Individual Food Intake Essay Example for Free

Individual Food Intake Essay After using the food assessment tool at www.choosemyplate.gov I found that my daily intake of food was not sufficient for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Many of my goals were not achieved or were overachieved. This assessment revealed an imbalance in my eating habits. Like many Americans I am on the run and constrained by time. Going to school and working fulltime often forces me to eat quickly and make hurried choices. Often my choices are not in my best health interest but rather based on what is fast. When I have time, I tend to try to make better eating decisions but this is not sufficient for a good diet. In accordance with the Food Guide Pyramid I fell short in many areas of necessary consumption and went over in other areas. For the three day period I went over in grains (14.5 oz.) and over in proteins (10.5 oz.). I was insufficient with vegetables (1 cup), fruits (3/4 cup), and dairy (1 cup). What I found disturbing was that the bulk of the items I went over on was not balanced across three days but was instead committed on one to two days of the tracker. This means that on one day I had reached limits. This could be seen clearly on the third day and specifically with regard to lunch and my numbers jumped dramatically. I believe that I need to reshape my diet around the six classes of nutrients. The six nutrients include: 1. Water 2. Carbohydrates 3. Proteins 4. Fats 5. Vitamins 6. Minerals Each of the six nutrients is necessary in varying degrees in the body. Using the Food Pyramid I can identify the levels of nutrient intake and then  design my diet in accordance with balancing these numbers. For example, I eat a banana each day but this only provides me with a portion of the fruit intake I need and thereby cuts down on the vitamins and minerals I receive. By increasing my fruit intake I can increase this number but this is only part of the solution. I need to add more variety of food which will better encompass the wide range of nutrients needed. For example, strawberries and blueberries could be added to my diet and this would increase antioxidant intake as well as vitamins such as C. It is not just fruit intake that would need to be altered in this way; vegetables and meats also need to be examined. The intake of green vegetables would help to increase vitamin A, foliate, and iron, among other essentials. By expanding my varieties of foods I can incorporate this into my diet, as well as the elimination of certain types of foods could be used to increase nutrient intake such as removing the fast food burger in lieu of leaner fish which contains higher levels of Omega 3 and better quality proteins. Leaner meats that do not require heavy cooking also require less energy for the body to process and provide more useful calories. By modifying my diet in accordance with the Food Pyramid, I believe I can become healthier. The key is to determine the different foods that I will need to incorporate into my diet and to find the quantity that balances my caloric intake. For this I will need to do some research because I still need my diet to be somewhat convenient as well as nutritionally balanced. I believe it should also be mentioned that the level of fats that are taken in should be monitored as well, because almost a third of my diet was empty calories which had no nutritional value. There was also a very high sodium intake and my saturated fats were over the limit. These issues present many long term concerns which need to be addressed. This diet failure also explains my feelings of fatigue and my propensity for illnesses. My body has simply not been receiving the nutrients and levels that it needs to properly function. By watching these numbers I should be able to increase energy and make sure that my future health is strong. I also need to watch what I consume because my mother has had colon cancer, so the healthier I eat the  chances are less that I will contract that cancer. References Contemporary Nutrition, WileyPLUS ®, iProfile

Education Before And After French Revolution History Essay

Education Before And After French Revolution History Essay The French revolution enabled a major shift in the history of modern France, and it even affected the rest of the European communities. Indeed, such great incidents like the French revolution would change a lot in the systems of France, regarding to the educational system which was highly effected, In order to talk about the effect of the French revolution over the education in France, the state of the French education before the revolution must be well understood. I believe, The French revolution gave the education in France a great chance to start developing and spreading. The educational facilities before the French revolution and under the Ancien regime were in a better position than any other European country. France had witnessed an improvement in the educational activities cased by the Renaissance, and that was in the middle of the 16th century. But yet the educational institutions were badly distributed, and needed to be reformed. Although France had witness a lot of religious conflicts, which concluded with the country being taken over effectively by the Catholic domination. We can say that the government involvement in the matters of education was not that great and the Catholic church had the huge part of taking control over the educational system. According to La Chalotais, in general, the Kings government left all matters pertaining to education in the hand of local bishop and the religious orders(1971). In spite of the fact