In any case, the sufferings thus caused can be very painful – it is no fun at all. The good news is that there are several things that you can do to survive an allergy season. You may not be able to cure all your problems instantly, but if you keep in mind the following things, you will definitely find yourself in a comfortable position.

One of the best ways to treat pollen allergies is to eat local honey. FDA has not yet recognized it, but numerous anecdotal evidences are there to prove its effectiveness. Based on various researches and studies, it has been found that honey collected by local bees can be very effective in reducing the symptoms of these allergies. Eating honey can be very useful in building up your immunity to the allergen. Honey can also act as a vaccine of sorts because it naturally contains pollen by-products. Before the allergy season begins, you are strongly recommended to take one teaspoon of local raw honey at least two times a day.

A few of the leading symptoms which occur during food allergy are: 

• Skin rashes and itching 
• Severe diarrhea and vomiting
• Stomach cramps
• Skin swelling especially on tender regions like eyelids, lips and inside the mouth
• Runny nose and blocked nasal tract
• Inflammation of the throat, trachea and larynx
• HeadachesWinter dryness is a common occurrence from November to March. As winter sets in so does the dry air. Combine this with the heating system in your home and the problem can be even more acute. Family members will begin to have a harder time breathing, feel more congested and may even suffer nosebleeds due to the dryness in the nasal membranes.Headaches associated with sinusitis may also become more often. Swelling of the membranes around the sinus’ can lead to pain behind the eyes or cheekbones and discharge from the nose shows signs of infections.

  An allergy test is what exactly you need to diagnose what makes you flare up. Trust us. It can be anything under the sun. From the air you breathe to the food you eat. So first catch hold of the culprit.Generally, doctors prescribe anti-allergic pills that focus on a single consequence of allergy. There are scores of other results of allergy like red swellings and psoriasis. A single pill is therefore ineffective on the other types of allergies.

Ways to Quit Smoking Easily

An easy way to stop smoking is to be very strong mentally and keep reminding yourself about your desire to quit smoking. You should try to quit smoking in steps and not all of a sudden as this can have many side effects on your body and health. Try to reduce the number of cigarettes slowly. For example, if you are used to smoking five cigarettes, then reduce them to four in a week, to three after two weeks, to two again after a couple of weeks and then finally try to quit the habit permanently. By doing this, you will be allowing your body to adjust with the changes occurring due to quitting of this habit. You can join a de-addiction center or engage yourself in doing something creative which you really like, at the time you feel like smoking. You can always request your family members to help you in your quest to quit smoking.

According to medical reports, many smokers have benefited from therapies such as acupuncture, aromatherapy and acupressure to quit the habit of smoking. Many health professionals suggest the laser therapy, which involves the administration of the laser points to those parts of the body which are related to the addiction of smoking. The urge and the desire to smoke can be reduced considerably by the use of natural ways to quit smoking such as the herbs, Korean ginseng, lobelia, garcinia and cambogia.

Hypnotherapy, in which the smokers are subjected to hypnotism to increase their will power to quit smoking is also considered to be an effective way of dealing with this problem. There are medicines available, such as varenicline and bupropion, which play an important role in controlling the urge for smoking. Varenicline has the ability of blocking the receptors of nicotine in the brain. Because of this characteristic of the medicine, the affinity of a person for smoking decreases. Another useful way can be the nicotine replacement therapy, which involves giving very small amounts of nicotine to the blood of the user in the form of nicotine gums, nicotine sprays or nicotine patches. This therapy can help curb the supply of harmful and poisonous gases and tar to the body. Wellbutrin or Zyban is well known to successfully reduce the craving for cigarette smoking and so is Chantix.

Taking some useful tips from the people who have successfully quit smoking would be really very advantageous for you. You can always try to implement the methods which were used by that person for your benefit. You can also explain giving examples, how smoking has ruined the lives of people to make the smokers understand the seriousness of the issue.

These days, everyone of us has become calorie conscious. Calories are considered as strong foes during a weight loss program. Food packets indicate the number of calories contributed by each of the ingredients. However, we should keep in mind that calories are not bad, but what is bad is the amount of calories that we consume. Though there is no strict number that tells how much calories women should consume, there is recommended calorie intake for women.

Recommended Calorie Intake for Women

The amount of calories to be consumed depends on a number of factors, which include physical activity, age, height, weight, gender, genes, etc. Hence, we can say that daily calorie requirement varies from person to person. However, the calorie intake for women can be calculated based on two factors, physical activity and basal metabolism rate (BMR). Keeping a count on calories consumed can be quite frustrating for all those girls and women trying to loose their weight. An average recommended calories per day for women is 2000 calories.

One should keep in mind that eating just the required amount of calories is not enough, the sources of these calories should be healthy, so that, all the nutritional requirements of the body are fulfilled. The calories consumed can be divided into two groups, one group consists of the calories that are required to gain energy for daily activities like carbohydrates and proteins, while the other group is for important chemicals required, like vitamin and mineral.

