NHF Magazine March 2012 Issue 2

TOP 10 FOODS THAT CAUSE DIABETES

STAY FIT WHILE YOU WORK

8 WAYS TO REDUCE BLOOD PRESSUREExcellent ways to save money on food

RUNNING FOR BEGINNERS – SOFA TO 5K

OTHER ARTICLES: > HEART ATTACK: WHAT CAUSES A HEART ATTACK? > SUPPLEMENTS - WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY SHOULD WE TAKE SUPPLEMENTS? > MASTER IN DOJO, MASTER IN LIFE: 5 REASONS YOU SHOULD STUDY MARTIAL ARTS

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Always consult a qualified medical professional andAlways consult a qualified medical professional andqualified personal trainer.

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Most powerful fat burner - guaranteedIncenerates stubborn bodyfatFuels body temperatureElectrifies mind & bodyDestroys appetite


SI03 or its distributor and dealers are not responsible for any conditions including sponatenous combusition, extreme body transformation, complete lack of eating and hyperactivity.

This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure orprevent any disease.

Always consult a qualified medical professional andAlways consult a qualified medical professional andqualified personal trainer.

Hey NHF readers!We hope your January went well and you are keeping your New Year resolutions!? Even if you didn’t, I encourage you to make resolutions to improve fitness and health at any time of the year. I have been doing a lot of running and walking lately. Over January, I ran in my Vibram five fingers (www.vibram-fivefingers.com) and it certainly toughened up my feet! It makes a great walking shoe too. This month we have covered two awesome articles on the subject: sofa to 5k and walk-ing vs running. Sofa (couch) to 5k will help you get off your couch and running 5 Km in just over 2 months! Up for the challenge?We have also covered a question from one of our readers on which is better – walking or run-ning. This month I wanted to also touch on diabetes and heart attack. Read them! They will help you make healthy choices in your life. Start small and aim for long term

healthy habits. Do you know much about martial arts? Maybe this issue will whet your appetite for knowing more about martial arts. We have a great article on mar-tial arts this month. I’m considering learning martial arts myself to keep my fitness up and learn new techniques! There are many differ-ent types of martial arts and I encourage you to research more in your own time. Finally, I encourage you to take up any sport / martial art / activity that increase your ac-tivity during the week. Feel free to email me at [email protected] to share your fitness ac-tivities and nutrition with me.

Together with you in fit-ness,

Jeremy TaylorExecutive EditorNHF Magazine

EDITORS PAGE

Publisher & Executive Editor:Jeremy Taylor

Production Editor:Sanchobeny Murry

Assistant Editors: Koluhrii Ariicho

Jre Murry

Web & UI Engineer:Calum Knott

Website Editor:Ageng Newmai

Sanchobeny Murry

Art, Digital & Graphics Designer:Tim Clarkson

Photographer:Emma Nutter

Advertising Director:Jeremy Taylor

Sanchobeny Murry

Writers: Agota, Bhavana Pandey, Emma

Nutter, Elsie Boateng, Dr. Rob, Sian Pit-man, Suman Santra, and Yuvika Pai

[email protected]

[email protected]

Editorial [email protected]

CONTRIBUTERS

CONTENTS

5 Heart Attack: What causes a heart attack

9 Top 10 foods that cause diabetes

13 Walking vs Running

19 Supplements- What are they and why should we take supplements?

24 Stay Fit While You Work: Healthy Habits for Office-Goers

26 Master in Dojo, Master in Life: 5 Reasons you should study martial arts

29 8 Ways to reduce blood pressure

35 Running for Beginners – Sofa to 5k

37 Excellent ways to save money on food

29

13

35

HEART ATTACK: WHAT CAUSES A HEART ATTACK?With around 29% of deaths world-wide being attributed to coronary heart disease, it is something that will affect us all at some point, di-rectly or indirectly. This is why it is so important to gather all the informa-tion we can on guarding against ever having a heart attack.

The majority of heart attacks are caused by coronary heart disease, this is a condition where the arter-ies narrow as fatty material gradual builds up on the artery walls. At any point a piece of this material can break off, leading to a blood clot. If this clot then moves into the coro-nary artery the heart will be starved of oxygen causing a heart attack. The extent of the damage depends on the length of time the heart is starved of oxygen; if the blood sup-ply is cut off for a considerable length of time then the muscle cells will be damaged irreversibly.

Symptoms of a Heart Attack

People who suffer with coronary heart disease may have a warning that they are at risk by suffering with angina. Angina is severe chest pain caused by less oxygen entering the heart because of narrowing of the arteries. Unlike a heart attack angi-na is temporary pain that is eased by resting. However it is a symptom of coronary heart disease, warning the

sufferer that they are at a high risk of having a heart attack.

