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Archive for February, 2010

I love where I live. Maine is called Vacationland for a reason, with many state and local parks and trails for a runner to explore.

Unfortunately, one of the dangerous parts of taking advantage of such a setting is that you have to check yourself over for ticks.

A few days after running a local trail race, I noticed that one of my bug bites near my hip looked a little scabbed over. Closer inspection revealed that it was actually a small tick!

Large ticks I don’t worry about. They are easy to spot and don’t carry lyme disease. Deer ticks do carry lyme disease, though, and if they latch on to you for 24 or 36 hours then you have a chance of contracting it.

This feller was a little too small (especially after I tore him with the tweezers while removing him) to tell if he is a deer tick or not, so I had to make a visit the Doctor’s office.

If you ever find a tick dug into you and live in an area where lyme disease is rampant, then here are a few simple steps that you can take to protect yourself:

Remove the tick with tweezers, and make sure that you get the head out of your body. Put the tick into a small tupperware container (if you have rubbing alcohol available, then put some in with it.) Clean the area you were bit with some rubbing alcohol or some other sterile liquid. Get into the doctor’s office right away with your tick, within 48 hours at the very latest but preferably within 24.

If the tick was on you for longer than 24-36 hours and you get to the doctor’s office within 48 hours of removing it, then they will probably give you a dose of antibiotics which will kill the lyme disease bacteria if it is present in your bloodstream. They will then send the tick off to be examined to determine first if it is a deer tick, and if so they will check to see if it is carrying lyme disease.

Depending upon what they find, you may need to get tested for lyme in 4 to 6 weeks. The tests are notoriously bad, and are very inaccurate earlier than that.

If you catch it quick enough, there isn’t much to worry about, but if you allow lyme disease to develop and progress through stage 2 or stage 3 then you may be subject to arthritis, partial paralysis, and other unpleaseantries.

How do you prevent it in the first place?

The easiest way is to just avoid getting bit by the ticks in the first place. Here are a few tips:

Wear long sleeves and pants, and tuck the pants into your socks when in areas that deer can be found such as meadows or trails. Wear white clothing that the ticks will be visible against. Check yourself and your friends for ticks after your run or hike and remove any ticks that you find. If a tick does bite you, then get it out of your body as soon as possible, and if it’s likely that it’s been on you for longer than a day follow the steps I listed above.

Don’t let fear of lyme disease or ticks keep you from enjoying a good trail run; while it can be bad if you let it go untreated, a few simple precautions can keep you safe.

It is a well-known fact that regular physical exercise together with a nourishing and healthy diet is a must for healthy living.

Physical exercise has huge health benefits and can significantly reduce the risk of diseases, especially cardiac diseases, improve metabolism and strengthen your bones.

In modern times, job-related constraints and the changing structure of society has contributed greatly to sedentary lifestyles that restrict physical activity. In such a situation any opportunity for movement should be viewed with approval rather than be considered as a difficulty.

You need to try to be active in different ways throughout the day. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, you should engage in at least 30 minutes of physical activity of moderate intensity on many days of the week as possible, preferably on all days. If you can, you should engage in vigorous exercise on a regular basis to attain better health and fitness levels.

Everyone who has tried knows how tricky it is to follow a strict regimen of exercise, especially in the face of lack of time due to busy modern lifestyles. However, it can still be achievable to get a minimum level of fitness through 30 minutes of activity every day.

Even this can be difficult to do at a stretch. What you can do is to break it down into three stretches of ten minutes each of physical activity and spread it over the day. To make it easier, you can use whatever you typically do in the course of your daily activities to carry out these exercises.

For example, while commuting to your job and back home you can get off the train/bus one stop before your destination and walk the rest of the way.

When in the office or at home do not use the elevator and use the stairs instead. While sitting at your desk, you can do neck rolls and arm raises – push your arms towards your side and then towards the ceiling. You can also do some modified push ups at the edge of your desk. Take a walk after lunch. Walk to the local grocery store; don’t drive.

While watching TV, get up during ads and jog or skip, where you are. You can add some more time for exercise this way. Don’t forget to take a swim at the pool, whenever you get the time. Playing with the kids in the garden can give you some good exercise.

In the mornings, set your alarm to wake you up 5 minutes earlier and skip a rope or do stretching exercises, before you jump under the shower. All these are great ways to exercise, when you find yourself unable to spare time, specially dedicated to exercising.

If you can maintain a small gym at home, there can be nothing better. No fancy equipment is required. You can create a nice gym without much expenditure or space, using simple things like exercise bands, a stability ball, a skipping rope and a pair of dumbbells and you can get quite good results.

Coupled with healthy food and eating habits, these are great ways of exercising to stay fit and healthy, when you are hard pressed for time that you can devote to physical exercise.

Wondering what simple steps you can take to improve your diet and improve your health? Here are 7 simple nutrition tips which can help you have more energy, and experience better health starting today.

