How to “Live Long and Prosper”

BY DISH CONTRIBUTOR SAMIR BECIC: 

               Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.

                Who doesn’t remember these words from the Star Trek TV and movie franchise, a favorite show to countless millions of viewers and fans around the world? I definitely remember them, and I happily watched every single episode.  Naturally, something I noticed as a health “fanatic” was the Vulcan way of living.  In the show, Vulcans are classified as a highly intelligent, extra-terrestrial humanoid species, with a more robust appearance than an ordinary human.  To me, it was interesting that in writing this mythos, Gene Roddenberry chose to demonstrate the direct correlation between strength and intellect in the Vulcan race; an ideal coincidentally, held in high regard by the ancient Greeks. Being fascinated with the fictional Vulcan way of living, and their healthy life philosophies, I began researching available data, in the hope of extracting singular enlightenment for the human race.

Vulcan Diet

Vulcans prefer a vegetarian diet and would eat meat on a very rare occasion, if nothing else is available or for specific needs.  They choose water over other options and will drink alcohol only for celebratory purposes, because they don’t want alcohol to affect their logical faculties.  To Vulcans, consuming chocolate makes them inebriated, so they minimize their intake of it.

Vulcan Meditation

Vulcans live lives of strict self-control through extensive meditation practices.  While Vulcans are exceptionally emotional, they developed a meditation technique that calms them down and allows them to solve problems in a logical manner; this is one of the best ways to find logical solutions instead of emotional conflict.  Vulcans meditate on a daily basis to keep their center and calm. Put simply, their motto is “live long and prosper”…

Vulcan Training

Although generally philosophical and non-violent in nature, the Vulcans nonetheless developed martial arts techniques for their hand-to-hand combat.  Martial Arts are a highly ritualistic practice similar to the philosophy of Kung-Fu or Karate.  The majority of Vulcans are skilled in self-defense, and particularly known for their neck pinch that renders victims instantly unconscious.  Overall, Vulcans are physically stronger and more skilled in combat than their human counterparts.

                In the Star Trek narrative, Vulcans have become more advanced and evolved than humans, a necessary transition implemented to overcome their past behaviors, which might have been worse than that of humans. Consequently, they evolved because they chose intellect, healthy lifestyle, and mental balance (and even honing their combat and military skills).  Through this evolution, they have achieved a more fulfilled and longer lifespan; ranging between 100-200 years.

I wrote this article in an attempt to motivate millions of Star Trek fans around our own planet to live more like Vulcans. To harness the wisdom of our favorite characters like Spock and T’Pol!  Even if the Vulcans are fictional people, they still represent an ideal society, one replete with enlightenment, honor and tremendous skills, all of which we desire.  By following a similar philosophy, and finding an equilibrium between physical fitness, healthy nutrition, and mental balance, we can all benefit and improve our own society.

A special thanks to visionary Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek Franchise, for developing such a rich storyline and an avant-garde society.

10 Reasons to Practice Yoga

DISHIES! There are so many reason to get your body moving and so many ways to make it happen! If you're just getting started in a new workout regimen or are looking to improve your performance in what you already do...Yoga is a great workout for multiple reasons! Yoga has many benefits to offer for beginners as well as for those who have practiced for years. It’s been around for centuries but is as relevant today as ever.

Here are 10 reasons Yoga is amazing for you!

1. Stress Relief– Yoga reduces the physical effects of stress on the body. By encouraging relaxation, yoga helps to lower the levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Related benefits include lowering blood pressure and heart rate, improving digestion and boosting the immune system as well as easing symptoms of conditions such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, asthma and insomnia.

2. Pain Relief– Yoga can ease pain. Studies have demonstrated that practicing yoga asanas (postures), meditation or a combination of the two, reduced pain for people with conditions such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune diseases and hypertension as well as arthritis, back and neck pain, and other chronic conditions. Some practitioners report that even emotional pain can be eased through the practice of yoga.

3. Better Breathing – Yoga teaches people to take slower, deeper breaths. This helps to improve lung function, trigger the body’s relaxation response and increase the amount of oxygen available to the body.

4. Flexibility – Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility, increasing range of movement and reducing aches and pains. Many people can’t touch their toes during their first yoga class. Gradually they begin to use the correct muscles. Over time, the ligaments, tendons and muscles lengthen, increasing elasticity, making more poses possible. Yoga also helps to improve body alignment resulting in better posture and helping to relieve back, neck, joint and muscle problems.

5. Increased Strength– Yoga asanas (postures) use every muscle in the body, helping to increase strength literally from head to toe. And, while these postures strengthen the body, they also provide an additional benefit of helping to relieve muscular tension.

6. Weight Management– Yoga (even less vigorous styles) can aid weight control efforts by reducing the cortisol levels as well as by burning excess calories and reducing stress. Yoga also encourages healthy eating habits and provides a heightened sense of well being and self esteem.

7. Improved Circulation – Yoga helps to improve circulation and, as a result of various poses, more efficiently moves oxygenated blood to the body’s cells.

8. Cardiovascular Conditioning – Even gentle yoga practice can provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.

9. Focus on the Present – Yoga helps us to focus on the present, to become more aware and to help create mind body health. It opens the way to improved concentration, coordination, reaction time and memory.

