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Guide to Living Healthier
27-page FREE guide!
Be Healthy By Exercising
Simple exercising hints.
As we have noted before, exercising is a great way to improve our health. For example, see: Staying Fit and Living Longer. Increase Your Energy When You’re Too Tired to Workout. Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Role Model for Those with Major Illnesses. Today, let’s look at another valuable infographic.
It is from Kaiser Permanente.
Veganism Coming to Hospitals
Better understanding veganism
For those with major illnesses, healthy eating is a must. And many of us watch our diets very carefully with regard to carbs, sodium, and other food ingredients.
A small — but growing — number of people are vegans. What is this lifestyle? And how is vegan food coming to hospitals?
What Is Veganism?
According to Jolinda Hackett for the Spruce Eats:
“Veganism is a type of vegetarian diet that excludes meat, eggs, dairy products, and all other animal-derived ingredients. Many vegans also do not eat foods that are processed using animal products, such as refined white sugar and some wines.
“Vegan refers to either a person who follows this way of eating or to the diet itself. That is, the word vegan can be an adjective used to describe a food item, as in, ‘This curry is vegan,’ or, it can be used as a noun, as in, ‘Vegans like cookies, too.'”
“Although there is some debate as to whether certain foods, such as honey, fit into a vegan diet, if you are cooking for other vegans, it is best to err on the side of caution and avoid these foods. Most vegans extend the definition of veganism to go beyond just food and will also avoid the use of all personal and household products tested on animals, and avoid purchasing and using all animal-derived, non-food products, such as leather, fur, and wool.”
Click the image to read more.
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Veganism Coming to Hospitals
As TrendWatching reports, veganism is now coming to more hospitals. Here is one example:
“Public health-care group NYC Health + Hospitals debuted Meatless Monday at its 11 hospitals this month. The group, which is the largest municipal hospital and clinic network in the U.S., was praised by Brooklyn Borough president (and passionate vegan) Eric L. Adams. The vegan meals include pasta and garden bolognese, vegetables, and hummus and black bean soup. Whether your company and staff are decidedly herbivore, carnivore or omnivore, there are lessons to be taken away.
According to the Economist, which recently declared 2019 the ‘year of the vegan’, a quarter of 25 to 34-year-olds in the U.S. now say they are vegetarian or vegan. So this move sees NYC Health + Hospitals tapping into a shift with real momentum. Are you constantly scanning the horizon for the shifts you should see coming?”
“Many consumers want to reduce their consumption of animal products. But change is hard! Introducing Meatless Monday sees NYC Health + Hospitals become a DEMANDING BRAND: making easier for consumers to make a positive change by giving them no choice. Yes, a bold move. But one that rising numbers of conscious consumers will be grateful for. So what constructive change could you DEMAND of your customers in 2019?”
Click the image to read more.
Is U.S. Food Safe?
Be sure to visit FoodSafety.gov
Over the years, there have been many food recalls in the United States. Click the image to see recent U.S. food recalls and to access the links on the Web site. Then, read below.
Is U.S. Food Safe?
Consider the infographic below. And read the comments from Niall McCarthy, writing for Statista:
“In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. It was supposed to regulate how foods are grown, harvested, and processed. Furthermore, it gave the FDA mandatory recall authority, something it had been trying to get for years. Despite passing that law, the U.S. is still experiencing hundreds of food recalls every year, many of which are extremely serious. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 6 Americans contracts a foodborne illness every year.”
“The volume of food recalls can provide an insight into food safety standards in different countries. A recent analysis by U.S. PIRG shows that the total number of recalls in the U.S. fell between 2017 and 2018. Even though that might seem like good news, the long term trends are far less positive. Recalls of meat and poultry rose 66 percent between 2013 and 2018. In an even more troubling development, the most hazardous Class I recalls of meat and poultry are up 83 percent since 2013. Class I refers to food that presents serious health risks such as containing botulinal toxins or undeclared allergens.”
Insights on Health Literacy
It’s essential to become more health literate.
In the United States, how much do people know and understand about various health issues? For many, the answer is unfortunately not much.
Consider a few of the highlights from the report “America’s Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information.” Click the image to access the full report.
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“Health literacy — the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services to make appropriate health decisions — is essential to promote healthy people and communities. Health care institutions and public health systems play a critical role in health literacy, because they can make it easier or more difficult for people to find and use health information and services. For the first time, there are national data that demonstrate currently available health information is too difficult for average Americans to use to make health decisions.”
“Limited health literacy isn’t a disease that makes itself easily visible. In fact, you can’t tell by looking. Health literacy depends on the context. Even people with strong literacy skills can face health literacy challenges, such as when: They are not familiar with medical terms or how their bodies work. People have to interpret numbers or risks to make a health care decision. They are diagnosed with a serious illness and are scared or confused. They have complex conditions that require complicated self-care.”
Key findings and policy implications of the first-ever National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) findings include:
Only 12 percent of U.S. adults had proficient health literacy. “Over a third of U.S. adults — 77 million people — have difficulty with common health tasks, such as following directions on a prescription drug label or adhering to a childhood immunization schedule using a standard chart.”
“Limited health literacy affects adults in all racial and ethnic groups. The proportion of adults with basic or below basic health literacy ranges from 28 percent of white adults to 65 percent of Hispanic adults.”
“Although half of adults without a high school education had below basic health literacy skills, even high school and college graduates can have limited health literacy.“
“Compared to privately insured adults, both publicly insured and uninsured adults had lower health literacy skills.”
“All adults, regardless of their health literacy skills, were more likely to get health information from radio/television, friends/family, and health professionals than from print media.”
Latest Radio Interview on Embracing Life
Live life every day and be happy doing so.
This past weekend, I participated in an online radio interview with American Medicine Today for iHeart Radio.
Click the play button below to listen this 12:46 minute interview.
Best States for Retirement
Would you believe Alaska is ranked first?
Last month, we pointed out the best community in each state in which to retire. Today, we look at how the states themselves rank as places for retirees to live.
According to Michael B. Sauter, reporting for 24/7 Wall St.:
“As the baby boomer generation continues to age, millions of Americans are due for retirement. Every day, about 10,000 U.S. residents turn 65. However, a record number of people 65 and older remain in the workforce because of financial insecurity. The number of seniors who continue to work has more than doubled since 2000.”
“Many seniors do not have the luxury of choosing where to spend their retirement. This could be because they depend on younger family members or because relocating costs too much. Those who choose to exit the workforce and rely on their savings, pensions, and social security face different financial burdens depending on the state where they spend their golden years.”
“In one state, a retired couple can live comfortably on $36,000 a year. In another state, the same standard of living costs as much as $56,000. A person who retires at 65 and lives 20 more years could need an extra half a million dollars for living expenses depending on which state they are in.”
“To determine what it costs to retire in every state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed annual expenses at the state level. We then reviewed data from the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator for a couple 65 or older with no dependents, which measures the income a family needs in order to attain a modest standard of living at the metropolitan level. Using differences in budgetary needs between the average American and residents 65 and over, 24/7 Wall St. calculated the average annual retirement costs by state.”
Click here to access the ranking of all 50 states, starting with number 50.
Below is the 24/7 Wall St. analysis of New York.
3. New York
> Estimated annual retirement costs: $50,321
> Avg. annual earnings for 65+ households: $29,018 (13th highest)
> Avg. annual homeownership costs for seniors: $21,648 (4th highest)
> Pct. residents 65+: 15.9% (25th lowest)
