I am always concerned about hydration when I exercise but in the summer months when it is hard to stay hydrated even when doing nothing it is even more critical to keep your water and electrolytes up.

Proper hydration plays a critical role in athletic performance. Some consequences of dehydration are as follows: cramping, fatigue, dizziness, rapid elevation of body temperature, confusion, fainting, and the inability to sweat (cooling mechanism of the body).

Despite these symptoms obviously hampering athletic performance, they can progress rapidly into heat exhaustion or heat stroke. In order to avoid these serious side effects and increase the ability to perform at top levels, it is essential that not only athletes, but everyone that is exposed to Louisiana temperatures have a clear understanding of how to maintain proper hydration.

When focusing on hydration, it is important to look at some warning signs that the body gives to signal the lack of proper hydration. Thirst is considered by some experts to be an early signal that your body is in need of re-hydration. But according to Nancy Clark in her “Sports Nutrition Guidebook,” athletes may have already lost over a pound and a half of water weight before their thirst mechanism kicks in. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: dehydration, dizziness, fainting, fatigue, Louisiana, Nancy Clark, Porche, stroke

Glucosamine with Chondroitin is an excellent supplement for joint health. Its function is to draw fluid into the joint and lubricate it. Please check with your doctor if you are currently on any medications before taking it.

Glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, and MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) occur naturally in the body. The glucosamine used in supplements is typically derived from the shells of crabs although a corn source is also available.

Glucosamine is available in a variety of chemical forms, such as glucosamine hydrochloride and glucosamine sulfate. These vary in terms of the amount of actual glucosamine available for use in the body from an equal weight of each form (See ConsumerTip™ for Glucosamine for more information).

Chondroitin sulfate is generally derived from cow cartilage, but porcine (pig) and even chicken cartilage has been used and algae are another potential source. MSM is synthetically produced. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: arthritis, cancer, chemical forms, inflammation, interstitial cystitis, joint disease, muscle spasm, osteoarthritis, pain, rheumatoid arthritis, treatment of degenerative joint disease

The vitamin B-complex refers to all of the known essential water-soluble vitamins except for vitamin C. These include thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), biotin, folic acid and the cobalamins (vitamin B12).

Where do B Vitamins Come from?

“Vitamin B” was once thought to be a single nutrient that existed in extracts of rice, liver, or yeast. Researchers later discovered these extracts contained several vitamins, which were given distinguishing numbers. Unfortunately, this has led to an erroneous belief among non-scientists that these vitamins have a special relationship to each other. Further adding to confusion has been the “unofficial” designation of other substances as members of the B-complex, such as choline, inositol, and para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), even though they are not essential vitamins. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: boost energy, control food cravings, energy production, folic acid, multivitamin-mineral products, pharmacist

Fiber is one of those things that we are told to eat mroe of yet there should be some confusion. Not all fiber is alike.

Most Americans know that foods high in fiber are full of nutrients because they are less processed. There are two kinds of dietary fiber and you need both.

Insoluble fiber (the type that does not dissolve in water and is found in wheat bran, oats, whole grains and vegetables) helps promote regularity, prevent hemorrhoids and diverticulosis. It may also help prevent colon cancer.

Soluble fiber (the type that dissolves in water, found in oat bran, oats, beans, apples and carrots) helps lower blood cholesterol levels and control blood sugar levels in people with diabetes.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: American Dietetic Association, bloating, colon cancer, diabetes, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, site site

I have a new batch of posts that I have run across that I wanted to let you know about. These are about all sorts of things but are all a really great read if you want to do more to keep yourself healthy.

12 Winter Depression Busters

We are entering Winter. If winter is not ourside of your front door then it is probably getting close anyway. Here are 12 tips that should help you stay healthy over the winter.

Checking your Vitamin D

Did you know that Vitamin D deficeincies happen most during the Winter? When there is not as much sun in the sky and we are outdoors less we do not get a chance to get as much Vitamin D as we may need. Dr Gabe Mirkin tells us about a blood test that we can get to check our level of Vitamin D in our system.

10 Commandments of Primal Gym Time

Zen to Fitness is a great blog and I loved the pic on this page of Arnold the Governator with his future wife probably taken back in the early 80s. Anyway the article itself is a great list of things to do to get the most our of your weight workout.

