1. Diabetes Basics
2. Wellness and Food
3. Wellness Facts
4. Quotes
5. A Wellness Challenge

Wellness News quiz:

1. Eating a lot of sugar can lead to tooth decay, but it does not cause diabetes. True/False.
2. There is a trend to establish influential parameters about what constitutes a healthy diet. True/False
3. The common cold, a viral upper respiratory infection, cannot be cured. True/False
4. Who said - “The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.”
Answers are below in the reading material.

1. Diabetes Basics
November is American Diabetes Month
Diabetes is a serious disease. Nearly 21 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes. It is the fifth deadliest disease in the U.S.

What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disease of the pancreas, an organ behind your stomach that produces the hormone insulin. Insulin helps the body use food for energy. When a person has diabetes, the pancreas either cannot produce enough insulin, uses the insulin incorrectly, or both. Insulin works together with glucose in the bloodstream to help it enter the body's cells to be burned for energy. If the insulin isn't functioning properly, glucose cannot enter the cells. This causes glucose levels in the blood to rise, creating a condition of high blood sugar or diabetes, and leaving the cells without fuel.

Understanding Metabolism
To better understand diabetes, it helps to know more about how the body uses food for energy (a process called metabolism). Your body is made up of millions of cells. To make energy, the cells need food in a very simple form. When you eat or drink, much of your food is broken down into a simple sugar called glucose. Glucose provides the energy your body needs for daily activities. The blood vessels and blood are the highways that transport sugar from where it is either taken in (the stomach) or manufactured (in the liver) to the cells where it is used (muscles) or where it is stored (fat). Sugar cannot go into the cells by itself. The pancreas releases insulin into the blood, which serves as the helper, or the "key," that lets sugar into the cells for use as energy. When sugar leaves the bloodstream and enters the cells, the blood sugar level is lowered. Without insulin, or the “key," sugar cannot get into the body's cells for use as energy. This causes sugar to rise. Too much sugar in the blood is called "hyperglycemia” (high blood sugar) or diabetes. There are 2 main types of diabetes:

TYPE 1 DIABETES — Type 1 diabetes occurs because the insulin-producing cells (called beta cells) of the pancreas are damaged. People with Type 1 diabetes produce little or no insulin, so sugar cannot get into the body's cells for use as energy. This causes blood sugar levels to rise. People with Type 1 diabetes MUST use insulin injections to control their blood sugar. The damage to the insulin-producing cells in Type 1 diabetes occurs over a period of years. However, the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes might occur over a period of days to weeks. Type 1 is the most common form of diabetes in people younger than 20 years old, but it can occur at any age.

TYPE 2 DIABETES — People with Type 2 diabetes produce insulin. However, there is either not enough insulin or it doesn't work properly in the body. When there is not enough insulin or the insulin is not used as it should be, sugar cannot get into the body's cells for use as energy. This causes blood sugar to rise. Type 2 diabetes is most common in people over age 45 who are overweight. Some people with Type 2 diabetes can manage it by controlling their weight, watching their diet, and exercising regularly. Others might also need to take an oral medicine and/or insulin injections.

The symptoms of diabetes include:
• Increased thirst
• Increased hunger (especially after eating)
• Dry mouth
• Frequent urination
• Unexplained weight loss (even though you are eating and feel hungry)
• Weak, tired feeling
• Blurred vision
• Numbness or tingling of the hands or feet
• Slow healing sores or cuts
• Dry and itchy skin (usually in the vaginal or groin area)
• Frequent yeast infections

Diabetes risk factors:
• A family history of diabetes
• Race or ethnic background
• Being overweight
• History of hypertension (high blood pressure)
• Abnormal blood cholesterol or triglyceride levels
• Advancing age
• Certain drugs (These might increase blood sugar.)
• Years of heavy alcohol use
• Smoking
• History of gestational diabetes or delivery of a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
• History of autoimmune disease
• Having been told you have pre-diabetes

It is important to note that sugar itself does not cause diabetes. Eating a lot of sugar can lead to tooth decay, but it does not cause diabetes.

How is diabetes diagnosed?
A fasting blood sugar test is performed after you have had nothing by mouth (eating or drinking) for 8 hours. Normal fasting blood sugar is between 70 and 99 mg/dl.
Diabetes is diagnosed by one of the following:
• Your blood sugar level is equal to or greater than 126 mg/dl.
• You have two random blood sugar tests over 200 mg/dl with symptoms.
• You have an oral glucose tolerance test with results over 200.

