Antidepressants

In 2002, 8.5 percent of the US civilian noninstitutionalized population had purchased at least one prescription Antidepressant. The currently available classes of Antidepressants include monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), novel Antidepressants, and tetracyclic Antidepressants.

MAOIs act by inhibiting monoamine oxidase, a complex enzyme system that metabolizes excess serotonin and epinephrine. It holds the potential of inducing potential life-threatening problems, and therefore cannot be used in patients with congestive cardiac failure or in those with a history of liver disease. It is dangerous to those who are hypersensitive to its ingredients. The important drugs of this class include isocarboxazid (Marplan), moclobemide (Aurorix, Manerix, Moclodura), phenelzine (Nardil), tranylcypromine (Parnate), levo-deprenyl (Selegiline, Eldepryl), and harmala.

Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs) act mainly by inhibiting the reuptake of both norepinephrine and serotonin. Though the type of side effects experienced by the patient due to TCAs or MAOIs are many times similar, the frequency of these side effects is much less in the case of TCAs. Thus, TCAs enjoy a better rate of acceptance by the patients. The TCAs of interest in the treatment of depression include amitriptyline (Elavil, Endep, Tryptanol), amoxapine (Asendin, Asendis, Defanyl, Demolox, Moxadil), clomipramine (Anafranil) desipramine (Norpramin, Pertofrane), dothiepin hydrochloride (Thaden, Prothiaden), doxepin (Adapin, Sinequan), imipamine (Tofranil), Iofepramine (Lomont, Gamanil), nortriptyline (Pamelor), protriptyline (Vivactil), and triimipramine (Surmontil).

The SSRIs act by inhibiting the serotonin reuptake, and are considered the most popular, effective and safe prescription medications. The SSRIs used to treat depression include citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram oxalate (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac, Prozac Weekly, Sarafem), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR), and sertraline (Zoloft). Prozac, a drug of this class, has shown significant success in the treatment of depression and prevention of suicide. It exhibits less potential side effects as compared to TCAs and MAOIs, and is well tolerated.

The currently available SNRIs (desipramine, duloxetine, nefazodone, and venlafaxine) keep both serotonin and norepinephrine at the right level to alleviate depressive symptoms. Nefazodone alleviates anxiety, causes some sedation and positively affects sleep. Venlafaxine (Effexor) has significant anticholinergic effects (dry mouth, blurred vision, urinary hesitancy, and constipation), induces sedation and has potential withdrawal effects.

The drug bupropion (Wellbutrin, Wellbutrin SR) is the most commonly used member of the novel Antidepressant class. It is unique in its efficiency to inhibit the reuptake of dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Maprotiline (Ludiomil) and mirtazapine (Remeron) are the two main drugs from the group of tetracyclic Antidepressant. Mirtazapine acts by increasing the amount of noradrenaline and serotonin, and is of benefit in particular for the treatment of depression accompanied with anxiety, agitation and /or sleep disturbances.

The natural Antidepressants that impress their effectiveness on experts include St. John?s wort (Hypericum perforatum), SAM-e (S-adenosyl-L-methionine), and 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan). Other natural Antidepressants that are in need of research-based studies to prove their efficacy, safety and usability in the treatment of depression include herbs (Ginseng and Ginko), amino acids (l-tyrosine and phenylalanine), and certain nutrients, including B vitamins.

Antidepressants provides detailed information about antidepressants, antidepressant comparisons, antidepressant medications, antidepressant side effects and more. Antidepressants is the sister site of Canadian Mail Order Pharmacy.

Six Types Of Meditation

There are so many different types of meditation. How many? Who knows, but enough so that you can find the one that’s right for you. To get your search started, here are six types of meditation you can try.

1. Breath watching. Can meditating be as simple as paying attention to your breath for a few minutes? You bet. Relax in whatever position works best for you, close your eyes and start to pay attention to your breathing. Breathing through your nose gets your diaphragm involved and gets oxygen all the way to the bottom of your lungs. As your mind wanders, just re-focus your attention on the air going in and out of your nose. Just do this for several minutes, or longer as you get used to it.

