Leaderboard Banner

Health & Nutrition News

by Nicole Dorsey Straff

GET (GOLF) GAME WITH YOGA

Yoga improves several elements of a player’s game such as balance, muscle control and mental focus. In sun-swept Newport Beach, CA, the Pelican Hill Golf Academy offers highly personalized Yoga-Golf classes to improve flexibility, strengthen swinging muscles (shoulders, back and core) and boost concentration with breathing drills. Director of Instruction Glenn Deck leads the two-hour session alongside a certified yoga instructor and the two lead students (4 max) through a series of yoga-like stretches and movements – with and without golf clubs — to assess and establish customized yoga poses based on tight muscles and imbalances.

Following an hour of standing and seated postures (think Sun Salutations and Warriors), Deck works with students on their full swing, chipping and putting. Breathing exercises are combined with various stretches and yoga poses to release stressed muscles, improve flexibility and build hip and leg strength. Pelicanhill.com 

 

SPICE UP YOUR HEALTH

Though they instantly make your teriyaki tastier, herbs and spices also offer up versatile health benefits, such as the red-hot chili pepper which momentarily speeds up a sluggish metabolism or cinnamon which lowers your “bad” LDL cholesterol. Turmeric may boost enzyme-action during digestion and help flush carcinogens from the liver. Oregano has anti-bacterial properties, and packs more of an antioxidant punch than blueberries.

The Teeny Tiny Spice Company of Vermont has four new varieties of artisan-crafted blends that feature flavors from far-flung locales like the West Indies and Senegal. The 100 percent organic ingredients, made in small batches, come in cute 2.8 ounce reusable tins, $9.95 each. Log on for simple, health-enhancing recipes. teenytinyspice.com 

 

HOW TO BOOST BREAST HEALTH

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, menopause experts and co-authors of Womenopause: The Menopause Makeover (O Books, UK; $24.95), Dr. Lovera Wolf Miller and Dr. David C. Miller (a wife-and-husband team), offer suggestions for preventing breast cancer and enhancing breast health. “Research shows these positive lifestyle choices can decrease your risk of breast cancer by 50 to 60 percent,” says Dr. Wolf Miller.

1. PERFORM MONTHLY BREAST SELF-EXAMS.
Less than two percent of women under age 50 have a diagnosis of breast cancer. “When found early with exams, over 96 percent are alive and well five years later [as long as it hasn’t spread to lymph nodes],” says Dr. Wolf Miller.

2. DO NOT SMOKE CIGARETTES.
And avoid drinking alcohol in excess of three drinks per day (red wine or other antioxidant-rich drinks are preferable). Both produce free radicals that damage skin and organ function.

3. DOSE UP ON VITAMINS D AND C.
Make sure to get 1,000 mg of vitamin C daily because it decreases risk of infections and protects your heart. Vitamin D has been reported to decrease breast and colon cancer, says Dr. Wolf Miller. “Also, 85 percent of North American women may be deficient in folic acid and should be taking the high-end of 400 to 800 mg daily.”

4. GET LEAN AND MEAN.
“Exercise five days a week for 30 minutes and maintain a leaner body weight,” says Dr. Wolf Miller. “Gaining 20 pounds around menopause greatly increases the risk of breast cancer.”

You may also like