Total Health Challenge Week Four: Hydrate!

We took a break from our total health challenge last week as we celebrated Thanksgiving. Now let's just take a moment to recap the changes we've made so far:

Week 1: Eat a good breakfast

Week 2: Move your body for 30 minutes everyday

Week 3: Get a good night's sleep

On to this week...

Week 4: Hydrate!

Water, the Sweet Nectar of Life

pic from freefoto.com

There is a reason why NASA is so interested in looking for water elsewhere in the solar system. Water is the building block of all life as we know it. According to this dramatic HowStuffWorks article by Charles W. Bryant, humans can live about 8 weeks without food. However, in conditions of high heat, dehydration can kill a person in just hours. Even in mild weather, a healthy human won't last a week without water.

Of course, there is a difference between dying of dehydration and running a quart low. If you want your body to function at optimum levels, though, you need to provide it with the necessary raw materials. Every cell in your body requires water.

You are losing water constantly. Every time you exhale, water escapes-- as much as 4 cups per day. Evaporation robs moisture from the skin. Sweating isn't just a factor when exercising. Many people perspire in our over-heated office environments, or have sweaty feet inside their boots or sneakers. Your body also needs water to expel toxins from the body as urine and solid waste.

Am I Thirsty?

Unfortunately, we can't rely on thirst to guide our water intake. Nutritionists say that by the time you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. The thirst drive also decreases with age, and many people have trouble distinguishing between hunger and thirst anyway. So how can you tell if you need to drink more water?

The color of your urine is the most reliable indicator of how hydrated you are. Urine should be clear or very light yellow, like lemonade (real lemonade, not Countrytime with FD&C Yellow food coloring!). If your urine is gold or darker, you are definitely dehydrated. Frequent urination can be an indication of dehydration, so go by the color, not frequency. Dry lips or a dry mouth are also surefire indicators that your body needs more water.

Some people may meet their hydration needs just by drinking a glass of water between and with meals, and before and during exercise. Other people in different environments may require much more water.

What Should I Drink?

At one time, doctors told us that caffeinated beverages subtracted from our water balance. The caffeine is diuretic, they said, and so you will actually need to consume more water to make up the difference. Today, doctors and nutritionists believe that caffeinated coffee, teas, and even water-rich fruits and vegetables all count toward our fluid balance.

For your general health and well-being, choose beverages that are free of additives and artificial preservatives, and limit daily caffeine intake. Beware flavored waters with artificial sweeteners! They may be low or zero-calorie, but the artificial sweeteners they contain can spark your body's desire for the real thing, leading to hard-to-control sweet cravings.

Pure water has the benefit of being calorie-free, but it isn't always the best choice. If you are working out for longer than an hour, you should consume a fluid replacer that contains electrolytes, sodium in particular. The rare condition hyponatremia results from losing a great deal of water and salt to sweat, and consuming too much water without replacing the salt. During sweaty workouts, consuming 4 oz of fluid every 15 minutes is a good baseline.

Water as Medicine

Finally, if you are one of millions of Americans who suffer from exercise-induced asthma, water is even more important to you. A 1999 study at the University of Buffalo showed that dehydration exacerbated bronchial spasms (read more at ScienceDaily.) It appears that drinking water keeps airways moist, reducing the occurrence of irritation and constriction. So drink up!

Total Health Challenge Week Two: Get Some Sleep!

Sleep to Stay Slim

No, taking a half-hour nap is not an acceptable replacement for 30 minutes on the elliptical. However, sleep seems to play a critical role in helping the body maintain a healthy weight.

I found this startling study referenced on the National Sleep Foundation website:

"A 1999 study at the University of Chicago showed that restricting sleep to just 4 hours per night for a week brought healthy young adults to the point that some had the glucose and insulin characteristics of diabetics. Such sleep restriction may have been a bit extreme, but it is also not altogether uncommon in our society and is a pattern deemed the "royal route to obesity" by Eve Van Cauter, PhD, who conducted the Chicago study."

In addition, quality sleep is essential for the production of the hormones leptin and ghrelin, both linked to appetite control. You can read more about this in this WebMD article. If you find yourself insatiably hungry, take a look at your sleep habits.

Sleep for Heart Health

Sleep also seems to have an important role is heart health, particularly in women. MayoClinic.com had this great article about Sleep Deprivation and Blood Pressure. One of the studies cited, published in 2007, followed 10,300 adults for 5 years. Women who got six hours of sleep per night were 42 percent more likely to develop hypertension than women who slept seven hours per night.

