Foods You Should Be Avoiding

Ken RozenbergStaying healthy means living a longer, better life.  This means eating the right kinds of foods.  If you are recovering from surgery or are directed by a physician, it is especially important to eat only the right kinds of foods.  Attached to this idea, you also have to know what kinds foods to avoid.  Be sure to ask a dietician or your own physician about all the foods you should not be eating.  But until then, here is a short list of items you should be avoiding as much as possible:

  1. Fatty meats.  These include hot dogs, bacon, ribs, bacon, hamburgers, etc.
  2. Sodium.  Salt can lead to high blood pressure and can lead to heart problems.  For these reasons should you avoid consuming a lot of salt.  It is best to avoid snack foods, canned foods, and using table salt.
  3. Soda.  Soda and similar carbonated drinks have high doses of sugar that you should avoid.  Also, the caffeine content in regular sodas are high enough that it gives you another reason to avoid soda.
  4. Fatty dairy products.  Cream products as well as full-fat cheeses, butter, and eggs are things to also be avoided.

For more nutritional information, contact Kenneth Rozenberg today.

Easy Exercises You Can Do at Home

Ken RozenbergExercise is not just about lifting heavy weights, running on treadmills, or sitting on complicated machines.  Exercising can be a fun activity that will also help you become fitter and healthier.  After recovery from major surgery or sickness, it is beneficial to be active.  Exercise will strengthen your bones and muscles.  You do not have to go to the gym to get the most out of exercising, though. There are many easy exercises you can do at home that are great for your health.  Kenneth Rozenberg has a list of exercises perfect to do at home:

  • Bicep curls:  Hold a weighted object in each hand–a can of food for example –and keep your arms at your sides.  Using only your elbows, lift each hand, hold, and gently go back to the starting position.  Do this five times for one or two sets, whatever you are most comfortable with.
  • Leg curl:  You can do this on a chair or couch.  Straighten your back and using only your knees, straighten your legs out, hold, and then go back to the starting position.  Do this five times for one or two sets.
  • Step-ups:  Simply step up on one or two steps of a staircase with each leg; do this five times for one or two sets.

For more information on personal care, contact Kenny Rozenberg today.

Runner’s High and Hitting The Wall

The numerous health benefits of cardio exercises like running were discussed last week. When it comes to running, there are some compelling terms that you may have heard but are not exactly sure what they mean or how they work. “Runner’s high” is one, and “hitting the wall” is another, both phrases used when discussing endurance training. So, what are these things and how do they work?

“Runner’s high” is an oft cited feeling of well being, comfort, calm and ease that runners describe happening during exercise. The underlying cause for this feeling has to do with the release of endorphins. Endorphins are neurotransmitters, peptides in this case resembling opiates because they produce in the brain this feeling of well being. It is claimed that the phenomenon has evolutionary roots, allowing early runners to overcome pain in the pursuit of food. For this same reason, runner’s high can lead to injury when exercisers overexert themselves. Careful monitoring is important.

“Hitting the wall” is a phrase used to describe the point at which runners feel as if they can no longer go on, due to fatigue and lack of energy. How does this happen? After all of the glycogen, one of the main energy storing chemicals in the human body, has been depleted from the muscles and liver, the body will feel as if it cannot continue because there is little energy stored to keep going.

Running has numerous health benefits because of the powerful reactions it draws from the body. To find out more about how to do this efficiently and successfully, talk to Kenneth Rozenberg today.

Doing Cardio is Important

Kenneth RozenbergLiving long means living a healthy life; this also means exercising.  This does not necessarily mean that you need to lift large amounts of weight.  Maybe you do not have the strength to do that; in such a case, cardio exercises are something you should be interested in doing.  Some examples of cardio exercises include:

  • Running/jogging/speed walking
  • Swimming
  • Aerobics

How does cardio make one healthier?  For one thing, being physically active can help prevent diseases like diabetes and high cholesterol while strengthening your lungs and heart.  While doing cardio you also burn calories which helps you control your weight and prevent obesity.  This reduces the risk of stroke, and high blood pressure.

