In this research, men with high blood pressure taking daily ß-blocker medications were given a small dose of 5mg of melatonin before bedtime. They found that melatonin significantly boosted sleep time and sleep quality in nearly all research subjects.

More natural supplements to help you fight high blood pressure…

Natural method to sleep better…

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

It is generally known and accepted that many conditions
affecting poor health can be prevented and/or treated by simply increasing the
amount of a vitamin or mineral that might be lacking.

But what if we go the other way and cause problems because
of over-supplementing?

We hear from people all the time who have found themselves
as having “hit a wall” with their health. They do everything they think they
are supposed to do and no matter how much running, yoga, meditating and veggies
they include in their lives, they still have a few conditions that they can’t
shake.

A lot of times, the answer lies in the journaling of what is
actually being consumed. I was going over the food and supplement records of a
friend of mine recently who was complaining that despite many natural
interventions, his headache and sleep problem was just getting worse.

Sure enough, on every page there was one entry every day for
Vitamin C, among a dozen or so other supplements.

Some of the other supplements he was taking included in
their proprietary formulas added Vitamin C as well.

If a little does a little good, a lot should do a lot of
good, right?

Actually, this is dangerous thinking and was at the heart of
the problems he was having with his headaches and sleep.

He was also complaining about low back pain on one side, and
thought he might need to visit the doctor about possible carpal tunnel syndrome
problems (he had read one of the Blue Heron posts recently about CPS and
Arthritis).

I sat and listened to the laundry list of what had been
going wrong lately with his health and he was ready to break down and start
taking prescription pain medicine for the pain he had in various parts of the
body.

As it turns out, he was supplementing with over 5,000 mg
every day of Vitamin C.

The USDA recommends that the minimum amount to prevent
scurvy should be about 95 mg daily.  Diet
generally covers this.

Studies have also shown that a higher intake, closer to
about 800-1000 mg has been shown to boost immunity, strengthen blood vessels,
and promote optimum cholesterol health. So just think of the conditions you can
eliminate when you take 5 times more than the highest recommended intake.

At some point, however, mega doses should be only considered
with a licensed medical professional’s advice and never entered into on one’s
own.

The body can process and use only so much Vitamin C before
the abundance winds up in areas that don’t need it in such high amounts; namely,
the brain, intestines, kidneys, adrenal glands, and uterus.

Symptoms of Vitamin C overdose range from very mild with
tingling in the hands and fingers to moderate with headache and diarrhea, and
even to severe with kidney stones and miscarriage.

My friend had several kidney stones (thus the back pain),
migraines, and insomnia.  The flushing of
the skin and the tingling thumbs were not carpal tunnel syndrome…they were
symptoms of Vitamin C overdose.

The other piece that complicates the issue is that if one
over-supplements chronically with Vitamin C and suddenly stops taking it,
withdrawal symptoms can be really bad and include even worse migraine pain
along with chest pain, muscle problems, and other bad effects.

My friend and his doctor are getting him started with a plan
to wean off the mega-doses of the Vitamin C and hopefully he can see the
insomnia disappear  almost as soon as
soon as the headache problem did- the headaches were gone almost immediately.

The kidney stones, unfortunately, will require a more
intrusive level of intervention, but now he knows how to prevent a recurrence.

I am all about treating methods naturally, as you know, but I am also all about reinforcing everything in moderation. Overdoing anything isn’t good, and many times avoiding prescription medication is just a matter of scaling back on something you do too much of…even if it is too much of a good thing.

For more ways to naturally treat headache pain and insomnia,
see my guides today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

El331005

Today, I thought I’d combine some of the info on three of my favorite minerals with a great bedtime snack recipe to help alleviate a common problem for a growing number of people: Restless Leg Syndrome.

We’ve talked in the past about RLS, but I’ll summarize the problem again briefly. This irritating and sleep-stealing problem occurs when the brain is ready to go to bed but the muscles in the leg are misfiring and still trying to do the day’s work.

It’s like leaving the gate open at the farm after you leave for the day…the critters want to run loose and mayhem ensues.