Eat Whole Foods Eating whole foods doesn’t mean they have to be “whole” when you eat them. Instead it refers to the form they were in when you obtained them. Your body was designed to use foods in their natural form and cooking can deplete essential nutrients. Instead of getting your next meal from a box or a can, add some cut fruits or vegetables to your meal for an easy first step towards eating more whole foods. Limit Processed Foods Processing refines out many nutrients and natural compounds which would have been in the whole food ingredients. By removing natural fats and other naturally occurring compounds, processed foods last longer on the shelf and the box you buy today will taste exactly the same as the one you buy a year from now. This is good for business, but not so good for nutrition. Processing also adds chemicals to preserve, control consistency, add flavor, smells or textures to enhance the sale of the product. None of these are things that your body needs. The abundance of processed foods is being cited as a major factor in the obesity rates which are rapidly rising in “industrialized” nations. Processing breaks down the food leading to faster absorption of sugars and starches and rapid blood-sugar fluctuations. Drink Clean Water Clean water is free of chemicals, and infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, other organisms) and should contain levels of beneficial minerals and trace elements as found in natural water sources. Over-filtered and distilled water, may accelerate bone mineral loss but can also help the body naturally detoxify itself when used appropriately. Use Dietary Supplements Dietary supplements should supplement, not substitute the benefits of a good diet. This means that the job of a high-quality supplement is to “fill in the holes” that are common in the diet of just about everyone in our modern world. Choose wisely though. Most supplements are of a very low quality. Only use food-based dietary supplements that are backed by a quality assurance program which uses independent laboratory testing to ensure you’re getting the nutritional support you’re paying for. Limit Your Animal Protein Increased portion sizes provide far more animal protein than a person can handle in a entire day. Animal proteins lead to build up of uric acid and other toxins in the kidneys. While your body can manage these toxins (within reason), limiting portion sizes can enhance health and will not deprive you of essential dietary amino acids. So No To All Trans Fat According to new studies, there’s no amount of trans fat which is ok for your body. This isn’t about limiting trans fat from your diet. Eliminate it all. No amount of trans fat is good for you. Say Yes To Carbs…As Long As They Are The Right Ones Your body doesn’t need any refined carbs (for example, while flour, white rice, white sugar, etc.), but your body needs fresh fruits and vegetables every day. At least 50% of your calories should come from these whole foods. For a great shopping tip, buy as many colors of foods as possible. The colors come from different nutrients so the greater the color variety, the better your nutritional support.

We all know that excessive exposure to sunlight can cause skin cancer, wrinkling of the skin, and aging of the skin. However, sunlight is very good for our overall health.

Understanding the power of sunlight is very important. Sunlight intensity is measured in “lux” or “luxes”, for example, on a bright sunny day outdoor light can reach three-thousand lux. However, an indoor environment brightly lit will provide only 400 lux. That is less than 15 percent of daylight brightness.

The human body depends on a natural body hormone called melatonin to enhance sleep. Throughout our adult life melatonin decreases, but peaks during childhood. Have you ever wondered why children sleep so much longer and better than adults do?

The body regulates melatonin production carefully. The light-dark cycle largely controls this process. During the nighttime in a dark environment, melatonin production is at its peak. This process is regulated by the pineal gland, which is located at the center of the brain. The pineal gland serves as a type of “clock” that regulates this process at the right time.

The body does not stockpile melatonin. In order to sleep well at night, we need a moderate supply. In order to boost melatonin output it is known that daily exposure to natural sunlight is a necessity. Manufactured supplements and artificial lights are a weak substitute, and are not worth the effort. The best way to get the melatonin your body needs is to get daily sun exposure.

Nevertheless, there are other benefits of getting adequate sunlight. Sunlight is a potent germ killer. That is why in the olden days people laid their blankets, quilts, and other items out in the sun to be sterilized. Sunlight also gives the skin a healthy glow and makes it smooth and malleable.

A sense of well-being is also attributed to sunlight along with the elevation of mood in most people. Although sun exposure is very beneficial, you must remember to use moderation when you expose yourself to direct sunlight. Acute and chronic depression can also be treated with sunshine along with exercise. Have you ever wondered why we feel so gloomy on a rainy day? During the winter months, try to get as much sunshine as possible.

Vitamin D is another great benefit of the sun’s rays. When the sun hits the skin, the body is able to manufacture vitamin D. The body needs vitamin D in order to pick up calcium from the intestines for use in the building of healthy strong bones. Osteoporosis, and both childhood and adult rickets can be prevented with adequate sun exposure.

Other benefits of sunlight also include:

Jumpstarts the immune system
Alleviates pain from swollen arthritic joints
Lower blood cholesterol levels
Relieve certain symptoms of PMS

Did you know?

