4 Herbs to Cleanse Your Liver

The liver is arguably your body’s most important detoxification organ.  It helps with the digestion and metabolism of fat, and detoxifies your body of harmful pollutants, food additives, and other toxins.  Here are four herbs to help cleanse your liver:

Milk Thistle (Silybum Marianum)The primary medicinal ingredient in milk thistle is called silymarin.  This compound protects the liver by inhibiting damaging substances in the liver that cause liver cell damage.  Silymarin also stimulates liver cell regeneration to help the liver rebuild after it has been damaged.  Silymarin also helps to prevent the depletion of the nutrient glutathione—one of the most critical nutrients for liver detoxification. 

Silymarin in milk thistle seeds is not very water-soluble so does not extract well into tea.  Instead, take a standardized extract containing about 140 mg of silymarin for liver cleansing and protection.

Dandelion Root (Taraxacum Officinale)Nature grows a liver-cleansing pharmacy every spring.  It is the dreaded weed that most people curse as it pokes its yellow-flowered head through the green of their lawn.  Dandelion is one of Mother Nature’s finest liver herbs.

The Australian Journal of Medical Herbalism cited two studies that showed the liver regenerative properties of dandelion in cases of jaundice, liver swelling, hepatitis, and indigestion.  If you choose to incorporate dandelion root into your liver cleansing efforts, take 500 to 2000 mg daily in capsules.  Alternatively, you can make a decoction by using two teaspoons of powdered dandelion root per cup of water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for fifteen minutes.  Drink one cup, three times daily.

Globe Artichoke (Cynara Scolymus)Globe Artichoke contains compounds called caffeylquinic acids which have demonstrated powerful liver regenerating effects similar to milk thistle.  Globe artichoke is usually found in capsule form.  Doses range from 300 to 500 mg daily.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)A commonly-used spice in Indian curries, turmeric helps regenerate liver cells and cleanse it of toxins.  Turmeric also increases the production of bile to help expel toxins and may help reduce liver inflammation.  In studies turmeric has also been shown to increase levels of two liver-supporting enzymes that promote Phase 2 liver detoxification reactions.  Turmeric comes in capsules and tablets, sometimes under the label, “curcumin,” which is the key ingredient in turmeric.  Follow package instructions.  You can also add ground turmeric to soups, stews, and curries.

Always consult your holistically-minded physician prior to taking any herbs.  This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose or treat illness.

15 Common Causes and Symptoms of Iron Deficiency

Are you iron deficient? These are some of the most common causes and symptoms of iron deficiency.

According to a recent report from ABC News, iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency here in the U.S. The CDC estimates that nine percent of women ages 12 to 49 are iron deficient, and a shocking 14 percent of children ages one to two are low on iron.

Women and young children are much more likely to be iron deficient, but men aren’t immune to iron deficiency either. Check the symptoms list below. If you suspect that you’re suffering from iron deficiency, your doctor can find out with a simple blood test.

You definitely want to get tested before you start taking an iron supplement. It’s possible to overdo it on the iron, too. And some iron overdose symptoms – especially heart-related symptoms – mirror some of the symptoms of iron deficiency.

15 Common Causes and Symptoms of Iron Deficiency

1. Fatigue

Let’s be honest, we are all tired, right? This is a tricky symptom to sort out. Are you tired because you need more iron to help your blood carry oxygen, or are you tired because your baby was up three times last night? Fatigue alone might not point to iron deficiency, but along with the other symptoms on this list, it’s a warning sign.

2. Heavy Periods

Do you have super heavy periods? If you’re losing a lot of blood each month, your body may have trouble bouncing back, and that can lead to iron deficiency.

3. Unusually Pale Skin

Some folks are naturally pale, but combined with other symptoms on this list, pallor can point to iron deficiency. ABC News also says that no matter what your skin tone, “if the inside of your lips, your gums, and the inside of your bottom eyelids are less red than usual, low iron may be to blame.” 

4. Difficulty Catching Your Breath

Like I mentioned above, you need iron to help your blood carry oxygen to your cells. Iron deficiency can make you feel out of breath.

