Does Ageing Suck? Part 1
“Aging sucks! There is nothing good about it!” my friend said. And, as she said it, her face looked as if she had just eaten a sourball candy, or worse. Two days later, another woman made the same face and with as much anger in her voice repeated those exact words, and last week I heard this same reframe from a few other friends’ mouths. It got me thinking. Do I agree with them?
A few parts of me don’t work quite as well as they did a few years ago, now that I am in middle adulthood—my right hip—from my ice skating days, bothers me more often that it did ten years ago, But, I am healthier overall than when I turned fifty. I do special exercises to help my old injury, and when I do them, they work well to keep the pain away, or hovering around a 1/2, on a scale from 1-10. I also help my body by taking good supplements. I found these become key components to maintaining good health as I age and lose the protection offered by my pre-menopausal armor of hormones. Finding a qualified professional to help me get on the correct vitamin regime is making all the difference.
As far as aging and mental helath, I am as sharp, with only an occasional brain blip, which is due to stress, not getting older. How do I know this? When I return from vacation, or do my meditation practice regularly, information comes instantly. My tap class, and regular piano practice also keep me mentally strong. I know both contribute to my good recall, as well.
After pondering why these women, and others who only see the negative in the ageing process, I recognized that many of us hang on to regrets about losing our youth, things we didn’t do or get to do because of other choices we made. We may be angry that the past, or “easier” parts of our lives are over– when we all were building our careers, had flexible bodies, and more energy than we needed. I also realized that some of us haven’t re-chosen how we want our lives to be.We are in contrast/opposition to what the great Byron Katie calls, Loving What Is. A couple of regrets from my youth still pique my composure, but I work to release those anger knots. In time, I can sense that with practice, they become softer, smaller, and more crumbly than they once felt.
It helps knowing that whenever we don’t like the way our lives are going, we have the power to re-choose—from as big a decision as choosing a new life path, a new partner, a new locale to call home, to smaller things such as getting rid of unflattering clothes in the closet, or reflecting on who we are now. Even changing our lipstick color to one that better complements our skin tone, signing up to volunteer, planting some flowers, helping a neighbor in need, or trying out a new recipe moves us forward and helps us feel empowered.
Regret is the biggest time waster on the planet—next to trying to “fix” someone you love 😉 Anger corrodes our insides, shrinks our brain, and makes us look twenty years older than our real age. All facts. Do you really want to subject the only body you will ever have to that kind of abuse? Really?
To be honest, there are days when I don’t love what is going on at that moment in my life, and I would like to chuck it all and move to a tree house with no phone and a hungry, non-endangered tiger circling below. What I know at these times is I am overtaxed. I need a break. I need to refill my energy tanks. Then, however I can, I re-choose my circumstances to allow me to get the self-care I need until I am topped off and ready to step back into the world. So how does this tie into a worldview that aging sucks? I shift from a place of disempowerment, to replenishing my power by re-choosing what I focus on. This will not change my hip pain, nor rid me of my cellulite, but it lowers my stress, and allows me to see what is going right, where my blessings lie. To reinforce feeling empowered, I do my Gratitude Meditation, and list not just five good things in my life, but as many as I can think of, and I write them in my pretty journal I keep just for that purpose. Looking back on the completed pages and books puts me in a place of seeing both good and bad and realizing how the good stuff so overwhelms the bad stuff. Life can be really tough, but sometimes handling it well might just be a matter of perspective.
…To be continued.
Until next time….Be Vibrant!
Does Ageing Suck? Part 1
Home…Going home…Being home. Those words envelop my soul, and bring a feeling of calm, of exhaling, of comfort, and warmth, and safety. One of my greatest fears, and a fear shared by mid-lifers and older adults I know, is not being able to stay at home until the angels call me/us home. Gerontologists, researchers, and policymakers have a phrase for this desire to stay in one’s home. We call it aging in place, and more and more we hear about what it means, and what the implications are for losing our ability to stay at home as we get older. I can sense a quick intake of breath here, and a visceral reaction to the image conjured up in your mind of having to leave your home to live in a a nursing facility or retirement community if you really want to stay at home. I feel exactly the same way, which spurs me every day to stay as vibrant as I possibly can to avoid being forced to give up home.
