Global Premises

The winter holidays bring a multitude of dietary challenges for any health conscious individual. For the weight loss surgery patient (WLS), who must avoid sugar intake, the season can be frustrating. Sugar intake is a real concern for people who’ve had gastric bypass, in fact most patients fear sugar. The foremost fear isn’t weight gain, it’s dumping. Foods containing sugar pass too quickly through the small pouch, they are rapidly absorbed and cause insulin levels to drop resulting in dumping syndrome.

Some WLS patients will turn to sugar-free candies to replace to old traditional sugar laden favorites. But the sugar-free candy comes with a price too. It contains sugar alcohol which is known to cause gas, bloating and diarrhea. In addition the candy can be consumed slowly in large quantity and often results in severe discomfort for the WLS patient. Patients who have consumed excessive quantities of sugar-alcohol products report an initial dull tummy ache. The tummy ache soon becomes severe bloating, cramping and gas. One woman reported pain so severe she begged to be taken to the hospital fearing she may soon explode.

There is not much to do in the case of excessive consumption of sugar-free products except wait-out the uncomfortable symptoms. Some patients report relief after taking an anti-diarrheal products containing bismuth subsalicylate (Pepto-Bismol). Other patients have found relief from eating saltine crackers in moderation.

Candy that contains Mannitol, a common sugar alcohol extracted from seaweed, bears this package warning, “Warning: excessive consumption can cause a laxative effect” Mannitol is found naturally in pineapples, olives, asparagus, sweet potatoes and carrots. It’s about 60% as sweet as sugar, so more product is needed to replicate the sweetness of sugar. Mannitol lingers in the intestines for a long time and therefore causes bloating and diarrhea.

Sugar alcohol can also be called Sorbitol, Xylitol, Lactitol, Isomalt and Maltitol.

The American Diabetes Association claims that sugar alcohols are acceptable in a moderate amount but should not be eaten in excess. In addition, weight gain has been seen when these products are overeaten. For gastric bypass patients generally the key, as in all eating, must be moderation. And of course, we can always rely on the old advice of conventional dieters, “Hungry for something sweet? Reach for a piece of fruit.”

Kaye Bailey © 2005 - All Rights Reserved

LivingAfterWLS
LivingAfterWLS Blog

Beat the rush and buy Christmas presents for friends and family in style! The smart way to avoid the crowds and pick up great value is to attend an auction. You’ll be amazed at what you can find and you’ll be amazed at the sheer variety.

The best way is to take out a one month subscription to various auction search services which have the widest coverage of forthcoming auction lots anywhere on the web. However, if you want to take a short cut, stay tuned to this blog for a few tips! We will be pointing you in the right direction twice a week over the next six weeks with some terrific ideas, thus enhancing your reputation as a savvy and imaginative gift buyer!

In an online world, people often forget the simple pleasure of writing in longhand! It is even more pleasurable to respond to the numerous gifts and invitations received over the Christmas period with an antique pen. There are some wonderful old pens available at auction, frequently modestly priced, and they combine the fact that they look good, feel good and write good!

Some are truly collectors items and their distinctiveness or rarity may be reflected in their prices. Their desirability may, however, be determined by either your budget or the degree to which you care for the recipient! The broadest coverage of all comes from eBay though there is an array of other options as this glimpse into an online ‘auction search’ database indicates.

Items for sale this week include:

A pair of late 19th /early 20th century jewellers scales with brass pens and weights in a mahogany box (Peter Cheney - Littlehampton, West Sussex)

A 19th century Anglo Indian carved ebony document box with an intricately fitted interior for documents, inkwells and pens with a tray raised on bracket feet (Northeast Auctions - Portsmouth, New Hampshire)

A small assortment of dip pens including mother of pearl and carved ivory examples (Fieldings - Stourbridge, West Midlands)

Two vintage Waterman fountain pens (Reeman Dansie - Colchester, Essex)

There is no estimate for the first two lots while the latter two should be relatively inexpensive at around £25 - 30 each. If you want to browse the web more thoroughly, we recommend scanning sites that focus on bricks and mortar salerooms.

