Body Mass Index Calculator : What is your BMI ?

A Body Mass Index Calculator helps you calculate your Body Mass Index, or BMI, which is a basic measure to understand how healthy or unhealthy your weight is, with respect to your height. Although your BMI is not an absolute measure of good health, it is fairly accurate for the average person. The Body Mass Index Calculator (BMI) is not accurate for people who have very high body muscle mass, therefore confusing the scale between healthy weight and unhealthy weight. Similarly, a person who's body weight might fall within a normal BMI range, might still have health issues that are un-related to overall weight. However, since this is rare and only holds true for a few, you can depend on the BMI for general personal health feedback.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good source to find out if you are at a healthy or unhealthy weight. Use this Body Mass calculator to find out your BMI, and get helpful information to maintain a healthy weight and prevent various ailments.

BMI is the best assessment of finding out if you have a healthy weight with regards to your height. If your BMI is above the health range, then you are at raised risk of serious health problems like diabetes, heart problems and certain types of cancer.

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BMI for adults

Since adults come in various shapes, sizes and heights, a wide range of BMI is considered healthy for an adult of any given height and weight. A BMI above the healthy range indicates that you're heavier than the required weight range at that given height. .

• BMI below 18.5 

This BMI score indicated that you are underweight and, more precisely, malnourished. The reason for having such a low BMI score can be anything. Check with your doctor and follow a proper balanced diet to avoid complications due to a very low BMI score.

• BMI between 18.5-24.9

This range can be considered to be the healthy range. It shows that you have a healthy weight for your height. But, don't stop eating your daily healthy food, because to maintain healthy weight it is still important to eat a healthy diet and include physical activity in your daily life. 

• BMI score of 25 or more

In simple language, you are heavier than the actual healthy weight at that given height. This BMI score can put you at an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Hence, act upon before it is too late. 

• BMI of 30 or more

If your BMI score is above 30, it clearly indicates that you are obese. Being obese or nearing the level of obesity can put you at a risk of health problems like heart disease, type 2 diabetes and strokes. Losing weight is the only option to improve your health. Talk to your doctor and follow a specific diet to maintain a healthy weight. 

BMI for children

BMI for children is interpreted in a much different way when compared to BMI calculations for adults. While calculating BMI for children, a child's weight in relation to their height, age and sex is taken into consideration. This term is called as BMI centile. By using BMI centile, it helps us to indicate whether you child is growing as expected at that given age, sex and height.

There are four basic categories, after calculating your child's BMI centile. They are…

• Underweight: below 2nd BMI centile

• Healthy weight: between the 2nd and 90th BMI centile

• Overweight: between 91st and to 97th BMI centile

• Obese: at or above 98th BMI centile. This BMI centile category is called 'very overweight'.

A healthy child is one who falls into the healthy weight category. Whereas, overweight BMI category indicates that your child has a possibility of gaining various obesity-related health problems. 

BMI Facts: What to do if you are overweight?

For people who are in the overweight or obese category, they should lose weight to lower the risk of various health problems. Hence, lower your risk by taking these three simple steps.

Lose weight – besides lowering your risk to various health problems it will also heal your back and joint pain problems. 

Food and diet – change your lifestyle with small, but long lasting, steps. Eat fewer calories, give out junk food and follow a strict healthy diet.

Health and fitness – this is the most important part of losing weight. Start a fitness routine that includes aspects of cardio and strength training.

*Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

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The Female Orgasm : women can have different types of stimulation

The Female Orgasm

Women can achieve orgasm through a number of different means and types of stimulation.

Click here For Video: One and Two

By Dennis Thompson, Jr.

Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH

The female orgasm continues to be the subject of intense scientific debate. Doctors puzzle over the different means by which women can achieve orgasm, and the things that can prevent orgasm in women.

When women do achieve orgasm, "There are changes throughout the whole body, a head-to-toe kind of experience," says Sandra Leiblum, PhD, a sex therapist and director of psychological services at the New Jersey Center for Sexual Wellness in Bedminster.

How Women Achieve Orgasm

Women achieve orgasm through a four-step process first described by sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson decades ago:

1. Excitement. The woman initiates or agrees to sex, and as it commences she finds herself focusing mainly on sexual stimuli. Blood begins to engorge the clitoris, vagina, and nipples, and creates a full body sexual blush. Heart rate and blood pressure increases.
2. Plateau. Sexual tension builds as a precursor to orgasm. The outer one-third of the vagina becomes particularly engorged with blood, creating what researchers refer to as "the orgasmic platform." Focus on sexual stimuli drowns out all other sensations. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration continue to increase.
3. Orgasm. A series of rhythmic contractions occur in the uterus, vagina, and pelvic floor muscles. The sexual tension caused by lovemaking releases, and muscles throughout the body may contract. A feeling of warmth usually emanates from the pelvis and spreads throughout the entire body.
4. Resolution. The body relaxes, with blood flowing away from the engorged sexual organs. Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration return to normal.

