Stand Up for Your Life!

The topic of good posture is common on this blog, but the behaviors associated with better posture have greater influence on your life than just keeping you out of back pain. In the following article from the New York Times, the author reviews some of the research relating to the benefits of one of these behaviors: using a standing desk.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/stand-up-while-you-read-this/#

One of the more notable findings was how inactivity (sitting) changes the way your body uses and stores fat and sugar. Even with consistent exercise (3-5 hours per week) if you spend the rest of your day sitting, it can be challenging to reverse your body's metabolic functioning. Don’t get me wrong, exercise can make a significant difference in your body’s use of fat, but if you have some serious weight to lose, you may be missing a big piece of the puzzle if you are predominately sedentary. Even small changes in total activity such as adding stretching or walking breaks to your day can make a big difference.

What's With the Desk?

The standing desk is something that I regularly recommend because of its far-reaching implications for health. If these became commonplace in the workplace, our health could be dramatically improved. Luckily, standing desks are getting a little more attention as seen at Marine Elementary School in Minneapolis. In an effort to change the way children learn, Marine Elementary has been experimenting with stand-up desks for the last 5 years. While their findings are anecdotal, the research suggests improvements in the students’ ability to learn, focus, and retain information. While they have not looked at how standing influences weight issues, there is a host of research out there already on how small movements throughout the day can have a dramatic effect on weight. I went into this in my article In Related News: Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?, so take a look if you are interested.

All in all, we need to sit less, and the standing desk is the perfect tool for helping us to do so. What I like about the desks at Marine Elementary is the bar stool. Standing all day can be rough, especially if you have never done it before. Include a bar stool in the mix and now you can sit and stand as you please, gradually increasing your standing time. If you are thinking about using a standing desk, this is the set-up I would recommend. Just make sure the bar stool does NOT have a back to it, which will discourage you from sitting for too long.

Making a Change

While there are a number of daily habits one could adopt to help with posture, I think the standing desk is one of the best. If you have the luxury of choosing your own desk at work, it should not be too hard to make the switch. If, however, you are in an office desk, you may have to talk with management about what you can do to switch things up. Luckily, companies are becoming much more aware of how employee health and company performance are connected, so they may be open to discussing possible options! If, in the end, you are unable to stand up for work, it will be important to take those breaks during the day to get up and move around. Taking at least one break before and after lunch to stretch and walk around the office (maybe to get some water!) can be very helpful for posture, energy, and overall health. So if possible, look into the standing desk, but if not, do whatever you can to stand up…it will save your life!

Soak Up the Sun

Welcome to the first day of summer, and what a day it is! With the weather getting warmer, there is a great opportunity to really do something good for our bodies. During the winter months, we tend to stay inside and cover up with layers of clothing when we do go out. While this is great for keeping us comfortable, it does little for our biological need for sunlight. Our bodies require sun exposure to function at their best. One of the main reasons sunlight is so important is that when it hits our skin, we produce a very important hormone known as Vitamin D. Without adequate sun, we lose our base levels of Vitamin D in the body, and things can start going wrong.

The Breakdown

Vitamin D plays several key roles in your body. The two most important actions Vitamin D takes are to support the immune system and assist in the absorbing of the minerals calcium and phosphorus. The latter is a key reason why Vitamin D is important for people with osteoporosis. Studies show that calcium and vitamin D together can help to increase bone density. Vitamin D also helps with other disorders associated with weak bones, like rickets. Vitamin D deficiency may cause other problems including hormone imbalances, muscle weakness, and muscle pain.

The best source of natural vitamin D is sunlight. Only 20 minutes of noon time sun exposure without sunscreen would give you adequate vitamin D each day. Unfortunately, almost no one these days is lucky enough to get that type of exposure. To combat vitamin D deficiency, taking two 2000 IU capsules each day should be enough to bring you back to a healthy range. This may be more than you have heard before, as the RDA for vitamin D is 400 IU per day. Unfortunately, while this level will help to prevent rickets, it will do little to balance your hormones, strengthen your immune system, or help your bones absorb calcium and phosphorus. Add to this that the 20 minutes of sunlight that was recommended above would provide you with 20,000+ IU! The 4000 IU per day is only a fraction of this, and will keep you healthy and help to build back up your standing levels of vitamin D.

Where to Start

While most people will need some help in increasing Vitamin D levels, I do recommend having your Vitamin D levels measured during your usual blood work early on to know where you are starting from. If you see that you are significantly low, you may want to increase your dosage even further. If you are below 30 ng/ml (the standard measure of Vitamin D levels), I would take 1000 IU per 25 lbs. of body weight for 2-3 months. After 3 months, have your blood tested again and if you are above 50 ng/ml, reduce your dosage to 4000 IU. If you decide to use a supplement, make sure you buy Vitamin D3 (not D2), as it more accurately replicates what we produce from sun exposure. Vitamin D can interact with many medicines, such as drugs for high blood pressure and heart problems. If you take daily medicine, ask your doctor if it's safe for you to take vitamin D supplements.

