Plaque is a mostly invisible  bacterial loaded film that clings to teeth and gums. Plaque is the soft, sticky layer of bacteria, which is constantly forming on the  teeth. Usually it is invisible to the naked eye, but when a person is not brushing adequately, it can build up to where it appears to be a thick whitish coating on the teeth at the gum line. This bacterial causes irritation of the tissues that support your teeth.  This irritation can lead to inflammations and infection that can destroy your gum and bone tissue.  When plaque is not completely removed it may harden or calcify into a rough deposit called tarter or calculus.  The only way to limit the damage caused by the tartar to your gum tissue is to have your teeth  cleaned regularly at the dental office.

What foods are best avoided to maintain good periodontal health? The top culprit chosen by periodontists was popcorn, because the husks can get caught in between the teeth and gums and cause abscesses.
Oral-disease-causing microbes like:  porphyromonas gingivalis bacterium are associated with chronic and severe adult periodontitis. The problem with calculus is that it harbors plaque. Bacterial plaque, or reaction to it, is what the problem is that causes gum disease.

Impacted food, alcohol, improper use of toothpicks and tobacco products may irritate gum tissue.
The results suggest that persistent alcohol abuse increases periodontitis , gum disease, development by heightening the loss of attachment through recession of gingival margins.

Badly aligned teeth, defective fillings, poorly fitting bridges or partial dentures and harmful habits such as grinding you teeth can cause problems.

Poor diet that causes nutritional deficiency and reduces the body’s ability to fight off infection.
There is increasing evidence that decay and periodontal disease are both contagious diseases. The causative bacteria can be passed from parent to child or from lover to lover by kissing. People who never had a cavity may suddenly have several (or more) because of the person’s new relationships! Practical advice—if your kids or your lover have active decay or gum and bone disease, you BOTH may need treatment, including the use of antibacterial rinses, for the disease to be controlled. This is a major paradigm shift in the treatment of dental disease.

Hormone fluctuations during pregnancy can cause pregnancy gingivitis.
Oral contraceptive, steroid, cancer therapy drugs and anti-epilepsy drugs will affect gum tissue.
Such conditions as diabetes, leukemia, AIDS/HIV..

Periodontal Disease can be spread through family members

Medications that can cause gum disease

Poor oral hygiene habits cause periodontitis. All the body needs is 0.05mm of calculus to allow for the formation of bacterial antigens that cause gum disease.

Low calcium intake is a risk factor for gum disease.

Women aged 20-39 with the lowest calcium intake had a risk of 54% for  periodontal diseases.  Women who took moderate calcium supplements lowered their risk by 27%.

Smoking

Smoking-causes calculus, deep pockets, bone loss, infection and chronic gum disease.  It damages the natural processes that the body uses to fight against gum disease, it reduces saliva levels, restricts blood flow, and damages your immune system.  The nicotine causes significant changes in the blood vessels and the tissue of the mouth are getting attacked by the heat and smoke itself.

Anger…see anger and gum disease.

Stage and ages in life.  Hormonally triggered life stages like puberty, pregnancy and menopause, where estrogen and progesterone levels climb, causing gums to react differently to the bacteria found in plaque.

Dry mouth.

It only takes 0.05mm of bacteria plaque to allow for bacterial antigen formation which is a pretty thin layer and EASY to accumulate in hard to get at areas. Dental plaque as a biofilm, just like in your arteries. Plaque is NOT chemically causative in the PD process, CALCULUS is.

Half of the population may be genetically predisposed to periodontal disease.

It is believed that gum disease may caused by a gene that causes a defect in the Il-1antibody. Periodontal. disease is now proving to be an autoimmune type disease, with bacterial toxins as the trigger. PD, Arthritis,

Cardiovascular Disease, Cerebral Vascular Disease, Diabetes, and a host of many more are all linked by the fact that they are immune disorders dressed up as “other issues” PD was almost totally controlled by 2 genes that controlled inflammation.  It is almost 100% a genetic disease that can be made much worse by smoking. It demonstrates itself in the mouth and  is nothing more then an Immune System Gone Awry. It needs a trigger to start but once started it only takes minimal forces to keep it going. U of Wash, Dr.Roy Page, stated that perio is a genetic disease. If you have the two bad genes that adversely effect the way your body responds to irritation with an exaggerated inflammatory response and smoke you will loose teeth early.

People with PD have a defective immune response to the antigens that the perio pathogens produce. Thus PD as an immune disease that is caused initially by poor home care and bacterial antigens but is propagated by a systemic defect that some have and some don’t. It is a bacterially induced immune response.

