Just when you thought you were doing all the right things…eating more fruits and veges, getting enough sleep (7-9 hours), and having a routine exercise program after work…more research indicates it’s still not enough. 

Apparently we weren’t born to have jobs sitting all day. Our ancestors certainly didn’t have that luxury. Of course, they had other things to be concerned about like hunting for food, finding clean water and finding shelter to avoid being eaten by prey. 

We have evolved into an industrialized society with our safety issues being more refined to allow us to use our intellect in other ways, like going to the moon, buying a new car and investment banking. Lets face it, we are not only sitting more and doing less physical activity at work, but we tend to go from office chair to couch when we get home. 

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), adults need at least 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (like brisk walking) every week,  or 1 hour and 15 minutes (75 minutes) of vigorous intensity aerobic exercise which can be running or jogging. Weight training 2 times weekly is also recommended.

As this article explains, even if you’re doing the right amount of exercise, you could be minimizing those effects by sitting too much. The benefits of exercise were essentially wiped out in those people who sat for more than 11 hours per day, especially in those who already had cardiovascular disease or diabetes. Even in healthy people, the study showed prolonged sitting can blunt the positive effects of exercise.

So what to do?

1. Try a standing desk

2. Get up and walk, stretch, walk up and down the stairs at work at least every hour

3. Walk after eating lunch. It helps digestion and gives you more energy for the afternoon

4. Bike or walk to work (if you can)

 Build some type of physical activity into your day at work (and at home).

 

Why Exercise Isn’t Enough | The Outside Fitness Center | OutsideOnline.com: “”

This is an interesting article pertaining to research involving adolescent athletes and sports injuries. It even took the researchers by surprise after looking at the results. 

The study showed that the number of hours of sleep per night was significantly associated with the risk of injury in teen athletes.  The athletes that slept 8 or more hours per night were 68% less likely to sustain a sports injury than those who slept less hours. The other factor was the grade level of these athletes. Those who were in a higher grade level were more than 2 times likely to have injuries. 

The average age of these teen athletes was 15 years old. What they did not take into account was their Tanner Stage, or physical maturity. For instance, early maturing males have a rapid increase in height at age 12 and reach their most rapid gain in weight and muscle mass at age 14. Late maturing males don’t reach their rapid gain in height until age 16 which is 2 years later than average boys, and 4 years later than early maturing peers. Girls have their own maturity stages as well.

There is a certain maturity stage during rapid growth that makes teens more prone to injury due to their vast difference in hormone levels which effect strength, flexibility and size. Unbalanced competition between early and late-maturing teens in  sports contributes to injuries even if their chronological age is the same. So irregardless of hours of sleep….it would be interesting to see out of those teens with injuries, how their physical maturity played a role (if at all). 

Lack of sleep tied to teen sports injuries: “”

You may know that enzymes help in digesting things… but they do much more.

Enzymes are proteins that act as a catalyst by increasing rates of chemical reactions in the body.  It’s true that when given with meals, they digest and help assimilate food into fatty acids, amino acids and glucose. 

But what you may not know is that enzymes are very anti-inflammatory. They actually digest mucous and remove it from the body.  They are helpful in many mucous producing illness such as asthma, chronic sinus problems, bronchitis and acute pneumonias or whenever mucous is a problem. Products such as Wobenzym, Macrozyme or UniZyme in high doses AWAY from meals help treat inflammation and digest mucous out of the body. 

So if you have cold symptoms involving lots of mucous, consider taking digestive enzymes in the early morning, mid afternoon and before bed (or middle of the night if you wake up).  This can be one more supplement to add to your arsenal of healthy ways to treat those nasty infections.

Reference: Gerber, M. Monthly Miracles: Enzyme Therapy. Townsend Letter- January 2013, p. 104.

Nanotechnology was something we once thought as science fiction. But now after more than 3 decades of research, nano particles has moved into a scientific reality. Nanotechnology is the engineering of something so small that it is measured on a molecular scale. These particles are 100-10,000 times smaller than a human cell. One particle is about 1/80,000 the width of a human hair. These particles offer infinite possibilities for cancer treatments.

The difference between using nanoparticles for cancer treatment vs current chemotherapy is that current chemotherapy does not discriminate normal cells from cancer cells. Unfortunately, many healthy cells get destroyed and side effects for the patient are high. Nanoparticle only refers to the size of the particle. If these drugs can be compounded into nanoparticles, then they can deliver high concentrations of anti-cancer drugs more directly to cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. Nanoparticles enhance the staying power of chemotherapy by keeping the drug in the tumor for a lounger time with sustained release action.

Research suggests that nanoparticles hold promise for breast, prostate and bladder cancer treatments. This technology may become difficult to regulate as therapies with more functions become more complex. Also, there are safety concerns on whether nanoparticles are cleared from the system after use.

Nanomedicines have been in clinical use for many years and have treated hundreds of thousands of patients. Many new and different nano particle types are being tested in clinical trials. There is always risks in any new treatment approach. These delivery systems in cancer treatment have produced results that provide us with much optimism. There is some concern over the long-term toxicity effects which have not been fully studied. In the meantime, we will be hearing more about nanotechnology in the years to come.

Reference: Infinity Research Limited. “Nanoparticles offer ‘infinite’ possibilities for cancer treatment”. HemOnc Today, Volume 14-Number 9, May 10, 2013.