Whole Health Partners’ Blog
How 30 Minutes a Day can Positively Effect Nearly every Bodily System
The benefits of walking are well known. Even just 30 minutes of walking a day will positively affect nearly every bodily system. Even better news? If 30 minutes sounds too hard to squeeze in, breaking up that walk into 10 or 15-minute segments provides the same health benefits!
Can't Sleep? Here's How to Enjoy Your Daily Cup of Joe without Sacrificing Rest
Do you enjoy your morning coffee? Well, you’re not alone.
There is no doubt that caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug in our culture. Many of us use it to increase our alertness, energy, or wakefulness. As caffeine fits so easily into our productivity-focused culture, we don't always pay attention to it the same way as we do alcohol, tobacco, or other recreational drugs.
And yet, it does have a profound impact on our lives.
Physical Activity: Use the Clock to Supercharge your Efforts
A good pair of sneakers. A set of weights. A Peloton bike.
There are many tools you could invest in that will help you move more. But you may not realize that you already own one of the most important:
And that’s a clock.
Kick Overeating to the Curb
We tend to find there’s a lot of shame, judgment and emotion attached to the concept of overeating. So it can be helpful to step back and look at it objectively:
To overeat simple means to eat more food than your body needs, especially so that you feel uncomfortably full. To put it another way, overeating just means to eat past fullness. And here’s a secret: It’s not a sign of weakness or a lack of will power—regardless of what our culture might tell you.
Your Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Stress
We all know that stress can impact our sleep. But did you also know that a lack of sleep can make your stress worse?
That’s right. It’s a vicious cycle. When we’re stressed, elevated cortisol levels— a hormone that stimulates alertness and vigilance—lead to elevated heart rate and blood pressure. That, in turn, can disrupt our natural sleep and relaxation patterns.
The Not-So-Sweet Truth About Artificial Sweetener
If you’re anything like us, then you’ve long been subjected to a steady stream of headlines, marketing and well-meaning advice about avoiding sugar, and choosing artificial sweeteners instead. And this advice has only increased as food manufacturers respond to the keto trend with new, artificially sweetened products.
Yet some recent studies suggest that artificial sweeteners—like anything we put in our bodies—can also have negative, as well as positive, impacts.
The Secret of Sleep and Weight Loss
Squeezing in a run before work? Staying up late to hit the gym?
When you’re working toward a health or fitness goal—like losing weight for example—it can be tempting to sacrifice your sleep in favor of physical exercise.
But doing so may be shooting yourself in the foot.
3 Fast n’ Healthy Meals for a Busy You
“I just don’t have time to eat well!”
This may be the single most common concern we hear from our patients. And we get it. Between Instagram foodie trends and online health blogs, we get a message that eating better means creating literally everything from scratch. But here’s a little secret:
That’s just not true.
Three Lab Tests You Should Always, Always Ask For
We know. The blood test results you receive from your care provider can be confusing.
What do all the numbers and letters refer to?
Are high numbers good or bad?
What does it mean by an optimal range?
There’s a lot to unpack. And, honestly, the best way to understand blood test results is to work with a provider who can translate how your results on paper relate to your health circumstances, and your real world health goals.
How to Find Joy in Everyday Movement (Yes, Joy!)
At Whole Health Partners, we believe that you don’t need to overthink exercise. Joyful, healthy movement can encompass so much more than traditional sports or fitness routines. (Yes, even walking to a restaurant counts!)
This is why we often make physical movement a secondary goal, after tackling more complex things like nutrition and sleep with our patients.