pA:10, v8.31 — Healthy Lifestyles

Healthy Lifestyles

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 2, 2014

MVNews this week: Page A:10

HEALTHY LIFESTYLES

Mountain Views-News Saturday, August 2, 2014

THE JOY OF YOGA

THE DEAL WITH STRESS

Does an Apple a Day

Keep the Doctor Away?

Stressed? We are
constantly dealing
with the business
and responsibility
of life as it is today.
Driving, cell
phones and work,
not to mention juggling kids, keeping a home and
the news, can all leave us completely stressed out!
The way the nervous system works, we have the
fight or flight mode (sympathetic nervous system),
where we are on alert and ready for task or survival.
The flight response is triggered by a perception of a
threat by a thought. The parasympathetic nervous
system or resting/digesting mode, is when we
are calm and assimilating the nutrients from our
food.

But this does not happen just because we are
eating. In fact, we may be eating on the move. If
we are not getting adequate nourishment from our
food – yet we are eating, it could be because we are
not in digestion mode. This can cause all kinds of
problems in our systems. Watching a suspenseful
action movie while eating will not allow the system
to calm down and digest properly. Because the
food is not completely digested and we are rushing
around eating a salad in the car or grabbing a latte
on the run, the organs get taxed. The kidneys
cannot do the proper filtration job, the adrenals
get stressed because they are being over used
to produce adrenalin to keep combating stress.
We can get headaches, muscle tension, fatigue,
anxiety, agitated, develop IBS and or adrenal
fatigue and many more worse conditions. The
more time we spend in the Sympathetic mode, the
more we get used to it. It is then harder to switch
to resting mode where our bodies need to spend
time! Yoga and meditation can help us combat
the effects of our hectic life styles. Restorative
yoga can put us right at ease. We need breath
practices that we can learn to do anytime to help
us from jumping in to flight mode. Meditation
can help us to spend more time in the calm/
resting mode during waking hours and train our
systems to stay calm. Sometimes we can’t even
get a good night sleep because we are fighting our
battles in our dreams. That is because the mind
is still thinking those un-restful thoughts. But
yoga, meditation and breath practice can help us
get a better nights rest. I promise!

Try our restorative class on Sunday’s at 5:00 or
a gentle class in the morning first thing. Many of
your little ailments might just fade away as you
get used to leading a calmer, less stressful life.

See you in class.

Namasté,

René

Who doesn’t like an
apple? We’ve been
told since we were kids
how healthy apples are.
But do you really know
why? Let’s take a look
at what’s in an apple
that makes it so good
for us.

Pectin: A soluble
fiber that can has
shown to lower
blood pressure, LDL (bad cholesterol), and glucose
levels. It also helps maintain the health of the
digestive system.
Quercetin: May neutralize free radical damage which
has been involved in age-related health problems like
Alzheimer’s and reducing the risk of many cancers.
Vitamins A, C, E and beta carotene: These fight
free radical damage which helps reduce the risk of
heart disease, diabetes and asthma.
Flavonoids and Antioxidants: Some scientists
believe that these substances make apples better than
many other superfoods to combat potentially life
threatening conditions.

Recently, Chinese University of Hong Kong
researchers reported that fruit flies given an apple
extract lived 10% longer. The flies were able to walk,
climb and move more easily as they aged. They
believe the extract cleaned up free radicals which
are the dangerous chemicals blamed for a host of
maladies including aging.

Apples have the mark of a healthy food because
they are low in calorie density which means you get
a lot of nutrients for little calories. They also have
been called nature’s toothbrush since they can help
clean our teeth and kill bacteria in the mouth which
will reduce the risk of tooth decay. I think it’s easy
to see how beneficial an apple is, so eat up. There
are so many varieties of apples that you can never
get bored with eating them. And remember, The
Environmental Working Group’s 2014 Dirty Dozen
list has apples as #1. So whenever possible, buy
organic.

Dr. Tina is a traditional
naturopath and nutritionist
at Vibrant Living
Wellness Center

IN PRAISE OF A

“REAL” DOCTOR

Need a doctor? Nope, not
me. I don’t need to pay a
doctor all that money for
4 minutes and 30 seconds
of his time. I’ve got the
internet and besides, I’m
a Medic and have studied
anatomy. Yeah, I’ve got
this handled . . . well
almost. So, here’s my story.

The other night I woke with a knife-like pain
in my upper right quadrant of my abdomen.
So at 3 AM I go on to the internet at a favorite
doctor site and it helps point out that my
appendix may be rupturing. After reviewing
my symptoms again with another website, I
became even more concerned. I spend the rest
of the night worrying about losing work time
recovering from surgery and the cost. Finally,
my wife says to either go to emergency, or suck
it up and wait for Dr. Brown in Sierra Madre to
open at 9AM. So I wait.

I get over to Dr. Brown’s office, right there
on Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra Madre, and
he spends an amazing 90 minutes with me
patiently going over all details of my history
and giving me a thorough exam. Early on
he agrees and says that the symptoms could
very well be appendicitis. I keep my despair
to myself as he continues. Finally, he asks me
about my day yesterday and if I did something
unusual. Nope, says I with confidence. Well
. . . actually, I did help move two washing
machines but my younger helper did most of
the lifting. He looks at me with a knowing
grin. Perhaps, I pulled a muscle in my gut he
suggests. After some more poking around, he
says, “Yup, I think you strained those muscles
right here” as he probes to make his point. A
short grunt later I agree.

Then it hits me. Being the self-sufficient,
money saver that I was, I attempted to avoid
wasting money on a short doctor visit by
solving the problem myself. Dumb! All my
past doctor visits have been done in record
time (usually less than 5 minutes) and that
after a 50 minute wait reading old magazines.
What I ended up with was a long session with a
very caring doctor who looked at all aspects of
my life and physical condition to evaluate my
complaint. This experience was a first for me.
And . . . Doctor Brown saw me precisely at my
appointment time.

The session ended with a check of my eating
habits and a recommendation to take certain
vitamins. He even encouraged me to contact
him with any follow-up questions I might
have. Huh? This must be a dream, but no, it’s
real.

Doc Brown has an amazing background
of experience and is actually interested in
preventing problems, unlike many other
doctors. He strikes me as the old fashioned
type of doctor who used to come to the house
with his black bag, yet he’s totally modern
in his knowledge of medicine. I wish more
doctors could be like him. He actually cares
and has the knowledge to back it up, and he
wasn’t even expensive!

Doctor Warren Brown’s practice is called
Proactive Care Partners and is located at 529
W. Sierra Madre Blvd. in Sierra Madre. He can
be reached at (626) 355-8595. Check him out at
www.proactivecarepartners.com. He’s a great
doc!

Got a question? Ask Bruce by
phone-(626)335-3412 or e-mail: blamarche@
verizon.net. This article is provided by Bruce
Lamarche, a member of Society of Certified
Senior Advisors®, www.csa.us. Bruce’s
company, R & B Reverse Mortgage Services
(Glendora) helps seniors make an informed
decision about obtaining a reverse mortgage.
www.LASeniorMortgage.com

This story was
originally printer
on August 1, 2009.
We checked and
Dr. Brown is still
very “real” !

We’d like to hear from you!

What’s on YOUR Mind?

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com