that the educational system was directly or indirectly under the control of the Church, but we can not pass by and not mention that the state has show concerns about the education in France in many ways, for example, in 1698 a decree was issued that children from the age of seven were to be obliged to attend Catholic schools up to the age of fourteen. One significant educational development was the change of the scholars language from Latin to French. Reaching the period exactly before the revolution, the idea of a general education started to develop in France. Since that, during the French revolution (1789-1799) The state of the country was not stable at all, most people would think that the education is the last thing French people would think about in such crises, but the truth was that the leaders of the revolution had the education in their priorities. And in the early stages of the revolution there was a lot of concerns about the revolution, but few institutional actions. Still, by 1789 the level of development of the French system of education was remarkable for its time. Enrolment in elementary schools was relatively high and 562 secondary schools boasted 74,747 student, 40,000 of whom had scholarships(4). It is true that the destructive component of the revolution has effected the education, but the only explanation was because what ever was before the revolution has to go. But it is fair to say that the revolutionaries also looked at the state of the education from many aspects, like the duties and prerogatives of the state, the r ights of parents, the potential benefits of higher education, the economic needs of the nation, the necessity for training teachers, and the suitable status of the teaching profession in a republic(5). The first changes made to the French community were basically related to religion. It can be said that the revaluation wanted to change any thing related to the old system, including the great position that was occupied by the church. In fact , as the revolutionaries were destroying the statues that presented the church at Notre Dame, they were removing every influence made by the church in the education system. What was really weird and in the same time interesting, is that the leaders of the revolution were willing to change almost anything related to the old system except the idea of educating women. Actually most of the revolution leaders believed that only men should have the right of education because they will engaged in the state affairs. And women do not need education becaus e their role was to take care of the family and the raise children. By 1794 a kind of a normal life was founded, and that was a result of the execution of Robespierre. This kind of normal life gave the government the chance to give attention to the education reform. A decree soon followed, that the number one important thing regarding the education was the training of teachers. And the curriculum of the schools contains republican morality and the public and private virtues, as well as the techniques of teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, practical geometry, French history and grammar; and books must be used and not any books but the ones which is described in the Convention.(1) One more thing the revolutionaries wanted to make sure to change was the spoken language, as there were a great many different languages and dialects were spoken. The Revolutionary Government left the part of guiding citizens to one language to schools.(6) According to Vignery, although the Old Regime system creased to exist, some schools on all levels survived the onslaughts of the Revolution.(5) These schools called private schools. Baileys historical study of the French colleges shows clearly that they survived the revolutions radical stages by adapting to their changing environment and mobilizing the resources they had inherited from the Old Regime.(4) Larger and wealthier schools were more likely to remain open . in 1798 the government tried to take over the control on these schools but no much success was established, but in 1799 the government managed to control private schools in some regions. And in an attempt of the government to have a competitive advantage over any private school, the government had a condition that if some one want to get a position with the government to apply an evidence that he had went to a Republic school.(1) As oboist of some might expect, the state of French public education especially the one of central schools, was weak. Number of flows was there, for example the lack of efficient teachers and more substantial the lack of efficient students as well. Actually, the schools of Paris and other areas with high rate of population did very well, but in the rest of the country things was not as good as they should be. Another serious problem was that requires of a graduate from a central school was not really reasonable at all times, either academic or curricular. Lastly, we can say that the central schools did not reach the goals it was made to establish. And it needed some one great to help reaching these goals. After the revolution, and under the new system Napoleon toke over most of the power. And in 1804, Napoleon became the Emperor of France and had the ultimate control over the government. Napoleon managed to make France the most powerful country of Europe and that was by making a lot of changes in the system of the country. Napoleon always believed in education and had it in its priorities, and he also believed in efficient kind of education and for this to come true, education in France must spread majorly especially regarding the secondary level.There was number of problems that the French people complained about, like the lack of schools in several areas plus the lack of efficiency in the teaching faculty, not to mention the lack of commitment to attend among students and in some areas the lack of religious kind of education.(1)

