Herbal News Magazine
All About Herbal Medicine, Alternative Health News and Natural Supplements
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Oct 29
Home remedies, or natural ways of dealing with everyday physical discomforts and health and beauty issues, have been around and passed down through generations. Some do not have a lot of value and others are really effective.
One issue that bothers both men and women is drying of the skin from colder weather outdoors and dry heat from furnaces inside. Often, your skin can become itchy, also, from colder weather dryness. One simple remedy to counteract this is to put a chlorine filter on your shower head. For those of us who use a bathtub instead of a shower, you can use a faucet filter.
Dechlorinating filters for showers are available online or from home improvement stores. The principle behind this home remedy is to remove the drying agent, chlorine, from your water source used for bathing. Many people see vast improvement in their skin moisture in winter from using this remedy.
Another minor, yet annoying, health issue is picking up a foot fungus from pedicures or from using public showering facilities. One remedy for this malady is soaking your feet in a foot soaking tub with tea tree oil added.
Tea tree oil is an essential oil with a camphor type of aroma. Tea tree oil can be found at natural food stores, certain grocery stores and online. This has proved to be effective for many people that have tried it with success.
Another problem that plagues both men and women is excessive hair loss beyond the usual few strands you naturally lose with brushing or combing your hair. This can result in noticeably thinning hair. Try a supplement with biotin.
Most supplements that say they are for the hair, skin and nails have a high dose of biotin in them. You may not see a difference right away and may have to wait two to three months to see the results. These kinds of supplements can be found in health food stores or drugstores and can be good for those with hair loss problems or thinning hair.
In the unfortunate event of an injury, you may want to put a cold ice pack to the injured area. You may not have an ice pack readily available. You can use a bag of frozen peas from your freezer instead of an ice pack. Make sure you wrap it in a towel, however, so it won’t be too cold on your skin. The peas should stay frozen a long time so you should find this to be effective.
Here’s a delicious home healthy recipe. Many people love chocolate and know it is high in antioxidants yet they want to avoid the calories associated with chocolate. You can make your own hot chocolate by using unprocessed cocoa powder, stevia, which is an herb used for sweetening, and unsweetened almond milk.
Heat this mixture up and you’ll have a guilt-free cup of hot chocolate that is healthy and loaded with antioxidants. If you are bothered by insomnia, try using lavender oil or lemon oil added to your bath before bedtime.
Another way to use this remedy is to put it in a spray bottle with water and lightly mist it on your pillow. Lavender oil and lemon oil have a relaxing effect that is conducive to sleep. These remedies have been tried and true for many people and are economical without any bad effects.
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Aug 14
Since I was a kid, I’ve had problems with my digestive system. More specifically, I suffered with IBS since I was a very young age. My mom even recalls that when I was a tiny infant, I used to suffer from constipation a lot, and cholic almost nonstop. I was very fussy because my tummy never felt too good.
Now that I’m older, and I’ve learned to control my IBS through diet and have also learned to eat the right foods to soothe my tummy, I still need the occasional herbal remedy for upset stomach, and I always have the following things on hand.
They are inexpensive, and they work great. Plus, I don’t have to take antacids and other things that I feel are not good for my body.
I always have a potent, all natural and organic peppermint tea on hand. Peppermint is one of the best stomach soothers there is. It’s cooling effect instantly soothes an upset stomach. Plus, an added benefit is that it can put off the appetite a bit. It also freshens the breath, so it has many benefits.
I love drinking a hot cup of peppermint tea in the winter as an alternative to coffee or hot cocoa too, and I know that by doing this, I’m helping soothe my stomach and aiding in digestion.
Another great herbal remedy for upset stomach is ginger. Real ginger root is very inexpensive. You may need to go to a more health geared food store to get this, but it’s worth it. You can grate a bit of it and make a nice tea, or add it to your peppermint tea to make a great stomach soothing concoction.
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Jun 27
Melatonin, as a supplement, is most widely used for bouts of insomnia or poor sleeping habits. Melatonin is a hormone that is naturally produced by the body by the pineal gland. When you are young, the body produces a greater amount of melatonin. As people grow older, they produce less and less melatonin.
This decreased production of melatonin could explain why young babies and children often fall asleep easily. It also could explain why so many people, as they age, complain of having difficulty falling asleep.
Getting a full night’s restful sleep will help you cope better with the stresses of everyday life and improve your health overall. This, in turn, can slow the aging process.
The way that melatonin is released in the body is through the onset of darkness allowing our bodies to sleep more readily. Without melatonin, insomnia may result and the lack of sleep can lead to many health problems, both physically and mentally.
