Category Archives: Nutrition

Nutrition

ARE YOU OVER-FRUITING?

Squeezing too much fruit into your diet may do more harm than good.

According to the principles of seasonal eating, our bodies begin to crave cleansing, hydrating foods in the warmer seasons. After months of hearty soups and stews, a diet that prioritizes fresh fruit is a refreshing change, quite literally. And while it’s not exactly a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation, you can get too much of a good thing, even when it comes to something as health-promoting as fruit. Though it comes bundled with fiber and other nutrients, “the fructose infruit is still sugar, and when we overdo it, that sugar is warmly welcomed into our fat cells,” says Carolyn Brown, R.D., a nutritionist at Foodtrainers in New York City. Here’s how to keep a healthy habit from turning harmful.

1

Scale back on the sweetest stuff.

No fruit is off-limits, but bananas and grapes aren’t exactly weight-loss weapons, says Brown. Better bets: Asian pears, strawberries, raspberries, watermelon, and papaya, all of which have a low glycemic index, a measure of how strongly a food impacts your blood sugar.

2

Pass up the supersize produce.

Like chicken breasts and bagels, bananas and apples have doubled in size over the years, says Brown. Shop somewhere that charges by the pound, not the piece, and choose the smallest size available.

3

Stop at two.

“You can drive yourself crazy trying to count grams of naturally-occurring sugar,” warns Brown. Instead, limit yourself to two pieces or cups of fruit a day.

4

Take smoothies into account.

Even the green kind can contain up to four servings of fruit and 90 grams of sugar. If nutritional information is available, choose a smoothie with 30 or fewer grams of sugar and make that your only fruit for the day. If not, pick one made with no more than two varieties of fruit.

5

Pair with protein.

The fiber in fruit helps regulate your body’s absorption of the sugar so your energy levels don’t spike and crash, but adding some fat and/or protein slows it down even more. Pair your fruit with nuts, seeds, sliced turkey or jerky.

For full article by Juno Demelo visit: http://q.equinox.com/articles/2015/05/are-you-eating-too-much-fruit?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2015_05_06&emmcid=EMM-0506QWeekly562015
Health Assessments, Nutrition

BUILD A YOUNGER BRAIN

New research identifies markers of diseases like Alzheimer’s much earlier than ever before. Protect yourself today.

When a recent Northwestern University study discovered the hallmark Alzheimer’s proteins in the brains of 20 year olds, many wondered: Is brain health a younger person’s concern? 

After all, these are the youngest human brains to date in which amyloids, the signature proteins, have been found. And while the majority of people impacted by dementia and Alzheimer’s are older than 65, experts will tell you that taking action now could help prevent damage down the line. 

You may have more control than you realize, says Gary Small, M.D., author of Two Weeks to a Younger Brain: “The brain is sensitive to stimulation from moment to moment—if we are engaging certain neural circuits, they strengthen—if we neglect others, we don’t give the brain the opportunity to strengthen,” Small says. “But whether that impacts one’s risk of Alzheimer’s, we just don’t know.”

What we do know: No matter your age, there is a significant correlation between a healthy diet, regular exercise, not smoking, and having fewer memory complaints. If you’re already living a healthy lifestyle, there’s more you can do to cut your risk and protect your brain, starting with the five habits below.

1

Rewire with meditation

Lower stress levels are intimately connected to an improved cognitive performance. But deep breaths aren’t the only way to get there. “We’ve got studies that show that meditation or tai chi or other kinds of stress-reducing exercises will rewire your brain’s neural circuitry,” says Small.

2

Meet in person

“With all of the new technology, we’re not communicating face-to-face as much,” says Small. “Even though there is social connection through social media, it’s not as powerful as meeting people in real time and space.” Specifically, there are clear advantages to face-to-face conversation in terms of empathy skills, he says, noting that empathy is linked to strong social communication skills in personal and professional life. Even more: Studies show traditional social connections lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

3

Avoid email benders

If you work a lot on the computer, don’t spend hours on hours answering emails, says Small. “Shake up your tasks. Cross-train your brain. You’ll activate different neural circuits.” There are a lot of upsides to technology — certain programs can improve multitasking and cognitive skills, he says. “Surgeons who play video games make fewer errors in surgery.”

4

Choose mood-boosting exercise

“There’s a lot of evidence that mental stimulation is linked to brain health — but that evidence is not as compelling as physical exercise,” says Small. But which fitness routine is most worthy? There are data showing that strength training and cardiovascular conditioning have benefits for brain health. I suggest both,” says Small.

When it comes to intensity, the jury is still out: One study found that just 90 minutes of brisk walking lowers Alzheimer’s risk; others find that 5 minutes of intense interval training helps. Small’s advice: Check your mood. “Anyone who exercises knows about the endorphin benefits and how exercise improves mood — that’s probably a good measure of whether you’re getting a brain benefit.”

5

Adjust your omegas ratio

Diet is ever important when it comes to brain health. But beyond controlling portions and eating enough fruits and vegetables, balance your fats. “Too many people eat too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3s,” says Small. Omega-6 is found in meats and vegetable oils, while omega-3s are found in fish, nuts, and flax seed.

For full article by Cassie Shortsleeve, visit:  http://q.equinox.com/articles/2015/04/build-a-younger-brain?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2015_05_06&emmcid=EMM-0506QWeekly562015
Exercise, Nutrition, Rehabilitation

Mood food: How to fight depression naturally with nutrition

Can you eat your way to a better state of mind? Making certain changes to your diet might help with depression.

Depression: Increasingly common, yet poorly understood. Felt intensely by the sufferer, yet often invisible to the outside world.

Least fair of all: Studied ad nauseum, and yet, for too many people, seemingly unconquerable.

I know that feeling.

I’ve struggled with depression a few times in my life, most recently a couple of years ago.

During my “down” periods, I tried everything

Waiting it out (I don’t recommend it). Therapy (valuable, but by no means a quick fix). Antidepressants (important to my recovery but not, as they’re sometimes portrayed in the media, a cure-all).

I have yet to find the magic bullet.

Complex, multifaceted, stubborn. When I boil it all down, here’s the takeaway: Depression really sucks. If you’ve ever gone through it on any level, you already know that.

But during my last bout, just when I thought I’d tried everything, I stumbled upon what might just be the best thing I’ve ever done to feel better.

I started boxing.

The intense physical workout was a great relief. Boxing requires your full attention. You can’t think about much else — least of all the nuances of your feelings — when you’re focused on not getting your lights knocked out.

I poured more and more of myself into it. Soon, I even started changing my diet to support the boxing — and my performance improved.

Then I thought, Why stop there? What if optimizing my nutrition could help me feel better mentally, not just physically?

So, I started exploring.

