.::::::: Doctorhollic :::::::.

When To Call a Doctor ?

Call 911 or other emergency services if:

* A baby younger than 3 months has a high fever.
* You are having trouble breathing or feel very short of breath.
* You have a severe headache or stiff neck and are confused or having trouble staying awake.

Call your doctor if:

* You have an extremely high fever.
* Your fever lasts for longer than 3 days.
* You are finding it harder and harder to breathe.
* Wheezing develops.
* New pain develops or pain localizes to one area, such as an ear, the throat, the chest, or the sinuses.
* Symptoms persist in spite of home treatment.
* Symptoms become more severe or frequent.

Watchful Waiting

In most healthy people, the flu will go away in 5 to 7 days, although fatigue can last much longer. Although you may feel very sick, home treatment is usually all that is needed. If it is flu season, you may just want to treat your symptoms at home. Watch closely for symptoms of a bacterial infection, such as nasal drainage that changes from clear to colored after 5 to 7 days and symptoms that return or get worse.

Early treatment (within 48 hours of your first symptoms) with antiviral medicines may reduce the severity of influenza and may prevent serious flu-related complications.2 Babies, older adults, and people who have chronic health problems are more likely to have complications from the flu, and they may need to see a doctor for care beyond home treatment. But not all antiviral medicines work against all strains of the flu. Talk to your doctor if you think you may need an antiviral medicine.

Call your doctor if you think your symptoms are caused by something other than the flu.

Just forget what your mom told you: A glass of warm milk before bed might actually keep you up, rather than lull you to sleep. See, the protein in the milk will boost alertness--and unless it's skim, the fat will slow your digestion, making your rest more fitful. Not exactly the best shut-eye remedy. (Sorry, mom.)

Nothing makes it harder to fall asleep than knowing how important it is to fall asleep. So when the pressure's on, try chowing down on one of these snacks before bedtime to ensure some serious shut-eye; they're all hand-picked and approved by the Eat This, Not That! nutrition team. These 8 sleep-better foods and drinks have been shown to induce feel-good relaxation chemicals, calming your nerves and slowing your racing brain. You can thank us ... tomorrow morning--after a long, restful night.


NONFAT POPCORN
Pop a bag half an hour before bedtime: The carbs will induce your body to create serotonin, a neurochemical that makes you feel relaxed. Skipping the butter-fat will slow the process of boosting those feel-good chemicals, and, as mentioned above, will also slow digestion in general.


OATMEAL WITH SLICED BANANA
Sleep is inspired by the hormone melatonin, but stress or excitement can disrupt melatonin's release. Bring your brain back down to earth by whipping up a bowl of instant oatmeal and topping it with a sliced banana, which is rich in melatonin.

Related: Something else that helps you sleep: A good workout, early in the day. Click here for the upgraded Men's Health iPhone app. You'll always have workouts on hand!


1 CUP OF PLAIN YOGURT WITH 2 TABLESPOONS MIXED NUTS
Scientists in Slovakia gave people either 3 grams each of two amino acids (lysine and arginine) or a placebo and asked them to deliver a speech. Blood measurements of stress hormones revealed that the amino acid-fortified speakers were half as anxious during and after the speech as those who took the placebo. Yogurt is one of the best food sources of lysine; nuts pack tons of arginine. Because both contain alertness-inducing protein, you're best off eating this combo a few hours before bed (or even at midday, before a big, stressful presentation at work). It'll reduce the residual stress you feel later in the evening, meaning you won't replay your day over and over again in your head as you try to fall asleep.


A PILE OF SESAME SEEDS
Sesame seeds are one of the best natural sources of tryptophan, the sleep-inducing amino acid responsible for all of those post-Thanksgiving turkey comas. Hold off on the turkey sammies, though-the protein in the turkey might offset the tryptophan's benefit.


A HANDFUL OF PRETZELS
Pretzels are a low-calorie, low-fat source of carbohydrates, which will make you feel sleepy, but won't pack on the pounds or give you belly-aching indigestion.

Related: Check out which pretzel made it onto our list of the 125 Healthiest Supermarket Foods in America.


1 GLASS OF WINE
It's called a "nightcap" for a reason--a glass of wine really does take the edge off. University of Toronto researchers discovered that one alcoholic drink caused people's blood vessels to relax--but two began to reverse the effects, so limit your intake. Relaxed blood vessels means lower blood pressure, slower heart rate, and greater ability to relax in general.


A 4-OZ GLASS OF UNSWEETENED CHERRY JUICE
Cherry juice has serotonin-inducing carbohydrates, which will help relax you. Down the cherry juice an hour before bedtime, in case you feel a small jolt of energy from the sugar. There's not enough to keep you up all night or destabilize your blood sugar levels.


RED BELL PEPPERS
Researchers at the University of Alabama fed rats 200 milligrams of vitamin C twice a day and found that it nearly stopped the secretion of cortisol, a hormone released in your body when you're stressed. Calorie for calorie, red bell peppers give you more vitamin C than any other fruit or vegetable.

