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.

What Hurts The Most Lyrics

Artist: Rascal Flatts
Album: Me And My Gang

 

I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don’t bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let 'em out
I’m not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I’m ok
But that’s not what gets me

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin’ to do

 

It’s hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I’m doin’ It
It’s hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I’m alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin’ with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken

What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

What hurts the most was being
so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

Not seeing that loving you
That’s what I was trying to do

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."

I have choosen to archive this article from ivillage to make it useful in the future. Currently, I have a white shirt given to me by a special friend that got rust stains.

 

 

From berry stains on a white shirt, to bleach stains on a dark carpet, here's a list of 16 of my top "magic" cleanup tricks that will help you banish blemishes, stains and marks for good. To find the stain-buster that's right for you, choose a category below:

1. Berry stains on clothing
Hold the stained area tightly over a pot or a heatproof bowl. (An old-fashioned embroidery hoop works best to keep the fabric stretched, but if you don't have one, and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't, have a couple of friends help you hold the fabric tight). Then hold a kettle of boiling water at least 12 inches above the stain and pour the hot water through the stain.

2. Blood on clothing
Pour some three-percent hydrogen peroxide, the kind sold as an antiseptic, onto a fresh stain, watch it bubble up, then rinse it away. Repeat until stain is gone. (This doesn't work on set-in bloodstains. Use Mary Ellen's For Those Days, available at local stores or from 612-941-1233).

3. Grease on washable items
Dab on some Crisco or butter, and then launder as usual. Or, sprinkle talcum powder on the spot while it's still wet, let it dry, and brush it off.

4. Lipstick on clothing
A saleswoman at Bloomingdale's, the New York department store, shared this trick. Non-oily makeup remover on a cotton swab eliminates lipstick, foundation and eye shadow from many garments, from cotton to silk.

5. Miscellaneous food stains on anything
If you catch them right away, you may be able to remove all kinds of stains -- even blood, salad dressing, grape juice, ink, pizza sauce, Kool-Aid -- with a moist disposable towelette or baby wipe.

6. Miscellaneous food stains on a tie or other fabric
If you don't have a towelette or wipe (see above), excuse yourself from the table, go into the wash room and apply some saliva to the spot. The same enzyme that breaks down food in your mouth is effective in breaking down the food stain.

7. Rust on clothing
Apply lemon juice and salt, then place in the sun. (Caution: This will bleach out non-whites).

8. Bleach on carpeting
Use marking pen in as close a match as you can get. This isn't an ideal solution, but in fact it's an approximation of how professionals work.

9. Bubble gum on upholstery
Make a loop of duct tape, press it against the spot and jerk it away quickly. Repeat until the gum is gone.

10. Ink on fabric or carpet
A favorite trick for removing ink is hairspray, the cheap kind without any oil. It works on clothing (saturate, then launder) and on rugs (saturate, let dry, brush lightly with vinegar and water). It's the alcohol that really does the job.

11. Rust in toilet
Sprinkle on some Tang, leave it an hour, then use your scrub brush. (It's the citric acid that does the job.)

12. Spots on chrome
Rub them with wadded up aluminum foil.

13. Tomato sauce on Tupperware
Leave it in the sun.

14. Wine on carpet
To remove red wine spilled on a carpet, pour white wine on it.

15. Scratches on walnut furniture
Remove the meat from a fresh, unsalted walnut or pecan. Break it in half and rub the scratch with the broken side of the nut.

16. White water rings on wood
Make a paste of butter or mayonnaise and cigarette ashes. Apply to spot and buff with a slightly damp cloth. Polish as usual.