Job Posting - Administrative Assistant.

 

 Administrative Assistant

Montgomery Early Learning Centers Norristown, PA 6/26/2015

Job Description

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Administrative Assistant

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Montgomery Early Learning Centers is seeking an Administrative Assistant to work in our Norristown Center. This is a diverse community based center offering opportunities to work with Early Head Start and Head Start partners and children. This is a full-time position with competitive salary and benefits.
  

Job Requirements

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Administrative Assistant

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Formal Education, Work Experience and Certification:

• Coursework in Business Administration, preferred
• 1 – 3 years administrative office experience

Skills and Knowledge:

• Strong Administrative office management skills required
• Excellent oral and written communication skills including the ability to interact with families, schools, agencies and other outside individuals
• Proficient computer skills (Microsoft???) and other office equipment
• Strong customer service skills and the ability to maintain high level satisfaction with currently enrolled families
• Thorough and organized with the ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Bilingual, Spanish preferred, not required
• Knowledge of Early Childhood Education, a plus
• Knowledge of ECE / DHS and Keystone STARS preferred, but not required
• Physically capable of performing necessary tasks which may include: lifting, carrying, supporting and otherwise caring for young children

Work Schedule:

• 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM; Monday – Friday

Qualified candidates may email Cover Letter / Resume to Anne Williams, Center Director at:

[Click Here to Email Your Resumé]

  

Montgomery Early Learning Centers is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, disability, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, citizenship, genetic information or veteran status.
  

Job Snapshot

Other Pay Competitive salary and benefits

Employment Type Full-Time

Job Type Education, Admin - Clerical, Other

Education Not Specified

Experience 0 to 3 year(s)

Manages Others Not Specified

Industry Education - Teaching - Administration

Required Travel Not Specified

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Managing Stress and Low Testosterone

Feeling anxious and stressed? The pressures in your life may manifest in many physical ways, including low testosterone. Here’s how to manage both stress and low testosterone.

You probably already know that stress can be bad for your health. But what you might not realize is that stress can impact hormones, particularly the testosterone that gives men their decidedly male characteristics, such as muscle mass, body hair, and a deep voice.
“Stress can cause lower testosterone levels and then turn into a vicious cycle — the lower testosterone level can cause stress, which can cause testosterone numbers to drop even lower,” says S. Adam Ramin, MD, a urologist and medical director of Urology Cancer Specialists in Los Angeles.
Some of the side effects of stress, such as the lack of motivation to exercise and poor sleep, can also contribute to lower-than-normal testosterone levels, says Elizabeth Kavaler, MD, a urologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
On the flip side, managing your stress levels can help improve symptoms of low testosterone. “Lowering stress can help improve sexual function, decrease moodiness, and help men sleep better,” says Gregory Lowe, MD, a urologist at Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University in Columbus.
The exact physiological connection between stress and low testosterone isn't known. “We think there are probably certain brain chemicals we secrete in response to stress, which then go to the part of the brain that controls testosterone production,” Dr. Ramin says.
Not only are stress and low testosterone physiologically intertwined, but they share some of the same physical symptoms. “The most prevalent are feeling sluggish and tired — what may be described as feeling ‘old and fat’ by many men,” Dr. Kavaler says. Other symptoms common with both low testosterone and stress include depression, loss of sex drive, and erectile dysfunction, Ramin says.
Coping With Low Testosterone and Stress
Any man can develop low testosterone, but you're at much higher risk if you are older, overweight, and under a lot of stress, Kavaler says. So, what’s a stressed-out guy who suspects low testosterone to do?
“See your doctor,” Ramin says. Start with your primary care doctor, who may refer you to a urologist or endocrinologist. He or she will review your symptoms and, if they are consistent with low testosterone, check your hormone levels with a blood test.
Normal testosterone levels vary based on the lab but usually fall in the range of 300 to 1,000 ng/dL, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. “Men in the region of 300 to 400 are at the low end of normal, and anything below 150 is considered very low,” Kavaler says.
Other blood tests may include those for precursor hormones to testosterone, including prolactin, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and thyroid hormones, Ramin says. “If all those levels are normal, you are hormonally healthy and your symptoms are probably due purely to stress,” Kavaler says.
If testosterone levels are indeed low, start with lifestyle changes to manage the symptoms of low testosterone, Ramin recommends. The following may help with both low testosterone and stress management:

• Lose weight. “Body fat makes estrogen, which can tip the ratio of estrogen to testosterone to make testosterone levels unfavorably low,” Kavaler says. Stress also tends to cause men to exercise less and eat fattening foods more, further contributing to low testosterone, she adds. When you lose weight, the process reverses, and testosterone levels tend to go back up.

• Get enough sleep. “Men under stress tend to be deficient in sleep, and lack of sleep can lead to low testosterone,” Ramin says. Sleeping better, on the other hand, can cause those levels to go back up. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults ages 26 to 64 get seven to nine hours of sleep a night and that those over 65 get seven to eight hours.

• Change your diet. To help boost testosterone, go for a high-protein, low-fat diet, recommends Ramin. Also limit certain foods — such as those high in refined sugars, salt, and saturated and trans fats — that can elevate triglycerides, cholesterol, and fatty acids.

• Exercise. “Regular cardiovascular exercise releases endorphins, which can reduce stress and boost testosterone,” Ramin says. “I recommend 30 to 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise, such as running, swimming, or biking, three to four times a week.” Dr. Lowe also stresses the importance of adding strength training — which builds muscles and therefore may help boost testosterone levels — to your exercise routine.

• Breathe deep. “A simple breathing technique can instantly lower your stress level,” Ramin says. Take a deep breath through your nose and into your belly, hold it for a few seconds, and then let it out. “Repeat this a few times to calm your body and mind,” he says.

• Make time for yourself. “I tell my stressed-out patients to take an hour a day to do something for themselves and get their head together, be it exercise, a massage, listening to music, yoga, or a walk,” Kavaler says. “Even if it means getting up an hour earlier, it’s important to have this time to regroup.
• Consider testosterone replacement therapy.  Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) can help return testosterone to a normal level and may help relieve some of the symptoms of low testosterone. However, TRT is not appropriate for everyone and may cause side effects, including increased risk of heart attacks, blood clots, and stroke, says Ramin. Talk to your doctor about whether TRT is right for you.

Can Eating the Right Foods Reverse Tooth Cavities?

When we get a cavity, we go to the dentist to get it drilled and filled, and that’s the end of the story. But what if it were possible to influence the dental health of our children as they develop so that tooth issues and cavities are prevented? And what if teeth were able to heal themselves from decay?
It turns out that although these ideas aren’t popularized in conventional medicine and the mainstream media, there are facts that have been well investigated and proven to be true.
Here are a few facts that all of us commonly accept and acknowledge, as a basis for this discussion:

• A lack of nutrients can make us sick (i.e., the body doesn’t function and heal as it should).
• Bones can heal from injury, and good nutrition helps the body do this.
• Children who lack vitamin D during development get rickets (deformed bones).

It’s not much of a jump, then, to understand that teeth are formed as a fetus grows in the womb, just like everything else. Their health, shape and spacing is determined by the quality of nutrition consumed by the mother. Nutrition matters once a person is born as well, with poor nutrition encouraging decay and degradation of the teeth.

This brings us to the main tenet of dental health today: avoiding sugar. But what about the opposite approach—can we eat foods that actively nourish and heal our teeth? And can teeth heal themselves just like bones? The answer is yes! A few notable dentists during the twentieth century studied populations consuming traditional diets all over the world. Although their diets varied based on what was locally available, it was observed that the diets had a few key things in common.

• All traditional diets were rich in minerals.
• All traditional diets were rich in fat-soluble vitamins, i.e., vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Traditional foods were grown, prepared and eaten such that nutrients were highly bio-available, meaning easy to digest and absorb. This is often related to the removal of phytic acid from foods.