Modern Art Essay -- Comparative, Mondrian, Pollock

Piet Mondrian and Jackson Pollock are both regarded as being major influences within the movement of modern art. During the peak of their careers their artwork took on very different styles. Mondrian was born in 1872, he was a Dutch artist, is famously known for his precise, systematic style of painting. He is renowned for the grid-based paintings that he produced in the early 1920’s during his time in Paris (wilder, 2007 p.318). Jackson Pollocks work was erratic and spontaneous, this is particularly noticeable in the late 1940’s when he produced an array of works using a drip painting technique (ref). Despite the works of Mondrian and Pollock being at opposite ends of the scale when it came to style and imagery, is it possible their influences and views were in fact quite similar? Along with their style of painting, the personalities of the two men were to match. Piet Mondrian enjoyed a modest lifestyle and didn’t experience a huge amount of fame until the late 1950’s after his death, and his work was mainly supported by the occasional magazine article and art exhibition (Blotcamp, 2001 p.9). In comparison Pollock was considered the James Dean of the artistic world, he was notorious for having a wild, rebellious nature, often drinking to suppress his emotions or insecurities (Landau, 2005 p.18). Unlike Mondrian he attracted a lot of attention within his lifetime, and enjoyed the fame and appreciation his work was bringing. His partner Lee Krasner, Whom he married in 1946, was a determined, levelheaded young artist, and was believed to be a strong influence towards the recognition of his work (Karmel and Varnedoe, 1999 p.25). It could be perhaps said have the support of a strong woman is incredibly influential to an artist, espec... ...(ref), trainers and cars to name a few. Like wise Pollock’s work has been used in the design of fashion, and many people have attempted to recreate his work, because the style of it was so unusual, Pollock was aware the technique of dripping paint wasn’t a completely new idea (ref) but he was the person who made it commercially famous within the and art world, hence his fame and notoriety. Despite their mistakes and fails they strived to express themselves. Pollock openly said he doesn’t make accidents, he denies the accident, and Mondrian felt his failures were valuable to his success, he never made mistakes; everything was a contribution to his work (Riley, 1997 P.9). Despite their ups and downs the two iconic pieces created by Mondrian and Pollock, Composition in red black and blue and number 8 represents the style they are renowned for and their personalities. Modern Art Essay -- Comparative, Mondrian, Pollock Piet Mondrian and Jackson Pollock are both regarded as being major influences within the movement of modern art. During the peak of their careers their artwork took on very different styles. Mondrian was born in 1872, he was a Dutch artist, is famously known for his precise, systematic style of painting. He is renowned for the grid-based paintings that he produced in the early 1920’s during his time in Paris (wilder, 2007 p.318). Jackson Pollocks work was erratic and spontaneous, this is particularly noticeable in the late 1940’s when he produced an array of works using a drip painting technique (ref). Despite the works of Mondrian and Pollock being at opposite ends of the scale when it came to style and imagery, is it possible their influences and views were in fact quite similar? Along with their style of painting, the personalities of the two men were to match. Piet Mondrian enjoyed a modest lifestyle and didn’t experience a huge amount of fame until the late 1950’s after his death, and his work was mainly supported by the occasional magazine article and art exhibition (Blotcamp, 2001 p.9). In comparison Pollock was considered the James Dean of the artistic world, he was notorious for having a wild, rebellious nature, often drinking to suppress his emotions or insecurities (Landau, 2005 p.18). Unlike Mondrian he attracted a lot of attention within his lifetime, and enjoyed the fame and appreciation his work was bringing. His partner Lee Krasner, Whom he married in 1946, was a determined, levelheaded young artist, and was believed to be a strong influence towards the recognition of his work (Karmel and Varnedoe, 1999 p.25). It could be perhaps said have the support of a strong woman is incredibly influential to an artist, espec... ...(ref), trainers and cars to name a few. Like wise Pollock’s work has been used in the design of fashion, and many people have attempted to recreate his work, because the style of it was so unusual, Pollock was aware the technique of dripping paint wasn’t a completely new idea (ref) but he was the person who made it commercially famous within the and art world, hence his fame and notoriety. Despite their mistakes and fails they strived to express themselves. Pollock openly said he doesn’t make accidents, he denies the accident, and Mondrian felt his failures were valuable to his success, he never made mistakes; everything was a contribution to his work (Riley, 1997 P.9). Despite their ups and downs the two iconic pieces created by Mondrian and Pollock, Composition in red black and blue and number 8 represents the style they are renowned for and their personalities.

