It’s Entirely Natural - Articles

Are you approaching menopause? There are so many changes that happen to a woman as she nears this phase of her life.

In order to deal with these changes, it is important for a you to change your her diet to cope with the changes to your body. As we get older, our bodies require different foods. While this does not mean that you can no longer enjoy the foods you once did, you must learn how to incorporate foods with the necessary nutrients into your diet.

There are even some foods that can help you deal with your menopause symptoms. For example, choosing foods with high potassium content, like bananas, will help you balance water and salt retention issues. Dried fruits like figs and apricots can do the same thing. You may also want to add dark, leafy green vegetables to your diet like cabbage, broccoli, kale, spinach and collard greens. Try to increase the amount of “right” whole grains in your diet, like soy beans, brown rice, wheat germ, and lentils.

In addition to adding these foods to your life, you may also want to increase your consumption of foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Sardines, trout, tuna, salmon, and herring are just a few examples of foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids.

Studies have also shown that eating soy products can be quite beneficial to women going through menopause. Yogurt, tofu, soybeans, and soy milk can help in this area. Nuts work well with your new nutritional needs, so throw in some sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, and pumpkin seeds.

Choosing the right kinds of oil is an important part of your diet planning: include flaxseed and canola oils.

Try seaweed—it’s great on rice or as an additional vegetable. Kimbu, Arame, Nori, and Wakame (available at your local health market in the seaweed section) are other helpful choices since they have naturally occurring chemicals and hormones that are very good at combating natural menopause symptoms.

These foods are not only helpful for menopause; they are part of an overall healthier diet. As we age, blood pressure rises, as does the risk of higher cholesterol levels. These diet changes can help us to improve our overall health. Instead of fighting with the side effects of prescription drugs, you can handle these risks by eating well and maintaining your ideal body weight, which can help your heart deal with its age as well. Remember that you don’t have to strictly hew to your new diet—just a tendency in these directions can improve your overall health.

There is little reason why you can’t have a slice of your birthday cake, or sneak a cookie in with your afternoon coffee once in a while. You might even try learning to bake with different kinds of ingredients. As you start working on your diet, you may not even notice the sheer number of things that have changed as you will be changing, too. You may feel better, have more energy, and have more concentration. These diet changes will help you to have fewer hot flashes, night sweats, heart palpitations, and other menopause symptoms.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Nutrition & Health.

---

Tags: blood pressure, cholesterol, coffee, Menopause, Nutrition & Health, omega 3 fatty acids, sunflower seeds, whole grains

Excessive stress and depression can shorten your life span and drastically reduce your quality of life. Stress can speed up the aging process making it harder for your body to fight off illness and serious disease. Stress and depression affect your immune system and you may find you have more frequent colds, stomach problems, and other stress related problems. You can age gracefully and maintain better health if you take steps to ward off depression and stress.

What are some fun and helpful ways of relieving stress and depression? There are a few tips that may help you make the most of every day.

• Eat healthy! This means stay away from refined sugar, empty calorie snack foods, and fatty meats. There are many choices of snacks and foods that will keep your body satisfied and feeling full. Eating chocolate or sugar products will not help depression. These foods may increase your symptoms of stress and depression. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains. You could be surprised how much better you will feel by removing processed sugars from your diet!

• Exercise regularly. Physical exercise is important for many reasons. It keeps your body from growing stiff, decreases stress, and allows you to take in oxygen that is needed for the body to work properly. Start out walking or doing low impact exercises or yoga. Walk around the block, listen to the sounds of nature and let your mind go blank. If you are just beginning an exercise program, check with your doctor before you begin. A little exercise is better than no exercise at all.

• Adopt a pet. It is well-known that a family pet will help relieve stress and anxiety. Nursing homes are allowing pets to be brought in because they have such a positive benefit on residents. Many senior communities and assisted living facilities allow pets and even encourage them. Play with your pet, stroke it or pet it, you will feel the tension slip away.

• Take time to relax. You may feel you always have to be on the go, or doing something. You don’t! Take the time to relax, drink a cup of tea or coffee and sit in a sunny room. Weather is gloomy? Watch the ever-changing patterns in the sky, the trees as they bend in the wind, and listen to the soothing sound of rain on the roof.

Does gloomy weather bring you down? Work each day to make yourself enjoy the day. Find something you are thankful for, call a friend, watch a favorite movie on TV, or take the time to engage in your favorite hobby or pastime.

Stress and depression will take a toll on your body both physically and emotionally. Think positive and make each day important. Enjoy your family, hold and look into the eyes of a baby, and treat yourself to a bubble bath or special outing. You will find you are aging in a healthy way and could give you a longer lifespan.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Healthy Retirment.

