Mood boosting essentials treat mild depression, anxiety and sleeplessness

by: Fleur Hupston
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(NaturalNews) The brain is dependent on mood-boosting nutrients. When food lacks these essential nutrients, depression and anxiety can quickly set in. Typically, anti-depressants are prescribed to treat these problems, which in many cases can so easily be remedied by taking the correct nutrients.

This article is for information purposes only. Anyone suffering with severe depression should see a qualified naturopath or homeopath to correctly identify the causes. Self-treating even mild cases of "the blues" with the supplements mentioned here is best undertaken with the help of a medical professional.

Mood boosting minerals

Chromium: This mineral helps to stabilize blood sugar. Individuals experiencing mood swings, who perhaps over-react when it comes to minor issues or feel very tired during the day, may be lacking in this essential mineral. According to Psychology Today, "Duke University scientists found that consuming chromium picolinate, a trace mineral naturally found in whole grains, mushrooms, liver and many other foods, has significant effects on individuals suffering from atypical depression".

Magnesium: Low levels of magnesium in the human body can result in anxiety, sleeplessness and depression. Simply put, magnesium is the mineral needed to make serotonin, the brain's "happy chemical".

Amino acids

Most anti-depressant drugs supposedly work by boosting serotonin levels. Raising serotonin levels naturally can apparently be achieved by supplementing with the amino acid 5-hydroxytryptophan, or 5-HTP. This is sold over the counter in the UK, USA and Canada as a dietary supplement for use as an antidepressant, and it is marketed in many European countries for cases of major depression.

Other amino acids that can make a difference to mood swings include phenylalanine and tyrosine, from which the body makes the neurotransmitter noradrenalin - vital for motivation and drive.

Essential fats and mood

Much has been said on Natural News on the subject of omega 3 fats and the importance of eating oily fish such as wild salmon. Cod liver oil is another rich source of omega 3. Studies have shown that severely depressed individuals consuming a diet high in these fats generally show significant improvement, greater than that reported for antidepressant drugs.

Vitamins B & D

In older people, vitamin B is often missing because this vitamin is not absorbed so well the older one gets. Vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid are often recommended for individuals over 50 years of age, particularly with depression or "brain-fog".

There is a definite correlation between individuals with a vitamin D deficiency and depression. In cold Northern climes, many people feel low, irritable and angry during winter because of the lack of sunshine. Depression levels can be substantially lowered by taking vitamin D supplements or by getting direct sunlight on the skin each day.

Sources:

http://www.moodfoods.com/magnesium-...
http://www.naturalnews.com/030713_o...
http://www.psychologytoday.com/arti...

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032339_mood_food.html#ixzz1NU89Lkd9

Hurt So Good

From the desk of Crystal Andrus:



We teach what we need to learn. Or maybe better said, we teach what we’ve just learned. So passionate about our new-found excitement, we want everyone to feel what we’ve just experienced. The feeling of healing, joy, love, and sense of personal power is too good to hoard and hold onto just for ourselves. We blow the trumpets, send out the word, and beg to share our message with anyone who’ll listen.

This is really the case with me and the work that I now do…

I spent far too many years struggling; far too many years desperate for personal peace, acceptance, love, and happiness. Each time I would get a taste of it, I would hunger for it all the more. My appetite never satisfied. My thirst never quenched.

My first real memorable knockout of joy came just after my first daughter, Madelaine, was born. The overwhelming feeling I had for her, literally, bowled me over. I truly wasn’t prepared for it. Love temporarily replaced every bit of anger and fear inside of me. I felt renewed. Alive. Ready and willing.

My heart began to heal. Although my relationship with my mother had become so dysfunctional over the years—so hurt and tattered—I wondered if maybe she too had once felt this same unconditional love for me that I now held for my new child. Deep down, I believed it. I wanted to. I chose to. And even though things had been so strained, I was able to begin seeing my mother through different lenses.

The next punch of power arrived in a very different package. While focused on loving my children (yes, I had another daughter soon after, who filled me with an equally-overwhelming amount of love), I had somehow gained an exorbitant amount of weight through the process. Yet how could that happen? How could loving my children cause me to pack on the pounds? What was going on?

Then, late one night when Julia (my second daughter) was only four months old, I had my next breakthrough. Unsuccessfully fighting back tears, I sobbed as I cuddled my sleeping daughter late into the night. I had never cried so desperately or so honestly.

Really … what was happening to me? Was I having a breakdown? Had the enormity of my past pain finally caught up with me? Or maybe, it was a breakthrough?