What environmental gerontologists (yes, that’s a special subset of the discipline) find from many recent studies validates what we all feel. One of the first studies to actually ask seniors what they thought about aging in place was done by Dr. Janine Wiles at the University of Auckland. Dr. Wiles found these folks felt very strongly about wanting to stay in their homes, but not so much for the physical structure of their house, but for the ancillary elements of “staying put,” as many called it. Chief among the reasons they want to age in place comes from wanting to be independent, and having control over their environment and their lives as a whole.
In fact, a pivotal study done in the UK decades ago found that the more control workers had, i.e., the higher up they were on the work ladder, the less they experienced the effects of aging because they felt less stressed. Those at the bottom of the ladder, with little control, exhibited the most stress, and aged the fastest. Dr. Robert Sapolsky in a book I have mentioned before, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, saw this so clearly in the animal kingdom, as well. Keeping their independence also meant less dependence on family in terms of needing their help with personal care, or being able to stay independent “through” family who step in to provide personal care and support.
Next on the list, the New Zealanders mentioned the connection to social support, including friends and family. Their connections to neighbors and the neighborhoods in which they live were major sources of comfort and feelings of security through familiarity. Don’t you draw comfort from your neighborhood if you have lived there a long time? My husband often mentions the feeling of ease he has walking our third dog, George, around the block in the evenings. These are the same blocks we have walked with our previous two puppies, for almost thirty years.
Financial benefits came next. When we do the math, it is much cheaper to stay in one’s home, especially since many seniors have almost paid off their mortgages. More than twenty percent of seniors 65-74 own their homes outright.. This makes staying at home much easier if outside caregivers are needed at some point. Systems of support and one’s family enable seniors in many areas of the country to age in place.
The science also tells us that aging in place slows our memory loss. Staying at home allows us to keep our current social network of friends and familiar places, One of the worst things for our cognition, memory, and spirits is having to leave our homes against our wishes, for any reason.
As a former interior designer, I know several colleagues who are now becoming certified aging in place specialists—designers who help retro-fit one’s home with everything one needs to be safe and comfortable. This may include adding ramps, changing out bathrooms fixtures or creating a same floor living space for greater convenience. God bless these wonderful folks!
As Dr. Wiles summed up so well, “The friendships, clubs, access to resources, and familiar environments [makes] them feel attached to their communities as ‘insiders,’ ” and just as we knew in high school and beyond, being an insider always feels like coming home.
Until next time….Be Vibrant!
What it Means to Age in Place
Sometimes I am asked to explain the difference between the words gerontology and geriatrics. Geriatrics, and geriatricians, who are often medical doctors, focus only on the medical conditions and diseases of the aged, while Gerontology is the study of the process of aging, which includes wisdom for aging gracefully, and aging with dignity. Gerontology and gerontologistslook at the multi-faceted aspects of aging and the aging process, as it relates to the physical health, mental health, emotional well being, and social relationships of seniors. It is called a multidisciplinary field, as it brings together the study of psychology (the study of the mind and the mental processes with the science of personality), biology (the general study of the body), physiology (the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of the body, or the functions and processes of the body) and sociology (the study of social relationships). In essence, we examine (treat) the whole person. Ours is the study of body, mind, and spirit
We also consider the theories of aging, age-related diseases, and the risk factors associated with aging. We look at ways to slow the aging process and disrupt aging. Most importantly, gerontologists look at preventable changes in our health and the many options for healthy aging, successful aging, as it is sometimes called. This information is constantly emerging from the latest science which supports aging in place. We study how to preserve and enhance our cognition and memory, and optimize all aspects of our aging brain with healthy foods and supplements chosen to best nourish our bodies as we get older. We pay attention to how social relationships and social connection work to keep us vital and engaged every day. We also look at healthy ways to reverse premature aging in our brains and bodies, without drugs or questionable chemicals.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau the life expectancy in the U.S. will be 77 years for men and 82 years for women by the year 2020. We, the aging population, face major challenges in maintaining our health and wellness. Certified gerontologists are specifically trained to meet and answer these challenges. I love what I do to help people, especially women, be as vibrant as they can be at every age, and I am honored to be an aging expert in service to my friends, fans, and followers around the world.
