Pearls of Wisdom

In “Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It”, Gary Tabues spends a lot of time debunking the theory that to lose weight we need to exercise more.  He details many studies conducted on unsuspecting laboratory rats, of which I’ll spare you the details. But there was one study that really resonated.

Danish researchers took a group of sedentary, overweight men and women and over 18 months trained them to run a marathon. The findings were very telling. Of the men, there was an average weight loss of something like a few pounds but the women in the study averaged no change to their weight. Imagine running 26.2 miles (42km) and not losing anything?

But even if exercise isn’t going to solve your weight-loss problems, there are many other benefits to getting off the couch.  So don’t cancel that gym membership. Just yet.

1. Increases your energy levels. The more energy you use, the more it feels like you have.

2. Improves the quality of your sleep. Exercise not only helps you get to sleep more quickly, it also improves the quality of your sleep.

3. Helps combat chronic disease.  Exercise helps improve your blood pressure and cholesterol levels which decreases your chances of suffering from things like heart disease, type II diabetes and certain cancers. Exercise has also been linked with a delayed onset of dementia.

4. Improves your mood.  Exercise promotes positive brain chemistry which means you’ll feel better.

5. Provides relief from anxiety and mild depression.

6. Makes food taste better.  There’s nothing like physical activity to stimulate your appetite.

Read the original here.

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Exercise helps fight fear of falling

Rolf Krojanker was at The Monday Club in Webster Groves, Mo., on a Tuesday evening wearing two hearing aids and a T’ai Chi Ch’uan T-shirt. Those two details might seem unrelated, but they’re not. The American Geriatric Society recently added Tai Chi as a form of exercise to its list of recommendations for older people who run a high risk of falling. Checking for hearing loss has been on that list for awhile now. In its recent updates, the society recommends that physicians review medications that their elderly patients take, and reduce the use of those that increase the risk of falling, such as anti-depressants and sleeping aids. Previously, it suggested reviewing medications if a patient was taking four or more meds. The recommendations are for patients age 65 and older, which is considered geriatric, who run a high risk of falling.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among older adults in the United States, and the rate of those deaths has risen by more than 50 per cent over the past decade. In 2002, more than 12,800 people over age 65 died and 1.6 million were treated in emergency departments because of falls. In 2007, more than 18,000 people died after falls; in 2009, more than 2.2 million older people visited emergency departments for nonfatal falls. The CDC estimates that one out of 10 falls among older people results in serious injuries that require hospitalization and that many people spend a year or more recovering in long-term care facilities. Some never go home. Those numbers are expected to continue growing dramatically as baby boomers age.

Dr. Dulce Cruz-Oliver, assistant professor of the department of internal medicine and geriatrics at St. Louis University, said older people who have fallen in the past run a particularly high risk of falling again. “There are many factors that contribute to the increased risk, including changes in posture and gait, medical conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease and stroke, poor eyesight and hearing,” Cruz-Oliver said. Your risk of falling increases when the number of these biological and environment factors increase, she said. Family doctors can determine whether you’re at risk. Cruz-Oliver said the best way to maintain a keen sense of balance is to exercise, and to start it in your 50s before you begin losing it. “If you don’t use it, you lose it,” she said. “Balance is something you should continually train and use.” T’ai Chi has been proved to decrease falls in the elderly. Gait-training, physical therapy and dancing help as well, though fewer studies exist on their effectiveness. “You need to do it one to three times a week for more than 12 weeks to really have an impact on decreasing falls,” she said.

