Remedies: Chewing Gum for Heartburn By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times What alternative remedies belong in your home medicine cabinet?

More than a third of American adults use some form of complementary or alternative medicine, according to a government report. Natural remedies have an obvious appeal, but how do you know which ones to choose and whether the claims are backed by science? In this occasional series, Anahad O’Connor, the New York Times “Really?” columnist, explores the claims and the science behind alternative remedies that you may want to consider for your family medicine cabinet.

The Remedy: Chewing gum.

The Claim: It relieves heartburn.

The Science: It may be hard for most people to think of chewing gum as a remedy for anything other than a case of bad breath. But several studies in recent years have shown that it can in fact help alleviate the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease, better known to most people as GERD or heartburn.

Chewing on a piece or two of gum, it seems, helps force fluids back into the stomach and flood the esophagus with alkaline saliva, neutralizing acids that cause the characteristic burning sensations.

One independent study demonstrating this, published in 2005 in The Journal of Dental Research, involved 31 patients who were recruited for testing after they showed up at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London with symptoms of heartburn. The scientists conceded that their hypothesis going into the study “was that chewing gum does not have any effect on the clearance of reflux from the distal esophagus.”

Ultimately, they were surprised. On two separate days, they asked subjects to fast for four hours, then fed them a “refluxogenic” lunch that would give just about anyone heartburn: two bars of full-fat cheddar cheese, green salad with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, 15 large chips and half a pint of full-fat milk. On both days, some of the subjects were then randomly selected to chew sugar-free gum for half an hour after the meal.

After monitoring the subjects for two hours after the meals, they found that acid levels were significantly lower when the participants chewed gum. The study was financed by King’s College London School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Another study, this one in 2001, involved 36 people, some of them with diagnosed cases of GERD and others who were healthy controls. The study found that chewing sugarless gum for an hour after a large breakfast reduced acid reflux in both groups for up to three hours, particularly in the heartburn group. The study was carried out by gastroenterologists at Veterans Affairs hospitals in New Mexico and Illinois, and financed by the American Digestive Health Foundation.

The Risks: Frequently chewing sugary gum may damage tooth enamel and increase cavities. But sugar-free varieties containing xylitol — which helps inhibit tooth-eroding bacteria — can have a protective effect.

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“Life Coaching isn’t Psychotherapy!”

Life coaching is a future oriented process that sets out to correct areas of life that don’t appear to be working. Life coaches come in many guises offering support in myriad avenues ranging from financial coaching to that of relationship even to the more esoteric regions of spiritual coaching.

Denis Casarsa was born and brought up in Switzerland. He grew up in the French speaking city of Lausanne which squats on the shores of Lac Leman. His life might have been very different if he had not had a near fatal motorcycle accident at the age of 19. As a result he lay in a coma for two months and tossed and turned between life and death. Life prevailed, but he emerged suffering severe nerve damage, some of which can be seen today. However, his injuries set him on a path to “look for relief from the relentless pain”, that he was suffering. The doctors prescribed morphine to which he became addicted. He dreaded stopping but he knew he must and he came to realize “that the alternative path” would be his only salvation. Thus he began to work on himself to find relief through psychological release. He explored pain management techniques and went to a Jungian Psychoanalyst. It was here matters began to improve as he realized the teachings of Jung gave him the support he sought. This led him to his work as a health care professional and it was here that he had his first encounter with Coaching.

“Life Coaching”, he repeats “is about change!” “It is a change that has a specific affect on some area of life.” “The idea is to be present with the client in a supportive role. People have problems but what we do in coaching is to find solutions.” “Clients frequently start coaching when they get stuck. The Coach’s job is to help get them unstuck!”

To my mind there has always been a fine line between coaching and therapy. I had dismissed the Coaching phenomenon as an easy route into the therapy business but Denis disagreed vehemently. He insists that coaching is “different from therapy because it’s goal oriented. It’s not about looking into the past, but to how people find their own resources to come to terms with now.” “There are specific coaching techniques that work on balance. We need to get out of the mind and into the senses. It’s quite intuitive!” “Effectively the purpose of coaching is to get you to now! We seem to miss that important notion in Western Society.”

