Here are 7 ways to treat common conditions without a prescription:

1) Shrink Fibroids with Milk. A recent study showed that 4 glasses of milk a day can help reduce growths by 30%.

2) Treat heartburn with almonds. Eating a handful of almonds can help relieve heartburn and acid reflux within about 15 minutes due to their natural oils.

3) Relieve a headache by soaking your feet in warm to hot water. This helps to divert the blood from your head to your feet. Soak for 10-15 minutes, and then lie down with a cold washcloth on your forehead.

4) Take the itch out of a mosquito bite with garlic. Peel a glove and slice it in half. Rub it over the affected skin every few hours to relieve itching.

5) Cure athlete’s  foot with tea tree oil.  This natural disinfectant can kill the fungus that causes this itch condition.

6) Eliminate dandruff with flaxseed oil. Dandruff is caused by a lack of essential fatty acids, ingesting 2 tbsp of flaxseed oil a day can help increase your level of alpha-linolenic acid which can rid you of dandruff.

7) Eat brown rice to cure acne. A recent Australian study found that people who ate low-glycemic carbs like brown rice have less acne, they suspect it’s due to the high level of magnesium in brown rice which helps regulate hormones that can trigger acne.

While you don’t have to cut out sweets entirely, there are a few things you can do to cut down without feeling deprived.

Here are 10 tips on how to reduce your daily sugar intake for good:

#10) Avoid the cereal aisle. Eat eggs for breakfast instead.

#9) Make your own tomato sauces.

#8) Skip fruit juices, sports and energy drinks.

#7) Go Greek with your yogurt.

#6) Replace your Starbucks with a green tea.

#5) Dress your salad simply (skip most bottled dressings, or make your own).

#4) Imbibe smart – skip the Cosmos and sip a Skinny Girl Margarita instead.

#3) Don’t succumb to the ‘baby food diet’ – it’s loaded with sugar!

#2) Drink water. This one sounds so simple, but how many of us actually do it? Diet soda can increase sugar cravings, so skip those too.

#1) What’s the #1 way to cut down on your sugar intake? Eat whole, unprocessed foods as often as possible.

Do you spend hours on the treadmill and yet nothing is happen in your body? Are you bored senseless by the endless cycling that seemingly gets you nowhere? Please let me introduce you to the best cardio workout you probably haven’t tried: HIIT! High intensity interval training (AKA HIIT) is a method of exercise that utilizes various intervals of high and low intensity to maximize the body’s calorie and fat burning potential.

What makes HIIT so effective?
A recent Canadian study revealed that when exercisers used this high intensity interval training method over a 2-week period, their bodies were much more effective at burning fat and carbohydrates both during and after exercise. This type of high intensity training increases your metabolism (or the rate at which your body burns calories) for up to 24 hours afterwards. One study even found that participants burned up to 9 times more fat than they did with steady state exercise. HIIT is not only effective, it’s efficient! Another study found that 2.5 hours worth of HIIT is equal to up to 10.5 hours of long distance training.

What’s a HIIT workout like?
A good HIIT workout has an interval/recovery ratio that allows for active rest periods. If you find that you are unable to catch your breath after completing an interval, you may need more recovery time before increasing your intensity again. The intensity references used below are based on a scale of 1-10, 1 being complete rest, 10 pushing to the point of absolute fatigue.

And the best part is that you can do the following workout using your favorite form of exercise – jogging, cycling, walking, etc. and increase intensity with either speed or incline, or a combination of both:

Sample 21-Minute HIIT Workout:

Warm Up (intensity 3): 3 minutes

Interval Workload (intensity 9-10): 1 minute

Active Recovery (intensity 7): 3 minutes

(Repeat Workload/Recovery 3 more times)

Final Recovery (intensity: 2): 2 minutes

This type of training is not only beneficial for weight loss, but it also dramatically increases your VO2 max (which is the best indicator of cardiovascular fitness), meaning you’ll have improved endurance and stamina.

Work smarter, not harder. Try a HIIT workout 2-3x per week, alternating with strength training, for best results (and less boredom).

The magic isn’t in washing the dishes themselves, it lies in the repetition of a less-than-strenuous task. By focusing on the task – noticing how the water feels, circling the sponge around the dish, delighting in the soap bubbles (ok, maybe that’s going a bit too far, but you get the idea) – you become mindful of the present.

This type of activity helps turn off the part of your brain that can stay in worry mode, allowing your body to calm down, lower your heart rate and even emit calmer brain waves.  Studies have also shown that meditation increases the activity in the left prefrontal cortex of your brain (the part of the brain associated with happiness and positive thoughts and emotions), and the effect lingers even after you’ve stopped meditating for awhile.

So next time you are faced with a sink full of dirty dishes, instead of loading up the dishwasher, why not embrace the task and meditate by hand washing them yourself?

Sources:

Woman’s World, 6/28/10

“Meditation Gives Brain a Charge, Study Finds” The Washington Post, 1/3/05

Source: Woman’s World, 6/28/10

Here are a few ways to try magnesium to help clear your skin:

Use an Epsom Salt toner. Dissolve 1 tsp. of epsom salts into 1 cup of hot water and stir. Once the solution is cool enough to apply, use a cotton ball and swab any acne-prone areas (including face, back, arms, etc).

