Farmer's Markets

Summer is here and the farmer's markets are starting to take off. Just a word or two about farmer's markets. While it is great to get fresh fruits and vegetables, you need to be aware, that just because you bought something at the farmer's market does not mean that it is organically grown. Look for the organically grown label to be sure you are getting organic fruits and vegetables or you are likely to be getting a lot of pesticides in those fruits and vegetables that are not organically grown.

Also, remember that all fruits and vegetables, organically grown or not should be washed before eating, especially if they are to be eaten raw.

Eating Healthy

One of the issues that faces us today is the contamination of our food by pesticides. The 12 fruits and vegetables that contain the highest amounts of pesticides are apples, imported grapes, nectarines, cherries, pears, red raspberries, strawberries, peaches, spinach, celery, potatoes, and bell peppers.

The way to avoid these pesticides is to buy certified organic fruits and vegetables. Natural does not ensure that you will not get the pesticides. Only organically grown fruits and vegetables are free of pesticides.

Wellness Versus Illness

Jim made a great about my post from 2 days ago. Yes, medical school teaches doctors to look for, diagnosis and treat illness. It does not look at how to keep a patient in wellness. The focus is definitely disease. This is why many doctors are not helpful when you're looking for answers to keep you well or for promoting wellness. Have you ever had gone to the doctor and all is well and they day "Just keep doing what you're doing." This is not teaching you about how to stay well.

There are always things we can be doing better to maximize our wellness and keep working on staying out of the healthcare system. If you get what you focus on, then focus on wellness. It's not that most people think about disease or illness, but rather they don't think about it one way or the other and have never been taught how to keep themselves well. It does take some work to stay well and the benefits are beyond your wildest dreams.

Metabolic Types and Stress

Two other factors that affect your weight loss and or gain and your diet is your metabolic type and the amount of stress in your life. There are those of us out there who are the sports cars and those who are trucks. You have to match the gas with the vehicle. Or in other words match your food with your internal metabolism.

Stress plays a factor here also in that stress produces cortisol and we know that cortisol increases belly fat. Cortisol also leads to carbohydrate craving which adds to your problem. Look for ways to reduce your stress and thereby your cortisol levels.

Balancing the Diet

Eating a balanced diet was an adage that worked well when our food sources contained less chemicals and our fruits and vegetables were more organic in nature. Today eating a balanced diet will not give you the health that it once could have. Today, you need to supplement in order to maximize your health.

The problem is that most doctors know less about nutrition than you do. And they know even less about supplements. I think I have said it before but, nutrition is usually offered as a 1/2 to 1 day of course work in medical school and it is documented to be the least attended class. Some physicians have gone out and learned more about nutrition on their own, but that is not the norm. While same may do this, the other part that is missing is their knowledge of supplements and what they can do to assist you to have a healthier life. The reason for this is because medical school focuses on illness not wellness. So your doctor has been indoctrinated into healing people once they are sick not into keeping them well so they don't get sick.

Manage Your Insulin for Antiaging

One of the most important things you can do to help manage the aging process is to manage your insulin levels. You may think because you are not a diabetic that you don't need to worry about insulin levels. But in fact, you do need to worry about insulin levels.

When insulin levels are balanced, you will see a reduction of blood pressure, a decrease in cholesterol levels, and a reduction in the risk for development of Type II Diabetes. Now you may ask how do I manage my insulin levels.

First, you should be eating protein at every meal. The minute that you smell or see food, the pancreas begins to set up proinsulin which is the precursor of insulin. In other words, the pancreas is getting ready for you to eat. That first bite that you take signals the pancreas to begin production of insulin. Proteins help burn the carbs that you eat, so your first bite should be a bite of protein. Then you can eat whatever you want, well maybe not whatever you want, but you can vary the next bite to something other than protein.

The other way to help manage your insulin levels is to eat complex carbs, ie those found in fruits and vegetables. Limit the number of simple carbs, those found in grains. Be sure that you stick to good fats also.

Blood Type Diet

I just wanted to mention a few more things about some of the diets out there. One of them is the blood type diet. This one only makes sense if you are aware that there are some things that certain blood types tend to have more difficulty eating. For example, the Blood Type O are more likely to have a hypersensitivity to dairy.

One of the issues with the blood type diet is that you may not know your blood type. Getting typed can cost you $25-30 or more depending upon where you have it done. Of course if you donate blood, you can find out just for donating. This is obviously a great public service to those who need blood transfusions.

The other issue here is that if you live with 4-5 other people, it may mean that you are cooking a variety of foods for each meal. How long will that last? If we go by how long an individual can cook specified meals to follow a diet, if they have to cook more than one, it is likely to go by the wayside fairly quickly.