Stimulation and the Female Orgasm

Women are blessed with bodies that are capable of achieving orgasm in more ways than one.

Clitoral stimulation has been proven the surest route to orgasm. "I think that clitoral stimulation is probably the closest analog to male orgasm, where you get erectile tissue, there is release, and after release it is uncomfortable to continue," says Steven R. Goldstein, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist at the New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the New York University School of Medicine.

However, some women also can achieve orgasm through vaginal stimulation. One group of researchers credit the G-spot, a place located on the front wall of the vagina an inch or two behind the back of the pubic bone. These researchers believe that when stimulated, the G-spot causes intense sexual pleasure in some women. There is, however, not universal agreement among sex researchers as to the existence of this spot in all women.

Women also have been able to achieve orgasm through stimulation of the breasts or other parts of the body, or through the use of sexual imagery without any touch at all. Researchers have even found a nerve pathway outside of the spinal cord, through the sensory vagus nerve, that will lead a woman to orgasm through sensations transmitted directly to the brain.

"There are many nerve pathways that generate orgasm in women," says Beverly Whipple, PhD, RN, professor emerita at Rutgers University in Newark, N.J., and secretary general of the World Association for Sexual Health.

The Female Orgasm: Problems Getting There

There are physical problems that can keep a woman from achieving orgasm, but sex researchers say many of the things that block orgasm involve a woman's psyche. A woman may not be able to let go and focus completely on sexual stimuli because she is experiencing feelings of fear, guilt, distraction, anxiety, or a loss of control, Leiblum says. It is estimated that as many as a quarter of American women have problems achieving orgasm.

Doctors and sex therapists use several types of therapies to help women overcome these blocks to orgasm. Directed masturbation, sex education, and behavioral therapy are some of the means a woman might want to investigate if she cannot reach orgasm. Women might also want to try using a vibrator to provide increased clitoral stimulation, or a dildo crafted to provide better stimulation of the G-spot.

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Understanding Male Sexual Desire

When it comes to sexual desire, people often wrongly assume that all men are ready for action anytime.

Not all men are created equal — in the bedroom anyway.

Many people wrongly believe that all men are easily aroused, easily pleased, and of course, easily finished. So much of our media exposure and Hollywood mythology about male sexuality portrays guys as horndogs whose main focus is having sex — and lots of it — and moving on. Male sexual desire is rarely as straightforward and simplistic as the media make it out to be. While it might be true that certain men can become aroused and satisfied quickly, there is much more to male sexual desire than that.

Famed sex researchers Masters and Johnson created a model of the sexual-desire process in the 1960s. According to their research, humans experience sexual desire within these four stages:

1. Excitement phase — in which a person's desire is peaked, either through stimulation, fantasy, or a combination of the two
2. Plateau phase — in which desire increases but orgasm is not quite reached
3. Orgasm
4. Resolution phase — post-orgasm stage

They later discovered another stage that occurs only in men, called the refractory period. It's the stage after orgasm, a cooling-off period men need before they are able to become erect again — as opposed to women, who are capable of multiple orgasms. However, this is not the only difference between the genders. Researchers now argue that while women can climb up and down the sexual-desire stages (from excitement to plateau to orgasm to excitement again), men have a more linear sexual experience. In other words, once they become aroused, they seek satisfaction immediately.

While it might be true that men and women perceive men's sexual process this way, the truth is that it is completely possible for a man to slow down his desire and experience a more sensual and fulfilling side of sex. In fact, when dealing with male sexual dysfunction issues such as early ejaculation the most helpful treatment is for a man to learn how to draw out his sexual response and get in touch with discovering his point of no return. Using a scale from 1 to 4, a man usually will climb from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4, but he could train himself to climb up and down the sexual desire scale from 1 to 2 and back again; this will lengthen his intercourse sessions and make his orgasms that much more intense and pleasurable.

