body. mind. spirit. A Times Union Publication
Get
Juiced! Jumpstart your new year with tasty shakes
January 2014
Natural Healing Tips for handling colds and flus
What?? The time to stop hearing loss is NOW!
ANGER
Management
Belly Dance Your Way to Fitness!
bite-sized lessons Nutrient Booster Including more plant-based foods in your diet is a great way to drop pounds while boosting nutrients. Zucchini’s high water content makes it incredibly low in calories – with a mere 21 calories per cup when chopped raw and unpeeled. Many of its nutrients also help promote eye health! Feel free to eat the skin – it’s edible and rich in antioxidants. Zucchini has generous amounts of beta-carotene, potassium, folate, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A, which are important for overall health.
Craving more? Join your Hannaford dietitians for FREE nutrition classes and in-store demos. Go to hannaford.com/dietitians for upcoming FREE events and a monthly schedule.
Jean Bottillo-Faulisi, MS, RD Niskayuna Hannaford 3333 Consaul Rd.
Jean is available: Mondays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Select Fridays, 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. Select Saturdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Stuffed Zucchini Serves:4 Prep Time: 20 min. Cook Time: 35 min.
Marianne Romano, MPA, RD, CDN
Ingredients: 5 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise 3 Tbsp. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® Spread 1 medium onion, chopped 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic 1/2 tsp. McCormick® dried oregano leaves 1/4 cup shredded Cabot® Light Cheddar cheese
Colonie Hannaford 96 Wolf Rd.
Marianne is available: Tuesdays, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 375°. Scoop out pulp from 8 zucchini halves; set aside. Arrange zucchini halves on baking sheet.
Patty Wukitsch, MS, RD, CDN Delmar Hannaford 180 Delaware Ave.
2. Meanwhile, coarsely chop remaining zucchini and pulp.
Patty is available: Mondays & Fridays 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Select Saturdays 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
3. Melt I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® Spread in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook chopped zucchini and onion, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. 4. Add red pepper, garlic and oregano. Cook, stirring frequently, 1 minute. Let stand to cool slightly. 5. Evenly spoon vegetable mixture into zucchini halves. Top with cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until zucchini are tender. Nutrition Facts, Amount Per Serving: Calories 150, Calories From Fat 80, Total Fat 9 g, Saturated Fat 2.5 g, Trans Fat 0 g Cholesterol 5 mg, Sodium 220 mg, Total Carbohydrate 13 g, Dietary Fiber 4 g, Sugars 6 g, Protein 7 g, Vitamin A 30 %, Vitamin C 120 %, Calcium 15 %, Iron 6 % Recipe courtesy of Unilever
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HealthyLife is published ten times per year. If you are interested in receiving home delivery of HealthyLife magazine, please call (518) 454-5768 or e-mail magcirculation@timesunion.com. For advertising information, please call (518) 454-5358. HealthyLife is published by Capital Newspapers and Times Union 645 Albany Shaker Road, Albany, NY 12212 518.454.5694 The entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2014 by Capital Newspapers. No portion may be reproduced in any means without written permission of the publisher. Capital Newspapers is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hearst Corporation.
Love the Way You Look!
Visit our State-of-the-Art location! 950 Route 146, Clifton Park www.almedspa.com Michael Salzman, M.D., P.C.
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47
body
mind
every issue
22 Shimmy Down
45 Ask Emma
8 talk back
Belly dancing is an exercise for any body
26 Fast AND Healthy
Chef Symon does both in 5 in 5
30 Get Juiced!
A look at the pros and cons of drinking your nutrients
34 Natural Remedies
Here are a few to consider when winter’s colds and flu come calling
39 Hear This
The time to start preventing hearing loss is now
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Our mothers can leave the biggest holes in our hearts
47 Head Strong
To get the most out of therapy, start with the right therapist
spirit 53 My Word
10 on the web 12 editor’s note 13 fit & fab 14 news & views 18 did you know? 58 cover model Q&A
Up close with Samantha Bloom
New year. New me?
54 Getting Mad?
Learn how to express your anger and get results
Hair and makeup by Kimberley’s A Day Spa, Latham, (518) 785-5868. Select clothing available at Boscov’s Clifton Park, Clifton Park Center, (518) 348-0800. On the cover: jacket and blouse by Calvin Klein, pants by Evan-Picone, earrings by Ralph Lauren. At right: shirt by DKNY, jewelry and scarf by Ashley Cooper. Photos taken by Leif Zurmuhlen at Sixty State Place.
january 2014
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Call for Your 2014 New Year’s Resolutions EXPIRES 2/28/2014
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talk back
The story behind the story from our contributors Hear This Cari Scribner I had no idea that taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen more than twice a week carries a higher risk of hearing loss. I’ll think carefully now before popping a pain killer for a headache! See Cari’s story on page 39.
How Full is Your Glass?
Therapist Tips
“Your success depends on the work you put in” Jennifer Gish Starting therapy isn’t like going to your internist seeking a cure. It is a partnership, and your success depends on the work you put in when you are not sitting on a couch across from your counselor. See Jennifer’s story on page 47.
Going Natural
Behind the Scenes Brianna Snyder Hanging out with cover model Samantha Bloom was a ton of fun at the 60 State building in Albany. Formerly an old bank, the building had lots of secret nooks, including this old safety-deposit room which was converted into like a night lounge. Very cool. See Brianna’s story online at timesunion.com/healthylife.
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Valerie Foster Oh, the lucky optimist who lives longer, suffers from less depression and fights off colds better than a pessimist. But guess what? Experts say pessimists can change. See Valerie’s story online at timesunion.com/healthylife.
Belly Laughs Wendy Page Belly dancing is an art form that’s more difficult than Id expected — but a ton of fun. As a woman, it’s empowering to be able to move in a sensual way, and the women who belly-dance are very accepting and supportive of one another. It’s honestly a great workout for your spirit as much as your body. See Wendy’s story on page 22.
Melinda McGarty Webb Luckily, I already use most of the tips provided by the naturopaths I interviewed for my story on natural cold and flu remedies, (so I know they’re effective). But two new products I bought as a result of writing this story are Vital Kids Berry Well, containing elderberries, and V Clear, an upper respiratory treatment using the pelargonium. Let’s hope I don’t have occasion to use them! See Melinda’s story on page 34.
We asked, you answered! If you could give your younger self a bit of advice, what would you tell you?
What’s one thing you want to do before you die?
it’ll be a challenge)!
Bichi: Meet Prince.
Denise: RUN!
Linda: Go on a safari
Linda: Not to gain weight this winter
Laura: Absolutely nothing at all !!! Joanne: Enjoy every minute of your youth. Find out who you are before entering into a serious relationship. Never take for granted your blessings. And much, much more ...
Fill in the blank! My next challenge is ... Bichi: Making it through the holiday season without melting down even once (I’m a retail manager — trust me,
Cathy: Graduating dental assisting school at 52!!
Denise: Leaving work at a decent time. Julie: To be featured in your magazine. : ) Mark: Getting out of bed
Which hospital offers the latest techniques and technology in cardiac care and broadest range of options for patients? The Answer is Albany Med.
Dr. Adanna Akujuo, a cardiothoracic surgeon who offers the latest minimally invasive techniques, joined Albany Med’s team because it is on the leading edge of cardiac care.
When you need expert care for your heart, THE ANSWER IS ALBANY MED.
www.amc.edu/heart
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BEHIND THE SCENES Read our Q&A with Samantha Bloom on page 58, then head online to read our behind-the-scenes story and see photos from our shoot!
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blogs
COOKBOOK Yum: Grilled Shrimp and Grapefruit Salad. Read all about it on page 26; then head online for the recipe — plus more great dishes.
Midlife Mom
Illustration: Computer mouse, ©Irina Iglina/Dreamstime.com.
Rebecca Haynes, editor of HealthyLife Connecticut, offers her perspective on life and motherhood while she navigates the teen years and beyond.
Healthy Tips Writer and freelance editor Beth Cooney scans the web to bring you the latest info and tips for healthy living.
Healthy Life
BONUS FEATURES Head online for our stories on the benefits of optimism, healthy habits, and networking with other women.
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Writer and designer Carin Lane shares her success stories with losing weight her way — without a gym membership, a personal trainer, or special foods.
VIDEO TUTORIAL Check out our exclusive online video on belly dancing, after reading the article on page 22. Got a smartphone? Scan the QR code at right to link directly to our YouTube page.
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editor’s note
New Beginnings got a slightly different twist to me. So here’s what’s on the radar for 2014: more time for music-making; more time for crafting and furniture repurposing; more time for yoga; more time for doing absolutely nothing but reading a book on the patio or just daydreaming. The obvious motif here is more time. If I can put myself at the top of just a few lists rather than somewhere near the bottom, 2014 should be a good year indeed. HL
Photo by Krishna Hill.
B
y the time Dec. 31 rolled around, I was so done with 2013. Done as in I didn’t want to ever look back in the rearview mirror at that year again. Some years are like that. Indeed, I’ve noticed — in a very unscientific survey of my life — that odd years have tended to be less wonderful than even years. So I am doubly excited about the possibilities for 2014. I’m not a resolution maker per se. Rather than think about things I want to fix or change, I tend to focus instead on things I want to accomplish. True, that’s often just the flipside of making a change, but it’s
Janet Reynolds, Executive Editor jreynolds@timesunion.com
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fit and fab ▶ Eat, Cheat
and Lose
Dolvett Quince is changing lives on the hit weight loss show Biggest Loser and now he wants to change yours. His first book The 3-1-2-1 Diet: Eat and Cheat Your Way to Weight Loss — Up to 10 Pounds in 21 Days is based on eating clean for three days, cheating one day, followed by two days more of eating right then one day to indulge. This way of eating “tricks the metabolism into losing weight,” says Quince. The best part of this 21day program is that you lose weight without even really trying because not only are you able to eat tasty foods — but you get to have a treat every few days to keep your sanity. List price $26. Visit amazon.com.
▼ Zip It Up! When exercise is fun, efficient and effective you look forward to your workouts rather than running away from them. The new FIRM Zip Trainer System gives you all of that and more. The system includes a 5-lb. squishy “Zip Trainer” — essentially a big ball that zips open and shut depending on which of the over 200 exercises you are performing. It has a 3-pound. “Core Ball” inside to work your muscles even harder. Also included are three DVDs, each containing four workouts, a fitness and nutrition guide, and a workout calendar. For 60 days you will balance, lift, step, toss, kneel, roll, lean and stretch your way to a FIRMer you. Three payments of $39.99. Visit firmdirect.com.
▲ To Xfinity and Beyond Forget resistance bands, tubing and other flimsy resistance toners. This is the future of strength training that you can do anytime, anywhere. By simply placing your hands, ankles, feet, wrists or thumbs in any one of the six loops or finger grips you can add or lower resistance with ease. The kit includes six different 20-minute workouts and a meal plan. The exercises are endless with options for yoga, cardio, stretching and strength. Fold the band in half and you raise resistance twofold. Bring it to the gym, the playground or with you on the go. $29.97. Available at Walmart or visit proform.com/xfinity.
by carin lane
This is the year you’ll lose weight and feel great for good. These Fit and Fab finds will help get you there. For more Fit and Fab goodies, go to timesunion.com/ healthylife. Have a new product you’d like to share? E-mail Carin at clane@timesunion.com.
