Milk Thistle: To the Rescue of You Liver and Digestive System

Have you overindulged lately? Who doesn't, right? In those times, when feeling bloated, sluggish and generally unwell is simply not an option, milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is the perfect remedy.

Milk thistle can be used when poor food and/or beverage choices have prevailed. It is useful in all kinds of digestives woes, be it food poisoning, excess alcohol consumption, hepatitis, cirrhosis, chimiotherapy, and even jaundice. It can protect against X-Rays damages, environmental pollution, and heavy metals. Recent research suggests it also plays a role in glycemic control.

Do you suffer from one of those "morning after" headaches? Or maybe a migraine you know is related to poor liver function? Then again, milk thistle, by going to the source of the problem (ie the liver), will ease your symptoms. In detoxifying the body, it is less likely that you will need all those nasty headache medications. Most can irritate the stomach, and cause other unpleasant side-effects. Eliminate the cause, and the headache will vanish. Aaaah!!!

Here's a recipe you can try out at home, that is a liver tonic and digestive aid:
 

1/3 tsp dried chicory root powder

1/3 tsp dried dandelion root powder

1/3 tsp dried milk thistle seeds powder

Steep the powder mix in a cup of boiled water. Filter. Serve hot.

Living in our modern society, amidst all the pollution, and the nutrient deficient food supply, milk thistle is an ally not to be neglected. It will strengthen and regenerate your liver, which will then be better able to accomplish its detoxification tasks. Milk thistle will also fortify your entire body. Learn to love the prickly plant, and it will make you and your liver very, very happy!

If you would enjoy learning more about milk thistle, and other such marvels of Nature, the College offers a very complete course in Phytotherapy and Energetics.

Prickly hugs,

Article resume: Mieux-Etre Jan2011
Recipe: Natacha Imbeault - www.herbotheque.com

Exciting Use of Essential Oils

The art of medecine consists of amusing the patient while Nature heals the disease. - Voltaire

Essential oils have been in use for centuries. Their popularity grows constantly to the point that we hear about them practically every day now. What can we do with essential oils? Aside from the obvious use in ointments and to freshen the air, I found an exciting use for these precious oils. In food! Yes, certain essential oils can be taken orally (not all, so do your homework before choosing to add one to your food). Ask a knowledgeable practitioner for advise if you are unsure. Do research the particular essential oil you wish to use to see if it can be ingested. It's not because we could eat the fruit, vegetable or herb from which the oil is extracted that we can necessarily consume its essential oil with our food. So, please do your research diligently before experimenting. An effort well worth the time.

All essential oils were not created equal: most are good for nothing more than perfuming the air because they have been extracted chemically, and are therefore filled with chemical products, are highly altered and  maybe even denatured. Sadly, this might include some of the essential oils that we find in health food stores that are labelled "100%  natural"! We know that heat destroys enzymes and denatures proteins and generally affects negatively the plants. The same is true for essential oils. Research and find a reputable company.

It is worthwhile to find therapeutic grade essential oils, which are distilled at much lower temperatures and pressures than the others. You will notice the difference right away too! And if you include essential oils in your food, it is really important to pay attention and choose only the purest and those that are not chemical-ladden so you don't introduce any nasty chemicals in your body.

What kinds of essential oils should you start experimenting with in your food?

Almost everyone likes cinnamon. Its essential oils has powerful antibacterial, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties. Its stimulates circulation and protects the stomach. Only a few drops are enough to flavour smoothies, desserts and hot or cold beverages.

I also like peppermint, mostly for its digestive properties. We all know that it improves the breath (always a plus when eating large salads garnished with  plenty of garlic dressing!). Peppermint essential oil improves energy better than any energy drink could, without any unpleasant side-effects. It's like a breath of fresh air that oxygenates the brain and muscles, refreshing the entire body and preparing it for action! Massage some on your scalp and let me know what you think: nirvana, guaranteed!

For a more thorough study of Aromatherapy, the College does offer an interesting course. Check it out here.

Ylang-ylang hugs (relaxing and soothing in almond milk),

Boost Your Energy with Ayurveda

Up here in the Northern hemisphere, days are getting decidely shorter, colder. It seems that a lot of people experience a drop in their energy levels just about the same time. With our super-busy lifestyles, family activities, recreational outings and let's not forget the whole "holiday season", we need all the energy we can get. Energize your body with these simple tricks, inspired from Ayurvedic principles.

