Before you pop that pill, read what Consumer Affairs has to say on this matter.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/01/antioxidants.html
Because few people are willing to discuss their bowel movements with one another, most of us do not know what is normal. All folks are different; what is fine for one person may be cause for concern in another. Please remember that I am not a doctor. This is a just a general knowledge guideline, and is not intended to diagnose or treat any illness.
COLOR: The normal color for stool is generally dark butterscotch or brown, however, certain foods can change this. If the change in color is temporary, it is probably a reflection of your diet. For example, beets might make your stool red, lots of leafy greens will turn it green or black. Talk with your doctor about color changes if they persist over time.
When to Worry: If stool are consistently a pale creamy color it may be a sign of liver or gallbladder problems. Stools that have obvious blood are always a cause for concern (this doesn’t mean they are inherently dangerous, but you will need to discuss it with your doctor to be sure). Another sign of bleeding in the intestinal tract — dark, tarry stools or dark stools that resemble coffee grinds. Be aware, taking bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol) will turn your stool very black. Finally, if you see lots of mucus in your stools, it is time for a checkup.
CONSISTENCY: Bowel movements should be relatively easy to pass and have the consistency of a sausage or an unripe banana. If you put your thumb and figertips together and band the ends with a rubber band, that will give you a good idea of the usual diameter. If you pass ‘pencil-thin’ stools, you will need to tell your doctor because you might have a polyp or some other obstruction.
When to Worry: Constipation or diarrhea that doesn’t go away is cause for concern. Constipation is defined as less than three stools a week, when combined with stools that are small and hard to pass. You may also feel bloated or flatulent. The most common causes are not enough fiber, water, or exercise. Making sure you have enough of all three to prevent constipation.
Diarrhea refers to loose, watery stools more than three times per day. It is usually temporary. Consult with a doctor if it lasts for more than three days, but in the meantime get plenty of fluids to stave off dehydration.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
EZinearticles.com: Normal Bowl Movement
Altmedicine.about.com: Stools
http://www.afraidtoask.com/bowel/color.html
Mayoclinic.com: Stool color
Image sourced from Health.com
Seems like every time you turn around, you see another article talking about some miracle vitamin or supplement. The last one was Omega-3 fatty acid, found in fish. Before that it was vitamin D. Now the research is pointing toward magnesium as the “bone and brain” builder. The fact of the matter is, if you eat healthy you probably don’t need any kind of supplement (unless prescribed by a doctor). Then again, who among us eats healthy all of the time?
In response to article Study Shows Magnesium May Improve Memory
Here is a list of questions you should ask your doctor that will help you come up with an effective treatment plan for your chronic condition:
- How should I treat my condition?
- What will happen if I don’t treat it?
- What problems can I expect in the future?
- How does my lifestyle affect my condition?
- When should I set my follow-up appointment?
If you recieve a prescription, you may also want to ask the following:
- How should I take this medication?
- What should I do if I miss a dose?
- What are the risks of not taking this medication as prescribed?
- How long should I take this medicine?
- How is this medication better than another?
- How does this medicine work?
- What are the possible side effects and what should I do if I experience any?
Obviously, I am not a doctor nor is the following information for diagnosing or treating any kind of ailment. If you want medical advice, please consult a trained healthcare professional. This is just a collection of information I have found around the web, which I believe is useful for everyone to know.
Lately I’ve been studying makeup, not just the ingredients (which can be a horror story I won’t go into now), but also the application. Applying makeup suitable for print photography is a highly skilled art. You need to work in layers, and the first malleable layer is always healthy skin. These are wonderful things everyone can do to have beautiful skin. I wanted to share what I’ve uncovered and maybe put a few beauty quacks out of business.
Smoking and Skin
Cigarette smoke is one of the worst toxins to the skin. There’s actually medical slang for it called “smoker’s face”. Not only is it terrible for your health, it literally makes you older in appearance. You don’t even have to be the smoker; if you work or live with a smoker, just the secondhand smoke adversely affects you. What are some things you can do to protect yourself?
