Physical activity and exercise have countless positive health benefits. We’ve been told from a young age how important it is that we are active and get moving on a daily basis; think back to recess and gym class in elementary school. However, exercise is important for all ages and stages of life, not just young children on the playground. As adults, we need to continue to maintain active lifestyles to receive numerous positive health benefits and prolong our lives.

When most people think of exercise, they usually associate it with weight loss. Yes, exercise is extremely important when it comes to weight loss and weight management, but that is only one of the very numerous benefits.

Every time we move our body we are increasing the circulation. This increase in circulation helps our cardiovascular system work more efficiently and delivers additional oxygen and nutrients to all of our body tissues. These changes have been shown to help decrease our risks of developing multiple different chronic health conditions including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Exercise also releases endorphins and other neurotransmitters into the blood stream. These endorphins provide a feel good response in our body which helps improve mood. This mood enhancement effect can be felt within 5 minutes after moderate physical activity and regular exercise keeps this enhancement effect lasting more long-term. For this reason, physical activity is great for any form of mood disturbance, anxiety, depression or anyone looking for a general pick-me-up.

Engaging in regular physical activity also improves the overall quality of our sleep. 

We know that exercise has benefits to our health, but many people wonder how much they really need to be getting. Current recommendations for Canadians is at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity per week. Two recent studies published in the June 2015 issue of the JAMA Internal Medicine journal have aimed to look closer at these recommendations to find the optimal activity level to promote longevity.

The first study published by Arem et al. showed that individuals who did not exercise at all are at the highest risk of early death. Not surprising! But what they did find was that those who exercised even a little, without meeting the minimum recommendations, lowered their risk of premature death by 20 percent. Meeting the recommendations at 150 minutes per week has been shown to provide 31 percent lower risk of death than those who never exercised. Optimal level of health benefits were shown in those who exercised 3 times the recommended level by getting 450 minutes per week; they were 39 percent less likely to suffer an early death than those who never exercise at all. Best of all: those optimal health benefits were seen with moderate activity, mostly walking, for about an hour per day.

Gebel et al. examined how differences of moderate and vigorous physical activity can affect health outcomes. They found that simply meeting the exercise guidelines of 150 minutes per week greatly reduced risk of early death even if activity was moderate intensity, such as walking. By spending only 30 percent of your weekly exercise time performing more vigorous activity, they found that you are 9 percent less likely to die prematurely than someone exercising the same amount of time, but always at a moderate level. Those who spend more than 30 percent of their exercise time in strenuous activities had a 13 percent reduction in early mortality compared with the moderate group.

So, what does that mean for you? As suspected, any amount of exercise is better than none and will improve your overall health and longevity. However, to receive optimal benefits for longevity it is ideal to “reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week and have around 20 to 30 minutes of that be vigorous activity.” Remember to check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program, especially if you haven’t exercised for a long time, have chronic health problems, or you have any concerns. Take the first step today to increase your physical activity levels to improve your overall health. Something as simple as a walk around the neighbourhood can help you live a longer and healthier life. Increase the intensity of your activity slightly to break a sweat and you’ll be gaining even more benefits. Time to lace up the sneakers and get your sweat on!

This article is intended for educational and information purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you require medical advice, diagnostics or treatment, please contact your nearest healthcare professional

Water is one of the essential elements of overall health. The basic foundations of health for all humans include: air, water, food and sunlight. Without these four elements we are unable to survive! Did you realize that water was just as essential to our health as the air we breathe?

The human body is composed of approximately 65 per cent water. It’s one of the core elements to our makeup both by volume and weight. It’s in every cell; all of our muscles and tissues, our blood, and our bones. Essentially every part of our bodies is made up of water.

Because water is one of the basic building blocks making up a large component of our bodies, without adequate hydration we cannot function optimally. Water is required for every reaction that occurs throughout the day. Chronic dehydration or inadequate water intake can essentially impact any and all health concerns. Common signs and symptoms of inadequate hydration include fatigue, skin concerns, digestive disorders including constipation, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, headaches, asthma and allergies, joint discomfort, weight gain and even premature aging.

I often have people tell me: “But I’m just not thirsty.” This is a coping mechanism of our body. Often if we aren’t supplying our body with water regularly to meet its demands, we won’t feel thirsty. Why ask for something you know you aren’t going to get? Would you go to the bank and ask to withdraw a million dollars knowing that there is only a thousand in your account? Probably not, because you know you’re not going to get it! If we don’t drink water regularly, our body will not ask for it. Increasing water consumption will increase our thirst response.

So, great, we know that we need to drink water daily, but how much do we really need? A rough estimate of how much water we need daily is to take our body weight in pounds and divide it by two. This will give us the number of ounces we should be drinking daily. Ex. 150 lb/2= 75 ounces daily. A glass of water contains eight ounces so a 150-pound individual would need to drink about 9-10 glasses daily. This is a rough estimate and some people need a little more or a little less.
Did you just do the math for yourself and you’re sitting there in shock? You’re not alone! Most people don’t realize how much water they really do need to drink on a daily basis.

