Blood Pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure your body puts upon the blood vessel walls while the heart pumps. About 60 million Americans above the age of 6 years old have high blood pressure which means their hearts are required to work harder. High blood pressure increases the risk of strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, loss of vision, and atherosceloris (hardening of the arteries of the heart).

You can prevent high blood pressure by maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, eating a balanced diet, reducing your salt intake, and by reducing stress.

Fueling Endurance Events

Endurance events are activities that are longer than 90 minutes such as a marathon or triathlon. Individuals train for months preparing for these events, however, often times they forget a very important element, the “fuel”. Due to the nature of endurance events, individuals must focus on fueling before exercise, during exercise, and after exercise. Examples of healthy “fuel” options are listed below.

Before Exercise:

• Oatmeal with milk, fruit, & nuts
• Turkey sandwich with fruit
• Cottage cheese with crackers and fruit
• Toast and peanut butter

During Exercise:

• Energy gel, beans, or drinks
• Honey
• Bananas
• Oranges
  

After Exercise:

• Chocolate milk
• High-density nutrition bar
• Smoothie with yogurt and fruit

Kale

Kale is a leafy green vegetable in the broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage family. Kale is a nutrient-rich vegetable with anti-cancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The nutrients found in kale include:

• Beta-carotene
• Vitamin K
• Vitamin C
• Lutein
• Zeaxanthin
• Calcium
• 45 Flavonoids
• Omega-3 fatty acids

This week try adding this healthy vegetable to your diet. You may steam, microwave, or sauté kale. However, boiling it causes it to lose some of the nutrients.

Water vs Sports Drinks

For most individuals, exercising at a moderate intensity hydrating with water is sufficient to meet the body’s needs. During intense or prolonged workouts, the body not only becomes dehydrated but the energy stores are also depleted. Sport drinks provide the body with fluid, carbohydrates, and electrolytes to help restore the needs of the body. To determine if you need to hydrate with water or a sport drink ask yourself these questions:

• Did I participate in an intense, vigorous workout?
• Did I participate in prolonged physical activity lasting more than 60 minutes?

If you answered, “yes” to either of these questions you may want to consider a sports drink to help aid recovery.

Strong Bones

Many people believe that in order to have strong, healthy bones they only need to ensure they are getting enough calcium. However, healthy bones require more than calcium. Exercise and vitamin D also influence the health of your bones. The best form of exercise for bone health is weight-bearing activities such as: running, basketball, tae kwon do, figure skating, and weight lifting.

It was once believed that individuals do not need to worry about vitamin D because our skin naturally produces it after sun exposure. However, current research does not agree with this reasoning. The Institute of Medicine published a report, in December 2010, increasing the recommendations of vitamin D to 600 IU per day for children and adults and for individuals older than 71years to 800 IU per day.