Category Archives: Health

3 Helpful Tips Before You Start a Special Diet

Whether you’re a senior at an assisted living facility getting started on a highly recommended diet or a teenager hoping to get ahead of a genetic discovery, there’s a lot to be said for preparedness. 

So here are three helpful tips before you start a special diet for you. 

Nail Down Your Objectives

Getting clear on what you want to achieve is key. It’s having a roadmap that greatly helps you stay focused and actually see results.

So break it down. Whether it’s shedding pounds, boosting energy, or tackling a health issue, be specific about what you’re after. In fact, you want to make it measurable or put numbers to your goals as far as possible; turning a vague idea into something you can track, like losing a set amount of weight or hitting certain health targets.

For example, instead of saying, “I want to lose weight,” say, “I’m aiming to drop 10 pounds in the next two months.” See, now you’ve got a target to hit. Or if it’s about boosting energy, specify your goal—like aiming to feel more energized throughout the day in 3 weeks.

Dig into the Details

Knowing the ins and outs of your chosen diet is like having cheat codes. It helps you make smart choices and ensures the plan works well with your taste and lifestyle.

So study up on the specifics – the do’s, and the don’ts. It could mean flipping through books, browsing articles, or hitting up reliable online sources via YouTube or yes, even TikTok. Then, make it your own. Figure out what foods within the diet work for you. Consider your taste, culture, and what sits right with your ethics.

Starting a vegan diet? Find those plant-based protein sources you actually enjoy. Or maybe the keto diet is most suited to your goals. Explore various sources of healthy fats that match your taste. Maybe avocado becomes your new best friend in the kitchen.

Take It Slow and Steady

Really, you want to ease yourself in and make the adjustment smoother for your body in the long run.

Instead of hitting the brakes on certain foods all at once, ease off slowly over a week or two. Introduce the new stuff bit by bit; teaching your body a new rhythm without shocking it.

A low-carb diet? Gradually cut down on those carbs over a week or two. Swap out high-carb snacks for lower-carb options in stages. Your body will thank you for the approach. Or say you’re shifting to a gluten-free diet. Start by finding alternative grains and incorporating them into your meals. Don’t rush; let your digestive system adapt.

Starting a special diet with some level of preparedness is the way to go. So nail down those goals, get into the details, and try to do things at an easy, steady pace. 

3 Things To Know Before Starting A Career In Healthcare

If you’re looking to start a career, working in healthcare might be something you’ve been considering. However, having a career in healthcare can be extremely stressful and demanding, from the amount of education that you need to have to the daily grind of working. So before you go down this path, it’s good to come into it with your eyes wide open.

To help you in doing this, here are three things to know before starting a career in healthcare. 

You’ll Always Be Learning New Things

With any career in healthcare, you’re always going ot be learning new things. Whether you’re working as a medical assistant in a pediatric office or are working in an assisted living facility, you’ll always have to be willing to learn something new and put those new things into practice.

Because medicine is always advancing, there are going to be new technologies and prodecures that you’ll have to learn on a regular basis in order to stay current with the medicine you’re practicing. So if always having to be aware of new ways of doing things isn’t something that you’re wanting to worry about as part of your career, working in healthcare might not be a good fit for you. 

Showing Empathy Can Be Very Helpful

While medicine is a science, it is also a field that requires people to look beyond the science and see people for who they are and what their value is. If you’re able to do this, you could be a great asset to the medical profession. 

As part of really connecting with people, you’ll want to and need to show them empathy. A medical professional that can show empathy to people will often have a much easier time getting and keeping patients and clients. This is because people want to feel like the person giving them medical care actually cares about them. So if this part of medicine comes naturally to you, working in healthcare might be the right choice. 

Consider The Lifestyle Of The Career You Envision

Different medical careers are going to require different types of time committments and dedication than others. For example, obstetricians will almost always find themselves being on call so that they can deliver babies whenever the times comes. Because of this, taking time off can be hard for these kinds of doctors. But for other medical professionals, schedules can be more flexible. So before you get too far into your medical education, make sure you’ve thought about how the well the lifestyle of that chosen career path will align with what you want in your life. 

