The following article is a small excerpt from one of my books. I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

It was easier back in the days of the caveman, when we were hunters and the only thing on the table was what we could hunt and gather. NO highly refined, processed and man-made foods.  The menu was primitive, but at least there weren’t any experts hovering over us telling us to eat this and to not eat that.  We can get food 24/7 and along with this convenience comes the almost nonstop nutritional advice, much of which is constantly changing as new research findings come along or scientists change their minds. What’s good for us today may kill us tomorrow!!  And what was supposed to kill us today may save our life tomorrow. You try to keep up with the latest and make the smartest choices but are they as healthy as you think? Here’s are some tips on how to make the very best of your good intentions.

You eat multigrain bread or cereal

Foods labeled 7-grain or multigrain may seem like the healthiest choices, especially with new findings showing that a diet rich in whole grains protects against certain diseases like heart disease and cancer. We don’t know all the reasons behind the benefits, but we do know that intact grains are rich in fiber and nutrients, including vitamin E, B vitamins, and magnesium most of which are stripped away when grains are refined into flour.

Unfortunately, many foods are only posing as rich in whole grains.  You need to take a closer look at the labels and you may find there’s not a single whole grain in them. The reason labels can claim that products contain grains even if they’re highly processed and stripped of most of their nutrients and all of their fiber is …White flour is made from grain!!

TO DO:  Learn the lingo of food claims. Bread that’s 100% whole grain means just that it contains no refined flour. Cereal that’s made with whole grain may have a little or a lot. Crackers labeled multigrain may not have whole grains at all.  To be sure you’re getting the grains you want, check the label. Whole grains should be the first or second ingredient listed. Finding whole grain products is easier now that manufacturers supplying at least 16 g of whole grains per serving, what’s considered an excellent source are stamping their packaging with the Whole Grains Council’s logo.

You buy bottled water laced with vitamins

It’s a measure of how health conscious we’ve become that water is now being sold fortified with nutrients and even medicinal herbs.  The label of one leading brand, for example, reports that it supplies half the daily requirement for some nutrients. But to get that amount, you have to drink the whole bottle, which contains 125 calories. And for that you get just 6 of the 40-plus essential nutrients provided by most supplements. An entire bottle, supplies no more vitamin C than you’d get from eating two strawberries.

TO DO:  “Save your money.” Drink plain, refreshing, calorie-free water when you’re thirsty and take a multivitamin daily to make sure you get balanced levels of the essential vitamins and minerals.

You choose veggie chips over potato chips

Dozens of munchies are made from carrots, spinach, kale, and even exotic tropical vegetables. But scrutinize their ingredients and you’ll find that vegetable coloring is all most of them have in common with produce. The ingredient labels reveal that vegetables are at the bottom of the list (that means they contribute less, by weight, than ingredients at the top of the list, like oil). Many of these seemingly healthful snacks are still loaded with calories.  A 4-ounce bag of Carrot Chips contains 600 calories just as much as Classic potato chips.

TO DO:  When you must have chips, look for brands with vegetables at the top of the ingredient list.  A tip off to a snack’s healthfulness is its fiber content. One ounce may contain 3 g of fiber, which is not bad for a snack food, but in the calorie department they are about 140 calories per ounce, which makes them almost the same as regular chips. If you’re counting calories, baked potato chips at 110 calories per serving are a better choice. An even healthier snack would be a handful of nuts, loaded with fiber, healthy oils, and vitamins and minerals; they’ll even satisfy your urge to nibble. And if you want an even healthier snack, choose carrot sticks, celery, radishes, or sweet peppers chilled in the refrigerator.

You choose snacks that are made with ”real” fruit

The packaging has pictures of luscious fruit, and the labels claim that there is real fruit inside but don’t count these snacks as one of the four to five daily servings the new dietary guidelines recommend.  Current law doesn’t require labels to specify how much fruit is in the product, so manufacturers can brag on packaging that food is made with real fruit if it contains only small amounts of fruit juice.

