₦airaland Forum

Insomnia!

If you do not have enough sleep at night, wake up several times at night, find it difficult to fall back to sleep once you wake earlier than normal or feel tired after sleep, you might be affected by insomnia.

Poor sleep comes in quantity and quality.

Poor quantity of sleep happens when you are unable to have adequate hours of sleep ( usually 8 hours for an adult). This can result from difficulties falling asleep, waking up at intervals and waking up too early.

Poor quality of sleep shows in tiredness and irritability.

Long term untreated Insomnia can affect you in diverse ways.

~You can develop long term health issues like hypertension
~it affects your productivity at work
~you can experience day time sleepiness
~ it increases the risks of accidents
~ it can make it difficult for you to drive

It is important to identify why you have trouble sleeping.

It could be die to age, a mental disease like anxiety, untreated stress, late night feeding, Caffeine use, irregular work schedule diseases like GERD and heartburn, use of some weightless medications.

The first line of treatment isn't medications or supplements.

Though antioxidants can help with stress related insomnia.

The first treatment will involve detoxing the mind and maintenance of a healthy bedroom/bed habit.
Use your bed for sleep only or for sleep and sex only.

One of the triggers of high blood pressure is the eating of foods that are high in bad fat, salt, sugar, and alcohol. To reduce the risks of complications from high blood pressure, there is an urgent need to review and make changes to your diet.

A diet that lowers blood pressure should be rich in antioxidants like Vitamin C and lycopene, and minerals like magnesium, and potassium. Other nutrients are folic acid, omega 3 fatty acid, citrulline etc.

Fortunately, Africa is blessed with tropical fruits, vegetables, and spices that help to lower blood pressure and limit complications of high blood pressure. These include;

1. Banana: Bananas are rich in fiber and potassium. Potassium is a vital element that relaxes blood pressure and balances the amount of sodium in the blood.

2. Watermelon: Watermelon contains an important amino acid known as Citrulline. Citrulline helps the body produce nitric oxide that relaxes blood vessels. Watermelon also contains folic acid, potassium, and vitamin C.


3. Turmeric; Turmeric occurs as a spice and in the form of dietary supplements. The health benefit is due to the curcumin it contains. Curcumin prevents the accumulation of fatty deposits in blood vessels.

Turmeric reduces the damage clogging does to blood vessels by reducing inflammation in the blood vessels. Studies have also shown that turmeric serves as a blood thinner. Hence, it can help prevent heart attacks.

Caution: persons with bleeding disorders, peptic ulcers,s and persons taking blood thinners should exercise caution and speak with their health provider before using turmeric.

4. Garlic; Garlic is rich in antioxidants, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A. These antioxidants help the body mop up harmful free radicals produced in times of stress, poor diet, and poor sleep.

Garlic is also known to reduce LDL cholesterol, improve blood flow, and prevent hardening of the aorta. These effects contribute to its ability to help maintain healthy blood pressure.

Garlic can be used as a spice or herbal supplement (capsules of aged garlic extract).
Caution: Garlic is a blood thinner and should not be used in persons that have challenges with clotting of the blood or persons taking blood thinners (like aspirin, or clopidogrel).


5. Orange juice: Natural orange juice is rich in vitamin C, antioxidants, Hesperidin, potassium, folate, and thiamine (Vitamin B1).
Hesperidin protects endothelial cells of blood vessels, preventing strokes and heart attacks.


6. Apples; There is a saying that an apple a day, keeps the doctor away. Apples contain pectin, which lowers the levels of cholesterol in the blood.

Apples contain a lot of insoluble fibers, the body converts extra cholesterol to bile acids. Bile acids are in turn used to digest the fiber.
This cycle leads to a reduction in the amount of LDL (bad cholesterol) and a slowing down of atherosclerosis.


7. Tomatoes: This fruit is rich in antioxidants and vitamins. Tomatoes contain Lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that slows down the formation of LDL (bad) cholesterol. The number of lycopene increases after cooking.

It also contains high amounts of vitamin c, beta carotene (a form of Vitamin A), folic acid, and Vitamin A.


8. Oatmeal; Oatmeal is a rich source of the fiber beta-glucan. Beta-glucan helps unclog blood vessels by reducing LDL cholesterol, non-HDL Cholesterol, and apoB. Oatmeal, therefore, helps improve blood cholesterol readings in three unique ways.

Beta-glucan being a soluble fiber helps slow the absorption of sugar in the intestines, thus preventing blood sugar spikes, especially in patients with diabetes.

Oatmeal contains two powerful antioxidants- avenanthramides and ferulic acid. Avenanthramides stimulate the production of nitric oxides from endothelial cells. Ferulic acid enhances the activity of other antioxidants.

9. Avocado; This delicious fruit contains a significant number of proteins and healthy fats. It also contains antioxidants and a high amount of potassium.

The healthy fats in avocadoes help regulate cholesterol levels, while the potassium helps the blood vessel widen, leading to a healthy heart and blood pressure.

The healthy fats in avocados encourage the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K.

10. Oily Fish: Tuna, herring, mackerel, and sardines contain omega-3 fatty acids that slow the formation of LDL cholesterol.
The unique healthy oil in these fishes helps to control the level of triglycerides in the blood. Excess triglycerides clog a blood vessel.
Oily fishes are of immense benefit to persons with diabetes too.

