Mountain Views News          Saturday, September 10, 2011

16

THE GOOD LIFE

Mountain Views-News Saturday, September 10, 2011 

SENIOR HAPPENINGS

YOUR HEALTH MATTERS

Today’s Subject: 

FIBER

RECIPES OF THE WEEK

SEPTEMBER IS SENIOR 

CENTER MONTH

NCOA’s National Institute of Senior Centers 
has designated September as Senior Center 
Month

“It Happens at My Senior Center”

Even though the Hart Park House Senior 
Center is under renovation, things are still 
“happening” at the center’s temporary home 
in the Community Recreation Center (611 
E. Sierra Madre Blvd.)so please join us:

September 2nd - The Senior Lunch Café is 
serving a special menu of Cheese Burgers 
with all the fixings & apple pie for dessert in

celebration of Labor Day; Noon . $2 donation- 
advance reservations required by calling 
355-0256.

September 7th - Community meeting regarding 
the proposed assisted living facility 
being built in Sierra Madre. Come to the

Recreation Center at 6:30 pm to hear more 
or to ask questions.

September 15th - Senior Excursion to the 
Historic Graber Olive House (see below for 
more details).

September 21th - Lunch & Learn; 12:20 pm. 
Join us for this special presentation by Lending 
a Paw, Therapy Dogs & meet some of 
their certified dogs. A special dry dog food 
collection will take please so please bring a 
bag to donate to families facing financial difficulties 
(donation not required to attend).

September 24th - Wellness in the Park; 9 am 
to 12 noon in Memorial Park. Free information 
including hearing & osteoporosis

screenings and flu shots (Medicare participants 
- $25 for others) plus the Senior Commission 
will be handing out the File of Life

medical information packet to residents.

Come early and enjoy the Kiwanis Pancake 
Breakfast 7 am to 11 am at $5 per person

September 30th - The Final Scoop - come 
build your own ice cream treat as we end our 
month of activities; 12:30 pm

For more information about the activities 
listed, please call the Senior Desk at (626) 
355-7394.

Penne Pasta with Shrimp, 
Spinach and Tomatoes

(Great for Hot Weather)

 

INGREDIENTS:

12 ounces penne pasta 

2 tablespoons olive oil 

1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, 
deveined 

3 garlic cloves, minced 

5 large plum tomatoes, cut into thin wedges 

6 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 

6 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves (about 6 ounces) 

DIRECTIONS:

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water 
until just tender but still firm to bite. Ladle 1 cup 
pasta cooking liquid into small bowl and reserve. 
Drain pasta. Return pasta to pot; cover to keep hot. 

Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet over 
medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and 
pepper. Add shrimp and garlic to skillet and sauté 2 
minutes. Add tomatoes, 4 tablespoons basil, lemon 
juice and lemon peel and sauté until shrimp are 
cooked through, about 3 minutes. 

Add spinach leaves to hot pasta; toss until spinach 
wilts. Add shrimp mixture and toss to blend. Add 
enough of reserved pasta cooking liquid to moisten. 
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer pasta 
to bowl. 

Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons basil and 
serve. 


As a chiropractor seeing a fair share of 
low back pain, I often find that an underlying 
cause is intestinal irritation. Specifically, 
this can be the result of consuming too little 
dietary fiber. If a patient has had recurring 
episodes of low back pain, the reflex activity 
of the lower digestive tract can overload the 
circuits responsible for the functions in that 
area, including the low back muscles, joints 
and support tissues. The answer? Fiber.

There are two kinds of dietary fiber. One 
takes up water (dissolves) and the other does 
not. These are referred to as soluble and insoluble, 
respectively. A well known soluble 
fiber is psyllium seed husks and is found in 
products such as Metamucil. ( Psyllium can 
be purchased very affordably at Trader Joe’s 
under the name “Secrets of the Psyllium”, 
and without additives.) The other fiber 
is found in the indigestible parts of fruits, 
vegetables and grains. Most commonly, insoluble 
fiber is found in the bran layers of 
cereal grains.

