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Healthy Food Groups
Since no single food group can nourish the body with all the vital ingredients it requires, it is important that we consume a variety of healthy foods to derive the nutrition our body needs. There are five main food groups, they are:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Cereals and Pulses
• Dairy
• Poultry, Fish and Meat products

A healthy balanced diet of these five food groups ensures essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. The food group serving size will depend upon various factors like age, activity level, body size and gender. It is also important that one eat a variety of foods from within and across the food groups. As some foods from within a food group provide more nutrients than others. This will ensure that one gets the maximum recommended nutrition from the food group; besides the food variety will make for an interesting meal.

In conclusion, it must be noted that allopathic medicine treats the symptoms rather than the root cause of the disease, which is usually caused by wrong eating habits leading to an accumulation of toxins within the system. Whereas a nutritious diet can rectify underlying causes of diseases and restore one to wholeness of mind and body. Once we realize the connection between a wholesome balanced diet and good health, our food will be our medicine and maintaining good health will be a matter of making the right food choices and leading a healthy lifestyle.

10 tips for good night's sleep

Stick to a schedule
Erratic bedtimes do not allow for your body to align to the proper circadian rhythms. Mum was right when she set a time we always had to go to sleep as kids. Also, make sure you try to keep the same schedule on weekends too, otherwise the next morning, you’d wake later and feel overly tired.
Sleep only at night.
Avoid daytime sleep if possible. Daytime naps steal hours from nighttime slumber. Limit daytime sleep to 20-minute, power naps.
Exercise.
It’s actually known to help you sleep better. Your body uses the sleep period to recover its muscles and joints that have been exercised. Twenty to thirty minutes of exercise every day can help you sleep, but be sure to exercise in the morning or afternoon. Exercise stimulates the body and aerobic activity before bedtime may make falling asleep more difficult. Taking a hot shower or bath before bed helps bring on sleep because they can relax tense muscles.
Avoid eating just before bed.
Avoid eat large meals or spicy foods before bedtime. Give yourself at least 2 hours from when you eat to when you sleep. This allows for digestion to happen (or at least start) well before you go to sleep so your body can rest well during the night, rather than churning away your food. Avoid caffeine.
It keeps you awake and that’s now what you want for a good nights sleep. We all know that.

Read a fiction book.
It takes you to a whole new world if you really get into it. And then take some time to ponder over the book as you fall asleep. I find as I read more and more, regardless of the book, I get more tired at night and so find it easier to fall asleep. Different for others?
Have the room slightly cooler.
I prefer this to a hot room. I prefer to turn off the heat and allow the coolness to circulate in and out of the windows. If I get cold, I wear warmer clothes. It also saves on the bills as you’re not going to require the heat all night long. Sleep in silence. I find sleeping with no music or TV on more easy and restful. I guess others are different, but sleep with no distractions is best for a clearer mind.
Avoid alcohol before bedtime.
It’s a depressant; although it may make it easier to fall asleep, it causes you to wake up during the night. As alcohol is digested your body goes into withdrawal from the alcohol, causing nighttime awakenings and often nightmares for some people.

WEIGHT LOSS SECRETS

Are you one of those people struggling with weight loss? Nutrition is important, but one of the first things dieters try is some level of starvation. Unfortunately, starvation deprives the body of nutrition. Rather than triggering weight loss, starvation causes weight retention and weight gain.

How do you respond to your excess weight? Do you deprive yourself of food? Have you tried various fad diets or diet pills that claim to help you lose weight? Was exercise part of your weight loss plan?

If you have tried all these methods and you still haven’t lost weight, there is a good reason. There’s more to it than that.

Here are the elements you need to achieve weight loss:

- nutrition in sufficient quantities that do not include any fattening foods, junk food, sweet foods, and the like
- weight loss exercise to increase your body’s demands for energy
- breathing exercises to encourage weight loss
- consistency and persistence

You can’t expect to achieve weight loss if nutrition is not adequate. Junk food and other empty foods do nothing for you but add weight. While the energy they provide might make you feel good and help you to perform, they are short term solutions.

