When there is wet weather during the summer months, plants and grass thrive and, if you have a garden, it can seem like you need to mow and weed nearly every weekend. This can lead to aches and pains and even injury unless you take precautions.
People suffer from aches and pains when they undertake what seems to be relatively sedate activity such as gardening, is that the actions required are quite different from those carried out in the rest of the year.
The main causes are prolonged stretching and overuse of the ligaments and joints in the spine. Digging, mowing and stooping place considerable stress on the ligaments and joints in the lower lumbar spine and cause them to become inflamed and tender. This will trigger a protective muscle spasm which gives rise to the deeper, duller, achy type of pain that occurs over the following few days.
This happens year after year. It is very important to look after your muscles and joints, especially when undertaking a form of exercise that you are not used to. If you want to stop gardening aches and pains and be able to appreciate all the hard work the next day, then follow these top ten tips:
1 Gently stretch your muscles and ligaments for a few minutes before and after gardening, but don’t bend down to touch your toes – this can cause damage
2 Wear light, but warm clothes & make sure your lower back is always covered
3 Kneel on one leg rather than bending your back repeatedly
4 Use long handled tools to prune tall plants
5 Use only a small spade/fork for digging and keep your back gently hollowed
6 Do not always work to one side only, vary your position
7 Don’t do the same work for long periods, vary your tasks
8 Keep your back straight when carrying
9 When finished have a warm bath or shower
10 Do not sit for too long in your favourite armchair afterwards, but stand up regularly and walk around for a minute or two
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Travelling to new places is an adventure that opens doors to exciting experiences. However, the thrill of holidays or the demands of business trips can often be dampened by the unpleasant effects of jet lag. It’s incredibly challenging when you need to arrive at your destination ready to work. Jet lag occurs when your body’s internal clock, known as the circadian rhythm, becomes out of sync with your new time zone. But fear not! With a little understanding and some natural strategies, you can beat jet lag and make the most of your travel experiences.
The Power of Zeitgebers:
To combat jet lag, it’s crucial to leverage the power of zeitgebers—the external cues that regulate our circadian rhythm. These cues include light, temperature, social interactions, exercise, and eating habits. When travelling across time zones, many of these cues are disrupted, leading to jet lag. By harnessing the knowledge of zeitgebers, you can support your body’s recovery and enjoy your travels to the fullest.
Embrace Light Cues
Adjusting to the local time zone begins with using light cues effectively. If you arrive at your destination during the night, create a sleep-inducing environment by staying in the dark and avoiding the blue light emitted by electronic devices. Conversely, if you arrive in the morning, expose yourself to natural, bright light to signal wakefulness to your body.
Prioritise Optimal Sleep
In the days leading up to your trip, ensure you get sufficient high-quality sleep. Arriving at your destination well-rested will make it easier to combat jet lag. If you feel the need to sleep during a long-haul flight, don’t hesitate to do so. Rest is essential for your body’s recovery.
Leverage Temperature
Lowering external temperatures helps lower your body’s core temperature, signalling that it’s time for sleep. If you arrive close to bedtime, adjust the temperature of your room slightly cooler than usual to facilitate a restful slumber.
Stay Active and Social
Engaging in social interactions stimulates wakefulness. If you arrive in the morning, take the opportunity to explore your surroundings and interact with the locals. Physical exercise during the day also helps keep you awake and energised. If you’re on a busy business trip, try to squeeze in a quick visit to the hotel gym before your meetings to get your blood flowing.
Sync Your Meals
One effective way to acclimate your body to the new time zone is by adjusting your meal times to align with local schedules. Embrace the local cuisine and enjoy meals at the times that the locals do. Consider modifying your eating patterns a few days before your trip to facilitate the adjustment. Be mindful that aeroplane meals are often served based on your home time, which can disrupt your efforts to reset your body clock. Focus on protein-rich meals to stay alert (a protein-based breakfast is a healthy choice anyway) and opt for carbohydrates to aid in falling asleep.
As you embark on your travel adventures, armed with these valuable tips, jet lag will no longer hold you back from enjoying every moment. Share these strategies with fellow travellers, friends, and colleagues who could benefit from these handy tips.
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The long evenings and warm temperatures encourage many of us to be more active over summer. It’s a great time to take up a new activity, improve our fitness, or lose weight.
