The Eastern New Mexico News - Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Information on embroidery decoupage, restoring wooden floors and planning events will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday and noon Thursday.

If you’ve tried machine embroidery, but have trouble with placement, then embroidery decoupage may be the answer. Patsy Shields will demonstrate this method, which gives you much more control. She represents RNK Distributing and Floriani Stabilizers, and lives in Sellersburg, Ind.

Bruce Johnson will show how to turn back the clock and restore a lifeless wooden floor to its former beauty in no time. He represents Minwax in Upper Saddle River, N.J.

Patty Waid is an event planner, and she will tell how to plan an event from start to finish. This particular event uses a western theme — but the ideas will work for any themed event. Her business is Waid and Associates, and she’s from Albuquerque.

Information on cake decorating, nighttime heartburn and quilting will be the featured topics on “Creative Living” at noon Tuesday and 2 p.m. Saturday.

If cake decorating has seemed beyond your reach, Nancy Siler will show how to use fondant to decorate any cake with guaranteed success. Siler is with Wilton Industries Inc. in Woodridge, Ill.

Registered dietitian and author Pat Baird will discuss nighttime heartburn and share some suggestions for remedying this common-but-troublesome problem. Baird lives in Greenwich, Conn.

Quilting expert and author Rebecca Harger will demonstrate three versions of the popular log cabin quilt block: hexagon, square and diamond. Harger’s company is REBAH Publishing in Noblesville, Ind.

Taming Your Tummy Troubles

If you suffer from digestive problems such as heartburn accompanied by regurgitation, belching, bloating and feelings of early fullness, you’re not alone. Sixty percent of Americans suffer from these upper gastrointestinal symptoms of dyspepsia (indigestion). Dyspepsia may be caused by a motility disorder, which is a disruption in the way food moves through the digestive tract.

While most people think excess acid is their problem, motility disorders usually are the underlying cause of heartburn and its associated symptoms. Experts speculate that most digestive problems are due to our lifestyle:

• We eat too much.

• We eat too fast.

• We eat high-fat foods.

• We don’t exercise enough.

• We have high levels of stress.

• We lead fast-paced, erratic lives.

The good news is there are many simple and free lifestyle modifications you can make to your daily activities that can result in significant improvements for your digestive health. If you find that the following modifications do not help your symptoms, or if your symptoms get worse, you should see your doctor to rule out more serious diseases.

To receive free educational materials on dyspepsia, additional lifestyle modification tips and dyspepsia-free recipe suggestions, call 800-432-7614

At Meal Time:

• Limit consumption of fatty foods — they take longer to digest.

• Drink water — it helps move food through the digestive system.

• Reduce citrus and tomato-based foods — they can irritate the delicate lining of your digestive tract.

• Eat several small meals rather than three large ones — large meals may slow down digestion and cause bloating and abdominal discomfort.

• Chew your foods thoroughly — small particles of food are easier for the body to digest.

• Avoid eating late at night or before lying down — by waiting two to three hours before lying down, you can prevent food from digesting improperly.

• Plan your trip to the grocery store: Make a list, don’t go to the store hungry, cut coupons, choose produce and eliminate snacks.

Exercise:

• Walk everywhere if possible: up stairs, sight-seeing, to the bus or train and to the grocery store.

• Use the stairs — up and down — instead of elevators or escalators whenever possible.

• Walk your dog — faster and longer.

• Try water jogging — deep-water running is as beneficial as running on land, and ideal if you’re recovering from an injury or want to avoid the hard impact on your joints. After dinner, be active. A brisk walk, an evening bike ride, grocery shopping or even washing dishes aids digestion.

Anytime:

The following are general tips you can use to reduce uncomfortable digestive symptoms. By cutting out alcohol and cigarettes, you’ll also save money.

• Avoid alcohol and carbonated beverages — the carbonation may make you belch and feel bloated. And alcohol tends to disrupt normal motility by relaxing the LES.

• Quit or cut down on smoking — it can increase the symptoms of dyspepsia, especially regurgitation, by relaxing the muscles in your esophagus that keep down stomach contents.

• Lose a few pounds — excess pressure on your stomach may cause symptoms of dyspepsia. Exercising and reducing fatty foods and alcohol consumption may reduce digestive problems and improve digestive motility.

• See your doctor — he or she may prescribe medication, usually a promotility agent, that may keep your digestive system working properly. If symptoms occur frequently and become more severe, see your doctor for a complete medical examination to rule out diseases of the stomach, pancreas and gall bladder.

“Creative Living” is produced and hosted by Sheryl Borden. The show is carried by more than 118 PBS stations in the United States, Canada, Guam and Puerto Rico, and is distributed by Westlink, Albuquerque.