Category Archives: Your Health
Keep your house skin friendly!
It is little known fact that almost a fifth of the UK population along with one in twelve adults now have eczema, with half of the adult population being victim to mild skin allergies. One of the main reasons for this is down to “triggers” found around the house – some of them you wouldn’t even think of. It’s easy to keep these “triggers” under control, whilst helping to keep your house a healthy living environment.
Work to keep the sleeping areas free of dust mites!
Take a look at the Healthy Hideout’s top five places to find preventable causes of common skin conditions:
- Living room / Lounge - Soft furnishings gather dust mites in the seams, so hoover these areas regularly. Mites can a huge problem for eczema suffers, feeding on dead skin cells found across all surfaces – The droppings caused by the mites can trigger eczema reactions. Try leather covered furniture as it makes difficult for the mites to stay hidden. Keep surfaces clear of dust, and hoover the carpet (if you have one) regularly.
- Kitchen – Many kitchen cleaning products and sprays contain bleach which can irritate the skin and eyes. Replace these with natural organic products such as vinegar or soda based products. Always wear protective gloves when dealing with cleaning agents. When buying washing detergent, stick to non-bio products – Try to utilise a double rinse cycle to ensure as much of the detergent is washed out.
- Children’s Areas – Soft toys and play mats should be washed regularly as they can quickly become a safe haven for dust and their mite followers. Keep mats from the tops of beds to stop the mites from possibly spreading to the sleeping areas.
- Bedrooms – It may not seem obvious, but it’s important to not keep the bedroom too warm. Mites thrive off 16 – 24 degree heat so keep the bedrooms well ventilated. Utilise anti-allergy mattress covers and look to wash your bedding weekly. Any bedding that’s over a week old can be a safe haven for mites and other unwelcome critters.
- Bathrooms – Like the bedroom, look to keep your bathroom well ventilated whilst drying towels outside to keep humidity levels down. Try to use natural cleaning products that don’t break down the top layer of your skin when washing in the shower or bath.
Superior Supermarket Control
Taking control of your spending whilst carrying our your weekly or even monthly food shop can be daunting task for many. Endless offers for the latest product, multi purchase discount and clearance items for next to nothing prices are just some of the causes for filling your shopping trolley with items that rack up your final bill.
Change your shopping habits to save money!
Here’s a quick but effective list of ways you can make sure you leave the shop with things you actually went in for and nothing more – courtesy of the Healthy Hideout:
- Choose a basket - Although you may not enjoy using them as they require a lot more effort, go for a basket instead of a shallow trolley. With less space, you’ll be heading to the checkouts when your baskets full rather than trying to fill your trolley with extras you simply don’t need.
- Make a shopping list – It’s almost a given to make a list before you go shopping, but many of us still choose not to make one. Make yourself a list of the items you need and stick to it. There’s a reason why the milk and bread are often far apart or on the other side of the store at your local supermarket – You’ll have to pass many different aisles to get there buying items you don’t need.
- BOGOF’s (buy one get one free) are not your friend – Realistically, ask yourself how many biscuits you can eat in a week or how many apples you’ll consume in the same time. Supermarkets often provide offers on stock they need to clear quickly. This normally means means the consumer ends up with a years supply of Pringles they didn’t actually want simply because it was a “good deal” at the time. Buy loose fruit and veg as it often works out cheaper!
- Carry cash – By taking a set cash amount to the supermarket with you, you’ll be bound to stick within the allowance you have to spend on shopping. Taking cards tempts you to spend more than you actually need to on items you don’t really need.
- Get rid of the vouchers – Many of us find ourselves surrounded by vouchers offering savings for our weekly shopping bills. Stop and ask yourself if you would have bought that product or item if you didn’t have the voucher? Vouchers tempt us to buy items we wouldn’t normally buy!
