Tag Archive for: wellness

5 Tips to Eat Healthy During Summer

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With summer in full swing and your kiddos out of school, you may notice that your family’s mealtime routine is a bit more relaxed. It’s easy to indulge in beverages and foods which increase your empty caloric intake which can put on extra weight. And as we age, those pounds are much harder to get rid of.

Make healthy eating year-round; exercise helps burn those extra calories, but what about the lack of vitamins and minerals you may be missing out on? The best way to maintain a healthy diet is to develop and keep a mealtime routine and offer a variety of nutritious foods for your family year-round.

Try following these tips:

  1. Buy a variety of foods. When you go grocery shopping, start in the fruits and vegetables area. Then head over to the dairy and meats section. This allows you to focus on macronutrients that your body needs (carbohydrates, proteins, and fat). These nutrients give your body the energy it needs to maintain a balanced diet. By filling your cart with these foods first, you are less likely to have room for processed items that include high sugar, sodium, and carbs your body doesn’t need.
  2. Meal prep. It’s not just for the work week. Making good nutrition choices is easy if you prep right after you go grocery shopping. Designate a shelf or drawer in your refrigerator that includes cut-up fruits and vegetables, portioned out. In your pantry place the healthier items such as dry roasted edamame or chickpeas, low-sugar breakfast bars and nut/fruit trail mix, and popcorn in the front so these are the first items to grab. These snacks can be portioned out ahead of time making it much easier for your family to choose when they are hungry.
  3. Be mindful. Eating together whenever possible is a great way to catch up with your family and allows you to enjoy your food. Fill your plate with lean protein, vegetables, and grains. Fresh fruits make a great dessert option and help clean your palate. Most importantly, take the time to chew properly and taste the goodness.
  4. Smart drinks. This, especially during the summer months when it’s hot, can be tricky. Instead of grabbing a sugar-filled beverage, have ready-to-go containers filled in the fridge with water, low-fat or fat-free milk, or milk alternatives in the front that are easy to grab and go. This will help everyone avoid those empty calories.
  5. Get everyone involved. Going to the grocery store with your whole family can be an adventure that’s for sure, but it can also be an opportunity to educate your kiddos on what to buy and how to read labels. Teaching them the importance of a healthy diet at a young age will make them more likely to stick with it into their teens and beyond. It also allows them to learn how to make healthy food purchases.

But don’t stop here, meal prepping is way more fun as a family activity and it speeds up the process, making it feel less like a chore and more like a family bonding experience. Kids can peel fruits and vegetables, measure and scoop and assemble bags.

Eating healthily may reduce any sluggish feelings you may experience from processed carbs, high-saturated fats, and high-sugar drinks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the benefits of healthy eating may boost immunity, strengthen bones, and reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases. For more information on nutritional eating benefits, visit https://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/resources-publications/benefits-of-healthy-eating.html.

It Might Be Time for Your Annual Medicare Wellness Visit

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Are you or a loved one on Medicare insurance? If so, wellness should be top-of-mind and the good news is, it’s covered starting with the Medicare Wellness Visit.

The wellness visit through Medicare isn’t the traditional head-to-toe physical that most people are familiar with. The Wellness Visit covered under Medicare is an annual visit to identify and reduce any health risks your healthcare provider might find.

Wellness Visits Matter

The Medicare Wellness Visit, while not a traditional physical, is a tool for your medical provider to find gaps in your healthcare. The questions asked during the visit are specific and help to narrow down concerns while allowing your healthcare team to provide better care.

What to Expect at Your Appointment

At the wellness visit, we take a complete health history using a questionnaire from Medicare to understand a patient’s needs. If this is the patient’s first Medicare Wellness Visit, we will start with an EKG. Then your provider will discuss findings from the questionnaire and address concerns about your health and wellness.

Providers will do a limited physical exam to check blood pressure, weight, vision, and other things depending on a patient’s age, gender, and health history.

During the visit your provider can make referrals to specialists, order labs, and discuss necessary imaging and diagnostic tests like mammograms or colorectal cancer screenings. We will also talk about the risks and signs of depression, trips and falls, and other health and wellness concerns.

Our goal is to create a personalized prevention plan together to help prevent disease and disability according to your health and risk factors.

What Not to Expect at Your Appointment

This isn’t a traditional physical. It may sound like it is, but there are distinct differences. The Medicare Wellness Visit allows healthcare providers to have a baseline for health and wellness that Medicare knows is important to this patient group.

