Losing weight for good is a big topic. There will also not be much said about some fairly obvious health issues. If you smoke or have a problem with alcohol or drugs, you probably realize that this isn’t good for you. The same with overeating. Some of the methods here can help you with these issues, but I am not going to go into any detail about subjects that are so extensively covered all over the mainstream media and internet. The same with the advice to exercise. I do refer to exercise in the breathing chapter, but I don’t spell out “get x number of hours of exercise per week.” Exercise is important, but it should be tailored to you as an individual. I don’t want to imply that what I haven’t written about in detail is not important. It just isn’t the focus of this report.

What I am doing here is presenting a solid foundation upon which you can build. If you do have specific health challenges, need to lose a lot of weight, get into better shape, everything here will definitely be a good base upon which to add anything else you may need.

One final note about the focus of this report. I try, as much as possible, to give positive rather than negative advice. What I mean by that is, except where it is absolutely necessary (as with the chapter on junk foods!), I try to keep the focus on the positive –what is good for you rather than on what to avoid. Read the rest of this entry »

Looking to make a change and lose some weight? I have reviewed the top diet on the internet and you can go and read over 200 comments people have made about why this diet has worked well for them, as well as some of the problems.

Tags: allergy, animal products, antibiotics, athlete, Autism, Ayurvedic medicine, cancer, dairy products, depression, diabetes, energy, healthier products, healthy products, heart disease, high blood pressure, insomnia, meditation, nutritional product, obesity, Organic products, particular systems, reflexology, relaxation, restaurant food, Sleep deprivation, strenuous sports, sweet products, Swimming, vegetarian diet

Serotonin is a very important brain chemical. One of the ways that we see serotonin in use is inour moods and especially in the way that we think. Think of serotonin in your brain as a funnel that just slowly drains goodness, if you have stress, don’t get our enough, get sick, then your serotonin production in your body will drop until that funnel has nothing to give your brain. This is bad. This is what causes depression in many people and there are ways to stop depression causing low serotonin levels.

Basiclally what you need to increase the creation of serotonin in your body is diet change, exercise, exposure to bright sunlight and if all else fails then SSRI antidepressent drugs.

The dietary supplement 5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan (5-HTP) is promoted as a treatment for insomnia, depression, migraine, obesity and attention deficit disorder in children. It is a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan and, in fact, the body makes it from the tryptophan present in foods such as beef, chicken, fish, dairy products and other high protein foods. I have found a lot of evidence that people swear by supplementing their diet with 5-HTP so this is something that you can try.

Exercise increases serotonin. We all know how important exercise is for improving our physical health and concentration as well as mood and it is the endorphin creation that fuels higher serotonin levels. Get exercise everyday. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Attention Deficit Disorder, dairy products, depression, Dietary Supplement, important brain chemical, insomnia, Lexapro, migraine, obesity, Prozac, seasonal affective disorder, treatment for insomnia

This report and study is not new news to me and I would bet that you would agree that it make sense that losing sleep and not sleeping is really unhealthy.

Men have an increased risk of premature death if they have chronic insomnia along with a short sleep duration, researchers here said.

In a longitudinal study of more than 1,700 men and women followed for more than 10 years, men with insomnia and short sleep duration were almost five times more likely to die than men who had normal sleep, said Alexandros N. Vgontzas, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Sleep Research Center at Penn State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa.

Dr. Vgontzas reported the findings at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

“Until now, most studies had failed to show that insomnia, like sleep apnea, is associated with medical morbidity and mortality,” said Dr. Vgontzas. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alexandros N. Vgontzas, chronic insomnia, depression, director, Hershey, insomnia, Penn State University Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania, professor of psychiatry, professor of psychiatry and director, sleep apnea, Sleep Research Center, sleep-disordered breathing

Getting happy is very very important for no other reason than the happy person will do what is necessary and the unhappy person will instead dwell on failures and not bother raking those steps to get into better health.

(hint: Serotonin makes you happy)

More than 25 million people received treatment for depression last year and the American Psychological Association reports: more than half of Americans say they are stressed. It’s becoming a primary focus for doctors world-wide.

Here’s what you need to know, to protect you mind and your body.

These days, world-renowned speaker Deepak Chopra teaches that happiness is no longer just a mental quest, but a physical one. Chopra recently released his newest DVD “The Prescription for Happiness.” Doctors are on the same page. They now have solid evidence your happiness directly affects your health. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: American Psychological Association, Author, Deepak Chopra, depression, fatigue, insomnia, Liz Vaccariello, National Institute of Health, Parkinsons disease, re-sets chemical patterns, speaker, treatment for depression, United States

I have been compiling info on artificial sweetners for years and there are some that are OK and some that are really bad for you but here is a bit of an overview of he dangers of using different artificial sweeteners to try to drop your calorie intake.

