The Potential Risk of Grapefruit Juice

Citrus fruits are considered to be very healthy, thanks to their high vitamin C content as well as the many minerals and other nutrients they contain. However, ingesting grapefruit juice can lead to severe poisoning when mixed with certain substances. A variety of medical studies in recent years found that combining grapefruit juice with certain medications can lead to an overdose. This article will discuss the reasons for these results, and list the medications you absolutely cannot mix with grapefruit.

The Grapefruit/Medication Connection The human body produces an enzyme called CYO3A4 that, amongst other things, helps break down certain chemicals before they are absorbed into the bloodstream. Grapefruits contain a chemical that inhibits the CYO3A4 enzyme’s functions, which leads to more of the medication being absorbed into the bloodstream. When the level of medication in the blood is too high, you enter a state of overdose, which can lead to exacerbated side-effects and even poisoning. Other Citrus Fruits The inhibiting chemical in grapefruit can also be found in other citrus fruits, such as pomelo, limes, and bitter oranges (a type of orange that is very bitter and is mainly used in jams). It’s important to mention that other species of oranges, as well as lemons - are safe to ingest, as they don’t contain the aforementioned chemical. Potential Severity of Reactions It’s difficult to predict the severity of reaction grapefruit juice will have on one's body, as it can be affected by many variables. Different juices contain different levels of the inhibiting chemical, meaning that each type of juice can have a different level of effect. Additionally, the quantity of juice consumed can have a drastically varied effect according to one's weight.

Medications that Should Not Be Taken with Grapefruit Juice: There are currently more than 85 different medications that should not be taken with grapefruit juice, and new drugs join the list every year. The following list shows the drugs that pose the most danger when taken with Grapefruit:

Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Medication Generic name Commercial names Amlodipine  Norvasc Amiodarone Procor, Amiodacore, Amiocor Felodipine  Logimax, Penedil Nifedipine  Osmo-Adalat, Nifedipine-Teva, Pressolat, Megalat Nimodipine  Nimotop Quinidin  Quiniduran Verapamil Verapress, Apoacor, Ikacor, Ikapress, Veracor Lipid Lowering Medication Generic name Commercial names Atorvastatin Lipitor Lovastatin Lovalip Simvastatin Simovil, Simvacor, Simvastatin-Teva Tranquilizers and Psychiatric Medication Generic name Commercial names Buspirone Buspirol, Sorbon Clomipramine Anafranil, Maronil Diazepam Assival, Diaz, Valium Midazolam Dormicum, Midazol, Midazolam Pimozide Orap Forte Sertraline Lustral Other (Immunosuppressants, antihistamines, etc.) Generic name Commercial names Carbamazepine Carbi, Tegretol, Teril, Timonil Cisapride Prepulsid Cyclosporine Sangcya, Sandimmun, Deximune Itraconazole Sporanox Saquinavir Invirase, Fortovase Sirolimus Rapamune Tacrolimus Prograf #Astrologer in US : #Astrologer in USA : #Astrologer in India : #Astrologer in Malaysia : #Astrologer in Sri Lanka : #Astrologer in UAE AsAstrologer Vighnesh India: +91 9445548316 / 9382633377 USA: +1 (425) 358-6565 / +1 (716) 777-3857  Wat'sapp.. Consultation by web appointment onlly. http://www.astrovighnesh.com

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This is How to Improve Your 5 Senses!

Fine tuning your sense of smell, sight, taste, hearing, and touch will enhance every life experience. For the majority of us, our sense begin to decrease with age, but, as you’re about to see, there are many ways you can sharpen them. Read on to see how you can heighten your five senses so that you can get the most out of everyday life.

1. Smell

Inhale Strong Smells Every Day

Practicing what is known as “scent therapy” can engage new receptors in your nose, increasing your sense of smell over time.

Choose several strong smells that you find pleasant and spend a few minutes each day sniffing each one. After a couple of weeks, your nose should be able to pick up these smells more easily. When you start noticing this difference, choose some more smells.

• Essential oils are great when it comes to scent therapy. Choose 3 or 4 oils with smells such as cedar, vanilla, lemongrass, and geranium rose. 
• You can also use raw materials to conduct scent therapy. Collect a few jars and fill each one with a different strong-smelling substance, such as ground coffee, a few drops of floral shampoo, or dried basil leaves. 
• When you’re carrying out scent therapy, you should sniff quickly rather than deeply inhaling each scent.

