Our body is like a working machine, all the parts need to be working well for it to maintain a long-lasting life. Like so, maintaining a healthy digestive system is very important for your overall well-being, and dietary fiber plays a pivotal role in this process. If you've been eating a lot of processed foods or following a diet low in fiber, like the carnivore diet, your digestion might be sluggish. Fiber is like a natural broom for your gut. It helps keep things moving smoothly. While you may thing that eating a highly carnivorous diet is ok, most of those foods are highly processed and because it doesn’t have fiber, there isn’t a component that can help break down that food. Fiber acts as a natural regulator, promoting regular bowel movements and preventing constipation. It adds bulk to stool, making it easier to pass through the digestive tract. This prevents constipation and keeps you regular. Plus, certain types of fiber can also slow down how quickly your body absorbs sugar and can even help lower your cholesterol levels. Most adults need about 25 to 30 grams of fiber every day, and it's best to get it from whole foods like fruits and vegetables, rather than relying on fiber supplements. You must make sure that your fiber intake is adequate because it is essential for optimal digestive health and overall well-being. While berries are known for their high fiber content, stone fruits like apricots offer a valuable alternative.

Apricots are a tasty and convenient way to boost your fiber intake. Just one cup of apricot halves gives you about 3 grams of fiber, and it's only about 74 calories. That's a great way to get some extra nutrients without adding a lot of calories to your diet. To get the most fiber, make sure you eat the skin of the apricot. It's where a lot of the fiber is concentrated. Besides fiber, apricots are also packed with other good-for-you nutrients, including potassium, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene). So, adding apricots to your meals or snacks is a simple way to support your digestion and overall health.

How Apricots Support Digestion and Cholesterol Management

Apricots contain two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. These work together to keep your digestive system happy. Insoluble fiber is like a scrub brush, adding bulk to your stool and stimulating your gut to move things along. Soluble fiber is like a sponge, it mixes with water to soften your stool, making it easier to pass. Apricots are also about 86% water, which is another important factor in preventing constipation. They also contain a natural sugar alcohol called sorbitol, which can have a mild laxative effect. The soluble fiber in apricots also helps manage cholesterol by binding to it in your gut and preventing it from being absorbed into your bloodstream. This helps lower your "bad" LDL cholesterol.

Apricots aren't just good for digestion and cholesterol; they offer a range of other health benefits too. They contain special plant compounds called phenolic compounds, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect your cells from damage caused by harmful molecules called free radicals. This protection is important for your heart health and can also help protect against long-term health problems like stomach inflammation (gastritis), liver disease, and hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). These plant compounds also help reduce inflammation throughout your body, which is linked to many chronic diseases. So, eating apricots is a great way to give your body a boost of protective nutrients.

The connection between your plate and your pillow might be stronger than you think. While most sleep advice focuses on screen time, stress levels, and bedtime routines, a growing body of research suggests that what you eat—particularly before bed—can significantly affect not only how well you sleep but even the kinds of dreams you have. And in a surprising twist, one of the biggest culprits might be sitting in your refrigerator: dairy.

From cheesy nightmarish tales of yore to contemporary arguments over late-night munching, the question lingers: Do dinner plates actually control dreams? A recent study released in Frontiers in Psychology brings new evidence to this classic question, with a look at how dairy and other food influences sleep quality and dream patterns, particularly in young adults.

In one recent study with more than 1,000 college-age subjects from Canada's MacEwan University, researchers discovered that 40.2% of those surveyed said their diet had a noticeable effect on the way they slept. Even more specifically, roughly 25% indicated certain foods made their sleep worse, and almost 20% said other foods improved their sleep. As far as nightmares went, desserts and dairy had the highest guilty ratings—sweets were responsible for 31% of nightmare complaints, and dairy wasn't far behind with 22%.

Significantly, these were not solitary findings. Individuals with documented food sensitivities, especially lactose intolerance, experienced greater quantities of gastrointestinal symptoms that appeared to correlate with poor sleep and more frequent nightmares. The worse the gastrointestinal symptoms, the worse the nightmares in terms of how distressing and vivid.

Why Dairy Might Be Wreaking Havoc at Night?

So, what’s the science behind this? According to Dr. Tore Nielsen, lead researcher and professor of psychiatry at the University of Montreal, there’s a likely explanation rooted in how our bodies respond to dairy. For individuals with lactose intolerance, consuming milk, cheese, or yogurt can trigger bloating, cramping, gas, and indigestion—symptoms that don’t magically disappear once you’re asleep.

