Month: July 2010

Health Benefits of Garlic

Garlic is an age-old food condiment and medicine. It has been used for thousands of years in the Middle East,  Egypt,  India, and China.  Soldiers in the ancient world were given garlic to build strength and courage. 

In traditional Chinese Medicine, it is known as ‘the penicillin in the earth’, because of its healing properties. By the time of the second world war, garlic’s  popularity as a medicine was recognized  even by the British Government, who sent a shipment of garlic to the infantry to help heal the soldiers wounds.

The health benefits of garlic work best when the garlic is used raw, altough garlic used in cooking still has a beneficial effect on the health, starting with improving the digestion. 

Some of the Health Benefits of Garlic are that:

  • Garlic has a warming effect on the constitution.
  • It encourages the production of digestive juices, thus it aids digestion.
  • It is used as a medicine to avert colds, flu, and other viruses.
  • It improves the immune system.
  •  It has been used in the past to treat whooping cough, and other chest and lung afflictions.  In these cases, garlic would be taken internally, and also, warm-to-hot poultices of  linen soaked in a strong infusion of garlic would have been applied to the chest, covered with warm blankets,  and replaced every half an hour or so.
  • It helps to combat diarrhea
  • It contains protein, fats, and carbohydrate.
  • It helps the blood sugar metabolism to function normally:
  • This is partly due to the fact that garlic is high in Zinc, which helps to regulate sugar levels.
  • Zinc and other minerals in Garlic help encourage hair growth.
  • It helps to lower cholesterol and the blood pressure, which means:
  • It is useful in helping to prevent heart disease
  • Garlic is a natural antiseptic and antibiotic.
  • It helps to eradicate intestinal worms and other parasites.
  • When given to dogs, along with Vitamin B,  it is supposed to be helpful in deterring fleas.
  • Garlic has been used to treat insect stings and bites.  It has even been used to treat snake bite in some parts of the world.  I have read of a remedy which involved adding one’s own saliva to crushed garlic, and applying  this to snake bite –  though I would dare to try it on my snake bite only if there was no hospital nearby.

MSG Allergy

The Dangers of MSG,  or Monosodium Glutamate

MSG is known to have bad side effects. Many people suffer what is known as the ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’, because  of the effect of MSG, or monosodium glutamate, which is still being used in Chinese restaurants, at least in industrialized ‘Western’  countries.  MSG seems to be a traditional item in many oriental dishes.

MSG is known to be deleterious to the health, yet MSG still  finds ways to get into our food:   MSG is not a prohibited product.

MSG is a flavour enhancer:  It has a wonderful effect on our taste buds, which is why the product is so addictive.  It makes the food taste extremely good, even if the natural flavours are somewhat lacking.

MSG can still be found  as a flavour enhancer in some products like soy sauce, and other soy products;  flavourings such as oyster sauce, and mushroom sauce;  yeast extract;  textured vegetable protein;  and other pre-packaged dinners, especially of the oriental variety.

MSG can cause distressing allergic reactions to some people.  Some of these symptoms of MSG allergy are:

Headaches which can last for a day or two;  full blown Migraines; Heart Palpitations;   Dizziness, and vertigo;   General Weakening caused by a negative effect on the nervous system;  Tingling in the limbs and hands, also caused by the effect of MSG on the nervous system;  Symptoms of depression and lethargy.

MSG is thought to be a contributing factor in children who have attention deficit disorder, and other emotional or mental disturbances.

MSG can be found in many processed, ready-to-go foods, so it is difficult to avoid unless you prepare all your food at home, straight from the vegetable shop, with unprocessed grains, seeds,  meats and dairy foods.

The Vitamin B6 is supposed to be helpful for people who suffer MSG Allergy symptoms, although it is far better to make special efforts to avoid the stuff completely, whether or not you suffer negative reactions from MSG.

Benefits of Castor Oil

The benefits of castor oil have been known for literally thousands of years.

