HEALTH BENEFITS OF DONATING BLOOD

HEALTH BENEFITS OF DONATING BLOOD

IMPROVES HEART HEALTH

Donating blood improves your overall cardiovascular health. Increased level of iron in the blood raises the chance of heart disease. Regularly donating blood helps males in particular to reduce the amount of iron in the blood. This can reduce the chance of heart attack by 88%. Additionally, regular blood donation can lower the risk of severe cardiovascular events such as stroke by 33%.

ENHANCES THE PRODUCTION OF NEW BLOOD CELLS

When blood is withdrawn, the donor's body immediately begins to replenish the lost blood. New cells are produced by marrow within 48 hours of donation, and all of the red blood cells the donor loses during donation are completely replaced within one to two months. Therefore, donating blood helps to stimulate the production of new blood cells. This process of replenishment can help your body stay healthy and work more efficiently.

BURNS CALORIES

Donating blood on a regular basis can also improve fitness. Donating one pint of blood (450 ml) burns 650 calories in donor's body.

ENHANCES FEELING OF WELL BEING IN ELDERLY PEOPLE

Many elderly people who are in good health have reported feeling invigorated and reenergized by giving blood on a regular basis.

REDUCES CANCER RISK

Give blood to help lower your risk of cancer., consistent blood donation is associated with lowered risks of cancers, including liver, lung, colon, stomach and throat cancers. Risk levels drop in correlation with how often participants donate blood.

FREE HEALTH SCREENING DONE

In addition to all of these benefits, a donor receives a free prior health screening plus mini blood test. There will be an HB level test, as well as a blood pressure and body check.  Blood is also tested for some major diseases and the donor is immediately informed in strict confidentiality if any of these tests show positive results.

SAVES LIVES

By donating blood, many lives are saved and hope is given to many whose situation may otherwise be hopeless. Blood donors give such patients a second lease of life.

BRINGS JOY TO MANY

When you donate blood, you impact not only the patient whose life may depend on your donation, but also all those who depend on that patient. The entire community will benefit from the spirit of generosity.

ELIGIBILITY TO DONATE

You should not be suffering from any of the following diseases or taking medicines for them:

• Hepatitis B, C
• AIDS
• Diabetes (are you under medication currently?)
• Fits/ Convulsions (are you under medication currently?)
• Cancer
• Leprosy or any other infectious diseases
• Any allergies (Only if you are suffering from severe symptoms)
• Hemophilia/ Bleeding problems
• Kidney disease
• Heart disease
• Hormonal disorders
• Any other type of Jaundice (within 5 years)
• Tuberculosis (within 2 years)
• Chicken Pox (within 1 year)
• Malaria (within 1 year)
• Organ Transplant (within one year)
• Blood Transfusion (within the last 6 months)
• Pregnancy (within the last 6 months)
• Blood Donation (within the last 3 months)
• Major Surgery (within the last 3 months)
• Small Pox Vaccination (within the last 3weeks)
• Hemoglobin deficiency / Anemia (recently)
• Drastic weight loss (recently)

AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS DOCTOR AWAY

 

HEALTH BENEFITS OF GREEN APPLES

Some of the primary health benefits of green apple are:

• Contains a lot of fiber, which is good for digestion.
• The chances of colon cancer are less if one eats green apple.
• Relieves constipation.
• Beneficial in treating gout.
• Useful in controlling diarrhea.
• Reduces blood pressure.
• Blood sugar gets stabilized.
• Helps in treating rheumatism.
• Improves one’s appetite.
• It contains carbohydrates and therefore provides much energy.
• It contains protein.
• Have plenty of vitamins, such as Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6 and it is one of the most prominent green apple benefits.
• It also has plenty of minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, Manganese, Iron,  Potassium, Copper, Zinc
• It helps in preventing liver problems.
• It has less cholesterol and is therefore useful for those losing weight.
• It purifies the blood as it contains a lot of minerals.
• One also less chances of suffering from liver problems.
• Apples have essential nutrients and green apple is no exception to it. Green apple has lots of benefits due to which it should be included in the daily diet.

