Many people get headaches and migraines confused. Migraines make you wish you had a headache, or perhaps a rabid dog gnawing on your ankle instead of the throbbing, pulsating pain that comes with the migraine territory. 75% of adult patients who experience migraines are women, but they also affect approximately the same percentage of prepubescent boys.
When you have a migraine, it’s easy to think there’s nothing you can do to treat it. They don’t simply go away after taking a painkiller like a headache does, but there are a few things you should know about migraines that can save you from experiencing them as often.
First, let’s discuss why migraines happen. When you know why a migraine is coming on and what type of environment or activities you’re doing that trigger migraines, the easier it will be to stay away from those things, or at least limit your exposure.
Migraine attacks may be triggered by:
Allergic reactions
Bright lights, loud noises and certain odors or perfumes
Physical or emotional stress
Changes in sleep patterns
Smoking or exposure to smoke
Skipping meals
Alcohol
Menstrual cycle fluctuations, birth control pills, hormone fluctuations during the menopause transition
Tension headaches
Foods containing tyramine, MSG or nitrates
Long exposure to light from computer screen, video screens and television
There are certain foods you can incorporate into your diet or increase the amount of times they show up on your plate that will help fight migraines.
Millet
Millet is one of many whole grains that are part of a healthy, migraine-free life, and it contains magnesium, which kicks migraines to the curb.
Coffee
When it comes to coffee, it’s a love/hate relationship. Caffeine can give you migraine relief and is a major ingredient in many headache medications, but when you drink it excessively, it can actually cause migraines. Moderation is key!
Flaxseed
An Anti-inflammatory diet is beneficial to preventing migraines, so flaxseeds, with their omega-3s and fiber to boot, are your new food friend.
Fish
Also packed with omega-3s, fish should be your go-to protein choice, and is much better for headache prevention than processed meats.
Spinach
Vitamin b2 is known to help in the battle against the migraine, so make like Popeye and load up on your spinach.
New York City has remained adamant when it comes to their no-smoking policies. Currently, you are not able to smoke in bars or restaurants throughout the entire state of New York, but the state is not stopping there when it comes to cracking down on big tobacco and encouraging smokers to give up the habit.
The New York City Health Department has recently developed three anti-smoking signs displaying a decaying tooth, diseased lungs and a damaged brain that depict the harmful effects smoking can have on the body. These ads will also have messages such as “smoking causes tooth decay” along with the number of a city helpline that will aid people in quitting smoking. It will also be mandated by the state that one of these ads are shown wherever cigarettes are sold and if they aren’t, New York cigarette retailers will face a $2,000 fine.
These signs are a first of their kind in the U.S., with New York being the only state to have gone so far to spread the word of the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit. But some people don’t agree with the signs and even think that they are unlawful–big tobacco companies for one.
Philip Morris USA, Lorillard Tobacco Company, and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., along with two major retail trade groups and two convenience stores have filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court against New York City.
The lawsuit was filed last Wednesday and reads, “The government may not force private parties to carry messages beyond purely uncontroversial factual statements that are designed to prevent consumer deception. … The signs … do not describe the risks of smoking in purely factual terms. Instead, the signs force tobacco manufacturers and retailers to community vivid images at the point of sale.”
While what the lawsuit states may seem like a case of semantics, it goes further, saying that federal anti-smoking rules prevent local governments from interfering with cigarette advertising, making this new mandated imagery is considered unlawful by the same people who are trying to push these images into the shops and stores of all tobacco retailers.
But the government in New York are adamant on stopping people from continuing to smoke and are doing everything they can to make New York completely tobacco-free.
Elizabeth Thomas, the spokesperson for the New York City Law Department said, “We are confident that the health code provisions being challenged will withstand legal scrutiny.”
So what do you think? Is the New York City Department of Health not only free to, but also held to a standard where they should be interfering with tobacco sales and doing everything they can to warn potential customers of the harmful effects tobacco can have on your body? Or are they looking for an ideal smoke-free New York and trying to make sure it happens at all costs–even at the hands of doing something considered unlawful?