Studies found that groups of people consuming diets corresponding with these guidelines all had healthy bones and well-formed jaws and teeth with low- to non-existent rates of malformation, crowding or decay.
When people from traditional societies are fed a Western diet, they begin to experience dental cavities, while the opposite is true if a person is transitioned to a nutrient-dense traditional diet; the teeth are able to heal, just like the rest of our bones.
Conversely, we consider braces to be a routine part of growing up today. Although this is normalized in our society, it is actually a concerning sign that our modern diet does not support healthy formation of bones and teeth.
Although we are not suffering as badly as those in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with low vitamin D causing rickets, we have an insidious rate of skeletal deformation. This is linked to the large-scale modern dependence on low-nutrient and pro-inflammatory foods.
So what are some nutritious choices that can help support dental health?
It’s recommended that we consciously adjust our modern diet to be more similar to those traditional diets that have been observed to create robust bones and teeth. This will not only help us have children with naturally well-formed smiles, but also help prevent and even re-mineralize dental cavities in adults.
Consume more minerals from whole foods, not supplements. Foods high in magnesium include pumpkin seeds, brazil nuts, caviar and tomatoes. Excellent sources of zinc include oysters, ground beef and liver. Calcium is best absorbed from leafy greens and bone-in fish, such as canned salmon or sardines.
Consume more fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K). These work synergistically to prevent infection, support growth and repair, and ensure the minerals you’ve consumed are used correctly within the body’s systems. Liver, fish, shellfish, aged cheese, grass-fed butter, mushrooms and sunflower seeds are some recommended foods to add in. It should go without saying that consuming fat is also necessary for the absorption of these fat-soluble vitamins.
Consume gluten-free grains, legumes, nuts and seeds that have been prepared in such a way that phytic acid levels are reduced. This normally involves soaking and sprouting.
It’s never too late to start improving dental health with improved nutrition. You might even be able to prevent your next dentist visit by encouraging your teeth to re-mineralize naturally with these pieces of traditional wisdom.
—The Alternative Daily

General Mills Drops Artificial Colors and Flavors from Cereals

Giant food conglomerate General Mills recently made an announcement that by the year 2017, all of its cereals will be free of artificial colors and flavors.
This is great news, considering so many of these cereals are marketed to children, and these ingredients have been shown time and time again to have serious potential hazards.
However, before you celebrate that artificial dye-free box of Trix that’s right around the corner, take note that just because these ingredients will be replaced doesn’t mean the cereals will be healthy or safe to eat — for children or adults.

According to General Mills spokespeople, 90 percent of the brand’s cereals will be free of artificial colors and flavors by the close of 2016. The rest will be free of the stuff by the end of 2017. Just a few of the cereals made by General Mills include Cheerios, Trix, Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs, Count Chocula, and Reese’s Puffs.
Certain cereals are proving trickier for the food manufacturers to “de-artificialize” than others. For example, Trix cereal will soon be sporting four colors instead of six. Lucky Charms, which contains an array of sugary colored marshmallows, is also proving a challenge.
As for the reason behind the shift away from artificial ingredients, the president of General Mills’ cereal division, Jim Murphy, stated:
“We’ve continued to listen to consumers who want to see more recognizable and familiar ingredients on the labels and challenged ourselves to remove barriers that prevent adults and children from enjoying our cereals.” Indeed, General Mills points to internal polls which state that 49 percent of US homes do not want artificial ingredients in their food.
As we have reported, artificial colorings are a health nightmare. A number of studies have linked these colorings to the potential for severe allergies, hyperactivity in children, and other behavioral changes. Some have even been linked to cancer in lab animals. It can safely be called an atrocity that these ingredients have remained in our children’s food for this long.
The truly good news to be gleaned from General Mills’ announcement is that major food corporations are listening — finally listening — to the public’s demand for both transparency and healthier ingredients.
The company has also announced that its manufacturers are to rid their products of trans fats by 2018 — another encouraging move. Other major food corporations, including Nestlé, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, have also announced plans to end their use of artificial ingredients.
The bad news? As we’ve said before, a processed food is still a processed food. Even without the artificial stuff, these foods are made in large factories, with no love, and with a high risk of contamination. They will also continue to be made with cheap ingredients, many of which are unhealthy, and contain tons of sugar. Many will still contain various preservatives.
On top of that, so-called “natural flavors” are sometimes even more ick-inducing than artificial ones — and have often been so chemically processed that they do not resemble anything found in nature at all.
Yes, the major food corporations are trying — but they are trying to win back sales, not to truly be healthy. If you want to get your morning — and your kids’ morning — started off right, begin with a healthy breakfast of whole, fresh ingredients from the Earth — not something poured out of a box.
-The Alternative Daily

Antibiotic-Resistant Intestinal Sickness Cases Are Growing

Shigellosis, a drug-resistant intestinal illness, is sweeping its way across the U.S. and has infected 243 people throughout 32 states, as well as Puerto Rico since May 2014.
Reducing antibiotic overuse
Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are recommending a reduction in the antibiotic treatment of milder forms of shigellosis, fearing we could end up with large outbreaks.
In the past, antibiotic-resistant forms of Shigella, the bacteria that leads to the development of shigellosis, have been rare in the U.S. However, international travelers have repeatedly introduced it back into the country. In fact, half the CDC-identified cases were associated with travelers who had spent time in the Dominican Republic and India.

Because shigellosis causes painful episodes of bloody or watery diarrhea, fever, and abdominal pain, many people seek to treat it immediately with antibiotics. Since it is usually treated with a drug called ciprofloxacin, now that medicine is losing effectiveness. Compounding the problem is the fact that shigellosis is already resistant to several other antibiotics used in the U.S.
Shigellosis is easily spread
As explained in a statement by CDC Director Tom Frieden, “Drug-resistant infections are harder to treat and because Shigella spreads so easily between people, the potential for more – and larger – outbreaks is a real concern. We’re moving quickly to implement a national strategy to curb antibiotic resistance because we can’t take for granted that we’ll always have the drugs we need to fight common infections.”
Shigellosis is quickly spread from one person to another by food, and also by the use of recreational water like pools. While it does generally resolve itself within a week, it can be painful to endure.
Developing drug resistance
Bacteria like Shigella begin to develop resistance to antibiotics when they come into contact with doses that are not high enough to kill them. This allows the bacteria to adapt itself for survival and then passes along that resistance to later generations.
While officials are not exactly sure why drug-resistant Shigella has become such a growing problem in the U.S., it is most likely due to people who were overprescribed medication unnecessarily and then stopped taking it before the full course was finished.
Shigellosis clusters in the U.S.
Sizeable clusters of the antibiotic-resistant shigellosis have been found in California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. Outside of the cases identified involving international travelers, there are also domestic clusters that are starting to emerge.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has recorded 95 cases of the drug-resistant illness so far. Out of those 95 cases, half of them involve homeless people or people who live in single occupancy hotel rooms.
An ounce of prevention
The best way to protect yourself, as with most things, is through frequent and thorough hand washing with soap and water. If you travel abroad, it is best to drink fluids directly from the sealed containers they came in. Likewise, be sure to eat hot foods from the sealed containers they were packaged in as well.
—The Alternative Daily

Syphilis Infection Rates Are on the Rise

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data shows that between 2012 and 2013, incidents of primary and secondary syphilis infections increased by 10 percent.
Those figures are twice as high as they were for 2001. The highest concentrations of syphilis infections are being found in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Portland, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, Orlando, San Diego, San Antonio, and San Francisco.
Cases of infection in the San Francisco Bay Area doubled from 438 in 2009 to 814 in 2013. Not only did cases increase by 32 percent between 2011 and 2014, but in the last few months up to 15 cases of ocular syphilis were reported. Ocular syphilis is a very serious complication that can arise when the disease is left untreated, and may ultimately lead to blindness. Cases of ocular syphilis have been found in California and Washington state according to an alert from the CDC. Most of these particular infections were found in HIV-positive men who had engaged in sex with men.

