Category Archives: Healthy Eating and Exercising

Intermittent Fasting to Hearth Health

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“Intermittent Fasting may bring heart health and other health benefits.”

Intermittent fasting can offer many health benefits. It can aid in weight loss, control diabetes and prevent many other health conditions, according to several medical experts.

The benefits are thought to result from a process called metabolic switching, which is when the body goes into a fasting state and begins using body fat instead of glucose to meet its energy needs, according to Consumers Reports.

Intermittent fasting helps preserve the body’s normal interplay between the hormone insulin and blood glucose, preventing insulin resistance (when the body doesn’t respond properly to it). Metabolic switching also signals the body to activate maintenance and repair systems, which aid in disease prevention.

Intermittent fasting is an eating plan that focuses more on when to eat than what to eat.  And, more people are trying intermittent fasting due to its abundance of impressive health results from scientific studies, word of month and social media. Intermittent fasting has become the number one fasting technique and a popular weight loss tactic.

Fasting is voluntary and controlled period without food. Fasting, especially intermittent fasting, is for health, religious and spiritual reasons.

Eating cycles involve fasting for a period of time and eating for the rest. These periods can be aligned to a person’s lifestyle, dietary requirements or health conditions.

When You Eat Matter

It seems that regularly fasting can potentially improve your risk factors related to heart health. Although researchers aren’t sure why, at least one study has indicated that people who follow a fasting diet may have better heart health than people who don’t.

Regular fasting and better heart health may be linked to the way your body metabolizes cholesterol and sugar. Regular fasting can decrease your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or “bad,” cholesterol. It’s also thought that fasting may improve the way your body metabolizes sugar. This can reduce your risk of gaining weight and developing diabetes, which are both risk factors for heart disease.

More studies are needed to determine whether regular fasting can reduce your risk of heart disease. Most scientific evidence on fasting comes from animal, not human, studies. If you’re considering regular fasting, talk to your doctor about the pros and cons. Keep in mind that a heart-healthy diet and exercising regularly also can improve your heart health.

What you eat matters.

Many studies have shown that the types of food you eat affect your health. Additionally, scientists are beginning to understand that when you eat may also make a difference.

Throughout history, people have experienced periods when food was either scarce or completely lacking, says Dr. Valter Longo, an NIH-funded longevity researcher at the University of Southern California. “So, they were forced to fast,” he says.

But current technology “has shifted our eating patterns,” explains Dr. Vicki Catenacci, a nutrition researcher at the University of Colorado. “People now eat, on average, throughout a 14-hour period each day.”

Studies suggest that this constant food intake may lead to health problems and researchers have started looking at whether fasting can have potential health benefits for some people.

Intermittent Fasting

Many fasting diets mainly focus on the timing of when you can eat. These fasting diets are sometimes called “intermittent fasting.”

In intermittent fasting, you eat every day but only during a limited number of hours per day. Instead of eating three meals spread out during the day, you may only eat between a six- to eight-hour window each day and fast for the remaining sixteen to eighteen hour. For example, you might eat breakfast and lunch, but skip dinner.

The most popular intermittent fasting method is 16:8. This is a schedule that involves 16 hours of fasting and 8 hours of eating.

Other timed intermittent fasting similar to this include 12:12 and 14:10. The first number always indicates the hours you fast for. During fasting a person must not consume any food or calories. Calorie free drinks are allowed such as water, black coffee and tea.

Other methods include alternate day fasting. This is where a person fasts for 24 hours every other day or two days. For the other days a healthy nutritious diet should be consumed.

Another intermittent fasting method is 5:2. This involves eating healthy nutritious non-calorie restricting 5 days a week. The other 2 days a person should consume 600 calories or less.

But scientists don’t know much about what happens to your body when you fast. Most research has been done in cells and animals in the lab. That work has provided early clues as to how periods without food might affect the body.

Researchers have found that in some animals, certain fasting diets seem to protect against diabetes, heart disease, and cognitive decline. Fasting has even appeared to slowed the aging process and protected against cancer in some experiments.

“In mice, we’ve seen that one of the effects of fasting is to kill damaged cells, and then turn on stem cells,” explains Longo. Damaged cells can speed up aging and lead to cancer if they’re not destroyed. When stem cells are turned on, new healthy cells can replace the damaged cells.

Studies are starting to look at what happens in people. Early results have found that some types of fasting may have positive effects on aspects of health like blood sugar control, blood pressure, and inflammation. But fasting can also cause weight loss. So researchers are studying whether the beneficial changes seen in the body are side effects of the weight loss or the fasting process itself.

Body Changes

For many people, the main reason to try fasting is to lose weight. Currently, most people try to lose weight by restricting how many calories they eat each day.

