Skincare Commandments for Men: How to Fight Oily Skin

By Pierra Calasanz-Labrador for Yahoo! Southeast Asia – Thu, Aug 1, 2013 10:07 AM PHT

A lot of guys couldn’t care less about their skin being dry or (gasp) sunburned. “We like it when we look rugged and scruffy and masculine,” says Nic*, a twenty-something photographer and runner. But how about when their skin is oily? “Eeew, gross! That’s so uncool.” We would second the motion—would you want a date who will outshine you, and not in a good way?

Before your man starts feeling more like Mr. Giant Pores instead of Mr. Pogi, it’s time to make him switch to an oil-control facial wash, formulated especially for men (stop lending yours!). Let him know these basic face-saving commandments.

1. Thou shalt not use soap 
With all the men’s cleansing products out there today, it amazes us that some guys still subject their face to harsh body soap. “I like soap because it’s simple, and it leaves my face feeling squeaky clean,” confessed Nic.

The thing is, when skin feels squeaky clean, it usually means your face is taut and drier than it should be. Which sounds like a good thing, but see, your skin has a mind of its own, and when it feels too dry, your sebum glands going into overdrive to compensate—before you know it, excess oil is oozing out of your pores.

2. Exfoliate
Once or twice a week, remember to exfoliate. A good facial scrub (yes the ones with the beady things) helps unclog pores, slough away dead skin cells, sebum and dirt build-up, and softens hair follicles for a smoother shave. Warning: exfoliating more than twice a week can really irritate your skin.

3. Thou shalt not pick at your zits
What’s worse than oily skin? Oily skin with zits! Blackheads, whiteheads, and zits may be caused by dirt, sweat, oil, and bacteria clogging your pores (also, stress, diet, and lack of sleep among other things). But whatever you do, don’t touch those zits! Pricking them may spread the bacteria and lead to more zits, or worse, leave unsightly scars.

Pimple care 101: every morning and evening, wash your face with a gentle cleanser, wipe away deep-seated dirt with a toner formulated for your skin type, then apply spot treatment on the offending zit (like benzoyl peroxide or tea tree oil; for serious acne, it’s best to see a dermatologist).

4. Thou shalt not forget to apply moisturizer
Yes, it sounds like a contradiction—why apply moisturizer when your skin is oily already? But the airconditioning in offices, classrooms, malls, and even your own bedroom can be murder on your skin, sapping it of essential moisture and making some parts dry and rough to the touch. The answer? Rehydrate skin! Moisturizer isn’t just for girls. Aside from maintaining proper skin moisture levels, it helps prevent razor burn. If moisturizer feels too heavy on your skin during the day, at least apply a layer at night. Skin will start to look more fresh, and you (and your significant other) will feel the difference in no time.

5. Blot away! 
Having a particularly greasy day, but have no time to splash your face with water before your presentation or coffee date? Oil-blotting paper to the rescue! There are a couple of variants in the market (it also comes in more manly black)—choose from the blotting film that sops up the oil, or paper dusted with talc to zap the shine. If he doesn’t want to be caught dead carrying some, he can casually bum one off from you whenever you freshen up.

http://ph.she.yahoo.com/skincare-commandments-for-men–fighting-oily-skin-020712242.html

5 Money Mistakes 20-somethings Should Avoid

BY LIANNE MARTHA LAROYA

Being 20-something is tough. You look for a decent job, save up for your dream house and try hard to please your parents. Being a young adult is a confusing rollercoaster ride.

If you’re 20-something, chances are you may feel that you’re not ready for the “real world” just yet. Therefore, you are prone to committing money mistakes that can cost you your dreams, your slim bank account, and even your relationship with your loved ones.

You’re in good company. I know what you’re going through.

Don’t be a victim. Equip yourself with information by reading this guide specifically made for you.

1. Falling into the trap of lifestyle inflation.

You can either be a fresh graduate or a senior employee – the amount of your salary doesn’t matter! What matters is where your salary goes.

Does it happily go to investments? Is your bank account healthy? Is your investment portfolio progressive?

