Month: June 2015

Categories
Wellbeing

The Calcium Conundrum: What It Takes To Build Strong Bones

Pop quiz: Name three nutrients that are critical to building strong bones. Calcium, right? Everybody gets that one. Any others? Some people get vitamin D, and they’re correct. But almost no one can come up with a third. Give up? In addition to calcium and vitamin D, healthy bones need magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, and vitamin K.
Okay pop quiz, part 2: What foods are the best sources of those bone-building nutrients? If you said milk, you’re in the majority—every day we hear that milk and other dairy products build strong bones. But if you said milk, you’re wrong—or at best only partly right. Yes, milk, cheese, and yogurt are good sources of calcium, and they do pretty well on vitamin D—if they’re “fortified,” meaning that it’s added to the milk. But they’re not even close to being good sources of most of the other important nutrients.
Let’s take a closer look at calcium, vitamin D, and some of those often-overlooked bone-building nutrients, including how much you need and where you get it.
CALCIUM is the most abundant mineral in the body, making up about two percent of our body weight. Almost all of it lives in our bones and teeth. In the U.S., the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for adults is 1,000 – 1,200 milligrams of calcium per day. Calcium helps bones grow when we’re young, and keeps them strong as we age.
Milk and dairy products are excellent sources, but there are plenty of other high-calcium foods that may be even better because calcium in vegetables may be absorbed by our bodies more efficiently than animal-based calcium. Sources include kale, tofu, turnip greens, broccoli, beans, black molasses, fortified drinks (orange juice, soy milk, almond milk, rice milk), fortified cereals, salmon, and sardines.
VITAMIN D helps the body get calcium out of your food and into your bones, where it belongs. RDA is 600 – 800 IU (International Units) per day, but a lot of Americans are vitamin D deficient, which means not enough calcium gets to the bones. The result is an increase in the risk of bone fractures.
Vitamin D deficiency has been linked with a number of other health problems, including increased cancer and diabetes risk. Many experts now recommend 1,000 – 2,000 IU per day. Sunlight is by far the best source–just 10 minutes in the sun can give you up to 10,000 IU. But thanks to our current obsession with sunscreen (which is a good thing, but we still need to spend some unscreened time outside), we don’t get enough. Sources other than dairy include cod liver oil, salmon, mackerel, sole, cod, tuna, sardines, and eggs.
MAGNESIUM makes bones stronger and teeth harder. The RDA is 200-420 milligrams per day, but Americans are even more deficient in magnesium than we are in vitamin D. Many experts now recommend that we get a 1:1 ratio of calcium to magnesium (in other words if you get 500 mg of calcium, you need 500 mg of magnesium too). Excellent sources are pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, whole grains, barley, soybeans, almonds, cashews, other nuts, beets, and collard greens.
PHOSPHORUS works with calcium to build bone mass and strength. As with vitamin D and magnesium, if we don’t get enough phosphorus, our body starts jettisoning calcium, usually via urine or by creating kidney stones. RDA is about 700 mg per day. Excellent sources include soy, whole grains, barley, dairy, nuts, cheese, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and lentils.
POTASSIUM neutralizes naturally occurring acids that can eat away at our bones. RDA is 4700 mg per day (four times more than calcium), and great sources are sweet potatoes, other potatoes, cantaloupe, bananas, avocados, tomato products, spinach, beans, yogurt, halibut, mackerel, peaches, and apples.
VITAMIN K keeps calcium in the bones and out of the bloodstream. RDA is 90 micrograms (for females) to 120 mcg (for males) per day. There’s barely any vitamin K in dairy products, but a cup of kale will give you 630 mcg. Other sources include spinach, turnip greens, and other dark leafy veggies, asparagus, cabbage, and broccoli.
As you can see, strong bones are made of quite a bit more than calcium and vitamin D. Problems start when the ratio of calcium to the other nutrients gets out of whack (and it almost always is). Too much calcium may increase our risk of developing kidney stones and arthritis, and may actually lead to an increase in the risk of developing osteoporosis and suffering bone fractures. (About a third of women–and a fifth of men–over 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture.) And the biggest culprit is milk. Wait, what? Yep, as counterintuitive as that sounds, it’s true.
A number of international studies have found that countries where milk consumption is highest (the U.S. is at the top of that list) have the highest rates of hip and other bone fractures (we’re at the top of that list too).

What’s wrong with milk?

