Moving on Up! :: Food and Nutrition :: Vitamins

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Moving on Up!
by author Lucretia Schanfarber

Just about everyone goes through an occasional bout of feeling down. These moody blues can have a variety of physical and emotional triggers. Stress and anxiety, hormonal and metabolic imbalances, drugs and alcohol, nutritional deficiencies, insomnia, lack of exercise, and chronic poor health all affect our moods.

Improving your diet and alleviating possible food allergens is a good nutritional beginning to uplift your moods. Lifting weights will also lift your mood, and a brisk 15-minute walk or two every day can help tame the blues.

Along with a better diet and daily exercise, adding a few tried and true mood boosters to your nutritional and herbal supplement program often makes a noticeable difference in a short period of time.

Here are eight scientifically researched natural remedies that will help you lighten up.

Multis Brighten Your Day

Dozens of studies conclude that taking a daily multiple vitamin and mineral makes moods better, whatever your age.

Canadian medical researchers from the University of Calgary departments of Pediatrics and Community Health Sciences found that boys and girls (ranging in age from eight to 15 years) with mood swings, depression, and aggressive behaviours showed a marked improvement after eight weeks of taking a multiple vitamin and mineral supplement.

The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (December, 2001) reported “effective mood stabilization with a chelated mineral and vitamin supplement” in medicated patients aged 19 to 46 years. “In some cases,” reported researchers, “the supplement replaced psychotropic medications and the patients remained well.”

Be Happy with B Vitamins

While multis contain varying amounts of the B vitamins, additional vitamin B complex supplementation may offer a more rapid and noticeable mood elevating effect. Studies have determined that B-vitamin supplementation enhances feelings of well-being. All of the Bs have beneficial effects in stabilizing energy and moods and supporting the health of the nervous system, but B₁, B₃, B₆, B₁₂, folic acid, and pantothenic acid have been shown to be especially helpful when battling a case of the blues.

Fishing for Good Feelings

Bad moods can range from mild, occasional bouts to severe debilitating episodes. Numerous studies have shown omega-3 fatty acids to be an effective nutritional treatment for even severe mood disorders.

An article published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (June, 2005) reports that bipolar patients taking eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) from omega-3 fish oils experienced a 50-percent reduction in depressive symptoms. The researchers suggested that EPA and fish oils offer protection due to their ability to modulate neurotransmitter metabolism and cell signaling. The lead researcher was especially happy with the possibility of a safe, natural antidepressant with no dangerous side effects.

In the journal Current Psychiatry Reports, Stanford University School of Medicine depression researcher Dr. Regina Casper reported that “placebo-controlled studies in medicated patients suggest that add-on treatment with omega-3 fatty acids, particularly EPA, may improve symptoms of major depressive disorder.”

Moody Women Need Chaste Berry

Women in the throes of menopause or premenstrual syndrome (PMS) have a higher risk of moodiness, irritability, and depression due to their hormonal fluctuations. The herb chaste berry (Vitex agnus castus) can make a world of difference, according to several studies.

The British Medical Journal (January, 2001) published the results of a randomized, placebo-controlled study on chaste berry conducted with women with PMS at the Institute for Health Care and Science in Huttenberg, Germany. Over the course of three menstrual cycles, the study found great improvement in women's self-assessment of irritability, mood alteration, and anger.

Reports in the journal Complementary Therapies in Nursing and Midwifery (August, 2003) concluded that older women going through menopause are also benefiting from the therapeutic, mood modifying effects of chaste berry.

Selenium Suits Men

Dr. James Penland, a research psychologist, has found that minerals modify moods. One of the studies he conducted found that selenium supplementation lifts the spirits of men. During a 15-week study, the men taking selenium reported that they felt significantly more clearheaded and elated toward the end of the study than they did at the beginning, before taking selenium supplements.

5-HTP, The Happy Pill?

The full name of this supplement is 5-hydroxytryptophan or 5-hydroxy-l-tryptophan, and it converts to the natural chemical serotonin in the brain. This feel-good chemical affects our moods, behaviour, appetite, and sleep. Adequate levels of serotonin contribute to feelings of well-being, calm, and satisfaction. An article in the Alternative Medicine Review (August, 1998) reported 5-HTP is well absorbed from an oral dose, and easily crosses the blood-brain barrier.

