It is widely accepted that mass nutrition would make up at least 70% of the total equation of building muscles and mass.
Generally speaking if you are working out regularly and doing the right exercises in the right way and eating healthy- low fat, high fiber, low glycemic index, moderate to high protein every day, you will have a lean and nice physique over time.
However, to add to your muscle mass, to maintain it and to get quicker and long lasting results, you may need to do a little more.
Mass Nutrition Guidelines:
• Eat constantly in small quantities. Consuming multiple small and healthy meals every 1.5 to 2 hours will stimulate hormones that will help prevent your metabolism from slowing down.
• Total daily caloric intake is the most important element of mass nutrition. Sufficient calories from a combination of healthy nutrients help the body to build new muscle tissue and to avoid the breaking down of muscles as a result of training hard. But remember that there is no point of eating empty calories that do nothing but add mass to your waistline.
• Eat twice as much as you normally would: Two servings of vegetables- not one, two eggs and two pieces of toast – not one of each, double up the servings!
• Adding mass requires sufficient protein and amino acids as protein is the building blocks of muscle growth. Keep in mind that calories go hand in hand with protein. You need adequate amount of protein and caloric intake to experience proper muscle growth.
• Low glycemic carbohydrates such as beans, whole meal pastas, brown rice, sweet potatoes and oatmeal should make up the big part of your daily carb intake. These slow digesting carbs will help you burn much more fat during your exercise and throughout the day, and reduce the effect of insulin, the hormone that initiates both hunger and fat storage.
• Make sure that you have a whey protein shake with a simple carbohydrate before and after your workout to speed up the absorption of protein into muscles. You would normally eat the healthy complex carbohydrates that are full of fiber.. not this time! Stick to your protein shake and simple carb prior to and straight after your workout or latest within an hour.
Mass Nutrition Foods:
• Water: Stay hydrated by drinking water to help the nutrients’ transport to your muscles and keep your muscles looking full.
• Lean beef: High content of protein and good content of fat to help mass better than any other food.
• Egg white: One of the purest forms of protein in the world with a protein to fat ratio of 60:1.
• Skinless chicken and turkey: Excellent source of high quality protein, very low in saturated and trans fats.
• Bean and legumes: Great source of protein and fiber for a regular bowel movement and proper insulin response that are critical to muscle growth.
• Garlic: A high garlic intake influences hormones that support growth, and combined with a high protein intake produces increased testosterone levels and less muscle breakdown.
• Fish: Your body needs healthy fatty acids such as Omega 3.
• Peanut butter: Great to add to shakes or to spread on whole meal toast but avoid peanut butters that have added sugar in them.
• Whey protein: If there was one supplement that should be incorporated into your diet, it should be whey protein.…
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Discovering Dental Coverage Will Not Need To Cost A Fortune
When it comes to the growing price of just about everything in our time, dental services are not an exception. Because of this, individuals have realized the need for dental insurance in order to prepare themselves for any untoward dental conditions that can take place afterward. But, dental insurance is a tad costly and does offer imperfect coverages only, which is why most individuals choose not to avail of them at all.
To start with, locate out what type of care is incorporated in your dental plan. Seeing as many plans may try to help save you some money by making most dental treatment a la carte, this can wind up costing you more money in the long run. While your preventative checkups should undeniably be covered under the dental plans you select, other common procedures like fillings and other routine treatment options should be covered as well.
While conventional dental insurance can be very expensive, a discount plan can be had for only $7 to $12 per thirty days for an individual, and regularly lower than $20 per thirty days for an entire family. While many discount dental plans require that you pay for the entire year up-front, a few discount plans allow you to join and pay on a more less expensive monthly basis.
If you’re having doubts about your health insurance, a dental discount plan could be the idyllic selection to suit your needs and your family.
Examinations, cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canals, braces and dentures, the host of dental needs can swiftly leave one out of pocket should you have not budgeted for it. A dental discount plan is a reduced fee for services marketed directly to clients and removes the fees and commission of the middleman.
If the dentist recommends more dental visits, then availing of this plan is a wise alternative. On the other hand, if he declares that a person’s dental health is excellent and will only need routine maintenance and check-ups, then it would be better to opt for other plans that will best suit that person’s needs.
Unlike conventional dental insurance, when you use a discount dental plan, there are no claim forms to file. This makes things easier for both the dental patient and the dental office.
If you are need of dental care I highly recommend that you consider these big dental plans where you can sometimes get BIG cost savings for yourself and/or your family.…
Can Chapped Lips Be Caused by Toothpaste?
