Encouraging Health

What’s the best snack to grab after a major workout?

How about a bowl of whole-grain cereal, a bite of Indian takeout, or a big nonfat latte.

Each nosh option has a special ingredient that may help your body recover better and nip postworkout pain in the bud.

The 3 Cs
What, exactly, do these snacks have that others might not? The three Cs: carbs, curcumin, and caffeine. A carb-rich snack like cereal can help you overcome fatigue by restoring glycogen — that stuff your muscles use for energy. Curcumin, a substance found in the Indian spice turmeric, may help quell muscle inflammation. And caffeine from coffee may help block muscle-pain-producing substances.

More Pain-Free-Exercise Tips
Warm up first.
Stretch, stretch, and stretch some more.
Take an aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug 2 hours before heavy physical activity (if your doctor says it’s okay).

How to warm up:
Building up to an appropriate exercise intensity level entails several steps. First, whenever you workout, begin with a warm-up period during which you exercise lightly for several minutes. Then stop and stretch for a few minutes before returning to your exercise program. Build slowly to an appropriate level of intensity. Be sure to stretch at the end of your workout as well. As each week passes, you can gradually add more resistance, time, or intensity to your exercise routine.

Depending on your particular needs, certain pain relievers may treat your symptoms more effectively than others. For example, if you have a sprained ankle, you may decide to take an NSAID, because these medications not only relieve pain but also reduce inflammation as well. Or, if you have a personal risk of gastrointestinal bleeding or ulcers, you may choose to take acetaminophen; gastrointestinal bleeding risks are increased with NSAID use, but not with acetaminophen use.

For more health information, browse Encouraging Health.

postworkout foods, carbs, curcumin, caffeine, aspirin

postworkout foods, carbs, curcumin, caffeine, aspirin

Next time you crave a little something sweet, skip the sugar bowl, and spoon on some of this instead: buckwheat honey.

The dark, sweet, sticky stuff will give your body a powerful shot of cell-protective phenols — something plain old sugar simply can’t do.

Color Is Critical
Honey is a super way to bolster your body’s defenses against the kind of cell-damaging processes that can lead to premature aging and disease. But when it comes to honey’s antioxidant content, color makes all the difference. Buckwheat honey, the darkest of all the kinds tested in a recent study, had the highest antioxidant activity by far.

Trying to cut back on calories?
You’ll have to guard against overeating
Substituting artificial sweeteners for sugar is an easy way to cut back on calories and thus lose weight, right? Not really. Although sugar substitutes may help you maintain your weight after shedding pounds, they generally will not help you lose weight.

In fact, some studies show they may do the opposite. The latest research on sugar substitutes has led some researchers to believe that consuming products that contain artificial sweeteners may actually encourage
you to eat more servings than you would if the food or drinks were sweetened with real sugar. Animal studies have revealed behaviors that suggest sugar substitutes may interfere with the body’s natural ability to count calories based on a food’s sweetness. When this calorie-counting ability is skewed, you may consume excess calories.

See more ideas for honey on Encouraging Health.

honey, phenols

honey, phenols

Attitude is everything. Get all worked up about stuff and your ticker pays part of the price.

But cultivate a “this too shall pass” attitude and you may help protect yourself from heart and blood vessel trouble — maybe even something as serious as a heart attack.

Before and After
Anxiety is so hard on the heart that it also affects a person’s prognosis after diagnosis with heart disease. Highly anxious people with heart disease are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack or die compared with their more mellow-minded peers.

Walk Away from the Worry Whammy
But there’s good news, too. Anxious people who learn how to mellow out can undo some of that potential damage. Exercises like walking or lifting weights do wonders for an unsettled mind.

How to help yourself relax:

When you are anxious, you tend to breathe shallowly, using your upper chest muscles. Your breathing can become extremely rapid and erratic, leading to hyperventilation. Controlled breathing is a technique that you can use to counteract this stress response and induce a state of calm within 3 to 5 minutes. Try this simple technique, using the following steps:
Lie on your back, placing one hand over your heart and the other on your abdomen.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose for a count of 4.
Watch the hand on your abdomen rise as you fill your lungs with air, expanding your chest. (The hand over your heart should barely move, if at all.)
Hold your breath for a count of 4.
Exhale slowly through the mouth or nose for a count of 4.
Repeat for 10 full breaths. Work up to 2 or 3 sets of 10 breaths each.
Keep the following guidelines in mind while practicing controlled breathing:
Stop if you feel faint or dizzy.
Inhale slowly and deeply through the nose.
Exhale slowly through the mouth or nose.
Breathe in a smooth, regular pattern.
Concentrate while inhaling on filling the lower portion of the lungs.

