5 Natural Ways To Get Rid of Headaches Fast

There are many different types of headaches caused by a number of varying factors.

Everything from dietary changes to stress to too much exposure to florescent lights can cause headaches.

Over the counter painkillers are available in every supermarket and drugstore across the nation, but taking these drugs too often can lead to adverse health consequences. Unbalanced intestinal bacteria, kidney damage, ulcers, and more can result in taking too much pain medication.

Rather than destroying your long-term health to cure a short-term headache, try natural remedies that have been proven effective. Not only do these headache cures help you manage headaches, they may even prevent the onset of new ones.

1. Water

Dehydration is a leading cause of headaches. Our body sometimes can be late in telling us when it needs water. Ideal hydration occurs when we drink between eight and 12 glasses of water each day. Headaches disappear within a matter of minutes of drinking water, no painkillers required.

2. Eucalyptus Oil

Eucalyptus oil has broad usefulness in medicine thanks to its anti-inflammatory and pain killing properties. Massage a few drops of oil into the forehead, shoulders, neck, and temples to help relieve muscle pain and stiffness, sinus pain, and many other conditions leading to headaches.

3. Cinnamon

If headaches are caused by cold weather exposure, use a paste of cinnamon and water to relieve your headache. Apply the paste to the forehead and temples and rest for about 30 minutes. Gently wipe away the cinnamon.

4. Massage

Massages increase blood flow, ease muscle tension, and help ease pain. To relieve headaches with massage, begin with the temples and rub lightly in a slow, circular motion. Move across the forehead and down to the earlobes. Squeeze the ear lobes gently and move down the neck and towards the spine.

At the base of the spine, locate the occipital bone, and press gently. At first, doing this will lead to sinus pressure, but within in a few minutes you should find significant relief. This is especially true if your headache is caused by sinus congestion.

5. Pressure Points

Pushing on pressure points can give instant relief when suffering from pain. Gently but firmly massage and squeeze the bridge of your nose to help relieve headaches. Apply pressure to the skin between the index finger and thumb where many nerves reside. The nerves in this part of your hands are directly correlated with the blood vessels in the forehead. When they are compressed, the blood vessels in the forehead will restrict, resulting in relief of pain.

How Much Should You be Eating? It’s Probably Less Than You Think.

How much you eat should be determined by your goals. Typically people have a goal of fat loss or muscle gain. Some people, have both.

Generally it is very difficult to both gain muscle and lose fat at the same time.

So to simplify things, we will focus on either fat loss (known as cutting) or muscle gain (bulking).

Attaining either goal will start with some calculations. So dust off that old calculator from college and let’s get busy.

1. BMR Calculations

Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the rate of energy expenditure by humans and other animals at rest.

The slang term for BMR is “coma calories”.

It is called such because if you were ever to fall into a coma, you would need that many calories to maintain your current body weight.

This can be calculated using the following formula:

Metric BMR Formula (Harris-Benedict)

Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 x your weight in kilos) + (1.8 x your height in cm) – (4.7 x your age in years)

Men: 66 + (13.7 x your weight in kilos) + (5 x your height in cm) – (6.8 x your age in years)

2. Activity Adjustment

So let’s now adjust your calculation for activity. To add this you need to multiply your calculation by a number between 1.2 and 1.9 depending on your daily life/training.

• Sedentary (little to no exercise): BMR x 1.2
• Lightly Active (easy exercise/sports 1-3 days a week): BMR x 1.375
• Moderately Active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days a week): BMR x 1.55
• Very Active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): BMR x 1.9
• Extremely Active (very hard exercise/sports and physical job): BMR x 1.9

An example here would be if your BMR were 1762.39 then you would multiply that by 1.2 (if you work a desk job and workout out lightly through the week) to give you a TDEE of 2114.87.

This Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is what you would need to eat daily if you wanted to maintain your current lifestyle and weight.

While you could supplement your routine with tons of running, sports, or weightlifting; the easiest way to lose weight is to simply eat less than your TDEE.

3. Goal Adjustment

Now you decide if you want to lose fat or put on some muscle.

Fat can be lost much quicker than muscle can be gained. It’s no secret that most people lean towards cutting a few pounds, if not many. So that is where we will start.

Your body fat percentage will dictate how much weight can be lost safely in a week. If you are 15% or below you should stick with a pound a week. If you are between 16% and 30% you should go with a pound and a half up to two and a half pounds per week.

If you have no idea what your body fat percentage is then you should go with 1 pound a week.

A pound of fat is 3,500 calories. So with 7 days in a week, you can safely drop 500 calories daily from your TDEE that we calculated before and lose 1 pound a week.

So with our previous example, if your TDEE is 2114.87 then you would simply subtract 500 calories from that number. Giving you a grand total of 1614.87.

Losing weight can be as simple as being more aware of what you are eating and knowing your magic number.

In this case, 1614.87 isn’t a pretty magic number and it is far from easy to remember.

A much easier method would be to round this down to 1600 calories so that not only is it easier to remember, but it is also easier to breakdown into meals. Some days you will be a few calories over your 1600 and some days you will be under. That extra 14.87 calories won’t ruin your goals.

Conversely, if you were wanting to put on some muscle than you would simply add calories to your TDEE. Adding 500 to your daily expenditure would work just fine for gaining muscle.

However, as mentioned before gaining muscle is more difficult and takes more time. It would be better to start with adding 200-300 calories to your daily TDEE to avoid added fat when gaining muscle. Add more calories if you aren’t seeing the results desired.

4. Meal Breakdown

Taking it a step further, you can divide your daily calories calculated in step 3 by how many meals you plan to eat.

So in our example we had 1600 calories. If you divide that by 3 meals you are left with round 533 calories per meal. If you only ate two meals a day it would be 800 calories per meal.

Losing weight can be as easy as some simple elementary math. If you take the time to figure out what all these numbers mean than you are well on your way to attaining whatever goal you see fit.

Keep in mind, this isn’t a perfect science. The goal here is to get you in the ballpark of eating the correct amount of calories to attain your goal. If you find after a few weeks you still aren’t seeing results, than add or subtract a 100 calories and test it again.

Now that you know the math and reasoning behind how much you should be eating, you can calculate and adjust much more quickly using a calculator online by clicking here.

Spread the word.

Rest for the Stressed

“Life in the fast lane” is pretty normal for people these days.  Unfortunately, for many, their fast lives have left true rest in the dust of deadlines, daily pressures, junk food, and quick fixes for mounting stress—with no end in sight.

Rest.

How few experience genuine rest—the kind that refreshes and rejuvenates. This is the repose that comes from experiencing all three dimensions of rest—physical, mental, and spiritual. Have you been so busy speeding down life’s frenzied freeways that you’ve not seen the rest stops lately? Here are a few tips to help alter any pedal-to-the-metal lifestyle.

Physical rest.

Proper sleep is part of a healthful lifestyle. Most people need about eight hours of sleep, and the best quality sleep is the “lark” pattern of “early-to-bed” rather than the “night owl” habit. Lifestyle affects sleep patterns, and sleep affects overall health and mood.

Trying to correct poor sleep habits without considering lifestyle factors is a losing proposition. Factors that contribute to insomnia are lack of exercise, eating late at night, diets high in sugar, the use of caffeine or alcohol, and certain drugs. Another major factor that causes sleep disruption is a frenzied, irregular schedule!

Exercise; a healthful diet that includes plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; plenty of water; and stress management are important keys to achieving quality sleep.

Mental rest.

Like any other computer, your brain needs rest. Constant mental taxation can overload your brain’s “circuitry,” causing a crash—depression, mood swings, and poor concentration. Give your brain a break. Take time each day to do something unique, something that allows your brain to switch gears. Sit on the porch and enjoy the sunset; read an inspiring short story; visit with a friend; listen to classical music. Let your brain’s overloaded circuits rest, and you will work smarter and happier the next day!

Spiritual rest.

Don’t neglect your spiritual needs. The Bible calls Jesus the Prince of Peace[1] and He promises that when you are weary and anxious, He “will give you rest!”[2] God has promised peace and rest to every troubled, burdened soul.[3] He knows all about the burdens that are so hard to carry—guilt, unforgiveness, perplexity, pain, and disappointment. He has promised to take those burdens and exchange them for His peace, power, and rest. We are taught how to find His peace and rest through reading His inspired Word, the Bible.[4]

Christ is so interested in our peace that He has even given us a day of rest, the seventh-day Sabbath. Here we find physical insulation from the pressures and stresses of work, mental rest from care and worry, and spiritual rest in Christ.[5]

Tired of the fast lane? Passed too many rest stops lately? Rest. You’ll be glad you did!

Watercress Is The Healthiest Vegetable? Carrot Is #26? Here’s A Chart To Memorize.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta doesn’t just have the morbid job of monitoring and managing negative health concerns–it is also responsible for helping us live better.

It has recently released a study in its journal Preventing Chronic Disease to define “powerhouse” fruits and vegetables–those delivering the biggest nutritional bang for the buck.

What is a “Powerhouse”?