- From top to bottom - When browsing the shelves at your local supermarket be sure to look from top to bottom at the products available. You’ll often find that supermarkets will place the most profitable products at eye level, causing the consumer the buy what the supermarket wants them to buy.
Improve your lung power!
With summer fast approaching some of us may be working on our beach ready bodies before hitting the sandy coastlines. In order to look our best, we must of course exercise and we all know that exercise requires effort. Some cardiovascular activities leave many of us breathless before we’ve even started. So how can you prevent that “getting gased” feeling – Here are some the Healthy Hideouts top ways to help improve lung power!
A gentle stroll with your dog is great exercise!
- It’s a mental game – It may seem a little odd at first, but research carried out by Harvard demonstrated that having an optimistic mindset helped improve lung function. 670 men aged 63 were followed for eight years with the optimists having greater lung performance than the pessimists.
- An apple a day – A study carried out by Nottingham university found that people who ate at least 5 apples a week had better lung function and suffered from less “wheeziness” compared to those who didn’t. If you’re not a fan of eating apples the classic way, why not try dicing them into salads or desserts.
- Dental health is important – Research showed that people with gum disease who found to be 1 1/2 times more likely to have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a lung disease that affects people aged 65 plus. Combine this with the fact that you’re 70% more likely to suffer from heart problems and you soon realise that brushing your teeth is more than just a routine “chore.”
- Take the stairs – Although the lift is almost always tempting, exercise that makes your heart work such as taking the stairs forces your lungs to work hard. Studies have shown that 15 minutes of walking 3 to 4 times a day helped improve breathing for people with emphysema.
- Tomatoes please! – Research by Nottingham University has shown that people who ate tomatoes at least three times a week were found to have improved lung function and less wheeziness. Incorporate tomatoes into your meals by adding fresh tomatoes or passatas to sauces.
Tips for kicking unhealthy habits!
With a wealth of bad habits surrounding us each and every day, many of us are guilty of even the mildest bad addiction. One in five of us smoke, 33,000 of us die from alcohol related death and two out of five of us are overweight. Some statistics even show that we watch more than 3 hours of TV per day!
Eye opening statistics – It’s worth stepping back to try and change your ways. The long term health benefits speak for themselves, so why not try kicking those habits by using some of the Healthy Hideout’s top tips:
Over-eating
- Don’t be tempted by cleaning up all the left-overs. Store food that will keep in tupperware and throw the rest away.
- Don’t reach for the biscuit tin as a quick fix – Instead, grab yourself a glass of water and do something else for 20 minutes.
- Buy shelled nuts instead of pre-shelled salted alternatives. Cracking the nut requires more effort, causing you to eat less.
- For the extreme over-eating, store food in single portion containers. It’ll stop you eating for two when you really don’t need too!
Television & Video Games
- It may seem odd, but try changing your lounging chairs to upright alternatives. You won’t be tempted to sit there for hours on end if the chair isn’t overly comfortable.
- Turn the TV on for a particular programme or 30 minute gaming session, making sure to turn it off when you’re finished. It’ll stop you channel hoping.
- Hide the TV away from eyes either behind a cover or TV cupboard. It’ll prevent the TV becoming a focal point that you find yourself “buzzing” around.
Drinking
- Remove drinking as a habit or ritual that you carry out every week, such as drinking after the working week’s over on Friday afternoon. Do something else with your work colleagues, such as exercise or going to the cinema.
- Calculate how much you spend on alcohol a week – Half that amount and save it in a jar as a visual reminder of how much you save by not binging.
- Create your own set of rules and try and stick to them. Drink only one drink when you’re out, or only drink when you’re dressed smartly. Something to give you a mental reminder that you’re trying to cut down.
Smoking
- The facts speak for themselves: After 24 hours the carbon monoxide leaves your lungs, whilst after 48 hours you’ll find your sense of smell and taste improving. After 72 hours you’ll find breathing becomes easy.
- Switch to decaf during your quitting process – The caffeine could cause the cravings to become stronger.
