We have just added another section to this website, this time it is a free health directory where you can submit links (reciprocal) and view ones already live.

Being brand new at the moment there are no listings so help us fill it up by submitting now! We don’t accept any old rubbish and it must be at least partly related to the same topic, this makes sense for everyone.

Any questions or problems before submitting feel free to get in touch and we will do our best to help out.

Seven Seas, the health supplements company, has launched a new range of women’s supplements called Femibion.

The range consists of 5 different products, they are designed to boost vitality and are targetted at women in a variety of situations. Here are the 5 products, a quick description and the RRP:

• Healthy Pregnancy – help naturally support your babys development – £13.99
• Energetic Mum – boosts energy, overall wellbeing and helps immune system – £9.99
• Balance – helps you feel calm and in control during your monthly cycle when hormones fluctuate -£9.99
• Radiance – maintain healthy radiant skin, hair and nails – £9.99
• Healthy Bones – for women over 50 for strong healthy bones – £12.99

They are already for sale on Boots.com and also at chemistdirect.

Source: email. Image: screenshot

New figures show that Scotland has seen a 20% increase in the number of women having cervical cancer screening – a very positive statistic.

The death of celebrity Jade Goody in March this year has certainly played some part in raising awareness of cervical cancer. Around 900 women die from the disease every year, but chances of survival are much higher if it is detected early.

The figure means that 73% of women have now been tested within the last 3.5 years, very encouraging.

Source: Telegraph.

Tests have shown that a cup of tea can significantly reduce your anxiety levels.

The research was led by Dr Malcolm Cross at the City University London. The experiment placed people in a stressful situation, and those who didn’t receive tea immediately after the test showed a 25% increase in anxiety! And those who were given tea showed a 4% reduction in stress.

So the British tradition has the backing of science. After that hard day at work keep up the tea ritual!

Source: TPA.

I found an interesting article on MSN the other day: 10 common misconceptions which lists 10 interesting popular misconceptions, not just related to health but all things.

The very first one surpised me, the title is If you eat less food, your stomach will shrink. Straight away I was suprised this even is a misconception. I wasn’t aware anyone thought this.

Here is what the article says:

Dieters are often advised to decrease their intake of food in order to shrink the size of their stomach. However, while smaller portions will obviously help with weight-loss, the size of your stomach has nothing to do with the process. On average, the organ will maintain a constant volume throughout life, regardless of the amount of food that passes through it.

I had a little look into it and whilst you can’t shrink your stomach (well, surgery can) you can shrink your hunger. This article says “reduced-calorie diet for four weeks can help you shrink your sensation of hunger”, so after weeks of dieting I can understand why many people would think they have shrinked their stomach.

I also found someone on Yahoo answers asking for advice on how to shrink their stomach. So clearly people do believe the misconception. To clarify: it is NOT TRUE, you cannot shrink your stomach by eating less, but you can shrink your sensation of hunger.

Image: markhillary

This is a ‘hands-on’ review of the online pharmacy service Pharmacy2u.

Introduction
I’ve been buying online from Pharmacy2u since August 2006, in total I’ve placed 12 orders. So I have a very good understanding of what their service is like. I don’t use the online prescriptions service and only buy general health and beauty products like; skin creams, shower gels, antiperspirants, multivitamins, vitamins and cod liver oil.

Order For This Review
To do this specific review I placed an order for the usual products I buy. I placed the order on Monday Feb 16th in the afternoon, and the parcel arrived on Wednesday Feb 18th at about 10:30am. I didn’t pay extra for the fast delivery, just the ’standard’ delivery, 2 days is still a very fast service in my opinion!

In total I ordered 4 different products, ordering 2 of each kind. My Basket:
Witch Clear Pore Gel – £3.49
Cod Liver Oil 1000mg x90 capsules – £3.99
Nivea For Men Dry Antiperspirant – £2.29
Lynx Snake Peel Shower Scrub – £2.09

Prices
In total my order cost £23.72, not bad for 8 items of this quality. Generally I think their prices are very competitive, and if you did shop around to get them cheaper I imagine they would only be a tiny amount cheaper. They also have regular offers on certain products and bundle packs.

