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Wednesday 20 February 2019

Is Your Favorite Tea Contaminated with Toxic Chemicals?

Is there anything better than a hot cuppa on a chilly winter morning? Tea is the most popular beverage in the world—besides water, of course—and for good reason. It’s loaded with some impressive benefits—like antioxidants and stress-busting compounds that support metabolism and boost immunity. But your favorite tea may not be as clean and healthful as it seems. Here are contaminants that you should watch out for when you’re buying tea.

PESTICIDES

You buy organic food, but have you ever really given your tea a second thought? Unfortunately, the vast majority of teas contain pesticide residue, which is pretty gross. No one really wants to steep potentially harmful chemicals in their morning brew.
Even more worrisome: in 2014 the FDA released a report that found unacceptable pesticide levels in 57 percent of teas tested—yikes. Wondering why pesticide residue is such a problem in teas? Most tea doesn’t grow in the US (although that is changing), making it much tougher to regulate the amount of pesticides farmers spray on these crops.
While occasional exposure to pesticide residue isn’t going to harm you all that much, if you’re drinking contaminated tea every single day, all those chemicals could become problematic down the line. Buying organic tea is crucial, unless you’ve been to the tea plantation and seen their clean practices for yourself. Don’t be afraid to do your own research and buy from brands you really trust.

HEAVY METALS

Heavy metals—like aluminum, cadmium, arsenic and even lead—are commonly found in certain teas. In fact, according to research, 73 percent of brewed teas tested were contaminated with lead, which isn’t great for anybody.
That’s with a four minute brew time. Unfortunately, the longer you steep your tea, the higher the heavy metal count. When too many heavy metals accumulate in the soft tissues of the body, they can do some serious damage.
Where are all these heavy metals coming from, anyway? The soil where the tea grows. Heavy metals accumulate in soil thanks to industrial development, waste runoff, animal agriculture and pesticide use. It’s a growing global problem, and our teas and other crops are definitely being affected.
Buying organic and biodynamic teas can help, but also make sure you aren’t over-steeping your teas.

PLASTICS

You know those fancy tea bags that look like silk? Well, they’re anything but. They are actually made out of plastic—generally polypropylene or PET. The problem is, plastics and hot water aren’t a good combination. Even if the bags are BPA-free, it’s still likely that they are leaching other endocrine-disrupting chemicals into your brew. Do yourself a favor and get a reusable tea infuser and buy exclusively loose leaf teas.
Tea is definitely a healthful beverage, but it’s important to keep your wits about you. Be conscious of what teas you’re drinking and where they’re coming from. If you drink tea every day, the quality of your tea can have a tremendous impact on your long-term health.

6 Proven Ways to Prevent Knee Pain As You Age

Your risk of knee pain increases as you age. Reports show that 18 percent of men and 23 percent of women over 60 suffer knee pain and the rates increase steadily with age.
A large percentage of people who suffer knee pain have to undergo painful knee replacement surgery. You can try to avoid this surgery by taking simple preventive measures.
Below are some of the strategies that can prevent knee pain as you age.

1. Strengthen your hips

Your hip is a weight-bearing joint that helps you stand, walk, run or sit. Weak hips increase pressure on the knees, causing knee pain.
It’s worth noting that our hips weaken as we age mainly due to inactivity. This study found that the hip abductor muscles of women over 55 were 24 percent weaker compared to women aged 20 to 39.

2. Avoid repetitive motions

If you thought, any type of exercise will help prevent knee pain think again. Exercises that involve repetitive motion over an extended period usually lead to knee overuse injuries. A good example is cycling and running.
Avoid doing these exercises every day. Mix them up with strength training and low impact exercises such as swimming and walking.

3. Maintain your ideal weight

Being overweight puts excess pressure on your knees, which increases the risk of knee pain.
If you’re overweight, start making healthy diet choices and exercising regularly in order to lose weight.

4. Improve lower body flexibility

Lower body flexibility is essential for treating and preventing knee pain. Many of us have tight hamstrings and calf muscles.
Add stretching to your workout regimen. Stretch for 5 minutes after every workout. Note that doing static stretches without warm up can cause injuries.

5. Drink enough water every day

Water is essential for preventing knee pain. Your knee joint contains cartilage, a soft spongy tissue that allows the joint to move without pain.
When you’re properly hydrated, the cartilage contains up to 80 percent water. But as you age, the amount of water in the cartilage may drop to 70 percent, increasing knee joint friction.
That’s why it’s important to drink at least 2 liters of water every day. You may also want to drink a glass of water before meals if you want to lose weight.

6. Wear comfortable and supportive shoes

Wearing the right type of shoes can take pressure off your knee joint while uncomfortable shoes such as high heels can cause knee pain. High heels force your quadriceps to work harder to keep your knee stable.
The closer your heels are to the floor, the better. Your shoes should also fit well and have enough cushion to reduce the impact as you walk or run.