Top grooming tips – One for the guys!
Keeping yourself looking trim and tidy has plenty of benefits, from making you feel better psychologically, to the obvious benefit of being taken seriously or physically attracted to by others. Many of us live very hectic lifestyles often not finding any “me” time, but it can’t be stressed enough how important it is to spend time on yourself. It’ll do wonders for your being both long term and short term! Who knows, if you’re single and looking you may find it increases your chances almost ten fold.
Good grooming requires a good shaving kit!
Here are the Healthy Hideout’s top grooming tips:
Vegatables are your friend – It may seem an obvious card to pull, but in addition to all the vitamins and minerals, vegetables such as spinich, swiss chard and kale are packed with chlorophyll – a natural deodorant for the body. Munching on raw organic carrots can also help to keep your teeth looking clean and healthy.
After the shower is best – When you jump out of the shower or bath, your skin will be moist and more susceptible to absortion. Apply deodorants or antiperspirants at this time to ensure that the active ingredients have the best affect. Be sure to stick to alcohol free options to ensure that you don’t dry out your skin.
Look after your razors – If you find yourself constantly buying new razors for the morning shave, it may be worth introducing a small containers of mineral oil to your medical cabinet. The oil helps to stop the oxidation process that dull the edges, eventually rendering them useless. Be sure to clean the blade properly before use!
Go for the natural soothe - It may odd at first, but if your skin is easily irritated during or after a shave, try rubbing a small amount of olive oil into the affected area. If you do this before shaving, you’ll find that it helps the blade run smoothly across the skin.
Time running out? – If you need to make that meeting, or you’re late for a friend with no time to jump in the shower, here’s one that’s worked for everyone at the Healthy Hideout. Take a sink full of clean warm water and add four to five tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda, mixing throughly. Soak a clean flannel and rub yourself down before drying. It may seem desperate, but when time is of the essence it can be a lifesaver.
Keep Hydrated – It’s been mentioned plenty of times on the Healthy Hideout, but keeping your water intake regular can have a positive effect on how your skin looks. For more information, head over to our previous post “How much water should I drink a day?”
Anyone fancy a cuppa?
Often a topic for debate, the common English cup of tea is often seen as the better choice over coffee because of differences in caffeine and the lack of addictive qualities that coffee can offer. But is tea really a better option? The Healthy Hideout decided to find our what makes tea tick:
Coffee or Tea? You decide which is best.
Tea effects your health – Recent numerous studies show how regular tea drinking demonstrated a link between a reduction in heart attack risk, cholesterol levels and uric acid – a factor associated with diabetes and heart disease.
Five cups a day – Studies suggest that the flavonoids found in standard English teas can help to minimise the increase the in blood pressure caused by the natural occurrence of caffeine by up to 65%. Too much tea however can increase your blood pressure, so try to keep sensible at around 5 cups a day.
Don’ overdo it – It’s common knowledge that caffeine helps increase alertness and helps us to feel more awake, but it’s important to not intake too much. Keep it to below 5 cups a day – Anything above has been known to affect sleeping patterns.
Keeping hydrated – Caffeinated drinks such as tea and coffee are often related to dehydration. The intake of caffeine increases the blood flow to the kidneys, inhibiting the re-absorption of sodium, calcium and magnesium causing increased water secretion. Be sure to have a glass of water after a black coffee to keep well hydrated.
Watch your children – UK expert research has shown that the Canadian guidelines for caffeine intake with children are worth adhering to. Keep tea intake to nothing more than 2 small cups of tea a day, encouraging the intake of water instead.
To summarise, tea is generally quite good for you within moderation. If you need a relaxing hot drink without the caffeine, it’s worth looking into the herbal options available. The Healthy Hideout touched on herbal teas in a previous article which can be found here: http://www.divapor.com/blog/2010/11/6-top-teas-the-real-wonder-drink/