Can You Handle Happiness?

I just finished reading a fascinating book by Gay Hendricks called The Big Leap.    The book is about how he created the life of his dreams by solving for himself what he believes is a universal challenge for most people:  The Upper Limit Problem.  He’s also gone on to coach some of the most successful people in the world to break through this barrier (which was holding them back, even in their successful lives). 

Gay says that we basically live in one of four different states:  zone of incompetence, zone of competence, zone of excellence, and zone of genius.    Each one of us has an internal setting that sets how much love, success, and creativity we’ll allow ourselves to enjoy, and if we go beyond this setting in any of these life areas, we’ll find a way - usually unconsciously - to sabotage the good feeling.   Even many uber successful people are stuck in their zone of excellence because of an internal block that they’re not aware of.

What does this have to do with your health, you may ask?  Well, if you’ve been to any of my talks, you’ll remember that I talk about the concept of primary (what you do, etc.) and secondary (what you eat) foods and how feeling unfulfilled in one area of your life can impact, among other things, your food and lifestyle choices. 

Here are some examples of The Upper Limit Problem:

• You’ve been eating healthy and exercising all week, and then you go on a weekend binge that undoes all of your hard work.
• You get a raving review and promotion at work and then you start an argument with your spouse or friend or colleague.
• You start a new job and then you get sick and are laid up in bed, or you injure yourself. 
• You are feeling good about something going well in your life and you suddenly begin to worry about something else for no good reason. 
• You’re given a compliment and you deflect it with a self-deprecating statement.  

What do all of these scenarios have in common?  They all stop or block the flow of positive energy that you’re experiencing and brings you back into your comfort zone.   Except, this is not where you’re meant to live and preventing yourself from living in your Zone of Genius is why you may turn to cookies and ice cream while watching TV at night, or drink too much, or sabotage your relationships.    

The author asks probing questions in the book to help the reader identify their Upper Limit Problems and offers solutions, including an Ultimate Success Mantra that is an intention you use to center yourself in your Zone of Genius: 

“I expand in abundance, success, and love every day, as I inspire those around me to do the same.”

Recite this mantra anytime of the day, especially first thing in the morning to set a mood and mindset for your day.  And use it at any point throughout your day where you feel your spirit needs a lift or you want to re-center yourself.

This book forced me to take a long, hard look at many moments in my own life where my Upper Limiting beliefs have held me back and is helping me to move through those beliefs as I reach for my goals now.   I highly recommend it and hope that you too can take some jewels of wisdom and apply them in your own life. 

Are You Good to Your Heart?

While I was at the Institute for Functional Medicine Convention a couple of weeks ago, I got to listen to Dr. Mimi Guarneri, a cardiologist from Southern California and the winner of the Linus Pauling award this year for her outstanding work.  I just finished reading her book, The Heart Speaks, in which she talks about her journey from being a type A, by-the-book cardiologist to someone who has grown to appreciate and respect the power and influence that thoughts, feelings, emotions, and a sense of belonging have on heart health.   Because of this, she began support groups for her heart patients that included yoga and meditation, and she was initially laughed at by her peers.  Today, her classes are full and her programs are a success.  In fact, in her book, she quotes Larry Dossey who said:

“Scientists working in the new field of psychoneuroimmunology have demonstrated the existence of infinite links between parts of the brain concerned with thought and emotion and the neurological and immune systems.  Based on these discoveries, we know beyond doubt that thought can become biology.”

I’m always talking about the importance of a healthy diet, but if you’ve ever been to one of my talks, then you’ve heard me speak about ‘primary food’, which is everything in our life except food (which is considered secondary food).  This may include career, relationships, your spiritual practice, etc.  Whatever balance may look like for you in these areas, that is to say, whatever combination of factors in your area of primary food make you happy or feel a sense of well-being, if they’re not being fulfilled, then the negative impact they have on you emotionally in some ways can be just as bad as eating fast food everyday for lunch.  