Stress-Smokers under stress have deeper pockets than non-anxious smokers Bacterial biofilm triggers periodontal infection, and stress can aggravate the situation. Past studies have demonstrated that people with psychiatric disorders have more periodontal  disease. High stress levels combined with  smoking may lead to more periodontal infection. High-stress levels combined with smoking may lead to more periodontal infection.

It is caused by mixed infection of bacterial + host response to bacterial infection= gum disease. It is the interaction of the host or your immune response with pathogenic bacterial that determines whether gum disease is initiated or whether disease progresses. It is important to recognize certain risk factors make certain people more susceptible to gum disease.

Start cleaning BETWEEN your teeth.  Periodontal disease begins between the teeth.  The area between the teeth are more prone to infection than facial or tongue gum tissue surfaces simply by anatomy.  This tissue is not keratinized like tissue found on the facial and tongue surfaces.  Non-keratinized tissue is more susceptible to breakdown. It is also a very protected area, NOT reached by brushing or rinsing.

Smokers, diabetics and those taking steroids, oral contraceptives and certain cancer drugs are a higher risk for developing periodontitis.

Alcohol is a drying agent and causes sloughing to occur so as it does the remnant cells are “food sources” for the antigen.   Decay requires a carbohydrate rich environment while PD needs protein. So if we have a diet high in protein and we are not exquisitely diligent on home care the remnant of the protein feeds the antigen reaction.

Since the disease starts between the teeth, it makes sense to start cleaning in between the teeth and than brush.  You can clean this area with interdental brushes, picks, floss, sticks, oral irrigation, and automatic flossers.  remember this disease needs to be treated both in the office and at home.

Gum disease is caused from an immune system that has gone off track and is linked to the causes of heart disease, cancer and diabetes via the immune system pathway.

Stress can cause Periodontal Disease- stress is bad for your teeth.

Psychological stress can lead to elevated plaque levels, while physical stress is linked to gingivitis (gum disease). What’s more, caregivers helping people under these physical and emotional stresses are also at increased risk for gum disease.Experts believe chronic stress may lead to a malfunction of some biological functions. Also, those who are struggling with stress and those who care for them often become depressed and slide on oral hygiene, if not giving up on themselves altogether.

Gum disease leads to more than bleeding gums. It can affect the integrity of your teeth and the bone that supports them. If unchecked, gingivitis can lead to loose and missing teeth. When this happens, teeth can often shift. It can be uncomfortable and painful for your bite (not to mention your smile). Brushing at least twice a day and flossing each night are the first step toward protecting yourself from gum disease. Regular dental check-ups and cleanings are also crucial. While these steps can help reduce the risk of stress-related periodontal disease, they don’t resolve the key problem – stress! Exercising and eating right can help, and developing a hobby can be a fantastic release. Talking about it can help as well.

Cigarette Smoking and the Periodontal Patient

Adult smokers are approximately three times as likely as non-smokers to have periodontitis. The association between smoking and attachment loss is even stronger when the definition of periodontitis is restricted to the most severely affected subjects. Smokers have a diminished response to periodontal therapy and show approximately half as much improvement in probing depths and clinical attachment levels following non- surgical and various surgical modalities of therapy. Implant failures in smokers are twice those of non-smokers, with a higher failure rate in the maxillary arch . Tobacco-induced alterations in microbial and host factors contribute to these deleterious effects of smoking on the periodontium. In longitudinal studies, the rate of periodontal disease progression is increased in smokers, but decreases to that of a non-smoker following tobacco cessation. Likewise, recent non- smokers respond to periodontal therapy in a manner similar to patients who have never smoked.  Use the five A’s: ask – identify tobacco users; advise – advise them to quit; assess – evaluate the patient’s readiness to quit; assist – offer assistance in cessation; and arrange – follow up on cessation efforts. The addition of pharmacotherapy to behavioral therapy, including nicotine replacement therapy and bupropion, can increase cessation rates. The most popular form of nicotine replacement therapy is the patch, and its use has been shown to double cessation rates compared to behavioral therapy alone. Use of bupropion in combination with nicotine replacement therapy may be particularly helpful for heavy smokers or smokers who have experienced multiple failed attempts at cessation.

Anger may be a risk factor of gum disease!

