Friday, April 29, 2011

Federal Undercover Sting!! - For an Amish Farmer??

We often hear of long and complex investigations...spanning months or years and involving untold agents working together to bring a criminal to justice...

Movies abound regarding law enforcement pitted against the Mafia...the Bonanno's, the Gambino's, or Lucchese families to name a few....the righteous glory, the heartpounding action and finally justice....as it should be....

And then....you read a story....that has you saying "What in the heck is going on here?!?!  They're spending my money on this???"

Read this story from The Washington Times....

A yearlong sting operation, including aliases, a 5 a.m. surprise inspection and surreptitious purchases from an Amish farm in Pennsylvania, culminated in the federal government announcing this week that it has gone to court to stop Rainbow Acres Farm from selling its contraband to willing customers in the Washington area.

The product in question: unpasteurized milk.

It’s a battle that’s been going on behind the scenes for years, with natural foods advocates arguing that raw milk, as it’s also known, is healthier than the pasteurized product, while the Food and Drug Administration says raw milk can carry harmful bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli and listeria.

“It is the FDA’s position that raw milk should never be consumed,” said Tamara N. Ward, spokeswoman for the FDA, whose investigators have been looking into Rainbow Acres for months, and who finally last week filed a 10-page complaint in federal court in Pennsylvania seeking an order to stop the farm from shipping across state lines any more raw milk or dairy products made from it.

The farm’s owner, Dan Allgyer, didn’t respond to a message seeking comment, but his customers in the District of Columbia and Maryland were furious at what they said was government overreach.

“I look at this as the FDA is in cahoots with the large milk producers,” said Karin Edgett, a D.C. resident who buys directly from Rainbow Acres. “I don’t want the FDA and my tax dollars to go to shut down a farm that hasn’t had any complaints against it. They’re producing good food, and the consumers are extremely happy with it.”

The FDA’s actions stand in contrast to other areas where the Obama administration has said it will take a hands-off approach to violations of the law, including the use of medical marijuana in states that have approved it, and illegal-immigrant students and youths, whom the administration said recently will not be targets of their enforcement efforts.

Raw-milk devotees say pasteurization, the process of heating food to kill harmful organisms, eliminates good bacteria as well, and changes the taste and health benefits of the milk. Many raw-milk drinkers say they feel much healthier after changing over to it, and insist they should have the freedom of choice regarding their food.

One defense group says there are as many as 10 million raw-milk consumers in the country. Sales are perfectly legal in 10 states but illegal in 11 states and the District, with the other states having varying restrictions on purchase or consumption.

Many food safety researchers say pasteurization, which became widespread in the 1920s and 1930s, dramatically reduced instances of milk-transmitted diseases such as typhoid fever and diphtheria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no health benefit from raw milk that cannot be obtained from pasteurized milk.

Acting on those conclusions, the FDA uses its regulatory powers over food safety to ban interstate sales of raw milk and has warned several farms to change their practices.

According to the complaint the FDA filed in court, the agency began to look into Mr. Allgyer’s farm in late 2009, when an investigator in their Baltimore office used aliases to sign up for a Yahoo user group for Rainbow Acres’ customers, and began to place orders under the assumed names for unpasteurized milk.

The orders were delivered to private residences in Maryland, where the investigator, whose name was not disclosed in the documents, would pick them up. By crossing state lines the milk became part of interstate commerce, thus subject to the FDA’s ban on interstate sales of raw milk. The court papers note that the jugs of milk were not labeled - another violation of FDA regulations.

Armed with that information, investigators visited the farm in February 2010, but Mr. Allgyer turned them away. They returned two months later with a warrant, U.S. marshals and a state police trooper, arriving at 5 a.m. for what Mr. Allgyer’s backers called a “raid,” but the FDA said was a lawful inspection.

The investigators said they saw coolers labeled with Maryland town names, and the coolers appeared to contain dairy products. The inspection led to an April 20, 2010, letter from FDA telling Mr. Allgyer to stop selling across state lines.

He instead formed a club and had customers sign an agreement stating they supported his operation, weren’t trying to entrap the owners, and that they would be shareholders in the farm’s produce, paying only for the farmer’s labor.

Customers hoped that would get around the FDA’s definition of “commerce,” putting the exchange outside of the federal government’s purview.

The FDA investigators continued to take shipments, though, and last week went to court to stop the operation.

Ms. Ward, the FDA spokeswoman, didn’t say exactly why they targeted Mr. Allgyer’s farm, but that violations generally are determined either by FDA investigations or by state-obtained evidence.

Pete Kennedy, president of the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, said undercover stings are not unheard of.

“It happens quite a bit. It’s almost like they treat raw milk as crack. It’s happened in a number of states, and at the federal level,” he said.

His organization has sued to try to halt FDA enforcement, and the case is pending in federal court in Iowa.

Mr. Allgyer’s customers declined to talk about the operations, and when asked whether they knew what would happen to the farm’s distribution, they said they would have to wait and see.

One of those customers, Liz Reitzig, president of the Maryland Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, said she started looking for raw milk when her oldest daughter began to show signs of not being able to tolerate pasteurized milk.

She first did what’s called cow sharing, which is when a group of people buy shares in owning a cow, and pay a farmer to board and milk the cow. But Maryland outlawed that practice and she was forced to look elsewhere for raw milk, and turned to Mr. Allgyer’s farm.

“We like the way they farm, we love their product, it’s super-high-quality, they’re wonderful. It’s just a wonderful arrangement,” she said.

“FDA really has no idea what they’re talking about when they’re talking about fresh milk. They have no concept - they really don’t understand what it’s like for people like me who have friends and family who can’t drink conventional milk,” Ms. Reitzig said.

© Copyright 2011 The Washington Times, LLC.
How do you feel about this story?  Is this a case of justice....or government run amok?  Tell me in the comments.......

This post is linked to Hearth and Soul Hop 46 and Real Food Wednesday.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Hearth and Soul Hop - Volume 45

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend...We did as well as a record setting rainfall for the state after a long drouth...It just goes to show...you're never more than a couple of days away from a BIG flood.

If you haven't done it yet....This is a shameless request for you to follow my blog by clicking on the RSS feed....or with the Google Follow Me button on the left colum of the page.  Thank you!


The Hearth and Soul Hop is born as a continuation and expansion of the Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop and we hope you will join with us in sharing our beliefs that food not only nourishes our bodies, but our souls! To really get clear on what we are talking about, please check out our nifty new mission statement!

