Soft Drink Linked To Lung Disease Sugary drinks may be tied to asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a latest research has found. People who consumed at least a half a litre of soft drinks a day were more than twice as likely to develop either lung conditions, compared with those who didn't drink them at all. Try these tips for cutting out soft drinks. · Keep a big jug of iced water in the fridge and stir in fresh mint, lemon or lime for flavour. · One 600ml bottle of soft drink contains about 12 teaspoons of sugar. Fill up empty bottles with the same amount of sugar and leave them lying around – they should be a sobering sight.

Following are some real enemies to our health and the ways how to slow the ageing process

Maintain Your Ideal Body Weight
Even better, maintain a slim waist, which is a better indicator of risk. Women need to take action if their waist is larger than 80cm, men if theirs exceed 95 cm.
The highest number of people aged 100-plus in the world are found on the island of Okinawa, Japan. The major principle of their eating practice is known as hara hachi bu, which means eating until you are 80 per cent full.

Have No Addiction
If you smoke, you aren't healthy. If you use any illegal drugs whatsoever, you aren't healthy. Cigarettes contain 48 serious poisons. With each cigarette you run the risk of rupturing a fatty plaque in one of your arteries or inducing lung cancer. Alcohol is a poison that wreaks havoc with every cell especially your liver, heart and brain. Any person who claims illegal drugs are harmless has probably had their brain affected by illegal drugs. Problems range from marijuana's contribution to serious mental illness, to cocaine and related substances causing heart attacks, stroke and sudden death.

Eat Good Quality Natural Food
The 10 per cent of the population who consume two to three pieces of fruit and three to five serves of vegetables daily have the lowest rates of cancer and heart disease. Consider the 'human interference factor' and choose foods that have been fiddled with as little as possible by the time they reach your mouth.
A study in British Medical Journal reviewed 27 different trials and confirmed there is no evidence that following a low-fat diet will prolong life. The saturated fats found in meat, dairy and coconuts are neutral – they don't hurt or help us. The monosaturated fats in olive oil and avocado and the omega-3 fats in fish and nuts are beneficial.

Do Three To Five Hours A Week Of Testing Exercise
The second best drug on the planet is exercise. Three to five hours of exercise per week where you achieve that hot, short-of-breath stage. What's the point of working yourself into the ground and then spending half your retirement going to the doctor? Just look for opportunities to move. Take your age away from 220 and that is your maximum heart rate. Try to get to 60 or 70 per cent of that.

Look For Happiness & Reduce Stress
This is the most important principle of all. To achieve contentment and peace in your life do as follows:
· Lead as simple an uncluttered life as possible. The more choices you have to make, the more stress is caused.
· Don't allow mobiles and emails to keep you on call 24/7.
· Try to be healthy emotionally, rather than practicing 'woundology' – maintaining and letting yourself be defined by an emotional trauma from earlier in life.
· Make meaningful connections with friends and family so that you feel supported and loved.
· Show appreciation to others and take time to value small actions.

More Ways To Take Charge Of Your Health
It is useful to divide our attitude to health into five categories:
1. Body health – including building up a good relationship with our doctor.
2. Genetic health – being aware of our family history and getting screened regularly when appropriate.
3. Emotional health – acting on stress triggers and accepting responsibility for personal happiness instead of expecting others to make us happy.
4. Environmental health – looking at how we can improve our surroundings.
5. Mind health – developing a positive outlook and learning to meditate regularly.
5 Tests Everyone Should Have
One way of improving the nation's health would be to provide medical rebates for preventative health measures, including all the following tests:
· Coronary calcium scoring. The best current method for determining the degree of coronary atherosclerosis (when the arteries become clogged with cholesterol, calcium and cellular waste) and therefore coronary risk. Every man over 50 and woman over 60 should have one.
· A range of blood tests, including cholesterol, blood sugar levels, kidney and liver function, blood counts, vitamin D levels plus C-reactive protein and homocysteine (also indicators of cardiac risk).
· Skin cancer check – the only way to be screened for possible melanomas.
· Blood pressure. For those over 50 it's by far the most important cardiovascular risk factor.
· Colonoscopy. The most accurate test for bowel cancer screening. Everyone should have a colonoscopy at least once in their life and if you have a family history of relatives suffering bow3el cancer before age 65, you should start having them at age 40.
· Breast self-examination. Women should also perform this test regularly.

Interesting Picks
It's an essential mineral needed to keep bones strong, relax muscles, maintain healthy blood pressure and regulate calcium levels and blood sugar. A deficiency can lead to muscle cramps, poor sleep, headaches, agitation and anxiety.
Good sources: Spinach, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, halibut, tofu, cashews and almonds, green beans, soybeans.

You Need: RDI for adult women is 310 to 320 mg.

You Should Know: It can be lost in food through cooking and in your body by taking diuretics or drinking too much alcohol.

Healthy Pickings
Keep the doctor away by eating two apples and some citrus a day, thanks to antioxidants called flavonoids.

Cool Citrus
Women with the highest intake of flavanones, a subclass of flavonoids, from citrus fruit and juices, had a 19 per cent lower risk of ischaemic or blood clot-related stroke than women with the least amount in their diets, UK study found.
Tip: Choose whole fruit rather than juices.

