diet

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and a good time check in with yourself and loved ones. So many of us are struggling to keep our mental health in check right now. It’s normal to feel anxious about the impacts of COVID-19. Preventing our worries from consuming us can reduce stress and uncertainty—and even more severe behavioral health issues like suicide.

Besides being known for bringing candy hearts and lots of snow, February is National Heart Health Month. Heart disease is identified as the leading cause of death in both men and women by the Centers for Disease Control. In addition to screenings that can be done to monitor your heart’s health, there are fundamentals of following a preventative heart health lifestyle that can help prevent heart disease and maintain heart health.

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - And then there were four. Blaze, Yreka, Paradise, and Pioneer are now making a temporary home at Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC).

On Tuesday, March 12, 2019, Tom and Cheryl Millham, founders of LTWC, drove to Rancho Cordova to pick up Blaze and Yreka, two very young cubs from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Investigation Lab.

Carson Tahoe Expressions Memory Care invites the community to attend a free discussion on Thursday, February 28 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., led by internationally recognized memory care expert David Troxel, MPH, who will discuss the importance of engagement and activity for brain health as it relates to Alzheimer’s disease.

Troxel’s expertise is rooted in the “Best Friends Approach” – a treatment philosophy he helped pioneer that redefines how families and caregivers can enhance the lives of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

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I was recently watching the movie Castaway. This time, as I watched, I thought about how it was filmed. As the movie begins, Tom Hanks’ character has a bit of a belly. As the story progresses he becomes thinner and more muscular. I assume the effect was created by filming in reverse; he began as thin and muscular and gained the weight afterward. I began thinking about how easily we can change when we put our minds to it.

I’ve had this article in my head for months, bouncing around the walls of my brain, trying to decide where to go with it. There is an epidemic continuing to spread in this country. One that is curable without a vaccine, without drugs, without changing one’s diet. It’s called a Lack of Kindness.

Locals and tourists alike can feel it in South Lake Tahoe, as if a cloud of hate has descended over the lake. Pleasantries seem to be a forgotten art, as has simple kindness like holding a door open for another, or letting a car back out of a parking space, or a simple smile to a stranger.

Yes, dogs can get the flu.

With dozens of reported cases of dogs with influenza throughout Northern California over the last few weeks, it appears two strains of the nasty bug may be getting closer to Lake Tahoe.

One Reno veterinarian says even though they've had just 10 confirmed cases of dog flu in Washoe County, he believes there has likely been 100 cases. Some dog owners don't get their dogs tested for flu due to costs, but Dr. Rick Furman said many of the sick dogs seen in his office have they symptoms.

Prescribed fire operations in both the Eldorado National Forest and Tahoe National Forest Truckee Ranger District are sending smoke into the Lake Tahoe Basin Thursday.

If you have low tolerance for smoke, please take the following precautions to reduce your exposure.
· Stay indoors as much as possible especially seniors and children. Avoid physical exertion.
· Close windows, doors, and outside vents when it is smoky. Use a fan or air conditioner to re-circulate the air. Ventilate your home and work place during periods when it is least smoky.

Lake Tahoe Unified School District is looking for volunteers to help them in their quest to help students with a healthy lifestyle as well as their efforts to be sustainable and use of renewable energy.

Community members with an interest or expertise in any of these areas are encouraged to join one of the following committees:

Wellness Committee – Nutrition, Wellness Committee – Physical Education and Activity, and Renewable Energy and Sustainability Committee

OCTOBER 9th Common Scams/Preventing Elder Abuse
Presenter: Michelle Ward, Attorney—El Dorado County Senior Legal Services
Address issues regarding scams directed towards seniors and how to prevent your loved one from being abused financially by these scam artists.

OCTOBER 16th Healthy Living for your Brain and Body

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It isn't cheap to care for hundreds of wild birds and animals each year so Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care is holding their annual membership drive. Funds raised go to medicine, housing, equipment and food for the injured and orphaned wildlife.

Memberships start at $35 and go up to $10,000, or more. Memberships account for 20 percent of the agency's budget. Click here for membership information.

