Turmeric Relish—

Don’t even get us started on the amazing ways turmeric can improve your health. While many people are familiar with the powder form of this inflammation-fighting spice, Nisani Farms—a local farm that specializes in certified naturally grown ginger and turmeric—gets creative with this tasty relish. Available at the Forest Farmer’s Market—check Facebook to see a vendor schedule each week.

Microgreens—

These sprigs fresh from the SoulShine Farms greenhouse are small but mighty. According to studies, microgreens have a high antioxidant content, which means they can promote good overall health. Available seasonally (mid-April to October) at the Lynchburg Community Market.

Heritage Corn Flour—

It doesn’t get much fresher than this, folks. Jimmy’s Cracked Corn in Goode is a newer addition to the local farming scene with corn flour, corn meal and other products made within 24 hours of their sale on Saturday mornings. The corn is from an 1860s heirloom seed, adding a pinch of history into your next batch of muffins. Available at the Forest Farmer’s Market—check Facebook to see a vendor schedule each week.

Rainbow Chard—

Add to your salad’s visual appeal with rainbow chard from the family-owned, no-spray Archlynn Farm in Charlotte Court House. These colorful leaves make a bold statement but actually have a slightly milder taste than spinach. Archlynn Farm is open year-round in the Lynchburg Community Market.

Chickweed Tincture—

An herbal tincture is a concentrated liquid form of herbs that uses alcohol as the solvent. The benefits of chickweed are broad—from improving your skin to relieving pain—making this one of the top tinctures sold by Wild Patch Herbals. Add a drop or two to your next cup of tea for a mid-afternoon boost. Available at the Forest Farmer’s Market—check Facebook to see a vendor schedule each week.

Herb Garden Starters—

From chamomile to peppermint, the sky’s the limit for your next home herb garden. These starters from Great Day Gardens make it easy to grow delicious, fresh herbs right outside your kitchen. Available seasonally (mid-April to October) at the Lynchburg Community Market.

Free Range Eggs—

Whip up your next omelet with fresh eggs produced by free range chickens. Seeds of Faith Farm raises chickens as well as ducks on their property in Brookneal—and you’ll even find them selling emu eggs from time to time. Available at the Forest Farmer’s Market—check Facebook to see a vendor schedule each week.

Bedford-Grown Peaches and Apples—

You will taste the difference in these mountain-grown peaches and apples from Gross’ Orchard. The family-owned and –operated orchard is located at the foot of the Peaks of Otter. Find them at the Bedford Farmer’s Market or visit www.grossorchards.com to learn more.

Local Organic Pastured Pork—Hog Haven Farms is getting rave reviews for its meats, especially the bacon and sage breakfast sausage. Their products are USDA certified, USDA inspected/processed and contain no MSG or nitrates. Find them at the Bedford Farmer’s Market.

Homemade Breads, Rolls & Focaccia—

The Lynchburg-based Kay’s Culinary Creations uses wholesome ingredients to create these super yummy breads that have people lining up on Saturday mornings. Find them at the Bedford Farmer’s Market.

Wait—or is it Cold Mountain? Apparently both names are acceptable for this hike in the George Washington National Forest. (But Cole is the “official” one.)

Hikers of all skill levels are welcome on this loop that’s a part of the Appalachian Trail. You can make it a workout… or take it slow and observe nature along the way.

The best part about this hike—the Cole Mountain apex is a nod to The Sound of Music (you know, the part at the very beginning where Julie Andrews is running through the field surrounded by gorgeous mountains). After making the trip up to the top, Cole Mountain hikers reach a wide-open pasture with panoramic views on all sides. It’s the perfect backdrop for selfies, professional shoots, or even a song from your favorite musical. Once you see the view, you may be moved to do pretty much anything.

Our advice? Put this hike on your bucket list, immediately, if it isn’t already.

How to Get There:
Take Route 60 west out of Amherst. Turn right on Coffeytown Road and then another right on Wiggins Spring Road. (Note: Wiggins Spring Road is a forest service road. The drive can get bumpy.)

Where to Enter:

The parking area is at the end of the trail but you enter about .2 miles north, on the blue-blazed Hotel Trail. Follow those blue blazes to stay on track.

Take It a Step Further:

Make the hike longer by combining the Cole Mountain loop with the nearby Mount Pleasant hike on the next ridge. Together, they make an 11.3-mile circuit. Be sure to pack a backpack and plan accordingly for this longer journey.

Photos by Cody Ross:

“My wife and I have hiked Cold Mountain three times this past year and love the uniqueness of its summit. Instead of the rocky peaks you find atop other Virginia trails, when you get to the top of Cold Mountain you step into a vast pasture with 360-degree panoramic views all around you. It doesn’t feel like it belongs in Virginia. We also love Cold Mountain because if you take the short way to the top you can be there in 30 minutes, making it a great place to take friends and family who can’t handle longer treks but want to experience the amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

Improving Walkability in Local Communities

By Emily Mook & Shelley Basinger

How often do you walk to the store, to your child’s school, or to work? Maybe these places are too far from where you live. Or—maybe there really isn’t a safe route to get you there.

