Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: Body Whispers: 15 "Female Cancer" signs your body...

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: Body Whispers: 15 "Female Cancer" signs your body...: For the most part, women are very in tune with their bodies and understand the importance of taking care of their health. Yet for some re...

Body Whispers: 15 "Female Cancer" signs your body is telling you not to ignore

For the most part, women are very in tune with their bodies and understand the importance of taking care of their health. Yet for some reason, we ignore some pretty obvious signs that would seem to “jump” out at us in a heartbeat. Perhaps, it’s because we just don’t have the time to do something about it or that we’ll be treated as if we’re overreacting. Maybe, it’s because we’re the caregivers to our family, friends and neighbors and we put ourselves last way too many times. However, just like anything else, if we don’t take care of the “little” things they will grow into bigger things that take over our lives making it worse and not better.
According to WebMD, the following are the top 15 cancer signs you never want to ignore (http://www.webmd.com/cancer/features/15-cancer-symptoms-women-ignore):

*Unexplained weight loss without dieting/exercising
*Bloating, without being associated to the menstrual cycle. These symptoms may produce pelvic or abdominal pain, feeling full quickly and/or causing frequent urination
*Breast changes (rash/redness on the skin, discharge from the breasts)
*Bleeding in-between a period or excessively/heavily beyond a normal menstrual cycle
*Skin changes, moles
*Difficulty swallowing
*Blood in the stool
*Abdominal pain and depression
*Frequent indigestion
*White spots inside the mouth or on the tongue
*Unexplained pain that suddenly occurs and lingers
*Lymph node changes (arm pits and neck) increasing/swelling in size
*Fever (not related to any other known illness and/or infection)
*Fatigue
*Persistent cough

Many of the above could be related to something else, but ignoring them or not informing your doctor that they are occurring is a dangerous mistake. If you are not having an annual “Pap smear” and mammogram, consider having both immediately. If you are experiencing the above symptoms for a prolonged period of time, write down your symptoms including when they began, how/when they occur and talk to your doctor immediately. If you don’t have a gynecologist and live in Hampton Roads, I highly recommend Dr. Ebenezer NiMoii (757-547-4500). He is compassionate and an excellent doctor. His office staff is beyond proficient in their work. He is located in Chesapeake. Their website is www.greenbrierobgyn.com.

Quick Tips for Wellness: “Signs” are our bodies whispering to us. Never ignore what your internal instincts are trying to communicate to you.

Pat Ferguson is an AASDN Nutrition Specialist, founder of Live Life Well Now and PrayFastEatLive a Biblical approach to Wellness.
Quick Tips for Wellness ™, Copyright © 2013, All Rights Reserved
Follow me on Facebook Quick Tips for Wellness and Twitter @wellnesstips4u

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: Food allergies versus intolerance; how to know the...

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: Food allergies versus intolerance; how to know the...: Did you know….that less than 8% of the people who have an adverse reaction to food are related to a food allergy? What may appear to be a...

Food allergies versus intolerance; how to know the difference between the two

Did you know….that less than 8% of the people who have an adverse reaction to food are related to a food allergy? What may appear to be an “allergic reaction” in reality is (maybe) intolerance to food, chemicals or anything else we ingest. Here’s now to know the difference:

Allergies usually produce the following reactions: Tingling (in the mouth), hives, swelling (lips, eyes, face, tongue, and/or throat), dizziness, fainting, nausea, cramping, and diarrhea.

Why does your body react this way?
*It recognizes the food as a toxin (like a poison) to the body and sends antibodies to fight off the perceived effects.
*Our body releases “histamine” whenever it fights off an allergy, hence causing some of the above symptoms (swelling).

Food intolerance usually affects the digestive system causing nausea, cramping, and diarrhea. The root-cause is usually related to the absence of an enzyme the body fails to produce during digestion.

What triggers these symptoms?
*Food poisoning (bacteria found in food that our body cannot fight-off)
*IBS (aka irritable bowel syndrome) is a chronic condition causing bloating, cramping and diarrhea.
*Celiac disease (reaction to most breads, cookies, wheat, rye) results in severe abdominal pain/bloating, cramping.

Our body naturally signals us when something is wrong through rejecting it during digestion. Allergies are particularly concerning as they can cause severe and immediate problems. Whether you suspect your reaction is allergic or intolerance related, don’t ignore the symptoms and see a doctor immediately. Write down specific information in order to help your doctor in their diagnosis (i.e. What you ate/ingested or came in contact with, when the reaction occurred, how long it lasted, what physical symptoms you suffered and how often these symptoms occur).

The easiest way to remember the difference between the two is this:
Allergies usually cause swelling. Intolerances usually cause indigestion. Both can occur with allergies but rarely occur with intolerances.

Quick Tips for Wellness: Immediately write down your symptoms, consumption and activity surrounding your reaction and see a doctor immediately.

