Ways to Reduce Skin Chapping in Winter You May Not Know About

In the heart of winter, you are at the highest risk for chapping skin.  If you asked most people why this is, they would most likely tell you that the exposure to the cold and wind outside is the culprit.  That answer is true, however, it does not tell the whole story.  The truth is your skin is under assault from both the outside and the inside.  Excessively cold air is the enemy of your skin, but what many do not realize is, the central heating that you use during the winter is also an antagonist.  The heater is your friend for many reasons, but one of its drawbacks is that it makes the air inside dryer.  Moving from cold and wet to warm and dry can wreak the havoc of redness and soreness on exposed skin.

Other causes of chapped skin can be excessive use of soap, and some cosmetics that have a high basic pH can have a drying effect on the skin, stripping it of the oils.  Constantly wearing clothes that are too tight can contribute to chapping via constant friction.

Evening primrose.  Oil that is made from this plant can be used to treat chapped skin.

Author: Charles de Mille-Isles from Mille-Isles, Canada, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Raise the Humidity of Your Home

As stated above, central heating has the unwanted effect of taking a lot of the moisture out of the internal air.  An obvious remedy for this is to use a humidifier.  If you don't have a humidifier and you are suffering from chapped skin, an alternative solution is to place bowls of water near the heating vents in your house until you are willing and able to purchase one.

Evening Primrose Oil

The evening primrose plant has a long history in naturopathic and alternative medicine.  Primrose oil contains a type of essential Omega-6 fatty acid.  If you have chapped skin, the recommended dosage is 1500 mg, split up into 500 mg three times daily until the chapping subsides.  This should not be done as a preventive measure; only take this treatment if your skin is chapped.  This is due to the fact that it is Omega-6, and taking it long term can put an excess of Omega-6 in your body, upsetting the idea Omega-3 to 6 ratio.

There are a few potential risks of primrose oil if you have certain preexisting conditions.  It potentially can heighten risk of nausea and seizures for anyone taking phenothiazines. These are used to treat some conditions of psychosis such as schizophrenia.  For those who take antiplatelets and anticoagulant medicine, it may heighten the risk of bleeding.  Also, if you have excessively low blood pressure, you should be careful with evening primrose.

For those with no preexisting conditions, there have been occasional incidents of headaches or nausea.  However, these are very uncommon.

Herbal Remedies

A topical application for chapped skin is oil from the calendula plant.  Calendula ointment is also used to treat inflamed hemorrhoids, varicose veins, nosebleeds, and some other wounds which have trouble healing.

St. John's wort, or Hypericum perforatum is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including depression.  It also is an antioxidant which contains anti-inflammatory properties.  Depending on the condition, it can be taken orally or topically.  For chapped skin, use the latter.  The best time to apply it on the skin is immediately after a bath or shower.

The Health Risks of Sleeping Pills

Sleeping problems can occur for many reasons.  Among them are stress, a poor diet or eating schedule, excessive caffeine intake, or even loss of time tracking when you are deeply concentrated on an activity of interest.  In an attempt to alleviate this problem, millions of people have resorted to the consumption of sleeping pills.  Many of these sleeping pills belong to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, while others are diphenhydramine based.  Their potential for harm is multifaceted, while they do little, if any, good.

How Do Sleeping Pills Work?

Sleeping pills work to amplify the effect of GABA, which is a neurotransmitter.  This increased effect results in the person feeling sedated, as well has their muscles relaxing.  Sometimes, they may even have the feeling of dissociation; they feel detached from their relative surroundings.

Tylenol PM, a common over the counter diphenhydramine sleeping pill.  Author: Damian Finol, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Sleeping Pills Alter Brain Activity During Sleep

The obvious reason behind taking sleeping pills is to counteract loss of sleep due to insomnia.  However, research continuously shows that in addition to many other side effects, these drugs do not even yield the desired effect.  While they put you to sleep, it is not quality sleep.  Rather, they mask your underlying sleep problems by making you drowsy.  There are two main stages of sleep, REM and non-REM.  One phase of non-REM sleep is slow wave sleep.  These drugs inhibit the brain's ability to actually rest and consolidate during both slow wave and REM sleep.  Slow wave sleep is when your brain cements what you have learned through the day into its short term and long term memory banks.  This is the reason that pulling an all-nighter before an exam usually does not work.