First off, if you smoke, quit. That is obviously much harder to do than it is for me to preach. Don’t despair! If you do smoke, there are steps you can take to minimize the damage. Even smoking less often can be beneficial. It won’t be as good as quitting outright, but every little bit counts.
- Don’t smoke inside. This keeps you from re-breathing toxic secondhand smoke. Don’t allow others to smoke inside your house.
- Use an antioxidant-rich moisturizer. You want a denser moisturizer than a non-smoker, to provide a protective barrier to your skin.
- Wash your face at night, whether you smoke or just have been around smokers. This keeps you from embedding smoke residue into your pillow and then sleeping on it.
Nutrition and Hydration
Moisturizer alone won’t hydrate the skin if you don’t drink enough water! A general guideline is to intake 1/2 ounce of water per pound of weight for a non-active person, or 2/3 ounces per pound of weight for athletes. So a 150lb. couch-potato should be drinking about 75 ounces of water per day. It doesn’t have to be pure water, just about any non-alcoholic beverage will do. New studies have shown that moderate caffeine intake does not dehydrate the way it was previously believed.
Eat your veggies! Antioxidants help to protect your skin from aging factors such as smoking, sun, and the chemicals we encounter every day. It is always better to get your vitamins from food rather than a pill, but we don’t live in an ideal world. If you aren’t getting proper nutrition on a regular basis, a daily multivitamin is the next best thing.
Sunlight
There is only one substance we habitually encounter that can be worse for your skin than smoking, and it is sunlight. Yet we need some sunlight; we use it to produce vitamin D, which is good for the skin. It actually helps to prevent skin cancer! Doctors are beginning to change the way they think about the sun and our skin. Of course, the key is always moderation.
First off, it is important to understand the component of sunlight that most affects our skin, ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light comes in three types, ultraviolet A (UVA), ultraviolet B (UVB), or ultraviolet C (UVC), depending on its wavelength. Not much UVC reaches the earth (it is absorbed by the ozone layer) but if this layer is depleted, we may see its affects on our skin in the future.
Most of the UV light that reaches the earth is in the form of UVA. UVA starts the initial suntanning process. It also suppresses the immune system and is implicated in premature aging of the skin. So far I have found nothing good to say about UVA when it comes to human health or skin.
UVB rays don’t penetrate as far into the skin. They are the form of light mostly responsible for causing skin to burn and the formation of wrinkles in the skin. On the other hand, most of our vitamin D comes from exposure to UVB. Not enough exposure to this form of ultraviolet is actually bad for you. Below are some tips to help you navigate the complicated realm of skin and sun exposure:
If you have very fair skin or burn very easily, you should probably wear sunscreen whenever you go out. Look for sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB, or wear white, comfortable clothing that covers up most of your skin. You will want to take a vitamin D supplement because you probably won’t be getting enough vitamin D in your diet.
For the rest of us, moderate sun exposure on a regular basis helps us build a natural protection. Moderate exposure is less time than you think! For most Caucasians, this means ONLY 10-15 MINUTES of sunlight during peak UVB hours (around noon). More than that and you may burn, which is definitely not good. If you have naturally darker skin, you may need a little longer, around 20 minutes. You should not apply sunblock for this crucial outdoor time. However, you should apply a good moisturizer 30 minutes before outdoor exposure. In some lattitudes, it is impossible to recieve adequate vitamin D through sunlight during certain times of the year. During cold and dark months, stay warm inside and boost your dietary vitamin D instead.
If you plan on sunbathing for your vitamin D, it is best not to shower before or directly afterward. The natural skin oils produced by your body are helpful in protecting your skin. Likewise, vitamin D produced by your skin during sunbathing needs time to be absorbed. Also, do not wear sunglasses while sunbathing. Light exposure to the eyes is surmised to be the trigger of beneficial skin functions. Forget “after-sun” products. They are basically expensive moisturizers and you should have applied that before you went out.