6 Simple Bedtime Rituals to Help You Beat Insomnia

The quality of your sleep largely depends on your daily rituals. If you’ve not been getting quality sleep lately, your rituals are partly to blame.
This is good news, since it means you have the power to improve the quality of your sleep. You don’t even have to change everything you do from dawn till dusk. Incorporating some new rituals two to three hours before bedtime can make all the difference.
Use these simple bedtime rituals to beat insomnia and sleep like a log.

1. SET A BEDTIME ALARM.

My friends make fun of me for this, but it works.  Sleeping at drastically different times every night—including weekends—can throw your circadian rhythm out of whack and lead to insomnia. 
A bedtime alarm will help you maintain a regular sleeping schedule, which will make it easier for you to fall asleep each night.

2. TAKE A WARM SHOWER.

Sometimes you may feel too lazy to take a shower, but it’s one of those things you have to push yourself to do. Numerous studies show that taking a shower or a relaxing bath can help you fall asleep faster.
A warm shower may also help you sleep deeply, according to this study. If you’re too unmotivated to take a bath or a shower, bathe your feet in hot water for about 30 minutes. Research shows it can also improve your sleep.

3. DO LESS.

Multitasking before bed is not a good idea. It will keep your mind wandering and make it harder for you to fall asleep.
Finish your tasks early, and relax in the hour leading up to bedtime. In short, avoid any activity that increases your alertness, such as watching an interesting movie or talking on the phone.

4. WEAR BLUE LIGHT-BLOCKING GLASSES.

Exposure to blue light at night reduces the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
Luckily, you can reduce your exposure to blue light by wearing blue blocker glasses. According to research, wearing these glasses 60 minutes before bed can prevent light-induced melatonin suppression by up to 46 percent.

5. DRINK CHAMOMILE TEA.

Chamomile tea has a calming effect. That’s why it has been used for many years to treat insomnia and anxiety.
The results of a study involving postnatal women showed that drinking chamomile tea before bed for two weeks improved quality of sleep and eased depression. Other studies have shown taking 270 mg of chamomile extract twice a day can help you fall asleep faster.
Lavender and lemon balm teas have also been shown to help beat insomnia.

6. DO THE 4-7-8 BREATHING EXERCISE.

This breathing technique is based on an ancient Indian practice called pranayama, which means regulation of breath. Doing it before bed will keep you calm and relaxed, making it easier to fall asleep.

Tuesday 19 February 2019

6 Evidence-Based Ways Multitasking Harms Your Health

Chances are, you’re reading this article while doing other tasks. Unfortunately, that will likely make it harder for you to absorb and retain the information below.
Contrary to popular belief, multitasking doesn’t increase efficiency. In fact, research shows it can reduce productivity and have a negative effect on your health.
Furthermore, only 2.5 percent of the population is able to multitask effectively, according to research. The rest of us can only do one task at a time.
What we consider multitasking is usually doing different activities in rapid succession, but multitasking doesn’t have to involve different movements at the same time. Even passive activities, like listening to music, can have a negative effect.
  

HOW MULTITASKING HARMS YOUR HEALTH

These are some of the surprising ways multitasking may be ruining your health.

1. Chronic Stress

Multiple tasks and deadlines can be stressing, but trying to finish all tasks at once doesn’t help. It can actually increase your stress levels. In this study, participants who performed tasks while being interrupted by themselves or others experienced more stress.
You’re better off doing one task at a time. Sometimes alternating tasks can actually slow you down and lead to more frustration.

2. Lower Mental Performance

Working on your work project while watching TV and using the phone can lower your mental performance. This was proven by a study on chronic media multitaskers, which found they had reduced short-term and long-term memory.
You may also want to avoid being around people who multitask. According to research, seeing someone multitask can lower your comprehension by 17 percent.

3. Brain Changes

You probably already know of habits that trigger positive physical changes in your brain, such as meditation. Sadly, multitasking does the opposite. One study found that there was a link between higher media multitasking and smaller grey matter density.
Decreased gray matter can be problematic for youth and adults. It can lead to poor memory and an increased risk of some types of dementia.

4. Weight Gain

Have you ever wondered why nutrition experts advocate for mindfulness while eating? The reason is simple. You’re less likely to overeat if you avoid distractions while eating. Research has proven that people consume more calories when they multitask during meals.
Avoiding distractions while eating won’t just help you avoid overeating in one meal. This study found that people ate less later in the day when they paid attention to their meals.

5. Anxiety and Depression

Some people react to anxiety and depression by trying to do everything at once, while others avoid doing any task. Neither is healthy, and both can worsen your condition. For instance, this study shows that multitasking can worsen anxiety and depression.
When your workload seems overwhelming, the best solution is to complete one task at a time. Finishing a task may put you at ease, because you’ll feel like you’re making progress.

