What Sugar Actually Does to Your Brain and Body

We consume an enormous amount of sugar, whether consciously or not, but it's a largely misunderstood substance. There are different kinds and different ways your body processes them all. Some consider it poison and others believe it's the sweetest thing on earth. Here's a look at the different forms of sugar, the various ways they affect you, and how they play a role in healthy—and unhealthy—diets.

Of course, if you already know how sugar works and how your body uses it, feel free to skip down to the final section about healthier sugar consumption.

The Different Types of Sugar

There are too many types of sugar (and, of course, sugar substitutes) to tackle in a high-level overview like this one, so we're really only going to look at the two (and a half) that you regularly encounter: glucose and fructose.

Glucose

Glucose is a simple sugar that your body likes. Your cells use it as a primary source of energy, so when you consume glucose, it's actually helpful. When it's transported into the body, it stimulates the pancreas to produce insulin. Your brain notices this increase, understands that it's busy metabolizing what you just ate, and tells you that you're less hungry. The important thing to note here is that when you consume glucose, your brain knows to tell you to stop eating when you've had enough.

But glucose isn't perfect. There are many processes involved when you consume glucose, but one that occurs in your liver produces something called very low density lipoprotein (or VLDL). You don't want VLDL. It causes problems (like cardiovascular disease). Fortunately, only about 1 out of 24 calories from glucose that are processed by the liver turn into VLDL. If glucose were the only thing you ate that produced VLDL, it would be a non-issue.

Sucrose and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

For our purposes, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and sucrose are the same thing because they're both highly sweet and they both contain a large amount of fructose. Sucrose is 50% fructose and HFCS is 55% fructose (which is high compared to normal corn syrup, but pretty normal when compared to cane sugar). The remainder of each is glucose, which we discussed above. In most cases, fructose is bad for you because of how it's processed by the body. Fructose can only be metabolized by the liver, which is not a good thing. This means a greater number of calories—about three times more than glucose—are going through liver processes and that results in a much higher production of VLDL (the bad cholestoral mentioned earlier) and fat. It also results in a higher production of uric acid and a lot of other things you don't want, which is believed to lead to fun stuff like hypertension and high blood pressure.

On top of that, fructose consumption negatively changes the way your brain recognizes your consumption. This is because your brain resists leptin, the protein that's vital for regulating energy intake and expenditure (which includes your keeping your appetite in check and your metabolism working efficiently). As a result, you keep eating without necessarily realizing you're full. For example, a soda containing high amounts of fructose (which is most non-diet sodas) will do little to make you think you're full even though you're taking in large amounts of calories. Your brain doesn't get the message that you really consumed much of anything and so it still thinks you're still hungry. This is a very, very basic look at part of how fructose is processed and doesn't even touch upon many of its other problems, but identifies the issue most people care about: fat production.

This isn't to say fructose is all bad. It does have a practical purpose. If you're a professional athlete, for example, it can actually be helpful. HFCS actually repletes your glycogen supply faster, which is useful when you're burning it off, so the use of HFCS in sports drinks actually has a practical purpose for those who can quickly burn it off. It's not so helpful for those of us whose life focus is not physical activity—unless we find ourselves in a situation where we need fast energy that we're going to quickly burn off.

Processed vs. Unprocessed Foods

Fruit contains fructose, but as any food pyramid or suggested intake ratios will tell you, fruit is okay. How is that possible if fructose is almost always bad? This is because fruit, in its natural form, contains fiber. Fructose doesn't provide a satiety alert to let your brain know to tell you to stop eating, but fiber does this to a high degree. This is why you can eat fruit—despite the fructose content—without experiencing the same problems as, say, drinking a sugary soda. This is why fruit can actually be beneficial. The same goes for processed sugar. Sugar doesn't exist naturally as sparkly white crystals, but as a really tough stick called sugar cane. It isn't until you process the sugar can that you lose all the fiber it contains. Without the fiber, you only have the tasty but problematic part of the original food. That's why processed sugars can cause problems.

So why not keep the fiber (or at least some of it)? Because when you process food, you're not processing it for the purpose of eating immediately. Instead you're processing it to ship all over the country, or even the world. To do this, you obviously can't let the food expire or it will be useless when it arrives. Because fiber causes the food to go bad much faster, it needs to be removed.

Additionally, many processed foods are even worse off because of their low fat content. Sure, low fat content sounds good, but just because you eat fat doesn't mean you retain it. Your body can efficiently process and excreted fat, so fat intake isn't a huge issue by default. Nonetheless, the past 40 years brought us a low-fat craze. Fresh food can still taste good without a higher fat content, but processing low-fat food makes it taste like crap. Companies understand this, and so they add a bunch of sugar (and often salt) to fix that problem. This process essentially exchanges fat your body can actually use for fructose-produced fat that it cannot.

