Home-cooked meals with less salt
With more people staying at home these days, there’s more opportunity to prepare homemade meals. Although home-cooked meals tend to be much lower in salt than what you’d get from a restaurant, you still need to be careful, says Liz Moore, a dietitian at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).
Why worry about salt?
Most Americans consume far too much sodium, which raises blood pressure and the risk of heart disease. On average, we consume around 3,200 milligrams (mg) per day. That’s about 30% more than is recommended by the federal dietary guidelines, which advise people to limit their dai...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - April 14, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Julie Corliss Tags: Cooking and recipes Health Healthy Eating Hypertension and Stroke Source Type: blogs
We must support nursing home residents during COVID-19 trauma
Two months ago, I kneeled next to Sarah – an avid drinker of chocolate milk, ex-journalist, and new hospice resident – in a nursing homeroom. We had a knack for discussing emotions, and that day, our conversation reached the idea of suffering. Her pain-stricken voice shared, “Did you know that we notice? When someone’s health […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - April 12, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/harsh-moolani" rel="tag" > Harsh Moolani < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions COVID-19 coronavirus Geriatrics Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Baking for Anxiety: How It Helps Me Cope
You're reading Baking for Anxiety: How It Helps Me Cope, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Are you
feeling like an autumn leaf caught in a tornado right now? You are far from
alone. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed life as people know it, and many folks
are battling unprecedented levels of anxiety at the moment.
One ritual
that never fails to soothe me is getting in the kitchen and donning my baking
apron. The room itself is my happy place, and the act of making something to
delight my family help...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - April 10, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jennifer Landis Tags: featured psychology self-improvement anxiety baking covid covid_19 pickthebrain social distancing stay at home Source Type: blogs
How Self-Development Protects You
We often think of self-development as a pursuit that builds positive capabilities such as courage, ambition, or a success mindset. And of course it can generate many positive results if we truly invest in it, such as loving relationships, a meaningful and lucrative career, and a rewarding lifestyle.
But we can easily overlook just how beautifully self-development protects us from major problems in life, including serious but common problems that drag many people down for years, if not decades.
Preventing Self-Destruction
I originally got into self-development as a path away from self-destructive behavior when I wa...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - April 8, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Health Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
Move, Nourish, Connect, Be: Four daily habits to protect our mental well-being while sheltering in place
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It’s a crazy time. Here in the California, we are sheltering-in-place, leaving the house only for essentials like groceries and medical care. And while we’re all (appropriately) focused on caring for the physical health of ourselves, our families, our communities, and society at large, our mental, emotional, and social health needs are quickly emerging as profoundly important, as well.
I’m executive director of Open Source Wellness, which brings people together to learn and practice the behaviors that generate human health and well-being. Our core idea is that community is a form of medicine. And while we are...
Source: SharpBrains - April 1, 2020 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greater Good Science Center Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness behavioral pharmacy coronavirus outbreak emotional mental mental health mental hygiene mental well being physical-health psychologist shelter in place social Source Type: blogs
Have a headache? The top 7 triggers
“Headaches aren’t welcome here” — that’s the sign you have hanging on your brain’s front door, but the pain is barging right in. You can chalk it up to stress from world events or something you ate or drank, and you might be right. But there are a number of common triggers for migraines, tension headaches, or cluster headaches. The faster you identify them, the quicker you can boot headache pain off the property.
What are the triggers for your headaches?
Take note of your circumstances when a headache starts. Keep a diary to track the day, time, symptoms, and circumstances surrounding the pain (what had you eat...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 30, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Heidi Godman Tags: Headache Health Men's Health Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Harvard Health Ad Watch: Are nutritional drinks actually good for you?
I first heard of nutritional drinks in the 1980s, early in my medical training. They were recommended for people struggling to maintain a healthy weight, often due to loss of appetite, cancer, or swallowing problems.
Since then, nutritional supplement drinks like Boost and Ensure have gone mainstream. Their widespread, primetime advertising aimed at a much broader audience has proven highly effective. The market for nutritional drinks is now worth many billions of dollars. In 2019, Ensure sales alone totaled nearly $400 million.
When you watch ads for nutritional drinks, do you wonder if you should start drinking them? Wil...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 20, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Robert H. Shmerling, MD Tags: Health Healthy Eating Nutrition Vitamins and supplements Source Type: blogs
I ’m grateful my father never lived to see the COVID-19 outbreak
My dad was a baseball enthusiast and a connoisseur of fried calamari and dark chocolate. He had a genius-level IQ and knew the answers to obscure Jeopardy questions. He would beat you at any trivia game. He was an avid reader, typically reading at least three books at once and still able to follow the […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 19, 2020 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/christine-van-ramshorst" rel="tag" > Christine Van Ramshorst, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions COVID-19 coronavirus Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Morning Anxiety: Causes and Cures to Combat the Waking “What Ifs”
Although I’ve been dealing with anxiety for almost three decades now, I just recently noticed how much more debilitating “waking-up anxiety” is compared to when it infiltrates my brain at other times of day and night. This morning anxiety business belongs in a whole other stratosphere. Looking back, I realize that my worst-of-the-worst fears have happened upon awakening. And those fears are that much harder to harness, that much harder not to believe.