OK, I then asked him what sort of clients were drawn to see him. “Women and also young people; they are more questioning than older types, less likely to put up with things they find difficult to accept and they don’t want to be victims!”

Next I was curious to know how the coaching program was put together. Denis explained that the construction was “a contract. You really need a few meetings to tune into the process. This develops into a working symbiosis and gives everybody the opportunity to clarify exactly what outcomes are truly wanted. The clients then have a picture of who they want to be and a grasp on what is limiting them.” As for the time frame he confesses that he “prefers weekly sessions particularly at the beginning as this makes establishing a working relationship easier. It is necessary to shift from thinking in a logical manner via the conscious mind to a more unconscious process.”

As this concept will be novel to many people who might well eschew it as being too much like psychotherapy, Denis offers a free session so the would be client can really get the feel of how it is to work with a Life Coach. During the session “you have the opportunity to identify the area or areas you want to work on.” And he insists “it is fun, an enjoyable process!”

Denis Casarsa coaches in English and in French. He works face to face as well as by Skype and telephone. Although based in Lamai he is prepared to come to you. So why not take advantage of his generous offer of a free coaching session? You can contact him via his website http//: www. Samuilifecoaching.com

Alister Bredee is a freelance author living on Koh Samui. He is a health care practitioner (working with the amazing CoRe system), trainer and a partner in The Health Ambit Consultancy. He also works as a Detox Consultant and Locum with extensive experience. He can be contacted via his website: www.healthambit.com. He publishes a regular blog at: www.healthambitblogspot.com. You can find him and the Health Ambit Consultancy on Facebook.

Some tips on Olive Oil

From Dr. Mercola

Extra-virgin olive oil is a good monounsaturated fat that is also well-known for its health benefits. It's a staple in healthful diets such as Mediterranean-style diets.

However, it's important to realize it is NOT good for cooking. It should really only be used cold, typically drizzled on salads and other food.

Due to its chemical structure and a large amount of unsaturated fats, cooking makes extra-virgin olive oil very susceptible to oxidative damage. However, during this interview I learned that extra-virgin olive oil has a significant draw-back even when used cold – it's still extremely perishable!

As it turns out, extra-virgin olive oil contains chlorophyll that accelerates decomposition and makes the oil go rancid rather quickly.

In fact, Dr. Moerck actually prefers using almost tasteless, semi-refined olive oil rather than extra-virgin olive oil for this reason.

If you're like most people, you're probably leaving your bottle of olive oil right on the counter, opening and closing it multiple times a week. Remember, any time the oil is exposed to air and/or light, it oxidizes, and as it turns out, the chlorophyll in extra virgin olive oil accelerates the oxidation of the unsaturated fats.

Clearly, consuming spoiled oil (of any kind) will likely do more harm than good.

To protect the oil, Dr. Moerck recommends treating it with the same care as you would other sensitive omega-3 oils:

• Keep in a cool, dark place
• Purchase smaller bottles rather than larger to ensure freshness
• Immediately replace the cap after each pour

To help protect extra virgin olive oil from oxidation, Dr. Moerck suggests putting one drop of astaxanthin into the bottle. You can purchase astaxanthin, which is an extremely potent antioxidant, in soft gel capsules. Just prick it with a pin and squeeze the capsule into the oil.

The beautiful thing about using astaxanthin instead of another antioxidant such as vitamin E, is that it is naturally red, whereas vitamin E is colorless, so you can tell the oil still has astaxanthin in it by its color.

As the olive oil starts to pale in color, you know it's time to throw it away.

You can also use one drop of lutein in your olive oil. Lutein imparts an orange color and will also protect against oxidation. Again, once the orange color fades, your oil is no longer protected against rancidity and should be tossed.

This method is yet another reason for buying SMALL bottles. If you have a large bottle, you may be tempted to keep it even though it has begun to oxidize.

The Worst Cooking Oils of All

Polyunsaturated fats are the absolute WORST oils to use when cooking because these omega-6-rich oils are highly susceptible to heat damage.

This category includes common vegetable oils such as:

• Corn
• Soy
• Safflower
• Sunflower
• Canola

Damaged omega-6 fats are disastrous to your health, and are responsible for far more health problems than saturated fats ever were.

