General Family Health: Side Effects, Nutrition & Wellness Tips

Medication side effects, nutritional benefits, and common wellness questions. Information on identifying stomach ulcers, vitamin deficiencies, and food safety.

Woman on exercise equipment

Side Effects of Stopping Creatine

Creatine is a nutritional supplement used by many athletes in an effort to increase exercise performance and muscle growth. It also is synthesized by your body in various organs, including your pancreas and kidneys.

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Triphala Churna Side Effects

Used frequently in Ayurvedic medication practices, triphala churna is an herbal supplement used for the treatment of many common health ailments ranging from stomach irritation to colon cleansing. Meaning “three fruits,"

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Woman Caught Cold.Virus. Dysentery.Diarrhea.Woman looking sick and tired

Vicks VapoRub Warnings

Vicks VapoRub is typically applied to the throat and chest to relieve cough due to the common cold. The ointment can also be applied to muscles and joints to relieve minor aches and pains. VapoRub's active ingredients include camphor, eucalyptus oil and menthol.

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Father playing with son (8-9)

Is it Possible to Get Fit at 40?

If you're approaching or have hit age 40, you may feel your physical fitness has reached its peak and will, from here on out, be going downhill. This attitude may be the product of a youth-obsessed culture, but it's not based on evidence.

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Three People Enjoying a Meal in a Chinese Restaurant

The Side Effects of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has classified the food additive monosodium glutamate as generally safe. Even so, some people report side effects after eating food containing MSG, which is commonly used as flavor enhancer in many restaurant meals and packaged foods.

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Woman with stomach ache

Symptoms of Ibuprofen Overdose

Ibuprofen is a pain reliever known as an NSAID, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. According to Drugs.com, most people can take up to 800 milligrams of ibuprofen four times a day without serious complications. Higher doses of ibuprofen can cause symptoms of overdose.

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Food to Help Muscle Spasms

A muscle spasm is a painful, sudden tightening of muscles that occurs during physical activity. You're more likely to have muscle spasms if your diet is deficient in calcium and potassium or if you're dehydrated. Magnesium is also important for muscle relaxation.

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Stevia Side Effects: Headaches

Stevia is a natural sweetener formulated from the green stevia shrub native to South America and western North America. It has 200 to 300 times the sweetness of sugar, but has no calories. It has been used for centuries as a sweetener in its native Paraguay.

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Side Effects of Breathing Freon or Other Refrigerants

Freon is the trade name for a class of chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, used primarily in refrigeration and air conditioning. (Reference 5) Freon and other refrigerants are toxic and can cause poisoning and even death.

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Star anise spice on white wooden table

What Are the Side Effects of Anise?

Oil and seeds derived from the anise, or Pimpinella anisum, plant are used as both a cooking spice and medicinal supplement. Traditionally, anise has been used as a digestive aid and cough suppressant and may also help treat intestinal parasites.

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Refreshing Delicious Chocolate Milk

What Are the Benefits of Ensure Plus?

Often products promoting weight loss are plentiful and heavily marketed, but you may be at a loss to find a product that helps you gain weight. Ensure Plus is a ready-to-drink nutritional shake manufactured by Abbott Laboratories.

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Sugar

What Is the Difference Between Sucrose, Glucose & Fructose?

Glucose and fructose are both monosaccharides -- simple sugar molecules. Sucrose is a disaccharide made up of two simple sugar molecules, a glucose molecule and a fructose molecule. Sucrose, glucose and fructose may taste similar in food sources such as fruit, honey and candy but are actually quite different.

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Senior woman holding a bottle of pills

What Is a Z-Pak Used to Treat?

A Z-Pak is a prepackaged form of the antibiotic azithromycin, sold under the brand name Zithromax. Like other antibiotics, a Z-Pak treats bacterial infections. Zithromax will not cure or shorten the duration of a viral infection.

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Young woman smiling, portrait, close-up

10 Ways to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

Choosing to follow a healthier lifestyle can promote a life full of quality and longevity. A variety of factors to implement into a healthier lifestyle include proper diet and exercise, stress reduction and consistent sleep patterns.

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Side Effects of Promensil

Promensil is a vitamin and mineral supplement that is manufactured by the Novogen Corporation and is used to treat symptoms of menopause. Promensil is created out of isoflavones found in red clovers. Isoflavones are a class of organic compounds that act as both hormones and antioxidants when introduced to your body.

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Sick woman lying in bed.

Eating Before Bed & Digestion

If you eat right before going to bed, your food will still digest, but you could experience uncomfortable symptoms. When you lie down after eating, the food and digestive juices in your stomach press against the bottom of your esophagus, which can cause heartburn, acid reflux and indigestion.

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a piece of red meat with a knife

Symptoms of Iron Toxicity

Iron is a nutrient that's essential for several of your body's functions, from making red blood cells to helping fight off illness. Iron is naturally present in the food you eat -- it is found in some meats, plants and grains. It is also available in supplements.

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Herbal drug capsules in brown glass bottle. Alternative medicine

The Best Organic Multivitamins

Not only are organic multivitamins more appealing overall because they are not produced by using chemicals, vitamins made by synthetic means are only about 50 percent as effect as organic multivitamins, according to Jon Barron, a nutraceutical researcher and Director of the Baseline of Health Foundation.

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Portait of three women sitting on sofa

What Is a Healthy Estrogen Level?

Estrogen, the dominant female hormone, fluctuates at different times during your life and at different times during the menstrual cycle. Men produce estrogen, too, although not in the same amounts that women do. If estrogen levels vary from the normal range, you may experience fertility problems.

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