Pat Ferguson is an AASDN Nutrition Specialist, Wellness Coach, Seminar Educator, and the founder of Live Life Well Now & PrayFastEatLive. Follow Pat on Facebook at Live Life Well Now and on Twitter, at wellnesstips4u.

Quick Tips For Wellness ™, Copyright © 2013, All Rights Reserved

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: Vitamin D: The "source" inside of you!

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: Vitamin D: The "source" inside of you!: On a cloudy day, most of us feel a little down wanting to get out in the sun to “amp-up our “Vitamin D”. However, the sun has only one rol...

Vitamin D: The "source" inside of you!

On a cloudy day, most of us feel a little down wanting to get out in the sun to “amp-up our “Vitamin D”. However, the sun has only one role in helping our “D” do the trick for our mood; it synthesizes what’s inside of us.

From the food we eat to how our body utilizes it, “D” provides many life giving properties:
*It builds tissue, metabolizes calcium, nerves, builds messengers (between the brain the body), stimulate activation and growth.
*It helps rebuild our immune system while taking care of the disposal of our dead cells (through the natural apoptosis process aka cell suicide)

Exposure to the sun helps to stimulate what we’ve already consumed through Vitamin D3, resulting in:
*Releasing the “feel good” hormone “Serotonin” (thus the reason why we enjoy a sunny day!) However, sunscreen only helps to play a part in protecting our skin to overexposure from the sun’s UVB rays.
*Increasing our overall wellness
*Help defend our body against illness and disease

Nutritional resources
Nutrition is vitally crucial in making the healthy deposits our body requires. We can find the supply of Vitamin D from several food groups:
Dairy (Milk, butter)
Fish liver oils (Cod)
Oily fish (Salmon, Tuna, Halibut, Mackerel, Sardines)
Seeds (sunflower)
Shell seafood (Oysters)
Plants (Mushrooms)
Beef liver, cheese and egg yolk each supply smaller amounts of Vitamin D to our body.

Other secondary foods made from Vitamin D resources (i.e. Ice cream, cheese) are usually not “fortified” with Vitamin D (think of it as reinforced/added to) and do not supply any significant amounts.

Fortified products like yogurt, orange juice, cereals and margarine often have a degree of added “D”. Learn to read the labels to determine if they have been fortified.

DRI’s for Adults and Children
Visit the following link to learn more about the DRI’s to see if you’re getting the amount of D you need from natural resources. While medical grade supplements are sometimes necessary to supply for a severe deficiency, the natural resources should become part of our daily supply through what we consume via nutrition. (http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-QuickFacts/)

Signs/symptoms of low D
The following is some of the typical signs of low vitamin D:
Depression
Rickets
Osteoporosis

Individuals with naturally darker skin color have a higher resistance to synthesizing Vitamin D from exposure to the sun, thus causing their vitamin D levels to appear lower than someone with a lighter complexion. Many other diseases are being studied for their connection to low vitamin D levels (i.e. Multiple sclerosis, autoimmune disease, hypertension, and bone disorders). The increased intake of D is being studied for its protection against some types of cancer colon, breast and prostate. On the other-hand, too much Vitamin D may be linked to other forms of cancer, like pancreatic cancer.

Supplements
There can be a great deal of confusion over taking versus not taking supplements for low Vitamin D. Nutrition first should be the underlying source for where our Vitamin D is derived. However, if you are going to take a supplement it should be either medical or pharmaceutical grade in quality. Just taking supplements and not changing your dietary/nutritional needs is counterproductive to your overall wellness.

Quick Tips for Wellness: Vitamin D is an internal cornerstone the body needs to build off of for good health.

Pat Ferguson is an AASDN Nutrition Specialist, Author, Nutrition Educator and Seminar Leader

Quick Tips for Wellness ™ Copyright © 2013, All Rights Reserved
Follow me on Facebook Live Life Well Now and Twitter @wellnesstips4u

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: "Live Life Well Now" Wellness Seminar April 27th: ...

Quick Tips for Everyday Wellness: "Live Life Well Now" Wellness Seminar April 27th: ...: The overwhelming task of trying to understand nutrition and what your body needs can seem daunting, expensive and inconvenient. Register ...

"Live Life Well Now" Wellness Seminar April 27th: Learn how to help your body help itself!

The overwhelming task of trying to understand nutrition and what your body needs can seem daunting, expensive and inconvenient. Register now to attend the April 27, 2013, educational Wellness Seminar and learn how to use nutrition to help your body help itself. Click on the following link to register (pre-registration required):

Website: www.livelifewellnow.net/seminar

Date: April 27, 2013

Time: 9:30am-12pm

Location: First Baptist Church of Norfolk, 312 Kempsville Road, Room 300, Norfolk, Va 23502

Cost: $20/person; $30/couple. Seminar includes Wellness Guide, food/beverage samples

Registration: Event is open to the public; pre-registration required.

Instructor: Pat Ferguson, AASDN Nutrition Specialist

Questions? Call 757-581-1997