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More Exercise Now Means More Independence in Your Golden Years

More Exercise Now Means More Independence in Your Golden Years

Senior couple on walkWe all know that exercise is good for us at any age. What is becoming more apparent, however, is that developing the habits of regular exercise in the present—meaning at whatever age you happen to be right now —will pay off for you in the future.

A recent study discussed in the January edition of the journal Nursing Older People suggests that exercise plays a crucial part in enabling older people to retain their mobility and improve their overall quality of life. The study examined the effects of a three-month, twice-weekly exercise class on people aged 60 and older and found that the participants’ overall strength, fitness, coordination, and balance improved. More importantly, the participants in the class were then motivated to continue exercising after the study ended, partly because the exercise classes helped them to overcome their sense of social isolation.

A similar study published in the American Journal of Medicine provided even more evidence that exercise can provide not only a longer life, but a more meaningful one. Dr. Preethi Srikanthan and his associates at UCLA found that the more muscle mass older people have, the less likely they are to die prematurely. Their studies indicate that the amount of muscle mass is a better predictor of both longevity and the ability to perform normal functions than body mass index (BMI) measurements, because increased muscle mass decreases their metabolic risk.

Combined with other alarming results from studies on the dangers of inactivity and sitting too much (one such study indicates that every hour spent sitting per day after the age of 60 decreases your ability to perform normal activities like dressing, bathing, and walking by 50%), these findings make a strong case for preparing for one’s golden years by exercising more now, while it’s easier. Developing healthy exercise habits can even be seen as preventative, in that it seems to reduce the risk of developing disabling diseases. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people who were more fit in their middle age had significantly lower rates of heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, diabetes, colon cancer, lung cancer, obstructive pulmonary conditions, and even Alzheimer’s disease when they reached their forties and fifties. In this study, for every unit of improvement on a standard scale of physical fitness, the subjects experienced a 20% reduction in the incidence of the eight chronic illnesses being tracked. Those with the highest levels of physical fitness when they were young developed the fewest chronic conditions during the last five years of their lives.

So if you’re concerned about living a longer, more productive and satisfying life, one way to achieve it seems clear—start exercising more now and continue to exercise regularly. The stronger and more fit you are today will, to some extent, determine how strong and fit you are when you get older and whether you’ll be able to get around and enjoy your life when you reach your golden years.

 

 

Superfoods: Science or Marketing?

Superfoods: Science or Marketing?

Breakfast Cereal 3There is no medical definition for a “superfood”. Food manufacturers are eager to use the word to promote sales of their products that contain traces of supposed superfoods such as blueberries, pomegranates and chocolate. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a superfood as “a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being.” However, there are no set criteria about what makes a food nutrient-rich. Most superfoods are high in antioxidants and phytonutrients relative to other foods. However, if you were to eat only one of these superfoods to the exclusion of all else, you would be seriously deficient in many of the nutrients your body needs in order to stay healthy. So what exactly is the science behind the idea of superfoods?

While we would like to believe that if we eat certain foods we can stave off illness and keep aging at bay, the truth is that it’s not so easy. Although there is no doubt that a diet consisting primarily of fruits and vegetables is one of the keys to healthy longevity, it is also what you don’t eat and do that is important. For instance, if you eat a breakfast of blueberries and pomegranates in a bowl of oatmeal, along with a cup of green tea, that does not mean that your health will improve overall if for lunch you have a bucket of fried chicken, French fries and a 64-ounce Coke, followed by a cigarette.

The majority of scientific studies indicating that there may be some positive health effects associated with the nutrients contained in certain foods were conducted in a laboratory. In general, high levels of nutrients are used in these studies—usually far more than what can be consumed in a normal diet. For instance, the compound resveratrol that studies have shown to be heart-healthy and to guard against prostate cancer is found in grape skins only in very small amounts. So although “the French paradox” (why the French have low rates of heart disease despite a rich diet) is often partially attributed to the regular consumption of red wine, in fact, you would have to drink 40 liters of wine a day to get the same amount that was shown to benefit the health of mice in these studies.

The positive results of studies performed in test tubes on a few human cells and studies performed on mice do not necessarily translate into health benefits for the wider population. The effect of a single nutrient on human health is difficult to pinpoint, as we all eat a combination of foods. Some nutritional benefits may only occur in the presence of other nutrients in the same food, or even in a different food eaten at the same time. Iron absorption, for example, is boosted when a food rich in vitamin C is eaten at the same time.

