Flu Fighting Foods

GSimms
FYI-Health and Wellness

Considering that this blog is here to give you as much info as possible to promote good health and outstanding wellness, we are in the midst of flu season and I'm sure everyone is interested in shoring up their arsenal of flu fighting strategies.

According to research done at the University of South Carolina, eating foods that were rich in a substance called quercetin gives you a fighting chance to avoid colds and the flu.

In addition to the standard strategies that include being vigilant about washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing, quercetin is a powerful antioxidant found in apples, blueberries, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, and onions. As for the onions, the red variety should be your first choice as they have four times the quercetin found in other produce.

Another benefit of these foods is that they all promote weight management and good general health. So, stock up and enjoy in volume.

Bon Appetit

Tattoo-Taboo

GSimms, December 15, 2008
FYI-Health and Wellness

At the risk of being tagged as an old, crotchety, completely uncool and out-of-touch has been, I'm willing to stand on top of my box and say unequivocally that those who cherish their good health should avoid the idea of earning cool points with a tattoo.

Before presenting the facts about the negative effects of body art, I personally find it disturbing to turn on my television to watch an NBA Basketball game and see a menagerie of skilled and finely conditioned athletes who look more like bad works of art running up and down the court--and all of this for the sake of what they consider as cool. Even more disturbing to me as a Black man in this country, body markings in America (albeit branding) was a form of identification and proof of ownership, yet today, countless of our young folks volunteer to identify themselves as not being given to rational decision making.

How's that for ownership and fraternal inclusion.

So, here is the skinny on tats.

The word Tattoo comes from the Tahitian word "Tatu", which is an indelible mark or design fixed upon the body by the insertion of pigment under the skin.

Today, the process is done using a Rapid-Injection-Electrical device that rapidly punctures the dermal layer of skin to produce designs while applying indelible coloring.

This article has nothing to do with my personal philosophies (already stated); however, the intent is really to approach this from the health and wellness perspective.

One's decision to do this should be accompanied with the responsible willingness to assure that the artist follows the standard precautions that protect general health. Those precautions would include utilization of an autoclave or medical sterilization machine. Needles should be individually packaged, sealed and dated.

Now this is where things get a little sticky--no pun intended.

Tattoo inks are made of dyes that are composed of a range of metals--most of which are toxic (poisonous) and have horrid effects to the body and health. In the tattooing process, these substances are introduced to the body via a direct pathway to and through the blood system.

The red dyes contain cinnabar--the principal ore of mercury, a highly toxic metallic element. One of the more immediate impacts is that it can cause bodily hypersensitivity. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), high or concentrated exposures can cause skin rashes, dermatitis, mood swings, memory loss, mental disturbances and muscle weakness.

The yellow dyes contain cadmium--another highly toxic metallic element. Resembling tin, it is used to make other metallic substances. The cadmium introduced to the body through the application of yellow pigment or dye accumulates in the kidneys. Because it takes an inordinate period of time for this accumulation to leave the body, it can cause kidney damage. Additionally, it can cause diarrhea, stomach problems, bone fracture, reproductive problems, damage to the immune and central nervous systems, psychological disorders and possibly cancer development.

The darker pigments or dyes provide no escape from possible peril. In addition to making it more difficult to detect melanoma or even skin cancer, there is a range of infections associated with tattooing.

High fevers, puss leakage from the healing area and red streaks that extend from the tattoo are minor. The more dangerous and life altering infections include the relatively high incidence (according to some of the research available) of Hepatitis C.

Well, is it worth walking down this wild-side road?

Those who do will provide an assortment of justifications in an attempt to dispel or allay the fears of those considering walking that path. Others will say, "yada, yada, yada" and so forth and so on about personal choice and of course, the proverbial, "it's all about fun."

But seriously, our environment puts us at risk enough for life altering experiences. Does it really make sense to choose to walk a pathway that is proven to create risk factors that while personal are debilitating and avoidable?

