American College of Healthcare Sciences Raises Lavender Awareness Through Community Wellness Events and U-Pick

On July 20 we hosted our annual Lavender Open House community wellness event at the College campus. More than forty people attended the event to raise awareness about the benefits of growing and harvesting lavender for personal health and as a garden aid!!

Our ACHS Chief Institutional Officer and Master Gardener, Erika Yigzaw, led participants through a series of hands-on workshops highlighting the holistic health applications of lavender, including a lecture about the aromatherapeutic properties, a demonstration of how to use lavender in personal care items, and a demonstration of how to grow, harvest, and pot lavender and other herbs for culinary and herbal medicine use.

Free downloadable videos from the day’s events will be available through the ACHS YouTube channel, ACHStv (www.youtube.com/ACHStv), and photos and suggested uses for lavender are available on ACHS Facebook (www.facebook.com/ACHSedu).

Download and read the full-text press release online here: http://www.achs.edu/news/news-detail.aspx?nid=269

We'd love to hear from you! What lavender-specific topics would you like ACHS to cover at our next Lavender Open House event?

The ACHS Team with DETC Outstanding Graduate Pat Reder in Del Mar

Our team just got back from the DETC conference in Del Mar, California. Here's a great picture of ACHS's 2010 DETC Outstanding Graduate Pat Reder with her son, Seth (far left), who traveled from Los Angeles to record Pat's speech! ACHS College President Dorene Petersen is on the far left and SVP Erika Yigzaw is between Pat and Seth.

Pat is a Registered Nurse and Holistic Health Practitioner. She has worked as a registered nurse for about 30 years, including critical care and emergency and trauma medicine. She has always had an interest in holistic health because she feels there is “a need for an integrative approach between allopathic and holistic healthcare practices.” That is why Reder chose to enroll in ACHS’s Holistic Health Practitioner Diploma program, which she completed in December 2009, in addition to a Certificate in Nutrition, Bodycare, and Herbalism.

Each year the Distance Education Training Council asks their accredited institutions to select exceptional distance education graduates for recognition. Award winners must meet select criteria set for academic records and the quality of their contribution to their chosen profession in specific, and society in general. Outstanding Graduates are featured in the DETC Outstanding Graduate brochure and on the DETC website.

You can read more about Pat's work with holistic health and wellness here: http://www.achs.edu/alumni/alumni-spotlight.aspx?spid=44

March is National Nutrition Month

According to the American Heart Association, making wise dietary choices keeps your heart healthy. This month, make a commitment to learn more about cardiovascular health. It may sound difficult, but it's not. Heart health is not about one big, overwhelming choice. It's about the small choices you make throughout your day.

Here are a few simple choices from the AHA website to help get you moving towards a happier, healthier you...

1. Use up at least as many calories as you take in.

Start by knowing how many calories you should be eating and drinking to maintain your weight. Don’t eat more calories than you know you can burn up every day. Increase the amount and intensity of your physical activity to match the number of calories you take in. Aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days of the week or—best of all—at least 30 minutes every day.

2. Eat a variety of nutritious foods from all the food groups.

Nutrient-rich foods have vitamins, minerals, fiber and other nutrients but are lower in calories. To get the nutrients you need, choose foods like vegetables, fruits, whole-grain products and fat-free or low-fat dairy products most often.

3. Eat less of the nutrient-poor foods.

The right number of calories to eat each day is based on your age and physical activity level and whether you're trying to gain, lose or maintain your weight. As you make daily food choices, base your eating pattern on these recommendations:

• Choose lean meats and poultry without skin and prepare them without added saturated and trans fat.
• Select fat-free, 1 percent fat, and low-fat dairy products.
• Cut back on foods containing partially hydrogenated vegetable oils to reduce trans fat in your diet.
• Cut back on foods high in dietary cholesterol. Aim to eat less than 300 milligrams of cholesterol each day.
• Cut back on beverages and foods with added sugars.
• Choose and prepare foods with little or no salt. Aim to eat less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day.
• If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation. That means one drink per day if you’re a man.
• Keep an eye on portion size.

If you have heart-healthy tips or recipes of your own, we'd love it if you'd share. The more we know about making healthy choices, the better. Thanks!

For more information, visit the American Heart Association website at: http://www.americanheart.org

JJ Virgin & Associates is Hiring World Class Health Coaches

Calling all ACHS grads...trained health coaches needed by JJ Virgin and Associates.

JJ Virgin, is a 25 year veteran of the health and fitness industry, and has worked in nearly every aspect of the business, including numerous network television appearances as a nutritionist, fitness expert and health show host, including and E! Modern Girl’s Guide to Life, NBC’s ivillage Live and Extreme Makeover, where she was part of The Extreme Team on the show’s season finale. She was also a Nutritionist on The Dr. Phil Show for two seasons, assisting the contestants of the Dr. Phil Ultimate Weight Loss Challenge with their nutrition challenges. She recently filmed two pilots for ABC for the international hit show, You Are What You Eat.

Today, JJ Virgin integrates her educational background of nutrition, exercise physiology, psychology, functional medicine and laboratory evaluation into her work as a nutritionist and fitness expert, writer, professional speaker, and television and radio personality.

The Job...

JJ Virgin and Associates is looking to add part-time health coaches to our growing business. Work in tandem with National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP) President and health expert JJ Virgin and our Director of Health Coaching, Miriam Zacharias, utilizing a holistic point of view to provide health coaching, counseling, and consultation to our clients on a variety of health conditions. Our ideal candidates will be highly organized, demonstrate superior and proactive communication skills, and convey professionalism in working with our high-caliber clients.

Our Health Coaches must be very comfortable in a virtual coaching environment, and be well-versed in telephone and computer communication protocols. We expect all Health Coaches to maintain professional membership in the National Association of Nutrition Professionals (NANP) and to pass the board certification in holistic nutrition exam within 6 months of hiring.

Minimum Skills and qualifications include a Bachelor's degree in health education, health science, food nutrition, dietetics, fitness or related field and at last 1 year experience + Masters in a Health related discipline OR equivalent experience working with clients or patients in a health setting as a RN, nutritionist or fitness professional. You may be located anywhere within the U.S., and be able to work independently with limited direction or supervision.

For more information on this opportunity, please send along your resume and cover letter to Miriam Zacharias at mirzacharias@jjvirgin.com.

Check out JJ Virgin's new website, www.healthprovt.com, an online virtual training site for health care professionals.