Healthy Living In A Bad Economy
The unemployment rate is dropping and the stock market is well off its 2009 low, but there’s no question that the economy remains a stagnant one these days. For federal and state governments, such a stagnation translates into budget deficits, political criticisms, and long-term solvency concerns. For the average American, however, the fears often fall even closer to home. Whether you’ve been laid off, are making less money, or simply find yourself faced with ever-growing expenses, your personal finances are likely more pressing today than they were five years ago.
The situation has had led to numerous reverberations across private and public society. But there’s one key impact that few people discuss: the ramifications of a bad economy on healthcare and healthy living.
Over the past several years Americans have forgone doctor’s visits and switched to generic prescriptions. They have canceled gym members and stopped buying natural foods. In short, they have restrained their healthy lifestyles due to a belief that such a lifestyle is inherently more expensive to maintain.
While certainly valid in some cases, this perception is generally a false one. Healthy living and cost-conscious behaviors are actually mutually inclusive. The problem, however, is that most people overestimate the expenses associated with a healthy lifestyle. For example, although life insurance does nothing to improve the health of the individual, it is a vital policy for securing the long-term care of family members. Yet most Americans overestimate the cost of a policy by a factor of three, thus insuring lower coverage rates. If you’re one of these people, click here to compare quotes and see for yourself.
So how can one improve their health while reducing their costs? Here are a few suggestions:
-Run or bike to work. With gas prices expected to peak this summer, the cost of transportation is poised to take a hefty chunk out of the average middle-class budget. Fortunately, by embracing a healthy lifestyle, you can leave the car at home, save money, and get an excellent workout on your way to the office.
-Buy fresh produce. There’s a common misconception that healthier foods are generally more expensive one. While the belief may stem from the inflated prices at many upscale grocers, not every healthy option is as expensive as Whole Foods. Instead, by visiting farmer’s markets and buying basic produce whenever possible, you may come to realize that certain healthy items (ie vegetables, fruits, beans, and rice) are actually among the cheapest nutrients out there,
-Forgo restaurant meals. On a similar note, restaurants comprise a disproportionate share of our food budgets and of our unhealthy eating habits. By minimizing or reducing the frequency with which you dine out, then, you can kill both of these vices with one stone.
-Do exercises at work. A gym membership should not be a prerequisite for a healthy lifestyle. All you need to stay fit, after all, is a pair of shoes and a nearby sidewalk. But many people prefer the routine that a gym workout can provide. For these people, a short routine during the day can accomplish the same objective. Pushups, situps, plank hold, squats, wall sits, and stair runs can also be done at work, while on a time budget.
-Cancel those subscriptions. When assessing why our expenses have gone up over time, many of us can probably identify one factor that stands above the rest: technology. Thanks to smartphones, satellite television, and streaming video services, it is becoming more and more often acceptable to pay more for such perks than for basic utilities. Cutting back on your technology spend can thus save you money. At the same time, of course, it may encourage you to get outside and seek entertainment elsewhere.
These are just a few of the many ways that a person can cut costs and live a healthier life. While it often seems as though money can buy anything in today’s consumerist society, the reality is that our bodies don’t require any luxuries in order to enjoy wellness – a good lesson to keep in mind, especially these days.
White Rice Increases Risk of Type 2 Diabetes
An analysis released by the British Medical Journal collected a variety of studies from China, Japan, Australia and the United States to conclude that your risk of diabetes increases 10% with each serving of white rice a day. It’s better to stick with brown rice and other whole grains instead of processed white rice, which is full of refined carbohydrates.