Eating all the kale and quinoa in the world will not prevent an unhealthy balance of hormones that can arise from constant anger, frustration, or despair.   And of course, living under a cloud of constant negative emotions will eventually influence the steps we take–or don’t take–to maintain our health.

Dr. Guarneri tells remarkable stories about some of her patients and how it wasn’t until they overcame emotional issues, opened the lines of communication with their spouses, or found a reason to live (one elderly woman got herself a small dog and it changed her world) that they were able to get on the road to recovery. She also described a high-powered, female executive patient who had no signs of heart disease or risk factors yet who had suffered a heart attack that was brought on by intense anger and an emotional outburst.   

And, she tells some fascinating stories about the power of prayer and how one of her patients was transformed by a healer.   Not something that you would hear most doctors talk about or even believe in.   She certainly didn’t until she saw a miraculous recovery.  She even uses the power of healing touch herself on her patients that helped spare one from surgery.

Overall, this book has me taking a look at my life, my relationships, and anywhere I may be harboring negativity or other low energy emotions that could be harming me physically.  It has reminded me of the importance of primary food in my life, in addition to diet and exercise.

One night at the conference, I met Dr. Guarneri.  A small group of women were talking, and she mentioned to us half jokingly that she would like to give up her practice and start farming.   I told her if she wanted some tips on how to get started to go visit my daughter in Northern California.  She smiled… 

Think about all the ways you may be hurting your heart and the impact it is having on your life or of those around you.  Then, commit to turning those actions around to something positive.  You may be surprised how far-reaching your actions go.

Lessons From Nutella

I was recently reading about the two women who sued the makers of Nutella for false advertising.  One woman won $3.5 million in a class action lawsuit with the opportunity for anyone to file a claim for up to $20. 

On one hand, this may be a wake-up call for food manufacturers to stop advertising false claims about their products and that would be a good thing.  Packaged/processed foods frequently carry labels that say “all natural”, “heart healthy”, “may help lower the risk of heart disease”, etc., yet there are very few, if any processed foods that are healthy in any way, shape, or form. 

As consumers, though, there are a couple of points to remember when shopping for groceries that make lawsuits like this totally unnecessary and eventually obsolete:

Firstly, my knee jerk reaction to this lawsuit was similar to how I felt about the woman who burned herself with McDonald’s hot coffee and was awarded millions: where’s the personal responsibility?

One woman claimed that she only learned through friends what ingredients were in Nutella.  Yet, the label clearly states the ingredients.  If you’re not familiar with how to read a food label, the ingredients are listed in order of highest to lowest amounts.  Nutella’s first ingredient is sugar, which immediately makes it unhealthy.

Second, most health conscious consumers carefully read food labels to understand exactly what they’re putting into their bodies.  The winner of the lawsuit said that if she read all the labels when grocery shopping, it would take her four hours to shop.

The easiest way to reduce the amount of time spent reading labels and the fastest path to better health through diet is to avoid buying foods with labels and health claims.  A head of broccoli doesn’t come with a label explaining that it’s full of fiber, low in sodium and fat, or loaded with antioxidants and phytonutrients - but it is. 

Ultimately, we are responsible for our diets, and those of our children, by the food choices we make.  We must be our own food detectives to understand exactly what we’re spending our money on and eating and the less we choose processed foods, the healthier we’ll be and less of a demand there will be for it.  As Michael Pollan says, “Vote with your fork.”   How you spend your money on food is the most powerful way to change our processed food system.

I understand that is difficult to change your eating habits overnight and most of us, it’s a slow process.  Processed foods are made to look, taste, and feel wonderful, but that’s where the goodness ends.   However, as you venture away from processed foods and focus on more real, whole foods, you’ll notice that your palette will evolve, and you’ll find that you enjoy processed foods less and less.  

Image courtesy of Suat Eman

Homemade Chocolate Nut Spread

If you’re a Nutella fan, you can very quickly whip up a batch of a healthier version with ingredients you may now have in your kitchen.  I posted a similar recipe several months ago.  However, as tempted as you may be to want to eat this with a spoon, it still has sugar and is a concentrated source of calories.  Still, it has s nice texture and it’s delicious on vegetables, especially celery!

