Five Must-Have Supplements for Your Medicine Cabinet

Are you worried about your health? Do you feel like you’re not getting the proper vitamins and minerals from your diet? If so, don’t worry-help has arrived.

While they can’t replace a healthy and well-balanced diet, here are five dietary supplements no medicine cabinet should be without.

Multivitamins

Multivitamins

If you had to choose only one supplement to take every day, make it a multivitamin; it’s the foundation of any decent health plan. Unless you spend your entire day eating a seemingly infinite assortment of food groups, you will never reach your overall nutritional needs. Multivitamins are designed to be a convenient supplement to your diet, adding only the vitamins and minerals most essential for good health–Vitamin C, Magnesium, Zinc, Lycopene, and so on. Most multivitamins only need to be taken once a day, can be found in any grocery store, and are relatively inexpensive.

Suggested use: Once daily with a full glass of water, preferably after a meal.

Omega -3 Fish Oil

Fish oil is a dietary supplement that is vital in building and maintaining heart health. It contains the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA; EPA supports heart health and cellular integrity while DHA supports the operation of memory and the nervous system. Fish oil has also been shown in studies to have a positive effect on weight loss. Fish oil is widely available and can be found in most grocery stores at a low price.

Suggested use: Varies; for adults, typically 2000 mg (2 softgels) per day with food. Should be stored in a cool, dry place; some brands suggest the bottle be refrigerated after opening.

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo Biloba (commonly misspelled as Gingko Biloba) has been shown to help improve memory, especially mild memory loss associated with aging. It has been used as a treatment to delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. It also helps promote blood circulation to the legs, arms and brain, and has been known to help treat diabetes patients suffering from poor blood circulation to the extremities (feet, hands). It is available in most any grocery store and is very inexpensive.

Suggested use: For adults, 120 mg daily with a meal.

Red Wine Extract (with Resveratrol)

Red wine extract provides the benefits of heart-healthy red wine without the hangover. Red wine contains Resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant which aids in the support of the cardiovascular system by strengthening capillaries and encouraging healthy blood flow to and from the heart. Red wine extract also contains polyphenols and anthocyanidins, antioxidants that assist in balancing the immune system. Red wine extract is relatively expensive and is available in a wide range of forms and sizes, including vegetarian tablets.

Suggested use: Varies by brand.

Green Tea Extract

Green tea is all the rage right now, and for good reason: it carries powerful antioxidants called polyphenols, such as EGCG, that can inhibit the growth of cancer cells and lower total cholesterol levels, among other things. Studies have shown that those who consume green tea on a regular basis are far less likely to suffer from heart disease, regardless of diet. Green tea may even be helpful in weight loss. It can be found in few grocery stores, but is available at larger retailers and vitamin stores at an extremely low cost.

Green Tea Extract

Suggested use: Varies; typically 200-300 mg daily.

Having trouble finding one or more of these items at your local grocery store? Online vitamin stores such as https://www.otcmedstore.com/equazen-eye-q-baby-n30 have a wide variety of these supplements in stock.

Attune Probiotic Chocolate: The Easiest Way to Take Probiotics

What Is Attune?

Attune is a company that makes chocolate bars, granola bars and granola with probiotics in them. I tried three Attune chocolate bars to see how they tasted and whether they really worked. I tried the Attune chocolate bars right as I was in the middle of taking a round of antibiotics to see if they work as well as other probiotic products.

What Are The Health Benefits of Attune?

Probiotics

Attune chocolate bars contain probiotics, which help support digestion and protect your digestive tract from harmful bacteria. It is always good to have probiotics in your diet, but it is especially important to have them when you are on antibiotics because they can kill off the beneficial bacteria along with the harmful kinds. The probiotics in Attune chocolate bars do work, because I had no stomach pain from the antibiotics after I started eating the Attune bars. Click here at https://miastodzieci.pl/wydarzenia/probiotyki-dla-dzieci/ website to read review on attune probiotic.

The chocolate bars are also low calorie, each containing only 80, 90, or 100 calories depending on which flavor you try. The bars are fairly large and filling, so even 100 calories is not a bad amount at all.

What Does Attune Taste Like?