Hearth and Soul Mission:

Food from your hearth, to feed your soul. Food that follows your intuition. Preparing food from scratch to nourish your family…body, mind AND soul! Food made with your own hands…infused with energy and passion and intent. Real food made by real people to feed real families (big and small, in blood or spirit). Ingredients from scratch, be it something grown in your garden or raised on your land…food foraged in the field or woods…food from local farms, farmers, or farmers markets…or even ingredients chosen by you from your local market that will be turned into something that feeds your soul. Tapping the food memory that each of us has stored inside; letting it guide and influence our own time in the kitchen.

We hope to embrace not only the “expected” areas of real food, but also those who want to incorporate healthier choices without sacrificing their love of food…how it tastes, the memories it conjures up, the comfort it brings. Yes, we’re trying to steer clear of packaged, processed, and boxed foods in favor of real foods….without absolutely excluding the sometimes frowned upon white sugar or flour (because the body craves what it craves…and sometimes things just don’t taste the same when you replace these). Making conscious choices and being present in the now with what your body needs…and taking steps towards exploring and enjoying healthier choices. If you take the time to listen, your body will tell you what it needs.

The warm comfort of the home hearth…stories, anecdotes, lessons, adventures, journeys, recipes, meals, beverages…we want to share the “why” of how food feeds more than just our bodies…how it also feeds our souls. After all, aren’t these the essential ingredients in defining real food? Please share links from your Hearth ‘n Soul with us each week.

Rules for linking:

Please use your best blog hop etiquette when linking. The rules are in place to help everyone have the best blog hop experience possible. Because of the overwhelming success of Two for Tuesday, a few changes have been made in the rules, so we kindly ask you to please review them so we can all be on the same page.

If you are new to a blog carnival, or blog hop, it is very easy to learn how to join in the fun! Simply go to the blog post for that carnival and scroll down to the bottom where you will see a small box that will say, Your Next or Your link here. When you click on that link, you will be asked to enter the URL of your recipe or article. Please link to your article only and not directly to your blog front page. The linky may ask you to upload a photograph from your computer, then you click next and leave a comment on the blog hosts post. You will also be asked to place a link back to the blog host, which means, adding in the URL of the blog hop post which you can copy from your browser address bar and insert at the bottom of your post. You could also choose to place a blog badge into your post, which was explained below. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

*A host will visit each link and read and comment on your post before the next linky period opens, because this is personal for us…we want you to know that we appreciate that you’ve taken the time to create a post, add a link back to the hop, and add your link! We’ll be sure to acknowledge this with a comment and a tweet on Twitter (using hashtag #hsoul).

-One link per week, please

-Must include a link back to one/any of the host sites (through worded link or badge) in individual post, not on sidebar…although we love having links on your page, as well (this benefits all of us). You will be sent a gentle reminder if no link is added to your post, we understand that sometimes people forget…but if it becomes a regular occurrence, (even though we don’t like to do it) your post may be removed. It’s just not fair to those who do take the time and show the grace to link back.

-Try to link a post that you think fits into the mission. You don’t have to link up every week…link up when you can. We welcome posts that are shared in other events. If you have an older, archived post that you want to add, we welcome that…as long as you go in and add a link back to Hearth ‘n Soul

-Linky will stay open from 10 pm Monday to 11:59 pm Wednesday (Eastern time).

Let the fun begin!!!

Thanks! Alex@Amoderatelife, Christy@frugalcrunchychristy, Jason@jasonjlhealth,  Alea @AleasLeftovers, April @apriljharris , Michelle @Foodista, Kankana @kankanasaxena, and Swathi @zestysouthindia

More Information for Those New to Blog Hopping!

...You veterans can just scroll down to the linky!

What is a blog hop you ask? Well, you can find out by visiting my Hearth and Soul Blog Hop page for a complete explanation, but basically, it is a way to link together various foodie love blogs so that you can enjoy many new healthy food recipes that you might not have been exposed to before!

Right now, A Moderate Life, Frugalcrunchychristy, Alternative Health & Nutrition, Premeditated Leftovers, 21st Century Housewife, Fit Foodista, Sunshine and Smile and Zesty South Indian Kitchen are teaming up to share the Blog Hop with their audiences. If you haven't been to their blogs before, then you certainly should, as they are tremendously creative cooks who are passionate about health and food and all are taking steps to cook more wholesome and soul nourishing food. This means you get exposure to four blog audiences for the price of one link, so we should really rename this 5 for Tuesday! :)

So, please link a recipe using the linky tools below and your link will be shared over 8 different blogs and with 8 different blog audiences. Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information is also welcome. Each participant's link will be tweeted and given a high quality feedback comment to increase your exposure.

Please use your best blog carnival etiquette and use the URL to your post, and not your blog landing page. Please post a link in your article back to the blog you are using the Linky Tools with and if you want to, please share the hearth and soul hop badge listed below to promote the Blog Hop. We would ask you to subscribe to our feed and Tweet the Blog Hop as well if you would be so kind!

IMPORTANT LINKING INFO: YOU MUST RESIZE YOUR THUMBNAIL TO BUTTON SIZE 150
pxl OR SO TO WORK WITH THE LINKY. THIS IS A NEW REQUIRMENT AND ALL LINKIES
WILL NEED IT. SORRY FOR THE INCOVENIENCE BUT TO KEEP A THUMBNAIL LINKY WE
HAVE TO DO THIS.



Monday, April 18, 2011

Hearth and Soul Hop - Volume 44

If you haven't done it yet....This is a shameless request for you to follow my blog by clicking on the RSS feed....or with the Google Follow Me button on the left colum of the page.  Thank you!

The Hearth and Soul Hop is born as a continuation and expansion of the Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop and we hope you will join with us in sharing our beliefs that food not only nourishes our bodies, but our souls! To really get clear on what we are talking about, please check out our nifty new mission statement!

Hearth and Soul Mission:

Food from your hearth, to feed your soul. Food that follows your intuition. Preparing food from scratch to nourish your family…body, mind AND soul! Food made with your own hands…infused with energy and passion and intent. Real food made by real people to feed real families (big and small, in blood or spirit). Ingredients from scratch, be it something grown in your garden or raised on your land…food foraged in the field or woods…food from local farms, farmers, or farmers markets…or even ingredients chosen by you from your local market that will be turned into something that feeds your soul. Tapping the food memory that each of us has stored inside; letting it guide and influence our own time in the kitchen.

