Although millions of people suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder, few ever seek help from professionals. Many do not know what type of anxiety help they need or do not realize they have a problem. For the few that do realize they have a problem with anxiety, they do not know where to seek help or the type of help to get.
When searching for anxiety help, start by figuring out exactly what type of anxiety you suffer from. Also, determine what types of situations exacerbate the problem. By determining the source of the problem and what makes the problem worse, you can then learn different ways to deal with the triggers and, possibly, even ways to avoid them all together.
Often, stress is the key source of a person’s anxiety problems. Learning how to deal with stress can help to eliminate the anxiety symptoms you suffer from. Relaxation techniques can often be very efficient for anxiety help. Relaxation exercises can be done almost anywhere or anytime when the need arises. By using these techniques, you can lower your anxiety and stress levels so that you are calmer and more in control of the situation. Mediation and slow breathing are two common relaxation techniques used for anxiety help.
If you feel that you suffer from anxiety, you should first seek help from your doctor. Your doctor can help you determine if your anxiety is caused by other medical conditions. Otherwise, he or she can suggest a treatment to help alleviate your anxiety symptoms. If your doctor cannot find any indication that a medical problem is causing your anxiety, he or she will probably refer you to a doctor who specializes in mental health.
Mental health professionals have a great deal of training and experience in dealing with anxiety. They can generally give you a variety of treatment options to alleviate anxiety. However, if you feel that you cannot discuss your issues with a mental health therapist, your doctor can suggest other alternatives to get you the anxiety help you need.
Sometimes, those suffering from anxiety, turn to local support groups when looking for anxiety help. They generally find that talking about their problems and their lives gives them the ability to handle them. Therefore, anxiety sufferers are able to relieve a majority of pent up anxieties and stress. The support group is compromised of others who suffer from anxiety and who, like you, are seeking anxiety help.
Listening to others’ problems and experiences may also help you realize that your problems are not as big as they first appeared. Other people in the support group may also be able to share with you methods that work for them in controlling their anxiety. By trying out methods that work for others, you may be able to find one that works well for you also.
There are many options for those who suffer from anxiety. So, no matter what type of anxiety you have, be sure to seek the help you need. If one option is not for you, try another.
My name is Stephen Hill, I am from Birmingham which is the second largest city in England, second to London of course. I am a fluent thirty-three year old man but I have only been able to speak in this fluent way for the last eleven years. From the age of four until the age of twenty-two I had a speech impediment better known as a stammer or stutter. In this article I am going to be writing about some of the treatments that are currently available for people who stutter, I hope you enjoy the read.
One-to-one speech courses
Without doubt the most popular form of stuttering therapy course are the ones that are held on a one-to-one basis. The people who attend this type of course are aware that the speech coach is able to fully concentrate on themselves and in that way they can obtain the maximum from the sessions. The majority of these courses are run by specially trained speech therapists however there are now people offering these type of courses who have previously had experience of stuttering themselves. Typically the courses are held over a five-day period however there are a couple of shorter courses available such as a three-day course and a two-day weekend course.
Group speech courses
There are also group speech therapy classes available, this is where around twenty people attend the same course at the same time. One of the negative aspects to these type of courses is the fact that it is very easy for a person to hide away or to become kind of invisible. It is quite difficult for the speech coach to equally divide his/her time between all of the course members and it is usually the more confident of attendees who can seem to gain the most.
Stuttering therapy dvd
In the last couple of years a new form of stuttering treatment has developed, the stuttering therapy dvd. This type of therapy is aimed at helping people who are unable to attend a course and who would rather attempt to eradicate their stutter from the comfort of their own home.
Stephen Hill runs The How To Stop Stammering Centre, he has a number of websites including:
Mahonia, or Oregon, grape is a species of barberry, a wild shrub with leathery leaves, yellow flowers, and red berries, the most used parts of which are the rhyzomes and roots.
The root of the Mahonia grape plant contains 2.4 % to 4.5% of isoquinoline, and its alkaloid components include berberine, berbamine, and oxyacanthine.
American Indians used Mahonia grape for to treat of general debility, and stimulate the appetite. It is used, today, in the treatment of ulcers, heart burn, and stomach problems, as a bitter tonic, and to treat infections.