SAMe Makes Moods Better

S-adenosyl-L-methionine, SAMe for short, is an essential ingredient in the making of our own biochemical neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, and phosphotidylserine) that control our feelings of calm and happiness. Adequate levels of SAMe enable our bodies to more readily make these mood-elevating neurotransmitters with few to no side effects.

Herbal Uplifters

Peppermint oil and other essential oils made from cypress and lavender have been shown to have a positive effect on moods. Inhaling these uplifting natural oils appears to decrease lethargy related to low moods and mild depression.

We all have moods. They’re a part of everyday life. Eating whole foods, exercising regularly, maintaining a mindful practice, and supplementing with natural mood lifters as needed is the best recipe for making every day a good one.

Lucretia Schanfarber is a writer who lives simply and gardens organically in BC.

Source: alive #288, October 2006

Home Spas Beat February Blahs
February is the perfect spa month. It's the time of the year when you need a pick-me-up-right in the middle of winter with barely a spring bulb in sight. Mark Spa Night on your calendar and circle the special date in red. First choose the location-a bathroom with a lock on the door is best.

Selenium
Imagine an antioxidant with the power to fight aging, halt heart disease, cut cancer rates, boost immunity, and speed healing. That's selenium, one of the most important disease-fighting nutrient.

Aromatherapy For Children
Childhood is a time of bumps, bruises, scraped knees and other afflictions. Applied externally, aromatherapy can help minimize many of these common ailments.

Magnificent Myrrh
Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) essential oil, steam-distilled from the crude resin of myrrh, is a dark reddish-brown with a dry, acrid scent reminiscent of its desert origins. Due to its ability to stimulate menstruation, myrrh should be avoided during pregnancy. Myrrh oil finds one of its largest uses in skin care..

Lovely Lemon Verbena
Lemon verbena (aloysia triphylla) is a positive, uplifting oil--a splash of sunshine for the rainy skies of November. It has a light, lemony-fresh scent with herbaceous undertone.

Soothing Christmas Scents
Do you remember when Christmas holidays were actually holy days and a time for relaxing and visiting with friends and family? Probably not. For most of us, Christmas means balancing work and family schedules while trying to do extra baking, gift shopping, house decorating and entertaining.

Catch of the Day Keeps Heart Failure Away
When women think of their health, they worry about breast cancer and osteoporosis--not heart disease. Heart disease is an issue for their grandfathers, fathers and husbands.

Cleaning Your Mind, Body and Soul
The way to health is to have an aromatic bath and scented massage every da.

Essential Oils
An Aromatic Perspective We have just completed a century marked by specializations in almost every field and profession.

Aromatherapy An Essential Experience
What finer treasure is there than one that provides soothing comfort during this hectic holiday season? Aromatherapy offers some ideal solutions.

Anti-Cancer Antioxidants
Imagine the cells in your body turning brown just like an apple does when exposed to the oxygen in the air.

You've Got the Power
For most of us, the obstacles that we struggle to overcome in our lives are very private. We often don't even let our hardships register on our faces as we go about our daily work routines. Most likely they don't get splashed across newspaper headlines or television screens, either.

Laughter: A Priceless Prescription
When Norman Cousins was editor of the Saturday Review, he became seriously ill with a brain tumou.

Celebrate Life
"Life is a great adventure, or it is nothing."--Helen Keller "One of the wonderful things about being alive is that it is never too late.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...
Can you stand in front of the mirror and really look at yourself? What about with no clothes on? Do you like and accept what you see? Or do you wince and remind yourself t.

Spice Up Winter Festivities
Winter holidays can be fun and relaxing-getting together with friends and family to eat, drink, and make merry. Aromatic botanicals are traditionally a significant part of winter celebrations, from aromatic mulled wine to spicy gingerbread cookies.

Are You Overdue For A Brain Lube?
The consumption of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids-the beneficial fat found in fish and fish oil-can reduce the symptoms of, and even prevent, a variety of psychiatric illnesses including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, severa.

Soothe Inflammation
Inflammation is associated with a wide range of chronic and acute diseases.

Practical Prevention Plan
Adding a fish oil supplement to your daily routine provides extra insurance that you are getting sufficient levels of important oils.

Mind Over Cancer
Examining the biology of beliefNot a day goes by thatthe word "cancer" doesn't scare thousands of Canadians. Like a dreaded scourge, it hovers over us, presumably just waiting to claim its next victim.

