Most people have heard of antioxidants and free radicals, but many are unclear as to what they actually are. Free radicals are atoms which contain an odd number of electrons. They tend to form with the action of oxygen on certain molecules, and in an attempt to obtain another electron in order to stabilize themselves, they will attack nearby molecules, causing damage. They can cause damage to cell membranes, or important cellular components such as DNA, which then causes the damaged cell to mutate. This sets off a chain reaction of damage throughout the cells of the body.

Free radicals are formed due to either normal metabolic process of the human body from reactions to inflammation, excessive exercise or allergic reactions, or from external sources such as cigarette smoke, exposure to X-rays, pollutants, ozone or pesticides. A poor diet and high alcohol intake can also trigger production of free radicals.

The damage caused by free radicals is thought to initiate tumors and cause health conditions such as heart disease, Alzheimerís disease and Parkinsonís disease. Free radicals are also thought to accelerate the aging process.

The body has mechanisms in place to counteract damage cause by free radicals. One of these is the presence of antioxidants in the body. Antioxidants are molecules which interact with free radicals and stop them causing cellular damage, thus limiting their harmful effects. Some of the main antioxidants include the vitamins C and E, beta-carotene and selenium. These must be supplied through diet as the body is unable to manufacture them.

Vitamin E is a fat soluble vitamin which is found in whole grains, fortified cereals, nuts, seeds, apricots and vegetable and fish oils. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin found in citrus fruits, strawberries, kiwi fruit and leafy green vegetables such as cabbage, spinach and broccoli.

Beta-carotene is obtained from egg yolk, liver, grains and yellow-orange vegetables such as carrots, peaches, squash and sweet potatoes. Selenium is found in nuts, particularly brazil nuts and walnuts, fortified cereals and soy beans. There are also many other antioxidants, which can be found in a wide variety of foods.

Ideally, our bodies need a good variety of vitamins and minerals to combat damage caused by free radicals. This is best achieved by eating a wide range of foods to ensure that we have a good intake of different antioxidants. Our modern diets tend to rely heavily on processed foods which contain few nutrients, so conscious effort is required to ensure we receive an adequate nutritional intake so that our bodies can win the constant battle between antioxidants and free radicals.

We can use vitamin supplements as an antioxidant boost if we are deficient, but they should not be used in the place of a healthy, varied, balanced diet. Also bear in mind that some vitamins can be harmful if taken in excess.

Psoriasis is a skin condition often referred to as a skin disease, which is believed to have no cure. Modern medicine treats the symptoms of the disease with a variety of prescription medications which can help ease those symptoms. Natural remedies exist however, so we’ll look at those in this article.

First, an overview of psoriasis. This is a condition where extra skin develops on your body. Most often it’s seen on the elbows, knees and scalp, and it looks like a thick build up of skin in white, flaky patches. Those patches are often covered with white or silver skin flakes and scales.

Psoriasis is caused by the body producing extra skin cells much faster than it normally does. In a healthy body, the surface skin is replaced about every 28-30 days. When someone has psoriasis however, new skin cells are pushed to the surface every 3-5 days instead. And that’s not enough time for the existing surface skin to die and flake off. So the skin piles up into these thick, white, flaky crustations on the surface.

Now, herbalists believe psoriasis is caused by something being wrong inside the body. So most of the psoriasis treatments and remedies tend to revolve around cleansing the body – particularly the liver and colon waste disposal system. We’ll cover the details of that in future articles.

Treating the actual skin symptoms however, is what most modern doctors do. And there are herbs which can help relieve some of the side effects these symptoms cause too. Psoriasis skin patches are often itchy and red. Sometimes they can crack and bleed too. So applying topical ointments, herbal teas and home made remedies to these areas can help relieve some of those problems with causing risky side effects.

Applying pure aloe vera gel to the psoriasis skin patches for instance, can help soften and soothe them. Applying liquid zinc can also help too, because it also soothes and softens the skin.

Putting chickweed herb into the bath water and soaking in it can help sooth and soften the psoriasis plaques as well.

Burdock is one of the best herbs to use for chronic skin problems. Make a tea of it and rinse the affected psoriasis plaques, or put Burdock into the bath water and soak in it for awhile.

Most importantly, keep your skin from becoming overly dry. Dry skin will crack and produce openings for bacteria to get under the skin leading to irritation, inflammation, and a flare-up.