Both berberine and oxyacanthine mayhave antibacterial properties; Berberine is used as an anticonvulsive seizure medication, a sedative, a hypotensive, and ananti-fibrillatory.
Mahonia grape is also a bile stimulator, an anti-inflammatory, and a spasmolytic, aiding immune system, liver, and spleen stimulation.-
More Mahonia Grape Facts
Mahonia grape may also treat acne, chronic candidiasis, conjunctivitis and blepharitis, and chronic constipation.
It is effective in fighting colds, flu, eczema, and gall bladder conditions and can be used to treat protozoal or bacterial infections, dysentery, malaria, parasites, poor digestion, psoriasis, and urinary tract infections.
Mahonia Grape: What to Watch Out For
Excessive doses of Mahonia grape can result in itching and inflammation of the skin.
Pregnant or nursing women, unless they have first consulted their doctors, should not take Mahonia grape, or any other herb.
How to Select the Best Mahonia Grape supplement
Because health supplement production in the U.S. and other countries is largely unregulated, many governmental and private studies have shown that consumers of nutritional supplements have only a 1 in 5 chance of purchasing a supplement which contains the amount of ingredients claimed on its label, or worse yet, a supplement that is not contaminated with health-impairing toxins.
We always recommend, therefore, that consumers buy health supplements from pharmaceutical GMP compliant facilities, which adhere to the world’s most exacting manufacturing standards. Doing as we suggest ensures you of getting uncontaminated Mahonia Grape in the amount you thought you were purchasing.
The product we personally use, which contains Mahonia Grape called Total Balance – natural-nutritional-health-supplement.com natural-nutritional-health-supplement.com is the best supplement we have come across. We have been using this supplement for over 3 years with excellent health results.
We highly recommend you learn more about our natural-nutritional-health-supplement.com best natural nutritional supplement if you are interested in improving your overall health.
John Gibb runs a series of health websites, We offer a free health book for subscribers to our websites newsletter. We cover everything you need to know on nutrition and how to improve your general overall health. Check out our nutritional-supplement-guides.com/nut-ebook.html nutrition e-book, for more information on our nutrition book.
I think almost every dieter has experienced weight loss sabotage.
Not the kind that happens when you eat foods that you think are low in calories, but then find out are fattening. I mean sabotage by people who know you’re on a diet. Maybe even people who’ve been pestering you to lose weight.
Especially if you need to lose a lot of weight, friends and family can often be your worst enemies. Even if they don’t mean to be.
Have you ever had a friend or relative sabotage your weight loss by insisting you eat more than your diet permits?
“Oh, it’s just one little piece of cake,” they say with smiles sweeter than frosting.
You try to protest. But eventually you give in and that cake finds a home in your ever-expanding belly.
If it only happens once, it won’t destroy your weight loss efforts. But if it happens a lot, you’ll never reach your target weight.
Sometimes, the people close to you mean well. Other times, it’s fear, jealousy or their own insecurities that cause them to act that way.
There’s a dynamic in every family and often in friendships, too. Each of us has our place. The strong one… the funny one… the smart one… the foolish one…
The Fat One.
As you lose weight, you often become attractive to more people. It’s common to get more attention from the opposite sex.
You may become bolder, happier, more self-confident and excited about life than you have been in a long time. And that may frighten some of your friends and family members who feel you’ll leave them behind.
If they’re insecure, they’ll try to put you back in your place.
The Fat One.
Which may be why they tried to sabotage your weight loss in the first place.
If you let them, their sabotage can be remarkably effective. Here’s why.
Suppose you have a small wound on your leg. When you press hard on your uninjured skin, you feel nothing. But apply even slight pressure to your wound and the pain is excruciating.
Your friends and family members know where your wounds lie.
They know where to apply pressure with their actions and words to hurt you. Whether it’s just the insecurities that go with being fat or whether it’s something else.
And yet, so many of us allow it to continue.
If a stranger acted that way, you’d toss him out of your life immediately.
But we often put a higher value on the judgments of our friends and family members, even when it doesn’t make sense.
Sometimes, we even let those judgments determine our level of happiness with ourselves and the rest of the world.
