Happy Groundhog Day!
I usually fill Groundhog Day with philisophical thoughts and reflection, but today needed to be different.
Phil Connors (in Groundhog Day [1993]) may have had a "long day" in which he could pack the lessons, learning, and growth of multiple lifetimes, but I can imagine that even Phil took time in that infinite loop to pause and breathe.
It's easy to try and pack a lifetime of tasks into one day, but there's a lifetime of costs (i.e. stress) when we do.
So, today and each day, remember there's only so much time in one day.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
2015-08-31
Remembering Reid
Last week, the world lost a fun and uplifting person and I (and many others) lost a friend.
Reid Levin [reidlevin.net] was a friend of mine from my days in High School. Since that time, I'd been an avid follower of his comedy and regular reader of his blog. Before leukemia ended his life on August 25th, Reid said, "I didn't get to finish my story." Seeing those words on his blog [reidlevin.net] really struck me deeply.
Photo source: Wikipedia
I've written before about life's story and the importance of appreciating the adventure of life. This year has been filled with change and challenge for me. Losing my friend Chris to a hiking accident was unexpected, but felt somewhat pallatable, as I make conscious choices to take risks as he often did. Losing Reid affected me in a different way entirely; he didn't choose the path of life with cancer, but he accepted it as best he could. Furthermore, he did all he could to bring happiness to the people in his life no matter how distant from him we were.
I've learned a lot this year, through the examples of both my friends and many others. I am so grateful for the people in my life who have helped me along in my adventure. Reid, I'm so grateful for the smiles you brought me and many others. You may not have had a chance to finish your story, but I hope and think it's still being written in the hearts and minds of the people who know and miss you.
Reid Levin [reidlevin.net] was a friend of mine from my days in High School. Since that time, I'd been an avid follower of his comedy and regular reader of his blog. Before leukemia ended his life on August 25th, Reid said, "I didn't get to finish my story." Seeing those words on his blog [reidlevin.net] really struck me deeply.
Photo source: Wikipedia
I've written before about life's story and the importance of appreciating the adventure of life. This year has been filled with change and challenge for me. Losing my friend Chris to a hiking accident was unexpected, but felt somewhat pallatable, as I make conscious choices to take risks as he often did. Losing Reid affected me in a different way entirely; he didn't choose the path of life with cancer, but he accepted it as best he could. Furthermore, he did all he could to bring happiness to the people in his life no matter how distant from him we were.
I've learned a lot this year, through the examples of both my friends and many others. I am so grateful for the people in my life who have helped me along in my adventure. Reid, I'm so grateful for the smiles you brought me and many others. You may not have had a chance to finish your story, but I hope and think it's still being written in the hearts and minds of the people who know and miss you.
2012-06-03
Reapplying the sunscreen
My recent article about sunscreen contained a lot information on the light spectrum of the Sun and what radiation reaches the surface of our planet. The last bits of my article were dedicated to the choice and application of sunscreen. Those last bits were inspired by a graphic ["The Sunscreen Smokescreen" - Information is Beautiful] I encountered last Summer on one of my favorite data visualization blogs.
Like my blog, the graphic contains a lot of data, but it's an abundance of sunscreen data whereas my blog spent more time on light spectrum. So, if you want to "reapply" more sunscreen knowledge to your brain, check out the graphic below:
Like my blog, the graphic contains a lot of data, but it's an abundance of sunscreen data whereas my blog spent more time on light spectrum. So, if you want to "reapply" more sunscreen knowledge to your brain, check out the graphic below:
2012-05-29
Save your skin
In the United States, we recently took pause on Memorial Day [Wikipedia] to recognize and remember the men and women of service who have given their lives and life’s work to preserve the lives or life-work of others. For many, Memorial Day also marks the typical start of the Summer vacation season. The increase in outdoor activity, coupled with the longer Summer day-lengths [“Survival Guide: Tell time using the Sun or Moon” - INDY Blog], means more time under that bright ball of fusion: the Sun.
There’s a lot of energy radiating from all that solar activity; most of that energy is wonderfully beneficial, bringing light and sustenance to our world, but some of that energy can also be rather harmful. Today, I’m going to discuss both the costs and the benefits, so that you’re better prepared to embrace the Summer months.
First, let’s talk about the energy coming from our star, the Sun [“Sunlight” - Wikipedia]. The large majority of the solar spectrum is in the range of radio waves, infrared, and visible light. The remaining bit is made up of ultraviolet and X-rays.