Or does your salary sadly go to luxury purchases? Do you have a love-hate relationship with your bank account? Do you have any idea what an investment portfolio is?

Believe me, I’m not trying to sound like your mother here. I’m trying to sound like a concerned friend.

Having money that you worked for really lets you feel that you’re in absolute control. So does this mean that with your new job, you immediately need a new condo, a new car, a new set of clothes and a new gadget to go along with it?

Absolutely not.

My friend, if you start falling into the mindset that you need the latest things just because you can afford them, then you will find yourself mistaking this materialistic pleasure as happiness. If this is the case, then you’re going to be stuck in a never-ending cycle of fake bliss.

This cycle of fake bliss is incredibly expensive.

Advice: Don’t depend on your possessions for your happiness. All new things get old after a while. You will never be contented.

2. Thinking of credit cards as ‘free money.’

Did you know that major credit card companies have a list of young adults who they can contact as soon as they’ve landed their first job? Expect that nagging phone call. These companies would call you up and tell you that you’ve met their “requirements” so you’re eligible for a credit card account.

What are the basic requirements for a credit card account?

Seriously, if you have disposable income and are willing to pay out-of-this-world interest rates if you failed to pay your monthly dues, then you’re qualified!

My friend, your credit card is not free money. It’s a piece of plastic that you use to buy things that you can’t afford at the moment. It makes you buy impulse purchases just because you can.

I have a friend who used her credit card to buy a toothbrush. The toothbrush was P108. She thought the interest would just be minimal so she neglected to pay her dues on time.

After a while, she finally decided to check on how much she owes. She used her credit card to buy onetoothbrush. She never used it again but she never paid her balance as well. Now, she owes P3,500.

That’s a difference of roughly P3,400! Do you really want to shell out extra cash just for the sake of instant gratification?

Advice: If you don’t have the self-discipline to pay your monthly dues on full and on time, I suggest that you refrain from even opening a credit card account. Don’t even think about it!

3. Ignoring the importance of budgeting.

The idea of budgeting seems overwhelming, I know. Some friends of mine take the concept of budgeting to extremes.

Some of them have charts, graphs and Excel recordings of everything up to the single centavo.

And the others? They don’t even have any idea of how much they spend every month!

I’m in the middle ground. I know budgeting is crucial.

After all, how can you treat a disease if you can’t even diagnose it? How can you find your way if you don’t know that you’re already lost? How can you solve your problem if you’re not even aware of its existence?

However, I’m not that extreme – I believe in having a basic spending and saving plan.

Advice: Why don’t you try implementing the 60-20-10-10 rule? Out of all your take-home income, 60% should go to your living expenses, 20% is for your personal saving goals, 10% is for your retirement, and 10% is for giving back to the community.

Here’s a template that you can get started on.

4. Failing to invest in yourself.

Just because you’ve finished college doesn’t mean that you should stop learning altogether. Actually life after college is the best time to continue your education! No one will be around to encourage you to improve yourself, so you should have the initiative to pursue personal development.

Don’t mope around and expect that you will grow magically when you’re not really exerting the right amount of effort.

Also, don’t think that you can’t afford to spend money on personal development right now. At the end of the day, you’re not really spending your money – you’re investing it. You will reap the rewards in the future so be patient.

Advice: Attend seminars on how to expand your job eligibility. Network with relevant people in your dream career and learn from them. Take up a new language. Apply for scholarships abroad. Enroll in cost-effective courses that are related to your industry. Read inspirational books!

5. Neglecting precious opportunities to start saving up for retirement.

When talking with people in the same age range as I am, I just can’t seem to stress the topic of retirement enough.

Get this: we should start saving up for retirement while we’re still young so that we can enjoy the reward when we’re already old!

When we start early, we can afford to invest small amounts because we have more time. This makes sense, doesn’t it?

Warren Buffett once said, “The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money.”

I mean, come on, why should you wait until you’re old enough to save? Doing so will just make you more pressured. Plus, if you wait until you’re substantially old, you need to invest larger amounts of money because you’ll have less time!

