Heart Healthy Happiness

I hope everyone has been enjoying the new year!

Today we're going to talk about having a healthy heart!   What prompted this post?  January tends to be a stressful time for a lot of people.  Maybe you overspent in December and are freaking out about making it up, if you work in retail, January is a dead month, so finances may not be as great, it's also "End of year" for a lot of retail and various other establishments, and it's also a really sad month.  There isn't another good holiday for awhile (If you're lucky enough to live in Ontario, Alberta or Saskatchewan, you'll probably have Family Day off near the end of February).  

I've been stressing out a lot, working 7 days a week, and not socializing very much.  I'm making more of an attempt to socialize now... I've also been lax about going to the gym, as it's been really busy all of a sudden with New Years Resolutionists, and working 7 days a week for the past month has just made me tired all of the time. 

UNFORTUNATELY this has caused a spike in my blood pressure which is freaking me out a bit.  (It's not overly high, but it's borderline, and I've always prided myself on being normal.... well... my blood pressure being normal at least ;) )

So if you're stressing out, here are some tips to help keep your heart healthy and happy!

#1:  Lower your sodium intake.   This is the first thing any doctor, nurse or nutritionist will likely tell you.  There's a large population of people who are "salt sensitive",  sodium makes their body retain an abnormal amount of water, which causes stress on the heart.  Instead of salt to season things, add herbs and spices, limit or restrict processed foods and salty junk foods (opt for "Low sodium" options if you're a chip junkie- Lays makes them.) When buying anything labelled Low Sodium- watch out for fat content.  A lot of companies will increase fat content to maintain flavour, but it's just as bad for you. 

#2:  Sleep less, exercise more.  Your heart likes sleep... but it also likes exercise.  If you have hypertension or are at risk for it,  you need to make sure you're not oversleeping (lazy heart!) and you need to do cardio!  Don't stress your heart out though, there are studies showing that intense cardio activity can put you at risk for a heart attack (stressed out heart!).  Go for a 30 minute walk, or bike ride, aerobics class, swim, Wii or Playstation Move game, at least 5 times a week (or an hour 3 times a week if 5 times doesn't work with your schedule). 

#3:  Have Fun!! In Chinese Medicine the Heart is linked to Joy.  So spend some time with friends, watch a funny movie, go to a comedy show, whatever makes you happy- set aside some time to do it!

#4:  Relax!   The first 2 days after I found out my blood pressure was high, I was freaking out - and it got higher.   Realize that blood pressure can change a lot within 5 minutes, so don't worry to much, just make a note of it, and make some changes to keep your heart happy.

#5: Herbs and Vitamins:  If you want to go the supplement route, talk to your doctor.  Omega 3s are proven to lower blood pressure and maintain cardiovascular help (It's better in general to take a 3-6-9 together though, 3&6 regulate each other). Hawthorn Berry has been shown to help with cardiovascular conditions, including blood pressure, but it can take up to 2 months before you see effects. 

#6: Stay Hydrated!   Drink adequate amounts of water- limit (or restrict) pop/soda intake.  Your body tells you it's thirsty after you've been thirsty for a long time, so drink water throughout the day to keep your body hydrated and prevent that "I'm thirsty feeling".  Some people don't like the "taste" of water-  add lemon, lime, ginger or mint if you're not down with the flavour (or lack thereof).

I think part of it is that I feel bad for my heart.  If I could give it a hug, I would.  I went through years of anxiety and heart palpitations, I feel my heart should be pampered after all the crap my brain put it through, not stressed!

Here's hoping your heart stays healthy and happy!

 

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year everyone!

Holidays are over for most people.  Did you indulge in December?  (Over indulge?).   A lot of people start January with New Years resolutions to be healthier, lose weight, get fit, eat better, etc etc.

The problem a lot of people have is they start with goals that seem hard to obtain (eg. "I will lose 40lbs this year").   You're more likely to have success if you set obtainable, smaller goals.

