Category Archives: Keeping fit

Coffee – Java – Science even says it’s Good!

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Ever since my mom got me hooked by adding lots of cream and sugar, I’ve been an avid coffee drinker.

Is it good for me, I’ve wondered, and the answer seems to be “yes!”

In the Oct 3, 2015 issue of Science News titled”The Beneficial Bean” they write “coffee reveals itself as an unlikely health elixir.”

Here’s a summary:

Caffeine
  • Reduces liver fibriosis
  • Slows heart and liver damage.
  • May counter Parkinson’s, dementia, and depression
  • Boosts feel-good dopamine
Polyphenols
  • Reduce liver fibriosis
  • Boosts DNA repair
  • May fend off blood clots
  • Boost metabolic Efficiency
  • Lower Blood pressure
  • Act as demethylating agents
  • Lessen internal injury from free radicals.
Diterpenes
  • Fights certain carcinogens
  • Reduce liver DNA adducts
  • Boost levels of glutathione
  • Target and kill mesothelioma cells in lung tissues
  • Kahweol is anti-inflammatory and cuts blood flow to tumors
  • But both can lead to higher levels of bad cholesterol (LDL)
Trigonelline
  • Antioxidant
  • Lowers blood sugar
  • May have brain benefits

The article goes on to provide a short history of research into coffee, some studies that show little positive or negative effects, and the liver as the biggest benefactor.  The sidebar in the article suggests filtered coffee removes some of the cholesterol-raising oils in coffee.

I’m ready for another cup!

 

Baking Soda-May help reduce autoimmune inflamation!

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Wow! We’ve used Baking soda for lot’s of things, settling a stomach, coffee pot cleaning, reducing odors, cooking, but this is very interesting. Hope the research continues. I found the information in Science News.

Date:April 25, 2018 Source:Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University

Summary:A daily dose of baking soda may help reduce the destructive inflammation of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, scientists say. They have some of the first evidence of how the cheap, over-the-counter antacid can encourage our spleen to promote instead an anti-inflammatory environment that could be therapeutic in the face of inflammatory disease, scientists report.

 

From: Health Impact News:    “Note: As a supplement, consuming a half-teaspoon of baking soda or more (depending on health conditions) thoroughly mixed in purified water daily should be done well away from eating, two hours or upon awakening, in order to not interfere with the necessary existing acid content of the stomach while food is being processed for digestion in the small intestines.

Baking soda has even performed miracles for cancer patients. One famous anecdotal example comes with the episode of Vernon Johnston’s metastasized prostate cancer cure that you can review here.”

What did he say?

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Hearing and Aging

The scene: Susan and I are sitting in front of our “older” TV watching a documentary or such, and one of us turns to the other and says “What did she say?”

“I didn’t catch it either,” is the common answer. Yes, hearing and aging issues are catching up with us.

What to do?

First, we have to realize that the grand-kids don’t have the problem. We do. Our ears really aren’t hearing as well as they used to. Especially they are not distinguishing voice frequencies from background sounds.  Our current solution is we turn on the captions. That works, but seriously detracts from the images.

 

But according to this “Consumer Reports” article there are a number of other approaches, like these:

  • If your TV supports it, adjust the mid range tones of your audio so they are louder. It takes some chasing through menus to find the adjustment – if it is there.
  • Get a speaker bar ($150-$1000). Some have settings to help with dialogue. All are likely better than the built in speakers of the common TV.
  • Purchase wireless headphones.

Click here to read the much more detailed report from “Consumer Reports.”

The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles

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Aging Muscles and Exercise Intensity

We all know that exercise is good for us. But, just what is best for us folks with aging mitochondria? This study compares weight lifting, interval training(high paced stationary bike riding for short periods of time), moderate exertion stationary bike riding, and a non exercise group. The interval training exercisers game out significantly ahead . “It seems as if the decline in cellular health of muscles associated with aging was “corrected”with exercise, especially if it was intense, says the studies senior author, Dr. Streekumaran Nair, at the Mayo Clinic.

Does Swimming count?

“How does that relate to me and my almost 80 year old body,” I wondered. My exercise of choice is swimming and dancing. I have been doing 30 laps or so three times a week, all at a moderate pace. Based on my interpretation of the study, I am now sprinting  4 of those laps. In dancing, where appropriate, I am adding short times of fairly energetic movement. Will it do me any good? I don’t know, but it at least feels good, and what counts more than that!

My source: A New York Times Article

The New  York Times article where I learned of the study was in the March 23, 2017article and is available here.

Help your back!

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Keeping your back happy!

Aha, I thought while listening to the NPR report on “The Lost Art of Bending Over: How Other Cultures Spare Their Spines,” that’s what my talented instructor in my NIA dance/exercise class is trying to get us to do.

