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Nutritional Supplements at Every Age

April 28, 2014 by

supplementsAlthough we all strive to eat a healthy, wholesome diet, we may not always take in all the nutrients we need on a consistent basis. Supplementing our diets with necessary fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals is okay, and we encourage it. Dietary needs change as we age, so we’ve included recommendations for supplementation for all ages.

Everyone should be taking a high-quality multivitamin and mineral supplement and fish or krill oil (Omega-3 fatty acids) at minimum.

Young adulthood: Your 20s and 30s

You absorb nutrients easily from the diet, so merely eating a healthy diet will go a long way toward keeping you healthy. Females need more iron (30 mg daily) in the diet during the childbearing years, and most multivitamin and mineral supplements will provide that.

Be sure to get plenty of calcium (at least 1,000 mg), magnesium, and potassium to prevent issues later in life. Take calcium and vitamin D supplements if you don’t eat or drink at least 24 ounces of low-fat milk or yogurt every day or don’t get the recommended calcium and vitamin D from other foods besides dairy.

Folic acid is an important B vitamin for women who are or plan to become pregnant. Get an extra 400 mg a day.

Middle adulthood: Your 40s and 50s

In your 40s, your ability to absorb nutrients begins to go down, so stepping up your vitamin and mineral intake is a good idea. This can be accomplished by going up a level in strength in your supplements, taking a higher-quality supplement, or taking an extra dose occasionally (check with your doctor before you do any of these).

According to WebMD, “Nutrient needs change with advancing age for several reasons: the body absorbs less, it requires more, or it needs less of certain nutrients. For example, after menopause, women need less iron — 8 mg daily – compared to 18 mg daily during childbearing years — but they require more calcium.

As estrogen production decreases during menopause, more bone is broken down than constructed. In addition, the body absorbs less calcium than it did earlier in life.

After age 51, women should consume 1,200 mg of calcium daily (males need 1,000 mg). Vitamin D needs go up with age, too. After age 71, you should get 800 IU daily. Unless you drink 64 ounces of milk each day, you need a vitamin D supplement.

It’s harder to absorb naturally occurring vitamin B12 after age 50 because your body is less able to grab the vitamin B12 from foods and absorb it. The body easily absorbs synthetic B12, however, which is why experts recommend it as the primary B12 source for people over 50. Foods fortified with vitamin B12, such as breakfast cereals and other grains, or a multivitamin can help you meet your vitamin B12 needs.”

Late adulthood: Your 60s and beyond

After age 60, your body continues to absorb fewer nutrients, and it’s important to work with a doctor or a nutritionist to ensure you’re getting everything you need. You may wish to supplement with dietary shakes, especially if you find yourself eating less. Continue taking all your current supplements and eating as healthy as you can.

For all ages, water is vital to good nutrient absorption and hydration. Drink at least eight glasses, or for a more accurate gauge of your needs, take your weight and divide in half to determine the number of ounces to drink each day.

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How Exercise Keeps You Young

April 14, 2014 by

We’ve all heard that exercise keeps us young, but that’s often not enough to get us to start moving. We’ll look at one study that says yes, it’s true, and we’ll talk about reasons to exercise and how it keeps us from aging prematurely.

The study shows how exercise keeps us young at a cellular level and comes from WebMD:  

Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC

Dec. 1, 2009 — People who exercise regularly tend to stay healthier as they age, and now new research may explain why at a cellular level. Compared to people who did not exercise, elite runners in the study had cells that looked much younger under a microscope. 

Specifically, investigators measured the length of telomeres — the DNA on either end of thread-like chromosomes. Just as the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces keep the laces from fraying, telomeres protect the chromosomes that carry genes during cell division. Each time a cell divides, telomeres get shorter. When telomeres get too short, cells can no longer divide and they die.

Researchers now believe telomere shortening is critical to aging, making people more vulnerable to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. “Telomeres can be thought of as a biological clock,” lead researcher Ulrich Laufs, MD, of Homburg, Germany’s Saarland University tells WebMD. “If they are shorter than a critical length, the process of programmed cell death starts.”

