Friday, February 17, 2012

Tuna, Spinach, And More Exercise #80

If you are a follower of  this blog regularly you know how much credit I give daily exercise as being important to my improved cardiovascular health and heart patient recovery.   I had gotten out of my workout routine and then got back into it about 6 weeks ago.  And I can tell a big difference, in the form of improvement in strength, lower blood pressure, and just overall being in better spirit.  When I say I had gotten out of my routine, I don't mean I had stopped exercising.  It's when I was having back problems, and was not doing a full workout daily.  I was having to skip several exercises because of the back pain.  Plus other things were happening and I was not able to work out at the same time daily.  It might be morning, mid-day, nights, afternoon, just whenever I could, and for me that just worked as well.  I am a very firm believer that part of being successful in a regular workout routine is to have a structured time each day you exercise.  If you jump around and don't dedicate a specific time, it becomes too easy to begin to skip exercising every now and then. 

Cindy and I have been eating a lot more uncooked spinach in salads.  Spinach is a great food for you to eat, especially those of you trying to lower your cholesterol levels.  Sometimes if I feel like having a little snack, I will take some fresh spinach, wash it and eat as I would any fruit.  It is one way to increase the amount of green vegetables I am eating.  Spinach is very high in Vitamin K, vitamin A and folate.  Spinach is also very good for your total nervous system and eyesight.  Vitamin A produces retinol a substance needed by the retina for low light and color vision.   Spinach helps keep your blood vessels healthy and assist in lowering your blood pressure.

I do not eat as much fish as I should.  I do try to eat tuna at least once a week.  Mostly I have tuna added to a salad.  I sort of prefer it that way, and normally it will be for a healthy lunch.  I must admit I force myself to eat tuna, or any fish, for the health benefits.  Of all the foods I have studied for cardiovascular health benefits fish are a vital food. Tuna provides us with essential omega-3 fatty acids. Why essential?  They are needed by our body for good health, but can not be produced by our bodies.  They must be obtained through the food we consume.  Omega-3 helps prevent erratic heart rhythms, decreases the risk of blood clots within the arteries, and increases the good cholesterol, HDL, levels.  They also reduce inflammation in your arteries.   I have not read enough on fish and omega-3 fatty acids to make any fish recommendations other than tuna and salmon.

Yesterday and today's workouts were the kind that you really feel good afterwards.  I hope those of you not exercising yet, will give it a try and make it part of your rehab. 

Next time we are going to talk about rehab, exercise and cholesterol.

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