Keep in mind that tobacco customers are warned of the harmful effects of smoking each and every single time they purchase a pack of cigarettes. Every pack of cigarettes sold in this country contains the Surgeon General’s Warning on the side of the pack with a fact about the harmful effects of cigarettes, such as, “cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide.” It seems that what New York City is doing is trying to add imagery to the warnings people receive, knowing that people react far more drastically when susceptible to imagery than just words.
When all is said and done, I think people who smoke will continue to do so until they feel they are ready to quit or come to the decision to quit on their own. As the high failure rate of people who try to quit smoking tells us, people can only truly kick the habit when it is their own decision that they came up with on their own and for the betterment of their own lives. Tobacco customers right now know that each pack of cigarettes contains a Surgeon General’s Warning, but they choose not to even acknowledge its presence.
PETA has a very long history of promoting their vegetarian and vegan lifestyle by using very bold approaches that are often outright offensive, sexist, misogynist and above all, untrue. Yet another notch in the ‘PETA lies’ bedpost is their newest Santa Clause ad which claims that cow’s milk causes impotence.
In my (most humble) opinion, PETA is merely using scare tactics (or “kicking a guy when he’s down,” in a matter of speaking) in order to get people to pay attention. Sadly, their ‘punch in the gut’ tactics have worked, which is why we’re still seeing ads from them popping up again and again, all of them skirting right on by questionable and pushing up against insulting and this ad in particular, if you took PETA’s logo off of it, it could have been an ad for how to buy Viagra online.
There is absolutely no proof to be seen that supports their accusation that cow’s milk causes impotence and because so many of their ads and promotional techniques have been brought to question by several different reputable resources over the years, there are a great number of people who see them for who they truly are. People who are vegetarian and vegan and who would support PETA, had it not been for their “shock jock” nature, have seen through them for years and by using these types of marketing techniques and creating health risks that have no factual data supporting it to put on billboards, flyers and other marketing materials, they are alienating the same people who would otherwise support them and their cause.
We are all guilty of thinking and saying stuff like this–to our family members, to our friends and even to ourselves. We are all guilty of self-criticism when we look in the mirror and notice that the skirt that fit us perfectly and hugged our hips in all the right places last season but doesn’t go past our thighs this season. We have all thought we were too fat, we have all dieted in hopes of becoming skinnier, more attractive, the “thin ideal.”
Women have more pressure than ever right now to look attractive, to dazzle with our appearance, to wear all the right fashions and to strive to look like the women who grace the covers of magazines. This is especially true of younger women and teens who obsess over this thin ideal and who will stop at nothing to attain it. These thoughts that so often enter our brains and things people tell us, whether we have gained weight and they ask if we are under stress because of it or if we lose weight and we’re told how great we look because we shed five or ten or fifteen pounds. While we’ve undoubtedly thought this was normal, it actually has a very damaging impact on women. That is why Tri Delta has launched a five-day body activism campaign, Fat Talk Free Week.
Fat Talk Free Week (October 19th-23rd) draws attention to body image issues and the damaging impact of the thin ideal on women in society. This annual public awareness effort stemmed from Tri Delta’s award-winning body image education and eating disorders prevention program, Reflections: Body Image Program.
The supermodels and people we see on the covers of magazines are thinner than 98% of women and a great percentage of these women think that they too can look just like what they see on these magazine covers and on television and in movies, but often we see, especially on magazine covers, is an airbrushed and heavily-photoshopped appearance of that person. Not even the person being put on the pedestal of ideal weight and beauty looks like that! Tri-Delta is in pursuit of the healthy ideal, which has absolutely no bearing on our weight or size. The healthy ideal is all about our physical health, mental health and our quality of life and that is what truly matters. Tri Delta’s initiative this past week has been about eliminating fat talk and they believe that by eliminating fat talk, we can begin to change the way women think about their bodies and accept their bodies just the way they are because if you’re healthy, then why does anything else matter? Why do we care so much about the size that sits on the tags of our clothing or how other women and men may look at us and what they may think if they see us in a swimsuit or a form-fitting top or a short skirt.
51% of 9 and 10 year old girls feel better about themselves if they are on a diet.
