The specific health benefits that one can achieve from regular aerobic physical activity are:

• Reduce body weight.
• Lower High blood pressure.
• Prevent heart disease & stroke.
• Prevent back pain.
• Prevent or delay type-2 diabetes.
• Prevent osteoporosis.
• Psychological and miscellaneous benefits.

Obesity & exercise:

Perhaps the best benefit one can get from regular aerobic physical activity is reduction and control of body weight, especially for obese persons. By keeping body weight under control regular physical activity can benefit immensely to maintain good health. As obesity is a major risk factor for many diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and other heart diseases, reduction of body weight can be of great help in preventing these diseases.

High Blood Pressure & exercise:

Regular physical activity can reduce blood pressure, although it may not bring down pressure to normal in an individual with hypertension. By bringing down blood pressure regular physical activity can help prevent/reduce many diseases due to high blood pressure and many heart diseases.

Back pain & Exercise:

Regular physical activity can relieve back pain by strengthening the muscles and by improving flexibility and posture.

Type-2 diabetes & exercise:

Various studies have shown that, regular physical activity can prevent or delay development of type2 diabetes or NIDDM (non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus).

Osteoporosis & exercise:

Regular weight bearing exercise can promote bone formation and prevent bone loss due to aging thereby preventing osteoporosis.

Miscellaneous benefits of exercise:

A person who does regular exercise have better mood, than person who lives sedentary lifestyle. You will feel fresh and rejuvenated if you do regular physical exercise. Many studies have suggested that regular physical exercise can reduce depression and anxiety and also help in coping with stress better.

So, keep doing regular exercise and enjoy the specific health benefits of regular physical activity. If you are not doing exercise regularly at present start doing and live healthy, wealthy and happy.

The answer of the above question is answered, but how much tea should a person drink a day to get the maximum health benefits of tea? In my opinion (which is opinion of majority of authorities and scientists and nutritionists) one should drink 4-6 cups (approximately 180-200 ml per cup) of tea everyday. Drinking 4-6 cups of tea can reduce incidence of cancers such as stomach cancer, esophageal cancer, skin cancer etc. To get the health benefits of green tea drinking tea on a regular basis is important, instead of drinking large amount of tea in a short time.

Is there any harmful effect (action) of tea?

The only negative effect of tea till date reported is insomnia. The insomnia due to drinking tea is due to presence of caffeine in tea, including green tea. A cup (approximately 180-200 ml) of green tea contains approximately 40 mgs of caffeine in compare to approximately 85 mgs of caffeine in a freshly brewed coffee of same quantity, according to the American Dietetic Association. Excess drinking of tea in short time, especially if drank during night time can lead to insomnia and inability to fall asleep. The concentration of caffeine in green tea (if consumed large amount in short period of time) can lead to insomnia and if you are already suffering from insomnia it is advisable not to drink tea after sunset to avoid the insomnia effect of caffeine present in tea.

Several studies suggest that tea; especially green tea can protect us from certain cancers such as breast cancer, lung cancer, skin cancers and prostate cancer. A study in Japan found that the antioxidants such as epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG present in tea are the reason for protection from cancer. The study found that two to three cups of green tea contain enough epigallocatechin gallate to help in prevent growth of lung cancer cells. The growth of lung cancer cells is slowed due to blocking of a receptor called 67 LR present in lung cancer cells by epigallocatechin gallate. Another study found that if a person drinks only a cup of green tea a day has five times less chance of developing lung cancer in compare to a person who does not drink green tea.

The local application of green tea extract on the sun exposed surface of skin can prevent photoaging of skin as well as skin cancer to some extent by protecting skin from harmful ultraviolet light, especially harmful UVA (ultraviolet-A) and UVB (ultraviolet-B). Ultraviolet-B rays are more harmful and responsible for causing cancer. So green tea extract by protecting skin from ultraviolet-B light can reduce the incidence of skin cancer to a great extent.

The anti diabetic benefits of tea are exerted by the increased sensitivity of insulin and by improved glucose tolerance by tea, although not yet proved conclusively. Epidemiological studies and surveys suggest that drinking of tea on regular basis can reduce the incidence of diabetes in a community or population to some extent.

