Services Lacking for People with Mental Health Issues(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

When
it comes to mental illness in the United States, the healthcare system may come
up short for those who need it most.

A new study published today from the
New York University School of Medicine concludes that many people with mental health
issues encounter significant barriers to proper medical treatments.

That’s
despite new legislation, in particular the Affordable Care Act (ACA), approved
in 2010.

Researchers
examined serious psychological distress (SPD) in adults between 2006 and 2014.

They
wrote that they discovered that “compared with adults without SPD, adults with
SPD had an increased risk of forgoing healthcare and prescription medications
because of cost and were more likely to be uninsured.”

SPD is
not a diagnosis for mental illness but rather a scale used to measure the
mental health of a given community by gauging negative emotions such as
sadness, hopelessness, and nervousness, Judith Weissman, PhD, JD, research
manager at New York University, and lead author of the study, told Healthline.

“SPD
strongly covaries with serious mental illness,” she said. “It is associated
with reduced functioning, and an inability to work or attend school, and causes
impairment with daily living based on the negative emotional states.”

Read more: Mental health problems for college students are increasing »

Comparing
data

The
researchers used data from the National Health Interview Survey, an assessment conducted
by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Weissman
and her team were able to compare healthcare utilization of those with SPD with
those without it.

Healthcare
utilization was measured through a series of metrics including inability to buy
prescription drugs because of money issues, delay in healthcare because of a
lack of money, or having to change where they sought treatment due to insurance
issues.

In
2006, the first year of the survey, 9 percent of Americans with SPD didn’t have
health insurance.

In
2014 that number was slightly higher at 9.5 percent.

Similarly,
in 2006, 9 percent experienced delays getting treatment due to lack of mental
health coverage. By 2014 that number increased to 10 percent.

“Based on our data, we estimate that millions of Americans
have a level of emotional functioning that leads to lower quality of life and
life expectancy,” Weissman said in a press release.

Furthermore, she told Healthline, adults with SPD “appear to
have more chaotic and less effective use of healthcare compared to those
without, hence they are in poorer health.”

Read more: Shortage of therapists disrupting mental healthcare »

Multiple
mental health problems

Compounding the problem of accessibility, a new
study from Duke University also points out that
those with mental illness may often suffer from more than just one disorder.

Researchers examined the prevalence and
potential reasons for “comorbidity” a term used to describe when an individual
has multiple mental disorders at once.

Approximately half of individuals who meet
the criteria for a single mental disorder will also meet the criteria for a
second disorder, researchers say. That makes treatment even more difficult.

“Clinically, comorbidity is associated with
greater severity of impairment and complexity in treatment planning, compliance,
and coordination of services,” the study authors wrote.

Researchers examined the “p-factor,” a
statistical way to measure the overlap of different kinds of mental illness,
such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

A person with many of these issues would have
a higher p-factor score than someone with one mental health condition.

Practically, “the p-factor suggests that there
may be a general factor of psychopathology” that can be accounted for. The
study authors say that this could provide a new way to approach treatment of
mental illness.

“If we continue to find support for the link
between the ‘p-factor’ and the cerebellum, our research raises interesting
questions about when and how this link emerges and how we might use that
information to intervene more effectively,” study authors Ahmad Hariri, PhD,
and Adrienne Romer, told Healthline.

“There may be more efficient ways of treating
mental illnesses by targeting their shared characteristics,” they said.

Read more: Mental health data missing from electronic health records »

The post Services Lacking for People with Mental Health Issues appeared first on How People Do.

Pedometers May Be a Step in the Right Direction for RA Patients(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

When it comes to rheumatoid
arthritis (RA), taking any steps can be painful.

But a new study shows that taking those steps while wearing a
pedometer can be beneficial for symptom management.

In fact, fitness trackers can
help people with RA, whether or not they choose to set specific goals or track
the number of steps they take each day.

Researchers in the study concluded
that the act of simply wearing a pedometer can motivate people with RA to keep
moving and stay active.

The researchers said that
perhaps the most telling result in their study was a reduction in patient
fatigue.

This may prove to be of
interest to RA patients and rheumatologists alike, as fatigue is one of the
most difficult RA symptoms to treat.

According to the Arthritis
Foundation, up to 98 percent of people
with RA report fatigue as a symptom.

