Guide to the Better you

More and more we are hearing about food allergies and food sensitivities.   Because they are such common conditions, it is important to understand the difference between the two and what the health issues are which surround them. The difference between food sensitivities and food allergies Though on the surface food sensitivities and food allergies may seem like the same thing (they can even cause some of the same symptoms), they are, in fact, two different conditions. The least common of the two is a food allergy .   A food allergy will bring about a response from the immune system that can impact several different parts of your body.   Food allergies can be life-threatening.   Food sensitivity or food intolerance symptoms are less serious but are more common, being typically confined to the digestive tract. The gut connection When you have a food allergy, your body essentially treats the food as something that is threatening to your body and therefore mo...

  Ever heard someone give themselves permission to indulge their sweet tooth just because they just had a great workout?  It’s a common excuse. Many people believe that because they exercise, they’re in the black as far as their calorie input/output.  But in reality, this sort of thinking is a sure road to failure. Most people with a lean body and a 6 pack didn’t get that way by rationalizing their way to the desert buffet. Many people have no idea how many calories they take in on an average day, often severely underestimating when asked to take a guess at it.  But they also overestimate the number of calories they burn.  The truth is, 30 minutes of the best boot camp in town will not cancel out that burger and fries! Do the math Let’s look at the hard numbers.  An average, moderately intensive workout will burn 300-400 calories in about an hour.  That’s an hour of hard work with plenty of sweat and hard breathing.  Now say on the way home from t...

  You might be tempted to skip the warm up when you work out.   After all, you only have so much time to exercise—“ Let’s just get on with it already!   I’m in a hurry !” But warming up is a critical component of your fitness routine, and skipping it could have unpleasant and even dangerous results—such as muscle strain, muscle injury and pain. Oh yeah, and a proper warm-up will actually IMPROVE your workout performance! The Warm-up:   Basics A warm up is a short workout period at the beginning of your exercise session.   It is generally low intensity and prepares your body for the upcoming exertion. The purpose of a traditional warm up is to slightly increase your heart rate. This raises your core body temperature and increases the blood flow to your muscles.   Cold muscles and other connective tissues do not stretch very easily.   A warm up session literally warms them up and relaxes them, making them more supple and ready to work. Withou...

  How too Much Cortisol can lead to Decreased Health and Increased Belly Fat Some have called it the “master” of all hormones.   Others curse it for its ability to wreak havoc on our body’s fragile endocrine balance.   In spite of the mixed opinions one thing is certain: cortisol is a powerful hormone necessary for life.   But if its level is not optimal in your body, your health could suffer. What is Cortisol? The hormone cortisol is produced in the adrenal glands and is primarily responsible for regulating blood sugar, helping to metabolize fats, protein and carbohydrates and assisting in managing our stress response. We all have times of stress in our lives, and cortisol helps us to function during these times. When the stress goes up, cortisol kicks in and delivers help.   We get a quick burst of energy, our memory sharpens, our immunity increases, and our sensitivity to pain decreases.   These are all important and natural functions of co...

  Let’s face it:   it is hard to stick to a healthy eating and exercise plan during the holidays.   Everywhere we turn there are tempting foods and drinks—from treats at office parties to our own traditional family favorites.   When you add in a busy schedule filled with shopping and get-togethers that make it tough to squeeze in exercise, you have a recipe for disaster as far as our scales are concerned. The good news is that you really can get through the holidays without gaining weight.   It will take some effort, but you will thank yourself a thousand times when January 1 st rolls around and you have no regrets! Your Goal:   Maintenance In order to greet the New Year without tipping the scale, it is wise to try to maintain your weight during the next few weeks instead of trying to lose.     Remember:   you want to enjoy the holidays, not be miserable from deprivation.   This means that you will allow yourself occasional treats...

  In just a few days, families all over America will be sitting down to a meal which looks back to that first Thanksgiving in which the Pilgrims commemorated the harvest after a harsh winter.   The year was 1621, and Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, which the colonists celebrated as a traditional English harvest feast. George Washington declared Thanksgiving a holiday in 1789, and in 1941 Congress passed a resolution which decreed that the holiday should fall on the fourth Thursday of November. Feasting together is as old as the human race.   It is a way of celebrating and enjoying time with family and friends.   But if we are not careful, we can overdo the festivities and end up setting ourselves back over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Just how big is your meal? It’s hard to believe, but the average Thanksgiving meal contains 3,000 calories and 229 grams of fat.   And most of us don’t limit ourselves to one indulgent meal....

  It’s that time of year again—a time of cool breezes, colored leaves and holiday preparation.   Fall and winter are exciting times…   Unless you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).     If you struggle with winter depression, this time of year is not filled with joy and anticipation.   Instead, you probably feel like hiding under the covers until spring arrives in several months… What is Seasonal Affective Disorder? Everyone has the blues now and then.   But SAD is a depressive state that occurs seasonally, year after year, usually in the fall and winter.   If you suffer from SAD, you may feel perfectly normal during the spring and summer months, but starting around October or November, symptoms begin showing up. Because this type of depression come and goes with the seasons, you may wonder if it is all in your head.   It isn’t.   This is a real condition and can have a devastating impact on your life. Researchers...

  Do you know what your pituitary gland, thyroid, thymus, adrenal glands and pancreas have in common?   They are all endocrine glands, and their jobs are to make hormones. Hormones are chemicals that deliver messages throughout your entire body via the bloodstream.   These messages are delivered to your tissues and organs, but they are very specific:   only those cells which are sensitive to that particular hormone will accept it and be activated by it.   Because they are very potent, it only takes a very small amount to initiate a significant response in the body. Hormones cannot be stored; they have to be produced and released at the precise moment they are needed.   Therefore, in order to maintain balance within the systems in your body, this maintenance must continually be fine-tuned.   An ongoing, intricate system of checks and balances is happening every minute of every day. For example, if the level of one hormone increases too much, your...