Health & Wellness Coach Week, Feb. 12-18

One of the Nation’s Fastest-Growing Professions to Advocate for Increased Tax Savings to Support Preventative Health and Wellness Care

In First-Ever Lobby Day, “Health & Wellness Coach Week” to Highlight Important Contributions Profession Makes to Our Country’s Health and Economy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Trump’s recent physical exam focused the national spotlight on the need for healthy eating and exercise.

On Tuesday, February 13^th, Health and Wellness Coaches, one of the fastest growing professions in the country, will storm Capitol Hill for the industry’s first-ever lobby day to advocate for this often overlooked, but unique and powerful preventative health care industry. As President Trump’s looks to work on losing 10 to 15 pounds and begin an exercise routine at the advice of the White House physician, like all Americans, he could benefit greatly from the help of a Health Coach.

Building on the recently enacted tax reform package, Health and Wellness coaches will be calling on Members of Congress to allow consumers increased flexibility in using tax-free Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to access critical, life-saving preventative health care services proven to help Americans live longer and healthier lives.

This year’s lobby-day efforts are in conjunction with Health and Wellness Coach Week, running from Monday, February 12^th to Sunday, February 18^th. Events will include a congressional briefing and the industry’s first-ever national lobbying day aimed at educating Members of Congress, staff and other policymakers of the benefits of the health and wellness coach industry.

“Now is the time for Congress to continue the tax reform momentum by expanding Americans’ ability to use pre-tax dollars to access transformative wellness and preventative care services offered by Health Coaches,” said Darrell Rogers, Dir. of Advocacy for the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. “As a $1.1 billion a year industry, health and wellness coaches help individual Americans stay healthy while boosting the strength of our nation’s overall economy.  American’s should be able to have more flexibility in using their Health Savings Accounts to work with Health Coaches, who can help them develop a healthy lifestyle, engrain positive habits, and drastically reduce overall health care costs.”

In addition to keeping Americans healthy, the health and wellness coach industry is one of the country’s fastest growing professions with the Department of Labor projecting a 21 percent increase in jobs in preventive care over the next few years.

Health and Wellness Coach week is a celebration sponsored by the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13^th  

WHAT:

Congressional Briefing on the Important Contributions of the
Health and Wellness Coach Industry

WHO:            

Health Coaches

Darrell Rogers, Dir. of Advocacy, Institute for Integrative Nutrition

WHEN:         

12:00PM ET – 1:00PM ET

WHERE:
Rayburn House Office Building 2168

Washington, DC

**Following the briefing, health and wellness coaches will be visiting the offices of their respective Members of Congress**

** For more information and to RSVP for any events, please contact Kristofer Eisenla, LUNA+EISENLA media, at kristofer@lunaeisenlamedia.com **

Key Facts about Health and Wellness Coaches

• Congress can support access to real preventative care. By supporting legislation that allows consumers flexibility to use their Health Savings Account (HSAs) to directly access Health Coaches, Congress can incentivize wellness.
• Health coaches help reduce our nation’s overall health care costs.  The CDC notes that chronic diseases from poor lifestyle choices are at the heart of our nation’s health care crisis and comprise approximately 75% of our health care dollars.  Through helping Americans implement a diverse range of healthy behaviors, Health Coaches make transformative impacts on people’s lives that dramatically lower health care costs.
• The American Medical Association recently endorsed health coaching. The AMA encourages all their physician members to have health coaches on staff.
• The Health and Wellness Coach profession is one of nation’s fastest growing profession. The Department of Labor projects a 21% increase in American jobs for health and wellness professionals focused on preventive health.  Adding to the over 35,000 practitioners employed today, the health coach profession is forecasted to continue an upward trajectory of job creation while simultaneously making our country healthier.

Fierce Fitness: 4 Steps to a Stronger Core & a Better You

The core is one of the largest muscle groups. It helps in supporting your posture, protects some of your abdominal vital organs, and allows you to perform essential lower and upper body movements. A strong and lean core is often an indicator of good muscle health, as the abdomen would usually accumulate fat when the core is weak.

The core muscles consist of the abdominal muscles, obliques, lower back muscles and gluteus. To build strong core muscles, one must learn how to work each part of this group. If you are ready to have a fierce and fit core, here are a few tips to follow.

Single Leg Plank Walk

This exercise works out all of the core muscles when done right. Start by doing a high plank position, completely straight and avoiding to lift your butt. Raise one leg and start walking your hands forward. The extra effort needed to keep your core in the right position with only one leg as a support from the back will strengthen your abdominals. If you have space constraints, you can try a yoga pose by doing a low plank and hold the position for as long as you can.