The best nutritional advice someone can follow if they’re interested in maintaining good health is to eat a wide range of whole foods, and (even more importantly) to avoid foods that are bad for you such as processed foods and hydrogenated oils. As the European Food Information Council advises, “A diet based on a variety of nutritious foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables, remains the best way to ensure a balanced nutrient intake for optimal health.”

 

Food as Medicine: Close-Up on Cumin

Food as Medicine: Close-Up on Cumin

??????????????????If “having a pedigree” is an important factor for you when you’re considering the nutritional or medicinal value of food, it’s difficult to find a food with a longer history than cumin. Cumin (also known as comino, cuminum cyminum, cuminum odorum, jeeraka, svetajiraka, and zira) is an herb whose medicinal qualities are mentioned in the Bible (both Old and New Testaments). Cumin was also part of the medical tradition in ancient Egypt, in India (cumin is a staple of Ayurvedic medicine), in the Muslim world, and in ancient Greece.

Although cumin is commonly used in the preparation of foods from each of these areas, it has also been promoted for its medicinal uses—to treat digestive problems, diarrhea, colic, bloating (cumin is a mild diuretic), to reduce inflammation, and even as an aphrodisiac. In terms of modern research, cumin has been found to have strong antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, and a study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that cumin seeds help to regulate blood sugar levels, and thus may be of use not only as an antidiabetic (to prevent diabetes) but to treat those who already have the disease. Similar studies in Nutrition Research found that cumin not only helped to reduce hypoglycemia, but also to reduce body weight.

Cumin is also a known carminative, meaning that it has the ability to reduce the formation of gas and thus improve digestion. This is why it is common in Ayurvedic medicine, where it is both prescribed as a remedy for gas and used in cooking to reduce the flatulence caused by bean-based dishes. Cumin does have some analgesic (pain relieving) qualities, and is used as a tea in some cultures to treat headaches and other minor pains. Some have even recommended the combination of pureed bananas and cumin as a treatment for insomnia.

Today scientists theorize that one of the reasons cumin may have some curative properties is that it contains thymoquinone, a phytochemical also known as TQ that is being studied as a potential treatment for many diseases, including cancer. A 2005 study from India found that black cumin oil was effective in killing 50 out of 54 bacterial strains they tested—despite the fact that these same strains showed evidence of having developed resistance to 20 common antibiotics. In India, black cumin seed has also been proven effective in preventing withdrawal symptoms in patients with opium addiction. Research is currently underway to test the effectiveness of black cumin seed in reducing oxidative stress in the blood, lowering cholesterol, preventing and treating cancers and some forms of seizure, and treating rheumatoid arthritis.

Given all the interest in cumin and its potential health benefits, it’s reasonable to ask whether there might be risks associated with it as well. So far, there doesn’t appear to be a “down side” to adding more cumin to your diet. No serious contraindications have been noted in the medical literature, with one possible exception—you might want to check with your doctor if you are taking certain classes of anti-diabetic medications.

So not only can cumin bring an exotic taste to many of your more common recipes, it may also offer some health benefits along the way!

A Guide to Better Napping

A Guide to Better Napping

????????????????????Over the years, our collective human experience has taught us that napping is a good thing. It rejuvenates us and actually makes our brains work better. Need evidence? Some of the greatest creative minds in history have been avid nappers, including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill and Salvador Dali!

However, not all naps are created equal. And there’s something of a trick to napping so that you receive the most benefit and minimize the potential drawbacks. The timing and duration of a nap can mean the difference between having an energy-filled afternoon and being sluggish for the rest of the day.

Although your boss may not be pleased to find you napping at work, he or she may be well advised to consider what Churchill had to say about napping: “Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the day. That’s a foolish notion held by people who have no imaginations. You will be able to accomplish more. You get two days in one — well, at least one and a half.” You are likely to be far more productive after a short nap than you would have been by just struggling through the afternoon sleepiness that is natural to our circadian rhythms. We naturally become sleepy in the early afternoon, whether we have had a large lunch or not.

We are a chronically sleep-deprived society, with about a third of the population getting an inadequate amount of sleep on a regular basis. This decreases productivity and increases the risk of mistakes. There is a reason why there is an upsurge in the rate of car accidents the day after we lose an hour of sleep in spring when the clocks move forward. Even an hour less of sleep can make a difference in our cognitive ability. If you find yourself dreaming during a short nap of 20 minutes or less, it’s a sign that you are sleep deprived.

