If you have trouble getting out of bed in the morning, feel sleepy in the afternoon, or find yourself having trouble focusing all day, these 10 strategies should help you have more energy.

1. Stop Drinking Coffee

Look into the effects coffee has on your kidneys and adrenal glands. Coffee stimulates the production of adrenaline and puts excessive wear and tear on the adrenal glands. The higher your caffeine intake, the more your body stops producing energy on its own and the more it relies on caffeine’s effects on your body chemistry.

2. Eat a Healthy Breakfast

Don’t skip breakfast, but don’t eat an unhealthy breakfast either. They say it’s the most important meal of the day. It sets the tone. Pancakes and fake maple syrup will put you on a sugar high. You’ll either crash and burn or ride that rollercoaster all day.

3. Eat better and More Often

Eat every 4 to 5 hours: Eating throughout the day provides your brain and body with a constant source of fuel. This 4-5 hour eating strategy can dramatically prevent dips in your blood sugar levels. Concentrated sources of sugar like soda, candy, fruit juice, jam, and syrup will create radical spikes in your blood sugar that leave you feeling tired as soon as the level drops. And even though refined grains you eat in white bread, crackers, bagels, and pasta do not naturally contain sugar compounds, they are metabolized into sugar very quickly and can create the same effect.

4. Drink More Water

Most people are dehydrated. Dehydration causes a host of problems including irritability, low energy levels, poor concentration, and lethargy.

5. Deep Breathing

If you find yourself yawning, try some deep breathing exercises to revitalize yourself.

6. Have a Positive Attitude

Negativity drains your energy. Remember, lack of exercise and vitamin deficiencies make it harder to have a positive attitude.

7. Exercise

The twenty minutes you spend exercising could pay you back an hour or more due to better focus and deeper, higher quality sleep. Stop saying you don’t have time to exercise. If you are too busy, you don’t have time not to.

8. See a Doctor

A naturopathic doctor can tell you if your thyroid glands are not working properly and if you need a thyroid supplement, if you’re B vitamin deficient, or if you need adrenal support. Problems in these areas will lead to chronic tiredness and poor sleep.

9. Get Enough Sleep

While the amount needed varies, experts say adults should get
seven to nine hours per night. Regardless of the numbers, if you’re dragging yourself out of bed in the morning, fighting off the need to nap in the afternoon, or falling asleep watching TV, you’re probably not getting enough.

10. Get Quality Sleep

6 hours of deep sleep is better then 9 hours of tossing and turning.

Sometimes it doesn’t say organic, but it is. Sometimes it says organic, but it’s not. At least not by the definition you’d expect. When it says Certified Naturally Grown, wildcrafted, or organic, what do the labels really mean?

USDA Organic Certification

Unfortunately, some short-lived botanical sprays and a few herbicides and insecticides are sometimes allowed during organic cultivation.

Single-Ingredient Foods

Single ingredient foods are foods that are uncombined with other foods. Think fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, eggs, cheese etc. When these foods are labeled organic, we know the farmer met the USDA standards to achieve certification.

Multi-Ingredient Foods—Organic

Here’s where things get tricky. You’d think if your sausage was labeled organic it would be organic. But there are three USDA organic labels for multi-ingredient or processed foods. Their differences are not obvious at first glance.

100% Organic

This one is self explanatory. All of the ingredients are organic.

Organic or Certified Organic

95-99% of its ingredients by weight are organic. The sausage may be 100% organic, but if the processor could not find organic sausage casings, the casings aren’t. This label allows food processors to use a number of ingredients that are not readily available in organic form.

Made with Organic Ingredients

70-94% of the ingredients must be organic. The organic seal cannot be used on these food items.

Just a bit misleading, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but if I saw something that said it was made with organic ingredients, I’d think it was made with organic ingredients!

Certified Naturally Grown

Certified Naturally Grown is a non-profit, alternative, organic certification program. Nearly 500 farmers from 47 states are members. This group strives to preserve high standards for organic farmers while removing the financial and logistical barriers small

Wildcrafted

Wildcrafted plants are uncultivated plants gathered from their natural habitat. Care is taken to ensure sustainability, to take no more than the plant can give, the scatter a plant’s seeds, etc. Wildcrafted is superior to organic if picked where there is no runoff from polluted water or contamination from exhaust. Unlike organic produce, wildcrafted produce is never sprayed—with anything. Wildcrafted foods are pure—as nature intended.

