Simple Remedies for Dog Diarrhea

Even the healthiest dogs get diarrhea from time to time. Having to go through this experience is both alarming and exhausting at the same time. Unlike seeing bloody urine, it is difficult to figure out if your dog diarrhea is just a regular occurrence or an indication of something serious.

Aside from the anxiety of possible complications, having to deal with the mess caused by diarrhea is a nightmare too. Just like human diarrhea, applying first aid to this problem is a must and should be done with complete care. Here are some simple first aid remedies that you can do when your dog starts showing signs of diarrhea:

Hydrate your dog

When your dog experiences diarrhea, the most important thing to do is to keep it hydrated. The body loses water when it is experiencing this condition, so you have to make sure that your dog has easy access to clean liquid all the time. Adding electrolyte powder or Pedialyte to your dog’s water is also another way to ensure that dehydration will not happen.

One way to check if your dog has enough hydration is to look at its gums. A hydrated gum should look a bit wet but is not sticky. If dehydration persists, your dog may lose electrolytes which are essential for proper nutrition, balanced pH level, muscle function, and nerve mechanism. Should this happen, your dog’s body might be in danger of shutting down even if it just started as ordinary diarrhea.

Switch its diet

In most cases, dog diarrhea is caused by something that it consumed. A quick remedy to its stool problem is to change its diet. Increasing the fiber intake of your dog can help a lot in strengthening its gastrointestinal tract. At the same time, you also have to refrain from giving your dog oily food, which can exacerbate diarrhea. A diet of low-fat food in multiple smaller meals can help the stomach of your dog adjust to changes.

White meat chicken and broth are good alternatives to your dog’s regular diet whenever it is experiencing diarrhea since they are easily digestible. Once the stool condition returns to normal, gradually switch your dog’s food to the usual one to avoid another gastrointestinal problem.

Add probiotic and prebiotic elements

Probiotics and prebiotics are useful in helping your dog develop a healthy intestinal gut. They provide a rich source of energy for cells in the colon, inhibit the growth of harmful organisms in the intestines, and balances the acidity of your dog’s fluids. Supplements for these are available in veterinary shops, but you can also find them in everyday kitchen products such as yogurt, kefir, and unfermented vegetables.

Ideally, if your dog’s diarrhea is not severe and it gets the necessary first-aid remedy, its stool will return to normal within 24 hours. However, if the stool continues to have a soft consistency and foul smell, then it is an indication of a different problem.

Do not hesitate to call your veterinarian and have your dog’s stool tested for a more accurate diagnosis. There is no need to panic since gastrointestinal problems are highly curable with proper hydration and a balanced diet if you catch it early. With extra love and care, your dog will surely be back in shape in no time.

Why is relaxation so important for mental health?

There is no doubt that modern life is a pretty busy and fast-moving place. From catching up with friends to grocery shopping or simply juggling work with family life, most people have full-on lives with plenty to keep them busy. One thing you should certainly make time for though is some rest and relaxation. Taking time regularly to simply chill out is beneficial to your health and particularly your mental health. The great news is that there are many ways you could achieve this – playing casino games at a PA online casino is just one way you could take time out from normal life to have fun.

Before we look at some others though, it is worth clarifying why making time to relax is essential for your mental health in modern times.

Relaxing is the perfect way to feel better

Looking after your mental health is quite rightfully receiving increased focus in modern times and it is important to look after this on a personal level. Relaxation is a great way to go about it as it allows you time to simply de-stress and enjoy some peace. This will not only make you feel calmer and more in control of life but also provide space to find solutions to any worries. Taking time out of your busy life for a few minutes each day also gives you a break from stressful situations and gives you some time alone to simply rest. The break your mind has from being overloaded with information or stimuli will also help you feel more energized and refreshed.

It should be noted that physical symptoms of an overly hectic life can also affect your mental health or how you feel. Relaxation can help reduce these, protecting your mental health in this way too. Constant stress that busy work or home life brings, for example, can trigger the physical response of stress hormones released into your body. This will actually affect your mental health too as these hormones in your bloodstream can have a sedative effect, making you feel fatigued or sluggish mentally. By taking time to rest and relax, your body has less of these hormones floating around which will make you feel happier and mentally sharper.

