________ Franklin square/elmont _______
your HEALTH body / mind / fitness
February 24, 2022
you eat You are whata difference
has in lowering cholesterol levels. Their protein And been shown to reduce triglyceride levels. boiled. they also make a delicious snack when
Enjoy a handful of plain walnuts or almonds, chop some up and sprinkle them on salads.
Superfoods that make
kind of antioxidant heart? polyphenol, which is another What’s the formula for a healthy cholesterol. health, that helps to lower LDL (bad) Many factors contribute to your heart and including exercising regularly, not smoking a bigeating healthy foods. But some foods pack it comes ger nutritional punch than others when some to a healthy heart. Yes, every year, there’s rage, but new food item out there that’s all the Spinach of heartof all vegetacertain superfoods remain staples nutritious most the Spinach is of your lutein (a healthy diet that should be a daily part bles, packed with B vitamins, folate, iron, calcium nutrition plan. your carotenoid) magnesium, potassium,salad with You probably have some of these in make a on your and fiber. And it’s so versatile; olive oil or diet already. Add in others and you’re it, steam it then add a little garlic and chicken way to a happy heart. chop and freeze it to mix in with pasta, dishes, soups and more.
Blueberries of High in antioxidants, blueberries are one foods you the most powerful disease-fighting vitamin C. can eat. They also contain fiber and topping They’re great plain, in a fruit salad, or your whole-grain cereal.
Oranges Everyone knows oranges are rich in vitamin C, but did you know they also contain potassium, flavofolate (folic acid), fiber, carotenoids and that noids? Carotenoids are a type of antioxidant in contain the red, orange, and yellow pigments of a type fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids are
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Swiss chard in a This vegetable (a cousin to beets) comes leaves. variety of stalk colors with beautiful green Swiss chard is rich in potassium and magnesium it also that helps control blood pressure. And heartcontains lutein and zeaxanthin, two of olive oil healthy antioxidants. Sauté with a bit pepper until wilted and season with herbs and for a tasty treat.
Edamame The fiber in these green soy beans is helpful
Black beans and kidney beans beans Like spinach, black beans and kidney contain B-complex vitamins, folate, magnesium, fatty calcium and fiber, plus niacin and omega-3 for extra acids. Add them to soups and salads flavor and heart-healthy nutrients.
Salmon and tuna The American Heart Association recomand mends eating fatty fish, such as salmon These fish albacore tuna, at least twice a week. fatty are abundant in polyunsaturated omega-3 for heart acids, which help reduce risk factors blood disease including high cholesterol, high fatty pressure and high triglycerides. Omega-3 that acids can also help decrease inflammation improve contributes to chronic disease, and they cognitive and behavioral function.
or
Oatmeal This heart-healthy grain is a smart breakfast up in the choice. Soluble fiber helps fill you includmorning, while oatmeal’s other nutrients, ing omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, potassium, your folate, niacin and calcium help protect choheart. Studies suggest that oats can lower cerlesterol levels and may even help prevent tain cancers.
Flaxseed huge This low-carb whole grain packs a B6, nutritional punch. Flaxseed is high in vitamin mangaphosphorus, copper, folate, magnesium, nese, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and phytonutrior ents such as lignans, which may help prevent Research forestall the onset of type 2 diabetes. the has also shown that flaxseed may decrease arrhythrisk of blood clots, stroke, and cardiac favormias. Grind up flaxseed and add it to your or ite heart-healthy hot or cold cereal, muffins bread.
Walnuts and almonds and If you’re counting carbs, walnuts your diet almonds are good additions to omega-3 because they contain fiber, along with fatty acids, vitamin E, magnesium, monounsatuphytosterrated and polyunsaturated fats and ols, which seem to decrease blood cholesterol.
HERALD Your Health Heart Health Inside
Vol. 24 No. 9
local scholars recognized
Hockey on the rise in Elmont
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FEBRUARY 24 - MARCH 2, 2022
Schools focus on students’ well-being Social, emotional learning programs rolled out across Franklin Square schools By RoBERt tRAVERso rtraverso@liherald.com
Courtesy Franklin Square Union Free School District
DistRiCt soCiAl woRkER Rosie Carino focused on learning about feelings with first-grade students at Washington Street School.
The social and emotional well-being of Franklin Square students has become a major focus in the community’s three elementary schools this year. The Franklin Square Union Free School District “has implemented new social and emotional learning (SEL) programs and activities to further enhance the well-being of its students at John Street School, Polk Street School and Washington Street School,” a statement released by the district explained. The transition from in-person to virtual learning as a result of the coronavirus pandemic had a deleterious effect on the
mental health and social and emotional state of students nationwide, according to a number of surveys conducted since the pandemic began two years ago. According to one survey, by a nonprofit called Active Minds, 20 percent of college students said their mental health had declined. Late last year, the Elmont Union Free School District added three new school counselors for the 2021-22 school year. “Additional counselors were brought in to ensure the social-emotional well-being of both students and staff,” the school district said in a statement for a previous Herald story. Franklin Square school social workers Continued on page 10
New state senate map brings Elmont together in 7th S.D. By RoBERt tRAVERso rtraverso@liherald.com
Under the new State Senate map approved by both houses of the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this month, Elmont will no longer be split between Senate Districts 7 and 9, but will fall almost entirely within District 7. Mimi Pierre-Johnson, a community activist from Elmont, said this was a key change that she and others lobbied for through testimony before the state Independent Redistricting Commission. “We got 97 percent of what we wanted,” PierreJohnson said. She added, howev-
er, that, in her view, the new map still wasn’t perfect, because it left a few areas of Elmont — near the Southern State Parkway and Linden Boulevard — in the 9th District. The new map, which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023, was created after the 2020 census. The statewide “blue wave” of Democratic victories in the 2018 midterm election cycle ensured that Democrats would be in charge of redistricting, which takes place every 10 years, following the census. To Pierre-Johnson, keeping Elmont constituents together in one district makes more sense
pragmatically, because it allows residents to garner political support more effectively for the funding of schools, public libraries and other local institutions. “From an activist point of view … it’s harder to get two elected officials together, agree and vote on the issues we fight on,” she said. “It’s beneficial to the constituents to keep them together.” One such issue, according to Pierre-Johnson, is the children who live close to North Valley Stream, near Linden Boulevard, who attend Elmont Memorial High School. Providing transportation for those students, she said, is easier with most of
Elmont contained within a single Senate district. Pier re-Johnson said she believed politicians prioritize dividing up constituents in ways beneficial to them — a practice known as gerrymandering — over providing services to them. “People feel disenfranchised by congressional lines,” State Assemblywoman Michaelle
Solages, a Democrat from Elmont, said in a previous Herald story. The Assembly has been controlled by Democrats for decades, and Solages’s district remained untouched by the new map. “We should have nice, clean districts that people don’t need a ruler or rubric for to see how the lines have been drawn,” said Continued on page 5