Healthy Aging: Body, Mind & Spirit

Keeping your Kegel muscles in shape!

With everything else we have to do in our busy day, don’t forget to keep your kegel muscles in shape.

Luckily INTIMINA by Lelo has created the Laselle Kegel Exerciser, offering an easy and effective way of strengthening the muscles of your pelvic floor (PC muscles).   Designed for the real world, this exerciser offers a complete and effective program without much conscious thought.

Learn more about this CVS-certified product, along with their full line of intimate products here !

Need some information on brand or generic drugs?

Drugs Archive is your source for valuable information on brand and generic drugs, providing easy-to-read,  in-depth, authoritative medical information for consumers via their user-friendly, interactive website.

Check it out here.

Canned goods and cancer

If it isn’t one thing it’s another!   Cut down on canned soups, etc. to avoid too much BPA in your diet!

Learn more here.

The dangers of Hepatitis C

Did you know Hepatitis C is a dangerous virus that can progress undetected for years?   More than two million people have been diagnosed with it, but an estimated two million do not know they have it, putting them at risk for some serious long term health complications.

Even more shocking, the majority of cases are found in Baby Boomers.

Hepatitis C is one of the most curable viruses if proper steps are taken.  Unfortunately, it is also referred to as the “silent killer.”

Did you know?

• Not all patients are IV drug or intranasal cocaine users.   Other ways to contract the virus include: body piercings, tattoos, manicures, pedicures, or even while playing sports such as boxing, and rugby.
• The virus can creep along very silently, presenting no symptoms or abnormal liver test results for 30-40 years
• Hepatitis C is spread by blood-to-blood contact
• If left undetected, the virus can lead to advanced scarring of the liver, or a condition known as cirrhosis, and eventually cause liver failure or other major complications including liver cancer
• About 4 times as many people will die in 2020 from Hepatitis C as in 2010

I want to encourage everyone to get a simple blood test to find out if YOU have this virus.

Why meditate?

The deceptively simple act of meditating prompts changes in your body, including in your autonomic nervous system, which regulates your heartbeat, digestion, breathing and sweating, among other functions. It’s also been shown to prompt beneficial changes in your brain, and it can help everything from stress and anxiety to insomnia and your immune system.

Among the many benefits you can expect from regular meditation are:

Improve Your Ability to Manage Conflicts: After just 11 hours of meditation, University of Oregon students experienced increased brain connectivity in the areas involving the anterior cingulated, which helps regulate your emotions and behavior.

The researchers noted that the brain pathway impacted is known to influence your ability to regulate conflict, emotions and behavior. Further, an underactive anterior cingulated has been linked to a variety of disorders ranging from dementia and ADHD to depression and schizophrenia, so the benefits may be wide-reaching.

Lower Your Levels of Stress Hormones: Researchers have found that meditation lowers levels of stress hormones. In fact, by decreasing the level of one such hormone — epinephrine — meditation has been shown to reduce the amount of cholesterol in your blood and therefore help arteries to remain clear. Reduction of stress hormones also supports the healthy functioning of your immune system. This reduction in stress hormones may be explained by the relaxed state that comes about through meditation. Electroencephalograph (EEG) studies of the brain in those who are meditating show that meditation boosts the intensity of alpha waves — associated with quiet, receptive states — to levels not seen even during sleep. This relaxed state combats anxiety, and this is confirmed by research that has found lowered levels of lactic acid in the blood. (High levels of lactic acid are associated with anxiety.)

Decrease Symptoms of Fibromyalgia: A 1998 study in Alternative Therapies showed that meditation helped decrease symptoms such as pain and sleeplessness in patients with fibromyalgia, a disease characterized by muscle pain, fatigue, and mild-to-moderate depression.

Improve Psoriasis: In a 1998 study at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, psoriasis patients who listened to a mindfulness meditation audiotape during their ultraviolet light therapy experienced faster healing than those who had the light therapy alone.Relieve Fear and Increase Feelings of Well-Being: When you meditate your brain activity shifts to different areas of the cortex. Brain waves that are in the right frontal cortex, which is prone to stress, move to the left frontal cortex, which is calmer. Meditation also leads to less activity in the amygdala, which is where your brain processes fear.

Boost Your Attention: Meditators have increased thickness in brain regions involved in memory and attention. They also perform better on tests that measure attention, even after losing a night of sleep. A study on Buddhist monks, who are known for their intense meditation practice, also found that meditating boosted brain waves associated with attention and vigilance.

