Shakin’ Peaches

 Children, Healthy Living, Natural Health, Physical Health  No Responses »
Aug 312018
 

 

FruitOrgnlFstFood-CDC-8-31-18

Your blood sugar has a direct effect on how hungry you are and how energetic you feel. Keeping your blood sugar balanced promotes a healthy insulin response. Eat fruit, vegetables, edamame, popcorn, and peaches to help control your blood sugar.

There are also shakes available in peach flavor that have natural blood support ingredients to help you control blood sugar and energy levels.  Choose shakes that contain ingredients such as green leaf extract, ginseng root, cinnamon bark extract and sweet potato extract.  These ingredients can help you have less fatigue, more energy and less appetite.  They can also help curb your sweet tooth cravings.

It may feel like a challenge to eat right to control or prevent diabetes, high blood sugar or low blood sugar, or pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome, but making some simple changes in your diet can make all the difference.  You can learn to eat differently and change your relationship with food.

Peach flavored shakes. Yummy!

Peach flavored shakes. Yummy!

Peaches are low in calories, important in controlling weight, contain vitamins and fiber, also important in controlling weight and diabetes.  So shake your peaches — make them shakin’ peaches in a shake, or fruit bowl.

Pictures and information taken from:

CDC.gov

Wikipedia

Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County

Peach Cobbler Shake

Guide to Controlling Pre-Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome

Bumping Up Fiber

 Healthy Living, Physical Health  No Responses »
Aug 082018
 

Bumping Up Fiber

Information overload. New trends. Nutrition buzzwords. Fiber.

We need fiber. Good nutrition is a well balanced every-day diet. Fiber must be a part of that and will be, if we’re including plenty of variety of fruits, vegetables, and other helpfuls. Some eat legumes, some don’t. Living a healthy lifestyle, a nutritious lifestyle, can be easy, fun and exciting. This, of course, depends on you and me.

Add peas to your salad

Add peas to your salad

The CDC says:

In their natural state, fruits and vegetables have high water and fiber content and thus are low in calories and energy density.

So, eating enough fiber-rich fruits and vegetable can aid in efforts to lose weight.

Put cherries in smoothies

Put cherries in smoothies

Some of the other benefits of fiber in your diet are that it not only keeps you regular, it also helps you feel fuller longer. Fiber also helps control blood sugar and lowers cholesterol levels.

Bump up Your Fiber

Here are six tips to help you bump up your fiber:

  • Slice up raw veggies and keep them in to-go baggies to use as quick snacks;

  • Start your day off with a high-fiber breakfast like whole grain oatmeal sprinkled with pecans or macadamia nuts;

  • Steam veggies rather than boiling them. When buying frozen veggies, look for ones that have been “flash frozen”;

  • Add half a cup of beans or peas to your salad to add fiber, texture, and flavor; and

  • Eat lots of salads

    Eat lots of salads

  • Take fiber supplements that contain fiber-rich ingredients such as psyllium, oat fiber and rice bran, just to name a few.

Yes, eating a fiber-wise diet will help us have healthy lifestyles.

Some of this information came from the Center for Disease Control.

https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/rtp_practitioner_10_07.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psyllium

https://www.cdc.gov/features/national-nutrition-month/index.html

The pictures of the peas, cherries and Chinese cabbage are from

https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/nutrition/pdf/rtp_practitioner_10_07.pdf

 

Save Your Skin

 Children, Good Friends, Healthy Living, Physical Health  No Responses »
Jul 052018
 

 

Summer-time is a great time of year. The kid’s are out of school, families take vacations, and there are a lot of family gatherings, picnics, barbeques and games. There is swimming, fishing, boating, biking, hiking, gardening and so much more.

TowelGlassesHatBeach-DrmsTm-NMSU-7-5-18

Along with all this fun in the sun comes the responsibility (everything has a price) to ourselves and our families safe from the dangers of too much sun exposure.

GuidetoSunWiseBhvr-EPA-.17-5-18

Get the EPA’s Guide to SunWise Behavior

The UV rays from the sun penetrate to the deepest layers of our skin. They can cause our skin to sag, age and spot. 95% of the rays from the sun that reach the earth are UVA radiation. Unlike UVB rays, UVA rays hit in a steady stream during each day. The critical hours for sun exposure are from 10 am to 4 pm.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. According to an article published by the New Mexico State University, “three types of skin cancers make up 99% of skin cancers.”

One in five Americans will have a form of skin cancer.

Some of the symptoms of skin cancer are:

ABCsMelanoma-RHL-7-5-18

MelanomaSymptoms-CDC-7-5-18

What can you do?

Protect your skin with sunscreen.

Choose sunscreen that:

  1. Has an SPF of 30 or more;

  2. Is water resistant; and

  3. Provides broad spectrum coverage.

Also:

  1. Wear wide-brimmed hats;

  2. Protect your eyes with sunglasses; and

  3. Use sun unbrellas and wear long-sleeved shirts.

Have fun out there this summer, but don’t risk your health or that of your children and other loved ones to do it. Preach safe sun havits over and over again, and then practice what you preach. You will see the benefits.

