My Health

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

It's great when you're able to do exercise without having to leave your seat, isn't it? Woman's Day will show you step-by-step how to trengthen and sculpt your whole body without ever leaving your beach or lawn chair with these easy-does-it moves; in the No-Sweat Workout slideshow.

Actually it's not as easy as you think (and it will actually sweat you also), but the exercise is good to build your chest, abs, arms and legs muscles.

Try it and get the fabulous look at the end of summer!

Celebrity Makeup Artist in Los Angeles and New York, Elke Von Freudenberg got together with Coutorture to create a set of makeup tutorials to help you improve your makeup skills and achieve the perfect look everyday.

Here's the Step 1 - Primer video:


and here are the links to next steps of Elke Von Freudenberg Makeup Tutorials:
Step 2 - Foundation

Step 3 - Concealer

Step 4 - Remove Oil

Step 5 - Powder

Step 6 - Blush

Step 7 - Bronzer

Why can a man live longer than the others? Is it because that he gets better food supply, better medical care, better hygiene or any number of other factors? It's not totally clear to scientists how they all add up, but it's clear that your lifestyle plays important role on your longevity. Dr. David Fein, medical director at the Princeton Longevity Center, a clinic in Princeton, N.J., said that, "There's a saying that genetics load the gun, but it's the environment that pulls the trigger. You can have the gene for a certain disease, but it doesn't mean you're going to get it."

"Those low on adult conscientiousness died sooner," Friedman concluded. Conscientiousness does not mean looking both ways before crossing the street, it means looking both ways when the light turns green so you don't accidentally run down a slow-moving pedestrian. Beyond that, a conscientious person's long-living qualities probably have to do with the fact that they are predisposed to constructively reacting to emotional and social situations, and are more likely to create work and living environments that promote good health.

Here are the 15 tips for you to live longer:

• Don't oversleep and don't undersleep
  
• Be optimistic
  
• Have more sex
  
• Get a pet
  
• Get a VAP
  
• Be rich
  
• Stop smoking
  
• Chill out
  
• Eat your antioxidants
  
• Marry well
  
• Exercise
  
• Laugh a little
  
• Lose weight
  
• Manage stress
  
• Meditate
  

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DO NOT store watermelon in the fridge, if you want more of its nutritious value because storing watermelon at the room temperature may double the carotene levels and increase the lycopene levels up to 20%.

Researchers from the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Lane, Oklahoma, USA made a research by storing uncut watermelons in different types for two weeks at 70, 55 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit and found out that melons at room temperature had 11% - 40% higher of carotenoid levels that those stored at low temperatures, which showed much lower or no increase in carotenoid levels.

However, the increase in watermelons' benefits only apply to uncut watermelon. If you cut one and want to store it, of course you should store it in fridge. But if you want to store an uncut melon, better put it at room temperature. If you have left the watermelon for a few days at room temperature, it is then OK to place it in the fridge to cool it down before you eat it. Cooling it does not reverse the process, it only slows it down or stops it.

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