Providers don’t generally address existing chronic health conditions or refill prescriptions at this appointment. The visit is specific to finding and addressing any new concerns and planning for the next year’s healthcare with the patient.

Scheduling a Medicare Wellness Visit every year is important and NOAH is here to help you stay on track.

If this is your first appointment at NOAH, we recommend you schedule a primary care appointment before your Medicare Wellness Visit. We want to get to know you, your health history, and discuss preexisting or chronic conditions ahead of time in order to create the best healthcare plan for the year ahead.

REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT

Exercise Options: Alternatives to the Gym

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Physical activity is an important part of health and wellness. Not everyone can go to a gym, especially with a busy schedule. Thankfully, there are many other exercise options. Always check with your healthcare provider before starting a new exercise program, especially if you have any physical or health limitations.

Recommendations

  • For adults: at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (ex. brisk walking, riding a bike, and mowing the lawn). Preferably, also with two days a week of muscle strengthening exercises (ex. Lifting weights, using resistance bands, and some forms of yoga).
  • For children ages 6 to 17 years old: at least 60 minutes (one hour) or more of moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity most days and at least three days a week of muscle strengthening exercises.
  • For more information, please check out CDC guidelines.

Outdoor Exercise Options

  • Walk or jog around your neighborhood
  • Hike at a local trail
  • Play basketball, frisbee, tennis, etc. in your own yard or a park
  • Jump rope in your garage or outside
  • Take a bike ride
  • Do gardening and yard work

Home Options

  • Walk briskly around the house or up and down stairs
  • Dance to your favorite music
  • Use home cardio machines like a treadmill, stationary bikes, or rowing machine
  • Use free weights, resistance bands, or one of these items lying around your house for muscle strengthening
  • Download a cardio or strength training app, many of which don’t require any exercise equipment.
  • Exercise videos. YouTube is full of videos for cardio, muscle strengthening, yoga/stretching, and other exercises. Here are some examples from well-respected sources:

Join a Team or Take a Group Class

  • Joining a team or taking group classes is a fun and social choice.
  • Check out City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation for classes and team sports for youth and adults.
  • Your local gym may have classes or you can go to a specialized studio for things like martial arts, spin, barre, yoga, etc.

Physical activity is one very important piece to overall health and wellness. Learn more about the many services our nutrition team can offer in NOAH’s individualized, comprehensive healthcare.

¿Es hora de su visita de bienestar de Medicare?

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¿Está usted o es un ser querido en el seguro de Medicare? Si es así, el bienestar debe ser lo más importante y la buena noticia es que está cubierto comenzando con la visita de bienestar de Medicare.

La visita de bienestar a través de Medicare no es el físico tradicional de pies a cabeza con el que la mayoría de las personas están familiarizadas. La visita de bienestar cubierta por Medicare es una visita anual para identificar y reducir cualquier riesgo de salud que su proveedor de atención médica pueda encontrar.

Las visitas de bienestar importan

La Visita de Bienestar de Medicare, aunque no es un examen físico tradicional, es una herramienta para que su proveedor médico encuentre brechas en su atención médica. Las preguntas que se hacen durante la visita son específicas y ayudan a reducir las preocupaciones al tiempo que permiten que su equipo de atención médica proporcione una mejor atención.

Qué esperar en su cita

En la visita de bienestar, tomamos un historial de salud completo usando un cuestionario de Medicare para entender las necesidades del paciente. Si ésta es la primera visita de bienestar de Medicare del paciente, comenzaremos con un ECG. Luego su proveedor discutirá los hallazgos del cuestionario y tratará las preocupaciones sobre su salud y bienestar.

Los proveedores realizarán un examen físico limitado para verificar la presión arterial, el peso, la visión y otras cosas dependiendo de la edad, el sexo y los antecedentes de salud del paciente.

Durante la visita, su proveedor puede hacer referencias a especialistas, ordenar laboratorios y discutir las pruebas de diagnóstico y diagnóstico por imágenes necesarias como mamografías o exámenes de detección del cáncer colorrectal. También hablaremos sobre los riesgos y signos de depresión, viajes y caídas, y otras preocupaciones de salud y bienestar.

Nuestra meta es crear un plan de prevención personalizado para ayudar a prevenir enfermedades y discapacidades de acuerdo a su salud y factores de riesgo.

