Health Blog

A healthy body and a sound mind

How Sitting Can Kill You

Sitting. It is such an ubiquitous activity that we never really think about it in relation to our health.

 

sitting death

 

Of course you probably already know that sitting hunched over in front of your computer for hours on end without taking a break leads to much physical discomfort, particularly cramped legs and backaches. But like most people, you probably figured that with a good chair and proper sitting position you can beat the problems that sitting brings. Unfortunately research shows that prolonged sitting, no matter how comfortable your position may be, still leads to serious health risks.

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Originally posted on June 26, 2013 @ 11:37 am

The Bitter Truth About Sugar

We all know that sugar adds calories, empty non-nutritive calories that would be better if they came from more nutritious stuff. However, what many (including me) might not realize is that sugar is bad for you in more ways than one. It’s bad for you not only because of the calories that you are trying so hard to cut.

UCTV’s (University of California Television) documentary by Dr. Robert Lustig entitled “The Bitter Truth” was an eye opener. Although I do opt for sugar substitutes whenever possible, I never really realized just how big the negative effects of sugar are

on our health. For one, I have long subscribed to the belief that fats or bad cholesterol are more important to avoid than sugar. This is not to say that it is now ok to indulge in stuff full of saturated fats, but the fact is that even if you do skimp on fatty food yet eat too much sugary stuff, then you can bet that you’ll still have a hard time losing weight, and more importantly still be very much prone to heart disease. The documentary tells us that sugar might actually be the culprit when it comes to heart diseases and not the fat that we have blamed for so long. Poor fats!

Of course, the good news is that we have so many options these days when it comes to keeping our food

deliciously sweet. However, note that many artificial sweeteners lack the study to back them up as to the safety. So I say that it’s better to stick to non-processed, simple food, and fresh food as much as you can.

Image via At the Brown’s

Originally posted on May 30, 2012 @ 6:37 am

Basis Wristband: The Smart Health Monitor

I recently wrote about the need to play it smart to make sure that you end up physically and financially healthy. With so many health gadgets coming out each year though, it’s just so easy to get carried away by all the marketing hype and succumb to your shopping impulses. What makes

it doubly hard to make smart choices is that justifying your compulsive need for health gadgets is quite easy, since they do serve a function (and a good one at that) after all.

One health-related gadget that I fully approve of if you do decide to get one is the Basis wristband. The wristband, which is not yet out in the market but is already available for reservations, looks just like an ordinary and somewhat even a bit ugly wristwatch until you look more closely. It is in fact a multi-sensor band that stands out among other heart rate monitors because it also collects other data like calories burned, physical activity, and sleep patterns. What’s even more impressive is that it does more than just gather data for you, but it actually processes this data and helps you make sense out of it to so you can adjust your daily activities to help you achieve your health goals, whether that be weight loss or improve your sleep quality. You can access all your health data on your personal online dashboard, which you can view on your PC, your tablet, or your phone. In short, this is a real all-in-one health monitor that you can use regardless of what your current lifestyle might be.

And if my rave is not good enough for you,

know that the Basis wristband has been awarded the CES 2012 Best of Innovations Award for Health and Wellness.

Image via Basis

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Originally posted on November 30, 2011 @ 12:10 am

Make Smart Choices for a Healthier You

People are becoming increasingly health conscious these days, which means that more businesses are lining up to offer products that will supposedly help you with your health. The problem is that most of these products are simply the same things packaged in different ways to lure you into parting with your hard earned cash. Even worse, so many of the products do not offer any real value.

As a consumer myself, I have to admit that I have fallen multiple times for the great spiels that marketers have spent much effort into making their health products seem more believable. I too have used an “easy-to-use” exercise machine that just weren’t easy to use at all, fallen for vitamin supplements that I later found out was not FDA approved, and felt like buying so many health gadgets that I thankfully were able to resist buying mostly because of steep prices.

On the other hand I have also found supplements that, while not doing wonders, seems to be helping me boost my energy and curb my mood swings, a good pair of sneakers that has seen some better days but did me a lot more good than any exercise machine, and lots of healthy recipes that have become go-to meals in our house.

In my quest to

become healthier, what I have learned is that the equation less is more usually works best. If you feel like you need to buy something in order to start your journey to better health, you are doing yourself a great disservice. You can start getting healthy with what you have today. Sure, there are some great products out there that will surely benefit you health-wise, but they will only be truly effective if you put in the required effort to live an overall healthier lifestyle.

Go ahead and buy health products and gadgets if you must, but be discriminating in your choices. Make sure you only get those that will truly be

good for your health and that you know you can use regularly. Don’t become overly dependent on them. Focus more on the simple choices you make every day for a healthier you, and maybe a healthier wallet too! And as the image above implies, if you're not making smart choices then guess what kind of choices you're making.

Image credit: Eating Yourself Healthy

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Originally posted on November 22, 2011 @ 10:15 pm