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For cough with some drainage (wet cough or slightly productive cough):
Bring four cups of water to a boil. Add a handful of almonds, one tangerine's peel and two pears cut up with the skin left on. Boil down to two cups and add two to three Tablespoons of honey. Drink once or twice a day.
This one's for a cough that is dry, with sore throat and thirst:
Mix equal parts of fresh ginger, radish and pear juices. Add honey to taste. Take two to three times a day.
In my "Bladder & Pelvic Floor Health" class I always expound the importance of vitamin C because it is involved in so many metabolic processes, making appropriate levels essential to optimal health. How much is appropriate is debated but I generally recommend at least several thousand mg per day. In the past several years studies have shown that vitamin C intake is also important in preventing diseases of aging such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and atherosclerosis.
Much of the research has focused on the role of increased dietary nonheme (not derived from hemoglobin) iron intake and disturbed iron metabolism due to mutated genes. [1] Excess iron catalyzes the production of free radicals, plays a role in lipid peroxidation and can lead to deposition and neurodegeneration. Normally excesses pass through the digestive system. A leaky gut or a disruption in absorption may occur due to another pathogensis and allow the excess iron to pass into the bloodstream. This risk is much higher for people who have low vitamin C intake. Most of the excess dietary nonheme iron came from fortified cereals. [2] [3]
This begs the question of what levels of vitamin C these studies consider to be low. Various organizations recommend anywhere from 40mg/day to 100mg/day. [4] Most practitioners agree that these levels are enough maintain life, but not sufficient to maintain optimal functional health. It also highlights the importance of combining iron intake with that of vitamin C; vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron. Those foods high in nonheme iron (leafy greens and cruciferous veggies) are typically also high in vitamin C. Mother Nature knows. Cereal manufacturers, on the other hand, don't fortify with vitamin C.
Excess dietary copper has also been implicated in Alzheimer's. [5]
The pathogenesis of these diseases of aging is still unknown but one can conclude that taking mineral supplements is unnecessary (for well-fed Westerners) and possibly risky. Taking measures to keep your gut healthy (eating fermented foods, taking probiotics, following a gluten-free diet if you're diagnosed as celiac) may prevent a leaky gut from allowing over-absorption of minerals. A healthy lifestyle will protect against pathological genetic expression. And finally, the antioxidant vitamin C has been shown, many times over, to be protective against these diseases. Take much vitamin C.
For all types of cough: Honey-Onion
Chop 5-6 white onions and place in double boiler. Add 1/2 cup honey and juice of one lemon. Cook at lowest heat possible for several hours, strain mixture and take by tablespoon every 1/2 hour as needed.
Sauerkraut and kim-chee are well-known fermented cabbage dishes rich in enzymes that will enhance digestion and bioavailability of nutrients. But did you know that you can ferment most vegetables? If you're not crazy about sauerkraut or you can't handle the spices or heat of kim-chee, there are still many options. Here's an article by the Organic Consumers Association on fermenting at home, to taste. Don't forget, you can add herbs to the mix. Happy experimenting!
After a month of oil pulling, I can't say that I've noticed an objective difference—my teeth aren't whiter, my mouth doesn't feel cleaner or different. But I do feel as though I am doing something good for myself and my mouth does feel cleaner just after doing it.
Oil pulling is an ayurvedic method of oral hygiene whereby one continuously swishes coconut or sesame oil for 20 minutes after brushing one's teeth, then spits it out. It is best if you brush your teeth or scrape your tongue afterwards, too, ridding your mouth of the bacteria-laden oil. The oil pulls out the bacteria that form the biofilm called plaque, which causes gingivitis.
Oil pulling is receiving a lot of attention in the past few years. Bloggers attribute all sorts of benefits to the practice including curing ulcers, solving menopause, "detoxifying the body", and medical miracles. That's the internet. In fact, a randomized, controlled, triple-blind study (2009) shows statistically significant results that
Oil pulling therapy has been as equally effective as chlorhexidine against plaque-induced gingivitis. Sesame oil has the following advantages over chlorhexidine: no staining, no lingering aftertaste, and no allergy.
Another randomized, controlled, triple-blind study (2008) shows that oil pulling inhibits growth of Streptococcus mutans, reducing colonies after one week and two weeks of use and yet another study (2011) demonstrates "oil pulling therapy has been equally effective like chlorhexidine against halitosis and organisms which are associated with halitosis."
