Let us face it no matter how we are satisfied with our jobs; there are times that we experience negative stress (job stress). It is one major factor why many employees are prone to sickness and there are underlying causes to stress. Based on my experience job stress can be brought about by either positive or negative events in the office. I will not deal about positive causes for the meantime and will focus on the negative causes of job stress since this is the type which has a greater impact on employee. Negative events which lead to job stress include the deadlines, boss pressure, overwork or job dissatisfaction or personal problem leads to uneasy feeling. With these causes your job will be affected like committing errors which not normally happens or even could lead to health problems. When you identify that you are experiencing job stress you should immediately take some actions so you overcome it before it can hurt your career. So here are some tips on how to handle job stress.

Dwelling on the good times:
When at stress it is recommended that you dwell on the good times or events that had made you happy in the company. Think of the past that your boss has acknowledge your great job, events that made people appreciated your hard work. With these good times think positive that you could do all of these again and for sure you can regain your confidence.
Stay in a good colleagues:
Job stress can make a person vulnerable, so if you are under stress make sure that you stay away from people who can make you feel low or discourages you.  Ignore people that back bites or stay away from loose talks.
Spend time to relax:
At times we get so preoccupied with our job that we forget to pay attention on our needs. We should take a break sometimes, unwind and keeping our mind free from negative thoughts.

One last thing to remember is that work should not limit us from learning new things. We should always find ways to avoid ourselves or our job from becoming monotonous because as soon as this happens fatigue builds up and eventually stress evolves. Let us always upgrade ourselves by learning new skills and find satisfaction from it.

Nutrients in summer squash, including vitamins A and C, maganese and magnesium, work together in your body to help protect against some forms of heart disease. Magnesium is indicated as a helpful agent in the prevention of strokes and works with potassium to maintain healthy blood pressure levels. The folate in squash also protects against heart attacks by helping to neutralize dangerous levels of harmful homocysteine in the body. A healthy intake of fiber, present in squash, is associated with lower rates heart disease.
Summer squash is a good food for those suffering from arthritis in either form. Its antioxidants help reduce inflammation and improve symptoms of asthma in addition to arthritis. Summer squash contains copper, which may be useful for lessoning the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. Fiber, present in squash, protects from colon cancer by working to rid the body of harmful substances.

Over the past few decades sugar  has been categorized as a tempting but hazardous ingredient, indulged in by the undisciplined and avoided by the virtuous. Expanding waistlines, increased health problems and hyperactivity in children were all chalked up to America’s increasing consumption of sugar. Recently, The New York Times featured an article detailing the ways in which this indulgence is being recast as a healthy alternative to synthetic and corn-based sweeteners — sugar’s days as a “bad guy” may be coming to an end, at least for now.

Fructose, otherwise known as high-fructose corn syrup, has replaced sugar as the sweetener that consumers are shunning.

Is this the right way to go? Is sugar really the healthier alternative? What are the health benefits of sugar?
Calorie content
Since total calorie intake is what will impact body fat levels and weight gain, it’s the first factor to assess when comparing two foods. Both fructose and sugar are forms of carbohydrate, and contain four calories per gram consumed. Both also lack dietary fiber (which goes partially undigested through the body) and are generally lacking in nutritious value. There’s not many health benefits of sugar or fructose here.

Sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are both composed of glucose and fructose; the only difference is that high-fructose corn syrup has a higher degree of fructose in it by about 5%.
Impact on insulin and blood glucose levels
While total calorie content is important, it’s not the entire story. Different nutrients also have varying impacts on how we feel after we consume them, and that can impact how much we eat at mealtime.

Fructose wins the race when it comes to blood glucose levels, as it’s sent to the liver after consumption and has minimal impacts on insulin and blood sugar levels. This makes it a better option if you want to avoid the highs and lows typically associated with foods that contain pure glucose.

Sugar, while composed of partial fructose, will still send the glucose straight to the blood, causing insulin levels to increase while you experience a quick burst of energy.

Unfortunately, this burst of energy is frequently followed by a drop, which often just leaves you hungry and craving more. That, in turn, can cause you to consume more food during the day, increasing your calorie intake.

]]> http://www.jasonslifenotes.info/2010/05/sugar-benefits/feed/ 0 http://www.jasonslifenotes.info/2010/05/purple-mangosteen/ http://www.jasonslifenotes.info/2010/05/purple-mangosteen/#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 06:02:05 +0000 jason_admin http://www.jasonslifenotes.info/?p=1867

Keeping our health in good condition is our top priority, so we always make sure that we eat well, we exercise regularly and take food supplements that have vitamins and minerals. So in search for the ultimate health drink I just learned that there is a natural antioxidant I have learned that purple mangosteen is packed with health benefits.