Check back for more helpful sleeping tips later this week!

Total Health Challenge Week Two: The Daily 30!

Move Your Body Everyday!

So now that you are eating a nice balanced breakfast every morning, it's time to add another ingredient to our recipe for wellness: 30 minutes of accumulated moderate-intensity physical activity every day. If that phrase sounds a bit formal, it's because it comes straight from the Surgeon General.

What is boils down to is this: Move your body, everyday. We are not talking about cardio, like jogging, or 30 minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym. This is just the minimum amount of activity you need to get everyday in order not to meet the clinical definition of a sedentary individual. A sedentary lifestyle is a risk factor for many diseases, most of all type 2 diabetes.

So let's break this down:

30 Minutes Accumulated- This means it doesn't have to be all at once. if you have a fifteen minute walk to and from work or at lunch time, you've met the time goal. If you take 2-minute stair climbs 15 times a day, that works, too!

Moderate Intensity- This means you need to get your heart rate up a little. If you are walking, 100 steps per minute is about right. If you are a city dweller, most of us walk faster than that, anyway. Gotta catch that train! But if you are unsure, load your iPod with songs around 100 beats per minute (Bee Gee's Stayin' Alive is the best known example, since we also use it to time compressions in CPR training!). For other types of activity, try the talk test. You should feel like you could carry on a conversation without gasping for breath, but you shouldn't feel like you would be able to belt out a song. Sweating is a poor indicator of intensity, since it varies with the individual and the ambient temperature.

Physical Activity- What kinds of activity count? Since we want to get the heart pumping a little, concentrate on activities that use the big muscles of the legs. Activities that focus on the upper body are not going to have the same conditioning effect. Walking, biking, stairs, swimming, and dancing will all do the trick. Things like gardening, housework, and golf are iffy. If you are kneeling for most of the time, or ride a cart around the golf course, that doesn't really count. Carrying laundry up and down the stairs would definitely count toward your 30 minutes, though.

Make It Painless

You don't have to schedule an additional 30 minutes of activity into your day. Who has the time? Instead, build that activity into things that are already on your schedule. If you drive to work, park farther away from your office and get a little 5 minute walk in. Pick a nice, relaxing place to eat your lunch that is at least 5 minutes away from your desk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. March in place while you watch TV. Before you know it, you'll have finished your daily 30!

Total Health Challenge Week One: Eat a Good Breakfast!

I'm sure your Mother told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. She was absolutely right! What we eat in the morning sets the tone for whole day. It can crank up our metabolism. If we skip breakfast, it can bring our metabolism to a screeching halt!

What is a good breakfast? As I mentioned in the last post, it should include protein, good carbs, and good fats. Ideally, we should try to limit added sugar and salt, too.

Suggested Breakfast 1:

Quinoa Flakes (or oatmeal) with a little maple syrup and some walnuts mixed in,

and low-fat yogurt or soy yogurt with some berries

Quinoa flakes are a great way to add variety to your repertoire of whole grains. Because the quinoa has been pounded into flakes, it cooks in about 90 seconds. Oatmeal is still a nice choice, since it is full of soluble fiber, which helps lower cholesterol. Walnuts are high in healthy unsaturated fat, including Omega-6, Omega-3, and ALAs. Several studies have suggested that consuming nuts may help with weight loss and weight maintenance. They are also heart healthy, as mentioned in this Web MD article on walnuts. Low-fat dairy products like skim milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese are generally very low carb (if they are not sweetened) and high in protein. Fage fat-free greek style yogurt is my personal favorite, because I love it's fluffy texture. Soy Yogurt is an alternative for vegans, but watch out. Many kinds of soy yogurt have tons of sugar added. Check those labels.

What about those crazy days when you just don't have time for breakfast? Breakfast doesn't have to be elaborate. Here is one of my favorite last-minute-no-time-to-think-about-it breakfasts.

Eat-n-Go Breakfast 1:

One banana, a handful (about 1 oz) of walnuts, and a low-fat string cheese or slice of low-fat swiss cheese.

DID YOU KNOW?

Like many aged cheeses, most swiss cheese is lactose-free.

Low fat cheese has almost no carbs, so it is a great way to boost protein intake.

I'll be posting recipes all this week, so check back!