Stress is associated with poor oral hygiene, increased glucocorticoid secretion that can depress immune function, increased insulin resistance and potentially increased risk of periodontitis. Methods. The authors examined the association between social support, anger expression and periodontitis in 42,523 male.   Subjects who reported having at least one close friend had a 30 percent lower risk of developing periodontitis. Men who participated in religious meetings or services had a 27 percent lower risk of developing periodontitis. Men who reported being angry on a daily basis had a 43 percent higher risk of developing periodontitis compared with men who reported being angry seldom.

Transmission of Porphyromonas gingivalis and FimA Type in Spouse Relationship Recent findings suggest that the genotype of the fimbriae is one of the important factors in infection by P. gingivalis. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the transmission of P. gingivalis between spouses.  Intrafamilial transmission of infectious bacteria was significantly higher in couples. Conclusion: This study suggests that fimA type II,, may be an important factor in the transmission of P. gingivalis between spouses.

Clinical studies prove

Floss for life

Harvard Medical School researchers studied longevity and found one of the most important contributing factors was daily flossing. Because it removes bacteria from the teeth and gums, flossing helps to prevent periodontal disease and gingivitis. Another study found that men with periodontitis had a whopping 72% greater risk of developing coronary disease. Gingivitis was associated with a 42% increased risk for men.

Anger and other strong emotions can trigger potentially deadly heart rhythms in certain vulnerable people, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Previous studies have shown that earthquakes, war or even the loss of a World Cup Soccer match can increase rates of death from sudden cardiac arrest, in which the heart stops circulating blood.

“It’s definitely been shown in all different ways that when you put a whole population under a stressor that sudden death will increase,” said Dr. Rachel Lampert of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, whose study appears in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

“Our study starts to look at how does this really affect the electrical system of the heart,” Lampert said.

She and colleagues studied 62 patients with heart disease and implantable heart defibrillators or ICDs that can detect dangerous heart rhythms or arrhythmias and deliver an electrical shock to restore a normal heart beat.

“These were people we know already had some vulnerability to arrhythmia,” Lampert said in a telephone interview.

Patients in the study took part in an exercise in which they recounted a recent angry episode while Lampert’s team did a test called T-Wave Alternans that measures electrical instability in the heart.

Lampert said the team specifically asked questions to get people to relive the angry episode. “We found in the lab setting that yes, anger did increase this electrical instability in these patients,” she said.

Next, they followed patients for three years to see which patients later had a cardiac arrest and needed a shock from their implantable defibrillator.

“The people who had the highest anger-induced electrical instability were 10 times more likely than everyone else to have an arrhythmia in follow-up,” she said.

Lampert said the study suggests that anger can be deadly, at least for people who are already vulnerable to this type of electrical disturbance in the heart.

“It says yes, anger really does impact the heart’s electrical system in very specific ways that can lead to sudden death,” she said.

But she cautioned against extrapolating the results to people with normal hearts. “How anger and stress may impact people whose hearts are normal is likely very different from how it may impact the heart which has structural abnormalities,” she said.

Lampert is now conducting a study to see if anger management classes can help decrease the risk of arrhythmia in this group of at-risk patients.

Sudden cardiac death accounts for more than 400,000 deaths each year in the United States, according to the American College of Cardiology.

According to the 2008 Coffee statistics report, coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year. The U.S. imports more than $4 billion worth of coffee per year, and Americans consume some 400 million cups of coffee per day, as nearly 52 percent of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee daily.

The statistic equates to more than one cup of coffee a day for a person in America. Now I don’t know about you, but most kids under five, like me, do not drink coffee. So the average is probably closer to 2 cups a day for most adults.

I really admire Starbucks for their innovative marketing that has massive numbers of intelligent adults paying double or triple prices for a base commodity. Really brilliant strategy, but with the U.S. economy in the tank, this strategy is clearly failing.

The fact that Americans are dumping their habit of buying overpriced coffee comes as no surprise at this point in time. With the dollar in free fall, increased unemployment, and rising gas and food prices, most people have started to realize the importance of financial restraint, and planning further than their next paycheck.

However, aside from the sad fact that yet another 12,000 Americans will be standing in the unemployment line, reducing your coffee consumption in general is not such a bad thing health wise.

Coffee Controversies

Although coffee is one of the most heavily researched commodities and studies have spanned decades, there is still much controversy surrounding its effects on health. Study after study is performed–often with conflicting results–and it seems there is always a new study out to discount the last one.

For example, one 2004 study found that drinking coffee disrupted short-term word recall. This was promptly followed up by research published the following year, showing that the equivalent of two cups of coffee could improve short-term memory, prioritizing information efficiently, planning new tasks, and dealing with stored information.