According to Anne Nygaard, a planner in Lynchburg’s office of community development, many communities used to be a lot more walkable. In fact, walking to school or to the store was common in the mid-20th century. “But in the ’50s and ’60s we sort of stopped building sidewalks and started prioritizing the car over multi-modal transit. People returned from war, got their car and their single-family house out in the suburbs. This was a nationwide trend,” she explains.

Thankfully, that trend is shifting—and we are seeing walkability become a priority once again across Central Virginia.

In Bedford, the Central Virginia Planning District Commission is in the process of preparing the town’s “Bike|Walk Plan” in an effort to help people connect to and through the community and to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. Mary Zirkle, the town’s economic development coordinator, proposed the plan to the CVPDC in spring 2018, and they agreed to help make it a reality. “This plan didn’t intend to reinvent a wheel but to bring together past ideas and current projects with next step ideas,” Zirkle says.

“It allowed us to look at what was suggested and completed in the past and pick up from other plans as well as ideas from new public input.”

A public open house held in late 2018 provided valuable insight in terms of Bedford citizens’ specific needs and wants. “One of the most important aspects of the public meeting was having people draw where they currently walk or bike around and out of town,” Zirkle notes. “It was very illustrative to have them show us how they use the public space now and where they have issues or concerns.”

Additionally, a survey made available to the public for two months gleaned detailed and helpful results. “Simple things like the condition of sidewalks, the lack of crosswalks, and the limited number of bike racks were brought up. The need for a bus was also mentioned several times,” says Zirkle.

The survey also indicated that Bedford’s famous walking “Loop” could use some updates and gave citizens the opportunity to rank five major projects in order of importance.

Because the plan is still in its draft stages, the order and exact parameters of these items are subject to change. That said, the survey results indicate that the order of importance is as follows: first, the trail connecting Liberty Lake Park to Falling Creek Park; second, the trail connecting the D-Day Memorial to downtown Bedford; third, the trail connecting the Bedford YMCA to Liberty Lake Park; fourth, a bike route from the town to Peaks of Otter along Route 43; and fifth, Little Otter River Greenway connecting Route 43 and 122.

In addition to these five projects, Zirkle says there are a few basic initiatives that should be addressed promptly such as repairing current sidewalks and installing new sidewalks and bike lanes throughout town.

While improved sidewalks and other pedestrian updates were ignored for decades in Lynchburg due to a suburban zoning ordinance that was adopted in the ’70s, there has been a renewed focus on walkability in the city over the past 20 years. In 2013, the city adopted the “Better Streets Policy” into its comprehensive plan, a move that said city officials were committed to building sidewalks and making other pedestrian and transportation related–improvements. Then in 2016, the city adopted a zoning ordinance update that requires developers to include sidewalks in their plans. “[The ordinance] does not emphasize exactly how the sidewalks will look, but this does address the pure safety aspect of making sure residents can walk in these areas,” says Nygaard.

For example, Nygaard mentioned the Wards Road area, which saw its biggest boom of growth in the ’90s. At the time, there were no requirements for any sidewalks. As a result, the city has been working over the past decade to make that area walkable—and safer—with the addition of the pedestrian bridge and connecting sidewalks/paths.

Nygaard says the quality of the walking environment is also a crucial component of their plans—especially when the goal is to change a person’s mindset.

“You have some people who have the choice to drive or walk. How do we get them to choose to walk more?” she asks, explaining that street trees, crosswalks and connectivity to other parts of town make walking more enjoyable and ideal.

Also, the Downtown 2040 master plan released in late 2018 includes a chapter on mobility and calls walking “transportation’s lowest common denominator.” It says with each downtown project, walkability will always be prioritized.

When listing off all of the proven benefits of walkability, Nygaard mentions improvements in safety, the environment, the economy, social equity, and the promotion of a healthy, active lifestyle.

“Just the idea of making sure you have some level of exercise worked into your day.

Also, having places to run and bike, too,” she says.

The story behind a “game changing” smoothie company that formed its roots in the Hill City

If it wasn’t for a chance encounter at a Christmas party in Lynchburg over a decade ago, Tiffany Tatom might never have met Mary Cope. But meet they did—and over a three-hour conversation, they realized how much they had in common. They also had no idea at the close of that conversation they’d one day go into business together as health coaches and, later, as the founders of Live Pure Smoothie Cubes.

During that first meeting, Mary told Tiffany she was currently enrolled at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN) in New York City. Meanwhile, Tiffany had been suffering with digestion issues since childhood. She had seen countless doctors, who had run many tests, but no one could give her any answers—and no one ever asked what she was eating. At the age of 30, she developed a perforated ulcer in her stomach and had emergency surgery. Years after the surgery she continued to suffer and desperately wanted relief.

A week after meeting Mary and learning about IIN, Tiffany signed up as well and started working toward her career as a health coach. “I learned about every diet imaginable and was taught from the most prominent doctors from all over the world. I began learning about my body and the connection between food allergies and intolerances and how they can affect our digestion,” she explains.