Easy to treat, but hard to detect
Syphilis can be spread by sexual contact or from a pregnant mother to her unborn fetus. Thankfully, it can be easily treated with antibiotics, but the problem lies in the detection of it. Because the early-stage symptom of syphilis is a sore, or chancre, that takes three weeks to appear, it may be undetected and spread to others in the meantime. Not to mention that symptoms can disappear for a while, and as a result some people may falsely assume it is gone. Syphilis has been a problem in poor countries for some time and has led to pregnancy complications numbering in the hundreds of thousands. However, the continuous rise in infections here in the U.S. is drawing real attention from concerned health officials.
Unprotected sex is an obvious culprit
Information from the CDC indicates that the percentage of men having unprotected anal intercourse with other men rose from 48 percent in 2005 to 57 percent in 2011. One theory health officials are looking at for the unexpected rise in cases could be that HIV-positive men are choosing to have unprotected sex with HIV-positive partners. This is called serosorting or seroadaptation.
“There are a number of people who are on networks disclosing their HIV status, which we support. And for those people, they are choosing to have condomless sex if both partners know that they have HIV,” said Jay Laudato, executive director of the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. “That’s something that’s been happening for quite some time. And it absolutely does lead to increased STIs.”
Some people blame the presence of Truvada, a PrEP or pre-exposure prophylaxis, used as a prevention option for people that may be at a high risk of exposure to HIV. As explained by Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, “The CDC’s ill-advised strategy of mass treatment with Truvada poses a significant risk to the condom culture, which while it has eroded, has still prevailed among gay men for three decades.”
“I think there’s a subtle message that condom use is not that important any longer,” said Weinstein.
—The Alternative Daily

The Importance of Darkness to Your Health

In ancient times, and throughout most of human history, night used to be truly dark, and thus ideal for sleeping. While it’s true, of course, that the sun still sets every evening, most of us are exposed to a barrage of artificial light sources all night long. As it turns out, this can spell trouble for our health.
Even for those people living in the country or in rural areas, where street lights, city lights, and passing headlights are not an issue, electronic devices are a staple in modern homes. A body of research shows that the rise in the use of electronics is linked to negative effects on our natural sleep cycle.
It is now estimated that about 40 percent of Americans sleep less than seven hours per night — and that’s not enough.

Don’t underestimate the dark According to the authors of a new study published by The Royal Society:
“Since the introduction of electric lighting, there has been inadequate light during the day inside buildings for a robust resetting of the human endogenous circadian rhythmicity, and too much light at night for a true dark to be detected; this results in circadian disruption and alters sleep/wake cycle, core body temperature, hormone regulation and release, and patterns of gene expression throughout the body.”
The “endogenous circadian rhythmicity,” often called simply “circadian rhythm,” of human beings is the body’s natural “clock,” or the set of processes that govern our sleep/wake cycles. Along with our sleep/wake cycles, circadian rhythm also dictates many other bodily processes, such as our body temperature, our hunger cycles, and our levels of energy.
So, how important is darkness to this cycle? It is crucial. When it gets dark, the body naturally produces more of the hormone melatonin, which signals to the body that it is time to sleep. When the sun comes up, melatonin levels lower, and the body is signaled to awaken.
However, when our darkness is compromised — either through artificial lighting, sleeping during the day due to a nigh-shift schedule, or living in a home that does not get a lot of natural light or darkness contrasts (such as a basement apartment), the body’s production of melatonin is compromised as well. This may lead to some potentially serious health issues, especially over time.
A good night’s sleep is crucial to good health
We all know that we just plain don’t feel good when we don’t get enough sleep. If we get less than that sweet zone of seven to eight hours, we find ourselves groggy, irritable, and not able to think clearly. If we pull an all-nighter, it’s not uncommon to experience notable decreases in cognition, shaking hands, and altered mood. Sometimes, we may even experience visual or auditory hallucinations.
Just a few other symptoms that may come from short-term sleep deprivation are depression, binge-eating (more on that to come), facial wrinkles, skin blemishes such as acne, and decreased sex drive. Chronic sleep deprivation has been linked to some very serious disorders: including an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, fibromyalgia, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.
So, how much sleep does one have to lose to suffer serious effects beyond a brain fog? A recent study shows that losing as little as 30 minutes of sleep per night each weekday may increase one’s risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as obesity.
For this study, researchers analyzed the sleep habits of 522 individuals, who were instructed to keep a sleep diary each day for one year. The researchers found that after the 12-month period,”for every 30 minutes of weekday sleep debt at baseline, the risk of obesity and insulin resistance was significantly increased by 17 percent and 39 percent, respectively.”
Another study, published in 2014 in the journal Neurology, linked less-than-adequate sleep with increases in brain shrinking, especially in individuals over the age of 60. On these results, the study’s lead researcher, Claire Sexton of the University of Oxford, wrote:
“We found that sleep difficulties (for example, trouble falling asleep, waking up during the night, or waking up too early) were associated with an increased rate of decline in brain volume over 3 [to] 5 years. Many factors have previously been linked with the rate of change in brain volume over time — including physical activity, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Our study indicates that sleep is also an important factor.”
The study authors added:
“Poor sleep quality may be a cause or a consequence of brain atrophy, and future studies examining the effect of interventions that improve sleep quality on rates of atrophy may hold key insights into the direction of this relationship.”
The link between sleep and memory
A recent study performed at Brandeis University in Massachusetts tested the brains of Drosophila flies, which are sometimes used by researchers because of their simple organ system structure, and its relationship to human systems. During their study, the researchers found that the same parts of the brain responsible for memory function also affected sleep.
On this relationship, Bethany Christmann, one of the study’s authors, stated:
“It’s almost as if that section of the mushroom body [a part of the Drosophila brain analogous to the hippocampus] were saying ‘hey, stay awake and learn this. Then, after a while, the DPM neurons start signaling to suppress that section, as if to say ‘you’re going to need sleep if you want to remember this later.'”
Christmann and her fellow researchers hope that this observation can help researchers better understand the relationship between memory and sleep in the human brain.
Lack of adequate sleep can also affect your weight
You may be wondering what the connection between lack of sleep and binge eating — which was mentioned above — is all about. It turns out that when lights are on, it not only lowers the body’s melatonin levels, but also its levels of leptin. This can lead to midnight cravings, especially for unhealthy foods.
On the subject, the authors of a 2004 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine wrote:
“Sleep restriction was associated with average reductions in the anorexigenic hormone leptin, elevations in the orexigenic factor ghrelin, and increased hunger and appetite, especially for calorie-dense foods with high carbohydrate content.”
If you routinely binge-eat foods laden with refined carbohydrates, you can reasonably expect the pounds to pile on. It is especially unfortunate that wheat has been found to be highly addictive, which elevates the cravings even more.
Different kinds of light
So, we’ve established that darkness is essential for sleep — but do different types of light affect us differently? Absolutely. Research has shown that blue light — such as from the sun and fluorescent lights (think your tablet and cell phone) — keeps us awake the most.
On the other hand, red and yellow lights (from candlelight, and incandescent light bulbs) are naturally dimmer, and do not affect circadian rhythms as severely as blue light. While darkness in the bedroom is always best when trying to sleep, if you have alarm clocks or hallway night lights, you may want to keep them in this spectrum.
Getting back into the natural rhythm
How do we get back in line with our natural circadian rhythms? Here are a few tips to consider:
Take a camping trip! Being away from artificial lights, even for a couple days, can have an immensely positive effect — as long as you don’t take your electronics with you! A 2013 study published in the journal Current Biology studies this effect, and found:
“Electrical lighting and the constructed environment is associated with reduced exposure to sunlight during the day, increased light exposure after sunset, and a delayed timing of the circadian clock as compared to a summer natural 14 hr 40 min: 9 hr 20 min light-dark cycle camping. Furthermore, we find that after exposure to only natural light, the internal circadian clock synchronizes to solar time.”
Make sure your bedroom is as dark as possible. You may want to experiment with curtains, window shades, or even an eye shade. Keep electronic devices out of the bedroom — they’ll do nothing but keep you awake.
Go to bed half an hour earlier. As it takes most people some time to fall asleep, giving yourself an extra window to make sure you get a full seven hours actually snoozing is key.
Turn down the heat. Sleeping in a cooler bedroom (below 70 degrees F) is linked to promoting restful sleep. Plus, it may help to activate brown fat, a metabolically active type of fat that actually increases your body’s rate of calorie-burning.
Make sure your sleep position isn’t affecting your snoozing time — check out our article and see if your preferred position is working for or against you.
There’s an app for that. Check out these nifty sleep apps that have been developed for the singular purpose of promoting quality sleep!
Above all, don’t forget to turn off the lights at night — and get out of the city once in a while — it’ll do your mind and body some serious good! Nature is the ultimate healer.
—The Alternative Daily

