Community News
Those Cool Drinks of Summer 

Well, spring has sprung and, in typical Winnipeg style, those sweet drinks of summer seem oh so tempting. While refreshing and sweet, there are things you should know if you choose to treat yourself and your family to these treats. They are not good for you! They cause cavities, weight gain and contribute to type 2 diabetes. You would be shocked at how much sugar and how many calories are in these drinks and slushes. In short, enjoy these sweet treats in moderation. Rinse and brush often and remember the health benefits of a tall cool glass of water: Aaaahhh!

Dr. George Cadigan
www.exclusivelydentures.ca

Financial Fitness

If you’re in the market for your first home, here are a few things you should know: The minimum down payment is not the maximum you should have. The most common question I get from first time homebuyers is “how much should I save for the down payment?” While the bank requires 5% of the purchase price, there are other costs you must pay for out of pocket. Expenses such as legal fees and the land transfer tax are unavoidable in Manitoba, so expect to add another 2-3% to cover additional costs of home ownership. Also, being “pre-approved” is not the same as being “approved.” When a lender tells you that you’re pre-approved for a certain dollar amount, they are giving you a limit to shop for based on your income, credit history, and lifestyle. Actual approval only comes when they’ve seen the property you intend to purchase. If you follow these guidelines, your first home buying experience will be much less stressful and much more financially sound.

Tom Johnson
www.cascadefinancialgroup.com

The Cold Shoulder 

Spring is around the corner and everything is thawing out. Everything, that is, except your shoulder. Frozen Shoulder, also known as Adhesive Capsulitis, is a common condition where the joint swells and stiffens, restricting shoulder mobility, causing pain. It typically occurs after an injury or from overuse, though can occur without injury too. Here’s the real bummer for you ladies: 70% of all cases occur in women, especially postmenopausal, ages 40-70. It comes on slowly, most people don’t realize it’s happening until it’s too late, yikes! The good news: it’s treatable! With simple range of motion exercises, gentle stretching, shockwave therapy and manual therapy you can “thaw” it; often avoiding surgery. Things to “look for” if you think you have frozen shoulder: shoulder stiffness, limited movement, significant pain with movement, and pain worsening at night. Talk with your therapist/doctor if there’s concerns. Take care of yourself so you’re able to enjoy all your springtime activities!

Stacey Bulat
www.vitallifeclinic.com

Allow Your Body to Heal

The human body is not designed to be ill. You are not meant to be burdened with chronic health issues. Health issues largely occur because of the poor diet that is typically consumed in North America. By correcting your diet to one that more closely follows what your human genome expects, you allow your body to heal to the extent that it can. It doesn’t matter if the health issue is physical or mental, it will likely respond to a corrected diet. No counting calories, hunger, cleanses, juicing or nutraceuticals required, just eating REAL food and providing the nutrients to your body that it requires to heal and THRIVE. We keep looking for that ‘magic pill’ to solve our health woes but it does not exist. Use real food…it works!

Tom White
www.becomehealthy.ca

What IS Whole Healthcare?

Whole Healthcare focuses on addressing the whole-person and their unique story to reveal the TRUE underlying cause of physical, mental, emotional and stress related health issues. Every cell in the body must be in communication with every other cell in the body for us to maintain health. Although the body knows best how to heal and has an innate ability to do so, when communication breaks down within the body due to stress, trauma and genetic tendencies, that ability to self-heal becomes compromised.

BodyTalk is a Whole Healthcare system that enables the Practitioner to uncover and balance the underlying emotions, judgments, thoughts and life factors that have created the issue. BodyTalk seeks to address the “whole person,” meaning no aspect of the human experience should be overlooked. Using muscle checking and non-invasive techniques, the Practitioner helps to re-establish better communication within the body and engages the body’s natural healing response.

The beauty of BodyTalk is that it provides insights into the areas of your body/mind that need attention and in what priority and sequence they need to be addressed. What might seem like an obvious problem to you may be only the surface symptom that is being presented and is not necessarily the issue your BODY needs to have addressed FIRST. Each session is completely individualized for each person.

Every choice, and every experience in your life, has contributed to your current state of health. Each scar, laugh line, and injury has its own piece in your health picture. BodyTalk takes into consideration these pieces that are unique to each client. All aspects of YOU are drawn upon to establish a personalized approach to healthcare that brings about lasting changes and improvements to health, well-being and living.

BodyTalk is designed to integrate all fields of healthcare to create a more whole-istic approach to health and well-being. Ultimately, treatments focused on the symptoms that are being presented and not the whole picture can only bring relief rather than enabling full healing. The real power in healing lies in the discovery of the pieces and factors that are behind the symptoms. The BodyTalk System does this naturally for each individual it serves because BodyTalk IS Whole Healthcare.

Shannon Russell, Certified BodyTalk & Access Consciousness Practitioner, BodyMind Freedom Solutions

www.bodymindfreedom.net

Shannon Russell
www.bodymindfreedom.net

Top 5 Activities for Relieving Stress

Meditation. Whether it’s guided meditation, mindful meditation, or other, find a quiet spot, and spend a min of 10 to 20 minutes a day meditating. If possible, work it into your daily routine first thing in the morning and again before bed! Deep Breathing. Long, slow breaths. This actually helps supply oxygen to the brain, which helps promote a natural state of calm. Visualization works really well with deep breathing. As you are doing the deep breathing, visualize all the stress, all the tension, leaving your body with each breath out. Feel yourself become lighter and more relaxed with each breath in.  Yoga is a mind-body practice that combines breathing, meditation, and physical poses to help you relax and release stress. Exercise whether it’s cardio, strength building, or organized sports, a little can go a long way towards relieving stress and improving your mood. Even if it’s just a 5 to 10 minute walk, something is better than nothing!

