January 22nd, 2008 cate
Um. Yes I know this is an embarrassing topic for you (not me, I don’t have hemorrhoids!) but it really needs to be addressed these days. Denying that you have them isn’t productive so cut it out right now and admit you have hemorroids. Let’s say it out loud together, ” I. have. hemorroids.” See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?
First off, let’s define hemorroids as best as we can. Basically, it’s a swollen anus due to inflamed veins in your anus and rectum. Sometimes, they can be very uncomfortable and itch or bleed.
Hemorrhoids can develop from any increase in pressure in the veins in the lower rectum. Common sources of pressure and hemorrhoid causes include:
- Constipation and the accompanying straining
- Diarrhea and the continuous expulsion of loose stools
- Sitting or standing for a long time, especially sitting on the toilet
- Obesity
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Genetic tendency to develop hemorrhoids
You may be asking, “Why talk about this???!” Sorry if it’s a bit embarrassing, really. While this condition is known to affect older (50+) people, that sad news is that today, more and more younger people are afflicted with it because of obesity, which is increasing at an epidemic speed, and because of the all the tech people now, who spend hours upon hours sitting down in from of their computers. Face it, hemorroids are here, whether you like it or not.
When should you see your doctor about these pesky critters?
Generally speaking, go seek medical attention if your hemorrhoids do no improve with self-care, or if they cause pain, or bleed frequently or excessively.
If your poo is black, tarry or maroon in color, see your doctor immediately. These types of stools can indicate more extensive bleeding elsewhere in your digestive tract. Lastly, go to emergency care if you feel faint and lightheaded and notice large amounts of rectal bleeding.
How to treat the problem
If you have a mild case, your doctor might prescribe over-the-counter medications. Otherwise, more intense treatment might be called for: infrared treatment cuts off the circulation to small blood vessels, which will shrink the hemorroids. Surgery is the last resort treatment when all else has failed.
More natural treatments and prevention
Eat foods high in fiber – Eat meals loaded with vegetables, fruits, grains. Later, when you pass your stools, you will not need to strain.
Avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time – take frequent breaks and move around.
Exercise – Exercise is best whether you have hemorroids or not but if you do have hemorroids, exercise helps you to have regular stools and also helps you avoid sitting for too long.
Drink plenty of fluids – a sufficient amount of water and juices keep your body hydrated and healthy.
Don’t strain – When you “go” #2, try not to push too much because it puts excessive strain and pressure on your veins in your lower rectum.
Keep that area clean – wash well there and dry!
Now, that wasn’t too horrible for you, was it? Thank me for NOT including a photo on this post. 
Posted in articles, body, diet, fitness, general, healing, health, healthy recipes, online self help, real food, recommendations and favorites, self improvement | 1 Comment »
January 20th, 2008 cate
You heard me. Of course some of you might vehemently disagree with me that “mindfulness” can occur in business – it’s just that… that isn’t happening where you work. If that’s the case, I’m very sorry to hear that, but have hope. Mindfulness in Business is very possible and in fact, can make that business even more successful. If you apply these at work, you’ll undoubtedly see an enormous positive result. I swear. But it would be best if everyone gets in on the action. What can everyone do? Here are some mindfulness tips for the office:
1. Be present – I don’t just mean be there in attendance, I mean make yourself fully present in a mindful way. A “present” state of mind will mean that you are focused on the now. You are committed to the present moment and that means that when you’re interacting with people, you are more absorbed in what they are saying right now. You need to be present to be a good manager or employee. You give meaning and purpose to those around you. In business, if you are “present” you will usually get what you need. If you aren’t present, you miss your task or you miss what someone is saying – and those things could be very important.
2. Give full attention to your activities – This is also a state of mindfulness. Concentrating on tasks gives meaning to that task. It helps you get your task done in an efficient way because you are focused on it, even on the smallest task – This activity requires very focused attention and when you are mindful of your concentration to your work, you cannot be more efficient with your task. This ends up with the best work you can offer.
3. Make sure your state of mind is optimal before entering a meeting – This point is very important. How can you assess your state of mind? Before your meeting, go to a quiet place so you can determine your state of mind. You need to be aware of what is happening and how you feel; you need to be in a state of mind where your emotions are calm and positive. You should be in a positive state but if you’re not, try to divert your negative feelings and thoughts aside by focusing your thoughts on happy, wonderful things. Words are powerful, so say to yourself, “I am calm, positive and will have an efficient, productive meeting.”
4. Be aware of your relationships with colleagues – Say, for instance, you are a manager and you don’t get along with your employee. Figure out why, and try to change it to a more positive relationship. Once you can see possibilities of problematic issues between the two of you, you can go from there. If you are mindful, you will realize the weaknesses, the conflicts and the differences in personalities. These things shouldn’t prevent you from having a decent relationship. When you are mindful and fully aware of all aspects involved in employee/manager relationships, you can work it out so that you have the relationship that is necessary to have an efficient and happy office environment. Listen to your colleagues and employees and be in the present. Give them value and value what they have to offer. Try to understand where they’re coming from. The results of this behavior will astound you.