However, most deaths resulting from a heart attack are sudden and you may be suffering from narrowing ar-teries without a prior warning. The symptoms of a heart attack include the following:

- Chest pain, which is felt as a crush ing pain, that often travels through the left arm and in the neck or jaw. The pain may be severe or mild; it is possible to have a heart attacl without experiencing pain.

- Stomach or abdominal pain

- Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing

- Nausea and vomiting

- Sweating

- Anxiety

- Weakness

- Feeling light-headed

- Going Pale

- Palpitations

It is essential that a heart attack is dealt with quickly and treated at a

hospital. If a patient survives the first month following a heart attack, they are likely to be alive five years later.

Causes of Heart Disease

There are several factors that in-crease a person’s individual risk of developing heart disease. The risk is increased if it runs in your fami-lies genes, however this does not guarantee that you will develop the disease, and you can still reduce the likelihood by living a healthy lifestyle. Other major risk factors include:

- Smoking- High cholesterol- High blood pressure- Diabetes- Obesity

All of the listed factors can be prac-tically eliminated by living a healthy lifestyle, such as by giving up smok-ing, which in itself can reduce the chance of having a heart attack by a quarter. High cholesterol and obesity are both usually caused by poor diet choices, which can easily be recti-fied by learning about proper nutri-tion. Another way to decrease your chance of having a heart attack is by taking a small amount of aspirin eve-ryday, which thins the blood. Howev-er you should discuss this with your doctor first and it should be taken in conjunction with a healthy lifestyle.

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Food For A Healthy Heart

Eating a healthy diet is one of the best defences against heart dis-ease. This may mean cutting cer-tain foods out of your diet, and in-troducing others. If you only do one thing then it should be to reduce the amount of saturated and trans-fats you consume. Saturated and trans fats greatly raise your cholesterol. You can cut out trans-fats altogether by reading the ingredients in all the packaged foods you buy and avoid-ing those that contain them. Trans fats are mainly found in cakes, bis-cuits and baked goods. To reduce the amount of saturated fat, try limit-ing the butter, margarine and oil you use whilst cooking, instead opt for healthier alternatives that are avail-able at the supermarket.

There are many super foods out there that claim to “prevent” heart disease, but there are so many it can be confusing. To make things easier I have outlined five of the best foods to promote a healthy heart that are easily incorporated into your daily diet:

GarlicRegular garlic consumption can have massive beneficial effects on blood pressure and cholesterol. It is so versatile and can be used in most main meals, so it is something you can introduce into your diet every day. Eating raw garlic is even bet-ter, however this can be difficult for many people to stomach so instead you could take a odourless garlic capsule a day available from health food stores.

SalmonSalmon is a perfect source of ome-ga-3 acids that keep your heart healthy by reducing inflammation and lowering cholesterol.

AlmondsAlmonds are an excellent source of protein, fiber and heart-healthy oils, which will keep your cholesterol levels down. You can eat them as a snack or use them in salads, cakes and biscuits.

Red WineRed wine contains something called poly-phenols which studies have found could be beneficial to the heart. However red wine should be consumed in moderation, as too much can be bad for your health. If you must drink, a maximum of one small glass per day should be con-sumed.

Whole GrainsThere are many cereals and breads on the market that claim to promote a healthy heart. This is because they contain whole grains, which provide vitamins and fibre to keep your heart in shape.

Although there is no way of elimi-nating the risk of a heart attack al-together, there are plenty of ways of supporting your heart by living a healthy lifestyle. By eating health-ily and cutting down on bad habits you will be giving your body the best possible chance.


Introduction to diabetes:In a general term diabetes refers to a condition when there is increased level of glucose in blood. Diabetes can be of two types:• Diabetes mellitus • Diabetes insipidus

Diabetes mellitus: This type of diabe-tes results in increased blood glucose level due to insufficient hormone called insulin or cells become non respondent to this hormone. The person may suf-fer from increased urine output (polyu-ria), increased thirst (polydipsia) and increased hunger(polyphagia).It is con-sidered to be the most common form of diabetes.

Diabetes insipidus: Although diabetes insipidus have similarity with diabetes mellitus in frequent and excessive urina-tion along with increased thirst, but it oc-curs because of deficiency of a hormone called arginine vasopressin, which is an antidiuretic hormone (ADH)or it may be caused by insensitivity of kidney’s to-wards ADH.

A patient suffering from diabetes needs to have a healthy lifestyle which should includes regular exercise and proper diet. There are some foods which are known to cause increased blood glu-cose level in our body, so they must be avoided. So some foods which can en-hance diabetes are mentioned below. These should be totally avoided by pa-tients.

