Effective Ways to Keep Your Home Allergy Free

The Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) said that over 20 percent of the American population experience allergy symptoms. People who have allergy or asthma symptoms should be wary about sources of allergens at home.  The toxins coming from allergens could trigger or exacerbate allergy and asthma symptoms. For those with serious allergy problems, this could lead to fatal consequences. This is why making your home allergy-free should be a top priority.  

Here are five ways you can make your home allergy free:

Dust Regularly

Letting dust accumulate could cause allergens to grow.  Dust the furniture, television, shelves, cabinets, and every nook and corner that attracts dust.  

To get rid of dust from bedding and bed, wash the blankets and pillow cases regularly.  Use dust-proof covers on box springs, mattresses and bed pillows. Do not use feathered or wool fabrics as these accumulate dust quickly.  Use synthetic materials instead.

Keep the Floor Clean

If you have floor carpet, make sure you vacuum it frequently, at least once or twice a week.  Better still, shampoo the carpet on a regular basis. Use a vacuum with HEPA filter. This type of filter can trap minute particles as little as 0.3 microns and does not send dust into the air.  This helps get rid of most allergens.

Change Air Filters Regularly

Change the air filters in your air conditioner and heating system at least once a month.  Also, make sure that your house does not get too hot or humid as this can cause the propagation of molds and dust mites.    Temperature within the house should be between 68 F and 72 F.

Remove Molds

There are more than 100,000 species of molds.  Molds tend to grow on wet and humid places. They are mostly found in the bathroom.  Cleaning the bathroom regularly will help minimize the presence of mold.

Also, check the roofs, ceilings and water pipes for leaking.   Molds could thrive in those places too. Remove molds with a bleach solution.   

Eliminate Pests

Bugs can cause allergies too.  Cockroach droppings contain protein that can trigger allergic reactions.  Hire a professional exterminator to ensure that you got rid of all cockroaches and other pests in your house.  Pests are also attracted to trash particularly food that you throw away. Use an insect-proof lid. Throw away trash bags daily.  

To make your house allergy free, the rule of thumb is to keep your house clean.  Do not let dust or molds accumulate. Regular cleaning can get rid of allergy inducing particles and bugs.

Superfoods Boost Your Immunity

Superfoods Can Restore Your Body to Good Health

People are more conscious of their health nowadays.  In a survey, a whopping 64% of Americans said healthfulness impact food choices. The demand for superfoods increases, as a result.  Superfoods account for n estimated 19% of yearly product launches in the USA.

Superfoods are packed with nutrients for the body.  These nutritionally dense foods provide preventative value.  They have therapeutic effects that promote longevity. When you consume superfoods, your body can restore to good health naturally.

What Makes Superfoods Different

Superfoods contain large doses of nutrients needed by the body.  They contain antioxidants, healthy fats, and fiber. In some cases, these superfoods contain compounds not found in other foods.  

Due to the wide variety of nutrients they contain, superfoods are used as healing agents to speed up the therapy process.  Some of the known superfoods are blueberries, kiwi, kale, nuts, beetroot, and salmon, sardines, and mackerel. Green tea, dark chocolate and yogurt are also classified as superfoods.  


Superfoods Improves Immunity

If you have not been consuming healthy foods lately, the metabolic rhythm of your body could be thrown off balance.  Consequently, your health suffers. You experience illnesses. You have a hard time warding off infections. You could also feel lethargic.

Superfoods boost the immune system.  The immune system plays an essential role in warding off illnesses and infections.  Restorative effects of superfoods are well-documented.

Take beetroot,  for instance. This superfood is known to benefit both brain and body.  Recent researches revealed that beetroot also helps muscles regenerate quickly after intense exercises.  Men who damaged their leg muscle can recover in just 3 days. Consuming beetroot helps in the fast recovery.

Antioxidants and Anti-Aging Properties

Other restorative value of superfoods include providing  antioxidants to prevent or to get rid of cancer agents. Antioxidants also fights damage from free radicals.  Free radicals cause cells to disintegrate. Superfoods consumption can prevent this.

