Potassium Rich Foods

Maintaining good physical condition is always the name of the game for everyone who engages in physically demanding activities such as playing sports. As athletes, or even non-athletes, go about their routines like working out, training hard or while playing a game of whatever sport, it cannot be helped that sweat would be secreted from the body. Sweat is the body’s main mechanism of cooling off as the temperature inside the body rises every time the heart pumps faster and faster, increasing the metabolism and other chemical processes inside the body. If people cannot let the steam off through the pores in the form of sweat, the blood pressure would go high enough until arteries and veins would just rupture inside the body, and that is detrimental for any human being.

Often times, when people perspire, the tendency of almost everyone is to drink lots of water. There had been cases that people collapsed still even though they were rehydrated by water. Research found out that water is not the only thing lost when a body perspires. The body also tends to lose an important nutrient called potassium. The potassium content that goes out of the body through the cooling process known as sweating are usually referred to as mineral salts or electrolytes. What caused those people to collapse even though they were rehydrating themselves constantly with water was that because while they were sweating, precious electrolytes that contain potassium and sodium salts are also lost along with water. Deficiency in electrolytes should be avoided at all times as they are the carriers of electrical impulses from cell membranes to cell membranes. In short, potassium is a key ingredient in maintaining a homeostasis state inside the body. Extreme deficiency in potassium can cause hypokalemia. If losing potassium ions due to sweating can render one unconscious, a person who naturally lacks potassium in his diet could cause muscular weakness, constipation, muscle pain and loss of reflexes.

Potassium has now also been the used as an ingredient to table salt. Normally, sodium chloride is the formula for table salt but health experts are recommending potassium chloride as a substitute for people who need to need to increase potassium levels and as well as those who want to reduce intake of sodium in order to control hypertension. But for all it’s worth, a lot of people still prefer the good old effect of sodium chloride to the taste buds and that’s why it is not surprising that a lot of those people taking potassium chloride still mix in some sodium chloride because pure potassium chloride tastes rather a bit bitter and not as flavorful as the sodium laced one. Normally, to replenish potassium in the body, potassium chloride is commonly used by diluting it and then taken in orally or intravenously. However, potassium chloride should not be in reach of children or to anyone without a proper prescription from doctors. Potassium chloride is considered highly toxic when ingested in excess amounts. In fact, it is the same ingredient used for lethal injections. When taken in at amounts above the recommended limit, it can just make the heart to stop pumping leading to cardiac arrest.  

To increase potassium in the body, one needs to eat potassium rich foods. Vegetables like tomato, beet greens, potatoes and white beans are known good sources of potassium. Orange juice and banana fruit are good sources as well. To be sure that the body would have ample supply of potassium, it is recommended having potassium through natural means as it is always the best way to have a balanced potassium level in the body. 

Motorcycling: adrenaline on wheels

What is adrenaline?

Experts say it is hormone secreted by the adrenal glands to provide a surge of energy when one is in danger or is frightened and needs to react quickly. They say this is created when the body is preparing for fight as a result of a feeling of anger, or for flight for being in fear. When one experiences a sudden burst of energy because of an intense situation, he is going through an adrenaline rush that causes his muscle to do respiration in an increased rate that improves his strength. You are having an adrenaline rush when you take the danger in such risky activities as skydiving or parachuting from a high-rise building, a cliff or a bridge.

Adrenaline can also be experienced in motorcycling as an outdoor sport. Motorcycles are made with different types to fit specific functions like those for off-road and road uses. On either motorcycle, riding is filled with intense action and excitement, getting the rider’s adrenaline continuously pumping. Even if off-road motorcycling is usually train riding and a non-competitive outdoor activity, it serves as a way for families and friends to see the local trails for exercise and enjoyment of the challenge of the terrain which is oftentimes difficult, or enjoy outdoors fast and cheerfully when paved roads are not easily possible. The most important requirement for off-road motorcycling is for a rider to possess a certain amount of stamina and level of fitness or an affinity or likeness for dirt roads.