In extreme cases, your only option is to get away from the people who hurt you. Permanently.
But that’s too much in most cases.
You won’t want to walk away if there are children involved. Or maybe the problem isn’t bad enough to justify removing someone from your life completely.
So how do you change things?
Sometimes, you just need to stand up for yourself and insist the other person stop their hurtful behavior. It may take several times before it works, but often people hurt us just because we let them.
You need to stand firm. Let them know you won’t give in this time.
Or you may need to put some distance between you and the people who treat you badly. Without completely cutting them off.
How you deal with the people who try to sabotage your weight loss will vary. Every situation is different.
But one thing is always the same.
You may not be able to change the people around you, but you can change you.
If they don’t like it, that’s their problem.
So if you really want to lose weight, don’t let other people use their hurtful behavior to stop you from achieving your goal. Make a commitment to lose weight. And stick to it.
You know what you need to do to succeed.
As Nike says, “Just Do It.”
Want to lose weight by indulging your weaknesses? Debbie Fontana created the delicious I Love to Cheat lifestyle diet that conforms to you… your needs… your wants… your lifestyle. So stop torturing yourself with strict diet rules. For more diet tips and other weight loss information, visit ILoveToCheatDiet.com/blog ILoveToCheatDiet.com/blog to discover the
If you’re going to be slim, you’re going to have to swim against the current. You’re going to have to take charge of your body and make your own decisions… cause if you go with the flow today, I guarantee that you’re going to be fat.
Here are 3 reasons why:
#1) Rampant Portion Sizes
‘Supersize it’, ‘Biggie Fries’, ‘Value Meal’, ‘Super Big Gulp’ – phrases that we use so commonly, it’s hard to believe that we’d have to explain what they mean to someone from another era.
Restaurants have blown their portion sizes so big in the name of providing ‘value’ that one meal could feed a small soccer team.
Considering that your stomach is roughly the size of your fist (but thank goodness it stretches!), the portion sizes you get today in the average restaurant could probably fill 5 or more stomachs.
But we’re told to get our money’s worth right?
So go ahead and eat up. That way you can spend your money going to the doctor for obesity related health problems later. That’s truly getting your money’s worth!
#2) Diet as Religion
Diets boast a stellar 2-5% success rate (that’s a 98% FAILURE rate by the way). And yet if an alien landed in North America, he (or she) would be convinced that our society must be built on the value of dieting.
Billboards, magazines, books, television shows, ads, even restaurant menus…everywhere you look you’re inundated with the latest diet, diet food or diet plan. Diets are touted as the ONLY solution to weight loss.
We have more diets on the market now than ever before. We have more people on a diet now than ever before – and yet we continue to get fatter…is there ANY POSSIBLE connection here?
#3) Escalator Generation
Go with the flow and you’ll enjoy a multitude of worldly conveniences. You can microwave your dinner in 5 minutes, load your dishwasher in 2 and pay the dog walker in 1.
You don’t have to walk to the store – just hop in the car. Your kids don’t have to go swimming – they’ve got a new Xbox game. Don’t bother taking the stairs because there’s an elevator.
You can sit at a desk for long hours without even getting up from your chair. And when you do come home from work – you have the luxury of flopping on the couch and watching ‘Friends’ while eating takeout.
Go with the flow my friend and you’ll expend less energy while eating more. Oh – and you’ll also be told that taking a pill is the only way to solve the problem of your ever-increasing waistline.
One of the best photographs I ever saw was of the front of a gym. There was a staircase leading up to the gym with an escalator beside it. And you guessed it – people were taking the escalator UP to the gym! The only guy on the stairs was walking DOWN them. That pretty much sums up the problem.
Unfortunately, if you go with the flow in our world today, chances are very high that you’re going to get fat. BUT by knowing what you’re up against, you can take steps to go against the flow. By taking a stand, taking charge and making positive choices for your body – you can live slim and healthy in a world skewed towards weight gain.
When you begin the decision making process to have Weight Loss Surgery (WLS), and specifically LapBand Surgery, it is vital that you fully understand the changes you must make in your lifestyle. WLS is never the magic pill. It is something that you must work at to be successful.
There are several rules and circumstances that a “Bandster” must follow and understand to see success and have a high quality banded life.