Re-focus to Maintain your New Year's Resolutions

FYI-Health and Wellness

Okay, we're at the end of the month of January 2008 and the natural question begs answering…how are you doing with your new year's resolution to eat better?

Well, I'm hoping that as this article is posted, you haven't abandoned your well intentioned resolutions. If you have, I hope a little info, fed to you at the right time (now) will shake you back to why you should really refocus and 'do the thing'.

Bottom line…we should eat right to protect and preserve our hearts and subsequently our health.

So let's refocus for a bit.

Sodium

According to the Department of Agriculture, Nutrient Data Laboratory, most Americans consume too much sodium in their diets. Per a published example of the standard daily food intake that reflects a snap shot of what our food choices might look like, we consume almost 3600 milligrams of sodium each day.

Sodium is required in the body for proper functioning. It helps the body to maintain the right balance of body fluids; assists in the transmission of nerve impulses, and influences the contraction and relaxation of muscles.

Our over indulgence though, puts us in jeopardy for serious health risks.

The National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine recommends a daily intake of between 1500 and 2400 milligrams for healthy adults. A good target goal is 2000 mg a day.

Strive to lessen your dependence on sodium. For doing so, the benefit is huge. You can avoid such maladies as high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease.

Here's a short list of things you can do to control your sodium intake.
--Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. They are naturally low in sodium
--Buy fresh meat. Packaged meats are high in sodium content.
--Buy low-sodium products. Read the labels. Remember you're trying stay below 2000mg a day.
--Remove salt from recipes whenever you can. Use herbs, spices and other flavorings instead.
--Be careful when using salad dressings, sauces, relish, mustard, ketchup, and dips. They are laden with sodium.
--Avoid the so-called salt substitutes. They usually contain combinations of compounds that can aggravate other situations. Excessive use could elevate supplemental potassium intake and be harmful if you have kidney problems or if you're taking medications for congestive heart failure or high blood pressure.

This is a serious issue. When we discuss proper nutrition, it's the little things that go a long way toward health and wellness and growing old gracefully.

The next installment of focusing to maintain your new year's resolution will address fats and cholesterol.

Stay tuned and good luck.

FYI-Health and Wellness

FYI-Health and Wellness

Who Else Wants to Grow Old Gracefully

I can remember ‘back in the day’ when I was a 20-something young stud over hearing the conversations of the so-called ‘ol folks’ talking about growing old gracefully.

Well now I’m one of those ‘ol folks’ that I once looked at and said with a sense of youthful arrogance (actually foolishness) that their problems of aging would never be mine. As a 51-year old man, I’ll share a secret with you—life happens. You busy yourself dealing with life’s chores, challenges, and obstacles. You work, you raise a family, you create a home and along the way, you don’t always make the best decisions regarding the maintenance of self. As a consequence, our bodies break down and more often than before suffer the ravages of illness and diminished function.

So, you do want to grow old gracefully don’t you? Well, how do you do that?

The secret is three-fold.

First, you should make sure that you’re receiving optimum medical care. I recommend having a primary care medical team that includes a good general practice or family physician and an alternative medicine professional that is board certified in your state.

Oh…oh!!!! What is this guy talking about.

Here’s a dose of reality. Most physicians are trained to react to what you tell them about what hurts. Their role primarily is to prescribe medications to address the symptoms of your condition. Most alternative medicine physicians (Naturopathic Doctors—ND) are trained to identify those same conditions and prescribe protocols that might include herbs or other procedures to cure you of the problem that causes the symptom. Every situation is different so let me say that yours might be a curable condition but if it isn’t and using the two medical professionals could make managing your situation more tolerable, then it’s actually worth it have this team in place.

By the way, it is absolutely imperative that these two professionals know of each other and support the work of each other as it relates to you.

Tip: Having one of the two refer you to the other would facilitate you receiving the best care from this scenario.

Second, it is vital for your health that you follow a nutritional system that includes lots of fruit, vegetables, water, and healthy meat choices that don’t include fried this and fried that.

