Nearly one million people fall victim to heart disease every year. The vast majority of these people are unaware that this devastating condition can be prevented with a natural approach to diet. Researchers from the European EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study have developed a plan that can reduce the risk of coronary artery disease by 81%.

Medical researchers understand that heart disease begins early in life and progresses to threaten life as we approach our senior years. The good news is that heart disease can be controlled and reversed by making simple changes to lifestyle and diet.

Drugs Can’t Fix Heart Disease

The typical patient diagnosed with heart disease is placed on a low fat diet and given a handful of medications including a statin. Statins cause muscle pain in 40% of those who take them and information from a study published in The Lancet journal confirms that this class of medication causes diabetes. Volumes of research confirm that high cholesterol is not the cause of heart disease, yet it remains a popular target of treatment because it’s easy to lower with drugs. Similarly, a low fat diet perpetuates and worsens heart disease as it triggers continual blood sugar surges and high triglycerides.

Correcting the Real Cause of Heart Disease

The results of the EPIC study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine demonstrate that changes in diet could lower the risk of a heart attack by 81% through inflammation reduction and lowering blood pressure. The study highlighted four dietary factors that result in heart disease.

Refined Carbohydrates, Grains and Sugar: Processed foods have become a staple in the typical diet. These foods are loaded with simple carbs that quickly break down to glucose and cause rapid blood sugar spikes. This eventually leads to insulin resistance and damages the delicate inner endothelial lining of the coronary arteries. Cut all breads, pasta, rice, sugary treats and any foods made with wheat (including whole grain) or corn.

Excess Omega-6 Vegetable Oils: Vegetable oils are stable at room temperature and are used in virtually all baked and processed foods to enhance flavor and increase shelf life. Excess amounts of vegetable fats trigger the release of inflammatory chemical messengers that increase oxidative stress and damage the vascular system. Don`t use vegetable oils for cooking and avoid all fried foods and corn fed meats.

Omega-3 Fat Deficiency: Our modern diet is virtually void of health-sustaining Omega-3 fats that have been a part of the human diet for countless generations. The proper ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fats is ideally 1:1. Experts agree that many people are closer to a 20:1 ratio. This creates an imbalance and promotes systemic inflammation. Include tuna, salmon, sardines, nuts and seeds to balance your fat ratio or include a high potency fish oil supplement.

Oxidative Stress: The normal course of breathing, eating and moving generates free radicals that can damage our genetic structure and cause LDL cholesterol to become oxidized. We can’t avoid the process entirely but we can include healthy quantities of fresh vegetables, berries and targeted supplements to negate the effects of free radicals on our heart and other organs.

Heart disease is the leading killer of people in western society. Most of these deaths can be prevented by following a natural diet and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Reduce your risk of death from heart disease by making these changes today and live to pass the word to your great grandchildren.

For many small business owners, the cost of business web hosting may seem prohibitive, especially once you discover there is such a thing as free web hosting. However there is a reason why reputable, established businesses don’t use free hosting plans! If you are considering free hosting, be sure to read this first so that you are sure to make an educated decision about which hosting plan to choose.

Although free hosting does have its advantages, these plans are designed more for personal websites than for companies that need to present a professional appearance. The first and most important reason that free hosting isn’t a good solution for small businesses is that it is usually paid for with ads that the hosting provider puts on your side. Often this means that there is a wide banner at the top of the page that is devoted entirely to ads, shifting your website down on the screen. Just imagine that. If someone is browsing your website on a netbook, which tend to have fairly small screens, the banner may shift your website right off the screen!

Regardless of where the ads are placed on your site, however, the result will be a website that feels cluttered. Too many items on the page, not to mention the busy layout that you usually get when you combine the hosting company’s ads with your website design, tends to overwhelm the viewer and negatively influence their experience of your website.

Besides the aesthetic concerns of ad-driven hosting, it is also important to remember that free hosting tends to damage your professional image. First of all, you are sending a message that you are too cheap to pay for business web hosting, which is going to invite potential customers to question how successful your business is. Are you too cheap because you aren’t making enough in profits to be able to afford to pay for hosting? Your customers are going to naturally wonder whether your business model is a very good one if you can’t spare the money for a website. Consumers like to buy from companies that they know will be around for a while.

