​Halloween is all about the candy right? Not in my house!

   I found out yesterday that not too many people are familiar with the holiday tradition that my family does every Halloween. We call it Switch Witch, but I have heard it called The Candy Fairy and The Candy Witch as well. Every year, my kids and I'm sure yours too, get SO MUCH candy while Trick or Treating. Enough to stock pile for weeks if not months. And it's kinda my job to be healthy, so do you really think I would allow my kids to eat all of that? Ummm No. 
   My kids get to pick out some of their favorites and then the rest is saved for the Switch Witch. On Halloween night all of their candy is left out, in our house it's on our fireplace, and the Switch Witch comes and takes it and switches it with a toy. Pretty good trade right? It wasn't hard to convince my kids that this is a good deal. What do we do with the candy? We burn it of course. Haha jk. Well right now it is stuffed in freezer bags and put away. We will probably save it for next year to pass out to kids at our door. With all of the artificial crap in them they will probably be fine.

By Qunol

Recommended for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure, the Mediterranean Diet is rated 2019's Best Diet Overall by US News & World Report.

To help people embrace the delicious flavors and healthful ingredients of this diet, Oldways created the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid together with the Harvard School of Public Health and the WHO in 1993, as a healthy, long term eating plan that’s easy to follow:

Embracing the Med Diet is all about making some simple, but profound changes in the way you eat today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your life.

​The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid
By using the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid as a visual aid, you can easily and gradually start to follow this lifestyle approach to heart-healthy eating. For example, choose more wholesome foods instead of processed foods, choose low fat over high fat foods, and watch your sugar intake.

Follow these tips from the Med Diet Pyramid:  

Core foods to enjoy every day: whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, herbs, spices, nuts and healthy fats such as olive oil.
Twice weekly servings of fish and seafood.
Moderate portions of dairy foods, eggs, and occasional poultry.
Infrequent servings of red meats and sweets.

Learn to love extra virgin olive oil
By making small changes to your food-shopping habits, you can gradually start to incorporate more heart-healthy foods into your  diet. According to Oldways, the first step is to buy yourself a new bottle of olive oil.

Olive oil is the magic ingredient in the Med Diet for its heart-healthy antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. It makes an excellent substitute for unhealthy saturated fats.

Learn how to use extra virgin olive oil in your everyday recipes and cooking. For example:

Each week buy a new Mediterranean ingredient like olive oil, herbs, or fish.
Learn the conversions to replace butter with olive oil so you can start cooking and baking with it.
Try a new recipe each week like our lemon parmesan shrimp and vegetables over bulgur or parsley and sun dried tomato pesto.
Substitute salad dressing with olive oil and fresh herbs.
Try different brands of olive oil and get to know the different flavors.
Choose fresh foods over processed products every time you shop.
While the Mediterranean Diet is not a restrictive diet, portion control is still very important in order to maintain a healthy body weight. In addition, the Med Diet recommends drinking water, red wine in moderation, and remaining physically and socially active.

Above all, the Mediterranean Diet is a celebration of food that should be shared with family and friends, and enjoyed for its delicious flavors and health-giving benefits.

Together with the DASH diet, the Mediterranean Diet is a deliciously healthy approach to preventing heart disease and high blood pressure.

Hip and knee intra-articular corticosteroid injections, which are quite commonly given to treat joint pain, may be more harmful than medical professionals previously thought, according to new study from the Boston University School of Medicine.

The research team at BUSM found that intra-articular corticosteroid injections can be dangerous for patients with at-risk conditions or may cause complications that aren’t yet fully understood, such as accelerated arthritis and joint destruction, which can necessitate knee or hip replacements.
Their research was published in the journal Radiology Tuesday.

“We are now seeing these injections can be very harmful to the joints with serious complications such as osteonecrosis, subchondral insufficiency fracture and rapid progressive osteoarthritis,” said corresponding author Ali Guermazi, MD, PhD, chief of radiology at VA Boston Healthcare System and professor of radiology at BUSM.

When the researchers identified all the patients whom they had given intra-articular corticosteroid injections in the hip or knee during 2018, they found that 10 percent had complications in the hips and an additional four percent had complications in their knees.

​
Original Article from Harvard Health Blog.

Here are 10 tips for more mindful eating. Not all of these tips may feel right for you — try a few and see how they work.

1.  Reflect.

Before you begin eating, take a moment to reflect upon how you feel. Are you rushed? Stressed? Sad? Bored? Hungry? What are your wants, and what are your needs? Differentiate between the two. After you have taken this moment to reflect, then you can choose if you want to eat, what you want to eat, and how you want to eat.

2. Sit down.

Don’t eat on the go. Have a seat. You’re less likely to appreciate your food when you are multi-tasking. It’s also difficult to keep track of how much you are eating when you snack on the go.

