Need Help For Sore Joints?
Don't take joint pain sitting down. Age, injury, and certain chronic conditions (like overweight) trigger an inflammatory immune response that not only causes pain but can also damage connective joint tissue. Regular physical activity is an excellent way to maintain healthy joint tissue and range of motion, as well as help manage joint discomfort in arthritis. But exercise itself can damage joint cartilage and lead to temporary or recurring joint pain or tenderness, even in the healthiest of joints.
10-Day Detoxification Plan For Energizing Results
Pollutants and toxins are everywhere—water, food, soil, air, dust, and everyday products and objects in the home or workplace. While the body is normally an efficient detoxification machine on its own, the modern world we live in can put a strain on even the healthiest of us. Build-up of these toxins in the body can lead to a variety of seemingly unrelated symptoms—fatigue, headaches, malaise, irritability, mood swings, bloating, insomnia, and muscle/joint aches and pains.
Is Stress Giving You The Blues?
When stress goes up, your mood can go down. Stress influences many biological and biochemical processes that begin in the brain and spread through nearly all body systems. When the stress response is triggered, the brain releases chemical messengers known as neurotransmitters that can increase emotional response and influence memory and concentration. While some neurotransmitters have excitatory effects, others are thought to help promote a sense of calm (GABA), happiness (dopamine), and well-being (serotonin).
What's Your Gut Reaction?
Could there be a leak in your digestive system? An overactive intestinal immune system and inflammation can damage the mucosal lining of the intestines, causing leaks to occur. These leaks, or enlarged spaces, between the cells of the gut wall allow substances that trigger food sensitivities to be absorbed into the body before they are completely broken down. The immune system then starts making antibodies because it interprets these possibly harmless substances as foreign invaders and treats them as if they have to be destroyed. The antibodies may then enter various tissues and trigger an inflammatory reaction whenever the offending substance (e.g., wheat) is encountered and inflammation becomes chronic.
Build Your Cold Weather Defense
Changes in the weather and other aggressive environmental factors can weaken your immune system. So can stress, unhealthy diets, and lack of rest and exercise. It's the perfect time of year to start helping bolster your immune system with healthier lifestyle choices and by replenishing nutrients essential to healthy immune function.
Don't Trust Probiotics With Hidden Identities
Is your digestive system healthy? Unhealthy diets, stress, and other factors can disrupt the body's natural balance of good and bad bacteria. This affects digestion, waste elimination, immune health, and even the health of the protective lining along the GI tract. Your body may be sending you signals, such as mild or occasional bothersome symptoms: abdominal discomfort, loose stools, irregularity, and/or gas. A quality probiotic can help promote a healthy microbial balance and relieve digestive discomforts.*
Finding Digestive Comfort
Many digestive complaints may be due to an imbalance of intestinal microflora. Digestive discomforts such as bloating, indigestion, and mild or occasional constipation or diarrhea could be warning signs of an imbalance of intestinal bacteria referred to as microflora. Certain inflammatory disorders (e.g., inflammatory bowel diseases) are also associated with microflora imbalance. Stress and other lifestyle factors including diets high in sugars and low in fibercan foster harmful bacteria growth. Frequent or prolonged use of certain medications can also disrupt microflora balance.