Tag: castor oil

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.

Candida Yeast Infection Treatment

Candida Yeast Infection can cause many problems with the health. The range of symptoms resulting from a candida infection is numerous.

Digestive disturbances usually accompany candida infection. These may  include gas problems, bloated stomach, reflux,  constipation and/or loose bowel motions; irritable bowel syndrome sometimes can be the result of  candida overgrowth. Even bleeding can occur if the walls of the intestines have been damaged because of the effect of candida overgrowth.

Other symptoms which may occur are  anaemia, inability to put on weight, eating disorders and cravings, being overweight, ear infections, sinus infection, infections of the urinary tract, vaginal infections, infections in the mouth, acne and eczema,  migraines, insomnia, depression, and addictions.

It is thought that the reason so many people become addicted to alcohol is because of a sugar-craving,  out-of-hand candida culture in the intestines.

Candida infection can be difficult to treat, especially when the infection has become well established. If candida albicans have been allowed to proliferate to the extent that they have colonised the intestines, to the detriment of the ‘good’ and beneficial organisms, and caused damage to the bowel, then the candida yeast is able to travel freely to other parts of the body. When the body is invaded by candida yeast, the condition is known as systemic candidiasis.

It takes time to reverse the train of events which have led to the undermining of health through candida infection. In my experience, allopathic medicine on its own is not effective in the long term, if at all. It really is a good idea to get the help of an acupuncturist, a naturopath or chinese herbalist, an ayurvedic specialist,  or another health professional, to assist you in speeding up your recovery.

It is important that your candida yeast infection treatment be one which is going to restore you to health. It is necessary  to take all those measures to ensure that the candida infection does not return. You must work at getting your health restored so that your body is strong and able to counteract infection, and you are feeling great again.

In my experience, environmental contaminants were the main reason that my immune system was  severely undermined. Chemical poisoning  led to a rampant candida infection, or systemic candidiasis, on more than one occasion. These chronic candida infections  took more than a year to cure.

However, most people, hopefully, have not been exposed to aerial spraying of 245T, or to asbestos and heavy metal poisoning, do not have cancer, or AIDS, and do not have the chronic type of candida known as systemic candidiasis which might accompany these conditions. Recovery, then, should be only a matter of weeks for mild candida infection, given the right treatment.

If you do systemic candidiasis, then it will take some time to become well. Even with the supplementation of  beneficial bacteria, such as acidophilus, it takes time for the immune system to recover from chemical, or radiation damage. You really have to pull out all stops and be vigilant in following your candida yeast infection treatment to fully recover.

If you have an on-going mild infection and you have not been exposed to chemical sprays, or radiation, and you do not work in a hazardous toxic environment, then your system should respond more quickly to anti-candida treatments.

Many people have candida yeast infection as a result from using antibiotics and other medications. Using probiotics such as L. acidophilus and B. bifidum will help to restore your intestinal flora if this is the case.

Even if you do not use antibiotics very often, chances are that you will be ingesting them through the animal products, or dairy foods and eggs, which you eat. Unless these foods are specified as certified organic, then these foods will be contaminated with hormones, cortizones and antibiotics which will affect the functioning of your body and its immune system.

Herbicides, insecticides, antibiotics, preservatives in food, and radiation all harm the cultures of healthy organisms which we have in our intestines.  Lactobacillus acidophilus is one of the main ones which is destroyed by harmful environmental pollutants, radiation,  overuse of antibiotics, and antibiotics in our food.  Bifidobacterium bifidum is the other main one which is affected similarly.

These  beneficial organisms, known as probiotics because they assist life, are very sensitive to unusual environmental influences. Chemicals affect them, but even living near high electromagnetic forces, such as cell phone towers, or electricity transformers, or high tension electricity wires, will upset these beneficial organisms in your intestinal flora. When these two beneficial organisms become depleted in the body, then candida albicans takes over. The candida albicans organism is found naturally in the intestines, but in only in small numbers in a healthy body.

