How Pets Help Our Health

It’s something I grew up thinking, and I don’t even remember where I first heard the idea: pets improve your health. They’re especially good for the elderly or others living alone. Pets give you someone to care about and look after, bringing additional purpose and companionship to your life. Some recent medical studies, however, indicate that owning pets might have a more direct effect on our health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claim that pet ownership can decrease our blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride. Their studies also indicate that rates of stress, loneliness, and depression are lower among … Continue reading

Fitness for Your Emotions

It might be the last thing you think about when you are feeling down but did you know that exercise can put you in a better mood? Think about what you typically do when you are feeling down. Many of us probably turn to food, sit in front of the television or do some other mindless activity. We do these things because they seem to have a numbing affect on us. What happens after you have eaten that whole bag of chips or wasted hours in front of the television? Do you feel any better? No. In fact, you usually … Continue reading

Three Fun Ways to Prepare Your Marriage to Survive an Economic Depression

Last night while I was watching Mad Money, Jim Cramer said something which helped to slightly ease my worries about another Great Depression. He said we’re likely not heading into one. However, the key word was “likely.” Even he’s not 100 percent sure where we’re headed yet. That’s why my mind was only slightly eased. But as Cramer offered money and investing advice, I got to thinking about a couple of things. One was the movie Life is Beautiful. I loved how the main character found a way to make a game out of living in a concentration camp. The … Continue reading

Stress and Your Immune System

I’ve been stressed lately. Really stressed. It’s a combination of a lot of things coming to a head all at once, and the end result is that I’m cranky and I’m having trouble sleeping. Then I noticed another weird thing. My hands are sporting quite a few nicks and scratches from my part time job at the cats-only boarding facility. And those little wounds are taking a long time to heal — much longer than normal. That got me wondering how stress affects the immune system. In the short term, stress can actually boost your immune system. That “fight or … Continue reading