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Healthy Life ®

LetterFebruary 2014 Promot ing Heal th . Enhancing L i fe . Reducing Costs .

Inside This Issue: Self-Care Corner 2

Well-Being Tips 3

Feed Your Body – Feed Your Soul 5

Medical News 6

Success Over Stress 7

Brush your teeth for heart’s sake: Taking care of your gums by brushing, flossing, and regular dental visits could help hold heart disease at bay, say public health researchers at Columbia University. As gum health improves, you can avoid narrowing of the arteries through the build-up of plaque—a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and death.

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women.

VA and the American Heart Association’s - Go Red For Women® have teamed up to fight heart disease in women Veterans and VA Employees. Heart disease can be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices, including healthy eating habits, exercise, and stress management.

Tips for Reducing Your Risk of Heart Disease •

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Exercise (such as walking, dancing, bicycling, swimming, rolling in your wheelchair) for 30 minutes, five or more days a week (make sure your provider approves any exercise regimen).

Manage stress through exercise, meditation, yoga or other therapy.

Maintain a healthy weight. Reducing your weight by just 10% can decrease your risk of heart disease.

If you smoke, QUIT now. Control your blood pressure. A healthy blood pressure is less than 140/90.

Eat a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains but low in fat, cholesterol and salt.

If you are diabetic, keep your blood sugar under control.

Get regular health screenings. See your health care provider to have your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol checked.

The warning signs of a heart attack in women may include: • •

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Chest discomfort Discomfort in one or both arms, neck, jaw, back, or stomach Shortness of breath Nausea, lightheadedness, breaking out in a cold sweat

If you think you or someone else may be having a heart attack, get help immediately. Call 9-1-1 right away!

Check with your Employee Wellness Coordinator to find out if there are any “Go Red” events at

your location.

Self-Care Corner

Refocus your pain Sometimes people in pain start to focus their entire lives around their pain, says a pain specialist.

“I find the people who feel better about their situation are the ones who can focus their lives around their activities instead. They gauge how they are by what they can do,” observes Dr. Heather Tick, professor of integrative pain medicine at the University of Washington.

“We reinforce the nerve connections of the things we focus on. If we focus on pain, we make those connections stronger. If we can shift the focus, we can distract ourselves and reinforce other nerve connections instead,” said Dr. Tick.

In her book, Holistic Pain Relief, she offers some strategies to refocus:

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Eat an anti-inflammatory diet, which means eating low-glycemic foods and good-quality proteins, avoiding foods with added chemicals, and drinking plenty of fresh water.

Talk to your doctor about taking anti-inflammatory supplements. Examples are omega-3s, vitamin D, and magnesium.

Exercise regularly to the best of your current ability and expect to improve.

Identify your sources of stress and try to spend some time de-stressing. For example, meditate or do breathing exercises.

Take responsibility for getting well.

Find joy and meaning in your life.

Find a primary practitioner and a treatment team you like working with.

{Note: Many topics like the one on this page are contained in a medical self-care guide, such as Healthier at Home®, Health at Home®, and HealthyLife® Self-Care Guide, and/or addressed by a nurse advice line. They serve as excellent resources. If you have a self-care guide and/or access to a nurse advice line, use it whenever you are unsure about what to do for symptoms and health issues you are experiencing. They can help you make better decisions about when to seek professional assistance and when you can treat yourself at home using self-care.}

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Well-Being Tips

Stay warm, save money

When temperatures drop, energy bills are higher. Duke Energy offers some simple energy (and money) saving tips:

Check your heating system’s ductwork to ensure that it is well insulated and completely covered. Ductwork should be properly sealed and not allowed to hang loose under the house.

Keep your thermostat at a comfortable setting. If you are going to be away for several days, turn the thermostat to a lower setting, but not off.

Have your heating or cooling system checked each season by a qualified technician to make sure it is operating properly. Heating and cooling account for at least half of your energy bill.

Check insulation, seal cracks, and weather-strips between heated and unheated areas such as garages, basements, and attics.

If you have a window air conditioning unit, remove it for the winter months to prevent heat from escaping through and around the unit. If it cannot be moved, cover it to prevent drafts.

Always make sure the fireplace damper seals tightly and remains closed except when a fire is burning or smoldering in the fireplace.

Insulate your water heater with at least R-6 insulation. The water heater is the second-largest energy user in your home. You can save enough money in energy bills to pay back the cost of materials within months and then keep on saving.

Ceiling fans help keep you comfortable in the summer and winter. Reversing the direction of the blades pushes warm air down into the room. Fans should turn counter-clockwise in the summer and clockwise in the winter.

On sunny days, leave the draperies open to allow the sun’s rays to warm your house.

