John Aaron Wellness

I like stress. Stress is good. Stress can cause you to grow, become faster, and more keenly aware of your surroundings. It sets off all sorts of hormones that can get your heart beating and your body pumping. After all, that which does not kill us can only serve to make us stronger, right? True - except for when that something is stress. The fact remains; too much stress actually CAN kill us. When we experience an overload of stress for too long, our ability to live in grace and balance may be challenged. As a result, our health can be severely compromised. The great thing about therapeutic massage is that it is a stress buster that actually works with little or no effort on your part and has become well known as one of the best ways to deal with the overload of stress so common in today's world. Therapeutic massage can give you a break from the buildup of stress and can help trigger the "relaxation response" (a natural function of the nervous system tha...

Let it be said that you can beat the odds and maintain a healthy figure throughout middle age. Gaining weight during middle age is only natural, right? Wrong... If you dread the pounds of midlife, cheer up! With the right attitude and an appropriate diet and exercise regiment, you may be able to keep your youthful figure and good health for a healthy start to your silver and golden years. It's a matter of weighing your responsibility. Midlife weight gain is unfortunately very common. There are definite factors working against you as you age. Besides fluctuating hormone levels, your metabolism begins to slow down. This means it takes more work to burn the calories you consume. Another problem is that most adults lose between 30 and 50 percent a pounds of muscle each year. The smaller your muscles are, the fewer the calories you are able to burn. Weight gain during your midlife is also a danger to your health as it increases your risks for a range of serious medical conditio...

Like most things in medicine, the amount of liquid you should drink seems to be constantly changing. So just how much do you need to drink on a daily basis for optimal health? You're about to find out that the scientific world has determined about your drinking needs. So turn on the tap and get ready to find out how full you should fill your glass. Only a few years ago, the medical community had a nice, one-size-fits-all answer to the liquid question. According to the experts, adults needed about eight glasses of water each day. This equaled out to approximately 64 ounces of water. While this acted as a good goal for most adults, it was a goal that was rarely met due to people simply being too busy to remember to down their daily regimen of water. Today, the old answer is no longer the only answer. Granted, it is still an accepted answer that helps many people remember to keep their lips to a glass of water, but researchers spent plenty of time studying just how much water a pe...

Devotees of massage therapy know it's relaxing and feels good. But massage may also be an effective tool for maintaining good health. Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center reported this week that a single massage produced measurable changes in the immune system and endocrine system of healthy adults. The researchers, led by Dr. Mark Rapaport, studied 29 healthy adults who received a 45-minute Swedish massage and 24 healthy adults who had a 45-minute session of light touch massage, a much milder exercise that served as a comparison to the more vigorous Swedish massage. Blood samples were taken before the massage began and at regular intervals up to one hour after the massage was completed. The study found several changes in the blood tests of the Swedish massage group that indicated a benefit to the immune system. For example, Swedish massage caused sizeable decreases in arginine vasopressin, a hormone that contributes to aggressive behavior, and small decreases in the s...