How The Nutrients Work When Your Engine Is Running #2

As you move and your muscles begin to use energy, you begin to produce heat as a result of that energy. We all know that if we are doing something physical we begin to get warmer. Your body needs to dissipate the heat produced by the muscles in order to keep your internal temperature stable.

As you warm up, the blood vessels become closer to the skin surface. The vessels dilate and there is increased blood flow to the surface. This releases heat through the skin and the internal temperature is maintained.

How the Nutrients Work When Your Engine is Running #1

Normally the nutrients that I mentioned over the past week circulate in the blood stream and go where they are needed. One of the things that we require to do anything is power or energy. When your muscles start to work, they require energy. Energy can be supplied by glucose which is either stored in your muscles as glycogen or it can be brought to the muscle via the blood.

In order for your body to convert the glucose into energy, the body must also supply oxygen, which comes via the blood stream.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #7

The last of the 7 essential nutrients for your body to run smoothly is water. We don't always think of water as a nutrient, but it is vital to the human body. It doesn't have any caloric value and is not a source of energy.

What water does do is transport nutrients and waste in and out of cells. Water is a necessary part of all digestive, circulatory, and excretory functions of the body. In addition, water helps maintain the body temperature.

If you have every been really dehydrated, none of your body functions works properly including your brain. I once got very dehydrated while doing a lot of physical activity on a very hot day. At one point I could not speak except for a word here and there. As they got me cooled down and I started drinking water, after about 15 minutes they asked me to recite the alphabet. I could not do it. It astounded me that I was totally unable to recite the alphabet, but then I knew just hoe dehydrated I had gotten.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #6

The next nutrient which is essential to the functioning of the body is fiber. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body can't digest. Let me clarify something, many foods have carbohydrate content that is digestible and some that is not. Vegetable and fruits are prime examples. They contain carbohydrates that your body can absorb and utilize in the cells to make energy. They also contain fiber that is not digestible and that fiber helps push food through the intestinal tract, helping to prevent constipation.

So the fiber that is not digestible is what helps your body eliminate waste products. I'll talk more about this in a few days.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #5

You'll like this next essential nutrient. It's fat. Yes we all need some fat in our diet. Interestingly, women require more than men. Here's just one reason for having some fat in your diet. Vitamins which I mention yesterday are either water or fat soluable. If you're not eating some fat when you take your vitamins, you won't be able to absorb the fat soluble ones.

Fats are also a concentrated form of energy. Some of the things that fats do in your body are to form an insulating layer to prevent heat loss in the body. Unfortunately even though we are sometimes called a "fat head", we don't have a layer of fat between the skull and the skin. It is muscle and that is why we lose so much heat from our heads. Those without hair lose even more heat because the hair acts as an insulator.

Another thing that fat does is act as a shock absorber to help protect organs. Now that being said, it doesn't mean that the fatter you are the more protected you are. Because remember that the more fat we have in our bodies the more that is placed on all of the organs to keep things functioning.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #4

I mentioned yesterday that minerals are necessary for vitamins to do their job. So you might guess that the next essential nutrients are vitamins. Vitamins are organic substances that are only found in living things. Vitamins help activate chemical processes that release energy within the cells.

The most important function of vitamins is their reaction with oxygen which makes them able to neutralize free radicals which cause damage to the DNA structure. The vitamins are essential to your having a strong immune system. In and of themselves, vitamins do not contain energy, but what they will do is help your body convert fat and carbs into energy.

Best sources are fresh organic fruits and vegetables. If you are not eating organic, be sure that you are on a reputable brand of vitamins. Remember you get what you pay for - if they are very inexpensive, they may not have quality control and your batch may be lacking some of the ingredients.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #3

One of the most critical nutrient necessary for our bodies is minerals. We used to absorb alot of minerals through our skin when we went barefoot. Now we rarely go barefoot and the next best source of minerals for us comes from soil and water and are absorbed by plants or eaten by animals. But unless plants are organically grown, the soil and water may be robbed of most of the mineral content. Animals that are grown in feedlots or are never let out of the nest, also don't get the opportunity to eat natural vegetation and many minerals are lost and not available to us when we eat the animals.

Minerals are essential for vitamins to do their work in making the immune system stronger. We need minerals for growth and maintenance of body structures. Minerals are what helps our body maintain fluids in and around cells. Minerals also help us to build tissues such as bone and regulate the metabolic activities.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #2

The second important nutrient for your body to hum along in good shape is protein. Proteins are the primary building blocks of the blood, skin, hair, nails, organs, and muscles. We require 22 different amino acids, eight of which our bodies cannot produce and we must ingest these in order to have them available in our systems.

