by Guest | Aug 8, 2023 | Eat Well, Featured
The Tillamook County Fair is this week and we all know what that means – Fun, Fellowship and FOOD! This phrase was the mantra of Tillamook’s former Mayor, Suzanne Weber, who led the Sacred Heart Parish food booth at the fair for many years. Sadly, the Sacred Heart booth will no longer be part of the fair which means no more fresh salads, grilled cheese sandwiches or homemade berry cobbler. This also means, no more garlic fries. Nooooooo!
Just about everyone has their favorite “fair food” they look forward to every year. Whether it is cotton candy, corn dogs or funnel cakes, the key is to enjoy these annual treats without overdoing it. “Fair time is a special time and that means it is okay to indulge,” says Lewis Martin, a registered dietitian with the Oregon Dairy and Nutrition Council. Also a member of the Tillamook County Wellness Advisory Committee, Martin encourages fairgoers to think about sharing treats like elephant ears or giant cinnamon rolls with family and friends.
Other suggestions for ways to enjoy fair food without adding to your waistline or slimming down your wallet include eating a well-balanced meal or snack before you go to the fair. Here are a few suggestions:
- Include protein and whole grains with breakfast for lasting energy. Try oatmeal with yogurt and fruit.
- Colorful vegetables can be hard to find at the fair, so plan to eat them at other meals that day. Have a salad or vegetables with your lunch before you go or for dinner back at home.
- Healthy snacks can be simple and can be packed in a small cooler or lunch bag, such as: individual cheese slices, apples, oranges, sliced vegetables or baby carrots, nuts and dried fruit like raisins.
According to Dusti Linnell, an associate professor of practice with OSU Extension Family & Community Health and Wellness advisory committee member, “The key is to limit high calorie foods to special occasions and consider ways to boost nutrition whenever possible. Great ideas for sweet treats are to add nuts or fruit toppings to ice cream or frozen yogurt or choose desserts with fruit or whole grains like oats in pies and crisps.”
When eating at the fair, Linnell suggests making at least one healthy choice for each meal, like adding a side of grilled vegetables to an order of teriyaki noodles. If curly fries are your go-to fair food, consider sharing those with others and combine with a salad or a burger with lettuce, tomato and onion. Local vendors serving additional options might be found inside the exhibit hall or near the carnival, so be sure to scope out all your options before settling on your final meal plan.
Intentionally combining healthy choices when eating treats helps regulate blood sugar and avoid feeling sluggish. This is always important but especially during Fair, where you’ll need lots of energy to do all that walking and talking! With that in mind, remember to drink lots of water throughout your day. Consider bringing a water bottle or replacing soda with bottled water when ordering meals.
As a final note, the fair can be a crowded, bustling place. Frequent handwashing is another important way to avoid spreading illness. Take advantage of hand washing stations located throughout the fair and have hand sanitizer as an added safety precaution.
Staying connected socially is as important for our well-being as eating healthy foods. Both contribute to a stronger immune system and improved mood. Even if you don’t plan to go to the fair, consider ways you can gather with friends and family to enjoy some fun, fellowship and food this summer.
AUTHOR: Michelle Jenck, Director of Community Well-Being at Adventist Health Tillamook
For more local health and wellness information, follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
by Guest | Jul 25, 2023 | Being Well, Featured, Move Well
Photo Credit: Lenna Coy
AUTHOR: Leanna Coy, FNP-C, Family Nurse Practitioner and Health Content Writer
How microplastics are impacting you
Microplastics have become pervasive in the environment. They are found in water, air, and the food supply. Similar to bygone eras such as the ice age, bronze age, and industrial age, microplastics are so widespread that scientists labeled the current time as the “plasticine era” which began in 1945 and continues today. By identifying a plasticine era, scientists have determined the impact of microplastics on the environment is enough to cause geological change to the planet. In Tillamook County, we are not immune to the impact of microplastics. Despite the relatively pristine nature of our beaches, microplastics are everywhere in the sand.
What are microplastics
Microplastics are solid man-made plastic or fiber particles with irregular shapes and sizes measuring less than 5 mm, about the width of a pencil eraser. There are two categories of microplastics, primary and secondary. Primary microplastics are manufactured to be small.
These include:
- Microbeads – small particles added to personal care products such as face wash, nail polish, makeup, and toothpaste.
- Nurdles – small pellets of plastics in the raw material form used to manufacture plastic products.
