Community News
Visiting Loved Ones in the Nursing Home

Visiting your loved ones in the nursing home helps them stay emotionally engaged. Here are some things to keep in mind when visiting. Respect the resident’s privacy. Knock before you enter the room and step out into the hall when personal care is being provided. Be warm in your interactions and use a gentle touch. Keep the conversation positive and refrain from arguing, especially if visiting a person with dementia. Don’t bring food or beverages unless you check with the staff first. Don’t stay too long. Look for cues that your loved one may be getting tired or stressed.

Have the Talk of a Lifetime

Sitting down with your loved ones to talk about their lives can be a rich and satisfying experience. Learning about people, places and events that they find memorable, can help bring you closer to the ones you care about. Have the Talk of a Lifetime with the people you hold dear—your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, your spouse. Sometimes, using a visual prompt such as a photo album, souvenir, or memento, can be a great way to start a conversation. Your conversation can take place anywhere at any time, not just near the end of life.

Pet Health: Product Review

It’s officially cold season, and not just for people. While dogs can’t “catch” a cold from their humans (the viruses that cause colds in people are generally species-specific), many viruses do infect dogs, such as canine adenovirus type 2, canine respiratory coronavirus, and canine parainfluenza virus. It’s important to see your veterinarian if your dog is ill, but the HB Naturals Cold & Congestion Essential Oils Blend is a natural and effective remedy to be used in conjunction with traditional veterinary care. The natural ingredients found in this product include Eucalyptus radiata, Cinnamomum camphora (Ravintsara), Melaleuca quinquenervia bs. viridiflora (Niaouli), and Cannabis sativa (hemp seed) oil.

Stopping Viruses from Spreading

Did you know that the Influenza, flu, viruses can spread easily from person to person through coughing, sneezing, or having face-to-face contact? The virus can also spread when a person touches tiny droplets from a cough or sneeze on another person or object and then touches their eyes, mouth or nose. Since influenza can spread so easily, vaccinations are a prudent step toward reducing the likelihood of illness and spreading the virus to those that may be more vulnerable to the illnesses caused by the virus such as children and the elderly. Frequent hand washing also helps to reduce the spread.

Ask The Expert

A: Many patients ask about the packaging, but most of that is recyclable. Perhaps of greater concern is the possibility of contact lenses becoming contaminant-ridden microplastics over time, which can end up in farmland or watersheds after entering a wastewater treatment facility. This happens when contact lenses are tossed down the sink or toilet. Microplastics are a concern because they can easily pass through filters and can accumulate in waterways, with wildlife mistaking them for food. Putting them in the trash is the better option.

Clean Eating: Spicy Hummus

Place ½ cup of roasted sesame seeds, squeeze ½ lemon, 1t sea salt and ¼ cup olive oil in a food processer. Blend until paste. Add; 5 cloves crushed garlic, ½t cayenne pepper, 2T chili flakes, ½t black pepper, squeeze in the other ½ lemon, and 1 can drained & rinsed organic chickpeas. Blend and slowly add approx. ¼ c water to the consistency. Garish with paprika.

Eating From the Rainbow – Greens

In holistic healthcare, inflammation is often recognized as a root cause for many chronic and acute conditions. The four major signs of inflammation include redness, heat, swelling, and pain. Using food as medicine can be very effective for management of chronic inflammation symptoms. The first step is to minimize foods in the diet that promote inflammation, which include sugar (including honey and high-sugar fruits), grains, and processed vegetable oils like canola oil and peanut oil. The next step is to focus the diet on high quality, nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, beans and legumes, high quality animal protein, turmeric, and healthy fats.

Look After Your Knees

Knees. We rarely think about them until they affect how we live our lives. They get bumped and scraped and bruised, and we just shrug it off. But what if the injuries are more severe? If we need surgery to repair damage knees or need to have them replaced, what happens to our lives then? We need to care for our knees so they can care for us throughout our life. Regular exercise from an early age can help. Strength training can protect the knee joint from injury and maintaining good flexibility is essential. To learn more, join us for our Knee Injury Health Night.

Pet Health: Product Review

It’s officially cold season, and not just for people. While dogs can’t “catch” a cold from their humans (the viruses that cause colds in people are generally species-specific), many viruses do infect dogs, such as canine adenovirus type 2, canine respiratory coronavirus, and canine parainfluenza virus. It’s important to see your veterinarian if your dog is ill, but the HB Naturals Cold & Congestion Essential Oils Blend is a natural and effective remedy to be used in conjunction with traditional veterinary care. The natural ingredients found in this product include Eucalyptus radiata, Cinnamomum camphora (Ravintsara), Melaleuca quinquenervia bs. viridiflora (Niaouli), and Cannabis sativa (hemp seed) oil.

Inviting Nature Spirits

Nature spirits ensure your plants and trees are healthy and robust. To attract elementals, stop using chemicals, plant flowers, create a safe space for them to dwell, and communicate with them. Sit quietly, turn off your left brain analyzer, bring your consciousness in, and ask a plant what they would like you to do for them. A plant or elemental will answer you. Do this short meditation daily, and eventually you will receive their messages and be able to see them. The elemental kingdom is here to protect the earth, work with us, and give us benefits too numerous to detail here.

Kombucha and pH Balance

All foods and beverages we consume have constituents that our body can metabolize and utilize along with metabolic constituents that we cannot utilize. The small percentage of metabolites that cannot be utilized is known as ASH. This residual ash from our digestive process is either acidic or alkaline, and the pH of the ash may differ from the pH of the original food or beverage. Stored in fat, acidic ash accumulation in the body results in low cellular oxygen levels. Together these two conditions invite disease of all sorts. Like lemons, kombucha is acidic before digestion but produces alkaline ash.