June '08

 Simple things you can do
       to improve your digestion
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In an ideal world, we would all sit down and eat our dinner in a relaxed state of mind, savoring each bite, and chewing until the food is almost disolved in our mouths before swallowing.

Do any of us really do this on a regular basis?  Doubtful.  A more realistic scenario would be driving down the road holding a cell phone in one hand, and reaching into a greasy bag for our dinner.  Large bites are wolfed down with minimum chewing.  This causes the need for large amounts of ice cold Coke or other beverages to be consumed to wash it all down.  Half the time people are so pre-occupied with other thoughts, they barely notice they are eating!

What does this do to your digestive system???



First of all, when we start thinking about that delicious meal, and smell it cooking, we have already started the digestive processes.  Don't you sometimes find yourself salivating when smelling a roast cooking in the oven?



If chewed properly, about 40% of our carbohydrates should be almost completely digested before they even hit our stomach.  To accomplish this, we would have to chew our food to an almost liquid state.  If instead we mindlessly throw down big chunks of barely chewed food, we don't give the digestive enzymes in our mouths (saliva), time to start doing their job.  Then we further aggravate the situation by drinking cold liquids with our meal.  This lowers the stomach temperature, making the enzymes more inefficient.  They work best around 99 degrees.  Not to mention the liquid itself, hot or cold is diluting our stomach acid, making the stomach muscles work harder to try and manually break down the food.  Think about a water balloon being squeezed.  The pressure will push some liquid back up to the top.  That is why some people get reflux.  A lot of the time it's from not enough acid...not too much!!!

Then the process continues and this partially digested material moves into the duodenum and into the small intestines.  Here the pancreas adds more enzymes to help break down the food.  This should just be the final dash of enzymes to finish the process.  But in the case of the poorly chewed bag dinner, the pancreas becomes overworked.  It's two jobs are producing enzymes and insulin.  If the pancreas is doing more than it's share in the enzymes department, blood sugar issues may develop as a result.  (And we wonder why so many young people are being diagnosed with diabetes in America today).



Finally, two other issues arising from this poorly digested food are candida (yeast) overgrowth, and food allergies.  Excess yeast in our systems can cause numerous health problems including fatigue, lethargy, poor memory, aching joints and even multiple allergic symptoms.  Yeast are there to help us eat the remaining undigested food in our small intestines...the problem is that these yeast eat...and then they poop!  Did you ever read your kids the book "Everybody Poops"?  Well, they do...even candida!  And it's this yeast "poop" or waste that causes all these symptoms. 

Food allergies can also develop from undigested pieces of food that the liver can't process, that get in the blood stream and are attacked by the body.  They are seen as invaders.  Then the next time we eat that food, our body has a reaction to it.




So I hope you will think about this next time you eat a meal.  Remember:

1)  Try to think about what you're about to eat.

2)  Actually chew each bite slowly and thoroughly.

3)  Try not to drink liquids with your meal...or if you must, make it room temperature and keep it to a minimum.

    

4)  If you can't do all of the above...adding a good quality food enzyme like "Food Enzymes" or "Proactazyme Plus" from Nature's Sunshine will help the digestive process along.  As we age, we produce less enzymes, and even in the best of circumstances, we may need a little digestive help.

HAPPY DIGESTING!!!


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July '08

Is trouble sleeping keeping
you up at night???



Most of us suffer from occasional bouts of insomnia brought on by stress, hormones, caffeine or numerous other reasons.  Then there are those that find sleep disturbances occurring on a regular basis.  What can you do if trouble sleeping is happening more than once in awhile?

There is hope!  Don't feel like you have to turn to prescription sleep aids.  These drugs can have side effects that are much worse than the lack of sleep!

First I'll give you some things you can try on your own to improve sleep, and then I'll suggest some natural remedies that have helped me in the past.

Sometimes, our internal clocks get confused.  A good way to "re-set" them is to try and wake up at the same time every day for a consistent period of time (give it at least a month).  Upon waking, it helps if you can get some sunlight on your face (if not possible on cloudy days, or if you wake too early, use a full spectrum light bulb available at most hardware stores).  This tells your brain it's time to get up!  Just as important as waking at the same time is going to sleep at the same time at night.  About a half hour before bed, start a ritual of winding down, slowly turning off or dimming lights as you go.  Finally when you get in bed, make sure the room is comfortable (not too hot or cold...a bit on the cooler side is better for sleep).  Most important is that the room is dark.  Yes, you'll have to get rid of the Spider-man night light!  Even the glow of a digital alarm clock is too much.  You want it so dark you can't see the outline of furniture in the room.  Even though your eyes are closed, you can still get light signals through your lids.  Those who can't fall asleep without the T.V. (I'm with you!), your sleep timer is your best friend.  Set it for 30 minutes, and you can relax and dose off.

If the above doesn't help, here are some of the things I've found very successful in my own quest for a good nights sleep.

I found that listening to the "good night" Cd's from "The Balanced Life Program" (information below), really helps.  There are soothing nature sounds and vibrational sound therapy embedded in to put you in a deep state of sleep.

Nature's Sunshine has some fantastic products to help us get a restful nights sleep;



HERBAL SLEEP