5. Irregular Heartbeat

Long-term iron deficiency anemia can cause irregular heartbeats and other heart complications. It can also make existing heart problems worse. If you do have heart problems, your doctor should be checking your iron regularly.

6. Restless Leg Syndrome

If RLS is keeping you up at night, there’s a good chance that iron deficiency is the culprit. ABC News reports, “About 15% of people with restless leg syndrome have iron deficiency.”

  

7. Headaches

Of course, we all get headaches from time to time, but if you’re experiencing frequent headaches along with many of these other symptoms, you might want to get your iron checked. Iron deficiency causes arterial swelling in your brain.

8. Pica

Have you heard that the urge to chew on ice is a sign of iron deficiency? This is called pica, and it’s actually the urge to eat a lot of non-food items. People with iron deficiency might crave dirt, clay, chalk, or paper.

9. General Anxiety

Iron deficiency deprives your sympathetic nervous system of oxygen, which can make you feel anxious for no reason.

10. Hair Loss

Hair loss is a symptom of severe iron deficiency, when your body is working very hard to conserve oxygen. Losing a bit of hair every day is no reason to worry, though. ABC News reminds us that “Most scalps lose about 100 hairs on a good day.”

11. Plant-Based Diet

You can definitely get enough iron without eating animal products. It just takes a little bit of planning, since plant-based sources of iron are harder for your body to absorb. You can see a chart of USDA iron recommendations, adjusted for a plant-based diet here.

  

12. Hypothyroidism

This iron deficiency symptom comes with it’s own set of red flags. Fatigue, weight gain, and a lower body temperature can point to an underactive thyroid. Talk to your doctor if you’re experiencing these.

13. Pregnancy

Making a baby is hard work, and your body needs more iron than usual during pregnancy. According to BabyCenter, “During pregnancy, the amount of blood in your body increases until you have almost 50 percent more than usual.” Your OB should be checking your iron levels when you get your blood work, especially during the second half of your pregnancy.

14. Swollen or Smooth Tongue

Your tongue is actually a pretty good barometer for your health, and it can speak volumes about iron deficiency. A sore, swollen, or unusually smooth tongue can point to iron deficiency.

15. Celiac Disease or an Inflammatory Bowel Disease

These diseases can make it difficult for your body to absorb nutrients, including iron. You may need to eat more iron or take a supplement to maintain healthy levels.

Top 10 Sleep Mistakes and Their Solutions

Although we may not like to admit it, many of the sleep problems we experience are the result of bad habits and behaviors. We stay up late or sleep in late. We eat foods that disagree with us or enjoy a drink late at night, oblivious to its disruptive impact on our sleep rhythms. Over time, we teach our body not to sleep. For relief we often turn to sleeping pills, which mask rather than solve the problem, and can lead to addiction. Ultimately for real success, with insomnia as with any chronic problem, one must look for the underlying imbalances and root causes and address those.

Here are the common sleep “mistakes” I see in my practice and their solutions.

MISTAKE #1 Not keeping a consistent sleep schedule.
We often think we can make up for lost sleep by going to bed extra early another night, but the body clock’s ability to regulate healthy sleep patterns depends on consistency. We stay up late on weekends, expecting to make up sleep later or use the weekend to make up for lost sleep during the week. Both practices disrupt bodily rhythms and late-night weekends in particular can cause insomnia during the workweek.

SOLUTION: Create a routine and stick to it.
Getting up and going to bed around the same time, even on weekends, is the most important thing you can do to establish good sleep habits. Our bodies thrive on regularity, and the best reinforcement for the body’s internal clock is a consistent sleep schedule.

Waking and sleeping at set times reinforces a consistent sleep rhythm and reminds the brain when to release sleep and wake hormones, and more importantly, when not to.
 

MISTAKE #2 Using long naps to counter sleep loss. 
Long naps during the day especially after 4 p.m. or even brief nods in the evening while watching TV can damage a good sleep rhythm and keep you from enjoying a full sleep at night.

