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Kombucha tea is popular in natural health and nutrition circles. Image Credit: blanaru/iStock/GettyImages When you’re looking for a probiotic with some impressive bang for the buck, give kombucha some serious consideration. This popular immunity-boosting fermented drink nourishes your body with vitamins and minerals, giving you a host of desirable kombucha benefits. Advertisement Facts on Beneficial Fermented Foods If you’ve wondered about kombucha benefits for nutrition and health, realize that this unusual drink is part of the popular fermented foods family....

An assortment of bagels on a wood table. Image Credit: joebelanger/iStock/Getty Images If you’re short on time in the morning, a bagel serves as a convenient breakfast food. If you’re intent on following a low-carbohydrate diet, however, this baked treat isn’t necessarily ideal. Regardless of their specific nature, bagels contain plenty of carbs. Advertisement Plain Bagels Many standard varieties of plain bagel have dozens of carbs. A 3.5-ounce wheat bagel contains 48 grams of carbohydrates....

Woman drinking glass of milk Image Credit: Purestock/Purestock/Getty Images When you drink a glass of milk, you gain complete protein and a significant amount of calcium and vitamin B-12. But unfortified milk has two concerns. It’s notoriously high in fat, especially unhealthy saturated fat. It also lacks vitamin D, which your body needs to absorb the milk’s calcium. Two percent milk helps lower the fat, while vitamin D milk ensures you’ll get more of this essential vitamin....

Image Credit: LIVESTRONG.com Creative We make deliberate choices about the language we use when it comes to gender. While more brands now carry gender-neutral workout clothes, you’ll still typically see clothing brands market their products to men or women. The main difference between most women’s and men’s clothing is the fit: Men’s versions tend to be longer in length and roomier due to physical differences. However, fabrics, quality and comfort should be the same between gender-labeled pairs....

The best temperature for sleeping is somewhere between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit. Image Credit: monkeybusinessimages/iStock/GettyImages If you’ve ever spent the night tossing and turning in a too-warm bedroom (or shivering in a frigid one), you know that temperature plays a pretty important role in getting a good night’s sleep. After all, one of the first pieces of advice sleep experts typically recommend is to keep your room dark, quiet and ​cool....

Oranges for sale at a market. Image Credit: yyyahuuu/iStock/Getty Images Vitamin C and E are both powerful antioxidants that are healthy and beneficial to the functioning of your body. A diet rich in these vitamins is a proactive way to stay feeling good and looking good. Both vitamin C and E are present in an abundance of nutritious and delicious vegetables and fruits for you to choose from. Advertisement Vitamin C Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin that is responsible for the formation of collagen in your muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, bones and blood vessels....

A fit woman is measuring her waist. Image Credit: Comstock Images/Stockbyte/Getty Images Sauna belts are a wide band of fabric that may be wrapped around any part of the body, though the stomach is the most common area of use. Unlike traditional exercise belts, sauna belts can self-heat at the push of a button. The purpose of the sauna belt is to encourage the body to sweat. Advertisement Burn, Baby, Burn Because they produce excessive perspiration, sauna belts are supposed to reduce water weight more effectively than fat tissue....

Practice sun salutations first thing in the morning. Image Credit: f9photos/iStock/Getty Images A series of postures performed in a flowing sequence, Sun Salutations are often used as a warmup at the beginning of a yoga practice. But the benefits are far greater than the warmup. Advertisement Sun Salutations help lengthen and strengthen, and they burn calories to aid weight loss. Research shows that just performing Sun Salutations can improve cardiovascular conditioning, prevent fatigue, promote calm and relaxation and a provide a range of other mental and physical benefits....

Many joints move in a variety of ways to enable dancing. Image Credit: Spike Mafford/Photodisc/Getty Images Joints are located where two bones come together, allowing movement of the human skeleton. Human joints vary in shape, each moving in a particular way for specific purposes. Some joints prevent movement, functioning mainly to stabilize part of the body, while others allow movement in several directions. The human body has three primary types of joints....

Bananas are made up of carbs and are loaded with a variety of vitamins and minerals. Image Credit: Miljan Živković/iStock/GettyImages Bananas are one of the top three most popular fresh fruit eaten in the United States, according to the USDA. They’re inexpensive, convenient and widely available year-round. Advertisement Plus, they're filled with vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Take a closer look at the nutrient values based on a medium-sized banana ranging from 7 to 7....

