Stay Safe this Halloween and have a Boo-Nilla Shake!

Halloween is a time for safety reminders. When outside gathering holiday treats make certain you don’t let the spooks and goblins cause too much fright and be mindful of the following:

1. Carry some form of illumination at all times.
2. Plan out your trick or treating route before Halloween.
3. Trick or treat in groups.
4. Wear comfortable footwear.
5. Make sure the mask is comfortable without any visual impairment.
6. Dress according to the weather and dress in layers.
7. Check suspicious candy and stay in safe neighbors.
8. Avoid unlit houses.

And, if you are looking for a safe holiday treat for everyone. Try a Boo-Nilla Halloween Shake for starters.

Get crafty and spookify your shakes for Halloween! Complete by Juice Plus+ Vanilla shake mix and a creamy coconut milk topping make this shake a healthy Halloween splurge.

Ingredients:
2 Scoops of Complete by Juice Plus+ Vanilla shake mix
16 oz milk of choice

For Topping:
1 can full-fat coconut milk chilled for 24 hours
1- 2 tbs sweetener like powdered sugar to taste

For Decoration:
Paint pens for the glass
Black sprinkles

 Directions:
1. Decorate the glasses by painting ghost faces!

2. Prepare the Shake

• In a blender, combine the milk and Complete powder.
• Blend until smooth.

3. Prepare Topping: Whipped coconut milk

• Chill can of full-fat coconut milk in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
• Chill a mixing bowl in the freezer for 20 min to an hour.
• Use the solid white coconut cream from the bottom of the can. Save the clear coconut water for another use.
• Scoop the solid white coconut cream into bowl.
• With an electric hand-mixer beat the cream until fluffy and smooth.
• Add in sweetener to taste if you like.
• Return whipped cream to fridge until ready to use.

4. Assemble

• Dip the rim of the glass in a little bit of the frosting and roll in black sprinkles so they stick.
• Poor the shake into the glass and top with frosting.
• Serve immediately.

Mental Heath in a Changing World

Young people and mental health in a changing world is sometimes difficult to understand. The month of October is nationally dedicated to mental health awareness! Luckily, there is growing recognition of the importance of helping others build resilience from early ages where mental illness beings to form. One half of mental illness beings at age 14, however, go undetected until later in life.

Prevention beings with better understanding and awareness of early warning signs as well as symptoms. The internet is an excellent tool to look up symptoms and disorders. There’s plenty of  resources such as online psych tests or lists of symptoms to look for. It’s a helpful first step to know what to look for and then visit a doctor to receive a official diagnosis.

When considering specific symptoms of mental illness, it’s important to keep certain things in mind. Of course the symptoms of mental illness themselves are important, but to truly be a mental illness rather than extreme distress, professionals look deeper than a checklist of symptoms to consider just how they disrupt someone’s life. The more precisely you’re aware of your mental illness symptoms, the better able you’ll be to communicate what you’re dealing with. This means that you and your mental health care provider can determine the best possible treatment plan so you can define new goals, get back into life, and transcend mental illness symptoms.

October if Fire Prevention Month!

October is fire prevention month! In 2016 fires caused 3,390 civilian deaths and even more were injured so we take this very seriously.

Our team is dedicated to checking all of our client’s houses for safety hazards that can start fires. The client’s well-being is extremely important to us therefore, we make sure measures such as two unblocked exits are available, no combustibles are close to heat, looking at electrical equipment condition, and something as little as candles are taken care of.

Please spread the word and stay safe by inspecting you or loved ones home.

The URL below is a helpful fire prevention booklet for older adults.

http://files.esfi.org/file/Home-Fire-Safety-for-Older-Adults-Safety-Awareness-Program-Toolkit.pdf

It’s Fall Prevention Month!

It’s Fall Prevention Month!  And, we are highlighting some tips to keep you and your family safe.

Falls can happen to anyone at any age and they can lead to serious complications.  However, as we age, our likeliness of falling increases and the injuries from falls can be more serious. Injuries can lead to long-term hospitalization which carries its own risks.

