A forums on natural medicines - "Educate Yourself"

People search the net for information and I believe that world wide web has made learning very easy and within the reach of everyone who has access to the internet. But as world wide web is very wide, and ad supported sites has occupied the search engines, it is difficult to find reliabel health related information.

Educate Yourself is a free educational forum offering accurate information in the use of natural, non-pharmaceutical medicines and alternative healing therapies in the treatment of disease conditions. "Educate Yourself" is a place to discuss non-pharmaceutical medicine and alternative therapy for different disease.

You can discuss, learn from other's experiences and also share your own. The site is not easy to navigate like many other health related sites, but every topic offers handful of information with links to other sites or more articles. Researchers, educators or people who want to get in depth information about natural remedies and solutions can get really good stuff here.

Plan and design yourself to build your perfect house

House is not only a bricks and steel made structure but it means a lot to us, as we all seek a place to live comfortably and peacefully. Building new home or renovation is an individual descicion and after a good planning and details we start thinking about design, layout and structure of our house.

It is about one year ago, when we seriously decided to build our new house and one of my friends suggested me to visit "House plans and more" site. She told me that it is one of the sites which can provide good Home Plans and best way to search for a house plan is to look the floor plan for accurate layout of the home.

I searched the gallery but I was more interested in 2 catagories:
- Contemporary house plans and
- French Country House Plans

My husband was more interested in luxury plans, because his budget was quite enough to buil our dream home. Site helped a lot as we were pretty sure about our selected design of the house and as we purchased a reproducible master plan, we made some changes with the help of our local engineer.

For those people who want to renovate or build new house, they can get customized plan. Each package includes three-dimensional illustrations and a glossary of terms. They offer homebuilders details for constructing various foundations, numerous floor, wall and roof framing techniques, simple to complex residential wiring, sump and water softener hookups, plumbing connection methods, installation of septic systems etc.

Our new home is now completed and we are happy to share this information with all.

Prayers can help us heal

We often forget the power of prayers, that prayers can help miracle happen. Prayers are the whispering of our souls to God, and when we pray for others our prayers are more valuable to the Him.

Few quotes about prayers:

* Trouble and perplexity drive me to prayer and prayer drives away perplexity and trouble. ~Philip Melanchthen

* I believe in prayer. It's the best way we have to draw strength from heaven. ~Josephine Baker
* Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
~James Montgomery, What is Prayer?

Several scientific studies done by the medical school in Washington prove conclusively that prayer helps people heal. These studies have been replicated at hospitals all over the world. Every study shows prayer helps people heal.

Whatever the reason, prayer helps and if you want to heal yourself, why not learn to pray so the Divine hears your prayer?

there are many different forms of prayer of which 'Contemplative Prayer' and 'Meditation' appear to be the most effective.

Contemplative Prayer is a process of first becoming very relaxed and comfortable in a sitting or reclining position. We can use a form of progressive relaxation, autosuggestion, self-hypnosis, music or any other means of relaxation we choose.

Prayer is when you talk to God; meditation is when you listen to God. Meditation relaxes our body and mind, slows down our respiration rate and our heart rate, improves the flow of blood throughout our body, increases cell oxygenation, reduces the effects of stress on our organs and bodily systems, improves our digestion and elimination, and enhances our immune system. It's one of the healthiest things we can do for our bodies, minds and spirits.

By reducing the effects of stress caused by illness and disease, we're able to improve the function of our immune system and thus improve our health. By improving our circulatory, digestive and elimination systems, we improve our ability to eliminate toxic wastes and thus improve our health. By increasing oxygenation in our cells, we're better equipped to recover from injury and disease. We improve the quality of our health.

The power of prayer is one of the oldest and strongest way to achieve healing for oneself and others. Healing with prayers can work, but will it be long or short term. One must ultimately get to the emotional base of the person and the reason for the illness or accident, or it will recur again. Everything goes to our emotions as we llie in a bipolar emotionally based reality created by electromagnetic grids of experrience.

Group prayers can be more powerful than individual ones as they create a stronger frequency. Ask for prayers from people around you, and pray for them. If it can heal our bodies then prayers can heal our soul diseases as well. Isn't it?

Get allergy informaiton at - 'Food Matter'

Food allergy is a common symptom when we see that a food is not digested and body shows signs of getting rid of it. Sometimes allergic reactions are very serious and we need emergency treatment for it. In most of the cases we can save ourselves by avoiding those foods which are causing allergic reaction to our body. This post would help you learn about an online resouce which specifically offers information about food allergies. You get browse the site and get useful stuff from it.

Allergy can be defined as 'a specific response by the immune system to a substance (inhaled, touched or eaten) which it mistakenly identifies as harmful.'

Many people do suffer adverse reactions to substances, particularly foods, which have not sparked an immune system response. These responses are normally classed as intolerances or sensitivities and have a very wide range of causes, symptoms and degrees of severity.

Food Matter is an online resource for anyone with an allergy or an intolerance. You can find research based articles on allergy, intolerance and sensitivity(inhaled, contact and ingested) and the many health conditions related to them.

You can share your experiences or get in touch with other persons like you via their forums

At left side bar you can see many allergy catagories and you can easily search for the information you need for a specific kind of allergy.

Are you obese?

Are you obese?
It is difficult to say because everyone has its own body structure. But definately there are some measures or calculations which can tell us if you are obese or not?

Obesity means having too much body fat. It is different from being overweight, which means weighing too much. The weight may come from muscle, bone, fat and/or body water. Both terms mean that a person's weight is greater than what's considered healthy for his or her height.

When someone is obese, it means they have put on weight to the point that it could seriously endanger their health. This is caused by a combination of eating too many calories and not doing enough physical activity.

Currently, over half of women, and about two-thirds of men are either overweight or obese.

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis.

How do I know if I'm overweight?

You can tell from your Body Mass Index, or BMI, whether you are overweight or obese. To work out your BMI use "BMI calculator".

Your BMI is calculated using the following equation:

Your weight in kilogrammes (kg) divided by your height in metres (m) squared

So a man who weighs 85kg and is 1.75m tall will have a BMI of 28. A body mass index over 25 is defined as overweight, and over 30 is defined as obese.

Dietary advice

To maintain a healthy weight, it's important to follow a balanced diet.

Physical activity has benefits not only for controlling body weight over the long term, but also in controlling appetite. It has beneficial effects on the heart and blood that help to prevent cardiovascular disease.

If you want to lose weight, it's important not to go on a 'crash diet' but to change how you eat and organise a new diet that you can keep to all the time (not just when you're trying to lose weight).

If you go back to eating more calories than you need, you will put the weight back on.

Try:

- trimming the fat off meat
- choosing low-fat varieties of dairy and other products
- increasing your intake of starchy foods instead of fatty ones
- eating less of sugary foods
- increasing your intake of a variety of fruit and vegetables (aim to eat at least five portions a day)
- Sometimes certain medical conditions and drug treatments can cause weight gain. - - Ask your GP for advice if you are suddenly gaining weight for no apparent reason or if you are on medication.

If you would like advice about losing weight, talk to your GP or a dietitian.

Check out your BMI with our BMI Calculator.

Source: "Eat Well.gov.uk"

Useful sites and links:

* The Weight Wise website has been developed, and is managed by, the British Dietetic Association (BDA)

* Obesity is the official journal of The Obesity Society. Available in print and online, Obesity is dedicated to increasing knowledge, fostering research, and promoting better treatment for people with obesity and their loved ones
Link: "Obesity"

* Read about obestiy at the site from "World Health Organization"

* Obesity informaion at: Medline Plus

Related posts:

* Link between your food allergy and weight gain

* Weight loss can be maintained by avoiding fast foods

* 'Project Weight Loss' - A community to help you live a healthy life

why do we yawn?

I don't know why I yawn but I am sure that when I am bored or tired, I yawn a lot. And it is very commonly noted that when you yawn in front of other people they also tend to yawn.
A definition of yawning may be that "Yawning is an involuntary action that causes us to open our mouths wide and breathe in deeply."

Everyone yawns - babies, kids, teenagers, adults. Some birds, reptiles and most mammals also yawn. However, the reason why we yawn is a bit of a mystery. There is also very little research about yawning because for most people yawning is not a problem.

Interesting Yawning Facts

- The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
- In humans, the earliest occurrence of a yawn happens at about 11 weeks after conception - that's BEFORE the baby is born!
- Yawns become contagious to people between the first and second years of life.
- A part of the brain that plays an important role in yawning is the hypothalamus.
- Research has shown that some neurotransmitters (for example, dopamine, excitatory amino acids, nitric oxide) and neuropeptides increase yawning if injected into the hypothalamus of animals.
- Your heart rate can rise as much as 30 percent during a yawn.
- 55 percent of people will yawn within five minutes of seeing someone else yawn.
- Blind people yawn more after hearing an audio tape of people yawning.
- Reading about yawning will make you yawn.
- Olympic athletes often yawn before competition.

While the dictionary tells us that yawning is caused by being fatigued, drowsy or bored, scientists are discovering that there is more to yawning than what most people think.

The Physiological Theory -- Our bodies induce yawning to drawn in more oxygen or remove a build-up of carbon dioxide. This theory helps explain why we yawn in groups. Larger groups produce more carbon dioxide, which means our bodies would act to draw in more oxygen and get rid of the excess carbon dioxide. However, if our bodies make us yawn to drawn in needed oxygen, wouldn't we yawn during exercise? Robert Provine, a psychologist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and a leading expert on yawning, has tested this theory. Giving people additional oxygen didn't decrease yawning and decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide in a subject's environment also didn't prevent yawning.

The Evolution Theory -- Some think that yawning is something that began with our ancestors, who used yawning to show their teeth and intimidate others. An offshoot of this theory is the idea that yawning developed from early man as a signal for us to change activities.
The Boredom Theory -- In the dictionary, yawning is said to be caused by boredom, fatigue or drowsiness. Although we do tend to yawn when bored or tired, this theory doesn't explain why Olympic athletes yawn right before they compete in their event. It's doubtful that they are bored with the world watching them.

You know that when you are bored, you yawn. Scientists have confirmed this observation by comparing the number of yawns in 17-19 year old students who watched music videos to the number of yawns in students who watched an uninteresting color test bar pattern.
Many people assume that we yawn because our bodies are trying to get rid of extra carbon dioxide and to take in more oxygen. This may make some sense. According to this theory, when people are bored or tired, they breathe more slowly. As breathing slows down, less oxygen makes it to the lungs. As carbon dioxide builds up in the blood, a message to the brain results in signals back to the lungs saying, "Take a deep breath," and a yawn is produced.

The only problem with the excess carbon dioxide theory is that research shows that it may not be true.

In 2007, researchers proposed that yawning is used to cool the brain. They found that people yawned more often they pressed a warm or room temperature towel against their heads than when they pressed a cold towel against their heads. People who breathed through their noses (thought to reduce brain temperature) did not yawn at all.

Sources:
* What makes us yawn? at "How Stuffs Work?"

* From "Neuroscience for kids": 'Yawning'

Related posts:
* Carry on yawning - it will help keep you awake

* What does Yawning and Autism Have in Common?