ISO Chin up with Leg Raise

This next workout is a killer, but it will also make your core and your arms as hard as a rock. By using an isometric bar or ring, lift yourself up while keeping your chin up. Quickly raise your legs to a 90-degree angle and hold it for as long as you can. This will burn the fats surrounding your core muscles, not to mention it will also give your arms a little bit of body weight workout.

Suspension Strap Fallout

The strap fallout move is meant to protect your shoulders yet keep your core engaged. Start by holding on to a suspension strap, but keeping your shoulders down. Extend your arms and start to lean over while keeping your feet in place. Your body will look like a slanted line leaning forward, and this position can work out your core, arms, and upper thighs. Make sure that the straps are secure, too!

Single Arm and Leg Body Saw

Another core killer that’s one for the books is the single arm and leg body saw position. You can start by doing a low plank position. Lift one arm and the opposite leg, slide forward and backward as if you are sawing the ground, at 4-8 counts per side. This position gives double work for the core minus one arm and leg.

A stronger core means a better body, and a better you. Start by doing at least one of these movements, and you are sure to feel the difference by ramping up your core routine.

Eating Healthy: 5 Foods to Incorporate into Your Diet

Whether you’re trying to lose weight or slash your risk for chronic disease, careful attention to nutrition will help you reach your goals. Adding the following five foods to a popular family favorite or in a new recipe will help boost nutrition and taste. No matter which food you decide to try first, you’re sure to make a great choice.

Beans

Beans are a nutritional superstar. A single serving of beans can boast as much as seventeen grams of fiber, protein, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Beans are also frequently featured in some of the best budget-friendly recipes.

Broccoli

While broccoli may seem comparatively lackluster next to colorful, beautiful beans, it is a real performer when it comes to disease prevention and management. The risk of dying from heart disease, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases is twenty-six percent less among those who eat four servings of this green powerhouse. Sulforaphane, the phytochemical responsible for much of this disease-fighting activity, is released most when broccoli is lightly steamed in an old-fashioned stovetop steamer or in the microwave.

Apples

In terms of preparation ease, nothing beats a simple apple. This fruit was among the first quick and easy snack on-the-go options and it remains a perennial favorite due to its snappy crunch and satisfying sweet taste. An apple a day really can help keep the doctor away; studies have linked this delicious treat with reduced risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Whole Grain Bread

Adding some whole grain bread to your diet can help keep you from feeling as if you’re subsisting on “rabbit food,” as you add more fresh produce to your day. Bread made with whole wheat, flax seed, and multigrain flours can provide a hearty and savory chew. Look for all-natural, organic bread from a reputable supplier such as the Klosterman Baking Company.

Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate is an excellent antidote for dessert cravings. This flavonoid antioxidant-rich marvel can prevent blood clots and keep arteries clear. Simply choose chocolate with at least seventy percent cocoa content and watch your portion sizes.

Food should bring pleasure to your life, not end it prematurely. So, enjoy a slice of flax seed bread spread thickly with a zesty bean dip or a piece of gourmet dark chocolate. Such foods are important means of gaining more energy, vitality, and possibly yea

PrescribeIT™ Picking up Steam with New Sites Launched in Thorold

On January 18, 2018, Guggenheim Award winning filmmaker, Maggie Hadleigh-West, released her new film on thyroid disease - Sick to Death! - available on Amazon and VIMEO.  The trailer viewing link is below for your review and I can send the full feature film upon request.

Sick to Death! Feature Film Trailer - https://vimeo.com/152188030

Sick to Death! will not only offer information on thyroid disease, it can help you and your audience learn tips and tools of how to best advocate for your own healthcare needs, while clarifying why so many people go without diagnosis of a chronic condition – often for years and years.

Hadleigh-West can discuss:

• How more than 750 million people around the world have thyroid disease.
• How the chances of having thyroid disease radically increases with age.
• Tips and tools patients can use to advocate for themselves with their doctor.
• How to spot the signs of thyroid disease in yourself or someone you love.
• How the commonly prescribed drugs for thyroid disease -- seen as the gold standard - are under treating 90% of people that suffer with thyroid disease.
• The challenges women face as independent filmmakers and how they continue to make films to change the world.

