Choose Whole Grains to Boost Your Health

by: continuum wellness - March 18th, 2010   Filed under: adolescents, breakfast, children, diabetes, diet, family, food, health benefits of food, healthy eating, nutrition, self-care Add Comment

What’s for breakfast? The selection is huge. The menu can include such items as waffles, pancakes, omelets, bagels, fruit bars, power bars, protein shakes, a piece of fruit, sausages, or cold cereal. With all this to choose from, which items will best fuel the brain of your growing child or an aging adult? You guessed it. Whole grains.

Whole Grains
Whole grains are the nutritious foods that have sustained humanity since ancient times. Whole grains offer variety to the diet and provide healthy bulk (fiber) allowing you to feel full and satisfied. Whole grains do not include refined cereals. Nope. They may be tasty but the nutritional value of two simply do not compare. Whole grains help the body to stay in balance warding off diabetes and heart problems.

Whole grains:
brown rice
buckwheat
bulgur (cracked wheat)
oatmeal
popcorn

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals:
whole wheat cereal flakes
muesli

whole grain barley
whole grain cornmeal
whole rye
whole wheat bread
whole wheat crackers
whole wheat pasta
whole wheat sandwich buns and rolls
whole wheat tortillas
wild rice

Less common whole grains:
amaranth
millet
quinoa
sorghum
triticale

Refined grains:
cornbread*
corn tortillas*
couscous*
crackers*
flour tortillas*
grits
noodles*

Pasta*
spaghetti
macaroni

pitas*
pretzels

Ready-to-eat breakfast cereals
corn flakes

white bread
white sandwich buns and rolls
white rice.
*Most of these products are made from refined grains. Some are made from whole grains. Check the ingredient list for the words “whole grain” or “whole wheat” to decide if they are made from a whole grain. Some foods are made from a mixture of whole and refined grains.

Some grain products contain significant amounts of bran. Bran provides fiber, which is important for health. However, products with added bran or bran alone (e.g., oat bran) are not necessarily whole grain products.

Add the Power of Whole Grains to Your Diet
According to a recent study teens and young adults were at risk for developing health problems because of the low daily amount of whole grain consumption.

One of the easiest ways to put whole grains in your diet, is to shop for them so you can cook up whole grains to eat for breakfast and/or dinner. It will save you money, time and your health.

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Pesticides in your food, the dirty dozen

by: continuum wellness - April 7th, 2009   Filed under: baby boomers, cooking, culture, diet, environment, family, food, Health, health benefits of food, healthy eating, nutrition, pesticides, Western diet, women's health Add Comment

Chances are you’ve seen or heard of this pesticide list, which ranks common foods by the amount of pesticide residue. The folks over at the Environmental Working Group (as far as I know), produce this guide. It is updated yearly. Print a copy and take it with you when grocery shopping.

The need to keep our food supply safe is of paramount importance.  It is absolutely necessary to eat nutritious food.  Take a peek at the list, below.

Finding Nutritious Produce

  • Buy local produce
  • there are organizations that will deliver organic produce to your home
  • join a co-op
  • grow your own vegetables when possible
  • take a trip to a local farm to purchase fresh from the farm.
  • By visiting a local farm you can ask questions and determine the quality of the produce and support the farmer, that’s win-win.

The Dirty Dozen

  1. Peach
  2. Apple
  3. Bell Pepper
  4. Celery
  5. Nectarine
  6. Strawberries
  7. Cherries
  8. Kale
  9. Lettuce
  10. Grapes (imported)
  11. Carrot
  12. Pear

Lower in Pesticides (15)

  1. Onion
  2. Avocado
  3. Sweet Corn
  4. Pineapple
  5. Mango
  6. Asparagus
  7. Sweet Peas
  8. Kiwi
  9. Cabbage
  10. Eggplant
  11. Papaya
  12. Watermelon
  13. Broccoli
  14. Tomato
  15. Sweet Potato

Young vegetarians may be at risk of binge eating

by: continuum wellness - April 1st, 2009   Filed under: adolescents, diet, family, Health, health benefits of food, healthy body, nutrition, tips Add Comment

One of the keys to being a healthy vegetarian/vegan or raw-fooder is correct information.  According to this story reported (here) many young vegetarians may have problems from binge eating. Here is a definition of binge eating (more here):
* Frequent episodes of eating what others would consider an abnormally large amount of food.

