Archive for January, 2009

12
Jan

Beer Beverages – Stud Muffin to Dough Boy

   Posted by: Lita    in AA - Fernanda's thoughts, General, Health and Fitness, Men's Issues, Obesity

Beer beverages are one of the oldest beverages, probably as old as agriculture, with the first written history of beer-like beverages being recorded in ancient Egypt. Most likely, these beer-like beverages that contained carbohydrates and underwent fermentation were independently invented among various cultures.
 
In the middle ages, beer beverages were consumed by all social classes since the purity of water could not be guaranteed. Beer was particularly popular in the northern regions of Europe because it was easier to grow oats, barley and wheat as compared to fruits, such as grapes, used to make wine. A Carolingian Abbot introduced hops to beer beverages in 822. Along with flavoring the beers hops improved it’s conserving properties and beer would not spoil as easily. Hopped beer was perfected in the towns in Germany by the 13th century.
 
Nowadays beer beverages are promoted as the ultimate man’s drink, probably because the carbonated bitter brew appeals to men’s taste buds more so than to women.  There are no shortages of commercials depicting “A clear hot day with virile sexy hunks choosing this foam headed brew to quench their thirst. No female in her right mind can ever resist such a testosterone oozing male, particularly after having a brew.” So, is the myth true? After having one or more of this thirst quenching brew, will the human male turn into an irresistible stud muffin?

Let’s take a closer look at the composition of beer.
 
Beer is obtained by the alcoholic fermentation of a malted cereal, usually barley malt with or without other sugars, and to which hops have been added. A typical beer will contain water, carbohydrates in the form of maltose and dextrin, hops, yeast, and alcohol.  More than 90% of beer is water and breweries generally get their water from a well or spring, or they use tap water. There are many salts and minerals in the water, which affect the ultimate flavor and head formation of the beer.

Malt is the sugar that comes from the grain and that is fermented into an alcohol. Barley is generally used, but at times wheat and occasionally oats or spelt are used. Sugar is often added to help the fermentation. Yeast is a single cell micro-organism needed in the brewing process for converting fermentable sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Hops, whose scientific name is Humulus lupulus, give beer its bitter flavor and are also a natural preservative. Only the flowers from the female hops are used for beer, and these flowers contain lupulin, a resinous substance that gives the typical bitter flavor.  Besides being used for its bitter taste and natural preservative properties hops have many other useful medicinal properties. The strong bitter flavor makes them a great candidate to strengthen and stimulate the digestion, increasing gastric and other secretions.  Hops are potent diuretics; this is why after drinking beer you are constantly running to the bathroom to empty your bladder.  Also hops have calming and sedative properties.  Often you feel like having a nap after drinking a beer.

The female flower of hops contains phyto-estrogens with powerful estrogenic activity. Therefore, hops are often recommended in herbal remedies for females with menstrual problems and menopause symptoms.   These phyto-estrogens are detected in beer beverages and with each bottle of beer a man drinks he is consuming some estrogen with that beer.  Heavy beer drinkers consume a significant amount of estrogen. Males naturally have small amounts of estrogen in their body due to the testosterone conversion process. But an excess of estrogen will shut down the production of testosterone from the testes, which results in the following:
 
Fatigue;
Loss of muscle tone;
Increased body fat;
Enlarged prostate;

Last, but not least, is the loss of libido and sexual function.  So, sorry guys, but beer will not turn you into an irresistible stud muffin, it will more likely turn you into a doughboy!!!!

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10
Jan

Taming Acne Outbreaks

   Posted by: author1    in Acne, Health and Fitness

Acne has, over the years, been the cause of an incredible amount of heartache, especially amongst teenagers. However acne is not a disease restricted to just this age group as the problem can persist well into adulthood and even appear in adults who had note previously suffered from the affliction.

A large number of women are alarmed to find that they can suddenly develop acne during pregnancy. My husband was rather alarmed when blemishes began to appear on my face as I had not even had spots during my teenage years. To be honest I think that my skin never really recovered as I continued to have acne outbreaks for many years until I learnt how to bring them under control and reduce the frequency of them dramatically. Although there are periods when I get the odd pimple or two I can usually stop it progressing to a full outbreak with just a little care and attention to the way I treat it.

Although many people say that not washing your face is not the cause of acne I would say that having a good skin care regime is paramount to success in the fight against pimples. I have, through trial and error, discovered that if I keep my skin clean and healthy I have fewer spots appearing. Therefore, if you suffer from acne prone skin, I strongly advise you cleanse your skin deeply every day followed by the use of an astringent or toner (which closes the pores after cleansing).