Until next time….Be Vibrant!
People Ask Me, “Please Define Gerontology.”
Now we know that four types of aerobic exercise are what we’re aiming for to maximize our telomeres, but there is more to think about to boosting your brain power than just our telomeres. There’s also the matter of retaining our motor skills, shoring up our balance and increasing a different type of memory.
Research shows that dancing is a promising candidate for countering the age-related decline in our physical and mental abilities; dancing to improve your memory is now showing up in several studies. Aerobic exercise helps in both these areas, but the positive effects of dancing will make you want to sign up for that tap class!
We know the hippocampus plays a vital part in our major cognitive processes—memory and learning, but what you may not know is it is also involved with helping us maintain our balance, something crucial for our well-being and quality of life at any age. While aerobic exercise does its magic growing and maintaining our telomeres in our hippocampus– reversing hippocampus damage overall, as well as all the organs and cells of our bodies, it falls off the list when it comes to helping us stay steady on our feet and feeling grounded. Adding a dance class to our weekly regime can tip our balance from tottering and falling off our stilettos to confidently working the room on them.
Even more reason to put on your dancing shoes is what dancing does to the long-term health of our brain. Science lesson for today: two significant studies, one involving more than four hundred and seventy older adults found that dancing created significant (by research standards) cognitive changes in the participants when compared to traditional repetitive exercise—biking, walking, swimming. After just six months of regular dance classes, verses regular aerobic exercise, the parahippocampal gyrus (the tissue of the brain that surrounds the hippocampus) of the dancers was bigger. Research also shows skipping the workouts of the parahippocampal regions creates an early red flag on the track towards Alzheimer’s (you can forget that term, now.) This part of the hippocampus is directly involved with, among other things, storing our memories of last weekend’s great dinner with friends and the important passwords needed to unlock the computers at work. It’s necessary to process those correctly so that they get filed in the right file—the lasagna recipe goes into the Splurge file; your seven-digit, with at least one capital letter and two even numbers goes into the “Notes” app on your phone. We need to keep it all straight so that later, we can correctly recall everything.
The dancers also showed significant improvements in manual dexterity, spatial memory-remembering where things are in relation to yourself, tactile discrimination-the sensitivity of our fingertips and our ability to tell the difference between textures, different surfaces, and the like. But, best of all their motor skills were much better than the traditional exercise group. For even more good news: following up for 5.1 years afterward, the dancers showed a markedly reduced risk of developing dementia. How great is that for swinging to the beat once a week?
In looking at the details of the dance program, we find what makes this form of fun so beneficial: the dance program required the participants to constantly learn new dance patterns. These folks weren’t just doing the watusi every week. And here in lies the key mental health benefits of dancing– making the brain work hard each week to learn those new steps creates the change and growth of our brain, and muscles. The onslaught of unique information each week challenged the minds of these seniors and forced their brains to lay down new nerve tracks and make new nerve connections. The time period of 18 months seems to be an important factor for making these new pathways permanent. More study is needed, but many signs point toward this length of time.
Knowing this, and since getting my husband to take dancing lessons just didn’t work out in his schedule, I took up tap dancing. I am very, very bad at it, having never done it before, but I can say it has helped my memory. My thoughts come just a little easier, and I can more quickly recall things. Even my balance has improved a good leap!
Additionally, there is another component contributing to the sustained increase in the cortex volume of our senior dancers: music. And that is our topic for next week—the winning combination of music and movement. Stay tuned!