And for more great advice like this, get the next book in the best-selling series: Eat This, Not That! 2010 Edition. It's completely updated and expanded to include all of the latest restaurant and supermarket foods! Sign up for your free Eat This, Not That newsletter--with daily no-diet weight-loss tips delivered straight to your inbox, losing weight has never been easier.

Hair loss that is caused by medicines, stress, lack of protein or iron, or hair care may be prevented. Avoiding certain medicines, reducing stress, getting adequate protein and iron in your diet, and using hairstyles that do not damage your hair may reduce or prevent hair loss.

You may have seen recent news reports about Sheryl Crow's advice to limit toilet paper use to one square at a time to help protect the environment.

Recent controversy about the safety of ingredients in some skin care products - hydroquinone and paraben, for instance - and their effect on the environment caused some to take a fresh look at organic skin care products.

Many of my patients choose organic products just to be on the safe side. The USDA enacted new organic standards for skin and body care in August 2005. If a product contains 95 percent organic ingredients, it can be labeled "organic."

If it only contains 75 percent to 94 percent organic ingredients, then it is labeled as "made with organic ingredients." For skin care ingredients to be labeled organic, they have to follow the same rules that foods do. These rules require manufacturers to avoid using prohibited pesticides and fertilizers, and employ positive soil building, conservation, manure management, and crop rotation practices.

I am not convinced that organic ingredients are always better for your skin, but you may be inclined to consider them for several reasons. Organic products aim to exclude or minimize any ingredients that could be considered potentially harmful to people, animals, waterways, or the environment.

Organic products often are sold in recyclable containers. If more people buy organic skin care products, then more companies will begin to supply these products. I invite you to share your favorite organic skin care products.

Have you ever carefully applied your favorite lipstick ... only to look in a mirror an hour later and discover that it's bleeding through the edges of your lips?

There are ways to slow the signs of lip aging! Time and time again, I've encountered patients and friends who invest tons of time and money in skin care - only to virtually ignore their lips. Don't make that mistake.

1. If you smoke, stop! The repeated action of pursing your lips around a cigarette creates "wrinkles in motion," that is, wrinkles caused by repeatedly moving your skin a certain way. Eventually, those wrinkles will remain even when your lips are at rest.

2. For that same reason, limit your use of drinking straws and anything else that causes you to repeatedly purse your lips.

3. When you're slathering SPF on the rest of your body, it can be easy to forget your lips. If your signature shade of lipstick isn't sun-friendly, always start with a base of SPF lip balm.

4. In fact, the lips are a very common site for skin cancer because they don't naturally secrete vitamin E-rich sebum - the oil that helps protect your skin. Pick up a bottle of vitamin E oil or lip balm with vitamin E. Not only will it help protect your pout against skin cancer, it will also prevent the signs of aging.

5. If your lips feel flaky, it's perfectly fine to exfoliate them, although there's no need to exfoliate on a regular basis. Use a fine scrub (nothing too abrasive), and be sure to follow it with a hydrating product. In addition to vitamin E, I love glycerin-based balms, which will help lips hold on to water.

6. Curious about "lip plumping" glosses? In general, they do work - by irritating the delicate skin on the lips and causing them to swell slightly. (They're not dangerous, but a word of warning: When I tried one, my lips burned for an hour, even though I'd washed it off immediately!)

7. If you're really interested in plumper lips, consider dermal fillers. Contrary to common fears, the latest dermal fillers (like Restylane, Juvederm, Hylaform, and the newly approved Perlane) can look very natural when a skilled doctor performs the procedure. Ask him or her to go easy on you - a little goes a very long way when it comes to lips.

When so much is uncertain in the world around us, it is natural for our anxieties to rise and our emotions to fluctuate. But when your emotions run wild, the imbalance can spell trouble for your long-term health. Read on for 6 natural ways to get grounded and balance your emotions.

The Chinese healing tradition classifies emotion into five predominant states: joy, rumination (including worry), sadness, fear, and anger. Experiencing these emotions is a normal part of life, and you usually shift naturally from one to the next in reaction to events that pop up in your day. However, when one single emotion dominates, it brings your entire body out of balance and can produce illness. Learning to manage your emotions is essential for your happiness, health, and longevity.

1. A nerve-calming neurotransmitter
A healthy brain has a balanced chemistry that can cope more effectively with emotional stress. Some neurotransmitters in the brain excite the nerves, while others have a calming effect. One such neurotransmitter, GABA (gamma amino butyric acid) is a chemical that is especially helpful when emotional turmoil strikes. As the primary neurotransmitter for calming nerve signals, it prevents anxiety-related messages from reaching the brain. However, over time the body's production of the chemical wanes, and when you have low levels of GABA, you may begin to feel an increase in anxiety, insomnia, irritability, and depression. When you take it as a dietary supplement, pair it with vitamin B6, which helps your body use the GABA.

