Heartburn

Heartburn is a burning sensation in your chest, which occurs in the esophagus, just behind the heart, and in no way involves the heart. This happens when gastric acids from the stomach splash back up into the lower portion of the esophagus, causing pain.  The digestive acids don’t harm the stomach since it has protective coating, but the esophagus has no such coating, so you feel discomfort.

Heartburn Triggers:

• Eating heavy meals
• Eating rapidly
• Eating foods like chocolate, garlic, onions, or peppermint
• Smoking after eating
• Drinking coffee (regular or decaffeinated)
• Drinking alcohol
• Taking aspirin
• Hiatal hernia, a protrusion of the upper part of the stomach through the diaphragm, a condition that is present in one of every two people over the age of 60. This permits stomach acid to squirt back into the esophagus. 

Next week we shall discuss treatment / prevention of heartburn.

  

Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com

Seven Ways to Make Your Barbecues Healthier

It’s almost summer again and one of the most popular summer activities is outdoor cookout.  Unfortunately, evidence suggests that foods cooked on charcoal, gas or electric grill may be hazardous to your health.

The National Academy of Science has discovered a possible link between the grilling of food and the development of what are believed to be cancer-causing compounds.  Some researchers suspect that when high-fat, high-protein foods – like hamburgers – are exposed to intense, searing heat of barbecue cooking, the fat and protein turn into mutagens – chemicals that can damage the genetic material of cells and possibly cause cancer.

Below are some other guidelines to reduce the potential risks from eating grilled food:

• Before cooking meat or poultry (or fish, if applicable), trim away fat.  And don’t baste foods to be grilled with butter or oil.
• Keep a spray water bottle handy to douse flare-ups.
• Position food well above the heat source.
• If noticebale amounts of fat drip and flare up as food cooks, lower the flame or move the food to another part of the grill.
• Cook food until it’s done, but avoid charring it. The longer the food is grilled and the blacker it gets, the higher the risk.
• To avoid charring fish and vegetables, wrap them in aluminum foil.
• Many foods, like chicken, can be boiled or microwaved before grilling, to reduce fat content and grilling time.  

Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com

Guide to Minerals, Part 3

MINERAL	PRIMARY	FOOD	DEFICIENCY
	FUNCTION	SOURCES	SYMPTOMS
Potassium	Needed for muscle	fresh fruits and	muscle weakness
	contraction, heart action,	vegetables, milk &	irregular heartbeat
	nerve transmission, fluid	dairy products, nuts	apathy, confusion
	balance. Involved in	legumes, lean meat	loss of appetite
	making proteins. Needed		(deficiencies are
	for maintenance of acid-		unlikely, unless
	base balance.  Required		excessive water loss
	for formation of glycogen		occurs through
	(short-term storage of		vomiting, diarrhea,
	energy)		extreme sweating
Selenium	Works with vitamin E to	seafoods, lean meat	heart muscle
	act as antioxidant and	whole grains, wheat	abnormalities,
	protect cell membranes	germ, milk, organ	anemia
		meats
Sodium	Needed for normal fluid	salt, soy sauce,	muscle cramps,
	balance, both inside and	monosodium glu-	weakness, mental
	outside cells; nerve	tamate (MSG), most	apathy, loss of
	transmission, acid-base	processed foods	appetite (deficiencies
	balance and muscle	(especially soups,	are unlikely, unless
	contraction	sauces, and cured	another medical
		meats), milk and	problem exists)
		dairy products, meat
Zinc	Works as part of many	milk and dairy	retarded growth,
	enzymes. Present in	products, whole	prolonged wound
	insulin. Needed for making	grains, vegetables,	healing, slow sexual
	reproductive hormones,	liver, egg yolks,	development, loss
	normal sense of taste	oysters, lean meat,	of taste (and as a
	and wound healing	fish, poultry	result, loss of
			appetite)

Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com

Guide to Minerals, Part 2

MINERAL PRIMARY FOOD  DEFICIENCY FUNCTION SOURCES   SYMPTOMS Iodine Part of thyroxine, a  iodized salt, sea salt enlarged thyroid  hormone secreted by  seafood, seaweed, gland (goiter), weight  the thyroid gland, which  foods grown in  gain & sluggishness. helps to regulate growth,  iodine-rich soil,  Can cause severe development, reproduction dairy products retardation of & metabolic rate (rate at developing fetus which calories are burned) during pregnancy Iron Part of hemoglobin, which organ meats, fish, anemia, fatigue, carries oxygen to cells. shellfish, egg yolks, muscle weakness, Part of myoglobin, which poultry, enriched headaches, pale makes oxygen available breads & cereals, skin, inability to for muscle contraction. legumes, green leafy  concentrate Needed for use of energy vegetables, dried by the cells. fruits, molasses Magnesium Builds protein. Needed to whole grains (esp. confusion, nervous- release energy from food. wheat germ & bran) ness, disorientation, Helps relax muscles after nuts, legumes, dark hallucinations contraction. Helps resist green vegetables, tooth decay. Needed for seafood, chocolate, transmission of nerve cocoa impulses. Phosphorus Aids in building strong  milk and dairy  muscle weakness, bones and teeth. Activates products, fish, meat, loss of appetite, vitamins for use. Needed poultry, egg yolks,  bone pain to release energy from nuts, legumes, peas,  food. Needed for trans- whole grains,  mission of nerve impulses. processed foods

Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com