Until next time…Dance Vibrantly!
Dancing May Be the Best Aerobic Exercise to Reduce Dementia
Have you had any luck with single-tasking this week? Even driving without talking, or texting, is a step forward. Keep at it. The rewards are vast from just being present and doing one thing at a time, the great masters called this mindfulness, and it is something to strive for. Today, I want to delve in a bit more to the effects of cortisol on our brains, and how stress and memory loss are intimately connected.
I am guessing that many of us thought by the time we were eligible for AARP, as older people were portrayed in movies and television when we were growing up, we would be slowing down and heading for time in the RV to See America First. Somehow, life didn’t quite turn out that way, and I for one, am busier than ever, partly because of our 24/7-always-connected world. This busyness causes stress on our bodies, and raises our cortisol levels at a time when biologically our bodies have down-shifted from firing on all cylinders, all the time, as when we were 25.
Chronic stress– caring for a loved one, a long-term negative work situation, divorce, grieving the death of a spouse/partner/child, financial pressures or health problems, causes our cortisol levels to rise and stay elevated. The result is a cascade of effects that puts our immune system, all our hormonal systems (which help regulate every organ and function in our body), and our neurological system (system of nerves) from head to toe at risk of going haywire. In future blogs I will talk more about the effects of stress on the body. Here, I want to touch on what happens to our ability to retrieve data, store data, reasoning, learning something new—the entire scope of processing information we are required to do a million times every day.
Extensive research reveals the direct link between memory and stress and cortisol levels. Consistently high levels of cortisol impairs all these functions—we can’t remember things we once knew we knew, we are unable to hold new information in our minds, and our ability to think and navigate successfully in the world is diminished. This bundle of brain functions are called “working memory.” I think of what cortisol’s short-circuiting does to our working memory like a piano with missing keys; when I play Moonlight Serenade, the missing notes makes Glenn Miller’s classic sound odd. Cortisol has the ability to make our memory act odd. I recall during a particularly stressful period a few years ago, I could not pull up words I wanted to use. My memory would literally go blank, nothing would come– my circuitry was shut down, everyone gone home for the night. It was scary. After the period passed, my word retrieval, along with my ability to remember why I went into a room, returned. I was grateful.
As I mentioned last week, over time and as we get older, chronic stress causes our brains to change shape, and sections—most notably the front part of our brains, will actually shrink, forever ending our ability to have optimal brain or memory function. Sadly, MRI’s show this to be true. When I started my studies to become a gerontologist, I learned in-depth how seriously stress messes with our minds, and as we enter middle age our bodies don’t have the same reserves to preserve brain function.
Right now, this red-hot minute, lowering our stress level should become our #1 priority, because, the good news is: when we do, our bodies and our memory can recover and heal. Starting next week I am going to begin talking about ways to do just that, not only to stop the decline, but boost our health and memory and turn our backs on memory-robbing dementia.
Until next time…Be Vibrant!
How Stress Negatively Impacts Your Memory
Looking at beliefs that might no longer be serving us in our middle years, multi-tasking is a good place to start. We all knew when we were younger we were bullet-proof– able to easily do four things at once with equal ability and quality. Being a little older, and much smarter, we are beginning to find maybe not so much now. The truth is we were never able to do four things at once with the same level of attention as focusing on only one. Science tells us this harsh truth: multi-tasking is bad for your brain. Human brains are not wired that way; our brains work best when focusing on one thing at a time. I was (and sometimes still am) as guilty as any millennial until I read the science behind this truth. Multi-tasking by doing several things at once, or being constantly interrupted and so having to focus on something different than the task before us, does many things, multi-tasking damages our brain by increasing the level of stress hormones released into our bodies. This rise in the main stress hormone, cortisol, negatively impacts our level of brain function and our cognitive performance, leading over time to a short-circuiting of our memory bank. As we zoom into our middle and later years, several other subtle changes are happening in our brains to further impede our memory from working at optimum levels. (We will dive into those interesting topics in future discussions.) The scary news is that too many stress hormones floating around our brains can actually change the way our brain works, shrink the size of our brain and our circuitry, and literally act like a poison, moving us closer to the dreaded “early dementia” column. Seriously.
