Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

In This Issue:

Don’t Let Indigestion Ruin Another Evening

By Mark Rosenberg, MD

A good friend of mine loves spicy food. A few years ago, though, he noticed that whenever he ate anything too spicy, he spent the rest of the evening with miserable indigestion. He asked me if there was any way he could enjoy the foods he loved without the unpleasant after-effects. Fortunately, I was able to give him several recommendations that helped prevent his indigestion.

As you get older, indigestion becomes a more common problem. Six million Americans suffer with frequent indigestion. Whether you suffer from gas, frequent heartburn, or bloating, these are all signs that something is not working quite right in your digestive system. The gas, bloating, and pain are early signs of what can turn into a bigger problem.

It’s your gut’s job to process the food you eat. It pulls the nutrients out of the food you eat to be absorbed and used by your body, and then it moves what can’t be used right on through. You can imagine what might happen when things aren’t working the way they should… it can lead to all sorts of problems.

Fortunately, there are natural, safe, healthy solutions to solve your digestion woes. But first, let’s take a look at the most common causes of indigestion.

Common Causes of Indigestion
Indigestion can be caused by a number of different factors. Some are serious, some are less so. All will cause you pain and discomfort.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome: This is one of the most common digestive disorders that people suffer from. It leads to pain, cramping, bloating, constipation, and diarrhea. The symptoms vary from person to person, and the cause isn’t well understood, although food sensitivities and stress both tend to aggravate symptoms.

Frequent Heartburn: Heartburn happens when the muscle that keeps the acid in your stomach gets weak. It allows some of your stomach acid to enter your esophagus, which leads to an uncomfortable burning sensation in your chest.

Diverticulitis: Weak places in your colon can bulge out, creating small pockets in the colon wall. These pockets are called diverticula. The diverticula can become infected causing pain, bloating, and gas. In serious cases, the diverticula can rupture requiring hospital care.

Crohn’s Disease: When you have Crohn’s disease, you experience chronic inflammation in various spots throughout your digestive system. Left unchecked, the inflammation can lead to painful ulcers.

Ulcerative Colitis: This condition is similar to Crohn’s disease, but where Crohn’s disease affects random areas of the digestive tract, ulcerative colitis tends to be localized to the lower colon and the rectum.

Prevent and Relieve Indigestion for Good
No matter what the source of your discomfort, natural digestive support can help. These remedies work to protect and improve your digestive system. They don’t mask your symptoms, but actually help to improve your condition.

The key to freeing yourself from digestive pain is to make sure your body can adequately absorb nutrients from the food you eat and then quickly move the waste products.

Probiotics: The most important thing you can do to support your immune system is to take a good probiotic. Probiotics are healthy bacteria that aid digestion. If the number of probiotics in your gut is low, then you’ll have a hard time digesting your food. The waste products from your food will also sit around in your gut longer and that leads to gas and bloating. Taking a probiotic supplement can do wonders for your digestion. Just take a look:

• Researchers from Harvard Medical School state that probiotics can help to prevent and cure a wide range of chronic diseases including diarrheal diseases, inflammatory bowel diseases, and irritable bowel syndrome.¹

• Taking probiotics will improve both the function of your intestinal barrier and the motility in your gut — that means you’ll eliminate waste products more quickly.² The result is less indigestion, gas, and bloating.

• According to studies reviewed by gastrointestinal specialists, probiotics help reduce inflammation within your digestive tract and promote the overall health of your gut by regulating the production of mucus, inflammatory compounds, and immune reactions within the gut.³

Flaxseed: Flaxseed is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids. That’s what it’s famous for, but it also contains another compound that is very useful for digestive health. Flaxseed lignans are a compound found within the hull of the flaxseed. The lignans support colon health and good digestion by helping your body to make more of certain compounds that your colon needs. Your colon needs enterolactone and enterodiol to function properly. Flaxseed lignans help your body to produce these two compounds.⁴

Fructooligosaccharides: FOS, for short, works a little like fiber in your colon. It breaks down, but isn’t digested and so it helps to cleanse your colon as it moves through. It also works as a natural regulator of the bacteria in your gut. It helps the good bacteria to grow and it stops the bad bacteria from flourishing.⁵ FOS can be tough to find in a supplement, but it’s well worth the search.

Digestive problems are an early warning sign. They cause pain and discomfort and can lead to more serious problems down the road. If you regularly suffer from indigestion, your body is asking you to pay attention. Try some of these solutions and see what a difference they make.

Stay well,

Mark Rosenberg, M.D.

References

1. Broekaert IJ and Walker WA. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2006; 40(3): 270-74.
2. Lutgendorff F, et al. Curr Mol Med. 2008; 8(4): 282-98.
3. Fedorak RN. J Clin Gastroenterol. 2008; 42(Suppl 3): S111-15
4. Nesbitt PD, et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999; 69(3): 549-55.
5. Bornet FR, et al. Dig Liver Dis. 2002; 34 Suppl 2: S11-S120.

[Ed. Note: Mark Rosenberg, M.D. is director of the “Institute for Anti-Aging” in South Florida. He is a highly sought-after speaker for lectures on topics such as integrative cancer therapy and anti-aging medicine. Dr. Rosenberg is avidly involved in supplement research and is nutritional consultant for Vitalmax Vitamins.]