On a personal level, she realized she had many food intolerances that were causing those painful stomach issues. “As I learned about what did and did not affect me, I slowly modified my diet and my life literally changed. I rarely have any symptoms, have so much energy and overall feel great,” she says.
After graduation, Tiffany began health coaching—teaching clients to read nutrition labels, “clean” up their pantries, cook healthy meals, make good choices at the grocery store, and use diet journals.

Then in 2013, Tiffany and Mary joined forces to start a corporate wellness company where they worked with more than 1,000 people. They kept hearing the same complaints—clients wanted healthy food… fast. “We found that people are simply confused by what to eat and often feel defeated. We had to reteach their brains to eat real, whole food,” Mary says. “We also taught people how to prepare food quickly. Everyone is so busy and preparing a healthy meal seems daunting. We took their favorite recipes, cleaned them up and made sure they had a feasible list of go-to items.”

The women also wanted to get greens into everyone’s breakfast but knew no one wanted to start the day with a salad. That’s how they ended up in the smoothie business.

“We wanted to offer something that hit all the marks for all walks of life. Fast and delicious—no more throwing out old produce—and fuels you to get to the next meal,” Mary says.

Their green smoothie, they now call the Game Changer, was born. It includes greens (such as spinach) for energy, peanut butter to keep you full, cinnamon to reduce inflammation, as well as a date, a banana and probiotics. It helped their clients cut down on processed sugar, gain energy, lose weight and so
much more.

But even with those incredible results, they didn’t stop there. Once Tiffany and Mary perfected the Game Changer recipe, they pictured their smoothie arriving ready-to-go in a neat cube. All someone would have to do was add a liquid, blend and sip away.

After a trial and error process—a lot of taste testing, dumping and starting over—the superfood smoothie cube was created.

“The hard part is getting all the nutritionals to meet our standards while keeping the flavor and consistency on point. It’s easy to make a smoothie taste great with lots of dates, bananas, and honey. But we wanted to keep our smoothies with no more natural sugar than if you were to eat an apple,” explains Tiffany. “I can tell you once we got it right we both knew it. Especially when we would taste test them with kids. Kids don’t lie.”

In 2017, they launched Live Pure Smoothie Cubes, which can be shipped to every state in the US except Alaska. They currently have seven flavors that can be mixed and matched to create well over 15 smoothies.

For flavor inspiration, Live Pure looks at flavors in ice cream, blended coffee drinks, and juices. They follow the trending ingredients but also utilize classic healthy foods with staying power.

Each ingredient has a purpose. For example, the Acai Maqui Smoothie is loaded with antioxidants, which help protect your cells. “The acai berry may support weight loss, healthy skin and can be anti-aging. We added strawberries and raspberries because they are high in dietary fiber, and manganese, which aids in digestion. Fiber also helps you feel full!” Tiffany explains. This particular smoothie also includes the metabolism boosting maqui berry and lucuma, a superfood to help promote hair, skin and nail growth.

In addition to fruits and vegetables, every smoothie contains healthy fats to keep you feeling full and satisfied. They grind their own almond, cashew and peanut butter. And, as promised, superfoods are included in every cube. (A superfood is a nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being.)

Also, there are approximately five billion CFU’s of high quality probiotics in each smoothie to help boost immunity and gut health.

The results are real. Tiffany and Mary say their smoothie cube customers report successes such as lower blood pressure, bad cholesterol and blood sugar. Customers have also told them about reduced inflammation and pain. Other benefits include weight loss, increased energy, and clearer skin.

“I am a true believer that cutting refined sugar and adding high antioxidant and nutrient dense raw foods to your diet can do wonders for your skin. When I make a continuous effort to cut out processed foods or use our smoothies to replace any sugar cravings, I can tell a real difference,” says Mary.

They found most clients with acne, eczema, and digestive issues were often gluten- or dairy-intolerant. Live Pure smoothies are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and organic.

Live Pure tries to source their ingredients flash frozen but, when possible, they prefer to buy local and support farmers. Customers often comment on how fresh the frozen smoothies taste and Tiffany says this is because they only source from reliable and certified suppliers to ensure the perfect flavor every time.

Smoothies are great healthy meal replacements as well as pre-workout snacks (giving your body energy in the form of carbohydrates). You can also blend one after you hit the gym.

“Just grab your favorite cubes and add in some grass-fed collagen to support your joint health or a clean protein powder. A scoop of nut butter is one of our favorites too. Post workout snack—done in under a minute,” she says.

Quick, convenient, healthy—the Live Pure team created a product to check off all three boxes to encourage healthy eating (or in this case, sipping) because that is the cornerstone for a healthy lifestyle.

“We are what we eat,” says Tiffany. “When we eat real food that is nutrient dense and is bioavailable we absorb the nutrition in our cells and literally start to feel good, even great, and sometimes amazing.”

Learn more about Live Pure Smoothie Cubes at livepure.love. They are available on Amazon.

Just How Easy Is It? A Live Pure Smoothie How-To!

