Natural Cures for Depression, Insomnia and others

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It is well know that many of our modern ailments are self-inflicted and caused by the high stress culture we live in. Add in poor diet and lack of exercise and you have the perfect storm. But many of those symptoms can be alleviated with natural remedies.

Take for instance depression. New studies show that massage therapy is equally effective as anti-depressants at relieving symptoms. There is little doubt that acupuncture is a very effective way to treat certain types of chronic pain without taking drugs. Green tea and cocoa are both excellent helping with arthritis and hypertension.

You can read the whole article over at MSNBC-

Nutritional Value of Fruits and Vegetables is Declining

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Carrots

Studies have shown that the push to grow fruits and vegetables faster and bigger has resulted in a large decline in their nutritional value. I think you also notice it in the taste. Naturally grown products are much higher in vitamins, minerals and all of the other beneficial elements. So look for a farmers market where things are locally grown. That doesn’t guarantee they are natural, but they are probably better than the stuff that is shipped in from hundreds of miles away that weren’t even ripe when picked. Best idea yet… plant your own garden and take control of what fertilizers and pesticides are used. You can read the whole article here-

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It’s happening to crops in the United States, too. In 2004, Donald Davis, PhD, a former researcher with the Biochemical Institute at the University of Texas, Austin, led a team that analyzed 43 fruits and vegetables from 1950 to 1999 and reported reductions in vitamins, minerals, and protein. Using USDA data, he found that broccoli, for example, had 130 mg of calcium in 1950. Today, that number is only 48 mg. What’s going on? Davis believes it’s due to the farming industry’s desire to grow bigger vegetables faster. The very things that speed growth — selective breeding and synthetic fertilizers — decrease produce’s ability to synthesize nutrients or absorb them from the soil.

…Bigger isn’t better, so skip the huge tomatoes and giant peppers. “Plants have a finite amount of nutrients they can pass on to their fruit, so if the produce is smaller, then its level of nutrients will be more concentrated,” says Davis.

Seek out heirloom varieties like Brandywine tomatoes, Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage, Golden Bantam corn, or Jenny Lind melon. Plants that were bred prior to World War II are naturally hardier because they were established — and thrived — before the development of modern fertilizers and pesticides.