Healthy Living and Nutrition Tips

Healthy Living Guide

Debbie Baumgarten

The Importance of Collagen

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collagen Collagen is a major component of your connective tissue. It is mostly found in your tendons, ligaments and skin as well as cartilage, bones and blood vessels.

The Journal Science recently published a study that oral administration of collagen improved symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis with definite decrease in the number of swollen joints and tender joints, with some patients going into complete remission of the disease.

Another published study of patients given a matrix of collagen, chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid not only relieved joint discomfort associated with osteoarthritis, but it led to a significant improvement in joint mobility.  

Over many decades there have been radical shifts in our diets. Long ago broths, stews and other dishes were often slow cooked and included bones, joints and skin – all very rich in this vital nutrient. So we were getting a lot more of it in our diet. 

Collagen basically feeds the joints, lubricating them to allow the cartilage to expand and cushion the joints. In more recent years, with most meats and poultries sold skinless and boneless, our diets have become very seriously deficient in it.

As our bodies age the health of our joints can deteriorate. This can start to happen even earlier to joints that have been previously injured or stressed. Increasing your intake of collagen can slow down and even reverse the wear and tear process.

Hydrolyzed collagen (or collagen hydro lysate) is a protein that is extracted from the connective tissue, skin, and bones of animals and processed with hydrolysis, similar in principle to the method used to obtain hydrolyzed whey protein. Hydrolyzed collagen  reportedly has a very good absorption rate as it is a lot easier to digest and for the body to utilize.

Taking a daily or regular supplement or increasing your intake of collagen-rich foods or broths can promote recovery of muscles, connective tissue and joints – in addition to the other many benefits, such as improved elasticity and radiance of your skin as well as healthier hair with more body and shine.

If you are looking for a high quality joint supplement containing adequate amounts of Collagen, you can check out “Joint Repair Excel”.  It’s a powder that you can mix with water or juice and you can order it on-line from this website: https://jointsupplements.info/  This is what I use and I am really happy with the results.

False marketing of Stevia

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false marketing of stevia

I recently discovered that there are quite a few brands of Stevia that are actually mixtures of Stevia and other sweeteners including some that are mixed with sugar. This false marketing of stevia was shocking to me. 

Stevia in the Raw is mostly maltodextrin and Truvía is stevia combined with erythritol. Both maltodextrin and erythritol are as bad or worse than sugar. 

Here’s an article with much more info about the false marketing of stevia:    https://www.truthinadvertising.org/extra-ingredients-natural-stevia-product/

It’s deceiving so beware. If you search on line you can find some excellent quality stevia. For more complete info on this along with my suggestions, please go to the page on Sugar and Sweeteners. https://www.healthkick.info/sugar-sweeteners/

A Healthy Soul

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healthy soul

There are certainly a lot of studies that show how the human spirit affects the body. Pent up aggressions, grief and sorrow, guilt and regret can also cause physiological manifestations. What I am calling :a healthy soul” may have a real connection to your overall long-term health.

In addition to getting any personal counseling that might help, I have a recommendation that I have found very helpful. It’s not particularly easy to do as when one is feeling low, it’s probably the last thing you might think of doing at the time. But if you can get yourself to do it, even in small doses, it will help. I think that the best thing you can do for your soul is to do something to help someone else. A selfless action to help another or to help improve someone or something in your community improves self worth and helps to lift your own spirit more than you may realize. Whether it’s helping another family member, neighbor or friend, rescuing an animal or volunteering for a worthwhile cause in your community, any action along this line will give you a lift. The more you do, the more lift you get yourself. 

Everyone can do something to help another. Donating clothes, shoes or household items that you don’t use anymore has the added benefit of less clutter at home. Helping in any kind of community clean-ups has the added benefit of getting you out of the house and out of your head and putting your attention out in the environment – also very therapeutic. Any kind gesture to another, small or large, is good for the soul. Keep working at it and you may feel little twinges of happiness. 

Good feelings release endorphins in the body that lead to improved health – thus my new coined phrase A Healthy Soul. It’s also just good karma. 

Liquid Vitamins and Minerals

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liquid vitamins

Several months ago I switched to a liquid vitamins and minerals supplement that is so much easier to take and I think it works better. This is likely because of the fact that these come from natural sources as opposed to being synthetic, resulting in better absorption.

One capful daily of my handy liquid vitamins and minerals supplement is super easy to take. I recommend one that is made from natural organic sources – mainly fruits and vegetables. You can still take a couple extra supplements that you want to boost in addition to the liquid. For years I use to take a lot of vitamins and minerals in pill form daily – this is soooooo much easier and it seems to work so much better!!

