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Seems like the public has been brainwashed in the last several decades to think that digestive acids produced by the stomach are the root of digestive problems. Antacid tablets and liquids have been around for years. Now the latest supposed remedy for stomach problems is the “acid blockers” that have been advertised so heavily on television and in magazines. They have become one of the best-selling over-the-counter drug categories in history. Some of the advertisements even claim they can stop the production of stomach acid for up to 12 hours.

The question is, how will food get digested without stomach acid. The answer is, it won’t, which leads to three problems for people who use acid blockers. The problems get worse the longer ou use one of these drugs.

Firstly, proteins won’t be broken down properly and certain minerals won’t be absorbed, because they require stomach acid for this process. When these improperly digested substances reach the intestines, gas-forming bacteria multiply quicker than election-year promises, leading to a serious gas problem.

Secondly, low stomach acid eventually causes a protein deficiency. Your body then robs protein from joint surfaces and transports it to areas where it’s needed, leading to possible arthritis.

Thirdly, a lack of stomach acid also impairs the digestion and assimilation of calcium, which can result in many problems, including muscle cramps and osteoporosis.

There is a simple way to stop this problem and that is to eat the protein foods at the beginning of the meal. Most of us in this U.S. eat a salad as the first part of a meal. The carbohydrates that make up the salad require no hydrochloric acid for digestion. Nevertheless, the stomach dumps all the hydrochloric acid in to begin with. Then when the protein food (meat, fish, beans, cheese, etc.) needs the acid, there’s none left. So always eat the vegetable salad either with the protein food (with meal) or after, but not before.

If this is still not enough to stop the problem, you may need to help your stomach out by taking some hydrochloric acid in the form of betaine hydrochloride tablets. One really important point to remember here is to take one or two tablets after you eat. Whatever you do, don’t take them before or during the meal, which will shut off your natural acid production. Instead, you want your stomach to produce and secrete as much acid as it can first, then you can add the additional acid needed.

Once your digestive tract is re-acidified, the next step in improving your digestion is to provide a proper digestive enzyme. Many supplements are available so you should not have any trouble finding one but remember a good product will include acids and enzymes very similar to the ones produced by the stomach. You want to look for pepsin and betaine hydrochloride on the label. It should also include enzymes commonly produced by the pancreas, as well as the enzymes present in bile from the gallbladder.

An all-purpose digestive enzyme is bromelain. It’s a combination of protein-digesting enzymes that come from the and stems of the pineapple. When taken shortly after a meal, bromelain can relieve an upset stomach or heartburn. In addition, brmelain is an effective anti-inflammatory.The German Commission E (Germany’s equivalent to the U.S. FDA) has approved it for healing after surgery or injury. It can reduce swelling, bruising, pain and improve healing time.

Resources: Joni Bell wants you to be healthy and is a proponent of natural supplements and good nutrition is what our bodies need today more than ever. Health is Wealth

There are hundreds of different types of cancer. The odds of getting some type of cancer at some point during your lifetime are relatively high especially considering what scientists tell us. They tell us that our bodies are continually making cancerous cells. That’s pretty scary, isn’t it? Well, there is a way to prevent those cancerous cells from ever developing into cancer. a way to destroy those cells before they have a chance to do any harm. It involves the use of apricot seeds.

Normally our immune systems can deal with the cancerous cells that our bodies are producing, scientists say. However, what if yours cannot? That means you will develop some type of cancer. So, perhaps you should try taking apricot seeds as a method of cancer prevention just in case.

Now, before you head off to your local health foods store or nutrition store and grab whatever bag of apricot seeds you can find, there are a few things you need to know. Generally, when you think about any type of food supplement, vitamin, or nutritional enhancement, you probably think about heading to your local health food store. After all, these types of stores more often than not carry all types of nutritional foods, vitamin supplements, and other varieties of healthy items that are not routinely sold at regular drugstores or grocery stores.

However, not everything can be found at your local health food store. For example, if you are trying to follow a cancer preventing regimen of eating apricot seeds, you will not be able to find the correct product for your regimen at any local store. First and foremost, the apricot seeds you would find at your local store are not the type of seeds you could use for cancer prevention.