Trans fat is the artery-clogging, highly damaged omega-6 polyunsaturated fat that is formed when vegetable oils are hardened into margarine or shortening.

I strongly recommend never using margarine or shortening when cooking. I guarantee you you're already getting far too much of this damaging fat if you consume any kind of processed foods, whether it be potato chips, pre-made cookies, or microwave dinners...

Trans fat is the most consumed type of fat in the US, despite the fact that there is no safe level of trans fat consumption, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine.

Trans fat raises your LDL (bad cholesterol) levels while lowering your HDL (good cholesterol) levels, which of course is the complete opposite of what you want. In fact, trans fats -- as opposed to saturated fats -- have been repeatedly linked to heart disease. They can also cause major clogging of your arteries, type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems.

Personally I don't cook very much but when I do I use our Pure Virgin Coconut Oil as it is the most resistant to heating damage, but also a great source of medium chained triglycerides and lauric acid.

Installing Love on the Human Computer:

Installing Love on the Human Computer:

Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?

Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to
install Love. Can you guide me through the process?

Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?

Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?

Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?

Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?

Tech Support: What programs are running ?

Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.

Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me
how?

Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been
completely erased.

Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?

Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?

Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before
you can Love others.

Customer: So, what should I do?

Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.

Customer: Okay, done.

Tech Support: Now, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming.
Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?

Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running.

One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.

Customer: Thank you, God.

God/Tech Support: You're Welcome, Anytime.

- Anon

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Let's Set Ourselves Free"

“Time for a little Stress Busting on Koh Samui.”

Christmas is coming and that’s a good time to remind ourselves of the importance of good health. After all we live in a “healthy destination” whose provenance goes back almost twenty years, when Guy and Toi Hopkins opened the “Spa Beach Resort” in Lamai. It and the Resorts that followed in its successful track focused primarily on fasting and inner cleansing, following the regime laid down by Dr. Jensen .The people who came to find health in this manner were “new age seekers. This was the backpacker brigade that discovered and later made Samui a popular destination. Today, Samui’s development, some would say over development, has brought in a new guest. Yes, many of the old Detox Resorts still flourish and regulars return time and again, but it is now the corporate client who is attracted to Samui’s fair shores

The new breed is reflected in chains like “Four Seasons” and “Sixth Senses”. These hotels embrace wellness, too and the Detox Industry has moved with the changes. Kamalaya emerged in 2003. Here the concept was to encourage the executive market with a four star hotel and wellness spa perched on the quiet sunset coast of the island. The new seekers from the corporate culture were executives eager to scramble back to wellbeing. They needed a philosophy which they could use to get into shape after long hours of work, extensive air travel and pressured meetings. These people were used to comfortable accommodation and a hut beside the beach was not for them!

Many of these business people are taking their first baby steps to self awareness Dr. Norm Shealy is a retired Harvard trained neuro-surgeon. He started looking at alternative health at a time when it was considered dangerously unfashionable! He consulted medical intuitives and made Caroline Myss famous. He spends a lot of time working as a stress reductionist now that he is retired. We can learn from him how to develop programs especially suited for the exhausted executive.

Dr Norm, as he likes to be called, ardently believes that stress is the main cause of “dis-ease”. There are four types of stress. Firstly, emotional stress which shows up as anger, frustration, fear, depression and so on. “I, personally, have yet to meet a heart attack victim who is calm and serene!” Yoga, meditation and emotional clearing are all good techniques for clearing. Visitors to Samui are principally short stay, so brief and effective interventions like EFT are required to help them on their way. Several Samui Resorts offer these life changing practices besides there are also independent practitioners available to help.

Next there is physical stress. Christmas is a time for parties so people eat and drink too much. They stop exercising and begin to put on weight. This creates physical stress. Dr Norm feels the most dangerous thing we can do to our health is to smoke cigarettes. He reckons smoking a pack a day shortens life span by 7 years. He claims being 30% overweight creates as much stress as smoking three packets of cigarettes per day! The key to physical stress has always been relaxation diet and exercise. Of course if you smoke, you can choose to stop! Resorts could offer stop smoking courses and while we are at it we could look at alcohol and recreational drugs, too!

