Tiny Orange Crab, Panay Island, Philippines, 2002

 

Not only can cold sores cause pain and discomfort for several days, they’re so noticeable, they can be embarrassing too. Although living with cold sores can be a hassle, treating them doesn’t have to be. Remember, they are caused by a virus and are considered a medical condition—your healthcare provider can help. 

Valtrex 

  is a prescription antiviral medicine that targets the herpes virus. It is a one-day oral treatment proven to speed the healing and shorten the pain and discomfort of cold sores. VALTREX Caplets attack the cold sore from within. When the herpes virus tries to reproduce and spread to other cells in the body, VALTREX stops or slows the reproduction of the active virus.

If your healthcare provider prescribes ,Valtrex 

you’ll want to have it on hand. That way, you can fight the herpes virus at the first sign of a cold sore. So don’t wait until your next cold sore to talk to your healthcare provider – have a discussion today. Then, when your next cold sore hits, you’ll be prepared to attack it.

Dosing for VALTREX for Cold Sores
The recommended dose for VALTREX is 2 grams taken at the first sign of a cold sore, and then again about 12 hours later. It’s important to start treatment with VALTREX at the first sign of a cold sore (such as tingling, itching, or burning). There are no studies that show if VALTREX works when used after the appearance of a cold sore. But be sure to follow your healthcare provider’s specific instructions. When treating cold sores with VALTREX, you should not take it for more than one day.

Talk to your healthcare provider. click here to see additional safety information: http://www.1stonlinepharmacy.com

   

Yes it's spring time.This is my favorite season, surroundings are beautiful because of the different kinds of flowers.I love going to some Parks and beautiful gardens.I enjoyed watching those lovely flowers.Here are some of my  beautiful 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cooking is one of my favorite thing to do. . I love to experiment.So anybody who really wants to learn how to cook,just visit my website.come and taste my healthylicious recipes.
 

           

The Oyster

There once was an Oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand was inside his shell
Just one little grain, but it gave him great pain!
For oysters have feelings, though they all seem so plain.
Now did he berate the workings of fate.
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the government—call for an election,
And cry that the sea “should have given protection?”
No! He said to himself as he lay on the shelf,
“Since I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it.”
The years rolled along, as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny—stew!
And the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow!
The tale has a moral, for isn’t it grand.
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?
What couldn’t I do if I’d only begin,
With all those things that “get under my skin!”

Get a Jump on Your Summer Garden

Summer-blooming gladiolas are a favorite in bouquets.

Mention flowering bulbs and most people think of daffodils and tulips. But there's another category of bulbs — those that bloom in summer and add sizzling color in July and August. Some of my favorite, easy-to-grow summer bulbs are dahlias, gladiolas, and elephant ears (Alocasia or Colocasia spp.). Others are begonias, caladiums, cannas, and peacock orchids. Note that some of these "bulbs" are, botanically speaking, corms or tubers.

These summer-blooming bulbs orginate from the tropics and are finicky about cold weather. They won't survive if you sneak them into the ground too early in the season or before the threat of frost is over. Wait until the frost-free date in your area to set bulbs into the ground. For a jump on the season, you can pre-plant the bulbs in containers and get them started indoors. This will encourage them to bloom three to four weeks earlier than normal. Starting indoors is especially helpful for slow-growing elephant ears, which love sunshine, heat, and high humidity.

Dahlias will bloom continuously until fall.

Comb seed catalogues and browse your local garden center for summer-blooming bulbs. If you're buying from a bin in a store, inspect the bulbs carefully and select only ones that are firm and blemish-free. To start bulbs indoors, plant them in clean containers with drainage holes. Fill pots half way with potting soil, set the bulbs in the pot, and cover the bulbs with soil. Follow the the directions on the label to determine how deeply to plant the bulbs.

Caladiums are perfect for part shade.

Gently water, then place pots in warm, humid area in direct sunlight and keep soil moist. Once threat of frost has past and soil has warmed to 60 degrees F. or warmer, transplant the bulbs outdoors. Be careful not to disturb the roots when transplanting. In regions with cold winters dahlias, gladiolas, elephant ears, and other tender bulbs need to be dug in fall and stored indoors over the winter to protect them from freezing. Hardy summer-blooming bulbs, including Asiatic and Oriental lilies and crocosmia, are perennial in most parts of the country and don't need to be lifted in fall.

Different Foods Help Make Us Healthy in Various Ways

Fruits and vegetables are important because they contain vitamins that help protect us from certain diseases. Eating these foods can help prevent some kinds of blindness and infections and help wounds heal properly. These foods also protect us from many other health problems.

