To understand the best way to set up a computer workstation, it’s helpful to understand the concept of neutral body positioning. There are important considerations when attempting to maintain neutral body postures while working at the computer work-station.

1) Hands, wrists and forearms are straight, in line and roughly parallel to the floor. 2) Head is level, or bent slightly forward, forward facing, and balanced. Generally it is in line with the torso.

3) Shoulders are relaxed and upper arms hang normally at the side of the body.

4) Elbows stay in close to the body and are bent between 90 and 120 degrees.

5) Feet are fully supported by the floor or a footrest may be used if the desk height is not adjustable.

6) Back is fully supported with appropriate lumbar support when  sitting vertical or leaning back slightly.

7) Thighs and hips are supported by a well-placed seat and generally parallel to the floor.

8) Knees are about the same height as the hips with the feet slightly forward.

Remember to change your working position throughout the day by standing and walking around, and stretching your fingers, arms, hands and torso.

The first sweetener to come out was aspartame/Equal or Nutrasweet. Then there was sucralose-Splenda, Saccharin-Sweet and Low and lastly Agave. Many parents may read this article and think that regular sugar is acceptable because it’s not a chemical and it’s not going to cause a chemical reaction in your child’s brain. But the truth is that the average child, even with these artificial sweeteners being so prevalent, is consuming more sugar than is healthy.

The average child consumes twice the amount of recommended daily sugar intake, and more than 42 percent of the added sugars in a daily diet are from sugary beverages. The childhood obesity epidemic has become a serious concern, resulting in the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Health and Human Services releasing restrictions on marketing unhealthy food products to children.

Very simply put, things that are sweet should be a treat. These are not items that should be consumed daily, and whether it’s an artificial sweetener, sugar or even natural sugar from a whole fruit, things that are sweet should not be a major part of a child’s daily diet.

Although it’s best to leave things in its natural state, there might be times that you would like to sweeten something, or perhaps you want to bake and need a good sugar substitute. For those times, many wellness practitioners would recommend Stevia, particularly the all natural kind, or use honey instead. A natural sweetener is generally anything that is found sweet in its original form and does not require a chemical reaction to make it so.

Eating items that are chemically created is generally not a good idea. Artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame, and sucralose have been reported to cause various adverse reactions. Studies have also shown that it’s possible consuming low-calorie sweeteners may actually cause weight gain by confusing the body’s ability to estimate caloric intake and resulting in overindulgence later. A diet rich in whole, living foods is the only way to ensure your family is practicing a healthier lifestyle

The fast and processed food industries offer a staggering variety of sodium-laden foods, many of which make a huge dent in your recommended daily allowance for sodium in a single serving. Example: Look closely at canned soup labels; many soups contain 2,000 mg or more of sodium per can– more than 80 percent of your RDA.

Sodium plays an important role in the body in the proper amounts– it helps maintain fluid balance, transmit nerve impulses, and influence muscle contraction and relaxation—but too much can be a big problem. Sodium attracts and retains water; too much sodium will accumulate in the blood, increasing blood volume. The heart has to work harder to pump that blood, increasing arterial pressure. Chronic fluid retention and increased blood pressure can lead to heart disease, stroke and congestive heart failure. We consume so much sodium on a daily basis that the kidneys can’t always eliminate enough.

Potassium and sodium work together in the body to maintain cellular fluid balance. Cells actually have a sodium-potassium “pump” that helps facilitate this balance; by pumping sodium ions out of the cell in exchange for potassium ions, sodium is removed from the cell. Because sodium and potassium have this vital balancing function on a cellular level, getting the right amounts of both in your diet is equally vital. That means limiting your sodium intake while ensuring you don’t ignore potassium. The RDA for potassium is currently 4,700 mg. Ideal food sources include bananas, citrus juices, avocados, cantaloupes, tomatoes, potatoes, and lima beans. For most people, there is a need to get more potassium into their diet and decrease the intake of sodium.   