One of our most popular summer sports is, of course, tennis. Tennis is a fantastic activity: it builds strength, improves cardiovascular fitness, can help to strengthen our bones, improves coordination, an
d gets us exercising outside in the sun (for our vitamin D!). Another thing that’s great a
out tennis is that it has a social element too – giving us one-to-one time with friends and helping us meet other people, which is so often lacking in today’s technology-driven world. However, tennis can be tough on our joints, especially for those who are not used to impact sports.
Here are our top foods and supplement suggestions that can help keep you in action on the court.
Get plenty of vitamin C
Vitamin C is not just important for immunity. It’s also vital for our body to make collagen, which in turn is used to make cartilage – the flexible material that helps to cushion our joints. When carilage wears away, as in osteoarthritis (‘wear and tear’ arthritis), joints can become very painful.
So where should you get your vitamin C? Ideally not by drinking fruit juices, which contain lots of quickly absorbed sugar (even if it’s just natural fruit sugar) and can end up causing more problems for our health. It’s best to get vitam
in C from a range of whole vegetables and fruit. Some of the best sources are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, red cabbage, pepper, kiwi fruits and blackcurrants. Aim for at least the recommended 5 servings of vegetables and fruit per day – although the ideal is
more like 7 to 9! The antioxidants in vegetables and fruit also have anti-inflammatory activity, helping to keep pain in check.
Vitamin C supplements can also be supportive for your joints if you struggle to get enough through food.
Eat oily fish
Oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, sardines and herring contain the all-important omega-3 fats known as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). As well as being vital for our eyes, brain and heart, these omega-3 fats have anti-inflammatory activity, and possibly direct pain-relieving activity too. This means eating oily fish could be helpful to manage or reduce joint pain, and even prevent inflammation that causes sore joints after exercise.
Don’t like fish? A daily fish oil supplement can be a good alternative.
Avoid pro-inflammatory fats
Just as it can be helpful to increase your anti-inflammatory omega-3s, it’s equally important to avoid pro-inflammatory fats – the ones that can worsen inflammation. Unfortunately, these are the fats that we’ve long been told are good for us: vegetable oils. In general anything labelled ‘vegetable oil’ is bad news, and other general cooking oils such as sunflower oil or rapeseed oil. Margarines and spreads made with vegetable oils can be even worse because they contain hydrogenated vegetable oils – oils that have been turned into a solid fat by bubbling hydrogen through them. A lot of processed foods also contain vegetable oils, from cakes to breads to ready meals: another reason to eat more ‘real’ foods and ditch processed foods – especially those that come with a long list of ingredients on the label!
Eat magnesium-rich foods
Magnesium is an important mineral for our muscles and bones. It’s also been found that having good levels of magnesium in our body may help to lower inflammation.
So eating magnesium-rich foods can be another good step towards better joint health. These include green vegetables, seeds and nuts, beans and pulses, and whole grains including oats, rye and buckwheat.
Turmeric and ginger
These traditional spices are not only delicious in curries and Asian food; they also have anti-inflammatory activity. Turmeric in particular (or its active component curcumin) has been shown in many studies to help reduce inflammation, and specifically to help to manage joint pain in knee arthritis. Ginger may also help to reduce joint pain and inflammation.
Turmeric and ginger can be used every day in cooking. You can also use either of them to make tea: chop or grate fresh ginger or turmeric root and pour on boiling water (although watch out with fresh turmeric, as it can stain everything!). Try making a ‘turmeric latte’ with turmeric powder – it’s become the drink of the moment among those looking for a healthier alternative to coffee. You can also just buy turmeric or ginger tea bags. Or if you have a juicer at home, try making fresh ginger juice and drinking a shot every day – it really packs a punch! Another alternative is to pickle ginger – delicious!
If you struggle to get a daily dose of turmeric or ginger in your food, or you want a more convenient option, try turmeric or curcumin supplements.
Bone broth / collagen
Bone broth is another traditional food that’s become popular as a ‘health food’ again. This is because bones are actually very rich in nutrients, and so properly prepared bone broth (made by simmering animal or fish bones for up to 24 hours or longer) is a natural, easy-to-absorb source of these nutrients, including vital minerals such as calcium and magnesium. Bone broth also provides natural collagen, primarily in the form of gelatin. As mentioned above, collagen is a building block for the cartilage that helps to protect our joints.
Taking collagen in supplement form may also be supportive for joint health. A study found that taking collagen over 6 months reduced joint pain in a group of athletes.
