Some estimates put the average adult intake at close to 130 pounds of sugar a year – an astonishing amount of any substance, much less one which such disastrous health implications. So what do we do now? In a nutshell: kick sugar to the curb – your life absolutely depends on it.

Read more about hidden sugar

Tips on how to kick the sugar habit

Here are a few thoughts on how to break free and get sugar out of your life now – so you can live a sweet life for years to come:

1. Eat regularly.
Eat three meals and two snacks or five small meals a day. For many people, if they don’t eat regularly, their blood sugar levels drop, they feel hungry, and are more likely to crave sweet sugary snacks.

2. Choose whole foods.
The closer a food is to its original form, the less processed sugar it will contain. Food in its natural form, including fruits and vegetables, usually presents no metabolic problems for a normal body, especially when consumed in variety.

3. Have a breakfast of protein, fat, and phytonutrients to start your day off right.
Breakfast smoothies are ideal for this. A typical breakfast full of carbs and sugary or starchy foods is the worst option since you’ll have cravings all day. Eating  a good breakfast is essential to prevent sugar cravings

4. Try to incorporate protein and/or fat with each meal.
This helps control blood sugar levels. Make sure they are healthy sources of each.

5. Add spices.
Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom will naturally sweeten your foods and reduce cravings.

6. Take a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement, omega 3 fatty acids, and vitamin D3.
Nutrient deficiencies can make cravings worse and the fewer nutrient deficiencies, the fewer cravings. Certain nutrients seem to improve blood sugar control including berberine, chromium, vitamin B3, and magnesium.

7. Move your body.
Exercise, dance or do some yoga. Whatever movement you enjoy will help reduce tension, boost your energy, and decrease your need for a sugar lift.

8. Get enough sleep.
When we are tired we often use sugar for energy to counteract the exhaustion.

9. Do a detox.
My experience has been that when people do a detox, not only does it reset their appetites but it often decreases their sugar cravings. After the initial sugar cravings, which can be overwhelming, our bodies adjust and we won’t even want the sugar anymore and the desire will disappear.

10. Be open to exploring the emotional issues around your sugar addiction.
Many times our craving for sugar is more for an emotional need that isn’t being met.

11. Keep sugary snacks out of your house and office.
It’s difficult to snack on things that aren’t there!

12. Don’t substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar.
This will do little to alter your desire for sweets. If you do need a sweetener, try Stevia, it’s the healthiest.

13. Learn to read labels.
Although I would encourage you to eat as few foods as possible that have labels, educate yourself about what you’re putting into your body. The longer the list of ingredients, the more likely sugar is going to be included on that list.

So check the grams of sugar, and choose products with the least sugar per serving (I teaspoon of sugar is roughly equivalent to about 4 grams). Become familiar with sugar terminology and recognize that all of these are sweeteners: agave, corn syrup, corn sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, honey, cane sugar, cane crystals, fruit juice concentrates, molasses, turbinado sugar, and brown sugar.

14. Sugar in disguise.
Remember that most of the “complex” carbohydrates we consume like bread (including whole wheat), bagels, and pasta aren’t really complex at all. They are usually highly refined or act just like sugars in the body and are to be avoided.

15. Scare yourself straight.
While I won’t say our national love affair with sugar is all in the mind – there is a strong physical component to sugar addiction – one way to kick off your sugar-free journey is to re-frame the way you think about sugar. Treat it like an illicit drug, a kind of legal form of heroin, a dark force to be avoided, and a substance whose use leads to physical ruin. Next, take a look at CBS’s 60 Minutes “Is Sugar Toxic?” story – it’s a potentially life-changing report for anyone who needs just a bit more inspiration to help them kick sugar.

And if you have acute sugar cravings, try these:

16. Take L-Glutamine, 1000-2000 mg every couple of hours as necessary.
It often relieves sugar cravings as the brain uses it for fuel.

17. Take a “breathing break”.  
Find a quiet spot, get comfortable and sit for a few minutes and focus on your breath. After a few minutes of this, the craving will pass.

18. Distract yourself.  Go for a walk, if possible, in nature.
Cravings usually last for 10-20 minutes maximum. If you can distract yourself with something else, it often passes. The more you do this, the easier it gets and the cravings get easier to deal with.

19. Drink lots of water.
Sometimes drinking water or seltzer water can help with the sugar cravings. Also sometimes what we perceive as a food craving is really thirst.

20. Have a piece of fruit.
If you give in to your cravings, and have a piece of fruit, it should satisfy a sweet craving and is much healthier.

Read more about how to stabilize blood sugar

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image: rpavich

The post 20 Ways to Kick the Sugar Habit Forever (and Without Going Crazy) appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

1. Spaghetti Squash Gives You a Big Bang for Your Nutritional Buck

To keep your gut functioning optimally and immunity high, you’ve got to “eat the rainbow.” That means plenty of veggies in a variety of colors – green, purple, red, yellow, orange—in order to access the widest range of nutrients. When you add spaghetti squash’s sunny yellow insides to your plate, you’ll be filling up with many of the vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are essential to sustainable wellness, including vitamin A, B and C, potassium, folic acid, beta-carotene and omega-3 essential fatty acids.

