A study conducted by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine found that over three quarters of men with a low sperm count did not eat enough vegetables and fruits.

Studies have also shown that obesity can increase male infertillty. Aim to be the right weight for your height by eating sensibly and exercising on a regular basis.

Follow the principles of healthy eating. Eat a variety of foods that will help ensure you have all the nutrients you need such as zinc and selenium, which are essential for good sperm production.

As well as eating healthily, men with infertility problems should also quit smoking should also quit smoking and cut down their alcohol consumption.

The effects of drinking alcohol causes a noticeable decrease in sperm count, as well contributing to an increase in abnormal sperm and lowering the proportion of motile sperm. Alcohol also drastically inhibits the bodies absorption of zinc, which is one of the most important minerals relating to male fertility.

Researchers at the University of Saarland found that men who smoked a minimum of 20 cigarettes every day had lower concentrations of protamines, two proteins found in sperm, than men who didn’t smoke at all. These protamines are thought to be an integral part of cell division, and they ensure the correct chromosomal formation during conception.

To help you have a more healthy holiday so that you can enjoy a longer fun-filled life, here are some tips you can follow:

• Commit to a healthy holiday – It all starts with a decision. If you decide early on that you’ll go all out to enjoy the holidays and binge, then there’s no way you’ll resist all the temptation. Commit to a healthier lifestyle this holiday, so that as the temptations come, you’ll have more resolve to overcome them.
• Eat before going to a party – You cannot control the kind of food served in parties you attend, so make it easier to resist the urge to pig out on unhealthy party food by eating before you leave the house. This way you’ll be full when you get to the party and will feel more like mingling with people than hovering over the table.
• Stay away from the table – Find a comfy spot in the farthest corner from the food and drinks station. The more inconvenient it is for you to get food, the less likely you’ll come back for seconds.
• Wash everything down with water – The free-flowing drinks may be tempting, but decide to wash down your food with water. Before you know it, you’ll feel too full to eat and drink too much.
• Serve healthy alternatives – If you’re hosting your own party, or will be cooking the Christmas dinner, make sure that you serve lots of healthy alternatives. You can do this by substituting healthy ingredients whenever you can, and using cooking healthier cooking techniques (i.e. roasting instead of deep frying).

Image via Burn the Fat Challenge

As a consumer myself, I have to admit that I have fallen multiple times for the great spiels that marketers have spent much effort into making their health products seem more believable. I too have used an “easy-to-use” exercise machine that just weren’t easy to use at all, fallen for vitamin supplements that I later found out was not FDA approved, and felt like buying so many health gadgets that I thankfully were able to resist buying mostly because of steep prices.

On the other hand I have also found supplements that, while not doing wonders, seems to be helping me boost my energy and curb my mood swings, a good pair of sneakers that has seen some better days but did me a lot more good than any exercise machine, and lots of healthy recipes that have become go-to meals in our house.

In my quest to become healthier, what I have learned is that the equation less is more usually works best. If you feel like you need to buy something in order to start your journey to better health, you are doing yourself a great disservice. You can start getting healthy with what you have today. Sure, there are some great products out there that will surely benefit you health-wise, but they will only be truly effective if you put in the required effort to live an overall healthier lifestyle.

Go ahead and buy health products and gadgets if you must, but be discriminating in your choices. Make sure you only get those that will truly be good for your health and that you know you can use regularly. Don’t become overly dependent on them. Focus more on the simple choices you make every day for a healthier you, and maybe a healthier wallet too! And as the image above implies, if you’re not making smart choices then guess what kind of choices you’re making.

Image credit: Eating Yourself Healthy

Create a Cheerful Environment

The skies may be cloudy, but that doesn’t mean your home and office have to be the same. Colorful accessories, a bright shade of paint and even cheerful artwork can make a huge difference in your mood. You may even want to add brighter shades to your wardrobe and the linens throughout your home. More importantly, don’t forget to open the windows and let in some natural light.

Get Some Exercise

Exercise is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety and everyone knows how stressful the season can be. If it’s too cold to exercise outside, walk on a treadmill or break out some workout DVDs. The cheerful disposition of many trainers is often enough to brighten your own mood. Regardless of how you exercise, make sure to get at least 15-30 minutes per day to improve your mood.

Go Outside

It actually doesn’t matter if the sun is out or not, the natural light can make a big difference in your mood. It’s recommended to try and get a little outside time within two hours of waking. This simple step can brighten your mood and help fend off depression.

Invest in a Light Box

People have been using light boxes to treat seasonal affective disorder for years and with good reason. A light box can begin to treat SAD in as little as two to four days. It is recommended that you speak to your doctor before investing in a light box to ensure you’re getting a model that is high quality.

Medication

Last, but not least, SAD can be treated with medications, such as Paxil, Zoloft and Prozac. Because these medicines come with side effects, you may want to try the methods listed above first. It’s also important to note that it can take 4-6 weeks for these medication to take effect.

Seasonal affective disorder is more serious than people realize and is a real condition. Thankfully, you don’t have to live with the symptoms on a daily basis. There are simple methods you can use to improve your mood. Best of all, many of the treatment methods are all natural.