I began to wonder if it’s because my brain has been busy ruminating all night, and, thus, further unconsciously reinforcing a sense of all-so convincing reasons wh...
Source: World of Psychology - March 5, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tracy Shawn, MA Tags: Anxiety and Panic Exercise & Fitness Mental Health and Wellness Self-Help Source Type: blogs
Emotions Are Represented In The Brain In A Surprisingly Similar Way To Visual Information, Study Argues
By Emma Young
Love it or loathe it, Forrest Gump has now gone way beyond introducing “Life is like a box of chocolates” and “Run, Forrest! Run!” into our vernacular. It’s been used to do something truly remarkable: to reveal the location of a map of emotions in the human brain.
This new work, published in Nature Communications, shows that a spherical bit of cortex, about three centimetres in diameter, represents not only the kind of emotion we’re feeling in any given moment, but how strongly we’re feeling it. In revealing objective brain-based correlates of our feelings, the work potentially ...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - March 5, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Brain Emotion Source Type: blogs
Mid-Winter Winterizing of Our Courses | Bonus Episode 63
Host Kevin Patton alerts us to the potential impact of influenza and other outbreaks on our courses and provides advice and options for preparation, handling impacts, and more! In the absence of outbreaks, these tips also help cope with normal winter absences resulting from illnesses.00:42 | Why Winterize in Mid Winter?04:16 | Sponsored by AAA04:33 | Learning from Past Epidemics and Pandemics08:49 | Sponsored by HAPI09:11 | Staying Home. I Mean It!16:04 | Sponsored by HAPS21:49 | Survey Says...22:19 | Final Thoughts26:56 | Staying ConnectedIf you cannot see or activate the audio playerclick here.Pl...
Source: The A and P Professor - February 25, 2020 Category: Physiology Authors: Kevin Patton Source Type: blogs
It Just Won’t Go Away: Reasons For a Lingering Cough
We’re used to coughing when we have a cold, but what about those coughs that seem to linger even after all other symptoms have disappeared? It turns out that what may seem like a nuisance can actually be the body’s innate intelligence at work.
At the first sign of foreign invaders, coughing acts as a primary line of defense, expelling whatever virus or bacteria is trying to make its way into the system. During this time it’s especially helpful when coughing to cover your mouth, with your inner elbow if possible, to prevent the spread of illness.
However, there may be other reasons for a cough that hangs on after a co...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - February 18, 2020 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Contagious Cough COVID-19 Related Virus Source Type: blogs
It Just Wont Go Away: Reasons For a Lingering Cough
Were used to coughing when we have a cold, but what about those coughs that seem to linger even after all other symptoms have disappeared? It turns out that what may seem like a nuisance can actually be the bodys innate intelligence at work.
At the first sign of foreign invaders, coughing acts as a primary line of defense, expelling whatever virus or bacteria is trying to make its way into the system. During this time its especially helpful when coughing to cover your mouth, with your inner elbow if possible, to prevent the spread of illness.
However, there may be other reasons for a cough that hangs on after a cold has...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - February 18, 2020 Category: Child Development Authors: Alan Greene MD Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog Contagious Cough COVID-19 Related Virus Source Type: blogs
140 Funny Quotes to Lighten Your Mood and Reduce Stress
Today I'd like to share a collection of funny quotes.
Why?
Because of the simple power of taking a laugh break.
A laugh break is just 5-15 minutes when you watch, read or listen to something that makes you laugh.
Like:
One or a couple of Youtube-videos.
Half an episode that one sit-com that makes you laugh the most.
A comic strip on paper on online.
An episode of a podcast or your favorite radio show.
Or simply hanging out for a while with your funniest co-worker, friend or family member.
But why take a laugh break?
Because it’s – in my experience – one of the most reliable and quick-acting ways to relax, reduce s...
Source: Practical Happiness and Awesomeness Advice That Works | The Positivity Blog - February 17, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Henrik Edberg Tags: Personal Development Source Type: blogs
Early Impressions of Star Trek: Picard
After seeing the first 4 episodes of the new series Star Trek: Picard, I think it’s just okay so far. It seems to be setting up a potentially interesting story arc, but in other ways I find it disappointing.
The acting feels a bit off, as if Picard has consumed a few too many cups of Earl Grey and is overly caffeinated. It feels more like the dorky movie version of Picard while I was hoping for more of the chill version of his character from The Next Generation. It doesn’t feel like a believable future version of Picard, at least not yet.
I also remind myself that Star Trek: The Next Generation took a whi...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - February 14, 2020 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Lifestyle Source Type: blogs
