Evening Primrose Oil (Oenotherabiennis)

There are studies indicate it may be helpful for menstruation - related breast pain. Also used to treat eczema. Usually standardized to provide 320 mg linoleic acid (70%) and 40 mg gamma-linoleic acid (9%) per 500 mg capsule. Typical for breast pain is 3,000 mg a day, in divided doses; for eczema, 3,000 to 6,000 mg per day, in divided doses. Considered very safe. Patients on seizure medication should talk with their doctors before taking.

Photo courtesy: eveningprimerose

How to Tell If You’re Allergic

If you suspect that you or someone you love has a food allergy, consult your doctor or pediatrician, who will probably send you to an allergist for testing. Following are some of the most common methods used to diagnose potential problems.

● Food Diary: One way food allergies are diagnosed is with a food diary. A log is used to chronicle what has been eaten and drunk and where allergic reactions occurred.

● Elimination diet: Sometimes an allergist thinks a patient is allergic to one food. In such cases, a diagnosis can often be made if the food is omitted from the patient’s diet (for anywhere from two days to six weeks) and symptoms go away.

● Scratch skin test: Another test at the allergist’s disposal is the scratch skin test. It involves having a small amount of liquid extract derived from the suspected allergens scratched into the skin on the back of the arm. The development of red welts within 20 minutes indicate a possible allergy. The test is safe, simple and quick, but can result in false positive results and trigger allergic reactions.

● Blood tests: Those patients who are too allergic to undergo skin tests may instead be given blood tests such as the RAST and ELISA. What these tests are looking for is food-specific IgE in the blood. Results of these tests are about as precise as skin testing. Like skin tests, they can result in false-positive results, so positives are not considered adequate to make a firm diagnosis.

● Double-blind food challenge: In this test, a tiny amount of food is formed into a capsule that the patient takes. Neither the patient nor the doctor knows what the patient is taking. This is done with many foods including some that are believed to be allergenic. If a reaction occurs, a diagnosis can be made. For this reason, the double-blind food challenge is the good standard of allergy testing. – Alyssa Shaffer

Act Now to Make A Difference

“Women today live by the myth that they can clean everything up after the age of 40. So at 40, they walk into my office like it’s a warranty station and say, “Here I am! Fix me!” –Pamela Peeke, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore and Author of Fight Fat After Forty (Viking Press).

The average 30-years-old has an unprecedented chance to live to 100—if she takes care of herself. “But what’s relevant to her now,” says Dr. Peeke, “is sliding into a pair of size 2 jeans every morning, finding the love of her life or scoring an excellent career.” True, you can develop heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer long before you’re a centenarian. But you’ll lower your risk fo all of these disorders by following one simple prescription: “Avoid smoking, eat well and exercise,” says Dr. Mosca. “All the fancy research we can come up with is never going to change that.” (Sound easier said than done?

The Best Stay-healthy Measure at …

20 Stop smoking already! Kicking the habit now can add 15 years to your life, according to the American Legacy Foundation

30 Watch your weight. Stick to a healthy diet and get plenty of exercise, especially after having a baby. Pregnancy is a major reason women put on weight in their thirties.

40 Keep watching your weight. Staying trim reduces your risk for heart disease, which kills nearly

three times as many women as their forties as in their thirties. –Caroline Bollinger

Source: “ Women’s Health Handbook ” Mary Duenwald

Matters of the Heart

Some may ask if they have moderately high cholesterol but healthy blood pressure, is it possible that they will have a greater chances of getting hypertension?

You can have high blood pressure simply because you have larger-than-life lipids. However, while there’s no direct connection between the two, they do have some risk factors in common, explains Edward D. Frohlich, M.D., of Alton Oschner Medical Foundation and editor of the medical journal Hypertension. Among them: being overweight and not exercising. So if you’re trying to lower your cholesterol by losing weight and increasing your activity level, you’re actually lowering your risk for getting hypertension, too. – Greg Gutfeld and Joe Kita

Saint-John’s-Wort (Hypericum perforatum)

Widely used in the U.S. and Europe for treating mild to moderate depression, it has been well-studied. Product are usually standardized to contain either 0.3% or 4% to 5% hyperforin.

