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EASY NUTRITION TIPS -- Keep a bowl of fresh fruit available. If it is there, you are more likely to eat it. Eat breakfast. Spreading your food intake over the day is the best way to burn calories. Plan ahead for routine meals and snacks. People who eat regular meals get a more balanced, healthier diet and are closer to their goal weights. Pack your lunch the night before. If you do not eat breakfast or pack a lunch because you rush too much in the morning, set everything up the night before. Buy a healthy cookbook or food magazine. If you like to cook, this can help inspire you to cook healthier foods and meals.

COMMON CAUSES OF CONSTIPATION -- Not enough fiber in diet; Not enough liquids; Lack of exercise; Medications; Irritable bowel syndrome; Changes in life or routine such as pregnancy, older age, and travel; Abuse of laxatives; Ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement; Specific diseases such as multiple sclerosis and lupus; Problems with the colon and rectum; Problems with intestinal function (Chronic idiopathic constipation).

TIPS FOR STAYING SHARP -- Give your brain a break. Getting enough sleep is crucial to maintaining brain health. Make learning a habit for life. Like your other muscles, the brain needs to be continually challenged in order to maintain its condition. Mix up your daily routine with a new hobby and you will likely feel more creative and energetic. Move! Exercise alleviates stress, preventing potentially damaging hormones from attacking brain cells. Plus, new physical activities provide a learning opportunity. Eat brain food. The brain needs nutrients like folic acid and omega-3 fatty acids to function at peak performance. Incorporate dark green, leafy vegetables, fish, and nuts into your diet. Kick butts. Smoking impedes circulation to the brain.

SEVEN SERIOUS SYMPTOMS -- In his book, "Your Body's Red Light Warning Signals," Neil Shulman, MD, provides a head-to-toe owner's manual for the human body. It lists hundreds of medical symptoms that could mean life or death, or serious disability. Here are seven potentially serious medical symptoms you should keep in mind:

1. If you have unexplained weight loss and/or loss of appetite, you may have a serious underlying medical illness. "If you are on a diet, you are expecting this to happen. But if you are eating the same way - and now have to adjust your belt a few notches tighter - you could have a serious problem," Shulman says. "With ovarian cancer, the opposite is true," he says. "Fluid builds in the abdomen, and women think they are gaining weight. But if you have been at the same weight range for years, and doing nothing different, see a doctor."

2. Slurred speech, paralysis, weakness, tingling, burning pains, numbness, and confusion are signs of a stroke, and you should get to an appropriate emergency center immediately. Early treatment may prevent permanent damage to the brain or even save your life. Slurred speech can often go unnoticed, says Shulman. However, you might have a blood clot in a blood vessel going to the brain or bleeding in a blood vessel.

3. Black, tarry stools may indicate a hemorrhage from an ulcer of the stomach or the intestine. It is important to stop the bleeding and to rule out cancer as a cause. What you eat changes the color of stools. But black, tarry stools mean there may be bleeding higher in the intestine, says Shulman. It could be a sign of a bleeding ulcer or cancer in the intestine.

4. A headache accompanied by a stiff neck and fever is an indicator of a serious infection called meningitis. In fact, if you cannot put your chin on your chest, that is a sign you may have bacterial meningitis, says Shulman. You need antibiotics immediately to kill the bacteria before it infects and scars the brain.

5. A sudden, agonizing headache, more severe than any you have felt before, could mean you are bleeding in the brain. Go to an emergency room immediately. A brain aneurysm is rare, but it can happen - especially in people under age 40. "It can be very disastrous if it is not treated," says Shulman. If you have a severe, crushing headache, you may have an aneurysm, which is a blood-filled pouch bulging out from a weak spot in the wall of a brain artery. If treated before it bursts, it could save your life.

6. For women: Vaginal bleeding after menopause is a waning sign of possible cancer. Some women are in denial when they discover postmenopausal bleeding. "Others think it is a little cut, or something in their urine," says Shulman. But bleeding after menopause is a sign of uterine cancer, which is treatable if caught early.

7. For men: A lump in your testicle with or without a small lump in the groin could be serious. Testicular cancer is more commonly found in testicles that did not naturally descend from the abdomen to the scrotum. Guys, when you take shower, check yourself, says Shulman. "That does not mean you have to do it every day, but once in awhile. It is so simple, simpler than washing your hair. It becomes an automatic thing, then it is easier to remember. If you know what "normal" feels like, then you will know when it feels abnormal."

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WELLNESS QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

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** Q & A #1:

Is aloe vera really effective as a dietary supplement?

Major universities and research groups have published volumes of reports of impressive research regarding internal uses of Aloe vera. Taking from two to eight ounces per day, individuals will find Aloe vera liquid to be of value in supporting a healthy stomach lining, digestion, colon lubrication and healthy growth of cells such as in healing wounds. Aloe vera helps support energy and overall activity levels and acts as a general tonic. It is absolutely great to use either full strength or diluted in water or juice to help you swallow supplements. Studies in animals suggest possible beneficial effects on maintaining healthy functioning of the kidneys, heart muscle, clot formation, general cell growth and support of normal cell proliferation, blood sugar levels, the immune system, and even longevity. More recently, scientists are beginning to understand that Aloe vera supports healthy body collagen as well. Aloe vera has become of widespread interest to athletes and other highly active people interested in maintaining their activity levels.

