What Everybody Ought to Know About Nordic Walking

The History of Nordic Walking

The use of the walking poles is as old as Methuselah.  Why people started to use them is unknown. Was it because as human beings aged they developed rounded shoulders and sunken chest and became afraid of falling over, so needed an extra support when walking?

Fact is, that in prehistoric times, sheppards and pilgrims used one or two sticks to make it easier to walk on uneven surfaces. Unloading the joints and extra stability were some of the early benefits of walking with sticks. On long treks, walks in the mountains or hills, the walking pole found its rightful place in walking.

Another forerunner of Nordic Walking was the use of the poles in the training methods of the cross country skiers in summer time. This application of training is written in literature as ‘pole training’ and has been used since the beginning of the 20th century.  After the fall of the iron curtain in Germany, trainers from the west compared their training methods to those of the Eastern bloc and it revealed that the Eastern bloc trainers had also been using this training method for several years. Their training with poles in summer was important in order not to lose coordination and muscle power of the arms and trunk over the summer.

Nordic Walking is one of the fastest growing recreational fitness sports in the world and has its roots in the early 1930s in Finland as an off season training method of the competitive crosscountry skiers. Development of Nordic Walking in its present form as a recreational physical activity for all started in early 1980 in Finland, and in 1997 the first official Nordic Walker poles were introduced to the public by one of the world’s largest pole manufacturers, Exel plc. The estimated population of Nordic Walkers at the end of the year 2007 was over 7 million.

Nordic Walking for Fitness and Cardio

Nordic Walking is fitness walking with specially designed Nordic Walking poles to engage the upper body during walking. It offers a very efficient, aerobic and easy way to improve your physical condition irrespective of age, sex or physical condition.

Nordic Walking can be up to 46% more efficient than regular walking (Cooper Institute Research 2000) depending on the intensity of the exercise.

The science behind Nordic Walking

There is a lot of scientific evidence about the benefits of Nordic Walking. INWA collects worldwide research concerning Nordic Walking and also consults actively with scientists, institutions and universities about new research projects. If you are interested in Nordic Walking studies or you are planning Nordic Walking related research project, please contact the INWA office.

General benefits of Nordic Walking are:

• Heart rate is higher than in regular walking (at the same speed) and calorie burn is increased
• Energy consumption increases when using poles by an average of approximately 20% compared with ordinary walking
• Reduces muscle tension and pain in the neck and shoulder region
• The mobility of the neck and spine may increase
• The muscles most actively involved are the forearm extensor and flexor muscles the rear part of the shoulder muscles, the large pectoral muscles and the broad back muscles.
• Does not aggravate joint and knee problems; may reduce load on knees
• Can improve cardiorespiratory fitness and improve muscular endurance
• Poles are a safety factor on slippery surfaces
• Is a fun and safe activity

As of 2009,  approximately 8 – 10 Million people do Nordic Walking on a weekly basis.

Ref: International Nordic Walking Federation, Founded in Finland 2000

ANWA, American Nordic Walking Association

Here is a Method That is Helping the Swiss to stay Slim

Salad, comes from the Latin word herba salata and literally means salted vegetables. The Greek and Romans enjoyed salad often and ate the raw greens and vegetables with salt and herbs, hence the name salad – salted vegetables.

Growing up in Switzerland I never got the concept of eating your salad before your meal. It was just something my Hungarian family didn’t do. As a teen I started to understand why one should eat the salad first and follow it with soup and main course. You can cut calories by about 500. Another reason is, the vinegar in the salad dressing will get your stomach acid going so it can be ready to digest the main dish you are about to eat. Smart eh?

Raw salads should consist of:

• leafy greens
• raw root vegetables
• the fruit of the vegetable like tomato, zucchini and peppers
• as well as nuts and seeds

Switching your vegetables everyday is your best bet. You can switch also the colors and spices from spicy to sweet dressing and so forth.

Can you imagine how easy it would be for everybody to loose weight with eating a plate of raw veg salad everyday. Salads don’t have to be rabbit food. Salads are colorful, exciting, tasty, juicy and most importantly healthy and delicious. The crunch will satisfy your cravings and make your jaws work, the more you chew the more vitamins and minerals you get out of your food. It will also take you longer to eat your salad, since chewing raw vegetables is really hard work. Longer meals means less calories consumed and less calories consumed mean less pounds on the scale. Let me explain the last sentence, taking your time with eating means your stomach has the time it takes – about 20-30 min – to signal your brain that you are in fact full. Eating slowly also means that when your brain tells you that you are full you can actually stop eating before emptying the whole plate or bag of chips.

Salads as appetizers should always be on a vinaigrette base and not a cream, mayo or cheese base. Calories from the vinaigrette dressing is less than the mayo base and less will stick to your salad and vegetables as well to your thighs. Keep mayo and cream sauces to a minimum and replace them with a natural yogurt base.

