Christmas is meant to be a time of joy and happiness where we spend quality time with our family and friends. However, with an increased chance of catching the common cold or the flu, the poor weather conditions and the very real possibility of suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) the festive period is not always as enjoyable as it should be. Even if you are not suffering from SAD you can still find yourself feeling glum during the holidays for various reasons. In these instances you may want to consider the impact of your diet. What you eat can have a significant impact upon … [Read more...]
Archives for 2008
Don’t let SAD Ruin Your Christmas
The holidays are meant to be a time of joy and happiness where people come together and enjoy the presence of family and friends. However, this is not the case for everyone. For some people the reduced daylight hours and the lack of sunlight actually cause them to develop a form of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). In this article I will be discussing SAD in greater detail and hopefully help you avoid the condition this Christmas. According to SADA, SAD affects approximately 7% of the UK population each year between the months of September and April. It is particularly … [Read more...]
6 Foods to Boost Your Immune System This Christmas
In one of my recent articles I discussed how Christmas unfortunately brings with it an increased chance of getting the common cold or the flu. Since there are so many different types of cold and flu virus the body can never be completely immune to them. However, by making sure your immune system is working at full strength you can ensure that your body is in the best position possible to fight the common cold or the flu if you contract them. That's why today I will be sharing with you six foods that can keep your immune system strong over Christmas. 1) ORANGES:- Oranges seem to be a lot … [Read more...]
Can Vitamin C Help You Avoid Christmas Colds?
As I discussed in my last article we are more susceptible to both the common cold and flu around Christmas time when the weather goes cold. Whilst there is no cure for the common cold or the flu there are a number of popular suggestions for preventing it. One such suggestions is to take high doses of vitamin C. Today, I will be discussing if vitamin C really can help prevent the common cold and any of the other potential benefits it can offer you over this Christmas period. In my previous post on vitamin C I mentioned that one of the benefits is that it can reduce the symptoms of the … [Read more...]
The Common Cold & The Flu Explained
As we roll into December it just seems to get colder and colder (well over here in the UK at least). Generally, this is not a good time for people trying to follow a fitness regime. High calorie foods such as minced pies and Christmas sweets seem to be coming more and more abundant whilst the cold weather makes it increasingly difficult to get the motivation to do some exercise. On top of this winter and Christmas time seem to bring with them two unpleasant health ailments – the common cold and the flu (also known as influenza). Many people seem to confuse the symptoms of these two … [Read more...]
The Free Fitness Tips Newsletter – November 2008
Hello Everyone. The Free Fitness Tips Newsletter - November 2008 is now online. You can view the HTML version by Clicking Here. You can view the PDF version by Clicking Here. If you have anything you would like to say about this month's newsletter please leave a comment at the end of this post. Happy reading :-) … [Read more...]
My Featured Fitness Playlist at Go Healthy, Go Fit
Hello everyone. I'm just making a quick post to let you know that I have been featured at Andrew Rubalcava's blog - Go Healthy, Go Fit. It all came about when I commented on one of Andrew's guest posts at Mark's Daily Apple. Andrew then got in touch with me asking if I would like to be part of a series of articles he has been doing on fitness bloggers and the music they workout to. It was a topic I had never really considered before even though my Ipod rarely leaves my side when I workout. This got me thinking about how important music is when I workout. After all, the music that my … [Read more...]
Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) Explained
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) is a water soluble vitamin and is probably the most well known vitamin of them all. The discovery of vitamin C was the result of a search for a cure for scurvy (a disease which leads to problems with the connective tissue now known to be caused by a lack of vitamin C). Scurvy has been reported to affect explorers, sailors and soldiers throughout history. This is now thought to be because they stuck to a diet of dry biscuits and salted beef. They did not often take fruit and vegetables with them on their travels because they were not easy to preserve … [Read more...]
Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin) Explained
Vitamin B12 (also known as cobalamin) is a water soluble vitamin and part of the B complex group (a group of eight vitamins that were initially thought to be the singular vitamin B). Like many of the other vitamins the discovery of vitamin B12 was the result of research into a cure for a disease. This time researchers were searching for a way to treat pernicious anemia (a lack of red blood cells in the body which is now known to be caused by vitamin B12 deficiency). Up until the 1920s this condition often resulted in death. However, in 1926 George Richards Minot and William Perry Murphy … [Read more...]
Vitamin B9 (Folic Acid) Explained
Vitamin B9 (also known as folic acid) is a water soluble vitamin and part of the B complex group (eight vitamins that were initially thought to be the singular vitamin B). It was first noticed in 1930 when Lucy Willis and her group of researchers realised that yeast based tonic and crude liver extracts could help prevent macrocytic anemia (a condition where the red blood cells are larger than normal leading to a low number of red blood cells in the body) in pregnant women. Other researchers came forward with similar discoveries of a compound which could prevent anemia (a low number of red … [Read more...]