Advice: Sure, enrolling yourself in SSS is a common plan of action. However, don’t just be content with this pension plan – you should move one step further and start investing in the stock market. If you still have 10-20 years before retirement, putting your retirement account in the stock market as an investment, not as a trade, is the best option, in my humble opinion.

Keep these tips in mind to help you take on the real life. Your older self will thank you for it.

Are you ready to take on the real life, then, colleagues?

 

http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/30442-5-money-mistakes-20-somethings-should-avoid

17 Ways To Relieve Your Stress

By CHRISTOPHER HUDSPETH

1. Never discuss politics or religion with just anyone. Be firm on this rule.Maybe, under very strict circumstances, discuss with select, intelligent individuals. I promise, a debate on these topics with an ignorant person will raise your blood pressure to heights it’s never seen before.

2. Stop hanging around the friend, who isn’t really your friend — that gets on your nerves regularly. They might be tricky to shake if they’re associated with someone who you’re close to, but avoid spending your “happy time” around any folks who make your blood boil habitually.

3. If the opportunity arises, pay bills in advance. Any extra money not spent wisely, immediately after it is acquired, will often be wasted on unnecessary purchases. That may be fine and dandy, but if there comes a time where you’re behind on expenses, you’ll regret it.

4. If you want to text or call someone — do it. Disregard two day rules, “buts” and “what ifs.” Most of the time, too much thought is put into these decisions.

5. Don’t commit to anything, unless you absolutely have to or unquestionably want to. Far too often we agree to attend an event, or provide a favor that we’d honestly rather not. When the day to fulfill that promise is approaching, we freak out. It’s much easier to give a “maybe,” that way if you bail — you’re not considered a flake. Nobody likes a flake.

6. Avoid falling victim to procrastination’s temptation. It’s typically appealing in the moment, but its lasting effects aren’t so pleasant. That time spent lazily doing unproductive shenanigans, could’ve been utilized finishing the work you’re presently stressing over.

7. If you’re going to wear white, bring a piece of backup clothing. Something about white magnetizes spilled drinks or dropped food (particularly anything covered in barbecue sauce) directly toward it. The staining is inevitable, so be prepared in advance.

8. Make a conscious effort to be punctual. Running late never fails to get you worked up. It’ll seem like every light is red, every car is slow, and every minute is a second. To avoid cussing out stoplights and drivers, give yourself ample time to arrive at your destination.

9. Don’t invest too many feelings in reality television contests. Whether it’sSurvivor, Big Brother, Amazing Race or one of those “finding love” competitions (e.g. The Bachelor) — avoid developing a strong liking for the contestants. Eventually you’ll find yourself entirely devoted to the show, scheduling your day around its new episodes and caring immensely who is eliminated.

10. Have a “Treat Yourself” day. If you’re not familiar with the concept, watch the video below.

11. When building furniture or equipment, just read the directions. All it takes is one incorrectly done, or overlooked step to ruin the entire assembling process. Even if you’re a connoisseur of construction, give the instructions a speedy skim — it could be potentially saving you some aggravation.

12. If you’re currently in an unhealthy relationship, that is headed nowhere fast, force yourself to cut ties. It’s obviously easier said than done, but if you know that it’s only a matter of time until it’ll dissolve, do it now. The temporary struggles immediately after your breakup may sting, but that’s less stressful than living unhappily involved with someone.

13. Don’t throw parties at your place. There’s far more at risk to be lost than gained. Intoxicated people tend to vomit, urinate, and be noisy, clumsy or inconsiderate. Why would you want someone with those characteristics putting your home in jeopardy? The other problem is the uninvited guests that’ll show up. One mass text can result in a party full of strangers. Save yourself an abundance of stress by attending parties as opposed to hosting them.

14. Quit comparing yourself to others. You don’t have to have a higher paying job, be as smart, or as good-looking as everyone else out there. Seeing others be successful should inspire you — not obliterate your confidence and give you anxiety over your fading opportunity to accomplish lifetime goals.

