LIVING LOUD LIVING LONG

Usually at the holidays my worst health concern is to avoid eating too many cookies or pieces of pie. This year, we are in our second COVID affected holiday. There is an avalanche of information about how to have a safe(ish) holiday. Nearly every expert has a different opinion on what this means. I’m basing this post on questions I’ve been asked most often over the past couple of months.
Despite having, if anything, too many articles and posts on the topic, questions remain. The truth is that even scientific experts don’t have all the information they would like to make decisions. The best we can say as scientists is what is likely the case given what few facts we have right now. People who seek absolute answers will be dissatisfied with this seeming non-answer.
The fact is COVID has given us all a lump of coal in our stocking when we wanted a red and green tree shaped sugar cookie. All we want to do is spend some quality time with our loved ones, which can boost our mental health and, instead, we are faced with anxiety, frustration, and risk of illness.
One approach we can take is to meet outside. To make it fun, create a staycation ski-resort holiday family gathering with hot chocolate, mulled cider and cookies on your patio. Layer up and blast your heater if you have one. Another approach is to have a Zoom party with online games. This is perfect for connecting distant family who can’t travel. Here is a list of virtual games to make your gathering festive: https://www.bustle.com/life/zoom-games-holiday-party.
If you do want to gather in person here are few thoughts. The safest we get outside of having no human contact is being vaccinated and boosted and having a handful of family and friends who are also vaccinated and boosted and either tested or masked to our holiday event. On the opposite end of risk is not being vaccinated. We need to use what we know and take carefully considered risks based on our own situation and our loved ones situations.
Where can we get valid information to make decisions? I recommend the CDC website: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/index.html
On this website you can find details about quarantining if you have been exposed or have symptoms, details about vaccines and approved treatments and a lot of other information. I understand some may not like the CDC. The next best place is to go to a large hospital website such as Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/symptoms-causes/syc-20479963 or the website of a university with a medical school, for example, Harvard Health https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center
Visit our website next week because you’ll find a treat waiting for you to help you with your New Year’s preparations.
I hope you and our whole L4 community have a healthy holiday!

It's that time of year when delicious food is every where. Our home smells of roasted turkey and pumpkin pie. A neighbor drops off apple muffins. What rich cinnamon goodness!
Just in time, we're launching our Healthy Bites food stories. Healthy Bites tells the story of sensory healthy food preparation, eating and nourishing your body. Healthy food can be visually enticing, aromatic, flavorful, quick, and modest cost. Many recipes are simple to prepare with limited ingredients.
What makes Healthy Bites different is our focus on how what your eating serves your body and makes it strong. Healthy Bites includes scientific research on the phytochemicals, anti-oxidants, vitamins and other important nutrients that feeds body and soul. We even include links out to the original research or medical articles so you can explore further on your own as you want.
Sure, you can find recipes in many places. What you don't get elsewhere is how that food fuels your strength.
Healthy Bites are only available to our Patrons. Articles are added throughout the year as they're  available.
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I don’t know about you, but I definitely have more days with minor aches and pains as each year goes by. On the one hand, it’s normal for our body to change with age, for our joints to wear and muscles to lose power more quickly if we don’t stick to an exercise routine.
Research has shown that exercise can reduce risk of most common illnesses in 50 ups like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension, obesity, depression and osteoporosis. Even once you have the disease, you can improve your health with appropriate exercise, such as walking regularly after having breast cancer. (Warburten, 2006)
There’s a long list of reasons we tell ourselves (and, hey, I’ve used them too) for why we aren’t exercising: a) we don’t have time; b) we look bad in exercise clothes; c) it’s embarrassing; d) we don’t know how to do it; e) we have a condition, injury, phobia, etc that prevents exercising; f) it’s too expensive to join a gym or buy equipment.
Everyone of these are just mental blocks we put up to avoid changing our routines, because….Let’s face it, changing our routine or doing something new is uncomfortable, hard, takes mental effort and some days we can’t do it.
Here’s what I say to all that, “Yes, you can!”
I know you can because I click play and push through my favorite exercise app, Daily Burn, or walk or cycle nearly every day. I am no more motivated or fitter than your average person and have never been a high performing athlete.
What can 50 up athletes achieve? Listen to the story of Enzo Appiano. He is 92 years old, lives in Turin, Italy, and is still climbing mountains. A hobby he started in 1940s. He says climbing keeps him fit and youthful. (Bailey-Millado, 2019) Martina Navratilova won the Grand Slam tennis competition when she was nearly 50 years old, the oldest person to win this title. (Martina Navratilova) Caroline Adams, 56 years old, resumed competitive swimming after not having swum since college. She is now ranked 11th in the United States and, credits swimming with helping her feel centered and happier. (Hochwald, 2018)
Let’s break down those blocks.