People have certain misconceptions in their mind that uptake of sugars in diets

is responsible for diabetes, but this is not true. There are other more causes which enhance blood glucose level like intake of high calorie foods ,obesity and laziness or inactive lifestyle etc. Some of the food stuffs which cause diabetes are:

FruitsThere are many fruits like watermelon, strawberries,papaya and plums which can help in controlling blood sugar level, but on the other hand fruit juices should be avoided but diabetic patient as they contains high sugar level and requires plenty of fruits to extract juice Fruits like mango, banana and grapes should be avoided by diabetic person as they may result in increased glucose level. Also these persons should also avoid dry fruits because they contain fats and concentrated sources of energy.

Starchy foods Starch is the main source of glucose and thus these food items which contain starch as a component should be avoid-ed. Major sources of foods that contain starch are potatos, rice and squash. They result in increased level of glucose in blood of diabetic patients

Fried foodsFried foods are also important factor in increasing glucose levels. So diabetic patient should avoid oily food products. Instead apart from oils other oils like olive oil and canola are highly recom-mended. Also we can use other meth-ods of cooking food like baking, steam-ing and boiling .Food products can also be sauted for taste.

Hydrogenated Vegetable OilsHydrogenated vegetable oil are also source of enhancing glucose level in blood that might increase the risk of dia-betes .These oils are created by addi-tion of hydrogen to vegetable oil which forms a solid, longer-lasting fat source. It contains rich amounts of trans fats.Trans fats are known to be more dam-aging than other saturated fats. Eating excessive amounts of calories can lead to weight gain, which is a significant risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. Avoid foods that list hydrogenated vegetable oil or its derivatives, such as hard margarine or shortening, as ingredients.

Processed MeatsIt has been reported in some studies that if processed meats are consumed more than thrice a week can increase the risk of diabetes for example hot dogs and bacon since they negatively involve the capability of the pancreas to make insulin. These processed meats increases calories which results in in-creased weight leading to obesity in some people. Both these conditions are prerequisite for diabetes

Carbonated SodasPeople usually of young age groups are very found of carbonated drinks also they are very popular among children’s also like colas which are unusually very sweet and contains high amount of calo-ries. Consuming them excessively can cause the risk of diabetes

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‘There are other more causes which enhance blood glucose level like intake of high calorie foods ,obesity and laziness or inactive lifestyle... ’

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Fatty Fish and Meats Many fish and meat load your every day diet with fat, gratitude to their natural index and the fat add up from frying. The American Di-abetes organization shows out that this can drive a fast food past 2,000 calories. Culprits contain double egg, fried fish, cheeseburg-ers, sandwiches, meat and breakfast sand-wiches, submarine sandwiches and tacos.

Fatty Sides and SnacksFatty foods like potato pork rinds, burg-ers, chips and doughnuts contains calories which can add fat to your diet but a very lit-tle contribution towards nutritional value.. These “vacant” calories can cause to gain over weight leading to obesity and other health related problems. The American Heart Association shows that fast-food or-ders are regularly deep-fried, aggressive your heart health also, a special danger for those people who have diabetes. French fries, Onion rings and fried fruit can cause enhance diabetics and your cholesterol un-controllable.

Foods with Added SugarsWe all are aware that sugars are added in variety of food products because they con-tribute calories, sweet flavor and a longer shelf life to a variety of foods and beverages. These together with have a high glycemic impact. It has been surveyed by MayoClinic.com that most Americans consume over 22 tsp. of added sugars per day which surpass-es the recommended daily limit of 6 tsp. for women and 9 tsp. for men. To escape from these added sugars cut back on added sug-ars, drink water, herbal tea or low-fat milk instead of sugary soft drinks and fruit punch. Eat fresh fruit more often than candy, frozen desserts and pie. Additional products high in added sugars include jellies, jam, pancake syrup, frosting, sugary cereals and commer-cially baked cookies, cakes and pastries.

ShakesMilkshakes add up to 62 g of sugar to 63 g of carbohydrates and 22 g of fat, per 16-oz. serving, producing a serious threat to weight control and diabetes risk. The FDA doesn’t set a recommendation for sugar in-take, instead advising as limited consump-tion as possible. Milkshakes contain nearly twice the sugar of regular soda drinks and, at 493 calories, more than triple the soda calorie count.

WALKING VS RUNNINGThis is a question faced by many embarking on a new fitness regime. Advocates of both running and walking will tell you that one is better for you than the other, whereas some experts will tell you that they are both as effective as each other, so which is it? The truth is that both forms are exercises are good for you for different reasons which are outlined below.

