The Case for Skim Milk

Some health and fitness professionals advise against drinking milk. I once heard fitness guru, Jack LaLanne, say adult human milk consumption was unnatural, illustrating the point with the fact that no other adult mammals drink milk.

While Jack LaLanne's point is valid, it's hard to ignore the valuable nutrients contained in milk. And unlike other mammals, humans have figured out how to skim the fat out of milk, leaving just the good stuff.

When you drink skim milk, you are benefiting your body with the following:

• Protein
• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Potassium
• Vitamin B12
• Vitamin A
• Niacin
• Riboflavin

In total, the above nutrients help you maintain bone mass, muscle mass, healthy blood pressure, healthy skin, and good vision. The protein in milk also provides an energy boost.

With milk (as with most other foods), organic is better...and more expensive. The organic label guarantees the milk-producing cows were not treated with growth hormones or injected with antibiotics. Thankfully, growth hormones are not widely used anymore in non-organic milk.

Companies Are Coming Around to the Idea of Power Naps

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The issue of power naps in the workplace seems to come up every few years. New research conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management indicates that 6% of employers provide nap rooms for their employees. This number is up 1% from last year.

I've long been a fan of the power nap but never had an employer who was amenable to the idea. Employer-employee relationships, in my experience, are based on mistrust. Mostly that mistrust is unidirectional -- that is, employers mistrust their employees.

So, I see this development as mostly good news. Power naps help us work better. We all need breaks during the workday (we are not robots), and sometimes we need to relax instead of socialize with coworkers.

I worry, however, the employers will use this benefit as a way to keep people at work for longer hours, defeating any productivity gain. Corporate America often excels at taking good ideas and screwing them up.

I advise against rocking the boat. Instead, make your own power nap time if possible. Find a place during your allotted break time or lunch hour -- your car, a sofa in a hotel lobby, your desk, a hidden room in your office building -- and take a nap.