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When you’re travelling for a vacation or work, it’s easy to become a little careless when it comes to your diet. Intentionally or not, it’s common for travellers to adopt the mindset that what you eat doesn’t count if you’re in another country. 

But if you travel regularly or you're away for a long time, you need to be careful about what you put into your body. Although there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself to an occasional ice cream or a cocktail as a treat, you should still make sure you look after your body, no matter where you are in the world. 

Eating poorly can lead to all kinds of health problems over time, so if you struggle to maintain good habits when you’re on the road then this post will help you. To prevent you from gaining holiday weight or experiencing iron deficiency symptoms, here are four tips to maintain a healthy diet while travelling.

Prepare your own food

For many people, the cuisine is one of the most exciting parts of international travel. You want to sample all the exotic delights that your destination country has to offer and spend your vacation trying new things. For this reason, you are probably planning to eat out in restaurants more often than not. But when dining out it’s harder to keep track of the nutritional information and make sure you aren’t putting anything unhealthy into your body. Although there’s nothing wrong with exploring new foods, try to prepare a significant portion of your meals. It’s easy to buy healthy snacks, lunches and breakfasts in any supermarket, leaving space for a more extravagant evening meal. Foodstuffs like fruit, raw vegetables, salads, and nuts are all excellent options to keep the hunger at bay.

Do your research

No matter where you are in the world, there are always healthy dining options. But to find them, you should do your research before you travel. Use the internet or ask other travellers for advice about the best healthy restaurants and grocery stores in your destination. This will prevent you from making spur-of-the-moment decisions that are less than nutritious. 

Carry a water bottle

The amount of water you drink is just as important as the food you eat, perhaps more so. You must stay hydrated throughout your trip, especially if you are travelling in a hot country so carry a water bottle with you at all times. This will keep your mind and body healthy and stave off dehydration when the weather gets too much. Most town centres have drinking water fountains, or you could ask for a top-up in a bar or restaurant.

Drink less alcohol

When you’re on holiday you no doubt want to let your hair down and have a good time. And for many people, alcohol is a big part of this. If you love an ice-cold beer on a hot summer’s day or a cocktail by the pool, then treat yourself occasionally, but don’t go overboard. Keep track of your alcohol consumption and limit yourself to a certain number of drinks.

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There are multiple ways to get active physically. Walking, cycling, running errands, lifting objects, exercising, and many others. Such physical activities can have significant impacts on your overall health. And if they become a routine, you can sustain a healthy lifestyle.

While most people get excited when starting an exercise routine, it can be hard to keep up down the line. Some outside forces and distractions may limit one from sticking to such a practice. Such may include work, school, and family activities or a lack of motivation and giving in to temptations.

Therefore, it would be best to set aside at least 30 minutes to indulge in physical activities that work for your body. If it becomes hard to stick to such a routine, here are ways in which physical exercises can promote your health to motivate you.

Helps with Chronic Illness

Chronic illnesses such as heart diseases, diabetes, arthritis, depression, and urinary incontinence, to mention a few, can get reduced by regular physical exercises. For instance, if you have diabetes, exercising can boost insulin's effectiveness, which ultimately lowers your sugar levels. Exercising promotes your heart's condition reducing the risk of heart diseases.

If you experience chronic urinary incontinence, exercising your pelvic can help manage the condition. However, if symptoms persist, it would be wise to consider using a straight catheter, which effectively enables you to drain or empty your bladder conveniently.

It Promotes Your Mental Health

Most people will indulge in physical exercise to build a better body. However, physical exercises go beyond that by promoting your mental state. Various ways in which physical activities promote your mental health are reducing depression, improving your brain functionality, fostering your memory, and improving your mood.

When you engage in any physical activity, your body releases chemicals into your brain, resulting in feel-good emotions. However, not all physical exercises can promote your mental health. The most effective ones include running, yoga, resistance training, swimming, dancing, and high-intensity workouts.

Helps Maintain the Right Body Mass

Managing body weight can be daunting as many things contribute to achieving the ideal body weight. Foremost, you have to fight off hunger by identifying what foods can keep your stomach full for more extended periods. Secondly, you have to keep count of your calorie intake, plan meals, track your weight, avoid all kinds of temptations, and many others.

Fortunately, exercising regularly can lift a massive burden from such a lifestyle. If you want to maintain the ideal body weight, exercising can help you burn more calories as you build your dream body. If you look and feel good about your physical appearance, it can boost your self-esteem and confidence.

Promotes Better Sleep

A natural way to sleep better at night is by exercising your body. Research done shows that exercising can help alleviate sleep in most people who find it hard to fall asleep. And moderate physical exercises are what you need to achieve a good night's sleep.

