Time to Change the Sheets
No matter how old we are it seems like our mothers still worry about our well-being by making sure we’re eating our vegetables and reminding us to change our bed sheets. But as it turns out Mom might be right to nag you about changing the sheets more often.
Recently the Wall Street Journal interviewed Philip M. Tierno, Jr., PhD, director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, about the countless intruders lurking within the sheets. Human skin cells are tasty snacks for dust mites, who tend to accumulate in sheets (along with their feces). There are other invaders taking up residence in your sheets too, including dust, insect parts, pollen, animal hair and bacteria, Dr. Tierno points out in the interview.
Learn more about how breathing that stuff in could damage your health and why you need to protect your mattress in the Wall Street Journal.
In the meantime, here are Dr. Tierno’s quick tips to washing bedding so you can breathe easier:
- Wash sheets and pillowcases once a week to eliminate the debris that has accumulated in the bed for that week.
- Make sure to use the washing machine’s hot-water cycle. This water temperature actually kills and destroys a lot of vegetative material and dust mites.
- For extra protection, use bleach. “It is probably the cheapest germicide and can be used in low concentration,” Dr. Tierno states in the interview.
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Think Before You Look, Before You Leap …
Ivan Rusilko, DO, is an accomplished weight loss and wellness physician who serves as the director of medical and fitness for the prestigious MIAMI Institute in Miami, Fla.
Far too many times I hear, “Doc I go to the gym five times a week and run until I can’t run anymore and I still am not losing the weight!” In response I always ask, “Well what is your diet?” This usually results in a bashful grin and an expression of guilt. The point is that you can run and exercise until you’re blue in the face but without a proper diet plan you are just spinning your wheels.
When starting an exercise program one must first realize that 90% of achieving the body of your dreams – whether it be a pair of bulging biceps or a sexy toned bikini body—is following a proper nutritional diet. When deciding to make this commitment to a better life and a healthier you, exercise should be considered as an adjunct – not and end all. This is one of the hardest concepts I see my patients struggle with, but once this concept gets through to your head you are ready to formulate an effective exercise plan. I suggest to my patients that they follow the following three objectives when creating their workout routines:
Objective 1: Who do you want to be?
The first step in starting any program in life is to determine your end goal. Is it to bench press a Buick, run a six-minute mile, or look good in a bikini? Having a goal to strive for is essential to keep you motivated and to stay on track.
I ask my patients to write out their specific goals on paper and sign and date it before I even see them. This gives them focus and determination to overcome any hump or temptation that may impede their way to achieving their end goal.
Objective 2: Spartan or Weekend Warrior?
Understanding and accepting who you are currently and what you are capable of doing is important to being successful in your exercise routine. Setting unrealistic goals and time frames will result in a sense of discouragement when they aren’t met. Baby steps are the best way to make monumental leaps. Set a goal for your day, week, month and life, and never stop until it is reached.
Objective 3: Who are You Now?
Make sure to record your physical stats and attributes at the start so you can track your progress. Information you log should include:
• Strength: The amount of weight you are lifting.
• Times: For example, how long it takes you to run or bike a certain distance.
• Vital signs: Including your resting heart rate, resting blood pressure, and body mass index (BMI). BMI is a method of estimating a person’s body fat levels based upon a person’s weight and height measurement.
While recording this information will help you to work with your physician to determine a safe exercise routine and will provide benchmarks for tracking progress, I often remind my patients that one of the best gauges of success is what they see in the mirror. Muscle weighs more than fat, and looks a lot better, so let your reflection “weigh in” on how you are progressing—and don’t rely solely on the numbers.
Following these three objectives will prepare you not only for physical improvements, but also for fulfilling your life goals. The old saying is “Look before you leap,” but I always preach, “Think before you look, before you leap, and you will never miss.”
Related Articles:
Women Less Apt Than Men to Get Recommended Daily Exercise (HealthDay News)
Drink Red Wine, Stop Fat Cells? (EveryDayHealth.com)
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Athletes and Eating Disorders
Being committed to their training and pursuing excellence are among the traits of a dedicated athlete. But if that drive turns into compulsive behavior, such as exercising for prolonged periods of time or restricting dietary intake, athletes could become at risk for a serious health problem, like an eating disorder.