Your Body Builds a Tolerance

Taken long term, sleeping pills tend to lose their effectiveness at the same dose.  Therefore, in order for them to put you to sleep, you will need to take more of them.  Some actually reach the point where they are unable to fall asleep without them.  Much like narcotics such as cocaine, it creates a greater dependency as time goes on.

Daytime Dysfunction

Because these drugs severely impact the quality of your sleep, impairing the brain's restorative ability, you are very likely to develop chronic fatigue during the day.  You will experience daytime drowsiness.  This also tends to affect your mood in the way of irritability that is common with people who are tired.

Affectations of Memory

This is a consequence of the alterations of brain activity and the reduced quality of both slow wave and REM sleep.  Because this is the period where your brain strengthens both its short and long term memory, long term usage can result in the loss of both types of that memory.  This can, in some cases, be severe enough that it mimics the symptoms of early stage dementia.

Cancer and Mortality

Research by Daniel Kripke, M.D. claims that sleeping pills actually raise the risk of cancer and death of all causes.  These trials were conducted out of the University of California, where Kripke is an emeritus professor.  He has done several research projects since the 1970's in relation to the dangers of sleeping pills.  In the most recent study, conducted over a five year period between 2002-2007, the death rate of all cause mortality was five times higher among pill users.

Melatonin

Melatonin is a natural hormone that is produced to help guide your circadian rhythm.  It is also a quite potent antioxidant.  This can be a quite favorable alternative than the synthetic benzodiazepines or diphenhydramine.  However, even with taking encapsulated melatonin, there are risks.  Taking an excess of melatonin, or taking it for too long of a period of time, carries many risks.  Follow the guidelines listed in this article about melatonin.  In particular, pay attention to the dosage recommendation, and if the capsules you purchase are not time released, break them up into the recommended fractions, instead of taking the whole pill.  Most whole capsules contain a lot more than is actually needed.

Five Great Brands of Dark Chocolate

Late last month, the Sphere of Health wrote about the many health benefits found in dark chocolate.  Cacao contains a wide variety of antioxidants, as well as essential trace minerals and elements that are necessary for optimizing your health.  The darker the chocolate - the higher percentage of cacao, generally the greater the benefits.  One caveat to this is that when the cacao content gets up into the 75+ percent range, some people find that to be too bitter for their tastes.  Very dark chocolate can sometimes be an acquired taste.  Though, once acquired, there are few things more delectable to the taste buds.  If you have difficulty with the bitterness, you can gradually build up your taste by following the directions in this hubpage article.

An assortment of chocolate bars of varying cacao.  If your tongue is not yet acclimated to handle at least 70% cacao, scaling up by using the slightly less dark would be an effective way to gradually build up your taste.
Author Gaël Chardon, under the license (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/26294314@N00/5539879732/

Michel Cluizel

This French company started out as a pastry business that expanded and evolved into chocolate.  Highly regarded worldwide as one of the exceptional gourmet brands, it has been around for over 60 years.  They leave out the lecithin in their recipe.  This affects the texture to make it slightly pasty.  But it also feels very smooth in the mouth, and is exceptionally rich.  They have a wide variety of flavors.

Valrhona

This company has been around since 1922, founded in France just south of Lyon.  Their chocolate and cocoa are used in high end restaurants, including Michelin starred ones, and for good reason.  Their chocolate is considerably less bitter than many other brands at the same cacao content.  It fills your mouth with a rich, creamy sensation.

Dolfin

This is a Belgian brand that has bars with a varying range of cacao content.  They also have a very wide selection of bars that have added fruit or spice flavor to them.

Amedei 

Located in Italy, in the region of Tuscany, this company's chocolate bars have won numerous awards over the years.  The bars are of single origin, meaning the chocolate from each product is made from only one type of bean from one region.  They do not blend the cocoa beans from various regions in one product.  The downside to Amedei is that most of their bars are quite expensive.  One particular product, Amedei Porcelana, is the world's priciest.  While you will probably enjoy this brand in moderation, you will definitely get everything you paid for when you do.

Guittard

Founded in the 1850's, this American chocolate company has stood a long test of time.  Their chocolate is coverture, using extra cocoa butter.  It gives the product a very creamy flavor.  Established by a French immigrant, Etienne Guittard, the chocolate is tempered and prepared using French methods.