Resources:

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_i/I106/

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/symptoms.htm

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/sunexposure/default.html

Picture credits: Beach scene : Gvictoria – Dreamstime.com; http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_i/I106/

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/symptoms.htm

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/index.htm

Martha is owner of RobardsHealthyLifestyles.com, a health and wellness website that promotes healthy lifestyles, ideas and products for physical, mental and emotional, financial and natural/spiritual wellness. Martha’s work consists of opening accounts, presenting, speaking, mentoring and coaching and people building. You can reach Martha at 505-750-7847, by email at marthapmintl@gmail.com, on Facebook, here on LinkedIn, Twitter, or through her websites at RobardsHealthyLifestyles.com, here, here, or ProfessionalMentorsInternational.com.

 

Kids and Too Much Sugar

 Children, Healthy Living, Physical Health  No Responses »
Jun 202018
 

 

Too Many Sugary Drinks Are Not Good For Us

Too Many Sugary Drinks Are Not Good For Us

According to an article in qz.com, new data presented last week at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting, showed that American infants are consuming excessive amounts of added sugar. We know that processed sugar is bad for kids. Yet, the article says the study showed that toddlers are consuming at least some added sugar on a given day, and a broad increase in sugar intake.

One of the reasons for this could be that although we know that our children and grand-children should drink more fluids, it can be hard to get them to drink plain water. Most kids, and many adults, like a sweet taste. Sometimes it seems easier just to buy them soda or sweetened juice, thinking that they are at least getting fluids. Without really considering the dangers of sweetened drinks, we can be unknowingly causing them phyiscal harm.

If you have a hard time getting your kids to drink water and finding healthy drinks for them, here are three tips that might help:

Keep a glass jug of water in the refrigerator with fruit in it;

Buy your kids cool water bottles to carry with them and keep them full of cold water; and

Carry some no-sugar powered drink packets with you to add to water once in awhile for a lift-me-up.

I would be happy to show you what I use.

You can contact me at marthapmintl@gmail.com , or call me at 602-243-5642 (Phoenix) or 505-750-7847 (cell).

 

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

 Children, Financial Health, Healthy Living, Mental and Emotional Health, Natural Health, Physical Health  No Responses »
Jul 132017
 

Her sleeplessness had finally gone

 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says:

Learn how much sleep you need for good health.

People will often cut back on their sleep for work, for family demands, or even to watch a good show on television. But if not getting enough sleep is a regular part of your routine, you may be at an increased risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease and stroke, poor mental health, and even early death. Even one night of short sleep can affect you the next day. Not surprisingly, you’re more likely to feel sleepy. On top of that, you’re more likely to be in a bad mood, be less productive at work, and to be involved in a motor vehicle crash.

How much sleep you need changes as you age. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend:

Age Group Recommended Hours of Sleep Per Day

Infant 4-12 months 12-16 hours per 24 hours (including naps)

Toddler 1-2 years 11-14 hours per 24 hours (including naps)

Pre-school 3-5 years 10-13 hours per 24 hours (including naps)

School Age 6-12 years 9-12 hours per 24 hours

Teen 13-18 years 8-10 hours per 24 hours

Adult 18-60 years 7 or more hours per night

WHAT CAN HELP YOU?

  • Go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning.
  • Make sure your bedroom is a quiet, dark, and relaxing environment, which is neither too hot or too cold.
  • Make sure your bed is comfortable and use it only for sleeping and not for other activities, such as reading, watching TV, or listening to music. Remove all TVs, computers, and other “gadgets” from the bedroom.
  • Avoid large meals before bedtime. *

* National Sleep Foundation Recommendations

Also, natural sleep aids may help.

  • Try herbal teas, such as Chamomile.
  • Try a natural supplement containing herbs and natural ingredients such as calcium, melatonin, valerian, L-theanine, passion flower, spearmint. These ingredients are not harsh, non-habit forming, trusted and reliable.
  • A warm bath before bed can help relax you.
  • Try listening to soothing, calming music before bed.
  • Read a book. That always helps me get sleepy when I can’t sleep.
  • Essential oils such as lavender can have a calming, soothing and relaxing effect.

Proper rest has been linked to optimal immune function, metabolism, memory, learning, and other vital functions. But we live in a fast-paced world. Deadlines, multi-tasking, and worries can make getting the true rest you need difficult if not impossible. In fact a December 2013 Gallup® report found that 40% of adults are not getting the recommended amount of sleep each night.

www.cdc.com

Martha maintains RobardsHealthyLifestyles.com , which is a health and wellness information website that promotes healthy living for all aspects of life (including physical, mental and emotional, financial, and natural) and products for healthy living. For more information contact Martha at marthapmintl@gmail.com or 505-750-7847, or check out Martha on Twitter as MrsProfQuack or RobardsHealthyLifestyles . com on Facebook.