Tags: D, Gabe Mirkin, Vitamin D

This is a new concept for me, an online weight loss doctor would ask and answer questions about weight loss. I found this article that may answer some online weight loss doctor questions.

For those who cannot always afford to visit a doctor regularly, an online weight loss doctor offers the necessary convenience. An online weight loss doctor can offer you a range of advice, from what food to eat and when, to which types of exercises you should do and whether you should take weight loss supplements or not. In fact, an online weight loss doctor could have been a substitute for a real doctor, but unfortunately, it is not easy to find a reliable and honest online weight loss doctor. In this article I will give you some tips that will help you find a credible online doctor quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: credible online doctor, food, honest online weight loss doctor, internet-based weight loss doctor, online doctor, online weight loss doctor, online weight loss doctor questions, online world, United States, weight loss doctor, weight loss industry, weight loss plan

As you can imagine top athletes are very particular with what they eat and when. I was over at a running blog today when I ran across the following article about Carb cycling.

Crib Sheet on Carbohydrate Cycling at Her Active Life

The basic idea behind carb cycling is that you eat every day based on the next day workouts. Some top athletes will build their eating around bog events as well as seasonal patterns of training and working out output.

Even if you are not really at the level of fitness and athleticism to take advantage of a concept like carb cycling this is a nice peek at what the real elite athletes think about when it comes to diet.

Tags: carbohydrate, cycling, elite athletes, fitness, workouts

A few months ago I rolled out a series of emails that people could subscribe to for free. You may have seen the sign up form on other pages of this blog but I wanted to remind you about it now that spring seems to be poking out around the corner and so many of us are thinking about improving our fitness for the summer.

The series of emails somes every second day for 21 or so days and each day is dedicated to something differnect. Everyhting from eating, cardio, weights, water, protein, sleeping, how to get more energy, and even the attitudes that will get you in better shape.

I am pretty proud of the series of email and the creation was in part because I thought it would be nice to really cover all the bases in a short period of time. The time to act is now and I hope that you take the opportunity today to check this out as sign-up

If you would like more information on the emails and even sign up you can find more at the fitness plan signup page.

Tags: energy

I would like to start this post just by saying that I know that there are many horrors of alcohol abuse and that there are many reasons why drinking alcohol may lead to an early exit but at the same time I just bottled my fourth batch of home made beer, Barons Beer actually, and thought that it would be fun to come up with a great big list of why beer is good for you.

Cancer preventer – A compound found only in hops, which are used to make beer, have been discovered to prevent cancer. Of course we all know that hops are an ingredient in beer and therefore Xanthohumol has high hopes of making beer a new anti cancer drug. Xanthohumol flavinoids have been tested and its use is hoped to be a preventative treatment against prostate and colon cancer and even may be a form of hormone therapy for women.

Getting your vitamins – A friend of mine used to say there is a pork chop in every glass of beer but recent studies show that there is vitamin B6 in beer increases the level of vitamin B6 in a beer drinkers blood which has been shown to decrease the level of homocysteine which increase the chances of heart disease.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: alcohol abuse, Austria, Austria's Innsbruck Medical University, BBC, beer, cancer, colon cancer, Fitness Nutrition, heart disease, hormone therapy, inflammation, Karolinska Institute, kidney stones, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Neuropsychopharmacology, relaxation, Stefan Brene, thanksgiving, the American Journal of Epidemiology, the International Journal, Tokyo University of Science Blood, United States

I was looking at some articles at one of the big bodybuilding forums and ran into an article on cutting up- losing fat. Ripping Up: The Guide to Cutting
is not a really long article but it does give you some great ideas including keeping protein intake high, carbohydrates lower and lower fat as well. Also I noticed one supplement that the author is reccomending and that is Glutamine. Glutamine is a amino acid and there are many people out there that think that is will help in getting rid of fat.

You may be amazed at the amount of food eaten on this fat losing “diet” but look at the exercise as well. These guys would have lots of muscle and are doing cardio every morning and weights every evening. This is a great example of really pushing and making the changes necessary to lose fat….well lose it in time for the beach anyway

Tags: Author, food