12 Reasons to Eat Popcorn Daily

It’s summertime, and sweet corn will soon be ready for harvest. One of our absolute favorite ways to enjoy this delicious veggie is to whip up a bowl of freshly-popped, organic popcorn. Now, some of you may be confused by the notion of popcorn as a health food — but that’s probably because you’ve likely never had the real thing!
Corn, which can be considered both a vegetable and a grain, has a rich history dating back to ancient times. It was a staple in the Aztec, Mayan, and Inca civilizations — to name just a few of the oldest and most famous. Corn comes in many colors, including white, yellow, black, and red, but most these days are white (which is sweeter) or yellow.
When kernels are heated in oil, magic happens, and the resulting popcorn has been enjoyed for centuries — not only for its flavor, but also for its nutritional value.

12 reasons to eat popcorn: Corn is high in fiber, which helps with digestive regularity, keeps you feeling full throughout the day, is crucial for a healthy heart, and may even help to protect against colon cancer. Because of its high fiber content, eating popcorn may help to promote healthy gut bacteria — which are essential for not only digestion, but also for a healthy immune system.
Yellow corn is rich in carotenoid antioxidants, including lutein and zeaxanthin, which not only help to protect eye health, and may guard against age-related macular degeneration, but they also work to combat system-wide inflammation, which may underlie a number of chronic diseases.
Corn is rich in B-vitamins, including vitamin B3, B6, folate, and pantothenic acid. B-vitamins are essential to regulating bodily processes across multiple systems. Just two examples of these are the production of energy and the metabolism of various nutrients.
Vitamin B3, also known as niacin, has been studied for its potential to help naturally ease depression, making popcorn a “comfort food” in the literal sense.
Corn contains phosphorus, a mineral that aids in supporting healthy bone function, as well as the function of many types of cells throughout the body.
Manganese, another mineral found in corn, not only supports healthy bones, it also plays a part in regulating blood sugar, and is instrumental in promoting healthy skin.
Corn contains ferulic acid, which is linked to potentially killing certain kinds of tumor cells.
Munching on a bowl of organic popcorn provides a great alternative to other less-healthy snacks, and because it is high in fiber, may reduce cravings for these snacks, as well.
Organic corn is a wonderful gluten-free grain choice.
Adorning your popcorn with organic grass-fed butter, and unrefined sea salt also gives you the benefits of these two important foods.
It’s just plain delicious!
Why it’s important to choose organic corn
When making popcorn, the type of kernel you start with really does matter. Always look for organic popping corn, and make sure there are no additives (or any other ingredients, for that matter), on the ingredients list. If you can get your corn fresh from a local source, that’s all the better.
Why is choosing organic corn so important when it comes to popcorn, and corn in general? One reason is widespread genetic modification. In 2012, Monsanto released GMO sweet corn into the US food supply. Since there is still no mandatory labeling of GMOs in most of the United States, you may not know when you are eating it.
This corn, known as Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) corn, is genetically modified to produce an insecticide to destroy pests when they ingest the corn. This insecticide is present in every part of the plant. Bt corn is also modified to be resistant to Roundup — the pesticide most commonly sprayed on cornfields. Roundup has recently been classified as a “probable human carcinogen.”
When Bt corn was first released, the public was assured that the Bt toxin would not make its way into the human digestive system. However, a 2011 study performed at the University of Sherbrooke Hospital Centre in Sherbrooke, Quebec tells a different story.
For the study, published in the journal Reproductive Toxicology, researchers tested the blood of 30 pregnant women, and 39 non-pregnant women. Frighteningly, traces of Bt toxin was found in 93 percent of the blood samples from the pregnant women, and in 80 percent of the umbilical cord blood samples of their babies. It was also found in 67 percent of the non-pregnant women’s blood samples.
The engineering of the Bt toxin into corn may also present a significant threat to the environment, and in fact, the entire food chain. A 2005 study published in the journal Molecular Ecology found that not only “targeted pests” were being harmed by the planting of Bt corn, the toxin also exposed other creatures on the food chain to the toxin. The study authors wrote:
“These data indicate that long-term exposure to insecticidal toxins occurs in the field. These levels of exposure should therefore be considered during future risk assessments of transgenic crops to nontarget herbivores and arthropod predators.”
Another study, published in 1999 in the journal Nature, found that the Bt toxin leaches from the modified plants into the soil. The authors of this study wrote:
“Bt corn is corn (Zea mays) that has been genetically modified to express insecticidal toxins derived from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis to kill lepidopteran pests feeding on these plants. Here we show that Bt toxin is released into the rhizosphere soil in root exudates from Bt corn.”
Unfortunately, today, Bt corn is widespread. It can be found among fresh corn, frozen and canned corn, within many processed products (especially those with high fructose corn syrup), and even in some innocent-looking roadside stands. This makes choosing organic corn of the utmost importance if you wish to avoid this toxin.
The type of oil you use matters (and the type of salt, too)
Aside from choosing organic corn, in order to make your popcorn as healthy as can be, you need to choose the right oil and salt. Stay away from highly processed oils, such as soybean oil, canola oil, and vegetable oil, which come under the guise of being healthy — they are anything but.
For just a few examples as to why, about 90 percent of canola oil is genetically modified. It also contains an unbalanced ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids, potentially contributing to inflammation. Inflammation, left unchecked, can lead to a host of chronic illnesses, ranging from skin issues all the way through to cancers. On top of that, some canola oils have been found to contain harmful trans fats.
Soybean oil is also highly processed, and the oil is often extracted from the soybeans using commercial solvents such as hexane. This oil is often hydrogenated, which leads to the development of trans fats. Trans fats have been strongly linked to weight gain, inflammation, and metabolic syndrome.
The absolute best oil choice for making your homemade, organic popcorn is organic virgin coconut oil. This oil is loaded with health benefits and nourishes all of your body’s systems. Top your popcorn with organic grass-fed butter and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Sea salt is key because table salt is highly processed, and sometimes contains traces of chlorine and other chemicals. Yuck! Best to stick to the real, unrefined thing!
Whatever you do, stay away from microwave popcorn!
A lot of the reason that popcorn itself has gotten a bad wrap is likely due to microwave popcorn. While it’s certainly convenient, microwave popcorn is a health nightmare. For starters, there’s the artificial butter flavoring — a far cry from real butter. A study published in 2012 in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology linked the artificial butter flavoring often used in microwave popcorn to a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The bags used to house microwave popcorn are often treated in Teflon, officially known as fluorotelomer. The chemicals used in this coating may combine and metabolize to form perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which may be carcinogenic.
On top of that, the popcorn kernels used in microwave corn are often grown with the use of a series of pesticides — many of which may contain both neurotoxins and endocrine-disrupting chemicals — to name only a few potential poisons.
How to make your own super-healthy popcorn
So, what’s the secret to perfect, healthy popcorn? It’s simple! Start with organic popping corn, pop it on the stove using organic virgin coconut oil, then top with organic grass-fed butter and some unrefined sea salt, such as Himalayan salt. Voila! — a perfect snack! Check out our recent Alternative Daily Podcast where we talk about making the perfect popcorn!
Note: If you have blood sugar issues, make sure to check with your doctor first to determine how much popcorn is safe for your individual health as corn is a naturally starchy food. However, if you’ve got the medical go-ahead, enjoy!
-The Alternative Daily

Job Posting - CFO/Vice President of Finance

 

Indulge Your Sweet Tooth — Healthfully

These baking tips can turn any forbidden sweet into a nutritious treat, with just a little bit of effort.

