Health, Lifestyle, Wellbeing Tips & Advice

Author: Mojo Health

Mojo Health > Articles by: Mojo Health

Why is Sofa Cleaning Important For Your Health

HealthMojo Health

Your sofa serves several purposes. From your popular sleepovers to chilled family movie nights or hosting your guests, it indeed holds your daily life together. Since you have regular contact with it, hygiene automatically becomes essential.

Why?

First off, it harbors dirt over time and becomes unhealthy. So, when cleaning your carpet, don’t forget your upholstery also needs care!

You should keep your furniture and couch clean for several health reasons. Let’s explore these reasons.

Health Benefits Of Cleaning Your Sofa

Here are the health benefits of cleaning your sofa:

1. Air Quality

Poor air quality often leads to allergies and respiration issues. However, most homeowners battle this problem using household plants and air filters. How about you ensure there are no allergens or mold to filter in the first place?

Sitting, plopping, or lying on your furniture releases dust, dead skin, bacteria, or mold spores into the air. A lot of people focus on cleaning carpets and other items. However, your couch harbors mold, old stains, allergens, and dust over time. Leaving it uncleaned exposes your home to poor air quality.

As a result, cleaning your sofa or hiring sofa cleaners regularly protects your home from bad air quality.

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Coping with the Loss of a Parent: Grief and Finding Strength

HealthMojo Health

Losing a parent is an inevitable part of life for many of us. It’s a profound and personal experience that each person navigates in their own way. While the inevitability of losing a parent is known, the actual experience of it can be shockingly painful and disorienting. We have compiled a list of suggestions based on advice from those at silkwoodfunerals.com.au, who have had many years of experience surrounding loss.

The Emotional Rollercoaster of Losing a Parent

Grief is a deeply personal and varied experience. There’s no ‘correct’ way to process the loss of a parent. As you journey through grief, you may encounter a myriad of intense emotions, often confusing and overwhelming:

  • Numbness and Emptiness: Feeling numb or unable to cry is not uncommon. This doesn’t mean you’re indifferent; it could be your mind’s way of processing the shock or shielding you from a deluge of emotions.
  • Profound Sadness and Despair: It’s natural to feel engulfed by sadness, often with the belief that you’ll never come to terms with your loss.
  • Sleep and Appetite Disturbances: Grief can disrupt your standard sleep patterns and eating habits, leading to insomnia or a change in appetite.
  • Vulnerability and a Sense of Regression: The loss can leave you feeling vulnerable, almost childlike, as you grapple with the absence of a pivotal figure in your life.
  • Strained Family Dynamics: Relationships within your family may become tense as each member processes grief differently, sometimes leading to conflicts.

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Speech Therapy Terminology And What It All Means

HealthMojo Health

To most people, the terminology and jargon within medical niches can be confusing, and that applies as equally to speech therapy as it does any other. This can be incredibly frustrating for the parents of children with speech and language difficulties as sometimes they struggle to fully comprehend what speech therapists explain about their child’s problems.

We are not suggesting that those who work within speech therapy deliberately try to confuse parents. They are likely to use words and phrases that they almost take for granted, given that they use them daily. In addition, we are sure most speech pathologists try to explain the terminology they use to parents.

Nevertheless, that may not always be the case. Additionally, when parents read subject matter relating to their child’s language issues, they might encounter several words they do not fully understand. So, we thought it would be helpful if we went through some of the more common terminology used within speech therapy and gave you a short explanation of what it all means.

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5 Health Benefits Of Hiring Professional Removalists For Your Home Move

HealthMojo Health,

There are several reasons why hiring a professional removalist company to assist you with a house move makes perfect sense. Those reasons include not having to hire a van yourself, not having to pack that van, the convenience of letting them do most of the work for you, and, in many cases, it can be more financially viable to pay them a fee for the complete set of services they provide rather than making individual payments for different services to several companies.

However, another often overlooked reason is why using removalists is the optimal choice. That is because it benefits the health and well-being of you and your family. That statement might have raised a few eyebrows among those reading this; however, please bear with us as we outline the five health benefits of hiring professionals from Brilliance Removalists Perth.

Less Chance Of Sprains And Strains

The most apparent reason removalists will benefit your health is that they will lift and carry your belongings from your old home into their van and then from the van into your new home. Consider that many of those items will be heavy and require more than one person to lift them.