Glucosamine
If you’ve ever looked into taking supplements for joint health, you’ve probably heard of glucosamine. Glucosamine is a building-block for making cartilage and synovial fluid in the joints. Taking glucosamine supplements has been found in some studies to be helpful for knee pain, especially in those with a prior injury or with osteoarthritis in the knee. Some studies do not show benefits, however. It’s worth noting too that glucosamine has been found to be effective with doses of at least 1,500mg a day, and that it may take three months or more to work fully. So ideally, this is one to start taking in the spring if you want it to help keep you active over the summer.
Devil’s claw herbal remedy
Devil’s claw is a traditional herb used for relief of joint pain, as well as muscle pain and backache. Like turmeric and ginger, devil’s claw is thought to have an anti-inflammatory effect. It could be a good choice to help relieve pain more quickly, compared to the longer-term protective effect of collagen or glucosamine.
Arnica gel
If you experience muscle or joint pain after activity, try a topical arnica gel for additional support. Arnica gels are traditionally used to help with joint pain as well as muscle pain, stiffness, strains and bruising. In one study on a group of people with arthritis in their hands, using an arnica gel was even found to be as effective as ibuprofen gel for reducing pain.
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Exercise: The new prescription
These days doctors often ‘prescribe’ exercise as a way to maintain good health and with good reason. Being active not only makes us feel better, it can also help ease various symptoms and cut risk of disease.
Studies have shown that people in their late 70s who undertake at least 20 minutes of exercise per day need fewer prescriptions and are less likely to be admitted to hospital than those who don’t. [1] Exercise has been shown to be as effective at lowering blood pressure as certain medication, as well as being shown to improve heart and gut health, memory and balance. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends exercise 3 times per week between 45min to an hour, for 3 months for those with mild or moderate depression. The physical activity also stimulates our brains and helps prevent anxiety and stress, as well as increasing the lifespan and improving the quality of life.
- For Living Longer – Jogging
A US study showed that adults over 65 who ran or jogged for at least 30 minutes 3 times per week were as healthy as young adults in their 20s.[2]This might not sound important, but your walking style is a key indicator of mortality, so the longer you can stay spritely on your feet, the longer and healthier your life should be. Meanwhile, another study found that light jogging (between 70-120 minutes per week) was linked to the lowest mortality rate compared to sedentary people and heavy runners – so little and often is key here. [3]
- For Improving Memory – Dancing
A study from 2017 found that all exercise can help reverse the signs of ageing in the brain, but dancing more than any other sport.[4] The study, which focused on adults in their late 60s who took part in a weekly dance class, found that all participants showed an increase in the hippocampus region of the brain, which can be affected by diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia, as well as more general age-related decline.
- For Back Pain – Active Therapies
Many GP appointments are connected to muscle and nerve problems- and these are often based in the back. If you suffer with back pain, you will know that it can affect your movement and sleep and leave you feeling quite low. Luckily, help is at hand in the form of gentle stretching. Also, research shows that active therapies, such as chiropractic treatment, are a great option for managing back pain and to create optimal alignment, balance and symmetry.
- For Depression and Anxiety – Walking
Science agrees – walking outdoors (especially in groups) has been linked to a reduction in stress and a boost in mood, particularly for those who have just been through a negative life event such as serious illness or loss of a loved one. Brisk walks have also been shown to help women deal with the anxiety and stress that’s sometimes associated with menopause. Movement helps your brain to release endorphins, feel-good hormones that can reduce the perception of pain as well as depression or stress.
- For Bone and Muscle Health – Weight Training
Experts are increasingly suggesting a bit of strength training goes a long way when it comes to better bone and muscle health. As we get older, we start to lose muscle mass, which can leave us prone to falls, as well as making it easier to gain weight. So think of strength training as insurance for your later life. While this could mean leading to lift lightweights at the gym, it can also mean strength exercises using your own body weight – such as sit-ups or squats. It’s really never too late to start. A study of 90-year-olds found that 12 weeks of strength training improved their muscle tone, ability to balance, general power and walking speed.
Don’t forget 150 minutes (just over 21 mins daily) is the minimum moderate exercise the NHS recommends for adults to stay healthy! And the best part is, it’s freely available to most of us, small things make a big difference. Movement is the new medicine!
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Chronic stress can have a negative effect on our physical health as well as our mental wellbeing. It can play a role in our susceptibility to illness and disease, but also in day-to-day functional problems such as pain and stiffness.
