Solan Freelance Writing

Gluten-Free Diets

2011-03-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a link to my recent story in Men's Health on gluten-free diets.

Acupuncture in the NFL

2010-11-30T06:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/sports/football/30acupuncture.html?hpw

2010-11-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

Great article in the New York Times from Christopher McDougall, author of "Born to Run," about how and why we are inspired to run marathons.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/born-to-run-the-marathon/

Marathons and Knees

2010-10-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Interesting article in the New York Times for marathoners or runners in general.

Can You Trick Your Mind Into Eating Less?

2010-09-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior suggests that the key to losing weight could lie in manipulating our beliefs about how filling we think food will be before we eat it, suggesting that portion control is all a matter of perception. Read about it here.

Users of Complementary Medicine

2010-04-29T06:04:00.000-07:00

Interesting study about who uses complementary medicine:

Use of complementary and alternative medicine for pain treatment increases with age and wealth, U-M study finds

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — In a University of Michigan Health System study,1 out of 3 patients with chronic pain reported using complementary and alternative medicine therapies such as acupuncture and chiropractic visits for pain relief.

Socioeconomic factors – primarily race and age – played a large role in the use of alternative therapy in chronic pain patients, the study showed. Whites used alternative modalities more frequently than blacks and elderly adults had a higher frequency of using alternative therapies than younger adults.

According to the lead author, Carmen R. Green, M.D., U-M professor of anesthesiology and obstetrics and gynecology and associate professor of health management and policy, this pattern may be due to alternative medicine therapies usually attracting individuals with higher education levels and income, or the pattern could be a result of differences in insurance coverage.

Also, as people age, there is a greater chance that they will deal with chronic pain, therefore as age increases, so does the likelihood that people will seek alternative therapies to deal with the pain.The study which appears in the journal, Pain Medicine, highlights the importance of complementary and alternative medicine, its increasing usage, its economic impact, and concerns about safety and effectiveness.

The types of practitioner-based alternative therapy examined included manipulation therapy such as chiropractic or physical therapy procedures, biofeedback – instruments that control the heart rate, blood pressure and brain waves for relaxation purposes – and acupuncture.

These three alternative medicine therapy services were used most often by people with chronic pain, but who uses the therapy depends on the type of modality.

Of those observed, 35 percent reported using at least one form of complementary and alternative medicine therapy with 25 percent using manipulation techniques, 13 percent using biofeedback and 8 percent acupuncture.

Everyman On Everest

2010-04-01T07:53:00.000-07:00

Think you're too old to take on life's adventures? Read this fascinating story in The New York Times.

Eating Greener

2010-03-31T08:06:00.000-07:00

My story on "Eating Green" is in the May issue of Muscle & Fitness. It focuses on how to get your daily protein quota while reducing your carbon footprint. A few highlights: skip beef for chicken and pork, switch fresh fish for frozen, and when it comes to eggs free-range, organic, and farm fresh are not as green as you may think. You can read the entire story here.

Water, Water Everywhere

2010-02-19T13:40:00.000-08:00

In case you need yet another reason to up your water intake, check this out:

Water is not just a thirst quencher--it may also speed the body's metabolism. Researchers in Germany found that drinking two 8-ounce glasses of cold water increased their subjects' metabolic rate by 30%, and the effect persisted for 90 minutes. One-third of the boost came from the body's efforts to warm the water, but the rest was due to the work the body did to absorb it. "When drinking water, no calories are ingested but calories are used, unlike when drinking sodas, where additional calories are ingested and possibly stored," explains the lead researcher, Michael Boschmann, M.D., of University Medicine Berlin. Increasing water consumption to 8 glasses per day may help you lose about 8 pounds in a year, he says, so try drinking a glass before meals and snacks and before consuming sweetened drinks or juices.

Typewriter Collection

2009-12-14T08:19:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice mention about my typewriter essay that appeared in the Sept/Oct issue of Poet & Writers.

www.utne.com/GreatWriting/The-Art-of-Typewriter-Collecting-5849.aspx

Website Update

2009-10-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

I've made some changes to my website. You can now download selected PDFs in the CLIPS and ARCHIVE sections.

Tracking Down Typewriters

2009-10-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

Please check out my essay about my typewriter collection in the Sept/Oct issue of Poet & Writers.

Walk-Run for Better Running

2009-06-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

Interesting article in the New York Times about using the “run-walk” method — run for a while, walk for awhile, etc. — popularized by the distance coach Jeff Galloway. (www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02well.html?em)

Run-walk means taking brief walk breaks during your run — for example, run a minute and walk for a minute. If you are training for a race, say a marathon, this approach makes workouts less grueling and reduces the risk of injury, because it gives the muscles regular recovery time during a long run, according to the article. (Experienced runners say run-walk training has helped them post faster race times.)

The most interesting aspect of this approach is that it enables a way for older, less fit, or overweight people to take up running.

Medical Checkups for Men

2009-04-30T13:56:00.000-07:00

I recently finished a story for Men's Health (Take Charge of Your Checkup, May 2009) about what guys can do to make sure their medical test results are accurate. I wrote it about the time I got my annual physical and used a few of the tips. They were quite helpful. So a note to all the men out there — take the time to get a complete physical, including blood work. It's not as time consuming as you may think.

Sprint Triathlon Training

2009-01-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

I'm currently training for a mid-March sprint triathlon with my stepson. It's our first attempt at such an endeavor, and so far it's been a great start-the-year-right fitness challenge. Sprints are the "beginner level" triathlons -- you swim 1/4 mile, bike 10 miles, and run 3 miles. The running as been the easiest part so far. It's taken me about two weeks to get back in the groove or regular running. I've taken a few spinning classes, and next week begin what will be the most challenging leg for me — swimming. If you're active and looking for a new challenge, consider a sprint. I've been much more focused and enthusiastic about my workouts. Our goal is to finish with our heads held high, but I've been told to be prepared to get hooked. I found a great website for newbies called, BeginnerTriathlete.com, which offers various training programs for sprints and more challenging races, and a list of triathlons around the country.

Welcome!

2009-01-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

This is my first post of 2009 and, well, my first post ever as a blogger. So here I go. As a freelance health, fitness, and nutrition writer I come across a lot of interesting and compelling research and studies. My blog goal is to share some of this valuable, somewhat intriguing, and need-to-know information with the masses. The kind of stuff that makes you think, "hmmm, that's interesting" or "I didn't know that," or "are you sure that's real?" Check out my web site, www.matthewsolan.com for more info about me and my recent work.