Describe Smells Out Loud

When you identify and describe a smell out loud, your ability to perceive it is increased. Make a practice of talking about smells as you experience them. Describe them out loud using specific language, much like the way a wine connoisseur would talk about the characteristic of certain wines.

Work up a Sweat

Getting some exercise can enhance your sense of smell. Take a walk, then pay attention to the smells around you. It’s possible that the extra moisture in your nose that accumulates during exercise helps to increase your ability to smell.

Eat More Zinc

Having a zinc deficiency can lead to a decreased sense of smell as well as taste. Take supplements or consume foods that are high in zinc, beef, pumpkin seeds, scallops, sesame seeds, and oats.

Check Your Medication

Certain medications have the side effect of decreasing the sense of smell. For example, medication prescribed for Parkinson’s, antibiotics, and blood pressure can affect your sense of smell. If you’re on a medication that is known to have this side effect, talk to your doctor to make sure you’re receiving the right dosage.

Stop Smoking

Smoking is a huge culprit when it comes to dulling the senses, especially your sense of smell. If you can cut back or quit smoking altogether, your sense of smell will greatly improve.

2. Tasting

Cut back on Salt and Sugar

Foods laden with these ingredients can mess with your sense of taste. They mask subtler flavors and make it more difficult for you to taste your food. When you first cut back on salt and sugar, you might feel that your food has no flavor, but after a couple of weeks, you’ll begin to notice the complex flavors you were missing before.

• Try to reduce salt and sugar by 1/3 or ½ in all your recipes, including your baking recipes. You could also substitute sugar with a less intense sweetener such as honey. 
• There’s no need to cut out salt entirely. A little salt can actually enhance the flavor of your food. 

Avoid Casseroles and Stews

Dishes in which all the flavors are mixed together aren’t the best for stimulating your taste buds. It’s hard to distinguish the flavors from one another, and dishes such as these often end up tasting bland. Keep the components of your meal separate from one another to help maximize taste bud stimulation.

Add Variety to Your Diet

Stimulate your taste buds by mixing things up in your diet. If you eat bland meals, your ability to taste may deteriorate. Use herbs and spices that you don’t normally use. Steam your veggies instead of boiling them, and choose foods with different textures and colors, so that every meal is a banquet of new tastes for your tongue.

Smell Your Food before Tasting It

Your senses of taste and smell are linked; when one is sharpened, so is the other. You’ll enjoy the taste of your food a lot more if you inhale it before you begin tucking in.

3. Seeing

Eat Foods That Make Your Eyes Healthier

Foods that are rich in vitamins A, C, and E are important for good vision. You should also strive to eat foods that are rich in beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, since these antioxidants protect the eyes from sun damage.

• Eat dark leafy greens, sweet potatoes, peppers, carrots, and pumpkin. 
• Blueberries, garlic, grapes, and onions also contain antioxidants that protect your eyes. 
• Foods with DHA, a fatty acid, are also essential for healthy eyes. Eat Salmon, cod, sardines, and mackerel. 

Don’t Stare at a Computer All Day Long

It’s very important to take a break, so that your eyes don’t get strained from staring at the lights on your computer screen. Every hour or so, stand up and look out of the window. Gaze at an object several miles away, if possible. Keep looking until your eyes adjust to the view.

Make Sure Your Eyes Are Moisturized

Having dry eyes can cause your vision to go blurry. Therefore, you should drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. If you wear contacts, be sure to clean them properly and change them frequently. Use saline drops to lubricate your eyes if you have trouble producing your own tears.

Do Eye Exercises

You can sharpen your vision by performing a few simple exercises on a daily basis. Do these exercises when your eyes are a little tired and you feel like you need a break from whatever task is at hand.

• Roll your eyes around. Look up, then to the side, then down, then to the other side. Repeat ten times. 
• Focus on an object. Hold the object close to your face, then move it slowly backward, keeping your eyes focused on the item. Move it close to your face again, maintaining focus. 

4. Hearing

Eat an Ear-Friendly Diet

Foods containing certain nutrients can enhance your ear health, increasing your ability to hear outside. Add the following foods to your diet:

• Foods rich in omega-3, such as fish, improve blood flow to the ear canal and improve hearing. 
• Foods rich in zinc, such as lamb and sesame seeds, can decrease inflammation in your inner ear. 
• Apples contain quercetin, which is an antioxidant that repairs free radical damage. 