“Compulsive behaviors could include avoiding situations where food will be served, developing ritualistic eating patterns or exercising beyond training despite an injury,” explains Nickitas Thomarios, DO, an osteopathic child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist from St. Paul, Minn.
There even is a type of anorexia exhibited by athletes called “anorexia athletica.” Dr. Thomarios says this condition can occur when an athlete:
- Develops a fear of weight gain or becoming fat when in fact they are underweight.
- Experiences weight loss of at least 5% of body weight due to dietary restriction and excessive exercise.
- Starts binge eating and using other potentially harmful forms of weight control methods.
Treatment can be an integrative approach with the support of a primary care physician, psychiatrist or therapist and a dietitian.
“It’s important to take a whole person approach to treating anyone with an eating disorder, especially with athletes since they use both their body and their mind to compete,” says Michelle Hoff, DO, an osteopathic family physician from St. Louis Park, Minn. “Since athletes tend to be goal oriented, developing specific goals like eating a certain number of calories per day can be helpful.”
If you suspect that you or someone you know might have an eating disorder, whether or not this person is an athlete, be sure to speak with a physician, counselor or other trusted health care provider to get help.
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Calories Could Shed After High-Intensity Workouts
We’ve discussed before how a tall glass of chocolate milk can restore energy levels after a good workout. But what else happens to our bodies once the workout is over? Numerous studies have shown that post-exercise calorie burning can occur, reports The Times Leader.
How? Researchers aren’t sure but the intensity and duration of a workout could be the key, according to a study published in Medicine & Science.
In the study, participants remained sedentary on the first day. Then on the second day they remained inactive with the exception of a vigorous 45-minute cycling session. Researchers found the participants’ metabolism remained elevated for an average of 14 hours after the workout, meaning people were still burning calories well after their workout ended.
Study co-author David Nieman notes, “Vigorous sweat gets the hormones cycling and can alter the body’s temperature and ability to store fuel. It takes a long time for the body to get back to normal.”
For more information about post-workout calorie burn, see the article in The Times Leader.
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Have a Game Plan for a Winning Super Bowl Monday
You have the beer, burgers, chips and dips and you’re psyched to gather around the TV with your nearest and dearest for the most watched sporting event in the United States—the Super Bowl. The problem? It’s Sunday night and you punted your normal diet and sleep routine right out the window, positioning you for a rough return to work the next morning. So is there any hope of getting back into the game with the amount of energy and level of attentiveness you typically have on Monday mornings?
We asked several osteopathic physicians (DOs) to share some tips on how not to get sidelined on Super Bowl Monday. Here’s what they had to say.
Antoinette M. Cheney, DO, a board-certified family physician in Lone Tree, Colo., suggests preparing for game day just like the pros:
- Make sure you get an adequate night’s sleep several nights leading up to the Super Bowl. That way if you skimp on sleep on Super Bowl Sunday the impact might not be as great. Try to keep your normal schedule. If you decide to sleep in Super Bowl morning, it can throw your normal sleep cycle off and make you sluggish when you’re awake.
- Try to eat a little healthier a few days before. Make smarter food choices so that come game time you can treat yourself a little. And don’t forget or skip your vitamins the days leading up to or on Super Bowl Sunday.
- On Super Bowl morning and early that afternoon, make sure to eat a good snack with some protein. People tend to not eat all day in an effort to “save their calories” for the party, but this leads to overeating later because by then you are overly hungry. We then tend to make poor choices and our bodies hold onto the unhealthy calories in the fat-laden foods we end up choosing. Have a morning or afternoon snack of something like a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat, some string cheese, and a handful of nuts.
- Try to squeeze a good workout in at some point before the game. Hydrate and have a good snack afterward, then get cleaned up and ready for the festivities.
Wayne J. Reynolds, DO, an osteopathic family physician at Gloucester Medical Associates in Gloucester, Va., stresses sensible behavior:
- Hydration is key. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids on game day and on Monday.
- Chips and dips are OK in moderation, but try to reach for the vegetables as opposed to pizza and other foods high in fat.
- When the game is over, promptly wrap up the party or head home and go to bed. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. EST, which means the game will probably be over by 11 p.m. Those in the East have a good chance getting to bed before midnight while the rest of the country can be in bed even earlier.