2. It’s Easy to Pick a Winner

The good news is that It’s relatively easy to pick a good spaghetti squash. At the market, be on the lookout for ones that feel solid and heavy, with skin that’s bright yellow. The skin should be firm and the stem should be dry, not wet or moldy. If the skin’s got a few minor scratches, that’s ok, but if there are actual cracks or mushy spots, keep looking.

3. Spaghetti Squash is an Easy-care Veggie

When it comes to storage, spaghetti squash need no special treatment. You don’t have to be in a rush to cook them either. Sitting pretty in a bowl on the counter at room temperature, the humble spaghetti squash will be just fine for up to a month. In the fridge they can last even longer, but why delay joy? When you’re ready to cook, give your squash a quick bath in the sink and let the games begin.

4. Spaghetti Squash Is Incredibly Easy to Cook

Probably the toughest thing about spaghetti squash is cutting it open! To do it safely, first take a look at Paleo author Melissa Joulwan’s helpful how-to tutorial. Once the splitting’s done, the cooking part is simple: Scoop out the seeds. Add a splash of water to the bottom of the dish. Place both halves face down in the baking dish. Bake for about 30 – 45 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from oven, let cool before scooping out the strands and strain off any extra liquid. If you’re a spaghetti squash newbie, then take a look at thekitchn.com’s beautifully illustrated, simple step-by-step cooking instructions.

5. Spaghetti Squash Plays Well With Others

After cooking, scoop out the spaghetti-like strands. Serve au naturale, or dress up with herbs and spices, or toss with a little pesto or sauté with garlic, olive oil and capers. Feeling creative and craving leafy greens? Try this delicious recipe for sautéed spaghetti squash with collard greens. For a no-cook way to get your fill, toss some cooked spaghetti squash into your lunchtime salad. To turn a basic soup in to a hearty meal, add a serving of spaghetti squash, plus sautéed spinach, caramelized onions and a few ounces of shredded organic chicken to the mix. More veggies, more fiber, more nutrition, all in one bowl – what could be better.

6. They’ll Save You Money and Time

Spaghetti squash offers a nice return on your investment – a great nutritional yield for a very reasonable outlay. Prices vary, but you can pick up a nice 4 or 5-pounder for roughly $1 – $2 per pound. That will get you about four servings or roughly 4-to-6 cups of cooked squash. Serve half and freeze the restfor another meal or two or to bulk up soups and salads, as suggested above. Another bonus: Like their pumpkin cousins, spaghetti squash seeds can be planted, so if you have a patch in the back yard and a bit of a green thumb, you can try your hand at growing a few golden gourds of your own.

And for a delicious dinner idea, try Be Well Health Coach Amanda Carney’s swift and simple Spaghetti Squash with Cherry Tomatoes and Kale recipe. Bon appétit! 

[This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.]

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1. All Calories Are Not Created Equal

Thinking that all calories are the same is an antiquated notion. Granted, by definition, calories represent units of energy provided by a particular food, but thinking they’re all alike is like saying a diamond and a rhinestone are the same because they both glitter. The quality matters most with calories, as with diamonds, and enhances their value.

2. Crap is Crap, No Matter How Many Calories are Involved

Calories from nutrient-rich foods vs. nutritionally bankrupt ones from processed or refined carbs will affect the body differently. Healthy, nutrient-rich foods will keep hunger at bay, help maintain stable blood sugar levels, minimize cravings, and enable your brain to signal your belly that it’s full. Nutrient-poor foods will have the opposite effect, wreaking hormonal havoc, spiking insulin, setting off cravings, dulling satiety signals, and encouraging overeating. In other words, nutrient-dense foods help keep weight in check naturally; no calculator is required.

3. Think of Counting Calories as Nutritional Navel-gazing

Tracking every scrap that goes in your mouth may give you a feeling of control over your food, but it doesn’t mean you’re getting enough of the nutrients your body needs. Take, for example, those who diet on processed, portion-controlled, microwaveable meals (you know who you are). Aside from being loaded with chemicals, GMOs, and allergenic and inflammatory ingredients, these crappy excuses for food don’t deliver enough protein, fiber, good fats, or even volume to make you feel full, much less healthy and vibrant. The result is that you’re hungry, mentally foggy, and malnourished, possibly setting the stage for a host of health problems down the line – but you do know how many calories you ate getting there. For what that’s worth.