The plant is referred to as the Palma Christi, the Palm of Christ, in old herbals.  I think the herbalist John Gerard may have used this term.  I know the more recent herbalist John Lust discusses the attributes of the Castor Oil plant and lists Palma Christi as one of its common names.

The Palma Christi, or Castor Oil plant does have  incredible  healing properties, which is why it has been equated with the name of Christ.

Castor Oil has many uses.

Castor oil is derived from the seeds of the castor oil plant. These seeds are extremely poisonous, so never try making your own remedy here. When the oil is extracted from the seed, it leaves behind all the harmful poisons, and only retains those compounds which benefit our health.

Castor Oil is most famously used as a purgative, to treat constipation and poisoning of various kinds. But it also has been used as a healing salve for centuries.

We were often given castor oil as a child, on a weekly basis.  I think it is a pity that this practice has fallen into decline, as taking  castor oil weekly not only cleans out the bowels, but removes toxins from the liver. Having a clean liver protects one from getting cancer and other degenerative disease. So Castor Oil is a great cancer preventative, in my opinion.

Less children in our polluted Western society would succumb to cancer if they had been given a dose of castor oil on a weekly basis. The more toxic our environment becomes, the more necessity there is to detoxify the liver and the body generally.  Castor oil has the ability to attract poisons and hold them within the oil, which makes it a valuable medicine for treating cancer as well as cleansing the bowels and treating some cases of poisoning.

Castor Oil Feeds the Nerves and nourishes the whole body. Taking castor oil internally helps hair growth, gives your skin a satiny smooth feel,  improves the brain function, improves eyesight and does a host of other beneficial things.

This is partly because it reduces the toxins in the bowel.  A clean bowel means that your bowel can  function optimally,  without the hindrance of toxins to spoil the absorption of vitamins. You get more goodness out of your food when your bowel is clean, and so you don’t need those vitamin supplements so badly.

These benefits to the health, which castor oil bring, are also because the liver is able to function optimally, because the poisonous stuff which give the liver a hard time have been removed via the castor oil.

The other thing about castor oil is that it contains some compounds which benefit the body’s immune system and which help prevent disease:  these  compounds  have been isolated by modern research scientists.

Castor Oil Remedy for Babies suffering Constipation:  Babies who are breast fed should not get constipation, we are told.  But now and then, it does happen.  Sometimes a crying baby can mean that the baby has become constipated. (check with your doctor if your baby won’t stop crying, in case there is an ear infection, or some other malady)

Vasant Lad, in his book ‘Ayurvedic Home Remedies’ suggests that the mother smear her nipples with a little castor oil before feeding baby.  This is just enough, in most cases, to do the trick.  This is such a simple remedy which will do no harm to your baby.

Regrow Teeth

It is possible to regrow teeth.

Of course, this does not happen over night, but given time, whilst following a very strict dietary regime, it is possible to regrow your teeth.  And your hair, as it happens:

A first hand account of how this can happen is written by Jacqui Davison, who followed the Gerson therapy for cancer sometime in the 1970’s.  I used to have her book, called, I think, ‘How I Recovered  Naturally From Cancer” .  This  book was a great source of inspiration for me when I had a breast lump around the same time, and wanted to use a natural cure.

Jacqui describes in her book how she recovered completely from terminal cancer.  She had a type of melanoma which had near eaten her up by the time she found out about Gerson’s cancer therapy.   She used a natural cure to regain her health.  While she was following this particular diet, without realizing it,  because it all happened so gradually, she grew a whole new set of teeth.

The other miraculous thing which happened was that her she also regrew her hair.  Her hair grew back in abundance, and in her natural colour of her youth, which was surprising, since she had had greying hair when she became ill.

The only teeth which did not regrow were the ones she had had capped at an earlier date:  since there was not nerve left in these teeth to supply blood to the nerve tissue, these teeth could not grow.  But all the other teeth which still had the nerve intact regrew.

Jacqui was bedridden and had been given only a few weeks to live when her daughter persuaded her to begin the castor oil-enemas-juices-raw foods-oatmeal porridge detoxification programme which Dr. Gerson was using with much success at the time,  in his cancer clinic.

