Life Change Habits

I drink lots of green tea. I brew at least a pot a day, and usually drink at least three cups. Drinking green tea provides amazing health benefits. Green tea has been used as a medicine in China for over 4000 years. Asian countries where green tea is widely consumed have lower rates of cancer, arteriosclerosis and heart disease than western countries where green tea is not a common beverage. There are three main varieties of tea: black, green and oolong, but green tea is more popular in Asia than its fermented cousins. As more is learned about its beneficial effects, green tea has been gaining popularity in the West as well. "Green tea ( Camellia sinesis) is made from unfermented leaves and reportedly contains the highest concentration of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols. Antioxidants are substances that scavenge free radicals -- damaging compounds in the body that alter cells, tamper with DNA (genetic material), and even cause cell death. Free radicals occur natur...

I did at least get out and walk a couple of days recently. Usually I walk about a half an hour every day, but it has been postponed the past week or so due to the busyness of the holidays or the weather being either rainy or too cold. On Christmas Day we went on a family hike in a nearby state forest. It was a sunny, mild day after a several days of heavy rain. We hiked about three miles over moderate terrain, and it was a wonderful, invigorating walk. Most days of course I don't take time out to travel to such a special place to take a walk. Now that the holidays are over, it's time to get back to a more normal schedule of activity because the lack of daily walking since then has left me feeling sluggish. What I do is fit walking in to my daily routine, by walking around my neighborhood.   My neighborhood is fairly walkable, and I can often fit in one or more walks to do an errand.  But walking needn't have a purpose.  I can just as easily go for a walk, with ...

Many health experts consider any whole food that is low in calories and has a high nutrient density or above-average nutritional benefits as a superfood. These nutritional benefits vary greatly depending upon the particular superfood, but according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), many of these antioxidant-rich foods may help reduce your risk for fatal diseases like cancer. In fact, according to the 2011 ACS Guidelines for Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention, a third of the annual cancer deaths in the United States are caused by poor diet and lack of adequate physical activity. If you're looking to improve your health, it's best to stay away from highly processed foods devoid of important macro and micronutrients. When you're at the grocery store, shop the outside aisles to avoid the pre-packaged foods high in glycemic load, calories, unhealthy fats and preservatives. One sign of high nutritional content when it comes to produce is color. Ch...

Aspirin  is an inexpensive preventive medicine, as a daily low dose aspirin costs just pennies. Also known as  acetylsalicylic acid,  aspirin is a  salicylate  drug, often used as an analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains, as an  antipyretic  to reduce fever, and as an anti-inflammatory medication. Plant extracts including willow bark and spiraea , of which salicylic acid was the active ingredient, have been known to help heal headaches, pains and fevers since antiquity. Aspirin has been creating a buzz in the news of late. Researchers in the UK recently published the results of clinical trials regarding aspirin use in the British medical journal,  The Lancet . While it has been known for some time that daily use of low dose aspirin lowers the risk of death from heart attacks, the new research suggests that daily use of aspirin reduces cancer deaths as well. Among the 25,570 patients participated in trials lasting between four and eight ye...