THE GREATEST MEDICINE OF ALL… IS TEACHING PEOPLE HOW NOT TO
NEED IT
IF YOU DON’T MAKE TIME FOR YOUR WELLNESS - YOU WILL BE FORCED TO MAKE TIME FOR YOUR ILLNESS!
ALLERGIES
For many people, the warm springtime air and blooming trees and flowers mean one thing -- unbearable allergies. But before you run down to the CVS or your doctor's office for some meds, there's an important warning you need to hear.
Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine have found that while certain allergy drugs can help open a clogged nose, they may also be shrinking your brain.
That's right, shrinking your brain.
And that's something that could put you on the fast track to dementia -- and even Alzheimer's.
Since these particular types of meds are sold by the truckload at any drug or convenience store, there's a very good chance that at least one of them is sitting in your medicine cabinet right now.
"I certainly wouldn't advise my grandparents or even my parents to take these medications unless they have to." That's what lead researcher Shannon Risacher had to say about a class of drugs called anticholinergics."
They're frequently used to relieve allergies and colds (I'll give you a list of brand names in a second), but more and more research is proving they can do permanent damage to your brain.
A study last year found that taking anticholinergics for just a couple months can impair your ability to think and remember things.
And, over time, these meds can increase your risk of Alzheimer's by a whopping 63 percent. Now, thanks to this new study from Indiana University, we know why.
Researchers looked at brain scans for more than 450 people between the ages of 70 and 75. And it turns out that those who used anticholinergics actually had smaller brains.
It was as if their brains were shrinking and wasting away on the drugs -- and brain shrinkage is a classic early warning sign for Alzheimer's.
And as if that wasn't bad enough, the drug users did worse on tests to measure short-term memory, reasoning, planning and problem solving.
Some of the common allergy meds that are considered anticholinergics include:
• Diphenhydramine, better known under the brand name Benadryl,
• Chlorpheniramine, which you can find sold as Chlor-Trimeton,
• Clemastine, well-known as Tavist, and,
• Hydroxyzine, familiar as the long-time bestseller Atarax.
And it's not just allergy drugs! other meds in the same class include such classics as the overactive bladder drug:
- Oxytrol
- Dramamine for nausea
- Tylenol pm.
If you find a med you're taking on the list, talk to your pharmacist or doctor about switching to something else.
And remember that natural remedies like butterbur and goldenseal have both been proven effective for seasonal allergy relief.
Honey is great for your heart health, study finds
Honey improves key measures of cardiometabolic health, including blood sugar and cholesterol levels — especially if the honey is raw.
Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that honey improves key measures of cardiometabolic health, including blood sugar and cholesterol levels — especially if the honey is raw and from a single floral source.
The researchers conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials on honey, and found that it lowered fasting blood glucose, total and LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol, triglycerides, and a marker of fatty liver disease; it also increased HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol, and some markers of inflammation.
“These results are surprising, because honey is about 80 per cent sugar,” said Tauseef Khan, a senior researcher on the study and a research associate in nutritional sciences at U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine. “But honey is also a complex composition of common and rare sugars, proteins, organic acids and other bioactive compounds that very likely have health benefits.”
Previous research has shown that honey can improve cardiometabolic health, especially in in vitro and animal studies. The current study is the most comprehensive review to date of clinical trials, and it includes the most detailed data on processing and floral source. The journal Nutrition Reviews published the findings.
“The word among public health and nutrition experts has long been that ‘a sugar is a sugar,’ said John Sievenpiper, principal investigator and an associate professor of nutritional sciences and medicine at U of Toronto, who is also a clinician-scientist at Unity Health Toronto. “These results show that’s not the case, and they should give pause to the designation of honey as a free or added sugar in dietary guidelines.”
Sievenpiper and Khan emphasized that the context of the findings was critical: clinical trials in which participants followed healthy dietary patterns, with added sugars accounting for 10 per cent or less of daily caloric intake.
“We’re not saying you should start having honey if you currently avoid sugar,” said Khan. “The takeaway is more about replacement — if you’re using table sugar, syrup or another sweetener, switching those sugars for honey might lower cardiometabolic risks.”
The researchers included 18 controlled trials and over 1,100 participants in their analysis. They assessed the quality of those trials using the GRADE system and found there was a low certainty of evidence for most of the studies, but that honey consistently produced either neutral or beneficial effects, depending on processing, floral source and quantity.
The median daily dose of honey in the trials was 40 grams, or about two tablespoons. The median length of trial was eight weeks. Raw honey drove many of the beneficial effects in the studies, as did honey from monofloral sources such as Robinia (also marketed as acacia honey) — a honey from False Acacia or Black Locust Trees — and clover, which is common in North America.
Khan said that while processed honey clearly loses many of its health effects after pasteurization — typically 65 degrees Celsius for at least 10 minutes — the effect of a hot drink on raw honey depends on several factors, and likely would not destroy all its beneficial properties.
He also noted other ways to consume unheated honey, such as with yogurt, as a spread and in salad dressings.
Future studies should focus on unprocessed honey, Khan said, and from a single floral source. The goal would be higher quality evidence, and a better understanding of the many compounds in honey that can work wonders for health.
Other benefits of honey
- Cardiovascular disease. Antioxidants in honey might be associated with reduced risk of heart disease.
- Cough. Studies suggest that eucalyptus honey, citrus honey and labiatae honey can act as a reliable cough suppressant for some people with upper respiratory infections and acute nighttime cough.