We hope to embrace not only the “expected” areas of real food, but also those who want to incorporate healthier choices without sacrificing their love of food…how it tastes, the memories it conjures up, the comfort it brings. Yes, we’re trying to steer clear of packaged, processed, and boxed foods in favor of real foods….without absolutely excluding the sometimes frowned upon white sugar or flour (because the body craves what it craves…and sometimes things just don’t taste the same when you replace these). Making conscious choices and being present in the now with what your body needs…and taking steps towards exploring and enjoying healthier choices. If you take the time to listen, your body will tell you what it needs.

The warm comfort of the home hearth…stories, anecdotes, lessons, adventures, journeys, recipes, meals, beverages…we want to share the “why” of how food feeds more than just our bodies…how it also feeds our souls. After all, aren’t these the essential ingredients in defining real food? Please share links from your Hearth ‘n Soul with us each week.

Rules for linking:

Please use your best blog hop etiquette when linking. The rules are in place to help everyone have the best blog hop experience possible. Because of the overwhelming success of Two for Tuesday, a few changes have been made in the rules, so we kindly ask you to please review them so we can all be on the same page.

If you are new to a blog carnival, or blog hop, it is very easy to learn how to join in the fun! Simply go to the blog post for that carnival and scroll down to the bottom where you will see a small box that will say, Your Next or Your link here. When you click on that link, you will be asked to enter the URL of your recipe or article. Please link to your article only and not directly to your blog front page. The linky may ask you to upload a photograph from your computer, then you click next and leave a comment on the blog hosts post. You will also be asked to place a link back to the blog host, which means, adding in the URL of the blog hop post which you can copy from your browser address bar and insert at the bottom of your post. You could also choose to place a blog badge into your post, which was explained below. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

*A host will visit each link and read and comment on your post before the next linky period opens, because this is personal for us…we want you to know that we appreciate that you’ve taken the time to create a post, add a link back to the hop, and add your link! We’ll be sure to acknowledge this with a comment and a tweet on Twitter (using hashtag #hsoul).

-One link per week, please

-Must include a link back to one/any of the host sites (through worded link or badge) in individual post, not on sidebar…although we love having links on your page, as well (this benefits all of us). You will be sent a gentle reminder if no link is added to your post, we understand that sometimes people forget…but if it becomes a regular occurrence, (even though we don’t like to do it) your post may be removed. It’s just not fair to those who do take the time and show the grace to link back.

-Try to link a post that you think fits into the mission. You don’t have to link up every week…link up when you can. We welcome posts that are shared in other events. If you have an older, archived post that you want to add, we welcome that…as long as you go in and add a link back to Hearth ‘n Soul

-Linky will stay open from 10 pm Monday to 11:59 pm Wednesday (Eastern time).

Let the fun begin!!!

Thanks! Alex@Amoderatelife, Christy@frugalcrunchychristy, Jason@jasonjlhealth,  Alea @AleasLeftovers, April @apriljharris , Michelle @Foodista, Kankana @kankanasaxena, and Swathi @zestysouthindia

More Information for Those New to Blog Hopping!

...You veterans can just scroll down to the linky!

What is a blog hop you ask? Well, you can find out by visiting my Hearth and Soul Blog Hop page for a complete explanation, but basically, it is a way to link together various foodie love blogs so that you can enjoy many new healthy food recipes that you might not have been exposed to before!

Right now, A Moderate Life, Frugalcrunchychristy, Alternative Health & Nutrition, Premeditated Leftovers, 21st Century Housewife, Fit Foodista, Sunshine and Smile and Zesty South Indian Kitchen are teaming up to share the Blog Hop with their audiences. If you haven't been to their blogs before, then you certainly should, as they are tremendously creative cooks who are passionate about health and food and all are taking steps to cook more wholesome and soul nourishing food. This means you get exposure to four blog audiences for the price of one link, so we should really rename this 5 for Tuesday! :)

So, please link a recipe using the linky tools below and your link will be shared over 8 different blogs and with 8 different blog audiences. Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information is also welcome. Each participant's link will be tweeted and given a high quality feedback comment to increase your exposure.

Please use your best blog carnival etiquette and use the URL to your post, and not your blog landing page. Please post a link in your article back to the blog you are using the Linky Tools with and if you want to, please share the hearth and soul hop badge listed below to promote the Blog Hop. We would ask you to subscribe to our feed and Tweet the Blog Hop as well if you would be so kind!

IMPORTANT LINKING INFO: YOU MUST RESIZE YOUR THUMBNAIL TO BUTTON SIZE 150
pxl OR SO TO WORK WITH THE LINKY. THIS IS A NEW REQUIRMENT AND ALL LINKIES
WILL NEED IT. SORRY FOR THE INCOVENIENCE BUT TO KEEP A THUMBNAIL LINKY WE
HAVE TO DO THIS.


Thursday, April 14, 2011

What Diet Personality Are You?

We all have our quirks, habits, loveable and not so....  These things define our lives and what many people don't consider is their food personality.

I often get into a food rut...we all do...in that I tend to eat the same things over and over again until I begin to crave something else.  Some of you may have a spaghetti night, someone else stir fry, and so on...and I'm no different.  I have to make myself think outside the box and I often browse the grocery isles looking for something that grabs my attention.

I'm not a picky eater by any stretch of the imagination....my battle is often with portion control....as many other guys do as well.

I have tried to change my food habits first in a small way...and then in larger steps...in conjunction with a new excercise program I've started.  Less fatty foods, more fruits, veggies and the like and it hasn't been easy.  It has really made me evaluate what goes past my lips....and how those foods make me feel.

This has become more of an issue as I've hit middle age...think mid-thirties...when I can no longer eat anything I wish and go back for seconds and thirds.

As far as this article goes I'd say that I'm a type 2...with a bit of 4...and a large portion of 5 mixed in...

Read this article from WebMD.....

For Savvy Weight Loss: Know Thyself

What kind of dieter are you? Knowing your diet personality can help you lose weight.
By Jenny Stamos Kovacs
WebMD Feature

A weight loss plan only works if you stay with it. And as any successful dieter can tell you, it's much easier to lose weight and firm up when the diet plan you choose fits your lifestyle and personality. Hate to cook? You won't last long on a diet plan better suited to budding gourmets. Living in a house full of kids and big eaters so you're constantly surrounded by food? A weight loss plan for you will have to face the problem of snacking head on.
With any endeavor to lose weight, most women think they need to go on a diet, says Lisa Sanders, MD, a clinician-educator in primary care at Yale University and author of The Perfect Fit Diet. But that's not exactly true. A diet is simply what you eat, which means you're already on one. That diet either works for you so you achieve and maintain the weight you want, or it doesn't.


