As a result of the ongoing recession, this problem has become commonplace. According to a poll by the American Psychological Association, 80 percent of respondents reported significant stress because of the economy. And the National Sleep Foundation’s 2009 Sleep in America poll found that nearly one-third of people surveyed weren’t sleeping well due to increased anxiety.

Many are visiting their doctors to get sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications. However, you don’t have to go the pharmaceutical route. There are plenty of natural alternatives. Exercise, deep sleep, and yoga, for example, have been proven to help many. Meditation and prayer works for others. In addition, there are several over-the-counter supplements to consider.

Kava is one of the most potent anti-anxiety herbs. In a recent study, Australian researchers gave 60 adults with chronic anxiety symptoms either kava or a placebo for one week. The second week, placebo patients were switched to kava and kava patients to the placebo. Anxiety symptoms declined for the patients on the kava extract, as did depression symptoms in some – often within an hour or two after taking it. However, there have been rare reports of liver damage when kava has been used daily. For this reason, I recommend taking kava no more than three days a week.

Another herb I like is passionflower. Its effects (which include relaxation and sleepiness) begin in an hour or two. Passionflower is quite safe, and can be used on the days when kava is not taken.

Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb that many find helpful in easing tension.

Certain amino acids and related compounds are popular for stress relief. These include 5-HTP, GABA, and theanine. I personally have not found GABA to be very effective, although some people really like it. 5-HTP helps to balance mood, reduces tension, and – like theanine – helps with sleep. The timing of these supplements depends on the severity of your anxiety. They can be taken during the day if you are very anxious. But if your symptoms are milder and you just need a natural pill to help you relax after work, they can be taken in the early evening.

If you are still having trouble sleeping, I have formulated an excellent product called Good Night Rx. A capsule is taken 2 to 4 hours before bed on an empty stomach, and the vast majority of users find they get a deeper and more restful sleep with hardly any side effects. Wait at least a half hour after taking Good Night Rx before eating dinner or a late snack.

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For more on Good Night Rx - and dozens of other natural anxiety-fighting and sleep-inducing options - visit the website of Ray Sahelian, MD, at www.raysahelian.com. You can also purchase Good Night Rx straight from Dr. Sahelian by clicking here.]

We were at a restaurant in Los Angeles, and before we ordered she asked the waiter to bring a few cut lemon pieces and a glass of water. She proceeded to squeeze the lemons into the water and asked me to taste. Of course, it was sour. She then added a few drops of stevia liquid. I could not believe how that small amount of herbal extract immediately turned the sourness into delicious lemonade.

I was so impressed that I was inspired to co-author The Stevia Cookbook with her. I researched the history of the plant and all the studies, while she worked on the recipes.

After reviewing multi-generational studies done with rodents where high dosages were found to be non-toxic – and realizing that some countries (including Japan) had been using stevia in their foods since the 1970s without ill effects – I was convinced that it was safe. However, the FDA claimed that it had concerns about stevia’s safety and would not allow it to be called a sweetener. Stevia had to be labeled as a “dietary supplement.”

Interestingly, the FDA’s attitude changed when Coke and Pepsi approached them and asked for permission to use stevia extract as a sweetener.

Stevia has been available in the U.S. since the mid to late 1990s, and it gradually became popular in alternative health circles. But it was not until Coke and Pepsi got the okay from the FDA in 2008 to begin adding it to their drinks that stevia was catapulted to a new status. You are soon likely to find it as a sweetener in a wide variety of foods, drinks, nutrition bars, and other products.

A number of companies sell stevia extracts but not all of them are of good quality. Some may have a bitter aftertaste. After searching for several years, I came across a clear liquid form of stevia that has become my favorite. I use 3 or 4 drops in my herbal tea every morning, and have been doing so for over a decade. You can add it to coffee, too, and kids love it in lemonade. It’s also available as a powder, and in lime-flavored packets that you can add to a pint of water for a delicious, calorie-free iced drink to enjoy on warm summer days.

[Ed. Note: For more on stevia - and dozens of other nutritional supplements - visit the natural healing website of Ray Sahelian, MD, at www.raysahelian.com. Stevia extract can be purchased directly from Dr. Sahelian by clicking here.

You can find plenty of all-natural methods for staying healthy - including the latest breakthroughs in weight-loss programs... healthful recipes... and other ideas for achieving optimal health - all from one of the largest integrative-medicine practices in the country. Learn more here.]

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Keep in mind that there is a physiological reason for hormone levels to drop when you get older. As the body ages, it was not meant to be exposed to high levels of certain hormones. Therefore, any form of hormone replacement – through pills, creams, or shots and whether synthetic or bio-identical – is not something the aging human body is genetically adapted to.

Every woman has to decide for herself whether the benefits – relief of menopausal symptoms and the potential reduction of osteoporosis – outweigh the increased risk of cancer, heart attack, stroke, and other serious conditions.

If you must use hormone replacement to relieve your menopausal symptoms (or because of other health issues you may have), use the lowest dosage that works and for the shortest period of time. And be aware that there are plenty of natural, proven methods for limiting your risks of age-related disease.

Exercise, weight training, calcium, and vitamin D are a few good options for reducing the risk of osteoporosis. The risk of heart disease, stroke, and mental decline can be reduced through diet, exercise, lowering stress , yoga, deep sleep, and by taking certain natural herbs and supplements.

Humans have lived on this planet for a long, long time – but only in the last few decades have doctors been prescribing hormone replacement therapy to a large number of women. If, a decade or two from now, research shows bio-identical hormone use to be safe, I will wholeheartedly promote it. Until then, women who are using these hormones, particularly in high dosages and for prolonged periods, are taking a gamble.

Does HRT increase or decrease mortality? The answer is not yet in.

[Ed. Note: For more on HRT - and dozens of nutritional supplements - visit the natural healing website of Ray Sahelian, MD, at www.raysahelian.com.

You can find plenty of all-natural methods for staying healthy - including the latest breakthroughs in weight-loss programs... healthful recipes... and other ideas for achieving optimal health - all from one of the largest integrative-medicine practices in the country. Learn more here ]

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Researchers at Australia’s Victoria University gave 14 postmenopausal women 3.5 grams a day of maca for six weeks, and compared them to a group receiving placebo pills. They also checked their hormone levels before and after treatment. The women who received the maca had a significant reduction in anxiety and depression, as well as improved sexual function. The researchers’ conclusion: “Preliminary findings show that maca reduces psychological symptoms, including anxiety and depression, and lowers measures of sexual dysfunction in postmenopausal women independent of estrogenic and androgenic activity.”

Even though this study used 3.5 grams (3,500 milligrams) of maca a day, I would recommend using less – 500 to 2,000 mg a day – if you plan to take the herb for an extended period of time. Long-term studies with maca supplements are not available, so it may be a good idea to take a few days off each month until we learn more. At this point, it is not clear how maca interacts with estrogen hormone replacement therapy (HRT). If you are on HRT, you may consider using 500 mg a day of maca for a week, and then adjust the dosage up or down.

[Ed. Note: For more on the maca herb - and dozens of other nutritional supplements - visit the natural healing website of Ray Sahelian, MD, at www.raysahelian.com. You can also purchase maca straight from Dr. Sahelian by clicking here.

You can find plenty of all-natural methods for staying healthy - including the latest breakthroughs in weight-loss programs... healthful recipes... and other ideas for achieving optimal health - all from one of the largest integrative-medicine practices in the country. Learn more here.]

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Understandable, maybe. But that means you may not be aware of the poor outcomes of many new drugs. In fact, many trials that showed poor outcomes were still not published several years after the FDA approved the drug.

An independent review of these studies concludes: “The information that is readily available in the scientific literature to health care professionals is incomplete and potentially biased.”

This should make you even more skeptical about the benefits touted by drug companies.

Discuss all new medications thoroughly with your doctor – and be sure to get a second opinion if anything seems fishy or too good to be true.

[Ed. Note: For unbiased reports on the latest health breakthroughs, sign up for ETR's natural health newsletter.

For more about exactly what you should be doing to improve your health, visit www.RaySahelian.com, the website of Ray Sahelian, MD, internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements and the author of Mind Boosters.]

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Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology found that female mice given resveratrol had a significantly reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

This anti-aging substance has a host of additional health benefits – and we look forward to more research over the next few years to give us a fuller understanding of them.

Meanwhile, blueberries, red grapes, cranberries, bilberries, and – of course – red wine are all good sources of resveratrol. You can also find it in supplement form in many health food stores.

[Ed. Note: Sometimes the difference between poor and good health is simply knowing the right supplements to take. Learn how you can start to feel better and get healthier right here.

For more about the supplements you should and shouldn't be taking, visit www.RaySahelian.com, the website of Ray Sahelian, MD, internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements and the author of Mind Boosters.]

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology gave male mice, on a daily basis, the equivalent of resveratrol found in a bottle of red wine. They discovered that the mice were significantly less likely to develop prostate cancer. And those mice that consumed resveratrol but still got cancer developed less serious tumors.

Red wine has about two to three milligrams of resveratrol per liter. (A liter is almost 34 ounces.) But even if you drink wine fairly regularly, taking resveratrol in supplement form is a good idea. Most resveratrol supplements on the market have about 10 mg per capsule. Taking one or two resveratrol supplements a week is fine if you are also consuming many other antioxidants every day. However, if you hardly take any antioxidant supplements, you can take the resveratrol more frequently. You can find resveratrol supplements in most health food stores.

[Ed. Note: Sometimes the difference between poor and good health is simply knowing the right supplements to take. Learn how you can start to feel better and get healthier right here.

For more about the supplements you should and shouldn't be taking, visit www.RaySahelian.com, the website of Ray Sahelian, MD, internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements and the author of Mind Boosters.]

Colostrum Benefits
Colostrum is the early milk that a mammal produces for a few days after delivering a baby. In cows, it’s called bovine colostrum. A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reports that bovine colostrum helped male cyclists have more energy during a bout of intense training.

Cecelia Shing, at the University of Queensland in Australia, followed 29 male distance cyclists. Her research team first took baseline measurements of the men’s performance on a 40-kilometer time trial. They then randomly assigned the cyclists to drink either a supplement containing 10 grams of bovine colostrum protein or a whey protein supplement every day for eight weeks. During week eight, the men underwent five consecutive days of high-intensity training. There were no clear differences between the two groups during normal training. However, volunteers who used bovine colostrum performed at a higher level, with fewer signs of fatigue, during tests taken after the five-day run of intense training.

There are certain foods that I would consider superfoods in that they have a high concentration of substances useful for well-being and overall health. Colostrum falls into this category. It  is rich in immunoglobulins – proteins involved in promoting the immune system and fighting germs. It has other beneficial compounds, too – such as growth factors and nucleosides – that are not found in regular milk.

You can find bovine colostrum in the dairy section of any health food store. It is also available as a supplement in capsule form.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, MD, the author of Mind Boosters, ETRhealthconcerns is internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements. Visit Dr. Sahelian's website at www.RaySahelian.com, and read more of his articles about the supplements you should and shouldn't be taking at ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

Dr. Robyn N. Smith, from the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, evaluated acne symptoms in 43 male patients. The participants – who ranged in age from 15 to 25 – were randomly assigned to a low-glycemic-load diet or a normal diet. After three months, the low-glycemic diet was associated with a significant reduction in acne compared with the normal diet. In addition, the low-glycemic diet produced greater reductions in body weight and body mass and a greater increase in insulin sensitivity.

One reason for the success of the low-glycemic diet is that it limits the increase in insulin levels. Chronically high levels of insulin may lead to blockages in skin pores and extra oil building up under the skin.

Along with sticking to low-glycemic foods, eating lots of fish full of omega-3 EPA and DHA oils is very helpful for people with acne. Even with the best diet, many teenagers will be bothered with pimples. But their skin problem is likely to be less severe when they adopt a healthier diet.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, MD, the author of Mind Boosters, is internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements. Visit Dr. Sahelian's website at www.RaySahelian.com, and read his articles about the supplements you should and shouldn't be taking at ETR's free natural health e-letter.]

Researchers in Madrid, Spain compared the effect of glucosamine sulfate versus acetaminophen on the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis during a six-month course of treatment. Patients were randomly assigned to receive oral glucosamine sulfate (1,500 mg once daily), acetaminophen (3 grams a day), or a placebo. The findings of this study indicate that, in the long run, glucosamine sulfate is at least as effective as acetaminophen for knee osteoarthritis symptoms.

You can find glucosamine supplements in most health food stores. Combining glucosamine with chondroitin and other nutrients or herbs may be more beneficial than taking it by itself. So look for supplements that include CMO, curcumin, or boswellia – all of which play a role in joint health.

[Ed. Note: Ray Sahelian, MD, the author of Mind Boosters, is internationally recognized as a moderate voice in the evaluation of natural supplements. Visit Dr. Sahelian's website at www.RaySahelian.com, and read more of his articles about the supplements you should and shouldn't be taking at ETR's free natural health e-letter.]