uhuhealt: May 2013

Friday, 31 May 2013

HIA2013 - Deadline for abstracts extended

The deadline for submission of abstracts has been extended to Friday 14 June 2013. All the relevant information is on the website hia2013.net

Get writing!

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Ahi Tuna Salad

One of my favorite starters to order at a restaurant, aside from the cheese plate, is the tuna tartare. To satisfy the craving at home, I make something similar once in awhile. This recipe does call for a couple of unique ingredients you may not necessarily have on hand, but you can pick them up at most grocery stores.

Ingredients

Ahi tuna
Tomato
Avocado
Scallions
Spicy mayo (I get it from the sushi counter at my store- it's about $1.00 for a small cup)
Wasabi paste- comes in a tube
Black sesame seeds

I sear the tuna in a skillet over medium high heat for about two minutes per side and them remove and let rest while I dice the tomato and avocado. Add in a bit of chopped scallion, the spicy mayo and wasabi paste to taste and sprinkle with the black sesame seeds.

Are you into sushi or not so much? I know people love it or hate it. I'm definitely in the love category!

Thursday, 16 May 2013

Mushroom, Asparagus, Radish, & Arugula Salad

Hi everyone! It’s Jennifer from The Chronicles of Home and I’ve got a delicious spring salad to share with you today.

We ate this mushroom, asparagus, and radish salad for dinner recently alongside roasted chicken thighs but I could have eaten it alone as a vegetarian meal. In fact, I did eat the leftovers by themselves as my lunch the next day and I have great news - this is one of those salads that is fantastic leftover.

The mushrooms and asparagus are cooked and warm when you add them to the arugula, which softens and wilts just slightly. The flavors are springy and fresh but I found the salad to still be hearty and satisfying, which is just what I’m craving this time of year.

Mushroom, Asparagus, Radish, & Arugula Salad

Ingredients

1 medium bunch asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1” pieces

1 tbsp. unsalted butter

2 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1/4 c. shallot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced

2 c. chicken stock

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tbsp. fresh chives, chopped

1 tbsp. flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 tbsp. grated parmesan or romano cheese

2 c. arugula

8 radishes, sliced

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Blanch asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.

Preheat oven to 350º. Melt butter and 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large ovenproof saute pan over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic. Sprinkle with salt to taste and cook 1 minute. Add mushrooms, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a boil. Transfer to oven and roast until mushrooms are tender, about 30 minutes. Return to stovetop and boil over high heat until liquid evaporates.

Lower heat to medium-low and add aspargus, chives, parsley, and parmesan. Stir to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Toss arugula, radishes, remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add mushroom and asparagus mixture and toss gently to combine.

* * * * *

Thank you for this post from contributing writer, Jennifer, of The Chronicles of Home. You'll definitely want to check out her blog for more amazing recipes, beautiful home decor, and easy-to-follw DIY projects!

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Oregon Health Authority HIA Program Position (Closes soon!)

From the position announcement:

OHA's HIA Program envisions an Oregon where human health and the distribution of health impacts are actively considered in relevant projects, policies, and plans across sectors. The Program is focused on catalyzing change in three key areas: promoting health impact assessment (HIA) among decision-makers and community partners; institutionalizing HIA practice into existing mechanisms; and expanding support for practitioners. We are seeking an epidemiologist/public health scientist to join our team to provide technical leadership on HIA projects and advance the consideration of health in Oregon.

The position closes on May 20. Click below to view the announcement:

http://agency.governmentjobs.com/oregon/default.cfm?action=viewjob&JobID=647683

U.S.A. Southeast Regional HIA Summit

From the organisers:

Registration is now open for the first ever Southeast Regional HIA Summit! July 31 – August 2, Davidson, NC.

This is NOT your typical conference. Let’s face facts…HIA practitioners are a special breed of people who are creative enough to bridge the gap between multiple fields and operate outside of the box on a daily basis. Whenever we get together the atmosphere is more like a family reunion than a meeting. Add in the small-town charm of Davidson, NC and southern hospitality and you just know you are in store for a good time.

Here’s what the first Southeast Regional HIA Summit has to offer:

Opportunities to LISTEN: Hear from Dr. John Santopietro, M.D., Carolinas HealthCare System, on The State of Mental Health in the U.S. and Mitchell Silver, AICP, Past President of the American Planning Association on Building Healthy Communities.
Chances to LEARN: From each other during small group discussions− HIA Speed Dating, HIA Tool Exchange, Troubleshooting your HIA, Developing the HIA Message, Sustaining an HIA Program, and HIA and Health Equity.
Time to HAVE FUN: Networking during community activities including bicycling on Davidson’s greenway, paddling on Lake Davidson and viewing the Davidson Design for Life Documentary at Our Town Cinema.
And much, much more!

