From social media influencers to great aunt Bess, everyone has an opinions about the best habits for a healthy lifestyle. But whether youve gone all-in on apple cider vinegar or think the latest health fads are all hype, the choices you make can have long-term health consequences.

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Healthy lifestyle habits can slow or even reverse the damage from high cholesterol or high blood sugar, says lifestyle medicine specialist Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD. You can reverse diabetes, obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol and heart disease.

Here, he sifts through the noise to help you choose the best lifestyle habits to prevent chronic diseases.

The leading causes of death worldwide are chronic diseases, Dr. Golubic says. And they include the usual suspects:

But you can prevent many of these chronic conditions by addressing their root cause: daily habits. About 80% of chronic diseases are driven by lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise, he says.

To prevent chronic disease, Dr. Golubic recommends adjusting your habits in these five areas:

His advice is straightforward: Eat plants that are whole, unrefined and minimally processed. Eating plant-based foods helps reduce diabetes, heart disease and cancer risk.

There is evidence that the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. This diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains fish, olive oil and nuts.

Other evidence suggests that consuming a fully plant-based diet can even reverse chronic, diet-related conditions, including advanced heart disease. This diet eliminates meat, dairy and eggs and includes whole foods such as vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fruits. It is the most compassionate and the most sustainable diet, Dr. Golubic says, and the one he recommends most.

I suggest you experiment. You dont have to go fully vegan tomorrow, he says.

Avoid refined and processed plant foods. Start by preparing one new plant-based meal a week.

Moving helps all your bodys systems. Experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week.

If that seems daunting, Dr. Golubic recommends starting small. Most of us can walk. So start with a 10-minute walk. Repeat this two or three times a day, he says. Then try to walk faster, have a minute of more intense walking or climb a flight of stairs. If walking is not an option, any physical activity will do. Simply move more and sit less.

Shoot for seven to nine hours of restful sleep each night. But if you just cant help burning the midnight oil, try to:

Chronic stress is not your immune systems friend. Try mindfulness, meditation and gratitude to relieve stress and improve your physical and mental health.

We tend to self-medicate with food, but there are healthier ways to relieve our stress, worries and concerns, Dr. Golubic says.

Mindfulness: Mindfulness is the state of being more present and aware of what you sense, feel and experience. Its a great way to cope with stress and relax.

Dr. Golubic suggests two ways to master mindfulness:

Meditation: If youre new to the practice, 44 breathing, or box breathing, is a great place to start. Heres how it works:

Do this for five minutes three times a week, building up to 20 minutes a day.

Gratitude: Practicing gratitude is a good antidote for stress as well. In studies, burned-out healthcare workers who performed acts of gratitude such as remembering three good things or writing gratitude letters reported positive effects on their well-being after a few weeks.

Throughout our days we tend to notice more things that are not going well and pay little attention to positive moments, Dr. Golubic says. We are likely to feel better when, in the midst of a hectic day, we recognize and remind ourselves about all the gifts we have in life.

Social connectedness, or loving people, keeps you emotionally and physically healthy. Even when physical distancing is the norm, virtual connections can be transformative.

We have tremendous access to technology to help us avoid social isolation, Dr. Golubic says. Almost everybody has a cell phone, so you can be in touch with people and tell them how you feel about them. Even work emails signed, I hope youre OK, or, stay well, make a difference.

There are a few reasons it can be hard to get a handle on our habits, including:

To make healthy habits stick, Dr. Golubic suggests you:

Excerpt from:
5 Healthy Habits That Prevent Chronic Disease Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic

Students on campus at the University of Georgia in Athens. Elissa Nadworny/NPR hide caption

Students on campus at the University of Georgia in Athens.

As the fall semester gets underway, college students are reuniting with their friends, getting (re)acquainted with campus and doing what college students often do: partying. But in the time of the coronavirus, as more parties surface university administrators have been quick to condemn and even berate the behavior of students.

"Be better. Be adults. Think of someone other than yourself," pleaded a letter to students at Syracuse University following a large gathering on campus.

"We are terribly disappointed," leaders at the College of Holy Cross wrote to students before remote classes had even started.

"This is the kind of reckless behavior that will put an end to our in-person semester, and it must stop," wrote the president of St. Olaf College, a small school in Minnesota after an off-campus party.

For many students, this scolding feels like a bait and switch: Didn't those university administrators, many of whom brought students back to campus knowing full well the challenges, share in some of that poor decision-making?

Students at The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, shared their thoughts about this when we visited their newsroom a week after that university moved its semester online, citing coronavirus clusters seeded by student parties.

"If the success of your plan relies on 18- to 24-year-olds being responsible, then maybe it's not a very good plan," says Anna Pogarcic, a senior at UNC and the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper. "The power dynamics of an 18-year-old versus this big university with its million-dollar endowment, you can't argue with that."

"I will give students a smidgen of the blame, just a smidgen of it," says Brandon Standley, a senior and managing editor at The Daily Tar Heel. "I think that the university gets the most blame, because they brought back thousands of students."

"No one should be surprised," says Maydha Devarajan, a junior at UNC who spent the summer editing stories that challenged the university's plan to bring students to campus and hold in-person classes. "We've known this would happen all summer."

According to a UNC survey from early summer, 28% of undergrads said they were "extremely or somewhat likely to go to parties or other large campus gatherings." And colleges have been openly anticipating it. In July, the dean of students at Tulane University sent an email to students about behavior. In the third paragraph, in boldface and all caps it said: "DO NOT HOST PARTIES OR GATHERINGS WITH MORE THAN 15 PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE HOST. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL FACE SUSPENSION OR EXPULSION FROM THE UNIVERSITY."

