What Your Body Says About Your Health

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http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100184185

Urine

A trip to the toilet may be more revealing than you think. “The appearance and smell of your urine—as well as the frequency with which you have to go—can provide many clues to what else is going on in your body,” says Dr. Michael Farber, director of the Executive Health Program at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J.


Looking pale

If your urine is as colorless as water, well, that’s probably because you’ve been drinking a lot of water. And besides the inconvenience of going to the bathroom many times a day because your bladder is filling up with fluid faster, there’s really nothing medically worrisome about having a light colored output.


Too dark

If your urine has a brownish, iced tea-colored tinge, that could be a sign that you are dehydrated and the kidney is producing more concentrated (as opposed to diluted) urine. “The urine gives good indications of the body’s level of hydration,” Farber says, “so if a patient complains of dizziness or lightheadedness, you would want to check the urine to rule out dehydration as a cause of the problem.” The ideal shade to strive for is the color of straw. Another reason to get yourself checked out if you see dark urine—especially if it doesn’t lighten up after you drink a few glasses of water—is that the cause could actually be blood. It won’t be as obvious as a bright red drop in the toilet, but it could be a sign of bleeding higher up in the kidney which could indicate an infection, kidney disease or even cancer.


Sweet smelling

Catching a whiff of something sugary sweet after you pee might actually be a clue to something very serious going on in your body. “A sugary smell might indicate the presence of blood sugar that’s being excreted in the urine,” says Farber. And a high concentration of blood sugar in the urine is one sign of diabetes. The kidney acts as a filter for all sorts of waste that flows through the body. But if your filter is damaged, things can leak out of it and end up being excreted in the urine. In the case of diabetes, excess blood sugar sneaks out through a leaky filter and shows up in the urine. If you are pregnant, changes in the kidney filtration system can result in the presence of sugar in the urine. Whether pregnant or not, if a doctor finds sugar in your urine, he or she should order further tests to determine if diabetes is a concern.


Funny smelling

It can be a little bit disconcerting, but, smelling an odd odor when you pee is probably nothing to be worried about. Certain foods—asparagus, most notoriously—produce a sulfur-containing amino acid. So when the food is broken down in the digestive system, those smelly substances are released, filtered through the kidney, and then make their way into the urine where they create an unpleasant scent. As soon as the food responsible has been fully digested and flushed from your system completely, the smell will vanish as well.


Bright yellow

Urine that looks nearly neon-colored may seem somewhat alarming, but the cause is most likely nothing more than sinister than your daily multivitamin pill. “The B vitamins and carotene in particular give the urine a deeper, more golden color,” says Dr. Deborah J. Lightner, associate professor of urology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. And don’t worry: That brightly colored urine means you’re simply pissing away all of your expensive supplements. The urine color can be affected as the vitamins filter through your system—even as they are being absorbed and utilized.


A spot of blood

Seeing a splash of red in the toilet can mean many things—some quite benign, others quite serious. “For that reason, you should always have your doctor check your urine if you see blood,” warns Lightner. “In an otherwise healthy young woman, the chances are overwhelmingly in favor of it being a sign of a urinary tract infection, but blood in the urine is also one of the seven deadly signs of bladder cancer in both women and in men.” Beyond the possibilities of infection or (worst case scenario) cancer, blood in the urine can also be caused by microscopic trauma or tears (not uncommon after an endurance event like a marathon), kidney stones, or as a side effect of taking blood-thinning medication or daily aspirin therapy.


Always gotta go

You’ve seen the commercials of people racing to the bathroom in a panic because they have to go so often and so urgently. There are a variety of possible causes, and unless you are going so often that it’s truly affecting your life, frequent bathroom urges probably are not cause for concern (or for taking the medications advertised in those commercials). Look first at your diet and lifestyle. If you’ve suddenly picked up the habit of toting a water bottle with you everywhere and have greatly increased your H2O intake, the reason could be as simple as the fact that you’re filling your bladder up more often and more quickly than you used to—and, consequently, it needs to be emptied more frequently than it used to. Or maybe you’ve recently changed your diet to include foods that contain more water (such as fruits and vegetables) and act as diuretics, or begun taking medications (like drugs used to treat high blood pressure) which are also diuretics. One of the common symptoms of a urinary tract infection is an urgent need to pee (often without being able to once you get to the toilet). Growing older can also be to blame for increased frequency and urgency in both men and women—as the way the kidney and the bladder make and discharge urine changes with age. For men, however, the prostate may play a role. It’s not uncommon as men age for the prostate to become enlarged and cause an obstruction that causes weak urine flow and prevents the bladder from emptying effectively, which then creates the need to go more often.