The first step to weight loss satisfaction? Find your fit among these five diet personalities, and weight loss might just be easier for you.

Weight loss type 1: The support seeker

You're the one who turns to friends and pros for answers. (If it worked for Oprah, it can work for you, right?) In college you had study buddies, shopping partners, and best friends who consoled you after miserable dates and psyched you up to try your hand at love again. You'd never have made it down the aisle without the help of a few older, wiser friends, and you couldn't handle colic and postpartum blues without those 1 a.m. phone calls to your sister-in-law.

Your ideal diet plan. Your perfect weight loss plan involves plenty of support from women who've been there - sharing your battles with chocolate fudge and meeting you for late-night walks around the block. Check out weight loss programs that meet weekly for fun, camaraderie, and tips on nutrition, or go the fitness route and join an aerobics or Pilates class with a core group of members. Sessions with a personal trainer can give you regular, one-on-one help with your unique weight loss demons.

If you're a stellar follower, but not so good at coming up with methods yourself, choose a diet plan that offers sample meals and grocery lists, says Suzanne Farrell, MS, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and owner of Cherry Creek Nutrition in Denver. Or start your own diet support group, choosing dependable friends who actually have time to offer weight loss help and won't let you get away with making excuses. A group of three or four friends can keep you firmly on the fitness wagon even when one member can't show up. Designate a leader, set a plan of attack and be sure to let your supporters know exactly what you need most from them, whether it's gentle encouragement or the toughest of love.

Weight loss type 2: The serial snacker

You're a stay-at-home mom, an account manager on the road or part of an office team of estrogen-charged women. You're in need of a little weight loss help because of your snacking style. Perhaps you don't like to cook, and with the kids, the husband, and the deadlines, who has time for three squares a day anyway? Your typical snacks consist of toast, peanut butter, chocolate, cookies, cereal, and when you're feeling extra virtuous, yogurt, bananas, or baby carrots. When you do find yourself cooking a true meal, you're usually too full from taste testing to enjoy regular-sized portions and the balance of healthy proteins, complex carbohydrates, and fats that they provide ̢ۥ until snack time comes around, of course, when it seems easier to unwrap a granola bar than heat up a plate of leftover veggies.

Your ideal diet plan. Serial snackers tend to eat out of habit, not hunger, says Brian Wansink, PhD, author of Mindless Eating and director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab in Ithaca, New York. And they choose whatever is most accessible. Their weight loss solution? Put healthy foods like fruit, vegetables, and whole grains in prominent positions, and hide cinnamon rolls and brownies in opaque containers in the deepest dungeons of your cupboards. Try chewing gum or long-lasting mints as a distraction from eating snacks.
Keep extra bottles or tumblers of water handy to replace some of those habitual snacks and to stay well-hydrated. And never bring an entire package of food to the couch or desk with you. You'll completely lose track of how much you've eaten, and before you know it, you'll have polished off the whole thing. Wansink tells WebMD it's better to take a portion that's smaller than what you think you'll need and serve it on a pretty plate.

Weight loss type 3: The free spirit

You refuse to eat anything "lite" just because someone tells you it's lower in calories. You have better things to do than count calories, carbs or grams of fat, and you're too rebellious to follow a step-by-step chart outlining what to eat at each meal. You take your work, social life, and family seriously, but have no desire to devote mounds of effort to something as mundane as food. Weight loss for you will have to be simple and natural, with few rules - and always open to change.

Your ideal diet plan.The free spirit doesn't want to work hard on a weight loss plan and isn't interested in a complete overhaul of the way she eats, says Seth Roberts, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at the University of California at Berkeley. She won't say "no" to so-called sinful foods, and would rather make simple, small changes to her weight loss plan than take away entire food groups.

One risk: This type of dieter can find herself gorging on huge servings of chocolate cake instead of savoring one small piece, Roberts tells WebMD. The free spirit's approach to dieting is essentially a non-diet, agrees Farrell. If this sounds like you, focus on eating slowly and mindfully. Rate your hunger before and during each meal, so you won't allow yourself to become too hungry or too full.

Weight loss type 4: The sweet tooth

You've got a sweet tooth, and everyone from your husband, to your daughter, to your aunt who bakes your favorite Mississippi mud pie every Easter knows it. Some days the label gets old, but the truth is, if you're a sweet tooth dieter, you'd never turn down brownies for banana chips, and you've seldom met a piece of chocolate you didn't like. Combine a sweet tooth dieter with a serial snacker, and you've got double trouble on your hands.
Your ideal diet plan. You need to plan your indulgences carefully, says Elisa Zied, MS, RD, CDN, a certified dietitian and nutritionist in private practice in New York and co-author of Feed Your Family Right!. Instead of wasting calories on whatever's lying around your home or office (your kids' Halloween stash or those tasteless holiday cookies), identify the sweet treats you love the most and plan how much of each one you're going to enjoy when, she says. Triple chocolate chunk brownies taste so much better when you buy them - one at a time - from the local bakery and savor them bite by bite. Then, the only way to eat more is to make another trip to the store (the walk could do you good).

Eat a few high-quality sweets, and soon those mounds of imitation goodies you used to call delicious will be a calorie-laden thing of the past. If there's a food you simply must eat if it's around, Zeid says, resist the urge to buy it. And add plenty of fresh fruit into your diet plan. Peaches, strawberries, and bananas can appease your sweet tooth while providing you with fiber and key nutrients, she says. For extra sweetness, try dipping fruit in low-fat pudding or yogurt.

Weight loss type 5: The distracted diner

Multitasking may be a busy woman's best time-saver, but it sure isn't good for your health or your waistline. If you tend to do at least two or three things at once - and one of them is often snacking - you're likely a distracted diner with little clue about how much you're really eating. Whether it's the dashboard or the desktop that keeps you from paying full attention while you eat, you'll find your best weight loss help can come from simply slowing down.

Your ideal diet plan. Prepare your snacks and meals mindfully, Wansink says. Think mini-meals, such as half a sandwich and a handful of baby carrots, and avoid snack foods like chips and cookies. It's too easy to down the entire bag while you're distracted. Choose foods that are easy to eat and difficult to spill on the run, like pre-sliced apples and grapes with the stems already removed. For grains, try whole-wheat pretzel sticks, whole-grain crackers, or dry cereals like Mini-Wheats.

