WELCOME TO LIVING WELL | APRIL 2015

to Be WellSimple Ways7

SittingTak

e StandAgainstBuyingLocal:

BetterFor You,

Your Community,the Environment

| INSIDE | | Welcome to Living Well |

| Notes |

LIVING WELLIS A PUBLICATION OFMazopiya, Wozupi Tribal Gardens, Dakotah! Sport

and Fitness, and SMSC Health and Wellness all Owned and

Operated by theShakopee Mdewakanton

Sioux Community.

mazopiya.comsmscwozupi.org

dakotahsport.comShakopeedakota.org

Living Well GOES BEYOND EXERCISE AND EATING BETTER.

It’s about supporting healthy, environmentally-friendly systems, such as local and organic farming. It’s about knowing how to manage medical conditions, like diabetes. It’s about choosing the healthier alternative, like Kombucha over pop. Most of all, Living Well is about inspiring a better life for you and future generations. This new publication unites the many facets of a healthy life and a healthy world in a colorful, engaging way. Start reading and have some fun while you learn how to truly live well.

You’ve already pinned the trendiest workouts on Pinterest, liked those fitness articles on Facebook, and joined a gym, but you’re struggling to actually get fit. A personal trainer can give you the skills and motivation you need to get started–or get through an exercise slump.

HERE’S WHAT THEY OFFER:

Safety. A trainer receives training and certifications, and some even have a bachelor’s degree in a related field, all to help you work out safely and effectively. Trainers can correct form during workouts, making modifications to every movement to avoid injuries or overtraining. Better results. Even the most

enthusiastic athletes can start to plateau. Personal training can offer a much-needed pick-me-up. With their extensive fitness knowledge, trainers can encourage you to learn more, get fit faster, and improve your metabolism. Accountability. The trainer may only exercise with you two days a week, but they are there for you all seven. They check in with you during your days off and hold you accountable to changing your lifestyle, making sure you stay motivated and on track. TO LEARN MORE ABOUTpersonal training atDakotah! Sport and Fitness,visit dakotahsport.comor call 952.445.9400.

Don’t DoFitness Alone

3

8

9

10

11

back

4

6

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

Seven

Mix It Up

Take A Stand

Growing

In The Know:

Eat This,

Maple Syrup:

Buying Local:

Simple Ways to Be Well

at Studio #5

Against Sitting

Food in Small Spaces

Low Blood Sugar

NOT THAT

MINNESOTA’S

BETTER

Original Sugar

For You, Your Community,the Environment

Kombucha vs. Pop

Learn how to keep vegetable patches producing all growing season. Wozupi Director Rebecca Yoshino, who has been farming and gardening most of her life, will discuss seasonal planting strategies, and help individuals with their own home garden planting chart and layout.VISIT smscwozupi.org or call 952.496.2267 to register for this class or other monthly classes.

1. FIND REASONS TO SMILE MORE–for real. A Michigan State University study suggests fake smiles worsen your mood and put a damper on your productivity. Genuine smiles were shown to improve attentiveness and help improve brain power. Plus, it makes you feel good!

2. BE SOCIAL. Family and friend time can actually make you happier, and studies stress the importance of such quality time with other people, even for introverts.

3. GO OUTSIDE. With the extreme weather in Minnesota, outside time is often a rare commodity. Try a new hobby, like cross-country skiing. Grab a book, and head to the park. Whatever you can do to be out in nature will improve how you feel.

4. EAT LOCAL. Challengeyourself to look at labels and signage. Make it a game: Have your kids find three items thatwere grown or produced within

100 miles of your house. Many area co-ops and natural food markets, such as the SMSC’s, Mazopiya, try to offer as many local products aspossible. Take advantage of it! It’s better for you, your local economy, and the environment.

5. EXERCISE MORE. Even a quick, 30-minute walk on a treadmill, around the mall, or outside can yield major benefits. Not only does exercise help you become physically fit, it’s also been shown to significantly improve your emotional and mental fitness.