…In the human studies, middle-aged professional athletes who ran about 50 miles a week and had done so for many years had longer telomeres than healthy, age-matched non-athletes who did not exercise regularly. Not surprisingly, the athletes also had slower resting heart rates, lower blood pressures, and less body fat.

The study appears in the December 15 issue of the American Heart Association journal Circulation.  “This is the first time it has been shown at the molecular level that exercising has an antiaging effect on the cardiovascular system,” Laufs says.

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Besides keeping telomeres long, what other anti-aging benefits does exercise have?

  •  When we exercise, we work our muscles, which keeps them healthy and prevents shrinkage and atrophy that commonly happens as we age. Muscles also help us burn more fat as we age, so it helps us keep our weight down.
  • Exercise promotes better sleep, which helps our bodies repair and rejuvenate.
  • Weight-bearing workouts increase bone mass, which prevents osteoporosis and falling in older people. One of the leading causes of nursing home admittance and death in the elderly is broken bones from falls, specifically broken hips.
  • Daily exercise helps prevent diabetes, which can cause blindness, neuropathy, limb amputation, and death.
  • Exercise improves circulation, giving us younger looking skin, lower blood pressure, less pain, and more energy.

What anti-aging effects have you noticed from exercise? Tell us below or on our Facebook page.

 

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How to Take Care of Your Décolletage Area

April 7, 2014 by

What is the décolletage area? We’ve all heard the word, but what, exactly, does it mean? The commonly accepted definition is the area from the chin to the upper chest, including the neck and shoulders. While the area truly shows our feminine side, it also tends to show our age quickly and requires special care, ideally starting in our 20s.

We all want to keep our décolletage youthful, so here are a few tips to take care of it properly.

Be gentle.

When in the shower or bath, gently wash with a mild soap and water. There is no need to scrub away or use a harsh cleanser on your décolletage. The skin on the neck and upper chest is thinner and less resilient than the skin on other parts of our bodies. Be careful that shower water isn’t too hot, as it can strip the natural oils from the skin.

 

Anything that you use to treat your face, such as a warm mask or a paraffin treatment, will benefit your décolletage too, so make your products do double duty. Don’t forget to exfoliate with a soothing, mild product that won’t scratch the skin.

Moisturize frequently.

This area also has fewer oil glands than skin elsewhere on our bodies, so moisturizing often is necessary. Use a moisturizer with some staying power, such as a body oil or body butter. Products specially formulated for the décolletage area can be expensive, and regular, high-quality emollients are all you need.

Watch the sun.

The easiest way to damage your décolletage is to let it sunburn a few times. That’s easy to do, as we tend to forget to put sunscreen on the area. Remember to cover it or use sunscreen every time you go out.

Feed and hydrate it properly.

If you don’t stay well nourished, your décolletage will show it—the skin will become dry, wrinkled, and pale. Be sure you get plenty of good fats from avocados, fish, and nuts to keep the skin supple and moist. Eat fruits and veggies for their vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Water is a must for beautiful décolletage also.

Carry yourself properly.

Poor posture can cause the skin on your décolletage to droop or sag, and if you lie on your stomach or side while sleeping, you can create sleep wrinkles in your neck and chest skin. Stand up straight, with shoulders back and chin up. Lie on your back to avoid those wrinkles… and moisturize every night before bed, just in case.

See a dermatologist if necessary.

If you notice that your décolletage area is showing signs of age, see a doctor. He or she can prescribe special anti-aging creams or offer other alternatives to halt or reverse the signs of aging. Often, creams containing vitamin A and fruit acids are given, which have been shown to improve appearance.

What are your best tips for caring for the décolletage area? Share them with us here or on our Facebook page. 

 

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How to Deal with Spring Fever in 5 Easy Steps

March 31, 2014 by

Craving the outdoors is a normal part of spring fever and anticipating warmer weather. Most of us have had spring fever at one time or another and we all remember the desire to escape the classroom or office and simply get outside.