Scientists who study sleep explain what happens in our brain during the three different sleep cycles it goes through: The first two stages are called non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which lasts for about an hour, followed by rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which lasts for 30 minutes or so (and is when we dream). The second stage of NREM sleep is the deepest sleep, referred to as slow-wave. If you awaken during this stage of sleep you are likely to feel groggy for a while.

Researchers recommend that your nap length should be dependent on what you are trying to accomplish. A nap of 10 to 20 minutes will boost alertness (great for pilots), a 60-minute nap will help to increase cognitive memory processing (a good idea before taking a big exam), and a 90-minute nap helps with emotional and procedural memory (learning to ski, for example) and boosts creativity.

Try to get your nap in between 1 PM and 4 PM, the time when your body is naturally sleepy, and when it won’t cause problems with falling asleep at night. Although the experts have not discovered an “ideal” nap length, Ilene Rosen, a sleep scientist from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine says a “10-to-20-minute nap is really the optimal time in terms of bang for your buck.”

Make yourself as comfortable as possible before napping, and use a light blanket if it helps you get to sleep. Set a timer so you do not oversleep. Sleeping partially upright and drinking a cup of coffee before your nap will help to ensure that you do not sleep too long and that you wake up perky and refreshed.

 

Structured Versus Unstructured Play: What’s the Difference, and Does it Matter?

Structured Versus Unstructured Play: What’s the Difference, and Does it Matter?

lined up on line of scrimmageWe’ve all heard about parents like this. They have every moment of their child’s day scheduled with some activity or another. First it’s soccer, then off to violin lessons, after which they meet up with their scouting group. With the increase in urbanization and concerns for child safety, it’s becoming more and more unusual to see children just out playing in the street or in a neighbor’s back yard. Many parents have embraced the idea of “structured play” because they believe it helps their children develop specific skills they will need to succeed in the world. It also allows parents more predictability and control over their own schedules. On the other hand, many of these same parents view unstructured play (which many grew up with themselves) as a waste of time that could be better used for managed activities. But studies have shown that there are very real advantages to unstructured play, and that the skills it develops are just as important as the ones that can be taught in structured environments.

Structured play consists of activities with externally-imposed organization that generally involve rules and an objective of some sort. Things such as video games, team sports, board games and building model airplanes, for example, are all structured activities. At the other end of the spectrum are unstructured activities like inventing and running games, building with blocks, having a catch, writing a play, looking for bugs in the woods, and drawing and painting. These activities are self-organizing and open-ended. Many times, they have no particular goal. In unstructured play, children make up their own rules as they go along and establish their own limits.

Nearly every modern parent has heard his or her child whine or moan the dreaded words “I’m bored.”  By most accounts, the “I’m bored” syndrome has actually become more common as the nature of play has shifted and parental engagement has changed. Sometime around the mid-20th century, children’s play began to be centered on the toy rather than on the activity. And as today’s “interactive” toys have evolved to actually direct and drive the activity (think about Wii, PlayStations, iPads, etc.), children themselves have become more passive in the process. The result is that many of them are less able to entertain themselves through their own creativity.  This inability becomes very apparent whenever the novelty of a new game wears out and the kids reach out to their parents to provide the same level of structure and ongoing entertainment that the game had been providing.  This places growing demands on parents, who may then begin to look for other outside sources of focused, constructive stimulation.  Of course, the problem with this type of response is that it simply substitutes one form of externally-driven activity for another. What happens to a child who never learns to direct his or her own energy or to organize his or her own activity? There is a very good chance that the child who never learns to do these things will be unable to do them well as an adult.

A 2005 study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that children’s unstructured play time had dropped by 25% between 1981 and 1997. This is a worrisome trend since unstructured play is necessary in order for children to improve social skills, develop healthy coping mechanisms for stress and boost cognitive skills, especially those involved in problem solving. Through unstructured play, children enhance their own creativity, become more self-confident and learn to empathize with others. It develops neural areas in the brain that are concerned with emotional reactions and social understanding.

There is no doubt that structured play is important in teaching multitasking, developing specialized skills and exposing children to a wide range of ideas and experiences. Just be sure that your children are given equal amounts of unstructured time in which to explore their own interests, develop their creativity, solve problems and work on their interpersonal skills.

Top 5 Exercises for Increasing Range of Motion in Your Neck

Top 5 Exercises for Increasing Range of Motion in Your Neck

girafe réticulée 06Pain and stiffness can significantly reduce your neck’s range of motion. Although a decreased range of motion in your neck may not seem like a major problem, it can actually contribute to a number of unpleasant conditions, including headache, fatigue, irritability and sleep loss. Like any other part of the body, our neck can become stronger and more flexible through exercise. Following are some useful exercises that can help to increase the range of motion in your neck.