These are the main reasons why processed food is often an enemy if you want to stay healthy. This isn't always the case, but it is far more likely than not. Check the sugar content on the back of every package of processed food you own or see at the grocery store and you'll see it for yourself.

Healthier Sugar Consumption

Okay, so some sugar isn't really bad for you but some sugar, like fructose in high amounts, is unhealthy. Since fructose is plentiful in many processed foods, how can you eat better and still enjoy the sweet things you like? What follows are some suggestions. Some require a bit of sacrifice and will be difficult—but more effective—and others are easy enough for anyone to incorporate in his or her diet. If you want to try and curb your sugar intake, be reasonable about what you can accomplish. Failure is a lot more likely if you try to pack in large amounts of change at once . When you cut back on anything slowly, it feels much easier and is more likely to stick.

Stop Drinking Sugared Beverages

Of anything you can do, this is the most important. Fructose-heavy soda is remarkably problematic because, for reasons discussed above, you can keep drinking it while your body isn't recognizing your sugar intake—so your body remains hungry. On top of that, a lot of soda (Coke is a great example) contains high amounts of sodium. Why would you want salt in your soda? You wouldn't, but it makes you thirsty and prompts you to buy more soda to drink, so it's great for the companies that make it. It also makes you pee (as does caffeine if your soda has that) so you'll feel the need to drink more as well. This is masked by simply adding more fructose to the drink, which is another obvious problem.

All of that is bad, but what makes it so important to stop drinking soda is that you get absolutely nothing else with it. While other sugary items—such as a slice of cake or a donut—are no shining examples of nutrition, they at least contain some nutrients that will help to alert your brain that you're actually eating. Fructose-heavy soda won't do this, so it's best to just cut it out entirely. This is the hardest thing but the most important. Cutting it out will make it easier to stop eating too much sugar (or anything, really), because you'll be taking in far fewer calories that will go unnoticed by your brain.

What can you drink without issue? Water.

This may sound horrible to some people, but pretty much every other drink you can buy is a processed drink. This isn't to say you can never have another sugared beverage again, but the more you drink them the harder it will be to control your appetite. If you want to incorporate sugared drinks and alcoholic beverages into your diet, try consuming them 20 minutes after you've eaten. You can use this same trick for desserts. (More on this in a minute.)

Eat Fiber with Your Sugar

As previously mentioned in the section about processed and unprocessed foods, fiber is very necessary in curbing sugar intake. It does what fructose can't do, and that's alert you that you've consumed calories and you don't need to eat anymore. Basically, fiber and fructose need to work together. Fiber is fructose's unattractive but brilliant friend. Fructose makes up for fiber's lack of sweetness while fiber makes up for fructose's uselessness.

So how do you eat fiber with your fructose? Don't eat processed foods. Get your fructose from fruit or other sources that contain built-in fiber.

Avoid Processed Foods with High Amounts of Sugar

Cooking your own meals from unprocessed foods is almost always going to be a better option, but our busy lives make that difficult to accomplish for every single meal we eat. While avoiding processed foods altogether is a nice thought, it's not very realistic. If you're going to eat something processed, be sure to check the label for sugar content. If it is not a dessert food and the sugar count isn't negligible, you should probably avoid it. If it contains HFCS early on in the ingredient list (or at all, really), you should probably avoid it. Buy whole wheat breads that are actually whole wheat. Avoid pre-packaged dinners whenever you can. Buy foods with more fiber. They're likely to expire faster, which means more frequent trips to the grocery store, but that's a pretty minor sacrifice to make.

Keep Sugar Products Out of the House

If you like dessert, don't keep it at home. This is obvious, but it's also one of the most effective options (you can't eat something you don't have). If you really want it, make yourself do a little work. Have dinner, and if you have a craving for dessert afterwards then go out and get some. Chances are it won't take more than 20 minutes for that craving to die, as you'll fill up and won't want to eat anything else. In the event it doesn't, go out and buy a reasonably-sized dessert. As long as you're not inclined to do this regularly, prolonging the decision to eat dessert should help you out.

