The Powers Of Vitamin D

How Can You Increase Your Body’s Vitamin D Levels? 

Today, researchers are learning more about the powers of vitamin D. This nutrient is found in several foods, and when you are exposed to sunlight, your body also manufactures vitamin D. Some of the foods that contain vitamin D include:

• Egg yolks
• Cheese
• Beef liver
• Fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and tuna

In addition to eating these foods, you should go outside frequently to expose your skin to sunlight. It is nearly impossible for you to get enough vitamin D naturally, so many physicians recommend taking dietary supplements. If you live in an area of the world where there isn’t enough daily sunlight, then taking vitamin D tablets or capsules is imperative. 

Seven Ways That Vitamin D Can Improve Your Well-being

1: Keeping Your Teeth, Bones and Muscles Stronger

Vitamin D is essential for the health of your teeth and bones because it regulates the absorption of phosphorous and calcium. When a child doesn’t ingest enough vitamin D, she will develop rickets, leading to softer bones. The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include having pain in the bones of the spine, pelvis, legs and arms. In addition, you will have poor muscle strength and delayed tooth formation. 

2: Controlling Blood Sugar When You Have Diabetes Mellitus 

By increasing your body’s vitamin D levels, you can have more insulin resistance to avoid developing diabetes mellitus. If you are already diabetic, then talk to your physician about taking vitamin D dietary supplements. 

3: Preventing Certain Types of Cancer

If you have more vitamin D in your bloodstream, then you are less likely to develop colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer primarily affects adults over the age of 50. Most colorectal cancer begins with polyps in the bowel that become cancerous. 

4: Protecting You From Heart Disease

New research indicates that if you have a vitamin D deficiency, then you are more likely to have heart disease or other cardiovascular conditions. Some of the conditions that you might develop from lack of vitamin D include high blood pressure or peripheral artery disease. 

5: Boosting Your Immune System

It is important to have more vitamin D to boost your immune system. Scientific studies show that your body produces over 200 peptides to fight against the microbes that can make you ill when you have a high level of vitamin D in your bloodstream. 

6: Improving Your Overall Mood

If you don’t have enough vitamin D in your body, then you can become depressed. If you are feeling sad, then go outside to have more exposure to sunlight or buy a specialized lamp that creates simulated sunlight. In addition, consume more foods that contain vitamin D or take vitamin D supplements. 

7: Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease

When you have Alzheimer’s disease, you may also have low levels of vitamin D in your blood. You can increase your body’s vitamin D levels by spending more time outside in the sunlight or taking a dietary supplement to maintain your brain’s cognitive functions. 

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Can You be Addicted to Exercise?

It may seem like a strange idea, but you can get addicted to exercise. Or maybe it is not so strange when you consider expressions like "runner's high."

Most of us aren't getting enough exercise. For this reason, most messages surrounding exercise concern trying to encourage people to work out more often. But some people are actually working out too much. They are taking things so far that their lives are coming unraveled, just like with any other form of addiction.

Working out every day is not a problem per se. But if your social life is dwindling away, your career is being harmed and you are working out until it hurts you, you are probably suffering from exercise addiction. You should seek help.

If a person meets three of the following criteria, they may well have an exercise addiction.

1. They have developed a tolerance.
It takes more exercise to get the desired effect, such as an improved mood. This is called tolerance. It works much the same way as developing a tolerance for alcohol works.

2. They experience symptoms of withdrawal.
If they try to take a break from exercise, they experience withdrawal symptoms. Because exercise impact brain chemistry, this often expresses itself as anxiety, frustration or depression in the absence of exercise. 

3. Loss of control.
They may have good intentions of having a limited workout, but they can't stick to it. They just can't stop. They keep going, well past the point where it makes sense. They may plan to run for 30 minutes, but an hour or more later they are still at it.

4. It accounts for an excess of their time.
Exercise begins to eat their world. There is less and time for anything else. In fact, they may plan their entire life around exercise. They may take vacations that revolve around fitness activities. They may choose a career that involves fitness activities. 

5. They experience conflict.
Their friends or spouse may start complaining that they are unavailable because they are always at the gym. They cannot manage to make time for training to further their career because all their time is taken up with exercise.

6. They can't stop, even when it is harming them.
Exercise addicts often persist even after a doctor has told them to take a break. The first sign that there is a problem may show up after they get a repetitive stress injury. They go to a doctor who tells them to take a break from their workout so the injury can heal. But they can't. They keep going, even while the injury gets worse.

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, but that doesn't mean it can't get out of hand. If you are finding that exercise is eating your world, causing conflict, and you seem just incapable of stopping in spite of it hurting you, you should speak to a professional about it.

Why Race Walking Can Be a Fast Way to Better Health

Race walking is widely recognized as a very intense sport and has even made its way into the Olympics. This sport has a rich history around the world and has a very large international following. Athletes who participate in race walking train very hard to compete in the sport and follow very strict guidelines in terms of the required movements for their walking stride as well as tough training requirements. 

While you might think that race walking is just a much faster pace of walking, it is a bit more complicated than that. There are actually rules that you cannot have more than one knee bent at a time and that at least one foot must be firmly on the ground at all times. This may seem easy at first, but it actually requires quite a bit of concentration and skill. In the competitive world of race walking, walkers can be disqualified if they do not follow the stride requirements. 

If you are interested in race walking as a way to get your daily exercise in, then you might quickly discover that it is a very effective way to maintain weight and improve your circulation. Another benefit of race walking is that it is a much lower impact activity for your joints than running. Race walking is a great way to improve your cardiovascular health because it involves aerobic exercise. If you go for longer distances, you can even improve your strength and endurance over time. 

If you are already incorporating walks into your daily exercise routine, then you may want to consider stepping up the pace because it can significantly boost your calorie burn per hour. This is important because in the same amount of time, you can burn more calories and get your heart rate up faster. If you are looking to lose weight in a healthy way or improve your stamina, walking at a faster pace is definitely a great way to get there. 

One of the ways that race walking is such an easy exercise to get into your daily routine is that it does not require any special gym membership. You can race walk outside from anywhere. In addition, there is not much equipment required at all because you only need a pair of sneakers to get started on your race walking journey. No matter what pace you are when you first start out, you can experience the benefits of this exercise without needing any special skill set or instruction. It is also a great exercise to fit into your group activities. By planning to race walk with your friends, you can fit in some social interaction with your daily exercise, which is a great way to improve your overall mood and keep you connected to others. 

When you first start out with race walking, be sure to stretch before and after your walk. You should also make sure that you have plenty of water to drink so that you stay hydrated while you are exercising. Be sure that you drink water in advance of your walk so that you do not start out in a dehydrated state.