Food for thought

Snacking on cherries or drinking cherry juice at night can help you fall asleep. They contain tryptophan, like your Thanksgiving turkey.

A handful of almonds will help ward off pre-period headaches, ladies.

Drink green tea for thicker, lusher hair.

Eat grapes to help repair and even prevent premature dryness, fine lines, and sagging of the skin.

Complex carbs, like chickpeas (think hummus), lentils, & whole grains, can help banish a bad mood. When we are feeling blue, we crave sweets because the simple carbs prompt the brain to secrete serotonin, the calming hormone that eases depression and stress. But after the initial high, the blood sugar crashes and can make your bad mood worse. So stick to the complex carbs!

Protein rich foods can help with splitting nails. Sedentary people need half their body weight in grams of protein daily. Active people need more.

Plain yogurt can help with bad breath. The cultures in plain yogurt get rid of stinky sulfur compounds in our mouths. The sugar in breath mints just make things worse.

Eat an apple with peanut butter for an energy boost in the afternoon.

Low fat dairy can help with PMS. When women don't get enough calcium, they may experience more cramps, mood swings, and bloating. If you also get headaches, you may be low in magnesium. 1/4 cup of almonds or cashews will give you 30% of your daily magnesium needs.

Zinc-rich foods (crabmeat, yogurt, baked beans, green peas, pumpkin seeds) can help with a dry, flaky scalp or hair loss.