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A little leakage

It’s one of those topics no one likes to talk about, but a lot of women—even very young women who have never gone through childbirth—experience some type of urinary incontinence. “Stress incontinence is a condition in which the muscles of the pelvic floor can’t handle the increased pressure of high impact activities like running or gymnastics, or even something like coughing or sneezing,” Lightner says. And when the pelvic floor is too weak to withstand that sort of pressure, the result is that a small amount of urine will leak out. The situation often begins—or gets significantly worse—after a woman gives birth. The best solution is to strengthen the pelvic floor by regularly doing Kegel exercises (in which you repeatedly contract and release those muscles as if you were trying to stop your flow of urine). Another type of urinary incontinence is called urge incontinence, and it is characterized, not by weak muscles, but by a bladder malfunction. “The bladder will fire without your permission, so you won’t necessarily get the signal to head to the bathroom before your bladder decides it’s time to empty itself,” says Lightner.


A burning sensation

If you are suddenly experiencing pain when you pee, it’s highly likely that you are experiencing one of the first signs of a urinary tract infection. Such infections are incredibly common among sexually active, pre-menopausal women, thanks to the fact that the female anatomy puts a relatively short urinary canal in close proximity with the vagina and rectum. That proximity makes it very easy for bacteria to find its way into the urethra and up the urinary canal. Oral antibiotics can clear the infection up within days, and increasing fluids can help flush out bacteria to shorten the duration of the infection. The male anatomy makes urinary tract infections a much rarer event for men, but they can happen—and, Lightner warns, similar signs and symptoms in men can also signal an infection of the prostate.


Nails

The pits

When the normally smooth surface of the fingernail has several small dents or pits in it, that can be a signal that something is going on beneath the nail. Most often, the cause of those dents is psoriasis. The inflammatory skin condition—it shows up as red, scaly patches on the skin—can also affect the skin cells in the nails. Instead of growing out smoothly, the surface of the nail takes on a dented appearance. Once the psoriasis is treated and under control, nails will slowly return to normal. (Since nails only grow about a millimeter per week, it will take a few months for the old, pitted nail to fully grow out and be replaced with a healthy one.)


Spoon-shaped

A healthy nail has a specific shape—slightly raised in the middle, then curving down a bit at the tip. So when you see a nail with the exact opposite configuration, that should be a clue that all is not right. “It’s called a spoon-shaped nail, and it’s a symptom of iron deficiency anemia,” says Dr. D’Anne Kleinsmith, a spokesperson for the American Dermatological Society. As with many health problems, it can take months of iron deficiency before the problem shows up in the nails. And when the anemia is corrected, it will take awhile for normal-shaped nails to re-grow.


Peeling

The nail plate is made up of several layers of keratin (a protein). Ideally, those layers are sealed together to form a unified, strong nail. But when nails aren’t protected—your hands are in water a lot, or exposed to cold, dry air—those layers tend to delaminate. The result is nails that are likely to peel. Besides being an indication that you need to take better care of your nails—polish can help seal the layers and moisturizing them several times a day will keep the layers supple—peeling nails can mean a diet that’s lacking in linoleic acid. The easiest way to up your intake is to increase your use of vegetable oils (add some to your salad dressing or drizzle some on steamed veggies).


Brittleness

By some estimates, about 20 percent of women suffer from a condition called “brittle nail syndrome.” While it may sound like just a fancy name for nails that break easily, the causes go deeper than that. Brittle nails are ones that can’t hold on to moisture, so the layers of the nail plate dry out and crack. Medically speaking, it’s possible for an under-active thyroid to cause both dry skin and brittle nails. Nutritionally, a diet low in iron can cause nails to become thin, brittle and easily broken (eating more green, leafy vegetables, red meat and eggs will help boost your iron intake). Biotin supplements (a B-complex vitamin) have also been shown to improve the condition of brittle nails. And your habits play a role as well. The main culprit: excessive exposure to water. Constantly wetting and drying your hands (and nails) can make brittleness worse.