1. You don’t have time: Incorporate exercise into your day. Walk to nearby places instead of driving. Walk from the parking lot to store. Climb stairs at every chance. Make time. Prioritize you. Do you really need to reply to emails most of which are junk? Use an exercise tracker to motivate yourself and see how you’re doing more each day.
2. You feel unattractive in exercise clothes or feel embarrassed: Exercise at home. Use an app. Buy weights. As those work, you’ll become fitter and feel comfortable wearing track pants or even leggings.
3. You don’t know how to do the exercises or worry you’ll hurt yourself: Hire a personal trainer. Watch exercise videos or use an app with videos.
4. You can’t afford a gym: See Number 2. Even with a small home or apartment you can do many routines right in your living room or bedroom. Use cans of soup for weights. Go outside and walk around your block or in a park. Be creative.

Summer is the perfect time to launch an exercise routine. Go for a walk early in the morning or late in the day before it heats up.
Most of all, have fun. Bring along a friend or two. Once you start, you’ll find you can’t stop. Instead of feeling too tired to exercise or just feeling poorly, you’ll start to feel tired and poorly when you DON’T exercise. Exercise really does make us happier, healthier and fitter.

References
(n.d.). Retrieved from Martina Navratilova: https://www.martinanavratilova.com/biography
Bailey-Millado, R. (2019, January 24). Retrieved from New York Post: https://nypost.com/2019/01/24/this-90-year-old-climbs-mountains-like-its-nothing/
Hochwald, L. (2018, January 14). Retrieved from Parade: https://parade.com/636232/lhochwald/age-is-just-a-number-4-inspiring-athletes-over-50/
Warburten, D. e. (2006, March 14). Retrieved from National Center for Biotechnology Information: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1402378/

Peak gardening time is right now. June is lush and green. The days are warm, sunny and close to the longest we’ll have for the year. The soft evening light and breezes are perfect for long walks or just walking around your yard enjoying the fruits of your labor.

All the back breaking early spring raking, soil amending with smelly manure, weed pulling, seed sprinkling and watering is suddenly worth it. The quarter inch sprouts you’ve nurtured are suddenly a foot tall and you don’t know where the time went. You see the yellow flowers breaking out on your tomato plants. Your peonies are bending over with heavy pink, red, or white blooms. Your roses perfume the air.
Did you know that your love of plants is making you healthier by the day?
Besides the exercise we get through all the bending, walking, and digging, gardening provides many other hidden benefits that are seldom discussed. Researchers from Bristol University and University College London have found that a common soil bacteria makes us happier, acting as a natural anti-depressant. (Paddock, 2007)
Besides making us happier, the soil bacteria, Mycobacterium vaccae, has recently been shown to reduce inflammation as well as reducing stress responses. (Paddock C. , 2019)
Gardening is wonderful for our mental health because it gives us a sense of purpose, gives us something to look forward to, allows us to nurture other living beings, and facilitates mindfulness. (Rayner, 2015)
Japan has caught on to these benefits of spending time outdoors creating the concept in the 1980s to 1990s of shinrin-yoku, meaning “forest bathing” or “absorbing the forest atmosphere.” Forest bathing acts as both a mindfulness tool and exercise. It lowers stress and has even been shown to lower blood pressure. (Aubrey, 2017) You don’t even need an actual forest. Any plant-filled quiet area will do.
Forest bathing is starting to become popular in America as well with churches and groups organizing forest bathing for their members. There is even talk of physicians writing prescriptions for forest bathing to help people lower stress and build resilience. Even health companies like Kaiser Permanente are talking about it. (Kaiser Permanente, 2020)
Next time you find yourself at the local garden center loading your cart up with plants (okay, maybe that’s just me), you can check out knowing that you are investing in more than beautifying your yard, you are investing in your health and well being.

References
Aubrey, A. (2017, July 17). Your Health. Retrieved from NPR: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/17/536676954/forest-bathing-a-retreat-to-nature-can-boost-immunity-and-mood
Kaiser Permanente. (2020, May 3). Thrive. Retrieved from Kaiser Permanente: https://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org/thrive-together/live-well/forest-bathing-try
Paddock, C. (2007, April 2). Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/66840#1
Paddock, C. (2019, 5 31). Retrieved from Medical News Today: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325357#Another-side-of-the-hygiene-effect
Rayner, S. (2015, May 13). Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/worry-and-panic/201505/petal-power-why-is-gardening-so-good-our-mental-health