Category Archives: Anti-aging

H is for a Healthy Heart, Holistically

Posted on October 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

How’s your heart?  Is it healthy?  Are you taking care of your heart (and your whole body) in a holistic way?  Heart disease is one of the leading killers today.  But luckily for all of us naturally beautiful women (and men, too) there are so many things you can do to take care of your natural health and have a healthy heart.

Food is health.  As Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” The American Heart Association recommends a heart-healthy diet consisting of plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes that can help you get some more dietary fiber into your body, vital to holistic heart health. (See Previous Post – F is for Fiber-Filled Foods – A list of the Highest).

The Mediterranean-style diet which is mostly plant-based, stress reduction, maintaining a healthy body weight and regular exercise all are important in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Start with your diet and then begin a regimen of healthy supplementation with coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10).  CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant that can go far to improve energy production in cells and prevent blood clot formation.  Other heart-healthy supplements include garlic, hawthorn, L-Arginine, lecithin, medicinal mushrooms (reishi, maitake, and shiitake), and Vitamin C and B-complex vitamins.

Stress reduction is key to maintaining heart health.  Supplementing with magnesium can help to reduce stress, as well as relax otherwise tight, achy muscles.  Research has shown that many people with mood disorders are low in magnesium. Other mood-uplifting supplements like SAMe (S-adenosyl-l-methionine) and L-carnitine can reduce the stress that leads to heart disease. St. John’s Wort, a natural herbal remedy, as well as a homeopathic remedy called Aurum metallicum can help to lift your mood, fight depression, and keep cardiovascular disease at bay.

Popular research among medical practitioners, both allopathic and holistic, shows that fish oil, which contains omega-3′s, nourishing essential fatty acids, can help to lower cholesterol and triglycerides.  An intake of at least 500 milligrams (mg) per day of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) is recommended for healthy individuals, and up to 1,000 mg daily is advised for people already compromised with deficient heart health.  If fish is not your food of choice, you can still get a healthy dose of omegas with flax or chia seeds.  Garlic fights oxidation, which is key in the development of heart disease. Other heart-protective herbs include turmeric, cayenne and rosemary; while holy basil (tulsi) and ginkgo biloba taken together is also effective.

We’re here to promote natural health so pay attention to your diet, exercise whenever you can, and make other healthy lifestyle choices that can reduce your chances of developing heart disease.  By taking the steps necessary to strengthen your heart muscle and lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, and stress levels, you can take control of your life and live naturally healthy longer.  Now that’s a naturally beautiful thing!

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Posted in Anti-aging, Diet, Natural Health

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E is for Eating for Energy

Posted on September 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

It’s 3:00 PM and your body is starting to get tired and your eyes are beginning to close and you’re feeling depleted and drained. This may very well be caused by what you’ve eaten or not eaten during the day and it’s why you’re tired so darn early.  Many people who feel tired in the afternoon hours haven’t eaten breakfast – and I, In My Humble Opinion, breakfast is probably the most important meal of the whole day!  When you get up in the morning and eat a power-packed breakfast, full of protein and complex carbohydrates and a little bit of healthy fat, you can go on for a couple of energy-filled hours you need to get things done, have a little bit of fun, get some life-sustaining exercise and still have extra energy you need to get you — UNTIL YOU’RE READY TO EAT LUNCH!  That’s right, you will have much more consistent energy if you keep eating little bits of healthy food throughout the day – keeping your blood sugar levels constant, and maintaining high energy levels all day.

Certain foods give you more energy than others, so keep these on your daily menu for extra energy and oomph! -

  • Strawberries
  • Blueberries
  • Oatmeal
  • Beans
  • Nuts
  • Chia seeds
  • Spinach
  • Green Tea
  • Mango
  • Tea
  • Cantaloupe
  • Peppers
  • Low fat dairy products
  • Citrus Fruit
  • Whole grains
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Tomatoes

To keep naturally healthy and also to keep your body and skin looking and feeling young, keep eating the right foods and don’t forget to eat.  Skipping meals will make your blood sugar levels dip and dive and your energy will falter and your eyelids will droop.  Not a naturally beautiful sight for women or men!  Eat well and you will stay lively and vibrant all day long.  For a mid-meal pick-me-up, carry a small bag of almonds with you wherever you go.  And don’t forget that the very first rule of natural beauty and natural health is – Keep yourself hydrated with lots of good clean water!

 

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Posted in Anti-aging, Diet, Healthy Senior Women, Natural Health

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E is for Elephants and rEmEmbEring EvErything!

Posted on September 18, 2012 | Leave a comment

  An elephant never forgets, but we do as we age, right? Sometimes we forget things.  Where’d I put my keys? Where’s the car?     What did I come into this room for???????

As we get older, forgetfulness is natural.  It’s not always a serious problem like Alzheimer’s or dementia.  It could just be the result of having learned way too much over the last 60 or 70 or 80 years.

There are ways to make your memory as sharp as an elephant’s.  You can start by eating the right foods which will keep your brain and your body healthy as you grow older.  Leafy green vegetables have plenty of folic acid to aid in memory retention.  Salmon, tuna and sardines all have Omega-3 fatty acids which help reduce inflammation, a potential cause of memory loss in adults.  B Vitamin deficiency can be mistaken for Alzheimer’s disease because it increases memory loss.  To replenish your stores of Thiamine or Vitamin B1 you can take a good supplement, but nuts like pistachios are full of thiamine, as are tuna, spinach, mushrooms and flax seeds.