Research has shown that very young girls, ages 5-7 who are exposed to Barbie, the best-selling fashion doll in the world who has unattainable and unhealthy body proportions and who if was a real person, would be too thin to menstruate, have lower body esteem and want a thinner body than they have.
As many as 10 million females are suffering from anorexia or bulimia. That’s more than are suffering from breast cancer.
Because it is the last day of Fat Talk Free Week, do something good for yourself today. Choose one friend or family member and discuss one thing you each like about yourself. Or start a journal of all the good things your body allows you to do. Learn how to take a compliment! The next time someone gives you a compliment, rather than objecting and saying something like “No, I’m so fat,” practice taking a deep breath and saying “Thank you.”
While I am normally all over politics and current events, I have been staying away from my usual news channels and publications because of the big debate that has taken over the news outlets as of late–health care reform. As you can tell from the opinion pieces that have appeared in our politics category, there is always an opinion to be had when it comes to legislation that has the power to change the lives of the people in this country.
I recently published an opinion piece of health care reform on my personal and feminist/political website, Menstrual Poetry that highlighted not only why health care reform is so important to the low-income people of this country, but also put my own personal perspective on the issue since I am currently in the middle of trying to get the health and dental care that I desperately need, which is also why I have not had the time that I have had in the past to dedicate to Woman Tribune.
I have a dental condition called Periodontal Disease that has given me a great deal of problems. Over the past few years however, my dental condition has worsened and of course, my wisdom teeth have decided that now would be the perfect time to sprout up. Apparently they did not receive the memo that I already have crowded teeth because my mouth has already produced too many teeth to fit so there is no way four additional, massive teeth are going to fit in there. But up they sprouted anyway. My wisdom teeth have been making their way into my mouth, desperate to be my best friends, for over two years now and throughout the entire time, I have spoken, saw, consulted with, and have downright pleaded with dentists to do something to help me, but to no avail. These past few years have been hell for me because my dental condition has continued to worsen, my teeth are beginning to decay regardless of how well I take care of them, and my wisdom teeth (that are coming in already pre-decayed for me) are causing me to be in constant, unrelenting pain. They are forcing pressure against all of the teeth in my mouth, causing my mouth and face to swell up and is also the source of a constant migraine headache. The pressure they are putting on my head has gotten so bad that I have woken up several times barely being able to hear and I woke up just this morning with what I am assuming is an ear infection from hell and a swollen throat.
I hardly get any good sleep where I actually wake up rested; often I wake up after 15 hours of sleeping and I am still tired. But I know that it is not me being tired, it is me being in so much pain that the only thing that my body will do is shut down.
So why, in over two years, have I not had these teeth pulled? Why am I blogging about mind-numbing pain instead of getting something done about it?
I don’t have insurance. No dental insurance, which would have helped with preventative dental work so I wouldn’t be in this position right now. No health insurance, which is what I am in need of now that my dental condition has become so bad that it is directly affecting my health. And because I don’t have insurance, I do not matter.
Dentists are only willing to do work if they know that they are getting paid, so when you call a dentist’s office to inquire about sliding scale fee options or payment plans and realize the kind of money you need in order to even get started on the process is more money than you have seen in quite a while–combined–well then you have a problem. When it comes to the uninsured, money is always the problem. Hell, money is quite often just a problem–to those who don’t have boatloads of it. While on my quest to get the dental work I need done, I have applied for medical assistance–and was promptly denied. I am still flabbergasted as to how I could be denied since my income is hilarious! Nevertheless, I have been wafting in a sea of denial and have realized that there is way too much wiggle room in the system for people, like me, who get denied for medical assistance yet can only dream of being able to afford private health insurance; especially if you work from home, like I do.