6. GET ENOUGH SLEEP. Sleep is necessary for you to bounce back from your busy life. It can also help you make the most of those precious awake hours by being more focused and productive during family, work, or fun time.Bonus tip: Caffeine isn’t a replacement for sleep. A quick nap is generally more effective, and doesn’t make you crash like caffeine does.

7. CUT THE SWEETS. Sugar isn’t kind to your waistline, and can contribute to serious health issues, such as diabetes. Many fruits and vegetables naturally contain sugar, but it’s the extra, hidden sugars you should be watchful for. Think pre-packaged pasta sauce, flavored yogurts, and anything with added or processed sweeteners. Pick up an organic alternative with minimal to no added sweeteners. Then you have control over the sugar content. For flavor, add a little fruit, honey, or real maple syrup. Still, don’t overdo it. Any sugar adds empty calories.

to Be WellSimple Ways7

May 4 | 5:30-6:30pmWOZUPI (2041 140TH ST NW• PRIOR LAKE)

|| 3 |

How to Grow VegetablesAll Season:SUCCESSION PLANTINGFOR THE HOME GARDENER

Minnesota ’sOriginal SugarM

apl

e

Syr

up

|| 5 |

AS SNOW MELTS, LOCALLY-SOURCED MAPLE SAP FLOWS

When temperatures reach above-freezing during the day and below-freezing at night in Scott County, the maple sap starts to flow at the Wozupi Tribal Gardens. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Wozupi collects sap from about 700 taps to produce pure, 100-percent maple syrup. An alternative to the imitation maple syrup (actually dyed corn syrup) commonly available on grocery store shelves, Wozupi’s maple syrup is a natural, traditional food that harkens back to the maple sugar and sugar cakes woodland Dakota tribes ate to stave off hunger at the end of winter when food was scarce.

“IT’S A NATURAL RESOURCE WE HAVE OUT HERE,” said Wozupi Director Rebecca Yoshino, as she prepared the syrup-making equipment in anticipation for loads of fresh sap to arrive this spring. “IT’S MINNESOTA’S ORIGINAL SUGAR.”

For 11 months of the year, the machines that take the sap from about 2 percent sugar to 66 percent lie dormant. When the freeze-thaw cycle of early spring begins, Wozupi kicks off the annual “mad rush” to accommodate the brief sugaring season, which can last a week or as long as six weeks. Wozupi uses a vacuum pump sugaring system, where separate taps connected through tubing encourage the sap to run out of the trees and into one large sap tank. It takes less work to collect the sap, and the system can be tracked remotely, thanks to a computer program developed by the SMSC Land and Natural Resources Department.

At Wozupi’s sugar shack, the sap is first sent through the reverse osmosis machine. Water spins off the sap, increasing the sugar content and greatly cutting down the time the sap will boil later. From there, it’s poured into the fire-fueled evaporator and boiled into maple syrup. After being bottled, Wozupi’s maple syrup ends up just miles away from the farm at area farmers markets, the natural food market Mazopiya, and the Shakopee Dakota Convenience Stores.

Wozupi does do some old-fashioned gathering with taps, tubes and buckets during classes, and with area students. Collecting sap at home is easy. Put a few taps in one maple tree, catching the sap with milk jugs, tin pails, or 5-gallon sap-collection bags. One tree typically produces up to 2 gallons of sap per day, and 40 gallons of sap usually makes about 1 gallon of maple syrup. Gather the sap, and boil it in a pan as soon as you can. It doesn’t keep very long. Once you reduce it down (remember the 40-to-1-gallon ratio), enjoy! “Once you’ve had the real stuff, there’s no going back,” Yoshino added.

