diet –  A complement to your vegan diet that ensures you’re getting all the nutrients you need.  – IRON

Yes, you can get all the nutrients you need from a vegan diet, including protein, despite all the family members, significant others, and strangers on the internet who insist that’s not the case. However, a vegan diet can leave some adherents low in iron, putting them at risk for energy-sapping iron-deficiency anemia and other health issues.

The good news? A vegan-friendly iron supplement, can help boost your iron levels, your energy, and keep you feeling healthy and strong.

14.Less Depression – Some relief for those blues that have been getting you down.  – VITAMIN D

That low mood may be an easier fix than you expected. Not only has vitamin D deficiency been linked to low, depressive moods, research that study subjects provided vitamin D supplements had significant improvements in their mood over just a five-day period as compared to a placebo group.

While vitamin D supplementation may help some if your depression is feeling too big for you to handle on your own, make sure you consult your doctor.

15.Better Sex – A sex life so hot you can barely drag yourself out of bed for work. – L-Arginine

The only thing that can spice your relationship up more than some lacy lingerie and a little mood music? L-arginine. A study reveals that L-arginine can help fight erectile dysfunction, and other research links it to reduced stress, helping you relax and get in the mood. And make sure you’re not killing your sex drive before you get things started by nixing the Foods That Kill Your Sex Drive from your routine.

16.Reduced Cravings –  The ability to walk past a bakery window and not give those croissants a second thought. – CITRUS POLYPHENOLS

A little spritz of citrus in your water can help you fight those cravings, and adding a citrus polyphenol supplement to your routine can help you say no to those salty and sugary snacks tempting you, too.

Studies suggest that the scent of citrus can help reduce food cravings, and even if you’ve already indulged, those polyphenols may be able to reduce the impact of your less-than-perfect food choices. Research reveals that citrus polyphenols can actually help reduce the damage caused by diet-induced obesity.

17.Fewer Headaches –  The ability to break free of those headaches, whether triggered by hours spent at your computer… or a bar – NIACIN

While it may be impossible to eliminate headache triggers entirely, you can head them off at the pass by adding some niacin to your routine. Niacin can help dilate blood vessels, reducing your headache symptoms along the way.

18.Better Eyesight – Clearer vision and a reduced risk of macular degeneration as you age – BEAT-CAROTENE

Keep those peepers clear and bright by adding a vitamin A supplement today. Beta-carotene is not only an effective means of lowering blood pressure, thus lowering your risk of cataracts, but the 2001 Age-Related Eye Disease Study also found beta-carotene effective at slowing the rate of age-related macular degeneration, so don’t bust out those bifocals just yet.

19.Improved Fertility – An easier time conceiving so you can start on the road to parenthood stat. – SELENIUM

Having kids can be stressful, but making them shouldn’t be. To improve your chances of conceiving, try adding some selenium to your supplement round-up. Researchers found that selenium supplementation increased sperm motility in more than 52.6 percent of study subjects with fertility issues.

20.Better Sleep – A better night’s rest so you feel refreshed, recharged, and ready to face the day – MELATONIN

Sleep is relaxing, it’s energizing, it’s great for your metabolism, but every year, the amount of sleep the average adult gets is waning. Before you go to your doctor for a prescription pill, head to your local pharmacy, and grab some melatonin instead.

Multiple studies confirm melatonin’s effectiveness at increasing sleep quality and duration, so if you’re finding yourself tossing and turning at night, it’s high time you pick up a bottle.

An abundance of pre-packaged convenience foods, hours spent on devices such as computers and cell phones, more time sitting, and less time spent outside. Our modern, on-the-go lifestyle often includes fast food, less sleep, more stress, and abundant amounts of coffee. Most of us need a little help.

The 21st century has brought with it some unique health challenges. Stay healthy in the modern world with these supplement strategies, designed with millennials in mind.

1) Multivitamin
Even healthy diets contain nutrient gaps. Thankfully, you can count on a daily multivitamin to help fill in those gaps and provide your body with some valuable nutritional insurance. Gender and age-specific formulas make the right multivitamin choice for your specific needs even easier.

2) Fish Oil
If oily/fatty fish like salmon and anchovies are not a part of your regular diet at least twice a week, then it may be worthwhile to supplement with fish oil—a source of the heart-healthy EPA and DHA omega-3 fatty acids. EPA and DHA also help support flexible cell membranes.

3) Vitamin D
Vitamin D is an essential fat-soluble nutrient that supports bone, teeth, muscle, and immune health. However, due to the limited food sources rich in vitamin D, over 80% of people fail to meet their daily intake needs for vitamin D, making it a “nutrient of public health concern”.^* A simple blood test can help you determine what your vitamin D level is and whether a supplement would be beneficial. At the next appointment with your health care professional, be sure to discuss your current vitamin D level and supplement needs.

4) Calcium
Your bones contain 99% of your body’s calcium, and meeting the recommended level of calcium intake daily is important for bone health––now and as you age. Milk, yogurt, green leafy vegetables, and cheese are great sources of calcium, and approximately three servings a day are needed for you to meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance (1,000 mg to 1,200 mg for adults). This can be challenging for many individuals; therefore, a calcium supplement can help fill in this key nutrient gap.

5) Probiotics
Probiotics are live bacteria that help support a healthy digestive system, which is important to overall health. They are often referred to as “good” or “beneficial” bacteria based on their beneficial activity in the body. They naturally exist in cultured or fermented foods such as yogurt and certain cheeses. Dietary supplements containing live probiotics are a way to help support regularity and healthy digestive balance.

6) Vitamin C

Sixty percent of adult men don’t get enough vitamin C in their diets, according to a Clinical Nutrition study. Vitamin C helps protect your cells from the tissue-damaging free radicals produced by exercise. It also helps heal wounds, and it’s key to the production of the collagen found in ligaments and tendons.

7) Vitamin D3

Vitamin D3 is the most bio-available form (most readily available for absorption in the body). The sun’s rays, when absorbed by the skin, convert to D3 in the body; however many countries do not get enough sun year-round. Studies have shown that high doses of vitamin D3 supplements – more than 800 IU/day – can have great benefits.

8) Coenzyme Q10

CoQ10 is well-known as an inflammation fighter. Inflammation is often the root cause of excess pounds, arthritis, headaches, and heart disease. Daily doses of 100 mcg of CoQ10 have been shown to improve many of these conditions – but be sure to choose a soft gel over the powder capsule.

9) Eye-Health Anti Oxidants

Consider this: the average American now stares at screens for a total of 10 hours per day. Computers and cellphones have brought us the world at our fingertips and allow us to communicate like never before.

However, our electronic devices also emit blue light, which causes free radical damage and, over time, may cause serious damage to the eyes. Protect your peepers with antioxidant supplements designed for eye health.

One of the best: Ocuguard Blutein Protection contains lutein, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin, and fucoxanthin, derived from kelp; these eye-specific antioxidants have been shown to fight free radicals, absorb blue-green light, and protect the eyes from damage.

10) Mushrooms

Nutrient-dense mushroom formulas are great to take daily for energy, immune health, and mental stamina. Two standouts for millennials: Lion’s mane, particularly amyloban, one of the mushroom’s active ingredients, has been shown to support memory, mental focus, concentration, and brain nerve cell health.

Cordyceps, a medicinal mushroom rich in health-boosting polysaccharides, has been used as an effective energy booster in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. Japanese researchers at the University of Fukui reported that cordyceps contains anti-fatigue properties.

11) L-Theanine

Anxiety and depression are more prevalent in our modern-day society. The American Psychological Association reports that 12 percent of millennials have an anxiety disorder, and 19 percent have been diagnosed with depression. And between work, money, and job stability, Gen-Xers have their fair share of stress too.

L-theanine, an amino acid found in green and black tea, has a measurable calming effect on the brain, increasing the body’s production of GABA and dopamine, neurotransmitters that induce feelings of well-being.

Other stress-busting supplements to consider: Tulsi, also called holy basil, reduces stress and anxiety; magnesium is a natural muscle relaxant and can reduce stress and improve sleep, and passionflower has been shown to effectively treat nervousness and anxiety.

12) Potassium

Potassium can lower your risk of stroke and heart disease, and counteract the effects of too much sodium. It’s found in bananas, raisins, leafy greens, oranges, milk, and more.

Bottom line: Consider a supplement if you’re taking potassium-depleting diuretics for a heart condition, or if you’re African American, a group that’s at higher risk for hypertension and heart disease. Keep in mind that too much potassium can be harmful to older people and people with kidney disease.

13) Vitamin E

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant that plays a role in protecting cells from free radicals, strengthens your immune system, and can help slow macular degeneration. It’s found in foods like wheat germ and sunflower seeds.

Once upon a time, researchers thought this antioxidant could protect the heart, but newer research hasn’t found that it can prevent cancer or lower the risk of heart attack or stroke. And too much vitamin E through supplements can increase the risk of bleeding in the brain.

Forget the supplements and get E your vitamin E from food (oils like safflower, peanuts, eggs, fortified cereals, fruits, and green, leafy vegetables).

14) Take a pass on Plastic

Plastic is ubiquitous in the modern world. It encases nearly everything we consume, from water bottles to convenience foods. What’s alarming is that these plastics contain phthalates, chemicals that leach out into our water and food.

These phthalates mimic estrogens, which can cause hormone imbalances in the body. They can affect reproductive organs and hormones, especially in prepubescent males. Some have been linked to breast and other cancers, allergies, obesity, thyroid, and other hormonal disruptions.

Phthalates disrupt the endocrine system, which is responsible for hormone production and metabolism, among other important functions. Aside from avoiding bottled water and making sure not to microwave or store foods in plastic containers, help to flush phthalates out of the body by taking glutathione.

Glutathione is known to aid in the metabolism and detoxification of endocrine-disrupting compounds. Also be sure to assist your body in detoxifying these chemicals by eating a lot of organic cruciferous vegetables, and sweat out toxins with exercise and/or a session in a sauna.

15) Vegan Protein Powder – 1 Scoop per day – To round out your daily dose of supplements, a heaping scoop of Vega (or another vegan protein powder) to fill in any nutritional gaps in your diet. Any brand that packs 20 to 25 grams of plant-based protein is ideal, so you can enjoy this extra boost in a post-workout cookie, your morning smoothie, or these bliss bites.

Support your health by enjoying the benefits of essential nutrition from vitamins, minerals, and supplements. Consult with your health care professional to learn how these top supplements can support overall health.

Is your day to day schedule getting tiresome? Feel tired on a day you have barely done anything? This could mean that your body is not getting its required amount of vitamins from your daily diet.

While a balanced diet is certainly the best way to nourish your body, popping those colorful pills can also help make you feel fresh and energized. Dietary supplements provide your body with the requisite nutrients and minerals in the form of vitamin pills and capsules.

Dietary supplements can never replace a normal diet. They must be taken with your regular diet to boost health, replenish lost nutrients in the system and boost the overall fitness of the body.

It takes at least fifteen days before the effects of a dietary supplement manifest themselves, so the course has to be followed strictly if you are to derive any benefit from a diet supplement. Listed below are the best vitamins and minerals supplements available in the market today that claim to boost immunity, improve body metabolism, and give you overall fitness.

It is advisable to consult a nutritionist or your general physician to pick the right supplement for you.

Supplement your diet – Women of every age, height, weight, and activity level have at least one thing in common: We need certain nutrients that our bodies don’t make but require to function properly.

Most experts agree the best source of essential nutrients is whole food: We get a wide variety of nutrients from eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, often in perfect proportions, We rarely over or under-do it.

That being said, it’s difficult to know with 100 percent certainty that we’re getting precisely enough nutrients to fend off symptoms of deficiency and related illnesses. Stage cue, supplements! Taking specific supplements is like an insurance for those instances when you accidentally consume your weight’s worth of sweets and call it dinner.

And if you have or are at risk for a vitamin and/or mineral deficiency, as may be the case for pregnant women or vegetarians, then your doctor may need to intervene by recommending a supplement.

Your choice to take a supplement depends on your diet and doctor’s recommendation. “When considering supplements, women need to think bones, babies, and bellies, Sufficient bone density is needed to prevent osteoporosis, an adequate store of folate is essential for fertility and fetal development, and a healthy waistline lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases.

Women must also load up on the nutrients that are essential to prevent chronic diseases in the future.”  We recommend the best supplements for women. Show the list to your doctor to determine which supplements are right for you.

Iron – What it does
Carries oxygen in the body; aids in the production of red blood cells; supports immune function, cognitive development, and temperature regulation; is essential for proper cell growth.

Why you need it
Slacking on your iron intake causes your body to reduce the production of red blood cells, causing anemia. This can lead to unrelenting fatigue and shortness of breath while doing activities that aren’t very strenuous, as well as difficulty maintaining body temperature and decreased immune function, which increases susceptibility to infection.

What’s more, blood loss during your period depletes your body’s iron stores, so it’s particularly important for women with heavy periods to eat iron-rich foods or take supplements.

Where to find it
Lean red meat, chicken, turkey, fish, cereals, beans, whole grains, and dark-green leafy vegetables.

CALCIUM – What it does
Makes and keeps bones and teeth strong; helps muscles and blood vessels contract and expand; secretes hormones, and sends messages through the nervous system.

Why you need it
Your body needs calcium to build and maintain strong bones. Thus, calcium consumption is important for aging adults, particularly postmenopausal women whose bone breakdown exceeds formation, resulting in bone loss and increased risk of osteoporosis over time.

“Women start losing bone density in their twenties,” says nutrition professor.  “Calcium is your single best defense, and you should start taking it now.”

Where to find it
Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt, and dark-green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and kale.

MAGNESIUM – What it does
Maintains normal muscle and nerve function; keeps heart rhythm steady; supports a healthy immune system; keeps bones strong; helps regulate blood sugar levels; promotes normal blood pressure; may play a role in preventing and managing disorders such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes; and is known to be involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis.

Why you need it
Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body, but there are other reasons you won’t want to run low on it, including deficiency symptoms such as chronic or excessive vomiting and diarrhea, and migraines.

“Blood vessels in your brain constrict, and receptors in the feel-good chemical serotonin malfunction. If you suffer from Crohn’s disease or another gastrointestinal disorder that makes it difficult for your body to absorb nutrients, you may be at risk for magnesium deficiency.

Where to find it
Green vegetables (like okra), some beans, nuts, seeds, and unrefined whole grains.

BIOTIN – What it does
Aids in the formation of fatty acids and blood sugar, which are used in the production of energy for the body; and helps metabolize amino acids and carbohydrates.

Why you need it
While a lack of biotin is rare, getting sufficient amounts staves off signs of deficiency including hair loss, brittle nails, and a scaly, red facial rash. Luckily, you can alleviate these symptoms by boosting your biotin intake, which also helps neurological symptoms, such as mild depression, in adults.

Where to find it
Cauliflower, liver, avocado, and raspberries.

OTHER B VITAMINS – What it does
Help the body to convert food into fuel for energy; contribute to healthy skin, hair, and eyes, and proper nervous system functioning; maintain metabolism, muscle tone, and a sharp mind.

Why you need it
Deficiency of certain B vitamins, often referred to as B complex vitamins, can cause a host of awful symptoms:

It can cause anemia, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, depression, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs, muscle cramps, respiratory infections, hair loss, eczema, poor growth in children, and birth defects. You don’t want that.

Where to find it
Fish, poultry, meat, eggs, dairy products, leafy green vegetables, legumes, many bowls of cereal, and some bread.

VITAMIN C – What it does
Facilitates normal growth and development and repairs bodily tissues, bones, and teeth; helps the body make collagen, an important protein used to make skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels; and functions as an antioxidant to block some of the damage caused by free radicals.

Why you need it
Vitamin C’s healing and antioxidant powers make it essential. Signs of vitamin deficiency include dry and splitting hair; gingivitis (inflammation of the gums) and bleeding gums; rough, dry, scaly skin; decreased wound-healing rate; easy bruising; nosebleeds; and a decreased ability to fight infection.

A severe form of vitamin C deficiency is known as scurvy. Despite its rep as a cold fighter, C has never been proven to prevent or cure the sniffles, but the antioxidant is believed to boost your immune system.

It is also often used as an ingredient in skincare products since vitamin C can boost your body’s collagen production to help reduce wrinkles and can also firm up and moisturize your skin.

Where to find it
All fruits and vegetables, particularly citrus fruits, red pepper, and broccoli. The synthetic variety is known as ascorbic acid.

VITAMIN D – What it does
Promotes calcium absorption necessary for bone growth; modulation of cell growth; neuromuscular and immune function; and reduction of inflammation.

Why you need it
Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, or misshapen, leading to osteomalacia, or a softening of the bones, which can weaken muscles, too. Vitamin D deficiency has also been shown to play a role in the development of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

In good news though, evidence suggests that vitamin D may provide some protection against colorectal and possibly other cancers.

Where to find it
The flesh of fatty fish, such as salmon and tuna, and fish liver oils, with small amounts in beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks; and vitamin-D-fortified milk and orange juice.

Note: While vitamin D occurs naturally in very few foods, most people actually meet at least some of their vitamin D needs through exposure to sunlight. 

GRAPE SEED EXTRACT – What it does
Treats health problems related to free radical damage, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

Why you need it
Stay young from the inside out! Preliminary animal research has shown that it may protect brains in ways that fight against future age-related dementia, as well as decrease the development of skin cancer due to UVB radiation exposure.

In pill form, it also helps maintain collagen and elastin, two building blocks of smooth skin.

Where to find it
Capsules, tablets, and liquid form.

FLAX SEED – What it does
Used as a laxative; helps reduce total blood cholesterol.

Why you need it
Flaxseed is said to lower cholesterol levels, boost the immune system, and protect against cancers, including breast cancer. Note that flaxseed oil contains only omega-3 fatty acids and not the additional fiber or lignans available through the seed, but its health benefits are undeniable, so make sure you are getting enough.

Where to find it
Soft-gel capsules.

Echinacea to prevent colds. Ginkgo to improve memory. Flaxseed to lower cholesterol. The list of herbal remedies goes on and on. Herbal supplements, sometimes called botanicals, are one type of dietary supplement available for purchase.

Herbal supplements aren’t new — plants have been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. But herbal supplements generally haven’t been subjected to the same scientific scrutiny and aren’t as strictly regulated as medications.

For example, although makers of herbal supplements must follow good manufacturing practices — to ensure that supplements are processed consistently and meet quality standards — they don’t have to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before putting their products on the market.

Yet all herbs — including herbal supplement products labeled as “natural” — can have medication-like effects. Anything strong enough to produce a positive effect, such as lowered cholesterol or improved mood, is also strong enough to carry risk.

So it’s important to investigate the potential benefits and side effects of herbal supplements before you buy them. And be sure to talk with your doctor, especially if you take medications, have chronic health problems, or are pregnant or breast-feeding.

Are herbal supplements safe?

Herbal supplements are regulated by the FDA, but not as drugs or as foods. They fall under a category called dietary supplements. The rules for dietary supplements are as follows:

• Manufacturers don’t have to seek FDA approval before selling dietary supplements.
• Companies can claim that products address a nutrient deficiency, support health or are linked to body functions — if they have supporting research and they include a disclaimer that the FDA hasn’t evaluated the claim.
• Companies aren’t allowed to make a specific medical claim. An example of a specific medical claim might be, “This herb reduces the frequency of urination due to an enlarged prostate.”
• Manufacturers must follow good manufacturing practices to ensure that supplements are processed consistently and meet quality standards. These regulations are intended to keep the wrong ingredients and contaminants out of supplements, as well as make sure that the right ingredients are included in appropriate amounts.
• The FDA is responsible for monitoring dietary supplements that are on the market. If the FDA finds a product to be unsafe, it can take action against the manufacturer or distributor or both, and may issue a warning or require that the product be removed from the market.

These regulations provide assurance that:

• Herbal supplements meet certain quality standards
• The FDA can intervene to remove dangerous products from the market

However, the rules don’t guarantee that herbal supplements are safe for anyone to use.

These products can pose unexpected risks because many supplements contain active ingredients that have strong effects on the body. For example, taking a combination of herbal supplements or using supplements together with prescribed medications could lead to harmful, even life-threatening results.

It’s important to talk with your doctor before using herbal supplements.

How do you know what’s in herbal supplements?

The FDA requires that the labels of all herbal supplements include this information:

• The name of the herbal supplement
• The name and address of the manufacturer or distributor
• A complete list of ingredients — either in the Supplement Facts panel or listed beneath it
• Serving size, amount, and active ingredient

If you don’t understand something on a supplement’s label, ask your doctor or pharmacist for an explanation.

An easy way to compare ingredients in products is to use the Dietary Supplement Label Database, which is available on the National Institute of Health’s website. The database has information on the ingredients for thousands of dietary supplements sold in the United States. You can look up products by brand name, uses, active ingredient, or manufacturer.

How do you know if herbal supplements’ claims are true?

Manufacturers of herbal supplements are responsible for ensuring that the claims they make about their products aren’t false or misleading and that they’re backed up by adequate evidence. But they aren’t required to submit this evidence to the FDA.

So be a smart consumer. Don’t just rely on a product’s marketing. Look for objective, research-based information to evaluate a product’s claims.

To get reliable information about a particular supplement:

• Ask your doctor or pharmacist. Even if they don’t know about a specific supplement, they may be able to point you to the latest medical guidance about its uses and risks.
• Look for scientific research findings. Two good sources are the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the Office of Dietary Supplements. Both have websites that provide information to help consumers make informed choices about dietary supplements.
• Contact the manufacturer. If you have questions about a specific product, call the manufacturer or distributor. Ask to talk with someone who can answer questions, such as what data the company has to substantiate its products’ claims.

Who shouldn’t use herbal supplements?

If you have health issues, it’s essential that you talk with your doctor before trying herbal supplements. In fact, in some high-risk situations, your doctor will likely recommend that you avoid herbal supplements altogether.

It’s especially important that you talk to your doctor before using herbal supplements if:

• You’re taking prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Some herbs can cause serious side effects when mixed with prescription and OTC medications, such as aspirin, blood thinners, or blood pressure medications. Talk to your doctor about possible interactions.
• You’re pregnant or breast-feeding. Medications that may be safe for you as an adult may be harmful to your fetus or your breast-feeding infant. As a general rule, don’t take any medications — prescription, OTC, or herbal — when you’re pregnant or breast-feeding unless your doctor approves.
• You’re having surgery. Many herbal supplements can affect the success of the surgery. Some may decrease the effectiveness of anesthetics or cause dangerous complications, such as bleeding or high blood pressure. Tell your doctor about any herbs you’re taking or considering taking as soon as you know you need surgery.
• You’re younger than 18 or older than 65. Few herbal supplements have been tested on children or have established safe doses for children. And older adults may metabolize medications differently.

Safety tips for using herbal supplements

If you’ve done your homework and plan to try an herbal supplement, play it safe with these tips:

• Follow supplement instructions. Don’t exceed recommended dosages or take the herb for longer than recommended.
• Keep track of what you take. Take only one supplement at a time to determine if it’s effective. Make a note of what you take — and how much for how long — and how it affects you. Stop taking the supplement if it isn’t effective or doesn’t meet your goals for taking it.
• Choose your brand wisely. Stick to brands that have been tested by independent sources and having FDA certification.
• Check alerts and advisories. The FDA maintains lists of supplements that are under regulatory review or that have been reported to cause adverse effects. Check the FDA website periodically for updates.

We are proposing a conservative, evidence-based approach to evaluating supplements. It’s sound advice, but it’s often hard to balance sober scientific judgments against simple, forceful claims for health in a pill. In the final analysis, the decision is yours, so we’d like to offer a few additional cautions:

• Beware of extravagant claims; if it sounds too good to be true, it is usually not true.
• Beware of testimonials and endorsements, especially from celebrities. Even the most sincere, well-meaning success stories offered by friends and relatives without financial incentives can’t establish a product’s safety or efficacy.
• Beware of the idea that if a little is good, more is better. Although vitamin A is essential for health, for example, doses that exceed the RDA (3,000 IU a day for men, 2,330 IU for women) increase the risk of fractures. And as noted above, a high intake of folic acid may increase the risk of certain tumors.
• Beware of meaningless terms. The list includes all-natural, antioxidant-rich, clinically proven, anti-aging, and other vague but seductive claims that a product will promote heart health, prostate health, sexual prowess, energy, weight loss, fat loss, muscle power, and the like.
• Beware of interactions between supplements and medications. Always tell your doctors and pharmacists about any supplements you take and ask specifically about potential interactions with your prescription and over-the-counter medications.
• Beware of adulterated products. The FDA has withdrawn over 140 products that were laced with undisclosed pharmaceutical ingredients. Perhaps the most shameful example was PC-SPES, a supplement that was heavily promoted to treat prostate cancer. PC-SPES is long gone, but other advertised supplements are still at large. Products touted for sexual performance, weight loss, and athletic performance are the most likely to be contaminated with medications.
• Beware of products that contain less — or more — than they claim. Since you won’t have the protection of FDA oversight, it’s hard for you to know what you’re actually getting. In general, products that are voluntarily submitted for approval by private organizations like the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) or NSF International are your best bet.

Supplements, not substitutes –

Until (or unless) better oversight is available, supplements are likely to remain the Wild West of American health. At present, only a few are likely to help, some may do more harm than good, and most will be little more than expensive disappointments. But false hopes can be toxic in their own right if they keep you from taking good care of yourself or getting the medical care you need. So even if you take supplements, be sure to eat well, exercise regularly, and work with your doctor to keep your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar under good control. And while you’re seeing your doctor for check-ups, screening tests, and treatments, be sure to tell him about all your supplements. Many men are reluctant to tell physicians that they use alternative or complementary therapies, but full disclosure is important for health, particularly since supplements can have adverse interactions with medications.

If the relationship with your partner is not as fabulous as you want, or if you have anxiety for the health of your dear ones, for yourself, or if you are obsessed with your bank balance…. Fear not!! Incorporate Feng- Shui in your daily life and see the difference. You need not have to be born in a family with a golden spoon to be rich. Everybody is not born rich, but Feng-Shui can take you to new heights of business, enable you to live healthy and secure enough money for your family. Many of us want to incorporate Feng Shui at our homes, but don’t know how to begin with. So, welcome to the land of Feng Shui …And get acquainted with Feng Shui tools.