Finally, you will find that you can’t do as much with free hosting as you can with business web hosting. For instance, most free hosting plans don’t offer as much server space. If you have a large website or need to be able to host a lot of large files (such as pictures) you will need a higher quality hosting plan. Also, if you are trying to set up an ecommerce site with a shopping cart and checkout system you will likely find that you need to upgrade in order to enable these features. Don’t forget the tongue-in-cheek wisdom of generations before us who said that you get what you pay for. If you pay nothing how great do you really think the service that you get will be?

As you can see, if you are tempted by free hosting it really pays to do your research first. For some, these drawbacks might be perfectly fine but if your company’s professionalism and your visitors’ first impressions of your website are important to you then you will probably want to go with a business web hosting plan instead. Your website can have a huge impact on the success of your business, especially now that so many people are doing business online. Don’t cut corners on something that is this important!

Deciding which new set of kitchen cutlery to purchase can be a difficult decision because of two reasons. One, unless you purchase a Ginsu knife set, it is a significant investment. Second, there are a lot of options to choose from and, of course, each brand claims to be the best. JA Henckel is a brand name that has gained itself a great reputation and is considered to be, within many circles, one of the top kitchen knife sets on the market today. But does a JA Henckels knife block set live up to its reputation?

The first thing to consider here is price. Henckel cutlery is not cheap. No quality kitchen cutlery is. So what are you paying more for when you purchase a Henckels knife block set?

1. Over 275 years of manufacturing knives. Experience counts for a lot here. This company has been at the forefront of knife manufacturing for centuries and has done a very good job of adapting to change and incorporating new materials and technology into their manufacturing process.

2. Ergonomic design. Many think that the blade of the knife is the most important part of it. It is very important, but an argument can be made that the handle is even more important. Every knife in a Henckels knife block set contains an ergonomically designed handle which ensures that the knife will be well balanced, easy to grip and comfortable in the hand. A knife that is hard to hold is frustrating and potentially dangerous.

3. Polypropylene handles. I won’t go into the details but polypropylene handles make the knife more resistant to germs, shock resistant and dishwasher safe.

4. High grade stainless steel. This material is not cheap, but it’s worth the price and is a big factor in what separates Henckels knife sets from others. It is harder, stronger, and more durable than many other materials. This allows the blade of the knife to be much sharper than the others and to hold its edge longer. When re-sharpening is required, the material will not get worn down. It can be resharpened again and again.

There are many other differences between a JA Henckels knife block set and other knife block sets.

Many home owners like the idea of using renewable energy such as solar to power their house. Before you start building a solar array, you must have a home solar plan. Without a plan, you will not know how big the array should be or how many battery you will need to store the power. The lifestyle with renewable energy is not the same as living with a home connected to the power grid. What do you need to plan before you implement a solar energy system for your home? This article will highlight some important information.

Many older homes were not designed or built with energy efficiency in mind. A solar power system is all about efficiency and cut down on energy leaks or wastage. When you install a solar energy system for your home, you become your own power company. You have to know how much power you will need to power the appliances in your house. Any appliance that operates at 240 Volt such as electric water heaters, cook stoves, furnaces and air conditioners are heavy loads to run on solar power. If you want to connect these equipment to the system, you have to calculate the individual power requirement before you start the installation. Failing to do so will be a renewable energy system that is unable to supply enough power hence making the appliances redundant.

In order to reduce your current electricity bill, you should start with detailed information on the amount of power you are using in your home. With the information at hand, you can start designing a solar array and prepare the number of battery for the system. The time your spent planning will be worthwhile because of the additional time and cost you will save.

Sodium is a hidden chemical in food that contributes to weight gain and high blood pressure. Lowering your salt intake can lower blood pressure but only by a small amount. It is not enough to expect an important health benefit to aid in weight loss and healthy diet.

