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We all know that exercise is good for the body. Now, scientists are discovering it’s good for the brain as well. In recent years, researchers have found that exercise improves memory, concentration, and abstract reasoning and may even delay the onset of Alzheimer’s. It works like this: aerobic exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which nourishes brain cells and allows them to function more effectively—“kind of like making sure your engine is all tuned up,” says Waneen Spirduso, Ed.D., a professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of Exercise and Its Mediating Effects on Cognition (Human Kinetics, 2007).

A recent study showed that exercise actually promotes the growth of new neurons (brain cells) in the hippocampus—the part of the brain that controls memory and learning. Scientists previously believed that once brain cells died, they were not replaced.

TIPS TO TRY

1. Walk A Mile In Your Shoes – Just 20 minutes a day can lower blood sugar, which helps promote blood flow to the brain. Your dog will appreciate it too. If walking is not your bag, ride a bike but remember to wear a “brain bucket”. The right helmet for your head can prevent a concussion and protect your brain from serious injury.

2. Check Your Thyroid – Thyroid hormones help nerve cells make connections. If your levels of thyroid hormones are low, it can create a state of depression, fatigue and foggy-headedness. For more complete information on your thyroid, CLICK HERE.

3. A Change Is Better Than A Rest – Here’s the excuse you’ve been looking for to rearrange, redecorate and redesign; it’s good for your brain! Plant a garden, move the furniture, or clean out those drawers and closets. Making changes alters motor pathways in the brain and encourages new cell growth.

4. It Bears Thinking About – The next time you visit the gym, add some weight-bearing elements to your workout. This helps protect brain cells from damage done by free radicals and encourages new brain-cell growth because you’re altering your regular routine. Even adding a new type of exercise such as tai chi, yoga, or Pilates can shake it up enough to make your brain work harder and smarter.

5. Shake The Cobwebs Out – Sitting for long periods of time is not only hard on your back and your joints, it’s hard on your brain. Concentrating for longer periods of time can cause stress and stress produces that brain-zapping chemical, cortisol. Get up from what you’re doing every hour or so, stand by a chair for balance, and gently bounce to move your knees and shake out your arms and shoulders. The relaxation the movement provides, and the alertness to a new task, keeps your brain sharp by having to switch gears from one activity to another.

6. Sightseeing – Take a new path when you walk through your neighborhood. Find a new café, corner store or park. Explore a new route through a part of your neighborhood you’ve never visited before. Or, drive to a new part of town and take a walk, making mental notes of all the new attractions. This helps you to forge new neural networks in your brain.

What other ways have you found to keep your brain from slipping into neutral over the summer? Have you found any great sites online that have free brain teasers?

Headaches, Part 1

A headache’s a headache, when you’ve got one. Doesn’t matter what label you give it, and there are many; tension headaches, cervicogenic (involving the upper spine) headaches, arthritis headaches, migraines, cluster headaches, sinus headaches, allergy headaches, rebound headaches from taking too many painkillers, and simple caffeine withdrawal, to label just a few. They all start in different places for different reasons, but every one of them is a pain; a dull, throbbing pain, a sharp, stabbing pain, or a “pending” pain when you feel one coming on. Associated headache symptoms can include an aversion to light and noise, nausea and dizziness.

Headaches which start in the back of the head and neck can be associated with a few different things.

Cervicogenic (cervic=neck, genic=caused by) headaches are usually brought about by a problem in the upper spine, and cause pain in the back of the head on one side only. This pain usually spreads up the back of the head and around the side toward the ear, carrying on over the top into the forehead and eyebrow region. A previous injury to the upper spine or neck (such as whiplash) is a frequent contributing factor to these types of headaches. This is a commonly seen, but undiagnosed, type of headache; upwards of 4% of adults will have these symptoms in conjunction with a headache. Regular visits to a chiropractor can be of tremendous benefit in relieving and/or slowing the frequency of these headaches.