Protect Your Heart: Meditators have been found to have improved blood circulation, as well as a lowered heart rate, which places less demands on the heart.A 1998 study published in Psychosomatic Medicine also showed that people who practiced transcendental meditation (TM) had lower levels of lipid peroxide than those who didn’t. Lipid peroxide can contribute to atherosclerosis and other chronic diseases associated with aging. A 1999 study published in the same journal showed that people who practiced TM had lower blood pressure immediately after meditating than did the control group.

Improve Asthma Symptoms: Study participants who took part in a yoga-based meditation technique experienced a greater reduction in airway hyperresponsiveness, or “twitchiness” in the lungs. Those who meditated also had lower rates of tension and fatigue than those who did not.

Relief from Depression: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, which is about 80 percent meditation, may help relieve symptoms in people with depression. In fact, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in the UK approved it for use in people who have had three or more depressive episodes.

Meditation has also been associated with a longer life span, better quality of life, fewer hospitalizations, and reduced health-care costs. It has also shown promise as an adjunct therapy in relieving mild depression, insomnia, tension headache, irritable bowel syndrome, and premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as well as in controlling substance abuse.

Major insomnia problems in the U.S.

I’m a great sleeper, so I had no idea how bad we were as a nation when it comes to peaceful sleep!   Did you know women age 40-59 suffer most with insomnia in the U.S.?   Learn more here.

Insomnia cost our nation $63.2 BILLION last year in lost productivity.

In 2010 we spent over TWO BILLION DOLLARS on sleep aids!

Are you tired and hungry all of the time?

Your body depends on food for energy, but if you’re not eating the right foods, you could easily be malnourished.  Typically, most people associate malnourishment with being very thin, but in the United States many of the foods that will lead you to become malnourished will also make you fat.

“You can’t always tell if a person is malnourished with your eyes,” according to Dr. Marinos Elia, a professor of clinical nutrition and metabolism at Southampton University. “People may be eating too much food, but they may not be eating enough fruits and vegetables.”

If your diet consists of heavily processed, refined foods like fast food, candy, white bread, cookies, potato chips, ready-made meals and frozen pizzas, your body is probably starving for healthy nutrients while quickly packing on the pounds.

What Types of Foods Will Give You Energy and Help You Lose Weight?

Whole foods!  Fresh fruits and vegetables, high-quality meats, eggs, nuts, seeds, dairy products and other foods that do not contain a paragraph of ingredients or come in a microwavable bag are real or whole foods. You can typically spot a whole food by the following:

• Typically comes from the ground, a tree or an animal
• Does not have lists of ingredients (the only ingredient in an egg is … an egg)
• Requires some preparation (washing, cleaning, slicing, cooking, etc.)
• Contains no preservatives, food coloring or artificial flavors

If you build your diet around these foods, you will feel full and energized.   Generally speaking, you will find these foods around the perimeter of your grocery store – in the produce section, the meat section and the dairy section – although you may be able to find fresher, higher quality foods at your local farmer’s market or food coop.

The most important thing I have learned about midlife weight loss

After losing 30 pounds in the past few months, I am now amazed at how little I need to eat each day to feel full, comfortable and content.

I see now that most of my previous food consumption was simply based on what I learned growing up, and not on what I actually need to eat to stay alive.   Yes, there are always the thousands of calories we consume for “entertainment” or emotional reasons. Those have mostly been replaced with delicious healthy protein snacks. What I am talking about here are the habits we have grown up with that keep us fat.

In my case, I believed that I “should” be eating starches like cereal, bread, potatoes, rice, etc. at most meals, and our culture is so set up that way!   Now, instead of cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and some other starch for dinner, I limit those “filler foods” to one small piece of excellent whole-wheat bread in the morning with my eggs, and one quarter cup of rice or potatoes (sweet or white) with dinner.

At first I was appalled at the thought of cutting back so drastically, but as I replaced those empty calories with high quality protein, vegetables and fruit, I found I was never hungry, even without eating anything for lunch but a 15-gram chocolate protein bar. Like I said, I AM AMAZED, especially at age 56, well into menopause.   Our brains are powerful and full of previous training and food expectations!

I just want to let you know what can be accomplished with some diet changes and of course a bit of serious determination… I may have to get old, but I don’t have to be fat!

The best deal I have found for healthy 15 gram protein bars, breakfast foods, drinks, puddings and entrees is over at Nutmeg State Nutrition.  I have received excellent service from them.

If you do decide to place an order with them, please mention “Healthy Aging Blog” in your comments, and you will receive a free snack on me!

BTW, I am officially allergic to soy products, but I do not react to protein products made from soy isolate...good to know!

Polio is back!

Polio is on the move again, spreading from Pakistan into western China.

Robotic legs for stroke patients!

Scientists in the Netherlands are using robotic legs to try to improve the movement of stroke patients.

Learn more here.