Imagery In Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Response to â€Å"Macbeth† 2. How does Shakespeare’s use of imagery and recurring symbols add depth and meaning to the plot and characters in the play? In all of Shakespeare's plays he uses many forms of imagery. Imagery is the art of making images, the products of imagination. In the play 'Macbeth' Shakespeare applies the imagery of clothing, darkness and blood. Each detail is his imagery, seems to contain an important symbol of the play, symbols that the audience must understand if they are to interpret either a passage or the play as a whole. Within the play 'Macbeth' the imagery of clothing portrays that Macbeth is seeking to hide his "disgraceful self" from his eyes and others. Shakespeare wants to keep alive the ironical contrast between the wretched creature that Macbeth really is and the disguises he assumes to conceal the fact. The audience thinks of the play honours as garments to be worn; likewise, Macbeth is constantly represented symbolically as the wearer of robes not belonging to him. In the following passage, the idea constantly recurs that Macbeth's new honours sit ill upon him, like loose and badly fitting garments, which are upon him but he is still surprised that he has gained this new position: "New honours come upon him, Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould, But with the aid of use." (Act I, iii: 144) The second form of imagery used to add to the atmosphere, the imagery of darkness. In a Shakespearean tragedy, the audience have known him to create a special tone, or atmosphere to show the darkness in a tragedy. In 'Macbeth', Shakespeare draws upon the design of the witches, the guilt in Macbeth's soul, and the darkness of the night to establish the atmosphere. All of the remarkable scenes take place at night or in some dark spot; for instance, the vision of the dagger, the murder of Duncan, the murder of Banquo, and Lady Macbeth's sleep walking. Darkness is the time when the traveller hastens to reach safety in his inn, when Banquo rides homeward to meet his assassins; furthermore, it is the time when the wolf howls, the owl screams, and when murder takes forth to his work. In 'Macbeth' darkness symbolizes many things. First, and most importantly, it stands for the evil and death in the play. The darkness could partially blind out all of the horrible things that occur in the night, for only in da... ...s honoured achievement that they congratulate Macduff for. In Macbeth, imagery plays a crucial role in developing the character of MacBeth. The audience sees this through the images of clothing, light and darkness, and blood. Clothing in Macbeth is often compared to Scottish titles, or ranks. Darkness is used to represent evil, and through different types of evil the audience sees Macbeth’s true nature. The murders that Macbeth commits are at night, due to their evil nature. Light, on the contrary, represents good, and shows us the truly brutal nature of Macbeth’s crimes. Blood, the most dominant symbol in the play, shows us the changes in Macbeth’s character, from the start of the play to the end. The viewer sees how the blood drawn by Macbeth changed from noble blood, to corrupt blood. This ultimately, led to his own blood being drawn. Shakespeare makes obvious his marvellous use of imagery, and gives way to feelings that could not have been felt otherwise. Without imagery, this masterpiece may not have been considered so, for we have seen, what a momentous effect it has on the play, as a whole. Remember, a picture tells a thousand words, however, an image might just tell more.

