caffeine

BETTER than a cup of coffee!

Quitting caffeine isn't always easy, especially if you've had a long-term habit.

It's not just addictive -- many folks miss the quick pick-me-up they get from a little java.

Unfortunately, that energy boost comes with a downside in the form of jitters, anxiety, and restlessness. In some cases, a late-afternoon cuppa can even cause sleep problems at night!

You might know you're a little sensitive to the effects of caffeine, but can't quit because you don't want to feel tired and slow, especially in the morning.

If that's your battle, go ahead and toss the coffee. I've got something better for you today, as new research reveals another way to boost your energy that works as well as caffeine.

And you're not going to believe how simple it is.

This little trick can be done in less time than it takes to drink a cup of coffee, and it won't cost you a penny.

Just find a staircase, and walk on up!

Really, that's all you have to do. It's not as easy as it sounds, especially if you're the type who normally avoids stairs.

But new research shows how if you find a staircase and walk for about 10 minutes, you can charge your internal batteries so effectively that you'll feel as if you've had a little coffee.

Volunteers who were getting an average of 6.5 hours of sleep per night or less were given either 50 mg of caffeine -- about what you'll find in a can of soda, or a little less than what's in a small cup of coffee -- or a placebo.

Then, they were sent to the staircase for 10 minutes.

When the time was up, the volunteers who did the stair walk with the placebo actually had a little MORE energy, according to the study.

The effect does wear off. Then again, the same is true of coffee.

What's great about this is that you don't have to act like Rocky running up the steps in Philadelphia. You don't even have to go exclusively up.

The study finds that 10 minutes of going both up AND down the stairs at a comfortable pace will do the trick.

Obviously, don't try this if you have a condition where you might fall or if you take medications that make you dizzy. But if you're otherwise healthy and can handle it, a trip up and down the stairs will kill two birds with one stone.

Along with boosting energy, it will also get you on your feet and moving -- and that's one of the keys to avoiding chronic diseases including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and more.

iDevices lead to poor sleep

What's keeping you up at night?

For many people, it's a sleep disorder such as insomnia. But for millions of others, it's a different type of disorder completely that's disrupting their sleep cycles.

I call it iPad-nia.

Lighting in general can disrupt production of melatonin, the hormone we need for proper sleep cycles. But new research shows how the LED lights used in electronics such as iPads and iPhones and such are even more disruptive than ordinary light.

These lights fool your body into thinking it is daytime -- and when your body thinks it's daytime, it doesn't start up the melatonin factory.

The result: You can't sleep, no matter what time it is.

These days, many people unknowingly make the situation worse by bringing the iPad -- or some other similar device -- right into bed for late night-email or reading. Then, when they can't get to sleep, they do even more email and reading -- making the problem even worse.

The issue isn't just the iPad, of course. And it's not even LED lights -- they may be the worst of it, according to the report in Nature, but constant exposure to artificial lights of any kind can also disrupt melatonin production and sleep cycles.

That's not just bad news for bedtime. Melatonin is also essential for protection from the free radicals responsible for the damage of aging and it's critical to the immune system, where it can help protect you from diseases such as cancer.

If you're not getting the sleep you need each night, maybe it's time to enforce a lights-out policy in your home past a certain time. And if that doesn't help, look for other lifestyle issues that may be keeping you up -- including caffeine from drinks like soda and coffee as well as foods such as chocolate.

You'll even find caffeine hidden in some painkillers.

If that's not enough to put you to bed, then you may have something else going on -- a nutritional issue or hormonal imbalance that can be corrected naturally. I recommend a holistic physician for helping getting your sleep cycles back on track.