Diets

I know you've heard my rant on diets before, but one more time. Diets do not work. Why? because there are a plethora of diets out there and there are always people who say they work for them and there are a whole lot of other people for whom the diet does not work. The major problem with diets is that the minute you say diet, I can almost guarantee that your mind says deprivation. You will have to be deprived to follow the diet. That's why making healthy choices is so much better than A Diet.

There is a lot out there about low carb diets, but I would rather see you make healthy choices with carbs. The carbs that are healthy choices are fruits and vegetables.

The Food Pyramid

I often am asked about the food pyramid and whether I think that is the way we should be eating. In a word, no. The food pyramid says you need 6-11 servings of grains per day. This my friends is crazy. It's like giving you permission to eat all of the carbs that you want. Not a good idea!

The bottom line is that if you eat 6-11 servings of grains per day you will feel bloated, you will gain weight, and you will end up with ill health. Guess where the food pyramid came from - di you guess the government?? Yes, that is where it is from. They have changed it a bit now and instead of having grains at the bottom they have gone with a vertical look with everything pointing to the top. They still are recommending a large number of grains. Why do you think that is?

While they recommend vegetables, they recommend them by age and the max is 5 servings per day. This is OK if you get 4-5 servings of fruit in a day as well.

Some of you may be asking the question as to whether you need more fiber from grains. What you should do is get your fiber from fruits and vegetables. They are a way better source of fiber than grains.

Biofeedback

Biofeedback is something that I have found to work very effectively. When I was having migraines I found that my hands were very cold along with my feet. Migraines are very often vascular in nature and what was happening within my body was a large amount of vasoconstriction. By using biofeedback, I was able to use the power of my subconscious mind to some of the automatic functions of the body. Some of the functions you can control are things like blood pressure, pulse rate, stress response, skin temperature and brain waves.

Biofeedback fits in with meditation, because it requires you to concentrate, controlling your thoughts while you watch a measurement. In my case, I would hold a thermometer in my fingers. By controlling my thoughts and seeing the blood vessels open in my hands like big pipes, the temperature of my hands and fingers would rise. I could actually see this with the thermometer.

Other types of biofeedback can actually show tension in a muscle and you can watch as you relax the muscle the tension decreases.

Meditation

Since I spoke about acupuncture yesterday, I' thinking it's a good time to talk about meditation. Many of you probably already meditate, but there are likely some of you who really don't know what it is. Meditation is a practice of concentrated focus on a sound, an object, a visualization, the breath, a movement or the attention itself in order to increase awareness of the present moment. Meditation also reduces stress, promotes relaxation and enhances personal and spiritual growth.

Meditation teaches you to block out distractions, creating calmer and more powerful brain patterns. One of my favorite CDs to begin meditating is by Wayne Dyer. Clicking on Wayne Dyer will take you to the CD. The brain waves of experienced practitioners of medication show slow, focused waves similar to those seen during sleep. There is also a synchronization of the waves from different areas of the brain.

Meditation has very positive effects on blood pressure, insulin, blood sugar, and heart health. Concentration is often improved and anxiety and stress are often helped.

Acupuncture

I had someone ask me yesterday about acupuncture. I realized that his questions were likely some you may have. I think most of you know that acupuncture is the use of needles, but you may not know that the needles are actually placed along the energy meridians.

Eastern philosophy sees acupuncture as affecting the flow of energy through the energy meridians. Western medicine reasons that the needles interact with our nervous system, triggering the release of hormones or chemicals that affect mood, pain perception, and immune response.

Since everything is energy, acupuncture can have a very profound affect on a variety of ills, pains, and even depression.

Exercise and Insulin

Whether you are a diabetic or not, one of the things that you may not be aware of is the effect of exercise on insulin. Exercise increases the bodies sensitivity to insulin. In Type I diabetics (these folks are insulin dependent because their pancreas has stopped working to produce insulin), the more you exercise the less insulin you will need to inject. Part of this is in fact due to the amount of muscle in comparison to fat. The more muscle the more efficient the body is with it's use of insulin and the less you will need. In Type II diabetics (these are folks who may become insulin dependent, but usually start out on oral medications), the same is true, but the difference is that Type II diabetics are over weight and need to lose some weight. As they begin to exercise and change the amount of muscle in comparison to fat, they become less dependent on medications. Type II diabetics can often get off of oral medicines and regulate their disease with diet, once they lose weight.

Even if you are not a diabetic, exercise does increase the sensitivity to insulin. This is a good thing not a bad thing. It will just help you metabolize glucose more efficiently.

