American Diabetes Month 

Diabetes management: How lifestyle, daily routine affect blood sugar
Diabetes management requires awareness. Know what makes your blood sugar level rise and fall — and how to control these day-to-day factors.
Keeping your blood sugar levels within the range recommended by your doctor can be challenging. That’s because many things make your blood sugar levels change, sometimes unexpectedly. Following are 2 factors that can affect your blood sugar levels.

Food

Healthy eating is a cornerstone of healthy living — with or without diabetes. But if you have diabetes, you need to know how foods affect your blood sugar levels. It’s not only the type of food you eat, but also how much you eat and the combinations of food types you eat.

What to do:
Learn about carbohydrate counting and portion sizes
Make every meal well balanced.
Coordinate your meals and medications.
Avoid sugar-sweetened beverages

Exercise
Physical activity is another important part of your diabetes management plan. When you exercise, your muscles use sugar (glucose) for energy. Regular physical activity also helps your body use insulin more efficiently.

These factors work together to lower your blood sugar level. The more strenuous your workout, the longer the effect lasts. But even light activities — such as housework, gardening or being on your feet for extended periods — can improve your blood sugar.

What to do:

Talk to your doctor about an exercise plan.
Keep an exercise schedule.
Know your numbers. 
Check your blood sugar level
Stay hydrated.

Be prepared

Adjust your diabetes treatment plan as needed.  Learn more

Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month, or as it is commonly referred to, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.

The month is a time to celebrate rich and diverse cultures, traditions, and histories and to acknowledge the important contributions of Native people. Heritage Month is also an opportune time to educate the general public about tribes, to raise a general awareness about the unique challenges Native people have faced both historically and in the present, and the ways in which tribal citizens have worked to conquer these challenges.  Learn more

Men’s Health Month

 November is Men’s Health Month, a national observance used to raise awareness about health care for men and focus on encouraging boys, men and their families to practice and implement healthy living decisions, such as exercising and eating healthy.

3 reasons young men need a primary care provider

Young adulthood comes attached with an awesome (and, at times, seemingly excessive) amount of new tasks and expanded responsibilities. Whether you have stepped out into the world of higher education, vocational training and entrepreneurship — or if you’ve decided to invest in a reliable job in the short term to save for a future investment — it is difficult to place your preventive health at the top of that long to-do list.

So, how do you keep peak health in young adulthood?

Most young men only need to visit a medical clinic once or twice a year, but there are 3 important reasons why having a designated primary care provider should be on your task list:

1. A primary care provider wants to understand you and your health goals.
By developing a relationship with a primary care provider, he or she will become familiar with:

• Your personal medical history
• Your personal health values and wellness goals
• You, as a person, to develop a long-term professional relationship that enables a comfortable trust when sharing information and receiving medical guidance
• Your overall health, not simply just your reported current health concern, which often occurs when you visit short-term care centers, such as the emergency department or urgent care.

2. A primary care provider saves you money in the short and long term.
The care you receive in the outpatient clinic generally is of lower cost than that of urgent or emergency care. However, if you do require immediate care, your provider can coordinate with those areas about your health, which improves the overall quality of your care.

3. A primary care provider manages your transfer of specialty care.
Primary care providers are generalists by training They evaluate and treat a broad spectrum of day-to-day health problems and concerns.

At times, however, your health concerns may require needs beyond the primary care clinic.

In these cases, your primary care provider:
Can ensure a smooth referral of care to the appropriate specialist
Will continue to actively monitor your updated medical history and status
Will follow up with test results, provide meaningful explanations behind those results and describe the best next steps in your health care.

Lastly, our job as primary care providers is to educate and be a point of contact for community resources so you can maintain the healthiest version of you while actively pursuing your life goals.     Read more

Your Men’s Health Score: Wellness

Curious about how you are doing in different aspects of Men’s Health? click here to help you determine where you rank in mental and physical wellness.

Want to experience these amazing health care in action?  
Give us a call at (801) 396-8850 or click HERE to set up an appointment. 

Keto Pumpkin Cookies (Vegan)

These Keto Pumpkin Cookies are crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, and made without any sugar! They’re a delicious treat that’s easy to prepare and can be enjoyed guilt-free.

Prep Time:20 minutes
Cook Time:20 minutes
Total Time:40 minutes
Author:Christel Oerum
Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon flax seed powder
• 3 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil (for oiling your hands)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup brown erythritol
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 teaspoon brown erythritol (to sprinkle on top)

Instructions

• • Preheat oven to 350F (180°C) and line a cookie tray with baking paper.
  • Add the almond flour, baking powder, and salt to a medium mixing bowl and whisk until well-combined and there are no lumps of flour.
  • Make a “flax egg” by mixing the 1 tbsp. flax powder and 3 tbsp. water together in a small bowl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes. Alternatively, could use 1 egg if not vegan.
  • Add the flax egg, pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil, and vanilla extract to a bowl and whisk together until smooth.
  • Add the brown granulated erythritol to the wet ingredients. Stir until well-combined and most of the sweetener granules are dissolved.
  • Add the wet ingredients to the almond flour mixture. Stir until the dough sticks together well and has a similar texture to regular cookie dough. If the dough is too wet, add another 1/4 – 1/2 cup of almond flour.
  • Oil your hands, then roll 2 tbsp. of dough at a time into a ball and place on the baking sheet. You should end up with 12 cookie dough balls. Use a fork to press each ball down crosswise until they’re about 1/2 inch (1 1/2 cm.) thick.
  • Bake for 15 – 20 minutes at 350F (180°C) until just starting to brown and turn golden. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with brown erythritol and cinnamon while warm.
  • Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie tray for 20 minutes. Then, carefully transfer them to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Recipe Notes

This recipe is for 12 cookies. Each serving is 1 cookie.When choosing your canned pumpkin or puree, check the label to ensure there are no added sugars.Because the moisture content in canned pumpkin or puree can vary, you may need to add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more almond flour to the batter if it’s too wet to shape.Be sure to give the cookies plenty of time to cool. Otherwise, they will be crumbly.Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.  Get more Here