Watery Diarrhea|Vomiting And Diarrhea|Toddler Diarrhea

Food allergies are a bigger deal than most people think. Did you know that food allergies affect about 60% of the population? Listen to this:

"The incidence of food allergy is greater than the incidence of any other type of illness affecting mankind."

Wow, that's pretty powerful! The quote above is from James Breneman, former chairman of the Food Allergy Committee of the American College of Allergists.

Now here's the kicker: we make ourselves allergic to food.

No kidding. Let me explain.

How We Develop Food Allergy Symptoms

We can become allergic to just about any kind of food. To keep it simple, I'll explain what happens with just one kind of food: proteins. When we eat protein, the act of chewing starts to break the protein down into component nutrients, a process which is continued in the stomach and then the small intestine.

According to researcher Karl Abrams, our normal healthy digestive process allows about 2% of these proteins to slip through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream. Once in these proteins enter the bloodstream, our bodies no longer recognize them as "food." Now they have become "foreign invaders" and the body jumps into an immune response. It produces antibodies to fight off these foreign invaders, and food allergy symptoms are often the result!

When our bodies don't recognize food particles in the bloodstream, we become allergic to them. The next time we eat this kind of food, our body immediately goes into a food allergy reaction.

Food allergy symptoms can include digestive upset, such as diarrhea, gas, and bloating; skin conditions like hives; and swelling of various body parts, such as the throat or hands and feet. In fact, if it goes on for a long period of time, the liver becomes affected, since this organ is responsible for filtering the blood of excess toxins. When the liver is affected, then we can develop long-term chronic conditions like psoriasis.

What's worse is that most people don't have healthy digestion. So while a healthy digestive system let's 2% of the proteins we eat to enter the bloodstream, a body under stress lets even more proteins cross the intestinal wall, which produces even worse food allergy symptoms.

Natural Ways to Prevent Food Allergy Symptoms

Now that you know how we develop food allergy symptom, the next thing is to discover how to prevent them. Luckily, there are three nutritional supplements that can relieve and prevent these symptoms:

• AFA blue-green algae


• probiotics like acidophilus and bifidus


• food enzymes

Blue-green algae has two important nutrients to help prevent food allergies: beta-carotene and chlorophyll. Studies show that these substances in AFA blue-green algae help "dramatically stimulate specialized cells around the intestinal walls to secrete lubricating material and thus help prevent this type of allergic reaction" (Karl Abrams). In other words, the beta carotene and chlorophyll in blue-green algae strengthen the intestinal wall, so proteins and other food particles can't slip into the bloodstream. No particles in the bloodstream equals no food allergies. Abrams notes that the omega-3 fatty acids in the algae help as well.

#2: Probiotics like Acidophilus and Bifidus

Probiotics are the "friendly bacteria" that live in our intestines and do the bulk of the work of digesting our food once it has passed through the stomach. Acidophilus and bifidus are among the most important of these friendly bacteria, and provide a barrier between the intestines and the bloodstream, as well as helping us fully digest our food.

Stress, drinking chlorinated water, taking medication, or drinking alcohol can all decrease the population of probiotics in our gut, leading to what is called "leaky gut syndrome," the phenomenon discussed earlier in which food particles slip into the bloodstream. Taking acidophilus and bifidus orally on a daily basis keeps our probiotic population at healthy levels, which creates good digestion and prevents food allergy symptoms. In my experience, eating live yogurt is not enough to prevent food allergies. One needs to take highly-concentrated acidophilus and bifidus in capsule form that are stored in refrigerators (keeps the bacteria healthy and active).

#3: Food Enzymes

Did you know that there are enzymes and co-enzymes that digest every kind of food we eat? What's more, organic raw foods contain all the enzymes needed to digest themselves. For instance, Eskimos eat enough raw fish in their diet that they don't suffer from poor digestion or heart disease. Their food has enough enzymes to literally digest itself, keeping the Eskimos healthy. In fact, the word Eskimo even means "he who eats raw food." So, enzymes are very important because they are key to healthy and complete digestion.

Here's the really good news about enzymes: if your digestion isn't perfect, eating enzymes with and between meals can support digestion and help with food allergy symptoms. When taken with food, enzymes help ensure proper digestion and prevent food particles from entering the bloodstream. When taken separate from food, the enzymes are able to pass through the intestinal barrier (just like the food particles) to digest the food particles in the bloodstream. This prevents the immune system from thinking that food is an invader, thus preventing the immune response that causes food allergy symptoms.

Adding these three simple nutritional supplements to your daily regimen--AFA blue-green algae, probiotics like acidophilus and bifidus, and enzymes--can do a lot to support your body's digestive process, and relieve food allergy symptoms.

Simple, effective, and convenient... now that's what works for most people when it comes to nutritional supplements!