Formula to Calculate Recommended Calories for Women

A number of researches and studies have been made to find out the exact amount of calories, that are required by a woman’s body. Harris-Benedict formula is one of the popular methods to calculate daily calorie requirements. The formula calculates your daily calorie intake depending on your BMR and the physical activities or exercise that you perform. BMR is nothing but the speed of resting metabolism in your body, i.e. amount of calories you require to run the body functions, when at rest. The physical activities can be divided into four categories, they are, sedentary, lightly active, moderately active and very active. The formula to calculate BMR for women is given below,

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)
OR
BMR = 655 + (9.6 x weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in centimeters) – (4.7 x age in years)

Once BMR is calculated, the next step is to multiply a factor that is associated with the physical activity level. Use the chart given below for the multiplying factor.

Physical Activity Level Multiplying Factor

Sedentary – Less or no exercise, Desk job 1.2
Lightly active – Light exercise, 1-3 times a week 1.375
Moderately Active – Moderate exercise, 3-5 times a week 1.55
Very Active – Hard exercise, 6-7 times a week 1.725

So, if your BMR is 1800 and physical activity level is sedentary, then daily calories needed are, BMR x 1.2 = 2160. Besides knowing the normal calorie intake for females, it is also necessary to know the amount of calories that carbohydrates, proteins and fats should contribute. A balanced diet should consist of 50-60% carbohydrates, 20-30% proteins and 20-30% fats contributing together, to the daily calories for women.

Knowing the daily calorie requirements for women can help you to either gain or loose weight. If you are trying to gain weight, then you must consume more amount of calories than required. While if you are trying to lose weight, then you must be eating less calories than required. Thus, respective changes in daily calorie intake should be made. Now, when you are aware of the recommended calorie intake for women you can easily maintain your weight.

Previous studies have suggested that approximately 43 per cent of bowel cancer cases and 42 per cent of breast cancer cases in the UK could be prevented if people ate more healthily, did regular exercise, maintained a suitable weight and not smoking. Professor Martin Wiseman, project director of the report, also said: �On a global level every year, there are millions of cancer cases that could have been prevented and this is why we need to act now before the situation gets even worse.

If so, why don’t you start a healthy lifestyle to reduce your chances of experiencing this life altering disease? Follow these 10 simple tips for the prevention of cancer:

1. Healthy eating

• Limit consumption of red meats (including beef, pork, and lamb) and avoid processed meats
• Eat more of a variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes (such as beans)
• Cut down on saturated fat and sugar. saturated fat – having too much can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease
• Limit consumption of salty foods and food processed with salt (sodium)
• Avoid coffee and tea (except green tea which has cancer-fighting properties) which have high caffeine

2. Limit alcohol intake

• Consumption of alcohol not only increases the risk of certain types of cancer, it contributes to overall poor health and obesity in adults. Alcohol intake should be kept to a minimum, since men who consume 2 or more alcoholic drinks a day are at a greater risk for cancer, as are women who have 1 or more alcoholic drinks per day.

3. No smoking

•  Avoid cigarette smoke at all costs; both first and second hand smoke increase your risk of contracting many types of cancers that relate to cigarette smoking, and makes you more susceptible to cancers that are not caused by the unhealthy habit.

4. A routine of regular physical activity

•  Physical activity helps to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Physical activity affects cancer risk indirectly, through its role in preventing overweight and obesity, decreasing exposure of breast tissue to oestrogen, and affecting cancers of the colon, breast and other sites by improving energy metabolism. The American Cancer Society recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise (such as brisk walking) on 5 or more days of the week for adults and at least an hour every day for children and teens.

5. For mother:

• Exclusively breastfeed their babies for up to six months. According to research breastfed babies have less chances of getting cancer and for the breast feeding mothers the chance of getting breast cancer are much less.

6. Be happy, relax and enjoy life.

•  When you worry and under pressure you are more likely to be a victim of cancer. For those who are always under pressure their immune systems are less active.

7. Try to be a healthy weight.

• It’s not a good idea to be either underweight or overweight. Being overweight can lead to health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. Being underweight could also affect your health.

8. Don’t use supplements to protect against cancer.

• It’s not that supplements are bad as they may be “valuable” apart from cancer prevention, but there isn’t evidence that they protect against cancer, except for vitamin D.

9. Be aware of affects of the sun.

• Sun exposure can cause skin cancer. Many seniors believe that after years of sun exposure, they no longer require protection from the sun. Proper sun protection at any age is important for cancer prevention. Children, older and younger adults should wear sunscreen during time spent in the sun, protective eyewear (UV sunglasses), and head coverings like hats. It�s also important that individuals remain aware of any changes to their skin, like moles or other marks, and discuss any changes to skin conditions with a doctor immediately.

10. Know your families history

•  Knowledge plays a major role in cancer prevention. Understanding your family history with cancer can help your doctor make decisions relating to testing and screening for cancer. Many types of cancer are genetic, so it’s important to understand your family risk so you can make informed healthcare decisions.

In short, many cases of cancer are thought to be preventable, by making smart lifestyle choices. Top priorities are avoiding tobacco, eating a healthful and varied diet and staying physically active, minimal sun exposure, medical screening and regular self examination.