But what are some good ways to go about relaxing in order to remain calm and happy?

Meditation

Perhaps the number one way people think of calming their mind and feeling better mentally is regular meditation. Meditation is simply the act of sitting quietly and letting your mind settle, with no outside thoughts or worries troubling you. To get the most relaxing effect, it is best done alone with no distractions. As you become more proficient, you will love the way it enables you to feel happier and more in control in your normal life.

Go for a walk

While relaxing your mind can be done inside without any external stimuli, this is not the only way to go about it. Many people will go outside for a refreshing walk in the air to unwind from a situation they are finding taxing mentally. The physical act of getting away from things into another, more tranquil place can often make you feel better mentally. Regular walks like this can really help you get the downtime you need in modern life to feel more joyous and serene. If you have woods or countryside close by, these are particularly good as interacting with plants and nature has been found to be mentally beneficial.

Make time for hobbies

One big issue that many of us have in the modern age is that we have no time for hobbies. By the time we have finished work for the day and sorted out the kids, there is just about enough time to slump in front of the TV before bed. This kind of routine over time can wear you down mentally and make you feel like life is one big grind. Making time for hobbies helps to overcome this by giving you different things to do and helping make life more enjoyable. It can also get you out of the house to meet up with friends who may share your hobby which is great for reducing feelings of isolation.

Rest and relaxation is key to life

The simple facts are that when we relax our blood pressure drops, our heart rate slows and tension reduces. Of course, relaxing also has a range of benefits for us mentally including better focus, better memory and a more positive outlook on life. If you do not yet find time in your life to relax a little each day, it is worth thinking about.

How to Combat Osteoporosis in an Effective Manner

It may sound like a huge surprise for many out there, however the facts do not lie, around 10 million people in America are already suffering from the common bone disease known as osteoporosis. Furthermore around 44 million people are expected to have low bone density and thus placing them at a huge risk of developing a range of medical problems. Bone diseases are becoming more common day by day and the biggest factor contributing to this factor is our own behavior. We have accepted sedentary lifestyles where hours and hours are spent sitting in our rooms facing our entertainment devices, binge-watching shows for long periods of time, playing online games, and throwing all physical activity out of the window. Furthermore it also has to do with our diet where we are more agreeable to eat junk, fast food, sugary delights, and processed items without even considering how damaging they can be to our human body. So in this post we would like to offer you some great ways through which we can combat osteoporosis in an effective manner. So let’s take a quick look at each one of them:

Getting Your Diet Right

There is no wonder that doctors around the globe often call the kitchen as the best source of medication for your human body. Hence it is through the stomach that you can primarily offer the greatest of nourishments to your systems. Here are some items that you may find easy to consume on a daily basis:

  • Low-fat dairy products such as non-fat milk, cheese, and yogurt as they offer you a great source of calcium minus the negative effects of dairy counterparts. Some are even fortified with Vitamin D and thus should be on the top of your list.
  • Fishes like sardines and salmon are also great for your daily intake of calcium.
  • When it comes to fruits and vegetables the list goes pretty long. For your calcium intake, the green leafy vegetables are the best. Broccoli, Chinese cabbage, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, mustard greens, and okra are great sources. Next up for magnesium you can eat artichokes, beet greens, potatoes, raisins, and tomato products. To get potassium into your system, you should try out bananas, oranges (the fruit and its juice, whatever you like it), papayas, prunes, and sweet potatoes. Vitamin C is huge player to get your bone health back in order so to stack up on this vital vitamin you would need Brussel sprouts, grapefruits, green peppers, pineapples, and strawberries. Lastly Vitamin K is also a catalyst in making your bones stronger and best sources include some of the ones that we have already mentioned such as dark green leafy vegetables, kale, mustard greens, and turnip greens.

The Right Exercises & an Active Lifestyle

There are tons of exercises which chiropractic services advise specifically to overcome ailments related to the human bone system. However, a greater part has to be played on your level where you actively and consciously make the decision to avoid sedentary lifestyles altogether and encourage yourself to be more physically active. However care has to be taken that you never over-exert or hurt yourself because that is certainly not the actual focus here. So you should start at your own pace, but that doesn’t mean that you keep on delaying the corrective measures that you can take to get better by your own self. Here are some interesting activities for you to try out that are proven to make your bones stronger with time.