3. Turn off the TV (and everything else with a screen).

Have you ever glanced down from your phone or tablet or computer, only to wonder where all the food went? These distractions make us less aware of what and how much we are eating.

4. Serve out your portions.

Resist eating straight from the bag or the box. Not only is it easier to overeat when you can’t see how much you’ve had, but it is also harder to fully appreciate your food when it is hidden from view.

5. Pick the smaller plate.

You might crave less if you see less. Smaller plates will help you with your portion control — an especially good strategy for those all-you-can-eat buffets.

6. Give gratitude.

Before you start to eat, pause and take a moment to acknowledge the labor that went into providing your meal — be it thanks to the farmers, the factory workers, the animals, mother Earth, the chefs, or even your companions at the table.

7. Chew 30 times.

Try to get 30 chews out of each bite. (30 is a rough guide, as it might be difficult to get even 10 chews out of a mouthful of oatmeal!) Take time to enjoy the flavors and textures in your mouth before you swallow. This may also help prevent overeating by giving your gut time to send messages to the brain to say you’re full.

8. Put down your utensil.

Often, we are already preparing the next morsel with our fork and knife while we are still on our previous bite. Try putting down your utensils after each bite, and don’t pick them back up until you have enjoyed and swallowed what you already have in your mouth.

9. Resign from the Clean Plate Club.

Many of us were brought up to finish everything on our plate and were not allowed to leave the table until we did. It’s okay to cancel your membership to the Clean Plate Club. Consider packing the leftovers to go, or just leaving the last few bites. Even though nobody likes to waste food, overstuffing yourself won’t help those in need. (This is also where Tip #5 comes in handy.)

10. Silence.

Try eating your meals in silence once in a while. When it’s quiet, it is natural for the mind to wander; acknowledge these thoughts, and then see if you can gently return to your experience of eating. Be conscious of the food’s consistency, flavor, tastes, and smells, and fully appreciate the moment. Of course, mealtime can be an important time for sharing the day when the whole household gathers, so having an entire meal in silence might be impractical or just feel awkward. But even spending the first five to 10 minutes in silence can be refreshing and set a grateful tone for the rest of the meal.​

by Drew A. Hendricks
The first few minutes of your morning are the most important of your day and can set the tone for positivity and productivity. Ideally, you have an app or clock that taps into your natural circadian rhythm and wakes you during your "best time" within a certain window. Getting jarred out of a deep REM slumber to the sound of a blaring alarm clock sets you up for a negative day brimming with fatigue and crankiness.

But getting the right alarm clock is only part of the battle.

Here are six ways to start your morning better while kicking bad habits that destroy good sleep hygiene.

1. Give yourself at least 15 minutes of no screen time
Besides turning off an alarm that might be on your phone, resist the urge to check your email or social media. It sets you up for a day of being enslaved to technology, and your morning time should be reserved just for you. This might mean disabling notifications on your home screen so you're not tempted by that Facebook update or mounting emails.

2. Swap out the coffee for lemon water
Lukewarm water with a fresh lemon squeezed into it has numerous benefits--but you need to drink it first thing in the morning. It starts your metabolism, which burns fat while sustaining muscle, cleanses your mouth and throat, and gives you a boost of energy. Then wait at least 30 minutes before brushing your teeth, drinking, or eating. This might be a toughie for caffeine addicts, but you can manage 30 minutes and it's a great way to reduce the need for a coffee fix.

3. Sit up correctly
There are many "bad ways" to get out of bed, but only one best way, if your body allows for it: Roll over onto your right side, then push yourself up into a sitting position before standing with a straight back (no hunching). It's the gentlest way to get up, takes the pressure off your heart and back, and is a great, easy ritual to start your morning right.

4. Set and affirm your goals for the day
While stretching in bed or prepping your lemon water, set some feasible goals for the day, but limit them to three. This might include packing your lunch instead of eating out to save money, committing to that noon yoga class, or scheduling the doctor's appointment you've been putting off.

5. Stretch
It seems so obvious, and yet so many people ignore it. You can do this in bed, using a simple stretched-out-legs-and-arms-overhead movement. You can indulge in a supine twist on a padded floor, or you can practice whatever feels right for as little or as long as you like. Your body's just been booted down for hours--you can't expect it to be warmed up, energized, and raring to go right away.

6. Meditate
Don't skip over this one just because it sounds boring or like you don't have time for it. Meditation is only as strict, long, short, boring, or annoying as you make it. A "successful" meditation in an entire lifetime might be only a few seconds. However, sitting in a comfortable position and focusing on clearing your mind--even if it's for less than a minute--can help your mental clarity and spiritual well-being and set the stage for the day.

You probably already know which morning habits aren't serving you, so why keep doing them? Instead, focus on what really makes your mornings better and prioritize them.