Health Tips

We've been coming across some great health tips and wanted to share them with you. From how to manage all of the extra screen time, posture working from home, and how to fuel your body.

SCREEN TIME

Today it seems like everyone is staring at a computer screen, phone or a digital device. As we become more screen obsessed, our eyes are getting an exhausting endurance workout.

The total amount of screen time for many people has gone up during the pandemic. Whether your screen time is for your job of for entertainment to decompress after a long day, your eyes are the ones that are paying the price.

Here are some tips to help reduce the strain on your eyes.

1. ^{Adjust the way you engage with devices. Your phone should always be a foot from your face; your laptop about two feet away.}

2. ^{Keep screens 3-4 inches below your sight line looking slightly downward is easier on the eyes. A tilted laptop stand lets you stick to those guidelines without sacrificing ergonomics.}

3. ^{Adjust lighting in your work environment: Swap standard bulbs for ones like Philips EyeComfort LED lights that don’t give off glare or emit high-energy blue-light wavelengths.}

4. ^{Attachable anti-glare filters act as a buffer against blue light, and stop ambient light from reflecting off your computer.}

5. ^{Blue-light-blocking glasses can nix up to 42% of harmful wavelengths.}

6. ^{Remember the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds to look 20 feet away.}

POSTURE

Most people don't realize it when their working hunched over their computer screen, but changing your posture can make a huge difference! Here are some helpful tips:

1. ^{Maintain a gentle sway in your lower back. Sit with your butt all the way up against the back of the seat and place a small, firm cushion in the hollow area of your lower spine where your back naturally sways.}

2. ^{Bend your elbows 90 degrees: your desk height should allow this.}

3. ^{Position your chin parallel to the ground. Position your screen directly in front of your natural eye level.}

4. ^{Drawn your chin back so it's right behind your collarbones. Then, tuck your chin slightly as if you’re holding a tennis ball with your chin.}

5. ^{Open your shoulders, don't slouch. Gently roll your shoulders down and back, feeling muscles in your upper back engage.}

6. ^{Bend your knees 90 degrees, feet flat on the ground. Avoid propping legs up on anything as that can tighten your hamstrings and even irritate your sciatic nerve if you have existing spinal stiffness.}

FUEL YOUR BODY

We can always make changes to our diet to improve our overall health. Here are are some tips:

1. ^{An important electrolyte, potassium is also the 3rd most abundant mineral in the body. It interacts with sodium to perform a number of important functions every single day, such as balancing fluids and mineral levels within the body. Foods rich in potassium include: Avocados, bananas, Lima Beans, Swiss Chard, Spinach, Acorn Squash, Sweet Potato, Wild Salmon, Dried Apricots, Pomegranate, Coconut Water, Peas, Sardines and Beets. Try to incorporate these different foods throughout your day make sure you are getting the nutrients your body needs to function.}

2. ^{Drinking one glass of water 30 minutes before a meal can help digestion. Also drink water an hour after a meal to allow the body to absorb the nutrients. Some believe drinking water during meals dilutes the acids that break down food that help digestion. Although this seems easy to do, people often forget to drink a sufficient amount of water to help with digestion and to dehydration.}

3. ^{Blueberries have a high number of anthocyanin pigments, which not only give them their rich color, but also act as powerful antioxidants that may lower the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, according to a review published in July 2019 in Advances in Nutrition. Try starting your day off with a bowl of blueberries!}