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Benefits of Listening to Music & Uplift Your Spirits!
Listening to music is a great way to enhance your well-being. Music is everywhere in our daily lives. In fact, it allows us the opportunity for emotional expression, to connect, and feel at ease. Studies have shown that music is beneficial to uplift your spirits, reduce stress, anxiety, improve mental health, and overall health.

Here are a few benefits of music:

1. Music and Stress/anxiety

If you’re feeling stressed or anxious, take a moment and pause. Give yourself a moment to relax and calm your mind. You should try listening to music. Listen to your favorite playlist, music artists, etc. Go for cheerful and calming music to lift you up or soothe your mind! Studies have shown that listening to both cheerful and calming music can relieve stress and anxiety by releasing dopamine, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, for example.

Though listening to music is a positive way to comfort yourself, you should always strive to talk to a trusted friend, individual, especially your loved ones. You’ll feel much better and comforted!

2. Music and Sleep

If stress, anxiety or sleep disorders are preventing you from falling asleep. Listening to music may enhance your sleep. Numerous studies have proven that listening to soothing music or classical music can be beneficial for people who have trouble sleeping. And these benefits include reducing stress, heart rate and respiratory, distract your worries, better rest, and more.

3. Music and Exercise

Listening to music while exercising is an excellent way to keep you motivated. Music with fast tempos have proven to make fitness enthusiasts feel energized and active! Therefore, boosting mood, increasing endurance, and reducing fatigue. Grab your favorite playlists and get moving!

Music preferences vary, but what matters is that it keeps you cheerful, relaxed, and at ease!

Sources:
1. How Music Can Help Reduce Stress and Ease Anxiety and Depression (webmd.com)
2. The Surprising Psychological Benefits of Music (verywellmind.com)
December 18, 2023
2 Foods to Consider on Indulging and It’s Benefits.
It’s okay to indulge every now and then, whether it’s cheat meals such as sweets, or whatever it is you gladly enjoy eating. Food brings happiness to everyone. And it’s good. Indulging can actually be beneficial to a healthy and balanced lifestyle, as long as it’s done in moderation. Wouldn’t it be enjoyable to reward yourself after making a commitment to a healthier diet? So, take a moment to reward yourself for this reason!

Here are 2 foods to consider indulging on occasion (based on few benefits):

1. Ice Cream

Ice cream is indeed beneficial in keeping a healthy mindset. When eating ice cream our bodies release dopamine which is a neurotransmitter from our nervous system that brings us pleasure and happiness. The savory taste of an ice cream is in fact, a mood booster. The ingredients of ice cream can vary, but the main ingredients are the following: milk and cream. Milk and cream contains nutrients, calcium, riboflavin, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin D, for instance. And are all important in some ways, in helping our bodies to function. Just like calcium is important for our bodies to maintain healthy and stronger bones!

2. Dark Chocolate

Having dark chocolate as a treat can lead to few benefits to your health. Dark chocolate contains antioxidants and minerals such as Magnesium, Zinc, iron, and more. Studies have shown that it may reduce the risk of heart disease, blood cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. Additionally, dark chocolate consumption can have benefits for skin, as stated by Kris GUnners from Healthline. By protecting skin from sun damage, improving blood flow in skin, especially hydration. Moreover, since dark chocolate is high in cocoa, it has the least amount of sugar and fat than milk or white chocolate.

Occasionally indulging in your favorite food can help you satisfy your cravings and maintain a healthy lifestyle but remember to consume them in moderation. Stay healthy!

Sources:
1. 7 Proven Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate (healthline.com)
2. 10 Health Benefits of Eating Ice Cream (firstcry.com)
December 18, 2023
Consider Your Intake of More Fruits into Your Diet!
It’s crucial to start thinking about eating more fruits and incorporate them into your diet. According to a study from the CDC not enough adults in the United States are eating the recommended fruits, especially vegetables intake on a daily basis. And as stated by Lauren Manaker from Verywell Health “only about 10% of adults…are meeting those recommendations” based on a 2019 survey (Manaker, 2022). Not too good, isn’t it?

Here’s why you should start adding more fruits into your diet and the effects if you are not doing yourself a favor.

What Are Positives of Fruit Consumption?

As we all know, fruits are key in maintaining a healthy weight and a healthy lifestyle. All it takes is putting enough effort and consideration into adding fruits into your daily routine. You can start by trying 4-5 servings of fruits per day. To provide more information, heart.org presents an infographic on serving size by heading to their site. Fruits are high in fiber and low in calories resulting in the feeling of fullness. This allows you to lose or maintain a healthy weight, and reduce overeating, for instance. Furthermore, fruits with high fiber include avocado, apple, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, banana, tangerines, and the list continues. Consuming these fruits has been shown to reduce blood pressure, some cancers, heart disease, stroke, and more. Therefore, contain essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in keeping you healthy.