Traditionally this fruit has an import ban in the US because it harbor Asian fly that may threaten US agriculture, the ban was lifted with the introduction of new techniques to kill parasites. So when I saw this fruit I knew it is rich in nutrients plus it has a refreshing taste. My conviction was confirmed that purple mangosteen is really nutritious because it has been found out that the xanthones in this fruit is a potent antioxidant. This means it can fight diseases and can even prevent cancer. I have also learned that in Asia, there are claims that upon eating the fruit it can heal skin diseases such as Psoriasis and other skin allergies, but these claims are still under further study of course.

So the next time you are of to a market, find a purple mangosteen fruit and how it works. Note locally grown purple mangosteen is only available in Florida. Most of the fruit are imported from Asia and some comes from Puerto Rico.

Are you the type of person who works hard? Less time to sleep, exerts a lot of effort and eat less? Well you are really prone to fatigue? So what do you do to compensate your fatigue? Here are some food that can fight fatigue and get you back to shape.

Steel-cut oatmeal with egg whites

You need some fatigue-fighting food to start your day off and to make sure you have enough energy to carry you through the morning, and you really can’t go wrong with some steel-cut oats and egg whites. The steel-cut oats slowly digest in the body, so they will break down over time rather than all at once. In addition to this, the egg whites will provide protein to the meal, which further reduces the release of glucose into the blood from the oatmeal.

Whole grain crackers with almond butter

As midmorning rolls around, it’s important to feed your body again to carry your energy levels through the morning and into lunch. To prevent that midmorning slump, top off your tank with some fatigue-fighting foods like whole grain crackers smeared with almond butter.

Whole grain crackers digest more slowly than a cereal bar would and the healthy snack provides a long-lasting form of energy.

Salmon spinach salad with an apple

Moving on to lunch, think lower carbs and higher protein. Many people overload with carbohydrates, which leads to a significant energy crash come their gym session.

If you find you always come back from lunch wishing you could take a siesta, that’s a sure sign you’re overdoing carbohydrates.

Instead, go with protein that contains omega-3 fatty acids, such as grilled salmon. Serve this over spinach, which provides a hit of iron, and you have an energy-packed plate in front of you. Since you still should take in a small amount of carbohydrates to set you up for the workout period, toss an apple in for dessert. The fiber in the fruit will cause a slower release of sugars in the blood so the chance of fatigue from eating this is lower.

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin which is essential for normal functioning of the body. Unlike most mammals, humans don’t have the ability to make their own vitamin C. We must therefore obtain vitamin C through our diet.

Vitamin C is required in the synthesis of collagen in connective tissue, neurotransmitters, steroid hormones, carnitine, conversion of cholesterol to bile acids and enhances iron bioavailability. Ascorbic acid is a great antioxidant and helps protect the body against pollutants.

Because vitamin C is a biological reducing agent, it is also linked to prevention of degenerative diseases – such as cataracts, certain cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

Ascorbic acid also promotes healthy cell development, proper calcium absorption, normal tissue growth and repair – such as healing of wounds and burns. It assists in the prevention of blood clotting and bruising, and strengthening the walls of the capillaries.

Vitamin C is needed for healthy gums, to help protect against infection, and assisting with clearing up infections and is thought to enhance the immune system and help reduce cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and preventing arteriosclerosis.

The dosage underneath is the  Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), but be aware that this dosage is the minimum that you require per day, to ward off serious deficiency of this particular nutrient. In the therapeutic use of this nutrient, the dosage is usually increased considerably, but the toxicity level must be kept in mind.

The RDA is 60 mg, per day – yet this amount will only prevent you from picking up scurvy and more recent studies suggest that an intake between 200 – 500 mg per day may be the most beneficial for healthy people.

Researchers found that people who eat nuts regularly have lower risks of heart disease. In 1996, the Iowa Women’s Healthy Study found that women who ate nuts >4 times a week were 40% less likely to die of heart disease. Two years later, another study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found a similar result in another group of women subjects. Furthermore, potential heart health benefits of nuts were also found among men. In 2002, the Physician’s Health Study found that men who consumed nuts 2 or more times per week had reduced risks of sudden cardiac death.
Nuts are one of the best plant sources of protein. They are rich in fiber, phytonutrients and antioxidants such as Vitamin E and selenium.  Nuts are also high in plant sterols  and fat – but mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (omega 3 – the good fats) which have all been shown to lower LDL cholesterol.

