All MFN blog – Page 97 – MedFitNetwork

Should You Eat Healthy Everyday?

Ashley Koff, RD/16 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

Recently I received a note from a trainer saying “things to be done EVERYDAY, eat healthy everyday…”. As I thought about this recommendation, I realized there are three issues it presents for almost all of us.

So before I answer, let me address those:

We have no working definition of “healthy” eating in this country.

Truth. Now that’s sad. We have government definitions. Those have influence from trade associations and also are very one-size fits all. We have practitioners (those who currently work with others – at least two people – on their health), we have coaches, we have influencers, we have authors, and we have currently healthy people sharing their takes, tips, resources and definitions of healthy. Then we have products marketed, even named, “healthy”. But what we don’t have is one definition of what healthy eating is today.

We have many days. Hopefully, you and me, we have lots of days ahead of us.

So to do one thing, several times, for all those days seems daunting, even unrealistic. When we give recommendations or set goals that are unrealistic, in my opinion, we are more likely to fail. I’m not sure humans versus robots are wired to do the same thing everyday.

We can control a lot.

But we can’t control each day, and as such, life happens where eating healthy one day may be not just a choice to skip but a reality – like a winter storm happens, and the stores are closed except the gas station and it’s out of most food. This isn’t an excuse, but rather a reality. Not a frequent reality, but it busts the everyday goal.

So NO you shouldn’t eat healthy everyday. But what you do need to do is give your body the resources it needs to run better, more often. To do this demands that you a) Assess where you are at b) keep what’s better and c) act better, not perfect, more often. That’s right, move over “eat healthy everyday” and enter “choose your better nutrition more often.”

Semantics are everything. What goal are you working towards? Have you written it out? Have you said it out loud? Is it doable? Need help?

Let’s get better, together.

Originally printed on ashleykoffapproved.com. Reprinted with permission.

Ashley Koff RD is your better health enabler. For decades, Koff has helped thousands get and keep better health by learning to make their better not perfect nutrition choices more often. A go-to nutrition expert for the country’s leading doctors, media, companies and non-profit organizations, Koff regularly shares her Better Nutrition message with millions on national and local television, magazines and newspapers. Visit her website at ashleykoffapproved.com. Ashley is also available for nutritional consultations.

Cancer, Lifestyle and Health Coaching

Linda Gogl/15 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

A cancer diagnosis is tremendously overwhelming and often takes away the feelings of control over one’s life. After diagnosis comes the whirlwind of information and new decisions that revolve around living with cancer. Health & Wellness Coaches work with clients in a variety of ways to help them navigate through the healthcare system and develop a self-created plan for treatment and lifestyle that supports the client in managing and re-gaining control over their lives.

5 Elements to Boost the Retention in Your Fitness Studio

Josh Leve/11 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

Retention – the infamous “back door” that has plagued the fitness industry for decades – demands the attention of any studio that intends to stand the test of time.

Here are five of the rules to live by in order to keep your studio’s members coming back – with smiles on their faces.

1. Understand the Cost of Retention vs. Acquisition

Consider these three axioms of customer acquisition as opposed to retention:

It costs five times as much to acquire a new customer than it does to retain a current customer;
The probability of selling to an existing client is 60-70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20%;
The fitness studio industry average retention rate is roughly 70%, meaning you can expect to lose 30% of your customers every year.

Furthermore, retained clients are, generally, happy clients. They tend to become “Word of Mouth” advocates of your business, leading to cost efficient acquisition. Just like “the best offense is a good defense,” so is “closing the back door opens the front door.”

Clearly, Retention – keeping the members you have – is the name of the game.

2. It Starts from Day One

The old expression “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” definitely holds true in the fitness studio business. Studios need to know who the newbies are and from the get-go do everything possible to make the very first experience in your studio top-notch.

This means friendly greetings, knowing client’s names, and introducing the new member to staff and fellow clients. The first day of membership or the first class taken is the first step (and lasting impression) toward retention.

Whatever your onboarding strategy – and you must have one – it starts now. Not tomorrow.

3. Deliver on Your Brand Promise

A key component of retention is in understanding what attracted your clients in the first place. Whatever your brand promise was that got them there – it’s incumbent on you to deliver on that promise.