Herbal remedies are effective and safe, with no adverse side effects.    Ginkgo Biloba can inhibit the oxidation of the brain and increase the blood circulation, getting more information to and through the body.   Huperzine A, a substance extracted from club moss (Huperzia serrata), helps to slow down acetylcholine breakdown.  Acetylcholine is one of the brain neurotransmitters that is being studied with relation to Alzheimer’s.

Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), (100 mg. daily) is an herb that helps increase concentration and also improves memory by stimulating the immune system.  Rhodiola also helps to improve sleep and fight depression, enhance mental and physical performance, as well as stimulate the nervous system.  Rhodiola has been shown to be an effective antioxidant.

Rosemary is called the “herb of remembrance” and is an essential oil used in aromatherapy to increase mental clarity and reduce poor memory, as well as increase concentration and decrease fatigue. Essential oil of basil can help to wake up a foggy brain and improve mental clarity.  Peppermint essential oil also perks up the brain and helps you to remember.

And there’s a new extract of the periwinkle plant called vinpocetine that is being studied as a way to increase blood circulation and bring more nutrients like glucose and oxygen to the brain to help it work more efficiently so you can remember things more effectively.

Foods and herbs work great on memory, and so does exercise.  Just as important as keeping your body agile and active, so is exercising your brain to keep it functioning at top potential.  Play games with words and numbers.  Do puzzles and mind exercises like Sudoku.  Keep your mind working – after all, we know a mind is a terrible thing to waste!

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Posted in Anti-aging, Healthy Senior Women, Mind-Body-Spirit, Natural Health

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D is for Do Ya, Do Ya, Do Ya wanna Dance!

Posted on September 13, 2012 | Leave a comment

DANCE as though no one is watching you,

LOVE as though you have never been hurt before,

SING as though no one can hear you,

LIVE as though heaven is on earth

Alfred Souza

Ah the joys of dancing.  It’s one of those things that will pick you up and dust you off and get you smiling and living and thinking positively.  Don’t have a partner?  No big Deal – you can twirl and whirl by yourself.  Just put on some happy music – I like Queen Ida and her Bon Ton Zydeco Band – and get up off your butt and on your feet and start moving!

Dancing has many natural health benefits.  If you want to lose weight but hate exercising, dancing is the perfect way to get some movement going without calling it that dreaded word “exercise!”  Dancing can burn up to 10 calories per minute depending on intensity and speed of the dance.  Naturally, swing and salsa dancing burns more calories than a slow waltz.  Dancing combines stretching and toning and bending, all vital to staying healthy, young and strong.  Dancing strengthens our lungs and hearts, and builds strong bones with its weight-bearing activity.  Dancing keeps us naturally younger as it improves our memory and exercises our brains when we have to memorize  the steps, routines and patterns for each type of dance.  Dancing improves balance and flexibility and exercises our central and peripheral nervous systems.

The very simple act of getting up and moving will put you in a better mood.  Dancing increases the production of endorphins, those “feel good” brain chemicals that reduce stress and depression.

Dancing by yourself is an instant mood lifter.  Even better is to go out and dance.  Dancing is a social activity, whether it be with your very own partner or a partner that you dance with in a dance class.  In most countries around the world, people dance with people, women dance with women, and they all have a good time.  Don’t let not having a partner stop you.  Go to a dance class – you never know – you might meet your perfect partner out on the dance floor.

See Previous Post – D is for Dancing and Dance Shoes and the Resilience of Women

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Posted in Anti-aging, Healthy Senior Women, Mind-Body-Spirit, Natural Health

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B is for Bras – Buy the right one for Beautiful Breasts

Posted on August 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Bras – they’re part of our lives, just as our breasts are part of our bodies.  Some of you out there are small-breasted and can wear those sexy, seductive pieces of cloth that look pretty and fit well.  Then there are some of us who are more generously endowed and we need something that will fit comfortably and hold us up well.  Studies have shown that 80% of women are wearing the wrong size bra.  Wearing a bra that is uncomfortable and makes you look saggy and droopy makes you look old and feel old, and that’s not what being a youthful, juicy naturally beautiful woman is about.  We’re all about feeling good and looking good!

Choosing a bra can be as daunting as choosing the right college or career or soulmate!  There’s nothing sexy about pulling and pushing your breasts and bras to get rid of those straps digging into your shoulders or adjusting the fat hanging over your back.

Here are some signs that you’re wearing a bra that doesn’t fit well:

  1. Your cups spilleth over.
  2. The back of your bra rides up.
  3. Tight straps that hurt and give you indentations or red marks on your shoulders.
  4. The cups ripple and dimple indicating they’re too small.
  5. Saggy or droopy breasts.
  6. Straps that slip and slide off.
  7. Uncomfortable underwires.
  8. According to Susan Nethero, a bra expert that Oprah loves — Back fat doesn’t necessarily mean your bra is too small.  It actually means your bra is too big!  Change to a smaller band size bra that rides lower on your back and that will eliminate the dreaded back fat.

One thing you can do to make your breasts look a bit more perky is to sit and stand up tall and straight.  Good posture is one of the most important ways to look young and vital.

Then walk tall to the nearest department store and go to the bra department.  Most lingerie departments, especially in higher end stores, will give you a free bra fitting.  Even if you have to pay a few dollars, it’s a great investment.  You’ll be surprised at the change in the number and the change in your look and feel.  Being beautiful (and comfortable) is worth it!

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