Green Living:

Freedom Gardens that Will Thrive in Small Spaces

By Barbara H. Peterson

Our nation has been on a collision course with simple, natural living for quite some time. People in cities are crammed into high-rise apartment complexes, working 12 hours per day, eating fast food as a daily staple, and getting sicker by the minute. What will it take to reverse this trend? Well, unfortunately, we don’t seem to be able to do this on our own. It is taking an economic crash, the likes of which pales in comparison to the 1929 fiasco to get us thinking about going back to the basics of growing our own food. The truth is, for far too many of us, if we don’t start developing some basic survival skills, we simply won’t eat.

So how do we go about growing some of our own food and eating healthy if we live in an apartment? It’s simple. Create a Freedom Garden. There are several ways to do this in a limited space. One way is to grow your veggies in pots indoors near windows, or with grow lights. Another suggestion is to use balcony space and create vertical gardens in which plants are started in containers and trained to grow upwards on trellises, poles, or anything that encourages upwards growth.

Hydroponic gardens are another option, and can be made cheaply and easily. These require no soil, just nutrients and water. You can have fresh, organic tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, squash, and many other veggies right at your fingertips.

Start your project with something easy like squash, lettuce, spinach, carrots, or beets. I live in the high desert, and these veggies grow outside like crazy here, even with the harsh weather and limited growing season. Squash, lettuce, and spinach do not require much depth, but carrots and beets do, so remember this when creating your gardening space.

To get your Freedom Garden started, make sure that you get only Heirloom seeds. GMO (genetically modified) or hybrid seeds will not work if you plan to harvest seeds for the next crop. Once your veggies ripen, choose the best plants from your crops, and harvest the seeds for your next planting from them. If you plant GMO seeds, it is likely that your harvested seeds will not be viable. The same goes for hybrid seeds. Heirloom seeds are the seeds that go back for hundreds of years, and are pure. Their genetic makeup has not been tampered with through artificial genetic modification techniques, or cross breeding. Choosing only the best plants for your seed harvesting will ensure that future crops yield the best results. Also, be sure to gather extra seeds to create your very own personal seed bank so that you have something to fall back on just in case.

In short, one of the things that we cannot do without is food. To stay alive, we need to eat. If the shelves go bare, having a Freedom Garden in your apartment or backyard will be worth its weight in gold. So pick a gardening method, whether it is by indoor or outdoor containers, or hydroponics, choose your seeds wisely, and start planting for food freedom. This is the way to stay alive and healthy in today’s world.

Here are some handy links for starting your Freedom Garden:

1. How to Harvest, Process, and Store Vegetable Seeds by Grandpappy.
   http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/
   how-to-harvest-process-and-store-vegetable-seeds/
2. Where to Buy Heirloom Seeds in Bulk.
   http://survivingthemiddleclasscrash.wordpress.com/2009/03/22/time-to-get-your-heirloom-seeds/

[Ed. Note: Barbara lives on a small ranch in Oregon with her husband, where they raise geese, chickens, horses, Oggie Dog, a variety of cats, and an opinionated Macaw named Rita. Barbara believes that self-sufficiency and localization of food sources is necessary to survive the coming depression. To this end, she hopes that sharing information with others of like mind will lead to a brighter future where people reach out to each other and form small communities in which food is grown locally, and trade is established between neighbors. For more of Barbara's tips on sustainable living, click here now.]

Healthy Recipes:

Fennel-Roasted Alaskan Cod with Grape Tomatoes & Pine Nuts

By Kelley Herring

This light fish dish packs a powerful punch against inflammation thanks to a phytonutrient called anethole. Researchers have found this compound shuts down tumor necrosis factor (TNF) — a factor that triggers destructive inflammation in the body that leads to degenerative disease.¹

Time To Table: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Benefits
Excellent Source of: Magnesium, Potassium, Protein, Selenium, Vitamin C, Omega-3
Good Source of: Fiber, Iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin D
Preferences: Low Carb, Gluten Free

Ingredients
2 Tbsp organic lemon juice
24 ounces wild Alaskan cod
2 Tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp organic pine nuts
1/2 bulb organic fennel
1/2 cup organic chicken broth
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
16 organic grape tomatoes 

Preparation
Using a mandoline, thinly slice the half bulb of fennel. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Season cod with salt and pepper. Arrange half of the fennel slices in the bottom of a baking dish. Place cod on top of fennel. Add tomatoes, top with remaining fennel slices, and sprinkle with pine nuts. Pour in broth. Cover and bake for 10-12 minutes, until the fish flakes easily. Remove from oven. Transfer the fish fillets to plates. Top the fish with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon.

Nutrition Information
284 Calories, 13 g Total fat, 2 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 7 g Monounsaturated fat, 3 g Polyunsaturated fat, 72 mg Cholesterol, 434 mg Sodium, 9 g Carbohydrate, 3 g Fiber, 2 g Sugars, 33 g Protein

Reference

1. Chainy GB, et al. Oncogene. 2000 Jun 8;19(25):2943-50 2000. PMID:12930.

[Ed Note: Who says dessert can't be healthy? Nutrition expert Kelley Herring's brand-new recipe e-book, Guilt-Free Desserts, reveals 40 easy-to-make, mouthwateringly delicious, 100% healthy dessert recipes you can make at home. Order today and you'll receive the e-book Healthy Holiday Hors d'Oeuvres for free.]