Don't Cut It Out Entirely

If you're currently eating quite a bit of sugar, or you really like it, cutting it out entirely is a bad idea. Not only is comfort food possibly good for your mental health, but it's also believed that you can develop a dependency to sweet foods. As an experiment I cut out sugar for a month before writing this post. While the physical cravings were easy to curb, the psychological ones were much more challenging. Angela Pirisi, writing for Psychology Today, points to a study conducted by psychologist Dr. Bart Hoebel, who believes sugar creates an actual dependency:

Laboratory experiments with rats showed that signs of sugar dependence developed over the course of 10 days. This suggests that it does not take long before the starve-binge behavior catches up with animals, making them dependent. There is something about this combination of heightened opioid and dopamine responses in the brain that leads to dependency. Without these neurotransmitters, the animal begins to feel anxious and wants to eat sweet food again.

Artificial sweeteners didn't change the dependence, leading Hoebel to believe that the sweetness was the main factor and not the calories. While the study couldn't identify why these cravings exist, it could identify a dependency. If you're cutting down on sugar, take it slowly.

Get Moving

Your metabolism pretty much goes in the toilet when you don't move around at all, making sitting the harbinger of death. We're big on standing desks, which, for starters helps your burn far more calories than sitting. It's just good for you all-around. As with any level of physical activity, from standing to walking to running, calorie burn is a poor focus to have. Going for a 20-minute run is about equal to two thin mint cookies (unless you're really fast, in which case you might get a third cookie). Burning off a fast food meal would require exercising for most of your day. It's just not feasible for anyone. Physical activity helps because it reduces stress (which reduces appetite) and improves the way your metabolism functions (so less fat is produced when processed by your body). These things are much more important than calorie burn.

Standing up is a good way to negate the effects of sitting down but you might not be able to do it all the time. If you can't, make sure you get up and walk around at least every 30 minutes. If you just don't want to stand up while you work, try doing it for only an hour a day. It's a short amount of time and is better than nothing. Regardless of how much you sit, keep track of the time and try to engage in physical activity—even if it's as mild as walking around—for as close to that amount of time as possible. Go for walks (or walk instead of drive), play a sport, exercise, clean the house, or do anything that keeps you moving around. Generally the entertainment you consume while sitting (television and movies) can still be consumed while you're standing or moving around. This may not be your ideal situation, but it's a good way to increase your physical activity without giving up a normally sedentary activity you enjoy.

Like with anything, sugar isn't all that bad for you in moderation. The problem with sugar these days is that there's a lot more of it in everything and it's in practically everything. So long as you pay attention to what you're eating and you don't overdo it, sugar can be a pleasant part of your life few to no issues. The important thing is that you know what you're consuming and make good choices as a result. The answer to this problem isn't groundbreaking, but just a matter of paying attention.

From life hacker

How to Never Feel Stressed at Work Again

We all know what “stress” feels like. When your boss tells you, “See me in my office,” your body heats up, your heart starts racing, and your stomach begins to churn. These are just a few of the body’s many possible responses to what we typically call stress, and what scientists call the body’s “fight or flight” response.

While acute, short-term stress may actually improve performance at work, chronic stress—that muted but ever-present anxiety brought on by thinking about a toxic boss or a laundry list of projects—can have damaging effects, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, and high blood pressure.

The bad news is that chronic work stress affects at least 70 percent of Americans. One survey found that eight in 10 employed Americans reported feeling stress at work due to factors such as increased workloads and inadequate compensation.

“ While we can’t necessarily control our responsibilities, pay, or the people we interact with at work, we can control how we respond to these stressors by cultivating resilience. ”

The good news is we can prevent these numbers from growing. While we can’t necessarily control our responsibilities, pay, or the people we interact with at work, we can control how we respond to these stressors by cultivating resilience—or the ability to adapt to stress in a healthy way by staying present, self-aware, and attending to one’s own needs.

There are various practices we can integrate into our everyday routines that will allow us to better address our own needs, desires, and intentions in (and outside of) the workplace, and they all come down to one common theme: mindfulness.

What’s the Deal?

I recently sat down with insight meditation teacher and author Sharon Salzberg, whose newest book, Real Happiness at Work, explores how mindfulness practices such as meditation can help us reimagine our approach to our jobs—and, in the process, help us find happiness and a greater sense of balance in the workplace.

According to Salzberg, resilience serves as an alternative to “the illusion of control”—the false belief that we should have more control over coworkers, bosses, clients, and work outcomes than we actually do. In reality, we don’t have control over anything but ourselves. The thought may seem scary, but it actually offers a ton of freedom.

“ The first step toward developing resilience is challenging the idea that we can control everything. ”

In fact, the first step toward developing resilience is challenging the idea that we can control everything. Rather than beat ourselves up for the disappointments and negative outcomes we inevitably experience at work (or elsewhere), we can learn to practice acceptance of ourselves and of our situations, whether good or bad. In so doing, we give ourselves the gift of mental space—and in this space, we can learn to realize that difficult experiences and setbacks are actually opportunities for learning and growth.