You can visit Carin on facebook at www.facebook.com/carinlane. healthylife or follow her on twitter @tiredorinspired, Pinterest at pinterest.com/carinlane and Instagram at instagram.com/carinlanehealthylife.
▲ Workouts in a Box These three sets include everything you need to transform your body quickly. Have no time to work out? The Xpress Workouts: 10-minute 30-day Solution System has five DVDs that work you head-to-toe. Long, lean muscles your goal? The Element: Complete Pilates Kit will sculpt lean muscle, increase flexibility and reshape your body, no matter your level. If kickboxing is your thing, there is nothing like the master — the Billy Blanks Live DVD with Bands Kit has two DVDs that combine cardio and resistance to get you fit and strong. $18.97 each. Available at Walmart, Target or visit amazon.com.
▶ Melt It Away Every household should own a foam roller. This amazingly simple tool can unlock muscle tension, increase mobility and range of motion, help headaches and reduce wrinkles and cellulite. Sue Hitzmann, author and creator of The MELT Method, has perfected a series of exercises that self-treat your aches and pains as well as erase the signs of aging. She employs the neurofascial technique, designed to work deep into your connective tissues, rehydrating them and quieting the nervous system. The book offers head-to-toe, easy-to-follow exercises; the foam roller and various toning balls are available separately. $18.74 book; roller, $59; Hand and Foot Treatment Kit, $39.99. Visit meltmethod.com.
timesunion.com/HealthyLife
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news and views compiled by beth cooney
Love Sounds
WANT TO KNOW IF IT’S REALLY LOVE? Listen up! Researchers at Alberta College in Pennsylvania say they’ve found it’s possible to distinguish whether a couple is just friends or actually lovers, by homing in on even subtle changes in the pitch of their conversational voices. By listening to recorded phone conversations between couples who were friends and those who were romantic partners, independent listeners were able to clue in on who was in a relationship (and who wasn’t) simply by listening to them utter such phrases such as “How are you?” and “What are you doing?” Listeners were even able to pick up on nervousness and vulnerability in the voices of the newly in love, researchers noted. But what was most interesting to researchers was how obvious those changes in intonation and inflection were to listeners who didn’t know or even see the couples whose recorded voices they heard as part of the research. “It’s not just that we can change our voice, but that others can easily perceive those changes,” says study co-author Susan Hughes in a university press release. The study was recently reported in the Journal of Nonverbal Communications. Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13voice
Hormones
Protect the Pancreas:
THEY CAN GIVE A MIDDLE-AGE WOMAN RELIEF from hot flashes, but hormone-replacement therapy does not appear to prevent a host of other illnesses in women, according to a new comprehensive study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. While the merits of HRT have been hotly debated by women and clinicians for years, this study confirms the therapy does nothing to prevent heart disease or cancer. That said, the researchers say there may still be some merit in HRT (which often comes in the form of a pill or patch) to ease the symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. Such uses, for the short term, may be beneficial for women who find these symptoms interfere with their comfort and daily routine and the study authors suggested that’s their greatest potential benefit.
WANT TO PREVENT THE OFTEN DEADLY PANCREATIC CANCER? One way may be to cut the fat and trim the calories, a new animal study out of UCLA suggests. The researchers’ findings were based on a study involving mice. And they reported detecting an unusually high number of lesions known to be precursors to pancreatic cancer in mice that were fed a high-fat, highcalorie diet in a laboratory setting. The rodents’ biological changes were similar to precancerous conditions in humans, the researchers noted. While a cause-and-effect relationship between high-fat foods, obesity and pancreatic cancer wasn’t established in the study, there are certainly many other good and beneficial reasons to watch calories and fat, and this may be one more. The findings were reported in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.
Don’t Win
Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13hrt
Cut the Fat
Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13pancreas
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Photos: GettyImages. Love Sounds, JoKMedia; Cut the Fat, Andrew Unangst; Half Full, JLGutierrez; Bigger Breasts, Morten Olsen; Don’t Bother, Jimmy Anderson.
Half Full or Half Empty? ARE YOUR WINE AND CHEESE NIGHTS turning into unintentional benders? Researchers suggest one way to prevent inebriation could be as simple as investing in a more slender set of wine glasses. Turns out the size and shape of a wine glass — as well as the color of wine that’s being poured into it — may influence how much vino a drinker pours and ultimately consumes. The phenomenon seems to be about visual stimuli and optical illusion. In a study published recently in the journal Substance Use and Misuse, researchers from Cornell and Iowa State universities found that white wine drinkers in their control group typically poured about 9 percent more wine than their red-wine-drinking counterparts. And when their glasses were wide, they tended to pour ounces more of either kind of wine. Also noteworthy: Standing wine drinkers tended to pour much larger portions into their glasses than sitting drinkers. “People have trouble assessing volumes,” study co-author Laura Smarandescu, an assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State, says in a Cornell news release. “They tend to focus more on the vertical than the horizontal measures.”
Bigger
Breasts, Better Sex? WOMEN WHO UNDERGO BREAST AUGMENTATION to enhance their bust size often describe feelings of inadequacy about their pre-surgery figures. So, perhaps it’s only natural that women who’ve decided to have implants to fill out their chests report that their sex lives seem better afterward. In a study presented recently at the annual meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, research that looked at the post-operative satisfaction of breast augmentation patients found they reported more sexual arousal and satisfaction between four and 18 months postsurgery. Researchers suggested the satisfaction was directly related to women’s feelings of body confidence and physical self-esteem following surgery. The study is one of the first to link the results of breast augmentation surgery with female sexuality. Source: http://tinyurl. com/hl13breasts
Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13vino
Is D for Don’t Bother? MORE THAN 50 PERCENT OF ADULTS — many right here in the sunstarved Northeast — take vitamin D supplements to help keep their bones healthy as they age. But a new study suggests they might as well be popping a placebo. Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand looked at thousands of healthy adults who took vitamin D for a period of two years and found no evidence the practice increased bone density at the hip, forearm, spine or body as a whole. The study did not look at the common practice of combining calcium supplements with vitamin D, but on its own, researchers concluded it doesn’t seem to make much difference in overall bone health. The study appeared recently in the British medical journal Lancet. Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13vitd
news and views
Behind the Wheel
SLEEPING LESS THAN SIX HOURS a night can actually be more dangerous than driving drunk. That’s the startling finding of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, who suggest a new study shows that so-called “short sleepers” — people who sleep less than six hours a night — are among the most perilous drivers on the road. In the study, UPenn researchers found that people who are routinely short on sleep are most likely to report incidents
of drowsy driving. This phenomenon was true even among short sleepers who report that they “feel fine” on their abbreviated nighttime rest. No surprise, the most frequent drowsy drivers were short sleepers who fell in the fourhours-or-less category. The researchers noted their findings are important for anyone struggling with sleep deprivation for issues ranging from medical (sleep apnea) to those who are so stressed for time
they are sleep-starved. But their study also included people who say they naturally get by on little sleep. Noting that the federal government estimates some 15 to 33 percent of fatal accidents are attributed to drowsy driving, the researchers suggest the issue of short sleep combined with driving is a serious one. The study was reported recently in the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention. Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13driving
Working Lunch EATING LUNCH AT YOUR DESK is perceived in some office cultures as a sure sign you’re completely overworked — or brown-nosing the boss — but an intriguing new study suggests noshing at your desk is OK, as long as you’ve made the choice to do it. In a study that looked at work recovery — including how employees decompress, beat stress, burnout and fatigue on the job — researchers at the University of Toronto have found making the choice to eat at your desk didn’t seem to elevate the stress levels of workers who had the freedom and flexibility to spend their meal breaks as they chose. Interestingly, researchers suggested
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that working through lunch may even help ease some workers’ stress by giving them a sense that they were on top of their professional obligations and can leave the office for the day with their tasks in order. Conversely, they noted socializing with coworkers can actually diminish relaxation if conversations focus too much on work. “You’re hanging out with people who you can’t necessarily kick back and be yourself with,” says John Trougakos, one of the professors who authored the research that was recently published in the Academy of Management Journal. Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13lunch
Photos: GettyImages. Asleep, sola deo gloria; Working Lunch, Jon Feingersh; Risky Business, Steve Wisbauer; On the Menu, svariophoto.
Asleep
Risky Business PUBERTY IS A HORMONAL LIFE FORCE that begins to transform children into adolescents as they approach their teenage years, but a number of variables (including diet and genetics) play a role in the age of its onset. Interestingly, researchers have found that kids who transition through puberty soonest may be the most at risk for experimentation with drugs, alcohol and cigarettes. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, working in collaboration
In Step with Breast Cancer Prevention
with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, noted that particularly rapid development through puberty seemed to be a factor in risk-taking behavior in male and female teens. For their study, the researchers looked at the behaviors of more than 6,500 male and female adolescents from varied ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. “We all go through puberty,” says UT public health researcher Jessica Duncan Cance, who participated in the
study. “We remember it being either an easy transition or a very difficult one. Our study suggests that being the first girl in the class to need a bra, for example, prompts or exacerbates existing psychological and social aspects that can, in turn, lead to substance use and other risky behaviors early in life.” Of course, this is another reason for parents to be vigilant and sensitive with children, who all seem to grow up too fast. Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13puberty
On the Menu: Too Much Junk
THERE’S SOME GOOD NEWS for every woman who tries to make a daily practice of walking — and even better news for women whose daily routines involve exercise that’s a little more strenuous. You may be cutting your risk of breast cancer with every purposeful step you take. New research funded by the American Cancer Society concluded that postmenopausal women who walk an hour a day reduce their breast cancer risk by as much as 14 percent. Women who exercise even more vigorously have even better odds of avoiding breast cancer. These findings, researchers noted, were evident despite a woman’s weight, height and other lifestyle factors (such as a sedentary desk job that keeps them otherwise inactive). And they noted that the workouts they were discussing didn’t necessarily involve super strenuous activities such as running marathons. Researchers, who reported their findings recently in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, noted their conclusions were bound to be positive motivation for any woman devoted to regular exercise. And, of course, it’s another impetus for sedentary sorts to get moving.
MAJOR RESTAURANT CHAINS have worked hard to generate buzz about their healthier menu options in recent years, but the quality of food on most menus hasn’t improved much, according to a new study out of the University of California at Davis. Indeed, the overall calorie and sodium content of the menus of most restaurant menus has actually remained about the same in recent years, according to the study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Across the restaurant industry, we see a pattern of one step forward, one step back,” says Helen Wu, a policy and research analyst at the UC Davis in a university news release. “Restaurants make changes to their menus regularly, but they may make both healthy and unhealthy choices simultaneously.” The researchers also found that while calories on the average children’s menu decreased by about 40, sodium and fat content did not change considerably on those menus. Since the researchers noted that the average American spends about one-half of their food budget and consumes about one-third of their total calories in restaurants, they need to be acutely aware of the “high stakes game” they play when they dine out.
Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13risk
Source: http://tinyurl.com/hl13menu
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compiled by genevieve scarano
500 B.C.
Cinnamon was first used by ancient Romans as a natural aid for digestion. source: tinyurl.com/hl14cinnamon
10 billion
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Sixty percent of households in the United States have pets. source: tinyurl.com/hl14pets
9
source: tinyurl.com/ hl14soup
214
Women who are generally optimistic had a 9 percent lower risk of heart disease. source: tinyurl.com/ hl14heart
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Americans consume roughly 10 billion bowls of soup annually.
healthylife
Making a snow angel burns an average of 214 calories (per hour). source: tinyurl.com/hl14snow
Photos: GettyImages. Pets, G.K. & Vikki Hart; Soup, Foodcollection RF; Snow Angel, Sam Edwards.
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body Get Fit with Belly-Dancing 22 Quick and Easy Health 26 Get Juicing! 30 Natural Flu Remedies 34
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get moving
Shimmy Your Way belly dancing is an exercise for any body
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to Healthy Fun
How were your holidays? by wendy page | photos by colleen ingerto
“B
elly dancing” is a misnomer. Sure, the dance includes belly rolls and rib undulations and is wonderful for your abs, but it also consists of hip drops, shoulder rolls, chest and hip shimmies, and step-walking — sometimes all at the same time. While you’ll likely feel a bit uncoordinated at first, you’ll also soon find yourself laughing and forgetting your worries. As an art form, belly dance delivers health benefits to your body, mind and spirit. You may be shaking what your mama gave you in the hips and chest department, but you’ll also be shaking up your inner self in a positive way.
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BODY Belly dancing aficionados say this exercise is for any shape, size, background, or level of fitness, and there isn’t a body part that’s not used. It’s a low-impact workout that isolates individual muscle groups and body parts that you rarely think about (think hips and rib cage). For many, the appeal of belly dancing is that as an art form; it celebrates the natural curves of a woman. Certainly thin women can belly dance, but honestly, curves give more to jiggle. Are you going to lose a ton of weight? Probably not. But you are going to tone up your body. Tammy Stanzione, a.k.a. Ayperi-Alizarin, a belly dance performer in the Capital Region as well as a belly dance teacher at Hudson Valley Community College, ticks off a few of the physical benefits: “It’s especially good for those who can’t take impact on knees and lower back,” she says. “It’s great for people with chronic joint disease. It helps burn fat. If you do this for an hour, you’re burning 250-400 calories. You’re getting a total package.” No matter what form you learn — Egyptian, Lebanese, Turkish, African — belly dancing “strengthens your core, which improves balance and helps alleviate lower back pain,” says Jessica Lennon, a belly dancer and teacher at Stars of Dance in Clifton Park. It enhances cardiovascu-
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lar circulation, is weight-bearing on your legs, and the lengthening and contracting of your torso helps correct postural alignment. Razi Bethiah, a fusion belly dance teacher at The Center for Nia & Yoga, says you’ll feel “a lot of core strength from using all of your abdominal muscles and your obliques, with belly rolls and undulations. You need a lot of leg strength for shimmies.” Ditto hip muscles. “As you become more advanced, you layer all this on top of each other, then you add keeping your arms extended for a long time and you build strength,” she adds.
Donna Tritico, a.k.a. Habiba, belly dance instructor at Albany Dance and Fitness, demonstrates a few of her moves.
MIND Belly dancing can be benefit more than just a body. Lennon calls it a great stress reliever. “It’s so hard to think about anything else while you’re trying to follow the dance. You have to focus, and for that one hour, you get a reprieve from everything else.” Not that the dance is too complicated, but rather, you’re focused on “getting your hips right, your arms to flow the right way, your shimmies,” she explains. Adds Razi Bethiah, “you’re so focused on what’s happening in the moment. For me, it’s almost like moving meditation.” Belly dancing begins with a warm up of stretching and conditioning. “It’s quieting the mind and getting into a good space before you dance,” Razi Bethiah says. “Belly dancing is patience and practice as you grow into it. You’re acquiring a skill.” Experienced teachers not only teach movements but also educate on the cultural aspects of the dance. “Part of the education piece,” Ayperi-Alizarin explains, “is that we’re always up against resistance from people to see belly dancing [as an art form], but we try to bring it to the public to show it’s not about the bump and grind. It’s flirtatious and fun, but we dance to women first — not to the men. It’s not sexual, but sensual.“ In fact, belly dancing is historically a dance among women for each other, as a way to tell stories to a circle of women. “It’s a mind/body journey for us,” Ayperi-Alizarin continues. “It reinforces a healthy body image for women, helps with self-esteem, helps with longevity. It’s mental, it’s spiritual. It parallels the Eastern philosophy of tai chi, and yoga. And it’s sexy as hell.”
SPIRIT No matter why you turn to belly dancing, you will leave “with a sense of accomplishment,” Ayperi-Alizarin says. “It’s very uplifting. You may not be the best at it, but you’re going to have fun doing it.” Once you give in to the music and allow yourself to get into the feminine movements, belly dancing is a wonderful channel for self-expression. “It’s so spiritual, and comes from
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within,” Ayperi-Alizarin says, adding that the belly dancing community is “so welcoming, and you make lifelong friends. It’s supportive.” Razi Bethiah agrees: “You get to connect with other women, in this supportive atmosphere. That energy of moving together feels great.” One of the greatest benefits of belly dancing is its effect on improved self-confidence and body image. Through the dance, you learn to move your body more gracefully, elegantly, and femininely, which in turn leads to a sense of selfbeauty and a desire to honor your body. “The movements are kind of natural to women, and you gain more confidence [with your body],” Lennon says. “It’s not because you’re losing weight but about the way it makes you feel. I feel sexy. I feel empowered. I feel good.” HL
Belly Dancing
One Woman’s First Experience Wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt, as instructed, I took off my shoes and socks and wrapped the offered purple scarf with coins attached around my hip. The class had about a dozen women of various ages and sizes. After warming up with stretches, we get down to bellydancing basics. Learning the hip roll leads to making figure eights with our hips. No problem. We learn how to pop our hips up, the theory being that you’re doing it right if the coins on your hip scarf jingle. Pretty successful so far. We then learn three different types of hip shimmying, and I am semi-successful with two of them … until we add simultaneously walking. I suddenly need to reconsider the idea that I am coordinated. I can’t stop laughing at myself, and am surprised by the support I get from the other women. (When I relayed this to Ayperi-Alizarin, she assured me that “everybody feels super-uncoordinated at the beginning. It takes time. It only looks easy.”) Actually, there was a lot of laughing all during the class. Jessica, the instructor, alternates the unfamiliar music from slow rhythms to faster, depending on what we are learning. I have since become obsessed with “Bounce,” by Solace. The shoulder rolls and wrist movements work as a nice stress reliever, especially since I work at a computer every day. I never look to see how anyone else is doing, nor does anyone look at me because we are all focused on looking at ourselves in the mirror and following the moves. We learn part of a routine, adding some arm movements. (The class is going to work toward a recital.) The hour goes by in a jiffy. I never thought about the outside world until the end, when the writer in me returned. Alex, one of my fellow belly dancers, says that she finds herself practicing shoulder shimmies in her car at traffic lights. She sums up the class by saying, “We move and laugh and it’s a lot of fun. It forced me out of myself. I come home happy.”
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To learn some basic belly dancing moves from Habiba, see our video at timesunion.com/healthylife, or scan the QR code at left.
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cookbook
Fast and Healthy chef symon does both in 5 in 5
by linda tuccio-koonz | photos courtesy clarkson potter
C
elebrity chef Michael Symon’s mom didn’t work outside the home. So every night she put a home-cooked dinner on the table. “She spent three, four, eight hours on it,” he says. “In today’s age that’s not common. Often, it’s not possible.” The co-host of ABC’s The Chew and owner of multiple restaurants says his enjoyment of those meals is part of what inspired his latest cookbook, Michael Symon’s 5 in 5. That’s kitchen-talk shorthand for his formula: “Five fresh ingredients plus five minutes equals 120 fantastic dinners.” Inspired by his own busy life and the desire to eat well, Sy-
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mon wanted to show home cooks how to get a quick meal on the table that’s made from scratch. The book is based on his “5 in 5” segment on The Chew, where he shows viewers how to make a satisfying dinner for a family of four for less than $5 per serving. In his latest book, Symon embraces fresh, all-natural ingredients and some pantry staples to serve up recipes for an inspiring array of dishes, including pastas and skillet dinners, kebabs, sandwiches, and more. Instructions are simple and include plenty of color photos. “My feeling on healthy food is that the more you can cook
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from scratch, the healthier you’ll be,” says Symon, adding he’s not a doctor but a chef who’s been cooking professionally for 30 years. An Iron Chef on Food Network’s Iron Chef America, Symon also was host of the Cooking Channel’s Symon’s Suppers, still seen in reruns. He says it may take you Michael Symon’s 5 in 5, a few minutes longer by Michael Symon, with than it takes him to cook Douglas Trattner, Clarkson the recipes in his book Potter, 224 pages, $19.99. (considering his years of experience), but he points out “it’s still a small amount of time.” And while he likes to listen to Led Zeppelin when cooking, that’s not a requirement. “I do have a Led Zep problem, I will admit it,” he says. One thing he doesn’t have a problem with is energy. Married 20 years, Symon says he’s usually in bed by 12 or 12:30 a.m. and up at 5 every morning. “I wake up, have a double espresso, walk the dogs (Ozzy and Ruby) and I’m off to the races.”