Proteins are essential for growth, body building and tissue repair. We also use proteins for fuel when carbs and fat supplies are inadequate. Proteins are what help us maintain and repair muscles and bones.

Nutrients That Make Your Body Work #1

There are seven major nutrient groups that are necessary for your body to run in good condition. Most of these you know, but hopefully you will learn a little from this.

The first group is carbohydrates. Yes, you do need them. Carbs are the chief source of energy for the body. You really need them for muscle activity and they help in the regulation of fat and protein metabolism.

Carbs are broken down in the body to form glucose which is converted by the cells into energy. This glucose can be stored as glycogen in the muscle or it can continue to circulate in the blood stream. Diabetics tend to have a lot circulating in the blood stream because they are not able to get it into the cells. Once the glucose is in the cells, it must combine with oxygen to become energy.

The biggest problem we have today is that our American diet incorporates way to many carbs in the form of grains, ie pasta, bread, etc. Your greatest and best source of carbs should be coming from fruits and vegetable.

What Causes Disease? #3

The one process that I believe is the cause of 99% of our disease is stress. The AMA states that it is 95%, but I think we can really look at almost everything as being caused by stress. The body was designed to deal with stress by using what we know as the flight or fright response. The adrenalin starts to flow but there are other chemicals released in this response as well that make our blood pressure rise, heart rate goes up, blood sugar rises, and a host of other things occur.

Now the original design was to make it so that you could get away from the saber tooth tiger. The problem today is that the tiger no longer exists and the stresses in our lives are everywhere and constant, so our bodies are in an endless flight or fright response. I mentioned earlier in this series about needing your immune system to be strong. Well, it won't be for long if you are under a lot of stress.

The fact of the matter today is that we have so many stressers coming at us on a minute to minute basis, that we have become somewhat oblivious to stress and its effects. For more on this interesting topic and how to use your body to combat stress, click here.

What Causes Disease? #2

One can't talk about disease without mentioning inflammation which is one of the root processes of most diseases. As you've heard me mention before cholesterol is not the problem in terms of heart disease. What is the problem is inflammation. For more about this search my list to the right on inflammation.

What Causes Diseases? #1

You can probably starting naming things that you believe cause diseases, but what you may not know is that there are really only four processes involved in the development of a disease in your body.

By understanding these 3 processes, you can begin to work on those that you really need to work on to help prevent disease.

The first one that I'm going to talk about is free radical damage. Free radicals basically cause damage to the DNA in cells. Your immune system neutralizes free radicals every second of the day, but if your immune system is compromised, it may not be able to neutralize the free radicals or fix the damage done to the DNA. Your role in this battle is to make your immune system as strong as you possibly can. How? Eat 10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Organic is better than just whatever is at the grocery store. Bright colors - reds, oranges, dark greens are best. For more information see my posts on antioxidants.

Staying Healthy - 6 Things to Keep You Healthier #6

One other place that you may not think about as harboring lots of bugs, is your purse. Think about where it has been and where have you set it down. Many long years ago, when I was in school and we were doing public health, I learned that when we went into a home, we carried paper towels which we were supposed to put on the floor or any surface before we put our bag on the floor or on any surface.

You should be cleaning your purse regularly, so that you don't pick up a bug which has gotten to you via your purse.

Staying Healthy - 6 Things to Keep You Healthier #5

Staying in the kitchen, think about your dish cloth of sponge. How often do you change your dish cloth? Have you ever put your sponge in the dishwasher? This is a great way to clean your sponges and should be done on a regular basis. Change your dish clothes frequently.

If you think about what you may be spreading around when you wipe the table or the counter, it will be easier to think about throwing that sponge in the dish washer, or getting a clean dish cloth.

Staying Healthy - 6 Things to Keep You Healthier #4

Now let's move into the kitchen. We know there are lots of things growing in there, but one of the places that you may not thing about is the cutting board. Wooden cutting boards are the worse. The hard plastic ones are much better because you can put them in the dishwasher after each use. How many of you have used the cutting board to cut something up and then just wiped it down with the dish cloth?

We've all probably done that at least once! If you don't want to or can't put your wooden cutting board in the dishwasher, mix up a mild bleach solution - 1 Tablespoon of bleach in 1 quart of water. I recommend that you clean your cutting board after each use.

Staying Healthy - 6 Things to Keep You Healthier #3

I'll bet you haven't thought about this, but one of the dirtiest things in your home is the TV remote. Everyone in the household has handled it - sometimes with food in hand which just sets up a great place for organisms to grow. Also, remember if you or someone in the family is home sick, what is the most likely thing that they touch? The TV remote!

Keep a canister of sanitary wipes near the TV so that the remote can be cleaned often.