If you get enough sleep, you can maintain a healthy weight, reduce the chances of getting chronic illnesses, reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and promote your memory.

At all costs, don't skimp on exercising regularly. Set aside time to conduct a simple workout that goes a long way in improving your overall health. Good physical health ultimately leads to a happy life.

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The past few years have seen a significant rise in lifestyle-related diseases. But this unfortunate outcome can be traced back to unhealthy choices.

It behooves to say that lifestyle diseases have become increasingly prominent in nearly every household. And the saddest part is that not many are aware of this trend of events.

And so dire are these diseases that approximately 14.2 million people die every year due to ailments like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, sleep disorders, and some forms of cancer. But why a sudden increase of lifestyle diseases, you may ask? As the name suggests, these diseases are caused by lifestyle choices and, by extension, rapid urbanization.

It cannot go without saying that the frequency of these diseases is relatively high among youth. Small children have not been let off the hook either as they’re affected by the same. Unhealthy habits like junk food, over-eating, and a sedentary lifestyle put the young at the risk of lifestyle diseases.

Be that as it may, all is not lost because you can actually cut down or prevent the likelihood of acquiring any lifestyle diseases. Read on and learn how you can live your healthiest, best life.

Healthy Food Choices

Because many people are faced with a hectic lifestyle, they have resorted to eating ultra-processed foods or packaged and canned foods. If you fall in this category, you’re subjecting yourself to unhealthy eating habits. After all, these foods are high in fats and sodium.

It’s thus imperative to have an eye and mind for what you eat and what not to eat if you harbor a dream of leading a healthy lifestyle. In essence, the key to a healthy lifestyle is coordinating your general eating habits.    

Avoid Substance Abuse 

Smoking and drinking rank top among the biggest impediments of a healthy being. Findings of numerous vascular center studies have shown that heart diseases are cut by one-third if you opt to shun cigarettes and alcohol.

The moment you quit smoking, you predispose yourself to better lung capacity, more energy, and better skin.  

Keep an Eye On Your Weight 

It’s nearly impossible to drive lifestyle diseases away without keeping your weight under control. If you’re overweight, you’re at risk of developing conditions that harm the heart.  

If you’re well versed with your body weight’s impact, then a healthier, happy you is not far away. As such, always keep tabs with your Body Mass Index as you bid to shed off unhealthy body fat.

Regular Exercise

To maintain an active immune system, you should exercise religiously. And if you can’t make it to the gym, you can incorporate physical activities like avoiding lifts and elevators or walking for 30 minutes in your daily routines.  

With physical exercises, what matters the most is frequency, intensity, and time. On average, you should partake in some form of physical activity for at least 30 minutes – 5 days a week.

Going forward, you should take note of your unhealthy eating habits and make a point of righting the wrongs. And if you adopt the above changes, it won’t take long before you see a difference in yourself.

In fact, so many things that we do in our day-to-day lives impact uson a very physical level – and we just don’t even realise it. If you want to know how some of your lifestyle choices are impacting on your health keep reading below. Knowing the signs early on can decrease the chances of them taking over your life. 

Take a moment to pause

Everybody has commitments and things that need doing every single day. Whether that’s work, running a home, or looking after your family, all of these things require you to be at your healthiest. Sometimes, the only way to realise what is causing you issues in the long run is to take a step back. Pause for a moment. 

It may quickly become clear what the issues are in your life. If your job is causing you more stress than it is worth, quit your job and try and find something else. If there are people in your life who leave you nothing but negativity, reassess your relationships with those people. Life is far too short to be dealing with things and people who cause you nothing but pain. 

Be kind to yourself. In modern society, we are chronic overworkers and put far too much pressure on ourselves. However, it’s really important to realise that our health comes first – everything else second. Taking the time to pause for reflection is not a sign of weakness, it’s one of the strongest things you can do to help eliminate stress from your life. 

Build yourself up slowly 

Removing the negative things from your life has now left you with nothing, that is not an excuse to run headfirst into new things too quickly. The only place that’s going to take you is exactly where you were before. Take things slowly – at your own pace. Re-introduce things into your lives at a slower pace in order to make you feel the most comfortable. Never compare yourself to other people. After all, you’re the only one who knows how much you can handle.

Fuel yourself with healthy things 

You are what you eat. If you feed yourself on a diet of junk food then that’s what your life will become. One of the biggest health hits is eating a poor diet. Don’t compromise your health by living on a diet of fat sugar and processed food. Treat yourself occasionally, yes- but at least 70% of what you’re eating should be nourishing, healthy foods that help to build your immunity. 

