KITCHEN CURES VS NATURAL CURES
NATURAL KILLERS IN THE KITCHEN VERSUS NATURAL CURES
By Sue Visser.
Your kitchen is the best pharmacy in the world. In order to take and prescribe medicines from it, all you have to do is get familiar with how to use all the herbs and spices you already have and then learn how to take them in such a way that they become as effective as a prescription medicine. The good news is that you will then be using a completely natural substance, you will seldom have any harmful of uncomfortable side effects and you will save a lot of money.
Foods, herbs and spices from the kitchen have profound medicinal effects, but they have to be used with discretion. In fact, the restrictions and warnings detailed on the package insert you receive with a prescription medication or scheduled herbal remedy also apply to the food and seasonings you eat every day. A home remedy may have cured your friend of a life long disease, but you can do a lot of harm if the ingredients do not suit you. The new pharmaceutical regulations aim at preventing us from diagnosing or treating any health condition by ourselves. Even if you are thirsty and you drink a glass of water to "treat dehydration" in this way, you would thus be acting illegally.
Spices like ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon should ideally be dispensed by the pharmacy because they are not considered to be free of warnings and contra indications. If you overdose on nutmeg, you will die. Large amounts exceeding 1 teaspoon per day are considered to be hallucinatory. It causes the same delusions as some very harmful street drugs. Housewives in the old days became addicted to their nutmeg tea. Too much ginger thins the blood and it can cause serious complications during surgery or if you cut yourself. Fennel does just the opposite. It also boosts estrogen levels and relieves us of gas. Cinnamon is a powerful anti-diabetic drug. Doses exceeding ½ teaspoon can cause a very debilitating form of hypoglycaemia.
In fact, even water is not safe as it can kill you in many ways. Yet we are told to drink a few litres a day. All taps should thus carry the warning: Do not consume more than your kidneys are able to cope with at a single dose. Do not inhale this substance or you will drown. First filter before drinking it as levels of toxins such as fluoride and chlorine are not controlled. Recycled water often carries high levels of extra fluoride from toothpaste and an excess of estrogen from all the pills the ladies pass through their systems!
Before we reach for the salt and pepper, let us consider the following facts. Salt, so essential to the body, gets banned and discredited by most people because they do not understand its properties and the relationship between salt, water and potassium. Many diseases such as high blood pressure, constipation and adrenal fatigue have resulted from this misguided type of prejudice. Salt should be sold with a suitable package insert. When successively triturated or diluted and shaken, salt becomes one of the most powerful Homeopathic remedies we have. It gets dispensed as: NAT NUR, a fancy name for sodium chloride. You can make your own in the kitchen, very easily. You can buy this remedy at exorbitant prices and soon it will no longer be allowed to openly appear on the shelves of a health shop or pharmacy. Perhaps you can get it on medical aid! Pepper is a natural born killer in disguise. It lurks around your intestines for over seven years and can cause a lifetime of cramps and digestive discomfort. Where are the warnings, the side effects and contra indications?
I read labels, when I can decipher the fine print but no spices in the shops carry sufficient information or package inserts. I have now compiled a handy reference list to use when you make your own kitchen cures. They have worked for thousands of years in many cultures. For example: cinnamon and honey is used for: arthritis, bladder infections, mouth ulcers, indigestion, colds & flu, etc. This kitchen list and some lovely recipes are available free of charge from: info@naturefresh.co.za
GOOD EATING HABITS TO CURE COMMON AILMENTS
FIRST NOTE : most complaints are directly related to diet: eating the wrong food and neglecting the right food.
Jim and Sue Visser have developed and now manufacture over 38 natural health products. They provide a health and product information service on the internet at: www.naturefresh.co.za You can e-mail info@naturefresh.co.za for more details. They present free workshops once a month and Sue gives a health talk in the mornings on Radio 786. She teaches Tai Chi at a health club, has two black belts in Martial arts and writes articles for newspapers and magazines. Sue is not available for personal consultations. Please consult a doctor for medical advice and learn to make your own informed decisions as this information is not intended for diagnosis and treatment of serious health conditions. We are not held responsible for vitality, energy, slimming effects and abundant health that may result from constructive eating habits.
