As a woman approaching middle age, I am concerned about the appearance of age spots and spider veins on my face. I have a beauty maintenance regimen but there is only so much that washes, toners, creams and lotions can do.

I'd like to think that I look young for my age, but if I have age spots on my face, that would be a dead give-away as to how old I actually am! Fortunately for me, I don't have to put up with age spots and spider veins. There are medical spas that can remove these unsightly things on my face by using a photofacial treatment.

Thank goodness for medical spas that offer aesthetics procedures like botox, photofacials, and endovenous laser therapy (ELT). South West Vein and Laser Institute is one such spa that does all that and laser hair removal Phoenix, Arizona.

I wonder if there is a non surgical treatment for removing fat under the chin? I hate my double chin!

I have mild hypertension and anything that helps bring down hypertension is naturally of interest to me.

I received several flyers in my most recent order of products from my favorite supplier of food supplements. And one of the flyers had to do with melatonin.

According to a team of American and Dutch researchers, taking melatonin may help reduce blood pressure. In the study, published in the American Heart Association's Journal, Hypertension (2004, vol.43, No. 2:192), 16 men with untreated hypertension were given 2.5 milligrams of melatonin or placebo nightly, one hour before they went to bed, for three weeks. Men who received the melatonin supplements reduced they night-time systolic pressure (top number) and diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) by an average of six and four millimeters of mercury, respectively. Researchers saw no change from taking only one dose of melatonin.

Guess what will be in my shopping cart as I shop at my favorite online food supplement store? Yes, melatonin! :-)

Further reading:

Daily Nighttime Melatonin Reduces Blood Pressure in Male Patients With Essential Hypertension

Melatonin May Have An Effect On Nocturnal Blood Pressure

You know the saying about men and how they age? Men age like fine wine. What about the way women age? I have my own expression for that. Women age like a dried up and wrinkled prune. Not very flattering, is it?

As a woman, I understand how important it is to learn to feel comfortable in my own skin. But that does not mean I won't do anything to help my skin stay as young as it can, and to look as young as I can.

If there are places that I can go to like the medical spa in Atlanta why shouldn't I go to them for a botox treatment, or to get rid of those ugly pigmentation lesions? Or how about to get rid of that ugly moustache I seem to be have been growing lately, or to do something about that cellulite build up in my thighs?

Thank goodness that spas nowadays are not just limited to a pedicure or manicure and a whole body massage!

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A daily serving of soy may help postmenopausal women avoid gaining fat around the middle, preliminary research suggests.

In a study of 18 postmenopausal women, researchers found that those who drank a soy-based shake every day for three months tended to gain less abdominal fat than those who had a milk-based shake.

Soy contains compounds called isoflavones that are structurally similar to estrogen and bind to estrogen receptors in fat tissue. So in theory, soy isoflavones could help regulate body fat metabolism.

The new findings appear to be the first to show that soy protein may affect abdominal fat distribution, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Cynthia K. Sites of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. They report the results in the medical journal Fertility and Sterility.

Full story here.

I love soy drinks except that after drinking a glass of soy drink, my tummy will start giving out all kinds of rumbling noises ... yes, gas!

So despite all the benefits that soy has especially for post menopausal women there are some like me who cannot take it because it gives them gas.

What should we do? Should we take a tablet or two of 'Beano' before we can enjoy our soy drink? Well, if it comes to that, we may have to!

My mother is in her 60s and every time I look at the size of her tummy, I keep thinking that that would be me a few years down the road. I already have a sizable, in comparison to the rest of my body size, tummy!

I'm off to the store now to get some Beano! :-)

Erectile dysfunction is not a subject that is openly discussed especially by those in Asian cultures.

I have no idea if my father is suffering from erectile dysfunction or not because I have never heard the subject whispered within the family, let alone discussed openly! My father has been taking medications for hypertension and diabetes for a few decades now and I suspect that those medications have affected his sex life.

I am not sure if my father had known about Viagra, when it first came out and knew where to buy viagra, he would have done something about his condition. I guess by now, at his age, he just doesn't care anymore. All that matters is that he is still alive especially after being hospitalized last year due to complications from his diabetes.

But not every man is like my father. Men no longer have to suffer erectile dysfunction in silence. There is help for the condition especially with the availability of Viagra. It is best that people with erectile dysfunction get advice from their personal doctors regarding the use of Viagra. If their doctors say there is no problem with them using the drug, then I guess they can choose to get the product from their local pharmacy or an online pharmacy.

If buying Viagra online, be sure to get it from a pharmacy that has qualified doctors who can evaluate your condition based on information and options already recommended by your personal doctor.

With Viagra men with erectile dysfunction can once again resume an active sex life. There are, after all, real benefits to having sex. It is like exercising, where a vigorous bout burns about 200 calories which is equivalent to running 15 minutes on a treadmill. The pelvis, thighs, buttocks, arms, neck and thorax also receive a good work out during sex.

I think men are not the only one who are thankful for what Viagra can do. Women are also thankful that their partners can once again resume a normal sex life.

