Thank you, Flu

Wondering where we’ve been? Well, first Arizona, and then, during the week where writing a blog was at the top of the list, something happened. Whether it was a delayed on-set from exposure to recycled airplane air or just from another silently contagious human, the flu caught up with us.

An early morning of feeling super-slow, as though walking through molasses, and strange aches made us call a meeting short. Thinking we could still rally and celebrate a friend’s birthday dinner, we decided on a nap. It was only upon awaking that the sad truth set in, with its fever and chills, achy joints, headache, and congestion. The flu.

Too tired and weak to drum up a will to fight, we chose an opposite approach. Giving in. It was decided: instead of trying to force ourselves to feel better and continue working (at least from home), we would do what animals tend to do – including slowing waaaay down. The first day we didn’t eat, the second day was spent in the cave-like bedroom allowing sleep to take over whenever tiredness hit (which was basically all day). Though we couldn’t eat much at all, we took a look at our mental diet…what would we watch or read that would make us feel better? (It ended up being Netflix’s Kindness Diaries and Queer Eye, both rather inspiring and heart-warming). For someone whose stomach rules her life, it was odd not to feel hungry and day 3 brought back a little hunger and ability to enjoy a favorite Mediterranean meal. Here are some silver linings from the experience:

1. Slowing down – the experience showed the wisdom of not running ourselves into the ground all the time
2. All of the delicious vacation meals (including homemade Butterfingers and coconut ice cream) put some weight on, which was promptly removed by the flu.
3. Seeing people in life care and bring wellness remedies, food, and even humor to the situation.
4. Gratitude for health increased dramatically; how we take it for granted when we’re well!
5. A nice surprise: sugar cravings went away! It felt like a whole-body reset after a few days of tea, remedies, lots of water, and rest.

Though it was wise to take time to heal, it was more than a bit frustrating to have to scratch all of our appointments and goals for the week. So if getting sick is something you don’t have time for, take time for keeping yourself well. Here are some tips to do just that:

1. Wash hands thoroughly; clean door handles on a regular basis
2. Get enough sleep; skimping here will lower your immune system’s ability to fight off illness
3. Healthy diet; this should go without saying. Proper nutrition is critical to protecting the body and keeping it well.
4. Stay hydrated; it is easy to over-look the benefits of getting enough water
5. Laughter: it boosts the immune system!

Stay well, friends!

Learn about Rhabdomyolysis

Rhabdomyolysis, or “Rhabdo” for short, is the death of muscle cells (rhabdo from Greek meaning “rod”, myo – “of muscles, relating to muscles” and lysis meaning “to break”). When muscle is damaged or strained from work, it releases a protein called myoglobin into the bloodstream. If the levels of the protein get too high, they can cause damage to the kidneys and even cause renal failure.

Though it’s not a new condition, rhabdomyolysis has been recently associated with popular high-intensity workout regimens which typically have participants pushing beyond their limits with extreme power-lifting along with challenging cardiovascular activities. However, there are other different causes including dehydration resulting from drug or alcohol, trauma, heat stroke, medications, and infection.

One of the signs of rhabdomyolysis is dark, red, or brown-colored urine and can be accompanied by fatigue, muscle weakness, fever, and difficulty moving limbs as well as nausea and vomiting.

To help avoid injury during high-intensity exercise, it’s important to have proper training and diet. Whether you’re just beginning an intense workout regimen or have been training for years, every athlete needs to know the risk for rhabdomyolysis.

Remember to never push your body for too long or too hard in exercise as well as to have proper nutrition and fluid intake so you can effectively flush out myoglobins through your urine.

Jeni’s Ice Cream & Learn Listeria Symptoms

photo source: gobexley.com

A little over a week ago, a nationwide recall of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream started after a random sampling by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture tested positive for the presence of Listeria monocytogenes. As part of the recall, Jeni’s company is tossing 265 tons of ice cream and plans to not reopen any scoop shops or kitchens until the contamination issue has been resolved. Recent news reports that hundreds of swab samples were taken of Jeni’s production kitchen – including swabs of processing equipment, kitchen utensils, floor mats and drain pipes. Early indications from these tests have indicated the presence of Listeria monocytogenes and now a full eradication plan is in place with extensive cleaning of the production facility having started on April 26th. Jeni’s company plans to re-swab the facility in the near future and has hired expert help to implement new post-production testing procedures and to ensure this problem doesn’t occur again. Thankfully, as of yet,  there haven’t been any reports of customer illness.

If you are guilty of having enjoyed a delightful trio or pint from Jeni’s within the past month, here’s some useful information you should know about Listeria and symptoms of infection.

Where it is Found:
Listeria is commonly found in sewage, soil, birds and animals. The bacteria can be found in certain types of food such as raw meat, raw vegetables, and some processed foods. It has also been found in products such as soft cheeses, milk, coleslaw, paté and hot dogs.

Examples of High-risk Foods:

• Unpasteurized milk or foods made with such milk
• Soft Cheeses (i.e. brie, ricotta, feta, and camembert)
• Pre-prepared salads (i.e. cole slaw and fruit salad)
• Soft-serve ice cream
• Deli meat
• Raw seafood and ready-to-eat seafood such as smoked fish

Signs and Symptoms: Symptoms of Listeria can take anywhere from 3 to 70 days to appear after eating the contaminated food. Specific symptoms include:

• Fever
• Headache
• Tiredness
• Weakness

Untreated, these symptoms can develop into more severe conditions such as meningitis (brain infection) and septicemia (blood poisoning).

Treatment:
Listeria is usually treated with antibiotics. Patient stool is monitored because infected individuals can potentially excrete the bacteria for several months.

To prevent Listeria in your own home, be sure to handle all ‘at-risk foods’ with caution. Be sure to practice safe food-handling methods, and safe food-preparation methods.