Weight loss type 5: The distracted diner continued...

As for fast food, if you're always on the road, make yourself a deal. Tell yourself there's a cost involved, says Wansink, and you can eat fast food, but not while you drive. Instead, pull over and eat it in a parking lot. A distracted diner, usually too distracted while eating to notice, may never realize how much she actually dislikes the taste of fast food until she adds this trick to her weight loss plan.
If you want to transition from harried dining and tend to eat alone, try replacing mealtime distractions such as work, television or household chores with a light book or magazine. You may find you eat more slowly when your mind is focused on less anxious, time-pressured tasks.

Your personality, your diet plan

The real goal isn't to find a diet that works for you, Sanders tells WebMD. It's to find a way of eating that you enjoy, and which allows you to lose excess weight and keep it off. You may need to reassess your diet plan over time as your age and lifestyle change. But the only way to get that perfect fit is to find the diet plan that works with you and your personality right now. Bon appetit!
What diet type are you??  Tell us in the comments...

Monday, April 11, 2011

Hearth and Soul Hop - Volume 43

We had a great weekend...as weekends go...I had a really busy day on Saturday with work and other things.

Sunday was full of church in the morning and the zoo in the afternoon.  The day threatened rain but didn't deliver...so we had cooler weather for walking the (seemingly) million miles around the zoo exhibits.  The kids were worn out by the time we got to the truck...as was I !!!

If you haven't done it yet....This is a shameless request for you to follow my blog by clicking on the RSS feed....or with the Google Follow Me button on the left colum of the page.  Thank you!
The Hearth and Soul Hop is born as a continuation and expansion of the Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop and we hope you will join with us in sharing our beliefs that food not only nourishes our bodies, but our souls! To really get clear on what we are talking about, please check out our nifty new mission statement!

Hearth and Soul Mission:

Food from your hearth, to feed your soul. Food that follows your intuition. Preparing food from scratch to nourish your family…body, mind AND soul! Food made with your own hands…infused with energy and passion and intent. Real food made by real people to feed real families (big and small, in blood or spirit). Ingredients from scratch, be it something grown in your garden or raised on your land…food foraged in the field or woods…food from local farms, farmers, or farmers markets…or even ingredients chosen by you from your local market that will be turned into something that feeds your soul. Tapping the food memory that each of us has stored inside; letting it guide and influence our own time in the kitchen.

We hope to embrace not only the “expected” areas of real food, but also those who want to incorporate healthier choices without sacrificing their love of food…how it tastes, the memories it conjures up, the comfort it brings. Yes, we’re trying to steer clear of packaged, processed, and boxed foods in favor of real foods….without absolutely excluding the sometimes frowned upon white sugar or flour (because the body craves what it craves…and sometimes things just don’t taste the same when you replace these). Making conscious choices and being present in the now with what your body needs…and taking steps towards exploring and enjoying healthier choices. If you take the time to listen, your body will tell you what it needs.

The warm comfort of the home hearth…stories, anecdotes, lessons, adventures, journeys, recipes, meals, beverages…we want to share the “why” of how food feeds more than just our bodies…how it also feeds our souls. After all, aren’t these the essential ingredients in defining real food? Please share links from your Hearth ‘n Soul with us each week.

Rules for linking:

Please use your best blog hop etiquette when linking. The rules are in place to help everyone have the best blog hop experience possible. Because of the overwhelming success of Two for Tuesday, a few changes have been made in the rules, so we kindly ask you to please review them so we can all be on the same page.

If you are new to a blog carnival, or blog hop, it is very easy to learn how to join in the fun! Simply go to the blog post for that carnival and scroll down to the bottom where you will see a small box that will say, Your Next or Your link here. When you click on that link, you will be asked to enter the URL of your recipe or article. Please link to your article only and not directly to your blog front page. The linky may ask you to upload a photograph from your computer, then you click next and leave a comment on the blog hosts post. You will also be asked to place a link back to the blog host, which means, adding in the URL of the blog hop post which you can copy from your browser address bar and insert at the bottom of your post. You could also choose to place a blog badge into your post, which was explained below. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

*A host will visit each link and read and comment on your post before the next linky period opens, because this is personal for us…we want you to know that we appreciate that you’ve taken the time to create a post, add a link back to the hop, and add your link! We’ll be sure to acknowledge this with a comment and a tweet on Twitter (using hashtag #hsoul).

-One link per week, please

-Must include a link back to one/any of the host sites (through worded link or badge) in individual post, not on sidebar…although we love having links on your page, as well (this benefits all of us). You will be sent a gentle reminder if no link is added to your post, we understand that sometimes people forget…but if it becomes a regular occurrence, (even though we don’t like to do it) your post may be removed. It’s just not fair to those who do take the time and show the grace to link back.

-Try to link a post that you think fits into the mission. You don’t have to link up every week…link up when you can. We welcome posts that are shared in other events. If you have an older, archived post that you want to add, we welcome that…as long as you go in and add a link back to Hearth ‘n Soul

-Linky will stay open from 10 pm Monday to 11:59 pm Wednesday (Eastern time).

Let the fun begin!!!

Thanks! Alex@Amoderatelife, Christy@frugalcrunchychristy, Jason@jasonjlhealth,  Alea @AleasLeftovers, April @apriljharris , Michelle @Foodista, Kankana @kankanasaxena, and Swathi @zestysouthindia

More Information for Those New to Blog Hopping!

...You veterans can just scroll down to the linky!

What is a blog hop you ask? Well, you can find out by visiting my Hearth and Soul Blog Hop page for a complete explanation, but basically, it is a way to link together various foodie love blogs so that you can enjoy many new healthy food recipes that you might not have been exposed to before!

Right now, A Moderate Life, Frugalcrunchychristy, Alternative Health & Nutrition, Premeditated Leftovers, 21st Century Housewife, Fit Foodista, Sunshine and Smile and Zesty South Indian Kitchen are teaming up to share the Blog Hop with their audiences. If you haven't been to their blogs before, then you certainly should, as they are tremendously creative cooks who are passionate about health and food and all are taking steps to cook more wholesome and soul nourishing food. This means you get exposure to four blog audiences for the price of one link, so we should really rename this 5 for Tuesday! :)

So, please link a recipe using the linky tools below and your link will be shared over 8 different blogs and with 8 different blog audiences. Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information is also welcome. Each participant's link will be tweeted and given a high quality feedback comment to increase your exposure.