Should You Drink Coffee?

It appears that drinking coffee may interfere with your body’s ability to keep homocysteine and cholesterol levels in check, most likely by inhibiting the action of the vitamins folate, B12 or B6. Coffee has been previously associated with increased risk of stroke and rheumatoid arthritis. Studies have also shown that caffeine in coffee can raise blood pressure and levels of stress hormones, and if consumed in large quantities it can lead to heart palpitations, jitters and nervousness.

With that said, coffee is clearly not the healthiest liquid to drink – your best choice is pure water — but coffee is still far less dangerous than fruit juice or soda.

While I do believe that eliminating, or at the very least limiting, coffee should be one of your goals, if you are in the midst of other dietary changes, such as those outlined in my nutrition plan eliminating coffee can be put toward the bottom of the list. You’ll definitely want to eliminate soda and fruit juice from your beverage list first.

There are, however, some important facets of coffee that you should know before you have your next morning cup.

The Dangers of Caffeine During Pregnancy

Pregnant women should NEVER drink coffee. Caffeine is a stimulant drug that easily passes through the placenta to your developing fetus and is also transferred through breast milk.

During pregnancy and in infants, the half-life of caffeine is increased, which means that it will stay in your body, and your infant’s body, longer. Moreover, fetuses have no ability to detoxify caffeine.

Research suggests that drinking more than 300 mg of coffee daily, or the equivalent of two to three 8-ounce cups, may increase the risk of miscarriage, birth defects such as cleft palate, and low birth weight. But as I mentioned above, I don’t believe that ANY amount coffee is safe when you’re pregnant.

Even with moderate caffeine intake, when the woman experiences no effects, studies have found changes in both the mother’s and the fetal heart rate and blood pressure. Preliminary studies also suggest that drinking four cups of coffee or more per day may put the infant at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Caffeine may also make it more difficult for women to maintain necessary levels of iron and calcium, which are especially important during pregnancy.

Coffee also has the issue of pesticide contamination, which is particularly harmful during pregnancy.

There Probably Are Pesticides in Your Java

Coffee is usually not grown in the United States and we therefore have no control over how many pesticides are sprayed on coffee crops. And coffee is a heavily sprayed crop, so drinking coffee is likely to expose you to a dose of pesticides with each cup.

Pesticides have been associated with a number of health problems such as:

• Prostate cancer and other cancers
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Miscarriages

Aside from any pesticide residues that make it into your brew, there’s also the issue of whether buying coffees grown with the help of potentially harmful chemicals contributes to the destruction of the environment and threatens the health of poor coffee farm workers.

If you choose to drink coffee, drinking organic coffee will hopefully reduce or eliminate your exposure to toxic herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers, and would be a more environmentally conscientious choice. The only drawback is that many of the 45 countries where coffee is produced have less control and monitoring for compliance to organic practices.

Avoid Coffee if You Have Certain Health Issues

Since coffee is a stimulant it will only worsen symptoms of insomnia and anxiety, and should definitely be avoided if you’re already suffering from either. People with panic or anxiety disorders may find that they are especially sensitive to caffeine and may find that even a small amount of the stimulant exacerbates their symptoms.

Similarly, the caffeine will linger in your body for hours after you drink it, so it might keep you up at night even if you drink it long before bedtime.

For those with high blood pressure, a general rule is that the more caffeine you drink in a day, the higher your blood pressure will be. So if you are already at the higher end of the scales, drinking coffee will only increase your blood pressure further.

Also Protein Nutritional Types do not do well with caffeine and should only consume coffee or tea in small quantities, and not in the late afternoon or evening, as it will likely keep them up.  (However this can be a good thing if you are using coffee as a drug for jet lag).

How to Wean Yourself off Coffee

If you try to stop drinking coffee “cold turkey” you will likely experience symptoms of withdrawal. According to one study, the more caffeine you use, the worse your withdrawal symptoms will be. This is because even small amounts of caffeine, such as one standard cup of coffee a day, can create an addiction. For those who consume it regularly, cutting even the smallest amount of caffeine could result in a range of withdrawal symptoms such as:

• Headache
• Fatigue or drowsiness
• Depression and irritability
• Lack of concentration
• Flu-like symptoms such as nausea and muscle pain

This can be avoided by cutting down the amount you drink gradually over a period of days, or even weeks. It’s also important to drink plenty of water during the process in order to keep your body well hydrated.

