Category: Breaking Bad Habits
Bad Habits Lead to Bad Health
Did you know that drinking too much soda or other carbonated beverages could interfere with calcium absorption – a problem that could eventually lead to osteoporosis? Or that slouching at a desk all day or tapping away at a computer keyboard can lead to painful strains in your wrists, shoulders, elbows and back? These are […]
Sleep Better: 8 Simple Steps
Ten to fifteen percent of Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. Do you? Most of us experience an occasional sleepless night, but prolonged bouts of insomnia can lead to decreased mental function, frazzled nerves, and lowered immunity. The good news is that you don’t have to pop a pill or count sheep: Just follow these simple, […]
Owning Your Health
Recent discussions in the scientific literature are focusing on monitoring and possibly improving cardiovascular health in children. There’s been a lot of conversation and a lot of controversy. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association1 argued that universal screening of children could result in young people being put on cholesterol-lowering drugs such […]
Principles of Posture
Long ago and far away, a fourth-grade teacher told a student to “stand up straight – you look like a pretzel”. The unthinking adult only offered criticism. The child was left to try to unkink himself in the ways that probably caused more structural damage. Most of us think good posture involves thrusting out the […]
Rise and Shine!
We all know people who get up with the first rays of the sun. Some people wake up even earlier, bouncing out of bed before there is even a glimmer of Homer’s famous “rosy- fingered dawn” in the eastern sky. In contrast, for many people leaving the confines of their comfortable bed is a daily […]
The Luck of the Draw
Some people do all the right things and still develop serious health problems. Others flaunt their bad habits and are able to live long lives, dying peacefully in their sleep at the age of 95. For example, high blood pressure (hypertension, HTN) is a common chronic disease in the United States. With HTN a person’s […]
Your New Reality
Is it possible to create a new personal reality? So-called unscripted television shows say you can – “The Biggest Loser” being one of the more popular of these tell-all and show-all programs. But most of us realize that these shows don’t closely represent reality as we experience it. What causes us to tune in anyway? […]
An Ounce of Prevention
Everyone knows the old adage that declares “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This time-honored wisdom certainly makes sense. We wouldn’t wait until we were riding on the wheel rim before we repaired a leaking automobile tire. We wouldn’t wait until there were obvious signs of termite damage to our home […]
Holiday Cheer
In early winter, whether we’re celebrating Hanukkah or Christmas, both or nothing at all, families and friends gather to share food and drink and give thanks for a year successfully completed. We send up a rousing holiday cheer and share delicious holiday cheer in celebration of our accomplishments and to honor our cherished relationships. It’s […]
Find Inspiration in Walden
In this 200th anniversary year of the birth of Henry David Thoreau, each of us can increase our health and well-being by applying his guidance to our regular exercise activities. Thoreau, one of the United States’ greatest writers, naturalists, and philosophers, not only walked the length and breadth of Concord, his beloved hometown in Massachusetts, […]