Benefits to Bouncing

Some of the benefits to bouncing are balance and coordination. If you tend to be a little wobbly, this is a good way for you to begin to get back into balance by increasing coordination. Another benefit is that you will begin to develop rhythm.

From a physiological state, you will improve cardiovascular fitness, bone density, lymphatic circulation, organ function and bladder control. Lastly, you will also expend calories, which is definitely not a bad thing!

The stimulation of the lymphatic circulation is a key piece, because the lymph system is how your body gets rid of toxins in the body. By stimulating it, you help your body to get rid of the toxins more quickly.

Jumping on a Rebounder

I spoke yesterday about bouncing. You can use a simple rebounder but you do need to use caution if you're going to use a rebounder. Simply bouncing on the floor will accomplish as much if you add time to it.

If you decide to use a rebounder, start by just standing on it and bouncing gently until you begin to feel more secure on it. Then start with slightly more bounce. Add action in gradually. The biggest thing to remember is to maintain your sense of balance. If you begin to feel out of control, you probably are.

Rebounders are designed to be low impact on the knees which is important. If you decide not to use a rebounder, use a mat to stand on that will absorb some of the bounce as you move up and down. Keep your feet on the floor and this will also help exercise the muscles and take the stress off of the knees.

Bounce in Your Life

I've talked about bouncing before, but there is evidence that supports why bouncing is important to the health of your body. Bouncing exercises not only strengthen muscles, but also strengthen organs and all cells in the body.

Bouncing works against gravitational pull and creates a G-force that is 2-3 times that of you standing still. This results in every cell having to lift more weight. If you are using a trampoline (not required, used as a demonstration here), the weight of a 200 pound man doubles when he startes upward in the bounce. At the top of the bounce the weight is 0. But you're doubling the weight in the upward movement. This was demonstrated with astronauts who were going to be going into weightless situations and needed to maintain their muscle mass and strength. The extra weight causes all of the cells to react and work harder. Breathing is critical here because the cells will also have an increased demand for oxygen. Increasing the oxygen through deeper breaths also assists organ to be healthier by providing more oxygen so that they can become more efficient in their function.

Muscle and Cortisol

There has been a lot of talk about cortisol and how it increases fat stores, especially in the abdomen. What you may not know is that cortisol can actually destroy muscle fibers. A study done with women taking contraceptives and those not, completing 10 weeks resistance training with an exercise physiologist, demonstrated a significant difference in these 2 groups. The women who were taking contraceptives, showed higher levels of cortisol and gained far less muscle mass.

Women who were not taking contaceptives had 60% more muscle mass. So if you are taking contraceptives and wondering why you are not gaining muscle mass, are you taking contraceptives?

#7 of 7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

Finally, the last way to lessen stress in your life is to organize. Plan out your daily activities and schedule. This will help empower you in taking control. When you've completed a task or activity, instead of just checking it off the list, write a big SUCCESS over the top of it. Celebrate your having completed the task or activity. This can be as simple as completing the grocery shopping or going to the post office. It doesn't matter celebrate that you completed the task or activity. You'll be amazed at how good you feel just by having done this.

I am working with a friend who is an energy healer and we are putting together a course on stress and healing, using energy as well as other sources for healing and coping with stress. I will keep you informed as we get closer to the course.

#6 of 7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

The sixth way to lessen stress in your life is to put other people first. Think of ways that you can help other people. I think I can say that all charities are looking for volunteers to help out. By providing your time to helping others, you'll help yourself as well.

Here's a suggestion for you. If you play a musical instrument (probably other than drums!) - think about going to nursing homes or assisted living facilities and volunteering to play for their residents once a month. The residents love this and you will get great satisfaction knowing that what you are doing is being appreciated.

#5 of 7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

Simplify your life is the 5th way to lessen stress. When I say simplify, I mean to get rid of the clutter in your life. Get rid of the things you don't use. This serves a two fold purpose, one is that you get rid of the things you really don't need or use and the other is that you can pick up some extra cash by having a yard sale and selling those things.

Along this regard, think about controlling spending. Make it game with yourself to see how much you can save in a day, week or a month. Record what you have saved and then celebrate your success. This will also help in keeping clutter out of your life.

#4 of 7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

Take some time to relax. I know this is easier said then done many times, but decreasing the stress in your life is important from a physical as well as a psychological aspect. Relaxing can be anything that helps you unwind without winding you back up or winding you up more from a hectic day.

Make sure you give yourself adequate sleep periods. Sleep disturbance can be a symptom of increasing stress. I would discourage you from using sleeping medications as this will put you to sleep, but it interfers with the normal sleep cycle and you don't always get the true rest that the body needs.

