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Showing posts from September, 2015

Raw Foods for Better Health

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In this article, we will discuss the following topics: Why you should eat more raw foods? Cautions to be taken for preparing your raw foods for eating Health Benefits of Eating Foods Raw Raw foods are enzyme-rich, and consuming them decreases your body's burden to produce its own enzymes. The more food that you can eat raw, the better. Ideally, you should get 75 percent of your digestive enzymes from your food. [18] " I personally try to eat about 85 percent of my food raw ", said Dr Mercola [3] . Maybe it is also wise for us to strive to get as much raw food in our diet as possible . One way to achieve that goal is to drink fruit-and-veggie smoothies [8,19] . Health Hazards of Over-Cooked Foods Cooking tends to destroy the nutritive value of the foods we eat. For example, Vitamin C Cooking can destroy the vitamin C in veggies.  Dr. Liu [1] at Cornell University has found that vitamin C levels declined by 10 percent in tomatoes cooked for two m...

Seniors: Flu Prevention through Vaccination and Good Alternatives

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People 65 years and older have some of the highest rates of hospitalization and death as a result of influenza infection. If you are in that age group, you could choose: No flu shots  Regular flu shots  Higher dose flu shot [1]   All medical interventions have a benefit-to-risk ratio. Each person has to weigh the supposed benefits against the potential risks [2] .  The most common flu vaccine—the inactivated virus—is not “truly sterilizing because it doesn’t generate local immune response in the respiratory tract,” Crowcroft  says. This fact, coupled with low immunization rates (often shy of 50 percent among adults) and the influenza virus’s ability to infect and move between multiple species , enables it to constantly change in ways that make it hard for our immune system to recognize .   Still, depending on the year, flu vaccines have been shown to reduce hospitalizations among older adults by an estimated 40% and intensive care admission...

Tai Chi Tips

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To get you started with Yan-Style Tai Chi Chuan , you can following instructions in the following articles: Yang-Style Tai Chi Chuan 24 Forms Tai Chi Chuan—Directional Instructions Tai Chi Chuan Step-by-Step Instructions (1/8) Tai Chi Chuan Step-by-Step Instructions (2/8) Tai Chi Chuan Step-by-Step Instructions (3/8) In addition, we have provided more helpful tips in this article. Tips Exercise with empty stomach Warm-up first Easy motions, such as shoulder circles, turning the head from side to side, or rocking back and forth, help you to loosen your muscles and joints and focus on your breath and body. Coordinate your breathing with your movements There is a pattern in healthy breathing that relates to the timing of the inhale, exhale and pause Pauses are the time at the bottom of the exhale where no in breath or exhale is occurring Consider Tai Chi a repeated 1, 2 pattern in breathing and movements 1, 2 breathing involves the inhale and exhale (considerin...

Tai Chi Chuan—Directional Instructions

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If you plan to learn Tai-Chi by watching video  without teacher's help, one of the difficult parts is to learn in which direction you should face in the exercise. In this article, I will try to help by providing directional guidance. Clock-Facing Position Whatever position you take at the start of the form (or whatever direction the center of your chest and navel face) consider that starting position to be facing the 12 o'clock position . [2] When the center of your chest and navel face the 12 o'clock position, your right side faces 3 o'clock , your back side faces 6 o'clock , and your left side faces 9 o'clock . Movements In  Yang-Style Tai Chi Chuan , it is composed of 24 forms. Starting at the starting position facing 12 o'clock, you move from right to left and then left to right on approximately a line as shown in the diagram. When you finish, your final position will face 12 o'clock again. From below, please f...