Natural Health Alternative Blog

Cold weather, snow and ice outside are not exactly considered motivators for us to get out of the house and exercise unless we live on or near a ski resort. Even then, cold winter weather is certainly not the ideal scene to warm up and have an effective workout.

This is why it probably isn’t surprising to you to learn that over 30% of people don’t do ANY exercise in the winter. For those who do exercise, most would admit that they don’t exercise as much as in spring, summer and fall months.

What often makes the inactive winter life style even worse is the fact that many don’t keep up with the salad mentality when choosing food. We have been trained to go for the heavy-cream and heavy starch- laden soups and other such comfort food.

These two culprits, inactivity and poor diet end up having disastrous effects on one’s health. When one’s health is already compromised, it is much easier to pick up a cold or flu virus, including the H1N1 (swine flu) virus.

Winter weather again exacerbates the illness factor because many of us don’t want to get out side. Instead we gather inside, generally not getting enough fresh air and in turn transmitting illnesses back and forth.

So, how to get healthy and generally stay healthy in winter? For starters, don’t consider that outside is the ONLY place you can get an effective workout. Many find joining a gym both a warm, convenient way to get into shape, but also a way to meet others and build a support network in achieving and maintaining fitness.

One can also easily purchase anything from an elliptical machine or treadmill, to more inexpensive yoga, Pilates and/or aerobics videos. In fact, depending on what cable services you have for your television, there are many free exercise channels with fun and diverse workout routines.

I have several friends, however, who insist on the great outdoors for their workout – year round. If you are going to be exercising outside in the winter, you should take extra care in planning your wardrobe. Layers are key. One should be warm enough that fingers and toes are not numb, indicating the first stages of frostbite, but not so warm that one is perspiring.

Unlike during summer months, when we sweat in cold or freezing weather, it can quickly cool down our bodies and cause an unhealthy shock to our system. The extremely cold weather can cause blood vessels to constrict, resulting in less blood flow, resulting in less oxygen getting to the vital organs – especially the heart.

Did you know that one is twice as likely to have a heart attack in the winter? This is due to the aforementioned lack of exercise, poor dietary habits and the fact that many don’t realize how much strain it is to perform a seemingly innocuous task such as shoveling the driveway.

If you are looking to improve your heart health and/or lose weight during those winter months, I highly encourage you to try my all natural High Blood Pressure program and Weight Loss Breeze programs. These are easy to perform breathing and relaxation exercises, which you can do at home. The results are amazing!

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So much is said about high blood pressure and the potentially disastrous health consequences if left untreated (heart attack, stroke, blindness, and all sorts of other scary health concerns) that almost everyone over the age of thirty knows at least something about it.

In fact, that is why I write so extensively about this condition and the fact that it is so very treatable.

We are all told things to avoid such as high sodium foods, processed foods, fast food, red meat, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and tobacco.

What not everyone knows is why we should do this. The fact is that these types of foods all contain some sort of toxin which can affect one’s health – high blood pressure being the topic of today’s article.

Sodium and caffeine are not inherently poisonous but can elevate blood pressure. This is especially true of people who have a family history or other issues such as obesity that already increases their risk for hypertension

Many processed foods and fast foods contain high amounts of trans fats, sodium and cholesterol. Be wary of certain “diet” foods as they sometimes replace sugar with chemicals high in sodium and are oftentimes not lower in fat.

Red meats, even those not processed or cured can be cause for alarm because you are basically eating whatever toxin the animal ate before it became your meal.

Alcohol and nicotine/tobacco, while not foods are things people tend to ingest or breathe in and in many cases, to excess. While I don’t see a problem with moderate alcohol consumption, research has indicated there is no safe cigarette. Keep in mind that these are by definition poisons to our bodies.

Also in the toxins category are medications, both over the counter and prescription. These can raise blood pressure so it’s extremely important to let your doctor know if you have any history of hypertension.

As if that weren’t bad enough, new research on animals has shown that when exposed to daily air pollutants (much lower levels than seen in many developing countries and parts of the U.S.), even short term, blood pressure was raised as much as 25%.

While we can carpool and recycle (yes, I’m a big believer!), we can’t control what goes on globally. Likewise, a hyperbaric chamber isn’t something we can budget for either.

I highly recommend my High Blood Pressure program to anyone who suffers from hypertension. It’s all natural breathing and relaxation exercises have shown amazing results and it’s something you can do regardless of the environment to help reduce your blood pressure.

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I can’t name the number of people who have started my High Blood Pressure program after being diagnosed with high blood pressure who either didn’t like or couldn’t tolerate the horrible side effects of prescription drugs to lower their blood pressure.

Throughout various correspondences, I have also come to realize the number of people who tried my program, noticed good results and then were encouraged to adopt healthier lifestyles as a result.

Many of these same people indicated that they had no family history of high blood pressure, didn’t smoke or drink alcohol to excess. The only thing they noticed is that they had, over the years, gained weight (sometimes considerable amounts after childbirth, etc.) and/or developed poor eating habits.