I was truly overwhelmed, but in a different way than I had been only two short years before (almost to the day), when my first daughter was born.

The feeling, although quite different than the overpowering sense of love I had experienced with Madelaine, was still nevertheless as overwhelming. It was in that authentic moment of pain that I was able to see things through different lenses.

I loved my daughters so much that I realized I had to heal my own broken pieces—not just for my sake so that I could be a happy, successful, woman but for their sake—so that I could be an empowered role model. It was time to give my daughters the greatest gift I could ever give to them as a mother—self love. It was time to show myself love. Treat myself with love; to be here—fully awake to feel love, receive love, and allow it to blossom in my life.

If you’ve read my “Simply…Woman” journey, you’ll know that I got up the next morning and went for a walk. Those walks soon turned into runs. The runs turned into strength. The strength turned into power, and within a few short months, I became a walking billboard of health, happiness, and vitality, wanting to share my new-found confidence and excitement with everyone I met. I wanted every woman to feel alive, strong, and confident—loving the skin she was in.

Now don’t kid yourself: The 16 years since that journey began hasn’t always been easy. I won’t lie and tell you it’s been all rosy. What I will tell you is that in order to be happy, successful, empowered, authentic, and fully awake in your own life you have to break the bonds that hold you captive … in your own mind. You have to heal the “could’ve beens” and “should’ve beens”. You have to find positive and empowered ways of coping, with not only the past pains but with the new ones, arriving in the here and now. (Yes! Even when your life is happy, successful, and empowered, painful things still happen.)

The secret lies in healing the feeling.

When my daughters were born, I felt the overwhelming feeling of love. When I sat crying in my rocking chair with my daughter cuddled on my lap, I felt the overwhelming feelings of despair and confusion. In order to get where I am (and I’m not just talking about in my career!), I’ve had to actually feel and deal with……

(To read more, Click here )

Could grief be causing your chronic illness?

by: Larry Malerba, DO

(NaturalNews) Aside from the many self-inflicted and medically induced causes of illness such as smoking, poor nutrition, alcohol and drug abuse, pharmaceutical side effects, allopathic suppression, and surgeries gone awry, perhaps the most common "natural" cause of chronic illness is unresolved grief.

Grief is natural in the sense that everyone is faced with the issue at some point in his or her life. It is a normal human response, which when handled effectively should lead to psycho-spiritual growth and greater awareness.

The problem is that handling grief is easier said than done. The successful processing of grief is a function of numerous factors, including one's psychological maturity and understanding of the nature and purpose of grief and loss. Other factors include the degree of emotional support from friends and family, one's own personal state of physical/emotional/spiritual health and well-being, and our prevailing cultural attitudes toward grief.

When the grieving process is short-circuited and grief is not allowed to have its way it can lead to health issues as varied as the individuals that it afflicts. Unprocessed grief is commonly a source of anxiety, irritability, depression, other emotional disturbances, and even mania and psychosis. Conversely, it is quite common for grief to become somaticized. The classic symptom of difficulty swallowing with sensation of a lump ("globus hystericus") is literally a somaticization of emotion that has become stuck in the throat -- an obvious body metaphor for unexpressed feelings and unshed tears.

Likewise, grief can become lodged in the neck and back as muscle tension, in the chest as a cough or bronchitis, in the gut as nausea or intestinal cramps, or in the head as tension headaches or migraines. When grief is particularly traumatic as in the death of a child, or when a person's health is already compromised, it is not unusual to see somatic manifestations on a deeper level. Thus, grief can lead to rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, Crohn's disease, high blood pressure, and even heart disease. Again, each manifestation can be as unique as the vital force of the person struggling with grief.

The sources of grief are varied and each situation is unique in the sense that grief is always in the eye of the beholder. The loss of one person's pet can be just as devastating as the loss of another person's parent. We tend to equate grief with the death of a friend or loved one, but it can just as easily result from broken relationships, divorce, job loss, or a personal perception of failure. There are no rules; each instance of grief is a subjective experience that must be taken at face value if it is to be respected and handled compassionately by those attempting to comfort and assist the grieving individual.

I recently saw a woman in her 50s who sought help for her depression and chronic intestinal problems. Upon inquiring as to the source of her depression, she said that it was from not having fulfilled her dream of being the mother of a large number of children. When I suggested to her that the so-called depression could more accurately be characterized as unresolved grief, I could see her mind light up as a look of realization came across her face. The healing process had begun the moment she came to a new understanding of her condition. In the course of working with her over the next few months, years of depression and digestive disturbances began to fade into the distance as she gave herself permission to grieve the family that she knew she would never have.