I’m sure you know that good health will enable you to work longer hours and give you more freedom in terms of job choice, but that is not what I mean by health contributing to your wealth. What I am referring is not your own physical health, but merely your health blog, which I guess is good news to you if you are not particularly healthy, since anyone can start their own health blog.

Health blogs are extremely popular since health is one of the life issues that every single person has had to deal with. It doesn’t matter whether that person merely has a common cold he wants to get rid of as quickly as possible or is suffering from more serious ailments; the point is that you can be pretty sure that your health blog will have readers as long it contains informative and/or useful content.

Once you have a health blog, you can start making money from it through different monetization strategies, from affiliate ads to selling your own health related products. Your only problem then is finding a way to reach the millions of readers out there looking for information on their particular health issue. As a health blogger, this mean that you have try different avenues of promoting your blog.

One of the no fuss ways to promote your health blog is by using the services of web portals like Blog Search Engine. All you need to do is sign up your blog with them for $14.99 and get listed in their index as well as get reviewed. This will earn you a link and increase your visibility as well. You can also upgrade to packages that will earn you more links and make you the featured blog for the month.

After you do this, you can forget about the whole thing and concentrate on putting up good content on your health blog so as to attract more visitors and get the ones who do come to keep on coming back. Who knows, maybe your health blog just might make you wealthy.

Initial Symptoms

For many, the initial symptoms of whooping cough are similar to the symptoms of a common cold. Early symptoms include a low-grade fever, sneezing, runny nose and a mild cough. Since the cough at the initial stage is so mild, few people seek out the help of a medical professional as they often assume this is after all, a simple cold.

Progression of Symptoms

Anywhere from one to two weeks after the onset of initial symptoms, the mild cough changes into a more advanced cough with coughing spells. These coughing spells can last for a minute or longer and are the stage where whooping cough gets its name. During a coughing spell, the characteristic whooping noise will be heard between breaths. These coughing spells may also cause some people to vomit or turn red or purple during the episode. A particularly bad coughing spell can cause a person to stop breathing for a few to several seconds.

Additional Symptoms of Whooping Cough

As expected, there are several other symptoms that a person may experience when infected with Bordetella pertussis. The Mayo Clinic notes that additional symptoms can include red, watery eyes, nasal congestion (a stuffy nose,) extreme fatigue and thick phlegm.

‘Whooping’ Not in Everyone

Not every person will develop the characteristic ‘whooping’ sound associated with the illness. Toddlers and young children are the most likely to develop the whooping sounds, with adults being the least likely. Young adults may also develop the whooping noise, but not necessarily. This can make it particularly hard for a person to determine if they have a standard cold or full-blown whooping cough.

When to See a Doctor

Certain symptoms warrant the need to see a doctor immediately. This includes adults or children who experience vomiting or the characteristic whooping sound. Anyone who turns a shade of red, blue or purple or who stops breathing during a coughing episode should be immediately brought to the emergency room.

Resurgence of Whooping Cough

In recent years, doctors have seen a resurgence in whooping cough infections. Though the exact cause is unknown, many health care professionals feel that parents’ forgoing certain vaccinations for their children, including the whooping cough vaccination, has led to its increased prevalence in recent years. Without the vaccine, many children become significantly more susceptible to catching whooping cough, which has the potential to be life-threatening.

Whooping cough can last for just a few weeks or it may last for several months. Certain people, including young children, should always see a doctor when a reoccurring cough occurs. It’s extremely important to see a doctor with certain symptoms, including the characteristic ‘whooping’ cough, vomiting or turning different shades during a coughing fit occur.

The best way to get rid of cough is to get some medicine or see a doctor, if you are in a different country and do not have insurance to cover the medical bills and it is too expensive which is the case for almost all countries and see a doc. In worst case get 24-48 hours rest.

Drink Hot Tea for Congestion

Not being able to breath through your nose can get annoying. The good news is this is actually easy to take care of. Sipping on a hot mug of tea can help break up the congestion. Best of all, it can also help sooth a sore throat. If you want, you can add honey and lemon to better sooth your sore throat. A shot of whiskey in the tea can also help your cough.

Sooth a Scratchy Throat and Dry Cough with Honey

Who needs medicine that tastes awful when you can have a teaspoon of honey? A spoonful of honey can help thin mucus in the throat, helping sooth your cough. The coating action of the honey can also help sooth a throat that has become raw from the mucus and coughing.

Break Up Nasal Congestion with Salt Water

Did you know that it’s possible to become hooked on medicated nasal sprays? Thankfully, you don’t have to use the medicated versions. A gentler and more cost effective method is to create a saline solution using 1/2 cup warm water and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Once the salt dissolves, you can use the mixture in a neti pot.

Treat Body Aches with a Rice or Bean Bag

The biggest problem with a heating pad is that it doesn’t conform to the body. Not to mention if you fall asleep on one, you’ll feel like a roast turkey when you wake up. On the other hand, a rice or bean bag that can be popped in the microwave is the perfect alternative. Not only does it conform to the body, but it cools down after a while.