A Great Evening Moisturizer
I’ve discovered this remarkable evening moisturizer which has given my skin a wonderful healthy glow. It’s cheap, easy to find, doesn’t clog pores, and doubles as a makeup remover.
It’s OLIVE OIL! No, I am not joking. Since I have started wearing makeup in the day, I wash off the main layer when I get home with Cetaphil facial cleanser, then apply a thin coating of high-quality olive oil. And we are not talking about those expensive olive-oil based cleansers either; why pay more for something you can probably find in your kitchen? Olive oil works great for removing stubborn eye makeup (and doesn’t seem to sting the eyes). Since it is a touch greasy, just before bedtime I take a cloth dampened with very cold water and use that to gently remove any leftover residue. Cold water is a great toner for the skin and helps to tighten pores.
Note that I have combination skin, my cheeks are normal to dry, while my “T-Zone” often has tiny zits and is slightly oily. I also have extremely sensitive skin; just about everything makes me break out. Olive oil can be used for any skin type from dry to slightly oily, so it is perfect for those of us suffering from combination skin. If you have very oily skin, however, you will not want to use olive oil. In those cases, I’ve heard good things about lighter oils such as jojoba or sunflower seed for oily skin.
If you are worried about putting oils on your face, remember that skin naturally produces its own oils. Most likely your makeup remover already has oil in some form in it, probably mineral oil, which is a petroleum byproduct! (By the way, mineral oil is not actually a mineral and may or may not have anything to do with various kinds of mineral makeup.)
My face feels better than it has on any other moisturizer. My acne has lessened and I don’t have to worry about the toxic chemicals and potentially hazardous nano-materials found in many of today’s moisturizers. It is all-natural, organic, and safe for the environment. I couldn’t be happier or recommend anything more wholeheartedly.
REFERENCES:
Smoking and Skin Aging
drinking/smoking and skin damage
Cigarettes and your skin
disproving caffeine causes dehydration
Merck.com — sunlight and skin
http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/sunlight.html
http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/
olive oil and beautiful skin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil
Image linked from http://nutritiongyan.wordpress.com/
Lately, I can’t imagine a breakfast more pleasing than old-fashioned oatmeal. As a kid, I always hated the stuff, or at least what I thought of as oatmeal – instant flakes in a single serve packet that comes out lumpy and runny and sickly sweet. I’m not even sure instant oatmeal is all that good for you. Honestly, have you looked at what they put into those packages these days?
Here’s a rundown of one packet of instant oatmeal:
We have our whole grain rolled oats with oat bran. Now these are not organic oats, so they are sprayed with chemical pesticides. Here are the top 50 pesticides used on oats in California. Many pesticides dissipate, meaning while they may poison the Earth they don’t make it into your bowl. The USDA has a program that measures pesticide levels in foods. Here is what they found on U.S. oats.
Next we have sugar. How much sugar? Well, in a single packet it lists 12 grams. The new USDA guidelines suggest that, for a 1600 calorie a day diet, you consume no more than 6 teaspoons of added sugar. If my conversion table is right, there are about 2.5 teaspoons of added sugar in every package, more than a third of the recommended maximum daily intake!
The package I’m looking at is a ‘creamy’ variety, so next we have the creaming agent. I shudder to look. It’s maltodextrin (made from corn starch), partially hydrogenated soybean oil, whey, corn syrup, sodium caseinate (a milk protein), sugar, dipotassium phosphate (also known as phosphoric acid, it may inhibit calcium absorption), mono and diglycerides (these are hydrogenated oils), artificial color (why is there coloring in my oatmeal), salt, soy lecithin (which might actually be good for you if it wasn’t processed with hexane), and artificial flavor.
