Category: Natural Remedies

Self Heal Herb

Herbal Medicine

The Benefits of Prunella Vulgaris

This is a beautiful, wee medicinal  plant which is often dismissed as a weed.

Prunella Vulgaris has a longish purple flower. It grows more or less as ground cover, and is often found growing in lawns and on grassy banks. It is found in New Zealand and in the less hot parts of Australia. It was introduced to our parts of the world when the early settlers arrived from Europe in the 18th century.

Self Heal, or Prunella Vulgaris, used to be very common in New Zealand.  However:  If you find Prunella Vulgaris growing anywhere around your house and garden, then nurture it.  It is a valuable herb which is fast disappearing from our lawns and gardens because of the use of commercial grass mixes and pesticides and herbicides which have killed many plants off.

Common names for Prunella Vulgaris are:  Self Heal, carpenters herb, sticklewort, touch and heal, all heal, woundwort, Hercules’ woundwort, hock heal.

Prunella vulgaris, or ‘self heal’,  belongs to the Lamiaceae family.

This plant has been used in herbal medicine since the days of the ancient Greeks who commonly used self heal to treat sore throats and cases of tonsillitis.

Its purple flower is calming, which gives it some use as a nervine to calm anxiety, lower blood pressure, and to help soothe the heart and lungs.

The famous ‘Doctine of Signatures’, in later medieval times, came up with another theory as to why self heal should be effective in treating several conditions. This is truly interesting, because the idea of ‘the doctrine’ seems very fanciful and romantic, but this magic theory only backs up what the ancient Greeks were already using the herb for, even without a ‘Doctrine of Signatures’.

The ‘Doctrine of Signatures’ recognized ‘Self Heal’ as being important to the medicine of man because of the flower’s likeness to the shape of the throat. This likeness was an indication that the plant was beneficial for the treating of diseases of the throat such as quinsy and diptheria. Part of the flower resembles that of a billhook or sickle, and this indicated its use in treating the wounds, sores and gashes which were common amongst field workers who used these implements.

Best Cancer Books On Natural Healing

Cancer Reading
Some of these books have been recommended by Pam Stevens, whose book is on this list. Others have been taken from the booklist of Dr Janice-Ann Priest, a New Zealand doctor who wrote ‘Our Health At Risk’, 2003. The list includes books written from a political standpoint, as well as books which give healing help.

If you have cancer, or some other serious degenerative disease such as AIDS, or multiple sclerosis, then it is important to read as much as you can.  This will give you encouragement, and help you in understanding the disease, and perhaps why you have succumbed to it.  Reading about different treatments will  also enable you to make an informed decision about what treatment you should have, what treatment will be practical for you, and who might be able to help you.  I have included some of the books which I have found particularly good in understanding illness and curing it, for example Walter Last’s work.

Ausubel, Kenny.  When Healing Becomes A Crime. Healing Arts Press. ISBN 0-89281-925-1 The Amazing Story of the Hoxsey Cancer Clinic.

Bealle, Morris.  The Drug Story. Bi-World Publishers.

Blanc, Albert.  Money, Medicine, and the Masses.  1949.

Carter, James, MD.  Racketeering In Medicine:  The Suppression Of Alternatives. 1993.   ISBN 1-878901-32-x Note: This book which discusses the monopoly of drug companies and the suppression of healthier alternatives,  is written by a medical doctor.

Chopra, Deepak. Ageless Body, Timeless Mind.  Deepak Chopra is an authority on mind and body medicine.  He has written many books on healing and is an acclaimed exponent of the ancient Hindu teachings on Ayurveda.

Cousins, Norman.  Anatomy Of An Illness. Published by W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.  1979.

Day, Phillip.   Cancer: Why We’re Still Dying To Know The Truth. Credence Publications, 1999
ISBN 10: 0953501248

Day, Phillip.  Health Wars.  Credence Publications.  ISBN 0-9535012-7-2

Ellerbroek, Dr W.C.  In  Medicine And The Mind, article by David Black.  April 1980 Issue of Playboy Magazine.