2. Herbal therapy for balance
The liver is thought to be the seat of emotional expression according to Chinese medicine. When healthy, the liver network naturally balances your emotional state and releases suppressed emotions. A blockage of liver energy can manifest as depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders. Some herbs that can give the liver an added boost are:

* Dandelion cleanses the liver and helps release built-up anger.
* Milk thistle protects and restores the liver.
* Schisandra berry protects the liver and soothes emotional anxiety.
* Chrysanthemum flower is used to cleanse the liver and neutralize toxins.
* White peony root is a Chinese herb often used to soothe the liver and balance the mood.

These herbs are available from health food stores and Eastern medicine practitioners. Consider trying our formula Internal Cleanse, which lifts emotional stagnation and promotes liver health.

3. Exercise releases pent-up emotions
When people do not use a healthy outlet to release emotions, they are stored in the body and can eventually result in physical pain. Common symptoms that may point to trapped feelings in your body are pains in the back, neck, shoulders, jaw area, or stomach, congestion in the ear or nose, a lump in your throat, chest tightness, or shortness of breath. Often unrecognized as pent-up emotions, these blockages may cause more serious harm to your health down the road—manifesting as chronic pain or even growths. Free negative emotions and use massage therapy, exercise, yoga, tai chi, or qi gong to get your energy flowing freely.

4. Take a time-out
Every parent can pinpoint when their children are about to have an emotional breakdown—they are overtired, hungry, and hurried. Unfortunately, adults do not consider the impact of stress on their own emotional lives. Rest and relaxation are essential for emotional balance. Just as junior has restful activities scheduled like story-time or naptime, create some of your own relaxing rituals. Take a bath in Epsom salts, scent the air with lavender, or read quietly in a calm corner.

5. Keep a journal
One of the best ways to work with your emotions is also one of the simplest. Write down your feelings to release them. Try writing for at least 10 minutes a day for a month. This will give you enough time to spot some patterns in your emotions—and to note if they correspond to any physical symptoms in your body. Write from the position of observer and record your emotions without judgment or editing. The next step is to identify the source of any anger, sadness, or other unhappiness so you can begin to make changes.

6. Breathing brings balance
Use deep breathing and rest to restore your metabolic equilibrium. Sometime during your busy day find time to close your eyes and take ten deep breaths. Even better, meditate on a daily basis and head off emotional extremes before they start. Studies show that people who meditate are calm, slower to anger, and better able to see through problems to good outcomes. Try spending 10 to 15 minutes in meditative relaxation each day and watch your emotional elasticity expand! There are many meditation guides and cds that can help you learn the practice.

If you often feel ravenous by noon despite a good breakfast, try drinking some of this with your morning meal: skim milk.

In a small study of overweight people, those who drank about 20 ounces of skim milk with breakfast ate less at lunch than the folks who drank fruit juice in the a.m.

An Appetite-Dousing Drink
The milk drinkers also felt fuller and more satisfied after their morning meal. Most likely thanks to the whey and casein proteins that are in milk; they’re better at quelling hunger than the carbs in fruit drinks.

Other Hunger Crushers
If you don’t like the taste of milk, have lactose intolerance, or don’t drink milk for other reasons, don’t worry. There are lots of other ways to introduce lean protein into your morning meal. For example, try making this quick, protein-rich, milk-free smoothie: Banana-Cocoa Soy Smoothie.

Not feeling like much of an athlete these days? Eat an onion.

New research suggests that quercetin -- an antioxidant found in onions (and tea, and broccoli, and apples) -- may help your body work harder longer.

Taking a Cue from Quercetin
The small study in question compared healthy college students on stationary bikes. Those taking quercetin supplements pedaled 14 percent longer than the placebo group. Still, it’s not yet clear how this information translates into real-world use, because the supplement takers were getting really large doses -- about 500 milligrams twice a day. That is far more than a person gets in a regular diet. Still, the results are pretty impressive, especially considering how much fitter the students were able to get with little effort. Feeling lazy ?

Secret Energy Source
Besides possibly giving your workout a boost, quercetin has countless other health benefits. A growing body of research shows quercetin may help prevent everything from asthma and allergies to cancer and heart disease. And the latest research has scientists speculating as to whether quercetin may also help the body build mitochondria -- those all-important energy centers found inside each of your cells. So sip some tea and get invigorated!

If you’ve got a testy lower back, here’s something you can do in your sleep that might help: Sleep on your side.

Health experts say that this position puts less strain on your spine than sleeping on your back or your stomach does.

Less Painful Positioning
Joseph A. Abboud, MD, and Soo Kim Abboud, MD, coauthors of No More Joint Pain, contend that sleeping on your side is better for your back because it produces less curve in the spine. Also helpful: a firm mattress that supports your lower back. Tucking your legs up a bit and placing a pillow between your knees can help keep your spine comfier, too.