Other types of headaches starting in the back of the neck and head include occipital neuralgia (severe, sharp pain spreading to the top of the head and into the eye on the same side) retropharyngeal tendinitis (severe pain, onset over 1-2 days, pain with swallowing), and “ice pick” headaches (brief intense pain lasting a few seconds located in the neck or back of the head). An arthritis headache intensifies on movement and is caused by inflammation of the blood vessels of the head or bony changes in the neck. Allergy headaches are a more generalized headache with accompanying nasal congestion and watery eyes. Caffeine withdrawal can cause a throbbing headache due to the rebound dilation of the blood vessels and generally occurs after a caffeine bender.

Next, we’ll take a closer look at some of the more common types of headaches, their symptoms, and how they can disrupt your day (or days!).

Headaches, Part 2

Many common types of headaches are named for the type of symptoms that bring them about; sinus headaches, menstrual headaches (caused by a change in estrogen), eyestrain headaches, exertion headaches, hypertension headaches (high blood pressure), hunger headaches, and post-traumatic headaches.

Then there’s the classic hangover that can cause migraine-like symptoms of throbbing pain and nausea, not localized to one side of the head or the other. Alcohol causes dilation and irritation of the blood vessels of the brain and surrounding tissue. One of the best things you can do to either prevent or tone down a hangover is to drink plenty of water before going to bed. Protein and complex carbs can aid in alleviating symptoms as well, but someone with a hangover generally can’t face scrambled eggs and whole wheat toast the next morning.

Headaches which occur behind your eye can be caused by any number of things but are generally attributed to a failure of the lens and cornea to work properly. The result is that the image formed by the eyes can’t be focused on the retina. This puts extra pressure on eye muscles. Most commonly, people complain of pain behind only one eye, however this type of headache can occur behind both eyes at the same time. Other causes could be problems in the nerves and blood vessels of the eyes. Tension, astigmatism, presbyopia (loss of flexibility in the eye), and hyperopia (or far sightedness) all cause headaches behind the eye/s, usually due to eye strain to focus properly.

Not that any headache is less serious than another when you’re the one suffering with it, but on the severe end of the scale we have migraines, cluster headaches, temporalmandibular joint (TMJ) pain and headache and chronic daily headaches.

Migraines come in two classes; with aura and without. Migraines with aura contain warning signs including visual disturbances and numbness in an arm or leg, generally followed up within 30 minutes by severe pain. Migraines without aura are also severe, with throbbing pain generally experienced on one side of the head or the other. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, cold hands and a sensitivity to sounds and light that wouldn’t otherwise cause problems.

Cluster headaches cause excruciating pain around the eye. The eye general tears, nasal congestion is present and a flushing of the face occurs. Pain associated with cluster headaches can creep up on you during sleep and last for several hours. Attacks occur every day for weeks or months and then can disappear just as quickly for up to a year. Eighty percent of cluster headaches affect males between the ages of 20 and 50.

TMJ refers to the joint in your jaw involved in chronic “clicking” and can occur after trauma to the joint or jaw, with pain similar to severe muscle cramps.

Chronic daily headaches (CDH) are just that; headaches that can occur from a broad range of disorders, occurring more than 15 days per month and are identified in two categories; headaches that last more than 4 hours and headaches that last less than 4 hours. These headaches typically evolve from a transformed migraine and can evolve from episodic tension-type headaches. Occasionally, overuse of medication can bring on CDH, similar to what is referred to as a “rebound” headache.

Are you an office supply junkie? Do you love things like striped paper clips, colored file folders, and markers that smell like fruit? Have you bought yourself any brightly colored journals to record your thoughts in lately? It’s always helpful to have something to record your insights in while you meditate.

Record while meditating? Isn’t that a contradiction? Well, no, not strictly speaking.

Meditation is nothing more than clearing your mind of all the “noise” so that inspired thoughts can come through. But first you have to start by clearing your mind completely. How do you do this? Well, it’s been described as “concentrating on the space between the thoughts.” One of the biggest downfalls is realizing that you’re actually doing it, getting excited, breaking the mood, and having to start all over again! A beginner’s experience, for sure.

