Healthy Living Today

By Fern Marshall Bradley
Co-author, The All-New Illustrated Guide to Gardening: Now All Organic!

Saving the Earth and protecting children and pets from dangerous chemicals are the reasons most gardeners cite for giving up pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, but guess what? Making the switch to organic gardening methods will save you money too! Here are six examples of how going organic will put money back in your pocket.

Plant Veggies, Spend Less on Doctor Bills

A recent article by a Texas research biochemist summarizes some bad news: many scientific studies show that the vitamin content of fresh fruits and vegetables is on the decline. That’s alarming, because fresh produce should be an important source of vitamins and minerals in our diets — without them, we’re more vulnerable to getting sick. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to protect your health and reduce what you spend on costly doctor visits, cold and flu medications, and vitamin pills: plant some vegetables. Fresh-picked home garden produce is brimming with nutrition, and recent studies confirm that organically grown produce can be even richer in nutrients than conventionally grown fruits and veggies.

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(ARA) - When Robin Tobin gave birth to a bouncing baby boy last year, she made two life-changing decisions: One, she would become a stay-at-home mom, reducing her family’s income by half, and two, her family would strive to be more green.

Tobin, like others, is part of a trend of new families that are tightening their belts without disparaging the planet in the process.

“New moms want to do what’s right for their babies without sacrificing Mother Earth or their family’s finances. That’s why it’s important for new parents to find ways to be green without breaking the family budget,” says Kelly Wels, the founder of KellysCloset.com, an Internet baby boutique specializing in eco-friendly products and cloth diapers.

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More than 75 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from chronic pain. Most would prefer a natural approach to relieving, or even eliminating their pain, rather than the risky surgeries or addictive drugs that are often prescribed. This is the audience for Overpower Pain: The Strength-Training Program that Stops Pain without Drugs or Surgery, a new book by physical therapist Mitchell T. Yass.

After treating more than 10,000 patients, Yass has determined that the cause of most pain is muscle weakness or imbalance, even if the patient has other medical conditions such as arthritis, a herniated disc, or stenosis. Based on this conclusion, he wrote Overpower Pain, which describes the causes and symptoms of pain in various parts of the body and outlines the best exercises for strengthening weakened muscles. A glossary and workout charts are also included.

Overpower Pain is an excellent book for anyone interested in a natural approach to pain control. It’s important to note, however, that most of the exercises require gym equipment and aren’t suited for the typical do-it-at-home routine. And, always, be sure to consult a medical professional before undertaking any form of new exercise routine, particularly if you have any health concerns.

This unique and adventurous city offers walking tour options for every taste

by Patrice-Anne Rutledge

The best way to really get to know any city is to walk its main thoroughfares, ramble down its side alleys, and immerse yourself in the day-to-day activities taking place on the streets its locals frequent. San Francisco is no exception. Plus, as an added bonus, the city’s numerous hills will make you more fit in the process.

Do It Yourself with a Self-Guided Tour

If you want to do it yourself, the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau offers printable PDF files of five favorite walking tours in San Francisco including Union Square, Chinatown, and Fisherman’s Wharf. You can download these illustrated guides directly from their website, but you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view the files. Another option is the Diverse City Destinations website, which offers a series of ten self-guided walking itineraries for tours such as “Jazz & Blues,” “Art to Architecture,” and “Soul of the City.”

If you’d rather use a “real” book as your guide to walking San Francisco, there are several good options. Walking San Francisco by Liz Gans (Falcon) guides you through 18 popular walks, including several in the scenic Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Lunchtime Walks in Downtown San Francisco by Gail Todd (Wilderness Press) shows you 33 short walks that offer a great way to see popular San Francisco areas by foot, even when you’re short on time. Stairway Walks in San Francisco by Adah Bakalinsky (Wilderness Press) offers detailed itineraries for 27 walks through San Francisco’s little-known stairways. These walks are a great way to get to know the “hidden’ San Francisco and get a great workout at the same time.

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by Lynn Bode, CFT

The holiday shopping days are quickly disappearing. Still struggling to find gifts for those people on your “hard to shop for” list? Instead of another tie for your dad or music CD for your sister, why don’t you give them a truly unique and invaluable gift? Give them the gift of improved health and fitness.

The gift of fitness is something that you can give to virtually everybody on your shopping list — from your parents, to your spouse, a friend, your siblings, an employee or co-worker, even your children. And it’s a gift that is invaluable. After all, who doesn’t want to look better, feel better, and be healthier?

And, it’s a gift that you can truly feel proud to give. When you give someone the gift of fitness, you are helping him open a door to better health (both physically and mentally). It’s a gift that genuinely shows the recipient how much you care about their well-being. By giving the gift of fitness you are providing them with unlimited health benefits.

Today there are many great fitness tools out there that can be fun while truly helping to improve ones health.

