Sadly, shaking off the excess lard you accumulated over the brutally cold winter can be a tad more difficult than watching the winter snow melt in rising temperatures. Will power is necessary to lose weight – merely wishing it away won’t do you any good. There is no substitute for healthy eating and a disciplined exercise routine.

Fitness trainers say that it is normal for people to put on about 5 pounds over winter. The challenge is to get rid of the extra weight before the summer and then maintain the weight-loss throughout the rest of the year.

The glorious days of early summer are the best excuse to head out for some fresh air and outdoor activity. Taking up an outdoor sport, running or cycling can help increase your metabolism too. Swimming and aerobics,in particular, are excellent ways of getting in shape.

Eating healthily is an important part of your weight-loss programme. Exercising yields the best results when combined with a healthy diet. Increasing your daily protein intake, while minimising the amount of carbohydrates you consume, helps fight fat accumulation. Most dieticians recommend smaller meals at regular intervals rather than eating two large meals a day. Increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet can help fill your stomach while keeping the unwanted calories away.

You can also easily incorporate exercises into your daily chores. Take the stairs instead of the escalator for a mini cardio workout and choose to walk to and from work instead of taking the bus. Gardening can also be a pleasant way to exercise – you could rake the yard or mow the lawn to keep your body active throughout the summer.

For those who love working up a good sweat, the best solution is to head straight to the nearest gym. While you’re at it, hiring a personal trainer is a good investment. Following a tailor-made workout regime can mean faster progress and more focused exercising, for example on problem areas such as the arms, hips, thighs and stomach. Most fitness centres also recommend spa treatments to complement an exercise routine, to restore valuable vitamins and minerals as well as to keep muscles relaxed. A couple of spa days every month can work in tandem with your weekly workouts to help you get in shape and stay healthy. If it’s your partner trying to get in shape, experience gifts can be a good way of spending some time together at a health spa, and you’ll leave feeling recharged. Whichever method you choose to stay fit, always remember to set yourself targets. Getting fit in time to wear that bikini with confidence is as good a thing as any to aim towards when planning your summer health routine.

 Enjoy!

A quick shower and some jeans get me out of the door and to the super market. While musing about the veggies I wanted to put in my omelette, it occurred to me that the majority of these things in my grocery trolley were covered in the same things, labels. From sticky barcode labels to my nutritional information, my food was covered in electronic information.

As I gingerly ran my finger across the barcode of an unsuspecting carton of a dozen eggs, I tried to imagine what it would be like without technology.

It seemed to me, in that moment, that the modern world was composed of layers. The topmost layer was occupied by consumers like myself who ran out for breakfast items, and underneath me was the barcode labels whose series of black-dashed lines not only made it easier for the cashier to ring up my bill, but were also involved in keeping track of inventory in stores and monitoring the movement of goods across the country.

The very label I held in my hand after reaching for a carton of orange juice contained all of the nutritional information I needed, told me where my juice was from, who made it, how long before it goes bad, and even the percentage of pulp I would find when I tipped the fruity beverage into my mouth.

How many people were involved in the making of my brunch? Clearly, this was no farmer-consumer relationship. There were scientists figuring out the calories in all of my food, marketers designing the attractive coffee grinder graphics for the bag of coffee grounds next to my purse, barcodes printers creating the closely-lined barcode that tells the clerk, ?Two quid for these free-range eggs? on my dozen eggs.

Without these innovations, not only would businesses not be able to connect with the consumer so easily, but it would also means that I might find myself going to the shop only to realise that the grapefruits I wanted were out of stock. A mistake in a ledger without the automatic tracking of barcodes could mean that my food doesn’t get ordered and shipped to the store.

I also might find that my allergy to peanuts flares up because I don’t have labels that tell me which foods were processed in factories with nuts.

While it may seem silly to consider all of this, standing in the aisle 9 among bags of flour, sugar and baking chocolate, I am not bothered. Shopping without labels would be a nightmare! I am far too used to the conveniences of today.

That being said, perhaps it is better to get back to my breakfast.

Enjoy !

Flu shots, hand washing, healthy eating, and regular exercise are the best ways to avoid cold and flu.

But sometimes even the most scrupulous germphobes and healthy people get sick anyway. While certain natural remedies can help shorten symptoms—or prevent infection entirely—many people waste money on measures that are all hype. Here’s how to know the difference so you can get well faster—without wasting a penny.

1. Omega-3 Pill

The Verdict: Help

Take it: All season

If you don’t like or eat a lot of fish, pop an omega-3 supplement daily to reap the fatty acid’s impressive immune-fortifying properties. Omega-3s increase the activity of phagocytes—cells that fight flu by eating up bacteria—according to a study by Britain’s Institute of Human Nutrition and School of Medicine. Other research shows that omega-3s increase airflow and protect lungs from colds and respiratory infections.

Look for purified fish oil capsules that contain at least 1 g combined of EPA and DHA. Or get your omega-3s from these power foods.

2. Astragalus

The Verdict: Help

Take it: All season

This Chinese root is shown to stimulate the white blood cells that fight infection, says Prevention advisor Andrew Weil, MD. A study published in 2007 found that astragalus appears to boost immunity in mice. And a pilot study suggests that the herb may have similar effects in people. However, keep in mind that astragalus may take 6 to 8 weeks to reach its full effect.

3. Echinacea

The Verdict: Hype

If taken at the start of a cold, this herb might shorten duration and severity of symptoms. But some brands don’t contain the amount of echinacea listed on the label—and some formulas have none at all. Possible side effects include wheezing, rash, and diarrhea.