So how do we get to a place where we choose acceptance, mindfulness, and growth over anxiety and self-deprecation? Follow the action plan below.

Your Action Plan

Mindfulness can be practiced at any time, even while walking, drinking tea, or writing an email. Follow these simple action steps to let go of the illusion of control and instead cultivate resilience on the job.

1. Establish a regular meditation practice.

“Meditation provides us with a sense of perspective by allowing us intimacy with our experience. When we practice mindfulness, we train our minds to become aware of our emotions and thoughts as they arise, so we can better understand our intentions,” says Salzberg. Meditation allows us to see better into the nature of things, without all the baggage of judgment, insecurity, and whatever other self-destructive stories our chattering minds perpetuate.

Committing to a regular meditation practice—even just 10 minutes a day—can go a long way toward helping you feel calm in the face of work stressors. There are a wide variety of practices to choose from, so experiment to find what works best for you.

2. Loosen the grip—literally. 

Emotional stress can manifest as physical tension. To help ease both, practice relaxing your body with this simple exercise:

• While sitting at your desk, settle your attention on your hands, (particularly if they are holding something—a cup of coffee, a pen, a computer-mouse) and/or on your shoulders.
• If you find your grip extremely tight (or your shoulders tense), realize that this will merely exacerbate any tension you feel.
• Choose to loosen your grip and/or release the tension in your shoulders as much as you can (Breathing helps!).
• Take a moment to observe the different sensations you feel when you bring your attention to your body. Remember, this is something you can do even as you plod through your to-do list!

3. Think before you speak.

Stress can often lead to irritability and feelings of guilt and blame. This exercise can help put the brakes on self-punishing language as you develop a softer and more forgiving inner dialogue.

• Write down an accusatory statement, in the second person, about something that happened at work (e.g.: “You’re incompetent for forgetting a deadline.”).
• Rephrase it in the first person using nonjudgmental, constructive, “I” statements (“I spent two hours looking for a misplaced file and missed my deadline as a result. How can I set up a system to avoid this happening again?”). Notice if you feel different using “I” versus “you” statements.
• Try to let go of using generalizing words like “never” and “always.” Practice using specific language that leaves room for improvement (e.g. “I was disappointed when you arrived late to our meeting. How can we ensure this doesn’t happen again?” versus “You always disappoint me.”). This kind of constructive language helps keep things in perspective and prevents unbridled deprecation, both of yourself and others.

4. Set intentions.

When we have a lot on our plate, we tend to feel overwhelmed and like the world is spinning out of control. That’s where the practice of setting intentions comes into play. This exercise will help you become more aware of the intentions that drive what you say and do. When we realize that all of our actions emerge from some kind of intention and that we have the power to change that intention, we invite ourselves to feel more present, focused, and calm. Stay present with your intentions by using these practices throughout the day:  

• Set an intention each day before leaving for work. Perhaps you wish to be more open-minded and at ease during meetings and conference calls, or you want to breathe more deeply before beginning a new task. Remind yourself of this intention every time you find yourself getting off track.
• Before engaging in a conversation, pause for a moment to check in with yourself (silently) and determine your intention: Do you want to be seen as “right”, or do you want to be seen as open, compassionate, and supportive? Do you want to foster progress or hinder it?
• Before you send an email, take three breaths. Then reread the email and imagine being its recipient. Consider the emotional impact of the message and ask yourself what you’re trying to achieve with the email. Rewrite it (before sending) if need be.
• If you find yourself bored or annoyed at work, don’t judge yourself. Instead, use the setback to shift your mindset: Even the most tedious work is an opportunity to help others, cultivate awareness, or learn about yourself.  

5. Reconsider your coping mechanisms.

Each of us already contains all we need to cope within ourselves. This exercise will help you gain a sense of empowerment over your coping mechanisms, and help you realize the potency of your own resources for self-care.

• On a piece of paper or on your computer or phone, make a list of everything that contributes to your stress at work.
• In another column, list everything you do on a day-to-day basis to relax, lift your spirits, or have fun (listening to music, exercising, cooking dinner with friends, etc.).
• Make a third list in which you describe the effects these activities have on your stressors.
• Look at all three lists. Reflect on how much you need to cope, if you are coping well, and/or if you need to change the ways in which you cope. Then write yourself a “prescription” for your own self-care.

6. Practice compassion.

The ability to communicate kindly with coworkers is essential both for getting things done well at work and feeling an overall sense of wellbeing. This basic loving-kindness (or metta) meditation offers a concrete starting place to begin cultivating the art of empathy.

