Nutrition. Vitamins. You.
Photo by Jacob Townsend on Unsplash A good nights sleep is the key to all things healthy; everything from your focus to your digestion is impacted by your sleep routine. With our busy schedules, its hard to get the rest that helps us feel refreshed, …
Photo by Natalie Collins on Unsplash It’s common to think that bones are hard, lifeless parts of your body. But it’s actually the opposite – your bones are living and growing tissue. As both men and women age and reach peak bone mass, the balance …
For those who have decided to begin their journey on the road to better health, running can seem intimidating. However, in honor of National Running Day, it is important to understand just how beneficial running can be for your body.
Though the act of running is seemingly very easy (all you need are good running sneakers, some space and a little motivation), it is proven that running is the best exercise for the body. In a study performed by the Medical College of Wisconsin and the VA Medical Center, the treadmill (when used at a high exertion level) burned an average high of 865 calories in an hour. The stair-stepper averaged a 746 calorie burn, the rower burned 739 calories and a stationary bike averaged 604 burned calories. This is because as you run, your legs squeeze blood towards your heart and your heart pumps that blood back into your body. The faster you run, the harder your body has to work to keep up, resulting in high exertion and burning of calories.
For those who are concerned running will injure their knees, think again! A National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that obese women had nearly four times the risk of knee osteoarthritis than non-obese women; for men, it was five times the risk. This is mainly because, according to Women’s Health Magazine, running bolsters your cartilage by increasing oxygen flow and flushing out toxins and by strengthening the ligaments around your joints.
Running is used by many frequent runners to help relieve stress, as well. The University Of Georgia Department Of Exercise induced anxiety on subjects by giving them caffeine pills and then testing their physiological and mood symptoms after either resting for an hour or exercising for that hour. The exercise was three times more effective at reducing anxiety. Running has also been used by mental health experts to treat depression and addictions.
In a recent study performed by the British Journal of Cancer, it was discovered that the most active people were 24 percent less likely to develop colon cancer than those who were less active. In another study by the National Cancer Institute, women of a normal weight who reported high levels of activity have about a 30 percent lower risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who reported little to no activity. So, it has been proven that running can help even reduce your risk of developing cancer.
Photo by Jenn Kosar on Unsplash Mushrooms are not just a popular pizza topping or delicious addition to a meal. They have been used as food and sometimes as medicine for centuries, especially in Asian cultures. They are exploding onto the health and beauty market …
Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash A circadian Rhythm is the 24 hour cycle that determines when you should go to sleep and when you should wake up. It is basically the clock that runs your entire body, and is also known as your sleep/wake …
Inflammation is your body’s natural response to protect itself against harm. “Harm” can include banging your knee, cutting your finger, infections like the flu, or even the affects of smoking. It is connected to diseases of the gut, skincare issues, and higher risks of bone and joint problems. As you can imagine, any inflammation that affects the bones and joints can become painful, especially when the swelling and build-up of tissue begins to press against the nerve endings. However, because inflammation is naturally beneficial and essential for your body – helping to mediate injuries and infections – it is not just a bodily function that “older” men and women should pay attention to. Here’s why everyone should be aware of inflammation.
In a study published in the Journal of Gerontology, researchers followed 5,769 Americans for 24 years, from the time they were in middle adulthood (the mean age was 52) to late adulthood. They found that every instance of high inflammation that participants had in their midlife (measured by markers in the bloodstream like white blood cell counts), put them at a 39% higher risk of frailty 24 years later. Those who had high levels of inflammation in middle adulthood had a 9% prevalence of frailty in late adulthood; those who had low levels in middle adulthood had nearly half that.
New Study: Aged Garlic Extract May Help with Inflammation Brought on By Obesity
“Middle adulthood may be an especially important period for poor health in older adults for multiple reasons,” lead study author Keenan Walker, PhD, reports. “First, it is in middle age when the incidence of common chronic diseases, such as diabetes, begins to accelerate. Second, compare to individuals who develop systemic disease and inflammation later in life, individuals who develop these conditions in midlife may have a longer exposure and therefore are more susceptible to deleterious physiological effects.”
There are numerous ways to reduce inflammation, but according to Harvard Medical School’s website, there are foods that are inflammation-promoting and foods that have been shown to combat it. Stay away from refined carbohydrates (white bread and pastries), fried foods (yes- that means french fries), sugar-sweetened beverages, red and processed meat, and margarine or shortening. Foods that have been shown to combat inflammation are tomatoes, olive oil, green-leafy vegetables (spinach and kale), nuts, fatty fish, and fruits.
There’s a link between inflammation and sleep! Click here to learn more.
But the vast majority of individuals in the U.S. are following a diet that is quite rich in the building blocks of what turns inflammation on, but consume very few foods that build up the inflammation resolvers. The good news is that nature has provided us with powerful regulators – omega-3 fatty acids and turmeric (curcumin).
Omega-3 fatty acids, especially the ones we find in fish and krill oil, are EPA and DHA. They help to create the compounds that turn off localized inflammation. Your body does not make omega-3 fatty acids so it’s important to get them through food sources like salmon, tuna and anchovies or through supplementation.
In a study published to the journal Cell, Omega, Omega-3 fatty acids were found to reduce inflammation by acting on receptors found in fat tissue and also found on inflammatory immune cells called macrophages. Omega-3 fatty acids have been long associated with anti-inflammatory effects.
When it comes to herbs and inflammation, the spice turmeric (curcumin) has been shown to be very powerful and effective. “Turmeric acts like a dimmer switch. It lets the injury heal or the immune system get rid of the infection, but when that is completed they make sure inflammation is turned off. Otherwise, the body becomes stuck in a vicious cycle of inflammation that will not subside, leading to damage that perpetuates the inflammation,” according to former director of nutrition Nicole Crane, B.S., NTP.