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HIGHPEAK

Wellness Blog

Laughing has health benefits!

6/24/2016

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Laughing reduces stress and has heath benefits such as lowering blood pressure.  Enjoy this link and some good chuckles!
Laughing and health!
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Taking the chore out of cooking

6/17/2016

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By Ingrid Ashley
Do you ever get home from a long day of working look in the fridge and just want to turn to the take out menu?  Trust me, we have all been there!  I still have times when it is just not in me to cook a big meal.  The beautiful thing is that cooking dinner does not have to be a big meal.  Some of the best dishes I have created have been the ones that took all the weekly leftovers and made a casserole or stir fry that was out of this world.  The other day Dr. Liz sent me a photo of a simple one skillet dish she threw together that looked so delicious!  (See photo below.)  When I have one of these moments, I have no choice but turn on loud salsa music (or whatever my kids will tolerate), and turn into the dancing chef!  My kids get a kick out of my dancing even joining in on occasion, and the music fuels me along to keep calm and carry on into a healthy dinner for our family.  What motivates you to cook?  Tell us below!
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Pinto beans and kale added to squash, porta bella mushrooms and lightly marinated in Annie's Ginger Marinade with coriander and tumeric add a gentle spiciness to this simple dish!
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Nick Lula's Standing Desk

6/10/2016

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By Dr. Elizabeth George
​Usually you hear me talk about the research behind whole foods plant based eating and the many different benefits we’ve seen from our Healthy Eating Adventures.  80% of chronic diseases (and many acute diseases as well) are the result of a lifestyle out of sync with our natural design.  Putting in the whole foods is key to making our complex body system work, repair, re-grow.  Another aspect of lifestyle is, of course, the physical activity we get.  And in today’s world of commuting to work, sitting hunched over a computer or other desk jobs or playing video games and watching reality shows, actual physical activity is very much limited.  All this is in stark contrast to the at least 8 miles a day our distant ancestors used to get as they gathered their food. 
​We’re all familiar with the recommendation to get 150 minutes at least of brisk activity a week – or 30 minutes 5 days a week; by brisk we mean enough to increase your heart rate and have you breathe faster. This will provide roughly a 50% reduction in the risk of heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, alzheimers,  Stepping it up to more exercise and more intense adds additional risk reduction. 
But now there is a new twist on the role of physical activity in wellness.  Two recent articles (well really many, but I’ll go over 2) are noteworthy.  Health care providers are saying, “Sitting is the New Smoking”
​A report last year in the Annals of Internal Medicine described a meta-analysis of published research to quantitatively evaluate the association between adults' sedentary time and health outcomes. It concluded that sitting for prolonged periods increases risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer and death, even among people who exercise regularly.  Yes, heading to the gym at the end of the day still has the benefits noted above.  However, someone who sits all day and exercises, has greater risk for heart attack, for example, than someone who has a job where he/she moves around and also exercises the 150 minutes. 
​Another study makes it clear that protracted sitting simply is a problem – and not just because you burn fewer calories.  A study reported at recent American Heart Association scientific sessions, showed significant improvement in blood pressure when the 8 hour work day was interrupted for 3 minutes every 30 minutes.  Participants’ baseline blood pressures were measured throughout their usual sitting workday.  On another day they rose from their desks every 30 minutes for 3 minutes of walking down the hall at a 2- mph pace.  On yet another day they stood up every 30 minutes and did 3 minutes of simple resistance activities at their desks – half squats, knee raises, calf stretches (what could be simpler?).
​Blood pressures were measured eight times per day.  At the end of the light-walking day, subjects’ blood pressure was on average 14/8 mm Hg lower than on the uninterrupted sitting day.  On the simple resistance activity day, it was 16/10 mm Hg lower.  Once again – a lifestyle change can give you a comparable result to a blood pressure pill – without side affects and no co-pay!!
​I don’t want to make this article to long – but real quick – there’s another study of similar design in diabetics that showed improved glucose control and better insulin function with just this simple shift to standing up every 30 minutes and moving around!! So simply put, sedentary jobs are risky!! People with sedentary jobs, or sedentary lifestyle should get up every 30 minutes and move for 3 minutes – to reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. 
​So, you might be asking, what’s this about “Nick Iula’s Standing Desk”?  Today Patti Nitterhouse and I went to Shippensburg University to enjoy Roberta’s dreamy art show “How’s the Weather?” Looking at her artwork, you feel like you’re right there in the painting.  Afterward, we went to the dining hall for lunch.  Yes, the public is welcome.  Nick was there, so we got to rave to him about our delicious meal AND he got to proudly show us the “standing desk” he had created for his computer in his office - so he can stand, walk in place, move while he designs those delicious menus for the whole school.  No wonder he has more energy and glow than ever!!
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Check back weekly for new posts on health and wellness!
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Time to clear out the freezer!