"I will lose 5lbs this month" is a lot more realistic of a goal, and you'll feel awesome when you meet that goal, and it will motivate you to continue!

So how are you going to meet your goals?

Here are some simple tips for people who tend to be less than active:

Walk.  This may seem hard in winter, but on nice days, go for a walk!  Even little things like parking at the other side of the shopping centre,  grocery store or at work, or taking the stairs at work. Everything adds up.

Game: Do you have a gaming system? (Wii/Xbox/PS3) Look into active games (Wii Fit, Just Dance, Dance Central, EA Sports etc) and have fun while you get fit!

Youtube!  Youtube has tons of things to try- Tae Bo, Zumba, Dance routines, there's fun, free, videos for everyone of every level.  Clear some space in front of your computer, set your laptop up in an open area, setup youtube on your Wii/Xbox etc, and get moving!

Join a class with a friend: Be it swimming, dance, aerobics or whatever.  If you have someone with you, you'll be more likely to go.


Having trouble curbing those eating habits?
Everyone has things that they love- be it pop/soda, candy, chocolate, chips... whatever your food habit is, there's a way to deal with it.

There's a new(ish) trend going around of eating really healthy for 6 days, then binge eating junk food on the 7th day.  This is really bad for your body.  You're spending one day overloading your system with toxins and chemicals or high fats/carbs, when you typically don't eat it.  It will spike your blood glucose levels and overwork your liver, kidneys, pancreas and gallbladder, just to start.

If you can, start by purchasing "healthier" versions of your favourite snacks (baked chips, organic candy, dark chocolate etc)  If you like the fizziness of pop, try sparkling water.

Snack in small amounts.  Don't binge!:  Most people thrive on smaller meals throughout the day.  It's good to keep your metabolism up, instead of roller coastering it.  This is hard at most jobs, so your best bet is to snack.  Figure out healthy snacks you like- mixed nuts, trail mix, crackers, fruit, veggies, and munch munch munch throughout the day.  You can incorporate your guilty pleasures into the mix as well (have a few chips, or a couple of pieces of candy, or throw some dark chocolate into your trail mix).

If you tend to overindulge in junk food- start by cutting down (most smokers will tell you that cutting things out cold turkey, doesn't usually last).  Drink 5 cans of coke per day?  cut down to 4 the first week, 3 the second week etc.  (Don't switch to diet thinking it's healthier. It's not. I will always advocate more natural things versus chemical things, even if the natural things aren't good for you)

Drink More Water: Drinking water can help curb your appetite to some degree, also staying hydrated is important in general, but moreso when you're working out or eating less than fantastic.  Happy Hydrated Organs work better :)

Most of all, enjoy yourself.  If you're working out and not enjoying yourself, you're less likely to keep with it.  So find things you like doing, try new things, and you're more likely to be successful.  Also don't beat yourself up if you miss a day of exercise or have a bad day of eating.  The more you berate yourself, the harder it will be to get back on track.

Stay Healthy!

Spaghetti Squash

A lot of people really like pasta.  We also know that a lot of pasta isn't good for you.  It's an unhealthy carb.   Even though there are all sorts of alternatives to traditional bleached wheat pasta... kamut, quinoa, corn, rice etc... it's still not good to eat on a regular basis.

I have recently discovered Spaghetti Squash (Recently being a few months ago).  It's still a carb, and a lot of the calories come from sugar calories (so watch out if you're diabetic!) but it's a much better alternative to traditional pasta.

For about 1 cup it has 10gr of carbs, 1gr of protein and 0.4gr of fat.  Of those carbs about 4gr are sugars and 2.2 are fiber.

It's a decent source of Omega 3 and 6, a good source of Vitamin C, Manganese (which a lot of people don't really know a lot about but it helps your body absorb other important nutrients, it plays a role in synthesizing fatty acids, cholesterol and maintains healthy blood sugar levels.  It also plays a role in nervous system functioning and bone health), B3 and B6.

You can find all the nutrition information for it at: This Awesome Site.