Weight gain, fatigue, and depression are unfortunately common health complaints among the American public. While there are many reasons why patients may experience these symptoms, one of the most evident causes often goes under the radar. Hypothyroidism is now believed to affect a growing percentage of American adults. The severity of hypothyroidism can vary significantly, from nearly undetectable to extremely debilitating and life-threatening. Patients with severely impaired thyroid function may struggle with simple daily tasks such as doing housework, taking care of their families, and even getting up from bed. Hypothyroidism also appears to interfere with normal carbohydrate metabolism and correlates with increased insulin demand and insulin resistance. Blood lipids, both LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, are normally elevated in almost all hypothyroid patients, including mild cases.

When analyzing thyroid function, three nutrients of concern are iodine, selenium, and the amino acid tyrosine. The most common example of nutrient deficiency causing thyroid disease is iodine deficiency. Prior to the introduction of iodized salt in the 1920’s iodine deficiency was common in the Great Lakes and Appalachian regions of the U.S. It is estimated that nearly 40% of the world’s population is at risk for iodine deficiency, and outside of the U.S., this remains the leading cause of impaired thyroid activity and mental retardation. Autoimmunity is another leading cause of hypothyroidism. In addition to gluten, other foods known as goitrogens have been shown to be damaging to thyroid function also. The thyroid’s control of metabolism is so important for weight loss and a healthy body. Protect yourself.

1) How does a change in pH affect homeostasis?
2) At what age does this usually occur?
3) What causes the body to get so acidic?

According to research in NEJM, the age is 40 and the cause is the standard American diet. Food research shows that practically everything a person eats burns to acidic ash with the exception of fruits and vegetables. The research showed that as we age our blood acid increases and our alkaline bicarbonate reserves decrease. By the age of 40 the average American has lost all alkaline reserves and these finding warrant consideration that acidosis may be a cause of degenerative disease.

People need to eat better overall, and especially more fruits and vegetables. Medical science reminds us that every day good nutrition and good health go hand in hand, especially when it comes to the healthful benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. Most leading health authorities recommend that adults eat at least seven to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day for better health. Despite growing scientific evidence, the average American eats less than one serving per day and children eat even less that that.

One way that we can get the proper servings of fruits and vegetables that we deserve is to drink a morning alkalizing fruit and vegetable shake. A daily fruit and vegetable shake provides convenient, easy to consume whole-food nutrition rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and other phytonutrients.The daily fruit and vegetable shake is not a substitute for eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables everyday; it simply helps to bridge the gap between what we should be eating and what we actually do eat.

Fruit and vegetable shakes are typically a superlative health food because they often contain a wide variety of phytonutrients including vitamins, minerals, proteins, essential fatty acids, flavonoids, carotenoids, and other substances that together exhibit antioxidant, detoxifying, antiinflammatory and anti-microbial benefits. The protein powder I use is from Nutri-west called Total Greens. It is packed with so many good things. I have two scoops almost everyday in my fruit drink.

1) Skip the fries– French fries and potato chips contain little or no nutritional value
and large quantities of fat. At sit-down restaurants, it should be even easier to replace the fries/chips with a side of rice, a small baked potato and/or some veggies.

2) Watch what you drink– Soft drinks are exactly what your body (and teeth)
don’t need, yet they are a stable beverage at fast-food and other restaurants.
Water offers 3 distinct benefits by comparison: it doesn’t cost you anything, it’s
calorie free, and it doesn’t contain any sugar.

3) No over-sized loads– What is your average family meal at home like in terms of
portion size? “Super-sized” combo meals and 17-inch plates heaped with
Thanksgiving-like portions are a recipe for weight gain. Stick to a reasonable
portion size or eat half and get the other half to go.

4) Find a Veggie– Depending on the nature of the establishment, this can be fairly
easy or a bit tricky, but either way, it’s a worthy pursuit. Whether it’s a hamburger
with lettuce and tomato or a plate of pasta with broccoli, choose meals that have some natural color, courtesy of Mother Nature’s best vegetables.

5) Know what you are ordering– Restaurants have begun to reveal how nutritionally unsound some of their meals are. Look at nutritional facts to calorie counts.

A 2010 study showed that girls had high rates of breast stage 2 development at ages 7 and 8. (The Tanner stages is a scale of physical development based on 5 stages. Stage 1 is pre-pubertal, stage 2 is onset, and stage 5 is adult.) A top theory among experts is that girls who have a high-fat diet and are not active or are obese are more likely to mature early. That could be the primary driver because estrogen, which triggers puberty, is stored in fat tissue. It helps explain why early puberty is more common in females than in males.

