This tropical fruit is particularly healthy for people who are at risk of heart diseases, including hypertension or high blood pressure

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a condition where the measured force of the blood against the walls of arteries is too high. Long-term elevated high blood pressure, or hypertension, may result in a number of health complications like coronary artery disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease and even heart failure.

Hypertension can be medically diagnosed and is largely treatable through medication and by switching to a healthy lifestyle and diet. One of the fruits that is said to be healthy for hypertension patients is guava.

Native to Mexico and some parts of America, the tropical fruit has some incredible health benefits. It is particularly healthy for people who are at risk of heart diseases, including hypertension patients.

Here's how guava is helpful in managing hypertension.

Diets low in potassium may increase the risk of developing hypertension. Guava is a fruit that is incredibly rich in potassium. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a 100-gm serving of guava has 417mg of potassium, which is roughly 9 per cent of the daily value of the recommended dietary allowances. Apart from this, guava also contains high levels of antioxidants in the form of carotenoids and polyphenols, which may protect the heart from free radical damage.

Another reason why health experts may recommend guava for hypertension is that it is chock-full of vitamin C. Guava has four times the amount of vitamin C present in oranges, making it healthy for the heart. Some studies have linked vitamin C with reduced risk of stroke and myocardial infarction (heart attack). Additionally, vitamin C in guava is helpful in maintaining the health of the inner lining of blood vessels and improving their function. The healthy inner lining of blood vessel walls is crucial for maintaining heart health. It is said that consuming guava or guava juice every day before your meals, may help hypertension patients.

New Biodegradable Nanofibre Bandage Enables Faster Healing

An international team of scientists has developed a new bandage with a strong antibacterial effect and which can be kept on over long periods of time without needing to be changed, thereby accelerating skin regrowth and reducing the risk of infection.

The new dressing material has great potential for future application in the healing of wounds, does not require changing, and can literally be put on over top of one another as they degrade.

The traditional use of an antiseptic in the treatment of wounds, consisting of washing the affected area with a solution and using gauze dressing to increase the outflow of fluids, repeated several times.

However, such treatment, particularly the use of antibiotics kill not only dangerous bacteria but also the useful bacteria. And when dressings are changed, the fragile area undergoing healing is disturbed, causing severe pain to patients.

But according to scientists from the Moscow-based MISiS National University of Science and Technology, and Brno University of Technology from the Czech Republic, the new biocompatible dressing material can act locally in the area of inflammation. As the material slowly releases their antibiotic, the dressings gradually dissolve on the skin.

The material was made using polycaprolactone nanofibres - a biocompactable, bioresorbable material and attached gentamicin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, to the fibres.

The new material is potentially applicable not only for treatment to heal skin, but to treat inflammatory bone diseases such as osteoporosis and osteomyelitis, the report noted.

4 Simple Tips To Achieve Your Weight Loss Goals And A Healthy Living

Health is wealth! But in today's world where everyone is so occupied with work do we actually pay attention to our lifestyle. But, what does it actually take to lead a healthy lifestyle? A healthy lifestyle is not just about eating wholesome meals and regular physical exercise. There is much more to that. It is also about your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. Here are top 4 simple and effective tips for better overall health:

1. Clean balanced meals

Eating balanced and healthy meals is extremely essential for a healthy lifestyle. Your meals should include healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, dairy products, whole grains, healthy fats, and omega-3 fatty acids. Also, you should avoid unhealthy foods like red and processed meats, high-calorie foods, sugar-sweetened beverages, trans fat and excessive sodium. A healthy diet will be beneficial for your overall health and keep you away from chronic diseases.

2. Some movement

Movement is a key to a healthy life. Some sort of physical activity is very necessary. Not just a few times a week but every day. Exercising daily can boost your overall health in many ways. It can help increase your life span, lower the risk of diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, help you develop strong bones and manage your weight. You can simply choose walking or cycling over driving or climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

3. Adequate sleep

You might ignore this one but sleep is very important. It helps your body to heal and rest, so you must not ignore your sleep. Lack of sleep may lead to poor health outcomes like obesity, diabetes, and even certain heart diseases.  You can do some simple things to ensure that you sleep better at night. You can avoid caffeine and nicotine close to bedtime. Also, avoid eating heavy meals before bedtime. Physical exercise can also help you sleep better at night.

4. Stress

Though it is difficult to avoid stress in today's world. But simple measures can always be taken to reduce stress. As stress again could lead to high blood sugar levels, hypertension and can even affect your heart. So practice some deep breathing exercises, meditation and yoga to manage stress. Also, try reaching out to friends, family and relatives quite often. This will help you remain positive and happy all the time.

Understanding emotional intelligence and its effects on your life

You might think you're fairly intelligent, but are you emotionally intelligent? It's our emotional intelligence that gives us the ability to read our instinctive feelings and those of others. It also allows us to understand and label emotions as well as express and regulate them.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional intelligence is being smart about your feelings. It's how to use your emotions to inform your thinking and use your thinking to inform your emotions. It's having an awareness of how your emotions drive your decisions and behaviours so you can effectively engage with and influence others. Individuals who are emotionally intelligent tend to be empathetic, can look at situations from an alternative point of view, are considered open-minded, bounce back from challenges and pursue their goals despite any obstacles they might face.

Why emotional intelligence matters

Researchers suggest that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of career success than an impressive resume or a high IQ score. Individuals with a low level of emotional intelligence can be successful, but they could be even more successful if they had a higher level of emotional intelligence. It is how well you can collaborate, how well you engage with others and influence. It's the stories you can tell, the way you can bring data to life in a way that connects with others. Those are the things that are going to set you apart.

Emotional intelligence tests

Behavioural scientists have created a number of emotional intelligence self-assessments, usually broken down into "your ability to manage yourself, your ability to manage relationships, your self-awareness and your social awareness". The results will be measured along with others who have taken the assessment to give some indication of where you fall on the spectrum from low to high emotional intelligence.

Another form of an emotional intelligence test is a 360 assessment, a process involving feedback from colleagues and supervisors evaluating a person emotional intelligence.

Can I improve my emotional intelligence?

From the earliest ages, children should be taught how to recognize their emotions, understand what those emotions mean and label them accurately in order to express and manage themselves. For adults who did not receive a solid education on emotional intelligence, improving will require some hard work. Pick one or two areas where you want to grow, and get some advice on how to best start to embody whatever factor of emotional intelligence you are trying to develop.

If you are trying to gain better control of your anger, for example, you might find a healthy outlet for it - whether it be yoga, meditation or boxing. Be intentional about that. Take active steps to do that. If you constantly surround yourself with people who believe just like you do, then you are hearing the same conversations, and you are not growing, and you are not learning to be open to perspectives.

How we talk to ourselves can also have a huge impact on our emotions and our health if that self-talk is not positive, we would never talk to another individual the way we often talk to ourselves.