The health concerns associated with eating a poor diet are very commonly known however diets that are deficient in vital vitamins and minerals are also cause for concern, even if you do not display signs of being overweight. 

Try to include a piece of fruit or vegetables with every single meal. If that’s difficult, introduce those foods into your diet by blending them into a smoothie or a soup. It’s easy to make sure that you have these vital nutrients in your diet if you just take the time to look after yourself and do it. Limit sugar, and complex carbohydrates, and foods that are high in saturated fat. After a couple of weeks of eating this way, You will really begin to feel the benefits of doing so on both your physical and mental health.

Make changes to your lifestyle 

In addition to eating a healthy diet, it’s also important that you make sure you get enough sleep, water, and exercise. In today's society it’s very easy for us to fall short on getting enough of any of those things. The cause of which will lead us to feeling exhausted, and draw towards drinking caffeinated beverages that dehydrator, and high sugar processed foods to give us a quick hit of energy. 

Take supplements if you need to. Get a hold of a high-quality multivitamin. Or even shop on Juna CBD to browse the range of broad spectrum blends that can be used to encourage balance in your life. 

You only have one body, and it deserves to be treated well. 

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Feeling tired or rundown can be a natural reaction to a busy lifestyle or excess stress. If your fatigue becomes excessive, however, it’s important to find out what’s causing your symptoms. When you feel unable to perform your usual day-to-day activities, for example, fatigue can begin to affect your quality of life. To find out why you’re feeling exhausted or wiped out, take a look at these common causes of extreme fatigue:

1. Allergies

Many people are surprised to learn that chronic allergies can often cause sufferers to experience feelings of extreme tiredness and fatigue. When your body is constantly reacting to an allergen, however, it can certainly take a toll. Furthermore, if your allergies prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep, this can exacerbate the issue and cause increased tiredness. 

2. Anemia

Iron deficiency is common in the U.S. and fatigue is one of its most common symptoms. Due to this, a significant number of people who report symptoms of exhaustion and excessive sleepiness are found to be experiencing anemia. Fortunately, mild or even moderate iron deficiency can be relatively easy to resolve. Often, prescribed iron supplements will boost your iron levels and eradicate the symptoms you’re experiencing. 

3. Depression

Although depression is a mental health condition, there’s no doubt it can have an impact on your physical well-being. For many people with depression, fatigue is an on-going symptom. Similarly, difficulty sleeping, racing thoughts, and persistent worrying can be characteristic of depression or anxiety. By accessing treatment for depression, you can combat excessive fatigue, as well as any other symptoms you may be experiencing. 

Treating Excessive Fatigue

Allergies, anemia, and depression are common causes of excessive fatigue but there are many others. In order to treat your symptoms effectively, your doctor should run a variety of tests to identify potential causes. When you consult an experienced physician, such as Dr. Hooshang Poor, you can be confident that they will assess your medical history and risk factors when establishing what tests should be conducted. This can help to pinpoint the cause of your symptoms more quickly, which will enable you to access the treatment you need. 

Once you know what’s causing your excessive fatigue, you can begin to take steps to resolve it. If anemia is making you feel exhausted, for example, increasing your iron reserves can boost your energy levels too. 

Can Lifestyle Changes Affect Energy Levels?

Making changes to your lifestyle can certainly have an effect on your energy levels and, therefore, feelings of fatigue. If your schedule is too full, for example, or you’re having trouble sleeping, this could be contributing to feelings of exhaustion. By scaling back your responsibilities and factoring in time for rest and relaxation, you can give your body time to recharge. 

Similarly, reducing your stress levels, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly can be an effective way to overcome feelings of fatigue. Before you begin to make changes to your lifestyle, however, be sure to consult a physician so that the underlying cause of excessive fatigue can be fully investigated. 

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In most cases, you just don’t notice the changes because they are gradual. People often make the mistake of weighing themselves and basing all of their assumptions on that one number. The thing is, depending on the workout you do, you might not lose weight because you are building muscle at the same time as losing fat. It’s also important to remember that losing weight isn’t the only reason to eat well and exercise more. It boosts your mental health and energy levels, improves heart health, and reduces your risk of all sorts of health problems. So, you should be looking for alternative ways to measure your progress. 

If you want to boost your motivation and track the effectiveness of your health and fitness routine without weighing yourself, these are the best ways to tell if it is working or not. 

You Are Making Health A Priority

Although tracking your routine in a more tangible way is important (and we’ll come to that later) you should also think about whether it is a priority or not. If you find that you are making health a priority and increasingly making good choices about what you eat or whether you skip a workout to do something else, that’s a great sign. Learning how to prioritize health in all areas of life is the first step to creating a positive routine. Once you notice yourself doing that, you know that you are on the right track. If you don’t think that you are prioritizing it, don’t be too hard on yourself about that. We all need a little time to adjust to a new routine, just keep trying and make an effort to put your health first. 