1 cup all natural nut butter, such as peanut or almond

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¼ cup real maple syrup

1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 T vanilla

½ t salt

Add the ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth.  Scrape the sides halfway through for complete blending.  Use as a spread or dip and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Staying Healthy While Traveling

If you travel frequently for work, then you know how exhausting the experience can be.  Often times it includes stress associated with the preparation, multiple modes of transportation, including long flights or time spent in airports, changing time zones and erratic sleep, a disruption of your eating schedule and typical diet, long days and late nights with heavy dinners and alcohol.

So how, with so many factors disturbing your body’s normal routine can you ensure that your trips don't leave you with a depressed immune system, illness, and exhaustion?  Here are some tips to get you prepared for your trip and to keep you strong and healthy even after you get home.

Prepare ahead of time - How your body responds to an event such as flying has a lot to do with how healthy it is before flight.  As difficult as this may be, try to get plenty of rest before your trip and eat a healthy diet at least a week before leaving.  If possible, begin adjusting your bedtime closer to your destination’s a few days before leaving. In addition to eating plenty of vegetables and fruits, take a supplement that includes antioxidants to help protect your cells from radiation.

According to the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements and the International Commission on Radiological Protection, a single international flight will expose you to a week’s worth of the equivalent radiation on the ground.  This may not seem like a lot, and for occasionally flying it shouldn’t be a concern.  But consider that with each long trip, you’re exposed to at least an additional two-week’s worth of cosmic radiation.   Add to this wireless internet that is now offered in many flights and it may become significant if you’re a frequent flyer.

Stay hydrated - The dry air in flight can be extremely dehydrating to your skin and mucus membranes, which can make you more susceptible to catching the nearest bug.  Drink plenty of water before the flight and stick with water or herbal teas on the flight as well.  Caffeinated drinks and alcohol will also lead to dehydration and this alone, apart from the other issues with these beverages, will zap your energy and weaken the immune system (among other things). 

Minimize eating on the plane - The lack of moisture in the air and pressure in flight can put stress on the digestive system from dehydration and because, as explained by Jane E. Brody in the New York Times, gas in body cavities expands with increasing altitude.  

The best way to minimize the effects are to avoid eating while in the air, and instead stick with water and decaffeinated fluids with as little sugar as possible.  If you must eat something while in flight, try to avoid the processed airline food and bring along healthier options such as fruit, trail mix, a powdered drink mix that can be reconstituted with water, or grab a salad or veggie wrap at the airport.  The important point to remember is that lighter is better.

Get up and move around while in flight - On long flights, try to get out of your seat once per hour to walk and stretch to keep your blood circulating.   While sitting, take your shoes off and work your feet and ankles with toe crunches and ankle rotations.   Work your arms, abdomen and buttocks by contracting and releasing to give some of your larger muscles an isometric workout. 

Bring along workout gear - If you’re staying at a hotel with a pool or gym, take advantage of them.  Thirty minutes of swimming or weights, cardio, and stretching will do wonders for your energy levels and keep your immune system strong.  They will also keep your mind strong and thinking positively, since, according to John J. Ratey in his book Spark, exercise naturally balances all the chemicals in the brain.

Eat sensibly - It’s always a temptation to try new things or overeat when on the road eating out.  You may be tempted to overdo it at the hotel breakfast buffet.  You may be eating late at night where dinner includes several courses and drinks.  You may be sitting for long hours in meetings.   The combination of excess calories and inactivity will lead to sluggishness and added weight.  To avoid this, be sure to eat a balanced breakfast, which will make it less likely that you’ll overeat later in the day.  In addition, stick with three meals, drink water through the day, and watch portion sizes.

With a little planning ahead and attention to diet and exercise, you can stay physically and mentally strong and healthy while traveling.

Image courtesy of digitalart

Why Diets Work - and Don't

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, then you’re probably familiar with the vast number of dieting books on the market.  Every author promises that you will lose weight on their diet.  And in many respects this is true.  In fact, every diet can be backed up by people who have shed weight while on the diet plan.  So in this regard, diets work. 