Aspartame

Aspartame, a dipeptide of aspartic acid and a methyl ester of phenylalanine, is approved for use in pharmaceutical products and is being used increasingly in chewable tablet and sugar-free formulations. Labels for both prescription and nonprescription products must include the phenylalanine content. The major consideration in the use of aspartame in children is in patients with autosomal recessive phenylketonuria. Although heterozygotes do not appear to have clinically significant increases in phenylalanine after ingestion of even large amounts (equivalent to 24 12-oz cans of diet beverages), homozygotes with strict dietary restrictions should avoid aspartame. Children without dietary restrictions could safely ingest 10 mg/kg/day. Dietary consumption of aspartame is typically less than 5 mg/kg/day; young children, however, could ingest considerably more. For example, a 2-year-old child weighing 12 kg consumes 17 mg/kg from drinking one 12-oz can of diet soda and one serving of a sweetened product (eg, cereal, pudding, gelatin, or frozen dessert). Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: absence seizures, affective disorders, albuminuria, allergy, American Herbal Products Association, American Medical Association, artificial chemical, artificial sweetners, aspartame, aspartic acid, bladder cancer, blisters, Brazil, cancer, chemical, dairy by-product, dairy products, depression, diarrhea, diet beverages, Dietary Supplement, dietary supplements, dizziness, eczema, epilepsy, evidence, fda, FDA/National Cancer Institute, food, food additive, Food additives, food processors, food products, headache, headaches, Hypersensitivity, insomnia, Japan, Japanese government, migraine headaches, mitral valve prolapse, nausea, neuropsychiatric disorders, nonprescription products, oliguria, panic attacks, Paraguay, pharmaceutical agents, pharmaceutical products, phenylketonuria, placebos, product, prurigo, pruritus, Saccharin, salty applications, SeaLife SL 200C 35mm Film Camera, seizure disorders, seizures, sodium chloride, Stevia, strabismus, Sucralose, tachycardia, Tagatose, United States, urticaria, vascular headaches, visual hallucinations, wheezing

The amount of physical exercise that you exert during the day is one of the key ingredients to helping you get a good sleep at night. The more active your body is during the day, the more likely you are to relax at night and fall asleep faster.

With regular exercise you’ll notice that your quality of sleep is improved and the transition between the cycles and phases of sleep will become smoother and more regular. By keeping up your physical activity during the day, you may find it easier to deal with the stress and worries of your life.

Research and studies indicate that there is a direct correlation between how much we exercise and how we feel afterwards. You should try and increase your physical activity during the day. The goal here is to give your body enough stimulation during the day so that you aren’t full of energy at night. Your body requires a certain amount of physical activity in order to keep functioning in a healthy manner. It is also important to note that you should not be exercising three or four hours before you go to bed.

The ideal exercise time is in the late afternoon or early evening. You want to make sure you expend your physical energy long before it is time for your body to rest and ready itself for sleep. You should attempt to exercise at least three or four times a week for a period of 30 minutes or so. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: aerobic exercise, amnesia, energy, good sleep, insomnia, joint pains, physical activity, physical energy, relaxation, sleep at night, Tai Chi

A new way of losing those extra pounds is not by starving but rather by eating certain special foods which help a person burn fat by boosting his metabolism. Such foods are also known as ‘weight loss super foods’. One such super food is the acai berry. It is being cultivated in the forest of Amazon for centuries and the natives have been using it for thousands of years to cure digestive problems, insomnia as well as to take care of their skin.

Very recently however, it was discovered that acai berry also enhances a person’s metabolism, thereby helping him burn fat. In this article I will go into more detail regarding this. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: amazon, Berry Do, Berry Indeed Help, cancer, energy levels, food, insomnia, vitamin a

Sleep is a big problem for a lot of people. I just ran across a story from last week that points out that many people are having trouble sleeping and are using alternative medicine, herbs, in order to fall asleep. The big story is supposed to be the use of herbs but the real story here is that people are getting insomnia on a much more regular basis then they were 20 or 30 years ago.

The reasons for insomnia and most common sleep disorders can be narrowed down to a few causes. If you would like to sleep better then you should leave work stress at work, no sugar and caffeine after 3:00 in the afternoon and regular exercise. Sure there are a lot of problems that can cause sleeping problems but by just doing these three things most people will find that there length and quality of sleep will improve dramatically.

One in six Americans frequently have difficulty falling asleep, and 4.5 percent of them use some type of alternative medicine to treat their sleeping problems, a new study shows.