  • Dancing and its fun as a lot of variations are there for you to choose from.
  • High-impact aerobics, again these should only be carried out under the close supervision of an expert.
  • Hiking, jogging, running, jumping rope, and swift walks around the park but never overexerting yourself.
  • Racket sports like tennis, badminton, squash, and table tennis even as they help strengthen your spine, hips, and the wrist regions which are primary areas where bones tend to become weak with time.
  • Tai chi and yoga as these two have surpassed science and are downright mystical when it comes to the healing factor that is not just for your body parts but can also be used to mend the mind and nurture the soul.

Things to Avoid At All Costs

We cannot just simply tell you to add things into your bucket list for stronger bones without ever telling you the things that may harm them the most. Hence there is a stringent list of things that you must avoid at all times as they make your bones feeble and weak regardless of age limitations:

  • Alcoholism without a doubt as studies have proven that it causes your body to lose calcium. If a person starts to consume too much of this intoxicating drink chances are they are going to get into a lot of trouble.
  • Soft and fizzy drinks that have carbonated water in them. These are like actual killers to your bones. Research proves that those who consume more than 7 carbonated drinks in a week are at higher risk of developing bone problems.
  • Smoking is not only bad for your lungs, in fact, but it also has a combination of various other elements that can be lethal for your bones, joints, and other parts of your body.
  • Food with a high amount of salt. We, humans, do need salt in our daily diet, however it is quite unfortunate to comprehend the actual situation where most of us consume around ten times more amount then as per our required daily intake amount. This can harm our bones severely over time.
  • Junk food, processed food, hydrogenated oils, and harmful fats. They not only make our bones week but carry a ton lot of harmful chemicals that bring us to greater harm and introduce us to even a more dangerous and potentially fatal list of diseases.

We hope this post was able to offer you some great insights as to how you can effectively combat osteoporosis by checking your own lifestyle and individual behaviors. For more questions and queries regarding the topic, please feel free to let us know your feedback in the comment section below.

 

Avoiding Crooks, Creeps, and Stalkers

The world has more than 7 billion people, and most of them at least try to be good. But unfortunately, the world has plenty of bad people in it, too. That’s why you need to take care to defend yourself from crooks, creeps, and stalkers — especially in this modern connected age.

To stay safe, you should be proactive about protecting yourself and your space. And you should act fast if you feel that anyone is behaving inappropriately towards you. Stalking and other creepy behaviors can get out of hand fast, and it’s important to stay on top of things and have records and evidence when the time comes to file a restraining order or press charges. Here’s what you need to know about being safe.

Keeping yourself and your property safe

You can’t control what other people do (and you should never feel guilty about being the victim of a crime). But you have ways to limit your risk of becoming a victim, and you should take advantage of them.

This is especially true now that we spend so much time online. Our social media presence can tell the world a lot about us, and sometimes more than we intend. Crooks can use our social media posts to determine that we’re on vacation — which makes it the perfect time for them to try to break into our homes and steal our stuff. Stalkers and creeps can track our movements and steal private information. And our own posts can alienate friends and ruin our career prospects if we’re not careful about what we say.

So brush up on those privacy settings and keep prying eyes away. While you’re at it, go over the warning signs of scams. When people reach out to you online, whether it be on a social media app or over email, be wary. They may not be who they say they are. And if they start asking for private personal and financial information such as Social Security numbers and credit card numbers, don’t give it to them. The same goes for phone calls and other forms of communication. If you’re not 100 percent sure that you’re speaking or messaging with the person you think you are, then stop communicating. You can always reach out directly to your friend, the bank, or whoever you thought you were talking to and begin the conversation again. If it was really them, nothing of value will be lost, and if it wasn’t, you’ll have saved yourself a lot of grief.

Dealing with creeps and stalkers

Some bad people out there are after our money. Others are after our time, our attention, or our very selves. We should take these threats seriously.

Protect your private information, and be wary of people who seem to turn up or communicate with you more often than you’re comfortable with. You don’t owe anyone your attention or time, and nobody should expect it.