There are many diets available today – just type in “Diet” into any web search engine and notice the results. Most of these diets, unfortunately, offer amazing weight loss results in little to no time. Once you drill down deeper, you realize that they are at best, not accurate in their claims – at worst, basically starvation diets.

One may lose a lot of weight but the effects on one’s health, the heart especially, are devastating. Our bodies aren’t designed to gain or lose vast amounts of weight at once. But, for many of these diets, that’s exactly what happens.

The body goes into “starvation” mode with these extreme caloric reduction diets and once we either lose the target weight or more than likely, simply quit out of frustration, our metabolisms already reduced, are forced to deal with “normal” food intake.

The result is rapid weight gain and health issues. Many of my clients informed me that they were even heavier than they were when they started the original diet.

Of course, that’s not to say that all plans to lose weight are wrong. Many of my clients indicated that once they were feeling better from trying my program, they were encouraged to try eating better, and in general, live a healthier lifestyle.

My advice is to go back to the food pyramid. This simple plan we all learned in grade school, does in the end hold good advice. In fact, one client mentioned that when she went back to the “basics” she and her family ended up losing weight, without feeling hungry and “punished.”

One also doesn’t feel like one is on a diet, at least not in the traditional sense. It is in fact, a lifestyle change, meant to go the distance, not just a fad diet.

Add to it that most if not all healthy diet plans also recommend at least eight glasses of water per day and vitamin supplements to ensure effective weight loss. I am a firm believer in vitamin supplements, ONLY, keep in mind that you should go with an established company with proven results – vitamins and other health supplements are often times not regulated by any health agency.

I highly recommend a well balanced diet promoting all food groups, even fat, just in limited and realistic quantities.

I also highly recommend both my High Blood Pressure program to lower blood pressure with all natural and amazing results or my Weight Loss Breeze program if you are looking to lose weight with all natural breathing and relaxation exercises.

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I’ve written before about stress, both good and bad and its effects on one’s health. Stress, by definition, is the state of emotional, physical or mental tension or suspense as a reaction to a force (stressor) on the body or mind.

It’s obvious to anyone who knows me, how in tune I am with knowing what stressors can do to both the body and mind. This is because the mind and body while performing separate functions need each other in order to adequately function. A problem with one affects the other and a cycle of negative effects begins.

Emotional stress is sneaky. It can quietly damage your body and mind in severe ways oftentimes, without you even knowing it.

Picture yourself walking down the road and a car careens out of control and speeds towards your direction. In an instant, hormones like adrenaline and cortisal are released in order to give your muscles a sudden burst of energy to get out of the way of the car and save your life.

More than that, though, blood is diverted away from other parts of the body (like the stomach for digestion) to your large muscles, allowing for more strength and speed. Heart rate and breathing increase dramatically in order to accommodate the sudden need for “fight or flight.”

The body does this by design and most of the time we are grateful for its lifesaving skills. Other times though the stressor could be an angry co-worker yelling at you. For some, it’s the driver that cuts you off in traffic.

Even though the stressor is emotional and your mind tells you your life isn’t in danger, the physical manifestations are the same as those mentioned when dealing with an out of control car coming your way.

Even this would be an acceptable body response to a given emotional stressor at any one time. The problem is when these stressors or the mind’s perceived stressors are chronic.

Over time, the “fight or flight” response which leads to neither fighting nor fleeing builds up in our minds and bodies. Physically, side effects include: headache, back pain, TMJ (temporomandibular joint pain due to bruxing or repeated grinding of the teeth), heart palpitations, stomach pain and/or ulcers muscle, joint and even bone degeneration.

In conjunction with the above physical symptoms, chronic stress can lead to emotional and psychological problems as well. Anxiety, anger and depression can be the result.

And here begins the cycle. If you are feeling the above emotions (oftentimes in conjunction, we just say we’re “on edge” and it’s understood), you aren’t likely to exercise to remove the muscle tension and so it just builds up creating larger problems.

Additionally, feeling depressed angry or anxious leads to sleep and eating disorders which can lead to obesity, snoring, sleep apnea, self medicating through alcohol or drugs…you get the picture. Long term, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other life threatening diseases are the result.

Obviously, to remove the stressor is the key to not enduring a particular stressful event, however, reality often gets in the way. Continued stress over a major project at work, unpaid bills or other chronic events is most of the time just a part of life.

What’s important is to deal with the negative emotions as they arise. If you can’t, then it’s time to consider talking to a professional. If you aren’t sure what is making you stressed, I also recommend some sort of breathing and exercise program designed to relax both the mind and body.

My programs have proven to thousands of my clients that they can help relieve stress and increase health. If emotional stress is the culprit, any of my programs can help you (especially the Natural Blood Pressure Program). They can be located on the right hand side of my natural health blog page.

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