We all require a great night’s sleep in order to function at optimum levels during the course of our increasingly stress filled days. Sleep helps to restore balance and mental acuity, as well as restore our bodies to tip top shape. A good night’s sleep allows us to dream and gives our minds time to make sense of the day’s events. However for many people a good night’s sleep continues to be a dream itself.

Stress has been identified as one of the most destructive forces when it comes to getting enough shut eye and it appears that more and more people are suffering from chronic insomnia.

For many people artificial, chemical based sleep aids are becoming popular, but these often come with a host of unpleasant side effects. An alternative is the practice of reflexology which is a natural way to relax. It is actually possible for people to enjoy the benefits of self-administered reflexology to aid in drifting off to sleep at night.

By stimulating reflex points on your feet, hands and face, reflexology can impact the entire body. A simple reflexology routine that involves just the feet can help you or another get to sleep naturally. There are about 15,000 nerves in your feet alone, one of many reasons that foot reflexology is so effective.

Reflexologists use a map of the feet where all the organs, glands, and corresponding parts of the body are mapped. The toes represent the head. The ridge beneath the toes on the top part of the ball of the foot is the shoulder or neck line. The ball of the foot reflects the chest. The arch mirrors the digestive organs, and the heel and ankles represent the reproductive system. The inside curve of each foot (where we find the spinal reflex) corresponds to the curves of the spine.

Below is a 15-minute routine in four practical steps that you can incorporate into your pre sleep routine.

1. Relax the feet

Deal with each foot one at a time. Using a simple relaxation technique: pressing and squeezing, lightly slapping or gently kneading — whatever length of time feels good. Finish by pressing and holding your thumb on the solar plexus point of each foot for up to 10 seconds each.

2. Bottom of the feet

“Walk” your thumb up from the base of the heel to each toe (imagine your thumb is a caterpillar inching its way up your foot), then press these reflex points with the outer edge of your thumb or tip of your forefinger.

Each part of the foot provides the following effects:

• Head/brain (top of each toe) promotes clarity and positive thinking.
• Pituitary or “master gland” (centre of big toe) stimulates/balances hormone secretions of all other glands.
• Pineal gland (outer side of big toe) secretes melatonin which controls our circadian rhythm/sleep cycle.
• Thyroid (base of big toe) balances metabolism.
• Neck/shoulders (ridge of toes) releases tension
• Chest/lungs (ball of foot) calms breathing.
• Solar plexus/diaphragm (under ball of foot in the centre) encourages profound relaxation and peacefulness.

Repeat these movements until you begin to feel more relaxed. At the end of your session finish with another thumb press on the solar plexus point on both feet.

3. ‘Breeze Strokes’

Close off with “breeze strokes” — lightly running your fingertips down the tops, bottoms and sides of each foot in a light motion, barely touching the skin. Repeat this several times. It is very soothing to the nervous system.

Reflexology is a way to encourage deep relaxation where you are open to internal, mental suggestions. This is a great time for a pre-sleep affirmation, for example “The world is a better place than it was yesterday and nurtures me towards a peaceful night’s sleep’.

This is also the ideal time to appreciate those around you and the small moments of joy during the day. Use positive thinking to set yourself up for a great new day

 

The post Enjoy More Sleep With DIY Reflexology first appeared on Healthy Gab.

The post Enjoy More Sleep With DIY Reflexology appeared first on Healthy Gab.

 

Severely overweight kids who reduce their sugar intake see improvements in health markers such as blood pressure and cholesterol after just 10 days, a new study has found.

The new research is helping shed light on a question scientists have long argued about: Is sugar itself unhealthy, or is the weight gain that comes from consuming sugary drinks and foods mainly what contributes to ill health over the long term?

In the new study, (financed by the National Institutes of Health) and recently published in the journal Obesity, scientists designed an experiment to try and find an answer this question. They removed foods with added sugar from a group of kid’s diets and replaced them with other types of carbs so that the subjects’ weight and overall calorie intake remained similar.

After 10 days, the kids showed dramatic health improvements, but little or no weight loss. The findings reinforces the conclusion that all calories are not the same, and the results suggest that those from refined sugars are especially likely to contribute to Type 2 diabetes and other diseases, which are increasingly affecting children. This is according to the study’s lead author, Dr. Robert Lustig, a paediatric endocrinologist at the Benioff Children’s Hospital of the University in San Francisco, California.

