Join Fight Against Women's Heart Disease

Did you know that women are more likely to have their computers checked for viruses than to have their cholesterol levels checked? Unfortunately, low-income women are even less likely to take this preventative measure.

Getting screened can give you the information you need to help you make smarter lifestyle choices for a healthier heart. In addition to getting yourself tested, you can help support women who can't afford the screening by participating in the Cheerios Circle of Helping Hearts program, which raises money to provide free cholesterol screenings for women in need.

If Cheerios is a staple in your house, look inside each box for a code and enter it online at cheerioshelpinghearts.com, and Cheerios will donate a dollar to WomenHeart, the nation's only patient advocacy organization serving women with heart disease.

To find out more about how you can help a heart, go to cheerioshelpinghearts.com.

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Aspartame Experiment Delivers Proof of its Toxicity

If you're a regular consumer of diet drinks and other aspartame laced products, you'll want to know about one woman's experiment with the sugar substitute and see her compelling proof that it's far from safe.

Concerned about the health of her family because of their addiction to Diet Pepsi, Victoria Inness-Brown decided to set up her own experiment on aspartame using 108 rats. Over the course of two years and eight months, she included NutraSweet in their diet that was equivalent to two-thirds of what is contained in eight ounces of diet soda.

As a result, about 37 percent of the females developed tumors over the course of the experiment. While Inness-Brown had read about the toxic effects of aspartame, she was still shocked by the results.

"I was struck by the number and size of the growths," she said.

You read more about her experiment and see the results yourself at: MyAspartameExperiment.com.

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Real Remedies to Calm Restless Legs

If you're one of the 12 million Americans who suffer from restless legs syndrome (RLS), you're probably not getting the sleep you need. That irresistible urge to move the lower limbs makes you feel like moving when you should be sleeping or relaxing.

For many, this condition is inherited and for others it's an underlying health problem. Either way, scientist believe that like Parkinson's disease RLS sufferers have poor dopamine metabolism.

This month's edition of Natural Solutions lists the top four natural remedies that may help calm those restless legs.

Iron
Given that iron deficiency is the most common medical condition associated with RLS, it's a good idea to have your doctor check your ferritin levels. Because your body stores iron in the form of ferritin, it is the best test for iron deficiency. This mineral has been linked to having an important influence on dopamine metabolism. Because too much iron can be harmful, doctors only recommend supplementation if tests reveal a deficiency. Iron levels should also be checked while supplementing.

Folic Acid
If RSL runs in the family, you may be deficient in folic acid, which is an important element of nerve health. Helpful dosages are quite high, starting at 5 mg daily compared to the recommended daily allowance of 300 to 600 mcg. Therefore, you should be supervised by a health care provider if you need to take high levels of this nutrient.

Magnesium
An electrolyte imbalance can also be to blame for RSL, which can be the result of an eating disorder or gastric bypass surgery. Supplementing with 200 to 800 mg of magnesium at bedtime can correct the problem while helping to promote muscle and nerve health.

L-theanine
While L-theanine, an amino acid known to induce deep relaxation, isn't directly linked with easing RLS, taking 200 mg of it about an hour before bedtime could help you settle down for a good night's rest.

Source: Natural Solutions (March 2008)
Photo Credit: Intimaj (Flickr)

What You Eat Affects Your Sleep

Thanksgiving dinner has long been known to induce sleepiness, but other foods seems to put us in the mood for slumber as well. If you're looking to catch more z's or trying to stay awake, here's some examples of which foods and drinks have an impact on sleep, courtesy of the National Sleep Foundation:

• Carbohydrate-rich foods, such as pastas and breads, can make you more sleepy.
• Carbohydrates work well with proteins to induce sleepiness (ie. peanut butter on toast, cereal with milk, or cheese and crackers make good bedtime snacks)
• A large meal can make you more tired, especially one with a lot of carbohydrates.
• Caffeine in foods and beverages is a stimulant that blocks hormones in the brain that make you feel sleepy.
• While alcohol may help you relax and fall asleep in the short term, over the course of the night it inhibits the sleep process and can prevent you from getting deep, restful sleep.

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Is Your Workout Zapping Your Energy?

If you're finding that your regular workout is draining your energy instead of giving you a lift, you may be low on key nutrients. A new study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise reports that exercising can use up certain minerals, especially calcium, magnesium and zinc.

During a workout, your body will use up an extra 50 to 100 mg of calcium--which helps control muscle contractions. The daily recommended intake is 1,000 to 1,500 mg. You can replenish the lost calcium with a cup of yogurt or cottage cheese.

Flexing your muscles requires a lot of magnesium that converts sugar and carbohydrates into energy. The average person needs 500-800 mg of magnesium a day. If you exercise four or five days a week, you'll want to aim for the maximum amount. Try grabbing a handful of pumpkin seeds, almonds or cashews to boost your levels.