Of course, Jacqui had a huge motivation in following the Gerson therapy:  She had terminal cancer.  She was bedridden.  She expected to die within a few weeks, and so had nothing to lose by trying out the detoxification programme which involved using enemas and taking castor oil, two things which most people would prefer not to do.

Jacqui bellieved she was dying.  the doctors had told her there was nothing else that they could do to help her.

Jacqui was fortunate that she had her daughter help her and to encourage her in persisting with the diet and the cleansing process.  Not everybody could sustain the same level of  determination as Jacqui did  in following strict adherance to this extremely disciplined therapy described by Gerson. She says in her book that she did not expect anything to happen by following the treatment, but agreed to do it rather more to pacify her daughter, who was, of course, distraught at the idea of losing her mother.  Following the regime  still demanded a huge effort, even with her daughter to help her administer enemas and make juices.

So the time went by – day by day, using enemas,  and sticking to this strict dietary regime.   At first, Jacqui was  surprised to be still alive  after a week or two had gone by.   This feeling grew into amazement  when she and the family realized after several weeks that Jacqui was getting slightly stronger by the day, and did not appear to be dying at all.

Jacqui did not give any thought to her teeth.  Apparently, the old fillings all fell out, but she was so still so sick that the last thing she thought about was visiting the dentist.  Her motivation was to beat the cancer and live.

After almost a year on the diet, with the use of daily enemas and castor oil taken every second day to detoxify, Jacqui was fully recovered.  By this time she had grown back a full head of hair, and also had new teeth.

Qi Gong for Weight Loss

Simple Qi Gong can be effective in helping you to lose weight.  Anything which raises your qi levels, or your vital energy force, will help you to overcome health problems and addiction problems.

The art of Qi gong has developed from the ancient martial arts of China and other areas. It combines movement with meditation. This Qi gong exercise is from Professor Yu’s system for generating Qi in the body,  and promoting harmony in the mind. However, the exercise included here  is an adaptation of his original teachings.

Here is the simple Standing Qi gong exercise which will help to build up strength in your nervous system.  The more you practice the exercise, the better things will be, as your perseverance and determination will be strengthened as well as your physical body.

Although it appears as if you are ‘doing nothing’, the exertion from holding this posture  helps to remove toxins from the body.  You  will find that, with  extended periods of holding the posture, that you begin to sweat.  This  aids elimination of toxins from the body, invigorates the vital organs,  and cleanses the skin.

If you persist with this exercise and practice good eating habits:  eat brown rice with vegetables and protein;  resist all those problematic foods such as wheat products, bread,  dairy, and sugar;  then you should lose some weight.

So now – get ready to perform the exercise.

Step One: Make sure your bowels and bladder are empty, and the phone is off the hook. Eat something light before you begin, such as a bowl of porridge or rice,  or some fruit.

Step Two: Simply stand with your feet apart, so that the feet are level with the shoulders. The hands hang loosely at your sides at this point.

Step Three: Slowly bring the arms up in a fluid movement in front of you so that the palms face downwards to the floor.  The arms are fully stretched out in front of the chest now, palms down.  Your knees are still bent.  Make sure the posture is erect.  Your back should be nice and straight with your nose in line with your navel.

Step Four: Simply stay in this position whilst you breath normally, watching the breath flow.

Just do the exercise for as long as is comfortable.  Even  a couple of minutes will do to begin with.  Try to perform the exercise twice  day.  Do in the morning, and again in the evening before bed.  Build up the time you spend on the exercise, increasing gradually.

Finish the exercise by gently stroking the face, from the temples downward.  Then stroke the arms from the shoulders down to the fingers.

The next step is to getly massage the abdomen in a circular motion with the right hand.  Do this just three times.

Next, rub your back with your clenched knuckles. Just half a dozen rubs over the kidney and back area.

Now sit down ad massage the legs briefly, from the thigh area down to the calves to the ankles.