Let’s take a look at each aspect of weight loss.

Nutrition: You want to choose non-fattening foods that maintain the nutrient levels your body requires. If your body doesn’t get them, it will hold on to whatever food it gets as a survival tactic. Look for low and no-fat foods. Make sure you eat fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meat (preferably chicken or salmon rather than red meat), and calcium rich foods like cheese and skim milk.

Weight Loss Exercise: Develop a suitable workout for you and practice it at a minimum of 30 minutes per day. Make sure it’s an exercise you enjoy. Walking, swimming, cycling are all excellent exercises for weight loss. Nutritious snacks will provide you with appropriate energy that will quickly burn off during exercise.

Deep Breathing: Several times throughout the day, practice deep breathing for about 15 minutes each session. This will help your body to burn energy.

Consistency & Persistence: No weight loss, nutrition plan or exercise will help you to lose weight if you don’t follow through consistently and with persistence. If you don’t deal with your weight loss motivation needs you might lose weight after your first week or two, but if you start wavering or skimping on your plan, or worse, cheating on your meals, you’ll stop losing. In fact, you’ll probably gain weight.

One final tip, eat 5-6 smaller meals throughout the day rather than 3 big meals, and avoid eating within four hours of your bedtime. You might already know that eating before going to bed can disrupt your sleep. In some people, it causes indigestion because the body slows at night.

Eating at this late hour can cause you to get improper sleep and it can cause you to gain weight.

Follow these tips for weight loss: nutrition and exercise according to your weight loss plan, and you’ll soon see results.

This information is presented for information and entertainment purposes only and is no substitute for qualified medical advice. You should seek the opinion of your physician before making any changes to your current dietary or exercise routines.

HOW TO LIVE LONG

"It's not just what you eat.The key to long life is also how much you eat."


10 Do's and Dont's to live long:

1. Don't oversleep:More than eight hours is not healthy.
2. Be optimistic:It decreases the risk of early death by 50%.
3. Lose weight:Obesity is lnked to diabetes and heart disease.
4. Get a pet:Pets reduce levels of the stress hormone,cortisol.
5. Be rich:Higher income makes it easy to engage in health promoting behaviours.
6. Quit smoking:It's linked to most common causes of death in the elderly.
7. Chill out:The anger-prone are 6times more likely to have heart attacks by the age of 55.
8. Pop antioxidants:Cinnamon to blueberries , they ward off cell damage and delay ageing.
9. Marry well:Pick a spouse whose family shows longevity and it may help your kids too.
10. Exercise a lot:Maintaining weight will give you energy and ward off stress.
    

Longevity And Mood:
The Big 5 Personality Traits that help people to live and thrive.........

1. Extroverted character
2. Agreeable manner
3. Conscientiousness
4. Emotional stability
5. Openness to experience

It extends lifespan and delays the onset of age-related diseases.

AGE TEST:

Start with 70 years ,average life expectancy in India.

Depending on your answers to those questions add or subtract appropriate number of years:::::
ATTITUDE:Are you optimist?Do you approach life with good humour?Are you able to let go of stressful things?If no subtract 5 years. 70-5=65

GENES:Do you have at least some family members who have lived past the age of 90?Exceptional longevity runs strongly in families.If yes then add 10 years.
+10=75
EXERCISE:Do you set aside at least half an hour ,three days a week ,to exercise?Muscle building exercises are particularly important.If no,subtract 5 years. -5=70
INTERESTS:Do you do things that challenge your brain,regularly?It's important to take on activities that are novel and complex.If yes,add 5 years.
+5=75
NUTRITION:Do you have a diet which eeps you lean?If no,then subtract 7 years.
-7=68
SMOKING:Do yo smoke?If yes subtract 5 years. -5=63