Kyle Russ

Food, Nutrition and Health Tips from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Enjoying different flavors of the world is a chance to learn more about your own food culture as well as those that may be new to you. Familiar ingredients can be presented in new ways and new foods may remind you of things you already know and love. You may also come across ingredients and flavors you’ve never experienced before.

Trying foods and recipes from various cultures is one way to include different flavors into your healthy eating routine. Many cuisines offer dishes which include foods from each food group, so it’s possible to plan meals that are nutritious, well-balanced, and bursting with flavor.

Trying new flavors and foods from around the world can also help you increase the variety in the foods you eat. Choosing a variety of nutritious foods from all of the food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, and protein foods) and in the recommended amounts will help
you get the nutrients that are needed for good health.

Incorporate your favorite cultural foods and traditions, as you “Celebrate a World of Flavors” during National Nutrition Month® and throughout the year.

Download the tip sheet here.

By Elaine Herscher, Senior Communications Editor |

Civil rights pioneer, fighter for gender equality, constitutional lawyer, poet, first Black female Episcopal priest: Pauli Murray, who died in 1985, was so far ahead of her time that history is still trying to catch up with her.

When Thurgood Marshall successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court, a landmark ruling that struck down segregation on public schools, it was Pauli Murray who wrote the basis for his argument while still in law school.

Gender equality arguments formed the foundation of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s career. And it was Murray who Ginsburg credited for inspiring her historic win before the Supreme Court recognizing women as victims of sex discrimination. Murray was a co-founder of the National Organization of Women (NOW), and well before that she became a personal friend to Eleanor Roosevelt while Franklin Roosevelt was still in office.

In nominating federal appellate judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Joe Biden just became the first president to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court, 50 years after Murray wrote to then President Richard Nixon asking for the job.

For all her pioneering sex discrimination work on behalf of women – she wrote to Nixon in 1971 asking to be appointed to the high court as the first “Negro woman” — Murray struggled her whole life with gender identity. She once wrote that she was “one of nature’s experiments; a girl who should have been a boy.”

Her long-term romantic partner was a woman, and many scholars believe that were she alive today she might identify as non-binary or as a transgender man, but there is also a difference of opinion about what pronouns should apply. The LGBTQ

community has embraced Murray, with many referring to Pauli as trans and using they/them pronouns.

LifeLong CEO David B. Vliet is among Murray’s most ardent fans.

“Pauli Murray only recently caught my attention but has quickly become one of my heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. Putting themselves in harm’s way while finding new ways to push down barriers over and over again, Pauli never stopped fighting for equal rights,” David says.

“Because of Rev. Murray’s important legal efforts and writings, they were deeply admired by the likes of Thurgood Marshal and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I’m so glad I’ve learned more about their courageous spirit and brilliant mind.”

While still in law school in 1943, Murray organized a sit-in at a lunch counter that led to desegregating the restaurant. Just a year after passing the bar, Murray became the first Black deputy attorney general in California. Murray was a prolific author, political activist, and letter writer who believed in “confrontation by typewriter.” Yet despite many achievements and historic firsts, Murray was in a constant battle for recognition. Although Murray was the first Black person to achieve a doctor of juridical science at Yale Law School, Murray had to fight for tenure at Brandeis University, where she created the first legal studies, African American Studies, and women’s studies courses at the university.

But Murray’s legacy is finally getting the attention it deserves with the 2021 documentary “My Name is Pauli Murray,” available on Amazon Prime, and from the media accolades that have followed.

In a piece written last fall, the Washington Post argued that Murray should have been a civil rights icon long ago. “Murray’s achievements weren’t the sort of clean victories history gloms onto but a lifelong process of starts and stops,” the Post wrote. “Black in a White-dominated women’s movement and a woman in a male-dominated civil rights movement, Murray slid through the cracks of both. A mixed-race person who was attracted to women and struggled with what we would now call gender dysphoria, Murray’s very existence defied the categories racism and sexism rely on. Murray’s ideas about the arbitrary nature of those categories were so far ahead of the times, they were dismissed or ignored.”

Later in life Pauli Murray chose to become an Episcopal priest, swapping “confrontation by typewriter” for a more nurturing and healing profession. And Murray preferred to take the long view about her place in history.

“What I say very often,” Murray says wryly in the film, “is that I’ve lived to see my lost causes found.”

Did you know that stress can take a toll on your heart? Carve out moments of calm throughout the day by taking a minute to concentrate on your breathing.

Stress is not just an inconvenience — it’s a health hazard; because when your mind is in crisis, so is your body. Stress may not literally “make your blood boil,” but it can create some unsafe conditions for your heart.

Heart disease (also known as cardiovascular disease) remains the leading cause of death in the United States, and many of the contributing factors — high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, smoking, physical inactivity alcohol dependence — are related to chronic stress.