15. Save any document you’re working on as you work on it. Losing a lengthy essay, or graphic that you spent hours working on is so disappointing. Don’t ever allow yourself to experience the frustration. Between flash drives and the simple option of clicking “file,” followed by “save,” there are very few reasonable excuses for losing a file.

16. Know the business hours of the places you have to be. For one, you don’t want to be that guy, entering and roaming around Blockbuster four minutes before closing time. Secondly; finding out that the store you need items from is closing soon, will momentarily send you into a mad dash. You’ll make hasty decisions to get in, and out — but it’d be a lot easier if you stayed informed of these little things.

17. Sleep with the light on if necessary. We’ve all had that night where our mind insists on playing out various terrifying scenarios, as soon as we lay our heads to rest. Or the times when we wake up in a cold sweat as a result of a nightmare. Hell — it could be something as simple as hearing a creak or bump, that leaves you with an eerie feeling. Whatever the case, sometimes you may need a little light to ease the tension. It could be slightly embarrassing, but it beats laying in bed wide-awake and on edge.

 

http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/17-ways-to-relieve-your-stress/

Foods to Avoid Before Going to Sleep

Written By Mandy Seay For QuickEasyFit

Everyone likes to snack a little at night before going to sleep. However, research shows that late-night dining can have an adverse effect on our sleep. Granted some foods do help us get to sleep, but some foods should be avoided at night.

Below are 4 foods that you should avoid if you want to have a peaceful night’s sleep:

Pasta -A bowl of pasta might be easy to make, but it’s not the best thing to eat before going to sleep. Pasta is full of carbohydrates. If you go to sleep right after eating pasta, all the carbohydrates will be turned into fat. The other ingredients in pasta such as oil, cheese, tomato sauce and, etc. will only add more fat to your body. In addition, addition, pasta contains a high glycemic index meaning that it has high-sugar content. The high amount of sugar affects the blood-sugar levels in our body. Therefore, disrupting our sleep patterns.

Ice Cream -A scoop of ice cream at night might be the most delicious bedtime treat; however, it is not as soothing as people may think. Ice cream is full of fat. Eating it at night will allow the body to burn all the fat before you get to bed. Furthermore, the sugar content will give you an energy boost which will keep you awake throughout the night.

Some research studies show a correlation between eating food with high-sugar content and nightmares.

Pizza – If you feel like staying up all night, have a slice of greasy pizza. Pizza is not a light meal. Just one slice can cause your stomach to go into overdrive. The tomato sauce contains a high concentration of acidity, which causes acid reflux and heartburn. High-fat and acid content will leave you tossing and turning all night long.

Alcohol – Some people believe that alcohol leads to a good night’s sleep; however, this is not entirely accurate. Alcohol does somewhat get people to sleep; however, its effects do not last unusually long. Research shows that alcohol disrupts the restorative ability of the body during sleep leading to several wake-up calls.

In addition, people that drink alcohol to fall asleep tend to develop a dependency on it, which ultimately causes a serious addiction problem.

If you want to ensure a good night’s sleep, then these four foods should be avoided before going to bed.

http://www.quickeasyfit.com/4-foods-to-avoid-before-going-to-sleep/

4 Good Reasons to be in Bed Earlier

Functioning on six or fewer hours of sleep might be the norm for you, but consistently not getting enough z’s can affect your mood and your health. Here are four reasons to make an earlier bedtime a priority.

To avoid weight gain: You wake up groggy from lack of sleep and reach for some kind of edible pick-me-up. Chances are it’s sugary or high in fat, which means it’s high in calories. Fatigue encourages mindless snacking and more calories consumed, which can lead to an expanding waistline. That coupled with skipping workouts from lack of energy means even more weight gain. A foggy head can also impair your judgment, making you more likely to give in to cravings. If you’re trying to lose weight, getting enough sleep can make all the difference.

To prevent heart issues: Lack of sleep raises your blood pressure, putting unnecessary strain on your ticker, which puts you at risk for a heart attack or stroke.

To strengthen your immune system: Your body needs an adequate amount of downtime in order to function normally and to be able to fight illnesses. Getting about eight hours of sleep a night boosts your immune system and can reduce your risk of getting sick.