Drinking Before and After Meals
By far this is one of the most important things to learn and is vital to your weight loss success. It is also one of the most challenging.
You should stop drinking all liquids at least 30 minutes before your meal. This allows all that is in your pouch to drain through to the lower stomach. Therefore your pouch is empty when you eat allowing the food to fill you up properly.
During your meal you want to forgo all beverages. This is one of the hardest habits to break. Drinking during your meal simply flushes the food through your band and the band is unable to function properly.
For most of us we will have 2, 3 or even 4 glasses of a beverage with our meals. Servers in restaurants, trained to keep us happy, will keep our beverage full throughout our meal. As bandsters we need to stand up for ourselves and ignore the strange looks we get when we say, “Nothing to drink for me.”
You must also not drink for an hour after a meal. The main reason is the same as drinking during your meal. Liquids wash the food through the band defeating its purpose. Another reason not to drink after a meal is if your pouch is full the beverage might not have anywhere to go…except backwards resulting in a spit-up. Suffice it to say that food and liquids making a return visit is not satisfying.
Start practicing this new behavior today. Start at your next meal. This will get you ahead of the game and help your success instrumentally.
Smaller Bites. More Chewing. Slower Eating.
If you watch most Americans eat, including myself pre-band, we don’t chew our food, heck we barely taste it. In my case a big bite, 4 cursory chews, and down it went.
The next thing you need to start getting your mind around and practicing is what a Bandster Bite is. At your next meal look at your bite size. Look at the amount of food on your fork and remember it. Now, cut that bite in half. This is your bite size after surgery. Now, cut that bite in half. This is the size of your bite after your first fill or adjustment. Each fill your bite size will get smaller until each bit is as if for a toddler. The reason for this is so the bite can be chewed completely to a liquid before swallowing.
This brings us to the next point, chewing. It is very important that your food is completely chewed. Before you swallow you want to make sure the food is a liquid. As you progress through this journey the opening from your pouch to the lower stomach will be getting smaller. Therefore you need to chew more thoroughly. If a piece of food is too big to go through the stoma, or opening, it will get “stuck”. Let us just say it is painful and you do not want this.
Finally with the smaller bites and the more thorough chewing comes the inevitable slower eating. Just slow down. If you eat too fast the bites get too big, you don’t chew properly and we are back to the food being stuck. Over a year in and I still find myself falling into this trap. We get excited, chatting with friends and just forget.
The quicker you create these habits the happier you will be in your banded life.
A Bandster’s Eating Order
As a bandster you have a specific order in which to eat your food. It is important that we get enough protein in our diet to keep our bodies moving properly. Therefore, you will need to make sure you are eating your protein first.
As WLS patients we need 40-60 grams of protein every day. We can get this in a variety of ways. Protein shakes, cheese, fish, beef, chicken, soy. The challenge comes when we can only tolerate certain foods. Also, it is important that we get as much “hard” protein (chicken, beef, and fish) as possible. We shouldn’t get it all from protein shakes and cheese.
When we sit down to a meal we need to eat our protein food first, vegetables second, and carbohydrates/starches last if there is room. Proteins last longer in the pouch and take longer to process through the band allowing us to feel full sooner and maintaining our satiety longer. As it turns out hard proteins are sometimes the most difficult to work with for a Bandster.
The hard proteins need to be more moist, more tender and chewed more completely than any other type of food. Generally, but not exclusively, the proteins are the foods that get stuck the most and cause spit ups. The reason for this is simple. The bite isn’t small enough and/or we haven’t chewed it to a liquid before swallowing.
For the record…Beef is generally the most difficult for bandsters. Beef is one of the most difficult foods for humans to digest. It can take several days for a piece of steak to actually work it’s way through the digestive track. And that’s on an unbanded person! So, if you eat a piece of steak and you don’t chew it up completely, which is difficult as steak is so fibrous, it can sit in your pouch for an extended about of time and your stomach acids are not there to help break it down. Eventually, this piece of food can fall over your stoma and get stuck. This piece of steak that you ate two days ago can still be in your pouch and you can still spit it up at this late date.