If you’re touting your studio as the best this or the best that – then you need to be exactly that! If you’re marketing the largest this, or greatest that, – deliver.

This generally means a friendly, helpful, non-judgmental workout environment along with working machines, no canceled classes, and trainers/instructors as advertised.

Most importantly, deliver programmatically. If you’ve established a 60-day weight loss program, do whatever it takes for your clients to be successful – within the parameters of the positive client experience.

4. Personalization

One of the most compelling differentiating factors of the studio business is the personalization factor. Most happy members and clients are pleased because they feel their studio experience is unique to them – that what they are doing is not cookie cutter, but that they matter.

Personalization cannot be overstated. If the experience is fun, effective, and unforgettable for each client every time – that client will continue to frequent your studio. In some ways it’s akin to a doctor. The good ones treat your disease; the great ones treat the disease AND the person.

afpa1 In the case of a studio, the “disease” might be to “lose 20 pounds in two months.” Don’t allow this client to feel like he/she was thrown into “another class” to achieve the goal. “We have classes for that,” won’t do. Rather say, “Let me put together a custom program just for you based on what you like to do.”

5. Listen to Your Clients and Your Staff

Everybody makes mistakes. Nobody nor anything is perfect. Problems do arise. It’s the nature of life and can’t be avoided. The key is how you respond when things go wrong.

Most members and especially most staff are eager to point out when something in your studio could have been done better. Listen to them, consider their point of view, and take remedial action as soon as possible.

Responsiveness leads to improvement. If you don’t know a problem exists, it will continue. Encourage members and staff to let you know when a problem exists and how they believe it should be remedied.

When people believe their input has value, they will continue to provide it – and your business will continue to improve.

Retention can be a tricky element in the overall context of your fitness business. The most important strategy is to always, always keep your eye on retention – it’s the key to your bottom line.

Josh Leve is responsible for the strategic development and growth of the Association of Fitness Studios. Josh brings more than 10 years of sales, consulting, advertising, marketing, operations, and retail experience to AFS and has spent more than a decade in the fitness industry.

Standing man with broken inner mechanism, bad health

Are you training your gut?

Nancy Clark, RD/10 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

Athletes tend to do a good job of training their muscles, heart and lungs. But some of them (particularly endurance athletes and those in running sports) commonly fail to train their gut. As one marathoner reported, “I was so afraid of getting diarrhea during long training runs that I did not eat or drink anything beforehand. I really struggled after 14 miles…” A high school soccer player admitted, “I’m so afraid I’ll throw up if I run with food in my stomach.” He ate only a light lunch at 11:00 and then practiced on fumes at 3:30. No wonder he had a disappointing season.

An estimated 30-50% of endurance athletes (including up to 90% of distance runners) have experienced gastro-intestinal (GI) issues during and after hard exercise. They fear bloat, gas, nausea, stomach cramps/pain, side stitch, diarrhea, vomiting, and urge to defecate. These issues arise during long bouts of exercise because blood flow to the gut is reduced for an extended period of time. When combined with dehydration, elevated body temperature and high levels of stress hormones, normal intestinal function can abruptly end.

If you are an athlete with a finicky GI tract, restricting your diet before and during exercise will not solve the problem. You want to learn how to train your gut to accommodate performance enhancing carbs and water. That way, you can train better—hence compete better—without stressing about undesired pit stops.

Thankfully, the gut is trainable. Competitive eaters have proven this point. Google Nathans’ Hot Dog Eating Competition and watch the video of a champ who stuffed 72 hotdogs into his stomach in 10 minutes. Clearly, he had to train his gut to be able to complete that task.

Competitive eating is unlikely your goal, but you may want to be competitive in your sport. That means you need to fuel wisely in order to perform optimally. While some “keto-athletes” choose to train their bodies to rely on fat for fuel (fat is less likely to cause GI distress), training the gut is a far easier alternative for most of us.

The following tips can help you exercise with digestive peace.

