What to expect at your travel clinic appointment

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Congratulations – You booked your flight and you’re off on your next adventure! 

Not so fast. Before you leave, take a few simple steps to stay healthy on your trip. By taking the time to understand the health risks at your destination, you’ll keep those around you healthy too. If you’ve never been to a travel clinic, here’s what to expect.

Before you go to a travel clinic

Make an appointment with your family doctor. Your primary healthcare provider and pharmacist may be able to take care of all your travel health needs, including vaccinations. If your doctor doesn’t have expertise in travel health or you need Yellow Fever vaccination, they will refer you to a travel health specialist (for example, Yellow Fever vaccination is only available from certified travel clinics). You can also book an appointment at a travel clinic if you don’t have a family doctor.

Try to book your travel clinic appointment at least 6 weeks before your trip. At busy travel clinics, it may take a week or two to get an appointment. It’s important to book early since many vaccines come in a series and need to be administered according to a specific schedule. Currently, there is also a shortage of Yellow Fever vaccine (expected to last until the end of 2019) so it may take longer to get an appointment.

A travel health specialist will provide medical advice, vaccinations, and medications based on your overall health status and your travel itinerary. They can help you prioritize vaccines if you are short on time or on a limited budget, give you tips about how to avoid common travel-related illnesses, and answer your questions about staying healthy abroad.

Before your travel clinic appointment, make sure to familiarize yourself with the health risks at your destination (our Country Health Advice tool can help). Knowing the risks can help you and your doctor make decisions together about which vaccines and medications are best suited for your trip.

What to bring to your appointment

Bring your immunization records and your detailed itinerary, including travel dates, planned activities, who you’re travelling with, and exactly where you are going – the more specific, the better. This is important because the nurse or doctor’s advice will be tailored to your health needs and the places you’re visiting. Make a list of any health conditions and medications you are taking.

During your appointment

A travel nurse or doctor will ask you detailed questions about your itinerary and your plans for the trip. Common questions include:

  • Where are you going? Which cities, towns, or rural areas are you planning to visit?
  • How long are you travelling for?
  • What is the purpose of your trip? Are you going on vacation, working, studying, volunteering, or visiting friends and relatives?
  • What type of accommodation will you be staying in (such as hotels, hostels, local homes, camping, or on a ship)?
  • What medications are you currently taking?
  • Are you up-to-date with your routine immunizations?

Many travel clinics use travel health information databases to identify local health risks, such as Rabies, Malaria, Dengue, Zika Virus, and other infectious diseases. Based on this information, your travel plans, and health status, your practitioner will identify key health risks you need to be aware of and protected from.

Vaccination is an important part of a travel clinic appointment. This is because many common travel-related illnesses are vaccine preventable. Depending on where you’re going and which vaccinations you’ve had in the past, you may get one, two, or several vaccinations during the same appointment. The majority of travel clinics are licensed to offer the Yellow Fever vaccine, which comes with a proof of vaccination certificate (here is a list of Yellow Fever centres in Canada and the United States). Common travel vaccines include Typhoid, Rabies, Japanese Encephalitis, and Hepatitis Aif not already immune. These vaccines are safe and getting vaccinated will go a long way toward keeping you healthy. However, many illnesses don’t have vaccines. For example, there is currently no Dengue vaccine for travellers. If you’re going to an area with Dengue, your travel health specialist will advise you on how to prevent mosquito bites and when to see a doctor if you suspect that you have Dengue.

Another example is Malaria. There is currently no commercially available vaccine against Malaria but there are antimalarial medications that can be used with bed nets and mosquito bite prevention measures to significantly reduce your risk of infection.

Antimalarial medications can have side effects, but there are several options available (check out our blog Malaria medication: your questions answered for more information). Your health provider can recommend the best option for you based on your health status and your destination.

No matter where you’re travelling, your travel health provider will explain how to choose safe foods and drinks, and how to reduce the risk of Traveller’s Diarrhea and Hepatitis A. The nurse or doctor may give you printed information about other health risks so you can read it at home. They may also recommend travel supplies, like a mosquito bed net if you’re visiting a place with Malaria or Japanese Encephalitis.

It’s important to give your travel health provider detailed information about your travel plans and your health status, particularly your mental health status, so that you can get the most out of your appointment. Some health and mental health conditions can be affected by travel or medication. Your provider can also give you tips and advice on managing your condition abroad and what to do in case you need a refill of your prescription, need to access a local doctor, or have a health emergency since some pre-existing conditions, including mental health, may not be covered by your insurance provider.

A note about fees: Travel clinics charge a fee for the consultation and additional fees for travel vaccines. These fees are not covered by government health plans in Canada and the United States. They may or may not be covered by private insurance. Read our Travel Vaccines on a Budget series for tips on prioritizing vaccines.