Packaging & Delivery
Orders normally come in a plain white box, and inside they normally have protective plastic to protect the products. On this occasion the box had no protective wrapping but the items were so tightly packed in they must have felt it wasn’t needed (see photos below). I would prefer all orders to have protective plastic, but ultimately my order arrived in perfect condition so I’m not complaining. On this occasion I was also able to use a voucher code to receive free delivery. Normally it costs £2.95, or £5.50 for the faster service.

Products
I buy the own branded multivitamins and cod liver oil. Other products are branded like Lynx, Nivea etc. I’m going to do an article soon on the own branded cod liver oil as this is the first time I have purchased them.

Conclusion
All-in-all I really can’t fault Pharmacy2u. I could of course say I want; cheaper prices, faster delivery etc. But we always want things cheaper and faster! But coming back to planet earth, I would give them 9/10 as the value for money is very good, packaging solid and the speed of service for me has always been brilliant.

Limitations Of My Review
I have never had to contact them once about an order, so I can’t say how fast/polite/helpful the customer service is. Also, they stock thousands of products, I generally order pretty much the same things (skin creams, shower gels, antiperspirant, multivitamins and cod liver oil) so I don’t know about the packaging and speed of service on higher value orders and larger sized packages. I’ve also never used their ‘Prescriptions’ service so I can’t comment on that.

Website: www.pharmacy2u.co.uk

Image Gallery Of Order

Image credits: images owned by multivitamin.co.uk and not to be used without written permission.

Voucher codes are a great way to get money off your orders, even when the retailers don’t have sales on! Generally the voucher codes will either give you; a % off or; free delivery. The norm I see is 10% or 20% off.

How To Find The Voucher Codes
The retailers sometimes splash them across their website, but more often than not they don’t. So you need to go hunting! There is a lot of websites which list retailers and the voucher codes they know of. So one option is to add all the voucher code websites to your favourites and then go through them when you want to do a bit of online shopping.

However, my favourite way to find voucher codes is to type the name of the retailer into google with the words ‘voucher code’ at the end, so something like “topman voucher code” or “boots voucher code”, then lots of good results come up from the different websites.

Limitations
Sometimes the codes don’t work or have expired so this isn’t bullet proof and guaranteed to save you money. Also some smaller retailers sometimes don’t have any codes at all so there aren’t even any to try.

But all-in-all it is definitely worth a try as over the long-term you will save yourself quite a bit of money!

Last week I wrote about the brain training I was going to try out with the use of a book called Brainstumpers.

In total the book housed 85 different puzzles to complete, having now completed it and added up my scores I managed 45/85, or 53% correct. I have to admit I found it very tough. Although only getting half right sounds a bit dumb I’m actually very pleased with it. Although I’m pleased with my score, there is also a lot of room to improve, which is great.

Certain types of questions I was good at, others I just couldn’t do to save my life! No matter how often they popped up I could never figure out how you worked out the answer. Without knowing the method all you can do is guess. Thankfully though I didn’t get very lucky on the guess front because that would have given a flattering score.

Here is an example of the kind of question I got stuck on:

I’m not going to tell you the answer, or even give you a clue. To be honest looking at the answer, I would never have got it no matter how long I thought about it. If you are desperate for the answer you are welcome to email me!

There is no doubt how hard you have to think to solve such puzzles, you really have to work your mind in a variety of different ways to solve all the different kinds of puzzles.

I’m going to keep doing similar exercises to see how much I can improve. So does it work? I think there is no doubt, it gets you thinking in a way you don’t have to in general life. Personally the extent to which it works (IE how much I improve) will only be known long-term. But I highly recommend you try something like this as it can be fun, and improves you brain at the same time!

If you want to buy the brainstumpers books they are available on Amazon for around £6 (at the time of writing). And they also have a lot more Puzzle and solution type books on Amazon so it’s worth checking out.