Qué no esperar en su cita

Esto no es un físico tradicional. Puede sonar como si fuera, pero hay diferencias claras. La visita de bienestar de Medicare permite a los proveedores de atención médica tener una línea de base para la salud y el bienestar que Medicare sabe que es importante para este grupo de pacientes.

Los proveedores generalmente no abordan las condiciones de salud crónicas existentes ni reabastecen las recetas en esta cita. La visita es específica para encontrar y abordar cualquier preocupación nueva y planificar la atención médica del próximo año con el paciente.

Programar una visita de bienestar de Medicare cada año es importante y NOAH está aquí para ayudarle a mantenerse en el buen camino.

Si ésta es su primera cita en NOAH, le recomendamos que programe una cita de atención primaria antes de su visita de bienestar de Medicare. Queremos conocerle a usted, a su historial de salud, y discutir las condiciones preexistentes o crónicas con anticipación para crear el mejor plan de salud para el año que viene.

solicite una cita

Back to Bed for Back to School

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By Annette Liao, DO | Family Medicine PGY-1

Can you believe it? The end of summer is quickly approaching. With fall around the corner, many families are thinking about the school year and how to prepare their kids for the classroom. This could prove to be a bigger challenge this year, as schools reopen their doors for in-person classes after a very different year. Now, after a summer of staying up late and sleeping in, it is time to help kids get back on a normal classroom schedule, and that starts with a good night’s sleep.

Back-to-School Kids Sleep Tips

  • As their brains develop, school-aged children need more sleep than adults to do their best in school and to stay alert during the day. Here is how much sleep kids should have:
    • Preschoolers (ages 3-5) require 10-13 hours of sleep
    • School-age children (ages 6-13) require 9-11 hours of sleep
    • Teenagers (ages 14-17) require 8-10 hours of sleep
  • Start slow – most kids will not be able to suddenly switch from being night owls to morning birds. A slow transition over a few weeks is best. Move bedtime by 15 minutes each day until they are getting the amount of sleep they need.
  • Keep a clock in each child’s bedroom so that they know what time they should go to sleep and what time they should wake up.
  • Avoid using electronics at least 1 hour before bed, and no electronics in bed! The light from the screens on TVs, tablets, and phones tricks our brains into thinking it is daytime and keeps us from a good night’s sleep. It’s good for everyone to turn off screens starting two hours before bedtime.
  • Instead of electronics, establish a relaxing bedtime routine. This could involve reading, stretching, or meditation. Routines will train the body that it is bedtime and can decrease anxiety around bedtime in kids and adults. Make the environment as relaxing as possible.
  • Keep the schedule, even on weekends. Parents and caregivers should all be on the same page with the sleep schedule. Children over the age of 5 should be informed on what that plan is as well.

Having quality sleep is essential for success in school. Not getting enough sleep affects a student’s ability to function, learn, and grow. These tips will not only help to get your kids back on track for school, but also set them up for a lifelong healthy habit! Learn more about other back-to-school tips for a healthy and happy start to the new school year.

Is it Time for Your Medicare Wellness Visit?

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By Dr. Linda Eller | Family Medicine Provider

Are you or a loved one on Medicare insurance? If so, wellness should be top-of-mind and the good news is, it’s covered starting with the Medicare Wellness Visit.

Dr. Linda Eller, Family Medicine Provider

The wellness visit through Medicare isn’t the traditional head-to-toe physical that most people are familiar with. The Wellness Visit covered under Medicare is an annual visit to identify and reduce any health risks your healthcare provider might find.

Wellness Visits Matter

The Medicare Wellness Visit, while not a traditional physical, is a tool for your medical provider to find gaps in your healthcare. The questions asked during the visit are specific and help to narrow down concerns while allowing your healthcare team to provide better care.

What to Expect at Your Appointment

At the wellness visit, we take a complete health history using a questionnaire from Medicare to understand a patient’s needs. If this is the patient’s first Medicare Wellness Visit, we will start with an EKG. Then your provider will discuss findings from the questionnaire and address concerns about your health and wellness.

Providers will do a limited physical exam to check blood pressure, weight, vision, and other things depending on a patient’s age, gender, and health history.

During the visit your provider can make referrals to specialists, order labs, and discuss necessary imaging and diagnostic tests like mammograms or colorectal cancer screenings. We will also talk about the risks and signs of depression, trips and falls, and other health and wellness concerns.

