Usually you can ignore the snack drawer. At a certain point in the day, though, those little treats start creeping into your mind. An hour later, the snacks summon you, pulling you closer like a tractor beam. When that happens, your best hope to avoid dietary disaster is learning smarter snacking concepts. That includes planning, learning how to snack smarter, and understanding what makes a snack healthy.
When you add up each of the eight key concepts below, you’ll have a base of practical knowledge about how to snack smarter. Follow along and you’ll start turning to healthy snacks in no time.
Smarter Snacking Has a Purpose
Purposeful action yields better results than an improvisational approach. Smarter snacking is no different. You don’t have to bounce from craving to craving.
Instead, learning how to snack smarter starts with your purpose for eating between meals. Consider your daily schedule to ascertain physical- and mental-energy needs. Is a snack required to prepare for a workout or recover after? Answering these kinds of questions lends purpose and direction to help you achieve smarter snacking.
Understand Your Snack Sensations
Part of identifying the purpose of snacking is examining your hunger. What’s making you want to eat? Are you hungry or is something else driving your urge—thirst, boredom, or an emotional response?
Thirst can easily be mistaken for the sensation of hunger. A glass of water may be all you need. If your craving is led by emotion or boredom, try an activity—walk, ride a bike, or do a home workout. After all that, if your body really needs calories or nutrition, focus on finding a healthy snack with skills you’ll learn below.
Think of Snacking as a Chance to Add More Nutrients
Once you grasp the purpose and understand your urge to eat, it’s time to think about what to snack on. The best advice starts not with a list of acceptable foods, but with a mentality to take into your smarter snacking.
Here it is: snacking is a nutritional opportunity, not just about satisfying a craving.
That means seeing your snack as a way take in more essential and beneficial nutrients. Use your snack to add fiber, plant-based fat, protein, specific micronutrients, prebiotics, probiotics, or water-rich foods to your daily diet. Start reframing snacking from chasing comforting flavors to gaining a nutritional leg-up.
How to Snack Smarter? Stay as Close to Whole Foods as Possible
Whole foods—especially fruits and vegetables—are key components of a healthy diet. Those same whole foods are also the bedrock of smarter snacking.
What makes a snack healthy can be as simple as its closeness to whole foods. An apple and some almonds? Those whole foods are absolutely healthy snacks. Spreading almond butter on apple slices instead is still good because you’ve stayed close to the original foods.
Seeing how far your snack has shifted from its whole-food origins can help you easily identify the healthy snacks to target.
Minimize Overly Processed Foods, Sugar, and Sodium
Stick close to whole foods helps avoid a lot of the pitfalls of overly processed snacks. But foods that are heavily processed often contain more fat, sugar, and sodium than you need—even though they’re convenient. And the calories these options pack also comes without much in the way of fiber or essential nutrients.
If whole foods aren’t available or easy to snack on—because ease is key when a snack attack happens—you can opt for minimally processed foods. Good options exist. You’ll recognize them by their simple ingredients and minimal sugar, low sodium, and no trans fats in the nutrition facts.
Fiber is the Friend of Smart Snackers
A simple and accurate answer to “what makes a snack healthy” could be one word—fiber. Whole fruits, vegetables, and grains have plenty of these key complex carbohydrates. And that fiber does so much for your body:
Helps support satiety (feeling full for longer)
Optimizes healthy digestion
Acts as a prebiotic to support a healthy gut microbiome
Plays a role in helping maintain heart health
There’s a lot more fiber benefits. But you already have an idea about the importance of including complex carb as part of your smarter snacking approach.
Keep Snacks in the Context of Your Daily Diet
Your body doesn’t recognize snacks as separate from your regular meals. Food is food. Snacks are digested and shipped to the body just like breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Since there isn’t a special category for snack calories, you need to make sure they fit in your targeted calorie count for the day. Also pay attention to the amounts of macronutrients—fat, protein, and carbs—in your snacks.
Putting your snacks into your daily calorie and macronutrient counts keeps them in the right context—an important step when learning how to snack smarter.
Plan for Smarter Snacking Success by Budgeting
You know how many calories you need for your weight-management and lifestyle goals. (If you don’t there are resources to help.) And you already know you don’t want snacking to burst your caloric bubble.
That’s where you snack budget comes in. The concept piggybacks off of the advice above to put your snacks in the context of your full daily diet. It can help you plan out snacks before you hit the point where you’re ready to eat anything within reach. Proper planning—that’s easy to execute—will set you up for healthy, helpful snacking.
If you paid attention to the previous concepts, you won’t be surprised by the considerations for building a snack budget. Here’s what you should ask:
How many calories are available to allocate to snacks throughout the day?
What’s the amount of fiber, fat, and protein in the snacks compared to daily requirements or goals?
How many times a day do feel like a purposeful, healthy snack could be useful?
When is the best time to snack to optimize their impact?
With these answers, you’ll know your needs and you can start picking foods that fit into your daily budget. Making snacks part of your meal planning helps you scheme out your snacks for a week at a time, if you want.
Knowing How to Snack Smarter is Only Half the Battle
Turning what you’ve learned from these smarter snacking concepts into action is the next step. Fair warning: it can be a battle against your habits and cravings.
But you have the power to shift a potentially unhealthy habit into a powerful propellant toward your wellness goals. Start by understanding your needs, planning out your snacks, and identifying healthy options to reach for when cravings hit.
The last thing to remember is that—like developing any healthy habit—smarter snacking is a process. Don’t beat yourself up if a potato chip or two sneaks in now and then. Value the progress you make and you’ll learn to love eating healthy snacks.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AdobeStock_198861203.jpeg16322449David BakerDavid Baker2021-03-23 12:30:412022-07-03 21:05:278 Keys to Unlocking Smarter Snacking
Each glass of water fills up your tank—lifting you closer to levels of healthy hydration. You knew that, though. And you’re likely familiar with the benefits of proper hydration. That’s why you’re counting ounces, glasses, or bottlefuls. The connections between hydration and health run deeper than you may have previously even thought, though.
There are many well-known hydration benefits, including:
Maintaining healthy fluid and key electrolyte balance
Supporting healthy temperature regulation (through water’s role in sweating)
Helping maintain the health of your blood supply
That’s an impressive list of important, wide-ranging benefits of proper hydration. But that’s only the beginning of what healthy hydration can mean for your overall wellness. Pour a tall glass of water, and dive into the exciting—and sometimes surprising—connections between hydration and health.
Healthy Hydration Levels Help Optimize Weight-Management Efforts
Water is heavy. And it makes up a significant portion of your body weight. That’s why boxers sweat off pounds before weighing in.
While you might not want to drink a liter of water before jumping on the scale, maintaining proper hydration is good for your long-term weight-management goals. Study after study strengthens the case for many weight-related benefits of proper hydration. And it can make an impact on the number you see on the scale in a few ways.
The first is satiety. Water makes you feel full. Researchers have found drinking water before meals—30 minutes prior seems to be the best timing—helps you eat fewer calories. And consuming fewer calories drives progress toward weight-management goals.
Second, thirst is often mistaken for hunger. This error can lead people to snack when they are really just thirsty. Staying properly hydrated—drinking water before you’re thirsty—will help you avoid a calorie-intensive mistake.
Drinking enough water may help support the maintenance of a healthy metabolic rate, too. Studies show ties between water intake and calorie burning. Part of this has been attributed to the thermogenic effort needed to heat water to match the temperature of the body. Other studies have also established connections between hydration levels and maintaining proper metabolism of stored fat.
Lastly, water is a zero-calorie beverages choice. Shunning sugary juice or soda when you’re thirsty is weight management 101. That’s because it’s effective to opt for zero-calorie water to help reduce energy intake, which adds up in your favor throughout the day.
Understanding the Fluid Dynamics of Hydration and Mood
You know food and mood go hand in hand. Think of the last time you skipped a meal and started feeling hangry (being angry because of hunger).
The mood-crushing implications of thirst don’t have a buzzword. That doesn’t make them any less real. Improper hydration—even to a mild degree—can ravage a perfectly fine afternoon with down moods, feeling anxious, irritability, and frayed nerves.
Like much of mood, your body’s messengers (neurotransmitters and hormones) are partly responsible. Neurotransmitters require water for maintaining proper function and balance. Dopamine and serotonin are the two brain chemicals that seem most impacted by improper hydration.
Don’t forget about the hormones, though. A study found the body’s stress hormone, cortisol, is released when you aren’t properly hydrated. And having extra cortisol hanging around isn’t ideal for everything from weight management to memory.
Next time, when you start feeling the creep of a bad mood coming on, downing a glass of water may help wash it away.