However, there are a couple of important things to consider about diets.  First, while all diets will work for some people, not every diet will work for everyone and if you’ve ever failed on a diet (and felt like a failure), it’s probably not your fault.  Finding the right plan can sometimes be a challenge. 

Second, and more importantly, diets may work when followed, but how you feel when you’re on the diet and what happens afterwards are the true tests of a diet’s success.  With that said, here are five reasons why most diets do not work:

1. Diets mean deprivation. Naturally, when we think of losing weight, we think “diet”.  And it takes some mental and emotional fortitude to actually commit to the diet. Does this sound familiar? “I’ll start on Monday, bracing myself for feeling uncomfortable, knowing I’m going to be hungry and knowing I’m going to be thinking about all the foods I won’t be able to eat.” 

And then after the days or weeks of deprivation, what inevitably happens? When you “go off” the diet, you will naturally compensate for what you missed out on while you were on the diet.   You may gain the weight back and then some.

In fact, may I suggest that if you have wanted to lose weight but have been unsuccessful, that you are already feeling deprived and have been trying to cure those feelings with extra food that is not fulfilling your needs and is only making things worse?

Most often, successful weight loss requires a healthy, sustainable eating plan that helps create a positive feedback loop.  Why?  Because a healthy, balanced diet will not only give your body what it needs to function, it will help your weight normalize, provide lots of energy, and improve your mood.  As a result, you’ll feel motivated to take better care of yourself consistently. 

2. Diets are temporary. So, you finally get up the strength and determination to go on a diet and you assure yourself that it’s only until you reach your goal - it’s only temporary! If you’re anything like I was in the past, you start to imagine all the situations coming up where you won’t be able to enjoy yourself because there will be lots of food and drinks that you can’t have. 

Maybe you’ll even avoid social invitations because of a diet.  So now what happens?  You associate going on a diet and losing weight with deprivation in other areas of your life as well.  You actually find yourself on a life diet.   What are the chances of success?  They’re very low.

When you think you can’t be happy or have fun until you lose weight, then you completely miss out on the journey.  In fact, losing weight and getting healthy is part of a journey and you can make it as enjoyable as you wish! Granted, if your weight is causing significant health issues and causing significant pain or difficulty getting around, then weight loss will certainly make life more enjoyable.  That said, none of us know how long we have here and you can learn a lot about yourself as you adopt new lifestyle strategies to get healthier. 

3. They’re all about the food.  How often do you reach for food to fill an unmet need or suppress uncomfortable feelings or emotions?  Maybe you use it to deal with sadness, stress, or boredom, or after a bad day. In all of these situations, when you reach for food, it conveniently gives you something else to obsess over.  In addition, the excess weight may provide a safe place to hide from the real you that wants to express itself.

When you use food to deal with your emotions, you’re not actually comforting yourself at all, you’re really punishing yourself. Most diets don’t address the emotional component of eating at all.  They stress willpower.  And trying to practice willpower is just another opportunity for feeling bad about yourself. In fact, depriving yourself of food when you’re already feeling deprived in some other way will only make the problem worse.

4.  They focus on weight.  Are you addicted to your scale? Do you let that slab of metal decide whether or not your day starts off on a positive note? Besides the power it has over your mood and how you feel about you, another thing to consider here is that the number staring back is only part of the picture. 

Your body composition, that is, the percentage of fat to muscle and other tissue is equally, if not more important than the number on the scale.   If you’re attempting to lose weight, obviously, the right way to do it is to lose the fat and preserve the muscle.

If you’re now exercising and especially if you’ve added in resistance training, then you may be gaining muscle as you lose fat.  This is a good thing but may make weight loss slower than you expect.

Instead, ask yourself, “How do I feel?”, “Do I have more energy?”,  “Do I feel stronger?”,  “Are my aches and pains disappearing?”, “Am I thinking more clearly?”, “Do I feel less stress?”, “Am I getting sick less often?” These are all important questions to consider rather than the number on the scale.  If you answer yes to any of them, then you’re on the right track and the number on the scale is not so important. 

