20
&
July 2015
Challenge
yourself to add
one healthy
habit a week.
25 Tips to
Improve
Your
Health
Getting better
doesn’t have to
be difficult
By Regina Walker, LCSW,
BCD, CASAC
Whether you are an admitted
“couch potato” or someone who
actively focuses on wellness, there’s
always more you can do to make
improvements. Here is a list of 25 easy
and effective strategies for making
your health – both physical and emotional – that much better.
1. Meditate. Research shows after
just 11 hours of meditation (collectively, not 11 hours straight), practitioners had structural changes in the part
of the brain involved in monitoring
focus and self-control. Meditation is a
useful tool in stress management.
2. If you smoke, stop. The single
greatest thing you can do for your
health if you are a smoker is to quit.
Smoking has been associated with
an increase in incidences of lung,
stomach and throat cancer, as well as
an increase in cardiovascular disease.
Check with your doctor, who can offer
numerous smoking cessation aids to
help you meet this important goal.
3. Eat a papaya. Phytochemicals
found in papaya can assist in preventing age-related macular degeneration.
Papayas have also been found to
protect against heart disease because
they are an excellent source of antioxidants. The nutrients in papaya have
also been shown to be helpful in the
prevention of colon cancer. Papaya’s
fiber can bind to cancer-causing toxins
in the colon and keep them away from
healthy colon cells.
4. Eat more nuts, including
cashews. The results of a study using
lab rats suggest cashews could reduce
the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Nuts are
also great for your heart. In addition to
being packed with protein, most nuts
contain at least some of these hearthealthy substances: unsaturated fats,
omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, vitamin E,
plant sterols and L-arginine.
5. Eat more berries. They taste
great and regularly eating them could
reduce your risk of Parkinson’s disease,
as well as heart attack. Berries can help
you lose weight by creating a feeling
of fullness from fiber. A diet featuring
plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables
can lower your blood pressure and
even reduce your risk of colon cancer;
berries have high concentration of
flavonoids.
6. Exercise. You don’t have to train
for the Olympics or run a marathon to
receive health benefits from exercise.
Regular physical activity is associated with lower cognitive impairment
risk. Walking regularly is a great low-
impact, low-injury exercise and it
can improve the brain’s resistance to
Alzheimer’s disease.
7. Eat an apple a day. It may not
keep the doctor away, but daily apple
consumption has been shown to
reduce LDL cholesterol.
8. Pass on the alcohol. If you do
have a drink, make it an occasional
thing. Even moderate alcohol consumption has been found to increase
the risk of breast cancer. Red wine
received good press some years ago
for improving cardiac health, but this
result can also be achieved by drinking
purple grape juice.
Chiropractic
Pain and Injury Center
Body Mapping
Weight Loss
Detox
Stress Management
Nutritional Counseling
Therapeutic Massage
Occupational Therapy
196 W. Lowry Lane
859-552-7630
TakeANewApproach.com
Pain relief now!
Health for a lifetime.
Chiropractic Care, Nutritional
Counseling, Corrective Exercise
and Spinal Posture Screenings
Dr. Rob Kennedy B.S., D.C.
859-275-1962
340 Legion Rd., Suite #2
Lexington, KY 40504
www.cpiclexington.net