Below are some safety tips to prevent falls.

1. Use your assistive devices as recommended by your healthcare practitioner.
2. Maximize your vision by cleaning your glasses and avoid sunglasses in lowlight areas.
3. Turn on entryway lights and add highlights to low light and unlit areas.
4.  Keep flashlights in bedrooms, bathrooms and in easy access areas.
5. Maintain a strong footing by wearing sturdy snippers and shoes.
6. Keep pathways clear by moving furniture and items such as books and papers from floors.
7. Remove scatter rugs and tape down edges of area rugs.
8. Wipe up spills and keep floors dry.
9. Have your hearing checked.
10. Be checked for vitamin deficiencies.
11. Stay hydrated year round.

Sunrise Lynnfield Rise Alzheimer’s Unit Tower Garden

Sunrise Lynnfield has graciously accepted a Juice Plus Tower Garden to be placed in the Alzheimer’s Memory unit.   We will be there to set it up on September 12th.  Join us there if you want to learn more about the abundance of healthy fruits and veggies you can grown in a 5 foot vertical garden.

National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness + Prevention month!

July is National Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month, a chance to improve and raise awareness about orofacial clefts. In the United States has approximately 2,650 babies are born per year with a cleft palate and 4,400 are born with a cleft lip. A cleft lip happens during mid pregnancy when body tissue and cells from each side of the head grow towards the center of the face, causing the babies lips to not join before birth, usually an open space between the lips and nose due to lack of tissue. A cleft palate is also formed during mid pregnancy; however, the tissue that makes up the roof of the mouth does not join together completely leaving some babies with front and back parts of the palate open. Both defects leave babies with feeding restrictions, breathing, and problems speaking clearly.

To help reduce a woman’s risk for having a baby with an orofacial cleft or other craniofacial condition, health care providers should encourage patients who are thinking about becoming pregnant to commit to a healthy lifestyle such as monitoring diabetes and to quit smoking. CDC and its partners are working to better understand the preventable causes of clefts and craniofacial defects. You could also donate to organization Smile Train, an international children’s charity that provides free cleft repair surgery and cleft care to children in over 80 countries! Surgeries are recommended to take place within the first 12 months of life, but the organization works with youths with clefts as well.

Alzheimer’s Grant – JYM CareGiver Fund

JYM CAREGIVER FUND

An Alzheimer’s diagnosis is horrific and overwhelming for those afflicted, and for their caregivers.

Jog Your Memory was formed in 2014 with the purpose of funding research to eradicate Alzheimer’s disease.  While we remain committed to that mission, we know that every day there are caregivers and families in our community suffering from the emotional and financial devastation brought on by the disease.  That is why we created the JYM Caregiver Fund.  In 2017, we began providing annual grants for caregivers coping with all the stress and uncertainty of having a loved one afflicted.

Depending on where you are in the process of figuring out care for your loved one, you will receive funds to help best meet your current family needs:

1. In home consultation with a certified geriatric specialist in your geographical (Approximate cost $400)

Services may include:

• A comprehensive in-home needs assessment in collaboration with health-care providers and family members
• An individualized/supportive care plan to address immediate and long-term needs
• Consultation with elders and their family members to provide guidance and resources
• Family conflict mediation when family members disagree on how best to care for their loved one
• Crisis intervention to address urgent needs and unexpected changes
• Advocacy to ensure that the elder’s rights are protected
• Family liaison for long-distance caregivers, providing updates on service and needs

2.    In-home care services to provide the primary caregiver stress-free time away (Approximately 35 hours of care, approximate cost $30/hour)

3.    In-facility respite care for resident, to allow caregiver overnight stress free time away (Overnight cost approximately $250 to $300 per 24 hours, daytime cost approx. $100 per day)

4.    Resources to help make the home more sustainable for the resident

5.    Assistance in funding music programs at current care-giving facility

Monetary awards of up to $1,500 are available. All grant monies are mailed to resident’s home with checks written payable directly to the chosen service providers. Each family may only receive one award in a twelve month period.

