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Healthy Habits from Fellow Patients
| | | In July, we asked our loyal Advancing Health readers
"What are your tried and true ways for getting a good night's sleep?" Here's what our readers had to share:
- Tara: "I have a cup of decaf tea every night before I go to bed. It relaxes me and helps calm my nerves."
- Jill: Exercise does wonders for my sleep. When I am exercising, my sleep quality is better even if I am not getting as many hours as I need. At the same time, exercise encourages me to get more sleep. It's the perfect time to help repair cells and muscles that are sore from a workout.
- Bill: "I've learned to force myself to turn off my computer at least 1 hour before bedtime. Whatever I need to check on the Internet can wait until the next day."
- Ethan: "I found that alcohol negatively affects my sleep. If I am watching a baseball or football game on TV, I make sure to limit my beer intake and to stop drinking a couple hours before bedtime."
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Spice Spotlight: Basil
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Did you know that there are more than SIXTY types of basil? Basil is part of the mint family. While we tend to associate basil with Italian dishes, its origins lie in India.
Characteristics:
- Sweet Italian/ Sweet Genovese: the most common type of basil; licorice-clove flavor; best suited when using fresh tomatoes or Italian dishes
- Thai: peppery, anise flavor; pair with heat (think chiles) in Asian cuisine
- Purple Opal: hints of clove, mint, cinnamon and licorice; best in salads, baked goods and beverages
Foods commonly used in: veal, lamb, fish, poultry, white beans, pasta, rice, tomatoes, cheese, eggs ... pretty much everything!
Possible health benefits:
- Basil is an excellent source of vitamin K.
- As it is related to mint, basil may help with digestion issues.
- Contains the flavonoids orientin and vicenin, which may protect against radiation and oxidative stress.
- Basil's volatile (essential) oils are shown to have antibacterial properties.
How to use and store:
- Choose fresh basil that has vibrant green leaves. Avoid leaves that are yellowing or have dark spots.
- Store fresh basil in the refrigerator in a slightly damp paper towel. It can also be frozen, either whole or chopped.
- When cooking with fresh basil, add it at the very end, just before serving. Cooking it too long will destroy the flavor.
Recipes:
Fun Facts:
- Basil comes from the Greek work basileus, meaning "king"
- In other countries, Basil is often used in ice cream or chocolate
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Do you have Diabetic Neuropathy?
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Do you suffer from Diabetic Neuropathy? We are conducting studies that involve the use of a patch for pain management, oral medication for pain management and oral medication for nerve regeneration. Take our free survey to see if you may be eligible to participate in one of our clinical research studies!
Go online to
to complete a short survey. If you qualify for a study, a member of our recruiting staff will contact you shortly.
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Hormone Highlight:
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
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AKA: Metabolism regulator
Location: Anterior pituitary gland
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| Advancing Health Newsletter | August 2013 | |
Hello! Here's what we have going on at DCR throughout the month of August:
- August is Cataract Awareness Month. Get the facts about cataracts and make sure to get an annual eye exam.
- New studies! In addition to our popular dietary supplement study, we have several new studies going on. They include upcoming studies in migraine; an oral medication for nerve regeneration for diabetic neuropathy; and a vaccine study for the prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in infants and young children. RSV kills 160,000 children worldwide each year; this study is looking to see if vaccinating healthy women/ future mothers (age 18-35) will provide a prevention benefit to children.
- Patient Education: A big "thank you" to all those who attended our healthy seafood talk in July and our first Mental Health workshop earlier this month. Our next nutrition talk will be on Wednesday, September 18th in honor of National Cholesterol Education Month. And stay tuned for updates on our next Mental Health workshop!
- We're always looking for more people for our studies! If you have a friend, co-worker or family member who you think could benefit from medical research, let us know! They can fill out a Contact Form on our website or they can call (925) 930-7267 and ask for Recruiting at extension #201.
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Resolution #8: Focus on Flexibility
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At the start of every year, millions of people make New Year's resolutions, yet a majority of these resolutions have fizzled out by February. Engaging in goal setting (such as S.M.A.R.T. goals) or making your goals known to friends and family are just two of many sure-fire ways to help those resolutions stick. And Diablo Clinical Research is here to help! Each month we'll be highlighting a resolution or goal and ways to help you achieve it. Read on for this month's resolution...
August: Stretch it out to improve your flexibility
Why? Increasing your flexibility has multiple health benefits, including:
- Reducing your risk of injury
- Releasing muscle tension
- Improving muscle range of motion
- Relaxing the body and calming the mind
- Helping to improve athletic performance
How?
- Warm up BEFORE working out: It used to be that stretching before a workout was thought to be best, but newer research shows otherwise. Other than it feeling nice, there's no point to stretch your cold muscles. You would never let your car go from 0 mph to 60 mph on a cold day without warming up the engine; the same goes with your body. Allow at least 5-10 minute of warm up (moving at a slower pace than you would during the actual work out) to get blood flowing from the center of the body to your limbs. This also allows your heart and lungs to adapt for the upcoming exercise.