Fast-forward to late August, when many students returned to campus: Those parties and large gatherings happened, as expected. Across the country, from Tuscaloosa to Iowa City, students socialized indoors with lots of people without masks helped in part by many campuses' active Greek life.

"It breaks my heart to see this," says Anna Song, an assistant professor of health psychology at the University of California, Merced who studies decision-making by young adults. "It's like asking people to go on a diet. Putting them in a candy store and saying, good luck. And then if they break that diet, we say, 'Why'd you break the diet? And, you know, we're going to punish you for it.' "

Many college students still have developing brains, so it's not that they aren't informed or that they don't understand the risks it's that they're wired differently. "Peer networks and having connection with other people is absolutely critical in terms of development for young people," Song says. "There is a lot going on in the brain to reward those kinds of interactions."

Of course, not all students are partying. Many are following the rules and encouraging others to do the same. "I'm not the only person that's frustrated," says Reagan Griffin Jr., a sophomore at the University of Southern California. He moved from Tennessee to Los Angeles to be closer to campus, despite the fact all his classes are online. He says he's been hunkered down, even though many of his fellow Trojans haven't been. USC reported an "alarming increase" in COVID-19 cases last week. "Clearly, other people have faulty priorities," he says. The case increases are "the fault of people who either don't know or don't care, and neither of those things are excusable."

Unlike other types of public health issues, the coronavirus is highly contagious, so the actions of a few can affect an entire campus. "With this kind of virus, you can't have 60% compliance and be like, 'Hey, we did a great job!' " says Song. "You need to have near complete compliance for this to work."

She adds that university leaders must recognize what's driving behavior among their students. "You can't deny that the pull for social interaction is incredibly strong for this group; it's formative for them," Song says. "So asking them to deny that is a Herculean challenge."

In June, she raised an important question about asking students to refrain from partying when they head back to college: "Are we asking them to do something that is almost near impossible?" Now, she thinks the answer to that question is yes. "I do believe it's not fair to ask them to do this," she said this week.

With desperate pleas and social contracts failing to curb these events, some schools have turned to punitive measures. At several campuses, including Syracuse University in New York and Purdue University in Indiana, students have been suspended for attending and hosting large gatherings. In Chapel Hill, town officials charged students with misdemeanors in connection with off-campus parties at UNC. At the University of Connecticut, students were kicked out of on-campus housing for hosting a party in their dorm room.

But will this harsher approach work? Public health experts aren't convinced.

"We know shaming and blaming people for public health interventions doesn't work, whether you're talking about sexually transmitted diseases or you're talking about drug use and drinking," explains Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease physician and public health expert. "You never want to do something that will drive behavior underground and make it more risky."

Song agrees. "My first thought was I bet what some students will think is 'Well, then I just can't get caught,' " she says. "So it becomes a game."

She's hopeful that enforcement from other students might be more successful than punitive messaging, since young adults value peer connection.

"The best hope is that the students are vigilant with each other," she says, "because it's coming from a peer who's saying, 'You are hurting me, you are hurting our community and as a member, as your peer, as a person in your social network, I am not standing for that.' And I think that probably weighs more than everything else."

Alternative options

Another important aspect of regulating behavior is providing alternative programming. "We have to figure out how to help students meet some of those socialization needs, but in a safe way," Song says. Offering outdoor, socially distant activities, she says, will help schools "fare way better than just to say, 'Hey, just don't party.' "

Figuring out what a social life looks like on a college campus is Connie Carson's job at Furman University, a liberal arts college in Greenville, S.C. As the school's vice president for student life, she has leaned heavily on student organizations during the coronavirus pandemic.

"They are the lifeblood of any campus," she says. "Students are so much more creative, honestly, than we are." She points to a recent outdoor movie shown on the Furman campus, where students used hula hoops to enforce social distancing.

The school is working on ways to use outdoor venues to have "appropriate gatherings" such as trivia nights or dance parties to keep students on the grounds, rather than having them tempted to head off-campus, to downtown Greenville.

This responsibility sits firmly on the shoulders of the college, not the students, says David Paltiel, a professor at Yale who studies public health policy. "As the university, you've got the responsibility to provide students with imaginative, compassionate, realistic, low-risk options for staying socially connected," he says. Administrators need to be upfront with students about the challenge they're facing with enforcing student behavior, he says, and some infractions may be worse than others.

"If you have to turn a blind eye to a game of beer pong that is happening on the quad or in a driveway, that's well worth it," says Paltiel. "What you're trying to prevent is the superspreader event where 150 unmasked kids get way too close to each other in the basement of some frat house with no windows open. That's what you're trying to prevent."

Paltiel isn't expecting administrators to actually know what's cool; that's why he says involving students, especially those involved with fraternities and sororities, is essential. He suggests this script for administrators, who are being upfront with students: " 'Here's the money. Here's the party tent. Here are the outdoor space heaters. Here's the pigs in a blanket. Here's the keg. What I can't have you doing is having these things indoors, unmasked. I can't have too many people in a single space.'"

And remember, he says, what schools are asking students to do is hard, so a bit of empathy and compassion can go a long way. It hasn't been easy for many adults either.

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Playing The Blame Game: The Uphill Battle To Prevent College Partying - NPR

Eleanor Frederick / For The Times-News| Times-News

Ready to enjoy a way of eating that is great tasting and good for you? Then the simple, delicious and satisfying Mediterranean way of eating may be right for you.

Created by N.C. State Extension and the Community and Clinical Connections for Prevention and Health Branch of the North Carolina Division of Public Health, MedInsteadofMeds.com is filled with recipes and resources that make Med Month a great time of year to start eating the Med way.