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The 8 Worst of the Worst Skincare & Beauty Toxins

BeautyMojo Health,

Did you know that over 10 250 known industrial chemicals are used in beauty products, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins & hormone disruptors? Chemicals like plasticisers that keep concrete soft, surfactants that reduce tension in paint & degreasers that remove grime from car parts are found in your beauty products! Scary huh?

So what can we do about it?

Head to the bathroom & pull out all your hair, face, skin, body, & makeup products & scrutinise all the ingredients – look out for these eight commonly found toxic chemicals – & throw them out!

1. Mineral Oil
She is also known as petroleum, paraffin oil, liquid, or white mineral oil. Used in shampoos, cleansers, body lotions, lipsticks & foundations, and mineral oils will not only cause skin irritations but are contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which cause cancer.

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7 Reasons Why Laser Eye Surgery Is A Better Option Than Contact Lenses

DentalMojo Health

One decision that many people who need glasses take, especially those who dislike wearing glasses, is to switch to wearing use contact lenses instead; however, one question this raises is whether going a stage further to laser eye surgery would be better still. Contact lenses are a hugely popular means of correcting vision, and anyone who has made the switch to them from glasses is usually delighted they have done so.

It might be they switched from wearing glasses to wearing contact lenses for practical reasons, such as their glasses regularly getting broken. Alternatively, it could have been the perfectly valid reason that they feel more confident and even more attractive by not having to wear glasses. Now that they are wearing contact lenses, no doubt most contact lens wearers believe there are more positives to wearing them than negatives, especially when compared to wearing glasses.

If we take that thought process further and compare the advantages of laser eye surgery to those of contact lenses, the former soon becomes an even better option for those who need corrected vision, be they currently wearing glasses or contact lenses. Also, laser eye surgery overcomes many negatives of contact lenses. To outline that further, here are seven of those negatives which highlight reasons why laser eye surgery is usually a better choice than contact lenses.

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4 Ways Your Health Food Store Can Benefit From Marketing On Social Media

Health, MarketingMojo Health,

If you have used or tried to use digital marketing as a means to promote and grow your health food store’s revenue, then we hope social media as part of your strategy. The reason we say that comes from the advice from the digital marketing experts over at www.slinkydigital.com.au, who advise their clients that social media can provide a huge impetus to an online marketing campaign and long-term benefits to any business that uses it.

One of the first things we need to do is clarify exactly what we mean by social media. For those who do not follow social media too much, the assumption is often made that it is just Facebook, but that would be wrong. While Facebook is the largest social media platform by some distance, it would be a huge mistake to focus only on it.

There are dozens more, and the key to choosing which ones to use within your digital marketing strategy is not so much which ones are the biggest, but more specifically, who their audiences are. You also need to consider that different types of content are used on each social media site. Pinterest and Instagram are mainly photographs; YouTube is primarily videos; and Twitter and Facebook use text but also have images and videos.

So, with the basics out of the way, let us look at 4 ways social media can benefit your health food store.

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7 Common Excuses For Not Entering Drug Rehab And How To Overcome Them

AddictionMojo Health,

For anyone who has a drug addiction the decision to enter a drug rehabilitation program is a positive one, but not one that every drugs user makes enthusiastically. Often it will be their partner, family, or even their doctor who implores them to seek help, and may even give them an ultimatum in that regard.

One of the most common scenarios that transpire when someone who is addicted to drugs has to face up to entering a drug rehab program is they espouse one or more excuses as to why they should not or cannot enter. For every excuse, there will be a reply that debunks or dismisses it, and if that happens, another excuse is likely to be produced.

This back and forth can be extremely frustrating for the loved ones who care about the person addicted to drugs and wants them to seek the help, care and support they need to find ways to stop drinking or recover from that addiction. If any of that sounds familiar, then here are seven of the excuses your loved one may use, along with answers to try to overcome omen them and hopefully make them see the sense of entering drug rehabilitation.

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5 Key Facts About Dental Implants You Should Know

DentalMojo Health,

It is not unusual for the team here at Absolute Smiles to spend much of our time answering questions and addressing our patients’ concerns. We are sure this is no different from any other clinical facility where medical and surgical procedures occur. Dentist Bassendean welcomes the opportunity to answer those questions and, in particular, if one of those answers renders any concern or worry a patient may have as resolved.