Now, you do not HAVE to use a supplement. I would much rather you took the effort to get outside for 20 minutes a day to get some sun, but I know this is not going to happen for everyone. For those of you that are interested, the best way to increase your vitamin D production from sunlight is to go out when the sun is at its peak, and show as much skin as possible. If you can do this for 20 minutes every day, you will see some improvement. I would still monitor your levels to make sure that the sun is enough to sustain 50 ng/ml or greater, and if it is not, you may want to add a supplement. We would all do well to add a little sun to our lives, so get out there, show some skin, and boost your bone and immune health while getting a tan!

ADHD: Attention Deficit from a HYPERGLYCEMIC DIET

If I told you that there was a way to eat that would help you to lose fat, increase your energy, and decrease your chance of illness, would you want your children to eat this way? I would hope so, but why then do we insist that children should be allowed to have a totally different diet than adults?

Whenever children come up in the diet conversation, we seem to think that they need to be eating differently than we do. Generally the difference is that they get more junk food in their diet while we try to avoid it. But look at the issues children are starting to deal with more and more today: obesity, type II diabetes, and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). These are NOT normal, and as much as people would like to think they are genetic, your genes can be expressed in a variety of ways depending on your environment. The most common environment for children today is full of one thing: sugar.

Sugar is of course found in cookies, cakes, and the like, but it is also found in most breakfast cereals (especially those marketed to children), lunchables, soda & sports drinks, and in many children’s snack items (anyone even have a Yoplait Yogurt? 26g of sugar!). Even the beloved peanut butter & jelly sandwich is stocked full of sugar. Sugar has become more and more a part of the Standard American Diet (SAD) and its prevalence is felt in children and adults alike. We are all putting on pounds and becoming less and less healthy. So I ask again, why are we feeding children with foods that we KNOW we would avoid?

If you are unsure of how diet can affect your child’s health, here are some good articles talking about the effectiveness of dietary interventions on ADHD.

http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/guide/adhd-diets

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/adhd/AN01721

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/12/134456594/study-diet-may-help-adhd-kids-more-than-drugs

I chose ADHD to highlight because it is more commonly thought to be genetic. As you will can in the articles above, there is a mix of opinions on how much diet intervention can help, but all agree that it is a great place to start. I am of the opinion that it will ALWAYS help, even if it does not resolve the issue entirely. I am not saying that ADHD is without other causes; there are many factors involved that may need medication and behavioral therapy to be resolved. However, I do think people are missing a big part of the puzzle if they ignore dietary factors. Just think about how you would function if you are a big bowl of sugar morning, noon, and night. Your energy levels would be all over the place! You would be bouncing off the walls for a few hours after, and then you would crash. Then you would be up again, and then down. Children are no different, they just have a teacher right in front of them all day reporting that they are disruptive and unable to focus.

In fact, they are in need of high quality foods even more than we are as their bodies are still growing, their brains are forming, and their muscles and bones are building strength. This is when nutrition is most important and yet children’s foods are of the lowest quality. And quality of food is really what it’s all about. If you can feed your children foods that are nutrient dense and easily digested, you will be providing them a head start in life unlike most experience. They will have the opportunity to actually function and grow NORMALLY.

Let’s talk about what types of foods children (and you) should be eating. Well I always like thinking about food in terms of meals, so we will start with breakfast. I am a big fan of the veggie omelet. If you are worried about cholesterol, please read the Fat is Fuel series, as it will debunk the misconception that cholesterol in food should be avoided. Eggs are full of fat and protein, two things your children need to grow properly. Their brain depends on fat to develop, and their bodies depend on protein. Veggies in the mix provide the micronutrients and phytonutrients that make everything run properly, and help with digestion. Second up: lunch. Notice that I do not have a snack here. If your children eat a solid breakfast they will not be nearly as hunger for snacks. If they are at a time where they are growing rapidly, they will certainly have an increased appetite, so just let me go back for seconds at their main meals. So back to lunch, which can be the most difficult meal for children to find healthy options. If they have cafeteria food, this will be hard, but if you can pack a lunch you have options. I will defer to a more experienced health advocate on this one. In the links below, you will find great options for feeding your children at school.

http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/04/12/a-week-in-the-life/

http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/09/11/school-lunch-and-a-trader-joes-find/

http://everydaypaleo.com/?s=school+lunch

Once they get home, they should be good to go. If you only keep healthy foods in the house, neither you nor your children will be tempted to have poor food choices, even if a snack is required. Once you reach dinner though, make it a good one. Have a big salad with every dinner, cook up a nice hunk of meat (grass-fed or wild if possible), and throw together some steamed, sautéed, or grilled veggies, and you are good to go. This might be a good place to throw in some root veggies as well; who doesn’t like sweet potatoes!