Staying Healthy - 6 Things to Keep You Healthier #2

One of the ways to help you stay healthy is to be aware of places where germs and viruses might be. This one might surprise you. Refillable liquid soap dispensers are a wonderful place for bacteria to grow. Hospitals have gone to nonrefillable liquid soap dispensers for this very reason. But the other thing that hospitals have done is to have antibacterial/antiviral foam outside every room. This is a much better way to sanitize hands. Not only should nurses and doctors being using this foam, but all visitors should foam as you go into the patient's room and foam as you come out.

If you really like liquid soap, get the kind of dispenser that is not refillable.

Staying Healthy - 6 Things to Keep You Healthier

We know that contact with microbes either bacteria or viruses is how we get sick. So how do we prevent that contact. Living in a germ free bubble is not the answer!

I know you have all heard this, but the number one thing you can do to prevent illness, is to wash your hands. Almost everything you touch is covered with germs which are looking for a good place to set up and cause infection. So be diligent about washing your hands.

If you are not some place where you can wash your hands, carry around a small bottle of hand disinfectant. This is especially useful when you go into a restaurant, handle the menu, before you eat, just disinfect your hands. You never know who else has handled that menu and what may be on it.

Stayed tuned for the next 5 things that can keep you healthy.

More on Drumming

One of the things that happens when you are in a drumming circle or just drumming yourself, you are doing a cardiovascular exercise, but you are also putting your body and heart beat into the rhythm of the drum. This has a healing property that is difficult to describe.

We're all familiar with that fact that most indigenous people have drumming as a part of their culture. Not only does drumming connect you with your roots, but it also exercises both sides of your brain. If you are drumming with both hands, both sides of your brain are being used. This is a great mental exercise.

Vibration and Wellness

Have you ever been annoyed by someone drumming their fingers or a pencil. Beating out a rhythm is a natural human impulse. And beating out rhythms helps us stay healthy.

I had the opportunity last summer to participate in a drumming circle. It was an incredible experience. What I saw were people who to start with were sitting on the outside of the circle and before long they were looking for a drum or some instrument to join into the circle. the number of faces that went from a "I don't know about this" look to smiles and active participation was mind boggling. And the best part was, that no one wanted to stop to rest.

What drumming does according to researchers is to improve the cardiovascular system, strengthens the immune system, improves moods, reduces stress, actually helps reverse the effect of stress at the cellular level. Drumming also reduces anxiety, depression, and feelings of loneliness.

One more Snack

Another great snack is grapes. But here is the twist. Take a handful of red grapes and put them in the freezer. Freezing them makes them sweet and flavorful as well as crisp. You can freeze them for a longer period of time, but 5-10 minutes is usually enough.

This often satisfies that sweet tooth and makes you feel like you've ha something special.

More Healthy Snacks

I mentioned pumpkin seeds yesterday as a healthy snack. There are other things that are great for a quick healthy snack. Nuts like almonds or walnuts make a great snack. They are nutrient rich and are a great source of protein. Now this doesn't mean to eat a whole can or jar as a snack. What I mean is for you to have a small handful 1-2 times per day.

A great way to eat nuts is with a piece of fruit. Have 8-10 nuts and the fruit and you've had a great snack.

Healthy Snacks

Here are some healthy snacks. We are into fall and you may be thinking about getting a pumpkin for Halloween. A very healthy snack is to take the seeds from the pumpkin and roast them in a low heat oven. A handful to pop in your mouth is a great source of fiber for you.

Keep Your Immune System Healthy

What's most important for your immune system is to keep it strong and healthy. In this day and age we are bombarded on a minute to minute basis with free radicals, viruses, stress, and multiple other things that can weaken the immune system.

So taking care of the immune system becomes crucial. One way to do that is to get plenty of rest. Make sure that you get your 7-8 hours a day of rest. This is a time when your body is able to actually rejuvenate it's army, the immune system.

Also, as with any army, you need to feed it. Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables as these contain antioxidants which help strengthen your immune system. Supplementing with a good multiple vitamin and mineral supplement is also advisable since our food source have lost a great deal of their nutritional value. Eat organic - these items are really better for you because they contain more of the nutritional value needed by the immune system.

More on the Immune System

Yesterday I talked a little about the immune system. There are some viruses which do not get completely killed off by the immune system. One of the most common is the virus that causes chicken pox - Varicella virus. You may know this virus by its more common name shingles or herpes zoster. If you had chicken pox, you will not have it again, but the virus usually lies dormant in your body, waiting for a time when the immune system becomes compromised so that it can take hold.

This usually happens latter in life, but can happen any time that the immune system becomes compromised. Today we are seeing more of this in younger people because of the stress of our lives. For more on stress, visit a site about conquering stress by clicking here.