Krojanker, 88, has been taking Tai Chi for 10 years. When asked if he’s ever fallen, he said: “Well, of course. When I took Jiu Jitsu.” That was several years ago, when he was in his 70s. But no, he said, he hasn’t fallen since. “How can people balance their bodies if they don’t know where their balance is?” Krojanker asked. “They need to become better aware of their bodies. In Tai Chi, the waist is the commander of balance, not the head.” Two instructors with the St. Louis T’ai Chi Ch’uan Association led a group of about 20 through the class at The Monday Club. At least half a dozen of the participants appeared to be over age 65. Mike David, one of the Tai Chi instructors, has noticed the number of older people coming to class increase significantly during the past decade. “Baby boomers are coming of age, so to speak, so that might have something to do with it,” said David, 63, of St. Louis. In addition to lowering blood pressure, helping with rheumatoid arthritis, increasing breath efficiency and reducing stress hormones, David said Tai Chi employs small muscles that aren’t often used but help with staying upright. “Also you try to keep your center of attention in your core area, which is where your energy should come from,” he said. Several years ago, David recalls, a woman who had two hip replacements and was walking with a four-prong cane began taking Tai Chi lessons with him. “When she came in I thought, ’Oh boy.’ She said she was really afraid of falling,” he said. “After one month, she threw her cane away. “A fear of falling changes not just the way you move but the way you live,” he said. “Then you gain more weight by being docile and there’s more stress every time you have to move and it multiplies from there.”

Reducing risks for falls

Recommendations by The American Geriatric Society and The British Geriatric Society to help reduce the risk of falling. Exercise: Take part in programs that help improve balance, gait and strength training, such as Tai Chi or physical therapy. Environment: Make changes to reduce your fall risk factors in the home and in daily activities, such as keeping high traffic areas clear of furniture or clutter. Vision: Undergo cataract surgery when needed, though not as an individual approach. Fewer meds: Reduce medications, regardless of the number prescribed, particularly those that affect the brain such as sleeping medications and antidepressants. In 2001 this was only recommended for elderly people who were on at least four medications. Blood pressure: Raise low blood pressure and manage heart rate and rhythm abnormalities. Consuming more salt and water and wearing compression stockings can raise low blood pressure. In extreme cases, doctors can prescribe fludrocortisone to control low blood pressure. Sometimes, doctors can control irregular heartbeats by altering medications.

Home safety

Home safety check list from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Avoid slipping: Remove rugs or use double-sided tape or a nonslip backing so to avoid slipping, or remove altogether and attach nonslip rubber treads. Put a nonslip rubber mat or self-stick strips on the floor of bath tub or shower. Tidy up: Always keep objects off the floor and stairs. Cords: Coil or tape cords and wires next to the wall to avoid tripping. Too loose?: Fix loose or uneven steps. If handrails are loose, maybe it’s time to install new ones. Make sure they’re on both sides of the stairs and are as long as the stairs. Lighting: Install an overhead light and light switch at the top and bottom of the stairs. Place a lamp close to the bed so that it’s easy to reach. Consider using a night-light so you can see when you’re walking to the bathroom in the dark. Some night lights go on automatically when it’s dark. Sightlines: Paint a contrasting color on the top edge of all steps so you can see them better. Stepping up: If you must use a step stool, get one with a bar to hold on to. Never use a chair. Getting up: Install grab bars inside the tub and next to the toilet if you need help getting up or out of them.

By Cynthia Billhartz Gregorian, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Read the original here.

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Join us on July 16th for our White Dragon’s Annual Combat Camp! Improve your kung fu and tai chi skills in these fun and safe workshops.  Below is a sample of just of few of the topics.  Subjects and times vary by location so check with your instructor for more details.

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Personal safety is something many travelers put a lot of thought into when first striking out from home. It can be scary roaming into uncharted waters, unsure of what you might come across or whom you might meet. Traveling to a strange, far-off place makes one consider the possibilities: “What if I get robbed? Or attacked? Or assaulted by an angry mob? How do I defend myself!?”

Safety is key when traveling by yourself or even in a group. And while it is usually unnecessary to carry a weapon of any kind to defend yourself from such possible attacks, there are three weapons you already have in your possession that I recommend you use to defend yourself while on your travels.

Your Smile

The first and best way to defend yourself is to travel with a smile. No matter where I am in the world I’ve noticed that a simple smile can make all the difference. When you find yourself in a strange or scary situation, smile at the people around you and they’ll almost always smile back.

