Bananas are high in potassium, which keeps high blood pressure in check and reduces the risk of heart disease. In conjunction with sodium they help maintain the fluid and electrolyte balance in body cells, thus maintaining healthy nerve and muscle function. They also contain tryptophan, which the body converts to serotonin to aid peaceful sleep.

Watermelons are low in calories and very nutritious. Watermelon is high in lycopene, second only to tomatoes. Recent research suggests that lycopene, a powerful antioxidant, is effective in preventing some forms of cancer and cardiovascular disease. According to research conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, men who consumed a lycopene-rich diet were half as likely to suffer a heart attack as those who had little or no lycopene in their diets.

Watermelon is also high in Vitamin C and Vitamin A, in the form of disease fighting beta-carotene. Research also suggests that the red pigmented foods provide this protection. Lycopene and beta-carotene work in conjunction with other plant chemicals not found in vitamin/mineral supplements. Potassium is also available, which is believed to help control blood pressure and possibly prevent strokes.

Tomatoes rich in lycopene, which neutralizes free radicals before they can cause damage, therefore staving off everything from wrinkles to heart attacks. Studies indicate that lycopene could have twice the anti-carcinogenic punch of beta-carotene. They also contain a little iron, which is well absorbed by the body when accompanied by vitamin C and prevents anemia and fatigue.

The cause of fibromyalgia is not known. Patients experience pain in response to stimuli that are normally not perceived as painful. Researchers have found elevated levels of a nerve chemical signal, called substance P, and nerve growth factor in the spinal fluid of fibromyalgia patients. The brain nerve chemical serotonin is also relatively low in patients with fibromyalgia. Studies of pain in fibromyalgia have suggested that the central nervous system (brain) may be somehow supersensitive. Scientists note that there seems to be a diffuse disturbance of pain perception in patients with fibromyalgia.

Also, patients with fibromyalgia have impaired non-Rapid-Eye-Movement, or non-REM, sleep phase (which likely explains the common feature of waking up fatigued and unrefreshed in these patients). The onset of fibromyalgia has been associated with psychological distress, trauma, and infection.

Fribromyalgia affects predominantly women (80%) between the ages of 35 to 55. Rarely, fibromyalgia can also affect men, children and the elderly. It can occur independently or can be associated with another disease, such as systemic lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. The prevalence of fibromyalgia varies in different countries. In Spain, Sweden and Britain, 1% of the population is affected by fribromyalgia. In the United States,approximately 2% of the population have fibromyalgia. The universal symptom of fribromyalgia is pain. As mentioned earlier, the pain in fibromyalgia is not caused by tissue inflammation. Instead, these patients seem to have an increase sensitivity to many different sensory stimuli and an unusually low pain threshold. Minor sensory stimuli that ordinarily would not cause pain in dividuals can cause disabling, sometimes severe pain in patients with fibromyalgia.

The body pain of fibromyalgia can be aggravated by noise, weather change, and emotional stress. The pain is generally widespread, involving both sides of the body. Pain usually affects the neck, buttocks, shoulder, arms, the upper back and the chest. Tender points are localized tender areas of the body that can bring on widespread pain and muscle spasm when touched. Tender points, or pressure points, are commonly found around the elbows, shoulder, knees, hips, back of the head and the sides of the breastbone.

Fatigue occurs in 90% of patients. Fatigue may be related to abnormal sleep patterns commonly observed in these patients. Normally, there are several levels of depth of sleep. Getting enough of the deeper levels of sleep may be more important in refreshing a person than the total number of hours of sleep. Patients with fibromyalgia lack the deep, restorative level of sleep, called "non-rapid-eye-movement" (non-REM) sleep. Consequently, patients with fibromyalgia often awaken in the morning without feeling fully rested. Some patients awaken with muscle aches or a sensation of muscle fatigue as if they had been "working out" all night!

Mental and/or emotional disturbances occur in over half of fibromyalgia patients. These symptoms include poor concentration, forgetfulness, mood changes, irritability, depression, and anxiety. Since a firm diagnosis of fibromyalgia is difficult, and no confirmatory laboratory tests are available, patients with fibromyalgia are often misdiagnosed as having depression as their primary underlying problem.

Other symptoms of fibromyalgia include migraine and tension headaches, numbness or tingling of different parts of the body, abdominal pain related to irritable bowel syndrome ("spastic colon"), and irritable bladder, causing painful and frequent urination. Like fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome can cause chronic abdominal pain and other bowel disturbances without detectable inflammation of the stomach or the intestines.

Each patient with fibromyalgia is unique. Any of the above symptoms can occur intermittently and in different combinations.