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Today's the Day: Blog

Weed Re-cap

Posted: Friday, May 29th, 2009

Its been a long, interesting week... with me still heading out to doctors offices to figure out why I am still sick…Seriously, when I walk into offices, x-rays, and blood clinics….its quite sad, when those taking the x-rays, and the blood tell me they expected to see me in their offices, considering I sound pretty bad still on air. No surprise here!

We talked about Super Teas this week with Kardish Bulk Foods, BOSU golf tips with Tanya Robertson of Personalized Fitness, stretching tips with Connie Bealieu of Cu Fit Personal training…and the golf swing nightmare with Dr. John Zielonka.

First Up- Green Tea:

Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea? The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression. In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.

Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.

To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:

Cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, infection, impaired immune function

http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm

http://www.green-tea-expert.com/

Whit White tea has arrived in North America. While Chinese tea drinkers have been hip to white tea’s benefits since the Ming Dynasty, until recently it was virtually unknown outside of Asia. Not anymore. Today, everyone from chefs to medical researchers is praising white tea’s delicate flavor and purported health benefits. Market researchers predict consumers will soon share their enthusiasm, turning white tea into one of the hottest new food trends.e Tea:

Antioxidants are compounds that have been shown to have a very beneficial effect on our health. Alle teas contain a lot of antioxidants, and white tea is the tea with the highest concentration of them. The antioxidants in white tea may help prevent cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, and may even help slow down the aging process.

White tea is grown in Asia, predominantly China, and is harvested from the same tea plant that also gives us green tea and black tea

http://www.whiteteacentral.com/

You can always get more information about the Super Teas at Kardish Bulk Foods & Nutrition Center

Tanya Robertson had us back on the BOSU ball looking to get the muscles loosened and ready for golf season. Tanya had us standing on the ball…either on the blue side, or on the flat back side (a little more difficult) and she had us hold a medicine ball held out in front. If you don’t have a ball you can use a weight. Then twist from side to side…keeping your knees facing forward and twisting from the waist up…Try and also keep your hips square forward as well. This exercise helps with increasing flexibility through your back and hips and also works on stabilizing the core…

For more information on Tanya you can check out her website at www.personalizedfitness.ca

Here is also another website for golf fitness incorporating the BOSU

http://www.fitter1.com/Catalog/Items/TCGSC.aspx

Also this week we spoke with Connie Bealieu of CU Fit Personal Training. Connie spoke to us about the outlook on stretching prior to physical activity. We often tend to think that we need to do a stretch and hold before we head out for a run, a game of soccer, ultimate and the list goes on. Connie suggests you also try Dynamic Stretching where you are firing off your muscle fibers in a more active setting, rather than stretching them in a more relaxed way. Connie showed us some quick front kicks, side lunges and bum kicks to ignite the muscles.

Dynamic stretching Dynamic stretching is similar to ballistic stretching except that it avoids bouncing motions and tends to incorporate more sport-specific movements.

Arms circles, exaggerating a kicking action and walking lunges (without weights) are examples of dynamic stretches. A walking lunge dynamically stretches the hip flexors by emphasizing hip extension and can reduce muscle tightness around the hip joint necessary for competition.

Dynamic stretching is useful before competition and has been shown to reduce muscle tightness (2). Muscle tightness is one factor associated with an increase occurrence of musculotendinous tears (2,3). More recent scientific studies seem to suggest that dynamic stretches before competition are preferably to static stretches (4,5,6). This may be particularly true for strength and power athletes.

 http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/dynamicstretching.html

Keep in mind, you should still incorporate the stretch and hold after your game, run or physical activity. It’s a great way to cool down the muscles and avoid injury.

Connie can be reached at http://www.cufitpersonaltraining.com/

And on Friday Dr. John Zielonka of the Ottawa Chiropractic & Natural Health Centre joined us to give us the heads up on taking the golf clubs out to the driving range! He commented on how many patients he sees coming into the office with backs out of whack and sore muscles. The golf swing is one of the most unnatural movements for the body. Nothing about the golf swing is natural from the pivot to the arm action and so forth….here’s the advice….Don’t get to the range and immediately take out the big driver in hopes of cranking out the balls 300 yards out. First take a few minutes to loosen up….take some practice swings without a ball…..and start with the smaller clubs like your pitching wedge. Slowly move your way up to the larger clubs like the woods and the driver. Also, take a break. You’ll hit way more balls on the driving range then you would in a round of golf, so take a few breaks, sit back, take in the action and then resume your ball striking.

For more information about Dr. John Zielonka you can check out his website at www.excellenceinhealth.com

Have a great weekend!

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