All these exercises should be done while sitting comfortably in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your neck in a neutral position. Your neck should be positioned right above your spine (in other words, be sure your head is not jutting forward or back), and you should be looking straight ahead. If you feel pain (rather than just discomfort) while doing any of these exercises, stop immediately and do not resume them until you have consulted with your chiropractor.

1) Neck rotations – Keeping your head level, gradually turn your head to the right as far as you comfortably can, looking over your right shoulder, and hold for 10 seconds. Then slowly turn your head to the left, looking over your left shoulder, and hold for another 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times.

2) Neck tilts – Tilt your head to the right, bringing your right ear as close to your shoulder as possible, and hold for 10 seconds. Do the same on the other side, tilting your head to the left, again holding for 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times.

3) Neck flexion and extension – This is simply bending your head forward and back. Beginning in a neutral position, gradually bend your head forward, letting it hang with your chin close to your chest, and hold for 10 seconds. Then slowly bring your head up and back so that you are looking at the ceiling. Repeat 5 times.

4) Half circles – Start by tilting your head toward your right shoulder as far as possible, then slowly swing it to the left in a fluid half-circle, moving your head forward and down until your chin is close to your chest, continuing until your head is tilted to the left with your left ear above your left shoulder. Then repeat the movement in the other direction.

5) Levator scapulae stretch – Tilting your head to the right over your shoulder, turn and drop your head slightly so that your nose is pointed toward your elbow, and hold for 10 seconds. You should feel the stretch in the muscle connecting the back of the left lower neck to your shoulder blade. Repeat on the other side.

Rediscovering Exercise After Years of Being Inactive? Take the SMART Approach

Rediscovering Exercise After Years of Being Inactive? Take the SMART Approach

Senior cycling groupArtists who work with glass or metal know that you should not try to bend or shape the material while it remains cold and brittle. Glass will shatter. Metal will break or quickly show signs of fatigue and damage. Our bodies also need to be warmed up to change. They need the tender, loving care of an artist to reshape them. You are that artist. And sculpting your new body takes time, patience and persistence. And yes, it takes hard work.

You can’t expect your body to react well at the beginning if you ask it to do too much after years of inactivity. Using the following SMART approach to exercise will help you get back into an exercise routine and allow you to reach your goals:

Specific—It’s most effective set exercise goals that are well-defined rather than vague. Say you want to be a trim, 165 pounds of muscle and vibrant energy. This approach to defining your goal not only gives you a specific weight to shoot for, but also describes the feeling you want to go with it.

Measurable—This makes your goal even more concrete and will help you see the progress you’re making in an objective way. Not every approach to measurement uses numbers, but numerical criteria are usually the easiest to work with. This goes for measuring activity as well as measuring the results. For example, a 30-minute, brisk walk is measurable. If you’ve only walked 25 minutes, you know you’re not done. Keeping a journal helps you compare these details later.

Action-oriented—You have to put your dreams into action, and exercise is all about physical movement. But don’t let repetitive exercise become boring. Add different kinds of action. In fact, sports medicine doctors recommend varying the activity between stretching, light endurance, vigorous strength and other types of exercise. This helps to prevent heart attacks, sprains and other maladies from pushing too hard, too fast. It also helps to keep things more interesting.

Realistic—Never let anyone tell you that something cannot be done. By the same token, it never makes sense to ignore reality. If you are not realistic in your goals, you are setting yourself up for failure. Set a few attainable short-term goals when you are starting out in a new exercise program so you are more likely to stick with it as time goes on. It will help give you more confidence and you will be more motivated to set your goals a little higher each time.

Time-related—Set deadlines. This helps to keep you challenged so you keep moving forward. Naturally, any deadline needs to be realistic (see above). You should not expect to be running marathons in one month after a couple of decades of desk work, in-car commutes and armchair quarterbacking.

Benefits of Zinc

Benefits of Zinc

Muscular body builderZinc is the second-most common mineral in the human body (after iron) and is found in every one of our cells. It plays a vital role in many of the body’s functions, so ensuring that you get enough zinc in your diet is important. It is essential for helping the body to heal and for the maintenance of a healthy immune system. It is also important is supporting the senses (taste, sight and smell), blood clotting and healthy thyroid function.

