Archive for October 2007
The Best Links Ever… For The Week
Oh, it’s Wednesday, the day that we all focus on work… or something like that. Well, as you make it through the last half of the work week, I’ve come up with my weekly list of great posts for you to check out. Maybe you’ll find some helpful tips for making the day go easier, or maybe some quirky fact that you’ve never heard of. Whatever it may be, check out the awesome list of sites that I’ve frequented over the week and tell them, and me, what you think of them all. Here we go…
- At the Ririan Project site there is a very helpful post that shows methods to keep your mind at tip-top shape. Read 22 Research-Proven Tips for Better Memory and learn of some new ideas you’ve never heard of.
- I had to list another from the Ririan Project. Right along with all of their influential posts, All-Day Vitality: How to Fight Fatigue Morning, Noon, and Night points out methods to prevent that sluggish feeling throughout the day.
- Here is a nifty little comparison of dieting tips that go hand-in-hand with getting yourself out of debt. They don’t seem in common, but check out Zen Habit’s post, Fiscal Fitness: Eliminate Debt with 10 Successful Diet Principles.
- In the post, The Relaxifying Secret to Success, The Positivity Blog discusses tips and advantages of focusing on the process of difficult situations, rather than the possible obstacles that would hold you back. Great tips!
- Over at Diethack, the post, Do You Need Supplements? squares up some questions that we might have about popping the next pill. If you have a routine of taking supplements, such as myself, check out this site and see what you might not have known.
- That’s Fit wrote a short article about how bone density can be increased by drinking tea. Check out Drink Tea, Slow Down That Bone Loss over there and also check out my previous post about other tea benefits.
- I first heard this on the news yesterday, but check out He’s Fit’s article, Bad Marriages Not Good for the Heart. Some new studies are pointed out here that show bad relationships can do a lot of harm to your heart.
- There’s a lot of these do’s I don’t do, and don’ts I do do. If I just confused you, head over to Her Active Life and read the post, Strength Training Do’s and Don’ts.
- At Live Life… Organics and Your Health, there is a very informative article about how magnesium not only gives the body many advantages, but it is necessary. Check out Why Do We Need Magnesium and see what it’s all about.
That’s it for the weekly list of great reads, but while you’re at it, check out Matt’s post at How I Will Be Rich, Enthusiasm is the Way to Success. He shows how you can get very excited about something in your life if you take the time to appreciate the topic and fully understand its ins and outs. Other than that, leave some comments on all of these awesome blogs, I’m sure they’d love to see what you think!
Got Real Milk?
Ever since those innocent days of our youth, we were thrown into the mix and told that drinking milk daily would make us into healthy, strong adults. We’ve all see the ads on television and in the magazines saying that milk provides all the calcium we need, along with vitamin D and other minerals. If you don’t want to grow up into an old, weak-boned person later in life, drink milk, right? Is milk actually doing the body good, like we’ve always been told?
Lately, researchers and other experts have thought this statement about milk is not all that true. Sure milk does contain some of these benefits, but with the evolution in the milk industry, there could be some major health issues that arise. Maybe we should start thinking twice about downing the suggested three glasses a day. Who knows the truth about milk, but we could definitely see a large change since the milk production of our elders.
New production methods are the top of this debate of milk health. You wonder, how much change can come from milking a cow and consuming the delicious drink it produces? Naturally, milk normally contains water, lactose, fat, protein, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. The amount of all of these features are dependent upon what the cow feeds on, the process of lactation, and how the milk is processed. Since we live in an age of mass production, milk has taken on new forms, along with many new questions.
The New Milk’s in Town…
The most obvious way we can distinguish milk is if it is pasteurized or not. Simply put, pasteurization is the process of heating the milk to temperatures of 145-150 and then quickly returning it to a cold state. The point of this is to rid all of the harmful bacteria that could be within. By doing this, we could be losing out on many of the natural ingredients that milk has to offer. After this process, milk is completely sterile and develops into a very different taste. Many believe that pasteurization is required by law in milk production, but that is untrue. The “raw milks” and unpasteurized labels can be found in many grocery stores. Many people actually prefer the taste and possible health benefits of unpasteurized milks.
