Health | Wellness | Yoga

In early 2011, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) proposed long-overdue upgrades to the nutrition standards for meals served through the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.The proposed changes to school meal standards would add more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat milk to school meals and would require schools to limit the levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories, and trans-fats served to students. The USDA is asking for input on the proposed rule during a public comment period that ends April 13th, 2011. Now through April 11th, Annies is asking kids, parents and schools to respond to the USDAs recent call for a dramatic change in school lunches by sharing letters and pictures of support through the Root 4 Kids program.Annies Root 4 Kids initiative seeks to inspire kids to dig and plant more veggies, and is requesting letters and pictures be uploaded at www.Root4Kids.com/sh...

Our three sources of oxygen food, water and air are polluted and bound with toxins. All forms of pollution starve our bodies of essential oxygen.When it comes to nuclear radiation, we are all guinea pigs in a risky experiment. Here are a few ideas that may help us adapt and survive radiation and toxic exposure. We need to remember that nothing is 100 percent guaranteed, and supplies of many of these foods and supplements may already be in short supply.There are a number of foods that can better help our bodies tolerate the effects of pollution and radiation. Keep in mind that the kidneys are one of the first organs to suffer from radiation damage. Eating lower on the food chain minimizes our chemical intake.The seed buckwheat is high in rutin, helps to protect against radiation and stimulates new bone marrow production. The mucilaginous fibers in seaweed (such as kelp, kombu, arame, nori, sea lettuce, dulse, wakame and hiziki) help to prevent the reabsorption of radioactive strontium...

While heroic workers battle the threat of nuclear meltdown in Japan, a different kind of fallout seems to threaten the peace of those of us in the US. As fears that radioactive particles will float across the ocean and strike the United States escalate, we seem to be paying less attention to the tragic loss of life and peace in Japan and more on how this might hurt us right here at home.Some of my friends are fleeing the west coast in search of safe haven further east. Others are dosing up on potassium iodide in an attempt to protect themselves (as evidenced by those who are stockpiling potassium iodide in spite of the advice of health officials who are telling us to chill out). Still more are just plain panicking. Ive gotten at least a dozen cautionary emails just today from people who are encouraging me to be afraid.But Im an MD, as well as the mother of a small child. I live in coastal California. And my father was a radiologist exposed to more than the usual dose of radi...

By Erica Sofrina, author of Small Changes, Dynamic Results! Feng Shui for the Western World.In many traditional Feng Shui books you will read that bathrooms are negative places where they recommend shutting the door and pretending they are not there. Part of the reason is that bathrooms used to be rather funky places like out-houses, not anything like the beautiful spa-like bathrooms we enjoy creating in the west. My belief is that we should feel wonderful about every room in our home, and make them inspiring places to be. Feeling negative about anything comes from a lower energy that doesnt serve anyone.One of the reasons bathrooms have gotten such a bad rap is because chi (energy) is akin to water which flows down and out pipes and drains. The goal of Feng Shui is to invite into our front door vibrant chi, and have it circulate evenly around the home.Drains and openings are areas where the chi can escape and bathrooms have lots of them.On the next page, I will give you eight steps to...

By Loren Chidoni, Womens Health Early spring grays giving you the blues? Its no surprise. Lack of sunlight can cause a serious drop in your level of serotonin, a feel-good chemical thats found in the brain. And without enough serotonin, our mood descends into darkness or, at the very least, an unpleasant crabbiness (you know, the bad temper we typically blame on the rain). Fortunately, you can outsmart wicked weather patterns with these mood-boosting tips as you await the arrival of sunnier days. Light Up Your Life If a Miami mini-break isnt an option, seek out a light box. A strong one that emits at least 10,000 lux can have the same effect as basking in the early-morning sunminus the cancer-causing UV rays. Place the light box on a table near youyou need only 30 minutes of exposure to increase your serotonin levels and leave you more alert and energized, two factors that contribute to a good mood, says Michael Terman, Ph.D., director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological R...

By Brian Johnson, Experience LifeDo you ever find yourself putting off until tomorrow what could probably be done today? If so, I highly recommend this great book from productivity guru Neil Fiore. Its packed with Big Ideas to help you understand and overcome the do it later habit. How Perception Affects Procrastination One of the first things Fiore points out is that procrastinating tendencies are often triggered by unspoken fears.To illustrate this, Fiore asks you to first imagine a solid board thats 30 feet long, 4 inches thick and 1 foot wide. Its lying on the ground ahead of you. Your mental task is to walk the length of the board. Given that its just resting on the ground, you probably wont be inclined to put it off.Next, Fiore suggests imagining that same board has been raised up high in the air and is suspended between two tall buildings, about 100 feet above the pavement.Look across to the other end of the board and contemplate beginning your assignment, he instructs...

Given that human capital is a prerequisite for success in the global economy, U.S. economic competitiveness is unsustainable with poorly prepared students feeding into the workforce. Kirsch, 2007 There are ways to wage war on a people without employing armies of weapons and soldiers. Devastating economic failure can be very effective OR the spread of lethargy and inertia through the body of a society can act as a cancer destroying the brains of a people. It is not a new story and many once powerful nations can boast of an equally spectacular decline.Americans are a proud people and at one time America was considered a great nation, one that led the world towards individual freedom and independence. A mere 234 years old, America is equivalent to an 18-year-old teenager in terms of a countrys life span, with all the energy, creativity, aggression, hormones and testosterone a teenager brings to living. We even eat like a teenager: quickly, on the run, with no thought for what we consume, ...