Other people argue that male sexual desire also differs from female sexual desire in that their excitement stage often requires direct and visual stimulation. While a woman might be easily aroused from a racy story or a naughty fantasy, men might require more physical or clear stimulation, such as an X-rated movie or oral pleasure from their partner. Perhaps this is because men are simply used to receiving this stimulation, while women are used to internalizing their desires and utilizing fantasy in the bedroom. Or perhaps men are just hardwired to seek out the attributes they find desirable. Whatever the case, differing sexual-desire models among the sexes can lead to some complications in the bedroom. For instance, while the man can be satisfied with direct stimulation or the sight of his partner in the buff, she might need something more, such as foreplay, romance, or perhaps even a bit of fantasy. Understanding the differences between the male and female sexual experiences can help couples to navigate these issues and create the most satisfying sexual interactions possible.

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How to keep your liver healthy

How to keep your liver healthy

Did you know that the liver is about the size of a rugby ball and is the largest organ in the body? It is also hugely important to our overall health and has hundreds of functions. Some of the key roles our livers perform for our bodies are: aiding our digestion, fighting against infection and regulating our blood sugar levels. As you can see, the liver is hugely important and you will reap the rewards if you take good care of your liver.

Toxin ban

The liver filters all of the toxins in our bodies, so the more toxins you put into your body, the more your liver has to filter these potentially harmful poisons. Therefore, if you want to look after your liver you need to limit the amount of toxins you put into your body.

Some common items you may use every day that contain toxins include cigarettes, cleaning products, aerosol sprays and some beauty products, such as makeup or shampoo.  To limit the amount of toxins you put into your body, opt for organic products. It is also a good idea to stop smoking and, where possible, try to avoid using these toxin-filled products in enclosed spaces.

Time for tea

Although controversial, milk thistle has been used to help people with liver disease and many believe it works wonders for your liver. The milk thistle seeds can be drunk as a tea and if you want to keep your liver healthy this hot drink may help you; especially if you have liver damage as a result of drinking alcohol or because of toxins. The active ingredient in milk thistle that is thought to help your liver is silymarin, which has anti-inflammatory properties. Silymarin is also an antioxidant.

However, before you dash out to buy a big stock of milk thistle tea, it is worth noting that studies have been contradictory and whilst some show that milk thistle is beneficial to the liver, others conclude that it is not.  

Detox foods

In the same way that some foods can harm our liver, there are also foods that can help make our livers healthier and stronger. One such food is the artichoke. Adding some globe artichoke to some of your meals will help you keep your liver healthy because it is renowned for its ability to stimulate and improve the functions of the liver. Similarly, eating beetroot will help your liver because beetroot helps support liver detoxification. You could always add a small beetroot salad as a side-dish to your meal.

Some research has also found that drinking green tea can help keep your liver healthy, as it may protect it from some liver diseases, such as fatty liver disease. Again, studies are not conclusive about the benefits of green tea though.

Cut back

Shockingly, it is thought that a quarter of adults drink too much alcohol and we drink so much that we put our health at risk. If you worry you are drinking to the point where you might damage your liver, be aware of how many alcohol units you should be consuming. In addition to this, if you want to look after your liver make sure you have two alcohol-free days during the week.

These 'rest days' are essential for keeping your liver healthy because it allows the liver to repair the damage you have done by drinking excessively. Also, it is advised that if you exceed the recommended daily limit of alcohol you should not drink for at least 48 hours after. Again, this will give your liver a chance to recover and repair itself.

Get moving

Interestingly, exercise will help you to look after your liver. One type of liver disease that is affecting more and more people is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This disease is caused by fat building up in the liver. This fat can scar and damage your liver. One of the simplest ways to avoid NAFLD, or to help limit the disease's progress, is to get moving and take regular exercise.

If you have not exercised in some time, then the prospect of getting into shape can be daunting. The best thing to do first is to work out whether you are fit enough to train.  Once you know you are fit enough to exercise, think about what you would enjoy doing. Finding something you will actually stick to is the key to getting fitter.  You should then aim to be active for 30 minutes a day and try to do a mix of cardiovascular and strength training exercises.

7 Tips to keep your liver happy!

These tips will not only have you feeling amazing, but it will cause you to burn more fat and get more results from your workouts!

1. First thing in the morning before you eat anything, drink warm water with a fresh squezzed lemon in it. This will help clean out the liver, alkalize your body, and get your body ready for food!

2. Drink water with lemon any time of day!

3. Drink a SUPER GREEN supplement drink on an empty stomach.  A super green drink has some of the best ingredients from all around the world in one serving.  These ingredients work together to not only clean you out, alkalize your body, but they are used all over your body to give you tons of energy, life, and fat burning power!!  It is very liver friendly!

4. Apple cider vinegar mixed with water will also clean out your liver and kindeys cuasing you and your liver to become friends again!  If your liver is happy, YOU WILL BE HAPPY!

