It’s the first Wellness Wednesday of June, and that means more health tips for your summer activities. We asked the experts for some advice on better eating, exercise and gardening habits.
Feed your soil
Soil is important for healthy, vigorous plants, and sometime that soil needs a little help.
Allison Jackson, with Rent-A-Gardener, suggests amending your soil, or adding certain ingredients to help give plants the nutrition they need.
“Soil amendments are materials you add to your soil to improve its physical or chemical properties. Unlike fertilizers, the exact ingredients and chemical composition of soil amendments vary among different sources. You can use soil amendments to improve the permeability and water retention characteristics of your soil.”
And soil amendments don’t have to be your ordinary gardening mixtures found at the store.
Jackson says you can use manure, compost, grass clippings and natural wood mulch.
Diet your way
With tons of diet fads circling the internet, you may find yourself overwhelmed.
How do you know which one is right for you?
Dr. Patrick Friedli, from Munson Medical Center’s Healthy Weight Center, tells us that there is not a “one size fits all” diet, so it is important to know what works best for you.
“Anybody can follow any diet and lose weight. The question is what can they persist at? What could they continue on? And really, if it’s too restrictive or too narrow in its scope of macronutrients, which are proteins, fats, carbohydrates—if it’s too narrow. ..the cabbage soup diet you could lose weight on that, but is it really realistic to just eat cabbage soup the rest of your life? The answer is no.”
Why run?
Weight loss is the reason many people take up running, but Lisa Taylor from the Traverse City Track Club says there are several other benefits.
“Running is great for weight management. Management of blood pressure sugar levels mostly fall. Probably most runners would agree that there are therapeutic benefits in terms of emotional health. It’s a really great form of therapy to get your mind clear and just make you feel better. The health benefits have all been enumerated, but the focus more and more is on how it can be a form of therapy to just make you feel better.”
Keep it natural
Out of dozens of sweeteners out there, wich is the healthiest option to sweeten your summer dishes?
Friedli:
“Natural sugars like honey and maple syrup are still probably preferred versus processed sugar substitutes. Our taste buds like sweet; yes, salty; yes, bitter; no so we kind of gravitate toward the sweet and salty. So, if we’re trying to replace granulate sugar with a sugar substitute it may not help in the long run.”
Friedli says that too much honey or syrup isn’t great either.
He suggests keeping added natural sugar portions to no more than a tablespoon.