1. Dolphin and Fish – It’s lucky to place a showpiece or portrait of fish and dolphins in your house, office, and shop. You can keep this portrait in any direction in the room. It brings WEALTH, PEACE, LONG LIFE and PROSPERITY

2. Om Bells – Each mantra we chant starts with the holy word “OM” and OM signifies the world. This divine bell is made up of 5 elements of the world named EARTH, WATER, FIRE, AIR, EITHER. As, we ring the bell, the “OM” sound, removes the negative energy, and brings positivity to you.

3. Chinese Coins – Place a set of 3 CHINESE COINS in your wallet or purse to multiply your money. Keep them in your lockers and banks. Stick it to your computer screens, where you keep the financial accounts. Place it on the SOUTH WALL to fulfill your wish.

4. Bells – Tie THREE BELLS together of the same size on the main door of your house, office, or shop to bring in PROSPERITY.

5. Chi Lin – Chi lin is the most powerful image of luck in Chinese mythology. It draws WEALTH, HEALTH, and PROSPERITY. Place it on your workstations or on the front door. They take in all the negative energy.

6. Love Birds- Love birds are a true symbol of love. This portrait enhances love among couples, and it also brings in good fortune for unmarried girls. Keep it in the SOUTHWEST direction of your living bedroom or living room.

7. Fuk Luk Sau – Fuk, Luk, so are the gods of HEALTH, WEALTH, and PROSPERITY. Exhibiting them at any part of your room will invite good luck and keep you away from all the fatal diseases. Lay this portrait in the EAST corner of your room.

8. Three Legged Frog – A three-legged frog is extremely auspicious if placed DIAGONALLY OPPOSITE to your main door. It enhances your INCOME and WEALTH within no time. Make sure that the portrait faces inside the house.

9. Dragon – This powerful Chinese portrait is a symbol of POWER and LUCK. Place this celestial dragon, in the EAST of your living room and get lucky within no time.

10. Metal Turtle and plate – Place this metal turtle on the NORTH side of your living room and make sure you fill the plate with water all the time. You will witness growth in your career and projects

11. Wind Chimes – Hang wind chimes on your front doors, to bring in positive sound waves and GOOD LUCK

12. Swastik, Om Trishul – These powerful symbols are the epitome of victory and courage. It symbolizes SUCCESS and keeps you away from the bad evils and eyes. You can also keep a sticker of its idol in your purse, wallet, and diary.

13. Laughing Buddha – Laughing Buddha signifies a happy man. It invites WEALTH, FINANCIAL GAINS, and SUCCESS in the house. Placing the portrait in the right direction is very important as the energy, which enters your house is greeted by the laughing Buddha. Therefore, place it on the corner table, which is facing the front door.

14. Bamboo Plants – Place this carefree plant at any part of your house and enhance your fortune and income. This plant can also bring in GOOD LUCK for your loved one.

15. Dragon Ship – Position this beautiful dragon ship in the INWARD DIRECTION of your living room, as it brings wealth and prosperity to your home.

16. Crystal Pyramid – Rest this striking pyramid in any area of your drawing room to bring in GOODIES for your family. You can use any size of the pyramids for good fortune.

17. Globe – Keep this magical globe in the NORTHEAST side of your child’s room to call for knowledge and wisdom.

18. Elephants – Place this powerful symbol of power and good luck in the SOUTHEAST direction of your living room. The object attracts all the good energies with their trunks up in the air.

These Chinese Feng Shui items have a more profound effect if they are gifted to you by someone so if you wish to see your near and dear ones prosper, gift them these lucky charms and help them attain success, health, wealth, romance, and happiness in all spheres of life.

Health through Feng Shui for a home that nourishes your body, mind, and spirit. –

These feng shui tips will help improve health, happiness, and vitality.

1. Remove your shoes before entering your home – Make it a ritual to leave the stress of your job, traffic jams, and bad days outside. It’s a purposeful way to make your home a haven, only allowing peaceful energy to come inside. If you like, place a trunk or an appealing shoe rack just inside the door. The simple act of removing your shoes is symbolic of casting off the worries and troubles, as well as the dirt, of the outside world.
2. Clean your space and clear clutter – Clutter disrupts your life. When it’s rampant, you feel stressed about everything. You can’t find your keys, important letters, the right belt, or a cherished memento. Disorder creates mayhem and hinders your ability to find peace. Make sure that your bedroom, closet, and bathroom are in order. If you can begin your day with calm, you have a better chance of feeling centered as you go out into the world. One of the best antidotes to stress is an organized living environment.
3. Surround yourself with an abundance of light, fresh air, and greenery – Open the doors and windows and invite nature in. As night draws near, avoid bright light for at least an hour before bed. Instead allow your body’s natural cycle to slowly move towards night. Use soft light in the bathroom and place dimmers in rooms you spend a good deal of time. For more harmony, oxygen, and life-force, accessorize with plants. Choose ones that look happy as opposed to those with downward falling, droopy leaves.
4. Get more sleep by creating a wonderful place to rest your head at night – It’s preferable to choose a bedroom that’s located away from the noisy street. From a feng shui perspective, the best position for your bed is in the back corner of the room, diagonally opposite from the door. This site provides grounding because of the solid wall behind the bed, the expanded view of the room and door, and protection from fast-moving energy entering the space. Also, if possible, refrain from watching television before bed as it drains your energy. The violence and negative news can be absorbed into your subconscious and may cause bad dreams.
5. Choose colors that help you unwind- Incorporate blues, lavenders, greens, peaches, and other soothing earth tones into your home. Whether it’s wall color, bedding, artwork, fabrics, or decorative objects, soft, neutral colors provide a sense of calm. Ask yourself what color would make you feel happy and peaceful, then find a way to introduce it into our home. Try lighting a blue, lavender, or crème colored candle for relaxation. Let your intuition guide you.
6. Soothing sounds of nature make for a calming environment – Play a nature CD or create an iPod playlist of natural sounds, such as gentle waves, mountain streams, chirping birds or a gentle breeze through the trees. When you listen to sounds of nature, your heart rate slows down, your breathing becomes more expansive and your nerves are calmed. Make sure it’s a recording that’s made from the actual sounds of nature, not electronically produced since the life-force energy emanating from natural surroundings will be healing for your body and mind.
7. Use Feng Shui Fountains – Use real fountains in and out of the home, no matter how small, as a powerful feng shui cure. This will attract wealth energy and fresh Chi. You can also use symbols that represent fountains, such as images of flowing water like waterfalls, oceans, and rivers. The water images that have plenty of foam and open views are especially powerful in the feng shui wealth applications.
8. Decorate with wealth crystals – Citrine crystal is long known for attracting wealth, so it’s often used in feng shui wealth applications. Citrine is also known to strengthen one’s self-esteem, so it can be a good choice for your personal jewelry. You can also use a popular wealth stone, like pyrite. One creative way to display crystals is to place them on a feng shui gem tree in your home office for a beautiful look full of meaning and clarity.
9. Use the fish symbol – Decorate your home or office with a feng shui aquarium to attract wealth chi. This is a fun and lively way to add beauty and wealth to your personal areas and workspaces. You can also use feng shui symbols and images of specific fish to bring a sense of wealth to your environment. Consider using images of art in the bedroom, a fish clock in the kitchen, or a fish shower curtain in the bathroom, for instance.
10. Create a strong front door – Creating a strong front door is important because your house needs it in order to be able to attract wealth chi. The front door is called the Mouth of Chi in feng shui, and its strength and auspicious energy are important to a good feng shui house. Protect your front door, if necessary, with feng shui symbols of protection, abundance, and good luck.

When your space is calm, your thoughts slow down and you can begin to hear the guidance from your soul. Your spirit is renewed when you create a home that invites you to sit still, stop doing, and just be. At these moments, your environment offers you a place to restore your physical and spiritual energy. When you design a healthy living environment, you will feel relaxed, rejuvenated, and inspired to move towards your dreams.

Importance of bedroom from a health point of view –

In Feng Shui, the bedroom not only plays a role in attracting and maintaining good relationships but also supports your health. There are many reasons for ill-health – long-term stress, incorrect diet, lack of exercise etc…. By reassessing those areas of your life in conjunction with implementing ideal Feng Shui principles then good health can be achieved within a reasonably short space of time.

One of the most important considerations when assessing health using Feng Shui guidelines is the position of your bedroom within the home and your bed within that room. So, if you are experiencing ill health then my suggestion is to try using another room or placing the bed in a different location within the bedroom.

Ten other factors that can assist you in your pursuit of good health are:-

• Do not have any mirrors in the bedroom, especially if the mirror is reflecting any portion of the bed whilst you are sleeping. If this is the case remove the offending mirror altogether or cover it with a dense fabric or screen.
• Remove the television – apart from the electrical concerns it has a reflective quality, which in turn has a similar effect, albeit minor, like that of a mirror.
• Ensure that the external electrical box is not located on the same wall as the bed head.
• Ensure that your bedroom is not opposite a T-junction. If moving to another room is out of the question, then a ‘special shield’ can be used to reduce the impact.
• Ensure that your bedroom is not located in a direct line of any sharp corners, fences, or spikes.
• It is preferable to not sleep on a waterbed as stability is required when sleeping.
• Do not have your bedroom located at the point of a bow-shaped road.
• A triangular-shaped bedroom creates arguments and it is said that the occupants of the bedroom are prone to heart attacks. In this instance, walls would have to be built so as to square off the room.
• I have seen numerous boot-shaped bedrooms (see diagram 4) and these are particularly inauspicious if you are sleeping at the end of the boot.
• If you are experiencing headaches or poor sleep and are sleeping with your head against a window as well as being in direct line with the door then try moving your bed so that your bedhead is resting against a solid wall. Having said this, there are times when it is more appropriate to have your bed head resting against a window and this can only be determined by specific individually based data, and when certain conditions are prevailing.

It is important to not have your bed resting under an overhanging beam. It would serve you best to simply move the bed in this instance.

‘Internal Alchemy’ and cultivating your center for good health has been a principal part of the Taoists canons for centuries. This stillness and harmony are what give us quiet confidence, crystal-like clarity, and security that comes from a sense of constant connection to the beauty of life.

Tao is a strategy for living and refers to an energy that flows through everything. The Tao is based on a life lived in conformity with the natural way of things – in integrity with the natural path and flow of life. When living in this way, the Taoists believe that good health prevails, fulfillment, and success is attainable.

It recognizes that change is inevitable and seeks to maintain balance as the chi or life force brings about whatever changes are necessary. Like Taoism, Feng Shui recognizes how everything is inter-related, forever changing, and inter-connected.

So, embodying the Tao, embracing your stillness, staying calm, and constantly living within this space has increasing value in our full, sometimes manic lives. In this vortex of activity and the often intense demands on our time, it is easy to lose our balance or centeredness. When this occurs, we then seek these elements outside of ourselves through various disciplines whether they be Feng Shui, Tai Chi, or some form of Meditation.

The cultivation of stillness needs to be approached from a number of perspectives. If you choose to meditate, this option can be supported through the use of a Buddha Status for focus or Incense to quiet the mind.

Either way, the starting point is to ensure that whatever strategy is employed it is on a level that is suitable for each person. At the most basic level, a suitable environment is very important. With the chaos that exists in people’s lives, it is far too challenging to even begin addressing the aspect of harmony in other ways and so Feng Shui is a very effective approach and can be extraordinarily helpful.

Creating balance, so that success prevails through maintaining good mental and physical health within the home and workplace is a sought after aim in Feng Shui.

Whilst Feng Shui is only one part of the solution when properly applied, it provides the framework for change to be cultivated.

And so, Feng Shui can support the internal efforts required to bring about quality, profound, successful and sustainable change.

Firstly, ensure that you have a good Feng Shui bedroom.

Secondly, whilst you may have implemented remedies at home, it is worthwhile considering doing the same within your workplace. In order for things to run smoothly place a Five Element Pagoda in the East sector of the workplace and a Wu Lu in the South for the duration of the year.

Reflect on stillness and harmony, not as something you manage to fit into your schedule from time to time but as a way of life, as the foundation from which your life can blossom.

Inactivity is described by the Department of Health as a “silent killer”. Evidence is emerging that sedentary behavior, such as sitting or lying down for long periods, is bad for your health.

Not only should you try to raise your activity levels, but you should also reduce the amount of time you and your family spend sitting down.

Common examples of sedentary behavior include watching TV, mobile using a computer, using the vehicle for short journeys, and sitting down to read, talk or listen to music. This type of behavior is thought to increase your risk of developing many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, as well as weight gain and obesity.

Previous generations were active more naturally through work and manual labor, but today we have to find ways of integrating activity into our daily lives. Whether it’s limiting the time babies spend strapped in their buggies or encouraging adults to stand up and move frequently, people of all ages need to reduce their sedentary behavior.

This means that each of us needs to think about increasing the types of activities that suit our lifestyle and can easily be included in our daily routine.

Crucially, you can hit your weekly activity target but still be at risk of ill health if you spend the rest of the time sitting or lying down. Find out how to build physical activity and exercise into your day, whatever your age or situation.

Exercise is the miracle cure we’ve always had, but for too long we’ve neglected to take our recommended dose. Our health is now suffering as a consequence. Whatever your age, there’s strong scientific evidence that being physically active can help you lead a healthier and happier life.

People who exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing many long-term (chronic) conditions, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and some cancers. Research shows that physical activity can also boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality, and energy, as well as reducing your risk of stress, depression, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.

To stay healthy, adults should try to be active every day and aim to achieve at least 30 minutes of physical activity on a daily basis through a variety of activities. For most people, the easiest way to get moving is to make activity part of everyday life, like walking or cycling instead of using the car to get around. However, the more you do, the better, and taking part in activities such as sports and exercise will make you even healthier.

For any type of activity to benefit your health, you need to be moving quickly enough to raise your heart rate, breathe faster, and feel warmer. This level of effort is called moderate-intensity activity. If you’re working at a moderate intensity you should still be able to talk but you won’t be able to sing the words to a song.

An activity where you have to work even harder is called vigorous-intensity activity.

There is substantial evidence that vigorous activity can bring health benefits over and above that of moderate activity. You can tell when it’s a vigorous activity because you’re breathing hard and fast, and your heart rate has gone up quite a bit. If you’re working at this level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

“If exercise were a pill, it would be one of the most cost-effective drugs ever invented.

How to keep baby/toddler active –

Simple ways to get baby moving

• Lay your baby down on their back so they can kick their legs.
• Pulling, pushing, grasping, and playing with other people are great ways to practice different kinds of movements.
• Once your baby has started crawling, let them crawl around the floor, but make sure it’s safe first
• Playing outdoors helps your baby learn about their surroundings.
• You can take your baby swimming from a very young age – there’s no need to wait until they’ve been vaccinated.

Why tummy time is important

Tummy time helps to build the muscles your baby needs for sitting and crawling. You can start doing tummy time from birth by lying your baby on your chest – but only do this when you’re wide awake and unlikely to fall asleep.

Little and often is best, to begin with. Gradually increase the amount of time you do this day by day. Then, when your baby is ready, try doing tummy time on the floor. If your baby has difficulty lifting their head, you can roll up a towel and put it under their armpits. Put some toys nearby for them to reach out to.

Only do tummy time when your baby is awake and alert, and you’re there to keep an eye on them.

Baby bouncers, walkers, and seats

It’s important that your baby doesn’t spend too much time in:

Baby walkers or bouncers– these encourage babies to stand on their tiptoes and can delay walking if your baby uses them a lot

Baby carriers and seats– long periods in reclining carriers or seats, or seats that prop your baby in a sitting position, can delay your baby’s ability to sit up on their own

If you do use a baby walker, bouncer, or seat, it’s best to use them for no more than 20 minutes at a time.

Physical activity for toddlers

Once your child is walking, they should be physically active for at least 180 minutes (three hours) a day, spread throughout the day.

• Let your toddler walk with you rather than always using the buggy.
• Toddlers and young children love going to the park, where they can climb and swing or just run around.
• Toys your child can pick up and move around will help improve their co-ordination and develop the muscles in their arms and hands.
• Involve your toddler in household tasks like unpacking shopping, tidying, or sorting washing.
• Teach your child songs with actions and encourage them to dance to music.

Watching TV or using a tablet for long periods – or being strapped into a buggy, car seat or high chair – isn’t good for young children.

If you need to make a long car journey, consider taking a break and getting your child out of their seat for a bit.

Enjoy being active together

It’s good to join in with your child’s active play when you can. Have fun showing them how to do new things like running and hopping. Being active together shows your child that the activity is enjoyable.

You’re a role model for your child so stay active yourself and try to meet the physical activity guidelines for adults.

Activity for young children with a disability

All babies and young children need to be active, including children with a long-term condition or disability, unless their health professionals give you different advice.

Just like other children, they will enjoy being active and it will help their development. You may need to adapt some activities to suit your child.

The scope has ideas for games all children can play, and the Contact a Family advice service offers information on caring for a disabled child.

Coping with a very active toddler

It can be exhausting keeping up with a toddler who is always on the go. It may help if you:

• keep to a daily routine– routine can help if your child is restless or difficult; it can also help you stay calm and cope with the strain
• dedicate time to your child– make sure there are times each day when you give them your full attention
• avoid difficult situations– for example, keep shopping trips short
• try to go out every day– go to a park, playground or other safe, open space where your child can run around and use up energy
• set small goals– help your child to sit still and concentrate for a very short time, perhaps on a book or new toy, then gradually build it up

Does my child have Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?

At times you may wonder if your non-stop toddler has ADHD. It’s more likely that your child is just a healthy, energetic toddler.

If you’re worried about how active your child is, talk to your health visitor or GP.

Guidelines for 5- to 18-year-olds 

Physical activity guidelines for children and young people (ages between 5 to 18 ).

To stay healthy or to improve health, young people need to do 3 types of physical activity each week:

• aerobic exercise
• exercises to strengthen their bones
• exercises to strengthen their muscles

To maintain a basic level of health, children and young people aged 5 to 18 need to do:

• at least 60 minutes of physical activity every day – this should range from moderate activity, such as cycling and playground activities, to vigorous activity, such as running and tennis, Squash and basketball
• on 3 days a week, these activities should involve exercises for strong muscles and bones, such as swinging on playground equipment, hopping and skipping, and sports such as gymnastics or tennis

Children and young people should also reduce the time they spend sitting for extended periods of time, including watching TV, with mobile, playing computer games and traveling by car when they could walk or cycle.

Being active for at least 60 minutes a day is linked to better general health, stronger bones and muscles, and higher levels of self-esteem.

What counts as a moderate activity?

Examples of activities that require moderate effort for most young people include:

• walking to school/college
• playing in the playground
• riding a scooter
• skateboarding
• rollerblading
• walking the dog
• cycling on level ground or ground with few hills

Moderate activity raises your heart rate and makes you sweat. One way to tell if your activity is moderate is if you can still talk but cannot sing the words to a song.

What counts as vigorous activity?

There is good evidence vigorous activity can bring health benefits over and above that of moderate activity. A rule of thumb is that 1 minute of vigorous activity provides the same health benefits as 2 minutes of moderate activity.

There’s currently no recommendation on how long a session of vigorous activity should be for this age group.

Examples of activities that require vigorous effort for most young people include:

• playing chase
• energetic dancing
• swimming
• running
• gymnastics
• football
• rugby
• martial arts, such as karate
• cycling fast or on hilly terrain

Vigorous activity makes you breathe hard and fast. If your activity is vigorous, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

What activities strengthen muscles?

Muscle strength is necessary for daily activities, and to build and maintain strong bones, regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and help maintain a healthy weight.

For young people, muscle-strengthening activities are those that require them to lift their own bodyweight or work against a resistance, such as lifting a weight.

Examples of muscle-strengthening activities suitable for children include:

• games such as tug of war
• swinging on playground equipment bars
• gymnastics
• rope or tree climbing
• sit-ups, press-ups, and other similar exercises
• gymnastics
• football
• rugby
• tennis

Examples of muscle-strengthening activities suitable for young people include:

• sit-ups, press-ups, and other similar exercises
• gymnastics
• resistance exercises with exercise bands, weight machines or handheld weights
• rock climbing
• football
• basketball
• tennis

Children and young people should take part in activities appropriate for their age and stage of development.

What activities strengthen bones?

Examples of bone-strengthening activities for children include:

• activities that require children to lift their body weight or work against a resistance
• jumping and climbing activities, combined with the use of playground equipment and toys
• games such as hopscotch
• skipping with a rope
• walking
• running
• gymnastics
• dance
• football
• basketball
• martial arts

Examples of bone-strengthening activities for young people include:

• dance
• aerobics
• weight training
• running
• gymnastics
• football
• rugby
• netball
• hockey
• badminton
• tennis
• skipping with a rope
• martial arts

Children and young people should take part in activities appropriate for their age and stage of development.

Physical activities and guidelines for Adults ( age from 19 to 64 ) –

To stay healthy, adults aged 19 to 64 should try to be active daily and should do:

• at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or brisk walking every day and
• strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

Or:

• 20 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity such as running or a game of singles tennis every day and
• strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

Or:

• a mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity every week – for example, two 30-minute runs plus 30 minutes of brisk walking equates to 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity and
• strength exercises on 2 or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

A good rule is that 1 minute of vigorous activity provides the same health benefits as 2 minutes of moderate activity.

One way to do your recommended 150 minutes of weekly physical activity is to do 30 minutes on 5 days every week.

All adults should also break up long periods of sitting with light activity.

What counts as a moderate aerobic activity?

Examples of activities that require moderate effort for most people include:

• brisk walking
• water aerobics
• riding a bike on level ground or with few hills
• doubles tennis
• pushing a lawnmower
• hiking
• skateboarding
• rollerblading
• volleyball
• basketball

Moderate activity will raise your heart rate, and make you breathe faster and feel warmer.

One way to tell if you’re working at a moderate level is if you can still talk, but you can’t sing the words to a song.

What counts as vigorous activity?

There’s good evidence that vigorous activity can bring health benefits over and above that of moderate activity.

Examples of activities that require vigorous effort for most people include:

• jogging or running
• swimming fast
• riding a bike fast or on hills
• singles tennis
• football
• rugby
• skipping rope
• hockey
• aerobics
• gymnastics
• martial arts

Vigorous activity makes you breathe hard and fast. If you’re working at this level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

In general, 20 minutes of vigorous activity can give similar health benefits to 30 minutes of moderate activity.

What activities strengthen muscles?

Muscle strength is necessary for:

• all daily movement
• to build and maintain strong bones
• to regulate blood sugar and blood pressure
• to help maintain a healthy weight

Muscle-strengthening exercises are counted in repetitions and sets. A repetition is 1 complete movement of an activity, like a bicep curl or a sit-up. A set is a group of repetitions.

For each strength exercise, try to do:

• at least 1 set
• 8 to 12 repetitions in each set

To get health benefits from strength exercises, you should do them to the point where you struggle to complete another repetition.

There are many ways you can strengthen your muscles, whether it’s at home or in the gym.

Examples of muscle-strengthening activities for most people include:

• lifting weights
• working with resistance bands
• doing exercises that use your own body weight, such as push-ups and sit-ups
• heavy gardening, such as digging and shoveling
• yoga

You can do activities that strengthen your muscles on the same day or on different days as your aerobic activity – whatever’s best for you.

Muscle-strengthening exercises are not an aerobic activity, so you’ll need to do them in addition to your 150 minutes of aerobic activity.

Some vigorous activities count as both aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activity.

Examples include:

• circuit training
• aerobics
• running
• football
• rugby
• netball
• hockey

Guidelines for older adults ( above 65 years ) –

Adults aged 65 or older who are generally fit and have no health conditions that limit their mobility should try to be active daily and should do:

• at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or walking every day, and
• strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

Or

• 20 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity such as running or a game of singles tennis every day, and
• strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

Or

• a mix of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity every week. For example, two 30-minute runs plus 30 minutes of brisk walking equates to 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, and
• strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms)

A rule of thumb is that one minute of vigorous activity provides the same health benefits as two minutes of moderate activity.

You should also try to break up long periods of sitting with light activity, as sedentary behavior is now considered an independent risk factor for ill-health, no matter how much exercise you do.

Older adults at risk of falls, such as people with weak legs, poor balance, and some medical conditions, should do exercises to improve balance and co-ordination on at least two days a week. Examples include yoga, tai chi, and dancing.

What counts as a moderate aerobic activity?

Examples of activities that require moderate effort for most people include:

• walking
• water aerobics
• ballroom and line dancing
• riding a bike on level ground or with few hills
• playing doubles tennis
• pushing a lawnmower
• canoeing
• volleyball

Moderate activity will raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster and feel warmer. One way to tell if you’re exercising at a moderate level is if you can still talk but can’t sing the words to a song.

Daily chores such as shopping, cooking or housework don’t count towards your 150 minutes, because the effort isn’t enough to raise your heart rate, but they are important nonetheless, as they break up periods of sitting.

What counts as vigorous aerobic activity?

There is good evidence that vigorous activity can bring health benefits over and above that of moderate activity.

Examples of activities that require vigorous effort for most people include:

• jogging or running
• aerobics
• swimming fast
• riding a bike fast or on hills
• singles tennis
• football
• hiking uphill
• energetic dancing
• martial arts

Vigorous activity makes you breathe hard and fast. If you’re working at this level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for breath.

In general, 30 minutes of vigorous activity can give similar health benefits to 150 minutes of moderate activity.

What activities strengthen muscles?

Muscle strength is necessary for:

• all daily movement
• building and maintaining strong bones
• regulating blood sugar and blood pressure
• maintaining a healthy weight

Muscle-strengthening exercises are counted in repetitions and sets. A repetition is one complete movement of an activity, such as a bicep curl or a sit-up. A set is a group of repetitions.