Concentrated white grape juice or pear juice may sound healthy, but all that really means is fruit sugars and water.  Few of these snacks provide any fiber and some contain small amounts of hydrogenated fats (the bad stuff).   They also have as many calories as candy does.

TO DO:  Treat these snacks as candy and eat them sparingly. Satisfy your sweet tooth with real fruit instead or a pack of raisins or other type of dried fruit.

You buy low-sodium products to cut down on salt

All of us could do with less salt, which has been shown to increase the risk of high blood pressure yet we consume almost twice the daily-recommended amounts. Processed foods represent one of the biggest sources of hidden sodium, so it’s great news that low-sodium alternatives are starting to be made available. The problem is many still contain more salt than the 140 mg most of us should get in a single serving and just 1 tablespoon of reduced sodium soy sauce has 600 mg.

TO DO:  Be wary of products labeled less sodium. The law requires that the sodium level be only 25% less than the original product. But if that product happens to be very high in salt to begin with like many soups and broths you may still be getting too much sodium.  Be a label sleuth and check to see if sodium levels are around 140-mg. or less per serving.

You drink fat-free milk to bone up on nutrients

Smart move. But if you buy milk in glass or translucent containers, you may not be getting all the nutrients you should be. Although calcium in milk is relatively stable, vitamins A, B2, C, D, and E and amino acids all break down gradually when milk is exposed to light. Milk is especially susceptible because the riboflavin (vitamin B2) it contains acts as a photo sensitizer. Light also oxidizes fat and diminishes the flavor of milk.

TO DO:  Buy milk in opaque containers, which eliminate as much light exposure as possible.  A container that blocks light will maintain vitamin A, riboflavin, and other nutrients in milk for about 10 days.

You toast your health with a glass of wine or beer

Studies have found that moderate drinkers have about one-third lower risk of heart disease than those who don’t drink.  But excessive drinking has also been proven to send blood pressure climbing. New evidence shows that even light to moderate drinking on an empty stomach can contribute to high blood pressure risk and the risk of hypertension was almost 50% higher in people who drank alcoholic beverages without food than in those who drank only with a meal.

TO DO:  Enjoy an alcohol drink over dinner.  Consuming alcohol with a meal slows the rise of alcohol in your blood and speeds its elimination from your body. Drinking small amounts of alcohol is known to help prevent the formation of small blood clots that might clog arteries and cause a heart attack and which form most often after a big meal. Alcoholic beverages enjoyed with a meal are usually sipped, not chugged, which means you’re less likely to become inebriated. The risks of regular overindulgence include weight gain, depression, and liver and kidney problems.

You grab a granola bar for a quick breakfast

If you eat a morning meal you are slimmer and have lower cholesterol levels and better memory recall than those who don’t. But many of those seemingly healthy breakfast bars so great for eating on the run are basically candy bars in disguise.  Even though they may contain granola or fruit, some bars are full of high fructose corn syrup and trans fats to keep them soft and sweet. The rush of sugar will leave you feeling drained and hungry by midmorning.

TO DO: Choose a bar with less than 11 g of sugar, no partially hydrogenated oils (trans fats), and has at least 3 g of fiber, which slows digestion and provides sustained energy. You can always bake your favorite oatmeal-raisin-cookie recipe with half the sugar and half the oil, and pop them into individual plastic bags or hard-boil a half-dozen eggs and grab one each morning along with some fruit and an English muffin for a portable breakfast.

You have an after-dinner mint instead of dessert

The cooling taste of mint may sound like just the thing after a heavy meal, but it could spell trouble. Mints are high on the list of foods that can cause heartburn.   Other culprits: caffeine-containing food and beverages, such as chocolate, soda, and coffee.