It is no secret that the more a person knows about a medical condition or treatment, the more at ease they are. Not knowing everything about something often causes worry rather than the medical procedure. With that in mind, we thought it would be helpful to provide some of the core information relating to dental implants, and if it means just one person reading this has one of their concerns about dental implants put aside, then it will have been worth it.

Key Fact #1: Dental Implants – What They Are And What Are They For?

As you might expect, the first fact explains precisely what they are and why anyone would want them. Its primary purpose is replacing missing teeth after someone has lost or had one extracted. Their main construction consists of the base, usually made from a hard metal such as titanium, fused into the jawbone.

The rest of the implant will depend on whether the patient needs to replace one tooth, two teeth, or multiple teeth. In principle, these will all consist of an attachment device, usually a screw connecting to the implants previously fitted to the jawbone. The final part is the ‘tooth’, generally made from a shaped ceramic or acrylic material and coloured to match the other teeth.

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How Your Lifestyle Choices Can Positively Or Negatively Impact Your Oral Health

DentalMojo Health,

Whenever dentists are speaking to their patients about oral health and some of the issues an individual patient might be having concerning the health of their gums and teeth, one of the contributory factors for those issues is the lifestyle that person is following. The choices you make within your daily life can certainly have both a positive and a negative impact on your oral health.

By negative lifestyle, we are not talking about extremes like drug-fuelled parties or falling out of nightclubs drunk at 3 am, although neither of these lifestyle choices is in any way recommended. Rather we are referring to some of the more mundane lifestyle choices that a person makes in their daily lives, which of themselves may not seem to be problematic at that moment, but which over time can do harm to an individual’s oral health.

Before we outline some of these negative lifestyles choices that harm oral health, it will be useful if we point out what the effect of positive choices are. You will doubtless be aware of what a great oral health routine requires such as regular brushing, flossing, avoiding sugary foods and drinks, and regular check-ups at your dentists. But what do these achieve for you? Well,  Dentist Joondalup have some answers which we are sure you will agree are positive and highly desirable.

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Most Commonly Asked Questions About Laser Eye Surgery

HealthMojo Health,

Insight Eye Clinic perform laser eye surgery or ocular surgery, which is  a refractive surgery on your eyes to correct astigmatism, hyperopia, and myopia. As straightforward as it is for those performing it, it can be a big decision to make for someone who is thinking about getting it.

If you’re unsure whether laser eye surgery is for you or you’re about to visit a clinic to find out more, here are some of the questions you may like to have the answers to beforehand.

Does Laser Eye Surgery Hurt?

This is perhaps one of the most commonly asked questions about laser eye surgery – whether or not it hurts. The procedure itself is mostly pain-free because anaesthetic drops are given to the patient before the procedure.

However, in the early stages of healing post-surgery, some people do experience some discomfort. The level of pain you experience can also depend on the type of surgery. Most people will be able to enjoy their new, pain-free eyesight in a matter of days.

How Long Does Laser Eye Surgery Take?

No one wants to be sitting in a surgical environment for any longer than they have to. Therefore, it’s only natural to want to find out how long laser eye surgery takes. The timeframe can depend on the severity of the issue, the prescription’s complexity, and a few other factors like technology and the surgeon.

In most cases, you will be in and out of surgery in half an hour or less. The actual procedure may also only take mere minutes.

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What You Need To Know About Root Canal Treatment

Dental, HealthMojo Health

Root canal treatment is one type of dental treatment that seems to mystify those who have never had to undergo it. Because they normally hear of dental issues that refer to only teeth and gums, when a root canal enters the discussion, many people are unaware of what a root canal is, let alone what its treatment might be. So, in this article, our Perth dentists will outline the most important facts you should know about root canal treatment.

What Is A Root Canal?

To explain what a root canal is, it helps if we consider the structure of your tooth. It consists of the crown, which is the part you see. The part you cannot see which is beneath your gum and connected to your jaw bone is the root of your tooth. The interior of your tooth contains soft tissue which is called dental pulp. The dental pulp contains soft tissue, nerves, and blood vessels.

This dental pulp is essential for the growth and development of teeth but once they are fully grown the pulp is effectively redundant, although it still exists within the tooth. The pulp moves from the top of the crown to the end of the root, and it is one or more root canals that it uses for that movement.

