The Connection Between Your Physical Activity and Insomnia: The many benefits of exercise have been known for years, but can exercise help me to get a better night of sleep? The short answer is ABSOLUTELY! Trouble with falling and staying asleep, also known as insomnia, is extremely common. In…
How To Kick The Smoking Habit Naturally: Each year over 200,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with lung cancer. Of course, not all lung cancer is due to cigarette smoking, but in about 90% of the cases this is known to be true. In fact, the smoking can contribute to…
A Primer On Men’s Health and Movember As we enter fall and the month of November, men around the world are celebrating their health with the concept of Movember. In 1999, Seven Nightly News aired a story about a group of young men in Adelaide, South Australia who coined the term "Movember" (also known…
Airplanes are notoriously filthy, and they’re cleaned far less frequently than you might think. Certainly, deep cleaning isn’t done during the short period of de-boarding and re-boarding at most airline gates. In addition, there are several other travelers that have been in the seat before you. Germs such as bacteria and viruses can live on surfaces for several hours, so chances are you are sitting in the midst of others germs when you take your seat on the plane!
In spite of the ease of getting practically inoculated with germs on the airplane, there are some simple things to remember in order to avoid getting sick after you de-board the plane.
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It is a well known fact that obesity is on the rise and we are not making much progress with battling this epidemic. It is also well known that activity burns calories and helps us to lose or at least maintain our weight. Knowing that an active body is a healthier body, what are the benefits of moving more and how can we achieve our 10,000 daily steps?
The health benefits of regular activity are far reaching. When we consume foods, especially those high in sugar or fat, our bodies secrete an array of compounds designed to help us either synthesize energy to fuel our cells or as building blocks for things like muscle protein. The resources we consume but don’t need for immediate use are then stored as FAT. When we are more active, either while we eat or while we work, the items we consume must be burned for fuel. The bottom line is if you don’t move it, you will gain it and ultimately lose it—the battle of the bulge that is!!
Yes, the endless fight we all seem to have to battle is our metabolism. When we eat, we raise our insulin levels in our blood stream to help us use and store sugar. Activity can help to lower the sugar surge and thus the insulin surge that follows. The trick to outsmarting our fat cells is to lower our insulin levels and only eat for your immediate fuel needs.
In prior centuries, before food was so plentiful and readily available, it made sense for our bodies to be excellent at storing sources of fuel. Our bodies are exquisitely designed to conserve energy. When we go too long between eating or eat too much at once, the delicate balance of metabolism shifts and we store fat! Getting off balance will leave us at risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, as well as for heart attacks and strokes.
Exercise and activity are perfectly designed to counter fat cells by helping to burn recently consumed fats and sugars for energy, which releases less insulin into our blood streams and stores less of energy as fat. The simple fact is that the less we move, the slower our metabolism becomes as we adapt to needing less calories. So merely restricting calories tends to have an adverse effect by actually lowering metabolism. The trick to weight maintenance and eventual loss is to move!
9 Simple But Overlooked Weight Loss Hacks For some of us, it may seem like we spend our lives fighting the battle of the bulge. With the mass amount of information out about diet, exercise, and weight loss gimmicks, how do what we know what to believe and what information…
Stay Fit While Preventing Asthma Attacks Do you sometimes wheeze when you exercise? Wheezing doesn’t necessarily mean that you have asthma, but there is a pretty good chance you may have issues with the flow of air into and out of your lungs. An estimated 300 million people worldwide suffer…
Understanding Osteoporosis Osteoporosis is a serious condition affecting many adults. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, over 54 million of us have low bone density or osteoporosis. The literal definition of osteoporosis is “porous bone”, or bones that are too soft and delicate. In fact, about one in two women…
Anemia & Exercise Anemia, also sometimes known as low iron, comes in various forms and has various causes. The iron molecule helps your red blood cells carry life-giving oxygen around your body. Without iron-carrying red blood cells circulating through our blood stream, our bodies die from lack of oxygen. Anemia…
The Meaning Behind Food Cravings What Do Your Cravings Mean? Craving sweet foods may mean you need more sweetness in your life or that you do not feel sweet enough. Craving smooth or creamy foods could mean that you are feeling like life is very rough and turbulent or there…