Read more: Green tea
may help ease rheumatoid arthritis symptoms »

On the move

The latest study followed 96
participants. All but eight finished the 21-week assessment.

The findings were published
in the Arthritis Care Research medical journal.

It found that providing pedometers
to people with RA, without providing step targets, successfully increased
activity while also diminishing fatigue.

The notion of exercise as
a way to mitigate RA pain and fatigue isn’t new.

In fact, the Arthritis
Foundation has run campaigns with slogans like Let’s Move Together.

They also formerly
partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a
campaign called Get Moving America.

While rheumatologists used
to dissuade patients from exercise, now they encourage light activity such as
water aerobics, tai chi, chair yoga, resistance band training, and walking.

Read more: Stem
cell therapy a possible treatment for rheumatoid arthritis »

Pedometers may be the
next step

But pedometers may be the
next recommendation they make.

A
2011 study found
that activity — in the form of aerobic and resistance exercise training — was
key in fatigue reduction and management.

The latest study
encouraged the intervention of pedometers to encourage movement of any kind in
any quantity.

A review of studies
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that
people — with or without a medical issue —
who wore a fitness tracker or pedometer to record their steps increased
their step count by at least 27 percent per day.

This may be worth
considering.

With heart disease and
muscle cachexia being closely linked to RA, perhaps the next prescription someone
with RA should fill is that of a pedometer.

“Because rheumatoid
arthritis medications have only small effects on fatigue, it’s important for
patients to have other ways to manage their fatigue,” said Patricia Katz, PhD, who
was the lead author of the recent Arthritis Care Research study. “These
results suggest that something as simple as increasing physical activity by
walking can help.”

“This relatively simple
intervention helped a very sedentary group of rheumatoid arthritis patients
increase their activity at a level that is considered clinically significant,”
Lucas Carr PhD, of the University of Iowa, who wasn’t involved in the study,
told Channel News Asia. “The largest health benefits are realized when an individual changes
from doing nothing to doing something.”

“Overall, this study further
confirms the importance of physical activity for people with RA,” concluded Katz.
“Not only does it help to reduce fatigue — as shown in this study — it may
improve mood, help a patient maintain a healthy weight, improve cardiovascular
risk factors, and improve overall functioning.”

The post Pedometers May Be a Step in the Right Direction for RA Patients appeared first on How People Do.

Can You Tax People into Quitting Smoking?(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

On April 1,
smoking in California became much more painful — to people’s wallets, that is.

The harmful
health effects of cigarette smoking are still there — things like an increased risk
of coronary heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer.

And
cigarette smoking still causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United
States, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But thanks
to a statewide ballot
measure approved
last year, California’s cigarette tax is now $2.87 — two dollars more per pack
than its long-time low.

The tobacco
industry spent $71
million to try to defeat
this measure.

With the
increase, California has the ninth highest cigarette tax in the country.

This is well
below New
York’s $4.35 per
pack state tax and Chicago’s $6.16 per pack, which includes both
state and local taxes.

But it’s
much higher than Missouri’s almost invisible 17 cents per pack.

Read more: Smoking rates hit
historic low »

Cigarette taxes
reduce smoking

The goal of
the California tax is to increase the price of cigarettes high enough so that
people quit smoking or never start.

But will it
work?

The simple
answer is “Yes.”

“The bottom
line is that significant tax increases are the single most effective way to
reduce tobacco use,” Frank Chaloupka, PhD, an economist and research professor
of health policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public
Health, told Healthline.

A
“significant” tax means large enough for people to feel the pinch in their
wallet — at least 10 percent of the current price per pack.

“If you
raise the price enough that companies can’t absorb it, or can’t offset it with
their marketing practices,” said Chaloupka, “then you start to see real public
health impact.”

A monograph by the National Cancer Institute, The
Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Control, found that in the United States a 10
percent increase in the price of cigarettes can reduce consumption by 4
percent.

Research at
the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), suggests that the state’s
new cigarette tax will reduce its smoking rate even more. It’s currently around
12
percent.

“We
estimated that just the price effect will cut smoking prevalence over the next
five years to around 7 percent,” Stanton Glantz, PhD, professor of medicine and
director of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, told
Healthline. “And that doesn’t even account for the effect of the reinvigorated
anti-smoking program.” 

