Tag: body

Sweat

A Runner's Body Is Not the Physique You See In A Magazine

Post author By Bonnie Pfiester
Post date June 3, 2020

If you are ready to say goodbye to your backside (and I don’t mean in a good way), then start running. Seriously. Have you ever seen a runner with a really great perky butt? If you said yes, I can almost guarantee they are doing more than just running, or they are 10 years old.
Listen, I love running. I run several times a week, so don’t get your panties in a wad just yet. Running is a great addition to a healthy fitness routine.
Key word: addition. However, you will be very disappointed if you think running alone will get you your dream physique—unless your dream physique includes having a pancake butt.
A runner’s body is not that fit physique you see in Oxygen magazine. All you have to do is go to a marathon or a local 5K and look around. You will see overweight runners, skinny-fat runners and even a few running skeletons, but there will be very few runners with perky bottoms and a six-pack? Why? Because running doesn’t sculpt and tone muscle like people think.
Unfortunately, this isn’t something people talk about in Shape Magazine. The media shows happy, fit and tone women prancing along the beach in their skimpy running gear because it’s an easy sell. Does Nike choose marathon runners to model their running shoes? No, of course not. A marathon runner wouldn’t sell near the number of running shoes as a young fitness model. Fitness models work hard to sculpt their legs and glutes into the product-selling machines they need to be to bring people flocking to stores.
If you rely solely on running, here is what you are in for.

More Fat

Running is pretty safe, inexpensive and convenient. It’s also very efficient for losing weight, almost to a fault. This is why running is so popular, but running may cause you to lose what you want to keep and keep what you want to lose.
While running can help your weight may go down on the scale, what you may not realize is you could be losing valuable muscle. The more muscle you have, the more calories your body burns throughout the day. This is good for your metabolism, but not good for a runner. A runner’s body is more concerned about going the distance and running as efficiently as possible.
Your body’s preferred fuel source for running is stored fat. That may sound like a good thing at first, until you realize what that really means. You can go much further on one pound of fat (fat provides 9 calories of energy per gram) versus one pound of muscle (muscle provides only 4 calories of energy per gram). As a result, your body will be more apt to store body fat since it’s your body’s preferred fuel source for that particular activity.
Runners, who work hard to be very fit, are always shocked when they get their body composition done because many times their body fat percentage is off the charts. While their weight may be within normal ranges, their body fat is normally too high and their muscle mass is too low for their body weight. This is what we call “skinny-fat.” A person can be skinny, but flabby—and that’s not what most people are shooting for when they beginning a running program. No! They want to get fit and look fit.

Less Muscle

Since your body is very smart, and will adapt to your exercise plan, your body makes other changes based on your activity. If your activity is primarily running, your body will do whatever it needs to do to be good at running. In addition to storing the best fuel source (fat), this also means your body will get rid of any unnecessary weight that would slow your body down. Since muscle isn’t as efficient as fat (and doesn’t provide as much energy per gram), muscle is the first thing to go. I’ve experienced this firsthand.

Soggy Bottom Girl

I’ve always lifted weights, but I had a season where I started increasing my cardio and decreasing my weight training. I didn’t do it on purpose. It was just a result of choices I made based on a busy time in my life. With less time in the day to train, I started choosing running and cardio over lifting to keep my weight in check. Though the cardio did keep my weight down, my booty started deflating like a tired old balloon. Before I knew it, my bottom looked like it belonged to an 80-year-old.
My thighs got flabby, my bottom got droopy, and my overall muscularity started shrinking. Sadly, the more muscle I lost, the more cellulite I saw too. Without muscle to firm up the body and give my skin the support it needed, my skin began to show wrinkling and sagging. Even though I weighed less than I had over the previous years, I had lost muscle and gained fat. I was happy with my weight, but I was not happy about my shape at all. Something had to change.
I started to look at my workout schedule and I realized I hadn’t done weighted squats in a while. I had done a ton of air squats, but none with weight. This is also when I realized I was doing way more cardio and less weight training than I used to. I immediately started squatting, lunging and leg pressing my way to a fitter lower body—and I started getting results fast.
In addition to increasing my lower bodyweight training, I pumped up my protein and started adding sprints to my runs too. Sprints are a fantastic leg- and glute-sculpting cardiovascular exercise. Have you seen the women who sprint in the Olympics? OMG. If you haven’t, you have to google it. They don’t just win the gold for speed, they have award-winning bottoms, legs and abs too.
While I still run several times a week to manage my weight and health, I manage my shape with weights. I now make leg day a priority, hitting legs first thing every Monday. If I have to skip a day of weight training, I make sure it’s never a lower body workout that I’m missing.

10 Benefits of Running

Improves your cardiovascular system
Lowers your blood pressure
Convenient and affordable
Burns calories to support weight loss
Helps release mood-enhancing hormones to fight depression
Relieves stress
Boosts confidence when you set, and reach, goals
Helps smokers improve lung health and air capacity
Gives you a way to support various causes
Increases longevity because a healthy heart doesn’t work as hard than a heart of an inactive person

My Top 10 Butt Exercises

1. Back Squat The back squat is the mother of all glute exercises and should always be top on your exercise list. Back squats are traditional weighted squats performed inside a squat rack for safety purposes. To get the most bootiliciousness out of a back squat, it’s important to drive with your heels to engage the glutes and drop it like it’s hot (in other words, go deep).
It’s better to go deep than heavy, so try to do a safe challenging weight for 15–20 repetitions for three to four sets.
2. Straight-Leg Deadlifts Straight leg deadlifts, also called stiff-leg deadlifts or Romanian deadlift, are done with dumbbells or a barbell, and work the hamstrings, glutes and low back. The most common mistake I see with this exercise is people bend at the knee too much or they round their back. Keep your back straight through the entire movement.
Complete 15–20 repetitions for three to four sets.
3. 1-Leg Leg Press Single-leg leg presses will give you a killer glute workout that also works the quads along with the inner and outer thigh. This is definitely a must for any woman wanting nice shapely legs and glutes. Again, drive through your heels, keeping the pressure on your bottom. You will notice this gives your inner thigh a good workout too.
Try going as heavy as you can safely for 15–20 repetitions and three to four sets on each leg.
4. Walking Lunges This is my most loved and hated exercises. I’m not real fond of doing them, but I sure love the results. There is no other exercise, in my opinion, that works the butt like heavy walking lunges. I do weight walking lunges with 25 lb. dumbbells to really fire up the glutes.
Take 30 steps (15 per leg) using 15- to 20-pound dumbbells for three to four sets.
5. Curtsy Curtsies are similar to a One-Leg Romanian deadlift. This is a great glute exercise for someone who has knee problems because it is one of the few butt exercises that does not require you to bend much at the knee. You can do this exercise with or without weight.
I normally do 20–25 repetitions on each leg for three to four sets.
6. Stomps Stomp the ground with this bodyweight exercise my husband invented. You will find it really burns the butt and legs up. While you may feel it in your quads first, it’s only because your glutes can take more of a beating than you thighs (yes, your thighs will feel like they are on FIRE, but you’ll survive). The key to this exercise is keeping your weight on your heels and your heels on the ground.
Doing 10–15 repetitions for three sets is enough to wear you out.
7. Cook Hip Lift Cook hip lift is a great butt exercise for people who have low back limitations. Holding the one leg tightly to your chest takes the back extension out of the exercise, shifting all the pressure off your low back and on to your glutes.
Complete 15–20 repetitions on each leg for three sets with little to no rest.
8. Repeater Knee If you have ever done an aerobics class, you’ve probably done a knee repeater. It has been a staple in almost every step aerobics class ever taught. While you may think the exercise is all about moving your knee back and forth, it’s actually the weight-bearing leg that’s doing all the real work. Don’t believe me, do 30–50 repetitions without taking your weight off that weight-bearing leg. If you don’t feel it in your bottom, then someone put some novocaine in your bottom!
This exercise is all about repetition, so do 20–25 repetitions on each leg for three sets with no rest.
9. Step Ups This is an exercise that can go from average to awesome in a jiffy when it’s done correctly. What will make this exercise over the top is working only one leg at a time and keeping the working leg on the bench the whole time. Hold a set of dumbbells and step up on the bench, driving your body up on the bench with your weight on your one heel. Do not return both feet to the ground between reps, and do not alternate legs. If you do, you will not get all the goody out of the booty.
Do 15–20 step ups on one leg, then repeat on the other leg. Take a quick rest after both legs are done and repeat for three to four sets.
10. Cable Hip Extension You don’t have to have a cable machine to do this exercise. You can even use an exercise resistance band to mimic the same action. Keep your body upright during this exercise, extending at the hip and maintaining a straight leg without bending over.
Complete 15–20 repetitions, keeping tension on the glutes throughout the entire set. Do both legs for three sets.

