Healthy World Digest, #16, July 2010

"Healthy nuggets of information to keep your motor humming."

Welcome to the 16th issue of our newsletter.

In this issue:

July, 2010

* Supplements & vitamins for teenagers

* The yummiest herbal remedy? Hershey's Kisses!

* Exercise & dehydration in the summer

* Pesticides and plants

* Alcohol and weight loss

* Interval exercise, revisited, again

If you are an adolescent, just about to start your growth spurt or in your spurt and you have a wonderful diet, skip over the rest of this section. The odds of that? Fat chance.

Remember that good nutrition, which includes the necessary nutrients and vitamins, is especially important at two separate phases.

In the first year of life, diet & nutrition consumption sets the course for wellness and health and vitality, for proper development and growth and cognitive development during childhood.

Then, during adolescence, diet and nutrition help determine how positive the growth spurt is. This stage lays down the tracks for what you'll probably be as you head into adulthood and onward.

So, be sure to take a high quality multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplement during your teens. Make sure it contains vitamins A, B, C, D, E. Along with these vitamins, make sure certain important minerals are present. Magnesium, zinc, calcium, etc.

Along with necessary vitamins, a protein supplement, especially after a workout and/or preceding bed could really help assure proper intake of protein, vital for muscular growth. Any high quality protein shake should do, especially after an exercise session and before bedtime to aid recovery and boost growth, respectively.

Obviously real foods should be the basis for protein and vitamin supplementation should only augment eating vitamin rich foods.

For example, whole eggs are a terrific source of protein. For natural vitamins, a mixed salad made up of many colors, green lettuce & spinach, red tomatoes, orange carrots, yellow peppers, black olives provides various vitamins and living matter, such as enzymes. Of course, delicious fruits also provide needed minerals and vitamins. Bananas, oranges, apples, strawberries, mango, melons all provide what growing bodies require.

* The yummiest herbal remedy? Hershey's Kisses!

Yep. Hershey's Kisses are a powerful herbal remedy. Just two of these babies have plenty of happy health benefits due to their antioxidant content.

Here's another health benefit. Chocolate decreases blood vessel inflammation which lowers the chances of artherosclerosis which decreases the chances of heart disease and high blood pressure.

So, pop two and you wont have to call your doctor in the morning.

Or as I like to do. Enjoy that cup of cocoa made from a tablespoon of powdered, unsweetened dark chocolate powder. I use Hershey's, a little stevia for sweetness and some creamer. My creamer is blend of 1/3 heavy cream to 2/3 unsweetened, organic, whole soymilk in a large jar and use over 7 to 10 days. Good and healthy.

Or, have a bit of good, dark, sweetened chocolate bar before a workout for a little boost of caffeine, sugar and antioxidants.

I love this topic so much that there will be much more on chocolate in the coming issues.

P.S. Avoid the diluted, over sugared milk chocolate.

* Exercise & dehydration in the summer

Of course as we go into the summer months, be reminded to drink more water. (The other season to drink more water is in the winter.) The reason for drinking more water should be obvious. You'll sweat more, so be sure to drink more.

But here's something else to be mindful of. If you sweat a lot during intense warm weather exercise, be sure to add a little something to your water or you could experience serious health issues. namely, try to have a sports drink after an hour of exercise. That'll help replace the electrolytes and minerals lost while sweating. Simple water wont do and could make the situation worse.

Want to make your own sports drink? Here's a recipe.

1 pckg Kool Aid, any flavor; 2 qts water; 1/4 - 1/2 cups sugar (To taste); 1/4 - 1/2 tsp sea salt (A must); 1/2 cup orange juice (or another potassium filled juice)

Refrigerate leftover.

* Pesticides and plants

Unless you go completely organic, pesticides in our fruits and vegetables are just a fact of life. If you have access and extra money to buy organic products, it would be worth your while. At least you should know which foods contain the highest concentration of contaminants.

So, from least to most:

10) grapes

9) lettuce

8) kale

7) strawberries

6) cherries

5) nectarines

4) celery

3) peppers

2) apples

1) peaches

* Alcohol and weight loss

So, a drink or two of alcohol daily has been touted as helpful for your health. Especially if you have a glass or two of red wine with lunch or dinner.

But here's an important caveat. Don't have that drink right before bedtime. Alcohol before bed discourages growth hormone release. Growth hormone renews cells and maintains & builds muscle. That regenerating, building action keeps you looking young, fit and discourage fat storage.

* Interval exercise, revisited, again

Are you still doing the same old exercises? You know, the light weights, 45 minutes of aerobics, a little stretching and you're off. Day after day, year after year. And you wonder why you just don't get anywhere.

Well, your body adapted long ago to the routine and so nothing much is happening to it. But as we've outlined before, the way out of this mess is to do interval training.

Interval training has been shown to top traditional aerobic fitness routines for increasing cardiovascular health. It has been shown to increase growth hormone release after age 30, which is really the youth hormone. It is great for normalizing blood sugar. It helps with weight and fat loss in ways traditional cardio can not.

A good 20 minute session of interval exercise beats a 60 minute session of cardio any day. Briefly, make sure to include 8 peak 30 second long "hard" intervals, resting 90 seconds between hard intervals. What is "hard" and "rest"? Well that all depends on your fitness level. Hard could be sprint to a soft jog. Hard could be jog to soft walk. Hard could be walk to soft standing still. Get it?

For more, visit our page on high intensity interval exercise

Have to run. It's July you know. Gotta get some sun and some park time. You should too. Go out. Have fun.

Comments? Ideas? Feedback? I'd love to hear from you. Just reply to Healthy World Digest and tell me what you think.

See you next month!

Sal

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