World Alzheimer’s Day
September 21st is the 10th year anniversary for World Alzheimer’s Day. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills. Currently 5.7 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s disease and a new person is diagnosed every 65 seconds.
Raising awareness around Alzheimer’s is important so that people can both understand this disease and take steps towards preventing it. Alzheimer’s is hereditary but there are things that can be done to reduce your risk. Here are some tips on how to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
- Keep blood sugars and weight in check to avoid diabetes. Diabetes is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s so keeping up with a healthy diet and taking medications if you do have diabetes is important.
- Stay cognitively active by reading and learning new things. Brain health and activity can be a great way to stay sharp.
- Get regular physical exercise. A sedentary lifestyle puts you at higher risk of diabetes. Find a fun workout program, take part in group sports such as bowling or join a gym that you love to help you stay active.
- Maintaining a healthy weight will help to avoid obesity and heart disease. Cardiovascular disease has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s so be sure to eat a healthy diet and maintain a healthy weight.
- Eat foods with vitamin C or taking supplements.
- Maintain an active social life. Find a new hobby group to join or social activities to be a part of.
How to pick the best sunglasses
Sunglasses are essential for personal self care. So many people will skip wearing sunglasses for convenience, but ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can be very damaging to your eyes! Extensive UV exposure can even lead to early development of cataracts, which are a big problem in the US as they affect 50% of people by the age of 70. To protect yourself, it is best to wear sunglasses yearound whenever you’re outside (even if it is cloudy because you are still being exposed to UV rays). This is especially important when around bodies of water or snow as these are very reflective. Wearing sunglasses regularly also helps protect the delicate skin around your eyes, which reduces wrinkles and slows the signs of aging.
Thankfully sunglasses help reduce the UV exposure for your eyes, but not all sunglasses are created equal. There are 2 really important things to remember when you are picking your sunglasses:
- 100% UV protection: this is the #1 most important factor because this means the sunglasses will filter out damaging UV rays. This usually comes in the form of a protective coating, but your sunglasses must be labeled as having UV protection, otherwise they are not really protecting your eyes!
- Polarized: these reduce glare and reflection, which give you clearer vision especially in bright light. This increases contrast without distorting color and also reduced eye strain (which makes your eyes tired and negatively affects your vision) and squinting (which causes wrinkles). This is based on preference as well, but there is a noticeable improvement in visibility when wearing polarized lenses.
Unfortunately these features are often confused with each other, but they are not the same. It is important to ensure that your sunglasses have both of these features to have the biggest protective effect for your vision.
Here are a few more tips that are helpful when picking out your shades:
- Bigger is better as this provides more protection for your eyes and the skin around your eyes. The more coverage your sunglasses have on your face, the more protection they provide, so consider buying wraparounds or oversized sunglasses.
- Color and darkness of the lenses do not matter. Choose whichever color and darkness you like, it is your preference. Many people think that darker lenses protect your eyes better, but this is a myth.
- Cost does not matter. As long as they have UV protection (and polarization if you want to see things clearly), the cost is irrelevant.
How to Prevent Heart Disease
Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the US. But thankfully, there are many different ways to reduce your risk of heart disease!
Here are some tips so you can live a long and healthy life:
- Get enough sleep – people who are chronically sleep deprived are more like to have high blood pressure and heart attacks
- Manage your stress – meditation and deep breathing techniques help effectively manage stress
- Regular exercise – exercising for 15-30 minutes 4-5 times per week reduces your risk of heart disease
- Eating a healthy diet – Plenty of vegetables and fruits, 1 serving of healthy fats per meal; reducing red meat, fried foods, and carbohydrates improves your heart health.
Abs Are Made in the Kitchen
There is an 80/20 rule to getting results: 80% is nutrition, 20% is exercise.
To maximize your muscle building and fat burning, eat more of these foods:
1) Lean protein: 35% to 40% of your daily food intake should be protein, so eat more chicken, fish, lean beef, pork and eggs
2) Healthy fats: 35% of your daily food intake should be healthy fats, so focus on including more avocado, tree nuts & peanuts, and seeds
3) Plain full fat greek yogurt: an excellent source of lean protein and healthy fat that is rich in calcium
4) Berries: packed full of fiber which helps keep you full and antioxidants which improve blood flow and help you make the most of your workouts
5) Quinoa: whole grain and packed full of fiber, protein and complex carbohydrates that will give you fuel slowly
6) Beans & lentils: an amazing source of protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates, they’re also full of vitamins which have shown to decrease blood pressure and keep your bones healthy
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