Tuesday, March 29, 2011

THE TONGUE


The talented tongue. Though not as long (at least in my experience) as some other dogs' tongues, it can get onto trouble nonetheless. It tends to lick me more often when I've got vitamin E lotion slathered on my skin -- I don't know if that is good for Terri. Must look it up.

Monday, March 28, 2011

ENJOY A DIET ?

I don't like to take advice without good reasoning behind it. This is a fault when it comes to the good but vague advice to eat more fruits and vegetables each day. I always knew I should do it but the wording was too vague and therefore not motivating enough. The past few years I've been giving in too easily to my sugar addiction.

Now I am finally using the DASH diet and I find to my great surprise and delight that I actually like it. Amazing! I'm no longer a cookie monster :-) I've only been on this diet for 10 days but the fact that I'm not climbing the walls, desperate for sugar/candies/cookies/etc. is great news.

Fruits (fresh, canned or dried) and vegetables contain vitamins, fibre, protein: see http://www.healthalternatives2000.com/fruit-nutrition-chart.html for details.


Here are the food items I'm currently enjoying daily:
prunes
1% milk (calcium)
nectarine
vegetable juice (but high salt so limited amount)
apple (neurotransmitter acetylcholine)
red pepper
mandarine oranges
cheese (calcium)
currants
walnut pieces (omega-3, DHA/EPA)
coleslaw of carrot, brocolli, cabbage (fibre, vitamins, minerals)
tomatoes (antioxidents)
ground flax (omega-3, DHA/EPA)
whole wheat/flax/sunflower bread (fibre)
salmon (omega-3, DHA/EPA)
garlic powder instead of salt for flavouring

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

HEALTH TIPS #2

High Blood Pressure - What You Need to Know, 1999 (from Johns Hopkins Health) provides some very useful information about blood pressure and cholesterol.
FACTS
Cholesterol comes from (1) our liver (2) foods. The more saturated fats you eat, the more cholesterol the liver produces.
Fruits and vegetables have no cholesterol
In this table, F = fibre, lowers cholesterol ... P = potassium rich

apple F   banana   P
blueberry     date   P
fig F   grape    
nectarine     orange   P
peach F P pear F  
pineapple     prune F P
raisin   P raspberry F  
asparagus   P brocolli   P
bean, green   P bean, kidney   P
bean, lima F   carrot   P
corn     lettuce    
pepper     potato   P
spinach     squash    
sweet potato   P tomato   P
mackerel     salmon    
oatmeal F   spaghetti F  

Cholesterol -- compare amounts in various foods (milligrams per serving):
[ -- not mentioned in book]

bagel 0     butter 2 tsp 21
bran muffin 40     egg 211
cheddar cheese 1 oz 30     milk skim 8 oz 4
cream 1 oz 30     milk whole 8 oz 35
chicken dark 3 oz --     turkey dark 3 oz 72
chicken light 3 oz 73     turkey light 3 oz 39
round steak (lower in fat than other beef) 3 oz 68     pork loin (lower in fat than other pork) 3 oz --

Look for calcium in low fat cheese, sardines and yogurt.
Caffeine raises blood pressure temporarily.
Caffeine, milligrams per serving:
Coffee 6 oz ... 100
Cocoa 6 oz ... 5
Dark chocolate 1 oz ... 25
Cola 12 oz ... 50
Tea 6 oz ... 40

Friday, March 18, 2011

HEALTH TIPS #1

The local library, like the Internet, is a treasure trove of information as well as repository of delightful fiction. While browsing the other day, I came across shelves of health books. I picked up one about blood pressure and one about Alzheimer's. It turns out that many tips were the same for reducing blood pressure and avoiding/delaying Alzheimer's. The following are just 10 of the ideas suggested by Jean Carper in 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's.