Please use your best blog carnival etiquette and use the URL to your post, and not your blog landing page. Please post a link in your article back to the blog you are using the Linky Tools with and if you want to, please share the hearth and soul hop badge listed below to promote the Blog Hop. We would ask you to subscribe to our feed and Tweet the Blog Hop as well if you would be so kind!

IMPORTANT LINKING INFO: YOU MUST RESIZE YOUR THUMBNAIL TO BUTTON SIZE 150
pxl OR SO TO WORK WITH THE LINKY. THIS IS A NEW REQUIRMENT AND ALL LINKIES
WILL NEED IT. SORRY FOR THE INCOVENIENCE BUT TO KEEP A THUMBNAIL LINKY WE
HAVE TO DO THIS.


Hello Monday....It's You Again - The Most Dangerous Thing?

We are all on a quest to be healthy...Eating the right foods, excercising, quitting smoking, etc are all things that you can do to improve your health.  As my friend Alex of A Moderate Life likes to say....there are a lot of baby steps you can take to make a difference.

I spend a LOT of time in front of a computer...So much in fact that I have thought many times about this particular subject...and even employed it often.  I didn't do so because of something I had read...I just did it because I knew I needed to get UP and get MOVING!  If I sit all day without moving around a good deal...I feel like that smelly stuff that the dog leaves for you when you're late for work.

Read this article from Mens Health...
The Most Dangerous Thing You'll Do All Day

We stand around a lot here at Men’s Health. In fact, a few of us don’t even have office chairs. Instead, we write, edit, and answer e-mails—a lot of e-mails—while standing in front of our computers. All day long. Why?

It all started last summer, when Assistant Editor Maria Masters came across a shocking study in the Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (one of dozens of research journals we comb each month as we put together the magazine). Scientists at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana analyzed the lifestyles of more than 17,000 men and women over about 13 years, and found that people who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks.

That’s right—I said 54 percent!

Masters immediately called the lead researcher at Pennington, a professor named Peter Katzmarzyk. Turns out, this wasn’t the first study to link sitting and heart disease. Similar research actually dates back to 1953, when British researchers found that (sitting) bus drivers were twice as likely to die of heart attacks as (standing) trolley operators.

Here’s the most surprising part: “We see it in people who smoke and people who don’t,” Katzmarzyk told Masters. “We see it in people who are regular exercisers and those who aren’t. Sitting is an independent risk factor.”

In other words, it doesn’t matter how much you exercise or how well you eat. If you sit most of the day, your risk of leaving this world clutching your chest—whether you’re a man or women—as much as doubles.


This raised a rather obvious question: Why? Truth is, the researchers aren’t sure. But Marc Hamilton, Ph.D., one of Katzmarkzyk’s colleagues, suspects it has to do with an enzyme called lipoprotein lipase (LPL), which breaks down fat in the bloodstream and turns it into energy. Hamilton found that standing rats have ten times more of the stuff coursing through their bodies than laying rats. It doesn’t matter how fit the rats are; when they leave their feet, their LPL levels plummet. Hamilton believes the same happens in humans.

Still sitting? Then you should know that your office chair also:

1. Screws up your posture. The fascia, the tissue that connects individual muscles into a full-body network, begins to set when you stay in one position for too long, says Men’s Health advisor Bill Hartman, P.T., C.S.C.S., a physical therapist in Indianapolis. If you’re hunched over a keyboard all day, this eventually becomes your normal posture.

2. Makes you fatter. This happens for two reasons. First, you burn 60 more calories an hour when standing versus sitting. But more importantly, says Hartman, when you spend too much time sitting, your largest muscle group—the glutes (a.k.a. your butt)—become lazy and quit firing. This is called gluteal amnesia. And it means you burn fewer calories.

3. Causes lower back pain. Weak glutes push your pelvis forward, putting stress on the spine, says Hartman. Here’s the other unseemly thing that happens when your pelvis tilts forward: Your belly protrudes, making you look 5 months pregnant.


So what’s a desk-bound worker to do? First, Hamilton suggests you change how you think about fitness. We have a tendency to segment our lives—work, home, and downtime. Exercise falls into the last category, something we squeeze into our busy schedules when possible. But if you stop thinking about exercise as an activity, and instead think of it as a lifestyle, it’s easier to make healthy choices throughout the day.

In other words: Stop trying to be fit, and start trying to live fit.

Second, of course, is to stand more throughout the day. These strategies will get you up on your feet more often:

Strategy #1: Take two breaks an hour. Grab a drink from the water fountain. Pop over to the cube next door to say hi. Or simply stand and stretch for a minute. A European Heart Journal study of 5,000 men and women found that the quarter who took the most breaks during the day were 1.6 inches thinner than the quarter who took the least.

Strategy #2: Stand during phone calls. It may seem like a small thing but, as Hamilton told Masters: “Small choices will help move you in the right direction. . . . It all adds up, and it all matters.”

Strategy #3: Don’t write long emails. If crafting an email will take longer than 15 minutes, go talk to the person instead. Or stand up and call them.

And if that’s not enough (and it may not be) . . .

Strategy #4: Ask HR for a standup desk. Australian researchers found that workers who log more than 6 hours of seat time a day are up to 68 percent more likely to be overweight. If you make the changes above and your waistline isn’t shrinking, a standup desk may be the answer. Make sure the screen is at arm’s length, and the top at eye level. Position the keyboard so your elbows are bent 90 degrees. Men’s Health Senior Editor Bill Stieg built his own. Check it out.

Mens Health File Photo.
I feel a TON better when I get up and move around throughout the day....On days that I can squeeze it in...I schedule my workout in the middle of the day to get me supercharged and finish strong.

What do you think of these ideas?  Do you incorporate them or something similar in your workday?

Friday, April 8, 2011

Feel Good Friday - Top Foods For Women

So many talk about food for the taste of it....and believe me I am a devout believer in tasty foods.  I never ate something that tasted bad more than once...unless there was love or money involved..

How many of you eat food for the health of it?  Do you find creative ways to eat healthy when taste is the least favorite part of the food?  I have to work at it...we all do.  Blending that healthy food into a salad or other recipe, making a smoothie.....there are endless ways to get your daily nutrients.