I’m not alone

And if you’ve struggled with depression, you’re not alone either.

Depression affects more than 120 million people worldwide, making it the leading cause of disability, according to the World Health Organization.

In North America, the problem is even more pronounced. Statistics vary a bit, but most data sources show that at least 6 percent of U.S. adults are depressed and one in 10 are on antidepressants.

But not everyone reveals their secret sadness. This means depression might affect even more people than we realize.

And depression isn’t just a mind game. It stamps itself all over our bodies.

One recent study captured high school seniors’ struggles with depression.

  • 23 percent couldn’t sleep.
  • 36 percent couldn’t remember things.
  • 30 percent felt overwhelmed.

Others felt lost, ate too much or too little, or felt like they were almost literally drowning — short of breath, gasping for air.

Even if they’re not calling themselves “depressed” or going to the doctor for treatment, their bodies bear witness.

Though the 1980s-era Generation Xers supposedly invented the downer and 1990s grungers perfected it, Millennials vastly outnumber them in depressive symptoms.

Not only is depression distressing, it’s frustratingly, mockingly ironic: It’s one of the most common diseases, but uncommonly — and notoriously — hard to treat.

About a third of people being treated for clinical depression are considered “nonresponders.” They try drug after drug, with no relief. Another third feel a little better, but still not great.

If you’re depressed, you already feel bad. On top of that, you feel like you’ll never get any better.

precision nutrition depression diet Mood Food: How to fight depression naturally with nutrition

Major depression is different from your everyday bummer

Everyone has bad days, maybe even a string of bad days.

Major depression is different. It’s like all color goes out of the rainbow. All oxygen goes out of the air.

Everything is just… harder.

Getting through a day is like pushing through thick tar. When you try to think or remember, it’s like your brain is full of old rusty gears that barely turn.

Your body is heavy. Achy — perhaps nonspecifically sore, painful in weird places.

You feel hopeless, guilty, worthless, and/or totally helpless. Any energy you have goes to feeling irritable, or maybe crying.

Nothing is interesting or fun, even the stuff you used to love.

Your appetite is out of whack. Perhaps you’re ravenously hungry. Or the opposite — chewing (or caring about potential starvation) seems too hard.

In extreme cases, you just think What’s the point? You might even think about ways to just stop doing anything at all.

Like I said, depression sucks.

As do the side effects of the many medications used to treat depression. For many people, the drugs don’t work. For some, they may even make them feel worse.

Is there another path?

Can nutrition make you feel happier?

Maybe.

Mental health disorders are complex. So is the brain. And so are the foods we eat, and the ways our bodies interact with those foods.

We’re still new to this game of figuring out exactly how the brain works, and exactly how nutrients may improve brain health.

Still, there are some promising possibilities. 

How eating right may boost mental health

Your brain is greedy. It needs a lot of energy to work properly and to create neurotransmitters — chemicals that send signals through the nervous system.

Without enough energy or the right nutrients, your brain won’t get what it needs. In fact, one study suggests that eating a lot of nutrient-sparse processed foods could up your chances of becoming depressed by as much as 60 percent.

Other research has shown that nutrient deficiencies often look like mental health problems.

Here are some pathways by which a healthy diet might protect your brain.

Nutrition can fight inflammation

Chronic inflammation happens when our body turns on an immune response, then doesn’t turn it off again. The resulting damage and chemical stew is linked to all manner of health problems, including cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s… and depression.

One theory is that proinflammatory cytokines — markers of inflammation — may interact with other proteins in the brain, promoting changes that contribute to depressive illness. 

Nutrition can get your gut health back on track

Your GI tract does more than move food from one end to the other. It’s responsible for absorbing the nutrients your organs — including the brain — need to function properly, and for constraining harmful bacteria and other molecules so they can’t get access to (and harm) the rest of the body.

To do these important jobs, your gut relies on healthy intestinal cells and beneficial bacteria, which help manufacture vitamins, absorb minerals, and digest food.

If your gut microbiome is out of whack, or if the problem develops, via irritation or inflammation, into full-blown gut permeability (a.k.a. “leaky gut”), your brain could be in trouble.

Consider this: 60 liters of blood are pumped into your brain every hour, providing oxygen, removing waste products, and delivering nutrients. If that blood is nutrient-deficient, or carrying junk that doesn’t belong, it’s going to interfere with your brain’s function — specifically its ability to create necessary neurotransmitters (more about that in a moment.)

As if that weren’t enough, a permeable gut can encourage more inflammation in the body, turning all of this into an ongoing cycle.

Consider this

Most serotonin — the happy-making neurotransmitter — is made in the gut, not the brain. Poor GI health could prevent its production, meaning you’ve got less of those good, happy chemicals in your brain.

Nutrition feeds your mitochondria

You may remember from high-school biology that mitochondria are the “energy factories” of our cells.

Recent studies suggest that mitochondria play an important role in brain function and cognition — and that sub-optimal mitochondria, and mitochondrial diseases, may contribute to mental disorders, including depression.

We don’t have a complete picture of what mitochondria need to stay healthy. But we know they need lots of nutrients.

Nutrition may promote neuroplasticity

The brain uses nutrients to produce brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, a protein that’s essential to the central nervous system.

Some research suggests that BDNF could support neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to adapt, rewire itself and grow. This would be especially beneficial in recovery from trauma and mental illness. 

What might feed our brain?

Our brain is part of our bodies, of course.

So anything that makes our bodies healthier — fresh air, sunshine, clean water, exercise, de-stressing, vitamins and minerals, improved circulation, etc. — will make our brains healthier.

Some nutrients in particular seem to be linked to brain health.

  • Omega 3 fatty acids (fish, nuts, seeds, algae oil): Omega-3 fatty acids provide building blocks for healthy brain development and function, and thus have been explored for their potential role in preventing everything from ADHD to Alzheimer’s. In terms of depression, studies are mixed: Some suggest that supplementing with these healthy fats (via fish oil) may help ease symptoms, but we’re just not sure. 
  • B vitamins (meat, eggs, seafood, green leafy vegetables, legumes and whole grains): Studies have shown that a deficiency in B vitamins (particularly B12) can be linked to depression, though we don’t know exactly why. In a 2014 study from the British Journal of Psychiatry, supplementing with B12, B6 and folic acid improved subjects’ response to antidepressant medication. But a year later, a study published in the same journal found no improvement in older women who were given the supplements.
  • Vitamin D (sun exposure; fortified breakfast cereals, breads, juices, milk): Vitamin D is required for brain development and function. Deficiency in this “sunshine vitamin” is sometimes associated with depression and other mood disorders, though a recent research review showed mixed results.
  • Selenium (cod, Brazil nuts, walnuts, poultry): Selenium is an essential mineral, meaning we have to get it from food. Among its various roles, selenium works with other nutrients to create antioxidant balance in our body’s cells. Many studies have shown a link between low selenium and depression, but the mechanism is unclear. One hypothesis is that selenium’s function as an antioxidant could be necessary for preventing or managing depression.
  • Tryptophan (protein sources including turkey, beef, eggs, some dairy products, dark, leafy greens): One of the 22 essential amino acids, tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin. It’s not well understood, but low tryptophan seems to trigger depressive symptoms in some people who have taken antidepressants.