More Back Issues
Another novel way to protect your back: Avoid cigarette smoke. Aside from all the obvious reasons that tobacco smoke is bad for you, it could also decrease blood flow to your spine and even fuel disc degeneration, according to the book’s authors. Smoking also slows down your body’s ability to heal and recover from injuries.

Keep your spine feeling fine with these other back tips as well:

- Feed it the good stuff
- Get a buff backside
- Sit strong in front of the TV

You wanna try ?

Everybody wants a long life full of vitality. But beyond the basics of good diet and exercise, what can you do? For more than 2,000 years, Chinese medicine has refined the use of meditation to build the body's life force. And the scientists agree. The well-documented effects of regular meditation include lowered blood pressure, less heart disease, decreased chronic pain, and increased mental clarity. Meditation is an indispensable tool for living a longer, richer life and avoiding the burnout that comes from constant stress.

Meditation How-To
Many people find the idea of meditation to be daunting. They think they do not have the time, saying, "Someday I will devote the time to study meditation." Meditation is simple. You don't need training and you don't need to be alone in the mountains. You can learn it right now! All you need is a quiet place to sit and the curiosity to try for ten minutes.

Practice meditation in a quiet environment. Begin with 10 to 15 minutes. The morning is the best time, but anytime you can find an uninterrupted and quiet chunk of time will work. One warning: never meditate after eating. Silence your phone and close the door to any other possible interruptions.

Sit comfortably in a chair with your spine erect and both legs and thighs forming a ninety-degree angle with the ground, keeping your feet at shoulder width apart. You can also sit on the floor cross-legged-"lotus" position. And you can lie down for meditation if that is the only way that is comfortable.

Start by breathing as naturally as possible. After a few times, try breathing with your abdomen only. Slowly, your breath will deepen as you practice. You notice that babies breathe with their abdomen, but as we grow older, we become affected by our stress, our lifestyle, and environment and start breathing way up in the chest area. For meditation, breathe deep and low from the abdomen.

Begin to quiet your mind. Of course, the thoughts will come-and they will always be there. Don't struggle against them. Let the thoughts come, but don't dwell on them. Keep relaxing, and bring your consciousness back to your breath. If you have trouble concentrating, focus on one thing, a word or a mantra that can invoke a calming effect within you.


3 Simple Meditation Techniques:
These meditation-based practices fuel your life with the vital energy.

1. Stress Release Meditation
Stress, often called "the silent killer", is the root of many illnesses: from high blood pressure and heart disease to cancer and depression. You can learn how to release the stress and tension build up through this simple stress release meditation.

Sit comfortably or lie down on your back. Slow your respiration to deep, abdominal breathing. Utter the word "calm" in your mind with every exhalation. You will be visualizing the relaxation of a body part and releasing tension with every exhalation. Trace the following 3 pathways outlined below.

Start on top of your head. Inhale and then exhale while visualizing your scalp muscles relaxing. Say "calm" in your mind. Repeat this with each body part as you move down through your face, throat, chest, stomach, abdomen, thighs, knees, legs, ankles, and feet. When you've relaxed your feet, visualize all the tension in your body leaving through your toes as dark smoke.

Start from the temples of your head. This path focuses on the sides and upper extremities. Inhale and then exhale while visualizing your temple muscles relaxing. Say the word "calm" in your mind. Repeat this with each body part as you move down through your jaws, the sides of your neck, shoulders, upper arms, elbows, forearms, wrists, and hands. Once you've relaxed your hands, visualize all the tension leaving your body via your fingertips as dark smoke.

The final pathway begins on the back of your head. This path relaxes the back side of your body. Repeat the breathing-visualization-word routine as you go from the back of your neck to your upper back, middle back, lower back, back of thighs, calves, and heels.

Repeat this sequence until you feel free from tension. Practice this for 15 minutes every day. If you feel that you would be more successful with a guide, try my Meditation for Stress Release audio cd.

2. Pain Tamer Visualization
Visualization meditation is one of the most powerful pain management tools, used with great effectiveness by pain specialists, psychologists, and biofeedback therapists. Learn to erase your pain with this meditation:

Sit or lie quietly, and breathe slowly. With each exhale, feel your tension subside until you are completely relaxed. Visualize fine vertical lines running through your body from head to toe. Keep breathing deeply as you tune in to these lines. Now bring your focus to the painful area of your body and visualize crisscross lines at the spot that hurts. Using your imagination, erase the crisscross lines that intersect and disrupt the smooth vertical ones. Slowly, one line at a time, erase the cross-hatching with your mind until only the verticals are left. You've created a mental picture of your body's energy meridians and restored their smooth flow. You may also try my Pain Management Visualization Meditation audio CD to help guide you.