5. They require you to eliminate whole food groups. This is very common, I think, particularly today with all the low carb diets out there. Have you decided to completely cut carbs out of your diet?

Please know that long term, all three groups of foods:  proteins, carbohydrates, and fats are necessary to looking and feeling your best.   They are all needed for healthy brain function, a strong immune system, strong bones, strong muscles and functioning organs, and glowing skin.  Also, studies have shown that when whole food groups are left out of meals, that it can cause cravings for the missing foods. 

In fact, a study in the journal Appetite found that when people ate meals that were either high in protein, or high in carbohydrates (so there was very little of the other nutrient), the participants did in fact crave the foods that had been missing, but the people who ate the low carb meal had more significant cravings for carbs than the people who ate the meal low in protein. 

What often happens when people go without carbohydrates for too long is that they will begin to reach for the junk foods, loaded with sugar and the worst kind of carbohydrates that will relieve their cravings the most quickly.

When you include all three food groups in your diet and incorporate them into your meals, you’ll likely be choosing healthier choices from each food group, you will be more satisfied with your meals, and be less likely to crave the foods you think you need to avoid.

Are you wondering how to incorporate a healthy eating plan into your schedule that won’t feel like a diet but that will improve your health and help you release excess weight?  Contact me and see if working with a health coach is right for you. 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles

Eat the Cheese

Not long ago, I was on an online forum where someone who had given up dairy products was talking about the fact that she was craving cheese.  But what struck me about this was that she was feeling bad about it. I very seldom eat dairy either and about a month ago, I had a craving for cheese.  So what did I do?  I bought a chunk of sheep’s milk Manchego (my favorite cheese ever) and enjoyed it.  I would shred a bit in my frittata, or add a bit to a salad, or use it to garnish a soup.   

We all have cravings at one time or another and cravings are something I work with my clients to eliminate.  But let’s face it, there are times when you need to satisfy a craving with what you’re craving.  Why am I OK with this?  Because if you’re craving a ‘forbidden’ food, there’s usually a very good reason for it.  For myself, many of my cravings are seasonal.  I naturally crave heavier foods when it’s cold and cheese fits that bill.  In addition, I didn’t satisfy my craving with just any cheese.  I chose a good quality cheese that I love and I thoroughly enjoyed it without guilt. 

Something else I’ve noticed with clients, is that as their diets improve, their cravings will change to healthier foods.   For example, one client that used to crave fast food was at one point craving seafood.   If you are craving something you’re trying to avoid though, here are a few strategies for satisfying the craving without derailing your healthy eating:

Choose a healthier version of the food.  For example, rather than the local fast food burger, bring home some good quality, grass-fed beef and make your own burger.  Put it on your favorite bun, or, if it’s simply the burger you’re craving, have it without the bread with a big salad on the side.  

Eat one serving out.  Have you been craving ice cream?  Rather than bring home a half-gallon that you know you’ll eventually polish off, go out to a local ice cream shop and have a cone or a cup of your favorite flavor.  Sit and relax and eat it slowly, savoring every bite.   Even if you splurge on a hot fudge sundae, accept that you had it and move on.

Integrate your craving into your healthy diet.  With my cheese craving, I bought a block of it and included a little bit in my healthy meals and when the cheese was gone, I was so over it.  This also works for some people who crave chocolate.  A small piece of good-quality, dark chocolate after lunch is enough to satisfy their chocolate fix.  I probably wouldn’t recommend integrating double pepperoni pizza into your everyday diet, though!

The good news is, often most cravings can be satisfied after having one serving of a food, but if cravings persist, then there may be a significant underlying cause that needs to be further addressed.  This is where someone like me comes in.  I can help clients deconstruct and get to the root cause of cravings and establish alternative methods for satisfying them. 

