Sleep is a much-touted subject, and there’s a good reason for it: Consistent, restorative sleep is very lacking in today’s society due to hectic schedules, electronics, and general overwork. I see it as one of the major health pillars missing with my most of my new patients, which is unfortunate.
After all, according to the National Sleep Foundation, most adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep each night for optimum performance, health, and safety (2014). When inadequate sleep or sleep deprivation accumulates, “sleep debt” occurs. This affects growth hormone secretion and the body’s ability to use insulin, which can lead to diabetes and/or obesity. Poor or inefficient sleep is also linked to hypertension and cardiovascular problems, and numerous other scientific studies show correlations between poor sleep and disease (National Sleep Foundation, 2014).
To get a restful seven to nine hours of sleep each night and reap the resulting health benefits, I often recommend the following tips.
It's July. Chances are, even if you made a diligent run at your New Year's resolution to get fit, your attempts were made in vain. You just don't have two hours to workout each day, right?
Yet, the old dogma of more is better to get fitter faster is just that – OLD. Need proof? We've all seen an overweight marathon runner and wondered, "How is that person carrying around extra pounds when they're logging dozens of miles running each week?"
On the contrary, the new, way more effective paradigm for getting fit relies on a holistic model. Because even if you’re diligent about logging workouts, if you’re not eating right or sleeping well or managing stress, you will not see or feel your desired results.
Check out these wellness tips to bring about the health, fitness, and body composition results that you aim for!
With summer here, the common public health messages tell us to avoid sun exposure and to wear sunblock at all times. Indeed, too many UVA and UVB rays can cause damage at the cellular level and contribute to disease.
Yet, three out of four Americans are vitamin D deficient, which has implications for many diseases including osteoporosis, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases (Lipman, 2010).
Are the messages to slather on the sunblock causing more harm than good? The answer is likely, "Yes."
Sun, after all, is a magnificent thing! The light component itself has an important effect on intercellular function and our biological circadian rhythms, which in turn has an important effect on overall health, cognition, and wellbeing (Kent, et.al., 2009).
The slight coloring (not burning) of skin with sun exposure signifies vitamin D production. This is an essential component affecting at least 1,000 different genes governing virtually every tissue in the body (Mead, 2008). Amongst numerous benefits, this hormone-like vitamin boasts cancer prevention, proper bone growth and brain health, and a 60-70% reduction of autoimmune diseases.
Because it is tough to consume adequate vitamin D from food sources, a proper amount of vitamin D synthesis requires daily sun exposure. Unfortunately, two main problems are inhibiting our ability to synthesize adequate amounts, causing an epidemic of health consequences related to vitamin D deficiency.
With spring around the corner, allergies are a common topic of concern with my patients. Often, the general public misunderstands the cause of allergies, and turns to pharmaceutical products to treat their symptoms rather than getting to the root of the problem.