Whatever you do, be gentle with yourself. Don’t let yourself get upset because next week’s meeting schedule or upcoming dental appointment creeps in while you’re trying to concentrate like hell on nothing at all. Simply acknowledge the thought’s presence (“Oh, it’s you again.”), don’t assign it an emotion, and send it on its way. Your mind will soon cotton on to what you want it to do, or not to do, as the case may be. It takes practice, so be patient. The peace and quiet will come.

Buying yourself a new journal becomes a symbol of better times, a clearer mind, and a renewed dedication to a better you. So how about it? Do you think you might give meditation a try? And chocolate aside, what else would you reward yourself with besides a new journal?

Ah, the ’50’s, when families gathered at 5:00pm each evening to enjoy the last meal of the day together, along with some quality conversation and family time.

It was a time when the family caught up with each other’s daily events, trials, and tribulations. It was a time when brothers and sisters got to tease each other about the day’s events. It was a time when a father could impart his wisdom on his children (whether they wanted to hear it or not) and a mother could survey her offspring with adoring eyes, ensuring they were growing up healthy, happy, and strong and knowing that the meal she just prepared for them was helping them to reach these lofty goals.

This was the dinner hour. It was sacred and it was never interrupted by newscasters blurting out the day’s disasters or telemarketers trying to sell you something you didn’t even know existed. Neighbors and friends didn’t knock on your door and the world seemed to come to a sublime stop for at least an hour.

How different we are today, rushing here and rushing there, grabbing a meal on the go. Do you still wish there was a dinner hour in your home? Have you managed to reinstate this hallowed hour or is it still just a dream?

What prevents your family from eating dinner together each evening? How do you think you might change your schedule so that your family could eat together, at least a few times per week? Is this even important to you and your family?

It seems as though choosing a sunscreen gets more difficult every time you go to purchase one, but one thing’s for sure, it’s becoming more and more necessary to have one each year, all year long.

Standing for sun protection factor (SPF), the American Academy of Dermatology recommends wearing an SPF of 30 or higher for maximum protection. So why not just go for the highest number you can find? Well, because higher doesn’t necessarily offer more protection. The difference between an SPF of 30 and an SPF of 50 is only approximately 1-2% more protection.

You should apply sunscreen every day, even if you’re not going outside for long as some of the sun’s rays can penetrate windows, leaving your skin unprotected.

Then there’s the consideration of UVA’s and UVB’s. The sun’s rays responsible for aging are the UVA’s (simple to remember; Aging=A’s) and an overexposure to UVB’s can lead sunburns and skin cancer (UVB’s = “B”urns). A product which provides “broad spectrum” protection and contains approximately 4-5% zinc oxide gives you your best overall coverage.

How do sunscreens work? Well, sunscreen ingredients are either one of two types; an absorber (eg., homosalate octisalate), which work to absorb UV rays, or a reflector (eg., titanium dioxide) which block or reflect UV rays. Most sunscreens are a combination of reflectors and absorbers and come available in creams, mousses, lotions, and moisturizers, with a further category or either hypoallergenic and/or waterproof/water resistant.

Is waterproof sunscreen really waterproof? The simple answer is no. Waterproof sunscreen only protects you for a maximum of 80 minutes. A product that claims to be “water resistant” only provides protection for a maximum of 40 minutes. And don’t forget, while you’re in the water, the sun’s rays on are amplified as if they were beamed straight through a piece of glass and on to your skin. To be safe, cut these two time estimates in half and reapply your sunscreen again.

And if you’re not sure about the hypoallergenic claim, try a minuscule amount on a tiny part of your arm, leaving it in place for a few hours, to see if you have a reaction to the cream.

Stretching your muscles is good for your skin! Yoga creates strong, toned muscles which enhance blood circulation, distributing oxygen-rich, nourishing blood to all layers of your skin, preventing dryness and purifying it by removing toxin-causing substances. You’ll retain that youthful glow and radiance longer if you incorporate yoga into your weekly wellness routines.

High stress levels can bring on bouts of adult acne. Yoga calms you down, releasing tension from your body. Just 20 minutes of yoga each day can help prevent stress hormones from wreaking havoc on your skin. In addition, less stress means less frowning which can cause deep impressions to form on your face. So lose the frown, do some yoga, and save face!