What is The Effect of Consuming Less Fruits?

If you don’t eat a variety of fruits in your daily diet, you’re at risk of developing chronic diseases. For instance, diabetes, vascular diseases, types of cancers, heart disease, weak immune system and much more. You’ll definitely be less energetic and unhealthy if fruits are not being consumed enough. And this is especially crucial as we age. Wouldn’t you want to live happily and healthier? Healthy enough to do the things you love?

To all dear readers, do your best and eat those fruits!

Source:
December 16, 2023
Apply Sunscreen for Better Health!
It’s important to consider daily sunscreen use. Applying sunscreen to your skin can improve its health in various ways. By preventing sunburn, reducing the risk of skin cancer, and premature aging from the sun’s UV radiation. In fact, sunscreen is beneficial for all, regardless of gender. Both men and women can benefit from using it.

How does UV radiation affect skin?

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a type of radiation that comes from the sun and has both pros and cons on your health. First and foremost, exposure to the sunlight is beneficial for boosting vitamin D. Vitamin D is crucial for healthy bones, immune system, brain, and much more. Especially important for the elderly. Without Vitamin D, you’ll face the risk of bone weakness, bone pain, and osteoporosis. To obtain the required vitamin D, The World Health Organization (WHO) advises exposing oneself to at least 5-15 minutes of sunlight. And therefore, 2 to 3 times a week. Though, this is good, however too much exposure to sunlight is indeed harmful for skin. There are three types of UV radiation which includes UVA, UVB, and UVC depending on their size of wavelengths. The two types of UV radiation that damages skin are UVA and UVB, in which UVA is a longer wavelength that causes skin aging while UVB is a shorter wavelength causing sunburn, sunspots, to name a few. You can learn more, by clicking on this link myclevelandclinic.org. This is why the use of sunscreen comes in handy to protect your skin from developing risk of skin cancer, sunburn, and wrinkles.

What Sunscreen should I be using?

Sunscreens you should be purchasing are with an SPF of at least 30 for daily use or 60 if you are going to spend quite a while outdoors. Therefore, you should be applying sunscreen on all parts of your skin to potential exposure to sunlight. For instance, apply sunscreen to your face, ears, back, shoulders, neck, legs, and hands. One ounce is enough to protect your skin from the harsh UV radiation. It’s also recommended to be used during cloudy days because though the sun may be hiding behind clouds, the sun UV rays can pass through them impacting your skin.

If you want to prevent premature aging, sunburn, and skin cancer – sunscreens are your protector barrier!

Sources:
December 11, 2023
Don’t Ignore Sweat, It’s Good for You

Ever wondered why sweating is important? And how sweating may be beneficial for your skin too? Well, today I’ll be discussing the benefits of sweating.

The Function of Sweating:

Sweating is a natural response to cooling our bodies down, especially during exercise or physical activities. Sweat glands are essential in regulating the body’s temperature. When our bodies overheat, sweat begins to produce and without sweat it can potentially lead to a serious problem. What kind of problem, you ask? A common problem when there’s lack of sweat is the risk of heat exhaustion. Dangerous, indeed. For this reason, sweating plays a vital role in keeping us in check.

Exercise and Sweat:

Moreover, according to honehealth.com, an expert on sweat studies named Andrew Best, has talked about the benefits of sweat during exercise. He describes that sweating can be enhanced throughout daily exercise. The more you exercise, the more sweat is increased resulting in withstanding for longer periods and higher intensity because sweat glands are keeping you cooler. As he stated from a previous research study “subjects who participated in aerobic training four times a week for eight weeks, either on an exercise bike or running on a treadmill, improved their fitness by an average of 19 percent and their sweating capacity by an average of 38 percent.” (Best, 2022)

Healthier Immunity:

Research has shown that sweating is also beneficial for immunity health. Sweating provides the necessary objective of removing toxins from your body. By exercising or simply heading out on warmer summer days the influence of sweat is your protector in helping your body kill pathogens and therefore improve your immune cells. So, take a walk, do a little jog or a run and it will do the job in helping you maintain your immunity in shape!

Sweat and Skin:

Sweating surprisingly has some benefits for your skin. Studies have shown that sweat can have a good impact on skin glow. By exercising or heading outdoors during a hot summer day and sweating it out can lead to positive results to anti-aging effects, moisturizes your skin, kills harmful bacteria from skin, cleanse skin, and much more. So why not, sweat it out and enjoy the benefits that sweat brings to you!

Sources:

1. Frothingham, Scott. “Sweating Benefits: Beyond Body Temperature Regulation.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 25 Apr. 2019, www.healthline.com/health/sweating-benefits.