5.  Eat lots of different fruits and veggies.  Whole foods are always the best choices.  News flash.. God made and designed our bodies and He also made and designed fruits and veggies for our bodies.  He did not create twinkies, fast food,  or hamburger helper!

6. Avoid man made  or man tampered with foods.  What I mean by that is read the ingredients of any product before you buy it, if it has lots of ingredients you never heard of and can't pronounce, it's not good for you.  This includes beverages like energy drinks and also juices that say 20% juice.  Whats the ingredients in Almond milk… ALMONDS.. go ahead and enjoy!

7.  Drink LOTS of fresh purified water everyday all day!!

Tip number 7 leads me to my last point of the day.  It's your kidney's job to filter out the blood and clean it of toxins.  Whether you breath in polutants, smoke cigarrets, or eat things that are no good for you, these things get into our blood stream but need to leave asap.  Just like our liver, if the kidneys are over worked you are going to feel like crap.  You want nice clean blood flowing through your body so that you have NICE SKIN, Lots of energy, and feel amazing.  If your liver and kidneys are treated well, not only will you feel the best you ever felt, but your body will function at a top performance causing you to burn fat the way your supposed to!!  Remember Apple Cider Vinegar is great for your kidneys!

BURN LOTS OF FAT AND FEEL GREAT WITH A HAPPY LIVER AND KIDNEYS!!

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Can You Risk Not Using Condoms?

Switching out condoms for a more intimate form of birth control is a big step in your relationship. But knowledge is your best defense against unwanted consequences.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to feel closer to the person you love. Perhaps you've been dating for a long time and share an unshakable emotional connection and an intense sexual chemistry. Maybe, after spending so much time together, both in and out of the bedroom, that little rubber barrier that stands between you is beginning to feel like an unnecessary nuisance. For many couples, choosing a non-barrier method of birth control in lieu of condoms is a totally natural event in the formation of a long-term relationship. However, before taking the plunge, there are facts you should know, precautions you should take, and conversations you should definitely have with your partner.

Know the ABC's of STD's:

The spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. One in three men and women has contracted at least one STD by the age of 24. While new medical treatments and tests have given many people a new lease on life following the contraction of such illnesses, the fact remains the same: Most STDs are lifelong afflictions, some of which can have very serious long-term effects, especially for women, whose sexual organs are largely internal.

Just because you can't see the symptoms of an STD doesn't mean it isn't there. For example, each year, more than three million people are infected with the sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia, which is sometimes referred to as the silent STD because often it produces no symptoms. As a result, many men and women don't know they have it. Furthermore, nearly half a million women will develop pelvic inflammatory disease because of untreated Chlamydia, which can result in infertility. Complications in men are rarer.

Know Your Partner: Sit down with your partner and have a discussion at length about your sexual histories. Depending on what kind of a dynamic your relationship has, this may feel awkward. However, it is absolutely necessary for you to know who your partner was with before you and vice versa. If there were any strange physical symptoms or sexual anomalies during sexual experiences either of you have had in the past, now is the time to be open with each other.

Discuss the Consequences: What will be your course of action if you become pregnant? Regardless of what choice you'd make, would your partner be supportive of that choice? Even with another form of birth control, removing the barrier method heightens your likelihood of conceiving, and it's always important to be clear in your communication with your partner.

Get Tested Together: Set up an appointment to get tested together and keep that box of condoms handy until you receive the results! When you do hear from the doctor, show your results to your partner and ask him to do the same. As an act of trust, it will bring you emotionally closer together, and seeing test results is the only way for sure to know what you're signing up for when you remove condoms from your sex life.

It's wonderful to trust your partner, but it's even better to know the two of you are safe and healthy. Get tested — and free your mind for other things!

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6 Routine Screenings for Men's Health

Skipping important health tests could be a matter of life and death, especially for men, who are less likely to see their doctors on a regular basis anyway. Don't ignore these essential routine screenings.

By Wyatt Myers

Medically reviewed by Farrokh Sohrabi, MD

When it comes to men and health care, the numbers don't lie: Compared with women, men are 24 percent less likely to visit their doctors in any given year and 22 percent less likely to get their cholesterol checked. They're also less willing to be screened for cancer, despite the fact that their cancer mortality rates are higher.

"Men are stubborn about getting routine health screenings for several reasons," says Jennifer Landa, MD, a preventive medicine specialist in private practice in Orlando, Fla. "One is fear: They are afraid that something might be wrong with them. Second, a lot of men tell me that they are simply too busy. Third, men don't tend to be as tuned in to their bodies as women, so they don't notice small telltale signs that things are amiss and just figure any changes can be chalked up to age."

