General Health Articles

Healthy Living: Foods that Fight Your Kidneys

Everyone knows that your kidneys are two vital organs in your body. Located in your lower back, your kidneys work as blood filtration, keep a balance between minerals, eliminate waste from blood and water, excrete waste materials from the body through the urinary tract, produce hormones, and more. 

These organs are very important and without both kidneys, humans would not survive much longer. While they are vital organs, they are very prone to many diseases caused by food items, hereditary diseases, blood pressure, diabetes, and more. If food is not damaging your kidneys directly, it will damage them indirectly. 

That’s why is it super important to maintain a kidney-healthy diet

This includes eating all kinds of healthy, fresh, herbal, homemade, and farm-fresh foods.

The following foods should be avoided for the health of your kidneys:

• Processed food
• Salt or sodium food items
• Beets
• Tomatoes and tomato seeds
• Fast food
• Sugary foods
• Alcohol
• Lentils and beans
• Junk food
• Frozen food, ready to cook food
• Artificially flavored juices
• Potatoes

Sleep 101: Eat Your Way to Better ZZZs

According to Men’s Health Magazine, good old mom may have had it all wrong when she offered us a glass of warm milk to help aide our sleeping.  The protein in milk could actually boost alertness rather than calm it.

Instead the magazine’s experts offer the following snacks to induce “feel-good relaxation chemicals” thereby calming your nerves and slowing your brain down towards relaxation: nonfat popcorn, oatmeal with sliced bananas, one cup of plain yogurt with two tablespoons mixed nuts, sesame seeds, pretzels, 4-oz. glass of unsweetened cherry juice, and red bell peppers. 

So, pass on the glass of warm milk tonight and opt for any of the above snacks for that peaceful night’s sleep.   Good night!

Healthy Living Your Skin Cancer Risk Revealed

Here are some surprising clues that could mean that you are more apt to being diagnosed with skin cancer than others…

Clue #1:  You wear flip-flops often.  If you wear flip-flops most of the spring and summer, your feet are prone to more sun exposure and sun damage than those who wear socks and shoes. 

Clue #2:  You wear baseball hats.  While baseball hats protect your head from sun damage, your ears are constantly exposed and are often overlooked when your skin is checked for signs of skin cancer. 

Clue #3:  You are a male.  Whether it’s habits, hormones, or genes, or even a combination of these three, men have three times as many squamous cancer cells and twice as many basal cancer cells as women.  Also, white men over the age of 50 have the highest incidence of melanoma. 

Clue #4:  You have dark skin.  While skin with more pigment has a natural shield against UV rays, many African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Indians get a false sense of security and 

typically do not pay much attention to protecting their skin from these harmful rays.  Skin cancer is also detected much later in dark skinned people, therefore making it harder to treat. 

Clue #5:  You live in the South or in the Mountains.  Rates of skin cancer are obviously higher in places that receive more sunlight, like in the South or in the Mountains.  Altitude is also a factor as UV radiation increases about 4 to 5 percent for every 1,000 feet above sea level. 

Clue #6: You are a runner, cyclist, or swimmer.  The more miles men and women run the greater their chance of acquiring skin cancer.  The same goes for swimmers and cyclists who spend countless hours out in the climate. 

Clue #7:  You have a lot of moles.  The average Caucasian has 30 moles – relatively round spots that are brown, red or pink.  But the moles that are asymmetrical, with raggedy borders, discoloration or changing size, are the ones that are more likely to develop into melanoma.  People over the age of 20 with more than 100 moles or people under the age of 20 with more than 50 moles are also at risk. 

In the News: All About Glaucoma – Part II

(continued from Part I…)

How is glaucoma diagnosed?

To diagnose glaucoma complete eye examination is recommended which involves measuring eye pressure, inspecting the eye’s drainage angle, examining the optic nerve, testing vision, getting measurements of optic nerve, and measuring the thickness of cornea.

How is glaucoma treated?

Treatment aims at reducing the intraocular pressure and preventing further damage to the optic nerves. Intraocular pressure can be reduced by increasing the drainage of excess eye fluid or reducing its production through medications.

Is there a diet you should follow or foods you should avoid if you have glaucoma?

Foods to eat:

• Iron rich foods such as spinach
• Vitamin A containing foods such as sweet potatoes, carrots, mangoes and milk
• Protein rich foods such as eggs, milk
• Zinc-rich foods such as green peas, eggs, wheat germ, chickpeas, oyster, red meat, poultry and certain seafood
• Foods rich in vitamin C like green pepper, citrus fruits and tomatoes 

Foods to avoid:

• Foods with trans fatty acids like cookies, cakes and french fries
• Foods with high saturated fats like full fat meat (beef)
• Foods/drinks with caffeine like coffee
• Avoid alcohol

In the News: All About Glaucoma – Part I

During the month of March, National Glaucoma Week is celebrated to raise awareness for this condition that affects nearly 3 million people every year. Here we will discuss all things glaucoma.

What is glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, which is crucial for transmitting visual information from the eye to the brain. 

What are the symptoms of glaucoma?

While glaucoma starts out typically asymptomatic, the gradual progression of the symptoms can include:

• Loss of peripheral or side vision
• Seeing halos around lights and glare in bright light
• Redness in the eye
• Eye pain
• Eye that looks hazy (particularly in infants)
• Narrow or tunnel vision
• Vision Loss 

What causes glaucoma?

 The fluid inside the eye nourishes the lens and the cells of the cornea and maintains a pressure, which allows the cornea to maintain its convex shape that is necessary for good vision. The pressure inside the eye or the intraocular pressure is maintained at a constant due to drainage of excess fluid out of the eye.

Increased pressure inside the eye due to the obstructed flow of the fluid may lead to glaucoma. 

Other causes may include family history, association with other diseases like hypertension and diabetes, burn or chemical injury to the eye, or trauma to the eye. 

(continued in Part II…)