Good Health News • February• 2014
Good Health News February• 2014 Volume 6 Number 5
Health in Motion director Natan Gendelman
In This Issue Importance of Nutrition ................................Page 1 How to Celebrate Valentine's Day with Your Family/ Ask Good Health News ................................Page 2 Are You Getting Enough Sunshine & How to Remain Active While Having a Desk Job ................................Page 3 Here's What People Have to Say about LIFE ................................Page 4
talks about importance of nutrition 1950’s statistics showed that around one in six people would get cancer in their lifetimes. Later on, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced the War on Cancer and signed the National Cancer Act in 1971 to find a cure for the disease by increasing research to improve the understanding of cancer biology and treatments. However, cancer remains a major cause of death. According to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, in 2013, 1 in 4 cancer diagnoses in Canadian women over the age of 20 is breast cancer; and according to Prostate Cancer Canada, the most common cancer to affect Canadian men is prostate cancer. Other than cancer, we also live in a generation where every 7 minutes in Canada, someone dies of heart disease or stroke; and 347 million people worldwide have diabetes. Are the prospects dire for those of us who are attempting to maintain good health these days? Not at all! We just need to start with the food we eat each day. Recently one of my patients sent me an article in which a very prominent American heart surgeon Dr. Dwight Lundell, who has 25 years experience and has performed over 5,000 open-heart surgeries, admitted that he has been wrong in insisting that heart disease results from simply elevated blood cholesterol. He found out that the common therapy to prescribe cholesterol-lowering medication and a fat-restrictive diet was not working. He explained that it is due to inflammation that cholesterol accumulates in blood vessels in the first place. Lundell stated that if we chronically expose the body to injury by toxins or foods we were never meant to process, chronic inflammation occurs. Diets that cause chronic inflammation include highly processed carbohydrates such as sugar, flour and excess consumption of omega-6 vegetable oils like soybean, corn and sunflower in many processed foods. In essence, he recommended eating whole instead of manufactured foods and to take in essential nutrients from fresh unprocessed foods. We are what we eat. To reverse years of damage we might have done to our bodies by a typical diet, we need to replenish tons of vitamins and nutrients. B-complex vitamins and vitamin C are water-soluble vitamins that are not stored in the body and have to be replenished daily. Do you eat enough fruits and vegetables? They are low in fat but have plenty of vitamins and minerals. They also provide antioxidants that fight cancer and boost immunity.
Health in Motion Rehabilitation (416) 250-1904) www.healthinmotionrehab.com
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Good Health News • February• 2014
General General Health Health
∂ How to Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Your Family Valentine’s Day, also known as the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated on February 14 each year. A popular account of Saint Valentine of Rome states that he was persecuted for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry. Associated with romantic love, this day is an occasion for lovers to express their love for each other by presents, flowers and greeting cards. However, there are ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your family and children! Here are some ideas to create warm moments in your household:
a night as a family as well!
Read sweet bedtime stories
Showing your love to your children does not have to be over-the-top or extremely complicated. Simply read them a storybook before they drift off into dreamland. Stories about love like ‘Love You Forever’ by Robert Munsch; ‘Guess How Much I Love You’ by Sam McBratney or ‘The Giving Tree’ by Shel Silverstein are sure to induce hearty bear hugs afterwards.
Make desserts together
Have a fun night with your family by having a dessert night! Bake to your heart’s content or have a communal fondue session! You can share the excess baked goods with your neighbors or co-workers afterwards!
Watch a family-friendly movie
Ask Good Health News
Choose a funny, heart-warming family movie to watch! The classic Disney and Pixar movies are unmistakable go-to’s. Other musicals like The Sound of Music or Les Miserables are great choices to spend
Does travelling to a tropical climate from a snowy winter make us sick? Answer: It is true that a sudden change in
temperature, whether it is from extreme cold to hot, or vice verse, could have negative health effects on people, especially those who suffer from a history of cold-related disorders.
Hence, it is recommended that when vacationing in the winter, choose places that do not have such a stark contrast in temperature, to avoid the body having to re-balance itself and in turn weaken its resistance to viruses. Instead, exercise regularly and consume more vegetables and fruits to boost your metabolism rate and absorb enough nutrients to enjoy a healthy, happy season.
