Tuesday, March 26, 2013

How to Have a Healthy Brain: Eat These Brain Foods

If you suffer from "brain farts," "brain fog," or other possible signs of poor brain health, then you'll want to know about the brain foods we discuss in this article. The fact of the matter is that you can literally eat your way to a better brain. This is important for all the obvious reasons, such as the fact that we literally can't do anything without our brains. However, did you also know that your brain is the most energy and nutrient-hungry organ in your body? Yup, it's an energy and nutrient hog. So you definitely need to feed your brain if you want a healthy brain.

But--and here's the kicker--your brain is not only a hog when it comes to nutrients, but it's also quite picky as to which nutrients it allows in past the "blood brain barrier." Only certain types of nutrients can get past the barrier to your brain, so feeding your brain with healthy brain foods can be slightly more complicated than you might think. But, don't stress your brain worrying about this. We will explain it all in clear detail below.

Get a Healthy Brain by Feeding It Brain Foods
The sad fact is that most Americans are starving their brain cells because they eat a SAD diet--that is, the Standard American Diet. The SAD diet lacks almost all the nutrients necessary to feed your brain! So how do you feed your brain? Before we can tell you that, we have to explain about the blood brain barrier, or BBB.

The BBB is just what is sounds like--a barrier that restricts which types of molecules can pass through and reach your brain. In layman's terms, the BBB basically only allows very small molecules (such as oxygen, hormones, carbon dioxide) to pass through. Other types of small molecules, such as glucose, can also pass through the BBB, but they have to first be paired with the appropriate proteins before they will be allowed to pass. As you can see, trying to feed your brain with the right brain foods that will pass through the BBB is a little more complicated than you might have thought at first.

What Kinds of Brain Foods Really Feed Your Brain?
Your brain has several types of "preferred" foods, namely glucose, essential fatty acids, and certain amino acids. Let's take a closer look at each of these.

Glucose
Glucose is basically sugar. It's not table sugar, but the sugars that your body extracts from digesting simple and complex carbohydrates. Best food sources for glucose include whole grains, complex carbohydrates, AFA blue-green algae, dark chocolate, and, in a pinch, a glass of juice. Skip the simple sugars found in candy bars because you will experience a brain crash after getting a temporary brain high from eating said candy bar!

Essential Fatty Acids
Did you know that "fat brains" are happy brains? It turn out that our brains are made up of about 60% fat, so our brains are always starving for essential fatty acids like omega-3. To get essential fatty acids to your brain, feed yourself brain foods like seeds and nuts, avocados, AFA blue-green algae, and deep water fish.

Amino Acids
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, which your brain needs to function well. Your brain needs a variety of different amino acids to be well-fed. These amino acids include glutamine, GABA, isoleucine, phenylalanine, arginine, taurine, methionine, valine, lysine, glycine, leucine, alanine, and histidine. While you can certainly supplement these separately with capsules, it's much easier to eat healthy whole foods. These healthy brain foods are no different than the foods you would find on any healthy lifestyle diet plan: fruits and vegetables, plenty of unsaturated oils (olive oil is a good choice), and a variety of whole grains.

Dine well on brain foods and you will not only have a sharper mind, but you will also feel better. A healthy brain produces better moods, as scientific studies have recently indicated. A healthy brain is crucial no matter what kind of lifestyle you have or what levels of stress you cope with in your life. So eat right, rest well, and enjoy!


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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Healthy Aging: How to Help Your Aging Teeth

A big part of healthy aging is keeping your aging teeth healthy. After all, if you can't chew your food well, you can't live a healthy lifestyle and achieve everything you want to … like learning to water-ski at age 99 (and there is a man who does water ski at age 99 -- look it up in a past issue of National Geographic)! While many adults are under the misconception that they no longer have to worry about cavities as they age, they are operating under a misunderstanding. The fact is that aging teeth are more susceptible to damage, such as cavities, as time passes.

Other signs of aging teeth include:
  • cavities in the tooth root (due to gum erosion)
  • sensitivity to hot or cold
  • oral cancer
  • bone loss
  • receding gums
  • loose teeth
Healthy Aging Tips for Your Aging Teeth
Don't let the list of symptoms above scare you! Aging happens to all of us, whether we want it to or not. At the same time, there are practical steps you can take to support your aging teeth and keep them healthy as long as possible. In addition to visiting your dentist every six months, check out these natural solutions that support not just the health of your teeth, but your overall health as well! We are not kidding.

For instance, according to the American Academy of Periodontology, people who have periodontal disease are almost twice as likely to have heart disease. From the perspective of Traditional Chinese Medicine, this isn't surprising since the heart governs gum health, and the tongue is considered the "root of the heart." So oral and heart health are obviously related. Therefore, by supporting your oral health you will also be supporting your heart health!