Four articles were identified that included seven distinct prospective cohort analyses in Asian and Western populations for this study. A total of 13 284 incident cases of type 2 diabetes were ascertained among 352 384 participants with follow-up periods ranging from 4 to 22 years. Asian (Chinese and Japanese) populations had much higher white rice consumption levels than did Western populations (average intake levels were three to four servings/day versus one to two servings/week). The pooled relative risk was 1.55 (95% confidence interval 1.20 to 2.01) comparing the highest with the lowest category of white rice intake in Asian populations, whereas the corresponding relative risk was 1.12 (0.94 to 1.33) in Western populations (P for interaction=0.038). In the total population, the dose-response meta-analysis indicated that for each serving per day increment of white rice intake, the relative risk of type 2 diabetes was 1.11 (1.08 to 1.14) (P for linear trend<0.001).
The Holistic Health of Eating Organic
There are many reasons why someone would choose to adhere to an organic regiment in their diet and lifestyle. Organic foods and products are healthier, they support local farmers, and they protect the environment and the Earth’s natural ecosystems. These are all important and they affect everyone on Earth, from children to politicians to animals. But there’s an additional reason why eating and living organic is important and it has to do with holistic well being – a component that is often over-looked, yet in many ways it is the most important. It is precisely the lack of comprehensive oversight that has allowed our world to get so out of hand in the first place. Here some of the ways holistic health plays into eating organic:
Eliminating the synthetic chemicals, hormones and pesticides from your meals is cleansing. Your body is a temple and when you don’t eat organic you litter it with chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, artificial GMO products and synthetic animal hormones. Hook yourself up to a blood monitoring system and see where your levels are at. You may be shocked at the effects the substances you put in your body are having on your long term health.
Protecting the planet will allow future generations of humans to enjoy life on Earth longer. Living sustainably, which is a hallmark of organic farming and manufacturing processes, is crucial in ensuring that the bounty of our planet will be around for our children and their children. The natural pristine environments we’ve been fortunate enough to inherit are being poisoned and ruined by carbon emissions. Eating organic supports sustainability and healthy environmental practices.
Supporting local farmers can be viewed as social and ecological justice. Supporting local farmers and organic farming practices supports economic equality, stewardship of the land, and cleansed, natural ecosystems, all of which are in keeping with a holistic planetary health. Using the resources of the Earth in the most efficient, fair way possible is what organic farming is all about. Organic farms protect us from genetically enhanced, synthetic chemicals; the least we can do is to support their efforts.
We have a responsibility as children of the Earth to keep our bodies and environments clean and healthy. The ability of future generations of humans to enjoy our planet and the glory of life on it depends on supporting more sustainable practices. We must begin to view the interactions between our actions, our health and the health of the ecosystems around us as part of an all-important holistic health.
Minimally-Invasive Surgeries Increasingly Opted by Patients and Professionals Alike
Very few people look forward to surgery for the simple fact that most of us don’t exactly enjoy having our bodies cut open and our insides exposed. The late Steve Jobs skipped potentially life-saving surgery immediately after being diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer that killed him, out of fear of having his body “violated.” That’s an expected reaction to an otherwise incredibly valuable medical technology. Such a situation goes against all survival instinct. Yet in many situations it is surgery itself that is key to survival. Indeed, surgery has been an enormously useful albeit disturbingly hazardous human process for thousands of years.
It is due to these basic human fears and the hazards that back them up that traditional “open” surgery is increasingly being bypassed in favor of minimally-invasive measures. Not everything that requires surgery can be done with minimal “violation” of tissue, but many common procedures such as appendectomies and gallbladder surgery are done so laparoscopically; smaller incisions are made using intricate instruments as opposed to larger more centralized incisions made with a surgeon’s hands in mind. It’s optimal from a completely professional point-of-view, in that such procedures tend to take less time, involve less steps, and are less expensive to insure against.
But the ultimate goal for surgeons and patients alike is for procedures to be developed that utilize the body’s natural orifices, according to endoscopic surgeon Dr Hrayr Shahinian. He and others who specialize in skull base surgeries opt to do so through the nasal passages instead of exposing such a sensitive part of the body through open surgery. Not only are such surgical strategies better for a patient’s psychology going into the operating room, but perhaps more importantly they decrease the dangers that cause fears to exist in the first place.