Looking yellow

A healthy nail (with healthy skin beneath its bed) has a pretty, pinkish hue. When it doesn’t, that may be a reason to worry. “When all of the nails turn yellow it can be a sign of lung disease or diabetes,” says Dr. Arielle Kauvar, a New York City dermatologist. “Yellow spots on the nails can be an indicator of fungus or psoriasis.” Since any of these conditions warrants treatment by a doctor, it’s worth seeing a dermatologist if yellow nails persist. Women who frequently wear very dark nail polish for long periods of time (especially without using a protective basecoat underneath it) may also notice a slight yellowing of their nails, but it’s no reason to panic. The nails are merely stained from the polish and will return to their normal shade if they are left unpolished for a while.


White spots

Tiny white splotches dotting otherwise healthy-looking pink nails are not normally a sign of anything serious. Most often, those spots are the manifestation of some type of trauma to the nail. If you injure the nail matrix—the area at the base of the nail where new nail cells are created—you’ll see the results of that trauma show up as white spots as the nails grow out. But since it takes several weeks for those new nail cells to grow out to a place on the nail plate where the injury is visible, chances are that by time you notice a white spot, you may have forgotten the nail-slamming incident that caused it. But if you’re certain you didn’t injure your nails and you are noticing recurring white spots, there are several other causes—including the skin conditions psoriasis and eczema, or a diet that’s deficient in the mineral zinc (found in whole grains, poultry and seafood).


Turning colors

The most common cause of fingernails that suddenly take on an unhealthy tinge is some type of fungal infection. Both yeast infections and bacterial infections can easily be picked up at an unsanitary nail salon—usually caused by the use of unsterilized tools. “A yeast infection can cause the nail to separate from the underlying skin,” says Kleinsmith. “The nail can start lifting up and a crumbly, white fungus can appear underneath it.” A bacterial infection can cause the affected nail to turn slightly green. And getting too vigorous with the cuticle pusher or nippers can lead to either a yeast or bacterial infection in the cuticle surrounding the nail. “If you notice sudden swelling or pain in the cuticles a day or two after a manicure, see a doctor to get on antibiotics,” she recommends.

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The half moon

Officially called the lunula, that little crescent at the base of the nail is where the nail matrix (the birthplace of new nail cells) lies. Normally the lunula is most prominent on the thumbs, and it gets progressively less visible on each finger as you move from thumb over to pinky. “It’s a normal variation to see more of it on some fingers than on others,” says Kleinsmith. “And whether it’s visible or not isn’t indicative of health.” A fun nail fact: the shape of the lunula determines the natural shape of the nail edge.


Ridges

Potato chips aren’t the only things that can have ridges. Nails that have even, vertical ridges are totally normal—a sign not of any health problems, but of age (they tend to become more accentuated as you get older). But a condition called Beau’s lines is a sign of a more systemic health issue. “If a person has been very sick or gone through a lot of stress, the nail may stop growing,” Kleinsmith explains. “When it starts growing again, an indentation occurs at that spot on the nail.” As the nail grows out over the next several months, these indentations (probably in about the same place on each nail) will become visible. A single deep ridge in just one nail may indicate that there’s a small wart or cyst at the base of the nail that is putting pressure on the nail matrix and affecting the way the new nails grow.


Tongue

White coating

When the tongue looks sort of white and pasty—in patches or in its entirety—it’s an indication that there’s probably some sort of infection present on the tongue, such as a bacterial overgrowth or an autoimmune-related inflammatory disease. One possible cause: Thrush, which is an overgrowth of candida (also called yeast) bacteria. Once the infection is treated with anti-fungal drugs (either topical or oral) and the infection clears up, the tongue will return to its healthy pink shade.