Make sure you aim for 20 mg of zinc on the days you work up a sweat. It helps burn fat and grow muscle fibers. Eating spinach, chicken, chickpeas and walnut can help you meet your quota.

Source: Natural Solutions (March 2008)

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Natural Solutions to Common Hair Problems

Is your hair thinning, frizzy or flaky? Looking for a holistic remedy instead of a drugstore quick fix that doesn't get to the root of the problem? This April's edition of Natural Health offers expert advice and natural solutions to the most common hair complaints.

Thinning Hair

1. Eat more protein. It's what makes up your hair.
2. Be gentle. Pulling and tugging too hard only makes it worse.
3. Get your testosterone levels and thyroid checked. Too much testosterone or hypothyroidism can cause hair to fall out.
4. Massage the scalp to increase circulation, which will help get nutrients to the right place and promote healthy growth.
5. Use hair products containing stimulating herbs such as white needle, arnica and thyme.

Dry, Frizzy Hair and Flaking Scalp

1. Color, Blow-dry and shampoo less often.
2. Eat foods containing essential fatty acids such as salmon, olives, flaxseeds and walnuts to boost oil production to scalp.
3. Give yourself a scalp treatment with hydrating, nourishing oils such as olive and jojoba oils mixed with avocado.
4. Wash with moisturizing shampoos and finish with deep-conditioning treatments containing shea butter, avocado or cedarwood. Avoid silicone and look for natural oils such as castor oil.

Oily Scalp, Dandruff

1. Wash hair daily.
2. Get your omega-3s and zinc. The healthy fat helps regulate oil production and zinc helps to decrease oiliness.
3. An unhealthy gut leads to dandruff so eat yogurt, kefir and other fermented foods or take a probiotic supplement. Additionally, eat garlic and oregano to kill bad yeast in the digestive system.
   
4. Use hair products containing herbs with astringent, antibacterial properties such as sage and chamomile.
5. Use hair products fortified with zinc to stop dandruff and decrease scalp irritation.
   

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How to Crank Up the Antioxidant Power in Pizza

Who knew pizza could actually be a health food? With a few minor tweaks to the traditional recipe, you can crank up its antioxidant potential.

Recently, food chemists found that making pizza with whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour along with baking the pie a bit longer released more disease-fighting compounds. Specifically, when a pizza with whole wheat crust was baked at a higher temperature it released 82 percent more antioxidants. It released 60 percent more when baked twice as long, and that number doubled when the dough was left to rise an extra day.

Now can have your pie and eat it too!

Source: Science Daily
Photo Credit: L.W. Yang, Wikipedia

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Setting a Standard for 'Natural' Beauty Products

Natural and organic have become the trendy buzz words in the beauty industry. Unfortunately, many consumers don't realized that currently there is no standard set on just how "natural" products must be in ordered to be labeled "natural". Companies marketing cosmetics, body lotions, soaps and shampoos have no problem slapping a "natural" label on their products even if they only contains a drop or two of essential oils.

However, this spring the rules are about to change. Burt Bee's is leading the charge in the industry and is working with the Natural Product Association to make sure that products contain at least 95 percent natural ingredients and contain no harmful ingredients in order to be identified as natural. Products that meet the criteria will receive a corresponding seal.

Additionally, Whole Foods Market just launched a labeling effort of their own to help their shoppers identify safe, effective, eco-friendly products. Specifically, they must contain mild preservatives (no parabens or formaldehyde-releasing preservatives), gentle surfactants, and natural fragrances, and sunscreens cannot contain chemicals. Products that meet their standards get the company's Premium Body Care seal.

Both initiatives are aimed to set a new industry bench mark that should help consumers find their way through the confusing claims while forcing companies to make natural, high-quality products.

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Simple Pleasures Have Biggest Impact On Well-Being

It turns out that it doesn't cost anything to be happy, claims a news study. If you thought winning the Lotto, driving a fancy sports car or taking a dream trip to an exotic island was the epitome of happiness, you'd be missing out. In fact, researchers at the University of Nottingham say its actually the simple pleasures--such as strolling through a park, soaking in the tub, and eating a bit of chocolate--that has the most positive impact on our sense of well-being.

The study used the Satisfaction with Life Scale developed by the University of Illinois to compare the happiness levels of lottery jackpot winners with a control group. The participants were asked about their satisfaction level with different aspects of their life, about their moods, and how they rewarded themselves and in what form.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, people turn to indulgences to make them feel happier, claim the researchers. They concluded that people--rich or not--who reward themselves with cost-free, relaxing activities were much happier than those who treated themselves to DVDs, CDs or inexpensive meals out.

Resource: The University of Nottingham