Alternative Herbal Medicine: 100% Natural Home-Made Remedies

By:http://www.skybluecross.com

A fever, flu, or a sore throat doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be going to the hospital to have a doctor look at it. It would be safe to say that you will only be wasting your money for being diagnosed with a mild fever and prescribed with expensive medicines just to get it out of your system. A solution to common health-related problems can be easily found in your family kitchen -- alternative herbal medicines that you can easily make in the comforts of your own home.

Alternative Herbal Medicine Facts

It is a proven fact that herbal medicines are very safe to use. Doctor approves them for their patients to assist in recovery. You can either purchase herbal diet supplements from health shops in your area or you can make some for yourself in your family kitchen.

Keep in mind, however, that not all herbal supplements sold in the market today are safe to use. Due to its popularity, there might be scammers out there that replicate a product with no health value in it whatsoever. Consumers need to check the labels carefully to ensure that it came from a credible pharmaceutical company or better make your own herbal concoction at home using 100% natural ingredients.

Preparation Is Important

Preparation is very important if you plan to make your own herbal remedies at home. Make sure that your ingredients are clean and fresh. Ladles and pans should not be made of metal or stainless steel materials to avoid chemicals being included in the mix. You might also want to check out some tips and tricks on how to properly prepare and process your herbal remedy for better results.

Anti-Oxidants - Garlic, Onion, And Pepper

Most of the spices found in our kitchen are anti-oxidants. You can practically see a lot of diet supplements that offers to get rid of nasty toxins out of your system -- they are expensive yes, but they do work. You can get the same out of your kitchen ingredients without having to dish out your savings for it. The good part about it is that you don’t have to worry about side-effects -- what you take in is 100% natural.

Kitchen spices like garlic, onions, and pepper seeds are great anti-oxidants. You can include them in your daily meals or you can concoct a health drink out of it. Clean them thoroughly and chop them up. Cook them up in boiling water and let it stew for a few minutes. Drain it with a strainer and you have an anti-oxidant drink ready for you use.

The Best Medicine - Ginseng

Ginseng is one of the widely celebrated herbal medicines used today. Asians and North Americans use it extensively for their healing arts -- from ancient time to the present. This is mainly used to help a person relax and adapt to any forms of stress. The root is a known panacea that can help the body recover from any types of disease.

It has been known to be used for enhancing physical and mental performance -- usually for added stamina without any side-effects. Ginseng can also lower cholesterol level of patients with high-blood pressure and can improve the body's natural resistance to common health problems. You can use it as a tea or stuff it in a bottle with water to age for a more potent brew.

Helping teenagers to get better sleep

 By: http://www.skybluecross.com
 With so many gadgets to play with and use and with so many parties to attend who would want to sleep? With so many distractions today, people—especially the younger ones or the teenagers—are having a hard time to get better sleep. This should not be a problem but it goes to show how poor the quality of young people is today. Many of them do not perform well in school because they rarely get sleep due to all these distractions.

 If you are one of those parents who are having problems that their teeners are not getting the right amount of sleep that they should have, here are some tips that you can share to them.

 1. Ask them to cut out on too many caffeine intakes. If you are doing the grocery, then you should be the one who have taken out of the list the foods and drinks that contain caffeine such as coffee, chocolates, sodas and teas. But since you cannot monitor their routines outside your home, it is a must to remind them to cut out on these foods and drinks. You can do this by telling them the bad effects of caffeine not only in sleeping but in their overall health as well.

 2. Tell them not to resort to alcohol as a "sleeping aid". Many adults resort to alcohol to sleep fast. Since their bodies are much older, they can tolerate the effects of alcohol but this should not be the case among the younger ones. If you are a parent, try to tell your child that although alcohol may help him or her to fall asleep, it may cause disturbances that may lead to lesser quality of sleep. Aside from not really helping them to get better sleep, it may also affect their overall health and physical appearance since alcohol may cause early aging.

 3. Teach them how to relax before their bedtime. Although this is much easier to do when they are toddler, parents should still try to teach their youngsters how to relax a bit when they are about to go to sleep. You can do this by spending time with the teener and talk about how he or she should handle the everyday stress either in school or in growing up. If the child is able to talk about these things before bedtime, he or she will have a peaceful sleep without thinking of so many things. You can also ask her or him to do relaxing activities such as reading a book or practicing yoga if you are not around to talk to.

 4. Ask them to have regular exercise. If regular exercise helps older people to get better sleep at night, what more to the younger ones? Explain to your child the importance of having just the right amount of exercise in getting better sleep and achieving optimum health. To make it more effective, join your teener in doing regular exercises such as light jogging or brisk walking. If he or she sees that you are "walking your talk" there is greater chances for him or her to obey you.

 5. Give enough hours for television or for Internet. For a teener to get better sleep, there should be less hours for him or her to spend watching TV programs or browsing the Internet. Since these two are major distractions, it is a must that parents restrict them with too much time on these activities so can sleep better at night

Get better sleep the easy way

By: http://www.skybluecross.com

More often than not, how to get better sleep is among the common questions that working people think about. This is because they rarely experience it because of too much stress or being too busy in their work. If you are one of those who are having problems when it comes to sleeping, here are some of the ways that can help you get better easier:

1. Develop better sleeping habits. Like everything else, developing good habits helps a person accomplish a certain task at hand. For those who are prone to not sleeping well at night, it would be best to start developing good habits that would help him or her get better sleep. Good sleeping habits might include daytime routines such as eating the right foods, exercise, and enough napping in the afternoon. Experts say that eating the right foods would help a person be lulled into sleep without so much hustle. If one wants to get better sleep, he or she must avoid eating foods that contain ingredients that stimulate the nerves and the senses such as those with caffeine content. To help the body relax, enough physical activities such as exercise should also be done at day time so it will somehow exhaust the body and let it crave for rest at night time. Although napping is good to some people, it can be bad to those who are having sleeping problems because they have a tendency to "over nap" that which will eventually affect their sleeping at night.

2. Enough amount of daily exercise can help a person to get better sleep. Aside from health benefits, regular exercise also helps a person get better sleep especially at night. This is because it lets the body work just enough so it would want to rest at night. Strenuous activities such as workouts are not really necessary if one is not used to it. Simple exercises such as brisk walking or light yoga activities are enough to help to get better sleep at night.

3. Come up with you own personal sleeping plan. Above anybody else, you should be the one who knows your body. If you are having problems sleeping at night, you are the first person to identify what is the problem and try to address the issues properly. If you are having trouble sleeping, analyze what may be the problem. If it is something that you can handle, try to do the things that will help you overcome it. You can do this by coming up with a personal sleeping plan that will really work for you. You can plot the activities that you can do and try to implement them during nighttime. If the specific plan doesn’t work today, try another set of sleeping plans the next night and then another one for next, next night. By doing this, you can discover the techniques that would work for you.

4. Create a good sleeping environment for yourself. If one wants to get better sleep, the easiest way is to create a comfortable, nice, and cozy sleeping environment. If you are having trouble sleeping and you have tried all the techniques available but those did not work, why not try re-arranging your bedroom. Figure out is something inside your bedroom that hinders you from getting better sleep. Check if your bed still suits the needs of your body and if not, try replacing it. Check if there are some things that catch your attention and makes it hard for you to sleep, if there are, try removing them for a while until you are able to sleep better.

Get better sleep the natural way

By: http://www.skybluecross.com

Some people are really born to have a hard time to get better sleep. While there are those who were able to develop this problem because of unhealthy practice. Either way, the problem still lies that one is having a hard time lulling into that good slumber.

The best way to go about it is that first, one needs to address the problem of sleeping. These include knowing the reasons why that person is having a hard time sleeping. The focus areas should include the personal issues, status at work, health conditions, and sleeping environment.

1. Personal issues. The may include stress factors that affect the overall emotional state of a person. If one if stressed by personal issues, it will be harder for him or her to get better sleep because that person is thinking too much. If it's possible to address these problems and problems immediately, it would really help a person to get better sleep. If not, one should seek help from professionals so he or she can cope with the issues and will have better chance of getting sleep at night.

2. Status at work. Studies show that more and more people are having a hard time sleeping because of their status in work. With the overall global crisis that the world experiences now, it is only common for people to worry about their security. If you think that this is one factor that won't let you get better sleep at night, then now is the right time to face it and be prepared for the worse. If you are prepared that no matter what happens, you will still have your job or you are confident that you can easily find one, then you will have peace of mind and will lead you to sleep better at night.

3. Health conditions. Some people are able to develop sleeping disorders without them knowing. These sleeping disorders are usually caused and triggered by so many factors. If you are having hard time sleeping and you think that the reasons are something that you can no longer control, then it is best to seek professional help.

4. Sleeping environment. This is also among the things that affect the overall sleeping state of a person. If you have bad sleeping environment, then the tendency of your body is to resist sleeping.

The natural way

In the market today, there are so many products and even medication that promise to help one get better sleep. But, these artificial substitutes may have a side effect. To avoid further complications, it is best to try sleeping techniques the natural way. Some may include routines that will only help you get better sleep but help improve your overall health as well.