If you've got a sweet tooth, dessert may be the hardest thing for you to give up when cutting back on calories or sticking to a healthy diet. Fortunately, you can still reach your diet goals while giving in to your cravings if you choose healthy desserts. Try these healthy baking tips and get that sweet tooth satisfied.

Try Baking Substitutes

An easy way to enjoy your favorite dessert recipe is to find substitutes for some of its high-fat, high-calorie ingredients. Try these substitutions to create healthier versions of your favorite treats:

• Use applesauce as a baking substitute for up to half the oil in a recipe.
• Use healthier whole wheat flour instead of white flour.
• Use 3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder as a baking substitute for every one ounce of unsweetened chocolate.
• Replace the cream in recipes with evaporated skim milk.
• Use artificial sweetener instead of real sugar.
• Make up for using less sugar by adding flavor with vanilla extract or lemon zest.
• Substitute just the egg whites for whole eggs or use an egg substitute.
• Skip the top crust when making pies and use fresh or frozen berries rather than canned filling.
• Sprinkle cookies, brownies, or cakes with a little cinnamon, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar in place of frosting.

When you're making your own dessert, you're also in control of portion sizes. Bake mini cupcakes, tarts, and cookies; if baking brownies or a similar dessert in a large pan, cut the finished product into small portions so you won’t be tempted to take too much. And don't go back for seconds.

These healthy baking changes will significantly cut down on fat and calories in your sweet indulgences. You can still have the fun of baking and experimenting with recipes, but without all the guilt.

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Healthy Desserts Start With Fruit

You can also enjoy guilt-free sweets by choosing dessert recipes that are naturally healthy. Healthy desserts include many fruit-based choices, which help you meet your recommended daily servings from this important food group:

• Low-sugar fruit sorbet — try flavors like mango, raspberry, and strawberry
• Fresh fruit salads — discover new tastes like papaya, guava, and starfruit, or opt for a mixture of berries or melon cubes
• Fat-free frozen yogurt or extra-creamy Greek yogurt topped with fresh fruit or a fresh fruit puree
• Cooking fruit can intensify its flavors — try a baked apple or a broiled half-grapefruit or banana

Dessert Inspiration
Half the fun of dessert is the preparation, which includes trying new recipes and breathing in the aromas that fill your home. To enjoy all the pleasures of a sweet treat with fewer calories, try one of these healthy dessert recipes:

• Fresh Banana With Blueberries
• Angel Food Cake With Strawberries
• Fresh Berries With Sour Cream Sauce
• Almond-Peach Crisp
• Lemon Mousse
• Seven-Minute Frozen Peach Yogurt

Don't deny yourself dessert. Just make smarter, healthier choices that won't derail your diet or leave you feeling deprived of something sweet.

Job Posting - Employment Opportunities in Delaware County at ALDI,

Greeting please find employment opportunities with Aldi in Philadelphia and Delaware County.  Please share with your network and best wishes!

Delaware County, PA
Date, June 24
Start time: 9 a.m.
End Time: 6 p.m.,
Location:  1205 McDade Blvd., Collingdale, Delaware County.

Philadelphia, PA
Date: Friday, June 26, 2015
Start Time: 7 00 AM
End Time: 11 00 AM
Location: 4104 G. Street
Information:

REQUIREMENTS:

High School diploma or GED required, 18 years of age or older, able to lift up to 45 lbs
Outstanding customer service, motivation, and a commitment to teamwork with a “Can Do” attitude
Must be able to work varying schedules to accommodate the operational schedule of the store
Accurate cash control, cleaning and stocking merchandise, and maintaining the standards of a Premier Grocery Store
Seeking applicants with previous management experience for potential growth to advance into our Shift Manager position
With more than 30 years in the industry, Aldi is the leading select-assortment grocer and one of the largest food retailers in the world with over 4,000 locations worldwide. Our U.S. growth continues to explode; we’re adding nearly 100 new stores every year, and we are seeking energetic and highly motivated individuals to join the Aldi team in our PHILADELPHIA, PA STORE LOCATION.

Aldi offers a liberal benefit package for eligible employees including:
Major Medical, Dental, Vision Care
Paid Vacations and Holidays
Retirement and 401k
FULL TIME STORE ASSOCIATES AND SHIFT MANAGERS
FULL TIME STORE ASSOCIATES: $11.25 PER HOUR
SHIFT MANAGERS: $15.25 PER HOUR ($11.25 PER HOUR PLUS $4.00 PER HOUR PREMIUM)
*Training Provided*Potential for Advancement*
Employment Contingent Upon Result of Drug Screening and Background Check

 

3 Things Doctors Know About Inflammatory Illnesses and How to Reduce Them Naturally

Inflammation can occur on the skin or in the organs and isn’t always central to one location. The spread of inflammation in my body has caused many problems, ranging from hair loss to irregular menstrual cycles. Doctors and researchers are beginning to understand the role inflammation plays in chronic illnesses and the ways diet can reduce it. Here is what they know so far.
Causes of inflammation
Inflammation is the body’s cellular response to injury or illness. In other words, inflammation is actually a good thing. It is your body’s way of repairing itself and making you feel better sooner. When your body swells due to inflammation, internally your organs are trying to clear out the damaged or foreign cells and isolate infected cells to prevent illness from spreading.