Push-ups are an example of a calisthenic exercise. Image Credit: Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images Calisthenics is a combination of resistance exercises that involves the use of your body weight. These exercises can be done anywhere with no equipment needed. Common calisthenics include pushups, crunches and jumping jacks. There are numerous benefits reaped from using calisthenics to improve muscular fitness. However, there are disadvantages as well. Advertisement Identification Calisthenics can help strengthen your muscles through anaerobic activity that uses your body weight....

Gentle stretches may help with lower-back spasms and pain. Image Credit: Antonio_Diaz/iStock/GettyImages Almost everyone will get lower back pain at some point, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). It can come on suddenly and range from mild to severe. A common cause is overusing your back muscles. Muscle pain may cause lower back spasms, making it hard to move. Advertisement "People describe acute lower back pain as throwing out their back or having a back spasm....

There's a reason the scale isn't budging. Image Credit: AndreyPopov/iStock/GettyImages When it comes to weight loss, that number on the scale seems to hold a lot of power. If it’s not budging, frustration sets in. But sometimes the number on the scale isn’t the best way to measure progress. If you’re staying on track with your diet and exercise program, you’re most likely losing fat but gaining muscle – and that’s a good thing....

Your body uses calories from the food you eat for energy. Image Credit: AntonioGuillem/iStock/Getty Images Calories are a measure of energy and are commonly used to describe the energy content of foods. Your body is able to break down food molecules and use the stored energy for many different functions, including movement, thought and growth. Calories also play a role in weight control, because eating more calories than your body needs can lead to weight gain....

A toddler with a bloated stomach may not be able to express what she is feeling. Image Credit: O_Lypa/iStock/GettyImages A bloated or distended stomach is usually an uncomfortable condition, regardless of the cause. It can be worrisome to parents if their child’s stomach appears distended without an obvious reason, and young children may find it difficult to articulate what they are feeling. Advertisement While a ​toddler with a bloated stomach​ itself does not indicate a serious condition, parents should take note of any other symptoms that accompany their child's distended belly....

Swimming works all major muscle groups and can be a tiring workout. Spend a day at the pool or an hour swimming laps and you feel spent. Water-related tiredness often occurs after a water workout or time passed splashing away in the summer sun. Many reasons exist as to why the body experiences weariness after swimming, everything from aerobic fatigue to water temperature. Advertisement It Uses Major Muscle Groups Swimming uses all of the major muscle groups and therefore is a demanding exercise that can tire the body....

references Oral Health Foundation: "Wisdom teeth" Mayo Clinic: "Impacted wisdom teeth" Is this an emergency? If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, please see the National Library of Medicine’s list of signs you need emergency medical attention or call 911. Wisdom tooth pain is common, but home remedies can sometimes help. Image Credit: Staras/iStock/GettyImages Image Credit: Staras/iStock/GettyImages Causes Pain From Wisdom Teeth Pain After Removal When to See a Dentist Given the pain wisdom teeth can cause, it may seem natural to want them out of your mouth, ASAP....

Mountain pose teaches you how to support your knees while standing. Image Credit: fizkes/iStock/Getty Images If your knees creak, crackle and pop when you go up stairs, bend down or lunge, it’s time to take some action. Your knees are a joint, so you can’t directly strengthen them like you can a muscle; however, you can make the joint more mobile. Strengthen the surrounding muscles to also support your knees when you use them....

It's not something we talk about often, but knowing how to pee properly (and the habits to avoid) is crucial for your bladder and pelvic floor health. Image Credit: patchanan promunat/iStock/GettyImages Going to the bathroom is one of the most natural human behaviors and something we do multiple times a day. Most of us are taught to use the bathroom to empty our bladder from such a young age that we can’t even recall learning....

Get a small group of children to run together to help train for a 5K. A 5K run is an exciting athletic challenge for a child. The distance is great enough to have to train well in order to compete but not so far as to be impossible for most kids. Parents need to be prepared to help a child who expresses interest in running this distance. Map out a plan to train your child in terms of her technique and endurance....