When choosing which skin cleansers and toners to use you need to ensure that you match the skin care product with your skin type. This is extremely important as some skin care products, especially if they have been formulated for greasy skin, are simply far to harsh for sensitive dry skin.

An alternative way in which you can massively minimize the risks of an acne breakout is by having regular skin care treatments such as microdermabrasion or a mild chemical peel. These treatments were developed as anti-aging skin care treatments but it has been scientifically proven that they can have a dramatic effect upon acne prone skin vastly reducing the risk of outbreaks and bringing acne quickly under control. However you should never have such a treatment on areas where there is active acne.

If, after you have tried the above, you discover that you still have zits appearing on your face then it may be time to try something a little more aggressive. If you are only suffering from it a little then it is perfectly reasonable to try some of the over the counter remedies. Sometimes these products can nip the problem in the bud. Benzoyl peroxide, in a 2.5 – 20% solution, is usually the main ingredient in the over the counter topical acne treatments.5 and 10%. Other active ingredients include sulfur and salicylic acid (sulfur has been successfully used in the treatment of skin problems for over 50 years.

If, sadly, your acne persists you should really seek further medical advice by visiting your family doctor who will be able to prescribe acne treatments which are far more powerful than those available over the counter. Sometimes a short course of antibiotics will bring an outbreak under control within a few days. Alarmingly it is far too common to find that doctors prescribe antibiotics for acne even before trying to stop it using other proven methods and treatments first. While this will make the patient happy it is now often accepted that the overuse of such drugs can only lead to problems. I therefore feel that it is important that you at least try using the simple methods first.

If you want to learn more about acne and acne treatments visit http://www.skincareinfo4u.com/Acne/acne.php

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10
Jan

What You Can Expect From Natural Hair Loss Treatments

   Posted by: author1    in Hair Loss, Health and Fitness

Are you losing your hair? Wishing your hairline would cooperate and stay where it was last year? Are you a man looking to regrow your hair or are you a woman looking for that miracle female hair loss treatment? Most men and women who are losing their hair do not find it funny. They want to stop the progression of the hair loss and they once more want a full head of hair and they often would prefer a natural hair loss treatment.

You can get confused when you start considering which of all the hair loss treatment products to try. There are shampoos, conditioners, creams, lotions, gels, vitamins, medications and much, much more. You can also find many natural hair loss treatment products. Hang on a second, you must be thinking.

Natural hair loss treatments would be great. You will hear claims like, they are made from natural ingredients, they don’t harm the environment and they will regrow your hair.  All at the same time!?! Well, maybe and maybe not. It’s true that there are a few natural hair loss treatment products on the market but some may work better than others and some may not work at all.

Alternative Medicine

There have been some alternative medicines that have become more accepted over the years. These are people who are skeptical of pharmaceuticals and physicians, and would prefer natural supplements or herbs to treat their conditions. These individuals claim that their treatments work just as good, if not better, than anything a doctor can prescribe. What’s more, they are cheaper and they do no harm to the body. However, most supplements and herbs are sold without being evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

Don’t bother looking for quality studies to back the claims on the natural hair loss treatments because you probably won’t find any. That does not mean they definitely don’t work. They may very well work, but most doctors would say that the effectiveness of these products is more the effect of placebo than their actual effectiveness on the human body. That is to say that doctors claim that it’s mind over matter that cures you, not the herbs that you buy at your local health store. Do these natural hair loss treatment products fall along these same lines? That’s right, since they are not evaluated by the FDA and have not undergone any outside testing.

Individuality

If you were to try a natural hair loss treatment product, it may work for you. However, you need to consider your own individual hair loss. People are different in how they lose their hair. Some are further along than others and some lose it for different reasons. For example, for some their hair loss may be genetic, while others may have blow dried their hair too much and therefore damaged the roots or follicles.

However, by all means try these natural hair loss treatment products to determine if they do work for you. They are all natural, they are good for the environment and they are better for you than using foreign chemicals. If you decide to try one of these natural hair loss treatments, be sure to keep your expectations realistic.

If you are able to go through with the process with that mindset, you’ll be better prepared if the products don’t work for you. Just because these natural hair loss products don’t work, however, doesn’t mean another won’t. Everyone’s different. You just never know what will work for you.

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