Often times, travelers think that the people around them look scary and threatening. But what you don’t realize is that the people you are looking at see YOU as a possibly scary and threatening person. It’s like that expression your mother used to tell you when you were just a small child and you ran across a snake, bear or spider: “He’s just as afraid of you as you are of him.” The same is true much of the time when you travel! The people around you are more afraid of you than you are of them. So, smile at the people you meet and let them know that you’re a friendly person who means to do them no harm.

A warning about smiles: When you smile at people, you need to be careful what your smile is saying. You don’t want to smile in such a way that it makes you look scared or lost. That is only going to make you into a bigger target. And you don’t want a smile in such a way that it makes the people around you think you are laughing at them. That could get you into big trouble as well! Ideally, your smile should make your look friendly, confident, and trustworthy.

So there’s your first weapon of self-defense – a big, confident, friendly smile.

Your Voice

The second best weapon you have is your voice. And I’m not talking about yelling and screaming at possible muggers to get them to go away… or yellowing and screaming as a means of calling for help. I’m talking about using your voice as a way to get people to respect you first before they even consider messing with you in any sort of way.

Consider this, you are walking down an alley at night and two strange men approach from the opposite direction. What do you do? You could turn around and run. Or you could keep walking and hope that they don’t say or do anything as you pass?

The better option, however, is to use your voice to your advantage. As soon as you think the men have made eye contact with you, call out to them in a strong, confident voice, “Hey guys, how’s it going!?” (Feel free to alter the wording here. This is just an example of what I would likely say.)
The trick here is to be the first person to speak. You want to say something to the men before they have a chance of saying something to you. Letting them speak first puts them in a position of power. But if you speak first, you’re the one in charge. So acknowledge their presence; say something to them in a loud, confident voice; and speak first if at all possible.

By saying something to the men in a strong, confidence voice, it lets them know that you are in charge of yourself and your situation. If you act confident, they may think you know them or you at least know your way around the city. Heck, if you speak first, they might even join you in conversation and turn into good friends, instead of potential muggers.

There are situations that happen like this all the time where a strange person (a beggar perhaps?) approaches and most people don’t know what to do. Most people try to just ignore the person and keep walking. But I’ve found that it is usually better to acknowledge the person, act confident and say something to them first before they have a chance to say something to you.

Here’s a funny little tip: If you see someone who is obviously begging for money and it looks like he or she is about to ask you for money as well, approach them first and try asking THEM for money! Taking this approach you will 1) deflect the advances of that individual, 2) not have to give any money to the beggar because he or she won’t know how to respond, and 3) you might actually brighten the beggars day by making him or her laugh.

Your Confidence

Confidence is your biggest and most powerful weapon.

If you walk around and carry yourself with confidence, few people will ever mess with you.

Hold your hear high, pull your shoulders back,  act as though you belong, and believe in yourself.

Think about it! If you’ve ever been to New York City (or any big city in the world actually) you know how easy it is to distinguish between the tourists and the people who actually live there.

The tourists are the ones walking around at a super-slow pace, with their heads and necks craned up at the sky, looking about in every direction – sometimes with a big old map stretched out in front of them. They’re taking photos, they don’t know where they are going, and they’re dressed like complete outsiders.

The people that actually live in the city, however, move in a completely different way. The residents walk quickly, because they know where they are going. They walk confidently, because they have an understanding of the city layout and they know other people in the town. They dress like the locals do, because they are one! And they certainly aren’t carrying a camera around their neck or a map of the city in their back pocket.

If you want to look like a local in a foreign city or state, dressing the part can certainly help, but confidence is key. Walk with purpose! Don’t stare up into the sky while turning your head in a million different directions. And most importantly, act like you know the place and the people in the area – even if you don’t!

The chances of you encountering evil-doers on your travels in very slim indeed. But those chances become even more slim if you carry yourself with confidence.

So act confident! Speak first! And use your smile to your advantage. Because those are three incredible weapons that, if used properly, will keep your safe for a very long time to come.

Article written by Darren Allf.  Read the original here.

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When it comes to nutrition, too much enjoyment often means sugary and fatty food with little nutritional value. So you vow to eat healthy, but often “eating healthy” is very vague and subjective. However, one way to measure the “healthiness” of your diet is by examining its vitamin and mineral content. Nutrition expert Dr. John Berardi is here to help us determine the amount of essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy diet.