• Sit with your eyes closed or your gaze lowered.
• Silently offer up loving-kindness by directing positive energy and goodwill to all beings everywhere, including yourself. Start by sending love to yourself: “May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I live with ease.”.
• Repeat the mantras at a pace that works for you, focusing your attention on each phrase as you think it. If your attention wanders, begin again. The anchor here is not the breath but the phrase-repetition.
• Next, call to mind someone whom you know is having a difficult time and repeat the mantra: “May they be safe…”.
• Call to mind someone you don’t get along well with. Repeat this exercise for them. If this is too hard, send loving-kindness back to yourself.
• Finally, try offering phrases of loving-kindness to all beings everywhere: “May all beings be safe. May all beings be happy…”.

The Takeaway

“This isn’t… hippie fluff,” declared Chade-Meng Tan, founder of Google’s mindfulness-based employee program, Search Inside Yourself. He’s right. We all now know that stress isn’t helping any of us. It’s time to do well by feeling well—at work and elsewhere. And to think resilience could start with just your thoughts and your breath. How easy is that?

From greatist.com

There Are 4 Types of Bellies: What is Yours And How to Get Rid of it

Before accepting a strict diet because of excess inches around the waist, you first need to find out what caused it and then how to get rid of it.

1. Belly that looks like a flat tire

This type of belly often occurs as a result of sitting too much and not being physically active in any way. Besides this, consuming sugary foods will make everything worse.

If you are dealing with this type of stomach, it is best for you to avoid daily alcohol use as well as soft drinks. The easiest way to get rid of it is to introduce a healthy diet to your body.

2. Belly caused by stress

People who are perfectionists usually have low rounded tummy but it may occur in those who have problems with digestion and bloating.

The only way to get rid of this type of belly is to stop skipping meals, stop eating fast food and enter huge amounts of caffeine.

3. Low belly

Soft tummy in the lower abdomen is usually associated with sole food and sitting in place. This kind of stomach may occur with weak people who are not active enough.

Movement combined with varied diet, healthy natural juices and drinks for reducing fat will help you to successfully get rid of this type of belly.

4. Bloated stomach

Bloated stomach usually occurs as a result of foods that do not suit your body, allergies or poor meals with vitamins and minerals.

In order to get rid of bloated stomach you need to consume beverages that act positively on the digestive system and relieve bloating. In this case you do not need to be too much physical activity but balanced diet.

From Healthy Food House

What The Color of Your Urine Says About You (Infographic)

Color, density, and smell can reveal health problem

Human urine has been a useful tool of diagnosis since the earliest days of medicine. The color, density, and smell of urine can reveal much about the state of our health. Here, for starters, are some of the things you can tell from the hue of your liquid excreta.

From Cleveland Clinic

The Dangers of Eating Late at Night

Story at-a-glance

• Eating late at night, especially if you overeat and/or eat heavy foods, and then lay down shortly after, is a recipe for acid reflux
• The single most important intervention to get rid of acid reflux is to eliminate late eating, according to one acid-reflux expert
• Eating your dinner relatively early, prior to 7 p.m., also allows you plenty of time for intermittent fasting, which offers benefits for longevity and disease prevention

Do you eat dinner late at night and go to bed less than three hours later? Do you also suffer from unexplained post-nasal drip, cough, and difficulty swallowing? These could be signs of acid reflux, which, unbeknownst to many, can occur without the telltale signs of heartburn and indigestion.

Further, if you want to nip it in the bud, all you may have to do is change your lifestyle to eat dinner earlier. Eating late at night, especially if you overeat and/or eat heavy foods, and then lying down shortly after, is a recipe for acid reflux.

Increasingly Later Dinners May Be Driving Acid Reflux Cases

In the last 35 years, New York physician Jamie Koufman, who specializes in acid reflux, told the New York Times that long work hours necessitate a late dinner for many. Then, many people push it back further by trying to fit in shopping, exercise and other activities beforehand.

Adding to the problem, dinner tends to be the largest meal of the day for most Americans, and it's often made up of heavy processed foods in overly large portions.

Under the best circumstances (in a young, healthy person), your stomach takes a few hours to empty after you eat a meal. As you get older or if you have acid reflux, the process takes longer.

Then, when you lay down to go to sleep, it's much easier for acid to spill out of your full stomach, which is what leads to acid reflux. Even if you don't have heartburn, you could still have acid reflux if you have symptoms like hoarseness, chronic throat clearing, and even asthma.