Applicants will be notified of awards by mail and may receive a call to be interviewed prior to being chosen for a grant.  Review of a complete application generally takes three to five weeks. A submitted application is not a guarantee of receiving a grant. Funds are limited and are based on availability. All information will be held strictly confidential.

We are unable to process incomplete applications.

Applications

Please email us at jogyourmemory5k@gmail.com for an application

Mail:        Jog Your Memory
Attn: JYM Caregiver Fund
56 Nichols Road
Needham MA 02492
Email:     jogyourmemory5k@gmail.com

Web:     www. jogyourmemory5k org

The JYM Caregiver Fund welcomes applications from candidates actively being treated for Alzheimer’s disease residing within New England and New York.

March is Digestive Health Awareness Month!

Despite four Nor’easters in March….spring is close, days are getting longer, and soon plants will begin spouting.  Be mindful of everything coming back to life, the wonderful clean smells of spring, and how awesome you’ll look and feel by limiting the toxins in your environment.  With spring comes newness and an increased desire for us to improve how we look and feel.  When it comes to health, prevention is the best medicine and knowledge of what we put in and on our bodies is a good illness deterrent place to start.

Our digestive health impacts every aspect of our overall health. Our immune system is 70% in our gut. We have over 100 trillion good and bad bacteria know as our microbiota. Within those numbers are 1,000 different species made up of 5,000 distinct bacterial strains. Everyone has their own unique bacteria mixture. Studies suggest that certain bacteria in our gut can treat and prevent many common diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, and heart disease. We manufacture 90% of our serotonin (happy neurotransmitter) in our digestive tract. Foods high in tryptophan positively impact brain serotine levels.  Good digestive health requires we make smart choices in our foods and products to improve our mood and overall wellness.

Eating organic, non-GMO fruits and veggies, as well as using non-toxic products are the first steps in preventing disease. Studies show a positive relation between lower cancer risk and high intake of vegetables, fruit, fish, calcium-rich foods and fiber.  As we age, chronic, low-grade inflammation increases throughout our bodies, which causes a drop in serotonin, and the progression of degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease to name a few.  Moreover, inflammation is the underlining problem that dictates cancerous tumor origination, progression, and growth.

Our bodies use serotonin to produce the natural amino acid tryptophan which balances and improves our mood and memory.  Tryptophan-rich foods such as, eggs, salmon, turkey, chocolate, oats, dried dates, yogurt, nuts, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, spirulina and peanuts, to name a few support healthy serotonin levels. Be aware that using non-organic, and GMO foods may have toxins (pesticides) which encourage a negative inflammatory response in our body.  Be mindful of diets high in added sugar which are linked to esophageal, small intestine, colon, breast cancer and other cancers.

Give your cells the nutrients they need to thrive, and fight disease. Look for products supported by clinical studies and published in peer-reviewed medical journals. Juice Plus+ is the only product on the market that is supported by numerous independent peer-reviewed studies published in numerous leading medical journals. A healthy diet supported by quality nutritional based supplements that bridge the gap between what we should eat, and actually eat, helps ensure our bodies maintain their ability to ward off disease.

What we put in our bodies is as important as what we put on our bodies. Numerous studies show toxics from various commercial products are absorbed quickly into skin, pass directly into the bloodstream and impact hormones, cause birth defects and other illnesses. Most individuals don’t know that carcinogens are in 28% of all personal care products and 40% of those labeled natural, and these toxins significantly impact our immune system. Toxins (think poison) create cellular inflammation, which feeds cell disease. What you don’t know about your products can harm you!

Unfortunately, regulation on skincare products hasn’t happened since the 1930s, which leave millions of products with toxic ingredients on the shelves for daily use by individuals. When looking for safe products search for companies with strong lobbying efforts that push Congress to pass laws which prevent known toxins from being allowed in our products. Only one company, Beauty Counter, continues to lobby Congress to remove hundreds of toxins from the products we use.

Food safety collage.