The Link Between Wrinkles and Bone Density

Is it possible that deep brow furrows are an early indicator of osteoporosis later in life? The findings of a recent study suggests that the more wrinkles a woman has in her early menopause years, the lower her bone density, putting her at risk for bone fractures. The association may seem like a stretch at first. But Dr. Lubna Pal, an endocrinologist who led the research at Yale’s School of Medicine, explained:

(Bones and skin) share common building blocks — a group of proteins called collagens. As we age, changes in collagen occur that may account for age-related skin changes… and also contribute to deterioration in bone quality and quantity.

In this study of 114 women in their late 40s and early 50s, none of whom were on HRT, skin wrinkles at 11 sites on the face and neck were measured and participants underwent DEXA scans. The researchers found that women with the worst wrinkles had the lowest bone density scores. Conversely, those with firm skin and the fewest wrinkles, particularly in the forehead area, had greater bone density.

If this research is further substantiated, and skin does in fact provide a glimpse into the status of the skeleton, it may be possible to determine our bone strength by simply looking in the mirror.

A Wallet-Friendly Approach to Fitness. No Gym Required.

January is a time for setting new goals…and crowded gyms. It happens every year. Resolved to get fit and healthy, new members (or those who have been MIA) fill up group classes and the wait for using the cardio equipment becomes too long for my schedule. So, I’ve learned to be patient because I know that in just one month, most of them will be gone and I can return to my own, stress-free pace. Until then, I hit the outdoors for long walks and do Pilates floor exercises at home. It’s always a fresh reminder that there’s really no excuse for not exercising especially when there are so many fitness resources available on the web to help plan workouts and monitor how we’re doing. Here are just a few examples:

Visit the website of the American Council on Exercise and click on “Get Fit” to view their exercise library and illustrated workouts. You can indicate your target body part, experience level, equipment needed and workout type. This is the website for the organization that certifies fitness trainers, so you’ll find good instructions here. While you there, try out their handy fitness tools and calculators for estimating percent body fat, daily caloric needs, heart rate zone and BMI (Body Mass Index).

For Pilates enthusiasts of all levels, there are plenty of online videos by master instructor Elizabeth Larkam (whom I’ve taken classes with) as well as podcasts that you can download onto your phone or tablet and take with you anywhere. And you’ll find excellent instruction videos on YouTube including this one.

If you enjoy working out with an exercise ball, you’ll find tips and workout ideas in a series of free videos on this website. For core exercises using the fitness ball, watch these slide show demonstrations produced by the Mayo Clinic.

For a more individualized approach, check out Daily Burn, a new “personalized fitness platform” that delivers HD-quality, daily video workouts that are tailored to fit your unique fitness needs and goals. The videos are streamed to your computer, smart phone or other mobile device such as iPad or Android. There’s a membership fee of $30/month, but if this works for you, it’s considerably less than paying for a personal trainer.  They offer a free, 7-day trial if you want to give it a test run.

Finally, if you want to monitor your progress, check out the Free Fitness Tracker, where you can set fitness goals, track and measure progress and access their workout library of 300 exercises. As a member, you can even upload your own exercises to share with others.

If you’ve discovered other no-cost or low-cost online resources for fitness workouts, please let me (and other readers) know in the comment box below.

If You Do These Three Things, The Menopause Years Will Be Easier

Ten Holiday Gift Ideas For Insomniacs

Since a good night’s rest is the cornerstone of optimal health and even positivity, I thought I’d offer up some suggestions for holiday gifts that an insomniac would really appreciate.

1. Consider trying a soundtrack from Pzizz (left), which calls itself “your personal sleep and relaxation assistant.” The tracks are different every time you listen to it and you can control how long to let the audio play. Export a program to your smartphone or IPod and keep it by your bed at night. It can help you decompress on business trips too.

2. If a short late afternoon nap is all you need, consider the Power Nap Kit from At Peace Media. It features three voice-guided power-nap sessions (disc 1) and three music-only power nap sessions (disc 2).  The kit includes a 44-page booklet about sleep, stress and power naps. It just might be the tool you need to help relax and rejuvenate you.

3. The Nightwave Assistant might work for you too. It’s a small appliance (the size of a cell phone) that projects a soft, changing blue light on the ceiling of your darkened room. By synchronizing  your breathing with the light, your body and mind are supposed to fall into a state of relaxation that promotes sleep. It’s worth a try if you’re sleep deprived. If it works, it’s small enough to travel with.