4. But Jared Lost All That Weight Eating Subway Sandwiches!

No disrespect, but if you’ve seen the “before and after” photos, you have to ask, just what was Jared living on before he went on his infamous crash sandwich diet? Call it what you will, but all he did was a classic caloric restriction, and yes, while it does work for a time, it’s not recommended. It’s hard to sustain in the long term, and it won’t make you feel energetic or vibrant in the short term because you’re not supporting your body with enough essential nutrients. Worse, these crash diets actually slow down metabolism, lowering your food-burning furnace, an adjustment your body makes to conserve energy and prevent starvation. So, what’s the workaround? Trade hunger, calorie-counting, and denial for filling nutrient-dense, organic or local produce, poultry, pasture-raised meats, and wild fish. Eat them until you are full, not until you’ve hit some abstract, virtually meaningless magic number. By eating these kinds of foods, your body will tell you when you’ve had enough. Refined carbs like wheat, grains, and sugar – the crystal meth of the supermarket aisle – never will.

5. Put Away the Abacus and Fill Up on the Right Stuff

To curb appetite, feed your body with foods that fill your belly, send the message of satiety to the brain, and supply the body with health-enhancing nutrients. There is abundant evidence to show that low-carb diets generally satisfy far more effectively than high-carb ones. At the top of the satiety superstar list are the “good” fats like coconut oil, avocados, nuts, wild fish, and grass-fed, organic meats, which help balance hormonal and metabolic responses and are delicious additions to any plate. Next up: nutrient-dense, non-starchy vegetables while adding belly-filling bulk. Last but not least is protein, which is extremely helpful in creating feelings of satiety and takes more energy for the body to metabolize. The bottom line is that all three will help reduce appetite with little effort, blood sugar spikes, and no counting. All you need to do is enjoy them.

Read more about boosting energy with proper food, combining

To whip your fridge into shape quickly, easily, and healthfully, check out the essentials of a fantastic diet here.

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image: Jason Tester Guerrilla Futures

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Seven days a week, most people douse their bodies in synthetic fragrances and perfumes. And we’re not just talking about an occasional spritz of perfume or cologne. We’re talking daily, multiple exposures to toxic chemical compounds that make up the synthetic fragrances found in just about every product imaginable, including cosmetics, personal care products, household cleaners, air fresheners, deodorizers, laundry detergents, dryer sheets and so on. While they may smell nice, their effects are anything but. Here’s why I think everyone should step out from under the fragrance cloud.

1. Fragrances Don’t Stay on the Surface – They Go Deep

When you lather-up or spray down your body and home with scented products, your body absorbs many of the chemicals through the skin, nose, and mouth. Though it might not seem like a big deal, keep in mind, each chemical you inadvertently ingest has an effect on the body and it’s rarely good. Your body then has to work hard to filter out as many of the toxins as it can, but some are tough to eliminate, while others can hang around for the long-haul. Either way, all those toxins building up over time can trigger trouble.

2. A Rose by Any Other Name…

These days, the word “fragrance” is essentially a euphemism for the nearly 4,000 or so different chemical ingredients that can wind up in your scented products. Most “fragrances” are synthetic, petroleum-based and synthetic fragrances are toxic to our bodies, capable of triggering skin problems, allergies, respiratory difficulties, hormonal, metabolic and thyroid problems, even certain cancers and neurological damage. Simply put, we know that exposure to the chemicals in fragrances and scented products undermine health. Furthermore, there are those who theorize that long-term exposure to some of these chemicals may also be connected to the development of brain disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, though the link has not been pinned down just yet. In the meantime though, my advice is, better safe than sorry, so quit spritzing and give scented products the boot.

Read more about Alzheimer's and pesticides

3. Fragrances Are Mysterious Chemical Cocktails

Identifying individual chemicals that make up a particular fragrance is, unfortunately, virtually impossible for consumers. Why? Because manufacturers aren’t required to list every ingredient in their proprietary fragrance brews. Instead of being called out on the label, questionable ingredients get to hide behind the word “fragrance.” So as far as the maker is concerned, it’s all good. Like the catch-all phrase, “natural flavors” that often appears on processed food labels, “fragrance” is used to similar effect, keeping corporate secrets safe and consumers at risk. And that just stinks.

4. Think of Fragrance as a Toxic Layer Cake

According to consumer advocates the Environmental Working Group, over the course of the average day, women are exposed to more than 160 chemicals just from their cosmetics alone. Add to that, a few shower products, hair products, cleaning products and a load of laundry or two, and the amount of daily chemical exposure climbs even higher. The EWG also reported that tests of fragrance ingredients have found an average of 14 hidden compounds per formulation, including ones linked to hormone disruption and sperm damage. Multiply every scented product you use daily by a factor of 14, all that voluntary exposure to toxins starts to look like sheer madness.

Read more about dangerous chemicals in clothing

BE WELL BONUS:

All this doesn’t mean however that you have to spend the rest of your days completely scent-free, just enjoy ‘em in a smarter, healthier way. Steer clear of synthetic fragrances and consider the following simple scent-sible adjustments:

• Buy the greenest, unscented cosmetics, personal care products, household cleaners, fabric softeners you can find.
• If you’re particularly addicted to a scented product and simply refuse to give it up, then cut usage back by half or a third or water it down. Another option: alternate between a clean, green, unscented product and your scented favorite. It’s all about reducing exposure, and the more of it you do the better.
• Get to know the bad guy toxins by name and reputation by referring to the EWG’s Consumer Guides and purchasing accordingly.
• Try making your own scents from essential oils. They’re made from truly natural ingredients like flowers, leaves, grasses and so on, and are kinder to your body, home and planet. And remember – don’t fooled though by bottles marked fragrance oils as they are almost always made of must-to-avoid synthetic ingredients.

