Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts

Let them get dirty

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Let them get dirtyWarning! I am going to be controversial again...

Mud and dirt is good for your children but if you don't like washing their dirty clothes – even their play clothes – all the time then let them get dirty naked. It is good for them and boosts their immune system no end, especially both together. Nudity for children, especially boys, also ads additional metal health benefits due to the stimulation of the skin (so say some experts).

It turns out that both getting dirty and being naked as much as possible is the best way to boost the immune system of children no end. Being naked stimulates, in addition to all the other benefits, nerves and also being in that state releases various hormones that are beneficial during development but also equally good for the adult.

Let them dirty get nakedWhen I was a child we could get dirty as much as possible – and by the gods did we ever – without having to worry about our parents and elders chiding us about our dirty clothes. We, at least the boys, wore none. It was easier, so our parents' and elders' reckoning to wash us than to continuously having to wash our clothes. It was also a great deal cheaper as we needed fewer clothes.

While this was at a time when we did not have much in the way of clothes anyway, and not much of anything really, and washing them was not always as easy as it is for most folks today, the fact that both dirt and nudity were good for us made up for it all. Not that we minded being naked (and dirty) one bit; in fact we hated the very idea of wearing clothes.

I have yet to encounter a young child, especially a boy, who would not prefer being naked over being dressed, especially when that permits him to get as dirty as he likes without getting told off for it by his parents or carers. Naked he can splash in the muddy waters and roll in dirt and mud as much as he likes, and wipe his hands not on his clothes but on himself. All that is needed at the end is to hose him down (literally).

Dirty kids equal healthy kids

Emerging research points out that the backyard garden just may be the cure for what ails us. But then that is, basically, already something that our grandparents and great-grandparents knew. Many a grandmother will have said: “A little dirt does not hurt”. And right she was. In fact, it turns out it is actually good for kids (and us all).

While in today's Western culture, children with soiled feet and grass-stained knees are hurriedly rushed to the bathtub and slathered with antibacterial soap, the loss of our connection to the garden and its dirt means a loss of connection to all the good microbes that live inside it. Too much bathing, showering and such is not good for the children and their immune system either.

Our industrialized world has become squeaky clean – and chronically ill. Many children today are prevented from going outside to play, whether to keep them clean or due to an inflammatory condition, such as allergies, asthma or eczema. Many of these ailments can be traced to a lack of good dirt in our own bodies. The problem, as it seems, may actually turn out to be the solution.

Worldwide studies based on children's lifestyles are proving that early exposure to a healthy microbiome – the community of bacteria living in your body – is a key factor to a strong immune system later in life.

The so-called anti-bacterial soaps, etc., are also seen, now, finally, as a problem rather than a benefit as they destroy all bacteria, including those that we actually need, and especially the young body in order to build a strong immune system.

Grandmothers all around the world used to say: “A little dirt does not hurt” and it turns out that not only does a little dirt not hurt but actually is good for us all and exposing – literally – the whole body to it, and those bacteria that it contains, is better still. This is probably one of the reasons why nudist children are less prone to all those ailments than children who do not come from families who live a natural life in the nude, the way that we all were made.

© 2018

Making art and craft every day keeps the doctor away!

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Making art every day keeps the doctor away!Art and craft comes in many forms and shapes, so to speak, from (creative & expressive) writing – including so-called journaling – to knitting, crochet, woodcarving and woodworking, and everything else in between.

Your health and personal well-being, according to studies, can benefit when you make time to be creative? And, apparently, it is true! Whether you write, draw, scrapbook, or create quilts, do woodcarving, or whatever in the arts and crafts department; when you engage in something creative, your mind and body benefits.

Expressive Writing fort instance, whether it is just journaling – that is what once was called keeping a diary and done by a so-called diarist – will eanble you in other areas to better be able to put your thoughts on paper, even if the paper is but virtual.