Tags 186, body, hemingway

Sweat

Cinching It Up: Do Ab Belts Really Work?

Post author By Bonnie Pfiester
Post date May 30, 2020

Photo by Christopher Campbell on Unsplash

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want a smaller waist and a flatter stomach. Everyone wants nice abs. It’s funny. Even people who already have great abs still want even better ones. I guess that is why there are so many ab machines and gimmicks on the market.
I can honestly understand ab machines like the Ab Coaster and the Ab Roller. Those machines actually require a certain amount of work, but can you really get a six-pack by putting a special electronic belt around your waist?
You’ve probably seen the infomercials for ab belts claiming to strengthen, tone, and tighten your abs—no exercises required. When I Googled “ab belts,” I couldn’t believe the long list of companies in the business. Just to name a few, there’s the Slendertone, Shred Belt, Abtronic, and the Flex Belt.

How It Works

The ab belt uses electrical muscle stimulation, or EMS, to pass an electrical current through the body, causing your ab muscles to contract. Small electrodes inside the belt come in contact with your bare skin, sending the electrical pulses through your skin to do the work for you. You don’t have to do one crunch or sit up. You just simply slap that belt around your waist and turn up the electrical current until you get the desired level of contraction.
When I first heard of ab belts, they reminded me of the TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device) in physical therapy. But while the ab belt may seem very similar to a TENS unit I’ve used to treat back pain, they have different uses.
EMS stimulates muscles to contract, while TENS stimulates nerves. TENS units are typically used to treat chronic and acute pain. EMS is mainly used for muscle retraining and to help prevent muscle atrophy in bedridden patients.
How does it feel? Well, I personally think it feels pretty weird. If anyone says it’s relaxing, they either don’t have it up high enough, or they’re lying. Okay, maybe they really aren’t lying and they just like the weird prickly sensation of the electrical current going through their skin. It’s not painful, but I can’t say it’s completely comfortable, either—but neither is doing crunches!
How often do you use it? Different brands have different directions, but most recommend wearing the belt for 10 minutes to an hour every day. I’m guessing, like with any exercise, more is better. Just like doing 100 crunches is more effective than doing 10 crunches, using the ab belt for an hour is better than 10 minutes.

Pros and Cons

I did find a study that showed positive results for strengthening muscles with the Slendertone, but the study showed no improvement when it came to actual body composition (body fat, muscle mass, and weight changes), which is what people expect.
The biggest con has to do with body fat. Excess body fat may actually prevent the electrical current from getting to the muscle and working properly. Slendertone’s studies were all tested on people with a body mass index under 30, which means they didn’t use it on any obese people in their study.
Many of the ab belts claim to burn calories and help you lose body fat, but this claim is just untrue. So, even if the electrical current reaches your muscles through excess body fat and tones your muscle, you will still need to diet and do some cardio if you want to actually see your stronger ab muscles.
Lastly, as far as cons go, the Food and Drug Administration has received reports of burns, bruising, and skin irritation from using the ab belts. In addition to some minor injuries, the ab belts can be very harmful to some people. Even quality ab belts can interfere with pacemakers and defibrillators, so most companies will warn people with internal electronic devices not use the ab belt.
Ironically, it seems the ab belt could be more beneficial for leaner fitter, people. While it may not decrease body fat or increase muscle size, studies did show an increase in muscle strength and tone. This strength increase would improve resting tone, which means your stomach muscles would do a better job of holding your stomach in nice and flat.

Fit or Flop?

While it could be beneficial for a small population, I personally believe you can get much better results with traditional exercise and diet. Everyone has abs, just like everyone has thigh muscles. You just might not see them under your body fat, and they might need a little firming up. Instead of buying an ab belt, you’d get a lot more for your money if you bought a gym membership.
Diet and cardio is the most effective plan of attack against belly fat. Add strength training to tone muscles and reshape the body. Put all three together (diet, cardio and strength training) and you can starts to approach the abs you see on the ab belt advertisements. Because chances are, the models didn’t get that body using the ab belt anyway!

Tags 1579, body, hemingway

Sweat

10 Reasons Your Belly Looks Bigger Than It Actually Is

Post author By Lisa M. Douglas
Post date March 22, 2020

You’ve been doing crunches. A lot of them. Running for endless miles on the treadmill. Drinking green shakes. Yet, despite your efforts, your stomach is still looking bigger than ever, and it’s driving you crazy! It may not be your fault. Unknowingly, your daily habits and patterns, along with some food that you eat, can actually make your belly look bigger. Here are 10 reasons why your waist isn’t whittling away, even though the rest of you is.
1. Tight Hip Flexors
Ab exercises like crunches and sit-ups can shorten flexors, which can tilt your hips forward and make you look like you have a belly. Exercising your core with planks and Pilates-based moves is better because these work your abs without the strain on your hip flexors.
2. Chewing Sugar-Free Gum
There’s double trouble here in regards to your belly. When you swallow air while you chew gum, it becomes trapped in your stomach and small intestines and causes bloating. If the gum that you chew is sugarless (which your dentist recommends) your bloating increases because artificial sweeteners aren’t digested by your body.
3. Too Much Stress
When your stress levels are high, your body produces a hormone called cortisol. Studies have shown that this hormone trips your body to take fat from healthier areas, like your butt and hips, and move it to your abdomen. This is called visceral fat and it not only looks bad but is also pretty bad for you because it surrounds your vital organs.
4. Not Enough Sleep
Adults are supposed to sleep seven to nine hours every night. Not getting enough sleep increases the cortisol in your body and your blood sugar levels, giving you a double whammy. The cortisol makes you store fat in your belly, and the crazy sugar levels make you crave carbs and junk food, which wreak havoc on the size of your middle.
5. Too Much Fiber/Sugar
Kale, broccoli, cabbage, and legumes like lentils and peas contain a sugar called raffinose. Your body doesn’t have the ability to digest it properly, so bacteria take the lead and feast on them, which causes gas and bloating. This combined with fiber can make your belly look big and full.
6. Gluten Intolerance
About 15 percent of the population has celiac disease or gluten intolerance, and 99 percent of people go undiagnosed. Be aware when you eat foods containing gluten (bread, pasta, cereal), and take note of how your body reacts. Bloating, gas, diarrhea, and/or constipation are all signs that you may have a problem digesting the protein in grain.
7. Acid Reflux
In addition to your belly ballooning, do you often feel sick or nauseated after a normal meal? Do you burp a lot or feel burning in your belly or throat within an hour or so of eating? Acid reflux (or indigestion) may be to blame! Certain foods, like tomato sauce, orange juice, and fatty meats, can increase the acid in your belly and cause it to bloat and swell.
8. Constipation
The truth is…when you have more in your belly and intestines, it’s going to look bigger. So if you haven’t gone to the bathroom in days, you’ll feel it. Normal intestinal gas gets trapped behind slow-moving bowels and builds up, causing your belly to distend.
9. Dairy Intolerance
If you feel gassy and uncomfortable after eating ice cream or cheese, you may be lactose intolerant, which means your body doesn’t have the enzymes to break down lactose (the sugar found in dairy products). This can irritate your belly and cause gas to form, making your belly bloated.
10. Too Much Sodium
Eating foods that contain a lot of salt can cause your body to retain water and make your stomach look bigger. The sodium/potassium pumps in your body help regulate water retention. When they’re not in balance and you eat too much salt, it triggers your body to store water. About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet.

Tags 2559, body, hemingway, SEOUpdate

Wellbeing

8 Remarkable Body Features That You Probably Don't Have

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date April 27, 2019

The human body is pretty incredible.
But some bodies are, shall we say, more incredible than others. Your genetics can give you a superpower—even if it’s a really, really dumb superpower. You’d want to know about something like that, right?
Sure you would. There’s nothing cooler than having a useless ability. We’re talking about stuff like…

1. Some people really don’t need to sleep very much.

If you’re lucky enough to have a specific variant of the BHLHE41 gene, you might be genetically resistant to the effects of sleep deprivation.

To put this another way, you can sleep less than most people while still enjoying all of the benefits of a full night’s rest.
People with this condition are called familial natural short sleepers (FNSS), and they get about two hours less sleep per night than the average person (so six hours instead of eight).

Many famous people, including Margaret Thatcher, are believed to have “suffered” from this unusual condition.

2. Tibetans are actually genetically mutated for high altitudes.

Tibetan sherpas are renowned for their ability to survive at high altitudes. They’re very aware of what it takes to survive on an elevation like that of Mount Everest—but recent research suggests that they’ve gotten a bit of a hand from evolution.