5. Laugh – Try not to take yourself so seriously. Have fun when you can. While laughing and goofing around may not be appropriate for some circumstances, at the right moments, it’s the best thing an office can have for morale.
6. Know Yourself – Knowing yourself helps you to make the right choices about how you respond to people and situations.
Posted in articles, business, general, hope, inspiration, kindness, mind, online self help, people, personal development, personal growth, recommendations and favorites, setting goals, success stories | 1 Comment »
January 19th, 2008 cate
Needless to say, no matter how good that pizza looks, you shouldn’t be eating that polymethylsiloxane! And remember what Robyn O’Brien says, “Never eat anything you can’t pronounce.” (Those things are not meant to be eaten.)
From The Milkweed:
“Last month, The Milkweed detailed how Pizza Hut restaurants illegally claim to use “Mozzarella” cheese on certain menu items, when in fact, Pizza Hut’s salt, starch and water-laden “Pizza Cheese” does not conform to FDA standards of identity for Mozzarella.
In this issue, writer John Bunting details how Pizza Hut’s cheese supplier—Leprino Foods—uses a silicone-based industrial chemical in the patented manufacturing of “Pizza Cheese.”
That chemical—Polymethylsiloxane—has no FDA approval for use as a food ingredient. Polymethylsiloxane is sold by Dow-Corning as “Antifoam FG 10”. THIS MATERIAL IS APPROVED BY FDA FOR USE IN FOOD PLANTS ONLY AS AN ANTI-FOAMING AGENT FOR BOILER WATER.
In its patented manufacturing process, Leprino Foods liberally sprays Polydimethylsiloxane on “cheese granules”.
Leprino’s “Pizza Cheese” supplied to Pizza Huts contains about 900 parts per million of Polymethylsiloxane: 90 times higher residue concentration than FDA allows when Polymethylsiloxane is used as a boiler water anti-foaming agent.
Repeat: Polydimethylsiloxane has no FDA approval as a safe food ingredient. It is a violation of FDA rules to use an unapproved ingredient in human foods.Silicone is amazing stuff. In its various forms,silicone may “enhance” the female anatomy (a la amply-endowed actress Pamela Anderson). Silicone products can caulk seams around the bathtub to sealout water. Silicone compounds are used for lubricants. However, using silicone products in human foods is a novel, if extra-legal, application. Leprino Foods, the world’s largest Italian cheese manufacturer, is the nearly exclusive supplier of “Pizza Cheese” to the 6000+ Pizza Hut restaurants in the U.S. Leprino is based in Denver, Colorado.
To control costs (and boost profits), Leprino Foods uses patented manufacturing processes that add large volumes of water, salt and food starch to so-called “granules” of “Pizza Cheese” prior to flash-freezing. Food starch is a particularly profitable addition to processed foods, since food starch holds ten times its own weight in water. All that food starch, water and salt in the Leprino’s “Pizza Cheese” creates problems for both cooking and refrigerated shelf-life.
To “solve” these cooking problems, Leprino’s patented process for making cheese granules sprays 1.75 parts of a water-based spray containing 0.05% Dow-Corning Antifoam FG 10 for each 100 parts cheese. Yield: 900 parts per million of Antifoam FG10 (generically known as Polydimethylsiloxane) in the “Pizza Cheese” that Leprino sells to Pizza Hut.
Polydimethylsiloxane is….”
Read the full article
IMPORTANT UPDATE
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January 18th, 2008 cate
Just remember all of the fiascos caused by the FDA…
From alternet:
It’s possible to read all 300-plus horrifying pages of a new Food and Drug Administration subcommittee report describing the agency’s slow asphyxiation by prolonged budgetary constraints without learning who is responsible for its decline.
Subcommittee member and attorney Peter Barton Hutt, who served as FDA chief counsel during the Nixon and Ford administrations, pointed his finger at the American public in his own supplemental contribution to the report: “It is not a problem caused by partisan politics. The administrations of President Clinton and President Bush have been equally unresponsive to FDA’s needs … The country cannot withhold the requisite scientific resources from FDA and then complain that the agency is incapable of meeting our expectations.”
But if everyone is to blame, then no one is. Recent fiascoes like the Melamine-tainted pet food and lead-laced Mattel toys, both imported from China, are sure to continue in the absence of meaningful accountability. The truth is that the carnage described in the report is as much a conservative-movement accomplishment as the creation of the FDA was a great progressive-era triumph.
For many decades, the right has been about as hostile toward the FDA as it has been toward Social Security — another long-standing success story that undercuts the worldview that government is the problem rather than the solution. In a 1975 roundtable at the American Enterprise Institute, for example, Ronald Reagan claimed that the FDA was needlessly killing Americans. Referring to the drug Rifampin, he said, “I think something more than 40,000 tuberculars alone have died in this country who conceivably could have been saved by a drug that has been widely used the past few years throughout Europe.” In fact, Rifampin had already been on the market in the U.S. for four years, approved by the FDA five months after the manufacturer submitted the application.
The network of conservative and libertarian think tanks that began to …..
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