Everyone needs sleep. Sleep allows the body to rest and affects both physical and mental health. While scientists are unsure of everything that sleep does for the body, there is no question that sleep is necessary for survival. But, how much sleep does a person really need?
The amount of sleep a person requires is affected by the person’s age. As people age, they tend to need less sleep. Babies need an average of 16 hours of sleep per day and teenagers require approximately nine hours. By the time someone is an adult, they generally need an average of seven to eight hours in order to remain in optimal health. Some people may function effectively on as little as five hours of sleep and others may need as many as ten hours per night in order to feel their best.
Other factors that affect someone’s sleep requirements are the amount of sleep they have had in recent days and their general health. For example, a pregnant woman usually needs additional sleep in her first trimester. Someone who is ill or has a depressed immune system generally needs additional rest as well. When the immune system is depressed, the body produces chemicals to fight infection; these same chemicals induce sleep. Very elderly people often find that they sleep less than when they were younger adults. Read more…
How often do you find yourself saying, “I’m so stressed out!” If you’re like many people, such a statement is a part of our everyday lives. Often we don’t take the time to relax our bodies and minds, refresh our outlook, and give ourselves much needed time away from the pressures we face on a daily basis. Unfortunately, over time, ignoring the buildup of stress can affect both physical and mental health. Along with draining our energy and decreasing our level of performance, stress can also wear down our bodies, contribute to emotional imbalance, high blood pressure, decreased circulation, headaches, depression, and overall poor general health. Below are a few simple strategies you can bring into your life that can help you free your body and mind from tension.
1. Breathing
Breathing right can help improve your posture and lung capacity, as well as your peace of mind. The great thing about utilizing breathing techniques to decrease stress is that you can use them anytime throughout your day: at work, in your car, on the phone, even waiting in line at the supermarket. The first step to breathing properly is to become aware of how you breathe. Awareness is always the first step to making a conscious change. Most of us use our lungs sparingly; our breaths are shallow because they’re surrounded by tension. To try deep breathing, place your hand on your lower abdomen. When you inhale, concentrate on pushing your hand out with your belly first, then filling up the rest of your lungs so your breath comes in bottom to top. In this way, you are using the full capacity of your lungs. Inhale through your nose and exhale out through your mouth and take long, slow breaths. Even after doing this just ten times consecutively, you should feel your shoulders drop a bit, and your neck extend upward. (Note: if you become light-headed while deep-breathing, switch to your regular breathing pattern and resume deep breathing when the feeling has passed.) If you practice this type of deep breathing just once a day for five or ten minutes, you will soon become so familiar with the technique that you can put it to use anytime without even thinking twice. Soon you’ll be going through your day breathing deeply and feeling great. Read more…
The options for drinks seem to be at an all time high with energy and sport drinks, new flavored sodas, tropical fruit juices, fancy vitamin water, and even water with protein appealing to all ages. Sodas and sport drinks, however, can have as much as 13 teaspoons of added sugar. It is especially important to look at the serving size on the nutrition label. So if you quickly read that a beverage bottle says 80 calories, you may need to look again. For example, if the serving size sates 2.5 servings/bottle, you need to do the math. In this case, the 80 calories beverage actually contains 200 calories. Similarly, not all fruit juice is alike. Many do provide 100% juice but be careful of marketing. SunnyD may look like orange juice and sell you on it’s 100% vitamin C, however it’s second ingredient is high fructose corn syrup as well as other ingredients not found in juice.
So what is a parent to do? Certainly, 100% fruit juice can be counted as a serving of fruit in a child’s diet. Just be careful of portion sizes. Offering OJ in a small glass (4- 6 oz) is great at breakfast but shouldn’t be the main choice of the day. Orange slices would be a great option, providing beneficial fiber and phytochemicals. If the soccer moms are bringing in sports drinks, you may need to be the one to point out that water is just fine. Sport drinks can be useful for the athlete who vigorously exercises for more than an hour, but isn’t necessarily needed for kids, teens, or adults. It is more important that you child is hydrated. Have your son or daughter drink water at least a half hour before his/her practice. Bring a water bottle to ensure he can drink during breaks in the game. Offering watermelon after the game is great as it contains 90% water. Finally, most adults and kids get plenty of protein (think cheese, milk, peanut butter, chicken, tofu, etc). Adding protein to a beverage just comes down to marketing again. Similarly, children consume plenty of vitamins in real food as well as fortified cereals and bread. Drinking vitamin water adds no real health benefit.
When you are out and about doing errands with the kids, it is quite convenient to just to purchase sodas, Slurpies and even a Jamba Juice for you family. Again, it is all about portions. A 16 oz Jamba Juice Mango-A Go Go has 300 calories. Ask for an extra cup and split it up between your kids or just ask them to only fill it up half way (it is hard to stop halfway once it is in your cup). Even for yourself as you drop in to Starbucks for a 12 oz pick-me- upper café mocha (with whip cream of course) you’ll be drinking in 260 calories. Having young children have sips of your frosted mocha is not a great idea because caffeine can have more of an effect on children whose body weight is much less than an adults. Caffeine can cause upset stomachs and disrupt sleep. Read more…
Did you know that you can increase good health by making sure that you get enough water? Yes plain water that has
been purified in some way. The water most of us get from the tap is full of chemicals that is bad for our health. Do
not drink tap water, unless you have your own well, which you know is not contaminated.
Drinking water is essential for a healthy body. Water regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, keeps skin youthful and muscles strong.
Water is present in every cell and tissue and involved in so many biological functions: digestion, absorption, circulation and excretion. It helps us with keeping our
hormones balanced and our brain chemistry Relies on water for proper balance. Water gives us energy and strengthens the immune system.
Most people are not drinking enough water and are semi dehydrated. Your body cannot work at optimum level without the water it needs.
What happens when you don’t drink enough water?
I won’t go into all the details, but do want to mention a few things here. All the things mentioned above that water helps keep in balance and lubricated are affected when you don’t drink water. You will not feel as well as you possibly
could, your body does not have what it needs for good health and so your health declines. Read more…
Millions of people would love to live a healthy lifestyle. Everyone talks about getting on a healthy lifestyle but not many are successful in doing so. First, let us discuss what a healthy lifestyle is. It can be determined by four things. These items include the following actions: cutting out smoking, reducing your weight, eating better, and increasing the exercise you do.
Most people want to make good lifestyle choices and be trim and healthy. The problem is most people have plenty of excuses. They cannot, will not, or do not want to change their current lifestyle. One of the biggest excuses or reasons for not making the change is not having time to exercise. Many times, we come home and say no exercise today, I am too tired, or I do not have time to do that today. Another popular excuse is I am too tired today. I do not feel like cooking diner; let us just go get some fast food tonight. Being short of time is an epidemic as it affects a great number of people.
Have you noticed how we have time for the boss, people we work with and time to travel to work but have no time for ourselves and for those we love. You can do a lot in ten minutes and you certainly have ten minutes a day to spare for your own use. Read more…