SOLUTION: Nap for no more than 30 minutes.
If naps are absolutely necessary, make sure you only nap once a day and keep it under a half hour and before 4 p.m. In general, short naps may not hurt sleep and in fact a short siesta for half an hour after lunch or a 20 minute power nap before 4 p.m. works well for many people. 

MISTAKE #3 Not preparing for sleep.
Expecting the body to go from full speed to a standstill without slowing down first is unrealistic. Our bodies need time to produce enough sleep neurotransmitters to send feedback signals to the brain’s sleep center, which will result in the release of sleep hormones to allow you to sleep.

SOLUTION: Take the time to slowly shift into sleep. 
a) Create an electronic sundown. By 10 p.m., stop sitting in front of a computer screen (or TV screen) and switch off all electronic devices. They are too stimulating to the brain and will cause you to stay awake longer.
b) Prepare for bed. Dim the lights an hour or more before going to bed, take a warm bath, listen to calming music or soothing sounds, do some restorative yoga or relaxation exercises. Getting your mind and body ready for sleep is essential. Remove any distractions (mentally and physically) that will prevent you from sleeping. 

MISTAKE #4 Not giving your body the right sleep signals. 
Our bodies depend on signals to tell them when to fall asleep and wake up, the two most fundamental ones being darkness and light. But we live and work in artificially lit environments and often miss out on the strongest regulatory signal of all, natural sunlight. When we do go to sleep and our bodies need complete darkness for production of the important sleep hormone, melatonin, our bedrooms are not pitch dark, thereby interfering with this key process.

SOLUTION: At night, keep the room as dark as possible.
Look around your bedroom: the alarm clock read-out that glows in bright red; the charging indicator on your cell phone or PDA, the monitor on your computer, the battery indicator on the cordless phone or answering machine, the DVD clock and timer. Even the tiniest bit of light in the room can disrupt your pineal gland’s production of sleep hormones and therefore disturb your sleep rhythms. 

Conceal or move the clock, cover all the lights of any electronic device and use dark shades or drapes on the windows if they are exposed to light. If all of that is not possible, wear an eye mask.

If you get up in the middle of the night, try keeping the light off when you go to the bathroom. Use a flashlight or night light. 

MISTAKE #5 Having a bed time snack of refined grains or sugars.
These are metabolic disruptors which raise blood sugar and overstress the organs involved in hormone regulation throughout the body. This hormone roller coaster can affect sleep cycles by waking you up at odd times during sleep as the hormone levels fluctuate.

SOLUTION: If you have to eat, have a high-protein snack.
It is better not to have anything before bed. But if you must eat something, a high protein snack will not only prevent the hormone roller coaster, but also may provide L-tryptophan, an amino acid needed to produce melatonin. 

MISTAKE #6 Using sleeping pills to fall and stay asleep. 
Sleeping pills mask sleep problems and do not resolve the underlying cause of insomnia. Many sleep studies have concluded that sleeping pills, whether prescription or over-the-counter, do more harm than good over the long-term. They can be highly addictive and studies have found them to be potentially dangerous (see references, page 11).

For short term use, there may be indications for needing sleeping pills, but over time, sleeping pills can actually make insomnia worse, not better. If you have been taking them for a long time, ask your doctor to help you design a regimen to wean yourself off them.

SOLUTION: Learn relaxation techniques. 
Aside from physical problems, stress may be the number one cause of sleep disorders. Temporary stress can lead to chronic insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorders. Many people tell me they can’t switch off their racing minds and therefore can’t sleep.

Do some breathing exercises, restorative yoga or meditation. These will calm the mind and reduce the fears and worries that trigger the stress. 

MISTAKE #7 Using Alcohol to fall asleep.
Because of alcohol’s sedating effect, many people with insomnia drink alcohol to promote sleep. Alcohol does have an initial sleep inducing effect, but as it gets broken down by the body, it usually impairs sleep during the second half of the night leading to a reduction in overall sleep time. Habitual alcohol consumption just before bedtime can reduce its sleep-inducing effect, while its disruptive effects continue or even increase.

