Dear Life, give me lemons!

What gives with the lemonade fast or the Master Cleanse?  These are both forms of "detox diets" or "cleanses" that claim to purify our body by only drinking a solution which is merely lemon water.  There is some something to it, and it may just be science.

Lemons contain a flavonoid called eriocitrin.  Some research has shown this flavonoid to be an antioxidant and some has shown it to have the ability to break down lipids and lower cholesterol.  While it would be a lengthy discussion on how it actually works, let's just say that it seems to be tried and true and that this flavonoid actually has a lipid lowering effect.  Hence why it is so popular among cleanse diets, etc.  

I did my own little Google search on eriocitrin and found that some companies are actually selling it as a supplement.  Now, I'm not so sure that when we extract things and manufacture it into a pill that it has quite the same effect (take lycopene for example, is it just as effective of a nutrient when not in a tomato? maybe there is something else in the tomato that makes it so fantastic).  Still, at least eriocitrin is getting its 15 minutes of fame.

I say, "Life, give me lemons so I can make lemonade!"  Why not add a glass of lemon water to the beginning of each day for a little extra lipid lowering? (Hold the sugar :)

Get some Zzzz's, avoid the sneeze

This just in...

A recent study is showing that people who get less than 7 hours of sleep a night are more likely to contract a cold than those who get 7 or more hours of sleep.  After hearing about this study, I started to realize that we really are a busy society, a society of doers, as we now not only avoiding food preparation to save time but also do not rest enough.  Let's start a revolution and take care of ourselves by allowing the time we really need to nourish our body.

Lack of sleep raises cold risk