* Frequent feelings of being unable to control what or how much is being eaten.

* Several of these behaviors or feelings:

1. Eating much more rapidly than usual.
2. Eating until uncomfortably full.
3. Eating large amounts of food, even when not physically hungry.
4. Eating alone out of embarrassment at the quantity of food being eaten.
5. Feelings of disgust, depression, or guilt after overeating.
Does this mean the young vegetarian will wake up in the middle of the night and raid the refrigerator for carrots, tofu and broccoli? I doubt it. Perhaps it means that anyone can be challenged to eat mindfully.

Solutions
Eating with awareness is something many people are challenged to do. Help your young vegetarian with well written cookbooks, cooking meals together as a family and eating as a family. Encouraging good eating habits for all family members will reduce binge eating for all.

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Women’s Health Week

by: continuum wellness - March 10th, 2009   Filed under: family, Health, health care, women, women's health 2 Comments

Not only will tulips and cherry blossoms be in bloom in May, throughout the country Women’s Health programs will be in full force. The week of May 10 – 16 2009, is National Women’s Health Week. Check this site to see what is going on in your state. Many programs are free or low cost. Click here.

The site also allows you to post a link to your event supporting Women’s Health Week.

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Children seriously affected when a parent suffers from depression

by: continuum wellness - March 9th, 2009   Filed under: adolescents, children, depression, family, healing, Health, healthy mind, men, mind and body, women, women's health Add Comment

The article below outlines some of the challenges that are thrust on a child when a parent is sad or depressed. Homeopathic care (with a qualified homeopath) can offer solutions to those seeking an alternative to allopathic care. Homeopathy is of help for the entire family and as the article below suggests, health services must help the whole family. Visit our site, continuumwellness.org and contact us for more information.

Children seriously affected when a parent suffers from depression

Life is hard for the children of a parent suffering from depression. Children take on an enormous amount of responsibility for the ill parent and for other family members. It is therefore important for the health services to be aware of this and have support functions in place for the whole family, and not just for the person who is ill. This is the conclusion of a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Registered Nurse Britt Hedman Ahlström has examined the way in which family life is affected when a parent is suffering from depression. Nine families, including ten children and young adults between the ages of 5 and 26, and eleven parents were included in the study.

The results show how the family’s daily life changes and becomes more complicated when a parent is suffering from depression. Uncertainty about what is happening has an effect on the daily life of the entire family. Depression also means that the parent becomes tired and exhausted, which then affects and weighs heavily on the children’s daily life. Depression changes the relationship between a parent and his/her children, since they no longer communicate with each other as they used to. Family interplay and reciprocity decrease. The depressed parent withdraws from the family, and the children feel that they have been left to themselves.

Daily family life becomes unfamiliar to the children

The family members try their utmost, both as individuals and together, to cope with the situation, so that daily life can be restored to a more manageable level. The children take responsibility for both the depressed parent, siblings and themselves, when they notice that the parent cannot cope.

“The toughest burden of responsibility that children take on is ensuring that the depressed parent doesn’t commit suicide. So children take on an extremely heavy responsibility by monitoring and keeping an eye on the depressed parent,” says Britt Hedman Ahlström.

For children, the parent’s depression means both a sense of responsibility and a feeling of loneliness The feelings of responsibility and loneliness include a striving and yearning for reciprocity with the parent, and for things to return to a state of normality.

“Even if the depression goes away for a time, the family is never entirely free from anxiety over it coming back. This means that there is a prolonged period of suffering associated with depression,” says Britt Hedman Ahlström.