What causes the gate to be left hanging open? A variety of things are to blame, but the most common (and easily remedied) is a vitamin deficiency.

Doctors have found that people who suffer from RLS almost always are deficient in 3 minerals: calcium, potassium, and magnesium.

This little trio of minerals, when lacking, cause the large muscles of the leg to misfire. There are problems all over the body, and with a lot of systems because of this deficiency, but RLS is sometimes the most noticeable.

Some doctors even consider it an announcement of sorts to other looming problems. Most of which can be corrected simultaneously with the right treatment.

Sometimes doctors will prescribe a powerful magnesium supplement, and that may help…but research actually shows that increasing all three minerals is more effective.

Some ‘natural’ remedies focus on herbs and supplements that can be almost as dangerous as the pharmaceuticals they are meant to replace. This is particularly true if you are not sure what, or how much to take. They can interfere with other medications as well.

So honestly, the best way to try and naturally calm those itchy, twitchy legs is to focus on the trifecta of mineral power, which is to increase all three little wonders at once. And the best way to do that is by focusing on diet adjustments to increase more of the hardest working fruits and other foods.

The recipe below offers a way to use bananas that loads up a healthy dose of potassium, magnesium and calcium.

Try this bedtime snack:

Banana Pancakes

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole grain flour
1 ½ Tbsp stevia plant sweetener
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg, beaten
1 cup skim milk
¼ cup fat free yogurt
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp almond extract

Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix just until moistened all the way through. Let a few lumps stay in the batter. If you want thinner pancakes, add a little water (1/4 cup at a time) until your batter is your favorite pancake consistency.

On a heated griddle (about 300 degrees), spray the surface with non-stick pan spray, such as olive oil spray. Then pour the batter ¼ cup at a time in round, flat dollops. Once the bubbles pop and disappear and the edges get a little dry, flip them over for just a couple more minutes.

Pull them off when they are a nice light golden color on both sides.

I like mine with more sliced banana, but if you crush about a ¼ cup of blueberries with a tablespoon of water and a sprinkle of the sweetener, it makes a nice substitute for sugary syrup.

You could also throw on a little yogurt and sprinkle with wheat germ to increase the fiber and acidophilus content as well.

For each serving, which is 2 pancakes (plain), you will get less than 225 calories, about 40 grams of carbs, 300 mg of sodium, and 5 grams of fat. There is very little (if any) saturated fat and since the recipe calls for stevia sweetener instead of sugar, you are not overloading on sugar.

The small amount of carbohydrates will help to naturally get your brain ready for sleep and the whole grain in the flour, plus the fiber in the yogurt, will help get you “moving” in the morning.

For more natural methods to improve your sleep and drive away insomnia, try my guide today.

Warm regards,

Christian Goodman

El331005

Right away, my inbox was flooded with questions, and the top 3 most common are addressed below:

- Where do I get beet juice?

- How much should I eat/drink?

- Can Diabetics drink beet juice?

Let’s start with the first question. Another related question I got with this was “can I just have the juice that comes in the canned beets?”

The answer there is no. The beet juice I am referring to in the posting this week is actual beet root juice that you either juice yourself or find at a local health food store.

The juice that comes from canned beets has very little, if any, nutritive content, since the canning process itself clobbers the strength of what would have been there raw. Additionally, the canning process involves a ton of sodium and way too much sugar. So, no canned beet juice.

If you juice it yourself, you will want to mix it with another kind of fruit or vegetable, such as carrots and spinach. Spinach helps to mitigate your urine and skin developing a reddish tone, and carrots are a great way to add sweetness.

If you buy it bottled from a health food store, try to find one that doesn’t have a lot of filler in it…especially corn syrup. Beet root juice (fermented and bottled) is already high in calories and sugar, so no additional sugar should ever be added. Most national supplement brands will have a bottled beet root juice available for retail purchase.