3. Five Clouds Meditation for Energizing
This is a simple meditation practice that can help you energize your internal organs. In traditional Chinese medicine, there are five organ systems in the body and five elements. Five Clouds meditation involves visualizing the elemental colors associated with each of the five organ systems. The five colors corresponding to the five organ systems are green for the liver, red for the heart, yellow for the spleen, white for the lungs, and blue for the kidneys. Start by imagining a gathering cloud of the corresponding color enveloping the organ, in the order given. Take two to five minutes for each organ system. When you have completed all five-color clouds, expand them so that the five colors intermix, ultimately becoming a rainbow.

To find out more about meditations that will also increase your years, click here: Meditations to Live to Be 100.

Don't worry or be critical of whether you are meditating correctly. Just know that if you feel quiet and relaxed and you are paying attention to your breathing, you are on the right path. With continued practiced, your body will know how to relax more quickly and the healing and wisdom of deep practice will come to you.

Bring a breath of fresh air to your home and an injection of wealth into your finances. Here are some simple, yet effective, tips to bring you peace and prosperity this year.

You may be surprised to learn that your home surroundings can affect your financial health. The Chinese art of feng shui is based on the science of energy alignment in one's living and workspaces to help optimize health, wealth, and happiness in one's life. You can learn how to use it to empower you and unblock your vast potential. My father, a feng shui master, passed down to me thousands of years of wisdom about how to change people's lives through environmental alignment with positive, constructive energy.

1. New Years: Out with the old
Early in the New Year is a good time to assess your surroundings. One principle for revitalizing your life through feng shui is to cleanse, detoxify, and let go of the past. Would you like to surround yourself with open space and colors that uplift the senses, or be faced with clutter that elicits agitation?

Create some space in your home. Clutter leaves you feeling disorganized, increasing your stress level when you can't find what you're looking for. Clear out the clutter by donating, reselling, or recycling anything you haven't found a use for in the past year-and don't forget to keep the receipt for a tax write-off.

Clean your living space thoroughly to remove stains, mold, and dirt. Get rid of junk piles and any indoor plants that have died. Repair or discard any broken, chipped, and cracked items -- these reflect aspects of your life that are broken and can trap energy you need to free up and use.

2. Metal: The money element
Feng shui principles observe that material wealth correlates to the metal element. Therefore, to balance matters of money, gold and silver color décor should be featured and metallic objects should be intentionally placed around the home. For instance, place a bronze sculpture in the foyer or a silver vase holding fresh flowers on your dining table. Also, a waterfall placed in the western perimeter of your home with the direction of water flowing towards east will bring in metal elemental energies and expressions into your home, paving the way for gold in your finances.

3. Symbols for fruitful finances
A traditional Chinese symbol of wealth and prosperity is orange fruit. Consider planting kumquat or orange trees on your property, in pots on your balcony, or even a bowl of oranges on your dining room table. Images of fish, such as Koi or carp, symbolize abundance and should be a welcome addition to any home's décor.

4. Grow your own money tree
Recently, a popular practice among feng shui aficionados is to have a money tree in your home. A money tree is an indoor bonsai tree from the Panchira aquatica species that measures one to two feet tall and has clusters of five-lobed leaves. Take good care of the bonsai so that it radiates healthy, vibrant, and prosperous energy in your life. Of course, no matter how many money trees you possess, your financial health will not improve if you do not also take care of it on a practical level. You must institute principles of good money management in your life, including setting budgets, living within your means, and paying yourself first. Paying yourself first means always put aside money in your savings before you pay your bills. These are the ways to achieve abundance in your life.

Even with these small changes, you may be pleasantly surprised by how much better you feel and the good changes that occur in your finances and your life. Now that you have balance in your home, bring balance to your body, with the Five Elements of Health Formula. It helps boost your organ function and maintain balance in all your elemental energies.

Wouldn't it be great if the foods we eat were safe, healthy, and free from pesticides?

There is a lot of confusion about what is safe to eat for our own health and longevity, as well as for our planet. There are no easy answers, but here are some basic guidelines for finding foods that will nurture you and the planet.

Say No to GMOs
Genetically Modified Foods (GMO) foods - including plants and animals - have been genetically manipulated to make the plant more productive, more resistant to pests, or contain higher amounts of a certain nutrient. When these foods are made to be more productive, it is no different than using growth hormones to make a chicken lay more eggs or a cow fatten up more rapidly.

In fact, it is similar to an athlete taking steroids. They promote extremely rapid growth but have side effects down the road. It is still too early to know what the effects of GMOs; it will take several generations to see if they have harmful effects on the human body. In the meantime, request your local supermarket carry natural and organic foods. Demand that their growers and distributors label foods that have been genetically modified.

Subtract Packaged Food's Additives
Avoid highly processed and refined foods - they're stripped of critical nutrients and then the nutrients are added back into the food after processing. Sulfites, nitrates, and MSG (monosodium glutamate) are the three most common additives used in packaged foods to preserve color, prevent spoilage, and enhance flavor.