If you need additional information or would like to interview filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West, please call or email with your request. We can send links to the full feature film, give out clips for websites or have Maggie write guest blogs / columns on thyroid awareness and how to advocate for your healthcare needs.

Johanna J. Ramos-Boyer | JRB Communications, LLC | Office: 703-646-5137

About Sick to Death!

Thyroid disease, and its accompanying symptoms and related disorders, is a very confusing health challenge. The purpose of the Sick to Death! project is to create a resource for health seekers that can assist in confirming that what they are experiencing may in fact be thyroid disease.  With the assistance of a huge community, the Sick to Death! project seeks to improve the medical establishment’s response to thyroid disease.

In Sick to Death! Hadleigh-West exposes AbbVie Pharmaceuticals and their drug Synthroid, one of the most profitable and most commonly prescribed drugs for thyroid disease - yet it under treats 90% of people that suffer with this illness.  Patients are rarely given options for treatment or even told that there might be a more effective treatment.  Sick to Death! uncovers the often ineffective TSH test which leaves millions of people without proper diagnosis for their chronic illness.

Sick to Death! won three Global Film Awards 2017 “Impact Docs” awards, and Hadleigh-West received a Guggenheim Award to make the film.

After drinking radioactive iodine to kill her overactive thyroid, filmmaker Maggie Hadleigh-West catapults into illness only to run smack into a complicated medical maze.  In Sick to Death! Hadleigh-West exposes her own disturbing, yet determined, thirty-year struggle to regain her spiraling health. After seeing hundreds of doctors who either disregarded her symptoms, misdiagnosed or under treated her, Maggie discovers that her life-long thyroid problem was a fully understood medical issue as early as 1914, yet it’s been obscured by systemic medical corruption, pharmaceutical greed, and physician negligence, leaving more than 750 million people sick and suffering world-wide.

About Maggie Hadleigh-West

In 1991 Maggie Hadleigh-West made the very first film on sexual harassment in public called War Zone which garnered world-wide attention and completed a first feature of the same name in 1998.  Sick to Death! is her fourth film and second documentary.  Hadleigh-West is a 2017 Impact Doc Awards winner, a 2013 Guggenheim Fellow Award Winner, 2010 Indie Fest: Audience Impact Merit Award Winner, 2010 Accolade Merit Award Winner, 2009, 2006, and 2005 Alcyon Foundation Fellow, a 2004 New York State Council on the Arts Fellow, 2001 University of Louisville Distinguished Professor Nominee, 2000 Rockefeller Fellow Nominee and a 1998 Berlin Film Festival Caligari Nominee.

Hadleigh-West lives in New Orleans.

4 Innovative Ways to Get Fit and Get Rid of that Fat

If you’re looking for new innovative ways to get fit and get rid of your belly fat, there are plenty of things you can do to meet your health goals. Below, are the top four ways you can start working towards these goals, whether it be losing a few pounds or eating healthier. So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to meet your new fitter and healthier self!

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a type of diet that can help you quickly lose weight. This fasting method works by not eating for a certain amount of time, usually 12 to 20 hours. Although you’re not starving yourself, you shouldn’t or drink anything, besides occasionally tea and water. However, going without food for an amount of time forces your body to use any stored fat for energy, which helps you lose weight as a result. When done correctly, intermittent fasting can help you lose roughly two pounds a week.

Eat Low Carb Meals

No worries if you aren’t a fan of intermittent fasting, you can eat low carb meals instead to help your body lose weight. In fact, a low carb diet can still help you lose an average of two pounds per week. Eating low carb means eating less than 75 grams of carbs every day. Although you don’t have to count every carb you eat, you should generally avoid foods that are high in carbohydrates. Doing so can help you lose weight and eat much healthier.

Athletic Club

Besides eating healthier, you can also join an athletic club to help yourself lose weight. Fortunately, gym memberships aren’t too expensive. Some cost less than $20 a month. However, when you join an athletic club, you’ll have access to a variety of workout equipment that can help you reach your fitness goals.

Take an Early Morning Walk

If you can’t pay for a gym membership, that’s okay; you can simply go for early morning walks instead. Going on a morning walk every day for at least 45 minutes can help you burn calories and burns more calories over body fat, so you’ll lose more weight faster.

It’s not always easy to lose weight, especially in these brisk, cold winter months. However, with the help of our suggestions above, you should be able to find new innovative ways to get fit and get rid of your body fat. So, get out there and start losing some weight!