Researchers tested 50 Tibetans, along with 40 Han Chinese (Tibetans split off from the lineage of the Han Chinese some 2,750 years ago).
They found that 34 of the Tibetans had different genes from the Han Chinese. What’s more, one of those genes “codes for a protein involved in responding to falling oxygen levels and is associated with improved athletic performance in endurance athletes,” according to The Guardian.

One of the most amazing parts of the story is that the mutation appears to have become commonplace less than 3,000 years after the populations diverged. That makes this one of the fastest evolutionary mutations ever recorded in humans.

3. Some people have a second row of eyelashes.

Many people consider long, full eyelashes to be quite desirable, but who knew that there’s actually a defect that could cause this? Watch the video below to find out more about distichiasis—and which famous figure had the defect.
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4. The palmaris longus is a fascinating evolutionary remnant.

You can find out whether you have this tendon by pressing your thumb and pinky together and looking at your wrist. If you see a big tendon sticking out, congratulations—that’s your palmaris longus.

: Vox / YouTube

Apart from being an awesome band name, the palmaris longus has no real significance. It’s thought to be a remnant of a tendon that we used to climb trees earlier in our evolution.
If you’ve got this structure, there’s some good news: If you ever need a wrist tendon graft, that’s the tendon they’ll use. It doesn’t affect grip strength in any noticeable way, so it’s a purely pointless part of your body. Still, about 14 percent of people don’t have it, although that percentage varies greatly depending on your lineage.

Wikimedia

The preauricular sinus may be another vestigial feature from evolution. This is a tiny hole on your ear; some believe that it’s a remnant of gills, and one study makes a fairly convincing case.

5. You might be able to see more colors than most people (but probably not).

Your eye probably has three cones, which are structures that allow the eye to collect information about color and transmit it to the brain.

If you’re colorblind, you’ve only got two cones, and as a result, you see fewer differences between certain similar colors.
But some people are born with more. Tetrachromats have four cones in their eyes, allowing them to see 100 million distinct colors. Could you be one of them? Test how well you see color with this quiz:

Scientists have trouble tracking down tetrachromats, since these people rarely realize that they’re different. As a result, they may never “train” their eyes to look for the additional colors, which prevents them from seeing them (vision is kind of complicated). However, Popular Science was able to track down Concetta Antico, an artist who’s believed to be tetrachromatic.
So, what’s it like to have this gift?
https://www.instagram.com/p/Byk_L2GBhRQ/
“It’s shocking to me how little color people are seeing,” she said. “You might see dark green but I’ll see violet, turquoise, blue. It’s like a mosaic of color.”

6. One of the most eye-popping abnormalities is globe luxation.

Literally. Globe luxation is a rare condition in which your eyes can pop out of your head.
There’s no real advantage to this (although you can probably do a really, really good impression of the trucker from Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. It’s mostly just a party trick that could possibly damage your eyes if you’re not careful.
It’s not all fun and games, however. One study notes that common causes of the disease include “thyroid eye disease, shallow orbit, and floppy eyelid syndrome.”
After you’re done snickering at the magnificent English phrase that is “floppy eyelid syndrome,” we’ll sadly inform you that globe luxation can also be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. With that in mind, if you’ve got this condition, you should probably see your doctor.

7. Perfect pitch certainly isn’t common, and there’s debate over whether it’s a natural gift.

Perfect pitch is the ability to identify and differentiate musical notes based on specific frequencies. In other words, you could hear a C# and correctly identify it as a C#.

If you’re not a musician, you might expect this to be a pretty common ability, but it’s incredibly rare. Fewer than 1 in 10,000 people has perfect pitch, and there’s been significant scientific debate as to whether it’s a natural ability.
For a long time, researchers believed that humans were either born with perfect pitch or they had to develop it at a very young age. Past a certain point, if you don’t have it, you won’t pick it up.

But recent research indicates that adults may be able to develop perfect pitch. That means that with enough training and perseverance, you, too, can immediately identify the key of your favorite Justin Bieber song.

8. You almost certainly don’t have an outie belly button.

You’re either an “innie” or an “outie,” and unless you heard differently, you probably assumed that it was about a 50/50 mix. That’s not quite the case; one study found that only 4 percent of adults have an outie. That percentage is significantly higher in children (for reasons that we’ll get into in a moment).

You might have also assumed that the shape and size of your belly button was dependent on how your doctor cut your umbilical cord, but this isn’t really the case. Most outies are caused by an umbilical hernia.
Basically, your inner parts push through your outer parts, but it’s not such a big deal—after all, your umbilical cord is kind of the best possible place for a hernia to occur.

Even so, doctors might eventually decide to close larger umbilical hernias. Most of these hernias close on their own by the time a child turns 5.

Tags 4/27/17, 50021246, body, hemingway, Publishupdate

Wellbeing

8 Things Your Nail Salon Doesn't Want You To Know

Post author By Staff Writer
Post date March 7, 2019

What’s more relaxing than a trip to the nail salon?
Well, pretty much everything, when you realize what goes on behind the scenes.

To be fair, many manicurists and pedicurists run well-cleaned, wonderful shops—we certainly don’t want to denigrate the profession as a whole. Each year, Americans spend over $7 billion on nail services, and the vast majority walk away happy.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind before heading in for your next appointment. For starters…

1. There might be hidden fees.

Let’s start with one of the most obvious (and least dangerous) secrets. Manicurists tend to charge by the service, but they’re not always upfront about what’s included for that single fee. For instance, they might charge separately for a base coat, a nail strengthener, and the polish.

The only way around this trap is to start a conversation. Ask what’s included for the fee you’re paying. When the manicurist goes to work, if you’re not sure what they’re doing, ask them before they begin. You have every right to refuse services or products that you don’t need—and that you’d really rather not pay for.
Keep in mind that you can always bring your own favorite nail-care products. When you walk into the salon and hand the manicurist your own favorite base coat and polish, they’ll usually be happy to charge you just for the application. Again, though, make sure that’s a conversation you have before they get started.

2. There’s only one way to ensure sterilization, and your salon probably isn’t using it.

You’ve read the horror stories about people getting terrible infections from contaminated tools at a nail salon. There’s a simple reason why that happens: It’s actually really hard to completely sterilize what is essentially surgical equipment.
Surgeons use a machine called an autoclave to make sure they eliminate 100 percent of the fungi, bacteria, and viruses that can live on stainless steel tools. Autoclaves use a combination of pressure, heat, and steam to sterilize equipment.

“It’s a specific device that sterilizes equipment with steam, making it sanitary and safe, since no chemicals or irritants are used,” says Debra Lindy, co-founder of Sani Sak, a company that produces sanitized manicure tools. “This is very rarely purchased by nail salons, as it can be cost prohibitive.”
The problem with this is that only Iowa and Texas have laws on the books that require nail salons to disinfect equipment with autoclaves. In the rest of the country, manicurists typically use chemicals or UV light boxes to sterilize their tools.
Hey, UV light is better than nothing, right? Well, yes, but while those instruments might get rid of most of the infectious organisms that live on nail clippers, they’re not 100 percent effective.

Be sure to ask your manicurist how they sterilize their equipment before committing to a procedure. Many salons will also allow customers to bring their own tools; while that might initially feel awkward, it can help to prevent a painful infection.
Oh, and as this Answers user points out, it’s also not a bad idea to call your local health department if you’re especially curious about a salon’s practices.

3. Those UV lamps they use to dry your polish might increase the risk of developing skin cancer.

Granted, the risk that you’ll get melanoma from drying your polish under a UV lamp is pretty small, but it exists. Perhaps more importantly, the cell damage can build over time.

“Considering the low UV-A energy exposure in an average manicure visit, multiple visits would be required to reach the threshold for potential DNA damage,” wrote a team of researchers from Georgia Regents University, in a study published in JAMA Dermatology. The researchers also noted that typical exposure wouldn’t be enough to cause DNA damage, but customers who regularly get manicures or pedicures might be at risk.
Besides, the researchers found, there aren’t any good standards for manufacturers of UV nail lamps. Chris Adigun, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, told CBS News why this lack of regulation is dangerous.

There is little to no regulation on the manufacturing of these nail lamps,” Adigun said. “As a result, the bulbs, wattage and irradiance of these lamps varies dramatically from one manufacturer to the next, and individuals utilizing these lamps in salons have no way of knowing just how much UV exposure their skin is receiving upon each manicure.”