Candida yeast infection really does cause so much harm: the ‘good’ bacteria on their own will help you to digest fats and proteins, will help lower your cholesterol level, and manufacture several vitamins and enzymes in the bowel, including B vitamins. When the ratio of organisms gets upset and candida is allowed to predominate, then you do not get all these wonderful benefits which the lactobacteria normally provide for you.

So – How To Get Well From Candida Yeast Infection:

The length of your recovery time really depends on how toxic your body is, and how damaged your immune system has become as a result of accumulated poisons.

A detoxification programme is important to begin your candida yeast infection treatment. It is essential to rid the body of all those acculmulated toxins as quickly as possible, if you want to get your health and vitality back soon. Unfortunately, all those lovely sweet  fruit fasts such as the apple diet, or the grape diet, or the carrot juice fast, are often not the best to use in the early stages, as the high sugar content in fruit feeds the candida. If your infection is not too severe and you have not been exposed to chemicals, then these could still be effective, but generally, it is best to avoid all foods high in sugar, and this includes all fruits.

Detox with a High Fiber Cleanse: Do this high fiber cleanse for three days in a row. Use as necessary after that. You might find benefit in continuing the treatment every morning. The recipe: Take a teaspoon of psyllium husks, a teaspoon of flaxseed, and a teaspoon of cranberry seed or pectin. Put into two cups of water. Stir.  Take in the morning on an empty stomach, 20 minutes before breakfast. Repeat  with one more dose 20 minutes before the evening meal.

Going for a colonic irrigation at a clinic is a good idea, as this will clear all the effecte matter out of your bowel, leaving it clean so that the candida can’t proliferate so readily. This will give you a jump start in combatting the infection, and improve your digestion immediately.

Home enemas can be effective also, and if you cannot afford the professional colonic irrigation, then a home enema is recommended.

Benefits of Castor Oil on Treating  Candida: However, the most effective home treatment for quickly cleaning the intestines, and reducing candida infection, is  that old remedy – castor oil. This works extremely well, as it not only rids the intestines of the pollutants, it attacks the candida as well. Candida albicans do not like oils in the diet, especially castor oil, which has an antimicrobial effect in the intestines.  At the same time, the castor oil does not seem to affect the beneficial bacteria adversely, as they can readily multiply after the rubbish has been eliminated from the bowel.

Incidentally, a specific anti-fungus agent called Undecylenic acid can be bought at some health food shops. So -can you guess what this is derived from? – Yes – Castor Oil. The dose for treating candida is, according to one source, 200 mg three times a day. But I still think you cannot go past the original, old-fashioned, Castor oil in treating serious illness, and in treating candida infections.

So – Now you are working on revitalising your immune system. Already, the infection will be dramatically  reduced after cleansing, so that you can better digest your food. While you have a rampant candida infection, those busy candida organisms will be taking the best out of your food. They will leave you malnourished, tired, and create a whole lot of candida toxins which further poison your system.

Taking supplements of probiotics such as L. acidophilus and B. bifidum can boost the intestinal flora which helps to keep the candida yeast in check. After the initial stages of cleansing, you might try using these in a sugar-free and allergen-free supplement. If you are not sensitive to dairy products, then using a yogurt with these supplements will help to allay another candida attack, once you have first cleansed the candida overgrowth from the intestines.

Lactobacillus acidophilus has been used successfully to treat cases of candida yeast infection in the urinary tract.  It has also been used successfully, both internally and externally, to treat yeast infection of the female parts. This is because the Lactobacillus acidophilus occurs naturally in the bladder and reproductive parts, where it helps maintain the health of these organs. When antibiotics, or some other chemical or environmental factor causes the probiotic organisms to get out of balance in the bowel, this also affects their growth in other parts of the body where they are needed.

