by Wakia Bertine Nchou
A Dunia Reader Contribution

Photo by Dijon Nichelle Rolle, USAG Baden-Wurttemberg

Icing an injured body part is an important part of treatment, it helps reduce inflammation and causes relief. Icing injuries can be effective for sprains, strains, overuse injuries and bruises. The following information is important for individuals, parents, athletes, instructors, teachers and anyone who might find themselves needing to help an injured person. Learn how to properly ice an injury.

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 15 minutes

Here’s How:

1. Get the ice on quickly.
Icing is most effective in the immediate period following an injury. The effect of icing diminishes significantly after about 48 hours.

2. Perform an “ice massage.”
Apply ice directly to the injury. Move the ice frequently, not allowing it to sit in one spot.

3. Don’t forget to elevate.
Keep the injured body part elevated above the heart while icing — this will further help reduce swelling.

4. Watch the clock.
Ice for 15-20 minutes, but never longer. You can cause further damage to the tissues, including frostbite, by icing for too long.

5. Allow time between treatments.
Allow area to warm for at least 45 minutes or an hour before beginning the icing routine again.

6. Repeat as desired.
Ice as frequently as you wish, so long as the area is warm to the touch and has normal sensation before repeating.

Tips:

Ice Option 1 — Traditional:
Use a Ziploc bag with ice cubes or crushed ice. Add a little water to the ice bag so it will conform to your body.

Ice Option 2 — Best:
Keep paper cups filled with water in your freezer. Peel the top of the cup away and massage the ice-cup over the injury in a circular pattern allowing the ice to melt away.

Ice Option 3 – Creative:
Use a bag of frozen peas or corn from the frozen goods section. This option provides a reusable treatment method that is also edible.

4– Prevent Frostbite:
Do not allow ice to sit against the skin without a layer of protection. Either continually move the ice (see “ice massage”) or use a thin towel between the ice and skin.

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Calories are vital in providing the body with energy it needs to perform it’s daily duties, and paying attention to how much we consume or don’t consume is important in living healthily. The equation is quite simple: by taking in fewer calories than we burn in a day, we lose weight; and when we consume more calories than we burn, we tend to put on weight.

Burning enough calories is hence important in avoiding weight gain. Physical activity is how to easily burn calories. By simply trading in a sedentary lifestyle for an active one we help our bodies burn fat. During this festive season, you can reap lots of rewards by minimizing time spent watching TV, sitting on the computer and maximizing on calorie-burning activities that fire up metabolism.

Different foods contain different amounts of calories. Very high calorie foods include fast food burgers and breakfast sandwiches (average 600 calories in each); high calorie foods like a cup of white steamed rice contains 220 calories and a large hard boiled egg contains about 78 calories; a medium tomato has about 22 calories; a pint of Budweiser, about 250 calories. Low calorie foods generally fall in the vegetable category, e.g 1 serving of spinach, 8 calories.

The following activities are sure to help.

• Clean house 30 minutes; burn 57 calories.

• Do the dishes, 15 minutes; burn 54 calories.

• Iron your clothes 20 minutes; 57 calories.

• Vacuuming for 10 minutes helps shed as much as 40 calories. In this instance, the bigger the house the better.

• Jump rope for 5 minutes and burn 45 calories.

• Play a game of pool 15 minutes; burn 57 calories.

• Take a walk, 15 minutes; burn 54 calories.

• Do yoga, 20 minutes; 57 calories.

• Have sex 30 minutes; 41 calories.

Get active and stay healthy!

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Everyone ultimately wrinkles. It’s a natural part of the aging process, but why wrinkle sooner than you should? Here are a few things you can do to reduce wrinkles and retain that young look.

1. Avoid the sun. Exposure to ultraviolet light, UVA or UVB in sunlight accounts for 90% of the symptoms of premature skin aging. The most important skin-care product available to prevent wrinkles is sunscreen. Sunscreen should be applied liberally enough to all sun-exposed areas that it forms a film when initially applied. It takes 20-30 minutes for sunscreen to be absorbed by the skin, so it should be applied at least a half an hour before going out in the sun.

2. Don’t smoke. Cigarette smoke reduces collagen levels in your skin, leading to saggy arms and face. The additives in cigarettes contain toxins that will damage your skin if you are being exposed to it on a regular basis. Over time, your skin will lose the circulation it once had by being exposed to cigarette smoke, making your face appear droopier and less healthy in appearance.