The Med way reects a way of eating that is traditional in the countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea and includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts, seeds, and olive oil and limits highly processed foods and added sugar. This approach to eating has been extensively studied and is associated with promoting health and decreasing the risk of many chronic diseases including some forms of cancer, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

As such, the Mediterranean way of eating is recommended around the world, including in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

In 2019, the Mediterranean diet won the gold as 2019's best overall diet in rankings announced recently by US News and World Report. The analysis of 41 eating plans also gave the Mediterranean diet the top spot in several subcategories: best diet for healthy eating, best plant-based diet, best diet for diabetes and easiest diet to follow.

More: Lighten up your favorite comfort foods

Fortunately, the Med Instead of Meds program isnt all about pasta and olive oil (although theres nothing wrong with those tasty ingredients!) The program also lends itself to creative and delicious uses for much of the fresh harvest available in fall.

Wild mushrooms and barley risotto

Serves 6

Barley is a great grain with lots of nutty flavor and a nice bite. We often see barley in soup, but it can be used for many dishes. This risotto takes advantage of this grains great taste and creamy texture when cooked using this method. Risotto is often thought of as a dish made with rice, but it is actually a cooking method. It seems hard at first, but it is not difficult. Just get a glass of your favorite beverage, stand and stir and contemplate life for a few minutes. The extra effort is worth the trouble. This dish is a great example of adding lots of vegetables in a grain dish to decrease calories and boost fiber.

Ingredients:

6 cups mushroom, vegetable, or chicken broth

1 cups water

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup minced onion

cup red wine

3 cups sliced or coarse chopped mushrooms, any variety or combination

1 cups uncooked barley, rinsed (do not use quick cooking)

6 cups baby spinach or Swiss chard (chopped)

cup grated parmesan cheese (omit to make this dish vegan)

1 tablespoon butter (omit to make this dish vegan)

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan, bring broth and water to a simmer.

2. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or large chefs pan. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add red wine and cook until almost evaporated.

4. Add the mushrooms and cook stirring often until they begin to release their juices.

5. Add barley and cook for 1 minute.

6. Add 1 cup of warm broth and stir continuously until almost all of the liquid is absorbed.

7. Continue adding broth 1 cup at a time while stirring. Keep adding broth until barley is cooked through and tender (about 35-45 minutes). Add a bit more broth. Dish should be a bit loose at this point as it will continue to thicken.

8. Stir in spinach and allow to wilt.

9. Add more broth if the dish is too stiff.

10. Stir in balsamic vinegar, cheese and butter if using.

11. Taste and add pepper and adjust seasoning if needed.

Apple cucumber slaw

Serves 2

Dont just pickle those end of the season cucumbers. Combine them with crisp apples and other veggies that have a crunch for a light and easy fall salad.

Ingredients:

1 apple, cut into matchsticks (use a sweet apple such as Red Delicious, or a tart apple such as Granny Smith)

English cucumber or garden cucumber, chopped,

sweet onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped fine

cup white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Serve immediately, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

Microwaved baked apples

Serves 2

This is a super easy and super delicious dessert or snack. Any apple will work, but firm apples such as Fuji, Gala, or Braeburn work best. You can change it up with different spices to suit your tastes.

Ingredients:

2 apples

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Core the apple, leaving the bottom intact.

2. In a bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon the sugar mixture into the apples.

3. Place the apples in a deep casserole dish and cover with the lid.

4. Microwave for 3-4 minutes or until tender.

5. Let the apples sit for 2 minutes before serving.

Eleanor Frederick is the family and consumer sciences agent for the Alamance County Cooperative Extension Service.

The following story appears in the Sept. 2020 edition of Alamance Living magazine. If you want to read more stories like this, pick up a copy of the magazine at various locations in Alamance County, or call 336-227-0131 to subscribe so issues will be mailed to your home.

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Enjoy Autumns bounty the Mediterranean way - Burlington Times News

By Stan Gudmundson

Peterson, MN

I absolutely despise what the radical left is doing to America and the world today. Tearing down statues, monuments, and trying to destroy history, good and bad, is much like Mao Tse-Tungs Cultural Revolution in its destruction of the old. As if history can be changed.

Their beliefs about and attitudes toward the past are silly. And infuriating. Its as if sanctimonious self-righteous 21st century purity could produce retroactive historical change.

Leftists seem to think that, were they able to change places with our ancestors, they would have believed and behaved differently. Thats fantasy. A case can also be made that revisionist historians suffer from the same delusional malady.

Were they able to do so, they would have had to do exactly the same things they did. Nothing would have been different. Time and circumstances have changed but human nature has not.

When Columbus came to the Americas, he launched an inevitable cultural clash that had to occur sooner or later. He just happened to be first. Moreover, it wasnt just a cultural clash. It was also an ecological clash that continues today as invasive species show us.

We dont exactly know what it was like here before Europeans arrived because the diseases they brought obliterated native American populations. And much of their cultures.

Now, imagine that you are a male child of a couple living in Norway or Sweden in the 1800s. By law, the farm you are grew up on will pass from your parents to your oldest brother. You will have to work for him or someone elses older brother or find other work in a time and place where there wasnt much other work. Going to sea was an option but it was a dangerous way to make a living. To make matters worse, a famine hits, something that periodically strikes Scandinavia. And the rest of the world. About 350,000 people starve to death this time.

Like many, many others you are desperate but have a chance to move to America and start a new life, free of primogeniture and Norways other limitations. You take it. When you arrive you learn English and stop speaking Norwegian. You are never, ever going back to the awful life in the old country.