Remember each and every person is different so you will have to test your own waters. I’m not here to tell you what to eat or what not to eat. Some Bandsters have no trouble with beef whatsoever; others won’t go near it. Trust me you will figure out what you can tolerate and what you can’t. Trust me too when I say these things change. One day ground beef is fine and the next you realize it isn’t any longer. You must be willing and able to adapt to sudden changes.
Robin McCoy was banded on February 3,2004. She has reached her weight loss goal of 110 pounds. Robin is Vice-President and Senior Writer for Lapband Lifestyle, a resource and support group for LapBand patients. lapbandlifestyle.com lapbandlifestyle.com mailto:robin@lapbandlifestyle.com robin@lapbandlifestyle.com
Candles have been used extensively throughout history as a way to provide not only light but also as a way to set the mood for a variety of different occasions. Aromatherapy candles provide a way to do that in an elegant and natural way.
It should be noted that true aromatherapy candles are not the same thing as merely scented candles we often find on the shelf of any supermarket. Scented candles contain a fragrance only. True aromatherapy candles are created using natural essential oils that can truly have a therapeutic effect on the mood and body.
Aromatherapy candles can be used for a wide variety of purposes, including the relief of stress and anxiety. Lavender is particularly well suited for this purpose. It is the perfect aromatherapy candle to come home to after a long hard day at work.
If you find that you’re having trouble relaxing or possibly suffer from insomnia, consider lighting a small sage aromatherapy candle. The oil in this candle will help to relax you so that you can get a good night’s sleep. Just be sure to completely extinguish the candle before turning in for the night. A chamomile aromatherapy candle is also an excellent choice if you need to relax and reduce stress and anxiety.
Suffering from a cold or just not feeling up to par? Light a eucalyptus aromatherapy candle. The oil in this candle will not only boost your immune system but soothe respiratory problems. Other aromatherapy candles that can assist with physical ailments include peppermint candles; which are know to aid with all sorts of problems including muscle aches, headaches and digestive problems.
Women may find lighting a geranium aromatherapy candle to be helpful with uplifting their spirits and balancing hormones. A grapefruit aromatherapy candle will refresh and uplift you while a lemon candle can help to relax your senses.
As with all candles, be sure to never leave an aromatherapy candle burning unattended and keep away from open air sources and drafts.
The right aromatherapy candle can make a great addition to your home, freshening the air around you and soothing away aches and pains.
Toby Russell with his site benefitwitharomatherapy.com benefitwitharomatherapy.com offers clear and concise information covering the many health benefits of aromatherapy.
Herpes is a viral disease that is prevalent in people in the USA, but involves no visible symptoms in most cases. The result is that people are not even aware that they have either oral or genital herpes. It has been observed that people generally go into a shell when they realize they have the disease and their social interactions become awkward. This becomes all the more highlighted if an infected person is dating someone.
First and foremost, a person with herpes should realize that the disease is a common ailment that can be controlled and is not in any way the end of the world. Recent studies have shown that proper treatment and precaution can prevent transmission of the disease.
All this means is that people with herpes should keep their heads up and confidence level high. The saying ‘smile and the world will smile with you’ may sound clichéd, but can be very useful in this situation.
The trials and tribulations serve to test the strength the relationships of the person with herpes. It is important for the infected person to be honest with themselves and their partner. Disclosing private information and facing rejection is never easy, but if the infected person’s partner really cares for them, he or she will realize their trauma and reach out to them. On the practical side, honesty will lead to communication that will not spread transmission.
There is more to a relationship than sexual interaction. by looking at its positive side, one will find that herpes will provide the perfect opportunity to explore other alternatives of intimacy bonding at a level that goes will beyond physical.
herpes-web.com Herpes provides detailed information about herpes, herpes symptoms and more. Herpes is affiliated with e-impotence.com Impotence Treatments.
Some would say the hardest working internal organ of the body is the heart. Some might say the brain. A few would say the lungs. Maybe even your kidneys would come up for discussion. But how often have you ever thought about your liver! Occasionally it comes up in the news when someone famous like Walter Payton dies of liver disease. But outside of that, not much is said or done about the liver.
Respect Not Just Your Elders But Also Your Liver!
