Physical and Psychological Benefits of Running

…from The Everything Running Book, 2nd Edition.

• Running helps improve respiration
• Running makes your heart strong & efficient
• Running produces endorphins & well-being

Physical Benefits of Running

Running helps to improve respiration, making you an “easy breather.” When you run, your body needs more oxygen to fund the activity. Your lungs work harder than when they are at rest to supply the extra demand for oxygen to the body. With repetition over time, your lungs adapt to the extra workload and become more efficient at providing the extra oxygen needed for the activity. The overall effect of this extra work is that you experience more efficient and easier breathing at rest as well as when you are active.

Running also improves cardiac output. Just as success can be measured in terms of productivity or output, cardiac output refers to the productivity of the heart. It is a measure of heart rate and volume of blood pumped out with each heartbeat. When you run, your heart beats at a much faster rate than when you are at rest so that your muscles receive more blood.

The more you run, the stronger and more efficient your heart becomes. The training effect of running upon cardiac output is such that the heart at rest beats slowly yet is able to pump large amounts of blood with each beat. You get more output for less effort, improving your heart’s efficiency.

As with cardiac output, running also positively affects the vascular system. Blood and oxygen move through the vascular system, the body’s highway. As a result of running, veins and arteries become cleaner due to a reduction of fatty deposits. Exercise also increases the number and size of blood vessels, which is the equivalent of more paved streets in your neighborhood making travel less congested and less laborious. The effect is to improve your circulation and blood pressure.

An additional benefit of running occurs with improved muscular strength and endurance. When you run, you use one of the body’s major tools: its muscles. You need muscular strength and endurance in order to perform activity or work. Muscular endurance means your ability to maintain activity or work over time. One of the effects of running is to keep your muscles functional and strong.

Running also contributes to increased bone density. Muscles are attached to bone, so when you move your muscles during running, it is as if the muscles are massaging and tugging on the bones. The training effect upon your bones has to do with growth. Think of muscular movement like a bone massage that stimulates bone growth. Bone growth helps to keep bones dense, firm, and healthy.

In addition to stimulating bone growth, running can also improve the flexibility of your joints. A joint is the place where bones meet. Movement of your joints feels good; lack of joint movement feels bad. The training effect on your joints from running will improve their mobility.

Another benefit of running you might be unfamiliar with is an improvement in bowel function. Running helps to stimulate the wavelike movement in the bowels called peristalsis. This happens in part through pressure changes inside the body as a result of increased breathing. Regular and easy elimination prevents hemorrhoids and constipation.

Another physical benefit of running is enhanced sensory motor skills. As a baby and youngster you learned how to use your sensory skills; you learned about balance and movement in space through activity. In order to keep these sensory skills sharp, you have to use them. A training effect of running is the maintenance and improvement of sensory skills, like balance and movement through space or from place to place.

Psychological Benefits of Running

A well-known training effect of running is the production of endorphins. Endorphins are natural morphine-like hormones that produce a sense of well-being and reduce stress levels. They make you feel good and improve your mood. You may have heard of the “runner’s high” associated with long-distance runners, but this group doesn’t have exclusive rights to endorphin production. You, too, can produce your own endorphins through regular running exercise.

Another psychological benefit is that running fosters creativity and problem-solving ability in many people. Frequently runners use their daily run as a time to reflect, plan their days, and clear their minds from the pressures of a hectic workday.

 

Peanut Butter as Running Food

 

In this day and age of energy bars, protein powders and weight gain shakes, many athletes forget about "real" foods, such as peanut butter. Peanut butter is one of the best sports foods around. It is tasty, inexpensive, satisfying, nourishing, and even good for our health. But all too often, one can hear athletes say "I don't keep peanut butter in my house: it is too fatty, too fattening" or "I ration peanut butter to once per week, on my Sunday morning bagel". They try to stay away from peanut butter. That is nuts! Yes, peanut butter is calorie-dense, but it can beneficially fit into your sports diet

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The following information explains why peanut butter (and all nuts and nut butters, for that matter) can be considered a super sports food for athletes who want to eat well and invest in their health.

Peanut butter is satiating and satisfying… perfect for dieters – Because you will never win the war against hunger, your best bet is to eat foods that keep you feeling fed. This means, foods with protein and fiber, like peanut butter (and nuts, in general). You will feel fuller for longer if you have half a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter, as compared to the same amount of calories of a plain white bagel. The protein and fiber in peanut butter "sticks to your ribs" and is not fattening, unless you overeat total calories that day. A Perdue University study reports subjects who ate peanuts every day did not overeat daily calories (Kirkmeyer, "International Journal of Obesity", 24:1167, 2000). Peanut eaters tend to naturally eat less at other times of the day (Alper, "International Journal of Obesity", 26:1129, 2002). Plus, if you enjoy what you are eating on your reducing diet, you will stay with the food plan and be able to keep the weight off. This is far better than yo-yo dieting!