Another huge difference in today’s milk production is the use of injected growth hormones. The introduction and use of these techniques steam from keeping up with the demand of milk in our society. Since the amount of milking farms has drastically declined since the 1950s, the U.S. dairy industry has opted to use hormones, such as the rBGH, to make the milking process quicker and more efficient. rBGH stands for recombinant bovine growth hormone and is actually naturally found in cow’s pituitary glands. These injections stimulate the cow to produce milk at a much quicker rate than normal. However, the U.S. is the only country that has yet to approve of such growth injections. The FDA has said that there are no human health problems associated with them and are deemed “safe for human consumption” back in 1993. There have been critics that say these hormones could lead to cancers because of the heightened insulin the hormones produce. Maybe the FDA, or someone else should look into this topic to stay with the times.
The raised popularity of the organic industry has also rolled over into the milking industry. If you roam the milk section of your local natural foods store, you’ll notice a variety of brands that are organic, which do not use any of these growth hormones. Many have even stated that they do no use rBGHs in their milk, which can be a large deciding factor for a customer. The rBGH using milk companies have not been too pleased with this labeling because they believe it imposes that rBGH poses health-risks.
As time goes on, so will this debate. My suggestion is to do your own research if you are a milk drinker. There are so many factors that go into these health controversies. If you find some new information, please comment and share it with all of us!
Clearer Thinking With Alcohol
Lookie here, it’s another Friday! That means I’m going to continue with my tid bits of information about alcohol and your health. The past two weeks I have kept a theme on Fridays that somehow pertains to alcohol, just as a nice way to begin the weekend. Many of us find the end of the week as a great time to relax and occasionally drink a few alcoholic beverages to unwind and smooth over the problems formed throughout the week. As discussed in earlier posts, such as Moderate Drinking vs. No Drinking: Who’s The Winner?, drinking alcohol in moderation can prove to be very enjoyable and beneficial to your body. As there are many benefits to drinking, there are definitely negative aspects as well. If drank in moderation there are numerous benefits that stem from alcohol, and we’ll keep on that end of the spectrum today with the topic: Alcohol can actually help strengthen your mind.
When thinking of alcohol, it is sometimes difficult to grasp the benefits because of the long-lasting negative connotations we have grown up around. As reported in the news from a recent study, researchers have found that the consumption of alcohol on a regular basis by women can lead to a higher risk of breast cancer. I have not yet done extensive research on this topic, but with each drink the percentage of risk raises dramatically. These heavy disadvantages can definitely outweigh the gains in alcohol, but knowing each side of the scale is never a bad thing.
Studies have also shown that with moderate drinking, your thinking can become much more clear and actually strengthen your memory. In these studies, produced by the American Journal of Epidemiology, it showed that women respond better to the drinking than men. They suggest that drinking two glasses of either wine or beer per day can, overtime, increase blood flow to the brain and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. As a result of this, memory levels become clearer and stronger. Memory loss is said to be much less common with those that drink moderately. The Journal says, “Frequent drinking may be more beneficial than drinking only on special occasions.”
The moderation we’re talking about here is such:
- For women and those over 65, no more than one drink per day
- For men under 65, don’t drink more than two drinks per day
The ones that drink more than this at a constant rate have to learn and limit themselves. With this bad personal nutrition, over drinking can lead to brain damage, memory loss, and worst of all, dementia. With some self-restraint and will-power, those disadvantages can easily be turned into good.
In no way am I condoning to begin drinking if you don’t already. These posts about the relationship of alcohol to our health is simply to spread the word of the pros and cons of drinking. Please do not solely base your decisions off of the information given in this blog, as I am mainly delivering the news to you, the reader, so we can all be aware and share this knowledge with everyone. Thank you for reading, like always, and be sure to check out all of the previous Friday posts.
How To Relax
Joe and I are trading today. He’s posting over at “How I Will Be Rich” and I’m writing here.
This site is called Be Healthy and Relax and so far there’s been a whole lot about being healthy and not a whole lot about relaxation. Joe and I live in San Diego and we are both huge sports fans. If there’s anyone else out there who’s big on sports, you probably already know what I’m getting at. Watching and being a fan of San Diego has been rather stressful. The Padres blew their shot at the playoffs in the last three games of the season and The Chargers, who were one of the best teams in the NFL last year have been completely, well… stinking.