The peak of an adrenaline rush may be experienced in motorcycle sports that involve risk such as Hill Climbing, Supermoto, Land Speed Racing, Motocross, Enduro and Motoball. In these sports that encompass all sporting aspects of motorcycling, however, the disciplines are not all timed-speed events or “races” because some of them only put to test a participant’s riding skills. In the Hill Climbing competition, a motorcyclist exhibits skills and bravery in scaling difficult and dangerous terrain, which is often rocky, in the shortest time. The Supermoto event uses a mixture of road and dirt track where competitors exhibit skills by going through many hurdles. Land Speed Racing is another hair-raising motorcycle sport where a competitor hits the top speed on a 3-mile track to break his previous records, if any. The Motocross is the best off-road motorcycle racing event, using racing circuits made to test the rider’s skills on sandy, muddy, grassy and lowered or elevated surfaces. The Enduro is not a racing event but it involves dangerous courses usually a thick wooded terrain with large obstacles, such as logs or ditches and sudden drops. The Motoball or Motorcycle Polo is similar to football but it has players (except the goal keepers) riding motorcycles and using a much bigger ball.

For every kind of motorcycle, clothing and accessories are recommended, and these include a pair of adrenaline or technical jeans equipped with adjustment zippers and removable protectors on knees and hips.

Healing ingredients

If you are using body and skin lotions or moisturizing oils and ointments you must be aware of the benefits that can be derived from the use of these products. These products boast of properties for skin health or natural skin care, and that can deal with or solve many skin problems, such as dryness, puffiness, and a number of skin diseases. These products are made with ingredients primarily to protect the skin that, in turn, provides protective cover for our skeletal system, muscles and internal organs.

Some of the known ingredients of the products for skin health or natural skin care healing include (a) Red marine algae, which is rich in magnesium, iodine, silica and selenium (b) Suma, known for its cell building and regenerative properties, (c) Squalane, an olive extract for moisturizer, (d) Shea butter, high in natural anti-oxidant properties, (e) Horsetail extract, a natural emulsifier and astringent which is high in silica, (f) Citronella, a natural antiseptic with insect-repellant properties, (g) Grapefruit, a natural diuretic, with antiseptic, disinfectant and anti-infectious properties, (h) Cypress, with properties that stimulate circulation and help eliminate excess fluid and toxins from the skin, (i) Clary sage, an antiseptic and anti-bacterial ingredient that helps relieve inflamed and puffy skin, (j) Lavender, with anti-bacterial, antiseptic, anti-toxic, anti-inflammatory and restorative properties, and (k) Tea tree, with powerful natural anti-microbial, antiseptic, anti-fungal and anti-infectious properties.

A product in lighter oil form for natural skin care healing contains common herbal ingredients including Rose, that provides a soothing effect on the skin, as it purifies, cleanses, and moisturizes it; Aloe Vera, that rejuvenates and refreshes skin damaged by direct exposure to the sun, and promotes cell production while it prevents scars and wrinkles; and Chamomile, that stimulates the natural healing process and helps make the skin soft. Oil and butter ingredients include jojoba oil, a non-greasy alternative to many vegetable oils that helps the skin to regulate its innate immune system; Sesame oil, which is rich in vitamin E and is traditionally used as a sun-screening agent; Almond oil, which is also high in vitamin E and helps the skin to slow down the loss of moisture; Rosehip seed oil, which is made from the seeds of the Rosa Rubiginosa grown in the country of Chile, which is effective for treating scars, radiation burns and ultra-violet damage, and even mitigates the effects of aging as a result of environmental exposure; Carrot oil that is made to work as sun screen and protection agent; Black Seed oil, traditionally used to treat eczema, psoriasis and sore joints and dry skin; and Copaiba oil derived from the Copaiba tree trunk that soothes and softens dry and oily skin with its anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant andante-inflammatory properties. An Aquaphor ointment made from the petrolatum, ceresin, Lanolin alcohol and mineral oil ingredients protects dry and irritated skin and enhances its natural healing process.