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Prescribing a medication for pregnant women is a complex process.

Before obstetricians and gynecologists decide which dose of which drug can best treat a condition without putting any harmful side effects on the mother and the baby, they consider the patient’s age, general health, the number of months before delivery, tolerance for medications, and any other drugs the pregnant patient may be taking.

Prescribing exercise on pregnant women has to be just as scientific and precise. The type, intensity, frequency, and duration of a “dose” of exercise are all critical. One person’s healthy, vigorous workout could be hazardous to another. These dangers may be greater in pregnant women because they are more likely to have strains and other serious side effects for the would-be mother.

However, if exercise will be implemented and carried out in a normal, average range, exercise will not have an effect on the overall condition of the pregnancy and especially on labor or delivery.

Pregnancy

Quality prenatal care should be given to a mother during her pregnancy. She should be prepared for the normal delivery of a healthy baby. Complications should be prevented at all costs.

All of these things are boiled down to the fact that a pregnant woman should be cared in such a way that she will not be compelled to do vigorous work but should not also stay in bed and be inactive until she gives birth to her baby.

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Consequently, a pregnant woman’s condition varies in relation to the growth and development of the baby in side her womb. Therefore, it is necessary that proper health guidance be provided by her physician during her visit.

Moreover, it is important to keep the pregnant woman’s life active in order to promote good health, not only for her but also for the baby most importantly.

Physical conditions like blood pressure, weight and health status is usually monitored during the pregnant woman’s visit to her doctor. For this reason, it is significant to note that exercise can be the number one factor in order to keep these aspects in good condition.

As the health experts contend, adequate physical and emotional information is needed by a pregnant woman to prepare herself for delivery. She needs practical health messages in keeping herself and the baby healthy.

Hence, for mothers or would-be mothers who are not yet aware why they should exert some effort in engaging into moderate, normal exercise, here is a list of some of its benefits so that you will be able to understand the reason why pregnant women have to exercise regularly:

1. Defiance against fatigue

As muscle becomes fatigued, it produces less force. To accomplish a task like climbing the stairs, for example, or shoveling snow, more units of muscle must be called into play to back up the wearied muscles.

The tired muscles are both less efficient and less effective. Hence, this will just put more strain on the pregnant woman because of the weight that is continuously adding up each day. That is why tired muscles will usually result to leg cramps or sore muscles.

What every pregnant woman must know is that exercise improves the condition of the muscles and their ability to work longer without fatigue.

2. Reduce backaches

Even when you sit or stand, some muscles are working, and such relatively easy postures can tax some muscles and cause fatigue. The muscles of the lower back, for example, can be exhausted and worn out by the effort of keeping erect when a pregnant woman stand still for several hours.

With exercise, a pregnant woman can correct this error by developing her posture.

3. Increase the amount of oxygen

Work and exercise rely on glycogen, a substance produced by the body from complex carbohydrates and stored muscles and liver. The supply of glycogen in the muscles determines and limits the duration of activity. Exercise depletes the glycogen in the muscles and leads to tiredness.

However, when glycogen is depleted by strenuous activity, it is replaced in quantities greater than before, as if the body recognized the need to lay in a larger supply of fuel.

Hence, oxidation is essential for converting glycogen to the energy that pregnant women need to wiggle a finger, flex a muscle, or practice the lungs and heart for some blowing action during normal delivery.

These are just some of the many benefits exercise can bring to pregnant women. Besides, nothing is completely wrong for a pregnant woman doing some moderate exercises. The only important thing to remember is that before starting an exercise program, whether pregnant or not, it is best to consult your doctor. As they say, doctors know best!

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You are what you eat!  The problem with today’s food is that it is so processed and preserved that there is very little food that you can rely upon for being just what it suggests so you don’t know what you are eating.  And when more than one food is combined into a meal or tasty version of another food is produced it becomes all the more complicated.

Sadly, many food processing companies are out to provide you with a food experience that makes you want to keep coming back to buy their product, which is inexpensive to produce and easy to distribute and store.  This generally means that ‘real’ food is left out because it will ‘spoil’ and substituted for ‘stable,’ cheaper, often-manufactured alternatives that are more in the realm of a chemist than a grocer.

So how can you know what you are eating and how much?

Size Matters

You cannot measure every morsel that passes your lips, but it is a good idea to measure most foods and beverages until you get a feel for portion sizes.