Health food stores carry either sun-dried or roasted apricot kernels. While these may have nutritive benefits, they do not have any type of cancer preventive properties. Instead, you need raw apricot seeds. The cancer prevention properties of apricot seeds have not been proven by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In fact, the FDA does not agree that apricot seeds work to prevent cancer at all. They do not allow health food stores to sell raw apricot seeds. Well, it isn’t completely disallowed; however, stores may not indicate in any way that they are selling the raw apricot seeds as a method of cancer prevention. For example, stores cannot even display the seeds anywhere near books that claim that apricot seeds could be used as a method of preventing cancer. If they do so, the FDA can prosecute.

The FDA has no problems with stores selling roasted or sun-dried apricot seeds, though. These do not have any type of cancer preventative properties. Internet laws, however, are different.

This is why people are able to purchase the raw seeds over the internet and raw is the way to go. The seeds can be purchased in quantities of a pound all the way up to fifty pounds and they are not expensive. One pound should last a person for a couple of months because you only have to eat a few per day.

Raw apricot seeds have a special construction that allows them to destroy cancerous cells in the process of roasting the seeds or sun-drying the seeds, this special construction is, itself, destroyed. Roasted and sun-dried seeds do not have the component that is necessary to destroy the cancer cells.

Raw seeds are comprised of amygdalin. Amygdalin has cyanide locked away that only cancer cells can unlock. When the amygdalin comes into contact with a cancer cell, the cyanide comes and destroys the cell. It is this component that the roasted and sun-dried apricot seeds are lacking.

Amygdalin is also called B17. In its extracted, pure form it is also known as laetrile. Laetrile has been used to treat cancer sufferers in some cancer clinics.

Raw apricot seeds have are similar looking to an almond and have a unique taste unlike any other nut. They are little bitter tasting but their nutrient value outweighs the taste. The seeds can also be ground up and used on salads, soups, yogurt, as a seasoning on number of foods, in your favorite smoothie, etc. They can also be eaten along with other nuts (highly suggest all nuts be raw), I particularly like eating them with raw walnuts.

I have been eating raw apricot seeds for quite some time and wish I would have known about them sooner. There is some controversy from certain sources but have to consider the source and the motive. Would highly suggest incorporating apricot seeds in your diet.

Resources: Joni Bell has many years of extensive study in the area of natural cancer prevention and treatment. Find out more by visiting No Quack Zone

So what are some of the things besides sugars that you should avoid? First there is alcohol and then some food groups. Alcohol always gets the instant blame in these groups and it can be a major contender for the top of the list. However, most people realize that alcohol is a huge “no-no” in the fight to shed pounds fast. The focus here is on the food items you can avoid to help cut the body fat out and actually to shed pounds fast.

The first thing you should know is don’t worry, most likely you won’t have to stop eating everything you like in order to shed pounds. Sadly though, there are several things most people like that should be at least drastically reduced. The major problem areas in a nutshell are white flour items, and foods with refined sugar. These go counter to your fight to shed pounds fast.

The white flour used to make food causes such items as bread to be quickly digested into sugars. These extra sugars then overwhelm the body and are quickly turned into glucose. The body suddenly has excess glucose and no need for extra energy to burn it off which will not help you shed pounds fast or at all.

Keep in mind with white flour this entire process can happen in four to six minutes and that will not help to lose body fat. The body has excess glucose and thus excess energy and there is no sign of a need to burn it off anytime soon. The result is the body decides to store these items. You can imagine where they get stored. The body determines that the best storage area, and the most accessible when it needs energy, is the belly and goes against your fight to shed pounds fast. The body ends up stockpiling fat into the belly just in case that energy is needed later and so you don’t shed pounds, rather you gain them.

If white flour is converted into sugar and then the excess sugar becomes glucose, you can imagine what happens with refined sugars. The process of converting these into sugars is already done before it enters the body. The result is excess sugar converted to glucose and you know from the above what happens to that and where it is stored and that you are not going to win the fight to shed pounds fast.

