Posts Tagged by Health
Better Heart Health: One Sip at a Time
| February 6, 2013 | Posted by Ronni under Health, Wellness |
Heart disease is preventable. But living and eating healthy isn’t always number one on a caregiver’s list of priorities. Good news: It doesn’t have to be. Below are a list of some great drinks that you can fill your “to-go” cup with in the morning and sip your way to better heart health! Although, we recommend waiting until after a stressful day to enjoy a little of the red wine! Drink your way to heart health responsibly! 
Cup o’ Joe: The antioxidant activity in your morning cup of coffee is very high. The best part of coffee is – it’s everywhere! Here in New England, they rumor you can find a coffee shop every 200 ft!! In a very wide study of 83,000 women (according to caring.com) women who drank two to four cups of coffee a day saw a 20% drop in the risk of stroke. We recommend putting as little sweetener and creamer into your coffee as possible to keep it as healthy as possible.
Blend it Together: During our search we found a recipe from Dr. Oz for a heart-healthy smoothie! It’d be a great treat during the summer to keep you cool and healthy! It’s chalk full of antioxidants and delicious ingredients! Check it out HERE!
Nectar of the Forbidden Fruit: Pomegranates, rumored to be the forbidden fruit that tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, has an antioxidant level that is 3 times more than that of red wine or green tea. Once, pomegranate juice was considered hard to find – but now you can pick it up at pretty much every grocery store. Drinking the juice regularly may lower your cholesterol and remove arterial plaque. Stick to the “all-natural” brands with less sugar and additives.
During Tea Time: Both black tea and green tea are extremely good for your heart. During Fermentation of the tea, the leaves change chemical structure bring out the antioxidants hidden in the root of the plant. A few cups of black tea a day can reduce your risk of stroke by removing the bad cholesterol from your body. It can also increase blood flow throughout the day. Green tea also reduces the risk of stroke and coronaries. It can also be used to treat inflammation of the joints!
Daily Night Cap: Although alcohol has several side effects that can lead to bad health habits, a small glass of red wine daily may not be a bad thing for women. Research has shown that red wine is jam packed with cardioprotective compounds – like polyphenol. Polyphenol is found in the skin of the grap and during the wine making process becomes highly concentrated. It keeps the heart pumping. Stick to a small, 5 oz glass once a day. Drink responsibly!
Probiotics for Autism
| November 28, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Autism |
It’s common for people with autism to have more digestive health problems than average. It’s said that 25% of autistic children have at least one chronic gastrointestinal symptom. Probiotic microorganisms support digestive health in adults and children, so can probiotics help children and adults with autism?
In a study done at the University of Reading, 40 autistic children between 4 and 13 years old were randomly put into a trial group and a control group. The trial group was given a probiotic supplement and children in the other group were given placebos. The probiotics had an extremely positive effect on the children with autism. Comments from parents of participants in the probiotic group included reports on digestive health improvements as well as mental and behavioral improvements.
Foods That Can Help Save Your Memory
| November 22, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Alzheimer's Disease |
As of now, The National Institute of Health says that there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that your diet can prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. Many researchers believe, however, that the food you eat can help save your memory and keep your brain healthy.
5 Foods that May Keep Your Brain Healthy
Oil-based salad dressings. This is high vitamin E, which helps protect nerve cells, which starts to die in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s.- Fish. Docosahexaenoic acid in fish is important for the normal functioning of nerve cells in the brain.
- Dark green leafy vegetables. For example, a half-cup of cooked spinach has 25% of your daily vitamin E intake!
- Avocados. They are rich in both vitamin E and vitamin C—and are associated with a lower risk ofdeveloping Alzheimer’s.
- Berries. The latest research from the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston found that blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries could help stop age-related cognitive decline.
Enjoying Halloween with Diabetes
| October 25, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Diabetes |
For those with diabetes, Halloween can be tricky. It’s the one night that sugary candy is pretty much thrown at you for free, and resisting the temptation can be nearly impossible. But if you’re going to give into the temptation for this one night, these are the candies that you should choose to eat while handing them out to the trick-or-treaters:
- Fun-sized candy bars rather than full-sized. A fun-sized Kit Kat bar will save you 40 calories and 2 grams
of sugar. - Hershey’s dark chocolate. This has 7 less grams of sugar per serving than Dove’s dark chocolate
- PayDay Bar. This candy bar contains caramel, peanuts, and chocolate and will save you 2.5 grams of saturated fat and 10 calories compared to a Snickers bar.
- Caramel Apple Pop. Lollipops take a long time to eat and make you feel like you’re treating yourself to even more candy!
- Sugar-free Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups. Everyone loves Reece’s, and they’re hard to avoid on Halloween, so make sure you go sugar-free!
- Almond M&Ms. The almonds in the M&Ms displace some of the chocolate that you get with regular chocolate M&Ms and will save you 3 grams of carbs and 3 grams of sugar in each serving.
Can Coffee Prevent Pain at Work?
| October 17, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Health |
We’ve all been there before—sitting long hours at your desk job working hard (or hardly working) when you start to feel that aching pain in your shoulder or neck. Shoulder and neck pain are common with work involving very low levels of muscle activity, such as office work with computers. But can drinking coffee prior to work relieve the pain? We came across a recent study that took a look at subjects who drank coffee before starting computer office-work and if they showed a different time course in the pain development than those who did not drink coffee. 48 people, 22 with chronic shoulder and neck pain and 26 healthy pain-free subjects, were recruited to perform a computer-based office-work task for 90 min. 40% of them drank coffee prior to working. The study showed that during the work task, the coffee consumers showed significantly lower pain increase than those who did not drink coffee.