Lappe, Frances Moore.  Diet For A Small Planet.  Random House, New York, 1971;  Ballantyne, New York, 1974.

Last, Walter.  Heal Yourself.  Published in the 1970s in New Zealand.  Walter has since published other health books for those treating serious disease such as cancer. There are several  publications  which have been published in Australia.

Lee, William, RPh.PhD.   The Killer Plagues To Come.  1995.

Lewis, Gerald & Lewis, Monica (Drs). Cancer: A Threat To Your Life? Or A Chance To Take Control Of Your Future? Lewis Pblications: Auckland, 2006. ISBN: 0473113279

MacWilliam, Lyle. Comparative Guide To Nutritional Supplements. Northern Dimensions Publishing, 2005. ISBN 10: 0973253835

Ransom, Steven. Great News On Cancer in the 21st Century. Credence Publications. ISBN: 1904015077

Moss, Ralph. The Cancer Industry. Equinox Press, 1996. ISBN 10: 1881025098

Moss, Ralph. Questioning Chemotherapy. Equinox Press, 1995. ISBN 10: 188102525X

Priest, Dr Janice-Ann Priest.  Our Health At Risk:  What’s Going Wrong With Our Health System? Published by Herbal Limited, P.O. Box 6041, Tauranga, New Zealand.  2003. ISBN 0-473-08952-1   Website: www.greenpharmasy.co.nz

Rosenburg, Max, MD.  Medicine For The Millions.  Published by Books Inc. New York.

Sellman, Sherrill. Hormone Heresy: What Women Must Know About Their Hormones. Get Well International, 2000. ISBN 10:

0958725209

Stevens, Pam. Breast Cancer: Why Women Are Dying Needlessly. PMS Publications, 92 Albany Highway, Albany Auckland, New Zealand. 2007.

Schafer, Joachim.  The Trial Of The Medical Mafia.  ISBN 2-921783-02-9

Siegel, Bernie.  Love, Medicine and Miracles. Published by Rider, Ebury Press, Random House UK Ltd, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW 1V 2SA.   1986, 1999.  Also Random House New Zealand Ltd, 18 Poland Road, Glenfield, Auckland 10, New Zealand.

Siegel, Bernie.  Peace, Love And Healing:  The Path To Self-Healing.  Bernie Siegel’s work is endorsed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross:  Bernie Siegel began a non-profit organization to help cancer patients, AIDS sufferers, and those suffering other life-threatening diseases. This is called ECaP – Exceptional Cancer Patients. You can order other helpful books and tapes through Exceptional Cancer Patients.  Write to ECaP, PO Box 8591, New Haven, Connectict 06531 USA.  Phone (203) 8658392.  Visit www.healthy.net/ECAP.  Bernie’s books and tapes may also be purchased at order @harpercollins.com

Strand, Ray (Dr). What Your Doctor Doesn’t Know About Nutritional Medicine May Be Killing You. Thomas Nelson, 2002. ISBN 10: 0785264868

Walker, Martin J.  Dirty Business.  Slingshot Publications, London.  1994. ISBN 0-9519646-0-7  This book describes the big business in pharmaceuticals and medicines. Martin Walker explains why these big businesses  have an  assault initiative on the natural health industry in order to try and eliminate the  healthier alternatives which threaten their monopoly of the market.  Martin Walker has researched the relationship between the American Medical Association and those organisations who are in the business of marketing medicines.

www.adrugrecall.com
www.cancerdecisions.com
www.mercola.com
www.preventcancer.com
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo

Homeopathics for Gluten Sensitivity

Homeopathic Remedies

If you have celiac disease, or gluten sensitivity, or suspect that you might, then it could be very worth your while going to visit a reputable homeopath.

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Homeopathy has helped many people who have digestive problems, including wheat sensitivity and gluten sensitivity.

Vaccinations have, and still do, cause allergic reactions in some people, with on-going sensitivity to certain foods as the result.  Vaccinations are problematic for many people.  They are thought to be responsible, in part, for the problem of obesity in the young, for arthritis and cancer conditions in some people, and alzheimer’s in the elderly and the not-so-young.