This one is what I use – it is the best I have found so far. The link gives info on it. You can buy it on Amazon. It tastes pretty good (many taste revolting and so hard to keep taking them), but this one is okay.

https://naturalvitality.com/organic-life-vitamins/

Why drink water

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drink water

Your body is more than 50% water, often between 60 and 70 percent. That should give you some idea why it is important to drink water and keep yourself hydrated.

The percent of water depends on your hydration level. People feel thirsty when they have already lost around 2-3% of their body’s water. Mental performance and physical coordination start to become impaired before thirst kicks in, typically around 1% dehydration.

If you don’t like drinking plain water, there are many things you can do to keep your body hydrated and keep mental and physical performance high. You can put lime or lemon juice in your water or sparkling water with the added benefits of helping to cleanse your liver and balancing PH levels as well as making it tastier. 

Or you can make green tea with the added benefit of antioxidants. Sweeten it with Stevia and add lemon to improve the taste and not increase blood sugar. For more information about Stevia, see the page of Stevia in this website. During warm weather, put it in the fridge and drink it iced.

Try drinking water first thing in the morning as well as before each meal. Keep water at your desk, in your car, in your purse, by your bed – make it easily accessible and sip on it throughout the day!

The best sugar alternative

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sugar alternativeWith over 65% of Americans overweight and the extreme increase in diabetes, including in children, at an all time high, curtailing the sugar intake is probably one of the most important healthkicks of all. So what’s a healthy sugar alternative?

Did you know that the average American ingests over 150 pounds of sugar annually!

Artificial sweeteners were hailed at the great solution to replace sugar, however more and more information is coming to light that these alternatives are unsafe and even worse than sugar.

So what about an all natural sweetener with no side effects except perhaps good ones, complete with potential blood sugar-lowering properties? Well, that’s stevia.

The advantages of using stevia are numerous. In its pure form, it’s non-caloric and doesn’t affect glucose levels, an advantage for diabetics as well as those suffering from candida. Also, it has no carbohydrates or fat, so it’s great for dieters, especially those watching carb intake. Unlike artificial sweeteners, high quality stevia has little aftertaste when measured properly. It has no known side effects like some chemical sweeteners and has been safely consumed around the world for decades.

Mind you, it doesn’t taste exactly like sugar. I guess that would really be too good to be true. But after using it for a while, you get used to the taste. And once you are off sugar for a while, you realize how overly sweet a lot of things are. Sugar is addictive and if you break that addiction and give stevia a little time, you will likely settle in to using it. I love it. I find things sweetened with sugar to be overly sweet. I am just as happy, if not more, drinking my iced tea sweetened with stevia rather than sweet tea. You just have to give it a little time. Trying it one time won’t do it for you and you may pass up the greatest sugar alternative of all time.

Also, PLEASE read my other post and info on this website on the sugar and sweeteners page about different brands of stevia. There are numerous brands that are clearly labeled “stevia”, but they are actually 99% sugar alcohols and less than .5 stevia.

As far as a sugar alternative, I’ve tried a ton. Stevia is my favorite. There are others and often I use a combination of stevia and other natural sweetener options. More posts to come on this. 

 

Quick and Easy Exercise

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easy exerciseQuite a few studies have been done on what is called “Interval Training” or Interval Exercise. Done 3 times a week for about 12 minutes each time produces better results than hours at the gym doing longer workouts. For quick and easy exercise, interval training may be your best bet.

In essence interval training is where you do several short burst of very intense exercise with short recovery period of low intensity in between. There are many variations of this but most of them involve a short warm up, then about 1 to 2 minutes of intensity then 1-2 minutes of recovery, back and forth several times. I have found it easiest to do this on a treadmill, but you can do it running in place at home or even doing jumping jacks. I warm up with a fast walk for a few minutes. I then do 1 1/2 minutes of running – fast enough running to get my heart rate up to about 160 or 165, then back to fast walking for 1 1/2 minutes. I do this 4 times. The entire routine is done in 12 to 15 minutes. I do it every other day in addition to my daily Canadian Air Force Exercises which I do daily in under 10 minutes. More about CAF exercises in other posts. Both High intensity interval training (commonly referred to as HIIT) and CAF exercises are quick and easy exercise routines that you can do anywhere.

Here are a couple links about Interval Training that I found helpful:

https://www.shape.com/fitness/workouts/interval-training-short-workouts-really-pay

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/fitness/in-depth/interval-training/art-20044588