Drink enough fluids. Dehydration triggers intestinal problems. Your goal is to drink enough to prevent 2% dehydration (sweat loss of 2 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight from pre- to post-exercise). If you are a “big guy” who sweats heavily, this can be a lot of fluid. For example, a 200-pound football player could easily lose 4 pounds (a half-gallon) of sweat in an hour of exercise. He needs to train his gut to handle fluid replacement during training. He could need as much as 12 to 16 ounces every 15 minutes during a two-hour practice.

Feeling “full” and “bloated” during exercise indicates fluids (and foods) have not emptied from the stomach. This commonly happens during really hard exercise, when reduced blood flow to the stomach delays stomach emptying. Hot weather and prolonged exercise in the heat can also reduce stomach emptying.

You want to dilute highly concentrated carbs (i.e., gels), so be sure to drink enough water during exercise (i.e. 16 oz. water per 100 calories gel).This will help speed up gastric emptying.

If you plan to eat a peanut butter on a bagel before you compete, you want to routinely eat that before important training sessions. This helps train your gut to accommodate fat (sustained energy) as well as carbs (quick energy).

Once carbohydrate (such as sport drink, gel, banana, or gummi bears) empties from the stomach, it enters the small intestine and is broken down into one of three simple sugars (glucose, fructose, galactose). These sugars need “taxi cabs” to get transported out of the intestine and into the blood stream.

Too many gels or chomps without enough transporters can lead to diarrhea. By training with your race-day carbs, you can increase the number of transporters.

If you typically eat a low-carb Paleo or keto-type diet and then on the day of, let’s say, a marathon, you decide to fuel with carb-rich gels and sports drinks, your body won’t have the capacity to optimally transport the sugar (carbs) out of your intestines and to your muscles. You could easily end up with diarrhea.

When planning what to eat during extended exercise, choose from a variety of carbs with a variety of sugars (i.e., sport drink, gum drops, and maple sugar candy). This helps prevent the glucose transporters from getting saturated. Too much of one kind of sport food can easily create GI problems.

“Real foods” such as banana, raisins and cereal, have been shown to be as effective as commercial sport foods. Your body processes “real food” every day and has developed a good supply of transporters to deal with the carbohydrate you commonly eat. By experimenting and learning what works best for your body, you can fuel without anxiety about undesired pit stops.

For exercise that lasts for up to two hours, research suggests about 60 grams (240 calories) of carb per hour can empty from the small intestine and get into the blood stream. Hence, that’s a good target. For longer, slower, events, the body can use 90 g (360 calories) carb per hour from multiple sources,as tolerated. Again, train your gut!

The bottom line

Train with relatively large volumes of fluid to get your stomach used to that volume.
Routinely eat carbohydrate-based foods before training sessions to increase your body’s ability to absorb and use the carbs.
During training, practice your race-day fueling. Mimic what you might eat before the actual competitive event, and tweak it until you find the right balance.
If you are concerned about diarrhea, in addition to preventing dehydration, limit your fiber intake for a few days pre-event (fewer whole grains, fruits and veggies).
Reducing your intake of onions, garlic, broccoli, apples, and sorbitol might help reduce GI issues during exercise.
Meet with a sports dietitian to help you create a fueling plan that promotes intestinal peace and better performance.

Sports nutritionist Nancy Clark MS RD CSSD has a private practice in the Boston-area (Newton; 617-795-1875). She helps both fitness exercisers and competitive athletes create winning food plans. Her best-selling Sports Nutrition Guidebook, and food guides for marathoners, cyclists and soccer are available at nancyclarkrd.com. For online workshops: www.NutritionSportsExerciseCEUs.com.

The Exorbitant Costs of Single-Minded Identity Construct of Old Age

Adrienne Ione/9 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

When you read the words “young-person” in a sentence, what is the image that comes to mind? What about when you hear the words “old-person?” Do you readily form an opinion or do your initial thoughts come in the form of questions: “I don’t know. I need more information? What do you think?” If a clear image comes to mind, then one line informing these socially constructed ideas of aging can be traced to our education system, one that rewards outcome over process.

With such a strict adherence to outcome, we mindlessly develop a world view that we rarely, if ever, question. Freud suggests that although our initial interpretations of the world may be later refuted, we tend to cling steadfastly to these original views.[1] Possibly damaging views are what serve as a lens through which all future information passes.