Reel in Some Fish Oil
Although best known for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease and arthritis, one of the hottest areas of omega-3 fatty acid research is related to brain health and behaviour.

Developing Your Personal Nutrient Plan
Each of us would do well to become more educated about our body and then develop a personalized vitamin-mineral program to suit.

Food Allergies: The EFA Connection
Healthy fats help give your body the natural defence mechanism it need.

The Power Within Illness
The culture we live in most often views illness as a "bad thing. This is no more than an opinion-an opinion that, unfortunately, often leads to a self-fulfilling outcome.

Pessimist or Optimist-Live Long Enough to Find Out
Is your glass half empty or half full? Research suggests that if you are an optimist and judge the glass half full, then you are more likely to live a longer, happier, and more satisfying life.

Multivitamins and Minerals
Multivitamins and minerals are basic components of a good nutritional program. Dietary surveys have consistently shown that we simply do not get enough of the basic elements in our diet despite having an overabundance of nutrient-rich foods available to us.

Joy and Happiness: The Same or Very Different Emotions?
Happiness, according to the Oxford English dictionary, is based on luck or good fortune. Joy on the other hand, is described as a vivid emotion of pleasure. Thus, happiness depends on circumstance; joy, on our emotional well-being.

Health Really Is a Laughing Matter
No matter what you're planning for the year ahead, if health is a priority, then laughing should be one as well. A good guffaw, or even a goofy giggle, is not only your best medicine, but a free, easy, and powerful way to prevent disease, relieve stress, and increase emotional health.

Head Colds
A friend of mine told me recently that her boyfriend had come down with a col.

The Importance of Fats for a Healthy Heart
Recent landmark studies have highlighted the important way in which long-chain omega-3 fatty acids from fish oils protect against cell membrane dysfunction and disease.

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP)
Depression, fibromyalgia, insomnia, obesity, panic disorder, and migraine headaches are conditions that have been shown to respond favourably to 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) use.

Stories We Live By
For many people, the word "trauma" triggers images of terrible events afflicting the innocent: abuse, the death of loved ones, war, or natural disasters. The consequences of trauma on emotional health are well known and include mild to severe depression, anxiety, and panic attacks to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Spring Into Your Autumn Years
People with a positive attitude toward aging can adjust very well when individual circumstances change. Their positive outlook allows them to adapt to the inevitable physical and biochemical changes of the body that are associated with the natural processes of aging. With a healthy outlook on the golden years, even unpredictable setbacks and disabilities can be managed successfully.

The Healing Truth
As many people who live with cancer know, the discovery of the disease marks the beginning of a new chapter in life. Researchers and healers continue to discover the role attitudes and emotions play in the healing process.

Laugh and Smile Your Way to Health
Want a totally free, simple way to boost your spirits and your health with no prescription needed? Then you want to laugh and smile as much as possibl.

Beat the Blues
Higher fish consumption is associated with a decreased risk of depression, postpartum depression, and suicidal thought.

Selenium
Adding this nutritional supplement to a normal diet could prevent cancer, heart disease, and strokes. Selenium is an essential trace element for health.

Finding Joy
I'll never forget the day I discovered the sheer joy that is found within even the saddest of times. It was in Mumbai, India, nearly forty years ago. My father's business had been completely decimated. We'd been living day to day, not knowing how we'd get our next meal..

Omega-3s
Most North Americans are familiar with the term "winter blues and some are affected by the decreased daylight hours of winter. This condition is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

An Attitude of Gratitude
My favourite holiday is Thanksgiving. I love the fall, the food, and the friends and family that are all associated with Thanksgiving. Every year at our Thanksgiving table we share with each other the things we are most thankful for.

Natural Fragrances
Imagine anointing yourself every day with a fragrance you created, one without chemicals, one designed not only to perfume your body, but also to stimulate creativity, ease your headaches, or help you through grief.

Mood Boosters
Some people are almost always in a good mood. They're happy, even-tempered, and always see the bright side of situations. They don't take themselves too seriously and they love to laugh. Keeping on the sunny side of life seems to come naturally..

Cancer Diagnosis
A number of years ago one of the most popular songs on the radio instructed us to "don't worry, be happy. It was a nice sentiment-but we understand that life is not that simple. I fear that in writing this month's column on emotional health and breast cancer that it may sound like "don't worry, be happy. I assure you it isn't..