Excercise

Before you ChooseFor some, there are certain things to consider when deciding which exercise is better for you. Those with knee or joint prob-lems for example might want to think about walking rather than running, as going for a jog can have a bad impact on the knee joints if not done correctly. Those wishing to lose weight or get fitter quicker however, will be better off running, as this is an aerobic exercise that will boost the heart rate more than walking. Weight loss all comes down to burning calories and you will burn calo-ries quicker through a run than a walk. Time is also an issue, for a walk to be an effective workout you will need to dedicate a lot of time to it or increase the inten-sity – through walking uphill for example. If in doubt about your fitness levels, begin with walking until you can walk at a pace you are comfortable to start running, all the time increasing the pace and distance.

RunningAnyone will tell you that running clearly has its benefits, particu-larly for your health. Increasing your heart rate is a sure way to boost fitness levels and increase your circulation – the more you practice running the fitter you will get and begin to notice that eve-ryday tasks such as walking up the stairs get easier as your fit-ness improves.Running is an effective way to lose weight and studies have shown that it burns more calories than walking, simply because of the impact on your body. If you think about the technique of run-ning compared to walking - you always have a foot on the ground when you walk which means your body absorbs less weight, whereas during a run, both feet leave the ground and it will take more energy to absorb the im-

pact. Running will help you burn more calories than most other exercises, leading to fat loss and build-up of lean muscle tissue. Studies have shown that running is also good for improving bone strength, which is particularly im-portant as you get older.As well as the obvious health benefits, running is also good for your mental health. Taking some time to yourself to get out-side and do some exercise is good for the mind and can help reduce your stress levels. For years scientists have discussed the ‘runner’s high’, which refers to feelings of elation and calm felt following the endorphin rush that a long period of exercise like a run brings .You’ll also feel a great satisfaction from having taken steps to improve your fit-ness as well as having the op-portunity to think whilst you run.How much you should run de-pends on what you are looking to achieve. If you are an inex-perienced runner, you should start off slowly and increase your speed over a period of a few weeks. Set yourself a tar-get to measure how far you can run in a certain time or how long it takes you to reach a certain distance. As your performance improves you should be able to increase your distance and speed as should experienced runners who are finding their cur-rent pace too comfortable. Don’t push yourself too hard and if you are short of breath and in pain, you should slow down to avoid causing injury.

Be sure to balance your run-ning with other forms of exercise – running focuses a lot on your legs and lower body so make sure that you undertake some upper body exercises too.

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WalkingWalking is a great form of exercise for those who are looking to do something at a slower pace. If you walk regularly you will still benefit from in-creased fitness and circulation and you won’t be as prone to joint and back injuries as you would be running. Walking is a great form of rehabilita-tion for people with existing back conditions who will feel the benefit of this lighter exercise.For those wanting to lose weight, walking has been proven to be as effective at burning calories as running, if you walk at a certain pace. If you were to walk and run at the same pace you may find you actually burn more calories during the walk as you are using more energy to get there. Walking is certainly recommended for people suf-fering from obesity who are looking to start losing weight, it is something you can do at any kind of fitness level and is a great starting point before moving onto more challenging forms of exercise. Going for a walk is a free and enjoyable exercise, allowing you to take new and exciting routes and explore your local area and further. To make a walk more challenging you could walk up hill or up a mountain, providing it is safe to do so. Walk-ing is something that is easy to do with another person and is a more sociable exercise, allowing you to carry on a conversation without getting out of breath at the same time.

Walking is easy to incorporate into your life – walk to work instead of taking public or private trans-port. If your commute is longer, use public or pri-vate transport for half the journey and then walk the rest. Use it as a reason not to drive shorter distances, not only will you be boosting your fit-ness but you will also do your bit to help the en-vironment.

It is recommended that adults complete 30 min-utes of exercise five times a week in order to stay healthy and to prevent obesity, running and walk-ing can both be counted as appropriate forms of exercise but which one you decide to do will de-pend on your current fitness levels, the amount of time you can give and what your goals are from exercise.

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Supplements- What are they and why should we take supplements?

What are dietary supplements?Officially, dietary supplements are defined as prod-ucts taken by mouth that contains a “dietary ingre-dient” intended to supplement the diet. By that defi-nition dietary supplement encompasses vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids and substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, glandu-lars and metabolites.Dietary supplements come in different types and forms such as powders, tablets, capsules, soft gels, gel caps, and liquids such as RTD (Ready to drink). Legally, makers of dietary supplements cannot say that dietary supplements can diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent diseases only that they contribute to health maintenance and well-being.One main thing that separates supplements from medicines that diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent dis-eases is that dietary supplements are not regulated in the same way as medicines. A dietary supplement can be sold without research on how well it works whiles medicines go through strict testing before ap-proved for use.

Why are dietary supplements important?Currently, there are hundreds of supplements on the market and they all have a reason for existing. The idea behind supplements as defined above is to pro-vide the missing aspect of a person’s diet but there are a whole lot of other reasons why people take sup-plements.

