Does diet and nutrition affect rheumatoid arthritis? Research in this area shows confusing and contradicting results. However, some common elements appear regularly in research studies which would indicate these are worth considering.

Research results and many experts agree that rheumatoid arthritis patients tend to be deficient in folic acid, B vitamins (B6 and B12), vitamins C, D, and E, calcium, magnesium, selenium, and zinc. Folic acid and the B vitamins deficiencies occur especially in patients taking methotrexate. Certainly eating a balanced diet is the first best form of nutrition, but supplements may be needed to meet the extra needs of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Two different studies with mice show that both green tea and a combination of fish oil with vitamin E reduce the inflammation related to cytokines. The presence of cytokines (pro-inflammatory) in the blood correlates to inflammation in the joints resulting in pain for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers.

Some studies indicate that green tea also aids the body in metabolizing fat which makes it an excellent aid to rheumatoid arthritis patients taking prednisone which causes excessive fat storage. Whether this works or not, green tea is recognized as an excellent anti-oxidant and certainly can’t hurt patients with autoimmune diseases.

Does diet or certain foods cause flare-ups in rheumatoid arthritis? Again research is controversial. Many experts recognize that allergens affect rheumatoid arthritis because it is an autoimmune disease. So anything that affects the immune system might affect RA. Most experts caution against radical diet changes especially elimination diets or fasting due to the risks of malnutrition or other side effects.

So what is safe and how do you find what works for you? Careful, logical, and systematic testing of foods in your diet can give positive information that will help rheumatoid arthritis sufferers. The best thing to do is begin to journal everything. Keep a daily log of all food and beverages consumed. With this log, record daily activities including exercise and anything that causes pain (e.g. opening a jar, lifting, rising, swollen joints, etc.). Over time if there is a repeated pain with a common cause then eliminate that food or activity.

Each person is unique and each case of rheumatoid arthritis will vary. Determine to eat a healthy diet and use supplements as needed in a healthy way. With study, reasonable effort, and care you can determine the kind of diet and supplements that work for you.

Get complete rheumatoid arthritis information and the latest news about RA diagnosis and treatment.

http://rheumatoidarthritisnews.com

In the wake of most catastrophes, the media often concentrates on tragic personal stories: lost life, lost homes, lost belongings, lost pets. But what about lost businesses? Medical facilities, law offices, corporate and government organizations—none are immune to the costly effects of flood, fires or hurricanes. Patient histories, client, vendor and employee files, financial records, contracts… Businesses depend on the reliability and accuracy of these accumulated records. How could any organization hope to rebound if so much information is destroyed? The long-term security of business documentation is imperative to the success of any organization, large or small.

A 2006 report by the Ponemon Institute, a privacy and information research firm, found that each individual compromised or lost record averages a cost of $182 to companies. According to the study, company costs for each of 31 separate incidents analyzed ranged from less than $1 million to upwards of $22 million. These are comprehensive costs, including legal, investigative, and administrative expenses, stock performance, customer defections, opportunity loss, and reputation management.

Managers and leaders still operating under the motto “it won’t happen to me,” take heed; “it” can happen to you. However, the damage done can be seriously minimized by taking proper precautions and establishing disaster recovery systems. Your records’ integrity is vital to your organization’s success, and addressing system vulnerabilities is imperative to data preservation. Duplicating records on-site is no guarantee of their safety, and businesses ignoring new disaster recovery solutions seriously compromise their future operability.

Remote mirroring, a new trend in the realm of disaster recovery, provides real-time, off-site data storage. Updates made on the server are simultaneously saved to the mirror box, which can be hundreds of miles from the primary location. Even if the main computer is submerged or fried, a high-quality mirroring box will preserve 100% of the information put into the computer until the moment of the disaster. Data mirroring can save solutions on a range of storage devices, and is designed to be scalable to your needs as they grow and change.

Looking to the future is key, and education is the first step toward effective disaster recovery planning. Speaking to experts, discovering your vulnerabilities and researching the solutions to address them are necessities. Attending information and training sessions taught by industry specialists is a great way to learn without throwing money away. For example, Acolyst, a solutions provider in Fredericksburg, VA holds free seminars jointly with technical experts from other industry leaders, including MiraLink and CA—major players in the realm of disaster recovery. Attendees at such events get exposure to cutting-edge technologies and personal consultations in a no-pressure-to-purchase environment.

While every business venture is a risk, ignoring the possibility of catastrophe is a gamble that no responsible leader will take. Avoiding disaster recovery decision-making will damage your organizations’ prospects. Why threaten the success of your organization, and the security of people who rely on you? Take the initiative and learn about disaster recovery options near you.