The Science of Mood Foods
Why is it that the majority of diets seem to go down in a hail of cookies and ice cream? The answer usually lies in our inherited biochemistry. Back in the good old days (a few thousand years ago), food was not as plentiful as it is today.

The ABCs of Hypothyroidism
Thyroid hormones affect every cell in the body. In hypothyroidism, the amount of hormone secreted by the thyroid gland does not meet the body's demands.

Is Your Multi Pure?
Most multivitamins contain numerous artificial excipients: inert substances such as gum arabic, syrup, lanolin, or starch that are used to facilitate the manufacture of a pill.

Nine Radiant Months
Whether it's your first child or your tenth, the worries of pregnancy can definitely affect your stress level. To assure your baby's well-being - and your own - it's important to take care of yourself to reduce stress. Stress affects the body negatively by building up toxins, lowering energy levels, and weakening the immune system..

Three Steps to Happiness
Happiness is our natural state of being. It is who we are. Happiness is obvious in little childre.

In Pursuit of True Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a potent and effective branch of natural medicine that is barely recognized in North America. In Europe, medical doctors prescribe pure oils for a wide variety of medical conditions.

New Roots Herbal
Peter Wilkes, founder and president of New Roots Herbal, is no newcomer to the natural health industry. In 1977, Wilkes founded Community Natural Foods; two years later, he launched a second company, Christmas Natural Foods, in Richmond, British Columbia..

Love and Health are a Perfect Match
Through self-love we may come to know and accept ourselves in a healthier way. Many women's magazines suggest a warm bubble bath once a week equals self-love. While this perception may leave us a bit cleaner, it does not, in itself, translate to greater health.

Aromatic Aphrodisiacs
Spice up your love life this Valentine's Day by evoking the spirit of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Lov.

Aromatherapy Detox With Essential Oils
Detoxification is a natural and constant bodily process. We are continually eliminating excess toxins through our digestive, urinary, integumentary (skin), circulatory, respiratory, and lymphatic systems.

Your Detox-Product Shopping List
From the car fumes we breathe to the pesticide residues on our foods, toxic contaminants are, sadly, a daily reality. Your local health food store is your best source of the wide range of natural foods, herbs, and supplements needed to support natural detoxification.

Smell Comfort
Undergoing treatment for cancer can be extremely stressful, as well as taxing on the immune syste.

Forever Young
All of us want to have longer and healthier lives, and while some of us are dealt a better hand than others in life's genetic lottery, there are many ways we can maximize the potential we are born with.

Pure Aroma
Essential oils aren't always essentially what is on the label. Essential oils can be tampered with anywhere along the distribution chain, from the farmer's field to the company selling the oils.

Locus of Control
We consider many of life's experiences as good, bad, or somewhere in between. We credit our accomplishments in life to luck or personal effort or, again, somewhere in between.

Swallowing Emotions
From the mind/body perspective, physical illnesses may be expressions of basic psychological wounds, developing out of the emotional defences we construct to avoid feeling pain.

Laughing Matters
According to Dr. Billy Strean, professor of physical education at the University of Alberta and certified laughter coach, "When you laugh, your brain chemistry changes and everything starts to work the way it's supposed to.

Scented Serenity
Childbirth is an exciting time in a woman's life and one of her most natural and primal experiences. It can also be stressful and exhaustin.

Nature's Nightcap
Remember when you were a child and your parents told you to count sheep to help you fall asleep? Well, if only that worked now! Unfortunately, the older we get the more affected we are by our stressful lifestyles and this can wreak havoc on our health..

Saying No to Negativity
Recently, my friend Jim started complaining again about his boss and his job. "If you tried to have a positive attitude for a change, I suggested, "you'd be happier and feel better about life. "Oh, that's a bunch of bull, Jim replied..

Boost Your Brain Power
Memory loss can happen to anyone. Children with attention deficit disorder, parents under stress, students cramming for exams, and aging seniors all experience a degree of forgetfulness and lack of concentration.

Top 10 Supplements
In June 2002 the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article that concluded nutritional deficiencies are an important cause of chronic disease.

Aromatherapy Apothecary
Therapeutic essential oils have a well-deserved place in your first aid kit or home apothecary. They are powerful botanical medicines that can fight fungi, bacteria, viruses, and inflammation. They can also help to manage stress and promote relaxation..

Multiple Choices
For once, the health experts agree. Medical doctors, naturopathic doctors, nutritionists, and scientists are all dispensing the same advice: "Take a daily multiple vitamin and mineral to fill in the nutritional gaps in your diet.