If you were to be from the United Kingdom, your children will have a chance to grow taller than you because of an improved diet. Like the diet that historically allowed the British royalty to be four or five inches taller than peasants.

Because of the incredible mortality rate, in some parts of the world, children werent named until they were five years old. America offers hope. Maybe you can begin naming your children at birth.

You are joining people confronting stone age cultures now modified by the introduction of European horses and cattle. Moreover, Indian homes werent always static. Many moved often, fleeing from the predations of other tribes. Inter-tribal warfare and conquest is extremely brutal and, many kept slaves. When tribes in the southeast were relocated to Indian territory in Oklahoma, they brought with them at least 3,000 black slaves.

Pekka Hamalainen, in the book Comanche Empire, points out that Indian slave traders even captured Indians and Spaniards sending them to the horrible Caribbean sugar plantations. When the Spaniards once decided to stop trading for slaves, the Comanches killed their captives in front of the Spaniards. They publicly raped the women first as they continued to do after the Spaniards relented and began again trading for the slaves to save lives.

The Comanche tribe, establishing a way of life dominated by horses, controlled the southwest for upwards of 200 years. They could have easily wiped out European settlements in all of Texas, New Mexico, and areas to the north. To an extent, they tolerated them because they needed European trade goods. Especially guns.

Some Indian tribes, anxious to save themselves from Comanches and others came to missions begging to keep them safe. If they could. In exchange, many promised to become and did become Christians.

History is really grim and a mess. The left should stop pretending they are better than and would have behaved differently than our ancestors. They couldnt and wouldnt have.

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The phony criticism of history and our ancestors - Fillmore County Journal

Taking specific stepsto transform national food supply systems can help countries achieve climate goals and limit global warming to 1.5 degree Celsius, a new joint UN report on climate action has found.

Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions for Food Systems, published on Tuesday, by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), WWF, EAT, and Climate Focus, also reveals that nations are missing significant opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It also identifies sixteen ways policymakers could take more action, from farm to fork, to integrate food systems in their national climate strategies, that could also help improve food security.

According to the head of UNEP, while COVID-19 has exposed the fragility of food supply systems, the pandemic has also demonstrated that businesses and people are ready to build back better.

This crisis offers us a chance to radically rethink how we produce and consume food, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, said in a news release announcing the reports findings.

For example, reorienting consumption by halving food waste and catalyzing a shift towards more plant-rich diets, is also a powerful climate mitigation tool to take advantage of. It is up to us to seize this opportunity and put sustainable food systems at the heart of the green recovery, she added.

Improvements by as much as 25 per cent

Currently, diets and food loss and waste are widely ignored in national climate plans, but by adding them, policymakers can improve their mitigation and adaptation contributions from food systems, by as much as 25 per cent, said UNEP.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, every five years, countries are expected to revise or resubmit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) steps that they will take to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

2020, therefore, presents policymakers with the opportunity to adopt food systems solutions and set more ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, in turn, improve biodiversity, food security and public health.

Food: more than a third of emissions

Food systems which gather all elements and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food account for up to 37 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, offering plenty of space to improve.

Marco Lambertini, Director General of WWF-International, called on governments to include climate and nature positive food systems approaches in revised and more ambitious NDCs submitted in 2020.

Without action on how we produce and consume food, we cannot achieve our climate or biodiversity goals, which are the foundation to achieve food security, prevent the emergence of diseases and ultimately deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Affordable and accessible diets

Gunhild Stordalen, the Founder and Executive Chair of EAT a non-profit organization that works towards catalyzing a global food system transformation added that fixing food systems goes beyond supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.

Shifting to regenerative, carbon-absorbing production and adoption of healthy, predominantly plant-based diets that are affordable and accessible, as well as halving food waste and loss, are crucial actions that must be included in countries NDCs and integrated in their climate action plans with clear ambitions, she said.

As we enter the Decade of Action, lets make it the decade of delivery for a healthy, sustainable and equitable food future for all, added Dr. Stordalen.

Actiontowards transformation

The sixteen actions identified in the report include reducing land-use change and conversion of natural habitats, which could reduce emissions by some 4.6 gigatonnes of equivalent carbon dioxide, or Gt CO2e, per year.

Comparably, reducing food loss and waste, which accounts for 8 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions, could reduce emissions by 4.5 Gt CO2e per year. Similarly, improving production methods and reducing methane emissions from livestock, could reduce emissions by up to 1.44 Gt CO2e per year.

Much greater reductions, could be achieved by shifting to healthier and more sustainable diets with a higher proportion of plant-based than animal-based foods could avoid emissions of up to 8 Gt CO2e each year. But, no current national climate plans explicitly discuss more sustainable diets.

Eliminating excessive meat consumption, improving storage facilities and reducing food waste is good for our health and improves food security, said Charlotte Streck, Co-founder and Director of Climate Focus, a think tank that provides advice on international climate policy to public and private actors across the globe.

With a check-list and concrete examples of activities and targets, this report provides guidance for policymakers to integrate food systems in their national climate strategies, she added.

Related

Link:
Decisive Action and Change Needed to Reform and Rebuild a Better Lebanon - Modern Diplomacy

Editors Note: In order to help communicate with the citizens of Moore County, Health Department Director Robert Wittmann has partnered with Dr. Paul Kuzma to prepare a series of articles meant to inform the public about COVID-19 and public health.

There has been a lot of information about COVID-19 and the efforts to contain it. Less has been written about how to protect yourself at an individual level.

While there is no way to completely eliminate your risk of contracting COVID-19, or to ensure that you dont get a severe case, there are steps you can take to improve your odds of staying healthy. Here are a few simple ways to reduce your risk while improving your health.

n Optimize your pre-existing health conditions.