In the simplest terms, any food grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides can be labeled organic. People who do not understand the organic food movement often argue that there is no significant difference between organic and so-called conventional food. There is however, a lot more to the argument than meets the eye.

For most of humankind’s history, food crops grew utilizing natural fertilizers such as animal manure, dung and decomposed plant materials, otherwise called compost. Creating good soil was the focus. Crops took nutrients from the soil and all crop refuse was returned to replenish the nutrients removed. Adding these natural elements back to the earth feeds not only the plants, but also the micro-flora and micro-fauna that provide micro-nutrients for the soil, which are subsequently extracted from the soil by the plants.

Pesticides were not necessary because strong, healthy plants, grown in healthy soil, were disease resistant. Predators attack the weak and ill formed. Plants grown in soil that is complete with all the nutrients nature provides grow strong, healthy, and are resistant to disease.

This changed in the mid 1800’s when Justus von Liebig, a German scientist, discovered nitrogen as an essential plant nutrient. This led to the invention of nitrogen-based fertilizer and the propagation of plants utilizing Liebigs’s “Law of the Minimum”. This principle states that the one essential mineral which is in the relatively shortest supply, limits a plant’s development. This concept determines the amount of fertilizer to apply in modern agriculture. Plant growth in conventional agriculture is controlled not by the total resources available, but by the scarcest resource. Minimal plant nutrient requirements are chemically synthesized and added to the dirt. The soil is no longer the source of plant nutrition, but only a receptacle for holding plant roots.

Subsequently, the plants themselves are weak and must be protected against attack from insects, funguses and other pests by the application of synthetic chemical insecticides and other toxic poisons. These poisons get into the food and cannot be removed. The toxins then enter our bodies through ingestion of the food and may lead to other health problems.

Food grown by conventional methods conforms to specific standards designed to meet a consumer demand subliminally created. Much of it is genetically altered or hybridized through genetic modification. All of the food looks the same. It is often picked unripe to aid storage and ease shipping, and then gassed with more chemicals to ripen the fruit before it is presented to buyers. The food is unblemished in appearance, but bland and tasteless. The nutrient content of conventionally grown food is limited and must be supplemented by vitamin and mineral tablets in order to maintain consumer health.

Organic growers use natural materials that are available in the environment around them to grow high quality food. The food is higher in quality because it contains all of the nutrients available from soil enriched by inclusion of natural materials. Equally important, organic food has no synthetic chemicals added as nutrients, to control pests or aid harvesting. This produces food that is better tasting with higher nutritional content. Sometimes organic food is not as pretty to look at like as “steroid food’ found at the local grocery store. However, to clearly know the difference, just eat some food grown organically. The absolute, unequivocal proof that organic food is superior to conventional food is simple. The proof is in the tasting!

Oh Organics, My Organics

“Organics” have arrived. They are more popular than ever, but what exactly is organic food? How does organic farming differ from conventional farming? How does the organic labeling process work? And, what does it all mean to you, the well-intentioned consumer? You might be surprised by some of the answers.

Over the past few decades, organics have moved from the “lunatic fringe” to the red carpet. Literally. This paradigm shift was most evident at the 2004 American Music Awards held in Los Angeles. Each year, celebrities, usually accustomed to receiving gaudy gift bags brimming with fancy fragrances and trendy technology, were instead presented with a more natural offering: “ecogift bags” filled with organic treats like Annie’s Homegrown Organic Macaroni and Cheese, Taylor Maid Farms organic coffee, and organic cotton tote bags from Patagonia.

Organics are not only en vogue among luminaries and de rigueur among foodies, middle America is going organic, too. The 2002 Organic Consumer Trends Report found that thirty-nine percent of the U.S. population uses organic products.

Organic food production is a $16 billion-a-year industry, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA) – and it is rising precipitously. Even though organic still accounts for a mere 3% of overall food sales, it is growing at a sizzling rate of 17-20% per year as compared to a glacial rate of 2-3% for conventional foods.

