by guest blogger Jackie Gardner-Nix, MD, Ph.D, author of The Mindfulness Solution to Pain .

There are five stages of sleep. You normally “cycle” through these about every 90 minutes as an adult. Stages 1 and 2 are light sleep: it’s easy to rouse you. Stages 3 and 4 are deeper, slow wave sleep: rousing you is harder and you may be disorientated on waking. The immune system is busy repairing your body from the usual wear and tear of your day in those deeper sleep stages. REM sleep is associated more with dreaming than the other stages. Having no, or too much REM sleep is associated with depression, and antidepressants can change the amount of REM. REM sleep is important for consolidating memory.

by guest blogger Leslie Cerier, author of Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook

Do it like the Clintons. Chelsea Clinton had a gluten-free wedding cake. Why gluten-free? Because millions of people are over eating gluten (wheat, rye and barley) causing migraines, indigestion, fatigue, depression among other chronic ailments. Not only people with gluten-intolerances will benefit from diversifying their diet and including a new variety of gluten-free grains. They are nutritious, delicious and fun to cook with. In fact, I am not gluten intolerant but for over twenty years have been enjoying gluten-free cooking and baking because it has given my family and me increased energy, stamina and variety in our daily meals.

Eating a gluten-free diet is good for you and the planet. The majority of the wheat grown is genetically modified and heavily sprayed with toxic pesticides that are hard for humans to digest. Our diets have been built around these wheat varieties that yield the highest quantities instead of the highest nutritional content. This book celebrates the earth’s bounty in the kitchen. Being adaptive, creative and conscientious is part of our recipe for reducing our carbon footprint.

You don’t have to be the Clintons to enjoy gluten-free deserts. Here is a hazelnut- chocolate chip brownie that will become one of your favorite recipes whether you’re gluten-free or not:

by guest blogger Laura J. Knoff, NC, author of The Whole-Food Guide to Overcoming Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Many people are discovering that they are sensitive to wheat, dairy and sugar. Is this a new phenomenon or just a key to the mystery of mood disorders in some people? In 1980, Dr William Philpott outlined the connection of food allergies and food addictions to many psychological conditions from autism to schizophrenia in his book Brain Allergies. The connection of food to mood is often not investigated, but just as the psyche can affect the body, the body has an affect on the psyche. In Psychology Today, October 30, 2009, depression is just one symptom of celiac disease, (an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine that is triggered by eating gluten containing foods). Celiac is not diagnosed nearly as often as it occurs and is frequently misdiagnosed as IBS or as many other conditions. Anyone with a family history of diabetes, heart disease, allergies, ADHD, autism, digestive conditions or celiac disease may find that by completely avoiding foods containing gluten, casein, and sugar they feel much better.

excerpt from The Estrogen-Depression Connection

Remember the stops along a subway system, where we can hop off to make a phone call, that is, to send a message? Imagine that estrogen has the ability to send a text message via cell phone. Estrogen helps direct the creation of the structures we mentioned earlier, and it also sends those biochemical messages. The biochemical messages, much like the text messages of our cell phone, are sent via chemicals known as neurotransmitters. Just as we need to have the right phone number to send the text message, we also need to have the correct neurotransmitter.

by guest blogger Stephanie Sarkis, Ph.D., author of 10 Simple Solutions to Adult ADD, Making the Grade with ADD, and ADD and Your Money

Recently a study published in the journal Pediatrics found a possible correlation between pesticides and ADHD. Out of the 1,139 children in the study (ADHD and non-ADHD), 94 percent were found to have some levels of organophosphate (pesticide) compound in their urine. Out of the children with an above-average level of the compound, 20 percent had ADHD. The rate of ADHD was 10 percent in children who had no level of the compound. This study has caused some concern among parents and others in the ADHD community. However, before we all start buying 100% organic everything, we need to take a closer look at the study.

excerpt from The Holistic Baby Guide

Treating your baby’s fever and acute symptoms at home is easy enough. The goal of treatment is to encourage healing and stimu¬late a strong immune response. Reducing the fever is not the goal, as the fever will do what is necessary to fight the illness. Natural remedies will encourage the fight.

The first and easiest remedy to try is homeopathic Belladonna. The classical indications for Belladonna are fever with sudden onset, radiating heat, and flushing and redness of the skin. There may be redness (indicating inflammation) at some specific location in the body: in the throat, the ears, the eyes, the skin—pretty much anywhere. Older children will complain of a headache. Babies who need Belladonna are often quiet and subdued, moaning and very hot to touch. Or they may be crying with discomfort. Belladonna is indicated before significant discharge develops with a cold or other symptoms appear later in an illness that would point the way to another remedy.

If babies are very uncomfortable and screaming in apparent pain, then you may want to try giving homeopathic Chamomilla. Often one dose will calm your baby and allow her to get back to sleep.

Excerpt from Coping with Erectile Dysfunction

It is easier and healthier to deal with physical and psychological changes together rather than in isolation. This is particularly true of ED, which affects you, your partner, and your relationship. To pretend otherwise is to violate a major tenet of mental health: Do not fool yourself. ED is truly your common foe. The likelihood of overcoming ED increases significantly if you work as a team.

Excerpt from Transforming Depression

How well you manage your attitudes and emotions each day determines to a large extent how much vitality you will experience overall. Most people think fatigue sets in because of all the things they have to do or because they didn’t get enough sleep. They often overlook the energy drain from out-of-control emotions.

Different triggers in life can cause stress to run through your system, creating frayed nerves, fatigue, and overwhelming, out-of-control feelings. Once this occurs, it’s important to recover from the stress fast, otherwise your energy drains away. Taking emotional responsibility to get into heart rhythm coherence helps to rebalance your system. Coherence also helps you develop the intuitive discernment to see how to stop draining energy and renew your vitality. This is especially important when you are trying to lift depression.