Peanut butter is a quick and easy way to reduce your risk of heart disease – Just slap together a peanut butter (and honey or jelly) sandwich on multi-grain bread, and you have the makings of a heart-healthy meal, if not a childhood memory. A quick and easy peanut butter sandwich is healthier, by far, than a fast-food burger or fried chicken dinner and far better than, let's say, an equally easy "meal" of chips or ice cream. That is because peanut butter offers health-protective mono- and polyunsaturated oil. Trading burgers (saturated fat) for peanut butter sandwiches reduces your risk of developing heart disease. In fact, the more often you eat peanut butter (and nuts), the lower your risk of heart disease(Hu, "Journal of the American College of Nutrition" 20(1):5, 2001). Start spreading peanut butter (instead of butter) on toast. Enjoy peanut butter & banana for a "decadent" snack in place of ice cream.

Peanut butter is an affordable source of calories – If you are a hungry athlete who needs 3000 or more calories a day, you can spend a significant amount of money fueling yourself (especially if you routinely eat protein bars, weight gain shakes and other engineered sports foods). Peanut butter can fuel your body without breaking the bank. One hundred calories of peanut butter (about 1 tablespoon) costs far less than 100 calories of other protein sources, such as cottage cheese, tuna and deli turkey breast. The cost of 200 calories of peanut butter is far less than the money you would spend on 200 calories of an energy bar… and generally, the peanut butter is far tastier!

Peanut butter is a source of protein, needed to build and repair muscles – But take note: peanut butter is not protein-dense. That is, two tablespoons of peanut butter, the amount in an average sandwich, provides about 7 grams of protein. In comparison, the calorie equivalent of turkey in a sandwich offers about 20 grams of protein. Athletes who weigh 140 pounds may need 70 to 100 grams protein per day; 200-pound athletes, 100 to 150 grams. For 100 grams of protein, you would have to eat the whole jar of peanut butter! Unlikely. To boost the protein value of peanut butter, simply accompany it with a tall glass of milk: a peanut butter & jelly sandwich with 16 ounces lowfat milk equals 28 grams of protein, a good chunk of your daily requirement. Milk simultaneously enhances the value of the protein in the peanut butter sandwich. That is, peanuts are low in some of the essential amino acids muscles need for growth and repair. The amino acids in milk (as well as those in the sandwich bread) nicely complement the limiting amino acids in peanuts.

Peanut butter is a reasonable source of vitamins, minerals and other health-protective food compounds – For example, peanut butter contains folate, vitamin E, magnesium and resveratrol, all nutrients associated with reduced risk of heart disease. Magnesium is also associated with reduced risk of adult-onset diabetes. Peanut butter offers a small amount of zinc, a mineral important for healing and strengthening the immune system. As an athlete, you need all these nutrients to keep you off the bench and on the playing field.

Peanut butter contains fiber – not a lot (1 gram per tablespoon) but some – Fiber in food contributes to a feeling of fullness that can help dieters eat less without feeling hungry. Fiber also promotes regular bowel movements and helps reduce problems with constipation. By enjoying peanut butter on whole grain bread, you can contribute 6 to 8 grams of fiber towards the recommended target of 20 to 35 grams fiber per day.

Peanuts contain mostly health-protective mono- and polyunsaturated fats – When peanuts are made into commercial peanut butter, some of the oil gets converted into a harder, saturated fat. This keeps the oil from separating to the top. The hardened oil, called trans-fat, is less healthful. But the good news is, commercial peanut butters contain only a tiny amount of trans fats and just a small amount of (naturally occurring) saturated fat. For example, only 3.5 of the 17 grams fat in two tablespoons of commercial peanut butter are "bad". To minimize your intake of even this small amount of unhealthful fat, you can buy all-natural peanut butter. If you dislike the way the oil in this type of peanut butter separates to the top of the jar, simply store the jar upside down. That way, the oil rises to what becomes the bottom of the jar when you turn it over to open it. And if you eat peanut butter daily, you won't have to refrigerate it, thereby making the all-natural peanut butter easier to spread.

Caution: peanut butter is a poor source of the carbohydrates needed for muscle fuel – Don't try to subsist on peanut butter by the spoonful! Luckily, peanut butter combines nicely with banana, bread, apples, oatmeal, crackers, raisins, and even pasta (as in Thai noodle dishes). These combinations will balance your sports diet.

Staying Young is Just Another Meal Away

 

Healthy foods to stay young? Of course, you’ve heard it before, probably when mom insisted to eat more apples and less burger even when you thought you were too young to age.
   