Green Apple: Skin Benefits

• Green apple is an excellent beauty enhancer. Lots of skin care and hair care benefits are associated with green apples.. 
• Green apple is a great anti-aging ingredient. Antioxidants and fibers present in this apple keep your skin elastic and youthful for long.
• A face mask involving the use of green apple can deeply moisturize your skin and help eliminating the appearance of wrinkles while improving the overall texture of your skin.
• Owing to its dense vitamin content, green apple helps in maintaining your skin and has great whitening and nourishing effects on your complexion.
• It helps preventing various skin diseases caused by the lack of essential vitamins.
• Green apple is a highly effective anti-acne treatment as well. Regular consumption of green apple help you control and prevent pimple eruptions.
• In addition, it also facilitates the elimination of dark circles, leaving your eyes refreshed and refreshed.

Green Apple: Hair Benefits

Green apple is not only good for our skin but for our hair as well. Here we have a few of the benefits listed for you.

• A paste created with the leaves and skin of green apple works wonders to fix dandruff. You should use this paste as a shampoo. Green apple juice also has the same effects if massaged regularly onto the scalp.
• It is also a recognized remedy for strengthening the locks, enhancing hair growth and preventing hair loss.

Green Apple: How to Select

Apple is quite a sensitive fruit and one has to be careful in its selection and storage.

• While buying green apples look for firm, brightly colored apples having no bruises or damaged, shriveled skin.
• It is always better to prefer individual apples over the pre-bagged one. This way you’ll be able to smell the  apples before paying for them. Never buy the apples that smell musky.

Some useful tips:

Making different recipes with green apples can be fun! They are not just delicious but healthy as well, provided that you bake apples the right way.

Here are some helpful tips on green apple usage:

• Apples can speed up the ripening process of other fruits as it emits a natural gas called Ethylene. To use these ‘ripening’ benefits of apples, wrap it up along with the unripe fruit in a plastic bag.

• While cooking apples, add a little bit of sugar. This done at start of cooking can help the apples hold their shape better.

• It helps to use a greased muffin tin for baking apples. The tin provides enough support to the baked apples.

• Green apples can be consumed in a number of ways. You can eat the whole fruit either peeled or unpeeled, or can make an apple shake as well. Make pies out of them or add them to your deserts and ice creams. The best way is to consume it as a whole fruit, this way it retains all the natural nutrients.

• Oh! Remember, never eat the seeds of an apple because they are slightly poisonous and hence may prove detrimental for your health.

Please let us know your inputs on this article and share this with your friends!

HEALTH BENEFITS OF TURMERIC

Turmeric is a popular spice for cooking, but it has a long history of medicinal uses, too. It provides a wide variety of benefits. Once you know about these benefits you’ll be Eagar to add the spice to your diet.

 

1. Helps to prevent cancer

There are also indications that it may help to prevent breast, skin and pancreatic cancer, childhood leukaemia and multiple myeloma.

2. Reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes

Curcumin also has a positive effect on cholesterol; it may help lower cholesterol and prevent the build-up of LDL ("bad" cholesterol) in the blood vessels. It could therefore stop the build-up of plaque (atherosclerosis) that can block arteries and cause heart attacks and strokes.

3. Combats inflammatory diseases

Turmeric's natural anti-inflammatory qualities mean it may work as well as some anti-inflammatory medications, without the side effects. It may help with inflammation of the eye (uveitis), inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis) and multiple sclerosis.

4. Fights colds and flu

Turmeric may help reduce the severity of bacterial and viral infections.

5. Helps indigestion and weight loss

Curcumin stimulates the gallbladder and produces bile. Because bile helps digest fat, this improves digestion and may help control weight. It treats indigestion, reducing symptoms of bloating and gas.

6. Assists diabetes sufferers

Turmeric may improve glucose control or insulin activity. If you add turmeric to your diet when combined with diabetes medication, it may cause levels to drop too low, resulting in hypoglycemia.

7. Other uses

·       Speeds up wound healing and assist in remodeling of damaged skin.

·       Help in the treatment of psoriasis and other inflammatory skin conditions.

·       Is a natural painkiller.

·       Aid in fat metabolism and help in weight management.

How do I take it?

Preparation Methods & Dosage: 4 add black pepper or dried ginger to help activate turmeric. Turmeric can be applied topically to a painful joint or swelling as a poultice to relieve pain.

·   We can add fresh turmeric in smoothie every morning.