Ivan Rusilko, DO, director of medical fitness and nutrition for the MIAMI Institute in Florida, emphasizes balancing fun with healthy choices:
- The only way to prevent a hangover is to stay clear of alcoholic beverages completely but if you are going to drink, avoid mixing liquor with carbonated beverages. Carbonation causes the body to absorb alcohol at a faster rate and will speed up the “inebriation” process and worsen the results of over indulgence. This theory also supports the myth “Beer before liquor never been sicker.”
- Aim to consume alcohols with lower amounts of congeners, which are toxic byproducts formed during fermentation. A rule of thumb is the clearer the alcohol the less the amount of congeners within it, and therefore the least likely to cause a hangover. So alcohols like vodka and gin are believed to cause less severe hangovers than say whiskey or brandy.
- And stick with one type of alcohol. Different alcohols have different types of congeners, so during the detoxification process throughout the night and the next day your body will have to work overtime figuring how to deal with each one, making recovery more difficult.
Rob Danoff, DO, an osteopathic board-certified family physician at Aria Health System in Philadelphia, looks downfield to Monday with some useful tips for cutting through that post-Super Bowl fog:
- Wake up and walk for at least 15 minutes. There is no doubt you will be tired so you need to rev up the engines.
- Drink 12 ounces of water to hydrate and wash out the high salt taste from all the snacks and prepared Super Bowl meals.
- Fuel up with a high-protein breakfast, such as an egg white omelet, Greek yogurt with some almonds or walnuts sprinkled in, along with at least 12 ounces of water or seltzer water with lemon. The lemon scent increases your early morning stamina and elevates your post Super Bowl mood.
- Come mid-morning, fight fatigue with an apple and a dab of peanut butter, followed by a brisk 15-minute walk if you are able to take a morning break. Top it off with a cup of green tea to keep your mind on full alert and add some cinnamon to increase your concentration and keep you smiling.
- If you can’t take a mid-morning break or if you’re working at a desk, stand and stretch, make phone calls while standing and walking in place.
- Lunch time will test your post Super Bowl stamina. Eat light, eat lean, and hydrate with unsweetened water or seltzer water. Keep your mind and energy levels steady with a salad of green leafy vegetables, carrot slices, small pieces of tuna, and a clear soup. After lunch, stand and stretch, take five good and deep belly breaths (breath in and out by expanding and contracting your waist and not your chest).
- By mid-afternoon there is no doubt you’ll be feeling a bit thirsty and tired. Chew on pieces of celery along with a piece of string cheese mid-afternoon. This will keep you fueled up on lean burning fuel that won’t bottom out your energy levels. Take a stand and stretch break while lifting your arms over your head then back to shoulder level while pulling back towards the shoulder blades and then back to normal position. This will relieve some upper back tension.
- Time for the commute home. Grab some tea or coffee, non- or lightly sweetened, for your journey home. Add the scent of jasmine to increase alertness.
Enjoy the game!
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Who said fruit is only for summer?
When the weather turns cold it is easy to reach for something warm and comforting like hot chocolate or a fresh-from-the-oven cookie for a quick snack. However, we shouldn’t forget about our summer stand-by snack— fresh fruit.
“Fruits are low in calories and fat and full of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, all of which are essential for optimizing our health,” says Laura M. Rosch, DO, an osteopathic internist from Chicago.
“It is important to remember that just because a fruit you crave isn’t in season, it doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate it into your diet,” Dr. Rosch says. “When fresh produce isn’t an option, consider dried fruits, which are a rich source of nutrients, canned fruits, which stay fresh in their own juices, and frozen fruits, which are flash-frozen at their peak to seal in freshness.”
Consider these tips when shopping for fruit this winter:
Look for bright colors. “Fruits that are bright in color and heavy in your hands are at their ripest and are filled with vitamins and nutrients,” says Dr. Rosch. Avoid blemishes, spots, molds and signs of insecticide spray.
Make sure you wash fruits soon after shopping. “Washing fruit ensures that what you consume is rid of dust, sand, and any chemical residue,” says Dr. Rosch. “Fruits have a short shelf life and need to be consumed quickly after purchasing for the best health-benefiting properties.”
Check out the remaining tips in the Health Conditions Library at www.osteopathic.org.
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