Encouraging Health

Surfing the Web before bed may seem like a relaxing, low-key activity.

But it could rob you of something very important (hint: it’s not your identity).

We’re talking about sleep. In a group of people who reported spending up to 2 1/2 hours a night browsing sites on the Internet, over one-third of them also had some kind of problem with their sleep. Here are some better bedtime rituals.

Sounder Sleep
It appears that high-excitement media inhibits drowsiness (watching late-night TV made sleep time less productive, too, in a recent study). The light your body is exposed to via TV screens and computer monitors seems to mess up your natural sleep/wake cycles and rhythms.

Here are better ways to ease your body into sleep mode.
Love your routine. Your body clock runs best when, like a baby, you get yourself on a regular sleep schedule. So aim to get up at about the same time every day — whether you have a full day of work or a full day of cartoons ahead of you. On weekends, try to rise within an hour of the time you get up during the week.

Do some gentle stretches every morning. So if you have trouble falling asleep, trade in the tossing and turning for a simple, gentle, daily stretching routine instead. Women who regularly stretch out their knots and kinks fall asleep more easily than nonstretchers do.

Put on a pair of warm socks. In addition to having a quiet, dark room to sleep in, having warm feet also may help trigger sleepy feelings, research suggests. The body naturally dilates blood vessels in the hands and feet and releases heat from these extremities in preparation for sleep. Warming your feet with socks and then removing the socks would mimic this sleep preparation process.

Feeling Drowsy?
If you’re sleepier than usual, the end of daylight saving time may be throwing off your ZZZs. Sticking to your regular sleep schedule will help you adjust faster.

Look around www.encouraginghealth.com for more healthy tips.

internet, surfing, sleep

internet, surfing, sleep

Aspirin, vitamin E, the B vitamins, ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine . . . which vitamins and supplements really do give you a mental lift when you need it?

RealAge experts Mehmet Oz, MD, and Michael Roizen, MD, give you the straight story on this and lots of other need-to-know aging issues in their new book, YOU: Staying Young. Here’s their take on “brain pills.”

RealAge Recommends
Do these pills, supplements, and vitamins give you a stronger memory? Here’s the short answer from the RealAge docs:

Aspirin: Yes. Research shows a 40 percent decrease in arterial aging, a major cause of memory loss, for those who take 162 milligrams of aspirin a day.

Vitamin E: Yes (from food). People who consume the highest amount of vitamin E are 43 percent less likely to get Alzheimer’s. And you can get all the E you need to satisfy the government RDA by eating just 3 ounces of nuts or seeds a day. To reach the RealAge Optimum dose, however, you’ll probably need a supplement.

B vitamins: Yes. The RealAge docs recommend 400 micrograms of folic acid, 800 micrograms of B12, and 40 milligrams of B6 per day, because B vitamins help your neurotransmitters work efficiently.

Ginkgo biloba: If you want to. No large studies support its use, but it has promise. The docs recommend trying 120 milligrams daily, as long as you don’t have a blood clotting disorder or aren’t anticipating surgery. Discontinue if you don’t notice any benefits.

Vinpocetine. No. There’s not enough evidence that this supplement (from a periwinkle plant) helps. Plus, it could reduce blood pressure too much.

Give your brain a workout, and read about politics.

vitamins, supplements

vitamins, supplements

What’s Triggering Your Allergies?
If you have allergies, this means that your immune system is hypersensitive to specific substances or triggers, which leads to a misdirected immune response — your symptoms of sniffling and sneezing as your body attempts to fight off the perceived invaders.

If this sounds like you, work with your healthcare professional to come up with an effective treatment plan that helps control or abort this overreaction.

One of the most important steps in controlling your nasal allergies is to reduce your exposure to the substances that cause them — your triggers.

Figure Your Triggers
A trigger is anything that causes an allergy attack. You may have one or several different allergy triggers. You can determine your triggers based on experience, or your healthcare provider can arrange for allergy testing. Keep in mind that it may not be possible to find what’s causing your symptoms.

To help your doctor determine what you might be allergic to, keep track of your symptoms in a journal. Note the time of year your attacks typically occur, the time of day your allergies are at their worst, what your symptoms are, and what activities or exposures precede your attacks. Eventually, you should see a pattern.

Common Triggers
One of the most common nasal allergy triggers is pollen — it can cause symptoms of seasonal allergies, or so-called hay fever. Wind-pollinated trees, grasses, and weeds, such as ragweed, are the primary sources of pollen allergens. Ragweed pollen is a very common allergen, affecting 75% of allergy sufferers, but any grasses or trees that produce pollen can trigger allergic reactions.

However, if your allergies are perennial, they may be caused by exposure to year-round substances, such as molds, dust mites, or animal dander.

Avoiding Your Triggers
Once you identify your triggers, it’s important to avoid them as much as possible to control your symptoms and prevent flare-ups.

If you have seasonal allergies, your healthcare provider will probably recommend that you reduce outdoor activities on days when pollen counts are high.