The US government has figured out the rock-bottom amount of essential vitamins and minerals (micronutrients) needed for a healthy diet. They used to use recommended daily allowances (RDA); now they’ve moved to a new term: reference daily intake (RDI). RDI isn’t optimal; it’s just the baseline that you need in order to prevent malnutrition. That’s important to remember! In the chart below, check out the American Dietetics Association’s RDI recommendations for the listed micronutrients.

A few years back John wrote about a study that analyzed 70 people’s diets, and there wasn’t a single person meeting all their nutritional requirements. Wow!

Obesity and Nutrient Deficiency
Since most obese people eat more food than lean people, you’d think that this extra food would give them more nutrients. Therefore, obese people would have much fewer nutritional deficiencies but that’s not so. Overweight and obese people are over 80% more likely to have micronutrient deficiencies compared to lean people.

In a recent study titled “The Prevalence of Micronutrient Deficiency in Popular Diet Plans,” the researcher looked at suggested diet plans from four well-known diets: the South Beach diet, the Atkins for Life diet, the Diet Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and the Best Life Diet.

He asked, “If you followed a given diet perfectly, what percentage of the RDI of 27 essential micronutrients would you get? Would you get all the vitamins and minerals you need?”

For those unfamiliar with these diets, here’s the low-down: The South Beach Diet replaces “bad” fats and carbs (like trans fat and white bread) with “good” fats and carbs (like olive oil and whole grains). You could liken it to the Mediterranean diet. The Atkins for Life diet is a low-carbohydrate plan with a maximum of 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. DASH is a diet developed at the Mayo Clinic to reduce high blood pressure and limits sodium to about 3000 mg a day. The Best Life Diet comes from Oprah’s trainer Bob Greene – it’s a low-fat diet plan.

The researcher analyzed 15 meals from each diet to see how many essential micronutrients the plan contained, then calculated each diet plan’s content of these micronutrients using the US Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

Let’s pretend that you haven’t read the title of the research article. None of the four diets provided the RDI for all 27 micro-nutrients. Actually they barely meet the requirements for half the micro-nutrients. The Best Life Diet has the most sufficient levels of micronutrient requirements. If you followed the Best Life diet perfectly, out of 27 micronutrients, you’d get 100% of 15 micronutrients. But you’d lack 12 micro-nutrients. Yup, this was the best diet of the four as far as getting your nutrients.

Second was the DASH diet, which provided sufficient levels for 14 of the 27 micronutrients. Atkins offered 12 of the 27. The South Beach Diet was way behind. It provided sufficient amounts of only six micronutrients. Six! If you include micronutrients that were over 90% RDI, then you can get to nine micronutrients.

Conclusion

Popular diet plans, including medically reviewed (DASH), have some major micronutrient deficiencies with the biggest deficiencies happening in chromium, Vitamin B7, Vitamin E, Vitamin B5, iodine and Vitamin D. Though the researcher recommends a multivitamin, you should take his advice with a grain of salt since he is the CEO of a company developing a multivitamin. (Although, don’t throw out the advice completely. A multi-vitamin is a good backup plan in certain situations).

My advice is either track your micronutrients with a nutritional program or consult with a professional to review your intake. By doing so, you’ll be able to focus on getting your micronutrients from whole food instead of a multivitamin, since there are many chemical compounds covered by one vitamin name and since your body is better at absorbing nutrients from whole food.

The bottom line is, whether you’re eating to maintain or to lose weight, make sure you’re getting the micronutrients you need from whole food. Eating more brightly colored fruits and vegetables will help you get the nutrients you need without many more calories.

Dr. John Berardi is recognized as one of the top exercise nutrition experts in the world. His work has been published in numerous textbooks, peer-reviewed journals and in countless popular exercise and nutrition books and magazines. Through his company Precision Nutrition, Dr. Berardi has worked with over 50,000 clients in over 100 countries. He now has free fat loss courses for men and women, a free nutrition course for athletes and a free course for fitness pros on his website.

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