Key Elements of Good Writing Style :: Writing Style Styles Essays

Key Elements of Good Writing Style After reading William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style and Joseph M. Williams’ Style: Beyond Clarity and Grace, participating in hours of classroom discussion, and writing five short essays on the topic, I’m struck by the complexity of evaluating â€Å"writing style†. But I don’t know why I should be amazed. Borne from the elaborate human thought process, we instinctively dress up our writing in thrift-store duds or Fifth Avenue couture. Writing styles express our individuality; they are our language fingerprints – the writer’s identity is exposed, and no two styles are exactly alike. However, the texts argue that a writing style isn’t unchangeable; inherent or learned tendencies can be modified to become â€Å"good† writing style. Developing an unambiguous definition of good writing style has been challenging. I have one sense that good style can only be defined by a reader. A case of ‘you know it when you see it’: â€Å"Now that’s good style.† On the other hand, the texts clearly show that good writing style can be defined by the writer – through a rule-laden, detailed writing-construction process. With conscious effort, apparently I can choose to write in a good or bad writing style. So maybe the secret to good writing style requires the assumption of a split personality, to simultaneously assume the personas of both an imagined external audience and a writer of succinct, powerful prose. Considering both the audience and the writer, I’ve summarized five significant components of good writing style culled from the Strunk and White’s and Williams’ texts to assist a writer in achieving good style: Flow, Flow, Flow Your Boat: Organize Your Writing The first thing I did to write this essay was to map out a logical path to follow by creating the title and headings. Organizing a writing project is comparable to efficiently organizing your day: figure out what needs to be accomplished and prioritize. Without structure and forward thinking, you’re not likely to accomplish all your goals, and you might leave people unsatisfied along the way. Similarly, satisfying writing logically weaves topics and themes in a meaningful forward progression, within sentences, paragraphs and documents, to move the reader from beginning to end (Williams 82, 83). Key Elements of Good Writing Style :: Writing Style Styles Essays Key Elements of Good Writing Style After reading William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Elements of Style and Joseph M. Williams’ Style: Beyond Clarity and Grace, participating in hours of classroom discussion, and writing five short essays on the topic, I’m struck by the complexity of evaluating â€Å"writing style†. But I don’t know why I should be amazed. Borne from the elaborate human thought process, we instinctively dress up our writing in thrift-store duds or Fifth Avenue couture. Writing styles express our individuality; they are our language fingerprints – the writer’s identity is exposed, and no two styles are exactly alike. However, the texts argue that a writing style isn’t unchangeable; inherent or learned tendencies can be modified to become â€Å"good† writing style. Developing an unambiguous definition of good writing style has been challenging. I have one sense that good style can only be defined by a reader. A case of ‘you know it when you see it’: â€Å"Now that’s good style.† On the other hand, the texts clearly show that good writing style can be defined by the writer – through a rule-laden, detailed writing-construction process. With conscious effort, apparently I can choose to write in a good or bad writing style. So maybe the secret to good writing style requires the assumption of a split personality, to simultaneously assume the personas of both an imagined external audience and a writer of succinct, powerful prose. Considering both the audience and the writer, I’ve summarized five significant components of good writing style culled from the Strunk and White’s and Williams’ texts to assist a writer in achieving good style: Flow, Flow, Flow Your Boat: Organize Your Writing The first thing I did to write this essay was to map out a logical path to follow by creating the title and headings. Organizing a writing project is comparable to efficiently organizing your day: figure out what needs to be accomplished and prioritize. Without structure and forward thinking, you’re not likely to accomplish all your goals, and you might leave people unsatisfied along the way. Similarly, satisfying writing logically weaves topics and themes in a meaningful forward progression, within sentences, paragraphs and documents, to move the reader from beginning to end (Williams 82, 83).

Debate 2nd Speaker LGBT

I’m the second speaker for the proposition team and our stand is transgender should be classified as the third gender. My first point is that transgender should be given a proper recognition in the society. Let’s be honest, there’s a good chance that you have not heard of Transgender Day of Remembrance. How often do we actually think about the â€Å"T† in LGBT? Over the years, there have been far too many cases of hate crimes that have been motivated by an individual’s sexual preference. Often, what prompt these crimes are motivations of fear and ignorance. Human sexuality is extremely complicated – how should one view the sexuality of a transgender person? If he or she are post-op, does that mean they’re still technically transgender? Well, one would have to say that all crimes committed against transgender men and women are motivated by homophobia (negative feelings/attitudes against LGBT). But is this necessarily the right view to view this subject? The Transgender Day of Remembrance started in the late 90s, and it is a day set aside to remember those members of the trans community who have been killed, murdered in the previous years for simply being trans or being perceived to be trans. One such case, being Rita Hester who was 34 years old when she was found dead in her apartment in 1998. This case was tragic for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it achieved less national attention than the murder of Matthew Shepard, which happened five weeks earlier (a white male). There are still many more questions that are unanswered, but what is certain is the effect these kinds of crimes have had on the LGBT community and what the lack of attention and action means. In conclusion, my team is clearly right in saying transgender should be classified as the third gender because they should be given a proper recognition in the society.