If you have perennial allergies, your healthcare provider will explain how to reduce your exposure to the year-round allergen that triggers your attacks. This may involve vacuuming your house with a special vacuum, changing your bedding frequently, cleaning your house more frequently, or controlling the climate in your home with humidifiers or dehumidifiers.

Avoiding your triggers completely is not always possible, so it is likely your healthcare provider also will suggest medications to help control or prevent symptoms. Look for an upcoming issue of this series to describe self-care strategies for easing symptoms.

Search www.encouraginghealth.com for more allergy information

allergy

allergy

Smallpox shot protects for decades, researchers find

The smallpox vaccine protects for a lifetime, and so does actual an infection of measles or mumps, according to the first long-term study of immunity to childhood diseases.

And, surprisingly, while a tetanus shot is only supposed to guard against the disease for about 10 years, a team at Oregon Health & Science University found that half the antibodies against the bacterium were still present in the blood 10 years later.

That may explain why the tetanus rate in Sweden is comparable to that in the United States, even though the vaccine is only boosted after 30 years in Sweden, as opposed to every 10 years in the United States.

Mark Slifka of the Oregon Health & Science University and colleagues used blood samples regularly collected from 45 people over a span of up to 26 years to track the degree to which protection against a host of diseases waned over time.

After the September 11 attacks and the subsequent concerns about bioterrorism, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worried that even people who were vaccinated against smallpox before routine immunization stopped in 1972 might not have protection any more.

But Slifka’s team found that it takes 92 years for half the protective antibodies against smallpox to disappear.

Slifka said previous estimates of vaccine effectiveness have usually been based on studying people for just a few years.

For more Vaccination information, go here.

Just because summer’s behind us doesn’t mean salads are, too.

Try this perfect fall recipe: Crunchy Pear and Celery Salad.

Joining crisp celery with juicy pears, be they Bartlett or Anjou, makes this salad something special. And pears are at the top of the list when it comes to high-fiber fruit. Here’s how to make it.

Crunchy Pear and Celery Salad*
The cheddar cheese and pecan pieces — along with giving you some calcium and protein — complement the pear and celery flavors nicely. (Or you can try parmesan cheese and toasted walnuts for an Italian twist.) Here’s what you’ll need.

Ingredients
4 stalks celery, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
2 tablespoons cider, pear, raspberry or other fruit vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe pears, preferably red Bartlett or Anjou, diced
1 cup finely diced white cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted in a skillet over low-medium heat for 2-4 minutes
Freshly ground pepper to taste
6 large leaves butterhead or other lettuce

Preparation
1. Soak celery in a bowl of ice water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
2. Whisk vinegar, honey, and salt in a large bowl until blended.
3. Add pears; gently stir to coat.
4. Add the celery, cheese, and pecans; stir to combine. Season with pepper.
5. Divide the lettuce leaves among six plates and top with a portion of salad. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Makes six servings.

Want more salad ideas? Try searching 451 Press.

Crunchy Pear and Celery Salad

Crunchy Pear and Celery Salad

Here’s a list you’ll want to check twice: Five ways to slash your risk of cancer.

Doing just one of the anticancer steps is better than nothing. But do all of them and you’re cancer risk could drop by as much as 30 percent.
1. Don’t smoke (a no-brainer).
2. Limit red meat, alcohol, fat, and . . .

. . salt.
3. Eat fruit, veggies, and whole grains — lots of them!
4. Exercise regularly.
5. Watch your weight.

Pick and Choose, Just Pick
Although there is no surefire way to prevent cancer, making healthy choices in your daily life may reduce your risk. If you don’t feel capable of following all the anticancer guidelines, at least choose to do the ones you know you have a good shot of sticking to. You can add a few more later, once you’ve made some progress. Baby steps are fine. And they’re waaaay better than doing nothing.

Looking for something too occupy your time? Check out http://www.1pstart.com/guitar-hero-iii-track-pack-rip-off-starts/

cancer

cancer

Think citrus soda is the way to go to avoid a caffeine buzz?

Uh, maybe not.

Scientists recently examined the caffeine content of 56 national brands of soda, and some of the citrus fizzers were highest on the list.

Caffeine Countdown
We expect colas to contain caffeine. But orange soda? Seems it’s decidedly so.

Here’s a list of popular soft drinks and their recently researched caffeine content (per 12 ounces):
Vault Citrus (Coca-Cola) — 70 milligrams*
Mountain Dew (PepsiCo) — 55 milligrams*
Mello Yello (Coca-Cola) — 49 milligrams*
Diet Coke (Coca-Cola) — 46 milligrams
Dr. Pepper (Schweppes) — 42 milligrams
Sunkist (Schweppes) — 40 milligrams*
Pepsi (PepsiCo) — 39 milligrams
Diet Pepsi (PepsiCo) — 36 milligrams
Coca-Cola (Coca-Cola) — 34 milligrams
*Citrus-flavored sodas

Pick-Me-Up Points
Caffeine helps perk you up, to be sure. It makes everything work just a little bit faster — your heart, your brain, your digestion, even your kidneys. But there can be a downside to all that ramping up. Jittery nerves, nausea, perhaps even some irregular heartbeats, if you are caffeine sensitive.