It’s not always possible to stop what we’re doing and go out, so here are a few tips to minimize spring fever’s impact. If you feel your spring fever is severe, talk to your doctor.

Keep an eye on your general health.

Eat properly, sleep adequately, and address any health issues with your physician. Spring fever may be your body’s way of telling you it needs more vitamin D, which we get from sunlight, or more exercise.

Speaking of exercise, do it regularly.

Sometimes spring fever is more about the need to move than it is about being outside. Stay with your exercise program if you have one, and if you don’t, then start one—preferably outdoors!

Exercise keeps your energy stable, your hormones constant, and your moods even. It will give you a good excuse to get out, but even when you can’t play in the fresh air, moving your body will help reduce the spring fever itch.

Go outside when you can.

Take any opportunity to leave the house or the office and do what your body is telling you to do—enjoy the sunshine and lovely weather. You know you want to! Be careful you don’t overdo it, however. You can sunburn in March, and you don’t want to be late back to work or to other obligations.

When you’re outside, allow your body to soak up a little sun. Mere minutes (fewer than 10 if you burn easily) are all you need to help your body produce vitamin D.

Spend time in active environments.

If you can’t go outside while the sun is out, then go to the gym or take a long walk downtown, no matter what time of day. The hustle and bustle of being around others tames the anxious energy spring fever gives you, and moving around outside will help the craving you feel for release from the office or the classroom.

Give yourself something to look forward to.

When you’re at work or school and cannot go outside, be kind to yourself and allow a few luxuries during your day. For example, take a favorite food for lunch, or splurge and buy your favorite cold drink from the beverage cart or machine. If you give yourself little treats during the day, the urge to go outside and be free will go away for a little while.

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How Do We Emphasize Prevention in Healthcare?

March 24, 2014 by

Prevention in healthcare saves lives and money, and it keeps all of us healthier. Not many know about preventive medicine, because much of our medical system focuses on treating symptoms and disease. We all have a good idea of what prevention is and why it’s important. We can all agree on the need to take basic health steps such as drinking water, eating right, and exercising.

Health professionals who focus on prevention use a system to do their work. We thought we’d share some of that with you, as it’s interesting and not often discussed.

Primary prevention focuses on avoiding occurrence of disease, and most health prevention activities fall into this type. Vaccines and condoms are two examples of primary prevention. They stop illness before it can start. In the case of condoms, they prevent unwanted pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted disease.

Secondary prevention methods detect and treat disease in the early stages so it does not cause further health issues. The PSA screening test for prostate cancer, mammogram, and Pap smear are considered secondary prevention because they catch cancer early to make treatment possible.

Tertiary prevention aims to lower the negative effects of current disease by reducing complications of the illness. One example includes using nebulizer medication, respiratory therapy, and oxygen therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In fact, most of the therapies (rehabilitation, occupational, physical) are tertiary prevention because they attempt to restore function at the highest possible level.

Quaternary prevention includes health interventions for avoiding over diagnosis and overtreatment. One example is providing palliative or comfort care after a patient has reached the point in illness that warrants stopping curative measures. Simply listening to the patient often gives information about overtreatment. If the patient is sleepy too much, it might indicate over-prescription of medication.

In addition to the four types of prevention noted above, prevention also occurs in a tiered system, which is described below. Often, behavior that leads to a health issue is addressed in the prevention strategy.

Universal prevention involves a large, similar population, such as a school or workplace to prevent a health problem. Typically, primary prevention occurs here.

Selective prevention targets groups who are at risk of developing a health issue. The group members share certain common traits, such as family history or age.

Indicated prevention narrows the group further to by using a screening process to identify individuals who already show signs of the health issue or dangerous behavior, such as smoking or drinking.

One more type of prevention is noteworthy. Environmental prevention methods address the illness or behavior at the community level and use restrictions to manage the illness or behavior. Quarantines, city and county laws, and smoking bans are environmental prevention measures.