Attune Probiotic

Attune chocolate bars taste just like normal chocolate bars, only they are full of probiotics and have only a fraction of the calories of normal chocolate bars. If you like white chocolate and blueberries, the white chocolate blueberry bar is absolutely delicious. The chocolate mint bar is my favorite because it has just the right amount of mint flavor to balance the creamy chocolate. I also enjoyed the chocolate crisp bar, which had a nice crunch from the puffed brown rice to counter the creaminess of the chocolate. Overall, these chocolate bars were delicious and I look forward to trying all the other flavors as well.

Buying Attune

You can buy attune bars online or in a number of grocery stores, including Whole Foods, Safeway, and A&P.; Online, a single bar sells for $1.52, and a 28-pack sells for $38.86. This is not too expensive if you buy these bars as a replacement for your regular dessert, although the shipping will add up, so I suggest you check your local grocery stores before buying online.

The Verdict on Attune

I recommend Attune chocolate bars for anyone who needs more probiotics, or anyone looking for a healthier chocolate bar. These bars taste great, come in many different flavors, and provide real health benefits for only a few calories.

Fish Oils: How to Determine Cost Effective Fish Oil Consumption

Fish oils are one of the most important supplements that you can add to your daily diet regime. They provide
you with essential fatty acids that you are most likely not getting in your diet and are crucial for cellular health.
The important fatty acids they provide allow your cells to age properly and stay flexible, which promotes
cardiovascular, cellular, respiratory, and holistic health in general. The beneficial fatty acids that most people
think of when fish oil is mentioned are called omega 3 fatty acids. In this article we will look at some specifics as
they relate to how much fish oil you should take each day, and how to make sure the brand you are currently
taking, or decide to take, stack up on a price per dose basis.

First we will look at what ingredients Omega 3’s provide for your health benefits. EPA and DHA are the most
heavily studied Omega 3’s and are the reason every doctor, regardless of their discipline, can agree that fish oils
would benefit your overall health goals. These fatty acids help to make the barrier between your cells and the
outside world. The walls need to be flexible so your cells can fit into different areas easily, and they also need to
let nutrients in and waste products out. If the walls take nutrients in but do not let waste out you get a car running, visit this web-site.

Fish Oils

in the garage effect, the waste products build up and the cell becomes toxic. If your blood cells become too rigid
from lack of Omega 3’s, they have a hard time getting through small areas, like the blood vessels in your lungs.
Red blood cell walls need to stay flexible in order to squeeze flat while traveling through your lungs, which
increases their surface area, allowing you to maintain the proper oxygenation levels in your blood; otherwise, you
become tired and have a hard time getting energy to your body. Rigid cells also contribute to a myriad of health
concerns including high cholesterol, heart disease, and atherosclerosis to name a few.

Now that you know which fats are important let’s do a little label reading. Most fish oils on the market are labeled
in a way that is misleading, for instance if you go to a local chain store and pick up a labeled 1200mg/ dose
bottle of fish oil and look on the back to check for the actual active ingredients of EPA/DHA you will most likely find.

It adds up to between 350-450mg. This is approximately 800mg less than you were led to believe you were
taking and results in you not getting enough of what you paid for. The analogy I use to describe this to patients is
as follows, you go to the liquor department and find a liter bottle of liquor how do you know how potent it is? You
look at the alcohol content. Think of EPA/DHA as the alcohol content and the bottle of fish oil as the liter of liquor.

You want as high an alcohol (EPA/DHA) content as possible to get the most bang for the buck. The minimum
EPA/DHA should add up to 2,000-3,000mg or 2-3grams. This is widely accepted as the minimum effective dose,
and this is where you can start to reap the health benefits with continued use.

Fish Oil Consumption

What does it cost to plant the seeds of health in regards to fish oil? This is a variable that I would like to help you
lower while still getting the minimum effective dose. You must get 2-3grams/day, so to have a single dose that
adds up to this would be the easiest to practically maintain and would also be the easiest to analyze on a cost
per dose basis. There is no pill that I have seen that offers this solution, so we will first look at oils. The best oil I
have found and use myself is from Innate Choice™, and figures in @ approximately 2g of EPA/DHA per dose
and costs approx 45-50 dollars. This sounds expensive until you see there are 100 doses per bottle, which will
last over 3months! If you do the math the cost/dose is around 48 cents per dose, and you only have to take it one
time/day making it easier to maintain than multiple pill regimens. Compare this to anywhere from 6-18 pills from
a chain brand (depending on the potency of EPA/DHA) at $12 avg per bottle and you have a cost of 48 dollars per
month for the generic pills, or 1.50 per effective dose of 2-3grams EPA/DHA. To follow the liquor analogy, that
would be like paying 3 times as much for Boone’s Farm as you do for Crown Royal.™ The fact that you only have
to take one dose/day and that it costs approximately 3 times less makes the oil a smart choice.