It’s not as simple as just supplementing these. Nutrients work together in context. And we don’t know if low levels of nutrients are a cause or consequence of poor brain health.

So you can’t “biohack” your way to happiness with a few pills or “superfoods.”

If you want to focus on particular nutrients and/or explore possible deficiencies, it’s best to do so with a trusted health professional like a registered dietician, nutritionist or doctor trained in functional medicine.

What to do next 

Depression is overwhelming. Don’t try to fix everything at once. 

But if you’re ready, consider a small, manageable lifestyle-oriented step or two. 

First, make sure you’re eating, at least a little bit. Depression can do a number on your appetite. But no food means no nutrients. No nutrients means sad brain. 

Next, consider one of the following basic steps.

#1: Notice and name

Before you even start making any changes, get more aware of what you’re already doing and feeling. 

Try keeping a simple journal — for instance, how you’re feeling today on a 1-10 scale, what you ate, and any symptoms that you notice. 

This will provide a starting point for observing what foods (and other lifestyle factors) might ease or exacerbate your depression (bonus: writing, in general, has been shown to help).

#2: Eat whole foods

Make this as easy as possible. 

  • Find fresh foods that don’t take much prep (such as fresh fruits, pre-cut vegetables, or pre-bagged salads).
  • Get them delivered, either as a grocery delivery or a healthy meal delivery service.
  • If you have a friend-and-family support network, see if someone is willing to help you with the shopping and cooking.

For more tips to help you prioritize whole foods, check out our healthy eating success strategies.

#3: Avoid or limit the depression-promoting stuff

What does your food and feelings journal tell you? Do you notice any connections?

Here are some common ones: 

  • Alcohol is a nervous system depressant. So, not helpful.
  • Caffeine: It brings you up then knocks you down. It may also worsen anxiety and insomnia.
  • Sugar: It may numb the pain or distract you from it for a while, but then it makes you feel worse emotionally and physically — especially since it can worsen inflammation.
  • Processed foods: Some folks notice that they’re sensitive to things like preservatives in processed foods.

Some people report that gluten worsens symptoms. Use your journal and see what you notice. Try avoiding gluten-containing foods for a week or so, and observe. 

#4 Nurture your gut health

Keep your gut bacteria and intestinal cells happy. For example:

  • Eat yogurt and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickles, or drink kombucha. These must be in their raw, unpasteurized form to offer live bacteria. You’ll find them in the refrigerator section of a well-stocked grocery or health food store.
  • Take a probiotic supplement.
  • Sip bone broth, a long-simmering stock made with chicken or beef bones. Simply put the bones in a pot, cover with water, and simmer for a loooong time (24 hours is good). The resulting stock contains glycine, which is thought to help with internal wound healing, including in your gut.
  • Choose meat and dairy that’s antibiotic and hormone free (if possible), and comes from a trusted butcher or farm. Buy organic if you can.
  • Be selective when taking antibiotics, which can kill gut bacteria. If you have to take them, build your belly bacteria back up through fermented foods and probiotics.
  • Limit refined sugars and grains, which can make gut problems worse.

#5: Supplement with caution

If there’s one thing experts tend to agree on, it’s “real food first.”

We don’t know exactly how specific nutrients work in the context of individual foods, or how they work within the body — let alone how they work in pill form.

If you’re trying to use supplements to address depression, it’s best to work with a doctor and nutrition coach, who can help determine which ones might be right for you.

Supplements such as fish oil, probiotics, B-complex, and/or a good multivitamin could be helpful for depression, but do your homework: Choose a brand with studies supporting its effectiveness for mental health.

Not all supplements are created equal. A low-quality vitamin might contain too low a dose or be hard to absorb.

Remember the big picture

That’s hard when you’re depressed. Because your world shrinks to a tiny little black hole.

As much as possible, though, try to focus on the big picture.

  • Get outside and get sunlight. There’s a reason depression is associated with darkness.
  • Ask for help. Start to find your tribe of helpers. That may include a doctor, a therapist, close supportive friends and family members, a fitness trainer, even a pet.
  • Move. Depression is immobilizing. Do your best to act against that force by moving whatever you can move, however you can move it.
  • Express yourself. Draw, write, talk about what you’re feeling, howl at the moon. Or, like me, smash a punching bag. Whatever gets the bad stuff out. Don’t keep it all in there.

Depression is difficult. I know, I’ve been there.

But building your personal toolbox of helpful actions can be incredibly empowering. There’s no rush. Just start adding in good things to help your body and mind.

Those positive steps truly add up over time.

Bit by bit, things can get a whole lot better.

Eat, move, and live… better.

The health and fitness world can sometimes be a confusing place. But it doesn’t have to be.

Let us help you make sense of it all with this free special report.

In it you’ll learn the best eating, exercise, and lifestyle strategies — unique and personal — for you.

 

For full article by Camille DePutter please visit http://www.precisionnutrition.com/how-to-fight-depression-naturally-with-nutrition?utm_source=FightDepressionWithNutrition&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=FightDepressionWithNutritionEmail
Nutrition

THE ORIGIN OF A CRAVING

To diffuse them, you must deconstruct them. Read Tier 4 coach Bethany Snodgrass’s surprising insight.

A craving can crop up seemingly out of nowhere. An overwhelming urge for ice cream, potato chips or Shepherd’s pie. You may have assumed that there’s nothing more to it than wanting something sweet, salty, or cozy, but there are often physical and psychological reasons as to why you crave what you crave.

“Cravings are signals our bodies send us but there’s often a message behind them. By looking at the message, you can create awareness around what may be missing—in your diet or even in your life,” says Tier 4 Coach and nutrition pro Bethany Snodgrass. “For instance, emotional eating often results from a lack of nourishment in other areas of our lives—in our work, relationships, spirituality, or physical movement. It can lead to reaching for food in order to fill a void.”

While your abs can probably withstand occasional indulgences, too-frequent food urges will impact your progress in the gym. Snodgrass’s recommend: Deconstruct the craving and you may be able to diffuse it. Ask what does my body want and why?

To do that it first helps to gain some insight into how your body may be speaking to you and whether you could be suffering from a dietary deficiency or merely a case of nostalgia. Here, in her own words, Snodgrass breaks it down into a cravings cheat-sheet.