Image courtesy of Suat Eman

An Inverted Position

As someone who has had lower back issues for most of my adult life yet would rather avoid drugs or surgery, I was happy to discover inversion therapy. I have been using an inversion table for several years, although much more frequently these days.

I began using it primarily to relieve pain from sciatica. The idea behind inversion therapy is that it reverses the effects of gravity. By hanging upside down from the feet, your body weight helps to decompress the vertebrae, which helps to restore the shape of the discs, which over time and with pressure can become flattened or ruptured.

However, I found that I was getting a lot more benefits from hanging upside down than just relief of back pain:

• In the morning, it gives my back a nice stretch and relieves stiffness
• It wakes up my brain and energizes me
• It helps to relieve tension and stress and relaxes me at night before bed

According to energycenter.com, here are the benefits of inversion therapy (although I do have a Teeter table, this is not an endorsement):

• Relieves back and neck pain
• Provides care and feeding for the discs
• Stimulates circulation and relieves stress
• Works the core with no pressure to the spine and keeps joints flexible
• Can be used for recovery from high-impact workouts
• Relieves pain from workouts more quickly by stimulating the lymphatic system
• Helps to strengthens ligaments
• Provides balance and orientation training
• Helps to keep the spinal column long and prevent problems associated with the internal organs settling as we age
• Relieves depression

They even reveal that the U.S. Army has adopted inversion therapy as part of their fitness regimen.

Of course, like most alternative treatments, there are critics of inversion therapy. Some of the objections are described here. I will say, though, that I do agree with the caution that if you have high blood pressure, heart disease or glaucoma, you should check with your doctor before using an inversion table.

For me, it’s part of my daily routine that works…

Belt out a Tune for Your Health

I recently wrote about the importance of sitting up straight to increase lung capacity and to get more oxygen to the brain.

I too posted links to facial exercises and explained why it‘s important to practice them as we age. Well, if you’d like to take care of all of these things in one fell swoop*, there’s something very painless and actually enjoyable that you can do. Sing!

The benefits of singing have been well documented and in fact, the music magazine The Etude (1883-1957) published over 100 music therapy related articles, 13 of which described the health benefits of singing. Here are some that you may not be aware of:

• Improves mood by releasing endorphins
• It relieves stress
• Improves sleep
• Improves posture*
• Tones the abdominal and facial muscles
• Simulates circulation
• Increases lung capacity*
• Improves mental alertness*
• Strengthens the immune system

There’s a whole list of biochemical benefits associated with singing particular sounds. I’ll explain those tomorrow. But for today, find any opportunity you can to belt out a tune:

• Sing in the shower,
• Sing in the car with your kids,
• Sing if you attend services on Sunday,
• Sing while you’re cooking (maybe you’ll eat less!),
• Sing happy birthday, happy anniversary, and happy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.

In other words, find a reason to sing! If it can improve our mood, our health, our stature, etc., think about what it’s doing to improve the world. We just need more people doing it more often.

Wake up the Brain with Yoga

As some of you may know, I’m an avid Bikram yoga practitioner. It’s my primary form of exercise and I love that it’s a constant journey with no destination. There’s always room for improvement (for me anyway : ) Bikram stresses that the series of twenty-six postures is organized in a specific order because each posture prepares the body for the next pose, which prepares the body for the next pose, etc.

There is one posture that Bikram agrees can be performed outside of the series and even at ambient temperatures–Ardha-Kurmasana, or Half Tortoise Pose. I wanted to share it with you because there are some real benefits to this pose, particularly if you’ve had a bad night’s sleep or if you find yourself dozing off during the day.

The posture begins by sitting Japanese style, with the legs bent, knees on the floor, and the buttocks on the heels. While sitting up straight, raise your arms over your head, lock your elbows, keeping your arms touching your ears, and bring the palms of your hands together with the thumbs crossed.

While taking a deep breath, raise your arms up high, then exhale as you slowly bend forward, keeping your arms straight and reaching forward and your bottom on your heels. Bring your body down until the sides of your hands and your forehead touch the floor (see the picture above). Continue to look forward and stretch forward with each inhalation and rest further on your heels with each exhalation so that each breath cycle acts like human traction. Continue this for 30 seconds. If you can lie down on the floor for 30 seconds and then repeat the pose, even better.