As I said, radio waves, infrared, and visible light are very common, in fact, you see visible light every day! The wavelengths of these particles are long enough that they are harmless, except to the most sensitive of receptors (e.g. your eyes). It’s really the high-energy short-wavelength radiation which we need to be concerned about, so let’s take a look at those types now.
You may have heard of Gamma rays, that highly energetic form of electromagnetic radiation which can ionize atoms and, therefore, cause damage to biological organisms at the cellular level. Scary stuff, right? Well, lucky for us, the Gamma rays generated by our star’s solar fusion are processed into lower energy radiation before they even reach the surface of the Sun. Even so, other phenomena do generate Gamma rays, but typical exposure is extremely rare and in miniscule doses. Better still, our atmosphere does an excellent job of absorbing and reflecting these and other high-energy particles, such as X-rays.
Let’s take a look at what is left in our spectrum of sunlight: ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation falls between the spectrum of visible light and X-rays, hence the name “ultra-violet” “extreme violet”. UV light is categorized into three types: UVA, UVB, and UVC. For the purposes of this article, let’s discard UVC (as that’s what our atmosphere literally does for us, it allows very little UVC to reach the surface of Earth). Instead, we’ll focus on how the remaining two types of ultraviolet light affect us on the cellular level; more specifically how they affect our skin.
All forms of UV light can damage and age the skin and cause cancer. Higher frequency UV radiation (e.g. UVB and UVC) can directly damage the DNA in our cells, causing mutations we call cancer. UVA indirectly causes DNA damage by exciting cells deeper within the body. Those cells may not be mutated, but they sure do misbehave in their excited state. However, you shouldn’t hurry to cancel your Summer vacation plans and shutter yourself into darkness. These same types of UV radiation play essential roles in our body’s natural processes.
That same skin-penetrating UVB triggers the synthesis of Vitamin D in our bodies. Vitamin D helps in the regulation of metabolism. Meaning, Vitamin D -- and other sun-generated vitamins and hormones -- are part of the process that tells your body whether to use the food energy (calories) you’ve consumed, store that energy for later (fat), and when your body should decrease its overall energy use (sleep). Some psychiatrists theorize that Vitamin D and serotonin influence mood and disposition. [“Seasonal affective disorder” - Wikipedia]
As with many things in life, we strive to find balance. Sunlight is “the only listed carcinogen that is known to have health benefits” [“Risks and benefits of sun exposure” - Wikipedia]. How can we minimize the risk of harm while receiving helpful benefits of the Sun’s light? This is where human technology and intelligence come in!
Sun protection has improved significantly since its invention. Sunscreen, in its most current form, can better withstand environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, moisture, etc.) and provide a better Sun Protection Factor (SPF). SPF, we find those numbers on bottles of sunscreen almost everywhere, but what do they mean?
The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) is a measure of protection offered by the sunscreen against UVB, which can cause sunburn. The true effectiveness of sunscreen depends greatly on a combination of factors: skin tone, amount of sunscreen applied (and re-applied), and the amount of sunscreen lost (absorbed into the skin or loosed from it by the environment and activity).
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT SPF RATING FOR YOU
The most important thing to remember in all of this is that it is up to you to protect yourself from harm. Remember what I said, all forms of UV can cause cancer. Be careful not to overindulge to the point where you take your skin from one extreme to the other. Meaning, if you have naturally light skin tone, you should avoid altering your skin to the point where its tone would be considered dark. The amount of aging and radiation that it would have to undergo to reach that level of melatonin would be rather unhealthy. Find the right balance and keep yourself safe and healthy.
There’s a lot of energy radiating from all that solar activity; most of that energy is wonderfully beneficial, bringing light and sustenance to our world, but some of that energy can also be rather harmful. Today, I’m going to discuss both the costs and the benefits, so that you’re better prepared to embrace the Summer months.
First, let’s talk about the energy coming from our star, the Sun [“Sunlight” - Wikipedia]. The large majority of the solar spectrum is in the range of radio waves, infrared, and visible light. The remaining bit is made up of ultraviolet and X-rays.
As I said, radio waves, infrared, and visible light are very common, in fact, you see visible light every day! The wavelengths of these particles are long enough that they are harmless, except to the most sensitive of receptors (e.g. your eyes). It’s really the high-energy short-wavelength radiation which we need to be concerned about, so let’s take a look at those types now.