The best thing is, it tastes great.  It tastes like pasta.  I've used it as traditional pasta (with pasta sauce), in stir fries, in thai recipes.  It stays tasting great.  If you like al dente you can cook it for less time, squishy pasta lovers can cook it for longer.

It's marvelous.

It's also fairly inexpensive (a couple of dollars for a large one).  It does take about 45mins to cook, but it can be stored in the fridge for a few days... I haven't tried to freeze it yet.

It's been touted as the "dieters" pasta.  Honestly though... it's just a healthy alternative.  You don't need to diet to be healthy, you just need to eat right :)

Stay Healthy,

Where did it go?

Hey everyone,

You may have noticed that my website has been down.  I'm in the process of rebranding myself, and will be launching a new site in the new year.

I've also been slacking in the blogging department.  Working a lot for Christmas (and my birthday shopping spree to the US) has gotten in the way of my creative skills

I will tell you this-

I recently signed up for an Organic Box delivery.  I LOVE IT.  I pay $35/week (you can do biweekly, monthly, or whatever as well too), and I get a lovely box organic produce delivered to my house.  It's a lot cheaper than what I would have spent at the grocery store, and they try to keep it as local as they can (In winter that's a lot more difficult, so they do use imported organic produce as well).  I get about 7 different kinds of veggies and 3 kinds of fruit (I got 4 this week!) each week.  I'm not overly picky when it comes to food (they do have a Custom Box option which is $40 where you can tell them to never send you certain things, and sub out things you don't like).

I love it because I get to try, and cook with things I wouldn't normally ever buy (Celebration Squash last week- I'm a butternut and spaghetti squash kinda gal, but I loved the Celebration Squash.  I got celeriac this week, which I've never cooked with, but am looking up recipes!).

I highly recommend it if you are in the market for organic food.

The website for the company I love is http://www.lifeorganic.ca 

I promise to update again before the new year!

Stay Healthy!

Get all the nutrition you'll ever need in this one pill!

Lose all the weight you want, get all the nutrition you'll ever need for life, be healthier than everyone else in the world, it will only cost you blah blah blah.

I hate nutritional products.... no scratch that, I hate fad diet products pretending to be nutritional products.

I am not a big fan of supplementation in general. It has it's place- if for whatever reason you can't get what you need from food, supplement!  I think everyone who lives in Canada should be supplementing with Vitamin D, because we don't get enough and the quality of what we get from our sun, isn't as much as it should be.  I'm okay with multivitamins to get your nutrition up, or for kids who sometimes don't eat as much as they should.

I hate all these companies trying to sell people on their health products that is "guaranteed" to help you get healthy, lose weight, and be happy!

If you want to lose weight, get healthy and be happy-  eat healthy foods you love, do exercises that you love, and be happy!

My biggest problem with a lot of the products (shakes especially) is that they typically try to jam all your daily nutrients into one shake... why not just stab your liver and kidneys with a knife?  Your body isn't meant to get all it's nutrients in one dose, or one hour, or several hours... that's why people are supposed to eat small portions frequently throughout the day.   If you bombard your body all at ones, first of all you're not going to absorb the nutrients.  That's basic biology.   That's why most people have glowing pee after a multivitamin.  Bye bye nutrients!  You will absorb some of it, but the rest of it is just wasted.  Your body can only deal with so much at a time... not only deal, but use.   The rest of it, it has to get rid of- this puts unneeded stress on your body- your kidneys, liver and intestines especially.

Also shake or liquid dependent diets are screwing up your digestive system.  There's a reason we chew food- it releases enzymes, it sends signals to your vagus nerve that we should start digesting, it does a lot of great stuff!  People will tell you that shakes and juices are good for your body- it takes stress off your intestines, your gallbladder doesn't have to work as hard, etc etc... guess what?  Our bodies like to work, and while they don't like being over stressed, they also don't like having nothing to do.  Know the saying Use it or Lose it?  Our bodies take that seriously.   If you aren't using something, most of the time your body will divert it's energy into doing something else.  Not using that enzyme?  no more enzyme for you! (That's one of the reasons people who are vegetarians for years and years will get sick if they eat meat, or why Jewish people or Muslims will get very sick if they accidentally eat pork, they don't have the capability to digest it properly).

These diets are not nutrition based.  They are scams dressed up pretty that prey on people who want to be healthier.

Being healthy is free (plus the cost of food ;) ).

I went on a 2 hour walk today, it was lovely, it didn't cost me a dime.

(As a side note: I do pay $10/month for a gym membership, but there are even ways around that.  It's really just pure laziness on my part when it comes to strength training.  It's just easier to use the machines at the gym... although lifting babies and toddlers is a pretty good workout in itself!)

Fresh fruits and vegetables are CHEAP if you buy in season.  Farmers Markets are plentiful.  I spent $30 at the grocery store and have enough food for at least a week (and that included $6 for organic free range eggs), grains are cheap if you purchase from a bulk store, meat... yeah I can't help you there, but meat is something that you should spend money on to get good quality, if you eat it.  Better cuts of meat equal better nutrition.


Be cautious, be wary, everyone knows there's no such thing as a quick fix... so don't fall for things that promise it.  Even if you lose weight, it isn't healthy.


Stay Healthy!

The post where I blab about being a Nutritionist.

One of my favourite things about my job as a Nutritionist, is doing Vitamin and Mineral deficiency assessments.  It's just so cool.

It was my favourite part of my program to learn.  To be able to figure out what someone is likely deficient it, and why is just so interesting to me.

I fell in love with the fact that it's done through software, since bloodwork doesn't test for everything. It looks at what you are eating, any signs and symptoms you have, and compares the two against each other.   You then have to use your many hours of education to analyze the results and make recommendations.  I like seeing the trends though.   People with similar lifestyles tend to be deficient in the same things.

Stressed out, overworked people, need more Bs, Calcium and Magnesium usually.  Those are some of your biggest stress vitamins and minerals, so it makes sense, but seeing it on paper (or computer screen) just reinforces that.

I would say about 80% of people I see are deficient in Calcium, Magnesium or Potassium. Sometimes all 3!

Every time I analyze a teenager, I always wonder at their deficiencies.  It almost always contains at least one or two "weird" (or less common) minerals.   I think it's mostly because teenagers tend to eat a lot of the same things over and over again.  They know what they like... or more importantly, they know what they don't like.   I feel like a lot of adults will make some concessions to eat things that we don't necessarily like, but that we know are good for us.  (an adult will eat a tomato on a sandwich or burger, even if they don't like it, whereas a teenager or child wont let that tomato anywhere near their plate if they don't like them).

Some of it is the idea of the food too.  One of the boys I nanny for HATES, HATES, HATES tomatoes... but loves tomato sauce (pasta sauce, pizza sauce), or if it's chopped up inside of a quesadilla... pretty much he hates tomatoes... unless he doesn't know they are there.  I think it's more the idea of a tomato than the actual tomato (although he also hates ketchup so there's some consistency there. If you ask him if he wants ketchup, he looks at you as though you were offering him cyanide.)

I do vitamin and mineral deficiency assessments on myself every few months, because I change my eating habits every few months. It's always neat to see how my own needs fluctuate with the seasons.

I definitely recommend them to everyone.  It's important to make sure you are giving your body all the things it needs to be happy, and...


Stay Healthy.

Greenwashing

I am going to deviate a bit from Nutrition for a minute here, and talk about Greenwashing.

Natural Products are often geared towards people who eat well, since it's become a lifestyle for a lot of people.  One of my many jobs is working for a wonderful all natural laundry detergent company... and in doing so I have become more educated... and more angry about the so-called "Natural" product industry.

Greenwashing is when a company tells you their product is All Natural, or Green, but it still has harmful chemicals.

