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Body Blog (24)
Friday, 12 April 2013 09:53
Achoo! 7 Natural Ways to Relieve Seasonal Allergies
Written by Dina Colman
Spring is in the air. Literally. Flowers are popping up, but so is the pollen count. Millions of Americans are experiencing the symptoms of seasonal allergies right now. These symptoms include runny nose, congestion, sneezing, itchy eyes and ears, sinus pressure, sleeplessness, and fatigue. If you are among the allergy sufferers, try a natural solution before reaching for the over-the-counter medications, which can have negative side effects. Here are a seven ideas that can help: 1. Eat clean: Eating whole foods that are rich in essential vitamins and minerals, and staying away from processed foods, will not only help reduce allergy…
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I was hoping the title would get your attention. Every one is looking for the secret to weight loss. I have seen many clients who say they have tried every weight loss plan out there, but the weight just keeps coming back. This blog is about the secret to long-term weight loss. It is about creating a new way of living—for life. It's about resisting the temptation of the grand promises of the latest shake, supplement, pill, plan, or product to lose weight. Those may work in the short-term, but invariably the pounds find their way back. And, they aren't…
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There is a lot of information out there about the connection between food and health. Perhaps you have read that sugar can lead to cancer, trans fats can cause a heart attack, and gluten can be the cause of autoimmune disease. You are warned about the pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and toxins in your food. It can get to the point where you are afraid to put anything in your mouth. I'm not here to dispute or support the accuracy of these claims or to promote any one way of eating. I am here to say that all of this can…
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We may not talk openly about burping, farting, and pooping, but they are all important signs of what is happening with our digestion and health. Proper digestion is essential for optimal health. Our digestive system is connected to every major organ system and over 60% of our immune system is in the gastrointestinal tract. You may associate common health complaints like gas and burping to improper digestion, but it can also show up as skin irritations, foggy brain, fatigue, anemia, and weakened immune. Signs of an unhealthy gut include the following: poor bowel habits such as constipation and diarrhea undigested…
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There is no doubt that the stress of the holidays and the availability of unhealthy food can be a challenge to our healthy eating plan. Cookies, cakes, and candy are everywhere we go. Dinner tables are filled with dishes high in sugar, fat, and carbs. By all means, enjoy! Just do so in moderation so that your waist line doesn't expand too much as you enter the New Year. Here are seven ideas for not overeating during the holidays. 1. Eat before you go. Headed to a holiday party? Eat a healthy meal before you go so hunger will not…
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What would you do if you were told you had an 87% chance of getting cancer?a. fear itb. ignore itc. beat the odds! When I was told this by doctors 14 years ago, I did "a" and then "b" until I decided it was time to do "c". I chose to replace the fear and denial with empowerment. I left my sexy and lucrative high-tech job and went back to school to study health. I wondered whether how I lived my life could impact how my genes expressed themselves. In learning about the science of epigenetics, I discovered that yes,…
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Cancer. I've seen it up close and personal and it's not pretty. My sister had stage 3 breast cancer when she was 31 back in 1998. She went through chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, surgery, and radiation. She had an aggressive cancer and she needed aggressive treatment. She survived the disease and the treatment (Go Deb!). She's one of the lucky ones. Cancer is just all too prevalent these days. Each year 12.7 million people in the world learn they have cancer, and 7.6 million people die from the disease. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S.,…
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We've all heard about cancer and we've heard about heart disease. But what about autoimmune disease? It is the third leading cause of death and yet many people have never heard of it or know exactly what it is. The National Institutes of Health estimates up to 24 million Americans suffer from autoimmune disease and close to 100 different autoimmune diseases have been identified. It is difficult to diagnose (unfortunately often by the time it is, it is systemic) and it's hard to treat with conventional medicine, but there are some diet and lifestyle changes that can help tremendously for…
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“4 WEEKS TO YOUR BEST SELF” “28 DAYS TO HEALTH” “DETOX WITH YOUR DOCTOR”You've probably seen ad headlines similar to the above. It seems that everyone is cleansing these days. I must admit that I was a bit skeptical at first because it seemed like my friends were either doing it for the wrong reasons ("I need to fit into a bathing suit for my trip to Hawaii") or they weren't really doing it right ("I'm doing the cleanse except that I'm drinking coffee, having a few glasses of wine, and sometimes eating bread"). Also, I have numerous friends who…
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Lately, I've been very up in my head. This isn't really that different than how I normally operate, but I was pushing it to the extreme last week. I've been in the process of changing the tagline for my company, Four Quadrant Living. For most of last week, this was all I could think about—morning, noon, and night. I had about 20 different versions. Was it "Healthy living simply done" or was it "Choose healthy living" or ... Well, my dog, Kora doesn't really care whether or not I have decided on my tagline and am living in my head.…
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In the musical, "Oliver!", hungry orphan, Oliver Twist, who is eating yet another bowl of gruel sings about "Food, Glorious Food." What I just learned recently about the U.S. standards for food makes me feel that the options for glorious food available in this country are getting more and more limited. Next time I'm in the supermarket, I may just break into song about "Food, Unglorious Food." Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. These eight foods account for 90% of food allergies. When I was growing up, I never heard about food allergies. Now, it seems…
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How far will we go for beauty? Apparently, pretty far. I just recently heard about a product called Latisse. It helps your eyelashes grow longer. It originated from a group of popular medications called topical prostaglandins, drugs used for glaucoma patients. A side effect of this product is hypertrichosis, a condition characterized by darkening, thickening, and lengthening of the eyelashes. The product people use to lengthen their eyelashes is actually a side effect of a drug used to treat a serious medical condition. So people who do not have glaucoma are taking a prescription medication for the benefit of its…