In closing, you need Omega 3’s to stay healthy. You require 2-3g of EPA/DHA to get an effective dose of Omega
3’s per day. The easiest and most cost effective way to get enough is one dose of liquid fish oil that is
pharmaceutical grade. Follow these easy steps for increased health and a more productive, happy you.

How to Relieve an Infant’s Pain Caused by Teething

After my daughter cut her first couple of teeth, I thought this was going to be a breeze. Boy, was I wrong! After those first two teeth came through, all hell broke loose! She was fussy, had a runny nose, pulled at her ears, ran a low fever (make sure your child’s fever doesn’t go over 100 degrees, that can mean illness). All the classic symptoms along with blood curdling screams! I began to do a little research and was fascinated in some of the things I found!

Naturally, the first thing I tried was Ibprofen. I dosed her up every 6 hours. That seemed to help a little bit, but it just seemed to ease her pain enough to let her sleep, not while she was awake. I needed something to help give me some sanity and her some relief!

Take wash cloth and get it wet. Squeeze out the excess water and put it in a plastic bag. Throw the bag in the freezer for approximately five minutes. Take the rag out of the bag and let your infant chew and suck on it. My daughter loved this one, and it doubles as a drool catcher! BONUS!

Teething rings are a great thing, but they are even better when popped in the freezer for 5 minutes, like the wash cloth. This is a little less messy or time consuming than the wash rag. Like the teething rings, if your child takes a pacifier, you can put those in the freezer for a cool chew as well.

Massaging your child’s gums is another great way of giving them a little relief. They already like to chew on your finger, so you might as well put it to good use. The massaging equalizes the pressure the tooth is creating on the gums, know more. When I was getting my wisdom teeth, I loved applying pressure to the gums back there, so you know your children would love it, too! Just make sure that finger is clean!

You can always purchase those over the counter pain gels for your infant’s gums. I found that it only relieved the pain very briefly and was not worth the expense.

Depending on your child’s age, you can use teething cookies for your child to slobber on. I tried these with my son, and although he loved them, I thought they were the biggest mess and created more of a headache than my screaming child! Depending on your desperation level, I didn’t feel they were worth the enormous clean up!

Some people swear by rubbing vanilla extract on your baby’s gums. Although, not proven, it can warm your child’s gums or some believe the vanilla itself is just very calming. It can also calm a baby’s upset stomach!

A small cool spoon is also a favorite of infants. Just make sure you’re holding the spoon in your hands at all times and constantly supervising this remedy. The baby can easily gag or choke itself on such an item.

Those are just a few of the remedies that I found when trying to sooth my baby’s teething. I hope they have offered you some hope to pull your fingers out of your hair and to take a large sigh of relief as your child’s poor teething experience continues.

5 Best Ways to Lose Weight

1. Do not overeat. Food is good but only to a certain amount. Eating the right amount of food is a very hard challenge. You need to educate yourself to eat the right food at the right time. Always think that you are eating for a purpose. It’s to fuel your body so you have energy to do what needs to be done. You are not eating to enjoy food; you are eating because you need food.

2. Exercise – Move. Moving will make you lose weight. Other people never like the thought of exercising. Think of something you like to do such as dancing, hiking, biking, martial arts, stretching. If you have a toddler, you have so many ways to exercise and enjoy at the same time. Play with your toddler and do the same thing they are doing, you will be surprise how it will work for you. It’s the best bonding moment too.

Lose Weight

3. Drink water- Water works wonder. Not just for weight loss but health wise in general. Ideally you need to drink half of your weight in pounds number of oz in water. Let’s say you weigh 140lbs, ideally you are supposed to drink 70oz of water a day or more but not more than 120oz, more helpful hints. Try to have a glass of water beside you every time and drink every hour or two hours. Keeps you hydrated and may help you not think of food as much.

4. Set a realistic goal and be consistent about reaching it. To avoid getting disappointed set a realistic goal. Remember that losing weight is a lifestyle change not a temporary. Do not feel obligated to lose weight very soon coz it will put a pressure on you. Make small changes every day and be consistent with it. The weight will started to lose when you started living the right way. Try not to concentrate with numbers or figures. Set your ideal weight but do not set when you want to be there, start your changes and be consistent with reaching it.