If you’ve been thinking about starting a career in healthcare, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you determine if this could be the right path for you. 

The Health Benefits of Polyphenols in Olive Oil

Extra virgin olive oil, in particular, has a reputation for being significantly healthier than other oils such as canola, soybean, grape seed, avocado, and coconut oil. But do you understand why? It’s not only the good monounsaturated fats, either. It’s partly because EVOO contains polyphenol chemicals.Polyphenols are found in all extra virgin olive oils, however, some have substantially higher quantities than others. “High-polyphenol olive oil” or “high-phenolic olive oil” is what they’re called. Learn more about The Health Benefits of Polyphenols in Olive Oil in this article:

Polyphenols are a type of bioactive ingredient or natural chemical molecule that can be found in small amounts in foods including grapes, tea, chocolate, almonds, and olives. Due to their antioxidant and other qualities, most polyphenol compounds provide health benefits. Polyphenols, in particular, are one of the most thoroughly researched groups of olive oil bioactive compounds, with research demonstrating their protective effects against oxidative stress—a type of physiological stress that can cause DNA mutations and lead to cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s.

Extra virgin olive oil with a high percentage of polyphenol components is known as polyphenol-rich olive oil. It usually has a vivid flavor and a spicy peppery finish, as well as more antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

However, testing for polyphenol levels is costly, and hardly everyone does it. Polyphenol levels also decrease over time, making it difficult for a producer to guarantee that their oil will continue to meet the health claim standard throughout its shelf life. Polyphenol levels in olive oil are influenced by a variety of factors, including the type of olives used, weather patterns, farming practices, harvest time, manufacturing conditions, and more.

Extra virgin olive oil offers numerous health benefits, but high-polyphenol EVOO is the best in its class when it comes to fighting chronic diseases and other health issues.

Polyphenol-rich olive oils, according to research, may help:

  • Cholesterol levels are reduced (and oxidation of cholesterol)
  • Reduce the risk of heart disease
  • Reduce your blood pressure.
  • Boost cognitive function and brain health
  • Encourage mental wellness.
  • Reduce pain and inflammation
  • Diabetes risk is reduced.
  • Help in fighting cancer
  • Improve gut health
  • Weight loss assistance and a lot more

In addition to being healthier, having a high polyphenol content makes olive oil more stable. Antioxidants help to slow down the oxidation process. This indicates that polyphenol-rich olive oil will age more slowly than other supermarket olive oils.

4 Renowned Influential Leaders in Healthcare Sector

Healthcare is a wide subject that involves a broad array of topics such as; epidemiology, environmental health, occupational health and safety, community health, behavioral and mental health, infectious disease, and much more relevant fields of health.

With the aim of promoting and protecting health,  healthcare professionals and contributors at times have been working behind the scenes involved in work such asinventing innovative products or leading organizations.

Let’s just have a look at the most renowned and established healthcare professionals who have consistently been thriving for the betterment of the field.

Influential Leader in Healthcare Industry

  1. Bernard Brozek

Bernard Brozek also known as Bernie Brozek has long been acknowledged as the leader of ingenious and rapidly-unfolding franchises across the country. And at this day, Mr. Bernard Brozek is the Chief Operating Officer of Revibe Men’s Health. Bernard has contributed to the healthcare field with his unparalleled skills in health industry that has expanded the sphere of human health. He is a franchise executive who has worked in the healthcare niches to improve operational effectiveness, and strategically plan for long-term success.

  • Seth Berkley

Seth Berkley, an epidemiologist, is the CEO of the GAVI Alliance. It  is the global vaccine consortium.  GAVI was established in 2000. It has saved lives of millions of children from dying of preventable diseases around the world. Recently it has become better known and famous for its COVAX programme. Thisprogramme has coordinated donations for COVID-19 vaccines aided by the wealthiest nations, and even low and middle income countries.

  • Dr. J. Nwando Olayiwola

She is theSenior Vice President and Chief Health Equity Officer for Humana, Inc., the digital healthcare consortium where she allocates a health equity lens to all components of the business.

For more than 20 years, Miss Olayiwola has contributed a large sect of her career to theharnessing oftechnology for improving access to healthcare for specifically underserved communities, as well as healthcare reform.