How to put it all in action:

• eat fruit salads or fruit smoothies for breakfast
• serve freshly prepared salads as a appetizer
• introduce children to raw vegetables with hummus dips
• have a leaf and vegetable salad as dinner

Are you aware that raw vegetables are really inexpensive? Yes, I’m not kidding. In season vegetables and fruits are inexpensive and available in you grocery store as very fresh and delicious produce. Fresh and local produce is very high in vitamins and minerals. Always choose the local produce vs the imported ones, it’s healthier and the price is better. Buying a cart full of vegetables is less expensive than buying all the junk food and manufactured empty calories. Your body does not get any satisfaction from eating manufactured foods, so pile up your cart with lots of local veg and fruits the next time you go to the local market.

These days we love to start our main meals with some salad or have a raw salad as dinner. Even as a snack it’s great. Children particularly love the crunchy stuff with dips and sauces.

Stay Healthy!

Monika Baechler

Free Radicals and why do we rust?

Did you know that we rust? Yes, it’s true! The same air that provides us with life also causes the iron in our bodies to rust.

Have your ever seen a cut apple turn brown within seconds? That is the same effect how our cells break down and rust, age. It’s a bit complicated but here is the rundown how that happens. Through a couple of chemical changes, oxygen molecules in our bodies lose electrons and making the oxygen molecules unstable. The unstable molecules are called free radicals. Let’s just say, this is a bad thing. To stabilize themselves, free radicals steal electrons from our healthy cells everywhere in the body. So, every time this happens, a healthy molecule is damaged and even more free radicals are created every time.

Now you can see that not having enough antioxidants to come to the unstable molecules rescue, is a bad thing. Nature is abundant with all kinds of antioxidants ready to be eaten by us. The antioxidants are like little super heroes coming to the rescue to save your healthy cells. Stuffing yourself with antioxidants will not guaranty a healthy life or old age. Make sure you clean out your colon first and start building up your health from “colon” up.

I hope you have a chance to read “A Step by Step Guido to Optimum Health and Relief from Catastrophic Illness, by Jon Barron” you can download it here for free!

How to fight the Aging Process and strengthen your Immunsystem

Fasting is the abstinence from solid food and addictive substances like alcohol, coffee and drugs for a specific time. This is for therapeutic maybe even for religious purposes. Fasting will support your body by resting your digestive system. Do you know why this is so important? Now that you are fasting, your body can use the energy (calories) you are getting by juice fasting to use elsewhere in your system to heal and repair “stuff”

• I had a client who healed a very old knee wound he sustained in a car accident.
• Couple clients that cured Hemorrhoid after years of suffering.
• A Lady who cured syndrome x
• IBS gone after years of suffering for a teenager

Fasting for 3 to 5 days is considered a short term fast. If you go longer it’s a long term fast. I have seen people go 40 or more days on a juice fast. In our days, I do NOT recommend a water only fast. It is very harsh on our bodies and involves major detox symptoms, which may need hospitalization if you are very toxic to begin with. For expert fasters it is possible to finish a water only fast but don’t go over 10 days. The best idea anyway for seasoned fasters is to combine a juice fast with a water fast. This is done as follows: 5 days juice fast followed by 2-3 days of water fast, again continued by 5 days juice fasting and so forth.

People with blood sugar problems could be adversely affected by a juice fast. I recommend to fast only if you talked to your doctor. (They will not agree with your decision anyway)  If you have syndrome X (insulin resistance) please use only vegetable juices instead of sweet fruits. You can add some granny smith apples for lunch, but do not use them for breakfasts or by themselves and always dilute the juices.
I do believe, that people with high blood sugar can extremely benefit from a juice fast. Your body could in fact “reboot” and use insulin in a more efficient way, if you stick to a changed and improved diet after your fast. (more about the diet later)

Did you know that your body can not get to the nutrients in your vegetables and fruits because it’s encased in fiber? Some 90% of the nutrients in produce we eat are eliminated with the vegetable fiber as it passes through the body. This is why juicing is so important these days, the full 100% of the nutrients in the vegetables and fruits can be absorbed by our body, since the juicer does all the work for you and separates the juice from the fiber in the process. Our system can digest and absorb the juice in about 30 minutes without weighing down the digestive system.

You can find out more and learn more on 30dayjuicefast.com. Information about how to start and try a juicing day or how to buy a juicer are some of the things you will find. Videos are also available and a documentary as well.

Currants stop Cancer before it starts?

It’s not the high value of vitamin C that excited researchers. Gary D. Stoner, Ph.D., director of the cancer chemo-prevention program at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center in Columbus says, ellagic acid is a member of a disease-fighting family of compounds know as polyphenols. Raspberries, strawberries, and grapes also contain polyphenols. In laboratory studies, ellagic acid has been shown to be a powerful antioxidant, meaning that it helps neutralize free radicals, harmful oxygen molecules that are missing one electron.

What are free radicals? Well, free radicals are harmful oxygen molecules which are missing an electron. So they try to replace it with one from your healthy cells, therefore causing cellular changes which could lead to cancer. Ellagic acid has also been shown to block the effects of cancer-causing chemicals in the body at the same time it stimulates the activity of enzymes that fight cancer growth. Because of these two reasons, ellagic acid in currants, make it a powerful ally for blocking cancer.