Writing has been found to grant practicioners a host of long term benefits including, but not limited to:

  • Fewer stress-related visits to the doctor Improved immune system functioning Reduced blood pressure

  • Reduced absenteeism from work

  • Quicker re-employment after job loss

  • Improved working memory

The Science of Google's 20% Rule

Some may have heard of Google's 20% rule, some maybe not (and I must say I didn't until I came across it), which allows employees to spend 20% of their time on side projects they are passionate about. What seems on the surface to be a huge sink in productivity actually saw huge boosts for both the company and their employees.

Side projects, it turns out, boosts work performance and productivity.

A study conducted by San Francisco State psychology professor Dr. Kevin Eschleman and his colleagues measured the effect of creative hobbies on over 400 employees. They found those who had a creative hobby were more likely to be helpful and creative on the job as well as more relaxed and in control.

The finding from the research indicate that organizations may benefit from encouraging employees to consider creative activities in their efforts to recover from work.

Creative activities are likely to provide valuable experiences of mastery and control, but may also provide employees experiences of discovery that uniquely influence performance-related outcomes.

Creative Therapies

There is now a whole emerging field of people who employ the arts to help people heal. It is called Creative Arts Therapies, and according to the National Coalition of Creative Arts Therapies Associations (NCCATA), it encompasses a wide range of modes of expression including art, dance/movement, drama, music, poetry, and psychodrama. One could, obviously, also be sarcastic here and say that there is always someone – or quite a number of people – who find a way of making money from “strange professions”.

Creative Arts Therapists are human service professionals who use arts modalities and creative processes for the purpose of ameliorating disability and illness and optimizing health and wellness. Treatment outcomes include, for example, improving communication and expression, and increasing physical, emotional, cognitive and/or social functioning.

When you undertake these activities, whether for yourself or with the guidance of a Creative Art Therapist, you stand to benefit by making art.

In a world full of distractions and stress, it can be difficult to find time to be creative but considering the outcomes time should be made available and not just for us adults but also and especially for children (and young people). Their lives have become far too structured and stressful and, aside from unstructured play, letting them get into creative activities, more or less on their own, could be of great benefit.

© 2018

Smartphone neck

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

text-neckA new disease, if one would want to call it thus, has arrived in the region of the cervical spine; the “Smartphone neck”, also known as “text-neck”. Especially members of the younger generation are affected by it malaise. Though, to all intents and purposes, it is a self-inflicted injury, much like shooting yourself in the foot while cleaning a gun having forgotten to clear it first.

Personally I am not surprised seeing, on a daily basis, people of all ages being glued to the screens of their cellphones and smartphones, texting or whatever, not just in town, including crossing the roads without looking up, but even while walking in the park of the woods.

Personally I cannot understand why people have become so obsessed with needing to be connected all the time via their devices on social nedia and whatever.

On the other hand the “being busy on my smartphone” also is a message to the world around them that says “I do not want to interact with you, you and you in real life”. A “don't even think about talking to me” open message without saying so directly.

Spending too much time at the computer, as, alas, I also do, does not help the neck either though it is a little better than looking down onto a screen as with a smartphone.

We are often our own greatest enemy.

© 2017

Brits fall short of smiles

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

800px-A_Smiling_boy_from_BangladeshAccording to some research only about 28% of Brits attempt to smile at someone at least once a day, despite 63% admitting that being smiled at brightens their day.

Further still, over half (52%) smile most when they make others smile, with nearly 20% (18.75%) worrying that they don’t smile enough.

Personally, knowing the way the majority of Brits – at least today – act whatever they told researchers appears to be what they thought the researchers would want to hear.

A great many in the UK look away when someone smiles at them, often embarrassed which, in turn, makes those that do smile when they meet another person's eyes become reluctant to do so.

A smile cannot only brighten someone's life; it could actually save someone's life. No, I am not exaggerating. A number of years ago me smiling at a complete stranger on a tube train in London did just that.

There was this young man sitting opposite me on an Underground train with a very sad face and every time that our eyes met I smiled. It took some time before he reciprocated and his face brightened up.

Reaching my destination I got up and he also was leaving the train. On the platform he shook my hand and said “I would like to thank you” to which I said, “for what?”

His reply was that really hit the message home which was “for acknowledging my existence”. Cutting a long story short he was very depressed and had been heading to the stop that I also too in order to take his own life by jumping of a bridge that was near there.

