This Weeks Healthy SC Challenge Tips

COLUMBIA, SC – September 28, 2007 – The Healthy SC Challenge is the Sanford family’s effort to get all South Carolinians to do just a little more to live a healthier lifestyle. The tips are designed to encourage individuals and communities to live healthier lifestyles in three categories – nutrition, exercise and help to quit smoking. The tips can also be found on the challenges website, www.healthysc.gov .

Healthy Tips

Nutrition
Well stocked salad bars offer a quick and convenient opportunity to tap into the extraordinary nutritional benefits the right foods can provide.  To successfully navigate through the salad bar and get the most nutritional bang for your buck, keep the following five rules of the road in mind.

1. Begin with a base of healthy greens.
* Go for those with the deepest, richest green color.  The more color, the more disease-busting phytochemicals and the more vitamins and minerals it will have.  Baby spinach is my top pick followed by romaine and mixed mescaline greens.
* Avoid ice-burg lettuce – it has 10% of the RDA for absolutely nothing!  It is essentially just fiber and water.

2. Add as many and as much a variety of richly colored fruits and veggies as possible.
* The nutritional superstars include: red onion, carrots, broccoli florets, tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, berries, cantaloupe and red grapes.
* Go for volume to take full advantage of the stunning supply of micronutrients and appetite suppressive fiber they provide.  Fruits and vegetables are the reigning nutritional megastars for those that want high nutrient density and a high satiety value along with a minimal number of calories.

3. Always include approximately 3 ounces of high quality, low-fat protein (3 ounces is the amount that would fit onto the palm of your hand).
* Your best choices would be: skinless turkey or chicken, hard-cooked eggs or low-fat cottage cheese.
* Shrimp and fish are also fantastic if available
* Vegetarian-protein alternatives would include: tofu squares, chick peas or other beans, or two tablespoons of nuts/seeds (almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, etc.).
* Protein provides essential amino acids the body needs for maintenance and repair and is the most satiating of all macronutrients (carbs and fats are the others).

4. Top it with the salad dressing known to protect your health and your heart – olive oil and vinegar.
* If not available, choose a reduced fat variety or vinaigrette.
* Avoid the thicker, creamier varieties – as a little does not go a long way and they are generally made from a heart unhealthy oil base.

5. Stick with the color rule and avoid the white stuff – pasta salads, potato salads, croutons, chicken salads, etc.
* They are high in calories relative to their essential nutrient content and in the case of pasta, potato and croutons, filled with appetite promoting, anti-nutrient, refined starches.
-Dr. Ann Kulze & Just Wellness, LLC, www.DrAnnWellness.com

Physical Activity
Exercise ball therapy is great for low back pain.  The exercise ball is a conservative treatment option for back pain sufferers and is designed to help prevent further episodes of low back pain as part of a rehabilitation program. It helps strengthen and develop the core body muscles that help to stabilize the spine. An element of instability is introduced to the exercise that one would not normally get in a floor exercise. The body responds naturally and automatically to this instability to keep balanced on the exercise ball. Over time, the muscles used to keep in balance on the ball become stronger. In essence, individuals build strength in important back muscles and abdominal muscles without knowing it.  The exercise ball also uses what is called proprioception, an awareness of where one’s hand, or foot, is in relationship to space. The instability of the exercise ball provides the body with constant opportunities to evaluate its orientation in space, developing and training the body’s natural awareness. Enhanced proprioception provides the body with increased balance and stability.  Physical therapists and exercise trainers suggest using an exercise ball that fits each person’s height and leg length, where the hips and knees are at or slightly greater than a 90 degree angle (thighs parallel to ground or point down slightly) with feet flat on the floor.
-www.spine-health.com

Tobacco
Stopping smoking affects our skin in a very positive manner. After sometime, the color and the tone of the skin get vastly improved. The wrinkles which one gets by narrowing the eyes and puckering the mouth while dragging a puff vanish without a trace. The skin becomes more supple and fresh. The increased amount of oxygen works wonders in more ways than one. It helps the skin in retaining the moisture. After stopping smoking, the skin never goes back to the former dry shape. Wrinkles are cured and the whole body gets rejuvenated on the exterior. Stopping smoking can also prevent psoriasis, which is an extremely ugly and uncomfortable chronic skin ailment.
-www.stop-smoking-updates.com