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hat energy came in handy during the year it took to create 5 in 5, written with Douglas Trattner. Symon’s culinary assistant, Katie Pickens, and his wife Liz helped test the recipes. They include everything from sirloin with lemon and oregano, to pork tenderloin with soy, ginger and cilantro, to garlic chicken with asparagus. One of his favorite recipes in the book involves seafood. “It’s for grilled swordfish,” he says. “It’s based on my love of Italy.” Symon notes in his book that swordfish has been over-fished and over-consumed, but thanks to conservation measures has made a comeback. His recipe pairs this firm, meaty fish with a red bell pepper and onion salad, including a thinly sliced jalapeno and fresh basil leaves. The fish itself is seasoned with salt and pepper, and drizzled with olive oil before it’s grilled. 5 in 5 begins with advice for stocking your pantry with items such as bread crumbs and kosher salt. It offers time-saving tips: cutting ingredients to a consistent size so they all finish cooking at the same time, for example. Then it’s divided into eight chapters, such as Man With a Pan and Let’s Grill. But the first chapter, on pasta, is Symon’s favorite. When it comes to boxed versus fresh pasta, Symon says he loves them both. “I like boxed pasta for thinner noodles, like angel hair,” he says. “For thicker pastas, fresh is better.” When asked to pick his favorite pasta recipe, he can’t. “It’s like picking your favorite child!” HL For a recipe from the book, turn to page 29
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cookbook continued from page 27
Salmon with Rosemary and Garlic Serves 4 Thanks to its robust flavor, salmon is one of the few types of fish that can stand up to rosemary, an assertive herb that typically is paired with meat. Along those lines, this dish also can handle a good amount of heat, so I tend to go heavy with the red pepper flakes. Feel free to tone it down to accommodate your heat tolerance. ingredients (4) 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 4 sprigs fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (or sliced red chile, if you have it) 1 /2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 cups dry white wine 1 cup torn fresh basil leaves method Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium-high heat. Season the salmon on both sides with salt and black pepper. Lay out 4 large pieces of aluminum foil. In the center of each piece, put 1 piece of salmon, 1 sprig rosemary, 3 /4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Evenly distribute the garlic among the piles and season with salt and black pepper. Bring up all 4 corners of the foil to begin to form a pouch. Before sealing, add 1/2 cup white wine to each packet. Tightly seal the packets. Put the packets on the grill and close the lid (or cover, if using a grill pan). Cook until hot throughout, about 4 minutes. Remove from the grill, open, and top each with 1 /4 cup basil. Serve immediately. For more recipes like the Grilled Shrimp & Grapefruit Salad pictured on page 26, visit timesunion.com/healthylife.
timesunion.com/HealthyLife
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healthy diet
Get Juiced! a look at the pros and cons of drinking your nutrients
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by wendy page
Photos: GettyImages. Orange juice, Jared DeCinque; Green juice, Chris Gramly.
J
ean McDonnell has health issues — lupus, fibromyalgia, and anemia among them — and continuously searches for ways to feel better. The Ballston Spa wife and mother turned to a growing trend, juicing, a few months back, after watching the RebootWithJoe.com documentary, and hasn’t looked back. “It’s a really nice answer to my lifestyle, where I feel healthy and it works with my schedule,” she says. “I feel much better. I feel invigorated. It’s not a fad; I’d like to sustain this for as long as I can.” Does juicing merit all the hype it’s been given? For McDonnell, yes; she’s off certain medication that she’d taken daily. Though weight loss wasn’t her goal, she’s lost over 10 pounds and has upped her exercise, something she was unable to do because of her illnesses. To those in the health profession, though, juicing may be great as a supplement but should not be a sole source of nutrition. Below, dietitians, juicers and those in the juicing profession explain its pros and cons to help you, well, get your juices flowing. First a definition. Unlike smoothies, which involve tossing some fruit, maybe veggies, and other sundries into a blender and hitting the liquefy button, juicing is the process of extracting juice from a combination of whole fruits and vegetables. People turn to this food trend as a way to lose weight and/ or feel healthier, with promises of boosting the immune system, aiding digestion, and removing toxins from your body to boot. “A lot of people, because it’s the new fad, want to try this,” says Cathy Chincola, dietitian and diabetes educator at Saratoga Hospital. “People are looking for answers, and they’re curious: ‘What can this do for me?’” First, the negatives. Even though voluminous fruits and veggies are thrown in, the process results in fewer vitamins and minerals in the product because the skin, which contains many of the nutrients, is left behind. Pulp, which contains fiber, is also often left in the juicer. Fiber helps us feel full and also helps our large intestine and colon work more efficiently. By juicing fruits and vegetables, “we destroy the fiber and make the solid a liquid,” explains Chincola. “We don’t feel as full, and we don’t expand our stomach.” This sentiment is echoed by Albany dietitian and certified diabetes educator Jean Bigaouette. “When you juice, you separate the juice from all the other particular fiber of the fruit,” she says. “All the good parts that help to make fruit low-calorie, regulate blood sugar, etc., are not consumed. We need fiber in our diet. It makes us feel fuller when we eat something in a solid form.” The process of chewing is important to digestion as well as to tooth health, and training yourself to drink your meals can be difficult.
Juice Recipes Want to try juicing at home? Jean McDonnell shares her favorite recipes for red and green juices. “I love these. They taste so good. It feels like you’re mainlining minerals.” GREEN Veggies are unpeeled unless stated otherwise. McDonnell typically drinks this for lunch 4 supersize or 6-8 regular size cucumbers (unpeeled) 3 green apples 1 lemon (peeled 3-5 handfuls of kale 3-5 handfuls of spinach A little ginger, and I sometimes do A head of broccoli 2 stalks of celery RED Veggies are unpeeled unless stated otherwise. McDonnell drinks this for breakfast 1 beet (peeled) 8 carrots 3 really big or 5 small red apples 2 oranges (peeled) 1 lemon (peeled) A little shot of ginger 2 handfuls of spinach 1 handful of kale Her mid-afternoon snack is a red/ green combination.
continued on page 32
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continued from page 31
Nor do many in the nutrition field endorse juicing as a weight-loss method. Juices are high in natural sugar and low in protein. Fruits are often low in fiber. Even the healthiest juice can pack on the sugar calories. “[Juicing is] not a good long-term tool for calorie-control and weight loss,” Chincola says. “There are limitations. People will get bored and hungry and go back to their old habits.” While fruits and vegetables do provide some energy, that “may not be enough if it’s the sole source of nutrition,” Chincola adds. Where juicing can play a positive role in nutrition, however, is as an add-on, our experts say. If you don’t enjoy eating your veggies, or don’t have tons of time to prepare fruits and vegetables, or simply want to get more of them into your diet, juicing is a great way to do it — as a supplement. “A juice concoction high in vegetables, which don’t carry as many sugars and calories , in place of one of your daily meals can be great,” explains Chincola. McDonnell drinks three 12-ounce juices each day (see box for her recipes) and then eats a sensible dinner. “I couldn’t eat six bunches of kale a day, but I can drink them,” she says. Juicing proponents emphasize that drinking your vegetables makes the digestive process more efficient, with less energy expended digesting the food in its liquid form. “Juicing is the really natural way to supercharge myself with nutrients,” McDonnell says. “I feel healthier, cleaner, lighter.” “Typically, you’re working with healthy, plant-based ingredients, which is optimum,” Chincola says. “With the right proportion and at the right times of day, [juicing] can be beneficial to get nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants — key nutrients we’re looking for.” This is especially true if the pulp is included in the juice. Part of the advantage for some is that juicing replaces what they’re not eating. “Healthy ingredients are being used,” Chincola says, “but the lack of what they used to eat may be why people see more benefits. You will feel better by replacing [bad food] with fruits and vegetables.” Saratoga Juice Bar store manager Chelsey Backus agrees. “I think that cleanses are OK, but I definitely think that this isn’t something to drink for your nutritional value all day long,” she says. “Juice gives your digestive system a break, just like you sleep at night, like your heart stops between beats. Your body gets the nutritional value into your system in 20-30 minutes as opposed to eating the fruits and vegetables whole.” Sometimes juicing can help during a medical by providing nutrient in a form that’s easy to ingest. “If there’s a digestive or swallowing problem, or other medical indications, juicing may be good,” Bigaouette says. “As opposed to no fruits or vegetables, I guess juicing is okay, but the preference would be to eat the whole thing.” Before you invest in a juicer, try one of the juice bars popping up around the Capital Region. As Backus says, “It’s a great way not to have to make the mess at your house, and not to have to cut everything up. People aren’t saying congratulations [on the opening of Saratoga Juice Bar]. They’re saying thank you.” HL
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Juicing Machines Citrus juicers, where you put half a piece of fruit on the machine and squeeze out juice, are different from extractors, where the whole fruit or vegetable is placed in the machine, and juice is extracted. You cannot substitute using a blender, as it doesn’t extract juice from the fruits or vegetables but instead simply smushes them. To juice properly, you need an extractor (see below for an explanation of the different types). Look for juicers that are dishwasher-safe or easy to clean and pay attention to noise level. Breville seems to have a corner on the juicer market, although Cuisinart, Omega, Hamilton Beach and Jack LaLanne also offer products. Prices range from $20-$200. Breville CENTRIFUGAL: A quickly-spinning basket shreds the fruits and vegetables via a sharp disc, using centrifugal force to strain out the juice. If you’re not yet committed to juicing and don’t want to spend a lot of money on a juicer or lots of time, this is your best bet.
JE98XL Juice Fountain Plus 850 watt juice extractor
Pro: The process is faster than with other juicers. Con: The speed also creates some heat, which reduces and sometimes destroys some of their enzyme content, degrading the nutrients. And rumor has it these are not very good with leafy greens, and sometimes produce a lot of foam.
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MASTICATING, aka Slow Juicers, Cold Press, Single Gear, or Single Auger: Masticate means to chew. These juicers grind the produce (like chewing) to squeeze out the juice. These cost a bit more, so it’s a good choice if you’re into juicing. Pro: Slower, which is good in terms of keeping nutrients. The juice can also keep longer (up to 72 hours). These are better than centrifugal in getting juice from pulp.
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Con: The slower speed means it takes longer, and you may need to feed the items one at a time, because these often have small mouths (this means more preparation).
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TRITURATING, aka Twin-Gear or Dual-Gear: With the most expensive price tag, this is the choice if juicing has become your way of life and you’re looking for a high-end product. Twin interlocking gears press together to separate the pulp and the juice.
Photos courtesy Amazon.
Pro: Good for juicing for large groups of people, as it produces more juice. The slower speed prevents oxidation, so you can keep the juice longer in your fridge. Con: These take more time to juice than in masticating juicers, and is not known to juice citrus well. You need to cut the produce more finely, and with more parts to the machine, it takes longer to clean. TIP FROM A COMMITTED JUICER: McDonnell recently switched from a masticating to the Jason Vale Fusion Juicer. “It’s a combination of masticating and centrifugal,” she says. “It’s much faster, and I can put a whole carrot in there.”
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health and healing
Natural Remedies consider these when winter’s colds and flu come calling by melinda mcgarty webb
W
hen given the choice between a natural product and one that’s laden with chemicals, artificial flavoring and colorings, many of us would opt for the former. But sometimes in the throes of illness — or at 3:30 a.m. when your 6-year-old is feverish and crying because his nose is raw from incessant blowing — you’re simply too tired to give much thought to the options. Sometimes, even the most holistically inclined can be tempted to reach for that commercial cold medicine just so everyone can get a few precious hours of uninterrupted sleep. But is that beneficial in the long run? “I don’t think it’s a good idea to suppress any symptoms your body is having, because it’s just an expression of your body trying to get rid of toxicity,” says Dr. Joanne Halloran, a naturopathic physician with offices in Saratoga Springs and Mayfield. “Whenever you suppress a symptom, you’re preventing your body from getting rid of that particular toxin. It’s better to instead encourage the body’s ability to heal itself.” So how do we do that? Sleep. It’s the one thing many of us want more than anything when we’re sick, and the thing that can sometimes be most elusive. But it could be the single most important gift we can give our bodies if we want to heal quickly. The more sleep we get, the more robust our immune systems are. Plus,
while we sleep our bodies can divert more energy to healing. Grandma was right on this one. But Grandma didn’t likely preach about the benefits of Oscillococcinum. Oscillococcinum is a homeopathic preparation that’s designed to temporarily relieve flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, headache, body aches, chills and fever. The package says to start at the first sign of symptoms. “I’ve had a very positive experience with this outside of my professional experience, too,” says Dr. Kirsten Carle, a naturopathic physician with the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine in Delmar. “You can take it either once a week to have a preventative or prophylactic effect — like a vaccine — if you’re trying to not get a cold or the flu. But should you start to get cold or flu symptoms, it tends to work really well at the Elderberries
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Photos: GettyImages. natural remedy, VMJones; elderberries, Eisenhut and Mayer Wien.
