Healthy Body

Heartburn is not only painful, but if you suffer regularly, it can disrupt your sleep and your life. If taking over the counter or prescription medicine all day long doesn’t sound like the greatest idea, there are tons of natural remedies out there for you to try. They range from herbal pills and tea, to simple foods most people have in their house. Here are just a few ideas to cure your heartburn naturally.

Mustard. You read right. The same thing you put on the hotdog that causes your heartburn can also be used to stop it. Just take a small amount (about half a teaspoon) when you experience symptoms. Grey and yellow mustards both work, so you can choose your favorite brand.

Aloe Vera. While it’s normally found as an ingredient in lotions and burn creams, you can also find it in juice or pill form. Aloe Vera is a great way to prevent heartburn before it starts. Just take capsules or drink half a cup of the juice twice a day to protect your esophagus from damage.

Licorice. The herb, not the candy, (sorry!) Look for deglycyrrhizinated licorice, or DGL. It eases inflammation, and coats and protects your esophagus. It’s even used to treat ulcers, but works great on heartburn and acid reflux as well.

Slippery Elm. Like many other treatments mentioned here, slippery elm cannot only treat heartburn, it also helps with other digestive problems. The best part is, it’s available in a powder, a tea, and even lozenges.Â

L-Glutamine. This is a natural amino acid that can help ease your heartburn symptoms. You can take a supplement, or simply get more glutamine naturally in your diet. You can find it in foods like: beans, red meat, nuts, and fish. You should take it as a preventative measure between meals instead of waiting untill you are in pain.

Marshmallow. Again, the herb, not the candy. Marshmallow root can be brewed into a tea and drank three times a day to prevent symptoms. Like the other natural cures, this coats the esophagus to help aid digestion and ease heartburn pain.

Apple. Instead of taking pills or herbs the next time you have heartburn, why not eat a few apple slices? This will ease your heartburn after just a few bites. It’s also a great, safe cure if you are pregnant.

Yogurt. The live cultures in yogurt have often been touted for helping digestion. By aiding digestion, yogurt can also ease heartburn symptoms. If you don’t eat yogurt, you can get pills with the same good bacteria that work just as well.

You should consult your doctor before starting any kind of treatment, natural or otherwise You should consult your doctor before starting any kind of treatment, natural or otherwise (although, you probably already know if you can safely eat mustard, yogurt, and apples).Â

1 large banana, cut into chunks and frozen
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of fat free milk
1/4 cup of wheat germ
1 teaspoon of vanilla
4 ice cubes

Combine all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth (shake like consistency). Pour into 4 glasses and serve immediately.

Some women take great lengths to protect their bodies or just to make themselves feel better while they’re going through menopause. There are products, therapies, and specific diets all designed to help women cope with this change, but there’s little mention of the fact that men can go through the same type of change. This change, called Andropause, includes annoying physical symptoms and the increased risk of serious problems, just like menopause. It’s time we paid a little more attention to this common problem.

Andropause occurs about the same time as menopause, between the ages of 40 and 55. It is caused by a drop in testosterone, the male hormone. Like women, all men experience a drop in hormone levels; however not all men experience the same rate of decrease and few have symptoms that are severe enough to seek treatment. Common symptoms of andropause include:

• Fatigue and general loss of energy
• Decreased sex drive
• Loss of physical abilities (decreased strength and muscle mass)
• Change in mood and disposition
• Increased body fat in the upper body and midsection

Women are generally aware they are menopausal symptoms because they begin to have fluctuations in their menstrual cycle. Andropause is different, the symptoms come on slowly and there isn’t one surefire indicator to show onset. That’s why it’s important to be able to recognize the symptoms so treatment can be started as soon as possible.

Just like menopause, andropause not only presents with annoying symptoms, it also comes with an increased risk for developing serious problems. Men with decreased testosterone levels are at an increased risk for osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.

Severe andropause can be treated through hormone replacement therapy just as menopause is in women. Replacing lost testosterone can cause a remarkable improvement in the symptoms of many men and has been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease as well. However, it is not for everyone. You should not have this therapy if you have had breast or prostate cancer. Your doctor may also not want you to use testosterone replacement therapy if you have liver, heart, or kidney disease, edema, an enlarged prostate, or diabetes. You may also not be able to have this therapy if you wish to have children, have had an allergic reaction to certain medications, or if you are on certain medications. Your doctor should discuss your medical history with you and determine if you might benefit from this treatment.