2. An empty mind meditation. Meditating can create a kind of “awareness without object,” an emptying of all thoughts from your mind. The techniques for doing this involve sitting still, often in a “full lotus” or cross-legged position, and letting the mind go silent on its own. It can be difficult, particularly since any effort seems to just cause more business in the mind.

3. Walking meditations. This one gets the body involved. It can be outside or simply as a back and forth pacing in a room. Pay attention to the movement of your legs and breathing and body as you walk, and to the feeling of your feet contacting the ground. When your mind wanders, just keep bringing it back to the process of walking and breathing. Meditating outside in this way can be difficult because of the distractions. If you do it outside, find a quiet place with level ground.

4. Mindfulness meditation. A practice Buddhists call vipassana or insight meditation, mindfulness is the art of becoming deeply aware of what is here right now. You focus on what’s happening in and around you at this very moment, and become aware of all the thoughts and feelings that are taking your energy from moment to moment. You can start by watching your breath, and then move your attention to the thoughts going through your mind, the feelings in your body, and even the sounds and sights around you. The key is to watch without judging or analyzing.

5. Simple mantra meditation. Many people find it easier to keep their mind from wandering if they concentrate on something specific. A mantra can help. This is a word or phrase you repeat as you sit in meditation, and is chosen for you by an experienced master in some traditions. If you are working on this alone, you can use any word or phrase that works for you, and can choose to either repeat it aloud or in your head as you meditate.

6. Meditating on a concept. Some meditative practices involve contemplation of an idea or scenario. An example is the “meditation on impermanence,” in which you focus on the impermanent nature of all things, starting with your thoughts and feelings as they come and go. In the Buddhist “meditation on the corpse,” you think about a body in the ground, as it slowly rots away and is fed on by worms. The technique is used to guide you to an understanding that your rationalizing mind might not bring you to.

There are many other meditations you can try, such as the “meditation on loving-kindness” or “object” meditation, and even meditating using brain wave entrainment products. Each type has its own advantages and effects. For this reason, you may find that at different times and for different purposes you want to use several different types of meditation.

Steve Gillman has meditated and studied meditation for over twenty years. You can find a good mindfulness exercise and subscribe to The Meditation Newsletter at: http://www.TheMeditationSite.com

Bad Breath Out of Nose

Halitosis (bad smelling breath) usually comes from the mouth because that?s where it?s produced: bad breath out of nose passages may be sign that something more complicated is going on. Most sources agree that the hydrogen sulfide smell so typical of halitosis is caused by the production of volatile sulfur compounds by bacteria living in the moth. When air is expelled from the mouth, the odor is detected. When air is expelled from the nose, the air comes from the lungs and bypasses the mouth, so it?s unusual for air coming from the nostrils to smell bad.

Bad breath coming thru the nose is more likely to originate in the nose, sinuses, or throat, or even more unusually, from the lungs, lower airways or stomach. The first step is to confirm the existence of bad breath out of nose passages ? your sense of smell might be off due to a viral infection or anything else that causes sinus irritation. Are you suffering from dry nose, allergies, a cold, or anything else that might be affecting your sense of smell? Your bad nose breath may be an illusion ? have a good friend confirm that it?s real before you overreact.

Bad breath out of nose passages may be caused by a blockage or obstruction in the nasal passages that is preventing normal airflow and drainage. Individuals, especially small children, sometimes push objects into their nostrils that may then become lodged in the airway. Swimmers may inadvertently inhale objects in water if they take in water through the nose. Occasionally undigested food gets lodged in the sinuses when an individual vomits. Any of these things can set up a situation that will result in bad breath coming through the nose.

Bad nose breath can also be a result of infection in the nose or sinuses, or even in the throat or lungs. Infection, however, seldom happens without other symptoms. If the person experiencing bad breath out of nose passages has swelling, redness, heat, or pain in the sinuses, an infection may be brewing, and a doctor should be consulted. Similarly, lung and throat infection typically also cause pain and fever. Bad breath coming thru the nose is an incidental sign of these infections that is distant from the infection itself.