Everywhere you look in the media right now you are hearing about health care reform. Right wing extremists have dubbed it “Obamacare” and Republicans have been doing all they can to knock a public option for health care off the table. The message of their efforts is simple–All people do not deserve the right to a healthy life; just the privileged people who can afford it do. This belief has never sat very well with me. As Americans we are told that we must love our country; that we must stand by our country, fight for our country, and die for our country if we must–and we should be proud to do it. So why is it incomprehensible to think that our country should ensure that we are a healthy nation? The health care reform legislation is not trying to change anyone’s existent health insurance programs, it is merely giving people like me, who cannot afford private health insurance yet are denied for medical assistance by their state, a chance at a healthy life. It seems ludicrous to me to discriminate against people who are ill and who are low income, yet the government is allowing that discrimination to occur within the Republican and “Blue Dog” affiliations. This country will inevitably always be comprised of the have’s and the have not’s, but access to health care that people so desperately need should never be lumped into those categories. Health care reform is about people. It isn’t politics; it is something that will make it easier for people to get the care that they need in order to live. And I can attest first hand that living in pain and living with a condition that no one can or wants to help you with is not living, it is existing and barely at that.
As for me, I have finally found a sliding scale clinic that gave me a consultation for the dental work that I need done. They also gave me a referral to an oral surgeon who, of course, does not have a sliding scale option and I’m just going to assume, not very fond of the poor people. On August 25 I will go in for yet another consultation, this time with the oral surgeon to schedule getting five teeth extracted–all 4 wisdom teeth and another tooth that has pretty much decayed and that has been giving me many problems, including not being able to put anything remotely cold into my mouth because it makes it feel like my entire mouth is being attacked by super tiny ninjas with huge, sharp swords.
This is merely my personal experience within the failed health care industry right now and while I have been forced to live with incredible pain every day, there are life and death situations out there and people in those situations are suffering every day of their lives within a system that does not care about them or their well-being. Health care reform is about people and people’s lives and it’s high time that we see politicians and people look at this situation with compassion and not merely with a political agenda.
A few months ago my partner and I, realizing we were both spending pretty much all of our time indoors, in front of computers, decided to start taking control of our lifestyles. Neither of us were by any means healthy; we both work from home, we’re on a shoestring budget, and combined, those two lifestyle attributes very well translate into a growing sense of laziness with a thick coating of apathy. So we began watching what we were putting into our bodies and counting the calories of what we chose to nourish ourselves with and more importantly, beginning to distinguish the difference between throwing calories down our guts in order to survive and to actually nourish our bodies. In addition to changing our eating habits, we began taking walks and we laughed maniacally at my attempts to play basketball; basically, we just wanted to get our bodies moving and ease our limbs back into basic exercise. However, the most important and beneficial thing we did for ourselves was begin taking vitamins.
Vitamins are so important for your body because chances are, the foods you eat are not giving you all of the vitamins your body needs every single day to be the healthiest it can be. Taking vitamins can benefit you and your body in a multitude of different ways; they can dramatically boost your immune system, which is great if you’re susceptible to illness and colds; and if you find yourself coming down with colds or getting the flu often, it’s probably because you’re not giving your body the vitamins it needs to ward off illness.
Vitamins can also prevent premature disease and aging; if you’re one of those women who find their medicine cabinets full of cold creams and anti-wrinkle serums, multivitamins and minerals could have very much the same impact on your skin. In fact, vitamins not only help your skin, but they also give you healthier hair and nails and can control heartburn and allergies.
When searching for the right vitamins, we scoured the internet, compared ingredients and labels and found the vitamins that appealed to us personally. I am a huge believer in separate vitamins for both men and women because as we get older, our bodies start working in completely different ways; what a man’s body needs and what a woman’s body needs are not the same. So I began taking women’s vitamins; one of the best women’s vitamins on the market right now is actually Centrum multivitamins because they support breast and bone health, gives you that healthy skin, hair, and nails, and they are specially formulated with key nutrients to help meet a woman’s nutritional needs.
After just a few days of taking daily vitamins I began notice that I was a lot more focused than I had been before. I completed tasks more efficiently and I was able to maintain that sense of focus for longer periods of time. Generally, I was just a happier person; I felt energetic and upbeat and that really started making me perform better with not just my career, but in my life. I don’t find myself feeling lethargic as often as I used to and that’s amazing to me. Every woman should be taking daily multivitamins; even if you are active every day and feel as if you’re the picture of health; vitamins are made to help you give your body what it needs.
