Archive for February, 2010

Millions of people worldwide suffer an occasional bout of heartburn. Many of those suffer frequently, and try one product after another to gain heartburn relief. Products range from simple over-the-counter indigestion relievers to prescription drugs for heartburn relief. But is heartburn relief possible without drugs of any kind?

It has been said that only about 1 out of 100 people who take drugs for heartburn relief really need them. Heartburn, like every other pain in your body, is a warning signal. It is telling you that something must be changed.

If the warning light in your car tells you to check your engine, you do not ask a mechanic to disconnect the light so it will not bother you. That is asking for a bigger problem! You ask the mechanic to check the engine, and correct the root problem that causes the light to come on.

Heartburn relief should not be a matter of turning off the “warning light” so you don’t see it. Heartburn relief should address the root cause of the warning light.

Cause of Heartburn

In simple terms, heartburn is a muscular problem.

The lower esophageal sphincter (LES), a specialized ring of muscle located at the end of the esophagus, opens when you swallow to let food pass into the stomach. It then closes quickly to keep things in the stomach. When the LES doesn’t close quickly enough, or reopens at the wrong time, stomach acid flows back into the esophagus. The acid on the sensitive lining of the lower esophagus causes a burning sensation.

True heartburn relief must make the LES operate properly. It must keep the LES from relaxing inappropriately, or it must strengthen the LES. How can that be done?

How can you get true heart relief without drugs?

1. Diet

Heartburn relief must obviously pay attention to the food that is moving from the esophagus into the stomach. We are all different. Our stomachs produce differing amounts of gastric juices, with differing degrees of acidity. The food you eat must be digestible by your individual system.

Returning to our vehicle illustration, what happens when you use improper fuel? It isn’t long until the engine lets you know! If the fuel contains water or sediment, or if the octane level is wrong, you will know. All you have to do is listen to your engine.

Heartburn relief requires listening to your body. The next time you have heartburn, think back to what “fuel” you just put into your body. What did you eat? Write it down and forget it for now. Do this each time you have heartburn. After a month, look over the list. Does the same “fuel” always demand heartburn relief? Avoiding that fuel may be your answer.

2. Actions

The failure of your muscle to keep the door closed between stomach and esophagus may be as simple a matter as your actions. You may be doing things that make the door open.

Eating too fast, eating too much, or not chewing food well can all contribute to heartburn. Bending at the waist after eating is commonly connected to heartburn, as is tight clothing. Allowing yourself to become overweight puts undue pressure on that area of the body, an action best corrected by losing weight. Going to bed on a full stomach or exercising too soon after eating will also call for heartburn relief.

Your heartburn relief may be as simple as changing your actions. Try eating more slowly, and chewing every bite thoroughly before swallowing. This incorporates more saliva, which helps the stomach digest the food. Stop eating before you are too full. Wait at least 2 hours after eating before exercising – at least 3 hours before going to bed. Addressing other actions that put pressure on the lower esophagus may also bring heartburn relief.

3. Water

Another factor in heartburn relief is the consumption of adequate amounts of clean water. If you suffer heartburn during or after exercise, you may simply be dehydrated. Every muscle, including the LES that prevents backflow of stomach juices, needs sufficient water to function well. Be sure you drink plenty of water daily, with extra when exercising.

4. Garlic

Garlic provides heartburn relief for many, especially those who have H. Pylori. H. pylori is a bacterium found in the stomach. It works with acid secretion to damage stomach tissue, causing inflammation and contributing to heartburn. For heartburn relief, try eating 1 or 2 cloves of fresh, raw garlic daily until the H. pylori is eliminated.

5. Oxygen

Have you considered whether you are breathing deeply and regularly? As noted above, the root cause of heartburn is muscular. Muscles demand oxygen for efficient functioning. If, because of stress or poor habits, you fail to breathe deeply and regularly, you deprive the LES of the oxygen it needs to be strong and operate properly.

Heartburn relief for you may be as simple as deep, regular breathing during and after eating. It will help you relax, and will send adequate oxygen to the sphincter muscle that prevents or permits heartburn.

If you experience heartburn on a frequent basis, please contact your physician to be sure other underlying causes are not involved. Once you have ruled out more serious concerns, try the above tips for heartburn relief.

Disclaimer: The author is not a professional health care provider, and intends the above for educational purposes only.

Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/heartburn-relief-without-drugs-127242.html

Dear Jane,

How did I get into all this debt?

–Broke

Dear Broke,

In just these few words, posed all too often by clients, I can hear your shock, shame, frustration, and hopelessness. When you are in this terrible state, you can feel very alone and isolated. Yet left to your own devices, you may get worse, not better.

