There’s a time and a place for everything – and when it comes to checking your blood pressure, it’s probably not when and where you think.

Forget the doctor’s office, because you can get more accurate readings when you check your blood pressure on your own at home.

Researchers gave more than 2,000 Finnish patients between the ages of 45 and 74 blood pressure monitoring devices. The patients took regular readings at home, but also underwent regular medical exams as well as interviews.

The researchers discovered that the readings taken at home turned out to be the best predictors of those heart problems, according to the study published in the journal Hypertension.

The reason? Chalk it up to the so-called “white-coat effect.”

That’s the non-technical name for the increased panic – and hence, increased blood pressure – that can come from simply setting foot in a doctor’s office.

In reality, you might have perfectly normal blood pressure most of the time – it just shoots up at the sight of that white coat. It’s kind of like people who hit the brakes any time they see a cop, even if they weren’t speeding in the first place.

But regardless, this “white-coat effect” can lead to a spike in blood pressure… and before you know it, you’re on hypertension meds that you didn’t really need.

Taking those readings at home can give a truer picture of your blood pressure – especially if you take those readings often.

The patients in the study used a $70 device, but you can often find an accurate automatic reader similar to the one they used for around $40. Talk to your doctor to find one that’s right for you.

About a third of all American adults have high blood pressure – so if you’re fighting this battle, you’re not alone. But you probably want to break away from the pack when it comes to helping yourself.

After all, if the mainstream had the answers, why are up to 75 million Americans still suffering from this condition?

You’ll find some real answers in the free library at the Health Sciences Institute.  Just enter “blood pressure” into the “Find a Cure” box for a comprehensive look at your safe and natural alternatives.

There’s little doubt that some organic meats and veggies are better for you, but organic junk is still junk – and at the end of the day, you shouldn’t be eating junk at all.

Common sense, right? Maybe not – because a new study finds that many people believe the word “organic” has almost magical powers to make unhealthy foods healthy, or at least lower in calories.

For the study, Cornell University’s Brian Wansink, author of the book “Mindless Eating,” asked 54 college students to eat some cookies.

Must have been tough to find volunteers for that one!

Some of the students ate cookies labeled “organic,” while the others ate cookies with no label at all. After eating those cookies, the students were asked about their habits… and those delicious treats.

The ones who ate the organic cookies on average believed they were eating 40 percent fewer calories than those who ate the unlabeled cookies. They also believed the cookies had more fiber, and were more delicious.

Turns out they were the same cookies. And yes, they were all organic – and all unhealthy.

Interestingly, the students who believed the organic cookies were healthier were also people who said they tended to buy organic foods, and claimed they paid close attention to labels.

Looks like they’re not paying as much attention as they think.

But it’s a mistake anyone can make – and one the food manufacturers hope you will make. You eat junk, they make money. And if you think it’s healthier, not only will you eat more – but you’ll pay more, too.

That’s why organic labels often feature green fields and crystal-clear streams. They have healthy-sounding names, and the packages often have blurbs that sound healthy, but really aren’t: “Made with Real Sugar!” or “Zero Transfats” are two of my favorites, and you’ll find them on organic and non-organic junk food packages alike.

Many stores even sell these overpriced sugary snacks in the “health food” aisles, as if there’s anything healthy about them.

But that’s just a myth.

“Take your best guess at its calorie count,” Wasnick said in a press release. “Then double it. You’ll end up being more accurate, and you’ll probably eat a lot less.”

How about this instead: Don’t eat it at all.

After all, if it looks like junk food… and it tastes like junk food… then believe me, it’s still junk food.

Kids are going to start getting angry over Happy Meals… and that’s not such a bad thing after all.

A California community fed up with fat kids has passed a law that bans the inclusion of free toys in unhealthy kids’ meals.

Happy Meals are an iconic part of childhood, to be sure. But ask any child why he wants to eat one of those meals, and the first thing most of them will mention isn’t the taste.

It’s that darned toy.

Take away the toy, the theory goes, and the desire for fast food will fade – and maybe, just maybe, it’ll be a little easier to get your child to eat something healthier.

The new rules passed in Santa Clara County don’t ban kids’ meals, and they don’t ban the practice of giving a toy away with a meal – just the practice of giving out those toys with the typical unhealthy child meal.

Under the new regulations, a child’s meal with a toy needs to be under 485 calories in total, and no single part of the meal can exceed 200 calories (with a 120-calorie cap on drinks). There’s a 600mg limit on sodium for the entire meal, fat is limited to 35 percent of the calories or less and the meals can’t contain more than 10 percent added sugar.

Sell a meal within those guidelines, and you can still include the latest movie tie-in toys. And I’m pretty sure you could still make a meal that most children will eat (and probably one that still won’t be mistaken for health food, but hey – it’s a start).

Of course, taking out those toys will only take us so far. We have to do the rest ourselves.

After all, McDonald’s sells a lot of Happy Meals… but they also sell plenty of all the other meals – the ones that don’t come with toys.

And you know who’s buying those.

If you think adult meds are bad, you should see what they’re trying to force on your children and grandchildren.

Some of the nation’s most common over-the-counter children’s drugs – meds you might find in any home with a kid – have been recalled for problems ranging from contamination to quality.

All told, Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Pharmaceuticals pulled some 40 meds, including Children’s Tylenol, Children’s Motrin and Children’s Benadryl. In many homes with children, that’s half the medicine chest!

In a 17-page report, the Food and Drug Administration detailed some of the problems with these dirty drugs. It’s a frightening list:

• “Tiny particles” in the medicine, including bits of metal;
• Bacterial contamination;
• Security lapses at the Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, plant where the drugs are made;
• Inadequate training; and
• No written procedures to ensure “the identity, strength, quality, and purity” of the meds.

It might have been easier to simply list what wasn’t wrong!

In one of the most bizarre public statements in the history of corporate America, the company actually agreed with many of the FDA’s accusations.

“The quality issues that the FDA has observed, many of which we had recently identified in our own quality reviews and communicated to the FDA, are unacceptable to us,” the company said.

Say what?

That’s a little like a bank robber who, on getting caught, says he just noticed he had been stealing and found it to be unacceptable. In fact, he was just about to turn himself in.

Of course, they had to take a different approach since they can’t claim they had no idea. The FDA says the company received at least 46 complaints from consumers who said they found particles in their children’s meds… and did nothing.

But there’s a positive side to this crisis, because it’s a chance for parents to look at the alternatives. Like adults, many kids are often taking drugs they don’t need – especially these over-the-counter remedies. Many parents reach for the Tylenol or Motrin any time they spot a fever in their child, but these days even mainstream docs will tell you that it’s the wrong approach – especially for non-threatening low-grade fevers with no other symptoms.

Fevers can be caused by any number of factors, and aren’t an automatic sign of illness. Many fevers are of no concern, especially if your child is acting normally.

And in some cases, the fever is the body’s response to invading bacteria and viruses, many of which can be wiped out by the internal temperature change. Drop the fever, though, and you can give those microscopic invaders a chance to regroup and multiply.

As always, talk to your pediatrician before you start or stop any medicine – but in most cases, you’ll do better with home remedies and a little common sense than you would with any of these meds.

Especially the ones they’re telling you to throw in the trash.