Can diabetes be cured?
No. A cure for diabetes has not yet been found. However, diabetes can be treated and controlled. Most people with diabetes manage their disease and lead normal lives. Without proper care, diabetes can lead to: Heart disease, Kidney disease, High blood pressure, Low blood pressure, Eye damage and blindness, Gum disease, Serious infections in feet, sometimes requiring amputation. Damage to nerves, resulting in pain or loss of sensation.

2. Wellness and Food: “There is a trend to establish influential parameters about what constitutes a healthy diet.”

Wellness has become perhaps the pivotal issue affecting food today, but in the future, it may well have an even greater impact on how and what kinds of edibles consumers purchase. Just as it took many years for the impact of smoking to reach the level of concern that prompted restrictions and controls. Food is now a concern that impacts the health of societies all over the world. Between the emphasis on nutritional education in schools--spurred by concerns about childhood obesity--and the aging of a baby boom generation that is looking to nutrition as its fountain of youth, a consensus may be emerging that will establish influential parameters about what constitutes a healthy diet.

Food retailers will come under increasing pressure to work within those parameters even as the territory they demarcate becomes increasingly fragmented. For a wellness practitioner, this is usually not a problem. Wellness emphasizes the importance of eating the right foods.

Below are tips and information that can assist anyone in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Included are:
a. Basics: Diet and Exercise for Better Health

If You're Overweight, Slim Down for Better Health
Overweight people have an increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and other illnesses. Losing weight reduces the risk. This brochure tells you how to lose weight safely.

Ask Your Doctor About Sensible Goals
Your doctor or other health worker can help you set sensible goals based on a proper weight for your height, build and age. Men and very active women may need up to 2,500 calories daily. Other women and inactive men need only about 2,000 calories daily. A safe plan is to eat 300 to 500 fewer calories a day to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.

Exercise 30 Minutes
Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, like brisk walking, most days of the week.
The idea is to use up more calories than you eat. You need to use up the day's calories and some of the calories stored in your body fat.

Eat Less Fat and Sugar
This will help you cut calories. Fried foods and fatty desserts can quickly use up a day's calories. And these foods may not provide the other nutrients you need. Make sure your other foods that day are low in fat and calories.

Eat a Wide Variety Of Foods
Variety in the diet helps you get all the vitamins and other nutrients you need.

Watch Out for Promises of Quick And Easy Weight Loss
Fad diets aren't good because they often call for too much or too little of one type of food. As a result, you may not get important nutrients you need daily.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't true.

Weight Loss Tips
Most of us want to lose weight at some time or another, but we are told that to go on a diet is detrimental to our health. So how can we lose weight? Making changes in our lifestyle is the trick.

Here are ten easy tips to help you lose weight:
1. Make sure you eat breakfast. Skipping it is disaster; you'll only eat more through the day and you won't perform nearly as well without it.
2. Don't snack after dinner. Close the kitchen and clean your teeth. That's it.
3. Watch your drinks. Some are so full of sugar you might just as well eat it straight from the sugar pot. Bottled water or tap water are sufficient for hydration.
4. Eat more natural food such as fruit and vegetables; they will fill you up and are nutritious.
5. Have whole grain everything - bread, pasta, popcorn and cookies.
6. Don't keep junk food in the house and avoid eating out at those places where you can eat all you like for a set cost.
7. When serving your dinner, give yourself slightly smaller portions.
8. Work up to 10,000 steps per day. Start by parking your vehicle away in the back of the parking lot.
9. Have lots of protein and small frequent snacks rather than starving and then overeating.
10. Choose the lighter alternatives - or skip it altogether. Salads are simply great.

b. Wellness upcoming Holidays:

