The Statistics of Sleep

An April 2008 survey of 1,466 American adults conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center found that:

1. Over 50% of people surveyed reported that they had trouble either falling asleep, staying asleep, or were waking up too early when asked about their most recent night of sleep.
2. When asked about the previous month, 44% said they had one or more of these problems on more than 8 nights during the month – in other words, more than 25% of the time.
3. More than 25% of those surveyed said it took them 30 min or longer to fall asleep.
4. Over 25% said that they woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep for at least half an hour. Also, many woke up during the night to use the bathroom.
5. Over a third reported that they woke up earlier than they would have liked.

Since sleep is so vital to good health, these statistics are troubling. It turns out that not being able to get enough sleep costs us a lot more than just a couple hours tossing and turning. The NIH estimates that poor sleep may account for up to $16 billion in health-care costs. This figure, although huge just by itself, does not include the cost of lost productivity, mistakes, and accidents caused by people being sleep deprived at school or at work.

Reasons We Can’t Sleep

Why is it that so many of us just can’t get a good night’s sleep? According to the NIH, some of the reasons we can’t seem to sleep through the night include:

1. The 24/7 nature of today’s world. We feel that we have to be constantly “plugged in” reading and sending emails, instant messages, and text messages as well as checking what our friends are up to on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or any of the other social sites. I talked about this in my article “Is Staying Connected Stressing You Out?“
2. Access to continuous entertainment and activities. In today’s electronic society, the sun going down does not signal the end of the day’s activities. We’ve got the Internet, X-boxes, and Movies on Demand, all of which can keep us occupied 24 hours a day.
3. Health issues that interfere with sleep. These include things like Arthritis as well as neck and back pain.

The Consumer Reports Research Center found slightly different reasons. When asked why they weren’t sleeping well, the survey participants gave the following reasons:

1. High stress levels. These included worrying about family issues, financial concerns, health issues, work and commuting, or their reaction to recent news events.
2. Physical pain or discomfort due to arthritis, back, neck, or joint pain, muscle aches.
3. Respiratory conditions such as asthma or a cold.
4. Mood disorders including depression.
5. Other factors including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, hyperthyroidism, ADD, and menopause.

What You Can Do

So what can you do if you happen to be one of the 70 million Americans that just can’t seem to get a full night of restful sleep? Reach for the bottle of sleeping pills? Of Course Not!! Medications should be your last resort, not your first choice. Your body already has enough problems suffering from lack of rest without also having to deal with a bunch of chemicals and their side-effects.

My recommendation is to first do everything you can to create an environment that is naturally conducive to sleep. This includes the following:

• Take a close look at your habits and modify them if you routinely:

1. Take long naps late in the day
2. Eat a big meal late in the day
3. Watch TV in bed, especially the late night news
4. Drink alcohol or caffeinated beverages before going to bed
5. Allow pets or small children to share your bed
6. Go to bed at different times each night
7. Engage in mentally stimulating activities right before bed like playing video games, reading graphic novels, and so on
8. Perform vigorous exercise or other physical activities less than an hour before bed
9. Drink lots of water or other fluids before bed time

• Examine your bedroom itself and make adjustments if it’s:

1. Too hot or too cold at night
2. Too noisy. To counter the effects of background noise, you should try a sound machine that plays soft, rhythmic sounds like rain drops, or a water fall.
3. Not dark enough
4. Too humid or too dry

• Change or replace your mattress if:

1. You’ve slept on the same mattress for more than 8 years
2. You consistently wake up with back pain or sore muscles. As we age, our bodies become more sensitive to pressure points indicating the need for a softer mattress than what you used in your college days.

• Change or replace your pillow if:

1. You consistently wake up with neck pain or sore ears
2. You start snoring so loudly that you repeatedly wake yourself up

• Get and stay in good health.

1. Get regular check ups
2. Exercise regularly
3. Lose some weight

If All Else Fails

If you’ve followed all of the above suggestions and still can’t seem to fall asleep easily, you might want to try some of the “natural,” “herbal,” or other over-the-counter sleep remedies that contain melatonin since these tend to be gentler than prescribed medications. However, be aware that since these types of products are not regulated, their contents and concentrations can vary widely from brand to brand.

Finally, if nothing else seems to be working, see your health-care professional. If they prescribe or recommend medication, follow your doctor’s advice and the instructions on the label to the letter. We Americans tend to believe that if one pill is good, then 2 or 3 pills are even better. This kind of thinking is dangerous. Follow the instructions.

And Finally

There’s a reason that we begin to feel sleepy whenever we’re exhausted or when we get hurt, or sick. Sleep is the body’s way of shutting down all unnecessary functions so that it can begin to heal and repair itself. A good night’s sleep is a critical component to good health. Make sure you’re getting all you need.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: sleep, health, sleep deprivation, rest, restful sleep, NIH

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This time however, as the Dental Hygienist was writing down the results in my folder, she said, “Hmm, your blood pressure seems a little high.” I was reading 120/88 – the first stages of hypertension. Needless to say, it got my attention.