While milk products are high in calcium, they don’t contain enough of the other co-operating nutrients to get that calcium to the right place. Milk also contains a lot of protein, which sounds like a good thing but has its own problems. Eating a lot of animal (but not vegetable) protein–which Americans do too much of–increases bone fracture rates even further.
Oh, and it gets worse. In the China study, men with the highest calcium intake had double the risk of developing prostate cancer and four times the risk of having metastatic (mean it spread to other parts of the body) and fatal prostate cancer.
As long as we’re talking about important foods, let’s not forget about some that can have a negative effect on bone strength: these include salt, caffeine, sugar, and animal products. In moderation, they’re fine, of course. But eaten the way we typically eat them is a problem.
Finally, as important as diet is in building strong bones, it’s also important to do some weight-bearing exercise. Those include simple things like walking and jogging (but not swimming or horseback riding). Try to get 30 minutes at least five days per week.
Before you start any exercise routine or make big changes to your diet, talk with your healthcare provider about what’s best for you and your unique circumstances.

Categories
Wellbeing

Do You Have Superwoman Syndrome?

Many of us are superwomen; We are the women who feel and desire to live up to the expectations and pressures to do it all. We are the women who work hard and are totally dedicated to juggling multiple roles in lives: careers, marriages, family, and friends.

We are women hear us roar! We can do it all!

It can feel amazing to be successful and needed, and there’s a great sense of satisfaction and happiness associated with being able to do it all.  On the flip side, being a superwoman can cause feelings of being overworked, overwhelmed with life, stressed, alone, and at times even depressed.

Does any of this sound like you? I am here to admit I am a superwoman, and I am not perfect. If you’re still debating, let’s get a little deeper into the characteristics of a true superwoman.

Being a Perfectionist: Superwomen desire to be seen as “good” inside and out. They strive for perfection in how they look, speak and perform in an effort to be seen as good enough. Being judged as good is important for their sense of worth.  People-pleasing is often a habit because being liked is vital to a superwoman’s reputation and to them internally.  A superwoman needs to feel loved and that they fit in.

How do we fix this? We superwomen need to first take time to love ourselves and base our self-worth on actually liking ourselves first and foremost. We need to realize that, hey, we are still loved and appreciated even when we are doing nothing at all.

Recognition is Your Drug: Accomplishments bring recognition, and for superwomen, recognition is the drug of choice. The more we achieve, the more recognition we receive, the more we want to achieve. It’s a vicious cycle.

Once more, superwomen need to practice being loved without depending on someone else’s approval. We need to be proud of who we are, and what we do, this should be enough.

Control Freak: Asking for help for superwomen doesn’t happen often. This I know firsthand. Why is this? Why can’t we allow others to help us?  This can come from a fear that no one can do it better than we can.  That leaves us with having too little trust to give up any control and allow others to help.  It can also come from guilt or a sense of failure of not being able to do something on our own.

We can start to resolve this simply by asking others to help, and to trust that they will get it done. It’s all about letting go of control, and trusting in the process, in yourself, and those around you.

Just Say NO: Superwomen are afraid that if they say NO they will not be wanted or liked. Saying NO may make another person angry or upset, and this is not a good feeling for us superwomen. We over-function as way to control conflict.

We superwomen must learn to say NO. We  must learn to share what we want and what we don’t want with those around us.

Over Driven: There is no accomplishment that is too big or to small; we will go for it, complete it, and strive for more. Superwomen are driven to be the best business owners and employees, best friends, best moms and best wives. I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.

We need to learn how to just “be.” If this is as hard for you as it is for me, I feel your pain.  To just be, I’d have to be whisked off to a far off destination that includes a beach and no Wi-Fi, zero connection with the world.

Let the Walls Down: Superwomen may appear confident, but there are secret insecurities. Superwomen tend to feel loved only when performing and being perfect. We have a difficult time asking for help and speaking our true feelings. We control our lives through staying in our own minds and needing to be in control. Does any of this sound familiar? It can be difficult for loved ones to love a superwoman because she sees vulnerability and surrender as a loss of control.

How do we fix this? We superwomen need to learn to surrender control and express our feelings That means everything ladies – sadness, anger, exhaustion, confusion, fear, happiness, love, joy, the whole gamut! This will help those around you to better understand what it is you are needing and to be able to meet your needs. This will allow others to love and support you fully and completely.

