Clinical depression affects 15 million Americans yearly, and countless more suffer from milder versions of this illness. Antidepressants are among the most commonly prescribed drugs. By the end of 1995, 12 million people around the world (half in the U.S.) were taking Prozac, despite the high side-effect profile of this, and most other, antidepressant drugs, notably headaches, drowsiness, dry mouth, sexual dysfunctions and insomnia. Like most other disease, depression can be largely relieved by lifestyle and nutrition changes. Addiction and depression interface to a large extent. Many people claim that they smoke, drink alcohol, or take drugs because it calms them down. In reality, the “high” is very short term; these addictions ultimately add more stress to the system because of obsession with the next “fix.” (Please read Lifestyle Factors In Reducing Depression at the bottom of this post, for a list of changes you can make in your lifestyle that will have a direct impact on alleviating depression).

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Despite its prevalence, constipation is often not understood, nor mentioned to doctors and thus may go untreated for years. While perhaps not the most scintillating topic for polite conversation with new friends, I personally, as a naturopathic physician and mom, am fascinated with digestive health and, well, poop.

Constipation means all or any of the following: difficulty passing stool, incomplete passage of stool, or infrequent bowel movements. Ideally people would poop shortly after each meal, just like cats. The two main reasons few Americans have 3 easy-to-pass, formed, darkish brown, half-floating/half-sinking poops daily (the ideal) is because of chronic dehydration and a low-fiber, high refined-food diet. “Sinkers” mean the fecal matter has been in there too long and has become compacted, dense and heavy. The optimal “transit time” is 18 to 24 hours. Beets or corn are useful foods for evaluating how long it takes to go the several dozen feet from your mouth to your anus.

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You may have heard the aphorism “You Are What You Eat.” That’s true, to a certain extent, but perhaps it would be even more accurate to quip “You Are What You Assimilate.” In other words, you need to extract the nutrition from your chow, and successfully eliminate the rest, for the food to have been truly useful. Some basic tips on maximizing your chances of healthy assimilation and proper elimination are:

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Hey, Guys! You Can Help!

If you are a man who enjoys making love with women, you are likely to encounter a female bladder infection at some point. Here are a few hot tips to help ensure your continued popularity with your suffering lover.

1. Please don’t pressure her for sex until she’s ready. This rule applies in any situation, by the way.
2. Cleanliness is key. Please wash your genital area well daily, and, if you are uncircumcised, clean under the foreskin. Scrub your fingernails. Yes, that generally involves a nail-brush. Keep well-shaved (or keep the hair on your face clean) so as not to further irritate the labia and urethral tissues. Unfortunately for women, the urethra is precariously near the clitoris, which is generally best not avoided. Keep “high” when entertaining your lover with oral foreplay.
3. Which leads to the request, similar to #1 above, to always make sure your partner is well lubricated before penetrating with fingers or other appendages.
4. Your female companion is likely to pee more frequently than you do whether or not she has a bladder infection, so just go ahead and put the toilet seat down, even if it’s your house. This is a really hot tip.
5. Think of ways to be super-helpful for a few days: Run to the pharmacy for her, even in the middle of the night. Give a little extra help with the kids, household, or shopping. Accompany her to the doctor if that becomes necessary.
6. Help her stay hydrated; bring her juices and teas and make sure she has a tall glass of drinking water nearby at all times. Of course, this will mean she needs to pee more often, so please don’t pressure her to just wait until the next gas station or the end of the movie or whatever.

Toothaches and gum diseases are usually only related in that they both occur in the mouth. They have, generally speaking, very different causes and therefore will be discussed separately in this article.

The classic toothache is almost always caused by nerve pain due to an exposed nerve root. While it is true that receding gums can expose nerve roots, causing “tooth” pain, another scenario is that of a filling worn down or fallen out. Chewing gum regularly will make fillings come out more quickly; avoid it if possible. Usually a toothache requires a trip to the dentist, however there a number of treatments you can access relatively easily if you can’t see the dentist right away.

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