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Tag: health

  • Benefits of Listening to Music & Uplift Your Spirits!

    Listening to music is a great way to enhance your well-being. Music is everywhere in our daily lives. In fact, it allows us the opportunity for emotional expression, to connect, and feel at ease. Studies have shown that music is beneficial to uplift your spirits, reduce stress, anxiety, improve mental health, and overall health. 

    Here are a few benefits of music:

    1. Music and Stress/anxiety

    If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, take a moment and pause. Give yourself a moment to relax and calm your mind. You should try listening to music. Listen to your favorite playlist, music artists, etc. Go for cheerful and calming music to lift you up or soothe your mind! Studies have shown that listening to both cheerful and calming music can relieve stress and anxiety by releasing dopamine, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, for example. 

    Though listening to music is a positive way to comfort yourself, you should always strive to talk to a trusted friend, individual, especially your loved ones. You’ll feel much better and comforted! 

    2. Music and Sleep

    If stress, anxiety or sleep disorders are preventing you from falling asleep. Listening to music may enhance your sleep. Numerous studies have proven that listening to soothing music or classical music can be beneficial for people who have trouble sleeping.  And these benefits include reducing stress, heart rate and respiratory, distract your worries, better rest, and more. 

    3. Music and Exercise

    Listening to music while exercising is an excellent way to keep you motivated. Music with fast tempos have proven to make fitness enthusiasts feel energized and active! Therefore, boosting mood, increasing endurance, and reducing fatigue. Grab your favorite playlists and get moving! 

    Music preferences vary, but what matters is that it keeps you cheerful, relaxed, and at ease!

    Sources:

    1. How Music Can Help Reduce Stress and Ease Anxiety and Depression (webmd.com)
    2. The Surprising Psychological Benefits of Music (verywellmind.com)

  • Consider Your Intake of More Fruits into Your Diet!

    It’s crucial to start thinking about eating more fruits and incorporate them into your diet. According to a study from the CDC not enough adults in the United States are eating the recommended fruits, especially vegetables intake on a daily basis. And as stated by Lauren Manaker from Verywell Health “only about 10% of adults…are meeting those recommendations” based on a 2019 survey (Manaker, 2022). Not too good, isn’t it? 

    Here’s why you should start adding more fruits into your diet and the effects if you are not doing yourself a favor.

    What Are Positives of Fruit Consumption?

    As we all know, fruits are key in maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle. All it takes is putting enough effort and consideration into adding fruits into your daily routine. You can start by trying 4-5 servings of fruits per day. To provide more information, heart.org presents an infographic on serving size by heading to their site. Fruits are high in fiber and low in calories resulting in the feeling of fullness. This allows you to lose or maintain a healthy weight, and reduce overeating, for instance. Furthermore, fruits with high fiber include avocado, apple, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, banana, tangerines, and the list continues. Consuming these fruits has been shown to reduce blood pressure, some cancers, heart disease, stroke, and more. Therefore, contain essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in keeping you healthy. 

    What is The Effect of Consuming Less Fruits?

    If you don’t eat a variety of fruits in your daily diet, you’re at risk of developing chronic diseases. For instance, diabetes, vascular diseases, types of cancers, heart disease, weak immune system and much more. You’ll definitely be less energetic and unhealthy if fruits are not being consumed enough. And this is especially crucial as we age. Wouldn’t you want to live happily and healthier? Healthy enough to do the things you love? 

    To all dear readers, do your best and eat those fruits!

    Source:

    1. CDC: Only 1 in 10 Americans Eat Enough Produce (verywellhealth.com)
    2. Adults Meeting Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations — United States, 2019 | MMWR (cdc.gov)
    3. Fruits and Vegetables Serving Sizes Infographic | American Heart Association

  • Here Are Few Ways to Fight Off Food Cravings!

    It’s common for everyone to experience food cravings. Though they sure can be delicious, whether it be sweets that are sugary or chips that are salty. However, the consequences if consumed too much may be unhealthy, for example weight gain. Therefore, stress, deprivation, hormone imbalance, and other triggers can all lead to food cravings too.

    Even though consuming too much sugar and salt is unhealthy, you can still treat yourself every now and then. Let’s say for a while and consider it a reward for maintaining a healthy diet, like a cheat day or make it special to reward yourself on your birthday with a delicious cake! 