Secondary microplastics are small pieces broken down from larger plastic pieces over time. This breakdown occurs with exposure to the environment (sun, wind, water, heat), transforming and breaking the plastic into pieces that are hard to identify as plastic. When seen on the beach, these pieces can easily be mistaken for sand, small rocks, shells, or other materials. Other secondary microplastics come from fibers such as those used in clothing or fishing gear.
Why microplastics are unhealthy for people
Scientists are still learning about the negative effects from microplastics in the environment on the human body. Researchers determined the average person consumes an estimated 80 g of microplastics in the food they eat. Microplastics in the food comes from the runoff of water treatment plants used to help fertilize farms employed in food production. Microplastics are also now extensively found in the fish and shellfish we consume. Research is ongoing about the effect of microplastics on humans. What is known is that many of the ingredients that make up the plastics are considered toxic. Two common issues are Bisphenol-A (BPA) and heavy metals. Bisphenol-A (BPA) has been in use since the 1950s. It is a common product in the packaging of food and the manufacturing of water bottles. Scientists found BPA affects the endocrine system, which regulates hormones in the body. Several diseases and conditions are associated with substances that negatively affect the endocrine system, including:
- Hormone-related cancers (breast, testicular, prostate)
- Infertility
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Asthma
- Autism spectrum disorders
In 2012 the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of BPAs in baby bottles and sippy cups. In 2013 BPAs were also banned from use in infant formula packaging. Thirteen states have banned BPA products. Heavy metals serve several purposes when added to plastics. Heavy metals such as silver and copper create an antimicrobial effect. Fillers such as barium sulfate and calcium carbonate increase the stiffness or hardness of plastic. Lead, cadmium, and chromium have all been used as dyes for plastics. Bromine and chlorine in plastics have a flame-retardant effect. The concentration of metals in plastic depends on the final product. Heavy metals are known carcinogens, meaning they cause cancer. Cancers with known associations to heavy metals include:
- Lung cancer
- Breast cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Liver cancer
- Colon cancer
- Kidney cancer
In addition to these known toxic substances, microplastics are believed to contribute to antibiotic resistance. Bacteria that grow and thrive specifically on plastics are resistant to the heavy metals in the plastic. These bacteria are interacting with other bacteria in the environment sharing this resistance. To put it simply, plastic-thriving bacteria are teaching other bacteria howto create a shield to protect themselves from antibiotics.
How to do your part
When walking on the beach you likely see some microplastics due to their bright, unnatural colors. Other pieces you may not recognize due to their size or color. According to Oregon State University, preventing the flow of microplastics into the ocean will have the greatest impact on the environment. So while it may seem like a daunting or strange task to “clean the sand”, this is exactly what will help get microplastics out of the environment. Do your part.
- Join or organize a beach cleanup such as those hosted by SOLV
- Use reusable alternatives to plastic
- Avoid products with microbeads
- Choose clothing with natural fibers
Other wellness questions? Email us at info@tillamookcountywellness.org. For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.
by Guest | May 24, 2023 | Being Well, Featured
May is Mental Health Awareness month yet as a mental health professional, I focus on mental health year-round. I also approach mental health as multidimensional, meaning that it goes beyond just mental wellbeing and includes all 8 dimensions of wellness. If one dimension suffers, then overall wellbeing suffers and that impacts mental health even further due to increased stress and decreased coping mechanisms.
So, what are the 8 dimensions of wellness? Physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, financial, occupational, and environmental. Mental health is often believed to be comprised of our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. Yet if we do not take care of the spiritual, physical, financial, occupational and environmental dimensions of ourselves, we end up out of harmony and balance. When we are out of balance, we are not able to access and utilize coping skills and we will continue to make choices that negatively impact our overall wellbeing.
If you Google tips for improving your mental health you will get a variety of lists. Many of them will have things from a few of the dimensions. I would like to share small steps you can take in each of the dimensions to help you begin to build multidimensional mental health.
Physical
We often hear all the things we can do within physical wellness to improve our mental health. Have good sleep hygiene, get daily movement, eat a healthy diet, stay hydrated, take your meds and supplements, and manage any physical health symptoms or diagnosis. Yet we often do not hear about the correlation between mental health and the development of physical ailments. Just like physical wellness can help improve our mental health, untreated mental health can lead to disease. Depression has been shown to increase the risk for things like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Emotional
Emotional wellness is all about having coping skills to help manage and regulate our emotions. Mindfulness, meditation, journaling, therapy, EFT tapping, and any other tool or practice that helps you navigate your feelings and cope with life’s challenges are all emotional wellness. Emotional wellness also helps us build problem solving and resiliency skills. This bolsters our mental health and aids in coping with any future stress or difficult situations.
