Health Is Vital

Health is taken for granted, until you can't any more. In this blog I hope to put down on paper some of the articles I come across and want to remember, about health. I will be personalizing these articles to apply to me. I am diabetic, over weight, have high blood pressure and tinnitus, so these are the things you will find here. I will include nutrition, exercise, and holistic health, and many other ideas. I work in the health profession, particularly mental health, and have an interest in suicide prevention; so these topics will also be covered in this blog. Please, if you are suffering reach out. Our county health and crisis line is 1-855-278-4204.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

In the Kitchen After a Flood

Food Safety and Kitchen Cleaning After a Disaster

Food SafetyFlooding can cause power outages for hours, days and even weeks, which may make food unsafe to eat. 

If a fire, flood, power outage or natural disaster impacts your home, minimize the potential loss of food and reduce the risk of foodborne illness by knowing how to determine food safety.

You can learn the right decisions for keeping your family safe after a power outage with food and cleaning safety facts from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

After a Flood
·         Use bottled drinking water that has not come into contact with flood water.
·         Do not eat any food that may have come in contact with flood water.
·         Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance it may have come in contact with flood water. Food containers that are not waterproof include those with screw-caps, snap lids, pull tops, and crimped caps.
·         Discard cardboard juice/milk/baby formula boxes and home canned foods if they have come in contact with flood waters.  They cannot be cleaned and sanitized effectively. 
·         Inspect canned foods; discard any food in damaged cans. Check cans for  swelling, leakage, punctures, holes, fractures, extensive deep rusting, or crushing/denting severe enough to prevent normal stacking or opening with a manual, wheel-type can opener.
·         Discard wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby bottle nipples, and pacifiers that may have come in contact with flood waters. There is no way to clean them safely. 
·         Thoroughly wash metal pans, ceramic dishes, utensils (including can openers) with soap and water (hot water if available). Rinse and sanitize them by boiling in clean water or immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water.
·         Thoroughly wash countertops with soap and water (hot water if available). Rinse and then sanitize them by applying a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water. Allow it to air-dry.
·         Note: If your entire refrigerator or freezer was in flood waters — even partially — it is unsafe to use and must be discarded.
After a Weather Emergency
The USDA also issued a news release with food safety tips to follow in advance of losing power, steps to follow if the power goes out,  and food safety after a flood. There were also steps to follow after a weather emergency.
·         Check the temperature inside of your refrigerator and freezer. Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, seafood, eggs or leftovers) that has been above 40°F for two hours or more.       
·         Check frozen food for ice crystals. The food in your freezer that partially or completely thawed may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is 40°F or below.
·         Never taste food to decide if it is safe.
·         When in doubt, throw it out. 

For more information about cleaning up after a disaster, review Prepareathon’s Flood and Hurricane guides. Also, see food safety tips at Ready.gov.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Family Emergency Communication Plan

When a disaster strikes, it is too late to develop a family emergency plan.  Here is some advice from FEMA on how to do so.  There are three steps: Collect, share and practice.
Collect:  This refers to gathering the necessary information to implement your plan.  It also includes writing this down.  Information needed includes household information, school caregiver and childcare information, out of town contact, emergency meeting places (more than one including by home, and out of town, and any other important information.
Share: means to share your written copy with all involved, your family members and those who are your contacts.
Practice: Putting your plan into action before time will make sure it will work in an emergency.  Remember texting is best because it requires less band width.  It will also be important to conserve phone energy.  Best to keep phones fully charged, and consider solar power for recharging in an emergency.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

How to Lose Belly Fat

I saw the title to this article in Everyday Health and was really excited.  This is one of my goals.  However I was a bit disappointed in the suggestions.  The article is about exercises to lose belly fat.  It suggests the best involve weights--High-Intensity Strength Training.  Studies show strength training targets belly fat better than cardio.  One of the exercises is the incline push-up.  This is something I can do, and there are chances to do this many times a day.  The other exercises seem too complicated and I can't really see them in my brain.  I need a video or someone to guide me I guess.