JustCare

Tag: Muscles

  • The benefits of walking barefoot at home

    The benefits of walking barefoot at home

    Believe it or not, there are benefits to walking barefoot at home. Walking barefoot actually helps build muscular strength in your feet reports Anna Rahmanan for the Huffington Post. Walking barefoot can also help the skin beneath your feet.

    Barefoot is defined as wearing neither shoes nor socks. Once you’re wearing socks, your movements change. Your foot muscles do not react as they do when you are barefoot.

    Walking barefoot strengthens your foot muscles. These muscles deteriorate as we age and when we wear shoes. More important, these muscles improve our movement.

    When older people struggle to move, it’s often because they can’t use their foot muscles.

    When you walk barefoot at home, both the soles and tops of your feet can breathe. That keeps them from sweating and reduces the likelihood of getting fungal infections.

    In addition, walking barefoot allows you to feel the bottoms of your feet and the textures below them, improving your sensory skills and well-being. It can help you to be mindful.

    Should you walk barefoot at home as much as possible? Not necessarily. One risk is that you will expose your feet to dirt or allergens or chemicals. If you have sensitive skin, walking barefoot at home can lead to eczema or contact dermatitis. Though, if you wash, dry and moisturize your feet regularly, the risks of walking barefoot at home should be small. It’s all about proper foot care.

    Walking barefoot could also cause you to slip if you’re not careful or to step on something harmful to your feet.

    And if you have diabetes or bad circulation, walking barefoot at home could have severe health consequences.

    Moreover, if you walk barefoot too much on hard floors, you could tire out your feet or develop plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis causes inflammation of the tissue that links your toes to your heel bone. You can also hurt your joints.

    When should you wear socks and shoes at home? It’s important to support your feet when you are standing a lot, such as when you cook. Unlike when you’re barefoot, with shoes, you balance your weight over your whole foot.

    You can also simply wear socks. With socks, you lose the value of going barefoot. But, you protect your feet from dirt and other irritants on the floor.

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  • Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Alex Janin writes for the Wall Street Journal on how, before long, you might be able protect yourself from some serious health conditions by knowing the “age” of your organs. Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Did you know that while you might be 65 based on your birthday, your pancreas could be 70 and your heart 55?  Apparently, researchers say that we can have an organ that is considerably older than our actual age. If so, that could increase our odds of getting certain diseases.

    If you heart or artery or brain or pancreas are “older” than you are, you have a higher risk of dying sooner. So, if you knew your heart were older, theoretically you might be able to act in ways that reduce your chances of heart disease. Similarly, if your brain were older, theoretically you might be able to act in ways that reduce your chances of dementia.

    To be clear, it’s still not possible to know the age of your various organs. It takes identifying the proteins in different organs and then using blood samples to determine the level of these proteins, which are different as you age. And, the science is not definitive at this point.

    Moreover, even if it were possible to determine people’s organ ages, the next question becomes what to do about older organs. And, that’s not always clear. What we do know is that it’s not unusual for people to have organs that are “older” than their chronological age. About one in five people apparently do.

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  • Best exercise for older adults? The squat

    Best exercise for older adults? The squat

    Michelle Crouch writes for AARP Magazine that the best exercise for older adults is the squat. Why? Because more than anything else, as you get older, you want to be able to get up from a chair and sit back down in a chair or a car or a toilet, with facility.

    It’s not to say that you shouldn’t be working all your muscles up and down your body. You should be walking every day for at least 20 minutes, if you can. Planks and pushups are great for strengthening your core. Crunches are good for tightening your abs.

    But, if you can only do one exercise, the squat is most critical. If you can’t squat, you will face a series of challenges throughout the day. Squats make your calves, your quads, your hamstrings and glutes stronger. They also strengthen your lower back and core. These muscles all help with activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, and toiletting.

    Squats have other benefits. They can help protect your knees and hips. They can help with balance. They can keep you from falling.

    The strong leg muscles squats help you develop also help you live longer. One study found that people with strong quadriceps had a smaller risk of dying over six years than people with weak quadriceps.

    If you’ve never practiced a squat routine, here’s what to do: Hold on to the kitchen counter or another comparable surface. That will help ensure you are stable. Your feet should be about as wide apart as your shoulders or a little wider, if that’s more comfortable. Point your toes outward a bit.

    From the standing position, while keeping your back straight and feet solidly on the ground, move your hips back in the same fashion as you would move your hips back to sit on a chair. Your weight should be on both feet, with more weight on your heels. Your knees should not be over your toes.

    Repeat this exercise eight or ten times twice, at a relatively fast clip. Two seconds to go down and two seconds to go up. Do this routine three times a week. And, be sure not to hunch over.

    As you get stronger, you can remove your hands from the counter and cross them on your chest or keep them by your side. You should be able to do 15 squats twice without tiring. You can then try holding some weights as you squat.

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  • Five ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age

    Five ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age

    We are all getting older. And, the older we get, the more likely we are to suffer from one or more chronic conditions, everything from joint pain to cancer. Consumer Reports recommends ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age. It’s all about exercising frequently, eating well, getting enough sleep, and staying socially engaged.

    Of course, many good things come with age. Being older means being wiser. It also usually means being happier. But, a lot happens as to your body as you age. Avoiding alcohol, not smoking and keeping a healthy weight, along with exercise, eating well, good sleep and social engagement can slow down the aging process and improve every aspect of your health.

    How to care for your aging body?

    Your heart: Minimize your risk of a heart attack and heart disease. Keep your blood flowing efficiently. Exercise and healthy eating can help a lot. Don’t smoke. Get a good night’s sleep and a maintain a healthy weight.

