Journal your gratitudes. Those who kept gratitude journals on a weekly basis:

1. ·         exercised more regularly
2. ·         reported fewer physical symptoms
3. ·         felt better about their lives as a whole
4. ·         were more optimistic about the upcoming week
5. ·        were more likely to have made progress toward important personal goals (academic, interpersonal and health-based)

Other Gratitude Notes

1. Most people report being grateful (an average rating of nearly 6 on a 7 point scale).

2. Well-Being:  Grateful people report higher levels of:
   •  positive emotions
   • life satisfaction
   • vitality,
   • optimism
   • lower levels of depression and stress. 

 The disposition toward gratitude appears to enhance pleasant feeling states more than it diminishes unpleasant emotions.  Grateful people do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life.  

3. Prosociality: People with a strong disposition toward gratitude have the capacity to be empathic and to take the perspective of others, as well as be more generous.

4. Spirituality:  Those who regularly attend religious services and engage in religious activities such as prayer reading religious material score are more likely to be grateful.

 5.  Materialism:  Grateful individuals:

• ·          place less importance on material goods
• ·         are less likely to judge their own and others success in terms of possessions accumulated
• ·         are less envious of  others
• ·         are more likely to share their possessions with others relative to less grateful persons.   

• Using ultrasound imaging, doctors have found that the carotid arteries in the necks of obese teens and children as young as 10 had fatty buildup like that of a typical 45-year-old and other signs they’re at risk to develop heart disease.
• That’s especially troubling since “the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke,”
• The researchers found that obese children who had abnormal fat buildup in their arteries also had too much LDL, or “bad cholesterol,” in their blood.
• Children with high levels of triglycerides, another type of fat, in their blood were especially prone to having arteries that looked much older than they were.
• “The combination of obesity and high triglycerides should be a red flag to the doctor that a child is at high risk of heart disease,” Raghuveer said.

View the entire article

“More children are harmed by poor nutrition than drugs, alchols, and tobacco combined”  Dr. Katz, Yale Univesity.

This research reflects that. 

Caring for our children involves attention to their nourishment, which is difficult given our society, but not impossible.

An easy solution for your family can be the addition of Juice Plus to your and your children’s diet.

http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialJuicePlus

How are you and your family measuring up? 

Children and Adolescents (aged 6–17)

• At least 60 minutes of mostly moderate- or vigorous-intensity physical activity every day.
• Muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activity on at least 3 days per week.

Adults (aged 18–64)

• Adults should do 2 hours and 30 minutes a week of moderate-intensity

OR

·        75 Minutes a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity

OR

·       an equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity.

Aerobic activity should be performed in episodes of at least 10 minutes, preferably spread throughout the week.

 

Additional health benefits are provided by increasing:

·        to 5 hours (300 minutes) a week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity

OR

·        2 hours and 30 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity physical activity, or an equivalent combination of both.

• muscle-strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups performed on 2 or more days per week.

Older Adults (aged 65 and older)

• Older adults should follow the adult guidelines. If this is not possible due to limiting chronic conditions, older adults should be as physically active as their abilities allow. They should avoid inactivity. Older adults should do exercises that maintain or improve balance if they are at risk of falling.

In fact, some social workers will not take on cases of children with ADHD/ADD/Anxiety/Autism if parents are unwilling to remove food additives from the child’s diet.  That is just one example of how diet can greatly affect a child’s life. 

For what are food additives used? To:

• ·         change food’s color
• ·         preserve food
• ·         prevent rancidity
• ·         keep fats emulsified and foods stable  

Most of the chemicals are synthetic compounds, some with known negative health effects.  Mostly, the long term affect of consuming large amounts of additives are unknown.  

Check out this list of the top 12 to avoid.

Although eliminating these may be impossible for some people, begin to notice how you feel (or how your children act) after consuming these.  You may find more sensitivity to one more than another.

Watch this 2 minute video that aired on Fox News about why he recommends Juice Plus for those of us who do not get the recommended 7-13 servings of fruits and veggies each day, every day.

 http://www.foxnews.com/video2/video08.html?maven_referralObject=3117002&maven_referralPlaylistId=&sRevUrl=http://www.foxnews.com/health/drrosenfeld/index.html

Who is Dr. Rosefeld?

 Isadore Rosenfeld, M.D., a professor of medicine at New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center, is widely recognized as one of this country’s preeminent doctors. His regular appearances on network television have garnered a devoted nationwide following of viewers seeking the latest information on health and medical issues.

