Life Blog
Cutting-edge information and tips for creating health in all areas of life – wellness, nutrition, fitness, attitude, and relationships
January 16, 2025
Managing IBS: When Almost Everything You Eat Gives You Gas or Stomach Pain
There’s so much confusion and misinformation about irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Most of it comes from the fact that symptoms vary from one person to the next and doctors don’t really know what causes it. IBS is a painful condition that affects the large intestine causing what seems like constant abdominal pain, gas and diarrhea. While most people have mild to moderate symptoms, for some it’s a debilitating condition. It affects nearly 20 percent of the population and is the second most common reason why people miss work and school (the number one excuse is the common cold). IBS has no visible signs like inflammation, polyps or tumors, so it’s diagnosed by a process of elimination. And while the symptoms can be treated with diarrhea medication, laxatives, nerve pain medication and antibiotics, they can also be managed with dietary and lifestyle changes. Figure Out Your Triggers Tracking your diet and keeping a food journal is the easiest way to figure out which foods give you stomach pain or gas. Most “attacks” happen right after meals, so it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out what’s causing your symptoms. Keep in mind that there are also non-food triggers, the most common is stress. If you think some of your symptoms are caused by stress, it’s time to explore stress reduction methods like counseling and exercise. Eat a Low FODMAP Diet Research has shown that a low FODMAP diet provides relief for more than half of IBS patients. FODMAP refers to Fermented…
5 Lifestyle Choices For Better Mental Health
Medicine and therapy are the most common treatments for mental health problems like anxiety and depression, but lifestyle choices are often overlooked. Psychology Today says, “That’s a lamentable oversight because lifestyle changes—things as simple as nutrition and exercise—can have a significant impact on quality of life, for any of us, but especially for those dealing with issues…
Learn MoreReduce Stress! Review. Release. Live!
People are stressed out; it doesn’t look like things are getting better anytime soon. Money and economics are the leading cause of stress. In fact, the stress and anxiety we’re facing is growing into a national health crisis. Americans are one of the most stressed out in the world, according to Stress.org 55% of Americans…
Learn MoreUse Deep Breathing To Restore Inner Calm
Life gets more stressful every day. It can be a million little things competing for our time or one huge thing we never saw coming. One minute everything is great, and the next minute our whole world is upside down. Life isn’t easy. Of the many techniques to cope with stress, deep breathing is among…
Learn MoreWhy “Bad” Carbohydrates Are So Bad (But So Deliciously Good At The Same Time)
Hot fluffy pancakes slathered with butter, drenched in mouth-watering maple syrup, with a few berries thrown in for nutritional penance to tame our guilt. Wow. We do love our carbohydrates, don’t we? Maybe pancakes aren’t your thing but everyone has their nutritional Kryptonite. Some people swear by carbs them. Others curse them, believing they’re downright…
Learn More5 Most Common Risk Factors Of Alcoholism
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol is a significant cause of death in the U.S. More than 95,000 people die every year due to alcohol-related causes. Alcoholism is a disease referred to as alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, and alcohol use disorder. Alcoholism is drinking so much alcohol that the body becomes addicted,…
Learn MoreGreat Tips For Less Stress and Better Sleep
There are over a billion Internet searches on “anxiety,” which, according to Psychiatry.org, says: “Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress and can be beneficial in some situations. It can alert us to dangers and help us prepare and pay attention. Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness and involve excessive fear or anxiety.” Get…
Learn More5 Gym-free Ways To Stay In Shape!
Although the gym has just about everything you can imagine to get in the best shape of your life, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, despite easy access and affordable membership fees. Some people are self-conscious and feel uncomfortable working out in front of people. For others, logistical issues such as transportation or travel time…
Learn MoreMetabolic Syndrome And Your Health
We hear a lot about “Metabolic syndrome” these days. The metabolic process regulates many body functions that, in turn, determine your quality of health. Metabolic Syndrome According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that together raise your risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and other serious health problems. Metabolic…
Learn MoreAre You Weighed Down Because You Dread Your Life Right Now?
There are days when life overwhelms you with a flood of emotions. Remorse, bitterness, frustration, helplessness, guilt, shame, and other feelings can take you to a very dark place really fast. Insecurity and uncertainty rise within your soul, giving way to feelings of hopelessness and fear, causing you to feel a special kind of “aloneness.” …
Learn More5 Ways A Lack Of Discipline & Self-Control Affect Your Life
Discipline is self-control. There are plenty of urges and forces that seek to control us today. But the most important control of all is self-control. Taking charge of your life, regardless of what’s happening around you or within you, exercising your freedom and power of choice to live YOUR life, not someone else’s, is the…
Learn MoreBalancing Work and Life — 4 Pieces of Advice From Busy Professionals
Please enjoy this week’s guest post written exclusively for Lifestyle Magazine by Sophia Emma on balancing work and life! The US comes in 13th on a list of countries with the worst work-life balance, according to a World Economic Forum article on the topic. One main reason behind this is that Americans work very long hours….
Learn MoreConfronting And Replacing Your Faulty Beliefs
Is your opinion of yourself high, low, or somewhere in between? What beliefs about yourself have you accepted or convinced yourself are true? Your opinion of yourself and your place in the world is a self-determining prophecy that affects your happiness, success, and relationships. Your beliefs about yourself affect everything you do and can even…
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