Here are some great tips for getting to sleep at night from:
TruthAboutLabs.com

1. "The most important sleep tip to start with: You NEED to eliminate use of devices, computers, emails, and any other work related to your job (or other stressful things) at least 3 hours before you plan to go to sleep.

[Suggested alternative: Read a boring book or watch a calm movie that you have seen several times. Even though the light from the TV/Movie screen may stop melatonin production, I find that watching a familiar movie is the fastest way to get to sleep when I am overstimulated. Ed.]

2. "No caffeine after mid-day: [If you still have trouble getting to sleep, try eliminating caffeine altogether - Ed.]

3. "Tart cherries or tart cherry juice: Tart cherries (Montmorency) actually contain a natural form of melatonin that can help you to naturally get sleepy and more easily fall asleep.

4. "DON'T overdose on melatonin supplements (most contain TOO MUCH): Did you know that MOST people overdose on melatonin supplements? Most melatonin supplements come in either 3 mg or even 5 mg doses.  However, according to some researchers, anything more than 1 mg might be too high of a dose, which can disrupt your sleep cycle the following day, making it hard to wake up in the morning, and harder to fall asleep the following night, disrupting your overall sleep cycle. [Also, did you know that melatonin comes from different sources including sheep brains and plants? Look for plant sourced brands. - Ed.]

5. "Night time teas: Try night time teas that have relaxing qualities such as chamomile tea, mint tea, lemongrass tea, or all of them mixed.  

"One more tip: If you still have troubles falling asleep even after implementing all of these tips, make sure to pay attention to fixing any hormonal issues you might have, including any possible adrenal fatigue, since being overly stressed out during the day can cause imbalances in your natural cortisol cycle which can make you more awake at night and more tired in the morning (obviously the opposite of what you want)."

We all know that restful sleep can make all the difference in our moods and general level of health. These are a few really good suggestions to get yourself in the good sleep habit. I would also add that having a regular bedtime can also be very helpful.

Carrageenan, a seaweed product, is found in so many foods today that I won't even try to list them all here. You will find a convenient link to a comprehensive list at the end of this article. Once again, making food from scratch is the best way to avoid this inflammatory ingredient, and it can even be fun.

The problem with carrageenan is that it has been shown to cause inflammation. If you have been reading this newsletter for awhile, you already know what that means. Inflammation is considered to be one of the major causes of the symptoms of aging. Who needs that?

While I love the convenience of commercial almond and rice milks, I stopped using them after reading this article, because my favorite one contains carrageenan. All the others are either non-organic or they have ingredients I choose to avoid. I've started making fresh nut milk for my morning lattes. Since I have a high-speed blender, it is not difficult, but so far I haven't been able to match the flavor and smoothness of the commercial varieties.

The best blend I have tried so far is equal parts raw cashews, hemp seeds, Brazil nuts, and coconut butter - 1/4 cup each per quart of water. Use less water if you want it creamier. I add in a few drops of vanilla flavored liquid stevia, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and usually a Tablespoon of raw carob powder. For a sweeter blend, I add a Tablespoon or two of raw coconut sugar, which is a low glycemic sugar from young coconut trees. Strain through a fine sieve or nut milk bag and it's not a bad coffee creamer. It has the added advantage on not being "enriched" or fortified with cheap calcium and synthetic vitamins. It will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

From cornucopia.org/carrageenan-2013/: "Given its effect on gastrointestinal inflammation, Cornucopia urges anyone suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms (irritable bowel syndrome/IBS, spastic colon, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea, etc.) to consider completely eliminating carrageenan from the diet to determine if carrageenan was a factor in causing the symptoms."

For a great list of foods containing carrageenan (and there are many!), visit the Cornucopia web page below:

It is always great to hear about studies that give us easy ways to improve our odds of living to a healthy old age. Recent studies show that flaxseeds have a protective effect against breast cancer. Unfortunately, eating flax doesn't seem to be as effective once the cancer is already established, but it still may have some positive results.

Flaxseeds have a pleasant taste and are easy to grind fresh in a coffee grinder each day. You can sprinkle them on your morning cereal or mix them into drinks or soups. Just be sure to eat flaxseeds with plenty of water or other liquid and consume it it right away, because flax turns to jelly soon after it gets wet.