    Now to continue, discussing food cravings. What are some ways we can fight off food cravings? 

    Drink Water:

    To avoid the desire for food cravings, drink water! By having a simple glass of water, the craving you’re seeking for will fade away. A glass of water will make you feel full, allowing you to control your appetite and prevent overeating. More importantly, we all should be drinking water to prevent dehydration, especially for our body to function healthy. 

    Eat More Fruits & Vegetables

    Consuming fruits and vegetables are the best way to go and reduce the urge to food cravings. When having the urge for sugar cravings, you should consider eating fruits. Fruits are sweet and can fight off that sugar craving as they contain essential nutrients and fiber to keep you healthy and fuller. Go for strawberries, blackberries, mangoes, cherries, tangerines, for instance. Furthermore, consider green leafy vegetables high in fiber and low in calories, allowing you to feel fuller. 

    Reduce Stress: 

    Stress is experienced by everyone for different reasons. Being stressed may lead to overeating and as a result increase food craving. It’s in fact, difficult, but try your best to distract yourself. Give yourself some time to take a small break and go outside and take a walk. Listen to music, music that can calm you down and ease your mind. Try exercising, it is a great way to curb your cravings while improving your brain function and cognition.

    These were a few methods to prevent food cravings. Stay healthy, dear readers!

    Sources:

    1. 11 Ways to Stop Cravings for Unhealthy Foods and Sugar (healthline.com) 
    2. . Candy Calories: How Many of These Can I Eat? (webmd.com) 

  • Good Hygiene is Extremely Important

    Why is Good Hygiene Important?

    Hygiene is an important component to reducing disease, according to the World Bank. Good hand, face and body hygiene is important. It helps keep the germs at bay for everyone involved. If we don’t like getting sick, we must keep ourselves clean. But, what areas of hygiene are there?

    What Areas of Hygiene are There?

    There is a plethora of hygiene that we have to maintain. Hand hygiene, for one, is one of the different areas of hygiene that we are taught earliest. Face and body hygiene are also important areas of hygiene. Face and body hygiene also goes beyond the simple act of showering. Covering coughs and sneezes are also a form of hygiene

    Hand Hygiene

    Death by diarrheal bacteria is not a nice thing to imagine. It is extremely preventable though. All you have to do is wash your hands. Contaminated hands cause a large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks and respiratory diseases. It is best to not touch your eyes, nose, mouth, and prep food with dirty hands. Don’t know when to wash your hands? Here are some tips. Effectively washing your hands is very simple.

    • With warm or cold running water, wet your hands. Then turn off the tap (don’t waste water) and apply soap.
    • Now that you have soap in a palm, bring both hands together and rub every single square inch together. Make sure to get between your fingers, the backs of your hands and under your nails.
    • You should keep scrubbing with soap until you’ve counted twenty seconds. Do not count to just twenty. Count twenty legitimate seconds as they would happen on a stopwatch.
    • After those twenty seconds are up, rinse your hands really well under running water until all the soap is off.
    • With a clean towel, rub your hands dry. If you don’t have anything clean to dry your hands with, let them air dry.

    Remember, keep them your hands clean.

    Facial Hygiene

    According to the CDC, the average person touches their face a total of 23 times per hour. Your face is where most diseases can enter easily through your eyes, mouth, nose and ears. Keeping your face facial area clean can prevent germs from entering your body. Also, remember discussing washing our hands in the above section, well, washing your hands can also prevent germs from reaching your face. Facial hygiene includes washing your face, cleaning your teeth, mouth, eyes, contact lenses and ears.

    Some diseases that can be prevented by washing ones face include:

    • Cold
    • Flu
    • Pinkeye
    • Trachoma (the number one leading cause of preventable blindness in the world)

    Effectively Showering

    Effectively showering your body includes washing every crevice of your body, especially parts of your body covered in hair, which brings us to hair hygiene.

    Hair Washing

    Hair hygiene means finding a shampoo that’s good for your hair type, applying an appropriate amount, and then scrubbing away at the extra sebum(oil you produce naturally, but too much is not good) and nasty things you collected throughout your day. Did you know that washing your hair can help prevent scalp related ringworm and head-lice? Neither of those sound pleasant to have right? Well, you can wash your hair.