SOLUTION: Take nutrients that calm the body and mind, getting you ready for sleep. 
Don’t drink alcohol to help you sleep. Look for a calming formula that has some of the following: amino acids, L theanine, taurine, 5 HTP and GABA, and herbs like lemon balm, passion flower, chamomile and valerian root. Taking the minerals, calcium and magnesium at night is also helpful. For some people, especially those of us over 50, melatonin can be helpful too. This is because the body produces less melatonin with advancing age and may explain why elderly people often have difficulty sleeping and respond well to melatonin. 

MISTAKE #8 Watching television to fall asleep.
Because we have no trouble at all falling asleep in the living room in front of the TV many of us watch TV in bed to fall asleep. But when we fall asleep in a bed watching TV, we invariably wake up later on. This sets up a cycle or conditioning that reinforces poor sleep at night. I have had many patients over the years develop insomnia due to this type of conditioning.

SOLUTION: Get the TV out of the bedroom.
Don’t watch TV in bed. The bed should be associated with sleep (and sex). 

MISTAKE #9 Staying in bed hoping to fall asleep.
If you can’t fall asleep within 30-45 minutes, chances are you won’t for at least another hour, and perhaps even longer. You may have missed the open “sleep gate” or missed catching the sleep wave. A “sleep gate” is the open window of time your body will allow you to fall asleep. Researchers have found that our brain goes through several sleep cycles each night where all sleep phases are repeated. These cycles last from 90 minutes to two hours, and at the beginning of each cycle, the body’s “sleep gate” opens. You won’t be able to fall asleep when your sleep gate is closed. 

SOLUTION: Catch the sleep wave. 
If you find you can’t fall asleep within 45 minutes, get up and get out of the bedroom. Read a book, do a restorative yoga pose or do some other calming activity for another 1 -1 1/2 hours before trying to sleep again. Staying in bed only causes stress over not sleeping.

It is like surfing; you need to catch that sleep wave. Have you ever been exhausted and yet you avoid going to sleep and then a few hours later when you are ready for bed, you are suddenly wide awake? You missed the wave. 

MISTAKE #10 Making sleep a performance issue. 
Often just thinking about sleep affects your ability to fall asleep. What happens frequently is that the way you cope with the insomnia becomes as much of a problem, as the insomnia itself. It often becomes a vicious cycle of worrying about not being able to sleep which leads to worsening sleep problems. Like so many things in life, it is about letting go, going with the flow. Sleep needs to become a natural rhythm like breathing, something that comes automatically and you don’t think about.

SOLUTION: Let go and go with the flow.
Use the time to practice breathing exercises or meditation and to become aware of how what you eat, what medications you take, what behaviors or certain activities can affect your sleep cycle.

Increase your awareness by paying attention to your body and becoming conscious of how you react to different foods and situations. Use this time productively, instead of getting upset that you can’t fall asleep.

One final point.
For chronic insomniacs, especially if you are a heavy snorer, make sure Sleep Apnea is not the cause. This is a serious condition that affects at least 12 million Americans, many of whom have not been diagnosed. Usually they are heavy snorers. What happens is that the tissues at the back of the throat relax and in so doing block the airways. The brain senses oxygen deprivation, and sends wakeup signals. There is a release of adrenaline and cortisol, the stress hormone. Not only does this interfere with sleep, it can increase blood pressure, raising your risk of heart problems and stroke. It can also interfere with insulin sensitivity, and increases your risk of diabetes.

15 Habits of Highly Confident People

No one is confident all the time, but some people seem to exude a healthy level of self-assurance. That confident look can leave others wondering “what’s the secret?” Here are some of my observations about the habits of highly confident people.

1.  They have a strong sense of self. They know what they like and what they don’t like. They’ve most likely built a strong sense of self by having a wide variety of experiences.

2.  They have a strong sense of personal boundaries. They don’t try to please others merely for the sake of making others happy. But, that doesn’t mean they are contrarian to boost their ego either.

3.  They learn from their past without dwelling on it. The past can play a role in helping us move forward in life, but not if we get stuck in it.