In childhood we develop ideas of old age. At the time, the way in which we construct this concept may be rather irrelevant information. Old age doesn’t pertain to youth. Or does it?

Our most prominent images of old age can be described by what psychologists refer to as “premature cognitive commitment.” These original concepts of old age become the foundation on which we identify as we age. We live to fulfill these ideas and uphold these images. As Ellen J. Langer suggests, “premature cognitive commitments are like photographs in which meaning rather than motion is frozen.”[2] In other words, in our youth, we hear words such as stodgy, grumpy and crabby to describe old people. Later, as adults, as old people ourselves (if we are so fortunate) we do not question this image. We may act in these ways even if we don’t genuinely feel this way because, well, we’re old and this is what old people do. Unquestioned. This stunted potential is yet another cost of the mindlessness of aging.

Similar to the views promoted by physicists James Jeans and Sir Arthur Eddington who thought the universe to be best understood as a great idea, we can think of old age in the same light. Aging exists to be interacted with. The idea of old age is incomplete. As you age, you get to inform the structure and meaning of old age. Your identity adds a uniqueness to what it means to be old.

Our orientation to the world directly informs our identity. In the U.S., success is so strictly tied to outcome. A self-image that is based on outcome fails to recognize the value of process. As we age, we could greatly benefit from regarding process as perhaps even more valuable than outcome. Furthermore, if we adopt a mindful approach to aging, then we can conceive of the possibility of new categories, a constant recreating or reorganizing of information that defines and interprets our understanding of our world and of old age.

St. Augustine said, “The present, therefore, has several dimensions. The present of this past, the present of things present, and the present of things future.” If we take into consider the process of living, one that is as varied as there are dialects in this world, and use this to inform a construct of old age, then we can see where different processes of old age can occur. It is possible for many images of old age to exist.

By adopting a coherent mindful approach to aging, we may not only reduce the costs of mindlessness we may also extend the quality and years of our life. I don’t know. I need more information. What do you think?

Adrienne Ione is a dynamic, mindful, high-fiving, cognitive behavioral therapist, certified dementia specialist and senior personal trainer. Founder of Silver Linings Integrative Health, a company with an aim of promoting health, fitness and wellbeing opportunities for people to thrive across the lifespan.

[1] Sigmund Freud, “Analysis terminable and Interminable.”

[2] Ellen J. Langer, Mindfulness.

Have You Recruited Yourself?

Kelli Calabrese/3 January 2018/ All MFN blog/

If You Are Making Excuses, You Are Not Sold Out On Reaching Your Goals! Don’t Be A Quitter!

Do you know someone who sets a goal and runs after it with massive action? I have friends who act like androids continually crushing their goals and rising to the top at whatever they set out to do. I realize they are rare, however far too many give up too easily on their dreams.

A select few give their dreams their all. They are in the minority.

So what’s the difference between making excuses and quitting versus putting your head down and being fully sold out and attached to reaching the most excellent outcome?

You need to sell yourself. You need to sign yourself up fully for what ever it is that you want to do, be, have or give. Your belief in the outcome must be unshakable.

If you were Thomas Edison, would you have invented the lightbulb? Would you have failed over 1,000 times and kept believing it was possible and putting all of your resources into making it a reality?

The truth is that some of you already quit on your 2018 goals because you never fully believed it was possible. You might say that you want to lose weight or quit smoking or pay off debt or take that dream vacation, but do you know that you know that you know, deep in your soul that you will make it happen? Are you willing to invest the resources and do what ever is necessary to achieve it?

How can you increase your chances of achieving your 2018 goals?

Write them down, read them daily, make them public.
Build EXTRAORDINARY belief in yourself, your product or service and your ability to make it happen.
Recruit others to share the vision, advise, hold accountable, support and mentor you.
STOP making excuses. Once you complain or make excuses you have one foot on the breaks and are close to quitting.
Find someone doing what you want to do (or be or have or give) and duplicate their success.
Set up rewards along the way and have a celebration planned for when you achieve your goal. Recognition, fun and celebration make the hardness in transforming, stretching and growing more manageable.
Have a daily method of thinking and acting that moves you closer to your goal each day.
If someone quits after a month or 2 or 6 they weren’t truly committed. They didn’t even give the seeds of their work time to grow.

How could you expect someone else to commit and follow you when you weren’t TRULY committed?

The moment you recruit yourself is the moment when everything changes. It won’t typically happen right away but it will happen!

When your goals are achieved you will enjoy the sweet spot of your passion, purpose and profit coming together! It’s priceless.

Reprinted with permission from Kelli Calabrese. Visit her website, kellicalabrese.com

Kelli Calabrese MS, is a 32 year fitness, nutrition and lifestyle professional who is a clinical exercise physiologist, former health club owner, corporate fitness manager and she founded a school that prepared over 3,000 people to become certified fitness pro’s. She was the lead fitness expert for eDiets, Montel Williams and was interviewed for Jillian Michael’s position on the biggest loser.

a trainer helping a senior woman doing fitness

Exercise and Multiple Sclerosis

Lisa Dougherty/29 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

A study published by researchers at the University of Utah in 1996 was the first to demonstrate clearly the benefits of exercise for people with MS. Those patients who participated in an aerobic exercise program had better cardiovascular fitness, improved strength, better bladder and bowel function, less fatigue and depression, a more positive attitude, and increased participation in social activities.

MS is the most common neuromuscular disease affecting young adults. The onset of symptoms usually occurs between the ages of 20 and 40. The disease is twice as prevalent in woman as in men.

The National MS society provides the following parameterof different functional levels of people with MS:

Level 1 – Mild: People with this level of MS may be walking independently but may also walk with a cane. They may have some visual and coordination issues.

Level 2– Moderate: People with this level of MS may be dependent on a walker or a wheelchair. They may be able to transfer themselves or they may require assistance.

Level 3 – Progressive: People with this level of MS may be paralyzed primarily in the lower extremities. They will spend most of their time in a wheel chair.

Associated Impairments

Fatigue: Usually mid-afternoon after waking up feeling reasonably rested
Spasticity: Most common areas of the body to be affected are the legs and postural muscles.
Weakness: May be present all the time or only during times of acute flare-up. Pain leads to disuse and disuse leads to even greater weakness and los of functional fitness.
Tremors: These are not predictable as exhibited with Parkinson’s disease. They tend to vary widely in intensity and oscillation.
Balance, Coordination, and Gait: Often the first symptom of MS is the great mental effort it takes to perform movements that previously were automatic. They may observe foot dragging and shuffling or a foot that turns in while walking. They may exhibit shaking and jerky movements know as ataxia.
Muscle Cramps and Spasms: Flexor spasms in muscles that increase flexion of a muscle may occur.
Numbness and Tingling: Most often sensed toward the periphery of the extremities such as fingers and toes.
Heat Sensitivity: High ambient temperature and humidity can exacerbate the symptoms and lead to fatigue, loss of balance, visual changes and general worsening of symptoms.
Vision: people may experience optic neuritis in one eye where vision may be blurred for minutes. Response of the pupils to light is slowed.
Hearing: Changes in hearing are rare.
Cognition: 50% of people experience some degree of mild cognitive disfunction.
Cardiovascular Dysautonomia: Irregular function of the autonomic nervous system leads to blunted heart rate and decreased blood pressure in response to exercise.

Benefits of Physical Activity for People with MS

Research shows that the proper dose of exercise can provide people with MS with beneficial results.Loss of muscle strength resulting from the onset of neurological damage cannot be improved through exercise. However, muscle atrophy as a result of disuse can be.

Regular exercise can counteract muscle weakness, lower the risk of bone fracture, improve the efficiency of the respiratory system, increase bone density, lower stress, and contribute to a general feeling of well-being.