Our goal is to create a personalized prevention plan together to help prevent disease and disability according to your health and risk factors.

What Not to Expect at Your Appointment

This isn’t a traditional physical. It may sound like it is, but there are distinct differences. The Medicare Wellness Visit allows healthcare providers to have a baseline for health and wellness that Medicare knows is important to this patient group.

Providers don’t generally address existing chronic health conditions or refill prescriptions at this appointment. The visit is specific to finding and addressing any new concerns and planning for the next year’s healthcare with the patient.

Scheduling a Medicare Wellness Visit every year is important and NOAH is here to help you stay on track.

If this is your first appointment at NOAH, we recommend you schedule a primary care appointment before your Medicare Wellness Visit. We want to get to know you, your health history, and discuss preexisting or chronic conditions ahead of time in order to create the best healthcare plan for the year ahead.

REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT

Get Well with Food: How nutrition helps you recover

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By Stephanie Olzinski, MS, RDN & Nicole Vaudrin O’Reilly, RDN

Proper nutrition helps the body fight infections and heal from surgery or wounds, colds, the flu, COVID-19, and other illnesses and injuries. When your body is going through the healing process, it generally increases the need for calories and specific nutrients. When an illness, like COVID-19, affects appetite, taste, and smell, eating well can be even harder.

Here are recommendations to have a balanced, healthy diet to help your recovery.

Hydrate: Fever, vomiting, and diarrhea can all contribute to dehydration, not to mention being hydrated is helpful for relieving cold symptoms as well.  Try to increase how much water you drink. Adults should try to drink eight 8-oz glasses of water every day when they aren’t sick. Adults who are recovering from an illness should drink 3 liters / 100oz / 12 8-oz glasses of mostly water every day. If you really want to help your body, add 1-2 servings of electrolyte drinks, like Pedialyte, Gatorade, or Emergen-C per day to stay hydrated. That can feel like a lot but sipping on small glasses of water every 15 minutes throughout the day can make it easier.

Food Frequency:  Small, frequent meals and snacks can help with meeting your increased needs, even when you’re not hungry. Try to eat small, healthy snacks or meals, or drink broth, supplement shakes, or smoothies every few hours.

Protein: Protein is essential for maintaining muscle mass and for building and repairing body tissues. So as your body is healing, you will need more protein. We recommend eating a variety of protein-rich foods like chicken, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, and seeds. Protein powders or drinks can be helpful if you need to increase your protein, especially if your appetite, taste, and/or smell are impacted because of your illness.

Nutrient-Dense Foods: These are foods that have a lot of vitamins and minerals – important for health. Examples of nutrition-dense foods includes fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fish, lean meat, skinless poultry, peas and beans, and healthy fats like avocado, nuts, and seeds. Nutrition helps when you’re recovering from being sick or injured, so try to eat as many of these foods as you can.

Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamins D, C and E, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids help your immune system heal from being sick or injured. Taking a daily multi-vitamin with these nutrients can be a good way to have enough but ask your doctor before taking any vitamins or supplements. The best way to get these important vitamins and minerals, though, is in what you eat. Eat as many nutrient-dense foods (listed above) as you can every day – at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables (frozen, fresh, canned, blended in smoothies, vegetable-based soups, etc.). Choose whole grains (brown rice, oatmeal, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, corn, or whole wheat tortillas) and include plenty of eggs, meat, dairy, healthy oils (olive, canola, avocado, flaxseed), nuts/seeds, and seafood.

Probiotics: Antibiotics are a powerful tool against bacterial infections, but they can disrupt your gut microbiome (the good bacteria and other microbes living in your intestines that help you digest your food), leaving you with side effects like diarrhea. If you need antibiotics, consider taking a supplement or eating plenty of probiotic foods during and after treatment. Since probiotics are also bacteria (what the antibiotic will be fighting), be sure to take your antibiotics and probiotics supplements or foods a few hours apart. Fermented foods are the best source of probiotics and include yogurt, kefir, cheese, sauerkraut, kombucha, kimchi, and probiotic drinks – Yakult or Bio Salud.

It is amazing what nutrition can do for our bodies and our daily lives. Nutrition helps our overall health by assisting our body in fighting diseases, recovering from illness and injury, and so much more. NOAH’s team of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDN) works with our patients because nutrition is a big part of your overall health. Talk to one of our RDNs today to learn more.