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If you’re an avid Oprah Winfrey watcher (talk show), you know that she often has a famous Dr. called Dr. Oz on her show.  He’s a prestigious cardiologist who has written several books about health issues.

He mentioned, not that long ago, that they recently did a study and in that study they fed several volunteers in a control group 11 pounds of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts a day, along with plenty of water. These patients all had some degree of high blood pressure, cholesterol, and some were battling obesity.

After 10 days on this restrictive diet, the results were (on average):

• a 10 pound loss per patient
• a 25% reduction of cholesterol
• a 10% reduction of blood pressure
• better colon health (bowel movements came easier)
• and better overall health

So, if you’re looking to improve your weight, tell yourself that starving yourself has never been and never will be a proper option to lose the excess pounds or make yourself healthier.

The best bet is to exercise about 30 minutes to 1 hour, daily, drink 64 ounces of cold water a day (cold because it causes your body to burn calories in order to heat up the food to body temperature), and a healthy diet of fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables to keep everything running properly.  In no time you should see the results.

If you’re thinking that all that fresh produce in a day will wreak havoc on your pocket book, remember this- eating healthier now will help you to keep off medications and keep out of doctor’s offices due to illness.  The money you spend on the produce per month, would have just been diverted and spent in the future if you’re health were to decline.

Is it worth it? Absolutely~! So, give it a try!  You may have to modify your diet a little, depending on your own personal health issues, but if you try to keep as close to this diet as you can for optimum health.

If you ask anybody, most people would say that they absolutely hate being sick.  The feeling of being miserable from: body aches to a stuffy/runny nose coughing, sneezing, wheezing, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, etc.

But, your own feeling of misery is quickly magnified when you see your child in that kind of anguish. It’s hard to describe the feeling of utter guilt that surges through a parents body when they see their child sick.  Most of the time, the germs the adult has brought into the home, causes one or both parents to become sick, then it swiftly shifts over to the child.

When children get sick, they usually become really cranky, clingy, and hard to please.  Then there’s those times when they’re so ill that their little chests get congested with phlem and when they cry (trying to complain, non-verbally) they end up gagging and then vomiting all the food they’ve recently had. It’s really a sad site.

Not only is it a nasty, stinky mess that a parent must deal with, but a very painful process to watch, when your child is in pain. That nurturing soul inside of every person, just jumps out to try and help a child in distress.

It’s important for every person to value their good health, because once they become ill, they wish it would soon be over, but once it is, they’re so caught up in their own lives, they don’t realize how much the illness was a blessing in disguise.

Do you know how safe the food you’re eating is? It may not be as harmless as you think. We all need to focus on food safety throughout the year, especially now since the Spring and Summer have rolled around, and the likelihood of picnics involving barbeque’s increase the chances of salmonella poisoning.

Salmonella is bacteria found in raw foods, raw eggs, undercooked meats and poultry, and even on fruits and vegetables, and can survive for months in water, ice, sewage and frozen meats.

Salmonella is transmitted when you eat food that has been contaminated with animal feces. Bacteria from the contaminated foods can also be transferred to and from utensils, cutting boards and other kitchen surfaces.

Typically, people with a salmonella infection develop symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains and diarrhea within 12 to 72 hours.

Other bacteria and parasites can cause food poisoning, which is a gastrointestinal disorder that results from eating contaminated foods. Signs of food poisoning may begin within hours and last from one to 10 days.

Symptoms of food poisoning include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, abdominal pain and fever.

If you do contract salmonella poisoning, make sure to replenish fluids and electrolytes lost to diarrhea and vomiting. Also, avoid milk products to alleviate abdominal pains.

You can take steps to prevent salmonella and food poisoning: washing your fruits and vegetables can rid them of bacteria. Even fruits with hard covers, such as cantaloupes, can have traces of salmonella on them, and the bacteria can spread if not washed.

Here are some more tips to help make sure you stay healthy while eating:

Wash your hands, utensils and food surfaces often

•Use hot, soapy water to wash utensils and cutting boards.

•Wash hands with warm, soapy water before handling or preparing foods.

Keep raw foods separate from ready-to-eat foods

•This prevents cross-contamination (such as cutting lettuce on a board you just used to cut up raw chicken).

