Listen up, exercisers: Jog, pedal, or row down to your local Starbucks… If I could offer only one word of advice to all those exercise
nuts out there who risk pain, injury, or even sudden death by
heart attack or stroke as they're pounding the pavement,
pedaling themselves into a lather, rowing like water-bugs, or
pumping iron like they're the Governor of California, it would
be this: QUIT!
But if they won't do that, here's a second word of advice:
COFFEE!
What, not WATER?
Nope. Although the mainstream has been pestering us (especially
those among us that exercise) to guzzle eight glasses of water or
more per day, no one seems to know exactly WHY. And the really
funny thing is that some of the same paternalistic leftists who
are urging us toward daily water intoxication are the same folks
who are worried about the global "water crisis." Heck, if
they're so concerned about an H20 shortage, why aren't they
telling people to only drink the BARE MINIMUM amount of water
needed to survive? But I digress…
I'm not here to disparage these gaunt, misguided fitness
fanatics, but rather to offer them an alternative to the "water
torture" they've been enduring - one that's tasty, energizing,
and above all, good for you! Believe it or not, coffee is that
drink, especially if you're an exercise fanatic…
Why? Because the caffeine in coffee blocks a key biochemical
called adenosine that is produced in large quantities during
strenuous exercise - which greatly reduces pain and muscle
soreness, according to a recent University of Georgia study
published in the Journal of Pain. Your morning "cuppa joe" is
also chock-full of other benefits - things like reducing your
risk of colon cancer and gallstones, plus infusing your cells
with as many disease-fighting antioxidants as 3 fresh oranges.
Now, you may be thinking: Doc, if you don't want people to
over-exercise, why are you telling them about how the caffeine
in java makes it LESS painful to exercise? Look, don't get me
wrong - if you like exercising, great. If it makes you feel good
(or good about yourself), then by all means don't stop. Just don't
go overboard. And don't flush away with H20 all of your morning
coffee's benefits because the health nuts say you should.
It is funny, though (and tragic), that most of those in the
mainstream who are fanatical about their health are CUTTING OUT
the healthy coffee and caffeine, while risking the consequences
of exercising more and more in the name of health… When they SHOULD be doing the exact opposite.
Another feather in the fish oil cap…
Folks, you know I'm just about the biggest fan ever of fish oil
- whether taken by the spoonful the old-fashioned way (Yum!) or
consumed in delicious, freshly-cooked trout, salmon, cod, tuna,
and other cold-water fishes…
As anyone who's read the Daily Dose (or my newsletter) for any
length of time can tell you, the Omega-3 fatty acids in these
fishes are one of the biggest keys to overall health I know of -
and even the mainstream agrees. The benefits of the Omega-3s and
other vital nutrients in these finny critters to your heart,
arteries, brain, and digestive system are simply too numerous to
name. And here's another one to add to the list:
Fish oil fats can help cancer patients gain back the weight that
the disease and its treatment can waste away!
According to findings recently published in the medical journal
Gut (great name, huh?), patients with pancreatic cancer
who consumed Omega-3 rich supplements for eight straight weeks
actually gained back a measurable percentage of muscle tissue
and bodyweight when compared to a control group that consumed
the same quantity of identical supplements without the
Omega-3s.
That's good news for anyone battling cancer, especially that of
the pancreas.
Actions to take: Whether you're in the pink of health or
fighting for your life against the ravages of disease,
Omega-3-rich fish oils and supplements can do you good. If you're
supplementing, try four cod-liver oil capsules twice a day. One
caution though for the live variety: Try to buy trout, salmon,
tuna, etc. that have been harvested from wild, deep-water
sources - not fish farms. These "free-ranging" fish tend to be
much lower in mercury,lead, and other heavy metals that could
potentially do you harm… Nothing "fishy" here,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD |
