Saturday, September 29, 2012

Echinacea

Research is conflicting on this flower extract's cold-fighting powers. What's more, long-term use—longer than 12 weeks—hasn't been proven safe.
Conditions:Immunity
Recommendations: Opt for zinc instead

Source: Men's Health

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Too Much Masturbation?

Q: I notice that the past few years i have masturbated more probably to everyday and have notice symptoms of adrenal fatigue and under active thyroid but when i stop masturbating for a few days or a week i feel better but not fully recovered.Can too much masturbation cause adrenal and thyroid problems? Before i started masturbating a lot i was basically in the best shape of my life, but now i notice a little deterioration of my muscles and i feel stressed and weak.I know i have masturbated a lot over the past 5 years and its not going to get better in a week but can you please give me idea of how long will it take for a full recovery?

-Anonymous

A: Submitted by Dr.Richards MD

Hello,

Yes, and not only thyroid and adrenal functioning abnormalities - over masturbation can lead to severe nervous and endocrine functioning alterations. The stress and muscle deterioration are through excessive stress and inflammatory response for increased norepinephrine, epinephrine, cortisol, histamine, and prostaglandin E2 levels.

It depends. It is very important that the underlying problem is properly addressed. There are also numerous factors that contribute to the recovery process, such as: the degree of exhaustion, gene expressions and neuroplasticity developed through the years, and lifestyle.

However, for the specific case - regular exercise, proper diet, massages, negative ion exposure, and sexual abstinence for 2 to 4 weeks may speed up the recovery so positive alterations should be observed in 2 to 4 months.


**Several sources have connected chronic masturbation with chronic fatigue, lower back pain, hair loss and testicular pain. These sources have also recommended limiting waxing your surfboard to 2-3 times a week if you are experiencing these symptoms and see if you notice them to recede.

Source: Cure-erectile-dysfunction.org , ehealthforum.com , askmen.com

Monday, September 24, 2012

Everyday Products for Better Skin

Q: A lot of guys are low maintenance. What Products do they need to use everyday?

A: The most important thing is choosing the right ingredients. If you are looking to change your skin for the better, look for these three groups of ingredients.

1. Antioxidants - Find products that contain a diverse cocktail - Vitamins C and E, lycopene, green tea, grape seed extract. They help fight the free radicals that break down collagen.

2. Chelators - They allow you to absorb trace minerals that are beneficial to the skin while detoxifying. Copper, calcium, magnesium and zinc can be helpful to the skin, but only in a certain organic form. Chelators allow you to extract the minerals that the skin needs while removing the harmful minerals that doesn't.

3. Collagen Boosters - Antiaging ingredients such as genestein, vitamin C, peptides and retinol. As men age, they lose 1 percent of their collagen every year, resulting in deeper creases and enlarged pores; these ingredients combat that loss.

Source: Men's Health

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

The Best Time to Exercise

Timing matters not only with meals, but with workouts, too. A recent study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found that women who walked four times a week lost more fat mass when they hoofed it at 6p.m. compared to those who walked at 8a.m. Evening exercisers also ended up consuming more protein and eating fewer of their daily calories in the p.m. Multiple studies have found that early evening may be the best time to improve performance and build muscle, whether you're doing cardio or strength training. One possible reason: The body releases higher levels of muscle-building growth hormone in the early evening than in the morning, and exercise also boosts levels of that hormone, so time the two events may yield the best results.

Source: Health Magazine

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Health Threats You Can't Ignore!

Usually when you get a nosebleed or a pimple your first instinct is to head to the doctor's office. Most of the time, it's not something to worry about. Sometimes something that seems small is an indication of something bigger going on. These are "third-tier" complaints that just might be trying to warn you about a first-tier problem.

Pimple - Acne is the Trojan Horse of health. A bump that at first glance looks like a normal pimple may actually be a basal-cell carcinoma, a slow-growing form of skin cancer. So what's the difference between the two? The typical basal-cell carcinoma has a pearly appearance when shining light on it, and tiny blood vessels can be seen entering the nodule at the base, says Edward McClay, M.D. If you have a pimple that won't go away, have a dermatologist check it out. Don't pop it, it could spread. A BCC is 95 percent treatable when caught early.

