Community News
Don’t Sweat the Setbacks

So your New Year’s Resolution was to adopt a healthier diet. Now that the first few months of 2017 have come and gone is your initial enthusiasm is starting to wane? We all have limited resources – time, energy and money and changing your lifestyle can challenge these resources and your resolve. To stay on track, focus on keeping it simple. Plan your meals for the week ahead, shop accordingly and do as much advanced prep work as possible. Keep a collection of recipes that are tasty, healthy, quick and cheap. Make double batches and freeze extras for quick meals. If everyone is hungry, serve a salad or green smoothie while cooking the rest of the meal. That way you can fill up on healthy stuff while the hot stuff is cooking. Focus on the positives and don’t sweat the setbacks. Have patience, you can do this!

Darlene Porter, KnowThyselfAsSoul.org

How Magnesium Oil Helped

“I have had rheumatoid arthritis for close to 40 years. I’ve started using the Magnesium Oil a month ago, by rubbing it in, twice a day — right away I noticed a difference. I’ve been not totally pain-free, but there has been a tremendous improvement. The magnesium oil provides me super pain management and works to improve the flexibility of my joints. I have found that my sleep has improved by several hours a night, I am experiencing more energy, and I ‘m able to function much better.” Carmen Kulik. 7 Benefits of using Magnesium Oil: 1. Important for heart health. 2. Helps increase energy by regulating energy levels. 3. Calm nerves by producing ‘happy hormones’ 4. Relieves Muscle Aches and Pains. 5. Health with digestion by relieving constipation. 6. Regulates levels of calcium and potassium. 7. Prevents migraine Headaches.

DnA Wellness, DnAWellness.ca

Water Yourself to Grow Your Health

When it comes to healthy beverages, water has no equal. This tasteless, odorless thirst quencher is essential to your every physiological process and makes up approximately 45-80% of our body mass. Because we lose water as we age, it becomes increasingly important to stay hydrated, a task accomplished by both drinking and eating. Two-thirds of our body’s water volume is found within our cells, making them like mini water balloons. When adequately filled, they are effective in alleviating headaches, improving memory, flushing out toxins, regulating body temperature, hydrating skin, lubricating joints, and – importantly – reducing inflammation which is believed to be the root of nearly all illness and disease including mental illness. If you are looking for an evidence-based and cost-effective way to improve your physical and mental health, look no further: water is truly a life source.

Canadian Mental Health Association, www.mbwpg.cmha.ca

Clean Eating: Chocolate Avocado Pudding

Soft, creamy, sweet and chocolatey – this plant-based, gluten and dairy-free pudding will surely satisfy.

All you need is:

1 and a half ripe Avocados, peeled and pitted

1/3 cup of 100% pure cacao powder

1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey

1/4 cup coconut milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Serve immediately, and enjoy!

5 Benefits of a Healthy Love Life

Having sex regularly can do more than make you feel closer to your partner—it can actually make you physically healthier! Here are 5 health benefits of making love:

1. Boosts Your Immune System. People who have sex frequently have higher levels of what defends your body against viruses.

2. Boosts Your Libido. The more you have sex, the more often you crave it!

3. Improves Bladder Control. Good sex is like a workout for your pelvic floor muscles. When you have an orgasm, it causes contractions in those muscles, which strengthens them.

4. Lowers Heart Attack Risk. A good sex life is good for your heart. During one study, men who had sex at least twice a week were half as likely to die of heart disease as men who had sex rarely.

5. May Make Prostate Cancer Less Likely. Going for the gusto may help ward off prostate cancer. Men who ejaculated frequently were less likely to get prostate cancer during one study. (source http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/guide)

Heather Cameron, Liberated Connections
LiberatedConnections.com

Allery Relief with NAET®

NAET® was discovered by Dr. Devi S. Nambudripad in November of 1983. Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques, also known as NAET, are non-invasive, drug free, natural solutions to alleviate allergies of all types using a blend of selective energy balancing, testing, and treatment procedures. The varieties of techniques applied include acupuncture/acupressure, chiropractic, nutritional, and kinesiological disciplines of medicine. We know that many symptoms, such as headaches, backache, joint pain, indigestion, or a cough, are often triggered by food and environmental sensitivities. If left untreated, these reactions may eventually cause illness. This therapy often alleviates adverse reactions to egg, milk, peanuts, penicillin, aspirin, mushrooms, shellfish, latex, grass, ragweed, and flowers. In addition, people who suffer from allergens such as perfume, animal dander, animal epithelial, make-up, chemicals, cigarette smoke, pathogens, heat, cold, and other environmental substances also find relief.