• One of the most common reasons why people take supplements is to enhance and make their diets more balanced. Vegetarians and people who eat certain types of foods while ignoring others may have severe

deficiencies of certain minerals, vitamins and nutri-ents which can cause diseases so taking a dietary supplement of multivitamins or specific minerals and vitamins missing from meals can alleviate the danger of such diseases.

• Some people also take supplements as a way to keep certain disease at bay as prevention is better than cure. Health concerns such as aches and pains in joints, colds, inflammation, stress, high cholesterol and flu lead people to take supplements as part of their daily routine.

• Other times, taking supplements is a necessity es-pecially when in a vulnerable state of health; for ex-ample pregnant women are often advised by doctors to take folic acid to prevent birth defects. Whiles new mothers are advised to take supplements such as Vi-tamin A and B to help with lactation.

• Another reason to take supplements is old age; as we get older, our appetites may decline and our sense of taste and smell may falter which is why it is essential to take supplements so as to continue getting the necessary ingredients even when not eat-ing the required foods. Old age also bring aches and pains in the muscles and joints which certain supple-ments can help especially if the body isn’t providing the necessary amounts like it used to.

• Supplements are again very important especially for people suffering from eating disorders; it is a good idea for people suffering from conditions such as an-orexia and bulimia to take supplements to give the body the nutrients it needs.

Dietary Supplements are nothing new, they have been around for years; a notion which is evident by the number of supplements currently available on the market. For many reasons, supplements have become more popular as science has advanced; the ques-tion is why are supplements so popular and why do people take them.

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• Supplements are also very im-portant to people who suffer from anaemia, iron-deficiency and vi-tamin deficiencies which can lead to serious and in certain cases fa-tal health issues in the long run. The good news is there are sup-plements on the market that can be taken to fight these deficien-cies.

• Supplements are also a god-send to people who suffer from mal-absorption; mal-absorption is a condition where the body cannot absorb nutrients correctly. This condition can cause even more serious health issues if the body isn’t getting the nutrients it needs so taking dietary supple-ments is a great way to resolve this issue.

• Women especially have been known to take supplements as a way of living a healthy lifestyle. This is because women tend not to get enough iron and other vi-tamins as they lose it through monthly menstrual bleeding. There are other cases where constant dieting also means most women do not get enough vita-mins and minerals so it becomes imperative that they take supple-ments as part of a daily routine.

• Another popular reason why people take supplements is to gain weight and build muscles. Such supplements are very popular and come in the form of shakes known as weight gain shakes. Weight gain shakes are a mixture of high protein, low fat and moderate carbohydrates as well as some vitamins and min-erals used to add extra calories and protein to a diet. Weight gain drinks can be taken as a meal supplement or taken in addition

to a balanced diet in order to gain weight. Bodybuilders looking to add extra muscles and individuals wanting to bulk up a lean frame can achieve this with weight gain shakes. There are a large variety of weight gain shake mixes cur-rently on the market; they usually come in a powdered form which can be mixed with milk, water or fruit juices. There are many types of store bought weight gain drinks on the market, the more popular brands favoured by bodybuilding professionals come from Syntrax, Optimum Nutrition, AST Sports Science and Dyma-tize who provide the supplements in different forms such as protein, fat loss and energy, vitamins and minerals as well as amino acids shakes.

More people take supplements now than ever to prevent dis-eases, to fight deficiencies or as part of a healthy lifestyle; what-ever the reason dietary supple-ments are seen as a good thing for maintaining good health al-though like most things it should not be abused because taking more than the prescribed dose can have an adverse effect.

Always inform your doctor if you are using a dietary supplement or if you are thinking about com-bining a dietary supplement with your conventional medical treat-ment as it might not be safe to do so.

Also, because dietary supple-ments aren’t regulated as strenu-ously as other medicines, it is important to talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or dietician before taking certain supplements espe-cially herbal supplements.

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The office schedule and the hefty work load leave little time to take care of health and fitness. Like most office-goers, do you also find yourself giving this excuse for your degrading fitness? Well, no doubt considering the kind of lives we are leading today, finding time for a routine work-out is challenging. But here are some easy and fruitful tips which you can try, to stay fit while you work your way up the success ladder:

Diet & Excercise

Stay Fit While You Work: Healthy Habits for Office-Goers

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What to do: Look for physically demanding ways to commute: Admit it. The kind of work you do at office has made your life sedentary. Try walking or cycling to office once in a while. If you usually take a bus or subway push yourself to get off some blocks before the block where your work-place is located and then walk to your office. If your office is located high storey in a building prefer staircase to the elevator. These small changes once inculcated in your lifestyle will be fruitful for you in the long run. Seize the opportunity to stand: Don’t whine when you need to stand for long to do some work. In fact take it as an opportunity. Don’t hesitate to stand up and walk to other desks whenever you can. Make your breaks ‘fitness’ breaks: A burger, some French fries and coffee can be very tempting after some serious work but if you want to stay healthy, better switch to something which will help you compensate for the routine exercises that you miss upon. Take a brisk walk, stretch a little, eat a healthy nutritious meal and walk again before you commence your work.