Although individual responses to grief are unique and diverse, my own medical experience has taught me that there are a number of common response patterns or stereotypes, if you will, that can be identified. One such pattern is that of the distraught person who repeatedly cries and sobs for prolonged periods of time, for days, weeks, or even months on end, with no relief in sight. This type of "hysterical" grief can be devastating and exhausting. The polar opposite pattern is represented by the individual who vows to stay strong, shows no "weakness," and sheds not a tear for months or even years after the original painful loss that caused the grief. These individuals seek to quickly put their grief "behind them," not realizing that there is no free lunch and that they will someday be forced to deal with it, whether it be in the form of an emotional or physical crisis.

Grieving children commonly exhibit headaches or stomachaches that lead to calls home from the school nurse. Some individuals become worn down by their grief and their emotional state begins to resemble that of a person suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, with its attendant malaise, emotional indifference, and lack of motivation. Some people become stuck in anger, blaming themselves and/or others for their loss. For such individuals, anger is usually a defensive form of denial that protects them from the more painful underlying feelings of grief. Other unfortunate individuals can be thrown into an existential crisis, questioning their very existence, losing their faith in something greater than themselves, and even losing their will to live.

While antidepressants, anxiolytics, and/or sleep aids may temporarily dull symptoms, they will not help to resolve the underlying issues of grief. In fact, pharmaceuticals will tend to enable the person to avoid emotions that must sooner or later be faced. The longer grief is postponed, the more likely it will contribute to chronic disease. The American obsession with productivity is not conducive to the successful processing of grief since the demands of the workplace often take precedence over issues of mental health. There is no set timetable for grief to run its course, and there is no statute of limitations. Fortunately, there are a variety of non-pharmaceutical approaches that can enhance the healing process.

First and foremost, patience, kindness, love, and understanding are prerequisites for a successful outcome. Most people simply need someone to listen to them. Secondly, the person affected by grief must come to understand that grief is a normal and necessary function of the human psyche, and the needs of the psyche will not be denied. Grief must be felt and experienced to the extent necessary to bring about a resolution, and this differs from one person to the next depending upon who that person is and the nature of the loss involved. For somaticized grief, it can be as simple as asking patients to trust their instincts and to name what it is that they believe is the real source of their ostensibly physical illness. Most people intuitively know the answer. It can be surprising how a person will respond when questioned and, frequently, the simple act of verbalizing one's personal truth will be enough to initiate the healing process.

Good old fashioned counseling or psychotherapy can be invaluable in situations of grief, but for more stubborn cases that persist or that have become somaticized, there are additional methods that can be employed to great benefit. Various forms of bodywork can be particularly helpful in cases that manifest as chronic headaches, neck or back pain. Most massage therapists can relate stories of clients who finally relaxed, "let go," and had a therapeutic emotional meltdown right there on the massage table. Such "healing crises" are cathartic events that can help break the logjam of unexpressed grief.

Dreams can be very important, especially for those who are grieving the death of loved ones. It is quite common for the deceased to pay a visit to surviving friends and family in their dreams. Sometimes the deceased brings a crucial piece of information that can help the living to understand the circumstances surrounding his or her death. And sometimes departed loved ones seek to reassure survivors that they are doing fine on the other side. To dismiss such an event as just a dream is a serious mistake and a lost opportunity to communicate with the departed. The ingrained materialistic outlook of American culture is a strong deterrent to recognizing that such dreams can assist in the resolution of grief and may also lead to spiritual growth.

When all else fails, a difficult and unresponsive case of grief will often respond quite nicely to a well-chosen homeopathic medicine. Some of the patterns of grief described above correspond to homeopathic medicines that are capable of releasing one from the grips of grief and its effects. It is best to consult a qualified homeopathic practitioner when dealing with long-standing grief.

Many of the lessons that I have learned regarding grief are by virtue of the patients that I have had the privilege to assist in the grieving process over the years. Our own friends, family, and patients can teach us a great deal about grief, an issue that often lies at the center of health, illness, life, and death.

Additional Information for the Homeopathic Management of Grief:
Dr. Ajit Singh, Grief and Its Homeopathic Approach, Homeopathic Journal, Vol 2, Issue 7, May 2009, Homeorizon.com

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032362_grief_illness.html#ixzz1NU6BLldY

Tips to Help You Lose Weight and Stay Fit!