Community Connection
Community" was a concept that most people took for granted a few generations.

Essential Oils
Since ancient times, people have used the quintessence of plants to optimize their health, and they have done so with the help of essential oils, which are concentrated aromatic liquids extracted from various species of plants, flowers, leaves, grasses, fruits, roots, and trees.

Sunshine For the Mind
Maybe it's one of those cloudy grey days. Or maybe it's just hard to get motivated for the same old routine. Perhaps you're feeling trapped in your job or a relationship that's seen better days.

Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease Without Prescriptions
Cholesterol tests have been the standard for predicting heart disease for many years. However, a new risk factor - high levels of homocysteine - have gained increasing interest and research in recent years.

Omega-3 Fats
Although the trend over the last 20 years has been toward a more "fat-free diet, we now understand that the body needs essential fatty acids to control a large number of cellular processes.

What Do I Do With All These Feelings?
With Christmas having come and gone, many of us may be suffering from a post-holiday hangover-not just from the drinking, but from the spending, the eating, the partying and the dealings with family, too. So what exactly do we do to not get depressed and discouraged?The key lies in the ability to process our emotions..

Hear the Hemp Oil Buzz
My friends often ask me why I'm high on hemp. I respond by explaining the many nutritional merits of hemp foods. After suffering through their witty jokes about its distant cousin, marijuana, I pour emerald green hemp seed oil on their salad. One taste and they're hooked.

Eucalyptus From Head to Toe
Green eucalyptus leaves are sweet, with a fresh, woody aroma. The genus name "eucalyptus" is derived from "eu," meaning well and "kalyptos," meaning cover. Aromatherapists and herbalists may interpret the name to mean "that which covers well a variety of common conditions."

Sail Through Menopause With a Little B and E

All Aglow
From sunburn to psoriasis, acne to eczema, inflammation is often the common thread in most skin conditions. As nutritional medicine advances, it is becoming increasingly clear that a diet that includes omega-3 fatty acids from fish can influence inflammation and promote healthy skin.

Laugh Your Way to Better Health
We've all heard the bromide, "Laughter is the best medicine," but are we getting a regular dose? Besides our positive emotions and the discharge of endorphins, natural pain-killers released by the body when we laugh, there are many physical benefits to be gained by a laughter.

De-Stressing Our Children This Holiday Season
When we think of the holiday season, weconjure up images of beautifully wrappedpresents, out-of-town relatives, and delicious food. Yet, even though the holidayseason can be filled with joy and abundance, this time of year can also bequite stressful for adults and children.

Treating SAD
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) seriously affects thousands of Canadians during our long, dark, cold winters. The lack of sunlight can cause symptoms like fatigue, oversleeping, sadness, depression, irritation, decreased sex drive, and loss of pleasure and interest in life.

The Power of Love
It's not just an old-fashioned love song. Relationships have the power to nurture our wellness more than any other factor. The added benefit, of course, is that we can literally improve the health of all those involved-including ourselves. Tell the special people in your life that you appreciate them.

Omega-3s for Good Health
A daily balance of omega-3 essential fats is necessary for good health. Thanks to the news media and health advisors, fat-consciousness has become a part of daily life. In contrast to popular opinion that all fat is bad, there is such a thing as good fat.

Heartfelt Shopping
We've all heard the morbid statistics telling us heart attacks and strokes are the top killers of Canadian men and women. However, heart disease is usually preventable. Rarely do the conditions and symptoms leading to heart disease require more than a dedicated change of habits.

Essential Oils for Travel
I can't go anywhere without essential oils! Even driving to work, 40 km down the South Klondike and Alaska Highway to Whitehorse, I have essential oils going in my handy plug-in car diffuser.

Profile of Dr. Andrew Weil
Andrew Weil is definitely changing the face of medicine. His familiar, white-bearded face has beamed at us from the cover of TIME magazine twice in the last nine years, most recently last October when his new book, Healthy Aging (Knopf, 2005) hit the stands.

Immunity Gets Personal
In The Immune Power Personality (Dutton,1995), Henry Dreher outlined how character traits can build resistance to disease. Since then a range of experts have supported Dreher's conclusions. What are some of these traits and how can we foster them?