4. Nail techs are not necessarily trained to properly sterilize their equipment.

Podiatrist Robert Spalding, DPM, has the salon industry firmly within his sights. As author of Death by Pedicure, Spalding is a leading voice about the dangers of contemporary nail salon practices.
Spalding maintains that techs simply don’t have the training to verify when tools are safe to use. There is “industry-wide confusion about the definition of the term ‘sterilize,'” Spalding wrote.

Nail techs are “neither schooled nor licensed to work in the presence of blood or to maintain a surgically sterile environment,” he wrote. In other words, it’s not exactly their fault that they’re working on customers with infected tools. Rather, it’s the misunderstanding of what constitutes true sterilization.
“With years of experience as a nail technician myself, I cannot say I’m confident that everyone is trained to handle situations that may involve blood or sterile environments,” says Lindy.

As we’ve mentioned, only an autoclave can completely sterilize equipment. Anything less than this gold standard of sterilization might leave some microorganisms behind. That’s how people get infections. The point is that “some infective microorganisms are easy to kill, some are not,” according to Spalding.

5. There are even cases of customers getting warts from certain nail salons!

Forget fungal infections. How would you like to battle warts on your feet after an unclean pedicure?

The uncomfortable truth is that warts are often caused by a viral infection. If equipment and the environment of a nail salon isn’t kept to the most rigid standards of cleanliness, wart viruses might be present. All that stands between you and a lifetime of bumpy feet is the slip of the tech’s hand—if you get a wart virus in an open wound, you’ll probably end up with the infection.
That’s not even the worst of it. Serious viral infections, including HIV and hepatitis C, can also lurk in dirty nail salons. Make sure you attend a high-quality, trusted facility—preferably one with an autoclave. We’re not saying every nail salon is a hive of infections, but use common sense and stick with a salon that you trust.

6. If your pedicurist offers to “shave” your calluses, say “no thanks.”

We understand the temptation. Callouses aren’t the most attractive thing on the human body, and they can even be a bit painful. But remember that those are there to protect your skin—essentially, your body developed them for a reason.

That’s not the only reason to decline an offer to shave your calluses, though. The fact is, the procedure is probably illegal in your state.
You see, callus-shaving requires a tool called a credo blade. Technically, credo blades can only be used in “medical procedures,” which most states forbid from being performed at nail salons.
Instead of trying to lose the calluses altogether, podiatrists recommend smoothing them over with a little light pumice stone treatment. There’s a chance your nail salon offers this service, but remember that pumice stones are notoriously hard to disinfect. You might want to travel with your own.

7. Have you shaved your legs recently? If so, skip the salon.

If you’ve picked up one thing from this list, we hope it’s that breaking the skin in an unsterile environment is a great way to pick up a nasty infection. That’s true whether you get a cut on the cuticle or a tiny opening on a hair follicle on your ankle.

When you shave your legs, you create tiny, invisible openings in your hair follicles. These little holes may be too small for us to see, but for viruses, bacteria, and fungi, they’re like huge, inviting archways. They’re basically an invitation to move in and set up shop.
Jackie Sutera, DPM, a podiatrist based in New York, told HuffPost that you should wait at least two days between shaving your legs and heading to the salon for a pedicure. Otherwise, Sutera said, “you can literally end up in a hospital.”

8. It’s up to you to guard your health and safety at a nail salon.

No nail tech wants to get a customer sick. Still, salons are capitalist enterprises, first and foremost. Owners want to make as much money as possible, and that doesn’t create a strong incentive to turn away customers—even if they have a clear fungal infection and shouldn’t be anywhere near a nail salon.

“Because the industry isn’t regulated often enough salon technicians often slack off,” Lindy says. “…It doesn’t take much to transfer a contagious infection or spread bacteria. One negligent technician can transfer [microorganisms] to all the tools in the salon, especially if they’re all using the same disinfectant and the bacteria is resistant”
The danger, Spalding wrote, is “the transmission of infection from one client to another.”

In other words, be on the lookout—and, for heaven’s sake, if you have a viral, bacterial, or fungal infection yourself, don’t go to the nail salon. Beauty can wait. After all, what is beauty without health?

Tags 3/7/17, 50016946, body, Commerce, hemingway, Publishupdate

Wellbeing

8 Ways Our Bodies Are Scarier Than Any Horror Movie

Post author By HealthyWay Staff Writer
Post date October 11, 2018

The only reason that we’re not horrified by our own bodies is that we’re used to them.

Take an alien’s point of view, and you can see how disgusting we truly are. We’re big sacks of oil, water, skin, and bacteria, and our bizarre biology gets even stranger when you look closely.

For instance, you might not have known that…

1. Your body can attack its own senses.

Our immune systems are amazing, but sometimes they’re a little too amazing. Take autoimmune inner ear disease (AEID), a condition in which the immune system starts attacking the inner ear.

The condition is rare but can eventually lead to permanent hearing loss—all because the body assumed that our ears were working against it (presumably after you turned on that Nickelback song). The immune system can also attack the eyes, nerves, and joints—and in many cases, doctors aren’t really sure why it happens.

We do know that the incidence of immune system disorders seems to be increasing, but it’s possible that we’re simply recognizing more cases. As it turns out, our bodies are often their own worst enemy.

2. We’re constantly shedding skin.

We shed from 0.001 to 0.003 ounces of skin flakes every hour, according to a study in Environmental Science & Technology. At this rate, we shed our entire outer layer of skin every two weeks.

That means that much of the dust you see coating the surfaces of your home comes from your own body (or the bodies of the people you share your home with). While that’s gross, the good news is that those skin flakes also contain oils, which seem to reduce ozone levels in your home. Ozone can irritate your eyes, nose, and throat, so in a way, your skin dust is doing some good.
Still, you should probably dust occasionally. As your dead skin cells accumulate, they attract dust mites, which eat skin cells and create “approximately 2,000 fecal particles” over their 10-week life span. Oh, and they look like this.

3. Eye mites are also a thing.

These mites are thought to be less problematic than dust mites, but they’re no less disgusting. They live on your eyelashes or in the pores of your face, coming out at night to reproduce. We’re not sure what they eat, but given that they live on your face, they probably eat your face. Hey, we’re just saying.

There are two species of eye mites, and one species doesn’t have anuses. That means that they gradually get fuller until they die—then the built-up waste degrades on your face.
The good news is that they don’t seem to cause any harm, although some scientists have suggested that eyelash mites may cause involuntary twitches. They also might be linked to skin inflammation, but only when they’re over-populated.

So, to recap: Eye mites live in your pores, come out at night, reproduce, lay eggs, then die in an explosion of poop. If you don’t feel like washing your face right now, you’re an incredibly disgusting person.

4. Baby teeth are pretty much something out of a Cronenberg movie.

Aw! Junior lost a tooth! Isn’t that adorable?
Well, yeah, if you can’t see Junior’s skull.

Baby teeth are also known as deciduous teeth, and they start to grow when a baby is an embryo. They gradually “erupt” as a child ages, but around age 6, they’re ejected by the primary teeth in a process called exfoliation. Think about that the next time you’re scrubbing your face.
Given that exfoliating teeth are pretty confusing, it’s no surprise that so many cultures believe that something magical happens to the child. In the Western world, we’ve got the tooth fairy, but in Brazil, China, and in many other cultures, the discarded baby teeth are tossed on the roof of the house for luck. In Korea, kids throw their baby teeth at crows while reciting a song.

That might sound ridiculous, but remember: At least parents in these cultures aren’t shelling out cash for their kids’ gross baby teeth.

5. Pregnancy is beautiful but also pretty horrific.

Look, we’re not trying to say that motherhood is terrifying; it’s a natural, beautiful process and one of the most important things that a human can do.
It’s also terrifying. Sorry.

Take, for example, how fetuses can taste some of the foods that their mothers eat, or how those same fetuses repeatedly pee in the womb (and, uh, consume their own urine). How about how pregnant women will often lactate when they hear a baby crying?
We could go on, and we will, because we don’t have any shortage of weird pregnancy facts. A pregnant woman’s uterus can grow to 500 times its normal size during a pregnancy, and her feet can grow a shoe size (they can also stay that big, by the way).

Pregnant women are more likely to suffer broken bones, thanks to hormonal changes, and after giving birth many women will experience sudden hair loss. All of which is to say that mothers are basically superheroes for what they put their bodies through (and babies are basically parasites—incredibly cute parasites, but parasites nonetheless).

6. We’ve got as many bacterial cells as human cells in our bodies.

Scientists used to believe that there was a 10:1 count of microbes to human cells, but recent research suggests that it’s probably a 1:1 ratio. As one scientist noted to Nature.com, “It’s good that we all now have a better estimate to quote, but I don’t think it will actually have any biological significance.”

