MAKING HE GROCERY LIST

   In a recent item “Food for Thoughts,” we covered many of the basic nutrients but in order to put this into practice here are a few items to include in your grocery list or grow them in your garden.  As an example, how about mentioning walnuts which were included in yesterday’s green spinach salad here at Carrington.  Sprinkled in with some of those tender spinach leaves we find walnuts.  One walnut fits nicely into the palm of your hand yet when cracked and kept cool in the frig this small powerhouse when planted can grow into a tree as tall as a 10 story building and produce macronutrients like zinc, magnesium, copper, manganese, iron, calcium, omega-3s, vitamin E that can  relieve brain inflammation and protect neurons.  Patients with depression often have low levels of vitamin E in their blood.

   Potatoes sometimes have a bad rap but remember the blue or red skins have as many nutrients as broccoli.  Their special nutrients known as kukoamines can lower blood pressure which protects the brain with its folate and iodine which in turn is a mood regulator for proper functioning of the thyroid.  Iodine deficiency is the most common cause of preventable brain damage in the world.

   Wild-caught salmon has high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and countries having the highest fish consumption have lowest rates of depression, bi-polar disorder, post partum depression and winter blues.  A 2008 study found fish oil to be as effective as Prozac for treating depression.  For memory retrieval beets are the best as an excellent source of the B vitamins, crucial for a good mood and brain-processing speed.  Uridene, an important nutrient in beets is as effective as prescription anti-depressants when combined with omega-3s oil.

   Chile peppers and garlic are spicy because they contain a fat-soluble molecule called capsaicin.  Our brains are loaded with receptors for capsaicin and we respond by releasing endorphins to give a calming effect.  Tap into garlic and find a source of chromium to influence the regulation of serotonin – the happiness chemical.  Honey contains B vitamins, folate, iron and manganese together with 181bioactive compounds to boost energy production for the brain.  So instead of white sugar add a little honey, or pure maple syrup – manganese, zinc and calcium.  Blackstrap molasses contains B6, magnesium, manganese, calcium, copper, selenium, and more iron than a chicken breast. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHTS

   Want to be smarter with less stress and more energy?  Emerging research from the fields of neuroscience and nutrition shows that by changing what we eat, our moods can be more stable, improve our focus and boost our brain health, all while thinning our stomach.  It includes foods that are rich in nutrients like vitamin A an E, iodine, magnesium, calcium, iron, fiber, all that silently builds contentment, all “foods for thought and a great mood.”

   If you do better by making lists, the first thing to do is to remind yourself to reduce the amount of processed food we eat.  Too much sugar is added to so many processed foods that shrink key brain areas involved in mood regulations.  In any situation two thoughts may come to you – one that wishes to verbalize your appreciation and express to your youngster how great his table manners have become by eating more slowly and nutritiously.  Before it gets expressed, this complimentary angle may change and one might think to save time by choosing to express your thought negatively by saying, “It sure looks better than the way you used to gulp your food like you can’t stand to stay at the table and eat with us.”  It’s more readily received if that thought had been switched to a more acceptable one like:  “I notice that you are enjoying fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods that sharpen your brain and your school report cards show it does.”

      Do you want more brain cells?  Then start with an egg which is rich in B12, crucial for avoiding depression, irritability, depression and cognitive decline.  So add some early morning sunlight or vitamin D pills, since deficiencies can lead to lethargy, weight gain, depression, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.  The standard barnyard egg is a nutritional powerhouse. 

   To promote production of neurotransmitters include vegetable oils that have Vitamin A, promoting production of neurotransmitters.  Grass fed beef contains heme iron, the most absorbable form since the brain needs a constant flow of vitamin B12 suggesting improvement of academic performance.  Dark leafy vegetables are among the most nutrient dense food we eat, found in folates like arugula and spinach.  Greens are rich in calcium that releases neurotransmitters every time a neuron fires which maintains a healthy gut crucial for the proper absorption of other nutrients.  Even potatoes that have a bad rap unless you eat the skins that contain iodine that protects the brain, critical when diagnosed with depression, the first thing a psychiatrist may want to ask you about. 

CHALLENGING THE DAY

   Muscle power grows with the exercise taken.  Our lives are full of temptations that tax self control and drain our will power but a new and growing body of research says we can make it through the day and it’s not as hard as you may have imagined.  According to Roy Baumeister, PhD, director of social psychology at Florida State University, willpower functions like a muscle.  It can be strengthened to make you more productive, less stressed and happier.  All that is needed are a few healthy habits to keep your willpower tank full.  Dr. Baumeister monitored workers in Germany and was surprised to find that people spent 3 to 4 hours per day resisting desires.  He was surprised and puzzled to find that people with strong self control spent less time resisting desires than other people did.  The explanation began to emerge.  They were better at proactively arranging their lives to avoid problem situations.  They are the ones who take their car to the garage before it breaks down and steer clear of all-you-can eat buffets.  They set themselves up so they have a realistic chance of succeeding.

