Tag: memory

For years and years the nutrition world has shoved these phrases down your throat: Fat-free, Non-fat, Low-fat. Those words have dictated how you’ve tried to eat for a long, long time. Right? Well, truth-be-told there are plenty of reasons to eat fat—and lots of it.

Turns out, there is a healthy kind of fat. It’s the fat you find in avocados, olive oil, and fish.

Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Behind this statistic are 16 million Americans providing unpaid care to a loved one with Alzheimer’s or related dementias. The face of caregiving today is a family member or friend doing their best to survive the role of care partner.

Are you one of them?

Thinking about the dementia journey my mother and I shared over 18 years; waves of powerlessness, loneliness and guilt always come first. They are the emotions I often felt as an uneducated caregiver. Trying to remember the good, my mind usually finds its way to the pain of my shortcomings.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~Richard Bach

I recently learned that the transformation of the caterpillar to a butterfly isn’t just about the effort of spinning their cocoon. Once inside, the caterpillar literally liquefies in its metamorphosis to its adult form as a butterfly, which, while short lived, optimizes the astonishing feat of beauty and freedom that most all living creatures aspire towards.

This year my husband and I will celebrate 28 years of marriage, and I really don’t know where the time has gone. I remember when I got engaged at 18 to be married one year later, the prospect of life ahead with my husband Gabriel held so many possibilities. I was ecstatic, young, romantic, idealistic, but not too naive. I had already endured childhood and adolescent challenges like sexual abuse, low self-esteem and the resulting self-hatred had developed a confident exterior that fooled everyone. Although young, I was tough and mature beyond my years with a promising future ahead in academia.

Many mind and body teachers will urge you to live in the moment: "The past is over and done with. The present is a present." Of course, it is great to fully experience the present and not dilute it with invasive thoughts of the past or even future worries—the way animals live moment to moment. However, humans are far more complex; and when someone tells you not to think about something or do something, that’s all you think about. Ask any unsuccessful dieter!

Here’s a typical scenario: You and your spouse have been looking forward to spending the evening together. You get home early and begin dressing for dinner at your favorite special restaurant. The phone rings. It’s your spouse telling you they have been asked to stay late to prepare for an upcoming client meeting. You feel a flash of anger. Suddenly you find yourself thinking that perhaps your spouse is not as disappointed as you are. Now you’re really angry. You answer, "Fine! I didn’t want to go anyway!" Your spouse, who is as disappointed as you are, withdraws. You sense some rough times ahead.

The research is in: most teens get 25-33 percent less sleep than they need. Anyone not getting enough sleep has difficulty focusing, reasoning, driving safely, learning and working. As a parent, it's important that you and your spouse are educated about this topic to help establish healthy habits in your teen who can go on to achieve their full potential.

Most researchers agree that many of the common traits of adolescence—moodiness, impulsiveness, disengagement and depression, even obesity—are symptoms of chronic sleep deprivation.