Doctors are not really sure how much currants you would have to eat to get the cancer fighting effect. Dr. Stoner speculates that four to six servings of fruits (including currants) and vegetables a day is enough to substantially lower your risk of developing cancer.

Please be smart, only if you eat healthy whole foods like fruits and vegetables plus follow a exercise program can you prevent degenerative deseases. But including cancer-fighting foods like currants you could enhance the effect!

How to look 10 or 15 years younger without surgery?

You probably think, yeah right Monika, what kind of snakes oil are you selling? I’m not selling you anything but you probably spend to much on anti aging creams already, am I right? It’s the same thing in every commercial, buy our cream and you will look younger.

Yes it is true, you can make a little change with creams and serums but is it really going to make you look 10 to 15 years younger? Not very likely.

One thing I can bet my shirt on is this. Change your lifestyle and see the result. What would you pay to look 10 to 15 years younger without creams, gimmicks and no pain or recovery? To see real changes, all you need is 8 – 12 weeks. In the summer, you could be looking in the mirror and see your younger sister or your baby brother.

How am I going to do that, you ask? It is soooo easy if you follow this rule! “Don’t live life like a young person, love your life like a smart and mature one!” Now you think, how does that make sense? Let me explain. Most young people eat like crap, smoke, don’t care about their health and go party all night and stay up all night. Now the smart mature people who love themselves, will start respecting their bodies. Respecting your body and loving your life means eating nutritious food, not smoking, little or no alcohol, exercise and lots of sleep. If you can add a healthy relationship, you are set.

If you are interested in a detailed outline of the program, please let me know!

If this or an other article helped you and you enjoyed it, please donate to monikabaechler.com, thank you!

Welcome to the Baechler Health and Nutrition Blog

Do you care about living a long healthy life, getting degenerative diseases, saving your children and grandchildren from obesity and illnesses, getting cancer and paying healthcare? Because if you don’t, then this blog is not for you! Thanks for visiting.

If you do care about those things – then read on:

Sadly and ironically in a land of plenty, on a continent of excess, many people are so highly deficient in vitamins and vital minerals as a horrific result of our food productions and processing methods. These deficiencies will lead to all sorts of horrible degenerative diseases, because dead food leads to dead cells. The question is not if – the question is when.

So you are telling me that you eat whole grains and organic foods and make sure you only buy whole wheat bread and so forth. Now consider this, most maufacturers make exceptionally poor-quality organic foods available, for example the organic white sugar and various organic cane juices and cane juice powders, which are simply refined sugar – unless it specifically says “unrefined”. Most of the time the word “organic” is used to mask an unwholesome food. Only because it says “organic” that doesn’t mean it’s good for you or your children. Manufacturers use the highly obsessed over big “O” to lure consumers to buy bad foods and it nearly fools everyone and it is one of the most deceiving and sickest marketing games today.

Even harder to metabolize and worse for your health than white sugar are the refined oils. If the product is not labeled with “unrefined,” then they are refined and these commonly used canola and other oils are the worst foods that can be eaten.

There is no Right- for- all- Diet, and with diet we always refer to the daily foods you eat not a calorie or fat reduced way of eating. Some people need to be vegetarians because of the love for animals or are even vegens.  Others prefere to eat raw-vegens or just raw. Not every body is suited for one kind of diet and every body has to figure out for themselves which diet is right for them. You can also be in between raw and whole foods, for example if you eat 60-80% raw but sometimes like to eat some broiled fish with steamed vegetables or some organic broken bone and vegetable soup.

All you really have to remember is this: 100% Whole Foods or at least 95%.

1. Eat a varied and abundant organic vegetables and fruits (organic most of the times or all the times)
2. Eat organic, range-fed animals without antibiotics added and grain fed animal products, about 4 ounces daily (animal protein is optional)
3. Choose a variety of plant seeds like roasted pumpkin seeds, ground or soaked flax meal and legumes
4. supplement with sea vegetables and micro-algae, including chlorella, wild blue-green algae, and spirulina
5. add healthy exercise every day

The perfect balance in your body is one of the most important things, the balance between acidity and alkalinity. Let me give you an example: Meat, fish, sausage, eggs, noodles, white bread, processed foods and sugar are very acidic to our bodies, but most veg, salads, tofu, fresh herbs, fruits and many more things are very alkaline (acid neutralizing) to our bodies.

Many people don’t pay attention if they have heartburn or a sour stomach, but they really should. That is a very specific sign that you are in deed acidic and need to change your diet and lifestyle. Yes I now, I’m preaching about the healthy lifestyle again and eating right blah, blah, blah…

But listen, do you want to end up like older friends and relatives, sick with all kinds of industrialized illnesses like, gout, arthritis, migraines, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity…? No? I didn’t think so. If you’re experiencing some or more of these symptoms you can reverse them with a whole food diet.

If this or an other article helped you and you enjoyed it, please share this with your family and friends.

Stay Healthy!

Monika Baechler