When Digestion Becomes an Issue


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Expert Author Josef Bichler
It's been estimated eight out of ten people have a digestive issue and in many cases effecting women even worse than men. This indicates that digestive issues and food intolerance are on the rise. The most common symptoms are bloating, diarrhea, cramping and gas. And where does it come from, or what is the cause of it?
Yes, it has a lot to do with of what we eat! We become more sensitive at a certain age of what and when we eat.
What is the cause of it?
After eating certain foods or a big meal you can feel discomfort, bloated and gas. Some of the culprits are in milk, dairy products, wheat, gluten, some alcohol and too much coffee. Over eating can also trigger digestions, as well as to many pastries, white bread and processed food. One of the most common food sensitivities is lactose intolerance, or also being sensitive to dairy products, and stress could be included in this as well. Without sufficient enzymes to break down our food big chunks of food can go through our system unprocessed. That means nutrients are not absorbed properly and resulting in food sensitivity, digestive discomfort, bloating and gas.
How does it affect my body and health!
Bloating is a constant companion; you are feeling tired, run down and inactive. Some people are experiencing skin break outs, rashes etc. Your digestive system feels sluggish, distressed like your immune system is under siege. Irritable bowel syndrome can make you experience alternating diarrhoea and constipation, abdominal pain and bloating.
Our digestive system is an important function to every part of our body. Therefore stress and anxiety can have a serious effect on the health of our digestion. If all this stays unchecked and continues your waistband will also increase and those extra kilos or pounds will add to the problem.
Solution to digestion!
Detoxification is one of the best solutions to any digestion problems. Our body naturally detoxifies to remove toxins, although this process is the result of poor food and lifestyle choices. By detoxifying your body the benefits you'll find are enormous. This as simple as changing your food over three to four days and include some exercise. The benefit of clearing out those toxins gives you more energy, the skin will improve and you get relief from bloating and gas discomfort of the digestive system. For a healthy wellbeing and immunity being upset by lifestyle factors we need the good bacteria to balance our digestive system.
Look for herbal and nutritional supplements to help with symptoms that include curcumin, slippery elm, globe artichoke, peppermint, glutamine, lemon palm and chamomile. Research also indicates that taking a probiotic every day can help your immune system to balance the good and bad bacteria. It is also preferable to take a digestive enzyme to help break down foods we eat every day.
During detoxifying it is advisable to include lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, herbal and green teas. Chose organic foods when ever possible and lean protein such as fish. Using a good natural supplement with all its nutrients will help and benefit all of this. No matter what your digestive concern is, by taking some simple steps you will be free of those nasty symptoms and enjoy life and the food you eat.
For more follow - up information, for better food choices, and changes you can make, just follow the link, info is free.
Josef Bichler has a passion for wellness and showing others how to live healthy lives. He has helped countless others achieve their health objectives and detoxify their body through understanding the benefits of eating healthy and avoiding the culprits that affect our health. For more information on Josef and how he can help you live a healthy and pain free life, visit his site at http://josefbichler.com/free

Releasing the Guilt Factor in Overeating - Six Steps to a Healthier You


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Expert Author Michelle Morand
I want to share a tool I discovered to deal with the guilt I felt about eating. But, before I do, I must digress for a moment and ask you if you have ever been a relationship with a person that commits to doing something and then does not follow through. If you have, then you know that your relationship with that person weakens because with each breach of commitment, it indicates that they cannot be trusted. We are inclined to ask ourselves to overlook "small" things and not to be "too sensitive" or "needy" or "demanding". We force ourselves to detach from our own authentic self and his or her appropriate feelings. We align more with the untrustworthy person than we do with ourselves.
What message do you think this sends us about our perception of our own worth and about our perception of the validity our feelings? Well, it simply reinforces that old story about you not being good enough or deserving enough of honesty and integrity in your relationships on all levels. It sets you up to expect relationships to lack follow through and to force yourself to accept less than you deserve and need in the way of trustworthiness.
I want to make you aware of the feeling you get when someone breaks a commitment, regardless of how small or large it is. It is the same feeling each time you tell yourself that you are going to eat a certain thing or not eat a certain thing, or that you are going to eat only a certain amount or only at a certain time and you don't follow through on that commitment. You are breaching your own trust in yourself, undermining your own self-esteem and sense of safety within you.
Wait until you've done the deed and then belittle and berate yourself for hours maybe even days until you believe you've worked those extra calories off. Similar to what you might do when someone who breaks a commitment to you. I'm not saying that it's okay to berate someone for not following through - nor is it okay for anyone to berate you for the same - there are many effective and relationship enhancing ways to speak to violations of trust and to set about the process of restoring the faith.
But, since many of us haven't been shown these life enhancing ways of communicating, we are left with the old standards of anger, guilt and withdrawal. Either we rage at the other openly or passively; or we guilt trip; or we withdraw ourselves emotionally to make the point that we are wounded and feel unsafe. Again, neither is truly effective in resolving the underlying issue of trust with someone else or with ourselves.
To bring the focus back to food - if you're going to commit to something around what you're eating, when, how much and where, make sure it's a commitment that you can keep. Make sure that it's not coming from the diet mentality and that it's not all or nothing nor should it be about losing weight. The focus needs to be not on what you weigh but how you came to weigh what you do. Decide what life enhancing, balanced and self-respecting measures you are going to incorporate into your day to day existence to attend to the underlying cause of your current weight and body image concerns.
With that focus the weight takes care of itself. With the diet mentality focus your body cannot find its own natural rhythm because you do not trust it to know what it needs and you are not listening to cues about hunger and fullness. If you were you would not need a "diet" you would only need to listen and respond to sensations of hunger and fullness, otherwise known as Natural Eating.
Let's go back to the guilt factor. If you're feeling guilty about what you've eaten or what you're going to eat it's only because you perceive yourself as breaking a commitment to yourself and you've just diminished your trust in yourself. The solution is simple, and it's exactly the same solution you would ideally bring to bear if someone in your life were demonstrating a lack of respect and trustworthiness.
First and foremost, you only make commitments that you're certain you can keep. In other words if you've been promising yourself every Monday for a year that "this week will be different" and it hasn't been so, you may want to make a commitment this Monday to find out what's preventing you from following through, rather than committing yet again to a pattern of behaviour that you've proven is too challenging right now.
Second, you prioritize your life in such a way that you are creating the greatest likelihood and ease of following through. For example, if you want to take a healthy lunch to work you need to decide whether you're going to lounge in bed those extra ten minutes or get up and prepare something to take for lunch.
Third, if you see yourself not following through one day, stop and ask yourself what experience or thought has led you to set aside your commitment.
Fourth, remind yourself of the cost of these broken commitments to yourself: they keep you stuck in low self-esteem and mistrusting yourself in all areas, not just in the one area that you've compromised yourself.
Fifth, once you know what undermined your commitment ask yourself: "Is it appropriate for me to expect this of myself at this time given that I am having a hard time following through? Might I need to relax my expectations a bit so that I can begin to see some consistent follow through and build trust in myself?"
Sixth, make a new commitment that is truly realistic; i.e. rather than "every day for the next month I will... " how about "two times this week I will... " Then at the end of that week when you see that you followed through you will also be able to determine how much time that commitment took and if you really do have time to do it a third day the next week or perhaps need to just keep it at twice for now.
You will feel much better making commitments you can keep rather than commitments you'd like to keep but can't right now. Take the time over the next while to discover what is truly reasonable and realistic to expect of you. Allow yourself to take a long term approach to resolving this issue, whatever it may be, and reassure yourself that as long as you see consistent movement forward you are far better off than the all or nothing approach.
If you would like to learn more about eating disorders, you can visit our website at http://www.cedriccentre.com to learn how you can cope with your relationship with food.

How to Not Overeat?