(1) Chocolate
The Origin: If you’re regularly craving a specific sweet like chocolate, you may have a magnesium deficiency since chocolate is high in that mineral.
The Solution: Try adding magnesium-rich leafy greens, nuts, and avocado to your diet. Cravings for sweets are often tied to wanting love and the result of an overall environment that isn’t nourishing; you can also to quench the feeling by doing something other than eating like spending time with a friend.

(2) Salty foods
The Origin: Salt cravings are a tip-off that you’re low in overall mineral levels.
The Solution: Try snacking on seaweed chips or consider a multi-mineral supplement. Salty, crunchy foods also create heat in the body so if you work in a cold environment and regularly have these cravings, you may simply need to bundle up more or sip on hot lemon water or tea.

(3) Caffeine
The Origin: If you eat a highly processed diet, you’ll tend to crave more caffeinated beverages. Junk food can also leave you constantly hungry because there’s no nutritional value in what you’re eating. Your body is craving caffeine to provide it with the energy it needs.
The Solution: Add colorful whole foods into your diet instead for healthy energy.

(4) Childhood foods
The Origin: It could be your mom’s meatloaf. For me, it’s my grandmother’s pierogies. She played Jamaican music as she made them and hearing it can trigger a craving in me.
The Solution: So ask yourself, is it the food or the feeling I had with family that I’m craving? If it’s the latter, calling them may quench it.

(5) Late-in-the-day munchies
The Origin: A common craving influenced by a hormonal imbalance is when your cortisol levels are elevated. You’ll crave foods late in the day or evening because you’re intuitively trying to relieve stress.
The Solution: See if a stress-relieving activity like a yoga class or an Epsom salt bath diffuses it. 

(6) Carb-laden foods
The Origin: This can mean that your gut flora is imbalanced. The majority of your serotonin is produced in your gut so you may instinctively be reaching for carbs that aid in the production of it. The problem is that this negatively impacts your flora further, setting you up for a vicious cycle.
The Solution: Eating Greek yogurt, kefir, kimchi or supplementing with a probiotic can help.

 

Please refer to full article by Wendy Schmid at http://q.equinox.com/articles/2015/03/cravings?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2015_03_18&emmcid=EMM-0318-QWeekly3182015
Exercise, Health Assessments, Nutrition

THE GREAT DEBATE: CAN YOU SPOT REDUCE FAT?

A new technology is reigniting the age-old controversy.

Whether you can or cannot choose where you lose fat in your body is one of the most polarizing topics in the fitness field. Anecdotal evidence has surfaced over the years suggesting that various forms of programming, supplementation and technology may in fact be able to target specific areas in the body where fat is stored. But science holds firm that the answer is a resounding no—a safe bet as there is no peer-reviewed clinical research suggesting otherwise.

“Body fat is lost in the same way that you put it on—slowly and all over,” says Dr. Justin Mager, an exercise physiologist in Mill Valley, CA, and founder of Health Incite, a holistic wellness clinic. “You can spot-reduce, but it has nothing to do with exercise and diet. It’s called liposuction.”

Besides surgical liposuction, there’s a newer, non-invasive “laser lipolysis,” which uses a laser to effectively ‘melt’ unwanted fat, which is then metabolized by the body. But neither addresses the underlying diet and exercise lifestyle issues that led to the fat build-up in the first place. Enter: red light lipolysis.

According to Rolando Garcia III, manager of the Columbus Circle location of E at Equinox, the combination of a structured workout plan and red light lipolysis treatments via a device called Pure Light seems promising for problem areas. Used in physical therapy environments for years to break up scar tissue, red light lipolysis aims an external infrared light generated by an LED (light-emitting diode) system at unwanted fat stores. “This breaks the bonds between fats, which allows you to utilize fat as fuel when you exercise,” he says.

Intrigued, Garcia tested the system himself for 8 weeks, targeting belly fat. “I focused little on my diet and reduced my training to 3 times a week, and I lost an inch off my waist after 10 sessions. Screenings showed that all my other measurements—arms, chest, shoulders—were the same. But because of my stomach, my total body fat went from 13.3% to 12.2%.”

Next up: E clients. In the protocol Garcia has developed, participants will follow a red-light lipolysis treatment (which involves wearing a belt of 8 cell-phone-sized LED pads each for 15 minutes). They will then exercise until they’ve burned 350 calories—enough to burn up those excess fatty acids before they get stored as fat again. “No research papers and clinical trials have validated this approach yet, “ admits Garcia, “but we have to start somewhere.”

Until there is, Dr. Mager suggests his approach: “First, I recommend that people de-stress their lives, which reduces the production of stress hormones like cortisol that cause fat to accumulate around your vital organs to protect them,” he says, “Then do strength and posture work,” which serves to properly line-up muscles and joints, often de-emphasizing fat stores.

A safe bet for now, but there’s no harm in a little experimentation.

To see full article go to http://q.equinox.com/articles/2015/02/spot-reduction?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2015_02_04&emlcid=EML-QWeekly-0204242015.  Article written by Roy M. Wallack, Photography by Trunk Archive
Exercise, Health Assessments, Nutrition, Rehabilitation, Sports

VIDEO: WHY I TRAIN PREGNANT

 

Like so many expectant mothers who exercise, Linda Baltes deals with criticism. But she hasn’t let it stop her.

Despite the near-total eradication of gender lines in fitness, to this day, when a pregnant woman walks into the gym, eyebrows inevitably raise.

“When you’re training pregnant, you get a lot of people questioning you,” says Linda Baltes, who is expecting her first child later this month. “They’re questioning whether you’re doing this because you’re vain.”

For Baltes, it made perfect sense to continue training through her pregnancy. The Santa Monica-based triathlete—who serves in the Air Force Reserves and works for a molecular diagnostics company—has been active and athletic her entire life. But that didn’t make her immune to this specific brand of fit-shaming.

“Pregnancy is not a disease,” says Jacques Moritz, M.D., director of the division of gynecology at New York City’s Mount Sinai Roosevelt and Mount Sinai St. Luke’s. “It’s a condition. As long as one doesn’t go overboard, pregnant women not only should, but are encouraged to work out.”

Watch the video above to glimpse Baltes’ prenatal routine and hear why she believes that fitness has a place of utmost importance in these nine months of her life, and even more so in the months and years that follow.

For full article please visit http://q.equinox.com/articles/2015/02/pregnancy-workout-video?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2015_02_11&emacid=EMA-QWeekly-02112122015.  Article written by Sheila Monaghan
Exercise, Nutrition

THE ONLY WEIGHT LOSS ADVICE WORTH TAKING

For his new book, author Ted Spiker combed the science of successful dieting. Here are his 5 top takeaways.