Amy Maloney is a student at the University of Mary Washington and a public relations intern.

Are you tired of playing games, wearing masks or trying to be someone other than yourself? Wouldn’t you like the freedom to just be accepted for who you are, without the pressure to be someone you really don’t know how to be? Would you like to learn how to embrace your uniqueness and resist the pull to be like everyone else? God knew what He was doing when He made you. You are a unique individual—God created you the way you are! It’s time that we dare to accept ourselves as different and stop being insecure about who we are.

If you’re going to overcome insecurities and be the person God’s called you to be, you must have the courage to be different. Unhappiness and frustration happen when we reject our uniqueness and try to be like each other. If you’re going to be successful at being completely you, then you’re going to have to take a chance on not being like everyone else. You must ask yourself, Am I a people pleaser or a God pleaser?

Becoming a people pleaser is one of the easiest things we can do…but it can ultimately make us very unhappy. When we begin pleasing others, we begin to hear comments that make us feel good about ourselves. That’s okay as long as we don’t derive our sense of worth from it. People are too fickle for us to place our sense of worth in their opinions. We’re worth something because God says we’re worth something—not because of what people think or say about us.

People pleasers allow others to control their lives in order to gain acceptance and approval. But God doesn’t want us to be easily manipulated or controlled by others. We shouldn’t let other people’s opinions of us control our actions.

At the same time, we must walk in love. We can’t just do anything we want, whenever we want, with total disregard for the feelings of others. We can’t say, “I’m going to do this, and if you don’t like it, that’s tough—that’s your problem!” The Bible commands us to love others, and love doesn’t behave that way. However, we must not allow people to manipulate and control us to the point that we’re never free to be who we are. If we do, we’ll always try to become the person we think others expect us to be.

The world (those we know and deal with on a daily basis who may be family, friends, people in the neighborhood or even in the church) is continually trying to conform us to its image. The word conform means “to be similar in form or character; to behave in accordance with prevailing modes or customs.” Romans 12:2 says, Do not be conformed to this world (this age),…but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind…It’s then that we find the good and acceptable will of God for our lives.

People will always try to fit us into their mold, partly due to their own insecurity. It makes them feel better about what they are doing if they can get someone else to do it too. Very few people have the ability to be who they are and let everybody else be who they are. Can you imagine how nice the world would be if we would all do that? Each person would be secure in who he is and let others be who they are. We would not have to try to be imitations of each other.

God wants to take us, with all our weaknesses and inabilities, and transform us, by working from the inside out, to do something powerful in this earth. If we’re going to overcome insecurities and succeed at being ourselves, we can’t continue to be afraid of what everybody else may think. We can’t continue to allow others to fit us into their mold. We are different! We are unique! God created us this way to accomplish His purposes here on earth.

There is a real art to selling a home. Long ago the home sales bushiness became far more than posting a sign on the front lawn and then waiting for buyers to arrive. The selling of a home has become a much more involved process for both the seller and the listing agent. One of the main reasons for this has been the emergence of real estate as a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Also that fact that real estate has become one of the major areas of investment has made buyers more savvy and this has created more work for agents and sellers alike. Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, what it does mean is that people are expecting more for their money and have become more educated about purchasing.

What this means for the average seller is that they too must educate themselves and learn to showcase their properties properly in conjunction with the expertise of their realtor to create a package that is undeniably desirable to buyers. There are several ways that this can be accomplished: As the home owner you have certain responsibilities in order to realize the greatest profit from your home sale.

Price your home properly. This is extremely important. Homes that are unrealistically priced don’t sell, at least not very quickly. Overpriced homes tend to alienate buyers before they even look at the home. Confer with your realtor, get a CMA done and decide on a reasonable asking price.

Get rid of excess furniture and other items. Mess is a huge factor in many people’s negative impressions of homes. Move out any stuff you don’t need on a daily basis. You are going to have enough to move out eventually, why not get a head start on it?

Get the exterior of the home is pristine condition. In real estate first impressions are critically important. Typically people’s impression will be partially formed by the time they see your house from the street. Make sure they have a good experience with your homes facade. This will include doing such things as detailing your yard, spending some time cutting and trimming the lawn, painting the house and refinishing the driveway. Not only will these things improve the looks of your home but they can positively affect the asking price.

Never be hesitant to do extra work to improve your home’s chances of selling quickly and for the amount you want. If you take the time to set your home apart from others that its competing with, it will make your experience as a seller much more enjoyable and less stressful.