Superfoods also contain anti aging-nutrients to ward off physical symptoms of premature aging.  People may experience sagging skin, wrinkles, and skin pigmentation that make them look old. If they make superfoods a part of their diet, signs of premature aging may be reversed.  

Superfoods provide great nutritional benefits that restore the body to its healthy state.  If consumed regularly, like beetroot, you can recover in a short period of time. Consuming superfoods on a consistent basis can help you attain a healthy lifestyle.

Engaging in Enjoyable and Effective Activities to Improve Wellbeing in Old Age

Engaging in Enjoyable and Effective Activities to Improve Wellbeing in Old Age

The life expectancy in the USA has grown to 30 years between 1900 and 2000.  More and more people are getting past the age of 80. The 60-year-old age bracket is the fastest growing demographic in the society today.  

Concerns for the well-being of the elderly become a necessary issue.  How do they age gracefully? How can a person improve well-being in later years?

How is Well-being Measured

Well-being is the condition of an individual, or in this case, the aging person.  There are two ways to measure well-being: objective and subjective manner. Researchers look into both ways to assess the well-being of the target older population.

An object measurement of well-being of an elderly person is determined by knowing if his or her basic needs are met.  The elderly should have adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, economic means, and social interactions. The objective measurement pertains to the meeting of physical and health needs of the individual.  It is used to quantify the person’s condition.

The subjective measurement of well-being are measured by a person’s perception of his or her life. Does he or she have a life purpose? The subjective assessment qualifies the person’s state of life.

Subjective assessment tends to be harder to measure.   Some elderly can be happy with less. Others require more money or social interaction to be happy.  It is a case-to-case basis. However, in subjective measurement, it is the individual’s perception that matters.

Well-being and Attitudes

A growing body of research suggests that there is a correlation between a person’s perception and attitude toward aging and the quality of life he or she leads.  The person’s view of aging can affect their health and vitality, resilience towards difficulties and eventual survival.

In a recent poll conducted in all 50 states in America, respondents provided diverse answers.  In terms of health of emotions and work environment, people living in Hawaii had the highest number of positive responses in those aspects.  Respondents from West Virginia, however, were at the opposite end of the spectrum. They tend to view their situation in a more negative manner.  They also reported the most number of depression and obesity cases, as well as the worst emotional and health habits. The remaining 48 other states were somewhere in between.

Improving Well-being for Older Populations

Elderly people should not spend their twilight years resigned to a couch.  When older people retire from their jobs, they thought that they have nothing left to do except sit down and wait for Father Time to do its work.  It should not be that way. There are numerous ways to remain productive even at old age.

Spending time outside the home is a good way to age effectively.  They need to actively pursue social activities. When they surround themselves with people, they can improve their  well-being and enjoy the experience at the same time.

Social Interaction Improves Elderly Wellbeing

Research studies showed that the aging population are happiest when they are socially interacting, exercising, employed or volunteering.  These activities are crucial to their health. Interacting with other people veers their mind away from loneliness or health concerns.

Some elderly people may have lost their spouses, friends and family at their age.  That should not stop them from creating new social ties. They should go out and meet more people to expand their network.  Volunteering or getting a part-time job are great options.

Leading Meaningful Lives

Volunteering to charitable organizations is an enjoyable way to enhance well-being.  Getting an easy, part-time job is another effective way to remain active at old age. Both activities help the person create an impact to society.  When they pursue productive endeavors, it helps them contribute to society in a meaningful manner. They are not just a passive member, but become active participants in society.  It gives them something to look forward to doing every day.

Another way to improve well-being is indulging in their favorite hobbies.  For instance, dancing, baking, creating crafts, and others. They could do light sports activities like golf, fishing,  hiking, and biking. Due to their limited physical capabilities, they do not need to do anything strenuous. The end goal is to enjoy the experience, not to get injured.

Aging does not need to be confined to the home or health centers alone.  Being an active participant in life will make old age a much enjoyable experience. A socially active elderly person will most likely enjoy a longer life than those who shy away from society.  

