Water is essential for life, but there is always the question of how much water to drink, or even when it should, or shouldn’t be drunk.

On that note, should you drink water during meals? The answer to that question is no. Drinking water during meals will dilute the digestive juices that break down your food. As a result, many of the nutrients that a food has may not absorb into your system and you may become malnourished (in the long run). Try to drink water before the meal, but do not drink too soon after the meal so your digestive system has time to work. If you must drink water during the meal, drink only a few ounces.

Most headaches are tension or stress related. Others could be caused by musculoskelatal problems in the neck and upper back (massage can help in this case). Caffeine headaches are also common. If you are trying to cut down on the amount of coffee you drink, you will get headaches temporarily until your body gets used to the new routine.

Next time you’ve got a headache, take some time to relax. Remember that no matter how much work you have to do, you need to keep your sanity to do it. You don’t want to create more serious health problems by pushing yourself too far. Try catnip, chamomile, or peppermint tea. Combining catnip, peppermint, and chamomile, sweetened with honey, works as well. Passionflower also helps relieve headaches, as well as nervous tension, insomnia, and muscle spasms.

Aside from herbal teas, using lavender, chamomile, or rosemary in aromatherapy may also help relieve headaches.

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If you’ve got dry skin, try using shea butter or cocoa butter . . . or both . Both are highly moisturizing and relieve dry, itchy skin. Don’t be afraid to glop it on, as long as you will be wearing clothing over the area so you don’t get shea or cocoa butter on everything. Keep in mind that either will be greasy, since they are butter.

A great website where you can find shea butter is www.africansheabuttercompany.com. They have tons of great shea butter products, including shea oil. They used to have cocoa butter too, but I don’t think they carry it at the time being. As far as cocoa butter goes, I use the 100% Cocoa Butter stick made by “Queen Helene.” I found it at Rite Aid . . . don’t know if it is carried anywhere else. You can also find shea and cocoa butter products at Whole Foods Market (”Jason” products are very good).

If your muslces are tired after a long day, or sore from a hard workout, try taking a eucalyptus bath. As the bathtub fills with warm/hot water, put up to 20 or 30 drops of eucalyptus essential oil in the water. Grab a small towel and make a support for your neck and then just soak in the tub for a while. If your muscles are very sore, you might want to do this for a few days in a row.

The stomach is most active between 7 and 9 a.m., and so breakfast should be eaten in that time. One should not eat before 5 a.m. because the digestive organs need rest and the other organs are involved in metabolic functions which should not be interrupted with eating.

You can eat breakfast whenever you want, but this is good to keep in mind.

If you’ve got sore muscles or a stiff neck and need a heat pack, but don’t have one, just follow these simple instructions:

Take a big sock, fill it with (raw) rice, tie off the end, put it in the microwave, sprinkle/spray a little water on it, microwave it for around 1 minute (or until desired heat pack temperature), and you’ve got a heat pack!

If you have been attacked by mosquitoes recently, you may want to try rubbing lemon juice onto the bite . . . and remember not to scratch!