Ladies and Gentlemen.....Let's Exercise!

     How often do you work out? When you work out, how long do you you usually exercise? One would think these are easily answerable questions. However, when you consider how often a person actually exercises, my guess is that you probably guess on the low-end of the spectrum.

     We've all seen articles stating, "Lack of exercise is detrimental to your health." This we know is obvious, but we never stop to think in what ways can a lack of exercise be unhealthy, or how many ways it can be unhealthy. Many consider weight gain to be the primary concern for a lack of exercise, to be followed by an increase in susceptibility to communicable diseases. While preventing these issues is important, we must also consider the other ways that exercise benefits our overall health.

     According to the US Centers for Disease Control, more than 54% of American adults don't exercise at least enough to promote wellness. I admittedly don't exercise to the fullest potential I know my body can. Would it be too much to actually take a trip to the gym before or after work?
  
     For the sake of your eyes, I won't list all the ways in which a lack of exercise affects your body, but I will give you my personal top three reasons to stay in shape, or get back into it.

     1. Increase risk of injury: According to Gabe Mirkin, M.D., aging isn't the reason for shrinking muscles, lack of exercise is purely the culprit. He said that if you fail to exercise, not only will your skeletal muscles shrink, your heart will also shrink. With your heart at a smaller size, it becomes less able to fight off infections and skeletal muscles become less protective as well as less able to heal.

     2. Increase depression rate: A study of 250 middle-aged women, conducted by the American College of Medicine indicates that there is a direct relationship between exercise and a positive attitude. One of the recommended techniques used to combat depression is an increase of physical activity. No one can deny the therapeutic properties of regular exercise.

    3. Age with grace: According to Dr. Abe Mirkin, about 50 percent of Americans die of heart attacks and strokes. 80 percent of those people are overweight or obese, which (like I said earlier) is associated with little exercise. Yet, only 13 percent of people over 65 engage in physical activity at least 3 days a week. For people at least 75 years of age, only 6 percent exercise regularly. Think about it!

     Okay, you my not be able to get to the gym everyday, but at least make some kind of effort to do something that will allow you to break a sweat. Physicians say at least one half an hour a day is all it takes to lead a healthier life. Don't sit down to that television show just yet! You have some push-ups to do first!

Let's see what Thai people think about exercise! Trust me, it's pretty funny! 

Roll that beautiful BEAN Footage

     What foods do you think contain the most antioxidants? Could it be a blueberry? Maybe even a bottle of green tea? If you chose one of those, you would be wrong. The foods that actually contain the most antioxidants are none other than beans; the "musical fruit."

     Red beans, kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans contain the most antioxidants of any food we eat. Specifically, black beans contain the most. Due to their dark pigmentation, these beans have an abundance of flavonoids, thus they contain the most antioxidants of all beans.

     Beans are often overlooked in terms of health, because they are associated with fiber and flatulence. It is also common to pair beans with foods we perceive to be less healthy than your run-of-the-mill vegetable. For example, we often pair beans with steak, hot dogs (pork and beans) and we think of beans to always be loaded with brown sugar, like they are in baked beans.

     In a recent episode of ... you guessed it, Dr. Oz, the good surgeon showed us the best foods that we're not eating. He asked a lady in the audience to rank the foods she thought contained the most antioxidants from most to least, she placed beans last, originally. When it was time to reveal what foods were the best in terms of health, I wasn't too surprised to see beans coming in first place, because it's always what you least expect that always seems to happen.

Below is Dr. Oz's complete grocery list for a healthier you!

Let's see why he chooses these for his grocery list! copyright not intended!

New Meaning to the Word; "Print"

     I'm gonna hit you guys with a little scenario. Let's say you were in an accident and are consequently in need of a kidney. There are ten people in front of you on the donor list, but you don't have that much time left. Don't you wish there was some way to "make" a kidney? Well, I have some good news for everybody out there.
 
     Thursday, at a TED Conference in Long Beach, California, a representative of Wake Forrest Institute of Regenerative Medicine presented the concept of "printing" human organs, specifically kidneys. "It's like baking a cake," said Anthony Atala of Wake Forrest Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
 
     After creating a 3-D image of the patients kidney, a small tissue sample the size of half a postage stamp seeds the computerized process. Then, by replicating the small bit of tissue, the organ "printer" works layer-by-layer to build a fresh kidney.

     About 90% of the patients on the transplant list are in need of kidneys. According to Atala, the need for organs outweighs the supply of organs donated, thus not only making this system of generating organs innovative, but necessary.

    

     This procedure has already been tested on patients and has proven successful. College student Luke Massella was one of the first patients to receive a "printed" kidney when he was 10 years old. "The surgery saved my life and made me who I am today," said Massella.

See for yourself! The TED Conference (full segment on "printing")

 
     Think of the possibilities. If kidneys can be generated through this procedure, imagine what other vital organs can be "printed."