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Lifestyle
Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock, a big rock you know that exercise is extremely beneficial to your heart, builds muscle and bone density and aids weight loss. Science is now showing us the effect exercise has on the brain, your brain, my brain, any brain for that matter and the results are pretty amazing.
Okay, so you exercise several times a week making sure to do resistance exercise as well as cardiovascular training. You cleaned up your diet cutting back on empty calories, too much sugar, processed foods and now eat plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables. You’re a rock star, a beast even, but wait your work may not be done. Now you need to sleep, and by that I mean get an adequate, uninterrupted, consistent, amount of sleep. No more burning the candle at both ends either, 4 or 5 hour nights, that’s not going to cut it. I once had a physiology teacher say, “every hour of sleep you skip you can take off the end of your life”.
As the USDA rushes to make changes to their food pyramid, many of us already have. Many Americans have taken up low carb or very low carb diets such as The Paleo Diet, South Beach Diet or even Atkins. Still others though not restricting carbohydrates eat a large amount of protein as well. With more and more evidence exhibiting that obesity, diabetes and heart disease have all increased with elevated carbohydrate intake it’s no surprise that consumers would alter their diet and animal protein consumption would fill the gap.
Are you still somewhat traumatized from all those years of having a parent or teacher telling them to quit slouching and stand or sit-up straight? I still remember in Catholic school having nuns include posture grades in our report cards. For reasons I will cover shortly this could be some of the best advice we received in our early years.
I was watching Hawaii Five–O the other day when in a scene one of the stars (character name Steve McGarrett) cut a large piece of butter and plopped it into his coffee. When asked by the squeamish character Danny what the heck he’s doing he explains it as a Navy SEAL trick to boost cognitive function, alertness and energy. This practice with historical origins in Ethiopia and Tibet using tea with yak butter is now being brought to you by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dave Asprey.
Undoubtedly you are familiar with one or more of the USDA’s food pyramids guiding us to a supposed healthier lifestyle. Well, the USDA and Department of Health and Human Services have posted their new dietary guidelines for 2015 on their website health.gov. These, the very same fat phobic institutions that as far back as 1980 gave us carbohydrates as the base (largest portion) of their vaunted pyramid are now back with a new improved guideline.
If you watch Dr. Oz, The View, or any of a zillion different websites you have likely heard of Caralluma Fimbriata along with all the claims about its amazing weight loss properties. Caralluma Fimbriata is a succulent plant (type of cactus) that grows in India and Sri Lanka and into North Africa. It has been eaten for centuries in these countries. The buzz around this plant stems from the historical use of it by hunters and tribesmen to control hunger and thirst while on the hunt. The effects are claimed to last an entire day and all with increased endurance.
Who hasn’t at one point or another enjoyed the guilty pleasure of a film about a perhaps misunderstood brooding bloodsucker giving into the temptation of a certain substance flowing through the veins of a ridiculously attractive nubile victim. Well, new research suggests maybe vampires had it right all along, a regular dose of youthful blood and you can be young and forever beautiful.
Sounds like the title of a new thriller only this one is for real. Hypertension or high blood pressure has been given the designation of the silent killer because it has no symptoms, no warning signs and most people afflicted don’t even know they have it. Getting scared yet, you should be? Consider about one in three adults is hypertensive. So, what exactly is hypertension anyway?
We all know that our hearts are essentially a pump that circulates blood throughout the body. Each time our heart beats the force pushes blood out into the arteries. These arteries are made of muscle and semi flexible tissue not unlike elastic that will stretch to accommodate the force of the pump. Blood pressure is simply the measurement of outward force on the arterial walls.