Do you know which foods you should be eating?  I have a basic understanding myself as most people do.  Until the past couple of years or so....I knew that I should be eating something but not the particular reasons why...  Those sneaky beta carotenes, polyunsaturated fats and other needed nutrients made it into my body by pure chance....because I didn't know the first thing about a healthy diet.

Women especially should take good care of their bodies through diet....After all...you do the lion's share of the work (I'll deny this if you ever mention it) bear the children, and keep the majority of us presentable in public.

Watch this video by Dr. Axe on 5 Top Foods for Women...




Do you ladies have these foods as a part of your regular diet?  Do you prefer others not mentioned here?  Tell us in the comments

This post is linked to Pennywise Platter Thursdays, Real Food Wednesdays  , Hearth and Soul 43, & Gluten-Free Wednesdays

Monday, April 4, 2011

Hearth and Soul Hop - Volume 42

If you haven't done it yet....This is a shameless request for you to follow my blog by clicking on the RSS feed....or with the Google Follow Me button on the left colum of the page.  Thank you!

The Hearth and Soul Hop is born as a continuation and expansion of the Two for Tuesday Recipe Blog Hop and we hope you will join with us in sharing our beliefs that food not only nourishes our bodies, but our souls! To really get clear on what we are talking about, please check out our nifty new mission statement!

Hearth and Soul Mission:

Food from your hearth, to feed your soul. Food that follows your intuition. Preparing food from scratch to nourish your family…body, mind AND soul! Food made with your own hands…infused with energy and passion and intent. Real food made by real people to feed real families (big and small, in blood or spirit). Ingredients from scratch, be it something grown in your garden or raised on your land…food foraged in the field or woods…food from local farms, farmers, or farmers markets…or even ingredients chosen by you from your local market that will be turned into something that feeds your soul. Tapping the food memory that each of us has stored inside; letting it guide and influence our own time in the kitchen.

We hope to embrace not only the “expected” areas of real food, but also those who want to incorporate healthier choices without sacrificing their love of food…how it tastes, the memories it conjures up, the comfort it brings. Yes, we’re trying to steer clear of packaged, processed, and boxed foods in favor of real foods….without absolutely excluding the sometimes frowned upon white sugar or flour (because the body craves what it craves…and sometimes things just don’t taste the same when you replace these). Making conscious choices and being present in the now with what your body needs…and taking steps towards exploring and enjoying healthier choices. If you take the time to listen, your body will tell you what it needs.

The warm comfort of the home hearth…stories, anecdotes, lessons, adventures, journeys, recipes, meals, beverages…we want to share the “why” of how food feeds more than just our bodies…how it also feeds our souls. After all, aren’t these the essential ingredients in defining real food? Please share links from your Hearth ‘n Soul with us each week.

Rules for linking:

Please use your best blog hop etiquette when linking. The rules are in place to help everyone have the best blog hop experience possible. Because of the overwhelming success of Two for Tuesday, a few changes have been made in the rules, so we kindly ask you to please review them so we can all be on the same page.

If you are new to a blog carnival, or blog hop, it is very easy to learn how to join in the fun! Simply go to the blog post for that carnival and scroll down to the bottom where you will see a small box that will say, Your Next or Your link here. When you click on that link, you will be asked to enter the URL of your recipe or article. Please link to your article only and not directly to your blog front page. The linky may ask you to upload a photograph from your computer, then you click next and leave a comment on the blog hosts post. You will also be asked to place a link back to the blog host, which means, adding in the URL of the blog hop post which you can copy from your browser address bar and insert at the bottom of your post. You could also choose to place a blog badge into your post, which was explained below. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

*A host will visit each link and read and comment on your post before the next linky period opens, because this is personal for us…we want you to know that we appreciate that you’ve taken the time to create a post, add a link back to the hop, and add your link! We’ll be sure to acknowledge this with a comment and a tweet on Twitter (using hashtag #hsoul).

-One link per week, please

-Must include a link back to one/any of the host sites (through worded link or badge) in individual post, not on sidebar…although we love having links on your page, as well (this benefits all of us). You will be sent a gentle reminder if no link is added to your post, we understand that sometimes people forget…but if it becomes a regular occurrence, (even though we don’t like to do it) your post may be removed. It’s just not fair to those who do take the time and show the grace to link back.

-Try to link a post that you think fits into the mission. You don’t have to link up every week…link up when you can. We welcome posts that are shared in other events. If you have an older, archived post that you want to add, we welcome that…as long as you go in and add a link back to Hearth ‘n Soul

-Linky will stay open from 10 pm Monday to 11:59 pm Wednesday (Eastern time).

Let the fun begin!!!

Thanks! Alex@Amoderatelife, Christy@frugalcrunchychristy, Jason@jasonjlhealth,  Alea @AleasLeftovers, April @apriljharris , Michelle @Foodista, Kankana @kankanasaxena, and Swathi @zestysouthindia

More Information for Those New to Blog Hopping!

...You veterans can just scroll down to the linky!

What is a blog hop you ask? Well, you can find out by visiting my Hearth and Soul Blog Hop page for a complete explanation, but basically, it is a way to link together various foodie love blogs so that you can enjoy many new healthy food recipes that you might not have been exposed to before!

Right now, A Moderate Life, Frugalcrunchychristy, Alternative Health & Nutrition, Premeditated Leftovers, 21st Century Housewife, Fit Foodista, Sunshine and Smile and Zesty South Indian Kitchen are teaming up to share the Blog Hop with their audiences. If you haven't been to their blogs before, then you certainly should, as they are tremendously creative cooks who are passionate about health and food and all are taking steps to cook more wholesome and soul nourishing food. This means you get exposure to four blog audiences for the price of one link, so we should really rename this 5 for Tuesday! :)

So, please link a recipe using the linky tools below and your link will be shared over 8 different blogs and with 8 different blog audiences. Recipes should include healthy ingredients and can be old or new recipes or posts. Articles on real food, slow food, foraging, herbal remedies, local food, sustainable food, organics, gardening or any healthy eating information is also welcome. Each participant's link will be tweeted and given a high quality feedback comment to increase your exposure.

Please use your best blog carnival etiquette and use the URL to your post, and not your blog landing page. Please post a link in your article back to the blog you are using the Linky Tools with and if you want to, please share the hearth and soul hop badge listed below to promote the Blog Hop. We would ask you to subscribe to our feed and Tweet the Blog Hop as well if you would be so kind!