    Feet Washing

    Please keep those grippers clean. They are nasty at the end of a sock and shoe wearing day. They need to be washed individually and thoroughly. The whole foot needs to be lathered, especially between the toes. Trim your toe nails, too, bacteria can gather underneath. Don’t wear your socks for more than one day and if you do happen to go to a salon, pick on that is clean and licensed. You don’t want athlete’s foot, now do you? Nor would you want fungal nail infections or hookworm. Keep your grippers clean.

    Keep Your Hands and Body Clean

    That being said, keep yourself clean. Wash your hands, take thorough showers, keep your nails trimmed, cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze, etc. This will help prevent you from getting and spreading germs. Do you part to respect yourself and others.

  • Practice Daily Personal Hygiene for Better Health

    To stay clean and healthy, it’s important to maintain good personal hygiene habits. Practicing daily hygiene is crucial for protecting yourself from bacteria and diseases, and more importantly, for keeping your loved ones safe and healthy too. Without proper care for your body, you’ll face the risk of an unhealthy lifestyle. And you won’t feel too pleasant nor happy. There are different types of hygienic practices which include bathing or showering, covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing, washing clothes, washing hands, and more. I will cover five in this post and discuss their advantages, which should be everyone’s priorities. 

    Bathing & Showering: 

    Though bathing and showering serve different purposes, they are both beneficial to your personal hygiene. The difference between a bath and shower is that a bath focuses on the body being soaked in a bathtub of water while a shower focuses on standing under a spray of water. Baths are great if you are looking into relaxing your muscles, especially your mind. In addition to, exfoliating skin. In a study mentioned by Kathryn Watson on Healthline, participants who took warm baths experienced improvements in their wellbeing. Moreover, showers are significantly better for cleansing your body. With the use of soap and shampoo they help you stay fresh and clean by removing dirt, bacteria and dead skin cells from your body and hair. Showering with cold water has been shown to have a positive impact on stress, depression and swelling. And showering with hot water can also aid in the relaxation of muscles and stiff joints.

    Cover Mouth When Coughing or Sneezing/Washing hands:

    Covering your mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing is important to avoid the spread of germs. And protect those around you. Being sick is no fun! Furthermore, the CDC recommends coughing or sneezing into your elbows if you don’t have a tissue with you. Don’t forget to wash your hands after coughing or sneezing or use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% of alcohol (CDC, 2023). Always wash your hands with soap, especially before and after eating and during bathroom use. 

    Washing Clothes: 

    Last but not least, washing clothes is important for personal hygiene for various reasons. Clothes can become exposed with bacteria, dirt, and sweat, for instance. So, setting a habit to wash your clothes once a week (during weekends/whenever you have time) or after use is a good practice to maintain hygiene. You know, wearing clean clothes is a mood booster of confidence and comfortability. 

    Good personal hygiene is critical for a healthier lifestyle and happier you!

    Sources:

    1. Bath vs. Shower: Which Gets You Cleaner and Which Has More Benefits? (healthline.com) 
    2. https://www.cdc.gov/hygiene/personal-hygiene/index.html
    3. https://www.healthline.com/health/personal-hygiene#effects-of-poor-hygiene

  • The Sun Isn’t Always Our Friend

    I love going out and feeling the sun against my skin. The warmth and comfort that the sun brings my skin is always a wonderful experience for me. Not to mention, it is a great way to make sure you get your dose of vitamin D.  Sadly, the sun isn’t always our friend. Too much sun exposure can have negative effects. Let’s discuss what some of these negative effects are and what we can do to prevent them.

    We’ve all heard of UV rays by now but what are they? UV rays are ultraviolet light radiation that can harm our skin. The negative effects of exposure to UV rays through sun, tanning beds, and other UV sources can cause not only various degrees of sun/skin burn but also cancer. This is because UV rays affect your skin cells and DNA which in turn can lead to skin cancer. It is also important to know that UV rays are not only the strongest during the summer, they’re still very much present throughout the year. UV rays reflect off surfaces like snow and sand and can still affect you during cloudy or colder days! Weather channels and apps on our devices now tell us the UV index, which is key to understanding how low or high they are. This is why sunscreen is your bestie all year long.