The typical method of removal is scalpel and/or burning. This can leave scarring, so consider getting zapped with a continuous-wave Nd:Yag laser. Researchers in Egypt treated 37 patients with this device. 36 were completely cured and showed no signs of scarring. Also, make sure to keep slathering on sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher and using 100% UV protection sunglasses; BCC rates in eyelids have doubled in recent years.


Source: Men's Health

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Beauty Questions

Q:How can I give my sun-protected skin a rosy glow?

A: Dust bronzer over your cheeks, forehead, nose and chin. Sweep on a blush that's the color your cheeks turn after exercising (it's your most flattering shade). If your skin is already rosy from the sun, skip blush and add a bit of shimmer to your cheeks in a pale pink. If you're darker, use peach to enhance your natural flush. Apply it on your cheekbones, moving up toward the hairline in short downward strokes. That's all you need to play up your glow.

Source: Health Magazine

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Healthy Heart: Estimate Your Risk

Hey Guys, are you doomed to heart disease? Given the fact that it's the most common killer of men, you might think so. But science has produced some nearly surefire strategies for not only treating a stricken ticker but also avoiding heart trouble in the first place. Research is coming out almost daily that improves on what we already know. Advice: Act on this wisdom. Sixty percent of young adults who did by eating right, exercising, keeping up their BMIs in check, not smoking, and going easy on the booze kept their heart disease risk low well into middle age, reports a study from Northwestern University. People who ignored these basic rules? All but less than 5 percent stayed in the low-risk category. Follow these experts' advice and you'll be a lifelong member of the low-risk club, too.

Estimate Your Risk - In the past century, researchers have begun to predict heart-disease risk by manipulating key numbers. The Framingham Heart Model- an algorithm that factors in your age, cholesterol, blood pressure, and other figures--remains a widely used prediction tool. Broaden the equation. Current research suggests that the Framingham Heart Model has some limitations: It doesn't consider family history, lifestyle, and body mass index. According to a study in BMC Medicine, a third of heart trouble occurs in people labeled as low risk by common prediction models. So if you use the online tool, don't place a lot of stock in the results until you and your doctor have fully analyzed your family history and any bad habits you have, such as smoking or excessive drinking.

Furthermore, be careful about which Framingham model you use. There's a more complex equation-based version and a simpler points-based version. In a 2010 study, it was found that the points-based system was the less accurate one: It classified 17 percent of men into treatment categories that differed from ones they would have wound up in had the equation-based model been used. Find the equation-based version at MensHealth.com/heartmodel

Source: Men's Health

Monday, September 3, 2012

Scrawny to Brawny

By Paul Kita

I've been called a pencil, a string bean, skin and bones. I've heard the three words no man who cares about his physique ever wants to hear: "You work out?" Trainers refer to use as ectomorphs to distinguish us from mesomorphs, the guys who always look likey they work out even when they don't.

My fellow ectomorphs and I prefer to call ourselves "hard gainers." We brush off the insults, chalk up our physiques to high metabolism, and take solace in the fact that some of us are good at enurance sports. At least that's what I used to do. Then I had my Charles Atlas moment. But it wasn't a sand-kicking bully who made me want to become bigger and stronger. It was a former girlfriend who wanted to hire movers to carry her furniture into a new apartment because she was afraid I'd hurt myself if I tried to help. I knew it was time to build strength and muscle. But before I could, I had to demolish five myths that hold skinny guys back.

Myth 1 - An ectomorph can't gain muscle. I almost puked during a test of my maximum bench press. Martin Rooney, C.S.C.S., director of the Parisi Speed School in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, explains why: "Lifting weights is a stimulus. It attacks your body-- everything from your muscles to your nervous system,: he says. "that was your body being challenged in a way it's never been before. It isn't used to that kind of stress. Now your muscles will rebuild and prepare for the next attack."

I'd need it: That first workout was humbling. At 6 feet tall and 146 pounds, I could deadlift just 105 pounds and bench press 95 pounds only three times. I could do 11 chinups, which isn't bad, and my 11.5 percent body fat would be the envy of many mesomorphs if they weren't already laughing at my 12-inch upper-arm girth or my wimpy 20-inch vertical jump. Rooney assured me that building up from this shaky platform would be difficult but not impossible, as long as I was willing to push myself. "Your body is an incredibly adaptive organism; That's why every time you lift, you have to challenge yourself to provide a greater and greater jolt to shock your muscles into another round of rebuilding."

Myth 2 - No matter how much he eats, a hard gainer can't put on weight. If you think you eat enough to build muscle, try this experiment (Courtesy of Alan Aragon, M.S., a nutritionist and Men's Health advisor from Thousand Oaks, CA). Pick a recent day that represents how you typically eat. Try to remember everything you consumed and plug it into a calorie calculator, like the one at nutritiondata.self.com. If you're like me, you'll see a problem. I estimated that I ate about 2,000 calories a day, but it was more like 1,700--nowhere near what I needed to maintain my existing muscle mass, let alone add to it. "Underweight people tend to over-estimate their daily calorie intake," Aragon says. "Then they incorrectly attribute their low weight with high metabolism."

Calories matter. But so do the sources of those calories. More food means higher levels of glucose circulating in your blood. That creates metabolic stress, leading to inflammation, which can lead to a whole host of problems, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. Trying to build  a more muscular body with junk food is like trying to build a log cabin with wood drenched in lighter fluid. Aragon directed me toward whole grains, which provide fiber that may help regulate blood glucose, and foods rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids to fight inflammation. But I dreaded to ask my next question: How much will I have to eat?

Myth 3 - He must eat like a pig. Aragon's nutrition plan called for 2,500 calories on workout days, including 213 grams of protein. that much protein amounts to almost 2.5 pounds of raw sirloin, or 34 large eggs! I had trouble stuffing it all down at first. It took me half an hour to finish breakfast, and my lunches in the company cafeteria horrified my coworkers. I realized I couldn't consume all my calories in three giant meals. I adapted: I kept a jug of almonds and a bunch of bananas at my desk for snacks. I stored a block of cheese and a gallon of chocolate milk in the office fridge. "Your body will tell you how it best processes calories. For some people, it's large meals. If you time your meals or snacks right, you should rarely feel as if you're force-feeding yourself," Aragon says.

Myth 4 - He must live in the gym. Each week I worked out 4 or 5 days, training for up to 6 hours total. But if I felt physically or mentally drained, I skipped a workout or two. If your body's sore, it's telling you it needs more time to recover. I'm convinced that the extra rest time enhanced my results.

Myth 5 - Results will be minor - This plan is tough, especially in the first few weeks. But once you're past the shock stage, you should see steady growth. "Beginning lifters can expect about 2 pounds of muscle growth in a month," Aragon says.

Key point: Each time you hit the gym, give your best effort. You may think it's just 1 rep you're missing, but that last rep is when your muscles are working hardest. Rooney retested me 4.5 months after my first visit. I deadlifted 250 pounds, and my 3-rep max on the bench press jumped to 165 pounds. I did 20 chinups, and my vertical leap soared to 26.5 inches. That's in addition to the 14 pounds I gained. It may not sound like much, but I added 2 inches to my biceps. My waist was still 32 inches, and my body fat actually decreased to 9.8 percent. But the sweetest reward wasn't measured with a barbell or tape measure. A friend mentioned that she was moving to a new apartment and asked if I could help with the furniture. "No problem," I said. (And it wasn't)

Source: Men's Health

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Save The Earth, Simply

Skip The Takeout - One to-go order often comes with more trash than food - Plastic tableware, napkins and condiment packages. At least ask them to hold what you don't need.

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