“That doesn’t work for everyone,” Catenacci explains. “It takes a lot of focus. It takes a lot of math, and a lot of willpower.” Her research team is running a study to compare how much weight participants lose with fasting versus calorie restriction, but over a one-year period. “There’s a lot of debate about whether the benefits of intermittent fasting are due to the extended fasting period itself,” says Dr. Courtney Peterson, an NIH-funded nutrition researcher at the University of Alabama.

To understand this better, Peterson did a study in pre-diabetic men. It was designed so the volunteers would not lose weight. The men ate an early time-restricted feeding diet for five weeks. They could eat only between 8 am to 2 pm. They then fasted for the next 18 hours. Next, they ate the same amount of food but only during a 12-hour period per day for five weeks. None of the men lost weight.

The longer fasting period alone made a difference. The intermittent fasting diet “improved their blood sugar control,” Peterson says. “And we found a blood pressure lowering effect equivalent to what you see with a blood pressure medication.”

These findings suggest that an extended fast or the timing of when you eat—even when it doesn’t affect your weight—can bring health benefits for some people.

Health benefits of fasting

Fasting may bring health benefits, but Longo and other experts caution against people trying fasting diets that are not based on research. If you’re fasting, talk with your health care provider first. People with certain health conditions or who are taking certain medications should not try fasting.

Even if you fast sometimes, you still need to make healthy food choices overall, Peterson explains. “It looks like when you eat matters a lot, but what you eat probably matters more.”

Autophagy and Anti-Aging

After 16 to 18 hours of fasting, you should be in full ketosis. Your liver begins converting your fat stores into ketone bodies — bundles of fuel that power your muscles, heart, and brain.

If you can do intermittent fasting for 16-18 hours a day, you’ll burn through body fat and fill up quickly when you break your fast, which makes it easy to stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight.

When the body fasts and goes without food for an extended period of time, it begins a waste removal process. This is better known as autophagy.

Autophagy is a cellular process where the body removes old cells and replaces them with new healthier cells. Replacing old cells with new ones help the body fight disease and cancers.

Studies show that the autophagy process begins with long term fasting. Autophagy can only begin when glucose and insulin levels are low. It is a healthy process for cells and tissue to repair.

Studies suggests that autophagy begins after 24 hours of calorie restrictions. It can increase with exercise during periods of fasting.

After a full-day fast, your body goes into repair mode. It begins recycling old or damaged cells and reducing inflammation. If you’re looking for anti-aging or anti-inflammatory benefits, a 24-hour or greater timeframe fast is required. .

When your body is under mild stress (such as exercise or an extended fast), your cells respond by becoming more efficient.

Intermittent fasting is a valuable and an effective tool to improve your mental and physical health.

References:

  1. https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2019/12/fast-or-not-fast
  2. https://www.consumerreports.org/dieting-weight-loss/intermittent-fasting-best-times-to-eat-for-weight-loss-health/
  3. A monthly newsletter from the National Institutes of Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 
  4. https://order.store.mayoclinic.com/books/GNWEB20
  5. https://fcer.org/intermittent-fasting-benefits/#2_8211_Anti-inflammatory_properties

Celebrating American Heart Month

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#1 cause of death in the U.S. is HEART DISEASE!

Heart disease is a catch-all phrase for a variety of conditions that affect the heart’s structure and function. Coronary heart disease is a type of heart disease that develops when the arteries of the heart cannot deliver enough oxygen-rich blood to the heart.

Despite the devastating toll of COVID-19, heart disease remains the most costly and leading cause of death in the United States. Specifically, myocardial infarction (MI) and coronary artery disease (CAD) are the leading causes of death in the U.S. and other Western societies.

Coronary heart disease is often caused by the buildup of plaque, a waxy substance, inside the lining of larger coronary arteries. This buildup can partially or totally block blood flow in the large arteries of the heart.

Some types of this condition may be caused by disease or injury affecting how the arteries work in the heart. Coronary microvascular disease is another type of coronary heart disease. It occurs when the heart’s tiny blood vessels do not work normally.

The death rate from heart attacks has risen dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic because people are delaying or not seeking care after experiencing mild symptoms. And, symptoms of coronary heart disease differ from person to person even if they have the same type of coronary heart disease. However, because many Americans have no symptoms, they do not know they have coronary heart disease until they have chest pain, a heart attack, or sudden cardiac arrest.

Protect yourself…

90% of heart disease and stroke is preventable through lifestyle changes and risk factor modification. During Heart Month, it is critical to recommit to fighting this disease by promoting better health, wellness, and prevention awareness in your homes and communities.

There’s a lot you can do to prevent heart disease. You and your friends and family can begin by working together to meet your heart health goals. Move more, work on your weight and salt intake, quit smoking—it’s all easier when you have social support.

Motivating Americans to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent heart disease is the goal of Heart Month. Focusing on your heart health has never been more important. People with poor cardiovascular health are also at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Let’s celebrate American Heart month by incorporating heart-healthy cardio activity into your day today:

  • Get Moving (exercise)
  • Quit Smoking (No More Excuses)
  • Lose Weight (Your weight matters)
  • Eat Heart Healthy Foods (talk to a doctor or a nutritionist)
  • Don’t Overeat
  • Don’t Stress

Make heart health a regular part of your self-care routine.