[The research indicates that] we can turn a child’s metabolic health around in 10 days without changing calories and without changing weight – just by taking the added sugars out of their diet

he said.

Added sugars — the extra sweeteners food companies put in their products, including sodas and increasingly a wide variety of pre-packaged foods, (not the sugar that occurs naturally in foods like fruit) are a topic of growing debate. In February, the U.S. federal government’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommended that Americans limit their intake of added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories.

In 2014, the FDA put forward the recommendation that food companies information on their nutrition labels listing the amount of added sugars in their products. After the dietary guidelines committee issued its report earlier in 2015, the FDA expanded on its 2014 proposal, recommending that companies should also list a “daily percent value” for added sugars on their labels in line with the 10% recommendation.

The recommended changes have been opposed by the food industry as unscientific. The Sugar Association, a trade group, said the F.D.A. was “making assertions that lack adequate scientific evidence,” and the Grocery Manufacturers Association criticised the standards the agency used to establish the daily value as being “inadequate.”

The newly released study is well-timed in part because it lowered sugar intake among children to roughly 10% of daily calories – the amount recommended by the dietary guidelines committee.
The study involved 43 children between the ages of 9 and 18 who were considered at particularly high risk of diabetes and related disorders. All the subjects were black or Hispanic and obese, and had at least one or more symptoms of metabolic syndrome (a cluster of risk factors that includes hypertension, high blood sugar, abnormal cholesterol and excess body fat around the waist).

As an average, the subjects had been getting about 27 percent of their daily calories from sugar. By comparison, the average American takes in about 15 percent, though children typically consume much more than this in part because they have the highest intake of sugary beverages. Fast foods also play their part in what is increasingly being viewed as an epidemic of childhood obesity.

The study replaced the sugary foods in their diets with other foods purchased from local grocery stores. The goal was not to eliminate carbohydrates, but to reduce sugary foods and replace them with starchy foods without lowering body weight or calorie intake.

So rather than yogurt sweetened with sugar, the children ate bagels. Instead of sugary pastries, they were given baked potato chips. Instead of chicken teriyaki (which contains a lot of sugar) they ate turkey hot dogs or burgers for lunch. The remaining sugar in their diet came mostly from fresh fruit.

On average, the subjects’ LDL cholesterol (the kind implicated in heart disease), fell by 10 points. Their diastolic blood pressure fell five points. Their triglycerides, a type of fat that travels in the blood and contributes to heart disease, dropped 33 points. And their fasting blood sugar and insulin levels (indicators of their diabetes risk) also markedly improved.

Dr. Sonia Caprio, a pediatric endocrinologist and professor of paediatrics at Yale Medical School, said that although the study was small,

it addressed the issue in an original way and tried to isolate the effect of sugar on metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance.

She also stated that

This is an important area of research that might solve some of the metabolic issues that we are facing in children, particularly in adolescents, this study needs to be taken seriously, and we need to expand on it.

The post Cut Sugar Out of Your Kids Diet Now! first appeared on Healthy Gab.

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The consensus is mixed. People who develop these problems have a wide range of personalities and lifestyle / psychological states – some are highly stressed, others are calm, collected and contented.

What about chronic ailments such as cancer and heart disease?

Some studies suggest that pessimists or introverts are at higher risk, others suggest that optimists or extroverts are just as likely to suffer from dread disease. Research into the relationship between personality traits and illness has been the subject of many studies over the years – and there seems to be a mixed bag of results.

It’s all a bit complicated. First, “personality types” are constructs by researchers and don’t necessarily correlate well with what is going on with people in the real world. What’s more, dozens of overlapping traits, in various permutations, have been studied. There are countless ways to measure them, plus many theories of personality that use different terms and concepts. Most people don’t fit neatly into one description and ‘personality types’ may change over time. Also, a link between a personality trait and a disease doesn’t mean that one is causing the other.

So what are the personality types?

There’s a long history in psychology of attempting to classify personality types. But only fairly recently have health-related personality types been developed.

The first was the Type A personality. The theory went that people with this personality, who were aggressive, competitive, tense, impatient and quite often hostile were at higher risk for heart disease. This was based on the results of studies on men. For years this was treated as absolutely correct, but the latest research does not confirm the initial findings, and including women casts even further doubt on the results.

Still, certain Type A traits such as chronic hostility/anger and cynicism/mistrust may well be linked to heart problems. There was a 2010 English review of studies which concluded that anger and hostility predict heart disease in healthy people and poor prognosis in cardiac patients.

People with Type B personality are the polar opposite of Type A. People who exhibit personality traits associated with Type B are calm, cheery, cooperative, patient, easy-going individuals.  These traits may make you a more pleasant person, but there’s no clear evidence it will keep you healthy.

It was once thought that the Type C personality which is usually passive and often exhibits feelings of helplessness, while attempting to help people all the time was at increased risk of cancer. That could conceivably be true if when presented with bad health news, such people passively accept their prognosis and don’t follow through with treatment or even check with their doctor. It’s tempting to think that these traits would not be conducive to good health, but again there’s no solid evidence one way or the other.

The newest characterisation is a Type D personality. D for distressed. These folk are irritable, anxious and worried, with a very negative view of the world. They tend to be socially inhibited, insecure and easily stressed. Several studies have implicated Type D in an array of cardiovascular risk factors and poor general health. But, of course, in a few years the concept of Type D may seem as outmoded.

The post How does your Personality Type Affect Your Health? first appeared on Healthy Gab.

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Unfortunately there are times when you are simply going to overindulge. Too many drinks in too short a time or just that overly extended night out with the girls or boys are going to result in a morning after that will lead to a swearing off of alcohol for the rest of our lives – and the search for that ever elusive hangover cure that actually works.

Of course we’re advised (and it’s true) that the only way to avoid a hangover is to drink in moderation. But that doesn’t really help unless you own a time machine and the damage has already been done. But there are certain approaches that will reduce the terrible effects of the out of control night out.

It’s estimated that more than 75 percent of people who’ve had an alcoholic drink have experienced a hangover and even missed work due to one, so it’s essential to know how to tackle the morning after. To avoid hangover-related poor job performance, it’s best to get back to a state of bushy tailed sobriety in a clever way.

These scientifically-proven cures can help you get over the challenges of a throbbing headache and whole body pain that are the result of over indulging.

Click NEXT to See The Top 6 Hangover Cures

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The toilet bowl may be your first indication that something may be a miss with your health. In fact most doctors today advise keeping an eye on the color of your pee. Although slight changes in hue may be nothing to worry about you should aim for a light lemonade color as a sign of optimal hydration and that fact that everything is functioning normally.

It’s important to note that the color of your pee isn’t always as accurate at predicting true dehydration as other tests such as a blood test. This is according to research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The study examined hydration tests among older adults and found that urine color can be changed a myriad of things, making it challenging to accurately predict hydration.

The yellow hue of urine comes from a chemical by-products that are the result of the kidneys doing their job of processing waste, explains Koushik Shaw, MD, urologist and founder of Austin Urology Institute in Texas. The more dehydrated you are, the more concentrated the urine becomes and the darker the color gets. “A pale yellow color reflects a good balance between over and under hydration,” he says.

However sometimes pee can appear in a surprising rainbow of colors.  If you’re not seeing that natural lemonade hue your body might be trying to tell you something. Here’s a quick guide to what different colors of urine might mean.

Click NEXT to check if you should be worried…

The post What the Color of Your Pee Says About Your Health first appeared on Healthy Gab.

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A study of 16,000 women found that those with big butts had lower levels of cholesterol and were far more likely to produce hormones that help to metabolise sugars. So women with a large booty are less likely to have diabetes and heart health problems.

In the female body, a big rear end favours the production of leptin and high dinopectina levels. Leptin is a hormone that helps regulate weight and dinopectina is a hormone with anti-inflammatory, vascular protective and antidiabetic properties.

The adipose tissues in the buttocks actually traps fatty particles and prevents cardiovascular disease. Similar studies have found that women with large behinds, wide hips and smaller waists may actually live longer.

When it comes to intelligence levels, having a big backside means having excess levels of Omega 3 fats. Omega 3’s have been demonstrated to catalyse brain development.

These researchers also found that children born to women with wide hips are intellectually superior to children of slimmer, less curvy women.

If you were looking for a reason to be proud of your ample behind this research may be just what the doctor ordered.

The post Bootylicious – Big Butts Are Healthy! first appeared on Healthy Gab.