Reference www.naet.com. Dr. Maria Sabrina DiBernardo, D.C., Village Chiropractic Centre

How to Eat Mindfully

It makes sense that we actually have to set an intention to slow down as we pick up our fork. We’ve all scarfed down a meal and not long after feel like we swallowed a bowling ball. Recognizing physical fullness is part of mindful eating and ditching dieting. Ideally, you can gift yourself 20 minutes to eat mindfully, the time it takes to register fullness. If you only have 5 minutes, make them mindful minutes. Create a speed bump on your plate by taking a moment to visualize what half of your serving looks like. Once you are half done put your fork down for a moment. How full are you? Place your hand on your belly if it helps you connect. If you’re still hungry continue eating slowly and mindfully, until you feel physically satisfied. The goal is NOT to eat less, it’s to FEEL GOOD!

Lisa Kehler, Off Your Plate Nutrition, www.offyourplatenutrition.ca

Do You Have a Bad Knee?

Knee Osteoarthritis is the leading cause of lower extremity disability. Osteoarthritis is defined as degeneration of joint cartilage and the underlying bone. Some risk factors that increase your risk of having osteoarthritis are age, history of trauma to a joint repetitive activity and obesity. People who suffer from osteoarthritis usually have muscles weakness, altered muscle function, increased joint stiffness and lower aerobic fitness. Research suggests that exercise and education on weight-loss are the first lines of treatment for osteoarthritis. The most beneficial forms of exercise include; flexibility training (stretching), strength training (squats) and cardiovascular training (bike/walking). Physiotherapists are equipped with skills to assess and treat people who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee. Physiotherapy includes techniques to help the joint move better through massage and mobilizations as well as providing you with a specific exercise program that is tailored to your needs and to make it the most enjoyable for you.

Kristy Maksymyk, Prairie Trail Physiotherapy, www.prairietrailphysio.ca

Clean Eating: Easy Ricotta Protein Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups ricotta

4 eggs (or 1 cup egg whites)

½ cup natural sweetener of choice

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp orange zest (opt)

Instructions: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners and then spray the liners. Mix everything until very well combined. Evenly divide batter into muffin tin. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. The tops are golden brown when done. Makes 12. Great warm or cold and a healthy dessert served with maple syrup, berries and greek yogurt. Switch up to savory by omitting vanilla, sweetener and orange zest. I like sundried tomatoes, parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning for a pizza version. Original recipe: Laura Hickman, www.bakingoutsidethebox. com.

Lisa Kehler, www.offyourplatenutrition.ca

Product Spotlight: OxyFresh Dental Gel

Are you experiencing mouth pain? Try a natural alternative to oral pain gel. Oxyfresh Dental Gel offers instant relief to sore and swollen gum tissues. Condition, soothe and deodorize your teeth and gums with Super Relief Dental Gel from Oxyfresh. With a super-fresh wintergreen flavor, Super Relief Formula delivers powerful healing power with Tea Tree Oil, Chamomile, Aloe Vera, Essential Oils and Folic Acid. Super Relief Gel is formulated with Oxyfresh’s patented odor-eliminating combination of zinc and Oxygene® to promote fresh breath by neutralizing the volatile sulfur compounds responsible for halitosis. Super Relief Dental Gel also helps eliminate canker sores, speeds healing of oral cuts and scrapes, deodorizes oral wounds and conditions irritated gums.

Sarah Sangalang, www.reflectionsdentalhealth.ca

Assessing our Relationships

There comes a time in our lives when we are in need of evaluating our relationships to assess what life is giving and serving us and what is no longer meeting our needs and holding us back. It is important to distinguish between unfinished resentments that need to be expressed and cleared in order to open up communication and ease between friends, versus getting stuck in old entrenched patterns that have nowhere to go and keep being played out. One of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves is surrounding our lives with loving and kind people. Creating an inventory of who is in your life, where you are spending your time and how enriched you are feeling is valuable information. Sometimes a person comes into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime, and we don’t always know their purpose in advance!

D’Arcy Bruning-Haid, www.souls-journey.com