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image: Felipe Ernest

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Trouble is, for the last 30 years or so, the medical-dermatological complex has brainwashed us with the mantra that sun exposure is lethal and we should stay away. It’s an oversimplified view that’s had little effect on curbing skin cancer rates – in fact, they’re skyrocketing – and has managed to make millions of people sun-phobic, causing them to miss out on the numerous benefits associated with sun exposure in limited doses. And the best way to optimize vitamin D levels? It’s with safe, smart and limited sunscreen-free exposure to the sun. Used wisely, strategic bouts of sunshine help the skin produce the Vitamin D it needs to build bones, tamp down inflammation, boost the immune system. Better yet, vitamin D and may actually help prevent as many as 16 different types of cancer including pancreatic, lung, breast, ovarian, skin, prostate and colon.

Read more about screening yourself for skin cancer

Now, of course, taking advantage of the benefits of sunshine is by no means a license to burn and tan with abandon, but consider it permission to step into the light every now and then, with considerably less fear about it than you’ve had in the past. Here are a few pointers on how to support your health with sunshine:

Let the Sun Give You Your Vitamin D – And Yes, There’s an App for That

Your age, complexion, where you live, season and what time of day it is, they all affect the amount of sun exposure you need. The farther north you live, the more sun exposure you’ll need to generate vitamin D. For instance, a fair-skinned New Yorker, sitting on a local beach in June at midday for 10-15 minutes without sun block (enough to cause a light pinkness 24 hours after), will produce the equivalent of 15,000-20,000 IU’s of Vitamin D. Put that same person further north in the U.K, or Canada and they’ll need 20-30 minutes for the same effect. By contrast, people with darker complexions may need 20 – 30 times more exposure to generate the same amount of vitamin D. To help determine your needs, have a look at the tables in Dr. Michael Holick’s The Vitamin D Solution

or download the particularly useful-for-summer app called D Minder which tracks the amount of Vitamin D you get from the sun based on your age, location, body type, and time of day, etc. and even includes a timer so you’ll know when you’ve topped off the D tank, without burning.

Slowly Ramp Up Your Sun Exposure

Kicking off the summer by searing your skin with multiple sunburns is not only painful but also potentially can roll out the welcome mat for melanoma down the line, so bottom line: never burn. Instead, as the summer brings you outdoors more often, don’t be afraid to expose your skin to the sun, just be sure to build up your tolerance slowly over the course of a few weeks. Just don’t rush out and sunburn yourself outdoors or in a tanning booth in hopes of quickly getting a “base” tan all in single afternoon.

Learn How to Sunbathe Smartly

Brief, regular exposures have been found to be much more effective and safer than the occasional long one. And sorry, but sitting by a sunny window just won’t do it, because the UVB rays necessary for vitamin D production are absorbed by glass. To get your Ds, you’ll need to step outside. Set aside some time for short doses of sun-block-free exposure, but if you’ve had skin cancer, check with your doc first. From there, start with a 5-minute shot of unblocked sun for week 1, every other day; step up to 10 minutes the next week, and 15 – 20 minutes for week 3. To maximize your body’s natural Vitamin D production, build up to 20 – 30 minutes of mid-morning sun without sun block. After your 30 minute max dose, it’s time to start sun blocking.

Read more tips for healthy summer skin

Sunburns are the Enemy to Fight – Not the Sun

Some sun exposure is good, but get too much and you’re playing with fire. Remember it’s the repeated sunburns that have been linked to melanoma – not regular, moderate sun exposure – so the fewer burns the better, particularly when it comes to kids and those with fair complexions. To keep sunburns at bay this summer make sure you:

• Never fall asleep in the sun without protection
• Don’t get fooled by cloudy days – they can burn you just as easily as a sunny one
• Protect your skin, particularly if you’re in and out of the water, on a boat or cycling, when the breezes can make you less aware that you’re getting sun burned
• Wear a hat, sunglasses and light-colored clothing to block the sun when out for longer periods
• When it’s time to apply sunscreen, use one with as few chemicals as possible
• Before you buy a sunscreen, first check out the Environmental Working Group’s list of safer sunscreens
• Optimize vitamin D levels and its protective effects with a combinations of controlled sun exposure, a healthy whole food diet and supplementation with vita D3
• And no matter what the season, please stay away from tanning beds!

For more ideas on what sun-induced vitamin D does for you, check out my post, Symptoms and Diseases Associated with Vitamin D Deficiency, on what happens when you fall short. My advice? Don’t! And get out there and enjoy the summer!