5. Be stable emotionally. Be happy. Sleep right. Sleeping has a big impact with your emotion. Trying to get a good amount of sleep every night will help you concentrate with your goal for the next day. If you feel light and bubbly, it’s very easy to be happy. Start your day with a morning prayer, meet yourself in the bathroom with a smile and have a very optimistic day ahead of you.

Now you get a paper and right a promise to yourself. First write your goal. Let’s say my goal is to reach my ideal weight of _______lbs. Do not set when you want to be at your ideal weight to avoid pressure so we can concentrate with it.

Next is making a list of good food you may eat without guilt such as your favorite fruits or vegetables. Make also list of your favorite food that you know you can only eat in moderation, or better make them your cheat food. A food you can eat when you’ve reach certain small goal. The idea is knowing the food you like so you can still enjoy eating.

Lastly make an appointment with yourself. Set 30 minutes every day to move or 1 ½ hours three times a week whichever is applicable to you. This is a time you allotted to meet your goal. Losing weight is a job you need to take seriously. Do something good to feel good about yourself. Everything will start in you. Be kind to yourself.

Lose Weight – the 10 Best Ways to Lose Weight and Keep it Off

I am a distance runner, yet still had issues with maintaining weight. I fell into a mindset shared by many; if I worked out a lot I didn’t have to worry about what and how I ate. Nothing could be further from the truth! Active or not, below are 10 lifestyle changes that have made all the difference for me in losing and maintaining weight also see details.

1. Eat smaller meals but more frequently through the day. Each time you eat you fire up the furnace, so to speak, you burn more calories. It’s a way of revving up metabolism.

2. Cut back on carbohydrates and eat more protein, fruits, and vegetables. You can load your plate with the right foods, achieve that “full” feeling (protein stays with you longer), and not come away feeling cheated by small portions. Carbohydrates that aren’t burned in activity get stored by the body as fat.

Lose Weight

3. Move! Walk, run, bike, garden, take the steps rather than the elevator, swim, anything that gets you up and moving. And don’t allow your exercise to be your only attempt at weight loss. Exercise is not enough. Let me say that again…EXERCISE IS NOT ENOUGH! Many people adopt an exercise routine and then reward themselves with treats, which negate all that they did. Keep in mind when you eat that Oreo cookie it will require almost a mile on the treadmill. Is it worth it?

4. At the same time, don’t cut yourself off from all the foods you love. Anything in moderation. You are not on a “diet”: A diet is a temporary plan. Lasting weight loss requires a commitment to a lifestyle change. Who wants (or who can) forego ice cream for a lifetime? Really, you don’t have to. Just don’t make it an every day occurrence.

5. Drink more water. Drink an eight ounce glass before a meal to help you feel full faster. Water cleanses our insides, helping us flush waste products. Many of us don’t drink enough.

6. Avoid yo-yo dieting. “Diet” should not be in your vocabulary. A common mistake is to fast, wanting quick results, only to gain everything back and then some when we start eating again. We train our body to conserve when we fast. Yo-yo dieters eventually find themselves unable to lose weight, even when they cut back, because the body has been trained to hold on to what it takes in.

Best Ways to Lose Weight

7. Buy good foods and have them available for snacking. If there are no cookies in the house it’s hard to eat them. If there are cleaned fruits or veggies on hand, that is what you will reach for. And once you get in the habit of snacking on those you learn to love them and crave them rather than the starchy, sweet snacks you once craved.

8. Avoid processed foods. Most have the preservatives, starches, and carbohydrates that will sabotage your goals. Eat fresh!

9. Eat off a plate rather than from a container. Watch portion sizes by reading labels. It’s so easy to forget how much has been eaten when you snack directly from the package.

10. Limit alcohol. It’s full of calories, dehydrating, and lowers metabolism. Drinking alcohol usually is accompanied by some sort of noshing, too. Double whammy! Have that occasional glass of wine or beer but remember, liquids count as calories.

Follow these basic, easy, common-sense habits and you will be amazed at the results. I can attest to their success and know you will be successful, as well. To your health!

