Natural Communities Magazine A magazine devoted to the local natural wellness culture.

Market researchers seem to have decided that promoting the “green” attributes of your company or products will resonate with consumers.

There was certainly an overabundance of promotions in the lead-up to Earth Day this year.  And, in terms of marketing, Earth Day alone is not enough.  We now celebrate “Earth Week!”

You might think that a big-box retailer, calling itself “sustainable,” or “green,” hawking consumer goods that are mostly imported from distant third world nations, would be an oxymoron.  But the folks at the Target Corporation, and other sophisticated merchants, apparently don’t think so.

What really stuck in my craw was Target’s Sunday advertising supplement, tooting their green horn, citing such arcane facts as, “Did you know that Target offers a gift card made from 40% recycled materials?”

It also included a promotion for their Archer Farms organic milk, at about $.50 less per carton than name-brand organic milk at other grocery stores, natural food cooperatives or Whole Foods.

Organic milk is green.  Well, real organic milk, that is.

Target purchases their “organic” milk from a corporation, Aurora Dairy, that owns five giant factory farms milking upwards of 20,000 cows.  Packaged in a single processing plant in Colorado, it is then shipped, burning fossil fuels, to every state in this country—seriously undercutting the livelihoods of real, local and sustainable organic family farmers.

The United States Department of Agriculture, in investigating a legal complaint against Aurora, found that the corporation was in “willful” violation of federal law and that they fraudulently sold milk labeled as organic.  Aurora was confining their cattle to giant feedlots, instead of grazing as the law requires, and had brought in thousands of conventional animals, illegally, among 12 other violations of law.

The Bush administration overruled career civil servants at the USDA, who recommended banning Aurora from future involvement in the organic industry.  Instead, consumers around the country—consumers who are really “green”—have filed a total of 19 separate class-action, consumer fraud lawsuits against Aurora and their customers like Target, Wal-Mart, Costco and Safeway—all companies that are apparently proud of their “green” practices.

In response to the USDA findings, and in spite of the lawsuits, Target has arrogantly continued to sell milk manufactured by Aurora and to tout its social responsibility.  I just view this as the height of hypocrisy.

So it is up to us as consumers to support merchants who are truly concerned with our communities and environment, and to avoid the fast talking flimflam outfits hoping to capitalize on our growing interest in taking responsibility for our impact on the Earth through the products we purchase.  A ranking of all organic milk brands is available at: www.cornucopia.org

Mark A. Kastel
The Cornucopia Institute
kastel@cornucopia.org
608-625-2042 Voice
866-861-2214 Fax

Please urge President Obama and new USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to take immediate action to repair the USDA’s increasingly dysfunctional National Organic Program (NOP).  Suspect imports of grains, nuts, and vegetables from China and other countries, questionable organic milk, beef, and eggs from giant factory farms, and the erosion of opportunity for family farmers are plaguing the organic sector.

Make your voice heard by downloading the proxy-letter from

The Cornucopia Institute’s web site (click here).

We will hand deliver your letter to both Mr. Obama and Secretary Vilsack.

The Cornucopia Institute, a national organic watchdog representing family famers, has sent a formal letter and briefing paper (click here) to the President and USDA Secretary specifically asking that they take “a very strong and proactive posture in turning around management at the National Organic Program,” which they described as being “Katrina-ed” by the Bush administration.

“The stewardship of the organic program at the USDA has been an absolute abomination,” said Mark A. Kastel, Cornucopia’s senior farm policy analyst.  “It was not just management by neglect—it was an intentional monkeywrenching of the Department’s oversight of the industry.”

In the last several years, audits prepared by the American National Standards Institute and the Inspector General’s office have blasted the NOP for failing to ensure that independent certification agencies, which verify organic farming and production practices, are competent and properly performing their jobs.

