Community News
Water Yourself to Grow Your Health

When it comes to healthy beverages, water has no equal. This tasteless, odorless thirst quencher is essential to your every physiological process and makes up approximately 45-80% of our body mass. Because we lose water as we age, it becomes increasingly important to stay hydrated, a task accomplished by both drinking and eating. Two-thirds of our body’s water volume is found within our cells, making them like mini water balloons. When adequately filled, they are effective in alleviating headaches, improving memory, flushing out toxins, regulating body temperature, hydrating skin, lubricating joints, and – importantly – reducing inflammation which is believed to be the root of nearly all illness and disease including mental illness. If you are looking for an evidence-based and cost-effective way to improve your physical and mental health, look no further: water is truly a life source.

Canadian Mental Health Association, www.mbwpg.cmha.ca

Clean Eating: Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Soft, creamy, sweet and chocolatey – this plant-based, gluten and dairy-free pudding will surely satisfy.

All you need is:

1 and a half ripe Avocados, peeled and pitted

1/3 cup of 100% pure cacao powder

1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey

1/4 cup coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

Re-boot Your Nervous System

The Nervous system is a complex network of nerves and cells, which carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord, to various parts of the body. Every movement your body makes, requires communication between the brain, and the muscles. Pain receptors send signals to the brain, when we are injured. Sometimes, pain receptors continue to fire, even though there may not be a physical cause of pain anymore, but the pain response still seems to be the same. Bowen Therapy works through the Autonomic Nervous System by facilitating neuromuscular repatterning, and modifying internal dialogue. During the treatment, gentle signals are sent to the brain to re-set the body to balance tension, reduce stress, and increase relaxation. Many sufferers of chronic muscle, joint, nerve, and back pain have experienced effective, and long lasting pain relief with Bowen Therapy. Balance the nervous system for natural pain relief.

Bernadette Kozak, Certified Bowenwork Practitioner, WinnipegPainRelief.ca

Diabetes and Reflexology

Diabetes is a condition where blood sugar (glucose) levels are abnormally high because the body does not produce enough insulin. This condition can affect cholesterol levels, cause eye problems, kidney problems and nerve problems. Your feet must be taken care of as diabetes causes many changes. There can be neuropathy, which is damage to the nerves and affects sensation to the feet so that sometimes you cannot tell if the foot is injured. Some people carry their weight differently on their feet and calluses can form. Diabetes causes poor circulation which can contribute to damaged skin and can lead to ulcers and infections. Foot care is necessary with diabetes. Reflexology therapist will work on your endocrine system, circulatory system, immune/lymphatic system, urinary system, digestive system and musculoskeletal system. By working the feet, reflexology helps to balance the whole body and provides stress relief which also benefits your general health.

Rositha Jeanson, RCRT/Foot Reflexology Teacher, rositha.ca

Hot Flashes, Be Gone!

Celebrating International Women’s Day by attending to your hot flashes may not be a bad idea! If you are experiencing hot flashes, night sweats or other disturbances in mood and sleep, you might like to know that Brainwave Optimization has been shown to be a safe and effective therapy to manage these symptoms. During the menopausal process, estrogen levels fluctuate and eventually fall enough to cause impaired temperature regulation, possibly associated with resetting in patterns of brain electrical activity. Hot flash severity scores, insomnia and depression have been shown to be significantly reduced after participants attended to that brain electrical activity with Brainwave Optimization. Imagine yourself at a “brain spa” where you sit in a chair listening to the acoustic feedback of your own brain activity translated into auditory tones. Not only do you relax; more importantly, your brain relaxes and rebalances its activity, reducing those disturbing menopausal symptoms.

Joanne Couture, RMFT, RSW, www.lalobatraumarelease.com

Clean Eating: Easy Ricotta Protein Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups ricotta

4 eggs (or 1 cup egg whites)

½ cup natural sweetener of choice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp orange zest (opt)

Instructions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners and then spray the liners. Mix everything until very well combined. Evenly divide batter into muffin tin. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. The tops are golden brown when done. Makes 12. Great warm or cold and a healthy dessert served with maple syrup, berries and greek yogurt. Switch up to savory by omitting vanilla, sweetener and orange zest. I like sundried tomatoes, parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning for a pizza version. Original recipe: Laura Hickman, bakingoutsidethebox. com.

