Foods to Keep You Alert

Do you have something going that requires you to be alert? Maybe it's an important presentation at work? Or an important meeting with your boss? It could be your kid's school play. Whatever, it is you want to be at your best. Awake. Alert. Sharp.

The foods you eat can affect you mentally. The right foods can give you an extra edge, but the wrong foods can leave you feeling sleepy and sluggish.

The best combination to keep you at your best is a complex carbohydrate that's high in fiber combined with high quality protein.

You want to choose carbs that will burn slowly. That means no sugary baked goods. Instead try whole grain oatmeal for breakfast, fruits and veggies for snacks, and whole grain crackers or more veggies at lunch.

Pair these foods with high quality proteins like peanut butter, cottage cheese or eggs.

The combination will give your brain fuel over the long-term, it will keep your blood sugar stable, and it will leave you feeling satisfied.

That means you'll be able to pay good attention to whatever comes your way during the day.

If you're prone to blood sugar crashes that leave you feeling distracted and cranky, keep a protein bar in your desk or in your car. It can turn around your blood sugar crash in no time, and keep you on an even keel.


Stay healthy,
Heather Robwell

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

Can you imagine what it would be like to find out you have one life-threatening disease only to find out a year or two later that you have another? Talk about kicking a man while he's down.

All too often this is the case, though. More and more research is showing that people who are at risk for one disease are also at higher risk for others.

Diabetes often goes hand-in-hand with heart disease. A stroke puts you at higher risk of dementia from Alzheimer's disease. And now researchers are finding that if you have heart disease, you have two times the chance of developing colon cancer.

One disease can seem overpowering—two may seem completely overwhelming. Fortunately, there's a silver lining that goes with all this bad news. You can usually address all your health risks with the same set of lifestyle changes.

The chronic diseases that we face as we age are almost all triggered by poor eating habits and too little physical activity. Here are three easy steps that can immediately begin to improve your health and lower your risks of disease.

Number 1: Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables each day. This isn't too hard. Have a piece of fruit with breakfast, some carrot or celery sticks with lunch, a salad with dinner and have fruit or veggies a couple of times a day as a snack. If you have a hard time doing this, keep a bottle of V-8 in your fridge. It's not as good as whole vegetables, but it's better than nothing, and it's easy to fit in.

Number 2: Go for a walk every day. Aim to walk a mile. Take your spouse with you and enjoy yourself. You'll boost your physical activity with out feeling like you're exercising.

Number 3: Take an omega-3 fatty acid supplement. I think cod liver oil is best because you get some vitamin D in the bargain. But flaxseed oil or fish oil supplements work, too. Nearly every chronic disease out there shows improvement when you get more of these essential fats.

These three steps are easy to implement. You can literally start improving your health today just by making these simple changes, so why wait?

To your good health,
Danny Wallace

Soda Pop and Your Weight

I always chuckle when I read stories like the one I just read on soda pop and weight gain. It turns out that drinking too much soda will make you fat. Well, duh. Calories don't come emptier than they do in a can of pop. How is this news?

Well, I read a little further and found out that the article contained some very frightening and newsworthy information.

Ten percent of the calories in the American diet come from soda pop. Ten percent! That is staggering. I don't drink soda, so that means it's possible that some poor soul out there is getting a full twenty percent of their calories from pop. Yuck!

In one study, researchers state that soda pop is the only "food" that is directly and conclusively linked to weight gain.

Other studies show that the primary sweetener used in sodas (high fructose corn syrup) doesn't trigger a sense of fullness in your brain. So, you can down 240 calories from a 12-ounce can of pop and still need 200 calories more to make your body feel like you really had a snack.

Drinking soda can make you obese and it can give you diabetes. Next time you're thirsty, reach for a glass of water instead.

Stay well,

Heather Robwell

The Satisfaction of a Life Well-Lived

The news is out, and it's good. Our life expectancy is increasing. Americans now live 78 years on the average… the highest ever in our history.

It's tempting to stop there, enjoy the good news and not look too closely at the rest of the story. But, and I’m sure you'll agree, there is more to life than how many years you live. It's really all about how well you live.

When you look at the figures about the different diseases that Americans struggle with the, picture is not quite as rosy.

The leading cause of death in this country continues to be heart disease, followed by cancer. Diabetes and Alzheimer's continue to take their toll on our quality of life as we age.

