Want to do something positive to enhance your health? Get in the habit of Adding green tea to your diet. It’s been shown to be beneficial as a health improver for centuries and for many different cultures from East to West.

Green tea has an unusual set of health benefits. It has a reputation for helping with many health issues. Green tea is filled with antioxidants which protect your cells.

Surprisingly, it also has a reputation of being able to prevent tooth decay.

Is high cholesterol problem for you? Green tea has been known to help lower cholesterol. Having lower cholesterol is very beneficial in helping to prevent heart disease and stroke.

Is aging a concern for you? Green tea contains a lot of antioxidants that fight free radicals. Free radicals contribute to health deteriorating that comes with the passing of time.

Most people would like to lose at least a little bit of weight and a lot of people need to lose a whole lot of weight! Assist your body to lose weight by drinking green tea on a regular basis. It just may help raise your rate of metabolism so you can burn calories more efficiently.

Even arthritis has been known to be relieved by drinking green tea. That’s because green tea contains a special substance that protects cartilage.

If you’re a menopausal or postmenopausal woman, you’re going to want to do all you can to protect the density of your bones. That’s another reason to drink green tea since it has been known to help keep bones strong.

Do you or a loved one have diabetes and need all the help you can get managing this condition? Help guard your blood sugar level by drinking green tea.

Has a loved one shown signs of suffering with Alzheimer’s disease or perhaps you yourself are in the beginning stages of this dreaded affliction? Help protect your brain cells by drinking green tea.

Want to do all you can to slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease? Green tea contains lots of antioxidants which protect the cells of the brain.

Want to protect yourself from food poisoning? If you’ve been drinking green tea, bacteria that causes food poisoning may be killed by special substances in green tea.

Are you often laid low with infections? If you drink green tea, you can help strengthen your immune system.

Also drink green tea to protect yourself from the flu and colds.

Green tea is also a cleanser and if you drink it, you’ll be cleansing your body.

Be sure to buy green tea that is fresh so that you can derive the maximum health benefits from this drink that has been known for centuries to help people’s health.

Drink it either hot or cold to quench your thirst, but be sure to drink it just after it has been freshly made. However, wait a few minutes to let it steep so that the maximum benefits can enter both your teacup and your body as well.

There are additional health benefits to drinking green tea that are not included in this article. If you’re really interested, why not research the subject yourself?

Patricia Wagner
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/help-yourself-to-better-health-by-drinking-green-tea-99260.html

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‘Acute inflammation – the kind that protects and heals the body after an injury or infection – is essential and normal. ……..

In the wake of a nasty cut or broken bone, the battle is on! Immediately, a biochemical cascade improves blood flow to the area. Nerve endings and other cells at the site of the injury or infection send out signaling molecules and other chemical components to recruit the body’s equivalent of the Superhero – white blood cells that fight off foreign bodies. …….

That’s acute inflammation. It’s necessary and normal for good health.¹

However, the other kind of inflammation – named chronic inflammation, plays a more obvious role in diseases such as asthma and the inflammatory bowel diseases ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Consider the vast array of autoimmune disorders such as “rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and polymyalgia rheumatica” where the body’s immune system mistakenly initiates an inflammatory response even though there’s no apparent inflammation to fight off.¹

There are also “not so obvious roles” of chronic inflammation. Research indicates that clogged arteries, heart disease, stroke and bacterial endocarditis may be linked to oral health. Researchers are discovering what role inflammation plays in the development of cancer.

The article goes on to discuss the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) which can be helpful. However, there are risks of gastrointestinal bleeding with regular NSAID use.

The editors of the article mention some dietary supplements that may be of interest, including

“Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) ” It’s credited with anti-allergy, antibacterial, antifungal, antihistamine and anti-inflammatory qualities, and even as a possible cancer treatment. But high-quality human trials are still lacking that support its effectiveness or safety.¹

Dr Bauer recommends to stay tuned to this research. He says there are bound to be discoveries down the road that can improve quality of health and well-being.