These are very good reasons to explore the alternatives to vaccination, such as homeopathic and herbal remedies.  For example – Homeopathic Thuja is one very good medicine which can help reduce or negate the bad effects of vaccinations.  This might be one remedy to try if you are suffering allergies, and gluten sensitivity.  Best to consult with your homeopath about this.

While homeopathic self diagnosis is ok for common complaints such as colds and flu, where you can safely administer your own medicine in most cases, you  do really need to see a professional homeopath for complex conditions such as gluten sensitivity,  as it is important to have just the right remedy if you wish to effect a cure.

I would like to point interested readers to a fairly new book on homeopathic medicine entitled “The New Materia Medica’.  This is by Dr Colin Griffith, MCH, RSHom., published by Watkins Publishing, London, 2007. Dr  Colin Griffith studied at the College of Homeopathy and is a founding member of the Guild of Homeopaths.  He has lectured in America, Canada, Japan and Greece and lectures on a regular basis at the Centre for Homeopathic Education, Regent’s College, London.

His books ‘Companion to Homeopathy’ and ‘The Practical handbook of Homeopathy’ are highly regarded in the profession.

In ‘The New Materia Medica’, “The Future of Homeopathy”,  Colin discusses many new remedies for many different health complaints and temperaments.  There is a small section which mentions several remedies which might be useful in treating gluten sensitivity. Of course, not everybody with gluten sensitivity can be ‘cured’ or even helped with homeopathy, but some people have made a full recovery with professional homeopathic help.

Dr Griffith has done much research into the new remedy ‘Okoubaka‘.  In his book, he compares Okoubaka  to other known remedies and gives some combinations which he has found successful.

I include these suggested remedies in this post with the idea that they might be of interest to practitioners, if they are not already aware of their potential in helping gluten sensitive people. Page 414 gives the following information:

Lycopodium:  This can be useful when allergy symptoms are manifested in the intestines, liver, nasal passages and the lungs.  Depression resulting from gluten toxicity can also benefit from Lycopodium.

Kali-bich:  Dr Griffith says that this remedy rivals Okaubaka in that it has ‘yellowness and stickiness of its discharges’, except that the symptoms of wheat and gluten aaggravation is not so severe, and the patient is not so ‘ungrounded and agitated’ as is the Okoubaka patient.

Med-am:  This remedy can support the progress of Okoubaka when the patient has succumbed to the ‘sycotic miasm’.  Med-am covers a similar range of mental and emotional symptoms, but it is not usually associated with toxicity from chemical poisoning or gluten reaction.

Pulsatilla:  This is more for patients with no thirst and for warmer blooded individuals than Okoubaka. Okoubaka and Pulsatilla people tend to lack motivation, but Pulsatilla is characterized by meekness.

Thuja:  This can have discharges and also have poor motivation.  Insecurity and putting on a brave act go with this remedy.

Sulphur:  Okoubaka could be used after Sulphur when indicated.

Tamarind Paste Laxative

Benefits of Tamarind

Ayurvedic medicine uses tamarind as an herbal medicine. Ask your ayurvedic practitioner for advice on uses of tamarind for the health.

Tamarind paste is an incredibly versatile cooking commodity to have in your kitchen.   Using tamarind paste in your cooking is very healthy, as it  helps to promote good digestion, and encourages effective elimination. This might be partly due to the fact that the Vitamin C content of the  tamarind fruit,  even when the fruit is dried and made into a paste, is exceptionally high.

Tamarind paste is an important ingredient of Indian cooking, and in the cooking of South East Asia.  Tamarind  gives a curry that slight acid or tart flavour which imitates lemon juice, and which enhances the other flavours of the curry.

Using Tamarind Paste as a Laxative:  You can use tamarind paste as a medicine to help detoxify the bowels.  However, tamarind contains oxalic acid, which tends to draw calcium from the body if your calcium intake is not particularly high.  This means that tamarind should not be used on its own for people with calcium disturbances, such as osteoporosis, or osteomalacia, or arthritis, or even gout. This does not mean tamarind should be put into the ‘dodgy’ list at all – silver beet, spinach, and beetroot are all quite high in oxalic acid, and are still regarded as healthy foods for some people.