When the wind blows When a winter blizzard (or any natural disaster) leaves you without power, are you prepared to weather the storm?

Know these facts from the University of Nebraska Extension service:

Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. Once the power goes off, the refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it’s unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if it’s half full) if the door remains closed.

Keep an insulated cooler on hand and gel packs or water-filled and frozen milk cartons in the freezer to cool perishable items. Outside sub-freezing temps will also preserve frozen food if the power stays out for days.

Stock one gallon of drinking water per person per day. Also stock up on staples that don’t need to be refrigerated such as canned foods (and a hand­held can opener), soups, dried or smoked meats, dried fruits and vegetables, powdered or evaporated milk, peanut butter, trail mix, granola bars, pet food, and ready-to-eat cereals.

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Take a class. Join a scrapbooking club or book readers group. Play a favorite sport.

Well-Being Tips Love &Be Loved Start with loving yourself Action Step

Set aside time from yourhectic day or week to engage inactivities that you love being apart of. And make concrete plansto spend one-on-one time withyour partner or soul mate.

Being happy with who you are and what you have to offer the world is a vital part of self-esteem and your overall

well-being. Having a strong sense of self helps you deal with feelings of rejection that can come with a job loss or a

falling out with a partner, friend, or coworker.

“You yourself, as much as anybody

in the entire universe, deserve

your love & affection.”

- Buddha

Build your own sense of self-worth • •

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“Know thyself.” Define who you are in a way that does not depend on what other people think. Accept your weaknesses, but focus on your strengths. Accept others for their strengths and weaknesses, too. Trying to change other people is not realistic and can lead to them feeling rejected.

Be with and make new friends who have the same interests.

Seek a support system. If you need help to feel accepted for who you are, be with family, friends, and coworkers who care for you without judgment. Join a support group with others who understand what you are going through and will accept you.

Do things you love and are good at. The more time you spend doing things you love to do, the better it makes you feel. Doing things that you are good at gives you pride and raises your self-esteem. Look on the bright side and be with positive people. Positive energy spreads from one person to the next like an electrical charge.

Share intimate times with a partner. Raise your level of oxytocin, the “love hormone,” through a close, intimate relationship. This includes physical closeness through holding hands, hugging, and caressing, as well as sex. It also includes being willing to share your most private thoughts.

Speak in an assertive way. This is expressing your wants and needs without hurting the feelings of others or putting them down. This helps prevent an aggressive response which can lead to feeling rejected.

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Feed Your Body – Feed Your Soul

Heart-healthy eating made easy Simple, small changes in what you eat can make it easier to follow a heart-healthy diet. Experts in the Harvard Heart Letter made these suggestions to lower the amount of saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, sodium, and calories, and boost the amount of fiber and nutrients in a daily diet:

Breakfast If you eat: Eggs

Try: Scrambling eggs with vegetables from last night’s dinner or chopped fresh tomatoes and avocado

Why: Adds nutrients and fiber; tomatoes add antioxidants, which help prevent fatty plaques; avocados add monounsaturated fat, which helps the body absorb nutrients

Lunch If you eat: Salad with ranch or blue cheese dressing

Try: A vinaigrette dressing made with garlic, Dijon mustard, fresh herbs, 1/3 cup vinegar, 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, pepper, and a dash of salt shaken together in a jar

Why: Reduces sodium and unhealthy fats

Dinner If you eat: Pasta with meat and cheese

Try: Whole-wheat spaghetti topped with fresh tomatoes and herbs or extra-virgin olive oil, grilled shrimp, and a small amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Why: Reduces saturated fat; adds fiber and health-protecting phytonutrients; shrimp adds omega­3 fatty acids, which may lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and irregular heart beats

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Featured Recipe: Super Bowl Tomato Soup Soup-er Bowl Sunday means the last football bash of the season. Whole tomatoes pack cancer-fighting lycopene, and substituting this recipe for the canned soup cuts way down on the sodium. It’s great sipped from a mug and weighing in at only 70 calories a serving, this soup can help you feel full without splurging on the bad stuff later.

Ingredients: 1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 1/3 cup chopped scallions, green and white parts 1 (28-oz.) can no-salt added whole tomatoes in tomato sauce 3 marinated sun-dried tomato halves, rinsed and chopped 1 tsp. dried basil 1/2 tsp. sugar 1 cup low-sodium tomato juice Salt and freshly ground pepper Garlic croutons, if desired, for garnish

Directions In small Dutch oven or large, heavy saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and scallions, and cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes one at a time, holding each over the pot and crushing it through your fingers. Add tomato sauce remaining in can. Add sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer soup for 20 minutes.

Using immersion blender, food processor or regular blender, purée soup until it is pulpy to smooth, as you prefer. Blend in tomato juice. Season soup to taste with pepper and other salt-free spices. Serve immediately, garnished with croutons, if using. Or cool soup and refrigerate, tightly covered, for up to 3 days.