Wish all a Happy Valentine’s Day, and to remind you to take care of your heart

References

  1. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/american-heart-month/about
  2. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/education-and-awareness/heart-month/help-prevent-heart-disease

The Gift of Exercise and Health

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Make exercise a lifelong habit

Exercise and physical activity are great ways to feel better, boost your health and improve your life. The health benefits of regular exercise and physical activity are significant and hard to ignore. And, everyone would benefit from exercise, regardless of age, gender or physical ability.

Research demonstrates that lifestyle changes, like making exercise a lifelong habit, will have a strong influence on your heath. Thus, you must make healthy habits such as exercising or being physically active daily a lifelong goal and a lifestyle. 

Physical Activity is important

Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone. No matter your health and physical abilities, you can gain a lot by staying active. In fact, studies show that “taking it easy” is risky. Often, inactivity is more to blame than age when older people lose the ability to do things on their own.

Lack of exercise or physical activity also can lead to more visits to the doctor, more hospitalizations, and more use of medicines for a variety of illnesses. Research has shown also that it’s important to get all four types of exercise: endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility.

Physical activity predicts better health. 

People who rarely get off the couch are more than twice as likely to die prematurely as people who exercise moderately, whether they are normal weigh, overweight or obese.  In contrast, people who are obese and fit have only slight more risk than normal-weight, fit people, according to Dr. Sandra Aamodt, author of Why Diets Make Us Fat:  The Unintended Consequences of Our Obsession with Weight Loss (Penguin Random House, 2016).

The research indicates that exercise habits are much more important than weight in determining the risk of early death.  Bottom line is that “exercise improves health even if no weight is lost.” 

Low fitness is estimated to be responsible for 16 to 17 percent of deaths in the U.S.  While, obesity accounts for only 2 to 3 percent once the effects of fitness are factored out.

Exercising 30 minutes a day is more effective than dieting 24 hours a day.  That’s the deal of a lifetime–a longer, healthier lifetime. Thus, one of life’s best gifts is exercise.

Healthy habits for the heart. 

Regular exercise protects your heart and provides many heart-healthy benefits

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S.  according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Your risk of many chronic diseases drops when you partake in regular exercise or physical activities. 

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week; just 30 minutes of activity, such as walking, on five out of the seven days. 

Bottomline, exercise and physical activity across a lifetime can substantially reduce your risk of heart disease.

Seven benefits of exercise

There are seven ways exercise can lead to a happier, healthier you, according to the Mayo Clinic. The benefits of exercise are:

  1. Exercise controls weight
  2. Exercise combats health conditions and diseases
  3. Exercise improves mood
  4. Exercise boosts energy
  5. Exercise promotes better sleep
  6. Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life
  7. Exercise can be fun … and social!

As you can see, exercise is good for the body or mind. According to the Mayo Clinic, walking or moderate physical activity can improve heart health, lower blood pressure, strengthen bones and muscles, help maintain a healthy weight, and improve mood.

References:

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/exercise/art-20048389
  2. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/four-types-exercise-can-improve-your-health-and-physical-ability#
  3. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/real-life-benefits-exercise-and-physical-activity

Fitness Program: Five Steps to a Healthy Lifestyle | Mayo Clinic

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Any amount of physical activity or exercise is better than none at all.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Starting a fitness program may be one of the best things you can do for your health. Physical activity can reduce your risk of chronic disease, improve your balance and coordination, help you lose weight, improve your metabolic health and reduce your metabolic age — and even improve your sleep habits and self-esteem.

There are three kinds of fitness:

• Aerobic fitness. Aerobic activities condition your heart and lungs. Aerobic means “with oxygen.” The purpose of aerobic conditioning is to increase the amount of oxygen that is delivered to your muscles, which allows them to work longer. Any activity that raises your heart rate and keeps it up for an extended period of time will improve your aerobic conditioning.

• Muscle strengthening. Stronger muscles can mean either more powerful muscles that can do bigger jobs (such as lifting heavier weights) or muscles that will work longer before becoming exhausted (endurance). Weight training (resistance training) or simple exercises such as push-ups are two examples of ways to focus on muscle strengthening.

• Flexibility. Like aerobic fitness and muscle strengthening, flexibility is a result of physical activity. Flexibility comes from stretching. Your muscles are repeatedly shortened when they are used, especially when exercising. They need to be slowly and regularly stretched to counteract the repeated shortening that happens through other activities.

You can start your personal fitness program with simple steps.