Why Is Root Canal Treatment Needed?

Root canal treatment can become necessary if the dental pulp inside your tooth becomes infected. If it does, the bacterial infection can generate several issues and the symptoms you may experience include:

  • Extreme pain when you bite or chew
  • Extreme sensitivity to hot or cold food and drink
  • Loose tooth

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8 Common Causes Of Missing Teeth In Adults

HealthMojo Health,

If you were to ask 100 dentists to give a reason why teeth might fall out, the vast majority of answers are likely to be related to patients not taking care of their teeth properly. Whilst these id certainly one of the primary causes of teeth falling out, you might be surprised to learn that there are many, many more. We cannot list every single one of them, but to get you started, here are 8 common causes of tooth loss in adults.

Bone Deterioration: Obviously, we are speaking here about the jawbone in which your teeth would normally be strongly secured when it is healthy. However, if your jawbone’s density starts to deteriorate, which can happen for a number of health reasons, then your teeth can become loose, making them, more prone to falling out.

Not Flossing: Dentists such as www.candlewooddentalcentre.com.au, often hear patients strenuously claim that they brush their teeth regularly, however, despite what you might think, brushing is normally not enough. In addition, you should be flossing as this will remove any stubborn fragments of food which brushing misses, plus flossing removes dental plaque, which attacks the gums, and damaged gums can mean loose teeth.

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3 Strategies That Can Boost Your Retirement Savings

FinancialMojo Health, , , ,

If you are aged in your 20s, 30s, or even your 40s, the idea of retiring might be something which seems like some distant event, but if you ask anyone who is close to retirement age, they will tell that it comes around a lot sooner than you ever expect. Worse than that, if you or your financial planners have not done any financial planning to maximise your retirement income, then you could find yourself in a worrisome situation with regards to your finances after you retire.

This can lead to some undesirable realities which can include having to continue working, relying on family for hand-outs, having to claim state benefits, and worst of all, it means that rather than enjoying your retirement, which everyone should be able to do, it is blighted by you worrying how to p[ay bills and possibly even how you can afford to feed yourself, and your spouse, if you are married.

Of course, none of these nightmare scenarios need to arise if you plan properly for your retirement. There are lots of financial planning services available where they will advise you on the many ways in which you can maximise your retirement income. To help you on your way to that highly desirable situation, here are just three simple ideas that will allow you to boost your retirement savings.

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Aquafaba is the new Egg White

HealthMojo Health

Ever heard of aquafaba?!? No, it’s not the Swedish entrant for Eurovision 2017 but it is gaining huge popularity as an egg substitute. So what is it? Aquafaba is chickpea brine which can be used raw to make cakes, meringues, baked macaroons & pavlovas. Three tablespoons of the liquid from either cooked raw chickpeas or from the can is the equivalent of one egg.

Not convinced you could make culinary delights with the waste from a chickpea can? The #aquafaba hashtag on Instagram has thousands of recipes using chickpea brine. The reason why it works so well is that the brine has a similar consistency to egg white.

Aquafaba was first ‘discovered’ by a French Chef (Joel Roessel) in 2014 who found that the brine from canned beans & other vegetables could be made into foams. Blogging his discovery & recipes to the world, the cooking technique took off & the term aquafaba was first used in March 2015 by Goose Wohlt to provide a common name for the cooking liquid. (aquafaba is Latin for bean water).

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4 Essential Nutrients For Better Dental Health

Diets, HealthMojo Health

Whilst your dentist will readily fix any dental issues which you may have such as filling cavities in your teeth, we’re sure, if you were to ask them, they would much rather that their patients looked after their teeth and gums in the correct way. There is lots of advice that your dentist may give you about oral hygiene, with brushing and flossing being two examples, however, they will also tell you that what you eat, and drink, has a massive influence on your dental health.

With that thought in mind, here are 4 of the essential nutrients your dentist will advise you that you need to have sufficient levels of, in the foods and drinks that you include in your diet.

Calcium

Calcium is essential for our teeth and bones to grow, and more importantly for them to grow strong and healthy. It is no surprise that those who have a calcium deficiency in their diet often have rotting teeth and weak bones. A diet that has plenty of calcium is especially important for children, whose teeth are in their formative stages.

