The easiest way to lose weight and improve your health? Ditch the white stuff! Most white foods (bread, rice, pasta, sugar, flour) are primarily made up of refined carbs and empty calories, so cutting them out of your diet is one of the quickest ways to shed pounds and improve your well-being, Dr. Oz says. There are a few exceptions to the rule, including egg whites, cauliflower, and fish, he says. Those are the only white foods you should have on hand.
Source: Shape.com
fitness
🍎 Health Hack: Get A Flu Shot – Amazing Benefits
Individuals who get an annual flu shot have half the risk of having a heart attack or dying of heart disease. The best time to get a flu shot is between September and the end of November, which should protect you for the entire flu season.
Heart attacks are more common in the winter, and this rise could be due to an increase in cases of the flu. People may be more likely to have ruptures in plaques in their arteries when they have a respiratory infection.
Source: Heart Attack Prevention. 2015, p34-45. 12p.
🍎 Health Hack: Burn Away the Tension
Burn off tension. Exercise is a crucial component of stress management, because physical activity can actually reduce cortisol levels. But you will find excuses to avoid workouts if you dread them. Finding an activity you love — your “soulmate workout,” as Dr. Stanford calls it — can help you maintain the regular physical activity you need in order to dissolve daily stress. For some people it might be yoga, for others, high-intensity exercise — or a combination of the two.
🍎 Health Hack: Get Fit – The Benefits are Amazing
Starting a fitness program may be one of the best things you can do for your health. After all, physical activity can reduce your risk of chronic disease, improve your balance and coordination, help you lose weight, and even boost your self-esteem. And you can reap these benefits regardless of your age, sex or physical ability. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends that healthy adults include aerobic activity and strength training in their fitness plans, specifically:
- At least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity a week, or an equivalent combination of moderate and vigorous aerobic activity
- Strength training exercises of all the major muscle groups at least twice a week
🍎 Health Hack: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin B12?
Vitamin B12 helps the body manufacture red blood cells and nerves; it also helps with DNA maintenance and other functions. . . . Like most vitamins, B12 can’t be made by the body and so is classified as an “essential” vitamin. Some people don’t consume enough vitamin B12 to meet their needs, while others can’t absorb enough, no matter how much they consume. . . plants don’t make vitamin B12. The only foods that deliver it are meat, eggs, poultry, dairy products and B vitamin-enriched pastas and cereals. Strict vegetarians and vegans are at high risk for developing a B12 deficiency if they don’t eat grains that have been fortified with the vitamin or take a vitamin supplement. . . . If you are a strict vegetarian or vegan, it’s important to eat breads, cereals or other grains that have been fortified with vitamin B12, or take a daily supplement. A standard multivitamin delivers 6 micrograms, well above the determined daily need of 2.4 micrograms.
🍎 Health Hack: Want to Be Slim & Healthy?
Illness or injury may often be the instigator, but frailty is what kills us, says Dr. Mehmet Oz, cardiothoracic surgeon, author, and host of The Dr. Oz Show . Our bodies can’t recover as well if we’re not strong, which is why he recommends a balanced workout plan that includes strength, cardio, and flexibility training. . . . Say goodbye to boring treadmill sessions. Instead, Dr. Oz suggests getting a basic pedometer and setting a goal of 10,000 steps per day (that’s about five miles) to stay slim and healthy.
🍎 Health Hack: A Good Night’s Sleep Is Good Medicine
A good snooze is key when it comes to preventing colds. In one JAMA Internal Medicine study, researchers gave 153 healthy men and women nasal drops containing rhinovirus and tracked their sleep habits. They found that people who regularly got less than seven hours of sleep were three times more likely to come down with a cold than those who slept eight hours or more each night. The National Sleep Foundation recommends aiming for at least 7 to 9 hours per night. Can’t seem to doze off?
🍎 Health Hack: Stretch Safely
6 Tips for Stretching Safely
- Warm up first. Muscles stretch more easily when warm. Dynamic stretches can act as a warm-up for static stretches, or you can do static stretches after sports, exercise, or even marching in place with arms swinging for five minutes or dancing to a few songs.
- Feel no pain. Stretch only to the point of mild tension, never to the point of pain.
- Pay attention to posture and good form. Posture counts whether you’re sitting, standing, or moving. Good form translates to better gains in flexibility and less likelihood of injury when stretching tight muscles.
- Focus on the muscle being stretched. You’ll notice that one side of your body often is tighter than the other. Work on balancing this over time.
- Breathe. Breathe comfortably while stretching, or use yoga breathing. Whatever you do, don’t hold your breath while you are holding a stretch.
- Practice often. You’ll make the best gains if you stretch frequently—daily, or on as many days of the week as possible.
🍎 Health Hack: Put the Brakes on Sodium
Cut Back on Sodium
- Look at Nutrition Facts labels and try to choose prepared foods that have less than 5% of the Daily Value of sodium per serving.
- Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned, smoked, or processed.
- Choose fresh or frozen vegetables that have no added salt.
- Rinse canned foods to remove some of the sodium.
- Add less salt—or none—when cooking.
- Use reduced-sodium bouillon, dressings, and sauces like soy sauce.
- Use fresh herbs and buy spices and blends without added salt.
- Cook at home instead of eating out, when possible. But when eating out, ask that no extra salt be added to your food.
