Why We Need Salt…in our diet.

There are many American’s that have hypertension, or high blood pressure. Eating less salt can help reduce your high blood pressure. But now there are many of us that are not getting enough salt in our everyday diets.

According to the American Heart Association, the ideal limit of salt per day is 1,500 milligrams. For some people, too much salt can hurt our kidneys and make us retain water, which causes bloating, and increases blood pressure.

Reducing our salt intake could even be dangerous. It can cause headaches, confusion, fatigue, and muscle cramps.

Sodium is an electrolyte, it helps regulate the water around our cells. Sodium plays a key part in maintaining a healthy blood pressure.

Drinking too much water, can also reduce the amount of salt in your diet. If you have high blood pressure, make sure that you are checking these simple facts to ensure that you are getting enough salt in your diet.

….remember to make a memory every day, and don’t apologize for who you are…Rebecca

City Lights Restaurant, Salmon wrap, with slivered almonds, Meyer lemon sauce, and side salad+ 1 French fry!

Such good food.

City Lights Restaurant, Cumberland, MD

Delicious food and atmosphere.

The Health Benefits from Garlic..

We have known for a long time about the health benefits of Garlic. I knew a man once, who was concerned about his health. He would peel a whole container of garlic and eat it throughout the day. He ate it every day!

The truth of the matter is that Garlic is indeed good for you in fighting certain cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure and lowering cholesterol. But it must be eaten properly!

Garlic contains a sulfur-based compound called Alliin and an enzyme called Alliinase. This compound and enzyme exist when the garlic is whole.

The correct way to get your healthy benefits from eating garlic is to first, chop, dice, mince or press the garlic. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes before cooking! This releases the strong pungent flavors of the garlic. This also releases the Allicin, also an amino acid. The more pungent the smell, the better. If you do not allow it to sit, Allicin is never formed, so do yourself a favor and wait.

Cooking the garlic for more than 20 minutes does not reduces the nutritional benefits of garlic, but cooking it for more than 30 minutes reduces the nutritional benefits to be considered a total loss of benefits!

Eating raw garlic is good for you, but get all of the benefits by allowing the Allicin to form.

By the way, flat leaf parsley is great for your bad breath! Or just have your partner eat it at the same time that you do!!

……. “Remember to make a memory every day, and don’t apologize for who you are”..Rebecca

It’s pear picking time!

Visit me at my new office at 414 N Centre Street, Cumberland, MD

..”I’ll Sleep on It”.. and the Parasympathetic System…

My dad used to say that all of the time. When he would be met with a decision that he didn’t know what to decide, it made him stress, he would always say “I’ll just sleep on it”. He would always tell me to slow down. But as I have gotten older, I am beginning to understand just what he meant by that!

Take your time to make decisions. There is no rush. We all tend to hurry in this life to take care of our families, work, and multi tasking.

We all could slow down by at least 25% and feel more confident and in control of our lives. We need to stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system. Unlike our sympathetic nervous system, which helps us respond quickly to situations, it produces feelings of calm and relaxation in the mind and body. These two systems need to be balanced, to work correctly. Here are some things we can d to stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system.

1. Practice being mindful of others and the things around us.
2. Practice deep breathing.
3. Try Meditating, think of yourself in a peaceful atmosphere.

When you are calm, you will slow down. Or “just sleep on it!” Get into bed, write down your thoughts and keep them beside your bed. Keep the room dark with no Television. You will wake feeling better that you got a good nights rest, and your decisions you need to make will be easier the next morning.

Stress can ruin our health and cause us to make poor selections when eating. So try to slow down, and feel better in your life.

..”remember to make a memory every day and don’t apologize for who you are”…..Rebecca