The Benefits of Having a Healthy Diet

Whether you want to lose weight, are happy with your weight as is, or just want to improve your overall wellbeing, eating healthy is where it’s at. Having a diet that’s high in antioxidants, fibre, and other essential nutrients has some great payoffs not just for your immediate health, but for your future health too. Below are some of the most important reasons why healthy eating is something everyone should adopt, and how having a healthy diet can benefit you in both the short and long term.

It Boosts the Mood

Did you know that what you eat can also affect your mental health? If you didn’t, then you do now. Foods that are processed, packed with trans-fat, sugar, or high in carbohydrates can throw off the mood-regulating chemicals in your brain, triggering symptoms of depression such as feelings of helplessness, irritability, and reckless behaviour. To combat depression, Dr. Ali Ghahary – a family physician and strong advocate of healthy eating – recommends consuming foods that contain creatine, omega 3’s, and vitamin D. These health-promoting nutrients can be found in things like grass-fed beef, fish, and dairy products.

It Improves Brain Function

The term “brain food” isn’t just a saying – it’s fact. Over the years, consumption of foods that contain saturated and trans fats (such as fast food) can actually shrink the brain and reduce your cognitive abilities. Foods such as avocados, fish and walnuts can help keep the brain functioning at a higher level.

It Gives You Energy

You’ve most likely heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and this is true. Eating a good, healthy breakfast every morning not only gives you the fuel needed to get you through your day, but it can also improve performance at school or work. Without breakfast, you’re more likely to feel irritable, tired, and in some cases even restless. If you’re someone who doesn’t typically eat breakfast and aren’t quite sure what to have, Dr. Ali Ghahary has compiled together a small list of some healthy breakfast ideas here.

It Helps You Sleep

People who skip meals, don’t eat healthy, or snack late at night are more prone to developing poor sleeping habits. However, according to a 2013 study, if you eat right you’re more likely to sleep better. In addition, you’ll also make healthier food choices. Unfortunately lack of sleep can also be much more than just a matter of changing your eating habits. For more information on sleep disorders, including insomnia, click here.

It Boosts Your Immune System

If you’re someone who catches colds easily, you might want to take a look at what’s on your plate. Things like sugary foods, carbonated and/or sugary beverages, processed and/or fast food are some of the worst things for your immune system, as they provide little to no nutritional value. In order to nourish and support immune function, you should consume foods that are free of additives and chemicals. Some of the best foods that can boost your immune system are those that contain vitamin C (such as grapefruit, oranges, tangerines, lemons and limes.) Vitamin C increases the production of white blood cells, which boosts your immunity and helps ward off viral and bacterial infections. Fresh garlic, ginger, sunflower seeds, poultry, shellfish and green tea are also great immune-boosting foods to consider having more of.

For more tips on healthy eating, visit http://alighahary.ca/

Physiotherapy

If you’ve ever suffered from an injury – such as a back injury, knee injury, or have injured another part of your body – then you know that it can sometimes take a bit of time before your body is back to feeling like it was before that injury occurred; and, in some cases, you might never fully get back to feeling 100%. Things like pain medications, such as anti-inflammatories, and other over-the-counter products such as ointments and numbing agents, can and do provide relief, but they’re only a temporary band-aid. In the event that you do develop an injury and don’t heal within the timeframe expected, or your pain worsens, that’s where a physiotherapist comes in. 

A physiotherapist is a trained professional who works to help patients regain ability, as well as treat different diseases and disorders, through different types of physical manipulation. While most people think that physiotherapists strictly work with muscle and other sport-related injuries, they’re actually adept in many different areas and treat individuals of all ages – from children, to adults, to seniors. There are also generally three different classifications of physiotherapy: 

• Musculoskeletal

• Neurological

• Cardiothoracic

Musculoskeletal physiotherapy, which is the most common type of physiotherapy today, treats things like arthritis, sprains and strains, back pain, sports injuries, workplace injuries, and bursitis. Individuals who have had surgery may experience reduced mobility post-op, and will sometimes require musculoskeletal physiotherapy as a result. Neurological physiotherapy treats certain disorders associated with the nervous system – for example, patients who’ve had strokes, spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and acquired brain injuries. Cardiothoracic physiotherapy is used to help treat things like emphysema, asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory-related disorders. The main goal of a physiotherapist to improve a patient’s quality of life by restoring their function, and alleviating pain, and reducing symptoms. If the patient has a permanent injury, then they work to reduce the effects of any dysfunction they might be experiencing.