1. Assess your fitness level

You probably have some idea of how fit you are. But assessing and recording baseline fitness scores can give you benchmarks against which to measure your progress. To assess your aerobic and muscular fitness, flexibility, and body composition, consider recording:

  • Your pulse rate before and immediately after walking 1 mile (1.6 kilometers)
  • How long it takes to walk 1 mile, or how long it takes to run 1.5 miles (2.41 kilometers)
  • How many standard or modified pushups you can do at a time
  • How far you can reach forward while seated on the floor with your legs in front of you
  • Your waist circumference, just above your hipbones
  • Your body mass index

2. Design your fitness program

It’s easy to say that you’ll exercise every day. But you’ll need a plan. As you design your fitness program, keep these points in mind:

  • Consider your fitness goals. Are you starting a fitness program to help lose weight? Or do you have another motivation, such as preparing for a marathon? Having clear goals can help you gauge your progress and stay motivated.
  • Create a balanced routine. For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends getting at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during the course of a week. Greater amounts of exercise will provide even greater health benefits.

But even small amounts of physical activity are helpful. Being active for short periods of time throughout the day can add up to provide health benefits.
Do strength training exercises for all major muscle groups at least two times a week. Aim to do a single set of each exercise, using a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 to 15 repetitions.

  • Start low, develop exercise habit and progress slowly. If you’re just beginning to exercise, start cautiously and progress slowly. If you have an injury or a medical condition, consult your doctor or an exercise therapist for help designing a fitness program that gradually improves your range of motion, strength and endurance.
  • Build activity into your daily routine. Finding time to exercise can be a challenge. To make it easier, schedule time to exercise as you would any other appointment. Plan to watch your favorite show while walking on the treadmill, read while riding a stationary bike, or take a break to go on a walk at work.
  • Plan to include different activities. Different activities (cross-training) can keep exercise boredom at bay. Cross-training using low-impact forms of activity, such as biking or water exercise, also reduces your chances of injuring or overusing one specific muscle or joint. Plan to alternate among activities that emphasize different parts of your body, such as walking, swimming and strength training.
  • Try high-interval intensity training. In high-interval intensity training, you perform short bursts of high-intensity activity separated by recovery periods of low-intensity activity.
  • Allow time for recovery. Many people start exercising with frenzied zeal — working out too long or too intensely — and give up when their muscles and joints become sore or injured. Plan time between sessions for your body to rest and recover.
  • Put it on paper. A written plan may encourage you to stay on track.

3. Assemble your equipment

  • You’ll probably start with athletic shoes. Be sure to pick shoes designed for the activity you have in mind. For example, running shoes are lighter in weight than cross-training shoes, which are more supportive.
  • If you’re planning to invest in exercise equipment, choose something that’s practical, enjoyable and easy to use. You may want to try out certain types of equipment at a fitness center before investing in your own equipment.
  • You might consider using fitness apps for smart devices or other activity tracking devices, such as ones that can track your distance, track calories burned or monitor your heart rate.

4. Get started…get moving

Begin your fitness program and keep these tips in mind:

  • Start slowly and build up gradually. Give yourself plenty of time to warm up and cool down with easy walking or gentle stretching. Then speed up to a pace you can continue for five to 10 minutes without getting overly tired. As your stamina improves, gradually increase the amount of time you exercise. Work your way up to 30 to 60 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
  • Break things up if you have to. You don’t have to do all your exercise at one time, so you can weave in activity throughout your day. Shorter but more-frequent sessions have aerobic benefits, too. Exercising in short sessions a few times a day may fit into your schedule better than a single 30-minute session. Any amount of activity is better than none at all.
  • Be creative. Maybe your workout routine includes various activities, such as walking, bicycling or rowing. But don’t stop there. Take a weekend hike with your family or spend an evening ballroom dancing. Find activities you enjoy to add to your fitness routine.
  • Listen to your body. If you feel pain, shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea, take a break. You may be pushing yourself too hard. Remember to drink plenty of water.
  • Be flexible. If you’re not feeling good, give yourself permission to take a day or two off.

5. Monitor and track your progress

Retake your personal fitness assessment six weeks after you start your program and then again every few months. You may notice that you need to increase the amount of time you exercise in order to continue improving. Or you may be pleasantly surprised to find that you’re exercising just the right amount to meet your fitness goals.

If you lose motivation, set new goals or try a new activity. Exercising with a friend or taking a class at a fitness center may help, too.

Starting an exercise program equates to healthy habits that last a lifetime

Health, not gold or silver, is the greatest wealth! Billy Graham

Starting an exercise program is an important decision for your health and well-being. But it doesn’t have to be an overwhelming or strenuous or anxiety producing one. By planning carefully, starting slowing and pacing yourself, you can establish a healthy habit that lasts a lifetime

Reference:

  1. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/fitness/art-20048269/?_ga=2.141564786.1134128569.1602276705-291377975.1601941478
  2. https://wa.kaiserpermanente.org/kbase/topic.jhtml?docId=ta3112

 
Learning, Growing and Getting Better and Better Everyday!!!

Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life | Consumers Reports

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Eating a healthy diet can fix several common health concerns as you age like energy level, mood and balance.

A healthy diet is key to the healthy aging of your body and mind, according to Consumer Reports on Health. Additionally, it can help you ward off chronic diseases such as hearth disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.

Improving energy levels and mood

A healthy diet can help remedy numerous conditions (many of which become more common with age)—such as your balance and mood.

When the weather turns cold and days get shorter, we often turn to comfort foods which tend to be made mostly of refined carbohydrates, sugar, and fat. That combination may leave us feeling physically tired and emotionally cranky.

“When you eat simple, refined carbs, you get a quick increase of energy for about 20 or 30 minutes, and then a quick decrease,” says Lauri Wright, PhD, associate professor of nutrition at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. “Those spikes and dips in energy are also bad for your mood because when your energy comes crashing down, your mood can crash too.”

Whole grains, such as brown rice and quinoa, work in the opposite way. “They release energy gradually and then gradually decrease over the course of 3 to 4 hours,” Wright says.

Getting adequate vitamin D may also be helpful for boosting your mood. Older adults may be prone to a defi­ciency, in part because the ability to produce D from sunlight declines with age. A 2018 study of almost 4,000 adults 50 and older in Ireland found that those with vitamin D deficiency (defined in this study as blood levels lower than 30 nanomoles per liter) were more likely to develop depression.

Improving balance

Your balance tends to get worse as you age, but one common cause is sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss). You can help your muscles stay strong by getting enough protein.

“The proteins in your muscles are constantly being broken down,” says Roger Fielding, PhD, associate director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. “If you aren’t consuming enough protein in your diet, the breakdown exceeds synthesis and you have a loss of muscle mass.” And without strong muscles to support your joints, your balance may suffer, leaving you at greater risk of falling.

On average, older adults should aim for at least 0.6 gram of protein per pound of body weight per day—about 90 grams for someone who weighs 150 pounds. Make sure to spread it evenly among meals. “It’s important to deliver protein to your muscles throughout the day,” Fielding says. And be sure to get a mix of animal (lean meats, fish, dairy) and plant (beans, nuts, soy) sources.

Plant foods also contain antioxidants and polyphenols that can help reduce inflammation. “Increases in inflammatory compounds can have potent effects on muscle loss,” Fielding says. In one study in The Journal of Nutrition, older men and women with adequate blood levels of antioxidant vitamin C had an average of 1.6 percent and 3.4 percent greater muscle mass, respectively, than those with lower levels.

Healthy eating

Eating lots of high-quality plant foods and eating low amounts of animal-based foods, refined grains, added sugars, processed foods and ­unhealthy fats is good for your heart health. A plant-based diet can improve cholesterol and lower blood pressure. It also helps to protect against oxidative damage and to reduce inflammation.

Research has linked ultra processed foods to a higher risk for obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Some processing is relatively benign and even enhances healthy properties. But generally speaking, the farther your food gets from its original “whole” version, the more process and less good it becomes for you.

Healthy eating plan

What matters most is following a healthy eating plan. In one 2018 study involv­ing more than 81,000 women, those whose diets most closely matched one of three heart-healthy eating patterns—alternate Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and 2010 Alter­native Healthy Eating Index—had a lower risk of developing chronic diseases over the 22-year study period.

To make it simple, at each meal fill half your plate with fruits and veggies (but limit starchy ones, such as potatoes). The other half should be made up of whole grains and plant-based protein, such as tofu, lentils, or nuts, most days, with modest amounts of fish, lean meat, and poultry less often.

References:

  1. https://www.consumerreports.org/healthy-eating/anti-aging-diet-moves/?EXTKEY=YSOCIAL_FB&fbclid=IwAR0LIDLQ73gonTqiiBcqMigeysuA1otE9VwXMvvrysCDHoJuIyelJuky0e4
  2. https://www.consumerreports.org/nutrition-healthy-eating/what-is-a-processed-food/
  3. https://www.consumerreports.org/packaged-processed-foods/processed-foods-are-bad-for-weight-loss/
  4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29071481/

Healthy Aging and Lifestyle: Avoid Muscle Loss as You Age

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Declining muscle mass is part of aging, but that does not mean you are helpless to stop it.

“Older men can indeed increase muscle mass lost as a consequence of aging,” says Dr. Thomas W. Storer, director of the exercise physiology and physical function lab at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “It takes work, dedication, and a plan, but it is never too late to rebuild muscle and maintain it.”

The best means to build muscle mass, no matter your age, is progressive resistance training (PRT), says Dr. Storer. With PRT, you gradually amp up your workout volume—weight, reps, and sets—as your strength and endurance improve.

This constant challenging builds muscle and keeps you away from plateaus where you stop making gains. (See “Working on a PRT program.”) In fact, a recent meta-analysis published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reviewed 49 studies of men ages 50 to 83 who did PRT and found that subjects averaged a 2.4-pound increase in lean body mass.

if you want to burn more calories and lose weight, the answer is simple: build muscle, according to the Cleveland Clinic.  