During the Bush administration, USDA political appointees significantly softened penalties for organic lawbreakers, overruling stiff enforcement actions recommended by career civil servants, for factory farms that were found willfully violating federal organic standards.  Other complaints detailing abuses on factory farms were quashed or went uninvestigated.

The Bush administration also stacked the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) with representatives from corporate agribusiness instead of, as Congress intended, a broad spectrum of the organic community.  The President and Secretary need to hear that the organic community wants the very best new, independent nominees on the 15-member NOSB.  Our new governmental leaders need to hear from you, now!

Cornucopia’s “Change@USDA” campaign is helping stakeholders in the organic community unite for rehabilitation of the NOP.  We need a sweeping management shakeup at the National Organic Program.  We need your help to build momentum for change.

NOTE:  More specifics on Cornucopia’s CHANGE@USDA campaign can be found at this link or under the action alerts tab at www.cornucopia.org.

Please make additional copies of the proxy-letter for your friends and family and mail them back to The Cornucopia Institute ASAP … at PO Box 126, Cornucopia, WI 54827 … and please forward this message on to others!

An estimated one in seven hospital patients suffer an adverse reaction to a drug they are prescribed there, with many of those reactions caused by drug combination effects, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust, and published in the journal PLoS One.

The researchers observed more than 3,000 patients at 12 hospital wards for a period of six months. They found that taking a larger number of drugs placed patients at a much higher risk of dangerous side effects, and that adverse reactions were most common among the elderly.

“A significant predictor of adverse drug reactions in hospitals is the number of medications a patient is taking; each additional drug treatment increases the risk of experiencing an adverse drug reaction,” said researcher Munir Pirmohamed. “This is one of the reasons why elderly people experience a higher incidence of reactions than young people, as they have more health conditions and generally take more medications.”

In more than 80 percent of cases, the drug that caused the adverse reaction was first given to the patient inside the hospital. The most common culprits were anticoagulants (blood thinners), analgesics (painkillers) and diuretics.

Patients who had adverse reactions ended up spending an average of six hours longer in the hospital than those who did not. Reactions ranged from the relatively mild, such as constipation, to more severe effects such as confusion, drug-resistant infection, kidney damage or internal bleeding. Over the course of the study, 14 patients died in part due to adverse drug reactions, and one was killed directly by such a reaction.

“There is no easy solution, but we can and have to do better as it is putting a burden on the National Health Service,” Pirmohamed said. “Hospitals should look to improve their monitoring of patients and doctors should also consider in what situations patients are given drugs, how long they are put on them and consider if it is always necessary. It is vital that doctors and patients understand the need to regularly review prescriptions and personally tailor treatment to clinical need.”

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/026026.html

Fluoride, one of the most consumed drugs in the United States, is deliberately added to about two-thirds of U.S. public water supplies, theoretically to reduce tooth decay, even though there’s no scientifically-valid evidence proving either safety or effectiveness.

In this video, Dr. Bill Osmunson, general and cosmetic dentist for 30 years, talks about how he came to change his mind about water fluoridation, which he promoted aggressively for the first 25 years of his practice. He thought he saw the benefits, but it wasn’t until he actually reviewed the information for himself that he began to realize that fluoridation is a serious problem.

Why Does Toothpaste Carry a Warning But Fluoridated Water Does Not?

One of the first things he did was look at a tube of toothpaste, which clearly carries the warning: “Do not swallow,” and “in case of accidental ingestion, contact the poison control center.”

The amount of fluoride they’re talking about is a quarter milligram of fluoride, contained in a pea size amount of toothpaste.

But here is the kicker, This is the same amount of fluoride you find in 8 oz of water. Yet toothpaste carries a “Do not swallow” warning, whereas you’re typically told to drink eight 8oz glasses of water each day, without any concern for the amount of fluoride you will ingest.

One of Dr. Osmunson’s main concerns is water fluoridation for infants. The American Dental Association (ADA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommend that infants NOT receive fluoridated water for drinking, nor for making their formula, as fluoridated water contains 250 times more fluoride than mother’s milk.