As far as the actual amount to consume…this is for the most part up to you and your love (or not) of beets. Eating cooked beets is great, but I would limit it to steamed, sliced beets and not the commercially canned ones (for reasons listed above) and limit your serving size to 1 cup.

For beet root juice, it doesn’t take much for this powerful antioxidant to give you benefit. In 8 ounces, you can generally expect to find a couple grams of protein along with fair amounts of Vitamin A, calcium, choline, and Vitamin B-6. A little really does go a long way.

This is, however, NOT one of those juices where if a little does a little good a lot should do a LOT of good. NO. This is one to use in moderation. Overdoing it, especially if you are juicing the raw beets can result in numbness and tingling in your throat, chills, and headache.

That’s why you want to mix the juice with something else, or at least dilute it. While a little of the juice has been shown to be good for your kidneys, too much can cause kidney stones. So just be smart about this and always talk to a health food store manager or better yet, a dietician, about recommended serving sizes.

Finally, the question of “Can Diabetics have beet root juice?”

Of course they can, but the better question is – SHOULD they? The answer here is generally only in limited amounts. As mentioned before, too much of this juice can be hard on the kidneys, and people with diabetes, especially Type II don’t need any extra insult there.

I also mentioned above how much natural sugar is in beets. In an 8 ounce glass of commercially produced fermented beet root juice, you may find as much as 26g of carbohydrates.

For other foods in its family, this is a lot considering its Glycemic index is around 64 (moderately high). Its Glycemic Load is a 5, which is a little higher than the huge variety of fruits and vegetables that would be a better substitute because of the kidney issue.

Conversely, the same amount of carrots would only score a 39 on the GI and has a Glycemic load of 3. Carrots and beets are commonly compared to one another because of the high Vitamin A count in each, the fact that they are both sweet roots, and the variety of ways they can be cooked, juiced, eaten and drank.

The benefits, aside from the vitamin content in beets, have been shown to help with

- Boosting energy levels

- Enhancing eye health

- Improving liver health

- Improving circulation

- Increasing metabolism

- Relieving anemia

But, only when consumed properly and using in moderation. For more ideas on how to reach your health and wellness goals with weight loss and lowering blood pressure, check out my natural wellness guides today.

El331005

Yes… this is exactly what a research reported at the American Heart Association’s 63^rd High Blood Pressure Research Conference suggests.

Researchers have found that women who reported deficiency of Vitamin D in the year 1993 were thrice more likely to acquire hypertension within fifteen years. According to research’s co-author, Flojaune Griffin, this separate study is different from previous studies done on this subject on the count of the length of time taken into consideration. In this study the effect of Vitamin D is looked over the period of fifteen years, which is a considerable longer follow-up than previous studies done on this subject.

The deficiency of Vitamin D not only increases the risk of hypertension, but also puts you at a greater risk to certain inflammatory diseases and cancers.Best source of Vitamin D

Sunlight is the best and ideal source of all important Vitamin D. Experts recommends that one should spend minimum of 15 to 30 minutes in sunlight. Vitamin D is produced when ultraviolet rays hit our skin. The more skin is exposed to sunlight the more is the production of Vitamin D. Sunlight is the most natural and ideal source of Vitamin D and there is no risk of getting too much of Vitamin D from sunlight.

Vitamin D supplements

While Vitamin D supplements are available in the market, they should be only used after consultation with your doctor. Consumption of excessive dietary Vitamin D can cause various side-effects and is counterproductive. Modern researchers suggest 1,000 to 1,500 IU daily consumption of Vitamin D. Consumption of dietary Vitamin D in excess of 2,000 is found to produce side-effects, such as poor appetite, nausea, and constipation.

Go out in summer to attain Vitamin D naturally. In winter, you may take Vitamin D supplements, but take them only after consulting your physician.

Besides taking adequate amount of Vitamin D, eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly. Avoid processed foods, as they contain high sodium content. Instead include wholesome foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, brown rice in your diet. Also exercise regularly, you can start with something as simple as brisk walking.

If you want to know about the exercises that help in lowering blood pressure, see our high blood pressure exercises guide.

EL331015