Difficulty Receiving: Giving keeps us superwomen in a position of power which we equate to control. However, if we are always giving, then it’s not possible to feel appreciated enough, which causes us to often times see everyone as coming up short. This can create chronic conflict in relationships because no one can feel they measure up to our superwoman expectations.

We need to remind ourselves how good it feels to give.  There is often guilt associated with receiving, which comes down to worth, and so what better way to learn self-love than to learn to receive? Can I get an Amen!

Superwomen are amazingly fabulous women who love deeply, give generously, and have a tremendous need for belonging and love. Learning to receive, follow and express their authentic self can heal this need for freakish control.

Do you know why you have a need for so much control? Superwomen controls mostly because of being afraid things will fall apart and she will shatter. Take a minute to ponder that one.  It is great to be and feel successful, needed and appreciated, and it is equally as important to learn to just be, to receive, and to be able to follow rather than lead.

Categories
Nosh

Quin-Wha? What is This Little Grainy Thing?

In 2014’s “Gone Girl” Ben Affleck’s character jokes that he thought quinoa was a type of fish. In a movie that was very dark, it was a welcome moment of comedic relief.

The joke worked so well because it’s not a stretch to imagine many Americans thinking the same. In an age of green smoothies, gluten free pizza, acai berries and kale, it can be difficult to keep track of every hip food trend.

In short, quinoa is grain with edible seeds. But we’re sure you have other questions about this trendy superfood and HealthWay is here to help!

How do I pronounce it?

Some people have trouble with the pronunciation because it looks like a Scrabble hand gone wrong. You might be tempted to say “QUIN-oa” but it’s actually pronounced “KEEN-wah.” Don’t embarrass yourself in front of your foodie friends.

Where does it come from?

Quinoa traditionally comes from the mountainous Andean regions of South America including countries such as Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It’s a staple crop of cultures in the region, and evidence suggested it was domesticated for cultivation 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Paleo diet indeed.

Whoa, that’s a long time. Why has it been around so long?

Well, quinoa is very hearty. It’s able to survive and thrive in harsh conditions. It does well in arid climates with little rainfall. It’s known to grow in regions that experience severe drought. Additionally, as a crop that originated in the Andes, it does well in high altitudes.

Why is it good for me?

It’s packed with protein! The protein per 100 calories is higher than brown rice, potatoes, barley and millet. It also contains nine essential amino acids and has minimal amounts of gluten. It’s perfect for anyone who’s going gluten free or for vegetarians looking for a source of protein!

So what do I eat it with?

Almost anything! Okay, we admit that wasn’t very helpful. It is versatile, though! In the morning, a bowl of quinoa with fresh fruit and nuts is a great way to start your day. It’s also a great in salads for added protein and texture. For a more substantial meal, try quinoa tabbouleh. The classic Middle Eastern dish is typically made with bulgur or couscous and tomatoes, parsley, mint, onion, olive oil and lemon juice. Just substitute the bulgur or couscous.

But why the sudden demand for it?

It’s hard to say exactly, but in recent years affluent Westerners have become more health conscious. Quinoa is gluten free, high protein, low fat and low calorie, so it’s easy to see why it would championed by healthy eaters. However, the recent demand has taken its toll on the land farms in South America. Many quinoa producers are pushing for factory farming practices that might damage the land. The demand has also inflated the price to the point where many poor South Americans can no longer afford the food that was a staple of their diets previously.

Now you have all the information you need to impress your hipster, foodie friends at brunch!

Categories
Wellbeing

The Secret to Body Peace, No Matter Your Size or Shape or Age

For most of the women in America, body peace belongs to the young. When I was in grade school, middle school, even high school, I rarely thought about my body in terms of the way it looked.

Frankly, it just flat-out didn’t matter. I was an athlete, and my body served a real purpose in my day-to-day life. I could swing a bat. I could shoot a basketball. I could run sprints. For those reasons, I almost always viewed my body in a positive light.

But that innocence didn’t last long. As you’re well aware, new media and pop culture turn women into objects. And the moment we reach the point of no return in terms of physical maturity, ready or not, we’re picked apart and put back together in a manner designed to compromise our self-worth.

I noticed a shift in how the world seemed to view me when I started interacting and functioning primarily in the adult world. I was growing up, and subsequently growing into myself. I just didn’t realize these subtle-yet-significant shifts as they were happening. Then, I blew out 21 candles and watched my world — and body image — change.

I’d get compliments on my lipstick color, or on my cute little shift dress. Some guy would whistle at me on the street, or eye my body conspicuously. Suddenly, showing skin in the summer made me want to hide under a rock. And added up, I didn’t like any of it.