Makes 6 servings. Per serving: 71 calories, 2.5 g fat (< 1 g sat fat),

12 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 2 g fiber, 64 mg sodium.

Used with permission from the American Institute for Cancer

Research, www.aicr.org.

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Medical News

February is Heart Health Month Go Red for Women Join the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign to promote awareness for heart disease in women. For starts, wear red on February 7th and throughout February if you wish. But don’t stop there. Schedule an appointment with your doctor or health care provider and at www.goredforwomen.org, take the GoRedHeartCheckup to learn your 10-year risk for a heart attack. Print a summary of your risk and show it at your next health care visit. At the website, you’ll also receive a Personal Action Plan to lower your risk for heart disease and you can sign up to receive a free red dress pin and Go Red for Women newsletters to your email.

Spread the word about Go Red for Women to other women you know. Together, you can help put an end to heart disease—the No. 1 killer in women.

My Life Check® and the Simple Seven™ Women and men can also check their heart health by answering a simple set of questions developed by the American Heart Association. Called Life’s Simple 7™, these questions assess your risk for heart disease by these factors: physical activity, diet, weight, blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and smoking status.

A high score means you may have a low risk of heart disease. A low score might mean you’re at risk for heart disease or stroke. The good news is that you can reduce your risk by changing your lifestyle in these areas.

Take the test at http://mylifecheck.heart.org.

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Success Over Stress

How to practice safe stress Post-holiday stress during the gloomy days of winter can trigger stress or depression. Dr. E. Christine Moll, a mental health counselor, notes that relationships, finances, and physical demands can trigger stress.

“When stress is at its peak, it’s hard to stop and regroup,” said Dr. Moll. “Take steps to help prevent normal seasonal depression from progressing into chronic depression.” She suggests the following strategies:

Acknowledge your feelings.

Seek support. From family and friends or community, religious, or social services. Consider volunteering at a community or religious function. Getting involved and helping others can lift your spirits and broaden your social circle.

Be realistic. Things don’t always stay the same. Find new ways to connect.

Set differences aside. Try to accept family members and friends as they are, even if they don’t live up to all your expectations. Set aside grievances until a more appropriate time for discussion.

Stick to a budget. And if holiday bills are mounting, work with a financial counselor to scale that mountain and plan to avoid a similar situation next year.

Learn to say no.

Keep up your healthy habits. Make time for exercise.

Take a breather. Make some time for yourself even if it’s just 15 minutes alone. Take a walk, star gaze, listen to music. Read a fascinating book. Slow your breathing and restore calm.

Rethink resolutions. Don’t resolve to change

your whole life to make up for

past excess. Instead, try to return to basic, healthy lifestyle routines. Set smaller, more specific goals with a reasonable time frame.

Seek professional help if you need it. Talk with your doctor or a

member of your company’s

EAP for a referral to a mental health

counselor.

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Heavy rush-hour traffic may be killing you. Not the road rage; but air pollution. Heart doctors at Baylor Medical Center found that 1 in 10 heart attacks are related to pollutants you breathe while creeping home behind slow-moving cars. Constant exposure to bad air can cause inflammation and changes in the arteries of the heart. Stay calm. Take slow breaths. And avoid using the cell phone, they advise.

Sweating a heart attack. Recognize the classic symptoms: shortness of breath, nausea, lightheadedness, or discomfort in the chest, arm, neck or jaw. And if you’re experiencing any of these symptoms with sweating after little or no exertion, that’s a good indicator a heart attack may be coming, according to University of Illinois at Chicago researchers, reporting findings to the American Heart Association. Doctors can stop a heart attack, but you have to get to the hospital first.

Stranded in your car during a winter storm? A fast-moving winter storm could strand you in your car. The cold can lead to hypothermia and frostbite until you’re rescued.

A charged cell phone can be your lifeline for first responders, but until help arrives, Amica Insurance with advice from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration offers these tips to help keep you safe if you’re stuck in a winter storm:

Always stay in your vehicle. You will become disoriented quickly in wind-driven snow and cold temperatures.

Run the engine for about 10 minutes every hour to provide heat. However, be sure to slightly open a window to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

Turn on the dome light at night when running the engine.

After the snow stops, open the hood of your vehicle to indicate that you need assistance.

Tie a colored cloth – preferably red – to your door or antenna.

Be sure to move your arms, legs, fingers and toes to keep blood circulating.

Copyright 2014, American Institute for Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved. 30445 Northwestern Hwy., Ste. 350 Farmington Hills, MI 48334

248.539.1800 aipm@healthylife.com • • www.HealthyLife.com