Sulfites can give rise to severe allergic reactions like asthma. Nitrates combine with amines in foods to form nitrosamines, which can lead to neurological damage or cancer. Headaches are often associated with MSG.

Other additives, including artificial colors and flavors, have been found to cause cancer in animals and cause hyperactivity in children. Shopping the perimeters of your local supermarket is your best bet to avoid packaged foods and ensure a selection of healthy, simple whole foods.

Produce Pointers
Years of shopping in over-stocked supermarkets has disconnected us from our food and its origins. Much of the produce at your supermarket has been picked weeks - or even months - before it makes its way onto the shelf.

These items are preserved by nitrogen or other artificial means that make them appear fresh; however, these foods have a low nutritional value. Farm-fresh produce comes directly from the source to your table, leaving little time in between for nutrients to be lost.

So shop at local farms stands, buying fresh, in-season organic produce. By eating locally produced foods you are lessening global warming by not buying foods that have been transported hundreds or thousands of miles to get to your dinner table.

When produce isn't organic, soak it in a large pot of cold water for five minutes, add a tablespoon of sea salt and one tablespoon of vinegar, then rinse thoroughly. You can also peel the pesticides off the outer layer of fruits and vegetables; however, keep in mind that you will lose some of the valuable nutrients in the skin.

Produce with the highest amounts of pesticide residue levels include cucumbers, peaches, and zucchini - all of which can be peeled. Some produce is best eaten only when it is organic, such as celery, cherries, grapes, strawberries, and tomatoes.

Meat Management
Conventional meat, poultry, and dairy products contain sizable amounts of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotic drugs that are harmful to your health.

In addition, commercial feed for animals is full of growth-stimulating hormones, drugs, coloring agents, and pesticides. And consider this: nearly 140,000 tons of poultry are condemned annually as unfit to eat, usually due to cancer, and yet a substantial amount is processed into animal feed.

More than 40 percent of antibiotics produced in the United States are used as animal-feed additives. The ecological result, after the animals and humans urinate and defecate the antibiotics, is the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains that are very dangerous to our health. For your health and well-being, only buy organic and free-range animals whenever possible.

Your body requires you to drink at least 60 ounces of liquid a day to function at its optimum. If even buying a cup of coffee seems out of your budget these days, read on to find out which beverages will give you a health bang for your budget.

1. Drink filtered water
How many bottles of water do you buy during your week? One per day? Maybe more? The cost really begins to add up, especially when you consider that the water that comes out of your tap is free. Since studies show that tap water is filled with contaminants, antibiotics, and a number of other unhealthy substances, I suggest you invest in a good quality carbon-based filter for your tap water.

Not only will you have pure water at your fingertips, you will avoid having to drink water that has been stored in plastic bottles that contain Bisphenol-A (BPA) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Instead, use a stainless steel thermos or glass bottle, filled with filtered water from your tap. To learn about a high-performance filtration system that I recommend, click here. What seems like a big cost at first ends up saving you money - and the environment - in the long run.

If you find that water is not a flavorful enough on its own, enhance the flavor of your water with these refreshing tips:

• Crush fresh basil and mint leaves, put them in a large carafe, add room temperature water and let the mixture sit for half an hour. Then add one teaspoon of honey and mix.
• Give your water a citrus infusion! Spruce up your water's flavor by putting in the ripened peel from orange, tangerine, and lemon - or even all three! Citrus peel is packed with healthy compounds such as polymethosylated flavones and d-limonene that have been found to lower cholesterol, balance blood sugar, and detoxify your liver.

2. Make the switch from coffee to tea
Tea is the most commonly consumed beverage in the world after water, and for good reason. Whereas coffee hotwires your nerves and depletes your life force in the long run, tea gently lifts your energy, and offers many health benefits, too. Black, green, white, and oolong teas all contain anti-oxidant polyphenols, with green and white tea taking the lead for the highest amounts.

In fact, tea ranks as high as or higher than many fruits and vegetables in the ORAC scale, a score that measures antioxidant potential of plant-based foods. Herbal tea does not have the same antioxidant properties, though it is still delicious and beneficial for other healthy effects, including inducing calming and relaxing effects.

On the financial front, a box of 30 tea bags will only set you back the price of one grande latte - that's cost-effective! For a selection of healthy teas that promote total body wellness, click here.

3. Drink your veggies
When you consider the cost of getting sick to your health and your wallet, there are a lot of reasons to keep your immunity up this cold season. Boost your immunity with a healthy dose of vegetables. Make your own vegetable juice at home in a juicer or blender for a satisfying drink.

If all those vegetables sounds to pricey, try taking iron-rich chlorophyll in supplement form. There are many healthy mixes that you can purchase at your local health food store that cost a pittance compared to the wealth of benefits they have to offer. Mix the green powder of chlorophyll-rich sources - barley, wheat grass, alfalfa, spirulina, and chlorella, and seaweed such as blue-green algae - in filtered water, juice or green tea.

