Archives for July 2017

Habits are formed when we’re young, which is why most adults who started smoking or binge drinking at a young age have a more difficult time quitting as they get older. The best way to grow a happy and healthy adult is to start with a healthy and happy teenager. However, this might not be as easy as it sounds; these days, junk food is freely available, and often cheaper than nutritious meals. New gadgets are being released yearly, which means they’re more likely to stay indoors playing with them all weekend. Not to mention the workload that keeps stacking up, and the pressure to get into good schools. It’s easy to see the effects of an unhealthy lifestyle in a teenager’s weight and on their skin. But if they cultivate good habits now, these teenagers could all grow up to be healthy adults.

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Don’t smoke, drink, or do drugs

Everything you do when you’re young can catch up to you when you’re older. Therefore, if you start smoking as a teenager, you’re more likely to have cancer, heart disease, or a stroke as an adult. Binge drinking before you reach the legal drinking age can increase your chances of getting liver disease or developing problems with alcohol. Taking any drugs will impact your health, but they will do more damage if you take them young. You might not want to have these conversations with your kids, but the best way to keep them safe is to encourage dialogue about these taboo topics. Avoiding them altogether means that your child is less likely to seek out help if they have a problem down the road. Don’t shy away from your own history, but make it clear why you don’t want your children to follow in your example. There are plenty of tips for talking to teens about these issues, but you will have to find a method that works for you. Don’t just trust their school to cover these subjects for you; they don’t know your child as well as you do, and you have a better chance of getting through to them.

Safe sex

No parent wants to think about their kids having intercourse, but the truth is that it’s going to happen eventually whether you like it or not. If you want them to avoid any unpleasant surprises like pregnancies or STDs, then you need to sit down with them and have a mature discussion. Most teenagers get confusing second-hand information from their peers or older siblings, so many of them might be grateful for their parents or other trusted adults taking the time to talk about it, even if they might be embarrassed about it at first.  However you bring up the topic of sex and relationships, listen to what your teenager has to say and use this to let the conversation develop. If they talk about STDs then you can both check out information at https://www.saferstdtesting.com/free-std-testing to learn more. If they mention condoms or birth control pills, then make sure they know why it’s important to use them, where to get them and how to use them. Having this conversation with your teenager won’t give them a green light to have sex, but it will teach them to be smart and safe when the time comes.

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Diet and exercise

Of all the habits that are toughest to form, diet and exercise are at the top of the list, and they are also the most essential. Teenagers require greater amounts of nutrition because this is when they do most of their growing. A healthy diet equals a healthy teenager. However, eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to stuff your face with spinach and lettuce every day (although leafy greens are rich in fiber, Vitamin C, and can reduce the risk of cancer). Cheese, lean meats, and even dark chocolate can all keep you healthy and energized. They’ll also be thrilled to learn that PB&J sandwiches are an acceptable study snack, because peanuts and peanut butter are a good source of vitamin E, a potent antioxidant that protects nervous membranes, and thiamin to help the brain and nervous system use glucose for energy.

Keeping fit is not just good for the body, but it can also increase the effectiveness of studying. Exercise creates many chemicals for the brain that help motivation, focus and alertness which are all key to being a good student, especially around exam time and finals. Exercise also decreases stress hormones and chemicals like cortisol that can interfere with learning and overall health. Fortunately, they don’t have to join a gym to get their regular exercise; just encourage your teenager to join a sports club at school by saying it will look good on a college application.

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Plenty of sleep

Parents may wish their children would get out of bed earlier on weekends, but the average teenager actually needs between nine and ten hours of sleep per night to function well in the mornings, particularly during school terms. You can read more about the studies done into teenagers and sleep at http://sleepcenter.ucla.edu/sleep-and-teens to get a better idea of how you can help your child get the sleep they need. There is a link between tiredness and anxiety levels, as emotional stability is improved when you are fully rested. Studies have shown a link between insomnia and depression, as the brain requires plenty of rest to be able to manage emotions correctly. Additionally, sleep is good for teenagers because when you’re dreaming, your brain puts your thoughts and experiences into the right ‘boxes’, so that they can be easily accessed. So, if they’re trying to retain information for a test, getting a good night’s sleep is the best study aid available. Sleep is as important for brain function as water and a good diet, therefore staying up all night to work on a project or finish off an essay isn’t going to do much to help your teen’s grades.  