What Can I Eat? The best diet whilst on the candida yeast infection treatment is on which implements the following strategies:

  • Eat more good quality protein in the diet. Beef, chicken, fish, eggs are just great. Almonds nuts and sunflower seeds are good too, but these are best left for a week or two until your condition has improved, as these foods sometimes have yeast on them which may not be helpful in combatting the candida.
  • Eating oily fish is very good. Of the tinned varieties, canned tuna fish in olive oil is helpful, I have found. Sardines in oil are also good, and provide extra calium in the bones, as well as iodine: both calcium and iodine are necessary supplements for the  recovery from candida infection
  • Make sure you eat good quality fats and oils in the diet. Candida thrives in diets which exclude these items, and protein. Olive oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil and other cold pressed oils inhibit the growth of candida, and also give you Vitamin E and other nutrients which are helpful in restoring health and improving your immune system.
  • Eat plenty of green vegetables in the diet.
  • Plenty of fiber is essential. Not fruit, or carrots, initially, – but green vegetables.
  • Add garlic to everything. Garlic works well as an anti-fungal, anti-yeast, antimicrobial agent in the body.
  • Avoid all sugar. This means any kind of sugar, cane sugar, maple syrup, golden syrup, honey, malt sugars and fruit sugars.
  • Avoid all fruit in the meantime, until you are better.
  • Avoid all alcohol completely. Beer, wines, cider, spirits – all of these help destroy the beneficial bacteria in the bowel.
  • Avoid wheat products for now. Wheat turns to sugar too quickly in the gut, and these sugars help to feed candida albicans. Avoid other processed grains.
  • Eat brown rice instead of wheat products. Use a little olive oil or some other good oil on your rice, to help slow down the absorption of sugars. Eat protein and green vegetables with your rice. Have some brown rice cooked each day and left in the fridge, so that you can eat this instead of going for that wheat pastry, cookie, or bread.
  • Avoid all products which have been fermented. This includes all alcohol, vinegars, and sauces such as soya sauce, tomato sauce because it contains vinegar, tempeh and tofu and miso – and breads.
  • Avoid dairy products for the meantime, until you are better. Then, you might experiment with acidophilus yogurt if you do not have a sensitivity to dairy products. Some people who are lactose intolerant find that they can use moderate amounts of probiotic yogurt once they have conquered the candida infection. Some people find that, after recovery, using probiotic yogurt actually helps them digest other dairy products. Some people cannot abide it at all.
  • Supplements which might be  helpful  are:    Caprylic acid. This is a fatty acid which has definite anti-candida properties. 1000mg of Caprylic acid can be taken daily; 1000mg morning and night can be taken over a brief period for people who have systemic candida infection. It is best not to take caprylic acid for long periods, though, as it can put a strain on the kidneys. If you have kidney weakness, then you might be best to avoid it, or use it for only several days.  Ask your doctor or naturopath about taking Caprylic Acid for candida.
  • Benefits of Probiotics:   L. acidophilus and B. bifidum taken half an hour before each meal may prove beneficial. These probiotics are available in a non-dairy, non-gluten form in some specific health products. If you are not lactose intolerant, then yogurt enhanced with these probiotics may work for you.
  • Non-acidic Vitamin C is an inhibitor of the candida yeast. This helps to detoxify the body as well, and will aid your sleep if you take a dose last thing at night. 1000mg of Ester C, or Calcium Ascorbate can be taken once, or up to four times a day in cases of chronic candidiasis. Reduce the dose once the toxins have been initially cleared.

Read merrilyn’s post entitled Probiotic Advantage for more information on the use of probiotics in treating candida and improving the immune system. Also see Foods to Eat On a Candida Cleanse Diet and Curing Candida/Chronic Poisoning.

Varicose Veins Treatments

Techniques which improve the circulation are  the most important of Varicose Veins Treatments.

You can look at merrilyn’s posts  entitled ‘Causes of Varicose Veins’ and ‘Yoga for Varicose Veins’ for more information on how to improve the condition of varicose veins.

Here are some more ideas for varicose veins treatments which have not been covered fully in the other posts.

Hydrotherapy: The Foot Bath:  The simple foot bath can be done at home at any time to help relieve aching varicose veins.  The foot bath on its own will  improve the circulation, and help to reduce swelling and pain, but we can enhance the therapeutic action by adding certain herbs and spices.

Try and do this hydrotherapy treatment once a day, or twice if your condition is very bad.