If you’re currently drinking two to three glasses of water daily and your goal should be about 10 glasses daily, do not increase that all at once! All liquids we put into our bodies need to be filtered by our kidneys so that would be a huge shock to our system and could actually cause negative consequences. We want to increase our water intake slowly. I usually recommend increasing by one glass per day each week. If you’re currently drinking three daily now, have four each day for the next week and five daily the week following and so on.

Looking for ways to enhance the taste of your water: Try adding a lemon or lime wedge. Or a handful of frozen raspberries. Cucumber slices or a few sprigs of mint can really add a lot of flavour without changing the health benefits. Herbal teas (hot or cold) can also count towards your water intake.

Foods that are majority fluid also contribute. Make a big pot of homemade chicken noodle soup to up your hydration. Or chow down on some high water content foods, like watermelon which is 92 per cent water while celery, zucchini and radishes are about 95 per cent water by weight.

Did you know that caffeine is a diuretic? This means that each cup of coffee you drink throughout the day slowly dehydrates you. You may be drinking a fluid, but the caffeine soaks up the hydration status of our cells and they are even more dehydrated than before you drank that cup of joe. Similar to coffee, drinks that contain high amounts of sugar like pop and fruit juices count against our water intake. To deal with the excess sugar you are taking in your body uses up a huge amount of water just to remove it from your system. For each caffeinated or sweetened beverage we drink, we need to add one more glass of water to our daily goal.

I hope by now, you’re sipping on a glass of water while you finish reading. Take the first steps to improve your overall health and make sure you are getting enough water each day. Drink up!

This article is intended for educational and information purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you require medical advice, diagnostics or treatment, please contact your nearest healthcare professional.

Have you ever stopped to think and wonder, “What is health?” or “What does it mean to be healthy?” Health can take different faces or forms depending on the person doing the defining. According to the World Health Organization, “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” But what exactly does that mean?

Often people believe they are healthy because they are not on any prescription medications, or they are healthy because they do not suffer from any physical pain, or they haven’t been diagnosed with any major diseases. Others may feel that they are healthy simply because they are able to perform activities of daily living without any hesitations. They don’t complain about X, Y, and Z concerns like their friends so they must be healthy for someone their age.

The above beliefs about health aren’t taking into account the full picture. Health should not be looked at as the lack of something or the “absence of disease or infirmity.” What if we looked at our health in terms of what we have as opposed to what we are lacking? Health should involve striving for the best or optimal well-being in all aspects of our lives. Health is also so much more than merely looking at the physical; to be truly healthy we should be striving for mental, social, and spiritual well-being as well.

When was the last time you had optimal energy? Imagine this: You jump out of bed in the morning ready to tackle the day and have abundant energy lasting you throughout, including your busy schedule of work, meal prep, laundry, soccer practice, dance recitals, hitting the gym and getting everyone to bed on time. Seem too good to be true? It shouldn’t! If our energy is low or we’re dragging to get through the day then we haven’t achieved optimal health and there are tweaks we can make to achieve it.

How is your immune system? Do you catch every single cold or flu that is going around the office and when you do you’re stuck in bed for a week? Again, not optimal health. Ideally we might get the sniffles or a sore throat a couple times per year that last for a day or two, but you should bounce back with vigour.

Our days should be enjoyed, including the little moments hidden in all corners of our schedules. Health includes having a positive attitude towards life, motivation to take on new tasks, and finding joy in the little things in life.

If your friend asks you to go for a walk with her, can you easily walk 3 km down the trails without being winded or need to stop and rest along the way? Your buddy calls and they’re short players for a friendly game of slo-pitch; can you step up to the plate without your body hating you for weeks after?

I would argue that all of these are important aspects that make up optimal health. The sooner we become proactive about our health, the better we can feel and the sooner we will be leading our lives down a path towards optimal health.

Health promotion and disease prevention should also be included as part of the definition of optimal health. Continuously working on improving our health will ensure that we can maintain this state of “complete physical, mental and social well-being” without having our health slowly deteriorate over time. If our doctor says our labs are showing that we are pre-diabetic or that our joints are showing initial signs of deterioration, why wait until we become full on diabetic or require that knee replacement to start addressing these concerns?

Are you sitting there thinking, “You’re right! I’m not as healthy as I could be. But how do I start?” Good question! Taking the first few steps to improve our overall health are the most important.

Take a look at your diet: are you getting a source of protein with each meal? Perhaps you could squeeze in just one or two more servings of vegetables each day. Most adults need around 8-10 glasses of water each day to maintain adequate hydration levels. Are you getting enough?

Are you getting enough exercise? The more we move our bodies the better. Don’t overexert yourself, but try to incorporate movement and activity daily. An easy target is 20-30 minutes of movement five days per week.

With our busy everyday schedules we need to find time to put ourselves first. Managing stress is very important. Schedule 10 minutes into your day where you are doing something that you enjoy. Put yourself first for once and nourish yourself. Take a bath, go for a walk, read a book, do some knitting, or put together a model airplane; whatever it is that you enjoy doing that makes you happy.

These may all sounds like trivial things, but they can have huge impacts on our overall health. As Jim Rohn said: “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” Investing in our health is never a bad investment. Being proactive about your health, leading a healthy lifestyle and taking care of yourself will only provide you with positive results: a longer, happier, healthier life!

This article is intended for educational and information purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Should you require medical advice, diagnostics or treatment, please contact your nearest healthcare professional.