A great source of calcium is dairy products, although we must stress that, whether it is for children or adults, you should try to use as many low-fat dairy products as possible to avoid excessive weight gain. Examples include low-fat yogurt,  cheeses, and milk. Some vegetables, especially those classed as leafy greens, are also rich in calcium. Examples of these include broccoli, spinach, turnip greens and kale.

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How to Sneak in Your Kids’ 5+ a Day

DietsMojo Health

If you were to put a group of parents in a room and ask them to raise their hand if their kids were fussy with food like vegetables, they would do the Mexican wave. While some children are not picky eaters when it comes to their 5+ a day, many are.

So, how are you supposed to make sure they’re getting all the vitamins and minerals they need? Sometimes, it can require you to go into stealth mode with recipes. Here are a few helpful tips and tricks you may not yet have tried. You won’t need to reach for that bottle of wine to manage the stress after all.

Grate Them

Putting slices of zucchini on your child’s plate may be met with a disgusted look – and wasted zucchini. But there are ways around it. Rather than giving your children slices of vegetables they may not like, why not grate them into your main dishes?

Zucchini, carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli can all be “hidden” in food like mince or stuffed potatoes. While they can add colour to a bland dish, they can also add plenty of nutrition that can offer much-needed peace of mind to parents.

Blend Them

Many children won’t voluntarily eat spinach, kale, or similar vegetables. But would they drink them? Start the day with a delicious berry, banana, and yoghurt smoothie – but with a few “special” ingredients.

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How to Prevent Bruising After Botox

HealthMojo Health

There are very few side effects associated with Botox as a treatment option. However, one of the most common Botox side effects is bruising around the injection site. Around 24 percent of patients in one study experienced minor bruising.

While bruising from Botox fades away within a couple of days, it’s worth being aware of how you can prevent it from occurring in the first place, or speed up the healing process.

Before Your Botox Treatment

A licenced medical professional will likely tell you if there’s anything you need to do to prepare for your Botox treatment. Still, a little proactivity on your part can go a long way. You can prevent bruising by first making sure you are receiving the right injection from the right provider.

Botox and similar neurotoxins tend to produce less bruising than the likes of hyaluronic fillers. This is because they don’t penetrate the skin as deeply.

Once you decide that you would like Botox, it’s crucial to receive it from a qualified provider with credentials. In Australia, only licenced and regulated medical professionals can offer it.

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3 Tips For Helping Children Learn To Care For Their Teeth

Dental, HealthMojo Health,

There are many elements of our lives as adults that are often heavily influenced by what we learned or experienced as children, and when it comes to oral health, your dentist will tell you that teaching children how to look after their teeth and gums at an early age, should see them continue this into their adulthood.

Obviously, if you are responsible for a child, you will no doubt have many priorities for them in terms of what they learn, and dental care might not be one at the top of that priority list, but it should be. Just as you teach them many ways to stay safe and healthy, educating a child about their oral health, can only benefit them, throughout their childhood, and beyond.

One thing which must be borne in mind, whilst there are many parts of a child’s upbringing that can seem complicated or requires a lot of investment with respect to time and patience, helping them to learn how to care for their teeth and gums correctly is not one of them. There are also steps you can take to make it part of their routine. With that in mind, here a three simple tips to help you teach your child the benefits of proper oral hygiene, and how they can achieve it.

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Feeding the Troops: Bulk Meals on a Budget

Financial, RecipesMojo Health

In recent months, grocery prices in Australia have been growing faster than wages and inflation. Even wine prices have remained more stable, for the most part. With that in mind, more and more families are looking for ways to purchase food on a budget and hunt out affordable, family-friendly recipes.

Whether you want to feed more people for less, or you’re looking for bulk meal options for freezing and meal prep, some of these recipe ideas below may be worth your attention.

Beef and Potato Casserole

Feed the family a dish that costs under $5 per serve – a casserole containing beef, potatoes, and frozen vegetables. The beauty of this easy recipe is that you can throw nearly anything in it that you need to use up fast in your fridge.

Silverbeet, onion, carrot, mushrooms, and zucchini can all make excellent, flavourful food additions. This dish can feed an entire family and may even have enough leftover for lunches, as well.

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The Purpose And Benefits of Psychological Assessments

HealthMojo Health

Psychological assessments are extremely important within the realm of psychology and they utilise several methods of assessing an individual’s cognitive thinking, behaviour, personality, and other mental faculties to determine or diagnose any conditions for which they need psychological treatment.