So here are 5 Keys to healing any addiction, whether it’s spending, drinking, cheating, lying, gambling, eating, or whatever else you have been overtaken by.

1. Realize what a slippery slope addiction is: It’s a lot easier to get into debt than to get out of it. This is because getting into debt doesn’t require a plan; in fact, it often requires unconsciously not planning. The same can be said for an addiction to food or any other addiction. It’s much easier to gain the weight than it is to lose it because gaining it means simply “going unconscious.”

2. Recognize the benefits you get from going unconscious: There are two short-term benefits to going unconscious using addictive behaviors: First, we get temporary relief from the pressure of having to take responsibility. Secondly, we get a temporary high from our addiction. The relief and the high are intertwined because the high offers a heightened sense of relief.

3. Reach out NOW: You obviously can’t maintain an addictive high permanently. When you do finally come down, it is a crash landing. Each time you experience the cycle of your addiction, you tend to feel worse and fall further, right? Consequences become ever more severe, including destitution, suicidal thoughts/depression, total loss of self-esteem, or poor health or even death. If you try to go it alone, you will probably let your shame run you. Shame isn’t a good motivator. Compassion is. Find a group or a competent coach or therapist to work with.

4. Stop lying to yourself: Quit telling yourself that if you had more money, you wouldn’t be in this much financial trouble. Or if you had better metabolism, you’d be thin. Or if you had a nicer mate, you wouldn’t be cheating. None of these excuses are true. In my book, Enough Is Enough!, I talk about what happens if you continue to believe your excuses: you will lose more of your dignity and waste more of your precious life and energy. If you are in deeper and deeper debt, what is true is that you are addicted. Winning the lottery wouldn’t change that. After all, over 70% of people who win the lottery end up with as little or less than they had before they won. If you are drinking more and more, changing from “the hard stuff” to wine isn’t the cure. That’s like believing that smoking will cure a food addiction. Trading addictions isn’t healing addictions. It is a game your addictive mind will try to play but you can’t win at it.

5. “Tap” into healing: You are misusing money or food or sex or alcohol or drugs or TV to try to numb something. What memories, feelings, or situations trigger your addiction? Once you stop avoiding the core reason for your addictive behaviors and begin to get comfortable with feelings you once dreaded, you will feel less compulsion to behave addictively. There are so many valid options for healing addictions, including 12-step programs, therapy and coaching, acupuncture and other holistic approaches, even prayer for many people. In addition, I use EFT, Emotional Freedom Technique, with my clients. EFT is a quick, efficient, yet powerful “tapping” method for releasing the anxiety and pain that trigger addictions.

The bottom line is that you don’t have to suffer tomorrow from your addictions just because you are suffering today. You are a worthy being who deserves to thrive and live your extraordinary life.

Jane Straus
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/5-keys-to-healing-addictions-209402.html

If you look at recent history, people are starting to sleep less and less. Less than 100 years ago, people slept 9 hours a night on average; now they’re getting less than 7 hours. We have so many modern conveniences that are supposed to save us time, but really they just give us more to do. Before you accept not sleeping enough as an inevitable way of life, consider the harmful effects sleep deprivation could be having on your body.

Physical Effects

Most people are aware of the obvious short terms effects of sleep deprivation including exhaustion, fatigue, and a general lack of energy, but they’re less aware of some of the more serious physical consequences from not sleeping. Sleep not only recharges and repairs our brains, it also repairs our bodies. Here are some other problems that can arise from not sleeping enough:

* Inability to properly process glucose. This can lead to high blood sugar levels and other symptoms of type II diabetes. This also causes glucose to be stored as fat, which can lead to weight gain

* Increased symptoms of aging

* Core body temperature is lowered, which can impair proper functioning.

* Less consistent heart beat.

Mental Effects

All day long, no matter what you’re doing, your brain is working. It’s spending time inputting processing, and outputting information. Even if you don’t think you get much done during the day, your brain does a lot of work. That’s why it’s important that it has time to rest and recharge. Here are just a few of the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation.

* Less control over speech; exhibited through slurring, stuttering, speaking in monotone, and choosing repetitive words and cliches. Scientists assume this occurs because the speech center of the brain actually shuts down and another, less capable part, must take over.

* While short term memory may be improved, there is a decreased ability to access older memories and convert long term to short term memory. It is almost impossible to learn a new skill.

* Decreased creativity, especially when it comes to problem solving. Sleep deprived people tend to be slower and less accurate when solving problems.

* Hallucinations and even temporary insanity can occur from a lack of REM sleep.

* Decreased judgment abilities and reaction time. Sleep deprivation is comparable to alcohol intoxication when it comes to driving ability.

