Melons

Can you guess which melon is full of beta-carotene, vitamins and water?

If you guessed the cantaloupe you are right.

One cup of cantaloupe has only 60 calories and an amazing amount of healthy nutrients.

You get lots of beta-carotene which is packed with Vitamin A for your eyes, red blood cells and a healthy immune system.  The other punch you get from it is the antioxidant that fights the free radicals that damage your cells.

You also absorb 100% of your Vitamin C from that cup of cantaloupe. That helps your blood vessels, cartilage, muscle and bones.

Cantaloupe is like watermelon in that it is full of water so it’s great for hydration.  You’ll find the differences between these two, along with how they look, is in the beta-carotene and Vitamins A and C.

When shopping for cantaloupe, you often see whole cantaloupe at the store.  You may have the same problem as we do with finding one that is ripe and ready to eat.

Here are a few tips that we’ve learned:

• You can find the freshest and sweetest cantaloupe in the summertime, so right now.

• You should look for one that is symmetrical and slightly heavy.

• If you see lots of green, keep looking.  The color should be light-yellow orange.

• Give the cantaloupe a sniff for sweetness too.  (No one will notice!) 

Finding a nice, sweet, fresh cantaloupe is a treat. You will enjoy juicy and delicious pieces and you’ll give yourself a great health boost too.
Private Home Health Care is headed to the store to work on picking out a fresh cantaloupe.  We hope to bring a fresh one home to cut up this week.

National Lazy Day

Yes, we are going to talk about National Lazy Day which happens to be tomorrow, August 10, and it falls on the perfect day… Saturday.

Can you find an excuse to take advantage of this day?

The goal of the day is for you to not do any work at all.  Hmmmm.

Tomorrow is your day so you get to choose how to relax.  This National day gives you permission to stay in bed late or sit on a couch and eat snacks.  Your choice, all day.

What do you like to do in your spare time?  Do you like to read books?  Catch up on your favorite streaming series?  Play games or cards?  Lounge on the couch like a potato?

The question is, can you do it?  A full day of relaxation.  

Dusting, vacuuming, cleaning a bathroom?  Seems like “housework” to us. 

Gardening? That sounds like work.

Washing a car?  Too much elbow grease.

Pay bills?  No, no, no.

Private Home Health Care is not sure who dreamed up this National day but we think that it could be one day that we might actually enjoy. The question we have is will you?? 

Aged Care Employee Day

The number of people over the age of 65 in the United States is 58 million as of 2022.  Of that group there are a large number of people who are considered aged and who need extra care.  

Your day is today because you care for our aged and elderly.

You may be 1 in 3 of adults who are informally or as a family member acting as a caregiver for an elderly person.

You could also be one of the many people employed by an aged care facility with responsibilities for caring for the elderly.

Your job as a nurse is key but your work as a kitchen worker, janitor, laundry worker and volunteer is what is celebrated today.  You play a role in providing a happy and supportive environment.

It’s important that you remember to take care of yourselves along with your charges.  

• Are you supported in our job or role?
• Does your body feel ok or does it ache?
• Are you eating properly and taking care of yourself?
• Do you get easily annoyed?

You should listen to how you feel emotionally and physically.  If you have any concerns, be sure to reach out for help. 

There are times when a person may need extra care either at their home or at an elderly care facility.  

At Private Home Health Care we provide compassionate care to help shoulder your burden.  We have over 30 years of experience and “Compassion is at the Heart of Our Care.”  Contact us when you need help.

Couscous

Couscous has been around approximately since the 13th century.  

Believe it or not it is actually a form of pasta.  Made from durum wheat (semolina) it is tossed   with wheat flour until pasta dough balls are formed.  The balls are left to dry and then go through a steaming process.

Your visit to the grocery store should have three different varieties to choose from. 

Moroccan couscous – Very small grains of couscous.  These are very fast cooking.

Israeli or Pearl couscous – Developed by David Ben-Gurion to help with the influx of immigrants to Israel these are much larger balls.

Lebanese Couscous – the balls of couscous are pea-sized and the largest of couscous varieties.  These take the longest to cook.