“We shouldn’t fluoridate water and harm our most vulnerable,” he says.

Personally, I also strongly advise you do not give your children fluoridated water.

Unfortunately, the only way to ensure your water is pure enough to drink is by installing a good water filtration system in your house, such as a reverse osmosis filter that can filter out fluoride and other dangerous water contaminants like disinfection byproducts (DBPs). Bottled water also typically contains fluoride, even though it’s not stated on the label.

Dental Fluorosis – A Clear Sign of Excessive Fluoride Intake

The next thing Dr. Osmunson looked at was dental fluorosis. These are the white and brown spots on your teeth. The only thing that causes dental fluorosis is fluoride – typically due to ingesting too much fluoride during your developing years, from birth to about 8 years of age. According to the CDC, about one third of children and adolescents 6 to 19 years have enamel fluorosis on their teeth.

When dental fluorosis occurs, it can be an indication that the rest of your body has been exposed to too much fluoride also, such as your bones and the rest of your organs, including your brain.

So, are there actual benefits of water fluoridation?

Depending on the source, water fluoridation has been said to reduce tooth decay by anywhere from 20 to 80 percent. But when you compare the statistics between different countries, you see that no matter whether they fluoridate their water or not, tooth decay has steadily been reduced by the same amount.

Likewise, when you compare states in the U.S., you find that increased amounts of fluoride in the drinking water make no difference. We have the same amount of good healthy teeth, regardless of water fluoridation.

So, if there’s no benefit, WHY are we fluoridating?

Why Do We Fluoridate Drinking Water if It’s Not Healthy?

The evidence points to it being little more than a well-orchestrated PR stunt to aid an industry in trouble – a fascinating story in and of itself, as described so well in Christopher Bryson’s book The Fluoride Deception and in one of the best web sites on this topic, Fluoride Action Network (FAN).

Other pro-fluoride advocates go so far as to try to make you believe that fluoride is a nutrient that naturally helps build strong teeth and bones. One such example is the Directive 2002/46/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, which lists “fluoride” as one of only 28 vitamins and minerals permissible for sale for human consumption within the European Union.

But let’s make this point clear: fluoride is NOT an essential nutrient. The fluoride added to your drinking water is in fact a chemical waste product! It is NOT something you should use as a supplement to your diet.

The Key to Healthy Teeth is in Your Diet!

If you’re wondering how to keep your teeth healthy, remember that fluoride was never the answer in the first place. Instead, look to your diet for naturally healthy teeth. In fact, most people whose diet includes very little sugar and few processed foods have very low rates of tooth decay.

Limiting, or eliminating sugar, and avoiding processed foods — along with regular cleanings with your natural dentist — will ensure that your teeth stay healthy naturally.

What You Can Do to Help Eliminate Water Fluoridation

Dr. Osmunson suggests you talk to your dentist and health care provider about water fluoridation. For example, ask them if they’ve seen the National Academy of Sciences report on fluoridation. You can help educate them by giving them information they may not have on water fluoridation and excess fluoridation exposure.

He also suggests that professional health care providers and dentists take the time to look at both sides of the issue. If you are a professional in the field, you may also want to add your name to the online Professional Statement at www.FluorideAlert.org. As of April 2009, 2,221 medical and environmental health professionals have signed this statement, calling for an end to water fluoridation.

Source:  http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles….

Eating eggs does not significantly raise the body’s cholesterol levels, according to a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Surrey and published in the Nutrition Bulletin of the British Heart Foundation.

The researchers reviewed the results of several different studies on eggs and nutrition, concluding that eggs did not contribute significantly to the body’s cholesterol levels. Although eggs are in fact a high-cholesterol food, the researchers note that only one-third of the body’s cholesterol comes from dietary sources; the rest is produced by the body from saturated fats. As a consequence, saturated fat intake plays a far more significant role.