In my research for this article my appreciation and respect for the liver has grown exponentially. Your liver is an amazing organ and one of the most important organs in your body. Located in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen, the liver is the largest and most complex organ of the body, and is responsible for:
• Cleansing and filtering the blood stream.
• The production of bile which is stored in the gallbladder. When released, bile aids in the digestion of fats while helping to rid the body of harmful substances.
• Producing other important chemical compounds such as albumin, blood clotting factors, cholesterol, and Vitamin E.
• Converting amino acids and lipids into the simple sugar glucose. This requires a complex process catalyzed by a series of enzymes.
• Storing glucose in the form of glycogen. This process plays a critical role in maintaining normal blood sugar levels.
• Proper metabolism of protein and fats.
• Metabolizing many medications, alcohol, and other ingested chemicals such as caffeine.
• The storage of vitamins A, B12, D, several of the other B vitamins, and minerals like iron and copper.
• Detoxifying the body from numerous substances like ammonia and metabolic wastes.
All in all over 500 chemical and metabolic functions take place in the liver. It filters about 2 quarts of blood per minute making it the “garbage disposal” of the body. And, if you review these bullet points closely, you can see how the liver is involved in diet, metabolism, blood sugar control, digestion, detoxification and elimination. It is critically important to understand both how the liver works and what you can do to support the liver properly. Your overall health and wellness, as well as how you age and fight disease, will be impacted by the health of your liver.
In Our Overly Medicated and Chemical World!
We live in an environment that has seen an increased use of chemicals and medication to process foods and treat symptoms. It is estimated that 80 percent of U.S. livestock and poultry receive some animal drugs/hormones/antibiotics during their lifetime. Pesticides, herbicides, and other chemical storage methods are commonly used in food production. Add environmental toxins, chemical additives, genetic engineering, processing and refining practices, coupled with substance abuse and you can see why today’s liver has been stressed like never before. Add to this the fact that the majority of the American diet, in both food and drink, creates an acidic environment that also stresses the liver, as well as other bodily systems, and you will begin to understand why we are seeing so many people living lives compromised by degenerative diseases.
Detoxification and Cancer!
I’ve written a series of articles about the Acid – Alkaline Debate as it regards cancer and degenerative diseases. The same can also apply to the liver. There are many in the scientific community who believe that up to 90% of all cancers are related to the effects of environmental carcinogens, such are found in cigarette smoke, food, water, and air. Combine this with deficiencies of the nutrients the body needs for proper functioning of the detoxification and immune systems and you have a recipe for increased susceptibility to cancer. Proper functioning of your liver’s detoxification system is critically important for your body’s ability to prevent cancer. The beauty of understanding what you need to do to properly support the liver will also have a positive effect on your immune system and helping your body stay slightly alkaline which is what it desires.
Your Liver is Your Detoxification Center.
The rest of this article will look at the methods your liver uses to detoxify your body and what you need to do to keep it working properly. First up is:
The Liver Filter - Your blood flows through the liver in such a way that it is filtered of toxic matter such as dead cells, chemicals, drugs, and particulate debris in the blood stream. This liver filter is called the sinusoidal system. It has specialized cells known as Kupffer cells that ingest and breakdown toxic matter. Your liver filter also removes a wide range of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites that might be in your blood stream. When working properly, the liver usually clears 99% of the bacteria and other toxins during this filtering process, and like any filter, it needs to be cleansed. Unlike the oil filter in your car which you can remove and replace fairly easily, the liver is a bit different. Although it can re-grow itself and can be transplanted, you really want to take steps daily to help maintain its ability to filter, cleanse and detoxify you. We talk about this in my article “14 Steps to Cleansing and Supporting Your Liver!”
Every drug, artificial chemical, pesticide and hormone is metabolized by enzymatic pathways inside the liver cells. Now, I want you to stop and think this one through right now. It will be difficult for you to know what pesticides and hormones you might be consuming in your food supply but you can easily tell what drugs and artificial chemicals you are taking in. Any drug you take has to be dealt with by the liver. Now, that doesn’t mean going off your medication. But it does mean that for each medication you take you need to increase your support to the liver. In addition, start reading the labels on your food packaging. If you eat fast food ask for the nutritional information for the products you are consuming. When you weigh out all you consume the greatest percentage of toxins you ingest is going to come through your food in the form of artificial chemicals, additives and ingredients.
