Originally published in Hideaway Lake News on January 1, 2020

“Lose 50lbs”, “work out for an hour every day”, “get 8 hours of sleep every night”, “don’t eat any sugar.” These are what a lot of our New Year’s resolutions look like. But most of us never achieve them because they are just too daunting, and some goals like “don’t eat any sugar” are simply not attainable! Here are some resolutions that you can actually keep, baby steps that can end up being a giant leap for your health.

Eat ONE more vegetable every day. The USDA guidelines tell us to eat 5-13 servings of vegetables and fruits daily. I challenge you to find a doctor that eats 13 servings a day! Many of us don’t even get one serving, and when we see 13, we just say forget it. But one extra serving is very doable. Make it at breakfast and you’ve really cut down on processed carbs. Frosted flakes and spinach just don’t go well together. Try a bowl of oatmeal cooked in chicken broth and top with an egg and some sauteed veggies. It’s a deliciously savory way to start your day!

Replace ONE sugary or “sugar free” beverage with a glass of water daily. Most will think of sodas and diet sodas, but you might also replace that glass of morning orange juice with an orange and a glass of water instead. The fiber in the whole orange makes that sugar go up so much more slowly and you will eat one orange, not the equivalent of three or more oranges in your glass of juice. That is a lot less sugar.

Exercise ONE more day per week. So if you’re not exercising at all, then start with a short walk on the weekend. If you’re walking 3 days a week, let’s move it to 4. The goal is to exercise every single day, but that may sound too intimidating to those who never leave the couch. Take baby steps to get yourself started.

Here’s to a lot of baby steps this year. Before you know it, you’ll be miles ahead.

Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

The term “anti-aging” has become ubiquitous in our society as we push for everlasting youth. I consider it a dirty word because it prevents us from embracing aging as a natural part of life and entices us to believe in products and procedures that are full of empty promises. Every moment that we get to be alive, that we get to age, is a precious gift. And we can make sure that we do a few proven things to treasure this gift of life without trying to reverse the clock. 

This month we’ll talk about dementia, which is a decline in memory along with other problems such as decrease in decision making abilities and changes in mood and behavior. Studies have shown that the same things that keep our hearts healthy are also responsible for keeping our brains healthy. It should come as no surprise that the stuff we’ve known all long as being good for us is actually good for us.

Physical Activity: Regular exercise can help reduce Alzheimer’s dementia risk by up to 50%. If your current physical activity consists of walking to the fridge, don’t despair. Start slow with a 10 minute walk per day and work your way up slowly to 30-40 minutes per day. 

Healthy Eating: The Mediterranean diet, which is a diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and lean proteins has been shown to improve cognition and reduce the risk of dementia. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish are also beneficial for brain health, although the same has not been confirmed with fish oil supplements. So add three servings of fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel or sardines a week to your diet to help preserve brain health. Canned fish is just fine.

Good Sleep: Poor sleep has been associated with abnormal brain protein plaques found in Alzheimer’s dementia. Good quality sleep rejuvenates the brain and reduces cognitive decline. So turn off that TV, silence your phone, lay off caffeine in the evening, and turn on some soothing music or pick up a relaxing book for a good night’s sleep.

Mental Stimulation: The old adage, use it or lose it, certainly plays a role here. Learning something new like a new language, developing a skill such as woodworking or starting a hobby such as painting are ways to continually challenge our brains throughout our lives. Playing board games and solving puzzles are other activities that are both stimulating and entertaining.

Social Connections: People with the strongest ties to family and friends and those who are actively engaged in their community have the lowest risk of dementia. In a place like Hideaway, there are ample opportunities to seek out social connections. If you are an introvert who finds it difficult to form relationships, then a good way to get started would be to join a group or a club where you can meet like-minded people easily.

Stress Reduction: Stress is associated with all kinds of badness, both physical and mental. Constant stress can lead to memory deficits. Learn to let go and focus on the positive to reduce stress. Regular exercise and meditation can also help you relax and restore your sense of wellbeing.

While the above are classic measures for reducing the risk of dementia, recent studies have shown that people with hearing loss have a greater decline in cognitive function. So if you notice you’re asking people to repeat themselves or if you’re turning up the volume on your TV, get a hearing test. One way to maintain your cognition may be as simple as getting hearing aids.