Too dark

A healthy tongue should have a warm, pinkish color, so when it looks dark brown or black, you need to wonder why. And chances are, the answer will be in your diet, lifestyle or your medicine cabinet. “The filiform papillae on the top of the tongue—particularly if they’re elongated—can easily take on stains or various colors from the foods, drinks, antibiotics, lozenges, etc. that you consume,” says Sol Silverman, Jr., DDS, a spokesperson for the American Dental Association. A side effect of taking bismuth medications (like Pepto Bismol) is that the tongue may turn temporarily black. And drinking a lot of coffee, smoking or chewing tobacco can stain the tongue a brownish shade. The good news is that in both cases, it’s probably just stained from food or medicine, and simply brushing your tongue a few times should help it fade back to its normal shade. While the staining may not be permanent, beware that any kind of tobacco use increases your risk of oral cancer.


Getting hairy

“The top of the tongue is covered with little projections called filiform papillae,” explains Silverman. “They’re made up of keratin—the same protein that makes up hair, but they’re not really ‘hair.’” And under normal conditions, you wouldn’t even notice them. But certain conditions can cause them to elongate, giving the tongue a “hairy” appearance. Several factors could be responsible for causing the filiform papillae to grow, including a bacterial infection, taking antibiotics, or having a very dry mouth.


Sore spots

They may be small, but canker sores or mouth ulcers (which can occur anywhere in the mouth, including the tongue) can be extremely painful. “Most things that happen in the mouth are multi-factorial,” says Silverman. And these sores are no exception. Generally, those with a genetic predisposition to getting cankers will see them crop up when other factors fall into place—such as having a cold or fever, eating an excess of citrus fruits, or biting your tongue. But keep an eye on those spots. A normal canker will heal up and vanish in a week to 10 days. Something that lasts longer and doesn’t seem to be going away could be a sign of oral cancer and should be checked out by your doctor immediately.


A bumpy surface

The filiform papillae—projections on the top of the tongue, including the taste buds—normally stick up a little bit. But occasionally one will get temporarily inflamed, red, and a bit sore. As with canker sores, as long as the area returns to normal within a time span of a few days, the inflammation is most likely harmless. “But if it turns very red or white, is painful and tender, and most importantly, doesn’t go away, it could be a sign of oral cancer,” Josephson warns.


Red and painful

When the tongue’s healthy pink color mutates to bright or dark red, that can be clue to certain nutritional deficiencies—especially a lack of niacin (also called vitamin B3), a condition known as pellagra. Other nutritional issues can also cause this odd coloring. Anemia or a diet lacking in folic acid and vitamin B12 may be to blame. But a temporary redness and pain in the tongue is most likely caused by something you ate or drank. Sensitivity to certain flavors of toothpaste, mouthwash or gum (like cinnamon) and acidic foods (like pineapple) are potential culprits. If you suffer from frequent bouts of tongue pain, you might want to try eliminating these foods from your diet to see if the irritation clears up.


Turning yellow

A yellowish tint on the tongue is probably a clue that there is some sort of fungal or bacterial infection in the mouth. Another possible cause of tongue yellowing is gastric reflux. “It may be that the acid rearranges the mouth’s normal bacterial flora, and some of it may have a yellow hue,” says Josephson. Occasionally, changes in the tongue’s color will happen only in patches—a condition known as “geographic tongue.” In that case, some spots on the tongue will become yellow while other areas remain normal and pink.


A burning sensation

Burning mouth syndrome, also called oral dysesthesia, is a specific, not well-understood condition that goes far beyond simply eating certain foods that cause a temporary stinging sensation. The condition is characterized by pain and burning that can affect just the tongue or the entire mouth; the sensation may be constant or it may come and go throughout the day. For reasons that are not clear, burning mouth syndrome most commonly afflicts post-menopausal women. “It could be some damage to the nerves of the tongue that are somehow related to the hormonal changes of menopause,” Josephson says. Other possible causes include bacterial infections, dry mouth (a side effect of some medications), or nutritional deficiencies. A cure is elusive, but some of the current treatments for managing burning mouth syndrome include drinking water more frequently, chewing gum (to combat dry mouth), or taking anti-anxiety or anti-depressant drugs.


Pale and smooth

When people are suffering from iron deficiency anemia, the tongue can take on an abnormally pale, smooth look. “That’s because when your body is dealing with a lack of iron, your blood doesn’t have the necessary oxygen-carrying capacity to keep the tissues red,” explains Josephson. And the result of that lack of oxygen in the blood is that all of the tissues—including the tongue—become pale and look, well, anemic. When the anemia is under control and the blood is once again well-oxygenated, the tongue will go back to its healthy pink shade.