So, my question to you is do you want to live well or just long? I hope you answered well, because that's actually the best way to increase your years, and to get more enjoyment out of the years you have.

Here's my guide for a long life of good health—

1. Eat fresh foods. Less processing is always better. Fresh foods deliver more nutrients. They aren't contaminated by chemical additives and preservatives. Ultimately, they taste better, too.

2. Be physically active. Go outside. Move around and have fun. You can be more active without ever scheduling exercise (although that's a good idea, too). Go for a walk after dinner every evening. Go dancing with your spouse (she'll love you for it). Play Frisbee with your grandkids. Take the stairs. And park your car at the far end of the lot.

3. Spend time with people you love and enjoy being around.

4. Spend time doing things you enjoy and that challenge your creativity.

5. Take a good multivitamin.

6. Get a good night's rest each night.

7. Be grateful for the good things in your life.

There you have it. Seven steps to stay healthy, reduce your stress, and really enjoy your days for years and years beyond the average.


Stay healthy,
Heather Robwell

Bacteria That Fight Colon Cancer

We usually think of bacteria as a bad thing. Bacteria cause infections, for example. Many food borne illnesses are the result of bacteria—e coli, salmonella, botulism.

But not all bacteria are nasty little bugs out to make you sick. Some bacteria are actually vital to your health. These probiotic bacteria, as they are called, help you to digest your food. The most common food source of probiotic bacteria is yogurt that contains active cultures. You can also take a supplement containing probiotics.

Now, you might be wondering why you would actually want to eat bacteria.

The list of benefits delivered by probiotics is long and it's getting longer.
• Probiotics help you digest your food, as I already mentioned.
• They help fight bad bacteria in your gut, which can help to relieve gas, bloating, and intestinal cramping.
• Probiotics help you get more of the nutrients from your food—this gives you an energy boost and enhances your
immune system.

That isn't all, though. New research suggests that probiotics may also help protect against colon cancer, the second deadliest cancer after lung cancer. Irish researchers, in a small controlled study, gave probiotics to patients who had either cancerous tumors or benign polyps removed from their colon recently.

After 12 weeks, those receiving probiotics had more healthy bacteria, less of the cancer-causing bacteria clostridium, less DNA damage in their colon cells, and less uncontrolled growth in their colon lining. Now, that's good news all the way around.


To your good health,
Meghan Krohn

Easy Exercise to Relieve Erectile Dysfunction

My dad had a friend who was put on high blood pressure medication recently. My dad jokingly asked if the doctor had given him a Viagra prescription, too. His friend looked at him puzzled. But six months later he wasn't laughing… Viagra had become a necessity to perform.

The causes of erectile dysfunction are many—anxiety, prescription drugs, heart problems… they can all lead to trouble in the bedroom. Often your doctor's first inclination is to give you a drug to fix the problem… even if it's a problem caused by another drug.

What's even more troubling is that there is a proven, safe treatment for erectile dysfunction. It's easy and free… and it usually works as well as Viagra. Shouldn't your doctor have you try this first?

This miracle cure is nothing new. It's Kegel exercises—exercises that work your pelvic floor muscles. Here's what you do…
1. First tighten the muscles you would use to stop the flow of urine.
2. Hold those muscles tight for ten seconds.
3. Without relaxing those muscles, tighten the anal muscles, as well, and hold for a count of ten before relaxing
completely.
4. Do ten sets three times every day.

Every man, whether you have erectile dysfunction or not, can benefit from Kegel exercises. Certainly, if you have ED, you should try Kegels for a month before trying more invasive solutions.

Stay well,
Danny Wallace

All Work and No Play…

There have been plenty of studies in the last couple of years about the value of a good night's sleep. Too little sleep can make you fatter. Too much sleep can weaken your immune system. Whether you get fat or get sick, the consequences of a poor sleep schedule are no good.

Down the line, doctors and sleep experts recommend between seven and eight hours a night—I personally do best on seven-and-a-half.

A new study shows that the amount of time you spend working predicts the amount of time you sleep. People who work the most, sleep the least. People who worked upwards of three hours more a week than average were likely to get less than five hours of sleep a night.

Those who worked upwards of three hours less than average were likely to sleep more than 11 hours a day.

Both ends of the spectrum point to an imbalance that can lead to health problems. Too much work and too little sleep equals high stress and no time to recover. Too little work and too much sleep can indicate depression or other problems at play.

Remember, the key to good health and happy life is balance.

Stay well,
Danny Wallace