For more relaxation techniques, browse Encouraging Health.

stress, worry, breathing techniques

stress, worry, breathing techniques

The land that brings us giant pandas, the Great Wall, and amazing cuisine also serves up a mean cup of prostate protection.

The land that brings us giant pandas, the Great Wall, and amazing cuisine also serves up a mean cup of prostate protection.

More Protection
In a study, men who drank 5 or more cups of green tea per day had half the risk of advanced prostate cancer compared with men who sipped less than a cup a day. Another way to keep the prostate healthy: Avoid a diet high in saturated fat and include plenty of fruits and veggies in your diet.

More Great News on Green
Green tea can also help:
Revive aging skin cells. Here’s how:
Quick Tea Fix
For a green-tea face refresher, soak a cotton ball in green tea (cooled to room temperature), and swab it over your face. Apply antioxidant-rich moisturizer, place cucumber slices over your eyes, and lie down for 15 minutes. Voila — you’ve got an instant skin pick-me-up.

Boost your brain power:
In a study, older people who drank at least 2 cups of antioxidant-rich green tea per day were about 50 percent less likely to develop cognitive impairment compared to the people who drank 3 or fewer cups per week. Exercising regularly and keeping your brain busy with puzzles, books, and problem solving are other good ways to stay sharp.

Battle creaky knees. Here’s the reason why:
Catechin Delight
The EGCG and ECG found in green tea are powerful flavonoids known as catechins. Seems these particular catechins may help fight inflammation, as well as some of the underlying mechanisms at work in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Keep your heart healthy. Here’s how much you need in order to protect your ticker:
The polyphenols in green tea gobble up free radicals and improve artery function, both of which help keep diseases at bay. Drinking 16 ounces a day (about 500 milliliters) cut the risk of death due to cardiovascular disease by 26 percent in a recent study.

Read more about the benefits of Green Tea right here on Encouraging Health and the 451 Press network.

green tea, prostate, skin, heart, knees, phenols, polyphenols, EGCG and ECG

green tea, prostate, skin, heart, knees, phenols, polyphenols, EGCG and ECG

Got a blood sugar problem?

If you do, there’s a good chance you don’t know it; about one-third of people with type 2 diabetes are unaware of it.

So get your blood sugar tested. Why? For one thing, it’s the first step to getting treated. It’s also key to eating right. People who’ve been diagnosed pack more protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals into their diets than people who don’t know they have diabetes.

Should You Be Screened?
Type 2 diabetes has few symptoms until the advanced stages, so without testing, it’s unlikely you’d discover it. If you are 45 or older, the American Diabetes Association recommends screening for type 2 diabetes every 3 years. Screening at a younger age may be considered if you have risk factors for the condition.

Here’s a list of diabetes risk factors:

* Age. Being 45 or older is considered a risk factor for type 2 diabetes. The risk of type 2 diabetes is low before age 30, then rises with increasing age.
* Ethnic/racial background. People of African American, American Indian, and Hispanic ancestry are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes.
* Family history and genetics. Having parents or siblings with diabetes is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
* HDL. An HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol level of 35 mg/dl (0.9 mmol/l) or lower is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
* Triglycerides. A triglyceride level of 250 mg/dl (2.82 mmol/l) or higher is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
* Inactivity. A lack of regular physical activity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
* Obesity. Being overweight can significantly increase your chances of developing diabetes. * Having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
* Hypertension. A systolic (top number) blood pressure of 140 mmHg or greater, or a diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure of 90 mmHg or higher is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes. Women with a history of gestational diabetes and/or women who have given birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds are considered at higher risk for type 2 diabetes.

For more information on diabetes, search on Encouraging Health and the 451 Press network.

blood sugar, diabetes, risk factors

blood sugar, diabetes, risk factors

Found this healthy grocery list that helps you eat food that is better for you:

If we all spent as much time reading nutrition labels as experts tell us to, supermarkets would have to start installing more cushy chairs and coffee bars than Barnes & Noble. Which may be what inspired two gods of healthy eating — Harvard’s legendary nutrition guru, Walter Willett, MD, and Mollie Katzen, authors of the groundbreaking Moosewood Cookbook — to name names in their latest book, Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less.