As Ted Spiker, author of the new book Down Size and former articles editor of Men’s Health magazine, puts it: “When it comes to weight loss, everything is about food and exercise, but nothing is about food and exercise.”

He would know. While Spiker spent his days writing about weight loss—entrenched in depths of information, surrounded by some of the most knowledgeable researchers, scientists, and authors on the topic—he hit his highest weight ever, clocking in at 279 pounds. He knew exactly what he needed to do to drop a pants size or two: eat right, exercise more. But as he says: “There’s a gap between knowledge and action. We can know a lot. We can be inundated with information or be given a plan, but how do we get from knowledge to action? What makes people change in a lasting way?”

With Spiker’s unique perspective on the topic, we asked him to share the most interesting learnings he acquired while writing—and, in essence, living—a diet book:

1

Goals can destroy you—if you set them incorrectly.

“Dieting is one of the only areas of life where we don’t accept mistakes. At work, we make mistakes, we learn, we do better; in relationships, we have fights, we work it out. We don’t expect perfection. But if we fail at a diet—binge or eat something we don’t think we should—we throw in the towel and say: ‘Forget it. I ruined it.’ We never accept the fact that we can make mistakes and be flexible. In the long game, you have to have that mindset. But everyone wants to play the short game.

In the book, I include a story about a 440-pound man who set a goal to climb a 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado. He trained and hiked and when it came time to do it, he didn’t make it. He made it to 12,000 feet and had to turn around. A lot of people would view that as failure. But his attitude was: ‘I did something I never thought I would be able to do.’ That’s a healthy look at the whole idea of goal setting. If you didn’t lose the full 10 pounds, you didn’t fail if you still got 6 or 8 pounds down.”

2

Use objective and subjective data.

“Self monitoring can be productive: calories in, steps taken, and weighing yourself weekly—that’s all objective, tangible data. I don’t argue with that. That works for a lot of people. But that can be destructive, too. That’s why Doug Newburg, Ph.D., a sports psychologist who studies elite performers suggests a different concept: it’s called ‘feel.’ Newburg asks elite performers, ‘Does how you feel affect the way you perform?’ And the answer 100 percent of the time is: ‘Yes, of course.’ But ‘feel’ isn’t about feelings.

It’s more that if you’re stretching every day, lifting, and feeling good, energetic, and strong, that should have just as much weight as the number on the scale. When you can get those two things to work together—and reach that sweet spot where subjective and objective data inform each other—that’s finding where you want to be.”

3

You can manufacture motivation through social connections.

“I used to think motivation had to be heaped upon you—that you were a passive recipient to it. But motivation research says otherwise. Beating almost every psychological element—humiliation, frustration, and motivation—comes down to autonomy and social connections. That’s really important for people trying to lose weight. When you’re heavy, you just want to hide. But you can motivate yourself by making the first step to sign up for a class or train with a group. Even though you might be embarrassed, that’s a huge part of motivation.”

4

Speak in if’s and then’s.

“Peter Gollwitzer, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at New York University, studies goals—and how emotions, cognition, and behavior influence them. And when it comes to temptation, he has studied the ‘if-then’ statement—a willpower tactic that serves as an emergency plan: ‘If x happens, you do y.’ If I am going to a party, then I drink three glasses of water between drinks; if I am going to a pizza place, I’ll order a salad have only a slice. People who use ‘if-then’ more effectively handle temptation—it helps them deal with impulses. Have a backup plan before you get into the situation.”

5

Make it about more than the pounds.

“Pick a goal that’s between something you can do and something that there is no chance you could do—like run a half-marathon if you only run a mile at a time. That way, you’ll stop worrying so much about what the scale says and worry more about making the right lifestyle choices to meet your goal. In Down Size, I write about a guy who wanted to beat his brother in tennis. His weight was holding him back. But he made his goal about beating his brother and working on his game, not his weight. He ended up losing a lot of weight—and regularly beating his brother. ”

 

By:  Cassie Shortsleeve, For original post, please visit: http://q.equinox.com/articles/2015/01//secrets-to-weight-loss?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2015_01_14&emacid=EMA-QWeekly-01141142015
Nutrition

WHAT’S REALLY IN YOUR COFFEE?

benefits of coffee, coffee, beverage, teeth, health, body, brain, decaf coffee, Swiss Water Process, health benefits, health, q by equinox, what is in coffee

Surprising ingredients could be lurking in your morning mug. We asked experts to explain.

For a beverage whose devotees are called junkies, coffee has managed to earn a reputation as a veritable health food: In recent years, studies have found that coffee can do everything from boost your mood and sharpen your brain to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and certain cancers. A new Boston University study even found that drinking coffee can help protect your teeth from periodontal disease. 

But according to new research presented at the 248th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, there may be reason to call your cup of Joe into question. Researchers studied ground coffee and found additives like corn, barley, wheat, soybeans, rye, acai seeds, brown sugar and even twigs and sticks in the mixes. They say coffee suppliers are adding these fillers to combat drought-related shortages, particularly in regions like South America.
According to Emma Bladyka, coffee science manager at the Specialty Coffee Association of America, it’s actually normal for roasters to find things like stones and sticks in coffee shipments. “After the beans are picked, they’re spread out on large surfaces like a patio or tarp to be dried in the sun,” she says. “Because they’re exposed to the elements, it’s not uncommon to find things from the earth in the bag.” As for the other fillers, roasters in the U.S. usually catch them when the shipments arrive—they use magnets and other filters to sort out any unwanted objects. Brazilian researchers are also working on a new way to test for coffee impurities that they say will be 95 percent accurate.
Decaf coffee has also been criticized over the years because of concerns about the chemicals used to remove the caffeine. Coffee is decaffeinated in one of four ways: using chemical solvents such as methylene chloride and ethyl acetate, carbon dioxide, or water (also known as the Swiss Water Process).
Certain purists like Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof coffee, argue that it’s best to stay away from decaf coffee that’s made with chemical solvents. “The chemicals may not kill you,” he says. But he cites symptoms like headaches, brain fog, and stomach issues as reasons to steer clear.
His M.O.: Sip regular coffee, and limit the caffeine by sticking to a small cup. Otherwise, look for decaf coffee brands that say they’ve been made using the Swiss Water Process.
But Bladyka says all of these methods are safe—even those that involve chemical solvents. “The FDA has approved these compounds for decaffeination and has set limits on the amount of allowable chemical residue,” she explains. “Most blends have less than one part per million, which is not cause for concern.”

http://q.equinox.com/articles/2014/11/whats-in-your-coffee?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2014_11_5&emacid=EMA-1105QWeekly1152014
Exercise, Nutrition

WHY HEALTH DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HEREDITARY

Health, Genetics, Hereditary, PNAS study, Add years to your life, stop stress, lifestyle, longevity, metabolism,

WHY HEALTH DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HEREDITARY

Think it’s all in the genes? Science says you have more control than you think.