“The ingrained misconception linking egg consumption to high blood cholesterol and heart disease must be corrected,” researcher Bruce Griffin said. “The amount of saturated fat in our diet exerts an effect on blood cholesterol that is several times greater than the relatively small amounts of dietary cholesterol.”

The researchers note that other factors, such as obesity, a sedentary lifestyle or smoking also have greater effects on cholesterol levels or the risk of cardiovascular disease than egg consumption does.

“The UK public does not need to be limiting the number of eggs they eat,” Griffin said. “Indeed, they can be encouraged to include them in a healthy diet, as they are one of nature’s most nutritionally dense foods.”

Up until 2007, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) recommended that people limit their intake of eggs to three per week, as a way of reducing the risk of heart disease. That advice is now considered outdated, however.

“We recommend that eggs can be eaten as part of a balanced diet,” said Victoria Taylor of the BHF. “There is cholesterol present in eggs, but this does not usually make a great contribution to your level of blood cholesterol. If you need to reduce your cholesterol level, it is more important that you cut down on the amount of saturated fat in your diet from foods like fatty meat, full fat dairy products, and cakes, biscuits and pastries.”

Souce: http://www.naturalnews.com/025995.html

If you swim in a pool or drink water from your public water supply, you know the water has been disinfected by chemicals. But this process, which is often called “purifying” water, appears to not make water “pure” for the body. In fact, a recent study by University of Illinois scientists published in the scientific journal Mutation Research shows the chemicals used to treat water we drink and use in swimming pools causes a reaction with organic materials in the water that creates dangerous, cancer-causing toxins known as disinfection by-products (DBPs).

“The reason that you and I can go to a drinking fountain and not be fearful of getting cholera is because we disinfect water in the United States. But the process of disinfecting water with chlorine and chloramines and other types of disinfectants generates a class of compounds in the water that are called disinfection by-products. The disinfectant reacts with the organic material in the water and generates hundreds of different compounds. Some of these are toxic, some can cause birth defects, some are genotoxic, which damage DNA, and some we know are also carcinogenic,” University of Illinois geneticist Michael Plewa said in a statement to the media.

A 10-year, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded study headed by Dr. Plewa used specially developed mammalian cell lines to analyze the impact of these compounds. Specifically, the researchers analyzed the cytotoxicity (ability to cause cell death) and DNA genome damage caused by disinfection by-products.

“Our lab has assembled the largest toxicological data base on these emerging new DBPs. And from them we’ve made two fundamental discoveries that hopefully will aid the U.S. EPA in their regulatory decisions. The two discoveries are somewhat surprising,” Dr. Plewa stated.

The first discovery of the University of Illinois research team involved water with naturally high bromine and iodine in it, produced primarily from sea water or underground aquifers most likely linked to ancient sea beds in the past. When this type of water was disinfected with chemicals, DBPs were produced that had iodine atoms attached — creating a gene harming toxin.

The second discovery revealed a danger from nitrogen-containing DBPs. “Disinfectant by-products that have a nitrogen atom incorporated into the structure are far more toxic and genotoxic, and some even carcinogenic, than those DBPs that don’t have nitrogen. And there are no nitrogen-containing DBPs that are currently regulated,” Dr. Plewa said in the media statement.

And it isn’t only drinking water that can be loaded with danger. Swimming pools and hot tubs are hazardous, too. “You’ve got all of this organic material called ‘people’ — and people sweat and use sunscreen and wear cosmetics that come off in the water. People may urinate in a public pool. Hair falls into the water and then this water is chlorinated. But the water is recycled again and again so the levels of DBPs can be ten-fold higher than what you have in drinking water,” Dr. Plewa stated in the press release.

Swimming often results in longer exposure to toxic chemicals that are both absorbed through the skin and inhaled. This could explain previous studies that have revealed higher levels of bladder cancer and asthma in people who are frequent swimmers.

