Balance Your Health

Vitamin D Makes a Difference

Vitamin D is important to bone health. I have written about that many times especially focusing on the importance of vitamin D for anyone over 50. That's because people age 65 and over generate something like four times less vitamin D than people in their 20s.

Even though it's more likely that someone 65 will be living in the Sun Belt, there's a competing tendency as we grow older to become more sedentary and remain indoors. That is especially true among those who have chronic health problems.

The good news is that we can make up for the lack of sunshine by getting vitamin D in our diets. However, that isn't always easy either. Not everyone likes fish or eggs. Even though many foods are now fortified with vitamin D, such as Cheerios or Grape Nuts, we can also take supplements to make up the difference.

My suggestion: find the best resources you can for vitamin D because now there's new studies to show that a deficiency of vitamin D can bring about impaired brain function. Scientists have now linked this fat=soluble nutrient's hormone like activity to a number of functions throughout the body, including the operations of your brain.

Studies have already shown that vitamin D activates and deactivates enzymes in the brain and reduces inflammation. New studies (University of Cambridge, England) now show that the lower a person's vitamin D level, the more negatively their performance is impacted on mental tests. What we don't know is if high levels of vitamin D enhance cognitive functioning.

Even so the recommended dosage is between 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily, about the amount your body synthesizes from 15 to 30 minutes of sun exposure two or three times a week.

How much vitamin D are you getting? How do you handle protecting yourself from the sun and skin cancer and getting enough sunshine to manufacture your own vitamin D? Share your stories with our readers.

To your success at balancing your health.

Ruthan Brodsky

Prevent Blisters

 If you have ever sat at poolside you already know that not all feet look alike. Feet are structurally different and the way your feet are made may place extra pressure on weight-bearing areas. Sometimes this pressure produces blisters but

only during certain activities such as running but not walking.

If you find that you are one of those who develops blisters in specific areas, you may require special custom-made insoles to prevent a recurrence. This is a very good reason to make an appointment with a podiatrist, particularly if you have a chronic disease such as diabetes. You don't need the problem of open sores that don't heal, especially when blisters can be prevented.

Another way to get a blister is to purchase new shoes that may not fit exactly. There is nothing worse than a blister, a red, burning sore, puffed up and filled with fluid that appeared because the shoe rubbed your skin the wrong way.

The fact is most blisters are preventable if you wear shoes that fit correctly with a sock that cushions. This is very important if you bought those new shoes for your revise goal to exercise more often.

However, if you tend to get blisters whenever you are

breaking in new shoes, even when you are wearing

socks, try these steps to prevent blisters:

·     Put petroleum jelly or foot powder on the

most sensitive spots on your feet including

the backs of your heels, the balls of your feet,

and tops and sides of your toes.

·     Cushion these spots by inserting moleskin

pads in your shoes.

To your success for healthy feet.

Ruthan Brodsky

Baked Cereal Bars - the good and the not so good

In my previous post I wrote about too much added sugar in our diets causing problems. When I read the ingredients of the cereal bar I had recently purchased I realized I had become a victim of too much added sugar.

Baked cereal bars are usually filled with fruits and grains and are consumed as breakfast on the run or as a tide me over until dinner. If you're like me, you see the word cereal and you think it must be healthy. Whoops!

Some cereal bars contains as much fat and as many calories as a frost Pop-Tart which is about 200 calories. The bars may have the nutritional value of two oatmeal cookies but they usually contain a lot more sugar. Let's face it, cereal bars are healthy if they contain healthy ingredients but when the list contains high fructose corn syrup, refined flour, colors, and other artificial ingredients you know you are in trouble. The list is a string of processed ingredients including partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

I've always believed that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. No matter your age, studies have shown that consuming a healthy breakfast will enhance your performance, your thinking, and your mood. In fact, a good breakfast should include a serving from each of the major food groups such as dairy, protein, fruits (vegetables) and grains. Breakfast is the ideal time to take in some of the whole grains and fiber that give us many benefits. If you think about it, a breakfast bowl of whole grain cereal with fruit, a handful of nuts and low-fat milk for a quick breakfast may be one of the best things we can do for ourselves to start our day.

That's not to say that there are some cereal bars that are healthy. You can find them but you need to be diligent and read the labels. Look for bars that list natural and whole ingredients with few additives and refined ingredients.

My dilemma now is what to do with these cereal bars. I hate to throw away food. Any suggestions?

To your success at balancing your health.

Ruthan Brodsky

Less Sugar Equals Better Health

The average American consumes over 22 teaspoons of added sugar each day according to the American Heart Association (AHA). That equals about 355 more calories each day and has been linked with all sorts of negative health conditions including metabolic abnormalities and not eating enough of the right nutrients.