In the not-so-distant past, certain factors related to overall health were thought to be uncontrollable. Immune response, longevity, a quick metabolism, and your reaction to stress were hard-wired: out of your hands no matter how much you exercised or how well you ate. Until now.

New research is demonstrating that controlling the “uncontrollables”—adding years to your life, and modulating how your autonomic nervous system reacts to stressful scenarios—is doable. Just as moving all day, staying hydrated, and explosive exercises can help keep your metabolism in check, the other “uncontrollables” in your life can also be impacted. Here’s how to:

Ward Off Illness
In a recent PNAS study, researchers trained some people in breathing and meditation practices, leaving others with no training. Later, researchers injected everyone with bacteria known to cause flu-like symptoms. What they found was amazing: The people who were trained experienced less flu-like symptoms, and actually produced more epinephrine—suppressing their immune response.

“Our goal was to investigate whether it is possible to voluntarily influence the autonomic nervous system and immune response using this set of techniques,” explains Matthijs Kox, MSc, and the study’s author. “We have proven that this is indeed possible.”

How to take control: Kox says that he cannot yet make claims about replicating these results for yourself—or what doing so could mean: “The next question is if there could be a health benefit in any way using these techniques,” he says. What we do know: Both meditation and breathing techniques (Kox says that it was likely the breathing that had the most profound effects on the trained men) have been shown to calm stress levels, boost your mood, and fend off disease. In fact, recent research in the Annals of Family Medicine found that people who followed a meditation practice for 8 months got sick far less than those on an 8-month cardio routine.

Add Years to Your Life
A long, healthy life may run in grandpa’s genes, but research increasingly points to the idea that certain physical performance tests can help to predict longevity, explains Michael Joyner, M.D., and an exercise physiology expert at the Mayo Clinic. Start simple. Joyner cites a recent Brazilian study of about 2,000 people: The easier it is for you to pick yourself up off of the ground (going from sitting to standing without using your hands), the longer you’ll likely live.

How to take control: The equation for exercise doesn’t need to be complicated. And starting with your own bodyweight is still smart. Push(-up) and pull(-up): A BMJstudy found that high muscular strength (which researchers addressed through handgrip tests) was linked to a 20 to 35 percent lower risk of early death from cardiovascular disease—regardless of BMI or blood pressure.

Stop Stress
In a recent (and remarkable) Princeton University study by Elizabeth Gould, mice were split into two groups: one with unlimited access to a running wheel and one that remained sedentary. Then six weeks later, all the mice were put in cold water to induce stress. The differences in brain activity were profound: The mice that hadn’t worked out showed an immediate stress response—an increase in genes that turn on quickly when a neuron “fires.” The fit mice, on the other hand, showed an uptick in “inhibitory neurons”—ones that keep these “excitable” neurons in check. Why this matters: The area of the brain where all of this activity was noticed is where anxiety lives.

How to take control: Make sweating a habit. In Gould’s study, the running mice didn’t run the entire day before the cold bath. What that means: The effect of exercise on the brain wasn’t short-lived—it was built upon. And while extrapolating results from mice to the brains of humans can be a stretch, other data has suggested that an active lifestyle is linked to bigger brains in humans—and even dampened stress responses. Help build the habit by spending time doing something you enjoy; associating stress relievers with fun makes you more likely to go back to them, research shows.

 

http://q.equinox.com/articles/2014/07/control-the-uncontrollables?emlcid=EML-newsletters_2014_07_16&emacid=EMA-0716QWeekly7162014
Exercise, Nutrition

Exercise when you’re sick? Should you sweat it out? Or rest and recover?

Exercise when you’re sick?

Should you sweat it out? Or rest and recover?

Everybody gets sick. But it’s tough to know what to do about it. Should you “sweat it out” in the gym? Or get some rest instead? In this article we clear up the confusion. So that next time you come down with the flu or a cold, you’ll know what to do.

Your friendly neighborhood gym. You’re warmed up and ready for a great workout.  Then, all the sudden, Mr. Sneezy walks by. Coughing, sniffling, and heavy mouth-breathing. He’s spraying all over the benches and mats.

“Dude, shouldn’t you just stay home and rest?” you’re thinking.  (And, while you’re at it, stop sharing those nasty germs?)

But maybe Mr. Sneezy’s onto something. Maybe he’ll be able to sweat the sickness out of his system, boosting his immune system along the way.

What’s the right approach? Let’s explore.

The immune system: A quick and dirty intro

Every single day, bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites come at us. Folks, it’s a germ jungle out there!

The most common invaders are upper respiratory tract invaders, or URTI’s. Yep, I’m talking about

  • colds,
  • coughs,
  • influenza,
  • sinusitis,
  • tonsillitis,
  • throat infections, and
  • middle ear infections.

Luckily, our immune system has got a plan. When faced with foreign attack, it works hard to defend us. Without the immune system, we’d never have a healthy day in our lives.

Our immune cells originate in our bone marrow and thymus. They interact with invaders through the lymph nodes, the spleen, and mucus membranes.

This means they first make contact in your mouth, gut, lungs, and urinary tract.

immune system 1024x571 Exercise when youre sick? Should you sweat it out? Or rest and recover?

The innate and adaptive immune response

Our innate (natural) immune system is our non-specific first line of defense.

It includes:

  • physical/structural barriers (like the mucous lining in nasal passages),
  • chemical barriers (like our stomach acids), and
  • protective cells (like our natural killer ‘NK’ cells, white blood cells that can destroy harmful invaders).

This immune system develops when we’re young.

Interestingly, women tend to have a stronger overall innate immune response. (Maybe this is why they often do better than men when it comes to colds. But they suffer more often from autoimmune diseases.)

Then there’s the adaptive (acquired) immune system.

This is a more sophisticated system composed of highly specialized cells and processes. It kicks in when the innate immune system is overcome.

The adaptive immune system helps us fight infections by preventing pathogens from colonizing and by destroying microorganisms like viruses and bacteria.

Cue the T and B cells. These specialized white blood cells mature in the thymus and bone marrow, respectively. And believe it or not, they actually have a kind of memory.

It’s this memory that makes them so effective. Once they “recognize” a specific pathogen, they mobilize more effectively to fight it.

This is what we mean when we talk about “building immunity.”

Ever wondered why kids get sick with viruses more often than adults? It’s because they haven’t had as much exposure so their adaptive immune systems are less mature.

What’s more, the acquired immune response is the basis for vaccination. Subject your body to a tiny dose of a pathogen, and it will know what to do when confronted with a bigger dose.

Genius!

Should you exercise while sick?

