Sex, Health, Diet Info

One of the advantages of reaching midlife is that we are finally finished with all those issues that make childhood and adolescence such a pain in the neck, such as needing set bedtimes as well as  regular dental and eye checkups; having to worry about using protection during sex and about cigarette smoking; getting all those shots to prevent diseases and wearing helmets to prevent sports injuries; needing to eat all our vegetables and avoid sugar as well as not missing gym class. What a relief to let these issues fade right along with our memories of tetherball on the school playground!

Not so fast. Would it surprise you to know that you still have to be aware of each and every one of the above so-called “child/adolescent” health issues?  

For instance, what about set bedtimes? The obvious reason that we needed enforced, regular  bedtimes each night was so that we would get enough sleep. Being tired and sleepy the next day in school caused everything from lousy concentration to crabby moods. Now that we’re in midlife, many of us believe that sleep is no longer an issue. This is not the case at all. It’s still essential to our health and wellbeing. Recent studies have shown that not only do sleep disturbances often indicate a serious health problem, but that lack of sleep can actually cause health problems, such as weight gain. Polls have shown that nearly two thirds of adults over the age of sixty-five have sleep complaints, but that less than 15 per cent of them have been formally diagnosed with a sleep problem. Why? Because we don’t mention sleep problems to our health care providers. Our mothers were right — we still need to be concerned about our bedtimes.

Once we’ve gotten the glasses we need and all our baby teeth are gone, we no longer need to get regular eye and dental checkups as we did in our younger years, right? Again — no. Although our vision does remain stable from young adulthood until we need bifocals, there are common eye diseases that begin to occur in midlife, and that can lead to blindness if not diagnosed.  And even though we no longer have our baby teeth,  other dental issues take the forefront upon reaching midlife, such as gum inflammation which has been shown to be associated with diabetes and heart disease. So, continued regular dental and eye checks are as important as in our younger years. 

And what about sex at midlife and beyond?  We’ve moved from groping and being groped in the backseat of the car to more sophisticated maneuvers in a comfortable bed, and finally, finally no longer have to worry about pregnancy. So we don’t need protection; or so many of us think. Although it’s true that once menopause arrives one can’t get pregnant (warning: make sure you have completed menopause before assuming this as diagnosing menopause can be tricky),  protection is still needed during sex because of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Yes, we can still get those, and in some cases are even more prone to becoming infected after menopause, even after a hysterectomy. And even though we’re past the childbearing years and our reproductive organs seem to have no further use, we still need regular pelvic exams and Pap smears. It is also important at that exam to discuss with our healthcare providers the need for testing for STIs; if there is a new partner or the worry that the current partner is not monogamous, this testing is a must.

STIs are not the only threat held over from our adolescent years; so is cigarette smoking. Many women in midlife think that there is no reason to stop smoking cigarettes at this age, since they wrongly assume that the damage is already done from all the prior years of smoking. This is not the case. No matter how many years one has smoked, stopping can prevent further damage to the heart, blood vessels, and lungs, and in some cases can reverse some of that damage.  

Also relevant to the lungs is the fact that asthma can begin in midlife, where once it was thought to only begin in childhood.  The two major causes seem to be occupational exposure to substances that damage the lungs, and the recreational exposure to air pollution by adults who run predominantly outside. So, a new onset of shortness of breath at this age — even if it occurs only with exercise — does not necessarily mean heart disease; remember that we can develop asthma now.

Did you think you were finished with all those horrible shots you had to have in childhood and adolescence? Sorry, you’re not. There is a recommended immunization schedule for adults in midlife and beyond, just as there are for children. At certain ages over 50 and at certain intervals, you’ll need shots against the flu, certain types of pneumonia, tetanus, and in some instances, shingles and hepatitis.  Ask your primary care provider about these.

And did you pack away your helmet when you gave away your bike with training wheels? Probably ok to have done this since now you will need a bigger size helmet. But you do need a helmet. A recent report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission stated that sports-related injuries in the Baby Boomer population was on the rise, with over 1 million injuries in this age group in 1998 alone, most of the injuries being due to bicycling and basketball.  The same report said that the many head injuries associated with bicycling were probably due to the fact that Baby Boomers use helmets less than younger people do.

The fact that exercise and proper nutrition are as important in midlife and beyond as in childhood may not come as a surprise. Regular exercise at this age has been shown to increase longevity and wellbeing, postpone and possibly prevent dementia, strokes, heart disease, and diabetes, and aid in the treatment of depression. Important to know as well is that several different types of regular exercise are recommended at this age, including aerobic (cardio) exercise, weight-bearing exercise or strength training, and exercises to improve balance and flexibility.

