Foods That Strengthen Your Bones

If you’re hoping to stave off osteoporosis and increase bone density, a simple dietary change could do just the trick. Incorporate more of these foods into your diet for strong, healthy bones.

  • Vegetables, especially dark, leafy greens, and also roots and stalks – these veggies provide you with essential iron and calcium. They also give you vitamins K and C, which, when combined with protein, help build healthy collagen.
  • Protein, like animal based-protein, beans, and soy foods – these foods will again build collagen.
  • Whole grains – whole grains are rich in magnesium, another essential for bone health.
  • Nuts and seeds – these food items are rich in minerals which help to boost bone density by stabilizing your mineral balance.
  • Healthy fats – fats such as olive oil, nut oils, and nut butters offer your body fat-soluble vitamins that are needed by the bones.

Knock Knock. Who’s There? The Amazing Benefits of Laughter

Laughing feels good. We all love a hearty belly-laugh, a cute giggle, or a jovial chuckle. But did you know that laughter not only feels great in the moment, but it also offers long-term benefits to your health?! The reason that laughter offers such profound health benefits is that it allows the pituitary gland to release pain-suppressing opiates.

So, what exactly can laughter do for you? It can…

  • Decrease blood pressure
  • Improve vascular blood flow
  • Oxygenate the blood
  • Give the diaphragm, abdominals, facial, leg, and back muscles a workout
  • Improve respiratory function
  • Reduce stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline
  • Improve the response of tumor- and disease-suppressing cells
  • Prevent respiratory infections
  • Reduce the occurrence of colds
  • Improve memory and increase learning
  • Help with alertness and creativity

If you’re looking for a super simple (and enjoyable) way to boost your overall wellness – start laughing! Turn to your friends, family, favorite joke book, comedian, or funny movie to help you crack a smile, if need be.

How To Stay Connected with Family & Friends

If you’re feeling a little out-of-touch with your family and friends, it’s never too late to reconnect. To rekindle a connection or build your social life, try using the following techniques that will foster communication and connectedness.

Skype, Facebook, and FaceTime
You don't have to be extremely tech savvy to start using Skype, Facebook, or FaceTime. These simple apps work across platforms (FaceTime's Apple-centric) to make it possible to stay in touch using something that seemed miraculous just a few decades ago: video calls!

Monthly Dinners
With everybody's lives being so hectic nowadays, it can be tough to enjoy an ad hoc get together. Planning a regular monthly dinner — a potluck, a dinner party, or a trip to a restaurant — is a great way to ensure that you'll have time to catch up.

Paper Letters
They're a bit outmoded now that text messaging and email are in vogue. But there's something very special about receiving a paper letter, whether handwritten or typed. Like the holiday letters that still live on, letters sent throughout the year can offer important updates on what's happening in your lives, and can be cherished as objects in ways email never can.

Happy 4th of July!

Wishing you an Independence Day filled with pride in our country and hoping you enjoy the 4th of July with family and friends.

Laguna Canyon Winery: Gorgeous Wines, Gorgeous Winery

When Marlowe Joseph Huber decided to start his own winery from scratch after successfully purchasing and running two existing ones, he knew he had a challenge ahead of him. His Laguna Canyon Winery, opened in 2003, shows that he has met the challenge excellently. Located in an industrial park outside Laguna Beach, the winery produces spectacular, award-winning whites, reds, and sparkling wines. They host an excellent wine tasting on the first Friday of every month that offers wine, food, and a souvenir glass etched with the winery’s logo for just $35. If you’re looking for a bigger experience, the winery hosts private parties and catered affairs with live music available. They also have a tasting room in downtown Laguna Beach. The ambience isn’t much—with no vineyard (the winery buys their grapes from a variety of sources), the vibe is more science than scenic, but the quality of the product more than makes up for it.