Think of Yourself as One Giant Self-Storage Facility!
Many of the toxic chemicals that enter your body are fat-soluble. That presents a problem since they will only dissolve in fatty or oily solutions and not water. These fat soluble chemicals are difficult for the body to excrete and if not handled by the liver they will be stored in the fat tissues and cell membranes, which are made of fatty substances. These toxins can be stored for years in the fat tissues. It is not uncommon that when people fast, begin to exercise, or go on a diet to reduce their percentage of body fat, they experience headaches, poor memory, stomach pain, nausea, fatigue, dizziness and palpitations. Sometimes they will have vivid memories of events in the past that are tied to a medication they used for some medical reason. This is usually caused by the stored toxins being released back into your system and your liver is now forced to deal with them. Anytime you decide to reduce your percentage of body fat, you need to give extra support to your liver.
The liver has two primary mechanisms for converting fat-soluble chemicals into water soluble chemicals. This allows your body to easily excrete them through its two main pathways: bile and urine. Now, here are some really big scientific names for these two primary mechanisms the liver uses to detoxify you:
Phase One – Detoxification Pathway
Phase Two – Detoxification Pathway
No joke. These are two of the easier scientific names to remember. But it is just a set-up. When you look at the mechanisms in each of these phases those scientists throw in those hundred dollar words to try and mess with our brains. My goal is to try to explain this in simpler terms. That way you can see what you will need to do nutritionally to support these two phases.
Phase One – Detoxification Pathway.
There is a large group of enzymes that are collectively called Cytochrome P-450. These enzymes are located in the membrane system of the liver cells. In fact, these cells contain the genetic coding to form many variations or isoenzymes of Cytochrome P-450 so that the liver can treat specific chemicals more effectively. To help the women understand this it would be like choosing the right style shoe for the right occasion. For the men it would be like choosing the right drill bit for your high speed Black ‘n Decker.
Simply put, the phase one pathway converts a toxic chemical into a less harmful chemical through various chemical reactions. That’s the good news. The bad news is that these chemical reactions produce high levels of free radicals. I’ve written an article on free radical damage. Outside of genetics, free radical damage is considered by many to be the single greatest factor in aging and degenerative diseases because it causes cell tissue damage. To counter this damage, your body needs antioxidants to absorb their destructive energy and return the free radical molecule into a stable molecule. Antioxidants like vitamin C and E and natural carotenoids protect the liver cells from this free radical damage. But, far and away the most important antioxidant for neutralizing the free radicals produced in Phase One is glutathione. We’ll have more to say about glutathione in Phase Two.
Some of the Phase One enzymes directly neutralize some of the chemicals, but most of the chemicals are converted to intermediate forms that are much more chemically active. In addition to the potential for free radical damage you also have a more toxic environment. If your Phase Two detoxification systems are not working properly, these intermediate forms can cause liver damage as well as initiate carcinogenic processes. So, the balance between the creation of Phase One intermediate forms and the ability of the Phase Two detoxification pathways to finish the process is also a critical issue. I hope you’re beginning to see how critical your liver function is to your overall health.
I have one additional note on the P-450 enzyme system that I would like to bring to your attention. Pesticides can disrupt the P-450 enzymatic system by causing it to become over active. This might sound like a good thing, but for the liver it is not because high levels of damaging free radicals are produced. Without extra protection from high concentrations of antioxidants the liver will be damaged from this increased free radical production. This is one of the reasons why pesticide usage on our food supply has become such a health as well as an environmental issue.
Phase Two – Detoxification Pathway.
This is where the scientists team up with the English teachers to make our understanding of this pathway more difficult. This pathway is commonly called the conjugation pathway. It is in this pathway that the liver cells add another substance to the chemical or drug toxin to render it less harmful and water-soluble. By making the fat-soluble toxins water-soluble your body can now eliminate it through watery fluids such as bile or urine. There are six Phase Two detoxification pathways:
• Glutathione Conjugation
• Amino Acid Conjugation
• Methylation
• Sulfation
• Acetylation
• Glucuronidation
Don’t you just love when scientists and English teachers get together to make our lives easier to understand. Well, hang with me and I will try to speak in terms that make sense.
