In previous articles we covered what ADD is and how to diagnose it. In this third instalment we're going to begin a series on how to treat ADD.
ADD can actually be battled from many directions. There are drugs, behavior modification, nutrition, exercise, and a number of other things that can be done to combat ADD in both children and adults.
In this article we are going to choose the natural route first and discuss proper nutrition which can have a huge effect on the behavior of someone suffering from ADD.
One of the main contributing factors to children who suffer from ADD is when their blood sugar level, or glucose level becomes too low. This causes them to become sleepy in class and then ultimately restless because they are bored. Glucose is extremely important in determining a child's attention span. This may sound clichd but the most important meal of the day is breakfast and glucose should be a part of every child's breakfast. This will ensure that the child's blood sugar level is maintained throughout the day. Kids who skip breakfast tend to have a shorter attention span and a harder time remembering things.
Next is vitamin B. Vitamin B is needed because it helps to release the energy in glucose. Without the proper amount of vitamin B in the diet a child can become aggressive and depressed. There are 12 essential parts to vitamin B so it may be difficult for a child to get all the vitamin B he or she needs just from eating, even though cereal is a good source of vitamin B. To supplement the rest a good multi vitamin capsule will do the trick.
Also very important is iron. Iron aids in transporting oxygen to the blood system and the individual cells, most importantly, brain cells. Not enough iron in the diet results in anaemia, which is very common in children who don't have a balanced diet. Anaemic children, as well as adults, are very tired and don't have the energy to do the things that want to or need to do. Good sources of iron are red meat, tuna, chicken and vegetables like broccoli.
Folic acid is also essential as this helps in the formation of red and white blood cells. Not enough folic acid will also make a child feel tired, irritable and forgetful. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of folic acid.
Zinc is needed to maintain communication between the brain cells and the nerve cells. Zinc deficiencies can cause your child to have difficulty in solving academic problems, which can lead to frustration for the child, therefore bringing on ADD symptoms. Zinc can be found in cereals and peanuts.
Vitamin A is important for the nervous system. Vitamin A also helps to strengthen vision. Many times a child will have problems in school because of impaired eye sight. Vitamin A can help to improve the eye sight which in turn will lessen the child's frustration. Vitamin A can be found in carrots and many orange or yellow fruits like bananas.
Proper nutrition is an essential part of a child's health whether he or she has ADD or not. But in children with ADD, proper nutrition is critical.
In the next article we'll cover other treatments for those suffering from ADD.
Men are more sexual than women in terms of attitude and how they respond to certain sexual ideas. During sexual intercourse, men experience an erection due to the physical and mental stimulation with their partner, which is considered normal and healthy. It is considered easy for them to have an erection if the events taking place is sexually stimulating for them.
Unfortunately for some, they can experience a slight difficulty in having an erection when there is a need to have one. Sexual impotence, also known as erectile dysfunction or ED, is a health condition where in a man is unsuccessful in achieving or maintaining an erection long enough to satisfy his sexual urge. Men with such a condition would experience the consistent inability to have an erection during sexual intercourse, have their erection fail at a crucial point during sex, problems ejaculating, or an occurrence of having very brief erections.
Sexual impotence is one of the most familiar sexual problems and affects almost half of all men over 40 years of age. This can evolve into a more severe condition as men get older. Having less education will increase the impotence of men, since they are likely to have a less healthier diet (drinking more and having no exercise), and having less healthy lifestyle. Also, because of shame and fear of a social stigma, men are less likely to seek medical help for this condition. The condition can be temporary or permanent, but is nonetheless distressing for the sufferer. Impotence can stem from a psychological problem, mainly caused by mere stress or observance of performance anxiety, but certain cases can be attributed to various physical injuries or illnesses.
There are several causes of impotence known today. Some medications can cause erection difficulties as their side effect. Examples include high blood pressure medications, anti-depressants, cancer treatments, diuretics, and epilepsy medications. Always inform your physician if this scenario happens, so that he may give you a different medication. Men who has diabetes (Type 1 or Type 2) are also prone to impotence, since diabetes contributes to the damaging of blood vessels that cause a certain nerve damage called peripheral neuropathy. Other health conditions such as prostate cancer, diseases in the nervous system, and Peyronie's disease also contributes to reasons for impotence. Having been injured in the spinal cord, sex organ or having a pelvic fracture can also lead to this condition as well. Surgeries done near the nerve pathways of the penis (bladder, rectum, and prostate) can also cause nerve damage to the penis, resulting in erection failure. Smoking, alcohol abuse, illicit drug use, and prolonged exercise are also reasons for impotence, since these factors provide impairment to the nervous systems in various ways.