The Versatile Weight Vest - Advantages and Safety

Today, many people are participating in exercise programs that utilize plyometrics and body weight exercises. Plyometrics are useful for building power and speed, while progressive resistance training builds strength.  Proponents of these programs claim that they yield superior functional power and strength to specific activities such as running, jumping, boxing, etc.

Depending on your goals and abilities, a problem with this program is that you can advance past the point where your body weight can increase your strength or speed performance. For instance, if you are able to do 30 pushups, and your goal is to get stronger, being able to do more than 30 is only going to marginally improve your strength.  Pushups after that number is an endurance exercise at that point.  Those who wish to use these exercises rather than pushing and pulling barbells, dumbells, and kettlebells will eventually need more outside weight if they are not gaining sufficient muscular weight to continue to give them a challenge in an optimal range of repetitions for increasing strength or speed.  One piece of equipment that will do just that is the weight vest.  They have become very popular, and for good reason.

Plyometrics is a type of exercise where a weight vest can be used for the intermediate to advanced trainer.

The first thing is, if you are doing exercises that involve joint impact such as plyometrics or running, when you first start to add weight via a suit, add very slowly. Start out with only four or five percent of your body weight.  Add only in five pound increments as your progress, staying at the same weight for at least a few weeks.  Reason being, impact power training is different than weightlifting. Even if you are strong for your size, plyometrics and running require advanced conditioning of the joints. Your joints may be conditioned to hold 400-500 pounds on your back for a set of squats.  That does not mean you will be able to safely walk for miles with 100 added pounds. Your muscles may be strong enough, but your joints acclimate slower.

Second, as you advance to using heavy weight, be sure you add no more than you can use walking with proper posture.  Substantial extra weight on your body with poor posture is a recipe for both acute and chronic back injuries.

Fasten your vest properly.  It should be fixed tightly enough to your body that it will not bounce or rub. Bouncing can cause bruising, while chronic rubbing can lead to a rash, or perhaps even lacerations.

Weight vests can be adjustable or non-adjustable.  The Sphere of Health highly recommends getting the adjustable types, unless you're certain that your goals are very modest.  If you progress, and intend to advance as far as you can, you will eventually outgrow the weight you are using, and will need more.

Train hard, and train safe!

How to Fight Your Flu

"I had a little bird.  Its name was Enza.  I opened up the door, and in flew Enza." - A rope jumping rhyme, originated around the time of the 1918 flu pandemic.

The winter of 2015 has seen a particularly high rate of flu incidents.  The stated reason for this, by various health care agencies is that this year's flu vaccine was a poor match for the strains of viruses that have been circulating this year.  Without getting into a debate about the merits, effectiveness, or demerits associated with the influenza vaccine, if you have come down with the flu, these are some of the remedies you can use to help your body kill the virus and have it run its course more quickly.

An H5N1 influenza virion.

What Is Influenza?

Numerous people are mistaken about what the flu actually is.  Influenza is a viral respiratory infection.  Its symptoms are characterized by fever, cough, sore throat, congestion and a runny nose, headaches, severe fatigue, and muscle and body aches.  In some cases, it can be accompanied by vomiting or diarrhea, however this is not common.  There is no such thing as the "stomach flu".  If your symptoms are centered around nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, and your respiratory system is not affected, you have either another viral, or bacterial infection.  Defining what you have is an important first step to taking the proper remedies.

First, What You Should NOT Do

Many who are not versed about the nature of influenza, or are mistaken about what it is, resort to taking the wrong measures.  That will either do further harm, or in the best case scenario, will merely do no good.

The first thing you should absolutely not do is take any form of antibiotics.  If you have any left over in your medicine cabinet, do not touch them.  As stated before, the flu is a viral infection, not a bacterial infection.  Taking antibiotics will do absolutely nothing to help you, and if you later get a bacterial infection, it may be able to resist treatment involving that antibiotic.

If your child has the flu, under no circumstances should they be given aspirin.  Using aspirin to reduce their fever can result in them acquiring Reyes Syndrome, which can cause a fatty liver, cerebral edema, and can potentially be deadly.  If you are an adult, you are at very low risk for Reyes.  However, unless you have a dangerously high fever, you should also avoid aspirin, as it is a fever reducer.

