28 Wednesday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
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blood flow, calm, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, obsess, obsessing, park, public park, relax, relaxing, Stanford University, take a walk
If you’re obsessing over something negative that happened – go find a park and take a walk. According to Stanford University researchers, spending time in nature actually decreases blood flow to the part of the brain that we use to dwell on things. Which can make you calmer in just minutes.
27 Tuesday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
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Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's disease, better posture, circulation, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, oxygen, pillow, restful sleep, restful slumber, side sleeping, sleeping, strain
One sleep position can help your back feel better AND reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease: Lie on your side, knees bent, with a pillow between your knees. That’s what’s known as the lateral position. That position alleviates strain on your back. And new research shows side-sleeping helps remove damaging brain proteins that can eventually contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s. That’s because lying on your side improves circulation to your head and neck, and increases oxygen flow.
26 Monday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
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brain, catch a cold, cold weather, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, get sick, go outdoors with wet hair, head pain, headache, headaches, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, migraine, sinuses, wet hair
Going outside with wet hair in cold weather won’t make you sick, but it IS likely to give you a headache! As you know, being cold doesn’t give you a cold – because viruses cause colds, not temperature. But when our head gets abnormally chilly, changes are triggered in the sinuses and eye cavities, to prevent damage to the brain from excessive cooling. And those changes can lead to head pain. So there’s your reason NOT to go outside in cold weather with a wet head.
23 Friday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
anxiety, anxious, brain, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, exercise, GABA, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, jog, jogging, Princeton, Princeton University, run, stress, stressful
According to a new study from Princeton University, exercise appears to change the chemistry of the brain by triggering production of GABA, a neurotransmitter that helps minimize anxiety.
In fact, the researchers found that people who ran or jogged regularly had a lower reaction to stressful situations than non-exercisers… Even if their last run was more than 24 hours ago.
22 Thursday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
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cafeteria, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, Cornell University, dessert, eat a salad, eat healthy, food tray, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, mac & cheese, macaroni and cheese, school cafeteria, skip dessert, tray
or your kid does at school – here’s why you should start using a tray: Experts say it can absolutely help you choose healthier food!
As you probably know, some schools and workplaces have gone tray-less, to save water… because they don’t have to wash the trays. Going tray-less also reduces food waste – because we’re more likely to take extra food when we have a tray, versus just our bare hands.
BUT – new research is telling us that when we use a tray, we don’t just take extra food – we take HEALTHIER food. That’s according to Cornell University researchers. They found when people only had their bare hands to carry food items in a cafeteria, they took the foods they craved most – like mac-and-cheese and a dessert. But when people had trays, they still took the mac-and-cheese and dessert, but they were more likely to add a salad or a piece of fruit, too. And most people ate the salad and the fruit BEFORE moving on to the mac-and-cheese and the dessert – so, they actually got more nutrients, ate healthier, and ate less of their dessert.
Conclusion: Using a tray at the cafeteria can help you choose healthier food.
21 Wednesday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
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Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, core, exercise, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, muscles, planks, stomach, workout
Don’t save your core workout until the end of your exercise session. According to certified personal trainer Michael Wollpert, if you work your core at the beginning – like by doing planks – you’ll engage those muscles more for the rest of your workout. And that’ll help improve your balance all the way through, and help you maximize your effort.
20 Tuesday Feb 2018
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chili peppers, cold, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, cough, coughing, fight your cold, headache, honey, immune system, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Mayo Clinic, migraine, migraines, mucus, natural remedy, pineapple, pumpkin seeds, zinc
If you’ve got a cold, I’ve got you covered. These are the best foods to eat – because they act like natural remedies for your symptoms.
First: For a cough, try 2 teaspoons of honey. Research in the journal Pediatrics shows honey can relieve coughs from upper respiratory infections – even BETTER than over-the-counter medicines. Honey coats the throat and has anti-microbial properties to kill infections. It also has antioxidants that boost the immune system. And it can be eaten straight from the jar, or in a cup of hot tea.
Next: If you feel headachy, eat a banana. They’re high in the pain-fighting electrolyte magnesium. And according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, people prone to headaches – including migraines – often have low levels of magnesium.
Also: If you’re feeling stuffed up: Try pineapple and chili peppers. Pineapple contains bromelain, which thins mucus… And chili peppers trigger a so-called mucokinetic effect that helps sinuses drain. It’s the capsaicin – which makes your nose run and eyes tear, but it thins mucus at the same time.
One final natural remedy for a cold: Pumpkin seeds. According to the Mayo Clinic, they’re packed with zinc. !’ve talked about the healing power of zinc many times before: Zinc keeps cold viruses from replicating in your body.
19 Monday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
butt, buttocks, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, Dublin, fat, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, Ireland, needles, obese, obesity, shot
Doctors need longer needles to give injections in the rear end. Researchers from the Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin found that two-thirds of overweight patients did not get a full dose of medication because a standard size needle wasn’t long enough to penetrate the fat of their buttocks to reach muscle tissue.
16 Friday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
anxiety, anxious, confident, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, energized, energy, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, starfish, starfish pose, stress levels, stretch, stretching, testosterone, wake up, X
Try this to start your day with more energy. Before you get out of bed, lie on your back, and stretch out your arms and legs as if you’re making the letter “X.” It’s called the “starfish pose,” and a Harvard study found that holding that posture for 2 minutes raises testosterone levels, while lowering stress levels. So you’ll feel confident and energized, but not anxious, and start your day out right.
15 Thursday Feb 2018
Posted in Intelligence for Your Life
Tags
Alzheimer's, Alzheimer's disease, board game, brain, brainpower, brains, chess, Connie Sellecca, conniesellecca, intelligence for your life, intelligenceforyourlife, memory, play chess, scrabble
You know playing games, anything from Scrabble to chess, can boost brainpower. Well, neurologist Dr. Kenneth Kosik, who wrote “Outsmarting Alzheimer’s,” says games of skill strengthen memory, and sharpen our ability to strategize and predict what an opponent may do. And that’s the type of strenuous brain exercise that can keep a brain healthy by growing new cells and neural pathways.