After your appointment

Go to a pharmacy to fill prescriptions from your appointment, such as antimalarial medication or antibiotics to treat severe Traveller’s Diarrhea. This is also a good time to assemble your first aid kit and refill other prescription medication.

If a mosquito bed net was recommended for your trip, you can purchase one from travel retailers or outdoor equipment stores. Box-style nets that can be tucked under your mattress offer the best protection because they keep netting (and mosquitoes) away from your skin. Bed nets treated with the insecticide permethrin provide better protection than untreated nets. (Some Canadian travel clinics sell permethrin-treated bed nets but permethrin is not currently available to consumers in Canada.)

Don’t let the precautions discourage you: Using common sense with prevention in mind is the key to a safe and healthy trip. Enjoy!

Source: International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers

 

3 Steps to Glowing Skin

Life is complicated enough so skincare shouldn’t be. Here are 3 easy steps for your daily routine, recommended by Eminence Organic Skincare:

Step 1: Cleanse

Non-drying formulas leave all skins feeling fresh, clean, comfortable.

Step 2: Exfoliate

Sweeps away pollution, excess oil, dulling flakes to reveal fresher skin.

Step 3: Moisturize

Gives the skin the “drink” it needs to maintain optimal moisture balance.

The consistency of this daily routine with the correct products is key to beautiful skin! With hundreds of skin cleaners, exfoliants, and moisturizers on store shelves, making the right choice can be difficult. As a seasoned spa director, I get asked frequently what skincare products I use. It is a reasonable assumption that I would use the “best in class” since I am in the spa business. And I do! However, what I use for my skin may not be the right products for your skin, unless we have the same skin type and concerns. If you want to buy effective skincare products, your skincare routine must be customized to you. Is your skin dry, normal, oily, combination or sensitive? Do you have acnes, rosacea, fine lines, large pores, pigmentation, etc? If you are not sure, it’s time to find out with a professional facial or at least a skin analysis by an Esthetician. If you are a product junkie and always looking for the latest and greatest but still not getting the results you are looking for, you might try the Eminence skincare quiz to guide you in choosing the most suitable products for your daily regimen. It’s simple and fast!

Once you have selected the cleanser, exfoliant, and moisturizer for your daily routine, follow the product direction and stick with the routine for at least 30 days, unless you have an allergic reaction. Nothing happens overnight and it takes time for your skin to adjust to a new regimen. There are many other products – serum, masque, eye cream, lip care – you can add to enhance your beauty treatment but they should not replace any of these 3 basic steps.

Truth about Turmeric

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Turmeric really doesn’t need much introduction these days. For those who don’t do much cooking, it is a bright yellow spice commonly used in Indian cooking. If you are wondering what business turmeric has in finding its way into our lattes, it is because of its super food status in culinary medicine. Turmeric has potent antioxidants and anti-inflammatory effects which can potentially prevent and treat arthritis, cancer, heart disease and diabetes.  As a food enthusiast, I am no stranger to cooking with turmeric but I am curious whether drinking a cup of turmeric tea latte per day (a.k.a Golden Milk) will keep my knee pain away.

The medicinal effect of turmeric is attributed to its active compound, curcumin. It has been used to help prevent ailments for generations in Asia. Research indicates that you need to get 500 to 1,000 milligrams of curcumin per day for an anti-inflammatory effect. The average Indian diet provides around 60-100 milligrams of curcumin (2,000-2,500 milligrams of turmeric) per day. In other words, you would need to consume more than 10 times the amount of turmeric than what’s in a typical Indian diet. The truth is that it is not easy to get a therapeutic dose of curcumin without some supplementation. However, if you decide to take on the challenge with eating real food for your curcumin,  keep in mind that you will need to add at least 2 1/2 Tablespoons (17 grams) of turmeric a day in your diet to get 500 milligrams of curcumin. Also, curcumin is not easily absorbed and it needs to be combined with fat and black pepper to enhance its absorption. I am sharing my recipe of the Oven Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower that is super easy and delicious with an abundant amount of turmeric. Cauliflower is naturally high in antioxidant so this packs an extra anti-inflammatory punch.

Along with boosting curcumin in your diet to flight inflammation, it is beneficial to avoid inflammation inducing foods – sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial trans fats, refined carbohydrates, processed meats, and alcohol – at the same time. This is a good way to double down on the battle against inflammation!

Cauliflower

Oven Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower

1 large head of cauliflower

1/4 cup Olive oil

2 Tbsp turmeric

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 425F.
  2. Cut cauliflower into florets and put on a rimmed baking sheet.
  3. whisk olive oil, turmeric, salt and pepper in a bowl and drizzle over cauliflower to coat pieces.
  4. Roast cauliflower in oven until tender and slightly brown for 15-25 minutes, turning halfway.

