[ReprintArticles-Paradise] Atkins Diet Yes or No
Title: Atkins Diet Yes or No Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 1,075; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Health Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/atkins_diet_yes_or_no.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - Atkins Diet Yes or No by Loring A. Windblad As of now, January 2005, more than half of all north Americans are struggling with obesity. The "quick fix" for "fat" for the last 40+ years, becoming ever more popular, has become the Atkins Diet. The Atkins Diet was first popularized in the U. S. Air Force during the 1960's. The Atkins Diet is very simple --- restrict your carbohydrate intake. And guess what? It actually works. But Dr. Atkins, after the initial few years of his popularized diet, began to make modifications and refinements to the original basic diet. And several other people have taken the basic Atkins Diet, modified it just a little, and come up with a new and very workable diet. The first thing you must understand is that, across the entire human spectrum, each of us is very different from one another in the chemical makeup of our body. Thus, each of us, individually, should have our own highly personalized, custom built diet, created by a dietician using a chemical makeup assessment, usually a $200 hair analysis, of our particular body type and individual nutritional needs. So far as I know, this technology and this type dietary assessment is still available only through certain holistic health practitioners and it is becoming more and more expensive. As an example, it typically costs now between $200 and $300, whereas in the mid-1970's it cost between $100 and $150. There are three major misconceptions to the Atkins diet. The first common myth is many people believe this means don't worry about the amount of calories or fat you eat so long as its not carbs. The second common myth is many people believe all carbohydrates are equally bad. The third common myth is that the Atkins "Lo-Carb" diet is actually a "Hi-Protein" diet. All of these, however, are enormous misconceptions. The first myth: many dieters who use this program believe that calories and fat do not matter when eating low carb food, but in some cases this has proven to be fatal. Depending upon your particular body chemistry, when eating high fat food your cholesterol could climb and climb, leading to a heart attack or stroke. Also, it has now been proven that the older we become the less our body is able to metabolize the "high fat" portion of the Atkins "lo carb" diet, leading to additional dietary and health problems. The second myth: The Atkins Diet is actually a "Lo-Carb" diet, not a "No-Carb" diet. What should be cut out are breads, rice and potatoes. Fresh fruits and vegetables should not be cut back and many should be somewhat increased. Finally, after the first month you can "safely" add breads and potatoes --- in limited quantities. One friend of mine eats 1 bite of breads/toasts, etc., served with his meals, such as garlic breads. One bite and not a morsel more. The third myth: Mention the Atkins Diet and most people's reaction is "Oh, yes, the 'high protein' diet." Not true at all --- it's a "Low Carb" diet - protein intake remains unchanged. Some carbs only, not all, are restricted (versus eliminated completely); fats, particularly in older people, need to be restricted; protein should be kept to 4-6 ounce portions per meal, the lower values for breakfast and lunch. What you need to increase is your intake of high-fiber foods such as celery, etc. The reason why the Atkins Diet works is because your body metabolizes its stored fat (carbohydrates) in order to burn --- digest --- the protein, fiber and fat you are eating. The Atkins Dieters tend to leave out several food groups, including fruit and vegetables, since they are "high carb food", and then tend to grab a steak instead, which has very low carbohydrates. This is ridiculous. Why? Because the elimination of carbohydrates and the reduction of the fresh fruits and vegetables actually throws your health into a major imbalance. Overloading your unbalanced diet by an excess of protein intake (adding that steak, above) to "increase the volume" to a satisfying level merely exacerbates this imbalance. The t
[ReprintArticles-Paradise] Help for Diabetes, Gout and More
Title: Help for Diabetes, Gout and More Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 1,104; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Health Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/help_for_diabetes_gout_and_more.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - Help for Diabetes, Gout and More by Loring A. Windblad Overview of Gout Gout is a systemic disease caused by the buildup of uric acid in the joints, causing inflammation, swelling, and pain. This condition can develop for two reasons. The liver may produce more uric acid than the body can excrete in the urine, or a diet of rich foods (e.g., red meat, cream sauces, red wine) puts more uric acid into the bloodstream than the kidneys can filter. In both cases, a condition called hyperuricemia results. Over time, the uric acid crystallizes and settles in the joint spaces, most commonly in the first metatarsal phalangeal joint of the big toe or in the ankle joint. Signs and Symptoms The most common symptoms of gout are inflammation, swelling, and tenderness in the joint of the first toe. Touching or moving it is intensely painful and patients often say it hurts to have as much as a bedsheet over the toe. Gout develops