Healthy Holidays and Fitness Fight Alzheimer’s
By Mark Misner, Certified Personal Fitness Trainer
It feels like we are finally through those long, hot and humid days of summer. With November, comes wonderful weather. Unfortunately, it can also bring along a weight gain. Research has shown that most people gain 5-7 pounds during the long stretch of winter holidays. This hazardous season begins at Halloween, includes Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas and finally ends after Gasparilla and Valentine’s Day. Many people mistakenly think “I’ll start exercising after the holidays and then lose the extra weight.” Don’t allow yourself to fall victim, you do not have to follow such an ugly trend!
Here’s how to beat the holiday bulge in a few simple steps.
First of all, get moving and exercising now! With the better weather, there are no worthy excuses. It really requires very little investment (only a decent pair or walking/running shoes) to get out and walk, jog or run. Start slowly and progress in reasonable increments. Work yourself up to 30 to 45 minutes of heart pumping activity, three to five days per week. This will help keep off the extra pounds and also combat that extra stress that arrives this time of year.
Secondly, you must use the key mantra of MODERATION! The holidays are rich in traditions of incredible dining and delicious treats. Enjoy these wonderful tastes, just keep mindful of choosing small servings. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking “everything is good in moderation.” Too many small servings can quickly add up your caloric counts and sabotage your effort to eat healthy. As you take undersized “tastes” and “bites,” do so with an awareness of how much you are consuming in total. And don’t forget to include the calories you drink, many of the holiday punches and spirits are filled with empty calories.
Lastly, don’t punish or limit yourself to the point you do not enjoy the season. If you really want a cup of eggnog, go ahead and have a small cup, but forgo tasting the cookies or add an extra exercise session during the week. These straightforward actions will keep you on track to look and feel great through the holidays (and beyond!)
Fitness may protect the brain in early Alzheimer’s disease.
Well, the above headline from the October 2008 Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter certainly caught my attention. New research at the University of Kansas aligns with other research studies making the connections between fitness and a slower cognitive decline. Researchers found that people with early Alzheimer’s disease who performed best on a cardiovascular treadmill test were also less likely to suffer brain atrophy associated with the disease.
According to the research study author, Jeffery M. Burns, MD, “People with early Alzheimer’s disease who were less physically fit had four times more brain shrinkage when compared to normal older adults than those who were more physically fit.” It is normal for the brain to shrink with aging, but the shrinkage rate doubles in Alzheimer’s patients. Dr. Burns stated, “People with early Alzheimer’s disease may be able to preserve their brain function for a longer period of time by exercising regularly and potentially reducing the amount of brain volume lost.” This is so important since Dr. Burns’ evidence shows that brain shrinkage is tied to “poorer cognitive performance, so preserving more brain volume may translate into better cognitive performance.”
Sam Gandy, MD, PhD, Chairman of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Medical and Scientific Council, commented that this study’s message is essentially that if you already have Alzheimer’s disease you can still benefit from physical activity. This research confirms that a healthy body contributes to a healthy mind.
I am always looking for more proven benefits of consistent, healthy exercise; now we can add preserving brain volume to the ever-expanding list! Have a healthy day.
Mark is the president of Body By Design, Inc. – Personal Trainers; he has been helping clients realize their health and fitness goals for over nineteen years.
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