Emotional Effects

While we tend to focus on the physical and mental symptoms of sleep deprivation, there are also significant emotional symptoms as well. Emotional difficulties can take a severe toll on our personal relationships and safety. Some emotional problems associated with sleep deprivation are:

* Increased emotional stress and anxiety.

* A more pessimistic attitude.

* Extreme sadness and even depression.

* Extreme anger. Sleep deprivation has actually been indicated to be one of the major causes of road rage.

It’s important to remember that not everyone needs the same amount of sleep. You should try to get enough sleep to make yourself feel rested; this may mean getting more than 8 hours. If you’re getting a lot of sleep and not feeling rested, you may have a sleep disorder, such as sleep apnea, and should see a doctor. While it may be difficult to fit a good night’s sleep into your schedule, it will not only make you feel better, it will also make you more efficient in the time you spend awake.

Jeff Wilson
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/the-effects-of-sleep-deprivation-91571.html

Consolidation is nothing but the process of negotiating the rate of interest that will ultimately determine by how much the borrower’s payments will be reduced and what his overall settlement will look like. So any money above and beyond your normal payment is applied solely towards the principle of the loan.

There are numerous types of debt, including basic loans, syndicated loans, bonds, and promissory notes. Debt, especially large sums of debt, can also be secured through a mortgage or other security interest over some of the debtor’s property, in which case the creditor will have some rights over that property in the event that the debtor becomes unable to repay the debt and defaults on the loan.

Debt is a hard thing to live with, reduce debts today! Debt consolidation allows a consumer to present their financial case to a lender who may be willing to take on the burden of paying off debts in exchange for one monthly payment made to the lender. You’re in for Disappointment If You’re Looking for Nonprofit Debt Relief Companies

In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has slapped fines on numerous fraudulent companies masquerading as nonprofit debt negotiation and debt relief organizations. The promises these companies make are tempting…but consumers who fall for it, hook, line, and sinker, are in for a disappointment.

Claims Made by “Nonprofit” Debt Relief Companies

Nonprofit Services – These organizations make a big show of helping you out of the goodness of their hearts.

Reduce Debt – No matter what type of debt you’ve incurred, these organizations are willing to promise they can reduce the amount of debt by a certain percentage (approximately 10 to 50%).

Better than Bankruptcy – Using frame psychology, these organizations give consumers the choice between do-or-die alternatives: work with them or risk bankruptcy. No Impact on Credit Rating – Working with a nonprofit debt relief company will supposedly have zero impact at all on an individual’s consumer rating.

What They’ll Ask You to Do

In return, these companies will ask you to pay a specific amount of fee for periodic intervals. For that fee, you can ignore your bills and stop paying your creditors. For that fee, you’ll let them do all the worrying.

The Truth about Nonprofit Debt Relief Companies

There are a number of different types of debt consolidation loans: home equity loan, line of credit, or second mortgage.

The main reason for this risk is that in order to secure a lower interest rate (and thus a cheaper overall payment rate), you’ll need to present some sort of collatoral to back the loan. There are numerous groups, individuals, or products on the market that are designed to help individuals dig their way out of and recover from debt. Although these products are available, there are still thousands of individuals that choose not to receive assistance. It is true that some individuals may be able to recover from debt on their own; however, it will likely take a large amount of time and stress.

If you have some cash handy, you might as well pay off some debt, especially the one that is on higher APR credit cards. Some people have expressed skepticism that you can actually negotiate with creditors using our strategy or other creative methods of reducing debts.

Take a step back and ponder carefully on the claims made by these companies. Do they ring true? Do they sound too good to be true? If so, they probably are. These companies might be nonprofit on paper but that doesn’t mean they’re not earning from their clients. They can just as easily overstate their operating expenses to make their balance sheets reflect illusionary break-even margins.

An Example of a Fraudulent Nonprofit Debt Relief Company

Early in 2005, the FTC had filed a complaint against the National Consumer Council, a front group of debt relief and negotiation companies, for deceiving almost 45,000 customers seeking instant freedom from debt. Under the NCC umbrella were other companies with nice-sounding names like London Financial Group and Financial Rescue Services. Falsely claiming that all their clients’ debt problems would be solved simply by depositing money into their accounts and getting their services aggravated the debt situation of their clients instead.

Are There Truly Legitimate Nonprofit Debt Relief Companies?

Yes, although they’re very rare. The best way to personally determine whether a debt relief company’s for real or not is to ask for information from the Better Business Bureau and other similar institutions. They’ll be able to tell you if there are already consumer complaints filed against the debt relief company you plan to transact with.

It may be more convenient to make one payment rather than several. Or you can improve your cash flow in the short term by reducing monthly outgoings. But this may cost you more over time because you are paying the debt off over a longer period of time. In a credit card debt consolidation, your average interest rate may be reduced. All your loans can also be transferred to one single card that has a lower interest rate than the ones you are currently paying.