Meat, poultry, eggs, and fish are good sources of the protein that our bodies need to grow strong. Milk, yogurt, and cheese are also good sources of protein. Protein builds muscle tissue and aids us in recovering from illness. Pregnant women and small children especially need protein to develop properly. These types of foods also contain minerals, such as iron and calcium, that help our bodies develop and function properly.

In addition to grains, verse 16 mentions foods that grow on vines, such as melons, squash, tomatoes, peas, and beans. These foods are all similar to grains in the way they help the body. They give us some protein, vitamins, and minerals that we need. Most importantly they give us carbohydrates, which are natural starches and sugars. Our bodies use carbohydrates to produce the energy we use for our daily activities.

A Variety of Foods Is Necessary for Good Health

Some people think it does not matter what they eat as long as the stomach is filled. This is not true. No one kind of food can take the place of another. Each kind has its own value. We need the vitamins in fruits and vegetables to protect us from some diseases. We need the protein in meats and other foods for growth. (If family members choose not to eat meat or animal products, good sources of protein are beans, peas, and lentils.) Also, we need the carbohydrates in grains for energy. Planning our meals around five basic food groups can help ensure we eat a balanced diet.

Ideas for Preparing Healthful Meals

Planning Meals

Before shopping for food, plan each meal. Make sure there will be servings from a variety of food groups for every person. It is usually helpful to have a written plan and to write down the foods for each meal.

Make a Shopping List

Next, prepare a written list of the foods and the amount of each food needed from the market. A shopping list not only helps us remember all of the items we need, but it also helps us avoid spending money on luxury foods we really do not need. For example, if we have a list, we will probably avoid buying soda pop and candy, which are expensive and unhealthful.

With careful planning and shopping, we may be able to shop less frequently, and can use our time and effort for other important activities, as did a widower with 12 children. This father knew that he did not have much time to spend at the market, so he planned his meals carefully and knew exactly what to buy each time he shopped. He stored the foods carefully to be sure they would still be fresh for his family to eat.

Buy Plentiful, Inexpensive Foods

Buy foods when they are plentiful, because the price then is usually the lowest. If possible, buy extra amounts of some foods when they are in season, plentiful, and inexpensive. Dry them or store them in other ways to eat later. It is important that we plan ahead in this way for another season when certain foods may not be plentiful.

Raise Gardens and Animals

Many families grow fruit and vegetable gardens. Even if a family does not have much space, they can usually grow a few plants in a window box or on a patio. If their garden is very small, a family will usually eat vegetables and fruits as they ripen. If a family has a fairly large garden, they usually eat some of the foods fresh and preserve the rest to be eaten later. Drying is a popular method for preserving food.

In many countries people also raise animals and poultry to help provide the food they need. They may raise ducks, chickens, goats, cows, pigs, rabbits, or fish. Animals provide us with foods from the meat and dairy groups.

Planting, caring for, and harvesting a garden, as well as keeping animals, require planning. For example, deciding where to keep animals, what they will eat, and who will feed them is a kind of planning that helps us have healthful meals for our families.

Budget Carefully

Another type of planning that can help us have more healthful meals is planning how we will spend our money on things other than food. As we think carefully about how we will spend the money we have, we may decide that it would be wiser to buy foods to keep us healthy than to spend the money on expensive luxuries. We might also discover that it is better to use our money for a variety of foods from the major food groups than for unhealthful snacks.

Conclusion

We receive many benefits in family relationships and health when we eat regular planned meals together each day. Our meals are most healthful when they contain a variety of foods from the major food groups. Each person should eat enough servings from each group every day. In order to provide meals that can help us be healthy and that can help our children grow properly, we must prepare for and plan the foods we buy or grow.

Challenge

This week plan nutritious meals for your family. Be sure each meal contains a variety of foods from the major groups. Plan ways for your family to continue to receive a proper variety and an adequate amount of foods they need for good health. Do this by planning ahead, by planting a garden where possible, and by drying or otherwise preserving and storing foods that are plentiful. Review the ways you are spending your money and, where possible, improve these ways of spending so that you have more money for proper food.

Cut Sugar and Fats

If restricted diets really do stimulate the body’s defenses to help maintain the fat, what kind of diet is best? Over twenty-five years ago a researcher showed that extreme obesity can be elicited in rats by raising the fat content of diets from 5 to 50 percent. Other researchers discovered the so-called “supermarket diet” (peanut butter, marshmallows, salami, chocolate milk, etc.), which consists of foods that are sweet tasting, rich in sugar, high in fat content, and low in fiber, caused obesity in rats that showed no unusual weight gains while eating rat chow. If these rats were returned to their daily routine of rat chow only, they could be returned to normal weight. This same phenomenon has been observed in humans who were transplanted into a new environment where fatty and sweet foods were readily available.

