1. Going Organic Is Breaking My Bank
2. My Immunity Booster Is Giving Me Cravings
3. Which Chocolate Is Best For Weight Loss?

Going Organic Is Breaking My Bank.  I’ve got 30 pounds to lose, so when I read about how pesticides in our food supply can cause weight gain, I started eating more organic foods. I’ve lost a few pounds, but it’s slow-going and not enough to justify spending the extra money. Can I eat conventionally grown foods and still lose?

I have a two-pronged approach to help ensure the toxins in conventional foods won’t remain in the body long enough to switch on genes that slow metabolism and trigger fat storage. First, start each day with 6 oz. of hot water mixed with the juice of half a lemon. The fruit contains d-limonene and other compounds that fortify the liver so the organ can do its job of flushing toxins. What’s more, the warm brew triggers intestinal peristalsis, the muscle contractions that eliminate toxins through bowel movements. Then at any time during the day, enjoy two cups of dandelion-root tea. This speeds the liver’s breakdown of toxins. With this strategy, it’s possible to lose 10 to 14 pounds in two weeks, especially if liver-stressing trans fat, excess sugar and artificial sweeteners are avoided.

My Immunity Booster Is Giving Me Cravings.   As a substitute teacher, I get sidelined by germs. I can’t afford the downtime this year, so I began taking elderberry daily. Happily, I haven’t had a cold or flu yet—and I get tons of work as teachers take sick days. But I’m constipated more than usual, and I’ve had mean sugar cravings. I think the supplement is to blame, but I want to take it until the school year is over. Any suggestions?

While using elderberry to help boost immunity, it’s important to take a daily supplement of probiotics, like Flora-Key ($32 for a one-month supply, at UniKeyHealth.com or call 800-888-4353). The reason: Elderberry is a powerful antiseptic that decimates the gut’s stores of healthy bacteria, so taking it daily for over a week can cause symptoms that indicate a resulting yeast overgrowth. These include constipation, bloat, vaginal yeast infections and intense sugar cravings. Probiotics will replenish healthy bacteria, plus help eliminate the problematic yeast, in about three weeks.

Which Chocolate Is Best For Weight Loss?  My sister and I had a discussion the other day about which kind of chocolate—dark or milk—is better when dieting. She says it’s a wash because they have about the same number of calories, and if you stick to a small amount your diet is safe. But since dark chocolate has so many nutrients, surely it’s better for your waistline, too. Who’s right?

You are. There’s evidence that the body responds differently to the calories in dark versus milk chocolate. Milk chocolate contains more sugar and, as such, is more likely to trigger cravings and be stored as fat. Dark chocolate contains less sugar and is more satiating: A study at Denmark’s University of Copenhagen found that compared with milk chocolate eaters, women who enjoyed 3.5 oz. of dark chocolate reported fewer cravings and ate 15 percent fewer calories over the next five hours. That’s likely thanks to the healthy monounsaturated fatty acids in dark (but not in milk) chocolate.