HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Health and Wellness

Here's a summary of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Heart Plan's quick start:

Eat 5. Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day to boost your heart health. Start by eating breakfast and including at least one serving of fruit or vegetable. Snack on vegetables or fruit in between meals. Make a conscious effort to include fruits and vegetables in your daily meals. Don't worry so much about foods you shouldn't eat, just work on getting five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Move 10. Add at least 10 minutes of moderately intense physical activity to what you do every day. Sure government recommendations say 30 minutes or more, but the bottom line is even 10 minutes makes a difference. For example, just 60 to 90 minutes a week of physical activity can reduce your heart disease risk by up to half. That's a big benefit from a pretty small commitment on your part. It doesn't have to be elaborate — take the stairs, take a walk, just get moving. As you become more active, you can try to increase your total amount of activity a day.
Sleep 8. Quality sleep is good for your heart. It can be a challenge to make time for good sleep, but it's important. For two weeks try to get eight hours of good, quality sleep each night. Yes, each person's sleep needs vary slightly, but eight is a good number to shoot for.

This statement is just a great suggestion from a reputable source. Before starting any new diet or exercise program, consult your doctor.

Say What....?!?!

Okay, we have all blindly bought things from the local retailer, I know I have. I would get suckered in to the fancy advertising and hype of the hundreds to thousands of products that are displayed all neatly in a row and being a mommy it is my job to protect my babies, right. Picture this, I am on my regular walk through at my local retailer, about to stock up on the necessities to keep my home safe and clean. "Oh, what's this, kills super germs the size of Texas?" In the cart it goes. Naughty, naughty!! Have any of you read that really fine print on the back. You should, just make sure you take a magnify glass with you. Did you find yourself trying to sound out some lengthy words?

Here are a FEW examples that I found:

-Toilet Cleaners - antimicrobial pesticides.

-Antibacterial Cleaners - quaternary ammonium or phenolic chemicals.

-Air Fresheners - formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, p-dichlorobenzene, aerosol propellants; highly flammable, solid fresheners usually cause death if eaten by people or pets.

-Window/Glass Cleaner - ammonia, isopropanol; if swallowed can cause drowsiness, unconsciousness, or death.

-All Purpose Cleaners - ammonia, ethylene glycol, monobuytl acetate, disodium phosphate.

-Rug/Carpet Cleaners - perchlorethylene and naphthalene; fumes can cause cancer and liver damage.

-Trichloroethylene (TCE) - highly likely to produce cancer in humans. Also, long-term nervous system, kidney, and liver damage.

-Phthalates - birth defects, reproductive harm, cancer. Commonly found in air fresheners, flooring tiles, cosmetics, personal care products, cleaning products, and also as a food additive.

-Non-stick Pans/Teflon - releases toxic fumes that are fatal to birds, probably not healthy for humans. Non-stick coatings releases perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) - a likely human carcinogen. Good alternatives are stainless steels, cast iron, or enameled alternatives.

Did you get the "Willies" from reading this? I know I did when I first dug a little deeper than just the fine print on the back of these products. Suddenly my brain was swamped with daily routine images. Here is ONE for example: I saw myself in the kitchen cutting some veggies on a cutting board and "whoops" there goes a piece of broccoli flying off the board and onto the counter (5 sec. rule) and back in with the others it goes. Now there is an added new thought of: "ewww gross, that broccoli skidded across antimicrobial pesticides". Needless to say, I made the switch to all natural products.

Now we can't protect ourselves and loved ones from everything, but we can become educated about what we decide to bring in to our homes.