Clean Eating

Are you familiar with eating clean?  While it can mean different things to different people, most followers agree that processed foods should be very limited.  Have you ever read the label of your favorite processed food?  If you have then you have notice how much sugar (not always called sugar) and how many chemicals are listed. 

Ideally you would stop eating all processed foods, but one rule of thumb to go buy is that if you can't pronounce something on the label, don't eat that product. 

There are several benefits of eating clean.  These include weight loss, stronger hair and nails, clearer skin, improved mood, better sleep and increased energy. Here are some tips for helping you make the change to clean eating. 

1. Cook your own food.  
2. Stick to whole foods as much as possible.
3. Reduce consumption of refined carbohydrates.
4. Keep meals consistent.
5. Balance your plate with protein, carbohydrates and fat.  
6. Emphasize quality over quantity.  

You may discover as you eat more whole foods that you actually eat less.  For example, it is pretty easy to eat an entire bag of chips, but very difficult to eat several apples at one sitting. 

The Institute of Integrative Nutrition provided this three-day sample menu of eating clean and allowed me to share it with you. 

Day 1 

Breakfast: • Oatmeal with blueberries, coconut flakes, chia seeds, and cinnamon • Tea or coffee

Lunch: • Brown rice with spinach, grilled tofu, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and basil • 1 oz dark chocolate • Water with lemon

Snack: • Whole grain bread with nut butter and sliced banana • Fresh green smoothie

Dinner: • Grilled salmon • Baked sweet potato with coconut oil and sea salt • Sautéed kale with onions and garlic • 1 glass red wine

Day 2 

Breakfast: • Poached eggs over whole grain toast with sliced avocado and tomato, sea salt, and olive oil • Tea or coffee

Lunch: • Turkey wrap with hummus, cucumbers, lettuce, and tahini sauce • Apple • Water with lemon

Snack: • Beet chips with guacamole

Dinner: • Grilled grass-fed steak • Sautéed peppers and onions over rainbow chard • 1 oz dark chocolate

Day 3 

Breakfast: • Buckwheat waffles with fresh fruit, nut butter, and pure maple syrup • Tea or coffee

Lunch: • Arugula with grilled shrimp, quinoa, red onion, sliced almonds, olive oil, and vinegar • Water with lemon

Snack: • Whole grain toast with nut butter and raw honey

Dinner: • Grilled chicken marinated in herbs and balsamic vinegar • Lentils sautéed with spinach, onions, and garlic • 1 glass red wine

Gratefulness

Also in the summer 2018 Health Newsletter from Regence was an article on Practicing Gratefulness for Health and Happiness. Regence stated that studies have shown that practicing gratitude may help lower blood pressure, boost immune response and lower the risk of depression and anxiety. No specific studies were referenced in this article. Four different practices can assist you in experiencing gratefulness. These are discussed below.

Savor Your Everyday Life 

What brings you joy and comfort?  They can be very simple things like a loved ones smile, a piece of fruit, the clouds in the sky or a warm cup of tea.  We all have these things in our everyday life however, the trick is learning to slow down and enjoy them.

Say Thanks  

Let others know how much you appreciate them - their kindness, generosity, friendship or whatever it might be.  Write a letter and, if possible, deliver it in person. You will feel good and help the recipient be grateful as well. 

Keep a Journal

What makes you happy?  Note it in a daily happiness journal.  It highlights where your focus lies.  It is much harder to get cemented in the negative when you are busy counting, and writing, about what makes you happy. 

Studies show that people who use a gratitude journal are more optimistic and enjoy better overall health.  They are more alert, determined, enthusiastic and energetic.  They also cope better with stressful life events, bounce back from illness faster, exercise more and sleep longer and enjoy better sleep quality. 

So, it is worth your time to find those moments in your day, or reflections on your life to appreciate.  It could be something as simple as a nice word, a helpful neighbor or a hearty laugh.  Writing it down will help you focus on the positive.  Any time you need a lift you can turn back to your journal and remind yourself of your blessings. 

Do For Others

Helping those in need reminds us of the good in the world.  Even better, make volunteering a friends and family affair and share the power of giving and gratitude. 

Sleep Myths

In their summer 2018 Health Connections newsletter Regence published three sleep myths according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the National Sleep Foundation.  Here are the major points gleamed from this article.

MYTH: You can get by on very little sleep.

FACT: Scraping by on very little sleep not only results in irritability, reduced productivity can result in you being more accident prone, but it also presents a serious health risk. Abbreviated sleep is linked to depression, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.  It is suggested that adults receive at least seven hours of sleep per night

MYTH:  Snoring can be annoying, but it is not a health concern. 

FACT:  Snoring can be harmless, but it can also suggest a case of Obstructive Sleep Apnea.  A person with this condition will stop breathing several times a night and this can result in heart disease.  CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy can help.


MYTH: When you wake up and cannot go back to sleep, it is best to just lie there until you can.