Can Chapped Lips Be Caused by Toothpaste?
The simple answer is: yes, it can. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because if that is truly the only thing causing your chapped lips, it is very easy to fix. But how does toothpaste cause chapped lips? And how can you tell? There are a few simple things that we can check to see if your toothpaste is causing your chronic chapped lips.
There are many cases of people getting chapped lips, or having their chapped lips worsen, just after switching brands of toothpaste or mouthwash. This is a pretty good sign that the culprit is most likely the new brand.
Does your toothpaste contain guiazuline, sodium lauryl sulfate, red dyes, or cinnamon? These ingredients are known skin irritants, and may result in dry or chapped lips, redness of the lips, swollen lips, or a sore tongue. Sometimes the ingredients aren’t labeled on the tube of toothpaste though, so you may have to go online to figure out all the ingredients within a certain brand of toothpaste.
Not only are the above ingredients known to irritate skin, but they are also causes of allergies in some people. It is important then to always be aware of what is in your toothpaste (and really anything else that makes contact with your lips) so as to prevent any possible reactions on the lips.
One thing to note is that some allergic reactions can be caused by the allergen being exposed to sun light. These are called photo-toxins, are much more difficult to detect than regular allergies. For example, if you are allergic to a certain brand of toothpaste and use it, and several hours later your lips are exposed to sunlight, the “spontaneous” reaction is likely to be confusing and seemingly without cause.
If your toothpaste does contain any of the above ingredients, simply stop using the toothpaste for a while. Try using a brand of toothpaste that doesn’t contain these ingredients to see if your symptoms improve. If they do, then you have not only found the problem, but also solved it at the same time. One brand of toothpaste you can try that doesn’t contain harmful ingredients is Squiggle.
If you want to get rid of your chapped lips, it is important to always be aware of what might be causing them. While toothpaste seems like it wouldn’t be a likely candidate, because it indirectly (and sometimes directly) makes contact with the lips, it can cause a reaction and dry out your lips. Always be careful of what goes near your lips!…
Forward Head Posture Syndrome – The Association Between Chiropractic Headaches and Posture
Forward Head Posture Syndrome – The Association Between Chiropractic Headaches and Posture
Forward Head Posture Syndrome is also known as “forward head carriage”. It is a posture disorder where the cervical spine sets off into an anterior position. With today’s lifestyle, this condition occurs more often and it is estimated that 90% of the population suffers from it. We see workers hunched over their work and at their computers the whole day and children watching television and playing video games, and carrying heavy backpacks on their way to school. If left untreated, this may lead to nerve, meningeal and disc compression and poor health.
Try to imagine a person with a perfect posture standing upright from one side. There would be an imaginary center of gravity line running just in front of the ear hole through the slight bump on the top-middle of the shoulder. Normally, the center of gravity of the head is somewhat forward of this line so that a very slight muscle tone keeps the head moving forward. The tone prevents sudden uncontrolled movements of the head such as lolling.
A bunch of nerves called suboccipital nerve bundle is situated between the base of the head and the top of the neck. It is continuous with the meningeal sheath that covers the brain. This sheath can be the cause of your headache. The joints, muscles and ligaments are taken into consideration by chiropractors upon approaching the Forward Head Posture Syndrome. To get rid of headache permanently, chiropractors correct the cause instead of focusing on the symptoms.
To treat Forward Head Posture Syndrome, a chiropractor aims to relieve muscle and ligament tension by restoring the proper C-shaped curve of the neck. Forward head posture occurs slowly over time, so the techniques involving pressure are usually combined with chiropractic adjustments and muscle rehabilitation. Another effective approach is to enhance the flexibility of the muscles of the front neck.
After the treatment, the forward head posture is eliminated and the chiropractor will give a simple home program with lifestyle advices to prevent the return of the problem. Other symptoms associated with Forward Head Posture Syndrome such as neck pain and shoulder tension are eliminated once the forward posture is successfully treated.
You need to do your part as well if you want to completely get rid of your headache due to forward head posture. Always follow your chiropractor’s advice to prevent your pain from coming back. If you sit at a desk all day, don’t forget to get up and stretch every 15-20 minutes. Always keep a good posture, making sure you are sitting up straight with your head in an upright position. If you have a child, keep the weight of your child’s backpack not more than 15% of his/her body weight.…
6 Ways You Can Use Fertilizer on Your Land
Fertilizers can be defined as natural or artificial amendments that usually contain elements that are chemical, and are applied either on the leaves or in the soil to improve the productivity of a piece of land. Natural fertilizers are commonly referred to as organic fertilizers where as artificial or synthetic fertilizers are commonly referred to as inorganic fertilizers. Inorganic fertilizers are manufactures in industries, where a combination of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium in the required ratios is used to come up with the final product.