“The big concern that we have is babies in public pools because young children and especially babies are much more susceptible to DNA damage in agents because their bodies are growing and they’re replicating DNA like crazy,” Dr. Plewa warned.

As a researcher with a National Science Foundation Center called WaterCAMPWS at the University of Illinois, Dr. Plewa is currently working with engineers and chemists to develop new technologies that will disinfect and desalinate water and also remove pharmaceuticals from water without generating by-products that are even more toxic than the compounds trying to be removed. Until new technologies are created to safely disinfect the water in public pools especially, Dr. Plewa urges people to bathe or shower before jumping in for a swim. “It’s the organic material that gets in the pool that is disinfected and then recirculated over and over again. That’s why we call swimming pools disinfectant by-product reactors. But by public education, by personal behavior, there should be ways that we can reduce the levels of the dissolved organic material that should reduce the level of DBPs,” he stated.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025996.html

As I’ve stated on numerous occasions already, the number one source of calories in the United States is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). I find that so amazing, it bears repeating. The average American consumes about 12 teaspoons of it every day, though the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) estimates that teens and other “high consumers” may consume 80 percent more than that.

Most of this is consumed in the form of sodas, but that’s not the only source of HFCS. This dangerous sweetener is also in many processed foods and fruit juices, so to avoid it you really must focus your diet on whole foods and, if you do purchase packaged foods, become an avid label reader. 

And now, you’ll need to put yet another item on your list to look for — a new version for HFCS: crystalline fructose, which is even worse for your health than HFCS. 

I didn’t think it was possible, but they’ve managed to do it.

How High Fructose Can Destroy Your Health 

George Will is absolutely right when he says that high fructose corn syrup is wrecking the health of Americans.

Until the 1970s, most sugar was sucrose derived from sugar beets or sugar cane. But sugar from corn, especially high fructose corn syrup, is now more popular because it is much less expensive to produce.

It also contains nearly twice the fructose of the sugars that came before it.

Research has clearly linked it to the rise in obesity and metabolic syndrome, as it is metabolized to fat in your body far more rapidly than any other sugar. Adding insult to injury, because most fructose is consumed in liquid form, its negative metabolic effects are significantly magnified.

Just like other sugars it disrupts your insulin levels, and elevated insulin levels are going to  increase your risk of nearly every chronic disease known to man, including:

• Cancer
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Premature aging
• Arthritis and osteoporosis

You name it, and you will find elevated insulin levels as a primary factor.

There’s also new evidence that HFCS in particular increases your triglyceride levels and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels. It also harms organs like your liver and pancreas, leading to bone loss, anemia, and heart problems, just to name a few.

Says Dr. Andrew Weil:

 “Your body doesn’t handle large amounts of fructose well. You can maintain life with intravenous glucose, but not with intravenous fructose; severe derangement of liver function results. There’s also evidence that a high intake of fructose elevates levels of circulating fats (serum triglycerides), increasing the risk of heart disease. I never use fructose in my home.”

I avoid HFCS like the plague as well, and if you care about your health, so would you.

If you haven’t yet read the amazing scientific analysis on fructose in one of my favorite nutritional journals, I would strongly encourage you to do so as it will open your eyes to some of the major problems with this sweetener.

What Could be Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup?

Enter “crystalline fructose,” a high-octane variety of HFCS.

Whereas regular HFCS contains 55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose, crystalline fructose is at minimum 99 percent fructose, which could only mean that all the health problems associated with fructose may be even more pronounced with this product.

In addition to that, crystalline fructose may also contains arsenic, lead, chloride and heavy metals — a laundry list of things you want to avoid at all cost. Especially if you have children, as all of these contaminants can impact your child’s development and long-term health.

(Regular HFCS has also recently been shown to be widely contaminated with mercury, another heavy metal that carries significant health risks, especially for children. In one study, almost half of tested samples of commercial HFCS contained mercury. It was also found in nearly a third of 55 popular brand-name food and beverage products where HFCS is the first- or second-highest labeled ingredient.)