Health Fitness How To is a brand new article directory exclusively for health, fitness, and nutrition articles. To spread the word about their new site, they are running a great contest that could put an extra $200 in your pocket.
All you have to do is write an article related to health, fitness, or nutrition and submit it to Health Fitness How To. All article submissions will be judged on content quality, the average number of daily visitors your article attracts, an if you have linked back to Health Fitness How To on your own website or blog. Make sure to review the article submission terms before submitting your article to the contest, otherwise it may be rejected and that wouldn’t be good, especially since you’ve taken all that time to write a high-quality, expert article and all.
So, what kind of articles are Health Fitness How To looking for? According to them, they like “How To” articles the most (please note the name of their website!), since they tend to attract more readers. Your article can be in whatever format you like, but if you’re having trouble coming up with a topic, a “Tips” or “How To” article is a good place to start. As with any article you write, try to make your article as specific and focused as possible. Peopel don’t usually seatch for general health tips; people are focused and zero in on the information they want to know about. If you’re out of ideas for health, fitness, or nutrition articles, that’s okay! Just check out the Health Fitness How To article directory and review their extensive list of categories. I’m sure you’ll be able to come up with something that will wow the webmasters!
Because your chances of winning the contest are judged on how many visitors you bring to your particular article daily, here are some great article promotion tips. To promote your article, you should definitely submit your article to social networking and media sites that a great deal of people utilize on a daily basis: StumbleUpon, Twitter, Digg, Reddit, Propeller, Mixx, etc.
You are allowed to submit more than one article; each article is considered a single entry for the contest!
This contest ends on Friday, July 10, 2009 and a winner will be announced on Monday, July 20th, 2009; they will also be contacted directly to arrange payment.
China has recently banned actors and any “non-accredited personnel” from appearing in advertisements for drugs. This recent ban is part of China’s broadcast watchdog, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television’s agenda to clean up the country’s famous advertising industry that has been an ongoing battle in recent years.
Fake drug and food quality scandals are plaguing the country and this specific ban went into effect after numerous scandals broke out over the past two months regarding the health of Chinese people in several provinces due to fake drugs marketed by non-professional medicinal personnel.
A Chinese internet user late last month exposed 12 fake “experts” selling medicine under various disguises and named on television stations in Shandong province which sparked an online uproar over false endorsements. Earlier this month Chinese police arrested at least five people in connection with a fake diabetic drug linked to the deaths of at least two people and sold to thousands of patrons in several provinces. China has also sentenced two men to death for their role in making and selling milk tainted with melamine (an industrial compound) where at least six children died and nearly 300,000 people fell ill after drinking toxic dairy products last year.
The specifics of China’s new ban includes that non-accredited personnel would be banned from such advertisements and other health programs carried on television and further breaches would see advertisers and companies’ advertising licenses revoked and “temporary suspensions of sales for their medicinal products.”
I have been sniffling and coughing off and on for a week now and it seems that no matter what medicine I take or how much time I spend “taking it easy” in bed or snuggled up on the couch with bad TV and great movies, the runny/stuffy nose and coughing comes right back a few days later. No matter where you live, for the past month, people everywhere have been suffering bouts of the flu in its many forms and January and February are the seasons that make up what we call the “flu season.”
Whether you’ve already been hit with the flu or not, it is important to get nutritious flu-fighting foods in your system. Whether you’re fighting the flu or warding against it, no one is safe from getting the flu, especially if you work in an office or retail environment or have children who are mingling with other children and teachers at school or for play who they can get sick from. Get these foods in your family’s diet!
Red Bell Peppers
Red bell peppers have twice the amount of Vitamin C as an orange, believe it or not, and Vitamin C is an essential vitamin your body needs to fight off the flu. Vitamin C can decrease the duration of a cold by 80% as well as the severity of the symptoms, such as the sniffles and cough.
Red bell peppers go great in spaghetti sauce or chopped up in omeletes or on sandwiches. You can also put them on pizza!
