Osteoporosis is a big deal for women. But there’s more involved in keeping your bones strong and healthy than just eating plenty of calcium. Weight-bearing activity (exercise on your feet that works your bones and muscles against gravity) is crucial to building and maintaining optimal bone mass. Here’s why:

• Bone density refers to your reserve of stored calcium. This is what determines the strength and health of your bones.
• Bones are living tissue and need to be used to be strengthened.
• The best time to start doing weight-bearing activities is during the teen and early adult years when bones are still growing. But it’s never too late to start!
• The more bone density you have, the less negative impact there will be after menopause, when bone density begins to thin out with the loss of estrogen.
• Higher bone density means stronger bones that are less susceptible to fracture or breakage.

So ladies, listen up: here are some activities you can incorporate into your lives to build up bone mass and stay strong.

• For starters, lift things! No need to go overboard, but carry your groceries to the car and don’t be shy about picking up boxes. Just make sure you protect your back and do it safely.
• Jogging is good for building bone, and so is walking uphill, but a regular walk around the block won’t do much for you.
• Vigorous gardening and housecleaning – move a lot, stretch and lift heavy things!
• Skip the elevator and climb stairs instead.
• On your walks and hikes, wear a backpack. Fill it with water bottles and other things to add some weight, as this helps build bone.
• Weightlifting is very good for your bones. There are weightlifting techniques that help build lean muscle mass, and plenty of bone while you’re at it. Here are tips to lift weights without bulking up.
• For more active types, try jumping rope, team sports (basketball, hockey, soccer), and high impact aerobics.

Each week here at EcoSalon, the editors choose a post from the archives that we think you’ll love. The original post can be found here.

Image: glitter feet

The post The Importance of Weight-Bearing Activity for Bone Health appeared first on EcoSalon.

Kaiser Permanente is prescribing big doses of sustainability in the sixth season of its $50 million Thrive ad campaign.

Two new ads – Emerald Cities and Connected – reinforce the health care provider’s commitment to the planet by dramatically reducing paper use – no small task for an industry long married to countless charts and forms. For most of us, being ordered to “Fill this out” is as rote as, “Hop on the scale,” and just as painful.

The Emerald pitch describes how Kaiser is allowing patients access to their own medical data via Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, the world’s largest civilian electronic health record.

Not just a handy core tool for patients, the online system is apparently saving thousands of trees annually. And, as of September 2009, Kaiser estimates its members completed six million doctor’s visits without using one gallon of gasoline. Guess they got the help they were seeking by going online.

“We will be entirely paperless by 2010 and these ads illustrate how we are doing our part in some way to help the environment,” I’m told by Lisa Ryan, Director of National Advertising at Kaiser. “Having a healthy environment creates a healthy community that helps individuals thrive.”

In these appealing ads, actress Allison Janney, the KP spokeswoman since 2004, drives home the point in her now familiar, smooth-as-a-surgical-glove delivery:

“By putting an end to paper medical records, we have ushered health into the digital age.”

To paraphrase the tagline: I think that I shall never see, a 62-page medical report as lovely as a tree.

“Our ode to trees talks to the fact that when you have online capabilities and a way to connect, it  does eliminate the need to drive to a facility or to an office visit,” says Ryan.

The Connected spot highlights the convenience of securely e-mailing your doctor, checking your medical records, reviewing test results and booking appointments online. This spares not just trees but the stress of being forced to listen to bad “music” after being placed on hold the second your doctor’s receptionist answer the line.

Kaiser clinicians are digitally connected to each other, which ultimately helps them stay connected to  members. The closing line of the ad summarizes, “At Kaiser Permanente, we believe that if knowledge is power, shared knowledge is even more powerful.”

Personally, I have struggled to attain the elusive power of shared knowledge while advocating for loved ones at hospitals where overworked, impatient doctors seemed agitated when pressed for too much info. Getting them to return phone calls was even harder. Then again, my family doesn’t use Kaiser. Maybe their doctors are more generous.

“Our primary care physicians are at center of who we are and we have great accessibility in person, on the phone and email,” says Ryan. “Ive had great experience with my own doc whom I have spoken to on the phone and through email. All of our new alternative ways to reach out and stay connected really help.”