It is widely recognized that people with significant medical conditions have worse outcomes and higher death rates if they develop COVID-19. These conditions include: obesity; chronic kidney disease; type 2 diabetes; serious heart disease; COPD; cancer; immune suppression; and sickle cell disease.

While it is not possible to eliminate these diseases in most people, it is possible to optimize them. It is more important than ever to work with your health care providers to get yourself in the best condition possible.

Think of it like preparing to play a big game or run a marathon. The better condition you are in at the start, the better you will fare during the event, and the quicker you will recover afterward. So make sure you see your providers, take your medicines and get your health as optimized as possible. It is safe to go to your doctors office, so dont delay necessary health care.

The most important things you can do for your health are:

n Exercise. Lose excess weight. Stop smoking.

Exercise is probably the single most important thing that anyone can do for their health. Our bodies are machines that are meant to be used. Walking is the easiest and best exercise for most people. If you are able, 30 to 60 minutes of walking at as brisk a pace can work wonders. For those that cant walk, there are exercises that can be done while seated or standing in your home.

Exercise helps with weight loss, diabetes, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, immune function and mental health.

We are fortunate in Moore County to have excellent resources for exercise. If you need professional guidance, there are physical therapists and personal trainers in our community, and FirstHealth has a program called Exercise is Medicine that can help you get started.

n Improve your nutrition with a healthy diet and vitamins.

There have been some interesting findings on the role of vitamin and nutritional deficiencies and their role in the risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe disease. Some deficiencies can impair the normal functioning of our immune system.

Most vitamin and mineral deficiencies are best managed by eating a healthy diet that includes a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Since it is not always possible to meet all of our nutritional needs this way, you may want to consider vitamins. Some suggestions:

Vitamin D. Vitamin D is an important modulator of immune function and a number of researchers recommend optimizing Vitamin D levels to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19 disease. This may also reduce the risk of influenza.

Our body naturally produces Vitamin D when we are exposed to sunlight. It is present in foods, is added to most milk, and is available as a nutritional supplement. The recommended upper limit of daily Vitamin D supplementation is 600-800 international units (15-20 micrograms). High doses of Vitamin D can cause side effects and should be taken only under medical advice.

Zinc. Zinc is available as a supplement and in lozenge form. A review in 2013 found that zinc supplementation reduces the duration and severity of the common cold, which is caused by a corona virus. Correction of zinc deficiency may reduce the severity of COVID-19.

Since zinc has direct antiviral activity, it may be prudent to suck on a zinc lozenge immediately if you feel the beginnings of a sore or scratchy throat. This may inhibit the virus before it can get a foothold in your body. High levels of zinc can cause side effects, so high dose zinc supplementation is not recommended.

Selenium. Selenium is an element that is necessary for cellular function. Research has demonstrated an increase in certain viral infections in people with selenium deficiencies. In China, people who lived in areas with low natural selenium levels had worse outcomes with COVID-19. Selenium is present in some foods and is in many multivitamins. Excess selenium can be toxic so high doses are not recommended.

Vitamin C. Vitamin C is available through diet and supplements. While there is no direct evidence of reduced infection with COVID in people who take Vitamin C supplementation, it plays an important role in immune modification, the bodys inflammatory response, and has antiviral activity.

So do these simple things today to reduce your risk of developing severe COVID-19. Exercise. Eat a healthy diet and include some fresh fruit and vegetables. Consider taking a multivitamin and address any vitamin deficiencies. Suck on a zinc lozenge at the first sign of a sore throat. Get out in the sunshine. Quit smoking. Work with your doctor on your overall health. Take your medicines as prescribed.

It isnt difficult to take some concrete steps today to reduce your risk of severe COVID disease. In fact, these steps are the foundations of good health.

Dr. Paul Kuzma has practiced medicine in Moore County for more than 20 years and is currently completing his Master of Public Health degree at Johns Hopkins University.

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Column: Simple Things Can Be Done To Guard Against COVID Illness - Southern Pines Pilot

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - The death of 'Black Panther' star Chadwick Boseman at age 43 from colon cancer hit many people hard.

"The African-American ethnic population has the highest rate of colorectal cancer of any ethnicity in the United States," said Dr. John Sayles, a colorectal surgeon with Sentara Healthcare.

Sayles says there is no one answer as to why there is a racial disparity in colon cancer.

"There are many inequalities. That could be socioeconomic status, lack of access to testing sites and transportation," said Sayles.

According to the American Cancer Society, from 2012 to 2016, colorectal cancer rates in African-Americans were 20% higher than in whites, and death rates jumped 40% higher.

The Health Equity team at Sentara is looking into how economic status, access to health care, transportation and other social determinants effect health in order to identify potential causes of health inequity in our community. They're working in partnership with community physicians, organizations and all Sentara facilities to achieve more equitable health care.

"While colon cancer rates are actually diminishing, they are going up in the younger population because they are not expecting it so they are not going to get an evaluation," said Sayles.

Sayles urges African-Americans to get screened at the age of 45. Screenings usually begin at age 50 and occur every 10 years.

"Early detection is huge. You find polyps early, then you have a better chance of a cure," he said.

Be aware of early warning signs.

Blood in stool, changes in bowel movement, shape and size, mucus in stool and pain can be later symptoms, Sayles explained.

He said diet and lifestyle prove to be key preventative measures to lower your colorectal cancer risk.

"Don't smoke, [eat a] balanced diet, limit processed foods," he said.

Continued here:
Colon cancer one of many health disparities recognized in Hampton Roads - wtkr.com

The world is hurtling toward an unprecedented hunger crisis.