V.K. Melhado is a professional Realtor serving the Naples real estate market. For more information on Naples homes & properties, contact V.K. today or visit http://www.previewnaples.com

When looking at the startling facts about child obesity, parents and others are wondering what they can do to actively combat the spread of obesity. First and foremost, we must determine what created this situation. Once we get this determination, we can further pursue a plan of attack.

Research shows that physical activity is a combatant for obesity as well as good nutrition. Making a game out of good nutrition is a good way to motivate children into working their way out of obesity and into a future of eating healthy. When you de-emphasize exercise for and to children, they are more apt to participate in physical activity.

Put more focus on fun for children’s activities and your plan of attach in combating child obesity is less gruesome for you and for children. Children like doing fun things and they are very happy doing fun things with family. Parents should plan fun, robust, and targeted physical activities for the entire family.

Remember, most children emulate what they see and hear. Therefore, if a child witnesses his
family taking an active part in physical activity, they will take an active part too. Also, remember that children love being around their parents. While the concentration and focus is on combating child obesity, adults who plan physical activities for the family are also benefiting themselves.

Social behaviors must be another major focus in the plan to combat child obesity. Children have learned at an early age to eat out. Families who are short of time to prepare healthy meal choices have taught their children to eat at McDonalds, Burger King, Hardees, etc. in lieu of nutrition. Time is the issue for most families where both parents work outside of the home. Oftentimes, a meal from the nearby fast food restaurant is the choice for the family dinner.
If we think back on our childhoods, we can easily develop a plan of fun physical activities. Remember when we used to play hopscotch? Wasn’t that a fun game to play with your friends? Did you know at that time you were burning calories? Did you even think that one day in your adult life, you would be reflecting on childhood games? How about the game of tag or dodgeball? How about “Simon Says?” Oh, to be a kid again.

Guess what? If you want to take an active part in combating child obesity, you can revert back to your childhood. Use those games from your past into your physical activity plan for your children. After all, our childhoods did not allow us to be sedentary. To be still for more than five minutes was unheard of. I can hear my mother saying, “Why don’t you keep still? You’re like a worm in hot ashes.” Those were the days. As I think back on my childhood, I don’t remember any of my friends or myself being overweight.

Let all of us take a look back on our childhoods and put our childhood memories into a plan of physical activity for combating child obesity. Let us bring our childhoods from yesteryear into the childhoods of today for our children.

This article was written by Mary Mason-Shields, an independent distributor for a major health and wellness company. Visit her at http://www.divinity-mary.blogspot.com to get a copy of her free e-book.

A traveler’s experience is viewed as more powerful than an advertisement or even article; people trust other peoples’ experiences. People that travel also love to talk about their experiences to their friends, family and co-workers; they want to tell you what was absolutely fabulous about their vacation, and they also want to tell you what went wrong. All of these experiences make for good story telling at their next cocktail party or at Monday morning’s gathering around the water cooler.

Thanks to consumer review websites, where users generate their own content, travelers now have the power to reach far beyond the water cooler; these sites allow them to post their comments and leave what I call a “digital footprint.” Their comments have the potential to reach thousands of people, and influence their purchasing decisions, good and bad. A hotel with a bad review will see their occupancy plummet, but a good review will help reservations and increase ADR by building-up occupancy.

We are seeing now that 25% of all hotel bookings are being made online, and another 25% are made offline but are influenced by online research. So if your hotel can chance 50% of its revenue by ignoring user generated reviews, you are truly one of the few lucky ones; most hotels want to see every reservation make it through to the guest’s head hitting the pillow!

As a result, every hotel should consider putting in place an on-going system with an individual from the hotel responsible for monitoring consumer websites and seeing what comments have been made, good or bad, about your hotel.

If you find out that you have many negative comments, obviously it would be a good idea to address those problems internally and improve your hotel in the areas that guests are complaining about.

If you feel that comments were made unfairly or there was a valid reason for the error, I would suggest that the General Manger go into the site where the complaint was made and note why the problem occurred and that it has been addressed and fixed.

For example, if a guest goes online and posts a complaint that there was no heat in room 203 and your hotel had a problem with your heating system, then post a response and explain that you had an issue that day, and it was taken care of immediately after the problem was brought to your attention. Ensure the online posting notes that the posting is coming from the hotel and is written in a professional, non-threatening way. This kind of message is best written coming from the General Manger or an equivalent person.

To help garner more positive comments on your hotel, try to encourage happy customers to comment online. If you have unhappy customers, cater to their needs until they are happy – that’s customer satisfaction 101. But in today’s digital world that the angry customer can tell more than their ten friends by posting online, customer service needs to take front seat. If you get threatened by a technically-savvy guest, and they tell you that they are going to post some negative comments online, then I would make sure you cater to their needs immediately; a posting online can reach thousands, and go past a person’s immediate circle of friends and acquaintances.