For a long life: Staying at a healthy weight, preventing heart problems, and having a strong immune system are all linked to living a longer life.

 

http://ph.she.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/4-reasons-hit-hay-earlier-tonight-212600229.html

6 Ways to Help You Sleep with Stress and Anxiety

Written By Ryan Rivera For QuickEasyFit

Living with stress is never easy. But what makes stress even harder to live with is the way it affects sleep. Anxiety and stress have a strong tendency to cause insomnia, because your stresses occupy your mind and physically affect your body in ways that make it hard to focus and relax.

What makes it even worse is that sleep is one of the most powerful coping tools for anxiety and stress. Sleep not only makes it easier to get over stress – it also prevents stressful events from having as much of an effect on you. So when stress keeps you awake and causes you to get less sleep, it ends up causing more stress later, ultimately creating a cycle of stress and anxiety that can be hard to break.

Avoiding the Prescription Solutions Prescription sleep aids do help you sleep, but the risk of dependence is frightening and there are very few examples of the long term implications of taking these medicines. Ideally, you should always first look for a natural solution. Here are several safe and natural ways to help you get sleep when you’re stressed:

Jog – Jogging, and other high intensity exercise, is extremely useful for sleeping. First, jogging fights anxiety by burning away stress hormones and increasing production of endorphins, which act as natural relaxants. Second, jogging tires muscles, which can essentially convince your body to make you sleep. Daily jogging, especially after work, can be highly effective.

Herbal Sleep Aids – Herbal sleep solutions are often as valuable as prescription sleep aids, but without side effects or addiction risk. Valerian and Melatonin are both effective for sleep, and kava and passionflower may be beneficial for reducing stress so that sleep comes more easily. Never double up, however, as the herbs may interact.

Write in a Journal – What people don’t realize about stress is that one of the things keeping them awake is their persistent thoughts. It’s not the stress itself – it’s the inability to turn your brain off from your thoughts and worries. Writing your thoughts down is a solution. It essentially takes the thoughts out of your mind and places them somewhere permanent – something that tells your mind it can relax and not focus on it anymore.

Create a Routine – Routines are inherently comfortable, and great for turning your brain off from its stresses. Create a long and routine – a routine that involves no technology and little light and takes at least 10 to 15 minutes. Perform this routine every night before you go to bed, in order. After a few weeks, you should find that as soon as you start performing the routine you get tired, and fall asleep incredibly easily.

Create a Distraction – For those that aren’t easily woken by light or sound, consider using technology to distract your brain. There is only so much your mind can process at a time. As long as you’re not easily woken, you can use technology to your advantage. Download some type of funny/upbeat but boring podcast on your phone. Turn the volume on as low as possible where you can make out some words, but barely. Listening to the podcast will make it harder to focus on your stresses, but because the podcast is quiet, it shouldn’t keep you awake. You can also try this with a radio, or with the TV as long as you turn your face away from the light.

Falling asleep with stress isn’t easy, and the best thing to do is try to reduce your stress. But the above tips should make sleeping with anxiety easier, and while none of them are anxiety treatments, the more you sleep, the easier it will be for you to deal with life stresses.

 

http://www.quickeasyfit.com/healthy-ways-to-help-you-sleep-with-stress-and-anxiety/

10 Ways to Feel Better at Work

Lower your stress and increase your fitness – it’s all in a day’s work

1. Tune Out Travel Tension
Your risks of high blood pressure and weight gain rise if you take long trips to work. Combat the white knuckles of traffic and train delays by listening to audiobooks or music you find relaxing.

2. Skipped Breakfast?
Pair yogurt with fruit and enjoy while checking your e-mail. For a brain boost, add some walnuts – their antioxidants may enhance memory, and the protein-packed combo will quash hunger.

3. Breathe Deeply
The website calm.com provides a two-minute relaxation exercise – good for your mental well-being and your heart. Use it daily or just when you need it most.

4. Crunch Through Lunch
In a Swedish study, twice-weekly exercise sessions boosted workers’ efficiency enough for the rest of the week to compensate for any lost desk time.