Neck Pain, Painkillers and your Mercedes Car

When it comes to neck pain or any pain for that matter and you go to see your doctor he will normally spend an hour or so with you. He will give you some massage for about twenty minutes, heat packs to ease muscular tension, talk to you about your posture and the effect it has on neck pain, show you how to do some self myofacial release techniques to ease neck pain and give you a whole host of other information about how you can remove the causes of your neck pain to help you become Pain free.

Yeah right.

If you are reading this and have seen a doctor for your neck pain I will almost guarantee you that this is how your visit site:

You walk in and waited for what seemed like eternity, you finally finish waiting and get out of the ‘waiting room’ because its now your chance to see the doctor. Sure, its now 30 minutes later than your scheduled appointment but that’s what is considered normal when seeing a doctor. You have to wait. The you see the doctor, he may press around your neck somewhat for a few moments, tell you that you have lots of tension and you are given a long list of drugs to take, muscle relaxants, pain killers and anti inflammatories. You are told to see how that goes and if you are no better you will be then prescribed stronger pain killers, perhaps now steroidal ones and maybe even some new ‘nerve healing’ drugs whether you have nerve impingement or not.

If that doesn’t work, then you will probably be recommended to see an orthopaedic surgeon who will ask for an xray or, if you have good insurance or look like you can afford it, schedule an MRI to see whats going on. The problem with getting an MRI or an xray is that it can show degenerative changes and/or disc bulges but this too does not mean that your pain is coming from these structures. You could have a MRI and it shows disc bulges at C6-7(for example) and he recommends that you have surgery( with him of course) when the pain is coming from several trigger points in your sub occipital muscles- a few good trigger point sessions with a good myofacial therapist  and corrective postural advice would have been your answer instead of surgery.

In fact, 95% of people over the age of 60 have degenerative changes in their necks. Its simply wear and tear which may or may not be causing you pain-and more often than not is not causing your pain. When you look at the major cause of neck pain on any website you will see consistently that the major cause is postural-this should immediately give you a heads up to your pain. the first question I would have for you is ‘is your pain worse when you are at the computer or driving or reading?’ If the answer is yes to any of these I would immediately start looking at fixing your posture to help ease your pain.

But lets take a look at what you are doing when you take painkillers to help your pain.

If you have pain coming from poor posture(the most common cause) which is straining your ligaments, pushing your discs against nerves and causing chronic muscular pain and tension what is a pain killer doing to help this?

Nothing.

Is a Pain Killer Getting to the Cause of your problems?

Is a Pain Killer Getting to the Cause of your problems

No. in fact, its allowing you to get away with your bad habits which is making your problems worse in the long run. The same goes for those of you who suffer from lower back pain. if your lower back pain is caused from sitting badly in your  chair at the computer and/or lifting badly then taking a pain killer is just allowing you to mask the bad habits and is setting you up for a big injury.

Pain is your warning system that something is wrong!

And what are you doing to your body’s natural warning system that is there to help you?

Deadening it.

I don’t know about you but I think this is just a little bit STUPID!!!!

Think About this for a Moment:

You are driving along in your nice Mercedes car and your oil light comes on whilst you are driving. You know that the oil light coming on is your cars way of telling you that the engine has a problem-it’s the cars warning system so that you don’t do major damage to your engine which will cost you thousands more if you don’t do something about it. So what do you do?

 Of course you go to a mechanic to see what is wrong. However, your mechanic says he will tape some masking tape over the oil light on the dash board so that you can no longer see the light anymore. He tells you to come back in two weeks if you still have a problem.

Now, you may not know much about mechanics and cars but you do know that putting masking tape over the oil light so that you can no longer see the light has not fixed the problem and that you will still have this problem in two weeks. You also know that if it doesn’t get fixed properly( by fixing the cause) you will do some major damage to your engine. This will then cost you thousands!

Hmmm..

Anyone See a Pattern Emerging Here?

But wait I hear you cry, my car is worth thousands of dollars and I wouldn’t put it at risk. It cost me a lot of money I hear you say and you wouldn’t be that stupid I hear you tell me. Hmm..ever wondered just how much you have spent on your body over the years? Food, clothing, education, health-shall I go on?

Anyone See a Pattern Emerging Here

Your body is the most sophisticated, most expensive thing you own. And you are happy to just tape over your body’s oil light time and time again by taking pain killers and hoping that the pain will go away. There is a much better way.

Remove the causes of your pain. Fix the problem rather than masking the symptoms. For this you need to know what is causing your pain first and foremost rather than guessing and hoping right? Right. For more on this read these articles to become more aware of how to fix your own pain.

Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement Review

A similarity Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement shares with many other supplements is its foul taste, something VPX isn’t about to apologize anytime soon, nor is there need to because it still gets the job done. Bear in mind Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement does not cater to every consumer type and only meant for those of steel resolve.

Fat Burning Supplement

Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement is more geared towards people of active lifestyles, such as athletes and others of the like, who wish to keep their bodies in pristine shape year round. Its purpose is more that of a weight maintainer and allowing for the desired single digit body fat of the elite achievers. Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement does share a likeness with Meltdown in regards to ingredients used fat dissolving characteristics, clicking here though it does take an edge over it by adding a few new fat burning compounds.

I came across this fat burning supplement a few months after giving birth to my daughter and since then I have been telling everyone about the Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement. In less than a week of using the product I found that I lost three pounds and in less than a month I lost a total of twelve pounds without having to starve myself during the process of taking this supplement.

Not only did I just lose weight I ended up encountering the other science proven benefits that came with using this fat burning supplement such as; clearer mental focus ability and a boost of energy that was sure to keep any single mom up on her feet all day to get things done.

The best way to take this product would be to measure out 3ml after you have taken the time to shake the product up. Once you have measured out the Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement it is then time to swallow the product and suck up to the taste, since it has a horrible taste.

Liquid Clenbutrx

The reason why so many people avoid this product would be the taste, but it is very effective and will always get the job done. All you have to do is take the product twice a day to get the best results and never take more than 5.5 ml for any reason. Also the Liquid Clenbutrx Hardcore Fat Burning Supplement has been proven to help speed up metabolism when taken once daily and many studies have proven it can help keep fat off the body.

Natural Sleep Aids for New Parents

It’s hard getting enough sleep as a new parent. All “been there done that parents” probably have at least one horror story of walking around in a sleep-fogged daze, barely aware of their surrounding, desperately in need of sleep. So how can you ensure you will get the best sleep possible, find more about this, even with an “eating-round-the-clock” newborn in the house? Read on for ten sleep-inducing tricks.

1. Relaxation techniques. The stress of being a new parent can keep you awake, even if your baby is sleeping soundly. Learn to incorporate a bedtime routine into your busy new schedule, both for your and your baby’s sake. Wind down with some quiet reading with your baby, a warm (not hot) bath, even meditation, can all help you let go of the day’s stresses and settle into a restful night’s sleep.

2. Yoga. According to the website yoga.org, yoga stimulates the central nervous system, which then increases blood flow to the sleep centers of the brain. Yoga then can help you fall asleep faster, sleep better, and actually need less sleep to get through your day – the perfect combination for busy new moms and dads. (http://yoga.org.nz/benefits/physiological_benefits/yoga_insomnia.htm).

Yoga

3. Progressive muscle relaxation. This is actually a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Progressive muscle relaxation teaches your body how to relax before bedtime. Gradually tense, hold, then release your muscles, starting at the toes and working your way up. Breathe deeply while doing so and really feel every little movement of your muscles. I like to personalize it by imagining that I am literally breathing into my muscles, and when I exhale, I relax them, letting the air “leave” the muscles. By the time you reach your head, you should feel relaxed and ready for sleep.

4. Sunshine and exercise. It sounds simplistic, but getting exercise will help get your body going and give you more energy throughout the day, leaving you pleasantly tired at the end of the day. A good cardio or strength training routine will also help you reduce stress. Strive for 30 minutes a day, most days of the week. Adding sunshine to the equation (jogging outside on a nice summer morning, for example) helps keep your body clock in sync, especially helpful if you have a night owl baby.

5. Reduce caffeine and sugar intake. A new parent may rely on a steady diet of Red Bull or other caffeinate sugary beverage or candy bar, but that’s a mistake. The excess caffeine can remain in your body for some hours after consumption, leaving you tossing and turning rather than sleeping. Worse, if you’re breastfeeding, that caffeine can pass through your milk leaving you with a wide-awake baby as well. Limit caffeine or eliminate it altogether for better sleep.

6. Aromatherapy. Essential oils have been used for centuries for healing purposes, and they work. Use lavender, marjoram, or even rose before bed – add a few drops to sunflower oil for a massage, or put a few drops in your warm bath (see point 1). The soft scents will relax you and put you in a calmer state of mind before sleeping. For an added benefit, use the sunflower oil (with no essential oils) to give your baby a massage. Check out this video for details:

http://video.about.com/babyparenting/How-to-Massage-a-Baby.htm.