TO DO:  Skip the mints and have a piece of fruit instead. If you’re prone to heartburn, drink a tall glass of water after meals to flush out your esophagus. And then take a stroll. Walking keeps you upright and uses gravity to keep acids from splashing up. Getting into the habit of walking after a meal could help you keep the pounds off and lower your risk of heartburn.

You save restaurant leftovers to reheat later

If you stop for a movie after your meal, your health may be in jeopardy. Your food needs to be in your fridge or freezer within 2 hours (1 hour if it’s over 90° F outside) or you’re risking food poisoning. Another concern is micro waving leftovers in take-home food bags, and containers, and even on some paper plates may leach dangerous chemicals into your food when heated.

TO DO:  When re heating your food, place it in microwave-safe containers, preferably glass or ceramic. And make sure you reheat those leftovers to at least 165F to kill off any nasty bugs and bring soups and gravies to a boil.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

The following article is a small excerpt from one of my books.  I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

Diabetes is a growing health problem and has risen about six-fold since 1950, affecting approximately 16 million Americans. About one-third of these 16 million do not know that they have the disease. Diabetes and its related health care costs total nearly $100 billion per year and rising. Diabetes contributes to over 200,000 deaths each year.

To understand diabetes, you first need to know how your body uses a hormone called insulin to handle glucose, a simple sugar that is your body’s main source of energy. In diabetes, something goes wrong in your body so that you do not produce insulin or are not sensitive to it. Therefore, your body produces high levels of blood glucose, which acts on many organs to produce the symptoms of the disease. Since diabetes is a disease that affects your body’s ability to use glucose, let’s start by looking at what glucose is and how your body controls it.

Glucose is a simple sugar that provides energy to all of the cells in your body. Your cells then take in glucose from your blood and break it down for energy.  Brain cells and red blood cells rely solely on glucose for fuel. The glucose in your blood comes from the food you eat.

When you eat food, glucose gets absorbed from your intestines and is distributed by the bloodstream to all of the cells in your body. Your body tries to keep a constant supply of glucose for your cells by maintaining a constant glucose concentration in your blood, otherwise your cells would have more than enough glucose right after a meal and starve in between meals and overnight. So, when you have an oversupply of glucose, your body stores the excess in your liver and muscles by making glycogen, long chains of glucose. When glucose is in short supply, your body mobilizes glucose from stored glycogen and/or stimulates you to eat food. The key is to maintain a constant blood-glucose level.

To maintain a constant blood-glucose level, your body relies on two hormones produced in your pancreas that have opposite actions: insulin and glucagon.

Insulin is made and secreted by the beta cells of the pancreatic islets, small islands of endocrine cells in your pancreas. Insulin is a protein hormone that contains 51 amino acids. Insulin is required by almost all of your body’s cells, but its major targets are liver cells, fat cells and muscle cells. For these cells, insulin does the following:

• Stimulates liver and muscle cells to store glucose in glycogen
• Stimulates fat cells to form fats from fatty acids and glycerol
• Stimulates liver and muscle cells to make proteins from amino acids
• Inhibits the liver and kidney cells from making glucose from intermediate compounds of metabolic pathways (gluconeogenesis)

So insulin stores nutrients right after a meal by reducing the concentrations of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids in the bloodstream.

So when you don’t eat, your pancreas releases glucagon so that your body can produce glucose. Glucagon is another protein hormone that is made and secreted by the alpha cells of the pancreatic islets. Glucagon acts on the same cells as insulin, but has the opposite effects:

• Stimulates the liver and muscles to break down stored glycogen (glycogenolysis) and release the glucose
• Stimulates gluconeogenesis in the liver and kidneys

In contrast to insulin, glucagon mobilizes glucose from stores inside your body and increases the concentrations of glucose in your bloodstream, stopping your blood glucose levels from falling to dangerously low levels.