If you find that you miss your morning coffee-drinking ritual, replace it with a new tradition that will also boost your health and energy. Vegetable juice makes a great coffee replacement. It will give you the energy boost that you’re looking for in the morning without the negative effects of caffeine.

You Can Restore Your Levels of Testosterone with LifeStyle Changes!

Although the most common reason for decreased testosterone levels is aging, levels also commonly decrease during acute and chronic emotional stress, over training, physical inactivity, after the use of anabolic steroids, excessive use of alcohol, prescription or recreational medication and certain diseases.

Testosterone levels are also affected by bio-social events. Your testosterone will go up before a sporting event (whether you are competing or not) and sexual stimulation (sight or touch). And interestingly, levels significantly decrease in both the competitors and fans of losers of athletic events. (So forget about having a strong sex drive if the cheerleaders don’t show up and your team loses the Super Bowl).

Normally testosterone is the 30% higher in the morning than the evening. This may explain why men are more interested in sex in the morning and is part of the reason for spontaneous morning erections. In fact, the loss of morning erections is a sure sign that testosterone is declining.

By eliminating or reducing these factors, improving you diet, beginning or modifying your exercise program , reducing stress and restoring nutritional status you can improve your hormonal balance and most importantly dramatically improve the way you look, feel and perform.

Diet

You are what you eat! If you want to keep “juiced with testosterone” it is extremely important to follow these dietary rules:

Eat moderate amounts of protein. Protein in Latin means “above all else.” Protein stimulates the hormone glucagon and the anabolic (muscle building) responses important for adequate testosterone release.

Eat more vegetables and fruit and limit excessive carbohydrate intake especially of simple sugars and starches (grains, potatoes, pasta). Excess intake of carbohydrates especially those that raise blood sugar rapidly create chronically elevated levels of the hormone insulin and cortisol. These two hormones oppose the action of testosterone and diminish it’s production.

Eat Fat! The reason, Jack Sprat was so lean was he ate no fat. Essential fats such as the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish and flaxseed as well as saturated fats are essential for normal testosterone production. All steroid hormones are produced from cholesterol and when fats are deficient in the diet, this process will be inhibited.

Studies clearly indicate that low fat diets results in lower testosterone levels while those higher in protein, lower in carbohydrate and moderate in fat cause the greatest sustained levels of testosterone and growth hormone.

A recent study demonstrated the influence of diet on pre and post exercise testosterone and cortisol. After exercise with bench press and squat to failure, testosterone and cortisol were measured. Those men who were on a diet with a higher protein/carbohydrate ratio and percent fat content had the largest increase in testosterone and the smallest rise in cortisol.

You must train and eat smart to minimize the catabolic and maximize the anabolic effects of exercise. If your diet is very low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates and fiber, your testosterone levels may remain very low and you will never make the changes in muscle mass and strength that you desire.

Exercise

Both the lack of physical activity and excessive physical activity (over training) will result in decreased levels of testosterone. Exercise effects testosterone directly by stimulating the pituitary gland and the testes and it probably also raises levels by slowing down the normal breakdown of testosterone.

The duration, intensity and frequency of exercise will determine the circulating levels of testosterone. Testosterone levels increase most with short intense bursts, while it decreases with prolonged activity especially that of frequent endurance training. During endurance training, testosterone is needed to maintain muscle but frequent extended training doesn’t allow for repair and recovery of testosterone and tissue damage occurs.

Studies show that testosterone levels will elevate with exercise for about 45 to 60 minutes. After this time period, cortisol levels begin to increase and testosterone levels will decline. This decrease has been detected for up to 6 days.

Because you require testosterone for repair and growth, do not train for more than 45 to 60 minutes at a single session. If you feel like you want to exercise or train more, split sessions are recommended. Also do not lift weights and perform aerobic training at the same time. It is also a good idea to vary your workouts and cycle them throughout the year.

Construction workers provide a real life example of these concepts. It has been observed for many years that men who lift moderate loads all day are frequently listless and tired as well as not as strong and muscular as their co-workers who perform less frequent but more intense activity.

Emotional Stress

As discussed in this site on the page on hormonal balancing, emotional stress is a frequent cause of decreased testosterone levels. When the “fight of flight” alarm reaction system is active, stress hormones such as adrenaline, nor adrenaline and cortisol are released. These hormones that are released to protect our lives have catabolic activity. This means they catabolize (breakdown) body stores of fat and protein to be used for acute resources of energy and immune response. They go even one step farther and inhibit all anabolic processes has well. Because in life or death situations the body does not need to build muscle, eat, have sexual thoughts etc. processes that require vital life energy, all anabolic (building) processes including testosterone are shut down.