    Your brain: Minimize your risk of dementia. By the time you’re 50, you likely will experience some cognitive decline, including slower processing of information. Your eyesight and hearing can also begin to fail. But, you are likely to be more creative and productive as you move into your 50s and 60s because of all the knowledge and wisdom you have accumulated.

    According to the CDC, you might be able to delay or prevent dementia by being good to your heart. Again, exercise, not smoking or drinking alcohol, and eating a Mediterranean diet can make a difference. So can having a positive outlook about growing older and feeling useful.

    Don’t bother taking supplements. There’s no evidence that they help in otherwise healthy individuals, and there’s evidence that certain ingredients found in some supplements can be dangerous to your health.

    Your digestive system: Keep your gut and liver working well. Your liver helps to keep toxins out of your body. And, when your gut is working properly, you have regular bowel movements. You keep constipation and reflux at bay.

    To address digestive issues, you should try changing up your diet. Foods with fiber, such as avocados and oats, could be helpful. If you have GERD, try stopping drinking alcohol, not smoking and having dinner early so that your food is digested before you go to sleep.

    Your hormones: Focus on maintaining growth and sex hormones, which tend to diminish as you age. That can mean you also lose muscle and bone strength. As you lose growth and sex hormones, you might also lose some energy, sleep less well and have less of a sex drive.

    Again, both aerobic and strength exercises can help increase your growth hormone and testosterone levels, along with a good night’s sleep.

    Your muscles and bones: Focus on maintaining muscle and bone strength, as well as keeping your balance and endurance. By the time you’re in your late 30s, you will begin losing bone and muscle strength. However, if you exercise regularly, you can hold onto a lot of that strength. And, you can also keep your endurance. Balancing exercises are also helpful.

    Eating more protein and calcium can help with muscle strength and bone health. You can get protein from quinoa, nuts, lentils and soy as well as from seafood, poultry and meat.

    Your skin: Take care of your skin. Most people will see signs of aging under their eyes with a loss of collagen as they age. You might also get sun spots. No matter what your skin color, sunscreen is really important. You might also try using retinoids at night. They will dry out your skin, while encouraging production of new skin cells and boosting collagen.

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  • Don’t ice your sore muscles

    Don’t ice your sore muscles

    Gretchen Reynolds reports for The New York Times that it might not be a good idea to ice your sore muscles. One new study of mice whose muscles were iced suggests that icing can actually do harm. Icing muscles could keep them from healing.

    How has it taken us so long to discover that we should not be icing sore muscles? After all, every day exercise facilities, sports arenas and other exercise venues dispense ice packs for sore muscles. But, the study found that icing not only does not work; it could cause harm.

    People like to ice their sore muscles because icing often feels good and provides some quick pain relief. It causes numbing of pain. It also keeps muscles from swelling.

    Yet, when you dig deeper, you find that icing really does little to alleviate pain. It does little to help people get back into shape. It actually can slow down the healing process. It can lead to less muscle strength.

    The new study simulated the effects of exercise on mice and then tested muscle recovery with and without icepacks. The researchers found that icing affects muscles at the molecular level. Those icepacks caused damage to the mice’s muscle fibers, tissue damage. Recovery was far quicker for the muscles that were not iced.

    The researchers concluded that “icing retards healthy inflammatory responses.” That said, the researchers acknowledged that mice are not people, and our muscles differ to some extent. Moreover, their research involved icing of damaged muscles, not simply sore muscles. So, who knows really?

    The good news: You don’t have to go looking for ice when you strain your muscles. They generally can take care of themselves!

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  • Build muscle and substantially reduce your risk of heart disease

    Build muscle and substantially reduce your risk of heart disease

    We’ve heard it before. Exercise works wonders on your brain and your body. We know from one recent study that active older men and women in their 70’s, who have exercised regularly throughout their adult lives, have muscles that are hard to differentiate from 25 year olds who are in good health. The latest research shows that men who build muscle in middle age substantially reduce their later risk of heart disease.

    Yes. Gretchen Reynolds reports for The New York Times on the latest study, revealing that being muscular before you retire can affect your heart health in later life. The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, found that men with more muscle in middle age had an 81 percent lower likelihood of developing heart disease than other men. Muscle mass is critical for healthy aging.

    Muscle gives you strength. It also helps you control your blood sugar and makes your body work better, reducing inflammation. As you age, however, you tend to lose muscle. When you lose a lot of muscle, you become frail and weak. You are likely to develop cardiovascular disease.

    Though the researchers could not show that having a lot of muscle keeps people from getting heart disease, the relationship between men’s muscle mass and lower risk of heart disease was significant.

    So, keep up the exercise. It is fabulous medicine for your mental and physical health.

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  • Exercise can slow down the aging of your heart and muscles substantially

    Exercise can slow down the aging of your heart and muscles substantially

    Aging is part of life. But you may be able to slow down the aging process biologically if you exercise regularly. While it is hard to control the aging of your skin, it appears that you may be able to slow down the aging of your muscles and heart substantially. The New York Times reports on a recent study in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

    The researchers found that active older men and women in their 70’s, who have exercised regularly throughout their adult lives, have muscles that are hard to differentiate from 25 year olds who are in good health. Younger and older adults who exercise regularly have the same number of enzymes and capillaries.

    Active older adults in their 70’s also are better able to engage in aerobic exercises than most other people in their 70’s. While they did not have the same aerobic capacity as people in their 20’s, it was 40 percent better than people their age who were not active. And, it was about the same as people in their 40’s.

    This study looked at 28 people who exercise recreationally. And, it was an observational study, so it does not prove that exercise caused these health improvements or whether other factors, such as genes and diet, played a material role. Moreover, it does not tell us the extent to which taking up serious exercise in later life is associated with “younger” muscles and hearts. Other studies show that people who exercise seriously, not recreationally, into old age tend to have healthier muscles, brains, immune systems and hearts than people who are not active.

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