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Exercising before bed actually may help you sleep better

By Dr. Charles Suber | The News Herald

Published: February 24, 2009

I thought it might be fun, for a change, to give you some entertaining facts about health. Some of these are humorous and some are very interesting. I hope they at least provide a bit of levity to your day.
• The staple food of the Kanembu, a tribe living on the shores of Lake Chad in Africa, is Algae. The Kanembu harvest a common variety known as Spirulina from the lake, dry it on the sand, mix it up into a spicy cake and eat it with tomatoes and chili peppers.
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, consumption of green and yellow vegetables has decreased 6.3 pounds a year per person since the late 1940s. The use of cereal and flour products has dropped about 30 pounds a year per person, and consumption of noncitrus fruits has declined at about the same rate.
• The Bible mentions salt more than 30 times.
• Apples are more efficient than coffee at keeping people awake in the morning.
• On average, a pound of potato chips cost 200 times more than a pound of potatoes.
• Eighteen ounces of an average cola drink contain as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.
• Though most people think of salt as a seasoning, only five out of every 100 pounds produced each year go to the dinner table. The rest is used for such diverse purposes as packing meat, building roads, feeding livestock, tanning leather and in manufacturing.
• The nutritional value of squash and pumpkin seeds improves with age. These seeds are among the few foods that increase in nutritive value as they decompose. According to tests made at the Massachusetts Experimental Station, squash and pumpkin seeds stored for more than five months show a marked increase in protein content.
• On the average, each American consumes 117 pounds of potatoes, 116 pounds of beef, 100 pounds of fresh vegetables, 80 pounds of fresh fruit and 286 eggs per year.
• Half the foods eaten throughout the world today were developed by farmers in the Andes Mountains. Potatoes, maize, beans, peanuts, pineapples, chocolate, avocados, tomatoes, strawberries and many other foods were first grown in this region.
• In ancient China and certain parts of India, mouse flesh was considered a great delicacy. In ancient Greece, where the mouse was sacred to Apollo, mice were sometimes devoured by temple priests.
• According to a report issued by the Senate Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, improved nutrition would cut the national health bill by approximately one third. The committee also claims that a diet composed of 10 percent protein, 10 percent fat and 80 percent complex carbohydrates (plus exercise done in moderation) could save 98 percent of those who die of heart disease every year.
• Rennet, a common substance used to curdle milk and make cheese, is taken from the inner lining of the fourth stomach of a calf.
• There are 15,000 different kinds of rice.
Rice is the chief food for half the people of the world.
• In the Middle Ages, chicken soup was believed to be an aphrodisiac.
• After the "Popeye" comic strip started in 1931, spinach consumption went up by 33 percent in the United States.
• Refined sugar is the only food known that provides calories but no nutrition. About 100 pounds of sugar are eaten per person each year in America, and only 36 percent of it is taken directly. The rest is "hidden" in commercially sweetened and prepared foods like ketchup, baby food, canned fruits and cereals.
• According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Americans eat more than 22 pounds of tomatoes every year. More than half this amount is eaten as ketchup and tomato sauce.
• Everyone knows about vitamins A, B, C, D and E. Few are aware that there are also vitamin K (promotes proper liver function), vitamin T (helpful in treating anemia), vitamin H (also called biotin), and vitamin U (promotes healing of ulcers).
• In ancient Rome it was considered a sin to eat the flesh of a woodpecker.
• Optimistic people who have suffered a heart attack are less likely to have a recurrence of the heart problems. A study of 300 people who were treated for blockage to the coronary arteries and had been through an angioplasty procedure found an amazing fact. The optimistic people were more than three times less likely to have another blockage requiring an angioplasty within six months of the first procedure.
• The idea that exercising before going to bed will cause you to have trouble falling asleep isn't true, according to a study done at a major university. In the study, non-exercisers worked out for an hour at different times of the day. The group who exercised before they went to bed fell asleep two to three times as quickly as people who exercised earlier in the day. Plus, not only did they fall asleep faster, they reported enjoying their night's sleep much better than the people who worked out in the morning or afternoon.
• You could increase the risk of coming down with age-related disorders such as diabetes and hypertension (high blood pressure) much sooner in life if you don't get enough sleep. Researchers at the Free University in Belgium found that people who don't get adequate sleep for prolonged periods of time are far more likely to get these ailments at younger ages than people who do get proper amounts of sleep.
Next week, it will be business as usual, as I will once again bring you information to keep you at the forefront of health and nutrition research. Until next time, all the best, in health and life.

Dr. Charles Suber is a local chiropractor. He may be reached at 433-7611 or drsuber@yahoo.com. This article offers general dietary guidelines and is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any disease. Please consult with your doctor before making any changes in your diet.