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When you have sumptuous foods in front of you, everyone tends to overeat, which is quite understandable. However, overeating can create many health issues, and you may also become a butt of everyone's jokes, because of your overeating habits, especially if you belch in front of everyone. It can be a cause of social embarrassment. Do you know the other disadvantages of overeating? You will be a victim of physical and emotional problems. You will face obesity problems, frustration, as well as confusion on how to stop overeating coupled with your love for food!
Overeating tends to occur when people eat fast, and because they want to remain in touch with everyone on the table, they tend to eat more. You need to train your mind not to eat fast, so that you will not be able to overeat. Chew slowly, take smaller bites and enjoy your food. Make sure that you use smaller plates and spoons, so that it feels as if you have had more helpings even if you wouldn't have had them. Make sure that if you are using larger plates, then decrease your portions. Sit down in environment, which is warm for you. In presence of such an environment, your metabolism slows down, which ensures that you actually end up consuming less food. If you really want to eat more, especially when you are dining out, stick to appetizers, which are low in fat.
Make sure you consume such items in the main course, which are not too fatty. Make sure that you choose those kinds of foods generally at home, which includes fruits, vegetables, whole grain. Avoid empty calories, which include chips, and white flour, which do not provide you with energy, but just add to overheating. Try eating those kinds of foods, which are rich in fiber, because they tend to fill you more and for longer periods of time. Make sure that you do not eat after very long times, because this tends to increase your hunger. Eat every four hours, but make sure that this is simply not empty calories. Eat healthy food, such as perhaps an apple, or a banana, or some nuts. Make sure you have a good breakfast, so it keeps your energy level high at all times.
You need to ensure that overeating does not become a habit of yours. It can lead to food poisoning at times, and ultimately diarrhea, as well. It can lead to cardiovascular problems. It can often lead to stomach acidity. Therefore, overeating is a problem, which needs to be tackled effectively.

Trust Yourself - Eat Naturally


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Expert Author Catrina Bengree
When I first learnt to eat naturally 16 years ago, it took a huge leap of faith. After 20 years of yoyo dieting, deprivation and food obsession, culminating in depression and bulimia, I definitely didn't trust myself to simply let go and be led by my own body. But eventually, I realised that I had tried everything else, I was sick of fighting myself and there had to be a better way. The fact that Natural Eating seemed positive and empowering and I was being taught by caring, giving people that had been on similar journeys to my own, finally gave me the courage to try it.
It is often terrifying to try something new, but there was something about this eating process that enabled me to trust myself and follow my instincts. The four principles it is based on are simple, easy to follow and commonsense. Food is finally put in perspective. Food is not good or bad, it is just food. We do not have to feel guilty for wanting to enjoy our favourite foods and once we truly understand that we will no longer overindulge on them.
The key is to be totally present when you eat, so you can concentrate on eating what you truly want when you are actually hungry. In this way you are eating with awareness and not simply out of habit. If you really concentrate while you are eating, you will notice when your body has had enough and stop at that point, rather than when the plate is empty. In my experience most people simply eat too much food at one time and generally because they are unable to notice when they are satisfied. This happens for a number of reasons. They could be:
  • Eating what they should, instead of what they want
  • Eating when they aren't actually hungry, generally for comfort
  • Doing something else while eating
  • Concentrating solely on the taste
  • Eating too quickly
  • Sneak eating
The third principle in the Natural Eating process shows you how to stop when you are satisfied, not when you are full and there is a huge difference in the two.
By learning to eat naturally you will discover a positive and empowering way to eat which is completely natural and enables you to trust your body completely. In fact you won't even think about food unless you are actually hungry. This is because once you learn to eat naturally, you can't go back to how you were eating before because your body simply won't let you. As it is a natural process your body and mind will be in total harmony and you will have total peace of mind around food and body image forever.
I am a Natural Eating Consultant, wife and mother who has recovered from 6 years of depression and bulimia. In 1996 I was introduced to Natural Eating which together with personal development, allowed me to learn to love and trust myself enough to make a full recovery. Previously, I'd had weight and food related issues for over 20 years. For a FREE copy of my e-book entitled "Empower yourself by eating what you want" please click the following link http://www.weightlossandpersonalgrowth.com/Home.html