A suitable diet will help to reduce the severity of common complaints that are digestive, circulatory, hormonal, energy or pathogen related. When these instructions are followed, the effect of a medication, herbal product or food supplement will be noticeably enhanced or may even become redundant. You need to inform your doctor or therapist if prescriptions need to be altered, especially the: blood sugar-lowering, diuretic, laxative, anti-depressant, HRT or blood thinning drugs. This is often because: inflammation, water retention, allergies and hormonal upsets are usually caused by excessive prostaglandin PGE2 secretion due to incorrect diet and faulty fatty acid metabolism. No drug can correct this problem for you so here are some reliable guidelines that are safe, economical and very delicious. Happy eating! More about prostaglandins, hormones, diets, diabetes, blood pressure, inflammation, etc. at: www.naturefresh.co.za
1 AVOID FOR NOW:
All stimulants, like tea and coffee, caffeine in medications, herbal stimulants: Guarana, Ma Huang, Ephedrine, Cola nut, Betel nuts, etc. Peanuts, coconut, coffee creamer, hard margarine, pork, fatty meat, shellfish, dairy fat, sugar, chocolate or alcohol. See your Blood type list for other foods, herbs and beverages that may cause specific problems for you. Free blood group diets are available from our web: www.naturefresh.co.za. Dowsing, electrodermal screening, QX or applied kinesiology can also help you find foods you react badly to. Common troublemakers are: sugar, refined carbohydrates, honey, dairy, soya, mealies, gluten in wheat, rye & oats. Kidney beans, chick peas & lentils (but sprouts are ok) and raw foods eg: cabbage, cauliflower, citrus fruit, bananas, tomatoes & wheat germ. Watch out for trans-fatty acids in margarine, fried foods and heated oils. Many so-called allergies are due to enzyme, amino acid, vitamin and mineral deficiencies and once these are replaced, offending foods (the healthy ones) can be eaten again.
2 FLUSH OUT THE TOXINS
Use natural herbal products, especially the Lennon's or Dutch medicines. They have plenty of kidney, liver and bowel cleansers, known for their detoxifying action. A new one is Lennon's slimming mixture - a good all round cleanser as well as a vitality tonic. Natural herbs like a bunch of fresh dandelion leaves, eaten with salads, vegetables or with cheese sandwiches is a wonderful cure for water retention. The best is fresh lentil sprouts, 1 or 2 tablespoons a day. Good cures for constipation are: 1 tablespoon of ground up flaxseeds or 2 - 4 teaspoons of crude, bitter blackstrap molasses. Then drink a cup of hot water. It takes a few days to settle into a healthy bowel movement every day. If you still battle, have ½ t of Epsom salts in water at night. Try to avoid laxatives as they make the bowel weak & lazy.
3 GET RID OF PARASITES
There are easy and safe ways to purge out parasites and microbial invaders who sap our strength and vitality. Often unexplained tiredness, skin rashes, bad mucous problems, irritability, bloating and bowel discomfort are due to parasites. A cheap quickie is: 1 teaspoon of molasses, 1t turmeric, 1t fennel and ½ t clove powder. Take half of this in the morning and the other half in the evening. It relieves flatulence and gets rid of shigella, a common gut bug. Ground up flaxseeds, pomegranate pips or pumpkin seeds expel tapeworms. Combantrin and Vermox from the pharmacy will flush out most of the gut worms. Flukes that inhabit the pancreas are usually present in diabetics so get rid of them by chewing sprigs of fresh watercress. Olive leaves deal with most of the microbial infections like: malaria, colds and flu, yeasts and candida. See the: Parasites & pathogens / olive leaf on the search facility at: www.naturefresh.co.za
4 GET YOUR ESSENTIAL FATTY ACID BALANCE CORRECT.
Arachidonic acid encourages prostaglandin PGE2 and this leads to inflammation. Common offenders are: peanuts, coconut and all related products like peanut butter and coffee creamers. Transfatty acids from heated oil also make it worse. Inflammation is reduced by prostaglandins PGE1 and PGE3. They are activated by the following fatty acids: Omega 3 & 6 oils: Omega 3 oils from flax and salmon or cod liver oil capsules (also rich in Vitamins A and D) and omega 6 oils from olive, canola, evening primrose, starflower, grapeseed, etc. Take supplements, incorporate them in your daily meals, on cereals, salads, vegetables, even in dips and spreads, and smoothies made with tofu, oils, molasses and fresh or stewed fruit. Take 1-2 tablespoons of oils in your food daily and supplement with capsules.
5 EAT SOOTHING FOODS FROM THIS LIST TILL YOU FEEL BETTER:
Eat mainly rice and steamed or stir-fried vegetables & fish. Refer to specific blood type food lists. Eggs cooked in olive oil. Rice cakes, herb teas, diluted fruit juices with herbal tinctures or vitamin C added. Goats milk, a little low fat yoghurt with molasses (the high test or without sulphur tastes better for flavouring food, but also take 2 - 4 teaspoons of crude blackstrap molasses daily to cure constipation.). Sweeten cereals, herb teas and juices with molasses or stevia. Eat meals with ground up flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, soy sauce, chopped parsley, bean sprouts and permitted nuts. Make a variety of vegetable soups and broths and bulk them up with butternuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes or pulses. Thicken with different flours eg: chick pea or lentil. Use only health salt. Add your own ground up herbs and spices and potassium chloride. Add cream of tartar and vitamin C powder for salad seasoning. Mix softened butter with an equal quantity of cold pressed oils. Keep refrigerated and use as a healthier and cheaper substitute for margarine. Eat a lot of fish, but be careful of chicken if you are a B-Type blood group: see our website.