Related Articles:

1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5281046.stm

Some of the health benefits of tea are mentioned here and they are

• Tea has anticancer properties and tea is credited with preventing certain cancers due to presence of large amounts of antioxidants in tea.
• Tea can boost mental alertness and help to remain awake and very helpful for students, especially before exams. Tea helps in remaining calm as well as alert.
• Tea has some anti diabetic properties and can postpone development of type II diabetes among susceptible individuals.
• Tea increases the metabolic rate and help in improving fat metabolism and also causes increase energy expenditure. Increase energy expenditure is useful for obese persons to maintain body weight.
• There are several ingredients in tea which can improve the immune system of our body.
• Tea can be useful in halitosis or bad breath, as polyphenols contained in tea can inhibit the bacteria which cause bad breath.
• A study in Japan showed that drinking tea is associated with reduced rate of psychological distress such as depression.
• Tea can help in reducing cardiovascular health problems as found in a study conducted by University of L’Aquila funded by Lipton Tea Institute.

Here only some of the health benefits of tea among several other health benefits are discussed. Tea has many other health benefits.

Related articles/sites/blogs:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tea

The most important health benefits regular physical exercise imparts is on cardiovascular system. Regular physical exercise can bring down high blood pressure to some extent. It is possible to lower (generally do not come down to normal, but reduce blood pressure) blood pressure, if high only with exercise alone, without any other form of treatment such as medications, diet and salt restriction etc. although the high blood pressure may not become normal with exercise alone. This is the direct action of moderate physical exercise on cardiovascular system.

The health benefits of moderate physical exercise also has indirect actions and benefits, which are equally or more important then the direct health benefits. Regular physical exercise reduces body weight in obese and overweight individuals. Obesity is very commonly associated with hypertension. By lowering body weight, regular exercise can help in lowering blood pressure. Obesity is also associated with several other medical problems such as arthritis (due to higher pressure to the weight bearing joints such as knee joints, due to increased body weight), diabetes etc. to name a few.

Regular physical exercise can prevent heart attacks by lowering LDL (low density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol and by increasing HDL (high density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol level in blood. LDL is responsible for deposition in the wall of the arteries of the heart and slowly blocks the blood vessels, which cause gradual reduction of blood supply to the area supplied by the particular artery which leads to heart attacks. Regular physical exercise can improve the working capacity of the heart and also improves blood supply to the area where there is reduced blood supply due to narrowing of blood vessels.

Another great benefit regular exercise can have is, regaining of self esteem and mental health by obese individual after returning to normal or near normal body weight. Obese individuals are generally depressed and they tend to withdraw themselves from society and keep on eating which makes them more depressed. Exercise can help bring those obese individuals back on normal track.

The recommendation of the Surgeon General of United States, Center of Disease Control & Prevention and the American College of Sports Medicine is 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise or activity such as brisk walking on most of the days or at least 5 days a week. The 30 minutes of moderate physical activity can be divided into two parts of 15-20 minutes period.

The word “moderate intensity exercise or activity” should be clearly understood. Moderate intensity exercise or activity can be defined as noticeable increase of heart rate and breathing with some sweating, but less then the intensity which makes carry out of conversation uncomfortable or difficult. Brisk walking is one of the best moderate physical activities. Brisk walking is walking at the speed of approximately 6 km per hour or 3-4 miles an hour. In simple term brisk walking is the speed of walk you do if you are late for meeting or a ball-game.

If you are healthy person and do exercise or want to start exercise to remain fit, you should do moderate physical exercise such as brisk walking, jogging, workout at gym etc. for approximately 30 minutes a day for 5-6 days a week. It is always preferable to do aerobic exercise to keep yourself fit or to prevent/reduce certain health problems. If you are exercising because you have diabetes and want to prevent further damage to cardiovascular system, the same exercise should be done on a regular basis.

The health benefits of regular physical exercise are enormous and include improvement of mental health (psychological health) too along with physical health. Regular physical exercise improves mood, reduce depression and anxiety and also help to cope with stress better.

Some of the important health benefits of regular physical exercise are:

· Regular physical exercise increase chance of living longer and healthier life, in compare to people who do not do regular physical exercise.

· Regular physical exercise improves quality of life by reducing risk of several chronic diseases and also by preventing several diseases.

· Regular physical exercise keep body weight under control and you feel fresh and energetic. Obesity may make you depressed, which can be prevented by regular physical exercise.

