Bloglander

Look for the June/July InHealth on stands starting this week. Here’s a preview from our story on nine local “voluntourists” making a difference all around the globe:

“It gets under your skin,” Wayne Krafft says, describing his work developing safe drinking water systems in Kopanga, a small village in Kenya. “You establish relationships with the people, see their needs, work with them, and get to see real results.”

Summer Reading Slide
No, it’s not a cool piece of playground equipment. Summer reading slide is what educators call kids’ loss of three months or more of reading skills over the two and half months of vacation. The “slide” can become cumulative, even impacting graduation rates. The Spokane Public Library is ready to help prevent the slide through their summer reading program. Summer reading sign-up is already underway, and this year you can register online to earn badges. All sorts of other activities to occupy restless young ones are also available at your friendly neighborhood libraries. 

Can you eat your way out of depression?
Chocolate and donuts may not be the answer, but researchers say there are foods worth trying. "We were very interested in using the scientific literature to winnow down the key nutrients that have evidence that they are very, very involved in depression," said Dr. Drew Ramsey, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in Atlanta last month, describing a group of evidence-based “brain essential nutrients.” Research points to compounds found in leafy green vegetables, nuts, mussels, clams and salmon, as well as meat from grass-fed and pastured animals. Ramsey is also a part-time farmer and author of 50 Shades of Kale and Eat Complete.