Normally, the levels of insulin and glucagon are counter-balanced in your bloodstream. Just after you eat a meal, your body is ready to receive the glucose, fatty acids and amino acids absorbed from the food. The presence of these substances in your intestine stimulates the pancreatic beta cells to release insulin into your blood and inhibit the pancreatic alpha cells from secreting glucagon. The levels of insulin in your blood begin to rise and act on cells (particularly liver, fat and muscle) to absorb the incoming molecules of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids. This action of insulin prevents the blood-glucose concentration (as well as the concentrations of fatty acids and amino acids) from substantially increasing in the bloodstream. In this way, your body maintains a steady blood-glucose concentration.

In contrast, when you are between meals or sleeping, your body is essentially starving. Your cells need supplies of glucose from the blood in order to keep going. During these times, slight drops in blood-sugar levels stimulate glucagon secretion from the pancreatic alpha cells and inhibit insulin secretion from the beta cells. Blood-glucagon levels rise. Glucagon acts on liver, muscle and kidney tissue to mobilize glucose from glycogen or to make glucose that gets released into your blood. This action prevents the blood-glucose concentration from falling drastically.

The interplay between insulin and glucagon secretions throughout the day helps to keep your blood-glucose concentration constant, staying at about 90 mg per 100 ml of blood.

Diabetes is classified into three types: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 (also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes) is caused by a lack of insulin. This type is found in five to 10 percent of diabetics and usually occurs in children or adolescents. Type 1 diabetics have an abnormal glucose-tolerance test and little or no insulin in their blood. In Type 1 diabetics, the beta cells of the pancreatic islets are destroyed, possibly by the person’s own immune system, genetic or environmental factors.

Type 2 (also called adult-onset diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes) occurs when your body does not respond or can’t use its own insulin (insulin resistance). Type 2 occurs in 90 to 95 percent of diabetics and usually occurs in adults over the age of 40, most often between the ages of 50 and 60. Type 2 diabetics have an abnormal glucose-tolerance test and higher than normal levels of insulin in their blood. In Type 2 diabetics, the insulin resistance is linked to obesity, but no one is exactly sure how this occurs. Some studies suggest that the number of insulin receptors on liver, fat and muscle cells is reduced, while others suggest that the intracellular pathways activated by insulin in these cells are altered.

Gestational diabetes can occur in some pregnant women and is similar to Type 2 diabetes. Gestational diabetics have an abnormal glucose-tolerance test and slightly higher levels of insulin. During pregnancy, several hormones partially block the actions of insulin, thereby making the woman less sensitive to her own insulin. She develops diabetes that can be managed by special diets and/or supplemental injections of insulin. It usually goes away after the baby is delivered.

Regardless of the type of diabetes, diabetics exhibit several (but not necessarily all) of the following symptoms:

• excessive thirst
• Frequent urination
• Extreme hunger or constant eating
• Unexplained weight loss
• Presence of glucose in the urine
• Tiredness or fatigue
• Changes in vision
• Numbness or tingling in your hands and feet
• Slow-healing wounds or sores
• Abnormally high frequency of infection

When you have diabetes, your lack of insulin or insulin resistance directly causes high blood-glucose levels during fasting and after a meal (reduced glucose tolerance).

• Because your body either does not produce or does not respond to insulin, your cells do not absorb glucose from your bloodstream, which causes you to have high blood-glucose levels.
• Because your cells have no glucose coming into them from your blood, your body thinks that it is starving
• Your pancreatic alpha cells secrete glucagon, and glucagon levels in your blood rise.
• Glucagon acts on your liver and muscles to breakdown stored glycogen and release glucose into the blood.
• Glucagon also acts on your liver and kidneys to produce and release glucose by gluconeogenesis.
• Both of these actions of glucagon further raise your blood-glucose levels.

High blood glucose causes glucose to appear in your urine.

• High blood-glucose levels increase the amount of glucose filtered by your kidneys.
• The amount of glucose filtered exceeds the amount that your kidneys can reabsorb.
• The excess glucose gets lost into the urine and can be detected by glucose test strips)

High blood glucose causes you to urinate frequently.