6. Dampened Creativity

You may want to avoid multitasking, if your job requires creativity. Multitasking uses up your “working memory”, which consequently reduces your ability to think creatively, research shows.

Women May Have Younger Brains than Men

Good news, women: Your brains are younger.
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis examining brain metabolisms found that women’s brains look about three years younger than the brains of men their age.
“We’re just starting to understand how various sex-related factors might affect the trajectory of brain aging and how that might influence the vulnerability of the brain to neurodegenerative diseases,” explained Manu Goyal, a professor of radiology who led on the study. “Brain metabolism might help us understand some of the differences we see between men and women as they age.” 
The researchers examined 84 men and 121 women between 20 and 82 years old. They looked at how much sugar the different brains devoted to aerobic glycolysis, a process more common in younger folks. As it turned out, female brain ages were, on average, 3.8 years young than their male equivalents.
“The average difference in calculated brain age between men and women is significant and reproducible, but it is only a fraction of the difference between any two individuals,” added Goyal. “It is stronger than many sex differences that have been reported, but it’s nowhere near as big a difference as some sex differences, such as height.”
They found that the men’s brains weren’t aging more quickly. They just start off older in early adulthood.
“It’s not that men’s brains age faster – they start adulthood about three years older than women, and that persists throughout life,” continued Goyal, who is also an assistant professor of neurology and of neuroscience. “What we don’t know is what it means. I think this could mean that the reason women don’t experience as much cognitive decline in later years is because their brains are effectively younger, and we’re currently working on a study to confirm that.”
Older women tend to do better on memory and other cognitive tasks then men; perhaps this is a part of it.
So that’s good news for older women. When it comes to brains, staying one step ahead is all about being one step behind.

Vegan Foods for Anemia

Anemia is incredibly common, especially among women (vegan or not). In fact, you can be anemic and not even know it. If you’re concerned about anemia, these vegan foods for anemia can help get you back on track.

ANEMIA SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT

According to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms of anemia include:
  • Fatigue
  • Weakness
  • Pale or yellowish skin
  • Irregular heartbeats
  • Shortness of breath
  • Dizziness or lightheadedness
  • Chest pain
  • Cold hands and feet
  • Headache
Of course, anemia isn’t the only thing that can cause these symptoms, so definitely talk to your doctor, if you suspect that you’re anemic. They can find out for sure by doing blood work.
Your treatment plan for anemia will depend on the underlying cause. If you have iron deficiency, your doctor is going to recommend eating more iron-rich foods and possibly an iron supplement. Folic acid and B12 deficiencies can also cause anemia, in which case you’d supplement those vitamins. 
There are some types of anemia that aren’t caused by nutrient deficiencies. Certain chronic diseases can cause anemia, for example. Treating these forms of anemia usually requires more than dietary changes and supplements, so please talk to your doctor before trying to address anemia strictly through diet.

VEGAN FOODS FOR ANEMIA

If your doctor is recommending that you eat more iron, folic acid or vitamin B12, the foods for anemia below can help.

Vegan Iron-Rich Foods

Is your doctor worried that you’re not getting enough iron? Supplements can help, but they can also come with some nasty side effects, like severe constipation. Talk to your doctor to see if they’re okay with you trying to up your iron intake from food before turning to supplements.
  • Beans, including bean products like tofu and hummus, are great vegan iron sources.
  • Certain dried fruits—peaches, apricots and prunes—also provide a good amount of iron
  • Dark, leafy greens can pack a powerful iron punch. Load up on the kale and collard greens, but skip the spinach and Swiss chard. These greens do contain a lot of iron, but they also contain compounds that block iron absorption.
  • Blackstrap molasses is an iron powerhouse. Stir a tablespoon into your oatmeal to start the day with plenty of iron.
  • Quinoa is a delicious iron-rich food that’s the perfect base for a Buddha bowl. You can also use it to make breakfast porridge. Maybe with some blackstrap molasses, for good measure?
You can improve your body’s iron absorption by eating iron-rich foods along with foods that contain vitamin C. What’s cool about vegan iron-rich foods is that many of them, like dark leafy greens, also contain vitamin C. It can’t hurt to up the ante, though, with fruits, sweet potatoes and winter squash.