This shift is inevitable and unavoidable for most women. Bodies change as they reach maturity, and our world is conditioned to notice that. Uncomfortable attention makes you think about your body and your worth all the time, where your meaning is derived and what’s most important in life.

Either consciously or subconsciously, it’s the recipe for a existential crisis. Science has proven the prettiest people climb life’s ladder quicker, are viewed as healthier, and earn more money. (And then we wonder why there are a million articles dedicated to improving our looks, getting a taut body like Gisele or perfect hair like Duchess Kate.) It’s impossible not to stack yourself up against a million others, wondering where you fall on the beauty’s fleeting and unforgiving totem poll.

So, the negative thoughts come creeping in. You’re not the cookie-cutter ideal. Sorry! Your thighs are too big, your shoulders are too broad. Your hair never falls just right, your complexion is never totally clear. Your arms have too much flab, your forehead’s a little too tall… something. We can preach body love and acceptance to everyone else, but too many women carry the weight of their own body’s flaws with them everyday.

I know that I did, for a long time. It wasn’t until I talked to body-image and self-empowerment guru Jess Weiner several years ago that I learned the real secret to body peace — whether you’re age 10 or 110, whether you’re a size 2 or 22.

This simple self-worth lesson has stuck with me; a tiny bit of advice among the thousands of pieces I’ve received from experts over the course of my career.

Healthy body image is about an attitude of gratitude.

That’s right. We have to stop worrying about how bodies look, instead appreciating how they work. Can your legs move, allowing you to climb stairs or kick a soccer ball? Can your arms help you lift up your son, or move those heavy boxes? Can you breathe in fresh air, filling your lungs with air and flooding your organs with oxygen? Are you alive? Then you have something for which to thank your body, not criticize it.

I think Jess’ secret is why I had such healthy self-esteem as a kid, and watched it dwindle as I got older: I stopped appreciating what my body did, instead focusing on how my body looked while doing it — especially to others. Women are conditioned to do this. But it is undeniably toxic, my dears. It will destroy your well-being.

So, next time you have a negative thought about your body, I challenge you to do this:

Stop yourself immediately. Replace the negative thought about your arms/skin/calves/ankles/fill-in-the-blank with a positive one. Make it about what your body does for you, instead of how it looks.

And then work on strengthening your body and your mind everyday, instead of changing it. You’re beautiful, as is. It’s not about looking perfect, or fitting into a certain number on the dress tag. It’s about being healthy, being alive and being present in every moment. The stronger you can make your body through diet and exercise, the more you can do and the better you will feel. That’s a fact.

I have a chronic pain condition, and my body and I are at odds quite a bit. But I’ve made peace with it. It’s not a perfect process, and, sure, I have days when my jeans are a little tight or I can’t leave the house because of a nasty headache. (Ugh.) But it’s in those moments that I now realize we need positivity most. I try to remember that with each passing year and each passing day, no matter my body’s size or shape.

So? Cut yourself some slack. Embrace your strong legs that run, bright eyes that see, and grumbling stomach that fuels you up. Laugh a lot. Love yourself. And don’t feed negativity, lest it suffocate your happiness and peace.

Instead, live like no one else is watching. Something Jess told me three years ago: “A body is to live in, not just a vessel to be admired and adorned.” Never forget that.

Categories
Wellbeing

Running Mom Guilt: Why You Should Let it Go

Mothers are inherently selfless. From the day they look into the eyes of their first born child, a mother instantly puts their needs second behind their beautiful new child. A mother will go without to make sure their kids needs are met…and sometimes will go without simply to go over and above what their child requires. When I was younger, we had to strategically plan birthday and holiday gifts for my own mother, to make sure she would enjoy them, and that there was no possible way she could turn around and use that gift on us kids instead. She would have done (and still would do) anything to see us happy, even if it results in her own misery.

It’s just what moms do.

But while this selflessness is indeed instinctual, it may not always be for the best…for mom OR the kids. Case in point: exercise, and more specifically, finding the time to do it.

As a fitness professional, I work with new (and experienced) moms all of the time. Hands down the number one issue moms have when it comes to fitness, running, or training for a race, is finding the time to fit in their workouts. As to be expected, moms tend to put their family’s needs first. Little Joey has baseball practice, and Suzy has ballet practice, and someone needs to cook dinner and do dishes and fold the laundry, and even though the baby is napping, I should vacuum instead of finding time for myself, and the husband had a long work day so we don’t want to bother him for help, and…your get the idea. The list goes on and on. Mom’s needs come last, and if they don’t, there is often a lot of mom-guilt felt.

