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Senior Moment© Copyright© 2005 All Rights Reserved ******************** This is a one hundred percent opt-in newsletter with a two hundred percent anti-spam policy. You or someone using your name and email address signed up to receive this newsletter. We publish twice monthly and welcome all opinions, critiques, and topical articles. Subscription link: http://www.senior2senior.org/newsletter.html Content: 1. Publisher’s Comments
I get letters, lots and lots of letters and all of it good. Thank you very much to the people who took the time to write and say they like the NL and appreciate me finding the stuff I find. I have been thinking, as of late, a lot about that experience. So much so in fact, I am considering reactivating my program and from everything I am reading, the need for a life coach is ever increasing. My coaching focus would be seniors and near seniors who want to create the life they really wish to live. They are, or soon will be, past the working grind and can now devote their time to themselves. By extension, btw, my program would work for anyone so desiring. What I see in the young people of today is no sticktuitiveness. If it doesn’t work in 3 seconds, they chuck it. I developed and taught a program back in the 70’s and 80’s that is a fool proof template for mapping out a career, a value system, a set of standards or a life. It works no matter how young you are. I even have a coaching name and know the url is not yet registered. Hence, with a little work, I could have it on the net in short order. Here are my questions to you: With just the sparse information I have laid out, did even a smidge of interest tickle your senses? And, would you be interested in hearing more about this program? Yep, another S2S blog. Go to: http://senior2senior.wordpress.com Senior Connection is the name of our new blog. We intend to keep both blogs up and running and welcome your comments at each. The page is at: http://www.senior2senior.org/otcdrugs.html Check it out and if you have any information that would add more to the presented material, email it to me. REDUCING BREAST CANCER RISK BY 50-80% Researchers in Norway followed 1,800 women for 11 years. Those who were moderately active--walking, gardening or doing house work several times per week were 50% less likely to develop breast cancer. Women who did vigorous things like swimming, jogging or playing tennis at least once per week were 80% less likely to develop breast cancer. SO..............get your @$$ off the couch and get active. Walk, jog, play tennis, swim or any other exercise you enjoy. Everyone knows ginkgo is recommended by complementary care practitioners to offset memory and circulation problems, primarily in senior citizens. But not everyone knows ginkgo may lower the risk of ovarian cancer, a particularly deadly cancer because it produces few symptoms in its early stages. Ginseng was also mentioned in the article. Cold prevention is its new ability. Added to restoring physical and mental vitality, this should make us oldies but goodies happy as a clam to take the stuff. This is very exciting except it really hasn’t been blessed by mainstream practitioners. So, do your research and due diligence and decide what is best for you. http://www.ameritrade.com/educationv2/ameritrade_framed.html 2. Article I subscribe to: Bottom Line's Daily Health News and this article was in their April 6, 2006 edition. It is well worth the read. By the way, it contains recommendations for specific products which I do not endorse, recommend or even take. I use the products from http://www.ourhealthcoop.com and the products one of our local markets has in its complementary medicine section. I left theirs in only because to print the article, I had to print it in its entirety. Start--- MAALOX MOMENT? MAYBE NOT Turning on the television or reading the newspaper is becoming an exercise in anxiety. If it's not terrorism, it's the latest health crisis or the struggling economy. All this stress is sending lots of us to our medicine chests to calm our nervous stomachs. And what do we usually reach for? That old standby -- an over-the-counter (OTC) antacid. Advertising claims would lead you to believe that any OTC antacid, such as Tums, Rolaids, Maalox or Pepcid, is harmless enough. Little did you know that taking an antacid actually can make your stomach problems worse. Stomach Acid: "A Good Thing" You may be surprised to learn that Daily Health News Contributing Editor Andrew Rubman, ND, describes stomach acid as a good thing. Proper digestion takes place as a series of functions, all of which depend on the presence of adequate stomach acid while you are eating. When you take OTC antacids -- or even worse, the "more effective" prescription variety -- you're cutting down or even eliminating the acid you need at mealtimes. Without it, your stomach can't adequately break down food into its nutrient