---

Tags: coffee, Depression, exercise, fruits and vegetables, healthy retirment, immune system, stress, stress and anxiety, whole grains

Alcohol is a staple at most adult party’s. While the responsible drinker won’t drink themselves into a stupor, everyone is entitled to a little irresponsibility now and then (just do not drink and drive). If you do end up going overboard then you are probably going to face the inevitable hangover the next day.

The scenarios behind a hangover tend to be pretty similar – too much to drink, mixing drinks, etc. The symptoms are often the same: migraines, nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, and a general feeling of discomfort. Here is a look at how you can prevent yourself from feeling this way should there be a next time.
Never drink on an empty stomach. Eat something with greasy, fatty foods loaded with oil or butter. Others will swear by having a couple of tablespoons of olive oil before leaving the house. Remember to wash it down before going to bed with a couple of glasses of water.

Drinking water, in general, before bedtime will help with dehydration along with something to dull the pain.
If you need help waking up in the morning, you can try a red eye. Take some whiskey, fresh coffee, Tabasco sauce, a raw egg, pepper, and orange juice and blend it together in a blender. If you are able to choke it down, fans say that you will start feeling better within 15 minutes. If you need a faster cure, try a Black Mary. Mix coffee with tonic water, honey, and orange juice. Again, it might be a little rough to get down, but there are those that swear by its effectiveness.

Some other preventatives have to do with when you are actually out drinking. Following these rules can help keep you feeling good the next day.

First of all, avoid mixed drinks. If you prefer the harder drinks, take them straight or over ice. Avoid drinks that have colas or juices mixed in, since these will often get you drunk faster and without realizing it. This leads to more toxins needing to be flushed from your system, and a higher likelihood of a hangover the next day.
Do not mix low alcoholic drinks with highly alcoholic ones. For example, drinking both beer and hard liquor is a thing to avoid. Choose one or the other, otherwise, your body gets confused and you end up taking in more alcohol. And, the more alcohol that gets absorbed, the more likely you are to have a hangover.

Avoid dairy when you are drinking. Milk, cheeses, ice cream, and cream sauces can really upset your stomach when you mix them with alcohol. So unless you enjoy the view of your toilet bowl, stay away from them until afterwards.
Always keep in mind that while hangover “cures” can help to alleviate the symptoms of your hangover, only time and your metabolism will officially end it. So keep that in mind when you are out drinking, particularly if there is somewhere that you want to be the next day.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Hangover Cures.

---

Tags: coffee, dehydration, Hangover Cures, honey, olive oil, toxins

Constipation is an uncomfortable yet common condition that is not fun for anyone, but unfortunately can be a part of life. Constipation is often the result of a lack of fiber and roughage in the diet. To improve this problem simply take a close look at what you are eating on a regular basis and resolve to make fiber more a part of your daily eating routine.

Bran is one of the best foods to prevent constipation, and in particular rice bran. Bran needs water to work properly and vice versa so drink as much fluid as possible. You should aim for at least six to eight glasses of water on a daily basis. It is recommended that you do not bombard your digestive system with a tremendous amount of fiber right away but start adding a little bit of it gradually each day. The body needs time to adjust to the addition of fiber to the system, especially when you are not inclined to consume much at all. Fluid needs to accompany fiber because the fiber is likely to absorb a great deal and the fluid will then in turn be able to “bulk up” the bran that is being eaten.

Why this works so effectively at combating constipation is that bran has rough edges and it is these rough edges that serve to stimulate the nerve endings in the bowel to start working to eliminate waste and in particular to increase the work of the colon. Bran is also beneficial to increase the amount of bulk that makes up the stools.

Not everyone is aware of this and researchers have no idea why it works but hot coffee, whether it be decaffeinated or regular helps to treat constipation. If you are constipated uncommon awakening drink six ounces but make sure you do so on an empty stomach so drink the coffee before you eat your breakfast. The good aspect of this remedy is that it yields almost immediate results. It is surmised that it is a chemical that is found in the coffee that makes it work like a charm, however it is not believed to be caffeine that makes it work so well. For reasons that have researchers baffled, the coffee for constipation cure works more effectively for women than it does men.

Prunes and prune juice have long been used as a treatment for constipation. The amount that is required to help a person tends to vary with the individual situation. The worse your constipation is, the more prunes or prune juice you will need to consume. It is unclear why prunes are effective when it comes to relieving constipation. Some researchers believe it is the fiber that is found in the prunes why others attribute it to the extremely high levels of sorbitol found in them. For those who are not familiar with sorbitol, it is an indigestible sugar alcohol.

Take the time to do your research over the Internet or at the public library to find other possible treatments for constipation if it is an issue for you.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Food Cures.

---

Tags: bran, coffee, constipation, Fiber, Food Cures, prunes

Just as almost everyone has their favorite alcoholic drink, many people also have their favorite hangover cure. Here are some easy remedies that you can try to before or after drinking to prevent a hangover.