Likely participants include: HIA practitioners, researchers, and funders; professionals and educators from the fields of planning, policy, and public health; and interested government officials and not-for-profit leaders. To get the most out of the Summit, you should have direct experience in conducting HIA; be currently involved in conducting your first HIA; or at least have a basic understanding of the process and principles of HIA.

Everything you need to know about the Summit may be found on our web page:

Preliminary schedule-of-events
Hotel information
Online registration or a printable registration form (Early Bird Registration Deadline is June 15)
Travel scholarship
How to get to Davidson, NC

For more information and questions, please contact Courtney Spear, Summit Conference Planner at 704.400.0880 or courtneyhspear@gmail.com

Monday, 13 May 2013

Mila (Chia Seeds)

Have you heard all the good news lately about chia seeds? I met a new friend I instantly "clicked" with and she is an independent distributor of Mila (a blend of chia seeds), a whole, raw food and it's one simple thing we've incorporated into our food here lately.

So far, I've been putting about 1/4 to 1/2 scoop of Mila in my protein pancakes, as well as these other dishes:

OATMEAL

GRANOLA BITES

PROTEIN & DARK CHOCOLATE OATMEAL MUFFINS

PANCAKES

TURKEY CHILI

WATER

You can order Mila from my friend Dacia here: http://daciagonzales.lifemax.net

Below are some of her tips for eating Mila. If you have any questions, please feel free to email her (dadaciagonzales@gmail.com). She's very knowledgeable about the product and is sincere about it's health benefits.

Eat Consistently and After Hydrating If Possible

Now that you have your bag of Mila please make sure to eat it daily and consistently. The bag is a 35 day supply. As we discussed, the recommended daily serving for adults is 1 of the scoops (in the bag = 2 Tbsp). It's suggested to start with 1/2 of the recommended amount so your GI has several days to adjust to the nutrition and raw fiber. The best way to eat your Mila is after it's "hydrated," which just means after it has had a chance to absorb water. If you're consuming it by drinking it in water, let it sit for at least 15-30 minutes before starting to drink it. If you decide to add it to a smoothie instead of just drinking it in water, put your Mila in a small bowl with a few tablespoons of water and let it absorb the water for at least 15-30 minutes and then add it to the smoothie.

Drinking in Water and Other Options

As I mentioned, my husband and I drink ours in a large water bottle over the first hour or so of the morning - we were surprised we don't mind consuming it that way. If you decide to consume it that way, a full scoop with 10 ounces of water will be quite grainy with a more thick consistency and a full scoop with 20 ounces of water makes the Mila hardly noticeable, so it's really just personal preference. Again, though, make sure to let the Mila hydrate for at least 15-30 minutes before starting to drink it. I recommend putting it in a large water bottle so that you can shake it. Between shaking it periodically and adding it to 20 ounces or more of water, I don't feel like it has anywhere near the thick, gritty consistency. If you don't like it in your water or want to try other ways to eat it, as we discussed there are lots of other ways to incorporate it into your diet - it mixes easily into things like peanut butter and it also retains all of its nutrient content in baked goods such as muffins or pancakes. If you want any recipes besides the power ball recipe, I'd be glad to pass them along.

Look for...

Pay close attention to things like satiation (feeling full and satisfied), bowel habits, energy levels, and sleep. Some people don't feel the health benefits and others feel a difference over days or weeks. If you experience anything like constipation, gas, or bloating, I've already learned that it's usually your GI adjusting to the nutrition and raw fiber. Adjusting how you're eating your Mila can alleviate those issues and will ease your body into the nutrition and fiber. If that happens, just call/text/e-mail me and I can give you some tips.

Recap

-Start with 1/2 scoop or 1 Tablespoon for approximately 1 week

-Try to hydrate (soak in water) for at least 15-30 minutes before consuming

-Use at least 16-20 ounces of water and shake periodically if you're drinking it in water and don't like the thicker consistency

-Contact me for suggestions to modify how you're eating your Mila if you experience any undesirable effects

-Enjoy!