I was glad to see the green connection extends to its Thrive website, which give readers tips on being “thriving communities” by buying locally-grown food, using fewer shopping bags, making their own cleaning supplies and avoiding exposure to chemicals in the home.

Ryan told me all of this effort, including the ad campaign, has been an extension of proven sustainability practices at Kaiser’s newly-built facilities, such as centers in Modesto and Santa Clara, using solar panels, pavement treatments to recycle run off water and friendly denim material in the walls as green insulation.

“The advertising is a great bridge between the sustainability message and the innovation of who we are,” Ryan  says. “It was a huge undertaking to go digital and to retrain the care staff, but it all speaks to our overall concern with the health of individuals and the community. ”

Prior to the green thrust, Kaiser treated us to daily ads on prevention, reminding our unhealthy nation that the more we exercise, eat well and get screened for diseases, the less we will have to spend on health care.

I think the ads resonate with the radio-listening masses facing poor health along with a poor health care system that has yet to be reformed.

With $50 million invested in the message, let’s hope Kaiser proves to be one of the needed cures.

Images: Kaiser Permanente, Wiki

The post Kaiser Permanente: Save Trees and Thrive appeared first on EcoSalon.

Osteoporosis is a big deal for women. But there’s more involved in keeping your bones strong and healthy than just eating plenty of calcium. Weight-bearing activity (exercise on your feet that works your bones and muscles against gravity) is crucial to building and maintaining optimal bone mass. Here’s why:

Bone density refers to your reserve of stored calcium. This is what determines the strength and health of your bones.
Bones are living tissue and need to be used to be strengthened.
The best time to start doing weight-bearing activities is during the teen and early adult years when bones are still growing. But it’s never too late to start!
The more bone density you have, the less negative impact there will be after menopause, when bone density begins to thin out with the loss of estrogen.
Higher bone density means stronger bones that are less susceptible to fracture or breakage.

So ladies, listen up: here are some activities you can incorporate into your lives to build up bone mass and stay strong.

For starters, lift things! No need to go overboard, but carry your groceries to the car and don’t be shy about picking up boxes. Just make sure you protect your back and do it safely.
Jogging is good for building bone, and so is walking uphill, but a regular walk around the block won’t do much for you.
Vigorous gardening and housecleaning – move a lot, stretch and lift heavy things!
Skip the elevator and climb stairs instead.
On your walks and hikes, wear a backpack. Fill it with water bottles and other things to add some weight, as this helps build bone.
Weightlifting is very good for your bones. There are weightlifting techniques that help build lean muscle mass, and plenty of bone while you’re at it. Here are tips to lift weights without bulking up.
For more active types, try jumping rope, team sports (basketball, hockey, soccer), and high impact aerobics.

Image: glitter feet

The post The Importance of Weight-Bearing Activity for Bone Health appeared first on EcoSalon.

I like life’s special little surprises: a dozen roses mysteriously appearing at the doorstep, some birds nesting right outside the living room window or a phone call from an old friend I’ve been thinking about all week.

But there’s one thing I don’t like to be surprised by: my period. This is something I want to have planned out with the right, comfortable clothes and all my supplies at hand in the secret pocket of my purse. A camping trip, the third date, that beach vacation – not exactly welcome times for that time.

Thanks to My Monthly Cycles, I’ve been keeping track using an online calendar that averages out the lengths of my previous cycles and gives me approximate dates for both my next period and my next ovulation.

And best of all for busy gals like us, you can adjust your account settings to send you email alerts a few days before your next period or ovulation is about to start. It’s like the Google Alert of periods! Now if they just had an iPhone app…

Image: ePublicist

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In my background as a yoga therapist, I can vouch for the fact that very often, physical pain is the result of emotional stress. Once the emotions are felt and released, the physical body responds and someone with years of chronic pain may suddenly find themselves pain-free once and for all.

The same mind-body theory applies to back pain, a common malady suffered by 55 million Americans. Dr. John Sarno, author of Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection, suggests that 75% of back pain is emotionally related, particularly linked with repressed anger. This anger results in diminished blood and oxygen flow, causing muscle spasms and nerve dysfunction, i.e., pain. By admitting to the anger and working through it, the back pain will be relieved. Keep in mind that anger and stress amplify pain anyway, so there’s a lot to be gained by relaxing.

