Health Benefits of Kindness from The Random Acts of Kindness Website
Numerous scientific studies show that acts of kindness result in significant health benefits, both physical and mental. Here are some key points:
Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders serious and minor, psychological and physical.
A rush of euphoria, followed by a longer period of calm, after performing a kind act is often referred to as a “helper’s high,” involving physical sensations and the release of the body’s natural painkillers, the endorphins. This initial rush is then followed by a longer-lasting period of improved emotional well-being.
Stress-related health problems improve after performing kind acts. Helping reverses feelings of depression, supplies social contact, and decreases feelings of hostility and isolation that can cause stress, overeating, ulcers, etc. A drop in stress may, for some people, decrease the constriction within the lungs that leads to asthma attacks.
Helping can enhance our feelings of joyfulness, emotional resilience, and vigor, and can reduce the unhealthy sense of isolation.
A decrease in both the intensity and the awareness of physical pain can occur.
The incidence of attitudes, such as chronic hostility, that negatively arouse and damage the body is reduced.
The health benefits and sense of well-being return for hours or even days whenever the helping act is remembered.
An increased sense of self-worth, greater happiness, and optimism, as well as a decrease in feelings of helplessness and depression, is achieved.
Once we establish an “affiliative connection” with someone – a relationship of friendship, love, or some sort of positive bonding – we feel emotions that can strengthen the immune system.
Adopting an altruistic lifestyle is a critical component of mental health.
The practice of caring for strangers translates to immense immune and healing benefits.
Regular club attendance, volunteering, entertaining, or faith group attendance is the happiness equivalent of getting a college degree or more than doubling your income.
Medical Equipment, Oxygen, C-Pap, Scrubs, Scooters
Showing posts with label Exercise Balance Senior Health Medical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exercise Balance Senior Health Medical. Show all posts
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010
BEST 3 MID MORNING SNACKS
Three Best Mid-Morning Snacks
*Grumble* *Grumble* *Grumble*
Yes, that’s your stomach talking to you – and anyone around you that can hear!
Your body is such a wonderfully amazing machine. Even for the ‘laymen’ it will let you know when it needs fuel. The problem is most of us either don’t have the time to re-fuel, or make poor choices on what to feed your grumbling belly.
There are a couple things that come into play when you’re looking for that mid-morning snack. First and foremost, I really hope you had a good breakfast. I know there are people out there that do not eat a breakfast??!! Breakfast is the meal that sets the stage for your whole day. Not eating breakfast is like not putting gas in your car – just doesn’t make sense! (But I digress)
Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing your mid-morning snack:
Food likes and dislikes
Do you have time to sit and prepare something
Are you ‘on-the-run’ and need something ‘quick and easy’
So lets take them one at a time.
Food likes and dislikes
This is kind of a no-brainer. You want to have or find food you will eat on a consistent basis. The bottom line here is find, prepare, or bring something you know you’ll enjoy. For instance I LOVE anything that has apples or apple flavoring in it. I also like eating almonds and peanuts, but don’t put them ‘in’ a food product. Blegh.
Do you have time to sit and prepare something
Is there a microwave available? Do you need hot water, cold water? Will the food require you to ‘mix’. If so do you have a container to mix it? This becomes very important for most of us nurses. We usually have none of the above.
Are you ‘on-the-run’
Uhm- yeah. This also applies to just about every nurse out there. So you need something portable, something preferably non-perishable and non-crushable. I don’t know about you but some ’snacks’ get destroyed in my bag that I carry to work.
OK. Here is the ’skinny’ on mid-morning snacks. (Yep -chose that word on purpose) The snack should be something with a decent amount of staying power (carbohydrates) and something that will sustain and maintain some amount of energy for the next 2-5 hours (protein). I won’t go into the miniscule details about carbs vs. protein. I’m simply saying stay away from the simple sugars. All those immediate release sugary substances are only good for one thing – their sweet taste, nothing more.
Let’s keep it simple.
Fruit, fruit and fruit. Everything from sliced to whole pieces of fruit. My two favorites are bananas and apples. You can carry and store them anywhere and everywhere. The bad part is you have to have some clean hands to eat them, so be careful about eating these while working on your unit. You could open these two up and cut them up? Or you could prepare them prior to work by slicing up the apple?
Also in the fruit category, blueberries, strawberries, heck any type of berry. You’ll have to prepare them ahead of time of course, and you are at the mercy of the time of the year, whether or not they are in season. So be careful.
Along the same course are nuts. Almonds are a GREAT source of energy, keep in mind they are low in carbs and have some fat content. I prefer these as a hunger-pang killer. A handful of these go a long way.
Another great source is anything-oatmeal. Oatmeal by itself, as a snack bar, an oatmeal mix, etc. Oatmeal is great in fiber, as well as a good carb source. I myself have oatmeal not only for my breakfast, but I have a ‘oatmeal bar’ mid-morning.