With the cool fall weather approaching, it’s important to think about a very important vitamin we can absorb from the sun: vitamin D. According to city data, South Lake Tahoe boasts an average of 249 days of sunshine per year so we should all be quite abundant in our vitamin D stores. However, many of us spend hours indoors and nutrition research shows about 40 percent of adults are lacking this vitamin.

Below are some common questions about vitamin D and how to get the most from this important nutrient.

What is vitamin D?

Elevated Fitness, South Lake Tahoe's high altitude, carbon-neutral, human-powered fitness facility, focuses on dynamic and scientific workouts at their gym located at 4000 Lake Tahoe Blvd, Suite 8. They are celebrating their fourth year on the South Shore with a 2 for the price of 1 special. Two people join for the price of one, or, one person can join for two months at the price of one.

Their member's success is from science and movement based workouts which get maximum results through safe, progressive programming based on research, not through trends and machines.

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The last word you want to hear from your veterinarian is cancer.

As humans, we know that there are things that we can do to try to prevent some types of cancer. Well, there are some things we can do to decrease the chances of our pets getting cancer also.

Read on for the top five ways to reduce your pet’s cancer risk.

Have your pet spayed or neutered.

Ask Henry:

It’s Responsible Pet Owners Month so I wanted to share my top ten things you need to do to be a responsible pet owner.

1) Being a responsible pet owner starts before you even get a pet. Make sure you pick a breed that fits with your lifestyle. Do you live in an apartment? If so I wouldn’t rush out and get a Great Dane. Always consider adopting from a shelter, there are so many animals looking for their forever homes. If you must go with a breeder make sure they are reputable!

We're at the beginning of another new year and a lot of us use this day to reflect upon the last 365 days and look forward to the next. The lists of annual resolutions are made, but how may of us actually stick to them?

The New Year's resolutions are a bit like babies: They're fun to make but extremely difficult to maintain. According to Health magazine, each January roughly one in three Americans resolve to better themselves in some way. A much smaller percentage of people actually make good on those resolutions.

Hippocrates, a physician and philosopher of health, said: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Food is often underestimated as an effective medicine. One collection of ingredients gaining attention are phytonutrients. Phytonutrients, sometimes called phytochemicals, are nutrients found in plants that contribute to its vitality. They can be found in a variety of plant-based foods and research shows when humans consume phytonutrients, they interact with the body and promote healing.

The City of South Lake Tahoe and the Mental Health Collaborative have declared May 10 to 16, Mental Health Awareness Week. Throughout the week, public events and articles, like the one below, will highlight “Each Mind Matters” in South Lake Tahoe.

According to California’s Mental Health Movement and the Centers for Disease Control, half of us will experience a mental health concern in our lifetime.

As word of California’s measles outbreak spread to even remote Mariposa County, health officer Robert Ryder tried to capitalize on the alarming news by reaching out to families whose children weren’t fully vaccinated.

Many of us spend January 1 making resolutions and the other 364 days trying to stay resolved to keeping them. In fact, only 8% of people successfully achieve their resolutions, according to research from the University of Scranton. So, here are the top 10 tips for making resolutions and more importantly, keeping them!

1. Set short-term goals for long-term results.

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. - You've walked by them, biked past them, and maybe even seen them on empty lots - what are those random piles of wood? The piles are the first half of a two-step process used by Lake Tahoe Basin agencies to reduce hazardous fuels, provide community protection, and improve forest health.

It has been shown that people who suffer from the symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) find relief in yoga due to it's emphasis on relaxation, breathing and deliberate movements.

Yoga classes to assist in relief from the symptoms of MS are now available for free in South Lake Tahoe at the Pilates Studio Lake Tahoe.

October 20-26, 2013 is National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week

Lead is highly toxic and can harm your child’s brain, causing lifelong learning and behavior problems. Children under age six are most at risk for lead poisoning, but there are also significant health risks for adults, newborns and pregnant women too.

Lead dust in the home is caused by chipping, peeling, flaking or deteriorating lead-based paint. Lead dust is not the same as household dust. Lead dust is often invisible, heavier, and stickier. It can be present in even the cleanest of homes.

Rat poison used on illegal marijuana grows is killing fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada, according to a recent study conducted by a team of scientists from the University of California, Davis, the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Southwest Research Station, UC Berkeley, and the Integral Ecology Research Center in Humboldt County, Calif.