The connection between oral health and cardiac health has been recognized for decades. Recent research (2012) by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland found that if Streptococcus gordonii, which naturally resides in the mouth, finds its way into the bloodstream it can cause life-threatening blood clots. While the effects of oil pulling are not known with this particular strain, if oil pulling does reduce these colonies, it is helping to improve cardiac and circulatory health.
It's a job half done if one only kills the pathogenic bacteria. Dr. Mercola interviewed a Dr. Brady who emphasized eating fermented vegetables to promote the healthy flora of the gut and mouth.
I'm soooo happy to find that Spark Wellness clinic on Chicago Ave S. is offering homeopathic flu remedies made from this year's actual flu viruses. Apparently patients who already had flu this year donated tissue samples and the remedies are made from those. In this way you get exactly the strains that are circulating today, rather than guesses and projections from last year about which strains might dominate. You can also be assured that they are safe since homeopathics are diluted essence of the original matter; you don't get the flu from homeopathics the way you do from the flu shot or nasal spray. Finally, there is no risk of viral shedding, so others in the community, especially those who are immuno-compromised, are not placed at risk. Yay!
As my studies progress I am hounded by and forced to reckon with one of my big challenges in life--organizational skills. I have the skills but I tend toward maintaining a certain level of clutter. It's as if I need the struggle in order to keep engaged with a particular part of myself. It's a place where I meet my resistance.
Organizational experts will tell you--and I believe it to be true--that organization is the key to success in any area of life. Want to get a job promotion? Want to lose weight? Want to find a partner? Want to make more money? Whatever it is you want, to get more out of life the first step is to organize. Like many endeavors, there are large projects and small projects and breaking down projects into smaller bits can help to make them less daunting.
A good friend of mine has a technique toward those projects, and tackling resistance, that I have found works for me too: Commit to 15 minutes a day. Of course, once you get going, it often ends up that you work at that something for more than 15 minutes. But giving something regular, frequent attention makes it a priority and gives it momentum.
Through my studies I have found that making habits of small details can have a huge impact in getting organized and ends up saving me time and energy. For example, dating my notes, color coding information, and keeping a list of formulas on the front page of my notebook are ways that simplify the use of my notes.
Since one's home is one's refuge, organization here is most important. Here's The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking, In Pursuit of a simple, fabulous, imperfect life at home. It's a 31-day blog that guides you on a gentle home-organizing journey.
An herbalist turned me on to this one—sunflower seeds for adrenal exhaustion. Raw or roasted, it doesn't matter. He says he's not sure how they work their magic (probably all that iron and protein), but there you go.
An interesting spice combo I've been using: cumin, turmeric, and a touch of cinnamon. Some friends have suggested adding cayenne, which I definitely intend to try. Either way, it's an anti-inflammatory spice-fest.
Skeletal muscles have tone and strength. The two are often confused because in normal parlance we say that someone who has built their muscle strength, by say, weight lifting or physical activity, is 'toned'. This is not what we are referring to when pointing to muscle function.
'Muscle tone' refers to the work the muscle is doing when it is at rest, while the work that muscles do while working, or exerting force, is called 'strength'.
All muscles maintain some working fibers, even while at rest. This reflects a certain amount of electrical and chemical communication that constantly happens in order to maintain basic functions such as proprioception, balance or just structure. Those muscles that have some responsibility for posture have more slow-twitch fibers and will have greater resting tone. Slow-twitch fibers are the "white meat" of muscle. Like birds who must fly hundreds of miles to migrate, they are working much of the time to keep up some tone for endurance. The need for postural and structural support never sleeps. When some fibers need to rest, others jump in to take over. The pelvic floor is postural and is prone to hypertonicity. Hypertonic fibers are those that do too much work while at rest. A muscle that doesn't rest can't work as well and can produce pain. Most patients who show up at American pelvic pain clinics or complain of urinary symptoms present with hypertonic pelvic floors.
Muscles at work are characterised as strong or weak. Both can be hypertonic (or hypotonic, for that matter--meaning too flaccid at rest). When women are given a vaginal digital exam by a urologist in order to assess for strength, it can be difficult to accurately assess the strength of a hypertonic pelvic floor. If the muscle contracts but doesn't adequately relax afterwards, the physician will feel little difference in tension and proclaim the muscle group to be weak. What the practitioner actually felt was the result of hypertonicity and the jury is still out on the strength or weakness.
