The eyes undergo a number of changes as you grow older. The lens becomes more opaque and loses its flexibility, the iris becomes sluggish, the retina can become less sensitive to light, and a condition called glaucoma – in which pressure builds up inside the eye – becomes more likely. On average, the eye of a 60-year-old person lets in half as much light as a younger person’s. The most common type of age-related vision change is long-sightedness.

Warning signs of eye problems are as follows:

difficulty seeing objects close-up (this may be caused by long sightedness)
hazy vision, a blur around lights and the sensation of looking through fog (this may be caused by cataracts)
loss of peripheral vision, flashes of light and floating shapes (this may be caused by retinal detachment)
rapid or gradual vision loss and distorted vision when reading (this may be caused by macular degeneration)
blurred vision, sudden and severe eye pain, teary, aching eyes, halos around lights, headache, nausea and vomiting (this may be caused by glaucoma).

You should have your eyesight tested yearly as you get older, and consult your doctor or ophthalmologist about any changes in your vision. The treatment for eye problems ranges from reading glasses for long- sightedness to surgery for cataracts. If you have adult-onset diabetes, you should be particularly vigilant about having regular eye checks – diabetes is one of the main causes of blindness.

Try to protect your eyes as a much as possible by:

Avoid working in poor light- The eye often finds it hard to focus in dimly lit conditions, which can be a cause of eye strain for someone reading in these conditions. People also tend to blink less while reading in dim light, which can result in a dryness of the eye which feels unpleasant. People who do a lot of reading at night often probably notice these problems, and try to counteract them by creating a well lit space with no glare for the purpose of reading at night in comfort.

Avoid spending hours in front of a computer- Hours in front of a computer screen may increase the risk of glaucoma in people who are myopic or shortsighted. Aching, irritable eyes is a common complaint after maintaining a visual distance constant for much of the day in front of the computer, this means the muscles that control your focal lens have become fatigued.

Learning some basic Bates method exercises- This is an alternative eye therapy based on the understanding that most vision problems are caused by tension of the muscles surrounding the eyeball.

Eating a healthy diet- There are many nutrients found in fruit and vegetables which are good for the eyes. Include nutrients like lutein, Zeaxanthin, Meso-zeaxanthin, Co-enzyme Q10, Bilberry, Blueberry in your diet. Some of these nutrients are found in green, leafy vegetables such as spinach and broccoli, collard greens, brussel sprouts, swiss chards as well as egg yolks. According to them, A study published in June 2009 found that individuals drinking a large glass of blueberry juice each day were able to recover far more quickly from light-induced damage than those who were not. It is also important to eat oily fish as it supplies the body with DHA and omega-3 fatty acids. These help provide structural support to cell membranes in the eye. Sardines, mackerel and tuna are recommended for people with dry eye, age-related macular degeneration and also for everyone to help preserve good eyesight for longer.

Taking regular exercise to increase the blood supply to the eyes- Getting plenty of exercise will benefit your eyesight as it increases the amount of oxygen in the eye. Exercise can help the supply of oxygen to the optic nerve and can help to lower pressure in the eye. Reducing pressure in the eye is important to control conditions such as glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Exercise such as walking, cycling, running and swimming can also help to control the progression of diabetes which can lead to diabetic retinopathy. It is recommended to spend at least 30 minutes a day five times a week exercising. However, always check with your GP before you embark on any new exercise programme.

Drink plenty of water on a daily basis. Water is essential for the whole body to function properly and that includes your eyes. If you do not drink enough water you may become dehydrated which can lead to dry, sore and irritated eyes. It is advisable to drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day and more if you are doing a lot of exercise or if the weather is hot.

Avoid Smoking- Cigarettes have a catastrophic effect on eye health, causing inflammation, retinopathy, optic nerve damage, dry eye and cataracts. Give up for optimal health

Wear sunglasses in bright light- Exposing your eyes to too much of the sun’s UV rays is one of the most damaging threats to their long-term good health. It’s worth spending a little extra on good quality sunglasses with a high level of UV protection in the lenses.

The Food and Drugs Administration does not define or regulate the term “organic” as it applies to cosmetics, body care, or personal care products. As a result, both manufacturers and consumers are confused as to what qualifies the “organic” label on personal healthcare products. There are private interpretations for the “organic” label on personal healthcare products and as a result, third party organic certifications can be obtained. But without any qualifying standards, an “organic” claim on a personal healthcare product may mean little or nothing.