·   We can also add it to eggs in the morning. But unlike the powdered kind, add fresh grated turmeric towards the end of dishes so it won’t burn and also to preserve its flavor.

·   We can mix grated turmeric to salads.

·   We can also throw grated turmeric root in our marinates.

·   Like ginger, if you squeeze peeled and grated root in a garlic press you get a nice (orange) juice out of it. You can do a million things with this- add to soups, rice dishes, salad dressings, etc.

·   For a healthy snack you can grate it into plain yogurt, with vanilla and a little honey, maybe some grated carrot too.

·   You can add grated turmeric root to boiled milk.

·   Turmeric pickle can be used along with meals.

·    It tastes good with chopped in a potato or egg salad, or cut in fat slices and substituted for carrots in a soup. 

HEMOGLOBIN

HEMOGLOBIN

HEMOGLOBIN is the iron carrying protein found in red blood cell that binds to oxygen. The principal function of hemoglobin is to combine and transport oxygen from the lungs following inhalation, and then deliver it to all body tissues, where it is required to provide energy for the chemical reactions of all living cells.  The normal level of hemoglobin in adult female is 12-16 gm% and in adult male is 14-18gm%.

Causes of low level hemoglobin:

Loss of blood (traumatic injury, surgery, bleeding, colon cancer etc.)

Nutritional deficiency

Bone marrow problem

Kidney failure

Abnormal hemoglobin structure (sickle cell, thalassemia)

Pregnancy

Symptoms of low hemoglobin:

1 shortness of breath

Coldness in hands and feet’s

Dizziness

Headache

Pale skin

Lack of concentration

Who is at risk?

Infants and young children

Teens (underweight, Ongoing illness, girls with heavy periods)

Child bearing age women

Adults having internal bleeding

SIMPLE WAYS TO INCREASE HEMOGLOBIN LEVEL NATURALLY:

There are many fruits and vegetables available for us to increase hemoglobin naturally.

Pomegranate

 Pomegranate is delicious fruit that contains three times of antioxidants of green tea.It contains vitamins A, C, E, folic acid Iron...

Dates

Dates or dried dates are considered as nutritious. Along with iron they contain Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium and vitamins A and B. Dates can boost your energy level.

Watermelon

This fruit provides Iron along with high levels of Proteins, Carbohydrates, Potassium, Vitamin C and vitamin B.As the Iron content in watermelon is high it boosts the level of stamina and energy.

Berries

All berries (Blackberries, Blueberries, Cranberries, and Strawberries) contain Iron. This fruit along with Iron contains lots of Antioxidants, Vitamin A and E.

IRON RICH VEGETABLES

Legumes

All types of Legumes are enriched with Iron. Legumes include-Soya nuts, Red kidney beans,, Lentils Chickpeas, Black-eyed peas, Black beans )

Green leafy vegetables

Green leafy vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals. Green leafy vegetables contain vitamin A, C, K, Calcium and Iron. One cup of Spinach has nearly 6mg of Iron.

Pumpkin Seeds

 Pumpkin seeds are good sources of Iron,Omega-3 fatty acids and zinc.1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds contain 8.6mg. The better way to eat them is to add them to a salad and eat.

Other sources: cheese, milk, yogurt, red meat, fish, tomato, peanuts, chicken liver.

 Advice:  Comparatively Vegetarian sources of Iron are less readily absorbed. .It is advisable to take these foods along with foods which contain vitamin C it will be more helpful for curing Iron deficiency.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Year after year we make resolutions to exercise regularly , eat well, give up smoking and bad habbits and many more . but most of us fail to keep our promising to ourselves. with the new year ,the oppurtunity for a fresh start  comes. So here are some tips to stay on track if healthy lifestyle and losing wt is your goal:

FIND MOTIVATION: get clear about what you want and try new activities every day and use that to inspire you through out.

MAKE GOAL: if you don’t know where you want to end up, you won’t really know how to get there. So you need to make smarts goals, should be realistic, timely, specific etc….

EAT BREAKFAST EVERYDAY:  breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eat a big healthy breakfast, this will give u more energy, keep you feeling full.

FILL UP ON VEGETABLES:  vegetables are filled with nutrients, fibre, water, very few calories. Use herbs and spices to jazz up vegetables instead of using butter or salt to flavor them.

