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Author: Optimal Health

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How Can I Tell if Someone’s Health Is Suffering Because of Harassment?

HealthOptimal Health

In the modern world, workplace harassment, discrimination and any other forms of bullying are prevented by law. However, problems still occur, especially when people from different backgrounds are forced to work together.

Because of this, many people suffer poor mental and physical health as a result of long-term harassment. Some people neglect to ask for help because they’re embarrassed, while others may accept harassment as the norm. As a result, they suffer in silence.

This brings us to today’s pressing question: “How can you tell if someone’s health is suffering because of workplace harassment?”

Although this is a complicated question that requires a lot of thought, we’ve explored a few tell-tale signs in the rest of this article.

  1. They Lack Motivation for Things They Used to Enjoy

If you notice one of your colleagues starting to lose motivation for their work and other activities they use to thrive off, there could be a problem. Pay careful attention to people who appear sadder or more emotional than usual, and consider approaching them with an offer of help if required.

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Having Cataract Surgery After Laser Eye Surgery

HealthOptimal Health

Smile laser surgery has become one of the most effective surgical procedures that exists, with millions of people able to give up wearing glasses or contact lenses as result. You can have laser eye surgery at literally any age assuming there are no other medical reasons why it might not be advised.

What is most definitely the case, is that lots of the younger generations such as those in their 20s and 30s are queueing up to have laser eye surgery. At that age, the possibility of developing cataracts is minimal, but as we grow older, it increases greatly, normally after the age of 40, and especially when we reach 60 years of age.

This can lead us to a scenario where someone has had laser surgery, either recently, or a few years ago, and now, because of cataracts, they are in need of cataract surgery. The question that now arises is whether someone who has laser eye surgery can subsequently have cataract surgery?

The simple answer to the question is ‘Yes, they can’, but it is not as simple as simply signing up for the cataract operation, and there are several caveats and precautions that need to be in place first.

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Botox for Urinary Incontinence

HealthOptimal Health

Botox for Urinary Incontinence 

For smoothing out wrinkles, Botox is many people’s treatment option of choice. However, did you know it holds value in the medical field, as well? Botox injections can be offered as a treatment option for overactive bladder (OAB), according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

What is Overactive Bladder Syndrome (OAB)?

Millions of people around the world are affected by OAB, with women more likely to be than men. This condition causes a sudden and frequent urge to urinate, and it’s not always easy to control. Day and night, sufferers of this condition may feel they need to urinate. Sometimes, this can lead to an unintentional loss of urine known as urgency incontinence.

Symptoms of this condition include waking up more than twice per night to urinate, feeling a sudden and uncontrollable urge to urinate, and urinating more than eight times in one day. Some people also experience urgency incontinence after feeling an immediate need to go.

With this condition, you may feel like isolating yourself or limiting your social outings. Fortunately, there are many ways to combat the condition, such as changing your diet, pelvic floor muscle exercises, and bladder-holding techniques. However, some sufferers are also seeing the value in Botox.

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What is Food Combining?

HealthOptimal Health

Food Combining is a way of eating to simplify the complexity of digesting our foods. It ensures that the foods we eat can travel through our entire digestive system with ease.

Depending on the combinations of foods you are eating, a healthy looking meal may end up causing weight gain and/or digestive problems.

There are two simple rules to food combining:

1) No proteins and starches at the same meal, wait two hours between protein and starches

2) No fruits and vegetables at the same meal, wait two hours between fruits and vegetables

So how can using these rules help? By food combining we are taking into account mechanical digestion (chewing and churning) and chemical digestion (micronutrient breakdown & enzyme production) of our macronutrients.

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4 Ways with Hemp

HealthOptimal Health

From the 12th November 2017 the Australian and New Zealand Food Standards Code made changes to permit the sale of hemp seed as a food. Previously, Australia and New Zealand were the only countries in the world which prohibited the consumption of hemp as it was classed under the species of cannabis, a psychoactive drug.

Despite numerous and thorough studies showing that hemp seed is low-psychoactive it has taken many years and lots of lobbying to get the change through. Hemp has naturally low levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) which is the psychoactive ingredient found in cannabis. Hemp seeds contain less than 0.5% of THC.

The Australian Government now acknowledges that there is no risk of getting ‘high’ from hemp seeds and you will not be tested positive to being under the influence of THC on road side drug test.

So why is hemp so good for us? Hemp seeds are similar to a small nut with a crisp shell and soft inner heart. Seeds are sold unhulled and the heart has a light nutty taste. Hemp is a fantastic source of protein (around 25%) and contain essential amino acids, minerals and vitamin E. It is one of the best food sources with a high ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 polyunsaturated fats.

