Did you know that heart disease remains the leading causes of death in Canada? The good news is that 80 per cent of cardiovascular diseases are preventable through healthy lifestyle and diet. By adopting a healthier lifestyle, you can delay the onset of heart disease or stroke by as much as 14 years! You can further reduce your risk by considering these heart-healthy steps:
• Be smoke-free
• Be physically active
• Control your blood pressure
• Keep your blood cholesterol levels in check
• Eat a healthy diet
• Achieve and maintain a healthy weight
• Manage your diabetes
• Limit alcohol use
• Reduce stress
Community News
Boost Mental Health & Performance at Work
During this global pandemic, the need for mental health support has increased fourfold. As an employee, the best thing you can do for your mental health is to be vocal. If you are struggling, speak up or use the Wellness Together Canada free resources. Waiting causes longer term damage impacting productivity and quality of life. If you are an employer, ask how you can support your team every day. Then, make or get a Mental Health First Aid kit and put it somewhere visible to demonstrate mental health is just as important as physical health. Include things like motivational cards, mindfulness colouring sheets, stress balls, breathing exercises and general resilience tips.
Stay Young at Heart
CardioFlex Q10™ is a proprietary collagen precursor formula designed to promote the body’s natural ability to produce collagen and repair connective tissues to support cardiovascular health. Each serving contains 2000 mg Vitamin C, amino acids and other nutrients that help build structural elastin and structural collagen, maintain cardiovascular health, reduce the recurrence of herpes simplex virus/shingles, maintain proper muscle function and generally maintain good health. Excellent for supplementing vegan diets and made in Canada by Innotech Nutrition, a family company.
Clean Eating Recipe
Healthy Breakfast Egg Muffins: INGREDIENTS: 12 large eggs, 1/4 cup milk, 1 cup chopped spinach, 3/4 cup quartered cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup diced onions. INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Stir in the spinach, tomatoes, and onions. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Add sliced avocado, salsa and crumbled feta or a shredded cheese before serving. This recipe freezes well for future easy healthy breakfasts.
Words to Live By
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book. Irish proverb
Words to Live By
It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. Mahatma Gandhi
Book Club: Beyond the Label
Beyond the Label offers a unique perspective on mental health: it shares the author’s own recovery from four major mental health conditions: anxiety, depression (attempted suicide), bulimia, and bipolar disorder type 1. The book outlines a detailed, step-by-step plan for how others can achieve optimal mental health. A combination of practical clinical experience and years of lived experience, the book shares insight into how diet, exercise, and sleep can be optimized for improved mental wellbeing, as well as strategies for coping with negative thoughts and emotions, and building self-love and compassion, among other skills.
Words to Live By
Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account.” Anne Wilson Schaef
Dry January? Try Solbrü
The “sober curious” or “sober sometimes” movement started as a challenge for those who felt they’d partied a little too hard over New Year’s weekend. A 2016 British study of about 850 men and women who volunteered to abstain from alcohol during Dry January found that participants reported a range of benefits. For instance, 82 percent said they felt a sense of achievement. “Better sleep” was cited by 62 percent, and 49 percent said they lost some weight. They had improvements in insulin sensitivity, their blood pressure numbers improved, and their livers looked a little healthier.
Acupuncture for Less Anxiety
Many studies involving hundreds of patients have shown evidence that acupuncture can help treat anxiety and can have similar effects as talk therapy. Acupuncture can help the body relax in a variety of ways, including 1) prompting the parasympathetic nervous system to release signals for relaxation; 2) improving the heart rate variability, which helps the body cope with stress; 3) calming the hypothalamus, which releases neurochemicals when we are under stress; and 4) helping with the flow of endorphins, the body’s own “feel good” chemicals. Acupuncture can be considered as an effective alternative to traditional pharmacological and psychological treatments.
Tuning Into Ourselves
The demands on each of us during this global pandemic continue to take their toll on our health and well-being. Intuitive Counselling can be an effective tool to support ourselves during this time of crisis. Everyone is intuitive and we all have the ability to tap into our own inner knowledge and wisdom. Intuitive Counselling provides support and guidance to help you: connect with your intuition; process emotions and blockages; and develop holistic practices to reduce stress, feel more grounded, and move forward with clarity and confidence. If this type of holistic support resonates with you, reach out to Safe Harbour Therapy.
