September Newsletter

Five Simple Foods for a Healthy Heart

Eating a balanced diet with plenty of nutritious fresh foods helps to lower your risk of heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Your heart will thank you for making smart choices.

Here are five heart-healthy foods that are easy to include as part of your daily diet.

Oatmeal

Enjoy a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and you’ll feel full for hours. This warm and tasty porridge is also good for your heart. It’s high in soluble fibre so it helps to control cholesterol levels, and prevent spikes in blood sugar levels.

For a nutritional boost, you can add oats to your favourite baked goods like pancakes and muffins, or use ground oats as a replacement for ordinary flour.

Leafy Greens

Include spinach, kale and other leafy greens in your diet regularly. Leafy green vegetables are packed with vitamin K, which helps to protect the health of your arteries and also promotes proper blood clotting which is good for you. These veggies also include nutrients that help to lower blood pressure.

Beans

Beans are full of fibre, protein and magnesium. That means they can help to control your cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels. Beans are affordable, easy to cook and can be added to soups, stews, salads and more. Other heart-healthy foods similar to beans include lentils, peas and chickpeas.

Oily Fish

Fish like sardines and tuna contain nutrients called omega-3 fatty acids, which help to keep your heart, arteries and brain healthy. Try to eat fish two or three times a week, or take a fish oil vitamin supplement to make sure you get enough omega-3 fatty acids.

Dark Chocolate

Great news for those with a sweet tooth – a little bit of dark chocolate can also be good for your heart. This bitter-sweet treat contains antioxidants and magnesium, which are both known as heart-healthy nutrients.

Make sure you choose good quality dark chocolate that contains less sugar and more cocoa (at least 70%) and enjoy it in moderation.

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Some Smart tips to Help Fund for the Purchase of Glasses

Prescription glasses (spectacles) can be expensive, but the benefits are worth it. If you’re looking to save money on your next pair of glasses, here are some tips to help you out.

You’ll need to pay for an eye exam before you get your glasses. Shop around for optometrists offering special deals and discounts.
Get new lenses in old frames. If your frames are in good condition, there’s no need to pay for new frames as well as new lenses.
If this is your first pair of spectacles, you may also be able to choose a pair of cheap reading glasses and ask your optometrist to swap out the frames for you.
Beware of add-ons. Added features like special coatings and tints can add up, so if you don’t need them, don’t pay extra for them.
If you can afford it, set aside an amount each month for Glasses, that way you will have an emergency fund should you need to pay for a replacement unexpectedly down the line

Spring Sneezes: How to Recognise Allergies

Allergies are caused when your immune system reacts to something foreign in the environment, like pollen, pet hair or dust. Sometimes, the symptoms of allergies can feel similar to a cold or flu – and that can be scary with the current concerns about COVID-19 infection.

Here is a helpful table of common symptoms, to help you tell the difference between “spring sneezes” and other conditions. If you are worried about your symptoms, speak to your doctor or pharmacist for advice.

	Allergies/ Hay Fever	Common Cold	Flu	COVID-19
Sneezing	✓	✓
Coughing		✓	✓	✓
Runny nose	✓	✓	✓	✓
Stuffy nose	✓	✓	✓
Red, itchy eyes	✓
Sore throat		✓	✓	✓
Itchy skin	✓
Itchy throat	✓
Fatigue			✓	✓
Loss of smell				✓
Loss of taste				✓
Fever			✓	✓
Body aches			✓	✓
Chills			✓	✓