Why Is It Better to Consider Home Workout Than Going to A Gym?

Most of you have probably made several fitness new year’s resolutions this year in an attempt to achieve better health. Your fitness goals likely revolve around a change in diet or a subscription to a gym membership, or both, but with your busy routine and fast-paced life, goal maintenance has become cumbersome. So, as you make your 2020 fitness execution plan, you may want to consider doing at-home workouts instead of going to the gym; trust us, this will definitely increase your chances of sticking to your fitness goals. Here’s why!
With at-home workouts:

You can workout at your own time and convenience

If you workout at home, you avoid the hassle of packing up a bag, changing into your workout clothes, driving or walking to the gym, and/or arranging for child care. You save up on significant travel time and coordination and, the best part is, you get to workout whenever you like, which is perfect if you need to split your workouts or accommodate work / family commitments. 

You get privacy and can listen to whatever you want!

Although a large gym will offer you a variety of equipment, it will also come with a lot of people. This is particularly disadvantageous during peak hours as you’re likely to find yourself waiting to use equipment or machines that are already in use. Privacy is another element that makes at-home workouts more appealing, seeing how you can wear whatever you want during the workout and listen to whichever music you desire without getting self-conscious.

You get more workout variety

While there is definitely a variety of equipment at the gym, at-home workouts offer their own set of unique and refreshing options that many are now starting to prefer. Instead of enclosing you in a mechanical room or confining you to a machine, at-home workouts come with the privilege of outdoor runs or walks. You can even engage in streaming exercise classes, exergames, workout apps that track your progress, or mix things up once in a while, whether its combining weight training with cardio, or adding in some yoga. 

You benefit from lower costs

Many gyms include only the basic benefits in their standard memberships. Personal training, specialty classes, and other offerings come at an additional fee. Your best bet in this case might be to work out at home at no expense through a combination of selective exercises, minimal equipment, and quality workout guidance via you tube.

So, Are Home Workouts Effective?

The short answer is yes. Provided you are prepared to put a little more effort into your workout at home, it can be just as effective as a gym workout; it all depends on the person and his/her preference and determination. Some prefer to be around others during their workouts because that’s their source of motivation; others prefer to be away from the public and in their own private space, as it allows them to focus better. Regardless of which you choose, it is important to have the mental control to leave your problems at the door. At the end of the day, if you can put forth the same mental effort, both scenarios will prove to have the same results for you. It's just a matter of finding where you're most comfortable and are able to concentrate the best.

Why Our Kids Need A Digital Detox?

You check in to say good night to your daughter only to find her watching Youtubers on her phone.
Or your son is busy playing Fortnite when he should be studying.
Sound familiar? Well, you’re not alone - 72 percent of American parents report that their children routinely engage in more than two hours of screen time per day, and it's highly likely that most kids spend more time on their screens (whether it’s a TV, laptop, tablet, video games, aor a phone) than their parents think they do. While digital media and technology have their merits, the way younger generations are embedded in them have led experts to raise some health concerns that go beyond having poor eyesight or a reduced attention span. In fact, robust research links high levels of screen time to slower child development, increased risk for obesity, and susceptibility to depression and insomnia. These long-term implications are probably why a United Nations health agency strongly recommended parents to limit, and in some cases eliminate, screen time for children under the age of 5.

Research Consensus: More Screen Time, Slower Child Development

Amongst all the literature that shows the negative effects of screen time on children, the most notable one is published in the journal Jama Pediatrics by researchers from the University of Waterloo, the University of Calgary and Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute Researchers. In short, this study found that children who spent more time with screens at two years of age did worse on tests of development at age three than children who had spent little time with devices. A similar result was found when children’s screen time at three years old was compared with their development at five years. “When young children are observing screens, they may be missing important opportunities to practice and master interpersonal, motor, and communication skills,” the authors wrote.

To top it all off, and as mentioned above, increased screen time is also linked to depression and sleep disorders because digital media alters the release of the happy and reward chemicals in your brain and because prolonged exposure to your screens’ blue light throws off your circadian rhythm. Interestingly, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that college students who limited their screen time to less than 30 minutes a day were less lonely and depressed, even after just three weeks.

Media Guidelines by the American Academy of Paediatrics

For parents concerned about their child’s screen time, the American Academy of Paediatrics updated their media guidelines a couple years ago based on recent research. Their suggestions include:

• No screen time for children under 18 months old
• For children 18 to 24 months old, parents should choose only high-quality media and watch it with their child.
• For children 2 to 5 years old, less than one hour per day of high-quality programming is recommended, with parents watching along.