The first thing the researchers had to do was define “powerhouse” and devise a scale, a point of reference on which to base the forty-seven foods tested. The definition they landed on:

“Powerhouse fruits and vegetables (PFV), foods most strongly associated with reduced chronic disease risk, are described as green leafy, yellow/orange, citrus, and cruciferous items…Defining PFV on the basis of nutrient and phytochemical constituents is suggested (1)…This article describes a classification scheme defining PFV on the basis of 17 nutrients of public health importance per the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Institute of Medicine (ie, potassium, fiber, protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folate, zinc, and vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, E, and K).”

Based on these criteria, a vegetable not particularly popular in North America was jettisoned to the top of the list: watercress. Forty-one of the forty-seven produce items tested met the minimum ten percent daily value (DV) of the listed nutrients per one hundred calories.

Watercress Received a Score of 100 (on a scale of 0 to 100).

Watercress is not unknown in other parts of the world; there is even an annual Watercress Festival in the United Kingdom to celebrate this terrific vegetable. You can add it to a smoothie, salad, or sandwich. Doesn’t take much to get its goodies.

The six items that didn’t meet the criteria of ten percent DV are blueberry, cranberry, garlic, onion, raspberry, and tangerine. These foods–like blueberry, cranberry, and garlic–can still be considered superfoods because of the important elements they add to your diet. Avocado, for example, wasn’t tested but it is still considered by many to be very nutrient-dense with significant health benefits.

The lead researcher, Jennifer Di Noia, PhD of William Paterson University, advises:

“Consistent with a whole-diet approach, [consumption of] all of the items should be encouraged. The rankings may help consumers make nutrient-dense selections within the powerhouse group.”

Other Produce is Important, Too.

What’s important about the study is that there are so many choices among foods to eat, it may be important to some to select those with the right amount of a particular nutrient; the range of different constituents in green leafy vegetables alone can be seventy points.

The items that made the list are the most nutrient-dense based on the elements tested–that doesn’t mean you should exclude any other fruit or vegetable because each contributes to overall good health in its own way.

Keep in mind, too, that only forty-seven were included in the study; nature has provided a healthful cornucopia of thousands of nutritious and healing plants.

Raw Chocolate Smoothie Recipe with Avocado, Almond Milk and Raw Honey

Oh, my. This looks so incredibly delicious that we may have to put it at the top of the “gotta taste this” list.

Making a daily smoothie is a good way to blend together a bunch of healthful ingredients in one place, providing compound nutrition and keeping energy levels even.

When you think of a smoothie, it may be mostly fruits with maybe a carrot thrown in.

This one sounds decadent but it’s extraordinarily good for you. Here’s what’s in it:

Raw Chocolate Smoothie Recipe

Serves 1

Ingredients:

• 1 frozen banana, sliced
• 1/2 avocado, pitted and chopped
• 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 cup raw almond milk

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a blender and whip on High until smooth.

Now Here’s What’s in it.

Bananas are rich in potassium as most are aware; this important nutrient regulates blood pressure, among other things. In a smoothie, it adds fiber, texture, and flavor while helping maintain good energy.

Avocado is an undeniable superfood. Rich in nutritious saturated fats, avocados reduce cholesterol levels, lower inflammation in the body, maintain energy, and have a smooth, velvety texture. Love the color, too.

Raw cocoa is heavy in flavonoids–compounds in the pigment that have antioxidant properties. These antioxidants reduce inflammation, which is a precursor to disease. In its raw form, there’s nothing bad about chocolate; it’s after we add refined sugar and other stuff that its nutritional value decreases. It seems almost counter-intuitive when we think of cocoa but it actually reduces cells’ insulin resistance, a condition of diabetes.

Raw honey is important because if it’s pasteurized, most of the nutritional value gets burned out of it. Honey doesn’t spoil so there’s no reason to pasteurize it, anyway. Source your honey locally, if you can, to get the anti-allergen properties for local flora (also supports local farmers). Honey is an antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and all-natural sweetener that is easily tolerated, even beneficial for diabetics.[1]

Almond milk is recommended but not required–you can choose whatever type of milk you like. Almond milk is high in tryptophan, which is necessary to produce seratonin and melatonin–the hormones that regulate sleep. It can be easily made at home and is more nutritious than, say, rice milk or pasteurized cow milk–with vitamin E, omega-3 fatty acids, and magnesium.

As always, use local and organic when you can. We’d love to hear what you think.

4 Comfortable Sleeping Positions for Couples

Sleeping with a partner is nice. Sometimes.

Other times, it can affect the healthy sleep of both people and force one or the other to take to the couch or spare bedroom.