Stop spending on things that aren’t absolutely necessary. Each individual will have to define what “necessary” means, but it may mean taking a sack lunch to work, bringing your own coffee instead of stopping at Starbucks, and canceling that subscription to HBO.

The first step toward taking control of your financial situation, is to do a realistic assessment of how much money you earn and how much money you spend. Start by listing your income from all sources. Then, list your “fixed” expenses – those that are the same each month – like mortgage payments or rent, car payments, and insurance premiums.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/nonprofit-debt-relief-companies-99356.html

The worst thing a person can do when they lose weight is revert back to their old eating habits that got them fat in the first place. Dodging the lure of fat, sugar and other appetite triggers is just as important as making healthy choices when you decided to lose weight. Healthy weight loss is an accomplishment worth celebrating, but if you choose to do it by going back to junk food, you’ll find yourself fat again…and fast!

You might be suprised to know that certain foods you may think are healthy are the same foods that can sabotage all of your healthy weight loss efforts. If you want to keep that slender figure you worked so hard for, you must lead a healthy lifestyle and stay away from the following foods.

Healthy Weight Loss Sabotage Food #1: Trigger Foods
Eating certain foods will make you even more hungry. These appetite stimulating foods are designed to make you want to devour a whole box, package or bag in one sitting. Remember the slogan for Lays potato chips? If not, it went like this: You can’t eat just one! That is nothing but the absolute truth, twisted to their benefit, but true!

Chips, and any food that has been stripped of its fiber turn to sugar quickly in the body, hit your bloodstream rapidly and cause your blood sugar to soar sky high. In response to that sugar surge, your body churns out so much that it drives your blood sugar below where it was before you ate anything. When blood sugar is low, you feel hungry and in need of more of the same kind of food.

Healthy Weight Loss Sabotage Food #2: High Fat and Sugar Foods
Choosing to eat foods with high sugar and fat content can wreak havoc on your attempts to manage your weight. Ever eat a donut and wonder why you feel tired a half hour later? When a food contains both fat and sugar, as many trigger foods do, it provides a rush and then lets you down even lower than before you took your first bite.

Natural foods like fruits and vegetables are digested more slowly and will cause fewer spikes in your blood sugar. This is something that you will have to really make a conscious effort to do. It’s a lot easier to grab a doughnut at the office than it is to pack a snack bag full of carrots. However, once you train yourself to lose your fat and sugar tooth, you will be in better control of your cravings.

Healthy Weight Loss Sabotage Food #3: Animal Products
Contrary to popular belief, the protein found in animal products will not satisfy your hunger drive. Beef, poultry, pork, and fish contain exactly 0% carbohydrates. If you lost weight on a high protein diet sourced by animal products, you are not getting enough unrefined carbs, responsible for triggering your brain to tell you when to stop eating. This is not a good thing when it comes to animal products.

Animal products, even the lean ones, contain artery-clogging, disease-causing saturated fat and cholesterol. Animal meat can quickly hike up those fat calories just like most dairy products, sabotaging weight loss and weight maintenance. Want to get lots of protein without all the side effects of animal products? Try anything with soy. It’s all-natural and the healthiest choice for maintaining an ideal weight.

Healthy Weight Loss Sabotage Food #4: Cheese
Because dairy products are packed with fat, they are your enemies in the weight loss game. Most cheeses are 70% fat or more, and fat-free version is probably loaded with a whole bunch of preservatives that make it unhealthy. Animals get their calcium for strong bones and teeth from plants, so why shouldn’t people do the same.? Unrefined plant foods contain all the nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and micro-nutrients you need, including calcium. Nature is smart for our benefit.

Healthy Weight Loss Sabotage Food #5: Alcohol
Not only does alcohol contain extra calories that you don’t get from choosing other drinks, but it also triggers the desire to eat snack foods. These two work hand in hand. Why do you think bartenders set bowls of free pretzels and peanuts out for their customers? Because the more you eat these salty, unhealthy foods, the more you want to drink, and vice versa. Do yourself a favor and keep your alcohol consumption to the occasional drink every few months.

Healthy weight loss and maintenance doesn’t work for most people because they are unwilling to change their lifestyle. It is not an easy thing to do, but it’s a must if you want to get off the emotional and physical roller coaster of yo-yo dieting. Once your weight is off and you are making healthy eating decisions on a daily basis, you won’t even want to revert back to your old habits. All that is required is a strong enough desire and a commitment to follow through. For things to change, you’ve got to change.

William Winch
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/exposed-the-top-5-foods-that-can-sabotage-your-healthy-weight-loss-efforts-569643.html