The Benefits of Proper Hydration Also Encompass Normal Cognition and Concentration
Your brain is a vociferous consumer of calories. It also has quite a thirst for maintaining healthy hydration.
The need for water goes beyond basic brain-health maintenance. Drinking enough liquid can support your ability to complete tasks because it may help maintain healthy cognition and concentration.
Studies linked even mild dehydration—defined as a drop of about two percent in body weight, which can occur from completing everyday tasks—to several impacts. When healthy hydration isn’t maintained, focus and working memory can be affected. A more severe or prolonged water deficiency may become detrimental to reasoning and thinking.
Your brain doesn’t make you aware of your thirst just because it craves refreshment. It wants water for support—to help successfully accomplish the massive mental tasks you face daily.
Hydration and Energy: Drink Up to Support Physical Stamina and Exercise Performance
Staying hydrated helps your brain maintain its energy and focus to conquer your mental to-do list. Your body is also able to clear physical hurdles with the help of sustained healthy hydration.
You probably already associate water with physical exertion. It’s a glass of ice water after strenuous yard work or the water bottle you tote from machine to machine at the gym.
Staying hydrated during physical activity is important. But striving for optimal hydration throughout the day also provides big benefits. Healthy hydration can help maintain your energy levels and aid in the fight against lethargy. Sufficient fluid intake and eating enough water-rich foods supports your ability to have the physical stamina to thrive.
Muscles move your body. And your muscles are overwhelmingly water—about 80 percent. Researchers have found that water moving in and out of muscle cells plays a key role in muscle contraction. So, keeping yourself optimally hydrated supports healthy muscle function and performance.
The explanations connecting hydration and energy go all the way to the cellular level.
Cells in your muscles—and throughout your body—need water to maintain health, structure, and optimal energy production. Healthy hydration sets up all your cells up for success by helping support the conversion of food into cellular energy (ATP). This fuel helps you crank through your busy days and have enough in the tank for exercise.
And your performance during those workouts is also tied to staying properly hydrated. Exercising requires a whole lot of muscle contractions. So water’s essential role in the mechanisms of this key muscular process make hydration and exercise inextricably linked.
Muscles are only part of the exercise puzzle, though. Movements during your routine also rely on many of your joints. And optimal hydration helps support joint health. Your joints are cushioned by fluid after all.
The problem with hydration and exercise is sweat, which is primarily made from water and salt. When working out, you can lose up to 10 percent of your body’s water weight through your skin. That’s why sports medicine organizations suggest drinking two glasses of water (about a half liter) before your workout and continuing to hydrate early and frequently throughout. This will help you maintain your energy level, support muscle activity, and optimize exercise performance.
Put the Benefits of Proper Hydration to Work for Your Health
Talking about food eats up a lot of energy in the health-and-wellness world. Diet is crucial for health, but it’s time to spare some headspace for healthy hydration.
The list of well-known benefits was long enough before tacking on weight, mood, cognition, and energy. But it’s undeniably impressive what simply downing enough fluids each day can do to help support your overall health. And it’s a much less complicated task than adhering to a diet.
No counting carbs or calories. No weighing portions. No avoiding this food one week and something else the next. Healthy hydration’s benefits can be felt by simply drinking water (plain is preferred) throughout the day.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AdobeStock_210055930.jpeg16322449David BakerDavid Baker2021-03-09 14:40:472022-07-03 21:08:21Experience the Surprising Benefits of Proper Hydration
Metabolism is often tied to weight. But there’s much more to it than how easily the numbers on the scale change. You’ve probably heard someone blame weight gain or feeling sluggish on having a “slow” metabolism—you’ll learn later that it’s not completely out of your control. But this is a common misunderstanding of the concept of metabolism.
The meaning of the word “metabolism” is very simple, yet few people seem to understand what it is and what it does. Metabolism is the set of chemical processes that take place in living organisms to sustain life.
On a microscopic scale, the reactions and processes that maintain cellular health are referred to as cellular metabolism. These reactions are catalyzed by enzymes and organisms big and small rely on them for growth, reproduction, structural maintenance, and responses to their environment. In the broadest sense, metabolism is what gives organisms life. Without it, there is none.
Your metabolism has three main functions:
Converting food to energy
Converting food to building blocks for proteins, lipids, nucleic acids and certain carbohydrates
Eliminating waste products
So the health of your metabolism ultimately depends on your diet and nutrition. You must eat and drink to provide the energy (calories) and metabolic building blocks (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fats) needed to fuel your actions, sustain your structure and integrity, and eliminate toxic wastes and cellular debris.
Without calories, there is no fuel. Without adequate nutrients, there are no building blocks to support structural integrity and mechanical function. And without proper elimination, toxic wastes and cellular garbage accumulate. Inefficient function in any of these areas will result in poor health.
Building Up or Breaking Down—It’s All About the Metabolism
All metabolic reactions are either anabolic or catabolic. Let’s define these different types of metabolism:
Anabolism (building up) supports new cell growth and production, storage of energy, and maintenance of body tissues.
Catabolism (breaking down) is the disassembling of fat, protein, and carbohydrates to release energy, keep you warm, and allow your muscles to contract.
In general, catabolism is the group of processes that break down large molecules into smaller ones for the purpose of providing energy and building blocks to construct new molecules.
Catabolism happens in stages, from general to very specific. First, large organic molecules (macronutrients) are digested from food into smaller compounds. Specific enzymes breakdown proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into much smaller and simpler chemicals.
Proteins yield amino acids.
Large carbohydrates (such as polysaccharides) are broken down to mono- and disaccharides (simple sugars).
Fats are split up into small fatty acids and monoglycerides.
These processes of digestion occur outside the cells. Then the smaller and more basic molecules are absorbed by the cells and converted into even smaller molecules like acetyl-CoA, which promote the release of energy.
Additional catabolic processes result in molecules that feed the citric acid cycle, electron transport chain, and oxidative phosphorylation (ATP). These chemical reactions release available and stored energy to support activity and build and support tissues.
The following is a very simplified overview of the catabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
The Build Up: Anabolic Metabolism Basics Explained
The opposite of catabolism is anabolism. Anabolic metabolism uses the energy released from catabolism to build and synthesize complex compounds.
Simple molecules and breakdown products of catabolism—like amino acids, monosaccharides, and nucleic acids—are used as precursors to build increasingly more complex molecules. These include polysaccharides (starch), amino acids and proteins, and fatty acids.
Anabolic carbohydrate metabolism starts with the conversion of basic organic compounds—pyruvate, lactate, and amino acids—into glucose. This sugar molecule can then be used for direct cellular energy and to assemble polysaccharides (starch and
glycogen). Glycogen is a storage form of glucose that can be accessed and broken down easily when the body needs energy quickly. When blood glucose levels drop, the body taps into its reserve of glycogen in the liver and muscles to provide energy for cellular function and activity.
Amino acids are used as building blocks to construct proteins and muscle tissue. In anabolism, individual amino acids are connected by peptide bonds, and their unique sequences result in specific protein structures. These various proteins include enzymes, hormones, and compounds your body uses for cellular transport, digestion, defense, and overall structure.
Long chain fats and fatty acids are built from acetyl-CoA and NADPH through the actions of enzymes called fatty acid synthases. Most of the acetyl-CoA that is converted to fatty acids in anabolic metabolism is derived from catabolized carbohydrates.
Catabolism and anabolism work in concert to maintain balance within the body. Under normal circumstances and health, the body attempts to maintain homeostasis. If there is enough imbalance in either direction, the body will change and adapt—at least up to a certain point. If there is a deficit of fuel and nutrients the body will stay in a state of catabolism. That’s because anabolism requires energy, while catabolism releases it.
The Role of Minerals and Vitamins in Metabolism
Vitamins and minerals do not provide direct energy, but they do play vital roles in metabolism. Several B vitamins are required as co-enzymes involved in the breakdown and buildup of macromolecules you read about above.
Several minerals—magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium, copper, and iodine especially—are essential parts of many enzymes in the body involved with metabolism. Minerals are also required for the building of new muscle and bone, which helps support normal body growth.
What is Metabolic Rate?
Metabolic rate is a way of explaining how much energy your body needs to fulfill all of its needs in providing for maintenance of body structure, energy use and storage, and cellular processes. Simply put, it’s the rate at which your body uses energy or burns calories.
When people refer to their metabolism being slow—typically as a cause of weight gain—they are referring to metabolic rate. Now that you have a very general idea of the meaning of metabolism, you can further explore metabolic rate and how they connect.
Basal Metabolic Rate
There are several pieces to the metabolic-rate puzzle. The first and largest fraction of your metabolic rate is known as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
The BMR measures the total calories you need to perform the body’s most basic functions, like respiration, circulation, brain activity, and cellular activities. In other words, it’s the calories you require to maintain your body if you were sleeping all day.
