Winter

Snowstorms for those of us in the northeast tells us that we are truly in the month of winter.  Snow makes for fun activities like skiing, tubing, building forts or making snow angels.  It can be beautiful and a great time to enjoy the outdoors.

Winter and the cold outdoors can also wreak havoc on our skin.  As we age our skin naturally dries out.  The cold outside and the heat inside can add to the dryness.

Private Home Health Care would like to share some things we’ve learned that can help keep skin from getting too dry.

Keep hydrated.  The Mayo Clinic recommends daily liquid intakes of 3.7 liters for men and 2.7 liters for women.

Avoid taking long, hot showers which can take away natural oils.  Take shorter, warm showers and use gentle soaps. 

Pat dry your skin after bathing and use a moisturizer before leaving the warmth of the bathroom.

As John Steinbeck said, “What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.”

National Bean Day

What do kidney, chickpea, black-eyed peas, lentils, edamame, fava and soy all have in common?  You guessed it!  They are all beans/legumes.

Tomorrow is National Bean Day, a day to celebrate the wide variety of healthy beans we can available.  Adding beans to your diet will supply lots of vitamins, protein and fiber which are important to a well-rounded diet.

Lentil beans for example supply 17g of protein, 11g of fiber and between 43-90% of Manganese, Copper and Folate (Vitamin B9). Manganese is important to your kidneys, liver, pancreas and bones.  Copper helps with your metabolism and immune system.  Folate helps with basic cell function.

Tomorrow on National Bean Day, Private Home Health Care hopes you can learn about some of these amazing beans.  Once you find a bean you’d like to try, look for a recipe that you can enjoy and share to spread the goodness.

#NationalBeanDay

Celebration of Life Week

The first week in January often starts with new year’s resolutions.  Did you also know that this week is the Celebration of Life Week?

The holidays and the new year can bring us to a time of reflection. This week it’s important to celebrate the big and little things in your life.  Perhaps you earned a degree or got hired for a new job.  Perhaps you learned a new recipe or discovered a new book.  Celebrate those moments and the people in your life.  

Some ways to celebrate life this week include telling people in your life how you care about them, playing a new game or watching a good movie.  You can think of other ways too.

Private Home Health Care hopes that you take time for a celebration this week, including celebrating you!

#CelebrationOfLifeWeek

Happy New Year

We at Private Home Health Care want to extend our warmest wishes for a happy, healthy and hope filled new year.

As we close out 2021, we wait expectantly for a lessening of the pandemic and pray for peace in our communities and our world.  Life is precious and the people in our lives so important.  It can be filled with gifts along with challenges and difficult times.  

Our hope for 2022 is that each of us is able to see the beauty of each day, manage the good times along with those difficult times and find an inner peace and happiness.

Reflection

As we end a year and get ready to begin a new year, it can be a time of reflection.  How did you manage this year of challenges with the ongoing pandemic?  Were you able to balance taking care of yourself while at the same time making sure not to feel isolated?  The year has been difficult but also filled with blessings if you look for them.  

Private Home Health Care has continued to work and care for those in need while keeping caretakers safe.  We support the rights of all to get appropriate medical care, no matter the situation or a person’s age. We have been blessed to come together as a community and share heartfelt moments.

With the approach of the new year our wish is that you can find things to be grateful for as we bid goodbye to 2021.  As we welcome the new year we hope you can be happy and look forward to a spectacular year ahead full of promise.

Winter Solstice

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice and the official beginning of our winter season.  It marks the shortest hours of daylight and the longest hours of darkness in our Northern Hemisphere.

Along with this season can come the blues, particularly among the elderly.  When it’s cold outside it’s easy to stay in bed a bit longer.  Pajamas might seem like a good idea for the day. 

Private Home Health Care wonders about trying a few things to help ward off the winter blues. 

Could you dress in bright colors to try and trick your brain into thinking it’s a bright sunny day outside?  Do you like salmon, tuna, milk, yogurt or eggs?  Add these to your diet for Vitamin D.  Do you like to read books?  Find a good book to read with a nice cup of tea. 

How about stimulating your brain with new music, a new game or a crossword puzzle?  Cook or buy foods with squash for magnesium and potassium, sweet potatoes for vitamin B6, biotin and anti-inflammatory flavonoids or eggplant for fiber, copper and vitamin B1. 

Winter can feel like a long cold season sometimes so we hope you can do your best to keep yourself centered and happy.

National Crossword Puzzle Day

Tomorrow is National Crossword Puzzle Day.  

Have you ever heard of a man by the name of Arthur Wynne?  Back on December 21, 1913 he created the first crossword puzzle.  It was published in the New York World Magazine and was diamond shaped and didn’t have any internal black squares.

Various studies have been done to show that there are health benefits to doing crossword puzzles.  One benefit discovered is that you can delay memory loss and alleviate dementia.  They can help improve cognitive function and help with overall brain strength.  Challenging yourself with different crossword puzzles can increase both of these too.

You can find crossword puzzles online or in many newspapers and some magazines.

Private Home Health Care challenges you to find some crossword puzzles to expand your vocabulary.  You might find that if you are feeling anxious your mood could lighten and improve too!  Enjoy!

Tranquility

This time of year can be very hectic and busy.  You can have lots of lists of things to do, lots of errands and at times it can be overwhelming.

Private Home Health Care would like to send you peace and remind you to try and take some time for deep breaths and a few moments of quiet time.  Time seems to move so quickly and we never know what is around the corner.  Try to be good to yourself and stay grounded so you can feel and share joy during this season.

Namaste.

International Tea Day

How about a cup of tea, or two or three?

It’s International Tea Day and after thousands of years of drinking teas there have been studies that show there are health benefits along with great taste.  How about boosting your immune system or fighting off inflammation? What if tea helps keep cancer at bay or helps with heart disease?  Studies are continuing but below is a list of a few teas that studies have shown can help your body:

Herbal Teas – Chamomile, Rooibos, Peppermint and Ginger.  These can help with sleep and relaxation, keep hair and skin healthy and improve blood pressure and circulation. Try peppermint for an upset stomach, constipation or motion sickness.  Ginger tea can fight morning sickness and works to treat chronic indigestion.

Green Tea – Studies have shown that it can help lower blood pressure, triglycerides and total cholesterol. It’s high in flavonoids which can lower bad cholesterol.   It appears to also have anti-inflammatory benefits.  Matcha, a very fine powder from green tea, has shown to be full of antioxidants.

Black Tea – Popular in England, Ireland and the US has caffeine so you need to be careful but did you know that it also has flavonoids that help with inflammation and healthy immune function?  Black tea can also help with scrapes and bruises to relieve pain and swelling.  It can also help with skin rashes like poison ivy so remember to have a black tea bath if you get infected!

Private Home Health Care will be pouring a cup of medicinal tea very soon and we hope you do too! 

National Cocoa Day

Do you know the difference between hot cocoa and hot chocolate? Do you have a preference?

Hot cocoa is made from cocoa powder, warm milk or water, and sugar.  Hot chocolate is ground chocolate with cocoa butter and milk.

On this National Cocoa day choose a cup of warm hot cocoa made from cocoa powder rather than hot chocolate made with cocoa butter. This saves on fat and calories!  Not only that but cocoa contains healthy antioxidants and can help with digestion!

Private Home Health Care hopes that you can enjoy a hot cup of cocoa after a brisk walk or after skiing or sledding during these winter months.