   “You can’t control surprise stresses so be prepared and don’t dawdle,” says Dianne Tice, PhD, a psychologist at Florida State University. “Impulsiveness is likely behind it.  When anxious or bored we may give in to the urge to improve our moods by doing something negative.  We’re mostly kidding ourselves and get sick more than those working on a schedule.  It is time to bite the bullet.  It’s hard to work when you’re tired and hungry.  You may be tempted to miss regular meals and not get a good night’s sleep and what you save in time you pay for later.  The next time you feel your will power begins to flag, grab an apple or a few almonds and be sure to get your rest and reward yourself often in other ways.  Make a weekly chart showing a line sloping downward.” she adds.  Going for a short run with one of your children can put a new perspective on the day.  Time alone with Dad is always special and it will give Mom time to individualize quiet moments with another family member, friend or plans for upcoming holiday get-togethers so important at the Christmas and Easter seasons.

   If we can keep those will-power muscles exercised and tuned into this extended way of thinking they get strengthened and the weekly chart you made and your mirror will bring delight to your day and likely add another decade to your life of good health and well being.  This helps us understand the results of this new way of thinking tested at Florida State University. 

GRANDKID'S GAZETTE DECEMBER 2011

   This is an exceptional Christmas celebration since the members of two churches had the opportunity to attend Christmas celebrations within a few days of each other and together will soon bring us into the New Year of 2012.  The first performance was at Grace Bible Church where my four great grandchildren and their parents attend regular services.  A few days later the next one was held at the Alliance Church.  Both were attended by packed crowds.  We were taken back in time to the manger scene with the Wise men and saw them coming from the East in appropriate regalia to see the newborn babe who would grow in wisdom and stature and bring light to the world.  This wisdom sounds much like the Golden Rule of Life that I first heard about in the late 1920s at a small Alberta country school.  Although this rule and way of living is said to be recommended by all religions and be part of the life’s journey of each individual, it is obvious that the effort to put it into practice is challenging.  “Whatever you would like people to do to you, do you also to them.”  The daily decisions that help carry out this rule and then put it into to practice are all a part of life’s challenges and daily decisions of life’s journey here on Earth.

   Another part of the performance included scenes of Noah and his fellow carpenters preparing to withstand the Great Flood that had been predicted.  If a tiger or other animal’s head slid off and until recovered we could guess who the performer was.  But it was all great fun to watch and see how efficiently all the scenes were directed by a few adults.  We parents and grandparents thought they were all wonderful as we watched lines of children of various ages with shiny tiaras dancing on their heads as they marched back to the stage.  We all clapped with delight.  Too soon it was time to depart and the back pews were first to leave to make space available. This provided a safe mini-stage for my youngest great grandchild whose steps danced back and forth with one hand clutched to the back of the next pew for safety.  Her three older sisters kept a close eye on their small sister whose quick steps and smiles of delight showed she was enjoying her little step dance.  Suddenly her joyous smile bent itself into a downward frown.  Mommie was missing from the little crowd nearby.  Her three sisters quickly pointed to their mother walking back in viewing distance and the just-over year-old dancer returned to her happy performance.  Mommie was safely back and that was after all the most important performance of all for the small dancer.   

 

  

  

   

BUILDING BETTER BONES

          

   Brittle bones for decades focused on post-menopausal osteoporosis women, but up to one-quarter of hip-fracture victims are men and their one-year survival rate is significantly lower than that of women with the same injury.  Researchers had “put blinders on and focused almost exclusively on compensating for the loss of estrogen at menopause,” says Stavros Monolagas, M.D, Ph.D., a professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.  “But men also lose bone and, for most of their lives, at about the same rate as women.”  Research by Monolagas, who directs the university’s Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Diseases has led to a broader view about the factors responsible for bone loss and where and when to target prevention and treatment. 

  Even bone mineral density testing, long considered the standard measure for determinant of bone strength than researchers once though, studies revealed that half of osteoporosis-related fractures occur in people whose bone-density readings would have ruled out the disease.  “If you think of it from an engineering point of view, the strength of the structure depends on several components, like the size and shape of the bone, not just strong building material, says Angels M. Cheung, M.D., founding director of the osteoporosis program at the University of Toronto.  “While bone density remains the best measurement for determining fracture risk, newer assessment tools consider many other factors that contribute to it, such as age, low body mass, lifestyle factors and medication,” she adds.

