Why natural family methods when you have other options? A significant number of couples opt for natural family methods due to religious reasons since some denominations do not accept the use of popular contraceptive practices. They advocate for a natural family method for spacing children, maintaining family size, and avoiding unintended pregnancy. They exhort their fraternity not to make use of any technique that they believe contradicts the natural process – including abortion and sterilization. This leaves many couples with no other option apart from natural family planning methods. Other reasons include low affordability of desired family planning methods, lack of knowledge about hormonal contraceptives, side effects to medicines, etc. What do natural family planning methods do? The natural family planning methods act based on the principle of fertile and non-fertile days of a woman’s reproductive cycle. There are few things you need to understand in order to practice this method- A woman’s reproductive cycle repeats every month starting from puberty till menopause. A woman is not fertile on all the days of any given cycle. The First phase starts with day one of menstruation. This is followed by few days of infertility. After this phase starts the fertile period when the ovary gets ready to release the egg.

Pomegranates have always had great nutritional benefits, but it is only fairly recently that scientists have started seriously considering pomegranate to be in the same league as powerful antioxidants such as blueberries and green tea . Usually, any fruit loses its properties when the juice is extracted from it. But interestingly, the juice from pomegranate retains the properties of the fruit itself, which makes it unique. Pomegranate juice offers a myriad of benefits for your body, skin, and hair; we shall be examining ten of the best of them. Before delving into the health benefits, let us take a look at the scientific facts behind pomegranate juice’s status as a healthy drink. A lot of pomegranate juice’s health benefits can be attributed to the presence of antioxidants like Flavonoids (Quercetin), Gallic acids, Anthocyanin, Ellagic acids and others. The oxidation process causes a lot of damage to your system. When the oxidants in the blood meet the endothelium which is the inner wall of the blood vessels, they create a complex cycle of events releasing substances that clot blood. When a large number of these micro clots aggregate, they tend to clog arteries to the heart and brain which leads to cardiovascular damage and stroke.

A holiday on a cruise is what almost every traveler desires. Luxury and adventure are two things travelers crave – and what else other than a cruise journey can provide both of these together! But, to enjoy a cruise trip and the beauty of the destinations you are hitting, you need to be able to stay healthy on the cruise. There is a high chance of falling ill during or after your holiday, due to a change of place, weather, and food habits. It is highly advisable to make healthy decisions while traveling so that you can not only enjoy your journey in its entirety but also safeguard yourself from severe illness and the prospect of expensive medical treatment. Be careful what you eat Your cruise will most likely have a buffet that serves food 24/7 – providing a whole host of delicacies filled with oil and spices. If you have a great metabolism, then you can grab any of them without worrying about how it’ll affect your body. However, if your metabolism and immunity aren’t that great, then you should be a bit more discerning about what you eat, and try limiting yourself to healthier options. The seemingly infinite options in food and drink often make passengers crave for what their body cannot take.

Right from school till the end of our lives, we face stress in one form or the other. The number of reported cases of stress-related disorders is constantly increasing. And morbidity due to stress and anxiety has spiked over the last few decades. This can be attributed to fast paced lives and lifestyles that are increasingly demanding from us more than we can handle. Right from maintaining a strong personal physical image to maintaining a healthy social media image, the sources of stress are ever increasing and taking newer forms. Though most of the stress goes unnoticed by us, there are times when it warrants careful attention. We should not see stress only from a negative perspective. Some stress is good, and some stress is bad. Good stress makes us productive. For instance, the inner pressure to achieve something huge has led to famous discoveries, inventions, etc. But on the other hand, extremes of stress have led to people committing suicides and wallowing in depression. Each of us has ways of handling stress. Most people watch a movie or their favorite TV show in order to relax. Some visit their friends or loved ones. Sometimes a silent afternoon reading a favorite novel will help.

The nutritional needs of a woman during pregnancy are very different from normal nutritional requirements. The human body requires essential fatty acids for its optimum functioning, and this requirement increases substantially for pregnant women. This is because pregnant women need to provide nutrition for themselves as well as for their fetus. What are Omega 3 fatty acids? Omega 3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) are the most active in this group. They form a part of long-chain Omega-3 PUFA (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids). Omega 3 fatty acids are “essential” because they are not synthesized in the body and are required to be supplemented externally. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have unique properties and functions. EPA is beneficial for the cardiovascular system and immunity, while DHA is essential for the brain, central nervous system, and retina. These fatty acids regulate the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are necessary for the functioning of the heart, for raising inflammatory response, for the transmission of nerve signals, and for producing hormones. A deficiency of omega-3 fatty acids increases the risk of osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus type 2, and cardiovascular diseases. Why are Omega-3 fatty acids necessary during pregnancy?