Let’s get one thing clear from the start: there’s a difference between “working out” and “physically moving the body.”

A structured workout routine — one where you’re breathing heavily, sweating, working hard, and feeling some discomfort — awakens a stress response in the body.

When we’re healthy, our bodies can easily adapt to that stress. Over time, this progressive adaptation is precisely what makes us fitter and stronger.

But when we’re sick, the stress of a tough workout can be more than our immune systems can handle.

Still, there’s no reason to dive for the couch the minute you feel the sniffles coming on. Unless you’re severely out of shape, non-strenuous movement shouldn’t hurt you — and it might even help.

What do I mean by “non-strenuous movement”?  Well, it might include:  walking (preferably outdoors), low intensity bike riding (again, outdoors), gardening, practicing T’ai Chi.

In fact, all of these activities have been shown to boost immunity. 

They aren’t intense enough to create serious immune-compromising stress on the body. Instead, they often help you feel better and recover faster while feeling under the weather.

That’s why Dr. Berardi often recommends low intensity non-panting “cardio” when suffering from colds. Done with minimal heart rate elevation, preferably outside, these activities seem to offer benefits.

What about “working out”?

Non-strenuous movement and purposefully working out are different.

Plus, as you probably know, not all workouts are created equal. There are low intensity workouts and high intensity workouts — and all sorts of workouts in between.

But what’s low to one person might be high to another. So how can you decide what level of intensity counts as strenuous?

Let your own perceived level of exertion be your guide.

In general, a low to moderate intensity workout will leave you feeling energized. A high intensity workout, on the other hand, delivers an ass-kicking.

If you’re sick, it makes sense to avoid the ass-kicking.

Let’s take a look at why.

How exercise affects the immune system

Exercise may play a role in both our innate and our adaptive immune response.

Here’s how:

  • After one prolonged vigorous exercise session we’re more susceptible to infection. For example, running a marathon may temporarily depress the adaptive immune system for up to 72 hours. This is why so many endurance athletes get sick right after races.
  • However, one brief vigorous exercise session doesn’t cause the same immune-suppressing effect. Further, just one moderate intensity exercise session can actually boost immunity in healthy folks.
  • Interestingly, chronic resistance training seems to stimulate innate (but not adaptive) immunity. While chronic moderate exercise seems to strengthen the adaptive immune system.

In the end, here’s the pattern:

  • Consistent, moderate exercise and resistance training can strengthen the immune system over time. So, by all means, train hard while you’re healthy.
  • But single high intensity or long duration exercise sessions can interfere with immune function. So take it easy when you’re feeling sick.

Exercise, stress, and immune function

A group of scientists gathering data on exercise habits and influenza found:

  • People who never exercised got sick pretty often.
  • People who exercised between once a month and three times a week did the best.
  • People who exercised more than four times a week got sick most often.

Enter the J-shaped curve theory.

In simple terms, being sedentary or exercising too much can lower immunity, while something in the middle can improve immunity.

J curve diagram 01 1024x733 Exercise when youre sick? Should you sweat it out? Or rest and recover?

The role of stress

Exercise isn’t the only factor that affects the immune system. Stress plays a big role too.

Let’s take a look at the different stressors a  person might face on any given day.

  • Physical stress: exercise, sports, physical labor, infection, etc.
  • Psychological stress: relationships, career, financial, etc.
  • Environmental stress: hot, cold, dark, light, pollution, altitude, etc.
  • Lifestyle stress: drugs, diet, hygiene, etc.

Stress triggers an entire cascade of hormonal shifts that can result in chronic immune changes.

  • Acute stress (minutes to hours) can be beneficial to immune health.
  • Chronic stress (days to years) can be a big problem.

So, if you’re angry, worried, or scared each day for weeks, months, or even years at a time, your immunity is being compromised. And you’re more likely to get sick.

Sickness and stress

It’s pretty obvious that if you’re actually sick and fighting an infection, your immune system will already be stressed.

And if you add the stress of prolonged vigorous exercise, you might, quite simply, overload yourself. That will make you sicker.

Plus, your history of infections can influence how the immune system responds during exercise. This can include everything from the common herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster, and cytomegalovirus, to hepatitis and HIV.

A healthy body might adapt to all that. But a body that’s fighting an infection is not a healthy body.

Overtraining and infection

What’s more, sudden increases in exercise volume and/or intensity may also create new stress, potentially allowing a new virus or bacteria to take hold, again kicking off a sickness.

Consider the 1987 Los Angeles Marathon, where one out of seven marathon runners who ran became sick within a week following the race. And those training more than 60 miles per week before the race doubled their odds for sickness compared to those training less than 20 miles per week.

This seems to work the opposite way as well. Chronic infections may actually be a sign of overtraining.

Learning from cancer & HIV

Exercise therapy is often recommended for patients with cancer in part because of how it modulates the immune system. Exercise seems to increase NK cell activity and lymphocyte proliferation. In other words, it looks like exercise can be helpful.

Exercise interventions in those with HIV seem to help prevent muscle wasting, enhance cardiovascular health, and improve mood. We’re not sure how this works, though it may help to increase CD4+ cells.

Other factors affecting immunity

Besides stress, there are a host of other factors that can affect our immunity, and these can interact with exercise, either offering greater protection or making us more likely to get sick.

We’ve already touched on some of these. Here are a few more.

Age

Our innate immune response can break down as we get older. But here’s the good news: staying physically active and eating a nutritious diet can offset many of these changes.

Gender

Menstrual phase and oral contraceptive use may influence how the immune system responds to exercise. Estrogens generally enhance immunity while androgens can suppress it. (Again, this may explain why women tend to do better with colds than men.)

Sleep

Poor quality sleep and/or prolonged sleep deprivation jeopardizes immune function.

Climate

Exercising in a hot or cold environment doesn’t appear to be that much more stressful than exercising in a climate controlled environment.

For example, exercising in a slightly cool environment might boost the immune system. But full-fledged hypothermia may suppress immune function. While using a sauna or hot bath may stimulate better immunity in those with compromised immune function.

Altitude

Exposure to higher altitudes has a limited influence on immunity.

Obesity

It’s unclear exactly how obese folks respond to exercise in terms of immunity. Changes in insulin sensitivity and inflammation at rest may blunt or exaggerate their immune response to exercise.

Mood

There’s evidence that immune alterations affect mood and inflammation. Clinical depression is two to threefold higher among patients with diseases that have elevated inflammatory activity.

(Note: moderate exercise appears to act as an anti-inflammatory in those with inflammatory conditions).

IL-6

There is a theory that IL-6 (a compound released after prolonged intensive exercise) may be produced in abnormal ways in some people, leading to fatigue, flu-like symptoms, and depressed mood.

Training age

The more “trained” you are, the better your body tends to handle exercise. In other words, it’s not as much of a stressor.

