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Keeping A Sharper Mind: The Natural Way

5/29/2020

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Pixabay - CC0 Licence
​The human mind is an incredibly powerful thing. Look at the world around you for a moment and think about how, if you were to step back ten years, or fifty, or a century, how much of what you see today has been innovated by human developers. When harnessed to a task within its wheelhouse, the brain is capable of moving mountains - in some cases, literally. While it takes hands and physical strength to build, it takes a brain to plan those projects.
​Just like the human body and its physical power, the mind can, however, become blunted by other factors. Overuse, underuse, lack of fuel and other influences can result in you finding normally simple tasks to be bewildering. 

​It can be enough to make you question whether you are experiencing cognitive decline but, more usually, the explanation is a lot simpler - and sharpening up your mind can be a fairly straightforward endeavor.

Sleep is essential for your mental acuity
Those of us who have worked to deadlines - in our jobs and on school or college courses - will be familiar with the frenzied burst of activity that comes as the red letter day approaches. The concept of pulling an all-nighter has become so pervasive that it’s a trope in films and TV shows. The truth is that “cramming” is ineffective. If you’re not sleeping or getting the rest that your mind needs, you’ll forget more than you ever crammed in. Sleep is, perhaps, the single most important contributor to your mental sharpness.

If you use stimulants, use them sparingly
We’ve all been in a situation where we need to be at our best, but an untimely burst of insomnia has left us sluggish and nervous for the task ahead. For many of us, the straightforward solution is to down cup after cup of coffee, but this isn’t an efficient solution. For one thing, excess caffeine - or any stimulant - will send your anxiety skyrocketing. Additionally, caffeine doesn’t add alertness; it borrows it from the future. While you may gain temporarily from a coffee buzz, you will end up paying it back. With interest.

A calm mind is a sharp mind
You will make better decisions, and be more equipped to solve problems, when you are at your calmest. Distractions will fall away and you can be more switched-on. Whether you hit up a CBD online store or take a power nap to achieve it (or, ideally, both), this absence of mental clutter is invaluable to keeping your brain working smoothly. Meditation is another beneficial approach that can make a big difference, so work on introducing some calm into your mind, and you’ll see the benefits in terms of results.

It’s all too easy for our minds to become swamped with the noise of everyday life and stress, and when this happens we start to make poor decisions. Taking the time to let our minds breathe, and finding ways to keep them sharp, is essential for mental and emotional health.

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by Iconic Chica Mag Contributors
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Are You Caring For Your Body Inside And Out?

5/25/2020

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Looking after your body can be a pretty complicated thing to do. A lot of people might say that it's not, that it's incredibly simple and that you're just not putting in the right amount of effort. But when those people talk about your body, they're often only thinking about one particular element of it. When it comes to looking after yourself, there are actually three different things you should focus on: the outside, the inside, and the mind. These three things, on a very broad level, are what make up your entire body. There's no way you'll ever be able to function at full capacity if you're only looking after one, or even two, of these parts. 

So, here is a guide to make sure you're taking care of every part of your body.

The Outside
Simply put, this is everything that takes place on the surface. When people think about caring for this part of their body, they often get trapped in only ever thinking about appearances. But taking care of your skin, teeth and hair is about more than just making sure that they all look nice. Issues with your skin can be unpleasant and cause a lot of discomfort. Things like warts or skin tags are more than just cosmetic problems. Dealing with these kinds of things can be pricey but you should if you check out this blog post asking: does wart remover work on skin tags? You can find that there are ways to make dealing with those kinds of problems a whole lot more interesting. You should also make sure that you always have a fully stocked first aid kit in your home, with bandages, aeroburn gel, and band-aids to help you deal with the most common household injuries. Of course, if any injury is particularly severe, don't hesitate to go straight to the hospital.

The Inside
This is the part of your body that people most commonly mean when they talk about taking care of yourself. The inside of your body is what you can look after through your diet and lifestyle. Most of the time, outside of serious illness, if your body is feeling run down or low, it's because of those things. Make sure that you aren't overloading your diet with junk foods and, most importantly, make sure to stay hydrated. Dehydration is a major problem among many people. Simply by staying hydrated, you can improve your mood, your energy levels, your skin and even your figure. 

The Mind
This is the one that tends to get neglected. There's still a great deal of stigma around any problems someone might have with anxiety or depression. But the thing to remember is that your brain is an organ too. And just like any other part of the body, you need to take care of it. It's important to treat any issues your mind has with just as much care and attention as you would for physical problems. Take time to rest, don't over work yourself. Self-care is one of the most important things you can do in order to be a fully functioning, happy, and healthy individual. 

Of course, taking care of each of these parts of yourself will have positive effects on all of the others as well. The key is to treat them as parts of a greater whole. What is good for one is good for the others and, in the end, is good for you.