Happy hunting!

Howard Lewis
Chairman, Invaluable group of companies
http://www.invaluable.com

Only Invaluable gives you unrivalled access to pre-sale and post-sale information for auction houses and salerooms across the globe.
Find art, antiques and collectables. Try our Keyword search, register at http://www.invaluable.com for a free 14 day trial.

The first birthday is in a lot of ways the most difficult milestone birthday to shop for in regards to a gift. The recipient can’t tell us what they want. The parents shrug and if they say anything at all it will be “oh, just clothes will be fine”. True, clothes would be appropriate and acceptable, but if that would be the gift you wanted to give you would have no need to read this article.

However, if you like going for something with a little style; if you like the look everyone gives when you hit a homerun in gift giving. This may be
may be one that gets some oohs and aahs for you.

If you have ever been involved in making a time capsule, the concept of this
gift will not be new to you. First thing you will need is a gift basket of sorts. This can be a plastic or rubber storage tub with a cover or a real gift basket. You will need some type of clear sealable bags. You can also just use a gift bag if you want and the parents can figure out how to best store the items but if you want it to last till the child is an adult you may want to figure out some type of storage system in advance.

The first item you will probably want to put in there is a newspaper from the day they were born. This should not be too difficult if you go to your local newspaper office. If you have thought far enough ahead and you want to you can start a year ahead of time, on the day of birth.

You could record the local news, weather and sports on the day of birth and
burn it to a DVD or just a VHS tape. Of course the problem here is longevity, because you want the media to last the child into adulthood.

A magazine or two along the lines of Time or Newsweek is a great addition. You may like to throw in some of the pop culture magazines as well. TV Guide, Rolling Stone, People and US are great choices. Sports Illustrated and Women’s World are good ideas too.

You can record one network’s primetime lineup on the day of birth, so that when the child gets older they can see what was popular they were born.

The digital revolution has given us another way to give something from day of the child’s birth. Walmart and several other websites offer downloads of individual songs. You can make a custom CD of the top 5 or 10 songs that week.

The best thing about this gift is that you can spend as much or as little as you want and it can be extremely fun to put together. Pictures of everything the child may wonder about from the day are inexpensive additions.

There are dozens more items you can come up with for this special day. The main thing is to build a time capsule of memories and have fun.

The author, Mike Hamilton develops websites including his latest one http://www.itsurbirthday.com

With Winter coming the dudes and women will be thinking about what to buy their other half and sex aids are constantly on the list. Last Easter found the sex aid business explode with sales in excess of four billion pounds. The biggest selling sex aids were vibrators. The vibrator is the best selling sex toy as it is so well known, just about any adult dvd features them as well as television shows like Ugly Betty.

The 2nd biggest selling marital toy is of course the dildo, blokes and chicks across the UK enjoy dildos due to the size and shapes sex toys come in. You will often get a 6 inch pink dildo for your bedside drawer or a 13 inch glass dildo for underneath your bed. Marital aids are super marital toys make sex more interesting and give your partner a nice time. Buy Sex Toys for Her from Sex Bomb today.

Sex toys can often be bought from online retailers which get delivered next day and in plain packaging, or you might even go down to your local sexy toys shop and pick one up. The price for marital toys start from around 6 quid. The mass availability and price of sexy aids is outstanding and that is why men and females appreciate sex toys.

Mad rush in the markets especially gift shops, young and old people biting their teeth wondering what would be an ideal gift for their loved ones is a common sight in the month of February. For in the middle of the month comes the great Valentines Day occasion that is perhaps celebrated by all lovebirds across the globe.

Valentines Day is the day of love and affection. It is a day devoted to all those who are delighting in a blissful romantic relationship as well to those who either desire to inaugurate or stand on the verge to commence one such liaison.