Soaking Up the Relaxation
Long-term emotional or environmental stresses can be hard on the body, mind, and emotions. Quality essential oils have powerful yet subtle effects on emotions and can help relieve stress and anxiety when used in baths, massages, or in an aromatherapy diffuser.

Healing with The Mind
In the 17th century the philosopher and scientist Descartes ("I think, therefore I am) proposed the separation of the mind from the body.

Be Healthy With Bs
What's a B-complex? Well, it's not a condominium for honey bees-although that would make one particular honey-loving bear very happy. A B-complex is a supplement containing a combination of B vitamins. Luckily, discovering the healthy benefits of these Bs is not complex, and understanding them offers a sweet reward.

Boys will be Boys?
We all know that the average life expectancy of your garden-variety man is about five years less than the female. By being a little more proactive about your health and politely reminding your inner bad boy to grow up, you might be well on your way to outliving us ladies!

Essential Oils
Essential oils are very concentrated and powerful plant extracts that are 40- to 100-percent stronger than herbs. For example, 10,000 pounds of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) yields one pound of pure essential oil.

What's your expiry date?
To know the date of your death well in advance would be a rare gift. Or would it?

We're Pregnant! Now What?
"How do I ensure a healthy pregnancy? You can have a healthy pregnancy by eating a healthy, well-balanced diet augmented with the right supplements for baby and maternal health, making sure exercise is part of your weekly routine, and maintaining a healthy weight.

Back to Basics
Building your strongest nutritional foundation begins with two basic steps: eating a balanced nutritious diet and taking a high-quality daily multiple vitamin and mineral supplement. This back-to-basics strategy has proven effective for young and old alike.

Seven Tips for Deriving Energy from Your Relationships
We all want to be physically healthy, but if our emotional life is unbalanced, efforts to reach our full health potential may be thwarted. Following these simple tips and surrounding yourself with positive relationships will re-energize you and pave the way to achieving your full health potential.

Essential Oils for Children
With the lazy days of summer coming to an end, children are returning to their busy routines of school, friends, and extra curricular activities. Back at school, children are confined to classrooms full of other kids, which can lead to stress and susceptibility to colds and flu.

The Zen of Blacktop
How many times have we read articles extolling the soul-soothing attributes of nature? Many of us have come to believe we can only reach inner peace by leaving the city life behind. The sanctimonious gurus saying we can recharge the soul only through nature's retreats can be put to rest. Those living within the vortex of the city can find peace, too.

Healthy Fats for Healthy Children
Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are required for good health by everyone, and they are especially important during infancy and childhood. This is because the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and, to some extent, the omega-6 arachidonic acid (AA) are critical for nervous system, brain, and retinal development.

Happiness Equals Success
Does success bring us happiness or is it the other way around? In this chicken or egg debate, we often hear that success hatches happiness. The research revealed that happy people are more successful in marriage and work and enjoy better mental and physical health.

Food and Mood
The relationship between food and mood is mediated by both psychological and physiological factors. It is clear that food can influence mood while mood can influence food choices. It is a complex relationship and based on taste, experience, expectations, culture, stressors, and nutritional status.

The Value of Volunteering
When you ask people why they volunteer, they usually tell you that they feel enriched by their activities and that it just feels good to do good. A 1991 report from Volunteer Ontario confirms that volunteer work lowers blood pressure, strengthens the immune system, and enhances self-esteem.

Beauty-Inside and Out
BeautyThere are healthy strategies that keep you feeling good, and the natural outcome of feeling good is looking good-no matter what your age. Eating well, exercising, and taking the right supplements help promote a healthy body-and a healthy look. Why not be beautiful inside and out?

Essential Oils
There are few better agents to reduce the spread of viral and bacterial illness during the cold and flu season than essential oils. A cabinet of wisely chosen, high quality essential oils can provide an effective natural pharmacy.

Why Act Your Age When You're Young at Heart?
The Red Hat Societ is a social group whose main responsibility is to have fun. The group's mission is to gain higher visibility for women aged 50 and older and to reshape the way they are viewed by today's culture.

Laugh and Play-Every Day
Take steps to actively incorporate play into your daily or weekly activities. Start small and work up to something bigger. It will enhance the quality of your life and the lives of those close to you. Plus, you'll be more fun to be around.

Scent-Sational Christmas Gifts
Giving aromatically can be as close as your local natural health store. Many of the ingredients to make your own all-natural gifts can be found in the bulk herb, spice, and cosmetic aisles. Look for any or all of these essential oils, from the tangy scent of orange to the fresh scent of pine.