7. Acupuncture. Acupuncture works much like yoga, in that it calms the central nervous system. The acupuncturist is going to treat your entire person, rather than just the symptoms, leaving you in better health, both physically and mentally, than before. See http://www.acupunctureinsomnia.com/ for more details.

8. Chamomile tea. Chamomile has long been recognized as a sleep aid and relaxing drink. It contains high levels of tryptophan and can promote sleepiness. Drink it as a tea, or take it in capsule form. It’s generally recognized as safe across the board, although people with asthma and pregnant women should discuss the use of chamomile with their doctor first.

9. Valerian. Valerian may smell bad, but it has been shown to have a sleep-inducing effect in animal studies (studies on people are inconclusive, but most anecdotal evidence says it works). If you use any prescription medications, alcohol, or are pregnant or nursing, talk to your doctor prior to using valerian.

10. Melatonin. Melatonin is made by the body in response to tryptophan, but it is also available in supplement form. It is generally recognized as safe, but like any other supplement, should be taken with caution if you have a pre-existing health condition, are on prescription meds, or are pregnant or nursing – talk to your doctor prior to take melatonin to determine if it’s right for you.

Using one or more of these natural sleep-inducing techniques should ultimately lead to you and your baby getting a better night’s sleep. If possible, sleep share to maximize the benefits – cosleeping can be done safely under certain stringent guidelines (using a cosleeper is safest and most comfortable for most parents). If at all possible, take turns with your spouse, partner, or other helper with various tasks. Even if you are nursing, your partner can still take on certain tasks during the day or night (diaper changes or baths, for example), to take some of the burden off you. And remember, this too shall pass. Your baby will soon be a child, and then a teen, and then your sleepless nights will have a whole new cause.

Lose Weight with a Natural Snack That’s More Powerful Than Diet Pills

There is a natural snack that can help you lose weight, cut your hunger, is very cheap and more powerful than diet pills! I guess you can say it is a miracle of nature. So what could it possibly be you say? As unbelievable as it may seem it is simply apples. Stay with me because it may seem hard to believe that an apple can help that much but it really can. I will explain why and how.

The trick is to eat an apple 15 minutes before every meal. Just doing that is five times more effective than taking a diet pill. An apple “appetizer” will make you eat 200 fewer calories per meal. Compare this to the diet pill Alli that only blocks 34 calories per sitting. The money savings is great also, three apples a day will run you about $1.00. That is quite a bargain compared to the average $4.00 a day you could spend on some prescription appetite suppressants. And when you opt for the apples you can also forget the scary pill side effects like gastric distress, insomnia, and increased heart rate. Apples provide only health benefits, including better digestion, lower cholesterol and cancer protection.

Lose Weight with Natural Snack

So why does this work? It is not just because eating an apple before a meal takes away some of your hunger, there is more to it than that. Three apples will boost your fiber intake by about 15 grams. That is a great advantage because fiber expands in the body, enhancing your feeling of fullness and reducing the likelihood that you’ll over eat other higher calorie foods. Also apples contain pectin, a particularly powerful form of fiber used as a thickener in jams and sauces. Pectin helps keep food in your system longer and is proven to eliminate the urge to eat for up to four hours. Perhaps more important pectin also steadies blood sugar levels, reducing the release of fattening blood sugar hormones. There is no doubting pectins slimming effect on blood sugar and an added bonus is that pectin also helps destroy colon cancer cells.

So how much weight can apple eaters lose? A study took two groups of people who were dieting and had one group use the apple appetizer method. The group who had apples lost an average of 19 pounds of body fat in six weeks. The group that did not averaged only a 3 pound loss. That is an amazing difference.

So if you are ready to start on the apple appetizer plan I suggest that you buy a couple different types of apples so you can switch up if you like. For example if your in the mood for sweet, then gala, golden delicious, or red delicious are the way to go. Change it up to tart with a granny smith, idared, or McIntosh. There are lots of other types you can add, check more details here.

So the bottom line is that three apples a day can keep the fat pants away! If you have always associated dieting with hunger then this is a whole new approach and you may find it to be what finally works for you. Plus you are loading yourself up with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It is just a great solution all around!