Remember high school? With the bell ringing every 40 minutes, you were constantly reminded how fast the end of the day was approaching, and whether your task was completed or not you moved on to the next class.

Over time, you learned certain techniques to avoid wasting those precious minutes and became better equipped in handling the assignments and the constant demands placed upon you. As adults, our time isn’t so regimented, and we’re left to our own devices to manage time. Very often we develop bad habits and find ourselves busy but not productive.

There are hundreds of insightful sayings surrounding the word time, but until you put them into practice they’re not useful. It seems time only becomes important when someone we love is ill or dying. When we are young, time is endless. As we get older, we hunger for more. In emergencies, time is of the essence. During the 9/11 tragedy, time stood still.

Here are just a few examples of how you can avoid wasting time — time that could be make a difference in your daily life:

• Are your electronic gadgets time wasters or time savers?
• Think about the task before starting it.
• Try not to handle too many things at once.
• Do not begin a new project before completing the first one.
• Finish a project; don’t leave it hanging.
• Try not to double up on needless paperwork; keep it simple.
• Do not try to do everything yourself; delegate.
• Try to focus on the task at hand; avoid interruptions.
• When someone is speaking to you; listen fully without thinking of other matters. In this way nothing will have to be repeated.
• When running errands, call ahead to ensure your items are ready, if applicable.
• Schedule appointments either in the early morning or after lunch to avoid waiting.
• Ensure your home is clutter free; spending time looking for something is wasteful.
• Make lunch for the kids at night.
• Put your clothes out at night for the next morning.
• Ensure your car has plenty of gas at all times.

Think back to Rod Sterling’s episode on The Twilight Zone. The story involved a banker who loved to read, but his wife hated him doing so. Every day for lunch he would go down to the vault, step inside, and read his book. One day the earth was decimated by a bomb. The only survivor, he walked for miles until he eventually came across the New York Public Library. Ecstatically, he piled all of the books according to each year it would take him to read them all. Seeing one book under a cracked step, he reached down to grab it, and his bifocals fell off. In his attempt to pick them up, he stepped on and smashed them. All I wanted was time, he cried.

Reference: Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast-Paced Life

Heart disease is a generic term which is applied to a wide variety of health conditions and problems that affect the heart. As the name implies, these conditions and problems are generally related to the heart or its connected systems that the heart relies on.

For instance, the circulatory system which carries blood to and from the heart can have weaknesses, ruptures, or blockages which cause problems with the heart itself, and these conditions are considered to be part of heart disease. In fact, the heart itself can haven any number of hidden abnormalities that won’t may never manifest or only under stress. Generally speaking, anything which interferes with the supply of blood and oxygen to and from the heart is lumped under the generic brand of heart disease.

There has been a lot of new information released to the public from scientists and researchers in recent years about heart disease, and unfortunately a lot of that information is still somewhat conflicting. As early as twenty or thirty years ago for instance, scientists claimed that eating foods high in cholesterol or fat would cause you to have heart disease and a variety of related problems.

So based on this information, it was recommended that people cut down on their consumption of red meat. Some people even took this to the extreme and stopped eating all foods which contained cholesterol, in an attempt to keep their hearts healthier.

Research in heart disease is constantly being conducted, and new developments and therapies are being discovered as this article is being written. However, there are some constants related to heart disease –

Changeable risk factors include:

• Hypertension
• Cholesterol levels
• Obesity
• Diabetes mellitus
• Physical inactivity
• Cigarette smoking
• Alcohol intake

Unchangeable risk factors include:

• Age, the older you get the greater your risk
• Sex, men are at higher risk than women
• Race
• Family history
• Personal medical history

To make things even more complicated, some recent studies have actually shown that plaque build up is caused by simple sugars and starches instead of meats and foods containing cholesterol.

Now heart disease can lead to very severe problems in some people. It causes heart attacks, strokes, and even death. And some people are more prone to getting heart disease than others, because the conditions are hereditary.

Most of the steps you’d take to prevent or reduce the risks of other diseases apply to heart disease as well though. Exercising for instance, helps improve your circulatory system, strengthen your heart, and keeps the blood flowing well enough to prevent plaque build up.

References: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

In my previous article, I explained that some of the common problems encountered when trying to lose weight include a lack of energy, hunger, and negative mental attitudes. I mentioned several herbs to counter these issues can set you up for success with your weight loss goals. So, let’s look at several other herbs that can help with your weight loss plan.