  • Adar Poonawalla

In 2021, Adar assisted in supplying half a billion doses of Covishield which is the indian version of the AstraZeneca vaccine;for both the people in India and overseas. His this significanteffort,  crucial to India’s vaccination programme, allowed him win several awards including Entrepreneur of the Year by Economic Times.

Adar is currently serving as the CEO of Serum Institute of India. It is one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world.

Apart from the influentialleaders and healthcare experts, the healthcare industry is an accumulation and integration of sectors executing in the economic system. Ithas allocated goods and services to treat patientswith curative, rehabilitative, and preventive care.

DOT Drug Test: Different Testing Methods

C:\Users\stefa\Downloads\681715341.jpeg

In today’s fast-paced world, it is common for people to seek relaxation in the form of illegal and legal drugs. However, having a successful career does not go hand-in-hand with drug intoxication, which is something you already know by now.

It does not matter if you have to pass the drug test as a pre-employment process or during the employment, if you operate within the DOT regulations, you will need to do it. By checking here, you will be able to watch a video that will explain to you the testing processes in depth.

Apart from the urinalysis, which is the most common type, we can differentiate other types as well. The general need for workplace drug testing is something that most employers are implementing.

You have to be aware of various testing methods available on the market so that you can choose the one that will provide you a transparent picture of your employees. 

Each one of them comes with particular advantages and disadvantages, which is also something you should know beforehand.

Let us start from the beginning.

  1. Urinalysis

We have stated above that one of the most popular and widely available testing methods is the urine drug testing. Generally, the drug byproducts or metabolites leave our bodies after a while and enter the urine. 

Since urinalysis is the least invasive procedure, it is common for most employers, and it will provide you an ability to detect both current intoxication and past actions.

Another important consideration is that this particular method comes with a wide array of tampering options that you can find online. Generally, the laboratories have implemented security regulations that reduce the chances of cheating the results.

However, you can find numerous products such as fake urine or detox kits that will mask the presence of metabolites. That is the main reason why employers tend to choose other testing methods that are more challenging to tamper with.

  1. Oral Fluid/Saliva

Even though urinalysis is the most common consideration for most employers and laboratories, saliva screening is gaining momentum as well. 

It is becoming more and more popular because it is less invasive than other methods, and you can detect the current intoxication much better than urinalysis.

Generally, it is the best solution if you wish to detect recent drug abuse with an idea to ensure positive and accurate results. According to one study, saliva screening can detect THC consumption for up to ten hours after consumption, depending on numerous factors.

  1. Blood Testing

Even though it is the most invasive and expensive solution that you can find on the market, it is the most accurate and with low false-positive options. It can easily detect the proper time of consumption, depending on the amount of substance you have in the blood.

It does not detect the metabolites but the active substances, which is why it should be used right after the suspicion, because drugs tend to leave blood fast. 

It is still the most common option used by insurance companies and law-enforcement agencies after accidents, and to determine whether a liable individual was intoxicated during a particular situation.

The main problem is its invasiveness, which is why it is not that common among employers and companies.

  1. Hair Follicle
C:\Users\stefa\Downloads\Testing.jpg

You probably understand by now that the idea of testing is to detect the drug metabolites that break down in your organism and stay in particular areas for some time. Hair drug tests are accurate and useful for detecting long-term consumers.

When you smoke weed, for instance, the THC will enter your blood, and after a while, metabolites will enter the blood vessels of your scalp, and the hair will filter them. You can think of your hair as a record of what you consumed in the last six months.

However, it cannot measure the current intoxication, because it requires at least seven days passing from consumption for new strains of hair to get outside the scalp so that labs can use them as samples.

The main idea is that you could detect long-term users. For instance, if you consume cannabis a few weeks ago, you can still test positive due to the high level of residues from the substance that will remain in the hair for months after consumption.

As soon as you enter this link: https://harbor-house.org/guide-to-dot-drug-test/, you will learn everything about the DOT drug testing methods. 

The problem lies in the idea that this particular test is not detecting whether an employee is currently intoxicated. Still, it represents a historical record of past drug abuse, which could be useful for pre-employment screening.