Will such seemingly advanced forms of surgery lead to even more revolutionary ways to re-work the inner functions of the human body without opening it up? Nobody can say for sure, but two things are certain: medical science is only improving, and surgical instruments are only getting smaller. In the future, it will only be more likely that surgery will rarely even require a person have to risk their body actually being cut open.
Are Electronic Cigarettes Safe?
While there have not been controlled medical studies to confirm this, electronic cigarettes are claimed to be safer than traditional cigarettes because you don’t inhale smoke. Electronic cigarettes are often vaporizers that vaporize a liquid solution into an aerosol mist, which you then inhale like a traditional cigarette. Many of the carcinogens associated with smoking cigarettes comes from the burning of tobacco, a step that is removed whenever you use an electronic cigarette. So while it’s not safer than not smoking, I would imagine that electronic cigarettes are safer than smoking traditional cigarettes because you aren’t burning tobacco.
That said, you are still “smoking” and your body is still absorbing nicotine and other chemicals in the vaporized liquid. Without careful controlled medical studies, we can’t possibly know the full extent of the effects but I’ve talked to people who have said that they were able to able to stop smoking with the use of electronic cigarettes, which is the stated primary purpose of electronic cigarettes. South Beach Smoke is just one company that makes electronic cigarettes and one that has been featured on MTV.
I’ll write more about the pluses and minuses of electronic cigarettes in a future post.
Simple Solutions for Avoiding Sickness This Season
Most of us dread the winter months for the simple fact that we associate the whipping winds, icy conditions, and holiday stresses with acquiring common colds and influenza at seemingly the worst possible time. We decidedly avoid the unforgiving outdoor climate and focus on our jobs and making friends and family happy during the holidays. Yet still it seems as though we can never shake off the inevitable sore throat, runny nose, or fiery cough every time winter rolls around. But as it turns out, it might be because the things we do to avoid becoming ill are the very things that cause us to get sick in the first place.
For instance, as previously mentioned it’s natural instinct to keep yourself indoors during the colder months. We can’t help but find winter weather and being sick to be synonymous. But by doing so we forget basic third-grade science lessons on how we get sick in the first place. It isn’t wind that makes your throat sore as much as it’s the viruses floating around in the air being passed from human to human. When you reduce the time you’re outdoors during the winter, you increase the time you’re exposed to air teeming with the infectious material expelled from the bodies of everyone else who stays indoors with you.
This, in turn, increases the chances that you’ll get sick.
Despite overwhelming public awareness and data that should provoke us to commit the contrary, most people still do not adequately wash their hands. The three-second cold water rinse does nothing but create the perfect environment for germs to grow, not die. The minute you touch a door knob with a clammy hand, you’re going to pick up germs like a lint roller picks up hair. Soap and warm water are absolutes when washing your hands. Otherwise you’re just making things worse.
But humans encounter germs all of the time, in any season, so is this really why people get sicker during the winter than at any other point in the year?
The stresses of this particular time of the year are factors that must be plugged into any equation attempting to understand why winter and sickness are so closely related. Studies overwhelmingly indicate that emotions and the immune system are closely connected. The more worked up you are over being the perfect Christmas gift-giver, the more likely those germs your mouth vacuums out of the air with a yawn are going to keep you in bed for a few days.
Therefore it’s essential that you get a good nights sleep and avoid the overwhelming stress inherent with the holiday season, in conjunction with getting a fair amount of exercise and fresh air. Otherwise, it’s only a matter of time before the high volume of viruses in the air and the high levels of stress finally take their toll on your immune system and wreak havoc on your life.
Happiness is Good For You
When Aristotle said that happiness is the meaning of human existence, he might have been on to something. New efforts in medical research seem to suggest that happiness plays a very active role in people living longer, healthier lives. A recent study has reported that the elderly may be up to 35% less likely to die if they feel happy. The paper publishing these results joins a rich body of scholarly work that has reached similar conclusions. How do subjective emotions affect our physical body systems? You ask. Well, there are a number of different reasons and they all point to our psychological health having a huge impact on our physical health.