Watch out for those Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice type frozen gourmet dinner meals. While they may be very low in fat and calories, they are very high in sodium which packs on water weight. The best kind of meals to cook at home are those done from scratch. Try a new recipe, add flavor with fresh herbs and spices, lemon or vinegar instead of salt. You will find that your craving for salt will dissipate after three months of cutting back.

Start skipping out on the bacon, ham and hot dogs. Try leaner meats such as fresh fish and poultry. If your blood pressure is a little on the high side you will want to lean more towards meats that have less sodium and fats. You may also want to rinse your canned foods such as tuna and beans. Make sure you read labels and watch for those sneaky sodium aliases such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and sodium benzoate.

And believe it or not any sauces or dressings with the word “lite” in front of it carries much more sodium than those that are not. What you’ll want to choose instead are those labeled low-fat instead. Remember “lite” doesn’t necessarily mean healthy. These are just a few simple ways to cut the sodium out of your diet. Before you know it the pounds will be falling off and your blood pressure and cholesterol levels will drop significantly. There are no set numbers for these kind of things but every little bit helps.

When many businesses consider the production of a free-standing display then the first product that is offered by the supplier is a banner stand. Banner stands are the traditional way of creating a portable marketing display thanks to the relatively low cost and ease of portability.

Unfortunately, it is the success and great popularity of the banner stand which sometimes means that they are overlooked in favour of more innovative types of display stand which are capable of grabbing the customers attention more so than a relatively common roller banner which houses a basic rectangular print.

When formulating strategy regarding your next promotion, it is worth discussing options with potential suppliers with a view to finding non-standard solutions that could well yield more ‘bang for buck’ than off the shelf products.

Children In Need are one of the highest profile charities in the UK, raising many Millions of Pounds each year for worthwhile causes through nationwide events and a television appeal. In 2010, a series of free-standing cut-out standees were manufactured and used on display at BBC Television Centre prior to the event and at various locations during the filming of the event.

The utlisation of shaped cut-outs when compared to standard banner stand display is quite noticeable and the standees were uses to great effect to raise awareness and assist fundraising for the charity.

For those interested in cut-out standees in place of roller banners, the costs are broadly similar with a 6′ tall x 3′ wide standee being available for around the same cost. In terms of the material the standee if printed onto, there is a variety of choice that can be tailored to the environment in which the display stand is to be positioned. For example, the Pudsey standees seen in this example were manufactured using a fire rated, foam centred board which made then extremely lightweight in order to comply with stringent safety requirements at the venue concerned. Other standees were produced using a more rigid PVC Foamex board which is capable of undergoing transport to and from events without being so susceptible to damage caused by occasional knocks and bumps.

If you are considering using a standee for your event, exhibition, trade show or retail display then it is worth selecting an image which will provide a smooth, slowing cutting path. It is worthwhile avoiding cutting-around very small objects such as fingers which can be broken-off when the standee is transported.

It’s a sad fact of life, but two decades have passed since the Internet first gained widespread acceptance among the general public, and we still have to deal with spam. Unsolicited and unwanted advertising continues to clutter cyberspace. It irritates all who receive it. And in worst-case scenarios, spam can even disable a website or email address if the volume is too heavy.

Worse, today’s spammers have grown infinitely more sophisticated than their predecessors. Which means that even though most web browsers and email programs come with spam detectors, spammers with the skills, technology and determination can still find ways to deposit their pornography links, phishing schemes, and ridiculous get-rich-quick advertisements into the inboxes of unwilling recipients.

Fortunately, not all is lost. Here are four simple steps you can take to dramatically reduce the amount of spam that manages to find its way into your email inbox.