Limit yourself to around 250 milligrams per day — about the amount in two small cups of coffee.

Look for more tips on healthy living on Encouraging Health.com

caffeine

caffeine

There’s a certain mineral that may help reduce your diabetes risk.

Here’s a clue: You might already be getting plenty of it if you eat lots of whole grains, beans, nuts, and leafy greens. It’s magnesium — found naturally in many plant-based foods. Just how much might keep diabetes out of the picture?

A Little More Magnesium
Along with watching your weight and being more active, certain dietary choices may help reduce your risk of diabetes — a blood sugar disorder that can spell trouble for your heart, eyes, kidneys, and more. According to a recent study, you may be able to cut your diabetes risk by 15 percent just by bumping up your daily magnesium intake another 100 milligrams (mg). Why? Magnesium helps your body metabolize blood sugar.

Bread, Beans, and Bananas
Although more research is needed before recommending daily magnesium supplementation, making magnesium-rich foods part and parcel of your eating plan is a great idea. How can you bump up your intake by 100 mg? Easy. Check off one of the combos on this list today and you’re there:
An ounce of peanuts, a half cup of raisins, and an ounce of sunflower seeds
Three-quarters cup of cooked spinach sprinkled with toasted pine nuts
One and a half cups of oatmeal with a quarter cup of chopped dates
A half cup of lima beans and a half cup of navy beans
A turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread
Ten ounces of yogurt with a cup of fresh blueberries and a cup of OJ
A cup of brown rice with two chopped figs
A cup of Cheerios with a cup of low-fat milk and a banana

Take advantage of fall with this Mint baked apples (with raisins) recipe from www.diabeteshealthtalk.com.com

magnesium, diabetes, blood sugar

magnesium, diabetes, blood sugar

Lamb chops or pork chops, bison burgers or veal breast, round roast or Porterhouse steak?

Sure, you know meat’s high in cholesterol and saturated fat and that it’s less healthy than fish and poultry, but what if you really, really need to tear into some red meat now and then?

Use this guide to find the slimmest, trimmest cuts and kinds. Now enjoy–not just the flavors, the health benefits: Most meat is rich in top-quality protein, iron, zinc, B12, and other nutrients that aren’t easy to get elsewhere.

What’s the leanest meat of all?

We hope you’re ready to expand your dinner horizons because bison (aka buffalo) is the big winner. (Deer and elk are right on its hooves, er, heels.) Believe it or not, bison has slightly less fat and fewer calories (2 grams and 122 calories per 3-ounce serving) than skinless light meat chicken (3g and 144 cals). Plus, it’s a terrific source of protein (24g) and iron. The taste? Similar to beef, though slightly sweeter and richer. Try your own burger recipe or this grilled buffalo steak dish.

Bonus: With bison (wild game, too), you aren’t exposed to the cancer-linked growth hormones and antibiotics administered to farm-raised cows.

Things that go “Mooo!�

Beef and veal are skinniest when they’re loin or round cuts, such as beef bottom sirloin (6g fat, 150 cals) and top round veal (3g, 128 cals). Avoid veal cutlets and breast meat.

If you prefer pork…

Choose leg cuts, such as ham, or loin, as in boneless sirloin pork chops or top loin chops (both have about 7g fat and 170 cals).

Lamb lovers

Try cuts from the shank half of the leg (if labels aren’t clear, ask the butcher). Well-trimmed shank-half cuts have 5-6 grams fat and about 155 calories per serving.

Check out http://www.watchingrachaelray.com/healthy-diy-hand-me-downs/ for a great pork recipe!

healthy red meat, rachael ray

healthy red meat, rachael ray

Want to burn more fat and calories when you walk, swim, or run? Then take a break.

The rate at which your body burns fuel may be boosted even higher if you break up a long cardio session into two back-to-back 30-minute sessions with a 20-minute break in between. Breather, anyone?

Start. Stop. Repeat.
How can scientists tell that a 20-minute rest helps rev up your fat burning? Men in a study who did just that (in between 30-minute sessions on a stationary bike) showed elevated blood levels of free fatty acids — higher blood levels than those produced during a single 60-minute cycling session. And that bump in free fatty acids is a sign of increased fat burning: Circulating blood levels of free fatty acids go up when your body starts to break down fat.

More Ways to Burn Fat
Here are a few more ways to boost the fat- and calorie-burning powers of your power workouts:

Do cardio before strength training
Your exercise program is more likely to help you burn off the fat that you eat if you consume mostly unsaturated fats.
A recent study revealed how exercising helps the body oxidize, or burn, fat consumed long after the workout. However, in the study, exercise appeared to help burn only the unsaturated fats consumed. It had no effect on the rate at which the body oxidized saturated fats eaten at a later meal.

Build some muscle. The more muscle you have, the more readily your body burns calories. But don’t do a weak bones diet.

workout break

workout break