But....how can YOU change the world???

What can you do to change your world?  --Anything you can imagine.

Our evolution???

Reposted from Jay Parkinson -- an interesting thought about evolution.

Evolution typically works through environmental stressors. The environment becomes harsher, a gene mutates, and that gene propagates throughout the population because the mutant is actually better able to deal with the environment.

But what happens when the environment in which we live isn’t overly harsh, but overly productive? Our consumer culture over-produces and over-consumes. We have a huge excess of calories in everything, especially cheap sugars and fats.

Does this mean that genes that determine your level of self-control are now evolutionarily more advantageous? Is this massive amount of calories we can consume now an evolutionary stressor?

Is it now beneficial for the population of people to have a large number of individuals with strong self-control genes?

A Thanksgiving Day appreciative look at our Gut and what it does for us

Kids and concussions

It seems like this has been in the new a lot lately.  Here is an interesting talk by a neuropsychologist working in the field of brain injuries.  Enjoy!

Vitamin D related to childhood obesity

Many of us are worried about what are children are getting, how much exercise they are getting, and how those things relate to their weight (and ultimately their health).

In walks a study from the University of Michigan, that takes a look at blood levels of Vitamin D and how it relates to weight gain. (Low levels indicate increased risk for weight gain).

The best source of Vitamin D is when our bodies are stimulated to manufacture it's own Vitamin D by exposure of the skin to sunlight.  So here's my question:

Are the kids with lower levels of Vitamin D the ones spending most of their time inside (as opposed to outside playing in the sunshine)?  It seems possible to me that if we sent our kids outside to play more, their levels of Vitamin D would go up and their weight would go down due to the fact they were outside moving around!

Simple enough and a Win-Win situation.  Tell me what you think.

Click here to see the Science A GoGo article.

Hate the gym? There are a million ways to skin a cat

Do you hate going to the gym?  Do your kids think soccer is boring?  How about giving this a try?

Exercise -- good for what ails you

Not be beat a dead horse (and yes, I am TOTALLY biased about the power of exercise!) -- but here is an a summary of 40 research article findings published between 2006 and 2010 that support the premise that exercise positively effects TWO DOZEN health conditions -- from cancer to dementia.

Here are some highlights:

•Regular moderate to intense physical activity is associated with decreased risk of coronary heart disease and ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.


•A growing body of evidence suggests that increasing physical activity can also reduce the risk of certain types of cancers, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, depression, obesity and high blood pressure.

•Evidence of the beneficial effects of physical activity in the primary prevention and management of cancer is growing and there is an association between higher levels of physical activity and lower cancer death rates.

•Research has found that walking or cycling for at least an half-an-hour a day is associated with a reduction in cancer and that when this is increased to an hour cancer incidence falls by 16 per cent.

•Evidence is mixed when it comes to specific cancers. Research has shown a strong relationship between increased physical activity and reduced colon cancer in both sexes. And men who are more active at work -- not just sitting at a desk -- have lower rates of prostate cancer.

•Other cancer studies show that physical activity after diagnosis can aid recovery and improve outcomes.

•Studies have also shown that men who are physically active are less likely to experience erection problems.

•There is growing evidence that physical activity could decrease the risk of dementia in the elderly.

As a note: the highlighting is mine.  Sure...you probably know that exercise decreases the risk for Type II Diabetes but the C word (cancer) is SCARY!!  And if you can do something that will make you feel better immediately and decrease the risk of cancer -- I am all for that!!!

How powerful is exercise?

An extensive research review, published in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice, says that apart from not smoking, being physically active is the most powerful lifestyle choice any individual can make to improve their health.

The most powerful choice you can make second to being a non-smoker!  Wow! 

Call to ACTION

The other day I was listening to a report about some farmer/ranchers/ORV hobbyist out West who were concerned than an native endangered toad would cause the government to legislate how they could use their land in an effort to save the endangered toads' habitat.  Their fear was the government would step in and tell them no more off-road riding, no more ranching, etc.

In an effort to stop the government from doing this, land owners got together and figured out how to create habitat for the toad population in a way that would let them still use their land like they wanted to.  And it worked!  The toad population is on the rise!

The real point I want to make here is the "why" of why this worked.  It worked because people took action together.  They created a tribe of people interested in tackling this problem...now!  People are powerful when they rally together and act -- most of the time we just need a place to come together and get to work.

If you are concerned with our rising inactivity and how our behaviors are effecting our kids -- here is your rallying place.  Sound out and leave a comment.  Let others know your out there and you have the will to take action on this problem!  Today. Let's move (literally) on this today!!!

A Kanasas State University Professor goes on the "Twinkie" Diet

Ok -- there is a LOT of confusion out there about "healthy" eating, healthy weight and portion control.  Think you have it all figured out???  You may need to think again!  Click here to read how this university professor ate Twinkies, Little Debbie snack cakes, Doritos, and the like and LOST WEIGHT, reduced his cholesterol, reduced his triglycerides and became healthier by current health standard.

This is definitely food for thought!

Soda may accelerate the aging process!

Check this out! 

What we can learn from our Kids

I just read a wonderful article in the Atlantic about how some schools are using creative (and dare I say common-sensical) presentations to get our kids to choose healthier food options instead of the cookie and chocolate milk stand-bys.

Maybe we should consider like-minded changes for our own homes, too.