States
sometimes use cigarette tax revenue to also prop up the state’s budget.

But some
states reinvest a portion of the money into other anti-tobacco measures, which
can boost the health effects of the tax.

“When you
reinvest some of the tax revenues back into comprehensive tobacco control
programs,” said Chaloupka, “you get bigger reductions in adults smoking, bigger
effects on youth smoking, and larger overall reductions in cigarette sales.”

California’s
tobacco control program will receive an estimated $120 million each year from
the new tax, according to a
report on KMIR
television.

This anti-tobacco
program, started 28 years ago, has been credited with preventing more than a
million early deaths due to cigarette smoking, and saving more than $138
billion in healthcare costs.

“I think
with the combined effect of the big price increase and the reinvigorated
anti-smoking program,” said Glantz, “we can very well wipe out tobacco as a
public health problem in five years in California.”

Read more: How many tries to
really quit smoking »

Tax impacts some
groups more

All smokers
will be impacted by California’s new tax, but some groups will feel it more.

According to
the CDC, people
with low incomes,
adults with mental
illness, and the LGBTQ
community all have
higher rates of smoking.

And in
California, the smoking
rate is higher among
African-Americans and Native Americans.

“They are,
by far, carrying a much higher burden of tobacco-induced disease than the general
public,” said Glantz.

People with
low incomes, especially, will be affected because they have less disposable
income.

But they
will also benefit the most.

“They’re the
ones who are smoking, so they’re the ones who are going to pay the tax,” said
Glantz. “But with the increase in price, they’re the ones who are going to quit
smoking.”

The
cigarette tax will also head off smoking among young people.

“We find
that youth uptake of tobacco is two to three times more sensitive to price than
overall tobacco users,” said Chaloupka.

The high
cost of cigarettes can have a big impact on the “transition period” — when
teens are moving from smoking cigarettes bummed from their friends to buying
their own.

Glantz also
expects a boost to California’s economy, as he described in a post on The Conversation.

For every
dollar spent on cigarettes — excluding taxes — 80 cents leaves the state,
flowing mainly to tobacco-producing states.

When people
quit smoking, they spend their money on other things, such as dinner at local
restaurants or going to the movies. More of this money enters the local
economy, where it supports jobs and economic activity.

“Not only is
the tax going to reduce smoking, reduce healthcare costs, and improve health,”
said Glantz, “it’s also going to be a huge job creator in California and a huge
stimulus to economic activity.”

Read more: Rural America, poor
health »

The post Can You Tax People into Quitting Smoking? appeared first on How People Do.

Soda Tax Appears to Be Working in Berkeley(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Telling
people sugar is bad for them may not get them to cut down on the sweet
substance.

However,
making them pay more for it just might.

That’s the
overall thrust of a new study published today in the journal PLOS Medicine on a
new soda tax that’s been in effect in Berkeley, Calif., for more than two
years.

Researchers
say sales of sugar-sweetened beverages appeared to have dropped while the sales
of water have risen dramatically.

“We were
pleasantly surprised to see how much things have changed,” Dr. Lynn Silver, a
senior advisor at the Public Health Institute in Oakland, told Healthline.

Officials at
the American Beverage Association did not provide Healthline with a comment on
the research.

Read more: The skinny on soda taxes »

What
researchers found

The soda tax was approved by Berkeley voters in
November 2014.

It took
effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

The measure
charges distributors of sugar-sweetened beverages one cent per ounce on their
products.

In many
stores, that extra fee is passed on to consumers.

A panel of
health experts advises Berkeley city officials on what local programs should
receive money from the tax.

The study
authors report that as of the beginning of this year, the city had collected
$2.5 million from the soda tax.

The Public
Health Institute and the Carolina Population Center at the University of North
Carolina oversaw the study.

Researchers
studied sales of beverages in Berkeley and surrounding communities from Mar. 1,
2015 to Feb. 29, 2016.

They looked
at the prices of beverages at 26 stores in Berkeley as well as the
point-of-sale scanner data on more than 15 million beverage items at two supermarket
chains from three Berkeley stores and six stores in adjacent cities.

The
researchers also conducted a phone survey of 957 Berkeley residents.

