7 Foods that help to Relieve Snoring.

1. Soy milk, almond milk, rice milk

Any milk that’s not from a cow, really. Cow’s milk encourages snoring in people sensitive to lactose. Certain proteins in cow’s milk cause mild to strong allergic reactions, resulting in congestion that closes the nasal passages and, in some people, gastrointestinal discomfort. Cow’s milk also increases mucous in the mouth, another cause of snoring. Almond milk is a healthy alternative, and keeps much longer.

 2. Honey

 

A gift from the bees, honey has long been regarded as a superfood (royal jelly, what the queen bee is fed, is one of the richest naturally occurring substances on earth). Besides sweetening your tea, honey is anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial. It’s been used to clean wounds and calm swelling for over five thousand years. Honey makes the swelling in the throat calm down; put some in a cup of chamomile tea before bed and you’ll sleep more soundly and quietly.

3. Fish or chicken

In other words, not red meat. Red meat is an inflammatory food; its saturated fats cause minor spasms in the arteries. Official research hasn’t been able to explain why red meat particularly inflames the nasal passages, but popular wisdom confirms this. Give it a try—cut back on red meat for a few weeks, and see if your snoring subsides. Beyond this, a diet heavy in red meat is fattening, and excess fat under the chin is a leading cause of crowding in the mouth and thus, snoring.

4. Tea

Green tea before bed is a good idea for a lot of reasons. It calms the nerves, offers a good dose of antioxidants, and it also decreases congestion and phlegm. All hot teas reduce congestion; mint tea is considered the most effective for this purpose. Less congestion.

 5. Olive oil, almond oil, and other unsaturated oils

Saturated oils (butter, lard, margarine) stir up acid reflux. Grease helps stomach acid escape into the upper esophagus—this is also known as heartburn. Besides a painful burning sensation, acid reflux contributes to snoring. A study in 2010 at Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine found that people with GERD (a GI disorder that causes acid reflux several times a week) are twice as likely to snore.

6. Foods low in carbohydrates

Sleep apnea, one of the more severe nighttime disorders (in extreme cases, it can be fatal), is alleviated by lower insulin levels. A diet low in carbohydrates (like those found in white breads, pastas, and rice) improves the body’s ability to process insulin. Choose whole wheat breads and pastas, and more fresh fruits and vegetables.

7. Vegetable juice

Instead of having a glass of wine before bed, consider a glass of vegetable juice. Alcohol contains simple sugars, which cause the body to become slightly dehydrated (sodas do the same); dehydration makes the body breathe through the mouth instead of the nose, to preserve moisture in the nasal passages. Also, alcohol relaxes the muscles in the back of the throat, causing more snoring. Vegetable juice has the opposite effect of drinks with simple sugars; it decreases mucous and is easy to digest.

Source: http://selfsufficientlifestyle.com/7-foods-that-help-to-relieve-snoring/

5 Habits That Wreck Your Gallbladder

Each year nearly 700,000 surgeries are done in the US alone to remove gallbladders.

Contrary to popular belief the gallbladder is an important organ that can often be saved by good nutritional therapy and shouldn’t be haphazardly removed.  Every year, people all over the US have gallbladder attacks and doctors surgically remove them without offering any nutritional advice at all to remedy the inflamed organ.


What does the gallbladder do?
The gallbladder secretes bile into the small intestines in order to break down the fat in foods for proper digestion.  (Yes, the body was created to eat fat.)  Bile can become too thick when it isn’t secreted enough or if toxins overwhelm the body and can’t be filtered out by the liver.  The bile in the gallbladder will then get thick and sludge-like and begin to wreak major havoc.  Gallstones form due to this excess thickened bile and continue to cause more severe pain and inflammation to the gallbladder.

I don’t think many people realize what they are doing to their liver and gallbladder when they are wrecking it with the five habits described below.