Instead of heading to the HQ I was meant to head for at that time I took the young man for a drink and a chat, duty at the HQ could wait a couple of hours. This was more important.

I don't know how many other lives have been saved or, at least, changed by smiling at someone, and I don't just mean by just my smiles. Also I am certainly not averse to striking up a conversation with complete strangers. Many a stranger becomes an acquaintance in such a way and, maybe, even a friend.

Smiling at others does not only benefit the recipient but also the “giver” as it releases, in the same way as some other activities, that I shall not digress to right now, do. So, let's turn our smiles on and not just on World Smile Day.

© 2017

Himalayan salt lamps

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

salt_lampHimalayan salt lamps are not made with salt from the Himalayas for starters. They also do not release any negative ions or anything like that. They look pretty when lit by a light bulb or a candle, but that is about all.

Claims that salt lamps release any appreciable amount of negative ions have been shown to be untrue, and from a scientific point of view, not possible. You simply cannot alter the chemistry of salt using a light bulb or candle flame. But they can be quite pretty, so enjoy them for that reason, but don't get sold on any unproven therapeutic powers. http://www.snopes.com/salt-lamps-cure-everything/.

The so-called Himalayan salt is more than a bit of a misnomer as it does not actually come from the Himalayas but from the Pakistani Khewra Salt Mine in the Punjab region of Pakistan which is nowhere remotely near those mountains.

What goes for the lamps also goes for the so-called Himalayan salt that is claimed to have such great health benefits. Hello folks, it is just rock salt, only difference is that it is orange due to iron oxide, in other words "rust". This rock salt, aside from the color, is no different than any rock salt that you may buy in the shops, except that some cooking salt, as well as table salt, which is all rock salt unless it is sea salt, has iodine added.

While some self-proclaimed health experts will now scream that iodine is bad and should not be added, etc. ad infinitum, what is it that you would (hate to) take in the event of a nuclear accident or such? Yes, you got it, iodine. In fact, the iodization was done for health reasons. Iodised salt is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of the element iodine. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency.

So, just to recap on Himalayan Salt: it is rock salt that does not come from the Himalayas and is orange in color because it contains iron oxide, which is another word for rust. It has no negative ions and is not different to any other rock salt, such as you ordinary table or cooking salt, whether iodised or not. Don't fall for the clap-trap of the snake oil salesmen and -women.

© 2017

Working on an allotment is GOOD for your health...and this is why...

DO YOU want to know the secret to a long and happy life?

An allotment in England

Vegetables.

Not so much the eating of vegetables (though that certainly helps) but the growing of them.

According to scientists from Essex and Westminster universities spending half an hour a week on an allotment results in an instant reduction in stress and fatigue, as well as boosting self-esteem, vigour and a general feeling of good health.

They also found that allotment holders are less likely to be overweight, have more energy and are not so prone to anger, depression and anxiety.

In a study published in the Journal Of Public Health the authors say: “We found that fewer than 30 minutes of allotment gardening produces a measurable and beneficial health effect.”

None of this is news to anyone who has an allotment.

Whether it’s a pristine, award-winning mini farm producing perfect vegetables all year round, or a scrubby bit of dirt by the railway tracks yielding a bagful of runner beans and a couple of dozen potatoes every other autumn, the simple pleasures to be found on the plot go far beyond the act of actually growing anything.

My wife Heidi and I have had our allotment for 10 years.

When we moved to Oxford from London almost the first thing we did was join the waiting list for a plot in our local area of Osney.

Read more here.

Farm kids are healthy kids, according to study on allergies and asthma

Amish farm kids

New research confirms the 'hygiene hypothesis.' Farm kids are less likely to develop allergies and asthma than the average child.

Kids need to get grubby on a regular basis. Not only does it mean they’re playing hard while getting exercise and fresh air outside, but it also boosts their immune systems and ultimately makes them healthier.

For years, the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ has been the leading explanation for why so many kids develop allergies and asthma. This hypothesis suggests that kids are being raised in such sterile environments, without sufficient access to dirt and germs, that their immune systems are not trained to recognize which irritants are harmful and harmless.

