Aging What Can We Do About It?Written by Judi Singleton
We all want to live a healthy, active life well into our later years. Science has come up with a lot of helpful information to help us live longer and have a more quality life.Choosing right nutriants can help slow down aging process Using latest information that science has available will help us look and feel younger. At a young age we are precondition to believe certain things about aging. Maybe your parents said "Everyone in our family lives to be over 100 and they never loss their facilities.", that is what my family said. Maybe yours said "The people in our family die when they are just over 65 they never get to enjoy their retirement." We walk around with a particular notion in our subconscious that we have a pre-defined lifespan of between 60- 90 years Our body’s biological age is a reflection of our physical, mental and spiritual journey through life. In perfect conditions, our bodies can survive to an age of 125 years! Life style definitely reflects in our bodies, minds and spirits. Say one person lives a healthy active life style. He walks and exercises regularily, is interested in his community, has lots of friends, enjoys his marriage of many years, is reglarily envolved with his children, grandchildren, and greatgrandchildren. He goes to church. He eats well and takes supplements. This man looks forward to each day. He often works well into his later years. Life is fun and living is enjoyable. He probably will live a very long productive life. Another man or woman lives an isolated life style, very inactive, does not exercise. He has few friends and few intrests in life. He is resentful of his children and does not want to spend time with next generation. He has no belief in a Higher power. Life is not fun for this person. He eats a high calorie, fat filled diet. He will probably have a heart attack or stroke in his late sixties. Life style does count when we are looking at aging. We can do something about aging right now. Laughter has long been held as "Best Medicine" and, in fact, science has now found that every cell in body has a receptor for substances produced when we are happy. Every cell is therefore influenced by how we feel. Our first line of defence against any disease is therefore Happiness! Seek out serentity. Think about what makes you happy. Seek it out include it in your life often.
| | Children Get Constipated, Too!Written by Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CCN, HHP
Children Get Constipated, Too! Dr. Loretta Lanphier, ND, CCN, HHPDo you notice your child putting off going to bathroom because he/she is busy doing more important things? Do you notice avoidance of bathroom for fear of a painful bowel movement? Is your child not experiencing daily bowel movements? These actions may be signals of constipation. Parents often hope their worries about their children's bathroom habits will end with final diaper. But successful toilet training doesn't prevent occasional troubles with bowel movements. Constipation is among most common but should never be considered normal. Unfortunately most of medical literature defines childhood constipation as not frequency of bowel movements but hardness of stool. According to Physicians’ Manual for Patients, “Daily bowel movements are not essential to health.” Parents are told that as long as child is having three bowel movements a week AND they are soft that this is totally normal. Not so! Just as we eat three meals per day, a child should be experiencing between 1 to 3 bowel movements per day. Food should never be sitting in digestive track longer than 24 hours. Ideally, everyone should have comfortable, unforced bowel movements 20-30 minutes after every meal. Because discussion of bowel movements between child and parent usually brings out total dread in parents, it is often ignored and assumed that child is experiencing bowel movements each day. Many of us remember cringing when a grandparent asked us “Have you had a bowel movement today?” The cringe was not necessarily because of question but because it was usually asked very loudly at dinner table! You see, in their generation this was considered a very important function for good health. Somewhere along line we have stopped looking at this as an important clue in overall health. Digestive track health is considered by many to be most important function in keeping body healthy. Causes Of Childhood Constipation Diet & Nutrition - Not eating enough foods with fiber; Dehydration; Consuming a lot of sugar and desserts; Milk and dairy products; Food Allergies; Acid forming foods (meat). Lack of Exercise – With popularity of computer games and TV many children are leading a very sedentary lifestyle. Emotion Upsets & Anxiety – Fear, grief, worry and frustration have all been known to affect digestive tract. Holding stools – This means child has feeling of needing to have a bowel movement, but ignores urge. Reasons such as not wanting to take time to go to bathroom, unfamiliar bathrooms or pain in passing a stool are very common. Prescription Drugs - Antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Temaril or Benadryl), found in nonprescription cold medications; Antidiarrheal medications; Antispasmodics, such as atropine and scopolamine; Narcotics, such as codeine and hydrocodone; Chemotherapy; Anticonvulsants, such as carbamazepine and valproic acid; Tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline hydrochloride or doxepin hydrochloride; Iron supplements. Other less common causes of constipation are depression, attention deficit disorders, and sexual abuse. Constipation Symptoms Less than 1 bowel movement per day. Stools that are hard and difficult to pass. Headaches, fatigue and/or depression. Encopresis, or accidental fecal soiling. Often if a hard stool is present in rectum, liquid feces can leak around hard stool and pass out anus without child’s control. This can happen many times during day. The child cannot do anything to prevent or withhold it. Abdominal pain near or around navel. Bed-wetting. Decreased appetite and nausea.
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