As many as 132 million more people than previously projected could go hungry in 2020, and this years gain may be more than triple any increase this century. The pandemic is upending food supply chains, crippling economies and eroding consumer purchasing power. Some projections show that by the end of the year, COVID-19 will cause more people to die each day from hunger than from virus infections.

What makes the situation unmatched: The massive spike is happening at a time of enormous global food surpluses. And its happening in every part of the world, with new levels of food insecurity forecast for countries that used to have relative stability.

In Queens, New York, the lines snaking around a food bank are eight hours long as people wait for a box of supplies that might last them a week, while farmers in California are plowing over lettuce and fruit is rotting on trees in Washington. In Uganda, bananas and tomatoes are piling up in open-air markets, and even nearly give-away prices arent low enough for out-of-work buyers. Supplies of rice and meat were left floating at ports earlier this year after logistical jams in the Philippines, China and Nigeria. And in South America, Venezuela is teetering on the brink of famine.

Well see the scars of this crisis for generations, said Mariana Chilton, director of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities at Drexel University. In 2120, well still be talking about this crisis.

COVID-19 has exposed some of the worlds deepest inequalities. Its also a determining force in who gets to eat and who doesnt, underscoring global social divides as the richest keep enjoying a breakneck pace of wealth accumulation. Millions of people have been thrown out of work and dont have enough money to feed their families, despite the trillions in government stimulus thats helped send global equities to all-time highs.

On top of the economic malaise, lockdowns and broken supply chains have also created a serious problem for food distribution. The sudden shift away from restaurant eating, which in places like the U.S. used to account for more than half of dining, means farmers have been dumping milk and smashing eggs, with no easy means to redirect their production to either grocery stores or those in need.

Don Cameron of Terranova Ranch in California took a hit of about $55,000 this year on his cabbage crop. Almost half the loss $24,000 came because Cameron decided to donate to local food banks after demand from his usual customers dried up. He had to pay for the labor needed to do the harvesting and truck loading. He even needed to cover the cost of some bins and pallets to get supplies moved. It wouldve been a lot cheaper to just let the crops rot in the field.

We know other parts of the country need what we have here. But the infrastructure has not been set up, as far as Im aware, to allow that. There are times when there is food available and its because of logistics that it doesnt find a home, said Cameron, who still ended up destroying about 50,000 tons of the crop since nearby food banks can only take so much cabbage.

Initial United Nations forecasts show that in a worst-case scenario, about a tenth of the worlds population wont have enough to eat this year. The impact will go beyond just hunger as millions more are also likely to experience other forms of food insecurity, including not being able to afford healthy diets, which can lead to malnutrition and obesity.

The effects will be long lasting. Even in its best-case projections, the UN predicts that hunger will be greater over the next decade than forecast before the pandemic. By 2030, the number of undernourished people could reach as high as 909 million, compared with a pre-Covid scenario of about 841 million.

The current crisis is one of the rarest of times with both physical and economic limitations to access food, said Arif Husain, chief economist with the UNs World Food Programme.

By the end of the year, as many as 12,000 people could die a day from hunger linked to COVID-19, potentially more than those perishing from the virus itself, charity Oxfam International estimates. Thats calculated based on a more than 80% jump for those facing crisis-level hunger.

Projections for increased malnutrition also have a profound human toll. It can weaken the immune system, limit mobility and even impair brain functioning. Children who experience malnutrition early in life can see its impact well into adulthood.

Even the mildest forms of food insecurity have lifelong consequences, said Chilton of the Center for Hunger-Free Communities. Problems with physical and cognitive development in children and adolescents can hamper the chances of staying in school or getting a job, continuing a cycle of poverty.

Government programs, food charities and aid organizations have mobilized across the globe, but the need far outstrips their reach. The UNs WFP aid group alone needs a record $13 billion for the year to deliver food in 83 countries, and at the start of the second half faced a shortfall of $4.9 billion to meet the goal.

Hunger can spark seismic shifts in the political landscape. Going back to the days of the French Revolution, food insecurity has sent people into the streets demanding better conditions. Surging food prices were part of the economic crisis that helped fuel recent protests in Lebanon and demonstrations over shortages erupted in Chile earlier this year.

Deep-seated inequalities along gender and racial lines also correspond to disproportionate impacts from hunger. In the U.S., for example, Black Americans are two-and-a half times as likely as their White counterparts to have low or very low access to enough food for an active and healthy life. Globally, women are 10% more likely to be food insecure than men.

We have to make sure that were addressing gender inequality if the international community is not doing that, we will fail to avoid the worst of the hunger crisis, said Tonya Rawe, a director at hunger relief and advocacy group Care.

Data from the UN show that throughout the world, there are more than enough calories available to meet every individuals needs. But even in the U.S., the richest country in the world, almost 2% of the population, or more than 5 million people, cant afford a healthy diet (one that protects against all forms of malnutrition). More than 3 million Americans cant afford to even meet basic energy needs. In India, 78% of people cant afford healthy diets thats more than 1 billion people. Those figures dont even take into account the pandemic and its lasting effects.

Costs and logistics prevent food surpluses from being easily shifted to areas without. Thats the dilemma faced by potato farmers in Belgium. When freezers filled during the pandemic, most of their spuds werent fit for food banks or grocers. The main variety thats grown to meet demand from places like the countrys famous fry shops get black and blue spots after just a few days, said Romain Cools of industry group Belgapom. Sales to supermarkets quickly stopped after complaints, and a bulk of the regions 750,000-ton surplus was instead used for animal feed or biogas.

Its hard to take surplus milk in Wisconsin and get it to people in Malawi its just not realistic or practical, said William Moseley, a geography professor at Macalester College who serves on a global food-security panel.

