November 21, 2007 - Pedometers and Weight Loss
CTV reports on a study from the Journal of the American
Medical Association that pedometers may encourage weight
loss.
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071121/weight_loss_071121/20071121
The Naturopathic Perspective
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Increasing your physical activity using the
pedometers also lowers your blood glucose
levels, which can be excellent for people with
Type 2 Diabetes. |
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Public Health authorities suggest 90 minutes of
exercise daily broken up into manageable
segments as the new fitness maintenance
recommendations. A pedometer can help you
determine how many steps are taken in 90
minutes, and you don't have to do it all at
once. For example, one could take a 20-minute
walk to and from work, a 15-minute walk on
breaks and lunchtime, and maybe 10 minutes at
home to achieve that 90-minute recommendation.
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Start your walking program with reasonable goals
to avoid injury and discomfort from doing too
much too soon. If you are obese, do a Physical
Activity Readiness Questionnaire (PAR-Q) with a
regulated health professional. |
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Research has shown that walking programs are
more successful when done in a group setting. A
group increases motivation, relieves stress, and
makes the time pass quickly. |
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Make sure that you are walking at a pace, which
ensures your ability to carry a conversation. If
you are unable to do so, slow down. On the other
hand, if you are able to sing or whistle a tune,
you may need to speed up a bit. The goal is to
break a light sweat after about 10 minutes of
walking and be able to maintain that pace.
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Make sure that you stretch your legs and upper
body after 5 minutes of walking, and to do so
again after the walking has stopped to prevent
muscle cramps and tightening. |
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Walking (or any regular aerobic exercise) is a
great way to improve lymphatic circulation and
help your immune system circulate white blood
cells, which helps the body eliminate viruses
and bacteria better. |
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November 13, 2007 - Fecal Transplants for C.
Difficile
The CBC reports that fecal transplants can cure 90% of
C. Difficile infections.
www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/11/13/fecal-transplant.html
The Naturopathic Perspective
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The beneficial use of healthy fecal material
points out that, if our gastrointestinal tracts
are healthy, so are we. The stronger and
healthier that we keep the gastrointestinal
tracts of children, the less likely they are to
get sick. Recent research confirms a link
between unhealthy gastrointestinal tract flora
and allergies, eczema, ADD, and autism, to
mention a few. |
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A much more palatable and accessible option than
feces implants for most people would be a mix of
commercially available probiotic bacteria. This
is a research project just waiting to be funded
and done to give a viable, cost-effective
treatment for C. difficile. |
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Acknowledging that antibiotic use leads to a
decrease in healthy gastrointestinal tract flora
and sets up a milieu in which organisms like C. difficile can thrive and that implanting
healthy fecal implant can eradicate C.
difficile leads to an obvious pro-active
health policy. A reasonable treatment would be,
not waiting until C. difficile infection
has occurred but, instead, making implantation
of healthy flora rectally the standard for care
whenever strong, repeated or long-term dosing of
antibiotics is used. |
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Feces are up to 80% bacteria. The healthier that
bacterial population is in each person, the less
dangerous feces are to public health.
Encouraging a healthy gastrointestinal bacterial
population will contribute to increased public
health. |
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