Tip #1: Prevent Acid Erosion
If you eat a lot of sugary or starchy foods, or drink carbonated beverages, then you are setting up your aging teeth for acid erosion. These types of foods and beverages tend to cause the bacteria in your mouth to produce acid, which in turn eats away at the enamel of your teeth. Once the enamel on your teeth becomes thin or pitted, tooth decay starts to occur. Not good. How do you prevent this process from happening? Try these simple tips:
  • avoid sugary or starchy foods and carbonated beverages if possible
  • brush and floss at least twice daily (but wait 30 minutes if you have just eaten acidic food)
  • avoid snacking all day long, which causes mouth acid to remain high all day
  • if you can't brush and floss for a while, swish with water and chew sugar free gum
  • swish with mouthwash or chew gum with xylitol -- the bacteria in your mouth thinks xylitol is food and will focus on that rather than attacking your teeth
Tip #2: Support Gum and Heart Health
Did you know that the tissues of your gum and the tissues of your heart are very similar? That's why heart and gum health are so closely related. What's more, both your heart and your gums benefit from supplementation of an enzyme called co-enzyme Q10, of CoQ10 for short. CoQ10 is not only key to cellular health and energy production, but is extremely supportive of heart health and immunity. For instance, multiple studies have revealed that supplementation of CoQ10 has remarkable results on cardiovascular health, immunity, and rejuvenation of energy-producing processes.

Supplementation with CoQ10 is especially important for healthy aging, since our bodies reduce production of CoQ10 as we age. Taking extra Q10 is also important because a stressful lifestyle can deplete our natural supplies of CoQ10. In addition, most manufacturing processes (such as the refinement of grains) remove most of the CoQ10 that naturally occurs in the foods we eat. So if you want to support your gum and heart health, add CoQ10 to your daily regimen. Studies also show that omega-3 fatty acids can support gum health, and eating foods high in omega-3's (such as AFA blue-green algae and leafy greens) can reduce gum inflammation.

Tip #3: Prevent Dry Mouth
One of the biggest signs of aging is dry mouth. Dry mouth is often caused by certain medications. In fact, there are at least 800 known medications often taken by mature adults that list "dry mouth" as a side effect. Dry mouth can really harm aging teeth because of the reduction of the flow of saliva in the mouth. A healthy flow of saliva helps keep your teeth clean and also neutralizes mouth acid. To prevent dry mouth, chew sugarless gum (especially those fortified with xylitol) or swish with a mouthwash created specifically to prevent dry mouth.

There you have it … three simple natural solutions to support aging teeth so you can continue on the path of healthy aging. You can't stop time, but by taking practical steps to ensure oral health you can slow the effects of time on your body!


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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

What is Indigestion and How to Avoid the Embarrassment and Discomfort

What is indigestion, really? Well, if you want the medical definition, here's what WebMD has to say about the topic:

"... indigestion is a term used to describe a feeling of fullness or discomfort during or after a meal."

What is Indigestion in Your Terms?
If you want to translate that into layman's terms, just think of symptoms like gas, stomach bloating, constipation, diarrhea, burping and acid reflux, and a general sense of discomfort in your digestive tract. You know the feeling ...

What's worse than the feeling of indigestion, which is bad enough, is suffering through indigestion in public. Whether you are at a dinner party or simply suffering from gas at the office after a "gut bomb" lunch, indigestion can range from uncomfortable to downright embarrassing! Luckily, there are quite a few common sense steps you can take to relieve those icky indigestion symptoms, such as stomach bloating.

Let's take a look at each symptom and see if we can't figure out the answer to the question, "What is indigestion?" in each case.

Stomach Bloating
Stomach bloating is really a sign that your stomach isn't properly digesting the food you just ate. As a result, instead of your lunch being properly digested and pushed through to the next stage of digestion, the food just sits in your stomach ... rotting, really, and generating a lot of uncomfortable gas that causes the bloating. Acid reflux and burping usually also originate from the stomach, and like stomach bloating, are a sign that the food in your stomach isn't headed in the right direction.

What can you do to "speed things along"? Some people have low stomach acid, believe it or not, and need to take supplemental Betaine HCL (available at your local health food store). Others need additional enzymes. Read how enzymes can help with stomach bloating problems during the digestive process.

Constipation
At the other end of the digestive system, there is constipation, or the inability to have regular bowel movements. Constipation can make you feel full and uncomfortable all the time, and is a signal that you have too little water in your digestive tract. Too little liquid in the digestive tract means that partially digested food gets stuck, unable to exit your digestive system. There are multiple natural solutions for constipation. Read this article for more details and simple solutions.

Diarrhea
The opposite of constipation is diarrhea, in which the digestive tract has too much liquid and bowels are runny. This condition could have you running for the bathroom often (and praying all the way that you don't have an accident). As with constipation, diarrhea is an indicator that your digestive tract is out of balance. Similarly, you can also use simple natural solutions to relieve this symptom of indigestion. Check out the details here.

Gas
Now if there is one symptom of indigestion that is truly embarrassing, it's gas. Not only is intestinal gas smelly, but if you are unable to pass gas you feel very uncomfortable. Either way, digestive gas is a complication that you definitely want to avoid. Read this article to find out how to avoid gas and how to cope with gas if you've got it!

Hopefully you now have a better idea of the answer to the question, "What is indigestion?" More importantly, the natural solutions suggested above should help you avoid the embarrassment of coping with the symptoms of poor digestion, like stomach bloating, gas, constipation and others. None of these solutions is difficult to implement or expensive ... you just have to be prepared!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out the free health resources or order blue-green algae products at wholesale prices on our website.