From the desk of DREAM TEAM Coach, Adele Fridman:



We all dream to eat healthy, exercise regularly, reduce stress, take vitamins, give up smoking, and/or drop other bad habits. With this very thought, fitness centers are filled with new members, excited about their weight loss dreams. Unfortunately, most of these same people have very little knowledge of how to effectively achieve their goals. And many who start will end up frustrated and will quit within the month. Sadly, with (most likely) another failed attempt under their belts, they do more psychological damage than good to themselves.

Setting goals and seeing results will keep us motivated in the year ahead! Striving for and reaching a goal means leaving your comfort zone. Frustration and failure can be avoided when you have a feasible and effective map for success.

The fact is, ‘attaining any goal takes preparation and planning’. One of the biggest mistakes we make is setting goals that are unattainable. For example, we claim that we want to lose 50 pounds; then we feel frustrated when the weight doesn’t magically disappear. Instead, we should set small, attainable goals.

Here are 10 tips to help you lose weight healthily:

1. Create your plan of action! A weight loss plan of action should consist of a chain of planned events that leads to a healthy and fit body. It is a series of milestones designed to push the body beyond its daily tasks. The plan would include a starting and ending date and would answer the questions—who, what, when, where and why.


2. Plan your meals and snacks in advance - You will eat healthier meals and be less tempted to eat on the run.


3. Clean out your refrigerator! If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind! Throw out those treats and stock up on foods that will nourish you at the cellular level. Remember, you are what you eat!


4. Eat early to keep weight off - The human body follows a circadian rhythm; this means that the same foods eaten at breakfast and lunch are processed differently when eaten at dinner. Studies show that when you eat your daily protein and fat at breakfast, you tend to lose weight and have more energy; however, eating the same things at dinner increases the tendency to gain weight. I suggest that you do not eat after 7 p.m.


5. Eat smaller meals more frequently -Remember that your stomach is the size of a fist! Be sure to follow an eating schedule that includes 4-6 small meals every day. Eating steadily throughout the day keeps you from overeating at your next meal. Consider having a low-fat protein shakes, trail mix with raw almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and apples. Have this snack available at all times to avoid the temptation of high-calorie snacks.


6. Drink water – No matter where you are, water should always be your first choice when you’re thirsty. Water truly is essential. Water is the key to losing weight. If you haven’t been drinking enough water, your body has developed a pattern of storing water. This water retention equals extra unwanted weight. By drinking more water, you are flushing out toxins. You are teaching your body that it no longer needs to store water. Drink at least 60 ounces of water (about 8 glasses) a day. Boil water with sliced lemons, and drink this throughout the day to help with fluid retention. Did you know that water is a natural appetite suppressant?


7. Don’t eat foods with a lot of sugar – Decreasing sugar increases your energy by minimizing the highs and lows triggered by sweet foods. Sugar provides empty calories, displaces more nutritious foods and makes is easier for yeast and bacteria to thrive.


8. Sleep 8 hours a night – Recent studies have confirmed that you really do need to sleep at least 8 hours at night.  Adequate sleep makes you feel better, decreases your risk for cardiovascular disease and boosts your memory.


9. Reduce stress – Think happy, positive thoughts, do something you like everyday (take a long hot bath, listen to music, read a book, meditate … etc.)


10. Create time to exercise – Regular exercise helps produce feel-good hormones and promotes greater weight loss. Walking, jogging, hiking and aerobics classes are great aerobic choices. Include a strength-training routine involving both the upper and lower body.  Resistance exercises that prevent muscle and bone loss are crucial for women as they age. Lift weights for at least 20 minutes, 2-3 times per week.

Warmly,

Adele Fridman
DREAM TEAM Coach
Crystal Andrus Productions

Lifestyle movement is more important than exercising

by: Elizabeth Walling
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(NaturalNews) The idea that exercise is good for us is constantly pummeled into our brains by the medical community, by health coaches and by the mass media. And while certain types of exercise can certainly be beneficial in context, placing too much emphasis on formal exercise may be highlighting the wrong issue and contributing to long term health problems--because it`s movement rather than exercise that has the most dramatic impact on our health.

What Makes Us Sedentary?

Who is more sedentary: the person who exercises for one hour several times per week or the one who never exercises at all? Conventional wisdom says the second person is sedentary and will probably experience negative side effects from it. This, however, is an incomplete picture and may in fact be completely wrong if other factors are considered.