Plus, acid reflux can lead to esophageal cancer, which has risen five-fold since the 1970s. According to Dr. Koufman, "the single most important intervention is to eliminate late eating." He continued:

"Typical was the restaurateur who came to see me with symptoms of postnasal drip, sinus disease, hoarseness, heartburn and a chronic cough. He reported that he always left his restaurant at 11 p.m., and after arriving home would eat dinner and then go to bed. There was no medical treatment for this patient, no pills or even surgery to fix his condition.

The drugs we are using to treat reflux don't always work, and even when they do, they can have dangerous side effects. My patient's reflux was a lifestyle problem. I told him he had to eat dinner before 7 p.m., and not eat at all after work. Within six weeks, his reflux was gone."

Why You Don't Want to Treat Acid Reflux with Acid-Blocking Drugs

One of the most commonly prescribed drugs for acid reflux are proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which are very effective at blocking acid production in your stomach. While that may sound like an appropriate remedy, considering the fact that stomach acid is creeping up your esophagus, in most cases, it's actually the worst approach possible.

There are over 16,000 articles in the medical literature showing that suppressing stomach acid does not address the problem. It only temporarily treats the symptoms. PPIs like Nexium, Prilosec, and Prevacid were originally designed to treat a very limited range of severe problems.

According to Mitchell Katz, director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, who wrote an editorial on this topic four years ago, PPIs are only warranted for the treatment of:

• Bleeding ulcers
• Zollinger-Ellison syndrome (a rare condition that causes your stomach to produce excess acid)
• Severe acid reflux, where an endoscopy has confirmed that your esophagus is damaged

According to Katz, "about 60 to 70 percent of people taking these drugs have mild heartburn and shouldn't be on them." Part of the problem with PPIs is that when you suppress the amount of acid in your stomach, you decrease your body's ability to kill the Helicobacter bacteria. So if your heartburn is caused by an H. pylori infection, it actually makes your condition worse and perpetuates the problem.

Besides that, reducing acid in your stomach diminishes your primary defense mechanism for food-borne infections, which will increase your risk of food poisoning. PPI drugs can also cause potentially serious side effects, including pneumonia, bone loss, hip fractures, and infection with Clostridium difficile (a harmful intestinal bacteria).

It's also worth noting that you'll also develop both tolerance and dependence on PPI drugs, so you should not stop taking proton pump inhibitors cold turkey. You need to wean yourself off them gradually or else you might experience a severe rebound of your symptoms. In some cases, the problem may end up being worse than before you started taking the medication.

Another Reason to Avoid Late-Night Eating: Intermittent Fasting

Our ancestors did not have access to grocery stores or food around the clock. They would cycle through periods of feast and famine, and modern research shows this cycling produces a number of biochemical benefits. Today, simply by altering what and when you eat, you can rather dramatically alter how your body operates for the better.

One of the simplest ways to do this is via intermittent fasting. There are many methods for doing this, but the one I recommend and personally use is to simply restrict your daily eating to a specific window of time, such as an eight-hour window from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

This gives you a 16-hour fasting "window" without much sacrifice on your part. It also ties in nicely with eating dinner at a reasonable hour (any time prior to 7 p.m.), while giving you several hours for your food to digest before you lay down for the night.

What Are the Benefits of Intermittent Fasting?

In this case, the earlier dinner will not only benefit any acid reflux that's present, but, when combined with a delayed breakfast at 11 a.m., will give your body the benefits of remaining in a carefully timed "famine mode." Benefits include the following:

• Normalizing your insulin and leptin sensitivity, and boosting mitochondrial energy efficiency: One of the primary mechanisms that makes intermittent fasting so beneficial for health is related to its impact on your insulin sensitivity.
While sugar is a source of energy for your body, it also promotes insulin resistance when consumed in the amounts found in our modern processed junk food diets. Insulin resistance, in turn, is a primary driver of chronic disease—from heart disease to cancer.
Intermittent fasting helps reset your body to use fat as its primary fuel, and mounting evidence confirms that when your body becomes adapted to burning FAT instead of sugar as its primary fuel, you dramatically reduce your risk of chronic disease.
• Normalizing ghrelin levels, also known as "the hunger hormone."
• Promoting human growth hormone (HGH) production: Research has shown fasting can raise HGH by as much as 1,300 percent in women, and 2,000 percent in men, which plays an important part in health, fitness, and slowing the aging process. HGH is also a fat-burning hormone, which helps explain why fasting is so effective for weight loss.
• Lowering triglyceride levels and improving other biomarkers of disease.
• Reducing oxidative stress: Fasting decreases the accumulation of oxidative radicals in the cell, and thereby prevents oxidative damage to cellular proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids associated with aging and disease.