Now for the good news, since my glass is always way more than half-full. We can re-choose how we allot our time today to add some brain enhancing activities to counter our past choices, and begin boosting our memory.
The first one is to reduce the time in which we engage in multi-tasking. Start slow. Going cold turkey is by far the best for brain health, but probably unrealistic unless you just retired to an island to live out your days selling coconut juice to tourists. For the rest of us worker bees, start with looking at where you could stop the insanity—make a list of tasks or chores that you will, from now on, focus on singularly. Any relief you can offer your brain is a plus. Try to add to the list over the coming days and weeks, not just writing them down, but implementing them as well. Notice how you feel as you begin single-tasking, and if there is any improvement in little remembrances. I am betting there will be. Your cortisol levels will drop, and you might find yourself sleeping better, to boot!
The second part of this is to do everything you can to limit your interruptions throughout your day. Ideally in all aspects of your life, but to be realistic, let’s start at work. Think about ways you can limit physical interruptions—people talking to you, instant reminders of incoming email/texts/voice mails. Set the boundaries you can today, try to keep increasing them until you can implement the third suggestion.
The third part of helping your memory return comes from choosing to carve out 45 minutes of uninterrupted periods of concentration twice a day. Start with once a day, if twice seems too daunting. Gotta walk before you can dance. This will do so many healing things for your brain. You will very quickly notice a difference in your memory.
Last, but not the least by any standard, give your brain a rest. Doing nothing is one of the most productive things we can do in our world today to restore and replenish our minds and bodies. I like to take 40-60 minutes and just chill, eyes closed, thinking of nothing in particular. Granted, some days this is only a dream, but I do write it in my calendar and work to honor that notation with the same commitment as any other appointment. Every little bit helps. It is not an ‘all or nothing’ benefit.
Our memory banks do not have to stay in drawdown mode; we have the power to make generous deposits by choosing new ways of doing things that will add to our lives in every moment. Remember, the brain given the chance, has the miraculous capacity to improve, not matter our age!
Until next time…Be Vibrant!
Why Multi-tasking is Draining Your Brain and Memory Banks
Stress increases levels of cortisol, which at high levels is toxic to the brain—in particular to the memory-consolidating hippocampus which is one of the first structures to be assaulted by Alzheimer’s disease.
The End of Alzheimer’s, Dale E. Bredesen, MD.
Today’s brief science lesson: The hippocampus is located deep inside our brains. It is the part of our brains responsible for, among other things, our short-term and long-term memory storage. As I discussed last time, stress kills cells, all different kinds of cells throughout our body, and a key component of those cells is their telomeres. Telomeres are the protective end caps of our chromosomes—think the plastic tip of a shoelace. Telomeres are found in every cell throughout the body. The longer and stronger our telomeres are, the higher functioning our brains and minds will be, and the less our body will decline and age. The telomeres in our hippocampus cells are involved with memory. Shortened telomeres are found in people with dementia and Alzheimer’s. I know this is a lot of information to take in, but I want to set the stage for future discussions about exciting new research which can help us slow down aging and the destruction of these two very important aspects of our physical selves.
In a previous post I talked about how stress and cortisol can shrink our brains and damage our memories forever. Now for the really, really great news: there are several ways to not only stop this happening, but reverse it and improve our brains, our memory functions, and our entire bodies. One of the most important is….exercise.
Exercise has emerged in the last few years as so much more important that we previously thought. The smart folks are saying that every neurologist should be prescribing exercise to their patients before they write a script for anything else. We are animals that were born to move—use it or lose it, the saying goes, and that is proving so very true. I will come back again and again to the smorgasbord of benefits of various types of exercise. The list is long, and getting longer. One key finding is that exercise slows down aging of the body. For our hippocampus and its attending telomeres, aerobic exercise is the answer; vigorous aerobic exercise at 60% of our maximum capacity—the level at which we are breathing somewhat hard, but can still hold a conversation. Your personal 60% will depend on your fitness level, and as you become more fit, it will shift up. Forty-five minutes, at least three times per week, and our telomeres will be healthy– in our brains and throughout our bodies.
