ATN: What’s the “right” amount of exercise?
Q: What's the "right" amount of exercise I should be doing to be healthy? A: Unfortunately, there is no perfect amount of exercise for every individual. Let's break it down a bit further: Our main goal of exercise should be 3 things: Boost endorphins, the "feel good hormones" which improve your mood Increasing energy Improve function and fitness (muscle, flexibility, cardiovascular fitness) Exercise should not be used as a way to burn off as many calories as possible in order to [...]
Can I eat the same thing every day?
So many of us are creatures of habit: we wake up at the same time, have the same morning routine, and eat the same thing for breakfast each day. While this type of repetition can make life a lot less stressful by reducing the number of decisions we need to make daily, variety is super important in the diet. Every food has it's own profile of vitamins and minerals, macronutrients and micronutrients. Our goal each week should be to eat as [...]
Should I read ingredient labels or nutrition labels?
If you pick up any packaged food, such as a box of crackers or a salad dressing, you’ll find two labels: the ingredient list and the nutrition facts table, which tells you the nutrient content of the food including fat, protein, carbs, sugar, etc. The mainstream health world has taught us to read the nutrition facts, and to pay attention to specifically the fat, carb, sugar, and sodium content. While this certainly can give you an idea of the nutrient content [...]
The Everyday Foods that are Harming your Health
If you drink one coffee per day, it may not seem like it would matter if you’re adding a little coffee creamer to it – it’s just one drink, right? But those small, daily decisions are what shape your overall and long term health. A little margarine here, a little canola-oil filled salad dressing there… it all adds up. These sneaky offenders are not the obvious junk foods we need to avoid, like cookies, bread, dairy, other processed inflammatory foods, so [...]
ATN: Are all supplements created equal?
Q: My doctor recommended I take a magnesium supplement to help my restless legs. Can I just buy any one from the pharmacy? A: This is a great question, and raises a very important topic for anyone taking over the counter supplements, herbs, vitamins, minerals, or other health products. In short, the answer is no, you should not buy just any bottle of magnesium you find at the pharmacy. Here are the factors you should consider: Brand Differences: Just like with [...]
5 Ways to Improve your Health
When you’re looking to get healthy, it can be difficult to know what things you should focus on first. It’s up to you to decide what applies to your current lifestyle and goals, but prioritizing them in roughly this order can help you be more successful and keep you from getting overwhelmed! This list might sound simple, but health really can be that way! We just need to drown out all of the noise from companies and people that promote expensive [...]