- Gastrointestinal disease. Evidence suggests honey might help relieve gastrointestinal tract conditions such as diarrhea associated with gastroenteritis. Honey might also be effective as part of oral rehydration therapy.
- Neurological disease. Studies suggest that honey might offer antidepressant, anticonvulsant and anti-anxiety benefits. In some studies, honey has been shown to help prevent memory disorders.
- Wound care. Topical use of medical-grade honey has been shown to promote wound healing, particularly in burns.
Honey is likely safe for use as a natural sweetener, cough suppressant, and topical product for minor sores and wounds.
Avoid giving honey — even a tiny taste — to babies under the
age of 1 year. Honey can cause a rare but serious gastrointestinal condition
(infant botulism) caused by exposure to Clostridium botulinum spores. Bacteria
from the spores can grow and multiply in a baby's intestines, producing a
dangerous toxin.
Some people are sensitive or allergic to specific components in honey, particularly bee pollen. Although rare, bee pollen allergies can cause serious, and sometimes fatal, adverse reactions.
· Wheezing and other asthmatic symptoms
· Dizziness
· Nausea
· Vomiting
· Excessive perspiration
· Fainting
· Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
· Stinging after topical application
· Honey might affect blood sugar levels.
The Amazing Healing Properties of 13 Common Fruits
Fruit is not only enjoyable to eat -- as it should be, considering the very word fruit stems from the Latin word frui, meaning "to enjoy, use" -- but it also nourishes and protects the body with powerful, built-in medicinal activity. Fruits are by design a "perfect food," intended to entice animals to consume them in order to help disseminate their seeds, for instance. This means that unlike grains, and other lectin- and anti-nutrient-rich organisms, e.g. wheat, tomato, beans, we humans have chosen to make into our food, fruits are less likely to come equipped with "invisible thorns," as they benefit as much in being eaten as we do in eating them. Also, like our now hard-wired biological dependence on obtaining vitamin C from external sources (unlike most animals we can not produce it from glucose), countless millennia of fruit consumption has left our genetic infrastructure in need of continual resupply of many of the key vitamins and phytocompounds they contain copious quantities of.
With this symbiotic relationship between fruit-bearing plant and seed-disseminating animal in mind, the following healing fruit facts won't seem so unbelievable...
Grapefruit - Infection: The seeds of this fruit, at a dose of 5 to 6 every 8 hours for two weeks, have been shown effective in eradicating urinary tract infections, including drug-resistant strains.
Pineapple - Cancer: The enzyme bromelain, extracted from pineapple, has been shown to be more potent that the chemotoxic agent 5-fluorouracil in killing cancer, in the animal model.
Watermelon - Hypertension: Watermelon contains amino acids, such as L-citrulline, which help the blood vessels dilate naturally, countermanding endothelial dysfunction and reducing blood pressure.
Cherry - Inflammation/Pain: Compounds within cherries known as anthrocyanins have been shown to be as effective as NSAID drugs in reducing pain and inflammation.
Lemon - Kidney Stones: Lemonade therapy has been shown to be a reasonable alternative for patients with kidney stones.
Papaya - Skin Ulcers: Used in Jamaica as a traditional medicine, new research indicates that topical application of unripe papaya fruit on chronic skin ulcers generates a positive response rate 72% of the time.
Pomegranate - Hormones: Pomegranate is the fruiting ovary of the pomegranate plant, contains potent plant estrogens which do not stimulate unregulated cell proliferation, and may function as an ideal "back up" ovary for women's hormone health.
Kiwifruit - Cholesterol: When used with hawthorn, kiwifruit extract was found to be superior to simvastatin (trade name Zocor) in lowering cholesterol in mice fed a high cholesterol diet.
Cranberries - Cranberry: The extract of this berry has been shown as effective as the drug trimethoprim in the prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections in older women, without increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance/super-infection and/or fungal infection.
Elderberry - Flu: If you are lucky enough to find elderberry on your produce stand, you will find that it has been used as a natural anti-respiratory infection remedy since ancient times. New research confirms that it contains flavonoids which compare favorably with the antiviral drug Tamiflu at binding to and preventing H1N1 infection.
Coconut - Gastric Ulcers: both the milk and the water of the coconut have been shown to have anti-ulcerogenic properties against NSAID drug-induced mucosal erosion.
Plantain - Diarrhea: Plantain has been used to treat diarrhea by traditional cultures as a folk medicine, but clinical research now confirms its value in the dietary management of persistent diarrhea in hospitalized children, in relation to diarrheal duration, weight gain and costs.
Strawberries - Heart Disease: Many red fruits and berries have now been shown to be valuable for heart health, but strawberry is beginning to emerge as uniquely beneficial to cardiovascular health. Strawberry powder has been shown to improve the lipid profile and oxidative stress markers, and markers of atherosclerosis, in women with metabolic syndrome.[xv] [xvi] Strawberry extract has also been shown to relax the lining of the blood vessels, which may reduce high blood pressure and disburden the heart muscle from over-exertion.[xvii] Even the strawberry leaf extract has been shown to increase coronary artery blood flow in a manner similar to hawthorn extract.
Until next time, stay healthy and happy.
JD Roma
The information on this blog is provided for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical care, and medical advice and services are not being offered. If you have, or suspect you have, a health problem you should consult your physician (preferably a Naturopath).
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