Measuring your BMR accurately is done under restrictive conditions and requires specific lab equipment and procedures. However, there are mathematic formulas you can use to get a reasonably accurate idea of your BMR. In general, your body size and muscle content have the most influence on your basal energy requirements.
You may also see metabolic rate described as Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Because BMR and RMR are essentially the same, those terms are often used interchangeably.
Use This Equation to Calculate Your BMR
The Harris-Benedict equation is the most common way to estimate your basal metabolic rate. There are other formulas you can use, or, better yet, calculators that do it for you (see references).
Harris-Benedict Equation:
For men: BMR = 88.362 + (13.397 x weight in kg) + (4.799 x height in cm) – (5.677 x age in years)
For women: BMR = 447.593 + (9.247 x weight in kg) + (3.098 x height in cm) – (4.330 x age in years)
Adding an Activity Factor
For most people, the next largest portion of their energy requirement and metabolic needs is activity level. The principle is simple—the more active you are, and the more intense your activity, the more energy you require.
Measuring exactly how many calories you burn during any given activity is difficult, if not impossible, under real world conditions. There are various tables available to help estimate the energy (in calories) you expend doing different activities.
Body weight is factored in this estimate because it takes a lot more energy for a 200-pound (91 kilogram) person to run a mile than for a 120-pound (54 kilogram) person. In most people, physical activities account for about 15-30 percent of total daily energy requirements.
Estimate your activity level factor by choosing a category that most fits your current lifestyle:
Sedentary (desk job, mostly sitting, little to no exercise or extra activity): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.2
Lightly active (sedentary job, activity like chores and walking 1-3 days/week): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.375
Moderately active (moving around and active during the day, moderate workouts 3-5 days/week): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.55
Very active (active during the day, sports or vigorous exercise on most days): Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.725
If you are extra active (heavy and demanding physical work, intense workouts 6-7 days/week) : Calorie Calculation = BMR x 1.9
Adding activity level to your BMR gives you a value known as Active Metabolic Rate (AMR). You can calculate your AMR by multiplying your BMR and by your current level of activity from above.
Your AMR represents the number of calories you need to consume each day to stay at your current weight. If your goal is to lose weight, you would need a calorie deficit. That means you need to increase your physical activity level or decrease your energy intake by consuming fewer calories.
Thermic Effect of Food (TEF)
In addition to your basal and active metabolic rates, there are a couple of other minor factors that can influence your total energy expenditure. One is the level of energy spent during eating and digestion. This is known as the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF).
It takes energy to digest, absorb, break down, and store nutrients.
Protein requires the most energy to digest and metabolize, so it has the highest thermic effect.
Carbohydrates require less energy than protein, and the more complex the carbohydrate, the higher the thermic effect. Starch and fiber have higher energy demands than simple sugars.
The thermic effect of fat is very low. It takes very little energy to digest, absorb, and store fat.
Overall, the TEF can account for as much as 10 percent of calories burned per day. That means eating a healthy protein-rich diet can make a difference over time.
Brown Adipose Tissue
Energy expenditure in adult humans isn’t impacted much by brown adipose tissue (BAT). But it’s worth mentioning since it’s a hot topic of current research.
Most adipose tissue (fat) is white. Each white fat cell contains a single lipid droplet. By contrast, brown fat cells contain numerous smaller droplets. The high number of iron-containing mitochondria and capillaries in the brown fats cells are what give the tissue its brown color. The primary function of BAT is in thermoregulation, or maintenance of core body temperature. This explains the abundance of BAT in newborns and hibernating mammals.
The prevalence of BAT diminishes with age in humans, but it is known to be present in adults with active and healthy metabolisms. Currently there is little evidence to support products or techniques to exploit or activate BAT in adults, but it is possible that this tissue may account for a small percentage of energy expenditure in some individuals.
What You Can Do to Support Your Metabolism
Many products and exercise methods promise to instantly rev-up your metabolism. But it’s not quite as simple as advertised. There are many factors in your control that can positively affect your metabolism, though. And making strides in these areas support your metabolism and help optimize vim and vigor throughout all aspects of your life.
Here some habits and activities you can perform to keep your metabolism performing at its best:
ExerciseRegularly – Remaining sedentary is not good for you or your metabolism. All activity and exercise that increases heart rate increases blood flow. This delivers more oxygen and nutrients to cells where they are needed to support metabolism. With sporadic activity, the effect may only be temporary, but consistent exercise leads to more long-term effects and benefits. Combining endurance or aerobic exercise with resistance exercise and weight training will deliver the greatest benefit. You may have heard it takes a lot more metabolic energy to maintain muscle than fat. That’s true. So maintaining or increasing your muscle mass will help keep your metabolism younger while you age.
Stay Hydrated – If you want to extract the most from your exercise and metabolism, you need to stay hydrated. Some research has shown that lack of good hydration can stall your metabolism, putting the brakes on burning energy and weight loss. Cool, pure water or an appropriate sports drink are typically best.
Commit to Restful Sleep – It may seem obvious, but poor and irregular sleep can make your metabolism sluggish. It can also affect your motivation to exercise and eat right. Your body performs important repair and building functions during sleep, so cutting corners on sleep is likely to lead to poor overall health—in addition to a slower metabolism.
Manage Stress – Stressful situations prompt your body to increase cortisol production. That’s good if you need to handle a short-term crisis. On the other hand, chronic and unmanaged stress leads to consistently high cortisol levels that can be a huge problem. Cortisol impairs insulin sensitivity and that leads to possible weight gain and a lethargic metabolism.
Avoid Starvation Diets – Your metabolism can’t zip along efficiently if it doesn’t have the right fuel and a consistent supply of nutrients. If your calorie (energy) intake is too low for very long, the body will slow down building, repair, digestion, and other high-energy consuming functions of metabolism. This often happens when people undertake excessively rigid or strict diets, and one reason why trying to lose weight too fast can be counterproductive. If your daily energy intake is not enough to maintain normal activities and alertness, that’s a sign you may also be blunting your metabolism.
Eat a Varied, Nutritious Diet – Adequate fuel alone doesn’t do the trick. Quality protein, vitamins, and minerals in the right amounts are needed to build and supply hormones, enzymes, and structures you need to keep your body and metabolism strong. Several B vitamins and minerals, like calcium and iron, are key nutrients for maintaining a healthy metabolism. A plant-based diet is healthy and generally recommended.
But don’t skimp on quality protein or your muscles and your metabolism will suffer for it.
Get Regular Medical Check-Ups – If you’re doing everything else right but aren’t making the progress you should, check with your health-care provider about your medications, hormones, and genetics. Some medications can interfere with metabolism. And, for many reasons, some hormones levels can be off kilter. Hormonal issues related to the thyroid or endocrine system can often be adjusted or treated to put you on the right track. You can’t really alter your genetics, but, in some cases, it can provide information that a qualified professional can use to structure a diet or regimen that works best for you.
Your metabolism is very complex. But the basic principle is simple: It’s the way your cells convert the food and nutrients you eat into the energy and processes you need to move, think, breath, and exist. Under normal conditions, having a healthy metabolism has little to do with luck—and everything to do with following principles of healthy eating, exercise, and beneficial lifestyle habits.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AdobeStock_232083779.jpeg16322449Russ BartonRuss Barton2021-02-19 12:00:162022-07-03 21:18:30Metabolism – It’s What Keeps You Going
There’s little debate that exercise plays a powerful role in a happy, healthy life. Regular physical activity helps to build strong muscles, improve your cardiovascular and metabolic systems, shape your physique, and even extend your health. Physically, most people feel better when they regularly exercise. But it doesn’t stop there. The psychology of exercising and enjoying physical activities that boost mood can be just as beneficial to overall health. It’s time you explored the emotional benefits of exercise.
Move for Your Mental Health
Shaping mental health looks different for everyone. Increasing positive feelings to help elevate your energy, give you confidence, boost your mood, and enhance your ability to cope with life’s daily stressors is a great place to start. Your mental health influences your cognition, behavior, and emotional well-being—how you think, act, and feel—at any moment. A crucial part of overall health is gaining more control over how you experience the ups and downs of everyday life.
The benefits of exercise on mental health are powerful. In fact, research suggests that exercise can be as effective as other remedies in maintaining a healthy mental state. This happens by supporting the growth of nerve cells and optimizing their connections within the brain—not simply because it helps tone your physique and improve your self-confidence. A lifestyle shift to try activities that boost mood and bolster your mental health can be a fun way to reap the rewards of reduced stress and a resilient mindset.