It’s hard not to be stressed about this type of thing. Sometimes you just take these things for a little more than what they really are, a bunch of guys playing a game. Nonetheless, you want to see your team win and when they don’t you’re less than happy.
On that note, I’d like to give a little list of some ideas to relax. If you take some time out of your day to really relax, you will see benefits in so many areas of your life. It’s better for your heart, it clears your mind, it’s good for your complexion and maybe you’ll stop yelling at loved ones when the Chargers blow a 16 to nothing lead in the second half.
Here’s some ideas:
- Sit or lay in silence – Find an area that’s quiet and comfortable. Close your eyes and take deep breaths. Listen to the sound of your breathing. Imagine all the muscles in your body just turning to Jello. Clear your head and just relax. This is a great way to calm yourself down. Do this for maybe ten to fifteen minutes. Once you’re done, I can almost guarantee that you will feel great.
- Take a warm bath – Draw a warm bath, light some candles, maybe even use some of the scented oils. Lay back, close your eyes and relax. This is a great stress reducer.
- Have a glass of wine or two – Joe has already discussed the fact that wine can be beneficial to your health if taken in small doses. It’s also a great stress reliever at the end of a long day. Maybe even combine the glass of wine with the warm bath. Spoil yourself a little after a stressful day.
- Get a massage – How great does a good massage make you feel. It’s hard to think about the days events while receiving an amazing massage.
- Get pets – It’s been shown that people with pets tend to be less stressed than people without pets. Cats, dogs and fish all seem to work really well. Studies even show that dog owners live longer than people without dogs.
- Exercise – This can work wonders on your mind. Not only is exercise great for getting your mind off of stressful things but, when done often, actually helps prevent feeling stressed in less than pleasing situations. A healthy body makes a happy body and a happy mind.
Those are some ideas to get you started on the path to a more relaxing life. Try not to let those sports teams affect you so much… That’s something I’m still working on.
-M
Wednesday and Full of Great Links
Here we go again with the weekly list of some great sites that Matt and I have found over the week that have caught our eyes. There are so many great sites out there that offer advice and insight from so many levels, it’s always difficult to widdle the list down to just 10. But none the less, the sites listed here are awesome and very worth checking out on your own, if you haven’t already. Here we go:
- Over at DietHack there is an article that brings up some simple ways to slim down on the calories without sacrificing too much. 15 Calorie-Cutting Food Hacks.
- I’ve said it again, but it’s something that’s important in my life: sleep, or the lack of it. Check out Would a Daily Power Nap Make You More Productive? over at HealthMad to see how napping can help straighten out your life.
- This is a little off the health topic, but something we probably all deal with, the 9-5. I know those numbers sound dreadful, but read How To Work 9 to 5 and Enjoy It at Dumb Little Man to, well, learn to enjoy that workday!
- Do you think that yardwork is monotonous and pointless, think again. At He’s Fit, they point out that these once daunting tasks can prove beneficial to your health. It’s at in Yardwork Yields Muscle Gain.
- I’ve written some of my insight on this topic, but you should check out How To Get an ‘A’ in College Nutrition, Part II at Her Active Life and learn some things you might be forgetting before throwing a few drinks back.
- While you’re at Her Active Life, also read Tips for Time Management. We all have our own techniques of how to complete tasks, but it’s always a great thing to ingest some more tips to allow you to make more of your time.
- If you’re interested in working out and not having the space for all the bulky equipment, maybe you should check this new workout idea. It’s over at He’s Fit in the article, Suspension Training.
- There are some huge words of wisdom at Zen Habits in the article, Escaping the Cubicle and Getting Off the Corporate Treadmill. They show that with enough positive energy within you, the limits in your life seem nonexistent.
- The post, Just Do It! over at The Positivity Blog is a good read because it reminds you to overthink your life. I’m in no means an indecisive person, but I know those who are, so this could be a little help.
- The last, but best article I read this week (which Matt found) is called All-Day Vitality: How to Fight Fatigue Morning, Noon, and Night from Ririan Project. This post is packed with ideas to stay attentive and sharp throughout the day with detailed information along with it.
That’s my snazzy list of ten great reads for the week. Like always, check out other posts on these great sites and keep up with they have to say. I am constantly amazed with the amount of knowledge that can be gained through others. Have a good one!