The required number of hours

Sleep is a basic human need. It functions to restore normal activity levels and normal balance among the parts of the nervous system and it allows for repair processes to occur as in protein synthesis (Kozier, 2004). Lack of sleep is said to cause an emotionally irritable, poorly concentrated individual that experiences decision making difficulty. The required number of hours of sleep per day varies with age. A newborn is expected to sleep for 16 to 18 hours a day, an infant 22 hours a day, a toddler 10 to 12 hours per day and preschool children need 11 to 12 hours of sleep per day (Kozier, 2004).As the individual grows older, he is required to sleep less. School aged children is required 8 to 12 hours of sleep, adolescents 8 to 10 hours, young adults 7 to 8 hours, middle aged adults 6 to 8 hours and elders only 6 hours (Kozier, 2004). The circadian rhythm, the most familiar rhythmic biologic clock that is responsible for our sleep-wake patterns, follows a dark-light pattern with the suprachiasmatic nucleus as its pacemaker (Bullock, 2000).The suprachiasmatic nucleus is found in the anterior hypothalamus and is stimulated by the receptors in the retina of our eyes. Melatonin, which has regulatory effects on the SCN, is secreted by the pineal gland and its secretion is stimulated by the dark and is suppressed by light (Bullock, 2000). Melatonin promotes sleep in this way, and fewer hormones secreted, as in the elderly, will be one of the many causes for insomnia (Bullock, 2000). There are several factors that can cause sleep pattern disturbance aside from a decrease in melatonin.Sleep pattern disturbances can be caused by external or internal factors and these disturbances can only be classified as a medical condition when they chronically interrupt sleep (Bullock, 2000) or when the inability to sleep well at night causes impaired daytime functioning (Atkinson, 2000). Sleep pattern disturbances have been grouped into four categories by the Association of Sleep D isorders Center, namely, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, disorders of excessive somnolence, disorders of sleeping-waking schedule and dysfunctions associated with sleep, sleep stages or partial arousal (Atkinson, 2000).Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep include insomnias, which is the inability to sleep and maybe exhibited by difficulty falling asleep, there are recurrent awakenings, and early morning awakening without being able to go back to sleep (Atkinson, 2000). Reasons for the cause of insomnia is still not known, as some claim that this is a symptom of a disease or just a perception of individuals who feel that they have not gotten enough sleep because of some factors they claim to have experienced. Insomnia can be attributed to various factors that could either be pathologic or psychological.Pathologic causes include disease process, pain, obstructive uropathy, hyperthyroidism, congenital heart failure, respiratory disease, arthritis, and hormonal i mbalance (Atkinson, 2000). Psychologically, anxiety, obsessive worrying, chronic stress and depression can bring about insomnia (Atkinson, 2000). As much as possible, interventions for insomnia remain to be nonpharmacologic, but if the individual is experiencing sleeplessness that is ruining his daytime activities, a doctor will prescribe selected sedative-hypnotic medications.Although effective, these medications should not be used as often and several considerations should be noted. These medications produce a central nervous system depression and produces an unnatural sleep, it may resolve insomnia for tonight, but may disturb sleep the following night and cause daytime drowsiness (Kozier, 2004). Some medications are antianxiety medications which decrease the arousal ability of the individual taking it; these are also contraindicated to be taken by pregnant women because of the congenital anomalies that they may cause (Kozier, 2004).These medications also vary in their onset and duration of action and continuous use can lead to tolerance or to drug dependency (Kozier, 2004). Sudden cessation of these medications can result in withdrawal symptoms and even death, thus before withdrawal of medications, the dose should be gradually tapered to about 25% to 30% weekly. Examples of these medications are Chloral hydrate (Noctec), Ethchlorvynol (Placidyl), Flurazepam (Dalmane), Glutethimide (Doriden), Lorazepam (Ativan), Melatonin, Temazepam (Restoril), Triazolam (Halcion), Zaleplon (Sonata), and Zolpidem (Ambien) (Kozier, 2004).Alternative treatment for insomnia have been preferred over the