That’s because the point is that we’re made up of as much bacteria as anything else. What’s more, we absolutely depend on that bacteria to stay healthy. Bacteria help us digest, of course, but they also synthesize vitamins and help us fight off disease.
That’s not to say that they’re all good, of course. In fact, scientists have gradually moved away from calling bacteria “good” or “bad,” since some can be both.

Escherichia coli (E. coli), for instance, is an important part of your body’s bacterial biome, but it can be deadly if it’s in your food.

7. When you die, your body starts to digest itself.

For the most part, we have a mutually beneficial relationship with our bacteria, but those bacteria get the last laugh. When your immune system stops functioning, the bacteria can spread to other organs, and they do that within a few minutes.

Your stomach also plays a role. While you’re alive, your body creates a bicarbonate solution that prevents the stomach from essentially digesting itself. When you stop producing this bicarbonate—due to, oh, say, death—there’s nothing to protect you. Your stomach acid starts eating through your body pretty quickly.
Meanwhile, your cells’ acidity increases when they stop receiving oxygen, and all tissues start to break down. It’s a pretty fascinating process from a scientific perspective, and forensics specialists even maintain “body farms” with dozens of corpses decomposing in the open air. The idea is to watch how decomposition changes due to various factors.

Stumbling into one of these parks might ruin your picnic, but they provide vital data for the people who solve crimes and create medicines.

8. Oh, and your corpse might also turn into a bar of soap.

Sort of. Okay, not really, but it’s an interesting image.

There’s a phenomenon colloquially known as “corpse wax,” and if that’s not descriptive enough for you, well, strap in. Under certain very specific conditions, decomposing bodies can create a substance called adipocere, described by Atlas Obscura as having “a soft, greasy gray appearance when it starts to form.”
Over time, it hardens and turns brittle, preserving the body for future generations (provided that there’s enough of the stuff). Yes, your body can essentially mummify itself, provided that it’s left in a “warm, damp, alkaline” environment. Not only do you have a skeleton inside you (spooky), but you might have a mummy as well.

Look on the bright side: From the time your mother carried you around until well after you’re dead, you’ll be grossing people out. Not a bad deal, right?

Tags 50020406, body, hemingway

Wellbeing

Patients And Surgeons Reveal The Realities Of Plastic Surgery

Post author By Gretchen Bossio
Post date February 28, 2018

“Ultimately for me, it’s a very small change—smoothes out my forehead lines—that makes a huge difference in my confidence,” says Maria Peterson, a full-time mom who also has a full-time profession outside the home. And Peterson isn’t the only one exploring the world of plastic surgery these days. From minor “tweakments” to major overhauls, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported that in 2016, there were 17.1 million procedures.
Let that soak in: 17.1 million. So if you have had plastic surgery, you’re not alone. And if you are considering it, well, there is a big family waiting to embrace you.

Despite its popularity, plastic surgery doesn’t come free of risks. In fact, there are quite a few categories that need special attention when it comes to pursuing surgical repairs, enhancements, and cosmetic treatments.

The Person Behind the Knife

Perhaps it seems obvious, but in order to better ensure a successful outcome with surgery, it is essential to choose a qualified surgeon. But, for one reason or another, not everyone does.

Joshua Zuckerman, MD, of Zuckerman Plastic Surgery, tells HealthWay, “Unfortunately there are non-plastic surgeons performing surgical procedures that should only be performed by a board-certified plastic surgeon.” For many, seeing an “MD” behind a name is enough to assume qualification. But the medical field is vast, and you might not want someone trained in family practice to be the person behind the proverbial (and actual) knife.

Unqualified doctors have also taken to social media to procure patients, and unfortunately, many have become quite come popular. Most accounts using plastic surgery-related hashtags are not qualified and thus, a dangerous choice. Beware!

Dimes and Dollars

No doubt, plastic surgery comes at a hefty price tag: anywhere from a couple hundred to thousands of dollars depending on the extent of the procedure. Since the majority of insurance companies do not (or do not fully) cover elective procedures, it makes sense that those seeking surgery would shop around a bit to find the best price.

It’s dangerous to skimp when it comes to plastic surgery, though. You have to ask yourself, “When I pay less, what am I getting less of?” People sometimes consider getting plastic surgery overseas due to significantly higher prices in the United States.

Zuckerman feels this is one of the biggest dangers of plastic surgery: “There are serious complications and deaths regularly from routine surgeries performed in the Caribbean and South America in locations such as the Dominican Republic or Colombia,” he says. When it comes to surgery, choose a board-certified surgeon in the U.S. to greatly reduce risk.

Breaking Habits

During the summer of 2017, Alicia Goveia decided to have a breast augmentation.
“It encouraged me to get into the best shape of my life prior to surgery and stop smoking! This was to ensure the best physical result and lessen any surgical risk,” she tells HealthyWay. “[My surgeon told me] smoking increases your risk by 800 percent.” And Goveia’s surgeon is absolutely correct.

When it comes to plastic surgery, smoking is a huge cause for concern. Smoking constricts blood vessels, which inhibits healing. It can also complicate anesthesia. Many plastic surgeons require complete cessation six weeks prior to surgery to avoid dangerous outcomes, as well as a timeframe after to ensure proper recovery.

Risk Assessment

It’s one thing to undergo surgery for an inflamed appendix or a worsening heart condition; it’s another to choose a surgical procedure that is considered elective. Franziska Huettner, MD, PhD, a board-certified plastic surgeon, highlights the following as some of the top dangers and risk of choosing plastic surgery:

Bleeding (hematoma)
Infection
Asymmetry
Wound healing complications
Paralysis (nerve damage)
Need for revision surgery
Pain
Scar formation
Skin depigmentation
Skin necrosis
Anesthetic/perioperative complications like blood clot formation, heart attack, stroke, and in very rare cases, fatal complications

As with all medical procedures, from life-saving to elective, there is a risk/benefit analysis that every doctor and patient must draft and evaluate before proceeding. Complications are rare, but they do happen, and it’s important to fully understand that you could experience one of these temporary or long-term dangers.

In the spring of 2017, Aimee Wood had a breast reduction surgery. Since then, she has had six follow up procedures due to complications. Her complications have not only been painful, but they have also forced her to take additional time off work. Wood says she doesn’t regret her surgery, but given the opportunity to re-do everything, she would have chosen a different surgeon who listened more. Now, she is with a new team and hopefully on the mend for good.

A Somewhat Mysterious Outcome

Plastic surgery has come a long way, but it has not been perfected. Not everyone has the results they hope for. Although plastic surgeons are quite skilled in their expertise, they cannot guarantee a specific outcome. And, as Huettner shared, some surgeries lead to subsequent revisions.

The goal should be to partner with a surgeon and together, mesh your vision with their skill. Huettner tells HealthyWay that patients will often show her celebrity photos. She takes that “goal,” and using Vectra 3-D imaging, can show them on a computer screen what that particular face or body part will look like on them.

“In most cases,” Huettner says, “the feature of the celebrity simply does not look right on the patient, so we collaborate, with the use of technology, [to find] what would look best on the patient’s unique anatomy.”

Under the Skin

Plastic surgery offers a physical change, but there is so much more to it than that. Often, the desire for surgery is related to an underlying issue—anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and, sometimes, addiction.
“We cannot discuss plastic surgery without understanding the Euro-Western/mainstream cultural state of things for women (which both sexes perpetuate) wherein there exists much pressure for women to look eternally young,” says Natasha Sandy, a psychotherapist. “The biological reality of aging is being hidden, denied, and very aggressively combated, such as through plastic surgery.”

It’s a fine line in determining when plastic surgery is life-restoring versus life-taking. If a procedure is being used to mask an underlying emotional issue, it’s probably a good idea to delve into that before choosing surgery. “There is no greater joy for me than to help my female clients own their power, value, and worth for who they are, as they are,” says Sandy. “When this happens, women liberate themselves from the mental shackles of ‘beauty’ and shine as the true beautiful women they are, inside and out.”