Yogurt
Yogurt contains probiotics. Don’t worry, it’s a good thing! Probiotics are the good bacteria that lines our intestines and defends our bodies against germs. It is important to buy plain yogurt instead of yogurt with added sugar and fruit-flavored versions because it contains fewer calories and more nutrients your body will thank you for. If you want want to sweeten up your yogurt, try adding a teaspoon of honey, which is also an immune booster.
Green Tea
Green tea contains epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) which is an immune-boosting chemical. To get the most health benefits from it, steep tea in boiling water for about 4 minutes. If you don’t like green tea on its own, try adding fresh ginger, fresh mint leaves, a twist of orange peel, or a cinnamon stick. It is also important to make sure to drink at least 3 cups of green tea per day to keep your immune system up.
Almonds
Almonds are a great source of vitamin E which is a disease-fighting antioxidant. You should eat around 24 almonds (1 ounce) per day. You can eat them as a snack, put chopped almonds in oatmeal, salads, stir-fries or anything else you can think of; get creative!
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are an immune-enhancing food due to their beta carotene content which is also the vitamin that gives sweet potatoes their orange pigment. This vitamin is converted into vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is helpful in the treatment of respiratory infections.
Chicken Soup
Ah, the most cliche soup on the planet. But it isn’t just a myth that chicken soup is so good for you; chicken soup has mild anti-inflammatory properties which prevents colds and flu by decreasing mucus production and throat swelling and irritation. For your next chicken soup recipe, be sure to include the following ingredients: chicken, onion, sweet potato, turnips, parsnips, carrots, celery and parsley and there you have it, your perfect flu-fighting food!
Garlic
Regular garlic consumption may make us 2.5 times less likely to get sick this season. The sulfur compounds in garlic have been shown to kill viruses. Fresh garlic has more immune-boosting potential than cooked, so add a clove of fresh garlic at the end of cooking your dish.
With the worldwide economies threatening meltdown, and the bad news that seems to batter us daily (and the constant talk and media attention surrounding it), it’s understandable that stress levels are increased. Even more concerning is that study after study shows us that stress can have dramatic effects on your health and physical body.
One very important method of neutralizing these harmful effects is to maintain an ultimate level of health and fitness to ensure your well-being is always up to par, no matter what is happening in the environment around you… It’s about creating a truly healthy lifestyle and maintaining positive attitude!
A lot of people today confuse our SELF Worth with our NET Worth. This could not be further from the truth! It is not the same thing.
Ben from Ya-ttitude writes:
“Every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.”
It is just an incredible quote. From every mistake, every heartache, every supposed disaster and imagined setback, you will find in it the key, the ingredients, the information you need to go forward and be better than you are, better than you could have ever imagined you could be. It is a quote I try to live by and one I try to instill in everyone I work with. There are no defeats, just defeatists, and once you figure out that all you did with that mistake is learn how to do it the right way next time, you will realize just how much you can learn and be better from those errors. We all make them, understand how to use them for your advantage!
Napoleon Hill is also the owner of one of the quotes I just love. Someone once said that “if life hands you lemons you should make lemonade.” I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of people, who can be credited with that one, but Napoleon Hill did it his way and I am Para-phrasing.
“When Life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then open a lemonade stand and sell it to all the people who are throwing the lemons at you!”
Darn Brilliant!
Timing is everything. When you least expect it, something or someone shows up to put just the right words together for you–the ones you needed to hear–needed to remember. A friend of a friend passed this message on to me today. The process again validates how much we have to share with one another if we are willing and open to receive each other’s wisdom:
“Go forward with steps that never leave any trace. Accept everything that confronts you with a positive attitude… Just make sure you aren’t trying to avoid the things that are coming, and don’t try to cling to the things that are leaving. Become a brave person who is never stained by anything or attached to anything. Become a true human being, a person who is both the most normal and the most extraordinary.”
~Excerpt from No River to Cross
by Zen Master Dae Haeng
Here’s a few more valuable tips from leading experts; Jean Chatzky talks about her tips for dealing with stress, which she sums up with this easy-to-remember acronym:
A.C.E. Your Life:
Awareness: Before you can tackle stress, understand what is causing you grief and what gives you joy. Jot down which people, places and things give you energy and make you smile, Dr. Hall says. Then, document the things that bring you down. Communicate your findings with family members and encourage them to do the same to build mutual support and understanding, she says.