For each strength exercise, try to do:

• at least one set
• 8 to 12 repetitions in each set

To gain health benefits from strength exercises, you should do them to the point where you find it hard to complete another repetition.

There are many ways you can strengthen your muscles, whether at home or in the gym. Examples of muscle-strengthening activities include:

• carrying or moving heavy loads, such as groceries
• activities that involve stepping and jumping, such as dancing
• heavy gardening, such as digging or shoveling
• exercises that use your body weight for resistance, such as push-ups or sit-ups
• yoga
• lifting weights

You can do activities that strengthen your muscles on the same day or on different days as your aerobic activity – whatever’s best for you.

Muscle-strengthening exercises are not an aerobic activity, so you’ll need to do them in addition to your 150 minutes of aerobic activity.

Some vigorous activities count as both aerobic activity and muscle-strengthening activity.

Examples include:

• circuit training
• aerobics
• running
• football
• rugby
• netball
• hockey

1. I’m not particularly active, and I haven’t exercised in years. Is it safe for me to start now?

Answer: If you haven’t been active for a long time, it’s important to start out at a low level of effort and work your way up slowly. Beginning slowly will help you become more fit without straining your body. For example, you may want to start with walking, biking, or swimming at a comfortable pace and then gradually do more, or start strengthening exercises with 1- or 2-pound weights and gradually add heavier weights. You may want to talk with your doctor if you decide to start a vigorous exercise program or significantly increase your physical activity.

2. I have a medical condition (such as arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease). Is it safe for me to exercise?

Answer: Exercise is safe for almost everyone. In fact, studies show that people with arthritis, high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease benefit from regular exercise and physical activity. In some cases, exercise actually can improve some of these conditions. You may want to talk with your doctor about how your health condition might affect your ability to be active.

3. Isn’t it better for older adults to “take it easy” and save their strength?

Answer: Regular physical activity is very important to the health and abilities of older people. In fact, studies show that “taking it easy” is risky. For the most part, when older people lose their ability to do things on their own, it doesn’t happen just because they’ve aged. It’s usually because they’re not active. Inactive people are nearly twice as likely to develop heart disease as those who are more active. Lack of physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses.

4. How much physical activity do I need?

Answer: The goal is to achieve at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity endurance activity daily. Being active at least 3 days a week is best, but doing anything is better than doing nothing at all. If you cannot do 150 minutes a week because of a health condition, do as much as your condition allows. Try to do all four types of exercises — endurance, balance, flexibility, and strength. Try to do strength exercises for all of your major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, but don’t do strength exercises of the same muscle group 2 days in a row.

5. How hard should I exercise?

Answer: We can’t tell you exactly how many pounds to lift or how steep a hill you should climb to reach a moderate or vigorous level of exercise because what’s easy for one person might be difficult for another. You should match your activity to your own needs and abilities. Start from where you are and build up from there. Listen to your body. During moderate activity, for instance, you can sense that you are pushing yourself but that you aren’t near your limit. As you become more fit, gradually make your activities more difficult. Generally, the more vigorous the activity and the more time you spend doing it, the more health benefits you will receive.

6. How long do I need to be active before I see results?

Answer: Once you start being physically active, you’ll begin to see results in just a few weeks. You may feel stronger and more energetic than before. You may notice that you can do things more easily, faster, or for longer than before. As you become more fit, you may need to make your activities more challenging to see additional results.

7. Do I get enough physical activity in my regular day-to-day activities?

Answer: One way to find out is to check your Activity Log. Did you list physical activities that get your body moving, such as yard work, walking the dog, raking leaves, or climbing stairs? How about weight training or an aerobics class? There are many ways to be active every day. The key is to do all four of the major types of exercises regularly and increase your level of effort over time.

8. I’m healthy now. Why do I need to be active?

Answer: Research shows that exercise and physical activity can maintain and even improve your health. For example, exercise and physical activity can help you manage and even prevent diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

9. I find it hard to make myself be active. What can I do?

Answer: You’re more likely to keep going if you choose activities you enjoy if you can fit them into your schedule, if you believe you’ll benefit from them, and if you feel you can do them safely and correctly. Making a contract with a friend or family member also may help you keep your commitment. Setting small, realistic goals, checking your progress, and rewarding yourself when you reach your goal also can help. If you can stick with an exercise routine or physical activity for at least 6 months, it’s a good sign that you’re on your way to making physical activity a regular habit.

10. How do I find time to be active?

Answer: There are a number of ways to fit exercise and physical activity into your schedule. For example, exercise first thing in the morning before your day gets too busy, or combine physical activity with a task that’s already part of your day, such as walking the dog or doing household chores. If you don’t have 30 minutes in your daily routine to be active, look for three 10-minute periods.

11. What kind of equipment do I need? I can’t afford exercise equipment.

Answer: For many activities, you don’t need any equipment or special clothing. All you need for brisk walking, for example, is a pair of comfortable, non-skid shoes. For strength training, you can make your own weights from unbreakable household items. Many communities offer free or low-cost programs for seniors. Check with your local parks and recreation department or senior center about the facilities and programs in your area. In addition, some local fitness centers may offer senior discounts.

12. What if I have an injury or health problem that keeps me from exercising for a while? How do I know if it’s safe for me to start again?

Answer: If you miss a few days or weeks of exercise because of an injury or illness, don’t be discouraged. Once you recover, you can start again and be successful. Talk with your health care provider about when you can resume your regular routine. When you start again, begin at about half the effort you were putting in when you stopped, then gradually build back up. With a little time, you’ll be back at the same, or a better, fitness level.

13. I get tired easily. What is the best physical activity for me?

Answer: Once you become active, you’re likely to have more energy than before. As you do more, you also may notice that you can do things more easily, faster, and for longer than before. Regular, moderate physical activity can help reduce fatigue and even help you manage stress.

14. I’ve been exercising for some time now. Why am I not seeing any more real improvements?

Answer: As your body gets used to a level of exercise, you’ll need to vary your exercise or do more in order to see additional progress. If you are able, do your activities longer, farther, or harder. Do the activities more often, or add new physical activities to your routine.

15. I’m 81 years old. Should I be exercising, and will it make a difference at my age?

Answer: Yes, staying active is important throughout life. Regular exercise and physical activity help you stay strong and fit enough to keep doing the things you enjoy. No matter what your age, you can find activities that meet your fitness level and needs.

16. What kinds of shoes are best for walking or other types of physical activity?

Answer: Look for sensible shoes that support your feet. Make sure they have flat, non-skid soles and are comfortable. Avoid shoes with thick, heavy soles. If tying laces is difficult, look for shoes with Velcro® fasteners. When you buy shoes, try on several pairs so that you’re sure to get a pair that fits well.

17. Do I need to do other exercises in addition to my usual walking routine?

Answer: Most people tend to focus on one type of exercise or activity and think they’re doing enough. Try to do all four types — endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance — because each one has different benefits. Doing one kind also can improve your ability to do the others. In addition, variety helps reduce boredom and the risk of injury.

18. Is it better to join an exercise class or group, or exercise on my own?

Answer: There are many ways to be active. The key is to find activities you truly enjoy. If you prefer individual activities, try swimming, gardening, or walking. Dancing or playing tennis may be for you if you enjoy two-person activities. If group activities appeal to you, try a sport such as basketball or join an exercise class. Some people find that going to a gym regularly or working with a fitness trainer helps them stay motivated.

19. If I’m overweight or obese, what kinds of physical activity can I do?

Answer: You can do all kinds of physical activities, including the four types of exercise shown later. Try walking, water exercises, dancing, or weight lifting. Anything that gets you moving — even for only a few minutes a day in the beginning — is a healthy start. Very large people may face special challenges. For example, you may not be able to bend or move easily, or you may feel self-conscious. Facing these challenges is hard — but it can be done. Feel good about what you can do, and pat yourself on the back for trying. It should get easier.

20. I don’t do any kind of physical activity, but I watch my diet and I’m not overweight. Isn’t that enough?

Answer: Eating a nutritious diet and maintaining a healthy weight is only part of a healthy lifestyle. Regular physical activity is important to the physical and mental health of almost everyone, including older adults. Being physically active can help you stay strong and fit enough to keep doing the things you enjoy and to stay independent as you get older. Together, healthy habits such as physical activity, a balanced diet, and not smoking will help you achieve the best of health.

Most important types of exercise –

Strengthening, Stretching, balance, and Endurance (Aerobics) exercises will keep you active, mobile, and feeling great. 

Exercise is key to good health. But we tend to limit ourselves to one or two types of activity. “People do what they enjoy, or what feels the most effective, so some aspects of exercise and fitness are ignored. In reality, we should all be doing aerobics, stretching, strengthening, and balance exercises. Here, we list what you need to know about each exercise type and offer examples to try, with a doctor’s okay.

Exercise and physical activity fall into four basic categories—endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. Most people tend to focus on one activity or type of exercise and think they’re doing enough. Each type is different, though. Doing them all will give you more benefits. Mixing it up also helps to reduce boredom and cut your risk of injury.

Though we’ve described each type separately, some activities fit into more than one category. For example, many endurance activities also build strength. Strength exercises also help improve balance.

1. Aerobic

• Aerobic exercise, which speeds up your heart rate and breathing, is important for many body functions. It gives your heart and lungs a workout and increases endurance. If you’re too winded to walk up a flight of stairs, that’s a good indicator that you need more aerobic exercise to help condition your heart and lungs, and get enough blood to your muscles to help them work efficiently.
• Aerobic exercise also helps relax blood vessel walls, lower blood pressure, burn body fat, lower blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, boost mood, and raise “good” HDL cholesterol. Combined with weight loss, it can lower “bad” LDL cholesterol levels, too. Over the long term, aerobic exercise reduces your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, depression, and falls.
• Aim for 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity. Try brisk walking, swimming, jogging, cycling, dancing, or classes like step aerobics.

Marching in place  

Starting position: Stand tall with your feet together and arms at your sides.
Movement: Bend your elbows and swing your arms as you lift your knees.
March in a variety of styles:

• March in place.
• March four steps forward, and then four steps back.
• March in place with feet wide apart.
• Alternate marching feet wide and together (out, out, in, in).

Tips and techniques:

• Look straight ahead, and keep your abs tight.
• Breathe comfortably, and don’t clench your fists.

Make it easier: March slower and don’t lift your knees as high.
Make it harder: Lift your knees higher, march faster, and really pump your arms.

2. Strength Training – As we age, we lose muscle mass. Strength training builds it back. Regular strength training will help you feel more confident and capable of daily tasks like carrying groceries, gardening, and lifting heavier objects around the house. Strength training will also help you stand up from a chair, get up off the floor, and go upstairs.

Strengthening your muscles not only makes you stronger, but also stimulates bone growth, lowers blood sugar, assists with weight control, improves balance and posture, and reduces stress and pain in the lower back and joints.

A physical therapist can design a strength training program that you can do two to three times a week at a gym, at home, or at work. It will likely include bodyweight exercises like squats, push-ups, and lunges, and exercises involving resistance from the weight, a band, or a weight machine.

Remember, it’s important to feel some muscle fatigue at the end of the exercise to make sure you are working or training the muscle group effectively.

Squat :

Starting position: Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms at your sides.
Movement: Slowly bend your hips and knees, lowering your buttocks about eight inches, as if you’re sitting back into a chair. Let your arms swing forward to help you balance. Keep your back straight. Slowly return to the starting position. Repeat 8-12 times.

Tips and techniques:

• Shift your weight into your heels.
• Squeeze your buttocks as you stand to help you balance.

Make it easier: Sit on the edge of a chair with your feet hip-width apart and arms crossed over your chest. Tighten your abdominal muscles and stand up. Slowly sit down with control.
Make it harder: Lower farther, but not past your thighs being parallel to the floor.

3. Stretching – Stretching helps maintain flexibility. We often overlook that in youth, when our muscles are healthier. But aging leads to a loss of flexibility in the muscles and tendons. Muscles shorten and don’t function properly. That increases the risk for muscle cramps and pain, muscle damage, strains, joint pain, and falling, and it also makes it tough to get through daily activities, such as bending down to tie your shoes.

Likewise, stretching the muscles routinely makes them longer and more flexible, which increases your range of motion and reduces pain and the risk for injury.

Aim for a program of stretching every day or at least three or four times per week.

Warm-up your muscles first, with a few minutes of dynamic stretches—repetitive motion such as marching in place or arm circles. That gets blood and oxygen to muscles and makes them amenable to change.

Then perform static stretches (holding a stretch position for up to 60 seconds) for the calves, the hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps, and the muscles of the shoulders, neck, and lower back.

However, don’t push a stretch into the painful range. That tightens the muscle and is counterproductive.

Single knee rotation :

Starting position: Lie on your back with your legs extended on the floor.
Movement: Relax your shoulders against the floor. Bend your left knee and place your left foot on your right thigh just above the knee. Tighten your abdominal muscles, then grasp your left knee with your right hand and gently pull it across your body toward your right side.
Hold 10 to 30 seconds.
Return to the starting position and repeat on the other side.

Tips and techniques:

• Stretch to the point of mild tension, not pain.
• Try to keep both shoulders flat on the floor.
• To increase the stretch, look in the direction opposite to your knee.

4 Balance Exercise – Improving your balance makes you feel steadier on your feet and helps prevent falls. It’s especially important as we get older when the systems that help us maintain balance—our vision, our inner ear, and our leg muscles and joints—tend to break down. “The good news is that training your balance can help prevent and reverse these losses,” says Wilson.

Many senior centers and gyms offer balance-focused exercise classes, such as tai chi or yoga. It’s never too early to start this type of exercise, even if you feel you don’t have balance problems.

You can also go to a physical therapist, who can determine your current balance abilities and prescribe specific exercises to target your areas of weakness. That’s especially important if you’ve had a fall or a near-fall, or if you have a fear of falling.

Typical balance exercises include standing on one foot or walking heel to toe, with your eyes open or closed. The physical therapist may also have you focus on joint flexibility, walking on uneven surfaces, and strengthening leg muscles with exercises such as squats and leg lifts. Get the proper training before attempting any of these exercises at home.

Standing Knee lift :

Starting position: Stand up straight with your feet together and your hands on your hips.

Movement: Lift your left knee toward the ceiling as high as is comfortable or until your thigh is parallel to the floor. Hold, then slowly lower your knee to the starting position.

Repeat the exercise 3-5 times.

Then perform the exercise 3-5 times with your right leg.

Tips and techniques:

• Keep your chest lifted and your shoulders down and back.
• Lift your arms out to your sides to help you balance if needed.
• Tighten your abdominal muscles throughout.
• Tighten the buttock of your standing leg for stability.
• Breathe comfortably.

Make it easier: Hold on to the back of a chair or counter with one hand.

Make it harder: Lower your leg all the way to the floor without touching it. Just as it is about to touch, lift your leg up again.

5 Anaerobic

Anaerobic exercises increase the force your muscle contractions can generate, and may increase your strength, speed, or power output. Weightlifting, sprinting and polymetric are examples of anaerobic exercise. This type of exercise involves performing fewer, and more intense, muscle contractions than aerobic exercise. For example, heavy weightlifting exercises exhaust your muscles after fewer contractions, because each contraction is particularly intense. Anaerobic exercises, which exhaust your muscles in 15 or fewer repetitions, may provide optimal strength gains. Increasing the power of each contraction may require exercises that exhaust your muscles in under six repetitions.

6 Cycling for weight loss

It’s challenging, sociable and offers a great workout. Suitable for everyone, any age or level of fitness, cycling helps weight loss as it burns calories, improves health and gets you out and about.

More and more cycle paths are being opened and biking to lose weight is becoming a more comfortable and enjoyable option. What a great way to get out in the fresh air and help your weight loss goals!

 7 Spinning – A high calorie-burning workout

Spinning is a high calorie-burning workout for people of all ages and fitness levels. It uses special spin cycles that, unlike stationary bikes, perform like road bikes. For this reason, spin cycles offer the exerciser a more complete workout.  Spin cyclists, sit in a racing position and lean forward toward the handlebars. When resistance is at its greatest during the spin workout, the cyclist is free to stand up out of the saddle, using muscles in the back, chest, upper arms (biceps and triceps), buttocks (gluteus maximus), entire legs, and abdomen. With more muscle groups engaged, the heart works harder as it sends oxygen-rich blood where it’s needed.

Although spinning requires a moderate financial investment compared with walking or running, its superior results make the investment worthwhile. Spinning workout provides a very high heart rate response and high-calorie expenditure.

8 Jump Rope

Burn 135 calories in just 10 minutes with this jump rope workout that sculpts your shoulders, chest, arms, and legs.

How to jump rope –

• Jump 1 to 2 inches off the floor, giving rope just enough space to slip under feet — only the balls of feet should touch the floor.
• Keep elbows close to sides as you turn the rope. The movement comes from the wrists and forearms, not the shoulders.
• If you tire out before you finish the workout, drop the rope, but keep arms and legs going. Work up to using the rope full-time.
• To find a rope that fits places one foot in the center of the rope and lift the handles — they shouldn’t go past your armpits.

Different type of rope exercise are single jump, Step touch, front-back, Double jump, Slalom, running and jumping jack

9 Stair Climber 

A stair climber could be the secret to burning major calories during your workout. Stair climber machine, step mill, StairMaster, stair stepper machine, stair workout machine, step machine, step climber—there are tons of names for this machine. It became a fan favorite after being introduced in the 1980s due to its low impact nature. It’s also popular due to its ability to increase both endurance and stamina.

Stair climber workouts allow you to burn calories while developing strength and power. You can modify to make your stair climber workout more challenging or add variability, such as intervals, taking stairs one step at a time in a workout for beginners, or exploring the challenge of two or three steps at a time.

If you have any lower back or knee pain, warm up with basic mobility exercises for your foot, ankle, hips, and spine prior to getting on the stair climber. Foam roll your calves, inner thighs, quads, glutes, and mid-back. This will hydrate your tissues and help create more space between your joints so you can climb more without pain, tightness, or stiffness.

10 Step Aerobics –

Step aerobics is a classic cardio workout. It’s lasted for decades because it delivers results.

The “step” is a 4-inch to a 12-inch raised platform. You step up, around, and down from the platform in different patterns to boost your heart rate and breathing, and strengthen your muscles.

Step aerobics moves range from simple to advanced. The most basic is a step-up, step-down. Once you get more experienced, you do moves that take you over the top and around the step forwards, sideways, and backward.

Most people take step aerobics classes at a gym, with an instructor showing you each move. The instructor and the upbeat music motivate you to keep going.

Your class will start with a warm-up, followed by choreographed routines on the step, and a cool down at the end. In some classes, you’ll use hand weights for strength-training moves off the step.

Areas it targets –

• Core: Yes. Your core muscles stabilize you as you’re stepping. You’ll also burn fat and get stronger abs.
• Arms: Yes. Your lower body is the star of step aerobics, but you may also use your arms and do strength- training exercises with weights specifically for your arms.
• Legs: Yes. Stepping up and down works your calves, quadriceps, and hamstrings.
• Glutes: Yes. All those step-ups strengthen and tone your buttocks.
• Back: Yes. You’ll use the muscles in your lower back with each step.

11 Calisthenics –

The word calisthenics comes from the Greek words kallos (beauty) and sthenos (strength). Indeed, there’s a timeless beauty to training for strength and flexibility via pushing, pulling, lunging, and lifting movements using little to no equipment. When performed in a continuous, rigorous fashion, calisthenics train up your strength and aerobic capacity.

Calisthenics prescribed by generations of drill sergeants and gym teachers has been rebranded in recent years as body-weight exercises. Much of what constitutes CrossFit, boot camps, and obstacle race training is simply calisthenics, except with better marketing and packaging.

Calisthenics is best described as a workout mostly using your own body weight. By training it, not only will you develop an amazing physique but you will also gain superb body control by learning a range of advanced movements. To begin the only things you need are motivation and a structured program. Keep in mind that nothing comes easy, but if you are looking for a passion that will dramatically change your life – Calisthenics is the way to go.

If You have just 15 minutes in the morning while traveling, not even enough time to venture to the gym. You have time for three sets of these.

Pushups (10), Lateral Lunge (10 per side), Plank (One Minute), Squats (10), Crunches (20).

The great thing about calisthenics is that you can do them anywhere.  They’re a great way to exercise and stay active all day long.

12 Circuit Training –

Circuit training is a style of workout where you cycle through several exercises (usually five to 10) targeting different muscle groups with minimal rest in between. The result is a workout that taxes your muscular strength and endurance and your cardiorespiratory system.

Why Circuit train

There are many reasons to use circuit training including:

While circuit training has a ton of benefits, figuring out how to set up an effective circuit workout on your own can be intimidating at first. That’s why we pulled together six easy steps to help you build your perfect circuit workout.

1. Select your time limit.
2. Pick an upper-body exercise – Shoulder press, Pushups, Bent-over row, Etc.,
3. Pic a lower body exercise – Forward lunge, Calf raise, Sumo Squat, Etc.,
4. Pick a compound exercise – Jumping lunge, mountain climbers, Bench hop-over, Etc.,
5. Choose a sprint for 1 minute – Running, Rowing, Cycling, Etc.,
6. Rest for 1 minute – You’ve earned it. Let your heart rate come down and then go back through the circuit as many times as you’d like for a complete workout.

13 Swimming –

Freestyle – This is the most popular stroke and the easiest for beginners to learn. It is a simple flutter kick and windmill arm motion, like the backstroke, only on your belly. The most difficult part is coordinating the breathing since your face is in the water most of the time.

14 Rowing machine –

While the rowing machine is an incredibly efficient, full-body workout that allows the athlete to build aerobic endurance and muscular strength at the same time, a lack of proper technique and training is common among gym-goers and can lead to injuries and misuse.

In order to get the most out of your time on the rowing machine you should:

• Incorporate these erg workouts into your fitness routine.
• Make sure to avoid the following common mistakes and always keep an eye on technical focuses during the workout, even when you’re feeling fatigued.
• Take some time to get to know the machine itself and understand the way the screen settings work.

Experienced collegiate crews make the rowing stroke look easy and pretty darn effortless. But make no mistake, the rowing stroke is nuanced, complex, and can take years to master on the water. Luckily for those of you at the gym, the erg is a far simpler machine that can be perfected with some basic knowledge of technique and a little bit of practice

15 Weight Training –

This workout is designed for overall health and fitness gains of a healthy, adult individual who has never lifted weights before, or who are very inexperienced at it.

Weight training involves using some type of resistance to doing a variety of exercises designed to challenge all your muscle groups, including your chest, back, shoulder, biceps, triceps, core, and lower body.

The idea is that, when you use more resistance than your body normally handles, your muscles get stronger, along with your bones and connective tissue, all while building lean muscle tissue.

Weight training doesn’t mean you have to use things like dumbbells or machines, although those work. Anything that provides resistance can do the job—resistance bands, barbells, a heavy backpack, or, if you’re a beginner, your own bodyweight might be enough to get you started.

Benefits of Weight training –

• Help raise your metabolism—Muscle burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn all day long.
• Strengthen bones, especially important for women.
• Strengthen connective tissue—As we get older, we need to protect our tendons and ligaments, and a strong body can help you do that.
• Make you stronger and increase muscular endurance—This makes everyday activities much easier.
• Help you avoid injuries.
• Increase your confidence and self-esteem.
• Improve coordination and balance

16 Brisk Walking  –

Brisk walking is moderate-intensity exercise and has more benefits for fitness and reducing health risks than walking at an easy pace. How fast you must walk for it to be considered a brisk pace depends on your fitness level. Learn what you can do to improve your walking technique so you can boost your average walking speed.

A brisk walking pace is 3.0 miles per hour or about 20 minutes per mile, which is about 5 kilometers per hour or 12 minutes per kilometer. You can calculate your walking pace after measuring the time it takes you to walk a mile or a kilometer. Walking speedometers and apps that use GPS or step cadence also can be used to display your walking speed.

Brisk walking refers to your exertion rather than your speed. Exertion is measured by your heart rate and breathing rate. For your walking pace to be brisk, you need to be breathing harder than usual. While you should be able to speak in full sentences, you shouldn’t be able to sing.

Walking techniques for faster walking –

Walking posture –

1.  Stand up straight, without arching you back.
2. Do not lean forward or back.
3. Keep your eyes forward and don’t look down. Focus 20 feet ahead.
4. Your head should be up so your chin is parallel to the ground, reducing strain on your neck and back.
5. Your head should be up so your chin is parallel to the ground, reducing strain on your neck and back.
6. Suck in your stomach. Keep your abdominal muscles firm but not overly tightened.
7. Tuck in your behind by rotating your hips forward slightly. This will keep you from arching your back.
8. Your head should remain level as you walk, all motion should take place from the shoulders down.
9. Relax your jaw to avoid tension in your neck.

Walking don’ts

1. Do not overstride.2. Do not use too vigorous arm movements3. Do not look at the ground4. Do not hunch your shoulders5. Do not carry hand weights or place weights on your ankles

When you are able to walk briskly for 15 to 30 minutes, you can use your new brisk walking technique to build fitness and ensure you are getting the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week.

17. Box Jump –

This is a dynamic exercise that only requires an elevated surface. Once you figure that part out, you’re ready to break a serious sweat. Just jump up onto the box/park bench/bed/etc. and then jump down again. Repeat this until your lower body is destroyed.

18. Plank –

21. Fusion –

Getting bored with your bog-standard spin or yoga class, then fusion is the answer for you, fusing two or more types of exercise together to make you work twice as hard. The combinations of different fitness classes mean you get double the benefits, anywhere from fitness and endurance to flexibility and mobility, anything and everything involved in exercise is improved in some way by fusion’s combinatory nature. Anything from Hydroride, Piloxing, and Disco yoga, the combinations are endless, it’s just about finding a class that appeals and works best for you.

22. Gymnastics –

Gymnastics can be great to gain overall body strength, flexibility, and balance. Unlike weight training, gymnastics is a great way to gain overall body strength in one session, as you’re not just using the one or two muscles with resistance, instead you are fully engaging entire body strength, particularly working that core. Gymnastics is a great way to sculpt and tone your body, burning those calories with calisthenic exercises, whilst limbering you up and helping you into the splits in no time!