Spot treat with milk of magnesia, or use it as a cleanser. Next time you have a blemish forming, try dabbing it with milk of magnesia and leaving it on overnight. Or, wash your face with it, and let it sit on your skin for about 10 minutes.

Eat your recommended 350 mg. of magnesium per day. Most of us aren’t getting enough magnesium in our diets (studies show most of us are about 200 mg. short of the recommended daily dose – especially women who diet). Make sure you are getting plenty of magnesium from foods like black beans, broccoli, oysters and pumpkin seeds to help reduce inflammation and balance hormone levels and prevent breakouts from occurring.

Plus, egg yolks have so many beneficial properties: they contain healthy fats and important nutrients like lutein and choline, and they aren’t bad for your heart.

Apparently, there are a lot of healthy things you can do with egg yolks!

1)   You can make your own mayo.

2)   Use them as a thickener for sauces or soups.

3)   Add them to rice (pour a yolk in as water is boiling and add rice to cook) to create a creamier, protein rich side dish.

4)   Try an egg yolk ‘crepe’ (you can reduce or eliminate the flour in this recipe)

5)   Whip up an egg yolk sponge cake

6)   Make your own egg noodles (try whole wheat flour for an ever healthier version)

7)   How about whole wheat cottage cheese pancakes?

8)   Improve your skin with a homemade facemask

So there you go, now you don’t have to waste a single yolk! And if you aren’t ready to do any of these right away, you can wait up to 4 days and store the yolks (in tact), covered with a little water, in a container in the fridge. (experts do not recommend freezing them).

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After seeing more than a few posts on Facebook from friends who are suffering from poor sleep as of late, it made me wonder: are you more likely to experience insomnia during the summer months?

Apparently, the answer is yes. One study found up to 76 percent of people surveyed said they experience increased difficulty sleeping during the summer, and one in three people have summer-induced insomnia.

Here are the top causes of summer sleep disruption and how to fix them:

1)   Your Bedding. It may seem that by kicking off the comforter that you are making your bed suitable for summer sleep, but ditching your heated blanket may not be enough to keep your body at an ideal temperature for deep sleep. Memory foam mattresses can often become uncomfortably hot in the summer, as many do not allow your body heat to disperse. You may want to remove memory foam during the summer, or purchase a mattress pad (to cover the foam) that contains polyester, which can help spread out the heat. And experts recommend keeping your bedroom a cool 65 degrees for ideal slumber. That might seem cold, but a sharp drop in body temperature is what helps to induce sleep.

2)   An irregular sleep schedule/jet lag. One of the great bonuses of summer is that it’s daylight longer. It makes your social life much more fun, but it’s not so great for your sleep quality. And that fantastic European vacation? Now that it’s over, your body’s internal clock is out of whack, so now it’s not sure when to produce melatonin for sleep. The fastest way to recover form jet lag and to establish a regular sleep schedule is to get outside during daylight hours to help reset your body clock, and to use melatonin to aid with sleep at night. It’s also recommended that you allow one day per time zone passed to fully recover from jet lag. Once your regular schedule is established, stick with it (even if that means calling it a night before all your friends!).

3)   Increased Noise/Air Pollution levels. Not only are you out having fun later, your neighbors are too –  which may mean they are keeping you awake at night. Not to mention, air pollution levels also increase due to the higher temps in the summertime, so you may be more likely to experience breathing problems at night. So what’s a sleepy gal to do? Keep your windows closed at night, and if you are really sensitive to it, consider investing in an air purifier for your bedroom. Drown out noise with a sound machine, or consider doing your laundry at night (the sound of the dryer can help provide white noise to help your brain relax).

4)   Early Sunlight/Daylight Savings. The sun may be up at 6am, but you may not have to wake up until 7:30! Get your well-deserved rest with blackout curtains. Sunlight signals your body that it’s time to wake up, even if you aren’t ready for it, so blocking out light is crucial to getting your full 7-8 hours a night. Not ready to invest in new shades? Try a slumber mask. I love this one by Earth Therapeutics.

5)   Increased Alcohol Consumption. You may think imbibing before bed might help you sleep, but it actually has the opposite effect. Alcohol tends to put you to sleep faster, but will have you waking up in the middle of the night because it disrupts the chemicals that help regulate your body’s phases of sleep (making it harder to get and stay in the REM stage). Avoid alcohol for 4-6 hours before turning in for the night for the best rest possible.

6)   Sunburn. Probably the most painful of the sleep disruptors, sunburns are obviously more prevalent in the summer months and can often cause you to sleep poorly because of the discomfort and added body heat. Try taking a cool oatmeal bath before bed, and coating your skin with an aloe based cream to help relieve irritation. Taking an OTC pain reliever before bed may also be your best chance at a good night’s rest. And there is nothing like silk sheets to help soothe sleepy, sunburned skin.