  Bone density may appear to be solid but it is living tissue in constant flux, old bone is being reabsorbed and new bone forming in its place.  “The honeycomb-like inner layer of bone, which provides structural support, starts declining immediately after people reach their peak bone mass,” Manolagas says. “Around age 65, the harder outer layer starts to become porous.  These and other age-related changes lead to an increased fracture risk.  People who smoke, have a poor diet, or are very thin increases their risk.  Strong muscles will provide solid support and improve balance.  Exercise promotes strength so incorporate resistance exercises into your fitness program.”  Dr. Norm Shealy, president of the Holistic Medication includes exercise in every possible way, even at his office.  After writing more than a dozen best selling books he continues to keep alert by sitting on an exercise ball at his office desk.  Ask your supervisor about doing this.         

 

     

  

  

THE JOYS OF HELPING OTHERS

   There are a number of organizations that offer help to students and others who feel they would like to find a vocation that would be helpful to all who face the challenge of finding their life’s work while still being helpful to others.  After Helen Krueger had completed her studies in Canada, she applied to an organization, The Worldwide Evangelization Crusade. They did not offer a regular monthly salary but helped guide applicants with the legalities such as visas and other details like finding a partner with whom they could work safety in requested areas.  Helen tells us that during World War II all mail was opened and examined.  She wondered if letters sent to family and friends told of their safe arrival in Africa. She typed her letters on very thin paper making carbon copies so she could mail half a dozen or so in the same envelope.  She asked her Canadian recipients to help save high postage rates from overseas, but otherwise never requested money.

  In those early years, the Upper Volta was still considered part of the French West Africa colony.  A missionary on his way to Nigeria passed through a fierce tribe known as the Lobi.  A prominent leader in this tribe called Tigite, had decided to become a witch doctor and after a series of rites was ready to be sworn in the next day.  That night he had a vivid dream that told him not to become a witch doctor, to destroy all the idols and threats of curses and wait for a white man who would come and tell him the true story of God. The next morning he called his village together and told them of his dream.  He destroyed all their idols that could include placing curses on individuals for gain.  One day when Helen and her partner arrived at a similar village, they saw the trial of a woman who was being accused of adultery.  Their witch doctor had prepared a potent poison and was about to force her to drink it saying that if she died from the poison, that would prove she was guilty.  The trial was delayed.  After a ten year wait, Tigite’s dream of 10 years before was realized.  Later when Helen visited his village again a church had been erected and Tigite still sat in the front row at this church.

  After retiring from his teaching position in the mid l990s, John Krueger, Helen’s younger brother started an organization called International Fellowship that starts group farms in Kenya, Africa.  A family who joins the group and is willing to adopt four orphan children, will live there and work on this farm raising vegetables, cattle, and other farm products.  For example when one type of produce does not do well because of lack of rain, the dry land crops on the hills will produce enough food for all families there. 

         

   

THE SOURCE OF FUNDS

   The question comes to mind, “Where do the funds come from for Helen Krueger’s type of missionary work?”  From the time she left home to attend high school in Medicine Hat, Alberta, help came from her parents in Orion, a 65 miles drive.  School buses were not available at that time.  For her board and room a church family, the Keyes, in that city added her to their own family of two children near the same age for a modest $30.00 a month and treated her as their own.  It was so reasonable our parents brought farm produce like butter and eggs to the host family whenever they came to the city and the family deducted it from her monthly board and room making it a wonderful opportunity for Helen to receive her higher education.  A warm friendship continued throughout the years with correspondence which Margaret, the Keyes daughter, kept and sent back which helped Helen over half a century later put a book together.  The Keyes son, Bob, sent money each month to support Helen’s work in Africa.  Our family also sent help when special needs arose, like a small kerosene refrigerator, and later a car.   Helen never asked for any money or had fund raisers.  She and another Bible student who worked with her in Africa prayed for their necessities and they seemed to miraculously arrive at the right moment.