What we eat as we get older is every bit as important as it was in our younger years. One particular healthy way of eating, the Mediterranean diet, has been shown to stave off dementia, prevent heart disease and diabetes, maintain a healthy cholesterol level, and improve longevity. One study showed that this diet even improved sexual function in certain women! This diet is exactly as expected given its name: lots of natural whole foods, like vegetables, fruits, and nuts, lots of fish and olive oil, moderate amounts of wine, and limited amounts of foods containing refined sugar. Controlling the portions of the foods we eat is even more important at this age. Our metabolic rate decreases with age, making it easier to gain weight while eating the same amounts of food as in our younger years.  

So, as you are rummaging through your mother’s attic looking at your old dolls, baseball bat and Ouija Board, and breathing a sigh of relief that you no longer have to worry about being picked for a baseball team or that your best friend copied your paper doll’s dress, don’t get lulled into complacency about your health. Although you once may have thought that taking care of yourself  health-wise would get easier as you get older, you know now that that’s not true. Make your appointments for regular checkups, get more than 5 hours of sleep a night, use protection when having sex, particularly with a new partner, stop smoking no matter how old you are, get the recommended immunizations, be careful and wear your helmet and seatbelts, and exercise regularly and eat well. Your mother’s recommendations from your childhood continue to apply!

©2008 Janet Horn, M.D.

Author Bio
Dr. Janet Horn is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, with training in Obstetrics and Gynecology. She spent many years on the fulltime faculty of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she published articles in medical journals on her research interests, including sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and women’s health. She was also the primary author of several chapters in medical textbooks.  She started her solo private practice in 1990 while continuing to teach as an Associate Professor of Medicine on the part time faculty at Hopkins. She has been selected by Baltimore Magazine as one of the “Top Doctors in Baltimore” and by the Maryland Daily Record as one of the “Top 100 Women in Maryland.”   She is included in the books Consumer’s Guide to Top Doctors (in the US) and Best Doctors in America, Southeast Region.  She is the co-author of The Smart Woman’s Guide to Midlife and Beyond, which will be available this September from New Harbinger Publications.

Copyright (c) 2008 Stephen Lau

Sex is an important aspect of life. Sex is a complex matter: it involves many of your body organs in order to produce the desire that culminates in the sexual act that produces the sensations of sex and orgasm.

Diet plays a pivotal role in your sex and orgasm. First and foremost, you must be healthy in order to perform (in the case of men) the very sexual act, and to enjoy sex (orgasm in the case of women).

Orgasm or the enjoyment of sex is based on the sensation of pleasure, which is preceded by the enhancement of anticipation and desire. Yes, it is all in the mind. But the body affects the mind as well, and accordingly your diet has an overall impact on your sex life.

According to research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), fish oil not only improves your cardiovascular health but also reduces depression and aggression. In other words, fish oil elevates the dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter of the sensation of pleasure. Dopamine holds the key to female sexual pleasure or orgasm. In addition, male erection is contingent on a healthy heart to send sufficient blood to the male organ to produce the desired erection necessary to accomplish the sexual act.

Saturated and monounsaturated fats (from meat, poultry, and dairy products) also enhance the dopamine in your body. Therefore, a fat-free diet may help you lose not only your weight but also your sexual desire. Fish oil is a safe, healthy, and non-addictive way to effectively elevate the dopamine levels in your body to give you the desire, the performance, and the orgasm in sex. Trans fats (synthetic fats manufactured from other fats) in junk food and commercial basked goods will negate the effect of the fish oil you consume.

In addition to dopamine, serotonin is another neurotransmitter responsible for better sex in that it improves your overall mood and relieves stress that may result in performance anxiety in men and prevent women from reaching an orgasm.

That said, too much serotonin may not be good. Depressed individuals are often prescribed antidepressants to artificially raise their serotonin levels, resulting in lower libido and orgasmic capability. Remember, anything that produces a high is generally followed by a low – which could be damaging to sex. Therefore, avoid caffeine in tea, coffee, sodas, and chocolate. Even a diet of carbohydrates with no protein may spike the serotonin level, upsetting the balance. The key is to maintain a balanced serotonin level in your body for maximum enjoyment of sex.

The American culture is affected by the billion-dollar soy industry: you find soy in everything – from tofu, soy milk, to snack bars. Protein is important to your diet and your sexual health, but it need not come from soy alone. Soy may be good for menopausal women, but too much soy may adversely affect your testosterone levels, and testosterone governs sexual desire.

Changing the way you eat, and eating right will invigorate your sex life. Eat more fish – not the farm-raised ones. If you plan to take the fish oil supplement, get the “fish oil” rather than the fish oil with a particular fish, such as “salmon fish oil” or “cod liver oil.” A word of warning, overdosing on fish oil can lead to a risk of hemorrhage due to the blood-thinning properties of fish oil, so be careful. A balanced diet makes you sexually healthy.