Choice: After you’ve taken stock of the major sources of stress in your life, know that you have the power of choice, Dr. Hall says. Ask yourself “What can I get rid of?” “What do I need to focus on?” and “How can I build my life around what gives me life?” Learn to say no, set boundaries and give yourself permission to get rid of the negative aspects of your life,” she says.
Energy: Stress can wear away at health and happiness, so it’s important to break the negative cycle of stress with more positive energy, Dr. Hall says. The key is to take baby steps. “Change one little thing—do something more about what you love, and in a week, notice the change in your energy and your experience,” she says. “What that does is it gives you courage to take a bigger step.”
Foods That Help Relieve Stress by Bob Greene:
Stress-Reducing Foods:
Foods rich in vitamin B: These include clams, lentils, chickpeas and quinoa. Foods high in vitamin B have a calming effect on the body, helping to melt away feelings of stress and anxiety and enhance your mood.
Papayas: Fruits and vegetables with orange and yellow pigments are generally going to contribute vitamins A and C, as well as folate, which helps enhance the mood, Dr. Ro says.
Red bell peppers: These contain vitamins A and C and folate, which help give you more energy and repair cell damage caused by stress.
Basil and arugula: These stress-reducing herbs are a great source of folate and add great flavor to healthy dishes.
Sunflower seeds: These contain vitamin E and folate to enhance your mood.
Foods to Avoid:
Caffeinated beverages: Caffeine can cause anxiety and raise stress hormone levels, Dr. Ro says.
Trans fatty acids: Found in sweets like cakes, pies and cookies, trans fats compromise the immune system, which causes more stress on the body and also increases your risk for heart disease.
Sugar: Sugar causes spikes in blood sugar levels, which robs your adrenal glands of their ability to control stress hormones and protect the body against stress.
Alcohol: Excessive alcohol consumption adds more sugar to your diet and, again, is harmful to the adrenal glands, which protect you against stress. “You might want to put the cork back in the Burgundy [when you are under stress],” Dr. Ro says.
Another important thing…
Sleep: When you don’t get enough sleep, your body produces extra stress hormones, making you more vulnerable to stress. But too much sleep can also cause problems. The key is to get balanced sleep, which for most people means, on average, about eight hours a night.
With our busy schedules, we often don’t take the time to attend to the regular maintenance of our bodies. The next time you realize that you are feeling scattered and overwhelmed, take a moment to just breathe and notice the sensation.
Sexuality is something to be celebrated and explored and we hope to help you do just that with the articles and reviews we publish in our love and sex category.
Many people get headaches and migraines confused. Migraines make you wish you had a headache, or perhaps a rabid dog gnawing on your ankle instead of the throbbing, pulsating pain that comes with the migraine territory. 75% of adult patients who experience migraines are women, but they also affect approximately the same percentage of prepubescent boys.
New York City has remained adamant when it comes to their no-smoking policies. Currently, you are not able to smoke in bars or restaurants throughout the entire state of New York, but the state is not stopping there when it comes to cracking down on big tobacco and encouraging smokers to give up the habit.
PETA has a very long history of promoting their vegetarian and vegan lifestyle by using very bold approaches that are often outright offensive, sexist, misogynist and above all, untrue. Yet another notch in the ‘PETA lies’ bedpost is their newest 
We are all guilty of thinking and saying stuff like this–to our family members, to our friends and even to ourselves. We are all guilty of self-criticism when we look in the mirror and notice that the skirt that fit us perfectly and hugged our hips in all the right places last season but doesn’t go past our thighs this season. We have all thought we were too fat, we have all dieted in hopes of becoming skinnier, more attractive, the “thin ideal.”
With the worldwide economies threatening meltdown, and the bad news that seems to batter us daily (and the constant talk and media attention surrounding it), it’s understandable that stress levels are increased. Even more concerning is that study after study shows us that stress can have dramatic effects on your health and physical body.