Cycling Can Help You Prepare for Trail Running

Cycling can burn 400 calories per hour.  It is one of the best cardio workouts. If you make it part of your routine, it builds strength and endurance.  It helps you get more fit for trail running. Using cycling as an interval training can help you achieve aerobic benefits, with less stress on the body.

Bike Exercises

There are various ways you can do exercise on the bike.  You can ride the bike uphill. You can also do short sprints.  Or, you can do long rides for endurance.

Cycling is a different method of maintaining fitness, especially for trail runners who sustain an injury.   It is hard to run if injured. Since cycling is a low-impact sport, it does not put too much pressure on the back, ankles, and hips.  You can recover from injury quickly if you do cycling.

Compared to cycling, running is a high impact sport.  It can put strain on the joints and leg bones. Constant running can cause stress on both knees and ankles.  When you bike instead of run, you give your bones some time to rejuvenate from the rigors of running.

Even if you bike over long distances, the amount of stress on the knees is still far lesser compared to running.  This allows you to train and stay fit without putting too much stress on your body. Thus, allowing your joints and bones to run faster.

How Cycling Help Trail Running

Cycling improves cardiovascular fitness.  During biking, the body releases blood chemicals, which gives the heart a healthy workout.  Cycling conditions the body for the more demanding pressures of trail running.

Cycling also builds muscles.  It uses the hamstrings, glutes, and quadriceps at varying stages.  It may not put as much pressure on those muscles as running, but it does use them so you can run faster and smoother.

Biking also strengthens your core and thigh strength.  Strengthening these areas is important because it helps prevent injury in trail running.  However, it does not use tertiary muscles or build ligament strength quickly, unlike running.  When you bike, it takes time to build your body and strength in those areas.

Cycling does not boost power and speed.  However, you can easily achieve both power and speed by doing gym workouts.  Gym exercises can complement your biking regimen.

Do a 60 to 90 minute sessions on the bike.  Bike workouts should mimic your running workouts.  If you can run a quarter mile in 60 seconds then do a second bike ride in between running.

Cycling is a great way to train for trail running.  When you bike, you boost your cardio fitness. You also build endurance and strength, without putting too much stress on the leg muscles.

Benefits of a Good Night’s Sleep

A Good Night’s Sleep Can Boost Your  Mental Health

Sleep is closely linked to mental health.  Chronic sleeping problems affect 10 to 18 percent of adults.  For those with psychological illnesses, this rate grows to 50 to 80 percent.  People who have depression, anxiety, ADHD, and bipolar disorder often have trouble sleeping.  Basically, sleep problems often manifest in people with mental problems than those in healthy adults.

Why Sleep Affects Mental Health

A good night sleep helps maintain a healthy cognitive function necessary for every day activities.  For instance, sleeping for two hours at night would cause the person to have cognitive impairment. This can be harmful especially if he or she drives, or operates a machine at work.  

Sleep deficit definitely affects mental performance and ability.  In the long run, continuous sleep deficit may lead to long term psychological problems such as depression or anxiety. The quality and quantity of sleep also matters.  Sleeping for a few hours make the person feel sleepy. Thus, causing him or her to function poorly during the day.

The mental effects, however, goes beyond feelings of sleepiness.  Sleep deprivation can compromise mental health because it prevents the brain from having adequate rest.  Sleep allows the brain to organize thoughts and rejuvenate from the daily stresses. Lack of sleep prevents the body from recovering fully and feel completely relaxed.

What Constitutes a Good Night’s Sleep

A good sleep should have at least 4 sleep cycles.  Each cycle consists of deep sleep and REM or rapid eye movement.  A sleeping person changes sleeping cycle every 90 minutes. However, as sleep deepens,  the time allotted to the REM cycle increases. When deep sleep is attained, the body is able to rejuvenate fully.

Just like humans, animals need sleep too.  They also experience the REM cycles in their sleep.  The patterns of sleeping vary from animal to animal. Predators, like lions, tend to sleep for longer periods.  

Interestingly, abnormalities in sleep pattern are only noted in domesticated animals.  Animals in the wild do not have the condition. The reason behind this finding is that animals with a sleeping disorder cannot survive in the wild.  However, they can thrive when domesticated.