A Forewarning for Parents Embedded in Today’s Digital World

Most of the conversations on the dangers of digital screens centre around children and adolescents. Don’t forget that if you limit your kids’ screen time but do not apply some level of screen-time restriction across all family members, adherence will be short-lived. If, by any miracle, it becomes successful but you - as a parent - don’t adopt off-time from your own screen, it is likely that your relationship with your child will deteriorate. In a 2015 survey by AVG Technologies, one-third of children reported feeling unimportant when their parents looked at their smartphones during meals or when playing together. A 2016 study goes a step further, finding that this type of interrupted care can also affect your child’s cognitive development and mental health. 

So, both children and parents need to set limits to their screen time if they are to achieve any substantial positive outcomes in their personal, interpersonal, and cognitive development.

Whole Grains – Debunking the Leaky Gut Myth and Adopting a High Fiber Diet

We live in a world filled with fad diets, weight-loss bibles, and no-carb miracle regimes. That’s probably why people are eliminating all types of grains from their daily food intake, not knowing that whole grains (unlike refined grains) contain fiber and essential nutrients (such as vitamin B, copper, zinc, iron, and magnesium) that are essential for good gut health.

Whole Grains v. Unrefined Grains

First, let's establish some key distinctions between whole grains and refined grains.Whole grains are an unrefined grain, which means that their bran and germ haven't been removed by milling. The most common types of whole grains include popcorn, oatmeal, millet, brown rice, quinoa, whole rye, and barley, all of which are practical additions to one's diet. These food items contain dietary fibers that stimulate fructans and positive bacteria (called galactooligosaccharides (GOS)) and create short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) that keep your colon’s health in check and boost your overall immune system. Whole grain fibers make you stay full for a longer period of time, increase your stool-weight and frequency, and help retain the GOS in your gut, freeing your digestive system of any such distress. 

Refined grains, on the other hand, have had both their bran and germ stripped during the milling process in order to give them a finer texture and extended shelf life; this refining process not only strips the grain of its bran and germ but also removes many nutrients, including fiber. Refined grains are digested quickly and can cause spikes in blood sugar, which often leads to rebound hunger, leaving you feeling hungry almost all the time. The most common types of refined grains include white bread, white pasta, or white rice, which are all less-nutritious choices and provide short-lived energy.

Whole Grains: Debunking some Myths

According to the American Heart Association, whole grains can improve cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and even colorectal cancer. Despite this overwhelming positive research, proponents, authors, and bloggers of low-carb diets have labelled whole grains as a source of “antinutrients” that supposedly promote inflammation and prevent effective digestion. They state that whole grains contain two key molecules, namely lectins and phytates, that lead to conditions like “leaky gut” which, in turn, lead to chronic diseases. In fact, some folks take this argument so far as to recommend refined grain products (like white bread and white rice) over their whole grain counterparts. This contradicts US dietary guidelines, which recommend increasing whole grain consumption and making at least half of your grain consumption from fiber-filled whole grains. So, who’s right? 

While there is truth to the idea that lectins and phytates can have adverse effects, there are some major caveats. First of all, most lectins are safe to eat and while there are some foods (such as kidney beans) that may cause severe stomach pain and vomiting due to their high lectin concentrations, this can be completely avoided if cooked properly. Secondly, a multitude of research and data on lectins does not support the negative health effects that critics continue to claim. In fact, the 2014 research review in the journal of Cereal Sciences concludes that “the current scientific evidence is strong and consistent to suggest that whole grains have beneficial effects in individuals with no genetic predisposition for celiac disease, despite the dietary lectin content. Despite numerous speculative assumptions that wheat germ lectins cause intestinal damage and disease, there is at present neither evidence that this is the case nor reason to recommend the healthy population to abstain from whole grain food products.”

Closing Remarks

There is robust evidence that shows that whole grain consumption is good for your health. In some studies, participants on diets rich in whole grains have shown better results in insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol compared with those who ate diets higher in refined grains. So there is no doubt that, until new research deems otherwise, whole grain foods should be incorporated into our diets, especially considering the fact that the presence of lectins and phytates in whole grains are not a problem in a balanced diet when foods are properly prepared.

Blockchain Technology – Answer to Modern Healthcare Needs

Blockchain and its application extends beyond financial transactions and cryptocurrency. Originally, blockchain technology was developed as a decentralized system to record transactions that were stored and maintained across a peer-to-peer network of computers. This technology was used mainly for cryptocurrency, but has now evolved as a cutting-edge data-security medium for the healthcare sector. Given that blockchain is a public ledger that is secure and immutable, it has become the perfect paperless solution within healthcare.

In a short period of time, blockchain technology has taken the medical world by a storm. Healthcare has always been a very centralized industry holding enormous amounts of patient data (medical history, billing information, insurance data, etc.), bringing prominent issues such as identity thefts, financial data breaches, spamming, and data misuse to the forefront. This, coupled with the fact that patients had little control over their own data, increased the need and urgency for secure, accessible, and verifiable data.

The emergence of blockchain has effectively fixed this gap, acting as a security blanket for all health-data and limiting financial breaches. A part from data security, blockchain is also addressing several supply-chain impediments within the healthcare industry via fraud detection capabilities and counterfeit product identification.

Blockchain is being implemented in the healthcare industry in the following areas:

• Medical Data Management
• Medical Claims, billings and insurance claims
• Medical research
• Data security
• Reduced operational (IT, support function, etc.) costs
• Pharma supply chain security
• Identification of counterfeit products
• Data based mHealth apps

Shaping the Future of Healthcare with Blockchain

Health-based information exchange that utilizes blockchain and AI can unlock the true value of interoperability. It is evident that blockchain has immense potential across industries, especially within healthcare. Capitalizing on this technology in an optimal way - the way many mHealth apps (such as Wanngi, Playpal, Sweatcoin, HealthyWage) are - can help connect fragmented systems that, in conglomeration, generate meaningful health-insights.

4 Tips to Stay Healthy and Fit This Winter

Winter is just around the corner. During this season, everything and everyone seems to go into hibernation, making it especially challenging for us to stay fit and active. Not only does the cold make you want to sit by your fireplace and drink tonnes of hot chocolate, but the shorter days that come with the season make it harder to squeeze in a workout.
Despite the cold weather, there are many good reasons to keep pumping in the winters to stay healthy and fit. You can simply follow the 4 simple tips below to stay healthy and active this winter.

Bring Fitness Indoors

It is easy to understand why you wouldn’t want to go on your usual morning jog on a cold winter day. Many don’t even bother to go to their own gym, just so they can savour the warmth of their beds for a few extra minutes. All well and good, but this doesn’t mean you cannot stay fit and active indoors. There are plenty of simple yet effective workouts you can do while staying inside your house - whether its yoga, aerobics, strength training, or even HIIT (high intensity interval training). While these are all viable and accessible solutions (Kudos to Youtube), one must be wary about staying indoors for too long during the winters - Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is already a popular phenomenon during this time of the year, and lack of fresh air and socializing can aggravate it.

Take Care of Basic Hygiene

In the winter, we tend to get lazy and ignore self-care. Most of us start to bathe less and overlook the importance of basic hygiene, such as washing our hands. This can increase the chances of developing colds and can weaken our immune system, making us more and more unproductive as workers, students, or simply as members of society. 

Eat Healthy

During this season, we tend to live more on coffee, tea or other hot beverages than on water, disrupting our hydration levels and even our food intake patterns. Try to consume more seasonal fruits and vegetables to get the most out of the season. Vitamin C enriched fruits (such as oranges) are in abundance during this time, so capitalize on your chance to boost your immune system!

Keep Yourself Hydrated

In cold weather, our bodies tend to lose more water due to the dryness in the air. This, coupled with the fact that our thirst for fluids (especially water and juices) decreases in the winters, leads to excessive dehydration, a consequence that is often not realized until it is too late. So, better to set a daily goal and keep track of your daily water consumption - on average, 8-10 glasses of water a day is enough, but this may vary in cold temperatures.

Conclusion

Health and fitness should not be seasonal habits. You don’t have to leave your exercise routine just because the weather is against you. Embrace the cold, enjoy the chilly weather, and make healthy habits a part of your lifestyle until they become second nature.

Top 5 Health Tech Startups to Follow in 2019

The world isn’t getting any younger. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, our population is aging faster than ever before. By 2020, the number of people aged 60 years will outnumber children under the age of 5. This poses a crucial question to humanity: How must health providers care for our aging population with such limited resources (i.e. medical supplies and staff)?

While this question creates an inescapable headache for governments and policy makers, it creates an untapped opportunity for investors and businesses to capitalize on the further rise in demand for healthcare products and services (including healthtech products). Today, we have an array of innovations that are attempting to tackle these gaps by revolutionizing the health-industry with the help of artificial intelligence and blockchain. By breaking away from the traditional treatment-based approach to health and moving toward a prevention-based health model, we have now transitioned to a world where proactive health is the new standard.

Unlike past practices, the healthcare industry is now more open and welcoming to health-tech innovations, owing to the recent tech-boom. Let’s take a look at the top 5 health-tech startups that are disrupting the current healthcare industry.