INGREDIENTS
10 cubes
1 cup of liquid

DIRECTIONS
Blend for 20 seconds

It’s that easy. As for your liquid. Live Pure recommends unsweetened vanilla almond milk or coconut milk for the best results, since many nut milks can contain a lot of sugar. “The little touch of vanilla enhances all of our smoothie cube flavors,” Tiffany says.

The team also suggests using filtered water, coconut water (especially pre- and post-workout because of naturally occurring electrolytes) or organic grass-fed milk.

“If possible buy organic plant based milks to avoid harmful pesticides,” says Tiffany. “Kroger has a line called Simple Truth Organic that we recommend.”

Local Experts Explain How Healthy Dental Habits Can Prevent Major Complications

It’s been drilled into our brains since we were children—brushing, flossing and going to the dentist regularly prevents cavities. The older we get, however, we learn that neglecting our pearly whites can lead to even more serious issues than just a filling.

One of those issues is periodontal disease, a chronic inflammatory disease. “This is a pretty serious condition because if left untreated the teeth can become mobile and eventually fall out, even in the absence of any cavity,” says Dr. Elena Black, a dentist with advanced specialty training in orthodontics at Appalachian Orthodontics of Lynchburg.

As Dustin S. Reynolds, DDS, MS, explains, if tooth decay goes untreated, “it can reach the pulp or ‘nerve’ of the tooth causing serious problems.” Those problems include broken teeth, pain, swelling, and infection in the head and neck. As an endodontist at Forest Hill Endodontics, Reynolds focuses on saving a person’s natural teeth.

According to Black, periodontal disease has been linked to cardiovascular conditions. “To date, research has shown that people with gum disease have two to three times the risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or other serious cardiovascular event,” says Black.

Reynolds also confirms a strong link between the heart and oral care. “The mouth is the gateway to the rest of your body,” he says. “Research has shown that approximately 40 percent of the bacteria found in patients with heart disease actually comes from your mouth.”

Dry mouth, a common side effect of taking multiple medications, can lead to serious dental problems, Reynolds explains. Another major concern, though less frequent, is oral cancer.

Treating or correcting advanced oral problems includes deep cleaning and root planning, gum and/or bone grafts, root canal therapy, extraction of teeth, and implants to replace lost teeth.

Preventing these serious issues is not difficult. Brush twice a day, both Reynolds and Black agree, for approximately two minutes each time. “An easy way to do this is the divide the mouth into 4 quadrants and spend about 30 seconds in each quadrant,” Reynolds says.

You should floss every day as well, and don’t forget to schedule those check-ups at the dentist at least every six months. Aside from deep cleaning your teeth, your dentist will screen for oral cancer and make sure you aren’t developing any other serious issues.

Black also says some people may need to consider orthodontics to maintain the best oral care possible. “For example, if there is a lot of tooth crowding, the auto-cleaning of the mouth and flossing is hard to be performed and sometimes even access for a professional cleaning is difficult,” Black says. “So having orthodontic treatment to align the teeth and correct the bite will help with overall subsequent health of the entire mouth.”

Fresh Rx program helps more people get access to nutrition education and fresh produce

If “food is medicine,” as Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Family Nutrition Program Assistant Nakesha Moore says, then it certainly makes sense that food could be prescribed as such. Thanks to a blossoming program spearheaded by nonprofit Lynchburg Grows, qualifying Hill City residents are able to receive just that.

Now in its second year, Fresh Rx, inspired by similar programs nationwide, was started by Lynchburg Grows to help people struggling with diet-related illnesses. Doctors prescribe the program, which is free (the program is funded by the Centra Foundation), and participants are then invited to a seven-week class series held at the Miller Center, taught by nutrition experts. At the end of each class (there are two opportunities per week to attend a class), participants are given a box of produce to take home.

“The goal is to give people the knowledge they need to feel empowered to make healthy decisions, for themselves and their families,” explained Shelley Blades, Lynchburg Grows Executive Director and Farm Manager. “We are just giving people what they need to make healthier decisions if they choose to—we are not here to tell them what they are doing is wrong.”

Blades said patients from low-income families, typically under or uninsured, who could benefit from a diet change are prescribed Fresh Rx by their doctors. “The doctors do write an actual prescription and to fill it they come to us,” she said. About 10-15 people go through the program in each of its three cycles per year.

At the Miller Center, Moore and Jeanell Smith—Lynchburg’s VCE Senior Family Nutrition Program Assistant, Adult SNAP-Ed—teach nutrition curriculum and offer cooking demonstrations showing participants tasty ways to utilize what they are taking home.

“This particular program is exciting because we are introducing different vegetables that people don’t normally buy,” Smith said, noting she herself gained an appreciation for Hakurei turnips through teaching the class. “We cover topics varying from how to make a menu and a grocery list, to how to read food labels or how to incorporate more activity—the expectation isn’t that everyone run a marathon but that they are a little more active than they were last week and then build on that.

“The thing that we emphasize in our classes is small, gradual changes,” Smith continued. “Making these small, incremental changes to your lives instead of thinking of this as a diet—that screams temporary. Make these small changes and they become habits and then it just becomes how you live your life.”