Intermittent fasting is the most powerful tool I know to address insulin resistance. However, once the resistance is resolved and you are no longer overweight, have high blood pressure, diabetes, or are taking a statin drug you don't need to do it and would only benefit from doing it occasionally.

Eating Too Late at Night Throws Your Internal Clock Off Kilter

If you're in need of more motivation to move your dinnertime up a few hours, emerging research suggests that the timing of your meals, for instance eating very late at night when you'd normally be sleeping, may throw off your body's internal clock and lead to weight gain. For instance, artificial light, such as a glow from your TV or computer, can serve as a stimulus for keeping you awake and, possibly, eating, when you should really be asleep.

In one study, mice that were exposed to dim light during the night gained 50 percent more weight over an eight-week period than mice kept in complete darkness at night. They also had increased levels of glucose intolerance, a marker for pre-diabetes. The weight gain occurred even though the mice were fed the same amount of food and had similar activity levels, and the researchers believe the findings may hold true for humans as well.

When mice were exposed to nighttime light, they ended up eating more of their food when they would normally be sleeping, and this led to significant weight gain. However, in a second experiment when researchers restricted meals to times of day when the mice would normally eat, they did not gain weight, even when exposed to light at night. So when your light and dark signals become disrupted it not only changes the times you may normally eat, it also throws your metabolism off kilter, likely leading to weight gain.

The Case for Making Dinner Your Biggest Meal of the Day

You've probably heard the advice to make your mid-day meal the biggest of the day and have a lighter meal at dinner, which takes some stress off your body and allows you time to wind down for bedtime (rather than digesting a heavy meal). But this is debatable… and possibly all wrong. Some experts believe that eating your main meal at night may actually be more in-tune with your innate biological clock. Routinely eating at the wrong time may not only disrupt your biological clock and interfere with your sleep, but it may also devastate vital body functions and contribute to disease. According to Ori Hofmekler, author of The Warrior Diet:

"Your body is programmed for nocturnal feeding. All your activities, including your feeding, are controlled by your autonomic nervous system, which operates around the circadian clock. During the day, your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) puts your body in an energy spending active mode, whereas during the night your parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) puts your body in an energy replenishing relaxed and sleepy mode.

These two parts of your autonomic nervous system complement each other like yin and yang. Your SNS, which is stimulated by fasting and exercise, keeps you alert and active with an increased capacity to resist stress and hunger throughout the day. And your PSNS, which is stimulated by your nightly feeding, makes you relaxed and sleepy, with a better capacity to digest and replenish nutrients throughout the night. This is how your autonomic nervous system operates under normal conditions.

But that system is highly vulnerable to disruption. If you eat at the wrong time such as when having a large meal during the day, you will mess with your autonomic nervous system; you'll inhibit your SNS and instead turn on the PSNS, which will make you sleepy and fatigued rather than alert and active during the working hours of the day. And instead of spending energy and burning fat, you'll store energy and gain fat. This is indeed a lose-lose situation."

That being said, even if you do eat your main meal at night, you'll want to avoid eating it too close to bedtime as doing so may increase your risk of acid reflux symptoms. Ideally, try to give yourself a three- to four-hour window between your last meal of the day and bedtime. Personally, I eat my primary and really only major meal in the mid-afternoon. I snack a bit before and after but this seems to work for me as long as I get enough calories and protein.

If You Have Acid Reflux, It's Time to Overhaul Your Diet

A key to healing acid reflux is to restore your natural gastric balance and function. Eating large amounts of processed foods and sugars is a surefire way to exacerbate acid reflux, as it will upset the bacterial balance in your stomach and intestine.

You simply must eliminate all refined sugars to improve your gut flora. Instead, you'll want to eat a lot of vegetables and other high-quality, ideally organic, unprocessed foods. Also, eliminate food triggers from your diet. Common culprits here include caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine products.

Next, you need to make sure you're getting enough beneficial bacteria from your diet. This will help balance your bowel flora, which can help eliminate H. pylori bacteria (a common cause of heartburn) naturally without resorting to antibiotics. It will also aid in proper digestion and assimilation of your food.

Ideally, you'll want to get your probiotics from fermented foods. If you aren't eating fermented foods, you most likely need to supplement with a probiotic on a regular basis. Try to include a variety of cultured foods and beverages in your diet, as each food will inoculate your gut with a variety of different microorganisms. Fermented foods you can easily make at home include:

• Fermented vegetables
• Chutneys
• Cultured dairy, such as yogurt, kefir, and sour cream

In addition, acid reflux is typically a sign of having too little stomach acid. To encourage your body to make sufficient amounts of hydrochloric acid (stomach acid), you'll also want to make sure you're consuming enough of the raw material on a regular basis. High-quality sea salt (unprocessed salt), such as Himalayan salt, will not only provide you with the chloride your body needs to make hydrochloric acid, it also contains over 80 trace minerals your body needs to perform optimally, biochemically.