 

 

How to avoid GMOs

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IMG_4606Food companies are labelling their food packaging with more health claims than ever before but do we really know what they mean? The “NON GMO Project VERIFIED” seal is one that has been attracting my attention lately. I am seeing it on a range of products from bread to won ton wrappers. According to data from The Non-GMO Project Verified organization, their seal is the fastest growing label in the natural product industry and represents over $26 billion in annual sales. There are more than 50,000 Verified products from over 3,000 brands available to consumers in the marketplace. With this growing trend, it is definitely worth learning more about what this claim means. I went to their website and this is what I extracted:

What is a GMO?
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are living organisms whose genetic material has been artificially manipulated in a laboratory through genetic engineering. This creates combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and virus genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

Most GMOs have been engineered to withstand the direct application of herbicide and/or to produce an insecticide. However, new technologies are now being used to artificially develop other traits in plants, such as a resistance to browning in apples, and to create new organisms using synthetic biology. Despite biotech industry promises, there is no evidence that any of the GMOs currently on the market offer increased yield, drought tolerance, enhanced nutrition, or any other consumer benefit.

Are GMOs safe?
In the absence of credible independent long-term feeding studies, the safety of GMOs is unknown. Increasingly, citizens are taking matters into their own hands and choosing to opt out of the GMO experiment.

Which foods might contain GMOs?
Most packaged foods contain ingredients derived from corn, soy, canola, and sugar beet — and the vast majority of those crops grown in North America are genetically modified. 

Visit the What is GMO page for more information and a list of high-risk crops.

Animal products: The Non-GMO Project also considers livestock, apiculture, and aquaculture products at high risk because genetically engineered ingredients are common in animal feed. This impacts animal products such as: eggs, milk, meat, honey, and seafood.

Processed inputs, including those from synthetic biology: GMOs also sneak into food in the form of processed crop derivatives and inputs derived from other forms of genetic engineering, such as synthetic biology. Some examples include: hydrolyzed vegetable protein, corn syrup, molasses, sucrose, textured vegetable protein, flavorings, vitamins,  yeast products, microbes & enzymes, flavors, oils & fats, proteins, and sweeteners.

My Bottomline Recommendations:

1. Avoid processed foods. The less processed the food, the less chance of GMO ingredients sneaking into the manufacturing process.

2. Eat fresh food with a short ingredient list. Less is more when it comes to healthy food!

3. Buy organic products when possible because the use of genetically modified organisms are not permitted in products that are USDA organic certified.

4. Look for the Non GMO Project Verified seal on food products, especially with products containing the high risk corps such as Corn, soy, canola, and sugar beet. The Non-GMO Project Verified seal assures consumers that a product has completed a comprehensive third-party verification for compliance with the Non-GMO Project Standard.

 

 

Discovering Hot Pilates

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Imagine doing mat Pilates in a room that is 95 degree and 40% humidity with blasting uptempo pop music, flashing lights and spinning disco ball.  Not exactly what you would call a mind and body exercise class. As a yogi, I never thought I would love it as much as I do. In fact, I was hooked after my first class!

With hot yoga, it is an easy transition from Hatha yoga but that’s not to say it isn’t intimating to do yoga in 100 degree temperature with a bunch of scantily cladded sweaty people. Nevertheless, it is still a mind and body exercise class where yoga poses are familiar and relaxing. But hot Pilates is not even in the same “mind and body” universe!

I first noticed this new trend of hot Pilates classes being offered at hot yoga studios when I was in Vancouver this past summer. Apparently this “new trend” has been around for the last decade but it’s just catching on worldwide recently. The hot Pilates craze led by Gabi Walters in Las Vegas started in 2009 and she later developed it into Inferno Hot Pilates. This new training system is a combination of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Pilates principles performed in a hot room on a yoga mat.

The High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) keeps your heart rate up, burns fat and calories, and increases fitness levels without the pounding of a high impact workout. The Pilates techniques improve body alignment, build strong core and long lean muscles. The hot temperature in the room increases blood circulation, metabolism and detoxification.

All these wonderful benefits do come with some risks. It is very easy to become dehydrated when exercising in such hot temperature and humidity. If you have high blood pressure, the heat and intensity of the workout can elevate your blood pressure to an unsafe level. The key to having a safe and fun workout is to be prepared. Hydrate your body at least 12 hours in advance; avoid eating 2-3 hours before class; and bring lots of cold water in an insulated water bottle to keep it cool during class.

At the end of my hot Pilates class at Hella Yoga in Berkeley, I came out of the studio with a rosy glow on my face, a relaxed body, a blissful feeling and a sense of accomplishment. I guess it was a mind and body class after all!