While andropause is a very common problem in men, it has gone unnoticed in the general public for a long time. If you have these symptoms, you should seek treatment and see if their may be help for you.

To live an active, healthy lifestyle, as a young child or into your 90’s, you need to get proper exercise. While many seniors stop exercising due to various physical constraints, it is actually more important for older people to get regular workouts. It’s also important that these workouts encompass the 4 different types of exercise seniors need. They include: strength training, endurance exercises, flexibility exercises, and balance exercises.

Strength training – As we age, our bodies begin to lose bone and muscle mass. Loss of bone mass increases the risk for osteoporosis and larger, more serious breaks. Loss of muscles mass makes us weaker, slower, and less able to do things. A great way to prevent and perhaps even reverse some of the damage is to do regular strength training exercises. This doesn’t have to involve big fancy equipment; you can use resistance bands or things you have around the house. Just be sure to follow proper form to prevent injury.

Endurance exercises – While some seniors find it easy to walk, run, or do other strenuous activities for a long period of time, others find they have difficulty just walking down the hallway. For both types of people, it is important to participate in exercises that maintain or increase your endurance and stamina. This could include walking, using cardio equipment, or even doing some gardening during the spring and summer.Â

Anything that makes you move and gets your blood pumping is good. Aim for 30 minutes a day at least 3 to 4 days a week. With regular exercise, you’ll find you can walk farther and faster, and do more during the day.

Flexibility exercises – You may find it harder to do things now that were easy for you when you were younger. Much of this is because our bodies lose their flexibility and become much more rigid. Even the simple act of walking or opening a door may become a challenge. You can combat this problem by pushing your flexibility. These exercises can range from yoga to simple daily stretches, just as long as you keep stretching and moving your muscles and the rest of your body.

Balance – Nothing can be more devastating to an older person than a serious injury, such as breaking a hip or dislocating a shoulder. Many seniors who have a major accident never recover. That’s why it’s important to exercise muscles to improve balance. Yoga, Pilates, and anything else that helps strengthen your core muscles can be helpful.Â

Even young people need to rest between workouts. This is even more important for seniors. The body needs time to rest and heal itself. Without proper rest, you risk causing an injury. You shouldn’t push yourself too hard with any exercise and remember to take time off between workouts.Â

When starting any exercise program, you should consult your doctor first. They can tell you if the exercises you choose are right for your body and may suggest something more appropriate.Â

Whether you’re already fit or have never worked out before, today is the day to go get some exercise.

Ingredients:

2 cups Spanish green olives
2 Tablespoons capers
7 fresh Spanish marinated anchovy fillets
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions:

Cobmine green olives, capers, anchovy fillets, lemon zest and parsley together in a blender and puree thoroughly. Once puréed, add olive oil and blend until mixed well.

Tip:Â Use this spread as a cracker or bread topper or add to dressings to create a unique and tasty flavor.

Many of us started an exercise program at the beginning of the year, gotten all excited about it, but then gave up on it a week or two later. While we start out super motivated, that excitement fades quickly. The key to sticking to an exercise program is finding a way to keep that original motivation. Here are a few tips for getting for getting and staying motivated:

Find a role model. Many women get motivated to diet and work out by taping up pictures of models or actresses. This is actually a great way to remind yourself what your goals are and keep a visual of them fresh in your mind. Just be sure to pick an appropriate role model and not someone with unhealthy eating and exercise habits or an unachievable image.

Set small goals. If you start out setting tough goals, you probably won’t achieve them and will then become discouraged. The key is to set smaller, easy to achieve goals and work your way up. Start with “I will work out three days this week”. Once you get yourself into a routine, get yourself to work out harder and do more during each session.

Reward yourself. Setting goals is good way to get yourself into a workout program. If you have trouble keeping yourself going, try rewarding yourself when you reach a goal. Don’t go with big rewards, just small rewards for reaching small goals. For example, I can go to that movie if I work out three times this week. If you’re working out to lose weight, don’t reward yourself with food.Â

Get a buddy. Having someone to workout with can help keep your mind off the work and keep you entertained. That means you’re more likely to want to go work out. Having a buddy also makes it harder for you to skip your workout because you’ll be letting someone else down and they’ll be there to talk you into going even if you don’t feel like it. If you can’t find a buddy to go with you, you can always hire a personal trainer to keep you going.