One of our major problems, then, may be that many of us eat the typical “supermarket diet” on a day-to-day basis. Almost 40 percent of the calories in the typical American diet comes in the form of fat, and each American eats over one hundred pounds of sugar per year. Changing the amounts of fat and sugar would obviously help control our weight.

Another advantage of decreasing fats and sugars is that we automatically consume more complex carbohydrates from vegetables, grains, and fruits. These kinds of foods not only have very low caloric density but also contain many vitamins and minerals so necessary for health. Changing to a diet higher in complex carbohydrates also allows a person to eat until he is satisfied. This prevents the changes associated with restricted diets that cause the body to conserve energy and store fat, but still maintains a relatively low caloric intake. A recent research study comparing the typical American diet with a diet high in complex carbohydrates showed that those eating the complex carbohydrate diet ate only half as many calories as those eating the typical American diet.

Health Hazards

Serious medical complications have been noted in connection with anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Victims almost always suffer from malnutrition—which causes low blood pressure, circulatory disturbances, irregular heartbeat, and impaired ability to fight disease and infection. During long periods of undernourishment, the body cannibalizes its own muscle tissue; since the heart is a muscle, cardiac arrest often occurs. In addition, malnutrition might adversely affect the brain. (This may explain why many anorectics see themselves as obese even when they are emaciated.)

Another common problem caused by malnutrition is electrolyte disturbance. Electrolytes are substances that help the nerves to function; an electrolyte of special concern is potassium. Low levels of potassium in the blood can lead to a wide range of complications, including muscle weakness, heart problems, kidney failure, urinary infections, and, in rare cases, epileptic seizures. In severe cases, potassium loss can threaten life.

People who frequently vomit often have sore throats, tooth decay, gum disease, and swelling of the cheeks

“Oh, my aching back,” 80 percent of us will complain at some time during our lifetimes. Back pain is considered second only to the common cold as a reason to miss work. It affects us physically, socially, and mentally. It may stop a gardener from spending a day working in her tomato patch or a golfer from finishing his last round. It may also limit the length of time one can sit or the quality of sleep one gets. Chronic back pain (regular pain lasting longer than three months) can lead to discouragement and depression.

But just how serious is it? How long will it last? Can it be prevented—or stopped from recurring?

Fortunately, back pain usually doesn’t indicate a serious problem, and it generally lasts only for a short period of time. Studies show that fewer than 50 percent of back-pain sufferers feel discomfort for longer than one month. After three months, 75 percent have recovered, and after six months, the recovery rate is about 90 percent. With time and proper treatment, even the worst back pain can be resolved. Less than 4 percent of those who suffer back pain will need surgery.

You can help prevent pain by learning how your back functions and by avoiding undue stress to the back. Body position can make a great difference. For example, when you stand erect, the pressure on your lower back is equal to your body weight. When you bend forward and twist your body to the side, the pressure on the lower back increases 1,000 percent.

The way you lift also affects the pressure on your back. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, and if you extend your arms and bend forward while twisting to lift a 30-pound child, 2,100 pounds of pressure are thrust upon your back. If you lifted that same child close to your body and maintained a straight spine, this pressure could be reduced to approximately 200 pounds.

Prolonged sitting can also be painful. When compared with standing, it doubles the amount of pressure exerted on the lower back.

Exercise can help protect against back pain. A regular exercise program not only improves the supply of blood and nutrition to the area, it also helps the back resist the fatigue that can lead to injury and pain. Research has shown aerobic exercise (walking, biking, swimming, etc.) to be most helpful. You must do this exercise long enough (at least twenty to thirty minutes), hard enough (increasing your breathing rate, but not to the point that you are panting), and frequently enough (at least three times a week) in order for it to be effective. In addition to aerobic exercise, strength training that utilizes many repetitions of the same exercise, and the lifting of a small weight, can help build endurance, allowing the back muscles to support the spine over longer periods of time.

If, after all your precautions, you still feel occasional back pain, you can obtain temporary relief. When the pain occurs suddenly, apply ice packs and take over-the-counter medicines like aspirin or ibuprofen to help decrease swelling. If the pain does not respond to these treatments and a little rest, consult your doctor.