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It is November which means the holidays are rapidly approaching. Later this month we will be tempted by pumpkin pie and stuffing. Soon after that it will be December and the temptations of sweets and desserts will abound. There is no doubt that the stress of the holidays and the availability of unhealthy food can be a challenge to our healthy eating plan.Here are a few ideas to stay healthy during the holidays.1. Eat mindfully. For example, when you are at the Thanksgiving table, mindfully eat your favorite foods. Savor the stuffing and pumpkin pie. Part of health is pleasure.…
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When you think of the word “exercise,” what comes to mind? Is it dragging yourself to the gym a certain number of times a week to do the recommended cardio and weight workout? Well, no wonder it is so hard to fit exercise into our lives. When it becomes an obligation instead of a want, the chances of us doing it are reduced. It is important to be creative and think outside the box when it comes to exercise. How about this image instead...You are riding on your cruiser bike whose name is Gypsy. She has red spokes, tassels on…
You are your own best advocate of your health. The government, your doctors, the pharmaceutical companies, your friends, and your family all may have the best intentions for you, but you are the one most motivated to help yourself. And, you are the one that knows the most about what is best for you.My neighbor had breast cancer a couple of years ago and had chemotherapy as treatment. She ended up in the hospital from a severe reaction to it. Recently, her doctors recommended chemo again for a new cancer. She didn’t want to do it, but her doctor and…
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We often take great care in what we put in our bodies (food), but don't think twice about what we put on our bodies (products). It is important to recognize that 60% of the product we put on our skin is absorbed into our body. Think about how many personal care products you use a day. Is it five? Ten? On average, we put 126 unique ingredients on our skin daily. Did you know that the government doesn't require any pre-market testing or health studies for these products? There is no requirement that companies test personal care products for safety…
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Last year my mom was rushed to the emergency room within minutes after taking a drug for a sinus infection. Her doctor said it was unlikely that it was from the medication, despite the fact that the symptoms happened immediately upon taking the first pill. After doing some research, I found many others who had experienced the same side effects. Despite best intentions, doctors, the FDA, and pharmaceutical companies do not have all the answers. You need to watch out for your own best interests. My mom is not alone. Each year, an estimated two million Americans are hospitalized from…
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I'm a health coach which means I know about nutrition. I know what's good for me to eat and what's not good for me to eat. However, this doesn't mean that I'm perfect all of the time. I'm a big advocate of the 80/20 rule. I try to eat healthy 80% of the time. When I am in the 20% and eating the unhealthier foods, I try to be mindful of what I eat so that I savor every bite.Eating healthy 100% of the time is not realistic and can be unhealthy (if it causes stress). If we strive for…
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Are you on the trendy diet? If you were alive in the 1860s, being on the trendy diet would mean you wouldn’t be eating carbs. If you were alive in the 1980s, you would be eating carbs. And, if you were alive in the early 2000s, you wouldn’t be eating them again. Carbs are bad, carbs are good, and carbs are bad. The same fate was shared by fat. It was good, then it was bad, and now it is good again (the good fats). Soy too. Soy was a nutrition darling for a while and then it got blacklisted.…
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Recently, a friend asked me why I thought my cereal was preferable to her cereal. She compared the stats of fat, fiber, protein, and carbs of each and found them to be comparable. Unfortunately, reading the nutritional information is not enough when it comes to making healthy food choices. It is also important to read the ingredients. My friend's cereal is what Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and Food Rules, would call an "edible foodlike substance." These foods are highly processed and are designed by food scientists. They consist mostly of ingredients derived from corn and soy…
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A good diet, a healthy exercise program, and stress management tools are absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt critical to your health. I believe this to be true to the core of my being. Many people still believe that these are "nice to have", but not essential. My cousin is one of these people. For years, she has had high blood pressure. She is on blood pressure medication. I have encouraged her many times to make changes to her diet, exercise more, and manage her stress better to help to reduce her blood pressure naturally—with the hope of eliminating or reducing the medication…
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When I was a kid, I remember learning about Ponce de Leon, a Spanish explorer in the 16th Century, searching for the fountain of youth. Perhaps if he had spent more time sleeping and less time searching, he would have found it. The fountain of youth is sleep! We are a society that is driven to perfection. We have to do it all. We need to get an "A" in all areas of our lives—being a parent, spouse, worker, friend, child, etc. Focusing on getting an A often means getting fewer Zzzzzs. The demands on our time are starting so…
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Two years ago, I never would have imagined that I'd actually be enjoying sardines, quinoa, and kale in my diet. I didn't know what quinoa was, I probably couldn't have picked out kale from the other greens in the market, and well, sardines, forget it—I knew what those were and they held no appeal. Fast forward to two years later... I just got back from Trader Joe's with 10 boxes of sardines, I always have quinoa in the house, and kale is a weekly staple from the Farmer's Market. If any of these foods are not yet in your diet,…
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Have you noticed that people stop using their legs as soon as they get on an escalator? Are you one of them? It's dumbfounding to me. Notice it next time you get on one. We seem to go into autopilot and just allow the escalator to carry us up or down. The same thing happens on the moving walkways in the airport. Unless you have limitations that prevent you from using your legs on an escalator, don't just go along for the free ride! Okay, granted the escalator did start out as an amusement, not as a practical transportation device.…
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Published Articles
Green Exercise: Good for the Sole and Soul
Natural Awakenings, March 2011
Sustainable Danville Area: Find Your People
Danville Today News, February 2012 (Page 6)
Are Genetically Modified Foods Making Your Child Sick?
Active Kids, June 2012 (Page 23)