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

The Neurobiology of the Obesity Epidemic

I recently read an interesting review paper by Dr. Edmund T. Rolls titled "Taste, olfactory and food texture reward processing in the brain and the control of appetite" that I'll discuss in this post (1). Dr. Rolls is a prolific neuroscience researcher at Oxford who focuses on "the brain mechanisms of perception, memory, emotion and feeding, and thus of perceptual, memory, emotional and appetite disorders." His website is here.

The first half of the paper is technical and discusses some of Dr. Rolls' findings on how specific brain areas process sensory and reward information, and how individual neurons can integrate multiple sensory signals during this process. I recommend reading it if you have the background and interest, but I'm not going to cover it here. The second half of the paper is an attempt to explain the obesity epidemic based on what he knows about the brain and other aspects of human biology.

Read more »

Trial and Error

Celebrating 49 and Feeling FABULOUS

I believe in trial and error and especially when it comes to what works best for my body and my life. I will be celebrating the last year of my forties this weekend and I am thinking a lot about my life, and reflecting on many things that have got me to this point, how I feel about myself, and realizing that trial and error has served me well personally, physically, and nutritionally.

In my journey of almost fifty years, I have experienced definite trial and error when it has come to relationships and defining what I do not want and what I do want, with healthy being at the forefront of all that. It has been quite a process and as I look back, all the trudging through the unhealthy to open fabulous doors to healthy has been a blessed learning journey to create who I am right now, and whom I have chosen to share my life and I include my hubby, family, and friends through this healthy pondering. Life is just too short not to take care of ME and it is too short not to be with people who are positive, supportive, real, and who nourish my soul in great ways. Of course when I was going through the trial and error process, there were days that really sucked, and I allowed myself to feel all the pain of that moment, but all the time never saying “Why Me” but asking God to please “Show me how to be a better person through this, help me believe in your better plan for me, or what the heck are you teaching me now”…it was this kind of faith and belief going through the trials that provided the hope in the positive lesson that kept me going and keeps me going still.

Moving on to trial and error with my fitness and workouts…now this has really

been quite the ordeal. As many of you know if you have read my bio, I have suffered a cervical injury, live with diagnosed torticollis, and have undergone two major surgeries, in addition to giving birth to two children. When injury face plants you to the ground and takes away your quality of life and job, a sense of hopelessness and stripping of who you are can take place…well…that was me a few years ago. Talk about feeling scared and humbled, well I was that and more, and depended on strength greater than my own to get me through. I utilized my skills and knowledge of the human body to begin rehabbing myself and although a slow process, I began to create through trial and error, a new modified ME. I look back on that time and know that I do not ever want to re-visit that part of my life again, and do whatever I can to greatly reduce and hopefully eliminate that. I am no longer the extreme athlete of the past, but I am happy to be ME, the athlete of today.

My workouts are all about trial and error. There are days I may push the envelope too much, and my body screams back later that night or the next day to not repeat that. That calls for a check mark of that exercise off the list, and return to what my body likes best. For example, I can no longer do pushups and boy do I miss those, but I can still chest press and fly like no other. The beautiful part about fitness and exercise is that ALL things can be modified to fit the person. I love to teach this to my clients and really have a passion for those with injury because I can say “I know how you feel” and truly mean that. Also, it is about QUALITY moves regardless of the weight resistance being used. I enjoy working out, sweating, and the way I feel when I am done, but what I really love most is being able to push myself through my workouts and not aggravate my injury…now that is happy success and has been accomplished through lots of trial and error.

My nutrition relates to trial and error in eating the foods that best fit my system,

body, and overall how I feel energy wise. If I removed whole grains from my nutrition, I feel a definite drop in energy and talk about constipation…no thanks. Besides, I enjoy my brown rice and steel cut oats, and what I concentrate on is eating healthy, proper portions, and eating to live and not to feel like “Thanksgiving Dinner” at every meal. If I eat something that does not agree with me, causes an upset system, then I eliminate that from my intake, but that takes trial and error to figure out, and yes even healthy foods can upset my system like certain dairy for example…talk about colon cramp to the ground…YIKES. So, with my nutrition I implement what works best for ME, and provides MY BODY with the nutrients that make ME feel at my BEST. I also agree that people are not generic, so what works for me may not work for another. Life would be so boring to think that we all fit into the same size life…right? I would be a negligent and insensitive trainer/coach if I did not listen to what was not working for my clients and tried to force feed some sort of one-size-fits all philosophy down their throats. I am unable to support those types of ideals, and really that is why it is called “personal” training/coaching.