** Q & A #2:

What holiday foods contain those bad trans-fats?

Anything containing hydrogenated fats. Those are the solid cooking fats like shortening and margarine. Watch out for them in cookies, candy bars, and breads and rolls. Stick with natural fats like butter and the liquid oils like olive, cannola, and sunflower oils. Olive oil is probably the best overall. Also, for maximum health, be sure to avoid "non-dairy" creamers and artificial toppings like prepackaged icing and whipped topping.

** Q & A #3:

What about eating all holiday weekend?

It is usually considered best just to binge on a big meal and get it over with - especially with sugar and other carbohydrates. Do not try to spread it out and think you are doing better to eat a little less each time all weekend long. Have the big meal, with desserts if you must, but then remember to get back on track.

** Q & A #4:

It is true that red wine actually has health benefits?

Dr. Jack Masquelier demonstrated several years ago that red wine offered many more health-supporting benefits than white wine because of the OPCs (OligomericProanthoCyanidins or polyphenols) the darker wine contained. A few years back, a study was published in the well-respected British medical journal, "Lancet," entitled, "Effect of Red Wine on Coronary Flow-Velocity Reserve," by K. Shimada, et. al. The study showed the polyphenols in red wine inhibit the oxidation of LDL cholesterol and the aggregation of platelets. This means the blood would not thicken and or become too viscous for efficient flow. Keep in mind, this is why many researchers believe supplementing with aspirin is of value. The participants in the study were put through specific procedures, including having blood flow measurements taken after drinking both red and white wines. There were no significant differences in their heart rate, systolic or diastolic blood pressures before or after drinking either wine. However, after drinking red wine, there was a significant increase in coronary flow-velocity reserve, an increase not observed after drinking either white wine or vodka.

If you do not like red wine but want the healthful benefits that it contains, then you may be interested in a highly potent nutritional supplement with OPCs called PROANTHENOLS. Please see http://www.aomega.com/ahs/p6190a.htm for additional information. Proanthenols are the most powerful antioxidant vitamins available and are 20 to 50 times more potent than vitamins C and E!

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THE HERBAL CORNER

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BILBERRY is a blue-black berry that grows on a European shrub and is similar to the American blueberry. Herbalists have long valued the medicinal properties and uses of the berries and leaves of the BILBERRY. The dried herb has traditionally been used as a remedy for eyestrain, cataracts, night blindness, and other eye problems and it may prove effective against diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, vomiting, and diabetes. Applied externally, BILBERRY has been used to fight varicose veins, hemorrhoids, burns, and skin problems.

Following up on reports from British Royal Air Force pilots during World War II, who claimed to have better night vision after eating BILBERRY jam, scientists have conducted a number of studies that confirm the herb has a positive, although short-term, effect on night vision. BILBERRY may also benefit a number of other vision problems common to computer terminal operators and persons engaged in visually demanding precision work, including chronic eye fatigue, severe near-sightedness, and day blindness. Regular consumption of BILBERRY may help prevent cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.

Do scientists know how it works? The chemical constituents of BILBERRY fruit apparently responsible for its vision-boosting powers are certain polyphenolic flavonols called anthocyanosides, that improve blood circulation, protect fragile capillaries, and cause beneficial biochemical reactions in the eye. (Grape seed extract is high in related compounds called proanthocyanidins.) Research indicates that anthocyanosides have a positive effect on certain enzymes crucial to vision and to the eye’s ability to adapt to the dark.

Noting that BILBERRY leaf tea is a folk remedy for diabetes, Italian scientists recently found that a dried leaf extract consistently caused a drop in glucose (blood sugar) levels in rats. Unexpectedly, the scientists also found that BILBERRY lowered blood triglyceride levels, a heart disease risk factor. The compounds in the leaves responsible for these actions are not known; the anthocyanosides in the berries, however, have also been shown alleviate symptoms of diabetes and heart disease. These surprising findings offer hope that the plant may be useful in the battle against two of modern society’s most deadly diseases.

Eating dried berries alone or mixed with apple powder can be effective at treating diarrhea. A tea made from dried BILBERRY leaves can be useful for stomach cramps and vomiting and can also be used externally for skin problems. The most popular BILBERRY products are extracts standardized to 15 to 25 percent anthocyanosides, taken in the amount of 240 mg to 480 mg per day or 1 ml to 2 ml, two times per day in tincture form. BILBERRY is also available in tablets, capsules, teas, and bulk dried leaves and berries.

Tests have shown BILBERRY to be completely non-toxic even when taken in large doses for a long time. BILBERRY does not interact with commonly prescribed drugs, and there are no known contraindications to its use during pregnancy or lactation.

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HEALTHY RECIPE OF THE MONTH