Lisa Kehler, offyourplatenutrition.ca

What is Your Mouth Telling You?

The state of your mouth can offer valuable insights into your dental, oral and overall health. Any bleeding when you brush your gums is a sign that you should see your dentist. Unhealthy gums can affect your overall health. Atherosclerosis, clogging of the arteries, has a strong link to gum disease. Pain on biting might mean a cracked tooth. Sugar sensitivity usually indicates a cavity. Tenderness to cold might just need a change of toothpaste. Tenderness to hot is likely to be more serious. The pulp of your tooth can become inflamed for many reasons. The only way to find out, for sure, what’s going on is to see your dentist. Bad breath can be caused by poor oral hygiene. A good electric toothbrush, flossing and scraping your tongue all help. Throat infections also cause bad breath. Don’t assume that problems will resolve by themselves. See a dentist at least once a year. Remember: “You don’t have to floss all your teeth, just the ones you want to keep!”

Dr. George Cadigan, Exclusively Dentures, exclusvielydentures.ca

How to Eat Mindfully

It makes sense that we actually have to set an intention to slow down as we pick up our fork. We’ve all scarfed down a meal and not long after feel like we swallowed a bowling ball. Recognizing physical fullness is part of mindful eating and ditching dieting. Ideally, you can gift yourself 20 minutes to eat mindfully, the time it takes to register fullness. If you only have 5 minutes, make them mindful minutes. Create a speed bump on your plate by taking a moment to visualize what half of your serving looks like. Once you are half done put your fork down for a moment. How full are you? Place your hand on your belly if it helps you connect. If you’re still hungry continue eating slowly and mindfully, until you feel physically satisfied. The goal is NOT to eat less, it’s to FEEL GOOD!

Lisa Kehler, Off Your Plate Nutrition, www.offyourplatenutrition.ca

Float Your Way to Happiness

People generally have heard about floating by the terms “pods” or “tanks,” and start to feel claustrophobic. Float “Cabins” are different. Float Cabins come as large as four feet wide, eight feet long, and nearly seven feet high, and they are easily accessible easy to come out of with standard swing or sliding doors. Within each float cabin, 10 inches of water is infused with up with 1,000 pounds of dissolved Epsom salts, this makes the water extremely buoyant. With the option to remove light and sound, you experience the sensation of floating through space. Other options include the ability to play your own music and enjoy colour therapy as well. Floating regularly helps reduce physical and mental stresses on the body. The brain gives out alpha waves associated with meditation that allows the body to recover from stress and relax. Floatation therapy is a simple way to invest in your own health and happiness.

Fluid Float Studio, www.fluidfloat.com

Have You Tried Kefir?

Kefir is a unique cultured dairy product and one of the most probiotic-rich foods on the planet. Drinking Kefir has incredible medicinal benefits for your digestion and gut health. It’s tart and refreshing flavor is similar to a drinking-style yogurt, but it contains beneficial yeast as well as friendly probiotic bacteria found in yogurt. The naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in combine symbiotically to give superior health benefits when consumed regularly. It is loaded with valuable vitamins and minerals and contains easily digestible complete proteins. For the lactose intolerant, kefir’s abundance of beneficial yeast and bacteria provide lactase, an enzyme which consumes most of the lactose left after the culturing process. Drink up for benefits to your immune system, your bowels (see you later, IBS symptoms!), and your bones. It helps fight allergies, improves lactose digestion, supports detoxification, and even kills candida.

Disability Tax Credit, www.disabilitytaxcreditwinnipeg.com

Positive Mental Health is a Laughing Matter

While living with mental illness is no joke, laughing for positive mental and physical health seriously works. In fact, evidence supports the claim that a joyful heart provides a similar benefit to that of medicine. Although not considered a replacement for medical treatment, some doctors are using laughter as an adjunctive therapy. In the short and long term, laughter has been shown to, 1. Stimulate/boost the immune system; 2. Alleviate pain; 3. Reduce anxiety and stress; 4. Reduce depression; and, 5. Promote a sense of hopefulness. What if you don’t feel like laughing? No problem, fake it until you make it. Physiologically speaking, for the most part, your body doesn’t know the difference. And, faking it often leads to the real thing which may be exactly the health supplement you need to get to the positive side of negative circumstances.

Sean Miller, Canadian Mental Health Association, mbwpg.cmha.ca