23. Insanity –

Combining cardio, resistance, and circuit training, using no gym equipment but purely bodyweight resistance, insanity does what it says on the label, work your body to insane levels. As one of the hardest workouts, insanity pushes your body to the max in set routines over weeks, using three-minute intervals and 30 second recovery periods. Insanity increases your cardio and strength intensity with high-impact exercises and demanding interval programs. Perfect for those who have limited schedules and cannot find time to go to the gym, insanity is perfect for working the body hard without the time or money commitment.

24. jumping –

Jumping is the crazy new fitness class that involves a high cardio workout of basic choreographed jumping around on an individual trampoline to fast-paced music. As an exciting new form of fitness. Jumping is a great way to increase your cardio whilst working the legs and bum. Any youtube video will show a high energy leg workout as the class does some fast-paced jumps whilst holding on the handles. Guaranteed to burn those calories whilst working those muscles.

25. Kickboxercise –

Boxercise and kick boxercise are derivatives of boxing and kickboxing and use the drills and techniques of their respective sports in a non-contact setting, usually in the form of a circuit. For example, you might find yourself shadow boxing, skipping, using punch bags, or teaming up with a partner to punch or kick focus pads. Both are considered one of the best all-round high-intensity exercise classes to get you in great shape. One study found that people felt calmer, more focused, and less anxious after a kickboxing class. Taking out all that aggression on a punching bag can, therefore, be a great stress reliever!

26. Nia Technique –

Nia is a new form of exercise that’s an ideal form of low-impact dance exercise, engaging both the mind and body through cardio movements and strength training. Concerning 52 dance movements, inspired by a variety of dance forms, including modern, tai chi, and taekwondo to a multitude of music genres, whilst mixing it up with a bit of yoga. If you’re getting bored of the standard dance classes, nia-technique is a less impactive and alternative version of regular dance exercise, whilst still engaging the cardio and strength forms of exercise.

27. Pilates –

Similar to yoga, Pilates uses controlled movements, calming the mind, but demanding more of your muscles and control than the balance centered yoga moves. Pilates usually involves alternating and repeating movements whilst holding your body and core still and controlled. This exercise is perfect for cooling down after some cardio, yet still engaging your muscles for a hard workout, whilst clearing the mind and learning good breath control.

28. Rope Training –

Such a simple form of training, but rope classes are a great way to include an intense muscle workout whilst having a bit of fun! Let’s face it waving big ropes around as fast as you can for a short period of time is a very intense workout, feeling it in the upper body immediately. Plus when working together the motivation bouncing off each other is ideal to get those arms pumping faster. Sometimes trying new things in the gym can be daunting, for fear of doing it wrong or looking weak and feeble, but joining a rope class is a great way to get started without the funny looks you may get in the gym. 

Everyone is looking to get an edge in their personal and professional lives. And while most people know that exercise can make you feel good and help keep you sharp, few people realize how deep the benefits really go, especially for the brain.

Not only is exercise the most scientifically proven cognitive enhancer, but the brain benefits of exercise can also touch almost every aspect of your life.

Given the overwhelming evidence, it seems obvious that we should all be physically active. It’s essential if you want to live a healthy and fulfilling life into old age.

It’s medically proven that people who do regular physical activity have:

• up to a 35% lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke
• up to a 50% lower risk of type 2 diabetes
• up to a 50% lower risk of colon cancer
• up to a 20% lower risk of breast cancer
• a 30% lower risk of early death
• up to an 83% lower risk of osteoarthritis
• up to a 68% lower risk of hip fracture
• a 30% lower risk of falls (among older adults)
• up to a 30% lower risk of depression
• up to a 30% lower risk of dementia.
  1. Exercise is great for your brain: It’s linked to less depression, better memory, and quicker learning. Studies also suggest that exercise is, as of now, the best way to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
  2. You might get happier – Countless studies show that many types of exercise, from walking to cycling, make people feel better and can even relieve symptoms of depression. Exercise triggers the release of chemicals in the brain—serotonin, norepinephrine, endorphins, dopamine—that dull pain, lighten the mood, and relieve stress.
  3. It might make you age slower – Exercise has been shown to lengthen lifespan by as much as five years. A small new study suggests that moderate-intensity exercise may slow down the aging of cells. As humans get older and their cells divide over and over again, their telomeres—the protective caps on the end of chromosomes—get shorter.
  4. It’ll make your skin look better – Aerobic exercise revs up blood flow to the skin, delivering oxygen and nutrients that improve skin health and even help wounds heal faster. “That’s why when people have injuries, they should get moving as quickly as possible—not only to make sure the muscle doesn’t atrophy but to make sure there’s good blood flow to the skin. The skin also serves as a release point for heat. The heat in the muscle transfers to the blood, which shuttles it to the skin; it can then escape into the atmosphere.
  5. Amazing things can happen in just a few minutes – Psychologists have proved that a micro workout of about 10 minutes with a few seconds intervals carries hard-as-you can exercise followed by brief recoveries. This option resulted in identical improvements in heart function and blood-sugar control, even though one workout was five times longer than the other. If you’re willing and able to push hard, you can get away with surprisingly little exercise.
  6. It can help you recover from major illness – Even very vigorous exercise—like the interval workouts can, in fact, be appropriate for people with different chronic conditions, from Type 2 diabetes to heart failure. Few hundred Clinical trials discovered that for people recovering from a stroke, exercise was even more effective at helping them rehabilitate.
  7. Your FAT cells will shrink – The body uses both carbohydrates and fats as energy sources. But after consistent aerobic exercise training, the body gets better at burning fat, which requires a lot of oxygen to convert it into energy. One of the benefits of exercise training is that our cardiovascular system gets stronger and better at delivering oxygen, so we are able to metabolize more fat as an energy source. As a result, your fat cells—which produce the substances responsible for chronic low-grade inflammation—shrink, and so does inflammation.
  8. It is good for your muscles and bones- Exercise plays a vital role in building and maintaining strong muscles and bones. Physical activity like weight lifting can stimulate muscle building when paired with adequate protein intake.

As people age, they tend to lose muscle mass and function, which can lead to injuries and disabilities. Practicing regular physical activity is essential to reducing muscle loss and maintaining strength as you age. Exercise helps build bone density when you’re younger, in addition to helping prevent osteoporosis later in life.

Interestingly, high-impact exercises, such as gymnastics or running, or odd-impact sports, such as soccer and basketball, have been shown to promote a higher bone density than non-impact sports like swimming and cycling.

9. It can increase your energy level – Exercise can be a real energy booster for healthy people, as well as those suffering from various medical conditions.

One study found that six weeks of regular exercise reduced feelings of fatigue for 36 healthy people who had reported persistent fatigue. Furthermore, exercise can significantly increase energy levels for people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and other serious illnesses.

In fact, exercise seems to be more effective at combating CFS than other treatments, including passive therapies like relaxation and stretching, or no treatment at all.

10. It can help with relaxation and sleep quality – Regular exercise can help you relax and sleep better. In regards to sleep quality, the energy depletion that occurs during exercise stimulates recuperative processes during sleep.

Moreover, the increase in body temperature that occurs during    exercise is thought to improve sleep quality by helping it drop during sleep

11. It can reduce pain – Chronic pain can be debilitating, but exercise can actually help reduce it. In fact, for many years, the recommendation for treating chronic pain was rest and inactivity. However, recent studies show that exercise helps relieve chronic pain. A review of several studies indicates that exercise helps participants with chronic pain reduce their pain and improve their quality of life
12. It can promote a better sex life – Exercise has been proven to boost sex drive. Engaging in regular exercise can strengthen the cardiovascular system, improve blood circulation, tone muscles, and enhance flexibility, all of which can improve your sex life. Physical activity can improve sexual performance and sexual pleasure, as well as increase the frequency of sexual activity.
13. Learn to set -and achieve –goals – Whether it’s deciding to run a 10K, increasing the amount you can deadlift or increasing your bike mileage, setting and achieving fitness goals is an incredible self-confidence boost. By discovering the power of goal setting by committing to reaching an exercise milestone and then working out just how you’ll achieve it, you can enjoy the benefits of exercise and the confidence that comes along with it.
14. Reduce your risk of heart disease naturally – Get out of the medicine cabinet and reduce your risk of heart disease the natural way. During various trials, it was found that no statistically detectable differences existed between those who exercised and those who were given medications in the prevention of coronary heart disease and prediabetes.

In fact, in those patients who already had suffered a stroke, physical activity interventions were more effective than drug treatment. Work with your doctor to set up an exercise plan that works for you.

15. Increase strength and flexibility – If strength training and stretching aren’t a part of your fitness routine, it’s time to incorporate them. It increases your body’s flexibility, helping everyday tasks become easier. It also sends more blood to your muscles, improving circulation, and can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Also increased muscle helps your body burn calories more efficiently long after your workout is over. Just a few minutes a day of deep stretching can make a difference.
16. Improves memory – Aerobic exercise, like running or swimming, boosts the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning, in women with a recognized risk factor for dementia. Besides looking at brain food to boost your memory and mental skills.
17. Increases Self Confidence – Exercising can help you feel better about yourself — no matter what type of workout you do or how to fit you are. One study found that ‘the simple act of exercise and not fitness itself can convince you that you look better’. With so much emphasis on our outward appearances in society today, it’s comforting to know that one of the benefits of exercise helps people feel better about themselves and how they look naturally.
18. Perform better at work – Could the key to being more productive and happier at work lie in exercise? One study thinks so. It found that those employees who worked out before work or during their lunch hour reported feeling less stress and being happier and more productive than days when they skipped a workout. Not only that, but they also performed better on exercise days. It’s the perfect excuse for a lunchtime stroll or walking meeting.
19. Help you quit smoking – Exercise may make it easier to quit smoking by reducing your cravings and withdrawal symptoms. It can also help limit the weight you might gain when you stop smoking.
20. Help keep your thinking, learning, and judgment skills sharp as you age. Exercise stimulates your body to release proteins and other chemicals that improve the structure and function of your brain.
21. Reduce your risk of some cancers, including colon, breast, uterine, and lung
22. Reduce your risk of falls. For older adults, research shows that doing balance and muscle-strengthening activities in addition to moderate-intensity aerobic activity can help reduce your risk of falling.
23. Fights Depression – Depression is one of the most common mental conditions that affect people worldwide. A large meta-analysis analyzed the effect of exercise on alleviating symptoms of depression. Reviews showed that exercise was found to be just as effective as the other alternatives.
24. Enjoy the great outdoors – For an extra boost of self-love, take that workout outside. Exercising in the great outdoors can increase self-esteem even more. Find an outdoor workout that fits your style, whether it’s rock-climbing, hiking, renting a canoe, or just taking a jog in the park.
25. Prevent cognitive decline – Working out, especially between ages between 25 and 45, boosts the chemicals in the brain that support and prevent degeneration of the hippocampus, an important part of the brain for memory and learning.
26. Alleviate anxiety – The warm and fuzzy chemicals that are released during and after exercise can help people with anxiety disorders calm down. Hopping on the track or treadmill for some moderate-to-high intensity aerobic exercise can reduce anxiety sensitivity.
27. Tap into creativity – Supercharge post-workout inspiration by exercising outdoors and interacting with nature. Next time you need a burst of creative thinking, hit the trails for a long walk or run to refresh the body and the brain at the same time.
28. Inspire others – Whether it’s a pick-up game of soccer, a group class at the gym, or just a run with a friend, exercise rarely happens in a bubble. And that’s good news for all of us. Studies show that most people perform better on aerobic tests when paired up with a workout buddy. Even fitness beginners can inspire each other to push harder during a sweat session, so find a workout buddy and get moving!
29. Exercise improves your executive function – Exercise in multiple studies found positive effects for all ages in normal healthy participants. Overall, researchers found that exercise is a simple way for healthy people to optimize their higher-order brain functions.
30. Gives you more willpower – Exercise is one path that can increase your willpower. Short bouts of exercise had a significant effect across all age groups in areas of executive function, along with inhibition and interference control – which is better known as willpower.
31. Increases pain tolerance – It has been pretty well documented that intense exercise can dull pain in the short term. Your body releases endorphins and other chemicals during and shortly after exercise that will decrease pain in the body.
32. Helps you eat healthier – If you’ve ever started an exercise program and stuck with it for a period of time, you may have noticed your eating habits changing as well. Apparently, this is a happy side effect of exercise.
33. Jumpstart learning – There are some other related exercise benefits that are most likely responsible for improved learning. The sharper memory, an increase in attention, and exercises ability to spur the growth of new brain cells would be the big ones.  They can all play a vital role in helping one learn and retain new information.
34. Increases your productivity – Exercise impacts more than your academic or personal life. It can also have a positive effect on your professional life as well. Researchers found that people reported several positive effects in the workplace from working out during their break or if they exercised before work. The benefits included better time management, better mood, and increased employee tolerance. On days where employees didn’t exercise, the benefits were not seen.

Below are 100 benefits of exercise some of them are covered in detail under the benefits of exercise.

1. Reduces blood pressure
   2. Reduces cholesterol levels
   3. Increases the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol in the blood)
   4. Reduces chances for coronary heart disease
   5. Increases efficiency of the heart and lowers resting heart rate
   6. Makes heart muscles stronger
   7. Improves the contractile function of the heart
   8. Strengthens lungs
   9. Improves respiratory function
   10. Improves cardiovascular endurance and performance
   11. Provides more oxygen to the body, including organs and muscles
   12. Provides more nutrient supply to the body
   13. Reduces chances for stroke
   14. Helps to alleviate varicose veins
   15. Increases metabolic rate
   16. Stimulates digestion
   17. Makes digestion more efficient
   18. Stimulates intestinal movements, resulting in better elimination of wastes
   19. Reduces chances for colon cancer
   20. Strengthens and develops muscles
   21. Increases the efficiency of muscles
   22. Benefits joints due to stronger muscles
   23. Helps maintain cartilage health in the joints
   24. Eases muscular tension
   25. Alleviates back problems
   26. Increases muscle flexibility and agility
   27. Improves the speed of muscle contraction and reaction time
   28. More healthy skin due to the fact that skin pores open more during exercise, resulting in more efficient removal of dirt and impurities
   29. Burns up and removes toxins from the body
   30. Increases blood flow to the brain
   31. Stimulates growth of nerve cells in the memory center of the brain
   32. Improves various indexes of psychological functioning
   33. Enhances brain functioning by increasing the amount of oxygen available to it
   34. Increases sense of well being
   35. Increases resistance to pain because endorphin levels are elevated
   36. Increases sense of excitement because hormone epinephrine is elevated
   37. Alleviates boredom
   38. Lessens worry and tension
   39. Reduces stress by removing lactic acid from the blood
   40. Alleviates anxiety and/or pain because the tranquilizing effect of exercise lasts for several hours
   41. Enhances mood
   42. Reduces anxiety more effectively and safely than anxiety-reducing medication
   43. Boosts energy
   44. Improves self-esteem and self-confidence since body and mind are improved and strengthened
   45. Increases sense of self-control
   46. Provides a source of pleasure and fun
   47. Releases anger and negative emotions
   48. Reduces depression more effective than short or long-term psychotherapy
   49. Enhances coordination, power, timing, and balance
   50. Boosts immune system functioning
   51. Reduces the severity of asthma
   52. Improves functioning of organs
   53. Can relieve tension headaches
   54. Can reduce the urge to smoke because the adrenaline rush and stress relief from a brief workout can replace similar feelings smokers get from tobacco
   55. Burns calories
   56. Causes the body to use calories more efficiently
   57. Causes weight loss
   58. Allows one to keep lost weight from returning
   59. Can act as an appetite suppressant
   60. Decreases fat tissue
   61. Improves physical appearance
   62. Enhances one’s image and opinion of the body
   63. Improves bone density and prevents osteoporosis
   64. Reduces joint discomfort
   65. Help manage arthritis
   66. Allows one to feel better about their bodies and enjoy sex more as a result
   67. Provides enhanced ability to achieve orgasm
   68. Allows for greater sexual satisfaction
   69. Can reduce or eliminate impotence due to increased blood flow
   70. Prevents or manages type 2 diabetes
   71. Helps insulin work better, lowering blood sugar
   72. Has a significant salutary effect on fibrinogen levels
   73. Alleviates menstrual cramps
   74. Improves athletic performance
   75. Can add years to one’s life
   76. Enhances the quality of life
   77. Reduces pain and disability
   78. Improves glycogen storage
   79. Reduces the risk of developing certain types of cancers of the colon, prostate, uterine lining, and breast and other chronic diseases
   80. Regulates hormones
   81. Allows you to overcome illness or injury more quickly
   82. Can lessen medical bills
   83. Reduces anxiety by causing fewer worries about health
   84. Can allow for better performance at work
   85. Allows one to stay independent as they get older
   86. Can keep health care insurance premiums lower
   87. Makes one more attractive to potential mates
   88. Allows for a healthy pregnancy
   89. Increases energy and ability to do things one likes
   90. Allows you to be more productive and less stymied by stress and depression
   91. Can help make possible increased income due to increased energy
   92. Allows one to become more familiar with their body and its functioning
   93. Can stimulate mentally
   94. Lets one eat more without gaining weight
   95. Provides a healthy break from work
   96. Adds variety and spice to life
   97. Gives one increased ability to defend oneself and loved ones if needed
   98. Provides a natural high afterward, such as runners’ high
   99. Provides heightened alertness
   100. Reduces inflammation.

Scientists worked out that there must be agents in foods that were vital to health. These became known as vitamins, from ‘vital amine’. This was because scientists originally thought that all vitamins were from the family of nitrogen-containing compounds known as amines

During the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists carried out studies on animals and identified the activity of the first vitamin, antirachitic A (now called vitamin D), which cured rickets in rats. The vitamin itself was identified in 1922 as part of research into rickets.

The B vitamins are a group of eight vitamins, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12. Initially thought to be a single vitamin, vitamin B was discovered around 1915. The individual B vitamins were isolated over a number of years:

• Vitamin B1 in 1912
• Vitamin B2 in 1926
• Vitamin B3 (niacin) in 1937
• Vitamin B6 in 1934
• Vitamin B9 (folic acid) in 1933.

Vitamin A was next – it was discovered in 1917 by two groups of researchers in the USA and first synthesized in 1947 by Dutch chemists.

Vitamin C was discovered in 1912, isolated in 1932 and synthesized in 1934, making this the first synthetic vitamin to be available to people to take as a supplement. Vitamin E was discovered in 1922.

Vitamin K was discovered by German scientists in 1929 and was named the ‘Koagulationsvitamin’ (so vitamin ‘K’) because it affected the clotting of blood. It was synthesized in 1939.

Vitamins can be divided into two types – fat-soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins, vitamins A (see ‘Vitamin A’), D (see ‘Vitamin D’), E (see ‘Vitamin E’), and K (see ‘Other Vitamins’), are found in meat (especially liver), dairy products, eggs, oily fish, nuts, seeds, grains and leafy green vegetables (vitamin K is also made by some bacteria in the gut). Vitamin D is formed in the skin following exposure to sunlight. Water-soluble vitamins are the B vitamins and vitamin C.

Fat-soluble vitamins are not destroyed during cooking and do not leach into the water, unlike water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed through the walls of the small intestine in small droplets of fats and enter the bloodstream.

What Causes Deficiencies in Fat-Soluble Vitamins? If someone does not eat enough food containing fat-soluble vitamins, they will develop what is called a ‘primary deficiency’. If, however, they eat enough of the vitamins but cannot absorb or use them, whether caused by disease or drugs, they have a ‘secondary deficiency’. People with secondary deficiencies need to take additional supplements of fat-soluble vitamins.

Very low-fat diets can cause deficiencies in fat-soluble vitamins – this is a primary deficiency. Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissues, so diets have to be low in fat-soluble vitamins for a long period before the symptoms of deficiency show.

Overdose of fat-soluble vitamins – Because fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver and fatty tissues, once the levels get too high, they can remain too high for a long period, leading to something called ‘hypervitaminosis’. This is unlikely to be caused by vitamins occurring naturally in the diet but may be caused by taking high levels of supplements.

Too much vitamin A can cause dry skin, itching, headaches, jaundice, feelings of sickness and dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, muscle pain, tiredness, fever, insomnia, anemia, and increased risk of bone fractures, including hip fractures. Too much vitamin A in children can slow growth, and too much in pregnancy can cause birth defects.

Too much vitamin D can cause raised levels of calcium in the blood, high blood pressure, nausea, sickness, increased urination, increased thirst, itching, and kidney failure. Too much vitamin D in children can slow mental and physical growth. Too much vitamin K can damage the liver and blood cells.

We all know vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients the body needs – but what does each vitamin do? And which foods are vitamin powerhouses? Here’s the low-down on which letter does what, from A (that is, Vitamin A) to Z (or – zinc).

Vitamins are grouped into two categories:

Fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body’s fatty tissue. The four fat-soluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E, and K. These vitamins are absorbed more easily by the body in the presence of dietary fat.

There are nine water-soluble vitamins. The body must use water-soluble vitamins right away. Any leftover water-soluble vitamins leave the body through the urine. Vitamin B12 is the only water-soluble vitamin that can be stored in the liver for many years.

Vitamin A – This helps maintain the membranes of the eyes, the lungs, the digestive system, skin, and the immune system. It also helps in general growth and development, including healthy teeth and skin.

We need 800 micrograms daily, the amount in a portion of cooked carrots. Pregnant women or those planning to try for a baby should not have more than 1,500 micrograms a day as this can lead to birth defects.

Best sources: liver, whole milk, cheese, cod liver oil, carrots, mangoes, and other orange foods including sweet potato and cantaloupe melons.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: difficulty adapting to dim light, night blindness, or dryness of the cornea.

Vitamin B1

This helps release energy from food and maintains healthy muscles and the nervous system. We need 1.4 milligrams daily, the amount found in one slice of pork, and a serving of peas.

Best sources: meat, especially pork, yeast extract, milk, vegetables, and cheese.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: poor appetite, upset stomach, depression, and an inability to concentrate. Beriberi, which affects either the heart or the nervous system, is caused by a shortage of this vitamin. Heavy drinkers are prone to the disease as alcohol makes it more difficult for the body to absorb vitamin B1.

Vitamin B2

This helps produce immune cells and maintains the skin, hair, eyes, iron absorption, and nervous system. Daily we need 1.6 milligrams, to be found in a portion of spinach and two egg whites.

Best sources: milk, liver, eggs, cheese, rice, and green leafy vegetables.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: cracked corners around the lips or a sore tongue. A fifth of all teenage girls does not get enough of this vitamin.

Vitamin B6

This helps with the production of red blood cells and maintains brain function.

We need a daily two milligrams, found in 100g of salmon and a serving of brown rice. Vitamin B6 is destroyed by the contraceptive pill. Women taking the Pill should increase their intake of vitamin B6.

Best sources: chicken, fish, whole grains, and bananas.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: dermatitis and sores in and around the mouth. Low levels of vitamin B6 can lead to raised levels of the amino acid homocysteine which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or a stroke.

Also found in whole unprocessed foods specifically whole grains, potatoes, bananas, lentils, chili peppers, beans, yeast, and molasses

Vitamin C

It helps in strengthening blood vessels and giving skin its elasticity, anti-oxidant function, and iron absorption. It also promotes wound healing.

Best Sources: Everyone knows this one – oranges! But they’re not the only source – other fruits and veggies packed with Vitamin C include guava, red and green peppers, kiwi, grapefruits, strawberries, Brussels sprouts, and cantaloupe.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: A skin condition known as keratosis pilaris can develop. Also bumpy “chicken skin” forms on the back of the upper arms, thighs or buttocks due to a build-up of keratin protein inside the pores

Vitamin D

Also known as the sunshine vitamin. Helps in strengthening of bones.  It also helps maintain proper blood levels of calcium and phosphorus.

Best sources: Ten to 15 minutes of sunshine 3 times a week is enough to produce the body’s requirement of vitamin D for most people at most latitudes. Apart from spending a few minutes out in the sun, which stimulates Vitamin D production, you can get this nutritional must from eggs, fish, and mushrooms.  It is very hard to get enough vitamin D from food sources alone

Folic acid

This helps make red blood cells and is vital during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy to reduce the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida.

Each day we need 200 micrograms, found in two portions of steamed spinach. Women trying to become pregnant should take 400 micrograms.

Best sources: There are plenty of scrumptious natural sources of folic acid, including dark leafy greens, asparagus, broccoli, citrus fruits, beans, peas, lentils, seeds, nuts, cauliflower, beets, Whole grains, and corn.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: insomnia, depression, irritability.

Vitamin E

This helps protect cell membranes from damage so it may shield against cancer and heart disease. It also helps in blood circulation and protection from free radicals.

We need 12 milligrams daily, the amount found in a spoonful of vegetable oil.

Best sources: vegetable oils, nuts, broccoli, almonds, and seeds. You can also fill up on other nuts, sunflower seeds and tomatoes to reap the benefits.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: deficiencies tend to affect those who have difficulty absorbing fat. Symptoms include weakened muscles and tingling in the hands and feet.

Vitamin K

This helps blood coagulation – that is, the process by which your blood clots.

Best Sources:  Leafy greens are the best natural sources of Vitamin K – so make sure you’re eating lots of kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: A warning sign of a vitamin K deficiency is excessive bleeding and bruising easily, due to abnormalities of coagulation factors that help with blood clotting. This bleeding can sometimes begin as an oozing from the gums or nose.

Calcium

This is needed for strong bones and teeth, blood clotting, and muscle contraction. It may help reduce high blood pressure. The daily requirement is 800 milligrams, the amount found in a cup of milk and sardines on toast.

Best sources: milk, yogurt, cheese, black molasses,  tinned fish such as sardines with bones, seaweed, kale, and fortified juices.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: brittle bones, poor teeth, muscle twitches, and aches, and high blood pressure.

Chromium

This is needed for Glucose function – making sure every cell in your body gets energy as and when needed.