• High blood glucose increases the amount of glucose filtered by your kidneys.
• Because the filtered load of glucose in your kidneys exceeds the amount that they can reabsorb, glucose remains inside the tubule lumen
• The glucose in the tubule retains water, which increases urine flow through the tubule.
• The glucose in the tubule retains water, which increases urine flow through the tubule.

The high blood glucose and increased urine flow make you constantly thirsty.

• High blood-glucose levels increase the osmotic pressure of your blood and directly stimulate the thirst receptors in your brain.
• Your increased urine flow causes you to lose body sodium, which also stimulates your thirst receptors.

You are constantly hungry. It’s not clear exactly what stimulates your brain’s hunger centers, possibly the lack of insulin or high glucagon levels.

You lose weight despite the fact that you are eating more frequently. The lack of insulin or insulin-resistance directly stimulates the breakdown of fats in fat cells and proteins in muscle, leading to weight loss.

Metabolism of fatty acids leads to the production of acidic ketones in the blood (ketoacidosis), which can lead to breathing problems the smell of acetone on your breath, irregularities in your heart and central-nervous-system depression, which leads to coma.

You feel tired because your cells cannot absorb glucose, leaving them with nothing to burn for energy.

Your hands and feet may feel cold because your high blood-glucose levels cause poor blood circulation.

• High blood glucose increases the osmotic pressure of your blood.
• The increased osmotic pressure draws water from your tissues, causing them to become dehydrated
• The Water in your blood gets lost by your kidneys as urine, which decreases your blood volume.
• The decreased blood volume makes your blood thicker (higher concentration of red blood cells), with a consistency like molasses, and more resistant to flow (poor circulation)

Your poor blood circulation causes numbness in your hands and feet, changes in vision, slow-healing wounds and frequent infections. High blood glucose or lack of insulin may also depress your immune system.  Ultimately, these can lead to gangrene in the limbs and blindness.

As of now, there is no cure for diabetes; however, the disease can be treated and managed successfully. The key to treating diabetes is to closely monitor and manage your blood-glucose levels through exercise, diet and medications. The exact treatment regime depends on the type of diabetes.

If you have Type 1 diabetes, you lack insulin and must administer it several times each day. Insulin injections are usually timed around meals to cope with the glucose load from digestion. You must monitor your blood-glucose levels several times a day and adjust the amounts of insulin that you inject accordingly. This keeps your blood-glucose concentration from fluctuating wildly.

There are some implantable insulin infusion pumps that allow you to press a button and infuse insulin. If you inject too much insulin, you can drive your blood-glucose level well below normal (hypoglycemia). This can cause you to feel light-headed and shaky because your brain cells are not receiving enough glucose (mild episodes can be relieved by eating a candy bar or drinking juice). If your blood glucose goes really low, you can lapse into a coma (insulin shock), which can be life threatening. In addition to insulin injections, you have to watch your diet to keep track of the carbohydrate and fat contents, and you must exercise frequently. This treatment continues for the rest of your life.

If you have Type 2 diabetes, you can usually manage it by reducing your body weight through dieting and exercise.  You may have to monitor your blood glucose either daily or just when you visit your doctor. Depending on the severity of your diabetes, you may have to take medication to aid in controlling your blood glucose. Most of the medicines for Type 2 diabetes are oral medications, and their actions fall into the following categories:

• Stimulating the pancreas to release more insulin to help reduce blood glucose
• Interfering with the absorption of glucose by the intestine, thereby preventing glucose from entering the bloodstream
• Improving insulin sensitivity
• Reducing glucose production by the liver
• Helping to breakdown or metabolize glucose
• Supplementing insulin directly in the bloodstream through injections

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

The following article is a small excerpt from one of my books.I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

You probably have had a headache sometime in your life, and chances are you will take some kind of medicine to ease your pain. The medicine you will take will most likely be a relative of aspirin.