Our goal is to significantly very first sign. … What I tell my patients to do is go out in the early fall and buy this season’s Oscillococcinum. Don’t use the one from last year. They’re made every year based upon what the flu strain is that year, almost like the flu vaccine.” In fact, it’s wise to have an arsenal of products at your disposal before the beginning of cold and flu season, says Halloran, and one item you might choose to include is elderberry syrup. The sweet syrup or tablets are palatable and stimulate the immune system to fight off foreign invaders. Carle agrees. “Gaia Herbs make a really great elderberry syrup. It has a lot of antioxidants in it, and antiviral properties, and it’s been shown that if it’s taken early, like all these things, it can shorten the duration [of a respiratory illness].” But not all remedies have to come from the store. Nasal irrigation and steam inhalation both help clear congestion and keep things moving and moist. Carle suggests irrigating nasal passageways using a neti pot or similar device at night to clear out viruses or bacteria that may have accumulated there during the day, and to alleviate congestion if you’re already sick. “The heavier, denser congestion can start to be removed, and you can get things flowing in a more regular way,” she says. Her only caution is that people should use either distilled or cooled, boiled water to avoid exposure to potentially dangerous microbes in the water. “Steam inhalation is wonderful, too. It gets everything moving,” she says, suggesting it be done two to three times a day during illness, preferably once with an antimicrobial added to it, such as thyme or eucalyptus. “Gargling is fabulous, too, especially if you’re having throat symptoms, or post nasal drip.” Until recently, gargling with salt water was even part of Japan’s national flu-prevention protocol.
reduce or completely
eliminate
Warm feet in a hot bath for about 5 minutes. Then take a pair of ankle socks, put them under cold water, wring them out and put them back on the feet, says Dr. Joanne Halloran. Put heavy, wool socks or moisture-wicking socks over them and then go to bed. This draws the circulation to the feet, dilating the blood vessels in the lower extremities and constricting them near the head. “It takes the congestion away from the head and (people) can breath more easily through their noses while they sleep,” she says. “It works really great. By the middle of the night, the socks are usually dried out and the feet are really warm. It could probably prevent those late night coughing episodes.”
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health and healing
continued from page 35
I
ngesting hot liquids can be soothing and healing. A hot tea that could feel good on a raw throat and help speed up healing is licorice, long heralded as a treatment for a wide range of conditions from canker sores to premenstrual syndrome. But it may now be best known as an expectorant and sore throat soother with antiviral properties. Carle suggests drinking between one and three cups of licorice tea per day at the first sign of cold or flu symptoms. However, anyone with high blood pressure should avoid it, since licorice can contribute to elevated blood pressure. “My botanical professors used to say that you’d have to drink a vat of it,” she says, “but I always like to err on the side of caution.” And what’s tea without a little honey? “Drinking tea or warm lemon water mixed with honey is a time-honored way to soothe a sore throat. But honey may be an effective cough suppressant, too,” writes Dr. James Steckelberg on the Mayo Clinic’s website. A consultant in the clinic’s Division of Infectious Diseases and a professor of medicine at the Mayo Medical School, he cites a study where children with upper respiratory tract infections were given up to two teaspoons of honey at bedtime. The result: honey appeared to be as effective as typical over-the-counter doses of a common cough suppressant ingredient called dextromethorphan. So opt for raw honey, preferably Manuka — made by bees that pollinate the manuka bush in New Zealand and purported to possess antibacterial qualities — if you can find it. But remember: Never give honey to a child under 1 year of age. Halloran even cautions against giving it to kids under age 2. Clostridium bacteria that cause infant botulism can
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live in honey. But just because honey has some healing properties doesn’t mean all sweeteners are good ideas. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Among the biggest things that impede our immune systems are sugars and other simple carbs. “Trying to keep away from sugar is one of the most important things you can do to help resist colds and flus,” says ALTHOUGH EXERCISING WHEN YOU’RE RUN DOWN is not often advised, movement will help any type of health issue, Halloran says. “Staying still and sleeping might be good at the beginning of an illness, but it’s not always good at the tail end,” she says. “You need to stimulate the lymphatic system to move the toxins out of your system. Things like yoga, tai chi, chi gong, those are all great ways of getting exercise and stimulating your lymphatic system without overtaxing your body.” Doing light exercise can increase blood flow and provide oxygen to your muscles, which can also promote healing.
Halloran. “Combine that with lack of sleep, and you’ve got a perfect storm of potential to get sick.” If a cold has already taken hold, avoiding sugar may be even more important. We want our immune systems to be in fighting form, and sugar will only weaken them. Along those lines, evidence suggests that reducing caloric intake while fighting a cold can stimulate the immune response. “Usually, within the first 24 to 48 hours of a cold or flu, people generally benefit from decreasing their caloric intake and overall eating foods that are a little easier to digest — things that are lower in protein, soups that don’t have a lot of solids in them, and perhaps only eating two small meals a day instead of three,” says Carle. “Your body has a finite amount of energy to run all the processes it needs, and digesting food is a very energetically dense process, so trying to digest food while you’re sick can really compromise the amount of energy your body has to put into the immune response.” Soups and broths are always excellent choices. They’re good for your body, plus they make you feel good. If you’re focused on shortening the duration of your cold or flu, echinacea is an excellent choice, according to Carle. “I know echinacea has gotten a lot of press, but it really is true,” she say. “Sometimes people will not experience benefits from it because they’re not taking enough. Ideally, you should be taking about 3,000 milligrams per day. You can break that up — 1,000 milligrams three times a day, or 1,500 milligrams twice a day. The sooner you start taking it once you experience symptoms, the better.” Halloran adds Pelargonium to the list. “It’s generally found in extract form, or Umcka Cold Care is one product that contains it,” she says. “You can find it in tablet or liquid form.” Umcka Cold Care, made by Nature’s Way, is intended to shorten the duration of throat, sinus and bronchial irritations. Pelargonium — a species of geranium unique to South Africa — was the subject of a study published in the journal Phytomedicine in 2003 that found patients given the herb saw quicker resolution of symptoms including cough and fever than did their placebo-receiving counterparts, and were able to return to work more quickly. Hopefully, you’re reading this piece before a cold or the flu has you in its grips. One way to prepare your body for the winter onslaught of germs is to do a detox cleanse to pump up your immune system and help your internal organs function more efficiently when confronted with an illness. “I recommend some gentle fasting, or at least eating foods that are less inflammatory in nature and more easily digested, increasing water intake and maybe some herbs to gently cleanse their liver,” says Carle. “It allows people to be less toxic and be more readily able to respond to some kind of natural therapy for a cold or flu.” HL
For how to battle coughs and fevers, and other healing tips, visit timesunion.com/healthylife.
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ear care
Now
Hear This the time to start preventing hearing loss is now by cari scribner
Photo: Jill Chen/GettyImages.
W
e’ve all had the experience of asking someone to speak up or repeat something they’ve said, but in most cases it’s because we really weren’t listening in the first place. But if you’re continually missing what people are saying, or feel as if those around you are talking more softly than they used to, it may be time to have your hearing checked. Signs of hearing loss range from finding it difficult to understand what people are saying when they talk to you from the next room, to regularly turning up the TV far too loud for everyone else. Dan Daggott, regional manager for Hear for You Capital District locations, and a board-certified hearing instrument specialist, says while most people wearing hearing aids are over age 55, damage to hearing could have occurred decades before. “Noise-induced hearing loss may not show up until years later,” Daggott says. “Hearing loss can also be due to heredity and there are certain medications that can damage hearing.” Hearing loss that occurs gradually as you age (presbycusis) is common. According to the National Institutes of Health, an estimated one-third of people in the United States between the ages of 65 and 75, and close to one-half of those older than 75 have some degree of hearing loss. But while most people regularly get their eyes checked, getting their hearing checked can slip through the cracks. “Everyone should have a baseline hearing check at age 50,” Daggott says. “It comes down to this: Age is a major factor in hearing loss.” As more research is devoted to causes of hearing loss, findings continue to be surprising. A recent study conducted by researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, discovered that taking ibuprofen or acetaminophen twice or more weekly resulted in a higher risk of hearing loss. This connection between pain medications and hear-
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ear care
ing loss was more prevalent in women under the age of 50, and worse for those who took ibuprofen more than six days in a week. (Men were not included in this clinical evaluation.) The findings: Women who took ibuprofen less than once a week and those who took it two or three times a week were found to have a 13 percent higher chance of losing their hearing than women not using the painkillers. The women who were taking the drug between four and five times a week had a 21 percent increased risk of developing hearing problems. Those who took it six or more days a week had a 24 percent increased risk. There’s also new good news. Another study, released in April, showed that dulled hearing caused by loud noise can actually be a defense mechanism against permanent hearing loss. The study, done by an international group of scientists, showed that while short-term hearing loss caused by loud noise can be unnerving, it may not be an automatic sign of permanent damage. Temporary hearing loss, which may last as long as 24 hours, may actually be the ear’s way of protecting itself from lasting damage. The team found that a
Did you know?
Sound volume is measured in decibels (dB), and the level at which noise can cause permanent hearing loss begins at about 85 dB, typical of a hair dryer, food processor or kitchen blender.
chemical is released during exposure to loud noise, causing a temporary reduction in hearing sensitivity. This short-term loss of sensitivity to loud noise can be beneficial, as it protects the inner ear from more serious, long-lasting damage. So if you’ve been at a concert and your hearing starts to shut down, it may be the body’s way of protecting itself (but move away from the speakers or bring earplugs anyway!). Sound volume is measured in decibels (dB), and the level at which noise can cause permanent hearing loss begins at about 85 dB, typical of a hair dryer, food processor or kitchen blender. Remember, too, that humans come with a finite number of hearing cells — once they’re gone, they’re gone. Daggott urges people to get their hearing tested regularly to spot trouble before it gets worse. “Hearing aids will help, but they’re limited by what healthy cells are left,” Daggott says. “The sooner you get treated, the faster you’ll be able to slow down the process of losing hearing.” HL
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Protecting Your Ears Earbuds — those tiny speakers worn directly in the ear — have been found to be potentially damaging to hearing, particularly over time. Here are some suggestions to protect your hearing when using a personal listening device: Wear earmuff–style headphones. Your best bet is “noise-cancelling” headphones, which reduce
or eliminate background noise. This lessens the need to crank the volume above 50 percent. You can listen to music at a softer volume for a longer time. Follow the 60/60 rule when wearing ear buds. Keep your volume below 60 percent, and limit your listening to under 60 minutes per day.
out more background noise, allowing you to listen at a lower volume. Invest in “custom” earbuds made according to an impression taken of your ear canal. These block out the most noise, letting you listen at very low levels. They also provide the best sound quality. Educate children and teenagers. Most have no idea that hearing doesn’t come back once it’s gone.