What not to do:

Skipping breakfast: A good breakfast is crucial to keep you energetic throughout the day. A lot of peo-ple leave home in a rush to reach the office and don’t take proper breakfast. This can make them dull, unen-thusiastic and irritable. When you don’t give your body the fuel it needs it calls on its energy reserves which certainly get used up quickly and you find yourself binging on high-calorie food at lunch hours. A solution to this problem is to wake up at a convenient time so that you can have a good nutritious breakfast.

Becoming a tea/coffee addict: A lot of people develop the habit of constantly sipping tea/coffee while at work and this can be one of the most challenging habits to break. Too much of these beverages not only makes you feel jittery and irritable but can also inhib-it absorption of important nutrients from food by your body. If you are an addict, start as soon as possible to break this habit.

Weekend binging: Office-goers often feel that they ‘deserve’ weekend binging. Hard drinks and junk food, that weekends bring with them, can have shock-ingly damaging effects on our bodies. Although once in a while you can surrender to your temptations but make sure you don’t spend all your weekends stuffing your bellies with high-calorie, low-nutrition food.

Your body needs to be taken care of. Small steps taken today can lead to a healthier lifestyle tomorrow!

MASTER IN DOJO, MASTER IN LIFE: 5 REASONS YOU SHOULD STUDY MARTIAL ARTSMartial arts were originally created out of need to defend oneself and one’s family. It wasn’t a hobby or a leisure activity: it was a way to survive during riots and wars. Thankfully, most of us don’t live under such dangerous conditions anymore and our survival doesn’t depend on our self-defense skills in most cases. Are martial arts still relevant in the 21st century?

I believe that they are. It’s important to under-stand that martial arts are not about mere physical training: it’s actually much more about psychology. You can’t really become a good martial artist with-out developing particular qualities and while physi-cal skills are limited in their application, personal qualities are universal and can be applied to any area of your life. You might not need to fight for your life on a regular basis, but I bet that you need these qualities everyday:

1. Self-confidence.

Most people get a major boost in self-confidence when they start doing mar-tial arts because they real-ise that they could physi-cally defend themselves in case a situation would require that. This is only the first step, though. In martial arts, you are con-stantly encouraged to go out of your comfort zone

and pushed to improve, which leads to continuous stream of visible results. Sooner or later, you start thinking: if I can learn com-plex techniques, acrobatic tricks and splits by work-ing hard on it, doesn’t that mean that I can achieve other things that I want if I would put in the efforts? There’s nothing better for your self-confidence than making the connection between your deliberate efforts and visible results.

2. Courage.

Courage is a quality that is massively undervalued in our society, yet essen-tial for success. In martial arts, you have to constant-ly exercise your courage, whether that would be try-ing a new tumbling move or sparring with someone who’s way more skilled than you. These seem-ingly small acts of courage add up over time and form a strong habit of doing the right thing despite fear

that later expands to other areas of your life, from ca-reer to relationships. It’s normal to be afraid, there-fore it’s important to learn to feel the fear and do it anyway.

3. Discipline.

Martial arts are known for their emphasis on dis-cipline. In the dojo, you have to learn to obey commands and follow subordination, as well as do what’s required de-spite your emotional state. Nowadays, many people don’t like the concept of discipline because they see it as something that is in contradiction with freedom. Actually, nothing could be further from truth: it’s only when you have discipline you can really be free, because with-out discipline you can’t achieve most things that you desire. People who don’t have it are destined to remain slaves of their urges forever.

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4. Persistence.

In martial arts, there’s a term “fighter’s spirit” that is used to refer to unshakable persistence. You can’t real-ly do martial arts for longer periods of time without au-tomatically increasing your persistence: even learn-ing a simple handstand re-quires one to fall down and get up many, many times and we’re not even talking about the more challeng-ing things such as sparring. This works a similar way as with courage: little acts of persistence add up and form a habit of getting up when you’re knocked down which then expands to all other areas of your life. They say that winners are not quitters and quitters are not winners. Well, I can say that martial artists are defi-nitely not quitters. You can figure out the rest.