Perks that Cannot Be Forgotten

So much of plastic surgery is discussed in terms of vanity. But truly, who are we to judge why someone does or does not choose a procedure? In addition to botox and other enhancements, there are countless lifesaving procedures done every year. Huettner names a few just to give us all a glimpse of how deep and wide the world of plastic surgery is:

reconstructive surgery after cancer resection, such as breast reconstruction after breast cancer surgery or facial and nasal reconstruction after skin cancer excision
reconstructive plastic surgery for facial trauma after domestic violence, personal attacks, or accidents
reconstruction after dog bite injuries
reconstruction of congenital deformities like cleft lip and palate formation or cranial deformities in children
body contouring surgery of the arms, legs, breast, abdomen, back and buttock after massive weight loss surgery
reconstruction of scar formation/contracture after a burn injury
significant improvement of neck and back pain through breast reduction plastic surgery

All of that IS plastic surgery. It is not only about reconstructing the body; it’s about restoring it, too.
Katherine Kramer benefited from a breast reduction after her last child was born. “My [breasts] were so heavy. They were awful while breastfeeding. It was like lifting sacks of flour,” she says. Kramer suffered back pain and was often embarrassed. Although she had a difficult recovery, Kramer says, “I would never turn back. I have suggested [breast reduction] to many and still would.”

Wood agrees: “I didn’t do it because I didn’t love my body. I had surgery because I was having chronic pain at 28 years old and couldn’t imagine what it would be in 10 years, even.” Like Peterson mentioned, plastic surgery has the potential to boost self-confidence.

“[Botox] is something I do three times a year. It’s worth every penny to me,” she says. Both minor and major procedures can be life-restoring in the fact that they allow a person to feel more like themselves. Often, it can change people from the outside in. Over and over, we hear about the importance of self-care, and for some, self-care can be found through a cosmetic procedure.

What’s coming next?

Plastic surgery is an ever-evolving field, and the future of plastics is exciting and innovative. Zuckerman believes that more and more procedures will become less invasive in the coming years, especially when it comes to fat removal and skin tightening, as well as longer-lasting injectable treatments for combatting aging and fat elimination. Low invasiveness is key because it most likely means a lower cost and shorter recovery time—something everyone can get excited about.

According to Zuckerman, “the use of 3D printing in craniofacial surgery to help with exact sizing for defect reconstruction (and for better complex preoperative surgical planning),” is on the horizon, too.
No matter the next phase, it’s a wonderful luxury to have access to plastic surgery. If it’s something on your mind, be sure to fully evaluate the risks before proceeding, and, as all our experts emphasized, find a board-certified surgeon. Zuckerman recommends searching the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and choosing someone who has before and after photos that are appealing.

Tags 50038201, body, hemingway, social

Wellbeing

Health State To State: Why America’s Health Problems Are Nationwide

Post author By Heather Vecchioni
Post date February 13, 2018

The United Health Foundation recently released its annual list of the healthiest and unhealthiest states in the country for 2017.
The study looked at 35 core measures covering behaviors, community and environment, policy, clinical care, and outcomes data in order to make its decision.
The biggest shock in the study is that there really aren’t any big shocks. As you may have guessed, the states that average the highest incomes in the country are generally healthier than those that are less wealthy. Additionally, the northern states of the country fared much better than the South, as per usual. Just about the only big difference this year is that the healthiest state in the country for the past five years was knocked out of its slot and replaced by one that has a high drug overdose rate. Can you guess who it is?

The Healthiest States

These healthy states are no stranger to the healthy list, as they’ve all been here before. The only difference is their order.

Massachusetts

With its cold weather and delightful accent, Massachusetts was ranked No. 1 as the country’s healthiest state. Thanks to the lowest percentage of uninsured at 2.7 of the population and a low prevalence of obesity, the Bay State was able to knock Hawaii out of the top position.

The good health of the state likely has much to do with the amount of health professionals available to those who live there. The state has about 200 primary care physicians per every 100,000 people, as well as 80 dentists per 100,000 people.
Additionally, smoking in the state decreased from 18.2 percent of the population in 2012 to 13.6 percent in 2017, resulting in a 25 percent drop. Additionally, the percentage of children in poverty has decreased from 38 percent to 11 percent, over the last two years.

But even the healthiest state in the country isn’t without some issues. According to the report, Massachusetts experienced a 69 percent increase in fatal drug overdoses since 2012. West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio, and Rhode Island have also experienced significant increases over the last few years in fatal drug overdoses as well. The state also has a high preventable hospitalization rate, as well as large disparities in health status due to education.

Hawaii

For the past five years, Hawaii was known as the country’s healthiest state. This year, it came in second. Known for its amazing beaches and picturesque outdoor scene, it makes sense that a state with this much access to the great outdoors is healthy, but the food available also plays a major part, says Hawaii-based nutritional coach Chelsea Newman.

“The weather, the surf, and the Aloha spirit all play a part, but in truth, Hawaii has the most expensive food in the United States, and the highest cost of living so it really contradicts the ‘poverty’ blame that often comes along with unhealthy eating,” says Newman. “But generally, here, people really take pride in living close to the earth, supporting local farmers, and they make a big fuss of food. Plus, we’re in bikinis all year round; that definitely helps you be healthy.”

The cost of food greatly affects the quality of nutrition a person receives. As such, people who don’t have a lot of money to spend on food tend to go for what is cheaper, and, typically, unhealthy.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, when income levels decrease, the amount of healthy foods purchased does as well. For instance, high-quality proteins, whole grains, vegetables, and fruit are purchased less often and replaced with low-cost, energy-rich starches, added sugars, and vegetable fats as they are the cheapest way to fill hungry stomachs.

And although Newman agrees that poverty levels definitely play a role in the types of foods purchased, she believes that buying healthy food may be more economical than most think.
“Learning how to store food properly, eat simply, and eat real food is the key,” she says. “If Hawaii is known as the (formerly) healthiest state and we have the second-most expensive bread in the world, the fifth-most expensive tomatoes, and the most expensive toilet paper in the world, then you can throw the whole notion out the window that you need tons of money to eat healthy.”

And, of course, it helps that Hawaii is known for its warm temperatures and gorgeous scenery, which make getting outside to engage in physical activity that much easier, she says.
“Weather plays a major part in it; in Hawaii we can get outside all year long,” says Newman. “However, even in really snowy states, there are outdoor activities, but SAD (seasonal affective disorder) is definitely a factor. Vitamin D makes people happier, healthier, and much more likely to have energy.”

The Unhealthiest States

Unfortunately, not every state in the country has the same kind of access to outdoor activity, quality healthcare, and affordable, healthy food. As such, states that are affected the most by this are commonly found in the unhealthy category.

Mississippi

Mississippi was ranked as the least-healthiest state in the nation in the report. A variety of factors contributed to the state’s unhealthy ranking, including the lack of accessible healthcare. For instance, Mississippi has fewer than 45 dentists for every 100,000 people. Compare that to Massachusetts and New Jersey, two of the healthiest states in the country, which have more than 80 dentists per every 100,000. You can see where this lack of dental care could make a difference.

Mississippi also has a large obese population at 37.3 percent, as well as many children in poverty. These factors can make living healthy in an area that doesn’t have many healthy options extremely difficult.

Louisiana

The tendency for citizens of Louisiana to engage in unhealthy activities is one of the reasons why it was ranked as the second most unhealthy state in the nation. Like Mississippi, smoking, poverty, and obesity play a factor in the health of those who live there.
“Louisiana is the second highest state for obesity, has a high amount of tobacco users and sugar-sweetened beverage drinkers, combined with lower physical activity levels,” says Louisiana-based registered dietician and diabetes educator Lanah Brennan. “With this, there are higher rates of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer in Louisiana.”
Brennan also believes that the lower income level of those who live in Louisiana plays a factor in their health.

“People with lower income often have less access to fruits and vegetables and are more likely to purchase inexpensive foods that are high in added sugars and fat,” she says. “They also may be more likely to skip meals and overeat when food is available.”
Generally speaking, the South is typically less healthy than the North. A variety of factors can play into this, but for Brennan, it’s all about income and the hot weather.

“The southern states have a lot in common when it comes to poverty levels, rich foods, tobacco use, hot summers, and lack of physical activity,” she says. And when you add the vibrant food culture of the state, you can have a recipe for disaster.

“It is hard not to think about festivals and rich foods like gumbo and jambalaya in Louisiana,” she says. “The norm for food portion sizes is large and there, physical activity is not always a priority. Hot, humid summers in Louisiana make it difficult for many residents to get regular physical activity outdoors.”

Why is the United States riddled with health issues?

You may have noticed that when it comes to health, the United States is lacking compared to other countries in the world. The quality of mental and physical health is poor as people are less able to pay for doctor visits and healthcare, author Roberto A. Ferdman wrote in the Washington Post.
But food also plays a pivotal role in the health of the country, and it is only making it worse for itself, says Newman.

“It is so clear to me that people don’t understand how to eat properly, but it’s not their fault,” she says. “The United States government has terrible standards for nutrition. So when you raise families like this, not close to growing food, not close to nature, and not understanding what real food is, then you have a massive problem.”
Newman also believes that the lack of a healthy food culture in the United States makes eating more about filling up on those empty calories than it is about spending time with those who are important to you, which can make choosing unhealthy food easier. Instead of enjoying meals with friends and family and taking time to select healthy and natural ingredients, Americans usually reach for what is fast and cheap, which is typically unhealthy.

