HIKING AND LYME DISEASE – A COMMON TICK-BORNE DISEASE
April 27, 2017 at 4:50 pm | Posted in Health Concerns, Lyme Disease - A common Tick-Borne Disease | Leave a commentTags: Hiking In The Great Outdoors
Newspaper and magazine journalists tout, “Take that hike! The scenery is spectacular! The views are great! The exercise will be good for you, and it’s only a 3 1/2 mile hike there and back!”
A leisurely hike certainly sounds appealing, and one can always use the exercise, but BEWARE! A hike down a dirt road, through the woods or in a field may change your life forever.
After a prolonged rainy season, wild flowers are blooming in profusion, grasses are tall and weeds are plentiful, but the fields and woods are teeming with healthy ticks just waiting in the high brush for someone to walk by to drop down on or latch onto. Unlike snakes, they won’t try to get out of your way. And if ticks bite you and are infected with one of the seven tick-borne pathogens causing human diseases including the Borrelia burgdorferi bacterium which causes Lyme disease, symptoms can include a ring-like rash along with flulike symptoms, malaria-like disease, muscle and joint aches and swollen lymph nodes.
Ticks can be as small as a poppy seed or a flake of pepper so they may be very difficult to see. After taking a hike, you have to be very diligent checking your body, even checking your hair, behind your ears, behind your knees and under your arms to see if any have latched onto you. The bigger ticks are easier to detect and remove, but it’s important to remove the tick as soon as possible to try to avoid its transmission of infection. Otherwise, once a tick is done feeding on you, it will drop off on its own. However, if you never see that tick, diagnosis of symptoms of Lyme disease can be difficult so wear long sleeves and long pants stuffed inside your socks if at all possible.
Before a hike you may feel happy, strong and healthy, but once you are bitten by a tick, your health can drastically change.
Unless you hurry to your doctor’s office or to an Urgent Care facility for antibiotics to counteract this vector-borne disease, you may end up with long-term infections that can cause more serious symptoms including arthritis, severe muscle pain, headaches, heart palpitations, brain inflammation and nerve pain.
Warn your friends and family about the dangers of hiking in those tick-infested areas. Mention this blog and tell them not to ignore my “Sound Advice For A Better Life.” A hike simply is not worth the loss of good health, for on a hike, you may see those spectacular scenes, but down the road your doctor and pharmacist will see a very sick, suffering person paying a huge price for the rest of their life.
WORLD’S MOST DELICIOUS MACARONI AND CHEESE
April 9, 2017 at 10:59 am | Posted in Fabulous Food Tips, Wonderful Recipes | Leave a commentTags: Healthy Food
This is an old recipe from Chef Laima Leko at the Eatwell diner in Los Angeles, California
Active work time: 25 minutes – Total preparation time: 1 hour – Makes 8 servings
1 pound elbow macaroni
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 small onion chopped
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 cup flour
4 cups milk
2 cups cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 and 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese divided
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup crumbled blue cheese divided
Hot sauce
Salt, pepper
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cook the macaroni in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water until done (about 10 minutes). Drain well and set aside.
Melt the butter and sauté the onion and garlic until soft (about 5 minutes). Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Cook until mixture is smooth (about 5 minutes). Whisk in the milk and cream and simmer until the mixture is thick and creamy (about 15 minutes).
Add the mustard, the Jack cheese, 1 cup of the cheddar, the Parmesan cheese and 1/2 of the blue cheese. Stir until blended. Add a dash of hot sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix the cheese sauce with the cooked macaroni and put in a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and the remainder of the blue cheese on top then bake until brown and crusty on top (about 30 minutes).
Approximately 526 calories per serving.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
April 7, 2017 at 5:33 pm | Posted in Harmful Health Habits, Health Concerns, Healthful Hints | Leave a commentTags: Limiting Exposure to Industrial Chemicals
No one knows what causes breast or prostrate cancer, but just to be on the safe side, try to avoid sending your clothing to the dry cleaners as much as possible in order to limit even more exposure to industrial chemicals.
PISTACHIO NUTS
March 2, 2017 at 11:59 am | Posted in Checking Food Freshness, Health Concerns, Pistachio Nuts | Leave a commentTags: Moldy Unhealthy Foods
Certainly all kinds of nuts are supposed to be good for you, especially if you are not allergic to any them, but be extra observant when purchasing pistachio nuts or cans of nuts that have pistachios mixed in with them
Pistachio nuts should appear to be freshly picked, greenish edible seeds. Lately, however, these nuts, packaged and sold by supposedly reputable name brand companies have pistachios mixed in with other nuts, but the pistachios are shriveled, dark brown and they look like they are moldy, third-rate specimens which could very well be harmful to your health if eaten.