The psychology of exercising gives insight into what motivates you to get up and move and how to fit regular activity into your day. If you’re already a habitual exerciser, you’re probably familiar with one of the most common reasons exercise can be so fun—it just feels good. That’s you experiencing the emotional benefits of exercise. But, what’s behind that euphoric feeling that floods your body after a long run and helps you bounce back after a tough day?
Physical Activity and Brain Chemistry
As an infant, you were loved and adored by parents and family members. Being doted on by your primary caregivers flooded your brain with positive neurotransmitters—a powerful, happy combination of chemicals that helped give you feelings of safety, love, and pleasure through responsive interactions.
As you grow and develop, you carry this same innate need for positive feelings of well-being. And though physical activity may not exactly mimic the soothing feeling of receiving love from a parent, the emotional benefits of exercise produce some of the same combinations of chemicals—poignant tools for living a full and balanced life.
The crucial interplay of communication between your brain and body is a result of neurotransmitters and their essential role as messengers. They create a link to your nervous system tied to your emotions, motivation and drive, pain response, focus, energy levels, and your ability to tap into the positive aspects of the human experience. Common neurotransmitters that play a role in exercise and mood for greater mental health include:
Serotonin is a messenger that impacts your entire body. As an important regulator of mood and cognition, it’s responsible for creating an overall feeling of well-being and happiness. It also reboots your brain while you sleep and affects digestion.
Dopamine is your primary motivation chemical. It helps to promote ambition, drive, and attention. Plus, it assists to regulate important responses like movement and learning, as well as impacts your emotional state. Maintaining basic self-care, including daily exercise, is the most efficient way to ensure optimum dopamine levels.
Norepinephrine is associated with the fight-or-flight response when your body senses danger. It helps you react to stress and exercise by increasing heart rate and plays a role in breaking down fat to provide energy for your body.
Digging Deeper into Exercise’s Feel-Good Factor
If you’ve ever been motivated to hit the gym simply because it feels good—there’s a great explanation why. Hint: it’s not just the flood of endorphins common with this exhilarating feeling. Endocannabinoids (produced naturally in the body) are chemical compounds that are small enough to cross the blood-brain barrier to bind to neural receptors. They are actually responsible for the rush you feel after a great work out.
Aerobic exercise increases the production of several neurotropic factors—growth factors of the nervous tissue. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is among them, playing a central role in protecting existing neurons and stimulating the growth of new ones (a process called neurogenesis). BDNF actually helps you grow new brain cells. The more BDNF you have, the more you support the growth and development of your nervous system.
During exercise, BDNF is produced and works with the endocannabinoid receptors in the body to effectively block pain and create that feeling of bliss commonly known as a runner’s high. The presence of new neurons gives you an increased level of responsiveness to be more in touch with your experience. And the unique protective ability of BDNF makes your existing brain cells more resilient and less affected by stress on the body. Stress from regular exercise causes a chain reaction that feels good, helps make you more resilient to feelings of stress and anxiety, and actually helps you bounce back from the outside stressors of life faster than before.
BDNF also boosts serotonin production. And it’s reciprocal—higher levels of serotonin stimulate BDNF expression—creating a dynamic cycle that ignites feel-good senses from physical activity alone.
The Mental and Emotional Benefits of Exercise
It’s true, exercise helps to stimulate your mood on a chemical level, but the mental and emotional benefits of exercise also transform your day-to-day mindset. Whether you have a set fitness routine, are a seasoned weekend warrior, or want to experience the positive impact of daily exercise, you may recognize these benefits as you increase your physical activity.
Improved self-esteem
Increased energy and stamina
Easier weight management
Improved sleep quality
Pride in accomplishments
Improved body image perception
Enhanced ability to cope with stress
Stronger interpersonal relationships
Increased mental alertness
These practical benefits of exercise can increase your satisfaction, gratitude, and connection—all major mental-health wins.
Go the Distance with Aerobic Activities that Boost Mood
If you haven’t adopted a favorite aerobic activity, it’s a good time to try something new. Any form of exercise helps to overcome feelings of anxiety and increase well-being, but research shows the best activities that boost mood kick your heart rate up a bit. Moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise creates more robust and longer-lasting changes to your neurobiology. That’s right—revving up the treadmill speed can enhance your ability to cope with challenging situations.
Moderate intensity exercise—50-60 percent of your max heart rate (find your max by subtracting your age from 220)
Vigorous intensity exercise—70-85 percent of your max heart rate
Add intensity slowly, if necessary. Carry a backpack on your hikes, set goals to swim a faster lap, take fewer breaks between sets in the gym—anything to increase your heart rate as you become more physically fit. Achieving your personal exercise goals is an unbeatable investment in your well-being.
Keep the Momentum
A healthy habit of regular exercise creates ongoing, mood-boosting effects to build your momentum and tackle your fitness goals. If the first step to fitness seems difficult, try these motivational tips to mentally prepare for your next sweat session.
Action precedes motivation. Don’t wait until you feel like exercising—just do it. Schedule your workouts ahead of time, set out your gear, and don’t think too much, just start moving.
Be mindful of screen time during exercise. Engaging on social media or checking your phone constantly forces you to multitask during your workouts. You may become overwhelmed or distracted and lose your intensity and drive to continue.
Recruit a friend. Working out with a buddy enhances social connection, can push you to strive for greater intensity, and makes you accountable for your goals. Plus, a shared fitness goal is great motivation.
Make your workout fun! Finding the right type of exercise is a must. Try new activates and workouts, and switch up your routine to keep you motivated. The more engaged you are in your workout, the more likely you’ll be to show up day after day.
If you’re looking to improve your overall health and find a natural way to cope with daily stress, find some activities that your boost mood. Positive emotional benefits of exercise await on the other side of an intense bike ride, a long run, a night of dancing, or a competitive tennis match. Make your move toward better mental health today.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AdobeStock_334068019-scaled.jpeg14402560staffstaff2021-02-17 17:00:082022-07-03 21:19:37Find Your Movement, Change Your Mood: The Emotional Benefits of Exercise
A healthy diet and plenty of water are benchmarks for proper nutrition. But how your body removes waste is equally as important as what goes into your system. Your kidneys are responsible for removing waste products from the body—along with other crucial actions. And while much focus is placed on other organ-specific health—like your heart and liver—learning how to take care of your kidneys can be a cornerstone of optimal health.
Your kidneys perform a variety of tasks:
waste removal via urine
balancing your body’s fluid levels
releasing hormones to help maintain normal blood pressure
activate vitamin D into a usable form used to help promote bone health
control the production of red blood cells
Your kidneys regulate so many key functions to maintain your whole-body health. That’s why kidney health is crucial to keep your body operating at peak performance.
Learn more about how kidneys function, the ways vitamin D and kidney health connect, and how to take care of your kidneys—including the fuel they need for optimal health.
How Kidneys Function
Make a fist. That’s approximately the size of your kidney. You’re born with two kidneys located in the back of your abdomen, just under your ribcage on each side of the spine. They are slightly different sizes. Your right kidney is smaller and sits lower to make room for your liver.
To oversimplify how kidneys function, consider this: blood comes into the kidney and is filtered, good blood then returns to the circulatory system by way of the renal vein, and waste is expelled though the ureter into the bladder.
Taking a deeper look starts with a discussion of anatomy. Your kidneys contain millions of functioning units called nephrons. A nephron is the structural and functional unit of the kidney. They filter blood plasma to produce urine, while also reabsorbing water, sodium, and glucose back into the circulatory system.
Each nephron contains a renal corpuscle (the blood filtering component of the kidney) and a renal tubule (a secondary collection system for the filtered blood). Blood first passes into the renal corpuscle and enters a filtration space called the glomerulus. The glomerulus has a special barrier that keeps blood cells, proteins, and larger molecules in the blood, while allowing water, ions, and smaller molecules to exit the blood. This is the first step in creating urine.
At this point, the soon-to-be urine has most of the water and electrolytes that were in the blood. While the blood is lacking in these nutrients. The renal tubule moves most of the water, electrolytes, and other nutrients back into the blood. It leaves behind some water, urea, and other waste products.
This is one reason why staying hydrated is important. Without enough water, the kidneys can struggle to filter everything out and then pull the essential nutrients back into the bloodstream.
After filtering is complete, blood exits the kidney through the renal vein back to the heart. The waste and toxins pulled from the blood stream are sent through the ureter to the bladder for urination.
More Than a Filter
Balance in life is crucial, and your kidneys contribute to the balance in your circulatory system. Kidneys help regulate extracellular fluid volume, important to keep blood flowing to vital organs.