The post Bootylicious – Big Butts Are Healthy! appeared first on Healthy Gab.

As sufferers know, depression is characterised in part by continuous negative thoughts and reminiscing about unhappy memories from the past. Researchers suspect that this thought pattern, known as ‘rumination’, may take place in two specific areas of the brain: the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that helps to regulate attention and focus, and the hippocampus, which is essential for learning and memory. Some research indicates that people with severe depression have a smaller hippocampus than people who are not suffering from depression.

Meditation and exercise have been found to affect those same portions of the brain, although in different ways. In brain scan studies, people who meditate regularly generally display different patterns of brain-cell communication in their prefrontal cortex during cognitive tests than people who don’t. Those differences are believed to indicate that those practicing meditation possess a more refined ability to focus and concentrate.

The effect of exercise is also apparent in animal studies where aerobic exercise has been shown to substantially increase the production of new brain cells in the hippocampus.

Both meditation and exercise also have proven to contribute favourably in the treatment of anxiety, depression and other mood disorders.

These findings about exercise and meditation interested researchers at Rutgers University in New

Brunswick, N.J., who theorised that since meditation and exercise on their own improve moods, combining the two might intensify the impacts of each.

So a new study, which was published last month in Translational Psychiatry was conducted. In this study the scientists enlisted 52 men and women, 22 of whom had been given diagnoses of depression. The researchers confirmed that diagnosis with a battery of their own tests and then asked all of the volunteers to complete a computerised evaluation of their ability to focus while sensors were used to gauge electrical signals in their brains.

The results showed that the depressed volunteers showed brainwave patterns in their prefrontal cortex that are often associated with poor concentration and focus issues.

Then the scientists had all the volunteers begin a closely supervised program of inactivity, followed by sweating.

In the first part of the study volunteers were instructed in a form of meditation known as ‘focused attention’. This is an entry level mindfulness meditation. It required that the volunteers sit quietly and control their breathing by counting their breaths up to 10 and then backward. This practice can be challenging at first.

If people found their thoughts wandering during the meditation, and especially if they began to dwell on unpleasant memories, they were instructed not to worry or become self-judgemental, but just to start counting again from one

said Brandon Alderman, a professor of exercise science at Rutgers who led the study.

The volunteers meditated in this way for 20 minutes, then stood and undertook 10 minutes of walking meditation, in which they focused on each footfall.

Then they used treadmills or stationary bicycles at the lab and jogged or pedalled at a moderate pace for 30 minutes (with five minutes of warming up and five minutes of cooling down).

The volunteers completed these sessions 2x a week for two months. Then the researchers retested their moods and their ability to focus and concentrate.

All volunteers demonstrated significant changes. The 22 volunteers with depression now had a 40 percent reduction in symptoms of the condition. They reported, in particular, much less inclination to revisit bad memories.

The members of the healthy control group also reported feeling happier than they had at the start of the study.

The volunteers’ results on the computerised tests (of their ability to focus and their brain activity) were also different. The group with depression now demonstrated brain activity in their prefrontal cortex that was almost the same as people not suffering from depression. They could focus much better and refine their methods of paying attention, both attributes that are believed to help reduce stubborn rumination.

Dr. Alderman and his colleagues theorise that the meditation and exercise may have produced synergistic effects on the brains of their volunteers.

Dr. Alderman believes that the exercise most likely increased the number of new brain cells in each volunteer’s hippocampus, while the meditation may have assisted in keeping more of those neurons alive and fully functional.

Meditation also may have made the exercise more pleasant, he said, since some studies indicate that being mindful of your breathing and your body during workouts increases people’s enjoyment of exercise.

While was a small study and the scientists did not continue to monitor their volunteers in the long term, it is not known if the mood improvements continue. The researchers also have no idea whether similar or even greater benefits might occur if someone were to run and then meditate or to practice both activities but on alternating days. Further studies are planned to add essential knowledge that will allow the approach to be refined.

The post Natural Way to Treat Depression first appeared on Healthy Gab.

The post Natural Way to Treat Depression appeared first on Healthy Gab.