1) AdhereTech

Location: New York, USA

Niche: We all have trouble with adhering to a prescribed medicine regime. AdhereTech has come up with a smart solution for this! They have developed a smart pill bottle that notifies patients about the time at which they have to take their medicine. The bottle automatically sends an alert notification to the patient’s phone and also monitors his/her dosage and usage patterns. As the name already suggests, this smart bottle analyzes the adherence pattern of the patient. If it notices any non-adherence, it seeks feedback from the patient to help locate the reason for it to resolve it.

2) Playpal

Location: Colorado, USA

Niche: Powered by AI and blockchain, Playpal offers a simple solution to the biggest issue faced by the healthcare industry today: consolidation of large volumes of fragmented health data. Playpal collects your health-stats from your wearable health devices, government databases, and mHealth apps to offer you real-time and customized health recommendations that help you manage your health proactively. That’s not all! Playpal has partnered with the HIECOH Wealth Foundation to introduce a new Health Currency to its users as part of its gamified incentive model. Thanks to Playpal, its users can now earn health tokens for consistently adhering to its recommendations. So, get ready to earn money while living healthy!

3) CliniCloud

Location: California, USA

Niche: CliniCloud has designed a revolutionary interconnected medical kit that can be easily used at home to monitor your vitals. This medical kit works on wireless and non-contact principles. CliniCloud has successfully developed no skin-contact stethoscopes and thermometers. Using these, you can share your vitals with your doctor via cloud without having to be there. CliniCloud allows the doctors to deliver care to far off patients remotely, and is the epitome of convenient care.

4) Calm

Location: California, USA

Niche: Say goodbye to those uneasy nights in which you struggle to get a good night’s sleep. Calm uses a combination of various relaxing and meditation techniques to help you get a sound sleep. By offering a blend of relaxing scenes and calming sounds that help users de-stress. Calm not only improves its users sleep but also boosts their confidence levels and reduces their anxiety.

5) Feel

Location: California, USA

Niche: With increased awareness on the importance of sound mental health, more and more health-tech startups are focusing on building this aspect of the health industry. One such example is Feel, a wristband that tracks user’s emotional wellbeing and monitors biosignals in order to provide personal recommendations that improve mental health and emotion-regulation.

The Top 5 startups above make it evident that technology has vastly changed the structure of the healthcare industry. From revolutionary ideas like Playpal to innovative solutions like Feel, healthcare and health management is (without a doubt) on the heels of historic technological breakthroughs. New advancements have brought forward better healthcare delivery, advanced medical devices, more effective treatment plans, and proactive preventive care. We now live in an exciting time when corporations, government & institutions, and startups can collaborate to transform the existing systems across industries!

Top 5 Free Fitness Apps to Keep you in Shape

Do you want to get in shape without spending on gym memberships? Is it getting difficult to stick to your resolution to stay fit this year? Don’t sweat it. Just continue reading!

The first few days of a new workout routine are always the hardest, but remember that It’s never too late to start an exercising routine. Fortunately, iOS and android devices have an ample of options for you to get and remain fit, and that too for free. From a large pool of fitness apps, we have chosen top 5 one’s for you.

1) Johnson & Johnson Official 7 – Minute Workout

This app has the highest score when it comes to safety levels. It includes fitness guidelines and combines both aerobics and strength training exercises. Since its safe, this app is great for beginners, who can now get a full body workout! Johnsons & Johnsons is making your every minute count by giving only 7 minutes of your day to your body. With 72 main exercises and 22 more customizable options, your body can now be in shape without having to spend an entire day or a lot of money at the gym.

2) Freeletics Bodyweight

If you live in a small apartment and have very limited space for keeping any workout machine, then this app is just what you were looking for. Using its special filter, you can find exercises that you can do easily in a 2×2-yard space. This app contains more than 900 workouts that you can customize to make a 10 – 30 minutes routine for yourself.

3) Female Fitness Women Workout

This app is especially designed for busy women who are juggling work and raising their kids. It is a great option to create a custom workout that suits your goal time and targets your problem areas. Female Fitness Women Workout contains more than 80 workouts that are carefully designed just for women. It gives you an opportunity to achieve your perfect weight within your home with just 7 minute daily workouts. 

4) Nike Training Club

From Nike you can expect nothing less than a great app. This app is perfect for you if you need to tone a problem area of your body. It also contains several other workouts that can help you improve your performance in sports. You can set your workout time according to your preference, ranging from 15 to 45 minutes. If you are looking to increase your muscle strength without a personal trainer, then this app is for you.

5) 30 Days Fitness Challenge

Get ready to tone your body from head to toe. This app works on timelines that give you a guided workout for 30 days with 20 minute daily workout plans. It pushes your body to its full limit and potential with its challenging workout routines. The sole purpose of this app is to reduce weight, build strength, and achieve your goal size.