There are many steps we can take to improve our ability to cope with stress; nutrition is one of them. Find out what and how to eat to better manage stress…
Balancing your blood sugar
To cope well with stress, we need our food to provide us with balanced, sustained energy. Foods that quickly break down into glucose and are quickly absorbed – such as sugary foods and fast-releasing carbohydrates – may give us a burst of energy, but can cause our blood sugar to peak and then dip. This can actually increase our body’s stress response and stress hormone levels, as well as making us feel irritated and out of control.
Here are the three fundamental steps to balancing your blood sugar:
- Eat primarily whole foods: vegetables, animal foods (eggs, fish, unprocessed meat, unsweetened dairy foods), nuts and seeds, beans and lentils, and some fruit. Avoid sugary snacks, refined carbohydrates and other processed foods such as breakfast cereals
- Making sure every meal includes a good serving of protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. The primary protein foods are the animal foods mentioned above, and nuts and seeds, and beans and lentils. Healthy fats are found in nuts and seeds, oily fish, avocadoes, and coconut. Complex carbs are found in vegetables, whole fruit (i.e. not fruit juices), whole grains, beans and lentils
- Eat regularly. Skipping meals or leaving too long between meals can cause your blood sugar level to drop too low, which can also trigger a stress response
Getting enough food
As well as eating regularly, getting enough food is important when you’re dealing with stress. Going on a weight loss diet – whether it’s low-calorie, low-carb or low-fat – during a stressful time can be particularly bad for your stress levels. Instead, now is the time to focus on balancing your blood sugar as outlined above, by eating regular meals, getting enough protein, healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables and cutting the refined carbohydrates and junk foods. You should find it easier to manage your weight – or lose weight – by eating in this way anyway.
Healthy snacking
Although regular snacking is not the best thing for everyone, it can be helpful if you’re coping with stress, again by helping to keep your blood sugar on an even keel. Your snacks need to be based on whole foods, and contain some protein and complex carbohydrates.
Examples include:
- Two or three oatcakes with one of the following: a tablespoon of hummus, guacamole, cottage cheese, half an avocado, a hard-boiled egg or a teaspoon or two of nut butter (e.g. almond butter).
- A pot of natural yoghurt (without added sugar) with some berries and/or a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds mixed in.
- A wedge of left-over home-made frittata/omelette.
However, you shouldn’t need to be snacking more than once between meals; constantly ‘grazing’ can have a negative effect on your weight and your digestion!
Magnesium-rich foods
The mineral magnesium plays a vital role in our psychological health, including our mood and how well we cope with stress. It’s thought that both physical and emotional stress can increase the body’s need for magnesium; and that having a low magnesium to calcium ratio can actually increase the release of stress hormones such as adrenaline.*
The best food sources of magnesium are green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard and spinach; seeds and nuts; and whole grains – especially buckwheat and rye.
B vitamin-rich foods
Like magnesium, B vitamins also play a vital role in our energy as well as our psychological function.
The various B vitamins are found in different foods, but the best all-round sources include eggs, oily fish, organ meats (especially liver), seeds and nuts, and beans and pulses. Luckily these are also foods that are great for our blood sugar balance!
Avoid overdoing stimulants
Many of us turn to stimulants such as tea and coffee when we’re feeling stressed. But stimulants of any kind also trigger the body’s stress response. Try to keep your coffee consumption in particular to a minimum. Tea can have a gentler stimulating effect so can be better tolerated, but keeping it to one cup a day can still be advisable. Try to introduce calming herbal teas such as chamomile and spearmint – especially later in the day.
Note that alcohol can also act as a stimulant as well as a relaxant. It also disrupts your blood sugar balance. Keep alcohol to a rare treat and stick to one drink only.
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Whether it’s being told to sit up straight or stop slouching, there’s many reasons why we were told to keep an eye on our posture growing up. However, as adults, we sometimes form bad habits and forget the importance of good posture.
Whether it’s physical or mental health, posture plays an important role in our overall health and has a variety of benefits.
Poor posture
Posture refers to the position of your body when you are standing or sitting and, more specifically, how your spine is aligned with your head, shoulders, and hips.
Poor posture occurs when the spine is not positioned in a neutral alignment. This could mean the curves in the spine are more emphasised than they should be. For example, by hunching over with your head forward. A common cause of this is ‘tech neck’, which results from us hunching over cell phones or computers.
Poor posture results in the joints, muscles and vertebrae being in stressful positions and, over a prolonged period, can have several negative impacts on your body.
Good posture
The back has three natural curves: at the neck, mid back, and lower back. Good posture maintains these curves by ensuring your head is above your shoulders and the top of the shoulders is over the hips.