Psychological reasons of impotence involves stress and anxiety, problems with your relationship, and fear of failure (performance anxiety). By seeking help to control the stress, or by counseling, you can decrease the chances of having impotence. Always inform your physician regarding any symptoms or irregular sexual response, so that proper treatments can be performed.
As a personal trainer, one of the most common questions Im asked is how do I lose stomach fat?
Well to put it as simple as possible, you cant.
No matter how may crunches you do, or leg raiser, you will not be able to target the fat in your abdominal region. The reason being, you can NOT localize fat removal. Doing sit ups and crunches only work the abdominal muscles and have absolutely no effect on the fat burned in that area.
When your body burns fat, it uses fat stores from where it can find fat. Your body does not know that it should be concerned with your love handles. The fat on your body is distributed differently on each of use. For many males, the majority (or most noticeable) is the fat on the stomach areas. When you lose fat, your body will do so in its own natural balance.
The best way to lose that ugly fat is through diet. Once your diet is in tune, you will slowly se the fat melt away. There is no hidden secret, magic pill, or piece of equipment that will quickly remove any fat. You have to work for it, and depending on your genetics, it may take awhile.
If you feel tired while reading this short article, it is already happening to you...
An estimated 100+ million Americans have occasional sleep problems, of which 40 million have so-called "sleep disorders", and over 75% of the population is walking around deprived of sleep on a daily basis. Studies show it only is getting worse with each passing decade, and there are no signs of the situation becoming any better. In fact, over the past 5 years alone there has been a startling 33% increase in those of us reporting trouble sleeping! Can you imagine what statistics in another decade will be like? Unfortunately, it does not look like we are heading in the right direction. (You can read more statistics at the following URL: http://www.sleepfoundation.org/.)
In our busy, fast-paced society, it seems we are constantly moving, thinking, and trying to get "more" done. The first thing many of us think of doing when we do have so-called "free time" is to catch up on a little TV or do some activity that we have "not had the time to do", aside from catching up on our sleep. And greater quality and quantity sleep is exactly what most of us really need.
Sleep studies clearly show that not receiving the quality and quantity sleep affects our lives in negative ways, sometimes greatly. It can change the way we see and experience our lives and the world around us in dramatic ways.
Some of the following can help us identify when we might not be achieving enough quality sleep each night:
* Feelings of tiredness at some point throughout the day
* Falling asleep within a few minutes when going to bed
* Decreases in levels of intolerance and increased levels of hostility
* Reduced ability to concentrate
* Slowed reflexes
* Impaired judgment
* Apathy
* Unusual weight gain or loss
* Change in body temperatures that lead to feelings of chilliness
* Unusual levels of anxiety
* Falling asleep when inappropriate
* Reduced creativity
* Reduced ability to think logically or handle complex tasks
* Increased levels of self-consciousness with increased levels of anxiety
If you find any of these attributes apply to you, you might want to sleep a little longer or sounder each night.
Amazingly, one of the quickest ways to improve the quality of our lives and waking hours, as the statistics show, is to simply get a better night's sleep. It is such a simple answer to such a complex problem.
If you are having troubles falling asleep, there are things you can do that can help you very quickly. Yes, the following might seem obvious to many folks, but sometimes we miss the obvious. So, let's cover some quick and easy ones first.
Two Things to Avoid: Caffeine and Nicotine
Reduce the levels of caffeine used throughout the day. Studies show that people who have insomnia already have a higher metabolic rate (typically 9%) than those who are sleeping normally. It would take about 4 cups of coffee to raise a normal sleepers metabolism to the same rate. From this metabolic indicator, although the person with insomnia does not feel wide awake and shows all the signs of not achieving enough sleep, we can see that a person who intakes caffeine actually on average is highly physiologically aroused. After all, caffeine is a stimulant!
The short of it...reduce the levels of caffeine intake throughout the day. Obviously, we are not going to say quit totally, even though it can help. Of course, the last thing you want to do is drink the caffeine within a few hours (three or more) before attempting to go to sleep.
List of items, both food and beverages, that may contain caffeine:
* Coffee - Brewed (drip or percolated), Instant, Many so-called "decaffeinated" coffees
* Tea - Brewed (drip or percolated), Instant, Many so-called "decaffeinated" coffees
* Cocoa
* Chocolate (Light, Dark, Baker's, etc.): Beverage or Food. This includes hot chocolate milk.