Stay Away from Loud Noises

Attending loud events really does decrease your ability to hear. The same goes for experiencing other sustained loud sounds, like the sound of traffic or heavy machinery at a construction site. When you can’t help but be around loud noise, protect yourself by wearing earplugs.

Try Drinking Red Wine  

Red wine contains resveratrol, an antioxidant that has been shown to improve hearing in mice. Therefore, drinking a glass of red wine every evening may enhance your ability to hear over time.

5. Touching

Look at What You’re Touching

Research has shown that tactile sensation and vision are related, so looking at the object you’re touching will enhance your ability to feel it. When you’re touching something that is interesting, pay attention to what it looks like too.

Exfoliate Your Skin

Soft skin is a lot more sensitive than rough skin. If you have callouses on your hands and feet, you’re limiting the sensations that you can feel. Use a pumice stone to remove rough edges, then moisturize with oil or lotion to keep your skin soft and sensitive.

Pay More Attention to How Things Feel

Our sense of touch might be the one that we take for granted the most. Deliberately paying attention to how things feel can awaken your brain so that your sense of touch gets stimulated. Therefore, start being more aware of what your skin is touching.

• When you’re out clothes shopping, run your hands over the different fabrics. Identify the difference between cotton and polyester, silk and satin. 
• Make it a point to touch different textures throughout the day. Let your fingers graze a tree as you walk by, and stop to touch beautiful flowers. Run your hands through your hair and feel the cold tiles under your feet.

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Relieve Common Aches and Pains!

If you suffer from certain aches and pains, you may be able to get rid of them using reflexology and acupressure on yourself. By doing so, you’ll do away with waiting for doctor’s appointments or suffering in silence.

If you’re thinking of acupuncture, then you’re right – the two do sound very similar and they actually work on the same principles too. The only difference is that with acupressure, there aren’t any needles to deal with – you apply pressure with your fingers to certain points of your body instead.

On the other hand, reflexology is the use of therapeutic pressure massage on certain areas of our hands and feet. 

These massages are designed to improve energy flow, relieve pain and optimize our health. Certain areas of our hands and feet correspond to specific areas of our bodies and even specific organs. The theory is that the root cause of pain in specific areas is usually due to a blockage of energy, which is preventing us from being healthy and vibrant.

Here is a list of aches and pains that can be treated using acupressure and reflexology, at home or on the go:

For Headaches and Migraines

Our fingertips (excluding our thumbs), with particular reference to the area at the base of the fingernails, can be massaged to relieve head pain. Do so by focusing on your index fingers, as well as the webbing between the thumbs and your index fingers. The latter is often referred to as the Valley of Harmony.

For Sinus Pressure and Pain

Turn your palms towards you and apply pressure to the pad of your finger (the part of your finger you use to type) using the thumb and index finger on your opposite hand. Hold the tip of each finger in turn for 1-3 minutes, lightly massaging when done. This will relieve sinus pain, headaches, dizziness, pressure, stuffy noses and congestion.

For Neck Pain and Tension

Massage the middle part of each of your fingers in turn, and look at your fingers. While you’re doing so, think of your fingertips as your head – working your way down your fingers, therefore, is working your way down your neck and shoulders. 

For an Upset Stomach

Massage the entire length of your thumb, warming it up in the process. Once you’ve done so, apply direct pressure to the center of your palm using your warmed up thumb, holding it in place for a couple of minutes.

For a Cold or Sore Throat

Massage the entire length of your thumb, warming it up in the process. Use the index finger and thumb of your opposite hand to apply pressure to either side of your thumbnail.

For Fatigue

Start off by massaging your whole hand, then apply direct pressure to the point on your middle finger, as shown in the photo.

For Menstrual Cramps or Abdominal Pain

Lightly massage your whole hand first. Apply direct pressure to the side of your nail on your index finger, doing so on the side that’s closest to your thumb. Once you’ve done that, move to the second location on your pinky finger, as shown in the picture.

Additional tips

1. Rub your hands together for one minute prior to starting any of these exercises to increase hand energy and sensitivity. Use the index finger and thumb on your opposite hand to gently massage and warm up the area to be worked on.

2. The ever-present tip - “make sure you drink lots of water and stay hydrated” in beauty and health articles - is here too. Proper hydration allows for optimal tissue health and helps your body get rid of toxins. After all, our bodies are almost entirely made up of water.

3. Avoid deep pressure to the web of the hand if you are pregnant.

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