Best Sources:  As long as your diet contains servings of whole grains, fresh vegetables, and herbs, you should be getting enough chromium.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: It can contribute to the development of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Even mild deficiencies of chromium can produce problems in blood-sugar metabolism, and contribute to other symptoms such as anxiety or fatigue.

Iron

This helps make hemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen around the blood. Half of all teenage girls fail to get enough iron. Pregnant women and those who suffer heavy periods are prone to anemia caused by iron deficiency. It also builds muscles naturally and maintains healthy blood.

We need 14 milligrams of iron a day, the amount in a small serving of liver.

Best sources: Clams, liver, chicken, oily fish, wholemeal bread, soybeans, cereals, pumpkin seeds, eggs, lentils, spinach, and green leafy vegetables.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: tiredness, looking pale, and breathlessness.

Potassium

This is needed for proper fluid balance in the body, healthy kidney function, and muscle contractions. Sufficient potassium and low sodium intake can help maintain healthy blood pressure.

About 3,500 milligrams a day is the suggested potassium intake, as found in two bananas and a baked potato.

Best sources: bananas, vegetables, meat, fish, and nuts.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: mental confusion and muscle weakness. Only those on diuretics and with persistent diarrhea will be deficient in this mineral.

Magnesium

This helps convert food into energy and aids cell repair. It is also needed for healthy muscles and bones and for regulating the heartbeat.

The recommended daily allowance is 375 milligrams as found in a large handful of almonds and a large serving of broccoli.

Best sources: green leafy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seafood.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: frequent cramps and muscle weakness.

Zinc

This plays a role in immune function, fertility, and is needed for wound healing and the senses of taste and smell.

Investigations into using zinc as a possible treatment for depression are currently underway.

We need a daily 10 milligrams of zinc which you would get from a bowl of porridge and half a cup of kidney beans.

Best sources: seafood (especially oysters) meat, liver, spinach, Cashews, cereals, peas, beans, and dark chocolate.

Signs that you aren’t getting enough: taste abnormalities, reduced immunity to infections, and skin lesions.

Vegetables

Fresh vegetables are naturally low in fat, salt and sugar, making them an excellent food choice.

Vegetables provide energy, vitamins, minerals and fiber and there is growing evidence of additional health benefits from a range of phytonutrients.

Some vegetables contain higher levels of carbohydrate and are often called starchy vegetables. These are usually roots and tubers such as potatoes, yams, kumara, taro and sweet corn. The starchy vegetables are higher in energy (kilojoules) because of their carbohydrate content.

Other vegetables are classified as non-starchy. Non-starchy vegetables tend to have a higher water content, and are lower in energy but often richer in vitamins and minerals.

Aim to make half your dinner vegetables and choose a range of different coloured vegetables. About one-quarter of the plate should be starchy foods for energy.

Pytonutrients –

These are naturally occurring plant compounds. There are thousands of these different phytonutrients in vegetables, usually in small amounts. Plants produce them for their own protection from insects or bacteria, as pigments for photosynthesis (energy production) and flavour. They are often responsible for the bright colours of fruits and vegetables, and research is showing that these compounds may help reduce the risk of disease and promote health. Examples of phytonutrients are lycopene in tomatoes, beta-carotene in carrots and glucosinolates in broccoli.

There is no single magic phytonutrient that can be isolated and turned into a daily tablet! The most protective effect comes from eating a wide variety of phytonutrients as they occur naturally in plant foods.

Phytonutrients may work in lots of different ways to protect against disease and promote health. Modes of action that are being investigated include anti-inflammatory activity, boosting the body’s antioxidant defences, modulating gut microflora, lowering cholesterol, fighting bacteria and supporting the body’s immunity.

Main Pytonutrients in vegetables –

Unlike nutrients (vitamins and minerals) no recommended dietary intake levels have been established for phytonutrients. Health claims are not permitted (with the exception of some carotenoids that can be converted to vitamin A) and further human trials are required to substantiate the potential benefits suggested below.

Carbohydrates –

Carbohydrates  are a large group of organic compounds made by plants. Examples of carbohydrate are sugars, starch and cellulose and they provide our bodies with energy.

• Potatoes, yams and kumara contain carbohydrate, are called starchy vegetables and provide energy for our bodies.
• About a quarter of the plate should be made up of starchy foods, non starch vegetables should make up half the plate.

Vitamins and Minerals –

Vitamins and minerals are natural substances found in a wide range of foods and are essential to maintain a healthy body. Scientists have defined specific daily amounts necessary for good health.

Why they are important

Vitamin A stimulates new cell growth, keeps cells healthy and can help vision in dim light.  Vitamin A is found in vegetables such as pumpkin, carrots, kumara, spinach and broccoli.

Vitamin B releases energy from food, and is good for the nervous system. Green vegetables contain Vitamin B.

Vitamin C is used in tissue repair, helps the immune system by fighting against infection and helps health in general. Vitamin C also helps iron in food to be absorbed. Capsicums and parsley are excellent sources of Vitamin C with significant amounts in broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, radishes, peas, beans, asparagus. Potatoes, turnips, tomatoes, kumara, spring onions, lettuce and leeks also contain Vitamin C.

Vitamin K helps blood clot. Turnips, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, asparagus, watercress, peas and green beans have Vitamin K.

Calcium is necessary for healthy teeth, bones, hair and nails. Spinach, parsley, broccoli, celery, leeks, spring onions, cabbage and carrots contain calcium.

Potassium controls muscles and nerves and may be important in preventing high blood pressure. All vegetables contain potassium.

Iron is essential for red blood cells so that oxygen can be carried around the body. Eat vegetables that contain iron, with vegetables containing Vitamin C to help the iron be absorbed into the body. Spinach, silver beet, parsley, leeks, broccoli and mushrooms are good sources of iron.

Avoid vitamin loss in vegetable preparation and cooking by:

• Leaving the peel on as it contains vitamins as well as fiber.
• Using a sharp knife. A blunt knife causes cell damage which leads to Vitamin C loss.
• Cooking vegetables as soon as they are prepared. Don’t soak them in water as water-soluble vitamins (B and C) will be lost.
• Using a small amount of water, or preferably, steam vegetables. Save the cooking water and use it in soups, stocks, gravies or enjoy as a drink.

Fiber

Fiber keeps the digestive system healthy, helps keep a healthy body weight and decreases the risk of heart disease and cancer. Fiber has also been found to lower cholesterol levels by reducing the reabsorption of cholesterol produced by the body to help with the digestion of fat.

• All vegetables contain some fiber; some more than others. Vegetables that are high in fiber are broad beans, peas, spinach, watercress, green beans, sweet corn, silver beet, cabbage, butter beans, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
• Carrots, parsnips, turnips, potatoes and kumara have a special type of fiber  in their skins so scrub them instead of peeling them. Bake kumara and potatoes with the skin on.
• Prepare and cook vegetables the right way to preserve their valuable nutrients and fiber. Leave the peel on whenever possible.
• Vegetables that belong to the cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, swedes and Brussels sprouts) contain compounds that may be good at protecting against cancer.

Vitamins Chart for Kids –

Vitamins Chart for Teens

Vitamins Chart for Adults

A large number of people across the globe take some type of supplement each day, with multivitamin supplements being one of the more popular choices. While there can be some benefits to taking vitamin supplements, certain supplements, or combinations of supplements, can be risky for some individuals. Getting too much of some vitamins may also cause toxicity symptoms.

If you pride yourself on consuming a healthy, balanced diet, you may be considering or already taking a multi-vitamin. Or perhaps you are worried you aren’t getting enough nutrients in your diet?

A multi-vitamin is a tablet or liquid containing a variety of vitamins and is intended to supply dietary supplements for those looking for better health. Multi-vitamins can come in a range of forms, ranging from tablets and capsules to powders and liquids.

Many multi-vitamins are formulated or labeled to differentiate consumer sectors, such as prenatal, children, over 50, men’s, women’s, or diabetic, but for some nutritional experts multi-vitamins are nothing more than a multibillion-dollar industry that offers little in the way of health benefits.

Pros –

• Provide both vitamins and minerals that may be lacking in a person’s diet.
• They improve many bodily functions and can assist with mental health.
• Decrease your risk of vitamin deficiency.
• It can help you digest food.
• Allows fussy eaters, such as children, a regular intake of essential vitamins.
• Boosts energy and concentration
• Many are benefited because they take them in addition to a healthy diet and use them correctly.

Cons-

• Risk of becoming reliant on multi-vitamins.
• Risk of vitamin toxicity.
• It can in some cases cause more harm than good.
• Too many vitamins get overdosed
• Some don’t work well
• They may or may not be safe
• It’s best to avoid taking vitamin A supplements while you’re pregnant, as this may damage the development of your baby
• More than 10mg per day of vitamin B6 can lead to loss of feeling in the arms and legs
• Doses of over 1,000mg a day of vitamin C can lead to abdominal pain and diarrhea
• Taking excess doses of vitamin A can lead to liver failure and potential death.
• The excess calories can cause athletes to actually gain fat rather than muscles.
•  vitamin supplements may interfere with prescribed medicines for certain medical conditions and disorders.
• Vitamin supplements usually need to be taken daily, maintaining a vitamin supplement ‘diet’ can become expensive.

One of the biggest problems with multi-vitamins is that people presume they are a good supplement for a healthy, balanced diet. They’re not. A good diet is always the best way to achieve overall good health.

Multi-vitamins are designed for those who struggle to eat healthily, a prime example being children who are fussy about eating fruit and vegetables. Children do a lot of running around and that burns up energy and vitamins fast, so without a good diet to support an active lifestyle, a multi-vitamin could be of some benefit.

Women, on the other hand, need lots of iron to make up for the loss of minerals during monthly menstruation. With a recommended daily intake of 18 milligrams, a multi-vitamin containing iron could be beneficial.

Who should avoid supplemental vitamins –

People who take certain medications may need to limit the amount of some vitamins they take due to potential interactions.  Taking certain antioxidant vitamins, including beta carotene, can increase health risks for smokers, and pregnant women shouldn’t take excessive amounts of vitamin A because this can raise their risk of birth defects.

Vitamins have been around for nearly a hundred years. That’s enough time for scientists to learn a lot about how they work. It’s also plenty of time for rumors to spread.

• Myth #1 – Vitamins make you hungry: No study supports this. Vitamins can give you more energy, you may become more active, burn more calories, and then feel hungry. Studies actually have shown that vitamins, especially multivitamins containing chromium, appear to reduce hunger.
• Myth #2 – If I take vitamins, I don’t have to worry about diet or exercising: They’re called nutritional supplements for a reason – they supplement a healthy lifestyle that includes a balanced diet and regular exercise. Aging, stress, and other issues can make it difficult for your body to absorb nutrients from your diet. That’s why many doctors recommend a good multi.
• Myth #3 – It’s best to take vitamins on an empty stomach: Take all supplements as directed and that’s typically with food. Ingesting them with a meal helps absorption and gets you in the habit of taking them regularly.
• Myth #4- Regular activity gives me enough sunshine for sufficient Vitamin D: Most of us spend our days indoors working or watching TV. If we do go out, we slather on sunscreen. Whether you live in a sunny city, you may not be getting enough sunshine exposure to create Vitamin D. Yet Vitamin D is important for bone, breast, colon health, and more.
• Myth #5 – Organic vitamins are better than synthetic: Your body cannot tell the difference. Certain organic vitamins may have naturally occurring fiber or other nutrients that synthetic does not. Usually either will suffice.
• Myth #6 – All nutritional supplements are safe: Google the word vitamins and see how many results appear. Some are legit, some are not. How can you tell the difference? If a company makes outrageous claims to cure a disease or lose weight while you sleep, be suspicious. Look for reputable companies that sell high-quality products, are guaranteed, have a long history in the industry, and comply with FDA guidelines.
• Myth #7 – Taking vitamins affect your weight: Vitamins have no calories. There are no studies linking vitamins with weight gain.
• Myth #8 – Supplements don’t expire: Whether in capsule or tablet form, over time, even supplements kept in dark bottles will break down. Although they might not be harmful to take, they will lose some of their potency. Follow the “best used by” date.
• Myth #9 – The bathroom medicine cabinet is the best place to store vitamins: Supplements are best stored in a dry, cool place, so a medicine cabinet exposed to heat and moisture is probably not a good idea. Instead keep supplements in a kitchen cabinet away from the stove or sink.
• Myth #10 –  You can’t overdose on vitamins: It is possible to consume too many supplements. Extra amounts of water-soluble vitamins like B or C are excreted daily, fat-soluble vitamins including A and E get stored in fat tissues, so you’ll want to monitor your intake. Follow the recommended daily allowances and you should be in good shape.
• Myth #11 – Probably you need multivitamin: A large number of people take a multivitamin — but they might be just wasting their money. Scientists say there’s no strong evidence to back up the belief that taking multivitamins makes you healthier.
• Myth #12 – Vitamins, minerals, and supplements are “magic bullets” for good health: Vitamins, minerals, and supplements may provide important benefits for certain people, but, taken alone, don’t guarantee good health. Many doctors and scientists generally agree that a wellness plan should include exercise, a well-balanced diet, vitamins and supplements, restful sleep, meaningful work, school and/or volunteering, relaxation, and enjoyable time spent with families and friends.
• Myth #13 – All Multivitamins are the same: There are no legal definitions of ‘Multivitamins’. Read labels to find a “multi” that doesn’t exceed 100 percent of the Daily Value (DV) for any nutrients.
• Multi #14 – What’s listed on the label is what’s really in the product: Supplement manufacturers must list each ingredient (and its quantity) in a product, but they don’t have to prove the accuracy of these lists. To buy products with a certified seal-such as the USP seal or certification from a medical laboratory or an established brand.
• Myth #15 – Taking a multi-vitamin can make up for a poor diet and prevent disease: The fact is scientists are still undecided about whether multivitamins are effective. Some studies suggest multis protect against premature death. Others show they offer no benefit. Either way, food first is always the best prescription for needed nutrients. Nature packages vitamins and minerals in perfect combinations and benefits our bodies with yet-to-be-discovered nutrients, too. Dietary supplements are intended to supplement the diet, not replace it.
• Myth #16 – All supplements are safe because they are natural: Anything that has the potential to be healing also has the potential to be harmful. Even though nutrients come from nature, when manufacturers process them into pill-form, they become unnatural. What’s more, natural doesn’t necessarily mean safe or effective.
• Myth #17 – Supplements are never necessary: Dietary supplements may be beneficial for certain populations and to help manage various conditions. Examples include:
  • Someone on a calorie-restricted diet who may benefit from a multivitamin and mineral
  • Someone who is allergic to milk who may benefit from calcium and vitamin D
  • A vegan who may benefit from taking vitamin B12
  • Pregnant moms who benefit from taking folic acid

  The jury is out on many supplements, but most experts believe products are only helpful if you’re deficient in a given nutrient. Women who lose a lot of iron due to heavy menstrual bleeding, for example, might need an additional iron supplement while those who are going through menopause may need extra calcium and vitamin D.

• Myth #18 – Supplements don’t interact with medications:  Certain supplements, including vitamin K (which helps blood clot), zinc (which some people believe boosts immunity) and omega-3s (which thin the blood), may interact with prescription and over-the-counter medications. Whether you’re taking a daily aspirin to protect against heart disease or you’re on an antibiotic for a bacterial infection, the supplements you’re taking could interfere or enhance the effects of your medications. You should always share with your physician a list of any supplements you are currently taking to help avoid these negative interactions.
• Myth #19 – Supplements always play well together: Some supplements help each other out, just like teammates. Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron, for example. Others actually work against each other. For example, calcium blocks the absorption of iron, and zinc blocks copper absorption. So taking high doses of one nutrient can actually cause a deficiency in another. Let your doctor know about every supplement you’re taking, even if you think it’s harmless. Many vitamins and minerals, as well as herbal supplements, have side effects ranging from a rash to stomach upset. They can also interact with medications and other vitamins.
• Myth #20 – If small doses of vitamins are good, big doses must be even better: It is important to get the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of all the vitamins, but taking large doses (also known as mega-doses) can be harmful, especially for the fat-soluble vitamins that are stored in the body, but also for some of the water-soluble vitamins too.
• Myth #21 – You can’t get enough vitamins from the foods you eat: If you eat a variety of healthy foods you will get vitamins from your diet. In fact, nutritionists prefer that people get their vitamins from foods because foods that contain vitamins also have other substances that scientists have found help keep people healthy
• Myth #22 – Vitamins help me lose weight: There is no evidence that vitamins affect weight loss or gain. Herbal weight loss supplements have risen in popularity over the years, but there is little proof that they’re effective. Vitamin pills contain no calories themselves, unless you’re taking a chewable which contains sugar, but this should have little if any, the effect on your weight.
• Myth #23 –  It doesn’t matter what time of day I take my vitamins: Your body performs different functions at different times of the day, and vitamins have certain requirements for proper utilization. Most vitamins are best taken with meals. Fat-soluble vitamins need fat in order to be absorbed. Calcium should be taken before bedtime because the body utilizes the mineral at night. Vitamin C lasts only a few hours in the bloodstream and should be taken every few hours. To get the most out of your vitamins, do some research to learn more about them. If you take multiple supplements, try organizing them in a compartmentalized pillbox.
• Myth #24 – You must eliminate all fat from your diet: The most nutritionally sound approach to dietary fat is low saturated fat, not no fat. Some nutrients are found in significant quantities only in higher fat foods.

Yoga is essentially a spiritual discipline based on an extremely subtle science that focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. It is an art and science for healthy living. The word “Yoga” is derived from the Sanskrit root Yuj meaning “to join”, “to yoke” or “to unite”.

According to Yogic scriptures, the practice of Yoga leads to the union of individual consciousness with universal consciousness. According to modern scientists, everything in the universe is just a manifestation of the same quantum firmament. One who experiences this oneness of existence is said to be “in Yoga” and is termed as a yogi who has attained a state of freedom, referred to as Mukti, nirvāna, kaivalya or moksha.

“Yoga” also refers to an inner science comprising of a variety of methods through which human beings can achieve union between the body and mind to attain self-realization. The aim of Yoga practice (sādhana) is to overcome all kinds of suffering that lead to a sense of freedom in every walk of life with holistic health, happiness, and harmony.

Brief History :

The science of Yoga has its origin thousands of years ago, long before the first religion or belief systems were born. According to Yogic lore, Shiva has seen as the first yogi or ādiyogi and the first guru or ādiguru. Several thousand years ago, on the banks of lake Kantisarovar in the Himalayas, ādiyogi poured his profound knowledge into the legendary saptarishis or “seven sages”. These sages carried this powerful Yogic science to different parts of the world including Asia, the Middle East, northern Africa, and South America. Interestingly, modern scholars have noted and marveled at the close parallels found between ancient cultures across the globe. However, it was in India that the Yogic system found its fullest expression. Agastya, the saptarishi who traveled across the Indian subcontinent, crafted this culture around a core Yogic way of life.

Yoga is widely considered as an “immortal cultural outcome” of the Indus Saraswati Valley Civilisation – dating back to 2700 BC – and has proven itself to cater to both material and spiritual uplift of humanity. A number of seals and fossil remains of Indus Saraswati Valley Civilisation with Yogic motifs and figures performing Yoga sādhana suggest the presence of Yoga in ancient India. The seals and idols of mother Goddess are suggestive of Tantra Yoga. The presence of Yoga is also available in folk traditions, Vedic and Upanishadic heritage, Buddhist and Jain traditions, Darshanas, epics of Mahabharata including Bhagavadgita and Ramayana, theistic traditions of Shaivas, Vaishnavas and Tantric traditions. Though Yoga was being practiced in the pre-Vedic period, the great sage Maharishi Patanjali systematized and codified the then existing Yogic practices, its meaning, and its related knowledge through Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

After Patanjali, many sages and Yoga masters contributed greatly to the preservation and development of the field through well-documented practices and literature. Yoga has spread all over the world by the teachings of eminent Yoga masters from ancient times to the present date. Today, everybody has a conviction about Yoga practices towards the prevention of disease, maintenance, and promotion of health. Millions and millions of people across the globe have benefited by the practice of Yoga and the practice of Yoga is blossoming and growing more vibrant with each passing day.

Fundamentals of yoga :

Yoga works on the level of one’s body, mind, emotion, and energy. This has given rise to four broad classifications of Yoga: Karma Yoga where we utilize the body; Jnāna Yoga where we utilize the mind; Bhakti Yoga where we utilize the emotion and Kriya Yoga where we utilize the energy. Each system of Yoga we practice falls within the gamut of one or more of these categories.

Every individual is a unique combination of these four factors. Only a guru (teacher) can advocate the appropriate combination of the four fundamental paths as is necessary for each seeker. All ancient commentaries on Yoga have stressed that it is essential to work under the direction of a guru.

Traditional schools :

The different philosophies, traditions, lineages, and guru-shishya paramparas of Yoga led to the emergence of different traditional schools. These include Jnāna Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Pātanjala Yoga, Kunḍ ạ lini Yoga, Haṭha Yoga, Dhyāna Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga, Rāja Yoga, Jain Yoga, Bouddha Yoga, etc. Each school has its own approach and practices that lead to the ultimate aim and objectives of Yoga.

Yogic practices for health and wellness :

The widely practiced Yoga sadhanas are Yama, Niyama, Āsana, Prānāyāma, Pratyāhara, Dhārana, Dhyāna, Samādhi, Bandhas and Mudras, Shatkarmas, Yuktāhāra, Mantra-Japa, Yukta-karma, etc. Yamas are restraints and Niyamas are observances. These are considered to be pre-requisites for further Yogic practices. Āsanas, capable of bringing about the stability of body and mind, “kuryat-tadasana- sthairyam”, involve adopting various psycho-physical body patterns and giving one an ability to maintain a body position (a stable awareness of one’s structural existence) for a considerable length of time.

Prānāyāma consists of developing awareness of one’s breathing followed by willful regulation of respiration as the functional or vital basis of one’s existence. It helps in developing awareness of one’s mind and helps to establish control over the mind. In the initial stages, this is done by developing awareness of the “flow of in-breath and out-breath” (svāsa-prasvāsa) through nostrils, mouth, and other body openings, its internal and external pathways and destinations. Later, this phenomenon is modified, through regulated, controlled and monitored inhalation (svāsa) leading to the awareness of the body space getting filled (puraka), space(s) remaining in a filled state (kumbhaka) and it getting emptied (rechaka) during regulated, controlled and monitored exhalation(prasvāsa).

Pratyāhara indicates dissociation of one’s consciousness (withdrawal) from the sense organs which connect with the external objects. Dhārana indicates a broad-based field of attention (inside the body and mind) which is usually understood as concentration.

Dhyāna (meditation) is contemplation (focussed attention inside the body and mind) and Samādhi (integration).

Bandhas and Mudras are practices associated with Prānāyāma. They are viewed as the higher yogic practices that mainly adopt certain physical gestures along with control over respiration. This further facilitates control over the mind and paves the way for higher Yogic attainment. However, the practice of dhyāna, which moves one towards self-realization and leads one to transcendence, is considered the essence of Yoga Sādhana.

Śaṭkarmas are detoxification procedures that are clinical in nature and help to remove the toxins accumulated in the body. Yuktāhāra advocates appropriate food and food habits for healthy living.

On 11 December 2014, India’s Permanent Representative Asoke Mukherji introduced the draft resolution in UNGA. The draft text received broad support from 177 Member States who sponsored the text, which was adopted without a vote. This initiative found support from many global leaders. A total of 177 nations co-sponsored the resolution, which is the highest number of co-sponsors ever for any UNGA Resolution of such nature and was passed with an overwhelming majority.  “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition.” The UN declaration of Yoga Day would make people more aware of his surroundings and help him to lead a better and stress-free life.

The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by the current Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi during his UN general assembly speech at the UNGA, on 27 September 2014. The importance of yoga can be summed up in the words of Narendra Modi “Yoga is not just about exercise; it is a way to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature.”

India’s soft power ( India is a repository of an astounding wealth of living patterns and modes of heritage. With about 1,400 dialects and 18 officially recognized languages, several religions, various styles of art, architecture, literature, music, and dance, and several lifestyle patterns, the country is the largest democracy with a seamless picture of diversity and unity, perhaps unparalleled anywhere in the world ) and its new global outreach became apparent after the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 responded positively to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s suggestion that June 21 every year be commemorated worldwide as International Yoga Day.

Following this initial proposal, the UNGA held informal consultations on the draft resolution entitled “International Day of Yoga”, on 14 October 2014. The consultations were convened by the delegation of India. The UN proclaimed 21st June as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131 on 1st December 2014 proposing a dedicated day for highlighting the virtues of practicing yoga.  In 2015 Reserve Bank of India issued a 10 rupees commemorative coin to mark the International Day of Yoga.

When proposing 21 June as the date, Modi said that the date was the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere (shortest in the southern hemisphere), having special significance in many parts of the world. From the perspective of yoga, the summer solstice marks the transition to Dakshinayana. The first full moon after summer solstice is known as Guru Poornima. Shiva, the first yogi (Adi Yogi), is said to have begun imparting the knowledge of yoga to the rest of mankind on this day and became the first guru (Adi Guru). Dakshinayana is also considered a time when there is a natural support for those pursuing spiritual practices.

About the logo :

• Folding of both hands in the logo Symbolise Yoga, the union, which reflects the union of individual consciousness with that of universal consciousness, a perfect harmony between mind & body, man & nature; a holistic approach to health & well being.
• The brown leaves symbolize the Earth element, the green leaves symbolize the Nature, blue symbolizes the Water element, brightness symbolizes the Fire element and the Sun symbolizes the source of energy and inspiration.
• The logo reflects harmony and peace for humanity, which is the essence of Yoga.