Despite the abundant supplies, food is growing more expensive because of bungled supply chains and currency devaluations. Costs are up in parts of Africa and the Middle East and theyre also rising in developed countries, with Europeans and Americans paying extra to stock their fridges.

Even within major food-producing countries, being able to afford groceries is never a given.

Latin America, an agriculturally rich region that exports food to the world, is leading this years surge in hunger, according to the UNs WFP.

In Brazil, a huge cash-distribution program has helped millions and driven poverty rates to historic lows. But that hasnt met all the need. In the countrys northeast, Eder Saulo de Melo worked as a guard at parties until the virus arrived. With events suspended, he hasnt been paid in months. Hes been locked out of the emergency cash program and the 130 reais ($25) he gets in regular monthly aid goes to energy, water and gas bills, leaving little to feed his three children. Baskets of non-perishables, vegetables, bread and eggs from a non-governmental organization are the familys main sustenance.

I needed to stop buying fruit and meat, he said. Instead of a slice of chicken, I buy offal to make a soup.

The hunger estimates for this year have a high degree of uncertainty, and the diseases devastation is largely unknown, the UN cautioned about its figures.

The UNs Food and Agriculture Organization began tracking global hunger in the mid-1970s. Current data cant be compared past 2000 given revisions in methodology, said Carlo Cafiero, team leader for food security statistics. But general trends can be observed, and they show that hunger moved lower over the past several decades until a recent reversal started in 2015, spurred by by climate change and conflicts.

The increases in the last few years are nothing like what is forecast now even the best-case of the UNs tentative scenarios would see hunger surge in 2020 more than the past five years combined. And when looking at other notable periods of need in the world, such as the Great Depression, the level of food surplus that exists today is without comparison thanks to the advent of modern agriculture, which has seen crop yields explode.

Its impossible to look at the situation and not think we have a problem, said Nate Mook, chief executive officer of food-relief group World Central Kitchen. This pandemic has really exposed the cracks in the system and where it starts to break down.

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Hunger may kill more people than COVID this year - Press Herald

Written by Jayashree Narayanan | Pune | Published: September 2, 2020 5:30:26 pmMira Rajput Kapoor bears it all in an interaction with indianexpress.com. (Source: Mira Rajput/Instagram; designed by Gargi Singh)

Mira Rajput Kapoor needs no introduction. The young mother, who often shares parenting tips to favourite recipes and skincare routines on Instagram, has managed to create a niche following for herself. Recently, Mira shared her kitchen secrets as part of Tata Sampanns #SpiceUpYourHealth campaign where she was seen alongside chef Sanjeev Kapoor, nutritionist Kavita Devgan, and Dr Manoj Nesari, advisor (Ayurveda), Ministry of AYUSH, talking about her belief on kitchen spices for health and well-being and how she and her family make it a point to incorporate them in their everyday lives.

She said, I have always been health-conscious, but with the current pandemic, immunity and health have become more important than ever! My go-to spice for immunity-building is haldi. It is such a versatile ingredient and has been known for its immunity-building properties for centuries it blends so well in any kadha. I ensure my family has immunity-boosting haldi-kadha daily I believe it helps spice up our health from within and also the natural oils present in spices further add to their goodness.

From spices to diet and fitness for women, Mira shared a bit more in an email interaction with indianexpress.com.

Excerpts:

How have you been spending your time during lockdown?

I have used this time to bond with everybody at home and I think everybody is spending time in the lockdown doing all the things around the house that we never necessarily gave importance to. Whether it is cooking food, keeping your house a certain way, or spending time with your family; these are things I am enjoying. What I am also enjoying is learning new recipes, cooking food, and spending time with kids, teaching them how to cycle and watching movies/series with Shahid (Kapur; husband), and also catching up with relatives.

What do you enjoy cooking the most?

I cook for my family out of love, and these days it is more often than it used to be before. Its just simple home food every day. Once in a while, we cook pizza with cheese. But I have started to enjoy cooking simple wholesome Indian food.

ALSO READ |From Ayurvedic kadhas to herbal meals: Immunity boosters are now serious business

Your take in common kitchen spices.

I think spices are integral to the Indian way of cooking and associate them with taste. But they also have numerous medicinal properties, and the way Ayurveda explains the uses is far more medicinal than taste. My favorite spice is haldi, because it has got so many benefits and there are so many different ways you can use it. You can use it in your tadka, you can add it to your kadha, you can add it in your milk and even apply it on your skin. The second most important thing for me is the seasoning salt and nothing is more essential than adding salt to your food. Also, I prefer salty food over sweet food so thats why my second favorite ingredient is salt.

Have you been using these spices to build immunity during the pandemic?

One kadha that I have in the morning is made using haldi, ginger, and black pepper in hot water. It helps me spice up my health and boost immunity. It is also extremely refreshing and detoxing.

Can you elaborate on your fitness mantra?

These days people are more worried about immunity, eating wholesome, and staying healthy. For me, fitness is important in all aspects mind, body, and soul. It is a combination of working out, going for a walk, playing with kids, meditation, yoga. All of these things make you physically and mentally fit and sound.

Which is your favourite cuisine?

Most of the time I enjoy eating home food. But whenever I want something different, then I really enjoy Thai food. It is definitely my favourite.

ALSO READ |Lockdown diet: Feel sluggish and have digestive troubles? Avoid these foods

Juggling multiple roles, people tend to overlook me-time. Whats your take?