After listening to the report, and then reading it, I started trying to use the approach in the hedge trimming project I was working on. In my very non-scientific, sample of one trial, I think I had much less back ache after cutting and picking up some 15 garden  cart loads of branches.

My interpretation

The method, as I interpret it is when you need to pick up something  in front of you:

  1. Consciously think of your hips as a hinge, and your back as a plank.
  2. Bend at the hip hinge.
  3. If that isn’t low enough, bend your my knees, keeping your knees over your ankles.
  4.  That sticks your bottom out, and there you are lifting with a flat back!

Probably, if others are like me with a lifelong history of bending with a curved back and my knees out in front of my feet, it’ll take some practice to make the approach second nature. I’m working on it.

The Brains Way of Healing

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The Brains Way of Healing

I am constantly amazed at the possibilities of our brain to heal and to change. This book relates personal experiences of people the author has known, interviewed or worked with who have made significant changes using techniques like red light, purposeful walking, sound therapy and more. To date, much of it is still at the anecdotal level of research and I personally hope some of the techniques will  come into being while I could still utilize them! Like my knees. Regenerative tissue would be wonderful. I think.

The book is informative and written for the layman.

If you’d like to purchase the book:

* Try your local book store

* Check it out at your library

* Look at the Amazon reviews and perhaps order.

(Note: If you purchase from Amazon I get a tiny amount which helps  me to maintain this site, but as a long time Independent Book Store Supporter, please try your local book store first.)

 

 

Cheerleading at advanced ages -It’s never too late!

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Cheerleading at advanced ages -It’s never too late!

I heard on NPR this morning a interview with an 80 plus year old Japanese lady who at 53 came to the US to study gerontology, then at 83 started a “cheer leading” group which is still performing.

It’s a heartwarming example of  staying relevant, staying active, and enjoying life while aging.

Here’s a link to see them in action and to learn more about the program.

Exercise and aging – Links -in process

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Exercise and aging – Links -in process

Here’s some links that I started- probably on the kansas trip. I need to check them out, put in some narrative, etc.

 

https://m.facebook.com/dialog/feed?app_id=9869919170&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F03%2F23%2Fwell%2Fmove%2Fthe-best-exercise-for-aging-muscles.html%3Fmwrsm%3DFacebook&name=The+Best+Exercise+for+AginByg+Muscles&redirect_uri=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F03%2F23%2Fwell%2Fmove%2Fthe-best-exercise-for-aging-muscles.html

BBC-Podcast: Living long lives – Blessing or Curse

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BBC-Podcast: Living long lives – Blessing or Curse

A one hour podcast about living well to advanced ages – and some worries and cautions.

The BBC News Hour Extre guests:

Dr Anne Karpf – Author of ‘How to Age’

Prof Lynda Gratton – Author of ‘The 100 Year Life’

Dr Alexandre Kalache – Co-President of the International Longevity Centre, Brazil

Also featuring:

Dr Bill Frankland – medical doctor still working at 105

TIME article: Aging with Purpose

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“What’s your bucket list?”

At a dinner party last week, the subject of “aging with purpose” came up. My dinner companion, another elder, asked me what things I still had on my “bucket list.”  I thought for a minute and realized many of the things I would have said at a younger age I had actually accomplished. Others, like my early desire to build a 50 foot sailing yacht, learn how to sail well, and then mosey around the world for a year or two. have been off the list for a long time. Especially after talking with two couples who had done it and came away with a bunch of hi-lights  but mostly long stretches of  pure boredom.  Their comment,”the ocean is just plain huge.” For myself and wife, it turns out, kayak paddling and camping in the Canadian South Gulf islands suffices much better for our actual psychologies.

My bucket leaks – and well it should!

My bucket  list has leaks in the bottom. And that’s very fine with me. For instance diving from a 100 foot cliff into pure blue water, or going off a ski jump for a hundred meter flight, or climbing the face of El Capitan, are all activities I am glad leaked out of the bottom of my bucket list.

Today, I enjoy the process:  Seeing plays;  reading a good book sitting on a rock with the McKenzie river, and an occasional rafter rushing by; doing an energetic  dance; building one of my fused glass creations; writing a post for this blog, sitting beside our garden stove;  having an engaging conversation down at the local coffee shop about whatever is topical at the moment.  These are the things I now enjoy. I don’t need, or so I think, a bucket list.

Time article about aging with purpose

At about this time, TIME magazine came out with an article about a study which showed people having a purpose in life helps them maintain functions and independence as they age. I wonder where my love of activities fits on their purpose of life measuring stick?

People in the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, who reported having goals and a sense of meaning were less likely to have weak grip strength and slow walking speeds: two signs of declining physical ability and risk factors for disability.

It’s a interesting article and here is the Time Magazine  link: Aging with purpose.