Get two large bowls or buckets, big enough for your feet to sit in comfortably, and more.  Half fill one of the containers with cold water. Half fill the other with hot water which is at a comfortable bathing temperature.

Add half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper and half a teaspoon of ginger to the  bowl of hot water. Cayenne pepper is very good for improving varicose veins, as it helps to shrink them and reduce pain. Both ginger and cayenne pepper boost the circulation.

Begin with the feet in the cold water. Leave for half a minute, then transfer the feet into the warm-to-hot water. Leave in the hot water for a minute. Put the feet back into the cold water bucket for another minute, then return to the spiced-up hot water. You may need to add a touch of boiling water to the hot water bucket after a few minutes. Be careful to add just enough boiling water to heat up the water to a comfortable heat again. Do not have the water too hot, as this will harm your legs and possibly burn you.

Finish the hydrotherapy off with the feet soaking in the warm-to-hot water.

You can experiment using other herbs and spices in this footbath treatment. Herbs and spices which increase circulation are the ones to use here. I would use cayenne pepper in combination with either cinnamon, or ginger, turmeric, or cloves.

Note on Varicose Veins Water Temperature:   VERY HOT water should never be applied to the varicose veins.  Hot baths are best avoided.  If you are taking a bath, then the bath water should be only warm to medium hot.  Showers are considered best for people who have prominent or painful varicose veins, as showers do not prolong heat to the legs.

Massage to Soothe Veins: After the foot bath treatment, massage the legs gently with almond oil which has a few drops of rosemary oil added to it. This will soothe the veins, but also help circulation.

Cold Herbal Compress for Painful/Swollen Varicose Veins:  Make up an infusion using  healing herbs. You can use either comfrey, or borage, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, witch hazel flowers, or use a combination if you like. Take up to half a cup of the fresh herbs. Put into a pot and add two cups of boiling water. Put on the lid. Leave on the stove to gently simmer for just one minute. Take off the heat, and leave to cool.

Soak a piece of white linen or cotton in the cold liquid. Wring out the cloth and apply it to the sore or swollen varicose vein. Put on a piece of plastic, and wrap lightly with a bandage. Leave the leg up for 20 minutes while you let the compress do its work. Take off. Repeat throughout the day as necessary. You can keep the mixture to dampen the cloth again before each application. Make up a fresh herbal mixture each day for use as compresses.

Drink Silica-rich Teas to help strengthen the veins and heal them from the inside.  Silica-rich teas are those made with  oat-straw, comfrey, borage, nettles, horsetail, chamomile and rosemary.  Drinking plenty of herbal teas such as these will not only provide you with silica and other nutrients, but also cleanse the kidneys, improve your hair growth, and help the intestinal functions.

Homeopathic Hamamelis is considered to be one of the best remedies for healing the veins. Witch Hazel is made from the same plant.  You can use Witch Hazel externally on the legs, and take the Homeopathic equivalentof Hamamelis internally.  Just three or four drops of Hamamelis 30x, three times a day until relief is felt.

Vitamin C and Vitamin E are also great supplements for helping to relieve varicose veins.

Vitamin C Dosage: Between 1000mg to 3000mg of Vitamin C, preferable a non-acidic type, could be taken until better. Calcium Ascorbate or Ester C are good ones to go for.

Vitamin E Dosage :Take the standard dose as stated on the bottle for Vitamin E – best not to give large doses of Vitamin E.

Castor Oil:  To clear the liver, gall bladder and bowels, use castor oil once a week as a remedial measure for the veins.  Congestion in the digestive system, over time, will lead to the veins becoming distended.  So to prevent varicose veins from forming, take 2 tbsps of castor oil in the morning, once a week.

For serious conditions, you could follow the Gerson programme, which uses castor oil every second day.  Gerson used this method to cure cancers, mainly, but he insists it will cure any disease if his recommendations are followed to the letter.

What Happens When You Stop Smoking

You can imagine what happens when you stop smoking.

