Tag: Senior Wellness

Circulation means movement. Air circulates. Fluids circulate. People circulate. My dictionary says it means:

1. Move through a space, circuit or system, returning to a starting point or removal.

2. Cause to be widely known.

3. Cause to be distributed.

The third definition is what happens when a newspaper is distributed. We often say that a newspaper or magazine has a “circulation of a certain number of people”, or “the newspaper has a wide circulation. That definition also applies to the distribution of these weekly “Energy Bite” articles.

The second definition is sort of like social media. Your message circulates through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever.

It is the first and third definitions that relates to your physical body. Your body is a series of tubes, some self-contained, some with a beginning and an end.

Your blood circulates through your blood vessels (tubes), powered by your heart and distributing nutrients to your cells. Air circulates through your body, inhaled through your mouth or nose and delivered to your lungs where it is absorbed by the bloodstream and carried to the cells. There, it is used, picked up by the blood again and returned to be exhaled as Carbon dioxide (CO2).

As long as blood and air are in motion, we live. When they stop, we die. We cannot live without either. When we exercise, we tend to speed up the circulatory process. Our heart rate increases with exercise; our breathing increases with exercise — both providing fuel to provide energy for the body.

Our digestive system fits that third definition. It’s how we take in fuel, distributing it to the body through the bloodstream, and eliminating the leftovers — all through a series of tubes which must be kept clear.

Your Lymph system is a self contained system that eliminates wastes other than food waste.

Movement of air and water provides a cleansing system in life outside the body as well. When air is moving, it is self-cleaning. I’ve read that a ceiling fan filters air better than the air filter in your furnace.  Wind helps clean the air in the atmosphere. I’ve read numerous accounts of how fast the air needs to move to clean it, but a ceiling fan or table top fan seems to fill the requirement for a room.

Much the same is true of water. Before our municipal water purification were developed, water flowing over rocks was considered the most natural way to clean it. Stagnate water pools. It is self-polluting. Moving water acts as its own filter when flowing swiftly over rock and stone. Of course, it’s not nearly as clean as modern standards require.

The point of all this is that circulation cleanses, nourishes, and purifies. Circulation is life! Stagnation allows an environment where disease and other problems can originate and fester. Keeping those tubes clear helps keep the circulation in motion. Clogged tubes shuts off the circulation and heart attacks, lung and respiratory diseases and digestive problems are the result. Exercise, deep breathing and sound eating habits keep the tubes clean.

The more you move, the better the air and fluids circulate through your body. You are less susceptible to disease — not disease free, just less susceptible.

Thank you for reading.

It’s well known that moderate exercise helps keep the immune system healthy and responsive. But can it be detrimental to your immune system to exercise too much?

Exercise can have both positive and negative effects on your immune system. Risk of respiratory tract problems decreases with moderate exercise but increases significantly when you overdo it.

In fact, overdoing exercise actually reduces immune function. If you are a normal exerciser like you should be, then here’s a interesting conclusion.

In a recent study, researchers found that of three classes of people studied, elite athletes had the highest risk and incidence of respiratory illnesses, couch potatoes who did little or nothing had the second highest incidence of respiratory tract dysfunction, and recreational athletes and moderate exercisers came out the healthiest by far.

That study was done with humans. Nearly identical results showed up in a separate study using rats.

As seniors, we are in the “at risk” demographic for the current flu bug that has popped up around the world. So, it’s probably NOT a good idea to engage in overly vigorous exercise for a while. Why not? Re-read the above. Since respiratory dysfunction is a major problem with the current virus, the results of the above studies become particularly relevant.

But don’t stop moving your body. If you are exercising moderately, you should be in better shape than most. Just don’t wear yourself out.

After this virus settles down and we are back to normal, it will be wise for most seniors who are not exercising now, to start some sort of fitness program consisting of moderate exercise and good eating habits. As responsible seniors, we need to take special care of our immune system, as well as taking overall responsibility for our own health and well-being.

We will want to make sure that when another new “flu” hits us, our immune response will be in the healthy range, and not a part of the risk factor that faces us now.

None of the above is medical advice. If you need medical advice, go to a medical professional.

Thank you for reading and please stay vigilant.