How to Eat for Better Sleep

When you’re tossing and turning at night, dreaming about the possibility of real sleep, probably the last thing to cross your mind is what you could eat to help bring deep slumber that much closer. However, studies continually suggest that not only does a regularly healthy diet help promote better biochemical balance – hence, better rest and relaxation, but certain foods are even responsible for helping beat insomnia.

Nourish your regenerative time with the following tasty suggestions and catch up on your valuable Zzz’s.

1. Sleepy-time Snacks

While eating close to bedtime is not optimal, if you’re hungry in the evening, a small snack can be calming. For restful sleep, the best snacks contain both carbohydrate and the amino acid tryptophan, a natural sleep inducer. According to the Sleep Disorders Center at the Cleveland Clinic, foods rich in tryptophan include: dairy products, soy milk, legumes – such as chickpeas and lentils, and nuts and seeds. Because carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain, this explains why carbs can make you drowsy. Natural peanut butter with whole grain crackers, low-fat cheese with apple slices, or a small bowl of whole grain cereal with soy milk are some examples to utilize these options.

2. Caffeine-free Afternoons

Caffeine is a mild stimulant that increases central nervous system activity for hours, so avoiding all sources of caffeine six to eight hours before bed is recommended. This can make a world of difference if you constantly battle insomnia.

While coffee is loaded with 100- 150 milligrams of caffeine, chocolate (12 – 25 mg) and energy drinks (60 – 140 mg) are other sugary, caffeinated substances to also avoid.

Instead, relax and indulge in caffeine-free herbal teas, warm almond milk with raw honey and cinnamon, or your favorite fruit juice with club soda to inspire refreshment but stimulate better sleep.

3. Hormone Producers

Melatonin is the hormone secreted by the body that regulates sleep patterns, therefore if you’re having an difficult time getting rest, there are natural ways to obtain more of this hormone. Researchers have reported that tart cherries, grapes, and walnuts are rich food sources of melatonin.

If that still doesn’t do the trick, consult with your Naturopathic physician about possibly consuming a natural melatonin supplement that best suits you.

4. Mellowing Minerals

According to studies, even a marginal magnesium deficiency can excite the brain, preventing relaxation at night. Good sources of anxiety fighting magnesium include: leafy green vegetables, wheat germ, oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, black beans, and almonds.

By adopting a healthier, un-processed diet, it is estimated you will naturally experience better sleep. However there are plenty of fresh, delicious foods you can also include that will help boost your health while assisting you in obtaining nourishing rest.

By: Amanda Froelich, True Activist, Guest

Sources:

Diet, Exercise, and Sleep

Sleep Disorders Center, Cleveland Clinic

Magnesium, Insomnia

Source: trueactivist

Sea Cucumber Found to Kill 95% of Cancer Cells and Shrink Tumors

Sea cucumber has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years, but they are relatively obscure in the U.S. This may be soon changing, however, as evidence mounts that sea cucumber extracts can kill cancer cells while stimulating the immune system.

As reported by Ethan Evers, author of “The Eden Prescription, previous research on sea cucumber has demonstrated its ability to kill lung, breast, prostate, skin, colon, pancreatic, and liver cancer cells. These extracts have also proven effective in killing leukemia and gioblastoma cells. Looks like we can add yet another food to the list of anti-cancer foods.

Scientists believe a key compound known as frondoside A to be responsible. Frondoside A is a triterpenoid, diverse organic compounds found in the essential oils and oleoresins of plants.

This latest study, published in PLoS One, has confirmed just how powerful frondoside A truly is. Researchers found it to kill 95% of ER+ breast cancer cells, 95% of liver cancer cells, 90% of melanoma cells, and 85-88% of three different types of lung cancer.

As Evers reports:

“But the benefits of this compound don’t just stop at directly inducing programmed cell death (apoptosis). It also inhibits angiogenesis (the ability of tumors to grow new blood vessels to get their food) and stops cancer metastasizing by impeding cell migration and invasion. Even more intriguing is the ability of frondoside A to activate our immune system’s natural killer cells to attack cancer cells. This has been shown for breast cancer in particular but may also apply to all cancers, because it involves the immune system and not cancer cells directly. This may partially explain why frondoside A was so effective at shrinking lung tumors in mice that it rivaled chemo drugs in performance.”

When given to mice with non-small cell lung cancer, frondoside A was found to shrink tumors by 40% in only 10 days. Traditional chemo drugs shrunk the tumors by 47 percent, but the risks of chemo treatment are far greater than any side-effects or risks of sea cucumber. (Namely because there are no known risks associated with sea cucumbers). In addition, the amount of frondoside A needed to achieve such results was miniscule—less than a single milligram for an adult weighing 165 pounds.

While sea cucumber extracts aren’t currently offered as a treatment for cancer—at least not in your traditional doctor’s office—you can find dried and powdered sea cucumber in health stores. It is packaged as a solution to arthritis and similar conditions because of its anti-inflammatory properties.

