Chlorella-The Complete Food Supplement

I started a new job at a health food store and came across a supplement that I'd heard about so many times, but just couldn't remember what it was for. It's called Chlorella and the effects it has on your body is just amazing.

Usually when recommending a supplement program for someone just starting out I always try to build them up (vitamins, minerals, etc..) first. Then I allow for a cleanse. If you don't do it in this order you will most certainly suffer a healing crisis. In other words, you'll feel worse before you feel better.

So when I saw this herb, or should I say algae, I was intrigued because it has building and cleansing capabilities. The cleansing doesn't begin until 3-4 months after being on the supplement, so there's no need to worry about a healing crisis.

I recommend all vegetarians to take this supplement. It's a complete protein with all 8 amino acids, and is more bioavailable than proteins in meat. They are already broken down into separate amino acids allowing for immediate digestion and uptake.

Read the link on Chlorella and learn about all the wonderful benefits of this complete food supplement. You'll wonder how you survived without it.

50 Ways To Lose Weight, HPV, Arnica

Reader's Digest has just posted '50 Easy Ways to Lose Weight.." Lot's of ideas I completely agree with, except the pedometer. Those things never work right.

HPV increasingly causes oral cancer in men. They're cure? Vaccines. Read the article and decide for yourself what you think is best.

Herb of the Day-Arnica

Arnica grows in mountain woods and pastures of central Europe and Russia, the Pyrenees and in Northern America and Canada. The dried flower heads and rhizome are used herbally and was first used by Swiss mountaineers to help prevent sore and aching limbs. It has seldom been used internally, because of its irritant effect on the stomach. Its action is stimulant and diuretic, and it is chiefly used in low fevers and paralytic affections. As a homoeopathic tincture, Arnica has been used successfully in the treatment of epilepsy and for seasickness. Used on unbroken skin to alleviate sprains, muscle pains and dislocations, it is also said to be helpful when painted on unbroken chilblains. Applied promptly, it helps prevent the formation of bruises by stopping the capillaries from bleeding. It works by stimulating the activity of white blood cells which process congested blood, and by dispersing trapped fluids from joints and muscles and bumped and bruised tissue.
Latin Name: Arnica montana Common Names: Arnica, Leopard's Bane, Mountain Daisy, Mountain Tobacco, Wolf's Bane, Sneezewort Properties: Anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, discutient, stimulant and diuretic Indicated for: Muscle aches and pains, bruises, dislocations, sprains, chilblains, swelling, soothes tender feet, stimulates hair-growth
It also has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial qualities and it is these that help to reduce pain and swelling as well as improving wound healing. Recent trials involving a team of rugby players and a group of mothers with young children compared the efficacy of different bruising treatments. A variety of bruising treatments were used including anti-oxidant injections, sports compresses, painkillers and vitamin K, which is thought to speed up healing, as well as Arnica cream and pillules. In virtually all cases, Arnica was the favoured option: while the cream was effective in treating bruises and swelling, the pillules also treat shock and can provide relief faster as there is no need for it to be absorbed through the skin. Other herbs to use to prevent the formation of bruising include calendula that is an all round skin herb. Taking vitamin C with bioflavonoids boosts the capillaries to withstand knocks. Adding 15ml of the tincture to a hot water footbath is said to provide relief for tender feet. Applied to the scalp it is said to stimulate hair growth. Although Arnica may be an historical remedy, modern science has showed that the role it plays doesn't stop at bruises. Increasing evidence suggests that it also may help the body recover from surgery, from toothache to childbirth. Research on dental patients showed that arnica helped to control pain and bleeding after treatment.
Note:
External use only. It has been used internally but is not recommended as some people are particularly sensitive to the plant and many severe cases of poisoning have resulted from its use. Likewise, repeated use externally may cause inflammations or other reactions; at the first signs of anything like this, stop taking it and consult a medical professional. Arnica must never be used on broken or lacerated skin or where blood is seeping.

Tips and Tricks and Herb of the Day

In a recent guest blog post on The Humble Housewife, I gave a few tips and tricks on how to get kids to eat healthy. One idea stated:

"It’s all about the packaging. Kids are wowed by brightly colored containers, so play into that. Get some creative packaging and put healthy foods in it. For instance, YOP yogurt drinks come in a plastic bottle with a twist cap and a fancy kid friendly logo. Buy that yogurt once and then refill it with this mixture:

• Fresh plain unsweetened organic goat’s milk or cow’s milk yogurt (prefer goat’s milk)
  
• Fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.
  