You may also have taken aspirin or its relatives for other problems, like inflammation or fever but did you know that about 80 billion aspirin tablets are taken per year for these problems, as well as many others? For example, millions of people take aspirin to help prevent heart attacks.

Aspirin is a member of a family of chemicals called salicylates

One of the first and most influential physicians, Hippocrates, wrote about a bitter powder extracted from willow bark that could ease aches and pains and reduce fevers as long ago as the fifth century B.C.  In the 1700s, a scientist by the name of Reverend Edmund Stone wrote about the success of the bark of the willow in the cure of fevers with aches.  With a bit of chemical detective work, scientists found out that the part of willow bark that was (1) bitter and (2) good for fever and pain is a chemical known as salicin.

It was a pharmacist known as Leroux who showed in 1829 that salicin is this active willow ingredient and your body converts this ingredient after it is eaten to another chemical, salicylic acid.

An Italian chemist by the name of Piria made salicylic acid, from salicin and for many years it was used in high doses to treat pain and swelling in diseases like arthritis and to treat fever.

A German chemist Felix Hoffmann, who worked for the chemical company Friedrich Bayer & Co. wanted to find a chemical that wouldn’t be so hard on your stomach lining; reasoning that salicylic acid may be irritating because it is an acid.  He put the compound through a couple of chemical reactions that covered up one of the acidic parts with an acetyl group, converting it to acetylsalicylic acid (ASA). He found that ASA could reduce fever and relieve pain and swelling, but also believed it was better for your stomach and worked even better than salicylic acid.

Over the next hundred years, ASA would fall in and out of favour, and at least two new families of medicines would be derived from it, and innumerable research articles would be published about aspirin.

No one completely understands how pain works.  Actually, a lot is known about pain, but the more we find out the more questions arise.

Pain is really something you feel in your brain.  Let’s say you hit your finger with a hammer.  The part of your finger that is damaged has nerve endings in it — these are little detectors in your joints and your skin that feel things like heat, vibration, touch, and, of course, big crushing shocks like being hit with a hammer.  There are different receptors for each of these types of sensations.  The damaged tissue in your finger also releases some chemicals that make those nerve endings register the crushing shock even stronger — like turning up the volume on your stereo so you can hear it better.  Some of these chemicals are prostaglandins, and working cells in the damaged tissues make these chemicals using an enzyme called cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2).

Because of the prostaglandins, the nerve endings that are involved now send a strong signal through nerves in your hand, then through your arm, up your neck and into your brain, where your mind decides this signal means, “HEY!  PAIN!”  The prostaglandins seem to contribute just a portion of the total signal that means pain, but this portion is an important one.  In addition, prostaglandins not only help you to feel the pain of the damaged finger, but they also cause the finger to swell up and to bathe the tissues in fluid from your blood that will protect it and help it to heal.  (This is a simplified version of the pain story.)  This pathway works very well as far as telling you your finger is hurt.  The pain serves a purpose here: It reminds you that your finger is damaged and that you need to be careful with it and not use it until it’s healed.  The problem is that, sometimes, things hurt without the hammer or for any other good reason.  Sometimes you get a headache possibly because your scalp and neck muscles are contracted from stress or because a blood vessel in your brain has a spasm.  Many people have arthritis, which is swelling and pain in the joints such as the knuckles or knees, and this problem can not only make people uncomfortable, it can damage the joints permanently.  And many women have pain in their abdomens during their periods, usually known as cramps, for no known useful reason.  These processes appear to involve prostaglandins as well.

Aspirin helps these problems by stopping cells from making prostaglandins. Remember the enzyme, COX-2?  It is a protein made by your body’s cells whose job it is to take chemicals floating around in your tissues and turn them into prostaglandins.