Next there is chemical stress. Yes, there are over 600 chemical toxins in a cigarette, but we also eat food that has been sprayed with insecticides and other toxins. Genetically Modified foods contain poisonous weedkillers, like Monsanto’s “Roundup” crafted into the crop itself. People need to know how to wash produce properly and take steps to find a good organic supplier!

Finally, there is electro-stress. “Did you know there are 230 million times as many radio waves today than there were 70 years ago?” asks Dr. Norm, “We have mobile phones, Wi-Fi, microwaves all apart from radio and TV! We need to protect ourselves from these sources, too.” Indeed a good stress busting program shows ways to reduce exposure to EMFs.

There are some vital health lessons to be learned from combating stress. Some Detox Programs look at some solutions, but the busy executive needs a ‘Stress busting program” that answers his own problems. So what are we going to do about it?

This article first appeared in "Samui Gazette" Dec 17th-Jan 6th Vol 1. No 11.

Alister Bredee is a freelance author living on Koh Samui. He is a health care practitioner, trainer and a partner in The Health Ambit Consultancy. He also works as a Detox Consultant and Locum with extensive experience. He can be contacted via his website: www.healthambit.com. He publishes a regular blog at: www.healthambitblogspot.com. You can find him and the Health Ambit Consultancy on Facebook.

AAMET Life Magazine . Winter Edition

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The Triple-Filter Test

Author Unknown

In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge
in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great
philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about
your friend?"

"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to
me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment
and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it
the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have
you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me
is true?"

"Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it
and..."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don’t really know if
it’s true or not. Now, let’s try the second filter, the
filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about
my friend something good?"

"Umm, no, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something
bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. You
may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter
left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me
about my friend going to be useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is
neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me
at all?"

Hot Yoga Oils the Joints.

Hot Yoga Oils the Joints.

Bikram yoga emerged out of Calcutta in the 1970s. This was shortly after Bikram Choudhury went to Japan to teach and found that too many of his yoga students hurt themselves during practice. This had not happened in his hometown, so he decided he would re-create the conditions of Calcutta and see if that made a difference. So he heated the yoga room to 37 C or body temperature and upped the humidity factor to 65%. The injury rate decreased and he fashioned what is known as Bikram or Hot Yoga.

Traditionally the classes are 90 minutes in duration and consist of 26 postures or asanas plus two breathing exercises. According to Polish born Tomasz Goetel who runs the “Hot Yoga Studio” in Phuket, “the sweat is cleansing because it removes toxins from the body.” “The joints are nicely oiled up to encourage stretching!”

Choudhury himself claims that his system considerably enhances blood circulation by two processes referred to as extension and compression. He says this transports oxygen to every system in the body. We know that oxygen both energizes and detoxifies, so his claim sounds to be of immense benefit to health.

“You must also have mirrors, so that you can see yourself.” What sort of voyeuristic activity is this? It looks to be a long way from early morning asanas in a wooden sala, situated meters away from the gently lapping swell of the sea.

“No mirrors are important. You can admire yourself! They make you look good,” says Tomasz. That’s fine if you have a sylph like figure shining with the polish of youth, but as age takes its inevitable toll this initial bloom gives way to bulging stomachs and flabby muscles, not at all a pretty sight!

“No you don’t understand. Mirrors help you align the body. You can see what you are doing and this simplifies the instructions”, asserts Tomasz who is the founder of “Hot Yoga Evolution”. This is really his take on the teachings of Jimmy Barkan one of the world’s most respected hot yogainstructors.

Tomasz’s classes are for everybody. “This is fun and I practice a sweet and friendly approach. This is a gentle way and all are welcome.” This take was very far from my own views on the subject. Yoga means union of mind, body and spirit, and it was developed as a spiritual form of exercising. It always seemed that this new fad was simply a trendy way of getting fit. A gym workout dressed up in yogic clothes seemed a very far cry from getting in touch with a power greater than ourselves.

Tomasz smiled at this cynicism. “No. it is a supportive endeavor. I work on a multi-level basis by offering individual tuition to the beginners until they can catch up with the rest of the class. Beginners are encouraged to join the classes. True this makes the teacher’s job more challenging but it also lets the advanced students inspire the less able.”

