3 easy ways to soothe stiff joints

Good morning friends. Don’t you hate it when you get out of bed with a pain in your head, neck, and back? So before you nod off, do a quick posture check. There are three positions that help the ease strain on these body parts...

Poses for relaxation

According to researchers, joint-friendly sleeping habits can help protect creaky body parts from developing a crick. Choose one of these postures: - If you sleep on your back, put a small pillow under your knees. - If you sleep on your side, avoid tucking your neck and chin into the fetal position. - If you sleep on your stomach, put a pillow under one side of your body, so your head and neck aren’t strained.

Did you know?

Rather than popping pills, eat healthy to reduce the risk of arthritis. Have a cup of green tea. It is great for bone cartilage. You can also make a daily routine of having a bowl of salad before each meal. It does a whole lot of good for your hands and knees. – The Times of India

Green tea cuts heart disease risk

Good morning friends. Those of you who love to drink tea, specially the green one. You will have a good benefit on that now. Green tea cuts heart disease risk .

Two mugs of green tea every day can significantly reduce the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, claims a new study.

To reach the conclusion, researchers from Okayama University tracked the health of more than 12,000 elderly people living in Japan. The men and women were aged between 65 and 84. In the study, the volunteers were asked to fill out questionnaires on lifestyle factors including details of diet, smoking and alcohol intake, reports The Daily Express.

During the following seven years more than 1,200 of the volunteers died. However, when all questionnaires were analyzed, scientists found that the more green tea the participants had drunk, the less likely they were to have died. This, especially, was true of cardiovascular disease.

Those drinking between 420ml and 560ml a day were up to 75 per cent less likely to have died of heart or circulatory­ disease than those who drank less than one cup each day. The study has been published in the Annals of Epidemiology. - The Times of India

Drink brewed tea to protect your teeth

Good morning friends. Here's the good news for you all crazy drinker of brewed tea.

Forget lattes and fresh lime juice, the best thing to drink is brewed tea, for it has no erosive effect on teeth and its antioxidants provide health benefits, according to a new research.

Refined sugars and acids found in soda and citrus juice promote tooth erosion, which wears away the hard part of the teeth, or the enamel. Once tooth enamel is lost, it's gone forever.

However, brewed tea is a beverage that does not produce such irreversible results.

Apart from tasting good, brewed tea has many health benefits. Tea is loaded with natural antioxidants, which are thought to decrease incidence of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

For the study, lead author Mohamed A. Bassiouny, DMD, BDS, MSc, PhD, compared green and black tea to soda and orange juice in terms of their short- and long-term erosive effect on human teeth.

The study found that the erosive effect of tea was similar to that of water, which has no erosive effect. And, when comparing green versus black, he discovered that there is a better option among those as well.

"When we look at tea and read about the benefits, it's amazing-not because green tea is 'the in thing'-but because there are advantages," Bassiouny said.

He added that much research done overseas, in countries such as Japan and Europe, found that green tea was identified to being superior over black due to its natural flavonoids (plant nutrients) and antioxidants.

Experts suggest drinking drink tea without additives such as milk, lemon, or sugar because they combine with tea's natural flavonoids and decrease the benefits.

The also suggest to stay away from pre-packaged iced teas because they contain citric acid and high amounts of sugars. It does not matter whether the tea is warm or cold-as l as it is home brewed without additives.

Kenton Ross, DMD, FAGD, AGD spokesperson, sees patients' erosion problems on a daily basis in his practice. "This study clearly shows that brewed teas resulted in dramatically less enamel loss than soft drinks and acidic juices. I would highly recommend patients choose tea as an alternative to more erosive drinks like soda and fruit juice."