New research, published last week in Science, supports this hypothesis and develops it further. A group of Belgian researchers from Ghent University found an actual link between farm dust and protection against asthma and allergies. Children who grow up on dairy farms are much less likely than the average child to develop asthma.

Read more here.

Study Proves Farm Dirt Is Beneficial for Children’s Health

Go ahead and let your kids roll around in the dirt. Let them pet the animals and muck the stalls.

A recent study published in Science has proven that kids who have been raised with an exposure to common bacteria and other microbes on farms are less likely to develop allergies.

 

The study showed that only 25% of farm kids in their test group reacted to common allergens — dust mites, mold, pollen, animals. Compare that to the standard 45% of children of the general population who react to the same allergens. What other conclusion can you draw except farm dirt is good for you?

The science behind this conclusion points to a protein some people develop in their lungs, while others others do not. In the study, the protein, A20, was developed by mice who had been exposed to farm dust. Unexposed mice did not develop the protein. A20 develops in the mucous membranes in the lungs.

Read more here.

Surgeon General's prescription for health: walkable communities

step it up

 

It's not easy to walk in much of North America; most people now live in suburbs that were designed for cars. Now the US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, is calling for a change.

Walking helps people stay both physically and mentally healthy. It brings business districts to life and can help reduce air pollution. However, there are barriers to choosing even this simple form of physical activity. Many of us live in neighborhoods that can present barriers to walking. Important places, such as shops, schools, parks, or senior centers, may not be near enough to reach by walking; there may be no sidewalks; or there may be concerns about safety. Lack of time can be a barrier, as can health problems.

He is also calling for a redesign of our communities.

People should be able to walk almost anywhere. Designing communities to encourage pedestrian activity will make it safer and easier for all users, including those with mobility limitations and other disabilities. For example, streets can be designed to include sidewalks and improve traffic safety, and communities can locate residences, schools, worksites, businesses, parks, recreational facilities, and other places that people regularly use within walkable distance of each other.

Read more here.

The Nature Prescription

Six all-natural (yet scientific) strategies for improving your mind and body

Florence Williams went to the forests of Japan to uncover the science behind the health benefits of mother nature. For those of you without the time to travel deep into the Japanese wilderness, here are six quick, easy, and natural ways to help your body and mind.

Temper Your Screen Time

What happens to a mind in constant motion? That’s a question we seem intent on answering, one laptop and DVR at a time. In a now famous, years-long study of employees at the Boston Consulting Group, led by Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow, 26 percent of participants admitted to sleeping with their smartphones within reach. Fifty-one percent said they check email obsessively while on vacation. Kids are even worse. According to a 2010 survey by the Kaiser Foundation, American teens spend about 7.5 hours a day toggling between text messages, Instagrams, and streaming episodes of Jersey Shore.This nonstop engagement changes how the brain processes information—and, in some cases, changes the brain itself. One alarming study of Internet-addicted Chinese teenagers found signs of “abnormal white matter structure”—atrophy of connective tissue—in areas of the brain involved with behavior and emotional control.

The cure is, quite literally, out there. “An expanding literature suggests that exposure to nature—either a walk through a park or looking at nature photographs—can enhance attention and memory,” says Arthur Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Read more here.

Could Broccoli Leaves Be the Next Kale?

The story of how yesterday’s compost could become the juice of tomorrow.

You may not even know that broccoli has leaves, but it does, and they boast health benefits that could rival the current dark leafy green getting all the attention: kale.

Fast Company reports the leaves that surround the broccoli crown are usually composted as fertilizer, but farmers for Foxy Organic Brand are hoping the product they’re calling BroccoLeaf will be just as popular as kale.

Despite claims to the contrary in the Fast Company story, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, by weight, broccoli leaves are not as nutritionally rich as kale. Kale has more calcium, iron, and potassium—and even a little more protein. Broccoli leaves do win when it comes to vitamin A, which is important to vision and skin health. Even if they don’t beat kale in every category, broccoli leaves are still a terrifically healthy food—and with the country’s obesity problem, Americans could stand to eat more leafy greens.