Licorice Root is an herb which helps stimulate and regulate your adrenal glands. Since these produce adrenalin in your body, regulating them helps control your energy levels. This herb also acts as a mild tonic for your intestinal tract, an important part of your body which aids in losing weight.

Safflowers or Saffron are herbs which help with digestion. Helping your body to digest foods properly, and eliminate them properly from your body as well, helps with losing weight too. These herbs soothe the digestional tract, helps heal the walls of the intestines, relieves gas, is a mild diuretic, and produces a mild laxative reaction in your bowels too.

Black Walnut hulls are often used for killing and expelling parasites in the body. Many people that have problems losing weight, often find after trying natural remedies, that they were having problems losing that weight because of parasites inside their body. This herb is also useful for balancing blood sugar levels though, which is known to help with weight loss efforts. Additional, black walnut will act as food for your nerves and muscles, and is high in potassium, iodine, and manganese – all of which help to provide you with more energy while dieting.

Gota Kola is an excellent herb for treating depression, melancholy, and low energy issues. It’s thought of as a memory herb, because it stimulates circulation to your brain. This stimulation helps your memory improve over time, but this stimulation also helps fight against depression, sadness, and general negative mental attitudes that can be so common when trying to lose weight.

Gota Kola also strengthens the heart and helps balance hormones and your nervous system, all of which contribute to helping lift your mood. Having an excellent mental attitude is one of the best ways to successfully stick with a good weight loss plan.

When Gota Kola is combined with Cayenne and Ginseng, it’s considered to be a fantastic “pick me up” for both mood and energy.

Hawthorne is another herb which helps with energy, because it produces natural adrenaline. This herb is also excellent for strengthening and regulating the heart, plus reducing blood pressure. It’s considered a great choice for anyone under a lot of stress too.

Kelp is an herb which can help with weight loss efforts too, because it helps regulate your thyroid. Sometimes people who have problems losing weight easily, have an imbalance of some kind with their thyroid, and regulating that can help. Kelp is also quite high in natural vitamins and minerals, which can help contribute additional energy and an overall wellness feeling while you’re dieting.

If you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle, one obvious consideration should be organic food. Naturally, food processed with out chemicals would seem like a no brainer. However, in today’s economy people have to make hard choices. Produce at your local grocery store is likely to be much cheaper than that purchased at a health food store. Is organic food really worth the cost?

By definition, organic foods are produced without using man-made chemicals. This means that they do not have the hormones, antibiotics, synthetic pesticides, and other harmful substances that can be found in non-organic foods. This is one reason that people buy organic, but not the only one. Many proponents of organic food are looking to buy foods that are produced locally in an effort to boost the local economy, support the ethical treatment of livestock, or reduce the use of fossil fuels used for the foods’ delivery. While some organic food producers share these ideals, many of them do not.

Problems with Organic Products

The growing popularity of organic foods has made it more difficult to find foods that are produced entirely locally. Mass production has necessitated the use of some ingredients that may not be available in large enough quantities locally. For example, companies that use organic milk in their products often have a hard time getting it from suppliers in the immediate area. They may use powdered organic milk from distant locations in order to keep their ingredients pure.

There are also some so-called organic products that aren’t really any safer. Certain fruits and vegetables, including asparagus, bananas, broccoli, pineapples, and sweet peas rarely contain significant amounts of pesticides in their conventionally grown form. Processed foods that claim to be made with organic ingredients often contain inorganic ones as well. And organic seafood and cosmetics are notorious for having the same health dangers as conventional ones.

How Much More does Organic Cost?

Prices for organic foods vary substantially. You might pay anywhere from 10 percent more to twice as much for an organic product. Mass producers of organic products tend to incur much higher costs in an effort to keep the ingredients pure, and because of that they charge a premium.

You can often save money by getting on the mailing list of your local health food store. This will give you access to special deals and coupons. Also try growing your own. Even a small container garden will keep you in fixed for salad throughout the summer. Your fruit and vegetable choices should be limited to what is in season, but the lower cost and fresher taste are worth it to many consumers. You can be sure that you’re buying locally by patronizing farmer’s markets or going directly to the source.

When determining whether an organic product is worth the extra cost, it is important to know as much as you can about it. Many people make the mistake of assuming that all organic foods are created equal, and they are not. Checking out providers and reading labels can open our eyes to any shortcomings that an organic food may have. In many cases, your best bet is to buy locally for better prices and higher standards.

Resource: Organic Food Gardening Beginner’s Manual