Ever Heard of Safflower Oil?

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that adding 1 tablespoon of Safflower oil daily to your diet may encourage the high-linoleic content of the oil to cause the body to store less fat, which may help you lose weight in hard-to-lose areas (ex: belly) and may increase lean muscle mass.

So you may want to research Safflower Oil!

Weight Gain & Alzheimer's Disease

So, probably everyone knows that being overweight or obese puts you at much higher risk for all sorts of diseases and conditions, like stroke, heart disease, heart attack, and diabetes. But did you know that weight gain could increase your risk of getting Alzheimer's disease?

In the journal "Human Brain Mapping", brain scans showed that overweight folks had an average of 4% less brain tissue than normal-weight adults. Obese folks had 8% less.

We're talking about physical brain tissue here, folks! Like the gray & white matter of your brain!

The study showed that the most depleted area of brain tissue was in the frontal lobe, which is the area of your brain responsible for your "higher thinking & reasoning" skills, like problem solving. This area is where dementia happens.

Why?

A high-fat diet clogs arteries, including arteries going to the brain, so oxygen cannot reach brain cells and they die, says lead study author Paul Thompson, Ph.D.

So what can you do?

Get moving! Exercise! Be active! While weight & resistance training has been proven to make you a leaner, healthier, longer-living person, aerobic exercise is the key to this problem. Aerobic exercise helps preserve brain tissues by increasing blood flow to your brain.

Check Your Iron Levels

Active women are less likely to have healthy, "normal" levels of iron than sedentary women. Usually active women have more healthy levels of nutrients than sedentary women, so what's the deal with the iron deficiency?
Well, here's what happens: high-impact exercises (like running, for example) ruptures some of your red blood cells (where iron is stored). The iron is then swept out of your body when you urinate. So over time, this small amount adds up.
To help keep your iron levels in the normal range, aim for about 18 milligrams of iron daily. Eat more beans, lean meat, and iron-fortified cereal.

(of course, talk with your doctor before beginning an exercise program or adding supplements to your diet)

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Hey y'all! I apologize for not posting in awhile; the time has certainly flown by!
I was in Seattle, WA for 2 entire weeks for the Christmas & New Year's Holidays, which was completely wonderful! My husband is from Seattle, and every time we visit, it is more difficult to return to dreary, flat Cincinnati.
Then, my favorite and super-convenient local coffee shop closed for almost 2 months so the store could move into a vacant spot across the street.
So I have been without regular internet access for some time now!
But, the coffee shop is open once again (yay!) so hopefully I will be able to resume posting about healthy, wholesome living!
Give me a shout out if there's something I have not covered that you'd like to learn more about and we can learn together!