For one, the amount of the hormone cortisol fluctuates in the body according to stress factors, which can be strong indicators of emotional well-being. Cortisol helps to stabilize blood pressure, cardiovascular health, and the breaking down of fats. An excess amount of cortisol can have many negative effects on a person’s health. High cortisol levels have even been shown to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease and unhealthy blood vessels.
Happiness affects the composition of other chemicals in our bodies too. ‘Happy people’ (meaning people who report feeling happy most of the time) tend to have higher levels of pregnenolone, oxytocin, norepinephrine, and endorphins, all of which help to balance various systems in the body. Studies have also shown that happy people usually have lower levels of the blood protein fibrinogen, which prevents the clotting associated with certain heart diseases.
Happiness seems to have a substantial impact on energy levels and immune system functions too. In fact, additional studies on the subject have shown that happy people tend to exhibit fewer symptoms of viruses and the common cold. While it may not be effective 100% of the time, it’s nice to think that you can fight infections with nothing more than a smile. Either way, we can be confident that our state of mind has a much stronger effect on our physical well-being than previously thought.
Interestingly, good health has been shown to boost seratonin and endorphin levels and lead to more positive thought cycles. Exercise in particular has been proven to be a major catalyst in the production of nearly every chemical that creates feelings of well-being. So it’s a two-way street. Not only does happiness lead to better health, better health leads to happiness. This is a cycle we could all get used to.
Reebok to Pay $25M over Toning Claims
Do those toning shoes actually work? I’m skeptical but Reebok will have to pay $25 million to the Federal Trade Commission in order to settle charges that it made deceptive claims in its ads. It turns out that their shoes may not actually strengthen your legs and buttocks when you wear them! It doesn’t really come as a surprise to me but then again, when it comes to exercise, the easy stuff never works.
That said, do the people wearing them see benefits? Probably, but not the magical effects they claim (and can’t prove). The unfortunate part in all this is that Reebok is being punished because they made specific claims (28% more strength and tone in the buttock, 11% in hamstring and calf muscles). Had they gone the generic “helps tone” route, they probably would’ve escaped unscathed!
Three “Healthy” Foods That Aren’t That Healthy
Many people want to add more nutritious foods to their diet. It’s tough staying away from those tempting treats and delicious cheeseburgers, and, in an attempt to get our waste lines under control, we often switch up to some of the healthier options. It’s almost a gut reaction to choose a salad for lunch, but it may not be as healthy as you think. Though some veggies and health food options are better for you than a cinnamon roll, not all healthy choices have as many nutrients as you might think.
Celery
For starters, celery is one food that people switch to when they go on a diet. It may be that you can cut your weight down quickly by turning to a few sticks of celery for lunch, but there’s a reason why you loose weight so quickly – there’s little nutritional value. Celery only has about 1.6 percent of our daily requirements for calcium and just a little more than that for our vitamin C needs. It’s an empty food that lacks the kinds of vitamins and minerals that the body needs. If you’re looking for a healthy snack to switch to, eat some carrots.
Iceberg Lettuce
This is probably the most infamous of the empty veggies. In the U.S., it’s one of the most commonly consumed vegetables, right along side potatoes and tomatoes. People often pick this as a substitute for lunch over other fatty options. Though it’s lower in calories, there’s not much to it other than water. It has some vitamin A and C, but if you’re going the leafy green route, options like Romaine lettuce and spinach are far better choices.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a low calorie snack, but that’s because they are mostly water. The water content in the average cucumber is about 95 percent. It’s important to eat foods with high water content, such as similar fruits and vegetables, because the body needs them to improve its fluid supply. This, in turn, improves a person’s blood pressure and gets rid of metabolic wastes. In this respect, yes, cucumbers are good for you, but they don’t have much nutritional value. One cup of sliced cucumbers contains only five percent of our daily requirement for potassium, vitamin C, and other nutrients. A better alternative would be purslane, which is a peppery herb that’s very heart healthy and goes great on a salad. It has the same benefits as cucumbers, but has higher beta-carotene content.
