Tips to maintain a good memory

Many people tend to associate the loss of memory or Alzheimer with genetics, but they can be very wrong. A study made by scientists in the University of Columbia in the USA showed that a good diet and exercise is just the key to maintain a good memory for a long time. This way it was found that people who did exercise regularly, had a diet rich in fish, oil and vegetables were 60% less probable of developing this disease. Also, other diseases can contribute for an individual to develop this disease, some include: diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular related diseases. Overall the study showed that any inflammatory disease can contribute for the development of the disease. Another way to prevent this disease is by trying not to consume many medicines because this also jeopardizes memory in general.

A good experience....

On many of my posts, or at least some I have talked about how it is important to sleep well and I even gave tips on how to sleep well if one wasn’t able. Today I feel I need to share an experience that emphasizes the importance of sleeping well in someone’s life.
Yesterday night I was a bit nervous because today I would have my Portuguese IOC and I took longer than usual to sleep, but here is what I did. I went to bed before midnight since I had to be up at 8 am today and I closed my eyes and thought about good things. I remembered good experiences I had lived and when I realized it was already 8 am. Sadly I had to go to school on a Sunday to do an IOC at 9 am in the morning. Everything went just alright.
When I came back I felt I had to sleep more because it is Sunday and I needed to rest for another long week of school. I was able to sleep from 10 am until 1 pm and when I woke up I felt so relaxes that after lunch I was able to write an English written task in less than one hour and I still researched a bit.

At about 4 I felt I needed more sleep and I slap from 4 to 6 pm which scared me a bit because it was so great that when I woke up I was feeling lighter and I was able to finish my work very fast.

Sleeping is essential for productivity.

The danger of high heels for the youngsters

High heels are becoming a problem nowadays. Girls want to start using them too early to look prettier and older as well. Unfortunately this is causing serious problems. A physiotherapist from a university in São Paulo started noticing this problem and decided to do an experiment with 50 girls between 13 and 20 years old. The results were sad. Most of them had bad pains in their backs and the majority presented a deviation in their vertebrate. These types of problems are normal for women from 40 to 50 years old not for young girls who have not yet stopped developing. The problem with high heels is that the more you use the more your legs start creating an "x" format and the more pressure you put on the fingers when instead this pressure should be put on the heels. The knees are also jeopardized because will they twist outwards, the femur stays still making the knees do too much work alone. The biggest problem is with girls between 13 and 16 years old who are in the peak of their physical growth and changes happen very fast. The fault is mainly of the mothers who allow these girls to use high heels. They should be paying attention. I remember that at the age of 16 I was allowed to use heels but very small, they almost didn’t make a difference and thanks God I have no problems nowadays. MOMS open your eyes!!!!

The easy diet

If you thought that losing weight or the small calories that are spread around your abdomen was very hard, you are wrong. In a just one week you will be able to lose two kilos with very little effort. The key is to combine carbs, proteins, and fats in all meals because this way you stimulate your body to continuously burn fat. Interestingly that in correct amounts, protein and fats make carbs take longer to turn into sugar and this way insulin in your body is maintained in the right level. When there is too much insulin the body automatically produces fat which makes us gain weight. The right proportion is the following: for every 9 grams of carbs there should 7 grams of proteins and 1, 5 grams of fats. But it is important to remember that bad fats and proteins such as butter and fatty meats should be avoided. Lastly, if you had the habit of drinking soda or tea than drop this habit and substitute these by water or fruit juice.

Tips to sleep better

Most of you may be rather stressed with IB and all that is going on, so here are some tips to sleep better.

1. Never eat right before going to bed and try not to eat too much carbs or fat meat.

2. If you always take a bath when you arrive home, than leave this as the last thing you do before going to bed, it relaxes and leaves you sleepy.

3. Turn off the television and the computer at least half an hour before you go to sleep, and if this is not possible do not watch violent, dramatic or scary things. Also, manytimes the light of both may keep you awake more than you want to.

4. From 6 p.m. on do not drink anything that contains caffeine.

5. Make sure you ate well during the entire day

6. Even though you may have the worst problem on earth do not take it to bed.

7. Make sure your room is dark and silent and feel comfortable with your bed and pillow

8. Drink a cup of chamomile tea before going to bed.

9. Turn off your cell phone and your home phone

10. When you are in bed close your eyes and think about good things. Places you would like to visit, places you have visited and you loved, people you like, happy moments and leave all bad things outside of bed.

Give More importance to your breakfast

Many people think that the breakfast is the least important meal in a day but these people are completely wrong, do not follow what they say. If you always had the excuse of not having time, not wanting to gain weight or not being hungry so you wouldn’t need to take breakfast begin changing this habit because certainly your life will change as well.
Ironically, breakfast is the most important meal in an individual’s day. If you were thinking about losing weight by skipping this first meal, you are on the wrong path. Since our last meal is always the dinner and there is a big interval between the time we go to bed and the time we wake up, the breakfast is important because it is the first form of energy you will be putting in your organism. At this point your body is in desperate need of calories. If you do not do so and skip directly to your lunch, your organism will ask even more food because it is waiting for fuel for a very long time, this way you end up eating more than you should.
While we are sleeping our body gets energy from a storage of fats and this is way we have to replace this energy with food when we wake up.
For a good breakfast don’t forget to include:
- Foods with different types of nutrients
- Always drink something that contains milk
- Cereals and breads= essential
-NEVER forget a fruit, they are everything you need.

Long flights = thrombosis

Did you know that the risk of having a thrombosis increases 26% each 2 hours of flight? Incredibly there is one case of thrombosis in every 4.600 flights and in Brazil, in the major airports, this number decreases to 2000 flights. For those of you who do not know what a thrombosis is then here goes an easy and fast explanation. Thrombosis happens when a thrombi blocks a vein and impedes blood circulation. This may be very dangerous because it may reach your lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism. Long flights help a thrombosis to occur because we stay a long time seated with our legs down making blood flow harder. The problem is not only being seated for a long time, but also that the seats are very tight and do not allow us to stretch our legs properly, the pressurization and the refrigeration of the cabin. Also, people dehydrate easily because they do not consume much water and most of the times consume alcohol and the dehydration makes it easier for the blood to clog. What happens when thrombosis occurs is that the person starts feeling a lot of pain on his or her legs, they may swell and the calf of the leg becomes really hard.

To prevent:

-Drink lots of water
- Do not consume alcohol
- Use elastic socks that compress your legs and helps blood circulation
- Try do walk a bit every 2 hours and do not take medication to sleep (this way you will not be able to walk, for you will sleep during the whole trip).
- If there is history in your family or if you already have the problem you should see a doctor before your trip because he or she may give you a preventive medication.