The foods that make up these two dangerous food lists can be extensive and go counter to your fight to shed pounds. The list is endless, starting with bread, of things made with white flour and so you don’t lose body fat. Looking at the things made with refined sugars gets a little closer to home for most people. The list starts something like this: cookies, cake, candy bars, donuts, candy in general, chocolate, and on it goes.

You do not have to drop all this food out of your diet, but with all things remember the saying about drinking alcohol in moderation should also apply to white flour items and refined sugar items (in moderation). The list seems to keep expanding and not be geared to shed pounds fast. Each day is a struggle to avoid these and try to lose body fat.

You might try some of the great weight loss programs to help you shed pounds fast. Each of them works well when you work it. Stay consistent and you will win in your goal to shed pounds.

Resources: Carolyn Ekenstam has a love of the items mentioned above and does well when she avoids them and then she can shed pounds fast. She has struggled all her life with her weight and is winning the battle and wants to share her knowledge.

Junk food is not the be all and end all when it comes to taste. It is food that has been processed to the extreme and is now an American way of life. It is a common term used for any food item that is perceived to be unhealthy and has low or poor nutritional value.

Generally, a junk food is given a very attractive appearance by adding food additives and colors to enhance flavor, texture, appearance, and increasing long self life. Of course, it is also readily available at restaurant chains across the country in the form of French fries, chicken nuggets, shakes, soda, etc.

However there is an organization called “Parents Against Junk Food” which is a nonprofit organization with a simple mission: Stop the Sale of Junk Food in America’s Schools.

It is widely believed that junk food does not contain the essential fatty acids that the body requires to keep its largest organ, the skin, healthy. It is recommended that food supplements in the form of vitamins should be taken daily if the habit cannot be broken.

The body will also be lacking in proteins, fiber and other nutrients required for a healthy diet, and the consumption of products considered junk food has been associated with many health problems including obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and dental cavities.

Similarly, breakfast cereals are often regarded as healthy but may have high levels of sugar, salt and fat. The offspring of rats fed fatty, processed food had high levels of fat in their bloodstream and around major organs even after adolescence.

Nutritionists, doctors, and other health advocates often work to educate people about junk food, encouraging them to eat well balanced diets which contain a high proportion of healthy foods. These professionals almost unanimously hold the view that there are no good foods and bad foods, only good diets and bad diets.

The number of obese or overweight children in Britain aged between two and 15 has risen to about 30% in recent years. Changing your diet and taking exercise is a step in the right direction and as you replace fat with muscle, your clothes will become looser and your body firmer, but your weight may not change (muscle weighs more). In fact, the needle on the weight scale might not turn at all, but the heads of friends probably will. To lose weight, you’ve got to junk that junk food.

We all know that junk food is cheap and easy compared to quality raw materials (fresh veggies, organic meat, milk, fruit). For better or for worse (mostly worse), junk food is now available all over the world.

Apart for obesity, the other huge effect that bad eating habits bring on is skin rashes, eczema and psoriasis. It is reported that 25% of children under the age of five now suffer from eczema compared with less than 3% 50 years ago before junk food was so prevalent.

To combat these skin problems one of the latest discoveries is that the natural oil found in crocodile fat heals most forms of eczema in children within a few weeks. However is it not easy to get hold of and few pharmacies stock it.

The answer of course is to change your diet as junk food equals junk skin.

Resources: John Sweet has researched skin problems and discovered that many can be healed naturally with crocodile oil, visit http://www.crocodileoil.com for more information

Is a cheap faucet water filter really a good investment? There are a variety of faucet water filters on the market and while the initial low price may be appealing, you will find that the cost of use for products like PUR and Brita is twice that of some of the other brands.

Of course, you don’t need to pay a fortune for a faucet water filter, either. The under the counter brands that cost the most include a reverse osmosis step, which is totally unnecessary. With submicron filtration, you can accomplish the same thing for a fraction of the cost.

Experts ranging from the US Environmental Protection Agency to the Environmental Working Group are suggesting faucet water filters. Although the EPA limits their recommendation to at-risk individuals concerned about cyst contamination. Let me tell you something about cysts.