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Giving up smoking is very difficult for most people. A few people  manage  the cold turkey approach to giving up smoking:  something makes them decide one morning that they are just sick of  the coughing fit which is experienced  every morning upon waking. And that  coughing fit  is always followed by the  crazy routine of going straight for the fags, the cause of the problem. They decide, on the spot,  that they’re never going to smoke  again, and that’s it. They don’t.

For most of us, achieving our goal of being a non-smoker is far more difficult. It certainly takes a lot of perseverance, in my experience, to keep going on the no-smoking tack, when you repeatedly disappoint yourself by breaking your vow to stop. Read about some helpful tips in Merrilyn’s post http://merrilynhope.com/giving-up-smoking/

It is important to keep motivated and  positive about your intentions. All you have to do really,  is to Keep on keeping on – Keep believing that you will finally become a non-smoker, despite the slow progress. If you keep  believing that, then it won’t matter whether you take three weeks,  three months, or three years, as long as you  get there. Of course, sooner is better, rather than later, but  don’t be disappointed in yourself if you break your vow of abstinence.

Feeling guilty about your failure to quit  actually makes you likely to smoke more. Pick yourself up again, and continue trying to give up. Finally, one day, you will have become a non-smoker.

So – finally, you manage to do it. What happens when you stop smoking – how do you feel?

Of course, you will feel proud of yourself. And justifiably, too. Giving up smoking is, along with  giving up alcohol, one of the best achievements you will make in your life time. Giving up smoking will  improve your health, prolong your life,  and give you and your family a better quality of life. The whole family will benefit because there will be more money for good food and outings. Your family, and your friends too, will also be happier, because they are not subjected to your smoke, and because they do not see you getting closer to death with every puff.

Initially, after you have stopped smoking, you will most likely feel more stressed and bad-tempered. This is partly because all those tobacco and combustion toxins which have been stored in your body suddenly begin to be expelled. The body is jolted into throwing off the stored poisons, because of the sudden withdrawal of tobacco. These poisons which suddenly begin to be expelled can cause you to feel very sick, if not irritable.

As the poisons get expelled, and flood through the bloodstream, you might experience heart palpitations, a fluctuating blood sugar level, dizziness, a foul tasting mouth, a yellow-furred tongue, profuse sweating, and other disturbances of the metabolism.

Over Eating can be a a problem for many people. Initially, though, you should not worry about this, unless you are excessively fat. Generally, smokers are malnourished. They have a deficiency of many of the important vitamins and minerals on which our good health depends. So eating up at the beginning of your adjustment to a smoke-free life should not be of concern. The main thing is to eat nutritious food and  avoid eating bread and wheat products  and  fried foods: if you susbstitute brown rice for any bread you might eat, you won’t get fat, and your cholesterol levels will remain healthy.

Avoid Getting Fat: The thing you have to do,  is not so much to curb your eating, but  to ensure that you are not eating any crap foods. Nourish your body and nervous system.  If you are hungry between meals, then try to make the effort to make yourself a carrot juice, or an apple juice. Or simply eat an apple, or a banana – something which will provide sustenance to your body and your brain and your nervous system.

How To Minimize Withdrawal Symptoms

The classic symptoms which you experience when you stop smoking can be remedied very quickly if you take  measures to expell the tobacco poisons as quickly as you can. The more quickly that you can rid the body of these harmful toxins, the more quickly will your health be returned to normal and your mood be happy and constant.

Castor Oil to Eliminate Poisons One of the most efficient ways to get rid of poisons in the body and brain is to take castor oil every second day, for a week or two. An irrigation of the bowel is recommended during this time, especially if you have not done a cleansing diet in a while. This washes away the poisons from the bowel immediately, so that you do not reabsorb the poisons back into the bloodstream. These reabsorbed poisons keep the tobacco drugs in your blood. Getting rid of theses poisons from the bowel and blood  increases the liklihood that you will quit the tobacco habit forever.

Castor Oil, or Ghee Oil  Put either of these two oils into your nostrils at night.  Ghee oil has been used in Ayurvedic medicine to help many health conditions, and ghee oil to stop smoking is one of them.  Castor oil has a similar effect and is another well-tried remedy.