The type of physiotherapy that someone will receive depends solely on their requirements. Physiotherapy can be manual, which may include things like stretching, resistance training, spinal mobilization, as well as joint manipulation, or it can also include electrotherapy techniques consisting of ultrasound, laser therapy, and more commonly, TENS – also known as Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. When it comes to actually receiving physiotherapy, the biggest misconception people have is that that they think they will feel better immediately following treatment, when in fact it’s not at all uncommon for symptoms to intensify following your first session. When a patient decides to enter into physiotherapy, it is usually because the methods they’ve tried themselves haven’t been successful. A physiotherapist, on the other hand, has different approach to their techniques, and they are techniques and certain manipulations that the body may not be used to, hence why it’s normal to have some discomfort during the first few sessions. Once your body starts to get used to those new techniques, the pain eventually decreases.

Generally, physiotherapy sessions last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the injury and area of the body that is being worked on. Similarly, how many physiotherapy sessions a person needs also depends on those same circumstances.

For more information on physiotherapy, speak with your family physician or visit the Canadian Physiotherapy Association’s website at physiotherapy.ca. 

Sliced Roast Beef Recall Following Listeria Concerns

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has issued a recall for Deli Classic brand seasoned cooked roast beef produced by Mississauga’s Erie Meat Products limited with best before dates from April 10th and April 17th . The recall was first issued back on March 28th for the same product sold at Druxy’s Famous Deli restaurants, but the CFIA is now saying that meat was sold on a much larger scale than initially thought – including in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a strong possibility of it also making its way to other Provinces and Territories across Canada. The CFIA goes on to say that while illnesses have been reported, they’re still in the midst of conducting lab testing to determine just how many of those illnesses are linked to the contaminated meat.

Listeria, also known as Listeria monocytogenes, is food-borne disease-causing bacteria that causes a condition called listeriosis which travels through the blood stream. It is commonly associated with things like deli meat, soft cheeses, unpasteurized milk, uncooked fruits and vegetables, and seafood that is kept refrigerated. 

The most common symptoms of listeriosis include fever, muscle/body aches, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. Listeriosis, in rare cases, can also cause blood infections and meningitis. In most cases, symptoms will start anywhere from 1 to 14 days after being exposed to listeria. However, in pregnant women it may take as long as 4 weeks before any symptoms develop. For otherwise healthy individuals, the symptoms of listeriosis are usually mild. However, it can be very serious for other individuals such as those with weakened immune systems, those of a certain age (such as seniors), or women who are pregnant – i.e. causing premature birth or stillbirth.

In order to determine whether or not a patient has listeria, Dr. Ali Ghahary will pay close attention to the symptoms that the patient is exhibiting and will also refer them for blood work as this is generally the most effective way to make a firm diagnosis. Other bodily fluid, such as spinal fluid or the placenta, can also be tested for the detection or non-detection of listeria monocytogenes. If it is confirmed that listeria monocytogenes are present, it can be treated by one of two ways: No treatment, as most people with mild symptoms will not require any medical intervention and their bodies will clear the infection within 7 days. Or, it can be treated with antibiotics. If pregnant, prompt antibiotic treatment (usually via intravenous) can help prevent the infection from affecting an unborn baby. How long you will need to be on antibiotics depends on the severity of the infection itself. For example, in mild cases, patients may need to be on antibiotics for 10 to 14 days, while antibiotic treatment may last as long as 6 weeks in cases where meningitis develops as a result of the listeriosis.

To prevent listeria, Dr. Ali Ghahary recommends the following:

•  Make sure raw foods such as poultry, beef and pork, as well as vegetables, are washed and cooked thoroughly.

•  Keep vegetables and uncooked meats separate from each other as well as separate from foods that are already cooked and ready for consumption.

•  Wash hands as well as all cooking utensils one you have finished handling uncooked foods.

•  Consume cooked foods as soon as possible and do not leave them sitting.

•  Do not eat luncheon or deli meats unless they are steaming hot.

•  Avoid eating pâtés or meat spreads that have been refrigerated, smoked seafood that has been refrigerated, as well as products made from unpasteurized milk.