Some medical conditions can result in bad breath out of nose passages; however, the odor noted in these cases is usually different from the typical hydrogen sulfide smell of halitosis. Some malignancies (cancer) of the airways can cause an odor, as can kidney and liver disease, and ketoacidosis (a serious complication of diabetes). Again, though bad breath coming thru the nose is noted, the odor comes from elsewhere. See your doctor if you notice bad nose breath and there is no obvious reason for it, especially if you are feeling at all unwell.

R. Drysdale is a freelance writer with more than 25 years experience as a health care professional. She is a contributing editor to Bad Breath Cure, a blog dedicated to the treatment of bad breath.

Smell and Bad Breath

Have you ever noticed that an acute sense of smell and bad breath don’t seem to come together in the same person? That is, people with halitosis often breathe right in your face without making any effort to conceal or divert the odor – they don’t seem to know it’s there. In fact, when someone asks you anxiously whether their breath is bad, it usually isn’t. How can we explain this paradox?

Many people have noted that when it comes to our own breath smell is unreliable. We seem incapable of detecting an unpleasant odor coming from our own mouths, probably because the nose is constantly bathed in the smell from the mouth and more or less cancels it out: a large part of taste is smell, generated by food odors traveling up the back of the oral cavity to receptors in the back of the nose when we have food in our mouths. Our own body smell and bad breath odor seem normal to us.

It seems that the best way to connect smell and bad breath is to get someone else to make the judgment. The family physician may be the best person to ask because your dignity will suffer less and you are more likely to get a really honest answer. If this isn’t an option, select a really good friend – one who you trust to be honest, sensible, and impartial – and ask them to judge your breath odor. Make sure that you don’t do anything ahead of time to make your breath smell different from usual: avoid coffee, alcohol, strong flavored foods, tobacco, breath fresheners, and anything else you think might affect the experiment. You don’t want to hear, “I can’t tell the difference between the cheese smell and bad breath!”

There is one way you may be able to judge your own breath smell if you really can’t get help from anyone else. Simply lick the inside of your wrist and then sniff your wrist. If your wrist smells bad to you, your breath probably smells that way to others. Before you do this, consider the same precautions as if you were having a friend sniff your breath: your wrist should be clean (no perfume, scented body lotion, or anything else that might affect your sense of smell and bad breath detection) and again, don’t eat anything that might change the odor of your breath at that moment. Be aware, also, of odors in the environment that might affect your smell test.

R. Drysdale is a freelance writer with more than 25 years experience as a health care professional. She is a contributing editor to Smell and Bad Breath, a blog dedicated to the treatment of bad breath.

Stop Smoking the Natural Way

At the age of 18 I was a real fat kid. I was probably some 70 lbs overweight, had long tangled hair and was exceptionally miserable. At that age, the hormones had kicked in and I was desperate to get out there socialising with the opposite sex. However, my weight battered my confidence and self-esteem levels, rendering that kind of social interaction almost impossible.

So, I made the decision to lose weight. I simply cut out all junk food, all soda, and started running as far as I could each and every day. By the time four months had gone by, I had dropped the best part of 60 lbs and I was running an easy three miles every day. On top of this, the number of push-ups I could do had risen from one (when I first started) to 400 over the course of several sets.

So where does smoking fit into this little story? Well let me elucidate. After I had lost the weight, I had a ton of people come up to me asking how I managed to shift the fat. When I replied that I had simply eaten less and exercised more, they wouldn?t take that for an answer. Most overweight individuals want a magic bullet, an instant cure, and they were convinced that I must have been doing a special diet or exercising with unique technique.

I lose weight the natural way. And if anyone else in the world wishes to lose weight and keep it off, they will eventually learn that they have to do it the natural way. No fad diet is going to work for them long-term. This is one of the laws in life – we must do things naturally. If something seems to good to be true, then it usually is. You need to stop smoking the natural way.

So how does one stop smoking the natural way? Well, it?s pretty simple. Don?t use the patches, don?t use the gum, don?t use the substitute cigarettes, don?t use the herbal cigarettes. If you want to quit smoking, then just stop smoking.