Dietary fiber is an essential nutrient of our daily diet that is required for proper digestion of food, proper functioning of digestive system and make you feel full for longer. In recent times, the question what are the best fiber rich foods is becoming very important.

We consume lots of refined food products like white bread, pasta and rice. Refined ingredients get clogged in the colon and hence cause grief, flatulence and restricted bowel movement. So, high fiber foods are essential to keep colon healthy. On an average a women requires 25g of fiber and men require 38g of fiber daily. Deficiency of fiber leads to constipation, hemorrhoids, and elevates level of sugar and cholesterol in blood. On the other hand excess of fiber leads to bowel obstruction, diarrhea and dehydration. So if you increase the intake of fiber then you should increase the intake of water as well.

Here we list some of the top fiber rich foods:

• Bran: Bran is high in fiber and a good source of iron and magnesium. Bran is found in whole grain breads, oats, brown rice, corn and barley. Consuming a quarter cup of whole grains gives u 2 to 6 grams of fiber. You can include oats in your breakfast along with fresh fruits, rotis or brown rice in your meals, etc.


• Vegetables: Vegetables like spinach, sweet potato, cabbage, turnips, potato, beans, pumpkin, lady finger, etc. are a rich source of fiber. You get two to eight grams of fiber by consuming these vegetables. Eat lots of raw vegetables and vegetable salad to get the fiber.


• Seeds and Nuts: Nuts and seeds are always a good option to be consumed as snacks between the meals. Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, pistachios, groundnuts and seeds such as flax seeds, roasted sesame seeds are a good source of fiber. 28 grams of seeds and nuts provides you from one to eight grams of fiber.


• Fruits: Berries like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries are a rich source of fiber. One cup of berries can provide four to eight grams of dietary fiber. You can have fruits as such or as Greek yogurt fruit salad or as snacks. Other fruits such as apples, pears, oranges, banana, figs, melons, peaches, prunes, etc. are also good source of dietary fiber.


• Beans: White, navy, kidney, navy beans are another good source of fiber. Indian kitchen is legume friendly and the legume that is best source of fiber is Bengal gram or chana. Green peas are also a good source of dietary fiber. One cup of these beans or legumes can provide 14 to 18 grams of fiber. The legumes are a rich source of proteins and vitamins as well.

Include these top sources of fiber in your daily diet and keep your digestive system healthy.

As almost every parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle, and friend of new parents knows, babies can get fussy. Crying and upset, especially in the evening, are a normal part of the baby's development during the first months of life. Unexplained "crying fits" that persist for more than 3 hours per day, for more than 3 days per week, and for at least 3 weeks, are a considered a separate clinical condition called colic.

During colicky episodes, baby may draw his or her legs up to the abdomen and become red in the face. The tummy may be bloated and the baby may have gas. Colic looks painful, but colicky babies are usually healthy babies. Their parents and caregivers, however, become worn out.

The causes of colic are not well known. It is not caused by hunger, pain, or too much gas. It may be due to air swallowed when baby sucks fingers or toes or the bottle, or it could be due to overfeeding either cow's milk or breast milk. Colic is sometimes linked to an allergy to cow's milk. Some recent research suggests colic may be due to reflux esophagitis, acid backing up from the stomach to the throat.

Are there any meals that heal colic in infants? The simplest approach to treating colic is to offer your baby more frequent feedings. Feed baby when he or she cries rather than on a fixed schedule. Babies' bodies do not have the same mechanisms to regulate energy as adults, so a baby's cry may be caused by low blood sugar.

The most dramatically effective nutritional approach-when it works, and it often does-to treating colic nutritionally involves what you don't offer your infant, not what you do. Doctors at Miami Children's Hospital have found that colic is closely associated with feeding juices that have a high fructose-to-glucose ratio, such as apple juice and pear nectar.

Fructose is not as easily absorbed from food as glucose, and it may accumulate in the intestine. Apple juice is also high in sorbitol, an indigestible natural sweetener that can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea. Using hydrogen breath testing, the Miami researchers concluded that babies cannot absorb carbohydrates from apple or pear juice. They found that eliminating the juices eliminated diarrhea and colic in virtually all cases.

What if you haven't been feeding Baby apple juice or pear nectar? Cow's milk can cause colicky symptoms, but colicky reactions to cow's milk are signs of an allergy. Generally, even children who are allergic to cow's milk can tolerate half a cup to a cup of milk before they develop symptoms. If cow's milk is the problem, baby will probably develop diarrhea and/or a rash in addition to symptoms of colic.