But it shouldn’t always be that way. Taking the time out of your busy day to put in a training run doesn’t make you a selfish mom. If anything, it can make you a BETTER mom. And here’s how:

You’ll be happier. Ever heard the saying “when mom is happy, everyone is happy”? Well, it’s true. Exercise, especially running, is a proven stress fighter and mood stabilizer. You’ll be able to handle the next toddler or pre-teen disaster without literally crying over spilled milk.

You’ll be stronger. When my kids were babies, I used to joke that I was glad I worked out regularly, because it made toting a toddler on my hip that much easier. But now that they are 8 & 6 years old, and still need the occasional lift from mom (such as the time my 6 year old fell, scraped his knee, and was convinced it was the end of the world), I’m even MORE glad that I take the time to train. Those kids are heavy.

You’ll be healthier. You are there for your kids today, but do you think about being there for them in another 10, 15, or 20 years? The future is never guaranteed, so it is important to take care of your body NOW, before it’s too late. Regular exercise like running provides countless benefits. Lowered risk of heart disease (the number one killer of women in our country), lowered risk of cancers, lowered risk of type two diabetes, lowered risk of osteoporosis…the list is endless. Sacrificing short periods of time away from your kids now to get exercise will help ensure you get MORE time with them in the future. Trust me, they’ll appreciate that more in the long run.

You’ll sleep better. Ahhh, sleep. Sleep can be one of the most elusive necessities in a parent’s world. Regular exercise has been proven to help you fall asleep faster and sleep more soundly. And regular, restful sleep will make you happier, stronger (as your body recovers and rebuilds from your workouts during the night), and healthier. Do you see this great pattern going on here?

It’s good to spend time apart. From a social and developmental point of view, it is really good for your kids to learn not only how to be away from you, but how to interact with other trusted adults. The saying “it takes a village to raise a child” was coined for a reason; everyone contributes to the growth and well being of your child differently . So instead of feeling guilty for spending time away from your kids, think of the quality Dad/Aunt/Grandparent etc. time they are getting instead. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, after all .

But, the one that is most important in my opinion…

Your kids are watching you. It’s true, believe it or not. Even though it may not seem that way when you may have to repeat to little Johnny one hundreds times to turn off the TV and clean his room, your kids ARE listening and watching every little thing you do. When you take the time for yourself to go for a run, you are teaching your kids countless valuable lessons, such as the importance of making time for yourself and the importance of exercise. They will witness first hand the sacrifice and payoff that comes with setting, training for, and achieving a goal. Don’t just talk about these important life lessons with your kids, SHOW THEM.

So, just because you are mom does not mean your wants and needs must always be at the bottom of the totem pole. Set a great example for your children by showing them that not only is your health a priority, but you as a women respect yourself enough to make YOURSELF a priority as well. I promise you, it will pay off in the long run. (Pun totally intended.)

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Wellbeing

Being Content Doesn't Mean You're Settling

Happiness is self-contentedness. — Aristotle

I was driving to work the other day, and I was happy, unapologetically so. I recently moved into the city and was overjoyed to avoid the 45-minute traffic jam. The buildings were older, the trees mature, and there was a bustle that just felt fresh.

I was envisioning a future where I’d bike to work, take my daughter to the park, and spend lazy Saturdays exploring new markets and restaurants. But then I stopped myself. Is this where I really wanted to be? I never wanted to live in St. Louis. I had set my sights on Colorado, northern California, Washington… Why was I suddenly feeling so content?

Was I becoming complacent?

This terrified me, and my happy mood instantly plummeted, urging me to yearn for the next best thing. As I expressed these feelings to a friend, it hit me: Maybe I’m scared to be happy.

There’s a popular sentiment that we should always be striving to better ourselves, physically, financially, and emotionally. There is always room for improvement, and while pursuing excellence is typically healthy, it can be terribly harmful when taken to an extreme.

Being content means accepting where you are with happiness. Being complacent means settling for circumstances that are less than ideal. I was fearful that being happy was going to keep me in this place forever. But would it really be that bad? I had become so obsessed with plans I’d constructed in college that instead of moving me forward they were actually holding me back.