Muscle burns more calories at rest than fat

Ten pounds of muscle burns 50 calories at rest, whereas 10 pounds of fat burns 20 calories. This means, long after you’ve stopped working out, your body is still burning over twice as many calories when you’re toned than when you’re not. 

Strength training

When you lift weights and build muscle, you’re actually creating tiny tears in the muscle fibers within your body. This is why you’re sore after a tough workout.

Strength training comes when your muscles build against those tears. athletic trainer Tom Iannetta, ATC, CSCS explains that strength training is beneficial at any age. “As we age, we lose muscle mass, which decreases metabolism, so establishing a strength program will not only increase muscles, it will boost metabolism,” he says. 

Get moving a little every day.

Work out every morning and some evenings. Some moves take just minutes to do. Here’s a few ways to do it right:

  • Start slow—incorporate regular walks or body weight exercises to feel the burn.
  • Workout when you’re working—like with a stressball or a hand grip strengthener
  • Incorporate a complete exercise plan for building muscle. Use it and you’ll avoid back pain and get injured less

A general guideline for improving strength is to exercise each major muscle group at least twice a week. This could be performed as a full-body workout or by doing a split routine performing upper body exercises twice a week, then lower body exercises twice a week.”

Helpful strength training tips:

  • Warm up. Always begin with a light warm-up such as riding a stationary bike or an elliptical machine. Five to 10 minutes should be sufficient.
  • Sets are key. Three sets of an exercise with eight to 12 repetitions has been the gold standard for an effective strength program. However, finding time to exercise may be a challenge.  Recent research shows that many people see results with one or two sets of eight to 15 repetitions of a particular exercise.
  • Push it. Pushing the muscle to fatigue is a key factor. Choose a weight that is heavy enough to fatigue your muscles in eight to 15 repetitions. As exercise becomes easier, you can progressively increase the amount of resistance.
  • Variety is the spice of life … and muscle building. As you get stronger, try varying the exercises you perform. Different exercises or varying the weight training equipment in your routine should keep your program challenging.

The important thing is to find an activity that you enjoy. With consistency, you’ll shed that quarantine weight in no time. 

References:

  1. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/build-muscles-lose-weight-by-adding-strength-training-to-your-workout/?_ga=2.29316282.743021087.1601167027-783556893.1601167027
  2. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-can-you-avoid-muscle-loss-as-you-age/
  3. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/preserve-your-muscle-mass

Healthy Aging and Lifestyle: Whole Foods, Plant Based Diet | Consumers Report

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“It’s never too early or too late to embrace a healthier lifestyle.” Robert Ostfeld, M.D., director of Preventive Cardiology and founder and director of the Cardiac Wellness Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York

A strong body of research supports the idea that a whole foods, plant-based diet can boost your health, decreasing the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers, and helping you stay at a healthy weight. It can even lengthen your life, according to a recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine that tracked more than 70,000 people.

Scientific research highlighted in the landmark book The China Study shows that a whole food, plant-based diet can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, certain types of cancer, and other major illnesses. Many people also reported bigger fitness payoffs, more energy, reduced inflammation, and better health outcomes after making the switch.

You can eat to be younger

Whole Foods, plant-based diets are also full of phytochemicals, compounds that help keep many of your body’s systems running smoothly, Rachel Meltzer Warren, M.S., R.D., a frequent contributor to Consumers Report, wrote. For instance, the anthocyanins in berries help protect vision; carotenoids in carrots and cantaloupe, and the isothiocyanates in brussels sprouts neutralize the free radicals that cause cell damage; and flavonoids in apples help control inflammation.

A whole-food, plant-based diet is based on the following principles, according to ForksOverKnives:

  • Whole food describes natural foods that are not heavily processed. That means whole, unrefined, or minimally refined ingredients.
  • Plant-based means food that comes from plants and doesn’t include animal ingredients such as meat, milk, eggs, or honey.

A “less meat, more plants” style of eating can also help improve the quality of your life

Research shows in one recent preliminary study of more than 450,000 adults, those who followed a whole food, plant-based diet that was 70 percent plants had a 20 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease or stroke than those whose diets centered on meat and dairy. A Harvard study that tracked more than 120,000 people for 30 years found that those who ate the most red meat tended to die younger during the study period but that swapping just one daily serving of beef for nuts could cut the risk of dying early by as much as 19 percent.

One possible reason for those benefits is that a whole food, plant-based diet can improve blood lipid levels. Making the change from a standard American diet to a whole food, plant based (including some meat) or vegetarian one was associated with a 10 to 15 percent decrease in total and LDL “bad” cholesterol, according to a review of 27 studies in the American Journal of Cardiology. Shifting to a vegan diet led to even more dramatic change.