However, tamarind works best, without disturbing calcium absorption too much, when it is used in a curry, especially with  coconut milk, meat, or nuts and vegetables, as these all help to  balance out the effect of oxalic acid in  tamarind, and provide the calcium needed both for your own body metabolism and for the action of the oxalic acid.

Tamarind on its own should be used as an emergency measure, and by people whose constitution is fairly robust. Do not use it if you are on any medications. Ask your doctor before you try this if you are in doubt or have any health problem, including constipation.

If tamarind paste used as a laxative, then take it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

The recipe for Tamarind Tea is:

  • One teaspoon of tamarind paste
  • The juice of one lemon
  • One cup of hot, but not boiling, water.
  • A large pinch of ginger powder.

Mix the tamarind paste into the hot water.  Add the lemon juice and the ginger. Stir well, and take the whole cup of tamarind tea.

  • Wait for ten to fifteen minutes, then drink a full glass of whole milk. Do not use thin milk which is fat free, unless you have been advised by your physician or health practitioner to use fat free milk:  in this case, you should certainly check with this health professional before using tamarind as a laxative.  You need the whole milk to balance out any negative effects from the oxlic acid.
  • Nut Milk: If you do not have dairy milk, or cannot digest this, then make up some  nut milk.  You can use cashews, or almonds, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds, or a combination of any of these.  Use between a quarter to half a cup of nuts or seeds, and blend these up in about a cup or so of warm water. Take a cup of this nut milk
  • Next – eat breakfast just as normal.

Vitamin C and Colds

Vitamin C :  Colds

Does  Vitamin C work as a treatment for the common cold?

Research done thus far suggests that Vitamin C, as an additional supplement to the diet,  does not work on its own as a prophylactic for the common cold in most cases.

However, in groups of people who were tested as for the efficacy of vitamin C in treating the common cold, it was found that Vitamin C did actually work to reduce the expected duration of the common cold.  Dr Holt and Iona MacDonald have an essay entitled ‘Vitamin C and the common cold’ which you can find in their book entitled ‘Natural Remedies that Really Work:  A New Zealand Guide, published in 2010 by Craig Potton Publishing, P.O. Box 555, Nelson, New Zealand.

Also, people who took Vitamin C regularly were more likely to resist getting the common cold as a result of hard exercise followed by chilling, than those who did not take Vitamin C.

This would suggest that Vitamin C in fact does improve resistance and increase immune function.

In the studies which Dr Holt and Ms MacDonald mention, Vitamin C was just used as a supplement:  1000 mg daily was recommended as an average, safe supplement.

These studies do not discuss the use of other herbal treatments such as the use of garlic, or lemon juice which is taken in drinks, or other known herbal remedies which help to reduce the symptoms of the common cold.

Vitamin C, I think, works best when it is taken, not on its own as a supplement, but with those foods which complement it, such as lemon juice, and garlic,  ginger and cinnamon.

Lemon juice contains high amounts of Vitamin C on its own.  The common cold is best treated when the juice of a lemon is made into a hot drink, with added ginger, garlic, and cinnamon, and taken with honey.  If a supplement of Ester C, or Calcium ascorbate, is taken at the same time, with about 500mg-1000mg of vitamin C, then the effect of the spiced up and honeyed lemon drink are remarkably pronounced. Use only 500 mg of Vitamin C for children under twelve years, and 1000 mg for adults.  Up to three doses can be given per day, and continued for three days  if the cold is severe.

Note: Dr Holt does not recommend doses of more than 1000 mg of Vitamin C per day for adults.  Note that Vitamin C can interfere with some medications, so if you are on medication, then you should not take ANY Vitamin C without consulting your health practitioner for professional advice. Even if you are not taking medication, consult your doctor or naturopath to see about taking Vitamin C.

In my experience, this is the best way to use Vitamin C supplements, fo treating the common cold:   that is, in combination with lemon drinks, garlic, ginger and cinnamon.