Sometimes as bloggers, we write things that we want other people to read, and sometimes we write things that we need to remember ourselves. Sometimes when you are making a change, it helps to say it out loud to someone else to make it more real for yourself. Today, I need to say out loud that I am re-committing to eating local food (Everyone falls off the wagon at some point.) These are eight reasons why you might always want to eat local.
1. Allergies Eating locally made honey is supposed to be good for your allergies because the bees are using the local pollen, what is likely causing your allergic reactions. It is the same theory as a vaccine – if you are given a little, your body learns how to fight it, so you develop an immunity. Plus, you’re much more likely to get actual honey than at a store.
2. The real scoop Often when shopping at farmers markets, you get to talk to the actual farmers to get the real scoop on the types of chemicals were used, where animals reside, and what they are fed. Just because something is labeled organic does not mean that chemicals have not been used.
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When someone you love dies, you know that you will grieve, but did you know that your risk of experiencing a heart attack goes up 21 times as well? People have spoken of dying of a broken heart for years, knowing intuitively what research is now confirming. The New York Times reported on a study in Circulation that where nearly 2,000 participants who had experienced a myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as a heart attack, were interviewed about the loss of loved ones and the recency of those losses. They were also asked questions about their overall health and other risk factors to make sure all other variables were controlled. While your risk for a heart attack will decline over time, it remains higher for at least a month and is six times higher than normal in the first week after the loss of a loved one. If you have other risk factors for heart attack you are even more vulnerable.
Risk factors include age (45 or older for men and 55 or older for women), smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history, physical in activity, obesity, stress, and use of stimulant drugs. The loss of a loved one is one of the most stressful events a person will experience, so it is not surprising that it could result in such a drastic health crisis. Grieving and all the tasks and events included in the rituals of saying goodbye can lead people to miss meals, experience insomnia, avoid workouts, isolate themselves, and miss medications. None of these things are good for your physical health or your mental health. Yet, such a drastic and extended increase in risk for heart attack cannot be explained simply by these behavior changes. In addition, the emotions of depression, anxiety, and anger, all common during grief, can be accompanied by an increased heart rate.
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There are many types of motivation for making any change. Some people decide to make a change for their children, to be able to keep up with them and play with them more. Some people decide to make a change to feel better about themselves – like Brittany Aberle wanting to be “steamy hot.” Some people decide to make a change to have more energy or to be happier or to be able to think more clearly. Some people are motivated by money. Some people, like Gwyneth Paltrow, decide to make a change as a result of a negative experience. Wednesday, Fitperez shared a quote from Gwyneth Paltrow that explains how her focus on healthy living came as a result of watching her father’s death from cancer.
“I would do anything to have him back, but half the reason that my life is good, has real, true value, is that he died. All I’ve learned about nutrition and health came from his cancer,” she says. “I’ll probably have a long and healthy life because he didn’t. I wish he hadn’t smoked, because the fact is that he did and he died. As much grief and pain and trauma and heartache are caused, there was an equal amount of positivity that came out of his death.”
Gwyneth does a great job of reframing her father’s death, which is a therapist term for finding the silver lining. When something negative occurs in our lives, we have the option to dwell in the negativity or to use the experience to drive us to better understanding and a better life. It is possible that fear could be part of Gwyneth’s motivation, but I am not sure we can read that into what she has said. While I would like to believe that changes in my dietary habits have come as a result of what I have learned from Diets in Review, there could also be some fear for me in knowing just how dangerous certain things could be.
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You have heard of postpartum depression. You may have heard of post-nuptial depression. You might have even heard of post-adoption depression syndrome. Today, I am introducing the idea of a post-Super Bowl depression. There are hormonal changes involved with postpartum depression, but there are other contributing factors that all of these share, as well as factors unique to each. Below are six things you can do to help you recover from Super Bowl XLVI and avoid post-Super Bowl depression, whether you were cheering for the Giants or the Patriots.
Eat Healthy Food – Let’s face it you probably have not been eating the purest diet in the last couple of weeks. You have likely ended up eating a lot of snacks and food on the go. I saw a tweet from @EatThisNotThat that said Americans eat more on Super Bowl Sunday than they do on any other day, except Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, this probably includes low nutritional value items high in processed ingredients. The more nutritional your food is the more physical energy you will have and the more emotional energy you will have as well.
Find Something to Anticipate – After such an exciting week and intense game, getting back to the daily grind is likely to feel like a grind. Some may feel accomplished in being productive again, but others may be left thinking “now what?”. Investing so much energy into planning an event is one of the reasons that post-anything-depression exists. My secret to making it through the winter is to plan for and celebrate the next thing. I can find a holiday or special even every couple of weeks. Valentine’s Day may or not be something for you to anticipate, but Mardi Gras is coming up or the more creative may enjoy the lists of something to celebrate every day.
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Even with road closures, more time spent in traffic, and parking rates unusual for the Circle City, it is hard to find anyone complaining in Indianapolis. We are all excited and proud to be a Super City. Despite the spike in business and catering orders that restaurant owners were already seeing the two weeks before the Super Bowl, I was able to interview a few local business owners to hear the truth about how they are or are not doing things differently for the Super Bowl.
One major rumor is that restaurants are jacking up prices to gouge out of towners this weekend, but Monon Food Company in Broad Ripple and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Company/Scotty’s Brewhouse assured me that they are not. The Scratch Truck food truck may have to cover additional expenses during the week leading up to the Super Bowl because they will be hiring additional staff and renting out extra space for all the food preparation that they need to do, which they anticipate being up to six times what they do during a normal week. While they may not be increasing prices, all the restaurants I spoke to assured me that they will be bringing in additional staff to ensure the best service possible.
Since Indianapolis is host to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” – the Indianapolis 500 – every year, which sells three times the tickets that the Super Bowl will, as well as other major racing events that bring in fans from around the world, we are no stranger to crowd management. However, all of the restaurant representatives agreed that the Super Bowl is different. Tim of the Monon Food Company explained that the “press experience around [Super Bowl XLVI] far exceeds other events, so there is more excitement and more spectators who are coming to town just to party,” even if they are not going to the big game on Sunday.
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