Examples of extracellular fluids are interstitial fluid, blood plasma, and lymph. The kidney also controls osmolarity and ion concentrations, making sure the extracellular fluids don’t become too diluted or concentrated. Osmolarity is key for proper fluid transportation because it’s a mechanism that allows extracellular fluids to pass across one membrane into another.
This ensures consistent levels of key ions (charged atoms or molecules)—including sodium, potassium, and calcium. Your kidneys also help with the regulation of blood plasma pH levels, which prevents your blood from becoming too acidic or basic.
Finally, kidneys produce the hormone erythropoietin (EPO). EPO plays a role in the production of red blood cells. Acting like a shield, EPO protects red blood cells during infancy, and, in turn, stimulates the stem cells in bone marrow to increase the production of additional red blood cells. Because red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body, it is important to maintain a proper level of EPO to maintain healthy production of new red blood cells.
Vitamin D and Kidney Health
Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” because it can be produced in your skin from a response to sunlight. The kidneys play a key role in converting vitamin D into a useful nutrient for the body. People acquire vitamin D from two places: exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet B radiation and from their diet—food and supplements.
The kidneys pull vitamin D out of the blood, which is then sent to the skeletal system. But vitamin D is important for many reasons. An example is how it helps to regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in your body to maintain healthy, normal levels. Specifically, vitamin D helps support healthy calcium absorption from the intestines. And when your body has optimal levels of calcium, it can maintain healthy bones, teeth, and muscles.
Through vitamin D, you can see why learning how to take care of your kidneys benefits other key organs and systems in your body, as well.
Tips on How to Take Care of Your Kidneys
You’ve learned how kidneys function. Now let’s explore how you can support optimal kidney health. Caring for your kidneys can have overlapping benefits for the rest of your body. And simple lifestyle changes go a long way to promote good kidney health and improve your general well-being.
Stay Hydrated
Water is vital for good health, and it certainly assists your kidneys. Drinking eight glasses of water a day helps your kidneys have the fluid necessary to remove excessive sodium and toxins from your system.
The eight glasses number isn’t a recommendation. In fact, the exact volume of water you need to consume depends on your health and lifestyle. A good indicator you’re drinking enough water is straw-colored urine. If urine is too dark, it may be a sign of dehydration. Too clear, and you’re drinking too much water.
Monitor Blood Pressure
The kidneys play an important role in blood pressure regulation. Healthy blood pressure readings are between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg. Anything higher is considered to be elevated blood pressure. Your circulatory system and kidneys work in concert to keep your blood flowing at an even, healthy level. Speak to your physician or health-care provider if you have concerns about your blood pressure.
Maintain Normal, Healthy Blood Sugar Levels
Keeping your blood sugar in the normal, healthy range helps maintain your kidney and overall health. Your kidneys are already hard at work filtering nutrients from your blood back into your body and removing waste. So keep your kidneys running smoothly by maintaining healthy blood sugar levels in the normal range.
Exercise and Remain Active
While you can’t flex your kidneys, you can support them by walking, swimming, or cycling 150 minutes a week. Anything—from hikes in the forest to dancing—can help you stay closer to your ideal weight and avoid putting additional strain on your kidneys. Being overweight can raise your blood pressure, which is bad for your kidneys. But regular exercise is good for your waistline and your overall health.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Diet and exercise go hand-in-hand for good health. But if you really want to show your kidneys some love, you’ll eat a low-sodium diet. Excessive sodium in your system is difficult for your kidneys to filter out. Consider eating a diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, and whole grains. Avoid kidney-damaging foods like processed meats, excessive dairy, and packaged meals.
Don’t Smoke
There are a thousand reasons to quit smoking. Here’s one more: Nicotine is bad for blood pressure, and therefore bad for kidney health.
Did You Know?
You Only Need One Kidney to Live. You’re born with around 1.5 million nephrons—about 750,000 per kidney. You only need 300,000 to filter your blood daily.
Hearts Pump, Kidneys Filter. Your kidneys filter half-a-cup of blood every minute. This is about 45 gallons of blood per day.
Same but Different. Kidneys are asymmetrical. The right kidney is smaller and sits lower than the larger left kidney to leave space for your liver.
DIY Kidney. Dutch doctor Willem Kolff made the first dialysis machine with a sausage casing, orange juice can, and a washing machine. The washing machine spun to filter the pumped-in blood.
Water in Moderation. Too much liquid can cause hyponatremia, a condition where too much water in the system dilutes sodium the kidneys can’t remove.
Swap It Out. The first successful kidney transplant was performed by Joseph E. Smith in Boston, Massachusetts in 1954.
Start Maintaining Your Kidney Health Today
A lifestyle focused on kidney health is good for total body health. A balanced diet combined with exercise is critical to maintain kidney health. And while you’re tending to the needs of your kidney, you’re also helping the other systems in your body. What’s good for the kidneys also helps the digestive system, heart, and immune system.
The human body is complex and integrated—with the kidneys playing a major role in supporting your overall wellness. Your kidneys are equally intricate and complex organs that help keep your body in balance. Making small steps to maintain a healthy blood pressure in the normal range can help your kidneys to function properly, too.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AdobeStock_104773498.jpeg503835staffstaff2020-11-23 10:00:422022-07-04 20:05:25How to Take Care of Your Kidneys
The world can swirl with chaos, anxiety, and stress that leaves you with one white-knuckled fist latched precariously to sanity. Finding time for yourself—for your health, for a deep breath—can be hard. But you can start a self-care routine to seek shelter from your personal hurricane of busyness and responsibility.
There’s nothing selfish about escaping into a self-care checklist to seek your center. Everyone needs a chance to exist solely for themselves and their health sometimes. And it’s not a complex process.
Caring for yourself is what it sounds like—committing the time and space to melt away your daily stresses and focus on you. Standing up for your needs can help you experience self-care benefits—from bolstered mental, emotional, and physical health to improved mood, energy, and resilience.
Taking the first step and starting a self-care routine can be the hardest part. Even the best intentions can land you neck-deep in an avalanche of appointments and to-dos. That’s why you need a plan and patience with yourself—because self-care is bigger than booking a single spa session.
Developing your self-care checklist is an individual process of assessing needs and seeking solutions. Peruse the following options to help you start a self-care routine that works for you. Pick and choose what helps achieve your goals, and—since self-care shouldn’t feel like a burden—focus on what you’ll find enjoyable. Most importantly, commit to carving out the time to put these self-care tips into practice.
Sound Sleep is a Solid Way to Start a Self-Care Routine
You hear over and over how much of your life is spent asleep. A third of your time may still not feel like enough, though. That’s because sleep is essential to build many of the pillars of wellness.
Set your bedtime alarm for a noisy reminder to cut the world off and prepare for the most me-centric activity you do. Make sure to practice good sleep habits:
avoid caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime
wind down with music, meditation, or stretching
turn off the screens
set a comfortable temperature
tuck in for at least seven hours
Your Self-Care Checklist Must Include Clearing Your Schedule
The world doesn’t care about your plans. It can steamroll your dinner reservation, interrupt evening me-time, or destroy a whole vacation. But the best way to keep your daily to-do’s from derailing a much-needed trip down your self-care checklist is to schedule time for yourself.
Block out your calendar—that means turning off the ringer on your phone, too—so you can dedicate time and energy to practicing the self-care tips that speak to you.
Claim Your Space and Maximize Its Calming Properties
Setting aside your own calming corner of the world can put you in the right physical and mental space for starting a self-care routine. But even the most soothing color scheme can’t overcome clutter and chaos in a room. Decluttering your life and spaces can help you find your center in a stressful world.
Some people like organizing and cleaning because it’s calming. Even if that’s not for you, creating a space that’s free of reminders of your daily stresses is a good idea. Meditation among the laundry landmines, toy traps, or—worst of all—stacks of work isn’t as calming as it could be.
Soothe with Sensory Experiences
Stress is a reaction to troublesome sensory information. So the self-care solution is to feed your body a buffet of soothing sensations.
Wrap yourself in soft, comfortable material—a robe or loungewear works. Refresh your mind with calming scents. Flip off the harsh blue lights that dominate your life and try soft candlelight instead. Fill the room with your favorite songs or the calming soundtrack of nature.
Run your favorite stress-fighting bath or dedicate an afternoon each week to fully embracing the hygge lifestyle. Head to the hammock in the backyard with a book. Hike a picturesque trail. Whatever comforting option you choose, stimulate your senses in a pleasing instead of punishing way.
Eat Up Healthy Dietary Options
Emotional eating is easily confused with self-care. But you don’t want to lose sight of the care part of self-care in your search for comfort.
Eating healthy foods isn’t a punishment. Quite the opposite. It’s a caring gesture key to feeling good. And it can be delicious, too. Feed your body nutritious meals and snacks that pack the vitamins and minerals needed to help you feel your best.