So, drinking a cup of coffee before work could be beneficial to preventing pain from occurring while you’re at your desk. Not only can coffee prevent an increase in pain, it can also decrease sleepiness and fatigue. So, if you’re ever sitting at work wondering what you can do to prevent that annoying pain in your shoulder or neck from occurring, try drinking a cup of coffee before going into work the next morning!
Foods Your Elderly Loved One Should Not Be Eating
| October 16, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Food and Nutrition |
Many people think that just because a certain food is regarded as “healthy”, that it’s okay to feed it to your elderly loved one. This is not always the case. There are certain foods that we think of as healthy that can actually make your elderly loved one sick, causing food poisoning or other food-related illnesses. As we age, it’s more difficult for our bodies to fight off germs, making it easier for us to get sick. So, it’s very important to make sure your elderly loved one is eating food that’s considered healthy for them, not necessarily what’s healthy for us. Here is a list of foods that your elderly loved one should avoid, found at AgingCare.com:
- Raw eggs
- Soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert and blue-veined varieties.
- Raw fish, oysters, clams and mussels.
- Unpasteurized milk
- Unpasteurized juice
- Raw or rare hamburger, carpaccio (thin shavings of raw beef fillet) and steak tartare
- Sushi and sashimi
- Foods that contain undercooked eggs (unpasteurized eggnog, Monte Cristo sandwiches, French toast, homemade Caesar salad dressing, Hollandaise sauce, tiramisu and raw cookie dough or cake batter).
Eating Well While Caregiving
| October 5, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Food and Nutrition |
Caregiving often requires long hours and can cause a lot of stress. And all of that anxiety can lead to unhealthy stress eating. It’s extremely important for you as a caregiver to maintain a healthy and balanced diet so you can offer your highest level of care! Here are some fun and unexpected things you can eat but also maintain a healthy diet:
Pizza
It CAN be healthy if you prepare it a certain way. Use a whole-wheat crust and low-fat cheese, in moderation. Skip the meats, especially the high fat ones like pepperoni and sausage, and add a lot of vegetables.
Fruit Juice
This can also be healthy—as long as it’s 100% fruit juice. A good example is orange juice, which has a lot of fiber and antioxidants. Research has shown that daily consumption of 6 to 8 ounces can lower Alzheimer’s risk by as much as 76%.
Dark Chocolate
Eaten in moderation, dark chocolate, which is full of antioxidants and vitamins, is good for your heart, brain, and helps control blood sugar.
Fruity Cocktails
Research shows that alcohol can increase the level of antioxidants in certain fruits, such as strawberries. That means a strawberry daiquiri or a similar drink can provide health benefits, as well as a good taste.
October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month
| October 4, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Breast Cancer Awareness, cancer |
It’s October, which means that it’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month! Breast cancer is a type of cancer that forms in tissues of the breast, usually the ducts that carry milk to the nipple and the lobules, the glands that make milk. It occurs in both men and women, although male breast cancer is rare. The point of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is to provide a platform for breast cancer charities to raise awareness of their work and of the disease, and to remind women to be aware for earlier detection.
Different events throughout the month include The National Race for the Cure, which is held in over 100 U.S. cities; Breast Cancer Today, which are two-day long walks to raise money for breast cancer research institutes; the Susan G. Komen 3 Day ‘For the Cure’, which is a sixty mile fundraising walk spread across 3 days that raises money for breast cancer research; and Ride to Empower, which is a destination bike ride.
The Common but Painful Problem of Headaches
| October 3, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Health |
Headaches—we all get them. They’re annoying and inconvenient and occur way too often for many of us. There are nearly 130 different types of headachesand they commonly affect our daily activity. Themost common causes of headaches include lack of sleep and stress, and both these factors along with physical over-exertion and weather can cause migraine and tension headaches. But how do you treat a headache?
Primary headaches can be treated with painkillers such as aspirin. If even stronger pain relief is required, you can 
get a doctor prescription for NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and mefenamic acid. To treat headaches that aren’t responsive to any of these pain relievers, doctors can prescribe 5HT1 agonists, such as ergot alkaloids. Aside from medication, you could try resting in a quiet and dark room with an ice pack on your head and apply firm pressure to the scalp to try to relieve the pain.
Don’t Ignore That Foot Pain
| September 25, 2012 | Posted by Rachel under Plantar Fasciitis |
Most of us think we’re doing ourselves a favor by forcing ourselves to run regularly, but did you know that runners are more prone to get plantar fasciitis? Plantar fasciitis occurs when there is repetitive micro-trauma to the layer of tissue that supports the arch in your foot. It can start as a bearable foot pain, but it’s when you ignore it and it worsens that doctors get worried. If you ignore it, it can become an unbearable pain felt in the heel. 1 in 10 people are affected by this condition, mostly over the age of 40. Treatment for plantar fasciitis varies depending on how bad it is; some turn to ibuprofen to deal with the pain while others turn to cortisone injections or surgery to fix the condition itself. Some people even wear high heels to ease the pain, because they take pressure off the Achilles tendon. Stretch and strengthening exercises, such as Pilates and working with a gym ball and wobble board, are the best ways to resolve the inconvenience of plantar fasciitis.
It’s extremely important to consult a sports therapist in the case that you have plantar fasciitis. They can massage your feet and legs to release tension in the sole of the foot and the calf muscle, which stops swelling of the plantar fascia and also improves circulation. The pain caused by plantar fasciitis can be excruciating and intolerable, so it is crucial for you to contact a professional who can help you if you believe that you have the condition.
Follow Us!