Don?t replace your smoking habit with another habit, such as gum or patches – all you?ll end up doing is replacing one addiction with another. Half the success in quitting cigarettes is in beating the power of addiction. If we substitute habits, we will never kick the power of addiction and, just like the individual doing the latest fad diet, we will be destined to have an ongoing battle for the rest of our lives by harbouring a viper in our bosom.

However, just because you choose to stop smoking the natural way, don?t start to worry that it has to be difficult. I was thoroughly addicted to cigarettes for over a decade, smoking two packets a day, and yet I managed to quit the habit within a few hours of trying a certain technique. And what?s more, it was easy and peaceful to do; I?ve never craved a cigarette since then. There are many methods to help you stop smoking the natural and easy way, particularly with hypnotherapy. Just resolve to quit the habit properly instead of using half-hearted measures.

Jonty Smith is a former smoker based in the U.K.

After 10 years of smoking two packs a day, Jonty finally managed to quit in 2006. His story of how he managed to beat the habit is available for free reading at (http://www.How-I-Stopped-Smoking.com)

Incidental Exercise: Little Steps – Big Leaps

Introduction

In many countries obesity and related health problems are approaching epidemic proportions. This worrying trend is particularly evident in western countries, where our harried and fragmented modern lifestyle has led many of us to into a ?culture of convenience?. For some time now, health professionals have advised us that people should aim to get at least thirty minutes of moderate physical activity per-day if they are to reduce their risk of falling prey to the perils of obesity and its complications. Yet, while this message saturates us through the media like never before, and is acknowledged or accepted by most, there still remains widespread apathy and ambivalence towards physical activity in our society.

Many people who try to increase their activity levels will take action by joining a gym or taking up a sport. Both of these options hold great potential to benefit our health and wellbeing in the very fullest sense, but can also be intimidating to the newcomer, not to mention expensive or incompatible with our busy schedules. Indeed, for many well intentioned souls, the move from ?coach potato? to ?gym junkie? is fraught with frustrations born of unrealistic goals and expectations. The good news is that you don?t actually have to join a gym or take up with a team to increase your levels of physical activity. Simply making a conscious and continued effort to be active throughout the course of the day can do wonders.

Incidental Exercise

The human body is a machine. Logically, the more work the machine does the more fuel it burns. Whilst regular bouts of concerted exercise can improve our health and wellbeing, staying active throughout the course of the day is often just as effective. This form of activity is known as ?incidental exercise? and consists of the sum total of our daily movements, much of which we are not even aware of.

Yes, that?s right, no matter how inactive you are, you are actually clocking up tiny amounts of physical activity throughout day. Cooking, cleaning, going to the mailbox, picking up the cat ? it all counts. These miniscule fragments of exercise may not seem important, and in isolation they?re not, but with a little cunning and some minor changes to your everyday habits, these little steps can be lengthened to great strides down the path to a fitter and healthier you. Let?s now look at how we can employ a strategic outlook to harness the true power of incidental activity.

?Strategic? Incidental Exercise

Getting the most out of incidental exercise is all a matter of strategy. In simple terms, a strategy is a plan of action that helps us to achieve a goal ? which in this case is increasing our overall level of physical activity. This might sound like a daunting task, but planning a good strategy can often be as simple as taking just a few moments to think.

For instance, let?s cast a strategic eye towards hanging out the washing, a perfect example of a common household chore that involves incidental exercise. Now, think to yourself: what sorts of strategies could I employ in this situation to increase the amount of movement and effort I expend in performing this task? Let?s look at a few simple strategies.

For starters, if you have one of those horizontal clotheslines, why not ensure that the basket of washing is always at the far end from where you are hanging, requiring you to walk further to get to the basket. When you get towards the end where the basket is, move it again, so that it always at the far end of the line. Also, you could limit yourself to only ever taking one item from the basket at a time, which would require you to make many more trips to the basket and clock up plenty of healthy steps, bends and lifts along the way. If you have a revolving clothesline, you could increase your physical output simply by resisting the urge to rotate the clothesline around to face you, and instead, move around it with your basket.