My health body, healthy mind quest continues…

Image credit: Multivitamin.co.uk own scan

This article looks at sugar and how it can help you reach your weight targets.

What Sugar Does
A sudden influx of sugar into your bloodstream upsets your body’s blood-sugar balance, this triggers the release of insulin. And insulin promotes the storage of fat.

How This Affects Your Weight
The more sugar you have the more likely your body is to release insulin causing you to gain weight.

Hoping To Gain Weight?
I have an Ectomorphic body type (somatotype), which is characterised by long and thin muscles/limbs and low fat storage, often referred to as slim. That means I have trouble putting weight on, I’m not underweight but it would be nice to ‘bulk out’ a little bit. So for me, having extra sugar should encourage my body to gain weight.

Dangerous Strategy
So on the surface it seems “Great! How easy is that!” but actually it isn’t without its drawbacks. Because sugar raises your insulin level, it in turn depresses your immune system. And your immune system helps fight disease so you really don’t want to be messing with it.

Hoping To Lose Weight
If you currently eat a lot of foods with high sugar content (like those little sweeties you love) then cut them out and it should help your efforts towards losing weight.

Read The Packagaing
Some foods may be a lot higher in sugar than you think. So start reading the labels of food you eat, especially those on a regular occasion and see how high your sugar intake is, then you can take the appropriate action.

Info Sources: wikipedia, healingdaily. Image credit: vox_efx

I don’t do a lot of puzzlers, my dad has a Nintendo DS to do the Brain Training (or whatever it’s called) but I don’t do anything like this. Lots of good things have been said about how it helps you, especially as you get older. So I’ve decided I’m going to try some myself.

I can see how doing puzzlers, solving things and doing the brain training tasks really can help you. Otherwise your brain will definitely get lazy never having to really think in the way only puzzlers require.

I’ve got a book called Brainstumpers. You can buy it from bookstores for only a few quid. It is like a traditional puzzler but in a proper book, in total it has 85 individual problems to solve. I’m not expecting very good results, that’s purely on the fact that I never do them, who knows I may be great at them!

Hopefully though the more I do them the better the results will get and the more capable my brain will be. The whole idea of sound body, sound mind I do like, I fair better in the sound body section at the moment so time for the brain to catch up.

I will report back on how I get on and whether it is worthwhile doing.

According to new scientific research Vitamin D can help reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis. The research suggests that a Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and childhood increases the risk of a child developing multiple sclerosis.

So in short, lets start giving daily Vitamin D supplements to pregnant women and young children and in the future the number of people diagnosed with MS should drop. Obviously it’s not as simple as that and it will be down to the individual parent to start taking the supplements.

Boosting levels in the womb and early in life could cut MS cases by upto 80%, or 2,000 of the 2,500 cases diagnosed each year in the UK.

Vitamin D is produced by the sun’s rays reaching the skin, so if you live in colder climates like Scotland which has one of the highest rates of MS in the world, you are more at risk. And if you are reading this from Spain, well I’m very jealous, but also you are at a much lower risk.

The research was carried out by George Ebers, Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford.

Stat Sources: Dailymail, Times. Image: sxc

You can get Vitamin A, B (8 different types), C, D, E and K. But why the random jump from E to K? Why didn’t they just call the next classification Vitamin F?

Here’s Why
Over time some vitamins have been either; re-classified, completely discarded or renamed – as in the case of Vitamin B which became a “complex” of vitamins. When scientists described Vitamin K most of the letters from F to J were already designated, and the vitamin is involved in the koagulation of blood following wounding, so it was reasonable to give it the letter they did. However over time with vitamin classifications changing it has left a gap.

Previously Classifed Vitamins
Here is the list of vitamins which are no longer recognised. First it has the vitamin name, then the chemical name and also the reason for the name change.