It is believed that environmental exposure to chemicals, such as pesticides and endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA), found in plastics, also may play a role in early puberty. BPA is used primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. These plastics are used in some food and drink containers; the resins are used as lacquers to coat metal products such as food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes.

Another aspect in early puberty is growth hormones (GH) in the food supply. Hormones allow for greater yields of lean muscle meat and higher milk production, thereby feeding more people at less cost. GH is a protein hormone produced in the pituitary gland of animals, including humans, and is essential for normal growth, development and health. Recombinant bovine growth hormone or rBGH, which is used to increase milk output, is a genetically engineered growth hormone. It is banned from use in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and all EU countries, yet the Food and Drug administration approved rBGH for sale in the U.S.

These concerns and many others have contributed to the rise in consumption of organic foods, including hormone-free meat and milk, as well as pesticide-free vegetables. Another trend is people taking the time to cook at home while avoiding processed foods. This problem is not going to go away soon. Please protect your kids as much as you can from these harmful toxins.

Most health care professionals would probably agree that achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is highly desirable, and is associated with a reduced risk of health problems and mortality. What many health care professionals and most laypeople do not know, however, is that there can also be serious consequences of successful weight management—namely a significant influx of potentially harmful toxic chemicals into the bloodstream. The cause of this influx is the release of fatsoluble toxins heretofore stored in adipose (fat) tissue, and released in the lipolysis of long term weight management programs.

While it may have taken decades to accumulate so many toxins in fat tissue, their release into the bloodstream may take place at a more rapid pace. This was seen when researchers examined associations between weight change over 1year and 10 years and serum concentrations of seven xenobiotics in 1,099 adults at least 40 years old. The results indicated that serum concentrations of most toxins were higher in those undertaking long-term weight management programs compared to those with long-term weight gain. The researchers expressed concerns that increases in serum concentrations of toxins after a weight management program may actually result in harmful effects on health.

Losing weight promotes the release of potentially harmful xenobiotics. The use of key nutraceuticals can promote the healthy detoxification of xenobiotics, supporting optimal wellness and maximizing the effectiveness of a weight loss program.

The thyroid is one of the glands affected by fluoride intake. Studies show that prolonged consumption of drinking water with elevated levels of fluoride caused an increase in thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) released from the pituitary, decreased levels of T3, and more intense absorption of radioactive iodine by the thyroid compared to healthy individuals who consumed drinking water with the normal fluoride concentrations. In another study researchers found that chronic exposure to fluorine resulted in immune deficiency in all workers inhibiting their bodies ability to fight infections. Several studies have shown that fluoride is a key factor in reduced fertility and declining health of spermatozoa (resulting in reduced sperm count, motility, and density).

Fluorisis, or increased fluoride exposure can damage the cardiovascularsystem . Researchers have shown that subjects with increased fluoride
intake have global heart dysfunction and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction, meaning the heart does not relax properly. Additionally, fluoride
can cause abnormalities in the elasticity of the aorta, the primary blood vessel leading from the heart.

Fluoride is an ubiquitous chemical compound, which has both beneficial and adverse effects on health, with a narrow range between the intakes at which this occurs. Supplementation with iodine and other trace minerals can compete with fluoride and reduce the impact of excessive fluoridation on physiological processes in the body.

What we do with this physiological signal is what determines whether the anxiety ends up being harmful long-term or being helpful in altering the stressful event so as to maintain health. In short, what we do with anxiety is what’s important.

So, when we feel anxious, how can we overcome it? We need to remove the anxiety provoking cause, and if we can’t, we need to initiate adaptive behaviors so as to lessen the overall negative impact. Use these five tips to ease anxiety:

1) Use all of your senses to help de-stress. If music gives you joy, incorporate it into your relaxation time.
2) Make sure you take a few minutes every hour to stretch, relax, and calm your mind. You can’t run at top speed all day long all day.
3) Eat an anti-inflammatory diet full of vegetables, low-sugar foods, and omega-3’s and plant-based proteins like nuts.
4) Exercise raises endorphins in the body and is a great way to de-stress. Put on your athletic shoes and go for a walk around the block.
5) Sleep is essential for our body to achieve a state of balance and to avoid feeling stressed