1. Is my stuffy nose making me gain weight?
2. Could caffeine be causing my joint pain?
3. I’m craving sweets all the time, so it’s tough to shed 20 very stubborn pounds.

Is my stuffy nose making me gain weight? On a talk show recently, a woman claimed that after years of being severely congested, she lost 40 pounds just by keeping her sinuses clear with spicy food. This hits home: I'm always congested-and 25 pounds overweight. Does the idea sound too far-fetched to you?

Chronic congestion dulls the aromas and flavors of food, preventing the brain from getting strong cues that signal satiety. As a result, it's easy to overeat, To open the sinuses and enhance food’s smell and taste for more satiety-triggering impact, try recipes with horseradish, wasabi, chili peppers or hot-pepper sauce (like Tabasco). You can even add a dash of powdered cayenne pepper to popcorn, crackers, trail mix, hot chocolate or tea for a spicy sinus-clearing zing. You'll see a difference quickly: This strategy has helped women curb overeating and lose up to five pounds in a week, simply because they could fully register those all important "I'm full” cues.

Could caffeine be causing my joint pain?  I'm only 43, but my joints ache so much that I feel 60! My doctor gave me a clean bill of health. So I started doing some digging of my own and read that my coffee habit (I'm up to four cups a day) could be a factor. Is that true?

Drinking too much coffee can indeed be a culprit behind joint aches. Excess caffeine raises cortisol levels and causes mild dehydration, two factors that worsen pain-causing inflammation. To get relief, drink no more than 8 oz of coffee daily and make sure you are well hydrated.  (Calculate your hydration needs by dividing your body weight by two. This number, in ounces, is the recommended minimum daily water intake for your body.) One other point to consider: Is your forties perimenopausal hormone fluctuations could be behind joint pain. To counteract hormonal flux, take 1,000 to 2,000 mg of fish oil daily. Its omega-3s are proven to ease painful inflammation and help normalize female-hormone production. One to try: Carlson Super Omega-3 Fish Oil Concentrate 1,000 mg ($22 for 100 softgels, at Vitaininshoppe.com).

I’m craving sweets all the time, so it’s tough to shed 20 very stubborn pounds.  What’s an easy fix?

You can start drinking more black tea. It contains a variety of specialized carbs called polysaccharides that make it especially effective (more so than even green tea) at slowing glucose entry into the bloodstream. This is key to warding off erratic blood sugar fluctuations. These polysaccharides also inhibit alphaglucasidase, an enzyme that converts starch into glucose to further help stabilize blood sugar. The result: You'll be free of cravings, feel fall longer and belly fat will melt o faster.

To enjoy these tummy-trimming perks, drink three to four cups of black tea daily, spread throughout the day. For best results, let the tea steep for 15 minutes to draw out all the important compounds.  (If the brew is too cool after steeping, simply reheat it to your liking.) But avoid adding milk or cream since it hinders the body's absorption of tea's beneficial compounds.