5. Pause for a Real Meal
A nutritious lunch brightens your mood and helps you make better decisions, a Canadian study suggests.

6. Take a One-Hour Vacay…
…from your email. If your boss allows it, the mini break may help you concentrate and feel more relaxed, report UC Irvine researchers.

7. Ward Off Posture Pain
Each hour, turn your head from side to side, then drop your chin and move your head back to stretch your neck; squeeze your shoulder blades together to open your chest. Reach up with one arm, then the other, then both. Walk around every hour or so, and stimulate your lower back by squeezing your butt muscles.

8 . Hoof It Through Snack Time
When the vending machine M&Ms start calling your name, take a walk. A British study found that a 15-minute stroll could halve the amount of chocolate that people ate at work.

9. Go to Your Office Happy Hour…
…and spend time bonding with colleagues. Positive work relationships have been linked to a longer life.

10. Put Your Blackberry (or Tablet) to Bed
Getting enough rest will help you be more efficient tomorrow. Need another reason? In one survey, 15% of respondents said tablet time interfered with sexier activities.

Is work especially crazy? Try quick fixes to get you through “one of those days.”

Chill Out: Expert Tips to Find Instant Inner Calm

“Meditate for 10 minutes. Inhale deeply and hold, then slowly release, repeating a word or sound.”
– Herbert Benson, M.D., Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine

“Laugh. Even the anticipation of a chuckle can be calming.”
– Lee S. Berk, Dr. Ph., Loma Linda University

“Try acupressure. Rub the center of your palm with your thumb, then continue up your arm to your bicep.”
– Bryn Clark, Licensed Acupuncturist

How do you reduce stress at work? Let me know in the comments!

–by Marnie Soman

 

http://ph.she.yahoo.com/blogs/healthy-living/10-ways-feel-better-143900331.html

9 Easy Ways To Relax

No matter how awesome your life is, sometimes things can get crazy. Try these proven chill-out tricks next time you’re totally stressed.

Call, Don’t Text

A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that hearing someone’s voice over the phone has the ability to lower the listener’s stress levels and boost the cuddle hormone oxytocin in your bod. Getting a text doesn’t have the same effect.

Snack on Citrus
Noshing on an orange or grapefruit-even adding a little lemon in your iced tea-can improve your mood says psychologist Dale Atkins, PhD, author of Sanity Savers.

 

Smile (Seriously)
According to research from the University of Kansas, grinning helps you relax when you’re stressed out. After putting people through stressful tasks, researchers discovered that the smilers had lower heart rates and reported feeling less frazzled than those who didn’t smile.

Have an Awesome Experience
A series of studies from Stanford University found that having an “awesome” experience (seeing the Northern Lights, checking out a huge building, admiring a beautiful sunset) helps you chill out and be happier.

Ditch the Trash-Talk
Experts say that when you’re negative, it’s contagious to the people around you (and then you’re surrounded by negativity, which doesn’t exactly help your stress level). If you find yourself wanting to vent about someone, write it in your diary instead.

Use a Lamp
Research shows that harsh overhead lighting can ramp up your stress and make you feel irritable. Soft lighting, on the other hand, can soothe you.

Grab Coffee with Friends
A study found that getting your caffeine fix in a group lowered stress levels. That said, sipping coffee alone made people feel more stressed, so definitely grab a buddy before you go.

Do A (Short) Workout
The research found that short, high-intensity workouts have a great effect on stress than slow-paced exercise does. So to max out your chill time, hit the treadmill on high for 20 minutes in lieu of an hour of yoga.

Make Out
…or just kiss and cuddle with your man. Psychologists found that even just a little bit of physical contact is enough to lower your blood pressure and make you feel calmer.

http://ph.she.yahoo.com/9-easy-ways-to-relax-034437781.html

Men’s Dreams and Their Meanings

Researchers recently identified the five most common man-dreams. We asked Gillian Holloway, PhD, author of The Complete Dream Book, for her expert take.