You can get great health benefits by eating couscous.

• One cup of couscous gives you 60% of the daily intake of selenium.
  • Selenium is an antioxidant that helps repair damaged cells and decreases inflammation.  It can also help with your thyroid gland function.

• You may decrease your risk of cancer by eating couscous.
  • Selenium combined with vitamins C and E has shown to reduce cancer in smokers.

• You can boost your immune system.
  • Selenium can also help regenerate those same vitamins C and E.

• Good source of plant-based protein.
  • Plant-based protein has an incomplete set of amino acids but if you are vegetarian or vegan it’s a great option for protein.

One bit of bad news for those of you who cannot eat gluten: this grain has gluten.

Private Home Health Care pairs couscous with meat or vegetables as a side dish, adds it to soups or makes it our main course.  We love couscous.

National Coloring Book Day

Get out your crayons, it’s National Coloring Book Day!

In your childhood you probably did your share of coloring.  You colored in school, maybe at your kitchen table or at a friend’s house.

Coloring is one of those activities that can bring you back in time.  You don’t have to go back in time to color however as it is becoming a very popular activity among adults.

You can easily find adult coloring books on Amazon.  Some titles are Stress Relief: A Coloring Book for Adults, Spooky Cuite: Coloring for Adults and Teens and Cute and Groovy: Coloring for Adults and Kids.

Additionally, you will actually reap some benefits from coloring according to the Mayo Clinic.

Coloring can help promote mindfulness.  You focus on coloring and staying inside the lines and choosing colors so it helps your focus.

Less stress is also a benefit for you.  Coloring is not the only stress reliever but the activity can help to calm your mind.

You don’t need to be perfect in your coloring.  You can avoid being judgemental and it’s a solo activity so there isn’t any competition involved.

Private Home Health Care hopes you’ll feel like grabbing some crayons and a coloring book after reading this. 

We also realize that coloring is not for everyone so look for other activities to make you happy.

Psoriasis Awareness

As we end the month of July we are thinking ahead to the last month of Summer.  August begins Psoriasis Awareness month.

Do you know anyone with Psoriasis?

Psoriasis can be a scary diagnosis because if you have it you learn that it is a chronic disease without a cure.

You’ll learn what type of Psoriasis you have out of the six different possibilities.  The most common form is Plaque Psoriasis.  Additionally, there are different degrees of severity.

Your body will have dry, itchy raised skin patches with scales.  You can be very uncomfortable and your sleep can be affected.  You could also find that your concentration is having issues as well.

This disease can be very difficult because it can go in cycles and there is no cure but the good news is that there are therapies and medicines to help you manage it. 

The various treatments look to keep the skin cells from growing so quickly and also remove the scales.

Your choices are:

Topical – you can use a variety of oils, creams, lotions, gels, foams, sprays and shampoos.

Light Therapy – if you have moderate to severe psoriasis this could be a good option for you.  This can include exposure to sunlight, UVB broadband and narrow light exposures.

Oral or Injected Medicines – your moderate to severe psoriasis can be helped with steroids, retinoids, biologics, methotrexate and cyclosporine.

Your medical professional will work with you to determine what is best for your level of psoriasis.  It’s most important to have a coordinated effort so you can make informed decisions.

Private Home Health Care is hopeful that there will someday be a cure for psoriasis but for not there are treatments to help you manage this disease.

Reading a Book

Having just come back from a week’s vacation and having enjoyed a novel it made us think about what a fun and relaxing time it can be to read a book.

These days you can find a book in many different formats.

An obvious choice is picking up an actual paper book.  Do you prefer hardcover or paperback? Too old fashioned?

Try reading an ebook.  Your choices include an Amazon Kindle, a Barnes and Noble Nook or an Apple iPad plus more to be found online..  

Audiobooks are great if you find yourself driving in the car a lot.

Once you decide how to read a book, what else do you get from reading a book in addition to pleasure and enjoyment?

It turns out that books can also be beneficial to you both physically and mentally.  

• Reading can strengthen your brain. Studies have shown increased brain activity after reading a book.