Opt for a plant-heavy approach with easy-to-digest foods that are also good for your gut. That way you can spend your self-care time feeling light and energetic instead of sluggish and slumped over from overdoing it on traditional comfort foods.
Attempt to Achieve Serenity Your Way
Serenity is the ultimate goal of any self-care routine. So stressing about finding the most relaxing and serene experiences is positively counterproductive.
Some people turn to meditation. And there’s evidence showing meditation benefits the brain and your stress levels. But that’s only if mediation works for you. It takes practice to perfect, so give yourself room for mediation to be a work-in-progress.
Yoga is great. It has a long history of peaceful practice. But if you are frustrated by yoga—because you are a beginner or your body simply doesn’t bend that way yet—skip it or find a form that works for you.
Your path to peace and serenity may not look like everybody else’s. And that’s OK. Try different approaches and stick with what feels right.
Stimulate Your Mind
Starting a self-care routine doesn’t mean putting yourself in a stimulation-free bubble. Using your brain for your enjoyment—not for work or figuring out other people’s problems—is a powerful way to care for yourself.
Stop if your mental activities start to feel like work. There are plenty of good options to engage your intellect in service of self-care:
read a book, short story, or magazine
play word, trivia, or brain games
have an enlightening conversation
critically think through a piece of pop culture you enjoy
write a story or journal entry
play a piece of music on your instrument of choice—or just jam without a structure
Experience the Calming Powers of the Outdoors
Nature can nurture your soul and buoy your mood. Study after study has shown why being outside is important for stress relief, focus, and calm.
Step out your door to take deep breathes of fresh air. Visit a nearby natural escape to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the forest, beach, or park.
Social Support Reinforces Your Self-Care Efforts
Self-care doesn’t require isolation. Humans are social creatures who can benefit from contact with others. Keeping the interactions playful, fun, and easy-going will help you experience the mental and emotional benefits of maintaining your social health.
If you’re an introvert, don’t worry. Interact on your own terms to avoid being overwhelmed by interactions meant to help your mental state.
You might not be able to tell from some people’s social feeds, but nobody is perfect at self-care. Learning to care for yourself is a process.
Starting the self-care routine you need and deserve might not be as effective as you’d hoped the first time. Maybe you lose focus during mediation, a bug bites you on your peaceful nature walk, or the dog jumps into your bath.
Give yourself a break by practicing self-compassion and building in flexibility. Even imperfect self-care is a step in the right direction—toward a healthier, happier, less-stressed you.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/AdobeStock_336717156.jpeg16322449David BakerDavid Baker2020-10-27 09:16:512022-07-06 12:06:38How to Start a Self-Care Routine for Your Health and Happiness
Weight loss is the most popular reason people exercise. But losing weight is far from the only exercise benefit. Working out can support the health of all aspects of your body.
Here’s a full-body overview of other exercise benefits. From your brain to lungs and joints, learn why you should exercise for more than weight loss.
Brain
Your body’s command center needs exercise just as much as your waistline does. Moving your body for a few minutes every day is a great way to keep your brain in shape.
The brain relies on building new connections between neurons so you can store important information throughout your life. This action of building new bridges between brain cells is called neuroplasticity, and it increases through exercise.
Scientists believe neuroplasticity and exercise are linked because of the increase in blood flow to the brain during physical activity. With plenty of blood and oxygen circulating in your brain, regions like the hippocampus can wire new neural pathways. This can help your memory adapt and continue to improve through your lifetime.
Aging is hard on your brain. So, exercise is one thing you can do to make the transition into later life more manageable. Regular exercise has been shown to support healthy recall skills and can slow the progression of age-related memory decline.
In one study, researchers noted that even light exercise and a minimum of 7,500 daily steps were associated with an increase in total brain volume. Higher brain volume can indicate enhanced neuroplasticity in the brain. That’s how exercise can help keep your mind and learning abilities sharp as you age.
If you want to exercise to boost your brain power, cardiovascular exercises are best. The bursts of movement during cardio elevate your heart rate and send blood pumping to all areas of your body—your brain included. Cardio doesn’t need to be intense to get the job done. Your brain will benefit from a regular evening walk, bike ride, or swim in the pool. Anything that pumps your blood is great for your brain.
Mood and Hormones
People that exercise can count on a better mood as their reward—not just weight loss. The link between mood and exercise is a strong one. And it can be a great motivator to work out more.
It all starts with aerobics. Faster paced, cardiovascular movements can reduce the amount of stress hormones circulating in your blood. These hormones (like adrenaline and cortisol) often contribute to feelings of stress, anxiety, and worry. Too much of any stress hormone can even interfere with your sleep habits. This leaves you tired and unprepared to tackle your daily tasks.
Regular aerobic exercise does more than just decrease the presence of these stress hormones. Cardio and other blood-pumping workouts can even add in feel-good hormones to your bloodstream.
Endorphins are hormones produced by your brain in response to exercise. They act like natural painkillers and stress-relievers. Some people even call the rush of endorphins you experience after exercise a “runner’s high.”
Runner or not, you will like the way you feel when endorphins enter circulation. These mood-lifting biochemicals bring on a sense of euphoria and can even help combat anxiety and depression. In addition, they help you relax and calm down.
Let exercise be your go-to way to pick yourself up after a hard day. A light jog, game of tennis, or trip to the park with your family, is all you need to feel the effects of endorphins. At the same time, you’ll be reducing stress hormones and putting yourself at ease.
Heart
One of the first organs in your body to see the benefits of regular exercise is your heart. Your cardiovascular system becomes more efficient as you grow fitter. Treat your heart to some endurance training and exercise for the health of your ticker.
As your fitness level improves, you might notice your resting heart rate slow a bit. That’s because exercise makes your heart stronger and more efficient at pumping blood. A slower heart rate is a sign that your heart doesn’t need to work as hard to circulate your blood. Each heartbeat packs a little more force and pumps blood with less energy expended.
Exercise benefits your heart in other ways, too. Regular physical activity is linked to reducing fatty plaque build-up in arteries. This thickening and hardening of vessel walls can make it harder for your heart to push blood to the places it needs to be. Keeping arteries clear of hardened fat is another perk of working out.
Cardio exercises are the kind of workouts your heart needs. You’ll know you’re doing cardio when you can feel your heartbeat start to quicken. Jumping-jacks, plyometrics, running, and other fast-moving exercises are great options for cardio. Take the opportunity to work-out for your heart the next time you exercise.
Lungs
Tough workouts can leave you feeling breathless. But exercising on a regular basis can help combat this feeling of breathlessness. Aerobic movements can increase the volume of air your lungs can take in with each breath. This measurement is called lung capacity. As lung capacity increases, so does the amount of oxygen available to the muscles powering your workout.
Try breathing exercises to boost your lung capacity. You can incorporate them into your daily exercise or practice them while resting. Deep, diaphragmatic breathing and pursed-lips breathing are two methods you can use to expand your lung capacity.
Just Breathe
To do diaphragmatic breathing, place you hand on your abdomen just beneath your rib cage. Breathe deeply and focus on expanding your abdomen and stomach as you inhale. To exhale, purse your lips together like you would to suck through a straw or give someone a kiss. Push the breath out of your pursed lips slowly.
Bones and Joints
A common myth surrounding joint health is that regular exercise can lead to damaged joints. Consistent, moderate exercise can actually increase bone mass and strength, while protecting joints from swelling, pain, and erosion.
Stronger joints start with stronger bones. When muscles are activated during physical activity, they push and pull on the bones they attach to. Tension from working muscles encourages bone cells to multiply and thicken. As a result, your bone density improves.
This relationship between bone strength and exercise is important. It means that the more consistently you exercise, the stronger your bones become. And the strong bones you develop through regular movement will fare better as you age.
Another reason you should exercise for more than weight loss is to relieve stress on your joints. Swelling and stiffness can happen when your joints aren’t cared for properly. Discomfort in the joints might make exercise seem like a chore.
Don’t give in to the temptation to skip a workout. Movement and regular use of your joints can help them feel great. Daily exercise is a great way to reduce aching and promote strength in your joints.
Bodyweight exercises like push-ups, lunges, squats, and burpees are excellent bone-strengthening activities. Try to hit each muscle groups when you exercise to ensure every bone and joint benefits from your workout.
Immune System
Entire body systems, like your immune system, thrive when you exercise regularly. That’s because exercise has perks that can help keep you healthy.
Exercise promotes the turnover and exchange of leukocytes (white blood cells.) Leukocytes are part of your innate immune response and fight against pathogens that invade your body. When you exercise, the leukocytes that protect you from getting sick are regenerated.
