Stretching for Heart Health

Stretching has often been seen as a means to increase flexibility, improve muscle strength and tone as well as improve breathing and reduce stress. However, some of the latest  research suggests that having greater flexibility may also increase arterial flexibility which may put you at lower risk for a heart attack and/or a stroke. The study suggests that those with poorer flexibility may have more rigid arterial walls which make the heart work harder to pump blood.

However, the study also points out that stiff arteries don’t necessarily indicate or inevitably lead to arterial disease. That being said, this just might be reason enough to check out that yoga class at the gym in the mornings before/after work, pick up a yoga DVD for home or start an office stretching regime at your desk.

How to Get to Your Healthy Weight

Our daughter Lindsay, sent the following link as a suggested post for our blog.  Lindsay is a Registered Dietitian and is our "go-to" person when we are looking to get reliable and up-to-date information about food, eating, metabolism .....just about everything related to nutrition.  Lindsay is also a fitness instructor and is often asked these types of questions by her clients.  Rather than dissect anything from this article, you're getting the whole thing.  It addresses the following:

• Obesity and Health Risks
• What's a Healthy Weight? Body Mass Index (BMI) Defined
• Waist Size Matters Too:  Abdominal Fat and Health Risks
• Keeping Things Level
• What Causes Weight Gain?
• What Leads to Weight Loss?
• Lessons From Losers
• General Strategies for Achieving or Maintaining a Health Weight
• The Bottom Line:  Recommendations for Health Weight
• References

Many of the points above maybe questions you have too.

Here's the link:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/healthy-weight-full-story/