Getting Organic on Soap

In April 2008, the NOP released a news bulletin clarifying the USDA standards for organic certification of cosmetics, body care products and personal care products. The USDA is responsible for all “organic” claims on food products, but is currently not enforcing the same standards on personal healthcare products labeled “organic” as it does on organic foods and dietary supplements.

The issue with soap is one of the major controversies. Some view that the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) does not allow soap manufacturers to put any organic claims either “organic” or “made with organic ingredients” on soap products. They believe that any soap product that claims to be “organic” is violating the OFPA. The NOP differs with this viewpoint and has drafted a document that supports the interpretation of the OFPA to allow organic certification and labeling of soap products formulated and manufactured in conformity to the regulations laid down by the NOP.

In July 2009 the NOP addressed the soap issue and a guideline has been drafted to be used by certifying agents accredited by the USDA, to certify and label soap products (made in accordance with NOP regulations) as “organic” or “made with organic ingredients”. Whether the Food and Drugs Administration will agree with these guidelines is yet to be seen. NOP regulations describe a consistent, uniform policy for the formulation and manufacturing of a finished product, without specifying the finished product. This allows a wide variety of products to be labeled “organic” or “made with organic ingredients” regardless of the end use of the product. Therefore, based on true organic component content, a soap product may be eligible, under USDA, for “made with organic ingredients” certification if, for example, a product is made from 75 percent organic ingredients and 25 percent allowed synthetic ingredients.

The Need for a Complete Policy on Personal Healthcare Products

Many in the industry argue that federal standards for organic certification should be weaker than those set for foods. Others believe that regardless of whether a product is to be ingested or topically applied, both have the potential to cause equally hazardous side effects, and therefore an organics certification standard that can be applied across the board for both food and personal healthcare products should be in effect.

One of the major tasks the NOP has on hand is to set guidelines and develop clear policies for organic claims of personal healthcare products and propose these to the Food and Drugs Administration. The need is to develop a complete federal government policy for personal healthcare products. Many manufacturers are of the opinion that the clear regulations the NOP has outlined for organic foods and nutritional supplements should be adopted for personal healthcare products as well.

Should soap that is formulated with certified organic oils and materials be labeled as “organic” or “made with organic ingredients”?

Many soap manufacturers concur with the NOP’s interpretation of the OFPA and see the need for a more regulatory policy on organic certification for personal healthcare products. The implementation of these policies will, in the long run, boost the high quality standards of the term “organic” or “made with organic ingredients” label claims for personal healthcare products. Consumers will be able to recognize organic components in the product as well as synthetic ingredients in all products whether they are to be ingested or topically applied. Industry experts predict that these changes, when formalized by the Food and Drugs Administration, will boost the credibility of the personal healthcare industry and result in greater consumer trust and higher growth prospects.

We may picture someone performing crunches on a stability ball. Or perhaps it is someone performing a rollout with a stability ball. Or maybe it doesn’t involve any equipment at all and instead is simply someone doing a plank.

Regardless of what comes to mind, the goal is usually to stabilize or strengthen the trunk of the body. Sometimes our clients will perform what they recognize as core drills initially but not as much thereafter. And they are puzzled how their core continues to get stronger when are not continuing with these drills.

Well the reason is that we select specific drills and exercises based on a number of criteria. And core drills are a means to moving on to the next phase of training rather than the end goal in and of itself. For example, I don’t know of any athlete that has won a competition in planks or crunches.

But if we scale back on these drills how do we continue to train the core? And if we aren’t training it in the traditional way most people recognize does that mean we put any less emphasis on core training?

The answer to the 2nd question is that not only do we not put less emphasis on the core we actually put more emphasis on it by the selection of exercises we prescribe. And secondly, whenever we maintain a stable core and move the extremities we put a stress on the core and thus are training the core.

Ideally, our goal is always to create as much force or power possible while maintaining a neutral spine. Imagine performing a standing biceps curl with a glass of water on top of the head. With no weight in our hands we could probably move the arms from the side of the body to beside the shoulders and thus complete the upward motion of the curl. And you probably wouldn’t spill a drop. As you repeat the movement with heavier and heavier loads you’ll get to the point where you can’t steady the glass on top of your head. While you can probably complete a rep of the exercise you would have doused yourself trying.

Traditional training is based on extremity strength and what most think when it comes to core training. This involves performing biceps curls, legs presses and crunches on stability balls. Our approach differs in that we will only train our extremities to the extent that our core will allow. This is a safer approach and since it doesn’t allow for compensation or cheating it is a more effective way to train the core.

So the next time you are wondering what you can do in the gym to train the core think of two things. One is how close to neutral can you maintain the lumbar (low back) spine and secondly imagine a glass of water on top of your head. If you can obey these two rules then you can train as explosively and heavily as possible. And you’ll develop some pretty incredible body armour.