Following the adoption of the UN resolution, several leaders of the spiritual movement in India voiced their support for the initiative. The founder of the Isha Foundation, Sadhguru, stated, “this could be a kind of a foundation stone to make a scientific approach to the inner well-being of the human being, a worldwide thing… It’s a tremendous step for the world.” The founder of Art of Living, Ravi Shankar, lauded the efforts of Modi, saying, “It is very difficult for any philosophy, religion or culture to survive without state patronage. Yoga has existed so far almost like an orphan. Now, official recognition by the UN would further spread the benefit of yoga to the entire world.”

“Yoga, according to me, is a science and an art that is performed by the body, but it actually satisfies our soul. That is the reason I have taken it up so seriously. I want to be connected with my soul,” shares Shilpa. The actor also says that Yoga plays an important role in maintaining one’s mental health and she wishes more people would take it up as a regular practice. Shilpa Shetty is known for her ageless looks and one can say that Yoga can surely be credited for that.

International Yoga Day aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practicing yoga. Yoga was added to UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in December 2016.

Maharishi Patanjali

Maharishi Patanjali is the ‘father of Yoga’ who compiled 195 Yoga Sutras that became the foundation of Yoga philosophy. The commentary on these sutras is called Bhasya. The core essence of Patanjali is the eightfold path of Yoga (Ashtanga Yoga) that focusses on healthy living through Yoga.

Swami Vivekananda

Born in Calcutta in 1863, Swami Vivekananda showed a desire to unravel the spiritual and realize God even when he was a child. This is why he chose Ramakrishna as his Guru because he was sure that Ramakrishna would be able to demonstrate for him the reality of God. Ramakrishna introduced him to Advaita Vedanta and also told him that all religions are true. However, the best form of worship is service to man. The credit of introducing Vedanta and yoga to Europe and America goes to Swami Vivekananda. He raised Hinduism to the pedestal of a world religion by introducing it at the Parliament of World’s Religions at Chicago in 1893 where he also gave an inspiring speech and called the people of America his brothers and sisters. Vivekananda also raised interfaith awareness. He founded the Ramkrishna Mission and Math.

Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo was one of the brilliant prolific spiritual personalities of India. Sri Aurobindo Ghose was a great yogi, philosopher, and poet. Sri Aurobindo penned down a total of 68 books on different domains of spirituality. His best publication is ‘The Life Divine’, which focuses upon theoretical aspects of Yoga, another one is ‘Synthesis of Yoga’ that throws light on practical facets of Yoga. Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry is a great seat of spiritual practice, which is known as Integral Yoga. Auroville or Aurobindo Ashram spread the spirit of universal brotherhood. He was born in Kolkata on 15th August 1872 and sent to London for study at the age of seven.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Born in 1887 at Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu in 1887 Swami Sivananda was a Doctor in Malaysia, but he renounced his medical practice in 1924 when Swami Vishwananda Saraswati initiated him into Dashnami Sannyasa. He practiced intense sadhana, yoga, and learned the scriptures. He became a wandering monk and toured the length and breadth of India. Wherever Sivananda went, he tried to awaken the moral and spiritual consciousness of people. In 1936, he founded the Divine Life Society at Rishikesh with the main aim of spreading spiritual knowledge and serving mankind. Being a doctor he started the Sivananda Ayurvedic Pharmacy in 1945.

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya

Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (November 18, 1888 – February 28, 1989) was an Indian yoga teacher, ayurvedic healer, and scholar. Often referred to as “The Father of Modern Yoga,” Krishnamacharya is widely regarded as one of the most influential yoga teachers of the 20th century and is credited with the revival of hatha yoga. Krishnamacharya held degrees in all the six Vedic darśanas or Indian philosophies. While under the patronage of the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, Krishnamacharya traveled around India giving lectures and demonstrations to promote yoga, including such feats as stopping his heartbeat. He is widely considered as the architect of vinyasa in the sense of combining breathing with movement.

Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda is one of the pioneer Indian Yoga masters who introduced meditation and Kriya Yoga to the western world through his book ‘Autography of a Yogi’. In one of his other books, The Self-Realisation Fellowship Lessons, Paramahansa Yogananda stressed upon the realization of God through Yogic practices.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was born on 12th January 1918 and is one of the great Indian Yoga gurus famous across the globe equally. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was the founder of ‘Transcendental Meditation Techniques’. He trained many teachers in ‘Transcendental Meditation and taught Transcendental Meditation Techniques to more than 5 million people across the globe.

BKS Iyengar

B.K. S. Iyengar is popularly known as Guruji, who genuinely explains the meaning of Yoga sutras. Born in 1918, he is one of the leading Yoga personalities in the world and popularises yoga across the globe. Yogacharya Iyengar’s style of teaching Yoga is unique and termed as ‘Iyengar Yoga’. B. K. S. Iyengar has command over Yogasanas, in fact, has the authority over asanas. Iyengar ji has written many books on Yoga Philosophy such as ‘Light on Yoga’, ‘Light on Pranayama’, ‘Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali’, ‘Patanjali Yoga Sutra Paricay’, etc. He is the recipient of Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. In a survey of Times Magazine, Iyengar ji is named as one of the 100 most Influential People in the World in 2004.

According to the statistics, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) & Repetitive Stress Injuries (RSI) have dramatically increased in the past years, since the evolution of the personal computer.

Checklist for Prevention

1. The most important thing to do is to take your eyes off, your computer screen and gaze into the far distance every half an hour.
2. Drink a glass of water at a regular interval of time.
3. Stay aware of your posture while you are sitting on your chair.
4. During the lunch break involve yourself in physical exercises.
5. Include full-body stretch in your daily activity.
6. Check that your workstation is set up correctly.
7. The computer screen should be at eye level or below the eye level.
8. Follow some exercise programs that include upper body strength.
9. The program must also include exercise for flexibility, to stretch out the contracted muscles of the wrist, arm, shoulder, neck, and upper back.
10. Stretch your body before you go to bed at night.
11. Observe your sleeping positions.
12. Make sure that you have the right pillow height for sleeping.
13. The neck should be supported, but too many pillows will create problems as well.
14. The neck should be in line with the rest of the spine.

What are the solutions?
Easy Desktop Yoga is a series of exercises based on yoga and designed specifically for working people. Simple and easy modified yoga exercises help you to calm, invigorate, and relax. Desktop Yoga is the perfect solution for those who want a simple, relaxing workout which they can perform while sitting at their desks. It is excellent for reducing stress during a long workday. This program targets the muscles that are mostly affected while sitting for a long period of time. It is divided by body part, so you can choose how long you want to work out.

Recommended Yoga Exercises
Here are some desktop yoga-based exercises which can be done in the office during the course of the day to help prevent CTS and RSI. Hold the positions for a few breaths and let the stretch increase, but do not force it. The most important part of each exercise is to become aware of your body and breathe.

Full body stretch-Tad Asana (Tree Pose): Exhale and inhaling take both the arms up above the head from the sides and join the palms at the top. Lift the heels and stand on the toes and pull the whole body upward. Continue smooth breathing. Pull the hands upward as much as possible.

Internal Effects: In this asana all the muscles stretch in one direction at one time and then relaxed. This process helps to remove all the strains. The muscles get rest and relaxed.

Hand Exercise: Sit straight. Keep both your hands straight forward. Make a strong fist & open it. Repeat it 10 times with enough strength. Make a strong fist and rotate clockwise 10 times and anti-clockwise 10 times. Pull your both hands with strength while inhaling and push you are both hands forward while exhaling.

Shaking out Tension: Shake out your wrists and arms, letting them dangle from your shoulders. Rotate your shoulders forward and back.

Neck Exercises: Sit straight on your chair with feet firmly on the floor. Keep your hand straight on the seatback. Extend the torso and drop the chin into the chest.

First set: While inhaling turn your head to the left side and hold for 10 seconds. Exhaling turns your head to the right side and holds for 10 seconds. Repeat it twice. Come to the center while inhaling. Tilt your head down to the right and hold for 10 seconds. Tilt your head left and hold for 10 seconds. Repeat it twice and come to the center. While inhaling tilt your head back and hold for 10 seconds. Exhaling tilts your head down and holds for 10 seconds. Repeat it twice and come to the center. While inhaling tilt your head back and rotate your head slowly clockwise and anticlockwise for 5 rounds. Come to the center.

Second set: Place your right palm on your right side of the head and resist. Repeat from the left side as well. Place both your palms on your forehead and resist. Interlock your fingers to place it in your back of the head and resist.

Release the Neck: Shrug the shoulders high up to the ears and then release and drop. Repeat at least 3 times.

Back Exercise (Forward Bending): Sit on a chair, spread the legs apart. Stretch both arms up and then bend forward, placing both palms on the floor. Hold on to the posture for 10-25 seconds and release. Repeat the same movement 5 times.

Opening the Chest: Interlock your fingers behind your back with the palms facing the torso. Roll the shoulders back, but keep the ribs from poking forward. Stretch your elbows and arms on the exhale and hold it for a few breaths. On the exhale, bend your elbows and bring your wrists to the right side waist, gently pressing the right elbow towards the left. Release and do the other side.

Opening the mid-back (Hug your body): Hug your body, placing the right hand on your left shoulder and left hand on your right shoulder. Breathe into the area between your shoulder blades. Exhaling brings the arms straight down, the palms facing each other. Stretch the fingers up, and on the next exhale, raise the elbows up to shoulder height. Hold for a few breaths and then repeat on the other side.

Back Exercise (Side Stretching): Hold chair with one hand. Stretch the other arm up and bend sideways. Hold on to the posture for 10-25 seconds and release. Come back to the starting position and repeat on the other side. Repeat it thrice.

Pawanmuktasana (Abdominal Massage): Sit straight on a chair, bend your right leg, interlock your fingers, and hold your knee. While exhaling pulls your knee up to the chest. Hold for 20 seconds, release it while inhaling. Repeat it with the left side as well.

Ardhamatsyasana (Twisting the Torso): With the feet planted firmly in the ground and the thigh bones pressing into your chair, inhale to take your right leg up and cross it to the left side. Place your right hand straight on the chair. Hold your knee with the left hand and press on the abdomen while exhaling. Inhale to take it up and exhale to bring it down. Repeat it with the other leg as well. Remember to keep breathing slowly and deeply as you twist.

Leg Exercise: While standing place your one leg on the chair and stretch your toes hamstring muscle by pulling your toes in. While inhaling takes both your legs up and exhaling bend forward keeping your back straight. Try to hold your toes with both hands. Hold for 20 seconds. Inhaling come up. Repeat it with the other side as well.

Relax the Eyes: Turn your head right and left, looking into the far distance with your eye gaze. Close your eyes and take some deep, slow breaths with your belly soft. You can do it without moving your head as well.

Sahaj Pranayama: Sit in a chair with a straight back. Close the eyes and relax, keeping the spine and body straight. Focus all attention on the navel region – the point of fire in the body. Inhale deeply; tilt your chin down to touch collar bone. Hold your breath for a count of 10. Raise your chin up and exhale through the mouth. Repeat the three stages of this cycle in a rhythmic fashion. Practice up to 5 rounds.

Don’ts: People with cervical spondylosis should not press the chin down. They can keep their chin up.

Kapalabhati: Sit in a comfortable position with a straight spine. Take two or three deep inhales and exhales. Inhale deeply to exhale sharply and forcefully through the nostrils, drawing the belly in as you exhale and producing a puffing sound. Let the inhalation happen passively, and continue this cycle of forceful exhalation and passive inhalation at a fast pace so that the belly is pumping continuously. At the same time, receive an auto-suggestion about the increased flow of blood circulation, detoxification, and vitalization of the vital organs viz. kidney, small intestine, large intestine, prostate gland, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, and lungs, etc.
Practice the process for 2.5-15mins. You may take short breaks when you start out on this yogic breathing exercise.

Benefits: Kapalbhati means the exercise which makes the forehead luminous & lustrous. This Pranayama supplies pure life energy to the brain. It increases the blood circulation in the brain and removes blood clots, thereby improving the memory power. Other than this the toxins and foreign substances from the body are evacuated. It cures a cold, sinusitis, allergy, tension, and other diseases. It is very useful in case of phlegm, skin disease, asthma, heart diseases, low blood pressure, depression, tiredness, laziness, sleeplessness, migraine, joint pain, obesity, diabetes, constipation, indigestion, acidity, gastric problem and other diseases pertaining to the kidneys and prostate gland, etc. are also cured. As a result, the whole body becomes healthy and disease-free.

Many people assume that since yoga is a passive fitness activity it may not give us the desired weight loss results. However, that is not true. Though yoga doesn’t involve vigorous, HIIT-like movements or fast-paced aerobic activities, it can still help your body burn fat fast.

The subject of weight loss with yoga is often looked at with uncertainty because it doesn’t exactly seem so laborious or physically intensive. And yoga works not just on our bodies but also on our minds. It helps promote flexibility in your body, boost concentration, and more importantly release stress.

If you are planning to lose weight, there is nothing more effective than yoga. The evidence of its effectiveness is in yogis who have been lean and healthy for centuries. In fact, the weight loss yoga trends like hot yoga and hath yoga are all based on the traditional form of yoga, Apart from a regular practice of yoga, one must also follow mitahara (measured eating), which is not the same as dieting. To follow mitahara, one must eat as a form of devotion to the temple that is our body.

1. Atmantan, “Suryanamaskar, or the sun salutation, is the best yoga asana for weight loss. It is usually practiced as a warm-up exercise as it works on every body part.

Suryanamaskar (Sun salutation): Here’s how to get it right.

1. Start with the prayer pose,
2. Move to raised arms post,
3. Hand to foot pose,
4. Then the equestrian pose,
5. Then the stick pose,
6. Slowly move to salute with eight points post,
7. Then cobra pose,
8. Follow it up with mountain pose,
9. Back to the equestrian post,
10. Hand to foot pose,
11. Raised arms and back to where you started at the prayer pose.
12. This is a great way to speed up metabolism, activate digestion, and strengthen abdominal muscle. Apart from these, it also promotes good sleep and keeps anxiety at bay.

Make sure to stay in form when practicing naukasan

Naukasan (Boat Pose): Lie down on your back bring the legs together, hands on the thighs, or next to the thighs on the floor. Once in position, inhale and raise your head, arms in a straight line off the floor at 30-degree angle, toes pointing upward. This asana engages the core, increases the efficiency of abdominal muscles, and helps reduce belly fat.

Try to stay in this position and stretch your hamstrings.

Paschimottanasan (head to toe): Sit with legs stretched out and together, inhale and raise the arms alongside your ears, exhale and pull the navel in, stretch the spine forward from the hips. Attempt to hold the toes with hands, bending the elbow outward or downward. This pose helps elongate the spine and give it a good stretch.

This pose will help burn fat faster.

Dandasana (plank post): This pose has been translated into many fitness routines, but it won’t be wrong to say that it originated in the centuries-old yoga practice. Lie down on the abdomen, bring the elbows under the shoulders, get in the pushup position and place your forearms on the ground. Inhale and lift your body off the floor, with toes and hand support. Squeeze the glutes, tighten your abdominal muscles. Hold the post for 5-7 normal breaths. This pose is an excellent way to engage and strengthen the core, help burn fat and calories from the abdomen.

The benefits of yoga provide both instant gratification and lasting transformation. In the fitness world, both are extremely important. Too much time with too few results can be incredibly discouraging, and monotonous routines week after week can lead to stagnation. Yoga can change your physical and mental capacity quickly while preparing the mind and body for long-term health.

Yoga is very necessary and beneficial for all human beings if it is practiced by all on a daily basis in the early morning. The benefits of Yoga include:-

• Increased muscle strength and tone
• Increased flexibility
• Improved respiration, energy and vitality
• Maintaining a balanced metabolism
• Weight reduction
• Cardio and circulatory health
• Improved athletic performance
• It tones the skin, improves oxygenation to the skin, imparts a beautiful glow, and keeps the skin youthful and free from problems.
• Prevents cartilage and joint breakdown.
• Protects your spine.
• Betters your bone health.
• Increases your blood flow.
• Drains your lymph and boosts immunity.
• Drops your blood pressure.
• Regulates your adrenal glands.
• It lowers blood sugar.
• It helps your focus.
• It helps to promote blood circulation and oxygenation to the scalp and hair follicles.
• Many beauty problems are triggered off by stress. Since yoga helps to induce relaxation and reduce stress
• It certainly helps in dealing with stress-related conditions like acne, hair loss, dandruff, etc.
• yoga has shown that positive changes also occur in the personality, in attitudes, emotional stability, self-confidence.
• It helps you concentrate.
• Relaxes your system.
• Improves your balance.
• It helps you sleep deeper.
• Gives your lungs room to breathe.
• Increases your self-esteem.
• It gives you inner strength.
• Uses sounds to soothe your sinuses.
• Releases tension in your limbs.
• Eases your pain.
• It has a direct effect on the mind, emotions, and mood.
• It is a regular stress-buster and puts the glow back on the skin.
• It helps oxygenation.
• Perfects your posture.
• It imparts a feeling of physical and mental exhilaration.
• Yoga improves blood circulation, including the circulation of blood to the skin surface.
• It also promotes the removal of toxins through the skin.
• Encourages self-care.
• Fosters mental calmness.
• Relieves Anxiety.
• Hip flexors are stretched and strengthened.
• Imparts a beautiful glow and keeps the skin youthful and free from problems.
• You will feel instantly rejuvenated and good about yourself.

Yoga is a mirror to look at ourselves from within.

• You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside… So start yoga to control your inside world … !.
• Yoga is the practice of quieting your mind. Yoga is not a religion. It is a science, science of well-being, the science of youthfulness, the science of integrating body, mind, and soul.
• Yoga is not a workout, it is a work in and this is the point of spiritual practices to make us teachable, to open up our hearts and focus our awareness so that we can know what we are already and what we already know.
• Yoga is not about self-improvement, it’s about self-acceptance.
• Yoga imparts a lasting sense of joy, peace, and fulfillment.
• Yoga enhances vitality, focus, and productivity; it stabilized the human body, mind, and emotion of a human being.
• Yoga is a light, once lit, will never dim. The better you practice the brighter the flame will be.
• Yoga is the golden key that unlocks the door to peace, joy, and happiness.

Yoga can contribute to resilience against non-communicable diseases.

Yoga can bring communities together in an inclusive manner that generates respect.

Yoga can contribute to development and peace. It can even help people in emergency situations to find relief from stress.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

“Yoga lets people discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature” Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi

“Through the practices of yoga, we discover that concern for the happiness and well being of others, including animals, must be an essential part of our own quest for happiness and well being. The fork can be a powerful weapon of mass destruction or a tool to create peace on Earth.”
Sharon Gannon

“You cannot do yoga. Yoga is your natural state. What you can do are yoga exercises, which may reveal to you where you are resisting your natural state.”
Sharon Gannon

“A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves.”
T. Guillemets

“In theory, practice and theory are the same. In practice they are not.”
Yogi Berra

“When the breath wanders the mind also is unsteady. But when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still, and the yogi achieves long life. Therefore, one should learn to control the breath.”
Hatha Yoga Pradipika

“You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.”
Mr. Yoga

“Before you’ve practiced, the theory is useless. After you’ve practiced, the theory is obvious.”
David Williams

“The most important pieces of equipment you need for doing yoga are your body and your mind.”
Rodney Yee

“Exercises are like prose, whereas yoga is the poetry of movements. Once you understand the grammar of yoga; you can write your poetry of movements.” -Amit Ray

Yoga has a sly, clever way of short-circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety.
Baxter Bell

“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.”
B.K.S. Iyengar

“Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one’s being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union – the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day to day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.”
B.K.S. Iyengar

“When you listen to yourself, everything comes naturally. It comes from inside, like a kind of will to do something. Try to be sensitive. That is yoga.” –Petri Räisänen

Disease prevention by regular physical activity has become more and more important. Its significance has been shown in various studies. Epidemiological and naturalistic as well as experimental studies demonstrate the risk-reducing and health-enhancing effects of regular physical activity. In particular, Yoga, aerobic and Zumba training seems to be effective in preventing cardiovascular diseases. The psychological benefits of physical activities are decreasing negative emotional states (e.g., anxiety) and increasing positive emotional states (e.g., vigor).

Whereas the effect of exercise on physical health can be explained by adaptation processes of the metabolic and cardiovascular system, the effects on mental health remain unexplained. Different kinds of hypotheses assume physiological (e.g., thermoregulation, endorphins), psychological (e.g., attention distraction, states of flow), or rather unspecific mechanisms (e.g., effort justification). Further research is needed to enlighten these mechanisms. However, it can be stated that physical exercise is an appropriate means for health promotion in most cases.

Health promotion and disease prevention along with effective patient education are essential components of practice for PAs in all settings. Providers should perceive all interactions with patients as potential opportunities to implement a positive behavioral change in unhealthy behaviors. Starting with a meticulous history and physical examination that identify an individual’s risk or evidence of preventable disease, PAs should develop a strategy to implement all recommended interventions that are appropriate for the patient’s age and gender. Behavioral modification and patient education should consider unique circumstances and the patient’s readiness to adopt healthier lifestyles within a continuum of change.

Motivational interviewing strategies should be implemented to improve behavioral change outcomes. Health promotion and disease prevention strategies should be directed not only at individual patients but also at the community as a whole. Working with community groups and organizations to help provide a consistent message to the public on health promotion topics will provide reinforcement to the individual patient. Increasing exercise, appropriate diet, and smoking cessation along with immunizations targeted screening histories, and examinations represent the mainstay of any successful health-promotion and disease-prevention effort.

Health promotion and disease prevention programs typically focus on enhancing wellness within one or more of these three health domains. Wellness becomes a philosophy of life that utilizes health promotion and disease prevention strategies to achieve the goal of optimal aging. Optimal aging implies maximizing one’s ability to function across physical, psychological, and social domains to one’s satisfaction and despite one’s medical conditions. The three overarching domains of physical, psychological, and social health are often further divided into dimensions.  Frequently quoted view of wellness as a process with six interconnected wellness dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, occupational/vocational, and intellectual  Wellness is generally accepted as a multidimensional entity, with the inclusion of factors associated with physical, psychological, and social health making intuitive sense.

Even when exposure risk is minimal, it’s always a good idea to take reasonable precautions to help prevent the spread of disease in the workplace, at home and in the community at large.

Pathogens can be transmitted through various means: airborne through coughing or sneezing, contaminated food sources, bodily fluids and secretions, and physical or sexual contact. Sanitary and sterile conditions are paramount in places where food is prepared and in medical offices or hospitals. It’s vital to remain personally vigilant against illness and infectious disease. You may want to reduce your silent inflammation that we all have to prevent disease and go for a health screening as well. In the meantime, here are several ways to reduce the odds of contracting sickness:

• Regularly wash hands with clean, warm to hot water.
• Maintain good hygiene with bathing and toilet habits.
• Smell-test and examine food before enjoying your meal. When in doubt, throw it out.
• Be familiar with foods that are recalled from store shelves due to links to infectious diseases and know how to discard them from your home.
• Wash foods for cooking before enjoying them, including vegetables, fruits, and poultry, such as, chicken.
• Take the right over-the-counter medicines (OTC), get rest, and drink plenty of fluids when sick. If obtaining OTC’s, it’s best to ask your physician or pharmacist for their recommendation.
• Avoid contact if at all possible with people who have symptoms or signs of illness.
• Stay home if you are sick.
• Do not delay in seeing your physician if your symptoms or signs get worse or don’t abate.
• Keep your living quarters and workspace clean and disinfected.
• Avoid contact with common vectors of infectious disease: including flies, mosquitos, and ticks.
• If you notice flu-like symptoms, know that these symptoms are also linked to foodborne illness which may lead to an infection. Be particularly mindful of this if you are ill, elderly or immune system compromised.

 Vaccination: When a certain percentage of the population is immunized against a contagious disease (like the flu), everyone benefits from herd or community immunity, including those who are not candidates for immunization. Preventable diseases that seem to have largely been eradicated re-emerge when vaccination rates drop. Researchers are also looking into possible declines in vaccine potency.

Respiratory hygiene: This includes:

• Covering one’s mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing and promptly disposing of soiled tissues
• Keeping a distance of at least 3 feet from someone with symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, fever or vomiting
• Wearing surgical masks and personal protective equipment (PPE). For example, in certain workplaces (e.g., health care, hazardous waste cleanup, and disposal, emergency response), PPE such as gloves, face pieces, respirators, and bodysuits are used to prevent the spread of infection.

Additional recommended practices include:

• Disinfecting surfaces such as countertops, phones, and door handles
• Training, practice, and observation related to donning and doffing PPE

 Universal Precautions

Universal precautions include:

• Flushing mucous membranes immediately after contact with blood or OPIM or PPE removal
• Not eating, drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics or lip balm, or handling contact lenses in areas where there is a reasonable likelihood of occupational exposure to blood or OPIM
• Placing all intact needles and sharp objects in puncture-resistant, labeled, leak-proof containers
• Disposing of any potentially contaminated waste in sealable bio-hazardous waste bags and containers

 Standard Precautions

Standard precautions are based on the principle that all blood, body fluids, secretions and excretions (except sweat), non-intact skin and mucous membranes may contain transmissible infectious agents. Similar to universal precautions, standard precautions include hand hygiene, gloves, gown, mask, eye protection, total face shield, and safe injection practices.

Gloves should be worn whenever there is the likelihood of contact with blood, non-intact skin, mucous membranes or OPIM, and when handling or touching contaminated items or surfaces. Disposable gloves and mouthpieces should not be washed or decontaminated for reuse.

Some of these measures may be perceived as an over-abundance of caution. However, if everyone does their part to help prevent the spread of disease, personal well-being, work and school absence rolls, over-burdened health care facilities, and cost-benefit analyses should reflect favorable results.

• Activities designed to protect patients and other members of the public from actual or potential health threats and their harmful consequences.
• Disease prevention covers measures not only to prevent the occurrence of disease, such as risk factor reduction but also to arrest its progress and reduce its consequences once established

Levels of Prevention:-

The concept of prevention is best defined in terms of levels of prevention.

