Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I would like to congratulate New York on a new law I wasn't aware of until today. New York now has a Fruit and Vegetable Prescription plan. This means that New York now acknowledges that fruits and vegetables have the power to cure disease, something the FDA doesn't exactly agree with.

A doctor in New York can now prescribe "Healthy Bucks" to those who are obese, and they in turn can use them to get fresh fruit from the farmer's markets there. I think it's so cool that New York acknowledged the health benefits of vegetables. It's like a big advertising campaign to wake up the obese people to start eating better. The idea might be slightly over the top, but it's a step in the right direction. It's refreshing to hear of doctors not writing prescriptions for drugs for a change.

Three months ago, I wrote about how I got 10,000 steps a day since April of 2012. I'm still getting the steps in and three months later, I figure I have walked approximately 990,000 steps since April of this year. When combining the steps with last year, I have walked a total of 4,640,000 steps. That converts to approximately 2,197 miles, almost as many miles to get to Los Angeles from Connecticut. That's a lot of steps!

It's not that hard to get the steps in. I still use the treadmill 5 days a week, but less time on it. However, I did set a new record with the treadmill. I am now able to do a 5K on there in less than 25 minutes. When I first started the treadmill, I couldn't go faster than 4 MPH. Now I average about 7.5 MPH. The treadmill gets me about 4,000 steps. The other steps come from walking my dog, going to store, etc. The steps really do add up.

On Monday, my older sister Anne would be celebrating her birthday. She succumbed to the anorexia that plagued her life for nearly 25 years.

Did you know that 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from some form of eating disorder in the United States? Many times cases go undetected. Often times families don't know where to turn for help. There might not be a specialist that's close by and many families may have to send their child several miles away to get treatment. Also, the victims may refuse the help as they refuse to admit that they are sick.

It has been so hot in Connecticut, I'm sure I don't need to remind you that you need to drink more to cool off. The heat causes us to sweat more and we lose a lot of water in this heat.

But how much of what you're drinking is actually water? Soda and beer do not count. It's best not to get your calories from your drinks. There is so much empty calories in soda, it can really pack on the pounds. Diet soda isn't much better… some research shows that diet soda drinkers might actually hurt their metabolism and increase risk of obesity and diabetes.

What's that again?

A study (yeah I know... yet another study) commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  entitled "Sodium Intake In Populations: Assessment of Evidence" confirms that there is no evidence substantial enough to limit sodium consumption to less than 2,300 milligram daily for Americans. Researchers concluded that one-and-a-half to three tablespoons of salt per day is not detrimental to a person's health, contrary to past belief.

The report also discusses emerging debates about the proper level of dietary sodium intake. "Despite efforts over the past several decades to reduce sodium intake in the United States, adults still consume an average of 3,400 mg of sodium every day," the researchers wrote.