SIMPLE WAYS TO WARM-UP & COOL-DOWN WITH YOUR WORKOUT At least for us who’ve chosen to get vaccinated, the pandemic seems to be winding down. While I realize that many of us seniors still aren’t ready to return to the gym, at least we feel safe performing outdoor activities such as running, biking, volley ball, pickle ball and outside pool or ocean swimming. But before we leap into our run or swim, we should do a bit of warming up. We used to be instructed to perform a “static” warm up including the classic forward bending to touch your toes. ...
TRY RUNNING—YOU JUST MAY LEARN TO LIKE IT I personally enjoy running—or should I say jogging. But most older adults I talk to, say that running or jogging isn’t for them with answers such as: I never enjoyed it when I was younger, why would I now?; it looks too physically exerting; I’m afraid I might hurt myself; I don’t have the time. I realized I wasn’t going to convince any of them—and perhaps you—just by smiling and saying running’s fun. But then I thought, maybe they’d listen to an “authority.” So I searched online and found this short April...
COOKING OILS — WHICH TO USE WHEN You probably use cooking oils regularly, as you can employ them to prepare all sorts of dishes. And you probably try to stick with the healthier oils. Yet, you also need to consider whether the oil is still healthy to eat after actually heating it during cooking—rather than when you use it as a salad dressing or in a dip. To give us some advice, I found this March 25, 2021 Mayo Clinic article by Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D., Which type of oil should I use for cooking with high heat? Here are...
THE BERRY BEST It’s summer—fresh berry season! Berries are among the healthiest foods you can eat; they’re high in antioxidants and fiber and provide potassium, magnesium and vitamins C and K. They’re also low in calories. Plus they’re delicious! Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are the most popular choices and are available at most supermarkets and farmer’s markets. I searched for more info on these 4 berries and found it in the July 1, 2020 American Institute for Cancer Research online article by Sheena Patel Swanner: Enjoy the Health Benefits of Berries. Here are excerpts: July is National Berry Month!...
AVOIDING THE PAIN OF KIDNEY STONES I was talking with an acquaintance this week who mentioned he’d just gotten rid of a kidney stone. He said the pain was excruciating as the stone slowly passed through his plumbing and out of his body. Hopefully, you like I, have never experienced the agony of kidney stones and perhaps with a bit of precaution we never will. I went to my usual sources and found this informative October 2013 article from Harvard Medical School, How to Prevent Kidney Stones. Here are excerpts: Preventing kidney stones is not complicated, but it does take...
THE NEW ALZHEIMER’S DRUG—WHO KNOWS IF IT EVEN WORKS? I’m one of millions who would welcome an effective Alzheimer’s disease treatment. My mother died of it and I know others who either have it presently or who’ve also died of Alzheimer’s. Now, last Monday, along comes the pharmaceutical manufacturer Biogen with their drug aducanumab, with the brand name Aduhelm, as the first treatment approved by the F.D.A. that targets the underlying disease process of Alzheimer’s rather the just its symptoms. Biogen’s drug had been vigorously lobbied for approval by patient advocacy groups and some physicians eager to have an effective...
DO YOU NEED A DAILY MULTIVITAMIN? After hearing from my doctor that I didn’t really need it, I stopped taking a daily multivitamin a couple of years ago. And now I’m seeing articles from reliable sources saying the same thing: Healthy adults over age 50 simply don’t need a multivitamin. I searched for a source to pass on some of the details behind this advice to give you. Here are excerpts from the recent Johns Hopkins Medicine online newsletter Is There Really Any Benefit to Multivitamins? Half of all American adults—including 70 percent of those age 65 and older—take a...
PACKAGE LABELS: WHAT DO THEY ACTUALLY MEAN? Here in California, all eggs sold in the state must be from “cage free” hens by 2022. Oregon and Washington State will require the same by 2024 (although farms with fewer than 3,000 egg-laying hens will be exempt). But what exactly does “cage free” entail? And what about all those package labels on other products? Well, an article in the May issue of AARP Bulletin gives us some facts. The same Lisa Lee Freeman article also appeared online on May 6 in AARP Healthy Living as 5 Top Food Packaging and Product Labels...
AVOCADO LOVE I live in the city of Ventura and just found this out about Ventura County: It’s the top avocado producer in California. (And California accounts for 90% of the nation’s avocado crops.) We have friends and neighbors with avocado trees who love to share their fruit with us. Heck, I look out my office window and see a huge avocado orchard on the hillside across the way. So JoAnne and I share an avocado nearly every day. We’ll smash it on toast for breakfast, or add it to a turkey or tuna fish sandwich for lunch, or have...
OPEN-WATER SWIMMING Now that it’s the middle of May and the water temperature here in Ventura Harbor has risen to 60 degrees, I’m heading back to open-water swimming. Swimming laps at the Y is all very well, but the ocean in our protected little harbor is just more fun. Plus, I have a new wet suit I want to try out. I wasn’t always excited about open-water swimming. I didn’t mind wading into the ocean on a hot summer afternoon and swimming 100 yards out and back to an anchored raft. But the idea of heading out for a prolonged...