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Hair
Going gray
Some people start finding those wiry gray strands as early as their 20s, while others hold onto their natural color well into their 40s. The cause is unrelated to how healthy—or unhealthy—you are. As with so many things, it turns out you can blame (or thank) your parents for the rate at which your hair turns gray. "It's mostly genetic," Kauvar says, "so if your parents grayed early, it is likely you will too." The hair that's already on your head doesn't lose pigment. But as you age, there is a decrease in melanin production in the hair bulb (or root). So when new strands start to grow, they may come in with less—or no—pigment, thanks to that decrease in melanin. The change happens most quickly in Caucasians, 50 percent of whom will be at least 50 percent gray by age 50.

Serious shedding
Seeing a swarm of strands in the shower drain every morning isn't necessarily a cause for alarm—or a signal that anything is wrong with you. It's totally normal to lose about 100 strands of hair every day. And even if you think you’re losing more than that, remember that your head carries at least 100,000 hair follicles, so it's possible to collect a handful or two out of the bath or hairbrush without it visibly changing the appearance of your mane. And since those 100,000 or so follicles have different growth phases, even as several strands fall out, dozens of new ones are just on their way in to replace them. So unless you're starting to notice visible thinning of your hair or bald spots on your scalp, chances are the loss is nothing more than natural, everyday shedding

Visibly thinning
If you have iron or protein deficiency—common with the caloric deprivation of anyone suffering from an eating disorder—it is not unusual to experience severe hair loss. That's because the malnutrition forces the body to conserve protein (the building block of all the body's cells, including the hair) by shutting down hair growth. And since more hair may also be shed—without being replaced—the result can be a noticeable thinning over several months. Thyroid disease (both an overactive thyroid and an underactive one) can also show up as increased hair loss. Once the disease is controlled, hair growth can usually be restored.

Going bald
Really losing your hair can be a sign that you've inherited a tendency for baldness, or it could indicate a bigger health issue. Heredity baldness, medically known as androgenetic alopecia, affects up to one third of men. The hair loss—which typically begins at the temples or crown—is permanent. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease which can cause anything from smooth bald patches to the loss of all hair on both the head and body. The cause of the disease isn’t known, although some doctors feel there is a genetic link. With this type of alopecia, hair normally grows back.

The flaky stuff
Dandruff is one of hair's most misunderstood maladies. People often assume that those flakes must mean that the scalp is too dry and that, like skin that's flaking, it must obviously need more moisture to make it look better. But while some people may indeed suffer from a dry scalp, true dandruff is not a matter of dryness. "Dandruff is the common name for seborrheic dermatitis, an inflammatory condition of the scalp that causes redness and flaking in the areas of the skin that are rich in oil glands," Kauvar explains. Other skin conditions—such as psoriasis and eczema—can also cause a similar condition in which the scalp gets red, itchy and produces flakes of dandruff. In any case, the best cure is to seek out a medicated (not necessarily moisturizing) shampoo or scalp treatment.

Dull, dry, brittle, and breaking
Hair that looks frazzled, frizzy and fried most likely is just that. We can do tremendous damage by using chemical dyes and permanents, as well as by simply aiming the blow dryer at our head every morning. Like being in the sun, all of these self-inflicted abuses destroy the cuticle and leave hair wide open to damage. Pulling hair into tight braids or ponytails can increase that stress and lead to breakage—or even bald spots. But in addition to being a cue that you need to treat you hair more carefully, unhealthy strands can also be an indicator of an unhealthy diet. Without adequate protein, growing hair strands won't become as strong and resilient as they should be. And essential fatty acids (found in fish oil supplements, wild salmon, and flax seeds) may also play a role in keeping strands strong, shiny and healthy. If your diet is lacking in them, try increasing your consumption and see if your hair eats it up! Of course, what you eat can only impact hair that is just starting to grow, so it will be several months before any improvements are evident.