Sugar water, low-lactose milk, and soymilk help relieve colic in some babies but not in others. The smell of soymilk may be a problem for some infants. Most babies prefer the smell of cow's milk or whey. A recent study in the Netherlands found that a whey-based formula reduced crying by an average of an hour a day. Since whey-based formulas such as Nestl矇-Carnation Excellent start smell better and cost less, they are a useful treatment for colic. It is only necessary to give formula for one feeding a day. Other feedings can be breast milk or cow's milk. Results usually take about a week. Babies who tend to spit up may do better on amino acid based formulas such as Neocate.

There are many ways of helping the body in dealing with infections. Home remedies for strep throat are various and they include many aspects: diet, natural antiseptics, natural analgesics or natural antibacterial cures. Used appropriately, home remedies for strep throat can speed up the process of healing by fighting bacteria and by stimulating the immune system of the body.

Strep throat can occur to anyone, at any time. Although children and teenagers are the ones who often get strep throat, adults may also be affected by this illness. Strep throat occurs due to infection with group A streptococcus bacteria. This type of bacteria is very contagious and can be easily transmitted through secretions (sneezing, coughing) or physical contact (handshake, touch). Even perfect hygiene can't prevent strep throat from occurring, as the bacteria that cause the infection are also airborne. In some cases, you can contract the bacteria responsible for strep throat just by standing next to a contaminated person.

The most common symptoms for strep throat are inflammation and swelling of the throat, inflammation and swelling of the tonsils, swelling and tenderness of the lymph glands, difficulty in swallowing, fever, headache, nausea, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea.

There are home remedies for strep throat that can ease each of these symptoms. However, it is very important to understand that home remedies for strep throat can't completely replace medical treatments prescribed by a physician. Strep throat is an infection caused by bacteria and therefore needs appropriate treatment that consists of antibiotics. Although there are natural alternatives for medical antibiotics, they are considerably less effective in fighting bacteria on their own. Home remedies for strep throat that can act as antibiotics are garlic, honey, olive leaf extract and tea tree oil. Such home remedies for strep throat can help in fighting infection and inflammation, but medical treatment shouldn't be ignored. In fact, most home remedies for strep throat should be used only in addition to medical treatment with antibiotics.

Home remedies for strep throat pain, discomfort and soreness are chamomile, sage, peppermint, lavender, jasmine, rosemary and thyme. These can either be used as essences or ointments and are very efficient in reducing the pain and for relaxing the body. Peppermint and chamomile teas can relief abdominal pain, reduce nausea and can also correct internal disorders such as diarrhea.

A quick, effective, home remedy for strep throat is salty water gargle. By washing the oral cavity with salty water a few times a day you can help the body in overcoming the bacteria responsible for the infection.

When suffering from strep throat, make sure you get enough sleep. Sleep is vital for body regeneration and for maintaining a strong immune system. However, due to the discomfort and pain caused by the infection with bacteria, you might have difficulties in falling asleep. Home remedies for strep throat that have both sedative and analgesic effects are ginseng and passion flower.

Home remedies for strep throat are a very good means of speeding up the process of recovery. By following an appropriate medical treatment and a few good home remedies for strep throat, you will quickly overcome the infection and revitalize your body.

Progesterone may be prescribed if a woman has a normal menstrual cycle and then stops having periods. During pregnancy, particularly during the first trimester, Progesterone supplements can help maintain the pregnancy. Progesterone is also prescribed in post-menopausal women during hormone replacement therapy.

Progesterone can cause several Side Effects. Headache, breast tenderness, diarrhea, vaginal discharge, and problems with urination are some Side Effects that tend to be transient. If these persist, a woman taking Progesterone supplements should tell her doctor. Some people taking Progesterone may experience dizziness or drowsiness. Progesterone should therefore not be taken before driving or operating heavy machinery. Other Side Effects may be more serious, and if they occur, a woman taking Progesterone should contact her doctor immediately. Because Progesterone causes increased blood clotting, it can contribute to a heart attack, blood clots in the lungs and legs, or even stroke. Some signs of such serious Side Effects are chest pain, blurred vision or loss of vision, numbness or tingling in the arms or legs, and sudden shortness of breath. Other serious Side Effects that warrant immediate medical attention are unexpected vaginal bleeding, breast lumps, migraines, and uncontrollable shaking.

Some brands of Progesterone capsules, such as Prometrium, contain peanut oil and may trigger a life-threatening allergic reaction in people who are allergic to peanuts. Women over the age of 65 who take Progesterone as part of hormone replacement therapy are at increased risk of developing dementia. Women who suffer from depression may also experience a worsening of their depression while taking Progesterone supplements. Synthetic Progesterone compounds or progestogens decrease 'good' HDL cholesterol, may increase blood pressure, contribute to mood disorders, and may exert effects of male hormones such as increasing facial hair growth. Women taking synthetic Progesterone should switch to natural Progesterone, which does not exert these Side Effects.