After Hours HEALTH
STRESS- BUSTING TIP OF THE MONTH
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IF STRESS IS TAKING a toll on your sleep, it might be time to break out the rice bran cereal. Scientists in Japan have found that
the natural ingredient octacosanol (found in wheat germ oil and rice bran) may help regulate stress and promote a natural sleep rhythm. While sleep medications are available, those currently on the market don’t address stress and often have negative side effects, such as diarrhea and drowsiness. Octacosanol helps cut down the corticosterone level (a stress marker) found in blood plasma. When tested on stressed mice, octacosanol helped reduce stress and restore normal sleep. — Martha Beach
How I Find Balance
Alexa Loo, 45, city councillor, retired Olympic snowboarder and World Cup medallist, Richmond, BC AFTER RETIRING FROM SNOWBOARDING, I got back into public accounting and worked in trust, and I realized it wasn’t for me. By then I had two kids, so I ran for Richmond city council in 2014 and here I am on the council. Council sessions are usually held at night. I love being in politics at the local
level because of the direct impact that you have. If you tweak one thing you can make a big difference. You can make a policy change and see it come to fruition. I have two boys, 4 and 5, so my house runs at about a 100 miles per hour.
In the day I’m running errands, having meetings or I’m with my kids. I love baking cookies with my boys and taking them skiing and paddle boarding. Last year I went to Italy and did a bike trip. But mostly we go back and forth to Whistler. [Recently we went] to Salt Spring Island, BC, for a little adventure. I wake up at 5:30 a.m. at least twice a week to do my workout — I do a lot of
yoga. If I don’t exercise I get crabby and I’m not as focused. An important part of finding balance is editing out stuff that you don’t need.
If your world is cluttered with stuff [and] it’s keeping you busy without helping you, get rid of it. I threw away a bunch of my medals recently — what am I going to do with them? I also don’t go to every social function that I’m invited to. There is only so much bandwidth that you can have. That’s why yoga is good. It helps me from stewing about whatever else is
going on and helps me take a break and empty my mind. Sport does the same thing. You just focus on the thing in front of you. That’s how I roll. — As told to Kerry Banks
52 | CPA MAGAZINE | NOVEMBER 2017 Lower-risk eating
IT’S OFTEN BEEN SAID that a healthy diet and exercise are the keys to avoiding life-threatening diseases. But research from the American Institute for Cancer Research is more specific: frequently eating processed meats, such as hotdogs, bacon and lunch meats, increases the risk of colorectal cancer. But don’t consume too much unprocessed red meat: the same research shows more than 500 grams of cooked red meat per week also increases the risk of colorectal cancer. To lower the risk of colorectal cancer, eat whole grains (such as brown rice), veggies and fruits. Moreover, physical activity lowers the risk of colon cancer. — MB
Courtesy of Alexa Loo
Katrin Ray Shumakov/Getty Images Courtesy of TKTKTK
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