Researchers
said their data showed sales of sugar-sweetened beverages in Berkeley dropped
more than 9 percent during the year that was studied.

They added
the sale of water increased by more than 15 percent in that same time period.
Sales of juices, teas, and other substitute beverages also went up.

They noted
that the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in nearby communities rose almost 7
percent.

Read more: Losing weight by skipping sodas »

What does
the study prove?

Silver said the
overall impression researchers got from the study was that the soda tax is
working in Berkeley.

“I think
Berkeley will be seen as a turning point,” she said.

Other
experts were also encouraged by the findings, but they did throw up some
caution flags.

“These are
positive findings and they’re encouraging,” Dr. Bruce Lee, executive director
of the Global Obesity Prevention Center at Johns Hopkins, told Healthline.

However, Lee
noted that sales of sodas did increase in neighborhoods near Berkeley,
indicating perhaps people were slipping over the city boundary to buy their
sugar-sweetened beverages.

“There may
be some bleeding out into the edges,” he said.

He was
encouraged by the increase in water sales in Berkeley, but he was curious to
see if products such as fruit juices would continue to rise.

“If the tax
changes behavior, we want to know what it’s changing to,” Lee said.

Donald
Marron, PhD, director of economic policy initiatives at the Urban Institute,
had a similar reaction.

Marron also
wondered how much of Berkeley’s soda decline was due to people driving to other
towns.

However, he
noted that tax hikes do tend to discourage consumers.

“If you
raise the price of something, people will generally buy less of it,” Marron
told Healthline.

Marron did
say there isn’t evidence yet of direct health benefits, but that’s because the
soda tax hasn’t been in place long enough.

Lee said he
expects the Berkeley tax will eventually produce health benefits.

“It can have
some downstream effects,” he said.

Silver said
she is also hopeful the tax will have an impact on conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease brought on by sugar-laden products.

“Decreasing
sugar consumption will definitely have health benefits,” she said.

Read more: America’s sugar addiction has reached epidemic
levels »

Could the
tax work in other places?

Is Berkeley
a model for other communities?

Both Marron
and Lee pointed out that Berkeley, with its population of about 115,000, is
smaller than larger metropolitan areas, but larger than many suburban and rural
communities.

In larger
towns, they said, consumers would probably be less likely to travel across city
lines to avoid a soda tax.

Silver
doesn’t think people in Berkeley are doing that now.

She said
researchers asked people during the phone survey if they were driving to other
communities and most of them said they weren’t.

Silver also
pointed out that Berkeley’s sugar consumption is about one-third of typical
communities in the United States.

She believes
a tax would have an even bigger impact in towns where soda sales are higher.

Silver did
have some tips for other communities contemplating soda surcharges.

She said the
tax should be big enough to have an impact on consumers’ wallets.

An education
on the health effects of sugar should accompany the tax.

And, Silver
said, the money collected from the tax should be spent wisely.

The post Soda Tax Appears to Be Working in Berkeley appeared first on How People Do.

Do You Know what Chemicals Are in Your Bath Bomb?(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

It’s been a
long day.

All you want
is to pour yourself a glass of wine and curl up in a nice hot tub.

Better yet,
you want to drop a bath bomb in that warm water and immerse yourself in luxury.

Bath bombs
have been growing in popularity in recent years, promising everything from
aromatherapy benefits to skin-soothing properties in a burst of fizz and color.

But, there’s
a catch.

Some of those
bath bombs you’ve come to adore may be releasing a lot more than just colored
fizz into that soothing water.

ConsumerSafety.org, a consumer advocacy group that
keeps the public aware of recalls and health and safety concerns, recently
launched an investigation into the components of those bath bombs you’ve come
to love.

And what
they found might surprise you.

“People are using these toxic products on a daily basis,
unknowingly exposing themselves and loved ones to harmful ingredients,” Sydney Ziverts, a health and nutrition
investigator who initially compiled the bath bomb research for ConsumerSafety,
told Healthline.

Read
more: Are sulfates healthy for you? »

What’s in a
bath bomb?

To begin
with, many bath bombs have the term “fragrance” listed as an ingredient.

The Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) doesn’t require companies to further break down what
chemicals they use to add “fragrance” to their products.