Being content doesn’t mean you’re settling, it means that you’re mature enough to enjoy individual moments in life, whether big or small, planned or unplanned. It means that the horizon is not always out of your grasp; you can actually touch it and marvel within its beauty.

Social psychologist, speaker, and author Heidi Grant Halvorson has explained how contentment and happiness evolve over time: “Research suggests…that [happiness] slowly evolves into something very different from our youthful idea of happiness. Happiness for the young is largely about anticipating the joys of new accomplishments…as we grow older, we find that happiness becomes more and more about being content in our current circumstances, and hanging on to what we’ve already got.”

Many other psychologists agree that happiness isn’t a feeling, but is more accurately described as having a sense of contentedness.

Why wait till our youth has passed us by to be satisfied with what’s before us? Our mental health is a work in progress, and although it’s important to be introspective, happiness shouldn’t make us feel guilty either. Every day we grapple with the challenges of attaining happiness. It can be a rocky path for some. So cherish those good moments and don’t let them be plagued by fear or self-doubt. Your body and mind will thank you later.

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Wellbeing

Empowering Women Through Fitness

Starting at an early age, society places a lot of pressure on women to look a certain way.

Magazines, television, and the internet are full of flawless women with perfectly toned abs, long legs, and backsides you could bounce a quarter off of. These societal ideals are sometimes so unrealistic that it can be easy for young girls to quickly lose self-esteem and feel as if they don’t measure up.

Often when we try to pursue unrealistic expectations, anxiety increases and the effort to lose weight and get fit begins to add to the stresses of life instead of relieving them. Getting in shape should be about the desire to live a healthy lifestyle and making yourself feel better. It should not be about trying to replicate the airbrushed model on a magazine cover at the grocery store.

Here are three ways to empower and emancipate yourself from society’s idealistic body-image pressures.

1. It is scientifically proven!  

Research shows that stress can keep us from losing weight, and on the flip side might even cause more weight gain. Even when we are eating well and exercising, an excessive amount of stress can counteract all of our good efforts. That’s why it’s so important to combine both fitness and wellness together. By reducing stress and increasing relaxation we can actually significantly improve our weight loss efforts. Practice relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga, and deep breathing to keep your mind healthy and balanced.

2. When you look good, you feel good!

This is so true, and you know it. You’ve been working your butt off in the gym, eating a healthy clean diet, and there you are strutting your stuff in front of the bathroom mirror saying, “Damn, girl. Lookin’ good!” The best part of it is that you are doing it for yourself.

Self-esteem rises when you improve your image on your terms. I am a big believer in fitness and wellness journaling. Keeping track of what you eat and daily exercise holds you accountable. Hang it on the fridge, share it with friends and family, and they can help hold you to your goals too! It’s a win-win!  Every team should have a cheering section.

3. Improving your looks improves your health!

Working out and eating healthy foods will make you feel better because your body will be functioning better than ever. When you feel good, you also look good. Your energy levels will increase and you will be ready to take on the world.

Looking good and feeling good at the same time is the goal! Are you ready to take back your power? Are you ready to be the best possible version of yourself you can be? I know I am! Enjoy your healthy new lifestyle knowing that this a journey, not a diet or fad.  This is all about empowering us as women and letting our true selves shine.