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mind Ask Emma 45 Get the Most out of Therapy 47
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ask emma
My Love,
My Lawnmower? our mothers can leave the biggest holes in our hearts by emma tennant
Photo: © iStockphoto.com/Lise Gagne.
T
he day Jerry’s mother left, he remembers, she said, “I’m going out for a few hours. Look after your sister.” She walked through the screen door and down the wooden stairs to the station wagon. She waved as she opened the car door. “And she never came back,” he says. But she had to come back eventually. How could she not? After school he jumped down from the bus and climbed the hill in the expectation that he would get to the top of the hill and see her Pontiac in the driveway. “Every day,” he says now. “Stupidly, every time, I was simply amazed, amazed, that it wasn’t there.” How long did that go on? Well, in Jerry’s mind it went on “every day,” and that’s all that matters. In reality, in the life of the unconscious mind, Jerry is still climbing that hill to look for that car. He’s had a good life, married, with children. He is truly a pillar of his community — a warden in his church, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels. He has spent every ounce of his energy all his life striving to be a good enough boy that his mother will come back. And all of this would be fine in some way, if his mother hadn’t recently sent him a letter from California where she has been living with her new husband and large second family. We have read the letter together. I’m paraphrasing but it goes something like this: “Gee time flies! Thanks to the Internet, I can see that you are really thriving! You’ve really grown up to be a fine man as I knew you would. If you’d ever like to get together, that would be great. Plenty of room out here in sunny California!” There’s a story by the great British psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott, surely one of the kindest men ever to make a major contribution to the literature, and it goes a bit like this. He was treating a badly abused child from the East End of London in the years just after the Second War, and he said to her: “Do you want me to get you a new Mummy?,” and she said, “No, I want my Mummy.” There is simply no substitute for the mother we had — no matter who she happened to be existentially, meaning no matter what kind of person she was. Can we agree that Jerry’s mother is extraordinarily deficient in empathy to write to Jerry in that tone? Yes, I think we can. But he’s stuck with her. I think we can extend this to the primary caregiver. In
many ways, we are the simplest of creatures. We come into the world with an absolute need to attach absolutely to one object, one on which we will depend utterly for safety and nurture. During my neo-hippie days, I bottle-fed a goat in Thailand that had been abandoned by its mother at birth, and for the rest of her life Chanaya, as she was called, loved me with utter devotion. I could be walking in the village half a mile away and look up and see her puzzled face following my every movement in rapturous adoration. I’ve never been so loved. I saw a video the other day of a duck that had fallen in love with a riding lawnmower. Evidently, the duck associated the lawnmower with the human who raised it, and hangs around the lawnmower when there isn’t anything better to do. That’s us, folks. We can hope that we are fortunate to have what the kindly Dr. Winnicott called a “good enough” mother, one who responds in our early formative years to our need for warmth and food. One who contains our infantile rages with their soothing presence. One who delights in our smile when we smile. I think I was a “good enough” mother for Chanaya, though I could never teach her to be a goat and I do think she suffered as a result of that. I feel bad about that. I don’t think I would write her a letter saying: “Having a great time here in America with the humans. Drop me a line if you ever get to New York.” That would be cruel. But many of us, like Jerry, don’t get that level of empathy. All we can do is have empathy for ourselves in our longing for which there is no object, and find others who can help us carry our sorrow. Even though Jerry’s mother has finally “come back,” the truth is that the woman in California is someone else. And to some degree we all carry the loss of that first love within us, that first, adored object that was not quite there in the way we needed, or could not quite give us all the love that we required. The mother that left will always be the mother that left. She is always getting into that car and waving at us before closing the door. HL Emma Tennant (not her real name) is a practicing psychotherapist. All advice offered here is simply that. If you have a pressing concern, you should see a specialist in person. If you have a question you’d like addressed or a comment for Emma, send it to askemma@ timesunion.com. Inquiries will be treated with confidentiality.
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emotional health
Head T Strong to get the most out of therapy, start with the right therapist
And the best way to start therapy is to find the right counselor. “People can get a sense pretty early on in a counseling relationship if someone is a good fit for them,” says Philip Rainer, chief clinical officer for Family and Children Services of the Capital Region and a licensed clinical social worker. “There is an initial gut sense, certainly within the first session, if this is a good fit. They could certainly come back a second time and give it another try, but if they’re finding that they’ve gone through a couple sessions and they’re still feeling uncomfortable or this is just not the person they feel comfortable opening up to, they should shop around.” Credentials are important, says
Photo: Ryan McVay/GettyImages.
by jennifer gish
herapy can be daunting. Your life is stormy, and you’re just trying to grind through each day. And to get to a better place, you’ll need to dig through your hardest and deepest emotions, and sometimes into a painful past. But therapy is a helpful and sometimes essential way to navigate trials. And unlike plopping onto an exam table and letting your family physician do all the work concerning your failing gall bladder or bad knees, a lot of how successful you’ll be in counseling depends on you. That success means choosing a therapist who’s a good match, coming to therapy with the right attitude and practicing what you learn in those soul-baring sessions.
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emotional health
Things to consider when choosing a therapist: Do they take your insurance? If
not, how much do they charge and can you afford it? Some therapists work on a sliding scale.
Get recommendations. You’d ask your friends for a lead on a good mechanic or hair stylist, so why not a therapist?
The basics: The person should return
your calls, show up on time, have a good handle on billing and treat you with respect — the same things you would expect from any business relationship.
Little things matter. If you don’t like his approach, the therapist is not a good fit. Maybe the therapist’s questions are too aggressive, you wish they would take notes and stop mixing up your family members’ names, or you simply don’t like the sound of his voice. Those things count. And if they bother you, consider finding another therapist.
— Source: Faith Tanney, a psychologist in independent practice in Washington, D.C.
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nce that first session is scheduled, the work begins. Counselors regularly see several ways clients sometimes get in the way of their own therapy, and one of them is not understanding the purpose of it. A therapist is not an advice-dispenser. “People come in thinking that the therapist should supply all the answers, and many times, in effective therapy, the process allows the individual to identify the effective solutions that are going to work for themselves and those are usually a better fit for them anyway,” Rainer says. “I’ve had clients come up with ideas that I never would have thought of as effective ways to handle a situation, and they worked great. So the process is often about helping the client get into problem-solving — finding solutions that are a good fit for their own lives. I know what might work in certain general situations or in a generalized way, but I don’t know the specifics of that individual and their lives as well, so they’re often the best resource.” A big roadblock to sorting through thoughts and getting to solutions can be how open and willing a patient is to discussing the real issues. Often, people are embarrassed or afraid to be completely truthful with a therapist out of fear of judgment. They might not want to acknowledge that their desire to leave their marriage was prompted by an affair or that they have anger issues when it comes to interacting with their kids. But unlike your mother-in-law or boss, your therapist is not there to judge you. “[Mental health struggles are] an illness, and there’s no
Photos: GettyImages. Left, Ned Frisk; Right, George Doyle.
Faith Tanney, a psychologist in independent practice in Washington, D.C., and an expert on choosing a therapist. As you would with a family physician or specialist, make sure the person has the educational background (a master’s degree or doctorate) and credentials that fit your needs. A licensed therapist has to be observed by several people along the way to make sure he or she operates ethically and responsibly. And if a problem should arise with that person down the road, Tanney says, you want to have some legal recourse. “If they’re not licensed, you really have a harder time justifying malpractice,” she says. Beyond the licensing and education, the credentials of the therapist are also important, Tanney says. Most therapists can treat people who have depression or anxiety, but certain mental health issues, such as bipolar disorder, require a familiarity with the medications involved (even if they’re not prescribing them) and intimate knowledge of the psychology at play. Counselors often list their specialties in directories and on websites. A person with a history of domestic violence or struggles with sexual orientation, for instance, may want a counselor who has some expertise in that area. Some counselors work with couples; others do not. Tanney suggests a phone consultation with a therapist to get a quick read on your comfort level. After all, the therapist is going to serve as your metaphorical traveling companion, tour guide and cheerleader, and you need to like her enough to have her serve in those roles.
“If you had diabetes, you would go to your doctor and get help, and this is really no different.” — Erica Ellis, psychologist
shame to it, and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. If you had diabetes, you would go to your doctor and get help, and this is really no different,” says Erica Ellis, psychologist with Associates in Mental Health and Neuropsychology in Niskayuna. “Sometimes it’s scary being totally vulnerable, really opening up to someone and saying how you really feel, especially if someone has had a history of trauma or they’ve had bad experiences being honest and open with people. When you find a good therapist, it’s somebody that you feel accepted by and you feel it’s safe.” Rainer says embarrassment can sometimes cause patients to offer a “sugar-coated version” of their situation, which can derail therapy. “So the therapist may begin to address that superficial information and not really get at what’s really going on for the person,” he says. “It’s understandable people are coming in, and they wear a social mask. That really doesn’t help going into a counseling situation. So the more thoroughly and openly a person can share their situation, the more the clinician is able to help them out immediately.” And that’s why therapy can take time. While one client may need just a few sessions to deal with a troubling situation, others have complex issues that can take years of partnership with a therapist to address. That first session is often just a chance to get comfortable with each other, opening up can take time. “To really build a relationship takes a number of sessions,” Ellis says. “It’s sort of that proverbial peeling the onion back. You start with things that feel a little safe, and then you get deeper and deeper into stuff.” And as a therapist works to peel back that onion, it could get painful. The client may get defensive. They may get so uncomfortable with what’s being discussed that they want to end the sessions. “Sometimes, they may go back to it again with another therapist and then start over at that lighter, safer level, and as they get to the material again they’ll quit,” Rainer says. “The distress of getting into it becomes overwhelming, and so they try to avoid that distress by getting back out of therapy, and they’ll typically result to whatever coping
or avoidance measures have been working for them previously. People are typically getting by to some degree, so if it means getting into something that’s really difficult or painful to talk about, they’ll sometimes get overwhelmed and look to avoid it.” Tanney says a good counseling relationship is when the client can be open with the therapist about her level of discomfort, and they can work together to find solutions that allow them to continue their journey, even if it’s a difficult one. The therapist should help the client set goals and then work toward those goals, such as improving their relationship with their father or learning forgiveness, she says. Therapy helps teach people how to cope with or resolve issues in their lives, and so it also comes with homework. If clients aren’t applying those skills outside the therapy sessions, they won’t see results. “Oftentimes, people think you’ll come for 45 minutes once a week and then go back and live your life the same way, and that’s not really how change is made,” Ellis says. “There might be skills that you’re being taught. Somebody with anxiety might be taught some relaxation skills. They may be taught ways of trying to think about things in a different way, and you have to be willing to do those things, and you have to be willing to think about it and catch yourself in old behaviors. They say marriages take work, and therapy takes work, too.” HL
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body. mind. spirit.
