oe Nail Fungus - Natural Home remedy for Toe Nail Fungus

Toenail fungus, also called onychomycosis, is a relatively common condition that disfigures and sometimes destroys the nail. Onychomycosis can be caused by several different types of fungi (microscopic organisms related to mold and mildew). These fungi thrive in the dark, moist and stuffy environment inside shoes. As they grow, they feed on keratin, the tough protein that makes up the hard surface of the toenails. In most cases, the fungus belongs to a group of fungi called dermatophytes, which include Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton interdigitale . Other, less common causes of onychomycosis include yeasts and molds.

Fungal toenail infections are relatively common. Like other fungal foot infections (athlete's foot), it's thought that the fungus can be picked up while walking barefoot in locker rooms or public shower facilities. Fungi love warm, moist places, so imagine how happy the lil' critters are if you don't dry your feet well! Once you've got a fungus growing on one toenail, it can easily spread to other nails on that foot, to nails on your other foot, and even to your fingernails (although, granted, this last possibility is pretty rare).

Causes of toe nail fungus

Onychomycosis is caused by a fungus. Often a person has had athlete's foot for a long time prior to the development of onychomycosis. Sometimes trauma or damage to a nail predisposes to the development of onychomycosis.

Treatment of toe nail fungus and onychomycosis

Prevention of injuries to the nail is very important. Once the nail is injured, the door of susceptibility swings open, allowing entry of the fungus. There are some very simple preventative measures that can be taken on a regular basis. Keep the feet dry. Keeping the feet dry will inhibit the ability of the fungus to thrive. You can do this in several ways. Frequent changes of socks, the use of powder, such as baby powder and rotating shoes so that they are worn only every other day, can help tremendously.

Medications for onychomycosis fall into two categories; topical and oral. There are any number of effective topical medications available over the counter. Topical medications are most helpful in treating early, small infections and for maintaining clear nails. Topical medications do have a limited ability to penetrate the nail to reach all of the fungal elements. Topical medication inhibit the growth of the fungus allowing for faster growth of the nail. Remember, the fungus doesn't take a day off. Compliance is a big issue when using topical antifungals.

3 Random Fitness and Nutrition Tips

I just had some random workout and nutrition tips for you on my mind today, so here they are:

1. Onions = Amazing Superfood... Eat onions daily if possible.

Not only do I love onions, but I recently read a longevity study that surveyed a large amount of people who had lived over 100 years of age. One of the common threads they noticed from the survey of these amazing people that lived to ages exceeding 100 was that they ate a lot of onions.

Kind of weird huh... but not a surprise to me. In fact, onions are definitely an important super-food as they contain unique organosulphur compounds and potent antioxidants that are rare in other foods.

I've also read dozens of studies that correlated onions with pretty impressive reductions in cancer risk.

I like to add onions to almost any meals I can think of... slices on sandwiches, added to salads, in my morning eggs, in veggie mixtures with lunch or dinner, and more.

2. Mix up your workouts with "5-minute bodyweight exercise challenges"

This is a unique way to add some variety to your workouts and maybe even get a friend in a little competition with you.

You can throw one of these in at the end of a workout as a high intensity finish, or even just do at home on non-gym days.

Basically, all you do is choose 1 specific bodyweight exercise such as bodyweight squats, pushups, lunges, etc and try to do as many reps of that exercise as you can in exactly 5 minutes (timed). I've also used 1-arm dbell swings for these 5 min drills and they work great.

This works best by trying to do 20 or 30 reps at a time and then taking short breathers of about 10 seconds before continuing on your next round of reps.

We've even made this a little competition between a couple people at my gym in the past where we all line up and get timed for 5 minutes and see who can do the most squats or pushups or whatever it may be in that 5 minute time period.

From what I've seen, if you can do 100 or more pushups in 5 minutes, or 200 or more bodyweight squats in 5 minutes, those are pretty impressive numbers. I think my record was somewhere around 225 bw squats in 5 minutes.

