The Oasis

She Wore Her Heart on Her Sleeve: Women's Cardiovascular Health and Divorce

A new study shows that while mens' hearts escape unharmed, after divorce a woman's heart is more likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

The researchers, from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and the University of Texas at Austin, speculate that women are hard hit from both the emotional effects of divorce as well as its economic effects.

While the health benefits of marriage are well documented, this is one of the first studies to examine the effects of divorce on health. The study was published in the August 2006 issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.

The Body Odd

Do you every wonder whether your ear wax is normal? Does pondering why we get goose bumps keep you up at night?

And let's not forget the question that is on everyone's mind...

Why does eating a cold treat, like an ice cream or a frozen Slurpee, cause that sudden rush of head pain known as the Brain Freeze?

Inquiring minds want to know!

So who's got the answer?

None other than Mark Leyner (author of Why Do Men Have Nipples?) and Dr. Billy Goldberg, of The Body Odd, MSNBC's entertaining and informative podcast. You can hear past episodes and even post your own questions at their website.

Tiny Bottles: Hand Sanitizers Come of Age

Have you noticed how the popularity of those liquid gel hand sanitizers seems to have suddenly increased?

Not too long ago, these convenient and easy to use hand cleaners were found exclusively in hospitals or other health care settings. Not any more...

Yesterday, I spotted tiny bottles hanging in the check-out display of the grocery store. Even office supply stores, like Office Max, are carrying them as well. Moms and dads are packing small bottles of the gel in their kids' lunch boxes and stashing a container in the glove compartment of the family car as well.

But do hand sanitizers really work? And can using a hand sanitizer replace good old soap and water?

The answer is...yes and no. It all depends.

If your hands are visibly dirty, with grime and grease (or in the case of health care workers, blood or other potentially germ laden material), then head for the soap and water. Alcohol, which is the active ingredient in hand sanitizers, doesn't do a good job of cutting through grime like this. If you don't have access to soap and water, at least wipe all visible dirt away with a cloth or paper towel before applying the hand sanitizer.

Another caveat...

take a look at the ingredients label of the hand sanitizer you are using or planning to buy.

The FDA states that hand sanitizers MUST have a concentration of no less than 60%, ethanol or isopropanol, the active ingredients responsible for killing germs.

Some brands on the market today contain far less. Plus, a few recipes on the internet for homemade hand sanitizers, use far less alcohol than is recommended.

Tip from your Wellness Coach: Use soap and water as your first choice. If you need to use a liquid gel hand sanitizer, choose one with a concentration of at least 60% alcohol.

How much should you use?

Squeeze out enough of the gel to throughly wet your hands. Rub hands together until they are dry. If your hands are dry within 10 to 15 seconds, you haven't used enough.

Let's Chew the Fat

All right, so you're trying to eat healthier.

You do all the recommended things...

cut back on processed foods, add more whole grains to your diet and add fat to your salads.

Add fat to your salads?! What kind of health advice is this?

Good advice, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition. Turns out that eating fat in salad dressings helps your body increase the absorption of nutrients such as lycopene and beta-carotenoids three to five-fold over salads made with no or low-fat dressing.

Tip from your Wellness Coach: But hold on. Before you dump half a bottle of full fat salad dressing on your Romaine, remember to keep your daily total caloric needs in mind. Make your salad dressing with good quality extra-virgin olive oil or use a no-fat dressing and add avocados, which are high in minerals and mono-unsaturated (good) fat.

Here's a recipe for a wonderful salad dressing made with olive oil:

Uncle Paul's Salad Dressing

Ingredients:
6 fl. oz.  good quality extra-virgin olive oil
juice of one lemon
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt

Simply combine all ingredients and stir well prior to serving. Keeps well in the refrigerator, although you may have to bring the dressing to room temperature prior to serving to make it pourable.

Enjoy!

Body Mass Index Doesn't Measure Up

Remember those two recent studies that talked about how just a few pounds can be detrimental to your health? To top it off, those two studies conflicted with one that suggested packing on a few pounds might actually be a good thing!

Confused yet?

Turns out that the reason behind all the confusion is that the studies relied on Body Mass Index, known as BMI, as a measure of obesity. Researchers as well as health care practitioners have long been aware that BMI has its problems and may be way off the mark in some people, particularly body builders and the elderly.

Body builders have more muscle than most of us mortals and therefore have a higher BMI. The high number isn't bad, it just reflects a greater percentage of muscle. The elderly have less muscle, so their scores may be falsely depressed.

So what does all this mean? Turns out that there's a better way to measure whether an individual has excess body fat.

That measure is the waist-to-hip ratio, a measurement that divides the circumference of your waist by your hip measurement. A high waist-to-hip ratio (no more than 0.8 for women, 0.95 for men) more accurately predicts heart attack risk and other obesity-related diseases than BMI.

What this really means is that if your belly is sticking out further than your hips, your heart could be headed for trouble! Fat stored in the abdomen can lead to inflammation in your arteries which can cause clogging.

Tip from your Wellness Coach: To calculate your waist-to-hip ratio, stand in a relaxed position, then measure your waist at it's smallest place (the navel) and then measure your hips at their largest spot (over your buttocks). Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement to get your number. (If your belly droops over your belt, then don't cheat by measuring under the protrusion!)

"But Doctor, it's only a few pounds!"

OK, here we go again. Just when you thought that those few pounds you've put on around your middle won't endanger your life, here comes a heads-up to think again.

This time, it's a couple of studies that are soon to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine, one conducted on more than half a million members of the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) and another study by researchers in Korea and Johns Hopkins University who looked at some 1.2 million Koreans.

Both studies give weight, as it were, to the evidence that American baby boomers who are modestly overweight will live shorter lives than their counterparts who are of normal weight.