Bringing Greens Back To Your Kids
Hiding vegetables in other foods might seem like a canny way to make sure your children are eating their daily quota, but it may be doing them more harm than good in the long run, say US experts. The reason? Children are not aware they're eating vegetables and are unlikely to continue eating them as adults. Try these 'out in the open' ideas to boost your child's veggie-toire: Involve them in making veggie packed meals like tacos and pizza. Have a must-try rule to train taste buds – or no desert.

Special fruits for this week

Figs Fig fruits are bell-shaped, with a wide, flat bottom narrowing to a pointed top. When the fruit ripens, the top may bend, forming a "neck." Figs can be brown, purple, green, yellow or black, and vary in size. The skin is slightly wrinkled and leathery. They are often dried for preservation, since the fresh fruits are highly perishable. The fig flowers develop inside the fruit and cannot be seen. The edible fig is one of the first plants that were cultivated by humans.As the figs were of the parthenocarpic type, they are of an early domestic breed. The find predates the domestication of wheat, barley and legumes, and may thus be the first known instance of agriculture.Thousands of cultivars, most unnamed, have been developed or come into existence as human migration brought the fig to many places outside its natural range. It has been an important food crop for thousands of years, and was also thought to be highly effective in the diet.Figs are fat-free, sodium-free and, like other plant foods, cholesterol-free, Figs have the highest overall mineral content of all common fruits,Figs are high in fiber, providing 20% of the Daily Value --- more dietary fiber per serving than any other common dried or fresh fruit. Pineapple Pineapple, common name for a flowering plant family, characterized by unique water-absorbing leaf scales and regular three-parted flowers. The leaves are spirally arranged sheaths or blades, usually occurring in layers. The plant embryos have one seed leaf . The family, which contains more than 2000 species placed in 46 genera, is almost exclusively native to the tropics and subtropics of America, with one species occurring in western Africa. Many species are now cultivated around the globe, however. The most economically important species is the familiar pineapple. A few species are sources of fiber; others are cultivated for their showy flowers or foliage. The family constitutes an order, and the term bromeliad is used for its members. Pineapple contains a proteolytic enzyme bromelain, which digests food by breaking down protein. Pineapple juice can thus be used as a marinade and tenderizer for meat. The enzymes in pineapples can interfere with the preparation of some foods, such as jelly or other gelatin-based desserts. The bromelain breaks down in the canning process, thus canned pineapple can generally be used with gelatin. These enzymes can be hazardous to someone suffering from certain protein deficiencies or disorders, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Pineapples should also not be consumed by those with Hemophilia or by those with kidney or liver disease, as it may reduce the time taken to coagulate a consumer's blood. Consumers of pineapple have claimed that pineapple has benefits for some intestinal disorders; others claim that it helps to induce childbirth when a baby is overdue.   FRUIT BENEFITS

8 Health Benefits of Strawberries  

Everyone knows that strawberries are delicious. However, did you know just what a nutritional powerhouse they are? Here are eight reasons to include strawberries in your diet. 

 
Diet

One cup of strawberries contains over 13% of the RDA of dietary fiber, yet only 43 calories. The dietary fiber in strawberries helps to keep digestion regular, as well as lowers blood pressure and curbs overeating.

Antioxidants

Strawberries contain a chemical compound called phenols. Anthocyanin, a particular phenol abundantly found in strawberries, lends the rich red color to the fruit. Though anthocyanin is known to have antioxidant properties within the fruit, it is debated as to whether the antioxidant agents in anthocyanin-rich foods can be absorbed into the body once digested. Fortunately, however, it is known that when anthocyanin-rich foods are consumed, the body's uric acid levels increase, which serves as an antioxidant agent.

Anti-Inflammatory

The phenols in strawberries also fight against many inflammatory disorders, such as osteoarthritis, asthma and atherosclerosis, by inhibiting the enzyme cyclooxygenase (COX) in the same way that the drugs aspirin and ibuprofen do. Strawberries, however, do not carry unwanted side effects like stomach and intestinal bleeding.

Anti-Cancer The combination of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents found in strawberries is well-known to fight against the onset of many different forms of cancer. Thanks to the vitamin C, folate, and the flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol that they also contain, strawberries are a delicious defense against potentially cancerous cells. Healthy Eyes

The Archives of Opthalmology recently published a study in which three or more servings of strawberries (and other fruits) per day can decrease the possibility of contracting age-related macular degeneration by over one-third.

The Vigorous Vitamin C

One cup of strawberries contains an incredible 136% of the RDA of vitamin C, an effective antioxidant that can help lower blood pressure, ensure a healthy immune system, and ward off the development of age-related ocular diseases, such as cataracts and macular degeneration.

Magnificent Manganese

One cup of strawberries contains 21% of manganese, an essential nutrient that acts as a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent. By increasing the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), the enzyme responsible for protecting mitochonrdria exposed to oxygen, manganese not only helps to fight the battle against free radicals and oxidative stress, but also lessens cellular inflammation -- another cause of numerous cardiovascular diseases.

Bone Health

Manganese is also great for the bones, helping in bone building and maintaining proper bone structure. The potassium, vitamin K, and magnesium in strawberries are also important for bone health.