If so, using the information and data that the psychological assessment has produced, an appropriate treatment will be determined by a psychologist with a view to returning the client to a level of mental health which equates to a positive outcome for the individual.

In principle, a psychological assessment is no different to any other kind of medical assessment where the evidence is used to prescribe a course of treatment. For example, if a patient told their doctor they were having trouble breathing, tests would be carried out with regards to their respiratory system and the results would be used by the doctor to identify appropriate treatment.

That is the general basis upon which psychological assessments are performed, although within that wide scope there are multiple other purposes that they can be used for.

As well as being a guide for the psychologists to determine the best course of action, such as referring you to an ADHD Specialist, psychological assessments can also be invaluable in highlighting the individual aspects of a client’s behaviour in order to isolate those circumstances where the problems manifest themselves more than others.

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How to Prevent Cataracts

HealthMojo Health

Cataract surgery can fix compromised vision induced by cataracts that make reading, driving a car (especially at night) increasingly challenging. Luckily, cataract surgery is usually a safe and successful operation.

For those who don’t know, cataracts arise due to the lens of the eye becoming clouded. Responsible for allowing light to travel into the retina, the lens is a transparent substance composed mainly of water and protein fibres. As the fibres clump together, the lens becomes less affective, leading to blurred sight and, if left unchecked, total blindness.

Often cataracts grow slowly and don’t always affect the eyesight immediately. Over time, though, cataracts will gradually impact your vision. Some of the numbers relating to cataracts are shocking. Cataracts are responsible for 51% of the world’s blindness that occurs, and it is estimated that no fewer than 65 million people globally are affected by cataracts to some degree.

There are many ways which you can help reduce the chances of you contracting cataracts, some of which you can begin immediately.

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The Lowdown on Migraines and Botox 

HealthMojo Health

Everyone knows that Botox is a cosmetic injectable that you can use for smoothing out wrinkles. But did you know it’s also being reported as a potential treatment option for migraines?

Surprisingly, one in ten school-aged children and teens suffer from migraines. But at the moment, there is only one type of migraine medicine that is suitable for young people to use. What are kids supposed to do when their migraines become unbearable?

Botox as an Alternative Options

According to the chief of the Division of Pain Medicine at the University of California, Shalini Shah, M.D., migraines affect children’s lives and their ability to function. When they trialled Botox as a treatment method for children and teens with migraines, they noticed improvements in function.

One student was hospitalised every month for migraine pain before using Botox and was heading towards being held back in school. However, after Botox treatment, she only had one or two migraines every year and started to excel in her schooling.

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What is Incidental Activity? 

FitnessMojo Health

Working on your fitness and doing regular exercise is not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s essential for your health and wellbeing, but many people see it as a chore rather than a passion. While there’s no getting around your need for exercise, there is a way to incorporate it into your day without even trying. Intrigued? Read on to how you can improve your fitness without hitting the gym.

What is Incidental Activity?

Incidental activity is a way to burn calories without partaking in an active form of exercise. If you’re not a gym-goer by any stretch of the imagination, then knowing this type of activity exists is bound to put a smile on your face.

It’s important to note that regular, traditional exercise is a way to keep you fit and healthy. You should never entirely swap regular exercise for incidental activity. In saying that, it’s helpful to know you can burn calories in other ways.

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Our Top 3 Health Tips

HealthMojo Health

Mojo’s Health & Wholefoods love this time of year! Why? Because now is the time to make those small sustainable changes that will make such a difference to your overall health in 2019. Here are the best three changes to begin your year:

1. Drink water!

It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to keep your body hydrated. Consumption of water is associated with a number of health benefits, including flushing out toxins, increased energy, improved cognitive function as well as helping the body to break down food thereby boosting your metabolism. Take your reusable bottle wherever you go and take regular sips to achieve your 2 litres a day.

2. Eat real food!

Easier said than done we know! But drop the Uber Eats at least from Monday to Friday and stick to home cooked meals with lots of vegetables and wholegrains. Try doing a meal planner on Sunday evening and stick to it. And if you must eat out, choose the smarter options on the menu such as steak and vegetables, or pastas with tomato based sauces.