A “less meat, more plants” style of eating can also help improve the quality of your life. In addition, it’s associated with higher levels of short-chain fatty acids in the gut, and research suggests that it lowers the risk of heart disease, inflammatory diseases, and type 2 diabetes.

Wake up and go to work on yourself before you go to work for anyone else

Changing your diet after age 50 can make a difference, according to experts. “It’s never too early or too late to embrace a healthier lifestyle,” Robert Ostfeld, M.D., director of Preventive Cardiology and founder and director of the Cardiac Wellness Program at Montefiore Medical Center in New York says, which includes a healthy whole food, plant based diet, aerobic and resistance exercises and good nights sleep. “The benefits come quickly and continue to accrue with time.” In one study, women in that age group who ate a mostly plant diet were 34 percent more likely to be free of chronic diseases, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, 15 years later than women whose diets included more meat.

Essentially, a whole-food, plant-based diet is good for your heart, your body, and it may even be good for your soul.

References:

  1. https://www.consumerreports.org/diet-plans/plant-based-diet/
  2. https://www.forksoverknives.com/how-tos/plant-based-primer-beginners-guide-starting-plant-based-diet/
  3. https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/patient-lost-75-pounds-reduced-nineteen-meds-three/

Healthy Plant Based Diet, Aerobic and Resistance Exercises and Restful Sleep

Becoming Ageless: The Four Secrets to Looking and Feeling Younger Than Ever

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“It is never too late to reverse how you look and feel, and develop the mindset of how you do it. Day in and day out, if you want to live longer and live better, you need a clear and basic understanding that the outcome of your journey is the sum of its steps.” Strauss Zelnick, Becoming Ageless

You can have the mind, body, and spirit of someone half your age, and add more years to your life. Or, you can have people stare in disbelief when they discover how old you really are. You can become…ageless?  You can. It’s possible.

A holistic mind/body approach that really works.

By following the four secrets of Becoming Ageless, you can boost your metabolism, enjoy all-day energy and feel younger for life.

Ageless Secret #1 Indulge in Delicious Foods 

You can eat to be younger. Most people associate eating for health or weight loss with a “diet”— break that association. Diets fail. Instead, focus on “Forever Fuel.” It doesn’t mean you can’t eat your favorite foods; you’re just getting the best versions of them. On the Becoming Ageless plan, enjoy the following: 

  • Unlimited Foods—Lean Protein, Salads, and Vegetables—eat as much as you want…bison, light tuna, chicken, eggs, grass-fed beef.
  • Limited Foods—Some fruits and dried fruits, nuts, and cheese—in moderation.
  • Highly restricted foods—no processed foods, fried foods, or added sugars. Processed foods account for 70% of the calories that Americans take in. They don’t just make you fat; they age you. Commit yourself to eating sensibly. 

Ageless Secret #2: Unlock Your Inner Strength

One of the things to realize is that fitness can be the foundation for so much of your success in life—it improves your mood, and shrink your belly, Just commit and be consistent. Get moving a little every day. 

It is recommended that you work out every day. Some moves take just minutes to do. Here’s a few ways to do it right:

  • Start slow—incorporate regular walks or body weight exercises to feel the burn.
  • Workout when you’re working—like with a stressball or a hand grip strengthener
  • Follow an exercise plan for building muscle. Use it and you’ll avoid back pain and get injured less.

Ageless Secret #3: Bulletproof Your Body

You can’t feel younger if you’re sick all the time.  It is important to turn your body into a disease-fighting machine. That’s why:

  • Preventative measures—a complete checklist of all the tests you need, and when you should have them.
  • A guide to better sleep, so you can have a more peaceful rest.
  • Mental health is important. To boost your confidence, it is recommended to ditch the scale. Measure success by what you see in the mirror and how you look and feel. If you like what you see, what the scale reads isn’t important. Little changes mean big results. 

Ageless Secret #4: Discover a Deeper Connection

People who focus solely on the body and not the mind are shortchanging themselves. For lasting success, it’s essential to construct a support system that will hold you accountable—and cheer you on. Consider texting a friend after every workout, and revel in the virtual high-five; better yet, join a workout class. You’ll strengthen bonds with friends and loved ones and elevate your mood and productivity. 

There is a benefit in embracing your spiritual side. For quiet reflection, you can integrate morning prayer into your routine. It’s life-changing, and feeds into personal success on every level. To help you focus, meditate, do yoga, and find a community that supports your new lifestyle. 

By following the pillars in Becoming Ageless, you’ll be happier and healthier; you’ll stave off disease; you’ll enhance your spiritual connections; and you’ll lose fat from where it matters most. That’s something you want at any age.

88% of Americans Adults in Poor Metabolic Health

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Only 1 in 8 Americans are metabolically healthy

88 percent of Americans adults are in poor metabolic health, according to survey by Cleveland Clinic and Parade Magazine. American adults suffer from high blood pressure, cholesterol and triglyceride. And, a metabolically unhealthy lifestyle puts you at elevated risk of COVID-19 related complications.