The one thing I would caution you on would be all those ‘100 calorie’ snacks out there. They are great, don’t get me wrong, the problem is most will find out that the snack content for the 100 calories isn’t very good at satisfying your hunger, so you end up eating 2 or 3 of these snacks. Then there goes the 100 calories! Just be careful with this choice.
There is always the ’shake’ option. You can either make your own shake, or buy one. In each case be careful with your choice of ’shake’. Some shakes are high in simple sugars (fructose) and can be high in fat.
Last but not least be very, very, very leary of anything that advertises ‘low fat’ or ‘no fat’, most of the time they replace the lack of fat with sugar. Sugar is good if used properly by your body. If you consume an over abundance of sugar, meaning you have ‘left over’ sugar that your body doesn’t immediately need for fuel. Guess what happens to that sugar? It slowly gets converted into fat and fills up the fat stores in your body. Be careful. Many get ‘tricked’ into thinking that ‘low fat’ is there ticket to freedom, when in fact it does the opposite.
If anything, be sure to eat something! The last thing you should be doing is not eating. Not eating is simply not an option. Even if it’s a ‘bite’ of something, something is better than nothing.
So my three best mid-morning snacks:
Fruit (I guess you could claim this is more than one option)
Nuts
Oatmeal
*Grumble* *Grumble* *Grumble*
Yes, that’s your stomach talking to you – and anyone around you that can hear!
Your body is such a wonderfully amazing machine. Even for the ‘laymen’ it will let you know when it needs fuel. The problem is most of us either don’t have the time to re-fuel, or make poor choices on what to feed your grumbling belly.
There are a couple things that come into play when you’re looking for that mid-morning snack. First and foremost, I really hope you had a good breakfast. I know there are people out there that do not eat a breakfast??!! Breakfast is the meal that sets the stage for your whole day. Not eating breakfast is like not putting gas in your car – just doesn’t make sense! (But I digress)
Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing your mid-morning snack:
Food likes and dislikes
Do you have time to sit and prepare something
Are you ‘on-the-run’ and need something ‘quick and easy’
So lets take them one at a time.
Food likes and dislikes
This is kind of a no-brainer. You want to have or find food you will eat on a consistent basis. The bottom line here is find, prepare, or bring something you know you’ll enjoy. For instance I LOVE anything that has apples or apple flavoring in it. I also like eating almonds and peanuts, but don’t put them ‘in’ a food product. Blegh.
Do you have time to sit and prepare something
Is there a microwave available? Do you need hot water, cold water? Will the food require you to ‘mix’. If so do you have a container to mix it? This becomes very important for most of us nurses. We usually have none of the above.
Are you ‘on-the-run’
Uhm- yeah. This also applies to just about every nurse out there. So you need something portable, something preferably non-perishable and non-crushable. I don’t know about you but some ’snacks’ get destroyed in my bag that I carry to work.
OK. Here is the ’skinny’ on mid-morning snacks. (Yep -chose that word on purpose) The snack should be something with a decent amount of staying power (carbohydrates) and something that will sustain and maintain some amount of energy for the next 2-5 hours (protein). I won’t go into the miniscule details about carbs vs. protein. I’m simply saying stay away from the simple sugars. All those immediate release sugary substances are only good for one thing – their sweet taste, nothing more.
Let’s keep it simple.
Fruit, fruit and fruit. Everything from sliced to whole pieces of fruit. My two favorites are bananas and apples. You can carry and store them anywhere and everywhere. The bad part is you have to have some clean hands to eat them, so be careful about eating these while working on your unit. You could open these two up and cut them up? Or you could prepare them prior to work by slicing up the apple?
Also in the fruit category, blueberries, strawberries, heck any type of berry. You’ll have to prepare them ahead of time of course, and you are at the mercy of the time of the year, whether or not they are in season. So be careful.
Along the same course are nuts. Almonds are a GREAT source of energy, keep in mind they are low in carbs and have some fat content. I prefer these as a hunger-pang killer. A handful of these go a long way.
Another great source is anything-oatmeal. Oatmeal by itself, as a snack bar, an oatmeal mix, etc. Oatmeal is great in fiber, as well as a good carb source. I myself have oatmeal not only for my breakfast, but I have a ‘oatmeal bar’ mid-morning.
The one thing I would caution you on would be all those ‘100 calorie’ snacks out there. They are great, don’t get me wrong, the problem is most will find out that the snack content for the 100 calories isn’t very good at satisfying your hunger, so you end up eating 2 or 3 of these snacks. Then there goes the 100 calories! Just be careful with this choice.
There is always the ’shake’ option. You can either make your own shake, or buy one. In each case be careful with your choice of ’shake’. Some shakes are high in simple sugars (fructose) and can be high in fat.