Most instant oatmeal has some form of dehydrated fruit, treated with sodium sulfite to keep the color. Not only is sodium sulfite not good for you, it must not be working well because all the fruit I’ve ever seen in instant oatmeal is a sickly whitish-brownish color. These fruits also have more artificial flavors and colors added, as well as citric acid.
Moving on with the list, we have salt (my packet contains a total of 190mg of sodium, almost 10% of the maximum recommended intake), calcium carbonate, guar gum, oat flour, more artificial flavorings, and vitamins which they’ve added to make the stuff appear healthier. Sure, my oatmeal provides 20% folic acid, but that’s because it has been added in. If I wanted powdered vitamins, I could take a pill.
I didn’t even eat this stuff and I feel ill.
Let’s look at the steel-cut oats I’ve come to love as my morning breakfast. What’s in the jar? Oats. That’s it. This particular brand isn’t organic, but I’m hoping to switch in the next batch. What else is in my oatmeal? I make my oats with half-milk and half-water. I use organic soy milk as my ‘creaming agent’. My oats are not part of the salmonella scare (some instant oats are currently being recalled because the milk proteins, whey, etc. may be infected). According to the container, these oats start with 1g of sugar, but mine have more because I add fresh fruit and a little bit of honey. Today’s oats were “over-the-top delicious”, with bananas, honey, and almond paste. Did I mention steel-cut oats have more fiber per serving? It doesn’t have all those vitamins, but if you look at it, neither does the instant oatmeal. Those are additives.
Why doesn’t everyone eat this? My oatmeal certainly tastes better. Mostly it is a time constraint. Old-fashioned oats take 30-40 minutes to cook properly. This involves some planning if you don’t have time in the mornings. You can cook them the night before, then add a little milk or water in the morning and reheat.
You still get all the wonderful health benefits of oats that Big Industry pushes during commercials. Oatmeal lowers cholesterol. It is good for your heart. It is good for your digestive system. It is more filling than a bowl of cold cereal. It is cheaper than cold cereal (or instant oats). Why doesn’t everyone eat organic steel-cut oats?
REFERENCES:
USDA food pyramid
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/gram_calc.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dipotassium_phosphate
http://www.dldewey.com/columns/monodyf.htm — mono-diglycerides
http://www.chow.com/stories/10701 — soy lecithin
http://www.aaaai.org — sulfiteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatmeal
Oatmeal Recall
Science Daily oatmeal health claims
Image linked from http://www.organic.org
Lately, people have begun to question the worth of the ‘organic’ label as more and more questionable items are added to the list of acceptable items. This is largely due to pressures from big business. Consumers want organic goods (the dollar signs prove it), so if more items can be termed ‘organic’, then businesses make more money. It is our job as consumers to make sure politicians don’t cave into the lobbying efforts of industry.
Read the full Washington Post article here.
Now, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) has refuted this article on AllGov.com and on their website. However, I just can’t fully trust the OTA. Despite their name, which leads one to believe they are true supporters of the organic movement, really this is primarily a business association, the exact businesses that want more synthetic ingredients to be labeled as okay to put into organic fare so they can make more money.
In the meantime, what does the USDA’s organic label really mean?
“100% Organic” – must show an ingredient list, the name & address of the handler, and the name & seal of the organic certifier. These products are what we think of when we see any kind of organic label. In other words, they should contain no synthetics, pesticides, or genetically modified substances.
“USDA Organic” – must contain at least 95% organic products. The non-organic ingredients must be on an approved list (which is growing all the time to include more items). The label must identify both organic and non-organic ingredients, and the name of the organic certifier.
“Made with Organic” – must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. The label must identify both organic and non-organic ingredients, and the name of the organic certifier.
When was the last time you saw a label saying 100% Organic? Were you paying attention? Probably not, because so long as the label says the word ‘organic’, we assume that means one-hundred percent. Next time, take a closer look.
REFERENCES:
Washington Post Article Disputing Integrity of Organic Label
Can USDA Approved Labels be Trusted?
