• Columns,  Guest Posts

    Guest Column: Healthy Digestion in Times of Stress, by Cathy McNease, Herbalist

    By Cathy McNease, Herbalist

    It is a familiar problem: stressful events occur and our digestion goes to hell. For some it means loss of appetite, other will resort to binges on comfort foods. Diarrhea, constipation, bloating and indigestion are other common reactions to stress. I fall prey to all of these as well and over the decades have figured a few things out to help. First, minimize stress as much as you can. Second, don’t allow the stress to send you off the rails in your food choices.

    If we can minimize the increase in stress hormones being produced, that is a step in the right direction.

    Maintaining an anti-inflammatory diet, as much as possible, is a good start. The following tips will reduce cortisol and adrenaline, which increase in stress. Limit as much as you can these foods:

    added sugars, processed foods, dairy products, gluten, too much meat, and refined oils. Rely more on non-starchy vegetables. Also watch your intake of coffee and alcohol.

  • Columns,  Guest Posts,  Latest,  Lee Lynch's Amazon Trail,  LGBTSR

    Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Zipline Vegas

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    Photo by Sue Hardesty

    Guest Column
    Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Zipline Vegas

    In the end, it’s all about ego. I’ll do almost anything, apparently, to protect my ego from being bruised.

    She’s going on a zipline in Las Vegas. That’s what my sweetheart announced this morning. It gets worse. She said the zipline goes over city streets and buildings—and here I was envisioning a sweet pastoral zip across raging river rapids and sharp rocks. Now I only have to worry about her colliding with concrete, metal, and glass. Head first. Seems you have options; she plans zip to belly down, like a diving bird, a Peregrine falcon perhaps, which can reach speeds up to 200 mph.

    She concocted this scheme with our friend Heather, who lives in Vegas and knows all the cool things to do. I have a feeling this trip will be a lot different than the one I took to the Lambda Literary Conference back in the early 1990s.

  • Columns,  Guest Posts

    Stephanie Mott: Woman Among Women – Transgender Woman Speaks at the Women’s March on Topeka

    [clickToTweet tweet=”I’m talking about the kind of love that stands out on a street corner and holds up signs.” quote=”I’m talking about the kind of love that stands out on a street corner and holds up signs and says, “Here I am, we will not allow this to happen.” – Stephanie Mott”]

    Stephanie Mott

    Stephanie Mott
    Guest Column

    I was honored greatly by the invitation to speak at the Women’s March on Topeka, Kansas this past Saturday – January 21st.

    It is extraordinarily validating to be included as a woman among women. Not to say that validation is needed. I know who I am. But to say that this particular type of validation is greatly acknowledged and appreciated.

    I would like to share a few thoughts about yesterday’s rally and march, and then a few thoughts about being a transgender woman who was asked to speak at the rally.