   Let’s spend a day with Helen during her early years in Ivory Coast.  First aid after minor accidents, dressing ulcers and pulling teeth were morning and afternoon duties on her schedule.  About 5:00 pm the heat is bearable so she and Juliette, another helper missionary, are ready to leave for an evening meeting. Helen explains:The French commandant, or Government Administrator found out I was from the wild west and offered me the use of his horse that needed to be exercised more often.  The guardian for the horse brought it over, all ready to mount.  The cook boy came along to translate our French into their native language.  We followed footpaths through the bush, hurrying along both coming and going before darkness to be sure not to encounter a snake or a scorpion.  Juliette and our cook boy rode bicycles and I rode upon the horse.  Some of the natives called out in French “ca va,” meaning ‘does it go well’ Finding a few hills too steep for bicycles, a rope would be attached to them and then to the horse to be pulled up the hills.  At the meeting we sang native choruses and told again the old Gospel stories, emphasizing believing and then practicing the Golden Rule that could bring peace and joy to all in their daily lives instead of devil worship and constant fears of curses from witch doctors.”  The “practicing” part seems to be the challenge for us here in our country as well.             

    

THE DENTAL MISSIONARY FINDS HER WAY AROUND

   Helen prepared for her life’s work by taking a general nursing course as well as studies in dental work.  Upon arriving in a village and before taking care of their non-urgent health needs she would ask the village chief if she could present a program including music and song telling them about her spiritual work.  Africans are very musical and loved the time given to song with the help of her accordion.  “The first few years we used our own feet for travel” she tells us, “If we heard a truck was going near our destination we paid for a ride, sitting in front with the driver or in the back on top of a load of coffee bags or some other produce.  Sometimes travel was in an open windowed charcoal-burning train crowded with people, chickens, goats, sheep or dried fish.  If there was a wind and the train made a fast curve, pieces of burning charcoal would blow in the open windows and burn holes in our clothing or skin.  If the train did not have enough power to make it up a hill because the charcoal was not burning hot enough, it would stop until the fire got hotter.  One always brought food along because there were no fast-food places along the way.”

    Through her letters to us or when visiting us when she was on furlough, we learned of adjustments required for living in another culture.  A close school and church friend in Alberta kept all her letters in case she might write a book about her time in Africa.  When it was necessary for her to return to Canada due to breaking her hip she wrote about her 52 years in the Ivory Coast.  It may be out of print now.

   On one occasion Helen needed a ride to Diebongon, a two day trip.  After several days of search she learned that two Frenchmen were going by pick-up to choose a site for building a school in that village.  The two men agreed to take her with them.  Over the rocky roads Helen saw, for the first time the Lobi women whose clothing is a sheaf of leaves tied in front and back.  They paused to let the vehicle pass.  “For an evening meal the men asked their African cook to kill a chicken for dinner and invited me to eat with them.  An old army cot had been given to me and a small round hut with a straw roof was granted me to set up my camp bed.  I was using it for the first time.  It had a canvas sling for a mattress.  The first time I turned over the canvas started tearing down one side.  There was no chair or box to sit on and I realized many unpleasant creatures would be crawling on the floor.”  Helen said she spent the night hanging on to one side of the bed where the canvas had not torn and praying for those in need and the mission in Africa.      

     

THE DENTAL MISSIONARY

   “The tooth lady has come again!” the children shouted as they ran through the sandy paths to bring the good news and help throughout Ivory Coast villages in Ivory Coast, Africa.  The village women looked up from their early morning chores, laid down gardening tools, and prepared to make the most of this special day.  The news spread quickly as the small “town criers” all helped direct the tooth lady to the home of the village chief who would show her where she could park her bicycle and dental tools and stay for the night if she wished.  When first arriving in Ivory Coast walking was the only form of travel. From where the plane landed she faced a 300 mile walk across Liberia, covering 30 miles the first day, and switching to 20 miles each day until arriving in Ivory Coast.  Later a horse was loaned to her but this day a bicycle brought her to this small outback village.  A tall shady tree became her dental office and a wood stool provided a seat for the client.  Half a dozen tooth extractions could be completed in an afternoon.

   The tooth lady was my older sister Helen, who in October of 2011 has just celebrated her 90^th birthday with family and friends in Kamloops, B.C.  My younger sister Esther and her husband Lloyd, Helen’s appointed mentor and guide through the challenges of a new life back in Canada after 52 years in the Ivory Coast.  After breaking her hip when still living in Ivory Coast it became necessary for her to return to Canada for a retirement. A daylight apartment in the Howard home provided a pleasant residence for her for nine years and after several more broken bones now lives in a care home.  But let’s go back to the Ivory Coast and check out an afternoon of dental work.  Bicycle and tools are parked near the grass hut provided by the village chief. 