I am indeed excited at discovering the many benefits of green tea! Nadine Taylor in her book Green Tea, says that "No other substance on the face of the earth, including the most potent drug, can claim such wide-ranging and powerful health benefits, all without a single side effect."

Green tea can fight disease and even lengthen life by :

• Preventing normal cells from turning cancerous.
• Suppressing the formation and growth of tumors.
• Guarding against free radical damage that can bring about cancer, heart disease, diabetes, radiation damage, and aging.
• Enhancing immune system function.
• Controlling cholesterol levels.
• Lowering the risk of stroke by making blood platelets less "sticky".
• Controlling blood pressure levels.
• Fighting deadly food-borne bacteria.
• Promoting "friendly" bacteria in the intestines and encouraging bowel regularity.
• Fighting viruses, including those that cause herpes simplex, polio, and even HIV.
• Lowering the risk of post-traumatic epileptic seizures in laboratory animals.
• Assisting in weight loss by blocking the breakdown of starch.
• Providing a mild stimulating effect without causing sleepless nights or nevousness.
• Fighting bacteria in the mouth that cause cavities and bad breath.
• Slowing the aging process.
• Maintaining the body's fluid balance.
• Reducing stress.
• Acting as a safe and effective natural preservatives in food and cosmetics.
  

Indeed "miracles" can be found in a cup of tea! And best of all, for only pennies a cup!

Source: Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life by Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D.

I am reading a book called Green Tea by Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D., and there is a section in the book called Green Tea and Diabetes.

I have mentioned earlier that I am pre-diabetic and that I have started to change my diet so that diabetes will never be a part of my life.

According the book by Nadine Taylor, the polyphenols in green tea are potent inhibitors of amylase. Amylase is an enzyme that breaks down starches into glucose molecules that are then absorbed into the blood stream.

A cup of green tea has been found to inhibit 87% of amylase activity. This means that less sugar gets into the bloodstream which in turn means that blood glucose levels is automatically lowered.

What this also means for those of us who are concerned about our blood glucose levels, drinking green tea daily will most certainly be beneficial to our health.

There are now green tea tincture and green tea tablets that we can take if brewing a pot of green tea is not convenient. There is no reason why we should not include green tea as part of our health maintenance regimen.

I have some crooked teeth and I wished I had been made to wear braces when I was a kid. I am sure I would have worn braces if it had been available and if my parents had been able to afford it! Nobody I knew as a kid or a teenager had any braces on. My teeth would look a lot better if I had had them straightened when I was younger. Oh well.

I could still straighten them now if I wanted to because there is nothing to stop me from doing it, but I just don't care anymore. I could still whiten my teeth though, and that would make my smile a lot more appealing. One of these days I should really go ahead and do it because all the tea I have been drinking is starting to stain my teeth!

In the Beverly Hills area you can get a Beverly Hills tooth whitening service at Dr Maddahi's Dental Clinic. He specializes in Cosmetic Dentistry and the special thing about the dental services at his clinic is he uses a painless system that uses air instead of metal to drill teeth.

Personally, the drilling part has always been the hardest for me about visiting the dentist, and if I knew that there wouldn't be any painful drilling, I'd be more inclined to visit my dentist more regularly!

I borrowed several books from the local library yesterday and one of them is this book by Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins. I have flipped through the pages and read some interesting bits and pieces of the book.

Two things I learned from the book are about magnesium and CoQ10. I have a bottle of each of the supplements in my kitchen cupboard. I bought the magnesium because it was on sale and I heard an ad over the radio that said a lot of our back aches had to do with magnesium deficiency. I knew that that CoQ10 is a good for your heart health.

Today I learned that both magnesium and CoQ10 have positive effects on heart health.

I have issues with hypertension and last week my doctor took me off my diuretic prescription so he could evaluate if the diuretic had anything to do with the rise in my blood sugar level. Since I am no longer taking the diuretic, I am concerned about the state of my blood pressure.

Among the benefits of magnesium is that it maintains normal blood pressure. According to the book independent studies have shown that people with hypertension have a magnesium deficiency.

After reading that bit of information, naturally I took out my bottle of magnesium that has been sitting in my kitchen cupboard all this while and took a dose. :-)

CoQ10 is a vital enzyme and it has the ability to protect and strengthen the heart and lower blood pressure. I have occasional chest pains which I normal attribute to gas, but now I am inclined to think that it could be due to a CoQ10 deficiency.

Since reading the benefits of magnesium and CoQ10 especially what they can do to blood pressure, I am now more motivated to take these supplements instead of letting them sit in my kitchen cupboard!

I was browsing the tea shelves at an Asian Supermarket recently because I was looking for teas that have diuretic properties. I had read that ginger was a natural diuretic, so I bought some ginger tea, also a ginger and green tea mix. I also bought Noni tea, and Gymnema Sylvester tea, which have sugar lowering properties.

I also noticed guava tea, and wondered what guava tea was good for. Guava, the fruit, is rich in Vitamin C, richer than an orange in fact, has high fiber content. The leaves are boiled to treat diarrhea, and the leaves also have anti-microbial and sugar lowering properties.

The next time I am at the supermarket, I will definitely get myself some guava tea! The only thing I am worried about is that the tea may cause constipation!