➺ Top Tip: Make sure to
make at least some time for yourself to do some things that make you happy. Stress is a huge contributor to illness, and if you can eliminate even a little, it will help immensely. — Cover model Samantha Bloom
Behind the Scenes Hair and makeup by Kimberley’s A Day Spa, Latham. Select clothing available at Boscov’s Clifton Park. At right: Shirt and jeans by DKNY, jewelry by Ashley Cooper. Photo taken by Leif Zurmuhlen at Sixty State Place. Once the National Commercial Bank, Sixty State Place offers a unique setting for weddings and events in downtown Albany. Its blend of exquisite oldworld design and sophisticated, modern-day styling even includes an upscale lounge crafted from the original bank vault. Visit facebook. com/healthylifenymagazine to view our Behind the Scenes photo gallery, or scan the QR code at right to link to our HealthyLife photos page on Facebook.
spirit My Word 53 Anger Issues 54
Up Close With Samantha Bloom 58 timesunion.com/HealthyLife
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HealthyLife magazine brings you stories and advice geared at living a balanced life, and nourishment of your mind, body, and spirit. Life@Home is packed with inspiration to help you make your house a home. Capital Region Women@Work is the in-print component of an innovative network of local women in managerial and executive positions. VOW: Your Wedding. Your Way. is the secret to creating your fairytale wedding using local resources. If you are interested in receiving free home delivery of any of our magazines, please (518) 454-5768 or email magcirculation@timesunion.com.
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my word
New Year
New
by betsy bitner
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’m constantly thinking of ways to change my body. I’ve briefly considered swapping heads with a supermodel, but I’m never able to find one willing to make a trade. Then I discovered a boot camp program that promised a total body transformation. It seemed like a promising concept. For one thing, I’d get to keep my body with my head. There was just one catch. I was going to have to work for it. Before I could start the challenge, I needed to be weighed, measured and have my “before” picture taken. The instructions said to wear tight-fitting clothes for the picture. That wasn’t going to be a problem — all my clothes were tight-fitting, although not by choice. Once I was weighed, the trainers calculated my body fat percentage, which turned out to be a number only slightly lower than my I.Q. My fat-tononfat ratio put me in the same category as a stick of butter. I told myself not to get discouraged just yet. There’d be plenty of time for that after I started going to the boot camp workouts at 5:30 in the morning. On the first day I was introduced to a little torture method called the Russian Twist. I’m convinced it was designed by the KGB. My upper body was so sore the next day I could barely steer my car as I drove to boot camp. It was as if I were wearing a jacket of pain. That day’s workout was going to focus on the lower body. Great, now I’d have matching pants to go with the jacket. The transformation challenge also required that I switch to a Paleo diet. Paleo is short for Paleolithic, and refers to a diet similar to what our ancestors would have eaten thousands of years ago. That is until Grok and his pals wised up and evolved into modern humans who would invent foods such as Double Decker Taco Supremes and McFlurries. So grains, legumes, dairy, soy, sugar and caffeine were off-limits. And no alcohol, which was a shame because I had a feeling I’d need a drink to forget the workouts and food deprivation.
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t was hard. Trying not to think about all the foods I couldn’t eat took as much time and energy as planning and preparing the foods I could eat. I did save time in the beverage department, though, where my choices were water, water and water. But all that work paid off as I learned something new about myself each day.
Day
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I learned I could prep a day’s worth of Paleoapproved snacks in little baggies before I left the house. I also learned that I could eat all those snacks by the time I’d backed my car out of the garage. And I discovered it’s hard to drive and lick the inside of an empty baggie at the same time.
Me?
Day
I was still so hungry the concept of eating at my desk was replaced by thoughts of actually eating my desk. I was pretty sure Grok would have chowed down on cherry-stained wood veneer if he’d found some lying outside his cave.
Day
I channeled my inner hunter-gatherer as I began to consider pizza delivery guys and anyone carrying a bag of bagels to be fair game. In a cruel twist on the survival of the fittest theory, I discovered I lacked the energy to overtake even the slowest moving bakery truck.
Day
The soreness of my initial workouts subsided and I was finally able to lift my arms above chest height. I could now resume brushing my teeth and combing my hair. My family feared I was too far gone, however, when I began to worry whether toothpaste contains gluten.
Day
The local wine and liquor store delivered a large bouquet of flowers, assuming I’d died.
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My clothes began to feel a bit looser. Hunger will do that. My joy was short lived, however, when my pants felt tight again immediately upon watching a commercial for a glazed doughnut breakfast sandwich.
My “after” picture at the end of the transformation challenge did look better than the “before.” But I wasn’t convinced the Paleo diet was a long-term solution for me even though I’d managed to get my body fat percentage from the solid butter level down to the chunky peanut butter range. After all, I was still craving a piece of toast to put it on. HL
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your emotions
Getting MAD? learn how to express your anger and get results
by wendy healy
J
ennifer Travis of Colonie takes angry phone calls weekly from family members complaining about the care or health of loved ones at the nursing home where she works. But the director of admissions and marketing doesn’t respond angrily or let people get her down. “I don’t take it personal,” says the mother of two. “I don’t look at it as a personal attack on me. The person complaining has a reason to be angry, and I try to sort out the emotion versus the fact. Once you break it down, you can address the issues and take their concerns seriously.”
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Alice Katz, a psychotherapist and author of It’s Not Personal: A Guide to Anger Management, says Travis gives the perfect example of how to manage anger correctly. “The main thing is to not take personal what’s going on,” she says. “Expect that people are rude and will do the wrong thing. Be realistic in your expectations because the world is made up of all kinds of people.” “Anger is no longer taboo,” Katz says. “Civility has gone out the window in many cases and people openly express what they feel without thinking of others.” Anger is an emotion, just like happiness, sadness and fear. And while it’s normal for people to get angry, it’s not a pleasant emotion for most, says Katz. “Does that mean that anger is a negative emotion and you should strive to be anger free?” she writes in the first paragraph of her book. “Not necessarily. Feeling angry can be harmful, but it can also be good. It really depends on the frequency, the intensity, and the duration of your anger, and what you are angry about, and how appropriate it is to feel angry in a particular situation.” Anger that leads to constructive change, for example, or that leads to creative energy is good, she says. The reasons for anger are many, she adds, some of which occur when people disagree or someone makes you mad. The process of managing anger, however, can mean the difference between a situation being resolved or not. It’s this process that is hard for most women, Katz says, because they don’t want to hurt others. Many men, in contrast, express explosive an-
For more tips on how to deal with anger, visit timesunion.com/healthylife.
ger and rarely censor their words, she adds. But there anger management has a win-win. Katz says that being assertive is the only true way to express anger and resolve conflict. Gimmicks — such as punching a rag doll, hitting a pillow with a plastic baseball bat or screaming in an empty room — don’t work. Standing up for yourself while not making others wrong, she says, is the best way. Assertiveness gives a message of how you feel when the other person behaves a certain way, according to Katz. It talks about yourself and your feelings and starts with an “I” instead of “You” statement. It stands up for you while taking the other person into consideration. In times of anger, it’s usually 99 percent about the other person’s stuff, she says. When a man comes home and yells at his wife, she says, it’s not usually about her, but about a bad day at work, heavy traffic or some other frustration. Travis understands this. In most cases the angry family member on the other end of the line is frustrated because Mom or Dad isn’t doing well, or is complaining to them about their situation. In turn, they call her to vent. She often diffuses the anger by not playing into it but letting the person know they were heard. “I’ll say, ‘I hear that you’re saying that Mom didn’t eat her meal.’ But then I’ll give them practical ideas and ways in which to fix the problem.”
Photo: Fotosearch Premium /GettyImages.
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n addition to learning to not take things personally, Katz advises women to have realistic expectations. “Don’t make assumptions about others’ motivations. If a store clerk is rude, it probably has nothing to do with you. Maybe the person has had a bad day, or maybe they’re just an angry person. There’s a lot of unfairness in the world. If you go through life thinking that people are like you, you’ll be disappointed. People can be rude. If you take it personally, you’ll be miserable.” Children can be particularly angering for parents, especially if they don’t listen. Women sometimes equate love with their child’s behavior and that’s not realistic, Katz says. “Truth is, the child, who has little control over his or her life expresses anger as a way to take control.” While an angry parent might yell at a child who refuses to take her dishes to the sink, an assertive parent might say: “When you don’t clear your dishes, it gives me more work, and I don’t like more work.” Mark Mueller, pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Delmar, says that managing anger begins with realizing that you have a choice. “I can’t control what is going on around me, but I can control how I respond,” he says. Mueller, who often runs Bible studies and workshops on anger management, agrees that assertiveness is the best approach. “Being assertive preserves your own self-worth while considering the needs of others. It’s a sign of maturity and allows a person to deal with it in a proactive way and not in a self-centered way.” He reminds women that anger is a two-way street. “It’s
Lose Your Cool? Follow These Tips We all get angry. So what to do if you lose your cool despite your best efforts? Here is some advice from our experts on how to handle the situation: Apologize for the presentation of your message. Excuse yourself if possible, telling the other party that you’ll get back to them ASAP to have a calmer, more rational discussion or to provide a more measured response. Use whatever tools help you to calm down most effectively — listening to music, taking a short walk, meditating or some deep breathing. Reformulate your response in an assertive rather than an aggressive manner. Forgive yourself for losing your cool, don’t obsess over it, and simply vow to exercise your assertiveness skills the next time conflict arises, as it inevitably will.
better to say, ‘Let’s talk about it and deal with it,’ because it’s not just about me.” Mueller says he often counsels and speaks with couples having marital problems. “Communication is huge. I wonder which fell through the cracks first — communication and things got bad, or vice versa,” he says. “When people suppress anger and negative events and don’t work through it, but store it, like negative charged particles in a thundercloud, there’s one too many and it all comes raining down.” Being assertive is not being a victim, he says, or allowing situations to control you. “Be inwardly directed rather than externally.” Katz also recommends that women understand that underlying anger usually is triggered by the past, mostly from one’s upbringing. She recommends practicing assertiveness and developing ways to take coworkers, partners and friends off the defensive so anger can be diffused. Anne Marie Sickinger of Half Moon describes herself as peaceful, someone who likes to remain calm. “I’m married 45 years,” she says, “so right there tells you how mellow I am.” But Anne Marie says she’ll talk something over with herself first in her head, before getting into an argument. “If there’s something on my mind, I’ll have a conversation with myself. Get it out that way, so I can move on, or talk it over with friends.” She lets go most often. “Most things are just not that important. Pick your battles. Try to see both sides. Be fair.” Katz says that women who are happy deal with their anger better. “Angry people are usually unhappy people.” She recommends to accept what you can’t control, and recognize that everything could be worse. “Try to feel fulfilled and work on taking time for yourself.” HL
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A DV E R T I S E M E N T
Have you heard about this new technology that is FDA cleared, and non-surgical treatment for back pain?
Herniated Disc?
