Weight Loss Diet Program

An acid reflux diet typically restricts the intake of certain foods that are known to increase stomach acid. Some people even claim that there are foods that “cure” the syndrome.

You can currently find for sale acid reflux diet books, alongside other popular diets and cookbooks. One author states that apples “cured” his acid reflux. He is now selling a report in which he details “three natural remedies” for acid reflux.

These are supposed to be foods that cured his acid reflux. He does admit, however, that they may not work for everyone. In our opinion, it may be more effective in the long run to design your own acid reflux diet, using a food and symptoms diary to record what foods seem to trigger symptoms.

Natural remedies for acid reflux include changing the foods you commonly eat and even when you eat, how much you eat, and in what circumstances you eat. Such changes, believe it or not, may be effective for reducing symptoms of acid reflux.

Most doctors and other healthcare professionals recommend that in order to control symptoms, an acid reflux diet should exclude certain foods that are known to increase stomach acid. Tomatoes and citrus fruits, for example, are highly acidic. So is chocolate. And fried or fatty foods can also increase stomach acid and worsen symptoms.

You may think that an acid reflux diet must be bland, but while some spices trigger symptoms, some commonly used cooking herbs are considered natural remedies for acid reflux.

Changing from garlic and chili powder to ginger, fennel seed and turmeric may help. Ginger, fennel seed and turmeric were used in traditional medicine to treat indigestion and heartburn. Modern herbalists have combined some of these “herbs for heartburn” to create natural remedies for acid reflux.

In addition to following an acid reflux diet that limits highly acidic foods, experts say that eating less than three hours before bedtime increases the likelihood that you will have nighttime symptoms.

This is because lying down after eating allows gravity to work against you and makes it easier for stomach acid to creep up into the esophagus. Knowing this, some companies sell wedge-type pillows calling them natural remedies for acid reflux, but some doctors who specialize in treating the syndrome maintain that these pillows may actually worsen symptoms by “folding” the stomach.

These doctors recommend raising the head of the bed (with blocks, for example) 6 inches higher than the foot of the bed, so that gravity can still help keep acid in your stomach, without “folding” and creating extra pressure on the stomach.

If it isn’t what you eat or when you eat, it could be how much you eat. An effective acid reflux diet plan may include several small meals every few hours throughout the day, rather than one or two large meals. The more food that is in the stomach, the more likely that acid will reflux.

Another one of the often suggested natural remedies for acid reflux is simply losing some weight. Extra pounds put extra pressure on the stomach and more acid creeps up. At night, this can lead to sleep disturbances, coughing, snoring and even sleep apnea.

Following an acid reflux diet plan that is low in fatty and fried foods and calls for meals every couple of hours is not only one of the effective natural remedies for acid reflux, but it could help you lose weight since it primes the metabolism.

Doctors typically recommend antacids or proton pump inhibitors, at least for short-term use, to prevent or neutralize stomach acid. There are a number of herbal and botanical products that may do the some thing.

For example, mangosteen juice (a health drink), taken before meals, effectively dilutes stomach acid and may be considered one of the natural remedies for acid reflux. An acid reflux diet alone may not be enough. If not treated, acid reflux can lead to damage of the esophageal lining, which can lead to esophageal cancer.

Components of the mangosteen have been shown to reduce inflammation and actually prevent the formation of cancerous tumors in laboratory studies. Tell your doctor about which acid reflux diet and what natural remedies for acid reflux you are using and get regular check-ups, even if your symptoms seem to be under control.

by Mike Leuthen

Try and read this article on Vitamin D by the dean of health and fitness writers, Jane E. Brody from The New York Times.  She recaps the current thinking about the benefits and proper doses of Vitamin D.

Here are some of the key points from her article:

Many Doctors and researchers now believe that the current recommended daily allowances (RDA’s) of Vitamin D are too low. 

You can get your Vitamin D through sunlight, eating certain foods rich in D or through supplements.

Skin exposure to the sun’s UV rays (the same ones that cause sunburn) forms Vitamin D. 

Other sources of Vitamin D are fortified milk, juices and certain foods such as the oily fishes.  Some vitamins contain D, but not all.  Check your labels.

It takes a quart of fortified mild a day to reach the current RDA of 400 international units (IUs).

Researchers now believe that 700-800 IUs per day will significantly reduce risk of bone fractures

Animal studies show that Vitamin D reduces tumors.

Observational studies in people show that low levels of Vitamin D are linked to the increased occurrence of many types of cancer including breast, stomach, bladder, pancreas and uterus as well as Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and multiple myeloma.  A recent double blind study showed that those taking 1000 IUs of D had 80% less chance of cancer than those that did not.  Diabetes and MS have also been linked to low levels of D.

It is unclear what the maximum safe dose of Vitamin D is as reliable studies are rare.

Check your vitamin D intake today and read the Ms. Brody’s important article in full. 

   

This Med Headlines article describes a recent study involving lab animals who gained more weight when they were exposed to artificial sweeteners than to plain old sugar.

The study was performed by the IngestiveBehaviorResearchCenter at PurdueUniversityand compared weight gain in rodents who ate artificially sweetened yogurt to those who consumed sugar sweetened yogurt.  The sugar fed rodents gained less.  “The study surmised that by breaking the connection between a sweet sensation and high-calorie food, the use of saccharin changes the body’s ability to regulate intake.”

As the article points out, the obesity epidemic has continued in full force during the introduction of artificially sweetened foods into the food chain.

“The data clearly indicate that consuming a food sweetened with no-calorie saccharin can lead to body weight gain that would not occur if a person consumed the very same food sweetened with higher calorie sugar, the authors wrote.”

We previously reported on the possible link between diet drinks and heart disease here.

This eFlux Media article by Anna Boyd summarizes the situation with a bill proposed by a Mississippi legislator that would prevent restaurants in Mississippi from serving those that are obese.  Apparently the legislator realized that the bill had no chance of becoming law but submitted the bill simply to draw attention to the huge problem that Mississippi has with obesity which the legislator contends is the state’s number one problem.  Over 30% of the state’s citizens are obese.

Understandably, pretty much everyone, particularly the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, whose website says, “We come in all sizes, understand it, support it, accept it,” was against the bill.  

The bill has no chance of being seriously considered by the Mississippi legislature.

So this latest attempt at Nanny Statism, extreme version, has been defeated.  No doubt we’ll see other similar attempts in the future as the obesity epidemic continues unabated in the US.

Here is a link to a story in the LAT concerning the growing interest in Triathlons.  And the article contains further links to other related LAT info on Triathlons.

These swim/bike/run treks confer the ultimate in bragging rights on athletes.  The current Olympic standard for Triathlons is a 1.5 kilometer swim, a 40 kilometer bike ride and a 10 kilometer run.  Some of the “ironman” triathlons have much longer distances in each category.  See a complete write up on the history and details of triathlons here in Wikpedia.

The LAT article suggests the following if you are interested in competing in your first triathlon:

            Watch a full triathlon first to cut the intimidation factor and to evaluate your mental and physical fitness for the event.

            The training schedule is rigorous so let your family and friend know what is entailed.

            Sign up.  This will motivate you to start training.

            Try an intermediate target such as 10K run to determine your fitness level and build your confidence.

            Learn everything you can about the race before competing including the specific physical features of your particular course.