Similar to humans, animals can experience narcolepsy and sleep apnea.  Narcolepsy makes the animal or person sleep excessively. Sleep apnea is when the animal stops breathing for several seconds while asleep.

How Much Sleep You Need

Sleep patterns vary from person to person. Typically, adults need at least 7 hours of sleep at night.  Babies require longer, usually 16 hours. Teenagers need a minimum of 9 hours. To get the maximum rejuvenation from sleep,  quality sleep and the required number of hours must go hand-in hand.

Older people may not get enough sleep due to physical illnesses or medications.  Lack of sleep, however, may compound their medical condition. It’s a vicious cycle but it is important for them to get as much sleep as possible.

An estimated 70 million Americans of various ages experience chronic sleeping problems.  Sleep apnea and insomnia are the usual reasons. These conditions are treated in various ways.  Since sleep is a necessary component to good health, the patient needs to get treatment for sleeping problems right away.

How Much Life Insurance Do You Need

Do you need help determining how much life insurance coverage you need?  Know the ballpark by using these methods.

Overview

Knowing how much life insurance you will need will take the uncertainty out of the equation.  You will have peace of mind knowing your loved ones will have sufficient money for their needs.  There are reliable methods to compute your life insurance amount.  

Get the Right Life Insurance Coverage 

In life, the only thing certain is uncertainty.  It is never guaranteed.  Here today, gone tomorrow.  This is why getting a life insurance is a must.  The amount you choose for life insurance coverage will depend on several factors.  For those with young dependents, getting a higher coverage is a no-brainer.  Aside from the age of dependents, your age and spouse's age matter too.  The income you bring in, debts and expenses – all these need to be considered.  

The amount of life insurance coverage should help provide for your family when you are no longer around.  It should be enough to allow them time to live comfortably while recovering and grieving the loss.  The insurance coverage should also give your loved ones enough time to find a replacement income.  For instance, your wife will have enough time to get a job that could pay for your children's needs.

These are the factors that figure in determining how much life insurance coverage you will need.  Based on these factors, there are three approaches to coming up with a sufficient life insurance coverage.  

The first rule of thumb and probably the easiest is - to multiply the annual income you make between seven and, at most, 10. If you're making $50,000 per year, then the life insurance policy should be between $350,000 and $500,000.  This is a good starting point for coming up with an appropriate number.  However, this computation might not apply to people with five or more young children.  Or, this may not be enough for someone with several mortgages to pay for every month.  

The second method is the valuation of your assets.  If your house and car are paid off and you have pension money coming in or have sizable savings in the bank, the life insurance amount may not need to be high.  This method is computed by determining the annual income your family needs for a specific number of years. For instance, your family may need $50,000 per year to live comfortably.  However, in five years, your family will get part of your pension, retirement plans, Social Security, interest income from CDs, investment income or your wife will secure a good-paying job.  To compute the insurance amount in this instance, you may need to deduct how much money will start rolling in so your family can generate $50,000 per year total income in five years' time.  If the income from various sources will add up to $50,000 or more, then you might not need to get a bigger coverage.  

The third method of computing life insurance policy is to determine how much money can be invested so it will yield a certain amount per year.  If you get a $500,000 life insurance, investing this amount in bank CDs or bonds and securities may yield your beneficiaries a 4 percent interest amounting to $20,000 every year for life.  Depending on the cost of living, your spouse may not need to work full-time since she will receive an assured amount of $20,000 per year forever plus possibly money from other sources of income like a pension or Social Security. 

The amount of life insurance coverage will depend on your circumstances in life.  If you have three or more young dependents, then losing you will definitely create a huge dent in the family's income especially if the spouse does not work.  You may need to consider Method Three to ensure that a fixed amount of income comes in for your family every year.  Or, you can use Method One but make sure that the coverage amount is enough for your spouse to provide for your young kids' needs until they're old enough to be left in the house without supervision.  