What is High Blood Pressure?

Your circulatory system is basically your body’s plumbing system and your heart is the pump that powers it. When your heart “beats,” the heart muscle contracts pushes blood through the arteries creating a set amount of pressure against the artery walls. The amount of pressure that the heart creates when it beats is called the Systolic pressure. When the heart relaxes in between beats, the pressure drops. This is called Diastolic pressure.

Your blood pressure is usually reported as the systolic pressure over the diastolic. Since the systolic pressure is created when the heart beats, it makes sense that the systolic pressure would be the higher of the two. However, both numbers are important.

Although your blood pressure changes throughout the day depending on factors such as your activity and stress level, to name a few, if it stays elevated, it’s called high blood pressure, or Hypertension.

For most adults, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have determined the following categories of blood pressure:

How Serious is High Blood Pressure?

It’s estimated that high blood pressure affects more than 65 million Americans, or about 1 out of every 3 adults. High blood pressure is an indication that your heart is working too hard. The high pressure also put a strain on the arteries and organs downstream. If uncontrolled, high blood pressure can eventually lead to heart and kidney disease, stroke, or blindness.

Who’s Most at Risk?

High blood pressure is most common in those over 55 years of age. It’s also common in African Americans, where it tends to develop at a younger age and affect a larger percentage of the population than Whites.

Non-medical Ways to Reduce It

High blood pressure can be managed to a large extent by the following means, listed in the order of biggest impact:

1. Weight management. Just losing 10 pounds can reduce your blood pressure by 4-6 points.
2. Exercise. Try to stay physically active during most of the week.
3. Watch your diet. Maintain a healthy, and low salt (sodium), diet. Check out the DASH diet from the US Department of Health and Human Services.
4. Drink in moderation. If you drink, don’t overdo it.

Note that if your blood pressure is already elevated, your doctor may prescribe medication to control it. It’s important to understand that any kind of medication is not a substitute for the above. Whether you take blood pressure medication or not, you should still watch your weight, exercise, eat right, and drink in moderation.

What I’m Doing

So here’s my problem. I’m not really overweight and I already exercise several times a week. I don’t smoke, and I don’t drink. So what’s left? Lose some weight and eat healthier. Although I’m not overweight, everyone nowadays can afford to lose 10 or more pounds. I don’t binge on junk food but again, everyone can make better food choices. So those are my two goals for the next 6 months.

I’ve also bought a new gadget called the “Resperate.” It’s a computer controlled gizmo that teaches you how to lower your breathing rate, and thereby lower your blood pressure. You put on a pair of headphones and listen to some special music, breathing in to the high notes and breathing out to the low notes, while the machine monitors your actual breathing rate. Once your breathing is in sync with the machine, it slows the music down trying to get your actual breathing rate to slow down as well.

It’s kind of neat how it works. I just got it so I can’t endorse it yet or say how effective it is. You can read more about it at their website at www.resperate.com.

To Get More Information

For more information on blood pressure, see the publication “Your Guide to Lowering Blood Pressure” from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: blood pressure, hypertension, heart, DASH, diet, health, resperate

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As shown on the diagram that’s part of this article, total health is made up of several areas or components, two of them are inside your body (internal) and two of them are outside (external). To learn how these components interact and affect your overall health, read on.

The areas that make up your total health include:

• Physical. This is what most of us think of when we think of things like health, fitness, diet, and so on. This is also the area that most fitness plans focus on.
• Mental and Spiritual. The “brain and soul” of our lives controlling what we think as well as our emotions.
• Relationships. The number and types of relationships you have with others can have a significant effect on your physical health.
• Environment. The type of environment where you spend most of your time – your home, your work setting, your classroom – all affect your body, mind, and spirit.

All of these components are interconnected, ether supporting or detracting from, the others. Keeping them in balance so that they support each other to achieve total wellness is what balanced health is all about.

Most health and fitness plans focus on only one part of the equation. For example, an exercise program only focuses on your physical body without taking into consideration the effect this is having on your mental and spiritual health, your relationships with others, or taking into account the health effects of your environment. By working so hard on just one part of your health, you’re actually pulling the other components further and further out of balance. The end result? Your overall health and wellness suffers.

So don’t fall for short term results that may actually cause long term health problems. Don’t get so focused on dieting or lifting weights that your family relationships suffer, for example. Make sure that your health and fitness program addresses (and balances) all the components that make up total wellness.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: balanced health, physical, mental, spiritual, relationships, environment, diet, health

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The rewards for finding a new sea route or for discovering a new land were huge and included land, title, and of course, money. Unfortunately, this lead to some early explorers exaggerating their “discoveries” in an effort to cash in quickly. In fact, the famous explorer James Cook would write that many so-called explorers would, “lay down the line of a coast they have never seen and put down soundings where they have never sounded.” This unreliable information actually hindered the efforts of later explorers as they tried to follow the same routes only to find that there was no similarity whatsoever between the published accounts of an area and what they actually encountered.