Another positive aspect of this kind of physical activity is that it helps size you up and make you feel energized.  By sticking to a cardio routine your endurance and stamina increases and you fell like you have a lot of energy.  Yet another benefit to cardio is that it can relive symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Cardio should be included in your life because it provides a host of benefits that will make your life a better one.  For more information on how to live a better life, talk to Kenneth Rozenberg today.

Stretching Loosens You Up

stretchingAs a person gets older they lose a lot of the energy and desire to be active that they had during their younger days.  This usually means just sitting around the house and not doing much except the bare minimum.  This sedentary life is generally not a good thing because when a person ages, their muscles tighten up and their joints lose much of the range of motion that they once had.  Lifting somewhat large and/or heavy objects will not be as easy as it used to be and may actually be dangerous for you.  Trying to reach for an object off of a high shelf might cause pains you never used to have years ago.  But there is a way to combat this and it is called stretching.

Stretching is an excellent way to restore a normal range of motion back to you and help ease the tension that was built up in your muscles.  You should incorporate stretching into your daily routine – there are a lot of stretches you can do and when you perform them hold each stretch for about 10-15 seconds; you can even do 15-30 seconds if you prefer.  Make sure to do each stretch 2-3 times to maximize the effect.  If you enjoy running/jogging or even just walking for example, be sure to stretch your calves, hamstrings, and quads.  By the same token, you should stretch your lower back and arms as well.

Stretching is important because it will make moving, and your life for that matter, easier.  For more information on how to keep yourself healthy and vibrant, stay tuned for more tips in the coming weeks from Kenneth Rozenberg.

Bad Habits Ruining Your Health

Kenneth RozenbergBad habits.  Everyone has them.  Some people bite their nails; others sneeze without covering their mouths: small things like these are relatively harmless.  But there are habits that are not good to have at all and can be a detriment to one’s overall health.  Such habits should be taken into consideration and changed immediately.  Here is a list of bad habits that will ruin a person’s health:

  • Not getting enough sleep.  Consistently not getting enough sleep will increase the amount of stress you have.  It also weakens your immune system by shutting down the production of chemicals in the immune system.  A recent study has said that those who do not get at least seven hours of sleep a night regularly are more apt to get a cold.
  • Not eating breakfast.  When you sleep you have gone at least 8 hours without eating anything and your body needs sustenance in order to function properly.  Not eating breakfast means not fueling your body and brain for the rest of the day.  It also means a greater chance of you overeating during your other meals.
  • Being angry all the time.  Being angry and stressed out raises your blood pressure which can lead to a heart attack.  It also raises your blood sugar and makes it hard to contend with diabetes.

These are but a number of ways people are ruining their health.  For more information on how to change your habits for the better, contact Kenneth Rozenberg today.

What Can Regular Exercise Can Do for You

Kenneth RozenbergWhen most people think about the word “exercise” or “workout”, the image that pops up in their heads are of extremely muscled men who can lift adults over their heads without breaking a sweat.  While this may be true for only a handful of people, exercising does not necessarily mean going this far.  A simple workout every other day – 30 minutes is more than enough – without using much weight can still do a lot for your body and overall health.  Here are some benefits exercising regularly:

  • Exercise can make you feel more energetic. By exercising on a regular basis, you can boost your endurance as well as build some muscle.  Physical activity helps your cardiovascular system deliver essential nutrients to your body for efficiently.
  • It can help prevent disease.  Exercise can help reduce the risk of stroke, depression, arthritis, and a host of other ailments.
  • You can lose weight.  By exercising, you will burn calories.
  • Boost your overall mood.  When you exercise, your brain releases chemicals that make you feel better about yourself and boost your confidence.