A good deal of research has been done on 
the cholesterol lowering properties of oatmeal, 
oat bran, barley, flax seeds and oat 
cereals. These soluble fibers hold onto the 
dietary cholesterol and keep it from being 
absorbed. A tablespoon of oat bran before 
each meal can be helpful for this reason and 
can slow down digestion, thereby having a 
beneficial effect on blood sugar stabilization. 
Additionally, soluble fiber makes you 
feel full, helping in weight loss.

In the long run, it doesn’t matter what 
kind of fiber you ingest unless you are attempting 
specifically to lower cholesterol or 
regulate blood glucose. A diet rich in veggies, 
fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, 
dried fruits and berries will more than adequately 
provide good fiber. If it is difficult 
to incorporate enough of these foods, there 
are many excellent fiber formulas that can be 
purchased at health food stores, giving you 
the 25 to 40 grams of important dietary fiber 
you need each day.

To your wonderful health,

Dr. John

Dr. John Talevich, D.C. has practiced in Sierra Madre 
for thirty years. His clinic, LifeWorks! Chiropractic, 
offers patient-specific approaches to the alleviation of 
pain and individually tailored wellness programs. 

September Birthdays

Yvonne Osti, Edwina Garcia, Donna 
Anderson, Teresa Chaure, Cathy 
Gunther, Esther Macias, Sheila Pierce, 
Nancy Shollenberger


John M. Talevich, D.C. 

CHIROPRACTIC: Simple, Elegant, Effective

31 S. Baldwin Avenue Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024

626-355-4710

Meals-On-Wheels


High-Tech Gadgets for Low Vision

Meals are delivered to home-bound 
seniors by volunteer drivers through 
the YWCA Intervale Lunch Program 
M-F (with frozen meals for the weekend.) 

Meals are delivered to the home-bound seniors 
by drivers through the YWCA Interval Lunch 
Program M-F (with frozen meals for the 
weekend.) 

 

 Call the YWCA at (626) 214-9460 for more 
information. 

Dear Savvy Senior,

I’m looking for some good low-vision products 
that can help my wife who has severe vision loss. 
What can you recommend?Searching Spouse 
Dear Searching,

With more than 21 million Americans 
living with some form of uncorrectable vision 
impairment today, more and more products for 
low-vision are being developed that can help with 
many different needs. Here is a quick guide to 
some great products and where to find them.

Low-Tech AidsThere are literally hundreds of 
simple, relatively inexpensive products on the 
market today that can help people with low-
vision. For example, to help with daily living 
tasks, you can find a wide array of “talking,” 
“large print” or “jumbo-sized” items such as 
clocks, watches, remote controls, telephones, 
computer keyboards, calculators, thermostats, 
kitchen aids and much more, as well as a wide 
variety of magnifiers. You can find these products 
at sites like independentliving.com or 800-
537-2118; shoplowvision.com, 800-826-4200; 
maxiaids.com, 800-522-6294; and lssproducts.
com, 800-468-4789. 

In addition to the simple products, there is 
also a number of high-tech, low-vision devices 
that offer incredible capabilities. Unfortunately, 
many of these items are expensive and they aren’t 
covered by private insurance or Medicare. Here 
are some to check out. 

Desktop magnifiers: Also known as closed 
circuit TVs, these are home-based machines 
that provide powerful magnification, contrast 
and clarity for reading, writing and looking at 
pictures. While this type of technology has been 
around for a while, more styles and variations 
are available today with prices usually ranging 
between $2,500 and $3,000. Some of the best 
places to find these are at: optelec.com, 800-
826-4200; freedomscientific.com, 800-444-
4443; enhancedvision.com, 888-811-3161; and 
humanware.com, 800-722-3393.

Portable magnifiers: For reading small print in 
and outside the home (food labels, prescriptions, 
bills, menus, etc.), portable, battery-powered 
video magnifiers provide the same features as 
closed circuit TVs, but they’re small enough to 
fit in your pocket. Some good ones to check out 
are the “RUBY” at freedomscientific.com, the 
“Compact Mini” from optelec.com, the “Pebble” 
at enhancedvision.com and the “Feather” at 
clarityusa.com. Prices typically range from $350 
to $650. 