Do you know the most important factor in good sexual health? It’s your mind. Studies involving men and women have shown that it is the mind that determines sexual performance and drive more than anything else. Men and women were given a placebo and told that it would increase their libido and performance; the majority stated that they saw a significant increase in those areas which show us that it is the mind more than a pill that is responsible for the change.

There are also a number of foods that are said to directly affect sexual performance due to their aphrodisiac influence. These foods include ginseng, bananas, figs, asparagus, eels, oysters, and rhino horn which supposedly increases sexual appetite.

Male Sexual Health

When looking at male sexual health it is not just a question of taking a few supplements and sex drive recovers.

You must see male sexual health in terms of overall body health, this means not just taking supplements, but eating foods to reduce stress first,

Let’s take foods first:

These foods will increase dopamine a chemical in the brain that will increase sex drive so eat them!

They are: Salmon, cottage cheese, steak and low fat yogurt

Salmon (and other oily fish such as mackerel and herring) are packed with Omega 3, which increases blood flow around the body and to the genitals and is vital for fighting impotence.

Nitric oxide insufficiency can stop the penis from becoming erect. A recent study showed an 80 percent improvement in the erectile function of men who took 2.8 grams of argentine a day for two weeks.

Gingko Bilbao

It enhances blood flow and functions as an anti-oxidant in the body and is renowned as a great all round supplement which has been known for centuries to increase sexual desire.

Ginseng

Korean Ginseng has been used in China as a sexual balancer and revitalizing tonic for thousands of years.

It is stimulating and restorative and helps improve physical and mental energy, stamina, strength and alertness as an adaptogen, it also helps you to combat physical, emotional stress and fatigue.

Improve your Sexual Health

Have you been having problems about your sex life and could not even begin to understand why your partner is no longer satisfied with you? If you are having troubles with your sex life and are very unhappy about it, then do not just mop around think that your whole life is going down the drain. Do something about it.

You don’t really have to feel self conscious about it. There are so many people all over the country who share the same problems as you and the doctor you are talking to may have encountered the same types of problems time and again that your case is really not some kind of a novelty. Discussing your sexual health problems with your doctor will help you understand what is going on in your body.

As men age, most start suffering a decrease in sex drive. This isn’t as normal as you’d think, men still usually feel as much sexual desire as they did in their middle age. There’s more to this then simply just getting older.

There are many factors that could be to blame, both physical and emotional. Most problems of low libido are mental rather than physical. Stress is the number one cause behind low libido. Any other negative feelings, like guilt or depression, can also be at work.

As men age they lose 10% of testosterone a decade. Many men lose more than this, resulting in a male form of menopause. Millions of men are going through this right this minute without even realizing it. Most of these men are just convinced that they’re just experiencing growing older. There are many other ways that your body is affected by a dip in testosterone, such as a decrease in bone density, an increase in body fat, and balding, but it’s really what it does to a man’s sexual health that he really starts to take notice in.

The male orgasm is a complex experience. The major function of the male orgasm usually includes the ejaculation of sperm. Male orgasm happens at the peak of sexual pleasure, when the various muscle groups contract simultaneously lots of contractions of the pubococcygeus muscle occur along with contractions of the anal sphincter, rectum and perineum, and the ejaculatory ducts and muscles around the penis. The contracting muscles are the key to delivering the load of semen. The first few contractions are intense and close together, occurring at about 0.8 second intervals. As orgasm continues, the contractions reduce in intensity and duration and occur at less frequent intervals.

There’s no need to feel embarrassed or shy if you are concerned with a sexual health issue. Most men are. Yes, it’s true, women love to feel that it’s large, and harder, it turns them on. The penis has two paired cylinders called the Corpora Cavernosa that, when aroused, expand and fill with blood creating the hardness of your erection.

The capacity of your Corpora Cavernosa to fill with blood during arousal limits erection length and thickness, and these functions can decrease as you age. Many factors come into play when it comes to enjoying a fulfilling sexual lifestyle. A lot of men suffer from performance anxiety. They fear weak erections, insignificant ejaculation, short penetration and disappointing orgasms. They feel like there letting down their sexual partner, and themselves. Sex becomes a task, a painful experience that slowly breaks down self confidence away and inhibits you even further from performing sexually.

If you’re ready to reignite your ability to perform sexually, enhance the appearance of your organ and maintain a powerful erection, then Vialis is for you. This is a rapid development that incorporates the hyper exotic aphrodisiac sex enhancer, Black Diamond Truffle. This pheromone rich, underground wonder is thought to be nature’s premier testosterone booster. It also contains avena sativa, clavo huasca and horny goat weed, all proven botanical extracts that support your experience.