“I grew up in the UK, and food had a very different meaning than in the United States,” says Newman. “We had big roast dinners with the family and the neighbors, home-cooked meals at school, and Hawaii has a lot of those values around food as well. We have a beautiful melting pot of cuisines and culture around food within the United States, but the states don’t have an overarching culture for food.”

“Cultural food traditions are a beautiful thing, even if they tend to be a bit unhealthy, but what we have now is a boxed food culture, and that’s not really even food that is just a science experiment resulting in a lot of money for some big wigs in suits who really don’t care about the health of people.”
“It is a huge problem that I see in moving forward for the United States in the battle for healthy food.”

Tags 50038021, body, hemingway, social

Fitness Advice x Motivation Sweat

Is It Time To Ditch Your Ear Bud? The Benefits And Drawbacks Of Music During Exercise

Post author By Jennifer Purdie
Post date January 31, 2018

Natasha LaBeaud Anzures forgoes listening to music during exercise. “Running without music allows me to be completely disconnected from technology and completely engaged in the terrain around me and my inner-most thoughts.”
Semena Morgan also opts for silence during her outdoor runs, as she considers it the only time of day she does not face distractions. “I’ve solved many problems out on the pavement. Music would take away from my serenity.”
But not everyone shuns music. In fact, the majority do not. According to a survey of runners around the world by Brooks Running Company, 53 percent of runners choose music as their prize accessory.

Naomi Jayne is one of them. She turns to music for more than just a pump-up—she uses it to create art in her head, which she then goes on to paint. “When I am running, I always see colors in my mind that go along with the music, or each note has a certain personality to me. When I hear the note in the music, the color forms, and as I am listening to the music, I will decide upon a color palette as a result of the music that I am listening to,” she says.
Even medical professionals recommend music. Jasmine Marcus, doctor of physical therapy, says that she advises patients to listen to music when exercising to make working out more enjoyable. “I pick fast-paced songs to listen to when doing cardio on the bike or elliptical, and I encourage my patients to do the same.”

These examples show the two ends of the music-while-running spectrum—but you never find many people in the middle. Since headphones popped up on heads, it has seemed that runners fall into two categories: those who must listen to music and those who consider it too much of a distraction/safety issue. Whichever group describes you, chances are you are pretty adamant about it.
So, we won’t try to sway you. Let’s just look at the benefits and drawbacks of music during exercise.

Music, the Motivator

“There is a reason why there are exercise playlists,” says Caleb Backe, a certified personal trainer. “There is a reason why … songs are formatted (or reformatted) to fit certain types of beats-per-minute patterns.”
The reason is that appropriate music increases endurance. In a study published in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, researchers found that carefully selected music can significantly increase a person’s endurance by 15 percent, as well as improve positive thinking “even when they are working out at a very high intensity—close to physical exhaustion,” according to Science Daily‘s roundup of the study.

Costas I. Karageorghis, a researcher from the study, even took these findings and applied them to a race. The 2008 Sony Ericsson Run to the Beat half marathon was the first race to provide scientifically selected music along the course to keep runners’ endurance levels up. The race became popular and attracted around 19,000 runners in 2013, according to News Shopper.
Other research shows similar results. In a study published in the peer-review journal Chest, researchers put 19 participants through two “endurance walk tests, one with and one without listening to self-selected music throughout the test.” They measured, among other things, the participants’ endurance times and levels of labored breathing—”the primary symptom limiting exercise tolerance,” the study says—upon completion. The results showed that self-selected music “increased tolerance of high-intensity exercise” and reduced labored breathing at the finish line.
“Practically, the effect was modest but may represent an aid for exercise training of these patients,” they concluded.

Aditi G. Jha, MD, agrees that music choice matters. “Most gym-goers prefer R&B to work out to, which is okay. But hard metal and too-loud music can defeat the purpose, which is to give your body a mental push and to feel good,” she says.

Watch the noise level.

You need to stay cognizant of your music noise level. Bryan Pollard, president of the nonprofit Hyperacusis Research, which funds scientific research into noise-induced pain, says any loud music can cause health issues.
“[Loud music], whether it is coming from earbuds while jogging or speakers in spin class, contributes to assorted hearing dysfunction,” he says.

Hearing loss is a widespread health condition. Approximately 36 million Americans have it, and one in three developed their hearing loss as a result of exposure to noise, according to the American Academy of Audiology. In Europe, the number is higher—52 million people self-report hearing loss, says The European Coalition on Hearing Loss and Disability. The World Health Organization estimates that it costs Europe €178 billion each year for untreated hearing impairments, according to the coalition’s report.
How loud should you go when listening to music to not become part of these statistics? Not very high, according to the American Academy of Audiology. Noise-induced hearing loss can occur from any continued exposure to noise more than 85 decibels. To put this into perspective:

Normal conversations = 60 decibels
Dishwashers = 60 decibels
Alarm clocks = 80 decibels
MP3 players = 100 decibels at full volume—which is probably where you have the volume during a hard exercise session or during a race, where your music competes with lots of background noise

You also need to exercise caution in group fitness classes, as research shows these classes play music too loud as well. In a paper published in the Archives of Environment & Occupational Health, Australian researchers studied noise levels during 35 low-intensity and 65 high-intensity classes in 1997 to 1998, and again in 2009 to 2011. In high-intensity classes in the later time frame, decibels averaged 93.1—a level in which hearing loss can occur. In low-intensity classes, decibels dropped to 85.6, but that is still too high.
Oddly enough, the 2009–2011 teachers preferred the music for high-intensity classes to be much louder than their clients did. So beyond ear plugs, you might not have much of a say.

Further, a study from Australia’s National Acoustic Laboratories found that the music in fitness classes reaches almost as high a level as a jet engine.
Oliver F. Adunka, MD, professor of otolaryngology and neurosurgery in the Department of Otolaryngology, Head, and Neck Surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, does not provide any better news. He says hearing loss is a hidden disability; most people do not even notice it is happening—and you cannot turn it back once it begins. Hearing loss occurs when hair cells start to die in your ear, and “these hair cells do not regenerate. Once they are gone, they are gone.”

So, what preventive measures can you take? Adunka recommends keeping a lower volume in your headphones—no matter if you wear big Beats by Dre headsets or small earbuds. “Even small headsets can produce high levels of sound,” he says, noting that people who exercise for more than an hour should definitely hit the down button. He also recommends only listening to one or two songs at a high volume before taking a listening break.
Most importantly, he emphasizes, get a hearing test frequently.

For group classes, Pollard advises wearing protective earmuffs or earplugs. “The problem with earplugs is that people do not wear them properly and are afforded little protection. It is best to find instructions online and practice till you get it right. If earplugs fall out, you are doing it wrong,” he says. Pollard also suggests wearing noise-canceling headphones that let you still hear the music.

The Flip Side of the Cassette

Runners who loathe music and enjoy the sound of their footsteps instead, as well as the added safety benefits, can also make their exercise experiences better.

Use the time to think.

In a Washington Post interview, Chris Friesen, director of Friesen Sport & Performance Psychology, said that running keeps your brain semi-activated and frees up lots of cognitive space.
You don’t need to listen to anything to access the extra brain availability created by your run—”Even without music,” said Friesen, “running can put you in a state of mind to solve problems and think creatively.” Without music, you can spend your runs thinking through problems you are facing, brainstorming ideas for a work project, or setting new goals—it truly is the perfect time to do so.

While Friesen did note benefits of listening to some form of media during runs, he also suggested that runners forgo music and opt for mindfulness: “When your negative thoughts or worries inevitably come up when running, you can practice acknowledging them for what they are—just thoughts and feelings that our brains are programmed to generate—and train your brain to not get hooked by or fused to them and to stay longer in the present moment.”

Appreciate the sport.

In a study published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, researchers found that listening to music and watching videos during high-intensity exercise resulted in significantly less “perceived exertion” and significantly more “dissociative focus,” or thoughts about other things. This may be good for endurance, as we’ve seen, but it also detaches you from your body’s signals.

The Finish Line

If you prefer to jam out to your Spotify playlist, ensure you choose the appropriate music to keep your endurance level up; yet all the while, keep the noise level down.
On the flip side, if you choose to listen to nothing but the sweet sounds of nature, use the time to contemplate, create, or listen to your body—your brain has the space.
But whatever side you fall—pro-music or anti-music—you are working out and keeping yourself healthy. That should make you proud.