6/3/2016

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By Dr. Elizabeth George
​My husband and I were getting the garden ready to plant today.  (This early we can put in the spinach, lettuce and potatoes).  We got the fence mended (we have deer friends and worse, we have a dog, Frodo, who loves to dig up potatoes and eat them!)
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​That got me to realizing that the summer crop will be coming in before too long, and I haven’t used everything in the freezer.  Well, lets make a dent in it tonight.  Frozen veggies roast just as easily as fresh – though this is the first I’m trying my frozen potatoes.   ​I gathered up my broccoli, heirloom string beans, potatoes and kale from the freezer. (I also set out a frozen tomatoe sauce – it will work well later this week to add to leftovers –and , yum, throw in some Quinoa).
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 Also I set out fresh carrots, cabbage, onions, zucchini, sun chokes, The sunchokes were discovered today as we turned the soil over – a whole bucket. (more about sunchokes later).  So since some of the veggies are frozen and chunked together, we’ll start those first on a slightly lower temperature – 300 * and set timer for 30 minutes, and start to write this blog. When I’m starting with all fresh veggies, I usually roast them at 350 . 
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​Meanwhile, I’ll also chop up the fresh veggies.  Also, I’ll get the frozen veggies out of the oven in about 15 minutes and see if they can be cut a little smaller. 
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​When I got the veggies out – the broccoli and green beans were well thawed – potatoes still frozen in the center.  So I cut the potatoes smaller (they were thawed enough to cut) and put them in a corning dish by themselves for about 10 minutes while I washed and sliced the sun chokes.  
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Sun chokes add a nice zing to potatoes dishes – kind of like parsnips and turnips and kohlrabi do.  They are also yummy slivered raw on most any kind of salad – they add a nice crunch and flavor.  I cut the carrots in 1- inch pieces – they’re slow cooking so smaller is better. I noticed the onion was actually a scallion (?) – slivered it and spread it over the rest so the flavor could sink in. ​
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​And then I opened the spice drawer and looked around to see what inspired me. Oregano jumped out first – shake it on, then cumin, and then dill seemed right and finally pepper.  I’m not entirely sure how I decided on these – and we’ll see how they taste!   Finally I topped it with some garbanzo beans – but didn’t have as many as I wanted, so I opened some lentils and added a cup.  Also I got the frozen kale out and broke off a handful and crumbled it on top of everything; it will come out crispy and delicious. I put it back in the convection oven at 300. (Notice that I did not add any oil to all this. I prefer to get my healthy plant fats from the plants themselves – rather than expressed and extracted into an oil with nutrients and fiber missing.  And the bonus is, it’s soooo easy to clean the dishes!
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​While it’s cooking I’ll make some notes about adding the legumes – garbanzo beans and lentils.  They are a wonderful source of protein, magnesium, iron and fiber and many other nutrients.   They help diabetics (or anyone for that matter) regulate their blood sugar.  Also, they help your blood vessels produce nitric oxide which helps arteries relax, “vasodilate”, be “unsticky”, and reduces inflammation; all of this is wonderful of course for your circulatory system and everything it serves – AKA your whole body!  Of course every veggie in this dish with all their different colors adds potassium, a variety of vitamins and other antioxidants, minerals, fibers and more than we’ll ever know!!
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​Time to taste!!   A yummy success – what’s really cool is I can taste the distinctive flavor of each of the different veggies and beans, while they all go well together.  Also, all the different veggies maintained their own textures – some are crisper than others, nice!.   Tomorrow night I’ll cook some of these up with Farro and that yummy tomatoe sauce thawed from last summer.

Coming soon on our next blog "The standing desk!"
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