6 BEAT THE SUGAR CRAVINGS:
Substitute all sugar with fructose, stevia or a little molasses. Get used to eating food that is less sweet and explore other taste sensations. Sugar makes you crave sugar. Eat a date instead, but only after a nice big bowl of soup and a delicious cheese sandwich. Or have a bowl of stir fried veggies. If you are not at home and the sugar blues hit you, always keep a banana, a few apples, rice cakes, nuts and cheese handy. Eat something every two hours, and keep away from foods that are high on the glycaemia index. Visit : www.naturefresh.co.za : sugar / diabetes
7 EAT FOODS THAT DIGEST EASILY:
Raw fruit and salads contain insoluble cellulose, lignins and fibres that may swirl around your gut without being digested. This makes them ferment, causing gas, bloating and a lot of pain. We are advised to eat raw foods during the middle of the day when our digestion is at a peak, for this reason. A good gas buster is: ½ t turmeric powder, ½ t fennel powder, 1t molasses. Take it immediately and have a cup of hot water. Do this if you feel a gas attack coming on: it works! It is better to eat stewed fruit: apples, apricots, prunes and peaches in the evening if you want a dessert and serve with fat free yogurt and tahini. Dates make a tasty nibble or can be soaked in herb tea and pureed for sauces and dips. Eat fruit in the morning, it will digest immediately and stimulate your appetite. Eat little and often, especially if you have low blood sugar. Have your three normal meals and another three light snacks. Rather eat fruit separately as a snack. Avoid fruit juices as they are high in sugar. When you chew an apple, your digestive juices are working and the fibre delays sugar absorption. Take digestive enzymes, Swedish bitters and Herbal Drops with meals
8 ESTABLISH A GOOD BEDTIME ROUTINE:
Don't go to bed for at least 2 hours after a meal. Take a stroll, wash dishes or prepare tomorrow's food to take to work. Don't immediately slump in front of TV with a cup of coffee and chocolates because most of us will soon nod off. Do something pleasant to keep awake till it is time to go to bed, then have a nice relaxing bath. At night, your body has to process and assimilate a lot of food. Toxins are excreted and you lose calcium and other minerals in the process. Always take calcium with magnesium at bedtime, especially if you don't sleep well as it helps to relax you and prevents muscle spasms. Magnesium helps to lower blood pressure and regulate the heart.
9 EXERCISE IS VERY IMPORTANT, SO MAKE A PLAN:
Regular classes or circuits at the Health club ensure supervised exercise. At home, there are no excuses as we all know how to walk, jog or run. We all know how to do press-ups, sit-ups and tummy crunches and we used to love skipping at school. In a day of 24 hours, there is always half an hour to exercise and you will feel much better. Do more housework, gardening, cleaning windows. Some therapeutic activities are: Tai Chi, Yoga, hiking or swimming
10 ALKALINITY IS THE KEY TO STAYING HEALTHY
When your system is acidic you are a sitting duck for: colds & flu, cancer, heart problems, asthma, diabetes, etc. Our saliva can be checked by using pH sensitive testing paper and the reading should be above 6.5 So, what makes us acid? All the sugar, white flour, trans-fatty acids and junk foods. Stress also makes us acidic, believe it or not. What makes us alkaline? All the vegetables and especially foods high in potassium like barley, millet, molasses, avocado pears, etc. We can speed up the process by taking calcium and magnesium supplements twice a day and some people recommend a teaspoon of bicarb in a glass of water at night to help keep the system alkaline. Bicarb can be mixed with a pinch of chilli powder as this will stimulate the immune system. I prefer the taste of ground up cardamom with bicarb. This is also a good remedy for urinary incontinence at night and it helps one to sleep.
TAKE THESE SUPPLEMENTS DAILY : PLUS THOSE RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR PROBLEM
Omega 3 Essential Fatty Acids in supplements and foods to control inflammation. Also take flax oil or ground up flaxseeds (1 or 2 tablespoons daily) and olive oil. Take cod liver oil capsules.
Nature Fresh: Calcium and magnesium powder or tablets at bedtime.and during the day to correct acidity and prevent bone loss.
Nature Fresh Pain supplement containing: vitamin C, MSM and boron, plus tissue salts. (This product lowers blood sugar levels when taken with meals – works like a medicine!)
Chrome supplements to control sugar cravings: Vitaforce GTF chrome or Solgar chrome capsules. Good for slimming.
Vitaforce Vitamin B5 (calcium D pantethonate) if adrenals are weak , you have gout, need cortisone or have asthma.
Take B complex 2 x daily. ( 1 - 2 tablespoons alfalfa sprouts daily supplies all the vitamins, enzymes and trace elements )
Vitamin E (200 - 400 iu)