    Sunscreen Is Your Bestie!

    Sunscreen provides all sorts of benefits for your skin! It prevents sunburns, skin cancer, and premature aging. Who doesn’t want to stay youthful looking? You’ll often see sunscreen products with a “30 SPF”-”60 SPF” label on it. SPF stands for “sun protection factor” and as you can assume, the higher the SPF value, the more protection your skin will receive. For those of us who wear makeup with SPF, it alone is usually not enough to provide protection and it’s often recommended that we double up with regular sunscreen. Remember to always reapply every couple of hours especially on days when you’re outdoors! Have safe fun in the sun!

    Read more about our health, beauty tips and skincare product recommendations!

  • Curbing Your Cravings, Challenging But Not Impossible!

    The members of Kindly, Beautiful aim to be open and honest with all of you, our audience. This particular topic is one that I personally struggle with and if we’re being honest, many of us do. Full disclosure, my family health history consists of members that have struggled with diabetes. It is one of the many reasons that I make an effort to watch what I eat, the amount, and always try to make time for any sort of exercise. It’s important to acknowledge that food isn’t bad, even the extra sweet, extra savory foods that we hold close to our hearts. Problems usually arise when we lose control over how much we have and how sedentary our lifestyle can be.

    We all experience cravings, it’s natural, but let’s discuss healthy ways to curb them and why they pop up in the first place!

    According to research, cravings can stem from an imbalance of your hunger hormones which are often a result of stress, poor sleep, diet, and lack of exercise. Targeting these issues can be a great start to curbing cravings. Another great tip is to increase the amount of fiber in your meals. The order in which you eat your meal has an effect on your bodily reaction too! Fiber aids in slowing down digestion and helps reduce glucose levels. Research suggests that we eat our vegetables first! This is something that my mom has always suggested but I thought it was a myth. Staying hydrated also helps avoid unnecessary cravings as thirst and hunger cues can be mistaken by your body!

    Finally, make time to plan meals if you can! Take fiber and protein into consideration as they help you feel and stay full. Keep heavily processed foods and snacks out of your kitchen or home so you don’t feel tempted to have more than you should. Most important of all, don’t skip meals! Hunger is a sign that your body needs nutrients and energy so don’t neglect it. Remember, it’s ok to give into a craving here and there, never feel guilty for doing so but make an effort to avoid over consumption! Take care of your body and the rest will follow.

  • Balancing Act: How to Juggle a Healthy Lifestyle with a Busy Schedule | Through Quick and Nutritious Meals

    Hey y’all, we’re She Ate Dat and we’re collaborating with Kindly Beautiful. I’m sure most of us want to be healthy but always say we don’t have enough time. Well, we’re here to help. Not talking about going straight to exercising but taking steps starting from the inside. Your gut. A healthy meal doesn’t have to be time consuming or take over your morning routine. Here are some recipes and tips to balance your busy schedule to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle.

    First off meal prep. Some might say it’s too much work starting to cook most of the meal just to finish another day but it really does help. More than anything, you don’t necessarily have to start an actual meal to meal prep. If you know most of your recipes will call for diced onions, chopped bell peppers or any other cut up vegetable you’re gonna want to cut them up in bulk and freeze them. This way for any upcoming meals you won’t have to spend any extra time cutting up the veggies.

    Overnight Oats Recipe | Starting Breakfast at Night

    Overnight Oats are a game changer for those who have a busy morning schedule. Recipe courtesy of Feel Good Foodie.

    Ingredients

    • Oats
    • Milk

    Optional Add Ons

    • Chia seeds
    • Vanilla extract
    • Sweetener

    Instructions

    Combine equal parts milk and oats in a jar until the mixture is a smooth and creamy texture. Store your fridge for two hours or overnight. It’s literally that easy.

    Leave Dinner at the Stove

    Now for dinner we’re gonna cheat a little bit. If you refer back to our Kick You In The Mouth Spicy Crispy Chicken, it’s a great meal that shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to make especially when you implement the meal prep method from before.

  • Get Yourself A Good Night Sleep For Better Skin & Health

    Getting enough sleep is essential for your health. Without a good night’s rest, you won’t have the ability to function throughout your day. You’ll just feel too tired. Not well focused. And probably not in your best mood. Well, besides these effects from lack of sleep – let’s bring you the bright side of good quality sleep. Did you know good quality sleep contributes to healthier skin?