If you encounter serious issues like creepy phone calls or trespassing, take them very seriously. Gather information if you can: A creepy phone call may be able to be identified by a simple phone number search, and some privacy and investigation companies will offer you this service for free. Approach the authorities with that evidence, and consider speaking to an attorney, who might be able to help you get a restraining order. Always call the police when someone has crossed the line, even if you don’t have any “smoking gun” evidence — you need to do everything that you can to establish an official record and paper trail.

Stay sharp. Be observant, be careful, and never communicate with a stalker. Make sure that you’re protected by a security system and other safeguards, and rely on your attorneys and the police to foil a stalker’s agenda. You deserve to be safe.

To read more on topics like this, check out the health category.

Is CBD Effective for Pain Management?

Many people use cannabidiol (CBD) to relieve pain, and this practice is getting more popular by the day. However, there are still many people who don’t believe in the “magical” powers of the cannabinoids and associate them with marijuana smoking.

Let’s make one thing clear:

Many plants contain cannabinoids, not just cannabis!

What’s even more important is that unlike other cannabinoids, such as THC (the reason why people smoke pot), CBD does not produce the well-familiar “high” effect.

So, CBD won’t make me high?

That’s right, CBD won’t make you high. It is entirely different from THC but still has a very complex effect.

Will CBD help me with pain?

While CBD doesn’t produce the high psychoactive effect nor changes a person’s state of mind, it does influence the body to use endocannabinoids more effectively by activating or inhibiting other compounds in the endocannabinoid system.

What does that mean for pain management?

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) involves three core components: endocannabinoids, enzymes, and receptors. There is no need to go into much detail about the first two. The most important thing about the third one is that there are two main endocannabinoid receptors – CB1 and CB2.

For example, endocannabinoids might target CB1 receptors in a spinal nerve to relieve pain at any time.

And since CBD activates the ECS, you can deal with pain in a manner of seconds. There are instant CBD freeze products out there that work effectively to relieve and heal certain skin irritations, allergic reactions, sunburns, and even sun-damaged skin.

These products are also recommended for arthritis, muscle strain/sprains, and other pain relief purposes. Let’s take a closer look:

Arthritis pain

The European Journal of Pain researched rats with arthritis, using CBD for four days. The research showed a significant drop in signs of pain without showing any side effects.

Multiple sclerosis

Also known as MS, multiple sclerosis is an automotive disease affecting the entire body through the nerves and brain. Many people diagnosed with MS reported a reduction in symptoms after using CBD products.

Chronic pain

Researchers report that there is substantial evidence that CBD is an effective method for the treatment of chronic pain in adults. What’s even better is that they also found that the subjects were not likely to build up a tolerance to the CBD effects. This finding means that increasing their dose was necessary.

Other uses:

● Treating seizures and epilepsy

● Anxiety treatment

● Acne

● Schizophrenia

● Type 1 diabetes

● Cancer

CBD even helps with one of the most painful conditions known to people, the Trigeminal Neuralgia (The Suicide Disease). There are records of patients who have described CBD products as the best products for their intense pain.

Something to consider

There is much more research to be done, but as a parent, you should know that almost all research on CBD comes from adult trials. This information means that it is not recommended to use CBD products on children.

CBD products are especially promising because they lack the intoxicating effects and potential side effects than many other pain medications cause.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below or contact us at Trash Talk!

Pumpkin Seed Oil as a Supplement for Hair Growth

Hair loss or alopecia can be dreadful and takes a lot of that hard-earned self-esteem you worked on for months, or even years for some. Then you’ll find yourself on the internet searching for answers while getting deceived with lies and losing hope. While there are lots of treatments that can be found online, some don’t work and can cost you time and money. Hair loss could mentally torture those who are suffering from it and slowly take away their confidence. So how can they grow their precious hair back?

First, here are some facts about hair loss, and what you can do to treat it:

About 5 percent of people suffer from hair loss or alopecia, and it is more common among men. Hair loss caused by fungal infections can also affect children. Generally, hair falls out from the scalp and grows back after some time, but this varies from people to people. Some grow their hair quicker than others, and some not at all.

If you are currently experiencing hair loss, there is no need to fret. There are various ways to treat alopecia that can help you regrow your hair in time. Treatments vary from taking medications, topical ointments and foams, and herbal therapies.