 

Not surprisingly, the AHA recommends that we cut back on the amount of added sugar in our diets. The reasoning is that if we concentrate on healthy foods there won't be enough room for added sugar and all the problems that go with it. Added sugars, which are primarily found in processed and packaged foods, take up too much space in a well-balanced diet.

 

The AHA says we should add no more than 100 calories per day of added sugar for American women and 150 calories for men.  Since each teaspoon of sugar is 16 calories that equals about 6 to 9 teaspoons of added sugar per day. This amount is determined after you meet your basic daily requirements of nutrients.

 

For instance, a 50 year old woman needs about 1,800 calories to maintain her current weight and probably has only a few hundred discretionary calories per day. The experts tell us that the majority of our calories should come from fruits and vegetables and lean proteins and low-fat dairy foods. However, alcohol, fats and added sugars account for most of the discretionary calories and those numbers indicate that we are going way beyond the number of discretionary calories recommended.

 

I suppose that is why so many of us are always dieting. High amounts of added sugar in our diet can lead t many problems including obesity. Let's face it most sugary foods are high in calories so that even if you are consuming a lot of sugary beverages you probably will eat more solid food since liquid calories don't satisfy you as much as calories from solid foods.

 

Sugar comes in many forms. Here are some to look for on ingredient lists.  I know you'll be surprised when you count the numbers.

• Sucrose
• Fructose
• Dextrose
• Lactose
• Maltose
• Maltodextrin
• Corn syrup High-fructose corn syrup
• Carob syrup

 

Many products will list the ingredients but they don't tell you how many calories. If the food product tastes sweet chances are the added sugar is a significant portion of the total caloric value of the product.

 

I don't know about you but I have been so busy paying attention to the fats in a product that I haven't paid much attention to the sugar content. It looks like I am just going to give myself more time when I go grocery shopping and do more reading.

 

To your success at balancing your health.

 

Ruthan Brodsky

Do Glucosamine & Chondroitin Releive Your Arthritis Pain?

You don't read anything bad about them and they are still very popular nutritional supplements, but research continues to report that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate do not work any better than a placebo to reduce the amount of pain from knee arthritis.

This was reported back in 2007 and a huge discussion ensued.  Some said the results were confusing and more study was needed. The original study, GAIT, was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes, and happened to confirm other findings with smaller numbers of people, which showed that the supplements had few or no effects.

This was back in 2006. For another 18 months, however, the researchers continued to watch 572 volunteers and found that the two supplements did not appear to slow the loss of cartilage either taken alone or together. In fact the arthritis worsened in 24 percent of participants taking both which was similar to the results for the placebo.

The supplement manufacturers argued that the results of the GAIT study were not conclusive. As it happened, the researches took a second look at patients from the original 1,600 who were classified as having moderate to severe osteoarthritis. These patients did record a significant improvement when using the combination of chondroitin and glucosamine.

Even with these results these two supplements remain popular, especially glucosamine. This supplement has gained such widespread credibility by the public and among health care professionals that it is often recommended for older people to help relieve pain from arthritic joints.

So what does all of this mean for you? I think the finding in those with moderate to severe pain is important but should be interpreted cautiously. The problem is that industry sponsorship of drug trails usually produces biased results and most of the earlier studies were underwritten by supplement manufacturers. They may not have fabricated the results of the study but publicly funded studies, such as Gait, are larger.

My opinion, the supplements aren't very effective and if you are reluctant to give them up at least they won't cause you any harm. However, it appears that you are tossing away your money needlessly.

I know several people will stop taking these supplements once they learn more about them.  Will you continue knowing what you know now?

To your success at balancing your life.

Ruthan Brodsky

Is Tea Tree Oil Effective On Your Feet?

I have been doing a lot of writing about foot health lately. In fact, I am preparing a home study course on the topic. Part of my research included learning more about tea tree oil which I have used to soften cuticles and treat dry nails. I quickly discovered there are a lot more uses for tee tree oil.

Are Herbal Remedies Right For You?

Are Herbal Remedies Right for You?

 

According to archaeological finds people have been using leaves, barks, roots and seeds as medicine before there was a written language.  Egyptian writings from about 1500 B.C. describe 700 plant drugs. Chinese texts on herbs date back to 2800 B.C. and well known research facilities, such as Mayo Clinic, continue their research of the ancient formulas. Their goals are to collect, identify and study the potential for disease-fighting agents in plants used in traditional Chinese medicine.

 

The fact is that just about 100 years ago, plant medicine was just about the only kind of medicine throughout the world. As modern pharmaceuticals became available, drugs gradually replaced the herbal teas, tinctures and ointments. Even so, hopes remain high that the chemical basis for future wonder drugs remains locked up in other plants that have yet to be scientifically explored.