• Vitamin B4 – Adenine DNA – Metabolite
• Vitamin B8 – Adenylic acid DNA – Metabolite
• Vitamin F – Essential fatty acids – Needed in large quantities
• Vitamin G – Riboflavin – Reclassified as Vitamin B2
• Vitamin H – Biotin – Reclassified as Vitamin B7
• Vitamin J – Catechol, Flavin – Protein metabolite
• Vitamin L1 – Anthranilic acid – Protein metabolite
• Vitamin L2 – Adenylthiomethylpentose – RNA metabolite
• Vitamin M – Folic acid – Reclassified as Vitamin B9
• Vitamin O – Carnitine – Protein metabolite
• Vitamin P – Flavonoids – No longer classified as a vitamin
• Vitamin PP – Niacin – Reclassified as Vitamin B3
• Vitamin U – S-Methylmethionine – Protein metabolite

Maybe in the future we will have a Vitamin Z?

Source: Wikipedia. Image: sxc

My mum and dad are both very healthy for their age, they go to the gym, swimming and other fitness classes every week. My dad can’t eat at all before he goes to the gym, not even quite a few hours before. Whereas my mum has a small meal an hour or so before she goes. And I’m in between (typical?!), I like to eat about 2 hours before any kind of workout.

It got me wondering about how long before a workout should you eat? What is best for you? Because you want the energy but you don’t want to feel sick and not able to workout.

I found an article in Reps magazine (you can get it free from supplement retailers) about the art of eating for training. It says you want to eat in good time to support growth and stave off catabolism without hindering optimum training with a full belly.

It’s recommendation is to eat a full healthy meal 2-3 hours before your workout. Everybody is clearly different as shown in my example of me and my parents. So find your best time to eat before workouts and you should get the most out of your sessions!

After the article on using a lime to treat headaches I started to think about other home remedies I’d heard of but don’t know a great deal about. “Laughter is the best remedy” is a saying I remembered. Is laughing really good for you?

Laughing is one of those things where I find it hard to believe that it is good for you. But according to research by Indiana University School of Medicine laughing helps relax muscles, lower blood pressure, relieve stress and burn calories!

Some researchers even estimate that laughing 100 times is equal to a 10 minute aerobic workout on a rowing machine. So laughing isn’t just a tiny little bit good for you, it should make a noticable difference if you increase the amount you laugh.

Not only will it give you an instant lift it might help prevent heart disease according to Cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center. In their research they found that people with heart disease were 40% less likely to laugh in a variety of situations.

So make sure you regularly have a good laugh to help your mind and body!

Image: wheany

I am a fan of the Lime, it’s a great tasting fruit. But recently I was told you may be able to use it to cure a headache! I’m not a pessimistic person but to be honest I couldn’t see how it could work.

I’ve done some digging and it turns out putting a lime on the forehead can indeed help to stop a headache. However it only stops the headache whilst the lime is placed on the forehead, when you take it off the pain soon comes back.

I’ve found 2 experiences of people trying it and reporting back, here is one article and here is another. I’m glad other people have tried it because I’d rather save my limes for my glass of lemonade!

So if you have no paracetamol around to stop a headache but you are in real pain then grab a lime and hold it on your forehead until someone can go to the shops to stock up on some real relief.

Image credit: rand_g

By summer 2009 an anti-obesity pill will be sold in chemists without prescription in the UK and across Europe. But not just anyone can buy it, you have to have a BMI of 28 or more (BMI calculator).

It is called Orlistat or Alli for short and will cost £1.45 a day. Surely this pill will just be a cop-out for lazy people who may lose the weight but will still have an unhealthy lifestyle that will lead to an early death anyway?

The pill has already been on sale in America for a year. A spokesman for GSK Consumer Healthcare UK said: “It is not a magic pill but it can help people lose more weight than dieting alone.”. So there you have it, it’s not a magic pill, but tests have shown it does work.

Although some lazy people will see it is a magic pill I’m sure the pill will be taken by lots of sensible people who have trouble losing weight, and I hope it works for them to help solve Britains obesity issues.

Time will reveal all….

Sources: NT, Mirror. Image: colros

Here is a video titled Truth About Vitamins by Dr Vincent Bellonzi, a certified Clinical Nutritionist based in Austin, USA.