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com

Image: DonParmiggiano

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1. Factory-farmed animals eat crap. Literally.

To keep production costs low, animals raised in factory farms are fed the cheapest possible grains and feeds containing among other things, “by-product feedstuff, ” which begs the question, what’s feedstuff? It’s a nausea-inducing assortment of disturbing ingredients, including municipal garbage, stale cookies, poultry manure, chicken feathers, bubble gum and even restaurant waste. So, when you eat factory-farmed animals, you’re also getting an unintentional serving of “feedstuff.”

In short, their bad diet becomes your bad diet – which is counter-productive to your health.

2. Bad diets make for sick animals – and people too.

Cud-chewing critters such as cattle, dairy cows, goats, bison and sheep were designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs-not starchy, low-fiber grains and feedstuffs. When these animals are switched from pasture greenery to grains, many wind up suffering from a number of disorders and painful conditions. The sickened animals are then given chemical additives, plus constant, low-level doses of antibiotics.

Their drugs in turn enter your system when you eat antibiotic-treated animals, setting the stage for drug-resistance in your body, particularly if you’re a heavy-duty carnivore.

Read More: The Health Benefits of Grass-fed Beef

3. Lousy ingredients won’t create a nutritious product.

It should come as no surprise that animals fed a crappy diet will make for a less nutritious meal. Compared to grass-fed, factory-farmed, grain-fed meats have less vitamin E, beta-carotene, and little of the two health-promoting fats called omega-3 fatty acids and “conjugated linoleic acid,” or CLA.

So what’s the end-result of the feed-’em-fast-and-cheap factory farmed method? Inferior food with negligible nutrients and more of the unhealthy fats. Small wonder the stuff is so much cheaper than grass-fed.

4. Stress hurts everyone.

If your goal is to sustain wellness, factory-farmed products just don’t deliver the nutritional goods. In factory farms, chickens, turkeys, and pigs are typically raised in inhumane conditions, tightly packed into cages and pens, unable to practice normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting.

In these conditions, the animals get stressed and wind up producing products that are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids – talk about empty calories!

Read More: Pasture-raised Eggs: Why it is the Healthier Choice 

5. Factory farming pollutes the earth.

In a conventional feedlot operation, for example, confined cattle deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and removed. As it costs money to haul it away, the manure is often dumped nearby, close to the feedlot. As a result, the surrounding soil gets over-saturated with the stuff, resulting in ground and water pollution. But when animals are raised on pasture, their manure is a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a “waste management problem.”

Bottom line: raising animals on pasture is kinder to the environment.

In short, though factory farming enables us to have plenty of cheap and convenient food, it’s food with little nutritional benefit, that can increase your resistance to antibiotics as it pollutes your air, land and water. With so little going for it, doesn’t it seem slightly crazy to eat factory-farmed meats? It certainly does to me – which is why I strongly suggest that if you’re going to eat meat, buy the good stuff, even if it means having to pay a bit more or buy less of it. Choose grass-fed beef, lamb, bison and poultry, to insure that you’re eating nutritious and healthy meats, as nature intended.

To learn more about what to look for when buying meat, check out my post on meat labeling and for some additional inspiration, check out this animation movie about the meat you eat at themeatrix.com.

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

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1. Kick the purple pills.

I kid you not – the first step is to quit the heartburn meds. Contrary to what you might think, heartburn drugs tend to do more harm than good. While there’s no denying they help reduce stomach acid, the problem is that the meds also stop the acid from doing the digestive work it’s supposed to do. Though heartburn gives stomach acid a bad name, acid is absolutely essential to digestion: it helps break down food and stimulates the digestive enzymes in your small intestine; it helps keep the balance of good and bad bacteria in check; it’s your primary defense against food-borne infections and it helps your gut absorb essential nutrients. When you suppress acid production with heartburn drugs, you’re inhibiting digestion, preventing absorption of vitamins and nutrients and all but wiping out the good gut bacteria your gut needs to keep your immune system strong. You’re also setting the stage for damage to the intestinal lining – yikes! Not a great trade off, eh? And please be aware when you stop these heartburn medications cold turkey, you get a rebound effect with the heartburn becoming more severe initially very often. So taper off them slowly preferably under the supervision of a knowledgeable Practitioner.

2. Sink the smokes.
There are hundreds of reasons to stop smoking and heartburn is one of them. Smoking irritates the membranes of the throat and esophagus — just about the last thing you should be doing if you have reflux or heartburn. What’s more – nicotine weakens the esophageal valve, allowing acid to flow back up causing irritation and burn. So if you want to stop the burn, kick the butts.

3. Hold the jalapeños.
Instead of popping pills to put out the fire, give your digestive tract a vacation from high acid foods that irritate tender tissues. A few common acidic culprits include coffee, alcohol, garlic, peppers, onions, tomatoes, orange juice and spicy foods. To help my patients identify their heartburn triggers, I ask them to keep a food diary and monitor how their body reacts to high acid foods, so they get a better sense as to which ones are causing their heat and which ones aren’t. For those with more stubborn cases, I also recommend trying my Cleanse diet which eliminates the common foods that fuel the burn.