And, here is the even better news: High-intensity interval training (HIIT) stimulates the birth of brand new hippocampus cells. When we rev up the intensity of our workout to our maximum capacity at regular intervals for 20, 30, or 40 seconds, followed by a periods of recovery, our hippocampus receives a message which forces it to adapt and grow to accommodate the onslaught of energy. Our ability to remember improves, our cognitive functions improve, and our lives improve. The response in our muscles and our brains causes a short-term stress response and from this, new cells are created; a positive association between telomeres and stress. (An example of when some stress is good for us!) HIIT training is not something to enter into lightly. As older adults, we must gradually build up our capability, even if we have been exercising regularly. The safest way to add HIT into your workout is to talk with a fitness professional—at your gym or the Y. The trained staff there can help you put together a sensible plan. But—MAKE SURE you speak with a trainer who is trained to work with older adults!!! Ask the necessary questions to find the trainer who understands your needs.
Over the last two weeks watching the finest athletes compete at Winter Olympics will, I hope, inspire you to get moving, it did me, and those amazing women and men reminded me to get in my aerobic work! The myriad of other gifts from doing regular aerobic and HIIT exercise will keep for another day, but know that by lacing those tennis shoes onto your feet and doing the work, you have the capacity to drastically slowdown your aging. Now, just go do it.
Until next time…Be Vibrant!
The Role of Telomeres in Slowing Down Our Aging Clock and How to Increase Them
For many different religions, one of the anchoring tenants each wisdom tradition holds is acting with kindness toward our fellow humans and all living creatures. Exercising compassion can alleviate our feelings of isolation, solve many problems, and open our hearts to genuine connection to others and the world around us.
With age comes wisdom, and as I reached mid-life, showing kindness has become the guiding principle for how I want to live my life each day. This was not always the case. For decades, I chose being right as my number one value. You can image how well that often turned out ;-0 For the Baby Boomer generation, and since all time before computers, knowledge was power. We drew our strength and our feelings of acceptance by how much we knew, and like many of us, I wanted everyone to know how much I knew. I am most grateful the old cliché has proven true in my case: With age comes wisdom. Somewhere along the way, wisdom, like a cloak of superior intelligence, enveloped me and I woke up: kindness is where it is at, it’s what wise people practice, what brings one peace. It is the ace that produces a winning hand, every time. Practicing kindness enables me to get out of my head and into my heart, and adopt an attitude of benevolence toward the world and even more importantly, toward myself.
This last step is about gaining wisdom, by reaching an age to look back on the effects my harsher behavior of youth had on myself and others, and then being aware, for having lived long enough to know the meaning of with age comes wisdom, and understanding there is a better way. Learning the values of other religions and their wise traditions opened my eyes to this truth, and from there my life has soared. Kindness elevates the conversation by shifting everyone’s perspective and allowing light to shine into a darkened heart. Kindness is the answer, now more than ever, as so many are suffering around the world.
I celebrate every day this hard-earned wisdom I have acquired. I am so grateful that I now understand a little later than sooner– but in plenty of time for me to share it all around.
Until next time… Be Vibrant!
What With Age Comes Wisdom Really Means
Dame Freya Stark DBE (31 January 1893 – 9 May 1993), was an Anglo-Italian explorer, geographer, cartographer, and travel writer. Born in Paris, and raised in Italy, she spoke more than a dozen languages and dialects, including being fluent in Arabic. Beginning in her early thirties, Freya traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, India and Asia Minor until her last trip at eight-six.