Physicians, often ones who have patients in the class, also show up to give presentations, which Blades said means a lot to the participants.

Joyce Booker was prescribed the program last year while on a quest to lose weight in order to have a knee replacement.

“It was great,” Booker said of Fresh Rx. “I had a wonderful doctor that helped counsel me on my weight loss. [Then, the program] opened me up to a lot of different things: of preparing food and cooking things and sharing with the other people in the class. It gave you a different perspective.”

Booker had a successful surgery in January. “I lost the weight that I needed to lose. I’m cooking right and exercising.”

Fixing fresh vegetables became easy for her through Fresh Rx.

“The way Jeanell took them and cut them up and fixed them, it gave me a different perspective on how they taste,” Booker said. “She also gave us a lot of recipes which really helped make the program work for me.”

Before Moore was teaching nutrition classes, she was in one of them (through a different program, not Fresh Rx).

“Everything that I learned in class I was excited to come home and share with my children,” Moore said. “It was not only my health habits that changed—I was also directly impacting the lives of my children through their nutrition. The improvements went way beyond nutrition—and that meant added family time … together and eating, talking about our day, away from the television.”

Blades said that this aspect of “creating community,” starting in the classes, can bring more “voices for healthy food” in area neighborhoods.

The program serves a vital role in Lynchburg’s community, both in terms of education and access. The education is important because people need to know how significantly what they eat matters.

“There is sufficient data now to show that the biggest part of our health is nutrition, what we eat,” Moore said.

A big part of your diet, she says, should come in the form of fruits and vegetables.

“You always want your plate to be colorful,” Smith said. “Fruits and vegetables bring tons of fiber to your diet, lots of antioxidants, which help prevent chronic illness, and certainly lots of vitamins.”

If fresh produce is not feasible, frozen is a suitable alternative, she added.

People with certain conditions or illnesses, like the ones prescribed into the program, can drastically improve their lives by eating properly.

“Improving your health can be directly correlated to the amount of fruits and vegetables that you eat,” Smith said. “A high fiber diet is a natural way to decrease your cholesterol. … When you think about diabetes or think about any heart condition or someone who has any kind of inflammatory issue or condition, decreasing processed sugar, which can cause inflammation, you are going to see a reduction if you can cut it out.”

These diet changes can lead to life-changing success stories, just like Booker’s. Smith and Moore have seen a number of transformations.

“I have had clients who have had their medication lowered or have been taken off of it because their diet is better,” Moore said.

Free is the key with Fresh Rx, because it allows lower income individuals to not only get the nutrition education they need, it also provides them with free produce, as well as cutting boards, veggie scrubbers, measuring cups and spoons, food thermometers and, when they graduate, a cookbook of simple, affordable recipes. The take-home box features a diverse range of vegetables, harvested at Lynchburg Grows, which varies by season but could include lettuce, beets, cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes and more.

“Food in general is a basic human need—it shouldn’t be based off of your socioeconomic status,” Blades said. “Hopefully that confidence of knowing what to do, of being in control of this [health] aspect of their lives, can trickle into other aspects of their lives.”

Grow it Yourself

Starting a home garden is a great way to have easy access to affordable, fresh vegetables.

Blades recommends starting small: “Experiment and have fun.”

Start with tomatoes in a bucket and expand to herbs and lettuce. “You can grow a whole salad all on the back porch.” Radishes grow quickly and Blades said watching them progress can be encouraging for novice gardeners.

It’s a process of trial and error; don’t get discouraged and don’t expect to cultivate a massive, flourishing garden overnight.

Create Mighty Meals with These Extraordinary Ingredients

Superfoods: what’s the truth behind them and what makes them so powerful? Superfoods are naturally derived foods that harness a remarkable amount of healing nutrients. What makes these whole foods so “super” is their attributes of being low-calorie while delivering an unequated density of nutrients and notable amount of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory components.

Superfoods are often mistaken as being exotic, exuberant and difficult to obtain. The truth is, however, some of the world’s most nutritious foods can be found at local farmers markets or grocery stores. Beets, basil, turmeric, organic sauerkraut, walnuts, ginger, garlic, Swiss chard, and blueberries are all excellent sources of body-loving antioxidants and detoxifying enzymes. They are not sourced from far off lands but, rather, can be found growing in our own Lynchburg community. There are many ways to implement these nourishing gems into every meal—from breakfast all the way to your evening dessert.

Holistic health and functional nutrition are imperative elements to my daily life—and superfoods are essential to that whole food regimen. In my continual pursuit to grow my knowledge of organic and integrative living, I find that superfoods never fail to be on the top of the list for powerhouse forms of food in every culture around the globe. I committed to implementing them into my diet about seven years ago and, since then, I have seen a remarkable change in my overall health and wellbeing. I now use these foods as medicine and have personally experienced their power—they’ve given a newfound energy to my body and have kept my immune system in elite condition.

In light of this, I’ve become acquainted with superfood forms that go a step beyond the ordinary. Learn more about my top choices.