Be My Friend – www.myspace.com Women’s Health, Hormones, Sun & Postpartum Depression Dr.Vincent Bellonzi is a chiropractor and is certified in Clinical Nutrition. He has been in practice for over 12 years. He received his Doctorate from Los Angeles College of Chiropractic in 1991. Since 1998, Dr. Bellonzi has practiced in the Austin area. He works with athletes at every level to provide sports conditioning and rehabilitation. Visit Dr. Bellonzi’s website at www.austinwellnessclinic.com This video was produced by Psychetruth www.myspace.com www.youtube.com psychetruth is empowered by tubemogul www.tubemogul.com © Copyright 2008 Austin Wellness Institute. All Rights Reserved.

Depression is a common affliction in the modern society. Especially now that we are facing the toughest economic downturn since the Great Depression, more and more people are finding it hard to cope with everyday struggles and challenges. To make matters worse, even health care is tremendously expensive. Fortunately, alternative medicine has been around for centuries and herbal remedies that fight depression are affordable and effective, even.

Siberian Ginseng 

Siberian ginseng is one of the most popular herbal remedies that affect the central nervous system. Siberian ginseng helps promote a balance in several integral neurotransmitters found in the brain, including dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and epinephrine. Standard, exact dosages of 400 mg of Siberian ginseng three times each day can help people with depression achieve an improved sense of well-being. 

Purslane 

Depression is often accompanied by eating binges. This is the most common effect of the psychological condition, which, if taken lightly, can cause other adverse health risks. Taking herbal remedies that have antidepressant effects is greatly advised. One of these is Purslane, which is rich in potassium and magnesium, two minerals that are effective in battling depression. 

Borage 

Like purslane, borage is also an effective antidepressant due to its naturally high potassium content. The leaves and blossoms of the borage plant are generally used. The extracted juice from borage has great stimulating effects on the glandular system, which is essentially the area that can promote efficient recovery from the condition. The seeds, when used alongside the leaves, are also effective in treating melancholy and sadness. 

Damiana and Black Hellebore 

Another nervous system stimulant is damiana. If you’re feeling down, simply taking damiana can help improve the mood. 

Black hellebore, on the other hand, works differently from damiana. The plant, also known as Christmas rose, is known as a helpful restorative for people suffering from mania and melancholy. However, the juice and dried rhizome from the plant, which is the most effective and suggested form of intake, should be used only in small quantities. 

Sage and Rosemary 

These two are popularly used in the kitchen, but they are great for fighting depression and other nervous-related conditions as well. 

Sage, for instance, is one of the most effective herbal remedies that have been used for centuries both cosmetically and medicinally. Nowadays, sage is a popular remedy for jittery nerves. Taking a decoction from dried sage is effective in promoting calmness. Rosemary, on the other hand, is useful in providing a much-needed joie de vivre and joyfulness. 

Mark Michael Ferrer 
Herbal Remedies

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/common-effective-herbal-remedies-for-depression-1562118.html

Depression is very dangerous illness; you should try to deal it as soon as possible. In depression, patients feel that no one could possibly understand or help them. Weight loss or gain, hopelessness, sadness, insomnia, over sleeping, thoughts of death or suicidal intentions, and less concentration are the symptoms of depression. Depression is more common in women because of many hormonal factors such as menstrual cycle, pregnancy, miscarriage, premenstrual syndrome and menopause.

Most people do not take medical help in depression, even though the majority will respond to treatment. Treating depression is very important because it affects you as well your family and your career. Depression is a curable illness. It can cure through home remedies, natural remedies, drugs, doctor consultation, etc.

Depression treatment includes a combination of counseling from doctor, drug therapy, family support, love, appreciation, normal communication and home remedies. There are home remedies for depression that you can use. A lot of people prefer home remedies over conventional treatments because it is safe and no side effects.

St. John’s Wort is a natural herb. It is very effective home remedies for depression. You can find this herb at any pharmacy or nutritional store. It has been used for centuries as a mood stabilizer and is used by many people on a regular basis to fight against depression or bouts of anxiety.

Take candida diet to get rid of depression. Depression is caused by the candida. This diet will help you to cure the depression illness. Candida diet includes high fiber and low starch vegetables such as broccoli, radish, celery, and asparagus.

Take sun bath. Sun light has a necessary ingredient for stabilizing our moods. Interact with your friends, family members, play games and do things you like to do.

One of the best home remedies to treat depression is exercise and yoga. Exercise and yoga helps in physical movement, especially repetitive movement. Physical movement has been associated with stimulation of the production and release of mood improving chemicals including the neurotransmitter serotonin that has been shown to have beneficial effects in depression. Exercise and yoga also helps to elevate serotonin levels naturally.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Copyright © Ryan Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Read Home Remedies for Depression to overcome depression. Also find Home Remedies for Stress to reduce stress and anxiety. Read some easy Home Remedies for Migraine to relieve headache and pain.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/natural-home-remedies-for-depression-1549583.html