Archive for March, 2009
Home Remedy: Teeth Whitening Methods
Home teeth whitening products are the solution for those who hate going to the dentist’s office.
In the past, the only option that people have if they want to have their teeth whitened is to have an appointment with their dentist. Since most of them are not too eager to visit their dentist, they always set the appointments aside for a later date. In the end, they just forget about the teeth whitening appointment.
People are in most cases too scared to keep their appointments with the dentist. Even if they want or need to have their teeth whitened, it will always end up being postponed or cancelled.
This is why when home teeth whitening products were introduced in the market, these people were only too happy to try them out. Home teeth whitening eliminate the fear of going to the dentist. In addition, the process can be done on your own time. Plus, it is not as expensive as an appointment with your dentist.
It can be noted that there are still those who rely on the good old home teeth whitening methods of the past. Although they seem too traditional for the people of today, the result is still as effective as it was before.
What are some of the basic home teeth whitening methods that are still being used by some today?
1. Bi-carbonate paste combined with water.
Bi-carbonate soda paste can be brought at drug stores or at supermarkets. Some people still buy them to be used for whitening teeth.
They combine the paste with water and gurgle them on a regular basis. It is believed that regular use of this solution can remove stain from the surface of the teeth thus, leaving teeth whiter and shinier.
2. Lemon juice paste and salt.
This combined solution is known to erase the yellowish tint of the teeth. Some people ceremoniously apply this combination on the teeth that look dull.
Leaving them on the teeth for several minutes is supposed to whiten teeth because of the acidic content of the lemon juice paste. If done regularly, the dull color of the teeth is eradicated.
3. Bay leaves with dried orange peel.
The combination of bay leaves with dried orange peel can also act as a teeth whitener. Just like the lemon paste, all you have to do is apply this to your teeth frequently.
4. Inner orange peel part.
When peeling oranges you will notice that the back part of it is white. You usually throw it away as something that is not of purpose.
What you do not know is that it can be used to whiten your teeth. All you need to do is rub that white part on your teeth and it will give out a beautiful white shine.
These are some of the basic home teeth whitening methods that have proven their effectiveness in some parts of the world. Today, there are chemically made home teeth whitening products that you can buy and use.
The good thing about these basic home teeth whitening methods is that they do not come with the known side effects that over-the-counter products have. Plus they come in very cheap. You can try them out if you want to see if they work better than the products that you buy.
Strength Training – Are you need it?
In many articles and in common usage you will hear or see weightlifting and strength training used as if they are the same thing. They technically are not. Weightlifting is a type of strength training, but it is not the only one. The whole idea of strength training is to build muscle mass. Muscle mass is built by forcing muscles to work harder against an opposing force. In weightlifting that force is gravity. You use your muscles to lift either a free weight or a weights on a machine to overcome gravity. But there are other types of strength training too – such as resistance strength training, in which you use the muscle to overcome resistance like that of a resistance band, or resistance machine that uses a series of pulleys. Or Isometric strength training that pits one muscle against another. Still most fitness professionals agree one of the best methods of building muscle is to strength train through weightlifting. And for the purposes of most discussions about how we build muscle and the many benefits thereof, strength training and weight lifting can be considered interchangeable. In fact prior to modern times where much more has been learned about physiology and exercise, and other methods of strength training exercises have been developed, strength training and weight training were pretty much interchangeable terminologies.
Regardless of what you call it strength training and/or weightlifting provides significant health benefits. Strength training builds muscle, strengthens bones and ligaments, and adds to overall fitness and well-being. The key to using weightlifting to increase strength is to use the concept of progressive resistance. You need to continue to tax the muscles by increasing the force they need to work against overtime to continue to build up and gain strength. In weightlifting this is accomplished by either adding more weight or increasing repetitions. Weightlifting is also a great way to strength train because weight lifting exercises, either with free weights or machines have been designed to work targeted and specific muscle groups. So if you want to add strength to your legs because you are a soccer player, you can target leg-lifting exercises, and still receive many secondary benefits of weightlifting and general strength training.
Weightlifting is not however the same thing as Bodybuilding. Popularized by the Movie “Pumping Iron” and rise in fame of Arnold Schwarzenegger, bodybuilding uses similar techniques to weight lifting and carries many of the same benefits, but it is sport with different goals. Most bodybuilders train for open competition, so their goal is to maximize muscularity and minimize body fat. Competitive body builders have from 2- 4% total body fat. A weight lifter or weight trainer on the other hand, is primarily concerned with increasing strength and stamina, and is not too concerned with.