Social
Social wellness is about having connections and relationships with others that ease stress, anxiety, depression, improve self-esteem, and provide comfort and joy in companionship. Without strong social connections, we are prone to isolation and increased mental health struggles, including increased risk for suicide. Healthy relationships include setting boundaries, honest communication, and mutual respect and trust. Healthy social connections have been shown to lower anxiety and depression, help with emotional regulation, increase empathy, and even have a positive impact on physical health through improved immune systems.
Intellectual
Isn’t intellectual wellness just mental health? No. Intellectual wellness is about the thinking parts of our brains, our cognition. It also includes our emotional and social functioning. Mental health is more about thoughts, feelings, mood, and/or behaviors. Intellectual wellness practices that can also boost or improve mental health are pursuing crafts or other creative hobbies and endeavors, reading or pursuing learning, and anything that requires thinking or problem solving. Brain health improves mental health because we process our emotions in our brains.
Spiritual
Spiritual wellness helps us by giving us a connection to purpose and meaning in life. It could be belief in a higher power or anything that gives you connection and meaning to life outside yourself. Without a connection to something bigger than ourselves, we can struggle to find meaning in life and this can exacerbate any mental health issues. Whether it is organized religion or a connection with nature, spiritual wellness is vital to mental health and overall wellness.
Financial
Financial wellness includes the knowledge and skills of planning and managing expenses as well as your money mindset. Do you have a negative relationship with money or negative beliefs? Do you stress over finances? I wrote about developing a healthy relationship with money last month. One thing you can do is have a “money date” with yourself each week where you check in with your finances and get your energy and mindset in a good space around your financial situation. This will reduce stress and improve mental health through improved financial wellness.
Occupational
Occupational wellness relates to all aspects of how happy or satisfied you are in your job or career. Do you work a job you dread going to or do you like where you work and who you work with/for? Does your job or career offer benefits and an environment that encourages wellness and the ability to do self-care and take time for mental health? Are you working to survive or doing what you love? If you have a healthy work environment and work a job or career that you are passionate about and enjoy, then you will have improved mental health and overall wellness.
Environmental
Environmental wellness is related to how we impact our environment and how, in turn, it can impact human health. Things like recycling, reducing waste, water conservation, and using sustainable products all help care for our environment. In return, our environment can continue to help us sustain healthy living. It can also be that you have a comfortable, healthy, safe, and welcoming home environment. When our homes are not safe or comfortable, this can interrupt our mental health and overall wellness.
Each of the 8 dimensions can impact one another and impact our mental health. Overall wellness is a codependent web woven between the dimensions. Hence the importance of taking small steps to improve each area and maintain harmony between them in order to have optimal mental health. I hope you are all taking great care of yourselves and finding ways to be multidimensional in your wellness.
AUTHOR: Amanda Ferrat, Founder of Value Yourself Counseling LLC and Certified Advanced EFT Practitioner & Wellness Counselor
Other wellness questions? Email us at info@tillamookcountywellness.org. For more local health and wellness information, visit www.tillamookcountywellness.org or follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.
by Guest | May 10, 2023 | Featured, Recipes
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Make: 6 cups
Ingredients
- 1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened pineapple chunks
- 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth (see Notes)
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced, or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup sliced celery
- 1 medium onion, cut in eighths
- 1 green bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 1 large carrot, sliced diagonally 1/4″ thick
- 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup cold water
Directions
- Wash hands with soap and water.
- Drain pineapple and reserve juice.
- Place chicken in a large skillet on low heat (250 degrees F in an electric skillet).
- Add reserved pineapple juice, chicken broth, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and garlic. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink when cut.
- Add vegetables and pineapple. Cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch with water and stir until smooth. Slowly pour into hot mixture, stirring constantly until thickened, about 1 minute.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
Notes
- Serve over cooked rice or pasta.
- Broth can be homemade, canned or made using bouillon. For each cup of broth use 1 cup very hot water and 1 teaspoon or 1 cube bouillon.
Photo & Recipe Source: https://foodhero.org/recipes/sweet-and-sour-chicken