Do not overuse cough drops, or other cough medicine.  A cough is annoying, but it is a very necessary and productive action the body takes to rid itself of the flu.  However, adequate rest and sleep is also necessary to help your body fight off the virus.  So, if at all possible, limit your cough medicine to before bedtime.

Do not overuse fever reducers.  A fever, while uncomfortable, is a very effective defense mechanism for your body.  It heats itself in order to kill the invading virus.  Unless your fever is above 102F, do not attempt to treat your fever.  Doing so will make you temporarily more comfortable, however, it will also mean you will be sick longer.

What to Do If You Have the Flu

If you have a headache, use a warm cloth or other compress will help relieve the pain.  Again, do not use aspirin, unless your fever is above 102F.

Drink plenty of water.  With a flu, comes a fever, and with the heat, comes sweat.  Staying hydrated is very important to fighting an illness, especially a virus.  You can also drink some tea, which has antioxidants that will provide your immune system a needed boost.

Get rest and sleep.  Be a couch potato, and a bed bug.  When your energy is this low, this will probably be the easiest part of the fight.

Use nasal irrigation such as a netti pot or a saline squeeze.  The mucus that builds up in your sinuses during a flu, along with an embattled immune system, raises the risk of an accompanied sinus infection.  Irrigation will help flush out the post nasal drip that puts you at risk.

Use a humidifier or take a hot, steamy shower.  Breathing moist air aids in the prevention of your mucus drying or thickening in your passageways, easing their flow out of your body when you cough or blow your nose.

Eat enough, and eat very healthy.  The "starve a fever" adage is false.  Your body needs adequate nutrients to optimize its defenses.

Supplement your diet with Vitamin D, which most people are deficient in anyway.  Also take extra Vitamin A, and Vitamin C.  Most people are also deficient in iodine, so either eating something such as seaweed, or taking iodine in drop form will be helpful.

Some people who have heard of the Paleo diet are curious, however they are unfamiliar with recipes that fit the criteria.  This book, the 30 Day Guide to the Paleo Diet, is a very good starter for someone who is serious about giving the diet an honest try.  It offers a month's worth of recipes, and most of them are fairly simple to make.  The Sphere of Health recommends this beginner's book for the Paleolithic diet.

Both the Paleo and Primal movements are catching on, and the Sphere of Health highly recommends you to join this return to the diets and lifestyle in line with our genetic coding!

Warm Your Body to Fight Your Cold

It is January, and therefore we are in the midst of the cold and flu season.  Viruses travel around the workplace, spread through homes and gyms.  Some are better at taking the proper hygienic precautions than others.  Wash your hands frequently, don't touch other objects and then touch your face, keep a safe distance from others who are infected.  Yet, as careful as many of us think we are, we can forget ourselves in the midst of performing our daily tasks, and one mistake can result in infecting ourselves with a rhinovirus, which will cost us 7-10 days of comfort.

A diagram of the human rhinovirus, the cause of the common cold.  Author FuturePharmD518.  Under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

There is still no cure for the common cold, both one of the oldest and most common human sicknesses.  Your immune system will eventually kill the rhinovirus, however it has to run its course.  However, there are things you can do to lessen the symptoms, as well as cut down the time your cold will fester in your body before it is killed.  Zinc supplements, Vitamin C supplements, chicken soup, netti pots, and cold medicine.  There is one remedy that is often forgotten.  Dressing warm.

According to Bloomberg, a research trial was conducted at Yale, finding that cold cells replicated faster at colder temperatrues than at warmer temperatures.  This would be a good reason that summer colds are both rarer than winter colds, and usually last for a short period of time.

This revelation should actually not come as a surprise.  In the world of science, whether it be physics, chemistry, or biology, temperature has a strong bearing on molecular and cellular behavior.  More often than not, solubility increase with temperature.  The same goes for reactivity.  Temperature affects the very state of matter, as well as its volume.  Biologically, various organisms thrive at different temperatures.  Most humans prefer warmer weather, while polar bears like polar temperatures.  It should only stand to reason that the same thing might just go for viruses as well.  The human body in many cases will produce a fever in an attempt to kill various viruses and bacteria.

So, the next time you feel a cold coming on, warm your body, if you haven't done so already.  Dress warm.  Set the heat a couple degrees higher.  Avoid going out in the cold whenever possible, and if you have to, bundle yourself with layers.