Sometimes the answer to “is it good for you?” isn’t as simple as a yes or no. These options, though better than a red meat or a sugary doughnut, are more or less neutral. They don’t possess an abundance of vitamins or minerals. A better choice would be to stick with alternatives to these choices that have more nutritional value. Consult a food chart to get the best results with a diverse food intake that will meet all of the daily requirements for your body.
The Top 10 Most Persistent Exercise Myths
Every week there seems to be a new diet and exercise craze on the market, and over the years, as we have become inundated with a variety of these exercise regimes, we have lost sight of how to really work out. Although many exercise myths have been debunked over the years, there are a few that never seem to leave. The top 10 exercise myths that many exercising enthusiasts still believe today include:
Your Cardio Machine Accurately Counts Your Calories
Most cardio machines don’t ask for your weight, age, or sex which are all important factors when determining how many calories you burn during an exercise. They also don’t know your body’s composition which is also a necessity
Lifting Weights Will Make a Woman Look Like a Body Builder
Women do not have the testosterone levels needed to give themselves big, bulky muscles, and avoiding weight lifting for fear of bulkiness could have serious health implications later in life. Lifting weights also increases lean muscle mass while decreasing body fat and burning calories more efficiently.
Heart Rate Monitors Really Work
Just like calorie counters, heart rate monitors don’t work. In fact, we are better gauges of how hard we are pushing our bodies than a heart rate monitors is.
The Only Point of Exercise is Weightloss
Many people focus solely on the amount of pounds they have shed when beginning a workout regimen. When they don’t see a dramatic weightloss, they become upset or impatient, and some quit going to the gym altogether. There is no reason to solely focus on weight when at the gym. You could easily be building muscle which is canceling out the body fat you are burning. Regardless, a few months at the gym creates a healthier you even if you haven’t lost that 10 pounds as it lower stress and blood sugar levels.
Low-Intensity Exercise Burns More Calories
There is a reason why it is called “low intensity,” and the reason for this is that it doesn’t pump your heart rate up quickly. Low intensity is only good for those with weak joints. If you want to burn more calories and lose more weight, high intensity workouts, such as running, are your best bets.
Have a Protein Shake After Working Out
Wrong. Eat a real meal after working out. You do need protein to help build up muscles, but protein shakes are poor replacements for real meals. Get your protein from a good sandwich or salmon fillet. In addition to the protein, you will get lots of other vitamens and minerals that your body needs and can’t get from a shake.
Focusing on One Muscle Body Part Works
Are you only doing crunches to get nice abs or only focusing on those triceps? Doing so isn’t going to give you that six-pack or the diamond triceps that you have always hoped for, and that’s because of the layer of fat that will be other them. The body works together so work out the whole body to get the best results possible.
30 Minutes of Gym Time is All I Need
Just because you were physically active for 30 minutes does not mean that you can eat or drink whatever you want for the rest of the day. If that were the case, we would all be able to have beach ready bodies with minimal exercise. Also, new studies suggest that the more sedentary you are – even with regular exercise – the greater risk you have for dying younger.
No Pain, No Gain
Bottom line, feeling a moderate level of discomfort during a workout is fine, if not healthy. Pushing yourself to the point where you feel dizzy or nauseous actually puts you at a greater risk of injury. You don’t need to push yourself to the brink everytime you exercise. You just need to exercise smarter to include a great whole body workout.
Stretching Prevents Injuries
Over the last few years, numerous studies have reported that stretching doesn’t help you prevent injuries during workouts, and that static stretching may actually hinder workouts if done for longer than one minute. Dynamic stretching may increase flexibility, but even most major athletes don’t require great flexibility to compete.