Just in case you glossed over the previous sentence I’ll reiterate it: a higher level of fitness is protective as it may limit the stress response to exercise.

Textbook guidelines for exercising while sick

  • Day 1 of illness:
    Only low intensity exercise with symptoms like sore throat, coughing, runny nose, congested nose.
    No exercise at all when experiencing muscle/joint pain, headache, fever, malaise, diarrhea, vomiting.
  • Day 2 of illness:
    If body temp >37.5-38 C, or increased coughing, diarrhea, vomiting, do not exercise.
    If no fever or malaise and no worsening of “above the neck” symptoms: light exercise (pulse <120 bpm) for 30-45 minutes, by yourself, indoors if winter.
  • Day 3 of illness:
    If fever and symptoms still present: consult doctor.
    If no fever/malaise, and no worsening of initial symptoms: moderate exercise (pulse <150 bpm) for 45-60 min, by yourself, indoors.
  • Day 4 of illness:
    If no symptom relief, no exercise. Go to doctor.
    If fever and other symptoms improved, wait 24 hours, then return to exercise.
    If new symptoms appear, go to doctor.

Note: Some illnesses can indicate serious infections. So if you aren’t feeling better and recovering, see your doctor.

Also note: Ease back into exercise in proportion to the length of your sickness. If you were sick for 3 days. Take 3 days to ease back in.

walking when sick Exercise when youre sick? Should you sweat it out? Or rest and recover?

To exercise or not? What the pros recommend

Now you know something about the immune system and how exercise interacts with it. But you still might be wondering whether you should exercise when you’re sick. I asked some of the best in the business for their insights.

The consensus: Let your symptoms be your guide and use common sense.  And remember the distinction between exercise and working out.

 

INSIGHT
1		 Nick TumminelloI follow the general guideline that if it’s above the neck, it’s okay to train, and do so at an intense level. Just wash your hands before you touch all of the equipment to minimize giving your head cold to others at the facility. Anything below the neck, don’t come into the gym, and take it easy until you’re on the back end of it. 
INSIGHT
2		 Alwyn CosgroveBasically we don’t like people to train when they are ill. I can’t see any upside to doing so. 
INSIGHT
3		 Dr. Bryan WalshLet your symptoms be your guide. If you’re up for a walk or some light cardio, go for it. If you want to do some lighter weight, higher rep stuff just to keep things moving, that’s probably okay, too. But if you want to sit around watching re-runs of Married With Children, laughter is great medicine as well. 
INSIGHT
4		 Dean SomersetTypically I ask clients to stay out of the gym if they have a cold. For one, their own workouts may not be very productive especially if they have respiratory congestion or irritation, and second because I don’t want to catch it! The gym typically isn’t the cleanest place in the world, so a cold bug could be easily spread around through the population by handling equipment or through respiratory droplets in the air. 
INSIGHT
5		 Dr. Spencer NadolskyWith a viral URTI, I have no problem with my patients doing some light exercise. Anecdotally, sometimes it makes them feel better. There’s data to show those who exercise actually get less URTIs. If it’s a little more severe such as influenza (or something similar), I generally keep them focused on hydration and tell them to skip the workout. If they have any history of asthma, I am careful to make sure they have their rescue inhaler if they do feel up to exercising. 
INSIGHT
6		 Dr. Christopher MohrIn terms of exercise, I let them “decide” what’s best for them depending on how they feel. If you can’t stop coughing or your head feels like it’s about to explode, I’d suggest taking some down time and getting plenty of sleep, including naps if possible. For me, I’ve found a short walk is still significantly better than nothing — and trying to get outside to do that vs. being stuck on a treadmill walking in circles. Trying to move iron in the gym is a bit much. 
INSIGHT
7		 Eric CresseyI generally ask them just how bad it is on a scale of  0 to 10. Zero would be feeling absolutely fine, whereas a 10 would be the worst they’ve ever felt (e.g., violently ill and on their death bed). If it’s anything under a 3 (say, seasonal allergies), I’m fine with them training — albeit at a lower volume and intensity. We might even just do some mobility work or something to that effect.I think the important separating factor is that we’re looking for the difference between just not feeling 100% (allergies, stress, headache) and actually being sick and contagious, which we absolutely don’t want in the gym — for the sake of that individual and those who are training around him/her.

Of course, this is pretty subjective — but what I think it does help us to do is avoid skipping days that would have been productive training days. Everyone has had those sessions when they showed up feeling terrible, but after the warm-up, they felt awesome and went on to have great training sessions. We don’t want to sit home and miss out on those opportunities, but we also don’t want to get sicker or make anyone else sicker — so it’s a definite balancing act.

 
INSIGHT
8		 Dr. John BerardiUnless you’re feeling like a train wreck I always recommend low intensity, low heart rate “cardio” during the first few days of sickness. Generally I prefer 20-30 minute walks done either outside (in the sunshine) or on a home treadmill (if you can’t get outside).If you keep the intensity low and the heart rate down you’ll end up feeling better during the activity. And you’ll likely stimulate your immune system and speed up your recovery too. But even if you don’t speed up your recovery, you’ll feel better for having moved.

 

 

Exercise activity cheat sheet

Activities to consider when you’re sick.

  • Walking
  • Jogging
  • Swimming
  • Biking
  • Qi gong
  • T’ai Chi
  • Yoga

All of these would be done at a low intensity, keeping your heart rate low. They’d also preferably be done outdoors in mild temperatures. Inside is fine, though, if you can’t get outside.

Activities to avoid when you’re sick.

  • Heavy strength training
  • Endurance training
  • High intensity interval training
  • Sprinting or power activities
  • Team sports
  • Exercise in extreme temperatures

And, for the sake of the rest of us, stay out of the gym. At the gym, you’re much more likely to spread your germs to others. Viruses spread by contact and breathing the air near sick people.

So, if you feel up to physical activity, again: do it outside or at your home gym.

We all thank you.

What you should do

If you feel healthy and simply want to prevent getting sick:

  • Stay moderately active most days of the week.
  • If you participate in high-intensity workouts, make sure you’re getting enough rest and recovery time.
  • Manage extreme variations in stress levels, get plenty of sleep, and wash your hands.

If you are already feeling sick, let symptoms be your guide.

  • Consider all the stress you’re managing in your life (e.g., psychological, environmental, and so forth).
  • With a cold/sore throat (no fever or body aches/pains), easy exercise is likely fine as tolerated. You probably don’t want to do anything vigorous, no matter how long in duration.
  • If you have a systemic illness with fever, elevated heart rate, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle and joint pain/weakness, and enlarged lymph nodes, get some rest! If you have a serious virus and you exercise, it can cause problems.
By Ryan Andrews