It can sometimes feel uncomfortable or awkward to adjust your posture because bad posture doesn’t always cause pain or discomfort.
Here is a quick reminder for how to maintain posture when sitting or standing:
- Sitting: the feet should rest flat on the floor, with even weight on both hips and your back should be mostly straight. The shoulders should be back and relaxed, whilst the ears line up over the collarbones.
- Standing: the legs should have a slight bend in the knee so they are not hyperextended or locked, and weight should be evenly distributed. The shoulders should be down, and the spine and pelvis remains in a neutral position.
Physical benefits of good posture
There are many physical benefits associated with good posture, some of which are listed below.
Standing or sitting with poor posture for prolonged periods of time places additional stress on your lower back, which can be a common cause of back pain.
- Less tension in the neck and shoulders
Particularly for ‘tech neck’ where the head is in a forward position, there can be additional strain on the upper back, shoulders, and neck. Good posture ensures the joints and ligaments are less stressed.
Poor posture can be the reason for tension headaches because it increases muscle tension in the back of the neck.
Slouching compresses the lungs, so correcting your posture enables more space for your lungs to expand.
Maintaining good posture means using your muscles and keeping them engaged, particularly the muscles in your core and upper back.
Mental benefits of good posture
Good posture encourages the muscles to be used as they’re intended, rather than wasting energy. This means you will feel less fatigued.
Together with increased energy levels, good posture can make you look taller and more toned, which can boost your self-confidence.
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It is thought that the average person spends about 26 years of their life sleeping, roughly 9490 days or 227,760 hours. Having the right mattress is an important part of getting a good night’s sleep.
Why is sleep so important?
During childhood, sleep supports growth and development, but sleep continues to be important throughout our lives to support both physical and mental health. Here are a few reasons why sleep is important:
- When we sleep, our bodies release a of hormones. One example is the growth hormone, which helps your body to grow and repair itself. This includes repairing your muscles, organs, and cells.
- Sleep lowers your pulse and blood pressure, allowing your heart and blood vessels to rest and recover.
- Scientists think REM sleep helps your brain to clear information you don’t need.
- Activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which controls your fight or flight responses, decreases. This allows your body to relax.
The importance of the right mattress
A mattress should keep your spine aligned but allow your muscles to relax while you sleep. Pain, particularly back and neck pain, can be made worse by the wrong mattress. It can also lead to headaches or fatigue.
What to consider when buying a mattress:
Mattresses often have several layers, but the support system and comfort layer can help you choose the right mattress.
- The support system is the spring or foam layer that supports your weight and provides spinal alignment. This is rated by firmness and choosing the right firmness depends on your body type.
It is not the case that firmer mattresses are the best solution for pain. There are problems with mattresses that are too firm or too soft, as the mattress should support your spine’s natural curve.
- The comfort layer is above the support layer and is unique to your preferences. Latex and memory foam are two examples of comfort layers that are beneficial to preventing aches and pains.
Replacing your mattress
Even if you have found the perfect mattress, it is recommended that you replace your mattress every seven to ten years. Over time, mattresses lose the ability to support you, leading to waking up with aches and pains. Here are a few more signs that it’s time to treat yourself to a new mattress:
- Noisy springs. This indicates that the springs have worn down, which means they will not be providing the necessary support.
- Signs of wear and tear. For example, the mattress is saggy, lumpy or you can feel the springs through the mattress.
- Allergies or asthma symptoms have worsened. Mattresses collect lots of dust and allergens and, over time, this can make your symptoms worse.
- Other beds feel more comfortable. If you regularly find it hard to fall asleep in your own bed, but find almost every other bed comfortable, this might indicate your mattress is to blame.
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Spring is in the air, and it is time to get outside and enjoy it! With warmer weather around the corner, there will be an increase in outdoor sport activities. The best way to take full advantage of this season is to keep your health in tip top shape as well. Here are a few ways in which chiropractic care can help you to stay on top of your health and prepare you for the season ahead.
- Regular chiropractic adjustments can help prevent injuries
No matter what type of outdoor activity you plan to take part in this spring, regular visits to your local chiropractor are helpful in reducing the risk of injury, ensuring you are not putting too much strain on your joints, and checking that your nervous system is functioning normally. Whether you are running, riding a bike, playing ball, gardening, or spending time outdoors with your kids, plan a visit to your doctor to learn the best practices to keep your muscles and joints healthy in order to reduce the risk of injury and pain.