Aging is something that’s unavoidable. That might seem like an obvious statement, but most of us are in denial even if we won’t say so out loud. Perhaps your denial manifests itself through cringe-worthy attempts at sporting the latest fashion trends, listening to the newest music, or simply acting as if you’re twenty years younger.

There’s nothing wrong at all with striving to be younger than you are in terms of mentality and energy, but you also shouldn’t ignore the truth of your age. Embrace it. Embrace aging, and do all you can to turn it into a positive thing. You should live life as if you’re young because, in a sense, that can help your body and mind to age backward, but you also might want to deal with the consequences of aging in other ways. Here are some tips.

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Your skin.

Your skin will wrinkle and sag with old age. There are things that can be done to delay this process, such as surgery and creams, but it’s almost better to come to terms with the effect of aging; there’s only so far that our tampering can take us. Many of the methods to reverse the aging process of the skin or disguise it don’t work as well as they promise, so it’s important to do a little research into anti-aging products before you blow all of your money on them.

Alpha-hydroxy acids such as citric acids, for example, can help to tighten and brighten the skin, but they can also increase stinging and sensitivity to the sun. Meanwhile, other ingredients in anti-aging products, such as antioxidants, provide a lot of benefit inside our body (vitamins C and E), but it’s debatable as to whether they can do anything for the top layer of our skin. Try out these methods if you want to, by all means, but don’t expect miracles. It’s better to simply embrace your aging and feel beautiful no matter how old you are.

Your aches and pains.

An unfortunate problem with growing older is the rise of regular aches and pains, but it’s not a problem that’s entirely unsolvable. Pain relievers and other medication that you might take will help dull the pain on an instant basis, of course, but there are other ways to help your body feel more relaxed and comfortable on a long-term basis. You might want to try meditative techniques such as yoga because there’s really a lot to be said for relaxing the mind in order to relax the body. The less tight your muscles feel, and the more you draw your thoughts away from painful jolts through your nerve endings, the more those aches and pains will start to feel less pressing and immediate.

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Your hearing.

Your ears aren’t going to work as well as they used to as you get older, much like all aspects of the body; it’s something we all gradually go through. Still, there are things you can do to better look after your ears (again, much like any aspect of your body). A good piece of advice is to stick to safe volumes on TVs or any sort of music-player you might use. It’s tempting to turn up the volume as your hearing deteriorates, but this will only damage your hearing further, causing you to have to gradually turn the volume higher and higher on devices. Imagine having perfect hearing and listening to something at a loud volume; you’d feel how damaging it was to your eardrums, but it’s still just as damaging even if you can’t hear clearly.

Of course, we can’t always control the volume of our environment. If you frequently go to concerts or other big live events with a lot of loud sounds then you might want to get yourself some earplugs to help protect yourself from some of the chaotic cacophony of noise. These are all preventative methods, but they’re still useful even if you’ve suffered some degree of hearing loss already. You’ll probably also want to consider a hearing aid amplifier, of course, because your hearing will likely still deteriorate even if you’re incredibly careful with how you treat your precious ears. There’s only so much you can do to hold off the effects of aging, as has been repeated throughout this article. All you can do is look after yourself to the best of your ability.

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Your family.

It’s important to listen to your children. Old habits rarely die, and you might still find yourself in a position of telling them that you know best, but they’re probably middle-aged (or nearing that age) by this point. You have to accept that they might be offering you very sound and helpful advice; in a few decades, they might be the sole voice of reason in your life because age often leads us to become more difficult. Listen, and you’ll be listened to. Treat your child like an adult if they’ve become one, and they’ll give you the same courtesy.

Your mind.

Often, your greatest enemy in old age is your mind. You might work hard to keep physically fit and eat well (both of which do wonders to keep the brain healthy), but age has a way of deteriorating our minds to the point of struggling to make connections in the way they used to. Depression is a common mental health problem in older adults, and it’s all a result of the general deterioration of the mind. It’s important that you have a strong support network to help you get through the issues that affect your mind.

Your family will do a great deal to help you if you just ask them, of course, but there are options in terms of professional help. You could always talk to somebody about your worries in order to try to find some level ground. There is a multitude of reasons as to why your mind struggles as it ages, and many of them are a result of nature running its course, but some of them are to do with your struggle with the effect of aging in itself.