4. Do drink Swedish bitters.
All that heartburn pill-popping will over time deplete your body of the natural acids that are essential for proper digestion. To stimulate your body’s own production of digestive acids, I recommend stirring 1-3 tablespoons Swedish bitters into an 8 oz. glass of water. Drink this 15 minutes before eating to get the juices flowing and aid in healthy digestion.

5. Linger over breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Every millimeter of your digestive tract – starting with chewing in your mouth – aids in digestion. Acid-neutralizing saliva paves the way for a painless journey of food into the stomach. When you eat quickly, don’t chew enough, or gulp your food, you miss out on critical steps, setting the stage for heartburn and indigestion. So take your time, savor each bite and enjoy!

6. Lighten your mealtime load.
The more food that’s in your belly, the longer it takes to digest and the more likely it will reflux. Eating several smaller mealsthroughout the day will be easier on your digestive tract than bombarding it with three big ones. And at the end of the day, try to put 2-3 hours between your evening meal and bedtime so that digestion is well underway before you lie down for the night.

7. Skip the Spanx.
Resist the urge to squish yourself into super skinny jeans if heartburn is an issue. Give your belly room to digest. Tight clothes can put pressure on your stomach, pressing food back up into your esophagus.

8. Sleep on a slope.
When you lie down flat, stomach acid remains in the esophagus longer than it should, giving rise to that burning feeling. Lying down can also lead to inflammation of the esophagus, a potentially dangerous condition. A simple way to avoid the problem: let gravity do the work of keeping the acid in your stomach at night – simply sleep on a slope. All you need to do is slightly elevate your head and chest with an extra pillow or rolled up towel. The downward angle will help keep acid where it belongs – in your stomach!

9. Give your gut a helping hand.
If you’re going to combat heartburn, keep in mind that an unbalanced, irritated, poorly functioning gut can’t do it on it’s own – it needs a helping hand. Restoring the microflora and repopulating the gut with good bacteria is the starting point. Using herbal anti-microbials (to kill the bad guys) and probiotics (to replenish the good guys) will help return gut microflora to a balanced state. Add to that botanicals and extra nutrients to help protect your GI tract, ease digestion, repair the lining of the gut and prevent heartburn.

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image via Benjamin J. DeLong

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How to locate a healthy middle ground? Listen to your body and learn what it needs. Granted it can be challenging at first to have to pay such close attention, but with practice, your body will teach you how to truly nourish it – not just mindlessly feed it.

Find Out If You May Be Eating Too Many Carbs

To start the process of listening to and interpreting what your body really needs, take this simple Carb Quiz, answering “yes” or “no” to each one, and track your responses:

1. Do you gain weight easily when your diet includes a lot of “healthy” carbs such as whole grains, legumes, fresh fruit?
2. Do you feel tired or sleepy shortly after consuming carbohydrates?
3. Do you feel foggy-headed after meals?
4. Do you frequently crave sweets?
5. Do you frequently crave starchy foods?
6. Do you have a difficult time controlling how much sugar or carbs you eat?
7. Does your weight fluctuate easily?
8. Do you have dramatic energy ups and downs throughout the day?
9. Do you feel light-headed or irritable when you’re hungry?
10. Do you tend to gain weight in your face and around your abdomen, more so than on your hips and thighs?
11. Do you turn to sweets or carbs when you’re feeling anxious, tired, or depressed?

If you answered “yes” to three or more of these questions, you may be eating more carbs than your system can handle or process efficiently.

So What Can You Do?

To combat the negative effects, your first order of business is to cut out the sweet and starchy “white” and refined foods. If you’ve already done that, take it a step further. Try cutting back or avoiding all grains, including whole grains, legumes, as well as high-sugar fresh fruits. If you must have a treat, a small daily amount of low-sugar berries like blueberries may be okay for you – but you’ll have to monitor how your body reacts to know for sure.

Read more about how to kick the sugar habit for good

Next, you’ll need to experiment a bit to find the right amount of carbs for your body and to find out how your life circumstances affect your ability to tolerate carbs. Stress, sleep, exercise, and other factors can all affect your tolerance, so you’ll need to find your individual balance and tipping points. For example, you may be able to enjoy oatmeal and bananas for a relaxed Sunday brunch but need to avoid them on high-stress workdays. Perhaps you can manage sweet potatoes for dinner on a day when you’ve had good sleep but might feel better if you switch to broccoli or cauliflower after a sleepless night of dealing with a colicky baby. By tuning into how carbs are interacting with what’s going on in your life, you’ll be able to zero in on the carb balance that makes you feel energetic, calm, and craving-free.

If you don’t have the bandwidth initially to closely monitor how carbs are affecting you every time you eat them, then you may find it simpler-or perhaps necessary-to cut out high-carb foods altogether for two weeks and see how you feel.