• Install CAPTCHA on your website forms to foil the bots. CAPTCHA, which stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart,” requires people to enter a randomized code in order to submit an online form. The randomized code is often in the form of distorted, wiggly, or otherwise hard (but not impossible) to read lettering. Spam bots – the automatic email generators favored by today’s sophisticated spammers – can’t read the randomized code so they can’t submit the form.
• Don’t put your email address on your website. By itself, this will eliminate a lot of spam. But the decision has to be weighed against with other concerns, such as making it easy for site visitors to contact you. If, like most companies, you decide to include email addresses on your website, install PrivateDaddy. This free, open-source software hides your email address from spam bots while still making it visible to humans. Some web platforms, such as WordPress, even come with a plugin you can install.
• Turn off comments on your blog. Again, not an easy decision. But like leaving your email address off your website, it can help to reduce spam in the right situations. If you have a very active community of readers who post a lot of legitimate responses, the value of that community will outweigh the inconvenience of any spam that comes through. On the other hand, if you tend to get a small amount of random comments, chances are that many of them will be spam. Turning off comments will eliminate spammers’ ability to get through using your blog.
• Unsubscribe from what you don’t read. When you subscribe to a newsletter, blog, or other form of online communications, you give that business or organization permission to contact you via email. You may not want to receive what they send you, but technically it isn’t spam. So they can – and will – send you stuff until you tell them to stop.

Legally, all email newsletters must have an unsubscribe link somewhere in the email. Usually, they make it hard to find by putting it at the very bottom of the page, in small print. But if you no longer read a newsletter or don’t get any real value from it, hunt down that link and unsubscribe.

Be smart, be vigilant, and minimize the ways spammers can gain entrance to your email inbox. The small amount of time you invest will pay big dividends in reducing the amount of unwanted email you receive.

Many people, including children, may experience attacks of pain at the right upper quadrant. This is the kind of abdominal pain that sometimes radiates to the upper back or shoulder blades. Usually it occurs after eating fatty or fried foods, heavy meals and is accompanied with nausea/vomiting and/or bloating, followed by loosening of stools.

Typically, even when you have all this symptoms, the tests results may come in normal, which would leave the doctors thinking that the disorder you contain is called biliary dyskinesia. “Biliary” means bile, “dys” means abnormal, and “kinesia” means motion, movement. Abnormal moving of the bile can occur in the gallbladder, in the bile ducts inside and outside the liver, and also in the valve between bile duct and duodenum; the first part of the small intestine. This valve is named sphincter of Oddi. In the medical literature doctors consider biliary dyskinesia and type 3 sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, as similar conditions.

If tests reveal no structural abnormalities, there are no severe inflammations or gallbladder stones biliary dyskinesia is often misdiagnosed with IBS, functional dyspepsia, stomach flu, reflux, psychosomatic diseases, etc. When patients are given the medication, it modifies or covers the symptoms. More specific tests may show low ejection fraction that means low gallbladder function; <35% EF is considered abnormal. When the detailed tests reveal that patients have a low ejection fraction, they are referred to the surgeons' for gallbladder removal.

So, the question remains… to remove or not to remove the gallbladder in case of biliary dyskinesia?

The excess build up of pressure in the bile ducts or irritations are thought to be accountable for these typical biliary dyskinesia symptoms. Unfortunately, there are many other reasons.

On one hand, gallbladder, liver, bile ducts, sphincter of Oddi, stomach, and duodenum work together as a team. Nervous system and digestive hormones (blood messengers) conduct their interrelated work. Very often, it can be a setback with proper regulation of the digestive organs.

On the other hand, bile is extremely complicated solution that consist of water, minerals, bicarbonate, cholesterol, lecithin, and bile salts. It also has highly aggressive bile pigments, and bile acids, various fat-soluble toxic substances. Changes of biochemistry of the bile make it very aggressive and irritating fluid. In turn, it can cause spasms and irritation of the gallbladder wall.

A number of parasites, which reside in the gallbladder and bile ducts, are difficult to spot. For example, Giardia lamblia can be responsible for some cases of the biliary dyskinesia and type 3 sphincter of Oddi dysfunction, in especially in children.

It appears that hepatitis, fatty liver, Candida-yeast overgrowth, parasites, congestion, inflammation, infection, high acidity levels, and poor eating habits can cause the bile to be thick, acidic, and aggressive. Such things make it difficult for the bile to move through the ducts. Toxic substances in the bile, parasites, irritation, and food allergy can restrain the proper motion of the gallbladder, bile ducts, and sphincter of Oddi.