Now go test out these two rules during your next workout and let me know what you think.

And as many put in the efforts towards better health there is one measure that ultimately reinforces and motivates or demoralizes and derails the progress. This measure is the scale. People can be fitting into their jeans more easily, waking up without knee pain, sleeping better through the night and getting their blood sugar under control all by simply adding in some resistance based workouts. However one step on the scale where the needle didn’t drop from the last visit and we’re ready to give up. But should we?

The first phase of a new program will elicit some neurological adaptations. This is a fancy way of saying that our body gets better at sending and receiving the message from our nervous system while working out. And as a result of this and later physiological adaptations we are going to stimulate lean body mass. Translation = we will add muscle to our frames.

Now over time we do want and expect to see a ‘net’ weight loss. I put net in quotation marks because there is both a gain and a loss of body mass during the initial phase. Suppose we gain 5 lbs of muscle mass and lose 10 lbs of fat in the first 6 weeks. This would be represented as a net loss of 5 lbs.

Unfortunately, some people will have been putting in honest efforts in both their workouts and their nutrition during these 6 weeks and feel ripped off at having only lost 5 lbs. But here’s the catch.

In the first phase of the training you may perform a squat or a deadlift and stimulate your body to produce lean body mass. And perhaps on day one we used a bar weighing 45 lbs and at week 6 you are using 150 lbs for the same lift. Over a 300% increase! Do you think this rate of muscle and strength increase will continue like this every 6 weeks? Or do you think it’s possible that after a period of time your strength levels off? Most likely it’s the second scenario.

So over time you will gradually taper off on your strength gains but will continue to burn calories during your workouts. Soon the energy balance begins to swing in your favour and you realize pounds coming off more quickly. For example in weeks 7-12 you may gain 2 lbs of muscle but lose 8 pounds of fat for net weight loss of 6 pounds.

The take home message here involves a number of points:
* be patient with your weight loss
* track your results with a number of measures such as tape measures, waist to hip ratio, strength levels, joint function, insulin sensitivity, how your best pair of jeans fit, body fat, pictures, blood work

The more measures you have the more easily you can determine if your efforts were successful. If all the measures listed are going in the right direction and you lost one lbs don’t give up. You are on the right track.

In a subsequent article I’ll explain how you adjust your nutrient intake as you begin to make progress.

Step 1 - Know what the end product is. We have to be really specific here. We can’t just say ‘lose a few pounds’ or ‘tone up’. We need to have an exact number in mind and be specific with describing it. For example you might say ‘I want to lose 9 pounds by April 1 but lose no muscle mass’. This is very specific, it has a time component and puts restrictions of the type of weight loss allowed.

Step 2 - Look at what you are currently doing and see if you are the fittest, leanest, healthiest person you know. If you answered yes, find healthier, leaner friends. Only somewhat joking about the last part. But seriously, if you aren’t 100% happy with the way you look, feel and perform than you need to identify what it is you are currently doing related to your nutritional plan, your exercise and your rest. And you’ll need to change at least one of these three.

Step 3 - Identify the weak link with respect to your nutrition, your training and your rest. If it is your rest aim to get 8-9 hours of sleep a night, be in bed by 10 pm. Go to bed and rise at the same time every day. Likewise if your weak link is your training or nutritional approach then you need to put together a new plan related to these. This I can help you with.

Step 4 - Implement the change for 2 weeks and record the results. In terms of results I mean your tape measures (waist, hips, chest, arms, legs), your photos, your scale weight, your strength, your quality of rest etc. Draw up a list with as many different parameters as possible and track these. After two weeks make note of your observations.

Step 5 - Be very thorough with your observations. I really have to thank HG, my grad school advisor in Regina, for drilling this into me. Log, record, write down everything. You don’t know right now what information is useful so record everything. As well, only make one change at a time so it becomes easier to see which change you made gave the best response. For example, if you lose 3 pounds you want to be able to see if that was during the 2 weeks you reduced your carb intake later in the day or when you upped your intake of protein. Don’t guess. Let the results guide you.

While my grad school advisor might be proud of me for remembering some of what he drilled into me, my high-school teacher might fail me for my recollection of the scientific method. This approach is meant to be a quick, no-frills approach to allow you to see how your body responds to the various changes you put upon it. In the research a paper may get dismissed if the experiment didn’t run for at least 8 weeks to allow for a physiological adaptation. Don’t worry about this. You will learn a lot about your health and how to improve it by following these 5 steps.

Now go experiment. And remember to record the results, good or bad.