How To Prevent Flu

It's the peak of Flu season again across the country and in Tennessee the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has raises the Flu level warning from low to high after seeing an increase in people with flu symptoms. During winter season and holiday season people usually gather in close quarters that makes flue easier to spread.

"Influenza A and B is a virus much like the common cold but packs more of a punch," said Physician’s Assistant Brett Garvey with The Little Clinic. The best way to prevent Flu is always wash your hands!

Here are the steps that you can make to prevent FLU:

1. Wash your hands often with soap and water, or dissenfect your hands with alcohol-based hand rub.
2. Avoid Close Contact with sick people always keep your personal space.
3. Avoid touching your nose, eyes or mouth.
4. Disinfect objects that you frequently use like smartphones, computers, table etc.
5. Boost your immune system by getting plenty of sleep, exercise, drink plenty of fluids, manage your stress level and eat nutritious food.
6. CDC recommends annual flu vaccine as the first defense against flu viruses.

People who have higher risk of complications due to flu include young children, pregnant women, people with certain chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease and people 65 years and older.

If you do catch the flu, antiviral drugs can be used to treat your illness if your doctor prescribes them. Antiviral drugs are prescription medicines and not available over-the-counter.

Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.

Natural Treatment of FLU:

You can also treat your Flu naturally. Here are all-natural fast cold or flu relief for your family, try these top research-proven home remedies for flu treatment:

1. Drink lots of water, juices or electrolyte beverages and avoid caffeinated drinks, because caffeine is a diuretic.


2. Oregano oil - oregano extract is a good remedy for respiratory illness like coughs, colds, flu, sore throats, and bronchitis. Look for "P73 oregano" supplements. Wild Oregano P73 stands for “polyphenol 73 percent” and is a specific blend of several high-grade medicinal wild oreganos.


3. Chicken soup - it relieves symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections like the flu.

4. NAC (N-acetyl L-cysteine) - it's a great flu treatment that's available at your local health food store.It is a powerful antioxidant that helps boosts immunity, reduces respiratory mucus and helps with breathing in various lung conditions.


3. Olive leaf extract - it boost immune system and a great flu treatment.


4. Ginger - it's great at reducing nausea and vomiting.


 5. Nasal water sprays - rinsing your nose with salty water can thin mucus, ease postnasal drip, and moisten dry membranes. It also helps remove virus particles and bacteria from your nose. It's available at any drug or grocery store.





P73 oregano
NAC (N-acetyl L-cysteine)
Olive leaf extract
Ginger
water sprays

How Much Sugar in Coke Regular vs Coke Zero

Everyone knows that soft-drinks are bad for your health even if its Diet Coke or sugar-free. However, the video above shows an experiment that determines how much sugar in Coke Regular and Coke Zero. Both drinks are first tested in high heat using a nonstick pan. Boiling the soft-drinks will remove the water and the product will caramelize leaving the sugar.

The purpose of the video is to show how much sugar you are consuming when you drink regular soft-drinks. It hopes to lessen your soft-drinks intake and instead drink water or if you really can't avoid it choose diet soft-drinks instead. Type 2 diabetes is no joke, it's expensive and it's a nasty disorder that can lead to deadly complications.

Happy New Year 2017

May all the expectations and goals for each day be fulfilled on the day itself! Happy New Year to all!

Merry Christmas 2016

May the melody and spirit of Christmas fill your home with love and peace. I wish you all the best and happy New Year too!

Acid Reflux Remedies and Tips

Acid Reflux, also known as Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is a long term condition in which stomach acid escapes through the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES). The contents in your stomach come back up into your esophagus that causes  either symptoms or complications. The Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) is a valve that separates the stomach from the esophagus. Acid reflux symptoms includes:

•     pain and burning in the chest
•     increased salivation (also known as water brash)
•     heartburn and nausea
•     burping and hiccups
•     hoarseness
•     chronic sore throat
•     coughing

Another nasty symptom of acid reflux is regurgitation, it's a foul acidic taste in your mouth when you not "fully-vomit" in your mouth after a meal. Yes, it's a common experience however, if it occurs most of the time about more than two times a week then you have acid reflux disease. Common risk factors of this disease are obesity, pregnancy, smoking, hiatus hernia, eating large meals, taking certain medicines and lying down after meals.

Another cause for acid refulx is lack of digestive enzymes in which the stomach produces more acid to compensate. This may be caused by old age, poor diet, stress and certain antibiotics that reduces the digestive enzymes required to balance the stomach acid responsible for reflux.

Medications use to get rid of acid reflux includes antihistamines, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants, and sleeping medication.

In addition, a spoonful of sodium bicarbonate, can help reduce or end the gnawing, burning, sensation of heartburn caused by acid reflux. Baking soda, as sodium bicarbonate is more commonly known, can help your reflux and in turn help your heartburn because it is a base substance.

Other ways to relieve acid reflux includes, chewing gum since it increase the flow of saliva that neutralizes stomach acid. Lose weight and eating smaller meals will also help. Avoid smoking since it loosens the LES valve. Avoid foods that are known for causing gas and acid reflux, which includes beans, soda, fatty foods, citrus fruits, tomatoes, coffee and tea.

Low Carb Diet

Low Carb Diet is a diet that usually involves limiting the consumption of carbohydrates like those found in sugary foods, pasta and bread. This diet is high in protein, fat and healthy vegetables that includes meat, poultry, fish and eggs. It also limit most grains, legumes, fruits, breads, sweets, pastas and starchy vegetables, and sometimes nuts and seeds.

There are different kinds of low-carb diets and each of them has varying restrictions on the types and amounts of carbohydrates you can eat.

According to an article by Business Insider high-fat, low-carb diet may improve athletic performance. It said that our bodies normally first try to burn through our glycogen energy stores, which are easily accessible and we get from breaking down carbohydrates. After we burn through those glycogen energy stores, our bodies eventually can start getting energy by burning through ketones, energy produced from fatty acids (basically, energy from fat). However, it also said that this diet is not for everyone it may work for some but not for others.

Check out "Big Easy On Low Carb" for more information on low carb lifestyle.

Stretches for Back Pain Relief

Back pain is very common and it affects most people at some point in their life. It is also the most common illness that cause people to miss work and make people visit their doctors. I also experience back pain from time to time and it can be really sore that I can't even get out of bed. Thankfully there are things that you can do treat it that often will heal your back within a few weeks and keep it functional for a long time.

One of the best thing that you can do is stretching. You can do it at home for a few minutes a day. Check out Jen Hilman video below, she shows how to do stretching for back pain. It is very relaxing.