Whole body acidity can change the bile pH. Because of precipitation of the extremely aggressive bile acids, acidic bile irritates gallbladder, bile ducts, sphincter of Oddi and duodenum causing spasmodic contractions with pains. Aggressive, acidic bile irritates small intestine and even stomach, causing nausea and vomiting. I explained this in more detail, in my EBook and articles.

By putting in account scientific research, clinical evidence and common sense, the treatment in case of biliary dyskinesia should be started with the non-invasive approach. Some methods of the complementary or alternative medicine can be particularly useful in this situation. Let’s focus on some of them.

First, what we need to do is to make bile more liquid and less congested. It can be done by drinking plenty of water, fresh vegetable blends or juices, eating vegetable soups, drinking Karlovy Vary healing mineral water, herbal teas, etc. Avoiding dehydration is mandatory.

Second, it is necessary to promote liver to produce more bile. Some herbs such as barberry, rosehips, fennel, corn silk, peppermint have choleretic actions, which lead to producing more bile. Clinical studies of the European doctors proved that drinking Karlovy Vary healing mineral water can help the liver to produce more bile.

Third, we need to reduce congestion in the gallbladder by opening the passages such as bile ducts and sphincter of Oddi. Many people don’t know that acupuncture and electro acupuncture decrease the spasms and pains in case of the biliary dyskinesia.

Moreover, Mother Nature positioned most of the digestive organs in the abdomen. And each of our organs needs its space to work. The most difficult position holds the gallbladder, due to the fact that it is squeezed between the liver, stomach, duodenum, and large intestine. There is not enough room in this area. If a person suffers from belly fat, gas, or constipation, the pressure inside the abdomen increases, just like when we wear tight clothes or belts. This, in its turn, causes more restrictions in gallbladder moving. Gentle abdominal massage, point massage, or chiropractic manipulations may decrease adhesions, release freely movements of the gallbladder, and lessen spasms of the sphincter of Oddi.

Fourth, many Americans have congested gallbladder because they are afraid to eat fatty food products. Because of wrong propaganda, people stay away from eggs, avocados, sour cream, butter, fatty fish, and cold pressed olive oil. These food products are natural stimulants of the bile ejection. Opposing, animal fats, trans fats, combination of fats and sugars, alcohol, unhealthy eating habits such as eating on the go, irregular meals, overeating leads to gallbladder congestion and, in case of biliary dyskinesia, needs to be avoided.

Fifth, this is virtually unknown even for health professional. The bile’s acidity and toxicity are primary factors for biliary dyskinesia. Natural, alkaline diet, various cleansing techniques, herbs, restoration of the friendly intestinal flora, fighting with parasites and Candida-yeast overgrowth can decrease symptoms of this condition. As I mentioned before, and it is explained in details in my book, acidity makes bile aggressive and irritated.

In the case of the biliary dyskinesia, the European doctors recommend drinking Karlovy Vary healing mineral water either from thermal spring or at home. This water is not simple mineral water that people drink when they are thirsty. Karlovy Vary healing mineral water has been used as a healing remedy for 500 of years. Dissolving genuine Karlovy Vary thermal spring salt in the plain water makes possible to drink healing mineral water at home.

Minerals, bicarbonate, and trace elements neutralize the acidic compounds in the bile and water helps to eliminate them from the body. According to medical literature, thousands of people with biliary dyskinesia improve the motility of the gallbladder and sphincter of Oddi by using this healing mineral water. Taking some mineral supplements such as cellular magnesium-potassium also neutralizes acidity, decreases spasms, and abdominal pain.

Females either in puberty or in perimenopausal age suffer more often from biliary dyskinesia. It may be due to hormonal involvement in women. Other factors that make symptoms of the biliary dyskinesia worse are anxiety and stress. Acupuncture, herbs, self-hypnoses by listening to custom CD’s at home, nutritional supplements, healing exercises can be useful in this situation.