2. Middleton, Tracy. “9 Surprising Things Sweat Can Reveal about Your Health.” Hone Health, 18 July 2022, honehealth.com/edge/health/benefits-of-sweating/.

3. “Boost Your Immune System during COVID-19.” Iowa Specialty Hospital, Iowa Specialty Hospital, 20 Apr. 2020, www.iowaspecialtyhospital.com/news-and-events/news/boost-your-immune-system-during-covid-19.

4. Ford, Rosie. “Sweating Is Good for You, and These Are the 5 Biggest Benefits.” DMoose, 4 Apr. 2023, www.dmoose.com/blogs/health-lifestyle/is-sweating-good-for-you.

5. of Frisco, By Dermatology Consultants. “What Effects Does Sweating Have on Your Skin?” Dermatology Consultants of Frisco, 5 Dec. 2019, mydermconsult.com/blog/what-effects-does-sweating-have-on-your-skin.

November 6, 2023
Give Yourself Some Time for A Run

Giving yourself some time to exercise is beneficial for a healthy mind, body, and health. Exercising is all about having fun and making yourself feel good. It’s a fun way to begin setting up fitness goals whether you want to be active, stay healthy, be in shape, or whatever it is you would like to achieve. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring and it’s more of finding interest in activities you enjoy doing. So, for today’s post I would be recommending running simply because anyone can benefit and start out if you are a beginner.

I started out running during my high school days as I was part of the school’s campus track and field team. In which, I participated in cross country and indoor track. Indeed, a marvelous experience filled with lots of good memories. Nowadays, I’ve been a casual runner. In terms of adding a little exercise into my routine whenever possible to stay active and healthy.

Running for at least 10-15 minutes or more provides significant improvement to your health. These health benefits include the reduction of the risk of cancer, heart disease, boost your mood, relieve stress, improve sleep, strengthen legs and much more. Running is known to be a terrific cardio booster!

For starters, it’s best to begin at a moderate pace. Try not to push yourself too hard and take it easy and light. But wait! How can I not mention warm-up for at least 5 minutes before running. Warm-ups are essential in order to prevent injuries and loosen up leg muscles. So, here is an informative article written by Watson on “How to Warm Up For Runners: Warm Up Exercises before Running.” I recommend checking it out. As you start running, I recommend starting out for 10 minutes and pace yourself comfortably. As the months go by, you can increase your minutes by 2-3. Within those months you will be able to increase your speed, distance and so forth. Stay healthy and happy running!

November 6, 2023
Exercising For a Healthy Quality of Life
Including exercising into your daily routine is essential for a healthy quality of life. Everyone benefits from a form of exercise, whether it’s endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility. It’s only a matter of choosing any or even better if you combine a couple of the following four types of exercises as mentioned above. However, keep in mind to always warm-up before/after doing any type of exercise, and ask advice from qualified fitness professionals, especially your doctor.

Now, I’ll be explaining the benefits of the four types of exercise. Let’s begin with,

Endurance:

Endurance exercise, also known as aerobic, primarily focuses on stamina. The goal of doing endurance exercise is to help you keep fit and healthy while increasing your heart rate and breathing. This allows you to do activities you would like to do for longer periods without getting tired. Therefore, it improves your heart, lungs, and your circulatory system. Some examples of the exercises include walking, running, jogging, cycling to name a few.

Strength:

Strength training exercises focus on building stronger muscles. It’s also recognized as weight training, resistance training, for instance. The benefits of doing strength exercises is to help you enhance your cardiovascular health. Furthermore, it improves mobility, balance, posture, strong bones, weight loss, prevents injury and reduces the risk of chronic diseases. Examples of strength training exercises include lifting weights, squats, bench press, deadlifts, push-ups, and more. It’s a great choice if you are looking forward to increasing muscular strength.

Balance:

Balance training exercises help maintain coordination and prevent injuries such as falls. This exercise is definitely beneficial for older adults. Having good balance is essential for mobility, stability and improves awareness of position. The benefit of this exercise is increasing muscular strength and improving joint stability. The common exercises include tai chi, yoga, heel-to-toe-walk, single-leg balance, weight shifts, are a few examples.

Flexibility:

Flexibility training is the focus of stretching your muscles. The goal of stretching exercises is to enhance your range of motion and to allow your muscles to stay strong. Therefore, help prevent injuries, pain tension or soreness, improve your posture and mobility. For this reason, flexibility training is crucial and shouldn’t be neglected. So, it’s recommended to make it part of your daily exercising activities. The following are examples of flexibility exercises: back stretch exercise, forward lunges, inner thigh stretch, ankle stretch, side lunges, pilates, and yoga are common ones.

Sources:
October 30, 2023