4. Alternatively, have you tried aromatherapy?  21drops, a line of blended essential oils, claims their Sleep product (#18) will calm a racing mind and settle your restlessness so you can get a good night’s rest. You apply it to your temples, wrists and back of neck and even under your nose.

5. Another prescription-free approach to better sleep can be found in The Republic of Tea’s “Be Well” line of red, caffein-free teas.  Their “Get some ZZZs” (#5) is an herbal blend of sleep-promoting Rooibos, Chamomile, Passionflower and Valerian. You’ll also find it in their Sleepytime Gift Set, which also includes pillow spray, an eye mask and ear plugs.

6. Perhaps relaxing music is more your thing. Dr. Machelle Seibel’s Healthrock series of music CDs includes “Sleep Tight,”  featuring 46 minutes of soothing, peaceful music that can make falling asleep easier. Dr. Seibel, who is director of the Complicated Menopause Clinic at the University of Mass., composed the music himself with his sleep-deprived menopausal patients in mind.  You can preview the music and then download the album, or order the CD directly from his website.  Also, check out his “Relax” CD featuring instrumental music that he also composed and performed, to help you wind down in the evenings after a hectic day.

7. If hot flashes are keeping you from getting a restful sleep, consider trying a new comforter this winter. Mulberry West makes silk-filled, cotton comforters that they claim offers a lightweight “veil of warmth.” As explained on their website, silk is a porous and natural fiber, which adjusts to temperature fluctuations and is known for strong ventilations.  If you’re throwing off covers every night, this might be a good solution for you (and your partner).

8. Meditation, even for 5-10 minutes a day, can have a profound effect on stress reduction and sleep quality.  If one of your new year resolutions includes a commitment to carving out more time for yourself, I highly recommend Dr. Joan Borysenko’s The Beginner’s Guide to Meditation, or her more recent Stress Less CD featuring two meditations created to “help reduce stress, improve sleep and create optimal health and energy.”  Dr. Borysenko, a pioneer in mind-body medicine and the author of 14 books, will be leading a weekend program beginning Jan 27th at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the beautiful Berkshire Mountains in Western Massachusetts. In addition….

9.The Kripalu center will hold a four-day workshop, beginning New Year’s day, on Gentle Yoga and Mindful Eating. Both of these programs are a fabulous way to help you start the year on the right foot. I’ve been to Kripalu and can tell you that the view of the surrounding hills and lake are worth the trip alone – even in winter.

10. If all else fails there’s always the latest edition of War and Peace, Tolstoy’s 1440-page epic novel with a new English translation that makes it a bit easier to get through. Sometimes just looking at such a massive book makes you tired enough to sleep.

Eat This For That: 100 Best Foods for Women

I found a terrific list of 100 healthful foods that every woman should include in her diet. Compiled by Alissa Miller on her blog at Nursing Degree.Net, she has grouped them into nine categories and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by some of the foods on her list:

• Overall health: Flax seed tops this list
• Skin Health - Includes foods with high concentrations of vitamins E and A and anti-inflammatory properties such as avocados, hazelnuts, olives and spinach

• Cardiovascular System - Onions, grapes and raspberries were a surprise to me!

• Cholesterol- Oatmeal, almonds and garlic are among 10 foods in this category
• Bone Health - Sesame seeds, beans and eggs are some of the foods that are rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and other nutrients essential for bone health.
• Weight loss - Dried papayas, watermelon and fruit smoothies are excellent foods that will fill you up and add some sweetness – not calories – to your diet
• Nuts, Beans and Grains - Foods such as lentils, quinoa and barley provide lots of protein and a great substitute for red meat.
• Antioxidants - Cherries, artichokes, blueberries are on this list of foods that are high in antioxidants, which can help reverse the damaging effects of oxygen on our bodies’ cells.
• Super Foods - Acai and Goji berries top this list of 11 foods that are incredibly packed with important nutrients. Can you guess what else is on this list?
• Healthy Snacks - Pretzels, pistachios and graham crackers are recommended here for low-cal in-between meal snacks.
• Healthy Desserts - An oxymoron? Not according to Alissa who explains, “dark chocolate with at least 60% cocoa can reduce blood pressure and is full of antioxidants.”

10 Foods with High Amounts of Phytoestrogens

If you are experiencing menopausal symptoms typically associated with estrogen deficiency, such as hot flashes, mood swings, and food cravings, you may want to try increasing the amount of plant-based hormones – or phytoestrogens - in your diet.  Phytoestrogens are chemicals that are found in plants that may act like the estrogen produced naturally in the body.  Consider adding these foods to your weekly visit to the farmers market or grocery store.