Typical dose is 900 g, taken in 300 mg doses three times a day. It can take four weeks to feel relief. Many potential drug interactions, so talk to your health-care provided before taking it.

Pomegranate helps you lower your Blood pressure levels

Good afternoon friends! I was reading one book here and i found something to share with you. I’m sure it will help you a lot.

Yes, we read about Pomegranate earlier in the post about 4 Natural Super Foods.. In this post, lets see how Pomegranate can help you fight from high blood pressure to cancer.

Pomegranates protects you from High Blood Pressure and Cancer. Pomegranates are known to have high amounts of antioxidants, anti-carcinogenics, anti-inflammatory and even antimicrobial properties. Lets see how Pomegranates help us stay fit.

High Blood Pressure: Ideal Blood pressure levels are known to be 80/120. When given to patients with high blood pressure, pomegranate juice is known to have dropped systolic numbers.

Prostate and Breast Cancer: Pomegranate juice and extract is known to trigger the death of both prostate and breast cancer cells which are cancerous in nature. Try drinking 2 glasses of Pomegranate juice or have 1 full pomegranate if you are one of those who suffers from Prostate or Breast Cancer.

Cut Calories from Eating Pizza

Good morning everyone. You love pizza? Most of us specially younger ones love to eat pizza. Most of us just can’t resist the smell and taste of a freshly prepared pizza. Though, we all are aware of the calories a slice of pizza feeds into us, we are actually not aware of the fact that we can reduce the number of calories we intake from a pizza by following just a few simple tricks.

Also read: 4 Natural Super Foods worth eating:

1.) Insist on thin crust pizzas instread of a thick crust.

2.) Add more veggies as part of the toppings, this helps you get more fibre for proper bowel movement and therefore better digestion. Some veggies to consider can be Onions, Mushrooms, Peppers. They are rich in fibre and low on calories.

3.) Its the colas or the pepsi’s of the world that usually win when it comes to a side drink with the pizza, try replacing this with a lemonade or an ice tea. This will help you cut down the calories and at the same time, give you a shot of vitamin C and also anti oxidants.

4.) The best of all strategies, try to cut down the portion size. A bigger portion size effectively means more calories which comes from the refined flour used in the pizza.

5.) If you are preparing your pizza at home, try using whole wheat and tortillas for the base.

Pay attention to what you eat!

“Diet is more important than women realize. It has as much of an effect on health as cigarettes do.” –Marion Nestle, PH.D., Professor and Chair of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University in New York City.

Too many women obsess about calories but pay little attention to the nutritional quality of what they eat, often avoiding certain foods or entire food groups. For example, “Many women believe that all fat is bad,” says William B. Grant, a researcher in Newport News, Virginia. “But foods like nuts, avocados and olive oil contain monounsaturated fats, which should be part of a healthy diet.”

What should you eat? A good daily foundation is at least five servings of fruits and veggies, about six servings of whole grains and three smell servings of lean protein. And try making more meals yourself. “Many women feel they don’t have time to prepare meals from scratch,” says Andrew Weil, M.D., coauthor of The Healthy kitchen (Knopf). “But you can cook fast, easy dishes at home.” Need ideas? Search for low-fat recipes at epicurious.com

What your diet ma be missing at …

20 Calcim. To stay slim, twentysomethings tend to cut out calcium-rich dairy products, and omission that sets you up for osteoporosis later. Aim for 1,000 mg of calcium daily—a cup of low-fat yogurt contains about 450 mg

30 Folic acid. Many women start trying to get pregnant at this age, and folic acid is a key nutrient that protects babies from certain birth defects. You need 400 meg daily from foods like beans, spinach and strawberries.

40 Fiber. Getting 25 g of fiber a day (from whole grains, apples, pears) can help lower your cholesterol, which may be edging higher at this age. –Sunny Sea Gold

Source: “ Women’s Health Handbook ” Mary Duenwald