Mother Nature does not make mistakes. Gallbladder is an important member of the digestive team. When there are no stones or severe inflammation in the gallbladder, especially in children and young adults, or otherwise healthy persons, the removal of the gallbladder may be unnecessary. Perhaps, it makes sense to try to improve its sluggish function, decrease congestion in the bile ducts. By analogy, if there is congested traffic in the tunnel, police officers won’t blow up the tunnel, they will try to resolve the traffic jam by organizing a smooth movement inside this tunnel.

Medical statistic shows, gallbladder surgery does not give warranty that pain would disappear. For some people, life without gallbladder is getting miserable. Searching for “postcholecystectomy syndrome” in the internet may perfectly illustrate my concern.

The information on this article is presented for educational, informational purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for the diagnosis, treatment, and advice of a qualified licensed professional.

I sometimes hear from people who notice that their shedding from telogen effluvium improves after they get a hair cut. Often, they are quite encouraged by this and they wonder if more cutting would help the situation even more. I heard from a woman who said: “I have been shedding for four and a half months. I had put off getting my hair trimmed because any time I even touch my hair, it sheds. So I didn’t want to be embarrassed by tons of hair coming out in the stylist’s hands. However, my hair got so shaggy that I just could not put it off anymore. Unbelievably, when I cut my hair, I had almost zero shedding for the next three days and this was only for a trim. So I’m wondering what would happen if I got a real cut and took off quite a bit of length. Would this type of drastic hair cut stop my telogen effluvium?”

I can only tell you my opinion about this, which I’ve seen proven correct many times. It’s very common for your hair loss to get better after you color and cut your hair. Why? Because when we are shedding so badly, we develop the habit of handling our hair extremely carefully. We learn to wash it especially gently and we take special care when we brush or groom it. However, our stylist doesn’t take this type of care. So, it’s probable that a lot of hair comes out when she is cutting and styling it. (And we usually do not see this because we don’t have eyes in the backs of our heads.)

Because of all of the hair fall at our appointment, we have a reprieve in the days following this. Sometimes, this lasts for a week or so. But typically, no matter how short we cut our hair, the shedding resumes (unless the telogen effluvium resolves internally, which is possible.) The reason for this is that, other than cutting your hair, you haven’t made any changes that would affect your shedding. And cutting your hair only affects it externally. Telogen effluvium typically only stops when it has finished its cycle. What this means is that once you start to shed, your hair cycle goes from growing to shedding. And likewise, the shedding stops once your cycle switches back to growing again. This happens internally. And nothing that you do externally affects this process. Cutting your hair can certainly help your hair’s appearance and as I said it can give you a break from the shedding. But, unless you just coincidentally get your hair cut on the day that your shedding resolved itself and went back into the growing phrase, you aren’t likely to see it stop just because you got a hair cut.

With all of this said, the woman in the above scenario had been shedding for four and a half months. Telogen effluvium is said to resolve itself after three months. So, it was possible that she had another type of hair loss happening. So while cutting her hair could provide her with some relief, it wasn’t likely to stop the shedding until either her hair resumed its normal cycles or until she identified the reason that she was really losing hair. But there’s nothing wrong with cutting your hair if you think that it will look better. Frankly, shorter hair can be easier to deal with when you are shedding because it takes up less room on your clothing and furniture.

In recent times, we have seen many changes in the way business is done from simple papers to phone to courier to the latest business cards. There has been change in everything especially when we think of designing a card for our company; we have to think of the latest design in the market.

The latest design in the market is the die cut business cards. There are many different types of different cards that are printed using different size, shape and color. Getting your card done in a professional way will create a totally different image about you and your company.

Die cut comes in different shapes. It often comes in the shape of some of the products that the company deals with and this will help in advertising the products in the best way possible. Most of the die cuts cards are either trimmed into a certain shape on one side and the other side is left as it is. This unique design may appeal people to take a look at it.

It is always preferred to print a card for business that makes you look more professional and having business sense. The die cut design is not only used in business cards but is also preferred in other cards also. As the die cut design gives elegant look it makes the business card look totally different.

Many people think is it really meaningful and important to get a good design for the cards, but this certainly shows the seriousness and the efforts that you have been putting in making a card for your company and gives you that upper hand over your competition. Unique and stylish die cut business cards can do more good than you can expect.