Ionized calcium in the plasma has many important functions including formation of bones and teeth, coagulation of blood, contraction of muscles, cardiac action, milk production, relay of electrical and chemical messages that arrive at a cell’s membrane to the biochemical machinery within the cell, keeping the membranes of the cell intact and in the metabolism of enzymes and hormones.

It also plays a crucial role in the transformation of light to electrical impulses in the retina.

In the bones, two minerals, calcium and phosphorus, are combined to give strength and firmness to the skeleton or bony structure of the body. Many chemical reactions of the body require both calcium and phosphorus. Hence there is a constant interchange of these minerals between the bones and the blood stream.

Young mothers need extra calcium, particularly during pregnancy and the nursing period.

Calcium is important for children and young people whose bones are growing rapidly.

Memory is a marvel of human biology — essential to mankind’s way of life and survival, but so complex that it is not yet fully understood. As a physiological process, the storing and retrieval of information is imperfect and thus vulnerable to certain destructive forces (or memory killers). These forces can be both internal and external, and can effect any area of the memory: sensory, short-term or long-term.

The following are just a few memory killers to avoid if you want to help your brain function at its best.

Smoking
Although most are unaware of the fact, smoking cigarettes is a memory killer. Several studies have indicated that smokers, particularly middle-aged and elderly, show increased decline in both memory and general cognitive ability in comparison to non-smokers. Though it’s sometimes difficult to count out other factors of a smoker’s lifestyle that may be meddling with the mind, such as a lack of physical activity, the evidence against smoking still looks pretty convincing. Bottom line: Butt out! And lay off the marijuana too (if you value your short-term memory, that is).

You might be thinking right now: “But wait, doesn’t nicotine actually improve memory?” OK, while it’s true that the acute effects of nicotine actually improve certain areas of short-term memory (albeit only temporarily), the long-term effects of smoking over time are what cause mental decline.
Malnutrition
Like any finely tuned motor, your brain needs fuel, specifically glucose. If you’re short on fuel, you’ll be short on brain power. However, to most, this comes as no surprise; we’ve all felt that dense and foggy feeling when we’re overtired or overly hungry. Aside from general malnutrition, however, a more serious disorder results in those individuals short on thiamine (vitamin B1): Korsakoff’s syndrome. Caused most often by chronic alcoholism or malnutrition, Korsakoff’s syndrome can lead to severe retrogade and anterograde amnesia including confabulation (a fabulous word that describes a situation where invented memories are regarded as true due to gaps in memory from blackouts).

Herpes
Herpes is just one of several health conditions or disorders (such as Alzheimer’s disease, stroke or depression) that can be real memory killers. While most cases of herpes won’t make you forget the name of your coworker or where you left your keys, a more serious form of infection known as herpes simplex encephalitis can cause severe memory loss, sometimes as a first warning sign followed by a host of other deadly symptoms. Herpes encephalitis refers to an inflammation of the brain, and it’s one of the most severe infections of the human central nervous system. Thankfully, this scare is rather rare, arising only if and when the herpes virus finds its way to the human brain through nerves of the face.

Binge Drinking
In more ways than one, your college days come back to haunt you — this time as a memory killer. While it’s no big secret that one night of drinking causes acute memory loss (“blacking out,” as it is better known), binge drinking, on the other hand, appears to detriment everyday memory in young adults and may even have an increasing effect in later adulthood. Although longer study and follow-up is needed to fully understand the details, the message is still pretty clear: If you drink, don’t binge.

Stressful Event
The whole foundation of psychoanalysis rests on the idea that when something shocking happens, the mind grabs hold of the memory and forces it to inaccessible corners. While there’s no denying that stressful events can lead to memory repression, it’s the idea that a repressed memory is authentic that has huge implications, particularly legal ones. In fact, memory repression is so hotly disputed that the American Psychology Association currently contends that it is not possible to distinguish a repressed memory from a fake memory without some form of corroborating evidence.

In a recent study of 90 patients recovering from surgery, Kansas State University researchers discovered that those with plants in their rooms had less anxiety and fatigue, lower blood pressure, and fewer intakes of pain medication than patients without plants. Contact with plant life appears to reduce stress, which in turn may help patients recuperate more quickly and experience less pain.

“Anyone can benefit from spending more time with nature,” notes John Davis, Ph.D., Naropa University professor of psychology. Since humans evolved in natural settings, a lack of contact with nature may create tension, he explains. Taking your lunch break in a park, exercising near an abundance of trees, or even keeping potted plants in your office can all help relieve that tension. “Regardless of how much contact with nature you have, more will generally be better,” he adds.