Irene Pastore

Cinnamon: Ancient Spice, Modern Medicine

January 3, 2013

Cinnamon is a warm, aromatic, spice. It was used in ancient Rome, Egypt, and China as a spice and a medicine, and was considered to be as valuable as gold.

Cinnamon bark is harvested from cinnamon trees, and sold in sticks or powder. The most common types of cinnamon are Ceylon, and Cassia. Ceylon is sweeter, lighter in color, and softer in texture.

Ceylon cinnamon sticks are easily ground in a coffee grinder. Cassia is less expensive, more common, and sold in supermarkets.

BUYING TIPS

Buy organic for fresher flavor.
Store cinnamon in a glass jar in the fridge. It will remain fresh for six months.
To save money, buy bulk from a local health food store, or food co-op.
To preserve flavor, buy Ceylon cinnamon sticks, and grind them in a coffee grinder, as needed.

HOW TO USE CINNAMON

Top your cappuccino, or latte with powdered cinnamon.
Make tea from cinnamon sticks.
Add cinnamon to granola cereal.
Stir hot cocoa with a cinnamon stick.
Sprinkle cinnamon over French Toast.
Add cinnamon to a smoothie.
Stir cinnamon into warm oatmeal cereal.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF CINNAMON

Anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral
Anti-clotting
Blood sugar control
Improves colon health
Reduces intestinal gas
High in anti-oxidants
Rich source of polyphenols
Anti-inflammatory
Antiseptic

More about cinnamon health benefits here.

10 Dumb Exercise Mistakes

January 2, 2013

As a group fitness instructor, and personal trainer, I’ve seen, and heard alot of dumb things. Here’s a perfect example of an all-too-common dumb exercise mistake.

Don’t take exercise advice from friends. Instead get a trainer to give you professional guidance.

**If she did, you wouldn’t be on the floor.**

**Your friend doesn’t know what she’s talking about.**

Falling off an exercise ball may cause a broken arms or head injuries.

10 DUMB EXERCISE MISTAKES

Sporadic or inconsistent workouts keep you from reaching your fitness goals.
Overdoing your workouts, and then taking pain killers so you can go back for more.
Working your upper body and not your lower body. And vice versa.
Taking exercise advice from friends. Hire a personal trainer instead.
Never learning correct exercise techniques, or how to use equipment.
Exercising on an empty stomach. Good way to get dizzy.
Having an unbalanced exercise routine. You need cardio, strength, flexibility, and stress management.
Taking an advanced Pilates class, when you’re core is weak.
Causing self-inflicted injury when you overloaded the bar.
Thinking that working out is equivalent to torture.

HOW TO AVOID DUMB EXERCISE MISTAKES IN 2013

The best way to avoid dumb exercise habits, is to hire a personal trainer. You’ll actually save money by doing so, because a trainer can teach you correct technique. When you understand the right way to exercise, you’ll avoid costly injury, and reach your goals much quicker.

Exercise of the Month: January 2013

January 1, 2013

THE LAT PULLDOWN

Type: Strength Training Exercise

Equipment: Lat Pulldown Pulley Machine

Correct Form

Sit with your back straight. With both knees forming right angles, place knees directly under the knee pad.
Grip the overhead bar slightly wider than your shoulders.
Slowly pull the bar to chest level, moving elbows behind you, drawing shoulder blades together.
Slowly return the bar to the start position.
Keep movements smooth, slow and controlled.
Exhale as you bring the bar down. Inhale as you release the bar up.

Lat Pulldown on Pulley Machine — **Lat Pulldown**

Cautions

Do not bring the bar behind your neck. Doing this, may lead to injury.
Do not throw your head back.
Do not overload the bar with too much weight. Doing so, may lead to injury.
Do not attempt this exercise if you experience pain.
Do not yank the bar down.

The exercise described in this post is informational, and not meant to replace the guidance of a personal trainer in a live setting. Exercises performed incorrectly may result in injury.