   The first dental patient this day has brought her two best friends to be with her for support and comfort since the “crash dental course” she Helen took in Toronto before leaving Canada did not permit the use of an anesthetic.  Neither French officials nor city dentists complained since the people in these remote villages lack funds to pay for dental work or bus fare to get to the nearest city.  A solution of salt water is kept nearby for rinsing the mouth after a successful extraction.  Another day we will rejoin her as she recounts the long wait in Brazil during the Second World War where all planes were needed for the war effort.  She met another Canadian missionary with whom she could work with for general safety.  Ivory Coast had a wonderful leader, Houphuet Boigny, who stayed on after independence from France in 1960 until his death in 1995.  The people deeply mourned their great loss.          

                      

THINK THIN AND OUTSMART TEMPTATION

 Our minds contain such a strong primal urge that the best defense is to avoid them entirely, and “lead yourself not into temptation.”  The standard advice for getting svelte and firm is to eat less and move more.  Some researchers have turned to brain science.  Diets fail because they set people up to battle their own biology.  Unlike in earlier generations, the food landscape in our modern developed world, teems with readily available, calorie-dense food along with sophisticated marketing and is designed to draw us to products that tap into hardwired cravings for fat, salt and sugar. 

 According to Dr Bradley Appelhans, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, our brain is actually set up to overeat in the environment like the one we have today.  Their findings suggest that dietary advice centered on willpower alone might be doomed to failure.  “We think the focus should shift from advising people to make tough choices to help them minimize the number of choices they have to make,” Appelhans says.  These strategies, gleaned from recent research on the brain and eating behaviour, can help you do just that.  The old joke about being on a “see-food” diet – whenever you see food, you want to eat it – harbours more than a grain of truth.  The pleasure and satisfaction you experience when eating delicious food becomes linked in the brain with the sight and smell of that food.  Whenever you see these sights and smells again, it activates the so-called reward circuit, a powerful neurological pathway deep within the brain.  The same circuit drives the motivation for alcohol use, gambling and smoking.  Even a picture on the menu taps into a deep well of stored associations, the aromas and the flavours, the way it feels in your mouth, the fun you’ve had while eating.”

 “The first thing I ask patients is ‘What’s on your counter or when you open your fridge,” asks Applehans.  Every time you pass by brownies in the kitchen, or a candy jar at work, you have to override your instincts, and at some point your resistance may falter.  Make it easier by tossing out the junk food and stocking your pantry, frig and desk with healthy foods.  Make sure you have to go out of your way, rather than just a few steps to your freezer.  Eat no white potatoes, especially French fries, according to a decade long study analysis of data by 120,000 doctors and other health professionals published June 23, 2011.”  Recall the standard advice of the first paragraph, “Eat less and move more.”

CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS AND CHALLENGES

   A plethora of choices greet us from the pages of our newspapers and flyers offering bargains for the upcoming holiday season.  Search for work during this downturn and lack of jobs available presents challenges.  Most seniors in care homes have given up their cars needed for shopping or work.  For example, the Handy Dart (for less than two dollars) asks the potential rider to call to set a time for its arrival.  The driver graciously loads our walkers for us.  When appointments or our shopping duties are complete, we phone Handy Dart to tell where we are in town for pickup. 

   Scroll back to the 1920s, the decade I was born and note the comparison.  The father in the family would be hitching up the farm’s team to horse and wagon as our mother is handing him a short list for baking powder or cocoa, the items she cannot grow in her garden.  She also brings a scoop containing the bricks she keeps in the coal stove oven to place on the floor boards of the wagon for heat during the 20 mile return trip to and from town.  A Chinese restaurant and a general store carried the few items needed and then he and my older brother turn a corner in town and arrive at the post office for the once a week mail pickup.  Local news and weather promises a snowstorm and wagon wheels will be replaced with sleigh runners.  My brother has rigged up a barb wire telephone line attached to the fence posts and each family answers to their number of rings.  In about 1928 we’ve sold enough grain (29 cents a bushel) to buy a radio and an Edison cylinder player.  Post office gossip hints of an upcoming depression and soon would come true. 

 Scarlet fever vaccinations were not available and our parents lost a 3 year old son in the mid thirties.  They prayed one of their descendants would become a doctor and help prevent such sadness.  After World War 2, funds for university education were not available.  Office work as a secretary paid $l.25 an hour.  In later years I offered to pay the interest needed for tuition fees required for any relatives who had registered at the UBC to become medical doctors.  Two of them registered in pre-med studies at UBC but did not complete their doctor’s degrees.  Parkinson’s disease was claiming my husband’s life and I had trusted the parents of these two students with over $30,000 to pay the interest on their loans.  Their parents are now retired with government pensions and spend winters in tropical lands and say they use their extra funds for missionary work.  Here, exercise classes help me regain my walking balance.  Words of encouragement and cheer are often written on the class chalk board like - “The divine in me honours the divine in you.”