Categories
Lifestyle

Shining A Light On The Color Of Pain And More

I’m sure we can all agree that color matters. If you’re behind the wheel of a car, red means “stop,” green is “go,” yellow is “proceed with caution” (unless you’re a teenager, when it means “floor it.”) If you’re buying baby clothes, pink and blue mean very different things. And everyone knows what “seeing red” means, while just hearing the words “blue skies” conjures up images of peace and tranquility.
Marketers have made a science of using color to send messages to consumers. McDonald’s, for example, uses red and yellow in its logo in part because those colors appeal to children (it’s no surprise that LEGO’s color scheme is the same). Starbucks uses green because it’s calming, and they want their customers to come in, relax, and spend $5 on a cup of something vaguely European sounding. Home Depot’s orange background “stimulates activity and is often associated with affordability,” according to the company. And nothing says “keeps your house warm in winter and cool in the summer” better than Owens-Corning’s pink insulation (they were the first company to ever trademark a color).
Governments, too, sometimes use color to influence behavior. In the 1970s, U.S. Navy prison wardens found that violent inmates became docile when confined in pink cells. And officials in Japan and England discovered that adjusting the color scheme at popular suicide spots (installing blue lights on Japanese train station platforms and painting the Blackfriar’s bridge green, respectively) caused suicides to drop significantly.
Okay, so color affects our minds and our moods. But here are two even more important questions: Can color affect us physically? And can color affect us even if we can’t see it? The answer to both is a resounding yes—at least when that color comes in the form of light—a fact backed up by more than 2,000 animal and human studies done over the last 50+ years. The lights/colors with the most significant effects were red and blue. And those effects depend on the time of day and way the lights are applied.
Let’s start with blue light. During the day, it’s great stuff. Researchers at Harvard found that blue wavelengths improve people’s attention, physical and mental reaction times, and memory. However, at night, those same blue wavelengths interrupt our sleep cycles in a big way. Blue lights are commonly found in electronic screens of all kinds (phones, tablets, computers, televisions) and in those energy-efficient, compact fluorescent lightbulbs that we probably bought at Home Depot because their orange sign convinced us that they were cheaper there. What’s the problem with losing a few hours of sleep? Plenty. Those same Harvard researchers say that exposure to light at night—specifically blue light—has been linked to several cancers (breast and prostate), diabetes, and obesity. Now here’s the most amazing part: Even though they can’t actually it, blind people exposed to blue light at night also have trouble falling asleep.
Now on to red. Night or day, people exposed to red wavelengths tend to have more energy and be less depressed than those exposed any other color light. But the real magic of red light happens when it’s being directed at various places around your body and skull, places here you can’t possibly see it.
Study after study has shown that red light–usually delivered with LED lights tuned to a very specific wavelength–has an amazing capacity to treat dozens of physical conditions, from low sperm count and muscle pain to heart problems and depression. In animal studies, red light has sped up post-stroke recovery times, reduced wound sizes, and regenerated severed or severely damaged nerves. And when focused on specific receptors in the brain, it’s as effective as drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin at relieving pain. “It’s conceivable that with much more research we could develop ways to use light to relieve pain without a patient needing to take a pain-killing drug with side effects,” said Edward R. Siuda, one of the authors of a new study done at Washington University in St. Louis.
In human studies, red LED lights improved more than 40 percent of musculoskeletal training injuries in Navy SEALs, reduced wound-healing time for Navy submarine crews, and reduced by 47 percent the pain associated with childhood cancer patients’ oral mucositis, a common—and very painful—complication of chemo and radiation.
If you’re interested in learning more about using light to cure (or at least help) what ails you, check with your healthcare provider. Be aware, though, that despite the massive amount of evidence, many traditional M.Ds are less-than-completely enthusiastic. You may have better luck with a local chiropractor.

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Wellbeing

Watch Two Cat Videos And Call Me In The Morning…

According to YouTube, 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute. And 45 percent of the people posting those videos are uploading footage that features an animal—usually a cat. If you’re not one of the suppliers, odds are you’re a consumer. With more than two million videos and 26 billion views, cats are one of YouTube’s biggest categories. No one can say for sure, but pet food giant Friskies estimates that cat videos account for 15 percent of all Internet traffic (and I’m estimating that, singlehandedly, I’m responsible for at least another 10 percent, streaming videos on Netflix and binge watching House of Cards, 24, Dexter, The Blacklist, The Walking Dead, and a bunch of others).
So don’t feel bad if you’ve indulged in a few (or a few hundred) cat vids. They’re incredibly addicting. I’m not really a cat person, but this article took at least two hours longer to write than it usually does because I got sucked into the black hole inhabited by Grumpy Cat, Henri the French-speaking existentialist, Maru the Japanese box diver, and dozens of their mewing buddies.
Turns out that cat videos are more than just a guilty pleasure (and by “guilty,” I really do mean guilty. A lot of time people spend on their in-cat-uation is time they should have been doing something else—like working or studying). In fact, it may actually be good for you.
Researchers have consistently found that physically interacting with pets can have some very significant, positive effects on patients’ physical and emotional health. A variety of studies show a correlation between pet therapy and decreases in anxiety and depression, reduced behavioral problems, and lowered blood pressure and heart rate. But petting an animal who’s sitting on your lap is quite a bit different than going online and watching one jump onto a chandelier or run around the house with a paper bag over her head. Or is it?
Jessica Gall Myrick, a professor at Indiana University’s Media School, set out to answer that question. She surveyed nearly 7,000 cat-media consumers and found that after watching feline videos, people felt more energetic and experienced fewer negative emotions (annoyance, anxiety, and sadness) and more positive ones (contentment, happiness, and hope).
Myrick, whose results were recently published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, also found that the increase in positive emotions was more than enough to offset the feelings of guilt people felt when they’d used cat videos as a procrastination tool. “Even if they are watching cat videos on YouTube to procrastinate or while they should be working, the emotional pay-off may actually help people take on tough tasks afterward,” Myrick said in a press release. Sharing those videos helped too, making “what had seemed like a waste of time a more worthwhile endeavor—the spreading of cheer and goodwill to others.”
People who tend to be more agreeable or shy are more likely than others to watch vids, as are cat owners. Interestingly, only a quarter of the videos people watch are ones they actually go looking for. The rest they stumble upon by chance.

