JANUARY 2013ellNotes®

INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW FOR KEEPING HEALTHY

Download the Weigh What

Matters apphttp://tinyurl.com/7exe46v

Taste the Health Benefits of Winter SquashCanadian resident Joel Jarvis wasn’t expecting his baby to gain 35 pounds a day. But it grew so large in just a few months, it squashed a world record. When it reached 1,486.6 pounds, he delivered it to the Port Elgin Pumpkinfest. Judges awarded him $8,000 in prize money for the giant squash. Jarvis then enjoyed some homemade squash soup made from the gourd, and he used the money to help pay for a new car. Most people can benefit from squash a little differently. A single one-cup serving of cooked squash only contains about 75 calories. It also has high levels of vitamin A and vitamin C. These antioxidants help keep your eyes, skin, teeth, and bones healthy, and support your immune system. Eating squash regularly can also help prevent heart disease and stroke, regulate blood sugar levels, and prevent some types of cancer.

You don’t have to grow your own squash to enjoy the health benefits. Winter squash varieties include pumpkin, acorn, butternut, buttercup, and hubbard. Most grocery stores sell at least one variety of squash year round, and it’s easy to prepare. Peel and slice. Then cook, steam, or microwave.

Be sure to save the seeds. You can bake these later and enjoy them as a snack. Healthy fats found

in squash and pumpkin seeds can help prevent prostate cancer. They also help

lower cholesterol levels, aid in weight loss, and support brain health.

Annals of Neurology. 2012. National Institutes of Health. American Heart Association.

Shed Pounds with Help from Your SmartphoneLose weight. It’s the most popular resolution people make when the New Year rolls around. And the support you need to be successful may be right at your fingertips.Researchers wanted to find out if smartphones can aid in weight loss. To do this, they followed 210 overweight adults who were trying to lose weight. One group attended regular weight-loss classes and read printed materials about diet and exercise. The other group used smartphones to track their calorie intake and exercise. They also received daily reminders to make healthy choices. Researchers found that the smartphone group lost five-percent more weight than the traditional weight-loss group.

Losing just a few pounds can reduce your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and early death. If you’re among the 69 percent of adults who are overweight or obese, losing excess weight could save your life. Many healthy-weight people can also benefit from improving their diet and exercise habits.Let your smartphone help you lose weight. Smartphone apps can help you set goals for weight, eating, and exercise. You can track your daily activity, view progress reports, and some even allow you to send the data to your doctor. It’s like having a personal trainer, nutritionist, and wellness coach with you wherever you go.American Medical Association. 2012. Journal of Translational Behavioral Medicine. 2011. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2012. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Try these winter squash recipeshttp://tinyurl.com/cspms46

It’s Time to Say Goodbye to CigarettesSmoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. About 70 percent of smokers want to quit. If you’re ready to kick your butts to the curb, here’s what you can do:

Talk with your doctor about tobacco cessation and counseling options. When you combine medication and counseling to kick the habit, you triple your chances of quitting for good.

Check with your health insurance provider to see if tobacco cessation services are covered. Smokers who enroll in a tobacco cessation program are more successful at quitting than those who try to quit alone.

Keep trying. Few people quit smoking forever on their first try. But more than half of all Americans who ever smoked have managed

Continued on page 2

to quit. If you quit smoking before age 50, you cut your risk of early death by 50 percent. Even just a few weeks after you quit, your circulation and breathing will improve.

Remember that your life is at stake. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Smokers also suffer from asthma, cataracts, and an increased risk of bone fractures and infections.

Making the decision to quit is your first step to kicking the habit for good.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Cancer Institute.

Q: Can I lower my blood pressure by changing what I eat?

A: Go to www.wellsource.info/wn/ask-lower-bp.pdf to read the answer from Don Hall, DrPH, CHES.

To ask your question, email: evan@wellsource.com, subject line: Ask the Wellness Doctor. Emails with any other subject line will be directed to the spam folder.

© Wellsource, Inc. All rights reserved.

Health Challenge: “Keep a Food Diary” available at: www.wellsource.info/wn/hc-food-diary.pdf Record what you eat for a month.

Take a trip to the world-famous Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, and you might need to watch for flying fish. About 10,000 people a day visit the open-air market. It’s a place where happy fishmongers shout out shopper’s orders, hurl fresh fish through the air, and wrap the fish with their own signature style. But it’s more than just a show. Every fresh, wild-caught fish in the market is from the Pacific Ocean and loaded with heart healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish can help prevent a heart attack or stroke. These fats actually help lower your triglyceride levels (blood fat), slow plaque build-up, and control blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Catch a Fish for Heart Healthlikely contain high levels of mercury and other harmful chemicals called PCBs and should not be eaten often – or at all. Children and pregnant women definitely should not eat fish likely to be contaminated, such as shark, ahi, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish. Find out what fish are safe to eat at http://tinyurl.com/amq8rxw.Even if you don’t buy your fish from an open air market or reel them in yourself, fish can be tasty and healthy. Eating fish at least twice a week is a good practice. Just bake or grill with herbs and spices, and enjoy. British Medical Journal. 2012. Hypertension. 2012. American Heart Association

Give Your Muscles a Workout to Prevent DiabetesAbout 26 million people in the United States have type 2 diabetes. It’s a condi-tion that limits your body’s ability to turn glucose into energy. It can cause poor circulation, kidney failure, blindness, strokes, and heart disease. At the current rate, one in three people will have diabetes by 2050. That means you can’t just sit there and hope you don’t get it. You need to work out to fight off diabetes. Researchers tracked the exercise habits of 32,000 men for 18 years. The men who lifted weights or did resistance exercise for at least 150 minutes a week had a 34-percent lower risk for diabetes. Regular aerobic exercisers cut their risk by 52 percent. Those who did both cut their risk by 60 percent.Here’s your game plan to dodge diabetes: Make time for regular aerobic exercise. And it’s not as hard as you might think. Take a walk, ride a bike, or visit a gym. But don’t stop there. Give your muscles a workout by lifting weights, doing push-ups, or other resistance

Try these exercises

http://tinyurl.com/7bkuvqy

13 healthy fish recipes

http://tinyurl.com/

b5xzhoz

In a recent study, researchers looked at the diets of 800,000 people. They found that those who ate fish a few times a week lowered their risk for a stroke by 6 to 12 percent. In a separate study of 49,000 people, researchers found that the risk for heart disease increased by 50 percent for those who rarely or never ate fish.Fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, herring, lake trout, and sardines are high in omega-3 fatty acids and good for you and your heart. Some large fish that live a long time

exercises. Resistance training makes it easier for your muscles to absorb glucose. Even 10 minutes a day of resistance exercise can help you fight off diabetes. If you need help, see a personal trainer.American Diabetes Association. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2012. Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention.

Learn more at: www.

smokefree.gov

Goodbye to Cigarettes(continued from page 1)