The first thing that you could do is to develop and practice good sleep hygiene. These include eating the right foods that can help you sleep better and avoid those that affect sleeping patterns. It also includes having regular exercise and avoiding napping in the afternoon so you will sleep well at night. You may also want to develop a routine that will help you sleep better such as doing relaxing activities before your bedtime such as taking a warm bath, reading, or writing in your personal journal.

To get better sleep, you can also try soundproofing your room to avoid unnecessary noises, adjusting the lights so you will be more comfortable, getting into a comfortable sleeping position and practicing deep breathing to relax your senses.

Learning to choose healthy foods

By: http://www.skybluecross.com
Today's hectic and demanding lifestyle as well as the emergence of convenient stores is among the major reasons why people skip their healthy meals. After learning how to depend on fast food stores and convenience stores, it is easier for people to just grab a food that contains less nutrition compared to those foods that matter.

With all these drastic changes in the habit of eating, food preparation and food options, people have become more prone to various diseases because their bodies fail to absorb the nutrients it needs. Contrary to common conception, healthy foods need not to be expensive, rare or hard to prepare. In fact, most of these recommended foods for healthy living is cheaper, abundant, and easier to prepare compared to those that can be bought in the nearest convenient store.

Why choose healthy foods?

Most food and nutrition experts say that healthy eating is not about what people cannot eat, it is about what people could eat in order to get the optimum nutrition that their bodies need.

If you are one of those who are on their way of learning to eat healthy foods, the best valuable thing that you can do when buying inside the grocery store or super market is to pick those that are fresh, unprocessed and whole. This is very ideal especially if you plan to buy fruit and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and sprouts.

Considered as live foods, being fresh ensures that the food still contain the greatest amount of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes that provides the body with optimum nutrition. Make sure that you eat fruits that are fresh, dried without sulfur dioxide or frozen without preservatives and avoid eating fruits that are canned and in heavy syrup because these have preservatives, additives, and sweeteners. Also, eat veggies that are fresh or raw, lightly steamed, baked and dried without sulfur and avoid eating veggies that are frozen with preservatives, additives, sweeteners.

Always opt for fresh sprouts and avoid veggies that are fried or overcooked. When it comes to grains, opt for whole grain products that are unprocessed, nonirradiated, non genetically modified, sugar free, no chemical additives, no preservatives and other whole grain & sprouted grain products like bread, muffins, tortillas, cereals, and pasta, crackers. Avoid products with white flour, unbleached flour, enriched flour, sweeteners, chemical additives, refined and processed grains, white rice, quick oats, instant oatmeal, and instant cereals.

When it comes to legumes, choose beans, peas, lentils, and chickpeas. Avoid using canned legumes prepared without animal fat, with chemical additives, sweeteners, pork and beans, and soybeans. Nuts and seeds such as almonds, filberts, pine nuts, cashews, raw seeds, sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, raw nut butters, and tahini should be eaten raw. Avoid eating dry roasted nuts and seeds. Also, make sure that you choose animal foods such as eggs, poultry and other meat that are free range, hormone and antibiotic free as well as grass fed. In fish, opt for those that have the lowest exposure to mercury.

Aside from this, you should always consider eating organic foods over to those commercially-produced ones. Nutritionists say that organic foods are indeed the purest and healthiest foods out there because they are not yet contaminated with pesticides and have higher percentage of nutrition.

Lastly, learning to read and check the label of the food item that you are about to buy is one of the best ways to ensure that you will be eating healthy food. Checking if the item is properly labeled—especially these are pre-packaged—is your main defense and protection against possible adverse effects and unwanted ingredients or contents.

Caring for Elderly With Terminal Illness

By: http://www.skybluecross.com/

Caring for Terminal Elders

Caregiving for elderly people is difficult in itself, but it proves to be more of a challenge when emotional hurdles become involved. This case is often true when family members or relatives of the elderly individual are assigned to nurse or care for them at home instead of entering them in adult care or nursing facilities. Emotional difficulties are further enhanced when the elderly you are nursing for has a terminal illness. It is really easy to be swept with emotion from both ends that could intervene with your effort to provide quality care.

Daily Care

Caring for terminally ill elders are often left at the responsibility of their children. However, with their own day jobs to take care of, it often requires proper daily schedule to ensure that their daily needs are properly taken care of. If their diseases are considered to be terminal, you can only do so much with the treatment procedure. However, you have control over providing an efficient daily care and nursing for them to suffice for their needs.

