National Lemon Juice Day

National Lemon Juice Day was August 29th.

Lemon juice is also a wonderful, healthy seasoning! You can use lemon juice as a replacement for unhealthy ingredients or high amounts of salt. Instead of salad dressing, sprinkle Lemon juice over a salad to instantly brighten it up, and squeezing some over seafood or fish enhances the flavor. It is also great to use in cocktails when you are watching out for calories!

There are many uses for lemons and lemon juice around the house as a fresh, natural alternative to chemical cleaners! Slice a lemon in half to shine pots and pans, remove stains from marble countertops, as an air freshener and deodorizer for the garbage, polish wood, remove stains from dishes, remove rust of mildew stains, brighten laundry and remove stains, repel insects, descale tea kettles and coffee pots, remove rust, and more!T

o get the most lemon juice out of a lemon, roll it on a hard surface before you cut it to loosen up the juices. Dealing with a particularly tight lemon? Pop it into the microwave for a few seconds!

Use National Lemon Juice Day to enhance your day and make lemonade out of lemons!

Nuts About Trail Mix

At Private Home Care, we are nuts about healthy ingredients in trail mix! Trail mix can be a very healthy snack. Traditional trail mixes are loaded with nuts, seeds, and dried fruit.

Why we love nuts:

-High in monounsaturated fats

-Nuts may significantly lower your risk of heart attack and stroke. Eating nuts decreases “bad” LDL particle size and triglycerides while boosting “good” HDL cholesterol, which improves artery function.

-Good sources of dietary protein

-High in dietary fiber. This means that eating nuts can reduce disease risk, aid in weight loss by helping keep you full, decrease calorie absorption, and improve gut health.

-Rich in antioxidants, including the polyphenols in nuts, which can combat oxidative stress.

-Rich in vitamins E, B6, niacin and folate; and they provide minerals such as magnesium, zinc, plant iron, calcium, copper, selenium, phosphorus and potassium.

-Eating nuts may help reduce inflammation! Nuts have strong anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is your body’s way of defending itself from injury, bacteria, and other potentially harmful pathogens. However, chronic, long-term inflammation can cause damage to organs and increase disease risk. Research suggests that eating nuts may reduce inflammation and promote healthy aging!

National Trail Mix Day

It is National Trail Mix Day! Trail mix is a combination of dried fruit, grains, nuts, and sometimes chocolate, developed as a snack food to be taken along on outdoor hikes. It can be considered an ideal snack because it is tasty, lightweight, easy to store, and nutritious, providing a quick boost from the carbohydrates in the dried fruit and/or granola, and sustained energy from the mono- and polyunsaturated fats in nuts.

Two California surfers claim the creation of trail mix. In 1968, they blended peanuts and raisins for an energy snack. However, in the 1958 novel The Dharma Bums written by Jack Kerouac, the two main characters mention trail mix when planning meals for their hiking trip. Trail mix is not just for hikes! It is a super snack to help you get through your day. A handful of good, nutritious trail mix can help you power through the rest of your workday during an afternoon slump. Trail mix is also a great go-to portable snack to stash in the car, and it does not spoil easily because most of the ingredients are dried. The mix of hearty superfoods (nuts and seeds!) usually found in trail mix also help to keep your blood sugar stable.

Health Benefits of Going to the Beach!

Private Home Care loves to enjoy the beach any time of year – going for a walk on the beach in fair weather, collecting shells, or even just driving to the beach and watching the waves while sitting in your car are year-round ways that you can enjoy the coast.

There are health benefits of going to the beach!

Stress Relief – Nothing is more relaxing than taking in a beautiful beach view! Listening to the sound of the waves is also very calming both because of the rhythmic sounds and our brain’s association with it as a non-threatening environment. Watching a beautiful beach sunset or sunrise is particularly helpful for stress relief! Being in an environment that promotes stress relief helps to lower blood pressure, as well as improve mood and overall well being.

Vitamin D – Spending just 10 minutes at the beach can help you get the recommended daily value of Vitamin D for the day! Vitamin D is an important nutrient but is difficult to get a sufficient amount through your diet, so it is important to get a little sunshine at a great place like the beach! Vitamin D promotes stronger bones, healthier teeth, and helping your immune system function properly. It is important to remember that a little bit of sunshine can go a long way. Always practice beach sun safety, even in cold weather!

Improves sleep – The sea air is stocked with healthy negative ions, which accelerate our ability to absorb oxygen. This effect, in addition to the relaxing qualities of the beach, leads to better sleeps!

Heals wounds – The saltwater of the ocean has antibacterial properties and helps to clean cuts and help them heal faster! It may sting at first going into the salt ocean with an open cut, but it’s worth it because it will heal better!

National Beach Day

National Beach Day on August 30th celebrates all the sandy beaches across the nation. Private Home Care has served the North Shore for years, and we have a special place in our hearts for the beach! National Beach Day also provides an opportunity to help keep those relaxing places clean, so we can continue to enjoy them long into the future.

Women’s Equality Day

Women’s Equality Day, celebrated every August 26, commemorates the passage of women’s suffrage in the U.S. and reminds us of the hurdles overcome by the heroic women who faced violence and discrimination to propel the women’s movement forward.The right to vote, the cornerstone of democracy, belongs to all citizens — but this wasn’t always the case. Until recently, most countries denied voting rights to half of their population: women. To claim their voice, women began agitating for the right to vote in the early 19th century. In the U.S., decisions about who could vote were left up to the states. The 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, ensures voting rights for everyone regardless of gender. Women’s Equality Day celebrates the achievements of women’s rights activists and reminds us of the unique daily struggles that women face.

To observe National Women’s Equality Day, Private Home Health Care encourages you to learn more about the brave women of the suffrage movement who fought for women’s right to vote.

Oysters are a Nutritional Powerhouse!

At Private Home Health Care, we love oysters because they are highly nutritious and are a classic coastal New England delight!

Oysters contain many nutrients, such as:

-‘Good’ fat: Oysters are high in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 is beneficial in many ways: it can lower cardiovascular mortality risk, can benefit brain health, has anti inflammatory properties, which decreases risk of chronic disease, as well as reduce symptoms of high blood pressure.

-Protein: Not just the amount, but the type of protein you eat matters! Oysters oysters offer seven grams of protein for only 68 calories, which rivals lean red meat for protein density. And unlike lean red meat, oysters contain a high amount of omega-3, which means they offer a high amount of quality protein.

-Zinc: Zinc plays an important role in your body – it helps promote immunity, protein and DNA synthesis, as well as general growth and development. In fact, oysters are the world’s best dietary source of the mineral!

-Vitamin D: Among its many functions, vitamin D promotes bone health and modulates cells, immune function, and inflammation. Also, it even has anti-cancer properties. Sunshine is the single best source of vitamin D, but we can also get it from our diet, and oysters are one of the best sources.

-Vitamin B12: This is important for maintaining healthy blood cells and nerves, and it plays an essential role in DNA synthesis. When people think of vitamin B12, red meat usually comes to mind. However, oysters offer far more of this nutrient than any typical meat!

Oysters are indeed delicious, but you have to be careful when eating them raw. A bad oyster can make you feel ill or lead to food poisoning. However, you can still enjoy oysters if you prefer not to eat them raw! Oysters can be grilled, steamed, or fried. Steaming oysters is the healthiest option, and keeps the original flavors most intact!

Now we know just how good oysters are for you, time to start slurping!