Then, on the following pages, I’ll tell you a few ways to use these ingredients in your kitchen.

Goji Berries—These dried crimson berries are native to China and are packed with vitamins, protein and even 15x more iron than spinach.

Antioxidant-rich goji berries can be eaten raw, infused into herbal teas, alternative medicines and wines as well as used to garnish oatmeal, yogurt bowls and pancakes.

Matcha—Matcha is a special powdered form of green tea leaves—with 10x more antioxidants than average green tea (and 14x the amount found in blueberries), including cancer-fighting EGCG catechins. Matcha is rich in fiber, chlorophyll and vitamins that detoxify the body and relax the mind. Matcha’s caffeine content boosts metabolism, burns calories and aids in energy production. I typically drink one to three cups of Matcha per day and sometimes incorporate it into my smoothies!

Maca Powder—Maca powder is derived from the Maca root native to Peru. This superfood is packed with minerals and vitamins B1, B2, C and E. As an adaptogenic plant extract, Maca increases the body’s ability to realign optimal functions by rebalancing hormones and resisting the damaging effects of stress. This powder is a delectable alternative to conventional sweeteners, with a pleasant malty taste. I typically use the powder in smoothies, nut-milk adaptogenic lattes and feature them in my energy balls (see recipe on the next page).

Cacao Nibs—These crunchy superfood nibs replace the craving for dark chocolate, as they tend to garnish my yogurt bowls, oatmeal, mint green smoothies, and even baked goods. Cacao nibs, especially in their raw form, are some of the most antioxidant-rich foods. They contain a significant amount of phytonutrients that ward off damaging free radicals.

Chia + Flax Seed—These nutrient dense seeds pack a punch for their size! They are an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, are rich in antioxidants, and they provide absorbable fiber, iron, and calcium. As with chia, flax finds its way into all my morning bowls and even as a “flax” egg alternative in baking!

Hemp Seed—Hemp seeds are packed with an impressive amount of protein and heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. These little seeds also contain a good amount of fiber, minerals, in addition to traces of cannabidiol, which reduces inflammation, regulates the immune system and protects the brain. These are great in oatmeal, over pancakes, and as smoothie or salad toppers.

Adaptogenic Energy Balls
(Raw, Vegan, Gluten Free)

Ingredients
(All are organic and locally sourced when possible.)
1 cup dry pitted dates, finely chopped
1/4 cup chia seeds
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
2 teaspoons virgin coconut oil

Toppings
Dried flowers, unsweetened coconut flakes, chia + flax, hemp seed, raw rolled oats, cacao nibs, raw cacao powder, pumpkin seeds, pink himalayan salt, melted dark chocolate and optional: bee pollen, freeze dried berries, organic spirulina, adaptogenic powders (maca, medicinal mushrooms, ashwagandha)

Directions
1. Place pitted dates and virgin coconut oil in the food processor or Vitamix, and process to obtain fine, sticky crumbles.
2. Add the cacao powder and chia seeds. Pulse 1-2 times to incorporate.
3. Use your palms to form small balls.
4. Spread cacao powder and desired toppings on a plate or large piece of parchment paper. Roll balls over toppings to make them pretty.
5. Store in the refrigerator for a maximum of two weeks or freeze them for future use.
6. Share them with all your friends and your friends’ friends!
7. Enjoy!

By Spencer Bilek | PHOTOS BY ASHLEE GLEN

In many ways, Emaleigh Blankenship is just like all 9-year-old girls: she’s in third grade, she loves music, and she takes her dog out for walks. And like many other young girls, Emaleigh has a problem with people who stare, a sentiment that stemmed from her frustration with strangers staring at her through the years.

Her mother, Adrienne Blankenship, shares that same frustration and adds that “don’t stare, just ask” has become Emaleigh’s signature catchphrase. As Adrienne reminds us, “We’re all different in our own way; some you can see, and some you can’t.”

You see, it’s more than her golden hair and sparkling blue eyes that make Emaleigh stand out from the crowd—she has an extremely rare progressive overgrowth disorder known as CLOVES Syndrome.

Children who have CLOVES often have fatty tissue masses on their torsos, asymmetric growth, dilated veins, scoliosis or a tethered spinal cord, and other physical issues. In Emaleigh’s case, her thin, muscular upper body contrasts her feet and legs, which contain more fatty tissue. The syndrome occurs in utero when a part of a developing cell mutates, thus causing the cells in that specific body part to grow rapidly.

In 2009, Adrienne was pregnant with twins and attending prenatal checkups. She and her husband, Christopher, learned something wasn’t right with Emaleigh’s feet at the 18-week ultrasound. While twin brother Michael was unaffected, Emaleigh’s other symptoms emerged when the twins were born at 28 weeks. Initially, the Blankenshipsʼ medical team at UVA thought Emaleigh might have Proteus Syndrome, but after scouring the internet for conditions with similar symptoms, the family reached out to Boston Children’s Hospital (where CLOVES was first discovered). They headed to Boston that spring, and Emaleigh was officially diagnosed with CLOVES.