Of course, it’s important to maintain proper posture and strengthen your core muscles; these are the best preventions for back pain. Accidents and injuries may contribute to slipped disks and pinched nerves, causing pain, and these should not be ignored. But if you’ve been checked out physically and the pain won’t go away no matter how much stretching or massage you do, you’ve got nothing to lose by digging a little deeper into your psyche and smoothing the emotional kinks that may be showing up as pain in your back.

Image: vonSchnauzer

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You’re resolved: toxic chemicals are out of your life. Now how about your fellow creatures? Our pets deserve natural care too, but fleas are often the biggest pet problem we have to buy chemicals for – or do we? Here are some non-toxic flea care ideas to help you keep your animal companions – and your home – safe and organic.

B vitamins and garlic are natural insect repellents, so supplement your pet’s diet with a pet safe vitamin. Healthier animals are more resistant to pests and diseases, too. It might take a few weeks to notice the effects, so consider this part of your long term flea treatment.
Regular flea combing is essential to making sure eggs and insects never stay on your pet long enough to matter. Simple daily brushing pays off! Plus, it helps you bond with your little buddy.

Castorand Pollux makes a flea collar infused with naturally insect repelling essential oils.

Keep the environment flea-free too. Use diatomaceous earth or boric acid to keep fleas and other pesky bugs at bay. These are minerals that cut up bug’s stomachs, without having any toxic effect on humans and animals.

Biological control: There’s a nematode, called the ‘killer roundworm’, that feeds on flea larvae, and you can buy bottles of it, add water, and spray the tiny worms around your yard. Supposedly they will die out once they run out of fleas to eat, but I’d do a little more research before introducing another species into the garden. Ask your vet about it.

And we love to hear your personal pet stories, so let us know what has and hasn’t worked for you.

Image: kpjas

The post 5 Natural Flea Care Tips appeared first on EcoSalon.

My boss has hypertension. And about two years ago, he nearly died. He was hundreds of pounds overweight, but because of a disciplined diet and exercise regimen, he’s lost 150 pounds (with more to go) and is feeling much better.

One of his newly found secrets? He eats a banana a day. The potassium helps him lower his blood pressure.

Hypertension, the clinical name for chronic high blood pressure, is caused by a variety of factors, namely stress, obesity, high sodium intake and low potassium. So eating a diet high in potassium can help lower blood pressure. Potassium helps your body excrete sodium more effectively, thereby getting all that extra salt out of your system.

If high blood pressure is something you struggle with, minimize your sodium intake and add more potassium to your diet. High potassium foods include:

Milk and yogurt
Fruits like apricot, avocado, banana, cantaloupe, dates, nectarines, prunes and raisins
Fresh (not canned) veggies like carrots, celery, baked potatoes, spinach, winter squash and tomatoes.
Fish and poultry
Molasses and unsalted nuts

Image: House of Sims

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You do know about hemp, right? Not just as a fashionable fabric for clothing, or as a super-nutritious food, or even as a medicinal plant that ought to be legalized – but hemp for healthy skin. Eat your hemp seeds, drink your hemp milk, and moisturize with hemp oil, and do it all to feed your skin from the inside out.

Hemp seeds contain the perfect balance of Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs), with just the right ratio of Omega-3 to Omega-6 that most people eating a typical North American diet just don’t get. EFAs build healthy cell membranes that hold moisture in your skin, keeping it soft and supple. Skin conditions like psoriasis, dermatitis, eczema, and acne are all associated with a lack of EFAs.

The moral of the story is: healthy, beautiful skin always begins with a healthy, nutritious diet. So eat your hemp – no excuses. (Manitoba Harvest is a good source of hemp products, if you don’t know where to start.)

Image: ssh

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There’s a saying, “animals make us human.” It’s because the way we treat the creatures in our care shows what kind of people we are. If you care about your own health, what you eat and what kind of home you live in, it’s important that you care about the health and happiness of the animals that share your home. Love is important for your pet, but so is proper care and mental stimulation. Here are the essential basics of providing a good life for your pet:

Spay or neuter your pet. With an overabundance of animals in shelters who already need loving homes, there’s no need for you to supply your neighborhood with more puppies or kittens. Why take the risk of filling the world with more unwanted animals? Feral animals breed like wildfire and usually end up hungry, sick and diseased. Besides, your local bird population will thank you, as a few feral cats is all it takes to hunt them into neighborhood extinction.

