Tag: dr. edwards princeton

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Long Term Benefits of Taking Daily Vitamins

Because of a busy schedule, it can be difficult to pack all the necessary nutrients into your diet. If you struggle with chronic health conditions that require certain elements be added to your diet daily, vitamins and supplements are so important to add to your routine. There are many reasons why people take vitamins, but vitamins have benefits you may not even know about. 

Nutritional Value 

By taking a daily vitamin or even a multivitamin you can be getting nutrition that you may not even thought of. For example, vegetarians may think their diet is healthy enough, but are often missing out on vital nutrients such as B12, iron and even magnesium. Dietary supplements can step in to fill in the gaps where the dietary choices we make are not the best. 

Reduce Mental Health Symptoms

If you are someone who suffers from anxiety or depression, there could be a connection between those mental health symptoms and how your diet is supporting your brain’s health. Improving your diet can give you more energy, which is paramount for a person coping with depression. The vitamins you are giving your body through a supplement help regulate areas of the body like the nervous system to help regulate mental health. 

Healthy Metabolism 

Taking a vitamin every day regulates the body so that it gets the same amount of nutrients. Regulating these vitamins and minerals can be good for your metabolism as it helps to create a more predictable pattern for your body to become accustomed to. A multivitamin, in addition to a healthy diet and exercising, sets you up for a healthy, vital life. 

Dr. Barbara R. Edwards, Princeton Internist, practices at Penn Medicine Princeton Health in the Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center. She is also the Academic Director for the Ambulatory Residency Program at Penn Medicine Princeton Health.

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How to Work on Having a Positive Mindset

It’s not uncommon to find yourself feeling down or doubtful about yourself or certain things in your life. You’re not alone in this, and lots of things in life can get you down or lead you to carrying a negative mindset. Adopting a positive mindset can help improve not only your day, but your entire life. Thinking positively can lead a person to make better decisions in their life to set them on the right track for success. Keep on reading to see what steps you can take today to guarantee positivity!

Be more conscious of your gratitude

Having a sense of gratefulness can truly elevate your life. Being grateful helps a person to become an optimist instead of a pessimist, as you can appreciate all of the things in your life that mean something to you. This can range from telling a friend or family member that you love and appreciate them, to just being happy that the sun is shining and the clouds are gone. Being more grateful day-to-day can help get your mind into the habit of seeing the best in things, which will help if you’re feeling down!

Work on that voice in your head

We all have one of those voices in our heads that acts as an inner narration of our  thoughts. Do you realize that you can engage with this part of yourself and rework a bad mindset into a good one? That’s right, you can literally talk yourself up and out of a negative mindset. Work through negative or pessimistic thoughts in your head and reset that mindset!

Be mindful

Being mindful means to live in the moment and have awareness of what is going on. Doing so with an open and kind attitude can really help rearrange your attitude and outlook on life! For many, the mind can wander and be stuck on things like the past, or anxious worries about the future. Throw these thoughts aside and be able to pull your mind back down to reality and focus on the here and now. This in-the-moment attitude helps to build focus and can help guide you to your goals.

Define your success

Everybody’s definition of success will be different, but one thing is consistent: this definition of success will help support a positive mindset and will guide you along the road of achieving well-being. If you have a clear goal in mind of where you want to be in life, and carry lots of confidence about it, you can use that momentum to propel you forward.

Reworking your attitude and outlook on life can help you immensely. It’s been proven that keeping a positive mindset allows a person to be happier. Make your switch today!

Dr. Barbara Edwards, a Princeton MD is the Academic Director for the Ambulatory Residency Program at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, providing quality care to uninsured and under-insured New Jersey residents in Mercer and Middlesex counties.

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Importance of Switching Up Your Workout Routine

 

For workout enthusiasts, a certain routine can make or break your motivation. This isn’t anything to fault yourself for, as humans naturally like to have a bit of structure and consistency. Despite this, keeping a rigid routine within your workout can make it feel more like a chore than an uplifting activity. Falling into the same handful of exercises also isn’t the best physically, especially if you aren’t seeing the results you’d like, or you’ve developed overuse injuries. Going forward, here are a few reasons why you should add a bit of spice to your workouts to get the best results.

Prevent strain

If you’re hitting one area consistently throughout the week without any rest, you could be putting extra stress on your body and could possibly do harm in the future. By only focusing on one area or one group of muscles and working them as hard as you can, you put yourself at risk of suffering an overuse injury. Switching up workouts to include several different points on your body can give one area rest while challenging another. As a side note, remember to stretch and relax before and after your workout!

Support your mind

Not only does switching up your workout routine benefit you physically, but it also helps you mentally and emotionally. One of the worst things you can do with your workout is making it into a chore. Once you do that, you open up the door for all motivation and love for exercise to slowly chip away as well. If you just jump on the treadmill for an hour every day, you’re going to start dreading it after a while. A good workout is supposed to have a healthy relationship with time, you shouldn’t feel like you’re working out for far longer than you actually are. 

That potential loss of motivation can lead you to not want to push harder in your workouts to gain progress or can keep you from wanting to be in the gym at all. By switching up your workout, you keep things fresh and exciting.