These oils will help your mucous membranes to heal, and also deter youfrom smoking.  Put just three drops up into each nostril and inhale it into the sinuses. You can smear a little of either of these oils into the nostrils during the day time as well.  Every time you get an urge to smoke, just put a little of either castor oil or ghee into the nostrils.

The Apple Diet

If you do not wish to  tackle the castor oil treatment, you might try fasting on only apples for a day. Eat normally for a few days, then do two days on the apple diet.

The Grape Diet

Grapes work just as well as apples. Just eat grapes whenever you are hungry. Grapes and apples eaten raw will have a cleansing effect on your whole body.

Carrot Juice Diet

Another way to cleanse the body quickly is to take a glass of carrot juice every hour for the whole of the day. Again – eat normally for a few days, then try two days on the carrot juice diet.

Natural Tranquillizers

Of course, your brain has been relying on the tobacco drug, to help with your stress levels. Now this is what happens when you stop smoking: your brain does not make the adjustment to a drug-free existence so lightly. It will tell you that you ‘need’ something. You will fell restless, and perhaps anxious. See the paragraph below on the effects of Vitamin C and Vitamin B, which help  to de-stress your body while you get used to doing without cigarettes.

Yoga Breathing, and Yoga Nidra can help greatly in destressing the body and in oxygenating the blood and brain so that you will feel great.

Read merrilyn’s posts  entitled ‘Yoga Nidra’, and the ‘Ha Ha Ha Breath/Quit Smoking’ for some simple yoga techniques you can use in quitting smoking.

Alternate Nostril Breathing is of great value in calming the emotions and in acting as a deterrent for smoking.  Simply block off the right nostril with the right hand thumb.  Breathe in through the left nostril.  Hold for a second, then release the thumb from the right nostril and put the ring finger over the left nostril.  Your middle finger and ring finger should be resting above your nose on the eye-brow center.

Exhale through the right nostril.  Breath in through the same nostril you have just exhaled from , that is the right.  Hold the breath for a second, then swap the fingers over so that the left nostril is released.  Breatheout through the left, then in again through the same nostril.  Change the fingers to release the other nostril and repeat, exhaing through the right nostril, then breathing in again through the right nostril.

This can be done in bed at night.  It helps to bring restful sleep and calm the brain.

Diet and Vitamin Supplements

Generally, a low carbohydrate/ high protein diet is the one which is recommended for people giving up smoking or alcohol.

You can give your brain that ‘added something’ by nourishing it with foods and vitamins and minerals which will negate those unwanted cravings. You can improve your stress levels enormously with the following  specific vitamin supplements.

Vitamin C, especially the non-acidic form such as Ester C, or Calcium Ascorbate, will work not only as a detoxifying agent, but as a soothing,  mild tranquillizer. This makes Vitamin C especially useful when you are giving up smoking, or alcohol. Take 1000 mg three times a day to begin your smoke free life. A dose should be taken last thing at night, as this will help you to sleep well.

Vitamin B Complex is another important supplement for giving up smoking. This nourishes your nerves and brain so that you do not suffer the effects  of giving up smoking so intensely.

Zinc, Magnesium and B6 are essential to good health. You need an extra boost of these minerals when you are giving up smoking.

Calcium is another important mineral which helps us to sustain good health. Alcium also acts as a mild tranquillizer, so this is another one to add to your diet. If you ate a small can of sardines, or some mackerel, every day, then you will be getting plenty of calcium from the small bones in these fish.

You might experiment with merrilyn’s recipe for home made calcium supplement in the post “Best Calcium Supplement’. This supplement is better absorbed than calcium tablets are, or even dolomite powder, because it is naturally mixed with other minerals like magnesium and zinc, which aid the absorption of calcium.

Iodine is another important mineral, and you will get this in ample supply from eating sardines or any sea food.

Look at merrilyn’s posts entitled  ‘Giving Up Smoking’, ‘Giving Up Alcohol Vitamins’,  and  ‘Detox Diets’.  Also:

‘Homeopathic Remedy To Reduce Craving For Tobacco‘