By now you may be wondering why people should bother to subject themselves to such seemingly trivial inconveniences. You might also be unconvinced as to whether it would actually make a tangible difference in your life. Remember though, it is the total amount of physical activity you should be seeking to increase, which is the sum of many smaller bouts of incidental exercise that you can consciously influence. Avoid focusing on the potential exercise value of one particular activity, or set of activities, and think instead of the overall gains you will be making throughout an entire day.

The fact is, if you take a strategic approach to extracting a little more from the various chores and activities you undertake, it can quickly add up to significant amounts. Indeed, if you can develop some good strategies, you could quite easily double, triple or quadruple your daily total of incidental exercise. When you learn to make this behavior a habit, over the course of weeks, months and years, you can enjoy significant benefits to your health and wellbeing, and all without ever setting foot in a gym.

Getting started: Ten great ideas to get active today!

This article would not be complete without providing some clever ideas to get you started. The following are excellent ways to increase your daily activity totals without major inconvenience. It is hoped these will also spark your imagination, and start you thinking about things you can do to boost your own activity levels and get the most out of incidental exercise.

Walk/ride to work: Sick of traffic? Always have trouble finding a park? Worried about your car getting broken into? Why not leave the car at home and take a walk or get on your bike instead. If it takes you fifteen minutes to walk to work, and you walk home again, that?s half an hour of additional physical activity already, and two and a half hours over a week!

Take the stairs: Usually go straight for the elevators or escalators? Why not make the effort to take the stairs? Stair-climbing is an excellent exercise for your cardio-vascular system, as well as the muscles in your trunk and lower body.

Deliver the message in person: We live in a marvelous modern age of technology. Telephones and email make communication super-fast and efficient, but if you?re looking to boost your activity levels, why not deliver those non-urgent messages on foot. Surprise your colleagues by turning up with the news in person.

Take the meeting on the road: Nobody said that meetings have to take place in the stuffy confines of the office. If you and a colleague need to have a chat, why not suggest a walk-and-talk, perhaps around the block or through the park or mall across the street?

Take the long way home: We all know that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that?s no excuse to be lazy. Just because you know a shortcut doesn?t mean you have to take it. If you have some time up your sleeve, why not forge a new path. Go for a walk or a bike ride through a new area, take a few twists and turns before you arrive at your final destination.

Park further away: Even if you have your car there?s no reason you can?t sneak in some extra activity. One idea could be to park your vehicle further from your destination, and walk the difference. You could, for example, park in a lot a few blocks away from your destination, or park at the rear of the supermarket parking lot, and walk from there.

Carry the shopping to the car: Loose the shopping-trolley for a change. Give yourself a good strength workout by carrying your purchases to the car yourself. Better yet, park a good distance away from the stores and then challenge yourself to make it all the way back with the shopping in tow.

Play with the kids: Let?s face it, nobody ever really grows up. Everyone enjoys indulging in fun and games from time to time. So, instead of just watching your kids play, why not get down on the floor or out in the yard, and get actively involved. Not only can adults can get a darn good workout chasing the kids around, it is also an opportunity for you to bond with the kids and be a positive role model for them in regards to being physically active.

Tackle that Housework: Most of us hate chores, it?s a dirty job ? but someone has to do it. Why not turn it around by focusing on the additional physical activity you will get from tackling all that dreaded scrubbing, vacuuming and gardening. Many household chores actually count as moderate exercise, and some are easily as physically demanding as a brisk walk or jog.

Remember, sex is a form of exercise too: Sexual activity is a moderate-high intensity exercise that is not only enjoyable, but right up their in terms of workouts. Why not aim to engage in sex a little more often. Should you encounter resistance from your significant other, simply inform them that you?re purely concerned about increasing your level of physical activity. If this line doesn?t work, you could always try soft lighting and a bottle of wine.

Conclusion

Hopefully, you are now beginning to understand just how valuable incidental exercise can be. In isolation, each episode of activity means little, but when you add it all up, the benefits to your health and wellbeing are considerable. To maximize the potential of incidental exercise in your life, try to take a strategic approach to all your daily chores and activities, and be consistent in demanding just that little bit of extra effort from yourself in everything you do.