COX-2 can be found in lots of normal tissues, but much more of it is made in tissue that has been damaged in some way. Aspirin, sticks to COX-2 and won’t let it do its job.  So by taking aspirin, you don’t stop the problem that’s causing the pain, like the tight muscles in your scalp, or the cramping in your abdomen, or the hammer-damaged finger.  But it does “lower the volume” of the pain signals getting through your nerves to your brain, because Cox-2 can’t produce the prostaglandins that send the signal to your brain. Got it?

So how does aspirin know how to get to where the pain is? Well it doesn’t! When you take aspirin, it dissolves in your stomach or the next part of the digestive tract, the small intestine, and your body absorbs it there. Then it goes into your bloodstream and it goes through your entire body. Although it is everywhere, it only works where there are prostaglandins being made, which includes the area where it hurts.

As with almost all chemicals, your body has ways of getting rid of aspirin.  In this case, your liver, stomach, and other organs change aspirin to… surprise! Salicylic acid!  This chemical then slowly gets changed a bit more by the liver, which sticks other chemicals onto the salicylic acid so that your kidneys, can filter it out of your blood and send it out in your urine. This whole process takes about four to six hours, so that’s why you need to take another pill every 4 to 6 hours to keep the effect going.

The problem with the fact that aspirin goes through your entire bloodstream is that your body needs prostaglandins for some reasons.  One place they are useful is in the stomach.  It turns out another enzyme called COX-1 makes a prostaglandin that keeps your stomach lining nice and thick.  Aspirin stops COX-1 from working (it keeps most prostaglandins from being made), and your stomach lining gets thin, allowing the digestive juice inside to irritate it.  This is probably the biggest reason why aspirin and its relatives may upset your stomach.

Over the last few decades, it has been found that aspirin’s action of stopping prostaglandin production has effects on things besides pain, inflammation, and the stomach.  Some types of prostaglandins cause tiny particles in your blood (platelets) to stick together to form a blood clot.  By inhibiting prostaglandin production, aspirin slows down clot production.  Although this can be bad, such as with a bloody nose, blood clots can be damaging as well, such as in causing heart attacks

Like all medicines, aspirin has side effects on your body that you don’t want. Like, if you hit your finger with a hammer and it’s bleeding, an aspirin may help the pain and swelling, but the wound may take longer to clot and stop bleeding.  Also, it can be very upsetting to your stomach, especially at high doses.

Also Aspirin isn’t used these days in children with fevers since research has suggested that aspirin given to kids with flu, chickenpox, or other viral sicknesses may cause a potentially deadly problem called Reye syndrome.

For these reasons, chemists have found other chemicals closely related to aspirin that have some of its good effects and lack some of its bad effects.  Ibuprofen and naproxen (Motrin and Naprosyn) also treat pain, swelling and fever, but they seem to have less of an effect on platelets than aspirin does. These medicines are called the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) because they decrease swelling but they aren’t steroids, which are the most potent anti-inflammatory chemicals we have.  Another family of medicines related to aspirin includes acetaminophen (Tylenol), which decreases fevers and pain, but it doesn’t affect either swelling or your stomach as much as the true NSAIDs do.

I know you want to get in shape and look great.  Whatever your fitness goal…to slim down…gain muscle…tone your arms or flatten your tummy…I’m here to help you accomplish your goals and to improve your fitness level. If you have enjoyed this article and the many other free features on my site, and would like some more comprehensive information such as fitness books and CD’s to aid you in achieving your health and fitness goals, please visit my ONLINE STORE where you will find innovative natural health and beauty products to help you become the BEST YOU CAN BE !

The following article is a small excerpt from one of my books.  I hope you’ll want to learn more and let me help you to get into the best shape of your life.

You know that a balanced nutritious meal is important, however sometimes you get too busy during the day to make sure you get the proper nutritional elements that your body needs. Here are some quick and simple ideas that may help.