What does exploration in the “Age of Columbus” have to do with modern-day fitness “experts?” Quite a bit, as it turns out. To find out how, read on.

In the 1500′s, many European governments offered huge rewards for the discovery of new routes to India and the Far East. This ushered in an age of discovery in which many set sail to make their reputation and fortune filling in the blank parts of the map as they went. The rewards of a new discovery were so great that many sought to short-cut the process with exaggerated, or sometimes completely fictional, descriptions of their “discoveries.”

Similarly, the health and fitness market has ballooned into a $500 Billion a year market creating a huge demand for fitness products and services. As a result, many fitness “experts” have jumped in to stake their claim of this rapidly expanding market. However, like some of the early explorers, many of these “experts” are nothing of the sort and only offer exaggerated claims, unsubstantiated results, and short-cut methods.

The Consequences Mis-information

For those trying to find their way to India through uncharted waters, or for those trying to improve their health and fitness, the consequences of bad or incomplete information include the following:

1. They create confusion. The reports of the early explorers were taken at face value so they all carried the same weight. That meant that incorrect or false information was given the same credence as valid information. This created a lot of confusion, not to mention danger, in those that tried to follow the same routes. It’s the same with fitness information – the “quack” is given the same attention as the “expert. ” In fact, the “quack” usually has a better and more convincing-looking website!

2. They exaggerate their claims. Because of the huge potential financial rewards, people started short-cutting methods and exaggerating their results in order to increase their rewards. As a result, their results (their “discoveries”) could not be repeated or verified by those that followed the same routes. Similarly, it’s almost impossible to get the results promised by many of the “over-night” fitness programs or “quick weight loss” diet programs that are currently being offered.

3. They are always found out in the end. These “less-than-honest-explorers” were almost always exposed by later explorers who revealed and documented the real truth. History remembers their names, not those who tried to “game” the system for short-term rewards. Likewise, the fitness experts that get repeatable and consistent results are the ones that will survive the test of time and scrutiny.

How to Identify a Real Expert

So how can you tell whether or not a particular health and fitness “expert” is the real thing? How can you tell whether or not they have actually sailed these waters before? Here are some tips:

1. They walk the talk. One quick way to identify a real expert is to see if they practice what they preach. Does your fitness instructor have to duck out for a cigarette before class? Is there a Big Mac wrapper in the trash can of your nutritionist? Is your dietitian significantly overweight? Real experts walk the talk.

2. They tell the truth and don’t exaggerate. Another check is to see whether their claims are believable. Good health and fitness is hard work and is acquired a little at a time. Be wary if they offer exaggerated claims of “overnight” success or quick weight loss. Real experts don’t exaggerate and will tell you the truth about what it takes to get fit.

3. They have verifiable proof. Are their results documented, or do you just have to take their word for it? The fake explorers brought back nothing but fantastic claims and stories. The real explorers brought back hard data: maps, charts, bearings, and depth soundings. Real fitness experts have proof that can be checked out and verified of the results they can provide.

4. Their results are repeatable Check to see whether their results are repeatable. If you follow the same course, will you get the same results or do they hide behind the phrase “your results may vary?” Real experts know what it takes to get fit, and they know how to adapt it to your particular circumstances. Their results are repeatable.

What Type of Expert are You Following?

As you continue your journey towards good health and fitness, what type of “expert” are you following? Do they “walk the talk” or are they a “do as I say, not as I do” type? Look closely and make sure the expert you are following is a real one.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: balanced health, fitness, health, expert, instructor, diet, weight loss, explorer, ancient mariner

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Ever wonder why just being by a waterfall instantly soothes your spirit and makes you feel relaxed and energized?

There are actually several reasons for this. The first is the rhythmic sight and sound of the rushing water as it gathers speed, spills over the falls, and crashes into a pool below. The motion of the water is almost hypnotic and the sound is like a lullaby that sings directly into your soul.

The crashing water of a waterfall also creates quite a bit of mist, increasing the humidity and cooling the surrounding area. A lot of mist in the air tends to create rainbows when the sun is at the right angle, another item that is pleasing to the eye and that helps to calm the spirit.

Waterfalls also create significant levels of negative ions. Negative ions not only clean the air (which is why the air around a waterfall always smells fresh and clean), they make you feel relaxed, refreshed, and energized.

Lastly, waterfalls are just plain cool. Who can watch water come crashing down from a high cliff and not be moved to amazement? Who can feel the cool mist on their face and not experience a deep connection with the Earth? Who can possibly come up with a better way to describe a waterfall than to just stare at it and say, “Cool!”?