Health services must help the whole family

Involving the entire family when a parent becomes ill is important, both for the children and the parents. It is essential to have a well-defined level of guaranteed care on how, when and from whom the families will get support. Psychiatric healthcare personnel meet people suffering from depression at an early stage, and therefore have the opportunity to focus the care on the family, in order to together identify ways of helping the family get through the depression.

“We need a new approach within the health services, in which the focus is on the family’s own perspective when a parent is suffering from depression. It’s vital to be aware of the whole family’s needs in terms of help and support, and not just those of the person who is ill. It’s particularly important to be aware of the children’s situation. Research can therefore focus on how to develop various ways of providing families with care and support, and introduce them into the existing organisation, as well as evaluating the consequences for the whole family, the parents and the children,” says Britt Hedman Ahlström.

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Why you should read the drug package inserts

by: continuum wellness - March 4th, 2009   Filed under: children, drugs, family, FDA, girls, Health, health care, medications, medicine, prescription drugs, women, women's health Add Comment

If for some reason you need to take pharmaceutical drugs, protect yourself and loved ones by reading the package inserts. According to this research adverse drug events happen to the the tune of $3.5 billion dollars, and those are the reported incidents.

The new Food and Drug Administration drug package insert: implications for patient safety and clinical care.

Watson KT, Barash PG.
Department of Anesthesiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8051, USA.

The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the scientific, regulatory, and public health agency that regulates many products, including food products, drugs, medical devices, radiation emitting devices, and cosmetics for the federal government of the United States. The FDA’s mission is to assure that consumer products made and sold in the United States are safe, effective, and pure. The purpose of the package insert (also known as prescription drug product insert or professional labeling) is to provide detailed drug information compiled and distributed by the drug manufacturer, after FDA review and approval.

In 2006, the standard format for the package insert was changed in an attempt to make it more user-friendly and a more efficient resource tool for practitioners.

According to the Institute of Medicine, in-hospital adverse drug reactions occur at a rate of 400,000 per year and incur $3.5 billion of extra hospital expense. It is expected that the new package insert format will enhance rapid access to important pharmacologic information and improve patient safety by decreasing medication errors.

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Living Well Holistic Health Fair

by: continuum wellness - February 24th, 2009   Filed under: African American, family, women's health 2 Comments

We’re having a holistic health fair. The why is simple, there is a need. From time to time I do informal research into if an individual is aware of natural therapies or alternative forms of healing or how to care for themselves beyond the “give me a pill approach”. Perhaps, it doesn’t come as a surprise that a lot of people may not have access to other approaches to healing. But it was a surprise to me!

Chronic disease rates continue to climb and the latest twist shows more individuals with more than one chronic condition. Disease is managed. It offers a measure of relief, at least for some, yet there is a need for more choice. It helps simply to know that there are options. How deeply one chooses to explore is, and should be a personal matter. In the spirit of empowerment…bring on the healing at the:
Living Well Holistic Health Fair, 28 February 2009.  This event will provide an opportunity to hear lectures through out the day, chat with the practitioners and shop with our conscious vendors.

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More Americans Turning to Herbs

by: continuum wellness - January 19th, 2009   Filed under: alternative medicine, baby boomers, children, complementary medicine, culture, economy, family, folk remedies, Health, health care, herbal therapy, herbs, home remedies, life, medications, medicine, men, people, prescription drugs, self-healing, women, women's health 2 Comments

Sour Economy Sweetens Americans on Herbal Meds
The choice between $75 prescription sleeping pills or a $5 herbal alternative is a no-brainer for Cathy and Bernard Birleffi, whose insurance costs have skyrocketed along with the nation’s financial woes.

The Calistoga, Calif., couple seem to reflect a trend. With many Americans putting off routine doctor visits and self-medicating to save money, use of alternative treatments is on the rise — even though evidence is often lacking on their safety and effectiveness.

Climbing sales of herbal medicines have paralleled the tanking economy, according to an Associated Press review of recent data from market-watchers and retailers.

