Healthy Bytes

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Sounds like a late night sleezy commercial – eh?
But really there is a connection between sleep and weight.
That connection is hormones…

Hormones that toy with your appetite control system are affected by your level of rest.
Short change your sleep and you:
-> increase ghrelin which increases appetite
-> decrease leptin which signals satiety
-> increase cortisol which makes you fat

You crave those vending machine high calorie, high carb foods. That sends you on the sugar high, sugar crash cycle. And then of course you’re also likely to rely on caffeine.

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…dinner. That’s right dinner.
Hippocrates wisely said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”

And we can add to that:
Eat a rainbow.
Half your plate should be veggies. The more colors the better.
Veggies are low in calories, high in fiber and flush with phytonutrients – such good stuff.

Your reds (tomatoes, peppers, watermelon) excel in lycopene which smacks down free radicals.

Your oranges (carrots, sweet potatoes, squashes) score high in alpha- and beta-carotene. Buddies that bring you Vitamin A… helps the eyes and skin.

Your orange/yellow group (papaya, orange, peach, pineapple) get stars for Vitamin C and beta cryptothanxin. Immune system support.

Your yellow/green group (greens, corn, avocado, peas) are leaders in lutein which protects against cataracts and macular degeneration

Your white/green group (leeks, scallions, onions, garlic, celery). The onion family scores with anti-tumor allicin. Others in the group are high in anti-oxidant flavonoids quercetin and kaempferol.

Your greens (cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli, bok choi, kale) are teeming with indoles, sulforaphane and isocyanate defenders against cancer

Your red/purple group (beets, eggplant, grapes, berries) are bursting with anti-oxidants defending the heart and slowing aging.

Combine that with relaxing conversation and sharing with people important in your life.
Blend in some laughter.

Beats purple pills in orange bottles.

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The CDC just issued a report – The State of Aging and Health in America 2007 – that looks at a number of data points on a State by State basis.

Let’s look at a couple of current data points (this applies to the U.S. population):

• 80% of folks over 65 have one or more chronic diseases that can lead to disability and/or premature death.
• Health care costs are 3 to 5 times greater for the 65+ group as compared to younger adults.

In 2030:

• The 65+ population by the year 2030 – that’s just 23 years from now – will nearly double to 71 million / 20% of the total population.
• Health care costs will increase by another 25%.

The report notes that 35% of deaths in 2000 are attributed to 3 behaviors:
-> smoking
-> poor diet
-> lack of physical activity

Why? These behaviors lead to the top chronic diseases – heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes.

What’s missing in this picture is the impact of excessive weight and obesity. Not because there isn’t one, but because it isn’t showing up in older data. The dramatic increase in obesity has been in the last 10 years. That trend is still in tact.

Chronic conditions take time.
However in the present, snippets like number of weight surgeries (lap band, bariatric) have tripled in teens portend future impact.

Here’s the thing. These are chronic conditions – meaning with you everyday – that develop over time. Diet and lifestyle choices you’re making right now are forming your reality in 2030.

As a culture we have a difficult time “saving for tomorrow”. That’s true in a financial sense as well as a health sense. Unfortunately chronic conditions generally can’t be “fixed” quickly or easily.

What choices are you making today – for yourself and for your children? If we raise our children with good diet and lifestyle habits, they’ll never need to be “re-trained”. And if we start taking care of ourselves immediately, we’ll enjoy better health now and in the year 2030 and beyond.

The CDC report concludes:

If people adopt healthier lifestyles, they will not develop the expensive, chronic diseases that raise health costs sharply, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

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How can you…
-> Lower your blood pressure
-> Lower your heart rate
-> Strengthen your immune system
-> Decrease the risk of heart attack
-> Decrease muscle tension, pain and joint pain
-> Increase blood flow and oxygen to the muscles, organs and brain
-> Improve digestion
-> Decrease stress
-> Improve depression and mental health
-> Improve memory, focus and brain functioning

… no pills, no hospital stay, no gimmicks…

Forgive.

Uh huh, forgive. That and those whom you hold a grudge against.

There have been many studies done over the past decade on the power of forgiveness.
You can read about 26 of them on A Campaign for Forgiveness Research

It’s a misconception that the forgiven/transgressor receives all the benefits.
Actually, the person forgiving is the true beneficiary.

Holding onto anger, bitterness, hate and resentment eats away at your energy and health. And it has power over you.
Letting go of those toxic emotions gives you control.

Forgiveness is a process. It starts with a decision. A choice only you can make for yourself. No can force you to do it… and no one can prevent you from doing it.
The decision is manifested in action.

You don’t have to make it public. You don’t have to reconcile with the person. You don’t have to forget. Forgiveness is about letting go and moving on.

Forgiveness won’t change the past.
But it will change the present… and the future.

“If you devote your life to seeking revenge, first dig two graves.”
- Confucious

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Maybe you think they were bribed.
Maybe you think they were ruled by pure self interest.
But Harvard researchers recently released the results of a large, six year study:
Napping can reduce death by heart disease 37%… yep, more than a third.
This was for the group that napped at least 3 times a week.

The occasional nappers showed a 12% reduction.

Lest you think this was a fluke:

• NASA researchers showed a 26 minute nap can yield a 34% boost in performance
• Stanford researchers showed napping improves mood and increases performance and alertness in doctors and nurses
• Salk Institute researcher Dr. Sara C. Mednick found napping keeps blood flow in the memory area of the brain constant through day; whereas, nonnappers have deceasing blood flow during the day.

Sleep on it and get back to me.