Additional Sources:

Pubmed/18800890

Pubmed/19162021

Pubmed/21741966

Source of this article: NaturalSociety

Can Coconut Oil Boost Thyroid Health?

Dr. Bruce Fife explains how coconut oil is beneficial to keeping your thyroid in check.



From wellnessmama.com:

Thyroid problems and thyroid cancer run in my family so I want to be as proactive as possible in protecting my thyroid. Thankfully, I love coconut oil and use it for everything already, but I’ve made a special effort to use it in high amounts daily to nourish the thyroid. This is what I do:

-Add up to 1/4 cup a day to hot teas and coffee (Here’s my favorite recipe) 

-Use up to 1/4 cup a day in cooking

-Up to 1/4 cup a day added to smoothies

With all that saturated fat, have I gained a ton of weight? Quite the opposite, as this seems to help me lose weight and maintain a healthy weight during pregnancy. It seems others have had similar experiences too. 

At the very least, this regimen has helped me have enough energy to meet the daily demands of raising five little ones without the afternoon slump I used to get. It has also helped my skin stay clear and improved my sun tolerance, so I’m not complaining! 

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of coconut oil and how it helps the thyroid, I recommend the book Virgin Coconut Oil that is distributed by Tropical Traditions. I also order Tropical Traditions gold label Coconut Oil as it is the highest quality coconut oil I’ve found. 

Have you used coconut oil for health reasons? How did it help?

Sources: wellnessmama.com & ihealthtube.com

Pet owners increasingly using medical marijuana to help their pets feel better

Image: 1funny.com

(NaturalNews) As the social stigmas and taboos about marijuana that largely emerged during the "Reefer Madness" generation continue to be stripped away from the public consciousness, an increasing number of people are beginning to look at this all natural herb with fresh eyes, recognizing its incredible potential for healing. This includes a growing number of pet owners who are now using the plant and its essential oils to safely and effectively treat their ailing pets.

CBS New York reports that veterinary cannabis use is on the rise across all segments of society, and particularly among pet owners whose pets have severe or even terminal illnesses that do not respond to conventional treatment. Major conditions like cancer, many pet owners are finding, respond quite well to cannabis use when nothing else does. And unlike conventional treatments, cannabis treatment does not cause any harmful side effects.

One such success story is "Luna" Capers, the beloved dog of Rowyn Capers who reportedly gained her quality of life back after being given a non-psychoactive cannabis oil extract for late-stage lymphoma. When chemotherapy left the dog gravely ill and on the verge of death, Rowyn began to administer the natural therapy instead, which produced incredible results.

"Her lymph nodes were like golf balls and she was coughing constantly and she couldn't breathe, and I just thought it's time to say goodbye," said Rowyn to CBS News about Luna's condition before the cannabis. "The first time I dosed her [with cannabis] I was so scared. We were looking at her all night. [But the] more I increased her cannabis dose the less side effects that she had. The vomiting stopped, the diarrhea stopped."

Similar success was achieved by Mary Lynn Mathre, the owner of a 13-year-old golden retriever who was also diagnosed with cancer. After learning about cannabis, Mary Lynn began to give all of her dogs a daily cracker topped with cannabis-infused butter, which not only helped the sick one but also helped improve the health of all her dogs, including one with a strange bald spot on its leg.

"There was no hair on a circle that it would lick and lick," stated Mary Lynn to CBS New York, noting that both dogs experienced dramatic improvements as a result of the cannabis.

Cannabis helps pets with low energy, cancer, and epilepsy

Al Byrne's three dogs, who range in age from three to 13, have also responded positively to marijuana. Besides noticeable increases in energy among all the dogs, Al says each of his furry family members now has a shinier coat and a "shine in their eyes" that was not there before.

"When you see them enjoying life and feeling better and not being sick, you know you've hit something," says Darlene Arden, a certified animal behaviorist who is a strong advocate for veterinary cannabis use. "I think we can now see marijuana for exactly what it is and what it can do. [It's not] a street drug but a legitimate medication to be used under proper supervision."

Many CBS New York commenters with pets seem to agree with these sentiments, as some of them posted their own stories about how medical cannabis helped their pets. One woman recounts how her three-year-old dog almost died from epilepsy but experienced a dramatic and immediate recovery after being placed on a regimen of medical cannabis.

"As a last ditch effort after her last bout of seizures and being unable to come out of her postictal state, despite being administered a heavy sedative by our vet, we tried marijuana we had received from a friend of ours (it's legal in our state)," writes the commenter. "Within less than 15 minutes, our dog came fully out of its postictal state, laid down, and napped for (about) 2 hours before waking up and wanting to play tennis ball and tug. It was beyond anything I had seen before with this dog."

Sources: naturalnews.com
newyork.cbslocal.com
science.naturalnews.com