· Regular physical exercise reduce the risk of several chronic and serious diseases like high blood pressure and associated heart diseases (reduce chance of stroke, atherosclerosis etc.), type 2 diabetes (adult onset diabetes which can be delayed or prevented by regular physical exercise), arthritis, osteoporosis and many more.

There are also several other health benefits of regular physical exercise which are not mentioned above. In general regular physical exercise keeps you maintain optimal health state and help you live a happy and purposeful life.

Mastitis: It is inflammation of breast tissue, which is generally due to infection and is characterized by swelling, redness and pain in the breast. This should be treated with appropriate antibiotics. General physician should be consulted for treatment.

Cracked nipples: This may arise due to improper and faulty techniques of breastfeeding, which causes soreness of nipples. The treatment of soreness of nipples due to cracking of nipples is keeping the nipples dry and warm, and regular washing with plain water. Nipples should not be washed with soap. Only medical grade and high quality lanolin should be used for drying and covering the nipples and other than human (self) milk nothing should touch the nipples. Instead of doing good the use of creams and lotions may actually harm and make the problem worse.

Inverted nipples: In some females the nipples (or a single nipple) may be drawn inwards instead of protruding outwards, which makes it difficult for the baby to suckle as the baby can not grasp the nipple and the areola for suckling. In most of the women with inverted nipples the problem gets solved during pregnancy itself as the breasts become larger during pregnancy. If problem does not resolve itself during pregnancy it can be solved by using mechanical device to pull the nipples from the inverted position.

Fever: During breast feeding period the mother may develop fever, which should be treated promptly by antibiotics, antipyretics and painkillers. Symptomatic treatment like breast support and warm compressions are also very useful. As a rule simple fever is not an indication to stop breast feeding, in fact breast feeding should be continued even if there is infection as the infection generally does not reach the milk. The milk flow should be continued in infected breast, so that infection is cleared up promptly.

The first milk known as colostrum is yellowish in color and thick which is packed with all the nutrients needed by the infant and also has substances that protect the infant from infections by fighting them. The colostrum is very essential for the baby. After the expression of colostrum the flow of milk in mother’s breast increases for few days and enough milk is produced for the baby’s requirement. If the mother is relaxed, the milk production normalizes within few days after delivery.

The mother should touch the center of the check of the baby or the center of the lips with the nipple which stimulates the baby to open mouth, which is known as “rooting reflex”. This is called so (rooting reflex) because this makes the baby to identify the nipple of the mother. When the baby suckles the nipple along with areola (dark brown skin which surrounds the nipples) should be inside the mouth of the baby. The lips and gums of the baby should be around the areola while suckling.

Breast feeding is not painful and if there is pain while breastfeeding; it may be due to faulty technique of breast feeding or sore nipple. If there is sore nipple it should be treated appropriately.

For the first four to six months the baby do not require any supplementation, not even water, if the breast milk is produced sufficiently is known as “exclusive breast feeding”. Doctors recommend “exclusive breast feeding” to all mothers if they are producing enough breast milk. If baby is feeding well, the baby gets sufficient quantity of water and nutrients from breast milk alone.

The nutritive values of apple per 100 grams are given below:

Major components:

· Calorie: 60 (approximately)

· Water: approximately 83 grams

· Protein: 0.2 gram

· Total fat: 0.35 gram

· Carbohydrates: approximately 14 grams

· Dietary fibers: 2.7 grams

Vitamins:

· Vitamin A: 900 I.U. (international units)

· Vitamin B1: 0.07 mg

· Vitamin B2: 0.05 mg

· Niacin: 0.07 mg

· Pantothenic acid (B5): 0.06 mg

· Vitamin B6: 0.04 mg

· Folic acid: 2.8 mgs

· Vitamin B12: nil

· Vitamin C: 5.7 mgs

· Vitamin E: 0.32 mg

Minerals:

· Calcium: 6 mg

· Iron: 3 mg

· Magnesium: 5 mgs

· Sodium: nil

· Zinc: 0.04 mgs

· Copper: 0.04 mgs

· Manganese: 0.04 mgs

· Selenium: 0.03 mcg

· Potassium: 130 mg

· Phosphorus: 10 mg

· The antioxidant quercetin: 4 mg per apple in the skin part

One of the major health benefits of apple is the low fat content in apple, which is very useful for reducing body weight for obese or overweight individuals. As obesity is a very common health problem of modern day, the apple can act as an effective agent for weight loss, which many obese individuals want desperately.