This immune response is the life-saving system that keeps you safe from fungus, bacteria and viruses. It works by sending white blood cells and other hormone-like substances to neutralize threats and repair tissue. However, when your body begins to produce excess inflammation due to a persistent stimulus, it can actually make the problem worse by damaging healthy tissue. Chronic inflammation
Inflammation is considered to be a chronic problem if symptoms persist for over three months. In this situation, your immune system is bombarded with stimulus on a consistent basis. You may experience inflammation constantly or off-and-on throughout your life as triggers emerge.
Chronic inflammation causes more than just swelling, it can damage healthy cells and wreak havoc on major bodily systems, including cardiovascular, endocrine, digestive and central nervous systems. Your organs and internal systems communicate with each other to ensure a healthy body. In other words, it’s all connected. If you have repeated inflammation in one part of your body, it can affect other areas as well, triggering inflammatory illnesses.
Inflammatory illnesses
When white blood cells and hormone-like cells are on constant alert, this can actually prevent your body from healing and cause a wide array of medical issues. Sometimes you can’t see the inflammation or the damage, but feel the effects it has on your body.
Fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease, celiac disease and depression are just some of many invisible inflammatory illnesses that often go unnoticed and undiagnosed for years.
According to Andrew Weil M.D. and a 2012 article produced by Laura Landro of the Wall Street Journal, most chronic diseases have now been linked to inflammation, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and even cancer. Chronic inflammation can have some surprising side effects, and it can spread to many parts of your body.
Ever since I was a teenager, I have been battling inflammation. Like many teens, I had really bad acne, oily skin and dandruff. Unlike many teens, I also had excess body hair, even on my face!
From the time I first ovulated until two years ago, I only had one or two periods each year. I was told by my gynecologist that I lack the hormone progesterone, which increases my risk of ovarian cancer and might make it difficult to conceive a child.
Upon transitioning into adulthood, my dandruff and acne disappeared and another symptom began. I started losing my hair rapidly and my scalp was constantly red and in pain. My doctor diagnosed me with inflammation-triggered androgenic alopecia. These may sound like all separate instances, but they have two things in common: hormonal changes and inflammation.
Although hormones are often thought to be separate from the immune system, our bodily systems are intertwined. According to research published in 1996 by the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s medical journal, female sex hormones can affect T cells, B cells and mononuclear phagocytes.
Females have more active immune systems than men and are more prone to autoimmune disorders as a result. In fact, female sex hormone receptors are present on immune cells. Annals of Rheumatic Diseases revealed in their 1988 journal that the female sex hormone progesterone is immuno-suppressant and higher levels of progesterone during pregnancy can provide relief for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers.
Anne Underwood’s 2005 report for Newsweek showed that researchers are finding more and more surprising links between inflammatory illnesses. Anne reported, “Suddenly medical puzzles seem to be fitting together, such as why hypertension puts patients at increased risk of Alzheimer’s, or why rheumatoid-arthritis sufferers have higher rates of sudden cardiac death. They’re all connected on some fundamental level.”
Natural solutions
Andrew Weil M.D. and the Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine agree that diet, exercise, stress and exposure to toxins can trigger chronic inflammation. Peter Libby, a professor at Harvard Medical School and chief of the cardiovascular medical division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that chronic inflammation can be triggered by excess body fat, especially visceral fat that is centered in the abdominal area, surrounding vital organs.
These fat cells can produce molecules known as cytokines, which churn out inflammatory molecules. According to Dr. Libby, weight loss alone can reduce inflammation in a matter of weeks or months.
Exercise helps in two ways: it increases blood circulation and it helps you lose weight. While dieting alone can help you lose weight, it is important to note that some foods promote inflammation while others help to fight it. Chemicals, hormones, and artificial additives found in processed, packaged foods can trigger an immune response, cause bloating and encourage weight gain. This is true for artificial and processed foods found in grocery stores as well as fast food chains. On the other hand, some herbs and spices can help with inflammation, such as ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, cayenne pepper and cloves.
Anti-inflammatory diets
While there are a number of “anti-inflammatory diets” produced by health specialists, there is a common thread in all of them.
Firstly, they tend to avoid — or greatly reduce — foods that could trigger inflammation, which according to the Arthritis Foundation include foods that contain high amounts of omega-6 fatty acids, refined carbohydrates, monosodium glutamate, gluten, casein, aspartame and alcohol. Christopher Cannon, a professor at Harvard Medical School who co-wrote The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Anti-Inflammatory Diet suggests eating more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, unsaturated fats, nuts, fish, poultry and eggs.
He recommends consuming small amounts of dairy and avoiding red meat, butter, sweets and white carbohydrates. The Arizona Center for Advanced Medicine notes that while some fats can trigger inflammation, natural fats from whole foods are actually anti-inflammatory, especially those rich in omega-3 fatty acids.
Studies reveal what works
Annals of Rheumatic Disease published a study in 1988 that demonstrated how omega-3 fatty acids in evening primrose oil and fish oil both continued to help lower inflammation even as the dosage of NSAIDs, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, were reduced.
The Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition revealed in its September 1999 issue that the soluble dietary fiber pectin and the short-chain fatty acid butylene can help with intestinal inflammation.
Research published in the journal Inflammation Research suggests that flavonoids can fight inflammation due to its antioxidant nature and its ability to slow the production of anti-inflammatory molecules. Flavonoids are found in antioxidant-rich foods such as berries and green tea.
The Research Center for Natural Products and Phytopharmaceuticals at the Netherland’s University of Utrecht found that gallic acid created an anti-inflammatory response in mice that had acute swelling. Gallic acid is found in blueberries, apples, walnuts and flaxseeds.
These and many other studies suggest that antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids and dietary fiber can help reduce inflammation.
What has worked for me
I have tried many dietary and natural remedies for my chronic inflammation. The most significant changes that have improved my symptoms have been a shift to whole foods and the elimination of gluten. After years of not having a natural period, I began to have periods without a progesterone supplement only one month after giving up gluten!
I have found that for scalp inflammation, squirting vinegar on inflamed areas reduces redness and pain within an hour of use. I also ingest apple cider vinegar, green tea, flaxseed, chia seed, ginger and peppers to help with overall inflammation. I workout every weekday for a minimum of thirty minutes. I also try to reduce stress with yoga and meditative music. In the shower, my hair used to fill the drain.
Now I normally find a small ring of hair in the drain, and rarely is half of the drain ever full. I still have flair ups, but when I do, it is not nearly as painful or embarrassing as it used to be.
Inflammatory illnesses can be genetic in nature, but triggers may vary. Many people in my family, for instance, have inflammatory diseases: fibromyalgia, alopecia, multiple sclerosis and depression. I hope this article can help you and your family live a long, healthy life free from illness and inflammation. If you have any of the disorders or illnesses mentioned in this article, what dietary and lifestyle steps have you taken that have improved your symptoms?

Is the Secret to Saving Immune Cells Found in Vitamin E?

One of the biggest threats to the human immune system comes from oxidative stress. News-medical.net defines oxidative stress as, “essentially an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants.”
There are many sources of oxidative stress that you are exposed to on a daily basis, such as air pollution, smoking, drinking alcohol, and UV radiation. The more oxidative stress we are exposed to, the weaker our immune system gets.
A new study by the Institute of Molecular Health Science in Zurich, Switzerland, in collaboration with the Institute of Developmental Genetics in Neuherberg, Germany and the Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology and Tumor Genetics in Munich, Germany, has shown for the first time that high doses of vitamin E can alleviate this stress on immune system cells.