5. Presence

Most of us are sleepwalking through life without even re-alizing it: our mind is never in the present moment, yet we are so accustomed to this scattered state that we accept it as normal. Martial arts help you to increase your presence level, be-cause it’s simply too dan-gerous to zone out when doing a tumbling move or in a middle of a fight, therefore you force yourself to stay present. You also develop a

habit of staying present and attentive outside the dojo, because many coaches put emphasis on avoiding get-ting into fights in the first place and most fights are results of sleepwalking (..re-ally, there’s no such thing as “three drunk aggressive guys suddenly appeared in front of me”: you simply didn’t notice them from a far). This increased pres-ence expands into other ar-eas of your life and before you know it, you find your-self more and more present on a daily basis.

Final words

It’s important to understand that there’s not much point in studying martial arts if it’s not helping you in other ar-eas of your life. Think about it: it takes years of extensive training to become a master in martial arts. Is there re-ally a point in devoting that much time to develop phys-ical skills that you might never even put in prac-tice (assuming you’re wise enough to avoid unneces-sary fights)? Probably not. However, there’s a point in devoting that time to some-thing that not only provides you with self-defense skills and keeps you in a good shape, but also helps you to develop universal personal qualities that are necessary for success in any area of life. Don’t aim to only be a master in the dojo: aim to be a master in life.

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Excercise

8 WAYS TO REDUCE BLOOD PRESSURE

8 WAYS TO REDUCE BLOOD PRESSURE

What is High Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the measure of the strength of the blood pushing against the sides of the blood vessels. If the pressure is too high it puts more strain on the arteries and therefore the heart, which can eventually result in a heart attack or a stroke. When a reading is taken it is measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) in two numbers. The first number is called the systolic reading, which is the highest level the blood pressure reaches when the heart is beating, and the second number is diastolic, which is the lowest pressure level seen when the heart is relaxing. A normal blood pressure is around 120/80 mmHg, whilst a systolic read-ing of over 140 or a diastolic over 90 indicates hypertension. There are several ways to have blood pressure checked, including going to a doctor, pharmacy or by buying a blood pres-sure monitor.

Hypertension doesn’t necessarily have a specific cause, and may not be related to any other health con-cern. Occasionally it is related to an-other problem such as diabetes, and in such a case will have to be treated with medication to reduce the blood pressure. However the majority of people with high blood pressure will not have anything else wrong with them, and can simply alter their life-style to bring it down. Here are eight excellent tips on how to reduce your blood pressure without the need to resort to medication:

Exercise MoreTaking part in 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity at least five times

per week can lower blood pressure between 4 and 9 mmHg. Exercise is not only an excellent method for reducing hypertension but also for a preventing developing it in the future. Good forms of exercise to choose are swimming, walking and cycling and once an exercise regime is be-gun results can be seen in as little as a few weeks.

Lower Your Salt IntakeReducing sodium in the diet is ab-solutely essential to anyone with high blood pressure. For those who already have hypertension then the daily sodium intake should be no higher than 1500 mg. It is relatively easy to reduce salt consumption, simply by not adding extra salt to food and by always reading the salt levels on food packaging labels. Also it is best to avoid eating foods such as takeaways, where there is no control over the salt level in the food.

Drink DecaffIt is debatable whether caffeine has any effect on blood pressure, how-ever some studies have found that it does raise the pressure in the short term by tightening the blood vessels in the body. This can be combated by drinking decaffeinated coffee and avoiding high caffeine drinks such as cola.

Stop SmokingA massive contributor to high blood pressure is smoking. In fact nicotine can raise the blood pressure by 10 mmHg, which is constant if a per-son is smoking all day. The only way to tackle this is to cut down or quit smoking altogether, as well as avoid-ing second hand smoke.

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Health

Eat Dark ChocolateSurprisingly dark chocolate is actually excellent for hypertension if eaten everyday. This is because dark chocolate contains flavanols which work by making the blood vessels more elastic. It is important to re-alise that it is specifically dark chocolate, containing 70% cocoa or more, that contains the flavanols in sufficient quantities to have an impact. Aim to have around 15gm per day.

Choose High Potassium FoodsFoods high in potassium actually counteract the ef-fects of sodium, which in turn helps to bring down hypertension. Foods with high levels of potassium include dried herbs, chilli powder, bananas, avoca-dos and cocoa powder. Yet another reason to eat dark chocolate!

Alcohol BingeAlcohol is a confusing subject when it comes to blood pressure. If drank in moderation it can poten-tially lower blood pressure, however if too much is consumed then it has the opposite effect! If you must drink, then it is important to get the balance right in order to stay healthy.

To get the maximum benefit from alcohol then one drink per day is enough and any more can have a negative effect on the blood pressure. One drink is around half a pint of beer or a small glass of wine, al-though it is important to research this further for spe-cific alcoholic drinks. Drinking all your weekly drinks in one sitting is definitely not an option, as binge drinking increases the blood pressure immediately.