Plant-Based Sources of Folic Acid

You probably associate folic acid—aka folate or vitamin B9—with pregnancy, but a folic acid deficiency can also cause anemia. These are some great vegan sources  folic acid.
  • Beans, which are also rich in iron, give you a hearty helping of folic acid.
  • Just a half cup of asparagus provides 34 percent of your daily folate.
  • Those iron-rich dark, leafy greens are also packed with folic acid, so dish yourself up a double helping! Other green veggies delivery folic acid, too. Brussels sprouts and broccoli, in particular, give you a good amount of folic acid per cup.
  • A cup of beets contains 37 percent of your daily folic acid needs. They’re also a good source of vitamin C, which helps with iron absorption.
  • Citrus fruits give you the double-whammy of folic acid and vitamin C. A kale salad with citrusy dressing is starting to sound like a recipe for fighting anemia!
  • A handful of nuts and seeds are a filling snack that also deliver a healthy dose of folate.
  • For a lot of us, wheat germ went out of style when the 90s were over, but this crunchy whole grain is rich with folic acid. Sprinkle it onto your morning oatmeal to add some crunch and folate to your morning.
  • Certain fruits—papaya, banana and avocado—are great sources of folate.

Vegan Sources of B12

There aren’t a ton of dietary sources of vitamin B12, and I always encourage vegans to take a B12 supplement. The Vegan R.D. has a great primer on how to choose the best B12 supplement. If you do want to also add B12-rich vegan foods to your diet, though, you have a few options.
  • Nutritional yeast is a vaguely-cheesy condiment that’s great sprinkled onto pasta, veggies, rice or anywhere you want to add a dash of cheesy flavor. It’s also a good vegan source of B12.
  • According to Vegan Health & Fitness Magazine, vitamin B12 is actually produced by bacteria. That makes fermented foods—like tempeh, kombucha and kimchi—good dietary sources of the vitamin.
  • Many of the foods on store shelves are also fortified with vitamin B12. Common B12-fortified foods include: vegan milks, many cereals and vegan meat alternatives.
If you are worried that you have undiagnosed anemia, please be sure to talk to your doctor. A simple blood test can determine whether or not you’re anemic, and not everyone can manage anemia with dietary changes alone.

Is the DASH diet the secret to healthy blood pressure?

From Paleo to Keto to Flexitarian, there are plenty of different diets out there promising a variety of results. While most tend to to be geared towards weight loss, the DASH diet targets a very specific but important area of your health: blood pressure.
But what exactly is the DASH diet, and is it a meal plan we should all follow? Natascha Van Zyl from the Institute of Optimum Nutrition gives us the lowdown:


What is the DASH diet?

Designed to target high blood pressure, DASH is an acronym for the Dietary Approach to Stopping Hypertension.
'High blood pressure can lead to the development of other illnesses such as heart disease and kidney failure,' explains Van Zyl. 'Diet plays a major role in controlling blood pressure with research identifying that individuals with plant-based diet such as vegans or vegetarians being more inclined to have a lower blood pressure.'
The idea behind the DASH diet is that if you eat the foods it recommends for a long enough period of time, you should see a reduction in your blood pressure and the risk of various health conditions.
'The DASH Diet is low in salt and low in sugar, focusing on the consumption of vegetables, fruits, lean meat and whole grain while avoiding processed food,' Van Zyl says.


Who is the DASH diet for?

The DASH diet is primarily for those who feel or have been told by a GP that they ought to reduce their blood pressure, but it can be beneficial to anyone as it promotes a healthy approach to eating.
'The DASH diet is recommended to individuals who want to prevent or reduce symptoms related to hypertension such as chest pain, fatigue and headaches,' says Van Zyl.
'It is also recommended to individuals who have cardiovascular disease, or people with a cardiovascular risk.'

How do you follow the DASH diet ?

There are no strict rules as to how to follow the DASH diet - you don't need to count calories or measure macros - it simply emphasises fruit, veg and whole grains, as well as lean meat, and encourages you to avoid processed foods and salt.
'The diet requires the consumption of plenty of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains and avoiding red meat and foods high in salt, sugar and fat,' says Van Zyl. 'Such foods increase the intake of magnesium, calcium and potassium and reduces the intake of sodium and salt which helps to lower blood pressure.'
🍽 A sample meal plan, according to Van Zyl, could be as follows: chestnut pancakes for breakfast, wild rice and sweet potato salad for lunch, and a root vegetable curry for dinner.

What are the DASH diet health benefits?

According to Van Zyl, there are significant health benefits to following the DASH diet, which include:
✔️ Lowered blood pressure
✔️ Weight loss
✔️ A reduction in cardiovascular risk
✔️ Reduced risk of certain cancers, such as breast cancer and colorectal cancer

What's the catch?

The only real drawback to the DASH diet that ought to be considered is that salt is necessary for the body.
'Overall, salt reduction is considered healthy, however too little salt in the diet can be harmful,' warns Van Zyl. 'Individual differences must be considered before embarking on any new dietary regime, and it is advised that individuals are monitored by a suitably qualified health professional.'
If you are worried about hypertension or any risk associated with high blood pressure, it is important that you consult your GP.