  • Do aerobic exercise for 30 minutes for 5 times /week or an hour a day for 3 days /week [1] [2]
  • Reduce saturated animal fats and trans fats in your diet [3]
  • Replace bad fats with good types: omega-3 fish oil, virgin olive oil, canola oil, low-fat or fat-free dairy products [4]
  • Use DASH diet - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension [5] [6]
  • Eat berries: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or cranberries (1 cup/day) [7]
  • Eat apples, drink apple juice every day [8]
  • Take a multivitamin/day but try to avoid copper and iron [9]
  • Cocoa or dark chocolate is okay! [10]
  • Do new types of things [11]
  • Reduce the brain toxin proteins called beta-amyloid and tau [12]
[1] Exercise raises levels of protein BDNF (brain-derived neurotropic factor) in the hippocampus. BDNF prevents or reverses cell degeneration.
[2] Exercise also reduces cortisol levels (depression and stress increase cortisol levels) and fights diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, clogged blood vessels, insulin resistance.
[3] The more saturated fats you consume, the more likely you are to have a stroke and the more likely you are to develop brain and memory dysfunction.
[4] Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats, most notably oleic acid. Virgin and extra virgin olive oil refers to the amount of processing the oil goes through; the less processing, the better since these oils have more monounsaturated fatty acids than the more processd oils.
[5] Clinical trials showed that this diet lowers blood pressure AND reduces cognitive decline.
[6] DASH: 7-8 servings of grains, 4-5 of fruits, 4-5 of vegetables, 2-3 of low fat dairy, 2 or fewer of meat {plus 5 servings of nuts, legumes or seeds/week).
[7] Eat other antioxident foods too: golden raisins, artichokes, prunes, currants, plums, dates, cherries, raw figs, red cabbages, tomatoes, etc.
[8] Apples stimulate production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine which is essential for learning and forming memories.
[9] Look for vitamins that provide antioxidants such as C, E and alpha lipoic acid. Also get B12, folic acid, and B6 every day. Beware -- increased copper is related to lowered cognitive ability. People with excess iron are prone to atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration.
[10] This is my favourite finding - cocoa has antioxidents called flavanols which can reduce blood pressure. Check the percentage of cocoa solids to get an idea of the flavanol content of chocolate milk powder and dark chocolate.
[11] Do things that are a bit difficult. If you are already great at scrabble, try a different game or acivity that requires abilities you haven't used often. Novelty stimulates dendritic growth in nerve cells.
[12] Brains produce beta-amyloid and tau and they can accumulate too much. They directly affect the brain's structure and cause neurons to die. Get enough sleep, control blood sugar, lose weight. DHA fish oil, cinnamon, berries, currants, plums, and grapes can reduce beta-amyloid in animal brains.

For me, the hard part comes next: putting this knowledge into action! Exercise, stop eating fast foods, and eat good things.

Sources:
Jean Carper, 100 Simple Things You can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's, 2010
Johns Hopkins Health, High Blood Pressure - What You Need to Know, 1999

Thursday, March 17, 2011

FLYING GEESE


Canada geese have arrived! I love the noisy honking of geese as they fly overhead and land in nearby fields. They fly over my home on their migrations north in the spring and south in the fall. I thought they were early this year but I see that I had marked "geese" on last year's calendar on March 16th. They have a long distance to travel so they need to stop for feeding. Geese eat grasses, seeds, clover and leftovers from crops of wheat, rye, corn, barley, and oats. Most of the fields around here grow corn or hay. I wonder if the geese can find any corn left in the farmer's field behind my house? It was plowed after the corn was harvested last year.

Luckily for the geese that fly over eastern Ontario, they can stop at the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Morrisburg along the St. Lawrence River. The bottom photo was taken at the sanctuary in 2003. I always enjoy visiting the parks along that section of the river.

Sometimes Terri and I camp at the St. Lawrence Parks, especially during dog shows.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

TEKTITES

Often when you learn something new, it pops up in unexpected places.

Yesterday I learned a new term, tektite, from Gravity by Tess Gerritsen*. Today on Facebook, I saw a photo of a dog named Tektite. Tektites are small glass rocks likely formed by the impact of large meteorites. Details and photos at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tektite

* The book is a fictional account of a dangerous substance from the deep ocean that is moved to the International Space Station as part of a standard experimental payload. A combination of accidents and mistakes happen and things start to go terribly wrong.

New snow today for Terri to play in: