Do you want to eat a more healthful diet, but your family isn’t on board? Or maybe your family is willing, but you aren’t sure what to do. Where do you start? Does it have to be complicated, difficult, or expensive?

The good news is, you can improve your family’s dietary habits for the better and it does not have to be difficult. It can even save you money. Here are some ideas.

1. Replace all white with brown

This is a fairly simple first step to take to improve your family’s diet, but it has a big impact. You don’t have to do it all at once; for example, you can add a bit of whole wheat flour to white flour baked goods, then gradually increase the amount of whole grain flour. Try starting with whole grain pancakes, waffles, or pasta – these are hardly distinguishable from their white-flour cousins. Here is a partial list of “white” foods and their “brown” counterparts:  Read more...

Congestive heart failure is a chronic medical condition that affects the strength of the heart muscle and the ability of the muscle to pump oxygenated blood around the body. In the past 40 years the number of individuals who suffer from congestive heart failure has grown significantly and today nearly 5 million Americans suffer from this condition. Because of advancements in technology and medical research new treatment methodologies have enabled patients to increase their life expectancy and decrease the number of side effects they suffer.

Among those treatment methodologies are alternatives to traditional medicine therapy which are gaining popularity, though with holistic medicine practitioners and some traditional Western medicine physicians.

Congestive heart failure is the end product of a number of cardiovascular diseases that decrease the ability of the heart to pump efficiently. A diagnosis of congestive heart failure means that nutritional preventative methods are too late but nutritional intervention can continue to assist the function of a damaged heart and support traditional medicine medications. Today, researchers believe that nutritional intervention may be able to augment, and possibly substitute, for pharmaceutical drugs therapy.  Read more...

The prostate gland is a small walnut sized gland that can bring about a drastic change in your sex life. Prostate problems arise from a benign or malignant growth in the gland.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia, as is evident from the name itself, is benign in nature and a common condition among a large majority of men, usually after they cross the age of forty. Malignancy in prostate grows slowly and is contained within the gland in most cases. However, in many cases it can spread outside the gland too.

Prostate health and advancing age has a dual effect on the sexual capabilities of an individual. On one hand prostate medicine or other treatments like radiation and surgery can result in a side effect that is related to sexual capabilities. On the other hand, advancing age in its own right can decrease sexual prowess.

During or after treatment for prostate enlargement, men may go through a period when they face erectile dysfunction, which is an inability to retain an erection long enough to have sex. Other sexual problems include pain during sex, orgasms without ejaculation and a difficulty in reaching orgasm.  Read more...

One of the key components of attachment parenting is the family bed. This refers to the sharing of sleeping space among family members, and particularly denotes a mother being physically close to her baby during the night. “Co-sleeping” refers to sleeping in close proximity to one’s baby or child, and could simply mean sleeping in the same room; “bed-sharing,” on the other hand, is literally that – family members sleep in the same bed. Therefore, the family bed does not have to be one enormous mattress; it can be whatever arrangement works for a family that fosters attachment.

The family bed has many physical and emotional benefits, with some cross-overs. Among the emotional benefits are increased trust on the part of the infant, emotional well-being for the mother, and a stable relationship between parent and child (thus setting the stage for healthy relationships later in life). Following is a list of these benefits explained in more detail.  Read more...

Cardiomyopathy is a serious heart condition in which the muscle becomes inflamed, possibly from infection, and does not work as well as it should. There can actually be a multitude of causes for cardiomyopathy which includes some viral infections.

Individuals who suffer from cardiomyopathy will be diagnosed with either primary or secondary disease. Primary myopathy is attributed to a specific cause in the body, such as heart valve disease or congenital heart defects. Secondary cardiomyopathy is related to diseases which involve other organs or the heart. The heart muscle will become enlarged, thick or rigid and in more rare cases, muscles gets replaced with scar tissue.

As cardiomyopathy becomes worse the heart becomes weaker. It is less able to pump blood throughout the body and maintain a normal electrical rhythm. This leads to congestive heart failure, and arrhythmias. As the muscle becomes weaker other severe complications can arise, such as heart valve problems.  Read more...

Prostate inflammation, leading to restricted urination, bladder & kidney infections and other complications, is the number one reason why men over 50 visit their medical doctors.

Currently there are three medications used for this problem and they are only about 35 to 40 percent effective. They have considerable side effects in many users as well. The surgical procedure often used for moderate to advanced prostate inflammation or BPH, has many potentially serious side effects including loss of sensation, incontinence and impotence. Prostate inflammation or enlargement is often best managed through the use of herbal extracts, amino acids and nutrients.

Many thousands of men are avoiding the side effects of drug therapy and the dangers of surgery and are completely controlling their prostate inflammation and enlargement, called BPH, naturally. Saw palmetto, probably the most common herb for prostate problems, is only the beginning of our Targeted approach to good prostate health. By combining saw palmetto with pygeum africanum, select amino acids, nutrients and antioxidants, we have been able to raise the percentage of positive results considerably, while offering all these essential co-factors in one easy to take formulation.  Read more...