Cook foods to safe temperatures

•The best way is to use a food thermometer.

•You can kill harmful organisms in food by cooking it to an internal temperature of between 145 and 165 degrees.

Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods promptly

•Do so within two hours or purchasing.

•Put food in the freezer if you do not expect to eat it within two days.

Defrost food safely

•Do not thaw foods at room temperature.

•The safest way to defrost is in the refrigerator or microwave, or by running cold water over food.

When in doubt, throw it out

•Food left out at room temperature for too long may contain bacteria or toxins that can’t be destroyed by cooking (remember foods should NOT be in the Temperature Danger Zone of 40-140 degrees for over 4 hours, or it may be likely to become poisonous).

•Don’t taste food you are unsure about.

If you keep these helpful tips in mind when you are preparing and eating your favorite foods, you will surely cut down on your chances of getting salmonella poisoning as well as other harmful illnesses caused by improperly washed and cleaned foods.

*some excerpts from this article were obtained from thedoctorstv.com

Anybody with young children in the family knows that most people dread teething.  I can truthfully say, I am a member of that club.  The, I HATE TEETHING club.

My son started teething early, around two-three months. He started the teething process by drooling non-stop. By five months old, he had already gotten his first two teeth.

For the next several months, every now and then, just when I forgot all ab0ut teething, the drooling would start up again. I went out and bought a bunch of things to have as my teething arsenal.  Plastic lined bibs, teething rings, plastic links (for him to chew on), numbing medication for his gums, Tylenol to reduce fever, etc. But,  when we’d put his plastic lined bibs on, he’d manage to rip them off, when we’d give him a teething ring, he hated them. So, he’d absolutely soak the front of his clothes, and I ended up changing him several times a day to keep him from getting a saliva rash on his chin, neck and chest.

The thing about teething is, it’s not just the irritating buckets of drool to contend with, it’s the fussy behavior, fever, diarrhea, clingyness, runny nose, endless crying and lack of sleep, that makes it hard to deal with.  Sometimes there’s just no pleasing them.

And I’m sure at this point I’m sure you’re saying, “And why aren’t you giving him any medication?”  Well, the truth of the matter is, I surely did give him the medication when the pain was at its worst, but you also can’t give a child medication endlessly, back-to-back, until the pain suffices.  So, I’d use alternate methods.  I’d put fruit in a little mesh (baby bag), then freeze the bag in the freezer for a little while, take it out and give it to him, and he seemed to like that.  He’d chew it and get the nutritional benefit from it.

Most people who don’t have kids, and don’t want kids, say something like, “And there’s another reason why I decided not to have kids. It’s just not worth the hassle.”

But, I couldn’t disagree more.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, “Nothing worthwhile is easy to come by.“  Life is hard in so many aspects, and this is just another bump in the road.

I daydream of the day when my son gets all his baby teeth and he will no longer be going through the pain and frustration of teething.  Not to mention, my stress level can go down because I’ll have a happy baby again.

A friend of mine was recently dealt a blow by finding out that the pain she has been dealing with, is due to a chronic illness.  She had been suffering for some time, before finding out the true diagnosis.

The important thing that I advised her to do, as well as what I would advise you or your loved ones to do (if you’re dealing with the same issue), is to not lose focus on the goals you have set for yourself, before getting a diagnosis.

You may have to alter your life plans to some degree, depending on the type of illness, but  this is just one of many things that could come our way that may be discouraging, disheartening and cause us to go into a momentary depression.  Whatever the situation is, keeping a life plan and educating yourself about your illness and what can be done to make your life easier as the illness progresses, is imperative.

Maybe getting together with other people who have your illness in a weekly support group, an online support group (where you can choose to be anonymous), discussing your illness with friends and family, writing your feelings down in a daily journal, and more; may help ease you through the first days in this phase of dealing with the recent diagnosis.

Whatever you are feeling is a true feeling, you are not imagining, you are not crazy, you should not be ashamed and you don’t have to explain yourself to anyone, unless you choose to.

Remember, although you have been put in the passenger seat, due to this diagnosis, it doesn’t mean that you can’t retake control of your life and move into the drivers seat.  Thus taking charge of the seconds, hours, and days for your chances to heal yourself (inside and out), to live  contentfully each day of the rest of your life.