A female urologist (one who is trained on female anatomy and physiology) is more likely to be aware of this issue than the more traditional male urologist. Nearly all urologists are male urologists.
I have had patients who become concerned that exercise will worsen hypertonicity. This could not be further from the truth. When we work a muscle, we contract and relax it, over and over. In working the muscle we train the relaxation part of the cycle as much as the contraction. In fact, working the muscle is one way of treating hypertonicity.
For the pelvic floor, there are two more ways that we can aid relaxation of the muscles. One is to give a slight push out, like giving a little push to get a tampon out. It should never be a forceful or strained push; use very little effort and don't expect to feel anything different from doing it. The other way to relax the pelvic floor is to lie in rest pose—on one's back, with knees bent and soles of the feet touching each other. This minimizes the electrical activity from the large muscles of the thighs and buttocks that tends to spill into the pelvic floor. This electrical activity is normal, but too much of it promotes hypertonicity.
Poultices, herbal preparations on hot towels placed over the skin, are another way to get herbs into one's body and to target specific tissues. Studies have shown better absorption of herbs and medications through the skin that when taken orally, and often with fewer side effects. How to use a poultice? According to Jethro Kloss in Back to Eden:
Do not warm over a poultice once used. Do not allow a poultice to become cold. Have a second poultice ready immediately upon removing the first one.
To make the following poultices it is best to have the herbs in a ground or granulated form. When using the herbs in powdered form, mix with just enough water to make a thick paste. When using them granulated, mix with water, cornmeal or flaxseed meal to make a thick paste. If fresh green leaves are used, beat them up, steep, and apply to the affected parts.
Poultices are most excellent for enlarged glands of any kind, such as neck, breast, groin, prostate, etc. Also for eruptions, boils, carbuncles, and abscesses. An excellent thing to do where any poultices are to be used is to bathe the affected part thoroughly with mugwort tea first. If you do not have this, cleanse it with hydrogen of peroxide before applying the poultice. It must be remembered that many herbs are used for poultices, so study the herbs and use those best suited to the condition, or those recommended for that condition.
Slippery elm is one of my favorite herbs. It is an anti-inflammatory and heals mucosal membranes. I encourage everyone to add it to thier diets. I was delighted to find these prescriptions for slippery elm poultice in Ethro Kloss' Back to Eden:
For pleurisy:
A slippery elm poultice is very effective. Use three heaping tablespoons of granulated slippery elm, one tablespoon lobelia, one-half teaspoon cayenne pepper. If both lungs are affected a larger quantity will have to be used to make the poultice large enough to cover both lungs. Put poultices on the chest and on the back over the lungs.
In reference to inflammation of the prostate:
A slippery elm poultice is extremely beneficial; apply between the legs in the fork of the thighs.
Other uses:
Slippery elm poultice. This poultice has no superior in the line of poultices, either used alone or combined as follows:
Lobelia and slippery elm poultice. Take one-third part lobelia, two-thirds part slippery elm. Very excellent for blood poisoning, also for boils and abscesses. Use for rheumatism.
This is soooo cool. I found this on Namaste Health Center's website. It is weird but makes so much sense. Traditional medicine has gems like this that should be resurrected:
Magic Wet Sock Treatment
We love to recommend this old-time nature cure remedy that anyone can do at home. It involves using the principles of hydrotherapy to boost the immune system for both acute illnesses and prevention. All you need is two pairs of socks and a bowl of ice water! Grab a pair of thin cotton or polyester blend socks and put them in a bowl of ice water by your bed. If you are feeling chilly or feet are cold, take a warm bath or at least warm your feet first. Take the socks out of the ice water and wring out until barely damp, then place on your feet and put dry wool socks over the top and get in bed. While you are sleeping, your body is increasing circulation and lymphatics to dry the damp socks, which can also make a low grade fever much more productive to kick out even stubborn viruses! You will likely wake up sometime during the night and your feet will be hot and socks are dry, at that point you can take off the socks…the whole process of warming the socks is what will boost the immune system. Sounds weird, but it works!