1. Primordial prevention
2. Primary Prevention
3. Secondary prevention
4. Tertiary prevention
5. Quaternary prevention

1. Primordial Prevention –

It consists of actions and measures that inhibit the emergence and establishment of environmental, economic, social and behavioral conditions, cultural patterns of living known to increase the risk of disease

• Mainly associated with chronic diseases
• Intervention – Individual and mass education
• Has to start in childhood when health risk behavior begins

Examples of Primordial prevention –

National program and policies on :

• Food and Nutrition
• Against smoking and drugs
• To promote regular physical activity

Responsibility for Primordial prevention –

• Parents, Teachers and Peers group: Imparting health education
• Government: Legislating and enacting laws
• Professional and non-professional organizations
• Industry
• Hospitals, Health practitioners and health care workers

2. Primary Prevention –

• The action was taken prior to the onset of disease, which removes the possibility that a disease will ever occur
• Intervention – Pre-pathogenesis stage of the disease
• Concept of positive health – An acceptable level of health that will enable every individual to lead a socially and economically productive life
• Approaches for primary prevention of chronic diseases :

Population (mass) strategy –

Directed at whole population irrespective of individual risk levels

Directed towards socio-economic, behavioral and lifestyle changes

High-risk strategy –

To  individual at special risk

Population approach –

High-risk approach –

Achievements of primary prevention –

Controlling disease like cholera, typhoid, plague, dysentery, and T.B., by raising the standard of living

Holistic approach

Modes of intervention :

• Health promotion
• Specific protection

Health promotion –

Process of enabling people to increase control over and to improve health

Not directed against any particular disease

Intervention in this area :

• Health education
• Environmental modifications
• Nutritional interventions
• Lifestyle and behavioral changes

Values in health promotion :

• Equity and social justice
• A holistic definition of health
• Covers a full range of health determinants
• Recognizes the influence of environment on health
• Seeks to enhance people’s social participation
• Involves inter-sectoral Collaboration

3. Secondary prevention –
   • Action which halts the progress of the disease at its incipient stage
   • Intervention – early pre-prognosis stage
   • It is the domain of clinical medicine
   • Modes of intervention :

• Early diagnosis
• Adequate / prompt treatment

Effects :

• Seeks out unrecognized disease
• Provides treatment before irreversible changes occur
• Reverses communicability of the infectious disease
• Protects community

4. Tertiary Prevention

All measures available to reduce or limit impairments and disabilities, minimize sufferings caused by the existing departure of good health, and to promote the patient’s adjustment to irremediable conditions.

Intervention – Late pathogenesis stage

Modes of intervention –

Disability limitation: To prevent or halt the transition of disease of the disease  process from impairment to handicap

Rehabilitation: The combined and coordinated use of medical, educational,  social and vocational measures for training and re-training the individual to the highest possible level of functional ability

Requires cooperation from different sections of society

The action is taken to identify patients at risk of over-medicalization, to protect him from new medical invasion, and to suggest to him interventions, which are ethically acceptable.

Quaternary prevention is the set of health activities to mitigate or avoid the consequences of unnecessary or  excessive intervention of the health system

Quaternary prevention should precedence over any alternative preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic,  as is the practice version ‘primum non-nocere’

Intervention types –

• Do not mistake risk factors with disease
• To avoid check-ups or unnecessary exams
• To avoid technical interventionism in healthcare
• To avoid the indiscriminate use of antibiotics

Conclusion –

• Understanding disease pathology is the first step towards formulating preventive measures
• Prevention can be achieved in any stage of the disease
• Primordial or primary prevention is the most effective and economical
• Disease control is also a part of prevention which is achieved by means of continuous monitoring and surveillance of disease.

One of the best ways to maintain your health is by taking care of yourself. If you want to live a healthy lifestyle and enjoy your old age without being injected with several different kinds of shots, then change your daily lifestyle because even the simplest little healthy modification can cause great benefits.
Though it is difficult to put health and fitness as a top priority in this rat race day and age, it’s best to start with baby steps that will surely peak your health tremendously.

1. Pump up nutrition
2. Get outdoors
3. Ease Stress
4. Stop nose picking
5. Stretching is important
6. Breathe the right way
7. Bathing daily at least once is good
8. Cut your nails regularly
9. Avoid sharing personal items
10. Say no to sugary items
11. Sweat it out
12. Stop worrying
13. Quit smoking
14. Stay safe while having sex
15. Respect your body and yourself
16. Know your risks
17. Maintain a healthy blood pressure
18. Monitor your cholesterol
19. Limit your calories
20. Stay informed about health
21. Maintain a healthy diet
22. Keep your brain active
23. Reduce alcohol intake

Recommended medical check-up

• Yearly check-up (every other year if no health risks)
• Yearly dental exam
• Skin Check
• Cholesterol Check
• Monthly breast self-exams
• Yearly Pap smear/OBGYN visit after the age of 18 or when sexual activity begins
• Mammogram initially by age 40; high risk by age 35
• Colonoscopy initially by age 40; high risk by age 35
• Bone density test

Superfoods that fight disease –

These nutrient-packed foods can help ward off ailments ranging from heart

disease to the common cold. A powerhouse of Fiber, Vitamins, Minerals and  Antioxidants

1. Alfalfa Sprouts
2. Apples
3. Avocados
4. Beets
5. Cranberries / Strawberries / Blackberries
6. Flaxseed
7. Oranges
8. Papayas
9. Pumpkins
10. Quinoa
11. Raspberries
12. Spinach
13. Sweet Potatoes
14. Walnuts
15. Watercress
16. Yogurt
17. Dairy foods
18. Fatty fish
19. Dark leafy greens
20. Whole grains
21. Tomatoes
22. Garlic
23. Grapes
24. Beans / Black beans
25. Eggs
26. Nuts – cashews,
27. Spinach
28. Kiwifruit
29. Broccoli
30. Turmeric
31. Cantaloupe
32. Salmon
33. Oats and barley
34. Carrots
35. Melons
36. Citrus fruits

All above powerhouses are mentioned in our earlier posts/blogs

The ayurvedic concept for the division of a year into six seasons namely Shishira, Vasanta, Grishma Varsha, Sharad, and Hemant is based on the movement of the sun into the northern and southern solstice positions which are called as Adana Kala (Utterayana) and Visharga Kala (Dakshinayana) consisting of six months in each side. The nomenclature coined as Adana meaning taking away and visarga is forgiving of strength and vigor in all living creatures. In Adana Kala sun and wind are powerful. During this period sun takes away the cooling qualities of the earth due to its scorching heat and strength of the creatures is diminished. In contrast in Visharga Kala sun releases the strength to the people by empowering the moon and earth to become cool due to the clouds, rain, and cold wind. Hence the Varsha Ritu or starting of monsoon is the indicator for the appearance of Visharga Kala and restoration of lost strength during Adan Kala ie Shishir, Vasanta, and Grishma rituals.

 Climatic division of  the year  in Bharat- as per Ayurveda

The accumulated vata in summer pops out its head, with the drop in temperature at the onset of monsoon. The vitiated vata leads to symptoms like Joint pain, muscular pain, acidity, loss of appetite, body ache, gas trouble, indigestion, cough n cold, etc.

These growing incidences of ailments due to accumulated Vata and pitta dosha needs to be pacified with the intake of medicines, proper diet, and lifestyle modification. The excessive doshas should be eliminated through the body (detoxification) with the help of Panchakarma. Ayurvedic texts recommend specific Shodhan therapy (detox program) as per the season for everybody. This is a part of Rutucharya (Seasonal regime) –

• Vaman in Vasant rutu
• Virechan and Raktamokshan in Sharad rutu
• Basti in Varsha rutu.

Importance of Basti – “Basti is half of the medicinal therapy or even the complete treatment”.

1. As it is being used in numerous unresponsive diseases of degenerative, musculoskeletal, locomotor, and neurological nature with promising results. Basti alone is capable of curing many disorders. 
2. Basti prevents the recurrence of disease and has immunomodulation effects.
3. Basti treatment regulates the metabolism of Vata dosha, smoothens functioning of Vata dosha, and ultimately corrects the functioning of Pitta and Kapha dosha.
4. Depending upon the medicines, oil, and decoction used for Basti it renders curative, rejuvenative, aphrodisiac, and other healthy and beneficial effects.
5. It is an extremely beneficial treatment for all Vata vyadhi, ailments associated with the digestive system, degenerative changes in the body, etc.
6. Basti not only eliminates the toxins out of the body but also helps in the regeneration process at the cellular level.

Vata: Accumulates during the dry or dehydrating heat of the summer. It becomes aggravated during the rainy (Monsoon) season which causes weakened digestion, acidic atmospheric conditions, and gas produced from the earth.

Pitta: Accumulates during the rainy season due to the acidic conditions of the atmosphere and weakened digestion. It is aggravated during autumn when the heat returns. This occurs after the cooling spell of the rainy season.

Regimen during monsoon: Ayurveda describes aggravation (vitiation) of Vata and accumulation of Pita in Varsha Ritu (Rainy/monsoon season). This is the major cause of various diseases occurring during the rainy season. The food and lifestyle should thus be such which helps in balancing Vata and Pitta.

Diet during monsoon: Water available in the reservoirs during monsoon is comparatively heavy to digest and the metabolism is sluggish during this period. An individual is likely to experience a loss of appetite. Hence following changes in diet and lifestyle is advisable during monsoon:

1. Consume  light and fresh foods prepared from barley, rice, and wheat
2. Include cow’s ghee, lentils, green gram, rice, and wheat in daily diet.
3. Consume a small piece of ginger with rock salt before every meal.
4. Use sour and salted soups of vegetables. Onion and other vegetables.
5. During cooler days due to heavy rains, sour, salty, and oily diet preferred.
6. Drinking of boiled and cooled water mixed with little honey is recommended.
7. The addition of ginger and green gram in daily diet is beneficial.
8. Eating warm food and avoiding uncooked foods and salads is better.
9. Drinking an excess of fluids to prevent further slowing down of metabolism is advisable.
10. Avoidance of consuming stale food is beneficial.
11. Consumption of leafy vegetables needs to be avoided during monsoon.
12. Avoidance of curds, red meat, and any foodstuff, which takes a longer time to digest is good during the monsoon. One may have buttermilk instead of curds.
13. Consumption of  ‘Haritaki /Harad (Terminalia chebula) with rock salt in monsoon season is beneficial to health.

Lifestyle during monsoon: Consumption of a healthy diet only may not provide desired results unless it is supported by lifestyle beneficial for monsoon. The following are the tips for the important changes in the lifestyle of rainy /monsoon season.

1. Avoiding sleep in the daytime is good as it hampers digestion and slows down the metabolism.
2. Overexertion and overexposure to sun especially in the afternoon is required to be avoided.
3. Keep the surrounding dry and clean and not to allow water to get accumulated around.
4. Keep body warm, to protect any attack from viruses as and when body temperature goes down.
5. Avoid entering into an air-conditioned room with wet hair and damp clothes.
6. Avoid walking in dirty/dampened water.
7. Feet are required to be kept dry.
8. Avoid getting wet in the rain. However, if it happened, changing into dry clothes as soon as possible is essential in order to avoid exposure from infections, as immunity is naturally low during monsoon
9. Use of Fumigative disinfectants like loban and dry neem leaves for drying cloths and killing insects/bacteria is recommended.
10. Best season for conducting Panchkarma for keeping healthy throughout the year(Sukh chikitsa).
11. The use of Perfumes is advocated in this season.

NOTE As per Ayurveda abrupt changes of diet and lifestyle suitable for a particular season is need to be avoided. The changes must be gradual over a period of 15 days by giving up the earlier lifestyle and adopting a new one for the acclimatization. If abrupt changes are brought the body, may not be able to cope with them and this could lead to problems

Monsoon is the time for the occurrence of Vata dosha, according to Ayurveda. It is the season when you feel like gorging on oily foods, but your digestive system is most vulnerable to various ailments. By following certain dos and don’ts, you can make sure that your body is guarded against the increased microbial activity of the season, as well as the adverse effects of slow down digestion.

Do’s

• Consume very simple food.
• Consume food within 2 hours of preparing it.
• Consume food according to your digestive fire.
• When eating out, Choose restaurants that conform to basic standards of quality and hygiene.
• Have simple and easily digestible food in monsoon. They should be dry in nature like chickpea, corn, gram flour, and oats. Having moong dal is advisable.
• To ensure the removal of germs, drink only boiled water. Water should be consumed within 24 hours of boiling.
• Eat seasonal fruits as they help you restore energy.
• Herbal teas or tea with elaichi, tulsi, ginger, lemongrass, cinnamon, etc. is recommended.
• Wash green vegetables thoroughly before eating, especially if you want to have them raw.
• Astringent, mildly bitter, and pungent foods must be best served this season.
• Consume drying oils like corn oil or light oil
• Eat seasonal fruits like Apples, Bananas, Pomegranates, and lychees as non- seasonal fruits get infested with worms during the monsoons.
• One of the foremost rules for monsoon in Ayurveda is to eat according to the ability of your digestion.
• You can add a twig of mint while cooking.
• Maintain proper hygiene to prevent infections.
• Know the capability of yourjatharagni, i.e. digestive fire, when having food. Use spices such as pepper, ginger, asafoetida (hing), garlic, jeera powder, coriander, and turmeric for enhancing your digestive capability. These help to improve your immunity too.
• The vegetables recommended in the season include yam (suran), snake gourd (Turi), pointed gourd (parwal), gourd (dudhi), bitter gourd (karela), cluster beans (gavaar), and apple gourd (tinda).
• Stick to seasonal fruits during monsoons as the unseasonal ones can easily get infected with microbes. These include mangoes, pomegranates, apples, bananas, lychees, and cherries.
• In case you catch a cold, freshly prepared radish juice, along with a pinch of pipli and rock salt in warm water would help to lessen the trouble of mucous formation.
• Fasting is especially recommended in the monsoon season, particularly for people fond of socializing and erratic eating. You can gain a lot of health benefits simply by observing a weekly or fortnightly fast during monsoon. It helps to improve your digestive fire.
• Using herbs like tulsi, turmeric, yashtimadhu (glycyrrhiza glabra) in various food preparations, tea, etc. gargling with water medicated with yashtimadhu, a pinch of turmeric and salt helps in controlling infections like cough and cold.
• If possible purify your house with Dhoop (medicated smoke) / fumigation of herbs every evening, it not only spreads soothing fragrance in the house but also purifies the air and keeps infections away.
• Eat steamed salads
• Have fresh radish juice to fight cold and cough.
• To reduce mucous formations add pipli and rock salt to warm water. This reduces the natural monsoon ailments.
• Opt for yogurt, curd, and almonds in your diet instead of milk.
• Increase intake of Sweet, Sour, and Salty food.
• Perform only moderate exercises in monsoon such as light walks, some freehand exercise, skip rope, and simple yoga asanas ( SetuBandha Asana, Naukasana, AdhoMukhaSvanasana, and Bhujangasana ).
• Add a pinch of salt, pepper, long pepper and some ginger to hot water and have it once a day.
• Drink a glass of warm water mixed with a teaspoon of honey in empty stomach.
• Add 1 or 2 spoons of neem oil to half a cup of sesame oil and use this for a massage before a hot water bath, at least once a week.
• Self-massage with sesame oil at least twice a week would keep you healthy during the rainy season.
• For better digestion during monsoons, add a pinch of salt, pepper, long pepper and some ginger to hot water and have it once a day.
• Monsoon is the ideal season for fasting, for those who are socializing and involved in erratic eating habits.

Don’ts

• Avoid fermented foods which include idli, dosa, uttapam, and the like.
• Avoid sprouts, raw vegetables, refrigerated and sour foods. Foods that are sour include tamarind, various pickles, and chutneys.
• Heavy grains such as bajra and ragi should be avoided. Limit the intake of foods with high water content such as rice, muskmelon, watermelon, and lassi. These can lead to swelling.
• Foods that strain your digestive system such as buttermilk, yogurt, curd should be avoided.
• Avoid non-vegetarian foods in monsoon. The possibility of germ content is highest in non-vegetarian foods.
• Do not tire yourself with work ( don’t overwork ).
• Don’t consume food that is stored in cold storage/refrigerator.
• Avoid dry foods and sprouts.
• Avoid sour fermented food.
• Avoid eating late at night. It is particularly important in this season.
• Avoid naturally sour foods like tamarind, tomatoes, and lime in your diet as it promotes water retention.
• Avoid too much of fish and meat this season and heavy curries
• Excessive intake of coffee and tea dehydrates body fluids so they must be better avoided.
• Vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes, cluster beans, ladies finger, kidney beans, pigeon pea, and sprouted grains must be avoided.
• Avoid eating fried items, pre-cut fruits, and juices from roadside vendors and stick to high quality and hygiene.
• Avoid watermelon and muskmelons and also goosing on too many mangoes may cause pimples.
• People who face skin allergies during rainy seasons must avoid spicy foods. Spicy foods raise body temperature and stimulate blood circulation and it leads to allergies and skin irritation.
• Avoid heavy oils like sesame oil, peanut oil, and mustard oil as they fall in the first place to invite infections.
• Avoid curd, ice cream, and frozen food as they can cause flu and fever.
• Eating watery foods like lassi, rice, muskmelon creates swelling in the body.
• People who face skin allergies during rainy seasons must avoid spicy foods.
• Uncooked vegetables and salads should be avoided.
• Avoid junk and fried food as people tend to overeat as it leads to weight gains.
• Fasting should be avoided by diabetics and people with specific health conditions.

By following these dos and don’ts, you would be able to revel in monsoon without fearing its adverse impact.

Following the above guidelines helps you to stay safe and healthy during monsoons. Always binge on nutritional food and be hygienic by taking necessary precautionary measures like cleaning your house, washing hands before and after having a meal, etc. Have a disease-free, safe and healthy monsoon.

Foods recommended eating during monsoon –

Grains — Red rice, Sathi Rice, Wheat, Jowari ( Great millet).

Vegetables – Bottle Gourd ( Dudhi), Snake Gourd ( Padwal), Okra ( Bhindi) Dodka, Ghosali

Legumes – Tur Daal, Green Gram, Koolith, Black Gram

Tubers – Garlic, Onion, Ginger, Suran

Fruits – Dates, Grapes, Coconut, Mulberry.

Milk and milk products – Cow milk, Buttermilk, Ghee

Other Things – Rock salt, Coriander, Cumin, jaggery, Mint, Asafoetida, ( Hing), Black pepper, Piper Longum, ( Pippali)

Avoid during monsoon –

Grains – Vari, raagi, Bajari ( Pearl millet), Maize, Barley.

Vegetables – Spinach, Bitter Gourd ( Karela), Chavlai, Cabbage, Dry Vegetables.

Legumes – Matki, Vaal, Vatana (Peas), Lentil ( Masur), Gram ( Chana)

Tubers – Potato, Shingada, Sabudana, kamalkanda, Arum, Carrot.

Fruits – Black Plum ( Jambul), Jackfruit, Cucumber, watermelon, Muskmelon.

Milk – Buffalo Milk, Piyush, Paneer.

Other things – Sweets, Fried Food, Shrikhand.

Water – Coldwater

Diet in monsoon –

Drink boiled warm water to avoid waterborne diseases during monsoon.

Drinking warm milk with turmeric powder can help one get rid of a sore throat, throat pain, and soothe a cold which is common during monsoons.

A simple decoction of tulsi leaves and turmeric for gargling also relieves sore throat.

It is common knowledge that Ayurveda therapy helps to get to the bottom of all health problems. It is a therapy that helps cleanse your mind and body at the most fundamental level. Ayurveda is a pranic system of medicine that brings a sense of balance on the body’s life energy called the doshas. This can be accomplished by following a strict diet, through various massages, pouring herbal liquid onto the whole body, and by wrapping your body with essential herbal leaves and powders.
It is a traditional natural healing system that takes into account your mind, body, and soul completely. If you want to undergo Ayurveda therapies, then the monsoon season is the best time for rejuvenation treatment and to strengthen the body. During the monsoon the atmosphere tends to be cool and dust free and that is the reason why most people start their therapy at this point in time. It is believed that your body will be more receptive to Ayurveda therapies during monsoon than any other season.

This particular season is favorable for Ayurveda treatment since it helps the body’s pores to open up and also restores the body’s vitality and health. Monsoon Ayurveda benefits the body by accelerating healing. Ayurveda treatments help to control monsoon disorders. Monsoon Ayurveda does benefit by increasing energy levels and helps in the prevention of diseases.

Increases immunity: The soothing environment during monsoon makes the mind and body more receptive to the benefits of rejuvenation therapy. The cool atmosphere helps the skin to open the pores and to absorb herbal or medicinal oils during treatment. Monsoon is the best time for Ayurvedic treatments. A massage supposedly increases blood circulation and also eases physical stress. One of the best monsoon Ayurveda benefits is that it reduces muscular tension and pain.

Softens the tissues in the body: It is believed that monsoon helps to soften and develop the seven tissues of the body. These tissue layers are called dhatus. According to Ayurveda, there are seven different types of dhatus in the human body. These dhatus are composed of five mahabhutas. During monsoon the Ayurveda techniques like snehana (oil application) and svedhana (steam treatments) can be used to effortlessly get rid of toxins and negative energies from the body since the tissues in the body are soft and supple.

• Ayurvedic rejuvenation therapies: Monsoon Ayurveda benefits are that it does more than giving relief to the stress. The rejuvenation program helps to preserve longevity, helps you to retain youthfulness and tries to revitalize the body and mind. It enhances body resistance and the proper functioning of the body parts. Monsoon is the best time for Ayurvedic treatment as it improves the skin’s complexion and helps to build proper dhatus (tissues) in the body. For all the doshas (problems) and for the proper functioning of the body, Ayurveda practitioner usually suggests Panchakarma treatment (panch means five’ and karma means ‘action’). It increases your immunity power and helps you to get better sleep.
  

Swedan or heat treatments: There are two types of heat treatments offered in Ayurveda during monsoons.

Patrapottali swedan:

This heat treatment with bolus prepared from leaves of medicinal herbs helps to relieve pain and swelling in arthritis, spondylosis, and other types of pains in the bones and joints.

Ruksha swedan:

This is a dry heat treatment which gives patient relief from pain due to rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic ailments.

Benefits of Monsoon Ayurveda

Varsha Ritu or Monsoon season is considered as the best to undergo Ayurvedic treatments since the moist climate opens up the pores in the skin, making it more receptive to all the medications and treatments.

Here are few key benefits of Ayurveda during the Monsoon season –

• Balances the vitiated doshas
• Increases immunity
• Cleanses & detoxifies the body
• Rejuvenates body & mind
• Prevents lifestyle disorders like diabetes, blood pressure & stress
• Effective for conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, back pain, lumbar and cervical spondylosis, etc.

• Try to keep yourself hydrated during the monsoon season because sweating in the monsoon does not evaporate easily and even the humidity levels are high which further prevents the body of a person to release heat. It is recommended to carry a water bottle every time. Try to avoid carbonated drinks which significantly reduce the mineral levels in the body further preventing enzymes in the body from functioning especially causing indigestion.
• Try having a balanced diet because the process of digestion during monsoon is significantly slower as compared to other seasons so you have to eat moderately as well as at the time when you feel hungry. At the time when you are not feeling hungry can cause indigestion and sometimes even jaundice. Prefer having spices like coriander, turmeric, pepper, and fruits, a vegetable like a radish, bananas, apple, pears, litchis, carrots, and many more which will improve immunity as well as will help to improve digestion.
• Prefer to eat clean as well as fresh food during monsoon and do ensure before consuming that all fruits and vegetables which you eat are hygienically washed. In order to kill germs, steam all the leafy vegetables and avoid eating contaminated food because that can lead to illnesses including jaundice. We recommend you all to have fresh soups as well as cooked food which is light as well as nutritious.
• Chasing the mosquitoes away during monsoon is really important because stagnant water is the most commonplace of mosquito breeding. Drain out coolers as well as flower vases that you do not use, use mosquito nets as well as creams, and repellents which are easily available in the market and will protect you from mosquito bites.
• If you are fond of having street food, then say a BIG NO to it during monsoon. Though street juices, kulfis, golas, chaat, and sandwiches are really tempting but avoid having these during the rainy season. These foods might contain bacteria that may cause indigestion.
• Try to avoid getting in puddles and if sometimes you do end up then you must immediately clean as well as dry your feet with a soft and dry towel. This can significantly lead to fungal infections or sometimes athlete’s foot. If the person is diabetic, then dampness can even lead to affect toes and nails. It is advised to keep your shoes, raincoats, and socks dry and clean during monsoon.
• Avoid going in sudden temperature change. Whenever you come back home and sweating don’t go immediately inside the AC room. The sudden temperature change may cause of cold and cough. Same as while you are sweating, do not take a bath, take 5-10 minutes to rest then go and take bath.

Some other health care tips during monsoon include exercising as well as ample rest, eye care, care of elders as well as kids, wearing loose and cotton clothes, consume green and fresh vegetables, and keep your house clean. We all do love monsoon but we should not forget about taking care of our health too.

The damp and filthy conditions in the monsoon play a host for many disease-causing germs, which cause some serious health attacks like dengue, malaria, conjunctivitis, typhoid, viral fever, pneumonia, gastrointestinal disturbances, diarrhea, and dysentery. If your immune system is weak you are supposed to catch these diseases instantly. To maintain a healthy diet and protect you from such ill causes during the rainy season these countermeasures have to be taken.

Never eat if you are not feeling hungry, this is a solid cardinal mantra in monsoons.

Following guidelines will helps you to stay safe and healthy during monsoons. Always binge on nutritional food and be hygienic by taking necessary precautionary measures like cleaning your house, washing hands before and after having a meal, etc.