The Role of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in Hair Loss

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is believed to be a contributing factor in hair loss. High levels of DHT can shrink hair follicles, making our hair fall out faster. It also causes our follicles to take longer to grow newer hair. Moreover, the amount of DHT increases as we age and varies for every person. The more DHT your body produces, the more likely you’ll suffer from hair loss.

Inhibiting the production rate of DHT on your body will reduce your risks of hair loss. There are many proven ways on how to overcome it. Though the success rate differs from person to person, one can try a method that involves using pumpkin seed oil for hair loss.

Pumpkin Seed Oil

A study conducted in Korea, interested in testing pumpkin seed oil for hair loss, found that men who took 400mg of pumpkin seed oil daily for a course of 24 weeks had increased hair growth compared to those who didn’t. The researchers also recorded a 40 percent increase in hair count.

The pumpkin seed oil also contains delta-7 sterine, a steroid which effectively blocks DHT buildup in the hair follicle, making it a right treatment for alopecia.

Medication

Finasteride is a drug that is proven to block DHT production and needs to be prescribed and taken orally. It was initially designed to treat prostate growth until scientists discovered that it could stop male pattern baldness. Minoxidil or Rogaine is also used to promote hair growth by applying it to your scalp.

Biotin

Biotin, also known as vitamin H, helps convert food and liquids into energy. It also helps maintain the levels of keratin, which is present in hair, skin, and nails. A study suggests that biotin aids in regrowing hair and also keep existing hair from falling. It is found in whole grains and egg yolks.

Pygeum bark

Pygeum bark is usually taken as a herbal supplement and is believed to have a DHT-blocking ability although there is little research to support it.

 

To read more on topics like this, check out the health category.

Are You Drinking Too Much?

It’s hard to avoid alcohol in Western culture. In Europe, the United States, and Canada, alcohol seems to be everywhere. It’s a go-to for first dates, second dates, and anniversary celebrations. It’s an after-work staple, too. Even at academic conferences, scholars reportedly find it hard to make connections without booze. What a world!

So, naturally, most people partake. Roughly 80 percent of Canadians say that they drink alcohol at least occasionally. The numbers are a bit lower in America, but at least two-thirds of all American adults drink, and recent studies have put the number as high as 70 percent. And, in both countries, there are far too many drinkers who drink too much.

Consider this: Studies have found that 40 percent of Americans drink too much. Recall that only somewhere between 66 percent and 70 percent of Americans drink at all, and you’ll quickly see the alarming truth: Most people who drink do so more than is healthy.

Are you one of these people? If you are, you need to find out — and you need to do something about it.

How much is too much?

There are a few different ways of identifying a drinking problem. The first and most comprehensive is to ask a simple question: Is alcohol negatively impacting your life? If you find yourself coming into work hung over (or coming in late because of hangovers — or missing work entirely), that’s a sign that you likely have a problem. If alcohol is hurting your relationships, that’s bad news, too. If alcohol keeps you from enjoying things you used to or has replaced other hobbies, that’s a huge warning sign.

Then there’s a simpler method: You can just count your drinks. If you’re drinking enough to get your blood alcohol level to 0.08 (the legal limit for driving in most places), then you’re bringe drinking, experts say. Getting there takes about four drinks for women and five for men (in two hours). If you’re drinking more than one or two drinks per night or more than five to seven per week, most experts will agree that your total drinking is a problem, even if your individual sessions are not “binge” sessions (though it’s worse if they are).

If you’re running afoul of either of these two standards, you most likely have a drinking problem.

Drinking problems and addiction

Let’s say that you drink more than is healthy. Does this mean that you are an alcoholic?

Maybe, maybe not — but, experts say, you need to take the issue seriously either way.

Alcoholism is usually defined as being a dependence on alcohol. That dependence usually has a physical component, which means that alcoholics go through withdrawal symptoms when they quit. There’s also, of course, a psychological component. Alcohol abuse is common in part because alcohol is so readily available and so tied into our social institutions. And alcohol can numb the mind and body, make it appealing on a psychological level to those who are suffering.

All of this is a bit academic, though. Even if you think you could “quit anytime you want to” (and even if you’re right, despite denial being a major part of addiction), the fact of the matter is that excessive alcohol consumption is incredibly dangerous. In one way of looking at things, you could say that alcoholism is only unhealthy insofar as if triggers large amounts of drinking. If you’re drinking a lot, you may not be an alcoholic — but, as far as your health is concerned, you might as well be.