3. Example of the Glycemic Index (GI) being useless

In several of my newsletters in the past, I've given examples of how choosing your foods based on the glycemic index can be misleading and useless in many cases.

Case in point...

Watermelon has one of the highest measured GI's of all foods (much higher than even cake and ice cream). However, a normal serving of cake and ice cream may give you a whopping 700 or 800 calories, whereas a typical serving of watermelon may give you 50 or 60 calories max!

Trust me... watermelon isn't making anyone fat!

The lesson... GI is almost useless when you're not considering "Glycemic Load", which also factors in the quantity of carbohydrates ingested in a typical serving.

Of course, if you haven't already read Isabel De Los Rios' Diet Solution Program, I highly recommend you check it out... it's everything you could ever want to know about nutrition, calories, macronutrients, foods that burn fat, foods that stimulate fat gain, and so forth...

surprising source of omega-3 healthy fats

Everybody already knows that salmon (wild salmon, not farm raised) is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids...so that's no surprise.

And we also know the issues that come with eating fish higher on the food chain such as tuna and swordfish -- the high mercury levels!

But there is a great alternative that is much higher in omega-3 fatty acids and doesn't have the issues with mercury that tuna, swordfish, and other larger fish do... and that alternative is:

Sardines!

Now before you give the usual response I see from people -- "Ewww, sardines are nasty"... you might want to give them an honest try first and maybe try the type of sardine sandwich melt that I make, which is delicious.

Sardines are a great choice for a quick healthy meal -- tons of muscle-building appetite-satisfying protein, super high in healthy omega-3 healthy fats, and much lower in mercury and other pollutants than most fish. And they're delicious too in my "grilled sardine melt" recipe below.

Here's the healthy grilled-sardine-melt that I make sometimes:

1 container of sardines
1 whole egg cooked over-easy (cage-free organic)
2 slices of sprouted-grain Ezekial raisin bread
a little mustard
1 slice of grass-fed organic cheddar cheese
a little virgin coconut oil to brush the bread with

I just stack the cheese, sardines, and the grilled egg on the bread (with outsides brushed with coconut oil) and then grill this sandwich up just like a grilled cheese. If you have some fresh basil leaves, that goes great inside this sandwich also. Mmm, gotta love basil!

I know this sandwich probably sounds a little weird, but I've yet to find somebody that didn't think this was absolutely delicious when they tried it.

The sprouted grain raisin bread makes a nice sweet contrast to the sardines, egg, and cheese... it's really good!

This is actually quite a filling sandwich with the egg, sardines, and the cheese on it... it'll satisfy your appetite for hours. I like to have this healthy sandwich with a side salad of fresh greens and 1/4 or 1/2 of an avocado... and of course, some my unsweetened iced green/white/oolong tea mixture.

One of the benefits of sardines is also the long chain omega-3 fats, such as EPA and DHA... this is different than eating plant-based omega-3 fats for example, from flaxseeds or walnuts, where your body still needs to try to convert the shorter chain omega-3s to longer chain omega-3s. This is an inefficient conversion, so one of the best ways to provide your body with the important EPA and DHA are through fatty fish sources, fish oil, or krill oil.

That's one of the reasons I'm such a fan of taking daily Krill Oil... especially considering that Krill Oil has been measured as having 47x the antioxidant power of fish oil, plus with the benefit of the phospholipids in Krill Oil.

In March 2009, Dr. Oz gave his Resveratrol ultra reviews on this anti ageing supplement and its demand has sky rocketed since then.

What Exactly Is It?

A substance derived from red grapes, it has been subjected to many tests and researches owing to the reservoir of health benefit it promises to deliver. It figured on Dr. Oz's list of top 10 super foods and has since left many people hooked to it.

It Has An Array Of Health Benefits

The health benefits of the substance range from protection against cardio vascular diseases, inhibition of the herpes virus and lowering of cholesterol levels to protection against cancers.