Besides, we’re already expending precious resources to grow broccoli leaves—namely, water. Eating the whole vegetable means less water waste in a time of historic drought on the West Coast—and BroccoLeaf hails from Salinas, California. If broccoli leaves don’t get all the price markups that come with being a premium vegetable, they might be a great way to get a new leafy green vegetable onto the table and help farmers cope with higher water prices.

Read more here.

Gardening Is Good For Your Health

Gardening Is Good For Your Health – It Can Fight Stress, Keep You Limber, And Improve Your Mood!

ardening is one of the most pleasurable experiences for Gillian Aldrich, 42, who started growing vegetables in her backyard some time ago!

Gillian is now working on planting a bed of hydrangeas, butterfly bushes, rose Campion, and—her favorite—pale-pink hardy geraniums. As she digs in the garden, her kids often play around her, sometimes taking a break to pick fresh strawberries.

Instead of just watching them, Aldrich is playing along. She says: “When you sit at a desk all day, there’s something about literally putting your hands in the dirt, digging and actually creating something that’s really beautiful. There’s something about just being out there that feels kind of elemental.”

Aldrich isn’t the only one who feels this way. Many gardeners view their hobby as the perfect antidote to the modern world, a way of reclaiming some of the intangible things we’ve lost in our “dirt-free” existence.

The sensory experience of gardening “allows people to connect to this primal state,” says James Jiler, the founder and executive director of Urban GreenWorks. “A lot of people understand that experience. They may not be able to put it into words, but they understand what’s happening.

Read more here.

The Underappreciation of Rest in Today’s Society

underappreciation-of-rest

“What is without periods of rest will not endure.” —Ovid

Recently, I spent a few weeks on vacation. The time was filled with travel, reconnecting with family, playing golf, swimming, sleeping, and reading. As you can probably imagine, it was quite enjoyable. But more than that, it was desperately needed.

Consider the benefits that rest offers:

  • a healthier body.
  • more balance.
  • less stress.
  • deeper relationships.
  • better opportunity to evaluate life’s direction.
  • a new, fresh outlook.
  • increased productivity.

Yet, despite all the proven benefits of rest, intentionally setting aside regular time for rest is a practice that has become undervalued and underappreciated in today’s culture. We have become overworked, overstressed, and exhausted. Yet, Sabbath (setting aside one day each week for rest) remains a dying practice that less and less people practice regularly (never mind the idea of actually taking a two-week vacation).

Read more here.

'Front group': Coca-Cola funds scientists who stress exercise not diet to avoid obesity

© Gary Cameron

Coca-Cola has pumped millions of dollars into the founding of a new nonprofit that claims there is "strong evidence" that lack of exercise is mostly to blame for obesity, not poor diet.

Coke, the leading producer of soda and sugary drinks across the world, has invested heavily in the Global Energy Balance Network, a nonprofit run by a handful of university scientists who were offered $4 million by Coke to fund various research projects, according to the New York Times.

Halting weight gain should be less about dieting and more about "maintaining an active lifestyle and eating more calories,"the group said on its website. The group's proof of this claim comes down to two research papers, both of which end with the same footnote: “The publication of this article was supported by The Coca-Cola Company.”

The organization calls itself “the voice of science” on its website. It ultimately bills itself as a "not for profit dedicated to reversing the obesity & chronic disease epidemics through healthy lifestyle behaviors."

Read more here.

Gardening ‘prescriptions’ keep growing

A growing number of GPs and healthcare professionals are ‘prescribing’ gardening to improve health outcomes for their patients. The health and wellbeing benefits of gardening and food growing are increasingly being recognised, leading to a rise in the number of projects being commissioned by The NHS and public health, the Growing Health project has found.

Gardening prescriptions are being championed by a growing movement of charities and healthcare organisations who want gardening and food growing to be seen as a key activity for public health, general health and social care. Many of these projects engage people at risk of ill health and in areas of high social deprivation, providing physical and mental health benefits as well as helping to reduce social isolation.

Professor Jeremy Levy, Director of Education and Quality at Health Education North West London stated “Investing and supporting food growing and gardening as part of our health service is a cost effective way to improve health as well as prevent ill health”.

