Fighting Springtime Illness!

Most folks know how essential preventative maintenance is to a car or home. Without it, you're likely to incur large and unnecessary costs that could have otherwise been avoided. The same is said for each and every person's health.

Franciscan Physicians Hospital wishes to extend the following tips and information from Hospitalist Dr. John Szymczak to you for preventing illness this spring.

Dr. Szymczak states, "Some common illnesses we see in the spring include influenza, colds, hay fever and allergies, sinusitis, and upper respiratory tract infections, which often progress to pneumonia."

In consideration of why these illnesses occur, Dr. Szymczak says, "People are overworked and overstressed, and this leads to a weak immune system. Often times, people have increased contact with sick individuals during the warmer weather, and there is also increased humidity in the air. Combine these factors with the increased spread of mold and pollen, and this causes more spreading of infections."

To help prevent these illnesses, Dr. John suggests the following: "It's very important that you wash your hands often, and try to sneeze or cough into your shirt so that you don't spread infection yourself. Flu generally tapers off in March and April, but people with COPD and asthma have an increased risk for illness, so they should be extra cautious. Always maintain a healthy diet, eat regular healthy meals and exercise often. A combination of these measures will help you stay healthy."

Other suggestions from Dr. Szymczak include eating lots of fruits and vegetables that are rich in antioxidants, eating fish with omega-3 fatty acids (as long as you're medically permitted), eating green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and spinach, and maintaining an overall healthy lifestyle. Dr. Szymczak strongly suggests that people stay hydrated and avoid excessive alcohol intake.

Utilize these tips to help you and your family stay healthy this year. Remember, preventative maintenance on your body starts with you!

For more information on avoiding sickness and eating healthy, visit our online health library!

Heart Healthy Eating

Eating heart healthy foods can lead to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, minimized heart disease and an abundance of other benefits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the number one cause of death for both men and women.

Utilizing the following tips for eating "heart healthy" can help prevent future problems with your cardiovascular system. By looking at your food consumption in categories, you can simplify keeping track of the foods you eat.

Meat, Poulty & Fish: Choose lean cuts of meat with fat trimmed like beef round, sirloin, or chuck; lamb-leg, arm loin and rib; pork tenderloin, leg or shoulder; all types of trimmed veal, except ground; poultry without skin; fish and shellfish.

Work to decrease your consumption of prime grade, fatty cuts of meat, goose, organ meats, sausage, bacon and hot dogs.

Dairy Products: Choose 2 servings a day (3 if pregnant or breast feeding) of skim milk, 1% milk, low-fat buttermilk or low-fat evaporated milk.

Choose low-fat yogurt, low-fat soft cheeses like cottage or farmer

Choose cheeses labeled with no more than 2-6 grams of fat.

Work to decrease your consumption of whole milks, cream, half & half, cream cheese, sour cream, and high-fat cheeses like brie, Swiss, American, mozzarella, feta, cheddar and muenster.

Breads, Cereals, Pasta, Rice, Beans: Choose breads like whole wheat, white, pumpernickel, rye, pitas, bagels, English muffins, sandwich buns, dinner rolls and rice cakes.

Choose low-fat crackers like matzo, bread sticks, rye krisp and saltines.

Choose hot and most cold dry cereals. Check labels for fat and cholesterol content.

For pasta, choose plain noodles, spaghetti and macaroni.

Any grain rice is good, and for dried peas and beans, choose split peas, black-eyed peas, chick peas, kidney beans, navy beans, lentils and soybeans.

Work to decrease your consumption of croissants, butter rolls, sweet rolls, and danish pastries.
Also decrease consumption of snack crackers like cheese crackers, butter crackers or any with saturated fat.

You'll further benefit by decreasing your consumption of granola-type cereals, pasta and rice prepared with cream, butter or cheese sauces and egg noodles.

Fats & Oils: Choose unsaturated vegetable oils, corn, olive, peanut, canola, safflower, sesame and soybean. Also choose margarine or shortening made with unsaturated fats listed above.

Utilize mayonnaise and salad/low-fat dressings made with unsaturated fats.

Decrease your consumption of high-fat frozens, high-fat cakes including pound and frosted, store-bought pies and most candy.

Also work to avoid potato and corn chips prepared with saturated fat, buttered popcorn and high-fat beverages like frappes, milkshakes, floats and eggnog.

Utilize these tips to help lower your risk for heart disease today! For more information on healthy eating habits, visit our A.D.A.M. health content!