Make it fun. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring a repetitive. If you don’t like your exercise routine, change it. Keep looking until you find something you enjoy doing. This way, you’ll end up looking forward to exercise instead of dreading it.

Mix it up. Even the most exciting workout can get boring if you do it over and over every day. Find several exercises you like to do and alternate. Try swimming Mondays, dance class Wednesdays, and a Pilates tape on Saturday. Any time you find yourself getting bored with a workout, replace it in your rotation for a while and start it again in a few months.Â

Don’t take it too seriously. If you start acting like exercise is hard work, it will become hard work. Make your exercise a light, fun, activity rather than a chore you have to do. This will keep you from getting a bad attitude and make you less likely to give up.

We have all seen the organic labels in stores and wondered about them. Are those products really better? If a product is truly organic, nothing used to make it contained or came in contact with synthetic chemicals or pesticides. Without the added preservatives, the product is healthier.

The body has problems digesting these non-organic substances. Think about our ancestors. All of their foods, medicines, and beauty treatments originated from the earth. Some would argue that that was because they could do no better. But, I would say that they were on to something.

Sometimes the cure is worst than the disease. If you’ve ever read the insert that comes with a bottle of medication, there is a section entitled “Adverse events”. This is the list of side effects of the substance they are trying to market to you. The list of possible reactions to the drug can be quite long. Taking the medicine will solve one problem, but create others.

Using natural remedies keeps the body detoxified. Most conditions we suffer from today, our parents and grandparents encountered as well. They experienced headaches, constipation, fever, and the like. They didn’t have Tylenol® or Maalox® so they had to use what they did have: herbs and plants. Tribes of peoples living in the jungles of South America and the bush of Africa still use herbal medicines to treat themselves.

Modern medicine has its place. There are new ailments that were not heard of in grandmother’s day. Modern and ancient medicine working together can heal the body in a more natural and less harmful way. More and more people visit holistic healers to seek medical treatment. Herbal remedies keep the body free of toxins and delivers a treatment free of harmful side effects.

Pesticides used to keep vegetables free of insects and pests are toxic to the body. Rain can wash these pesticides off of the leaves of the plants and into the ground and the water table. The particles in factory smoke released toxic fumes in the air. Acid rain resulted from rain water mixing with these chemical particles. Now that scrubbers exist on smokestacks, the toxic release is less, but can still be unhealthy.

Remember the first time you heard about “mad cow disease”. The medical term is bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Cows were being fed ground up remains of diseased cows as a protein supplement. Cow owners were also selling cows potentially infected with BSE to meat plants where dangerous neurological tissue was mixed into the hamburger beef. The resulting hamburger meat made people sick and many died.

The world is not perfect, but organic products do give us a better option for keeping our bodies running in tip-top shape.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups vanilla yogurt
2 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint OR 2 drops mint extract
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoon raspberry vinegar
1 pound box farfalle pasta
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2″ pieces
1 pound cooked chicken, cubed
4 cups strawberries, halved
baby spinach leaves
fresh raspberries

Instructions:

Mix yougurt, mint, mayonnaise, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl, stirring until well blended, to create dressing. Set dressing mixture to the side.Â

Next, in a large cooking pot, boil farfalle pasta following directions on package. During the last five minutes the pasta cooks, add asparagus. Complete cooking until the pasta is tender and asparagus is tender yet crispy. Drain pasta and vegetables. Stir in dressing.

Combine the turkey and the strawberries and gently toss. Add chicken and strawberries and toss gently. Place salad in refrigerator for a minimin of two hours to a maximum of one day. Once ready to serve, place salad atop spinach and garnish with fresh raspberries.

You’ve probably been hearing a lot lately about cervical cancer, HPV, and the HPV vaccine. It’s important for every woman to be informed what the risks of cervical cancer are and what she can do about it.Â

Cervical cancer is a dangerous type of cancer that occurs in the lower part of the uterus, also called the cervix, of females. Unlike other cancers, 100 % of cervical cancer cases are caused by HPV, a series of common viruses. If you can protect yourself against HPV, you can prevent getting a painful and possibly deadly cancer.