“The Food and Drug Administration gives companies a labeling
loophole for fragrances to protect a company’s proprietary perfume blend,” said
Ziverts. “Therefore, companies don’t legally have to disclose any toxic
ingredients lingering in their fragrance blends.”

Some popular
fragrance additives are chemicals that have actually made the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) hazardous waste list.

Benzene derivatives, for instance, are a human
carcinogen linked to hormone disruption and reproductive malformation.

Aldehydes present an increased risk of
respiratory allergies, liver disease, and embryo toxicity.

And phthalates have been found to decrease hormone
levels and sperm quality as well as being linked to obesity, ovarian aging, and
some forms of cancer.

Then there’s
talc, which has been associated with an elevated risk of ovarian cancer.

Parabens are known to disrupt the endocrine
system.

And artificial dyes (specifically DC Red 33) have
been linked to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children as
well as neuron damage and brain cancer.

Read
more: Harmful toxins in cosmetics »

The debate
over safety

Officials at
Lush Cosmetics, one of the more popular distributors of bath bombs, insist
their products are safe.

Meghan
Campbell, Lush’s brand and product trainer, went over safety issues ingredient
by ingredient.

“The bright
array of eye-catching colors are all derived from vegetarian food, drug, and
cosmetics safe colors [FDC],
or drug and cosmetics safe colors [DC],” she told Healthline. “The glitter
is plastic-free, and even the safe synthetic that provides the famous
fizz [baking soda] can be found in most kitchens. Beyond that, Lush adds
lovely effective ingredients like sea salt, cocoa butter, and essential
oil-based fragrance blends, bespoke to each and every hand-pressed bath bomb.”

She said
customer safety and satisfaction is their top priority.

“Lush would never put an ingredient in a bath
bomb that we’d want people to steer clear of,” Campbell said. “We want you in
the tub, not running from it.”

However, Ziverts found
Lush’s explanation somewhat lacking.

“Very interesting given the
ingredients listed on their page(s),” she said in an email to Healthline. “Specifically
related to Lush, I wanted to show you this. Although it’s a bubble ‘mold’ and not a
bath bomb, you’ll notice the first ingredient listed is talc, which has a
direct correlation to ovarian cancer.”

There are alternatives to
bath bombs, such as the ones here listed on the blog a
beautiful whim.

For a fragrance fix use scented candles or incense.
You’ll still get that calming aroma without steeping yourself in unknown
chemicals — and the soft light will set the mood for relaxing.

If bubbles are your thing, and you don’t want to spring
for a jacuzzi, you can find natural recipes  for making bubble bath all over the internet.
Here’s one from DIY Natural.

Is it the eye-popping color that you crave? There are
much safer options to consider than dipping yourself in dyes. Look for submersible LED lights
that can illuminate your bath from below.

If you don’t want to relinquish your bath bombs, at least
seek out talc-free options, and products scented with recognizable ingredients
rather than “fragrances.”

In addition, there’s always the option of making your own bath bombs.

That way you control the ingredients list, and you know exactly
what you’re soaking in.

Read more: Cosmetics that combine anti-aging and natural ingredients »

The post Do You Know what Chemicals Are in Your Bath Bomb? appeared first on How People Do.

Should Doctors Be Sued for ‘Wrongful Birth’?(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Currently,
in 28 states you can sue a physician for malpractice if they don’t disclose a
potential health issue that might affect the quality of life of a child after
they are born.

But
opponents of this legal option are attempting to get rid of so-called “wrongful
birth” laws in several states.

“We’re
pushing back against the idea that there are certain children that shouldn’t be
born, that something like a birth could be wrong,” Eric Scheidler, executive
director of the Pro-Life Action League, told Healthline.

That push is
gaining traction in Texas, where a proposal that would eliminate lawsuits
involving wrongful birth legal action is working its way through the state legislature.

If
successful, Texas
Senate Bill 25 would
not only eliminate this type of malpractice suit, it would also send a message
Scheidler and others who oppose abortion rights seek.

Read more: New laws restrict abortion without outlawing
it »

What is
wrongful birth?

Wrongful
birth is its own separate type of malpractice.

In involves
a rare situation where a doctor chooses not to tell a pregnant woman about a
medical condition a fetus has or doesn’t order the typical diagnostic tests to
determine the unborn child’s health.

Abortion
rights proponents say these instances deprive patients of the ability to make
decisions about their future and their child’s future.