 

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How to Deal With Spring Allergies

March 10, 2014 by

If you suffer from spring allergies, this time of year is simply miserable for you. Your eyes and nose are constantly running, your ears are plugged, your throat is itchy, and you just want to stay inside for three months. While over-the-counter antihistamines and allergy sprays help, they merely cover the symptoms. We’ve found a few tips to helping you get through this season.

Know what you’re allergic to.

Many who have spring allergies assume they know what they’re allergic to, and they’re usually right. But what if you have multiple allergies, or you’re not sure what’s causing your symptoms?

Have an allergy test to find out. Here’s what WebMD has to say:

“’The allergy skin test is the quickest, most inexpensive, and most accurate way to find out what you are allergic to, whether it’s mold, grass pollen, or a type of weed,’ says Neil Kao, MD, an internal medicine physician specializing in allergy and immunology at the Allergic Disease and Asthma Center in Greenville, S.C.

Talk with your primary care doctor or an allergist. Both can give you an allergy test. The skin is pricked slightly to allow an allergen, such as grass or mold, to enter the outer layer; after about 15 to 20 minutes, the physician will check for a reaction, such as hives or redness and swelling, which will identify the specific allergen causing your symptoms.”

Watch the pollen counts.

If your local news doesn’t offer pollen counts daily, use the WebMD Pollen Counter to find out which allergens are high.You’ll know when it’s safe to be outside (the early morning and evening are the safest times to be out), and can plan your time accordingly.

Keep it clean.

In addition to any medications you choose, you can help your allergies by physically separating yourself from the allergens. During the day, keep windows closed to keep pollen out of your home. But what if you want or have to go out?

Dr. Kao from WebMD says, “After you come inside on a nice spring day, you are literally covered in allergens. You track it through your house, and worse, you get in bed covered with the pollen or grass spores that make you congested. Guess what? Now you are going to lie in it for eight hours and wake up feeling miserable.”

Washing and cleaning your home, bedding, and clothes will help keep your home’s pollen count down. Take a shower after you’ve been out and change into fresh clothes to prevent exposing others to pollen.

Keep it simple.

Sometimes all you need is a saline solution in your nose to wash out the allergies. A spray bottle or neti pot will help you keep your nostrils squeaky clean and suffer fewer bouts with runny nose and sneezing.

What are your best tips for dealing with spring allergies?

 

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15 Quick Health Tips

March 3, 2014 by

Health tips come in many forms: blogs, pamphlets, and magazine articles, to name a few. We like quick, actionable tips we can run with immediately, so here are a few of our favorites. We hope they’ll help you take charge of your health and enjoy your life even more.

Drink plenty of water.

Get your eight glasses every day, and watch your skin become smoother, your eyes shine brighter, and your entire body function better. Some will say you need half your weight in ounces a day instead of the 8 glasses, so if you weigh 120 lbs, you’ll need 60 ounces a day, which is about 8 glasses.

Quit tobacco.

The cigarette and chewing tobacco companies add hundreds of chemicals to their products. Quit, and you’ll stop poisoning your system with the junk.

Try green tea instead of coffee.

Green tea has numerous health benefits, while coffee has much fewer. Green tea is satisfying and delicious.

Make your focus moving, not exercise.

When we hear the word “exercise,” most of us feel our eyes glaze over, but it doesn’t have to be the grueling workout we think of. Move! Go dancing, park your car farther away, walk the dog.

Touch is therapeutic.

Touch lowers blood pressure, raises neurotransmitter levels, and just makes you feel good. Pet a dog, hug your kids, and hold your spouse’s hand.

Use coconut oil for cooking.

It’s much healthier than vegetable or canola oil, and its medium-chain fatty acids are good for you. Tastes better too!

Do your monthly self-exams and get your mammogram.

Of course we’d tell you this tip! It’s self-explanatory.

Have your PSA checked every year.

This is the blood marker for prostate cancer, and the test is easy.

Watch your food labels.