5 Habits That Wreck Your Gallbladder

1. Eat a low-fat or no-fat diet – How can you gallbladder secrete bile if there is no fat to digest in the small intestines?  Since the gallbladder’s job is squeezing bile in order to breakdown your fat if you eat a low-fat diet it will never need to be secreted.  Then, it will just build up, and build up until it becomes thick sludgy and uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, many of us have been brainwashed to believe that a low-fat diet is actually healthy even though the body needs healthy fats in order to fight inflammation, insulate healthy cells, keep up in a sane frame of mind, and insulate our organs.  Believe me, a low-fat or no-fat diet is not the answer to true health.  You need healthy fat for healthy bodily processes, including gallbladder health.
Make sure your caloric intake is about 30% healthy fats like pastured butter, ghee, coconut oil, cold pressed nut and seed oils and animal fats.

2. Eat Processed Foods – Processed foods contain toxic ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, rancid fats, toxic chemicals and white sugar.  These toxic foods are not easily filtered out by the liver and cause it to become fatty and unhealthy.  Since the liver works directly with the gallbladder, it creates the bile that is then stored in the gallbladder.  Bile is a substance that is made out of cholesterol and in order to have a healthy substance to help digest healthy fats it is also important to have a healthy liver.  Eating processed foods can over burden the liver and tax the gallbladder.

3. Eat Rancid Fats –  What you don’t know may really be hurting you.  Processed fats such as canola oil and olive oil that is not cold pressed and package in an opaque bottle is rancid.  Any foods fried at typical fast food restaurants is fried in rancid oils.  These oils create free radicals that can wreak havoc all over your body.  The body also doesn’t digest rancid fats the same way that it digests healthy fats, so eating these fats is causing further harm to your gallbladder.

4. Drink too much Alcohol – Since the liver is what produces the bile which is contained in your gallbladder over doing alcohol consumption can not only completely wreck your liver, but it can harm your gallbladder as well.  The two organs function hand in hand so when one is going bad the other is most likely struggling too.  You do want healthy bile to help you digest your fats.  It is important to drink alcohol in moderation for a healthy liver AND gallbladder.

5. Drink Soda – Studies have shown that diets that are high in glycemic load show an increase risk of developing gallbladder problems. Source I speculate that many of these diets that are very high in sugar and refined carbohydrates are also most likely void of fat.   Diets that are high processed low-fate foods are also consequently low in good fats in the diet.  Refined sugar is known to create all kinds of imbalances in the body which can certainly cause an imbalance to the gallbladder as well.

In conclusion

It is important to know that good digestion and good liver function is very important for good gallbladder health.  However, the habits above can most help you down the road to discomfort and problems with your gallbladder.  My advice is to eat foods that are healthy for your gallbladder, make sure you have healthy fat in your diet and avoid the habits listed above.


Source: http://www.rootedblessings.com/5-habits-that-wreck-your-gallbladder/

It Melts Gallstones, Fat and Cleans the Skin--The Miracle of Lemons

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Drink the lemon juice in the morning before a meal because it will stimulate your metabolism and the calories will not “stick” to the critical zones. However, except in the process of weight loss, the lemon helps with serious health problems as well.

Doctor Penny Stanway, author of the book “The Miracle of Lemons”, claims that lemons are a miraculous food. Besides being the best choice if you want to calm your thirst and beat the high temperature, the lemon also helps with a wide range of diseases and health problems. It even helps to achieve the goal to have a thin waist.

Weight Loss

The lemon juice will help you to melt the excess weight and prevent their accumulation in the wrong places, say the experts. In order to achieve best results, drink the lemon juice in the morning before a meal because it will stimulate your metabolism and the calories will not “stick” to the critical zones.

 

Gallstones

About 80 percent of the gallstones are composed of cholesterol, which is produced in the case when the liver or the bile cannot successfully eject it. Due to the lack of stomach acid (which can be caused by aging, stress or taking certain medications), the contractions of the bile can be weakened. This explains the reduced irregular discharge of the bile juice and keeping of the “old” stale bile juice, which is then deposited in the cholesterol stones. For this reason, it is recommended to consume acidic foods before a meal, because they can imitate the stomach acid and “encourage” the gallbladder to do contractions in order to eliminate the small stones. The lemon is thereby the ideal food!