If you want to dive right in to the form of yoga known as “facial yoga”, have a look at these five videos which show you how to perform the moves that can give you a younger looking face.

The inverted postures of yoga (standing on your head) have been referred to as “nature’s facelift”. Just a few minutes each day reverses the effect of gravity and can reduce facial wrinkles. If you can’t stand on your head, a few of the other inverted postures (such as the downward-facing dog) reverse the effects of gravity for a shorter, but just as beneficial, period of time. There have even been claims that inverted postures can convert gray hair back to its normal color because of the nourishing effects on the scalp!

Other poses that increase circulation and tone the body include:
• Warrior Pose (Virabhadrasana)
• The Wind-Releasing Pose (Pavanamuktasana), and
• The Plough Pose (Halasana)
To see pictures of these poses, CLICK HERE and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Rush, rush, rush. Eat and run. TV dinners and prepackaged convenience foods. What has happened to our reverence for the dinner hour and all mom’s good advice, such as “chew your food 100 times before you swallow” and “no talking with your mouth full”. Did you know that this advice could actually save your life?

When you chew your food, your teeth grind and tear it into small, workable bits. The longer you keep this food in your mouth, the longer the digestive enzymes in your saliva get to work on those bits, forming a bolus, which is easier to swallow than a large piece of steak. And, as there are no teeth in your stomach, you’ll want to chew that steak as long as you can.

When you swallow your food, your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is responsible for initiating the reflexes that get your food from your mouth to your stomach. One of the PNS’s primary tasks is to kickstart the mechanisms that will block off all alternate routes your food might try and take on the way to your stomach if the swallowing process is interrupted or interfered with.

1. Your tongue blocks off the mouth so that food can’t come back into the mouth.
2. The soft palate closes off the nasal passages, and
3. The larynx rises so that the opening into the respiratory passageways is covered.

If you try to talk while swallowing, these “routing mechanisms” are short-circuited and food could manage to enter the respiratory passages. Commonly referred to as “going down the wrong hole”, a good solid cough is your body’s protective reflex, triggered by this short-circuit.

When you are in a relaxed state, your PNS works much more efficiently than if you are stressed, rushed, or thinking about being somewhere other than at the dinner table. So you see, there’s more to the old-fashioned notion of a quiet meal around the dinner table than once thought. It’s actually important to the way your food is digested.

Do you think children are still taught to eat properly these days? How is eating properly enforced in your home?

Why do some of us try desperately to hide the first gray hair that appears on our head while others strut and stride down the street, their gleaming manes of silvery locks waving in the breeze?

Is keeping our age a secret so important? When does coloring your hair turn from vanity to necessity? And what if your genetics are against you; or your teenagers, for that matter?

When did gray hair become a symbol that someone is “past their sell-by date”? Does gray hair automatically mean that individuals are not to be consulted on matters of modern concern? Who was it that determined that gray was something to be ashamed of?

Gray hair should be perceived as a symbol of achievement, of tenacity, determination, and wisdom. It should command respect and reverence for the individual who chooses to don this glorious crown.

It’s high time we created a new perception of going gray. Let’s cheer on those who choose not to change their hair color when the first sign of aging creeps in. Let’s celebrate the attainment of “graydom” and usher in a new age of honestly about our transforming tresses.

Wrinkles are simply a part of aging, which is a part of life.

They’re referred to as “laugh lines” but hardly anyone ever laughs when they find a new one.

They show up on your face in the morning signifying that you’ve had a restful night’s sleep. And who doesn’t need a good sleep at night?

Wrinkles leave marks on your brow if you take life too seriously, reminding you to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Wrinkles can show the world that you take the time to go outdoors and enjoy the sunshine, maybe even smelling the roses now and then.

Yes, wrinkles are simply a part of aging.

They signify the passing of years and the gathering of wisdom. They show we’ve lived a full life. And unless we let our wrinkles get us down, there’s still a lot of life, if not a lot of wrinkles, yet to come.

Read Nutter’s full article on Skin Hair and Nails by CLICKING HERE.

Have you found a way to live with your wrinkles or do you try to hide them? Who do you know that celebrates them?