3rd Grade Volleyball

Exercise = Cardiovascular Health!

Exercise strengthens the heart like any other muscle.  When the heart is stronger it can pump blood throughout the body much better.  This is important as blood contains the necessary oxygen, nutrients, and cells to keep our bodies alive & feeling well.  Exercise also produces eNOS (endothelial nitric oxide) which helps the heart & blood vessels relax so blood can flow easier.

October PE Stars

These students were voted as the October stars of their class for showing excellence in the following categories:

* Work Ethic
* Focus
* Positive Attitude
* Sportsmanship
* Leadership

Great job!!!


3rd Grade Stars

4th Grade Stars

5th Grade Stars

6th Grade Stars

Green Vegetables & Your Immune System

When we come in contact with a foreign invader (bacteria, virus), it will almost always enter through the nose or mouth.  From here, it’s going to end up in our digestive tract.  At this point, it must battle our front line troops – immune cells and friendly bacteria that line the walls of our GI tract.   The immune cells that protect us here are called lymphocytes.  Lymphocytes attack pathogens and help repair any damage done to the intestinal wall.  The Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK, suggests that green vegetables could play a very important role in making sure these lymphocytes are in shape and ready to respond to the foreign attack.

The researchers used mice to discover the effects green vegetables (broccoli, kale, spinach, etc.) had on intestinal lymphocytes.  When the mice regularly ingested green vegetables, they had lymphocytes that were plentiful and powerful!  They responded well to any pathogenic invader.  When the mice were fed a synthetic diet without any green vegetables for 2-3 weeks, 70-80% of the lymphocytes disappeared.  That is an astounding discovery!  It appears that the phytonutrients in green vegetables signaled to a key receptor in the body that kept lymphocytes going strong. 

As we approach the middle half of the school year, colds and flu will become more common.  Here is yet another natural approach to keep your immune system functioning at a high level. 




Source:  

Ying Li, Silvia Innocentin, David R. Withers, Natalie A. Roberts, Alec R. Gallagher, Elena F. Grigorieva, Christoph Wilhelm, Marc Veldhoen Exogenous Stimuli Maintain Intraepithelial Lymphocytes via Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation ell  2011 October
The Babraham Institute in Cambridge

Raw Vegetables & Berries Change Heart Disease Risk

The chromosome 9p21 is a gene that is often times a weak spot in people with heart disease.  In the past, we thought that those who have the weak version of this gene were automatically going to get heart disease.  New breakthroughs in research are now proving that genes like this are not set in stone.  In fact, they can be expressed differently when a person makes healthy lifestyle choices.

Researchers from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, discovered that the 9p21 gene may be altered as a result of changes in diet.  After studying 27,243 people of varying ethnicity, researchers concluded that there was significantly less risk for heart disease amongst people who ate a diet rich in raw vegetables, berries, and fruits.  This tells us that these foods are communicating to this gene in a positive way, influencing it not to cause havoc to the cardiovascular system.  If you know you have a history of heart disease in your family, it might be a good idea to consider adding more raw vegetables, berries, and fruits to your diet.  Pick a variety of these foods to improve your health!

Source:

Ron Do, Changchun Xie, Xiaohe Zhang, Satu Männistö, Kennet Harald, Shofiqul Islam, Swneke D. Bailey, Sumathy Rangarajan, Matthew J. McQueen, Rafael Diaz, Liu Lisheng, Xingyu Wang, Kaisa Silander, Leena Peltonen, Salim Yusuf, Veikko Salomaa, James C. Enge. The Effect of Chromosome 9p21 Variants on Cardiovascular Disease May Be Modified by Dietary Intake: Evidence from a Case/Control and a Prospective Study.  PLoS Medicine  2011 October
Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada. 

3rd Grade Bowling Highlights

Football & Rocket Workout