There is a very popular company in Canada (it's actually an international company) that likes to market their products as All Natural, Vegetarian, Ethical and environmentally-friendly.  I once got into an argument with a girl at said company because I politely declined to try one of their products.  When asked why, I (still polite at this point!) said it contained Parabens.  She replied by saying "Oh you're allergic to them?" in a slightly condescending way. When I went on to explain that I was against the use of Parabens in cosmetics because they are Xenoestrogens, she continued (much more condescending at this point) to say "Oh like blueberries".  I went on (at this point no longer polite and used a tone even more condescending than hers) to say "Uhh no, those are PHYTOestrogens, not Xenoestrogens).  The fact that she is trying to compare something that is potentially harmful to the body with something that is beneficial to the body, in order to sell a product pisses me of.

So lets talk about Xenoestrogens for a minute.   Xenoestrogens are foreign estrogens, usually industrial in nature.  Parabens, Phthalates (being phased out in Canada), BPA (Now banned in Canada), PCBs (Mostly banned due to their Toxicity classification and endocrine disruption).

Parabens are used as a preservative in cosmetics and beauty products.  They do a great job at preserving!  There are inconclusive studies about the effects Parabens on the reproductive system.  There are studies proving that Parabens have a estrogen activity, but whether or not they can be linked to things like cancer and endometriosis have not been proven... they also haven't been disproved either.  Women with reproductive cancers are typically told to avoid parabens and other xenoestrogens to be safe... To. Be. Safe.  So why isn't everyone avoiding them as a precaution?  A recent study in Texas showed paraben traces inside of breast tumours.  This study has launched additional research into what the link is between the two.

Health Canada says "Phthalates are a family of chemicals commonly used as plasticizers that have a large number of industrial and commercial applications."  and that "Research shows that phthalates may adversely affect reproduction and development.".  Health Canada is working to restrict CERTAIN phthalates.  Check out: Health Canada's Fact Sheet on Phthalates to see which ones they have declared health risks (then check your cosmetics, some of them are used in perfumes, nail polish, lipsticks etc.)

SLS/SLES:  sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and Sodium laureth sulfate/sodium lauryl ether sulfate( SLES).  There are studies going on about it's health risks.  Neither are currently classified as a carcinogenic.  Both are known irritants (So why would you put them on your skin... or in your mouth?)  SLS has also been shown to alter taste perception and cause Aphthous ulcers (Canker sores).   SLES is not classified as a carcinogenic but products with SLES are also shown to contain 1,4-Dioxane which is classified as a "Probable human carcinogenic".

So these all sound like chemical ingredients that should have no place in a NATURAL product right?

Parabens can apparently be found in natural sources... the internet gives me a list of various plants that contain minute amounts of parabens... none of them are sites I would call reputable and I can't find any studies on pubmed so I am not going to list any.  I will say blueberries come up on this list, so maybe the girl was right(ish) to compare xenoestrogens to blueberries.  Regardless of if the parabens are "natural" or synthetic, they are still parabens, and are obviously concentrated enough to call them parabens. Part of the reason blueberries are good for you are that it's low levels of natural estrogens,  Xenoestrogens are higher levels that your body can't deal with properly. If you take all those low levels and make them into a high level, you're going to give your body a rough time.

However, if you extract a phytochemical from a natural source and concentrate it to use in your product, you can apparently call it natural. (Why isn't Bayer marketing Asprin as natural if that's the case?  ASA was originally developed from willow bark.  Pharmaceuticals have better regulations, that's why).

SLS can be derived from coconut oil (you may also see coconut derived surfactants... that typically means SLS.... and even though it's from a natural source, it's still SLS with all it's health risks).

Just because it's natural, doesn't always mean it's healthy... Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy) is natural, I'm not about to bathe in it though.

Greenwashing is trying to market something as good for you, even though it contains products that are not good for you, just because those products may be derived from natural sources.

Do your research and make your own decisions.  I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I avoid as many potentially bad things as possible.

I still don't get why there are freaking skin irritants in beauty products... I don't care if they are cheap... they're freaking irritants.

Stay Healthy,