By Brian Good, Men's Health

Sunflower Seeds

These salty wonders have the highest natural vitamin E content of any food around. "Vitamin E is one of the most important nutrients around for looking younger," says Barry Swanson, Ph.D., a professor of food science at Washington State University. "No antioxidant is more effective at fighting the aging effects of free radicals."

Spinach and Beans

Researchers in Australia, Indonesia and Sweden studied the diets of 400 elderly men and women, and found that those who ate the most leafy green vegetables and beans had the fewest wrinkles. The reason? Spinach and beans are full of compounds that help prevent and repair wear and tear on your skin cells as you get older.

Grape Juice

Besides providing protection from heart attack and stroke, grape juice can also help keep your middle-aged skin from sagging. "Grapes are filled with antioxidant polyphenols that help to keep your skin flexible and elastic," says Swanson.

Sweet Potatoes

Overexposure to the sun is one of the primary reasons men age prematurely. But sweet potatoes may help to fight sun damage. European researchers recently found that pigments from beta-carotene-rich foods—like sweet potatoes and carrots—can build up in your skin, helping to prevent damage from ultraviolet rays.

Cheese

No wonder rats always look so young. "Cheese is one of the best foods you can eat for your teeth," says Matthew Messina, D.D.S., an American Dental Association spokesman. "It's a good source of calcium, to keep your teeth strong. Plus, eating cheese can lower the levels of bacteria in your mouth and keep your teeth clean and cavity-free," he says. Dr. Messina recommends eating at least two servings of block cheese every week.

10 Tips to Fight Headache Pain

by Kathleen Donnelly

 

When a migraine headache takes hold, resistance, as the evil rulers say, is futile—at least, for all but the most heroic among us. But before a headache springs full blown, you may be able to avoid or dial down the pain by taking evasive action. Not every tip listed here works for everyone, and change doesn't come overnight. But experimenting with these suggestions may help you avoid getting a headache, or better manage one if it does arrive.

No. 1: Keep a headache diary.

Writing down the details of your headaches—how long they last, how severe they are, what was happening before the pain started and how you sought relief—can help you and your doctor identify your headache "triggers." For example, certain foods may bring on headaches, as can stress, menstrual cycles, bright light, perfumes and even changes in the weather. Once you have an idea of what could be fueling your headaches, you can try to avoid at least some of the triggers. "If you don't write things down and look at it over the course of time, you may not see relationships when it comes to trigger factors," says Dr. Fred Freitag, associate director of the Chicago-based Diamond Headache Clinic and a board member of the National Headache Foundation. "It may not be just one thing by itself that affects you. It may be several factors."

No. 2: Watch what you eat.

Food often gets the blame for triggering migraine headaches. In fact, so many foods have been implicated, says Dr. Lisa Mannix, a neurologist with Headache Associates in Cincinnati, that axing them all would mean giving up a healthy diet. Besides, she adds, only 20 percent to 30 percent of people can consistently identify the foods that trigger their headaches. Still, it won't hurt to experiment by dropping a couple of the most frequent troublemakers to see if it makes a difference. Start with what Mannix calls "the big three": red wine; processed meats and other foods that contain sodium nitrite; and foods that contain the seasoning monosodium glutamate, or MSG.

No. 3: Get enough magnesium.

Magnesium relaxes blood vessels and reduces the likelihood that migraine-inducing electric signals in the brain will be generated, both of which can cut your chances of getting a headache. Supplements are OK, says Freitag, but try making changes in your diet first to see if you notice any improvement. For example, replace white-flour breads and pastas with whole-wheat versions. Other magnesium-rich foods include leafy green vegetables and nuts (although for some, nuts are a headache trigger).

No. 4: Eat regular meals.

Just as important as avoiding foods that may trigger headaches is making sure you eat a healthy diet and don't skip meals. As Freitag explains, your brain runs on two things: oxygen and sugar converted from the food you eat. Once that sugar is gone, you need to feed your brain. In fact, if you tend to wake up with morning headaches, Freitag suggests eating a piece of fruit just before you go to bed to see if that helps stave off the early morning pain.

No. 5: Be careful with caffeine, alcohol and tobacco.

For some sufferers, caffeine's a major culprit. “When it's ingested daily or nearly daily it tends to make migraines worse," says Freitag. Alcohol, especially red wine and dark liquors, can be headache triggers. So can tobacco and second-hand smoke, which you shouldn't be messing around with anyway, headaches or not.

No. 6: Stick to a sleep schedule.

Keeping regular hours—even on the weekends—may help you avoid pain. Mannix advises her patients to make a concentrated effort to go to bed and get up at the same time each and every day. "Remember," she says, "we're talking about your very sensitive nervous system. Any change—external or internal—can change how you feel."

No. 7: Exercise regularly.

The idea is to improve the production of endorphins, the brain's natural painkillers. To do that, Freitag advises a minimum of 20 minutes to a half-hour of concentrated aerobic exercise, such as walking at a brisk, 4-miles-per-hour pace at least three times a week. Mannix says go for more if you can: 30 to 60 minutes per session, five days a week.

No. 8: Manage stress.

You can try all kinds of techniques, from massage to yoga to biofeedback. The important thing, says Mannix, is to find something you can do fairly quickly and easily. "Dealing with stress successfully sometimes means just giving yourself some time," she says. Read a book, go for a walk, even go shopping if that works for you.

No. 9: Try acupressure.

Acupressure, a form of traditional Chinese medicine that's based on the same ideas as acupuncture, involves putting gentle pressure on different points of your body and is a technique you can do yourself. Finding out if it works for you, Freitag says, may take a bit of trial and error. "But you can do all these things together," he says. "When you feel a headache coming on, you can take some Ibuprofen and do your acupressure. They're not mutually exclusive."

No. 10: Apply a cold pack.

Cold, says Freitag, "has a bit of a local anesthetic effect." So, go ahead: Place a cold pack on your forehead. "You don't need a fancy ice pack," says Freitag. "All you need is a package of frozen peas wrapped in a towel."

tayo ng magswimming... don sa beach na malalim..

 

Remember the five simple ways to be happy

 

1. Free your heart from hatred

2. Free your mind from worries

3. Live simply

4. Give more

5. Expect less

 

No one can get back to make a brand new start. Anyone can start from now and make a brandnew ending. God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears and light for the way.

 

Disappointments are like road humps, they slow you down a bit but you enjoy the smooth road afterwards. Don't stay on the humbs too long. Move on!

 

When you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy, because God is thinking of something better

 

When something happens to you, good or bad, consider what it means. There's a purpose to life's events, to teach you ho to laugh more or not to cry too hard. You can't make someone love you, all you can do is be someone who can be loved, the rest is up to the person to realise your worth.

 

The measure of love is when you love without measure. In life there are very rare chances that you'll meet theperson you love and loves you in return. So once you have it don't ever let go, the chance might never come your way again.

 

When you truly care for someone, you don't look for faults, you don't look for answers, you don't look for mistakes. Instead you fight the mistakes, you accept the faults, and you overlook the excuses.

 

Never abandon an old friend. You will never find one who can take his place. Friendship is like wine, it gets better as it grows older.

 

It's better to lose your pride to the one you love , than to lose the one you love because of pride. We spend too much time looking for the right person to love or finding fault with those we already love, when instead we should be perfercting the love we give.

 

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