Take Daily Supplements Studies have shown that coenzyme Q10 can reduce blood pressure by up to 17 mmHg. However there are few food sources high enough in coenzyme Q10 to make a difference, which makes it necessary to take a supplement every day. An appropriate dos-age is 60 mg three times per day, although as with anything it is always best to consult your doctor first.

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To start running from scratch can be a daunting task. The most common mis-take made by be-ginners is trying too much too soon and falling victim to injury, exhaustion and pain-fully slow progress. This is where the Sofa (or Couch) to 5k comes in; it is a program developed specifically for com-plete beginners. The man who designed the system, called Josh Clark, did so because he realised that many people had no idea how to get into running and that starting out was a particularly difficult for the very unfit.

How Does It Work?The theory behind the Sofa to 5k is that if you dive straight

into running without any training you will inevitably burn your-self out, only man-aging to run a short distance and find-ing progression to be slow and painful. The sofa to 5k helps to build stamina con-sistently over time by combining brisk walking with jogging and running. Each run takes approxi-mately half an hour and there are three runs per week, with a day of rest between each run. By follow-ing the program you can expect to be able to run five kilometres (three miles) within two months. Below there is a timetable for each week ex-plaining exactly how to proceed, and by the end of week nine you should be well on your way to run-ning a marathon!

Running for Beginners – Sofa to 5k

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WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9RUN 1 Fast five-minute

warmup walk. Fol-lowed by alternat-ing 1 minute of jogging and 1.5 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Fast five-minute warmup walk. Then alternat-ing 1.5 minutes of jogging and 2 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Fast five-minute warmup walk, moving on to do two repetitions of the following:Jog for 1.5 min-utesWalk for 1.5minutesJog for 3 minutesWalk for 3minutes

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog for 3 minutesWalk for 1.5minutesJog for 5 minutesWalk for 2.5 minuteJog for 3 minutesWalk for 1.5minutesJog for 5 minutes

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog for 5minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 5 minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 5 minutes

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog for 5 minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 8 minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 5 minutes

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then jog for 25 minutes.

Fast five-minute warmup walk, the jog for 28 minutes.


RUN 2 Fast five-minute warmup walk. Then alternating 1 minute of jogging and 1.5 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.




Fast five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog for 8 minutesWalk for 5 minutesJog for 8 minutes









Fast five-minute warmup walk, then jog for 20 minutes, which is 2 miles, with no walking.

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then jog for 22 minutes with no walking.




Excercise

WEEK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9RUN 1 Fast five-minute

warmup walk. Fol-lowed by alternat-ing 1 minute of jogging and 1.5 minutes of walking for a total of 20 minutes.




Fast five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog for 5minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 5 minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 5 minutes

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then:Jog for 5 minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 8 minutesWalk for 3 minutesJog for 5 minutes

















Fast five-minute warmup walk, then jog for 20 minutes, which is 2 miles, with no walking.

Fast five-minute warmup walk, then jog for 22 minutes with no walking.




Excellent ways to save money on food

1. Before leaving your house for grocery shopping jot down a list of important and basic food products that you need. When you make a list try to stick to it, this reduces your chances of purchasing more than needed. However, leave little room for reduced/discounted food products (last minute deals).

2. Online check and com-pare the prices, sometimes a similar product cost more than other grocery store. Try to find discount coupons online or in newspaper /magazines/cata-logues. This will help you cut down on your check-out bills.

3. It’s advised to stock up with the basic grocery prod-ucts when an item is on sale.

This helps you save money when the same product is sold at a higher price in the future.

4. Shopping in bulk for a bigger family can be a bless-ing. If you are single, you could also consider buying in bulk and splitting bills with your room/house/flat mates. Remember to store the prod-ucts as recommended by its manufacturer. Avoid stock-ing up on products that have a short shelf life. Follow the FIFO (First In, First Out) rule with grocery and food stock.

5. Buy more fresh fruits and vegetables than frozen. This not only helps you to save money but by eating fresh fruits and vegetable you can improve your health.

6. If you have grocery stores near your house then walk/cycle up to the store than driving or using public trans-port. Walking helps you stay healthy.

7. Studies on the inter-net show that you tend to buy more at a grocery store when you are hungry. How about timing your grocery shopping just after a meal? You could burn some calories with the walk, rather than resting after a meal.

Remember to spend twice a month on your grocery prod-ucts. Going to grocery stores more frequently will increase your chances of spending more money, consuming more food and end up gaining weight!

Food is one such expense on which every family spend a lot. Spending lot on food may increase your chance of gaining weight. We should spend intelligently on food items to stay healthy. When we go for grocery shopping we might come cross various tempting food products, however before buying any food product it’s important to study the ingre-dients and calorie chart. Here are some excellent and conservative approaches to save money on food.

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NHF- Janurary 201236

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NHF Magazine March 2012 Issue 2