Included in this section is an assortment of information you may find interesting and beneficial. These are all topics of great personal interest to me, and since I am 'standing in' for a regular section editor this publication I've decided to share my interests with you.

In the far column you will find information on an assortment of supplements I personally take, and are not pelinks4u endorsed. I have various reasons for taking these supplements, one of them for neurotransmitter health, and some of which you will discover as you read the material. I'm getting great sleep now, but if you take anti-depressant medication, please talk with your doctor before taking certain supplements like L-Tryptophan (or 5-HTP). The combination can produce an overload of serotonin. Also, thoroughly read the article Brain Food: The Natural Cure for Depression

With school coming up, DO try to get away from school offered lunches and go with HEALTHY. For that reason you will find tons of information on making healthy lunches for your kids, and you also won't have to use your imagination. Just make out a weekly to monthly schedule of what you will be fixing each day. Stock up on the items you'll need while grocery shopping the weekend before.

Also included here is information on 'whole' foods. Eat as whole and natural as possible, and you will find that your health improves, your mental health improves, and blood pressure, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance problems are gradually eliminated. Also, whole foods are 'anti-aging.' Whole food are completely healthy and unprocessed, so will make your body healthy. That's why I include links to material on 'food as medicine.' Food that is as whole and unprocessed as possible is "food medicine."

Since I have an interest in brain health and development, I'll just include this link here so that it doesn't get lost amidst the rest of this page - Brain Food: The Natural Cure for Depression. Also of great value is this site: Anxiety & Depression; your guide to anxiety and depression information and support.

Terri Covey
pelinks4u webmaster

The Metabolic Power of Quality - Forget food fads and trendy weight-loss regimens. Eating the highest quality food you can find will do more for your health - and your waistline.

Are Your Bones Running on Empty?
Osteoporosis is a modern-day scourge, and the primary culprit is diet. Find out why—and then start eating these bone-building meals and snacks.

Eat Your Colors - Filling your plate with a variety of “colors” does much more than brighten up your table.

Food as Medicine: Does it Really Work? The notion that foods play an enormous role in your health is not new thinking as evidenced by Hippocrates’ statement from nearly 2,500 years ago, "Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food." Unfortunately, this simple statement and smart way of thinking has yet to become a mainstay of American culture. The concept fell into obscurity by the 19th century, and during the first 50 years of the 20th century the discovery of the essential elements and vitamins, particularly in the context of deficiency diseases, occurred. This lead to "enrichment" of processed foods to help people regain the health they lost when they abandoned real whole foods. Read more.

Medicinal Benefits of Whole Foods - The font at this site is a bit difficult to ready, but give it a try as the information offered is very good and worth reading.

Shocking News About Meat - Two of the biggest trends reshaping America's meat supply are gas packaging and brine injection systems. Manufacturers save millions of dollars in lost meat turnover with these technologies, which make meat appear fresh longer and pump “flavor” into factory-farmed meat, in the form of salt water and broth. Read more.

Recipes from Whole Foods Market - If you really want to start eating healthier, but don't want to become frustrated with trying to figure out daily meals, take a look this site. There's even an online recipe box. I think this site is one to 'bookmark.'

Why Go Organic? - Still need a good excuse to eat organic foods? Here's a mouthful of reasons. If you can afford to eat organic, and if your local grocery has plenty in stock, organic is healthier.

Food poisoning - Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that come on suddenly (within 48 hours) of consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (this would be called an outbreak).

This is a VERY thorough article on food poisoning. You should take the time to read it, as you, or someone you love, may eventually get food poisoning. It's best to be informed, so find out more.

THE VISUAL GUIDE - I absolutely love this site! Although tailored to appeal to younger children, you can get some great recipes for teens too. Whether you need to provide lunch to teens or younger kids, look this site over! It's great fun.

Recipe Type - Burgers, Tortillas & More
You'll find a very long list of great meals that can be used for both lunch and dinner. Each recipe includes a picture of what the meal looks like when prepared. Mmmmm...

Healthy, Fast Back-To-School Meals - As the long, lazy days of summer come to an end, a busy fall routine usually kicks in for most families, with kids returning to school and schedules filling up with all sorts of activities and obligations. To help make things a bit less trying at mealtime, cookbook author and cooking teacher Tori Ritchie has some quick, yet healthy, suggestions meals great for lunch or dinner.

Create Fast, Fun Meals with Wraps - Wraps, those flatbread-encased parcels stuffed with any filling imaginable, started springing up on menus everywhere over last few years, along with entire fast-food restaurants dedicated entirely to serving up global cuisine wrapped in a tortilla. Check out this site for a LOT of wrap variations. You won't get bored with wraps! Look through more great recipes.

Main Dish (Lunch) Recipes - If you have the time, how could any teen not like these recipes? Great lunches, and your child would be the envy of everyone else!

Smart Food Choices - When it comes to food, one thing's for sure, there’s never been so much choice. So if you’re finding it hard figuring out what's what - but want to make some shrewd choices - then this section could be for you. Check out their recipes for lunch ideas.

From this same site comes some more great recipes for packing school lunches. These recipes sure make lunch fun! Also, check out these wraps! You won't run out ideas for great lunches!

Lunchboxes - These menus are to help you pack a healthy lunch for your child. They have been put together so that over one week they meet the new standards for school lunches for 5-8 and 9-12 year olds.

Lunch Box Builder - This is NOT the same old, same old 'healthy lunch box' ideas. This site offers LOTS of healthy lunches, shows what the lunch looks like, and makes lunch really fun! Check this site out, if no other!