Now that we can eat it, what do we do with it? Here are 4 ways to eat hemp with various food combinations:

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Top 5 Tips on Nutritional Balance for Vegans

HealthOptimal Health

1. Get Regular blood tests
Vegans are in the group of those at high risk of iron, calcium and B12 deficiency. Luckily these are easily checked through blood test by your GP. Your aim is to be on the high end of the test results. If you are showing signs of levels dropping make sure to increase your green leafy vegetables and legumes. If you drop to the low end of the scale, supplementation is necessary! Don’t wait until you’re considered clinically deficient to supplement, you want to make sure nutritionally you can be the best you!

2. It’s all about the plant proteins
Avoid all those tempting starchy carbohydrates and ensure you are having a high protein portion to each meal including snacks. This means lots of nuts, seeds, beans and other legumes. You may even what to try a few vegetable based protein powders to keep the intake up if you are exercising regularly. (Try NutraOrganics Clean Protein)

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Is Grass Fed Meat Better For You?

HealthOptimal Health

In recent years there has been increasing evidence of the benefits of eating pasture-raised and grass-fed meat and dairy. These are not just limited to animal welfare and the environment, but also include health benefits for humans.

Studies show grass-fed meats are leaner and have lower total saturated fat content and calories than feedlot beef. Meat from grass-fed cattle also has higher levels of healthy fats – conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and the omega-3 fatty acids ALA, EPA, and DHA.

However, the absolute levels of CLA and the omega-3 acids remain extremely low, in comparison to the high omega 3 content found in plant forms such as linseeds and hemp seeds or even seafood such as mackerel and sardines.

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5 Signs You Aren’t as Fit as You Thought 

FitnessOptimal Health

Fitting exercise into your busy routine can be hard work, even if you know you need to work on your fitness. But what if you think you get enough exercise through daily errands and choose not to do anything extra? Even if you believe you are fit, you actually might not be. These following points might be proof of that.

Your Heart Rate Takes Ages to Slow Down

When you’re fit, healthy, and exercise regularly, you can work out and have your heart rate decrease quickly once you finish. While you’re exercising, it’s also pumping oxygen throughout your body and beating at around 140-190 beats per minute. Once you stop, it decreases by about 20 beats per minute.

However, if you’re not fit, then your resting heart rate can take far longer to achieve. The more you work on your health and fitness, the faster your heart rate returns to its resting rate.

Walking Up Stairs Leaves You Winded

If you find yourself short of breath when walking up a simple set of stairs, then it might be time to include regular exercise into your routine. It’s normal to feel short of breath after walking up a hill, even if you’re an athlete. However, if you struggle to get up a flight of stairs and it takes you a while to return to your resting heart rate, then it’s time to work on your fitness.

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How to Recover Properly From Cataract Surgery

HealthOptimal Health

If your sight is blurred or cloudy because you have a cataract, your doctor can prescribe cataract surgery to resolve the issue. Cataract surgery is an effective treatment and has an excellent record of allowing people suffering from cataracts to return to some the activities that they had been preventing from doing, but only after proper recovery.

Recovery From Cataract Surgery

Although the precise time for a swift recovery from cataract surgery will differ from person to person, the eye will generally retain some discomfort for a few hours after the treatment, and you should experience clear vision anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. About 90 % of patients report near perfect vision after cataract surgery.

While patience is needed during recovery of cataract surgery, it should be remembered that the recovery period after surgery is barely no time, relative to a lifespan of clear vision ahead. If you know what to expect following cataract surgery, you can reduce risks and speed up the recovery process.

It should not require much more than 24 hours for most patients to resume their normal lives following cataract surgery. Your eye might have scratching or discomfort for a few days after surgery. Your doctor will issue you eye drops to avoid infection from happening. Your eye should be fully recovered after eight weeks.

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How to Break Your Addiction News to Your Family

HealthOptimal Health

There may come a time when you take the monumental step and admit you need drug rehab. It’s also around that point you inform your family about what has been happening in your life.

Sometimes, people with substance abuse wait until they are in a supportive drug rehab facility or programme until they share their news with loved ones. There can be a right time for when you feel up to doing so.

Breaking addiction news to your family is never easy, but it can be freeing. Read on for helpful information on how to take that first step.

  1. Discuss When You’re Feeling Ready

When you first enter a drug programme or decide to enter a rehab facility, it might not feel like the right time to tell your friends and family circle what you’re going through. And that’s okay. It can be scary enough to admit to yourself that you have a substance abuse problem, let alone those you love.

So, it’s important to discuss your addiction when you’re feeling ready. It should be a time when you’re feeling well, the discussion will serve a purpose, and when you believe those close to you are ready to hear the news, as well.

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