Unbalanced kaphas tend to become lethargic, even depressive, or possessive, are susceptibles to coughs & colds, allergies and will tend to put on some weight. To re-establish energy, a kapha person might want to try to rise early and get in those 7 to 8 hours sleep every night. Not too much more, as this is counterproductive for kaphas. Avoid staying in bed past 6 am: that is when a deep, heavy sleep phase starts for kaphas. And indulgence here will mean a sluggish awakening, rather than feeling refreshed and ready to go. After a good night sleep, a light breakfast is in order. Eat lightly during the day also, avoiding any heavy, over-cooked foods. To keep energy level at their optimum, the kapha person must exercise regularly.

Pittas that are under stress will become irritable, volatile, even aggressive. Even though pittas usually have ample energy reserves constitutionally, they can become exhausted just like the rest. Take a nice, calming walk or engage in some soothing yoga stretches to replenish energy naturally. Relaxation and time to unwind before bedtime is a great idea to ensure a good night's rest. Partaking in nature walks and (relaxing, peaceful) music listening will also recharge the pitta's batteries.

Tired vatas will be impatient, erratic and absent-minded. Vatas should establish good routines to help manage their energy reserves properly. Warming and nourishing foods will get the vata's internal fire going. Vatas should pay particular attention to their eating habits, which are just as on-the-go as they are, constitutionally. Proper nutrition, which includes actually sitting down to eat a meal, will ensure proper energy reserves and expenditures.

These few recommendations benefit from being part of a larger, more harmonious look at one's lifestyle, regardless of constitutional type. Eating food that is out of season. Over-extending ourselves. Not sleeping when tired. All these too-common-practices deplete energy reserve and unbalance our internal rythms, making us more susceptible to fatigue, illness and other more subtle imbalances.

Energetically,

Childhood Cancer

I have just received some very interesting reading material and thought I'd share with  you. Dr. George Georgiou, holistic medicine practitioner, researcher and author has published a fascinating book on the ever present topic of cancer. In his most recent newsletter, he conveyed some pretty compelling information, that I will now pass along.

Childhood cancer occurence has increased over the past half century. Science still has found no explanation for the phenomena. As we all know, cancer is a disease with many causal factors, many of which are not even looked at nor considered when research is undertaken. Research emphasis usually tends towards finding the genetic links of childhood cancers.

Even though some claim that childhood cancer is rare, statistics tell a different story. It is the second killer of children (US and UK). Bone and brain cancers now seem to be among the most common types in children, rising between 10 and 15% in recent history.

A growing body seems more vulnerable to a variety of environmental toxins, making children more sensitive to toxic overload. As more and more research and data becomes available, proof that there exists a link between pesticides exposure and childhood cancer is being ever more firmly established. Pesticide exposure is linked to leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, neuroblastoma and Wilms' tumours, as well as cancers of the brain, colorectum and testes. Pesticide use in the home as well as in the garden are to blame for the significant rise in childhood brain cancers.

Some concern has been raised concerning a potential link between vaccinations and cancers. If you consider that the organisms used to vaccinate are gathered from excrements or bodily fluids of infected hosts and then grown in toxic mediums (because they can't proliferate in what is considered healthy conditions for humans), that most have added toxins in them, including formaldehyde, aluminum, thimerosal (mercury derivative), and phenols (all known carcinogens) as well as antibiotics, is it a mystery how these could potentially suppress normal immune function?

Dr Georgiou mentions in his article :

In addition, viruses themselves may cause cancer, and the process by which viruses are ‘inactivated’ for use in vaccines is not infallible. A well-known example of this is the simian virus 40 (SV40) that contaminated the early Salk polio vaccine. SV40 was a carcinogenic virus growing on the monkey kidneys used to culture poliovirus. It was discovered only after hundreds of thousands of individuals had been injected with it. Not only was this virus responsible for cancer in the vaccine recipients, but it was associated with DNA damage passed on through sexual contact as well as to their unborn children. Evidence of SV40 is still being found in brain tumours today.

Maybe, just maybe, the increased incidence of childhood cancers due to their greater vulnerability to all types of environmental factors, will sound an alarm somewhere, for somebody. Maybe, just maybe, the world will wake up and start to consider them, our most precious and vulnerable resource, and the impact of regulatory agencies decisions' on the health of humanity's future (the children of the Earth).

If you are interested in reading more on this topic, you can download Dr. Georgiou's latest book Curing the Incurable with Holistic Medicine, available through his site, Heavy Metal Detox. 

Musingly yours,

Ayurvedic Events in Ottawa this Fall

Here, for your enjoyment, a reproduction of the October Newsletter of the Shree Ma Ayurveda Institute and Wellness Centre.