quickly and typically occurs in only one joint at a time. Symptoms may develop in two or three joints simultaneously, but this is rare. If widespread symptoms occur, the condition is probably not gout. Diagnosis The most reliable way to diagnose gout is to examine the joint fluid for uric acid crystals. This is done by drawing fluid from the joint with a needle and examining it under a polarized light microscope. Although the test is invasive, the results are definitive, and a positive result facilitates proper treatment and quick relief. Treatment Treatment for gout involves decreasing the amount of uric acid in the joint. If dietary habits are the cause, the patient's lifestyle must be changed to avoid the condition. Gout is readily corrected with patient cooperation, and it is usually not treated unless it occurs frequently. Colchicine is a common medication for treating acute gout attacks. If continuous medication is necessary, the two most common choices are probenecid and allopurinol. Prevention Alcohol and rich foods are primary contributors to excessive uric acid levels. Although some patients have a genetic predisposition to excessive uric acid production, most gout patients have normal kidneys and uncontrolled dietary habits. Prevention is the best defense against the disease. Many patients who suffer from gout continue to indulge, and suffer frequent attacks as a result. Although medication makes it possible to live with gout, the continued accumulation of uric acid in the joints eventually damages them, seriously inhibiting movement. Overview of Diabetes New to diabetes? Learn the basics -- check with your local diabetes clinic or research it on the internet. A key to diabetes management is maintaining a regular exercise program. Its never too late to start -- see below. Sticking to dietary goals while eating out also can be very challenging -- see comments below. 20 million Americans and Canadians have diabetes. Nearly 7 million don't know it. Type 2 diabetes usually develops slowly, and the symptoms often go unnoticed. Our son developed a puffiness to his face which we noticed right away because we saw him only a couple of times a year. He and his wife put it down to simple weight gain. After 2½ years they finally snapped to there being something wrong and when he was finally checked out his diabetes was "off the charts". Fortunately, they caught it in time, but it should have been caught over a year earlier. Nearly 90 to 95% of all people with diabetes have type 2. Who gets it? Just about any body. Fat, skinny, regular build, it makes no difference; just about everyone can develop diabetes. Most at risk are people regardless of body build who live on a high intake of "junk food". Least at risk are people who eat a regular balanced diet. What you may not know about diabetes -- the truth about insulin resistance. 92% of people with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance. Get the facts -- go to your local diabetes agency or research it on the internet. Obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes. Obesity is not a guarantee you will develop diabetes -- many obese persons never develop it, many slender people do develop it,
[ReprintArticles-Paradise] What Is Good Health
Title: What Is Good Health Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 1,936; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Health Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/what_is_good_health.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - What Is Good Health by Loring A. Windblad There is no universally agreed definition of health. Its meaning has changed through the ages and in different cultures. The term derives from the Anglo-Saxon word "haelth," meaning safe, sound or whole. In medieval times "haelthing" meant "sharing a few drinks with one's friends," having previously meant "hello" and "holiness." In recent decades, health has been taken to mean "the absence of disease." The term "disease" generally refers to a diagnosable physical abnormality while "illness" means the personal experience of sickness, or the perceived suffering due to a disease. Changing views of health Since the mid-1900s, medical practice has been dominated by a biomedical model that focuses more on curing than preventing illness, dividing diseases into categories -- for example, targeting a "cirrhotic liver" or "ischemic heart" for treatment. This method tends to separate physical from psychological or emotional problems, which are sometimes dismissed as "all in the head," not meriting medical attention. However, views of health are undergoing radical changes. The absence-of-disease concept is being supplanted by an image of "well being for body, spirit and mind." The emerging bio-psychosocial model regards mind and body as an intertwined unit and suggests that people be treated as whole persons, taking into account economic, social and psychological factors. In 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined health as a "state of complete physical, mental and social well being, encompassing the ability to achieve full potential, deal with crises and meet environmental challenges." In other words, health -- or wellness, to use a trendy term -- is the capacity to undertake physical effort, to live within one's own potential and carry out tasks with vigour and alertness, leaving enough energy for unforeseen emergencies. The more recent Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion goes further, suggesting as fundamentals for health: "peace, shelter, education, food, income, a stable