• Honey

Mix all of the ingredients together and taste it. If it’s sweet and tasty they’ll love it. It’s in the right packaging. You may need to cook the fruit slightly to get it syrupy and soften the fruit. This is easily done on medium heat with the honey and a little water. "

And the Herb of the Day is Agnus Castus, a.k.a. Chaste Tree

Agnus Castus has been used since ancient times as a female remedy. One of its properties was to reduce sexual desire and it is recorded that Roman wives whose husbands were abroad with the legions spread the aromatic leaves on their couches for this purpose. It became known as the chasteberry tree. During the Middle Ages, Chasteberry's supposed effect on sexual desire led to it becoming a food spice at monasteries, where it was called "Monk's pepper" or "Cloister pepper." Traditionally, it has been an important European remedy for controlling and regulating the female reproductive system. Long used to regularise monthly periods and treat amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea, it was used to help ease menopausal problems and aid the birth process. Hippocrates, Dioscorides, and Theophrastus mention the use of Agnus Castus for a wide variety of conditions, including hemorrhage following childbirth, and also to assist with the 'passing of afterbirth'. Decoctions of the fruit and plant were also used in sitz baths for diseases of the uterus.

Because of the intact herbal culture in Germany and other parts of Europe, agnus-castus has not lost its popularity. In fact it remains probably the most commonly used herb for regulating hormones and relieving menstrual difficulties and is considered to be the best herb for ailments such as fibroid cysts of the uterus and endometriosis. Agnus Castus has not been significantly investigated for its therapeutic effects. However, preliminary investigations do indeed show the presence of compounds which are able to adjust the production of female hormones. Studies have shown that extracts of Agnus castus can stimulate the release of Leutenizing Hormone (LH) and inhibit the release of Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH). This suggests that the volatile oil has a progesterone-like effect. Its benefits stem from its actions upon the pituitary gland specifically on the production of luteinizing hormone. This increases progesterone production and helps regulate a woman's cycle. Agnus Castus may also regulate prolactin secretion. The ability to decrease excessive prolactin levels may benefit infertile women. A study conducted in London (double blind study) showed a 60% group reduction or elimination of PMS symptoms such as anxiety, nervous tension, insomnia, or mood changes, from subjects who were taking dried agnus castus capsules. Employing an aqueous extract from the fruit, a 1979 study reported good results on premenstrual water retention. Women were able to sustain a good level of milk production for breast feeding while taking this herb. While it took some time for the drug to take effect, the women were able to continue the use of the drug for months without harmful side effects.

Some Info From A Class I Taught

...Herbal supplements and remedies have been around for thousands of years. In the early 1900’s, modern, or Western, medicine began to replace natural remedies. Colleges became more medically focused leaving herbs to only be a single part of a synthetically altered chemical called a “medicine”. These medicines simply masked the symptom of a dis-ease not truly curing it as holistic medicine did. Cancers started being treated with chemicals and radiation that would normally make a healthy man sick. Why would anyone do this? Because allopathic (Western) doctors hoped that it would eliminate the cancer before eliminating you. That isn’t always the case. In fact more people die from the treatment of cancer then cancer itself.
Viruses cannot be treated allopathically either because the treatment would kill you before the virus. So that’s where natural remedies come in. They build your immunity so your body is strong enough to fight off the offending bug itself.

Our bodies were created to heal themselves through proper nutrition. With all the unhealthy things we consume, sometimes we just need a boost or a cleanse. Supplements can do just that. They are mostly in forms that we wouldn’t normally eat like roots, bark, and flowers of plants and trees growing wild in nature. They can have a bitter or astringent taste that’s not very palatable, so they are now dried and placed in tasteless capsules or extracted in alcohol or glycerin bases. Much easier to take then chewing on the bark of a tree.

The epidemic of countless cancer cases didn’t start happening in the country until the introduction of carcinogenic chemicals in our water, food, and air supply. Farmers could be out in the sun from dawn to dusk and never get skin cancer before the use of DDT and other pesticides. Toxins like GMO or genetically modified foods are now plaguing our grocery stores. So when we enter that tanning booth or stay out in the sun too long, toxins we eat are raised from our blood stream to our skin and become cancerous.

Find out more about this and other topics in upcoming blogs. Let me know what you are interested in learning about and I will include it in my next blog....