Christmas, Spirtuality, and Fitness

December 18, 2012

If you haven’t already seen A Christmas Carol, based on the 1843 book by Charles Dickens, click the link, and watch the entire movie on YouTube.

This version was released in 1951, and is considered the best production. It stars the late British actor Aleister Sim. The main character is Ebenezer Scrooge, a chronic miser who hates Christmas, is disgusted with the poor, and dislikes the merriment associated with the Christmas season.

Written in six weeks, Dicken’s book has never been out-of-print. The plot centers around the emotional, ethical, and spiritual transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge, after supernatural visits from his late partner, and the ghosts of Christmas past, future, and present.

You might be wondering what this film has to do with fitness, and why I’m writing about it.

Your spiritual life has all to do with your well-being. How you treat others, whether you abuse your health, whether you’re a perpetual liar, take what belongs to others without remorse, or whether you drive your neighbors crazy with your noise. It all boils down to chosing a selfish or selfless attitude.

Fitness is more than keeping your body in good shape. Take a look in the mirror and ask yourself what sort of person you are. Your emotional life affects your health.

Make resolutions for the New Year to be less like Ebenezer Scrooge. If he hadn’t changed, he probably would have died of a broken heart, for all his unhappiness of things past.

Healthy Stocking Stuffers

December 16, 2012

Quick Healthy Ideas for Santa’s Stocking

For easy shopping, search Amazon.com where you’ll find a wide selection of all items on this list. You can also buy Amazon Gift Cards, by searching under Gift Cards Store category at their website.

Body Loofah: Comes in all sizes. Gets your skin really clean.

Facial Loofah: Small round loofahs to scrub your face clean and refreshed.

Exercise Tubing Kit: Portable, easy-to-use.

Exercise Bands Kit: Folds up, portable, easy-to-use. Great for travel. Perfect for seniors.

A Green Drink Gift Certificate: For people who don’t have time to eat their veggies.

Package Organic Pasta: Introduce someone to organic whole wheat, spelt, rice or kamut pasta.

Vegan Holiday Turkey Gift Certificate: Meatless delight for the vegans and vegetarians in your life.

Organic Cosmetics: Non-toxic, no chemicals Lipstick, Blush, Eye Color, Fragrance, Foundation.

Organic Herbal Tea Sampler: For tea-lovers.

Organic Coffee Sampler: For coffee-lovers.

Portable Cappuccino Milk Frother: Battery-operated. Fits in your bag, goes anywhere.

Stainless Steel Water Bottle: Fill it up, and toss in your pack.

Dried Vegetable Soup Mix: For the backpacker in your life. Also good for emergencies.

Portable Water Purification Bottle: Comes in handy for, camping, emergencies, everyday, travel, or whatever needs arise.

Cast Iron Skillet Gift Certificate: Start someone off with a 6″ pre-seasoned cast iron skillet. Healthy alternative to chemically treated cookware. This gift won’t fit into Santa’s Stocking, but your Gift Certificate will.

Pilates Ring Gift Certificate: For the Pilates-lover in your life. Using the ring will help them get stronger with more challenging exercises.

Pediatricians Endorse Cell Phone Safety Legislation

December 15, 2012

On December 13, 2012, the American Academy of Pediatricians (AAP) announced its endorsement of H.R. 6358, the Cell Phone Right To Know Act.

H.R. 6358, introduced by Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), is a bill to grant a consumer’s right-to-know, by providing for warning labels on cell phones.

The bill would create a new national research program to study cell phones and health, and would require the Environmental Protection Agency to update the outdated Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). The current standards are 16 years old.

In 2011 the World Health Organization concluded that there was sufficient evidence to classify cell phones as “possibly carcinogenic to humans.”

Because of the differences in bone density, children are more vulnerable to cell phone radiation than adults, and are subject to absorbing higher levels deeper into their brain.

Irene Pastore Fitness.com

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