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June/July 2013 - Community Connections

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<strong>Community</strong> <strong>Connections</strong> Page 21<br />

<strong>June</strong>/<strong>July</strong> <strong>2013</strong><br />

Unhealthy Foods<br />

By Glenda Esguerra<br />

Paravie. Personal Fitness Specialist<br />

Let’s highlight some strategies to<br />

clean up your diet.<br />

Saturated fats found in whole<br />

milk, full-fat cheese and butter increase<br />

the level of bad cholesterol<br />

that is harmful to your arteries. Try<br />

to replace these with healthy unsaturated<br />

fats found in plant foods<br />

like nuts or avocados, for example.<br />

Drinking alcohol can raise the<br />

good cholesterol level and diminish<br />

the risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s<br />

Heel spurs: Symptoms, Causes,<br />

Treatment and Prevention<br />

Dr Martin Scutt, podiatrist & clinician at<br />

UQTR<br />

A heel spur is a calcium deposit on the<br />

underside of the heel bone. It is most<br />

often associated with a mechanical<br />

problem involving the structural<br />

alignment of the foot or walking gait<br />

abnormalities. Heel spurs can be<br />

characterized by intermittent or chronic<br />

pain, which is usually worse in the<br />

morning or when first standing after<br />

periods of rest. Many patients describe<br />

the pain of heel spurs as a “knife or pin<br />

sticking into the bottom of their feet,”<br />

when they first stand up in the<br />

morning. As the pain worsens, heel<br />

pain can be present even while not<br />

weight-bearing.<br />

Causes of Heel Spurs<br />

Risk factors for heel spurs include a<br />

structural abnormality in the foot<br />

(including flat feet or high arches), gait<br />

abnormality, prolonged periods of<br />

jogging or running on hard surfaces,<br />

excess weight or obesity, poorly fitted<br />

or badly worn shoes , or shoes lacking<br />

proper arch support .<br />

Treatments for heel spurs and<br />

associated conditions include ice and<br />

rest, custom-made orthotics, antiinflammatory<br />

medications, shoe<br />

recommendations and cortisone<br />

injections.<br />

Prevention of Heel Spurs<br />

You can prevent heel spurs by wearing<br />

well-fitting shoes with shock-absorbent<br />

soles, choosing appropriate shoes for<br />

each physical activity; warming up and<br />

doing stretching exercises before each<br />

activity. It is also important to avoid<br />

wearing shoes with excessive wear on<br />

the heels and soles.<br />

It is best not to ignore any foot pain.<br />

Consult one of our podiatrists if you<br />

experience a burning sensation in the<br />

ball of your foot that is not improving<br />

even with a change in footwear and a<br />

reduction in the activities that may<br />

cause stress to your feet. At Clinique<br />

Podiatrique Rive Nord (est. 1998) ,<br />

all our care is provided by podiatrists<br />

regardless of the nature of your<br />

problem. We are extremely proud of<br />

our fee schedule which allows our<br />

services to be accessed by a wider<br />

population. Our team consisting of<br />

four podiatrists is dedicated to<br />

disease. But the key is drinking in<br />

moderation. Drinking moderately<br />

means 1 drink per day for women,<br />

and 2 drinks per day for men.<br />

Now take a look at your refrigerator<br />

and cupboards. Try to eliminate<br />

processed foods. This isn’t easy<br />

at all. The key is to try to have<br />

handy foods that don’t have a long<br />

list of ingredients. The closer to a<br />

single ingredient a food item is, the<br />

better.<br />

Next is sugar. We eat far too<br />

much sugar for our own good. This<br />

increases our risk for heart diseases.<br />

On the average, we consume about<br />

400 calories, easily, per day, which<br />

is about 30 teaspoons. It is recommended<br />

by the American Heart Association<br />

that women should only<br />

have 6 teaspoons and 9 teaspoons<br />

for men daily.<br />

Another strategy is to diminish our<br />

daily consumption of salt. Unfortunately<br />

we get most of our salt from<br />

prepackaged foods and breads.<br />

What’s recommended is 1 teaspoon<br />

of salt per day. But most of us get<br />

up to 50% more.<br />

Be mindful of the few strategies<br />

mentioned here, and you should see<br />

a difference in your weight loss battle.<br />

Let me know what you think. For<br />

any questions, please feel free to<br />

contact me.<br />

providing a high level of patient care<br />

and service with a work schedule that<br />

accommodates even the busiest of<br />

individuals and families. We are<br />

pleased to inform you that the vast<br />

majority of our new patients are<br />

referred to us by other patients or<br />

health practitioners.<br />

Thank you for your trust.<br />

Dr Martin Scutt, podiatrist<br />

For more information or to make an<br />

appointment please call (450) 979-0303<br />

(260 Grande Cote, Rosemere near the<br />

train station).

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