I am one of those people who’s stomach gets upset at the mere thought of consuming certain foods.  Before I was in on the whole “secret” that you can treat most minor ailments with herbs and natural remedies, I used to pop Tums and antacids all the time. I’m really sorry that I did that, especially knowing that those types of products are actually bad for your digestion.

There are a number of herbs that you can use to help soothe an upset stomach, and the first one I’m going to talk about is actually one that I just had to rip a bunch out of my garden because it had literally taken over the whole thing.

This herb is peppermint. Peppermint plants are a wonderful plant to have around, or of course you can also buy fresh mint at the store, but you can grow it much cheaper, just be sure to block the area it grows in so it doesn’t take over everything.

Peppermint contains a substance called menthol, which gives it the minty/cool feeling in your mouth.  Peppermint is very soothing to the digestive tract when upset, and it is most likely due to the menthol contained within it.  Peppermint oil also may be used, and this can be found in most natural foods stores. Peppermint oil has actually been found in studies to relieve the symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease as well.

Another common herb to soothe upset stomachs is one we all know well because we grew up with the advice to drink ginger ale when we had an upset stomach. What we did not know is that most commercial ginger ale hardly contains any actual ginger at all, which is the ingredient in ginger ale that gives it the stomach soothing quality.

Ground ginger root is easily purchased at natural foods stores and lots of grocery stores though, and you can add this to your water for a crisp, spicy refreshing drink, as well as a soothing tonic for your belly.

There are so many unknown causes and irritants behind asthma, the breathing condition that so many suffer in the US, and now acetominophen, the drug that is the main ingredient in Tylenol pain reliever, has been linked to childhood asthma rates.

But the good news is, not only are we getting closer to the causes of this uncomfortable and sometimes life threatening health condition, but we also have many herbal remedies for asthma at our disposal that many swear helps them to breathe much easier.

The key is to maintain healthy lung tissue and capacity, which is why good nutrition and good fitness routines are vital to maintaining a healthy life with minimal breathing issues and also minimal allergies, which are closely tied to asthma. Acetominophen has recently been linked to increased rates in asthma in children, as well as deficient levels of vitamin D – the apparent wonder vitamin that is now linked to so many diseases.

The study found that toddlers who took acetominophen products would express asthma symptoms like heavy breathing and wheezing, whereas they had not exhibited these symptoms of asthma before, which established a causal link between this common pain reliever and the development of asthma.

Though, one thing is not clear, and that is whether the drug just brought out tendencies that were already there, or irritated the symptoms, or whether these kids actually GOT asthma simply from taking this drug. More to come on this fascinating, if not disturbing finding.

It has long been a notion that sugar in general, especially refined sugar, and even more especially super high fructose corn syrup and other sugary solids, actually feeds cancer cells and helps them to live and multiply. Apparently they have now confirmed that at least pancreatic cancer cells, one of the deadliest cancers out there, does indeed feed on fructose.  They found that pancreatic cancer cells that are fed fructose actually divide more rapidly and are able to live longer.

In short – ick, it pains me to even say this, but fructose actually is “healthy” for cancer cells to devour!  That’s why you MUST limit your intake of this sugary, cheap substance as much as you possibly can. If it can contribute to the multiplication of pancreatic cancer cells, I’d imagine it can contribute to many other types of cancer as well, acting as “fuel” for it to grow and take over, and kill off your healthy cells.

Fructose is actually a cheap food additive that gives it more flavor. It is found in many processed foods as an additive, and it is found in most sugary soft drinks and many other sugary drinks, of the non carbonated variety.  The study that actually showed pancreatic cancer cells feeding off of, and being nourished by, fructose, just confirms other earlier studies that linked fructose to the deadly cancer.

While the research noted that all sugar tends to “feed” cancer cells, and is generally a thing to be avoided in the diet, it saw fructose being preferred over simple glucose sugar as the way for these deadly cells to divide more quickly and spread more rampantly, causing a harder to fight cancer.

There are talks of developing a drug that changes the way the cancer cells metabolize fructose as an extra effort to fight this cancer. However, it’s just safe to say that avoiding this type of sugar all together is best – how’s that for prevention!?

I’ve actually heard some whispers about this in the past. I heard it not only about calcium supplements, but also about supplements that contain collagen.  The theory is that people who take calcium supplements regularly are at a higher risk for heart attacks and artery blockages.

The reason may be that the calcium levels are much higher for a short period of time than they ever would by by natural foods that contain calcium, like milk, cheese and some veggies, and this causes the blood calcium levels to skyrocket, perhaps blocking them for a short period of time, or “clogging the pipes” with a thicker blood.

Of course, thinner blood is what we want, not blood that is thickened and plaqued up with other stuff that’s not supposed to be in there at high concentrations. Omega 3 supplements may help keep your blood thinner.

This is quite a quandry for women who take calcium supplements because they are concerned about bone mass as they age. Women are notoriously at a higher risk for osteoporosis, which is a porosity of the bones that is caused by a few things, but is helped by a high calcium content diet.

For these women, it may really be better to stick with choosing foods in their diet which are rich in calcium and pairing them with foods and drinks that help their body to absorb the calcium better.

Your body is better able to control blood calcium levels when it is received not through a supplement, but rather through a food. It is much more efficient at this, and absorbs it at a slower rate instead of absorbing it all too quickly, which is the problem with the supplements.  Having high vitamin D levels in your blood helps you better absorb and utilize calcium.

Also noteworthy is the fact that people who consume a lot of animal fat and caffeine tend to have a harder time properly utilizing calcium in the body.  Just another good reason to watch how you eat!

Since the scaled back usage of HRT – or Hormone Replacement Therapy, which has been linked to heart problems in women and increased risk of stroke, women have been on the search for other alternative remedies for the symptoms of menopause.  The symptoms of menopause can range from simply bothersome to downright life-interrupting and upsetting.

The most notorious of menopause symptoms include hot flashes and moodiness and depression. Depression, as well all have experienced one time or another, becomes life threatening when it is so pervasive that it takes up every day of your life. And that is exactly what a lot of menopausal or perimenopausal women are dealing with. Not only is it moodiness, it’s depression at the deeper root of the problem.

Herbal remedies for menopause usually contain herbal and natural ingredients which aim to control the influx of hormones that occur when a woman goes through the “change of life” period.  There are several natural herbs that help accomplish this, and they’ve been in use for female health and hormone balance for years now, so they have built quite a credible reputation as being excellent hormone control aids.