Organic Trade Association Website
Deciphering the Organic Label
This article has been cross-posted to its sister-site http://eco-ordinary.com
This post is based off of a single article from the Washington Post, a newspaper which I know personally is not always on the up-and-up when it comes to unbiased, fact-based reporting. However, I do believe the chemical industry is fighting hard to protect BPA just to save themselves precious dollars.
Fact: We KNOW BPA is dangerous to humans. (BPA is a chemical compound found in certain types of plastic, usually those marked with a 6, 7 or 8 on the bottle. These same plastics are the least recycled and probably the cheapest on the market.)
Fact: We KNOW BPA leaches out of bottles and into humans because it has been found in our urine during studies.
Fact: Alternatives to BPA DO exist. (Other countries have them. It is just that the United States would have to spend the all-important dollar to switch to alternatives… and big business never likes to spend its own money.)
But did the industry actually discuss using fear tactics to get consumers on their side (i.e. threatening consumers with not having access to baby food anymore)? That’s ridiculous! Where there is a buyer, there will most always be a seller. It is time for us to put our foot down and not let big business put our lives and our children’s lives at risk for their bank accounts.
THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PROTECT YOURSELF:
- If you use plastic bottles, make sure they are #1 or #2. These have the least likelihood of harmful chemicals. They are also highly recyclable. The current most recommended alternative to plastic bottles are stainless steel bottles.
- Don’t store plastic bottles in your car or in hot areas. When you heat up plastic, it leaches harmful toxins into your beverage.
- Stand up to fear tactics! I really think we should start boycotting some of the nasty manufacturing conglomerates like Coca-Cola. Natural sodas are available for reasonable prices which use real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, real bottles instead of aluminum and harmful plastic containers, and real ingredients instead of genetically modified food supplies. As much as I love my cola, I love my body more.
REFERENCES:
The evil article which had me so outraged:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/30/AR2009053002121.html
http://environment.about.com/b/2009/05/14/first-us-bans-on-bpa-fall-short-of-consumer-protection.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A
What keeps your heart healthy also keeps your brain healthy, including mild to moderate exercise. A new study shows that simple walking for 30 minutes, 2-3 times per week may significantly reduce the risk of Alzheimers and dementia. Also key is a heart-healthy diet.
Another way to maintain or improve your brain function is to keep using it. Studies show that the regular solving of puzzles or doing other brain activities keeps the mental faculties sharp.
FOR WAYS TO KEEP YOUR ‘NOGGIN NOODLIN’, visit:
http://www.braingle.com
or check out the book
The Brain Trust Program
REFERENCES:
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2009-05-22-voa18.cfm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/21/health/main644822.shtml
Original Article:
This Is Your Brain on Caffeine
A new study documents the physical effects of caffeine withdrawal, but then startlingly concludes:
“In contrast to what most of us coffee lovers would think, our study showed no difference between when the participant was maintained on chronic placebo and when the participant was stabilized on chronic caffeine administration. What this means is that consuming caffeine regularly does not appear to produce any net beneficial effects, based on the measures we examined.” –Stacey Sigmon, Ph.D.
My comments:
I have a real problem with the conclusion of this study. From articles I’ve seen online, it doesn’t look like they were studying net benefits, just withdrawal symptoms. So noting that ‘net benefits’ were not apparent doesn’t make sense. It’s like going to the zoo looking for giraffes and then saying you didn’t see any elephants when you leave. If you look at various studies, such as http://intraspec.ca/caffeine.php you’ll note that caffeine has both benefits and drawbacks. It increases total cholesteral and homosysteine, constricts arteries, and can cause irregular heartbeat — all things bad if you are at risk for a heart attack already. On the other hand, it can increase physical performance and cognitive function, lower rates of gallstones or liver disease, and decrease the risk for Parkinson’s. I’d really like to see the original study for myself.