Kava Kava Information: What You Need To Know

Kava Kava has been around for many years and has been used by people around the world as a muscle relaxer, a social drink, and a treatment for anxiety and depression. Traditional kava is served as a tea by the pacific islanders but can also be found in pill form. Kava pills are often marketed as a healthy herbal supplement to treat problems like depression, but concerns over health risks and side effects have caused a significant decrease in the availability of these pills. It's important to consider both the benefits and the side effects of any supplement.

Benefits

Kava has been used for centuries for both social and medicinal purposes. The main active ingredients in kava root are called kavalactones. This chemical compound has been extensively studied in laboratory studies. It has been found to reduce convulsions, promote sleep, and relax muscles in animals. There is also indication of pain-relieving properties (umm.edu). When drinking kava tea, one of the first things we notice is a numbing of the mouth; because of this numbing effect, some cultures have used kava for a mild anesthetic. Most notable, however, ar the psychological effects. Kava is very relaxing and has similarities to the effects of alcohol but without the loss of cognitive function. Studies have found that kava has a very similar result to valium in the treatment of anxiety and depression. Additionally, kava may offer the same benefits as prescription drugs while lacking some of the negative side effects. "A 2004 study found that 300 mg of kava may improve mood and cognitive performance. That is significant because some prescription drugs used to treat anxiety, such as benzodiazepines (like Valium and alprazolam or Xanax), tend to decrease cognitive function" (umm.edu).

Side Effects

Reported side effects can range from mild to severe. The most notable side effect when drinking the tea is the instant mouth numbing. Some may also feel light headed and relaxed, but not drowsy. Drinking a lot of the tea in a short period of time can lead to a temporary reddening of the skin like a rash, but this subsides within a few hours. On the more serious side, studies have indicated possible liver damage associated with kava use. Fears of liver toxicity caused the removal of kava pills from shelves in the US and the all out banning of kava sales in Germany. One important note is that the findings that indicate liver toxicity were primarily pills and not the traditional preparation. Further study has found that the toxic elements are found in the leaves and stems of the plant and not in the root. Traditional preparation involves...READ MORE

George St-Pierre's Rushfit review

The Rushfit workout is an 8 week program of exercise featuring a combination of cardio and strength training. This program featuring MMA star George St Pierre seeks to be an all around workout as apposed to Insanity's heavy cardio or P90X's muscle building program. Is it worth buying? Let's take a closer look at Rushfit.

Overview:

Rushfit is an MMA themed workout designed by Eric Owings and featuring George St-Pierre. The program contains six DVDs providing a range of different exercises to target different muscle groups and fitness goals. Each workout contains a 10 minute warm-up and a five round workout followed by a cool down. The central workouts utilize both isometric and explosive training to work the body in different ways and to promote overall fitness. Additionally Rushfit features bonus workouts for flexibility and agility.

Pros 

Rushfit is very well put together and features some pretty innovative exercises to provide a solid full body workout. Many of the exercises rely on body weight only, and others require only light dumbbells. This program is simple and easy to set up in your living room without a lot of equipment. While this is a simple workout,...READ MORE

O-Duster review

The O-Duster from O-Ceder is described as a robotic floor cleaning product, and at a price range of $20-$50, it's hard to resist the impulse buy. I mean who wouldn't buy a robot for under 50 bucks that cleans your floor. In reality, however, the O-Duster is a pretty simplistic device. And there are some things to consider before buying. Let's review what you need to know.

Be Realistic: If you expect the O-Duster to be a cheap alternative to a $400 Roomba, You will be very disappointed. It does not have a vacuum component. It simply picks up dust, dirt and and pet hair by sweeping it up with its disposable microfiber cloth. Also, the O-Duster does not have sensors to keep it from going down the stairs or to focus more attention on more dirty areas. It uses a simple grid pattern making its way over the entire floor.

How does it work?: The underside of the O-duster has two wheels on a rotating axle meaning that the whole device spins sweeping the floor with the microfiber pad while the wheels propel it across the room. It picks up dirt quite well as it moves, and when it encounters an obstacle it will usually self-correct and change direction after struggling for a few seconds.   