Tip: Okay guys, this is for you as well. I like the Weight Watchers program. Listen, when it comes to eating, you really think you know and don’t need help, but this program is simple and gives you a road map that helps you eat in a healthy fashion. Their program is not about deprivation. Their program is all about assisting you in a lifestyle change related to how you deal with your nutritional intake. Trust me on this one. It works.

Last but not least…you’ve got to incorporate exercise in your lifestyle. It’s not enough that you walk constantly at work. It’s not enough that you periodically lift a few pounds of whatever during the day at work. You need a focused exercise program that includes both cardio (aerobic activity) and resistance training (anaerobic activity). This regimen will work best for you if you’re doing it at least three times a week. For optimum results though, build your activity to five times a week.

Tip: There are so many devices and schemes being advertised to help you get in the ‘shape of your life’. Don’t fall for all the hype. You can become the best that you can be by following a simple plan includes bodyweight exercises (only two movements to exercise the whole body—giving you both aerobic and anaerobic impact) and 30-45 minutes of walking—aerobic impact). If you start slowly and build to the performance of this simple program for up to five days a week, you’ll look in the mirror and want you kiss yourself in a few short weeks. Be patient though, nothing happens over night. I’m not going to have you believe that you will become Mr. or Ms. Olympia in six weeks; however in six weeks, you might pay a visit to someone that you haven’t seen in a while only to have them not recognize you. Before starting your exercise program, you should pay a visit to your doctor and have him/her give you the stamp of approval to begin an exercise program.

To give you a little help on those two bodyweight exercises, check out fast and natural fitness. There you will find an excellent program along with the details to help you get started and thrive along the way to great fitness at any age and from any starting point.

Good Luck!!!!!

(Growing Old Gracefully)
FYI-Health and Wellness

FYI-Health and Wellness

FYI-Health and Wellness

Who Else Wants to Grow Old Gracefully

I can remember ‘back in the day’ when I was a 20-something young stud over hearing the conversations of the so-called ‘ol folks’ talking about growing old gracefully.

Well now I’m one of those ‘ol folks’ that I once looked at and said with a sense of youthful arrogance (actually foolishness) that their problems of aging would never be mine. As a 51-year old man, I’ll share a secret with you—life happens. You busy yourself dealing with life’s chores, challenges, and obstacles. You work, you raise a family, you create a home and along the way, you don’t always make the best decisions regarding the maintenance of self. As a consequence, our bodies break down and more often than before suffer the ravages of illness and diminished function.

So, you do want to grow old gracefully don’t you? Well, how do you do that?

The secret is three-fold.

First, you should make sure that you’re receiving optimum medical care. I recommend having a primary care medical team that includes a good general practice or family physician and an alternative medicine professional that is board certified in your state.

Oh…oh!!!! What is this guy talking about.

Here’s a dose of reality. Most physicians are trained to react to what you tell them about what hurts. Their role primarily is to prescribe medications to address the symptoms of your condition. Most alternative medicine physicians (Naturopathic Doctors—ND) are trained to identify those same conditions and prescribe protocols that might include herbs or other procedures to cure you of the problem that causes the symptom. Every situation is different so let me say that yours might be a curable condition but if it isn’t and using the two medical professionals could make managing your situation more tolerable, then it’s actually worth it have this team in place.

By the way, it is absolutely imperative that these two professionals know of each other and support the work of each other as it relates to you.

Tip: Having one of the two refer you to the other would facilitate you receiving the best care from this scenario.

Second, it is vital for your health that you follow a nutritional system that includes lots of fruit, vegetables, water, and healthy meat choices that don’t include fried this and fried that.

Tip: Okay guys, this is for you as well. I like the Weight Watchers program. Listen, when it comes to eating, you really think you know and don’t need help, but this program is simple and gives you a road map that helps you eat in a healthy fashion. Their program is not about deprivation. Their program is all about assisting you in a lifestyle change related to how you deal with your nutritional intake. Trust me on this one. It works.