However in both the cases the manner to express your feelings holds primary significance. The choice of the gift should be such that it speaks your loving and caring heart. Many times huge and expensive gifts are not able to do that while economical things such as flowers readily solve the purpose. So it is better to be careful, avoid some of the common gift mistakes and make a prudent choice of gift. For example

1. People on the occasion of Valentines Day largely prefer Greeting Cards or E-cards. It is because they feel that writing down their feelings is the best mode to express it. Consequently the prices of Valentines Day cards touch the sky.
Cards definitely make a good Valentines Day gift but not as good as gifting a bouquet of beautiful flowers. For a card once read is of no further use. It then finds its place inside the drawer or in between the pages of a book. Whereas flowers that embellish and fill your room with fragrance are kept in front of your eyes till they dry out. Moreover flowers do not require to be hidden from parents like cards that bear the name and feelings of the concerned person.

2. Gifting pricey mementos or souvenirs on Valentines Day is also not a wise choice. Firstly because of the expense you incur. Secondly the trouble you face and the time that is wasted in wandering from one gift shop to another.
Gifting flowers saves both your precious time and money because flowers can be easily chosen for any occasion (For instance red roses have always been emblems of love) and are not very expensive. Flowers can be conveniently sent to the desired destination through Internet too.

3. Most often guys and gals gift weight -reducing books to their beloveds. This is certainly not a judicious Valentines Day gift. Because it makes the other person feel conscious of his/her looks and of that fact that you desire to see changes in him/her. It presents your love in a ‘looks’ oriented manner.
So rather than hurting or annoying your loved ones on this day, it is better to gift them flowers that can be kept as a token of you love for long. All the changes that you want in your partner (weight loss etc.) can be taught later but on the very day of love and affection.

4. Gifting ugly looking clothes is quite popular Valentines Day gift. Since the gifts for these occasion are mostly taken clandestinely, the clothes so purchased hardly fit the concerned person. It thus turns out be a gift that is good for nothing.

5. Soft toys such as teddy bears; Barbie dolls etc. are also useless gifts for Valentines Day. Because the craze for these costly things lasts only for a few days or even 24 hours! Ultimately these bears and dolls are placed amongst their other companions.

While flowers have their own warmth and affection. The tender buds and petals best display your loving heart that is brimming with love like the nectar in the flowers.

Mansi gupta writes about St. valentines day flowers. Learn more www.sendflowersto.com/valentines.php .

One of the odd things about growing up in a family that is exclusively involved in the medical field is the early familiarity of procedural equipment. It’s a little peculiar for others who have been unexposed to suddenly present them with a large machine that is supposed to examine them. First of all they may not understand how it works or what their role in the process may be. For someone who has watched the CT and MRI exams several times it’s pretty clear that you are to stay still, hold your breath, and before you know it it’s over.

The equipment itself, its size, and possibly the sounds it makes during procedures can be discouraging. Whether you’re in a new MRI machine or having a procedure with used ultrasound equipment there’s a bit of trepidation that can otherwise be quelled by listening to your physician or tech. Ask them how long the procedure will take, what you should do during the exam, and what you ought to expect to encounter during it. Sometimes patients get nervous in tight spaces such as a MRI chamber, but it can be a great deal of help to let find out it’s just a short exam that they can pretty much sleep through.

Semi- bluffing is the term used to describe a bluff with some truth behind it. What differentiates semi-bluffing from bluffing is the fact that there is a chance that a semi-bluff can end of winning the game on the potential strength of the hand later in the game. Oftentimes a semi-bluff just needs a single card to make it into a strong hand. On the other hand, a bluff needs the other players to fold in order to win.

An example of a semi-bluff would be a pair of threes as your pre-flop hand in Texas Holdem. The pair isn’t strong enough to win on its own, but with a few beneficial cards your hand could be made much better. You could possibly end up with either a three of a kind or a full house. The potential is there for a great hand, even if the hand is not high valued in the beginning of the game. If you were to bet big based on the potential for a high scoring hand, this would be an example of semi-bluffing.

Semi-bluffing works best in low limit Texas Hold’em poker games. In high stakes games or No Limit Texas Hold’em poker, people are less likely to fold because there is more money at stake. If a semi-bluff works successfully, the other players will fold and leave the pot to you. But even if this ideal situation does not work, if you are semi-bluffing there is a chance that you may win on the strength of your hand anyway.