On all Freya’s trips she made maps of the area, often being the first person ever to record the topography of the area. Many of her maps are still used today. She flaunted convention, associating with English diplomats and officers as well as with locals; she went on desert excursions to the Bedouins, accompanied exclusively by Iraqi nationals, completely disregarding the colonial moral code of the time. She wore men’s clothing when traveling, and spent months at a time on camel back in rough and dangerous terrain, always the only woman, much less the only white woman, to do so at the time. During World War II, Freya collaborated with the Ministry of Information in London, where she was employed as an expert on the Middle East. She lectured widely, did radio broadcasts, received numerous awards for her work and her writing and in 1972 she was knighted/raised to the level of nobility by the Queen of England and given the lifetime title of Dame. Freya lived to be over one hundred years old, and was busy writing and lecturing until the very end of her life.
This Week’s Wonder Woman: Dame Freya Stark
To make it easier to see what great information you might have missed while living your vibrant life, here is your quarterly summary of the hot topics I have cover so far this year. Enjoy!
January 7, 2019– Neuroboics
Neurobics, a brain-training program is helping people worldwide keep their memories sharp and their cognitive skills humming at near-peak performance. The exercises strengthen brain productivity, which results in faster retrieval of information as well as the ability to add new information into memory.
January 14, 2019—Vitamins For Brain Health and Longevity
Dr. Bruce Ames, Director of Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute, has identified thirty known vitamins and minerals plus eleven other substances, which when taken at optimal levels are the best supplements for brain health. They are listed here.
January 22, 2019 –The Gut Brain Connection
Researchers have found a strong connection between the health of the gut and the general health of the rest of the body, most importan
January 28, 2019– Your Brain On Food
Summary: For a longer, healthier life follow a Mediterranean diet rather than the traditional American diet of refined carbohydrates. Eating organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible and cutting back on sugar consumption will also ensure better gut and brain health.
February 4, 2019—Best Brain Foods
Summary: Based on the latest research, here are a dandy dozen of the best things to “feed” your brain to help it, and you, function at your most vibrant.
February 11, 2019—Change Is Hard
Like so many health issues, we often feel fine until a health issue reaches critical mass, and then BOOM! We have a heart attack, or full-blown diabetes, or worse. Dropping white sugar and excessive wheat products out of our diet is the difficult, but healthy choice.
February 18, 2019 —How Pets Keep Seniors Healthy
Solid research published in the last few decades reveals the benefits of seniors owning a pet or having regular interaction with an animal. Those who have pets are physically and mentally healthier, have more independence, and have stronger and broader social connections, all contributors to keeping us vibrant as we get older. Pets may even reduce some symptoms of dementia.
February 25, 2019—Ten Amazing Black Women
There are so many accomplished women of color to acknowledge and applaud during Black History Month; women doing great things in the present, and ones from the past. In compiling this list, I hope to introduce a few rising stars and highlight the achievements of some lesser known ladies. Each of these women displays facets of what it means to be vibrant. They are true role models for us all.
March 4, 2019—The Truth About Seasonal Affective Disorder
Seasonal Affective Disorder gives many of us the blues, come winter gray skies. Light boxes, exercise– especially in the morning– yoga, lowering sugar intake, and keeping up with friends and hobbies can help you stay vibrant until the sun shines again.
March 11, 2019—3 Tests to Help Prevent Heart Attacks
Even today, women are far less likely to receive the same coronary care and treatment as men when it comes to their health outside of female issues. We are also three times more likely than men to die following a serious heart attack as a result of receiving less equal care and treatment. If heart disease runs in your family, or if only for peace of mind, insist that your doctor orders some baseline testing to rule out potential heart problems.
March 18, 2019—The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen
Every year in the United States, one billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed on our foods. So, where do all those pesticides go, and are they harmful to us? Here’s the list of fruits and vegetables you should always consider buying organic.
March 25, 2019—Quarterly Blog Summary
A quick and easy way to look back over what I discussed during the past three months and read any you might have missed. 😉
Until next time…Be Vibrant!