- Chiropractic care can help reduce the stress of a busy spring season
With warmer weather comes busier spring schedules. Whether your calendar is booked because you are spending more time with your kids as they have time off from school, or dealing with a busier work schedule, stress seems to be inevitable as the seasons change. Regular chiropractic care is a great way to reduce and prevent stress that can negatively affect your joints and overall health.
The bottom line is that in order to assure you get the most out of the spring season, and stay on top of your health, you need to take care of yourself.
For more information, contact your local chiropractic clinic, to learn how you can ‘spring’ into your best health and start your path to a healthier, happier, and pain-free lifestyle.
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Most of us are aware of the importance of calcium for our health, especially for our bones. However, magnesium is another vital mineral for our bones, as well as for our muscles and nerves, it can actually be more difficult to get enough of this mineral in our diet than to get enough calcium
The many roles of magnesium
- Magnesium is needed for normal muscle and nerve function. Without
magnesium, our muscle fibres wouldn’t be able to relax after they have contracted, and nerve impulses wouldn’t be able to travel around our body properly.
- Magnesium is vital for strong bones and teeth too. If you’re trying to improve or maintain your bone strength, it’s essential to include lots of magnesium-rich foods as well as calcium-rich foods.
- Magnesium is also necessary for our cells to convert the food we eat into usable energy, and also for healthy ‘psychological function’ – including mood and how we deal with stress.
For these reasons…
Symptoms of not getting enough magnesium may include: muscle cramping, tight or weak muscles, increased pain, and loss of bone strength, as well as lack of energy, low mood, greater susceptibility to stress, and even poor sleep or insomnia.
As chiropractors we regularly see patients with these symptoms – especially pain and muscle dysfunction, of course. If any of them ring true for you, you are likely to benefit from getting more magnesium into your diet.
Where can we find magnesium?
The main sources of magnesium in our diet are plant foods, particularly the following:
- Green leafy vegetables such as kale, chard and spinach
- Seeds and nuts – particularly pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds
- Whole grains – especially buckwheat and rye
- Beans and pulses.
How much magnesium do we need?
The general adult recommended daily allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 375mg. Like any nutrient, our requirements can vary, and the amount of magnesium present in foods – even the foods mentioned above – can also vary. But as a general rule, we need to eat four to five servings of one of these foods a day to get enough of this mineral. (One serving is about 80 grams or one handful green leafy veg, or two tablespoons of seeds, for example.)
Remember…
Drinking milk or eating cheese to get your calcium is not enough on its own to maintain strong bones – make sure you get plenty of those plant foods too! Also, don’t forget that weight-bearing exercise is one of the most important things to maintain bone strength.
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One of the most likely times women will get back pain is during pregnancy and for men and women it is when there is an infant in the house needing to be picked up and carried. Both these times are paradoxically when you would like your back to be functioning at it’s best.
Caring for an infant puts stress on your back. Initially, you may be lifting the 7 to 10 pound baby up to 20-30 times a day. By the time the child is a year old, you are lifting and carrying around 17 pounds. Two years later, you will be lifting a 25 to 30 pound child.
Here are some ways that new mothers and fathers can help reduce their risk of injury and back pain.
Safe lifting, the basics: Stand with your feet at least a foot apart, this will give you a stable base of support. Keep your back as straight as possible and bend your knees. Do not stretch your arms out straight to pick up the baby. Bring the baby close to your chest before lifting.
Lift using both arms and your thigh muscles, which are amongst the largest and strongest muscles in the body. To pick up a child from the floor, bend at your knees-not at your waist. Squat down, tighten your stomach muscles and lift with your legs. When carrying and moving a child, pivot with your feet until you are facing your destination then lower the child into the crib or onto the floor by bending at the knees, with a straight back.
Carrying: Hold your child in an upright position, directly against your chest. Carrying a child on one hip creates postural imbalances that can lead to low back pain over time. Consider using a ‘front pack’ to carry the baby when you are walking.
Exercise for women: Begin exercising again soon after delivery to restore muscle tone to the abdominal and back muscles. While the baby is napping, take 10 minutes to do stretching exercises on the floor each day. This will help restore hip and back flexibility. Try to return to your normal weight within six weeks after giving birth. If you had a Caesarean-section (C-section) delivery, wait six weeks or until you get the permission of your obstetrician before you begin exercising.
Breast feeding: To avoid upper back pain from breastfeeding, bring the baby to your breast, rather than bending over the baby. While you are nursing, sit in an upright chair rather than a soft couch.
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