IODINE - get it from your diet

My sister told me recently that she was buying an iodine supplement from the internet. She heard that feeling constantly tired and finding it hard to lose weight, amongst other things, is a sign of an under active thyroid gland..
Iodine is an important nutrient. It is especially important for the correct functioning of the thyroid. Once upon a time, we got plenty of iodine from our seafood rich diet. Few modern diets are "rich" in seafood, so we need iodised salt, iodine supplements etc.
Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine, and a very tasty sea vegetable. Take a look at this recipe from www.whfoods.org, it's easy, tasty and iodine rich!

SEAWEED RICE

Prep and Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium pieces wakame, (2 TBS soaked and chopped)*
• 2 TBS chopped dulse seaweed
• 2-1/4 cups warm water
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup long grain brown rice
• salt and white pepper to taste
• *For more on Sea vegetables.

Directions:

1. Chop garlic and mince onion and let them sit for 5-10 minutes to enhance their health-promoting benefits.
2. Rinse wakame, and soak in the warm water. After 5 minutes, squeeze out the water from the wakame and chop it. Save water.
3. While wakame is soaking, chop the dulse.
4. Heat 1 TBS of seaweed soaking water in a medium saucepan. Healthy Sauté chopped onion over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic, rice, chopped seaweed, and soaking water.
5. Bring water to a boil on high heat. As soon as it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for about 35 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Serves 4 as side dish

National Headache Awareness week

There is now good quality scientific evidence for the use of acupuncture and massage when suffering from headaches, especially tension headaches...... In 2009, the Cochrane Collaboration published a review of research covering 2,317 patients suffering from tension headaches, drawn from 11 different studies. The conclusion is that 'acupuncture could be a valuable option for patients suffering from frequent tension headaches'. Similarly, research conducted into the value of massage for chronic headaches found that frequency and severity were greatly reduced with regular massage. Both massage and acupuncture leave your body feeling good. These treatments will also help you to reduce your dependence on medicines like Panadol and Neurofen by reducing the number of headaches you get. You do not need to live in pain.