I had met some of his students during “Hot Yoga Evolution” trainings at Absolute Sanctuary in Cheong Mon. Some were stunners, radiating youth and fitness but others I could relate to. Here were men who had passed their forty mark, they carried a bit of weight and did not appear to be super fit.

“It is these people who feel they are in the right place. Once that starts happening they begin swimming with the rest of the class.” That’s one of Tomasz’s claims that seemed to hold water.

Apparently it “takes five classes to get used to the heat and then participants begin to realize that hot yoga is a perfect environment for the non-yoga person. Men begin to relate to the cardio-fitness and ladies understand calorie burn for weight loss.”

Was I convinced? Yes, the exercise related benefits were plainly evident and the talks and lectures that comprised the practical side of the Hot Yoga Evolution training brought out the more philosophical and spiritual elements and so this removed some of my remaining prejudices.

Hot Yoga is available on Koh Samui at Absolute Sanctuary and at Bikram Yoga in Chaweng. Tomasz Goetel holds twice yearly retreats on the island usually at Absolute Sanctuary, so perhaps there is an opportunity to learn from the horse’s mouth. It’s usually the best way. Oh, to track him down, you could try Mr.Google!

Alister Bredee is a freelance author living on Koh Samui. He is a health care practitioner, trainer and a partner in The Health Ambit Consultancy. He also works as a Detox Consultant and Locum. You can find him and the Health Ambit Consultancy on Facebook.

This article first appeared in "The Samui Gazette" of 3rd December 2010

THE 12 LAWS OF KARMA

THE GREAT LAW
As you sow, so shall you reap.
This is also known as the Law of Cause and Effect.
Whatever we put out in the Universe
is what comes back to us.
If what we want is Happiness, Peace, Friendship, Love...
Then we should BE Happy, Peaceful, Loving, a Friend.

THE LAW OF CREATION
Life doesn't just HAPPEN, it requires our participation.
We are one with the Universe both inside and out.
Whatever surrounds us gives us clues to our inner state.
BE and DO yourself...
what you what to have in your Life.

THE LAW OF HUMILITY
What you refuse to accept, will continue for you.
If what we see is an enemy, or someone with a character trait that we
find to be negative,
then we ourselves are not focused on a higher level of existence.

THE LAW OF GROWTH
Wherever you go, there you are.
For us to GROW in Spirit it is we who must change and not the people,
places or things around us.
The only given we have in our lives is OURSELVES
and that is the only factor we have control over.
When we change who and what we are within our heart
our life changes too.

THE LAW OF RESPONSIBILITY
Whenever there is something wrong,
there is something wrong in me.
We mirror what surrounds us
and what surrounds us mirrors us
We must take responsibility what is in our life.

THE LAW OF CONNECTION
Even if something we do seems inconsequential,
it is very important that it gets done
as everything in the Universe is connected.
Each step leads to the next step and so forth and so on.
Someone must do the initial work to get a job done.
Neither the first step nor the last
are of greater significance
They were both needed to accomplish the task.
Past, Present, Future
They are all connected...

THE LAW OF FOCUS
You can't think of two things at the same time.
When our focus is on Spiritual Values it is impossible for us to have
lower thoughts such as greed or anger.

THE LAW OF GIVING AND HOSPITALITY
If you believe something to be true,
then sometime in your life
you will be called upon to demonstrate that truth.
Here is where we put what we SAY
that we have learned
into PRACTICE.

THE LAW OF HERE AND NOW
Looking back to examine what was,
prevents us from being totally in the HERE AND NOW.
Old thoughts, old patterns of behavior, old dreams...
Prevent us from having new ones.

THE LAW OF CHANGE
History repeats itself until
we learn the lessons that we need
to change our path.

THE LAW OF PATIENCE AND REWARD
All Rewards require initial toil.
Rewards of lasting value
require patient and persistent toil.
True Joy follows doing what we're suppose to be doing and waiting for
the Reward to come in it's on time.

THE LAW OF SIGNIFICANCE AND INSPIRATION
You get back from something whatever
you've put into it
The Value of something is a direct result of
the energy and intent that is put into it.
Every personal contribution
is also a contribution to the Whole
Lack luster Contributions have no impact on the Whole
or work to diminish it.
Loving Contributions Lift Up and Inspire the Whole

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