Your immune system needs regular physical activity to defend you from sickness later in life, too. It turns out that along with the rest of your body, your immune system ages, too. Exercise stimulates immune activity that helps keep healthy and free from infection. A habit of everyday exercise can help you maintain immunity in the face of possible age-related decline.
To exercise for your immune system, find an activity that promotes circulation. Aerobic exercises and full-body movements trigger the white-blood-cell turnover that maintains your immunity. Dancing, jogging, tennis, and volleyball are great ways to move your whole body and support your immune defenses.
Working Out for Your Whole Body
Moving your muscles on a regular basis does wonders for your overall wellness. Remember, you can exercise for more than weight loss. So, try to find another factor that motivates you to exercise.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AdobeStock_335852816.png501835Sydney SprouseSydney Sprouse2020-09-25 09:00:002022-07-06 12:07:45More Motivation to Move: Exercise Benefits Beyond Weight Loss
Staying on top of your health requires more than seeing your healthcare provider for an annual check-up. It means monitoring key health indicators frequently at home. These measures can help you meet the World Health Organization’s definition of health: a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being—not just the lack of a disease. And that’s why tracking your health data can be an important tool for maintaining your overall health and wellness.
There are five main health checks (called vital signs) that are regularly assessed whenever you see a physician. But you can also track these important measures of health—and more—at home.
Blood Pressure
This simple health indicator of the cardiovascular system measures how hard your heart has to work to pump blood through arteries and throughout your body. It measures the force of blood pushing against the blood vessel walls. High blood pressure (called hypertension) is often referred to as the “silent killer” because there are typically no symptoms associated with this condition.
Regularly measuring blood pressure is so important that there are published guidelines on how to take it properly. And healthcare professionals must routinely learn to take blood pressure measurements correctly during their education. While the manual measurement of blood pressure using a mercury sphygmomanometer (also called a blood pressure cuff) and a stethoscope has long been held as the gold standard, automated devices are now routinely used in clinical practice.
These automated blood pressure machines are the easiest way to track your blood pressure at home and monitor cardiovascular health. This type of device includes a digital monitor that displays blood pressure results (numbers) on a small screen. The top (or first) number displayed on the screen is called the systolic number, which indicates the pressure inside the artery when the heart is contracting (or pumping blood). The second (or bottom) number on the screen is called the diastolic number—the measure of the pressure inside the artery when the heart is resting in-between beats.
Higher numbers can indicate that the heart is working extra hard to pump blood through your arteries. This may be the result of a temporary external influence—like feeling stressed, scared or excited. It could be the result of heavy exercise that causes a temporary rise in blood pressure to increase flow to deliver extra oxygen and essential nutrients throughout your body.
Or the high number could be caused by an internal force, such as the buildup of plaque in arteries. This can cause blood vessels to become narrowed and less flexible over time.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends selecting an automatic, upper arm (bicep) cuff digital blood pressure monitoring device. It’s important to do your research and select a machine that fits your arm and that has been validated for accuracy. Your physician or a pharmacist can help suggest the best type of device for you to use at home. It’s also important to read and follow all instructions and directions provided for setting up your new blood pressure device or have your healthcare provider show you how.
Taking one blood pressure measurement tells you what your blood pressure is right now. It’s not an accurate measurement of overall cardiovascular health. Checking blood pressure routinely, whether that means daily, or a few times a week is a much better indicator. Readings can also vary depending on the time of day, the activity you may have just completed, if you are stressed or even sick. That’s why it’s important to record the results to better track your health data. It’s also preferable to measure blood pressure about the same time each day.
Tips for Taking Your Blood Pressure
For better accuracy it’s important not to smoke, drink caffeine and alcohol, or exercise within 30 minutes of checking blood pressure. It’s also helpful to sit quietly with your back straight and supported (a chair works well) for 5-10 minutes first to help you relax. Place your feet are flat against the floor and don’t cross your legs.
The arm you’re using to measure blood pressure should be resting on a flat surface (a table works well) with the upper arm positioned at the level of your heart with the palm of your hand facing up. Position the cuff so that the bottom edge of the cuff is placed directly above the bend of your elbow, and try not to take a measurement over clothes. Take two or three readings about one-to-two minutes apart and record the date, time, and results each time you measure your blood pressure.
What Your Numbers Mean
A healthy, normal blood pressure is considered anything less than 120/80. Your blood pressure could vary depending on your gender, age, weight, and any medical conditions you have. If you do register a blood pressure reading that’s higher than ideal, wait two to five minutes and recheck. Consult your physician if you consistently have higher blood pressure. A higher pressure reading means the heart is working extra hard to pump blood out to circulate throughout your body. A chronically elevated blood pressure is called hypertension and it’s known to contribute to a variety of health conditions.
Healthcare experts from the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and many others officially updated guidelines for blood pressure numbers in adults in 2017. These new definitions lowered the numbers used for making a diagnosis of hypertension. This means many people who were not previously considered to have high blood pressure are now considered to be hypertensive.
2017 Updated Blood Pressure Categories
Systolic
Diastolic
Normal
Less than 120
and
Less than 80
Elevated
120-129
and
Less than 80
Hypertension- Stage 1
130-139
or
80-89
Hypertension- Stage 2
140 and higher
or
90 or higher
Hypertensive Crisis
Higher than 180
And/or
Higher than 120
Data obtained from the American Heart Association
Blood flow is your internal transportation system designed to distribute oxygen and essential nutrients throughout your entire body. That’s why it’s so important to make sure this system runs smoothly. Tracking your blood pressure results over time provides a “snap-shot” of your heart health. And this information may provide the needed motivation to improve lifestyle measures known to support healthy blood pressure and overall heart health. It may also motivate you to consult with your healthcare provider to determine the best treatment options for higher blood pressure numbers.
Heart (or Pulse) Rate
Heart or pulse rate is a measurement of how many times your heart beats (complete heart-muscle contractions) in one minute. Measuring your heart rate is considered an indicator of heart muscle function and is another important measure of health.
A resting heart rate is how many times your heart beats while you are rested or relaxed. This number is different from the amount of beats that occur when you are physically active or stressed. The average heart rate for a healthy adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. But age and activity levels can influence heart rate. It may be higher when exercising and lower during times of inactivity. Other factors that can influence heart rate include stress and anxiety, caffeine or other stimulants, certain medications, body position (standing, sitting or lying down), body temperature, and some medical conditions.
How to Check Your Heart Rate
You can check your heart rate at your wrist or on the side of your neck using two fingers. Alternatively, you can see your heart rate measurement when checking blood pressure with a digital blood pressure monitoring device, when using a pulse oximeter to check oxygen saturation levels, and on a smart watch, wearable, or app.
To check your pulse rate using your wrist, use the index and middle finger of your dominant hand and position them so that the tips of the two fingers align. Press them lightly on the inside of your opposite wrist just below the base of your thumb in the soft space under your wrist bone to feel the radial artery beneath the skin. When monitoring pulse rate in the neck (carotid artery), lightly press the same two fingers on the side your neck, just beneath the jawbone to the side of your windpipe.
Count the numbers of beats for 15 seconds and multiple that number by four to see your heart rate. For the best accuracy, repeat this procedure two or three times and use the average of these numbers.
Respirations occur when you breathe in and out. Breathing provides the oxygen required for every cell in the body to function properly. During the respiration process, air is moved in and out of the lungs. This process facilitates gas exchange by bringing oxygen in and pushing carbon dioxide out.
A respiratory (breathing) rate is the number of breaths taken in one minute. And it’s easy to measure. Respiratory rate is measured by counting the numbers of breaths taken (the number of times your chest rises and falls) for one minute. Remember that one rise and one fall are counted as one breath.
When checking respiratory rate, it’s best to sit upright in a chair. But it can be measured lying down if needed. A healthy adult respiration rate is between 12 to 20 times a minute.
Body Temperature
Your body has an internal thermostat and its proper functioning is important. That makes temperature another important vital sign used to assess overall health. Temperature checks are a routine part of any visit to a healthcare provider. But it can also be checked at home if you or a loved one isn’t feeling well, or are just curious what your temperature is. It’s easy to check body temperature with a thermometer.
Your body does a good job of regulating body temperature to keep you healthy. And it’s normal for it to fluctuate in a healthy range throughout the day and throughout your life. Body temperature is also influenced by age, gender, certain medicines, and diseases.
You’ve probably heard the right body temperature is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (or 37 degrees Celsius). It was long considered the normal number for assessing a healthy temperature based on data from as early as the 1800s. But newer research shows that a normal, healthy adult temperature can range significantly, averaging between 97 and 99 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the person.