Read more about healthy carbohydrates

More Tips for Decreasing Carbs

So, are you ready to take on the carb monster? Here are three ways to rise to the challenge:

• Start fresh. Cut out all sugars and grains for two weeks, including brown rice, corn, oats, and even quinoa. Let your grain-free experience help guide you towards finding the right carb level for you.

• Eat more green leafy vegetables and healthy fats. These foods will fill you up while providing you with vital nutrients. You’ll have a better chance of finding your healthiest level of grains if you’re also getting enough other types of food.

• Exercise. You might be able to tolerate more carbs if you give your body the vigorous movement that it craves. A sedentary life and a high-grain diet can burden your body with the worst of both worlds.

Lastly, no matter where you fall on the carb spectrum, don’t forget to inspire your palate. For a few delicious ways to manage your carbs wisely take a look at Low-Carb Swaps and dig in!

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image via Andreanna Moya Photography

The post 11 Signs You Eat Too Many Carbs appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.

But also present in your gut are the bad guys, who are believed to play a role in the development of inflammation, obesity and many chronic diseases – which is precisely why it’s important to your long-term health to keep gut flora, both good and bad, on an even keel. Here are a few simple ways to keep your “microbiome” on track to help sustain your wellness for years to come.

Read more about overcoming chronic disease

1. Attention germaphobes – step away from the hand-sanitizer

These days most of us spend the majority of our lives indoors, hermetically sealed into cars, homes and offices, frequently dousing ourselves in antibacterial cleansers. Sure, we’re “clean,” but we’re also severely limiting our exposure to a wide diversity of microbes, whose presence in our guts (and on our skin) have a protective, immunity-boosting effect. In other words living in a HAZMAT-suit lifestyle so many of us take comfort in, may actually be our undoing, making us less able to fend off illness and disease – which is the opposite of what all that cleanliness was supposed to do in the first place. To combat this health-compromising, sterile lifestyle and strengthen your immune system to boot, take a deep breath, step away from the Purell and start exposing yourself – microbially, that is.

2. Bring the great outdoors in

One of the best, and also most pleasurable ways to increase your microbial exposure is to simply open the windows and let the microbes flow! Welcome them into your home, your car, your office – the more, the merrier, and the better for your microbiome. Next, get outside and get your hands dirty – as in, do some gardening, plant some flowers, mow your lawn or do any activity that will connect you and your immune system with the trillions of microbes in the soil. No need to roll around in the mud like a hippie at Woodstock, just get your hands dirty every now and then, literally.

3. Don’t murder your microbes

In other words, don’t kill off healthy microbes in the first place with foods that mess with your microbial balance. Topping the list of microbe-whacking villains: processed foods, genetically modified anything, sugar and wheat. Also doing the microbial perp walk are factory-farmed meats, which come loaded with antibiotics at no extra charge. The problem is, instead of nourishing the body with life-enhancing, microbiome-supporting nutrients, these foods have the opposite effect. They introduce irritants, allergens, carcinogens and inflammation into your body, thus setting you up for a variety of chronic illnesses.

4. Cultivate your microbial garden

Another way to keep your microbial balance on an even keel is to take as few courses of antibiotics as possible. This will help minimize the carpet-bombing effect antibiotics have on gut microbes. Antibiotics indiscriminately take out everything in their path – including the good gut flora your body needs to support long-term health. When your doc or dentist prescribes antibiotics, politely but firmly ask if they’re absolutely, necessary. If the answer is yes, then insist on the shortest course possible.

5. Protect your microbes with probiotics

If you have to take an antibiotic, take probiotics as well, and take them away from each antibiotic dose to help maintain the diversity of your gut flora. Not on antibiotics? Take probiotics anyway. Doing so will keep your microbiome full of live, beneficial organisms, which will help keep digestion, immunity and overall health on track. Look for probiotics that deliver 20-50 billion live organisms per dose and contain a combination of different strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria. Be Well Probiotics contain the 5 best-researched, most viable and stable strains bacteria known today. Take probiotics as directed, once or twice a day, preferably with meals.

Read more about healing your body from antibiotic overload

6. Feed the machine with greens

Stop me if you’ve heard this before – but plants are really, really good for you! What a shocker, eh? Seriously though, plant-heavy diets are especially helpful for improving your microbial diversity, so hit the produce aisle hard and frequently. Why? Because plants give your microbes something to chew on, to break down, to digest and extract the nutrients from – you’re literally feeding the little critters what they love and need to survive. For those of you not getting enough plants in your diets, I recommend supplementing with an organic powdered Greens drink. So what’s in it for you? A balanced microbiome that’s healthy, strong and well-armed to fight off chronic health problems, inflammatory conditions, heart disease, cancers, and even dementia. My advice? Pile on the plants and enjoy.

7. Enjoy a delicious bowl of probiotics, with a side of prebiotics

Show your microbiome some love by feeding it with probiotic foods, like good, old-fashioned, fermented foods (preferably organic). These fermented goodies like sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, and pickled veggies encourage the growth of good bacteria. Add to that some pre-biotic foods, those non-digestible short-chain fatty acids that help your good bacteria flourish. To get your dose, try eating more artichokes, garlic, beans, oats, onions and asparagus.