Don’t be Deceived by Healthy-Sounding Drinks

One popular product containing crystalline fructose is Vitaminwater. Folks, please do not make the mistake of believing Vitaminwater is a healthy product simply because it has “vitamin” and “water” on the label.

According to the Cleaner Plate article linked above, many people report feeling less than stellar after drinking Vitaminwater, citing after-effects like headaches, stomachaches, and most frequently, diarrhea.

Your best bet for your primary fluid replacement is just pure, fresh water. Your body does not need anything added to the water to make it any “healthier” than it already is.

Remember, the food industry spends about $40 billion a year on advertising, with the intention of brainwashing you to believe that junk food is somehow good for you and your kids. And the beverage industry is part of that pack.

The more informed you are and the smarter you shop, the healthier you and your family will be.

Sourece: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/arti…..

Taking aspirin daily has no effect on the risk of heart attacks and strokes among diabetics and should no longer be recommended as a routine medical practice, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and published in the “British Medical Journal.

“We found no evidence to support the use of either aspirin or antioxidants in the primary prevention of cardiovascular events and mortality in people with diabetes,” the researchers wrote.

Researchers assigned 1,276 diabetic women and men with no history or symptoms of cardiovascular disease to take either aspirin, an antioxidant or a placebo once per day. After eight years, they found no difference in the rate of heart attacks and strokes between the three groups.

Prior research has indicated that a regular dose of aspirin can reduce the risk of cardiovascular events by 25 percent in people with coronary artery disease or a history of heart attack or stroke. Because diabetes is regarded as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and 80 percent of diabetics die of cardiovascular causes, many doctors and professional organizations have also begun recommending treatment of diabetics with aspirin in recent years.

Aspirin can have serious side effects, however, such as gastrointestinal bleeding.

“We have gotten a bit ahead of ourselves with aspirin,” lead researcher Jill Belch said. “We need to think again about using it for primary prevention.”

The study was welcomed by clinical pharmacology expert Peter Sever of Imperial College London.

“It confirms many concerns we have that aspirin is very widely used in the general population without an evidence base to support its overall benefits,” Sever said. “Thousands of people buy aspirin over the counter — I’m forever saying to patients you shouldn’t be taking this. I have had a couple of patients admitted to hospital with major gastrointestinal bleeding when there was no evidence it was doing any good.”

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025948.html

With childhood obesity levels climbing at an alarming rate, it’s no wonder parents are more concerned than ever about what their children are eating. Adults are constantly bombarded with the latest diet foods and weight loss pills, and in a world that’s so weight-conscious, it’s difficult not to translate these ideas into the way we deal with our children’s health. Although we want our children to be healthy, diet fads are not the answer. This includes the standard low-fat diet, which is suspiciously ineffective for adults in the long-term, and downright dangerous for our children.

In 2007, a study from the University of Delaware was published in the Nutrition Journal which showed children and adults burn about the same amount of fat each day, even though children burn much less overall energy. Children need a diet higher in fat compared to adults. They need around 5-10% more calories from fat than adults do. This is because, even though children are smaller in size, their bodies use an enormous amount of energy in support of growth and development. This includes the development of the nervous system, immune system, bone structure and muscle tissue.

Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum states, “I think this research is absolutely right. If the word ‘diet’ is written on a packet or can, it really shouldn’t be given to children who have totally different energy needs for their growth, and who burn off a lot of energy just by growing. Fad diets are not appropriate for children.”

This information is not widely displayed in the media, where low-fat diet foods are frequently praised in both regular programming and commercial advertisements. There are even many medical professionals who give the vague recommendation of eating as little fat as possible. With parents constantly hearing that dietary fat is bad and should be avoided, it’s easy to think that this must be healthy for their children, too.