ecosystem, sustainable resources, social justice and equity." For example, people can't easily stay healthy if they're starving, if the air is polluted or during wartime. Today's key buzz words are "disease prevention" and "health promotion", rather than trying to "treat the symptoms of illnesses" (as is practiced by most medical practitioners nowadays) that are largely preventable. Unfortunately, despite lip service, prevention is often a hard sell as it takes both personal and community action. Yet studies show that even a few words of advice from health professionals can often help to prevent disease by motivating people to modify their lifestyle. Many of us are the "worried well" Although North Americans have an increasing life expectancy, many worry unduly about health. As U.S. physician Dr. Arthur Barsky writes in his book Worried Sick: "Our sense of physical well being has not kept pace with improvements in our collective health status...there is a pervasive atmosphere of dis-ease." Many feel constantly "out of sorts" -- with vague undiagnosable ailments -- worriedly scrutinizing everyday actions for their health effects. For example, foods may be dubbed "good" (life-prolonging) or "bad" (health-harming) -- instead of being regarded as enjoyable nourishment. Many are confused, even stressed, by trying to keep up with the latest medical pronouncements -- eat margarine instead of butter (or not); drink red wine (one glass or two?); take antioxidants -- vitamins C and E (or don't); shun coffee, drink decaff (or what?). The main determinants of good health Biology - the genetic make-up (genes inherited from mother and father). Lifestyle habits - such as a nutritious low-fat diet; enough exercise; sufficient, sound sleep; avoiding misuse of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs; motor-vehicle and traffic safety; healthy (safer) sexual practices; and
[ReprintArticles-Paradise] Herbs: An Introduction
Title: Herbs: An Introduction Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 929; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Gardening, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/herbs.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - Herbs: An Introduction by Loring A. Windblad [This compilation of information is Copyright © 2005 by http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring Windblad. The references for this series of articles are the author's personal knowledge and experience and the Internet. This article may be freely copied and used on other web sites only if it is copied complete with all links and text, including this header, intact and unchanged except for minor improvements such as misspellings and typos.] I grew up as a kid during WWII, and we always planted a "Victory Garden" in the back yard, behind the Rose hedge. It was a goodly sized plot of ground, probably 30 feet by 40 feet, and over the years I became intimately acquainted with every spade full of dirt there. Why? Well, because it was my job every spring from the time I was old enough to step on a shovel and plunge it into the ground to spade up that garden plot and ready it for planting. And I had to go into the chicken coop and get the chicken manure and spread it on the ground and spade it in, also. I started doing this by about 1941, when I was 5. And over by the house there grew this veritable jungle of weeds. But, when you broke off a leaf and chewed it up it tasted pretty good. It was mint. Mint grows wild, in one form or another, pretty much everywhere. You may have some growing wild in your back yard right now? Some people call this an herb. I simply call it "food". It's something we learned to eat and enjoy. And I learned how, when walking through the woods, to identify licorice root -- a fern, usually growing on old dead trees -- and enjoy chewing on it. Also probably classified as an herb, but I simply called it a "food". Every year Mom did the canning. She would can tomatoes out of the garden, carrots and peas out of the garden. And she would can fruit for the winter, some as whole fruit (peaches and pears -- apples went into applesauce and apple jelly). She canned mostly in quart jars for the foods, and in pint jars for jams and jellies. Apple jelly was special, though, canned in half-pint jars and it always had a leaf from the wild mint in the back yard on top of the jelly in every jar. And sometimes, as a special treat, it might contain a piece of licorice root for flavor. There was more. We had parsley, sage, sheep sorrel, rhubarb and a few others growing pretty well cultivated in their own corner off the garden. Things Mom used to cook with, sprinkle a little here and there on the meat or vegetables. I guess you might call them herbs. We just called them "seasonings" or "food". When I grew up and went off in the world to seek my fortune, such as it was, I ran across more exotic foods in different countries I visited. It's been so long I've forgotten most of them, but I remember from Panama stopping in at a little "lunch counter buffet" out in the wilds, a place where only the locals usually stopped. I learned that Yucca, a flowering plant native to the American southwest and most of Central America, in various types, is edible. At least the root of some varieties is edible. And I learned that deep fried Yucca root is not only tastier than French fries, it's a whole lot better for you, too. Some people may consider Yucca an herb, others a flower, and others a food. I'm with both the flower and food groups. There are many different varieties of Yucca and several different varieties of Yucca Flowers. Not all Yucca is edible, but some of them are. And they provide nutritional values for us that we can't get from other food sources. What I'm going to be doing in this series of articles is examining some of these alternate food sources, some legitimately labeled herbs and some just foods, and explaining just what their essential food values are, how we use them as "food supplements", and why we should use them thusly. My references for this series of articles on alternative and herbally based foods are personal experience plus resources available through your local herbalist, at your local library, and on the internet. [This arti