The benefits of this posture are many and include relaxation, relief for indigestion, firming of the abdomen and thighs, and increased flexibility of the hips scapula, deltoids, triceps, and latissimus dorsi muscles.

The posture also stretches the lower part of the lungs, which increase blood circulation to the brain. Bikram claims that this, together with the compression in the neck/shoulders results in better delivery of blood to the brain, which is the equivalent of getting eight hours of sleep. So if you're feeling that afternoon slump, if you can find a quiet spot, try this posture. You may even eliminate that craving for coffee…

Your Fingernails are a Window to Your Health

One dramatic change I’ve seen as a result of adopting a healthier diet over the years is the condition of my nails. Growing up, they used to constantly split and peel and I would have to keep them short. These days, they’re strong and split-free, and I actually have to constantly clip or file them down to keep up with the rate at which they grow!

Our nails can tell us a lot about our health and whether there are deficiencies in our diets. The Mayo Clinic has a slide show illustrating some of the most common nail conditions and what they may indicate for your health. For example, a condition referred to as “spoon nails”, where the nail scoops outward forming a depression, is a sign of iron deficiency.

Here are a few additional facts taken from the American Academy of Dermatology’s website:

• Fingernails grow quicker than toenails (0.1mm/day versus 1mm/month, respectively), they grow quicker on the dominant hand, during pregnancy in women, and they grow more quickly in the summer than the winter.
• Nail conditions become more frequent as we age, which makes sense if health conditions decline, the number of medications increase, and nutrition quality goes down.
• Changes in nail condition such as discoloration or thickening can indicate health problems such as liver and kidney diseases, heart and lung conditions, and anemia, or diabetes.
• Melanoma can appear as a dark streak under the nail and should be looked at by a doctor if it doesn’t disappear or if it grows in size.
• I mentioned keeping our hands away from our mouths to prevent ingesting infectious diseases. This is doubly true if you bite your nails, which increases the risk of infection in and around the nail (and damages the nail, nail bed, and the surrounding skin). Breaking this habit will greatly eliminate the risk of illness.
• Cutting nails straight across and slightly rounded in the center keeps them strong and reduces the likelihood of developing an ingrown nail (more so with toenails).
• If you frequent nail salons, ensure that they are following strict sanitary guidelines to prevent spreading germs.

Stay Healthy With Clean Hands

I was in a public restroom the other day and I came across the picture on the right that outlines regions of our hands that get washed better or worse than others. In the winter with lots of colds and flu going around, this is an important thing to stay conscious of, since it is often via our hands that we contract bugs.

However, this time of year it’s equally important to be thorough with washing our hands. We’re typically traveling more on vacations, eating more in public places and more often using public restrooms. And since we can’t often see contamination on surfaces, the best defense is to keep our hands clean and away from our mouths, eyes, nose, and ears to avoid illness.

The Hand Washing For Life website has videos like the one below showing unlikely sources of organic (living) matter, like bacteria in a freshly-cleaned public restroom. Just imagine how many more dirty surfaces there are in a rest room that’s been used all day long and hasn’t been cleaned.

They also provide tips, programs, and tools for teaching the importance and the techniques for preventing the transfer of contamination from surfaces to hands. It’s important information for individuals, schools, restaurants, and any business or organization that experiences high-traffic, like airports, libraries, concert halls, movie theaters, beaches, and campgrounds, for example.

It sounds obvious, but even when at home, always remember that good sanitary practices can make the difference between health and illness.

DIY - Salad Dressings

Two of the biggest motivators for choosing something prepared are convenience and taste. But if saving time means compromising our health, is it still a convenience? If it eventually contributes to disease, reduces our energy, negatively influences our mood, or promotes weight gain, has the time savings been a benefit? I would argue no.