Originally published in the Hideaway Lake News November 1, 2019

Hospital admissions for heart failure routinely go up right after the holidays. This is because of the major salt load to your heart during those giant holiday meals. The little extra salt in each dish adds up fast and before you know it you’re in the hospital with swollen legs and difficulty breathing.

You most certainly don’t have to eat grilled chicken and steamed broccoli for Thanksgiving. No, you can indulge in some goodies too, just be cautious. Most heart patients are already on a salt restricted diet, but many may get carried away when surrounded by loved ones and great food. The easiest way to cut back on salt in a dish is to jazz it up with herbs, spices and homemade broth, all of which add a lot of flavor without adding sodium.

The turkey is the healthiest part of the Thanksgiving meal. So pile up your plate with lean cuts of turkey, season it with some spices instead of salt. And go ahead and drizzle, yes drizzle, not ladle, some gravy over it. Instead of the classic green bean casserole swimming in a river of sodium with cream of chicken soup and fried onions, try making green beans sauteed in olive oil with some herbs. The other sodium bomb is dressing, but it too can be modified by using homemade broth and getting heavy handed with onions, garlic and spices. If you must have grandma’s traditional dressing, then just eat a small serving.

If you’re a diabetic, you need to pay attention to those carbs too. Sugar free pie is not truly sugar free, it is just free from added sugar. It is often made with fruit and fruit juice which are just really all sugar. And some of us forget that all the breads, rolls, crusts, potatoes, dressing… they all turn into sugar in the blood. So remember, just because it doesn’t taste sweet doesn’t mean it won’t raise your blood sugar! High sugar in diabetics increases the risk of a heart attack, so watch out for those hidden sugars this holiday season.

Here’s to a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Originally published in the Hideaway Lake News on Oct 1, 2019

Many of us will get the flu this season. And when that happens, let’s stay home so we don’t give it to someone else.

The flu usually lasts 7 days and is most contagious during the first 3-4 days, but you can continue to infect others for 7 or more days.

Most flu is spread from person to person through droplets but it can also spread by contact with hard surfaces. When you cough or sneeze, droplets can directly infect someone as far as 6 feet away from you. If you then touch a hard surface with saliva on your hands, the virus can stay there for upto 24 hours. So don’t play cards or mahjong or golf with your friends when you feel a little better after 2-3 days.You are still shedding the virus which can transfer on to the cards, the table, the tiles, the cart… you get the idea.

Be especially careful when you are around people over the age of 65, children less than 2 years old, and those who may have a chronic illness like asthma, diabetes, heart or kidney disease, as they are especially vulnerable to getting serious complications.

If you must come in contact with others, wear a mask and wash your hands often with soap and water.

Don’t make the flu the gift that keeps on giving!

Originally published on the Hideaway Lake News September 1, 2019

Doctors Laura and Anthony Sidari’s 4-year-old son, Leon, died from the flu on Christmas Day 2017, less than 48 hours after he started feeling sick. Sadly, little Leon had an appointment to get a flu shot on Jan 3. According to the CDC, Leon was one of 185 US children who died in the 2017-18 flu season, 80% of them were unvaccinated.

The US overall death toll from the flu in 2017-2018 was more than 80,000 and over 900,000 were hospitalized. In Texas alone, more than 11,000 people died from the flu and its complications during the same period. To put it in perspective, a little over 51,000 people in the US died of colorectal cancer in 2017, the second leading cause of cancer death in men and women combined.

While many more people died from the flu than from colorectal cancer in 2017, many of us are willing to get a colonoscopy in the hospital but won’t go get a simple flu shot at the drugstore.

Even if the vaccine is not very effective against a particular strain in a given year, it still makes sense to get the shot. If you end up getting the flu after being vaccinated, there is enough overlap among flu viruses that the vaccine lessens the severity of symptoms and significantly reduces the chances of death and hospitalizations.

The flu season peaks December through February. It takes two weeks after the flu shot to make your antibodies and 6 weeks for them to peak. So to protect yourself from the high season which starts in December, you should get your shot by October.

Remember, the majority of people who die from the flu are unvaccinated.

The flu shot reduces death from the virus even if the vaccine is not a good match.

Get your flu shot by the end of October for maximum protection.

Don’t let yourself or a loved one become a flu statistic this year.

By Sue Royappa, MD, MPH