One idea is to eat a medium bag or two small bags of potato chips before going out drinking. Another option is to make a sandwich out of salami and butter on a baguette or ciabatta bread. The idea is that the fat and carbohydrates will help to absorb some of the alcohol.

Other people swear by not mixing drinks. If you start with beer, finish with beer. Do not mix different liquors. Mixing different alcohols can cause you to feel the effects sooner, increase your likelihood of a hangover, and, if you throw up, even decrease the effectiveness of your oral contraceptives.

The Native Americans ate raw almonds before drinking to reduce hangovers. Other people swear by a few spoonfuls of peanut butter. Again, the fat content may help prevent some of the alcohol from getting absorbed.

Drinking sports drinks can help hydrate you and replenish lost vitamins and minerals. If you drank so much that you are throwing up, this can be especially helpful. There is some thought that the taurine found in energy drinks can also help with hangovers and liver damage.

Going to bed dehydrated is a surefire recipe for a hangover the next day. Drink a couple of glasses of water before going to bed to help hydrate you and dilute the alcohol. This can help lessen the severity of the hangover in the morning.

Be wary of using any painkillers while there is still alcohol in your system. Some can cause kidney or liver problems when mixed with alcohol, and others can irritate your already tormented stomach further.

For the morning after, try pouring the juice of one lemon into a cup of black coffee. Drink straight up, without sugar or cream.

Chicken soup is thought to work on hangovers as well as it does on colds, so a bowl or two may help get you going in the morning.

Some people swear by honey. Take two tablespoons every half hour until you feel better.

Fruit is also popular. An apple a day may keep the hangover away, as well as the doctor. Or, try blending together three bananas with some milk and honey until smooth. It should settle your stomach and help you replenish nutrients.

All in all, the best home remedy for a hangover is don’t drink. But, if you must, drink responsibly, and avoid drinking to excess. Try to time your drinks so that you are not having more than one alcoholic drink per hour. And remember when it is time to call it a night - sometimes, the decisions you make when drunk are harder to live with the next morning than the hangover itself.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Hangover Cures.

---

Tags: almonds, chicken soup, coffee, dehydration, fruit, Hangover Cures, honey, potato chips, sports drinks

The morning after a night of heavy drinking, you may be sicker than you ever could have imagined. Despite the fact that alcohol has been around for thousands of years, few real remedies have been discovered. However, it seems that since humans love to imbibe, many interesting remedies have been created.

For instance, in the middle ages, raw eel was included in concoctions. Even today, remedies are slightly strange - for instance, at 3 AM when you should be sound asleep in your bed, you may stagger home for a cold shower and black coffee - and then wonder why you feel terrible in the morning. So, what remedies actually work? Here are some of the tried and true methods that you can give a try for yourself.

Hitting the local Starbucks or all night diners for a cup of black coffee has long been a standard “cure” for hangovers. While you will no longer be falling asleep drunk, you will still be drunk - just wide awake. Caffeine does not sober you up, though it may help your headache. However, it can also dehydrate you further and irritate your stomach, making you all the more miserable once it wears off.

One of the biggest mistakes is to drink coffee before trying to go to bed. Best case scenario it will disrupt your sleep - assuming you can get to sleep at all. If you need coffee to get your engine started in the morning, have a small cup. Otherwise, you may suffer from caffeine withdrawals on top of your hangover.

Of course, every good alcoholic will tell you that having a drink in the morning will help ward off the hangover. While this may help the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal your body experiences, it is only prolonging your suffering. Your body still has to process the alcohol from the night before, plus whatever new stuff you put in, and, unless you continue drinking yourself into oblivion, you will eventually have to deal with the after effects. All in all, a drink the next day is just going to put you further on the road to a drinking problem.

Some drinkers turn to natural remedies to solve their hangover issues. However, some people find the “cure” to be worse than the sickness. Milk thistle is often used for people suffering from liver problems, and can help improve liver function. Taking it may help your liver eliminate the toxins from the alcohol better. Gingerroot tea can help settle that nauseous stomach in the morning. Fresh fruit and vegetable juices can get nutrients into your body quickly and help get you hydrated again. Soup can also help to hydrate, and soothes the stomach as well as providing much needed nutrients.

Of course, there are always the hangover recipes that you can try out. Many of these are a mixture of alcohol, juice, and flavorings. Again, keep in mind that in most cases, drinking more alcohol will only prolong your pain and can lead to big problems down the road. At best, these recipes provide temporary relief.

Time is the only real cure for a hangover. So, if you are going to drink, make sure you schedule time to recover.

---

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more informaton on Hangover Cures.

---

Tags: caffeine, coffee, Hangover Cures, headache, natural remedies, sleep, starbucks