 

Cough

This fruit acts as an expectorant – stimulates the secretions from the bronchial discharge, hence the lemon is inevitable against colds or flu. The five-year study conducted over more than 63,000 people in Singapore found that a diet rich in fibers from fruits can alleviate the chronic cough. The flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties, protect the lungs from inflammation and reduce the tissue damage.
In order to ease the cough, drink lemonade or cut the lemon in thin slices and put them in half a liter of water with the cracked flax seeds (which are also a well known expectorant) and cook for 20 minutes. Strain it and sweeten it with a little honey.

 

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a chronic skin disease that requires persistent and long-term systemic treatment.
It seems paradoxical, but the citric acid from the lemon juice can alleviate the dry skin and reduce its peeling. At the same time, it also helps to restore the skin moisture and helps in the removal of the dead cell layer.

Apply some lemon juice to the area affected by psoriasis several times a day and stay a few minutes in the sun. Over a period of a few weeks, increase the time you spend in the sun. The lemon juice is rich in psoralens, natural ingredients from plants that are very sensitive to UVA rays and affect the skin cells. Many dermatologists prescribe psoralens orally or locally on the skin in combination with UVA treatment when it comes to psoriasis.

 

Constipation

The lemons are a rich source of pectin, a type of fibers which in the intestines are converted into gel and ease the intestinal contraction. On the other hand, the cellulose attracts water, which eases the digestion. Include the lemon juice and its peel in your everyday diet (make sure that the lemons are organic).

 

Hypertension

The potassium from the lemon helps in the regulation of the body fluids, and the magnesium relaxes the arteries. Also, the flavonoids are nutrients that give the yellow color to the lemon, strengthen the capillaries and ease the flow of oxygen in the organism and thus protect our vascular health.
The vitamin C from one small lemon can increase the levels of the nitric oxide, the gas that gives to our body a signal to relax and dilates the blood vessels. Also, the lemon juice resembles some drugs that are used to lower the pressure – ACE inhibitors, because it inhibits the formation of the hormone angiotensin in the kidneys (this hormone increases the pressure by tightening the blood vessels).

 

Urinary Infections

The unhealthy diet makes the problems with inflammation of the bladder worse, because the acidic urine only increases the pain. The normal pH of the urine varies between 4.5 and 9, and the ideal is about 5.8 and 6.8. Surprisingly, the metabolizing of the lemon juice in our body has a slightly alkalizing effect.

Drink the juice of half a lemon two to three times a day. You can use the lemon as a substitute for vinegar. The salads will liven up, and you can add the lemons in various sauces for pasta. The best known use of the lemon is with fish specialties. The lemon juice gives a special flavor to the fruit salad and keeps the sliced fruit fresh for a longer period.

Source: http://www.forhealthbenefits.com/it-melts-gallstones-and-fat-and-cleans-the-skin

Shoes Transmit Disease, Leave them by the Door

 

Dr. Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and professor at the University of Arizona, joined forces with shoemaker Rock port to study what types of microorganisms are transported by footwear. Ten people were given a brand new pair of shoes to use for two weeks before having them tested for bacteria.

After two weeks, more than 420,000 units of bacteria were found on the outside of the test shoes. Of that bacteria, 27% were deadly E. Coli. Also detected was Klebsiella pneumonia, which can cause pneumonia and wound and bloodstream infections and Serratia ficaria, which can lead to infection of the respiratory tract.

“The common occurrence (96 percent) of coliform and E. coli bacteria on the outside of the shoes indicates frequent contact with fecal material, which most likely originates from floors in public restrooms or contact with animal fecal material outdoors,” said Gerba. “Our study also indicated that bacteria can be tracked by shoes over a long distance into your home or personal space after the shoes were contaminated with bacteria.”

Even more disturbing to moms of little ones – 90 to 99% of bacteria found on the exterior of the shoes was transmitted to hard tile and carpet.

Any germs picked up by bare feet, knees and hands will then be transported to the crib at naptime.

To help keep these germs at bay, simply remove your shoes and leave them by the door when you get home. Frequent vacuuming and mopping will also help. The study also found simply washing the shoes eliminated more than 90% of germs.

If you aren’t comfortable asking your babysitter or guest to walk around in their bare feet or socks, there are many cute house slippers on the market (and several organic versions) that won’t leave anyone feeling awkward.

Source: http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/06/17/shoes-transmit-disease-leave-them-by-the-door/