When the virus emerges, it attaches itself to the nerves and basically what you end up with is a viral infection that follows the nerve routes. Diagnostic of this virus is the fact that it will only present on one side of the body.

Why You Need Your Immune System

With all of the information out there about swine flu and people being worried about whether they should get a flu shot or not, someone asked me about their immune system. Here's a layman's guide as to how the immune system works for viruses.

When a virus enters your body, your immune system recognizes the virus as NOT you, so it begins to attack the virus and kill it. In addition, the immune system is able to take an imprint of the virus so that is makes something called antibodies, which float around in the blood and attach themselves to that particular virus if it is found in a cell or in the blood stream. The virus is only able to thrive and multiply if it gets into the cells and is not killed by the immune system. Of course, the response depends upon the particular virus and your body.

Many people wonder if this is how it works how come I keep getting colds, isn't that a virus. The answer is yes, it is a virus, but the virus keeps mutating just slightly, so that your immune system does not recognize it when it first enters your system. That's why there are flu shots every year, because the viruses mutate and change.

Prescription Medications - Questions To Ask #3

The next question to ask is are there any side effects to this medication? I was always a bit hesitant to answer this question because I knew that some patients would automatically develop any side effects that I mentioned. But you do need to know.

For example, if you are taking an anti-cholesterol medication, you should know that it can cause muscle weakness and that this is not an OK side effect. This is something that warrants stopping the medication immediately no matter what.

You should also know whether any tests are required to monitor the drug. The best example of this is the statin drugs (anti-cholesterol medications) which can cause problems in the liver. Liver function tests should be checked to be sure that your liver, which you won't sense, isn't getting into trouble.

Any drug that may effect the liver, the kidneys or any other major organ system must be checked to be sure that you are not developing a side effect.

Prescription Medications - Questions To Ask #2

Next make sure you understand exactly what time of day you should take you medication. This is extremely important with medications used to treat diabetes. To have the maximum benefit, you should take some of these 30 minutes before you eat, not with the meal or after the meal.

Also ask how you should take the medicine and for how long you should take the medicine. Taking an antibiotic until you feel better is not the way to take it. On the other side of that coin is be sure that you actually need the antibiotic. Remember that almost all bacterial infections are cured by your immune system and all viral infections are cured by the immune system. If your immune system is compromised, then you may need medicines to help your immune system fight the infections. Most colds do NOT need to be treated with an antibiotic. You're not doing yourself any favors by requesting and getting an antibiotic for a cold. In fact many times an antibiotic will make the cold symptoms last longer.

Prescription Medications - Questions To Ask #1

Over the next few days I will be giving you some questions to ask whenever you are started on a new medication by your doctor. I am an advocate of no medicine is good medicine, but sometimes you will be placed on a medication.

First be sure you know the name of the medication and exactly what it is for. Why is the doctor giving you this medication? Ask if the name you are told is the brand name or the generic name.

You should have a list of any medications and what they are for that you are on in your wallet or in your purse. In the event you end up in the Emergency Department or in another doctor's office, you can let them know exactly what medications you are on and why you are on them.

Another Word About Sodium

Recently I wrote about how much salt you should intake in a day. One of my readers wrote and asked about what happens when you exercise very vigorously and you sweat, don't you lose more than just water? The answer is yes, you do lose sodium as well.

So here is the answer. If you are going to be doing vigorous exercise where you will be sweating, keep hydrated. You don't need any fancy vitamin water or gatorade. Just keep drinking plain old water. I recommend that you drink filtered water, but if you don't have filtered water then plain water from the tap will do.

To replenish the sodium, do it with organic foods like fruits and vegetables or nuts. If you go for the electrolyte drinks, you will likely over shoot and you will end up raising your blood pressure.

Time To Touch on Fats Again

I've had several questions about fats recently, so I feel the need to write about them one more time. First I have to say that all fat is not bad. What you have to do is begin to read labels, when it says "Fat Free" what does that mean, what is actually in the product.

The three fats we hear about are unsaturated, saturated, and trans fat. The unsaturated can be good as can some of the saturated fats. The trans fats are a result of processing of the food and are like sticking poison into your system. Even just a little trans fat is very unhealthy for your body. So be sure you're reading the labels.

Now that I've beat into you reading the labels, here's somethings to be aware of. If a label says "zero trans fat" that does not mean there is no trans fat in the food. In fact according to labeling guidelines, a manufacturer can put zero trans fats if there is less than 0.5 grams of trans fat per serving. Your maximum amount of trans fat per day should be no more than 2 grams totally according to the American Heart Association, but for me that is too much. If trans fat is poison to my system why would I want to put any amount into my body?!

Here are the things to watch for on the label: partially hydrogenated oil, shortening, and any food with an extended shelf life. See my postings on fat starting September 6, 2008.