When we first moved in to our new home and for several years thereafter, we drank tap-water and gave it to our dog. That was before I learned about cysts.

I started having recurring stomach problems, highlighted by bouts of diarrhea. Our dog had the same kind of stomach problems and neither of us had been sick before moving in. I started trying to figure out the cause and that is when I learned through a report from the University of Cincinnati that there are cysts in the public supply around here.

We installed faucet water filters around the house and our stomach ailments have cleared up. You see, cysts are parasites in an early stage of development and they are resistant to chlorine and other chemical disinfectants.

The EPA recommends a faucet water filter, for at-risk individuals, because any supply and even bottle brands can be contaminated with cysts. Personally, I recommend faucet water filters for everyone that doesn’t want chronic stomach problems, but children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems can die from an infection. One of the most famous outbreaks occurred in Milwaukee and nearly a hundred people died.

You need to look for a product that is a certified sub-micron filtration device. In addition, there are a couple of other certifications to look for.

Chlorination releases byproducts known as THMs or trihalomethanes. They cause cancer. There is a growing mountain of research indicating that the levels we are commonly exposed to in the home double the lifetime risk of bladder cancer.

A cheap faucet water filter will not remove THMs. Granular carbon removes chlorine, but other filtering media are needed to remove THMs. I have only found two under the counter units on the market that remove everything that we know is in our water. One costs nearly $800, because it includes a reverse osmosis step.

The other costs less than $150, as it relies on submicron particle filtration for cysts removal. Compare performance data on faucet water filters before you buy. People have been dissatisfied when they bought a faucet water filter and found out later that it was not a purifier. For your satisfaction, it is best to think ahead.

Resources: Stop drinking contaminated water. Find out which water purifiers gives you the safest healthiest water in your home

I can’t seem to quite fathom all of the excitement over these home reverse osmosis water units. I think that it is possibly because people typically don’t fully understand how reverse osmosis systems really work. Let me help you to get a better grasp on whether or not one of these filters is really right for you.

I can pretty much tell you right now that unless you’ve inherited farmland, or have recently purchased a cabin in the mountains that the odds of you benefiting from the purchase of any of the various reverse osmosis water units is pretty slim. Virtually everyone has access to service by a water treatment facility.

The well intentioned people at your local water treatment plant use equipment that give you all of the advantages of home reverse osmosis systems, only on a larger scale. They are attempting to provide you with all of the quality that they possibly can. So, why is the water that they have treated still not safe to drink?

It’s not safe to drink because reverse osmosis water units, even on a factory scale, are simply not designed in such a way as to allow them to handle the various types of contaminants that are present in our water supply sources today. They are merely glorified particle removers, not water purifiers.

The original reverse osmosis systemes were designed primarily for the purpose of providing industrial plants that had a requirement for it with de-mineralized water. For instance they were used to prevent mineral buildup in expensive water boilers in order to prevent breakdowns and costly repairs.

It was originally introduced as a water purification system in the late 19th century, and did an adequate job of protecting the people from the waterborne diseases that were taking many lives at the time, but something more was needed if these reverse osmosis water units were going to truly protect the people.

Things all change for reverse osmosis water units in Chicago, Illinois in the year 1908, when chlorine disinfection was introduced to water treatment as a way to further stave off the parasites and bacteria that were causing an overwhelming number of deaths. Now though, we had chlorine to deal with.

Chlorine in its liquefied state could not be stopped from flowing into the homes of the average citizen by the reverse osmosis systems, because they are only designed to block particle contaminants. The units allow water and everything else of equal or lesser weight and consistency through.

This clearly shows you that reverse osmosis water units are simply not qualified to protect your family from the thousands of liquid chemical contaminants that now lurk in our waters. You will need to find an alternative method to reverse osmosis systemes if you are going to keep these impurities out of the drinking glasses of your children.

The technology can be found in many home water purification systems to effectively protect your family from these poisons. So, I advise you to look at these as far superior options. Reverse osmosis water units are simply not the answer to your contamination problem

Resources: Stop drinking contaminated water. Find out which water purifiers gives you the safest healthiest water in your home.