The second option usually works for an older couple with grown-up kids.  In a few years, your kids will have a life of their own.  Or, the wife will start getting her Social Security benefits or your money from retirement plans.  With fixed income coming in and no dependent to look after, your spouse can live comfortably on a lesser life insurance coverage.  Life insurance helps in replacing income before reaching the age of 65.  Once you will get to that age, you will enjoy a number of benefits such as free health coverage, Social Security money, and pension to be able to afford paying expenses out-of-pocket.  Also, around that age, your kids are out of college and are earning money on their own.  The risks and responsibilities on your shoulder are lesser compared to when you are just starting out.

However, inflation and cost of living changes might factor in.  The $50,000 you earn today may not provide a comfortable life to your loved ones 10 or 20 years down the line.  These two factors need to be considered too.  It would be a good idea to get the maximum life insurance coverage you can afford, possibly $1 million or higher.  This way, you can be sure that your family can put up with any eventuality.  

You can choose three options in determining the right life insurance amount:  First, Multiply your yearly income by seven up to 10.  Second, deduct any fixed income your family will get such as pension, Social Security, interest income, investment income or your spouse's income earned from work.  Third, get sizable life insurance coverage so the family can live off on fixed annual income from investments.

There will always be risks, changes, and uncertainties.  Knowing these methods and applying them to determine the best life insurance policy to get will help you mitigate your dependents' risks.  In life insurance, it is always a good idea to overbuy rather than under buy.  Do not leave your loved ones groping in the dark.  Help them get back on their feet even if you are no longer around. 

Small Business Loan Versus Seeking an Angel Investor to Gain Capital

Capital is the lifeblood of a small business.  Without capital, it will be hard to finance necessary purchases such as raw materials or finished goods for inventory, office supplies, and equipment.  Unless you have a lot of money at your disposal, paying expenses out-of-pocket may drain you of your finances later.  Getting an outside funding is the next best thing. 

To secure capital, small businesses have several options.  Getting a small business loan is one. Another is seeking an angel investor.  Now, which option to choose?

Weigh your options carefully as this decision will affect your business long term.

If you’re on a fence and don’t know which option is best for your business, read on.   

Small Business Loan

When you borrow money to finance your business, you incur a debt.   Small business

loans are term loans that need to be repaid at a certain period of time.  You apply for a bank loan then get a lump sum.  Then you will pay a fixed amount, which include the principal plus interest, monthly or bi-weekly, depending on the terms, until the loan is paid off.  

The primary advantage of a business loan is you get to keep full control of your

company.  The bank does not meddle with your business operations and decisions. You get to run the business the way you see fit.

The main disadvantage is the application process could be cumbersome.  The  owner has

to show proof of the business' operating history and its profitability or a positive cash flow. The owner may need to secure a lot of documents as proof such as tax returns, bank statements, balance sheet and income statements. 

Another disadvantage is if the business fails, the owner has to pay back the debt. Since 

you owe the bank or credit union some money, you need to pay it back.  If you cannot pay the debt back, this may lead to legal repercussions.  

Funding from an Angel Investor

An angel investor provides capital to a business in exchange for owning a percentage of 

the business.  Most angel investors invest money in start-ups.  Some of the most famous businesses that secured funding from an angel investor when they first started include Facebook and Uber.

The typical seed funding that an angel investor puts up is between $25,000 and 

$100,000.   Since the investor joins the business in the early stages, such as before the product or service launch, the investment made is not usually high compared to that of a Venture capitalist, whose investment amount often runs above $1 million per business. 

The main advantage of seeking funding from an angel investor is the investor shares the risks together with the small business owner.  If the business fails, the owner is not expected to pay the angel investor back.  The investor sinks or swims with you.  

Another advantage is an angel investor can coach or provide small business owners with expertise, guidance and advice.  Most angel investors are seasoned business owners themselves.  They know how to run a business and what needs to get done. 

The main disadvantage of an angel investor is you cannot have total control of your business.  An angel investor is co-owner of the company.  He or she shares in controlling the reins of the company.  

As a business owner, it is your responsibility to choose your method of procuring investment.  Keep in mind that the future of your business rests on your decisions.  Whatever you choose, these two options are both effective if you invest the money wisely.