Extreme and sudden switches of temperatures and climates makes the body undergo stress when it is forced to go from snowy, freezing weather to a boiling hot environment. Our skin goes from being used to dryness to being immersed in high humidity. Our mucus membrane and our eyes need to get used to the new surroundings. Possible conditions that may develop include eye infections, respiratory infections or muscular spasms. More serious cases could include asthma attacks, flu, sinusitis or pharyngitis.
Health in Motion Rehabilitation (416) 250-1904) www.healthinmotionrehab.com
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Good Health News • February• 2014
∂
Are you Getting Enough Sunshine this Winter?
In the winter, we get much less exposure to sunlight due
to staying indoors and being wrapped in layers when we go out. Sometimes we do not realize that we might be suffering from a deficiency of vitamin D. Research shows that deficiency of vitamin D causes inflation of the body, according to a study from Massachusetts General Hospital published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The primary signs of vitamin D deficiency include low bone density and increased fracture risk. It is believed that an estimated 30 percent of the general population has vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is known to reduce high blood pressure, improve sleep, decrease inflammation linked to heart disease and lower risk of type 2 diabetes. Some people try to prevent vitamin D deficiency by taking vitamin D supplements, but they contain high calcium levels and could cause the creation of kidney stones. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, approximately 10 to 15 minutes of sunshine three days a week should be enough to obtain the vitamin D necessary for the body. Exercising in open areas in the winter for that length of time could be very beneficial to the body not just because of absorption of vitamin D from sunlight, but also because of the intake of fresh air and enhanced metabolism helps maintain health. Also, in foods like mushrooms, grain products, salmon and egg yolks, vitamin D exists in high proportions. Consume more of these unprocessed foods instead of a lot of manufactured food products packed with chemicals, hormones and antibiotics. This winter, do not forget to get enough of vitamin D that prevents osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, depression or Parkinson’s disease!
How to Stay Active at a Desk Job Did you know nearly 70 percent of health care costs are due to preventable conditions, including spending long hours sitting? Statistics Canada numbers for 2011 show that more than 7 million Canadians work in an office setting. That is the magnitude of the chronic health risks that we face for leading inactive lifestyles. Even if we exercise regularly, sitting for long periods every day still poses risks for poor health and premature death. The World Health Organization (WHO) now lists inactivity as the fourth biggest killer of adults, contributing to nine percent of premature deaths. Dr. Joan Vernikos, former director of NASA’s Life Sciences Division, did a research that shows that our bodies need to perpetually interact with gravity through motion to maintain optimal functioning. So what could we do to counteract sitting for too long? Experts suggest standing up every 10 minutes or so, they say that it does not matter how long you stand up for, but how frequently you do it. Make an effort to walk even at the office, even if it is simply walking to a coworker’s desk to talk, taking the stairs, or organizing your office space so that you have to walk away from your seat to get files or print something. Other ways to stay active at work include sitting on an exercise ball, which engages core muscles and improves balance and flexibility; using chairs without armrests, which forces us to sit up straight; go for walking meetings outdoors if the weather permits. There are also plenty of smartphone apps like runkeeper that adds up the number of steps taken in a day and the calories burned to keep you on track. Try the Nike+ FuelBand which tracks how intensely you move, you can even stay social with it by setting goals and challenging your friends to meet them. Starting this year, focus on staying active even at work, it would work wonders for your health compared to routine gym sessions after work!
Health in Motion Rehabilitation (416) 250-1904) www.healthinmotionrehab.com
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Good Health News • February• 2014
Learning Independent Function Everyday. That's LIFE.
what people have to say ∂ Here's about our LIFE Program:
Mini Program For: kids 0-12 & 12-15 with CP, ABI or stroke Frequency: 1-3 times a week, 2-3 hours/day Duration: Ongoing as needed Maxi Program For: kids 0-12 & 12-15 with CP, ABI or stroke Frequency: 5 times a week, 3-5 hours/day Duration: 4 weeks Contact us if you are interested in booking for 2014.
"We entered this programme on a recommendation from a friend so I already had an idea of what to expect, but halfway through the four weeks it is exceeding all my expectations. Natan is amazing with Finn, he knows exactly what to do with him & how to handle him. Already I am seeing a huge improvement with Finn and he is delighted with all the new things he is learning to do. For the first time since Finn has been diagnosed I am excited about what he is going to achieve."
Claire Dempsey, Dublin, Ireland ∂ Nothing can be built up on disability.
For more information, visit our website: www.healthinmotionrehab.com.
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