“There are
unintended consequences, like in situations where, had a woman known about a
harmful condition earlier, she would have sought treatment earlier,” Blake
Rocap, legislative counsel for NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, told
Healthline. “Taking people’s agency away from them is just bad medicine. It
takes away opportunities to seek treatments that might not be abortion.”

How many
cases it would affect is hard to say. Rocap said that’s in part because many
such cases settle.

Read more: Why the
abortion rate is decreasing »

What is the
definition of “wrong”?

Texas was
the first state to recognize wrongful birth legal actions, according to a presentation
the advocacy group
Texas Alliance for Life made in support of the proposed law.

The current
law has been challenged three times and upheld each time, group members told
the state senate’s Health and Human Services Committee.

The group
said 28 states recognize this law, but nine have since eliminated it through
legislative action.

In Texas,
the debate began after a 1975 case in which a pregnant woman came down
with rubella during her first trimester and later
gave birth to a child with defective major organs.

She and her
husband sued their doctor for not diagnosing the rubella or telling them about
how it might affect the fetus. They won.

A modern
risk could come from something like the Zika virus, which can cause
microcephaly and developmental delays in babies of infected mothers. There have
been 330 cases of Zika in Texas in the past three
years, according to the state’s health services department.

But saying
that it’s “wrong” to give birth to a child who is born impaired is wrong, said Scheidler.

“Children
aren’t mistakes. That’s horrific that someone’s birth could be wrong,” he said.
“We make such an effort to accommodate people with disabilities in this
country, and this is a direct contradiction of that really excellent
institution that the American people have set up. To say that there are people
who shouldn’t be born sends a terrible message.”

Scheidler
speaks from experience. He has a niece who he says can’t walk or talk.

“The idea that
her life is a mistake?,” he asks.

Read more: Why Planned Parenthood won’t accept President
Trump’s ‘no abortion’ deal »

The case for
“wrongful birth”

Defenders of
the legal avenue say they are focused on potential parents having all the
necessary information to make a decision.

They add
they want to ensure there aren’t situations in which a doctor who opposes
abortion rights might impose their beliefs.

“Doctors
have high ethics and are not in the practice of lying to their patients. But
the question is, are there doctors out there who would do that if they could
get away with it?” said Rocap. “If it’s so rare why take it off the books?”

Rocap says
rolling back the wrongful birth legal option would only ban a specific and rare
set of malpractice suits.

Plaintiffs
could still sue over other possible malpractice — like if the doctor were to do
something harmful in the delivery of the child.

The bill
passed the Texas Senate on March 20 and it is now moving through the House.

 

The post Should Doctors Be Sued for ‘Wrongful Birth’? appeared first on How People Do.

Too thin? Here are some tips to gain weight for skinny people(for more go to http://howpeopledo.com)

Being skinny is definitely in vogue but not everyone is happy being thin. There a number of ways you can increase your weight to attain your desired frame. Healthy eating habits, exercising properly and sleeping well are the three mantras you need to follow according to Shubha Dhyani, a dietician at Park Hospital, Gurgaon.

Include a moderate amount of calories in your diet like banana, dried fruits, cheese, butter, and peanuts. It is also important to consume proteins like fish, egg, meat, and chicken to build strong muscles.

Your diet is focused on gaining weight so it is advisable to not to skip workout sessions. Do regular exercises but be careful not to include cardio in your routine because that would prevent you from gaining weight. However, you can do compound and complex exercises to regulate blood flow. Squats and bench presses are good options in this regard.

Your goal is to gain weight but that does not mean you can consume as many calories as you fancy. Preparing a diet chart helps you keep track of your food. It is recommended to consult an expert who can provide an effective chart, which is to be followed religiously if you want to gain weight and also be healthy.

Getting a good night’s sleep is also vital to gain weight because your body builds muscles while you are sleeping, so ensure at least eight to nine hours of sleep daily. Some people can manage five to six hours but it is not sufficient.

Another important tip to keep in mind is that you should not drink water before having your major meals. Water gives you the illusion of a full stomach, deterring you from consuming the required amount of calories. It also makes the calorie absorption difficult delaying the weight gain process.

The post Too thin? Here are some tips to gain weight for skinny people appeared first on How People Do.