This was a very effective system when it evolved. For hundreds of thousands of years the threats to the body were short-lived and very acute such as being eaten or attacked. Today stresses are not only prolonged but perceived in our mind. And this chronic stress causes an over activation of our adrenal system and the catabolic process. In fact, chronic catabolism is not only the greatest cause of premature aging and cardiovascular disease but it severely inhibits testosterone function making it almost impossible to build muscle and strength.

So if you want to really grow it is essential that you follow the advice, “Don’t sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff”, stay well rested and take your time eating frequent small meals. This will help normalize cortisol levels and allow your anabolic system to take over again.

Sometimes the strongest longings for food happen when you’re at your weakest point emotionally. Many people turn to food for comfort — consciously or unconsciously — when they’re facing a difficult problem or looking to keep themselves occupied.

But emotional eating — eating as a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness and loneliness — can sabotage your weight-loss efforts. Often, emotional eating leads to eating too much food, especially high-calorie, sweet, salty and fatty foods.

The good news is that if you’re prone to emotional eating, you can take steps to regain control of your eating habits and get back on track with your weight-loss goals.
The connection between mood and food

Major life events — such as unemployment, health problems and divorce — and daily life hassles — such as a stressful work commute, bad weather and changes in your normal routine — can trigger emotions that lead to overeating. But why do negative emotions lead to overeating?

Some foods may have seemingly addictive qualities. For example, when you eat enticing foods, such as chocolate, your body releases trace amounts of mood- and satisfaction-elevating hormones. That “reward” may reinforce a preference for foods that are most closely associated with specific feelings. Related to this is the simple fact that the pleasure of eating offsets negative emotions.

Food can also be a distraction. If you’re worried about an upcoming event or rethinking an earlier conflict, eating comfort foods may distract you. But the distraction is only temporary. While you’re eating, your thoughts focus on the pleasant taste of your comfort food. Unfortunately, when you’re done overeating, your attention returns to your worries, and you may now bear the additional burden of guilt about overeating.
How to regain control of your eating habits

Though strong emotions can trigger cravings for food, you can take steps to control those cravings. To help stop emotional eating, try these suggestions:

* Learn to recognize true hunger. Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don’t have a rumbling stomach, you’re probably not really hungry. Give the craving a few minutes to pass.
* Know your triggers. For the next several days, write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you’re feeling when you eat and how hungry you are. Over time, you may see patterns emerge that reveal negative eating patterns and triggers to avoid.
* Look elsewhere for comfort. Instead of unwrapping a candy bar, take a walk, treat yourself to a movie, listen to music, read or call a friend. If you think that stress relating to a particular event is nudging you toward the refrigerator, try talking to someone about it to distract yourself. Plan enjoyable events for yourself.
* Don’t keep unhealthy foods around. Avoid having an abundance of high-calorie comfort foods in the house. If you feel hungry or blue, postpone the shopping trip for a few hours so that these feelings don’t influence your decisions at the store.
* Snack healthy. If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving.
* Eat a balanced diet. If you’re not getting enough calories to meet your energy needs, you may be more likely to give in to emotional eating. Try to eat at fairly regular times and don’t skip breakfast. Include foods from the basic groups in your meals. Emphasize whole grains, vegetables and fruits, as well as low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. When you fill up on the basics, you’re more likely to feel fuller, longer.
* Exercise regularly and get adequate rest. Your mood is more manageable and your body can more effectively fight stress when it’s fit and well rested.

If you give in to emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience, and make a plan for how you can prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you’re making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that ensure better health.

With news headlines all around us announcing economic changes for the worse, a lot of us are beginning to feel the twist of anxiety. When this stress response comes, the neurochemicals in our brain are thrown off balance.

Sustained periods of stress will affect your brain, leading to chemical imbalance. It will interfere with your memory, focus and concentration, making you feel agitated and unable to calm down. It is crucial for brain health and overall peace of mind that you learn to control your anxiety effectively. Read on to learn the ways to quell your anxiety and relax. As always, if you are undergoing serious anxiety, consult a healthcare professional.

1. Health in Mind = Health in Body
The average person has 60,000 thoughts a day, and nearly 80 percent of them are negative. Imagine what this is doing to your body! This negativity affects your thought patterns and behaviors subconsciously, and this has an unhealthy impact on your body.
Reframe the way you say things to yourself. You can actually change the response to anxiety with repeated affirmations, which will introduce a new positive pattern behavior in your thinking. Instead of being anxious, give empowering messages to yourself: I am strong, I am grateful, I can get through this. Repeat these positive affirmations throughout your day to transform the stress and change your attitude.