It is a supersized world out there, and most people are surprised to find that their idea of a single serving is actually two or three.  You have the appetite to eat the larger size because you are ingesting ‘non-food’ and your body is quite rightly asking for specific nutrients to meet that need that are not to be found in ‘non-food’ so it will go on telling you its hungry until it has found them or broken down in the attempt.  Bulk food does not meet the need for nutrients, it just fill you.  Most people don’t overeat when they eat nutrient-rich foods.

If you are into bells and whistles, there are food scales that are preprogrammed with nutritional information, as well as scales that will keep a running total of your daily food and nutrient intake for you. The only tools you really need, however, are a simple and inexpensive gram scale, dry and liquid measuring cups, and some knowledge about how to read food labels.

Reading the Labels

Among all of the mentioned tools, reading food labels seem to be the most effective way of determining the right kind of food to be bought in the supermarket. It lets you make sensible food selections. The “Nutrition Facts” section in any particular item in the grocery section identifies the serving size of that product which is particularly handy if you are dieting or if you have a sensitivity to any particular substance – a little may be OK but a lot causes undesirable reactions.

Food labels clearly list the amount and kinds of nutrients that are provided in the item. Usually, it also gives information on saturated fat, sodium, total fat, fiber, and cholesterol amount ‘per serving.’

However, even when you armed with this information, understanding the list of ingredient/nutrient content can be very perplexing. Many of the items listed will be given in numbers which indicates that they are manufactured chemical ingredients or isolated substances taken from food but which are not the whole food.  These numbers are given on purpose because the chemical names are often long and unpronouncable and do not sound or be the least appealing to the consumer which would put them off purchasing the item.  For the sake of ‘openness’ as everyone is being urged to be, it would seem unfair that this does not need to be applied to food processors who seem to expect you to be armed with a chemical compendium to read their labels.  In all fairness, not all numbered item ingredients are harmful – but most are, especially if you indulge on a regular basis and in large quantities.  That statement can, of course, be refuted on the grounds that although the substance is passed as food grade in the portion size amount, no research has ever been carried out into the overdose amount or its affect on people who cannot tolerate that certain substance or combination of substances.

A typical consumer who reads grocery labels would definitely questions what those numbers mean and how it will affect her diet intake.  The onous is on the buyer to carry a ‘food additive’ list and check every product they are considering buying – and who has time for that!

To further have a clear and more comprehensive understanding of the items stated in the food label, here is a list of things that you need to know:

1. Serving size

This is the primary item you will see in a food label.

The amount of servings stated in the food label refers to the quantity of food people usually consume. However, this does not necessarily mean that it reflects your very own amount of food intake.

Moreover, serving size determines the amount of nutrients that enters the body. This means that if you will follow strictly what the serving size is, you will obtain the same amount of nutrients according to the serving size that was given in the label.

For instance, if the serving size says one serving size is equal to 54 grams, that would mean you have to measure 54 grams and eat that and you have just eaten one serving. So to speak, the amount of nutrients stated in the food label is the same amount that has entered your body considering the fact that you have just eaten 54 grams.

However, if you have eaten everything, and the food label says that each pack is equivalent to 4 servings, you have to calculate the amount of nutrients that have entered your body. This means that if the food label says 250 calories per serving that means you have to multiply it to four to get the total amount of calories you have taken.

2. Nutrients

This refers to the list of available nutrients in a particular item. It is also where the nutritional claims of the product based on the recommended daily dietary allowance are stated. Usually, the nutritional amounts are based on both the 2,500-calorie diets and the 2,000 recommended dietary allowances.

In order to understand the numeric value of each item, you should know that the “% daily value” that the food label indicates is actually based on how a particular food corresponds to the recommended daily dietary allowance for a 2,000 calorie.

If in the event that you have purchased an item that has a dietary allowance different from the 2,000-calorie diet, you just have to divide the stipulated amount by 2,000 and you will be able to identify the “%daily value” for the nutrients.

3. Ingredients

This refers to the list of the ingredients that were used to manufacture the product. The listing is usually arranged from the main ingredients that have the greater amount by weight up to the smallest quantity. This simply means that the actual quantity of the food includes the biggest quantity of the main ingredient or the first item and the minimum amount of the very last ingredient.  As a tip, notice how often the primary or one of the main ingredients is water and then work out how much you are paying for water!

4. Label claim

This refers to the kinds of nutritional claims of a particular food item. For instance, if an item says it is sodium-free, it has less than 5 milligrams per serving or a low fat item actually contains 3 grams of fat or less.