What you should know: The O-Duster picks up quite a lot, but if you use it on a floor with a lot of pet hair and dirt, the cleaning pads will need to be replaced quickly. Also, if you have a lot of dog hair to deal with, you may encounter the problem I did. The axle and wheel housing is not sealed, so you may have to do some maintenance to remove pet hair that jams up the wheels. After a few uses, my O-Duster stopped moving. It would sit in one spot and spin. I found that the wheel assembly is easily removed and that, in my case, dog hair had become wound around the axle stopping it from moving. After cleaning, the O-Duster went right back to working like it had.

Overall: I'm pleased with my purchase of the O-Duster ($20 impulse buy at ALDI.) It picks up well, cuts down on the sweeping I have to do and gets problem areas like under the couch. It won't replace your broom and dust pan but it certainly helps. It won't perform miracles, but it will save you time and energy around the house, and for a low price, it's a pretty good deal.                  

Furinno 10025 Simple Design Coffee Table Review

The Furinno 10025 Simple Design Coffee Table is very affordable and has a functional design, but it may not live up to high expectations. Let's review.

First let's talk price. This Furinno table is $36.39 on amazon. This is much cheaper than the hundreds of dollars you could spend on a higher quality table. The important difference is that more expensive tables are not made of particle board and are designed to last. This is a cheap table made from cheap materials. However, cheap doesn't necesarily mean poor quality and if you don't plan to subject it to great abuse, this table might not be a bad idea.

This table is attractive and features a nice finish and lower shelf for remotes, magazines, etc. One notable problem is that while the finish looks good it is not durable and will chip off rather easily. You could say that this is more of a decorative piece than a functional table as it can damage easily.

One really annoying yet easily adjusted problem I found was that after assembling, the legs were uneven creating a wobbly table. This was due to an issue with the little plastic feet installed to the bottom of the table legs. No one likes a wobbly coffee table, but a penny placed under the offending foot quickly fixed the problem. Installation was pretty quick and simple requiring little more than a screw driver. After about 20 minutes I had a decent looking coffee table.

So to review, the Furinno 10025 Simple Design Coffee table is not great but not bad. If you just want something to hold your remote and TV Guide, get it. It will do the job well. If you are buying for decorative purposes, make sure that the finish durability issue won't be a problem, and then give it a shot for under $40. If you want something to stand up to heavy use for years to come, you may want to consider spending the extra cash for something better. With reasonable expectations for a cheap piece of furniture, the Furinno 10025 Simple Design Coffee Table is a pretty good buy and probably the best you'll find in the price range.           

Perfect Pushup Power 10 Advance DVD review

Perfect Pushup Power 10 Advance is a quick workout targeting upper body muscles. Essentially this is a cheap simple fifteen minute workout utilizing the perfect pushup bars (sold separately.) Let's review:

The price: The Perfect Pushup Power 10 Advance DVD is a whopping 6 bucks on Amazon. 

The DVD: Workouts are broken into three five minute categories of chest, arms, and shoulders. Each section uses multiple exercises to work the body from different angles.

The Good: The Perfect Pushup is a really great tool and power 10 Advance offers some really great ways to use it. these are the kind of workouts where a little definitely goes a long way. It's a solid workout in a small burst. It should be noted, however, that this is not a complete system and you can't expect huge results from 15 minutes a day.

The bad:  Alden Mills is the creator of the Perfect Pushup which is awesome, but he is also a really annoying host of this DVD. If you're one of the people who thinks Tony Horton is a D-bag, then you will hate this guy. If you like Horton and P90X, you still may hate this guy. Just a little over the top macho jock gym coach crap that gets annoying fast. But I guess being a Navy seal and creator of Perfect Pushup, I can let it slide.

The Value: Gotta say it's good. Clearly it is not in the same category as the 60 day and 90 day workouts out there that cost an arm and a leg, but for $6 I wouldn't expect it to be. The workout's are good, and it's less than a meal at Burger King, so in conclusion...drop the sandwich and do some pushups.