Be discerning! Don’t eat these rotten specimens or allow your family to eat them. Better yet, return the entire product to the store where they were purchased, complain about the poor quality then ask for a refund.
NEED EXTRA INCOME?
January 23, 2017 at 12:54 pm | Posted in Opportunities, Tutoring Or Teaching For Extra Cash | Leave a comment
Everyone can always use extra income especially now that the price of everything seems to be continually rising! Where will it end?
Advertise and then put your talents to work either in your home, their home, at a library, at a park or anyplace else agreed upon.
If you excel in math, tutor math. If you excel in English, teach a broken-English speaking person the correct pronunciations and enunciations of the English language. Believe it or not, this actually is possible and actually has been achieved, by immigrants keenly listening to the radio or to the way a native person speaks in order to eventually sound like a native of this country or a native of another country in which they happen to reside.
You can teach piano, guitar or any other musical instrument. Share your gourmet cooking and baking secrets. Coach someone in Computer Science or tennis on the tennis court. Tutor one-on-one or tutor a small group of people together.
Opportunities do exist.
PLAGUED BY STREP THROAT?
January 11, 2017 at 2:08 pm | Posted in Strep Throat Cure | Leave a commentTags: Colds, Painful Strep Throat, Sore Throats
Are you or someone in your family plagued by strep throat?
“You must build up the mucous membranes of your nose and throat” was the advice of a caring family physician.
“Adults should take one or two grams of Vitamin C every day” he advised. “Vitamin C is water soluble and can’t be overdosed. Any excess Vitamin C is simply excreted in the urine. Children able to swallow tablets can be given 500 milligrams to 1,000milligrans of Vitamin C twice to three times a day. And children unable to swallow tablets can be given 500 milligram chewable Gummy Bears once or twice a day.”
In addition, consuming fruits and vegetables high in Vitamin C are sure to enhance the benefits of taking over-the-counter Vitamin C.
CHESTNUTS ROASTING ON AN OPEN FIRE, JACK FROST NIPPING AT YOUR NOSE.
December 12, 2016 at 2:49 pm | Posted in Festive Treats For The Holidays, Wonderful Recipes | Leave a commentTags: Dessert Made With Chestnuts
It’s that time of year again and if you would like to serve something different to guests, make this old European holiday dessert with chestnuts.
Instead of roasting chestnuts, boil them in water until their shells are soft enough to peel. Before they completely cool off, peel them then toss them into a nut grinder activated by hand. Divide ground nuts onto individual dessert plates then top with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. Serve immediately with your favorite hot beverage and enjoy!
P.S. Should you notice a small dirty spot on the carpet before your company arrives, spray with Windex or Glass Plus then wipe or dab clean with a paper towel.
FABULOUS FRUIT SALAD
October 24, 2016 at 5:15 pm | Posted in Fabulous Food Tips, Homemade Salad Dressing, Wonderful Recipes | Leave a commentTags: Fabulous All-Natural Fruit Salad
Mix Daisy Brand Pure & Natural Sour Cream with brown sugar. You will love how this tastes!
Combine grapes, sliced bananas, Mandarin oranges, chopped nuts, flaked coconut, pineapple chunks or any of your other favorite fruits then generously top with the sour cream and brown sugar ingredients or mix all these all-natural ingredients together.
What else can you do with this tasty concoction? Be creative! You decide.
A LESSON IN ETIQUETTE FOR MEN
October 24, 2016 at 4:50 pm | Posted in Etiquette, Helpful Hints | Leave a commentTags: Etiquette for Men
Men! When you shake hands with a woman, please don’t squeeze her delicate hand too hard!
Her hand may have had a previous, painful injury and your tight grip will undoubtedly cause great pain!
Better yet, wait until she extends her hand to you, then be careful not to overdo it.
RESIDENTIAL WATER SOFTENERS
October 24, 2016 at 4:27 pm | Posted in Health Concerns, Helpful Household Hints, Residential Water Softeners | Leave a commentTags: Avoiding Too Much Salt In Your Diet
Water softeners are necessary to invest in if your water supply happens to be full of minerals depositing unsightly residue on sinks and tubs, damaging faucets and the like.
Since water softeners require the addition of salt to “soften” the water, if you drink that “softened” water, you may end up ingesting too much salt, which can cause various health problems such as high blood pressure or the sudden appearance of a strange reddish skin rash.
If you must keep track of the amount of salt in your diet, or if you must reduce salt in your diet, purchase bottled water just for drinking.
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