EXERCISE: to burn calories at a faster rate, you will need to exercise. Take it slow at first and then increase your time and intensity.

TAKE IT SLOW: many people make a major mistake when they trying to tackling health resolution is trying to do everything at once. But just relax and spend a few weeks to indulge in new good habits and then slowly increase your goal.

Every day is a new chance to start over so don’t use anything as excuse and try to return on healthy lifestyle immediately when you feel sidetracked.

POLY-CYSTIC OVARIAN SYNDROME

PCOS is a problem in which women hormones are out of balance. A woman with PCOS grows many cysts on their ovaries that is why it is called polycystic ovary syndrome.

In PCOS, the ovaries produce excess male sex hormone. Small cysts form on the ovaries, which do not produce enough of a hormone that triggers ovulation. The ovarian follicle which have filled with fluid in preparation for ovulation, remain as cyst when ovulation does not occur .The cyst are not harmful but leads to hormone imbalance.

                              PCOS = Silent Killer 

EPIDEMIOLOGY:

APPROX. 5% TO 10% of women of reproductive age are affected. (1 out of 15 women). The condition may appear anytime from menarche until menopause but generally is seen around menarche.

Which women are more prone to PCOD’S?

·         Family history

·         Stressful life

·         Overweight women

·         High lipid /fat level

·         No physical activity

·         Hypertension

·         Over production of insulin

·         Over active pituitary glands

SYMPTOMS:

·         ACNE , OILY SKIN

·         Weight gain / obesity

·         Type 2 diabetes

·         Increased growth of hair on the face, chest , stomach

·         Infertility

·         Male  pattern baldness / thinning  of hair/ dandruff

·         Irregular/ absent menstrual cycle

·         Skin tags or tiny excess flaps of skin in armpits or neck area

·         Patches of thickened and dark brown or black skin on the thighs , neck , arms , breast

·         High blood pressure / high cholesterol

·         Depression

COMPLICATION OF PCOD:

·         Abnormal bleeding from the uterus

·         Blood cholesterol and lipid abnormalities

·         Endometrial cancer

·         Pregnancy induced hypertension

·         Type 2 diabetes

·         Severe liver inflammation

DIET TIPS IN PCOS:

1. FRUITS: berries, pears, range, fig, kiwi, avocado

2. VEGETABLES:  spinach, broccoli, peas

3. Whole grains: oats, brown rice, whole wheat, barley, buckwheat

4. Nuts and seeds: almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds

5. Onion, tomato, potatoes

6. Coconut oil

7. Extra-virgin olive oil

8. Water intake should be more than 2 litre

9. Cut down calories in evening

10. Foods in their most natural forms

FOODS TO AVOID:

1. WHITE bread, pasta, white rice

2. Baked products

3.  Candy and chocolates, sugar

4. Salty snacks

5. Candy and chocolate

6. Smoked meats, canned vegetables

7. Pre –made broth, canned soup, salted nuts

8. Alcohol, caffeine should be avoided

9. Soy

10. Foods high in salt

GREEN VEGETABLE JUICES

GREEN VEGETABLE JUICES

Green juices or fresh vegetable juices are power – packed with nutrition. Drinking vegetable juices can help to regulate our weight and boost energy level and immune system.

Green veggies including leafy vegetables produce chlorophyll, which oxygenate our body. This enables us to released stored toxins in the body. The chlorophyll molecule has magnesium and its impact on body’s magnesium is highly significant. It is also essential for calcium utilization so when we include green juices in our daily diet it helps for better calcium absorption.

A green juice will cleanse our digestive system, lungs, liver and uterus.

Facts about vegetable juices

1- Always rotate your green, don’t use one green all the time.

2- Use a mixer and not a juicer so that you get the fiber from veggies.

3- Don’t strain the juice, but have it with the pulp.

4- Pineapple can be added in green juices to improve taste.

5- It is advisable to dilute juices with water.

BEST TIME TO CONSUME FRESH JUICES IS ON AN MPTY STOMACH, FIRST THING IN THE MORNING OR ATLEAST ½ AN HOUR BEFORE MEAL.

Veggies for green juices

1-      Green leafy lettuce

2-      Spinach

3-      Kale

4-      Mustard green

5-      Cabbage

6-      Broccoli

7-      Cucumber

8-      Bottle gourd