How to Pick Your Thermometer
There are options when it comes to choosing a thermometer to check body temperature at home:
A digital thermometer uses electronic heat sensors to record body temperature. This no-contact thermometer is typically used to measure temperature when pointed at the forehead.
A digital ear thermometer (also called a tympanic thermometer) uses an infrared ray to measure the temperature inside of the ear canal.
A temporal artery thermometer uses an infrared scanner to measure the temperature of the temporal artery in the forehead. This thermometer is gently swiped across the forehead lightly touching the skin. It should be cleaned between uses.
The mercury thermometer is no longer recommended due to the possibility of the glass getting broken and allowing the toxic mercury to escape and cause contamination. Digital, oral thermometers are good replacements for those used to this type of device.
While thermometers are available in a variety of styles, it’s important to note that not all thermometers provide the same quality and accuracy. So if you’re not sure which one to buy, ask your pharmacist or physician for advice on selecting the best thermometer for home use.
Oxygen Saturation (SpO2)
This metric of health measures the amount of oxygen in red blood cells—also referred to as oxygen saturation. Your body closely regulates your blood-oxygen levels because maintaining a precise balance is vital for health.
A measurement of your blood oxygen is called an O2 Sat (SpO2) when using a pulse oximeter—a noninvasive way to obtain this important measure of health. Pulse oximeters are typically small electronic devices that clip on the end of your index finger. This vital sign is another metric of health that’s routinely checked when you visit a healthcare provider.
A normal, healthy pulse oximeter reading typically ranges in the mid 90s up to 100 percent. A value below 90 percent is considered low and should be medically evaluated by a healthcare professional.
Pulse oximetry is also used in athletic training and can also be found in gyms and fitness centers. It can provide important information for athletes and amateurs during workouts to help improve endurance, speed, and overall performance.
Advances in technology and direct-to-the-public sales have made it easy to purchase a variety of medical-type devices without the need of a doctor’s order. This includes pulse oximeters. When choosing a device, it’s important to buy it from a reputable company and check to see of the device has been clinically validated for accuracy, otherwise it could be a waste of time and money.
Pulse oximeters have the technology (depending on the brand and model) to measure important vital signs including: oxygen saturation, pulse rate, breathing rate, and more from a fingertip. All these health indicators can help you support your respiratory health. Although SpO2 may not be necessarily relevant for everyone.
Other Important Measures of Health
Blood Glucose
Glucose is a simple carbohydrate (sugar) used as the primary fuel for your cells, and is an essential energy source for your brain and nervous system. Your body converts certain foods to glucose that it needs for energy. It’s normal for the amount of glucose in your blood to fluctuate throughout the day.
Measuring blood glucose is part of an annual visit to your doctor to make sure you’re healthy, and to screen for diabetes or prediabetes. A normal fasting blood glucose level is defined as 70 to 99 mg/dL (3.9 to 5.5 mmol/L). Maintaining normal blood glucose levels is an important part of keeping your body healthy.
Since screening glucose levels is part of an annual physical, health professionals don’t routinely recommend regularly checking blood glucose levels at home unless you are diabetic or have prediabetes. However, if you want to check your blood glucose more often than annually, you can purchase a glucometer and the required supplies at a pharmacy or online. Make sure to educate yourself on the appropriate use of this device, what the results mean, and the best way to dispose of the used supplies. Monitoring blood glucose can help you determine how different foods and activities may influence your blood glucose values.
Sleep
Sleep is important and necessary to maintain good health. During sleep, your body repairs tissues and other cells, and bolsters your immune system. Adults require 7-9 hours of nightly sleep in order to promote optimal health. Unfortunately many are still sleep deprived.
While not as accurate as a professional sleep assessment, a personal sleep tracking device or app can help monitor nightly sleep patterns. This can help provide insight into your sleep habits so you can take steps to improve them.
There are different types of devices to choose from, including wearable and non-wearable options in all shapes and sizes. It’s important to decide what you really want out of a device before making a purchase.
Many smart watches provide sleep-tracking data that you can connect to an app on your phone. Commonly provided data includes: type of sleep (deep, light, REM), how often you wake, and for how long you sleep. Some also provide SpO2 data which is an important metric for health maintenance. The use of these convenient devices allows you to keep track of your sleep metrics and measure progress towards your sleep goals over time.
Activity
Your body is made to move—a lot. But it doesn’t have to be strenuous. Walking is a great way to support overall health. This form of exercise provides benefits for managing body weight, supporting heart health and normal, healthy blood pressure, and even mood and cognition. And walking is considered a low-impact form of exercise because it’s easier on joints. Low-impact exercise also helps maintain and build muscle mass that can decrease with age.
Wearable trackers—like those available on smart watches and other devices—are a great way to monitor steps. The World Health Organization (and many other health professionals and organizations) recommend adults 18–64 perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity per week. A wearable tracker is an easier way to monitor steps, distance, and time so you can meet your fitness goals.
Know Your Numbers to Stay Healthy
Staying on top of your health can be improved greatly by measuring and tracking different metrics. And there are all kinds of apps for your smart watch and phone that can track just about any health indicator you want to know and monitor. Choose carefully, and avoid information overload. You don’t want to spend all your time worrying about and monitoring your health on a device.
If you don’t want to track every aspect of your life, here are some other ways to support your health that don’t require tracking:
Include more fresh, natural whole foods and less processed foods in your diet
Eat at regular times, and only until you feel full
Stand up and move your body on a regular daily basis
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AdobeStock_83645447.jpg501835Toni McKinnonToni McKinnon2020-09-08 10:00:442022-07-06 12:29:57Measures of Health: Learn to Track 5 Main Health Indicators
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/copaprime-for-memory.jpg485835David BakerDavid Baker2020-09-02 11:40:122022-07-20 14:13:35Interact with Your Foundations of Good Health
Hormones fuel so much of how you experience life. Happiness has a hormone. Love has one. Stress has several.
Their power comes from the ability for hormones to influence so many aspects of your health. These complex molecules transfer messages all around your body. They can help you feel serene or stressed. They up the tempo on your heartbeat or ramp down your systems so you’re ready for bed.
Even though they’re some of the most important messengers in your body, how much do you know about hormones? Are you an expert on which hormones are associated with specific life situations? Do you know where cortisol or insulin or melatonin come from in your body?
Show off your knowledge by playing the hormone match game. Answer the questions below by selecting the hormone or hormones that correspond with the action or place of origin.
Play the Hormone Match Game
Your Hormone Cheat Sheet
Need to know more about hormones? Learn all the information you need to know to come back and ace the quiz next time—and help you understand how these important messengers impact your health.
Insulin: This key hormone in metabolism is produced in the pancreas and allows cells all over your body to take in the energy they need—especially via glucose, but also through fat and protein breakdown.
Cortisol: Your main steroid stress hormone’s production is handled by the adrenal glands, but it’s triggered by your brain in response to stressors. It impacts many areas of the body—from blood pressure, memory, and metabolism to balancing salt and water.
Adrenaline: That jolt created by adventures—like rollercoasters or skydiving—is thanks to the flight-or-flight hormone made in your adrenal glands. It preps your body’s systems—cardiovascular and muscular, especially—to flee or defend yourself from a stressor.
Estrogen: This key female sex hormone is mainly produced in the ovaries and controls menstrual cycles and promotes the growth of reproductive anatomy during puberty. It also plays a role in mood, bones, cardiovascular function, and the skin. Found in limited amounts in men, as well.
Testosterone: A key male sex hormone mainly produced in the testes. It helps with the development of male-specific physical features during puberty, and spurs sperm production. Testosterone is also found in women in limited amounts.
Glucagon: The name tells you a lot about this pancreatic hormone that helps support healthy blood sugar levels.
Norepinephrine: Since it’s made in the adrenal gland, this hormone’s connection to stress is pretty clear. As a response to exercise or a stressor, norepinephrine plays a role in heart rate and energy usage. It also acts as a neurotransmitter and impact mood and emotions.
Melatonin: Your sleep hormone originates primarily from your brain’s pineal gland. It helps regulate normal sleep and wake cycles by helping your body prepare for slumber.
Oxytocin: Love’s favorite hormone helps build bond and deepen connections. It starts in the hypothalamus, but the pituitary gland is responsible for secretion of oxytocin. The love hormone also plays roles in reproductive function, lactation, and social behaviors.
Serotonin: You may know it for ties to mood and happiness, but serotonin plays roles throughout your body—in digestion, sleep, bone health, and wound healing. It’s produced by nerve cells all over your body.
https://askthescientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/AdobeStock_296112051.jpg501835staffstaff2020-08-24 10:00:052022-07-06 12:54:22Play the Hormone Match Game to Master the Messengers of Health
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