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Wellbeing

Can You Actually Be Fit And Fat?

During my latter years as a personal trainer, I developed a keen interest in sculpting the bodies of full-figured women who weren’t necessarily seeking to lose weight. One of my most memorable clients was a curvy plus-size model who frequently graced the pages of mainstream magazines, catalogs, and brochures worldwide.
Standing 5’9″ at 240 pounds she wore a size 18, and because of her lucrative modeling career, weight loss just wasn’t an option. Her primary goal was to maintain a “thick” but “fit” hourglass figure, being sure not to reduce her size to less than 16. I helped her to meet that goal through a targeted weight-training program combined with short but frequent bursts of intense cardio exercise.
Still weighing in at over 200 pounds, this woman possessed outstanding cardiovascular fitness, strength, and endurance, along with a beautiful set of curves.
In this day and age when thin is in, this may seem quite unorthodox, perhaps even heretical. But many overweight and obese people nowadays have totally embraced their size and shifted their focus to living healthier, happier lives. Whether this can happen in reality or is just a perception, this prompts us to ask whether it’s possible to be “fit” and “fat.”
Before I even attempt to answer this question, I must first clarify my use of the term “fat,” as I’m really speaking of a state of being “over-fat” in terms of body composition.
Let me break this down a bit further.
Body composition essentially refers to the relative distribution of your fat and fat-free weight, the latter of which includes vital bodily fluids (blood and water) and “lean” tissues (bone and muscle).
Unbeknownst to many, body composition is actually a major component of health-related fitness. A healthy body composition encompasses a low percentage of fat weight (body fat percentage) and a high percentage of fat-free weight relative to overall body weight.
In this light, an overweight person with a healthy body composition could very well be classified as “fit” in spite of their society-driven unfavorable weight status.
Consider my former full-figured client who was arguably more muscular than some women of thinner stature, mainly due to her rigorous weight training routine. Compared to fat, muscle is very dense. As a result of training, this woman’s increased muscularity made her appear to be heavy and stocky when in reality she was just lean.
But, unfortunately, a generic body mass index (BMI) calculation based on height and weight would simply classify this as fat and therefore unhealthy.
Although some overweight and obese people are in fact carrying too much body fat, others may simply hold too much muscle, which isn’t at all a bad thing.
In truth, having a higher body fat percentage substantially increases the risk of obesity-related health problems such as high cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. But this holds true even for “over-fat” people with smaller frames who generally appear to be thin.
Indeed, one in four thin people has prediabetes and is classified as metabolically obese.
In the case of my former client, it’s better to be overweight (albeit misclassified as “fat”) and fit than thin and unfit.
Personally, my body weight is heavier than “normal,” and according to the BMI scale, I’m also overweight. Still, through regular exercise training and good nutrition I’ve been able to maintain a healthy body composition for nearly 20 years and am, by all measures, extremely physically fit. I can outrun most petite women and even out-lift some men.
So to the question of whether it’s possible to be “fit” and “fat” my answer is simple: It isn’t.
Whether you’re thin, overweight, or obese, holding on to excess fat inherently puts you at increased risk for chronic disease.
Truthfully, the body weight reading on your scale is irrelevant. An unfavorable body composition is the real problem here. In fact, numerous studies have shown that maintaining a favorable body composition can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, elevated blood pressure, and other risk factors for heart disease, even in the absence of weight loss.
Remarkably, such effects are largely due to reductions in body fat as a result of weight training and cardio exercise, as opposed to simply dieting for weight loss.
At the end of the day, being overweight or obese doesn’t mean you have to succumb to poor health, as you can easily achieve an optimal level of fitness regardless of your size. Fitness generally starts and ends with good nutrition and regular exercise training. By incorporating both, you will surely achieve an ideal body composition, which is a much better indicator of your health status.