3 Avoid alcoholic beverages. Excessive alcohol consumption is bad for the skin. Alcohol prevents the body from absorbing vitamins needed to keep the skin healthy.

4. Drink at least 8-12 glasses of water everyday. Water helps keep the skin glowing and healthy. It is an effective element in reducing wrinkles, flushing toxins, fat, and other foreign substances out of the body.

5. Eat the right foods like those containing lots of Omega-3 fatty acids, including salmon, avocados, nuts (almonds and walnuts) and olive oil. These make the skin plump, soft and younger looking. Eat tomatoes and vegetables. These contain nutrients that are proven to make the skin look younger. In addition, fruits, nuts, and beans are also good food for the skin.

6. Use a complete skincare regimen, including a cleanser, toner, an exfoliant and a moisturizer twice everyday. This prevents drying and keeps skin healthy.

7. Get lots and lots of sleep and rest. Human Growth Hormone is believed to help skin remain thick and more elastic. When we get enough rest, our bodies are believed to produce more of this hormone, slow down ‘wrinkling’.

Article written by Nicoline Ambe, PhD. First published in Dunia Magazine PRINT issue 3
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Concerned about your growing waistline? So as the clock ticks especially for women approaching middle age and beyond, fat tends to accumulate in all the wrong places. Interestingly, most adults will have concerns about their mid areas at some point of their lives.

According to Dr Oz, “The number one reason it’s so hard to lose belly fat: hormones. With menopause comes a drop in estrogen; this decrease alters where the body stores fat, making women more prone to gaining visceral belly fat…” Note that visceral fat also known as abdominal fat is found deeper inside the body and provides cushioning around vital organs like the abdomen (for the digestive tract), chest and pelvis.”

Tummy fat doesn’t only look unattractive, but is also linked to certain health issues. According to Harvard Health Publication, “Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it’s a key player in a variety of health problems — much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand. Visceral fat, on the other hand, lies out of reach, deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery…”

There is hope and practical ways to fight off belly fat. Here are a few things you can do:

Get active. Increasing movement and staying active helps your body expend energy by burning up fat, which just might be from your middle area.

Exercise. Vigorous cardiovascular activity at least 4 days a week for about 30 minutes will help burn visceral belly fat. According to Cris Slentz, PhD, “vigorous means jogging for physically fit people and walking briskly at an incline for obese people who may risk injury by jogging. Workouts of the same intensity on stationary bikes and elliptical or rowing machines are also effective.”

Avoid stress.  When faced with a threat of danger or under any kind of duress, the body’s natural alarm system automatically goes off as it tries to protect itself against an “attack”. This triggers the release of cortisol, the body’s #1 stress hormone, which helps the body confront difficult situations. Normally, the body’s relaxation response kicks in as soon as the danger is over. However, in today’s stressful society and all the challenges of daily life like work, paying bills, keeping up with the children, etc, the body tends to be often in “stress mode”. This leads to prolonged exposure to cortisol, also responsible for increased abdominal fat. It is thus important to learn how to manage stress and helping your body return to it’s relaxed mode. Relaxation techniques like deep breathing are quick and effective; also consider listening to music, a stroll for fresh air during your lunch break, fun conversations with friends, a long bath — anything to make you relax, which is different for different people.

Eat MORE foods rich in proteins – because they are harder to digest than other food groups (carbohydrates and fats), the body burns up more calories during digestion. Switch to whole grain foods like couscous, millet, rice (brown, basmatic), wheat – these are more natural and generally low in fat. Incorporate more fiber in meals e.g. apples, cherries, oats, vegetables. Also increase levels of mono-unsaturated fats found in avocados, nuts, soybeans, these prevent the accumulation of fats in the body including the abdominal area. It is believed that spicy foods like peppers also help food breakdown quicker.

Cut back on refined sugars, these are rich in calories, but low on nutrients and found in sugary beverages, doughnuts, ice-cream, cookies, spaghetti sauce, mayonnaise, cereals, canned fruits and vegetables and other processed foods. Refined grains like white rice, some breads, cream of wheat – should be avoided, these are very starchy and low on nutrients.

Avoid alcoholic drinks like beer rich in calories and carbohydrates; wines especially sweet wines – contain a lot of sugar; if you must, clear gins and vodka are thought to be lower in carbs and calories. Switch out caffeinated and sugary beverages for green tea, apple cider vinegar which contain metabolism boasting antioxidants and of course water.

Remember not to starve yourself, be sure to consume enough calories and focus on a balanced diet and get some exercise.

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