4.  They go after their goals and dreams. They may feel fear but they strive to reach their dreams anyway. 

5.  They recognize “mistakes“ are learning opportunities. They don’t beat themselves up for their mistakes, realizing that every mistake is an opportunity to learn likes, dislikes, and ways to be more successful next time.

6.  They try new things. There is an expression that experience is the best teacher.  Trying new things allows us to evolve as people.

7.  They take risks. They make informed choices even if there is risk involved. They know the difference between a gamble and a risk. They prepare as much as they can and then dive in for those risks they feel are worth the effort.

8.  They refuse to be victimized. One thing I learned from being a health practitioner is that everyone has had difficulties and challenges. The highly confident person refuses to let the difficulties make them feel victimized. Of course, we all feel sorry for ourselves sometimes but it is important not to linger in self-pity.

9.  They celebrate their successes and the successes of others. You won’t find truly confident people who are jealous and diminishing of other people’s successes. They celebrate them.

10.  They can be alone with their own thoughts without needing to fill every minute with conversation, technologies (cellphones, e-mail, texting, etc.), pastimes, or television.

11. They trust their instincts. Instincts help guide us on our path to make the best choices for us. Trusting these instincts helps us make better choices.

12.  They accept change. Someone once said that “change is the only constant.” While highly confident people may not always like the changes occurring they accept them and do their best to ride the wave of change.

13.  They take care of themselves. They know that the expression GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) is true of the body.  They treat their body with respect by giving it high quality nourishment in the form of healthy food, fresh air, relaxation, and activity.

14.  They boost others, not demean them. Confidence and ego-tripping aren’t the same things. Confident people don’t feel the need to put others down to build themselves up.

15.  They don‘t beat themselves up. Of course, no one is perfect. Even the most confident of people have weak moments. They dust themselves off and keep going.

5 Surprising Foods for Better Sleep (And 4 to Avoid)

Tossing and turning? The answer to—or the cause of—your sleep issues may be in your fridge. Read on to find which foods to consider adding to your diet for a more peaceful slumber…and which to stay away from before bed.

5 SNOOZE FOODS:

Kiwis

High antioxidant and serotonin levels could be the secret behind the kiwi’s sleep superpowers—in one study, eating two kiwis an hour before bed for four weeks was correlated with falling asleep 35 percent faster, a 28 percent dip in waking during the night, and better sleep quality.

Cherry Juice

Drinking an eight-ounce glass of tart cherry juice twice a day can get you an average of 84 extra minutes of sleep each night, according to research from Louisiana State University. It’s a natural source of both melatonin—a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles—and tryptophan, an amino acid that helps the body make serotonin, a neurotransmitter thought to aid sleep. 

Chickpeas

A cup of chickpeas has almost a full day’s recommended supply of vitamin B6, which helps the body produce melatonin and serotonin. You’ll also find it in tuna, salmon, chicken, and turkey.

Jasmine Rice

If you’re grabbing Thai take-out, don’t be shy about loading up on jasmine rice—eating it four hours before bed correlated with falling asleep faster in a 2007 study.

Leafy Greens

Salad may not be the first thing you reach for when you want a good night’s sleep, but the magnesium content found in spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens make them a great option for a peaceful snooze—insomnia is one of the symptoms of magnesium deficiency. In elderly people, magnesium supplements improved sleep time and the amount of time it took to fall asleep.

4 SLEEP DISTURBERS: 

Hot Sauce

Wings for dinner? Make ‘em mild—spicy foods raise your body temperature, which can lead to more brain activity come bedtime. Not only can that lead to poor sleep, there’s also some speculation that a spicy meal before bedtime can contribute to strange dreams or nightmares.

Fast Food

Would you like fries and insomnia with that? Foods high in fat stimulate acid production in the stomach, which can lead to nighttime heartburn. Of those who report having nighttime heartburn, 75 percent said the symptoms impacted their sleep.

Alcohol

You may fall asleep faster and more easily after happy hour, but alcohol can actually disrupt your sleep throughout the course of the night, keeping you from entering the deeper stages of sleep and leaving you tired in the morning.

