The winter has finally almost gone, according to the calendar, so now we can start enjoying the health we have nurtured over those cold months. If, like me, you still have the sniffles from a lingering cold, you’re ready for it!
So let’s take a look at how to preserve and improve our health.
Yes, we do need them. Even the American Medical Association, who for years said we could get all the vitamins we need from our food, accepts that a multivitamin, at least, is necessary for all of us. The question is – which vitamins should we take?
For years, I took Centrum, until I learned four facts:
My staple now is One-Per-Day tablets, which supply far more of the essential nutrients than the Centrum I used to take. I also supplement with other vitamins and minerals according to my own needs.
In North America, especially, we don’t exercise enough. We have created an environment where walking for our normal daily activities is discouraged. We drive instead of walking or cycling and ride elevators instead of climbing stairs. Any activity is good, but I choose to run and work out at home with free weights.
As I grow older, I am reducing my running and replacing it with walking, but I still look forward to running more in the warmer months. I remember the joy it gave me when I was younger and faster, and attempt to recapture as much of that as I can!
Stay hydrated with at least eight glasses of water per day. You can add a slice of lemon or some electrolyte drops to enhance it of you find it difficult to consume that much. And, please, stay away from sodas: as well as being dehydrating, they are either too sugary or have toxic artificial sweeteners.
I keep a large bottle of water on the desk in my office, and drink from it whenever I feel thirsty. That way, even when I’m not exercising, I stay hydrated.
More than anything else, our attitude to life controls our health. If you are gloomy, fearful or pessimistic, your health suffers accordingly.
Build an “attitude of gratitude.” Try starting and ending each day by finding all the things in your life you can be grateful for, and just see how much better you feel!
And don’t carry grudges. For some of us, forgiving others feels like weakness, but hating someone is like drinking poison and hoping the other person will die! Forgiving someone is a gift for you, not the person forgiven.
So those are the four tips: exercise, supplement, drink and be merry! Yes, there are plenty of other things you can do to improve your health, but with those four you’re off to a great start.
Enjoy good health!
For Vitamins, I use Life Extension Products
If you enjoy running, you might like my Facebook page at Half Marathon Training Schedule, and I get my gear from Road Runner Sports.
You can read about the weight training program I use at 7 Minutes 2 Fitness.
Author
Alan Jenkin has posted to several blogs for a number of years. His subjects include health and fitness, running, personal development and internet marketing. He lives in Texas and has a vacation home in the Caribbean, where his hobbies include boating and scuba diving. He is married to best-selling author Billie Willmon Jenkin.
Is lack of productivity is holding you back from the success you desire? Most of us have that feeling from time to time because we frequently find that we are not achieving as much as we know we can. Something is holding us back.
A recent study shows immediate benefits in improved memory after short bursts of exercise for both healthy and cognitive-impaired persons.
The details of the study were that the subjects, ranging from 50 to 85 years old, were shown images, such as nature scenes and pictures of animals, and then exercised for six minutes on a stationary bicycle at 70 percent of their maximum capacity. (Yes, less than the 7 minutes we spend on our workouts!) One hour later, they were given a surprise test to see how well they recalled the pictures they had seen.
Results showed
a striking enhancement of memory by exercise in both the healthy and cognitively impaired adults, compared with subjects who did not ride the bike.
The researchers postulate that the improved memory may be due to the release of norepinephrine. A biomarker for norepinephrine activity in the brain (salivary alpha amylase) significantly increased after exercise, especially in subjects with memory impairment.
The study indicates that short bursts of moderate exercise may be an effective alternative to treatment with drugs.
Previous studies have generally focused on long-term effects of exercise, so it’s exciting to see that brief exercise, such as our 7 minute workout, can actually show immediate benefits. The benefits in muscular strength, of course, take time, but you can actually get an immediate memory benefit. Since memory starts to decline relatively early in life (depending on the individual), this means that most of us can get this instant gratification!
Yet another reason to enjoy the 7 minute workout 