Non-surgical spinal decompression may be the last back pain treatment you will ever need. And you may be able to forget the pills, getting endless shots, struggling through exercise programs...and...risky surgery...because with this amazing new technology...if you are a candidate... they may be a thing of the past. You’re about to discover a powerful state-of-the-art technology available for: Back pain, Sciatica, Herniated and/or Bulging discs (single or multiple), Degenerative Disc Disease, a relapse or failure following surgery or Facet syndromes. Best of all -- you can check it out yourself for FREE! CALL 518-300-1212
I
magine how your life would change if you discovered the solution to your back pain.
In this article you’ll discover powerful new back pain technology that has the potential to be that solution for you. This incredible technology is Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression and the DRX 9000. Here’s the amazing story how it was discovered and why it has a chance to help YOUR back pain...
How Science Helps Back Pain The lower back is a series of bones separated by shock absorbers called “discs”. When these discs go bad because of age or injury you can have pain. For some the pain is just annoying, but for others it can be life changing...and not in a good way. It has long been thought that if these discs could be helped in a natural and noninvasive way, lots of people with back and leg pain could lower the amount of pain medication they take, be given fewer epidural injections for the pain and have less surgery.
Recent medical breakthroughs have led to the development of advanced technologies to help back and leg pain suffers!
Through the work of a specialized team of physicians and medical engineers, a medical manufacturing company, now offers this space age technology in its incredible DRX 9000 Spinal Decompression equipment.
The DRX 9000 is FDA cleared to use with the pain and symptoms associated with herniated and/or bulging discs. . . even after failed surgery. What Conditions Has The DRX 9000 Successfully Treated And Will It Help YOU? The main conditions the DRX 9000 has success with are: • • • •
Back pain Sciatica Spinal Stenosis Herniated and/or bulging discs (single or multiple) • Degenerative disc disease • A relapse or failure following surgery • Facet syndromes A very important note: The DRX 9000 has been successful even when NOTHING else has worked. Even after failed surgery. What Are Treatments On The DRX 9000 Like?
After being fitted with an automatic shoulder support system, you simply lie face up on the DRX 9000’s comfortable bed and the advanced computer system does the rest. Patients describe the treatment as a gentle, soothing, intermittent pulling of your back. Many patients actually fall asleep during treatment. The really good news IS... this is not something you have to continue to do for the rest of your life. So it is not a big commitment. Since offering the DRX 9000 in my Colonie office, I have seen nothing short of miracles for back pain sufferers who had tried everything else. . . with little or no result. Many had lost all hope. Had herniated disk operation 8 years ago another disc became herniated. Doctor wanted to operate have arthritis from 1st one (did not want to go under knife again) very grateful to DRX9000 (thank you Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC) Very happy camper. Raymond F Niskayuna, NY Age 55 This treatment was a miracle for my cervical disk herniations. Only other alternative was surgery, which I no longer have to face. William I Schenectady, NY Age 63
I was told by a doctor I wouldn’t be able to work. I cannot afford to not work so I tried Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC, and not only did the pain go away but I never missed a day at work. Rick S Clifton Park, NY Age 42 I would love to shake the hand of the person who invented this machine. It was a life saver for me and a lot better than going under the knife. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with chronic back pain. Dawn H Colonie, NY Age 49 Before the DRX 9000 treatment. I had no quality of life. Couldn’t do anything for myself. Thank God for Dr. and the DRX machine. I can live again. Yvette K Schenectady, NY Age 47 I suffered for three years, before I received treatment on the DRX 9000. Today, I can sleep and get out of bed like a normal human being. Before, I couldn’t even drive my car because the pain in my hips, legs and feet were so bad from the sciatica nerve being pinched by my Herniated Disc L4 and L5, which also prevented me from sitting in a chair or even using my computer lap top at any time. Today things have changed due to advance technology therapy on the DRX 9000. They always try
A DV E R T I S E M E N T I would definitely refer people to your office. Dr. Guerra and his staff have made this experience a pleasure. Ed H Hoosick Falls, NY Age 70 Pain free, numbness in the left foot is gone. DRX 9000 is GREAT and does work. Sal L Niskayuna, NY Age 50
Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC demonstrates the DRX 9000 to a patient
to regulate the treatments that work. What is up with this taught process???? The world is changing and so have I. Frank A Troy, NY Age 52 Before receiving the DRX treatments, my quality of life was very poor. I could hardly do anything other than going to work and going to bed. After the DRX treatments my quality of life has improved 90% which has resulted in me being able to go for long walks without a cane and go shopping. Anne P Burnt Hills, NY Age 70 I am so appreciative of this method of therapy because when I came to the office I had to use a cane and had muscle pain in walking. After 2nd treatment sciatica nerve pain was gone in my left leg. Judith W Albany, NY Age 64 Prior to this treatment my only options appeared to be invasive pain management, or surgery. After receiving 24 sessions on the DRX, I am markedly improved, relatively pain free and am able to function as I had in previous years. Highly recommend to anyone with disc issues. Alan P Scotia, NY Age 53 I would choose this therapy again! Painless treatment that gets your life back to
normal. Stick with it-it works! Linda G Broadalben, NY Age 53 I am so happy I came to Dr. Guerra. I was in a lot of pain and after being on the DRX I tell you I do not have pain. I feel wonderful and the staff are very nice. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is wonderful. If you are in pain try the DRX it really helps. Edith C Schenectady, NY Age 71 I think more people should know about this procedure before considering any surgery. Medications help the pain but they don’t cure the cause. I am back to my old self again. Lorraine B Scotia, NY Age 78 I highly recommend this machine. I had my doubts but it really and truly works. Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC is a wonderful doctor and his staff is great too. Linda D Clifton Park, NY Age 46
I’m able to go on long walks and get all night sleep (I’ve had 3 surgeries since 2006) Without the DRX I would be in for a 4th back surgery. I’m getting back to doing activities with my 10 year old son. Lisa V Catskill, NY Age 45 I wish to thank you very much for all the help I received with the spinal decompression therapy. Your entire office was very helpful and compassionate. No longer do I sit at night with my heating pads, moving them from sore spot to sore spot. My knees are no longer on fire and I’m able to go up and down the stairs much easier than before. Mable D Ballston Lake, NY Age 68
SPECIAL OFFER Call Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC’s office at 518-300-1212 and mention to my assistants that you want a FREE back pain/DRX9000 qualification
consultation. It’s absolutely free with no strings attached. There is nothing to pay for and you will NOT be pressured to become a patient.
Here is what you will receive: • A consultation with me, Dr. Claude D. Guerra, DC to discuss your problem and answer the questions you may have about back pain and the DRX9000 • A DRX9000 demonstration so you see for yourself how it works! Due to current demand for this technology, I suggest calling today to make your appointment. The consultation is free. We are staffed 24-hoursa-day, 7-days-a-week. Call 518-300-1212 right now!
It’s absolutely FREE with no strings attached. There is ONE Big Problem: My busy office schedule will limit how many people I’m able to personally meet with...so you will need to act fast. Call 518-300-1212 right now...to be sure you are among the first callers and we will set up your free consultation today. We have the phones answered 7 days a week 24 hours a day so call now... 518-300-1212. (Free consultation is good for 45 days) 2016 Central Ave., Colonie www.albanyDRX.com
I was extremely skeptical at the beginning of treatments - Progress was slow in coming - But... then it worked! What a relief!!! Joan K Delmar, NY Age 71 I had no where else to go with this problem. The DRX 9000 was just what I needed. Many thanks! Burton S Mechanicville, NY Age 50
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cover model q&a
up close with ... Samantha Bloom by brianna snyder | photo by leif zurmuhlen
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t took Samantha Bloom, 45, “some serious convincing” to apply for HealthyLife’s cover model contest this year. “My husband is actually the one who got me to apply finally, after several friends encouraged me to apply last year,” she says. “I’ve never done anything like that, and it was a little — a lot! — out of my comfort zone.” Bloom and her husband, Tracy, have three children: 19-yearold Max, 6-year-old Zoe and 4-year-old Viviana. We chatted with her by e-mail about her happy and healthy life.
What’s your favorite kind of exercise? My favorite exercise is definitely walks with my family. We often go outside together after my husband gets home from work. But more often I am able to get on an elliptical machine, which is not as exciting and entertaining, but you don’t have to worry about weather when you’re in the gym. What’s your favorite food to cook? Some members of my family have severe food sensitivities — to soy, dairy and wheat. So this keeps our menus pretty simple and wholesome. Many substitutes for dairy and for wheat are soy-based ingredients, so I read A LOT of labels. Most foods that come in boxes are off limits to us. We eat meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts, and nut milk. We buy a local, organic, grass-fed cow each year and split it with another family. I guess my favorite thing to cook is my own recipe for apple crisp. I’ve developed it over many years, and it has now been converted into a dairy-free, soy-free, wheat-free recipe with very little sugar. My family loves it, and I always get compliments on it. But cooking is actually one of my least favorite things to do. What kinds of things do you like to do with your family? I am a big family person. I like to try and do things with them as much as possible. We camp every summer in the Adirondacks. Those trips are so much fun! We put all our gear in a boat and paddle out to an island in the middle of a lake, where we stay for 10 days. We pitch our tents, cook over a fire, swim and hang out together. It’s blissful. My parents have a house (on a different lake) in the Adirondacks, which I take day trips to from home, with the girls in the summer. We all love to be outdoors.
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Behind the Scenes Hair and makeup by Kimberley’s A Day Spa, Latham. Photo taken by Leif Zurmuhlen at Sixty State Place, in Albany. Above: sweater by Rafaella, skirt by Calvin Klein, jewelry by Ashley Cooper. Select clothing available at Boscov’s Clifton Park. Visit facebook.com/ healthylifenymagazine to view our Behind the Scenes photo gallery, or scan the QR code at right to link to our HealthyLife photos page on Facebook.
Where’s the best place you’ve ever been? The best place I’ve ever been is a trip to Italy that I took with my husband and son before the girls were born. We got to take him to see the Colosseum, the Sistine Chapel, and all these amazing places, and each night he wrote in his journal he kept for school about the food he ate. I still have that journal. It’s probably the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. If you could have lunch with anyone living or dead, who would you pick? I would love to have lunch with Leonardo da Vinci. An artist, an inventor, a genius who was way ahead of his time. HL
‘Before’ photo by Colleen Ingerto.
How do you live a healthy life? I live a healthy life in many areas, from diet to caring for my body. My husband is a chiropractor who also specializes in diagnostic nutrition, so I have great resources available to me. I get great care, and make sure our children do as well. I eat wholesome foods, and make sure I take time for myself also. I look out my window every morning when I’m getting ready, to peek at a little nature and take a few deep breaths. It makes for a good start to each day.
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Caring for more people…
IN MORE PLACES
Choose the region’s health care leader From Albany and Schenectady to Troy and Clifton Park... to other points north and south... and everywhere in between, the 12,500 professionals of St. Peter’s Health Partners are ready. To provide the widest array of high-quality, person-centered care for you and your family.
VISIT SPHP.COM for more information