More important than how often you exercise is how much you move during your everyday life. Why? Because how much time you spend sitting adversely affects your health far more than how much time you spend doing formal exercise. If you spend several hours a day sitting (at a desk, while commuting, at restaurants, etc.), it can negatively impact your health--even if you exercise regularly. Basically, regular exercise is not enough to counteract an otherwise sedentary lifestyle.

How to Add Movement to Your Lifestyle

There was a time when we didn`t have to consciously think about moving more during our daily lives, but that is no longer the case. During the last several decades, we have unconsciously shifted from a lifestyle that included plenty of movement to one that is mostly spent sitting down. Desk work is far more common than it used to be; commuting for at least an hour every day is not uncommon; and activities that used to require movement now require much less of it (washing dishes, doing laundry, etc.).

The best solution is to pepper our everyday lives with activity. This can be done in a variety of ways:

1. Take phone calls standing up or walking.
2. Use a standing desk if possible, or sit on an exercise ball at your desk.
3. Take frequent breaks during your day to use the restroom or to get a drink of water.
4. Try to get up and walk around for about five minutes during each hour.
5. Get up during commercial breaks while you`re watching television.
6. Use the stairs instead of the elevator whenever you have the choice.
7. Park on the far side of the parking lot when you can.
8. Get up and go window shopping rather than browsing online.
9. When you meet with friends, clients or colleagues, try to do something that includes more movement (such as walking through a local museum or park, etc.).

How you incorporate more movement into your life will largely depend on your lifestyle and preferences, but it can certainly be done if you make small changes over time. The little things really do add up in this case. Pretty soon you`ll be unconsciously moving more instead of unconsciously sitting more--and your health will thank you for it.

For more information:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/m...

http://www.livingthenourishedlife.c...

http://drpeggymalone.com/sitting-kill

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/032482_movement_exercise.html#ixzz1NU4MpVyG

Don’t miss this once in a lifetime live chat with Marianne Williamson!

Truth be told, it doesn't matter if your struggle is with weight, relationships or finances, the underlying reason remains the same: You've forgotten who you really are and you've allowed a wounded, ill-equipped part of yourself take over and "run the show". And just look at the mess she's gotten you into!If you are ready to make peace with yourself, to integrate the fragmented aspects of your personality, to reclaim your personal power, perfect health and weight, authenticity and magnificence, and discover who you really are, you can't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to chat LIVE with Marianne Williamson and Crystal Andrus!

CLICK HERE to Join us on Wednesday, May 25th at 7pm ET / 4pm PT for a 60-minute FREE webinar that will change the way you look at your struggles forever! Make the call LIVE and have a chance WIN WIN WIN! Over $10,000 in prizes, including one lucky woman will win FREE tuition to The SWAT Institute!

For a sneak peek watch this:

Marianne Williamson is an internationally acclaimed spiritual teacher. Six of her ten published books have been New York Times Best Sellers. Four of these have been #1 New York Times Best Sellers. A Return to Love is considered a must-read of The New Spirituality. A paragraph from that book, beginning "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure..." - often misattributed to Nelson Mandela's Inaugural address - is considered an anthem for a contemporary generation of seekers. She has been a popular guest on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America and Charlie Rose. In December 2006, a NEWSWEEK magazine poll named Marianne Williamson one of the fifty     most influential baby boomers.

Crystal Andrus is three-time bestselling Hay House author (Simply...Woman!, Transcendent Beauty! and Simply...EMPOWERED!), a women's advocate, the spokesperson for Louise Hay's new line of Haylo Health supplements, and the Founder of The SWAT Institute—an on-line empowerment coaching program designed specifically for women who want to help empower other women. She has risen above sexual abuse, homelessness, health and weight struggles, divorce, a near bankruptcy, and raising her two daughters alone ... to create a life of love, prosperity and purpose. Crystal is finally manifesting her lifelong dream—to reach out to women around the world who don't have the same opportunities that women in industrialized nations have by building Simply Woman SAFE HAVENS—culturally-sensitive centers that bring food, education, support and empowerment to women in impoverished countries.

How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off

How to lose those extra pounds—and YES—keep ‘em off

Getting the right nutrients, while cutting calories, can make or break your goals for weight loss, weight maintenance and overall health. While there are many products designed to help people control calories for weight management, the majority of these “diet products” don’t provide proper nutrition or quality protein to stave off muscle loss that often accompanies weight loss.