This is a very good video to watch because it makes it clear how health supplements should be used.

To recap; in the video he stresses it is important you eat healthily to give yourself a good base and use supplements to give you the important vitamins, minerals and fatty acids you may miss from your food.

I’ve known about crisps made from vegetables for a while but not actually tried them. Yesterday I came across beetroot crips called Snapz, I took a photo of the packet (on left, click to enlarge) using the camera on my mobile phone so you can see what they look like.

Crisps are generally not very healthy, so are Snapz as tasty as normal crisps but also much more healthy for you?

Taste
Personally it didn’t tickle my taste buds at all. The first one was ok, a bit weird, the whole idea of a beetroot crisp still not clear in my head! So I had a few more and the taste got worse to be honest, quite an earthy taste. I don’t really like beetroot anyway so I wasn’t expecting to like them.

Other Sorts
You can also buy Parsnip crisps and Carrot & Paprika. To me they sound even worse than Beetroot so I don’t think I’ll be trying them. I’m sure lots more sorts are either; already available or will become available.

Are They Healthy?
The back of the packet says: not fried, not baked, fat-free, no added sugar, no added salt, non-gmo products and no artifical flavours/colours. As they say they really are 100% natural. They also say they are a good source of fibre and count to your 1 of your 5 a day. The guideline daily amount reads: Calories: 2.6%, Sugars (natural) 11.5%, Fat (natural) 0.03%, Saturates 0%, Salt 3.2%. Based on all of that information I have to conclude they are definitely good for you.

Recommendation
I’m not a big vegetable fan anyway so really it was highly unlikely I was going to like these crisps. But if you are a fan of your veg I recommend you try them out because you may love them. And they are 1 of your 5 a day

Availability
Snapz are available in the UK to buy from some supermarkets, this multipack was purchased from Sainsburys for £1.49, you get 5 x20g packs per multipack. I’m not sure about availability in other regions. You can also read about them on the Snapz website.

Image credit: multivitamin.co.uk copyright protected

Some interesting research has been done linking sleep to getting the common cold.

A study of 153 men and women aged 21 to 55 found that people who sleep less than 7 hours per night were about 3x more likely to get a cold than people who slept 8 hours or more per night.

Sheldon Cohen who headed the study said “People whose sleep was disturbed were much more likely to develop colds than people who went to sleep, slept all night, and got up in the mornings”.

The researchers don’t yet know why less sleep is connected to susceptibility to common colds. To be honest I’m not massively bothered why, I’m just going to make sure I get lots of good sleep so I don’t get any more colds!

The study was headed by Sheldon Cohen, psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon University. It was published Monday Jan 12th in Archives of Internal Medicine.

Source: cnn. Image: caitlinator

How is your News Years Resolution to either; get fitter or lose weight going?

It’s Going Good
If it is going good then keep it up. Remember to keep reviewing your current goals, you don’t just want to stay on the same routines all the time, as your fitness improves you will want to increase your workload gradually.

Going Bad
If you are already stuggling with your New Years Resolution then there are a few things you can do. Don’t go thinking all is lost just because you’ve got off to a bad start.

Unrealistic Goals
If you feel your goals are a million miles away then make them more realistic. Then when you reach your first goal set a new one slightly higher. Keep working that way and eventually you will reach your original goal.

Think Positive
In all aspects of life it is important to think positive, if you are negative about your chances of achieving your New Years Resolution then you will never make it – be positive!

Slow It Down
This may sound silly, but if you have gone for it right from January 1st you may be doing too much too quick. If you feel like it is getting on top of you then reduce the amount you workout by changing your schedule.

Not Enjoying What You Are Doing
There are lots of ways to get fit, and lots of ways to lose weight as well. If you aren’t enjoying the method you’ve started with then change it, if you aren’t happy with your current method then you will soon give up and never reach your targets.

Conclusion
New Years Resolutions are not just for January, they should be here to stay and help you improve your life. Remember your targets, be comfortable with what you are doing and be positive – you will get to where you want to be in no time!