Healthy Memphis

Evolv Pilates and Fitness Studio set July 25 for the grand opening of its facility at the 6159 Poplar. It is located near the intersection of Poplar and Ridgeway.

Elena Jenkins, the studio's owner and a certified Pilates instructor and fitness coach, is marking the event with a weekend workshop featuring Siri Dharma Galliano. Galliano owns Life Arts Pilates studio in Los Angeles, which Jenkins said has attracted a host of celebrity clients.

For more information, call 461-9948. 

Free dental checks for those age 5 through 15 will be offered in two Memphis locations beginning July 1.

 The Memphis & Shelby County Health Department's School Based Dental Program staff will provide dental examinations and protective sealants to guard against cavities. Services will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis weekdays in July. The clinic will be closed July 4. Appointments aren't necessary.

The July clinics are set for Latino Memphis, 2838 Hickory Hill, and Southside Boys & Girls Club, 677 Richmond. There will be Spanish-language translators at the Hickory Hill clinic.

 Young people must either be accompanied by a parent or guardian or bring a signed parental consent form. The necessary forms will be available at the clinics.

We're hosting an online conversation with Joan Carr, assistant public information officer at the Health Department. She will answer questions about heatstroke and ways to beat the heat. Read more at http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/lifestyle/ 

Ask your question or post your comment here. She'll respond.

An e-mail arrived recently from a pharmaceutical company offering this truly useful service - an informational Web site ranking public restrooms nationwide.

The makers of Cystex, an over-the-counter urinary pain reliever, have partnered with The Bathroom Diaries in a project that might reduce the number of times you gingerly open the door of a public bathroom and find yourself immediately backing out.

Each entry includes the bathroom's location as well as space for an overall ranking plus space for commentary on the bathroom's style and practical information like cost, handicap accessibility, safety and cleanliness.

The 11 Memphis-area entries include four Old Navy Stores (every retailers dream), a Borders Books, two Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Bookstar (including helpful advice on exactly where to find the bathroom), The Peabody, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace and the Texaco at 3975 Summer. Wild Oats and Texaco get the biggest raves.Here's the address. Check it out and add your own. (Personally, I think fast food restaurants aren't a bad option.)

Report cards have arrived. Sunset is inching toward 8:15 p.m. Vacation Bible schools are opening their doors. This week The Commercial Appeal's Health & Fitness section is marking summer's start with a story about summer time weight gain. Mid-South physicians said too many young people spend summers snacking in front of a screen.

This week Dr. Pedro A. Velasquez of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center will answer reader questions related to childhood obesity and the risk of summer weight gain.

 Send in a question and then check back for his reply. He will periodically check the blog and post answers.

 Here is a question to start the chat. Where do you place diet sodas in the hierarchy of healthy or unhealthy drinks? Would you always chose the diet option for children and adolescents? 

Dr. Velasquez sent in this answer: "In regards to health, neither one will be my first choice. It is associated with increased intake of caffeine, fructose, sodium, phosphates etc.. It also may promotes long-term abnormal mineral changes in bone. Soda has become the preferred drink for the youth.It is the substitute for water, milk and healthier drinks. In our clinic we have children that soft drink represents a significant amount of the extra calories (300-2000 cal/day). It is really hard to promote healthier weight in patients drinking sodas. There are studies that supporting sodas are the best predictor of obesity in children regardless if the are diet or regular. There is very limited information suggesting that drinking diets drinks promote weight loss.

However, in patients with diabetes, drinking diet drinks may help to control the increase in glucose values but it does not mean that it is healthy. My inclination is to include soda in the unhealthy category and limiting their consumption is my strong suggestion."

We’re hosting an online conversation with Dr, Mace Coday, a behavioral health psychologist with expertise in weight management, tobacco use, health promotion and stress-related disorders. She cares for patients at UT Medical Group, Inc., and is an assistant professor of preventive medicine and psychiatry at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
 Coday will answer your  questions about stress and stress management. Ask your questions here and read more on the subject at  http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/lifestyle/health-fitness/
 

Celebrate the long July 4th weekend by joining the Red, White and Blue Metric Century Ride. For the math challenged, that translates into a 60-mile ride.

Organized by the Memphis Hightailers bike club, all routes depart from the Lakeland Factory Outlet Mall on July 5 at 7:30 a.m. On-site registration begins at 6:30 a.m.

The cost is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. For more information or to check out other club activities, visit the group's web site. 

This landed in my electronic in-box recently and it sounded interesting enough to pass along to readers of the Healthy Memphis blog. (If you are planning something equally interesting on a health or fitness topic, please send it our way.)

On June 21, Midtown Yoga is hosting a workshop on yoga for depression. It is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. at the studio, 524 S. Cooper. The agenda includes time for discussion about the problem as well as breathing exercises, meditation and yoga poses. There's even an reading assignment. Sarla Nichols, the studio's owner and workship teacher, requests participants read "Against Happiness" by author Eric G. Wilson.

The workshop costs $35, although Nichols indicates prospective students with financial limitations should call her at the studio. The number is 270-5373.

She asks students to register in advance. For more information, visit Midtown Yoga's web site and click on "workshops."

One delectable super food that is good for our overall health including our hearts is dark chocolate or more specifically cocoa and bittersweet chocolate (which must contain at least 60% cocoa). It is appropriately coined "food for the gods". Studies show that the flavonoids found in dark chocolate can do such remarkable heart healthy tasks as increasing HDL (good cholesterol), lower LDL (bad cholesterol) as well as lower blood pressure and your triglycerides, which in turn lowers your risk for atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  Below is a recipe for an unbelievably delicious Chocolate Almond Biscotti. I was lucky enough to sample this recipe in Altoka, Tennessee where a book club baked the biscotti for a talk I gave there. See if you can find the 4 super foods in the recipe below. ENJOY!

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

11/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped slivered almonds

2 ounces bittersweet (60% cocoa or more) chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat on low just until combined. Fold in the almonds and chocolate.

3. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet and shape into a loaf about 9" X 5". Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Remove to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Cut the loaf crosswise into 18 (1/2 inch thick) slices. Place the slices cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake, turning once, for 25 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Remove to rack to cool completely.

Makes 18

Per serving: 145 calories, 65 calories from fat, 7 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat, 34 mg cholesterol, 81 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 3 g protein.

SOURCE: “WomenHeart's All Heart Family Cookbook; Featuring the 40 Foods Proven to Promote Heart Health,” by Kathy Kastan and Suzanne Banfield (Rodale, $29.95, 301 pages).

Tammy Bright of AutoZone forwarded news of a campaign that kicked off last month urging New Yorkers to take the stairs. The strategy touts the enviornmental and health benefits participants should enjoy. With stairs climbing burning almost 700 percent more calories than standing in an elevator, it is not a surprise that New York campaign organizers promise two minutes of daily stair climbing is enough to help adults avoid weight gain.

In her e-mail, Bright noted: "It is something Memphians should be doing, too. Our building in downtown has a main staircase with windows looking out onto Front St. We also have stairs in our garage, and they are easily accessible, but not pretty. I try to use them as much as possible (depending on what shoes I have on that day! -- some shoes just aren't made for stair-climbing!).

How often do you take the stairs? Send in your testimonials or suggestions.