Additionally, workouts help support positive mental health and can reduce depression. Keeping it the same won’t challenge your mind as much as trying new things will.

How to switch up your routine

There are several ways to switch up your routine to keep things fresh. A go-to option for many is to get a gym buddy. Either meeting someone in the gym or asking a friend to come lift with you, having a friend to exercise with will give you an added layer of motivation and can even hold you to a higher sense of accountability if you miss out on a day. Another tip to keep things fresh is to consider an entirely new gym. Most gyms have the same general types of amenities but one gym may have a completely different set of machines than the next. It doesn’t hurt to shop around.

As you see, it can be easy for your workout routine to fall into the chore mindset, but this doesn’t always have to be the case! Switch things up and keep them exciting!

Dr. Barbara Edwards, a Princeton MD is the Academic Director for the Ambulatory Residency Program at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, providing quality care to uninsured and under-insured New Jersey residents in Mercer and Middlesex counties.

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High Blood Pressure Diet: Foods to Avoid

Blood pressure levels are one of the many things that must be considered when maintaining a healthy diet. High levels of blood pressure must be treated or monitored, and after a prolonged period with no solution in sight, untreated levels can lead to heart disease, heart failure, or stroke. You may not realize it, but certain factors of your diet can be directly leading you down the path of hypertension. Here are some of the best foods to avoid if you are looking to keep your blood pressure levels in check.

French fries

Probably not the biggest surprise to you, but french fries are not exactly the most ideal snack to have alongside your burger or other greasy meal. 9 out of 10 orders of french fries are generously coated in salt. Excessive salt intake can lead to fluid retention in your body, leading you down the road to high blood pressure.

 

Mashed potatoes

No, mashed potatoes are not much healthier than their deep-fried cousin, the french fry. Studies have shown that high intake of potatoes in general can lead to hypertension. This data was even more apparent among those who ate 3-4 or more servings of mashed potatoes a week.

 

Sausage

Sausages have been found to be very fatty and salty meats. A single sausage sandwich can contain over half of the recommended daily intake of sodium.

 

Mineral water

Yes this is true, mineral water isn’t as healthy as it is advertised to be. Individuals who are prone to hypertension should avoid bottled mineral water. Mineral water can contain high levels of sodium, some around 200 mg per liter. The same can be said for salt content, which is a common catalyst for hypertension and other related illnesses. If possible, stick to regular tap or bottled water.

 

Wine

Now, let me explain this one. Yes, wine has been linked to beneficial antioxidants and lowering the risk of heart disease. If you experience hypertension though, you should probably limit your consumption to around one to two glasses per day. Excessive drinking is a leading cause of high blood pressure and associated blood, heart, and kidney diseases. 

Experiencing hypertension is nothing to be ashamed of. You can still enjoy a normal life with high blood pressure, you just have to be a bit more aware of your diet!

Dr. Barbara R. Edwards, a Princeton MD is the Academic Director for the Ambulatory Residency Program at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, providing quality care to uninsured and under-insured New Jersey residents in Mercer and Middlesex counties.

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Three Tips to Boost Heart Health

Did you know that almost 1 in 2 adults experiences high blood pressure? Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death amongst both men and women, so your heart should be a preeminent health concern. If you are neglecting the health of your heart, you’re opening up the door for grave health issues down the road. Here are a handful of tips for you to keep in the back of your head to avoid bad news at the cardiologist’s office. Read below to help get control over your heart health!

1. Reconsider your diet

While it’s a fairly obvious step, changing your diet can be easier said than done. Start first thing in the morning with a healthy, balanced breakfast. Enjoy a serving of fruit alongside an egg and a serving of whole grains, such as whole-wheat bread or oatmeal. For lunch, whip yourself up a salad or a small turkey sandwich with some sautéed vegetables. For dinner, barring any dietary restrictions, consider eating seafood instead of red meat once or twice a week. Later, snack on a handful of nuts, with a bit of dark chocolate for some sweetness. Keep the sugars and excesive carbohydrates down. Being mindful of what you put into your body will benefit you greatly and can result in significant weight loss as well.

2. Learn your history

Another important step is to research your family history. Does a parent or grandparent have a history of high blood pressure? Heart disease? Any other sort of heart-related ailment? All of this is important to know, and even more important to talk about with your doctor. Your primary care physician can go through the proper steps with you to walk you down the right path toward better heart health.

3. Exercise! Exercise! Exercise!

This one is a no-brainer! Exercise at regular intervals is extremely important for hearth health. Even something as simple as a short, 20-minute walk can be enough to get the blood flowing. At least 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week is recommended, on top of muscle exercises for 2-3 days a week.

Keep heart health in mind and be a better friend to yourself! Keeping your heart health in check can help prevent conditions such as type 2 diabetes, certain forms of cancer and cardiac arrest, just to name a few. Your heart is what keeps you going, be sure to keep it going!

Dr. Barbara R. Edwards, a Princeton MD is the Academic Director for the Ambulatory Residency Program at Penn Medicine Princeton Health, providing quality care to uninsured and under-insured New Jersey residents in Mercer and Middlesex counties.