You may have heard of Gamma rays, that highly energetic form of electromagnetic radiation which can ionize atoms and, therefore, cause damage to biological organisms at the cellular level. Scary stuff, right? Well, lucky for us, the Gamma rays generated by our star’s solar fusion are processed into lower energy radiation before they even reach the surface of the Sun. Even so, other phenomena do generate Gamma rays, but typical exposure is extremely rare and in miniscule doses. Better still, our atmosphere does an excellent job of absorbing and reflecting these and other high-energy particles, such as X-rays.
Let’s take a look at what is left in our spectrum of sunlight: ultraviolet radiation. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation falls between the spectrum of visible light and X-rays, hence the name “ultra-violet” “extreme violet”. UV light is categorized into three types: UVA, UVB, and UVC. For the purposes of this article, let’s discard UVC (as that’s what our atmosphere literally does for us, it allows very little UVC to reach the surface of Earth). Instead, we’ll focus on how the remaining two types of ultraviolet light affect us on the cellular level; more specifically how they affect our skin.
All forms of UV light can damage and age the skin and cause cancer. Higher frequency UV radiation (e.g. UVB and UVC) can directly damage the DNA in our cells, causing mutations we call cancer. UVA indirectly causes DNA damage by exciting cells deeper within the body. Those cells may not be mutated, but they sure do misbehave in their excited state. However, you shouldn’t hurry to cancel your Summer vacation plans and shutter yourself into darkness. These same types of UV radiation play essential roles in our body’s natural processes.
That same skin-penetrating UVB triggers the synthesis of Vitamin D in our bodies. Vitamin D helps in the regulation of metabolism. Meaning, Vitamin D -- and other sun-generated vitamins and hormones -- are part of the process that tells your body whether to use the food energy (calories) you’ve consumed, store that energy for later (fat), and when your body should decrease its overall energy use (sleep). Some psychiatrists theorize that Vitamin D and serotonin influence mood and disposition. [“Seasonal affective disorder” - Wikipedia]
As with many things in life, we strive to find balance. Sunlight is “the only listed carcinogen that is known to have health benefits” [“Risks and benefits of sun exposure” - Wikipedia]. How can we minimize the risk of harm while receiving helpful benefits of the Sun’s light? This is where human technology and intelligence come in!
Sun protection has improved significantly since its invention. Sunscreen, in its most current form, can better withstand environmental conditions (e.g. temperature, moisture, etc.) and provide a better Sun Protection Factor (SPF). SPF, we find those numbers on bottles of sunscreen almost everywhere, but what do they mean?
The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) is a measure of protection offered by the sunscreen against UVB, which can cause sunburn. The true effectiveness of sunscreen depends greatly on a combination of factors: skin tone, amount of sunscreen applied (and re-applied), and the amount of sunscreen lost (absorbed into the skin or loosed from it by the environment and activity).
HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT SPF RATING FOR YOU
STEP 1: Determine your skin tone and “time multiplier”. Would you consider your skin tone light (10 minutes), intermediate (15 minutes), or dark (20 minutes)?Keep in mind that most people have the tendency to only apply half as much sunscreen as they should. So, you may wish to compensate for this by dividing your result by 2 or 3. Also, cloud cover can decrease your exposure to UV light, but it won’t eliminate it entirely. Additionally, reflective surfaces may increase your exposure (since you’ll get it from multiple directions). Finally, you’ll recall that wonderful atmosphere I discussed earlier, protecting us from some of those high-energy rays? Well, the higher your altitude, the less atmosphere there is protecting you.
STEP 2: Multiply the SPF rating by the time multiplier found in STEP 1.
(SPF rating) x time multiplier
STEP 3: The result is the estimated time (in minutes) your skin will be protected from UVB.
The most important thing to remember in all of this is that it is up to you to protect yourself from harm. Remember what I said, all forms of UV can cause cancer. Be careful not to overindulge to the point where you take your skin from one extreme to the other. Meaning, if you have naturally light skin tone, you should avoid altering your skin to the point where its tone would be considered dark. The amount of aging and radiation that it would have to undergo to reach that level of melatonin would be rather unhealthy. Find the right balance and keep yourself safe and healthy.