2. Cut Back on Stimulants
Stress, anxiety, insomnia, and a racing mind are byproducts of taking in too much caffeine, the central nervous system stimulator that works against your attempts to relax the body and calm the mind. To start, try cutting back for just week to see how fewer stimulants affect your overall stress level. Switch to decaf coffee, or better yet, drink herbal tea. Also, cut out sodas and other drinks that are packed with stimulants.

3. Deep Breathing Calms Anxiety
If you are in a stressful situation, you may have noticed that you breath very shallowly, up in your throat area. Unfortunately, many adults breathe this way all the time; somewhere along the way, we stopped breathing abdominally, as we did when we were babies. This habitual shallow breathing mimics the bodily actions of stress, which can actually induce your body to feel anxiety.

When you learn to breathe deeply all day - by breathing from your diaphragm - you will reduce general anxiety and gain other proven benefits, such as lowered blood pressure and heart rate. Also, it is estimated that 70 percent of the toxins and wastes in our bodies are eliminated through respiratory breathing. So start deep breathing!
Here’s how: Make it part of your every day schedule to practice 20-30 minutes of deep breathing every day, and your body will respond by being relaxed all the time. Also, look into stress-reducing mind-body disciplines such as tai chi, yoga, qigong, and meditation, which all incorporate breathing work into their routines.

4. Herbal Help for Anxiety
Valerian, sometimes called “nature’s tranquilizer, is used to regulate the nervous system and relieve tension, irritability, nervous exhaustion and stress, and anxiety for centuries. As a sedative, valerian is non-addictive and relieves sleeplessness without the morning-after grogginess often associated with prescription sleep medications.
Schisandra berry has been used for thousands of years in Chinese medicine to revitalize the senses. It increases physical endurance and mental concentration, while at the same time soothing the nerves and taking the edge off anxiety. Take these herbs anytime during the day and before bed in tea or capsule form. Many of my patients have had remarkable results with Calm-Fort Elixir, an all-natural formulation of herbs to calm your spirit.

5. Try the Nutrient GABA
A healthy brain needs a balance between neural chemicals that excite the nerves and those that calm the nerves. GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) is the primary neural transmitter for calming the transmission of nerve signals. It can help prevent anxiety-related messages from reaching the brain. Having levels of GABA that are too low can increase anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and depression. My suggestion is to eat a diet rich in GABA including fish, especially mackerel and wheat bran or to take 250-500 milligrams on a daily basis, along with vitamin B6.

6. Get Out of Your Head By Helping Others
Most of us could sit around all day agonizing in our heads about bad news and working our way into a negative inner dialogue. The way to get out of your own head is by doing something for others. Offer to help someone else and completely focus on his or her needs. Give a friend a hand with moving or planning an event. Volunteer for a charitable cause. It’s amazing how taking the focus off yourself can reduce your stress and anxiety.

I hope you find the ways to check your anxiety! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

Job stress is one of the most common complaints among Americans, and research indicates that it has become a more widespread problem in recent years. In 1992, the United Nations named job stress “The 20th Century Disease,” and the World Health Organization has called it a “World Wide Epidemic.”

Also, studies have shown that too much negative stress can contribute to health problems ranging from migraine headaches and depression to life-threatening illnesses such as heart attacks. Is that pension plan really worth it if you won’t be alive to cash it in?

1. Accountant

If you’re well-organized and have a knack for calculations, a balanced profit and loss sheet can offer a restful escape from the stress of complex office politics. You don’t even have to leave your computer to earn an online accounting degree, which can be found at hundreds of accounting schools nationwide.

2. Preschool Teacher

Working with young children can definitely be a challenge. Yet introducing preschoolers to the world of education through art projects, group play, and music can be extremely therapeutic as well. Earn your degree in early childhood education and you could get paid to help three- and four-year-old kids on a daily basis. Even if you have to stay up late to get a teaching degree online, you can make up for that lost sleep when your students enjoy their post-lunchtime naps.

3. Nursing Assistant

Caring for patients as a nursing assistant delivers the feel-good perks of a medical career without the stress of med school or week ends on-call. A nursing degree could set you up to enter a career field projected to see 264,000 new job openings over the next 8 years.