This topic will be discussed by leading healthcare professionals at a forthcoming conference ‘Prescribing Gardening - making green care a natural part of the health service’ on Wednesday 27th May in London. The day is for commissioners and healthcare professionals to see and taste for themselves the benefits of food growing for people who given a ‘green prescription’. It will take place in the beautiful setting of Phoenix High School Farm, in the White City Estate, which is one of Hammersmith Community Garden Association’s (HGCA) therapeutic gardening projects.

A former project volunteer, now project coordinator, Kevin Bittan commented on the impact on his health. “The course made a dramatic difference to my life and I very quickly started feeling physically better. My age and the years of self-abuse and stress had taken their toll but attending the Get Out There gardening project put a real spring in my step.”

The programme includes an expert panel of speakers including Professor Jeremy Levy MA PhD FHEA FRCP who will be presenting ‘Commissioning gardening and food growing to promote health’. Doctor Cavanagh, GP at Brook Green Medical Centre and CCG board member will be looking at ‘Gardening for health – a GP’s perspective’. Other projects highlighted include a public health commissioned project in Tower Hamlets.

The conference is part of the Growing Health project run by Sustain and Garden Organic and HGCA Plant a Seed – Grow Well project. It is supported by the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens. To book visit http://prescribinggardening.eventbrite.co.uk. Suggested donation £20

For more information please contact: Maria Devereaux, Growing Health maria@sustainweb.org or Amy Chrisp - Hammersmith Community Gardens Association amy@hcga.org.uk

Growing Health is a national project run by Garden Organic and Sustain, which is funded by the Tudor Trust, to see how community food growing can be routinely used by the health and social care services as a way of promoting health and wellbeing for a range of individuals and population groups www.growinghealth.info

Evidence of the benefits of gardening and food growing can be found in Growing Health publication ‘The benefits of gardening and food growing for health and wellbeing’ www.growinghealth.info

Hammersmith Community Gardens Association (HCGA) www.hcga.org.uk is an award winning local charity which runs four pocket park/greenhouse/school farm sites, delivers gardening education to local schools, and also delivers outdoor/environmental health-based programmes for other organisations.

The charity has experience of working with hard to reach groups including those at risk of homelessness and from BME background. The association has developed a peer mentoring and volunteer ambassador programme.

The Federation of City Farms & Community Gardens supports, represents and promotes community-managed farms and gardens across the UK.

Phoenix High School, The Curve, Shepherds Bush, London W12 0RQ

The Surprising Side Effect of a Winter Hike

Why you really need to spend more time outside, no matter how cold it gets

Go hiking, then come home and write the Great American Novel? Spending two days hiking in the Tetons might not turn you into William Faulkner, but research published in PLoS Onesuggests that a few days in a national park may make you more creative in other ways.

The study followed 56 hikers on a four-day hike, without their laptops, cellphones, or any other technology, and the authors found that spending time communing with nature boosted the hikers' creativity by 50 percent, based on the results of a creativity test they took either before they left or toward the end of their journey.

It's all about giving your brain a break from the daily grind of technology and stress, says the study's lead author David Strayer, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah. "The human mind is heavily influenced by the environment we're in," he says. "It's not useful to become a slave to technology." Disconnecting from social media, cellphones, computers, and stress allows your prefrontal brain circuits, which are associated with creativity and higher-level thinking, to get restored.

Read more: http://www.organicgardening.com/living/the-surprising-side-effect-of-a-winter-hike

Grandma was right: Common cold virus 'prefers cold noses', new study shows

Sick with a cold, blowing noseOnce again, your grandma was right (you eat your vegetables, right?). She might just have said "it's cold outside, you'll catch a cold" while the recent study published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences phrases it a bit differently ("Temperature-dependent innate defense against the common cold virus limits viral replication at warm temperature in mouse airway cells"), but the general idea is the same.

Rhinovirus, which is the most frequent cause of the common cold and "asthma exacerbations", can reproduce better at the lower temperatures found in a nose cavity compared to the warmer temperature found in lungs. It appears that this is because the body's immune system is less effective at cooler temperatures, thus giving the virus more leeway to get a toehold and, eventually, overrun our system.

