Cultivation (Organic) - a method of crop cultivation where cultivators
employ techniques like crop rotation, mechanical cultivation, mulching (covering the soil with organic matter such as crop residues), soil enrichment, and the `encouragement` of predators and microorganisms that provide a means of organic pest control. This description, which is currently adopted extensively, enables farmers to use organic pest control methods, but no artificial substances.
Shin Splints - a lower leg injury characterized by pain or soreness along the shin bone, most often due to damage or strain to leg muscles and tendons or because of overpronation or weak shin muscles, and could result in weak spots or small cracks in the bone caused by continuous overuse. Shin splints are treated with application of ice, and strengthening and stretching exercises.
Osteoporosis - a skeletal disease, in which there is loss of normal bone density, mass, and strength, bones become porous, and the bones usually become thin and weak. This condition often is not identified as such until there is a fracture, typically in the spine, hip, or wrist. The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) estimates that about 1,500,000 such fractures occur each year within the United States, at an estimated annual cost of $18 billion in 2002.
Minerals - the micronutrients (nutrients the body needs only in minute qualities) that are vital to regulate normal body functions. As opposed to other dietary nutrients (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates), these micronutrients cannot supply either calories or energy to the body. In nutrition, minerals are grouped into two classes: macrominerals (also known as `bulk` minerals or just `minerals`) and micro minerals (also referred to as `trace` minerals). The body needs `bulk` minerals at a minimum of 100 milligrams per day. Microminerals are needed in lesser quantities, although they are equally essential to the body. Minerals such as calcium, chlorine, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and sulfur are macrominerals. Micro minerals include zinc, iron, copper, manganese, chromium, selenium, fluorine, and iodine.
Weight Loss Patch - also referred to as a `diet patch`, advertised as a product that claims to be an appetite suppressant, metabolism booster, and energy enhancer. Weight loss patches are getting to be increasingly popular these days, and several kinds of weight loss patches are on offer in the market. Even so, not all weight loss patches are the same. Diet patches are comparable to birth control patches, in the sense that the active medicinal ingredients are passed into the body by the medium of the skin. Patches being offered these days allegedly deliver `all-natural` active ingredients through the skin directly into the blood. The wearer just needs to apply the patch to an arm, and then the active medication is passed directly into the body through the medium of the skin over approximately 24 hours. This process is repeated over the course of a number of weeks. Claims have been made that the wearer will lose as much as four pounds (just under two kilos) every week. This diet patch is a safe, natural method to control those hunger cravings, while improving the body`s metabolic processes.
Calorie Balance - the difference between the number of calories a person imbibes (calorie intake) and how many are burned (calorie expenditure). When the calories eaten are equivalent to the calories spent, people continue weighing the same. Consuming a larger number of calories than are used up causes weight gain. Using up more calories than are ingested results in weight loss.
Spinning - a kind of exercise that utilizes an immovable bike in order to simulate an actual outdoor bicycle ride, including traversing difficult terrain and inclines. There are no computers attached to the spinner, and the gadget has a single, fixed gear, pedals with toe clips, racing handlebars, and a bicycle seat which is adjustable at forward or backward angles, higher or lower. Each spinner also is equipped with a lever to set the degree of resistance that the cyclist is able to adjust to set the intensity level of each workout.
Electrocardiograph (ECG) - a machine or device that records electric currents associated with contractions of the heart. Weight-Loss Surgery - any surgery for the treatment of obesity. Gastrointestinal surgery is the best choice for those persons who are morbidly overweight and cannot lose weight through standard means or who are afflicted with serious obesity-related health problems. This kind of surgery enables weight loss by restricting food intake and, in certain operations, impairing the digestion of food intake. Nonetheless, the most successful outcomes are attained through healthy eating behaviors and a daily exercise routine. (Also see `Vertical Banded Gastroplasty or VBG` and `Bariatric Surgery`.)
Adrenal - a gland of the endosecretory system (comprising of organs that release their products into the blood) that produces hormones that exert specific effects on other parts of the body, including epinephrine (adrenaline) and cortisol (associated with the physical effects of the stress response within the body).