Me-time is something you should never give up on. And I do not think it applies to only women. Each person needs me time to recharge. But many times women are multi-tasking a lot more and amongst it all, we often forget to have me-time and thats when you realise you are snapping or your mood swings happen and you are not looking at yourself. Me-time allows you to maintain mental and physical balance, which is very important. It allows you to maintain a sense of equilibrium, helps to remain positive and happy. So whether you enjoy exercise, watching a movie, chatting with your friends or maybe look-out for some interesting pieces of jewellery. Anything that you do for yourself, and with yourself is very important. Make sure that your fitness is not restricted to your body but extends to your mind as well and is combined with your diet.

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From immunity to diet and fitness: Mira Rajput Kapoor reveals it all - The Indian Express

What Is The Wellness Wheel? Heres How It Can Help You Lead A Plentiful, Balanced Life The wellness wheel is a self-evaluation activity that helps you to understand in which areas you are thriving, or struggling.

The Oxford English Dictionary definition for wellbeing is as follows:

The state of being or doing well in life; happy, healthy, or prosperous condition; moral or physical welfare.

But, what exactly does it mean to be or do well?

Most people often associate wellbeing with physical and mental wellness. However, there is more wellbeing than our physical and mental state.

Dr. Bill Hettler understood this, which is why he founded the National Wellness Institute (NWI) and created the first wellness wheel.

The first iteration of the wellness wheel, created by Dr. Hettler, was an interdependent model for the six dimensions of wellness.

Since its conception, the wellness wheel has evolved, and most experts agree now that there are 7 key dimensions to wellness. These dimensions are interconnected and all contribute to healthy living.

The wellness wheel is a holistic model that can help individuals enrich their lives by enabling them to become aware of and make choices that will lead to a more successful existence.

According to the NWI, the wellness wheel can help explain:

The wellness wheel makes it easy for individuals to identify areas of their lives in which they are thriving, as well as those in which they are struggling by encouraging them to reflect on each of the dimensions of wellness.

The core principle behind the wheel of wellness is that balance is key to achieve a state of wellbeing. Since all dimensions of wellness are interconnected, an imbalance in one area can prevent you from living life to the fullest and maintaining a state of wellbeing.

Since it is a visual aid, the wellness wheel can help you clearly identify areas of wellness in your life that are probably neglected or that have been left unchecked for some time. If this is the case, you might be feeling unstable, stressed, anxious, or simply unwell.

Keep in mind that life is not static. Neither is your wellness.

The wheel of wellness is a tool that you can use periodically to evaluate how you are doing over time and how your wellbeing has changed and is impacting your goals and life.

While the original wellness wheel included six dimensions, most models today include 7. Here are the 7 dimensions of wellness that make up the wheel:

The physical dimension of wellness is about supporting your physical body, its health and safety. This area of wellness is concerned with elements like physical activity, nutrition, sleep/rest, flexibility, strength, and getting medical care when needed.

Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the physical dimension. Its a short wellness wheel activity.

Spiritual wellness is about finding purpose and meaning in your life. This is done through your values and beliefs, and how your actions are shaped by and aligned with them. Many also see spiritual wellness as an opportunity to connect with something greater than themselves; though for many this may be a religious affiliation, others find it by practicing mindfulness or meditation and being curious about the world/environment that surrounds them.

Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the spiritual dimension.

The intellectual dimension is about recognizing your own creative and stimulating mental activities. This dimension of wellness focuses on expanding your knowledge and sharing it with others. Some elements concerned with intellectual wellness include: creativity, problem solving, learning, curiosity, and critical thinking.

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Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the intellectual dimension.

The environment and your surroundings play a key role in your overall wellbeing. Therefore, environmental wellness is about how you interact with your environment, how you understand it, and how it impacts you. While the natural environment is part of this, environmental wellness is concerned with the environment that you immerse yourself in your day to day activities, like your home, your workspace, your car, etc.

A safe, clean, and clutter free environment can work wonders for your wellbeing.

Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the environmental dimension.

Often addressed together, this dimension concerns itself with finding fulfilment in your work. Part of this fulfillment is oftentimes influenced by your financial stability and how it impacts your life. To evaluate your financial and occupational wellness you need to think about your job satisfaction, your finances, and your career ambitions.

Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the financial and occupational dimension.

The social dimension of the wellness wheel is all about the quality of your relationships and how you interact with others, whether they are family, friends, strangers, or colleagues. Having a strong network of people that support us plays an important role in our wellbeing and in some cases can help prevent a variety of problems, like feelings of isolation, loneliness, and stress.

Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the social dimension.

Emotional wellness is all about your feelings and emotions. Are you able to understand your feelings? Are you able to express them? How do you take care of and manage your feelings? This dimension of wellness highlights the importance of recognizing your emotions and accepting them as they come. Having strong emotional wellness can help you better adapt to change and cope with stress.

Below are some questions and statements that can help you gauge how you are doing in the emotional dimension.

Once youve gone through all seven dimensions and evaluated how you are doing in each, its time to take a deeper look at what could be impacting your overall wellness.

Were you able to identify areas in which you are struggling or feel that you can improve on? If so, which ones?

A good question to ask yourself as you seek to understand your wellness wheel is: why. Why is a particular area of wellness less full than others? Why is this imbalance happening? Why have you prioritized other areas but not this one?

Once youve answered your why, you will be better equipped to create an action plan that will help you balance your wheel of wellness.

Think about what actions you can take and what resources you can take advantage of to boost your wellbeing and find balance in all dimensions.

Wellness is a journey, not a destination. So consider doing a wellness wheel activity every now and then; afterall, an important part of wellbeing is checking in with yourself regularly. You might find that certain circumstances change your priorities and affect different areas of your wellbeing at different times.

The goal of creating a wellness wheel and evaluating how you are doing is to identify if there are any imbalances that are preventing you from leading a plentiful, happy life so that you can take the necessary steps to change that.

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