Feed them what they really need. If you care about the kind of food you put into your own body, you’ve got to care about your animal’s diet too. You don’t have to buy the most expensive stuff, but take a few minutes to look at the ingredients. Dogs and cats eat meat, and although it’s perfectly fine to include vegetarian items in their food, the first few ingredients need to be real meat. Not “chicken by-product meal” (which means ground up bones, beaks and feathers), but actual chicken. Your pet’s long term health is worth it. Avoid grains and fillers.

Appreciate what they bring to you. You take care of your pet, but your pet takes care of you, too! The unconditional adoration from your dog is pretty hard to find anywhere in the human world, and a cat’s satisfied purr as it naps on your belly has got to be one of the most wonderful things in the world. Take time to appreciate their personalities and companionship – being a good human requires more than just feeding them and taking them to the vet.

Exercise with your dog. Part of the responsibility you chose when you decided to keep a dog is to make sure they get plenty of daily exercise. Unless your dog is blessed with a huge yard and a few other doggy companions, you need to make sure you schedule in trips to the dog park, a vigorous game of fetch, some rough and tumble wrestling or a brisk jog through the neighborhood. The active lifestyle will do both of you a lot of good. Consider your dog your best workout partner!

Play with your cat. If you share your life with a cat, you know they like to sleep for hours, but cats get bored too. They need playtime and stimulation, and it’s easy to create simple, inexpensive toys (a feather on a string, a ball with a bell inside) to keep them active and entertained. Most cats go nuts chasing the light from a laser pointer!

Adopt from animal shelters. If you’re looking for a new animals to expand your pet-family, I urge you to adopt from a shelter. The reasons not to buy from a pet store are numerous, and you’ll really be saving an adopted critter’s life by letting them into your heart and home.

As much as you can, go green. From carpet cleaners to flea control, it’s always best to reduce the amount of chemicals in your personal environment. Guest writer Kathryn Hawkins has a whole list of ways to green your pet’s life (which is part of greening yours).

Regular check-ups. I know, I know, it’s not easy getting your animal friends to the vet. They always seem to know what you’re up to and hide out in the hardest to reach corners of the house. But it’s important they get checked out regularly, because a condition caught early on is much easier to treat than something full blown. Remember the adage: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” (this goes for you too!). Don’t be afraid to explore alternative treatments like animal acupuncture and pet massage.

Teach kids respect for animals. If you have children or kids that visit your home often, it’s important you teach them how to care for and respect your pets. Take the time to show them how to gently pet, and not pester, these critters who are trying to relax in their own home. Kids always learn best by example.

Images: greefus groinks/cloneofsnake/fazen/ElBosco/left-hand/Dr.Hemmert/BigTallGuy/Claudio Matsuoka/masochismtango/annia316/Maschinenraum

The post 9 Essentials for Raising a Healthy, Happy Pet appeared first on EcoSalon.

I have thick, long, beautiful hair, and I favor natural, low-maintenance hair care. Generally, a little bit of coconut or olive oil rubbed into my damp hair is enough to keep it shiny, but not so after moving to the ultra-dry climate of Arizona. My hair was quickly becoming dry and brittle as the hot season progressed.

Then my friend Solana saved the day (don’t we always get the best things from our friends?). She was working at a natural cosmetic store and came to visit me with a delicious smelling container of something called Ojon oil. “It comes from a tropical nut in Central America. The Miskito tribes use it and swear by it for shiny hair.” And I can tell you, it works. Once I started using the Ojon, my hair went back to its happy, shiny self – Arizona’s scorching summer notwithstanding.

Rest assured, the Ojon company uses pure ingredients, and has a responsible business relationship with the people who work for them. The nuts are sustainably harvested by hand and over 200 people have gained full time employment in their home town, ensuring that their native forest will be saved and not destroyed for other financial incentives. Ojon oil is produced only in small batches, but you’ll be happy to know that a little goes a long way.

The post Ojon Oil Saves Your Hair and Costa Rica's Tropical Forests appeared first on EcoSalon.