Keep Warm When It’s Cold Outside

For most of us, the weather is getting cold outside! How will you stay warm this Fall and Winter? In addition to dressing accordingly, I like to do a couple of things to help me keep warm and cozy during the cooler months, as well as keep my health in check!

Drink Herbal Tea

Whenever you drink warm beverages, it immediately increases your body’s temperature. I suggest staying away from hot chocolate, since they are (usually) full of sugar and will do more harm than good since sugar suppresses the immune system.

For the last couple of years, I have started to try different caffeine-free herbal teas that have a specific health benefit to them. For example, I love to drink Echinacea Tea to help support the immune system during the colder months. I figure that I could use all the help I can get to stay sick-free!

Exercise

Just because it’s cold outside, it doesn’t mean you can lounge in your sweat pants and forget about exercising. You can do plenty of exercises either outside or indoors, it doesn’t matter which ones you choose, just don’t buy into your own excuses to not workout.

Exercise will not only boost your metabolism to help you burn excess fat, exercise will increase blood circulation which will increase your body’s temperature throughout the day. In my own personal experience, I have found exercise to be very effective in keeping warm throughout the day.

Thermogenesis

When you eat foods that will increase your body temperature, this is known as thermogenesis.

Root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, kale, sweet potatoes, and cabbage require more energy to digest and will help create internal heat when eaten.

Hot peppers, such as thai peppers, chili peppers, or other hot peppers, help stimulate the circulatory system which raises the body’s temperature.

Eating warm foods, in general, will temporarily help increase body temperature in the cooler months.

Stay warm and healthy!

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Tags: exercise, herbal tea, Thermogenesis

How to Prevent, Recognize, & Recover from a Heat Stroke

It’s gettin’ hot outside, so what can you do to prevent, recognize, and recover from Heat Stroke?

Heat stroke is something that can easily be prevented, yet it is something that can just as easily sneak up on someone before they realize what has happened to them. Heat stroke is considered the most serious of all heat related conditions and should be treated as a medical emergency.

It’s so sad to hear about so many heat related deaths this year, so I just had to help educate the Skinny Twinkie community with this life saving information. Find out how to prevent, recognize, and treat heat stroke.

Ways to Prevent Heat Stroke

• Drink lots of water! You should also avoid drinking liquids that will dehydrate you such, such as drinks containing a lot of sugar, caffeine, or any alcohol.

• Unaccustomed to the heat? Don’t overdo yourself, and allow your body time to adjust to the warmer weather. I grew up in Las Vegas where it was common to get well above 100° Fahrenheit. I was completely happy with this very hot temperature. Now that I have moved away, I have noticed that I just don’t handle the heat as well as I used to.

• Stay indoors during the late morning and early afternoon, since this is when the sun’s rays are their strongest. If you want to do anything outdoors, go outside in the morning or evening when it’s cooler outside.

• Wear loose-fitting clothing that won’t add heat to your body temperature.

• Don’t overly exert yourself (exercise, sports, etc) outside on a hot Summer day. Heat stroke can kill young athletes who are very healthy, since they usually ignore the beginning signs of heat stroke and feel that they are too healthy to really be effected by the heat.

• Never leave anyone – child or pet! – in a vehicle. Not for a minute, and not even with the windows rolled down. The vehicle can get very hot inside, much warmer than the outdoors temperature. It’s sad to know that there are still many children who die every Summer because a parent leaves their kid in the car. It’s unacceptable, and not worth the risk.

Symptoms of Heat Stroke

• If the body temperature increases too much, it can cause headache, nausea, muscle cramps, and fatigue. At this point, this is considered “heat exhaustion”, but if not taken care of, it can turn into “heat stroke”.

• When the body temperature increases to 105° Fahrenheit (or higher), this is considered “heat stroke”, which potentially life-threatening.

• Develop mental confusion or unconsciousness, due to the cells in the brain getting destroyed by the high temperatures in the body.

How to Treat Heat Stroke

• Reduce body temperature immediately by cooling the body from the outside. You can do this by placing ice packs under the armpits, groin or neck, allow a fan to blow cool air on  the person, or removing any tight or unnecessary clothing.

• Seek emergency help if someone that has been in the heat experiences faintness, hallucinations, confusion, staggering, or goes into a coma. Begin reducing the person’s  body temperature immediately until they can be helped by the emergency personnel.

• It’s important to receive treatment for heat stroke immediately. Procrastinating treatment can lead to liver or kidney damage, coma, congestive heart failure or death.

It’s important that you take heat strokes seriously, and if at all possible…prevent one from happening! Those who have had heat stroke already are more likely to have another one in the future. It’s not because they didn’t learn from it the first time, it’s likely due because their body is more susceptible to it again.