- Go Dynamic for greater flexibility and range of motion: Dynamic stretching is all about movement. It's active stretching, as the muscles are contracting and relaxing to help increase range of motion. Focus on moving your larger muscle groups (legs and arms). Light, non-intensive squats and lunges are great examples. Make sure to go in different directions (forward, back, left, right, up, down) to activate those muscles. Check out these great dynamic stretches.
- Stretch at the end of your workout: Since your muscles are nice and warm, it's the perfect time to stretch. Perform a 5-10 minute "cool down" (the reverse of your warm up) before starting to stretch. Focus on static stretching, where you "hold" the muscle joint in a stretched position for about 20-30 seconds. Here are some examples of static stretches.
- Don't go "ballistic": Ballistic stretching forces your muscles into deep stretches with powerful movements. Muscles are forced beyond their natural range of motion, which isn't a good thing. You don't want bounce while you're stretching. Bobbing up and down as you bend over to touch your toes is one example.
- Go "om" 1-2 times per week: Yoga is a great way to help increase flexibility. There are many different types of yoga, but all of them incorporate elements of stretching.
- Get rolling: Give foam rolling a try. It helps prevent muscle soreness, reduce tightness and prevents injury while helping to increase flexibility. But remember--you'll still need to do your warm up and cool down. There are various brands of foam rollers, each with a different density. The firmer the roll, the deeper it will get into the muscle. Those new to foam rolling may want to get a lighter density roller, unless you prefer the 'it's painful but feels good' approach.
What are your ideas for staying flexible?
Send an email with your ideas to our Registered Dietitian and your healthy habits will be posted in our September newsletter.
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Recipe Roundup:
Tomato Salad Stacks
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Ingredients:
- 2 slices of nitrate/nitrite-free bacon, halved
- 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1 TB finely chopped fresh chives
- 1 TB finely chopped fresh basil
- 2 TB canola mayonnaise
- 2 tsp cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 2 ears shucked organic corn
- Cooking spray
- 2 large beefsteak tomatoes, cut into 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices total
- 2 globe tomatoes, cut into 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices total
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 ripe peeled avocado, thinly sliced
- 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
Directions:
- Preheat the grill to high heat.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add bacon to pan; cook 8 minutes or until crisp, tossing occasionally to curl. Drain bacon on paper towels.
- Combine buttermilk and next 5 ingredients (through garlic), stirring with a whisk. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
- Coat corn with cooking spray. Place corn on grill rack; grill 8 minutes or until well marked, turning occasionally. Remove from grill; cool slightly. Cut corn kernels from cobs.
- Sprinkle tomato slices evenly with salt. Alternate layers of tomato and avocado on each of 4 plates. Scatter corn evenly onto plates. Drizzle each tomato stack with about 1 1/2 tablespoons dressing and 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon black pepper over salads; top each salad with 1 bacon piece.
Nutrition Facts per serving: 275 calories, 21 g total fat (4.7 g saturated, 10.4 g monounsaturated, 5.7 g polyunsaturated), 16 mg cholesterol, 17 g carbohydrates (4 g fiber, 8 g sugar), 6 g protein, 265 mg sodium, 645 mg potassium, Vitamin A 28%, Vitamin C 44%, calcium 4%, iron 5%
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New Type 2 Diabetes Study!
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In the News...
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- The Finnish biotech firm Biohit has created a new 10 minute test that can diagnose Celiac Disease with only a fingerstick of blood. This method is much less invasive and time consuming than the traditional endoscopy + biopsy method.
- The FDA and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have found no evidence that taking a GLP-1 medication for diabetes increase risk of pancreatic cancer.
- Sanofi's PCSK-9 may help to lower LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol). Don't forget--a healthy diet and regular exercise play a role too! For more information about PCSK-9, see our studies below.
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Is your cholesterol too high?
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Do you have high LDL cholesterol,
the Bad Cholesterol?
If your LDL-C is high and not well controlled by y our current cholesterol lowering treatments you may be interested in a research study of an investigational drug to determine if it can reduce bad cholesterol.
If you are between 18 and 70 years old and take cholesterol lowering medication you may qualify.
Participants receive study-related medication, lab tests and physical exams at no cost. Reimbursement for time and travel may also apply.
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Living with diabetes is complicated
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What would you do with FREE time away from some of the daily worries and burden of treating diabetes?
FREEDOM-1 is a clinical research study investigating an innovative approach to delivering treatment for type 2 diabetes that doesn't require needles or even pills. This study is now enrolling.
You may be able to take part if you:
- are between 18 and 80 years of age
- have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for more than 3 months
The study will last for approximately 1 year, and throughout this time you will receive care from a dedicated team of medical staff. There will be 10 visits to the study center.
Investigational product, examinations, and medical care relating to the study will be provided at no cost to you.
If you would like to help us in our research to deliver a simpler, more convenient diabetes treatment, please contact Ava at (925) 930-7267 or send an email to apaulazzo@diabloclinical.com Intarcia_Freedom-1 |
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