#3 of 7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

The third tip to decreasing stress in your life is to eat nutritiously. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Foods with omega 3 are great like fish. Fast foods and foods high in fat and calories are not helpful for many reasons, but they definitely do not decrease the effects of stress in your life. In fact, they put greater stress on your body internally, compounding the effects of stress on your well-being.

#2 of 7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

The second way to decrease stress in your life is to exercise. I know this is probably the last thing you want to do, but realize that exercise not only benefits you from a physical standpoint, but also from an emotional one. the hormones that are generated during exercise have a positive effect on our emotions.

Having some kind of regular exercise program, instills a sense of discipline in you as well. If you have trouble getting it into your day, go get a free copy of my book "Too Busy to Exercise, Making Exercise Fit in Your Schedule." You can get it for free at here.

7 Ways to Lessen Stress in Your Life

There are some things to avoid to start with to decrease stress in your life. Avoid drugs and alcohol as these are often depressants and make the situation worse. Using them for stress can evolve into a dependence which has a whole other set of problems for you. Medications may be used, but I would recommend counseling first along with some good positive habits which I'll be talking about over the next few days.

Good Breakfast Protein

Here's something different for breakfast to get your protein source in if you tired of eggs or don't like them. Try scrambling some tofu. Add some chopped vegetables, turmeric and other seasonings to give the dish some color and flavor.

If you're on the go and don't have time to stir up some tofu, mix some fruit with soy milk for a drink on the run. This will also give you a source of protein.

Changing Your Exercise Thoughts

Many of us have a very easy time finding excuses to not exercise. Don't have enough time, I have to go to the kids soccer game, I have another commitment now, I'm too tired, the list can go on and on and I'm sure if I haven't mentioned your excuse it is along the same vein. Before you start to exercise, the first step is to change those self defeating thoughts. Start by visualizing yourself exercising. Then go to that good feeling exercising creates in your body. Do this before you go to bed or right before you go to sleep. Think about what it would feel like to be in that ideal shape you'd like to be. Remind yourself that the most important reason to exercise is to live a healthier life.

You either get to take time for exercise or you get to take time to be sick and out of shape.

I have a new book you out called "Too Busy to Exercise, Making Exercise Fit in Your Schedule". Too get a free copy, click here.

Strains

Strains are an injury to the muscle rather than a ligament. What happens is you over extend the muscle and some of the muscle fibers tear. There is some bleeding into the muscle and the muscle becomes painful. Usually the pain is not around a joint area and swelling maybe minimal or not seen at all.

The treatment is the same as for sprains. RICE. Rest the muscle that is painful. Ice that muscle for 24-48 hours. Compression can be used, but may be difficult to do depending upon where the strain is at. Elevation may also be difficult, depending upon which muscle is involved.

Sprain versus Strain

Many people have asked me the difference between sprains and strains, so I thought I would share this with all of you. Sprains are injuries to the ligaments. The one we're all probably most familiar with is the ankle. These usually occur when we move the joint beyond it's normal range of motion and the ligaments which support the joint are stretched. There is usually pain and swelling when this happens.

Treatment is an acronym called RICE. R is for rest. Rest the injured joint for several days. I is for ice. For the first 24-48 hours apply ice to the joint, on 20-30 mintes and off 20-30 minutes. Be careful not to put the ice directly on the joint. C is for compression. Use something like an ace wrap. The minimizes the swelling and helps support the joint while the ligaments are healing. E is for elevation. Elevate the joint above the level of the heart if possible. This will also help with swelling and decreases the discomfort as well.

Tomorrow I'll talk about strains.

Tai Chi

I have been talking about exercise recently and someone asked the question about Tai Chi. Tai Chi is a great form of exercise and is sometimes referred to moving meditation. Tai Chi is slow, rhythmic movements that are flowing, circular, and low impact combined with deep breathing. All of this helps balance the mind and the body.

For someone who has had a stroke, Tai Chi can be invaluable in helping these individuals regain some of their balance. This is especially true if the stroke victim is shifting weight, leaning or standing on a movable surface. If Tai Chi is done on a regular basis, it can reduce the risk of falls and injury. The great thing is that it improves circulation, posture, flexibility, blood pressure and heart rate. Tai Chi also reduces pain and stress, increases energy and prevents osteoporosis.

Early to Bed Helps Lose Weight

Studies have shown that getting at least 8 hours of sleep a night helps with weight loss. Children should be getting 10 hours of sleep a night. So early to bed is a good thing to help keep off excess pounds.

The reason this is true, is that hormones which stimulate hunger are decreased when the body has 8 hours of sleep. Best to keep yourself active during the day so that you can feel tired and ready to sleep at night.