One prominent example: Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market Inc. says its stores nationwide have seen an increase in sales of nutritional supplements and herbal products in the past several weeks. That’s “noteworthy” given the retail industry’s financial slump, said Whole Foods spokesman Jeremiah C. McElwee.

While winter is usually a busy time for herbal medicine sales because it’s the season for colds and flu, “more people are value shopping” now because of the economy, McElwee said.

Cathy Birleffi says she’s among them.

“The doctors are so much higher (in cost), the insurance isn’t paying as much,” said the 61-year-old self-employed bookkeeper and notary. Her husband, a retired dispatcher, has high blood pressure and seizures. Recent changes in their health insurance coverage resulted in $1,300 in monthly premiums, double what they used to be.

Until they tried herbal alternatives, including valerian for insomnia, “every time I turned around, it was $50 here, $75 there” for prescriptions, Cathy Birleffi said.

Among data reflecting the trend:

For the three months that ended Dec. 28, nationwide retail sales of vitamins and supplements totaled nearly $639 million, up almost 10 percent from the same period in 2007. That includes a nearly 6 percent increase in sales of herbal supplements alone, according to Information Resources Inc., a Chicago-based market research firm. Its numbers do not include Wal-Mart or club stores.
Nationwide herbal and botanical supplement sales totaled $4.8 billion in 2007, when the recession began, up 4.3 percent over 2006. That was a marginally higher increase compared with the previous year, according to Jason Phillips of the Nutrition Business Journal, an industry-tracking publication. Sales of animal oil supplements — mostly fish oils — were up 29 percent from 2006. While that was a decline from the previous year, both categories continued to show strong growth in a faltering economy.
A government survey released in December said concerns about the cost of conventional medicine influenced Americans’ decisions to try alternative remedies. “Nonvitamin, nonmineral natural products,” including fish oil and herbal medicines, were the most commonly used alternatives, taken by almost 18 percent of Americans in 2007, the report said. Among those users, roughly a quarter said they delayed or didn’t get conventional medical care because of the cost.
Report co-author Richard Nahin of the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine offered cautionary advice on the topic.

People taking herbal and other supplements should let their doctor know what they’re using, said Nahin, acting director of the center’s branch that oversees outside research the agency funds.

Copyright AP

A Thanksgiving Tale

by: continuum wellness - November 23rd, 2008   Filed under: family, thoughts Add Comment


“We should be thankful for the good things we have and, also, for the bad things we don’t have.” – Chuck Warner

***************************

A story for the upcoming holiday season.

A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said “I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.”

“Is the man of the house home?”, they asked.

“No”, she said. “He’s out.”

“Then we cannot come in”, they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. “Go tell them I am home and invite them in!”

The woman went out and invited the men in. “We do not go into a House
together,” they replied.

“Why is that?” she wanted to know.

One of the old men explained: “His name is Wealth,” he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, “He is Success, and I am Love.” Then he added, “Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. “How nice!!”, he said. “Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!”

His wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success?”

Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: “Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!”

“Let us heed our daughter-in-law’s advice,” said the husband to his wife. “Go out and invite Love to be our guest.”

The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.”

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love, what brings you in?”

The old men replied together: “If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would’ve stayed out, but since you invited Love wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!!!!!”

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERY DAY

–

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The Problem with too much corn in your food

by: continuum wellness - September 30th, 2008   Filed under: diabetes, diet, family, food, healing, Health, health beliefs, health benefits of food, health care, healthy body, healthy eating, meat Add Comment

The documentary is called King Corn. It is a well-done documentary that explains why corn is everywhere in the American food supply.

Every eye-opening movie, documentary or book we can get regarding our food supply and how it comes to the table is worth viewing. Even if you are a vegan, or vegetarian it will help to broaden your view of policy choices made over the last 20 to 30 years that have a profound effect on us all. So for a little more eye-opening info, this documentary is worth watching.

The health care crisis is not really that everyone needs health insurance, but one of people having high quality nutritious food and living in a way that builds their life force rather than deplete it.
If what you eat is the standard American diet (SAD), this documentary will help open your eyes.

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