Register on their site, to get your own copy every month directly in your inbox!!! 

Enjoy!

What is Natural Hygiene?

One of the most rewarding aspects of fields of study such as Alternative Medicine, is that is it always evolving. With evolution, of course, comes revision of course manuals! Here at the Alternative Medicine College of Canada, we strive to bring our students fresh, new, innovative, current information and course materials so that they can always be well-versed and current with what is going on in the every-changing landscape of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

A course presently being revised is the Vital Hygiene course (course 122). So, in the spirit of keeping you, our reader as well informed, here is just a sneak-peak at what is inside this manual. Enjoy! This text is adapted from Dr. Herbert Shelton's, Human Life It's Philosophies and Laws, published in 1928.

What is Natural Hygiene?

Hygiene is a branch of biology that relates to the preservation and restoration of health. Bionomy is the science of the laws of living functions; or that branch of biology which treats of habits and adaptation. Orthobionomics is a word coined to design the correct adaptation of life and environment to each other.

The hygiene of health and the hygiene of disease is one. For convenience, we divide it into preventive hygiene (hygiene of maintaining health), and remedial hygiene (hygiene of health restoration). Preventive hygiene is the intelligent use of hygienic principles, forces and agencies for the maintenance of functional and structural integrity. Remedial hygiene is the intelligent use of hygienic principles, forces and agencies for the restoration of sound health.

An amusing story I found relating to this very aspect of health:  The superintendent of an institution sent an inmate into the basement to mop up the water from a faucet that had accidentally been left running. When the superintendent decided to go check out how the inmate was progressing, he found him mopping the floor... with the water still running full blast. "You idiot, why don’t you turn off the faucet," shouted the superintendent. The inmate replied: "Nobody’s paying me to turn faucets off. I’m getting paid two bucks an hour to mop up."

Does this not illustrate perfectly that the land we live in is flooded with sickness which flows from ignorance of the laws of nature. Proper instruction would shut off disease at its source, but if doctors turned off  "the tap", they would put themselves out of a job. Nobody pays the medical profession to "turn off the faucet". They are getting paid "to mop up".

Reflectively yours,

Fibromyalgia and Complementary Medicine

The word fibromyalgia comes from fibro meaning tendons,  myo for muscles; algie for pain. In other words: pain all over! It affects mainly women in their late 30s and in their 40s. Waking up with generalized pain and feeling run down are usual complaints.

Fibromyalgia is often diagnosed as part of a chronic fatigue problem where the pain component is more important for the patient than the fatigue element.

Fibromyalgia is diagnosed when there is presence of several symptoms including (but not limited to): muscle pain, muscular fatigue, stiffness, chronic pain in the neck and shoulders, restless sleep, headaches, numbness. Usual the diagnosis is given after all other illness that could produce such discomforts have been eliminated.

Practitioners will test to see if at least 11 of the 18 tender sites on the body present with pain: if they do,  fibromyalgia is very likely the problem.

Causes

Certain studies point to food sensitivities or allergies as aggravating factors in fibromyalgia. At the heart of the illness, present-day knowledge thinks there are hypersensitive neurons, inflammation and damages cells. It would explain the aggravation of symptoms seen when allergenic foods are consumed, since those foods usually produce an inflammation reaction, exacerbating sensitized neurons.

Treatments and Complementary Approaches

Fibromyalgia can be naturally treated thanks to several approaches aimed at the body, the mind and  at the combination of the two. These various approaches, are applied simultaneously and in different combinations, to yield optimal results for the fibromyalgic person. Light exercise is recommended, as well as massages and healthy & balanced eating which relies on fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and legumes. The  fibromyalgic should avoid fast food (of course!), too much animal products as well as sugar.  It is also wise to check for any food allergies or sensitivities. Often, a nutritional supplement will be suggested.

Rest and proper stress management are crucial. It is imperative to have a balanced lifestyle and eliminate (or greatly reduce) any source of stress. Since rest is essential, proper sleeping habits must be encouraged, with the help of some supplements, if needed.

Acupuncture has showed some good results for some fibromyalgic patients, by stimulating sensitive points.

Various natural and effective supplements can help manage and alleviate fibromyalgic symptoms. A qualified naturopath will want to discuss the possibities with the patient. Finding the proper combination of body-mind approaches that will provide optimal results requires teamwork. Worthwhile teamwork, according to those successfully managing their fibromyalgia with natural approaches. 

Relaxingly yours,