Indeed, mom was right. You’ll never know when you’ll start to age until you notice some crumpling and folding on your skin. Premature aging might just be a sleep away. And you never want to see that happen.
   
But it’s never too late. You can delay aging now by changing some items on your plates, and it’s just another meal away.

You Are What You Eat
   
The food and all other things that you take or don’t are laying the groundwork for your health and your appearance as well. For example, a person who has a pretty huge room for french fries and beef patties in his stomach may suffer more diseases and may not look age-appropriate. A person deficient in unsaturated fats, on the other hand, may have dry, flaky skin, and eventually look older than he actually is.
   
According to Samantha Heller, MS, RD, a clinical nutritionist at NYU Medical Center in New York City, what you eat becomes the outer fabric of your body. And the healthier that you put in your mouth, the better you will look. 
   
Sure, you don’t wanna look like french fries, or do you? Then, what should your next meal include?

High- fiber foods
   
Whole grains, cereals, black beans, apples, and pears are just some of the foods that are rich in fiber. Fiber found in these foods moves quickly and relatively easily through your digestive tract keeping bowel movements regular. Thereby preventing constipation,-one of the problems that aging people commonly encounter.

Fish, walnut, and flax seed oil
   
These foods are among the best sources of Essential Fatty Acids (EFA). EFA especially the omega-3 fatty acids regulate the fluidity or softness of the cell membranes, thus making your cell membranes healthy and hold more moisture. So that means younger looking skin.
   
Deficiency is visible in a hardening of the skin, as with dry skin and acne. And to those who are living in colder climates, you need more EFA for membrane fluidity.

Fruits and vegetables
   
Antioxidants from fruits and vegetables fight off free radicals, the byproducts of the body’s everyday processes that damage DNA, cells, and tissues. The antioxidants and other phytochemicals lessens the chances of damage to he body’s cells. And because you are guarding your cells from premature damage, you are also protecting yourself from premature aging.

Whole-grain cereals, organ meats, chicken, egg yolk, and garlic.
   
Selenium, found in these foods, plays a key role in making the skin healthy. It is a sulfur-like mineral that lessens the oxidative damage of skin cells. It also helps in regulating the thyroid hormone and helps prevent hypertension, cancer, and stroke. Selenium is often added to antioxidant vitamins.

Easy Move
   
If you think looking younger is difficult, there’s not much to worry. The easiest move you can make is to include more fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains to your daily menu. Control yourself from eating foods stuffed with much cholesterol, sodium, and calories. What you get is a healthier body and a younger-looking you.
   
Well, if you think it’s too early to look old, better think twice. It just doesn’t feel good to be called older than you really are.
   
And if you think you’re too old to look young, you’re never right. You can stop aging right at your plate, and even prove that "looks can be deceiving."
 

 

 

Top Weight Loss With Cleansing Diet

 

 

Chances are you never give much thought to your colon. Colon health is just one of those things you may hear about occasionally on the TV in some health report. You would probably rather change the channel than think about it. Most people feel this way until something goes wrong. Neglecting this important area of your digestive system can have unpleasant and potentially life-threatening consequences. Poor colon health can increase your chances of having colon cancer. The colon must be functioning properly to insure good health, and a cleansing diet can be the first step.

 

Everyday we are ingesting harmful toxins into our bodies. These are found in the food we eat, the air we breathe and the liquids we drink. Pesticides, additives and preservatives in our foods collect in our systems along with pollution, household cleaners and even pleasant fragrances. In and of themselves they may not be harmful, but continued exposure can take its toll on the body as they accumulate. They must be cleansed from the body so as not have long-term serious repercussions. You can add ingredients to your diet to assist with this process.

 

Some symptoms of an unhealthy colon can include constipation, diarrhea, back pain, swollen legs, high blood pressure, fatigue and depression. These are a result of unwanted build up of matter in the colon over periods of time. Some things we ingest simply hang around instead of being expelled. Some studies have determined that some of us have up to 20 pounds of it inside the colon at any given time. A cleansing diet and supplements will cleanse your body of this material. Along with the fiber you should be consuming add Bentonite and Psyllium husks and freshly squeezed juices to facilitate the process. Bentonite absorbs toxins while the Psyllium flushes out the unwanted matter.

 

The benefits of a cleansing diet include weight loss, improved energy, clearer complexion, fewer aches and pains, better circulation and a better mood. If your digestive system is in top working order, the rest of your body systems will respond accordingly. Cultures across the globe have known the benefits of cleansing for many centuries. Many have used this healthful practice in preparation for spiritual ceremonies – clean body, clean mind. It may not be the most pleasant topic to think about, but it is vitally important we keep this area of our bodies free of toxins and blockage for overall health.