pharmacologic therapy because alternative treatment is natural, hence less side effects are experienced and the individual will be able to have control over his sleep-wake cycle. Nonorthodox, unconventional, alternative, complementary, are a number of terms used to denote non-medical treatment that has been used since early times for a variety of diseases. Complementary and alte rnative medicine is defined as being identified through a social process as those practices that do not form part of the dominant system for managing health and disease (Kozier, 2004, p.224). Before considering any therapy, be it alternative or pharmacologic, the individual is advised to consider techniques on promoting rest and sleep. A person who is suffering from insomnia should establish a regular sleep-wake pattern, this means that he should try to go to sleep at the same time everyday and wake up at the same time also. This is to prevent disruptions in the biologic clock (Kozier, 2004). He should also try to eliminate lengthy naps in between sleeps, and if ever necessary should limit this to only thirty minutes per day at the same time everyday (Kozier, 2004).He should get ample exercise or physical activities during the day to lower stress but this should not be done two hours before bedtime. The individual should also avoid dealing with personal problems or office work befor e going to sleep and instead should establish a routine before sleep such as reading a book, listening to music or drinking a glass of warm milk (Kozier, 2004). Finally, to establish a sleep pattern the person is asked to only use the bed for sleeping, so that he would associate it with sleep, and that if still not drowsy, pursue some relaxing activity (Kozier, 2004).The environment also plays a role in helping the individual fall asleep. There should be appropriate lighting, temperature and ventilation as per the person’s desire, noise should be kept to a minimum and if extraneous noise is present, it should be blocked with soft music (Kozier, 2004). With regards to food consumption and diet, the individual should not take a heavy meal 3 hours before bedtime and to decrease fluid intake 2 to 4 hours prior to going to sleep but if it cannot be helped, void before sleeping (Kozier, 2004).Several drugs can disrupt sleep by delaying its onset, decreasing sleep time, and cause ni ghtmares and should be avoided before sleeping, examples are alcohol, amphetamines, antidepressants, beta-blockers, bronchodilators, caffeine, decongestants, and steroid (Kozier, 2004). Caffeine – containing foods and beverages include coffee, soda, tea and chocolate and should not be taken 4 hours before bedtime. Promoting comfort and relaxation may be helpful.The individual should wear loose-fitting nightwear, have taken a bath and does not feel sweaty and hot, make sure the bed linen is soft, smooth, clean and dry, and a back massage may be done, which is a type of touch therapy (Kozier, 2004). There are several healing modalities that are being implemented to help alleviate insomnia, and this includes touch therapy, mind-body therapy, and aroma therapy. Touch therapies, which include massage, foot reflexology, acupressure, and reiki, may stimulate the production of healing-promoting chemicals by the immune or limbic system (Kozier, 2004).Massage assists in relaxation and blood circulation improvement (Kozier, 2004). Physically, it promotes muscle relaxation by helping in release of lactic acid that is formed during strenuous activities and exercise, it improves blood and lymph flow, stretches joints, and helps in body toxin release and immune system stimulation (Kozier, 2004). It also has mental and emotional benefits like anxiety relief and it provides a sense of relaxation and well-being (Kozier, 2004).There are three kinds of massage strokes, namely effleurage (stroking), friction pressure and petrissage which is kneading or large quick pinches of the skin, subcutaneous tissues and muscles (Kozier, 2004). Mind-body therapies utilize the individual’s focus on realigning or creating balance in mental processed to bring about healing (Kozier, 2004). Progressive relaxation is most helpful in insomnia because it reduces increased level of stress and chronic pain by enabling the individual to wield control over the body’s responses to anx iety and tension (Kozier, 2004).There are three requisites though, to be able to make use of this technique. There should be correct posture, the person’s mind should be at rest and the environment should be noise free as possible and the technique is to make the individual tense and relax his muscles