When the body is working through gastrointestinal upset during the night, it can contribute to restlessness during sleep, lighter sleep stages, and more frequent awakenings—all of which have been proven to increase dream recall and vividness. This, in turn, can make bad dreams or nightmares more real and memorable. Anxiety, another frequent reaction to discomfort caused by food, is perhaps also responsible for the rise in bad dreams among participants.

When participants were asked about foods most frequently associated with bad sleep, desserts and sweets, spicy food, and milk, yogurt, and cheese ranked atop the list. In contrast, fruits, herbal teas, and vegetables were most frequently attributed to improved sleep.

The most interesting part of the study, however, was its examination of dreams. 5.5% of the participants reported that food impacted their dre

The notion that food influences dreams is not novel. A 2015 study, for instance, discovered anecdotal evidence that cheese and other dairy foods were associated with unusual or vivid dreams. That said, this newer research is the first to explicitly investigate the mechanisms behind such effects, hypothesizing lactose intolerance as a potential trigger, as opposed to dairy per se.

Even so, professionals are hesitant to make decisive conclusions. The subjects for the study were all psychology students—potentially introducing bias by way of their educational experience with sleep and dream research. In addition, the information was self-reported, which is always likely to bias findings. Even so, however, despite these shortcomings, the relationship between food-based symptoms and disrupted sleeping patterns is an intriguing argument for further research.

Foods That Help or Harm Sleep

Though most frequently accused of causing nightmares and bad sleep were sweets and dairy, other foods had beneficial influences. Participants attributed fruits, herbal teas such as chamomile and lemon balm, and vegetables to improved quality of sleep. These are less demanding on digestion and may induce relaxation, which can facilitate healthy sleep patterns and better dreams.

Conversely, spicy foods, saturated and salty foods (such as pizza, burgers, and fried chicken), and caffeinated or sweet beverages were also found to be linked to disturbed sleep and worse dream experiences.

Although dairy has been the main event in this research, it wasn't the sole food group linked to bad sleep or nightmares. Spicy meals and sweet desserts were also frequently culprits. Such foods have the potential to raise core body temperature, interfere with digestion, or cause a spike in blood sugar—each of which can affect how restful you sleep and how often you wake at night.

Conversely, participants reported improved sleep quality with the consumption of herbal teas, fruits, and vegetables. These findings align with existing nutritional science, which supports a plant-forward, low-inflammatory diet for optimal sleep.

How to Eat for Better Sleep and Dreams?

If you're having unusual or disturbing dreams and suspect that your diet is involved, the answer isn't necessarily to eliminate dairy foods altogether. Rather, you can try it as an experiment in personal health and sleep cleanliness. Although the science is continuing to develop, there are evidence-based measures that you can take in order to reduce the likelihood of food-related sleep disturbances and nightmares:

• Have dinner 2 to 3 hours before going to bed so that your body has time to digest.
• Don't eat spicy foods, drink alcohol, or consume caffeine near bedtime, as they will interfere with sleep.
• Don't overdo fast foods and foods with saturated fat and salt at night.
• Make meals balanced with protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates—satisfying, but not too full.
• Select simple-to-digest bedtime snacks like nut butter and fruit, trail mix, or hummus with crackers or vegetables.
• Maintain a food and sleep diary to monitor patterns between what you consume, your nighttime dreams, and your quality of sleep.
• Drink water or non-caffeinated herbal teas to stay hydrated, but avoid sugary or carbonated beverages in the evening hours.

While there is still much we don't know about the connection between food, sleep, and dreaming, preliminary research indicates that what you're eating before bedtime is influencing your dream life more than you may want to think. So next time you grab that late-night cheese plate or cone of ice cream, think about more than just your stomach but your subconscious.

If you have seen people fulfilling their supplement needs through injections and you are wondering how does it all work out, then you landed at the right page.

This process is called IV therapy or Intravenous Vitamin therapy. It is also known as intravenous micronutrient therapy and hydration therapy. It is a way to give high concentrations of vitamins and minerals directly into the bloodstream, allowing rapid absorption of higher doses of the vitamins and minerals than if the person got them through food or supplements.

How Does It Work?

These liquids are delivered through a small tube which is inserted into a vein.

The infusion usually takes from 20 to 60 minutes, and it depends on the volume of the cocktail and the size of person's veins.

IV vitamin therapy is usually a very popular therapy among celebrities.

The Myers' Cocktail

A 2022 study, published in the Alternative Medicine Review: A Journal of Clinical Therapeutic notes about the work of late John Myer, MD and the author who has used an intravenous vitamin and mineral formula for the treatment of wide range of clinical conditions.

The Myers' formula was created in the 1970s and this formula is known as the Myers' Cocktail, which contains:

• Magnesium
• Calcium
• B Vitamins
• Vitamin C

The Myers' Cocktail has found to be effective against acute asthma attacks, migraines, fatigue,fibromyalgia, acute muscle spasm, upper respiratory tract infections, chronic sinusitis, seasonal allergic rhinitis, cardiovascular disease, and other disorders.

However, not all studies second this claim. A more recent study done in 2023, published in journal Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin notes that while there are claims that the Myers' Cocktail can reduce stress, increase energy, or boost immunity, there is lack of high quality evidence that suggests that high dose vitamin infusions are necessary or offer any health benefit.

In fact, the study suggests that there may be harms from taking high quantities of some vitamins and minerals. This means if your body already has enough of those vitamins and you consume it through IV therapy, it may actually put your health at risk.

What Are The Risks?

The risks include blood clots, infections, and nutrient overdose. To understand the risks better and to find the answer to the question of whether IV therapy is actually needed and is better than consuming nutrients through food or medicines, the Health and Me team spoke to doctors specialising in Internal Medicines. Here's what they said.

Dr Shrey Kumar Srivastav, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine at Sharda Hospital says that while there is no standard frequency for IV therapy in healthy individuals, "frequent or routine use can cause vitamin toxicity or electrolyte imbalances."

The doctor also debunks the claim that IV supplements are better than the vitamins one consumes through food. "Supplements taken orally or through food are typically safer, more sustainable, and sufficient for most people," he explains.

He further adds that IV supplements are not superior to food or oral supplements for general wellness or weight loss. "The growing trend of using IV injections for cosmetic or slimming purposes is risky, unregulated, and can be fatal."

Heart disease remains a leading cause of death in the UK. A major factor contributing to this is high cholesterol, specifically high levels of LDL, or "bad cholesterol,", is known as the ‘silent killer’ because it can increase rapidly without any noticeable symptoms. While the occasional unhealthy meal might be tempting, carefully watching your diet and lifestyle is very important.

Lowering LDL Naturally

The good news is that simple changes to your diet can significantly improve your health by reducing those dangerous LDL numbers. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that eating more soy-based foods can lower LDL levels by 3% to 4% in adults. This supports the idea of including more plant-based proteins in your diet. High LDL cholesterol is a common issue in the UK, affecting about 60% of the population, with around 8 million people prescribed statins to manage it.

Why Soybean for Your Heart Health?

Experts explain that already known that soybeans can help lower unhealthy fats like triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol, which can lead to a healthier heart. This new study just adds more proof to that idea.

This advice also matches what HeartUK, a charity focused on heart health, recommends. They encourage people to eat more soy to fight cholesterol. The charity stated that soybeans and foods made from them are perfect for a heart-healthy diet because they have lots of protein, vitamins, and minerals, and they are low in unhealthy saturated fat.

They suggest that soy products are a good choice to replace foods that are high in saturated fat, such as meat, full-fat cream, dairy products, and snacks like potato chips. They suggest trying to eat about three servings of soy products every day. This could be something like 250ml of soy milk in your coffee, a side dish of edamame beans, or using soy mince or tofu in your dinner.

Some Considerations Before Making the Change

There have been some questions regarding how soybeans actually affect your heart positively or not. A review by the European Food Safety Authority didn't consistently find that soybeans positively affect our heart, so they couldn't definitively say that soy causes cholesterol to drop. However, she emphasized that soybeans are still a very healthy food. They contain protein, fiber, good fats, and many vitamins and minerals. So, as part of a healthy, balanced diet, soybeans can still help lower cholesterol levels.

Other Reasons Why You Should Opt For Soy-Based Foods

According to the Association of UK Dieticians, the UK government healthy eating guide Eatwell Guide (2016), strongly encourages us to eat more plant-based foods. This shift is good for both our health as a nation and for creating a more sustainable planet. In fact, over 75% of the Eatwell Guide is made up of plant-based foods. A major change is in the protein section, which now suggests choosing plant-based proteins over animal proteins.

While research on soy foods is still ongoing, it's clear that soy is a nutritious and valuable food that fits well with healthy eating guidelines and might offer many health benefits.

Isoflavones

Soy contains special plant compounds called isoflavones, which are similar to the hormone estrogen but much weaker. Scientists are very interested in how these might offer various health benefits when consumed regularly.

Cholesterol Benefits

Food labeling authorities in the UK, USA, and Japan allow claims that 25g of soy protein daily can lower cholesterol. However, a 2010 assessment by the European Food Safety Authority disagreed, rejecting direct links between soy protein and cholesterol reduction.

Menopause Relief

Hot flashes are a common symptom during menopause due to lower estrogen. Research from 2012 found that consuming soy isoflavones led to at least a 20% reduction in the frequency and severity of these flashes.