Arron Stewart Is 26 years old, lives in Hamilton, New Zealand, and attends the University of Waikato as a graduate student in Sport & Leisure with an additional focus on Sociology and Human Resource Management. A website has been established featuring more information and selected articles of his work: http://www.geocities.com/arron_stew_79

Weight Loss Support is Critical

Introduction

Losing weight is not rocket science. It requires no special diet, no special foods and no special exercise program. All we need to do is eat less calories than we burn. Despite this, as well as an ever growing number of diets and weight control plans, obesity continues to grow. And the vast majority of dieters find it almost impossible to lose weight without regaining everything within a matter of months. Why is this? Answer: because we don’t get enough support.

Get Proper Help To Lose Weight

Our greatest need when dieting is encouragement. We need people to cheer our successes and help us overcome our disasters. Amazingly, most online weight loss programs fail to address this need. Instead, they focus on what we should eat, how many calories we should consume, and what exercise we should take. And while this advice is useful, it’s not critical. Because most of us know this stuff already. What we have difficulty with, is motivation. We know what to do in order to lose weight, but we can’t sustain it. Maybe we lack a strong incentive, or perhaps our family situation interferes with our weight loss plans, or maybe we hate cooking and eat out too often. Whatever difficulty we have, it’s not likely to involve food or exercise. It’s much more likely to be a motivational or lifestyle problem. Yet as I say, most online programs don’t offer motivational or lifestyle support. And even when they do, their advice can often be expensive and quite uninspiring!

Survey Of Dieters

The value of proper support was highlighted in a recent survey of members of Anne Collins online weight loss program. The program includes a 24/7 community forum specializing in motivation and lifestyle support, with several thousand topics and approximately 100,000 posts. Subjects were asked to assess the personal benefit they had obtained from the forum. A total of 1,348 subjects responded, of whom 81 percent rated the program’s community forum as “important” or “very important” in helping them to lose weight, while less than 5 percent said it “made no difference.” While in no way conclusive, the results indicate the practical value of a “community” approach to weight management.

Weight Loss Meetings

For urban dieters, Weight Watchers is probably the best option. Their meetings are specially designed to help dieters overcome difficulties, but even Weight Watchers has its limitations. First, it’s not cheap to join. Secondly, members typically attend only once a week. So if your diet-wagon loses a wheel on Saturday night, you may have to wait several days for the next meeting to help you out. Like eDiets, Weight Watchers now offers an online service, but again – at something like $250-300 a year – it’s not cheap.

Not Easy To Change Habits

Changing our eating habits is no easy matter. Sure, it helps to know that a cup of fat-free milk contains 40 percent fewer calories and 16 times less fat than whole milk, or that lean ground steak contains half the calories and 4 times less fat than regular cheddar cheese, but how does this help us to say No to a second helping of pizza? How does it quench our desire for a double cheeseburger and fries? It doesn’t. Because facing down temptation requires a change of attitude, a change of priorities. And in my experience, this takes time and as much encouragement as we can get. We need to hear from people like us who have managed to change their attitude and eating habits, and who can explain how to overcome the problems involved. Above all, we need a safety-net if we fail. We need shoulders to cry on and “tough love” to help us win through. In short, we need the support of a real community.

Join An Online Community Forum

In my experience, dieters who join a good online community forum can expect to lose 400-500 percent more weight than those who go solo. In addition, if they maintain their community membership after achieving their goals, they have an excellent chance of maintaining their weight loss indefinitely. This is because an online community can provide a number of specific benefits. First, as stated, it offers personal advice and encouragement. Secondly, it offers members the opportunity to help other people – something that typically works wonders for their self-esteem and understanding. Thirdly, most community forums are self-run. Members may progress to become moderators or resident experts. This too is a real confidence booster as well as a great incentive to maintain weight lost. But by far the major benefit is the fact that online forums are in action 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. So support and human warmth is available whenever you need it. They are real 24/7 safety nets, especially Anne Collins forum which has members from all time zones of the world.

