Lethal fats in your weekly shopping
When you get home from your weekly shop at a major supermarket you may be surprised to find many of your items filled with a scary little fat that is known to contribute towards coronary heart disease. The ingredient to look for on your shopping labels is ‘hydrogenated vegetable oil’ or ‘partially hydrogenated vegetable oil’, as these foods can often contain trans fats. Hydrogenation is the process of adding hydrogen to liquid oils to transform them into a solid or semi-solid state. The problem with trans fats is that they are high in LDL cholesterol, which is the bad type that you should try to reduce.
Try to avoid foods that have trans fats
The benefits to the food industry don’t seem to come from extra flavour or nutritional benefits but due to cost and to make the food last longer on the supermarket shelves. It seems that the problem stems from the body’s inability to easily metabolise trans fats. The human enzyme lipase is ineffective against the hydrogenated vegetable oil trans fat. Alex Renton from the Daily Mail likens it to eating candle wax where the fats stay in your blood for longer and are more likely to form deposits on your artery walls. Nutrition experts even say they are more dangerous than the butter they replaced.
Be careful what oils are used when cooking french fries
After many campaigns to eradicate trans fats from foods the food industry started to listen but it seems that trans fats still remain in a host of products. Foods that are more likely to contain trans fats include commercially baked goods such as crackers and cookies as well as fried foods like doughnuts and fries. Other foods to be careful about include: muffins, pizza, pastries, meats, cheeses, cakes and pies.
The problem with trans fats is that we are often unaware of the health risks. Unlike the risks with consuming alcohol or cigarettes that have been well documented, trans fats are often a hidden danger that leaves the consumer in the dark. Be careful what you put into your body and try to minimise your intake of both saturated and trans fat foods.
Top 5 headache remedy tips
If like many you suffer from frequent headache pains, you can find yourself reaching for medication before even trying to figure out what’s causing it. It is recommended that you find out the cause of your headache to try and eliminate them from occurring all together.
There are over 200 types of headache, so identifying which you keep getting can really make a difference to snubbing them permanently. If you can cross sinus pain, migraine or even tension headaches off the list, why not try ruling out some of the following:
- Head-banging – Excruciating pain around the eye areas and lower forehead can sometimes be caused by lack of oxygen. Try getting out into the fresh air, or if you smoke, perhaps quitting for a while.
- Jaw-aching – Some headaches can be caused by the grinding of your teeth during sleep – If this is the case for you, try wearing a gum shield.
- Red eye – Pain on the side of the head near the temple areas which can sometimes cause bloodshot eyes. Experts recommend indomethacin as the magic cure for this type of headache.
- Red Wine – An allergy or response to red wine can cause certain headache pains. Try drinking black tea before or after as the quercetin found in the tea can help.
- Medication – Taking painkillers too quickly can sometimes cause a headache rather than prevent it. If you take certain painkillers regularly, your body react negatively. Try hydrating first and then escaping to a quiet place for 30 minutes.
8 factors that affect your car insurance
Car insurance can be an annual headache for many of us, shopping around for the best quote or battling over the phone to stay with your current cover for a cheaper price. Insurance companies will create an insurance premium that judges how much of a risk you pose to them as a customer. If you are lower risk, you’re likely to have a lower premium.
Make sure you're covered with a good premium!
Take a look at the Healthy Hideout’s top 8 factors that will affect your car insurance bill:
- Profession – Some insurance companies will treat certain professions with more caution, so if your travelling long distances, working anti-social hours or carrying passengers your premium is bound to be higher than normal.
- Job title - Without pre-judgement about your work environment heirachy, it’s important to note that certain job titles will equate to a higher premium. People who are more inclined to stay indoors with less travelling are bound to have lower price tags.
- Driving History – One of the most important factors – If you’ve been involved in many accidents or convicted for a serious motor offence you’ll almost certainly have to pay a much higher price for your cover. No-claims bonuses can really play importance with situations such as this.
- Drive time – The more time you spend driving your vehicle, the more chance you’ll be involved in an accident. If you can commit lower mileage on your policy, your premium will of course be lower.
- Car type – Many people don’t seem to realise that the type of car they drive actually effects the price of your policy. Brand new, popular or even classic cars can usually cost more to insure as they are considered more vulnerable to theft or repair. Engine size and power also affects your policy negatively.
- Where you keep your car – If your car is secure over night, your insurance cost will be greatly improved. If you keep your car locked in a garage, you’ll pay less than someone who parks their car on the street.
- How you pay – If you choose to pay your annual insurance policy in one lump sum rather than monthly installments, it will cost significantly less. Insurance providers will charge you interest for the privilege of spreading payments.
- Credit rating – Your credit rating will almost certainly come into play when purchasing an insurance premium. If you are in any way a liability for the provider to take on board your business, it’s more than likely that you’ll charged for the luxury.
Back Pain Relief – Lily Allen knows those debilitating pains
Lily Allen discovered the debilitating effects of back pain when it caused her to break down in tears during a gig in Helsinki, Finland. She said on her Twitter page, “(I) fell over badly last night and I’ve really f***** my back up. Just had an injection in my bum. How am I gonna get through tonight’s gig?”. Toby Maguire also reported chronic lower back pains after the filming of Seabiscuit that nearly lost him his famous role in the 2004 film Spider-Man 2. Back pain effects over 80% of the UK population at some point in their lives and it is estimated that over 2.5 million UK people currently suffer upper and lower back pain problems.