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by IC mag Contributors

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Small Lifestyle Changes that Could Transform Your Health

5/12/2020

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Pixabay - CCO Licence
Changing your lifestyle doesn’t require a major overhaul or massive changes. In fact, making small but sustainable modifications to your lifestyle is the best way to transform your health. When you take a moderate approach, you’re far likely to continue with new habits in the future. 

To transform your health for good, take a look at these small but significant lifestyle changes you can make today…

Drink More Water
In general, adults should drink around 64- ounces of water every day. If you aren’t consuming 8-10 cups of water every 24 hours, there’s a good chance you aren’t staying hydrated enough. As well as boosting your metabolism, water plays an essential role in maintaining your health. For an instant boost, increase the amount of water you drink on a daily basis and carry a water bottle with you wherever you go. 

Eat Fat
We’re constantly told that fat is bad for our health but that isn’t necessarily the case. Not all fats are bad for us. Monounsaturated – or good fats – can lower bad cholesterol, keep you feeling full for longer and play a crucial role in developing cells within the body. Incorporate almonds, avocados, cheese, extra virgin olive oil, or fatty fish into your diet if you want to increase the amount of good fat you’re consuming - you’ll be surprised how much better, not to mention satisfied, you’ll feel.
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Pixabay - CCO Licence
Be More Social
Humans are social creatures, so we need to nourish this aspect of our lifestyles to achieve optimum health. With a busy schedule, it can be tricky to keep up with regular social events. However, even stopping for a chat with your neighbor or video calling your friends can help to increase your sociability. By nurturing these relationships, you’ll reap the rewards sociability offers and maintain connections too. 

Avoid Processed Food
Everyone knows you should avoid junk food if you’re trying to stay healthy, but do you really know how much of your diet consists of processed foods? For many people, the vast majority of what they eat is processed, which typically means empty carbs, an unsatiated appetite, and faux flavor. If you’re unsure how to switch to a more natural diet, expert help from HCG diet info can give you the guidance you need. Once you begin to feel the difference a natural diet offers, you’ll be quite happy to turn your back on anything processed. 
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Pixabay - CCO Licence
Wear Sunscreen
Spending too long in the sun is a major health risk, so it’s always best avoided. When you are out during the day, be sure to wear sunscreen and cover your skin when it’s necessary. As well as protecting your health, sunscreen can help to prevent aging caused by sun exposure, so it’s the perfect way to maintain a youthful appearance too. 

Transforming Your Lifestyle
Changing your day-to-day life can seem overwhelming at first but it doesn’t need to be difficult. Choose one new habit to incorporate into your day and you’ll soon see just how easy – and beneficial – a small change can be. 

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by Iconic Chica Mag Contributors

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A “Normal” Day in the Lab

5/7/2020

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I guess there really is no normal day in a research lab. It varies from the field you work in, whether it be science, education, engineering, philosophy, literature, or any other. The lab setting is determined by the type of research one is working on. For example, it can involve computational analysis, “wet-lab” benchwork, human sample collection, and so forth. But let me tell you a little about what the length of my “regular” days in the lab have been like. ​​

It is not really like the movies or television series we watch.

Sometimes we wear lab coats and goggles, and sometimes we don't. We don't induce a chemical reaction where two chemicals are added and a fume or explosion is produced. No. But, I mean, it can happen.

We follow a lot of protocols, that is, a directed procedure - think about following a recipe when baking/cooking. So let’s say we wanna grow a bacteria - or bake a cake. A bacteria that is relevant to human diseases, such as Salmonella, or my favorite almond cake. The lab contains samples of these bacteria in aliquots, already frozen in a -80 °C (-112 °F) freezer. We take a swab of this bacteria and inoculate it, aka “grow” it onto some media. This media is basically providing the bacteria all the nutritional value it requires, like proteins and sugars, which we all love and crave. We place this bacteria in an incubator set to a certain temperature that it will certainly thrive in, such as 37 °C - setting our oven to 350 °F. This step is important because if not, the bacteria will likely not grow, similar to us in an odd tempered environment where we just do not like it and do not grow as individuals -haha. 
We have to grow these bacteria in order to study it. Once we have little pelleted particles (bacterial cell colonies) on our agar petri dish, aka where we plated the bacteria in the solid media, then we are ready for further experimental analysis. Perhaps we can extract some DNA from this bacteria and observe its genome (all the genes that are responsible for making up the entire bacteria), just to name an example of the endless possibilities.

But on the general side of things, my day in the lab starts at around 9:00 am and goes through to about 5 pm, more and probably not less, depending on the work I need to complete that day, somewhat relative. I have some meetings with my fellow colleagues, my boss aka the head of the lab (PI = principal investigator). I would probably go on about 2 coffee breaks a day, maybe a small walk to the bathroom or through the hospital, call my sister, mom dad, etc. 

It is all a mood. 
​

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By Shekina Gonzalez-Ferrer 
​
A Scientist and Hobbyist Baker

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