To sum it all up

Reading food labels can be very tedious and confusing. The easiest way to begin is to check out a particular kind of food and find one or more that you feel are safe or meets your requirements or are simply the best of the worst and stick with buying that one until you can find another make to improve on it.  I started out with checking out crispbreads because I needed to avoid wheat and was greatly surprised how much wheat was in many rice crackers and corn biscuits.  I found two rice cracker products that were only rice and stuck with them – and they were among the cheaper brands!  I then went onto to check out tinned items, deserts and so on, until I had a preferred list of products.

Arm yourself with a good book about food additives and carry it with you at all times.  Underline or highlight the additives that you accept – the food preservatives Vitamins C and E are fine.  I believe I read somewhere that something like 1100 new chemicals are being added every day to the list and many of these are food additives because it is big business, so you will need to update the book probably on a yearly basis.

And,  if  like me, you start questioning the source and varieties of the ‘food’ used, the production and storage methods used in its preparation, and the double-meaning of many of the terms used in its marketing, – well I guess they are subjects for another post.

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http://healthsufficiency.com/heart-rate-monitors.html http://healthsufficiency.com/heart-rate-monitors.html#comments Sat, 05 Jun 2010 10:49:53 +0000 Linlee http://healthsufficiency.com/?p=715

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More and more people are taking responsibility of their health and want to monitor every aspect of their body function.  Heart rate monitors, formally exclusively operated by physicians and nurses, are now an essential personal item used to monitor the heartbeat at rest, during and after exercise and especially in those with a diagnosed or possible heart conditions.  If you are considering getting a heart rate monitor, the following will help you understand them.

What is a Heart Monitor

Also known as a cardiac monitor, a heart monitor is a piece of electronic equipment that can be used to track or observe heart functions continuously. It allows people to place a numerical value on their healthiness based on their heart rate and have a target heart rate to work for. The more complex versions of the heart monitor allow physicians to see any signs of deterioration or improvement and make the necessary adjustments immediately.

Types of Heart Monitors

Today, heart monitors are produced by the millions and designed to cater specific types of individuals. Some heart monitors are primarily designed for weight loss programs while others are meant for the use of athletes or fitness programs. Some are wireless or come as a built-in feature of exercise equipment like a treadmill or an exercise bike. It can be strapped to your wrist or of considerable size. It may or may not emit any electromagnetic waves, depending on its purpose. A fetal heart monitor, for instance, must not produce any waves at all as this may affect the health of the baby.

Factors on Selecting the Best Heart Monitor for You

ECG-Accurate Monitors with Chest Straps – Heart monitors that come with chest straps are more often not the most accurate of heart monitors. The chest strap is strapped around your chest, a few centimeters below your breast. It contains a device that’s able to detect electrical activity of your heart and transmit it to the brain of the machine – just like an ECG. The results are shown on the display monitor, which most of the times is attached to your wrist like a watch. Others however prefer results to be transmitted through audio messages via earphones.

Upon choosing heart monitors with chest straps, you need to remember to keep the strap constantly connected to your body lest you want the heart monitor to produce inaccurate readings.

Lastly, the only alternative against buying heart monitors with chest straps are the ones that rely on pulses on your fingertips. These however do not provide readings as accurate as those with chest straps.

Heart Monitor Features – Basic and lower end models tend to display only your heart rate and maybe the elapsed exercise time as well. This of course does not provide sufficient information if you want to know exactly how much you need to improve before you can be qualified as a completely healthy individual. Higher end models will naturally offer a wider range of features – for a price. Examples of such features are – but not limited to – heart rate zone alarms, timers and number of calories burned. It may also allow users to set pre-programmed workouts along with a targeted heart rate.

Ease of Use – Lastly, you must purchase a heart rate monitor that you will have no problems of using. What good would a high end heart monitor do if it takes you an hour to operate it? Are the numbers and words appearing in the heart rate monitor readable? Can it be used in no-light situations? Are buttons well-labeled and ergonomically positioned?

To Buy or Not to Buy a Heart Monitor

Heart monitors can be especially costly, more so if you are intent on purchasing higher-end models. If you have a limited budget, you should ask yourself whether or not you truly need to buy a heart monitor. You can of course purchase one of the lower-end models but low quality heart monitors can lead to inaccurate results and that sort of defeats the purpose of buying one.

If you are intent on purchasing a heart monitor, you need to ask yourself another question: do you need to buy a portable heart rate monitor or will the heart monitor that comes as a built-in feature of a treadmill be sufficient?

Remember that there are advantages to regularly visiting your doctor  and having him monitor your heart rate for you especially if you have a ill-health condition, are unfit or new to exercising.

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