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/health/grandma-was-right-common-cold-virus-prefers-cold-noses-new-study-shows.html

Study: Cycling keeps you young

cycling in copenhagenThere's a reason all those Copenhagen cycle chic people look so good, and it's not just those nordic genes and tight jeans. It's the exercising they are getting doing all that cycling. Now a new study confirms that not only will cycling keep you looking good, it will keep you young. Published in the Journal of Physiology, researchers from King’s College London and the University of Birmingham found that cyclists over the age of 55 "had levels of physiological function that would place them at a much younger age compared to the general population."

It should be noted that the study looked at serious cyclists, not those doing their local shopping. Men were capable of doing 100 kilometers in under 6.5 hours; That's a pretty small subset of cyclists. The researchers put the cyclists through all all kinds of tests and in fact couldn't determine their age from their measurements, everything varied from person to person and nothing correlated to age. But Professor Norman Lazarus is quoted in Road.CC:

Inevitably, our bodies will experience some decline with age, but staying physically active can buy you extra years of function compared to sedentary people. Cycling not only keeps you mentally alert, but requires the vigorous use of many of the body’s key systems, such as your muscles, heart and lungs which you need for maintaining health and for reducing the risks associated with numerous diseases.

The study concluded again what we all know apocryphally: people age at different rates, but if you keep active it will keep you younger. Professor Stephen Harridge concludes:

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/health/study-cycling-keeps-you-young.html

5 spices that are the most powerful anti-oxidants

fresh oreganoOregano

Spices are a rich source of polyphenols, which means we should all be eating more of them. Polyphenols are powerful anti-oxidants that neutralize the free radicals formed by constant sun exposure and anti-microbial agents that are plants’ primary defense mechanism against microbiological attack. By ingesting foods that contain high levels of polyphenols, humans boost their immune systems, reduce cellular inflammation, and maintain an optimal balance between the good and bad microbes that live in our digestive tracts.

Adding more spices to your diet is one way to increase the number of polyphenols entering your body on a regular basis, although, as Dr. Barry Sears explains in The Mediterranean Zone, you need to have continual daily intake in order to benefit in the long term, since polyphenols are fully metabolized within 24 hours of being taken into the body.

Here is a list of the top 5 spices that rank highest in terms of polyphenol content, making them the ones that you should try hardest to incorporate into your diet. ORAC stands for oxygen radical absorption capacity, which estimates the spice’s anti-oxidant ability. These values come from The Mediterranean Zone.

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/green-food/5-spices-are-most-powerful-anti-oxidants/

6 reasons to remove your shoes inside

From harboring hitchhiking bacteria to tracking in toxins, here’s why you may want to leave your kicks at the door.

No shoes insideShoes are great. We’ve been wearing them for 40,000 years and needless to say, they’ve served us well. The first forms of protective footwear evolved from simple efforts to keep our trotters insulated from snow and cold – and given that we don’t live on a planet lined with smooth, silky grass and other assorted soothing surfaces, shoes are a basic comfort for many of us.

But do we need to wear them inside? Many cultures think not, yet in the United States and other countries, oftentimes the shoes come inside attached to the feet of their wearer. Some households have a no-shoes policy, which can be met with scorn from the unshod-shy. But there are plenty of reasons why it might be a good idea to leave the loafers off when you come indoors. Consider the following:

1. Bacteria

We’ll just go straight for the “blech” factor here: Your shoes pick up sneaky bacteria which are then spread about your home when you wear shoes inside. A study from the University of Arizona collected germs and microbes on footwear. The researchers found 421,000 units of bacteria on the outside of the shoe, including E. coli, meningitis and diarrheal disease; Klebsiella pneumonia, a common source for wound and bloodstream infections as well as pneumonia; and Serratia ficaria, a rare cause of infections in the respiratory tract and wounds, reports Reuters. Granted the study was co-sponsored by The Rockport Company, but even so, it definitely brings the point home.

Read more: http://www.treehugger.com/green-home/6-reasons-remove-your-shoes-inside.html