Getting help

So you have a drinking problem: Now what?

Now, say experts at a Toronto alcohol rehab, you need to seek help. No matter how strong or determined you may be, alcohol abuse is not something you are likely to overcome alone. If you have a true addiction, you will need the help of mental health professionals, rehab facilities, and/or peer support groups to sober up and start living a life free of alcohol.

If your drinking is relatively moderate, you could start by trying to quit on your own. But if you have a more severe issue or you have tried to quit on your own and failed, then you owe it to yourself to get help. Sobriety is a lifelong journey, but it’s not one that you have to make alone.

 

Checklist for Getting Your Life Insurance

Life insurance was one of the most promising segments in the insurance industry for the year 2018/2019 with expected growth of 5.6%. This shows how good the life insurance sector is around the world and how much importance people give to it. Statistics also show that around 22 million people in Australia are insured for life.

However, just the fact that so many people have life insurance does not mean that you go out and blindly get a life insurance. Getting a life insurance can be a huge decision and hence warrants plenty of thinking and research. To help you understand what factors have the most bearing over your life insurance decisions, here is a checklist to get you started with your life insurance decision:

Length of Life Insurance

One of the very first things that you will consider before getting your life insurance is the length of your life insurance. In deciding this, you can avail either of two options. The first one being a term life insurance that lasts only up to a certain period. So, most people might decide to invest in a term life insurance when they start earning to the time that they send their kids to college so that they can save up.

On the other hand, people might opt for lifetime insurance when they might want coverage for the entire length of their lives. This type will even cover expenses for your burial expenses and compensation for any payables and your family.

Beneficiary

Another important consideration is to decide upon the beneficiary of your insurance policy. This is the person who will receive the benefits of the policy in case the policy is claimed in your absence. Therefore, the beneficiary needs to be someone you value dearly and would want to compensate when you are not there.

The Premium

The premium of the policy is the amount that you will pay annually when you do take an insurance policy. Although the premium depends on the type of policy you take, these premiums vary with different organizations. You can Use our life quote comparison service to compare the premiums of different organizations and make your choice accordingly.

The considerations of premium also matter because you must decide how much you can pay in premiums given your monthly budgets and savings that you have. If you do not care to consider this before getting a premium, you will surely not be able to pay the premium or take a policy that does not suit you.

The Objective

As stated before, that the type of insurance policy will depend on your objective, but the objective also requires special consideration on its own. Whether you want to take a policy for saving or to insure your life will greatly influence the type of policy you take and how you manage it. Therefore, sit back and think about why you need a life insurance policy for yourself and how you will get it.

To read more on topics like this, check out the health category.

How Going Vegetarian Can Help Mother Nature

There are many reasons to live a vegetarian lifestyle. More often than not, if you ask two vegetarians why they follow their diet, you’ll get two different answers. For some, becoming a vegetarian is due to ethics surrounding the meat industry, while others have a digestive ailment that doesn’t let them eat meat.

But no matter the personal reasons for becoming a vegetarian, there is one thing for sure: living this lifestyle is especially beneficial for the environment. It’s easy to load up on fruits and veggies, look into alternative sources of protein, and stock up on your vitamins from a supplement manufacturer, and you’ll be good to go.

Plus, Mother Nature will thank you for cutting meat, poultry, and fish out of your life, and here’s why.

It decreases water use

When you consume an animal’s meat, you are consuming all the water that animal needed to grow. Animals consume an incredible amount of water — for example, one pound of beef requires 20,000 pounds of water. Multiply this number by how much meat you consume on a regular basis, and it’s surprising how much water goes into your weekly dinners.

When you cut meat out of your diet, you’re not just eliminating the water in that meat. You’re actually helping communities thrive, as the farming industry uses a whopping 70 percent of all water available to humans. And when consumers increase the need for meat, there will be less water available for crop production and communities to use.

So, the less meat you consume, the more water there will be for other important purposes.

It decreases the Earth’s temperature

Humans are eating more meat than ever before, and this is causing detrimental problems for our planet. Compared to just 30 years ago, humans are eating twice as much meat, poultry, and fish, and the Earth isn’t able to accommodate this change. Back in 2006, the United Nations calculated how much the meat industry affects our planet, and the answer isn’t pretty.

