Tag: health

Cold Water Therapy

Today’s topic is Cold Water Therapy.

A friend of mine commented that after reading my post on the Brain – Body connection and Set Point theory, he had started using ‘Cold Water Therapy’ to reset his metabolism.

I had not heard of Cold Water Therapy being used in this way. So it was time for some Internet research.

I was amazed at what I learned.

Hydrotherapy (the use of water for treatment) has been around for thousands of years. It is one of the most basic forms of treatment used in natural medicine. It has many names – such as water therapy, aquatic therapy, pool therapy, and balneotherapy.

According to a research article published on the US National Library of Medicine site, the use of water in various forms and temperatures can produce different effects on different system of the body. Cold water immersion induces significant physiological and biochemical changes in the body such as increase in heart rate, blood pressure and metabolism.

Here are the most researched benefits for cold-water therapy.

Cold water for sore muscles

Researchers did find that cold-water baths were better than resting or doing nothing, reducing muscle soreness by about 20%. This is because the cold water lowers the damaged tissue’s temperature and constricts the blood vessels. This helps reduce the swelling and inflammation, and even numbs the nerve endings to bring immediate relief to any pain.

Improved Immune system

Cold-water immersion causes your lymph vessels to contract, forcing your lymphatic system to pump lymph fluids throughout your body, flushing the waste out of the area.

This then triggers the immune system’s white blood cells to attack and destroy any unwanted substance in the fluid. In a way, it’s sort of a domino effect — the cold water affects the lymphatic system, which in turn affects the immune system, which ultimately keeps you healthy.

Improvement in Circulation

Exercise and diet are two well-know ways to improve cardiovascular circulation. However, cold-water immersion can also stimulate blood flow. When you immerse your body in cold water, the blood rushes to surround your vital organs. Your heart then is forced to pump more efficiently, pushing blood through all your vessels and supplying every part of your body with the oxygen and nutrients it needs. Do this on a routine basis and you can help promote healthy blood circulation, and, ultimately, a healthy body.

A way to feel happy

A 2007 research study found that cold showers can help treat depression symptoms, and if used on a routine basis, may be more beneficial than prescription medications. The reason for this is that cold-water triggers more mood-boosting neurotransmitters in the brain, which make you feel happy.

And finally, Cold-water therapy can boost the body’s metabolism.

Cold showers and other types of cold-water or ice therapy may also help boost your fat-burning abilities.

According to a 2009 study, cold water can promote healthy brown fat. Brown fat is the good fat our bodies generate to keep us warm and is activated when exposed to extreme cold, and helps eliminate the white fat. White fat is the body fat that piles up around our waistlines and thighs when we consume too many calories.

Sources : www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov  & www.tonyrobbins.com

Always use common sense when engaging in cold-water immersion. Listen to your body and work up to the more advanced ice therapy techniques gradually.

Of course, cold-water immersion should not be considered a substitute for diet and exercise, though it would make an excellent addition to our daily routine.

Till the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper

Food Misconceptions – Fruit or Vegetable?

Today I thought I would write about some of the more common food misconceptions. By this I mean incorrect references to some foods, particularly in regards to whether something is a fruit or vegetable. I was talking with some colleagues about this this week and I thought it would be interesting to research and share.

First – Peanuts

Many people regards peanuts as nuts, however they are not. As per Wikipedia – ‘The peanut, also known as the groundnut and the goober and taxonomically classified as Arachis hypogaea, is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds.’ ‘The botanical definition of a “nut” is a fruit whose ovary wall becomes very hard at maturity. Using this criterion, the peanut is not a true nut, but rather a legume. However, for culinary purposes and in common English language usage, peanuts are usually referred to as nuts.’ I’ve often wondered if that is the reason I don’t like them. I like all the other nuts!

Next – fruits and vegetables

Vegetable According to Dictionary.com a vegetable is any plant whose fruit, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs, stems, leaves, or flower parts are used as food, Fruit Dictionary.com states that fruit is the developed ovary of a seed plant with its contents and accessory parts. Including the edible part of a plant developed from a flower, with any accessory tissues, Using this more specific definition all fruits are considered vegetables but not all vegetables are fruit. Olives, plums, tomatoes, artichokes and cucumbers are fruit. Lettuce, potatoes, celery and beets are not reproductive parts of the plant developed from flowers so are considered vegetables. So with that in mind, a tomato is not a vegetable. Neither is corn, zucchini, pumpkin, green beans and peas. Interestingly, berries are fruits that come from a single plant ovary with multiple seeds. With this in mind, scientifically bananas, grapes and capsicum are actually berries.
More berry facts
Raspberries, blackberries and mulberries are called ‘Aggregate fruits’ because they are actually a bunch of tiny little fruits grown together. Strawberries are also a different kind of fruit called a ‘fleshy receptacle’. This is because the actual fruits are the tiny little seeds stuck to the outside of the strawberry. Wow, who would have thought that there were so many fruits and vegetables that we refer to incorrectly. I will be looking at my fruit and veges in a whole new light now. Till the next post, Live Clean n Prosper.

What is the Glycemic Index?

Hi, today I’m going to talk about the ‘Glycemic Index’ and food.

Every food we eat affects our body differently, and not just in terms of health. The way it is processed by the body affects our energy and blood sugar levels.

Scott is studying Nutrition this semester and has been learning all about the ‘Glycemic Index’. He shared some facts that I found very interesting and I decided to share them with you.

First of all, what is the ‘Glycemic Index’?

Wikipedia states –‘The glycemic index (GI) is a number associated with the carbohydrates in a particular type of food that indicates the effect of these carbohydrates on a person’s blood glucose (also called blood sugar) level.’….’ The GI represents the rise in a person’s blood sugar level two hours after consumption of the food.’

In basic terms – foods that are difficult for the body to digest are considered Lower GI foods usually with a value (55 or less). These foods cause a lower and slower rise in blood glucose and, therefore, insulin levels.

What about ‘Glycemic Load’?

Another method of measuring the effect of food on the body’s glucose is considering its ‘Glycemic Load’ (GL).

GI does not consider the portion of food, but glycemic load (GL) does.

Basically, if a food is ranked high on the glycemic index it has readily available carbohydrate for quick absorption. However, the same food can have a low glycemic load because there may not actually be much total carbohydrate in a given serving of that food. A low GL is the better indicator that a food won’t have much impact on blood glucose levels.

The difference

Here are two examples: Watermelon has a high GI of 72, yet a low GL of 7.21. The high GI is based on 5 cups of watermelon, not an actual serving size of 1 cup. The low GL means one serving of watermelon doesn’t contain much carbohydrate, because it is actually mostly water. The low GL indicates that a serving of watermelon won’t have much impact on your blood sugar.

Carrots are another example of a low GL food that many people think will raise their blood sugar a lot — but it’s not true. That’s because carrots have a high GI of 71. However, what most people don’t know is that the GL for carrots is only 6. 

Therefore, unless you’re going to eat half a kg of carrots in one sitting, an average serving of carrots will have very little impact on blood glucose levels. That said, juicing carrots — which means consuming more carrots at once — will have a greater impact on blood glucose.

With this in mind, here is an interesting fact that Scott has shared in regards to potatoes.

Potatoes are generally regarded as having a high GI rating, because they are a simple starch food, which is quickly converted into sugar. However it is possible to alter this.

By cooking potatoes, then cooling and again reheating them, the starches become ‘resistant’. This means that they now resist digestion and so in this way are considered a low GI food.

 

I hope this information has helped you to have a better understanding of these terms that are so often used to describe the food we eat.

Until the next post,

Live Clean n Prosper