There are ways, however, to sleep complementary to each other, taking into account different sleep styles.

Often you can’t choose in what position you sleep.

You may try to consciously go to sleep in one position but, invariably, you’ll switch to the most comfortable during the night. That’s okay. You can still have body contact with your partner, which strengthens your bond, while getting a restful night’s sleep. Here’s how:

1. Classic Spoons – two side sleepers

Great for full-body contact if you can stand the heat. Sleeping on your side takes the pressure off your back.

Putting a pillow between bent knees helps the back and knees as well. This position gives you all the benefits of side-sleeping and cuddling together.

2. Excalibur – back sleeper and side sleeper

The back sleeper should keep arms at the sides rather than around the head so as to avoid stress on the shoulders.

The side sleeper can then face the other with the back slightly toward the mattress to avoid the bottom arm falling asleep.

3. Paper Dolls – two back sleepers

While not full-on cuddling, the arm, hand, and foot contact still provide physical connection.

Turning faces toward each other as sleep sets in ensures the last image you see in the waking state is the loving face of your partner.

4. Sidesaddle – stomach sleeper and side sleeper

The stomach sleeper can put a pillow under the abdomen to take pressure off the back, then the side sleeper gently places arms on top of the other, allowing space between but still providing contact.

Even a gentle hand on the arm may be enough to keep your connection while in Lala Land.

The best sleep position is one in which the curve of your back is maintained and supported. How you achieve this is a matter of personal comfort and preference.

You can accomplish a healthy sleep position and still keep in close contact with your partner during sleep. Some assert that your sleep positions say a lot about the quality of your relationship; that may be partially true, however, comfort must take precedence for a solid night’s sleep so don’t fret if cuddling makes you too darn hot. There are ways for you and your partner to express closeness without either having to sleep on the floor.

Live a Creative Life with One Simple Change (It Takes Under a Minute)

Do you ever look at creative people and wish you had what they were having? We know the types, those creatives who are expressing themselves spontaneously, they have a certain spark to them, a life force to them, an ability to see things a bit differently.

When I was a young girl, I always dreamed of sitting in a café in Paris, notebook in hand, writing away. Although this is the stereotypical writer fantasy, the longing for it was telling:

I wanted to be part of a history and community of creative types. Where romance, ideas, bubbled from our creative selves and we felt alive, had purpose in the act of expression itself.

This longing was my creativity wanting to come forth.

This longing was guiding me. However, I didn’t easily listen. For years, I didn’t write, was stuck in routine, distraction and without creative motivation.

We easily want more creative lives but the reality is they are difficult to put into practice. We have busy days, patterns of thoughts and ways of doing things. We can’t all jet off to Paris to write.

However, luckily there is a way to feel and be more creative, vibrant, and alive. And we don’t have to change our schedules or travel to do so. Beautifully it just takes one simple shift.

The most powerful shift you can do is to decide. 

Decide to be creative, to express yourself lively and creatively.

When you do so, you remember who you are. You start to remember that at your core you are creative, vibrant and full of so much beautiful potential.

Think of the dreams you have at night, the daydreams you have on a warm afternoon. The urge to doodle, to sing along to a song, to read blog posts on creativity.

This drive is your true self guiding you to remember your own creative being.

The idea of changing our minds, can seem simple. However it is not always so. The reason being we are all in routine, and more importantly in routines and patterns of ways of thinking.

These patterns are often limiting thoughts about who we are, how we express ourselves and how others perceive us. These thoughts are constructions based on early experiences.

Luckily we can choose new thoughts. Ones that are more serving for our creative expression. We can slowly expand your capacity to stand vibrantly in the truth of who you are.

The truth of who you are is alive, courageous, creative, and spontaneous.

This is truth for you and for all of us. This is the spirit part of us. The alive part of us. When we make up our minds to start thinking from this space, how we see ourselves and our surroundings start to change.

We begin to feel more energized, more spontaneous and up to trying new things. We tap into the medium our expression wants to take, we see beauty and inspiration around us.

This simple shift is powerful. Yet, to make it a way of life, it will take commitment. When doubt starts to set in, when you find yourself feeling down, unsure, not heard or seen or unmotivated, say to yourself, “I am creative, I am alive, I am vibrant.” Remind yourself of your truth.

The beauty is when we do so, our energy shifts. We stand a bit taller, we feel differently in our bodies. This ripples out into our actions, we become inspired, motivated and bold.

Take a moment to decide to be you.

Decide to be the creative light that is aching to get out. The world needs the beautiful, unique perspective that only you can bring.