I'm behind on posts! My husband needed to take the computer to work the last few days of the week. My computer is not with me, but I will be retrieving it soon! Anyway, I hope I can remember all that I wanted to post on nutrition this week, if it doesn't make sense let me know. or just ignore it. ;)
Brains love oxygen. That's just all there is to it. I was sitting in Anatomy and Physiology class one day and we were discussing the respiratory system. I don't remember the whole conversation and I'm not sure if this is exactly what the teacher said, so don't quote it!
"Most people have headaches because they aren't getting enough OXYGEN to their brains!!"
Meaning- BREATHE PEOPLE! How many of us focus on our breath all day? Yes it is part of our autonomic nervous system to breath, but are we effectively breathing enough? I don't think so.
Being a part of the dance program in school I took a class called Somatics. Soma= body, so to make it simple for those of you who don't know what the class is about.. we studied and discovered connections in the body. (My favorite!) Well the first connection we make when come into the world is breathing. Don't you think that if breathing is the very first thing our bodies learn to do in the world, that it's kind of important? THE ANSWER IS YES!
Breathing Exercise:
Close your eyes
Inhale- Counting to 10 slowly, hold it at the top for 5 slow seconds. You should feel a rising starting with your stomach and filling up your lungs. You should feel like you can't fit anything more into your body- hold that, then begin exhale.
(Imagine you are filling up a cup of water as you inhale.)
Exhale- Counting to 10 slowly, hold it at the bottom for 5 slow seconds. You should feel a sinking starting with the top of your lungs all the way down to your stomach. You should feel smaller and like you just emptied your body of all unwanted things. (Think of a balloon with a small hole, slowly leaking air- getting smaller and smaller)
Repeat 3 times. Or as many times as you would like. It is most comfortable to do lying down, but do whatever is comfortable for you. If you are at work, just sit back in your chair. If someone interrupts you, you can slug them later. :)
I love breathing. If I can't fall asleep, which is rare with a newborn baby, I do this exercise and actually fall asleep in the middle of it! It is so nice because it not only gets oxygen to my brain, it also supplies more oxygen for my whole body! It is as if I can feel every muscle relax because now it has oxygen! It's so relaxing!
What does breathing have to do with nutrition? Well it helps our bodies to keep working the processes it needs to. It helps Metabolism to happen.
Another reason, (I learned from Anat/Phys), that humans get so many headaches is because they aren't drinking enough water.
The body needs water! and the brain particularly in order to function optimally. Here is a link to a great article about how much water the body really needs.
http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html
Check it out! It's a short read and very interesting!
So how much water do you need to drink in a day to get the right amount for your body? Well it's different for everybody. Depending on your amount of lean muscle, amount of activity, and body type, you'll need to figure out how much water your body needs. Here are some guidelines to go by.
Water Guidlines Make sure to read both pages!!! It's a great article from the Mayo Clinic Staff.
I try to carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go. Any time I have a second I take a sip of water. I can usually get through my 30oz bottle 3 times in a day. According to the Mayo Clinic, that is not enough! Well my goal is to drink more water in a day. The hard part is remembering to bring it with me when I move into another room and to not get distracted by other beverages!
So take on the challenge with me and set a goal to breath more and drink water!!! Let's take care of our bodies!
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