The benefits of regular exercise and therapeutic fitness training include:

Maintained optimal health and decreased incidence of secondary health problems related to disuse syndrome
Increased energy
Decreased muscle atrophy
Managed spasticity
Improved cardiovascular function and blood lipid management
Reduced risk factors for cardiovascular disease
Reduced obesity and glucose intolerance
Depression lessened or eliminated
Improved sleep
Enhanced self-esteem
Improved balance and basic motor skills
Activities of daily living become easier to perform

Exercise Guidelines:

Incorporating mild interval training is an effective method to prolong stamina, as it enables people to perform more exercises without fatiguing or overheating.
Activities that necessitate pointing the toes should be avoided as that position might increase spasticity in the legs.
When strength training, focus on areas of muscle imbalance. Coordinate the flexibility portion with strength training static flexibility movements after that focuses on increasing mobility and lengthening of tight areas (chest, calf, and hip flexors).
It’s important to develop strength before endurance and participating in balance activities.
Use eyes to follow movement of a limb. This will increase periphery input and influence adjustments in stability.
Emphasize proper body alignment during all activities. Poor posture hinders controlled and safe movement
Incorporate warm-ups before exercise
Exercise progressions should be gradual and based on response and tolerance
Minimize stress to joints. Be prepared for low impact or non-weight bearing activities if person experiences compromised balance or numbness in their lower extremities, or orthopedic problems
Weight bearing helps to reduce spasticity, therefore, standing exercise are recommended if possible
Incorporate rotational exercise patterns to break up abnormal motor patterns caused by spasticity or rigidity
Do not bend neck forward (cervical flexion) as this type of movement can cause Lhermitte’s sign – a brief stabbing, electric-shock-like sensation that runs from the back of the head down the spine.
Avoid overheating
Simple movements before complex movements
Static moves before dynamic moves
Slow movements before fast movements
Low weigh loads before high weight loads
Two-arm movements (or two-leg) before single-arm(or single-leg) movements
Stable surfaces before unstable
Quality movements before quantity of movements
Focus on core of trunk as well as stabilizers of each joint
Employ proper use of open kinetic chain moves versus closed kinetic chain exercises.
Focus on proper use of concentric, eccentric, isometric, isokinetic and plyometric moves
Maintain functional range of motion – know the anatomical motions that occur at each joint
A comprehensive fitness program should incorporate perceptual-motor skills – visual, auditory, tactile, and proprioceptive senses.
Balance training is important as it underlies nearly every static and dynamic posture that requires the body to be stabilized against the pull of gravity
The goal of cardiovascular exercise is to between 50%-80% of max heart rate

There are medical fitness trainers that are certified to work with individuals with multiple sclerosis. They have acquired the tools and strategies to improve physical fitness and functional ability for clients with MS who have varying symptoms of the disease and levels of ability. They have learned exercise precautions, program design, perceptual motor and balance skill development, and much more.

Lisa Dougherty founded Whole Body Fitness in 1999. She graduated from the University of CA, Irvine, Fitness Instructor Program, and is a Certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach through the American Council on Exercise. She has specialty certifications to work with those with medical conditions, post surgical/rehab as well as pre & postnatal fitness. Course work includes: Heart Disease, Breast Cancer Recovery, MS, Parkinson’s, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s/Dementia, Arthritis, Respiratory Disease, Fibromyalgia, Knee and hip replacement, and Pre and Postpartum fitness. Lisa founded the Medical Fitness Network in 2013.

Everything You Need to Know About Acid Reflux Disease

Joe Fleming/28 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

Have you ever experienced an unpleasant burning feeling in your chest after eating? How about frequent belching? Do you also find it difficult to swallow your food? If you have these signs and symptoms, you might be having an acid reflux.

Acid reflux disease is a common health problem that happens when the acid in your stomach flows back to your esophagus. That’s why the condition is more specifically referred to as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Reports have shown that in the United States, 25-40% of people experience the signs and symptoms of acid reflux at some point in their lives while 7-10% have to deal with the symptoms every day. The disease can affect all age groups but the risk is higher in people who are over 40 years old.

The Stomach and the Esophagus

To further understand the signs and symptoms of acid reflux, you need to be familiar first with the structure and function of the body organs affected by the disease.

Your stomach and esophagus are part of your digestive system.
When eating, the food that you swallow travels through your esophagus, a hollow and muscular tube that connects your throat to your stomach.
The esophagus has lubricants and moves in wavelike movements to propel food towards your stomach.
Before the food reaches your stomach, it has to pass through your lower esophageal sphincter, which is a ring of muscle that relaxes to allow food entry into the stomach and tightens to prevent food from coming back up (regurgitation).
The food enters your stomach where it is digested.
Food is broken down by the aid of your stomach acid and digestive enzymes.

