Extra C Gets an “F”

>> DRUG RUNNER Don’t bother dosing uo on Vitamin C before exercising. Researchers at Colorado State University who tested mega-doses of vitamin C in hopes of proving that it could improve exercise performance discovered that the vitamin had no effect at all. The study, pulished in the Journal of Applied Physiology, aimed to link huge doses of Vitamin C – 500 milligrams daily plus intravenous infusion – with inceased breathing capacity and heart output. But neither older nor younger participants benefited as hoped, though the vitamin did reduce chemical damage to cells from oxidative stress. The researchers speculate that taking supplements may benefit only people lacking in normal levels of vitamin C. If you’re already getting enough C, megadoses won’t help you at the gym.

Herbal KnowHow

>> SPICE IT UP Garlic contains allylic sulfides, compounds shown in lab studies, to block the growth of cancer cells and kill them outright. While eating the herb raw ensures the full power of these compounds, few people find it appealing. Cooked garlic is less pungent and therefore easier to consume. But take not: Unless the herb is chopped or crushed and allowed to stand for at least 10 minutes before cooking, heat will destory much of the enzyme that unlocks its cancer-fighting compounds. The verdict: It’s your preference. If you cook it, crush it and let it sit while you prep other food.

Herbology

Whether you call it phytotherapy, botanical medicine, or herbology, God’s non-hybrid plants hold the power of nature to heal, clean and revitalize tissue. Science likes to extract, separate and mega dose constituents found in plant to treat bodily symptoms. Plants were never intended for this. This whole plant is powerful enough, when you learn how to use botanicals correctly. I have used herbal formulas for over twenty five years, well before they were fashionable. That’s because my desire has always been to help other heal themselves, not treat their symptoms. I have used gallons of herbs on just one patient. Herbs can be very powerful and strong. There are only a few that I do not recommend due to their toxic nature. However, these are toxic herbs, not used in mainstream herbology.

Besides all the different properties of herbs, including anti-inflammatory, astringents, bitters, stimulants, antispasmodics, etc., they have nutritional value. Herbs are full of vitamins, minerals, tissue salts, flavins, amino acids and sugars, not to mention their electromagnetic energies. Study and experiment with botanicals. Without them, humans will not survive the many damaging effects they have created on this planet.

Building Bones

No bones about the fact that calcium builds strong bones, healthy teeth. Other than keeping our skeletal strong, it keeps our heart rhythm steady and helps muscles contract. Bones act as storehouse of calcium and our body withdraws from bank whenever blood calcium levels dip.

Bone Tale

  • We do not up all calcium we ingest. During pregnancy and childhood our bodies act as sponge in soaking calcium.
  • With increased age our absorption decreases. Calcium absorption does not happen alone.
  • Without enough vitamin D, the intestines cannot soak, calcium from the diet. Vitamin D forms naturally in the body when exposed to sunlight; 15 minutes of sun every day is sufficient. Vitamin D , rich foods include egg yolks, saltwater fish and liver.
  • Vitamin C in citrus fruits enhances calcium absorption.
  • When it comes to soaking calcium homemade yoghurt is better than milk. The lactic acid in yoghurt maximizes calcium absorption.
  • Magnesium can help improve calcium absorption and may help maintain bone density in those individuals at risk for excessive bone loss. Rich sources include -nuts, beans, apples, bananas, leafy-greens and yoghurt.
  • Other than dairy products, leafy greens, red beans, almonds, soy, cabbage and cauliflower are good sources of calcium too.
  • Half a cup of spinach has about 120 milligrams of calcium but our body will absorb only a miniscule portion of that. The oxalate in spinach will hamper with the absorption of calcium. Leafy greens like mustard are less on oxalic acid, which improves calcium absorption.
  • Beware! Caffeine, cigarette, cola, salt steal calcium from bones.
  • When taking a supplement space it between meals and through out the day for better absorption.
  • A supplement at bedtime may add extra benefit as bone-building process occurs at night during sleep.

Asthma Information

Bronchial asthma is the most serious allergic disease, and often fatal. The bronchial tubes are narrowed by spasmodic contractions and they secrete an excess of mucus. Hence breathing becomes difficult. The victim wheezes and coughs and feels as if his chest were caught in a vice. An asthmatic attack may last for minutes, hours, or days. The spasm of the bronchial muscles can usually be relieved by adrenalin. Every effort must be made to identify the offending allergen for long-continued asthma can produce serious changes in the lungs.

Orange, garlic, lemon, musumbi (lime), carrot, beet and spinach juice will be very useful.

