Category: Wellness (Page 78 of 116)

Healthy Foods That Affect Your Mood

October 6, 2011 / Staff

Healthy foods that affect your mood are the first step toward wellness.

Why turn to prescription drugs when your mental health could be improved with a trip to the grocery store?

Caffeine

The effects of caffeine on a person’s mood are well-known and backed up by lots of scientific evidence. Its presence in the body helps produce serotonin which is the chemical that is associated with those who are generally happy.
For those suffering from depression, often a lack of serotoninis to blame. In fact, a recent study was released which showed that women who drink coffee daily are at a lower risk of suffering from depression than their caffeine – free peers. Of course, the use of caffeine should be moderated as it does also have well-known unpleasant effects like insomnia and anxiety, but there is no reason that a person should not be able to drink a couple of cups of coffee a day.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates, when ingested in small amounts throughout the day, have been shown to improve a person’s mood. The key is moderation and maintaining a balance of insulin in the bloodstream. Big swings in sugar levels have a way of causing big swings in mood.

Tryptophan

The amino acid tryptophan, commonly associated with turkey, is believed by many people to be a kind of sedative. It is also somewhat controversial. While some nutritionists believe that the sleepiness after a thanksgiving meal would occur after any large meal with or without turkey, others continue to believe that tryptophan helps blood sugar to get to neurotransmitters, which in turn affects mood. A diet rich in tryptophan may have an effect on serotonin production in a person’s brain.

Omega-3 fatty acids

Eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids can help with a person’s mood as these fatty acids aid in brain function in those areas of the brain that are concerned with mood and behavior. These fatty acids are found in fish oil and can be taken either in pill form or by increasing the amount of fish in the diet. One study of people with bipolar disorder showed considerable improvement in mood among participants taking fish oil supplements when compared those taking a placebo.

Folic acid

It is thought that a deficiency folic acid, which is found in fruits and certain leafy vegetables, is thought to have an effect on mood, possibly causing depression. Foods such as spinach and legumes are rich sources of the chemical, so a person who is depressed may want to try increasing the amount of these things in their diet.

Nutrition, Research, Wellness

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Skinny Face Problem?

October 6, 2011 / Staff

After all of your hard work dieting and exercising you can end up producing something called runner’s face.

And I bet you didn’t even know it was a problem .

Dr. Brian S. Glatt, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New Jersey, calls that skinny, Skeletor-esque look some dedicated runners may unwittingly develop, runner’s face.

And he believes that it needs to be fixed.

Runner’s face generally occurs in both men and women ages 40+ who exercise to improve their body, and in doing so end up with a skeletal and bony face. When exercising, an athlete burns off fat beneath the layers of his/her skin. The marked loss of fatty tissue results in a loss of volume which leads to a prominent appearance of the bones, accelerated development of skin laxity and deepening of wrinkles. Though you may look like a 20-year-old from the neck down—your face will easily give away your age.

Doctors, Resources, Wellness

diet exercise Nutrition Plastic Surgery runners face

Government Subsidized Obesity?

October 2, 2011 / Staff

When you consider that there are more tax dollars being spent on junk food than on fruits and vegetables it seems obvious that there is a conflict of interest.

Spending tax dollars on health care to combat childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes while fueling the problem with those very same dollars seems like a fool’s errand, to be sure.

It makes the efforts of people like Michelle Obama look downright ridiculous in face of the facts.

Health Care Policy, Nutrition, Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

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Food Stamp Challenge: Living on $30.00 a week

October 1, 2011 / Staff

Living on food stamps is a reality for one in four families in the United States.

Making healthy food choices is just one issue.

The other is, can you buy enough food for $30.00 to last a whole week?

One reporter took the challenge for one week and discovered how difficult it really is to feed yourself with $30.00 a week.

One in four families – according to the Food Research and Action Center – worry about having enough money to feed themselves and their families. And for those who may get the help of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or food stamps, it still may not be enough to buy the minimum amount of food the United States Department of Agriculture says people need to survive.

Quality Control, Resources, Wellness

eating on $30.00 a week Food Stamps living on food stamps

Nurturing Moms Benefit the Family’s Health

October 1, 2011 / Staff

Nurturing moms are good for family’s health.

Educated moms provide better nutrition and health information for their families which leads to less chronic illness as they age.

Parents’ education can be a more reliable indicator of a child’s home life than family income, said Lisa Berkman, director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies. Families may fall into low income because of unlucky circumstances such as illness, but still have some of the protective benefits education seems to bring to households.
Researchers “often look at education, because it makes a stronger case,” said Berkman, who was not involved with the new study.