alternately and then focus attention on the differentiating feelings of each action (Kozier, 2004). This can result to decreased oxygen consumption by decreased metabolism, heart and respiratory rate, and decreased blood pressure (Kozier, 2004).Aromatherapy, which is defined clinically as the controlled use of essential oils for specific measurable outcomes by Kozier, can be used by massaging into the body, added to water that is used when bathing, inhaled or applied as hot or cold compresses. The oils used in this therapy are distilled from a variety of substances such as flowers, roots, wood resins, leaves, lemon or orange rinds, barks, etc. When inhaled, the oil’s arom a is detected by olfactory receptor cells in our nares.The stimuli received will travel along the olfactory nerve or the cranial nerve I, the stimuli will then be received by the olfactory bulb and will be sent to the brain. The essential oil aroma is thought to play a role in emotions, memory and a variety of body functions including the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and immune response (Kozier, 2004). There are 300 essential oils being used and some of these are lavender for headache relief, stress and insomnia, peppermint for nausea relief, aid in respiration an antipyretic, and sandalwood for chapped skin, depression, and stress (Kozier, 2004).There are also some herbal preparations that can be used for insomnia. Hops and valerian are used to induce sleep by nervous system relaxation, as recommended by the website Holistic online. There are ways by which we can combine both the conventional treatment and the alternative therapies to reduce insomnia. One way is to do the techniques on promoting rest and sleep, while on low-dosed medication. In a way, this might still be useful in eventually lowering and then eliminating drug use while still maintaining a normal sleep-wake pattern.Although plausible, it is still best advised to not take pharmacologic therapy when necessary. There is to some extent a risk on using sedative-hypnotic drugs, as mentioned earlier. This can cause drug dependency, withdrawal symptoms if stopped abruptly without tapering the dose gradually, and can disrupt the sleep-wake pattern by causing excessive sleep and daytime drowsiness. It should also be noted that these drugs can be expensive and if needed on a daily basis may become a burden to healthcare cost budgets.The benefit of course is that you will be able to sleep, after a few minutes once the drug is taken. As to the nonpharmacologic treatment suggestions, there are no risks, as long as the person who would want to try out these therapies has an open mind and is willing to subject himself to these procedures. Health wise, the therapies do not present any danger to the individual being subjected to the procedures unless pregnant, has allergies to the essential oils or herbs, has fractures, skin conditions or disease processes.If the person has insomnia as a symptom to an underlying disease, he should immediately heed the physician’s advice. I do not see alternative treatment as a threat to the medical community, nor a competition. These two have very different procedures and are based on different dogmas that they should not be compared to each other. Although it cannot be helped, people should always be open-minded about these things, because they are at times useful, and have been subjected to numerous tests to be proven safe and effective.Of course, if one is in doubt of the nature or cause of their insomnia, one should head to the nearest clinic or to the family physician before taking these alternative treatments into consideration. Once there is no underlying pathology, then before taking sleeping pills to make the dilemma go away, nonpharmacologic therapy should and is highly recommended to be done. There is no harm to it, and it might just help. It costs less and can be done right at home without spending gas to go some place else. But if all else fails, then it is suggested to take the sleeping pills as prescribed by the physician.References Atkinson, R. L. , Atkinson R. C. , Smith E. E. , Bem, D. J. , & Nolen-Koeksema, S. (2000). Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology. USA: Thomson. Bullock, B. and Henze, R. (2000). Focus on Pathophysiology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Holistic Online. (1998-2007). Herb and Herbal Therapies. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from http://holisticonline. com/Remedies/Sleep/sleep_insomnia_herbs. htm Kozier, B. Erb, G. , Berman, A. , & Snyder, S. (2004). Fundamentals of Nursing. USA: Pearson Education. .