TO LEARN MORE, visit smscwozupi.org or call the farm at 952.496.2267.

| 6 |

|| 7 |

Mix It Up

at Studio #5

| 8 |

Tires. A jungle gym. Dog sleds. These are just a few examples of the equipment at Dakotah! Sport and Fitness’ (DSF) personal training space, Studio #5, that can reinvigorate your workout. Personal trainers bring the fun to staying in shape with these unique accessories, including:

• Battle Ropes• TRX Straps• Plyometric Boxes• Agility ladders• Kettlebells

Work the body at different angles in a tabata-type workout, or experience the high intensity of an individualized sport circuit. DSF’s trainers know how to inspire and achieve the best outcomes with the studio’s top-of-the-line gear, such as the Polar Cardio GX system, which can track heart rate zones to boost results. Lose weight, be stronger, or train for an obstacle race at Studio #5.FOR MORE INFORMATION,call 952.445.9400 or visit dakotahsport.com.

SittingTak

e StandAgainstSitting disease.It’s what health professionals call the cascading health issues seen in people who sit all day long. With device-dependent lives, it’s easy to fall into the couch-potato cycle: Sit at your desk, sit during your commute, sit watching TV at home. The effects of “sitting disease” are staggering. Those who sit excessively have an increased risk of disease and a shorter-than-average life span, according to the American Cancer Society. Studies have demonstrated links between prolonged sitting and high blood pressure and sugar, unhealthy cholesterol levels, obesity, and chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Sitting most of the day has also been shown to increase the risk

of a heart attack similar to that of smoking. Even if you exercise an hour a day, it may not be enough to offset the serious effects of near-constant sitting.Reducing inactive time at work has been shown to boost productivity, mood, and job satisfaction. Standing periodically burns more calories and significantly reduces neck and back pain. Plus, health entities, such as the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommend and encourage it.Initiatives promoting standing or walking on a treadmill during the workday have been gaining momentum worldwide. The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC) has been seeing a demand for versatile work

stations and is exploring options to improve the health of their 4,200-plus employees through reduced sitting. “Some are saying sitting is the new smoking, in terms of negative health impacts,” SMSC Occupational Health Nurse Julie Johnson said. “We need to be proactive in equipping employees with a work environment that helps them be healthy, enjoy their jobs, and, in turn, be more productive.”It doesn’t take much to join the Sit-to-Stand movement. Go for a brief walk or do some stretching every hour or so. Buy or request from your employer a Sit-to-Stand device, so you can easily vary the position of your body and your computer during your work day. TAKE A STAND TODAY.

April 235:30-7pmMAZOPIYA2571 CREDIT UNION DRIVEPRIOR LAKE

Learn to

Shop Local

|| 9 |

Learn more about the benefits of eating local at Shop Local night, a free event April 23. Talk to Wozupi farmers about the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community tribal garden, the Tribally Supported Agriculture program (modeled after Community Supported Agriculture), and area farmers markets. Sample recipes, and learn how easy eating healthy and local can be. LEARN MORE about Mazopiya EVENTS AND CLASSES at mazopiya.com or call 952.233.9140. Wozupi also offers classes and events. Visit smscwozupi.org or call 952.496.2267.

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD by maximizing even the smallest spaces in your home. Food can’t get more local than your porch, windowsill or backyard!

Start with good soil. Compost, a natural fertilizer made out of broken-down organic matter, is essential for all-natural gardening. When it comes to containers or planters for vegetables, the bigger, the better; but there are some plants, like herbs, that can do just fine in smaller pots. Make sure there’s some drainage to keep the roots from rotting. Once you plant your vegetables, keep an eye on the moisture of the soil – pots, planters and containers tend to dry out faster than a full-fledged garden would. Bring your greens inside during the winter to keep producing year-round.

Some fruits and vegetables are more suited to small-space gardening than others. Vegetables that grow well in limited space: herbs, vegetables that grow on compact bushes, such as beans, peppers and tomatoes; root vegetables, such as beets, radishes and carrots; and greens, such as mustard greens, kale, and lettuce. Suggestions for small-scale fruit: strawberries, blueberries, dwarf trees, and raspberries. Do your research, and DON’T BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING NEW or unique. Eventually you’ll learn what works best for you, your space, and your taste buds.