1. Buzzed on inflammation, Brent Bauer, M.D.
General Internal Medicine, Editorial Board member of Mayo Clinic Health Letter Online Edition May Clinic Health Letter

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Do you have the style of a breast stroker or is the doggy paddle more your style? A variety of swim strokes can be as simple as the doggy paddle or as difficult as the butterfly swim style.

A swim style is just a way that one moves about a body of water. These activities are performed using your arms and legs against the current of the water, which will cause you to propel through the water. The wise way to perform these special swim strokes is smoothly and without a great deal of splashing in the water.

Underneath is a listing of some special swim strokes that you can master if you put your mind to it.

Crawl: The crawl is a swim style that is done in the prone position, meaning facedown. Using over-arm strokes and some light fluttering activities with your feet so you can move across the top of the water. Your head does not submerge, but rather stays on top of the water with side-to-side movements alternating.

Sidestroke: Laying on one side of your body use a forward underwater stroking motion and scissor kick your legs.

Breast stroke: This is a stroke that is done in the prone position. Spreading your arms in front of you and bringing them back to the level of the shoulders with alternating frog kicks you propel yourself across the surface of the water. The head remains above the surface of the water. Be careful with breast stroke if you have knee pain, this stroke may be bad for your knees.

Dog Paddle: Often this stroke is one that is a natural inclination for the body to perform. The dog paddle is a combination of flutter kicking and the outward reaching of the hands underwater to keep yourself afloat.

Backstroke: This is done on your back, the supine position. With a flutter kicking motion and over-the-head arm strokes you make your way across the water’s surface.

Butterfly: Performed in the prone position this tricky stroke takes a great deal of practice to get it perfect. Very tiring to do, the butterfly stroke combines an upward swinging, round motion of both of the arms at the same time along with kicking.

Freestyle: This swimming style can be anything that you want it to be with regards to all of the swimming strokes.

These are just some of the special swimming strokes that are known. There are other different swim strokes as well. Competitive swimmers must practice very intensely to perfect each special swim stroke. Whatever style swim stroke you choose to use it is important to make sure that you practice water safety first at all times. Keep practicing and be safe.

All it takes is some practice and you will have the swimming strokes of an expert swimmer. Another good thing about swimming is that being in the water will diminish swelling in your limbs, which can give you much pain relief also. Swimming is an excellent way to get natural pain relief and to feel good when you are weightless for a period of time during your day.

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I visited with the physiotherapist in a gymnasium (or fitness centre as they’re sometimes called), and he showed me some exercises to increase my quadricep muscles (muscles that run along the front part of the thigh), and also to increase the strength in all my leg muscles. I started off with very low weights and low repetition. After I’d learned what exercises to do, the physio said to become a member of a gym and to lift weights regularly. He said that I could do a few months of regular (2-3 times a week), to build up the muscles, then have a break for a few months.

Since those visits to the physio (about 25 years ago), I’ve been going to the gym regularly. Sometimes when I travel, I can’t always get to the gym, and I usually notice my knees starting to ache. When I get home, I go back to the gym, and they feel better again. So, the weight lifting, along with some other arthritis help keeps the inflammation in my knees away. Most of the time, I hardly know I have arthritis in my knees.

Mayo Clinic and Boston University researchers also say people with knee osteoarthritis seem to have less pain and less cartilage loss if they have stronger quadriceps muscles.

I hope that if you have arthritis in your knees, you will do some weight lifting also, and find out how much this helps. As always, consult your doctor first, and ask for a recommendation to visit a physiotherapist.

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The type of arthritis exercise program will depend on which joints in the body have the arthritis, how stable the joints are, the amount of inflammation and pain, and whether or not there has been a joint replacement.

If the inflammation is severe, it would be best to take an anti-inflammatory for a few days before attempting the exercise program. It is recommended to consult your medical practitioner before starting an arthritis exercise program, so he or she can assist you to work out what exercises will benefit your joints, and which ones might inadvertently cause more damage.

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