Your Behavior and Your Health

By: Jenie Hinaloc

Description : Of the four factors, your behavior is the one most within your control. Changing it for the better can help. Granted, poverty limits the changes you can make in your diet and habits, but by utilizing the choices that are available, you can make a substantial difference. Note the following example.

A mother usually has a choice between breast-feeding and bottle-feeding her baby. Breast-feeding, says the United Nations Children’s Fund, is “the superior choice, both physically and economically.” Mother’s milk, say experts, is “the ultimate health food,” giving the baby “precisely the right concentrations of protein, fat, lactose, vitamins, minerals and trace elements that are needed for harmonious growth.” Breast milk also transports disease-fighting proteins, or antibodies, from the mother to the baby, giving the infant a head start in combating diseases.

Especially in tropical lands with poor sanitary conditions, breast-feeding is best. Unlike bottle milk, breast milk cannot be overdiluted to save money, mistakes cannot be made during its preparation, and it is always served from a clean container. In contrast, “a bottle-fed baby in a poor community,” notes Synergy, a newsletter from the Canadian Society for International Health, “is approximately 15 times more likely to die from diarrheal disease and four times more likely to die from pneumonia than a baby who is exclusively breastfed.”

Then there is the economic advantage. In the developing world, powdered milk is costly. In Brazil, for example, bottle-feeding a baby may take one fifth of a poor family’s monthly income. The money saved by breast-feeding can provide healthier meals for the whole family—including mother.

With all these advantages, you would expect breast-feeding to be booming. Yet, health workers in the Philippines report that breast-feeding there is “gravely threatened with extinction,” and a study in Brazil showed that one of the main factors associated with infants dying from respiratory infection is “lack of breastfeeding.” Your infant, however, may escape that fate. You have a choice.

Mother’s efforts to protect baby’s health are often undermined, though, by the unhealthy behavior of other family members. Take as an example one mother in Nepal. She shares a damp room with her husband and three-year-old daughter. The tiny room, writes Panoscope magazine, is filled with kitchen and tobacco smoke. The child suffers from a respiratory infection. “I cannot stop my husband from smoking,” sighs the mother. “I now buy cigarettes for my husband and medicine for my child.”

Sadly, her dilemma is becoming increasingly common as ever more people in the developing countries waste much-needed income by taking up smoking. In fact, for every smoker who stops smoking in Europe or the United States, two people start smoking in Latin America or Africa. Misleading advertisements, notes the Dutch book Roken Welbeschouwd, are much to blame. Slogans such as “Varsity: for that fine clear-headed feeling” and “Gold Leaf: very important cigarettes for very important people” convince the poor that smoking is linked to progress and prosperity. But the opposite is true. It burns up your money and ruins your health.

Consider this. Every time a person smokes a cigarette, he shortens his life expectancy by ten minutes and increases his risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as lung, throat, and mouth cancers and other diseases. Says UN Chronicle magazine: “Tobacco consumption is the single greatest preventable cause of premature death and disability in the world.” Please note that it says “preventable cause.” You can snuff out your last cigarette.

Article Source : http://www.articledirectory.com/

Energy Drinks - Are They Dangerous To Your Health

by A Wolski

Have you noticed that the range of "energy drinks" on the market is increasing? There is a huge market for these drinks and much of the marketing appears to be directed toward the young people despite the fact that they carry a clear warning that it is not suitable for kids.

Some health research has found that improper use of these drinks may actually play a role in risky behaviors in teens and young adults because of the quantity they drink. They have become very popular at dance parties in a bid to keep up energy levels but they often cause the consumer to actually become dehydrated.

These highly caffeinated drinks are advertised as giving heaps of energy and stamina but, in actual fact, they provide no nutrients for the body and they cause risks to your health. Because some people mix these drinks with alcohol, the risk is further intensified.

It is important to distinguish between energy drinks and sports drinks as the latter are proven to provide sugars which create energy and they also replenish the electrolytes to maintain the balance of salt and potassium in the body. Drinks such as Powerade and Gatorade fall into this category.

In people who have reported adverse reactions to improper consumption of energy drinks, the following symptoms were characterised:

? Heart arythmia
? Disturbances in electrolytes
? Nausea and vomiting
? Anxiety
? Insomnia
? irritability

When you look at the ingredients in these energy drinks, it is little wonder that our young people are getting a "high" from them. They contain several stimulants such as:

? Sugar
? Caffeine (large doses)
? Guarana
? Ephedrine
? Ginseng
? Ginko
? Taurine

Although the amount of caffeine in an energy drink is similar to that in a cup of coffee, the problem is in the way they are consumed. Coffee is hot and is therefore sipped. Energy drinks are cold and are often drank down very quickly and followed by more. This causes the "rush" and makes the heart beat faster.

Another concern with consuming large amounts of energy drinks is that, when consumed with alcohol, the person feels less drunk because of the caffeine. However, the impairment of motor coordination and visual reaction time does not diminish. Therefore, it the person drives a motor vehicle, their blood alcohol is still affected and they may cause a motor vehicle accident.

Basically, if you feel you must drink energy drinks, then drink them sensibly and according to the label. By following the points below, you should ensure that you are safe and your health will not be adversely affected:

1. Look for an energy drink such as Red Bull which is seen as a health drink
2. Don't drink large amounts of energy drinks.
3. Never mix with alcohol.
4. Make sure you drink water when doing exercise.
5. Children and pregnant women should NEVER drink energy drinks.


While the information is scant on the effects of energy drinks on your health and wellbeing, it is best to avoid them. The hype about increased endurance, stamina, and mental alertness is yet to be proven and evidence would suggest we be cautious in our consumption of them.

http://www.ozehealthbiz.com.