Heartburn or GERD can Kill

Heartburn is a common annoyance. The busy lifestyle, quick meals, fatty or spicy foods all contribute to the occasional need of a chewable pain reliever. The acceptance of heartburn as an inconvenient, but natural, part of the daily grind can blind you to the warning that a severe heartburn symptom can bring.

Heartburn as a Disorder

Heartburn can be a symptom as well as a disorder. Simple heartburn or GERD can be controlled and dealt with. However, heartburn can signal the presence of a much more serious problem. If it’s heartburn, you will have a burning sensation in the chest usually after eating. There may be a spread of the burning to the throat, sometimes accompanied by a bad taste, difficulty in swallowing, belching, coughing, hoarseness and/or wheezing.

It can become worse by lying down or bending over or by eating. Relief can come from an antacid. While the more severe heartburn symptoms may be mistaken for a heart attack, simple heartburn is usually not made worse by exercise. If there is any concern that the pain may signal a heart attack, get help quickly.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Why Just Reducing Fat Intake Will Not Improve Your Health

By Joe Graham

If you are on a body building program or just looking to lose weight and get a ripped look then it is important to also eat healthily. It is easy, when following some programs, to overlook the fact that the foods you may be consuming may not be ideal to stay healthy over the long term.

Fats in the diet are probably one of the most important aspects of a diet. The reason is that fat contains more calories per gram than glucose and protein, and so are not particularly ideal if you want to lose weight, and fat is also responsible for increasing your cholesterol level which can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Many people have come to the realization that dietary fats can be bad for you and as such society has seen a general decline in the intake of fats. This is important as fats are the main causes of diseases such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. Although there has been a reduction, there is still much uncertainty about the difference between the so called good fats and the bad fats.

In the diet, fat is important because some fats are essential to a lot of the normal physiological processes that go on in the body. Many, such as linoleic acid, are not manufactured by the body, so need to be taken in the food we eat. Fat in the food is also vital for the absorption of certain nutrients such as fat soluble vitamins in the gastrointestinal tract.

Fats come in two main types, saturated and unsaturated. The ones known as bad fats are the saturated fats which are often found in animal fats such as lamb and beef. Foods such as dairy products, fish fried in fat and cheese are also high in these types of fat.

Foods that are commonly cooked in fat, such as fast foods like burgers, contain a lot of saturated fats. These types of fats are one of the biggest culprits in the increase in triglyceride and cholesterol levels causing a rise in the incidence of disease.

Unsaturated fats or the good fats are found in higher level in certain oils such as rapeseed and soyabean oil. Replacing animal fats with these oils can be a successful approach to reducing the intake of your saturated fats. Various cooking methods such as grilling instead of frying can be employed to lower the intake of the fats also.

In order to lose fat mor weight it is important to reduce your general fat intake in the diet. However, to stay healthy it is also vital to look at the quality of fat your are putting into your body and lower the intake of the bad saturated fats. Eating more vegetables and fruit is a more healthy approach which will leave you feeling full without increasing your fat intake.

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