From http://eatandbeatcancer.wordpress.com:

"Thompson’s breast cancer studies have used 25 grams–or 2 ½ T–of ground flaxseed per day. 'It’s unknown what the effects of greater than 25 grams/day might be,' she said. 'Considering current data, we know that up to 25 g (2.5 T) did not cause adverse effect on breast cancer patients in short term studies. In healthy postmenopausal women, up to 40 g also did not show adverse effects.'

"Because pulverizing the seeds releases the lignans and fragile fatty acids, it’s good to grind daily (Yes, a coffee grinder works) — and keep any leftover powder in the fridge or freezer in a small, dark airtight container. Chew well, and drink plenty of water to help move the fiber through your system. Underscore that latter point. In addition to its anti-cancer effects, flaxseed is a laxative, so start small and gradually increase your dose."

It isn't easy to avoid the environmental toxins listed below. We may find them in our food and water, and even in our cookware, paints and cleaning supplies. Fortunately Environmental Working Group has compiled a list of where these nasties lurk, how they can harm your health, and more important, how to protect yourself from them.

From ewg.org: "There is no end to the tricks that endocrine disruptors can play on our bodies: increasing production of certain hormones; decreasing production of others; imitating hormones; turning one hormone into another; interfering with hormone signaling; telling cells to die prematurely; competing with essential nutrients; binding to essential hormones; accumulating in organs that produce hormones.

"Here are 12 of the worst hormone disrupters, how they do their dirty deeds, and some tips on how to avoid them: [Very abbreviated version - please read the entire article for more information. - Ed.]

BPA - imitates sex hormone estrogen in your body

Dioxin - disrupts male and female sex hormone signaling

Atrazine - breast tumors, delayed puberty, prostate inflammation

Phthalates - programs cells in our bodies to die

Perchlorate - alters thyroid hormone balance

Fire retardants - lower IQ, among other significant health effects

Lead - permanent brain damage, lowered IQ, hearing loss, miscarriage, premature birth, increased blood pressure, kidney damage and nervous system problems, disrupting your hormones

Arsenic - skin, bladder and lung cancer, interferes with normal hormone functioning

Mercury - concentrates in the fetal brain and can interfere with brain development, interferes with menstrual cycle and ovulation

Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) - decreased sperm quality, low birth weight, kidney disease, thyroid disease and high cholesterol, among other health issues

Organophosphate pesticides - interferes with the way testosterone communicates with cells, lowering testosterone and altering thyroid hormone levels

Glycol Ethers - damages fertility or the unborn child

Not to dwell on all the stuff we have to watch out for, but it seems that there is more and more of this sort of thing in our food supply and it is good to be aware of it. My personal policy, however, is to get informed and then try to forget the intellectual processing about it. I prefer to trust how I feel in the moment when I buy something, knowing that my body has its own way of telling me what it needs. Mostly it doesn't want fish, but on rare occasions fish seems to be exactly what my body needs.

Aside from the massive radiation of Pacific fish from the Fukashima disaster, we now have another issue facing us that is perhaps equally disturbing. We are not getting the truth about where our fish comes from, or even what kind of fish we are getting! Apparently, sushi restaurants are the biggest offenders, but this also applies to grocery stores and other restaurants. Beware.

From renagadehealth.com: "A February 2013 study by Oceana, the largest international advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s ocean, reported that seafood fraud is widespread across the U.S. Independent DNA testing confirmed that a whopping one-third of the fish sampled were mislabeled.

"One of the main concerns of the study: fish on the FDA’s “do not eat” list for sensitive groups like pregnant women were sold to customers who had ordered safer fish.

"To get the results they did, the researchers at Oceana tested 1,215 fish samples collected from 674 outlets in 21 states between 2010 and 2012. It was one of the largest seafood fraud investigations in the world to date. Results showed the following:

• One-third, or 33 percent, of the samples were mislabeled according to U.S. FDA guidelines.
• Mislabeling was found in 27 of the 46 fish types tested (59 percent).
• Only seven of the 120 red snapper samples were actually red snapper.
• Between one-fifth to more than one-third of the halibut, grouper, cod, and Chilean sea bass samples were mislabeled.
• A total of 84 percent of the white tuna samples were actually escolar—a species that can cause serious digestive issues for some sensitive people.
• Cheaper farmed fish were substituted for more wild fish. Examples include pangasius sold as grouper, sole, and cod; tilapia sold as red snapper; and Atlantic farmed salmon sold as wild or king salmon.
• Overfished and vulnerable species were substituted for more sustainable catch. Examples include Atlantic halibut sold as Pacific halibut, and speckled hind sold as red grouper."