Features To Look For

The best forums are active, well-managed and provide quality advice and support. Activity is best judged by checking the number of “active” members, rather than total membership. And the greater the number of recent threads (topics) and posts (messages), the better. Assessing the management and quality of the forum is a bit more difficult. To do this, open a recent thread, scan the posts and look for the following. First, how quickly do members and/or moderators reply to questions asked? Second, are the questions and answers reasonably serious, or more frivolous? Generally, a well-managed forum will have a higher percentage of serious posts. Other questions to ask yourself include: how “personal” does the forum appear to be? Do you feel a sense of warmth and caring? What age-groups are most active? Take a good look around, and don’t hurry. Finding the right forum for yourself is crucial to your weight loss success.

Summary: Focus On What Matters

The secret of successful weight loss is to focus on what matters. So don’t waste too much time or money trying to find the “perfect” diet. I mean no disrespect to any dietitian or nutritionist but, for most people, a diet is a diet is a diet. As long as it’s reasonably balanced and includes a reasonable number of calories, it’ll do fine. What really matters is support – to help you cope with temptation and disruption during your journey. An excellent option is to join an online weight loss forum and be part of a real community. Because when you have tons of friendly people cheering you on, you can move mountains.

Anne Collins, 54, is a qualified nutritionist and full time weight management consultant with over 24 years experience. Annecollins.com attracts 9 million unique visitors per annum, and her weight loss forum is one of the most active communities on the Internet.

About Her Forum
Weight Loss Help

The Best Multi Vitamins Available – Are They Necessary?

Yes, the best multi vitamins are indeed necessary. Unfortunately most younger individuals and those who are in relatively good health think that they don’t need to take the best multi vitamins, and that regular one a day vitamins like those found in most retail outlets will do.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

It’s a fact that there are many good vitamin benefits you will receive to help fight illness, curb the aging process, increase energy and so much more. However, keep in mind that not even the best multi vitamins can guarantee you’ll never get sick.

The best vitamin benefits come from the fact that you will achieve a much-improved level of health and help to fight off the possibility of many different types of disease.

There are two main types of ingredients that must be present in the best multi vitamins in order to receive the greatest vitamin benefits. They are nutritional; which include vitamins, minerals and key amino acids; and botanical which are basically herbs.

Because of many different factors, it is necessary for everyone young and old, healthy and unhealthy, to take the best multi vitamins.

One of the biggest reasons that you need to take the best multi vitamins on a daily basis is because of the depletion of nutrients in the soil used to grow our food.

The food that we eat can only be as good as the ground it was grown in and the farming practices used to grow and process it. Over the past century or so it has become so deprived of valuable nutrients that very little food has much more than trace amounts of the vitamins and minerals it once had.

There are a lot of farmers starting to produce organic food in recent years but it will still take a lifetime to be able to get any minerals and vitamins back into the soil. Organic food is free of pesticide and contains some more nutrients but not nearly enough to make a difference.

Another reason for a need for not only daily multi vitamins but, the best multi vitamins is that most fruits, vegetables, etc. are at least 7 days old by the time they make it to the store shelves.

Regardless if they are kept in cool storage conditions, the vitamin and mineral content in the food, as little as there is, will deplete with each passing day.

Here’s the way most of the fruit you buy is processed. First, it’s picked before being fully ripe and is then put into cold storage for many weeks or sometimes months.

Second: When the fruit is to be shipped it is sprayed with a gas in order to quicken the ripening process. The gas is supposed to be safe but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t do anything to help retain vital nutrients.

Not all multi vitamin supplements are created equal. Some do not have the precise amount of magnesium needed to fight high blood pressure.

Whenever you hear of someone on the news or in a report in a magazine stating that multi vitamins are not needed, don’t believe them. It’s been proven that our food no longer contains the nutrients we need each day.

Here are some more facts about multi vitamins in order to be considered the best available.

Most health care professionals recommend the best multi vitamins for anyone who is under any type of stress, (most of us are on a regular basis) those who have any type of illness, are pregnant, etc. regardless of how good their diet is.

There are so many different vitamins and minerals we all need each day and we aren’t getting them from our diet. The answer? Take the best multi vitamins you can find, and do it each day.

The best multi vitamins may cost you a little more now, but the reward of a long healthy life makes it well worth it.

