ARE YOU A BRUISER?

I'm not sure if any of you have ever noticed but I am regularly covered in multiple bruises due in part to my general clumsiness and also having a very strong and equally clumsy playmate aka Xena the Staffy.  If you find you're discovering lots of bruises on your person and you're not clumsy or a dog owner, here are some reasons as to why this might be happening.  Firstly, and it's always the one we hate the most, yes AGE!!  We bruise more as we get older as we lose the protective fatty layer beneath the skin (so the fatter we are the more protected we are?) as well as thinning of the skin as the production of collagen reduces.  In short it takes less force to get a bruise than when we were younger.

The presence of a blood disorder can explain increases in bruises as your blood fails to clot.  If you experience frequent & severe bruising it's best you go and see your GP.

Although not bruising but can look like it, diabetes causes discolouration of areas of the skin that regularly touches another area of skin.  These fake bruises are a result of resistance to insulin.

If you're at the gym and you push yourself  to try and lift an over heavy weight and you end up with a bruise, well this is due to microscopic tears in the muscle fibres.  In addition, you could be really going for it and not remember actually bashing yourself (Done that loads of times too).

If you're taking aspirin or other anticoagulants as advised by your doctor these will lead you to be more prone to bruising as the bloods clotting capability is being impaired.  Taking oral contraceptives can also lead to increased bruising as the blood vessels are in a weakened state.

A family history of easily bruising will no doubt result in you too being more likely to bruise.  Also if you are naturally pale in a Wednesday Addams kind of way, then any bruise is going to be more noticeable.

And finally, although we all need to expose ourselves to the sun to bump up our Vitamin D levels, prolonged exposure to the sun over some years can result in the skin becoming less pliable and resilient and so again makes the skin more likely to bruise.

To help prevent bruising it's worth looking at your diet and ensuring it contains plenty of Vitamin C and flavonoids found in fruit and veg.  If you do find yourself with a plethora of bruises some simple measures can help them to heal speedily and include Arnica Oil applied topically, cold compresses, Aloe Vera, Calendula, a raw onion placed onto the bruise, or a hot or cold apple cider vinegar poultice onto the bruise too.

til next week

MB

Can you hear me Mother?

I guess we've all read that the quality of our diet can affect eye health, but until this week I'd never considered that it may also affect ear health.  Age related hearing loss is not totally due to something wrong mechanically with the ears but how the brain processes information that gets passed t the ears, a process that begins to degrade during our 40's & 50's.This type of hearing loss may be reversible and conditions such as tinnitus could be improved.

Nutrients that have been found to aid hearing include Vitamin A, magnesium, folic acid, and zinc.  These nutrients collectively support our hearing by protecting against oxidative stress in the cochlear, preventing damage by free radicals, improve blood flow to the ear.
For tinnitus, folic acid/B9 has proven to be beneficial more so if taken from fresh foods such as dark green leafy veg & lentils rather than from supplements.  

As well as eating right, there are other ways we can protect our hearing that are very simple to accommodate into our lives; 

Turn down the volume on audio devices

Wear ear plugs if visiting or working in noisy environments

Take regular breaks from listening to devices with earphones  or limit to an hour a day  

til next week

MB

My melons are wonderful

Where has the summer gone?  The other day I seemed to spend the time running to put the washing out or running out to bring the damn stuff back in again.  Had a wander down to the Riverside Festival on Saturday in blazing sunshine, I arrive then within minutes I was sodden when the skies literally dropped an ocean in a matter of minutes.  Yesterday I went up to The Arboretum for Pagan Pride festival dressed in t shirt and shorts, I had to come back early as I was freezing.

Whilst I was up there I was snacking on some watermelon when I friend said this to me "Eat melon alone or leave it alone because it'll make your stomach groan".  At first I thought she wanted me go away and eat it as I'd never ever heard that phrase before, but apparently if you eat something 30 or so minutes before and after eating melon it can affect you!?!?!? Anyone else heard of that?  So here I am back at home wondering what else don't I know about the humble melon. 

Watermelon has more lycopene than raw tomatoes, lycopene being a powerful antioxidant as well as giving foods their red/pink colour.  Watermelon juice may help reduce/relieve muscle soreness if taken before a work out but beware this also contains high levels of the sugar fructose.

The watermelon rind is edible.  Placed into a blender with some lime it becomes a refreshing treat.  The rind contains more nutrition in some respects than the flesh, particularly citrulline which is an amino acid beneficial for a healthy immune system.  I hate the pips in watermelon but they contain protein & zinc.

As a watermelon is 91% water it is a good way to stay cool & hydrated on hot days(if they ever return).  Watermelon derived supplements namely citrulline & arginine have been shown to reduce blood pressure, inflammation, promote sexual health as well as being called "Nature's Viagra".  I'm hot footing down to Sainsbury's fruit section.....

til next week

MB