“Once you have Kraft marketing an organic product, albeit through another brand, you really can’t be more part of the mainstream than that,” said Don Montuori, editor of Packaged Facts, an industry publication.

More people eating healthier food produced in safe and sustainable ways is all good, right? Well, not necessarily.

Double-digit growth can be a double-edged sword. Organic food production is growing so rapidly that it is straining the system. There are not enough organic farms and organically raised animals in the United States to meet demand.

When demand outpaces supply, things can go awry. For example, in 2006, The Cornucopia Institute, an organic watchdog organization, filed a legal complaint before the USDA against Dean Foods, the largest milk bottler in the United States. The complaint alleged that Horizon Organic Milk came from cows reared in factory farms that violated organic standards. Specifically, Horizon’s dairy cows did not have sufficient access to pasture and were kept in inhumane conditions. The case is still pending.

“As organics become more mainstream, the standards are at risk,” says Ronnie Cummins, a national director for the Organic Consumer Organization. “Mass market and organics aren’t always compatible,” he adds.

First, let’s get clear on the differences between organic and conventional farming –how and why the distinction was originally drawn.

In 1990, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Bill included The Organic Foods Production Act, which was created to establish uniform national standards for the production and handling of foods labeled as “organic.” The Act authorized a new USDA National Organic Program to set national standards for the production, handling, and processing of organically grown agricultural products.

The USDA National Organic Program now oversees mandatory certification of organic production. The Act also established the National Organic Standards Board which advises the Secretary of Agriculture in setting the standards upon which the National Organic Program is based. Producers who meet standards set by the National Organic Program may label their products as “USDA Certified Organic.”

Here is the technical definition of “organic food” according to the USDA National Organic Program website: “Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.”

Fairly clear cut, right? Unfortunately, things aren’t so clear. The ability to emblazon a food product with the word “organic” is a valuable marketing advantage. And, when a subtle advantage can be leveraged for financial gain, it’s a breeding ground for situational ethics — and compromised standards.

Organic certification is intended to protect consumers from misuse of the term, and to make buying organics more straightforward. However, as the demand for organics rise, some large food manufacturers are attempting to weaken organic standards. Even the slightest downgrade in those standards can represent a financial windfall to large food companies.

Some believe that the U.S. government is also seeking to undercut organic standards. For example, Congress passed a $397 billion spending bill that contained a buried provision which could jeopardize U.S. organic standards. The provision, which was slipped into the bill at the last minute without debate, would “permit livestock producers to certify meat and dairy products as organic even if the animals had been fed non-organic or genetically engineered grain.” The provision would override the NOP’s requirement that 100% organic feed be used to produce organic meat products.
While many forces seek to soften organic standards, others go above and beyond to safeguard and uphold them.

“We’re talking about people’s health here,” says Dr. Jack J. Singh, founder of Organic Food Bar, Inc. Health is our most precious asset. Food companies should protect that at all costs! When you run a food company, you are feeding families with children. It is incumbent on everyone in this business to do everything they can to protect people’s health, particularly now as we face a health care crisis in this country.”

What the big companies don’t quite grasp is that unflinching integrity is good for customers – and good for business, too.

• If you want to eat purely organic food, the label should read: “100% organic” and nothing less. Only products made entirely with certified organic ingredients and methods can be labeled “100% organic.”
• Products with at least 95% organic ingredients can use the word “organic” and can also include the USDA organic seal. The other 5% can be conventionally-grown ingredients.
• A third category, containing a minimum of 70% organic ingredients, can be labeled “made with organic ingredients.”
• In most cases, the word “natural” on a product label means very little because, unlike the designation “organic,” the word “natural” has no legal definition.
• Whenever possible, buy food produced closer to home. That way, you know your food is fresher — and you know where it comes from! The recent food scare with China, while unsettling, has compelled many Americans to examine the origins of their food. This is good. The fact is that locally-produced food is better for you, it’s better for your community — and, it’s better for the planet.

To learn more about organics, visit The Organic Trade Association at: http://www.ota.com

For more healthy living tips, visit: http://www.organicfoodbar.com

Raccoon Eyes

Do you know of any herbs, vitamins, minerals, etc. to get rid of dark under-eye circles?