As a point of note to farmers, inorganic fertilizers eventually destroy the soil that they are put in, rendering it unproductive and toxic. Such kind of land is totally unsuitable for planting any plants. Fertilizers can be used for subsistence farming, small scale farming, large scale farming, and horticulture, setting a food plot, commercial farming and many others to yield better harvests.
Uses of Fertilizers
1. Some plants have special needs to grow, and the natural soil may not contain all the nutrients needed for these plants. This is where the fertilizer comes in, to restore those special nutrients to the soil.
2. Fertilizers are also used to encourage the plants to grow healthily as they increase nutrients to the soil that the plants are planted in.
3. Fertilizers may also be used to assist in hastening the greening process of the leaves, which enhances production of chlorophyll which aids in production and storage of food.
4. Fertilizers add nutrition to the soil, which aids in the multiplication of harvests.
5. Some people like to plant plants such as flowers, herbs or food crops indoors. Here they use containers such as pots to plant their crops. This makes the soil placed in the pots to loose nutrients quickly. Fertilizers may be used to restore the nutrients lost to enhance the growth of such plants.
6. They can be used in improving different soil texture. This is basically the hardness or softness of the soil, which can be detected by feeling the soil. Fertilizers come in to soften or harden soil, depending on the type of the soil and what the soil is required for.…
What Are the Benefits of Trigger Point Therapy?
Trigger point therapy is a type of treatment that focuses on increasing blood circulation to an area. This method involves applying pressure to specific trigger points on the body. The trigger point therapy Pasadena, CA reduces the oxygen supply to cells and causes cellular death. The body responds by creating an inflammatory response that dilates blood vessels to increase blood flow to the area.
Reduces Pain
Trigger point therapy is a treatment used to target the pain associated with trigger points. Trigger points develop in the muscle belly where the motor endplate enters. Trigger points are palpable nodules that occur in skeletal muscles and can be present in infants, children, and adults. While trigger points are not often associated with pain syndromes, they can restrict daily functioning. During therapy, trigger point pain may temporarily be relieved using a special device called a steroid injection.
Trigger point therapy alleviates chronic pain by pinpointing the pain’s source and restoring the normal range of motion. Trigger-point therapy can relieve back pain, neck pain, and even plantar fasciitis. It is a non-surgical treatment that requires consistent appointments and at-home exercises. Trigger-point therapy is not a substitute for physical therapy but can be an effective alternative for chronic pain patients.
Relieves Muscle Tension
Trigger point therapy is a treatment where a physical therapist applies pressure to a specific muscle knot to release it. It can offer immediate relief or take several sessions to see noticeable results. Trigger point therapy may be combined with other treatments, such as massage and manual adjustments. In addition, some types of trigger point therapy may be used with electrical stimulation to improve muscle relief and reduce the recovery time from injury. While trigger point therapy is not the only treatment for muscle tension, it can reduce muscle pain caused by a sports injury and even help shorten a patient’s recovery time. However, trigger point therapy can lead to side effects, including referred pain, motor dysfunction, and local tenderness.
One form of trigger point therapy is using a thin needle to squeeze the trigger point gently. This treatment is used to release muscle tension and improve circulation. When a physical therapist applies pressure to a trigger point, a chemical called nitric oxide is released into the muscle tissue. This chemical signals the body to increase blood flow through the targeted tissue, which breaks the cycle of pain, muscle spasm, and muscle twitching.
Relieves Headaches
Trigger point pain referral patterns are one of the main causes of headaches. Headaches may originate from the mouth, jaw, or neck muscles. However, sometimes one muscle refers to several other trigger points, creating a complex referral pattern. Trigger point pain therapy is an effective treatment for chronic headaches, allowing patients to return to normal life without medication or surgery.
A pressure point is a tiny area of muscle contraction that causes pain and discomfort. It’s important to massage these areas to get the most relief possible. The therapist will use alternating pressure and friction to target these points. The resulting relaxation of small areas of contracted tissue will eliminate referred pain and bring about relief from headaches. You’ll likely notice changes in your muscles during a trigger point massage. But the real benefits of trigger point therapy come from scientific research.