• This pastime can help increase your ability to empathize.

• You can build your vocabulary by reading different books.

• While not a cure all, reading can help prevent cognitive decline.  

• You should feel less stressed and it can help with making you sleepy at bedtime.

Private Home Health Care loves to read all different types of books.  We hope this summer and all year round you too enjoy some good reading!  It’s good for your health and enjoyable.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Today, Private Home Health Care is thinking about a delicious “guilty” pleasure and that is vanilla ice cream.

Now it is true that we often talk about the health benefits of different foods.  Vanilla ice cream may not seem to you to be full of a long list of healthy nutrients but we may be able to find some good things along with some interesting facts.

Vanilla ice cream can leave you feeling calm and relaxed due to the vanilla aroma.

Additionally, there are potentially healthy benefits from the vanilla bean.  This includes possible antioxidant effects along with anti-inflammatory properties.

We believe that we (and you), need to have something sweet and delicious once in a while.  Vanilla ice is a treat you can eat on its own, in a sundae or on brownies.  

Now we want to share with you some interesting facts about the versatile vanilla ice cream.

• Vanilla is the most popular ice cream in the United States
• Vanilla from vanilla beans is the main ingredient of vanilla ice cream.
• Madagascar and Mexico are the leading producers of vanilla beans.
• Marco Polo brought vanilla back from Asia to Europe in the 17th century.
• Vanilla ice cream can be traced back to Persia though it was made with milk and rice.

We hope that you have enjoyed our discussion on vanilla ice cream enough that you might want to get a scoop or two to savor soon!

Cherries

July is the peak for cherry season.  You might find them tricky to eat with the pit inside but if you do like cherries there are good reasons to eat them.

You have heard this from us before but cherries are really in the category of a superfood!  There are so many health benefits from cherries you’ll want to run out and get some.

We’ve talked about antioxidants and how they have “free radicals” which can damage your cells.  Cherries have antioxidants.  Antioxidants like Vitamins A, C and E.

How are you sleeping lately?  Do you need any help?  Try eating a bunch of cherries after dinner.  Cherries have high levels of melatonin, serotonin (helps you make melatonin) and even tryptophan, the amino acid that puts you to sleep after you eat turkey.

People with gout have been known to eat cherries to help ease the pain and there are indications they can help with arthritis as well.

Additionally, cherries give you potassium and are low in sodium so it helps your blood pressure.  Plus, cherries have a low glycemic index so they are excellent for diabetics.

You need to remember that this information is for fresh cherries and some cherry juices.  All bets are off with canned cherries as other additives are usually in these.
Private Home Health Care enjoys a bowl of cherries as often as they are available. We love the health benefits of them along with their great taste.

National Grilling Month

July is National Grilling Month which makes perfect sense at the peak of the summer!  

Hot days are the perfect time to cook outside so you don’t have to turn on the oven.  You can grill so many things with the right tools.

Your burgers and hot dogs taste great and when you barbecue chicken breasts the flavor is awesome.  Do you throw on some Italian sausages?  Who doesn’t love a shish kabob! 

Private Home Health Care loves to cook fish on the grill too.  Salmon, haddock, cod or swordfish, marinated or cooked with veggies or spices.  You can’t go wrong!

You might be a charcoal cooker all the way or maybe you use a grill with a propane tank.  Whichever way you grill there are safety tips for you and your family.

For a charcoal grill it may seem obvious but you should remember a few things:

• Cap your lighter fluid immediately after use and move it a distance away. 
• You should never add lighter fluid to warm or hot coals.
• Don’t touch the coals after they are lit.  (Yes this should be a no brainer!)
• Allow your coals to burn down completely and let the ashes cool for 48 hours before disposing.

If you cook with a propane tank here are a few safety tips:

• You should check your tank for leaks before you use it.
• Make sure to clean your grill of any fat or grease build up.
• Open your grill lid before you turn the gas on and light it.
• Keep your children and pets at least three feet away.

Your summer may not be complete if you don’t grill outside.  We wish you safe grilling and delicious food all the days of summer for as long as you can.