I started having them when I was a pre-teen and they got darker over the years. I’m in my early 20’s now. The circles are so dark, they look like bruises. I did have many blood tests done and everything turned out fine. I eat healthy and get plenty of sleep. I tried virtually every department store cream and they didn’t work. Now, I want to try the natural approach to get rid of these silly things! Your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Leann

DR. SHILLINGTON ANSWERS: You need to do some serious liver and gallbladder cleansing. Dark circles are indicative of a poorly functioning liver. Ignore the common belief that dark circles are hereditary. This is simply not true. Handle your liver and the dark circles will disappear.

In health, freedom, and love

Doc

Juicer

I am looking to purchase a juicer. Any suggestions? I am looking for one that will not “heat” the juice. Ease of use and cleaning are also important. I do not mind paying a little more for a good machine.

Kim

DR. SHILLINGTON ANSWERS: The ultimate, best juicer is the Norwalk. Not only does it get all the nourishment out when it comes to juicing, it makes an awesome press for making tinctures. Of course it costs 2,500 bucks so it’s one of those “you get what you pay for” top-notch goodies. Try and pick one of these up on e-Bay or at a yard sale, and you can get a smoking deal sometimes.

I own a 60-year-old Norwalk that weighs 400 lbs. and stands four feet off the ground with a six-ton press on it. You can run three humongous carrots through the grinder at a time and it doesn’t even slow down. I bought it from a little ole lady for $25 without even knowing what it was (discovered it was a Norwalk after I cleaned it up), and discovered it was worth about $25,000 after the President of Norwalk offered me two brand new ones in exchange for this one. Seems as if this was Norman Walker’s original line and even the company didn’t have one in their museum. The thing is you can find these at yard sales, estate sales, garage sales, etc. and most go for a song when you do find them. They are few and far between, though. But they’re out there.

But rather than waiting for that to fall out of the sky, I would recommend a Champion. You can pick these up brand new for anywhere from $250 to $350 depending on where you buy them. They will warm up a bit with continuous use, but the temperature will not go above 105 degrees, which is the temperature at which enzymes start dying in abundance. The Champion is all motor and will last forever. You’ll be handing it down to your grandchildren. You can also find these at yard sales for a song. I saw one last week that went for $5 and it was in perfect condition. The Green Power is also supposed to be good, but I’ve never used one so cannot speak from personal experience here. Hope this helps.

Doc

Homeopathic

Are herbal remedies the same as homeopathic remedies?

DR. SHILLINGTON ANSWERS: No. Homeopathic medicine is a field of alternative medicine all its own and is the leading alternative therapy in France. It uses tiny doses of herbs, minerals, and poison in a theory called the law of the similar. Its premise is that if large doses of a certain substance can cause a problem, a minute dose can help the same problem.

In health and love,

Doc

Email your questions to questions [at] organicmail.net. Questions may be edited for clarity or length

Most of our readers have a pretty good idea what they’re looking for when they go into their grocery store to buy organic foods. But what does organic really mean?

Webster defines organic (in reference to organic food) as follows:
“Of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides.”

Organic is better for the environment and better for us. When we purchase organic foods, we are buying foods that have not been genetically modified or poisoned with manmade chemicals. The organic label stands for a commitment to agriculture that achieves balance with our ecosystem. The soil is healthy. It retains a higher concentration of minerals. Animals are treated humanely (at least in comparison to non-organic methods). The groundwater runoff doesn’t poison our streams. The plants are able to naturally reproduce.

If you’ve never noticed the difference between organic and conventional foods, buy two organic apples and two conventional apples.

On day one, do a taste test. Which apple tastes better? Does one taste more alive? More full of energy?

On day two, eat an organic apple for breakfast (and nothing else) and notice how you feel. How long does it take for you to feel hungry again? What do you crave for lunch? How is your energy level?

On day three, repeat this process with the conventional apple and ask yourself the same questions.

Now the bad news. Organic standards as defined by the USDA are under attack and have been since their inception. Large companies and big agriculture want to make organic foods less expensive to produce, because they know the organic market is growing. They don’t care if the label is meaningless.

The phrase “all natural” now means little to health-minded, educated consumers. If big business has their way, you can expect the same erosion of the organic label.