IMPORTANT LINKING INFO: YOU MUST RESIZE YOUR THUMBNAIL TO BUTTON SIZE 150
pxl OR SO TO WORK WITH THE LINKY. THIS IS A NEW REQUIRMENT AND ALL LINKIES
WILL NEED IT. SORRY FOR THE INCOVENIENCE BUT TO KEEP A THUMBNAIL LINKY WE
HAVE TO DO THIS.



Hello Monday...It's You Again..Best Home Remedies For Headaches.

This weekend was one of the great ones....as weekends go...  I took the wild men to see "Hop" on Saturday night....good movie...I highly recommend it. 

We went to church Sunday morning and then to the park for a good part of the afternoon and enjoyed the awesome day.


The boys ran and played, chased squirrels, wore out the swingsets, and indulged dad for a impromptu family picture.  I'm not a photogenic person by any stretch of the imagination but we managed to get it done without too many "re-takes".   With the cameras built into the phones these days...it's hard to justify (and pack around) the dedicated cameras anymore.

I've had a lot of friends talk to me of headaches recently....migraines especially....so I was compelled to do a little research on the subject.  Nearly everyone in the world suffers from the occasional headache...and many...suffer from migraines. (myself for many years)

Read this article from Yahoo Health.......

Best Ever Home Remedies for Headaches

More than 45 million Americans not only get headaches, but they also get them time and time again. Some people are born with biology that makes them headache prone. Most of these are tension headaches, which account for 90%of all headaches. The pain is typically generalized all over the head, and you may feel a dull ache or a sense of tightness.

But an estimated 28 million people experience migraine headaches, which are even worse. Migraine is a complex disease that causes severe and often disabling pain, usually located on one side of the head, often accompanied by nausea, light and noise sensitivity, and other symptoms. Lots of things can set off a migraine attack, including changing hormone levels, poor eating or sleeping habits, dehydration, stress, weather or altitude changes, or more.

Headaches aren't fun for anyone and are especially crippling for migraine sufferers. OTC medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, or acetaminophen can help, but you have to be careful not to overuse them, which can lead to a rebound effect that makes symptoms worse. Here are the best home remedies to prevent headaches and help them get better faster.

Avoid MSG
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) may bring out all those subtle and spicy flavors in wonton soup, but if you're one of the many people who are sensitive to this flavor enhancer, it might also bring on a whopping headache. Like other headache triggers, MSG launches its attack by dilating blood vessels and exciting nerves in the brain. If you get headaches and other symptoms from MSG, make sure it's left out when you order Chinese food. Many packaged products are also loaded with it, so read labels carefully for additives with names such as hydrolyzed protein, glutamate, and caseinate, all MSG in disguise.

Skip Amines and Nitrates
A hot fudge sundae may sound heavenly, but it could also be a migraine sufferer's nightmare. Chocolate, which contains an amine compound called phenylethylamine, can cause blood vessels to constrict, then dilate, which may trigger a headache. The worst of the amines may be tyramine, an amino acid found in aged cheese, pickled herring, and liver. Other amine-containing foods include homemade yeast breads, lima beans, and snow peas. Nitrates, compounds commonly found in processed meat products such as hot dogs, bacon, and salami, also dilate blood vessels and may lead to head pain.

Fish Oil
A small study at the University of Cincinnati found that taking fish-oil capsules reduced the frequency and severity of migraines, compared with taking a placebo. While preliminary, these findings add to the mounting evidence of benefits from the omega-3 fatty acids in fish. You could also eat the equivalent of 2 ounces of fatty fish daily to reap similar headache-reducing benefits as those in the study.

Warm Footbaths
This soothing, therapeutic bath of hot water and a few teaspoons of mustard powder (used in cooking; available at grocery stores) may help you herd away a headache. The hot water causes your body to redistribute blood from one concentrated area—your throbbing head—and get it flowing all over. At the same time, mustard powder's essential oils stimulate the skin, diverting your attention from the headache.

Ginger
This fragrant herb inhibits a substance called thromboxane A2, which prevents the release of substances that make blood vessels dilate. In other words, it can help keep blood flowing on an even keel, which is essential in migraine headache prevention. Grate fresh ginger into juice, nosh on Japanese pickled ginger, use fresh or powdered ginger when you cook, or nibble on a piece or two of crystallized ginger candy daily.

Pencil
When you're stressed or anxious, you subconsciously clench your jaw and teeth; this strains the muscle that connects your jaw to your temples and can trigger a tension headache. A solution: Put a pencil between your teeth but don't bite. You automatically relax your jaw muscle to do this, which can prevent the pain.

Stand-up Straight
Poor posture creates muscle tension that puts pressure on the nerves that cause headaches. For people who work at computers, a posture problem called head forward posture can develop. Every inch that your head moves forward feels like an extra 10 pounds to the muscles in your upper back and neck, keeping them in constant contraction. Try this technique to correct head forward posture: Align your eyes on top of your shoulders. When you do this you will automatically straighten up.  
Watch Caffeine Intake
If you drink too much caffeine on a daily basis—three or more cups of coffee or large amounts of soda—your caffeine intake can cause or worsen your headaches. Moreover, suddenly stopping your caffeine will surely bring on a headache. But if you're not a regular caffeine consumer, one cup can go a long way toward providing headache relief by constricting the dilated blood vessels around your temples. It also increases the efficacy of pain medications, which is why it is found in most headache medicines.

Magnesium
Try relaxing magnesium (200 to 400 mg) to reduce the muscle tension and spasms that can cause your noggin to throb. But not any type will do. Make sure the supplement contains at least 200 mg of active elemental magnesium. Because magnesium is more preventive than curative, the treatment works best on, say, premenstrual headaches because you can predict when they're coming and take a dose a day in advance. Those with kidney problems should consult a health care practitioner before taking magnesium.
I know from a personal standpoint that magnesium is an excellent muscle relaxer and so many are deficient as a result of poor diet.  If you suffer from chronic muscle pain, tightness...check your magnesium levels.

What many people don't know....is that in many cases....migraines are caused by a toxicity build-up in the body.  In these instances, it is very simple to cleanse the body and therefore rid yourself of migraines in the process.  I had blinding migraines for years....I'm talking lie down, aluminum foil on the windows, physically ill from the pain type of hurt.  When I finally learned what was causing my problem...it cost me less than a night at the movies to fix.  Enviro Detox (third from the bottom) was my answer....That was almost 6 years ago and I haven't had one since.

What are some of your headache remedies?  Tell us in the comments.

This post is linked to the Hearth and Soul Hop Volume 42