4. Light juice blends: more for less
The healthiest and most economical way to enjoy juice is to dilute with filtered water. This may initially require you to change your palette, but after a couple of weeks, you will no longer miss the sweetness of sugary concentrated juices. Buy a jar of organic 100% juice, especially cranberry, acai, pomegranate, and then dilute three parts filtered water to one part juice. You will get a tasty subtle sweetness and the benefit of antioxidants while saving money on buying juices for you or your kids all the time

5. Skip the soda and try tea
If you are a chronic soda drinker, you may want to consider the health and monetary costs. Buying a can or bottle of soda a couple times a day adds up, especially when compared to water or tea. Health-wise, sodas are loaded with unhealthy amounts of sugar.

Sugar-free diet sodas are no better; most contain aspartame, a chemical, which has been linked to obesity and can break down into aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol at high temperatures. Also, beverages with bubbles contain phosphoric acid, which diminishes bone mass, increasing your risk of osteoporosis.

Try making the switch from soda to tea or herbal tea. Hot or cold, tea or different blends of herbal tea are satisfying and healthy ways to hydrate your body. If tea simply doesn't satisfy your sweet tooth, add some honey, which has important health benefits that refined sugar lacks.

Managing your child's diabetes is challenging enough, but it's compounded when the youngster becomes sick from something else.

The American Diabetes Association offers these suggestions:

• Don't stop giving your child insulin, even if the youngster doesn't have much of an appetite. Call the child's doctor if you're not sure about how to administer insulin during a sick day
• Try not to make major changes to your child's diet. For a child with an upset tummy, offer liquids with carbohydrates, including broth, gelatin, sports drinks, fruit juice and frozen fruit bars.
• Make sure your child drinks plenty of water. Avoid any beverage with caffeine.
• Check with the doctor before giving any over-the-counter medication. Many drugs have sugar and/or alcohol that can affect your child's blood glucose levels.
• It's critical to carefully monitor your child's blood glucose and ketone levels during an illness, so make sure you check the blood every few hours and urine several times daily.

Next time you get a nagging headache, try a little fingertip therapy. You might feel better more quickly.

Many people recommend massaging these key acupressure points to ease the grip of a tension headache.

• Your temporalis muscle: With your index and middle fingers, apply pressure to your temporalis muscle. It’s that tender spot where you feel a muscle move when you clench your teeth.
  
  
• Behind your ears: Using your thumbs, massage in a circular motion the spots just underneath the large bones behind your ears.
  
  
• Between your eyes: With your middle finger and thumb, gently pinch the skin just above your nose and press upward so you feel the pressure around your eyebrows.
  
  
• The web of your hand: Use your thumb and index finger to squeeze the fleshy pad of skin between the thumb and index finger on your opposite hand

Pick up these natural air allies from your local nursery: philodendrons, spider plants, and ivy.

They are just a few of the green friends that can help scrub harmful compounds from household air. Just one plant per 100 square feet of living space will help absorb volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

The Problem with VOCs
VOCs are everywhere. Carpet, paint, foam insulation, household cleaners, air fresheners, and even cosmetics contain them. And, unfortunately, exposure to these toxins has been cited for causing fatigue, headaches, asthma, and allergies in certain people. Could your indoor air be poisoning you? Find out by reading this article.

Love Your Lungs
Your lungs do a lot for you, from helping you raise your voice over the neighbor’s lawn mower to giving you the O2 you need to mow your own lawn. So why not treat your lungs with kid gloves? Here are some other things that your lungs love:

* Sunshine. Okay, the sun can’t really shine on your lungs. But they do love the sunshine vitamin. Find out how much.

* Cabbage. Yep, there’s nothing like some good old sauerkraut, as far as your lungs are concerned. Here’s why.

* Peanut butter. Give your lungs a creamy, sweet blast of this kid favorite -- they’ll thank you for it. It’s all because of a certain vitamin

Solar power isn’t just a smart move in the home. It’s a smart move for your head, too.

So step outside and power up your brain. Research shows that a proper amount of the sunshine vitamin (that’s D, for short) in your system may help you think faster.

D for Deduction
In a study of older European men, those with low levels of vitamin D in their blood did worse on a mental processing test that required quick thinking. Researchers aren’t sure how vitamin D helps the brain to process information, but they think that it might help certain neuroprotective pathways. Here’s another vitamin that can help your brain.

Sun Smarts
Of course, in this era of ever-growing skin cancer rates, you still want to be smart about the sun, so don’t overdo it. Most people can get enough vitamin D with about 10 or 15 minutes of sun exposure twice a week without sunscreen. Or look up vitamin D food sources with this tool and skip the sun. Here are some other, sun-free ways to rev up your cognitive skills:

* Eat your veggies. Find out why your brain loves broccoli.
* Have a walk-along. Here’s how regular cardio exercise can increase your brain size.
* Be a kid. Try these mind-stimulating games to strengthen your mental muscle.