    If not, here is why. 

    Get Seven to Nine Hours of Rest: 

    Try to at least get recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night. You do your skin a favor, especially your health. There are times indeed when life makes it a challenge for whatever reasons but it’s important to set a routine you can stick to prevent mental and physical effects on your health. Being sleep deprived is not fun and common effects on physical appearance include dark circles, under-eye bags, swollen eyes, and puffiness to name a few. In addition, physical health includes the risk of obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Therefore, mental health can worsen if you are not getting sufficient sleep and these include anxiety, depression, confusion, behavior changes, and stress. 

    Boost Brighter Appearance:

    Though a good skincare routine plays a vital role in maintaining a youthful complexion, not getting the sufficient hours of sleep (7-9 hours) reduces the results of healthier skin. Sleep is the best time for skin to repair, especially the body to heal itself. During sleep, blood flow is increased allowing skin to rejuvenate from day’s exposure to ultraviolet radiation, which damages DNA skin cells and the risk of skin cancer, for instance. What’s more? Good quality sleep boosts collagen production, reduces breakouts, improves clearer skin, moisturizes skin, and more.

    Do your best to get to bed early! Sleep well! 

    Sources:

    1. Kendra Cherry, Mse. (2023, January 23). How sleep affects mental health. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/how-sleep-affects-mental-health-4783067#:~:text=Mood%20Changes,-Not%20getting%20enough&text=We’re%20more%20likely%20to,don’t%20get%20enough%20sleep.

    2. Shens. (2022, July 22). Why does lack of sleep cause bags under eyes?. Shens Clinic. https://shensclinic.com/why-does-lack-of-sleep-cause-bags-under-eyes/

  • Being Physically Active Is Good For You

    There you have it folks. It’s written in big bold letters. Move. Moving your body is vital to keeping it in tip top shape. And that’s not only referencing physique, it’s also referring to your health. Moving is an important part of life for both adults and kids. It improves brain health, helps you to manage your weight, strengthens your bones and muscles, reduces your risk of functional limitations and reduces your risk to certain diseases. 

    Improves Brain Health 

         There are multitudes of hormones and chemicals that your brain needs to function well. Exercising helps keep these hormones and chemicals in check.

    • Insulin: Insulin is a peptide hormone and is important for your brain because it regulates cognitive functions. Neurodegenerative disorders may be one of the effects of insulin resistance. Dementia states may also be a result of damaged cognitive systems due to insulin resistance. Moving your body and keeping active can help reduce insulin resistance. Therefore, get active. 

    Weight Management

         Consuming more calories, through eating and drinking, than you can burn, causes weight gain. Of course, even while being active, you will gain weight as long as you consume more calories than the calories burned throughout the day along with physical activity. That is why you have to get active while also watching the calories you consume. 

    • Maintaining weight: You can maintain your weight with at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week. You can split it up to 30 minutes everyday for five days a week. There are a plethora of things you can do to get active. Go on a walk with someone, go jogging, hiking, biking, teach yourself a dance, play a sport. Moving can be fun. 

    Strengthens Bones and Muscles

          None of us get younger with each passing day. Our age only continues to climb, but the strength in our muscles and bones decline. 

    Reduces Your Risk of Functional Limitations

         Think about all the things you are able to do now. And then think about getting older and not being able to do any of the simple daily tasks you could. Imagine not being able to climb the stairs at 70. Imagine not being able to go for a walk without aches and pains. If we make it to old age without any serious illnesses, shouldn’t we try to keep our bodies as mobile as possible? Quality of life would be so much better than achy and creaky joints. 

     Reduces Your Risk to Certain Diseases

         Getting moving keeps you healthy. It’s a known fact. Being healthy plays a part in preventing diseases. That is also a known fact. Moving even reduces the risk of getting certain types of cancers. Even thinking about cancer fills every fiber of my being with dread. Moving is a simple preventative measure that might keep you from facing certain diseases. 

     Move

         In the gentlest manner, in the kindest manner, in the manner which I wish with all my might for each and everyone of us to be the healthiest we can, to be the kindest we can to each other, I ask that you take care of yourself. Love yourself, respect others, and move.