But here’s the good news, by managing your stress levels, you can improve your overall health and reduce your risk of heart disease. And you can start working towards alleviating stress today by adopting a few simple practices such as staying positive, not smoking, limiting intake of caffeine, avoiding too much alcohol, and enjoying a balanced diet rooted in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and minimally processed foods.

But one of the most effective techniques for immediate stress relief is deep breathing. Several studies have shown how deep or diaphragmatic breathing can slow your heart rate and reduce blood pressure. This kind of breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, which reduces the “fight or flight” response that causes feelings of anxiety or tension. This gives you a chance to manage those feelings and your stress levels, allowing you to calm yourself down easily in just a few moments.

Deep breathing can be practiced anywhere and anytime. Try it now using the GIF above, and try to practice breathing on the go, or mindful breathing, throughout your day.

By Elaine Herscher, Senior Communications Editor |

Clearly, Kate’s been training

It started out with Deputy Chief of Operations Kate Lewis and Nurse Practitioner Kelley Stewart discussing whether a few people at LifeLong might like to join them in a half marathon.

“Due to the pandemic and people being locked in their houses, I’ve heard a lot of people expressing their interest in being more active, and I was like, ‘I wonder if anybody would be interested in this half marathon that’s right in our backyard,’” Kate says.

The trickle of people Kate imagined is actually an avalanche. About 10 percent of LifeLong’s staff – 95 people – are either running, jogging, or walking in the Berkeley Half Marathon on Sunday, February 27. According to race organizer Marie Grace, the LifeLong Medical Care team is the largest in the event.

Kate has organized a LifeLong contingent of more than 50 staffers who are doing the 5K, about 22 people running the 10K, and about 18 folks taking on the half marathon. One LifeLong board member is signed up, as well as most of Senior Leadership. Many people are bringing partners, family members, and friends. Not surprisingly, there are T-shirts, designed by Senior Marketing Communications Associate Kyle Russ.

“I’m so happy that so many people were excited about doing something as a group and kind of representing LifeLong,” says Kelley, a devoted runner who’s running the 10K.

Some participants are regular runners, while others are just getting back into physical activity after a long period of COVID-related isolation.

Before the pandemic and work responsibilities got in the way, Nanci Andrade used to walk about three miles a day (about the same as 5K). She says she doesn’t think of herself as someone who signs up for anything with the word “marathon” in it but thought it was time for a change.

“For the longest time I never felt I belong in places like that, and so for me it’s really about me taking my place in that type of environment,” says Nanci, who is the Wellness Center Program Coordinator at William Jenkins Health Center. “I want to be able to do more things like that and be in places where I don’t usually feel comfortable. I’m not a runner, but I can walk, and I feel like if I can walk, I can do it.”

Patient Accounts Representative Robin Beck enthusiastically started training for the event in January, but her routine was interrupted when she and her entire family – husband and four children – got COVID. Still suffering some symptoms, Robin may not be running, but she is determined to participate in the 5K.

“I have pulled in a coworker at Trust to do it, and then I got two of my girlfriends to do it so I would make sure that I will be accountable to go out there. Plus,” she said, laughing, “David (CEO David B. Vliet) is going to be on my team, so I don’t want to look bad in front of him.”

Robin says she’s been up for volunteering any time for LifeLong, whether it’s been for COVID testing and vaccinations, or Heart 2 Heart events or the Employee Appreciation Committee. “If I can be a voice for LMC, I’ll join anything I can,” she says.

“I’m not a runner, but I can walk. And I feel like if I can walk, I can do it.”

Pinole Health Center Front Office Coordinator Carolina Prieto has joined up for the 5K with her mother, Norma. “My mom and I do everything together, and we love running,” says Carolina, who’s studying to become a medical assistant.

Norma Prieto is a manager at a fitness center and usually runs a 4K or 5K three or four days a week.

“I run maybe once or twice a week, maybe like a mile…a mile and a half,” Carolina says as she and her mother start chuckling.

Carolina may walk some of the time, but Norma plans to run the whole race. “I prefer to run. I mean, I might have to stop a little bit, but I prefer to run the whole way,” Norma says.

“Stop a little bit to help me catch up,” her daughter clarifies. Carolina is expecting to have a great time and to find her mom patiently waiting for her at the finish line.

Come and cheer on the LifeLong Medical Care team! Here are hyperlinks to info for spectators, and race weekend details. #LifeLongStrong

A simple and quick way to brighten up someone’s day is to write positive sticky notes. Grab a stack of sticky notes and spend five minutes writing positive statements on them. Place the sticky notes anywhere that needs a little kindness like a coworker’s desk or chair, the breakroom, the elevator, or the copy machine!

Here are a few phrases to get you started:

• You know who’s awesome? Read that first word again.
• Throw kindness around like confetti.
• Hey, you’re great.
• One kind word can change someone’s entire day.
• Be the reason someone smiles today.
• Psst…you’re awesome.