Upper and Lower Back Pain Relief
Many people find that back pain will improve within a few days or weeks. Research has also found that about 50% of people who suffer a bout of upper or lower back pain will suffer another bout within 2 years. Back pain is the body’s way of telling you that something is wrong and that needs rectifying. This could be a lifestyle change or simply helping a muscle tear heal. Chronic back pain can last for several weeks and give a constant painful ache that will not go away by itself. You will want to help relieve this back pain so that it doesn’t impair your ability to enjoy day-to-day activities over the coming weeks.
Keep Life Moving
It can be beneficial to rest your back for a couple of days at the start of a bout of chronic upper or lower back pain. Recent research has suggested that resting your back for too long may not be the best long term treatment. Too much rest can lead to a deterioration of back muscles, stiffness, depression and weakening of bones. After an initial rest period try to move little and often and gently stretch whenever possible.
Back pain causes Lily Allen to break down during a performance
Documenting your back pain
It may not seem like you are seeing any improvement or pain relief in your back. Keeping a daily diary can help you monitor changes in the level of pain and also what triggers your back pain.
Strengthen your body
The strength of core abdominal muscles is important in supporting your back. You should try to maintain a good core strength with exercises such as abdominal curls. Most people are either left or right handed. This often means that your one arm is stronger than the other leading to an imbalance of muscle strength across your body. Evening out this imbalance can lead to better posture and help treat back pain. Try to become more ambidextrous by using your weaker arm to pick up objects or comb your hair.
Heat & Hydrotherapy
Using a whirlpool bath where jets of water are sprayed against the skin’s surface can help give relief to back pain. The warm water raises the core temperature of the body. To help control temperature blood is diverted towards the surface of the skin and away from the inflamed tissue that is lower down. In addition, the stimulation of nerves in the skin can override the pain receptors helping to give temporary upper or lower back pain relief. Water also provides a natural buoyancy to the body that makes movement and exercises easier.
Other products like “Deep Heat” use herbs such as mint and cinnamon to increase the heat in a certain area. This can help to draw blood to the area and override the pain receptors from the deeper tissue. Thank you to Dr Keith Souter at the Daily Mail for some of these back pain tips.
Tell us how you deal with back pain…
Running tips – Keeping to the beat!
Some of us find motivating our bodies for exercise a little difficult – Why not encourage yourself during your next workout by incorporating a little fun. Music in particular! According to a new study published by the Brunel University of London, listening to the right music during exercise can have a positive effect on your performance and mood.
Listen to music during your workout to fend off fatigue!
Take a look at some of the Healthy Hideout’s reasons why you should be playing your favorite tunes the next time you decide to jog around the block:
- Lower your perception of exhaustion – You’re distracting your brain from the activity you’re actually doing, so you’ll be less inclined to think about being tired and stopping.
- Heighten cardiovascular benefits – Music with a steady beat helps with the natural rhythm of breathing, resulting in a great amount of oxygen to where you really need it.
- Extended workout time – You’ll be encouraged to workout for longer because you’re having fun – Longer workouts equal greater benefits.
During exercise, our brains will work hard to find external motivation to keep interested – If you can provide this through the form of music you’re less inclined to become bored too quickly. Brunel’s team of researchers found that music around 120 – 150 beats per minute offered the perfect exercise tempo, resulting in your workout being at least 20% more effective. Lead researcher Dr Kargeorghis says that because “maintaining a synchronous movement during the onset of fatigue requires more attention” our bodies tend to focus less on how tired we are, and more towards continuing an effective workout.
What tunes do you listen to during your workout? If you are based in the south of England then why not check out the Great South Run?!
Food Combination is key!
Latest research has shown how the the combination of certain food products and groups can provide the body with more bang for your buck. Why not try some of the following food pairings the next time your visiting the supermarket, and try to introduce them into your diet.
Combine green tea with a dash of vitamin C!
See what effect these clever combinations have on your lifestyle:
- Green Tea & Lemon Juice – Green tea is a great warming alternative to the average cup of “joe” – Combine this with the rich vitamin C packed juice of a lemon, grapefruit or lime to help breakdown the heart-protecting oxidants found in the tea, known as catechins. Breaking them down makes it easier for your body to absorb them quicker, taking full advantage of all the good stuff.
- Tomatoes & Beans – Our bodies find it difficult to absorb iron from beans and leafy greens when compared to red meat and other protein rich foods. The key lies in vitamin C which helps to make iron easier to digest. Try to combine iron packed kidney beans with vitamin C rich tomatoes to gain the full benefits.
- Yogurt & Banana – If like us you find yourself aching after an exercise routine, try to combine carbs with protein to help speed effective muscle recovery. This common combination helps to increase the production of insulin, which causes muscles to soak up repairing nutrients.
- Fish & Wine – Research from Italy found that women who consumed a glass of red or white wine a day were found to have higher levels of healthy omega 3 fats. Why not try combining omega 3 rich, oily fish such as salmon with a glass of red or white wine to help increase your healthy fat absorption.
- Apples & Raspberries – Raspberries are rich in ellagic acid which helps to enhance the ability of quercetin – an antioxidant found in apples. Combine the two to increase your intake of the quercetin – a cancer fighting antioxidant.