Metabolic syndrome is the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The term “metabolic” refers to the biochemical processes involved in the body’s normal functioning. Risk factors are traits, conditions, or habits that increase your chance of developing a disease.

These conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Metabolic syndrome is closely linked to overweight or obesity and inactivity. Insulin resistance also may increase your risk for metabolic syndrome. Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body can’t use its insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps move blood sugar into cells where it’s used for energy, according to NHLBI.

Metabolic Risk Factors

The five conditions described below are metabolic risk factors. You can have any one of these risk factors by itself, but they tend to occur together.

  • A large waistline (e.g., abdominal obesity). Excess fat in the stomach area is a greater risk factor for heart disease than excess fat in other parts of the body, such as on the hips.
  • A high triglyceride level (or you’re on medicine to treat high triglycerides). Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood.
  • A low HDL cholesterol level (or you’re on medicine to treat low HDL cholesterol). HDL sometimes is called “good” cholesterol. This is because it helps remove cholesterol from your arteries. A low HDL cholesterol level raises your risk for heart disease.
  • High blood pressure (or you’re on medicine to treat high blood pressure). Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries as your heart pumps blood. If this pressure rises and stays high over time, it can damage your heart and lead to plaque buildup.
  • High fasting blood sugar (or you’re on medicine to treat high blood sugar). Mildly high blood sugar may be an early sign of diabetes.

A person has metabolic syndrome when they have too high or too low levels of three of the five factors, meaning that someone who has high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides would be considered unhealthy, metabolically speaking. The three risk factors combined put a person at much greater risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic

In order to have perfect metabolic health, according to a study published in the journal Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, you need:

  • a waist circumference below 40 inches for men and below 34.6 inches for women,
  • blood sugar below 100 mg/dL,
  • blood pressure below 120/80,
  • triglycerides below 150 mg/dL, and
  • high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (also known as “good” cholesterol) greater than or equal to 40 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL for women.

According to this study, only about 12% ( or one in every eight) of adults based on these guidelines in the U.S. have perfect levels of all five risk factors without having to take medication, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health found in their study. The scientists examined National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 8,721 people in the U.S. between 2009 and 2016. And they’re calling their findings “alarmingly low.”

“Based on the data, few Americans are achieving metabolic health, which is quite alarming and should spur renewed attention to population-based interventions,” Joana Araujo, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in nutrition, said.

Even small steps add up.

Doctors generally agree on when it comes to a person’s health that blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides (a type of fat found in blood), blood sugar, and waist circumference are all often used to measure what’s called “metabolic health.”

Now is a great time to focus on eating unprocessed food and eliminating process food from your diet, exercising, getting adequate sleep, managing stress and anxiety, and maintaining social connections.

Mark Hyman, M.D., head of strategy and innovation for Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional medicine, “Poor metabolic health can be reversed in a couple of weeks, simply by dietary change.”

References:

  1. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/metabolic-syndrome
  2. Pajer, Nicole, Parade, September 27, 2020, pg. 11
  3. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metabolic-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351916
  4. https://www.health.com/condition/heart-disease/metabolic-health

Healthy Aging: Resistance (Weight) Training

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One form of exercise, weight or resistance training, proves to be most effective for long-term weight loss

Weight lifting, also known as resistance training, helps us build strength, and also improves muscle size and can help counteract age-related muscle loss.

Recently weight lifting has become popular among those looking to lose weight.

Endurance exercises such as running and walking are indeed effective for reducing body fat. However, these exercises can simultaneously decrease muscle size, leading to weaker muscles and greater perceived weight loss, as muscle is more dense than fat.

But unlike endurance exercises, evidence shows resistance training not only has beneficial effects on reducing body fat, but it also increases muscle size and strength.

THE “AFTER-BURN EFFECT”

When you exercise, your muscles need more energy than they do when resting. This energy comes from your muscles’ ability to break down fat and carbohydrate (stored within the muscle, liver, and fat tissue) with the help of oxygen. So during exercise, you breathe faster and our heart works harder to pump more oxygen, fat, and carbohydrates to your exercising muscles.

Resistance training exercises should engage the largest muscle groups, use whole body exercises performed standing, and should involve two or more joints. All of these make the bodywork harder, thereby increasing the amount of muscle and therefore RMR. An effective resistance training program should combine intensity, volume (number of exercises and sets), and progression (increasing both as you get stronger). The intensity should be high enough that you feel challenged during your workout.

The most effective way of doing this is by using the repetition maximum method. For the purpose of fat loss, this should be performing between six and ten repetitions of an exercise with a resistance that results in fatigue, so that you cannot comfortably do another full repetition after the last one. Three to four sets, two or three times a week for each muscle group is recommended.

References:

  1. https://www.inverse.com/mind-body/resistance-training-heres-why-its-so-effective-for-weight-loss