What Happens in Acid Reflux Disease?

Your stomach acid can regurgitate to your esophagus when your lower esophageal sphincter becomes dysfunctional or when there is a delay in the emptying of your stomach.

Your lower esophageal sphincter prevents acid and food from going back into the esophagus. When it becomes dysfunctional, the regurgitated stomach acid can irritate the lining of your esophagus.

Lower esophageal sphincter dysfunction can happen in several ways such as when it relaxes temporarily (the most common mechanism), when it relaxes permanently, and when the increased pressure inside the stomach becomes higher than the pressure in the sphincter, forcing it to open.

Delayed emptying of stomach contents can also increase the pressure inside the stomach. The building pressure will push at your lower esophageal sphincter. When it cannot resist the pressure any longer, it can lead to acid reflux.

Signs and Symptoms of Acid Reflux Disease

The signs and symptoms of acid reflux generally get worse after eating, when bending over, and when lying down. These include:

Heartburn (uncomfortable burning feeling in your chest)
A sour taste in your mouth
Inflammation of the esophagus
Feeling bloated or feeling sick (the high pressure inside your stomach makes it distended)
Frequent belching
Vomiting
Bad breath
Painful and difficulty swallowing
Hoarse voice (the acid irritates your vocal chords)
Excessive saliva production (your body’s attempt to neutralize the pH in your esophagus)

What are the Risk Factors for Acid Reflux Disease?

The following conditions can predispose you to have acid reflux disease:

Being overweight. When you are overweight or obese, the excess fat can increase the pressure in your stomach.
Being pregnant. Symptoms of acid reflux disease are common in pregnant women primarily because the growing baby can compress the stomach, increasing the intragastric pressure.
Exposure to cigarette smoke. Whether you are the smoker yourself or you are only exposed to secondhand smoke, you are at risk of developing the disease. The nicotine found in cigarettes relaxes your lower esophageal sphincter, making it dysfunctional in preventing the reflux of acid to your esophagus.

How to Manage the Symptoms?

Eat small, frequent meals instead of large meals
Avoid drinking coffee and alcoholic beverages
Avoid eating chocolate, spicy foods, and fatty foods
Stop smoking and avoid inhaling cigarette smoke
Refrain from eating at least 2-3 hours before sleeping
Lose weight and strive to maintain a normal body-mass index (BMI)
Do not sleep with your body lying flat on the bed. Make sure that the head of your bed is elevated by 6-8 inches. You can do this by putting durable risers for low beds under the head of your bed.
Opt for loose clothing. Wearing tight clothes can compress your stomach and push stomach acid into your esophagus.

When to See Your Doctor

If these home remedies and lifestyle modifications do not relieve your symptoms, talk to your doctor about further treatment. Seek consultation if you observe any of the following:

Recurring symptoms that occur several times in a week
Difficulty swallowing
Persistent vomiting, most especially if accompanied by blood
Sudden weight loss

Early treatment is important when dealing with acid reflux to prevent the development of serious complications.

Joe Fleming is the President at ViveHealth.com. Interested in all things related to living a healthy lifestyle, he enjoys sharing and expressing his passion through writing. Working to motivate others and defeat aging stereotypes, Joe uses his writing to help all people overcome the obstacles of life. Covering topics that range from physical health, wellness, and aging all the way to social, news, and inspirational pieces…the goal is help others “rebel against age”.

The Right Exercise

Shira Litwack/19 December 2017/ All MFN blog/

I have mentioned many times thus far, not just that exercise is the managing partner of integrative oncology, but I try to be really careful to say the right exercise. As much as exercise does hold the key to our magic kingdom of health within, there are contraindications, both in terms of prevention and recovery, and prevention of recurrence.

fresh green salad with arugula and beets To understand this, let me give you a very brief intro to oxidative stress. We have all read about the importance of eating our fruits and vegetables to provide much needed antioxidants. This is because we live a life where oxidative stress is in abundance. As exercise is the one and only Rx with no bad side effects, the truth is, we should always say “the right exercise”.

Unfortunately in our world of extremes and quick fixes, we think of exercise as bop till you drop. Pushing hard, sweating — and as some celebrity trainers like to take pride in — push till you
throw up.