These two studies refute the claims of a study done last year by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and the National Cancer Institute, which suggested that slightly overweight people had a somewhat lower risk of death than those of normal weight!

So what are we supposed to believe?

No single study can give the correct answer, as  study populations differ genetically and environmentally. But...

the score is now 2 to 1 with being even modestly overweight out of favor.  Some experts worry however, that now people who are only a few pounds overweight will become excessive in their concerns with diet.

Tip from your Wellness Coach: Take it easy...talk to your health care provider, stay informed and don't become obsessive. If you are middle aged, take a good look at exactly how many pounds you have put on around your middle since you graduated from high school or college.

Don't fall into the trap that excessive pounds are just a given at a certain age. Make a plan to acheive a healthy weight and put it into action. You'll feel better and who knows, maybe you'll be around a lot longer!

The Power of One

Name one simple thing you can do each day that is guaranteed to bring you more joy and satisfaction in your life. Something that is ridiculously easy and enjoyable to do and that will take no more than five minutes of your time.

Give up?

It's savoring.

Ok, I can hear you asking, "Savoring? What's that? I thought that had something to do with tasting  gourmet food or something like that."

And you're right...to some degree.

Savoring, according to the new rules of Positive Psychology, involves two distinct parts:

1. the awareness of pleasure

2. your attempts to make that awareness last as long as possible.

Sherrie St. Cyr, over at her delightful Stress Management Expert blog, does a great job of explaining just how to accomplish these very things in her article, Two Secrets to Savoring.

Why not take some time right now to go check our Sherrie's article, try out her suggestions and then leave her a comment?

Show Me the Money!

Ok, so we now know that rich people live longer than poor people and in general, enjoy better health. After I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago here at The Oasis, some of my readers suggested that they should give up right now, because they aren't rich and probably never will be!

But now, a new study published in the August 17th issue of the New England Journal of Medicine , suggests that even a modest increase in income for people over 55, even if they aren't rich, can translate into increased health. And a lot more income means even more gains in health status. In medicine, this is called the dose response, which simply means that the more money you make, the healthier you are likely to be.

If you are age 55 and firmly ensconsed in the middle-class, a modest increase in your income can translate into modest, but real health benefits.

So what are you waiting for?

Go ask for that raise right now!

Living Well

Here's an interesting fact. Where you live can have a huge impact on your health.

You may think that this is just common sense. After all, different areas vary widely in such factors as air and water quality, crime rates and so forth.

But it's not just the air or the water in your particular location, but the types of lifestyle choices that location fosters. Of course, the market is responding to this and planned "wellness communities" are springing up all over the U.S.

If you are thinking of a community that has golf courses, spas, gyms, biking and hiking trails, you
would be right. But that's not all.

These new wellness communities are hiring wellness directors, trainers, nutritionists, wellness coaches and other professionals to help create a wellness culture in the community and to assist residents in achieving their wellness goals.

But moving to one of these wellness communities will cost you...plenty.

The Cliffs, a wellness community near Asheville, North Carolina, gets $750,000 for a one bedroom cottage and goes up to $5 million for a 4000 square foot, four bedroom house.

So what if you don't have the bucks, or the inclination to move to a wellness community? How can you improve your living environment so that you are supported in making healthier choices for yourself and for your family?

Here are some suggestions:

1. Set aside a mini-spa day for yourself at home. Be sure to plan for one and a half to two hours when you won't be interrupted. Be creative and formulate your own routine. Put on some relaxing music.
Add your favorite bath salts to a hot tub of water and soak your cares away. Take time to really relax. Slather on a moisturizing lotion after you get out. You get the
idea!

2. Get outside. Explore local nature trails and parks or botanical gardens. Walk barefoot on the grass
of your lawn. Even going to a mall that has a courtyard area with plants and flowing water
can reconnect you to nature.

3. Sign up for a new body class. Make a commitment to explore yoga, Pilates or even a martial art.

4. Join a reading group, or if you like to write, a local writers group. Do something to stimulate
your intellectual and creative side.

5. Take some time each day to quiet your mind,  either by meditation or just listening to beautiful
music.

6. Consider hiring a professional Wellness Coach to help you map out a plan and achieve your goals.

Even if you incorporated all of these suggestions into your life, the cost would be minuscule compared
to moving to a wellness community.

And the benefits will be priceless!

My Bioregion: Late Summer

So...what did you do this summer? Did you get outside and actually enjoy the natural world?

In many parts of the country, the weather was just so hot that it wasn't conducive to anything but sitting in front of the air conditioner with a glass of iced tea. Today, at least in this part of the world, there are subtle signs that summer is coming to an end.

Yes, everything is still green. There is not a single leaf that has begun to turn and the goldenrod is still sending up its slender aromatic stalks, not a mass of yellow blossoms in sight. But gone is any trace of that new tender green that so captivates the senses after winter departs. At dusk, the thrumming of the cicadas is louder than ever. Perhaps they sense their time is short.

Late this afternoon, like many August days in the South, the clouds piled higher and higher. Thunder boomed in the distance and the rain shower slowly moved in, drenching the Earth and dispersing the sweet green fragrance of newly mown grass into the air. At dusk, the sky is still overcast and scatters the light evenly over the green of the backyard, obscuring any contrast. The green lawn melts into the green woods' edge. The tall pines sway in the evening breeze, cooler now, and a few straggler fireflies blink in the understory, their miniature lights conjuring up thoughts of carefree childhood summers. 

Any day now, the goldenrods will pop into bloom, the first few leaves on the sweetgums will change to red. Crows will start to gather in flocks, a "murder" of crows, it's called. Sumac leaves will fade to orange and autumn will slowly overtake us.

Wake up. Be aware of this one moment.

This one moment that bleeds into the next...and the next...and the next.

The moments of our lives.