• Any air conditioning unit has optimal settings at which they operate most efficiently.  Your unit will operate most efficiently if you place the thermostat somewhere between 75-80 degrees.  If you have central air, set your thermostat above 78 degrees.  You’ll 5-8 percent on cooling costs for each degree above that mark.  When you leave home for more than one hour, set the thermostat to 85 or 90 degrees. Reset it upon your return, and the room will cool down in only 15 minutes. The system will use less energy during the cool-down period than if you had left it running at a lower setting while you were out.
• Use a fan- A fan, which costs two to five cents per hour to operate, will make a room feel 4 to 6 degrees cooler. Also, a fan works well in tandem with an air conditioner because the dehumidifying action of the air conditioner provides drier air that the fan can then move around.
• Practice “Texas cool”- “Texas cool” is a morning and evening routine that takes advantage of cool outdoor temperatures at night and keeps the heat at bay as much as possible during daylight hours. It’s very simple to do: At night when the temperature drops, open windows and bring in cool air with window fans or a whole-house fan. As soon as the sun comes up or the air starts to heat up, shut the windows and shades and keep doors closed.
• Install a programmable thermostat- A programmable thermostat lets you preset temperatures for different times of the day, so air-conditioning is working only when you are home. The least expensive thermostat models ($30) let you set four cycles that, unless manually overridden, repeat every day. Higher-priced models ($50 and up) allow you to create settings for each weekday and for each weekend day.
• Cook Smart- Any appliance that generates heat adds to your cooling load. An oven baking cookies can easily raise the room temperature 10 degrees, which in turn jacks up overall cooling costs 2 to 5 percent. Save cooking (especially baking) for cooler hours, or cook outdoors on your grill. It is also a good idea to run the dishwasher and clothes dryer at night.
• Get cooler lights- Incandescent bulbs don’t contribute as much heat as unshaded windows, but they do add heat to a house and can raise the perceived temperature, sending you to the thermostat to seek relief. To reduce this hot-light effect and save lighting costs year-round, replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescents. They use about 75 percent less energy and emit 90 percent less heat.
• Snug up the ducts- Leaky ducts can cut into air-conditioning efficiency. Ductwork must be balanced between the supply and return sides of the system in order for it to work safely and efficiently.
• Seal air leaks- The places where cold air infiltrates in winter are routes for hot air in summer. And what’s worse, hot air is often accompanied by high humidity, making you even more uncomfortable. Armed with a flashlight, exterior-rated silicone caulk and a couple cans of expanding foam insulation, hunt down and seal all leaks.  Concentrate on the attic, basement and crawl space; pay close attention to anything that passes through a ceiling or wall, such as ductwork, electrical or plumbing conduits and kitchen and bath vents. Other common leaky spots are around windows and doors. If you can rattle a window, it’s leaking. Seal it with weather stripping.
• Defeat Attic Heat- The temperature in your attic can reach 150 degrees on a hot summer day, a situation that if left unchecked can drive up cooling costs by as much as 40 percent.  Make sure your attic is properly insulated and ventilated.

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To keep yourself cool…

• Wear light colored, light weight, loose fitting clothing.
• Drink plenty of fluids, mostly water.
• Stay in the shade.
• Eat light, healthy foods.

….and break out that new bathing suit and hit the pool!  If you need help getting up the courage to drop those clothes, come in to Triangle Vitamins and try the 15-day weight loss cleanse and flush.  It helps to reduce bloating and cleanses your system.  You will begin to see and feel results in less than 15 days.

STAY HEALTHY!

Today, more than 260,000 people are buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.  Let us take this day to remember those many brave men and women who have fought and died for our Country and our freedom.

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Freedom is not Free

I watched the flag pass by one day.

It fluttered in the breeze.

A young marine saluted it,

and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform

so young, so tall, so proud,

He’d stand out in a crowd.

I thought how many men like him

had fallen through the years.

How many had died on foreign soil?

How many mothers’ tears?

How many pilots’ planes shot down?

How many died at sea?

How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?

No, freedom is not free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,

when everything was still

I listened to the bugler play

and felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

that Taps had meant “Amen”

when a flag had draped a coffin

of a Brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,

of Mothers and the Wives,

Of Fathers, sons and Husbands,

with interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard

at the bottom of the sea

Of unmarked graves in Arlington…

No, freedom is not free.

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We here at Triangle Vitamins would like to remind you to take a moment today to thank a soldier for risking their lives for our Country.

