To My Patients

Labor Day is over, with only two days left until fall, and the time is approaching to walk in the park and watch the leaves turn color. Personally, we took a walk up and around Kent Falls, it's beautiful and it's only about an hour away from the office - any easy excursion for some great exercise! → Want to keep your carb intake low? It's so important for control of diabetes and pre-diabetes, and for weight control. Here are some low carb suggestions. Vegetables: Cauliflower, zucchini, spaghetti squash, and sweet (but not regular) potatoes Grains: Oatmeal (rolled better than steel milled Fruits: Fresh fruit, especially berries, berries, berries... Dairy: Greek yogurt, cottage cheese Nuts: Almonds (great for appetite control), walnuts and pecans Seeds: Flax, sunflower, squash And the list goes on, give us a call and ask for more! → Longevity in the US, revisited The CIA report of 2016 still ranks the US 41st in the world in longevity (average life expectancy 79.8 years, 77.5 for males, 82.1 for females). This continues to be a very disappointing statistic, despite having the best medical facilities in the world, and despite spending more than any other country on health care per capita. More and more reports are emerging about the role of faulty lifestyles in decreasing longevity. A recent report strongly suggests that more than 40% of premature deaths in the US occur because of faulty lifestyles, with the most important one the combination of overweight and lack of exercise. Number two (used to be number one) is smoking. To make a long story short: Want to live longer? Don't just rely on medical care, make sure you stay at an acceptable weight, be physically active, avoid tobacco in all forms, don't drink alcohol to excess and avoid unnecessary or illicit drugs. For more detail, look at my last year's letter on this subject, available on my blog at http://drstaw.blogspot.com/2016/11/to-my-patients-september-2016.html → Office hours Please note that the office will be closed this Thursday, September 21, it's Rosh Hashanah. In addition, we'll be away, visiting our son and his family in Denver, from Thursday, September 28th, through the following Tuesday, October 3rd. If you need an appointment, please call us today and we'll see what we can do to help you out as quickly as possible! → To our Cigna Patients Our Cigna contract is running out as of November 1st. However, I will continue to see Cigna patients on an out-of-network basis at affordable fees (fees will be scaled down even further for patients with financial issues, as we do with all other non-participating insurance plans). We hope to reestablish our relationship with Cigna soon. I want to remind everyone that we do participate with ConnectiCare, they have been very good to our patients. Please call us if you have concerns! Igal Staw, Ph.D., M.D. www.drstaw.com weightloss.drstaw.com www.twitter.com/drstaw Dr. Staw on Facebook