Phil Beckett is a health & fitness trainer, author & educator. He can get you the results you want in less time with less work. For more vitamin benefits & information on the best multi vitamins, visit:
http://www.womens-health-fitness.com/best-multi-vitamins.html

Cause of Heartburn

Heartburn is a burning pain starting from behind the breastbone and ribs and radiating upwards towards the throat. Basically, heartburn is caused by hydrochloric acid spilling upward into the esophagus from the stomach. The lining of the esophagus, unlike that of the stomach, is not protected against acid. The acid, being corrosive, inflames and irritates the esophagus and causes the heartburn.

There is a one-way valve between the stomach and the esophagus called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES), which seals the stomach and keeps the acid inside the stomach. Due to weak LES, relaxed LES or any other disease affecting the LES, the sphincter muscle allows acid to flow backwards into the esophagus and cause heartburn.

Foods that loosen or relax the LES include alcohol, citrus fruits, mint and chocolate. Foods that are acidic and irritate the esophagus directly are citrus fruit juice, tomato and spicy foods. Foods that increase the acid secretion in the stomach include caffeine beverages or carbonated beverages, alcohol, fatty foods, spicy foods, raw onions, garlic, black pepper and vinegar.

Pressure on the stomach causes it to eject acid into esophagus. Overeating, certain exercises, tight clothes, bending down, and stomach fat due to excess weight or pregnancy are some factors which increase pressure on the stomach. The acid secretion is also increased through stress, smoking and the practice of going to bed immediately after eating. Aging is another factor that may relax the LES valve, thereby causing heartburn.

Heartburn can also be a symptom of conditions like gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD), pregnancy, hiatal hernia, acid regurgitation, peptic ulcer, stomach emptying disorders, gastrointestinal motility disorder or even coughing too hard. Medications to treat respiratory problems, heart problems, blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, anxiety, depression, insomnia, Parkinson’s disease and cancer are also known to cause heartburn. The use of aspirin can also cause heartburn.

From the causes of heartburn, it can be clearly deduced that generally, heartburn can be avoided or lessened by effecting some lifestyle changes, like altering our food intake, exercising, avoiding smoking and intake of alcohol, changing sleeping habits and avoiding certain medications.

Laser Skin Enhancements

Ah, the joys of modern technology. Plastic surgery benefits from our advances in technology just like any other industry or medical field. This brings us to the subject of laser skin enhancements.

If you think you might be in need of a procedure to rejuvenate your face and restore your youthful appearance, you might be considering facial plastic surgery. However, for some individuals, surgical intervention is not the proper choice due to medical conditions or the particulars of your situation. In such cases, laser skin enhancements offers corrective solutions not previously available.

A laser skin enhancement is performed by plastic surgeons using advanced laser technology. The laser is strong enough to burn the first layer of dead tissue and a few living cells on the surface of the skin, but does not affect the other layers of skin tissue. The laser also reaches down to the underlying collagen. Instead of removing the collagen, the heat results in a reduction of the collagen. This reduction results in the tightening up of the collagen and skin giving the patient a less wrinkled look. In practical terms, laser skin enhancements give you a bit of a lift and peel at the same time.

A laser enhancement is not the best procedure for all facial concerns. It does not work well on areas such as deep creases in the neck and cheek, creases around the lips and the upper eyelids. For smaller, fine lines and light wrinkles, however, it can be a less invasive choice than surgery. There are many advantages to choosing the laser procedure. There is less recovery time, general anesthesia is generally not necessary, and there is very little blood loss. There are also normally no scars following the procedure.

There are some potential side effects to having laser enhancements as there are with any cosmetic surgery. The recovery takes about ten days during which you can have very sensitive skin with some weeping. During this period, you will see a progression of skin color from red to pink to normal. There can also be a permanent lightening of the area treated, which can be a problem for some dark skin individuals. It is also not recommended for people looking to remove large quantities of skin or who have severe facial damage due to sun or age. If you are such a patient, laser enhancements can help but will not be a total solution.

Laser skin enhancements are a popular alternative to traditional facial surgeries. Make sure to speak with your doctor to find out your options and whether this surgery is appropriate for you.