Read labels to make sure food has what you want in it, and none of what you don’t want. Good things to stay away from are high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil, and monosodium glutamate.

Try quick one-minute exercises.
Yes, I know we banned “exercise” from the vocabulary, but these exercises are fun and easy. They include standing on one leg, holding in your stomach, or doing a plank position for 30–60 seconds.

Laugh.

Yes, that’s it. Just laugh it up and raise your happiness level. You’ll feel better, your eyes will shine, and you’ll breathe deeply.

Speaking of breathing…

Most of us breathe very shallowly, so try breathing slowly deep into your chest and down into your stomach. Then blow out, hard. Get all that air out. You’ll be surprised how much “stale” air you have in your lungs.

Eat fruits and veggies of every color.

The colors signify the antioxidants present in the food, and eating a variety of colors means you’re eating a variety of nutrients.

Walk barefoot when you can.

Going without shoes helps you exercise your feet. Your toes get to stretch, and you can feel the ground beneath your feet… always uplifting!

Finally, get a checkup every year!

Tell us your best health tip!

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How to Overcome Anxiety

February 24, 2014 by

Anxiety ranges from a constant niggling worry to a full-on panic attack. When anxiety hits, it’s hard to imagine putting it aside and moving on, but there are ways you can overcome those jitters and nervousness.

Discover where the anxiety comes from.

What is causing you to feel nervous or stressed? Is it work, family, home life? When you discover the root of your anxiety, you’re halfway to curing it. You may need to take some time and have an honest inner talk with yourself to find out what has changed in your life that is causing stress.

Once you have determined the source of your worry, then you need to decide if the issue is yours to fix. It may be within your ability to change the root cause, or it may be completely out of your control.

If you have control over the stressor, determine a plan to reduce or eliminate it.

If your work is causing anxiety, formulate some ideas to lower your stress level. It may be delegating some work, asking a coworker for help, or learning a new process to streamline your workload.

If something at home is the issue, convene a family meeting (or a meeting with your spouse only) to discuss the problem. In either case, know that time is typically the best healer of anxiety. For now, try some deep breathing, meditation, exercise, or visualization of the best outcome.

If you cannot control the cause of your anxiety, let it go, or choose a better way to deal with the stress.

There are times we all have to deal with uncertainty, and we have to simply let things take their course. We do not control some parts of life, and we need to recognize those times and let our stress go. Use the stress relief techniques above to free yourself from the fear and worries.

Occasionally, stress is your brain and body’s way of alerting you that something must change. When you listen to and heed your body’s warning, you’ll be surprised at how wise you were without knowing it. If you feel that something is amiss, it likely is. Don’t ignore your brain or your body when it’s trying to send a message.

However, for some of us, worry becomes a habit. Always stay focused when you’re analyzing your worries, and determine if your fears are founded or not. When you begin fretting about things for no good reason, it’s time to step back and look at the bigger picture. Something more than a minor stressor is at work. Talk to a therapist or counselor if you feel you’re worrying needlessly.

 

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Delicious Alternatives To Dairy

February 17, 2014 by

Many of us are lactose intolerant, so eating cow’s milk dairy products can upset our systems. We love the taste of dairy foods such as cheese and ice cream, so those of us who have issues are always hunting for alternatives. Here are the most delicious options we found.

Almond milk

Almond milk is made from ground almonds, and it contains no lactose or cholesterol. Vegans and vegetarians use almond milk regularly. It is beige in color, has a nut-like taste, and typically comes in three flavors: chocolate, vanilla, and plain. Last year, it passed soy milk as the most popular plant-based milk. Popular brands of almond milk include Almond Breeze and Silk PureAlmond.

To make your own almond milk, grind soaked almonds in a blender with water and your choice of sweetener or additive, and then strain through a cheesecloth. While almond milk is not a suitable replacement for breast milk or cow’s milk due to its low protein content, it is rich in other nutrients such as magnesium, selenium, zinc, copper, and calcium.