Growing Food in Small Spaces

Dakotah Roots, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Organics Recycling Facility, offers a variety of compost blends made from organics (yard and food waste). If you’re growing fruits or vegetables, try the Dakotah Roots Three Sisters Blend. Wozupi, the SMSC’s organic farm, uses this high-quality blend of compost and manure from local dairy farms. The Seven Generations Compost is another great option for gardeners and hobby farmers. In addition to compost, Dakotah Roots also offers mulch and special soil blends for any of your landscaping and gardening needs.FOR MORE INFORMATION, visit smscorf.comor call 952.403.7030.

Gardening

EssentialLocal | QUALITY COMPOST

Low blood sugar, called hypoglycemia, is a constant concern for those with diabetes. It can happen even when diabetes is being managed well. Certain medications, missed meals, or more activity than usual can cause blood sugar levels to drop.

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS

If you feel shaky, dizzy or anxious, check your blood sugar. It could be low. Also take action if you’re feeling light-headed, confused, sweaty or weak. Even a change in your mood or hunger could be signs of hypoglycemia. The symptoms can start out mild, but worsen quickly if untreated, even causing you to pass out.

BRING YOUR BLOOD SUGAR BACK UP

If your levels have dipped below 70 mg./dL., try a quick-fix food:

• 3 or 4 glucose tablets, or 1 serving of glucose gel

• 1 cup of milk

• 1/2 cup of fruit juice

• A spoonful of sugar or honey

After about 15 minutes, check your blood sugar. If the quick fix upped your blood sugar but your next meal is still an hour or more away, grab a snack. If you don’t start to feel better, or if your blood sugar doesn’t improve, call your healthcare provider.

FIND SUPPORT

Make sure your friends and relatives can recognize severe hypoglycemia. In serious cases, they may even have to know how to give you an injection of glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar levels. If you lose consciousness, continue to be confused after an injection, or your blood sugar is still low, they may have to seek emergency help or take you to a hospital.

Sources: Merck, Novo Nordisk, and The Hormone Foundation

In the Know:Low Blood Sugar

|| 11 |

KOMBUCHA, A FERMENTED, TEA-BASED BEVERAGE, can be just as bubbly and flavorful as pop. The probiotics, healthy enzymes, and vitamins in it offer many health benefits. Drinking Kombucha can help digestion, promote good bacteria, boost your energy without a crash, and improve your hair and complexion. Kombucha is also known to prevent acid reflux, assist in weight loss, and act as a natural, restorative post-workout beverage.While many grocery and natural food stores commonly carry Kombucha in a variety of fruity and herbal flavors, the drink can easily be brewed at home to your liking. The nutrition facts vary depending on the flavor.

Kombucha, 12 oz.Ingredients: Tea (typically black or green), organic cane sugar (much of the sugar is eliminated in the brewing process), fresh organic fruit or fruit juice, herbs or spices (ginger is common), and a culture of yeast and bacteria (called “the mother” or “SCOBY”) used in brewing.Calories: 40 | Sodium: 13mg | Carbohydrates: 9g | Sugar: 3g

POP CAN BE REFRESHING AND DELICIOUS,but at a cost. It has many empty calories, added caffeine, and excessive amounts of sugar and artificial

sweeteners–all of which can be harmful to your health. Even diet soft drinks have been linked to negative health effects, such as weight gain, tooth decay, and elevated blood pressure.

Cola, 12 oz.Ingredients: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors, and caffeine.Calories: 140 | Sodium: 45mg | Carbohydrates: 39g | Sugar: 39g

Kombucha vs. Pop

Eat This, THATNOT

Join us for class

Sugar Busters

Mazopiya, the smsc’s natural food market, carries natural sodas, zero-calorie carbonated water,and a wide selection of Kombucha, all great alternatives to pop. Grab one on your next trip there!

June 1Noon-1pm | MAZOPIYA2571 CREDIT UNION DRIVE • PRIOR LAKE

Learn more about the health effects of sugar, and how to cut it from your diet. Call 952.233.9140 to sign up today! Visit mazopiya.com for more upcoming classes.