Text-to-speech: For converting text to speech, 
there are several devices that let you take a snap 
shot of printed material (magazines, newspapers, 
books, mail, etc.), and in seconds it reads it aloud. 
The ClearReader+ from optelec.com is one of the 
best for home or office use, but costs $2,500. If you 
want mobility, the Intel Reader (careinnovations.
com) is a handheld text-to-speech device that 
retails for $899. And for iPhone 4 users, the 
new ZoomReader app developed by Ai Squared 
(aisquared.com, 800-859-0270) provides text-to-
speech capabilities for $20. 

Computer magnification: To customize a 
Microsoft Windows personal computer for 
low-vision, the computer’s operating system 
offers built-in setting adjustments that can help. 
See microsoft.com/enable for instructions. If 
that’s not sufficient, Ai Squared sells a fantastic 
software application for $545 called ZoomText 
Magnifier/Reader that enlarges, enhances and 
reads aloud everything on the computer screen.

Or, if your wife uses an iMac or iPad, Apple 
provides some outstanding built-in accessibility 
features (see apple.com/accessibility), including 
screen and cursor magnification, high-contrast 
settings and screen reader capabilities. 

Low-vision cell phone: The Samsung Haven 
from Verizon Wireless is a basic flip-phone that 
provides voice command (you tell it what to do) 
and voice output (it speaks to you) technology 
that lets you easily operate it without vision. 
The cost: $40 with a two-year contract. See 
verizonwireless.com or call 800-256-4646.

 Talking GPS: To find her way around town, 
the Trekker Breeze is a small handheld GPS 
navigator that announces the names of streets, 
intersections and landmarks as she’s walking 
or riding in a vehicle. Available at humanware.
com for $929. Currency reader: To avoid being 
shortchanged at the store, the iBill (small enough 
to attach to a key ring) identifies all U.S. bills by 
voice or a series of tone or vibrations. Price: $99 
at orbitresearch.com or 888-606-7248.

Savvy Tip: To learn more about low-vision 
products and to try many of them out, visit a 
vision rehabilitation agency in your area. See afb.
org or call 800-232-5463 to locate one. 

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, 
P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit 
SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to 
the NBC Today show and author of “The Savvy 
Senior” book.

EXCURSIONS

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th - 

Historic Graber Olive House in Ontario. 
Participants will get a short tour 
& history of the Graber Olive as well as 
learn more about how they are harvested. 
After the tour you will venture to 
a local restaurant to have lunch before 
heading back to Sierra Madre.

 The bus will leave the Community 
Recreation Center at 10 am and return 
around 2 pm. Cost is $8 per person 
(transportation & tour only) so please 
bring additional money for lunch.

SAVE THE DATES

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22ND - Big Bear 
Oktoberfest ; $36 per person. Registration 
begins September 7th online or in person.

*THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH - 

Historic Castle Tour & Lunch at the Mission 
Inn, Riverside.

*THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15TH - 

Candlelight Pavilion Christmas Show

in Claremont. Reservation for this excursion 
will start on September 26th either by 
visiting the Recreation Center in person 
or going online at www.cityofsierramadre.
com/onlineregistration


LUNCH & LEARN 

Join the Senior

Community Commission

at the 

Sierra Madre Recreation 
Center

 for a FREE presentation. 
Lunch is available for a 

$2 donation 

Call (626) 355-0256 by 

12 noon the day before. 

DIAL - A - RIDE 

TICKETS

Tickets can now be purchased at:

Sierra Madre City Hall

Sierra Madre Recreation Center

Sierra Madre Library


Pasadena Highlands, an independent and assisted 
living community, is proud to provide a 
special gift basket on the first Tuesday of each 
month. Accredited In-Home nursing care will 
provide a special prize on the 4th Tuesday of 
each month. Bingo takes place every Tuesday at 
1:30 pm at the Sierra Madre Recreation Center 
while the Hart Park House is under remodeling. 
The game begins at 1:30 pm but those wishing 
to play must arrive 10 minutes before to secure 
your Bingo cards. Join us on the 1st & 4th 
Tuesday of each month 


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