How the battle begins
Once your body is invaded by foreign pathogens or viruses, a special class of immune cell, or T cells as they are properly called, kick into gear and begin to reproduce quickly. These little guys comprise the army of your immune system, and they wage the war over whether or not you end up sick. T cells are classified into subclasses by function. CD8+ T cells are the soldiers that run the frontline against the pathogen or virus and kill the infected cells. Other T cells, classified as CD4+ T cells are in charge of directing the immune system’s response to all types of invading pathogens. The CD4+ T cells are the generals in the battle for your health.
Unfortunately, it can take about a week before the T cells start to do much damage to an invading pathogen because when there are fewer T cells it takes time for them to identify an “enemy” pathogen to target.
It is only after an invading enemy has been identified that the scouting cells will start dividing and multiplying. Even then, it can take up to twelve hours for cells to divide. So it will require a few days before the T cell army is big enough to do serious damage to the infection.
This is the part where oxidative stress can compromise your health. If your immune cells are damaged and weakened by oxidative stress, then your immune system cannot respond properly. You see oxidative stress not only damages T cells, but it also deprives your body of the ability to repair them.
Immune cells require an enzyme Gpx4 in order to repair themselves. Gpx4 is the enzyme that repairs oxidative stress damage to the cell membrane. Without Gpx4, the T cells end up dying when they divide, instead of growing in number. At that point, they cannot fight off infection, and it may turn into a chronic condition.
Genetically altered mice prove effectiveness
For purposes of the study, the research team led by Manfred Kopf, a professor at ETH, Zurich’s Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, experimented on mice who lacked the repair enzyme Gpx4. Researchers found they were able to save the immune cells of the mice by mixing the animals food with large doses of vitamin E.
It took a dose of 500 mg per kg of mouse food to protect the T cell membranes and allow them to multiply successfully. That quantity is ten times more than the normal amount present in the food.
The mice they used for the study had a Gpx4 gene that could be deactivated for purposes of the test. The mice were genetically altered by researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, the German Research Center for Environmental Health. Researchers from ETH altered the mice further so that the gene was able to be inactive in T cells.
“Our work shows that even a genetic defect in a major part of a cell’s antioxidative machinery can be compensated for by delivering a high dose of vitamin E. That is new and surprising,” said Kopf.
The findings of this research also showed that immune cells can die off in the same manner as some cancer cells do when they are exposed to cytostatic drugs. This type of cell death, also called ferroptosis, was first explained scientifically in 2012.
“We are the first to demonstrate that oxidative stress causes immune cells to suffer the same type of death as cancer cells,” points out Kopf.
Impact on human health
In the meantime, researchers are not sure how the findings of the study may impact current schools of thought on human health and wellness. In people with a normally functioning immune system, a vitamin supplement is probably unnecessary. On the other hand, oxidative stress can occur at any time from a number of factors; therefore, a vitamin E supplement might prove beneficial.
“The benefit of vitamin tablets is a controversial topic,” says Kopf. As he explained it, there is not a lot of supportive scientific evidence at this point to argue in favor of supplements. That is one of the reasons he felt the findings of this study were so important in proving the effectiveness of vitamin E and its effects on immune system cells.
Without question, some people are more at risk than others. It would seem a supplemental antioxidant might benefit patients with diabetes or neurodegenerative diseases that are known to suffer great amounts of oxidative damage. The difficulty is in determining a proper amount. Since the study was done on mice, not people, more research is needed.
The British National Health Service (NHS) recommends daily vitamin E intake levels of 4 mg for men and 3 mg for women.
Other health benefits of vitamin E
Studies have shown that vitamin E can play a role in delaying or preventing coronary heart disease. It also plays a part in preventing blood clot formation that could result in a heart attack.
Because of its antioxidant nutrients, vitamin E has been thought to possibly help in fighting cancer. Both by protecting cells from damage by free radicals, but also by blocking carcinogenic nitrosamines from forming.
As a topical medication, pure vitamin E oil can be used to help assist the skin in the healing process from sunburns, scarring, wrinkles, acne, and even as an anti-aging treatment. Vitamin E oil helps the skin to seal in its natural moisture and look healthier.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, experts recommend a once a day dose of 800 IU of vitamin E for people with the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease if they are not diabetic. They say there is also some scientific evidence that indicates vitamin E may be beneficial to children who suffer from liver disease.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, D.O., vitamin E has also shown potential for, “helping to delay loss of cognitive function, such as planning and organizing, in Alzheimer’s patients.” He refers to a study in which synthetic vitamin E substances were used but urged that the benefits would have been greater if a natural form had been applied instead. The study he refers to can be found here.
Dr. Mercola also makes a valid argument for why vitamin E is always best when it is obtained naturally from food sources rather than synthetic supplements. As he points out, “If you eat certain wholesome foods, all eight of the different vitamin E compounds are naturally available…” However, “When it comes to synthetic vitamin E supplement, only one of the eight compounds is available (alpha-tocopherol). The other seven compounds are not typically available in a chemically-derived form… ”
Too often, people want a quick fix and may buy the cheapest supplement available on the market rather than spending time to make wise food choices. As Mercola explains, “One of my main concerns is, to save time, you might simply go out and buy the least expensive one you can find. There’s nothing wrong with trying to save money, but the risk with ‘cheap’ supplements is that you are frequently better off not taking any supplement at all. Cheap supplements may compromise your health.”
Natural sources of vitamin E
There are ways to boost your vitamin E levels without taking supplements. The best source of vitamins is always from the foods they naturally occur in. Listed below are some great food sources of vitamin E:
· Leafy green vegetables such as spinach, kale, Swiss chard, turnip greens, asparagus, mustard greens
· Nuts and seeds, such as almonds, peanuts, and sunflower seeds
· Olive oil and olives
· Fortified gluten-free cereals
· Eggs
· Vegetables like broccoli, bell peppers, tomatoes, avocados, carrots, green beans, leeks, and chili peppers
· Fruits such as cranberries, kiwifruit, and raspberries
Cautions
While vitamin E brings a range of health benefits, there are some adverse effects you should take into consideration.
· When topically applied to the skin vitamin E can cause skin irritation.
· Overdoses of oral vitamin E supplements has been known to cause headache, nausea, fatigue, and bleeding.
· Before taking vitamin E supplements, you should check with your doctor if it might interfere with any other medications you are already taking. Particularly, people on blood thinning medication should not take vitamin E without first consulting a physician.
-The Alternative Daily

Your State of Mind Really Does Matter to Your Health

Your emotional state of mind has a powerful effect on your state of health. Most of the past studies on this subject have focused on the negative effects linked between the two. Now at last, scientists are looking at the health benefits derived from a positive emotional state.
Being compassionate is good for the heart and stomach
Feeling compassion is to have love and concern for other people. A good example of a compassionate state of mind is expressed by the traditional Buddhist practice of loving-kindness meditation (LKM). LKM is a form of meditation in which you focus love and compassion on yourself and a progressively sizeable group of other people as well.
A study was conducted by psychologist Barbara Frederickson to study the positive impacts from six weeks of LKM training. The findings showed that participants who had practiced LKM had a positive effect on the resting tone of their vagus nerve. This nerve extends from the brain stem down to the heart. It plays a role in the regulation of emotions and the digestive and cardiovascular systems.
“In a way, our bodies are designed for love, because the more we love, the more healthy we become,” said Frederickson. Feelings of joyfulness and wonder reduce inflammatory markers
Feelings of joyfulness, wonder, and awe can give us a sense of connection with something that seems greater than ourselves. Whether it is through religious experiences or witnessing unparalleled natural beauty, the sensation benefits our bodies by lowering inflammatory markers.
Research from the University of California, Berkeley found that participants who had recently felt a sense of awe had decreased levels of cytokines. These cytokines are inflammatory markers that in chronically elevated levels are sometimes an indicator of autoimmune diseases, heart disease, depression, and Alzheimer’s. So it is conceivable that experiencing awe can help prevent some diseases.
“Rather than seeing a walk through the park or a trip to the museum as an indulgence, we hope people will view these kinds of experiences as important ways to promote a healthy body in addition to a healthy mind,” explained co-author Dr. Jennifer Stellar, Ph.D.
Being optimistic is good for your heart
True optimism is about more than having a smile on your face. Having an optimistic state of mind allows you to look beyond the challenges and obstacles you face by believing that eventually things will work out in your favor.
A 2012 review of scientific studies on optimistic personalities and cardiovascular risks revealed a correlation between optimism and decreased risks for cardiovascular events. Another recent study on Twitter posts found a correlation between heart attack deaths and the frequency of Twitter posts with negative language. Optimism is also linked with longer life spans and improved immune system functions.
Gratefulness can boost the immune system
“Thousands of years of literature talk about the benefits of cultivating gratefulness as a virtue,” said psychology professor, Robert Emmons from the University of California, Davis. “Grateful people take better care of themselves and engage in more protective health behaviors like regular exercise, a healthy diet, regular physical examinations.”
An outlook of gratitude has been linked with improved immune system function and better quality of sleep. It can also reduce levels of stress, which is a factor in many chronic diseases.
-The Alternative Daily

Can You Develop Lactose Intolerance Later in Life? If you’re having trouble digesting dairy lately, it might be time to try a lactose-free diet.

If you’re having trouble digesting dairy lately, it might be time to try a lactose-free diet.

You might love milk, but as you age, sometimes milk stops loving you back.
If you feel bloated and gassy or have cramps and nausea within a few hours of drinking milk or eating milk products, it could be lactose intolerance, says Ashkan Farhadi, MD, director of the Digestive Disease Center at MemorialCare Medical Group in Costa Mesa, California, and a gastroenterologist at Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.
Except for very rare instances, every newborn has the ability to make lactase, an enzyme that helps the small intestine digest lactose, the sugar found in milk, says Richard Grand, MD, professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a gastroenterologist at Boston Children’s Hospital.
But as you get older, your lactase levels can start to decline, which means there’s nothing stopping the lactose you consume from going to your colon undigested, where bacteria break the sugars down and create excess gas and fluid in the process. It is common to develop a lactase deficiency in adulthood. In fact, about 65 percent of the global population has a reduced ability to digest lactose, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Your genetic makeup has a lot to do with whether you'll experience lactose intolerance. The body creates lactase when it’s instructed to do so by the LCT gene, and over time that gene can become less active. The result is lactose intolerance, which can begin after age 2 but may not manifest itself until adolescence or even adulthood, Dr. Grand says.

Some ethnic groups are more prone to developing lactose intolerance than others. According to the NIH, people of East Asian, West African, Arab, Jewish, Greek, and Italian descent are the most commonly affected by lactose intolerance in adulthood.

An injury to your small intestine — whether from an accident, surgery, radiation, infection, or disease — can also leave you unable to drink milk without symptoms, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Drinking poorly treated or untreated water can also cause injury to your bowel that could in turn result in lactose intolerance, Grand adds.