Tags 50037801, body, hemingway, social

Sweat

As Seen On TV Fitness Products: Are They Worth It?

Post author By Jennifer Purdie
Post date January 19, 2018

A recent break up left you heartbroken. You haven’t seen the inside of a gym for a few months, and you’re not sleeping well. Instead of tossing in bed, you click on the television and flip to a late-night infomercial. It showcases trim, upbeat supermodels working out with some kind of enticing fitness contraption. They look happy.
Minutes later, you pop out your credit card to buy what they’re selling. During the call, the customer service representative starts an upsell speech, and suddenly, you agree to buy two of these products. But, they come with free shipping and a DVD—so it’s totally worth it.
In your mind, you know you do not need these products; but in your heart, you do need these products. How is it possible to feel polar opposite ways at the same time?

Mind Games

This tension between real and emotional need arises when basic body dissatisfaction overwhelms your mind. Research has shown that when people, particularly women, see images of models, anxiety about their own self-image escalates.

In a review published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, researchers wrote that women frequently make appearance-related social comparisons, which can lead to body dissatisfaction, and they continue to make these comparisons even with “detrimental consequences.”
In short, if you see an image that makes you feel bad about your body, you’ll keep looking at it. Naturally, you’ll do what it takes to look like the image. The producers of the fitness product commercials capitalize on this.

“Humans are hardwired to avoid anxiety,” says Eamonn Leaver, registered psychologist and writer at fitness resource The Home Fit Freak. “Attractive models are using the very product—Shake Weight, ab shaker, et cetera—that can help people get that ideal body and alleviate the anxiety they’re experiencing. As such, they feel compelled to purchase it.”
In addition, trendy fitness products appear to solve the major excuses people list for eschewing exercise. Consider two examples:

I have no time to work out. That common thought, Weaver says, is exactly why As Seen on TV products claim to work very quickly.
Exercising is hard. It’s a chore. “That is why those attractive models with the desirable physiques always have smiles on their faces when demonstrating the product,” says Leaver. This perception that a product will bring you joy compels you to bring out your credit card.

Ultimately, explains Leaver, As Seen On TV products create unrealistic expectations in consumers’ minds. “The advertisements make them seem like they definitely will work.”

But will As Seen On TV products work outside of the shiny studio?

Well, sometimes.
As a standalone replacement of a workout routine, very seldom do they work, says Jon Santangelo, a former personal trainer. He does not recommend most of these products as a gym replacement; some, however, are worth it in a bind. He advises staying selective in what you choose: “Do not go for the fad products. Go for simplicity and functionality.”

Lynda Lippin, a Pilates instructor and ACE-certified personal trainer, expresses positive feelings toward most of the products. “In my opinion, anything that gets a previously immobile person moving, and is pretty safe, is a success.” But she does say some are downright dangerous. Do your homework.

Ready to go shopping?

If you’re going to purchase a fitness product in the middle a midnight stupor, you should at least be an educated consumer. To help, knowledgeable health and fitness professionals will provide their thoughts on popular TV fitness products.

Say no to spot reducers.

The fitness product that spurred an infomercial phenomenon, the ThighMaster was hawked by television star Suzanne Somers to shape and tone your inner thighs. She began as its spokesperson back in 1990, and she said she stopped counting how many were sold after 10 million units, according to NBC News.

The ThighMaster is touted as an exercise you can do while watching television—all you need to do is simply put the mechanism between your thighs and squeeze. But Jeff Deal, a certified corrective exercise specialist and owner of iDEAL Fitness, says products that focus on training a body part to make it smaller do not work.
“This concept of spot reduction is impossible. In fact, if someone were to change nothing else in their life, with the exception of one of these products, they would more likely increase the size of the body part.”
In a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, researchers investigated the effects of abdominal exercises on abdominal fat. Results showed no significant effects of such spot-reduction/toning exercises on body weight, body fat percentage, and abdominal circumference. Spot reduction, it seems, is a myth. Dieting and exercise will burn fat, but not in targeted areas.

Like the ThighMaster, the Ab Roller is based on spot reduction. Invented in 1994, the ab contraption promised to “sculpt abdominals faster than you’ve ever dreamed possible.” Trainers have been shaking their heads ever since.
“All Pilates and fitness pros are on board with the need for people to learn to stabilize their spines, and this product works against that,” says Lippin. “I had one male client give himself some hernias with the Ab Roller.”

Don’t replace your meal just yet.

Meal replacement shakes populate late-night television and dominate nutrition store shelves. You always see your coworker bring one for lunch. But should you really drink your meal instead of eat it?

Research in the journal Diabetes Spectrum says that meal replacement shakes do offer benefits in weight management: They provide individuals with pre-measured amounts of food with known amounts of nutrients. But to maintain healthy weight loss, meal replacement therapy must be responsible and sustained. It’s imperative that you speak with a health care professional to determine whether these shakes, and which shakes, can serve as a useful weight management tool.
Donna Benjamin, owner and head coach at Crossfit Homeward, says she’s heard plenty of weight loss success stories surrounding meal replacement shakes. But she also says that this bland, ultra-regimented type of nutrition isn’t sustainable.

“Shakes might help an athlete get started on the path to a healthier lifestyle,” she says, “but the joy of gathering at a table and eating a flavorful meal will motivate the athlete to stay on track.”

Weigh the benefits of the Shake Weight.

Taking the infomercial timeslot by storm in mid-2009, the Shake Weight promised to tone your upper body using daily, six-minute workouts—for only $19.95! One ad for the product claimed that it increased muscle activation by 300 percent.

The direction of response of a body function to any agent depends to a large degree on the initial level of that function.

Such an illustrious claim had people running to the phone to buy; by August 2010, Shake Weight’s manufacturer was $40 million richer. By December of the following year, they’d sold 4.5 million units.
Due to its wonky motion, the Shake Weight went viral, with everyone from YouTubers to the folks at Saturday Night Live parodying it—buying a Shake Weight to do so, of course.

To find out if the Shake Weight was truly worth its hype, the American Council on Exercise conducted a study evaluating the degree of muscle activation in Shake Weight exercises versus identical exercises with an equally weighted dumbbell. The women’s dumbbell was 2.5 pounds, and the men’s was 5 pounds.
The results showed that the average muscle activation was 66 percent greater for the Shake Weight exercises compared to the dumbbell exercises. Not quite 300 percent, but still an increase.

The low weight of the dumbbells, though, made some question the practical uses of the Shake Weight for more experienced lifters: “For a person who has experience with resistance training … it’s probably going to have, at most, a modest effect,” said Cedric X. Bryant, ACE’s chief science officer, in a roundup of the 2011 study.
More in the doubt category: A 2012 study published in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine found no significant increase in muscle activation for Shake Weight exercises compared to normal weights.

That said, the Shake Weight could be a good way for a “previously immobile person,” as Lippin said, to get moving. Bryant cited Wilder’s law of initial value: “the direction of response of a body function to any agent depends to a large degree on the initial level of that function.”
“If you put forth effort,” Bryant said, “the Shake Weight, because it provides some level of resistance will produce an exercise response, particularly for individuals at the low end of the fitness spectrum.”

Take a hack at the Ab Carver.

The ab wheel, dressed up below as the Ab Carver, is a wheel connected to two handles for you to roll out your body into a plank position. Its popularity lies in its simplistic design, low price, and small size. You can slip it under your bed or throw it in your luggage.

“The ab wheel is actually a pretty cool device,” says Rui Li, a NASM-certified personal trainer and CEO of New York Personal Training. “It works essentially like a plank, except instead of staying in the same position, you roll your way out into the plank position.”
Li finds the ab wheel effective in building strength in the rectus abdominis, the muscles that you can see on people with washboard abs. “These muscles are important because they allow you to sit up easily and push heavy weight over your head,” she says.

A Fitness Shopper’s First Step

Don’t just take these experts’ words for it, either. If you decide to move forward with buying one of these fitness products, Danielle Girdano, president of D’fine Sculpting & Nutrition, recommends speaking to a professional first. Any of these fitness products should be discussed with a health care professional who uses them, personally or in their practice.

“Also, remember that online reviews can be skewed or even advertisements in disguise, so be sure that any information gathered comes from a trusted, unbiased source,” she says.
In addition, you should always seek the approval of a medical professional before starting any fitness program, especially if you have not worked out for a long period of time.
Now that you understand how infomercials play off of poor self-image, this might help you make wiser choices at 2 a.m. You can still purchase these products, as we can see they are not all a waste of money—just be sure you really know what you’re getting.

Tags 50037246, body, hemingway, social