Proper snacking is also imperative in reaching your weight loss and weight maintenance goals.  Eating between meals curbs your cravings, enabling you to make smart choices about your food intake. It’s easy to be tempted by high-calorie foods when you’re feeling overly hungry.

In addition to cutting calories (while still getting proper nutrition), and keeping on track with smart snacks, exercise is the third essential component of successful weight management. Let’s explore these three key facets of weight control…

Healthy Ways to Cut Calories

First, you want an easy way to get the nutrients your body needs, while cutting calories to lose weight. Meal-replacement shakes are an ideal choice. However, you want to make sure your meal-replacement shake has the right kind and quantity of protein, as well as provides essential nutrients for safe weight loss and maintenance. With 23 grams of whey protein (the highest quality protein) and active enzymes for easy digestion, IsaLean® Shake is a complete meal replacement that delivers optimal nutrition. When evaluating your meal replacement shake, consider these important components:

Five “must-haves” for your meal replacement shake

1. It works. Whether you’re aiming for weight loss and/or maintaining your ideal weight, you want a product with a proven track record. Does the product deliver long-term weight loss results? This is likely the most important question you need to ask. After all, your dedication to your weight loss and overall health deserves real results. Founded in 2002, Isagenix takes great pride delivering long-term weight-loss results. More than 5.4 million pounds and 6.5 million inches have been lost by people using Isagenix products. The primary pillar of Isagenix weight loss protocol is IsaLean Shake—our best-selling product.

2. Third-party scientific evidence. Referencing clinical studies is another excellent measure of a product’s efficacy. Did you know that in a university study IsaLean Shake surpassed other protein shakes for weight loss results?  In this controlled experiment, two IsaLean Shakes replaced two meals each day for seven days. Participants experienced a greater percentage of weight loss when compared to results obtained from other protein shakes on the market.

3. It’s a full-meal replacement shake, not a snack shake. When you cut calories to lose weight, it’s essential to get proper nutrition to prevent muscle loss, as well as achieve optimal health. You’ll want to be wary of “snack shakes” on the market lacking adequate nutrients and offering inferior protein. Whey protein (the protein in IsaLean Shake) is superior to other proteins (including soy protein) in staving off muscle loss that often accompanies weight loss. It’s important to get the correct amount of protein, too. IsaLean Shake has 23 grams. (To trigger a protein synthesis response for supporting muscle, you need at least 20 grams.)

A protein synthesis response is also dependent upon amounts of balanced-chain amino acids that are highest in whey protein. Getting the right vitamins and minerals, as well as healthy fats, is also critical in preventing muscle degeneration that often occurs with weight reduction. Make sure you’re getting sufficient calcium, vitamin C, vitamin B12 and vitamin D in your shake. While low in saturated fat, IsaLean Shake is high in healthy poly- and mono-unsaturated fats. Moreover, the enzymes in IsaLean Shake help break down carbohydrates, proteins and fats.

4. Nothing artificial. Be sure to check the ingredient list on any product you consume for additives and artificial ingredients; you don’t want to find any artificial flavors or sucralose. IsaLean Shake is all natural—with no additives—containing whey protein produced in New Zealand from cows never treated with hormones or antibiotics. This high-quality whey protein exceeds USDA organic standards and is guided through fine filters under low heat to separate whey from other diary components including fats and lactose.

Also, be wary of products that haven’t been evaluated for contamination with pollutants and heavy metals such as mercury. Isagenix Quality Assurance Department inspects all ingredients to test potency, amino acid profile, as well as presence of microbial, pesticides and heavy metals.

5. Superior value. While IsaLean Shake retails at around $3.64 per meal, its cost is $2.78 at the Associate and Preferred Customer Price. As a full-meal replacement, this saves you money on groceries each time you replace a meal with your meal-replacement shake.

Swap Sinful Snacks for Delicious Smart Snacks

When in-between meal hunger hits, it’s important to make healthy and low-calorie food choices. Sticking with your weight management plan is especially challenging during a mid-afternoon slump, which can easily direct your will power south. Instead of reaching for that “cheat,” those sugar-laden snacks, enjoy a piece of fresh fruit or our recently launched Peanut Chocolate Chew FiberSnacks!™, a guilt-free, fiber-packed snack that’s yummy and gluten-free. At only 150 calories, it delivers 24% of your recommended daily intake of fiber. IsaDelight Plus™ is another delicious low-calorie snack that curbs cravings— a creamy dark chocolate treat that boosts energy, helps burn fat, and improves mood.