The Correct Way To Consume Resveratrol

While there seems nothing wrong in consuming a bunch of grapes everyday to enjoy resveratrol's benefits, finding the right variety is a tough task. Also, red wine contains only slight quantities of substance and considering other health implications of drinking alcohol, it seems to be an impractical way to enjoy the product's health benefits.

Supplements in the form of pills emerge out to be the best way to include this wonder potion in your diet. Choosing genuine enough supplements would however require some research.

With these benefits by its side, recommendations from health experts are obvious to come. Just practicing some caution while choosing a supplement and staying away from anything that seems to embark upon Dr. Oz's claims in a foul manner will more or less take care of all those worries and help you rediscover your youthful side.

Simple, Free Eye Exercises To
Improve Vision & Relieve Sore Eyes

These free eye exercises benefit your eyes by strengthening your eye muscles and enhancing local blood circulation.

This is achieved through acupressure and massage on pressure points around the eyes, and specific exercises to stretch and tone the muscles controlling the eyes.

If you have bright, lustrous eyes, according to traditional Chinese medical theory, it indicates you have an harmonious spirit, while dull eyes reflect the opposite.

While eye exercises alone may not harmonize your spirit, they will protect and improve your vision and relieve sore, tired eyes.

They are particularly useful for anyone who uses their eyes excessively, such as students, computer users, heavy readers, etc. Check with your health professional first though before trying these eye exercises, especially if you have a history of eye problems.

Eye Roll Exercise

1. Can be done standing, sitting or lying down

2. With your eyes open, roll them around in clockwise circles 15-20 times, then anticlockwise circles 15-20 times

Start slowly and gradually do it faster

Make sure you roll your eyes around in as wide a circle as possible

Do the Eye Roll 2-3 times a day

Benefits

• Stretches and tones your eye muscles, and
• Enhances local blood circulation, which
• Improves vision

Tips

• Do the eye roll in bed to help you wake up
• Combine it with the Eye Rub, below, for greater benefits

Eye Rub Exercise

1. Can be done standing, sitting or lying down

2. Keep your eyes closed throughout the exercise

3. Rub your hands together briskly to warm them up

4. Immediately place the base ofyour palms over your eyes. Feel the heat penetrating & warming your eyes. Hold your hands there till the heat subsides. Repeat steps 3 & 4 a couple of times.

5. Warm up your hands again, then use the tips of your fingers to rub across your eyelids from the inside corner to the sides 20-30 times or for 1-2 minutes.

6. Warm your hands once again, then use the tips of your middle fingers to rub around youreye sockets. Go with the grain of your eyebrows. Do 20-30 circles around each eye or simply rubthem for 1-2 minutes.

Do the Eye Rub exercise 2-3 times a day

Benefits

• Soothes and relaxes your eyes, and
• Enhances local blood circulation, which
• Improves your vision

Tips

• Do the Eye Rub in bed to help you wake up

For greater benefits combine it with the Eye Roll, above, and these other free eye exercises and face exercises:

Facial Acupressure Charts & Techniques

Here's a collection of free face exercises and massage techniques to firm and tone your face and neck, enhance local blood flow, relax you, and relieve common problems like headache, insomnia, nervous tension, sore eyes, sinus problems and nasal congestion.

The massage techniques include face acupressure and head massage.

A facial acupressure chart has also been included so you can locate and massage additional points yourself. The face exercises, which include eye exercises and double chin exercises, can be found via links at the bottom of this page.

Free Face Exercises: Acupressure & Face Massage

There are dozens of acupressure points on the face, and many massage techniques. However, all you need to get started is the five common acupressure points and two massage techniques illustrated below.

How to do face acupressure

1. Locate the points with your index fingers.

2. Gently press them until you feel no more than a comfortable pain.

3. Hold the pressure while you knead the points with very small circular movements.

4. Breathe slowly and deeply and focus your mind on the points as you massage them.

5. Massage each point for 1-2 minutes several times a day.

---

Point 1. (known as Jingming in Chinese)

Located on the inside edge of the orbit of each eye.