When It's Not Lactose Intolerance

But don’t give milk the cold shoulder just yet — digestive discomfort can be caused by other conditions, especially as you get older.
Some adults think they have lactose intolerance when they really have a different gastrointestinal issue, such as celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Grand says. The symptoms of lactose intolerance and these diseases — such as abdominal pain, gas, and diarrhea — can be similar; however, one difference between IBD and lactose intolerance is the presence of blood in your stool. You won’t see blood if you are lactose intolerant, but it’s possible to see blood in your stool if you have IBD.
Normal aging may make you more sensitive to digestive disturbances, such as feeling bloated after meals, Grand says. Other foods you eat may be causing your food to move more quickly through your digestive system, which could be the reason for what seem like lactose intolerance symptoms.

Finding Answers: Am I Lactose Intolerant?

A simple way to determine whether you've become lactose intolerant is to completely eliminate milk and milk products from your diet and monitor how you feel in the following weeks. “If you still have symptoms on a milk-restricted diet, you know it’s not the milk,” Grand says.
A breath test can provide a more definitive diagnosis, according to the NIDDK. Under normal conditions, after consuming dairy, people will have only a small amount of hydrogen in their breath. If you’re lactose intolerant, you'll produce high levels of hydrogen. For this test, you'll drink a beverage with lactose and then breathe into a balloon-like container so that your hydrogen level can be measured.

How to Manage Different Degrees of Lactose Intolerance

Some people who are lactose intolerant can still consume some milk or milk products and not feel ill, while others find their symptoms wax and wane from time to time and from food to food, Dr. Farhadi says.

Because the fermentation process breaks down lactose, cheese and yogurt may not cause problems, according to the NIH. You may also be able to drink small amounts of milk if you have it with meals and choose whole or 2 percent milk.
“The fat in the milk slows down emptying," Grand says. "If you drink fat-free milk, you’re [more] likely to have symptoms.” Taking lactase pills or drops — such as Lactaid or Dairy Ease — before you eat can also help manage symptoms. You can also look for lactose-free alternatives to milk and milk products in your grocery store.

 If you are lactose intolerant and can’t consume any milk or milk products, Grand notes that it's important to talk with your doctor about whether or not you should take calcium and vitamin D supplements in order to avoid developing deficiencies

If You Drink Soda You May Be Spilling These 3 Things into Your Urine

Soda is usually demonized for its insane sugar content (usually in the form of high fructose corn syrup), but did you know that soda can harm your health in other ways too? One of these ways is by starving your body of the precious minerals you need to maintain a healthy body, which can take a particularly harsh toll on your bones.

Here’s how it works:

Soda contains phosphoric acid
You may recognize the name of this ingredient from soda labels, as it’s present in many soda beverages, from regular, to diet, to plain old soda water. This colorless, odorless acid is added to sodas to preserve the fizz and bubbles that keep people coming back for more. It’s the chemical that gives soda that initial sharp “bite” when you first open it and start drinking it. It also serves to prevent mold and bacteria from growing in the soda, as they would normally thrive in such a sugary environment!
Sounds good, right? Except that phosphoric acid wreaks havoc with our body’s ability to absorb and use crucial minerals like calcium and magnesium. Not only does it prevent these two minerals from being absorbed, it also naturally seeks out calcium in the body, binds with it, and then heads directly for your bones. This is a big problem for your skeleton, as the compound may actually dissolve your bones — just like it does rust. This is actually a common use for the chemical.
What all of this means is that soda consumption may lead to the following:
Calcium deficiency
Calcium is one of the most important nutritional building blocks in our body. This mineral helps to maintain strong, healthy bones and teeth, and also aids in vascular contraction and muscle function, among other essential functions.
Signs and symptoms of calcium deficiency include muscle cramps, insomnia, tooth decay, and weak and brittle nails. Not to mention the fact that getting enough calcium is crucial for bone health, as long-term deficiency can lead to osteoporosis.
If you fear you may be calcium deficient, it is important to see a medical practitioner. After you end your love affair with soda, here are some ways you can increase the calcium in your diet:
While milk is the most common sources of calcium, many people have an intolerance to dairy, are vegan, or just don’t like the taste of milk. Fortunately, it’s not the only way to get the 1,000 mg per day that’s recommended for adults between the ages of 19 and 50. Try these other great sources.
Kale: Kale has become one of the most popular superfoods in recent years, but if you needed yet another incentive to eat your greens, just one cup of raw kale is packed with 90 mg of calcium, which means a 3.5-cup of kale salad offers more of this bone-building mineral than an 8-ounce glass of milk.
Black-eyed peas: Black-eyed peas aren’t just a popular band: these legumes contain 185 mg of calcium in just a one-half cup, as well as being packed with potassium and folate.
Sesame seeds: Just one ounce of sesame seeds contains 280 mg of calcium — almost as much as one cup of milk. They can also help reduce blood pressure and inflammation, and may even aid in battling against certain cancers.
Seaweed: Seaweed is an amazing nutrient-rich superfood, filled with vitamin B12, folate, iodine and magnesium. It also packs 168 mg of calcium in each 100-gram serving.
Almonds: Almonds are one of the world’s most nutritionally dense nuts, loaded with incredible amounts of nutrients per calorie and ounce. Just a one-ounce serving offers 80 mg of calcium. Almonds are also known to help regulate blood sugar levels, promote weight loss and cut cholesterol.
Magnesium deficiency
Magnesium deficiency is super common in the US, as almost 70 percent of Americans are thought to be deficient in the mineral. Sometimes called the “relaxation” mineral, magnesium is responsible for over 300 processes in the body, so you really want to get enough of it!
It’s critical in maintaining normal bone, muscle, nerve, heart, immune function, and blood glucose control. Research now supports that magnesium may play an important role in protecting against type 2 diabetes.
This mineral also aids nitric oxide in allowing artery walls to relax, resulting in more efficient blood flow. A recent study found that a magnesium intake of 500 mg to 1,000 mg aids in reducing blood pressure, yet works most efficiently when the potassium to sodium levels are at the optimal 2:1 ratio.
Signs that you may be deficient in magnesium include anxiety, depression, insomnia, lethargy, depression, constipation, hypertension, pain, muscle cramps, headaches, anger, brain fog, tension and behavioral changes.
In terms of magnesium deficiency, phosphoric acid isn’t the only ingredient that may cause this! Sugar is the culprit again here, as it’s known to deplete magnesium in the body, along with potassium and other minerals.
Besides quitting soda, try increasing your intake of magnesium-rich foods, nuts, legumes, and green leafy vegetables, to achieve normal levels.
Osteoporosis
As babies, our bones are soft and certain bones are not even completely matured at birth. An infant’s skull is made up of six separate cranial bones (the frontal bone, the occipital bone, two parietal bones, and two temporal bones). These bones are held together by strong, fibrous, elastic tissues called cranial sutures.
The spaces between the bones where the sutures are (sometimes known as “soft spots”) are called fontanels. The cranial bones remain separate for about 12-18 months. They then grow together (fuse) as part of normal growth. They stay fused throughout adulthood.
In fact our bones go through growth stages through childhood into adulthood but never really stop growing, or should we say, “regrow.” It is possible to grow new bone every 10 years, however, for women, after our thirties, we lose estrogen and therefore lose bone. As women go through menopause, without the right nutrition and exercise, our bones become brittle and we acquire osteopenia or osteoporosis.
Some studies have linked soda consumption with osteoporosis, as well as the fact that sodas often replace calcium-filled drinks like milk in people’s diets.
Step one to avoid osteoporosis — quit drinking soda. Other things that rob the body of calcium and contribute to osteoporosis are stress, poor diet, and excessive amounts of alcohol, caffeine and salt. Even if you take calcium supplements, these foods can deplete your calcium supply and cause bone to deteriorate. Changing your diet, the right supplements, exercising and limiting these types of food can help keep bones strong.

The takeaway here is that if your waistline isn’t a good enough reason to give up soda, the health of your bones should be! Time to quit the fizzy poison TODAY.

-The Alternative Daily