Caring For Your Life

If you have lung disease, you may wonder why you feel more breathless when the thermometer drops.

For some people with chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and asthma, breathing cold, dry air can cause constriction of the airways.  The airways are the hollow tubes that connect the mouth and nose to the alveoli. Alveoli are thin walled balloon-like structures where gas exchange occurs. The constriction of the airways may reduce the flow of air into and out of your lungs, which adds to the feeling of breathlessness and may even cause wheezing. This can be frightening and sometimes even dangerous.

What to do? Well, you certainly don’t want to have to stay in the house. Living well with lung disease is important for our bodies and our psyche, and that includes getting outside. But do pay attention to severe weather and wind chill alerts. There are certain times you should stay inside and extreme weather would be one of those times.

Here are some tips for coping with the cold and its effects on your lungs. 

• Wear a soft scarf over your nose and mouth.
• Breath through your nose as this filters, warms  and humidifies the air before it enters your lungs.
• Exercise indoors. We know that exercise is so important for people with lung disease so even though the temperature drops you still need to remain active. Exercise in your home or go to the mall and walk. Most malls open early for just this purpose.
• Use your bronchodilator, your rescue inhaler, 30 minutes before you go outside. The inhaler will open and relax the airways making it easier to breathe. Also carry it with you when you go out into the cold.
• If it is very cold and dry a home humidifier may help but be sure you clean it properly.
• Avoid wood burning stoves and fireplaces as the smoke from these can irritate your airways and combined with the cold cause worsening breathlessness.

Be prepared for the cold weather and you may just find it can still be enjoyable!

Excitement, parades, floats, costumes, colors, music playing, delicious food and fun, fun, fun;  It’s MARDI GRAS!  Mardi Gras has been traced back to Medieval Europe, so bring a little tradition and an essence of New Orleans into your supper meal tonight.  Find some delicious Mardi Gras meal ideas in any of your favorite cookbooks or on the internet.  Here are a few of my favorite recipes.

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/healthy_mardi_gras_recipes

http://www.foodnetwork.com/topics/mardi-gras/index.html

So spice up your meal tonight, and enjoy Fat Tuesday … It’s MARDI GRAS!

Chocolate and Valentine’s Day go hand in hand. Not only is chocolate a sweet gift, but dark chocolate, when eaten in moderation, is a healthy treat. Not only is it satisfying, dark chocolate provides nutritional value because in contains healthy antioxidants, phytochemicals and flavonoids. The flavonoids come from the cocoa bean extracts in dark chocolate, while the high percentage of cocoa gives your body healthy antioxidants.

A recent study in The Journal of The American Dietetic Association showed that the ingredients in dark chocolate offer many health benefits. The primary benefits of chocolate are the antioxidants responsible for preventing cholesterol from sticking to your artery walls as well as the flavonoids that contribute to heart health. Eating 2 oz. (50g) of plain chocolate a day with a minimum content of 70% chocolate solids provides protection against heart disease and high blood pressure. Did you know that dark chocolate contains some of the same healthy compounds that are found in red wine and tea? So, eating 1 ½ oz of dark chocolate a day may provide as many cancer-fighting antioxidants as a 5 oz. glass of red wine.

Chocolate contains both saturated fat and unsaturated fat but does not appear to increase blood cholesterol levels. In fact, chocolate contains a type of oil that has been shown to help maintain a healthy heart. There are also chemicals in chocolate that decrease the risk of sugar damage to your teeth.

Chocolate has a variety of trace elements and nutrients such as iron, calcium, potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Vitamin E. Some types of chocolate are now enriched with plant sterols, which have been shown to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease by lowering blood cholesterol levels.

Don’t believe the myth that chocolate contains a lot of caffeine. While it is true that chocolate does contain caffeine, the amount is actually very small. One ounce of milk chocolate has only 6 mg of caffeine, and 1 oz. of dark chocolate has 20 mg of caffeine. In comparison, 8 oz. of decaffeinated coffee has 3 mg of caffeine, but 8 oz. of regular coffee has 85 mg of caffeine.

Some other interesting chocolate facts:
1.  50% of food cravings are for chocolate.
     40% of women and 15% of men report chocolate cravings
2.  Chocolate stimulates secretions of endorphins producing a pleasurable sensation similar to a “runner’s high.”
3.  In 1847 Joseph Fry of Bristol, England produced the first chocolate bar.
4.  In 1861 Richard Cadbury created the first known heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day, and in 1868 he produced the first chocolate box.
5.  Today 36 million heart-shaped boxes are sold each year.
6.  It would take about 875,000 chocolate chips to provide one average-sized adult with enough energy to walk around the earth.
7.  And how about this one? In 1775, Thomas Jefferson wrote John Adams a letter declaring that chocolate was superior to coffee and tea. Wow, he knew something that we are just discovering!

Are you confused about the different types of chocolate? Well, hopefully this will help:
1. Unsweetened Chocolate is called baking or bitter chocolate. It contains no sugar. It has a strong bitter taste and it is used for cooking.
2. Bittersweet Chocolate is a dark chocolate but it is a little sweeter than unsweetened chocolate. It has less sugar and more liquor that semisweet chocolate. It can contain up to 75% cocoa solids and a little or no sugar. Bittersweet chocolate can be interchanged with semisweet chocolate.
3. Semisweet Chocolate is slightly sweetened during processing. Semisweet chocolate is a favorite chocolate of homemakers. It is often used in frostings, sauces, fillings, and mousse.
4. German Chocolate is a dark but sweeter chocolate than semisweet chocolate. German chocolate is a predecessor of bittersweet chocolate. German chocolate has no connection to Germany but was developed by a man named German.
5. Milk Chocolate is candy bar chocolate. It consists of chocolate with whole milk or skim milk powder added. It is rarely used in cooking because the protein in the added milk solids interferes with the texture of the baked products. Milk chocolate contains only 20% cocoa.

You can find some chocolate recipes on these websites
http://www.mms.com/us/baking/
http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/
http://www.ghirardelli.com/bake/recipes.aspx

A video history of chocolate can be viewed at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/A-Brief-History-of-Chocolate.html

And if you want to play some chocolate games, try M&M’s website http://www.mms.com/us/becomeanmm

This Valentine’s Day, give dark chocolate to your special someone!