Welcome!

This is Scott McManus from Seattle, Washington. I reside out here in the great Pacific Northwest where we have an abundance of year round outdoor recreational activities to fully engage ourselves in an healthy active lifestyle, no matter the season. Our vast landscape of mountains, lakes, coastlines, hiking and running trails, bike friendly roads, etc.. all provide a variety of fun-filled activity to escape from the hustle and bustle of our daily responsibilities.

My blog shares inspiring ways to truly live an active and healthy lifestyle while maximizing your time and resources effectively while in pursuit of your health and wellness goals. Inspiring Healthier Lives provides you with in depth research and knowledge based material in your journey, as well.

Please follow me on your journey of health and wellness success and let me be a source of inspiration along the way!

Thank you,

Scott R. McManus

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Treat Acne With Honey

While acne treatment medications have become a popular choice to cure acne, there are some who still like to treat the difficulty naturally. If you’re one of them then honey can be of great help. This sweet and sticky substance has been used in a couple of home treatments to relieve acne. In truth, many individuals use honey even today to heal acne.

Honey is effective to a certain extent when it comes to treatment of your acne problems. It is obviously not the optimum answer when push comes to shove, but it works. Honey has various antibacterial capabilities. P acne is the culprit bacteria for your acne troubles. Honey addresses that difficulty well. It can remove the unwelcome P acne from your skin and so nip the malignant in the bud to a degree. With honey, acne attacks can be easily controlled.


 In addition to the antibacterial property of honey, it also got properties that may counter inflammation. The skin condition of acne often brings along associated problems like inflammation and redness. This is where honey comes in handy. It helps sooth the acne and resolves the problem of itching and irritation that such soreness causes. The best part about honey is that alongside it gives a fresh, glowing skin that you have always wanted.

Honey is a good treatment for acne and it works effectively on both the internal levels. For external use of honey, the procedure is quite simple. All you need to do is to make a paste of honey and some lime juice. Mix it well and the simply apply it on the acne affected by using a cotton ball. Leave it on for a span of twenty to twenty-five minutes at least. Then wash it off with not so hot water. For internal cure for acne, just make a practice of having one spoon of honey every day in the morning. Ensure that you take it on an empty stomach. This will work wonders to your skin condition.

For a long list of its benefits honey can only work as a partial treatment system. It will not get you complete liberty from acne. As well as this, there may be cases where honey might not work at all, depending on certain skin modifications. Fragile skin is one such case, so be careful.

It is recommended not to rely on honey alone. A much better approach is that you use honey along with another acne remedy, preferably a cleanse solution that would bring the goodness of honey and mixes it with other equally safe and effective, natural ingredients.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Is Salt Restriction Necessary?

The last few years have seen another push for restriction of salt consumption as a public health measure.  But one large study linked lower salt intake with increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death from all causes.


The idea behind salt restriction is that it will lower blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes, which are linked to high blood pressure.  Salt restriction does tend to lower blood pressure modestly in some folks, but that doesn't necessarily translate into better health and longevity.






Can you say, "law of unintended consequences"?

 "Sodium" is how most doctors and nutritionists measure and refer to salt intake.  Salt is a combination of one sodium and one chloride atom.  Your table salt is called sodium chloride.  The Institute of Medicine in 2003 recommended that Americans limit sodium consumption to 2,300 mg daily.
A 2006 scientific study looked at a representative sample of 9,000 Americans, estimating their sodium intake, and following major health outcomes over many years.  Participants eating under 2,300 mg sodium daily were 37% more likely to have a heart attack or stroke, and 28% more likely to die from any and all causes.

The latest public health push for sodium restriction is for 1,500 mg/day.  Our bodies have powerful metabolic mechanisms that resist restriction under 3,000 mg a day. Check with your own doctor regarding your situation.  If one has high blood pressure, however, they might measure their sodium intake for a week and consider cutting down to see if they could avoid blood pressure drugs.  They wouldn't necessarily go below 2,300 mg.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Makeup: What Ingredients Are Used?

This articles will be of interest to anyone who has ever wondered what they are putting on their skin when they apply their makeup. As the world has become more and more socially conscious the cosmetic industry has had to stand up and take notice. Now you rarely see campaigns against products that are tested on animals. But animal testing is still happening today even though a number or animal rights groups are working hard to get this stopped.

But probably the thing that concerns most of us is the fact that some of the ingredients used when it comes to makeup could actually cause us harm when they are applied over a long period of time. The main issue with this is that any problems that occur may not be linked to the makeup because they will not happen immediately. It is thought that some of the ingredients used in makeup can cause damage to some of our organs like the liver.

Below are a couple of the ingredients that you would not want in your makeup:

Titanium Dioxide is one of the ingredients that many cosmetic products contain as it is an additive that gives colour; it is also one of the ingredients of many sun blocks in the US. This has been found to be carcinogenic which means that it can potentially cause cancer in the people that use it. The purity of the Titanium Dioxide that can be added to certain cosmetic products is restricted so that means that the risk of you developing cancer is greatly reduced. Most of us would not be too keen on using a product that contained an ingredient that could cause cancer no matter how small the risk; it means that we have to rely upon the manufacturer’s quality control to make sure the amounts used are below the permitted level.

Humectant (Propylene Glycol) can cause products in major organs and is one of the main ingredients used in anti-freeze products. This is often found in hair products, creams and lotions as well as some perfumed deodorants. There are only minuscule amounts in these products but if used over a long period of time then they could do damage.

Makeup is put on by a large number of girls, but when they put it on the first thing they usually put on is the earings. This is not really strictly the case for all females though, with many depending upon on makeup tips to assist them. And the ideally suited encore for a session with the makeup? Nail polish, obviously.