Here is a list of some of the more popular user-generated travel sites that accept comments and reviews:

www.Igougo.com, www.Epinions.com, www.Travelocity.com, www.Expedia.com, www.orbitz.com, www.Tripadvisor.com, www.travel.yahoo.com

Hillary Bressler is http://www.commarketing.com .Com Marketing, Inc. Founder and CEO. She is a recognized authority on Interactive marketing and one of the nations’ online marketing pioneers. Bressler established .Com Marketing in April 1997 after identifying the need for Web sites to be marketed. Her Interactive agency has served such notable clients as MP3.com, Nestle Foods, Marriott & Renaissance Dell, McDonalds, Tribune, Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld.

The city of Naples, located in Collier County Florida is one of Florida’s most beautiful inner coastal cities. Situated on the Gulf of Mexico, Naples features an amazing coastline of Florida’s famous white sand beaches that stretches for miles. Naples is widely known as “The Golf Capital Of The World.” The Naples area features more than 80 championship level courses and is home to the perfect climate for the game. Sun and outdoor recreation are the name of the game in Naples. Its one of those areas that is so nice that its a real shame to spend time indoors.

Saying that there is a thriving real estate industry in Naples would be like saying “well, sometimes its sunny in Florida.” There is such an eclectic array of homes and properties in Naples, ranging anywhere from average single family dwellings to sprawling beach front mansions to quaint beach homes to modern loft spaces and condos and golf course communities. It really matters not what kind of home you desire because you will be able to find it in this scenic seaside community.

Naples is also an exiting place to be. As mentioned before, recreation takes center stage. In addition to the golf that the city is known for, the ocean provides a wealth of other opportunities such as fishing, sailing, swimming, surfing, diving and snorkeling and general beach lounging. The city itself is home to a number of interesting and distinct shopping districts that will enchant and intrigue any sensibilities. There is really never a shortage of things to do in Naples. It is also home to sections of two huge land reserves that showcase the unique landscape of Florida. The Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary encompasses over 11,000 acres and has a boardwalk that stretches for over two miles. The Everglades National Park is a World Heritage Site and is one of the most beautiful untouched areas of land in the nation. All things considered, Naples is a fantastic place to live and play.

V.K. Melhado is a professional Realtor serving the Naples real estate market. For more information on Naples homes & properties, contact V.K. today or visit http://www.previewnaples.com

1. Remember, if you don’t ask, it will NEVER happen.

Wayne Gretzky once said, “One hundred percent of the shots I don’t make don’t go in.” Likewise, the unasked question is never answered.

2. Don’t beat around the bush.

Get straight to the point and just ask!

3. If it’s an extraordinary request, say so.

BIG requests are often the best requests. Be 100% upfront and honest about what you need help with and what’s involved.

4. If the request is work that YOU normally (or should) do, explain why you can’t.

You don’t need to provide tons of detail, but again, be honest with the person you’re asking (and with yourself).

5. Don’t assume you know what the answer will be.

Maybe they’ll say “No.” Of course, they might say “Yes.”

6. Recognize that the person can say “no”.

You may not like it, but it will happen from time to time. Accept it and move on.

7. Request one thing at a time.

Asking for help, assistance, changes, etc., is fine, but don’t overwhelm a person with multiple requests all at once.

8. Request clearly.

If there’s an exact way it needs to be done, let the person know. Give them all the information to make a good decision, but also so they can really do what you need them to do.

9. Trust the person to do the right thing.

If your request is clear and the person has said that they’ll do it, expect they’ll do it correctly. don’t follow them around and hound them about it.

10. Say “Thank you.”

Even if they turn you down.

Perhaps the business blogging bug has not yet bitten you. Never the less, do not under estimate the influence business bloggers have.

While you may not yet have a blog, I highly recommend that you take time to find bloggers who are in fields that are both similar to yours and to some who connect with communities of people who are likely to be in your target audience.

I recommend that you subscribe to a five to ten blogs so you can follow the conversation that takes place on the blog. When the conversation is one that you have an opinion on and could add to, then why not post a comment?

Most business blogs have a facility where you can add your name and website or blog domain address.

If you write a comment of note and add to the conversation, you will find that most business bloggers and the readers of their blog will then follow the link back to find out more about you.

Business blogging is changing the way that we network and connect with people online. Just because you have not established a business blog does not mean you can not participate in the conversation.

You just never know where the conversation may flow to. I have personally found new business associates, joint venture associations and clients through networking on line through my own blog, BizGrowthNews.com and through connecting to other bloggers on their blog.