Ease Ear Pains with Warm Olive Oil

Warm olive oil may sound a bit strange, but it’s a great, natural way to ease an earache. Just be careful that you don’t get the oil too hot and keep a towel nearby to prevent any messes. One to two drops can be placed in each ear.

You don’t have to rush to the doctor’s office for the common cold. You don’t even have to take medicines with terrible side effects. Instead, open your cabinets and pull out some of the natural home remedies

Raspberries

Raspberries are actually a member of the rose family. Raspberries, along with many other fruits are rich in what are known as phytonutrients. These are organic compounds found in many fruits and plants in general that have a number of significant health benefits. Raspberries contain phytonutrients called tannins that have high antioxidant content. Antioxidants are compounds, some of which are associated with ordinary vitamins like A, C, and Beta Carotene, that prevent oxidation and in so doing promote cell health and disease prevention. Particularly raspberries contain a tannin called ellagic acid which is highly beneficial. Raspberries are high in vitamins A and C. Additionally they contain a lot of fiber which helps in good digestion, preventing constipation and generally making your intestines work efficiently. Finally, they contain folic acid which is increasingly being shown to help prevent heart disease, cancer, and many other diseases.

Apples

Phytonutrient rich apples are high in a specific type of phytonutrients called polyphenols. Polyphenols have been shown to promote good blood sugar regulation. Apples contain significant amounts of dietary fiber which can help improve digestion and better deal with fat levels in the bloodstream. This in turn can lead to decreased risk of heart disease. Finally apples are high in flavinoids, a class of powerful antioxidants.

Grapes

Grapes are often noted for their heart disease prevention attributes. Both grapes (and grape juice) and wine exhibit these characteristics. They contain polyphenols, which, as noted above, helps tom promote healthy blood sugar levels. Grapes also contain antioxidants that assist in good cholesterol regulation. Grapes are high in vitamins B and C as well.

Strawberries

Strawberries have a long list of healthy compounds in them such as potassium, manganese, magnesium, copper, vitamin K, B5 and B6, and omega-3 fatty acids. They also contain phenol antioxidants that promote heart health, reduce inflammation, and prevent cancer.

Apricots

Apricots contain a lot of beta carotene which helps promote good eyesight. It and the vitamin A that are also found in abundance in apricots are antioxidants as well. Apricots are also rich in dietary fiber.

Cantaloupe

Cantaloupe melon is helpful in promoting stable carbohydrate metabolism in the body as well as balancing blood sugar levels. It also contains potassium, vitamin C, B6, folate, niacin, and is high in dietary fiber.

Pineapple

Pineapple is rich in digestive enzymes. It contains a combination of compounds that are employed to produce bromelain, which is a widely used supplement with helpful enzymes that helps to promote good digestion.

As you can see there are a great many health benefits to eating fruit, so have yourself a good helping of some of these great natural snacks today.

Meals that are tastier and with improved meatiness and flavor. This is the effect of monosodium glutamate in most foods. However, there have been claims coming from various people that eating dishes with MSG have made them experience nausea, burning sensations in the neck, difficulty breathing, general weakness, and palpitations. Due to these claims, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHA) established a new committee in the 1950s called the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), which focused on studying and researching additives whether they are safe or not.

With three separate research periods in 1970, 1973 and 1987, JECFA confirmed that monosodium glutamate is safe for human consumption. It was even given the safest category as an additive with “Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) not specified”. Even before the end of the study of this particular group, in 1959, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already evaluated MSG to be generally recognized as safe (GRAS). Despite this recommendation however, people are still concerned about MSG due to the letter of Robert Ho Man Kwok sent to the New England Journal of Medicine in April of 1968 where he shared what he felt when he ate at a Chinese restaurant, symptoms that have come to be known as the Chinese restaurant syndrome.

To break the rumors of the said claim, many food research groups have conducted studies to prove whether MSG is really bad for you or not. The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) confirmed in 1980 that the substance was safe for consumption. In 1986, FDA’s Advisory Committee on Hypersensitivity to Food Constituents mentioned that MSG is safe for the general public. One of the most recent findings is found in the November 2000 issue of “The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology” where Raif S. Geha, M.D. stated that most data failed to confirm that MSG is the main cause of symptoms found in the Chinese restaurant syndrome.

Prader-Willi Syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects about 1 in 15,000 people. It is both incurable and unpreventable, but is definitely manageable. However, it does mean that my son has to go to endless therapy sessions with his physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and countless doctors, all of whom we have to pay out of our own pockets since such diseases are unfortunately not covered by our health insurance policy. So you see why I am now a firm believer of the above saying.

My point today though is not to whine about how expensive it is to raise a kid with medical issues, but to encourage (or rather warn) everyone to really take their health seriously. Unlike my son’s condition, most medical problems that people have today are actually preventable. Why tempt fate and continue with a lifestyle that you know is harming your health? If you do not value your health, at least think of your pocket. Good health might not make you wealthy, but poor health will surely drain your resources in no time at all.

Image credit: Dave Wavey Fitness