The book lists brands for the foods that make grocery shoppers crazy: Either you choose from products where there are so many options (e.g., bread, cereal) that you just want to throw in the towel — especially if your shopping cart is loaded with kids as well as cartons — or you choose from products that sound healthy but often are sugar and calorie extravaganzas (e.g., many energy bars, tricked-up yogurts).

In the words of Willett and Katzen, “Bring your glasses when shopping for breads, crackers, bars, yogurt, smoothies, and even veggie burgers — the calorie counts and nutritional profiles of these items can vary wildly.” Or bring this handy list of the healthiest brands. Although they name more brands in the book, we’ve done the legwork for you and picked out the most widely available. If it’s on this list, consider it blessed.

Bread
Pepperidge Farm sliced bread
100% Whole Wheat Very Thin Sliced
Carb Style, Soft 100% Whole Wheat
100% Natural Nine Grain
Country Hearth Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat sliced bread
Thomas’ English Muffins Hearty Grain 100% Whole Wheat
Roman Meal Multi-Grain Hamburger Buns

Cereal
Wheaties
Total Whole Grain
Kashi GoLean
Old Fashioned Quaker Oats
Wheatena

Crackers
Wheat Thins, Multi-Grain
Triscuit Thin Crisps

Yogurt
Dannon Light & Fit (regular, Carb Control, and Creamy)
Stonyfield Farm MOOve Over Sugar
Yoplait Light

Smoothies
Stonyfield Farm Light Smoothie
Yoplait Smoothie Light
Dannon Light & Fit Smoothie

Protein Bars
PowerBar Pria Complete Nutrition bar
Luna bars
Kashi GoLean Crunchy! bar and Roll! bar

Veggie Burgers
Boca
Original
All American Flame Grilled
Grilled Vegetable
Roasted Onion
Roasted Garlic
Gardenburger
The Original
Sun-Dried Tomato Basil
Veggie Medley
Black Bean Chipotle
Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties

Browse around the 451 press network for more tips and articles on living a healthy lifestyle.

healthy foods, grocery list, groceries

healthy foods, grocery list, groceries

You have the technology. You can rebuild your workout. You can make it better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster. The key?

Music.

If you download something up-tempo onto your digital audio player and slap on those headphones when you cycle, walk, or run, you’ll cover 11 percent more ground without even feeling it.

What Workout?
C’mon. Admit it. When you’re humming along to your favorite tunes, you’re less likely to whine and moan the last 10 minutes of your workout.

And you’re less likely to poop out completely and toss in the towel, because music has the amazing ability to make you feel like you’re not exerting yourself so much. It’s the ultimate workout distraction.

Staying motivated when it comes to exercise may take a bit of thought and planning. Begin by making exercise possible at any point in the day by bringing comfortable walking shoes with you to work and by wearing comfortable clothes when you run errands on the weekend. This will make it easier for you to take a quick walk at lunchtime or take a break from running errands by walking in the park. Always keep a pair of sneakers and sweat socks in your car. Setting goals also may help you stay motivated. Choose a charity run or walk as your goal and set a reasonable target time for completing it. Shape your workouts around meeting that goal and focus on the feelings of accomplishment you will enjoy when you reach it.

Bonus Time
And research shows another benefit to sweating to the oldies (or hip-hop, or rock): a mental boost. Working out to music squashes depression and may even enhance verbal fluency. Here’s to being healthy, happy, and more eloquent! (And what about more confident?

Browse Encouraging Health for more health and fitness articles.

workout, music

workout, music

Drink a glass of this with your oatmeal to help elevate your breakfast to superfood status: orange juice.

Why? The nutrients in oatmeal and OJ work synergistically to provide double the benefits you’d expect from simply adding their powers together.

Food Synergy
The phenols in oatmeal and the vitamin C in OJ both help make LDL more stable — and that’s a good thing, because the more stable LDL is, the less likely it is to rupture, stick to artery walls, and cause Myocardial Infarction (Heart Attack).

How does it occur?
Myocardial infarction may occur at any time and often occurs without warning. As we grow older, our coronary arteries may become narrowed by the buildup of cholesterol plaque. When the arteries narrow, less blood can go through them, and less oxygen gets to the heart muscle. The process of narrowing is called atherosclerosis. The narrower the artery becomes, the more likely it is that a blood clot may form and block the artery completely, causing a heart attack. Sometimes sudden blockages can occur even in places where the artery was not narrow before.