Zinc is one of the most important minerals for fertility and general reproductive health. It is necessary for proper levels of testosterone in men and the maintenance of a healthy libido. The mineral also plays a key role in the healthy development of sperm, and abundant levels of zinc have been shown to be protective of the prostate, reducing the risk of prostate cancer. The belief that oysters have aphrodisiac properties actually does have some basis in truth. Oysters have one of the highest concentrations of zinc of any food. In women it regulates estrogen and progesterone and supports the proper maturation of the egg in preparation for fertilization.

Ensuring you have an adequate level of zinc can help reduce your risk of insulin sensitivity, one of the precursors to diabetes. It supports T-cell function, which boosts the immune system when the body is under attack by bacteria and viruses.

Zinc deficiency is not common in the developed world, but those with anorexia, alcoholics, the elderly and anyone with a malabsorption syndrome such as celiac disease or Crohn’s disease is at higher risk. Zinc deficiency symptoms include frequent colds, poor wound healing, poor growth, loss of appetite, weight loss, dermatitis, psoriasis, hair loss, white spots on the nails, night blindness and depression.

Following is the recommended daily intake of zinc for different age groups:

Infants birth – 6 months: 2 mg/day

Infants 7 – 12 months: 3 mg/day

Children 1 – 3 years: 3 mg/day

Children 4 – 8 years: 5 mg/day

Children 9 – 13 years: 8 mg/day

Adolescent boys 14 – 18 years: 11 mg/day

Adolescent girls 14 – 18 years: 9 mg/day

Men 19 years and older: 11 mg/day

Women 19 years and older: 8 mg/day

Pregnant women 14 – 18 years: 12 mg/day

Pregnant women 19 years and older: 11 mg/day

Breastfeeding women 14 – 18 years: 13 mg/day

Breastfeeding women over 18 years: 12 mg/day

Children should never be given zinc supplements without first consulting with a pediatrician. If supplements are necessary, a copper supplement should be taken as well, as a high intake of zinc can deplete levels of copper.

You should be able to get adequate zinc from eating a healthy, balanced diet rich in whole foods. The body absorbs between 20% and 40% of the zinc present in food. The best sources of zinc are oysters, red meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, cheese, legumes (such as soybeans, black-eyed peas and peanuts), cooked greens and seeds (such as pumpkin and sunflower).

Remember that Zinc is especially important for the winter months!

 

What is REM Sleep and Why is it Important?

What is REM Sleep and Why is it Important?

baby #21Our sleep cycle is separated into two main components: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep (NREM). We cycle between the two all night, with four stages of NREM sleep preceding one stage of REM sleep. NREM sleep is the stage at which our body repairs itself, energy is replenished and our immune system is boosted. A complete cycle of sleep takes between 90 and 110 minutes in total, with approximately a quarter of that time being spent in REM sleep. It is also the stage during which dreaming almost always takes place. Scientists are still trying to discover the extent to which REM sleep affects our health and mental well-being, but they do know that REM sleep is important for the development of creativity and problem solving ability, and is how we learn to adapt to our world.

REM sleep was first formally observed by the scientists Aserinsky and Kleitman in the 1950s, who noted the rapid, jerky movements of the eyes through closed lids, as if the sleeper were seeing something, and noticed that breathing and heart rate increased. Another feature of REM sleep is that the voluntary muscle groups become temporarily paralyzed by the base of the brain “shutting off” the neurons in our spinal cord so we do not act out the dreams we are experiencing as we sleep. The electroencephalogram (EEG) that was attached to the sleepers showed levels of brain activity nearly identical to those who were awake. Contrary to what was previously believed about sleep as being a state in which the brain slows down, during REM sleep, the brain is actually very active. Why may this be?

According to French scientist Michel Jouvet, REM sleep is also a way of programming our brain to adapt to the world around us. Much as a computer can be reprogrammed when it is off-line, Jouvet believes our brain can take information it has received during the day and program the central nervous system to organize or maintain instinctive behavior.

The percentage of time spent in REM sleep is the greatest among babies and children. Babies can spend as much as 50% of their sleep time in the REM stage. And while it has been thought that the dreams we experience during REM sleep are a consolidation of the memories that we have experienced during the previous day, babies in the womb (who experts believe have few or no real world memories) spend most of their sleep time in a state of REM.

Professor of psychiatry emeritus at Harvard University, J. Allan Hobson, says of the purpose of REM sleep, “It’s a reinforcement of basic knowledge—knowledge that precedes any waking-state learning: how to be a person, how to be an ego, how to exist in a space, how to move in a space, how to feel. It’s not environmental memory; it’s genetic memory.”