Reduces Muscle Knots
Physical therapy is an effective way to reduce the pain associated with muscle knots. Physical therapy focuses not on eliminating the trigger points but on learning the proper techniques to manage them. The physical therapist may also recommend exercises and postural corrections that help reduce muscle knots and prevent them from recurring. Physical therapy can also help patients learn strategies to self-manage the pain and discomfort associated with trigger points.
A typical trigger point is a small area in the muscle that lingers for a long period. When this area is irritated, the muscle cannot perform the activity it was designed for. Eventually, the muscle knot develops a painful trigger point. Physical therapy can help reduce this pain by addressing trigger points, and tiny swollen spots in the muscles.
Reduces Autogenic Inhibition
Autogenic inhibition increases as muscle relaxation progress. In addition, it was observed that the faster a muscle relaxes, the higher its inhibition. Hence, the faster autogenic inhibition reduces, the better the treatment is for chronic pain. Trigger pointing is a method for relieving muscle pain and improving the overall range of movement. Trigging is a safe and effective method for releasing tight muscles by deliberately blocking blood flow to an area. Trigger pointing also releases waste products from muscle tissues and promotes the healing of damaged tissue. In this way, it reduces pain and stiffness caused by aching muscles. But the process is not completely painless.
Reduces Muscle Discomfort
Trigger point therapy is a technique that involves pinching and …
Aloe Vera Gets Thumbs Up on Oral Care
Aloe Vera Gets Thumbs Up on Oral Care
If you have sensitive teeth or gums that bleed easily when you brush, finding the right toothpaste goes beyond just how effective it is at fighting cavities.
People with sensitive teeth or those who suffer from chronic mouth ulcers need more than just the ordinary toothpaste or mouthwash. Aloe Vera toothgel is now in the market to provide a solution to sensitive teeth and gum problems.
The Academy of General Dentistry in its May/June 2009 issue of the General Dentistry Journal, claims that Aloe Vera toothgel is effective as a cavity-preventing measure aside from working well on sensitive teeth and gums.
People in the dental profession have long debated on the capability of aloe vera toothgel to eradicate disease-causing bacteria and other harmful microorganisms in the mouth. The Academy has reported however, that Aloe Vera toothgel is proven to be effective in fighting germs found in the mouth. A recent study compared the pathogen-fighting properties of 2 commercially available toothpaste preparations alongside Aloe Vera toothgel and found the latter to be equally, and at some point even more effective in controlling and eliminating cavity-causing microflora in the mouth and gums.
The germ-fighting qualities of Aloe Vera toothgel can be attributed to its natural anthraquinone content – chemical compounds which also provide analgesic, anti-fungal, and anti-viral activity when used in low doses. It’s also favoured by people who have sensitive teeth since Aloe Vera toothgel contains no harsh abrasive components found in regular toothpastes.
Overall physical health is directly related to oral and dental health. Gingivitis or gum disease has been found to aggravate certain ailments such as diabetes, stroke, heart and lung diseases. Harmful bacteria and microorganisms in the mouth can cause periodontal disease and premature tooth loss. In addition to that, disease-causing bacteria are carried in the bloodstream and can spread infection to the other organs of the body.
Actual data gathering on this was conducted by Emory University along with the Center for Disease Control. Researchers established that people with gingivitis and other forms of periodontal diseases had an almost 50% chance of dying earlier that those without the disease.
Aloe vera toothgel provides preventative and curative measures against gingivitis and periodontis. Its powerful antiseptic properties can reach all areas of the mouth to kill disease-causing bacteria. Its natural anti-inflammatory properties on the other hand, help lessen occasions of soft tissue swelling and bleeding of the gums.
There are many Aloe Vera toothgels available, but not all contain the essential medicinal properties needed to fight dental caries and care for sensitive teeth. In fact only a few varieties out of over 300 aloe species have these oral health attributes.
The International Aloe Science Council was formed to provide and enforce quality control procedures in the manufacture of aloe vera health care products. It provides certifications and seals of quality to manufacturers who match or exceed industry standards and provides consumers with a guarantee that they are purchasing industry compliant products.
Forever Bright is the first toothgel to have been awarded the Council quality seal. It is fluoride-free, therefore it is gentle and non-abrasive to the gums and teeth. It also contains Bee Propolis, a natural healing antibiotic. Forever Bright fortifies, nurtures and guards the teeth and gums against bacteria build-up as it fights plaque and whitens teeth without harmful bleaching components. Forever Bright comes in a minty gel-based formula which both adults and children will love.…