With nine best-selling books to his credit (as well as a textbook for doctors), Dr. Rosenfeld is one of the leading and most effective proponents of the medical enlightenment of the American public. He is the Health Editor of Parade magazine, with 82 million readers.

Dr. Rosenfeld is a practicing physician and the Rossi Distinguished Professor of Clinical Medicine at New York Hospital Weil Cornell Medical Center.

He was president of the New York County Medical Society and was a member of The Practicing Physicians Advisory Council for the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

In addition to maintaining a private practice in Manhattan, Dr. Rosenfeld has served as a consultant to the National Institute of Health on such task forces as arteriosclerosis, sudden death and hypertension.

He is the recipient of the first award for the achievement in cardiovascular medicine and science by the New York affiliate of the American Heart Association.

Labelwatch.com is the first and only informational website that allows consumers to go beyond the fancy package, and actually understand what’s really inside.

You can look up your favorite foods or simply search for a particular ingredient.

My favorite part is the color coding:

• Green indicates “Beneficial Ingredients”

• Yellow indicates “OK Ingredients”

• Red indicates “Cautionary Ingredients”

The ingredient glossary was created using information supplied by many reputable sources, including: The National Institutes of Health, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Food & Drug Administration, and Foods Standards Agency UK, among many others.

Products that contain no “cautionary” ingredients (as defined by the glossary) are awarded the Labelwatch Smart Ingredients Seal, a distinguished seal of product excellence.

 Check out your label today!

• High doses of caffeine stimulate the release of stress hormones.  These are the hormones release during challenging situations, which is quite useful.  However, chronic release of these hormones is damaging to the body.  Here’s why:

 An abundance of stress hormones cause the body to age at an accelerated rate.  The older you are the more stress hormones you release in response to caffeine, so habitual coffee drinking ages the body at a more rapid rate than it would without the caffeine, and situation snowballs over the years.  

• Caffeine interferes with the absorption of minerals in the body, including calcium and magnesium, which are key minerals for bone health.  This can lead to lower bone density.

• Caffeine increases blood pressure.

 Caffeine certainly does have its benefits not in only how we feel, but some research suggests it may actually benefit the heart, so it certainly isn’t all bad.  Now you can make the decision as to how you will include it in your life.

Antioxidants protect cells from damage by toxins in the environment. Dark-colored produce (berries, kale, broccoli) tends to be higher in flavonoids, polyphenols and other antioxidants.  

Recommendations are to eat 5-9 servings (and up to 13 servings for athletes) of fruits and veggies to maintain health.  Unfortunately, the majority of people can not eat (or can not get their families to eat) enough fruits and veggies to receive the protective benefits. 

Recognizing this, researchers at the University of Florida set out to determine if gammadelta T-cells, which play a role in guarding against viruses and infection and in wound healing, increase in stressed-out law students taking Juice Plus (dehydrated fruits and veggies in capsules, chewables, or gummies).

It does.

By day 77 there was a 30% increase in circulating gammadelta-T cells and a 40% reduction in DNA damage in lymphocytes (which play an important and integral role in the body’s defenses) compared to the placebo group.

Note that unrepaired damaged DNA impedes a cell’s ability to carry out its function, so having less DNA damage to lymphocytes, which protect the body’s immunity is very important.

To summarize, even though the law students were in high-stress environments, their immunity improved due to more protective cells (gammadelta T-cells) and improved function (less damage) to their lymphocytes. 

If that happens after 77 days, imagine the benefits of 17 fruits and vegetables day after day for a year.  What other benefits might you see? 

Find out how your family can get the benefits of 17 fruits and vegetables, too!

In part (and I would guess in most cases, a large part), this is due to how they emulate you!

I recently had a conversation with a friend who realized that she wasn’t speaking “nicely” to her husband when her 2-year-old started imitating that sort of communication.

Kids can be the most beautiful and not-so-beautiful mirrors for us.

This is true also with how they care for their health. 

What you value for yourself is what they will most likely value (if not now, then when they are adults). 

For example, if you are a family that attends church weekly, it is likely that your child, when an adult, will also value this family tradition.

Likewise, as your child sees you value your health (through regular exercise, eating well, and practicing healthy habits), he or she is most likely going to value their own health.

 Note the distinction.  What you value in yourself is what they will value.  Not, what you value for them. Valuing their health, does not lead them to value it. 

I have thought this for a long time, but just recently decided to share this thought given a recent post: an hour a day, which highlights the recommendation of children’s daily activity.

So, pat yourself on the back for the wonderful example you are setting for your children.

And, if there are things that you would hate for your kids to do (or not do) as an adult, stop (or start) doing them.    

 Remember, your kids are watching and you are shaping their future.