Did You Hear the One About...?
Just as many of us have forgotten how to laugh, scientists have begun to study the benefits of laughter. Dr. Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in California has researched laughter extensively and has shown that not only is the immune system boosted, but natural killer cells-which fight certain types of cancer-are increased when we laugh.

Create a Brighter Tomorrow
A positive vision of your future will keep you going and help you to learn, grow, and persevere. It will help you to boost your immunity to short-term failure and find the silver lining in temporary setbacks.

Stimulate Better Health
Peppermint oil is a mental stimulant. Rosemary oil increases energy. Citrus oils work on improving mood and uplifting your spirits, while floral oils such as geranium, orange blossom, lemon balm and camomile all help alleviate stress and minor depression. If you're feeling angry, use rose oil to help your disposition..

Legumes Lower Heart Disease Risk

Fish Oils for Heart Health

Insomniacs: Stop the Sheep!

Breakfast Energizers

Healing music

Multivitamins help beat heart attacks

Power of placebo

Sunshine: an immune booster

Massage miracles

Far-Infrared therapies resonate within you

Swiss Herbal
Swiss Herbal started out as a small home-based import business in the fifties, but has grown over the years to become the provider of Canada's largest selection of natural health remedies.

Nu-Life
When the low-carb diet craze exploded, companies from nearly every food-related industry responded by rushing to develop low-carb products. As these companies scrambled to cash in on the dieting trend of the year, store shelves filled with low-carb cereals, low-carb ice cream, and even low-carb beer.

Can-do Attitude

Standards for Supplements

A Month of Awareness and Prevention

Stressful skin reflections

Smoking isn't pretty

Ironing out wrinkles of EFAs

Proteolytic Enzymes

Whirl Up the Hemp

Wheeling and Mealing
Volunteering can improve the state of your own health while adding to the quality of the lives of others. In fact, helping others is proven to be one of the healthiest things you can do for yourself. Meals on Wheels provides great opportunities for this kind of exchange.

That's What Friends are For

Pets in Pants

Keeping an Eye on Blood Sugar

Improve Your Memory

More Than Just Brain Food

Attract a Positive State of Mind
What did you say to yourself the last time you looked in the mirror? Did you think about how wonderful you are and how good you look? Or did you say and think something negative? What you say to yourself can have as much impact on your health as careful eating and proper exercise.

Love's labours tossed
Whee-Valentine's Day. As holidays go, it's not exactly a rip-snorter, is it? But hey, I'm all for breaking out my credit card yet again and supporting the florists and candy-makers.

Deepak Chopra
Deepak Chopra isn't exactly known for being a man of few words. The New Delhi-born, California-based health guru is notorious for giving talks that last three to four hours and for peppering his speeches with personal anecdotes and self-deprecating jokes.

Super Selenium
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Superman? No-it's super selenium! This incredible mineral is associated with a number of "super benefits ranging from cancer prevention to thyroid disease support.

Canine Wisdom
One of my best teachers, Jessie, was also one of my best friends. She was with me right up until her 98th year-dog years, that is.

The Lessons of Spring
Spring is a sensuous teacher. Every year she steps out of the darkness and cold and seductively dances around us. She embraces us with her light and warmth. She intoxicates us with her fragrance. Like a potent elixir, spring revives our hope. She breathes life into death and teaches us the lessons of renewal and rebirth.

The Science of Feeling Great
Most people think of their metabolism as affecting their ability to gain or lose weight. But our metabolism also affects mood and the way we feel. The truth of the matter is that we feel our best when we maintain the production and function of neurotransmitters-essential elements of brain metabolism.

Test your B _IQ
When we are feeling fatigued or anxious, many of us take vitamin B complex. But B vitamins are more than a pick-me-up. They are critical to a host of metabolic processes, as you will discover in the B-vitamin quiz.

Escape from the Space Invaders!
Every morning and evening, Monday to Friday, I commute-with my face stuffed into someone's armpit or an elbow jabbing my ribs. I realized very quickly that, with my personal space being compromised this way, the need for a sanctuary at home was crucial for maintaining my sanity.

The Upside of Ulcerative Colitis
Some health conditions are a little classier than others. My friend has a plastic leg called Ursula, which she's removed and chastised for not performing well in Pilates-now that's classy. My disease involves gurgly guts, painful gas, bloody toilet tissue, and diarrhea-that's not classy.

