Anything Goes by JB Calderon

Good digestion is an essential component of health and vitality.

Many digestive complaints and symptoms appear even in apparently healthy people. They frequently go undiagnosed because these complaints are not "serious." Symptoms such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, belching, flatulence, food sensitivities, indigestion, malabsorption, irritable bowel syndrome, and the list goes on, are so common that they are seen as normal. But they can have negative effects: Consider that a sluggish bowel can retain pounds of old toxic fecal matter. This leads to a vicious cycle that taxes our defense systems and eventually leads to more serious disease.

The following are 10 tips for better digestion (remember to check with your doctor before making any radical changes in your health regimen).

The first top digestion tip, is every morning before breakfast, freshly squeeze the juice of 1 - 2 lemons in 250ml - 500ml of spring or filtered water. This small but effective daily routine will help to cleanse the stomach of left over "debris" and remove any excess acid.

Another daily drink taken late morning or some time before lunch will complement the cleanse in Tip 1 to help your digestion. This can include between one teaspoon and one tablespoon of organic apple cider vinegar mixed with 250ml - 500ml apple juice (freshly squeezed is even better). This drink will balance digestive juices, specifically for low or high levels of hydrochloric acid (HCl).

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your colleagues. Yet you need them in more ways than one. Here are fresh ways to make work a happier place to be.

First, you need their goodwill and cooperation in order to perform your own job well. Second, studies find that disagreements with colleagues and bad working relationships deflate morale and impair performance even more than rumours of redundancies. And third, if you're like most people, you spend more walking hours at work than anywhere else. Reaching out to your colleagues - or extending an olive branch, if need be - can make your work environment a much nicer place in which to spend many hours a day. You don't have to be friends with your colleagues, but you do need to be friendly. Read on for fresh ways to make work a happier place to be.

Say a cheery 'Hello!' in the morning. Do you plod into the office, eyes down, shoulders slumped, and immediately start work? If so, you're likely to find that colleagues ignore you (the best) or avoid you (the worst). Get into the habit of smiling and greeting everyone as you arrive in the morning or begin your shift. It's amazing how fast this little coutesy can thaw chilly workplace relations.

Learn the art of small talk. Ask your colleagues about their interests - their favourite music, films, books, hobbies. Showing a genuine interest in them will make them feel comfortable around you.

Accept good-natured teasing. Other workers sometimes play jokes and tease to test what kind of person you are. So if they poke fun at your new shoes or mischievously put a funny screensaver on your computer, don't get angry. Let them know that you enjoy a good joke - even if it's sometimes on you. Of course, if the teasing is personal (about your weight or ethnicity, for example), and makes if difficult for you to do your