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Health
6 Tips To Good Health
Ashwagandha Pumps Up Testosterone
There are seven main types of nutrients that the human body requires in order to maintain proper health. Those major nutrients are carbohy- drates, proteins, fats, vita- mins, minerals, fiber, and water. It is important for all seven of these nutrients to be consumed on a daily basis in order to build and maintain health.
While there are a myriad of published ways to achieve proper nutrition within our daily diet, almost all of them suggest at least six common tips.
Don’t skip meals. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When you skip a meal, your body recognizes that it doesn’t have food to convert into en- ergy. At that point your body goes into “survival” mode, slowing your metabolism and storing excess food or glucose as FAT.
Drink water. Water is es- sential to achieving a healthy diet. Avoid soda and sweet- ened drinks. The Mayo Clinic recommends that men con- sume 3 liters (about 13 cups) and women should consume
at least 2 liters (about 9 cups) of water per day.
Eat lean protein. Aside from water, protein is the most prevalent material in your body. Protein helps keep mus- cles strong, and contains the building blocks for most of the enzymes in the body. These enzymes drive the metabolic rate of our bodies. Good sources of lean protein include dairy products, soy products, meat (lean meat is also an ex- cellent source of iron), fish, and poultry.
Choose more whole grains. Most people eat less than half the amount of fiber needed each day. Choosing whole grains, such as whole wheat breads and high-fiber
cereals will help you achieve your fiber needs.
Eat more vegetables and fruits. A healthy diet should contain at least five servings of vegetables and fruits each day. Fruits and vegetables are nat- urally high in vitamins, miner- als, fiber, and they are low in calories.
Exercise. 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week is the standard recommenda- tion. Consistent exercise will decrease your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and prolong your life. Walking, swimming, jogging, weight lifting, bike riding, and aerobics are all good examples of exercises that will improve your overall health.
Low testosterone levels can be problematic for men as they age. Fortunately Mother Na- ture produces her own form of testosterone booster: the herb ashwagandha.
Research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition tested 57 men between the ages of 18 and 50.
They were divided into two groups – one was given 300 milligrams of the herbal ex- tract twice a day for eight weeks; the other ingested a placebo for the same period.
Both groups underwent su- pervised muscle training pro- grams for the duration of the
study.
The men that took the ash-
wagandha had significantly higher levels of circulating testosterone compared to the placebo group. The ashwa- gandha group also experi- enced an increase in muscle mass in the chest and arms, yielding an average arm mus- cle size of 8.6 centimeters, compared to the placebo group’s 5.3 centimeters.
Those men in the ashwan- gandha group also exhibited faster reductions of creatine kinase a marker for the type of muscle fiber injury that occurs during strenuous exercise, fol- lowing workouts.
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