It wasn’t long before the bones in Emaleigh’s feet grew uncontrollably, necessitating several foot surgeries (including toe amputations at the tender age of 2). Because Emaleigh’s feet are two radically different sizes, it’s difficult to find shoes that both match and fit. Adrienne and Christopher have had to develop creative solutions for Emaleigh’s footwear; in the past, they’d use heat to stretch out different pairs of Crocs.

Right after her surgeries, Emaleigh was diagnosed with Wilms’ tumor, a rare kidney cancer that affects children and is more common in children with overgrowth syndromes. After four months of chemotherapy, doctors saw that one of the kidneys wasn’t responding to the treatment, which ultimately determined the need for a nephrectomy (kidney removal).

“We say remission right now because the cancer’s not active,” Adrienne clarifies. “It’s kind of a hold your breath and see what happens—which is what we have done with CLOVES Syndrome anyway. It never ends. You may be done with chemo, but you always have secondary effects, or you have late effects from chemo. This is a progressive syndrome—we manage symptoms as they arise with the knowledge that her legs will grow uncontrollably.”

With two working parents, two kids, three pets and extensive travel back and forth to Charlottesville, Cincinnati, and Boston for medical appointments and treatments, calling the Blankenship family busy is an extreme understatement. Still, they try to find the joy in their frequent trips north. For example, after growing weary of hotel stays, they purchased a camper to make a routine visit feel like more of a road trip experience. When time allows, they travel to other attractions along the way to break up the monotony.

Over the course of time, the family has had to adjust their lifestyle, but Adrienne explains that they each find strength in one another. “Over the years, we’ve just had to step back, refocus our priorities, and regroup as a family unit and know that our support is right here.”
She adds that Michael is a great support to his twin sister and has taken on the big brother role. “He knows it’s his job to help stand up for his sister!” she says.

As far as the future and prognosis, Adrienne says there just isn’t enough information yet. With that in mind, the Blankenships are on a mission to raise awareness. When the family first heard of CLOVES, there was very little information available. Fueled by their desire to provide other parents of CLOVES patients with access to better information and to help raise money for the costly travel and lodging to and from the Boston Children’s Hospital, the Blankenships set up “The CLOVES Foundation,” a nonprofit focused on improving the lives of CLOVES patients by funding Overgrowth and Vascular Anomaly research. The foundation is committed to raising public awareness, providing member resources, and establishing support networks within the medical and overgrowth communities.

Adrienne and Christopher are considering Emaleigh’s possible participation in a clinical trial for a new oral medication. If successful,
the medicine could reduce the fatty overgrowth and potentially eliminate the need for future surgeries. In order to take part, Emaleigh will need to make monthly visits to the hospital in Boston, causing her to miss Thursdays and Fridays from school every week for months on end.

The trial will also require regular bloodwork, MRIs, and other examinations, not to mention concerns about potential side effects from the new drug. To help reduce the need for regular travel and the number of school absences, Emaleigh’s doctor at UVA has offered to carry out the necessary testing and is currently reaching out to the medical team in Boston for approval.

Without a cure in sight, future surgeries will be required to maintain Emaleigh’s quality of life. “We really are trying to make sure that some of these decisions are hers … the things that aren’t life-threatening. We don’t want to push her in any direction,” Adrienne says. In the meantime, she has a simple request from the community—stop staring. “Having a daughter and knowing that her life is going to be harder—I just want people to be kind. We’re all working to overcome something.”

Learn more at CLOVESFOUNDATION.ORG.

By Danielle Verderame

The older we get, the more we need a little bit of help staying healthy with medications and/or supplements. Managing these medications can sometimes be tricky without guidance from professionals.

We spoke with local elder care experts about the best practices of medication management.

Their advice, plus some new advances in pharmaceutical services, can help you get organized… and stay that way.

DO plan ahead for medication refills.

The first step to managing medications? Set up a schedule for getting your refills.

As a clinic nurse, Carol Barker, LPN, assists Independent Living residents at The Summit, a 143-acre campus for retirees located in Wyndhurst. When asked about the top challenges for members of their community, Barker lists mobility and memory.

For seniors who may not have an easy way to access a pharmacy quickly, you need to schedule trips in advance. At The Summit, they remove this barrier by offering transportation to the pharmacy, medical appointments and errands.

DON’T be afraid to get some help remembering to take your meds.

Barker tells the story of a diabetic resident who struggled to take her medications correctly. To help, Barker set up a medication system “…that only allowed her to take her meds at a certain time and would alert her if she did not take them.”

As a result, the resident was able to live independently for a longer period of time.

For seniors who have several prescriptions to take, a plan to help you remember dosages and refills for medications is crucial. The Summit offers an in-house caregiver program to help residents with refills and other management practices.

DON’T keep medication in the bathroom cabinet.

“The bathroom cabinet is not a good place to store medications. Moisture and heat can affect drugs,” Barker says. Instead, she recommends finding a dry and temperature-controlled place to store your pills. Otherwise, the medication will lose potency.

Pills may be compromised if they have the following characteristics.