- PMS, fertility, sleep, and your energy can all be improved with an extra hour of sun light a day.

- Mental health can be affected positively by seasonal variations in light levels. A great indication of this is a person who suffers with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is treated with light therapy.

- Colon, breast, and prostate cancer are less likely to affect people that get more sunshine.

Although sunlight has many benefits, there are also risk factors. Sunlight can cause skin cancer, especially in light-skinned people. Everyone should be careful and use the necessary precautions before exposing the skin to sunlight over a long period. Healthy living tissue is burned when over exposed to the sun. Skin cancer could become a reality for people who get repeated burns, which can also cause irreversible damage. Premature aging, wrinkling of the skin, oil glands, and skin elasticity can all be damaged due to repeated sunburn and deep tanning of the skin. A high-fat diet along with excessive exposure to the sun is also associated with an increased risk factor to getting skin cancer.

Here are some guidelines for safe, healthy exposure to sunlight:

- Like wearing sunglasses on your skin, modest tanning can be protective. However, you must know your own tolerance to sunlight. Five minutes of sun exposure a day should be a starting point for fair-skinned people and redheads. Ten to fifteen minutes a day could be a starting point for darker skinned people. For most people the ultimate goal should be thirty minutes of sunlight a day.

- Sunburns raise the risk of both malignant melanoma (the deadliest form of cancer), and squamous cell carcinoma, which kills a combined nine-thousand Americans a year. Therefore, it is not wise to burn. If needed wear protective clothing, eyewear, and a protective sunscreen.

- Get your skin ready with proper moisturizing before heading on trips or vacations to hot locations.

- All the vitamin D you need will be provided by five minutes of sunshine on your face and hands each day.

- Lift your spirits, and improve your health by opening your windows and letting the sunlight in each morning.

- There is no substitute for the real thing. Each day should be spent soaking up some sunlight.

Though hydroponics has many advantages over traditional soil growing, plants grown hydroponically are still subject to the same kind of diseases of soil-based plants. One of the biggest factors that determine your success in general hydroponics growing may very well be what steps you take to make sure your plants stay uninfected. If you take the following measures, your odds of having to deal with an epidemic in your grow room will decrease dramatically.

Keep Your Grow Room Clean – Old trimmings that are lying on the floor or in the cracks of your growing medium can be an invitation to disease. Make sure you follow up every pruning session by clearing away all the removed foliage. You should also make sure to thoroughly clean out or completely replace your growing medium after every growing season.

Isopropyl alcohol should be a regular presence in your gardening closet. Regularly wipe down your tools, tubing, and containers. This will kill off any nasty bacterial or viral diseases before they get chance to ruin your plants.

Handle Plants With Care – Much like open wounds on a person can become easily infected because of the easier access that bacteria have to the body, cuts and scrapes on your plants can also make your plants more easily fall ill. Even very clean, intentional cuts that are conducted in general hydroponics growing can make your plants more prone to disease. Regularly examine your plants for cuts and cover them up with a pruning cleanup substance.

Contain small problems before they become large problems – If you notice one of your plants developing the symptoms of a bacterial or viral disease, quickly quarantine that plant. It may seem like a pain to have to go through the steps necessary to transfer that plant to a new grow area, but it will probably save you a lot of hassle if you can prevent the infection of the entire crop.

Keep all Soil Out – General hydroponics growing is typically more disease free than traditional growing, because many of the worst plant diseases lurk in the soil. But soil can sometimes still find its way into your grow trays, so make sure you take steps to eliminate all dirt. When transferring a plant from a soil garden to your hydroponic system, rinse the roots thoroughly. You should also perhaps use a bit of organic fungicide on all outside plants before introducing them to your garden to reduce the chances of fungal infection.

Keep an Eye on Bugs – Bugs don’t just wreck your system by feeding off of your plants, they can also be carriers of nasty diseases. Learn to identify the signs of a bug infestation early, and handle it before it gets out of control.

Stick to the Basics – The things that you do to increase the size of you buds, improve the flavor of your vegetables, and increase your yields are the exact same thing that will help prevent disease. Keeping your nutrient solution’s pH well regulated, making sure your plant receives optimal nutrients, and keeping an eye on the heat and humidity will not just be a boon come harvest time, they will also boost the collective immune system of your crop.

Leading a healthy life is actually quite easy. There are certain, sensible rules of thumb you should follow in order to keep your mind and body healthy. Though it may seem difficult to stick with the steps that will lead you to a fit and vigorous lifestyle, you will actually feel better and better as time passes. Not only that, but if you maintain a healthy lifestyle, you will make fewer visits to the doctor. This means you can purchase a less extensive healthcare plan – one that fits both your needs and your budget.

Healthy Living Tips

We’ve all heard the basics before – be active, eat a well-balanced diet, and get enough sleep each day. Do these things and you can stay healthy. Though it may seem clich