The Diet Mistakes We All Make

breakfastThe best approach to healthy eating, is to eat a well balanced diet and eat in moderation; but many of us make the same mistakes; so here are a few tips to keep you on the “right” path.

Planning Too Many Meals

It’s great to try new things especially with regards to eating a rainbow of fruits and vegetables, but thinking about food too often can lead to over indulgence.

Keep it simple with just a few different choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Don’t let your meals get too complicated, instead keep it simple, veg-heavy, and unprocessed.  Try to introduce new spices to” tried and true” meals for a quick and healthy alternative.

Over Complicating Fruits and Vegetables

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the various presentations that we end up not getting enough fruits and vegetables in our diet. Keep it simple, include 2-3 servings of fruits and vegetables in each meal.  One quick and easy way to incorporate more fruits and veggies in your diet is to include juicing in your daily routine.

Choosing “Fake” Whole Grains

Whole grains are important for cleaning the intestinal wall so choose whole grains that are unprocessed including brown rice, rolled oats, barley, and whole wheat bread. Make sure to read the ingredients to get the whole truth about your products.

Not Accounting For Stress

Bad eating, or over eating is associated with high stress levels. Keeping your stress levels in check is one of the most important ways to stay thin and to avoid other health mishaps.

Too much stress for prolonged periods of time can creates numerous side effects like high blood pressure and lowered immunity. Stress can also lead to abdominal fat, poor sleep habits and chronic fatigue.

Looking good begins from the inside out, so think about your food as your daily medicine, three times a day, every day.  Also, remember to never under estimate the importance of your diet and incorporating these simple steps to feeding yourself healthy.

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What to Expect When You Donate Blood

bloodbag 0001To donate blood, you must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 50 kg (110 lb) and be in good general health.

You may not be able to donate blood if you have donated blood in the past 56 days, or if you do not have enough iron in your blood. You can not donate blood if you are pregnant,  blood pressure is too high, you take certain medicine, or have certain health problems. If you have traveled to certain countries, or have gotten a tattoo/body piercing in the last 6 months you maybe unable to donate blood.

Also, you should wait 24 hours after a cleaning or filling, and 72 hours if you’ve have dental surgery, a root canal, or a tooth pulled.

The day you are scheduled to give blood, make sure that you get a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy meal before your donation and drink plenty of fluids.

Avoid eating fatty foods, such as hamburgers, because fatty foods can affect the tests that are taken on your blood. If there is too much fat in your blood stream, your donation cannot be tested for infectious diseases and the blood will not be used for transfusion.

Wear clothing with sleeves that can be easily raised above the elbow, and make sure to bring your donor card, driver’s license or two other forms of ID.

Make sure you feel good. Don’t give blood if you feel ill.  You shouldn’t donate blood if you feel like you’re getting a cold or the flu.

Once at the blood donor clinic, a health professional will ask about your current and past health to make sure that you can donate.  You will be asked questions every time you give blood, because the list of who can give blood may change, or your health may change.

You will also have a brief physical examination, which includes checking your blood pressure, pulse and temperature. A small sample of blood is taken from a finger prick and is used to check the oxygen-carrying component of your blood (hemoglobin level). If your hemoglobin concentration is normal and you’ve met all the other screening requirements, you can donate blood.

You will be directed to a reclining chair with your arm extended on an armrest. A blood pressure cuff or tourniquet is placed around your upper arm to fill your veins with more blood. This makes the veins easier to see and easier to insert the needle into, and also helps fill the blood bag more quickly.

The practitioner will sterilize the skin on the inside of your elbow, and then will put a needle into a vein on the inside of your elbow. The needle is usually in place about 10 minutes. When complete, the needle is removed, a small bandage is placed on the needle site.  While you are donating blood you can relax,  listen to music, talk to other donors or read during the donation process.

After donating you sit in an observation area, where you res, eat a light snack and drink either some water or juice. After 15 minutes, you can leave.  When you are ready to leave, get up slowly to make sure that you’re not light-headed. If you feel lightheaded, sit back down until the feeling passes.

About 400 ml of blood is taken when you donate. It takes about 10 minutes. The whole process—including answering questions and having a short examination—takes up to an hour.  After donation, your blood is tested for certain diseases, such as hepatitis B and C, and the HIV virus. Donated blood must pass all of these tests. If any disease is detected, the blood is thrown away and the donor is notified.

Thing to remember when you get home:

Keep the bandage on for the next several hours

Drink an extra four (8 ounce) glasses of liquids and avoid alcohol over the next 24 hours

Eat foods that contain high levels of iron, such as lean red meat, raisins, or beans

Limit your physical activity and avoid any strenuous physical activity for the rest of the day

By following a few recommendations before, during and after your blood donation, you can make your donation experience as safe, successful and pleasant as possible.  Keep in mind that whole blood donations are separated into three components: red cells, plasma and platelets. Each component may be given to a different patient. That’s why one donation has the potential to save up to three lives!

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Graston Technique – Soft Tissue Treatment

Graston2The Graston Technique is an instrument-assisted, soft tissue mobilization therapy.  The Graston Technique safely removes scar tissues and scar tissue adhesions that have occurred as a result of chronic inflammation, injuries, repetitive motion or from old injuries of the past.

Graston Technique enables practitioners to effectively detect and treat scar tissue and restrictions that affect normal function.  The technique uses specially-designed stainless steel instruments, along with appropriate therapeutic exercise, to specifically detect and effectively treat areas exhibiting soft tissue fibrosis or chronic inflammation.

Graston instruments are used to enhance the practitioner’s ability to detect adhesion,  and scar tissue in the affected area. The stainless steel instruments are moved over the area of concern and “catch” on fibrotic tissue, which immediately identifies the areas of restriction. Once the tissue has been identified, the instruments are used to break up the scar tissue so it can be absorbed by the body. Each instruments combines concave and convex shapes to  allow the instruments to mold to various contours of the body.  This allows the practitioner to isolate adhesions and restrictions, and treat them very precisely.

The instruments are beneficial in breaking up fascial restrictions, scar tissue adhesions, and detecting areas of chronic inflammation and fibrosis.

Graston treatments can help with conditions such as :

Cervical sprain/strain
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Tennis & Golfers elbow
Rotator Cuff Tendinosis
Achilles Tendinosis
Scar Tissue
Lumbar sprain/strain
Plantar Fasciitis
Knee Pain/ Runners Knee
Fibromyalgia

The goal of this therapy is to reduce the patient’s pain and increase function by breaking down the scar tissue and fascia restrictions that are usually associated with some form of trauma to the soft tissue (e.g., a strained muscle or a pulled ligament, tendon, or fascia).  This therapy also reduces restrictions by stretching connective tissue by rearranging the structure of the soft tissue being treated (e.g., muscle, fascia, tendons, ligaments).

Normal tissue can be dense, with regular elongated fibers running in the same direction, such as tendons and ligaments; or dense, irregular and loose with fibers running in multiple directions.  In either instance, when tissue is damaged it will heal in a haphazard pattern–or scarring–that results in a restricted range of motion and in many instances causes pain, which prevents the patient from functioning as they did before the injury.

The Graston Technique separates and breaks down collagen cross-links, and splays and stretches connective tissue and muscle fibers, increases skin temperature, increases the rate and amount of blood flow to and from the area, increases cellular activity in the region, and facilitates reflex changes in the chronic muscle holding patterns.

The Graston Technique can be used in conjunction with both Ultrasound, and Laser Therapy to help speed up the recovery time.

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