Check out the Complete Asthma Guide

Diarrhea in babies

This can be very serious, because infants are so easily dehydrated. In treating infectious diarrhea in infants, doctors often tell mothers to omit milk from the diet and replace it with ‘clear fluids’, ‘including carbonated beverages, juices and soups such as chicken and beef broth. However, many such fluids contain so much sugar or salt that they actually may worsen and prolong the baby’s illness, according to studies at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 8 September 1979).

The high sugar content of many carbonated beverages, juices and other liquids may cause a sugar-induced diarrhea. It has been recommended that beverages containing a lot of sugar be diluted to at least half strength to avoid problems.

High concentrations of salt, common in some prepared soups, pose another potential hazard. Too much salt in dehydrated children can make them vulnerable to complications such as seizures and irreversible brain damage. Because of the extraordinarily high salt content of many commercial soups, the researchers suggested-that homemade soups with no added salt might be more acceptable

Dangerously high amounts of salt or sugar also can arise when liquids are prepared from crystals or concentrate, the researchers noted. Adding extra amounts from a package or incorrect measuring can make the salt or sugar levels higher than they should be.

The (US) Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia recommend the following as one type of homemade fluid therapy to combat dehydration: combine 8 fl. oz of fruit juice (orange, apple or other), half a teaspoon of honey and a pinch of salt in a glass. In a second glass combine 8 fl. oz of boiled or carbonated water and a quarter teaspoon of baking soda. Have the baby drink alternately each mixture. Additional carbonated beverages or water should be drunk and solid foods and milk should be avoided until recovery .

Breast milk protects against diarrhea

Breastfed babies are far less likely to develop dangerous intestinal infections, than bottle-fed babies, say two California paediatricians. Over a period of two years, Spencer A. Larsen, Jr. and Daryl R. Homer, studied all the infants under one year old who were admitted with severe vomiting and diarrhea to the Kaiser – Permanente Medical Group hospital in Hayward California. Of the , 107 babies, they found that only one was breastfed at the time of admission – far fewer than in the general population served by the medical group.

About one-third of the hospitalized bottle-fed infants were breastfed at birth, the doctors said, but all had gone on the bottle at least a month before they became sick. These findings suggest that ‘breastfeeding plays a major role in protection against intestinal infections,’ the researchers concluded, and they pointed out that similar studies in Britain and in underdeveloped countries have shown the same thing.

Get more information on diarrhea and home remedies for diarrhea

Natural Remedies to remove Dark Circles In Your Eyes

Natural Remedies

Of course a healthy diet and regular sleep pattern will benefit anyone suffering from dark circles under eyes. There are a few very simple but effective home treatments available to help aid the problem in combination with eating healthy and fresh foods and getting plenty of sleep
Cosmetic Cotton Wool Soaked in Milk or Witch Hazel – Easier to obtain, milk is the quickest option to make dark under eye circles less apparent. Soak squares of cotton wool in a cup of (not too cold!) milk and place the squares on the closed eyes and around the eyes for at least ten minutes.
Chilled Cucumber Slices – Cucumber does for the outside of your body what drinking water does for the inside of the body. Leaving thin slices of cucumber on the dark ring under the eye will make the dark area virtually disappear. Leave on for at least ten minutes.
Cooled Chamomile Tea Bags – Chamomile is known for its soothing and skin healing properties. A used chamomile teabag, cooled down, must be placed on the dark area. Leaving this treatment on for at least 20 minutes will help make dark circles under eyes disappear. You will even benefit more from this treatment if the area is moisturised afterwards.

Natural remedies are often just as effective as expensive face or eye creams. The effect will be the same if applied regularly but even thought dark circles eyes can even be hereditary, the diet and sleep pattern are usually to blame for this problem.

Get more information on dark circles under or around eyes

‘Chewing-gum’ diarrhea

A 66-year-old woman who was a patient of two doctors in Miami Beach, had a three-month history of severe chronic diarrhea, having to go to the toilet between 12 and 50 times a day. Yet, there was no mucus, blood, cramp, fever nutritional deficiency or other signs of real illness. X-rays and probes of various kinds revealed nothing of interest. Making it all the more frustrating, every kind of anti-diarrhea medicine in the book was tried without success.

What was the problem?

Chewing gum, her doctors say.’When dietary history was re-examined at length,’ they wrote in the American Journal of Digestive Diseases, it was revealed that the patient habitually chew.ed 50 to 100 sticks of sugarless chewing gum daily, to aid her in weight reduction. Upon abrupt withdrawal of chewing gum, all diarrhea ceased and gastro-intestinal complaints abated.’ The explanation for this chewing-gum effect is that most sugarless gums, well as many foods for diabetics contain sorbitol, and this, it turns out tends to have a laxative effect in large doses. Usually, in an adult, that effect would not be noticed unless the person was consuming 10 or more pieces of gum a day. At the rate of 50 or even 100 a day, the effect can be disastrous. Drs Lee D. Goldbetg”and Norman T. Ditchek dubbed the syndrome ‘chewing- gum diarrhea

Breast Cancer

Abnormal development of cells leads to the growth of tumor, when tumor is malignant in nature they are termed as cancer. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in women today. Around the world breast cancer statistics shows that after lung cancer breast cancer is the second most death-causing factor in people who develops cancer.

The risk factor of developing breast cancer increases with the age, it does not only relate to women, figures show that out of every 100 women there is one male who is diagnosed of breast cancer. Breast cancer does not mean a specific category of disease rather it is the different types of cancer generally found in breast is collectively termed as breast cancer. Though the most common understanding suggests that, abnormal growth of cells in the breast causes breast cancer.

Causes of Breast Cancer

The exact cause of breast cancer is unknown and there are no fixed causes for breast cancer. Myths in identifying the causes of breast cancer are more prevalent than the real cause.

Some of the causes that have been collectively associated with breast cancer are:

  • The chances of breast cancer depends on age, as the person gets older the chances of it are more
  • Family history of close relative like mother, sister and daughter who has been diagnosed with breast cancer increases the risk factor
  • Early start onset of menses and early menopause are also associated with breast cancer
  • Exposure to radioactive rays are carcinogenic and increases the chances of breast cancer
  • Using hormone replacement therapy might also cause it
  • Exposure to harmful chemicals (working in a chemical factory that uses harmful chemicals like Organochlorines)
  • Late childbearing

Natural Allergy Remedies

Why would someone Choose Natural Allergy Remedies?

Many allergy sufferers do not like the physical side effects associated with the regular use of antihistamines and decongestants. These drugs tend to make the user feel sleepy and groggy. With this reduced alert state the individual’s ability to concentrate and to operate machinery is compromised. Both agents also tend to dry out the body and to cause dehydration. Natural remedies can often be as effective as prescriptions without the unwanted side effects these medications cause.

What are some of the Natural Remedies Available?

An herbal remedy for allergy is normally an agent that has the ability to relieve congestion and to loosen mucus. Many are also anti-inflammatory agents that sooth irritated mucus membranes. Many such remedies also seek to strengthen the immune system to make it more able to fend off irritation from outside elements.

EUCALYPTUS

As a natural allergy cure, eucalyptus effectively calms coughs and relieves nasal congestion and is often found in cough and cold remedies, chest rubs, and various oils and liniments to relieve pain. It is both an antiseptic and a stimulant with expectorant and antibiotic properties. The powerful vapor from eucalyptus clears congestion and loosens mucus. It is especially effective when used in conjunction with steam treatments. In lozenge form, eucalyptus increases the production of saliva to reduce the urge to cough. Given these properties, eucalyptus is considered to be one of the best natural allergy remedies.

RED CLOVER

Red Clover is a traditional remedy for asthma when taken in the form of a tea and as allergies and asthma may be associated, can be used as an allergy remedy. It has antispasmodic and expectorant qualities and dried has even been used in “anti-asthma” cigarettes. It is not uncommon today to find red clover wine which makes an excellent cough remedy.

ALFALFA

Alfalfa is thought to improve the runny nose, sneezing and itching present in allergic rhinitis which is often called “hay fever.” Additionally, alfalfa is believed to nourish the nervous system and to calm the immune system thus allowing irritated mucus membranes to return to normal. (Some people have reported allergic reactions to alfalfa itself and the use of the herb should be discontinued if your symptoms seem to worsen.)

APPLE CIDER VINEGAR

Apple cider vinegar contains many healing properties and is often used to ease the symptoms of sinus infection as well as to treat allergies developed from exposure to pets, foods, and various environmental agents. In addition to being rich in vitamins E, A, B1, B2 and B6, apple cider vinegar contains potassium, calcium, and magnesium. It reduces the amount of mucus in the sinus cavities, soothes sore throats, and will shorten the duration of colds when used with a chest compress.

LICORICE ROOT

Powdered licorice root has been used since ancient times as a cough remedy and is often present in modern cough syrups. Beyond its helpful qualities, licorice is sweet to the taste and thus more pleasant as a “medicine.” It should be used with caution by anyone prone to high blood pressure as excessive use of licorice will make hypertension worse.