Consider giving one of these high-tech fitness gadgets:

• Heart Rate Monitor. While not new to the fitness marketplace, there are new monitor options that include high tech features like GPS, tracking your speed and distance and more
• Portable Music Player. With the introduction of those that play MP3 files, exercisers can have more songs on hand for their workout sessions then they could imagine. And, music has many benefits to exercise sessions. Studies have shown that music while exercising reduced the amount of stress hormones released, that listening to music while working out prolonged the exercise session and that music tended to lower exercisers perception of pain.
• DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) video game. Sure, when you think of video games you think of teenagers. But, the DDR game has difficulty levels designed for beginners and you don’t have to be a great dancer or avid exerciser to try it out. It can be a really fun way to exercise - one where you aren’t constantly watching your watch.
• Pedometer. New ones on the market even talk to you!
• Trikke. A fitness scooter that makes exercising fun without high impact.

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Good Carb Main Courses, Salads, and Desserts

by Ursula Furi-Perry

In light of today’s many low-carb and carb-free diets, a tasty and versatile grain has sadly lost much of its significance. Rice is an important staple for countless cultures around the world. It is used not only as a side dish, but often is the basis of main courses, found in salads, and even makes delicious desserts.

Thankfully, just as there are good carbs and bad carbs, there are also many healthful rice dishes. The stage of refinement often determines the amount of nutrients found in the rice. Brown rice, for example, goes through less treatment and stripping and contains more vitamins and fiber than thoroughly refined white rice. Parboiled or converted white rice goes through an industrial steaming process which preserves nutrients in the kernel, thus creating a grain with more vitamins and minerals than traditional white rice. Read the rest of this entry »

Try the natural approach to treating colds and flu

by Kay Peck, MPH, RD

North Americans spend over $ 3.5 billion dollars every year on over-the-counter cough and cold remedies. Despite this, many people still suffer miserably when cold and flu season hits. It seems an old physician saying still rings true—a cold lasts seven days, but if you treat it, it’ll go away in a week.

The truth is that medications won’t cure the cold or flu; they just ease pain and suffering. But modern medicine isn’t the only treatment option. There’s plenty of evidence that certain foods and nutrients can help fight infections. Ample rest and “TLC” can also make a world of difference.

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America’s growing list of food preferences—high-protein, low-carb, allergy-free—can challenge even the most accommodating hostess when choosing appropriate foods for guests. Worry no more—the lowly pumpkin seed rises to the occasion, says culinary consultant Carol Fenster, Ph.D., author of Gluten-Free Quick & Easy.

Roasted pumpkin seeds can easily be transformed into a high-protein appetizer that looks like nuts, tastes like nuts—yet isn’t related to nuts at all—and is sure to please the carb-conscious guest, says Fenster, whose publishing house, Savory Palate, specializes in special diet cooking.

“Roasting the pumpkin seeds makes them delightfully crunchy and enhances their natural nutty flavor, making them a wonderful substitute for nuts,” says Fenster, whose own wheat intolerance heightened her compassion for people on special diets. “A member of the squash family, pumpkins are rarely an allergen and are also unrelated to other food culprits like wheat, dairy, eggs, or soy.”

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The Dark Side of Sleep Medications

by Dr. Laurie Steelsmith

Sleep is one of your greatest healers, regenerating your brain along with every other part of your body. Research has shown that people who chronically experience a lack of sleep have reduced immunity, impaired work performance, and decreased memory; they don’t handle stress well, and they are more irritable and less happy than people who get enough sleep.

The statistics are alarming: one in four Americans takes some kind of sleep medication. According to the National Sleep Foundation, before Thomas Edison developed the light bulb people slept an average of ten hours a night. Now about 70 million Americans are affected by sleep problems. The National Institutes of Health has declared chronic insomnia a major public health problem, yet despite the huge amount of money being spent on sleep drugs—around 2.5 million dollars annually—prescription medications don’t address the underlying causes of insomnia. What’s worse is that these drugs produce serious side effects, including physical and psychological addiction, memory loss, headaches, behavioral and cognitive changes, and sickening hangovers. Read the rest of this entry »

Feng Shui shows you the way

(NAPSI)-Can rearranging the furniture in a room bring peace and harmony? According to the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Shway) it can. To help you, expert Eddie Cheng, offers simple tips for using Feng Shui, which means wind and water, to create peaceful surroundings and bring positive chi (or energy) to your life.

Cheng is director of operations for the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, where Feng Shui is taken seriously. A Feng Shui master comes to the hotel each year to check all major locations, including the main entrance, lobby, executives’ offices and hotel rooms. According to Cheng, the master provides guidance on how to organize the space. While each arrangement is unique to the individual, there are general rules that can be incorporated into anybody’s life. Cheng says the purpose is to either gain positive energy when it is already strong or to protect it when it is weak. He believes this develops a psychological feeling of confidence and energy. Read the rest of this entry »