4. Financial Planner

Though spending your own money can produce high levels of anxiety, helping others manage their funds can be just the opposite. A degree in finance can help you learn the basics of tax law, insurance, and investing principles to assist others as they prepare for retirement or plan their estate. To minimize the stress of funding your own education, keep costs down by researching your financial aid options for an online finance degree or an MBA.

5. Massage Therapist / Physical Therapy Assistant

Whether giving and receiving backrubs at a massage therapy school, or practicing flexibility techniques in a physical therapy assisting program, you can learn how to help people maximize relaxation. And if you incorporate some of these exercises into your own daily routine, you could have a recipe for a tension-free workday.

6. Pastry Chef

It’s hard to get stressed when your office smells of butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Although some pastry chefs work odd hours, the love and creativity they put into their work can be extremely liberating. Most pastry chefs get their start in culinary school, where they can refine and hone their artistic skills.

7. Graphic Design

Being creative under pressure isn’t easy, but earning a graphic design degree could help you join the ranks of the designers who are self-employed. Working for yourself can give you a tremendous amount of flexibility, and allow you to balance your personal and professional lives as you see fit.

8. Desktop Support

Desktop or computer support specialists use their expertise to help the rest of us deal with the stress of malfunctioning technology. With a bachelor’s degree in computer science (or simply experience and technical training for some positions), you could enjoy low-stress super-hero status by saving hard drives from evil viruses.

Though many factors can contribute to on-the-job stress, remember that you always have some control over how you react to it. As you begin your journey toward a lower-stress career, make sure you cultivate some personal stress-reducing habits as well. A little career training can go a long way in helping you launch your new low-stress career.

Everyone would love to live to a ripe old age, but not if it means looking and feeling like an over-ripe old vegetable. We need to understand that though getting older is inevitable, getting decrepit is not.

Here are a few secrets that will have you looking forward to your 100th birthday!

Tai Chi: An Exercise in Anti-aging
Tai chi, the choreographed meditative exercises that have been a healing art in China for thousands of years, is practiced by over 100 million people worldwide and owes its popularity to a simple fact - it’s enjoyable and it makes you stronger.

Recent studies confirm that when practiced regularly - 30 minutes, three times a week - it has numerous health benefits including: increased energy, decreased stress, an immunity boost against viruses, lowered blood pressure, better cognitive functioning, increased joint mobility, an improved cholesterol profile, relief from fibromyalgia symptoms, and even a better night’s sleep.

It also increases leg muscle strength and provides better balance and posture. Perhaps the best part is that tai chi is a gentle exercise that can be performed by anyone at any age. Click here to find out more about tai chi.

Centenarians I have met also take advantage of other rejuvenation techniques the Chinese have known for thousands of years - like acupuncture, acupressure, and energy healing - that increase energy, promote health, and balance the body and the mind.

Diet: The Cornerstone of Longevity
It is no surprise that diet is an essential factor to health and longevity. So what should you be eating? In my studies, I found that the centenarians of two reputed “longevity capitals” - Okinawa, Japan, and Rugao County, a rural community four hours north of Shanghai - shared a nearly identical diet.

These long-lifers eat mostly fish, vegetables, mushrooms, seaweed, corn, and buckwheat - and virtually no meat. Scientists have confirmed the health benefits of a diet high in fish and vegetables and low in animal products. These centenarians are living examples, as they suffer from very little heart and liver disease and have negligible rates of cancer and degenerative diseases.
Environ-Mentality
When it comes to longevity, environment is half of the equation. From the verdant valleys of Ecuador to the rugged mountains of Armenia to the pristine foothills of the Himalayas, centenarians live in environments that exhibit the same characteristics: clean air, good water, low stress, close communities, and unspoiled nature.

Take a tip from these centenarians and drink only clean, filtered water. Connect with your community in a positive way. Find every way you can to bring nature into your life, from planting more trees in your area to more plants in your home.

Avoid the environmental factors that are damaging to our wellbeing and know what to look out for. Just a few things to avoid include xenoestrogens, which are present just about everywhere, pesticides used on vegetables, hormones injected into meats and poultry, phthalates leaching from plastic bottles, and dioxins from bleached paper products. You can avoid these chemical compounds if you buy organic foods and use glass containers and unbleached paper products.

Keep it Simple!
Centenarians’ lifestyles are simple. The centenarians I have known lead active lives and get plenty of rest. They are dedicated lifelong learners and avid travelers. Enjoy your years and you will have many more years to enjoy!

I hope these suggestions further your longevity goals! I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.