All posts tagged: healthy living

Be Aware of the Foods You Eat

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In response to the daily prompt: Aware If it is true, and I kind of think it is, that food is medicine than we really need to be more aware of what we are putting into our bodies and how it might be helpful to us when we are feeling a bit on the unhealthy side. For me, one of the scariest health problems is memory loss. So, I’ve been looking at foods that I can incorporate into my diet that might help keep my memory functioning as best as possible. I discovered two foods in particular, walnuts and chocolate, which appear to be do just that. Wow walnuts! Who knew that these little guys that I used to shun as a child would become one of the most important foods of my adult life. So what’s the evidence: According to a study published in the British Journal of Nutrition walnut supplementation in lab animals improved their working memory. The scientists hypothesize that it is the polyunsaturated fats, PUFA, in walnuts and their anti-inflammation effect …

Yellow Fruits and Vegetables are Great for your body

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  According to most nutritionists today, from the traditional western medicine folks to the eastern cultures, we would serve our bodies good if we “ Eat the Rainbow.” They say that by filling our plates with many different colors of fruits and vegetables we can help maintain a healthy body. The reasons behind filling your plate in this manner are simple and based on common sense – actually they are based on phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are a part of a plant’s protection system and by consuming these we add that protection to our system, as well. These phytonutrients, aka vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, help with many things including keeping our major organs healthy, stimulating the production of digestive enzymes and protection from UV rays – just to name a few. As luck would have it, these vitamins, minerals and antioxidants often express themselves in fruits and vegetables as different colors. Yellow fruits and vegetables have a ton of great vitamins and minerals, these include: Beta-carotene – healthy skin and eyes Alpha-carotene – healthy skin, bones and …

High Intensity for Everyone

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If you are like me, when people talk about the High Intensity Interval Training workout, HIIT, you assume it is something designed for the people who have been working out for a while and are looking for a way to “up their game,” so to speak. Which is easy to understand considering the typical HIIT workouts you find online are pretty intimidating. They are filled with exercises with scary names like “thrusters,” “Russian twists” and “planks.” Then there is the complicated rules like: do 12 thrusters, run 2 minutes, walk 3 minutes, do Russian twists for 10 seconds, repeat 7.5 times, walk at half speed for 10 seconds…too much! I have recently become aware that it does not have to be this way. In fact, almost everyone can reap the benefits from the HIIT workout. Not just those who are already running 5K’s. The science behind this workout, according to http://www.dailyburn.com, is about heart rate. It turns out that when you raise your heart rate for a period followed by lowering it for a period it …

Take me to the Moon

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In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Take Me to the Moon.” The moon affects all of the fluids on planet earth.  The ebb and flow of the oceans, female menstrual cycles and even the psyche of humans is inexplicably tied to that silver rock that hangs so unassumingly in the night sky. The moon represents different things for different people: For many the moon represents a feminine and peaceful entity. For law enforcement the full moon can mean more car accidents and drunk drivers. For doctors the full moon brings with it more births and more patients. For farmers the full moon is tied to hard winter frosts. For dreamers the full moon represents freedom from the constraints of the material world. I am a dreamer. When I need a break from the material world, a break from the egos of the workplace, a break from the needs of everyone else, a break from the sound of the traffic passing on the street, I envision myself on the moon – far above the earth. …

Guided Imagery to Help you Succeed

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As we look for ways to get healthy and happy and live our lives in peace we often can come up with many options. From aerobic exercise to bring down blood pressure to yoga for opening up internal pathways to health, the available methods seem to be limitless. It is so easy to get caught up in a sea of studies or in the newest best-selling book that sometimes it all just becomes a confusing mess. Taking time out to focus solely on the success of our endeavor may be the solution to getting to our end game. And guided imagery may just be the key that opens the door to success. Getting its start as a tool for dealing with the extreme and chronic pain associated with cancer treatments, the self-relaxation technique of guided imagery is now being used by athletes and just about anyone who is working toward a specific goal. More specifically, a form of guided imagery termed mental rehearsal. The basic principle of mental rehearsal is this: Focus on what you …

Olive Oil Makes Headlines – Again!

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Olive oil has been around a long time. According to http://www.olivesource.com, the olive tree is one of the oldest cultivated trees on earth. This bountiful tree originated in the Iran, Syria and Palestinian region of the Mediterranean over 6,000 years ago. It wasn’t until a few hundred years ago, however, that the olive tree made its way out of the Mediterranean. Today, it is just about everywhere and its popularity is growing. You can find olive oil in prepared foods on grocery store shelves, in skin care products and even in pet food. Olive Bars are popping up in grocery stores and shopping malls across America, too, where you can get the fruit of the tree that is often soaking in its own oil. Olive oil has been labeled by those in the nutrition industry as a, “good fat.” This could be the basis of the new mantra, “fat is not bad for you,” that has made its way around the web over the past few years. Unlike vegetable oil or canola oil, olive oil contains more …

What is Meditation?

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So many people talk about meditation and how important it is in helping people maintain a happy and healthy existence. Even the US Marine Corps, which is home to the toughest warriors in the world, began a pilot meditation program in 2013. Medical studies have also shown that meditation is an incredibly effective method to increase learning ability and relieve stress. Stress, as many of us know, leads to many ailments. These include sleeplessness, depression, chest pain, and a rise in blood pressure on the physical side; forgetfulness, inability to focus and changes in appetite on the emotional side. The potential for alleviating stress is exactly why we need to answer the question of what is meditation…