Bowel Movements

Hard and dry

The amount of time it takes for the food you eat to make its way through the gastro-intestinal system and exit into the toilet will have an impact on the consistency of your stool. “Intestinal transit averages 40 to 45 hours from when you eat to when it comes out,” says Foxx-Orenstein. If it stays in the GI tract for longer than that, fluid is re-absorbed into the body and the stool becomes harder and dryer. Certain medications—like blood pressure drugs, antidepressants and histamines—can slow down the GI tract. Constipation, which has a myriad of causes, will lead to harder, drier stools (since you’re going less often, your stool will stall in the system and the fluid re-absorbed). For some people, a diet high in dairy can be a cause of constipation, so if you are experiencing problems going (and have dry, hard-to-pass stool when you do finally go), it is worth reducing your dairy intake for a week or two to see if that helps. And being dehydrated can also lead to this problem because if the body is lacking in water, it
will draw it—and conserve it—from wherever it can find it.

Little lumps

“An ideal stool looks like a torpedo—it should be large, soft, fluffy and easy to pass,” says Foxx-Orenstein. But when conditions are less than ideal, the stool may become more like little deer pellets. Again, transit time may be part of the issue because slow-moving stool will lose fluid, making them less fluffy and lumpier. A lack of fiber in the diet may also to be to blame. Beware if you’re following a weight-loss plan (such as Atkins) that focuses on increasing protein and decreasing carbohydrates, since that can leave you with a diet that’s low in fiber. And since fiber holds on to fluid, a lack of it will lead to harder, pellet-like poops that may be more difficult to pass.

Too liquid

Your body secretes about eight liters of fluid during the course of a day—from the stomach, salivary glands and pancreas—to help your food get broken down and make its way through the digestive system. Under normal, healthy conditions, the majority of that fluid is absorbed along the way, resulting in those sought-after soft, fluffy stools. But if food passes through too quickly, there isn’t enough time for all of that liquid to absorb, and the stool emerges in a too-soft state. The reasons for such super-quick transit could include a sudden increase in fiber in the diet, or a bacterial or viral infection. “When there is an infection, the body produces toxins which cause water to be released,” says Dr. Michael Farber, director of the Executive Health Program at Hackensack University Medical Center. “Things move through very quickly through your system because the body wants to get rid of them.”

Pencil thin

Thin may be the preferable state for many things—figures, cell phones, television screens—but when it comes to bowel movements, thin is definitely not a good thing. Specifically, thin stools could be an indicator of colon cancer, or its precursor, polyps in the colon. “Whenever you have mass in the colon that creates blockage, anything that needs to be pushed past that mass will become thinner,” Farber says. “If you are seeing thin stools on a consistent basis, that it something you should have looked at by your doctor.”
Looking pale or gray
Normal stool can come in a range of colors (influenced by what you eat and what medications you take, among other factors). But if your stool has an unhealthy hue, particularly if it’s pale or grayish in tone, you could have problems somewhere along your digestive tract. The liver excretes bile to help break down fats in the food you eat, and that bile also adds color to the stool. But if there’s a blockage in the liver—or in the tubes through which the bile travels—the stool might take on a too-pale appearance. Also, if you are suffering from a pancreatic disorder, the stool might look gray because it will be lacking the color imbued by the digestive enzymes produced in that organ.

Bright red

Your first instinct upon seeing red-colored stool in the toilet would probably be to panic. But before you speed-dial your doctor, think about what you ate several hours ago—if it was beets or bright red popsicles, that might be the culprit for creating those colored stools. But if it’s obviously a streak of red blood in the stool, in the toilet, or on the toilet paper, then it’s a given that you’re bleeding somewhere inside. There’s still not necessarily any reason to panic—the cause could be something as benign as a hemorrhoid or just a small fissure caused by straining to go. That said, it’s a wise idea to discuss with your doctor if you are straining often since that can lead to painful hemorrhoids. Also, if you’ve never seen blood before it’s definitely worth having your doctor rule out more serious causes—like colon cancer.

Too dark

If your stool is suddenly black and looks sort of tar-like, the culprit could be lurking in your daily vitamin pill. Iron supplementation (on its own or when it’s included in a multi-vitamin) can have that effect on the stool. But if you haven’t recently started taking extra iron and you see this sort of change, you should make an appointment to see your doctor. “If there is bleeding higher up in the GI tract—like the stomach or esophagus—the result can be stool that looks black and tar-like,” says Foxx-Orenstein. “It’s very useful information for the doctor to know if what you’re seeing is black or bright red because that gives a clue to the location of the bleeding.” In either case, she strongly urges anyone who is seeing blood in their stool to get checked out by their doctor.