This misinformation is no less than destructive to our children’s health. Children’s bodies require fat to develop and function properly. Without a certain amount of fat present, fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K can’t be stored or utilized. These vitamins are absolutely crucial for developmental growth in our children; any long-term deficiency can have lifelong effects. A committee from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force reported that low-fat diets can cause growth retardation and thwart the natural process of puberty. Children simply can’t gain enough weight or linear height on these diets.

In a society where so many adults are obsessed with the numbers on a scale, it can be difficult to view weight gain as a good thing. But in children, a certain amount of weight must be gained to develop properly. In addition, there are certain periods of growth, such as adolescence, when it is normal for a child to store extra fat. This is when many parents and teens become frightened of obesity and start the low-fat diet bandwagon that, for some, may become a lifetime battle. By distorting a child’s image of food early in life, we may be paving the way for future eating disorders like anorexia.

Part of rearing healthy children is helping them form a positive relationship with food. Natural, unprocessed fats are not a food to be shunned but something that can be highly beneficial if used in moderation. The same applies to carbohydrates and proteins. We don’t want to severely limit or overindulge in these types of food, either. The goal is to strive for moderation while making healthy, natural choices. Children need to learn that quality foods are to be enjoyed not only for their taste but also because these foods are necessary for life.

Source: http://www.naturalnews.com/025921.html

Sleep is a natural process defined as a recurrent state of reduced attention to the surrounding environment. The most important sleep functions are the restoration of body functions, the synthesis of proteins and the prevention of lethargy. The number of sleep hours required varies from individual to individual. An adult needs 7 to 9 hours of good sleep daily to be alert during the day.

Insomnia

There are many sleep-related disorders, one of which is insomnia. Insomnia is a sleep problem defined as the inability to fall or stay asleep. Psychological factors, substance abuse, the side effects of some drugs, medical conditions such as asthma, inadequate sleep, and a stressful life are the most common causes of insomnia. Recently, the NIH calculated that fifty million to seventy million Americans have sleep-related disorders. Nearly 25% of the aged and approximately 10% of the general population suffer from insomnia.

Tips for good sleep

Practicing good sleeping habits is key to the success of insomnia treatments. These are as follows:

• If you take afternoon naps, they should be less than an hour long.
• Exercise regularly.
• Do not use your bed for anything except sleeping.
• Do not drink alcohol, coffee, or tea or smoke at night.
• Have a proper meal at night and do not go to bed hungry.
• Relax for an hour before sleeping.
• Do not use sleeping pills unless they are prescribed by a doctor, as sleeping pills can be dangerous. They also lose their effect after a few weeks, leading to loss of sleep again. Using natural methods is safer.

Alternative and complementary medicine

Relaxation techniques and hypnotherapy are very helpful for insomnia sufferers. It is recommended that they learn relaxation techniques as it can help them sleep deeply.

Some people with insomnia prefer herbal cures for dealing with it. Chamomile can be used as it has a relaxing effect. A cup of chamomile tea one hour before going to bed is recommended. The herbs hops and valerian also have a beneficial calming effect and can also be used in treating insomnia. Drinking herbal tea is safer and more effective than drugs for mild and moderate insomnia.

Aromatherapy is also very helpful in treating insomnia. Lavender oil has a sedative and calming effect. You can add some lavender oil to your bath or take a light massage with some. However, do consult a health care professional before taking any natural treatments.

Sources:
1. Sleep education ( http://www.sleepeducation.com/ )
2. Insomnia Information ( http://www.sleepnet.com/insomnia.html )
3. Sleep and insomnia website ( http://www.sleepandinsomnia.com/ )
4. Australasian Sleep Association ( http://www.sleepaus.on.net/insomnia… )

About the author
M.B.B.C.H, Physician, D.H.P., D.C.M.T, S.N.H.S Dip. (Nutrition), S.N.H.S Dip. (Herbalism),Reiki master,
Member of the Royle Institute of Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy, Member of the Complete Mind therapists Association. Cupping therapy and alternative Medicine expert.More Health Articles

Source:  http://www.naturalnews.com…..