Everyone, please be safe and enjoy the rest of your Summer!

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Image Credit: CBS

Avoid Pesky Bites and Stings

After waiting months and months to finally enjoy the beautiful outdoors, we have to deal with pesky insects. Bugs can be quite annoying, but more importantly, they can carry some dangerous diseases and share them with us.

Natural Ways to Prevent Bites and Stings

•Use Cinnamon oil as a mosquito repellent. It has been proven to be just as effective as DEET!

•Minimize the amount of cologne or perfume that you wear when spending time outdoors this Summer. The smell attracts bugs, including the ones that will sting you.

•Stay away from standing (still) water- This is the  mosquito’s playground!

•Some studies suggest that if you consume garlic, it will prevent mosquito and tick bites.

•Don’t step into a stream or river unless you have foot protection. This will help prevent leeches from attaching to your foot.

•If you are outdoors at night (camping, anyone?), use an LED light bulb! It doesn’t attract bugs like other lights since it doesn’t emit wavelengths in the UV spectrum, which is what bugs are attracted to.

•If at all possible, avoid the outdoors when bugs are most active, which is at dawn and at dusk. If you find yourself having to be outdoors during this time, protect yourself with long sleeved shirts and pants.

How to Heal Bites and Stings

•Raw honey has many healing properties and can be used as an antibacterial agent. Use raw honey on a bee sting to help the pain.

•Tea Tree oil is an effective antimicrobial and helps with healing infections, burns, and cuts.

• Ice is the perfect anti-inflammatory. It’s also cheap and easy to use!

•Aloe Vera have many healing properties to help treat infected areas of your skin. Aloe Vera is also useful with healing burns.

•Use fluoride free toothpaste on a bee sting. It’s effective!

•Cucumbers reduce swelling. Place a slice of cucumber on the area of skin and it will reduce puffiness and swelling.

Now that you know how to enjoy the great outdoors without worrying too much about getting bit or stung, go out and have some fun!

PS – Any other natural remedies you know about? I’d love to hear about ‘em!

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Tags: natural solutions, Outdoors, Spring, Summer

Medicine of the Future

Have you ever wondered what the Doctor of the future is going to be like? What about the future of medicine? Here’s what a very wise person had to say about it…

The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease. – Thomas Edison

The more I think about it, the more I realize that the common medicine used today is not “Traditional” by any means. I urge you to study and understand the importance of natural medicine, the only “traditional” medicine that allows your body to heal without harmful side effects. The more I study nutrition, the more I realize that you can heal your body with herbs, spices, and the healthy whole foods you can choose to eat.

What is your favorite natural remedy?

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Tags: Healthy, Herbs, Natural Healing, Spices, traditional medicine, Whole Foods

How to Heal Sunburns

Summer is on it’s way, and for many of us, that means camping, barbecues, fireworks, and a lot more time outside in the sun! With this in mind, I thought I would discuss how to prevent sunburns and how to heal sunburns naturally, if you just so happy to get burnt!

Keep in mind that sun exposure is very healthy for you, and it’s a natural form of Vitamin D, which prevents depression and some types of cancers. Of course, too much of a good thing can become bad, so you will want to make sure you limit your exposure to the sun to prevent burning your skin.

Ways to Prevent Sunburns

Try to reduce exposure out in the sun between the hours of 10am – 4pm, since this is when the sun’s rays are at it’s strongest (during the Summer).

At the beginning of the Season, start exposing your skin slowly to the sun. Start out with just 10 minutes a day, and slowly increase the amount of sun exposure you get in the next couple of weeks. This will help with decreasing your chances of getting a sun burn.

If you are out in the sun during the hottest times of the day, wear protective clothing and accessories! This means wearing hats and sun glasses with UVA and UVB protection. You can also wear a long sleeved shirt (something loose and light for the Summer) to protect your arms.

Heal Sunburns Naturally

Discontinue time out in the sun. This may seem obvious, but I thought I would at least mention it, just in case! If you have a sunburn, avoid the hot sun outside for awhile. You should also avoid hot showers, baths, and hot tubs. You don’t need to add any more heat to your skin right now.

Enjoy cool – but not too cold – baths or showers. This will be a welcome relief to your burned skin.

Put fresh pure aloe vera gel from an aloe vera plant and apply directly to the burned skin. You can buy aloe vera from the store, but it contains alcohol in it which dries out the skin and the burn. I believe the gel straight from the plant is best for the burn. I recommend getting an aloe vera plant and keeping it available, just in case you get burnt while cooking (not that would ever happen to us adults, right?!) or if you happen to get a sunburn.

If you have a sunburn that causes blisters or fever, it’s time to head to the hospital.

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Tags: Heal burns, Natural Healing, Sun Burns