Ginseng Up Natural Energy Review

The tagline for Ginseng Up is "The Root of All Power." Obviously, this plays to two markets, hitting both the energy drink fans out there and those seeking all natural products attracted to the natural root aspect. Firstly we have to look at Ginseng itself. Ginseng is a very popular supplement which is found in many energy drinks and sports supplements because of its energy production. Also, Ginseng is believed to have many overall health benefits. As a supplement, it can be found in pill forms, drink mixes and teas.
The product we're looking at today is more like a natural Ginseng soda which makes it a lot different from other products on the market. It is sold in 12 oz glass bottles and comes in 13 flavors including Original, Grape, Pineapple, Cola and others. As far as taste, I can only testify to Original and grape, as they are the only one's I've tried. The taste however, is very good in both. The drinks are sweetened with natural cane sugar; there's no high fructose corn syrup here. I also like that the Grape version has 28 percent real grape juice. That's significantly more than some "Grape juice Cocktails" commercially sold.

In terms of nutrition facts, Ginseng Up is comparable to other sodas in that it has a lot of sugar and calories. This is not a low-carb, low-cal health drink, but it does have good things in it while leaving out some of the preservatives in other beverages. The grape variety provides 30 percent daily value of vitamin C, 37 grams of sugar, and 150 calories. Original flavor is about the same but ten calories less, fewer carbs and more Vitamin C. Now, for effectiveness, I give Ginseng Up a high score! In my experience, The energy production seems to be stronger for me than with energy drinks while not making me jittery or anxious. It seems to be a clean good feeling energy. This of course could be the result of my body not being used to real sugar, or even an example of a placebo effect. All I can say for sure is it seems to work well for me.
The price at my local Health Food Store is $1.99 a bottle which is about the same as many energy drinks, and a lot less than a few of them. The ingredients are great, and the energy boost is notable. Overall, I have to say Ginseng Up is a really great product!\

Beachbody TurboFire Review

TurboFire is an exercise program from Beachbody, the same company behind Insanity and P90X. This program utilizes some of the same strategies featured in both of those programs while taking a slightly different approach. Is TurboFire worth buying or is it just a repeat of Beachbody's previous offerings? Let's review.

What is TurboFire?
Much like Insanity, This is an intensive cardio workout. These workouts are aimed primarily at burning calories and shedding weight. One distinction between TurboFire and Insanity is that this is a 90 day program as opposed to Insanity's 60 day. Additionally, this one is clearly marketed more toward women. For those women trying to lose weight and feeling like Shaun T doesn't represent their goals, Charlene Johnson is easier to identify with. Furthermore, where Insanity and P90X use more of a military drill style to their presentation, TurboFire uses more upbeat music and energy.

What's included with TurboFire?
The program includes 5 DVDs featuring different cardio workouts at different levels. One positive point is that the workouts range from 10 minutes to 55 minutes. There are four cardio disks containing multiple workouts including low impact and max intervals, and one stretch disk for post-workout. Of course it's Beachbody, so you can also get bonus items at check out to enhance the experience.

How much does TurboFire cost?
The price is around $80 for the DVD set itself, but after shipping, the total price is around $100. More if you opt for extras.

Claims VS. Reality: Is TurboFire worth it?
Beachbody claims that TurboFire is "the best workout" with "the best music." They also claim that TurboFire burns "more fat in half the time." The fact is that the science is there and the exercises here will burn calories, but there are other things to consider. The system TurboFire uses is high intensity interval training. This kind of training is excellent for burning calories, but it is not exclusive to these DVD workouts. The key is maintaining a high heart rate while exercising at max for one minute intervals. This is the same system used by other workout programs or by independent training. It is a good workout, but you don't have to have the DVDs to do interval training. The main selling point is the music. This really is a big factor, because motivation is key, and it's hard to stay motivated doing these exercises without something to keep you going. The upbeat music definitely keeps things moving. In the end, TurboFire has a lot good to offer, but really depends on the customer. If you can do the high intensity intervals on your own without getting burned out, that's great, but for most of us who need a little more motivation, TurboFire is a great tool to achieve our fitness goals.


Related Reviews:
Bowflex Uppercut Review
Insanity Review
Tower 200 Review


\





    


Empower Cardio Core Fitness Hoop (Google Affiliate Ad)