While this may be a total 180 from where you or your children are now in your eating, it only takes a commitment to change and you can make it happen. Good luck and please let me know if you have any questions, this is important information and I want to make sure we are all moving toward healthier, happier lives.  

165 Hours

I have been reviewing my past articles and came to realize that we do not spend nearly enough time talking about the other side of exercise: recovery. This is a common occurrence in the health industry, with magazines, books, TV shows, etc. all spending a majority of the time focusing on what to do DURING exercise, not necessarily after. The problem with this disparity in attention is that exercise is only part of the equation. If you spend 3 hours a week working to get results, you have 165 hours a week to figure out what else you can do to reach your goals. If you do NOTHING during this time, not much is going to happen. If you can spend your time supporting your training, then anything is possible. It is the non-exercise hours that make exercise worth anything at all!

                        

Now we all know that diet is important, but other recovery factors can be just as important in producing results. Today, let’s focus on these other elements that make for full recovery.

Sleep!

Sleeping is one of the most important things you can do if you want to be healthy. The amount and quality of sleep we get directly effects everything else in our lives. Recovery from exercise will be a big part of this, but other areas, such as hunger, stress management, motivation, energy levels, immunity to sickness, and hormone balance are all influenced by sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep is also one of the most neglected lifestyle factors. It is often seen as a burden; a waste of time. It is the last thing we prioritize in our overbooked schedules, but it is the thing we need the most to cope with our already stressful lives. We push back sleep, not realizing that we become more and more stressed with every lost hour of sleep. This is important to note, because exercise is also a stress. When we exercise, we are putting a lot of stress on our bodies and are actually breaking down muscle tissue. It is only in our time away from exercise that our bodies adapt, coming back stronger and leaner. Sleep is a critical part of our adaptation because our bodies go into recovery overdrive during this time. Without proper sleep, exercise can actually cause more harm than good, making you weaker, more prone to illness, and depressed.  

To make sure you are getting enough sleep, shoot for 8-9 hours a night. I know that this sounds crazy to a lot of people, but facts are facts, and this is biologically the amount of sleep the human body needs. If you are nowhere close to this right now, start small and just shoot for 15 more minutes. I will also say that if you are not on a regular sleep schedule, do everything in your power to create one. If you can wake up at the same time every day, you will be in a much better position to go to bed at the same time every night, allowing you to set a routine. Even if this routine only allows for 6 hours a night at first, it is a starting point. You can then work to arrange your schedule to allow for more sleep.

If you would like to learn more, here is a good article I was reading recently on sleep.

Soft Tissue Work

There are two main actions you can take to help keep your soft tissue healthy: massage and stretching. If you can afford it, I would highly recommend having a weekly massage. Even if you can afford this, I would also recommend buying a foam roller and working on it daily. This is a massage tool that is very easy to use and can work wonders for many common areas of tightness and pain. Often, people have issues with their backs, knees, shoulders, and more that can be relieved relatively quickly with the proper massage work.

Once you have established a habit of massage, I would then add in a few stretches. It is important to note that stretching without FIRST rolling is not nearly as effective. It is like trying to pull on two ends of a rope that has a knot in it: the knot just gets tighter. Instead, release the knot, then work to lengthen the muscles. If you would like some ideas on stretches, check out the first video in Pull Yourself to Better Posture.

Active Recovery

This generally refers to slow, easy movement. Walking would be the best example, but any activity that keeps you moving, while not putting a high demand on your body, will work (gardening, hiking, light swimming, etc.). From a recovery perspective, this type of movement increases blood flow without leading to any breakdown in the body. Increased blood flow leads to an increase in nutrients entering the recovering tissues, helping them to heal faster. Because your muscles can take 48 or more hours to recover, I would recommend adding a 15-30 minute walk every day.

Even if you do not engage in formal exercise, I would still recommend this! I know that weight training can be intimidating and that not everyone is quite ready to take it on, so just by getting out and walking you can make a big difference in your health. The two best times to fit in this walk are at lunch and after dinner. They are commonly times during the day that not much is happening anyway, and walking after eating always helps to get past any post-food drowsiness (though if you get drowsy after meals, you should evaluate the quality of your meals). I especially like the lunch time walk because it provides an opportunity to get some sun and build relationships with co-workers.

It’s All About Adaptation

In the end, it is all about how well you recover from exercise that will produce the results you desire. It is worth repeating that exercise is a STRESS. If you beat yourself up at the gym, beat yourself up at work, and leave no time for sleep or down time, your body is not going to respond well. Before you go out and exercise again, first think about what you will do in those other 165 hours to recover. If you do not plan to recover, it will not happen. Once you have your plan in place, hit the gym hard, eat right, go for a walk, hit the bed early, then get up and do it again!