Page 10 - December NEWSWATCH

Mark your calendars: SHA Board Meeting | December10th | 7:00pm | Jones Creek Library
A Traditional Southern New Year’s Day Dinner
From the Spruce Eats
According to popular folklore, if these foods are eaten on New Year’s Day, they guarantee good luck throughout the year.
Peas or beans symbolize coins or wealth. Choose traditional black-eyed peas, lentils or beans to make a dish seasoned with pork, ham or sau- sage.
Greens resemble money, specifically folding money. Make dishes us- ing boiled cabbage or sauerkraut, collard greens, kale, chard, mustard greens, turnip greens or other green, leafy vegetables to ensure good fortune for the coming year.
Pork is considered a sign of prosperity in some cultures because pigs root forward. This is probably the reason many Southern New Year’s Day dishes contain pork or ham.
Cornbread might symbolize gold, and besides, it is essential with black- eyed peas and greens.
What NOT to Eat on New Year’s Day
Some believe that lobster could cause bad luck in the coming year be- cause it moves in a backward direction and could mean setbacks in the year ahead.
For the same reason, chickens could be bad luck. They scratch backward, plus they are winged so your luck could fly away.
5 Healthy Lifestyle Habits
That Can Drastically Boost Brain Health
from Better Homes & Gardens
Your everyday habits can go a long way to help prevent Alzheimer’s, even if you have a family history. Here are five strategies to protect your brain
“Lifestyle changes could reduce your chances of developing Alzheimer’s by 90 percent,” says Ayesha Sherzai, M.D., neurologist and co-director of the Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University in California. Much of what’s involved in reducing that risk is preventing or calming inflammation, which can cause changes in the brain that can lead to Alzheimer’s. “Inflammation in the body produces free radicals, which kill nerve cells,” says Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D., professor of neurology at Harvard University. The best news: It’s never too late—or early—to adopt habits that keep your brain healthy. Here are five to start with.
1. Learn a New Skill: Skip the brain games. Learning a new skill is what helps create new synapses (neural connections) that keep your brain functioning well. The more synapses you have, the more you can afford to lose before you, well, lose it. No need to become an expert at crocheting or fluent in French. Any new skill helps—no matter how small. So try learning something that enhances one of your hobbies. For instance, if you play the piano, challenge yourself to learn a new song every week.
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