components. What's more, as we described in the May 26 issue of Daily Health News, inadequate digestion of proteins encourages the liver to increase production of LDL cholesterol -- the kind of cholesterol that does the most damage to your body. An all-too-common result of taking OTC antacids on a regular daily basis is an increase in cholesterol, which is then often treated with yet another drug to lower cholesterol levels. Not a roller coaster ride you want to be on. Go with the Flow If you stop taking antacids as a favor to your liver, what do you do about your sour stomach? "Prevent it in the first place," says Dr. Rubman. Make sure you have adequate acid in your stomach during mealtimes, when you need it, and less stomach acid when you don't need it. "What we call excess stomach acid," he explains, "is what we should call inappropriate stomach acid. "To make sure your stomach has sufficient acid at mealtimes, Dr. Rubman advises against "grazing" -- snacking on food – throughout the day. Snacking signals the stomach to pump acid rather than saving it for mealtimes. In addition... Always chew your food thoroughly. Introducing saliva into the food as you chew will get the digestion process off to a good start. Don't drink very much liquid while eating a meal. Dr. Rubman says more than a few sips of fluid will dilute the acid in the stomach. Also try to limit fluids for 30 minutes before you eat and for an hour afterward. His general rule: One fluid ounce of water for every two ounces by weight of solid food. To avoid acid overproduction, Dr. Rubman also advises a few changes in eating habits... Don't overeat. Leave that extra little bit of room for dessert, and then skip it. Eliminate from your diet foods that have refined sugars, such as desserts. Sugars tend to destabilize the stomach, decreasing efficiency of digestion and nutritional value and creating gas. Avoid caffeine and fried foods. Caffeine stops starch digestion and can impair acid production with meals. Fried foods create gastrointestinal inflammation and speed the aging process. Between-Meal Defenses If you still suffer from a sour stomach between meals, put something in it that will quiet it without triggering more acid production. Dr. Rubman has several suggestions... "A time-tested remedy, believe it or not, is sauerkraut," he says. In Europe, you can even buy sauerkraut juice for just that purpose. Five or 10 minutes after consuming sauerkraut, your stomach will relax and you'll feel great. Sounds weird, but in fact, the enzymes released during the fermentation of the cabbage as it turns into sauerkraut actually help break down and neutralize the inflammatory components of a sour stomach. Should sauerkraut not be for you, some herbal products soothe and normalize the stomach without suppressing acid production. Dr. Rubman recommends gentian, an herb that comes in tinctures, capsules and fluid extracts. "Usually using eight to 10 drops in a little bit of water will do the job," he says. Use this as needed rather than prophylactically. Glyconda, a traditional herbal combination that includes turkey rhubarb root, cinnamon and goldenseal, is another old-fashioned remedy, one that grandmothers in Italy have been giving their families for years. Dissolve 10 to 20 drops in two ounces of warm tea or water, and drink before a meal. Other products that address the problem... * Gastri-Gest, a combination of plant-derived enzymes taken as needed as an antacid substitute. Available from Priority One (800-443-2039, www.priorityonevitamins.com). Both of these products also are available at quality health-food stores. When Problems Don't Resolve Occasionally, a more severe stomach problem causes between-meal acid production. "This occurs when something in the stomach lining stimulates it in the same way that food does," explains Dr. Rubman. Typically, the cause is a yeast organism or something similar. Often, the culprit is the same creature found in vaginal or oral thrush. You can avoid it by following the above steps to maintain adequate stomach acid levels during meals. Caution: Anyone with gastritis that persists for more than 10 days or recurs more than once a month should be tested for the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. It also might be an ulcer, which would require special treatment. "Having a gastric or duodenal ulcer is one of the few problems that call for prescription antacids to suppress stomach-acid production while the lesion heals properly," says Dr. Rubman. If your problem does not respond to the natural remedies above within a few days, see your health-care provider to rule out a more serious condition. When it comes to acid indigestion, don't let the cure be worse than the disease. Healthy eating habits and a strategy to work with the body's natural digestive function will go a long way in calming that grumbling pain. End--- Until next issue, Tom Koziol Write to: Senior Outreach Ministries | |||