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Beauty Without Bunnies

BeautyMojo Health

As the market for natural skincare skyrockets with hundreds of new products now available, how do you know you are choosing the most ethical brands? Many reputable companies are forthcoming about ingredients and certification but many aren’t so honest when it comes to cruelty free products.

Even in 2018, many well-known and house hold name brands still perform testing on animals – Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, Pantene, Maybelline, Estee Lauder, Clinique, Jo Malone, Bobby Brown, MAC Cosmetics – the list is endless. These companies have poor ethics when it comes to animal testing with some making no effort to change their policies, preferring to overlook animal welfare in exchange for bigger profits.

Unfortunately, it is also big business providing animals to companies to test their products. Many breeds of animals are reared and/or genetically modified for the specific aim of shipping off to laboratories to conduct safety experiments. This raises the question as to what ingredients are these brands putting into their skincare products that need such ‘safety’ testing? If the ingredients are not safe, why are they being added and why would we want to put them on our skin?

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Your Easter Survival Guide

DietsMojo Health

It’s the countdown to Easter and to lots of yummy chocolate but have you ever wondered why a rabbit delivers eggs made of chocolate for us to eat??

The Easter Bunny, as we know him, originated from German settlers who migrated to America in the 1800’s. The “Oschter Haws” or Easter Hare was a European Spring time Santa, judging whether children had been good or bad. The Easter Hare would carry a basket of coloured eggs, sweets or toys to give as gifts the night before Easter. The gifts would sometimes be left in the house or garden for children to find, hence the origin of the Easter Egg Hunt.

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The Wholefoods Diet

Diets, HealthMojo Health

Wholefoods are plant foods which have not been processed or refined (or as little as possible) prior to eating – think fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, nuts and seeds. The term wholefoods tends to refer to a more plant-based diet with animal products, oils and salt being excluded.

Wholefoods are grown from seed without chemicals, sprays or insecticides and are as close to their natural form as possible, providing us with a natural alternative to the many ‘convenience’ food products now being offered in supermarkets.

Recent research shows that getting optimal nutrition from our food (and thereby optimal health) we should be eating wholefoods as our ancestors did about 100 years ago as these retain fibre, phytochemicals and nutrients that are often lost with highly processed and packaged foods.

Examples of phytochemicals include anthocyanins which give blueberries their deep colour or red coloured lycopene found in tomatoes. Wholefoods are as nature intended them to be – no added fats, sugars or salt and with all the fibre our body needs. Fibre aids our digestion and helps us to feel full faster. Eating wholefoods also help to fight heart disease and diabetes.

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How Green Is Your Beauty?

Beauty, SustainabilityMojo Health

The Zero Waste movement has gained much momentum with many people switching to sustainable and eco friendly practices. So what IS Zero Waste?

It’s where we reduce what we need, reuse as much as we can, send little to be recycled and compost what we cannot with the aim to send nothing to landfill. Going Zero Waste will help reduce the environmental threat to our planet plus save us money in the long term. But have you ever thought about the impact your beauty products are having on the earth?

If you love to pamper your skin why not pamper the planet at the same time by taking a little bit of time to choose beauty products that will help your skin and save our planet! Here’s how:

1. Look for organic certification from the world’s leading organic certification bodies who have a global organic and natural cosmetics standard otherwise known as COSMO – a product may claim its organic or natural so look for products certified by BDHI (Germany), Cosmebio (France), Ecocert (France, ICEA (Italy), Soil Association (UK) and ACO (Australia) to be certain. (Check out Zk’in Skin Care range which is COSMO Certified)

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Do You Need to do FODMAPs?

Diets, HealthMojo Health

What is the low FODMAPs diet and should you be on it? Firstly it’s important to know what FODMAPs is and what it means – Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols. So you can see why it’s commonly referred to as FODMAPs!

The FODMAP concept was first hypothesised in the Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics Journal in 2005 with the low FODMAP diet being developed at Monash University in Melbourne.

Put simply the Low FODMAP diet targets natural carbohydrates (sugars) in foods that don’t break down easily, causing fermentation in the gastrointestinal system. Fermentation is the chemical breakdown of a substance by bacteria, yeasts, or other microorganisms. This fermentation in the gut creates unpleasant symptoms such as smelly gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. So where are the FODMAPs hiding in our food?

Oligosaccharides are found in certain plants such as artichokes, burdock, chicory, leeks, onions, and asparagus.

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