• Change in color

• Strange smell or taste

• Lose their form (crumbling, melting or clumping)

When in doubt, a pharmacist or doctor can help advise whether your medication needs to be replaced.

DO maintain a current list of medications.

Barker encourages their residents to keep a list of current medications, including over-the-counter medications. This means vitamins and supplements, too.

As she explains, “The hospital doesn’t always have a list.” Meaning, if you need urgent care, the list could prevent harmful interactions. Additionally, it can help doctors when diagnosing conditions by eliminating variables.

DON’T take medications straight from the bottle.

Recently, some pharmacies are offering “pill packs.” With this service, the pharmacist arranges the medications by day, not into separate bottles.

Then, you can simply open the package at the appropriate time. This helps you avoid the confusion of sorting out daily dosages for multiple medications.

DO ask about side effects.

While it can be intimidating to push your doctor to explain the details of your medications, it’s an important part of managing your health.

Elizabeth Nicely manages McGurk House, an affordable retirement community located near Lynchburg General Hospital. She has noticed many of their residents often don’t understand side effects or the importance of different dosages and instructions. “They often times end up placing themselves in dangerous situations because of the lack of knowledge of their own medication,” she says.

Learn to be your own advocate and work with the doctor to understand your prescriptions.

DON’T keep old or expired medications.

Properly disposing old or expired medications is the most responsible action.

“We try to remind our residents of the importance of taking medication correctly. Making sure medications are labeled in the correct way, and in a way that meets the needs of each individual resident, as well as the importance of proper disposal of medication that is expired or no longer being used,” Nicely says.

To properly dispose of medications, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) makes the following recommendations:

1. Medicine take-back programs are often provided by local law enforcement.

2. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hosts National Prescription Drug Take Back events with temporary collection sites.

3. Permanent collection sites can be found in some hospitals and clinics.

4. You can dispose in household trash after mixing with an unpalatable substance such as dirt, cat litter, or used coffee grounds.

5. You can flush down the toilet if recommended on the prescription label. The FDA also keeps a list of medications that should be flushed immediately when they are no longer needed.

In most instances, your pharmacist can advise the safest way to dispose of your drugs.

Independent living starts with taking charge of your healthcare and prescriptions. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or seek help from a professional. With these tips, managing your medication can be a less painful experience.

Learn more about The Summit at www.summitlynchburg.com.
Learn more about McGurk House at www.mcgurkhouse.org.

By Sam St. John

According to the American Chiropractic Association, there are 77,000 chiropractors in the United States treating an estimated 35 million Americans every year—proof of the popularity of this health care profession.

According to Linda Brown, owner of Brown Chiropractic and Wellness Center, chiropractic care is “a way of looking at the human body as a whole. It’s based on the idea that the body is self-sustaining and self-healing.”

Chiropractors don’t just adjust your neck and back. They are also utilizing new forms of technology to help patients in other ways. At Brown Chiropractic, two of those forms of technology include thermography and pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) treatments.

Thermography

Thermography or Medical Infrared Imaging uses a heat sensitive camera that detects areas of increased heat, which indicates inflammation and either increased or decreased metabolic activity.

The infrared camera demonstrates different areas of temperature variations. These variations, when evaluated by trained radiologists, can be used to follow breast health in both women and men. Other uses of this technology include imaging of the carotids (arteries that connect the heart to the brain), sinus cavities, thyroid glands and the spinal column.

If the spinal vertebrae are not moving correctly, the nervous, circulatory and immune systems can be impacted. This may cause less than optimal functioning throughout the entire body. This can often be seen as increased heat in the spinal segments. Chiropractors can use this information to create a specific care plan for the patient and monitor improvements.

All thermograms are read by Jeanne Stryker, MD, DABR for continuity of care.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Treatments

With PEMF treatments, safe magnetic fields are used to “stimulate healing at the cellular level.” This, according to Brown, decreases pain and inflammation while improving mobility and an overall feeling of well-being.

“If our tissues, muscles or facial movements are restricted, it can cause interference with the electrical impulses moving through them. Pain and disease are not the initial cause but can be key indicators of nerve interference,” she says.

The treatments are considered to be a type of cellular exercise which gives the cells power to increase circulation, expel cellular waste, absorb nutrients and reduce pain by rebalancing the cell’s electrical charge. Patients find that they sleep better, have less pain and experience an overall feeling of well being. Other benefits include reduction in inflammation, enhanced tissue healing, bone strengthening and stress reduction.

Disease manifests when impaired nutrient flow and waste accumulation inhibits the cells natural repair cycle. Restoring these elements is the key to the overall health of your body.

If you are feeling pain in your joints, suffering from headaches or always tired, Brown suggests giving them a call for a consultation. Their newest forms of technology could identify problem areas and point you down a path where healing can begin.

“We will locate subluxations and reduce or correct them through a series of gentle chiropractic adjustments specifically designed to correct the vertebral subluxations in your spine,” Brown says. “Reestablishing structural integrity is the foundation of health. Eighty percent of all conditions improve when the structure of the body is properly reestablished to allow a free flow of vital energy.”

Learn more at www.LindaBrowndc.com.