The combined climate change emissions for the global meat industry accounted to a staggering 18 percent, which is more than all automobiles, planes, and other means of transportation combined. Climate change is directly related to the increase of the Earth’s temperature, and a vegetarian diet equates to 2.5 percent less carbon emissions than a meat-heavy diet.

It decreases rainforest deforestation

Because the meat industry is booming, farmers have had to turn to the world’s rainforests for grazing land. As a result, millions of trees have been cut down and the forests are shrinking at an alarming rate.

It increases our clean waterways

The meat industry is notorious for dumping all of its waste — including but not limited to fertilizer, sewage, and nitrogen compounds — into the world’s oceans, because there isn’t anywhere else to put it.

All this waste causes an increase in algae production, which makes it almost impossible for wildlife to live and thrive. Known as dead zones, these areas of the ocean are cropping up everywhere and are detrimental to sea life and those living on the coast.

It goes without saying that being a vegetarian can help out Mother Nature in more ways than one. The meat industry is a global behemoth that can’t be sustained for much longer, and living a veggie lifestyle is an easy way to help prevent these crises from getting worse.

Please feel free to leave a comment or question below, or contact us at Trash Talk HC, here!

Why You Need Therapy After a Big Move

Moving is not uncommon. In fact, the average person will move 11.3 times in their lifetime. In general, most of us see moving as adults as something positive. Maybe we got a new job, or we’re leaving our old town behind in search of a new job. Perhaps we’re moving to be with someone we love. It’s a change, but it’s generally regarded as a good one. It may feel weird, then, to hear that you could benefit from therapy after a big move. Here are three reasons why seeing a professional therapist is a good idea after making that big transition:

Emptied cardboard box with the flaps open standing on a wooden parquet floor conceptual of packaging, mail, storage, or removals

Moving is uncomfortable

Moving is necessary, but that doesn’t mean it’s a necessarily comfortable experience. When we say “comfortable,” we aren’t talking about finding a good apartment in a good neighborhood. That’s important, sure, but even the most luxurious apartment is still going to make you feel a bit weird and out of place at first.

In your old town, you were used to certain sights and sounds. You may have been used to your upstairs neighbor go outside to get the mail at 6 p.m., for instance, and potentially noticed your next-door neighbor ordered Chinese food every Friday.

In a new city, you must adjust to new patterns. That’s especially true if you went from a small or mid-sized city to a big town. Everything from parking to personal space is harder to find in big cities. Moving has a way of making you feel anxious or frustrated more often than you’d like. There will be plenty of times when you worry it’s obvious to everyone that you’re new in town and don’t really know what you’re doing. A therapist can help assuage those fears.

Moving can be isolating

As a kid or young adult, you have a lot of built-in opportunities to be social and find new pals. Often around your mid-to-late twenties, however, you’ll find that you no longer have the same proximity to potential friends as you used to.

If you’re lucky, the new place you’re living will also have a few familiar faces. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to be seeing them everyday. Weekly social events with the same group are also rare. If you tell an acquaintance that you’ve just arrived in town and they invite you out for drinks, it may take a month or two for you to actually meet up.

Then, there are ultra-competitive cities like Washington D.C. and New York CIty. People are obsessed with status and getting ahead in those places, so you may feel silly for trying to make friends in the nation’s capital while everyone else is trying to a statusy government job. Talking to a therapist in Washington DC can help you sort out your emotions. More than that, a therapist can help you with strategies for getting out there and being social in a way that is more likely to net you new friends.

It changes how you view yourself

We underestimate the importance of self-identity at our own peril. In your old town, you knew who you were. In a new place, seemingly everything about yourself is up for grabs. That’s exhilarating and also scary. An identity crisis in a new town is perfectly natural under those circumstances.

For instance, you used to be the person who got up and drove to work, but now you live down the street from a bus stop. Maybe you now want to be the type of person who gets up a little earlier to catch the bus into work and save gas money.

Moving is a way of saying “Who I am right now is not who I want to be.” You’re leaving behind the familiar in search of something that somehow improves your quality of life. Sitting down with a therapist and remembering why you made the move may help in those moments where you’re feeling aimless.