Nichole Guthrie, RCRT & Reiki Master/Instructor
www.nicholeguthrie.com

Why Sprout Grains? 

Sprouting is a process that germinates grains, seeds or legumes. This process makes them more easily digestible and produces additional vitamins and minerals including vitamin C, vitamin B and Carotene. Another benefit of sprouting is the resulting decrease in phytic acid. Phytic acid is an enzyme inhibitor, which means that it blocks the absorption of vitamins and minerals and can also cause poor digestion and an unhealthy gut. This may explain why many people feel bloated, gassy or intolerant of beans and grains. Some people who believe that they are gluten intolerant actually do quite well with properly sprouted grains. Some have even linked phytic acid and improperly prepared grains to the rise in tooth decay. If you do eat grains, it’s best to soak or sprout them first. The way that you sprout any grain, seed or legume is the same, only the amount of time you sprout it changes.

Rick Drury
www.scoopandsave.com

Massage Therapy for Stress 

Stress relief is one of the first benefits that come to mind when thinking of massage therapy. It’s also a key component for anyone trying to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Clinical studies show that even a single 1 ½-hour session can significantly lower your heart rate, cortisol levels and insulin levels — all of which explain why massage therapy and stress relief go hand-in-hand.

Taking care of your body should be at the top of your priorities. By adding therapeutic massage to your routine now, you’ll feel, look and simply be healthier far into the future. In fact, stress relief alone can improve your vitality and state of mind. In addition to stress relief, ongoing massage therapy can reduce pain, increase energy levels and improve overall physical and mental performance.

Julie Sagnes, RMT
www.authenticwellnessonline.com

Caregiver Pharmacy Support

It can be difficult to be a caregiver and manage multiple or complex medications for a loved one. It is important to ensure medications are taken appropriately to help maintain good health. A visiting pharmacist provides personal support with regular medication delivery and home consultations. The pharmacist reviews a client’s prescription drugs and over the counter medications to advise if there are any drug interactions and makes adjustments as necessary. This level of support can reduce emergency room visits and hospital stays and results in a strong, trusting relationship between clients, caregivers and pharmacists. The visiting pharmacist also provides seamless care for hospital discharge patients and works closely with other health care professionals to deliver a high level of care to the client. Care is tailored to specific individual needs such as assisting with blood pressure readings, adding medications to convenient packaging and making changes in a timely manner.

Care At Home Pharmacy
www.careathomepharmacy.ca

L-Carnitine & Chromium

L-Carnitine with Chromium is a blend of two nutrients that play important roles in the metabolism of fat. L-Carnitine is required for the breakdown of fats into energy, while chromium supports healthy glucose metabolism. Its main function is to help insulin carry sugar into muscle cells where it is stored as energy. A lack of chromium could cause fluctuating blood-sugar levels which trigger sugar cravings. As a carbohydrate dependent society, increasing the amount of L-Carnitine & Chromium in our diet in our formula’s proportions will assist the body’s ability to manage its carbohydrate cravings and, in turn, assist with a successful weight management protocol.

Valentus – The Healthiest Coffee in the World

Roma Stefanowich
www.easygo.valentustour.com

Putting a Windfall to Good Use

A financial windfall like a tax return is always exciting to receive, since usually, more money means more possibilities, and ideally, less stress. But how should you really put that extra cash to good use? Though saving or investing all of the money might seem like the most responsible thing to do – because what is more prudent than saving? – first consider how much interest you are paying each month on any debts you may be carrying. That interest will quickly cancel out any of the financial benefit you may reap from putting your new wad of cash into a savings account or investment.

So, what should you do instead?

You could look at your windfall as a great opportunity to pay down your high-interest debt. Credit card debt, or payday loans, are generally the best target for some of these financial resources, especially since those interest rates are generally over 6-8% and usually even higher than that. Even just paying off the cards with the smallest balance first can feel like progress and keep you motivated. Once you’ve paid off a card with a small balance, cut it up, cancel the account and that’s one less problem to deal with.  Starting small also means that once your small debts are taken care of, you’ve already freed up some funds for tackling your larger credit card debts next.

Though it may be tempting to use your entire windfall to pay down as much debt as you can, you might also consider keeping some of those funds in reserve for emergencies like an unforeseen but essential purchase (especially if you own a home, a vehicle, or both!) Though it may seem easy to throw future emergency purchases on a credit card (since you just paid it down with part of the windfall, right?) future-you will be glad you have that emergency fund, especially since it means avoiding even more credit-card interest.

Say you’ve used the windfall to pay down some of your debt while keeping some of the funds in reserve.  That’s great! Now that you can breathe a bit easier, why not make a plan to stay that way?  Luckily, there are a number of steps you can take to manage future debt by adjusting your habits going forward, such as:

Setting reachable goals for your monthly payments. The more you can pay off monthly, the better, but paying even $5 more than the minimum amount is a great start.

Being mindful of putting future purchases on your cards. Pay with cash or debit as much as possible, and think of a purchase made without the looming risk of credit card interest as a way to also buy yourself peace of mind.

Looking at your budget to see where you might be able to trim expenses. Track your spending to see where you can distinguish between needs and wants, or figure out more cost-effective alternatives for every day necessities (like your lunch or morning brew – a bag of healthy snacks from your fridge and a thermos of coffee brought from home will go a long way, savings-wise!)

If this all seems overwhelming, or if you aren’t sure how best to go about paying down debt and figuring out a budget that works for you, you can always seek professional advice. Call the experts at LCTaylor to learn about all your all your options. We can help you put that financial windfall to good use, so you can really enjoy the long-term benefits of that extra cash.

LCTaylor Licensed Insolvency Trustees
www.lctaylor.com