Laguna Canyon Winery
2133 Laguna Canyon Rd
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 715-9463
www.lagunacanyonwinery.com

The Best Snacks for Any Age

One of the most difficult things about eating right is not going overboard with snacking. It’s relatively easy to watch your calories at planned mealtimes, but when it comes to snacking, it’s easy to overdo it. Below are five ideas for healthy, delicious snacks.

1.     Olives – A great way to get your fix of salty snacks is by noshing on a few olives. These delicious bite-sized morsels are low in calories and sodium compared to chips and other snacks, and also boast a fair amount of antioxidants and other helpful nutrients.

2.     String Cheese – Another good way to satisfy a craving for something savory is to enjoy a string cheese. Although cheese does have a little more fat, it also packs excellent protein and calcium. Plus, it's good for helping you feel full between meals.

3.     Fruit – Fruit is one of the all-best healthy snacks you can eat to satisfy a sweet tooth. Pick fruits with lots of fiber (like apples or pears) to keep you feeling satisfied until your next meal.

4.     Nuts – Nuts make an awesome snack for a number of reasons — they pack sweet, salty, and fatty flavors, and when eaten in moderation, they’re good for your health, too. Most nuts hold a bounty of protein and healthy, essential fats. The trick is to avoid fatty nuts like cashews and Brazil nuts – walnuts and almonds are the best.

Score Great Eats on the Beach at Duke’s Huntington Beach

Welcome to Surf City, where the waves crash right at your feet. Named after Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, the father of international surfing, Duke’s Huntington Beach is the first outpost of this classic beach bistro outside of Hawaii. Delivering high-quality seafood composed in a number of innovative ways, regulars praise the delicious shrimp and Ahi tuna, as well as the fantastic wine list. Duke’s is famous for the Hula Pie, a confection of macadamia nut ice cream coated in a chocolate cookie crust and topped with fudge and whipped cream. The ambience is great, and with the restaurant poised right on the beach it’s not uncommon for surfing legends of the area to drop in for a bite. Service is excellent and the Sunday brunch is a local favorite. The one criticism can be that the prices are high for the size of the portions, but the quality trumps those reservations.

Duke’s Huntington Beach
317 Pacific Coast Highway
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 374-6446
www.dukeshuntington.com

Happy Father’s Day!

At this special time of year, we want to celebrate the terrific fathers near and far and we would also like to say how much we respect and admire you!

Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar: A Fine Pairing

Eating options inside Disneyland are significantly more varied than your standard amusement park food, and gourmands with more particular palates have been flocking to Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar for years. Chef Joachim Spital helms this world-class Mediterranean restaurant located within the park, and his dishes are raved about by Disney regulars and foodies alike. Roasted duck breast with fresh corn polenta is lush, decadent and perfectly balanced, and the paella—which comes in a cunning single-serving size—is cooked to perfection. For dessert, Catal makes a spectacular panna cotta that will satisfy any sweet tooth. A children’s menu is also available with the usual classics to keep the little ones busy. The attached Uva Bar is a great place to unwind, with a well-curated cellar offering 40 bottles by the glass. If you’ve had enough Disney magic and need a grown-up break, this is the best place in the park to do it.

Catal Restaurant & Uva Bar
1580 South Disneyland Dr. # 106
Anaheim, CA 92802
(714) 774-4442
www.patinagroup.com

Orange County Museum of Art: Masters of Modern Art

The Orange County Museum of Art is Southern California’s premier visual arts organization outside Los Angeles. The collection holds nearly 2,500 objects, with an emphasis on California art from the early 20th century to the present. Critically acclaimed exhibitions such as Picasso to Pollock: Modern Masterpieces from the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art; Mary Heilmann: To Be Someone; and Birth of the Cool: Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury, draw more than 40,000 visitors annually, and in the last decade have traveled to over 20 museums in America and abroad. Since 1984, OCMA has been at the forefront of the art world by hosting the California Biennial, which is the largest exhibition for emerging artists in the state. The museum’s award-winning education programs keep art alive throughout the region, serving some 15,000 children and adults.

Orange County Museum of Art
850 San Clemente Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 759-1122
www.ocma.net

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