ANOTHER REASONTO PRACTICE YOGA: IT IMPROVES YOUR BRAIN I subscribe to a Harvard Medical School online daily newsletter which often has fascinating new health information. I think today’s article is especially relevant to us seniors who want to maintain our cognitive skills. Here are excerpts from the January 8, 2022 article, Yoga for better mental health: With its emphasis on breathing practices and meditation—both of which help calm and center the mind— it’s hardly surprising that yoga also brings mental benefits, such as reduced anxiety and depression. What may be more surprising is that it actually makes your brain work...
THE TOP 15 TOP FITNESS TRENDS FOR 2022 Happy New Year! Happy 2022! The most popular fitness trends change every year. Compare the 2022 survey with last year’s post The Top 15 Fitness Trends for 2121,and the posts two years ago The Top 14 Fitness Trends for 2020 , three years ago The Top 12 Fitness Trends for 2019 and four years ago The Top 10 Fitness Trends for 2018. Online training went from the no. 26 trend in 2020 to the no. 1 trend for 2021, likely due to a shift in the fitness market from clubs to homes because of the COVID-19 pandemic....
AVOIDING FROSTBITE This post is a cautionary addition to my December 18 blog Winter Hiking Fun. I grew up in Denver Colorado where, in the winter, the temperature often goes below zero F. Between the ages of 12-16, I had a morning paper route delivering the Rocky Mountain News. I got up at 5am each morning and fetched that day’s newspapers bundled and left even earlier on my front porch. Then I folded and rubber- banded them on my kitchen table, and stuffed them in my bicycle’s cloth paper bags. Finally, I took off to deliver 100 + newspapers to...
WINTER HIKING FUN Sure, downhill or cross country skiing is enjoyable. But have you considered the fun you could have winter hiking? Not just back and forth in the snow to your ski resort’s 7-Eleven, but actually in the countryside, foothills or mountains? When I was younger, I took long winter hikes up into the Sierras with one or another of my kids, often taking a tent and sleeping bags and staying overnight. Once to a destination, we’d usually fish along small lakes or streams and fry trout for breakfast. But now that I’m a senior, I’m not ready to...
RETHINK ZINC A couple of decades ago, zinc—in the form of zinc lozenges—became extremely popular as a remedy for the common cold and even for flu. The lozenges were important because zinc needed to dissolve slowly to coat the mouth and throat, where a cold or flu virus thrives. Many people still pop a daily dose of zinc as soon as cold or flu symptoms occur and some folks even take them regularly as a cold and flu preventative throughout the winter. I haven’t been one of these. However, I just read an online Harvard University article that’s making me...
HAVING IBS CALLS FOR A GUT CHECK I know several people living with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The common denominator is that each has a very sensitive digestive tract. Seeking more information on IBS I found that there is no cure. However, folks who suffer from it can control and improve symptoms through diet and lifestyle changes. My online research led me to a comprehensive article from Cleveland Clinic titled simply Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). Here are excerpts: If you have irritable bowel syndrome, you might have uncomfortable or painful abdominal symptoms. Constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating are common IBS...
HAD ENOUGH TURKEY? HOW ABOUT HAVING FISH FOR A CHANGE? After all the turkey you probably ate on Thanksgiving plus all the turkey leftovers these past couple days, you may be ready for a change. Adding more fish into our weekly diet has big benefits, especially for us older adults who want to reduce the risk of heart disease and other senior-associated maladies. I found the Harvard School of Public Health online article, Fish: Friend or Foe? that summarizes the major benefits and minor risks of eating fish. Here are excerpts: Fears of contaminants make many unnecessarily shy away from...
VITAMIN C—GOOD BOTH INSIDE & OUTSIDE OF YOUR BODY You need Vitamin C in your diet, whether through certain foods or through supplements. But you can also use topical Vitamin C to improve your skin health. Back in 1970 Linus Pauling, winner of 2 Nobel Prizes, came out with his book Vitamin C and the Common Cold, where he encouraged people to consume 3,000 mg of vitamin C daily. After that, Vitamin C supplement sales skyrocketed, and many folks began drinking orange juice by the half gallon at the first sign of a cold. However, in following years, scientists repeatedly found that...
SAY CHEESE! I love cheese, whether it’s gouda, cheddar, Swiss, camembert, feta, mozzarella or jack. It’s tasty with crackers, with fruit, along with a glass of wine or just in pizza or a toasted cheese sandwich. Yet you, like me, have probably heard conflicting information about the impact of cheese on your health. I went to one of my regular sources to learn more and found a Harvard University article that goes into great detail about this popular food but is simply titled Cheese. Here are excerpts: Cheese is an age-old staple, beloved for its richness, creaminess, flavor, and satiating...
HOW WE COULD EASILY REDUCE OUR SUGAR INTAKE Most of us realize that we consume lots of “extra” sugar daily in processed foods and beverages. And I think the majority of us seniors would love to—especially if it were painless—cut back on our intake. This week I came upon a very short online article about a policy that if implemented can prevent millions of life-threatening diseases with little effort on our individual parts. Here are excerpts from that article by Heidi Godman in the November 1, 2021 Harvard Health Letter titled Nationwide sugar reductions projected to save health and lives....
