Health Clutter

Carrying too much fat around your middle and GERD ( gastroesophageal reflux disease - think chronic heartburn) go together like walnuts and port. About half obese people have this miserable condition, called GERD. Extra fat hanging off the stomach pulls it down, straightening the angle where the esophagus ( the tube that carries swallowed food to your stomach) joins it. When there’s no angle at that juncture, stomach acid spills upward and burns the esophagus. Pressure on the stomach from deep-belly fat increases the backwash.

Losing even a little weight,since that allow the angle to return, may cure GERD.

That’s what happened for 66 percent of people with GERD in a recent study. For obese women, the magic number for improving heartburn and other GI symptoms was losing just 5 percent of their body weight and taking 2-4 inches off their waists. Men got relief when they lost 10 percent of their weight and 4 inches from their waists.

Another reason why so many losers got better could be that they used to spend on alcohol, chocolate, fat and other GERD triggers with fruits and vegetables. They also exercised up to an hour, five days a week. And presumably they did what we tell anyone with heartburn to do: Avoid eating within three hours of bedtime. Put blocks under the head posts of your bed so you sleep at a slight downward tilt. And skip other trigger foods, too, like coffee, black pepper, spicy food, tomatoes and orange juice.

source: THE YOU DOCS/ LIVING/ TORONTO STAR

Here’s one food we never feel guilty about bringing on, and neither should you: berries. There’s a reason they’re called superfoods. The vitamins, minerals, fibre and protective plant nutrients that are jam-packed into sweet, juicy, red, black, or blueberries do your body more good than a dynamite marching band does for a parade. And calories? so few you don’t even have to count them. If you can’t buy your favorite berries yet ( wash’em well ), dont hesitate to fill in with frozen ( wash them too, if you like, eventhough there’s less need). Frozen berries give you as many nutrients as fresh.

• Guard your memory. Berries owe their rich hues to anthocyanins, plant nutrients that turn out to be potent disease fighters: They stimulate your cells to scarf up free radicals and prevent the kind of DNA damage that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease, cancer and aging.
• Bring down your blood pressure. Eating just four ounces of mixed berries a day for eight weeks brings high blood preesure down seven points.
• Heal your Heart. Strawberries help lower lousy LDL cholesterol. Blueberries and lingonberries ooze resveratrol, the goodie in red wine that helps prevent clogged arteries. A bevy of berries boost healthy HDL cholesterol, and may fight inflammation, too.
• Send cancer packing. researchers have found that snacking on freeze-dried black raspberries increases an enzyme that detoxifies carcinogens in 37 percent of people at risk for esophageal cancers. More reason to binge on freshly washed berries.

source: THE YOU DOCS/ LIVING/ TORONTO STAR

If you are trying to lose weight, looking at labels to find the lowest fat foods may actually be sabotaging your efforts.  Food labels can be quite misleading in an attempt to try to sell more products: and it works!  One of the most falsely held beliefs is that when you find a food that is fat free, it is also calorie-free.  This leads you to believe you can eat all you want.  And that’s what the manufacturers want you to think.

In actuality, when fat is taken out of a product, other additives must go in to take its place, enhancing the flavor and texture of the food.  Carbohydrates are often added and these provide a substantial amount of calories; even artificial sweeteners provide a small number of calories and you can get the accurate information on the nutrition facts panel if you look closely. Read the rest of this entry »

Why do we need salt?

Salt is a commonly occuring mineral, the technical name of which is sodium chloride. It is the sodium part of salt that is important. The body needs a certain amount of sodium to function properly.

Sodium helps to maintain the concentration of body fluids at correct levels. It also plays a central role in the transmission of electrical impulses in the nerves, and helps cells to take up nutrients.

Why is too much salt bad? Read the rest of this entry »

Laughter is a highly complex process. Joyous or mirthful laughter is considered a positive stress (eustress) that involves complicated brain activities leading to a positive effect on health. Norman Cousins first suggested the idea that humor and the associated laughter can benefit a person’s health in the 1970s. His ground-breaking work, as a layperson diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, documented his use of laughter in treating himself with medical approval and oversight into remission. He published his personal research results in the New England Journal of Medicine and is considered one of the original architects of mind-body medicine. Read the rest of this entry »

I approve that mothers are right that always eat your breakfast, it always shows that when you eat your breakfast you become more active at work and gives you more energy to spare before lunchtime. Skipping once breakfast makes you weaker and brain process slowly and sometimes cant even think straight, its like you run out of fuel.

Some people like me skip breakfast to loose weight which later i found out that i gain more than to loose pound, In fact due to that I’m already hungry before lunchtime makes me eat more at lunch.

So if had breakfast what should I eat?

A healthy breakfast should contain some protein and some fiber. Protein can come from low fat meats, eggs, beans or dairy. Fiber can be found in whole grains, vegetables and fruits. A good example of a healthy breakfast might be something simple like a hard boiled egg, an orange, and a bowl of whole grain cereal with low fat milk.

Stay away from the sugary cereals, syrups, pastries, and white breads because they are digested quickly and will leave you hungry and tired in a couple of hours. Protein and fiber satisfy your hunger and will keep you feeling full until lunch time.

If you really don’t like to eat breakfast, you can split it up into two smaller meals. Eat a hard boiled egg at home, and an hour or two later, take a break from work and snack on an apple and a handful of healthy nuts like pecans or walnuts.

Sources: http://nutrition.about.com/od/nutrition101/a/breakfast.htm

Photo by: http://digitalminds.deviantart.com/

This site is created to give you some update on health innovation and more than just anything… some part of the site are still under construction so please bear with us thank you.