• Eat fruits as they help you restore energy. Apples, mangoes, pomegranates, and pears are best suggestible. Avoid watermelon and muskmelons and also goosing on too many mangoes may cause pimples.
• Have medium to low salt food and avoid heavy salty food as they are responsible for high blood pressure and water retention.
• Eating watery foods like buttermilk/lassi, watermelon, rice, muskmelon creates swelling in the body. So, better opt for foods that are drying in nature like corn, gram flour, chickpea, etc.
• Foods such as brown rice, oats, and barley are the best foods one could have in this monsoon.
• Body’s immunity can be increased by adding a dash of garlic to the soups, sir fries, and curries you intake.
• Opt for yogurt, curd, and almonds in your diet instead of milk. Drink only boiled and purified water to protect yourself from harmful germs and drinking plenty of water keeps your body hydrated.
• Consuming bitter vegetables like bitter gourd, and bitter herbs like neem, turmeric powder, and methi seeds help in preventing infections.
• Consume drying oils like corn oil or light oil and avoid heavy oils like sesame oil, peanut oil, and mustard oil as they fall in the first place to invite infections.
• People who face skin allergies during rainy seasons must avoid spicy foods. Spicy foods raise body temperature and stimulate blood circulation and it leads to allergies and skin irritation. Other problems such as boils, change in skin color dullness, rashes, pyoderma are also some skin-damaging effects that arise in this season.
• Avoid naturally sour foods like tamarind, tomatoes, and lime in your diet as it promotes water retention.
• Avoid too much fish and meat this season and heavy curries and non-vegetarians should go for light meat preparations like stew and soups.
• Astringent, mildly bitter, and pungent foods must be best served this season.
• Drink lots of herbal teas, especially those with antibacterial properties. These include ginger, pepper, honey, mint, and basil leaves. Excessive intake of coffee and tea dehydrates body fluids so they must be better avoided.
• Vegetables like cauliflower, potatoes, cluster beans, ladies finger, kidney beans, pigeon pea, and sprouted grains must be avoided.
• Eat steamed salads instead of raw vegetables as they contain active bacteria and viruses that cause bacterial and viral infections.
• Have fresh radish juice to fight cold and cough. To reduce mucous formations add pipli and rock salt to warm water. This reduces the natural monsoon ailments.
• Better eat seasonal fruits as non-seasonal fruits get infested with worms during the monsoons. Pomegranates, litchis, apples, bananas are among the recommended.
• Avoid eating fried items, pre-cut fruits, and juices from roadside vendors and stick to high quality and hygiene.
• People who suffer from arthritis should drink warm water with tulsi and dalchini (cardamom) on an empty stomach in the morning. Doing this improves bowel syndromes and also decreases pains in joints.
• Always wash vegetables well and keep them clean especially if they are taken raw.
• Although you might not avoid your child from going to school, other public places such as exhibitions need to be avoided in monsoon. This helps to keep a lot of health problems at bay.
• Parents should make golden milk a lifestyle especially for children. It has turmeric that acts against viral infections and pepper which is good against bacteria and with milk they are very fine to be had by children.
• Vitamin C and Vitamin E are considered the best fighters where diseases are concerned. You need to take these vitamins so that you would be fortified from inside.

Forego a heavy meal and keep a light diet. The joy of eating that comforting plate of roadside Chola Bhatura will only be momentary because of a vulnerable digestive system during the monsoons. Don’t let the rains make you lazy. Keep up that exercise regime and sweat out that extra moisture and potentially harmful bacteria. 

During the monsoons or rainy season, health problems such as skin diseases, water-borne diseases, mosquito-borne diseases, and eye infections are very common. Read this article to know what are the health diseases that are common during monsoons. The articles also give the symptoms, remedies, and prevention of diseases.

Part I – General ailments :

1. Indigestion: Symptoms – Discomfort in the abdomen, feeling of fullness, bloating (swelling of the abdomen), nausea, reflux (when stomach acid rises up the wrong way back up the food pipe), heartburn (pain in food pipe or chest when stomach acid is refluxed up into the throat), belching, constipation or frequent passage of stool.

Remedies – Eat small portions of diluted ginger and lime juice, ajwain, or rock salt. Drugs like Digens, gelusil, and pudinhara will also help.

2. Food Poisoning: Symptoms – Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever and chills, headache, and weakness. It generally occurs 2-6 hours after eating contaminated food. Most recover within 12-48 hours.

Remedies – Diarrhea is the body’s natural cure (a way of getting rid of the toxins) and doesn’t need medications. But, dehydration should be guarded against. Take plenty of fluids like water, lemon juice with salt and sugar, thin buttermilk, arayat kanji, or rice water. Control nausea and vomiting with drugs like Domstal or Perinorm.

3. Athlete’s foot: Symptoms – The fungal infection that causes athlete’s foot to love warm, damp places. It usually starts with a flaky, red rash which then blisters or cracks and can become very sore. It is also contagious. Itching, skin scales, cracks, and inflammation are the usual symptoms. Hot, humid weather helps to breed the infection-causing fungi and bacteria. It is usually transmitted in the swimming pool.

Remedies – After swimming, wipe water and apply Eladi oil all over the body and keep it for 30 minutes. To remove, apply Elad choornam with water (as a body scrub) and wash it off with warm water. Or

After swimming, take a warm foot bath for 15-20 minutes with salt or neem leaves added to it.

4. Asthma: Symptoms – Remedies – Herbal oil massages followed by a warm water bath. Have warm meals. Include soups, Rotis, fish, nuts, and soya in the diet. Steam inhalation with tulsi leaves prevents cold and nasal congestions. Boil 1 cup water with pepper, ginger, garlic, and jeera, cool it a little and drink it daily.

5. Cold & Cough: Symptoms – Common cold is a manifestation of a viral infection. While the mucous membranes of the nose and throat are inflamed as a result of infection, they are more vulnerable to bacterial attacks which lead to more serious infections such as sinusitis, ear infections, and bronchitis.

Remedies – After washing your hair, massage a pinch of Rasnadi Choornam (a herbal powder) on the crown of the head. This prevents colds and rhinitis (irritation and inflammation of the inner linings of the nose). Take Thaleesa Patradi Choornam – ¼ tsp every one hour. OR

Boil 4 glasses of water with a handful of tulsi leaves and 1 tsp of pepper. Boil till the quantity is halved. Strain, add 2 tsp honey, and drink. Take steam inhalation with tulsi leaves or eucalyptus leaves/oil in water to relieve chest congestion.

6. Arthritis: Symptoms – There are two types of arthritis namely osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Remedies – A warm, stable climate, exercise, and detoxification help. Avoid dairy products, wheat, meat, vegetables such as potatoes, pepper, eggplant, and tomatoes, alcohol, coffee, sugar, saturated fat, excess salt, and nuts. Epsom salt baths are recommended to reduce swelling and alleviate pain. Local mud applications on the joints are also advised.
Mix 2tbsp honey and 1 tsp cinnamon powder in one cup of hot water. Drink this regularly.

7. Viral fever: Symptoms – Rising body temperature, head and body ache, and occasionally a skin rash. Once the virus enters the body, there is an incubation period while it multiplies to a level high enough to cause an infection. A phase of fatigue follows when the body and muscle ache and could lead to a low or high-grade fever. Inflammation of the pharynx, a runny nose, nasal congestion, redness of eyes, cough, and muscle and joint pains can also be present.

Remedies :

1. Normal Fever and Throat pain :

Remedies – Steps to prevent throat pain
a. Gargle 3 times a day with hot water and salt.
b. Don’t drink or eat cold stuff.
c. Do steaming regularly.
d. Don’t sit near a person who is smoking.

Steps to prevent fever
a. Don’t drink cold water immediately after being out in the sun.
b. Put oil on the inside of your legs. Avoid bathing at night.
c. Keep oil in hair. It is good for the eyes.
d. Bathe only after the body stops sweating.

Common skin diseases during monsoons :

Eczema: Symptoms – Eczema is a skin disease. It is a form of dermatitis which is broadly applied to a range of conditions. In its mildest form, it causes the skin to become dry and flaky, and at its worst, it causes cracks and bleeding. Contact eczema is caused by an allergic reaction to daily objects that your skin comes into contact with or becomes irritable as a direct reaction to a solvent. Reasons for eczema are heat, dampness, and wind.

Remedies: Includes acupuncture point Qu chi, moisturizers, antihistamines, oral steroids, antibiotics, Chinese herbal therapy, evening primrose oil, a mixture of herbs such as neem (which is a powerful blood purifier, detoxifier, and immunity enhancer), turmeric, saariva (hemidesmus indicus) and manjishtha (rubia cordifolia). Herbal remedies normalize the skin and blood tissues, optimizing the immune system.

Scabies: Symptoms – Scabies is also known as seven-year itch. It is a skin infection that is caused by a tiny parasite called the mite Sarcoptes scabiei. This skin infection is contagious. The patient will have severe itching and allergic reactions after the mite has bitten into the skin. The most important way of transmission of this infection is direct skin contact. Itching, burrow tracks on the skin, rashes.

Waterborne disease –

Cholera: Symptoms – Include copious painless rice-water like stools, severe vomiting, dry wrinkled skin, plummeting BP and urine output, imperceptible pulse, intense thirst, and stomach cramps.

Remedies: Get diagnosed via a doctor’s examination and stool culture. Take enough bed rest. Drink plenty of fluids especially orange juice and oral rehydration therapy or packaged Electoral. Eat pre-cooked cereal with salt. The doctor may put you on an intravenous fluid drip and prescribe antibiotics.

Boil and filter water, wash hands frequently. Soak raw vegetables and fruits in potassium permanganate. Pest proof you’re home from cockroaches, flies, and mice. Consider a vaccination during an outbreak. Its effect lasts for 3 to 6 months.

Dysentery: Symptoms – Passing small foul-smelling blood-stained mucous stools, may run a temperature and vomit, tenderness, or swelling in the abdomen.

Remedies: Get diagnosed by a stool test to find out the responsible amoeba or bacillus. Boil and filter water. Watch out for green garnishes. Zap away flies and cockroaches at home. Wash all fruits and vegetables with a dilute solution of potassium permanganate. Stay away from outside fruit and vegetable salads. Try ORT or Electoral. Drink plenty of fluids. Eat semi-fluid and low roughage food.

Typhoid: Symptoms – Splitting head and rising fever, although pulse remains steady. The tongue is thickly coated, crops of red rashes invade the chest and stomach, shivering, sweating, and coughing. Constipation follows diarrhea.

Remedies: Get diagnosed by a blood test and stool test. Boil milk and water. Wash raw fruits and vegetables in potassium permanganate water. Wash hands frequently. Protect food from flies with a fly swatter. Get vaccinated – oral or injectable. Take enough bed rest. Drink plenty of fluids, juices, and soups. Coldwater sponges bring down the fever. After few days on semi-fluids, go for a low roughage diet. Don’t take aspirin and paracetamol as they may irritate the bowel lining and stomach. The immunity lasts for a year.

Hepatitis A:  Symptoms – Tiredness, joint pains, pain below right ribs, jaundice, amenorrhoea (absence of periods) in women, liver and spleen enlargement, ascitic-fluid in the abdomen, and hepatic encephalopathy.

Remedies: A diet of glucose, peeled fruits, home-made fruit juice, soup, toast, rice, and buttermilk is recommended.
a. Acupuncture helps in strengthening liver conditions.
b. Naturopathy remedies – Apply gastro-hepatic, castor oil, and mid packs on the right side of the abdomen. Hip-bath with cold water for 20 minutes daily. Liquid or fruit diets. Have plenty of soups, sugarcane juice, coconut water, and fat-free buttermilk.
c. Ayurvedic remedies – Low fat, high carbohydrate diet, jeera water, sugarcane juice, and external application of herbal preparations.

Eye Infections :

Conjunctivitis: Symptoms – redness and watery eyes, gritty feeling in the eye, blood clots visible around the cornea. In the case where conjunctivitis moves on to the cornea of the eyes, the patient can experience some more severe symptoms such as pain, glare, intolerance to light, and sighting colored halos near lights. Sometimes, one can experience pain and discharge which usually starts with one eye and spreads to the other eye gradually.

Remedies: Use antibiotic eye drops which the doctor has prescribed and keep lubricating the eyes with these drops.
b. Consult an ophthalmologist to examine the eyes and give proper medications. You should never avoid a visit to the doctor when you have conjunctivitis, as it may lead to serious complications.

1. It is better that the patient stays isolated from other people during this time.
2. The patient with conjunctivitis should not touch his/her face with their hands. Wash your hands very well with soap and cleanser every day when you come back home from outside.

Corneal Ulcers: Symptoms – redness and watery eyes, photophobia in one eye, pain. Corneal Ulcer is a bacterial infection occurring at the cornea of the eye.

Remedies: This is a serious infection of the eyes and so it is compulsory that a person affected with this infection must visit the ophthalmologist as soon as possible. Stop wearing a contact lens as soon as you contract the infection. Corneal Ulcers are treated using antibiotics depending on their severity.

Monsoon season is when people eagerly look towards the sky, for the cool refreshing showers which come as a relief to the scorching heat of the summer. Although it rejuvenates every living organism,
one should be careful about the health problems it brings. If you aren’t prepared for it, you may get sick.
Don’t let these reasons dampen your spirit to enjoy the monsoon. Simple precautions and small changes in lifestyle will keep you healthy and help relish the joy of this season.

Enjoying rain is not a grave matter if you are taking some on-time precautionary measures as sometimes a little carelessness will lead to serious consequences.

Here are some dos and dont’s of monsoon care.

• Go for green leafy vegetables
• Drink only boiled/filtered water
• Add Dettol / Savlon to water for bathing/cleaning bruises
• Use Mosquito repellent and nets
• Eat moderately to avoid abdominal discomfort
• Use a moisturizer to protect your skin from getting dehydrated
• Properly wash fruits and vegetables
• Eat barley, brown rice, and oats
• Add garlic to soups, stir-fries, and curries
• Cleanse your skin thoroughly daily
• Include pungent and astringent foods
• Drink herbal teas like the ones infused with ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, and cardamom.
• Eat steamed salads
• Enjoy warm beverages
• Dress your kid in multiple layers so that he can add or subtract clothing depending on the weather
• Stay dry with rain gear like an umbrella or raincoat
• Consume only pasteurized dairy products
• Drink more water and fluid throughout the day
• Use anti-bacterial soap and face wash
• Spray the house with insecticides
• A hot water bath is recommended as it helps to curb vata
• Use talcum powder to keep skin dry
• Allow damp hair to dry before you tie them again
• No oily food, street food, or spicy food

• No watermelons or muskmelons
• Avoid eating late at night
• Avoid milk, have curd
• Don’t wear heavy shoes that enclose your feet
• Don’t Overload your skin and hair with cosmetics.
• Not too much of mangoes
• Don’t wear heavy or voluminous trousers
• Avoid delicate fabrics for example chiffon or silk, don’t wear light-colored dresses.
• Intake of dairy products should not be high
• Cut down on caffeine intake
• Don’t ignore skin problems and allergies as this could be a sign of dengue
• Avoid contact with an infected person
• Avoid driving into a flooded area
• Avoid pain killers
• Avoid raw vegetable salad
• Avoid frozen foods such as ice creams
• Avoid self-medication
• Avoid driving fast/rashy
• Avoid seafood
• Avoid Street food
• Do not ignore the early symptoms and consult your physician.

Being prepared for changes and being knowledgeable is the right way of facing weather changes, which are beyond our control. Follow the above tips and keep yourself and your child protected against the challenges of changing weather. Exercise, eat well, and be happy – the mantra to keep fit!

The rainy season is a beautiful season – you get cool weather with storms and rains. People enjoy this season with a smile on their faces but this smile is lost if they get infected due to rains. Above given essential dietary rules – it will give you the strength to win over the incessant showers!

Monsoon is a very tricky season when you have to be careful with what you eat and drink. With the cold rain outside, you are sure to go for hot and oily food that may result in digestive disturbances. You must focus more on foods that will help you in avoiding digestion issues like gas formation and indigestion. You must take a moment and ponder on what foods should be eaten in monsoon.

The monsoon season may reduce metabolism and increase fat storage. This again leads to a whole lot of health issues. So you should look for healthy foods for monsoon. Prefer foods that will keep you energetic and hydrated while providing a lot of nutrients. Your immunity level will be low during monsoon season and this may put you at the risk of getting infections frequently. So, consume foods that will improve your immunity in the monsoon season. Listed below are 10 healthy foods to eat during the monsoon.

1. Water Chances are more that you will reduce your fluid intake during monsoon. Ensure that you are keeping yourself hydrated. Also, try to drink boiled and filtered water to avoid infections.

2. Steamed Foods The best foods to eat in monsoon are steamed foods. Make sure that you avoid oily and fried foods. Grilled food is also considered perfect for monsoon. These are great for digestion.
3. Rich in Anti-oxidants Eat foods that are rich in anti-oxidants as it will fight against free radicals, keep illness at bay, and improve the immune system. A few options are pumpkin, capsicum, and berries.
4. Juices This is among the best healthy foods to eat in monsoon and also a good way to stay hydrated. You can choose fruits and vegetables for your juice.
5. Fruits Stick to fruits that are rich in Vitamin C, which will give you immunity. Fresh papaya, plums, guava, and peaches are the seasonal fruits found in monsoon. They are sweet, nutritious, and healthy. They also help in strengthening the immune system. Few options that you can try are pomegranates, kiwis, and oranges. If you are prone to cold or fever during monsoon, avoid fruits rich in water.
6. Vegetables This is one of the best foods to eat in monsoon. You will need to ensure that these are completely cooked before you consume them. Also, make sure that you wash them well prior to cooking them.
7. Cooked Food Irrespective of the food that you eat, make sure that it is well cooked. Try to avoid any foods that are raw during this season. This includes vegetables, dairy products, and meat products.
8. Meat You will need to have a fair share of meat during the monsoon season. Ensure that meat is well cooked and contains less oil. Grill and boil meat, rather than frying them as these are healthy ways to cook them in monsoon.
9. Warm beverages Keeping your body warm is important during the monsoon. Sipping a hot beverage during the day is sure to help with this. Try ginger and lemon tea or green tea. Your food choice should be designed depending on the season. Monsoon is a time that demands much care in the food you eat to keep you free from infections and to improve your health.
10. Tea – Especially the herbal ones, tea replenishes the body’s immunity system and helps against various infections. Also, the warm, ginger, and cinnamon tea gives a soothing feeling to the throat in the windy and rainy weather.
11. Soups – While it is pouring outside and you’re in the safety of your house, there is no better choice for a warm drink than soup. It is filling, healthy, and nutritious. Vegetable soups made at home also include spices that strengthen the immune system. Strictly avoid canned soup – it could be full of preservatives and have high-salt content as well.
12. Ginger – Make use of ginger in your meals and tea. Ginger is known to have remedial effects on the common cold, sore throat, and also weak immune systems. Make a paste of ginger, salt, and chili ready to be used in meals or in sandwiches.
13. Dry Foods – Consider consuming dry foods in monsoon rather than watery meals. This is because dry foods watery foods come with a risk of contracting a fungal infection and may cause bloating. Dry foods include oats, corn, wheat, barley, etc.
14. Yogurt – Yogurt works wonders for the digestive system during monsoon. Include yogurt in your meals or have flavored yogurt while enjoying the rains.
15. Eggs – As long as the shell of the egg is clean and intact, eggs are also healthy and yummy in the rainy season, especially egg yolk. Omelets, egg-bhurji, egg-paratha, and anda-pav are the favorite Indian egg delicacies during monsoon.
16. Garlic – Any food with garlic is a good bet in the monsoon, mainly because garlic is packed with antioxidants. It helps boost the body’s immunity and also regulates metabolism. You can also make a garlic chutney as a treat.
17. Almonds – These nuts are a great snacking option any time of the year, but during monsoon, they give an extra protective cover against various diseases. Almonds are packed with digestive fiber which regulates the metabolism and prevents the onset of tummy issues – otherwise a common problem during monsoon.
18. Beetroot – Beets are choc-a-bloc with vitamins and minerals, including potassium and folic acid. It is wonderful to detox the body and keep it healthy and energized. We recommend beetroot to keep kids lively and high on stamina even when the rains make everything seem dull.

19. Cumin & Fenugreek (Jeera & Methi) – These are the two best spices to add in your kids’ food this rainy season. They will keep the digestive system working well. In fact, you can even use them with water as a cure for any tummy upsets your child might encounter.

20. Tofu – Dairy products are not recommended during the monsoon, at least not in excess. This is mainly due to the perishability risk of dairy items in the humid weather. However, tofu can be a great substitute. It is rich in calcium, iron, and essential amino acids. Tofu can be a nutritious and tasty option to boost overall health in the rainy season.

21. Karela / Bitter Gourd – We understand it is difficult to feed karela to kids, but hear us out – the bitter gourd has anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibiotic, and even antiviral qualities! These are terrific plusses at a time when kids are at high risk for common cold and flu. The karela is in particular known to battle respiratory diseases.
22. Kadha / Herbal drink – You can serve your herbal drinks with boiled water during the monsoon. Simply add spices like cinnamon, peppercorn, ginger, and tulsi. Add some honey to sweeten the mix. This is a great beverage to strengthen the child’s body from the inside.
23. Daal – You can take your pick based on your kids’ tastes – Toor dal, Masoor dal, or Moong dal. Pulses are healthy food for the rainy season and are recommended mainly due to their high-protein and high-energy nature. This helps the body get strong enough to fight off seasonal infections. You can also feed your kids daal soup if they’ve fallen prey to cold and cough – it works like a charm to help them recover.

While monsoon brings out a craving for all foods fried and tasty, there are also plenty of fruits available in the market this season, which help fight infections and increase immunity. Monsoon fruits will help prevent any major disease from affecting you. The following are a few fruits to eat in monsoon. However, remember to wash them well and check whether they are ripe and ready to eat

Jamun / Jawa Plum

With its sweet, sour, and slightly acidic taste, the jamuns with their light purple flesh inside are best eaten as a fruit or in the form of juice. Jamuns are good for reducing blood sugar levels and thus effective in treating diabetes. They are also good for treating gastric disorders and good for the kidney and liver.

This fruit is low in calories and packed with nutrients like iron, folate, potassium, and vitamins, which is good to be consumed in the monsoon season.  Jamuns have strong astringent properties making the skin look healthy and fresh. The extract of the bark and leaves of the Jamun tree strengthens gums.

Litchi

With lots of dietary fiber, litchis are high in vitamin C, B, and potassium. The fiber in litchi helps keep digestion clean and aids in cases of acidity while vitamin C helps in fighting the common cold. Litchis are useful for weight loss and protect the skin from UV rays. They nourish the skin by reducing acne and skin spots. The bark, root, and flowers of the fruit are boiled in water and used as a gargle for sore throats.

Plums

This will help in improving the immune system, and protect the body from infections like flu and cold, which is very common in the monsoon season. Plums are a very good source of vitamin C & K, copper, dietary fiber, and potassium. They help relieve constipation and absorb iron, thus preventing anemia. The reddish-blue pigment anthocyanins found in plums may protect against cancer by cleaning up free radicals. While the antioxidants in the fruit can act as an anti-aging skincare agent, plum juice can rejuvenate boring and lifeless hair.

Cherries

Cherries help in fighting infections. This contains antioxidants that give a soothing effect to the brain and relaxes the brain. High in potassium and low in sodium and low in calories They slow down the aging process and a paste of mashed cherries on the face gives a soft feel to the skin.

Regular consumption can prevent hair fall and vitamin A in it can help maintain good eyesight. Cherries help fight heart diseases since they lower bad cholesterol and have anti-carcinogenic properties. They also aid in reducing high blood pressure and lower the uric acid level too, and so are useful for those suffering from gout and arthritis.

Kiwi

Known for its high Vitamin C content, Kiwi is loaded with health benefits. Kiwi has the ability to lessen respiratory issues like asthma, wheezing, and respiratory tract infections. Kiwi and other Vitamin C fruits provide protection against a range of ailments, boost the immune system, prevent cold and flu, and keep the digestive system robust.

Peach

Peach is low in calories and is high in fiber content, which will help with weight loss. Also, it is rich in Vitamin C which will help with immunity. With loads of vitamin A, B carotene, and vitamin C, peaches help protect the skin and improve vision too. Peaches are also known to have fluoride which helps prevent dental caries.

Peach is referred to as the ‘Fruit of Calmness’ due to its ability to relieve stress, anxiety, and achieve calmness of mind. Regular use of the juice and pulp of the fruit on the skin helps remove dead cells, acts as a moisturizer, has anti-aging and UV protection properties.

Pomegranates

Pomegranate is infused with nutrients. This will help with improving immunity during the monsoon season. Pomegranates contain a huge amount of antioxidants. Pomegranates and pomegranate juice are full of immune-boosting vitamin C known are an essential and quickly depleted nutrient especially during cold seasons. pomegranate juice not only protects your liver, but it also helps to regenerate after the liver has been damaged. It also peps up the immunity power, thus helping you combat the various illnesses.

Apples

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apples are fat, sodium, and cholesterol-free. A medium apple is about 80 calories. Apples are a great source of fiber pectin. One apple has five grams of fiber. Apples are useful in kidney stones, Iron contained in the apple helps in the formation of blood, raw apples are good for constipation. Cooked or baked apples are good for diarrhea. Apples are of special value to heart patients. They are rich in potassium and phosphorus but low in sodium. It is also useful for patients with high blood pressure. It also makes sure that your digestive system is functioning properly.

Bananas

Bananas are rich in vitamins and minerals. Bananas are high in potassium, which keeps high blood pressure in check and reduces the risk of heart disease. In conjunction with sodium, they help maintain the fluid and electrolyte balance in body cells, thus maintaining healthy nerve and muscle function. This will also help your stomach to ease the digestion process. Care must be taken as eating bananas in large quantities can lead to a cold.

Pears

During the monsoon season, a large number of vitamins are required to help fight infections. Pears are a good source of dietary fiber and a good source of Copper, vitamin B12, and vitamin C. Most of the vitamin C, as well as the dietary fiber, is contained within the skin of the fruit.  Pear is a natural antipyretic agent as it helps in cooling the body and thereby easing the fever.

Papaya

Papaya is rich in Vitamin C, which will help in improving the immune system by fighting against illnesses. This also contains high fiber content, which will help indigestion. Papaya gives you glowing skin,  helps in digestion, Papaya leaves increase the appetite in your body, and cures menstrual pain and It is used for weight loss treatment.