Carlson Introduces Enhanced Mobility™ – Advanced Botanical Joint Support

Arlington Heights, Ill. (February 6, 2018) – Millions of people are affected by joint and mobility issues that keep them from enjoying the activities they love. Carlson has made it easier than ever to regain joint comfort and function with Enhanced Mobility™, a unique, high-potency blend of four of nature’s most recognized joint health nutrients: boswellia, curcumin, ginger, and tart cherry.*

• ApresFlex® AKBA boswellia extract promotes joint and connective tissue health and is specially designed for optimal absorption.*
• CurcuWIN™ enhanced curcumin extract supports joint health and flexibility and is produced with UltraSOL® technology, making it highly soluble and bioavailable compared with standard curcumin.*
• Gingever® ginger is an antioxidant that protects joints from free radical damage; helps us move freely and easily; and promotes strong, healthy muscles.*
• CherryPURE® tart cherry provides the antioxidant power of proanthocyanidins, which help protect our body from free radicals and promote joint and muscle health.*

For more information, visit www.carlsonlabs.com/enhanced-mobility.

About Carlson Labs

Carlson began in 1965 with a single, natural-source vitamin E formula in Founder Susan Carlson’s small Chicago apartment and quickly grew to offer the most complete line of natural vitamin E supplements in the world. In the early 1980s, Carlson helped launch the omega-3 market in North America, importing their first high-quality, great-tasting, sustainable fish oils from Norway. In 2009, they released a new marine oil sourced from an abundant species of calamari. Today, the next generation of Carlson leads the company and the innovations continue. Carlson now offers more than 200 products designed with your family’s unique nutritional needs in mind. For more information, call (888) 234-5656, email info@carlsonlabs.com, or check out their website at www.carlsonlabs.com. Carlson is located at 600 W. University Dr., Arlington Heights, IL 60004.

*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

‘Poor circulation’ leads to worse outcomes in
African American vascular patients

CHICAGO, Illinois – Feb. 1, 2018 – According to a new study, black Americans have more severe vascular disease by the time they see a vascular surgeon, and they are more likely to die of it than other ethnic groups.

Vascular disease is sometimes called “poor circulation,” but that doesn’t describe the many ways it is harmful. It can cause heart disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease (in the arms and legs), carotid artery disease, aortic aneurysms and other diseases related to blockages in the arteries. Many of those diseases are related to hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis.

The study, published in the February Journal of Vascular Surgery, has also found that African American are getting damaging vascular disease at an earlier age than other populations. In addition, compared with all ethnic groups, black patients were:

• More likely to have insulin-dependent diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure and end-stage renal disease
• Less often medicated with statins after surgery
• Less often insured
• More likely to be cigarette smokers

To make matters worse, black patients did not see a vascular surgeon until their disease was much farther advanced. Most patients who are referred to a vascular surgeon can have their disease managed without surgery, especially if they start going to the vascular surgeon in time. (Vascular surgeons treat all types of circulation disorders throughout the body, except for those inside the brain and heart.)

However, the study found that by the time the African American patients saw a surgeon, they had more severe carotid disease (in the neck artery that brings oxygen to the brain), more severe abdominal aortic artery disease (which, if it ruptures, has a high risk of death) and much worse peripheral artery disease, with 73 percent suffering from the most extreme form, known as critical limb ischemia. PAD and CLI can lead to amputation.

“I realized early in my career that the incidence of vascular disease was highest in my patient population,” said noted vascular surgeon Dr. Donna Mendes, who practices near the Harlem neighborhood of New York City and treats many African American patients. She comments on the issue in a Society for Vascular Surgery video.

“Many [patients] come to see me when their disease has progressed to the point that all I can offer is amputation,” she said. “My patient population has an enormous burden [from hardening of the arteries]. The additional factors of smoking, obesity and not treating their diabetes and cholesterol complicate their vascular disease. The rate of amputation [has been] more than twice that of Caucasians.”

This study, noted invited commentary writer Dr. William Flinn, a vascular surgeon in Florida, “should be ready by every physician. It is of critical importance to improving health care in this country.”

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The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) is a 5,800-member, not-for-profit professional medical society, composed of specialty-trained vascular surgeons and professionals, which seeks to advance excellence and innovation in vascular health through education, advocacy, research and public awareness.

Editors: The full Journal of Vascular Surgery article, “Black patients present with more severe vascular disease and a greater burden of risk factors than white patients at time of major vascular intervention,” is open source and available at www.jvascsurg.org/article/S0741-5214(17)31777-9/fulltext