4. Vitamin D

The Verdict: Help

Take it: All season

This power nutrient may effectively boost immunity and help prevent colds, a Harvard study shows. People with the lowest vitamin D levels were 36 percent more likely to have upper respiratory infections, compared with those with the most D. (Asthma patients with low levels of D were nearly 6 times as likely to get sick as those with the greatest amounts.) Adequate amounts of D help produce cathelicidin, a protein with virus-killing qualities.

Since it’s tough to get enough from sunlight or diet (fish and fortified dairy are the best sources), you’ll need a supplement to attain optimal levels, says study author Carlos A. Camargo Jr., M.D. Aim for at least 1,000 IU daily.

5. Cold-fX

The Verdict: Help

Take it: When you feel sick

Consider taking this supplement, which contains North American ginseng extract, when you feel a cold coming on. Subjects who took two daily capsules of Cold-fX (available online) caught half as many colds as a group taking a placebo, according to a study by the Center for Immunotherapy of Cancer and Infectious Diseases at the University of Connecticut. When they did get sick, their symptoms lasted less than half as long. This particular ginseng variety contains compounds that increase white blood cells and interleukins, proteins the immune system relies on.

6. Airborne

The Verdict: Hype

Experts say this supplement, a blend of blend of Zinc, Ginger, Echinacea and other vitamins, minerals, and herbs, does nothing to repel germs on an airplane or anywhere else. It also contains large amounts of vitamin A, which could be toxic if taken several times a day.

See more cold and flu old wives tales and myths debunked here.

7. Zinc

The Verdict: Help

Take it: When you feel sick

The research on this mineral is conflicting. Still, “30 mg taken at the very start of a cold will shorten it by about half a day,” says David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center. Look for Zicam or Cold-Eeze. By slowing the multiplication of the virus in the nose and throat, these products appear to shorten colds.

But don’t overdo it. While even a slight deficiency in zinc, which is needed to produce white blood cells, can increase your risk of infection, more than 50 mg daily can suppress your immune system and block absorption of other essential minerals.

9 Power foods that help boost your immunity.

8. Vitamin C

The Verdict: Hype

There’s certainly no downside to eating a lot of C-rich foods, such as red peppers and citrus fruits. But taking a vitamin for extra protection won’t help. A 2007 review of 30 studies found no evidence that vitamin C supplementation prevents colds in the normal population. Plus, megadoses can cause kidney stones, upset stomach, and even internal bleeding in children.

New research suggests that certain breast cancer patients who take the drug Herceptin during chemotherapy, instead of taking it afterward, fare better, leading one of the study authors to say patients should routinely take the drug with chemo.The patients at issue are those with HER2-positive breast cancer, which accounts for 20 percent to 25 percent of all cases of the disease.

Researchers looked at the outcomes for hundreds of women who underwent different treatment regimens. Their findings were to be released at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, sponsored by the Cancer Therapy & Research Center of the University of Texas, the American Association for Cancer Research and Baylor College of Medicine.

The study found that patients who used Herceptin (also known by the generic name trastuzumab) and chemotherapy together were 25 percent less likely to experience a cancer recurrence or death than those who used the drug after chemotherapy.

“The results of this trial have been eagerly awaited in the U.S. and in many nations as this is the only trial developed to define the optimal way to incorporate Herceptin in the context of adjuvant chemotherapy,” Dr. Edith Perez, a breast cancer researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., said in a news release. “This could mean that up to 10,000 women around the world each year may have a better outcome if Herceptin is used along with chemotherapy. Given that, I believe this study will lead to a global re-evaluation of how Herceptin is used.”

The electronic cigarette or electric cigarette is a truly ingenious product that enables the smoker to actually smoke but without having to inhale any of the 4000 plus chemicals found in the standard cigarette. It provides the smoker with a healthier method of enjoying a real smoking experience. Also known as an electric cigarette, it looks just like normal cigarettes, tastes like normal cigarettes even provides smoke when inhaled (in the form of vapour), and provides the smoker with a hit of nicotine but without the smell, tobacco, tar and many thousand chemicals that can harm our system.

A bit more about this ingenious product…. We understand how hard it is to quit smoking, after all most of the staff here are former smokers, the electronic cigarette has been found to help you cut down and eventually quit – that’s the feedback we get from our customers. Our SmokeTip Electronic Cigarette Kit are high quality, we know what it’s like to want a smoke and the last thing you need is something that lets you down – very frustrating. http://www.smoketip.com guarantee all our products for quality and satisfaction.

If you are skeptical then please be assured that an electronic cigarette is a useful way of quitting smoking, it doesn’t leave you smelling of smoke but does have all the flavour and nicotine of regular cigarettes, they do not have all the chemicals and poisons found in traditional cigarettes but an electronic cigarette does save you a lot of money and is extremely realistic.

The finding results from the examination of the genetic makeup of 152 children with bipolar disorder, which can make people susceptible to major mood swings, and 140 children without the disorder. They linked variations in a gene known as RORB to the kids with bipolar disorder.

“Our findings suggest that clock genes in general, and RORB in particular, may be important candidates for further investigation in the search for the molecular basis of bipolar disorder,” the study’s co-author, Dr. Alexander Niculescu, of the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in a news release from the publisher of BMC Psychiatry, which has published the findings online.

The gene, which is mainly expressed in the eye, pineal gland and brain, is thought to be tied to the body’s circadian rhythm.

“Bipolar disorder is often characterized by circadian rhythm abnormalities, and this is particularly true among pediatric bipolar patients,” Niculescu said. “Decreased sleep has even been noted as one of the earliest symptoms discriminating children with bipolar disorder from those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder,” he added. “It will be necessary to verify our association results in other independent samples and to continue to study the relationship between RORB, other clock genes and bipolar disorder.”