Look on the Bright Side
Recall a day when you woke up in the morning feeling positive? I bet you had a great day. Want more of that?

Celebrate Life
Oscar Wilde once said, "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. The question is, are you merely surviving from day to day, or are you grasping everything you can from life?

Scent-Sational
Want to stand out from the crowd? Want to be good to yourself and the planet? Why not create your own personal aromatherapy perfume using pure essential oils?

Living an Authentic Life
In a world where success is defined by money, and happiness is just a weight-loss plan away, many of us have lost sight of our most valuable asset: our true selves. By living authentically, however, we can reach our potential and experience true happiness.

The Power of a Positive Mindset
I'm often asked for simple tips for achieving optimal health. Here are my three top tips: 1. Make the decision to change; 2. believe in yourself; and 3. apply the necessary strategies to get you there!

Helper's High
Is it good to be good? People express their compassion in different ways. Some volunteer with people. Others volunteer with animals. Although all good works produce health benefits, including improved immunity and reduced anxiety and depression, different activities have different ripple effects.

Volunteering-If It Feels Good, Do It!
Now that January's out of the way-the bills are paid, my sanity's relatively intact, the gift wrap's finally put away-I'm ready to tackle one of my goals for the year, which is to take on some kind of volunteer work.

Time Travel
Remember the smell of summer? The scent of wildflowers on the breeze, the dew lifting off the forest floor, and the smell of rain. If you long for the easy warmth of summer instead of the cold of a Canadian winter, then invite uplifting essential oils into your life.

A Conversation with k.d. lang
k.d. lang has sung with the best-Tony Bennett, Roy Orbison, Loretta Lynn-not bad for a girl from Consort, Alberta, population 739.

Worrying Ourselves to Death
Have you ever tried counting your worries? While drafting this article I managed to squeeze in worries about my gobbled-down breakfast, my half-baked plans for the rest of the day, and what I can do to ease pain in various aching body parts-to name but a few ever-nagging worries.

Sunday Dinner
In the many years that have elapsed since moving out of my childhood home, Sunday dinner held about as much meaning as dinner any other day of the week. I ate whatever I could scrounge up, or went to a restaurant, or, for a rather debauched period, just ate chips in front of the TV until it was time to go to the nightclub again.

Building a Health Reserve
Hoping to be a healthy elder? Then stock your health bank as faithfully as your financial one. Healthy aging requires preparation. This month's Research Watch discusses what you need to know to build up your health reserves for a long and healthy life.

Acne's Oily Secret
From sunburn to psoriasis, acne to eczema, inflammation is often the common thread in unwanted skin conditions. Now, as nutritional medicine advances, it is becoming increasingly clear that dietary choices can influence inflammation in all parts of the human body, including the skin.

Imagine Your Way to Better Health
In my darker moments-when bills, work, and deadlines all conspire against me-I have a fantasy. In it, I return to a remote spot on the Mediterranean coast where gentle waves lap against a sleepy shoreline and vast, open skies arch overhead. Everything is blue, sensual, and calm.

What is Gratitude?
"Dear God, we paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothing. Television character Bart Simpson's dinner table blessing is inappropriate, but we relate to it. Like Bart, we are often ungrateful because we feel a sense of entitlement. This Thanksgiving let's put gratitude on the menu.

Sampling the Fountain of Youth
I caught the end of a stand-up comedian's routine the other night while channel surfing. He joked that plastic surgery "makes you look young in the same way that a drag queen looks like a woman. There's just something a little off...

All I Want for Christmas
When I asked my daughter about what to write for December's column, her immediate reply was "snowmen. While that's probably not the ideal basis for an entire article, it did get me thinking.

Tune into Your body's Rhythm
What images come to mind when you hear or see the word meditation? How many of those images include movement? For the average person, not many.

Volunteers for the Environment
We are so closely connected to other forms of life on our planet that survival without them is unthinkable. And although we have the power of intellect, we can never consider ourselves as superior. On the contrary, we need these species in order to survive.

Stress Less
Many Canadians suffer from stress. It’s the root cause of numerous health challenges we experience. Finding ways to reduce stress is essential to improve our health and our quality of life.

Empowering the Feminine
Although its origins are uncertain, one theory is that belly dancing was performed to strengthen women’s abdominal muscles for childbirth.