However, maybe that’s about to change. A recent study published in Biological Psychiatry brings a scientific approach to mindfulness meditation – and the results are startling. Unlike a placebo, mindfulness meditation can change the brains of ordinary people and perhaps improve their health.
So what does this mindfulness meditation actually mean?  It demands ‘‘an open and receptive, non-judgmental awareness of your present-moment experience,’’ says J. David Creswell, professor of psychology and the director of the Health and Human Performance Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University. He led the study. One difficulty of investigating meditation has been the placebo problem. In rigorous studies, some participants receive treatment while others get a placebo: They believe they are getting the same treatment when they are not. However, people can usually tell if they are meditating. Dr. Creswell, working with scientists from a number of other universities, managed to fake mindfulness.

First they recruited 35 unemployed men and women who were seeking work and experiencing considerable stress. Blood was drawn and brain scans were given. Half the subjects were then taught formal mindfulness meditation at a residential retreat centre; the rest completed a kind of fake mindfulness meditation that was focused on relaxation and distracting oneself from worries and stress.

Dr. Creswell comments, ‘‘we had everyone do stretching exercises, as an example,’’. The mindfulness group paid close attention to bodily sensations, including disagreeable ones. The relaxation group was encouraged to chatter and ignore their bodies, while their leader joked with them.

At the end of three day period, the participants all informed the researchers that they felt refreshed and better able to withstand the stress of their current state of employment (most were unemployed). Strangely enough follow-up brain scans showed differences in only those who underwent mindfulness meditation.

There was more brain activity among those parts of their brains that process stress-related reactions and other parts related to focus and calm. Four months later, those who had practiced mindfulness showed much reduced levels in their blood of a marker of unhealthy inflammation than the relaxation group, even though few were still continuing with meditation activity.

Dr. Creswell and his partners believe that the changes in the brain were responsible for the subsequent reduction in inflammation, although how this occurs remains unknown. Also unclear is whether you need to engage in three uninterrupted days of contemplation to enjoy the benefits.
When it comes to how much mindfulness exercise is needed to improve health, Dr. Creswell says, ‘‘we still have no idea about the ideal dose.” It does however seem obvious that even some meditation is better than none at all.

The post How Meditation Affects Your Health first appeared on Healthy Gab.

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Other, related research has linked physical activity with maintaining both a body and mind that functions more like a young person’s. Plus, some science has shown that when it comes to premature death, a lack of exercise may put you more at risk than being obese.

American study

In the Penn State study researchers surveyed people age 65 or older about their exercise habits and then tracked them for 15 years. Nearly a third of the study participants died during that period.
Less than 10 percent of the subject’s strength trained, but those select few were 46 percent less likely to die during the study than others who were tracked during this period.

Logic might dictate that older study participants who train with weights must be in better health to begin with. But even after adjusting for body mass, chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension, and habits like activity, drinking, and smoking, lifting was still linked to a 19 percent reduced risk of death.

Strength training can keep you active and independent in your golden years, says study author Jennifer Kraschnewski, M.D. Not only does it strengthen your muscles, resulting in better stamina and balance, but it also increases your bone density.

Penn State isn’t alone in recommending weight training as one of the factors contributing to increased longevity.

European study

A recent study conducted by researchers at the MedUni Vienna help to support thr American findings.

According to Science Daily, the goal of the European study was to provide information that supported the goal of improving the fitness levels and quality of life for older people with inadequate nutrition.

According to the study’s authors, about ten percent of Austrians over the age of 65 are “frail” and another 40 percent are in the initial stages of “frailty.”

What the results of the study found is that regular strength training can increase strength in older adults and as a result, enables them to live more independently.

We know that muscle mass decreases from the age of 30. Without training, around 50 per cent of muscle mass has deteriorated by the age of 80.

Thomas Dorner of the MedUni Vienna’s Centre for Public Health told Science Daily.

In this study, the intervention group boosted their maximum hand strength by three kilograms. That is an increase of almost 20 percent on the initial measurements.

In other words, exercise is essential to good health, and especially as we age. Later in life, bone and muscle mass tends to decrease, flexibility starts to diminish and balance and agility are sometimes compromised.

The researchers also found that strength training led to a significant increase in the participant’s overall physical activity levels, mobility, quality of life and cognitive functions – as well as helping maintain bone density.

The results of both studies (American and European) indicate that strength training is an important aspect of exercise all through life and especially as we get older. So if you’re over 30 it’s time to hit the gym.

The post How Lifting Weights Helps You Live Longer first appeared on Healthy Gab.

The post How Lifting Weights Helps You Live Longer appeared first on Healthy Gab.