FACT: Experts suggest that if you do not go to sleep in 15 minutes, it is better to get up, move to another room and engage in a relaxing pursuit. When you feel sleepy, go back to bed.  If you wake up often during the night and have trouble going back to sleep, especially combined with feeling befuddled the next day you may have insomnia and should discuss the matter with your doctor.

Food Advertising

Part of our assignment this week is to observe the effects of food advertising.  How do they make the food desirable?  Who is their target audience?  Is the product associated with a specific issue: weight loss, promise for a better future, good health, a memory, etc.  Is there a link between the advertisement and the magazine? 

This is the ad I chose out of the Food Network magazine: 

Instead of just showing the bowl in the box, they pull you into the ad by placing the product in a kitchen setting, complete with orange juice so the consumer will associate it with a meal at home. The targeting audience is the working consumer based on the Hit Your Mid-Morning Stride Not the Mid-Morning Wall slogan.  They are also targeting health conscience consumers; JIMMY DEAN BOWLS ARE PACKED WITH HEARTY PROTEIN AND PREMIUM INGREDIENTS. Including red potatoes, read eggs and our signature seasoned sausage. 

I would have purchased this product without the advertising I listed above as it is hard for me to find breakfast items with enough protein even though they are not selling it for breakfast.   

Our local newspaper, The Yakima Herald Republic, recently posted a book lovers list.  Since many people go on vacations and might need reading material I wanted to share some of the suggested titles and authors.  For a complete list of the books, the paper published the list on May 20, 2018.

The ratings and descriptions are compliments of Goodreads.  Everyone should find something they are interested in here.  Happy Reading!

May Is Healthy Vision Month — Make Vision a Focus!

Many Americans see the doctor every year for a physical. Lots of us also schedule regular visits to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned. But what about our eyes? The fact is, more than 23 million American adults have never had an eye exam.

Every Healthy Vision Month, the National Eye Institute (NEI) shares tips and resources to encourage people to take care of their vision — and inspire health professionals to help make eye health a priority.
Read on to learn just a few ways to keep your eyes healthy.

• Get an eye exam
  If your eyes feel healthy, it’s easy to assume they are healthy. But getting an eye exam is the only way to be sure. Many serious eye diseases don’t have any warning signs — so you could have an eye problem and not know it. Getting an eye exam is the single best way to stay on top of your eye health!
• Know your family’s eye health history
  Talking to your family members about their eye health can help you find out if you’re at higher risk for eye disease. If you learn that eye diseases run in your family, talk with your eye doctor.
• Give your eyes a rest
  If you spend a lot of time at the computer, you may sometimes forget to blink — and that can tire out your eyes. To reduce eyestrain, try the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look away from your work and focus about 20 feet in front of you for 20 seconds.
• Eat eye-healthy foods
  A diet rich in a variety of fruits and vegetables — especially dark leafy greens, like spinach or kale — is important for keeping your eyes healthy. Fish high in omega-3 fatty acids — like salmon, tuna, and halibut — can also help protect your vision.
• Wear sunglasses (even on cloudy days!)
  Sunglasses can protect your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays — and help keep your eyes healthy and your vision sharp. When shopping for shades, look for a pair that blocks out at least 99% of both UVA and UVB radiation.

From the moment you wake up until you go to bed at night, your eyes are working to bring you the world — so take steps to keep them healthy. To learn more about Healthy Vision Month and how to take care of your eyes, check out the Healthy Vision Month website.

Did you know? 15 May 2018

HOW TO BE A HEALTH DETECTIVE

This advice is taken from the AARP May 2018 Health Bulletin and is part of the cover story:  Fads, Fails and Fixes.

Are you aware that over 90,000 dietary supplements and health products are pitched to consumers each year?  Leigh Purvis at the AARP Public Policy Institute says that consumers really have to do their own due diligence to assess if product claims are believable.  Some of the 90,000 product claims are safe and effective and many are not.  Due diligence includes asking a doctor before using, verifying supplement claims with a government source like the National Institute of Health and checking online for impartial advice from reputable medical centers and health associations.  Also, watch out for these red flags: 

CONSPIRACY THEORIES - Marketers who try to make you doubt the intentions of doctors or researchers with words like "lies", "Big Pharma" or "what doctors don't want you to know" are probably hyping something that's unproven or unreliable. 

MIRACULOUS CLAIMS - "Supplements are not permitted by law to  claim to treat or prevent disease," says Richard Cleland with the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.  What is allowed are health maintenance claims like "supports the immune system." These claims are unverified and unregulated. 

ANCIENT CHINESE SECRETS - Products are often hyped with phrases like "time-proven cures" or "ancient remedies" to appeal to consumers drawn to natural health approaches.

PRODUCT ENDORSEMENTS - You have no way of knowing whether they were paid for their recommendation or not. 

AMAZING FINDINGS -Don't trust research as presented in infomercials or on product websites.  Companies may falsify results, cherry-pick data or base claims on a small, poorly designed experiment.