10. Inner Peace – The meditative aspects of yoga help many to reach a deeper, more spiritual and more satisfying place in their lives. Many who begin to practice for other reasons have reported this to be a key reason that yoga has become an essential part of their daily lives.

Top 5 Reasons YOU Gain FAT!

DISH posted these Top 5 FAT gain reasons... 1) Skipping Meals 2) Too Much Sugar 3) Excessive "High Glycemic" Carbs 4) Inadequate Sleep 5) Inactivity... to our TWITTER and FACEBOOK because we post thoughtful nuggets there daily! We had so many folks wanting to know more that we gave them to our contributing writer Whitney to flesh it out and help explain why these are true!

By DISH CONTRIBUTING WRITER: WHITNEY BROOKE ROBERTS:

1.)    Skipping meals has been a confusing topic as of late.  On one side, fasting has resulted in positive results for obese people, yet in other studies intermittent feeding reduces the risk of diabetes and has proven to increase cardiovascular health.

The most recent study Metabolism concluded that skipping meals during the day and eating one large meal in the evening resulted in harmful metabolic changes. More specifically, meal skippers had increased glucose levels and a delayed insulin response: two conditions that commonly lead to diabetes.

Adversely, the study Free Radical Biology & Medicine published in March of 2011, found that skipping meals could benefit health for sagnificantly overweight adults.  For 2 months, the participants followed a strict restrictive diet which resulted in an average loss of 8% loss in body weight.  

Conclusively, unless you are obese, skipping meals has more NEGATIVE results than positive.  Of course, always consult your doctor before trying any fad diets.

2 & 3)    Did you know that Americans now consume 19% more added sugar than they did in 1970? (according to recent figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture)

We all know that excess sugar can cause muffin tops, increased waistlines, and cavities.  But new studies have revealed that too much sugar can lead to high levels of blood fats which raise the risk of heart disease…YIKES!

More specifically, stay away from these toxic “ose’s”:  SUCROSE, DEXTROSE, AND GLUCOSE which are the ingredient culprits inside most vending machine treats.

The health guidelines most doctors will give you are: HDL levels below 50 mg/dL for women and 40 mg/dL for men are considered to be on the low side. According to resources 43% of the highest sugar consumers recorded low HDL, while only 22% of the lowest sugar consumers did. (NOTE: HDL is the "GOOD" cholesterol where as LDL is the "bad")

4) INADEQUATE SLEEP: William Kilgore, professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School, recently concluded,

“When you are sleepy, there's a good chance that you won't be able to control how much you eat.  You may be drawn to unhealthy foods because you are not putting the brakes on as well as you would be if you were well-rested.” 

His study followed adults aged 19-45 who were persistently “sleepy”, dozing off at daily common activities, but not falling in the more aggressive category of “sleep disorders”…in other words, these people fell into the normal range of sleepiness.  Kilgore's conclusion?  The sleepiest people felt more hungry throughout the day.  More specifically, getting less sleep leads to an increase ghrelin, a hormone which tells you when to eat, and decreases in the hormone leptin which this tells you to stop eating.

Try going to bed 30 minutes before your regular bedtime.  Snooze away and watch the pounds go away.

5) You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to believe that the more calories you burn exercising will take off weight.  It’s logical, right?  But actually sticking to a routine, or lifestyle consistently is the barrier most of us can’t overcome.  Solution?  Schedule appointments in your calendar, whether electronic or manual, with your gym, yoga studio, fitness trainer, or running buddies.  The biggest key to get moving is to block out sacred time for your cardio health.  You take time to feed yourself daily, why not schedule sacred time to make your body stronger, leaner, and more healthy?  Personally, I’ve found that scheduling daily dog walks is not only beneficial to my aerobic health, but my dogs enjoy the exercise as well.  Finding a win-win easy work out regimen will motivate you to continue even if you have a hangover! You may be able to make excuses to stay in bed, but Fido has to piddle!! 

Now get moving!

To Read more about these topics, here are our SOURCES:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/26/the-risks-and-rewards-of-skipping-meals/

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1983542,00.html

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/sleep/articles/2011/06/13/sleep-deprived-people-may-crave-high-calorie-foods

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20091106/even-a-little-exercise-fights-obesity

The July Effect?

Reading prevention magazine this month there is a story about "The July Effect".

Apparently there is a new study showing there is a 10% increase in teaching hospital deaths due to medical errors. AND the trend continues through until the Fall just not as high.

So What's the reason? Your Doctor is thinking about their vacation? NO! It's not a case of the Summer Brain...Apparently, July is the month when all of the med school graduates start work as interns and tend to make more mistakes. Not just in the Operating Room but in prescribing meds and effective follow up.

The numbers are staggering....almost 1 million people a year die due to a medical shall we say "Mishap"? That works out to a completely filled 747 crashing and killing everyone on board every other day.

Moral of this story?? Don't schedule elective surgery or any other unnecessary medical procedure at a teaching hospital in the summer months.

This doesn't mean your newbie DR. won't end up being amazing or even being the one who eventually cures cancer, it just means everyone makes mistakes and please try not to be one of them!

The DISH Workout

Ok DISHIES! We all need a tune up from time to time and here is DISH's trainer Cari Shoemate for Exercise TV showing us her personal outside workout!...She made DISH do this twice a week and trust us...it WORKS!