Did you know?
Staying mentally active and is linked to physical and mental health and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Steps to take
Exercise your memory and your mind. Continue to learn new things. Read. Do crossword, word find, and Sudoku puzzles. Take a class. Mentor a child. Join a club.

Do you walk into the colorful produce department of your local grocery store and feel overwhelmed by the decisions you have to make when choosing your favorite apple? Local? Organic? GMO? Nutrient Dense? Prewashed?

Here are some tips to help make your produce shopping more efficient, cost effective, environmentally friendly and nutritious!

1. Become a locavore! Buy local produce as often as you can. You save on the carbon footprint and you support your local farmers.

Read the full post on Picking Produce – A Weekly Dilemma.

Are you bored with your regular cardio routine, are you confused what workout you should be doing first whether it should be cardio or strength training, well you donʼt necessarily have to separate cardio and strength training, they can be incorporated into one workout. Cardio generally works the heart and lungs, and develops their endurance. Strength training develops the muscles.

Most of the general population think that cardio workouts have to be either done on a treadmill, running outside, use of a stationary bike, cycling, spinning or swimming just to name a few. What the general population fail to realize is that you can also get your heart rate up by doing strength training. Cardio with weights can actually get the heart rate up as well and it also saves time if youʼre running short on time.

Read the full post on Combining Strength Training with Cardio.

A new study from McGill University in Canada is providing some clues between the development of dementia and a sleep disorder known as rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD).

With RBD, the paralysis that normally occurs with REM sleep is incomplete or absent. This causes people to not get the deep restful sleep that they need. RBD is usually seen in middle-aged to elderly people, most often in men. The research showed that 63% of people who experienced RBD developed dementia with Lewy bodies or Parkinson’s later in life. In some cases the RBD was detected 50 years before the actual onset of the neurodegenerative condition. More research is needed, but it’s possible that detecting RBD may help people get treatment at an earlier age and perhaps prevent/minimize dementia that could occur later in life.

Read the full post on Sleep and Dementia.

Did you know?
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of death among babies between 1 month and 1 year old.

Steps to take
To reduce the risk of SIDS, put a baby to sleep with a pacifier and on his or her back. Do this for the first 12 months, unless the baby’s doctor advises otherwise. The baby should sleep on a firm mattress without pillows, stuffed toys, and fluffy blankets. Find out about SIDS from SidsCenter.org.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup walnut pieces
1 acorn squash, cut into 1 1/2″ thick rings, seeds removed
1 medium red onion, sliced 1/4″ thick
2 teaspoons agave nectar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
4 cups kale
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 ounces whole wheat orzo pasta
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Sage
2 teaspoons chopped fresh Thyme
4 ounces wild salmon, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup reduced fat italian vinegarette

Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 30 minutes – one hour

Read the full post on Wild Salmon with Kale, Squash, Walnuts and Whole Wheat Pasta Recipe.

Did you know?
Alcohol and other drug addictions affect persons of all ages and backgrounds.

Steps to take
Seek help if you have or suspect a drinking or drug problem in you, a family member, coworker, or friend. Call 800.662.4357 (English) or 800.662.9832 (Spanish) or access DrugHelp.org.

A study recently published in the journal Sleep noted an increased mortality risk in men who have insomnia with objective short sleep duration, and the risk is greater than previously estimated.

1,741 men and women randomly selected from central Pennsylvania were studied in the sleep laboratory and Pennsylvania State University and followed-up for 14 years. Insomnia was defined as subjects having a complaint of insomnia for at least a year. Additionally, subjects were divided into groups of “normal” or “short” sleep duration (more or less than six hours of sleep a night). When adjusting for other health conditions, it was found that male insomnia sufferers in the “short” sleep duration group had a 21% higher mortality rate! Insomnia and short sleep was not associated with an increased mortality rate in women. This research shows how important it is for people with insomnia, especially men, to get treatment for their condition.

Read the full post on Insomnia and Increased Mortality Rates.

Secrets of the emotional, physical and nutritional game

It’s not enough to be “sexually steamy;” it’s also about the ability to exhibit strong and powerful emotions. This act requires long duration intensity, not short term, and random moments of peak, then passing desire.

Sustaining passion depends upon endurance and that boils down to chemistry and conditioning.

Since February is National Heart Month, it’s an excellent opportunity to begin a jogging program and a good first step in creating a “potion for passion.”

Read the full post on Passion – How to Have the Heart.

Red, yellow, blue…all the primary colors are beautiful to look at…but not in our foods. You may be surprised to discover the following synthetic dyes in your foods:

–Pillsbury Grands! Flaky Layers Honey Butter Biscuits & Betty Crocker Supermoist Carrot Cake contain Red 40
–Edy’s Take the Cake Ice Cream & Sara Lee Signature Colletions Andes Chocolate Mint Cream Pie contain Red 3
–Vlasic Kosher Dill Spears & Yoplait Key Lime Yogurts contain Yellow 5

The use of synthetic dyes and food colorings has drastically increased over the last 5 years. The safety of these dyes used in food is not exactly known, leaving it up to the consumer to make an educated decision.

Read the full post on The Colors of the Rainbow ADDED to Our Foods.