* Most Sodas: Including "Diet" and "Clear" Sodas - Coke, Diet Coke, Mr. PIBB, RC Cola, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi, Canada Dry, and many others
Next, nicotine intake can have a dramatic affect on our ability to get a good night's rest. Just like caffeine, nicotine is a stimulant. Smoking is the primary way of ingesting nicotine. Smoking can raise blood pressure, stimulate brainwave activity, and increase heart rate.
Studies have shown that smokers actually have greater difficulties falling asleep and wake more times during the night. It is possible the later is a symptom of withdrawal. And, when people have quit smoking after regularly smoking from 1 to 3 packs of cigarettes a day over at least a two year period of time, studies have clearly found it is easier to fall asleep and sleep more soundly with less awakenings at night.
Obviously people are not going to just quit smoking, as most who have the habit realize how addictive it really can be. So, maybe lessen your smoking intake and only do it a certain points during the day. Try not to have any cigarettes close to bedtime and try, like the case with caffeine, to limit your usage to several hours before bedtime, which can help greatly. If you want to quickly work toward getting a better night's sleep and you smoke cigarettes, then to quit smoking is one of the quickest ways to help achieve your goal.
Bedroom Sleep Tips!
There are many more things we can do, to achieve a better night's sleep, including taking a look at different aspects of our bedroom or sleep environments. Many of the following list will be subjective, so you will want to find out by focusing on a few and making small changes through time to what personally works for you.
* Bed Sheets: comfort... silk may be romantic, but not always practical. Your sheets should "breathe" well.
* Room Temperature: not too hot and not too cold. Some people find it easier to keep the room cold and wrap up warmly in their bed sheets. If your feet are cold... easy enough... wear socks.
* Noise or Sound: the less the better, although some people might consider an underlying, constant sound to help with sleep.
* Humidity: If you find your throat is scratchy/sore, your skin feels dry, or you have congested sinus passages, it might be because your room is too dry. If you feel warm, sweaty, and moist, you might want to see if there is too much humidity in the room.
* Lighting: the darker the better.
* Drafts: some people like a draft, while it bothers others. Keep an eye on this one for sore through or tight chest while sleeping. It might mean you have a draft in the room. If you can, open a window and let in some fresh air, as air can become stale while stagnant.
* Cleanliness: Ok, simple... keep it clean. This can keep the air fresh and help with sleep.
* Bed Equals Sleep: Use and associate your bed with sleeping only and not other activities. Read or do you "home" work somewhere else... not in bed. Associating the bed with something like work or even TV can keep us up at night. Associating it with relaxing activities, sleep or even sex, can help us fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly at night.
* Clocks: the click-click-click of mechanical clocks, the brightness from digital clocks, or just having a clock in front of us can be a distraction. For some, the constant sound of clicking might actually be good for sleep.
* Pillows and Mattresses: Take your time and find what will work for you. The new memory foam pillows, although sometimes seemingly expensive can be worth every penny. Make sure they are high quality products, high-density (approx. 5lbs. per cubic foot) memory foam, as there are a lot of cheap, lightweight memory foam pillows on the market today. With your mattress, take your time and make sure you can test run a bed at home, so you can take it back if yours does not work for you.
* Biggest sleep tip of all: Take your time and BE PATIENT with yourself. See what works best for you. It's worth the effort. Simply reading each of the above can help make you conscious of ways you might not have noticed in the past, and this will lead to improve your own life, by achieving a better night's sleep. Take your time and be patient.
These are just a few things about our sleep context that can help us achieve a better night's sleep and improve the quality of our lives.
As the statistics clearly show, most of us are walking around half awake every day, which means in all probability we are not living a higher quality of life we could be and other areas of our lives can suffer. Both psychical and psychological problems can arise by not achieving enough quality sleep.
Take the above tips and run with them. Take your time, be patient, and find what has helped others and how you can help yourself improve the quality of your life through a better night's sleep. It's time stop the growth and reverse America's easily unnoticed sleep epidemic.
If you have any questions or comments, you are more than welcome to stop by my website: http://www.stasispillow.com where you can contact me, read a lot more about the topic of sleep, and even take a sleep IQ test and develop your sleep knowledge. Hope some of these tips help! They can really improve the quality of your life. I am proud to say they have helped improve my life and many others. Sleep well!