“Most respondents who used herbal therapies or relaxation techniques found these therapies helpful for managing their insomnia or trouble sleeping,” Dr. Nancy J. Pearson and colleagues from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland report in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Pearson and her team analyzed information from the 2002 National Health Interview Survey to find out how common sleeping difficulties were and how often people used alternative techniques to treat them.

Of those surveyed, 17.4 percent reported that, over the past 12 months, they regularly had difficulty falling asleep or suffered from insomnia.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Alternative Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, Congestive heart failure, depression, hypertension, insomnia, obesity, Pearson, sleeping disorders

My brother in law told me at one point that he had sleep apnea. The next week my boss, who never slept well and had a problem staying up in meetings, told me that he had sleep apnea and after having it treated he was really happy to be sleeping better and to be more rested all of the time.

Sleep Apnea is a very exhausting condition that causes you to wake up a bit all night long all the time so that you never get a restful night sleep. A horrible thought for everyone and real hell if you are the one that is suffering from this.

What is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

The most common kind of sleep apnea is called Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome. Sleep apnea means “cessation of breath.” It is characterized by repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction that occur during sleep, usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. In other words, the airway becomes obstructed at several possible sites. The upper airway can be obstructed by excess tissue in the airway, large tonsils, a large tongue and usually includes the airway muscles relaxing and collapsing when asleep. Another site of obstruction can be the nasal passages. Sometimes the structure of the jaw and airway can be a factor in sleep apnea.

What are the symptoms of Sleep Apnea?

* excessive daytime sleepiness
* frequent episodes of obstructed breathing during sleep. (The patient may be unaware of this symptom — usually the bed partner is extremely aware of this).
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: airway obstruction, apnea, deformities, depression, ENT surgery, heart attacks, heart disease, high blood pressure, home healthcare, impotence, insomnia, insurance, jaw forward, laser, maxillofacial surgery, Nelson Powell, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome, oral mouth devices, plastic surgery, respiratory distress, respiratory equipment, Robert W. Riley, scar, sleep apnea, Sleep Technologist, Stanford University Sleep Disorders Center, strokes, surgery, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Sometimes life throws a bit of a curve and you have trouble sleeping. I tend to sleep pretty well most of the time but when stresses of work get a little high it is not my eating that suffers but my sleep instead. I found this list fromt the National Sleep Foundation that gives a few little ideas of how you can improve your sleeping. For more information you can visit a website dedicate to sleeping

Set a schedule:
Go to bed at a set time each night and get up at the same time each morning. Disrupting this schedule may lead to insomnia. “Sleeping in” on weekends also makes it harder to wake up early on Monday morning because it re-sets your sleep cycles for a later awakening.

Exercise:
Try to exercise 20 to 30 minutes a day. Daily exercise often helps people sleep, although a workout soon before bedtime may interfere with sleep. For maximum benefit, try to get your exercise about 5 to 6 hours before going to bed.

Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol:
Avoid drinks that contain caffeine, which acts as a stimulant and keeps people awake. Sources of caffeine include coffee, chocolate, soft drinks, non-herbal teas, diet drugs, and some pain relievers. Smokers tend to sleep very lightly and often wake up in the early morning due to nicotine withdrawal. Alcohol robs people of deep sleep and REM sleep and keeps them in the lighter stages of sleep.

Relax before bed:
A warm bath, reading, or another relaxing routine can make it easier to fall sleep. You can train yourself to associate certain restful activities with sleep and make them part of your bedtime ritual.

Sleep until sunlight:
If possible, wake up with the sun, or use very bright lights in the morning. Sunlight helps the body’s internal biological clock reset itself each day. Sleep experts recommend exposure to an hour of morning sunlight for people having problems falling asleep.

Don’t lie in bed awake:
If you can�t get to sleep, don’t just lie in bed. Do something else, like reading, watching television, or listening to music, until you feel tired. The anxiety of being unable to fall asleep can actually contribute to insomnia.

Control your room temperature:
Maintain a comfortable temperature in the bedroom. Extreme temperatures may disrupt sleep or prevent you from falling asleep.

See a doctor if your sleeping problem continues:
If you have trouble falling asleep night after night, or if you always feel tired the next day, then you may have a sleep disorder and should see a physician. Your primary care physician may be able to help you; if not, you can probably find a sleep specialist at a major hospital near you. Most sleep disorders can be treated effectively, so you can finally get that good night’s sleep you need.

Tags: care physician, insomnia, National Sleep Foundation, pain, physician, sleep disorder, sleep disorders, sleep specialist