Did you find this valuable? You might also be interested in "7 Reasons You Have High Blood Pressure Below" on
https://www.nairaland.com/7343597/7-reasons-high-blood-pressure

TANID:
I learned

I am glad you found it useful.

jeffersonsam:
You are right, fast-food diet is making so much trouble, especially blood pressure problem is arising in the people life, because of consuming junk food diet. Lack of workout is also one of the reasons for blood pressure.

You are right.

1. You love fast food and processed foods. These contain saturated fats that can increase the amount of LDL (bad cholesterol) in the blood. High LDL levels in the blood will clog the arteries and increase blood pressure.
Such foods are high in salt.


2. You missuse painkillers and other medicines: some prescription drugs like amphetamines, pain killers like diclofenac, liquorice used for constipation, emergency contraceptives (Plan B), migraine medicines are known to increase blood pressure.

They do so by making the body to retain water or increase heart beat.

3. You do not exercise. You probably sit all day and do not exercise. Exercise helps to burn calories and reduce weight. It also help fight stress.

Useful types of exercise are dancing, brisk walking, swimming, cycling.

4. Eating too much processed sugar and starch: sources of sugar include biscuits, bread, soft drinks, food like rice and yam. Sugar is known to encourage swelling and trigger high blood pressure.

5. Drinking alcohol unhindered: alcoholic drinks like whisky, beer, gins and others can trigger a high blood pressure. Limiting or reducing alcohol can lower blood pressure.

6. High Salt Consumption: salt foods like biscuits, bread, ketchup, salted nuts and processed food contain a high amount of salt. Eating these foods can trigger high blood pressure by making the body retain water.

It is also not advised that you add extra salt to an already cooked food.


7. You smoke cigarette: cigarette trigger high blood pressure by constricting blood vessels.

You see, high blood pressure has known triggers. Understanding why you may have sustained high blood pressure is key to avoiding complications and untimely death. Consider modifying your lifestyle and you will get better results.

Check your blood pressure today!

[quote author=Rapmoney post=30937303]We all love it when we get an alert from the bank, or a client pays us. It’s a good feeling, right? But then it all starts flying out of your hands. Where does the money go? We all have necessary expenses. There are things we can’t quite get away from paying for. These include school fees and healthcare. However, there are some expenses that we have control over.

1) Motor Insurance

Third party car insurance is required in Nigeria. Yes, Nigerians, we’re looking at you. Complete motor insurance isn’t a requirement, although this can be a good idea. What’s the difference? Third party insurance will only cover damage to the other person’s car or property in the event of an accident. Complete motor insurance will cover your own car too. To save money on rates for either type of insurance, it is good to shop around. Be sure to get quotes from several different insurance companies. To compare apples to apples, be sure to give the same information to all the insurers.

2) Gas Costs

There is not much you can do about the cost of gas in Nigeria. The difference in price between gas stations is not always significant. Between regulation by the government, fuel scarcity and price fixing, it’s a hard life out there for car owners. It is also rare for a Nigerian company to permit work from home, although it can’t hurt to ask (if it makes sense for your role). Some people have reported saving money by combining errands. This requires planning, especially in a business setting. Others choose to share a ride with colleagues to save money.

3) Mobile Phones and Data Plans

Check out your phone costs for the last three months. The majority of mobile phone users in Nigeria are on prepaid phone plans. Can you estimate what you spent on airtime and data?

•     Are you paying too much or too little for your data plan? For most telecommunications operators, you get cheaper data if you pay a higher amount. Looking at Etisalat, you can get 50 MB of data for N500 (N10/MB). Alternatively, you can get 500 MB for N2,000 (N4/MB). If you can afford to pay more at the start, your data costs will be cheaper per megabyte. If you run a business, be sure to compare providers to check out the best price for internet services for the company.

•     Text messages have become cheaper in recent years (N4 instead of N10 or N15). However, if you already have a data plan, messaging apps like BBM, 2go and Whatsapp can be used to send messages for no extra cost. Free is better than N4 any day!

4) Grocery and Food Bills

Eating out every day can get expensive. Look for decent food that is affordable and within your budget. Save the fancy hotels and eateries for an important business lunch or a special occasion (and not for every day lunch).

Some people are able to bring lunch to work or school. This is definitely more cost effective than eating out every day (We realize that this is not feasible for everyone, especially if your lunch consists of perishable food and there is nowhere to store it.)

Take advantage of specials and discounts for lunch and groceries when available

For groceries that you know you use a lot, buy in bulk where available.

5) Save Money on Purchases

There are many purchases that are unavoidable. However, do what you can to ensure that you are getting the best price on the item. You have to do some comparison shopping to see what that price is. Caveat – comparison shopping works best when comparing identical or similar items. Where can you compare prices in Nigeria?

General ecommerce retailers such as Konga and Jumia

Niche ecommerce retailers such as Gloo (for groceries)

Price comparison websites in Nigeria such as PriceCheck and NgPriceHunter

Physical stores in your area

Your network of friends and family

http://iserve.com.ng/blog/2015/01/5-ways-to-save-money-in-nigeria

Nice one op

At 30, you are still 'young'. Are you a Christian? If yes, I want you to focus on developing yourself spiritually, emotionally as well as financially. Marriage is different from wedding, as such you need to be prepared by developing yourself to be a godly/responsible husband/father. Avoid pressures, when you focus on God, loving a woman God's way won't be difficult because He is LOVE personified.