1. If you make spaghetti and are using sauce for a bottle or can, you can add carbohydrate rich vegetables like squash, beans, peas or broccoli. Simply chop the vegetables, cook them quickly in the microwave and then mix them in with the bottled or canned sauce.
2. If you don’t like vegetables in your spaghetti sauce, you can try grating two carrots, and then mixing it in with the sauce. You’ll get twice your Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of Beta carotene and also add 4.6 grams of Fibre.
3. You can boost your Fibre intake by 6.4 grams by using whole wheat pasta for spaghetti instead of the low fibre white flour kind.
4. When making Chilli you can Raise your Fibre and carbohydrate intake and lower your fat intake by simply cutting your beef intake in half and substituting with Red Kidney Beans.
5. You can cut your cholesterol intake when making an omelette by using two egg whites with two whole eggs. You can also give your omelette a boost by adding potatoes, mushrooms or peppers.
6. Make a leaner meat stew by using chicken instead of Beef
7. When eating Pizza, top it off with Vitamins by using broccoli, green or red peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower or Tomatoes. You can also save about 7.6 grams of fat in just two slices by leaving off the pepperoni.
8. When making macaroni and cheese, make sure you choose a low fat cheddar. You may also want to spread a quarter of a cup of wheat germ on top before baking. This will give you 50 percent of the RDA of folate, a B vitamin and 40 percent of your RDA of Vitamin E.
9. Make better salad bar choices by using dark leafy vegetables like Romaine, Red Tip or Spinach. Ice berg lettuce has basically no nutritional value. You can also sprinkle raisins on top for Fibre and shredded cabbage will add not only Fibre and Vitamin C. By adding sesame seeds, nuts or mushrooms, you’ll be adding copper, an important nutrient in keeping bones, skin and tendons healthy.
10. Popcorn is one the healthiest snacks you can eat. A handful of air popped popcorn contains just six calories and is a good source of B vitamins and Fibre.
11. Choose fish instead of meat when having a barbecue. Fish is a good source of protein and contains magnesium, B vitamins and Potassium.
12. If it’s a burger you crave, try a turkey burger. Buy a Turkey tenderloin, the leanest part of the Turkey and grill it on your B.B.Q.
13. Instead of Apple Pie, try Apple Crisp. You’ll lose almost all of the fat and gain cholesterol lowering Oats.
14. Mix two tablespoons of nonfat dairy milk into an eight-ounce glass of milk. This will double your calcium and protein intake without adding Fat.
15. You can add Beans or crushed Tomatoes to Prepared or canned soups. You can also increase your Fibre by adding Barley to Vegetable soup.
16. Use Fruit spreads on your toast instead of Butter. Apple Butter spread offers 38 milligrams of Potassium per tablespoon and almost no Fat.
17. Try using frozen melon balls instead of ice cube in Fruit drinks. A half cup of honey dew melon for example will add 230 milligrams of potassium and lots of Vitamin C.
18. If you can cook soups and stews the day before, you can cut the Fat by chilling them overnight. In the morning, simply skim the fat off the top before serving.
19. For more Fibre, eat fruits and vegetables with their skins and peels.
20. If you are breading chicken breasts, use bran cereal to add fibre.
21. To increase your Beta-Carotene, add fresh parsley to stews, soups and sauces.
22. Frozen corn can be added to almost any meal. By adding half a cup of corn into any meal you will receive 17 grams of carbohydrates and three grams of fibre.
23. You can raise your calcium level by sprinkling skim-milk powder into mashed potatoes, gravies or sauces.
24. Avoid Granola. The majority of granola on the market contains as much as 27 grams of fat per serving. Also a bran muffin contains four to 12 grams of fat and up to 900 kcal., depending on size. You may want to choose a Bagel which contains 1.4 grams of fat and 160 kcal.
25. Apples are a terrific source of Vitamin C and Fibre but be careful of Fruit Juices. Apple Juice for example can sometimes be nothing more than sugar water.
26. If you are a vegetarian, you should be careful do avoid deficiencies in iron, zinc and B12. These deficiencies can hamper your athletic performance.

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