Healthy Healing Quick Tips

By Deanna McLain, Infection Control & Employee Health

February 2012

Give your body what it needs without spending a lot of time

• Get going on the “Essential Fatty acid” intake. 2 tbsp. of flax seed oil over your salad or add to morning oatmeal after cooking will help you metabolize fat!
• Eat ORGANIC- The prices of organic fruits and vegetables have come down as the market has become competitive. Support organic growers. Pesticides found on conventionally grown food gets stored in the adipose tissues of our body. Researchers have found that women that consume foods high in pesticides may be at a higher risk for breast cancer as well as uterine fibroids and ovarian cysts.
• Brain facts: It uses 25% of the oxygen our body processes. Exercise increases mental capacity by sending nutrients via better circulation to the “computer” that have over 100 billion cells.
• Brain health eating plan to improve memory EFA’s that you can get from spinach, arugula, and kale. Eat avocado, nuts and seeds to get healthy fats that feed the brain.
• Brain health includes staying away from tobacco, and alcohol that inhibit the release of vasopressin, thus impairing memory.
• Help slow aging by taking Ginkgo balboa. Ginkgo has been used worldwide by indigenous peoples to improve health. It fights free-radicals that attack our cells, thus causing increased ageing. Ginkgo has been shown to reduce the amount of cortisol linked to immune suppression, atherosclerosis and brain cell toxicity (brain fog).
• DHEA (dehydro-epiandosterone) has become a popular supplement in American households. It helps the body to produce testosterone and progesterone as well as estrogen and corticosterone. We may need a DHEA supplement as we age, it help lower serum cholesterol and promotes energy. Take as directed because too much is not necessarily a good thing-if you take increase doses it may inhibit your body to produce its own DHEA and cause unwanted side effects like loss of hair, increased facial hair and long-term used may increase chances of prostate cancer.
• Vitamin C boosts collagen production; your skin will look much more radiant with 1000mg, or more a day of ascorbic acid (Vit C). Make sure to drink plenty of pure water, reverse osmosis is the best. It is available at the water machine found in most grocery stores.
• Soy foods do more than increase the amount of estrogen, thus helping decrease hot flashes for menopausal women; it also lowers total cholesterol and the Low-density lipids (LDL’s).  Men to will benefit from tofu, tempeh, soy milk, and miso (it makes a great salad dressing or soup).
• What’s in you cup of Java? Caffeine. Although caffeine can have a short-term energy boosting effect it may be best to stay away from it for the following reasons: Bone health- Calcium depletion caused by caffeine increases the risk for osteoporosis; Prenancy-Cafeine crosses the placenta, doses higher than 300mg (about 3 mugs of coffee or caffeinated tea) can cause miscarriage or low-birth weight; Sleep- Stay away from this substance at dinner time and later. It disrupts brain wave patterns, causing restless sleep or disturbing dreams.