In summary, here are some helpful hints to decrease and even avoid back pain:

1. Exercise regularly, with an emphasis on aerobic exercise.

2. Try not to sit for longer than forty-five minutes without standing and moving around.

3. Get proper rest, eat a balanced diet, and obey the Word of Wisdom. (Smokers have two to three times the incidence of back problems.)

4. Take rest breaks when your back muscles feel fatigued.

5. Get help when lifting heavy objects, and use proper body mechanics as you lift.

6. When lifting, hold objects close to your body. Don’t jerk or twist.

By following these simple rules, you can avoid most back pain. And if pain does occur, you can usually help return your back to a healthy condition.

Walk for Your Life!

     At age seventy-seven, Beth suffered a heart attack and had to undergo a coronary bypass operation. After she was released from the hospital, she was frightened of overexerting herself, so she seldom left home, and she stopped almost all physical activity. Soon she became so weak that she was unable to prepare meals or to dress herself. Her condition continued to deteriorate.

One day, her neighbor Lisa came by to visit, “Are you just going to sit there and wait to die?” Lisa asked. “Or are you going to do something to help yourself feel better? Come walking with me.”

Beth was startled—but she listened. That day she got out of bed and dressed herself. After a week she was able to walk to the door. After three weeks she made it to the mailbox. Within a few months, she could walk all the way around her block. During this time, Beth also began to prepare meals, do her laundry, and attend church again. Now she looks forward to her daily walk and says that she feels better than ever.

Beth’s experience isn’t unique to the elderly. Almost anyone, of any age, would benefit from a consistent walking program.

Why Walk?

Research has shown that a simple daily walking program can make a significant difference in our overall well-being. Those who walk consistently are ill less frequently, and their bodies age more slowly. Walking invigorates cardiovascular functioning, which normally declines with age. Walking also slows bone demineralization, especially in the legs, 1 and it serves as a deterrent to increased fat storage; increases circulation, which reduces joint inflammation and pain in people who suffer from arthritis 2; and improves all factors (except age, heredity, and smoking) that are linked to cardiovascular disease.

Before You Begin

With all of walking’s potential benefits, it is hard to find a valid reason not to be involved in some type of walking program. There is, however, one stipulation: You must be free from any health problems that may be worsened by exercise. Ask yourself, “Do I have any concerns about my current health?” If you do, obtain a physical examination from your doctor and ask him if you can safely start a walking program.

For your walking, wear a pair of shoes that fits well and has a cushioned sole. Running shoes and the new athletic walking shoes are designed to be comfortable and to lessen shock.

In order to walk at the right pace, you need to know your Target Heart Rate (THR). Your THR is the most effective training pulse for maximum cardiovascular and fat-burning benefits given your age and current fitness level. Using your THR ensures that you do not exert yourself too much or too little.

To figure your THR, subtract your age from 220, then multiply this number by .75. During a brisk walk, your heart rate per minute should be near your calculated THR. (To monitor your heart rate, find your pulse by placing your first two fingers on the thumb side of the opposite wrist. Count your pulse for ten seconds, then multiply this number by six. This is your heart rate per minute.) If your heart rate is above your THR, slow down a little and check it again after a few minutes. If your heart rate is below your THR, try to walk a little faster.

Ready, Set, Walk!

For a few minutes before you start walking, loosen up by stretching. Concentrate on your legs, calves, and trunk. This prepares your muscles and joints for exercise. Then warm up by walking normally for five minutes to increase your heart rate slowly. For the next twenty to forty-five minutes, walk briskly, taking full strides and swinging your arms. During the first few minutes of your brisk walking, pause for ten seconds and count your pulse, then adjust your pace accordingly. Before you completely stop, cool down by walking slowly for five minutes to allow your pulse to lower gradually and safely. Stretch for a few minutes when you are finished to prevent stiffness and to increase flexibility.

For maximum benefit, you should walk three to five times a week for twenty to forty-five minutes. But programs can be tailored to fit any individual and any schedule. By adjusting the length, pace, and frequency of walks, anyone can participate. By walking only a few minutes a day, a previously sedentary adult can, over time, progress to a brisk forty-five-minute walk over hilly terrain.

Make Walking Interesting

Many business people walk during their lunch breaks. Some like to include colleagues or clients and discuss business matters. Members of one Relief Society presidency walk together every morning and talk about the needs of the sisters in their ward. Husbands and wives can converse about daily happenings as they exercise. And parents can really work up a sweat if they take small children along in strollers.

A good walking program can be an important part of a balanced life. It can improve your life physically, and since spiritual sensitivity increases when one is unhampered by physical concerns, it can improve your life spiritually as well. So what are you waiting for? Take a walk!