As much as you might not like the idea – they’re there, enjoying your complementary peanuts and second guessing you about the choice between the chicken and the beef.

They’re on the floor and they’re on the seat. And they’re on you. Welcome to the wonderful world of air travel.

So what can you do to keep yourself healthy 36,000 feet?
Use these 10 ways to keep yourself healthy when flying.

1. Wipe down your seat

Everything from faecal matter to Methicillan-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria has been found lurking in the passenger cabins of planes. And short haul / budget airlines are the worse. If there was a quick turnover from the last trip, it’s likely all the cleaning crew did was pick up the easily accessible rubbish, says Katherine Harmon, the Director of Health Intelligence at iJet, an international risk management company.
Antibacterial wipes are TSA friendly since they’re not a liquid, and you can use them to clean your hands and face, as well as wipe down your seat, arm rests, tray table, and especially your seat belt before you sit. OCD be damned – it’s worth a couple of strange looks to stay healthy.

2. If you have to sneeze on board, do it discretely

The crook of your arm is a great place to deposit your sneeze. Here’s the awful truth: An un-sheltered sneeze can spew droplets from 6 to 30 feet away, according to Harmon. So sneezing into the bend of your arm may sound pretty disgusting, but it works. Just don’t sneeze into your hands: “You’re going to touch other things and potentially spread viruses or bacteria,” explains Harmon.  Be considerate – even if that bacteria filled bad in seat 32B isn’t.

3. Blow your nose, don’t sniff

It’s annoying as all hell and whereas we may hate snot, but bacteria and viruses love it, according to Harmon. So rather than sniffling the microbe-filled mucus from your runny nose back up into your nostrils (where the germs love to party), blow it into a tissue and throw it away. Properly – don’t tuck it into the seat holder in front of you. Rather stick it to the steward as he or she comes past. We’re joking – never do that.

4. Stay water wise

Drinking sufficient fluid (not a gin and tonic – that’s a bad idea, it dehydrates you) in-flight actually helps prevent a chain reaction that leaves you prone to catching something horrible. Here’s how it works: Plane air is dry like the Sahara, which parches your nose, throat and lungs and when that happens your body tries to remedy the situation with a runny nose. As we’ve just learned, that runny nose is a haven for bacteria – and gain they’re going to party in your sinuses.

5. Watch out for spices on the airline food

Most plane food has gotten better, especially on long haul flights and it’s pretty safe since it’s microwaved. The exception may be spices or add-ons like sesame seeds, which can carry bacteria.

We’ve been finding that spices imported from other areas are what harbour bacteria like salmonella… Often it’s not actually the meat.

says Harmon. So be especially careful if you’re traveling around developing countries on local airlines.

6. Don’t drink the water – and don’t even wash your hands

Planes fill up their tanks wherever they’re being serviced

says Harmon. That means if you’re flying somewhere you shouldn’t drink the water (or if the plane may have just come from a place like that), you should stick to bottled H2O. In fact, you should drink bottled water, regardless – the Environmental Protection Agency found that 15% of the water on planes contained faecal matter. Stick to those antibacterial wipes.

7. Never use the airplane blankets or pillows unless they come pre-packaged.

If the pillow or blanket shows up in sealed plastic that means it has been laundered. If not, use your jacket to keep warm. You have no idea where they’ve been or what germs are making a home on them. Maybe you should bring your own blankie.

8. Get your shots well in advance of traveling

You need time to build immunity after they’re administered

explains Harmon. And we’re not just talking about getting the hepatitis A vaccine for third-world travel. A simple flu shot takes seven to 10 days to offer full protection, she says.

9. Stop touching!

Hands to the sides. You touch stuff all the time and then you touch your face. Remember that faecal matter we discussed earlier? The less shit you touch (we’re not scared to call a spade a spade), the less chance you have of coming in contact with hideous colonies of germs. It’s as simple as that.

10. Wear a surgical masks when traveling

You think Asians look funny with their surgical masks – think again. If you’re not in Asia, this could label you as a looney – ignore those people who give you strange looks. The catch is, studies show it’s the sick person who needs to wear the mask, according to research. If anyone two to four rows in front, behind or to the sides of you is sick, a mask on his or face could help keep you healthy.

The post Keep Yourself in Tip Top Health When Flying first appeared on Healthy Gab.

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