Healthy School Lunch Ideas - Want to pack healthy school lunches for your kids? Packing a healthy school lunch is not as difficult as you may think. Here are some ideas to help you in deciding what healthy foods to pack, menu ideas, tips for picky eaters, and healthy recipes for kids.

8 Healthy Lunch Box Ideas - A healthy lunch doesn't have to mean boring. You can provide a healthy lunch to your child in a way that doesn't turn them off to good food choices. It's time to get creative!

Teens - Do dairy foods really make you fat? Can fast food still be healthy? Can what you eat help your skin? Find out the answers to these questions and how you can look and feel your best by keeping fit.

Since I am a single grandmother, and have been raising my grandson since he was 3 months old (over 4 years now), information on 'grandparents raising grandchildren' is a topic I want to share with you, as you may be a grandparent/parent at some point in your life if you aren't already. A grandparent raising a grandchild has many complexities, so learning all you can about this topic is important and very educational, and can be of benefit to you or those you know.

Every child needs a parent and/or parents. Every child should have a good mother. Although my grandson realizes I'm his grandmother, he calls me 'mom,' and is very excepting of the whole situation and I'm "two people" for him - both mom and grandma - while other moms are just 'one.' He understands "he's my kid" and is secure with me. He needs a 'mom' like other kids, so on his own calls me mom, rather than grandma.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - The circumstances of all grandparents will be different than those included in the article, mine being one. At a minimum have a 'notarized power of attorney ' in place in order to legally obtain services such as school enrollment and medical care.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren - This is a website totally related to this topic. You will get a lot of helpful information and resources leads here. Although this information is not current, the facts that are presented are very interesting and those I can really identify with.

Proud Grandparents contains over 70 articles all written by a team of experts, and they add around new 10 articles each month.

The following material is presented as nutritional information only. If your diet isn't as balanced as it should be, for whatever reason, and possibly certain supplements may be of benefit to you, research and find out all that you can before taking any. The following supplements are those I personally use, and are not those endorsed by pelinks4u.

Many nutrients are dependant on others in order to work well, meaning that if you are low in one nutrient your body may not absorb certain other nutrients well. Many of the following kind of 'go together' if your intent is to increase the neurotransmitter serotonin, to help relieve symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep problems, etc. You will also find some of these nutrients aid in lowering cholesterol, help with cardio vascular health, plus many more benefits.

Although some of my information comes from websites that sell these nutrients, I recommend going to your local 'Rite Aid' or another pharmacy if you decide to purchase anything. Get a 'buy one, get one free' or any other sale. Linking to these commercial sites is to provide "source" information only.

B Complex: You will find detailed information at Wikipedia on each of the B vitamins, but if you want to supplement, my recommendation is a B100 supplement, meaning 100 mg of each B vitamin. More good information on B vitamins can be found at "How Stuff Works," which you may find more interesting.

Inositol is a fundamental ingredient of cell membranes and is necessary for proper function of nerves, brain, and muscles in the body. Inositol is primarily used in the treatment of liver problems, depression, panic disorder, and diabetes. It also aids in the breakdown of fats, helps in the reduction of blood cholesterol, and helps to prevent thinning hair.

A diet low in Inositol may result in deficiency symptoms that culminate in high blood cholesterol, constipation, eczema, and hair loss. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin in the brain depend on Inositol to function properly. Low levels of this nutrient may result in depression, and some research has shown that increased levels of Inositol appear to be a promising treatment for depression.

B6: Pyridoxine, also known as Vitamin B6, is a water-soluble vitamin needed by the nervous and immune systems. Vitamin B6 helps nerve cells to communicate. It is involved in making hormones, insulin, antibodies, and cell membranes, and is needed for the normal breakdown of protein, carbohydrate and fat. Vitamin B6 helps to maintain blood sugar within the normal range. Vitamin B6 also aids in the formation of niacin from the amino acid, tryptophan.

L-Tryptophan - nature's answer to Prozac
by James South MA

The "serotonin deficiency syndrome" is one of the most common and widespread disorders of human psychobiology in the modern world. Prozac allegedly increases the amount of serotonin in the synaptic gap that slightly separates nerve cells from each other.

The serotonin deficiency syndrome has been shown to manifest as a broad array of emotional and behavioral problems, ranging from depression, PMS, anxiety, alcoholism, insomnia, violence, aggression, suicide, and compulsive gambling.

Yet there is rarely a problem with the structure or "wiring" of the brain’s serotonin circuits. Rather the problem is caused by a chronic deficit of serotonin in the nerves that use it as their neurotransmitter. And this deficit in turn derives from various problems relating to the nutritional biochemistry of tryptophan.

Read more. Another article, and read L-Tryptophan Natures Answer to Prozac®.

Niacin has long been used to increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol. But compared with other cholesterol drugs, niacin hasn't gotten much respect. It's just a simple B vitamin, nothing fancy. Still, it's hard to deny niacin's often-significant impact on your HDL cholesterol levels.

Zinc is a mineral that is needed for growth, especially during pregnancy and childhood, and for tissue building and repair. It is involved in wound healing, maintaining a healthy immune system, and cell reproduction. Zinc is a component of over 100 enzymes in the body.

Vitamin C - the best source for getting plenty of vitamin C is through eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, but if you think you may not be getting what you need, you may wish to take a supplement. I personally take 1000 mg in the morning, and the same at night before going to bed. You will find a short article on the benefits of vitamin C at "How Stuff Works." You body is better able to utilize the vitamins from food, so try to eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables each day.

Rainbow Light Women's Nutritional System - This one you can't get at Rite Aid. Must be ordered at Vitacost.com.