This week’s posts have been about do-it-yourself foods that although they may take a little more time to prepare, will provide much greater benefits than a few minutes. In fact, the time spent preparing these foods may actually save time by keeping you healthier, happier, and more energetic – three very important factors that influence productivity.

We eat salad to get our vegetables and stay healthy, but depending on what we top our salads with, we can be undoing the goodness of the raw vegetables on our plates. For example, I checked three bottles of store-bought salad dressings and found that they contained on average, 30 ingredients, including those listed below. Some overlapped between bottles and some did not. I’ve described a few of them.

Soybean oil - This oil is high in omega -6 fatty acids that when are in excess in the diet, can lead to inflammation I the body. All three bottles listed soybean as their oil source.

Corn syrup - The bottle of salad dressing that had this had a banner above the Nutrition Facts that said “No High Fructose Corn Syrup”, yet listed corn syrup as the second ingredient after water. This means that besides water, corn syrup (i.e., sugar) is the most abundant ingredient in this salad dressing.

Monosodium glutamate - A flavor enhancer that has been linked to food allergies, migraine headaches, asthma, obesity and hyperactivity in children. It is considered an excitotoxin.

Disodium inositate - A flavor enhancer that works with MSG.

Caramel color - The Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a petition against the use of this compound because it contains two cancer-causing chemicals, 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole which cause lung, liver, thyroid cancer, or leukemia in mice or rats.

Modified corn starch

Sugar

Salt

Cellulose gum

Cellulose gel

Propylene glycol alginate

Polysorbate 60

“Color added”

Phosphoric acid

Sorbic acid

Sodium benzoate

Maltodextrin

Lactic acid

Disodium guanylate

Autolyzed yeast extract

Calcium disodium EDTA

For a few extra minutes, you can make your own, fresh salad dressing free from the ingredients listed above and with only a handful of real-food ingredients. I've listed a few below. And by the way, you will save some time with the do-it-yourself method of preparing food. Trying to decipher the ingredient list on the back of the salad dressing bottle takes time! By using simple, real ingredients, you won’t have to read so many labels!

One of my favorite dressings:

One part lemon or lime juice

One part real maple syrup

Two parts olive oil

A quick savory option:

1 part balsamic vinegar

2 parts olive oil

a few drops of tamari or soy sauce

Here are three recipes from AllRecipes.com:

A Citrus-basil Vinaigrette

A No Mayonnaise Ranch Dressing - I would try to replace the sour cream with plain yogurt.

A Honey Mustard Dressing - Try using plain yogurt in place of the mayonnaise here too.

What are your favorite dressings to make? Please share them here!!

Decompress to Reduce Stress

With the way many of our lives run today, it’s difficult to not experience some stress. Sometimes stress is a good thing, for example, when we’re driving and are cut-off by someone, and we need to react quickly. But being fully engaged for fight or flight all the time can have a real impact on us physically.

Like a pesticide or an organic chemical, stress is a toxin that actually depresses the immune system, generates free radicals, and negatively affects brain function. It also induces the production of cortisol, which can lead to weight gain and/or the ability to lose weight.

To maintain health and a sense of wellbeing, it is vitally important to relieve stress or decompress on a regular basis. Here are some ways accomplish this:

Go Play – Having fun is a great way to relax, and rather than being a waste of time, it can actually work to your advantage., Engaging in leisure activities or hobbies is a wonderful way to get the creative juices flowing. And it’s more difficult to feel stress when you’re enjoying yourself.

Get out in Nature – There is something so calming about being among the trees. The combination of the quiet, the calmness, the living energy, and the abundance of oxygen are all very healing to body, mind, and spirit.

Unplug – The radiation we are exposed to from our computers and internet connections, cell phones, and appliances place a tremendous amount of stress on the body and will be the topic of another post. Spend time away from them on a daily basis–for example, in nature as mentioned above.

Be still – We’re exposed to information overload and on a continuous mission to be somewhere or do something, often multi-tasking to get it all done. Take some time everyday to sit quietly, meditate, or just think. And sitting for hours in front of the TV does not count here : )

What are some of the ways that you like to wind down to relieve stress??