2011-11-23
Curb your food cravings
'Tis the season for stuffing and sweets. Unfortunately, this season is also part of a horrendous cycle that many people submit themselves to every year.
For Americans, it begins with Halloween; the binge of sweets overflowing from store shelves tempts the will of shoppers. Following Halloween, Thanksgiving then sets the stage for months of indulgence. People devour a variety of foods, excusing themselves from previously set guidelines.
What guidelines? Well, observe the continuation of the cycle.... The indulgence lasts into January, then the shock of approaching Spring causes panic. As a result, New Year's Resolutions are born; people swear to lose the holiday weight. Some people will succeed, others will fail.
In both cases, the approach of Summer causes another surge of panic, "gotta fit into those Summer clothes". Summer activities have a tendency to shrink waistlines or at the least the perception thereof. With satisfaction in success (or surrender), many people will re-enter the cycle when it comes around again.
Through understanding what your body is really telling you, you will be able to combat the extra weight, thus relieving you of the cyclical weight struggle.
Food contains nutrition essential for the normal function of the human body. Some foods contain more of those nutrients than others, but we tend to associate those nutrients only with the most familiar foods. For example, the body says, "I need protein", the mind says, "Get me a cheap cheeseburger!" instead of "Some beans or lean meat, please".
I found a small webpage [NaturopathyWorks] which shows some common cravings and the substitutions which can be made with those cravings. For example, it suggests that if you're craving chocolate, you may need Magnesium; which means you should try eating raw nuts and seeds, legumes, and fruit. Another of their examples is that if you're craving bread/toast you may need Nitrogen, so you should try consuming high protein foods such as fish, meat, nuts, and beans. There are many other substitutions listed on that page. (Please note: I do not think that naturpathy actually works as an "alternative" to established medical science. So, take that website only as pseudo-scientific suggestion.)
Additionally, you can try to understand how your body initiates its food cravings. Recently a study was done [MedicalXpress] to learn how protein intake affects how much people desire to eat. Basically, the study found that until you consume a certain percentage of protein in your diet, you will most likely still desire more food.
For Americans, it begins with Halloween; the binge of sweets overflowing from store shelves tempts the will of shoppers. Following Halloween, Thanksgiving then sets the stage for months of indulgence. People devour a variety of foods, excusing themselves from previously set guidelines.
What guidelines? Well, observe the continuation of the cycle.... The indulgence lasts into January, then the shock of approaching Spring causes panic. As a result, New Year's Resolutions are born; people swear to lose the holiday weight. Some people will succeed, others will fail.
In both cases, the approach of Summer causes another surge of panic, "gotta fit into those Summer clothes". Summer activities have a tendency to shrink waistlines or at the least the perception thereof. With satisfaction in success (or surrender), many people will re-enter the cycle when it comes around again.
Through understanding what your body is really telling you, you will be able to combat the extra weight, thus relieving you of the cyclical weight struggle.
Food contains nutrition essential for the normal function of the human body. Some foods contain more of those nutrients than others, but we tend to associate those nutrients only with the most familiar foods. For example, the body says, "I need protein", the mind says, "Get me a cheap cheeseburger!" instead of "Some beans or lean meat, please".
I found a small webpage [NaturopathyWorks] which shows some common cravings and the substitutions which can be made with those cravings. For example, it suggests that if you're craving chocolate, you may need Magnesium; which means you should try eating raw nuts and seeds, legumes, and fruit. Another of their examples is that if you're craving bread/toast you may need Nitrogen, so you should try consuming high protein foods such as fish, meat, nuts, and beans. There are many other substitutions listed on that page. (Please note: I do not think that naturpathy actually works as an "alternative" to established medical science. So, take that website only as pseudo-scientific suggestion.)
Additionally, you can try to understand how your body initiates its food cravings. Recently a study was done [MedicalXpress] to learn how protein intake affects how much people desire to eat. Basically, the study found that until you consume a certain percentage of protein in your diet, you will most likely still desire more food.
Dr Gosby commented: "This result confirms the 'protein-leverage' effect in humans and importantly, shows counting calories is not enough to manage appetite and body weight. In the western world, where food is abundant, if you reduce your calorie intake but fail to reach your protein target you will find it hard to resist hunger pangs."In essence, I'm trying to point out that you should always choose the right things to eat and never eat too much of anything. So, as you enter this season of assorted holidays of abundant temptation, remember that the choices you make now will affect you all year.
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