10 Eating Tips for a Healthy Holiday Season
Food is an important part of many holidays, celebrations, family and cultural traditions.
In fact, special occasions often center around food. As a result, many people gain a little (or a lot of) weight between Thanksgiving and the New Year. What’s to blame? Perhaps it’s all the tempting treats available during the holiday season or the pressure from family, friends, and co-workers to overeat. Maybe it’s the increased emotional eating (whether it be from holiday stress or holiday joy) or the extreme laxity with eating and physical activity regimens in anticipation for the strict “new diet and exercise plan” you’re going to start January 1st. Regardless of the reasons, it is not necessary to avoid holiday festivities in an attempt to maintain your weight. Consider these 10 tips for fully enjoying the holiday season without gaining weight!
1. Focus on weight maintenance vs. weight loss during the holidays. If you are currently overweight and want to lose weight, this is not the time to do it. Maintenance of your present weight is a big enough challenge during the holiday season. Don’t set yourself up for failure by making unrealistic goals for yourself.
2. Plan on NOT dieting after the New Year. Anticipation of food restriction sets you up for binge-type eating over the holidays (“after all, if I’m never going let myself eat this again after Jan. 1st, I might as well eat as much as possible now!”) Besides, restrictive diets don’t work in the long run. They increase your loss of lean body mass vs. fat, slow down your metabolism, increase anxiety, depression, food preoccupation, and binge eating, and make weight re-gain more likely.
3. Be physically active every day. Often, students’ busy holiday schedules (or lack of structured schedules) bump them off their exercise routines. Physical activity, especially aerobic activities (like brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, roller blading, and swimming) can help relieve stress, regulate appetite, and burn up extra calories from holiday eating.
4. Eat a light snack before going to holiday parties. It is not a good idea to arrive at a party famished. Not only are you more likely to overeat, but you are also less likely to resist the temptation of eating the higher fat and higher calorie foods. Try eating a piece of fruit, a small carton of yogurt, or a string cheese before you go.
5. Make a plan. Think about where you will be, who you will be with, what foods will be available, what foods are really special to you (that you really want to eat) vs. those that you could probably do without, what are your personal triggers to overeat and how can you minimize them. Once you've thought about all of these things, make a plan of action. It's much easier to deal with a difficult social eating situation if you've already planned for it.
6. Take steps to avoid recreational eating. While some foods are more calorie-dense than others, no food will make you gain weight unless you eat too much of it. At parties and holiday dinners, we tend to eat (or keep eating) beyond our body’s physical hunger simply because food is there and eating is a “social thing.” To avoid recreational eating, consciously make one plate of the foods you really want. Eat it slowly--enjoying and savoring every tasty bite. Then, when you’re done, pop a mint or stick of gum in your mouth, get a tall glass of water and sip on it throughout the night, or position yourself away from the buffet table or food trays to keep yourself from overeating.
7. Reduce the fat in holiday recipes. There are plenty of low fat and low calorie substitutes that are amazingly tasty. Try using applesauce in place of oil in your favorite holiday breads; use egg substitutes in place of whole eggs; try plain nonfat yogurt in place of sour cream. Magazines are full of reduced calorie and reduced fat holiday recipes. Give them a try, and share your cooking creations with friends and family.
8. Choose your beverages wisely. Alcohol is high in calories. Liquors, sweet wines and sweet mixed drinks contain 150-450 calories per glass. By contrast, water and diet sodas are calorie-free. If you choose to drink, select light wines and beers, and use non-alcoholic mixers such as water and diet soda. Limit your intake to 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks per occasion. And, watch out for calories in soda, fruit punch, and egg nog as well.
9. Enjoy good friends and family. Although food can be a big part of the season, it doesn’t have to be the focus. Holidays are a time to reunite with good friends and family, to share laughter and cheer, to celebrate and to give thanks. Focus more on these other holiday pleasures, in addition to the tastes of holiday foods. The important thing to remember is balance and moderation. It’s OK to eat too much once in a while. Just relax, enjoy the holidays, and remember what the season is all about.
10. Maintain perspective: Overeating one day won't make or break your eating plan. And it certainly won't make you gain weight! It takes days and days of overeating to gain weight. If you over-indulge at a holiday meal, put it behind you. Return to your usual eating plan the next day without guilt or despair ?

3. Wellness Facts

• Did you know that 10 minutes of jump rope exercising is equivalent to 1 mile of running?
• To take off a pound permanently there must be a 3500 calorie deficit in your diet. This means that you must burn 3500 calories more than you take in – and not all in one day. So if you cut 250 calories from your diet each day and jog for 30 minutes or walk for 60 (burning another 250 calories) you’ll take off one pound each week.
• Teen weight loss is best approached in a supportive (family) environment. It is so much easier to achieve your goals when you are working with like minded supportive people.
• Vegetarian diets are not just for the totally health conscious person any more. Research has shown that vegetarian diets improve health and improve energy.
• Medicine ball exercises are an excellent way of beginning a program or adding intensity to a current program. Medicine balls or fitness balls are easy to use, cheap and give you a great workout.
• The common cold, a viral upper respiratory infection, is the most frequent infection in all age groups in the U.S., accounting for at least half of all illnesses. American adults average three to six colds a year, while children have as many as eight. Colds cannot be cured, the goal of any treatment is to help your body fight the cold virus and alleviate the symptoms. The same is true for the flu. Like the cold, the flu cannot be cured but must run its course. However, antiviral drugs can be taken before you get the flu or within 48 hours after exposure to reduce the severity and duration. The flu does not respond to antibiotics; however, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics if you are at risk for bacterial infection.
• High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects one in four adults, but because the condition frequently has no symptoms, nearly one-third of those affected do not know they have it. Generally, the only way to know about a blood pressure problem is to have it checked regularly.

4. Quotes:

“Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again.” - Dag Hammarskjold

“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” – Seneca