Category Archives: Health

Vision Source FREE Eyeglasses with Eye Exam!

Location:
2625 East 49th Avenue | Vancouver, BC | V5S 1KJ9
Tel: 604-435-3931
Hours:
Monday: 11:00-7:00
Tuesday: 9:00-5:00
Wednesday: 9:00-5:00
Thursday: 11:00-7:00
Friday: 9:00-5:00
Saturday: 9:00-5:00
As a full-time graphic designer, it’s nice to have places that are open after normal business hours and on Saturdays. Unfortunately, also because I’m a graphic designer, and spend most of the day in front of a computer, my eyes tend to deteriorate quicker.
Originally, I was looking for an optometry that offered Orthokeratology which is a non-surgical alternative to lasik surgery. I was getting tired of wearing glasses, and contacts were often irritating since I suffered from dry eyes. I came upon two optometry and sent both of them an email. The other one Mt. Pleasant Optometry was kind in replying in full detail for my questions which I really appreciated. I thought about going there, but it seemed that their schedule was going to conflict with my work. So even though they answered a lot of my questions and were closer to where I lived (in fact drove by it to and from work), I chose to go with Vision Source instead.
The main reason was that I was interested in their free glasses (complete with lens and frame) when you do a full eye exam for $85. I had asked the receptionist on the phone when I made the appointment if the $85 was for a FULL eye exam and she said yes. When I did the exam, it was not the full test that I had done at several other optometry. There wasn’t the colour-blind test, or the pressure test, or those drops that dilated your pupils so much you had to wear sunglasses for the rest of the day. However, I had done one of those complete one last year, so I thought it was ok.
I asked the girl that Dr. Randhawa had assigned to me to help find a pair of glasses for me. I asked what kind of glasses would go well with my facial type/features and she said we can just try them on to see. She suggested ones that totally didn’t look good on me, and she agreed. I went straight to ones that I felt would suite me, and they did. I ended up getting the ones that I knew from the very start – as soon as I saw the rack that those would probably be the ones.Since my prescriptions were high, Dr. Randhawa suggested I get the thinner lens which would cost $48. So $85+$48 would come to a total of $133.
Considering other places charged $120:
IRIS – where I had it the year before
Mt. Pleasant Optometry- stated in their email
Lenscrafters – don’t remember how much their’s was, but I always ended up buying glasses from them which were $300-$400
So I thought it was still cheaper than anywhere else. (although ClearlyContacts is pretty cheap…it just sucks that you can’t try them on to see how it looks on you)
The girl was suppose to measure something for my eye, but she didn’t seem to know how to work the machine. So the receptionist took over. The machine wasn’t turned on…though I don’t know how she got the measurements the first time. I wondered if my glasses were going to be ok. Is this what you get when you pay less? However, Dr. Randhawa did take the time to tell me some tips on how to keep my eyes from getting worse, or how to deal with my dry eyes, so I thought that was very helpful.
The glasses at Vision Source was going to take a week, but I wasn’t in a rush, so that was ok.  When I go to pick them up, I will consult with Dr. Randhawa about Orthokeratology, so stay tuned for the update! :D
See my next visit to Vision Source here when I pick up the free glasses!

Gopan – Rice Bread Maker

sanyo_gopan

Are you not able to enjoy eating any bread made from regular flour (wheat)?

Well no more worries!

Sanyo Electric began selling GOPAN, the world’s first bread maker that can make bread from regular grains of rice! Now that’s amazing! Just throw in some washed rice with water, salt, sugar, and shortening, dry yeast. Then, press START, and in about 4 hours, viola! Rice bread is ready!! And it seem like it does’n’t taste like ‘rice’. It’s a bit more chewy than flour rice, but from the reviews, it seems to taste pretty good. The machine is sold for approximately $600 in Japan. Hopefully, this will spread worldwide and will be available here as well.

Heart Month

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February isn’t just a month for couples look forward to, or be dreaded by those of us who are single, or simply don’t care about the hype that the mass media creates. There’s something that everyone should be aware of – your heart. It’s important to know the risks that Canadians (both male and female) face since 9 in 10 will have at least one risk factor for heart disease and stroke. You definitely look at life in a different way when you do find out of a particular heart condition. But whether you have a condition or not, it’s essential to keep your heart healthy for a long and happy life.

Things to remember for a healthy heart:

  • quit smoking (will be beneficial for you and those around you)
  • exercise (if you have a heart condition, remember to talk with your doctor to see what kinds of exercises are right for you)
  • eating a healthy balanced diet
  • reduce stress levels (yoga is great!)
  • go for regular checkups (a bit tough to do in Canada…hard to get hold of doctors here!)

There has been studies which showed that participants who had 270mg of magnesium daily had a 30% lower risk of stroke. (recommended daily does of magnesium is 280-500mg). You can get magnesium from eating spinach, nuts, yogurt, soybeans, bananas and much more.

Most people today are consuming two or even three times the recommended amount of salt. The Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests that Canadians use no more than 1 tsp (5 mL) of salt a day (2,300 mg). This includes salt that you actually sprinkle on your food to sodium in processed and packaged foods. Too much salt in the system can increase the amount of blood in the arteries, raising blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Reduce taking in too much salt by:

  • cutting down on prepared and processed foods
  • eating more fresh vegetables and fruit
  • reduce the amount of salt you add while cooking/eating
  • use other seasonings (ie. garlic, lemon juice and herbs instead)

Look for the Health Check™ symbol on foods.
Health Check is the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s food information program, based on Canada’s Food Guide.

Let’s keep our hearts happy! Love the heart!!

References from 24 Hours, Heart and Stroke Foundation, and Choices Newsletter