You’re Burning More Calories

The easiest measure of how well you are doing with an exercise routine is the number of calories you burn. Every time you exercise and your heart rate goes up, you burn calories, and the harder you work, the more calories you will burn. You can find some great online calculators to give you an estimate of how many calories you are burning, or you could invest in an exercise tracker that will measure your heart rate. By tracking the calories that you burn with each workout, you have a clear indication of how hard you have worked. When you see that number steadily increasing week by week, it gives you that motivation boost you need to keep going. 

You Have More Energy

Improved energy levels are one of the biggest benefits of a regular exercise routine and a better diet. When you eat a diet of sugary foods that don’t have much nutritional value, your body is starved of the goodness it needs, and that has a big impact on energy. Sugar also causes you to have an energy spike before a big crash, making you feel tired for the rest of the day. But when you start eating a diet of fresh fruits and vegetables packed full of nutrition, you’ll notice a massive difference. 

Exercise boosts your energy too. Your energy levels are tied to the number of mitochondria your body produces and when you are active, it produces more. It assumes that you need more energy because you are moving around more, so it gets into the habit of generating more mitochondria to keep up with you. That means that you will notice a consistent boost to your energy levels. 

If you are concerned about whether your diet and exercise routine is working or not, think about how you feel. Do you have more energy than you used to? If so, you’re moving in the right direction. 

You Don’t Crave Unhealthy Food

Everybody craves unhealthy food when they first start a new diet. A lot of people don’t realize it but sugar is incredibly addictive, so it’s no surprise that you start to crave it when you cut down or cut it out completely. But as time goes on, if you are able to ignore those cravings, they will start to become less frequent until they disappear altogether. 

There is also a mental element to this because you will notice other positive changes to your body and your energy levels, and you will associate that with the improved diet. So, as time goes on, you don’t crave unhealthy food because you don’t want to ruin the amazing progress you have made. 

You’re Happier 

This is probably the most important thing to consider with any lifestyle change. If something makes you happier, it’s working and you’re moving in the right direction. A lot of people start a diet and exercise routine because they want to get physically healthier but it’s the mental benefits that really surprise them. 

It’s well documented that exercising releases endorphins and reduces stress hormones, so it has a very positive impact on feelings of anxiety and depression. Diet also has a role to play in these mental health issues, so many people find that they are generally much happier when they start a new health regime. 

Self-esteem also has a big part to play in this. When people start looking and feeling healthier, they get a big confidence boost. That means they engage with life more and they stop letting low self-esteem hold them back. If you notice that you feel better about yourself and you are more confident, that’s a great sign. 

Weighing yourself can give you an indication of how your health regime is going. If you are aiming to lose weight and you have lost weight, that’s great. But it’s not the best way to measure your success and it’s all too easy for people to have an unhealthy relationship with the weighing scales, so you should use these methods instead. 

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Things to do Before Travelling During the Pandemic

It is vital to be well-prepared before you embark on any journey. Your preparedness will not only depend on the protective things you do but also the mode of transportation, the length of your travel, and your destination itinerary.

Check for health advisories and travel notice advisories

Check with your state's website to find out if there are any travel warnings issued. The United States government issues travel notice advisories for nations where enduring problems can generate a hazardous environment for their travelers. It also gives travel warnings for countries with short-term conditions that can pose a threat to travelers.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting many countries across the globe. It is, therefore, vital to check the CDC for the latest information, including the newest COVID-19 testing and vaccinations needed for global travels. You can then reach the nearest COVID-19 testing sites like Genesis Diagnostics, to get tested and even get the vaccine.

Get the needed vaccinations and fill your prescription

After you have checked the CDC to identify the required vaccination for your destination, ensure that you include vaccines for other conditions and diseases like yellow fever, cholera, and the Zika virus. For optimum protection, get the vaccine at least six weeks before your travel.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) is also an excellent source of health information on the risks of taking food and water at your travel destination. Before filling your prescription, ensure to check with the foreign embassy to know which drugs are allowed or prohibited in the destination country.

Ensure that your visa and passport are current

Several countries necessitate that your visa or passport be valid for six months after your entrance date. The United States recommends that you bring your Visa up to date by renewing it not less than nine months before its expiration date.

Check the passport and visa’s expiration date now to see if it needs renewal. And if you plan on driving a car at your destination, ensure that you find out if you will need an international driver’s license.

