People understand a mind and body connection exists. Fitness is about being in the moment and focusing. That focus affects both physical performance and mental health. Stress, which emanates from the mind, causes the brain to release hormones that trigger changes in the body to prepare it to fight or run. Those hormones cause changes in blood flow and can create brain fog. Exercise can reverse those changes. If not reversed, they can create serious illnesses. Learning to calm the mind can also improve overall health. Ensuring the mind and the body are fit is imperative to good health.

Physical activity boosts brain health.

When you increase activity, you increase nutrient and oxygen-laden blood circulating to the brain. It improves cognitive functioning and can slow the advancement of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. Those diseases cause the progressive loss of neurons. Exercise increases the creation of new neural pathways or slows the progressive loss. The increased blood flow also helps clear waste from the brain as it nourishes the cells.

Exercise makes the body stronger.

You’ll reduce the risk of many diseases when you exercise. You’ll also reduce the risk of injury from accidents. It helps improve balance, builds strength, promotes flexibility, and increases endurance. Exercising helps ease chronic pain. Chronic pain affects cognitive functioning and mental health. It also improves posture, which can boost self-confidence and lead to others treating you as more confident. Exercise helps improve your digestive system by increasing the variety and quality of your gut microbiome and aiding food to travel through the digestive system.

Exercise helps mental health disorders.

Many mental healthcare professionals use exercise as an adjunct therapy instead of medication. It’s proven better than many medications without any harmful side effects. It’s especially beneficial for people with anxiety and depression but has also been helpful for ADHD, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress syndrome. The microbes in the digestive system become more diversified and more beneficial. Many create enzymes that trigger improved mental health.

• When you exercise regularly, you sleep more soundly and better at night. When you sleep, your brain does housekeeping. It reorganizes and flushes the brain with cerebrospinal fluid to remove toxins through brain channels that expand when you sleep.
• Studies show that changing the gut microbiome can help treat many mental health conditions. Exercising helps make those changes.
• Even if your joints hurt, mild exercise may be helpful. It increases synovial fluid circulation. The synovial fluid then lubricates the joints, bringing relief. Exercise also builds the tendons and muscles around the joints to reduce the pressure.
• Exercise can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of cancer. It lowers the risk of diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity. It helps prevent and reduce inflammation and strengthens the body to prolong your life.

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC

One unfounded belief is that to eat healthily, you can only eat lettuce, fresh vegetables, and broiled chicken or something the equivalent of that. You can eat healthier without depriving yourself by making a few changes. It doesn’t mean you give up all sweet treats. It does mean you can’t eat them every day, and when you do, eat one serving size. A scoop of ice cream occasionally is okay, but eating a quart a day is not healthy. So how do you start?

Start by identifying your weaknesses and places you need to improve.

You don’t have to be dramatic about the changes. They can be minor and gradual. If you’re used to eating a sweet treat during mid-morning break, don’t skip the treat, substitute it with fruit. If you love a dish of ice cream with your meal, either make the serving smaller until you only eat a small amount every other day or switch to a frozen fruit sorbet with no added sugar. Switching one ingredient for another without changing the flavor is another way to eat healthier. Use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and whole grain brown rice instead of processed white rice.

Drink a glass of water before a meal.

If you drink 8 ounces of water a half hour before a meal, you’ll eat less. You can switch from soft drinks to water for calorie savings and health benefits. Change the way you cook your food. Bake meat instead of frying it. Consider using an air fryer if you crave that fried food flavor occasionally. Try zoodles or spaghetti squash to replace pasta. Most people find the taste isn’t that much different. Some people love the flavor of spaghetti squash better.

Take your time and eat mindfully.

Mindful eating can help digestion and aid in weight loss. You savor each bite and slow your eating. When you take a bite, chew it until it’s a liquid. As you chew it, notice the flavor and texture. Think about how each bite is making you healthier. It can help to note every time you eat something. It slows you down and makes digestion easier.

• Find ways to add vegetables to dishes. Add veggies to rice, put them in muffins, mix extra in casseroles, or put extra veggies in tuna or chicken salad.
• Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can never eat sweet treats. Just don’t eat them often. If you’re at a birthday party, don’t turn down the cake if you love it. Eat a smaller piece.
• Eating healthy doesn’t mean you can never eat sweet treats. Just don’t eat them often. If you’re at a birthday party, don’t turn down cake if you love it. Plan the week’s meals one day, shop another, and spend one day making them. Include snacks.
• Get creative and include a variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet. Try pickled vegetables, baked, stewed, and raw ones. Serving healthy food in a variety of ways will leave you feeling satisfied.

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC

Everyone wants the best and most effective diet for shedding fat and maintaining good health. Some people in Sacramento, CA, have turned to a low-carb diet. Is it easier to maintain? Does it work? Is it all hype and another way to sell books or get clicks on articles? Low-carb diets aren’t new. They’ve been around since the mid-1800s when Claude Bernard, a French physician, gave a dietary theory conference

and Dr. Harvey heard it. It was the origination of a low-carb diet. He later filled in for the doctor of William Banting and tried out the theory. After years of failed attempts to lose weight, Banting finally had a successful outcome with this diet. In 1863, Banting wrote a pamphlet inspired by his success called On Corpulence. It was the first low-carb diet.

What was the miraculous advice?

The advice that Banting heard and followed was simple. It was to give up beer, sugar, milk, butter,bread, and potatoes. He also suggested to fill in the gap with vegetables that weren’t starchy. In the mid-1900s, Dr. Atkins revived that low-carb approach with his book Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution. A newer, healthier approach divides the meal by macronutrient calories. The division increases the calories from protein and reduces those from carbohydrates.

Reducing carbohydrates works, but why?

Sugar is a carbohydrate. Reducing sugar and other simple carbohydrates lowers insulin levels and prevents blood sugar spikes. Insulin does other things besides regulating blood glucose levels. It stores energy by triggering the production and storage of fat. It causes the body to burn glucose and avoid burning fat, so it limits the fat the body burns. Reducing insulin levels allows your body to burn fat cells and makes weight loss easier.

Low carb diets eliminate many of the junk foods that trigger dopamine.

Junk and highly processed foods are high in sugar and trigger the release of dopamine, the body’s reward system. It’s instinctive and helped early man survive. Early man required calories to exist. Food that didn’t taste sweet was often poisonous. To encourage eating sweet foods and avoid toxic foods, the brain’s reward system releases dopamine, encouraging early man to eat more sweet foods. It’s still instinctive today. Cutting out reward-style foods with sugar helps you eat less by withholding a reward. Low-carb diets are higher in protein. Protein requires more calories to be burned for digestion. In the initial stages of very low-carb diets, extra calories are burned during gluconeogenesis, transforming protein to glucose. Protein also diminishes appetite and increases muscle mass.

• Rapid weight loss on low-carb diets often occurs due to water weight loss. Other weight loss occurs because lower carbohydrates often result in lower calorie intake.
• Whether you choose a low-carb diet or another type of diet, making a lifestyle change to healthier eating is what counts. Cutting out food high in sugar and starch that offers few, if any, benefits helps.
• Our nutrition coaches can help you with personalized dietary recommendations that consider personal preference and special dietary considerations. We even provide meal plans that make it even easier to eat healthy.

For more information, contact us today at Team-ISC