STAY HEALTHY and HAVE A GREAT MEMORIAL DAY!

An allergy is an immune system disorder that causes the body to produce an excessive reaction when you eat, touch or inhale a substance.  Allergens are substances that are foreign to the body and can cause an allergic reaction.  Under normal circumstances, the body will create antibodies to protect itself against disease.  In the case of an allergy, the body releases an overload of histamines in response to the attacker substance, overcompensating its own immune system.

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For many, relief is just a drug store away.  However, using nature-based products can also prove effective in handling mild allergies.  Among those herbs generating the loudest buzz right now is butterbur. One study showed that one tablet of butterbur taken four times daily was shown to be as effective as a popular antihistamine drug in controlling the symptoms of hay fever- without causing the traditional drowsiness that sometimes occurs.  Other herbal supplements that have proved helpful in combating allergies include freeze-dried nettles and goldenseal.  Some nutrients that can be helpful in quieting allergy symptoms include grape seed extract and quercetin.

So, how do you live and manage with allergies?  If something irritates you, avoid it.  That is the motto allergy sufferers must adopt.  By tuning into your allergy triggers, you can rein in your reactions.

STAY HEALTHY and HAVE A WONDERFUL MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!

Mary Kole loves her job, but she’s been feeling like she’s lost the line between “work” and “not work.”

A literary agent for children’s books in Brooklyn, New York, Kole works from home and checks in with clients electronically around the clock — sometimes writers will even call her in the middle of the night with an idea. Stepping outside isn’t exactly relaxing either. “In New York, it’s just subway, office, people, talking, yelling, honking, all the time,” she said.

Kole finally tore herself away from business calls and conferences to take a vacation, one that didn’t take place in her home office. At the beginning of May, she went to Portland, Oregon, by herself and spent five days holed up in a rented house rereading some of her favorite books, cooking and listening to rain.

“I believe much more strongly now than ever that to be able to be good at what I do, I need to be good to myself, creatively, and refill my own creative well before I can be any less than a brain-dead zombie,” said Kole, 26.

Kole’s experience shows off the power of a vacation to help gain insights, appreciate the present moment and return to “real life” with a renewed sense of excitement.

Detaching from a familiar environment can help get new perspectives on everyday life.  Vacationing can retrain you to be mindful of the world around you.  Mindfulness is a concept derived from Buddhism and involves being present and observant in a non-judgmental way.  Part of the essence of being mindful is noticing new things.  Often people get into a mindless routine at work and home, which is broken only when they travel.  People set themselves up to see new things on vacation, which makes the trip exciting. But ideally you would have this frame of reference all the time: taking note of new people, objects and events around you.  “Boring” is a state of mind.  When you set yourself up with a mindset of “everything is different and interesting,” the world seems a little more exciting.  Next time you go on vacation and experience the feeling of engagement, being mindfully involved in your own life, find a way to bring that back into your workday.

STAY HEALTHY!

Sun burn results from too much sun or sun equivalent exposure.  Sun burn is literally a burn on your skin.  It is a burn from ultraviolet (UV)radiation. The consequence of this burn is inflammation of the skin. Injury can start within 30 minutes of exposure.  Though small doses of sunshine are great for you, beyond 20 minutes and your immune system actually gets suppressed.  In small doses, sunlight is a natural mood elevator and causes vitamin D levels increase. However, more than 20 minutes of ultraviolet light is actually harmful. UV light causes skin cancer and prematurely ages the skin.  So, everyone needs to apply sunscreen if you’re exposed to the sun for more than 20 minutes. Melanin is your body’s own sunscreen. The darker your skin color, the more you have. The lighter your skin, the more important sunscreen is. Even if you have very dark skin, your own SPF level is only 16 and so you still need sunscreen.

At Triangle Vitamins, we recommend Kiss The Face Sunspray Lotion SPF 30

An SPF 15 with ultraviolet A coverage is just fine for daily use. But if you go to the beach or play sports or garden for more than a half an hour, use an SPF 30. Make sure the sunscreen has UVA coverage, because the SPF level on the label only refers to UVB. And the sun’s rays contain both UVA and UVB, and both of those are dangerous. Don’t forget lip balm with sunscreen, a hat to protect your scalp, and sunglasses to protect your eyes.

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Summer is a time to enjoy the outdoors and the beach, but you must protect your skin too.  Come in to Triangle Vitamins today and purchase your bottle of KISS THE FACE Sunscreen for 20% off the purchase price.

STAY HEALTHY!