A heart attack may also occur when the heart muscle needs more oxygen than the blood vessels can provide. This might happen, for example, during hard exercise such as shoveling snow, or with a sudden increase in blood pressure. Less commonly, a heart attack can occur due to coronary spasm. Coronary spasm is a sudden and temporary narrowing of a small part of an artery that supplies blood to the heart. It may be caused by smoking or drugs such as cocaine.

But consume the phenols and vitamin C together and they’ll stabilize LDL at twice the level expected from adding their effects together. It’s like this: 2 + 2 = 8, not 4, when it comes to phenol + vitamin C benefits.

Cast a Wide Net
So how can you take advantage of more food synergies? The best way is to eat a varied diet rich in colorful fruits and veggies, healthy fats, different kinds of whole grains, and few or no processed foods. This will give nutrients the best shot at meeting up in your body and reinforcing one another as they guard against disease.

Read more about how foods can help your health by browsing Encouraging Health.

oatmeal, orange juice, phenols, LDL cholesterol, Myocardial Infarction, Heart Attack

oatmeal, orange juice, phenols, LDL cholesterol, Myocardial Infarction, Heart Attack

Here’s a tool you should absolutely use when you’re trying to ditch a nicotine habit: your phone.

But don’t call just anyone. Call a quit line — a free phone line dedicated to helping counsel people who are trying to quit. It could double your chances of success.

Frequent Callers
Intensive telephone counseling (multiple sessions and follow-up calls work best) coupled with free medication (many quit lines help you find complimentary nicotine patches or other meds) doubled the quit rate of smokers in a recent study. So don’t go it alone or do it cold turkey. Every state has quit-smoking hotlines. Here’s what else helps:

Set a quit date.
Call or e-mail a support person daily to discuss your progress.
Walk 30 minutes a day. (It will help you feel better.
Talk to your doctor about patches or pills that can help.

A Michigan State University physician has highlighted the adverse health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) as well as a number of issues regarding safety in the workplace in his report, following the death of a young asthmatic woman shortly after she arrived at a bar to work as a waitress.

The report states that the woman seemed happy and healthy when she arrived at the bar in Michigan, according to her co-workers. About 15 or 20 minutes later she collapsed, and within a few minutes died, the report adds.

“This is the first reported acute asthma death associated with work-related ETS. Recent studies of air quality and asthma among bar and restaurant workers before and after smoking bans support this association,� said Kenneth Rosenman, a professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

For more ways to quit smoking, feel free to browse Encouraging Health

smoking, quitting smoking

smoking, quitting smoking

If you’re slathering on sunscreen through the winter months, good for you! Your skin still needs it even if it’s chilly outside.

And here’s something else you can do for your skin this season: Stock up on sweet, juicy oranges. The reason?

Fabulous Flavonone
Oranges are ripe with naringenin, a naturally occurring flavonone that may help shield skin from UV rays. It won’t replace regular sunscreen use, but researchers hope it may help stop skin-cell death.

Want to look younger? Eat these!

To achieve a healthy, youthful glow, turn away from the sun and turn to carotenoid-rich foods such as cantaloupe, apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and other fruits and vegetables that have deep green, yellow, orange, and red hues. A multivitamin may provide your skin further protection against aging.

In addition, several research reviews have revealed that botanical antioxidants show promise as an effective means of protecting skin cells against ultraviolet radiation; this is another good reason to eat at least four servings of fruits and five of vegetables each day.

Some Healthy Food Choices for Your Skin and Body

Vegetables:
Spinach, leaf lettuce, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes Vitamin A (carotenoids)
Tomatoes, bell peppers Vitamin C

Fruits:
Papayas, mangoes, cantaloupe Vitamin A (carotenoids)
Oranges, grapefruits Vitamin C

Other Foods:
Fortified whole-grain cereals (check label) Vitamins B, D, zinc, selenium
Nuts, sunflower seeds Vitamin E, zinc
Salmon, tuna Vitamins D, E, calcium, omega-3 oils, selenium, protein
Vegetable oil Vitamins D, E
Low-fat milk Vitamin A (retinol), calcium, zinc, selenium
Eggs Vitamins A (retinol), E, B, zinc
Legumes, dried beans Vitamins B, zinc

5 More Winter Skin-Savers
Here are five other ways to help keep your skin supple this winter:
Get a humidifier for your home.
Use the right cleanser for your skin.
Cut back on superhot showers — they dry out skin.
Slather on an emollient-rich cream after bathing.
Pick the right sunscreen.

Browse Encouraging Health for more skin care tips.

skin care, fruits

skin care, fruits