Last but not least…you’ve got to incorporate exercise in your lifestyle. It’s not enough that you walk constantly at work. It’s not enough that you periodically lift a few pounds of whatever during the day at work. You need a focused exercise program that includes both cardio (aerobic activity) and resistance training (anaerobic activity). This regimen will work best for you if you’re doing it at least three times a week. For optimum results though, build your activity to five times a week.

Tip: There are so many devices and schemes being advertised to help you get in the ‘shape of your life’. Don’t fall for all the hype. You can become the best that you can be by following a simple plan includes bodyweight exercises (only two movements to exercise the whole body—giving you both aerobic and anaerobic impact) and 30-45 minutes of walking—aerobic impact). If you start slowly and build to the performance of this simple program for up to five days a week, you’ll look in the mirror and want you kiss yourself in a few short weeks. Be patient though, nothing happens over night. I’m not going to have you believe that you will become Mr. or Ms. Olympia in six weeks; however in six weeks, you might pay a visit to someone that you haven’t seen in a while only to have them not recognize you. Before starting your exercise program, you should pay a visit to your doctor and have him/her give you the stamp of approval to begin an exercise program.

To give you a little help on those two bodyweight exercises, check out http://www.fastnaturalfitness.com/. There you will find an excellent program along with the details to help you get started and thrive along the way to great fitness at any age and from any starting point.

Good Luck!!!!!

As featured on Article-hangout.com

(Growing Old Gracefully)
FYI-Health and Wellness

FYI-Health and Fitness

FYI-Health and Wellness

Fast and Natural Fitness Program is Now Available

What would you say if I told you that there’s an extremely simple program that you can follow to produce unbelievable and shocking fitness results?

The facts are really simple. If we are gullible, we’d fall for the hype that says that you need expensive gym memberships and new-fangled gizmos to give you “your best body ever.” Truth is you have everything you need contained in “self” to give you “your best body ever”—well…almost. Once you know what to do with “self” you’ll have everything you need.

Not to sound so esoteric about this, the reality is that you have had the magic bullet all your life. In fact, as children, most of us who are 45-plus years old have actually employed this revolutionary program.

It’s almost too difficult for your rational mind to accept, but if you give this program a legitimate chance (4 weeks building up to using it for about 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week), you will feel and look so much better until you’ll look in the mirror at the end of that 4 week period and amaze yourself.

Mike J., a former Canadian Football League and NFL running back, recently gave a test to this program with amazing results. Mike was formerly a weightlifting muscle head and was skeptical when he started, but to his amazement, he lost 15 pounds of fat and now weighs 205 pounds of muscle (which by the way is the same weight he played at in college which was more than 31 years ago.) Today, Mike is 52.

“I’m surprised,” says Mike who talked about not thinking that he could get these results from doing only two primary exercises that took him anywhere from 15-20 minutes to perform daily. Additionally, he added pick-up basketball to his program to provide an opportunity to satisfy the need for a little fun interaction with other people because as he aptly stated, “this program doesn’t require equipment or other people to make it happen. Anyone can do this and get it done without any equipment or any of the craziness associated with working out at a gym.”

This simple calisthenics program works like nothing else.

By the way, I use it too. I’ve lost 65-plus pounds and am overcoming heart related complications to regain my former healthful form.

Want more information? Click here and out the program. Before you know it a new you will stare back in the mirror.

FYI-Health and Wellness (Fast and Natural Fitness)

FYI - Health and Wellness

I extend a very warm welcome to you and those who you tell about this great new resource. FYI-Health and Wellness is a simple and straightforward resource to provide useful information (FYI) about health and wellness.

Here you will find timely informative articles regarding health--your health. This information will feature the latest developments, holistic approaches to health problems, natural remedies and common sense protocols that you can follow to create a better living situation for yourself.

You will also find fitness tips and advice that will aide you in your quest for better physical fitness.

In the wellness area, FYI-Health and Wellness will not only feature health and fitness info but will also include income/business opportunities and personal development vehicles to help you transform your life from where it is to where you'd like it to go--inspired, productive, and sensational.

All in all, FYI-Health and Wellness will provide focused information to help you become the best you imaginable.

I look forward to serving you.