March 2023 Health news

Let’s talk about your metabolism, the key to a good life, fitness markers, and heart-healthy foods.

So I discovered that I wasn’t completely correct about your metabolism (the amount of energy you consume and expend each day).  I thought that it was better to eat 6 small meals throughout the day, to better “burn your calories” than to eat 3 larger meals in a day.  In the article below, you will learn about six myths regarding your metabolism, and it will give you hope.

https://www.wellandgood.com/myths-about-metabolism/

We all probably know someone or heard of someone who retired and basically got bored to death or just faded away because they were no longer needed; they no longer had purpose.  This article talks about “losing yourself in a project or cause” and it’s something worth knowing about before you retire.  In fact, it’s something you could start working on today.

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-key-to-a-good-life-lose-yourself-in-something

A cause/mission that I have undertaken is to ride my bicycle 100 miles around Lake Tahoe on June 4th and raise $5,000 to help the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society help support cancer patients and their families.  I’m asking you to come along with me, either as a fellow cyclist, or as someone who would help support me reach my goal of $5,000 by June 1st.  Please check out the following link to see what and where I’m going, and why this will be a bit of a push for me, since I’ve never ridden 100 miles before (did 93 miles in one day a few years ago).

https://pages.lls.org/tnt/losgc/ambbr23/BGriffes

 

4 Fitness Markers to Evaluate Your Health

Are you aging well? Try out these four fitness tests that have been linked to a reduced mortality risk. By Maggie Fazeli Fard | Experience LifeFebruary 3, 2023

  1. Sit-Stand Test: The ability to sit down and stand up without any help from your hands, knees, or other supports — demonstrating a level of musculoskeletal fitness that requires flexibility, balance, coordination, strength, and power — has been linked to a longer lifespan.
  2. Pushup Capacity:A 2019 study linked pushup capacity to a lower risk of heart disease. The study, which followed 1,104 middle-aged, active male firefighters over the span of 10 years, found that those who could complete 40 pushups in the baseline exam had a 96 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease during the 10 years studied than those who could do fewer than 10 pushups. The results may not be generalizable to women or to men of other ages or who are less active, the study authors note. (For a form check on your pushups and tips to build your muscular endurance, check out “BREAK IT DOWN: The Pushup“.)
  3. Walking Speed:A 2006 study concluded that regularly walking at a faster-than-average pace reduced the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 53 percent for people 60 and older. The study also found that just walking at an average pace offered a 46 percent reduction in mortality risk for participants. (For details on refining your full-body walking stride, see “Relearn to Walk“; for a walking workout that adds strength to your speed, visit “How to Do a 30-Minute Walking Workout“.)
  4. Grip Strength:A 2018 study found that an 11-pound decrease in grip strength, as measured by squeezing a hand dynamometer, was associated with a 16 percent (men) and 20 percent (women) increase in mortality from all causes. (For ideas to improve your grip strength see “How to Improve Your Grip” and “6 Tips to Build Grip Strength“.)

No matter which marker you consider, the message from researchers is the same: Move! Moving your body and finding the balance of strength, cardio, mobility, and coordination work that’s right for you is critical for aging well. (To learn more about staying fit for life, check out “Fit for Life: You’re Never Too Old to Get Moving“.)

This was excerpted from “6 Exercises to Help You Get Down on the Floor — and Up Off the Floor – With Ease” which was published in the January/February 2023 issue of Experience Life.

The next time you’re in to see me, ask to have me test your grip strength with the hand dynamometer.

NUTRITION (DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT)

6 Heart-Healthy Foods a Cardiologist Eats Daily | Well+Good

 

MEDICAL HUMOR

  1. “Statistically…. 9 out of 10 injections are in vein.”
  2. “PMS jokes aren’t funny; period.”
  3. “Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He’s all right now.”
  4. “I once heard a joke about amnesia, but I forgot how it goes.”
  5. “I tried to look up impotence on the Internet, but nothing came up.”
  6. “Conjunctivitis.com — that’s a site for sore eyes.”
  7. “URINE: opposite of ‘you’re out.'”
  8. “There was a sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center that said ‘Keep off the Grass.'”
  9. “He was wheeled into the operating room, and then had a change of heart.”
  10. “I don’t find health-related puns funny anymore since I started suffering from an irony deficiency.”

 

Call Us Text Us
Skip to content