Coffee

No surprise here—caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and though people’s sensitivity varies, it’s a good idea for most to skip it later in the day. Research has found that caffeine consumption even six hours before bed can disturb sleep, so avoid relying on coffee, energy drinks, and caffeinated teas and sodas to get you through the afternoon slump. And watch out for surprising sources of caffeine, like dark chocolate and Excedrin.

Movie images before and after visual effects

These Products Definitely Shouldn’t Be THAT Expensive (21 pics)

Of course, no businessman in his right mind will ever sell the product for the cost of its making. Because there are other costs too, and he needs some profits for himself as well. But sometimes, the price mark-ups are just getting ridiculous. In some cases, the additional products compensate the low mark-up of the main product, and in other cases it’s just the brand that you pay for.

Regal Cinemas and AMC Theaters' popcorn
Wholesale price for a small popcorn: About $0.35
Price you pay: $6.50
Movie theater chains, like AMC and Regal, charge a lot for popcorn (and other snacks), but according to a 2009 Stanford study, the mark-ups allow them to sell movie tickets at a much lower price.

HDMI cables at Best Buy
Wholesale price for a six-foot cable: $2.67
Price you pay: $20
Electronics stores often don’t make much profit off TVs and video game consoles. So to balance out the big items, most retailers mark up smaller items that many people use, like HDMI cables (which allow you to stream content from your laptop to a TV).

Apple iPhones
Cost to make an iPhone 6s Plus: $236
Price you pay: $749
As CNBC notes, the decreasing cost of many iPhone components and smartphone market dominance helps Apple's profitability from iPhones.

Verizon and AT&T text messages
Cost for most phone carriers to send one text: Three-tenths of a cent
Price you pay per text: $0.20 on average (without an unlimited plan)
By making pay-as-you-go plans expensive, carriers like Verizon and AT&T can herd customers into longterm, multi-year plans, the Chicago Tribune notes.

Hallmark greeting cards
Cost to make a standard birthday card: About $1 to $2
Price you pay: About $3 to $7
High-grade paper (to distinguish greeting cards from something you could print from a home computer) and labor costs from making Hallmark cards in the USA lead to the outrageous price hikes. As the Atlantic notes, consumers are also least sensitive to products' prices when they're trying to convey a sentimental message (like you do with greeting cards).

True Religion designer jeans
Cost to make a pair of True Religion Super T Jeans: $50
Price you pay: $335
True Religion's jeans are made in the USA, where manufacturing costs are much higher compared to overseas. The price mark-up also covers designer brands' huge marketing budgets, and the costs of running stores, headquarters, shipping, and other overhead, according to The Wall Street Journal.

TI-83 graphing calculators.
Cost to make a TI-83 calculator: $15 to $20
Price you pay: $100 to $140
Texas Instruments, the manufacturer of the TI-83 calculator, has retained a monopoly in the field of American mathematics, allowing it to charge a lot for its products. Textbooks, like ones made by Pearson, often feature illustrations and exercises that pair with TI-83s, so students are forced to buy them.

College textbooks
Cost to print "Introductory Algebra, 4th Edition:" $10.75
Price you pay: $232
The giant mark-up for college textbooks largely comes from author royalties, editorial production, marketing, transportation, and the cost to pay employees at bookstores. According to The College Board, the average student spends upwards of $1200 per year on textbooks.

Wedding dresses
Price for 25 yards of silk satin to make a Badgley Mischka wedding dress: $2,500
Price you pay: $8,000
With wedding dresses, brides are not just paying for the fabric. They are paying for the stitch, the fit, but most of all the emotion tied to the wedding dress itself.
"A bride's dress can signal how wealthy she is, what her status in society is," NPR's Caitlin Kenney wrote. "But it can also signal how seriously she's taking this marriage."

Diamond rings from Kay Jewelers and Jared
Average wholesale price for a one-carat diamond: Around $1,000 to $3,000 (depending on the cut and style)
Price you pay: $4,000 and up
On average, stores like Kay and Jared will institute a 100% to 200% price mark-up on diamond jewelry. The demand for diamonds in the US is largely a marketing invention.

HP printer cartridges
Cost to make one black printer cartridge: About $4 to $5
Price you pay: $13 to $50 (depending on your printer)
Electronics manufacturers like HP are able to sell you inexpensive printers (which they make little profit from), because they know you will pay a premium for ink. In a Computer World story from 2010, HP also argued that it spends a billion dollars each year on ink research and development.

Wine at Olive Garden
Wholesale price for a bottle of standard table wine: Around $10 to 20
Price you pay: Around $30 to $48
You pay a lot more for wine bottles when you eat out (at Olive Garden as an example), because of each restaurant's operational costs. Each state also has its own alcohol laws and taxes that can affect the price of wine.

Beer at Hooters
Wholesale price for a bottle of Budweiser: $0.85
Price you pay: $4 to $6
Like most restaurant mark-ups, the price hike comes from Hooters' costs of doing business, like payroll, equipment maintenance, theft, marketing, and each location's lease.

Aquafina and Dasani bottled water from convenience stores
Price to make: $1.50 for 1,000 gallons of purified water
Price you pay for a 16.9-ounce bottle: $1 to $3
It takes the profit of about five bottles of water to make the plastic for one bottle of water, a partial reason for the heavy price mark-up. The price hike also comes from Coca-Cola and Pepsi's (the manufacturers of Aquafina and Dasani) marketing and distribution costs.

Coke and Pepsi soda from convenience stores
Price to make one can of soda: About $0.16
Price you pay: $0.50 to $2
Transportation and marketing costs as well as Coke and Pepsi's brand-name dominance allows them to charge you way more for a can of soda than it costs them to make it.

Prescription eyeglasses from Luxottica
Price to make an average Luxottica pair of frames and lenses: $30
Price you pay at LensCrafters: Around $300
The Italian eyewear firm Luxottica (which owns Ray-Ban, Sunglass Hut, and LensCrafters) retains a big chunk of the market, meaning it has little competition and can determine price mark-ups.

Roses
Wholesale cost for a dozen roses: About $9.50
Price you pay: $20 to $60, depending if you buy them from a grocery store or florist
The US imports over 80% of its roses (primarily from Colombia and Ecuador), according to the Society of American Florists. They are only in demand a few times a year and need to be carefully transported with air-conditioning, which largely accounts for the high mark-up. For example, on Valentine's Day, the price of roses spike can anywhere from 30% to 50%.

Lattés
Cost to make a small latte: About $1
Price you pay: $3
Depending on where you go, the mark-up price for coffee and espresso is about 300% at coffee shops. This is because you're not only paying for the drink itself, but the experience of drinking it at the coffee shop. Rent and labor costs are also factored in.

Sofas (and other furniture)
Cost to make a sofa: Anywhere from $450 to $2,000
Price you pay: $700 to $10,000
Luxury sofas cost more because you are paying for the vision of the designer. Even $10,000 high-end sofas do not cost more than $2,000 to make, according to The New York Times. That's why you might often see furniture stores marking the prices back down — to give the illusion of a huge sale.

Mattresses
Cost to make a mattress: Anywhere from $75 to $150
Price you pay: $200 to $4,000, depending on the brand
Materials for manufacturing mattresses are cheap, and the cost to make a mattress is usually around $100 no matter the price you pay. There are also just a few companies (e.g. Serta, Simmons, and Tempur-Pedic) that have a monopoly on the industry, making it hard to comparison-shop.

EpiPens
Cost to make a two-pack of EpiPens: A few dollars
Price you pay: $300 or more (without health insurance)
EpiPens each hold about $1 worth of Epinephrine, the medicine that combats allergies, though Mylan Pharmaceuticals hiked the price of an EpiPen two-pack from $57 to around $600 in August, since the company doesn’t have much generic competition. The device also only lasts between six months and a year before it must be replaced.
After Mylan was swarmed with controversy over the price hike, it announced in mid-December that it will launch a generic version of EpiPens for half the price ($300).