You might be thinking the uterus, ovaries, or mammary glands. But no, we're talking the urethra. Yes, that's right, the urethra. It is the most estrogen-dependent tissue in the body for both men and women.
The urethra depends upon sufficient estrogen levels to maintain proper lubrication, which is essential for normal functioning, especially in women. Women lack an internal urinary sphincter. Instead, the urethra must compensate through an adequate bladder neck angle (also called a urethral angle) and a process called coaptation. The urethral angle refers to the angle the urethra exits your bladder. Too small an angle may contribute to diminished flow. More common, too great an angle may contribute to incontinence. Coaptation means that the tissue must open and close in response to external (to that tissue, not to your body) stimuli. In order to do that, it requires sufficient lubrication provided by the mother of lubrication--estrogen.
Several of my menopausal and post-menopausal patients have found that a topical cream has been part of the solution to their incontinence. The cream does not carry the risks associated with oral hormone replacement therapy. You may benefit from the topical if you have low, or borderline, estrogen levels, have bladder issues and especially if your stream is affected (diminished, increased, spurting, etc).
A patient at Pathways provided me with some great resources for cancer patients:
Mistletoe extract injections, already approved for use in Europe and shown in an extensive study in Australia to be more effective in treating colon cancer than chemotherapy, can be prescibed by Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) in some states and can be bought on-line from Canada. It has no side effects.
Nash Winters, ND, L.Ac. is a naturopath in Colorado who cured herself of cancer and practices holistic oncology, often using mistletoe extract injections. Colorado state law requires in-person visits, so in order to accomodate out-of-state patients (and a scheduling nightmare, currently scheduling out one year) she holds retreats.
I'm sure that as I spend more time at Pathways I will have many more resources to report. Since the Gerson Institute is so far away (Mexico) and so expensive, it's great to know that there are other holistic treatment centers that will provide meaningful treatment without requiring one to move residence.
Research shows that bladder dysfunction is affected by changes in body weight. Even a five pound increase in weight can adversely affect a bladder already experiencing symptoms. The good news? A five pound decrease in weight can lessen the stress on the organ and, hence, mitigate the experience of bladder symptoms.
I always tout drinking more fluids, especially water, in order to work the bladder as a muscle, keeping it strong. The other side to this coin is the benefits of hydration. All tissues function better if appropriately hydrated.
While there has never been research to indicate just how much we should drink and there are varied ideas about how to compute amounts to drink, I tell my patients to use their bladder as their gauge. If you are exercising regularly and have gained control of your bladder issue, you know you are drinking enough if your symptoms subside and you are dehydrated if your symptoms relapse. You can also use your time on the toilet as a gauge. Women should urinate for 10 to 12 seconds and men should urinate for 12 to 15 seconds. If you don't make that mark, you need more fluids.
People tend to think more about hydration in warmer weather, when they're more active. But these Minnesota winters are so dry that it is important to think about hydration year round.
Since sensory awareness drives motor control, promotes sensory integration and helps to develop relationship with one's body, I've been adding sensory awareness exercises to my Core & Pelvic Floor Workout classes these past couple weeks. It is a trend I will continue.
This past week my participants and I were noticing how very minute shifts in our position--pointing a foot or leaning--can elicit profound changes in sensory perception. When one has increased awareness one enhances one's ability to control those muscles and the surrounding structures. As Janet Hulme, PT, avers, "Even muscles you are not aware of being able to control, like the bladder, are affected when you change muscles you can control." Perhaps this can be one definition of the subconscious life, connecting the unconscious and supposedly uncontrollable with the conscious and controllable. In politics the Chinese call this approach 'using the back door'. In biology it's sometimes called neuroplasticity.
Try this:
Move ever so slowly to a sitting position, paying particular attention to how your sitz bones (ischia) are moving. You should notice that as you sit, your sitz bones are spreading, moving away from each other, until the moment before sitting. As you release the tension to let yourself give your weight to the chair, the sitz bones move toward each other slightly. Do it several times in attempt to feel it.
Squat down and perform a slow, side to side swing of your buttocks. Notice the pull you feel on your opposing sitz bone. In other words, when you are swinging to your right, you should feel a slight pull on your left sitz bone. When you swing to your left, you feel that pull on your right sitz bone.
These simple exercises, and others like them, can aid in restoring normal sensation and function, when practiced over time.
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