Various organizations like the OCA wish to protect standards and keep the word organic synonymous with health and environmentally sound practices. Please visit their website to learn more about this issue and to help protect organic standards.

There are lots of reasons to eat organic. here are 17.

1. It’s Healthier

Organic foods contain considerably higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and cancer-fighting antioxidants than their conventional counterparts.

2. No Unnatural Additives, Preservatives, or Flavors

Organic foods do not contain hydrogenated fats, artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, or monosodium glutamate (MSG), all of which can cause health problems.

3. No Pesticides

More than 400 chemical pesticides are routinely used in conventional farming. Pesticide residues are present in non-organic food. The average conventionally-grown apple has between 20-30 artificial poisons on its skin, even after it is washed.

4. No Genetic Modifications

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are not currently allowed under organic standards. GMOs pose significant health risks and environmental hazards.

5. No Antibiotics or Hormones

Antibiotics and hormones given to farm animals cause health issues in humans. For instance, hormones in milk and meat are believed to be the reason children are reaching puberty at earlier ages than ever before.

6. Organics Aren’t Really More Expensive

Conventionally produced foods have hidden costs, including billions of dollars in federal agriculture and energy subsidies that favor big business. Chemical regulations and testing, hazardous waste disposal, environmental damage and cleanup, and illnesses and hospitalizations are other hidden costs to our non-organically grown foods. We pay for these subsidies with taxes.

7. Protect Your Children

Children are often more vulnerable to toxins than adults. Children should be fed an organic diet and taught how to resist our junk-food culture. It may take years before ailments associated with chronic or episodic contact with toxins become acute. Good food choices have a substantial effect on a child’s future health.

8. High Standards

Organic food usually comes from trusted sources, companies that are more likely to care about your health.

9. Care for Animals

Animal welfare is taken very seriously under organic standards. The appalling treatment of the majority of our farm animals is not acceptable under organic standards.

High Standards

Organic food usually comes from trusted sources, companies that are more likely to care about your health.

10. Care for Animals

Animal welfare is taken very seriously under organic standards. The appalling treatment of the majority of our farm animals is not acceptable under organic standards.

11. Better for the Environment

Organic farming does not pollute the environment through pesticide runoff or contaminate other crops and seed banks with GMOs.

12. Top for Taste

Organic tastes so much better! Fruits and vegetables are full of juice and flavor. Try them yourself. A side-by-side taste test allows you to easily taste and feel the difference.

13. Support Small Scale Local Farmers

Organic farms are more likely to be small and independently owned and operated. By buying locally produced foods, you help insure local farms are viable. Huge corporate agribusiness is significantly less efficient than the small farmer.

14. Save Energy

Buying organic and whenever possible buying from your local farmer, saves energy. You won’t be contributing to the environmental and social costs of the worldwide transport of foods and fertilizers. Fertilizer is naturally occurring; it isn’t shipped from across the nation. Crops travel fewer miles from farm to market and save energy in transport. You won’t be supporting a system based on the exploitation of third world labor.

15. Promote Biodiversity

Many large scale agricultural businesses practice mono-cropping, planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year. This practice strips nutrients from the soil and causes farmers to become more and more dependent on fertilizers. It also upsets nature’s pest control. The more bugs found on a farm, the higher the percentage of beneficial insects in the population. Solid blocks of one crop attract pests who like to eat that particular crop. Increased genetic resistance to pesticides has caused crop losses to double in the last 50 years. Organic growers practice crop rotation, cover cropping, and composting. They work with Mother Nature, not against her. Clearly more biodiversity is necessary in farming, and buying organic supports this movement.

16. Prevent Soil Erosion

Conventional farming has extracted wealth from the land at the expense of our topsoil, causing a worldwide topsoil crisis. Across North America, soil is eroding seven times faster than it can be replaced. Cornell University reports erosion costs at about $44 billion a year. Organic sustainable farming practices ensure nutrient rich soil and healthier crops.

17. Protect Farm Workers’ Health

Farm workers are exposed to extremely high levels of agricultural poisons, higher than any segment of the population. The devastating effects on them and their families are well documented. These are the people who tend and harvest our food, and they deserve better. You can help farmers by supporting a safe work environment and voting with your pocketbook by purchasing organic foods.