Coping with Depression

In a clinical and research study, experts have concluded that 25 percent of patients suffering from a terminal disease tend to exhibit symptoms of depression caused by multiple factors relating to their condition. Even without terminal illness, depression is a common occurrence among elderly individuals. This is a natural emotional result of their aging process, which leaves them with the impression of dependence, inability to become productive, and becoming a burden to their family or children. Therefore, despite the difficulty of in-home elderly care, several families opt for it instead of leaving their elderly loved ones to the care of sheltered accommodations or nursing homes. This reduces the level of depression on the older person's part and reinforces the family's genuine concern for them. But still, that does not solve the problem of depression associated with terminal illness.

One way to deal with depression is to provide any health or therapeutic services required for their condition. Although the chances of healing are limited, given that it has been diagnosed as terminal illness, seeing that you are extending all efforts to cure their condition combats minimize the feeling of depression in an elderly person. Why? This is achieved through their knowledge that all efforts are exerted in an effort to find cure. Normally, it isn't the ability to find cure that relieves feeling of depression but the effort to try to.

Keeping Emotional Balance

With elderly care for those who have terminal illness, two forms of emotion often overcome the carer: pity and compassion. It is important, however, to balance those emotions to ensure that you are able to provide the best quality service to the terminally ill elder you are nursing. Pity will make you feel sorry for the elder, while compassion will allow you to become more sensitive of their needs and work your hardest in addressing them.

Here are important factors to keep your emotions in check and ensure that you provide quality elderly care and nursing:

• Focus your attention on providing for the needs of the elderly you are caring instead of becoming too engrossed with your emotions.

• Instead of dwelling on what you cannot change, focus on what you can do to help enrich their lives as of the moment.

• Let them experience the best of their remaining days.

Caring for Elderly With Terminal Illness

By: http://www.skybluecross.org/
 Home-based Care For Elders

 Despite the increase of health care and elder care professionals or institutions, most people still opt for home-based care for elders. One of the most important consideration if you were to opt for in-home elderly care is to have family caregivers willing to provide assistance and attend to the needs of their elderly loved ones. Although the quality of service is not the same as the ones provided by medical professionals who train exactly for this type of care; however, your genuine concern and knowledge of their needs are essential to knowing how to fulfill those needs.

 Home Care Essentials

 Home-based care for the elderly is never an easy undertaking. However, it has its distinct advantage of being able to spend quality time with your elderly loved ones while caring for their daily needs. With a familiar surrounding, your elders do not have to adapt to changes in the environment and their communication patterns with whoever it is assigned to care for them. Caring for elderly at home is a major step that you can take to ensure that their non-medical needs are also met.

 If you are not hiring a senior care professional, then members of the family must come up with a schedule that will determine a shifting as to who is responsible for taking care of the elder during given times within a day. An in-home elder care requires 24 hour care, thus one person cannot perform the task alone. Moreover, there are other areas to look into aside from the physical care and assistance provided to the elder, such as housekeeping, shopping, assistance in grooming or bathing, paying the bills, and others.

 Pro's and Con's of Home Care

 When it comes to caring for elderly, certain choices have to be made. When coming up with those decisions, you need to take into account several factors since they could impact not just the life of the elder, but yours (as the carer) as well. When you opt to care for the elderly at home, there are certain advantages involved, although some disadvantages are to be expected too. To determine whether you are suited to care for your elderly family member at home, here are some sets of pro's and con's you might want to consider:

 Pro's:

 • You have more privacy when it comes to employing elderly caring methods that you and the elderly individual prefers. This also allows more independence in providing for their essential needs and demands.

 • Even though are you caring for elderly at home, you can always have easy access to social service support whenever you want.

 Con's:

 • It can be difficult to cope with the difficulties of caring for an elderly individual if you live away from relatives or other family members that can provide assistance in the care.

 • You might need to modify the features and arrangements within the house in order to make it more convenient for you to provide care for the elderly.

 Pro's and Con's of Professional Caregiving

 Choosing to enroll your elderly loved ones in a sheltered or nursing accommodation has its own sets of benefits and pitfalls. Here are some for you to consider:

 Pro's:

 • The physical arrangement and living condition is designed primarily to make it convenient for the elder and to easily provide for their needs.

 • There is always someone to keep an eye over the elders and provide for their needs.

 • Caring duties of your elderly loved ones are handed over to professionals who know exactly how to provide for their needs.

 Con's:

 • You have to combat the emotional guilt involved with not having to personally look after the needs of your elderly loved ones.

 • Finding the most reliable and trusted professional caregiving home can be a lot of work.