Dr. Cathy Sevcik, Naturopathic Doctor and Bowen Therapist

NATUROPATHIC DOCTOR & BOWEN THERAPIST

Take a Stand Against Diabetes

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Literally, standing for 5 minutes every 1/2 hour during your work day could stave off a host of chronic diseases.
Literally, standing for 5 minutes every 1/2 hour during your work day could stave off a host of chronic diseases.

Literally – stand up.

For 5 minutes every ½ hour.

A recent study showed that standing had similar benefits to walking in reducing post-prandial glucose in a group of pre-diabetic women.

Obviously, if you are serious about being healthy, some regular ‘exercise’ or moderate to vigorous physical activity is ideal. But the truth is, many people do almost none. And I think part of the reason is that the media messages concerning physical activity are conflicting and often the quantity or intensity recommended is overwhelming. So instead of doing something, people do none at all. I understand that.

But here is some research that show that by just standing up for 5 minutes every ½ hour during a work day, while reading, or while watching tv – you can improve your metabolism and possibly evade or defer a health problem like diabetes.  Of course, the benefit would not stop there.  Improving blood sugar regulation automatically improves brain health, improves immune function and reduces pain!

Doesn’t that sound like something worth taking a stand for?

Burst Exercise Blasts Blood Sugar Problems!

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Burst exercise can be an efficient way to optimize physiology such as blood sugar metabolism.
Burst exercise can be an efficient way to optimize physiology such as blood sugar metabolism.

Question:  What is the most effective type of exercise to promote excellent health?

Answer:  The exercise that you will do!

That being said, it would be interesting to settle the question of how long and how intense should we exercise to achieve certain outcomes.  I don’t have the answer to that and I imagine that it depends on the person and their health issues and goals.  I also suspect that it is ideal to change it up regularly for most people.

Having said that, I found an interesting piece of research that showed better results for shorter duration higher intensity exercise in reducing HgA1C in recently diagnosed diabetics.

Moderate intensity exercise was defined as 60% of age predicted maximum heart rate (approximated as 220 minus your age).

High intensity (or also called burst exercise) was defined as 85% of age predicted maximum heart rate.

The participants either exercised for 30 minutes at 60% or 3 rounds of 10 minutes at 85%.

The researchers found significantly higher compliance in the burst exercise group – which speaks to the concept of ‘do the exercise that you will do’.

They also found better outcomes concerning blood sugar metabolism.

What this means for you:

There is no reason to assume that the bursts need to be 85% or need to be as long as 10 minutes.  Play with what you like.  During the rest periods between the bursts you can walk, stretch, clean your house, read emails.  Make up your own rules.

If you haven’t tried this format for exercising – it may be the missing key for weight loss.

It also goes without saying that if  you like and do this exercise regularly, all of your systems with improve – including your brain.

Ideally you should have a heart rate monitor so that you know that you are working out hard enough and not too hard.

VERY IMPORTANT:  Do not start a new exercise program without speaking to your doctor about any risks that you may have.

 

“All information contained on this website is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is neither intended nor suited to be a replacement or substitute for professional medical treatment nor for professional medical advice relative to a specific medical question or condition.”

Super-Charge Your Brain In Less Than 5 Minutes a Day

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Keep your brain strong in less than 5 minutes a day with a simple exercise known as Super Brain Yoga.
Keep your brain strong in less than 5 minutes a day with a simple exercise known as Super Brain Yoga.

What part of ‘aging’ are many people most afraid of? They are afraid of losing their brain power. In addition to smart lifestyle choices that will reduce brain inflammation, here is an intriguing and simple exercise that could prevent brain decline. I’m willing to try it!

I pay close attention when I see a concept pop up in different contexts. I assume that it is not a coincidence and that if it applies in more than one arena, my skepticism is over-come and I believe that the concept holds at least some truth that could be useful to me and my patients.

That is what happened when I came across Master Choa Kok Sui’s ‘Super Brain Yoga’ on Facebook. I thought to myself – this looks a lot like Brain Gym™. I was introduced to Brain Gym™ about 15 years ago by my sister who learned about it at a teacher conference. But since then, I have seen what I will call ‘body crossing techniques’ in other places as well – such as Integrative Body Psychotherapy.

Brain Gym™ was created by two educator reading specialists. Super Brain Yoga was created by Master Choa Kok Sui and is described as a pranic healing method. Integrative Body Psychotherapy was developed and evolved by psychotherapists. They all have independently discovered the usefulness of body crossing exercises to achieve the results they want.

This technique seems to use a number of physiological channels to produce its benefits:  improving circulation through movement, rewiring the bilateral aspects of the brain, involving breath work and stimulating acupuncture points.

I think it is worth a try to see if this simple exercise can improve your brain power.

Here are the steps:

1. Hold your right earlobe with your left hand. Do this first so that your left arm is on the inside.

2. Hold your left earlobe with your right hand. Right arm over left.

3. Do a squat, inhaling on the way down and then exhaling on the way back up.  Be very careful that you don’t go down too far or lean over too much.  It may be more difficult to do with your arms in this position so go easy on your knees.

4. Do this exercise for 1 – 5 minutes daily.

 

“All information contained on this website is intended for informational and educational purposes only, and is neither intended nor suited to be a replacement or substitute for professional medical treatment nor for professional medical advice relative to a specific medical question or condition.”

Here is a Youtube Video: