Which supplements are good for heart health, which are not?

December 14, 2022 Vera

With a substantial rise in several cardio-metabolic diseases over the years, questions regarding which food supplements to take and which to avoid have become relevant, diet and nutrition being two of the most important factors in causing and preventing several long-term ailments. And it all begins with demolishing the devil called cholesterol.

Cardiometabolic diseases are a variety of common yet preventable ailments, including cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke and metabolic disorders like diabetes, insulin resistance and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease among others. These present some of the most serious health challenges for the global healthcare system in the 21st century with cases rising rapidly every year. But research, technology and treatment modules have also evolved at a brisk pace over the years, making the conditions not only curable but also preventable.

Several studies have suggested that diets rich in antioxidants, minerals and vitamins lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and Type-2 diabetes. On the contrary, diets rich in saturated fat and sodium up the threat quotient. Micronutrients consist of various vitamins and minerals like Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, which tend to reduce the risk of CVD mortality, heart attacks and other heart diseases due to their anti-inflammatory effect while folic acid decreases the risk of strokes by lowering the blood total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations. Being a key family of polyunsaturated fats, Omega-3 fats not only prevent heart diseases and strokes but also help in controlling lupus, eczema and rheumatoid arthritis while playing a major role in cancer and other conditions.

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Polyphenols like curcumin, genistein and quercetin have shown health benefits for preventing cardiovascular diseases as well as reducing HbA1c (a measure of longer-term blood sugar levels) and fasting blood insulin levels. And although several micronutrients have various health benefits, others like vitamin C, E and selenium have a neutral effect on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. It is also worth noting that Vitamin D reduces oxidative stress and improves cardiometabolic outcomes but still studies have been inconclusive about whether it can prevent heart disease.

In fact, Johns Hopkins researchers say that consuming too much of certain vitamins can be harmful. Too much calcium and vitamin D are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Nutrients like magnesium play a major role in muscle and nerve functioning. The heart is a muscle which requires a large amount of magnesium to keep

Traditional Ways to Celebrate Holiday Seasons

December 9, 2022December 9, 2022 Vera

The holiday season can be hectic and stressful, but there are many ways to make the season more special. They can be simple and inexpensive. Adding little moments of joy to the season can create great memories. These moments can be as simple as baking cookies or going to a holiday wonderland.

Giving back to the community

One of the most traditional ways to celebrate the holiday season is by giving back to the community. You can volunteer at a soup kitchen or food bank or buy food and wrap gifts for needy families. If you want to get involved, you can form a group and help the homeless in your area.

Getting together with your family and discussing ways to give back to your community is a great way to create a family tradition. You can even brainstorm ideas for activities you and your family can do together, whether old holiday traditions or new ones.

Sharing positive and encouraging words with family

When you are feeling down, sending encouraging words to your loved ones can be a great way to make them feel better. Sending cards or notes to your family can also be a great way to spread cheer. During the holiday season, consider writing some encouraging words to your family.

If your family has no unique holiday traditions, try to establish new ones. Some common ones are watching movies together on Christmas Eve and reading the Night Before Christmas. Before the big day, you could also read a classic Christmas story to your family, like A Christmas Carol.

Baking and decorating Christmas cookies

Baking and decorating Christmas cookies is one of the oldest traditions worldwide. These treats have a long history dating back to the 10th to 11th centuries. During this time, the winter solstice was a time of feasting, and cookies were often baked in large batches and stored for sharing. It was also a time to give gifts, though these were often not material items. Most gifts were handmade crafts or sweets.

Baking and decorating Christmas cookies is an activity that families enjoy every holiday season. These delicious treats are edible holiday decorations that can also be given as last-minute gifts. They are a great way to get kids involved in the holiday spirit. You can bake and decorate various Christmas cookies, from snowflakes to Santa and star cookies. Some recipes are complicated and require …

Ashburn mom finds a healthy new lifestyle after joining a local gym | News

December 7, 2022 Vera

As a busy mother of three children with a husband who served in the military, like many mothers, Ingrid Herrera-Yee of Ashburn often finds that it is difficult to prioritize her own health and fitness needs.

Last year, Herrera-Yee, 54, said she had high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels and was on the obese side of the body mass indicator (BMI) chart.

Healthy Lifestyle Hub brings hope to Auburn Gresham

December 3, 2022 Vera

CHICAGO (CBS) — After years of disinvestment, there are new and important resources coming to the Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

They are all housed in one new Healthy Lifestyle Hub at 839 W. 79th St., just west of Halsted Street. We have been following the development of the building for many months, and on Friday, CBS 2’s Irika Sargent was there for the grand opening.

You may remember in July, Sargent and CBS 2’s Joe Donlon were at the same building for a special half-hour report about the response to mass shootings on the city’s South and West sides. We chose the Healthy Lifestyle Hub as the backdrop for that newscast as a sign of hope for the real change that can be made at the community level – when investments are made in our neighborhoods.

The building at 839 W. 79th St. was built in 1925. The former furniture store had been sitting vacant for the last 25 years. It is right next to Leo High School on 7901 S. Sangamon St., and students had to walk past the shuttered building on the way to school.

The Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation set its sights on developing a project that would serve the whole community – a building that would house medical and dental services, a pharmacy, a café, a bank, and so much more.

On Friday, they celebrated that dream coming to life. During the grand opening celebration from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., residents walked through an open house to learn about all the resources coming to the Auburn Gresham neighborhood. More than 600 guests were expected in all.

Inside the Healthy Lifestyle Hub, bringing new resources to Auburn Gresham

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Carlos Nelson, chief executive officer of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, was the one who first had the idea for the Healthy Lifestyle Hub.

“We’ve been working on this since literally 2016 as a vision to bring back to life this vacant 60,000 square-foot building that’s just sat ominously right near 79th and Halsted – the busiest bus line in the entire city of Chicago,” Nelson said.

The Chicago Bears were a major benefactor, donating more than $600,000 for the project.

“When the Chicago Bears heard about our work doing the Racial Equity Rapid Response task force; doing COVID response work in Auburn Gresham, they wanted to get involved with what we were doing,” Nelson said.

‘We Can Make Great Things Happen’

November 30, 2022 Vera

AUBURN GRESHAM — Carlos Nelson used to drive past the “lifeless” building at 839 W. 79th St. almost every day for years.

Home to a drab public aid office in the 1970s, city officials bricked over the 18-by-18-foot windows on the ground floor and boarded up the second and third floor windows when the office closed. The nearly 100-year-old terra cotta building sat vacant for decades — but Nelson saw potential for revival.

After seven years of work, Nelson looked on Friday as Auburn Gresham’s four-story Healthy Lifestyle Hub welcomed dozens of neighbors with a Hollywood red carpet, live music and healthy food.

Community leaders and local officials cut the ribbon in October but Friday’s extravaganza was for neighbors to roam the halls for the first time, said Nelson, executive director at the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation.

A “dark and dismal” sight in Auburn Gresham is now a beacon of light offering medical care, nutritious food, community space and other services steps away from neighbors’ homes, Nelson said.

“I used to see this building and the boarded-up windows, and it hurt to think of what others thought about our people,” Nelson said. “When I visualized the Healthy Hub, I wanted to be able to bring life into this building. We wanted to light up 79th Street, literally and figuratively. Today is a day of excitement.”

The UIC Neighborhood Center features a mural commissioned by artist Dorian Sylvain featuring the “faces” of Auburn Gresham.

‘You’ll See The Light Emanating From This Building’

The Healthy Lifestyle Hub will replenish a neighborhood long denied necessities and amenities, Nelson said. The 79th and Halsted intersection alone has lost a Save A Lot grocery store, a CVS pharmacy and a Bank of America branch.

A UI Health Clinic and Urgent Care Center on the second floor can provide medical, dental and mental health services to more than 30,000 patients per year, Nelson said. Nearly 500 patients have come in even without any advertising for the clinic, Nelson said.

The third floor is home to Heartland Alliance and the UIC Neighborhood Center, with tutoring services and small business workshops provided by the university.

Bank of America will soon open on the first floor, years after closing the nearby location. A high-tech kitchen and training center on the same floor, sponsored by a $600,000 donation from the Chicago Bears, will give

Healthy Longevity | The Nutrition Source

November 27, 2022 Vera

Longevity is the achievement of a long life. We may hope for longevity so that we can experience many years of quality time with loved ones or have time to explore the world. But living to a ripe old age doesn’t necessarily mean healthy or happy longevity if it is burdened by disability or disease. The population of people over age 65 has grown more quickly than other age groups due to longer life spans and declining birth rates, and yet people are living more years in poor health. [1] Therefore, we will explore not just one’s lifespan but healthspan, which promotes more healthy years of life.

What you do today can transform your healthspan or how you age in the future. Although starting early is ideal, it’s never too late to reap benefits.

Five Key Lifestyle Factors

Researchers from Harvard University looked at factors that might increase the chances of a longer life. [2] Using data collected from men and women from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study who were followed for up to 34 years, researchers identified five low-risk lifestyle factors: healthy diet, regular exercise (at least 30 minutes daily of moderate to vigorous activity), healthy weight (as defined by a body mass index of 18.5-24.9), no smoking, and moderate alcohol intake (up to 1 drink daily for women, and up to 2 daily for men). Compared with those who did not incorporate any of these lifestyle factors, those with all five factors lived up to 14 years longer.

In a follow-up study, the researchers found that those factors might contribute to not just a longer but also a healthier life. [2] They saw that women at age 50 who practiced four or five of the healthy habits listed above lived about 34 more years free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer, compared with 24 more disease-free years in women who practiced none of these healthy habits. Men practicing four or five healthy habits at age 50 lived about 31 years free of chronic disease, compared with 24 years among men who practiced none. Men who were current heavy smokers, and men and women with obesity, had the lowest disease-free life expectancy.

Healthy diet – The prevalence of hypertension (high blood pressure) and dementia increases with age. Eating patterns such as those from the DASH, MIND, and Mediterranean diets can lower the risk