Soy milk

Soy milk is made from soaking dry soybeans and grinding them with water. Soy milk has about the same percentage of protein as cow’s milk: around 3.5%. Soy milk can be made at home with traditional kitchen tools or with a soy milk machine. The coagulated protein from soy milk is made into tofu, just as dairy milk produces cheese.

Because soy milk has a similar protein and fat content to cow’s milk (though the amino acid profile differs), it has become a popular alternative. Natural soy milk contains little digestible calcium, so many manufacturers add calcium carbonate. As it is plant-based, it has little saturated fat and no cholesterol.

Coconut milk

Coconut milk comes from grated coconut meat, and tastes just like liquid coconut. It has a rich taste that enhances soups and desserts, and some even use it as a substitute for cream in their coffee. If you want to make coconut milk at home, run the meat through your food processor or blender with hot water. After you refrigerate the milk, coconut cream separates and rises to the top.

Coconut milk is controversial because it contains lauric acid, a saturated fat that may raise blood cholesterol levels. However, coconut milk is better than trans fats because it is mainly medium-chain triglycerides, which may not carry the same risks as other saturated fats. In addition, coconut milk is full of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which the body processes differently than other saturated fats.

Goat’s milk cheese

Goat cheese has a similar amount of fat as cow’s milk cheese, but the fat profiles differ. Goat’s milk cheese has a higher proportion of medium-chain fatty acids, such as caproic, caprylic, and capric acid. These fatty acids are healthier for you than the saturated fats in cow’s milk cheese.

Goat’s milk is more similar to human milk than cow’s milk is, although that fact isn’t well known in the West. Goat cheese is made by allowing the raw milk to curdle naturally before draining and pressing the curds. Very little is added other than salt to preserve the cheese. Soft goat cheeses are made by hanging bundles of cheesecloth filled with curds in the kitchen for several days.

What’s your favorite alternative to cow’s milk dairy products?

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Cardiovascular Health: Tips for Walking

February 10, 2014 by

We think we know best practices for walking, but most of us don’t. We have no idea how important form and details are to keeping our bodies (and hearts!) healthy. Walking is one of the best exercises for cardiovascular health, and it’s one of the easiest programs to start and maintain. Here’s how to walk correctly.

Choose the right time of day.

Which times of day are you at your best? Decide if you’d like to walk while you’re at your peak or if you’d rather use walking as a pick-me-up during another time of day. Keep weather and lighting in mind, as you may not feel safe walking at night or early in the morning due to lack of sunlight.

Wear the right shoe.

Believe it or not, the shoe you wear can make a tremendous difference in how far and how well you walk. Shoes should be in good repair, fit well, and be comfortable. If yours aren’t, it’s time to buy some new ones. Walking shoes shouldn’t need any break-in time. If they don’t feel perfect on your feet when you put them on, try another pair.

Watch your posture.

According to Dr. Eric McGraw of Wilmington, NC’s Active Care Chiropractic, many people walk incorrectly, and it hurts the body. To prevent low back pain, swing your arms as you walk. Move in an upright position with your sternum (breastbone) raised and your abdominals tightened. Walking should feel natural and uplifting to you.

Walk heel to toe.

How you put your foot down makes all the difference in how healthy your feet, ankles, and legs will be. Incorrect walking strains and tires them, while correct walking techniques strengthen them.

The basic steps are:

  • Put your weight on your heel.
  • With a rolling motion, move your weight forward onto the ball of your foot.
  • Raise your heel and push off with the toes as your other foot comes down on the heel.

Many people move into an almost running stance when they’re walking fast. This isn’t correct technique. Keep your foot on the ground and roll forward on it before you lift it.

Pace yourself.

Don’t expect to walk five miles your first day. The trick is to walk a little more each day until you’re where you want to be distance wise. A good way to start is to pick a landmark that is challenging, but not too far from your starting point.

For example, if you live six blocks from a school, walk to the far end of the school and back and see how you feel. If you don’t feel you’ve walked far enough, repeat the path. Increase the distance every day, and you’ll be shocked at how far you come in just a few weeks.

 

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