Stretching A Pulled Muscle. Yay Or Nay?

First off, what happens when a muscle gets pulled, strained, or torn? All three mean the same thing. For the purpose of this article, "strain" will be used. A muscle is made up of many fibers. When these fibers come closer together, or contract, the limb or joint moves. If the muscle is elongated in this contracted state, a strain can occur. The more muscle fibers that get torn, the worse the strain is. If enough of the muscle gets involved, a complete tear can occur. OUCH!!!

How to Treat Seasonal Allergies

Are you experiencing allergies earlier and worse than normal? I know I sure am. And it really sucks when you're congested and working out. During a good day you feel like you're breathing through your eyelids because you are gasping for air during the workout and trying to get as much oxygen into you any way possible. Now that your allergy is kicking in, it's harder to breathe through the congestion. This makes your workout suffer. And if you're not the type of person that likes to take medication, what do you do to alleviate the symptoms? The following is a link to Mark's Daily Apple site for today's post. It addresses possible alternatives to taking medication. As well, check out the link on his page that takes you to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. It gives you examples of foods that can trigger "oral allergy syndrome". Interesting stuff. Check it out!

How to Treat Seasonal Allergies | Mark's Daily Apple

Fruit And Vegetable Buying Guide

I came across this while checking out CF Football's site. It's a buying guide for fruits and vegetables that breaks it down as to when the best time of year to buy them are and how to make sure they are not too ripe or not ripe enough. The guide was made up in Tennessee. It is quite relevant to us, here in Canada, since we get a lot of produce from the U.S.

If you didn't click on 'this' up above then click here for the buying guide.

Walnuts

Eating walnuts is a great way to add good nutrition and flavor to a snack or meal. Walnuts are the edible nuts of the genus Juglans (walnut tree). It consists of a very hard outer shell. The kernel, inside the shell, resembles a butterfly and is usually light brown in colour.

Walnuts are a great source of omega-3 fatty acids. As a matter of fact, only 1/4 cup provides over 90% of the daily value of omega-3 fatty acids. Some of the health benefits include cardiovascular protection, improved cognitive function, anti-inflammatory properties (helpful with rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, eczema, psoriasis), and supports the immune system by acting as an antioxidant. A study was performed in 2006 where over 1100 different foods were tested for antioxidant properties. Walnuts were ranked 2nd to blackberries. It was also reported that there are over 10 different antioxidants in walnuts. Along with pecans and chestnuts, walnuts have the highest content of antioxidants in tree nuts.