For the enzyme systems in Phase Two to work properly, certain nutrients are needed to activate the enzyme systems as well as provide the small molecules added to the toxins to neutralize them. This requires metabolic energy which requires metabolic enzymes to help create this energy. I wrote an article about the importance of digestive enzymes to your overall health. I bring it up in this article because if your diet is lacking in digestive enzymes, then you force the pancreas to convert metabolic enzymes into digestive enzymes which can impact Phase Two detoxification. Also, people with chronic fatigue syndrome, a magnesium deficiency or lack of physical activity can also experience a slow down in Phase Two detoxification.
The Cliff Notes Version of Glutathione Conjugation!
Glutathione is a tripeptide composed of three amino acids – cysteine, glutamic acid, and glycine. Simply stated, glutathione conjugation produces water-soluble substances that are excreted in the urine via the kidneys. The elimination of heavy metals like mercury and lead are dependent upon adequate levels of glutathione. If you remember from Phase One, glutathione is also an important antioxidant.
Since glutathione conjugation is a primary pathway in Phase Two detoxification and glutathione is the most important antioxidant in Phase One detoxification, your body needs adequate supplies of glutathione. If depleted in Phase One, then Phase Two detoxification will be compromised. This combination of free radical protection and detoxification makes glutathione one of the most important anti-carcinogens and antioxidants known. Thankfully, glutathione is available through diet and synthesis. However, our glutathione levels decrease with age so supplementation in our diet with fresh fruits and vegetables, cooked fish and meats is important.
Warning to Smokers!
Smoking increases the rate of utilization of glutathione because the chemical nicotine must be neutralized in the liver. Additionally, the other chemical toxins in the cigarette create high levels of free radicals to use up glutathione. Smokers not only do damage to their lungs and heart but also create the potential for liver dysfunction.
The Cliff Notes Version of the Rest of the Conjugation Pathways!
There is more that could be said about each of the following five conjugation pathways but I’m going to be brief about each one of them.
• Amino Acids. Glycine, taurine, glutamine, arginine, and ornithine are amino acids used to combine with and neutralize toxins.
• Methylation. This involves attaching methyl groups to toxins. S-adenosylmethionine or SAM is the most common methyl group and is synthesized from the amino acid methionine as well as the nutrients choline, vitamin B12 and folic acid.
• Sulfation. This involves attaching sulfur-containing compounds to toxins. The process is important for detoxifying several drugs, food additives, and toxins from the intestinal bacteria. It is the main pathway that the body uses to eliminate steroid and thyroid hormones.
• Acetylation. This is the primary pathway that the body uses to eliminate sulfa drugs. This pathway is especially sensitive to genetic variation which may factor into why many people are allergic to sulfa drugs.
• Glucuronidation. This pathway combines glucuronic acid with toxins. Many of the commonly prescribed drugs including aspirin, menthol, food additives such as benzoates, and some hormones, are eliminated thru this pathway.
To summarize the detoxification process into a simple flow sheet would look something like this:
Toxins enter your system > Liver filters out toxins > Step One Detoxification Pathways > Step Two Detoxification Pathways > Toxins converted to water soluble waste products > Waste products eliminated from your body via > Gall Bladder as Bile released into your intestines to be eliminated through bowel movements or > Kidneys eliminated through your urine.
Not only is it important that your liver work properly but the health of your gall bladder, intestines, and kidneys are also extremely important in this detoxification process.
This is a lot of information and it is given to you to help you understand the process of detoxification so that you have a greater respect for your liver. Hidden within this information are keys to helping you improve the health of your liver. Some are quite obvious and some need additional exposure to see the relationship. The companion article “14 Steps to Cleansing and Supporting Your Liver!” will put this information into a working plan that you can use to help improve your liver’s function and health.
Dan Hammer has a background in biology, chemistry and exercise physiology. He used to run one of the largest health club operations in the Chicagoland area and has been helping people with their wellness issues for more than 25 years. His website AgingNoMore.com AgingNoMore.com provides current information on how to slow down the aging process. He offers a free daily email that breaks this information down into actionable steps that are easy to understand and implement.
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