OK… I will NEVER support the latter, under any circumstance, but for some people pushing to the point of sweaty, dirty, pumped, driven, is a great thing.

I do believe the fountain of youth is our own sweat! And yes, that level of intensity to achieve that state differs greatly amongst people.

The danger exists, when people exceed their optimal levels, which we can do unknowingly. Given the chronic illnesses, the data seems to support most people are not exerting themselves in terms of exercise or physical activity anywhere near that optimal level.

Medical staff with senior people at gym However, with people recovering from cancer, it is very important to work at the right level, and know that slow and steady wins the race. And just to throw in another caveat – yes this level of intensity will vary drastically, depending on the type of cancer and treatments utilized.

Oxidative stress occurs when the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), often referred to as “free radicals,” exceeds antioxidant defence. There are many perpetrators in our world to the production of reactive oxygen species: alcohol, sugar, toxins, certain chemicals… a very long list, and the truth is we have to add exercise to this list if we are doing it beyond the appropriate point. Or if exercise is counterproductive to…

The balance between the ROS and antioxidants is out of whack, upsetting our inner ecosystem, creating an environment for cancer to survive and thrive. As always, its all about balance.

And this is yet another reason it is critical to have a well balanced, nutrition packed diet. The expression often used is “eat a rainbow”, because eating an assortment of colors (fruits and vegetables, not candy) is a great way to ensure getting a variety of antioxidants our bodies need to combat those free radicals. And by the way, the danger of an imbalance in this equation is a factor in not just cancer but many other diseases, including heart disease, Alzheimer’s, depression, macular degeneration, autoimmune disorders. Now, let’s think about the many possible side effects of treatments (medications) for these diseases… cancer. OK, let’s eat our antioxidants! (I promise, much more about antioxidants in another article)

Or as my chick flick heart insists: Exercise & Nutrition are the greatest love affair of all times. One just cannot live without the other.

The point is NOT don’t exercise because it might be a source of oxidative stress. The point is we must expand our view of what exercise is. The point is to understand physical activity vs. exercise, dynamic vs. static exercise. Exercise is NOT about pushing in misery until you drop in a gym you don’t like! The point is there are many types of exercise that can be performed multiple times through out the day to tweak our immune & circular systems, and to accomplish that flow of Qi, that inner ecosystem.

The other point we have to remember, in all of our wonderful forms of exercise: training, cardio respiratory, strength, yoga, pilates, Qi Gong Tai chi, they all have wonderful benefits and healing powers. However, there are boundaries & contraindications for all of them. There are a number of parameters involved when deciding on an exercise program for cancer recovery & beyond. To name a very few: the type of cancer, treatment, potential for lymphedema, other pre-existing medical conditions, level of conditioning, goals of the program, fat loss suggested, preservation of muscle mass, side effects of treatment. And every one of these categories opens up many
other considerations.

Couple biking But the most important factor of all is the F factor, FUN. What will we actually, enjoy, embrace, do, and want more. We learn very quickly in the fitness business, “no time” is an excuse. When we know the literally infinite possibilities for physical activity, no time is an excuse, or, a very limited knowledge of what exercise is.

But step one is MOVE. Whether we move and pump those muscles when seated or standing, get it moving and pumping. Please consult a trained professional in cancer exercise training.

Even if the professional tells you they have worked with many cancer patients, it does not mean he or she has been trained in cancer exercise, and knows the many forms of exercise available, not just their own platform, and is aware there are contraindications, and potentially could have an adverse effect on recovery.

There is no one Rx for each cancer. We cannot say, “For breast cancer do this, for prostate cancer do that.”

Cancer exercise is both art and science, supports a mind body connection and creates an environment within to optimize treatment outcomes. Yes, always get permission from the health care professionals, but don’t let them think you are considering training for Ironman, This is not what cancer exercise is all about.

In exercise, we follow the FITT formula: Frequency Intensity Type Time

For cancer exercise I have modified this formula. FFITTT: FUN Frequency Intensity Type Time Telomeres…. leaves you hanging for another blog!

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Shira Litwack is the Director of International Relations and Master Trainer at, Cancer Exercise Training Institute and creator of Best in Health Radio.