Balanced health means more than just diet and exercise. Although diet and exercise take care of your physical body, you have to also balance your mind and spirit. Sitting near a waterfall is a great way to do that.

So whether you’re sitting near a waterfall as massive as Niagara Falls or one as small as a tabletop waterfall, take the time to really watch the water flow over the edge. Hear the water splashing on the rocks and hitting the pool below. Then take a slow, deep, cleansing breath, and say, “Cool!”

Hiram

The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: balanced health, waterfalls, negative ions, water, mental health, spirit, relaxation

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A 2007 study performed at Louisiana State University and published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that there was essentially no difference in the amount of weight loss between two groups of subjects, one group that had dieted only, and one that had both dieted and exercised. Both groups lost about the same amount of weight at the end of the study. So what’s the bottom line? According to lead author Dr. Eric Ravussin, “It’s all about the calories.”

The Nitty-Gritty Details

The first group reduced their caloric intake through dieting alone, cutting their food intake by 25%. This should be pretty straightforward. If you reduce the amount of food you eat by 25%, the total number of calories your body has available also falls by 25%. At the end of the 6-month study, the members of this group lost about 10% of their starting body weight.

The second group cut their caloric intake through a combination of dieting and exercise. First, they reduced the amount of food they ate by 12.5%. At the same time, they increased the amount of calories they normally burn by 12.5% through exercise. When you add the effects of the diet (12.5% reduction in food) and exercise (12.5% increase in metabolism), you end up with the same 25% reduction in total calories as the first group. The members of this group also lost about 10% of their starting body weight.

Since the amount of total calories for both groups was reduced by the same amount, they lost the same amount of weight. Big shock, right? Well, here are some of the less-than-obvious points that you can use in your fitness plan.

What This Means

What this study shows is that there is only one way to loose weight: you have to reduce the total number of calories that your body needs to maintain it’s current state, creating what Dr. Ravussin calls an “energy deficit.” There are two ways to do this:

1. You can reduce the amount of caloric intake. In other words, dieting. Reduce the amount of food and drink calories that you take into your body.
2. You can increase the amount of calories expended. You do this by raising your metabolism. Although there are several ways to do this, exercise is typically the best since it provides other benefits, such as aerobic fitness, at the same time.

The study also found that both groups lost weight in the same areas. According to Dr. Ravussin, “So long as the energy deficit is the same, body weight, fat weight, and abdominal fat will all decrease the same way.” This tends to debunk the idea that you can “spot reduce” abdominal fat.

Since the distribution of the weight loss was the same for both groups, the study also put a big hole in the idea that dieting alone causes you to lose muscle mass. The researchers found no evidence of this.

Why Not Do Both?

Why didn’t Group 2 reduce their food intake by 25% like Group 1 did, AND then exercise? Well, they obviously wouldn’t have been able to compare the two groups if they did that. But there’s another factor you have to take into consideration: your appetite increases when you exercise. This makes it all the more difficult to stick to your diet.

However, doing both is a very effective way to lose weight as long as you balance the two.

The Balanced Way

So how can you use this information in a healthy and balanced way? Here are some tips to keep in mind when you’re designing your weight-loss program:

1. If you choose to diet, you’ll be eating less so make sure that your food choices are nutritional.
2. If you choose to exercise, be aware that the more you exercise, the more your appetite will increase. It’s your body’s way of trying to compensate for the increased expenditure of calories. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because you’re working out, you can eat whatever you want. It’s way too easy to burn 100 calories through exercise and then gain it all back and then some by eating a 200 calorie hamburger. Remember, it’s all about total calories.
3. For my money, I’d recommend a plan that incorporates both diet and exercise. However, keep in mind that what you eat has the largest impact on total calories. It takes a lot of effort to burn 100 calories during a workout session but you can reduce your caloric intake by 100 calories (or more) by simply drinking water at lunch instead of your usual Big Gulp.
4. Stay away from diet pills, teas, supplements and other items that contain ephedra, including such natural remedies as Chinese ma huang or “Mormon tea.” All of these claim to raise your metabolism so you can “loose weight while you sleep” or something similar. There are documented health risks with these so don’t use them.
5. Don’t fall victim to diet or fitness plans that claim to “spot reduce” areas. You’ll lose weight the way your body is genetically programed to do so.
6. Don’t try to lose a lot of weight too quickly. The participants in this study lost 10% of their body weight over a 6 month period. If you lose weight too quickly, you’ll simply gain it all back with a couple of extra pounds thrown in.

Remember, in order to lose weight, reduce total calories. Keep this basic fact in mind when you’re designing your weight-loss plan.

Hiram

The Balance Health Guy

Technorati Tags: diet, nutrition, weight loss, exercise, muscle, fat, balanced health, calories, metabolism

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