I want to thank those of you who attended my lecture this past Saturday on ways to improve balance. I hope you took away some strategies to help prevent one of the dangers of aging-falls. I heard an interesting discussion on NPR a couple of days before my lecture on the dangers associated with falls, and was surprised to learn that while seniors, ages 65 and up, were actually improving their balance, people in their 40’s and 50’s were doing much worse. Why? People sit all day, and lose their ability to stay upright. The muscles atrophy, posture is worse, fatigue sets in sooner, and the proprioceptors-those little sensors in the feet and ankles, forget what they’re supposed to do. All of it is fixable. Please don’t wait until you fall to correct them.
As a kid, I remember my Dad telling me to take the long fork-type thingy and weed the yard. “Get rid of those x*%#@ dandelions” he would say. Out I would go and get them out, roots and all, and threw them away, a very tedious job. Little did I know at the time that I was throwing away loads of nutrients. Bitter roots, such as dandelion, nettle, and burdock, contain vast stores of nutrients, both minerals and vitamins. Calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, and vitamins C and E. These roots are also anti-inflammatory, alkylating, high in chlorophyl, blood purifying, liver cleansing, hormone balancing, and are mild diuretics. They cleanse and detoxify the liver and gallbladder, reduce high blood pressure and edema, help with bladder infections, balances thyroid function, and help with sinus, asthma, and lung congestion. There are more that I could mention, but I think you get the idea, these bitter weeds are necessary to eat if you want optimal health. You can make tea with the roots, eat the greens, or, buy them in supplement form. You would be wise to include them in your diet.
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.