Melatonin controls the circadian rhthym which is our sleeping and waking cycles. According to Walter Pierpaoli M.D., P.H.D., melatonin does more than control our sleep cycles. He states that melatonin is the”Master Hormone-Modulating Molecule.”
Studies have been done where an older animal’s pineal gland has been transplanted into a younger animal. The result was that the younger animal’s systems started to function like they were that of an older animal.
When the reverse was done, and an older animal received a younger animal’s pineal gland, their body functioned as a younger animal’s and they became healthy and strong.The conclusion was that the melatonin, in addition to setting the circadian cycles, sent a message of youth to the body.
From this point of view, it is surmised that melatonin helps strengthen the immune system and defends against certain diseases, probably because it helps you sleep better. Among these diseases that are diminished with the melatonin are dementia and even certain types of cancers.
By keeping other hormones in check, the melatonin can decrease the effects of hormones that trigger breast cancer and prostate cancer. If you are thinking about melatonin supplementation, consult with your physician first.
The synthetic type of melatonin derived from plant material is the most desirable type to use. Ask a specialist about the dosage as a very small amount is all that is needed to produce the desired results.
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Jun 13
We’ve all heard the expression, ” laughter is the best medicine.” Well, studies have been done on exactly that subject and it turns out that laughter really is good for our health.
First of all, it is absolutely true that having a sense of humor and not taking ourselves too seriously can be an amazingly effective way of coping with everyday stesses and strains in life. At Loma Linda University in California, Lee Berk found that anticipating laughter elevated hormones that increase immunity and ward off depression.
The same research team found, upon further study, that laughter helped to reduce the stress hormones. In another study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Dr. Michael Miller found that people with healthy hearts are more likely to use humor and laughter than those with heart disease.
This same doctor studied the effects of humorous movies on the viewer and found that funny movie viewing actually increased blood flow to the heart.
Some of the benefits of laughter for our health include increasing the endorphins, which are our feel-good hormones and, at the same time, decreasing the cortisol and other stress hormones. Laughter increases our lung capacity and our oxygen level therefore it is good for our respiratory system.
Laughter strengthens our immune systems decreasing the chance of developing diseases of all kinds. Humor and laughter may play a role in the prevention of heart disease and it may help to lower blood pressure also. For anyone who is experiencing pain, humor and laughter help to alleviate the pain.
Laughter and humor, when used appropriately, can improve our relationships with others. Humor is especially important for improving and maintaining relationships with spouses.
If you would like to laugh more often to feel better, you can start by selecting comedy T.V. shows and watching funny movies. When you see funny cartoons or news stories, clip them out and save them.
Post them on your desk or refrigerator. Start the day with a laugh followed by a yoga style breath of joy. This practice can set the tone for the day on the positive side. There are actual laughter clubs that, at least locally, are open to all and free.
In these clubs, the laughter is never done at the expense of others and controversial subjects, such as politics, are avoided as the source of the laughter. So, enjoy the day, laugh and see the humorous side of life and you will see a healthier you.
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May 29
You’ll have to excuse this posting. I’m a little “under the influence” of several slightly naturaly intoxicating essential oils at the moment. You almost can’t help but get them on your fingers. They linger in the air when you work with them, and they bring you back to memories that you’d thought you had long forgotten.
Lavendar is the one I’m working with now. It is an extremely potent essential oil. It’s one of the most used and multi purpose essential oils today. There’s a good reason for that too. It is a great anxiety reliever as it helps to calm the nerves, and it is being used also for helping lift depression and blue moods, as well as for helping relax the nerves and get ready for bed.
It also happens to have some great anti bacterial and anti microbial properties, just as a lot of other pure essential oils have. Lavendar is very strongly scented though. You only need a little of the potent essential oil to scent something.
I just found out the hard way that the lavendar scent tends to take over every other scent in a scented concoction. I was trying to make a heady wooden herbal scented mixture. I thought it could use a slight lavendar smell to it. I’m new to this by the way, and loving it. It’s really fun to experiment with aromatherapy.
I put one tiny little drop in their with my little measuring dropper. I had already put about twenty drops of other scents in the mixture, mind you. Once I put the one drop of lavendar essential oil in the mixture, it all smelled like straight lavendar – it’s that strong.
Lavendar definitely has a calming effect. It almost makes you a bit loopy if you inhale it to directly and deeply. Parents can even use lavendar infusions to relax their children before bedtime. It’s a safe essential oil and herb to use for multiple purposes.
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