Last but not least be very, very, very leary of anything that advertises ‘low fat’ or ‘no fat’, most of the time they replace the lack of fat with sugar. Sugar is good if used properly by your body. If you consume an over abundance of sugar, meaning you have ‘left over’ sugar that your body doesn’t immediately need for fuel. Guess what happens to that sugar? It slowly gets converted into fat and fills up the fat stores in your body. Be careful. Many get ‘tricked’ into thinking that ‘low fat’ is there ticket to freedom, when in fact it does the opposite.
If anything, be sure to eat something! The last thing you should be doing is not eating. Not eating is simply not an option. Even if it’s a ‘bite’ of something, something is better than nothing.
So my three best mid-morning snacks:
Fruit (I guess you could claim this is more than one option)
Nuts
Oatmeal
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Senior Exercises for Better Balance
Exercises for Better Balance
Research has shown many times that the strength of your leg muscles greatly influences the quality of your balance and hence your ability to prevent falls.
Generally, as people get older, they use their leg muscles less which allows those muscles to get smaller and weaker. This process is very slow and happens over many years. Most people will not notice it until one day they have trouble getting up from the couch or going up stairs.
In order to slow or prevent this loss of crucial muscle mass, it is important for people over 60 to do regular leg strengthening exercises. The muscles they focused on strengthening where the calves, located on the back of your lower leg just below the knee, and the dorsiflexors, located on the front of your lower leg just below the knee.
These two muscle groups work together to control your foot when you are standing or walking. the exercise protocol simply had participants strengthen these two muscle groups 3 times a week for five minutes during the 6-week study.
In the study, they used elastic bands for the exercises, but I am going to show you how to strengthen the same muscles without any equipment. You will do two exercises:
Exercise 1 - Toe Points
Sit on the edge of a chair with both feel flat and your knees bent at 90 degrees. Extend the knee of one leg so that one foot comes off the ground and moves forward slightly. Point your toe forward. This is your starting point.
From there, keeping your leg in place and only moving the ankle joint, pull your toes back towards your shins. Then point your toes forward again. Do 10-15 repetitions and then switch to the other leg.
As you pull the toes back, you should feel the muscles on the top of your shin just below your knee contracting.
Exercise 2 - Calf Raise
Stand facing your sink with both feet pointing straight ahead. Your feet should be about 6 inches apart from each other and 6 inches away from the sink. Hold on to the sink and countertop for balance and rise up onto your toes. Both heels should come off the ground a couple inches. Lower down slowly. Do 10-15 repetitions.
As you go up onto your toes, you should feel the muscles on the back of the lower leg contracting.
You can do 1 or 2 sets of each exercise 2 or 3 times per week, just not two days in a row.
These two exercises will help strengthen your lower legs and that should help your balance, but remember that these exercises are just one piece of the puzzle. If you want to do all you can to help your balance, you should be following an organized program of balance exercises and leg strengthening exercises............
Research has shown many times that the strength of your leg muscles greatly influences the quality of your balance and hence your ability to prevent falls.
Generally, as people get older, they use their leg muscles less which allows those muscles to get smaller and weaker. This process is very slow and happens over many years. Most people will not notice it until one day they have trouble getting up from the couch or going up stairs.
In order to slow or prevent this loss of crucial muscle mass, it is important for people over 60 to do regular leg strengthening exercises. The muscles they focused on strengthening where the calves, located on the back of your lower leg just below the knee, and the dorsiflexors, located on the front of your lower leg just below the knee.
These two muscle groups work together to control your foot when you are standing or walking. the exercise protocol simply had participants strengthen these two muscle groups 3 times a week for five minutes during the 6-week study.
In the study, they used elastic bands for the exercises, but I am going to show you how to strengthen the same muscles without any equipment. You will do two exercises:
Exercise 1 - Toe Points
Sit on the edge of a chair with both feel flat and your knees bent at 90 degrees. Extend the knee of one leg so that one foot comes off the ground and moves forward slightly. Point your toe forward. This is your starting point.
From there, keeping your leg in place and only moving the ankle joint, pull your toes back towards your shins. Then point your toes forward again. Do 10-15 repetitions and then switch to the other leg.
As you pull the toes back, you should feel the muscles on the top of your shin just below your knee contracting.
Exercise 2 - Calf Raise
Stand facing your sink with both feet pointing straight ahead. Your feet should be about 6 inches apart from each other and 6 inches away from the sink. Hold on to the sink and countertop for balance and rise up onto your toes. Both heels should come off the ground a couple inches. Lower down slowly. Do 10-15 repetitions.
As you go up onto your toes, you should feel the muscles on the back of the lower leg contracting.
You can do 1 or 2 sets of each exercise 2 or 3 times per week, just not two days in a row.
These two exercises will help strengthen your lower legs and that should help your balance, but remember that these exercises are just one piece of the puzzle. If you want to do all you can to help your balance, you should be following an organized program of balance exercises and leg strengthening exercises............
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