It floats (and stinks!)

Those ideal torpedo-like poops should sink when they hit they hit the toilet. But when the body isn’t properly absorbing fat from the food you eat, it ends up being excreted in your stool. The result: stool that’s yellowish in color, greasy in consistency, foul smelling, and that floats in the toilet. Certain medical conditions, like celiac disease, can cause these malabsorption problems. And since essential nutrients could also be lost along with the un-absorbed fat, it’s important to see your doctor if you experience this problem. These fatty, smelly stools are also one of the more unpleasant side effects of eating foods that contain Olestra (the faux fat found in some chips and other fried snacks) or of taking the weight loss drug Xenical or its over-the-counter cousin, Alli.

Not going

How often is normal? How much is too much? Or not enough? Everyone wonders if they’re spending too much—or too little—time on the toilet. Turns out, there is no one right answer. “There is no true ideal for how frequent your bowel movements should be,” Foxx-Orenstein says. “What’s ‘normal’ is going to be different for different people.” Once a day, three times a day, every other day—all of these could very well fall within the definition of normal and healthy bowel movements. But if you experience a change in your normal pattern, then you need to look at what might be causing it. If you’re suddenly going too much, it could be because you’ve recently increased the amount of fiber in your diet. That’s a good thing, but it will take the body a little while to adjust to the change. And if you are suddenly dealing with constipation, look first at what changes you’ve made to your diet. “If you’re not eating enough fiber, not eating breakfast [which helps get things moving in the morning], or just not eating enough food, you may be constipated because your body’s not able to produce enough waste,” says Foxx-Orenstein

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Super Foods Your Body Needs to Fight Disease

There are ordinary foods and then there are super foods. You know, the ones your body needs to fight diseases like cancer and diabetes. Super foods are foods jam-packed with nutrients and other agents that help combat disease and aging. We could all use a dose of super foods on occasion. Super foods also help boost your energy and help you feel great.
Here is a sample of some of the best foods for fighting illness, aging and stress:

Asparagus - Asparagus contains folic acid. B vitamins like folic acid help regulate our moods. Our body needs folic acid to help make serotonin, a chemical in the brain that helps us feeling bright and alert.
Lean beef - Lean beef contains multiple vitamins including iron, B vitamins and zinc. Together these vitamins work together to improve your mood. Some people shy away from beef because of the fat content. Just remember to buy lean cuts of meat to reap the nutritional benefits without all the fat.
Yogurt and Cottage Cheese - These two dairy foods contain a good amount of high quality protein and calcium. They help fight stress by maintaining your energy levels throughout the day. Yogurt also contains good bacteria that help promote the natural balance of flora in your colon and reproductive tract.
Blueberries and Raspberries - Berries are jam-packed full of antioxidants, vitamin C and fiber. These substance work tougher to keep you feeling great every day.
Broccoli - Broccoli contains valuable vitamins and nutrients including fiber, vitamins K and C, beta-carotene and calcium. Some studies support consumption of broccoli to reduce your risk of cancer.
Oats - Oats are high in fiber and other nutrients like potassium, zinc, copper and magnesium. Some studies suggest that oatmeal may reduce your risk of high cholesterol.
Fish oil - Oily fishes, including salmon and tuna, contain omega-3 fatty acids. These helpful substances help keep your cholesterol down and help support proper brain function.
Tomatoes - Tomatoes contain a powerful antioxidant called lycopene. This substance helps fight cancer.
Walnuts - Like fish, walnuts contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Walnuts also contain fiber, protein and vitamins B and E.
Barley - Barley is high in fiber and helps your body metabolize fats and cholesterol. You can use barley as a grain or as a breakfast cereal.
Chili peppers - Hot peppers contain loads of antioxidants and vitamin C. Not a fan of spicy foods? Bell peppers offer the same benefits!
Spinach - Popeye was right! This green vegetable is a powerhouse of vitamins including antioxidants, folate and omega-3 fatty acids.

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