Tips for a Safe and Healthy Life

Take steps every day to live a safe and healthy life.

Eat healthy.

• Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains every day.

• Limit foods and drinks high in calories, sugar, salt, fat, and alcohol.

• Eat a balanced diet to help keep a healthy weight.

Be active.

• Be active for at least 2½ hours a week. Include activities that raise your breathing and heart rates and that strengthen your muscles.

• Help kids and teens be active for at least 1 hour a day. Include activities that raise their breathing and heart rates and that strengthen their muscles and bones.

Protect yourself.

• Wear helmets, seat belts, sunscreen, and insect repellent.

• Wash hands to stop the spread of germs.

• Avoid smoking and breathing other people’s smoke.

• Build safe and healthy relationships with family and friends.

• Be ready for emergencies. Make a supply kit. Make a plan. Be informed.

Manage stress.

• Balance work, home, and play.

• Get support from family and friends.

• Stay positive.

• Take time to relax.

• Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Make sure kids get more, based on their age.

• Get help or counseling if needed.

Get check-ups.

• Ask your doctor or nurse how you can lower your chances for health problems based on your lifestyle and personal and family health histories.

• Find out what exams, tests, and shots you need and when to get them.

• See your doctor or nurse as often as he or she says to do so. See him or her sooner if you feel sick, have pain, notice changes, or have problems with medicine.

Top 5 walking facts

Here are 5 things you might not know about walking:

• It’s easy to think you’re protecting the kids from fumes by keeping them inside the car. But pollution inside can be up to three times the level it is outside on the pavement – so step out and enjoy the fresh air!

• If we all swapped one car journey a week for walking, car traffic would reduce by at least 10%.

• The average person could save £160 every year by walking instead of driving the journey to school – just think what fun you could have with that extra money...

• Walking just 1 mile burns over 100 calories!

• About a third of all the journeys we make are less than a mile. A mile is only about a 20 minute walk.

Cooking Food Safely

• Stuffing the turkey is not recommended. Cook the stuffing separate.

• Use a food thermometer. You can’t tell if the turkey is cooked simply by looking

• Check to make sure every part of the turkey reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 ^oF, even if your turkey has a pop-up temperature indicator. Check the innermost part of the thigh and wing, and the thickest part of the breast.

• Let turkey stand for 20 minutes before carving to allow juices to set.

• Stuffing should also reach a minimum temperature of 165 ^oF.

• Any dish containing eggs should be cooked to reach an internal temperature of 160 ^oF.

• Use a separate clean spoon whenever tasting food from the pot. Do not use spoon for stirring to taste.

Preparing Food Safely

• Wash your hands with soap and water.

• Make sure working areas and surfaces, utensils and plates are also clean.

• Use separate cutting or chopping boards for meats and for fruits/vegetables. Avoid putting cooked food on cutting boards that have touched raw food.

• Avoid wiping your hands that have touched raw food with dish towels.

• Keep raw food away from vegetables and side dishes that will not be cooked.

Tips on How to Eat Less

1. Make sure you eat breakfast every day.

2. Share a single dessert.

3. When eating out, have a big vegetable salad, then split an entrée with a friend or have the other half wrapped to go.

4. Drink a glass of water 10 minutes before your meal to take the edge off your hunger.

5. Listen to music while you eat instead of watching TV (people tend to eat more while watching TV).

6. Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to send a signal to your brain that you’re full.

7. Teaspoons, salad forks, or child-size utensils may help you take smaller bites and eat less.

8. Make less food look like more by serving your meal on a salad or breakfast plate.

9. Make a list before you go to the store. Don’t groceries shop on an empty stomach?

10. Try not to snack while cooking or cleaning the kitchen.

Good Eating Habits

Aim for a healthy weight and be physically active each day.

Good eating habits include: eating a variety of foods, eating in moderate amounts and fats, salt and sweet in moderation.

Our body needs 40 or more nutrients to be healthy and work properly. Nutrients are vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. They are found in a variety of foods.

Some foods are rich in some of the nutrients. But there is none that has all the nutrients that we need.

For example:

1. Milk is rich in calcium, but has little iron.

2. Meats, eggs, poultry, and beans are rich in proteins and iron, but are low in vitamin C.

3. Fruits and vegetables are good sources of many vitamins, minerals and fiber, but are low in iron and protein.

Banana Power

Banana Power
- A natural remedy for many ills

Anemia
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

Blood Pressure
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt making it the perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power
200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Constipation
High in fibre, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Depression
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain trypotophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

Lethargy
One of the quickest ways of curing lethargy and fatigue is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heart-burn
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body so if you suffer from heart-burn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Weight Control
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.