Press and knead for sore, tired eyes and as a preventative against eye problems.

---

Point 2. (Zanzhu)

Located on the medial end of each eyebrow.

Press and knead for frontal headache, sore, tired eyes, sinus pain, and as a preventative against eye problems.

---

Point 3. (Taiyang)

Located on the temples behind each eye.

Use your index and middle fingers to press and knead for one or two sided headache, to calm the mind, and for eye problems. Also used preventatively.

---

Point 4. (Yingxiang)

Located next to each nostril.

Press and knead for nasal congestion, sinusitis, rhinitis, and to help prevent these problems.

For greater effectiveness use your index fingers to rub up and down the sides of your nose between Yingxiang and Jingming (Point 1) for 1-2 minutes, several times a day.

---

Point 5. (Renzhong)

Located under your nose, on the midline.

Use your knuckle or the tip of your middle or index finger. Pressing this point draws energy up to your head and helps your nasal passages adjust to weather changes. Also used as a revival point after fainting or shock.

---

Technique 1. (Forehead Rub)

Use your index and middle fingers to rub across your forehead, from the middle to your temples.

Massage and rub this area for frontal headache, sinus pain, insomnia, sore eyes, stress, and to help prevent these problems.

---

Technique 2. (Head Massage)

Use the tips (including the nails) of your fingers and thumbs to press and rub your scalp from the midline to the sides, and from the front to the back of your head.

Relieves and prevents headache, and is highly relaxing, especially when done by someone else.

Weight Loss

If you are overweight, you are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol or diabetes. You may also be more prone to osteoarthritis, varicose veins, hiatus hernia and gynaecological problems.

Dieting alone will not achieve significant or lasting weight loss. It is just as important to undertake regular strenuous exercise in order to speed up the metabolic rate, thereby burning up more calories. It is easier to stick to an exercise plan if you choose an activity that you enjoy, e.g. swimming, salsa dancing or keep fit classes. Exercise until you are a little breathless!

Don’t try to lose too much weight too quickly. Your body needs time to adjust, so aim to lose no more than two pounds per week. Eat sensibly, using a broad range of fresh, natural ingredients. Processed foods often contain too much salt, encouraging fluid retention. Cut down on sugary and fatty foods and concentrate on fresh fruit and vegetables, wholegrains and fish. Have regular small meals and cut out snacks.

Faddy diets can cause malnutrition and may result in lasting health problems. You are unlikely to persevere with a boring diet. Starvation diets prompt the body to conserve fat by lowering the metabolic rate and burning up lean mass instead. You end up having to eat less and less in order to achieve minimal weight loss, and you feel dreadful. You may also damage your health irreparably. Organisations such as Weight Watchers and Slimming World offer sensible eating plans as well as lots of moral support. Once you have reached your ideal weight you should continue to follow a sensible diet and exercise regime.

Herbs have a supportive role in helping you to achieve weight loss. The only way to keep weight off permanently is to eat less, move more, and maintain a good metabolic rate. This, as we have seen, can be achieved by a sensible diet and regular strenuous exercise. Kelp can also help raise the metabolic rate by stimulating the thyroid gland; it may also improve a sluggish digestion, improving food utilisation.

Blue flag stimulates the gallbladder to release bile which in turn breaks down fats in the digestive system and helps cleanse the circulatory and lymphatic systems of toxins released into the body when fat is burned up. Boldo also helps stimulate the flow of bile, ensuring efficient fat processing; it has a diuretic action too. Where fluid retention is a problem, particularly at certain times of the month, Dandelion leaf may be of benefit. Co-enzyme Q10 is essential for cell energy production and is believed to metabolize food more quickly.

You are unlikely to suffer from constipation if your diet is high in fibre, but herbs such as Psyllium husk or Dandelion root will help ensure a regular bowel movement. You should try to drink at least two litres of water every day.