Make sure that you enhance your personal brand and reputation with fellow business leaders through connecting with business bloggers.

YOUR PERSONAL BRAND ACTION STEPS

1. Take 30 minutes in your calendar this week to visit Technorati and find 5-10 blogs that are writing about subjects relevant to your expertise.

2. Subscribe to these blogs and follow the conversation in the next few weeks.

3. Schedule 60 minutes a week to read blog articles, follow links to relevant resources from the articles and make posts on the blogs you are following.

4. In 30 days time take stock on what new information you have gleaned through following those blogs and review how you are building relationships with bloggers and their readers. You never know, you too get the blogging bug too.

Do you want to learn more about business blogging? Then join me each week for my no-cost branding and business development teleseminars.

Register today at: http://www.bizgrowthlive.com

Want to get started immediately? Then visit http://www.bizgrowthnews.com for immediate access to free resources, articles and audio turorials and bring your brand to life today!

Copyright 2007 – Krishna De. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long the article is printed in it’s entirety, you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way and include the copyright statement.

About the author: Krishna De is considered to be one of Europe’s leading branding, business blogging, corporate podcasting marketing and media experts. You will find Krishna building her brand online at http://www.krishnade.com where you can also access her content rich branding and business development ezine, Biz Growth Express, bringing you strategies, inspiration and tips to attract more clients in less time with less stress.

With so much information out there to read these days, we all need to be able to increase our reading speed.

But just being able to read faster is not good enough as we could miss out on some of the vital information we are looking for in the first place.

So we need to improve our reading by focusing on several reading skills so that we are learning to read faster and read better.

To help do this we need to understand the way in which read in the first place.

1. The Concept of Eye Movement.

Everyone reads - but, with most people it is a haphazard process. You learned to read in the first grade and you read more and more as you grew older. But did you ever stop to think that in all probability no one ever taught you how to read? I mean that no one explained the mechanics or physiology of reading and told you how to make these natural processes work for you to develop speed and quicker comprehension.

For example, when you pick up a letter, a newspaper, a magazine or a book your eyes seem to move smoothly over the lines of type from left to right. But the truth is, they move in a series of jerks. Your eyes stop - “fixate,” the experts call it - and register a word or two. Then they jerk to the right and repeat the process until you have read the entire line. You read only during the stops or fixations.

2. The Concept of the Eye-Mind Relationship.

We read with the eyes, of course. But the eyes are only a camera which photographs images for the mind to translate into ideas. It is the mind which preserves what you read - not the eyes. But since the mind can receive its images only through the eyes, the eyes must be trained to record these word images swiftly and surely.

3. The Concept of Reading Purpose.

From now on you will approach everything you read with a purpose. You will undertake many kinds of reading for many purposes. Both comprehension and retention are sharpened when your purpose is fixed in advance. You will not waste time in letting your eyes wander vaguely down the page. You will put system and efficiency into your reading.

This kind of selectivity is as much one of the skills of Speed Reading as increasing speed. Remember, you don’t have to read every word on every piece of paper that comes across your desk. The efficient way is to make a quick estimate of its nature and its value to you. Then decide if and how you will read it. This can save many minutes out of your working day.

You apply this same evaluation to everything you read, whether it is for information only, for entertainment or for the sheer pleasure of self-enrichment through a finely written novel or a biography. You establish in advance the purpose for which you are reading.

People who have not yet learned the total conception of Speed Reading often ask two questions: “If I learn to read rapidly, won’t I miss a great deal - particularly the beauty of imaginative writing?” And, “Won’t I overlook important points if I go through articles so fast?”

Experience shows that the rapid reader remembers far more - not less - of what he reads, because he has learned to be an efficient reader. Understanding is increased because he knows why he reads and because he concentrates. As to missing beauty, Speed Reading calls for changes of speed with different kinds of reading material. The trained reader slows down when he wants to savor the beauty of poetry, of drama, of fine passages in a biography or novel. He paces himself to what he is reading.

So now you have the three basic concepts of Speed Reading:

1. A thorough grasp of the eye-movement mechanics which will govern many of the techniques in faster reading.

2. An understanding of the eye-mind relationship which conditions the comprehension and retention of what you read.

3. An awareness of your reading purpose before you begin to read. This causes you to read different kinds of material at different speeds and reduces the over-all time you spend on reading.

Remember these concepts and you will see just how the skills of Speed Reading grow out of them.

David McKone is the publisher of “Read Faster and Read Better” which is a guide to help you improve your reading skills through speed reading.

You can find out more at http://www.ReadFasterandReadBetter.com