So what exactly is HPV? The human papillomavirus, or HPV, is a used to describe 100 different strains of a common virus, 40 of which infect the sexual organs. The types of HPV that affect the genitals are transmitted through sexual contact. Unlike many other STD’s, only the non-dangerous strains of HPV have visible symptoms (genital warts), so men and women tend to spread HPV without ever knowing that they have it. Without treatment, some strains of HPV can develop into cervical cancer, often before you’re even aware you have it. You can only contract HPV through mucous membrane contact during sexual intercourse and other sexual contact. You can’t get it through the air, by shaking hands, by sitting on toilet seats, or through other normally encountered methods of transmission.Â

Recently, two vaccines have come on the market that are able to prevent certain types of HPV. This means that if you get the vaccine soon enough, you should be able to greatly reduce your risk of developing cervical cancer. One downside to the vaccines is that they may take up to 5 years to be fully effective, which is why many doctors suggest getting a vaccine well before you become sexually active. Some advocates are even trying to make it mandatory for young women to be inoculated at the age of 12 or younger.Â

Besides the vaccine, there are a few other ways to prevent yourself from contracting HPV. The most obvious way is to abstain from sexual contact. The risk of HPV is reduced by using a condom, however, it is not eliminated. Because HPV is spread through membrane contact, condoms are actually less effective at preventing the spread of HPV than other STD’s. Because they cover more area than a male condom, female condoms are actually the best barrier method for stopping the spread of HPV. However, it is still not 100% effective and you must use a female condom every time. Other forms of birth control, including diaphragms, sponges, and hormonal birth control, provide no protection against HPV.

The best way to prevent cervical cancer is actually regular screening done through pap smears. The HPV vaccine does not protect against the more rare strains of HPV, and it isn’t 100% effective. Even if you’ve gotten the vaccine, you can still develop cervical cancer. Getting a yearly PAP smear can detect precancerous cells. If you detect the cells before they become cancerous, your chances of having a successful treatment are much greater.  Â

Now that you have all the information, you can make an informed decision about your health and the prevention of cervical cancer.

Heart disease is one of the number one killers of women. Though women suffer fewer heart attacks than men, they are less likely to survive when they do have a heart attack. Men and women should be mindful of the risks of heart disease and take steps to reduce their risk.

1. Stop smoking. Smoking increases the risk of heart disease. If you are having trouble, try using a nicotine patch or the gum.

2. Know your blood pressure. When the arteries of the body and the heart are narrowed due to plaque buildup in the vessels, blood pressure will increase. When blood is under such pressure, it can dislodge pieces of arterial plaque into the bloodstream. This could lead to a heart attack if the plaque lodges in a coronary artery or a stroke if the plaque lodges in the brain.

3. Check your cholesterol. High blood cholesterol leads to plaque deposits on the walls of arteries. As more plaque builds up, the vessels will narrow. There are three main components: HDL, LDL, and triglycerides. HDL lowers total blood cholesterol by removing plaques that have been deposited on the walls of arteries. LDL causes the plaques to stick to the arteries in the first place. Triglycerides are a fatty substance in the blood. High triglyceride levels have been linked to heart disease. The doctor may prescribe medication to lower your blood cholesterol. A number less than 200 mg/dl is desirable.

4. Lose weight if necessary. Maintaining a healthy weight is essential to lowering your risk of heart disease. Carrying too much weight, especially around the midsection, increases the strain on your heart, not to mention your back and your legs.

5. Start an exercise program. Performing an exercise for at least thirty minutes most days of the week will increase your cardiovascular health and your oxygen output. Aerobic exercise also helps you sleep better at night and maintain an overall good mental attitude.

6. Find out if you have diabetes, and learn how to controll it. Developing diabetes puts you at risk for developing heart disease down the road. If you are diabetic, get your blood sugar under control with insulin shots or a change in diet. Your doctor will determine which is better for you.

7. Change the way you eat. A healthy diet consists of whole grains, vegetables, fresh fruits, and low-fat dairy products. Lean beef, chicken, and pork will provide daily protein along with fish and seafood. Invest in a good multivitamin to provide the nutrients that you may miss from day to day.

Heart disease doesn’t have to affect you. Know the warning signs and the risks. Work with a doctor to lower your chances of suffering a heart attack.