 

1. Intimacy
If he dream-cheats on you with another woman, it’s because he’s attracted to one of her nonphysical qualities, like her ambition or quick wit. And if he dreams about a fictional person he’s never met, pay attention to the particular sexy adventure. That’s what he really wants to do–but with you.

2. Being Chased
He’s feeling pressured by something, but that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily running away from it. The pursuer could be a symbol for something that motivates him and is merely pushing him in a certain direction.

3. Falling
He is overwhelmed and feels out of control, either at work or in his personal life.

4. Studying for a Test
Surprisingly, this dream becomes more frequent once guys have graduated and entered the workforce, and it’s a sign of perfectionism. “It’s usually a high-achiever’s dream,” says Holloway.

5. Being Late for an Event
He’s not actually concerned about being tardy for the party. Rather, he feels like everyone is a step ahead of him, and he’s insecure about it.

How Your Friends Are Good For Your Health

We may get a little jealous of their new car or their fabulous designer bag, but jealousy aside we all love hanging out with our friends; whether we’re having dinner after a tiring week at work or having a gossip over a glass of vino. Yet it turns out that our friends aren’t just fun, they also give us a much-needed boost to our health.

Friendship health benefit 1: Weight Although seeing our friends often involves coffees, beers and indulgent meals, research has found that our friends can help us stay slim and healthy. A study published in PLOS ONE found that people who hung around with slim friends tended to be healthy and slim too, whilst those people who had overweight friends would typically gain weight. The stronger your relationship is with your friends, the more likely you are to be similar in size and weight. One of the researchers, Alexandra Brewis Slade, PhD, believes there is a correlation between friends’ weights and our own because we mirror the behavior of our social circles.

Friendship health benefit 2: Gossip Who doesn’t love whispering about that girl who slept with your colleague despite being engaged? Everyone loves the cheap thrill that gossip gives us and now we know that gossiping with our friends actually has health benefits. Researchers found that people feel better when they are able to gossip about someone who is behaving badly and when they get to warn others about deceit. This kind of gossip is called ‘pro-social’ gossip and gossip it is thought to lower our stress levels.

Friendship health benefit 3: Survival Ditching your buddies for cheeky nights in and romantic dates out is going to do nothing for you if you want to live to an old age. A 10-year Australian study found that older people with a large amount of friends were 22 per cent less likely to die during the study than those older people with fewer friends. Also Harvard researchers suggested that strong social ties may promote brain health as we age and another study found that those with high social relationships were 50 per cent more likely to survive during the period of study. So it turns out friends are not just there for secret sharing and karaoke fun.

Friendship health benefit 4: Heart We all know that bad men and women can break our hearts, but who knew good friends could mend them? Researchers have found that people who have strong social ties have better heart health than those who have poor social ties. This heart health is thought to come from lower blood pressure, which is a result of good friendships. Shockingly, the findings suggest that these weak social ties could in fact double your risk of heart disease.

Friendship health benefit 5: Sports If you’re fed up of being accused of playing too much football, we’ve got a fail-proof argument that will stop you from getting hassled about your passion: playing football increases your libido. The game is said to boost testosterone and levels of this hormone is found to be highest if you are playing at home. So, the next time you consider ditching your team for a date with your girlfriend, remind yourself that playing will do you and your libido a favor.

Friendship health benefit 6: Laughter Remember that time when you and your friends laughed so hard that you thought you might have to go home to change your underwear? Moments like these are hard to beat, yet catching a fit of giggles is in fact great for our health. Researchers have compared the act of laughing to having a mild workout because when we laugh we engage our muscles, raise our pulse and we breathe faster, meaning that more oxygen is pumped through to our tissues.

Friendship health benefit 7: Relieve Stress There is evidence that having a shoulder to cry on is great for your health and your stress levels; especially if you are a woman. When women get stressed they release the hormone oxytocin. This hormone makes women want to chat with their friends and open up about why they are feeling the strain. Interestingly, by opening up and sharing women release more oxytocin, which is thought to calm us and would therefore help to relieve some of the original stress we felt.

http://ph.she.yahoo.com/photos/how-your-friends-are-good-for-your-health-slideshow/