The problem, she says, is that skipping these routine tests for men's health can often be a matter of life and death. "Screenings are important because they help us catch disease early," says Dr. Landa.

Fortunately, most men's health screenings are simple and quick and can be given in your regular physician's office. Here are six to add to your preventive care plan now:

Blood Pressure Test

A blood pressure screening is one of the easiest, most painless things you can do for your health. It's so simple, in fact, that there's just no excuse not to do it. You often don't even need to go to the doctor — many pharmacies have machines that can check your blood pressure right there in the store.

The National Institutes of Health currently recommends that men between the ages of 18 and 64 be screened at least once every two years, but your doctor may advise more frequent tests depending on how high your numbers are. "The optimal blood pressure ranges are getting tighter," Landa says. "Optimal is now considered less than 120/80, and 110/70 has been shown in some studies to be the blood pressure associated with better clinical outcomes." If your readings are high, your doctor can suggest simple lifestyle changes to decrease them, such as putting you on a salt-restricted diet. "Exercise and weight loss are two other interventions that work great to lower blood pressure," Landa adds.

Cholesterol Test

A cholesterol check is also simple and vital to overall heart health as you age. Measured with a simple blood test, cholesterol screenings for men's health are recommended every five years. You may need them more often, however, if you are over age 45, at high risk for heart disease, or have high levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol or low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. Optimal cholesterol is less than 200 milligrams per deciliter, but the ratio is important as well, Landa says. "If a patient has an elevated total cholesterol and a very high HDL mg/dL, I may consider the total cholesterol elevation irrelevant." She adds that the optimal LDL is under 100 mg/dL but that some laboratories consider up to 130 mg/dL acceptable. The optimal triglyceride level is under 150 mg/dL.

Prostate Cancer Screening

Prostate cancer screening has been the subject of some controversy recently, in part because of concern over the possibility of false positives and overtreatment, but many experts say men should still be tested. The primary method of screening is the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test, which measures the level of PSA in your blood. Optimal levels are usually considered to be under 4 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter).

"The necessity of the PSA test has recently been questioned, but since its institution we have seen a 40 percent decline in the rate of prostate cancer," Landa notes. "On the other side of the coin, because the test is not specific for just prostate cancer and [PSA levels] can be raised by other conditions, some question whether it leads to unnecessary intervention when there is a false positive." She recommends discussing with your doctor whether PSA testing is right for you. Another screening option is the digital rectal exam, during which the doctor physically checks your rectum for signs of cancer. Opinion varies widely on how often you should be screened, so talk with your doctor about what kind of schedule is right for you.

Colon Cancer Screening

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, 103,170 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed this year alone — more than half of which will be in men. Because of this, current guidelines say that men should start getting checked at age 50.

There are several testing options for colon cancer. A colonoscopy, for example, involves checking the entire colon with a camera on a flexible tube. A flexible sigmoidoscopy is similar but checks just the lower third of the colon. A CT colonography is a less invasive test that examines the colon using computerized tomography, or a CT scan. And a double-contrast barium enema involves filling the colon with a contrasting substance that will help doctors see problems on an X-ray. "Beginning at age 50, men should receive a flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years, a colonoscopy every 10 years, a double-contrast barium enema every 5 years, or a CT colonography every 5 years," says Robert T. Grant, MD, a surgeon with New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center.

Skin Cancer Check

"Men are actually two to three times more likely to get nonmelanoma basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers than women are, and their risk increases as lifetime exposure to sun accumulates," says Dr. Grant. "About every three months, men should do a self-examination for new or changing skin lesions." Also be sure to ask your doctor to check your skin, head to toe, during your yearly physical as part of regular preventive care.

Diabetes Test

"One-third of Americans with diabetes don't know they have it," Grant says. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to heart disease and stroke, kidney disease, blindness from damage to the blood vessels of the retina, nerve damage, and impotence. "If your family has a history of diabetes, consult with your doctor to see how often you should be tested," he adds.

If you show some of the symptoms of diabetes, your doctor will probably check you with a blood test known as a fasting plasma glucose test. If results come back greater than or equal to 126 mg/dL on two separate tests, you may have type 2 diabetes.

Don't let fear keep you from these important checks. "When diseases are picked up early, they are easier to treat and respond better to treatment," says Landa. "In the case of preventive medicine, the way I practice, I frequently find diseases in the state before they are even diseases."

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