To secure your passport and visa, make a photocopy of the information ages and pack them distinctly from your original passport.

Gather your pandemic essentials

The coronavirus pandemic continues to affect many people globally. Your travel essentials for this time will be entirely different. Bring some additional supplies like extra face masks, hand sanitizers, and filters.

And of course, it should go without saying that if you are experiencing any of the symptoms of COVID-19, including COVID stomach pain, you shouldn’t travel at all. 

Stay safe when traveling

You must wear a face mask on buses, trains, planes, and other modes of transportation. The mask you wear must fit comfortably and cover both the nose and the mouth. Maintain a distance of at least 2 meters between you and other people, avoid touching your eyes, and ensure that you follow all the necessary steps to protect yourself.

Wrapping Up

Traveling is a great way to live a fulfilling life, and there are many benefits of being outside. With the new COVID-19 vaccine, the risks are low and controllable. Check for travel notice and health warning advisories, pack your pandemic essentials, and you are good to go.

Starting on the path to recovery and remission is the next big step. But it comes with its own trials and tribulations. For many chronic pain sufferers, traditional medicines and treatments just don't cut the mustard. 

Maybe you've tried all that the doctors had to offer and are still suffering. Or you're concerned about how the continued use of over-the-counter medications is affecting your body. Whatever the reason, you've found your way to the right place.

Here you'll discover alternative treatments for chronic pain that your doctor may not have mentioned. And what's better is, they actually work. 

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Acupuncture

Acupuncture is breaking into the mainstream, particularly for pain management. Studies have found that it works for pain caused by several conditions. But no one is really sure why! It could be that it helps block pain signals from nerves. Or even that it encourages your body to release pain-numbing chemicals. 

Though we don't know why it works, don't let that put you off. Many doctors and consultants are starting to prescribe it for pain, so we know it works. And even if it doesn't get rid of pain, it doesn't hurt, and it will help you relax.

Exercise

This one isn't going to be for everyone. There are lots of pain conditions that negate entirely your ability to move freely. If that's the case, don't force yourself to exercise. But if you can move, even just a little, you could reap the benefits. 

When we exercise, our bodies release endorphins. These endorphins interact with parts of our brains to reduce the perception of pain. Pretty nifty! You can even combine it with stress-reduction techniques that also help reduce pain when done long term. Think along the lines of Yoga and Tai-Chi - particularly good if your range of motion is low. 

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Trigger Point Injections

These injections aren't precisely an alternative treatment, as a Doctor can prescribe them. But if you haven't heard of them before, they could provide you some relief. Steroids are generally used with trigger point injections, and it's known to give sustained relief. Botox is also used for chronic migraines specifically. Botox is a toxin that blocks the signals sent from your nerves to your muscles.

If you want a more natural procedure, try prolotherapy treatment for pain. It consists of injections, too but using all-natural ingredients that are said to jumpstart your body's natural healing process. 

Heat Therapy

Heat and cold therapies are time-honored ways of reducing pain. Think about the time you sprained your ankle as a kid. The first thing your parents probably did is put an ice pack on it. And there's a reason you can buy heat packs for lower back pain. They work. 

Hot treatments, particularly baths, help relax the mind and change the input from our nerves to the brain. When we're more relaxed, we feel painless. With cold therapy, it can reduce local inflammation. But you have to use the right one at the right time. Acute injuries need ice, whereas lingering spasms should be treated with heat.

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Natural Painkillers

Chronic pains mean that you spend a lot of time reaching for the painkillers. But extended use of them can cause severe problems down the line. But there are a few things in nature that are known to help with the pain. Turmeric can be utilized as a natural painkiller because it contains Curcumin, an antioxidant. It's used successfully for many conditions. For those with Osteoarthritis, it's said to benefit as a pain reliever because of its ability to reduce inflammation. 

CBD is also a new buzz product in the world of natural painkillers. It's derived from Marijuana, but it doesn't contain any of the psychoactive elements that make you high. It relaxes the body and is an anti-inflammatory. You can rub it on pain areas or take a few drops of its oil form as a supplement.  In the same breath at this, you can also look into things like delta 9 gummies which contain THC in small doses. They are a common product used to help with pain, but it’s important that you understand they do not work for everyone. Do some research into the product before you try it, giving yourself all of the information before deciding whether it’s something that you are willing to try or not. 

Chiropractor

Chiropractic manipulation is perfect for back pain but can help to relieve other trigger points in the body. The idea behind it is that once the body is aligned correctly, it'll heal itself without surgery or medication. It can be perfect for restoring mobility to sore or damaged joints. It can be an excellent pain relief as it takes the pressure off the body and muscles. 

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