You see how exercise can make your life better?  You do not have to be a bodybuilder or Olympic champion to reap the benefits of exercising; just 30 minutes a day of exercise will improve your health.  Call Kenneth Rozenberg for more information on how to stay healthy.

 

The 50 Healthiest Foods

Every month, the Huffington Post puts out a blog post regarding the healthiest seasonal foods. They have a panel of health experts and nutritionists that sing the praises of various foods. However, this month they decided to go outside the season and pick out the the 50 healthiest foods of all time. Kenneth Rozenberg wants to know how many you eat on the list on a regular basis!

Here are the top ten foods:

10. Spinach
9. Tomatoes
8. Cherries
7. Blueberries
6. Apples
5. Olive Oil
4. Strawberries
3. Dark Chocolate
2. Almonds
1. Water (yes, we’re aware that isn’t a food.)

Does this mean that since two of the top three foods on this list are chocolate and almonds that you can go around eating Hershey’s candy bars with almonds and be a healthy camper? Ken Rozenberg says absolutely not. Everything in moderation! While small doses of dark chocolate are full of antioxidants and good oils and minerals, large amounts of chocolate has fats, and a lot of sugar which turns to fat once processed in your body. Also, while olive oil is a heart healthy oil and can do great things for your body, you don’t want to eat pasta dripping with olive oil or the good effects are vastly outweighed by the bad.

Coffee: Good for You?

For ten long years science and health experts have been telling us that our habitual morning coffee routines can lead us down a path to heart failure and other cardiac related problems. For ten long years, we have been trying to curb our coffee drinking (some with more success than others). And now, we might be getting some relief from the mid-morning caffeine cravings.

A study, published this past Tuesday in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure has stated that drinking coffee might actually reduce your risk of heart related issues down the line. While the study is new, and somewhat groundbreaking, it has not been conducted as long as the “coffee as a heart risk” tests.

Preliminary reporting suggests, however, that moderate coffee drinking on a routine basis can actually immunize your body against the heart damaging effects of coffee over time. Those who drink two or three cups of coffee in a day may actually be conditioning their hearts against the effects of caffeine and lower their risk of heart failure.

As Kenneth Rozenberg knows, the moral of this story is moderation. Over consumption of coffee and other caffeinated stimulants is damaging to anyone’s body and can seriously raise your risk of heart problems.

Ken Rozenberg is also aware that while the immediate effects of this study might lift the spirits of those who need that morning caffeine fix that further testing and study is required before anyone gets too excited about the results of this coffee is good for you study!

Sleeping Well at Night

Ken Rozenberg recently shared on his twitter feed an article linking lack of sleep to a higher risk of having a stroke. Those who do not get an adequate amount of sleep at night are four times more likely to suffer a stroke. You’re also at an increased risk of diabetes, cancer, psychological issues, and even accelerated aging. Obviously none of these are issues we want to face so what can we do about it?

Kenneth Rozenberg has a few tips on how to get a more restful, longer night of sleep.

First of all, the biggest reason people aren’t sleeping well is because their lives are stressful. Dealing with the stress and finding ways to manage it are the biggest factors in achieving good sleep. Try yoga or some other form of stress relief in your daily routine.

Second, don’t workout or drink alcohol or caffeine three hours before you want to go to bed. These activities will prohibit falling asleep and staying asleep.

Third, keep to a regular schedule. Make a bedtime and set an alarm for the same time every morning. This routine can help you settle into bed faster and stay asleep longer.

Lastly, create a bedtime routine. Take a relaxing bath, stretch, listen to a calming CD. Any number of these things can calm down your body and your brain before bed.

 

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About Kenneth Rozenberg

Kenneth Rozenberg operates the Centers for Specialty Care Group, a collection of prominent healthcare organizations offering short- and long-term care, as well as home health services.

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Centers for Specialty Care Group
http://www.cfscgonline.com/
Email: info(at)kennethrozenberg.com