Sauerkraut or cabbage juice is also a strong—if not the strongest—stimulant for your body to produce stomach acid. Having a few teaspoons of cabbage juice before eating, or better yet, fermented cabbage juice from sauerkraut, will do wonders to improve your digestion.

15 More Natural Strategies for Overcoming Acid Reflux

In addition to those mentioned above, there are a number of other strategies that can also help you get your acid reflux under control, without resorting to medications.

Raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar	As mentioned earlier, acid reflux typically results from having too little acid in your stomach. You can easily improve the acid content of your stomach by taking one tablespoon of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water.
Betaine	Another option is to take a betaine hydrochloric supplement, which is available in health food stores without prescription. You'll want to take as many as you need to get the slightest burning sensation and then decrease by one capsule. This will help your body to better digest your food, and will also help kill the H. pylori bacteria.
Baking soda	One-half to one full teaspoon of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) in an eight-ounce glass of water may ease the burn of acid reflux as it helps neutralize stomach acid. I would not recommend this is a regular solution but it can sure help in an emergency when you are in excruciating pain.
Aloe juice	The juice of the aloe plant naturally helps reduce inflammation, which may ease symptoms of acid reflux. Drink about 1/2 cup of aloe vera juice before meals. If you want to avoid its laxative effect, look for a brand that has removed the laxative component.
Ginger root or chamomile tea	Ginger has been found to have a gastroprotective effect by blocking acid and suppressing Helicobacter pylori. According to a 2007 study, it's also far superior to lansoprazole for preventing the formation of ulcers, exhibiting six- to eight-fold greater potency over the drug! This is perhaps not all that surprising, considering the fact that ginger root has been traditionally used against gastric disturbances since ancient times. Add two or three slices of fresh ginger root to two cups of hot water. Let steep for about half an hour. Drink about 20 minutes or so before your meal. Before bed, try a cup of chamomile tea, which can help soothe stomach inflammation and help you sleep.
Vitamin D	Vitamin D is important for addressing any infectious component. Once your vitamin D levels are optimized, you're also going to optimize your production of about 200 antimicrobial peptides that will help your body eradicate anyinfection that shouldn't be there.  As I've discussed in many previous articles, you can increase your vitamin D levels through appropriate amounts of sun exposure, or through the use of a high-quality tanning bed. If neither of those is available, you can take an oral vitamin D3 supplement; just remember to also increase your vitamin K2 and magnesium intake as well.
Astaxanthin	This exceptionally potent antioxidant was found to reduce symptoms of acid reflux in patients when compared to a placebo, particularly in those with pronounced Helicobacter pylori infection. Best results were obtained at a daily dose of 40 mg.
Slippery elm	Slippery elm coats and soothes your mouth, throat, stomach, and intestines, and contains antioxidants that can help address inflammatory bowel conditions. It also stimulates nerve endings in your gastrointestinal tract. This helps increase mucus secretion, which protects your gastrointestinal tract against ulcers and excess acidity. The University of Maryland Medical Center makes the following adult dosing recommendations: Tea: Pour 2 cups boiling water over 4 g (roughly 2 tablespoons) of powdered bark, then steep for 3 - 5 minutes. Drink 3 times per day. Tincture: 5 mL 3 times per day. Capsules: 400 - 500 mg 3 - 4 times daily for 4 - 8 weeks. Take with a full glass of water. Lozenges: follow dosing instructions on label.
Chinese herbs for the treatment of "Gu" symptoms caused by chronic inflammatory diseases	So-called "Gu" symptoms include digestive issues associated with inflammation and pathogenic infestation. For more information about classical herbs used in Chinese medicine for the treatment of such symptoms, please see an alternative medicine professional.
Glutamine	Gastrointestinal damage caused by H. pylori can be addressed with the amino acid glutamine, found in many foods, including grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, wild-caught fish, organic eggs, raw dairy products, and some fruits and vegetables. L-glutamine, the biologically active isomer of glutamine, is also widely available as a supplement.
Folate or folic acid (vitamin B9) and other B vitamins	Research suggests B vitamins can reduce your risk for acid reflux. Higher folic acid intake was found to reduce acid reflux by approximately 40 percent. Low vitamin B2 and B6 levels were also linked to an increased risk for acid reflux. The best way to raise your folate levels is by eating folate-rich whole foods, such as organic liver, asparagus, spinach, okra, and beans.

Written By Dr. Mercola