[ReprintArticles-Paradise] Tips For Starting Your Home Based Business
Title: Tips For Starting Your Home Based Business Author: Loring A. Windblad Word count: 741; 65 characters per line Contact e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Category: Business. Education, Lifestyle Autoresponder: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Article URL: http://reprintarticles.com/tips_for_starting_your_home_based_business.php Author URL: http://reprintarticles.com/Loring_Windblad.php Terms for reprint: 1. You must publish the article AS IS. Do not modify, alter or edit it. 2. The author's resource box must accompany the article at all times. 3. The link/s must be active or clickable. 4. Notifying the author is not required, but doing so is appreciated. This article is distributed as part of the ReprintArticles.com Featured Author service at http://reprintarticles.com/featuredauthor.php - Tips For Starting Your Home Based Business by Loring A. Windblad There are many reasons why people choose to start a home-based business. Some of these are: 1. Dissatisfied with your present employment situation. 2. Out of work due for whatever reason. 3. You need to be home to care for young children. 4. You need to be at home to care for an infirm family member or aging parents. 5. You really want to be your own boss. 6. You really could use an additional income source. 7. You wish to have more time to spend with family or friends. Over the years I have identified two of the most important factors in recognizing people who should not be starting a home based business. If a prospective entrepreneur says something like... "I'm broke -- I need to make some fast money!" or, "I really want to start a home-based business but I don't want to spend any money on the business until I start making some money." ...it is certain that they have not addressed reality and, with that mindset, they will most certainly fail. First, It takes a lot of time to successfully market and promote a new business and, if it is an internet business, a whole lot of "savvy" and information and resources you have probably never heard of. For a pretty good "first start" effort at setting up your internet business, see my article Tips For A Successful Internet Business.doc, also available through this resource -- GoArticles.com. If you are planning a home-based business in order to spend a lot of time with young children or care for the elderly, a full-time business (and income) may not be a realistic objective. Second, spend some time researching your business idea. The internet is a great source of information. Third, learn as much as you can about small business. go to http://www.sba.gov/ and navigate to the sections dealing with home based businesses. Fourth, write a business plan. Beyond my own eBook on starting a Home-based Business, here are a couple of Small Business Administration website locations that should prove useful: http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.html http://www.sba.gov/library/pubs.html Finally, seek the advice of a tax professional. See my article on taxes and choosing your tax man for some valuable tips and insight into this aspect of your Home-based business. Whatever your reason(s) for starting a home-based business and whatever kind of endeavor you choose, there are a few common steps you need to take in order to launch your business and be successful. Right now your first step should be to learn all you can about beginning a successful Home-based business. I have written several articles, which I'm turning into an eBook, on all the basic tips you need to start your own successful Home-based Business, be it truly "at home" or "on the internet". Check the following article list and pick out all you believe would be helpful to you: 1. Do I Really Need A Business Plan.doc 2. Writing A Homebased Business Plan.doc 3. Tax advantages of a homebased business.doc 4. How to Set Up Easy, Efficient Bookeeping.doc 5. Should You Pay to Join a Home Business Opportunity.doc 6. There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch Anymore.doc 7. How to Make Your Hobby Pay.doc 8. Tips For A Successful Internet Business.doc 9. Telecommuting, The New Way To Work From Home.doc 10. Writing Effectively Part 1.doc 11. Writing Effectively Part 2.doc 12. Home Based Business Time Wasters.doc Then email me and request all the articles -- by title -- you decide you will need or will be helpful to you...and get started on your new successful Homebased business life. I'll email your articles to you in MS .DOC format. They're free. Or go to my website and download the complete eBook -- for free. But give it until April because its not yet written -- it's still just a plan that needs to come together. The full eBook will have a few more topics and chapters than the article list above. I'm always amazed at the number of people who seem to think that magic is somehow created when y