When it comes to my life, I have been happy with my trial and error education, personally and professionally. Through my trials, I have become a better person, stronger, wiser, and a person who has woke up and really enjoys the coffee, one who appreciates that hard times bring about greatness, and I am thankful. I understand what works for me emotionally, spiritually, physically, and nutritionally, and that is HUGE to me living a healthy LIFESTYLE. I welcome the trial and error and the opportunities that always come from my learning through the journey. It may not feel good all the time, but that is the reality of life and I would be untruthful with you to say that life has been all peaches and cream. Life has not promised easy, but it has promised that it can be great. It is what I have done through my trial and error process that has determined that. I will close with my favorite “Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you respond to it”.

I dedicate this Blog to my Beautiful Mom and Mother-in-law! I love you dearly and wish you the Happiest of Mother's Day! Happy Mom's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, and all those fabulous women in that role...you are all truly appreciated for all that you do and all that you are!

Me and My Mom My Fabulous Moms!

Thanks for stopping by my Blog, hope you enjoy the content, and if you have not become a follower yet, I would love to see your face on my friend's list. If you are inspired, LIKE my entry, leave a comment and I look forward to responding!

Stay Healthy~ Darla

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Friday, 3 May 2013

Impact Assessment: The Next Generation, the program of #iaia13 is available

Focus on Health - 14 May

The diversity of HIA practice worldwide is both a challenge and an asset, and the IAIA 2013 Health Day presents an ideal opportunity to facilitate dialogue across HIA practice globally. The Health Day and the other health-related activities will explore the importance of health within the Impact Assessment process, will enable IA practitioners to reflect on key lessons learned through the application of HIA, and will conclude with an examination of how HIA needs to evolve to be a better fit for the challenges ahead.

The one below is just a short summary, check the whole event program and the details of the presentations on the final program. At page 20 you find the details of the Health Day

6.1 Integrating health in impact assessments: Opportunities not to be missed

6.2 The science and art of international: HIA practice: Reflecting the range of HIA practitioners

6.3 The science and art of international: HIA practice: Old issues and new applications

6.4 The science and art of international: HIA practice: Let’s discuss

6.5 The science and art of international: HIA practice: Example from the industry

6.6 Using health impact assessment to achieve sustainable goals

14.6 Community responses to the next generation of energy technologies

See you in Calgary!

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Speaking at AHS13

The 2013 Ancestral Health Symposium will be held in Atlanta, GA, August 14-17. Last year was a great conference, and I look forward to more informative talks and networking. Tickets go fast, so reserve yours now if you plan to attend!

This year, I'll be speaking on insulin and obesity. My talk will be titled "Insulin and Obesity: Reconciling Conflicting Evidence". In this talk, I'll present the evidence for and against the idea that elevated insulin contributes to the development of obesity. One hypothesis states that elevated insulin contributes to obesity, while the other states that elevated insulin is caused by obesity and does not contribute to it. Both sides of the debate present evidence that appears compelling, and it often seems like each side is talking past the other rather than trying to incorporate all of the evidence into a larger, more powerful model.

There's a lot evidence that can be brought to bear on this question, but much of it hasn't reached the public yet. I'll explore a broad swath of evidence from clinical case studies, observational studies, controlled trials, animal research, physiology, and cell biology to test the two competing hypotheses and outline a model that can explain all of the seemingly conflicting data. Much of this information hasn't appeared on this blog. My goal is to put together a talk that will be informative to a researcher but also accessible to an informed layperson.

On a separate note, my AHS12 talk "Digestive Health, Inflammation and the Metabolic Syndrome" has not been posted online because the video recording of my talk has mysteriously disappeared. I think many WHS readers would be interested in the talk, since it covers research on the important and interdependent influence of gut health, inflammation, and psychological stress on the metabolic syndrome (the quintessential modern metabolic disorder). I'm going to try to find time to make a narrated slideshow so I can post it on YouTube.

HIA Gateway Updates

The HIA Bibliography has recently been updated, April 2013, and 50 new references were added. It is updated quarterly. If you have any relevant published papers you think should be on this list please forward to HIA Gateway We are now part of Public Health England. Public Health England will use use your information (as registered on the HIA Gateway) in the same way as we previously used your information and will not use it for any other purposes. We will ensure these details remain secure. If you no longer wish to continue receiving this monthly email and remain registered with the HIA Gateway, please contact the HIA Gateway: bwh-tr.hia@nhs.net .