You’re only 30 minutes away from a faster brain.

Fact : Safely getting enough sun can make your RealAge as much as 1.7 years younger.

More of your health care takes place in your home than anywhere else. Having the right tools, medicines, supplies, and information on hand will improve the quality of your self-care.

Self-care tools are the basic equipment of your home health center. Store all your self-care tools and supplies in a central location, such as a large drawer in the bedroom or family room. Use the lists of tools and supplies in this topic as checklists for keeping your home health center stocked. It's a good idea to keep all your family's medical records in one place, such as in your home health center. For information on organizing these records, see the topic Home Medical Records.

Be familiar with the disaster preparation and response plan for your area. Keep the appropriate supplies on hand. For more information on preparedness and recommended supplies, see the topic Terrorism and Other Public Health Threats.

Note:
If small children are around, keep your supplies out of reach or stored in containers or cabinets with childproof safety latches.

Cold Pack
A cold pack is a plastic envelope filled with gel that remains flexible at very cold temperatures. Buy two cold packs and keep them in the freezer. Use them for bumps, bruises, back sprains, turned ankles, sore joints, or any other health problem that calls for ice. A cold pack is more convenient than ice and may become the self-care tool you use the most.

You can make your own cold pack:

* Put 1 pint (0.5 L) of rubbing alcohol and 3 pints (1.4 L) of water in a 1 gal (4 L), heavy-duty, plastic freezer bag.
* Seal the bag, and then seal it in a second bag. Mark it "Cold pack: Do not eat," and place it in the freezer.

A bag of frozen vegetables will also work as a cold pack.

Humidifier and Vaporizer
Humidifiers and vaporizers add moisture to the air, making it less drying to your mouth, throat, and nose. A humidifier blows cool to lukewarm mist into the air, and a vaporizer puts out hot steam.

The mist from a humidifier may be more comfortable to breathe than hot steam. But humidifiers are noisy, produce particles that may be irritating to some people, and need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly. This is especially important for people who have mold allergies.

A vaporizer's hot steam is germ-free and may feel good when you have a cold. But the hot water can burn anyone who overturns or gets too close to the device.

Medicine Spoon
Medicine spoons are transparent tubes with marks that show typical dosage amounts. A medicine spoon makes it easy to give the right dose of liquid medicine. While the spoons are convenient for anyone, they are particularly helpful for people who have young children. The tube shape and large lip get most of the medicine into a child's mouth without spilling. Buy one at your local pharmacy.

Otoscope
An otoscope is a flashlight with a special attachment for looking into the ear. With training, you can use an otoscope to help you decide if an ear infection is present. Inexpensive consumer-model otoscopes are available, but they do not put as much light into the ear canal and eardrum as the one your doctor uses. They can also be used as high-intensity penlights.

Penlight
A penlight has a small, intense light that can be easily directed. It is useful for looking into the mouth or throat or examining the skin, and it is easier to handle than a flashlight.

Blood Pressure Cuff
If you have heart disease or high blood pressure, it's a good idea to have a blood pressure cuff to monitor your blood pressure regularly.

Blood pressure cuffs come in many models. If you have difficulty reading the gauge on a regular cuff, consider an electronic digital model. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a blood pressure kit and show you how to use it. For more information on how to take a blood pressure, see the topic Home Blood Pressure Monitoring.

Thermometer
Glass thermometers that contain mercury are no longer recommended because of safety concerns. If you have one in your home, consider replacing it with a digital electronic thermometer. You can contact your local recycling center to see if they dispose of thermometers that contain mercury.

Digital electronic thermometers are accurate, easy to read, and durable. Temperature strips are very convenient and safe but are not as accurate as digital thermometers and should only be used to measure armpit (axillary) temperature. They are inaccurate when used on the forehead. Thermometers that measure the temperature in the ear are fast, easy to use, and quite accurate, but they are expensive.

Rectal thermometers with enlarged bulbs are helpful for children younger than 6 or anyone who cannot hold an oral thermometer in his or her mouth. For more information on how to take a temperature, see the topic Body Temperature.

I'm sure, Many people in the world HAS TO ASK THIS QUESTION.

And also soo many people feel confuse and have an obstruction about this habit.

If you smoke, you probably worry about what it's doing to your health. You probably worry too about how hard it will be to quit smoking. Nicotine is highly addictive and to quit smoking, especially without help, can be very difficult.

In fact, most people fail the first time they try to quit smoking. But just because you fail once or more than once, doesn't mean you can't succeed or that you shouldn't try again.

First step: Decide to quit smoking and set a stop date, and then take advantage of the multitude of resources available to help you successfully quit smoking.

Second Step: You know chewing gum? Stop your THAT bad habit with consume chewing gum.

Third Step: Stay away from the Smoker.

Fourth Step: Say No to Smoking.

- Goodluck -