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image: Jade Jackson 

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To bust stress fast, as in right now, you don’t have to hit the bottle. Instead, try any one of the following better, faster, healthier, portable, and prescription-free ways to physically manage stress fast. As Seinfeld’s Frank Costanza use to say, “Serenity now!” and here’s where to start:

1. Try the Secret Weapon in Your Belly: The Abdominal Breath Technique

Here’s a simple breathing exercise you can do anywhere. In fact, it’s my favorite. You can do it in your car or on the train on your way to work or at your desk while waiting for your next conference call to start. Here’s how:

Abdominal Breathing

• Get into a relaxed position, sitting upright in a chair, or if space permits, lying down.
• Put your hands on your abdomen.
• Close your mouth gently and touch your tongue to your upper palate and breathe through your nose. If your nose is blocked for any particular reason it is fine to breathe through your mouth.
• Inhale deeply and slowly, being aware of your diaphragm moving downward and your abdomen expanding. Your hands-on your abdomen will feel the expansion like a balloon filling.
• At the end of the inhalation, don’t hold the breath – let your abdomen fall automatically as you exhale.
• Try to get all the breath out of your lungs on the expiration. The expiration should normally be about twice as long as the inhalation when you are relaxed.
• Keep repeating this, keeping your focus on your hands rising on the abdomen on the inhale and falling on the exhale.

2. Give Yourself … An Ear Massage?

Sounds a little odd, but hear me out. If you need to bust stress quickly and discreetly at your desk, try massaging your ears, from lobe to top, using gentle pressure as you work your way up the ear and back down several times, until you start to feel yourself unwind. This massage action -think of it as a needle-free acupuncture session – will help trigger your ear’s reflexology points and deliver calming messages to your nervous system, which will, in turn, tamp down your body’s stress response.

3. Tap Your Stress Away

Another acupressure-based series of moves you can do almost anywhere is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping. Many people find it a great tool to help them bust stress quickly when time is short. So what is EFT? It’s a simple self-care technique, which involves tapping specific meridian points or locations on the body to help stimulate and activate the body’s energy stores and healing powers. To learn how to tap, check out some of the videos online. For example, try this Emotional Freedom Technique Informational video by Jessica Ortner.

4. Follow the Leader: Try a 3-Minute Guided Meditation

Need to calm down before an important meeting or big presentation? You don’t have to get into the lotus position to do this one. Just grab a chair, close your eyes and take a mere three-minute time-out to get stress under control with this super simple guided mediation for beginners and pros alike.

5. OK. Go Ahead. Take a Pill. But Not a Pharmaceutical!

If you’re looking for a natural, healthy alternative to a pharmaceutical like Valium or Xanax (and I hope you are!) the one I recommend to all my patients is Stress Support. It’s a wonderfully helpful, well-tolerated formula designed to help the body’s ability to handle stress. It consists of nutrients that calm down the nervous system and support adrenal health as well.

6. Tune In and Tone Down

Music really does soothe. When stress starts to get the better of you, reach for the headphones, put on some music, preferably something that has a calming effect, and sit quietly for a few minutes. You can also try listening to nature sounds (i.e., bubbling brooks, crashing waves, animal sounds, etc.), chant music, classical or instrumentals to help slow the release of stress hormones. One of my patients who flies frequently on business has what she calls her “Turbulence Time” playlist. It’s 20 or so super-soothing tunes – nothing with a fast or aggressive beat – come in handy when things get bumpy at 35,000 feet. All she has to do is she hits ‘play’ and let the calming begin. On long-haul flights, her list also doubles as a sleep aid. Another patient swears by the soundtrack from the film The Piano.

7. Take a Whiff of Something Wonderful

When arriving at a spa one of the first things that people often notice, besides the peace and quiet is that tranquil spa scent that seems to almost instantly calm even the most stressed-out among us. When you notice your stress levels start to rise, tap into the power of your olfactory system and take it down quickly with a whiff of essential oil scents that soothe. Among the most common calmers to have on tap: lavender, vetiver, sandalwood, and ylang-ylang, just to name a few. Try applying a few drops to your skin or a cotton ball and sniff your stress away. Keep some in your bag and at the office to help take the edge off when you feel stress starting to creep up.

8. Bust a Gut, Figuratively That Is

We all know that exercise is essential to good health and to keep stress levels in check, but sometimes you need to shake up the same old gym routine. The next time you’ve had a really hard day, instead of hitting the treadmill, try a laughing yoga class. A good laughing yoga session will trigger the release of endorphins, relax your body with all those feel-good chemicals and counteract the stress of the day. You’ll also laugh. A lot!

This article originally appeared on DrFrankLipman.com.

Image: nosha

The post 8 Ways to Calm Down and Decrease Stress Levels appeared first on NaturallySavvy.com.