1. Soy milk, tofu, edamame beans

2. Fermented soy foods such as miso and soy

3. Flaxseeds and sesame seeds

4. Wholegrains – such as oat bran, whole wheat and oatmeal

5. Peppers

6. Red grape juice and cranberries

7. Cranberries or red grape juice

8. Green beans, chickpeas, kidney beans

9. Broccoli

10. Celery

There are several herbs and plant roots, including dong quai, black cohosh, ginseng and red clover, that have also been reported as effective in menopause, but you should have the advice of an herbalist or naturopathic doctor before you add this to your diet.

The Bladder Diaries

I’ve heard of a gratitude diary, a food diary, even a work out diary. But a bladder diary? That’s a new one, but it makes sense if you’re experiencing leakage, a not uncommon problem among menopausal women. Keeping track of when and how often you “go” as well as your liquid intake and urine output on a daily basis can help your physician determine the specific type of bladder problem you’re dealing with; it’s either the “gotta go, gotta go” kind or “achoo.” If you’re among the 25 percent of women under 65 years of age who experience some kind of “involuntary urine,” then you know what I’m talking about.

Incontinence. The word brings to mind old age and adult diapers. Perhaps that’s why women are reluctant to seek medical care. They’re embarrassed and they don’t think there’s anything that can be done to correct the problem anyway. But, according to Dr. Alexandra Haessler, a Urogynecologist in San Francisco, who spoke on this topic at the recent California Pacific Medical Center’s Mini Medical School for women, there are treatments that improve overall pelvic floor health including estrogen supplementation, strength exercises, medication and sometimes, surgery.  The first step, however is determining whether the

What’s Your Positivity Ratio? (And Why It Matters)

Would you describe yourself as a positive person? One who finds positive meaning in day to day circumstances more frequently than negativity? If you’re sleep deprived and experiencing hot flashes all the time, you probably think this question is a joke. After all, when you feel lousy all the time, your default mode is more like cranky. But after reading Dr. Barbara Fredrickson’s book, Positivity: Top-Notch Research Reveals the 3 to 1 Ratio That Will Change Your Life,  I wondered if women whose default mode is positivity have an easier time with the menopause transition (and other challenges) than negative types.

Dr. Fredrickson (pictured above) is a leading scholar in the field of social and postive psychology. Her work has given “scientific legs” to the field of positive emotions, so her book isn’t a shallow, “don’t worry be happy” type of self-help guide. Rather, she has concluded, based on twenty years of research, that maintaining a 3:1 ratio of positive thoughts to negative emotions creates a tipping point between languishing and flourishing.  As she explains in her book:

“Most people have a 2:1 positivity ratio, which makes life ordinary. You get by, but you’re hardly growing. You’re languishing. As you raise your ratio above 3 to 1, a transformation occurs. You feel more alive, creative and resilient. You’ve stepped up to a whole new level of life.”  Dr. Fredrickson further makes the case that a 3:1 positivity ratio;

• Broadens your mind – “you’ll gain elbow room for greater flexibility and seeing the big picture.”
• Builds Resources – “moments of positivity accumulate and compound over time to build lasting resources for life,” and
• Fuels Resilience –  ”it’s a secret active ingredient that makes you resilient.”

You can listen to Dr. Fredrickson explain the positivity ratio and her advice on how to achieve it in this video.

If you’re wondering what your own positivity score is, begin by taking a two-minute self test that she has created on her website. Then use the available online tools to view your results and record positive milestones if you want to work on improving your score. You can take this test on a daily or weekly basis and compare your ratios to see if you’re making progress. In addition, Dr. Fredrickson offers a toolkit in her book to help readers raise their positivity score by decreasing negativity and increasing positivity. An example of this is “dispute negative thinking,” an exercise that’s rooted in cognitive behavior therapy that teaches non-negative thinking.

In addition to just feeling better, I can imagine that experiencing life’s challenges and occasional disappointments from a foundation of positivity can shift our reactions and improve the quality of our lives and relationships, even during the menopause years.

… [Read more]

The 5 Best Books on Brain Fitness

If brain fog and too many senior moments have you worried about the future of your aging brain, you should know about AARP’s List of Best Brain Fitness Books. Among the top five is a book that I reviewed and highly recommended last year: The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain: The Surprising Talents of Middle-Aged Mind by Barbara Strauch who thinks that “the middle-aged mind is vastly under-estimated.”

Another top-five book is The Sharp Brains Guide to Brain Fitness: 18 Interviews with Scientists, Practical Advice, and Product Reviews, to Keep Your Brain Sharp, which provides a macro view of the latest science, products and trends in brain health.