Tag: high blood pressure

Help Stop Smoking With Baking Soda

Baking Soda is Alkaline. It can help to neutralize toxins in the body and reduce acidity.  A less acid body is less stressful and may help you to recover from addictions.

However, if you are on medications, or low sodium diet, then you should ask your doctor or naturopath before using baking soda.

It is good to be a non-smoker.  Give it up and become more healthy.  Enjoy the fresh air and those lovely walks again, without getting puffed-out.

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Addicts of tobacco and alcohol and other drugs notoriously favour acid-forming foods such as  red meats, pork, coffee, and dairy foods, sugar and wheat-foods such as pasta and bread.

The Best Dietary Measure To help Yourself Stop Smoking Is:

To cut out acid-forming foods and adopt an alkaline diet which avoids the use of dairy foods,  sugar, gluten and all wheat products including bread and pasta.

Eat Alkaline Greens: Eating plenty of raw greens will help to make your body more alkaline. Try to eat brown rice instead of wheat bread. Use more vegetables and fruits in the diet, with easily digested protein such as lentils, beans, free range eggs,  soy products, and sprouted seeds such as mung beans and alfalfa.

Sprouted seeds are especially alkaline and provide many important enzymes which your digestive system needs to function well.  Include plenty of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds in the diet.  These are rich protein and calcium foods and they are more on the alkaline side than acidic flesh foods.  Sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are  dairy-free and calcium-rich foods which will help your frayed nerves to settle.

Diet To Help Your Digestive Function: Eating these foods will take a lot of stress out of your digestive function.  This   will have a beneficial trickle-down effect on your nerves, which will  help you in your goal to stop smoking. You will digest your food better, and have more of a sense of well-being than before, when you were eating more acidic and heavy foods.

I have mentioned baking soda in an earlier post entitled ‘Giving Up Smoking’. In this post, I mention Richard Webster, who is an exponent of the baking soda remedy to help stop smoking.

See Merrilyn’s other postsfor more ideas:

Homeopathic Remedy To Reduce Craving For Tobacco

Giving Up Smoking

Richard Webster has devoted many years to helping people with behavioural problems, including people’s addiction to smoking. He published a booklet which accompanied some tapes  called ‘Ezi-Stop’. This was published by Prestige Marketing 1995.

The alkaline nature of baking soda makes it effective in neutralizing acids in the body.  An acid body can be made alkaline through taking a little baking soda each day.

Baking soda is suggested as a remedy to help stop smoking by  Richard Webster and other experts in the field, because it  can have an immediate effect to stop you taking that cigarette which you imagine you really need. However, baking soda  should never be substituted for eating a healthy alkaline diet.

Two Week Treatment: Also, it is not advisable to keep taking baking soda indefinitely.  Use it for a couple of weeks, then stop for a couple of weeks before you start using the baking soda again,  even if you have not managed to quit smoking yet.   Too much baking soda taken on a regular basis is not good for your kidneys.

The Technique For Using Baking Soda To Stop Smoking: Simply put a touch of baking soda onto the tongue whenever you feel the urge to smoke.  This technique is not recommended for people who are on specific low sodium diets, or who have high blood pressure.

However, considering that smoking can actually GIVE you high blood pressure,  I think that I would rather opt for a touch of baking soda, which might reduce my desire to smoke and do some good to my health in the long run, rather than take another cigarette.

Also look at the post entitled ‘What Happens When You Give Up Smoking’, and ‘Calcium Rich Foods’. ‘Detox Diets’ might also be helpful.

Homeopathic Remedies to consider might be those suggested by Dr John H. Clark in his book ‘The Prescriber’.  Just one remedy should be selected, depending on the symptoms, constitution and habits of the person trying to quit smoking. Read his book for dosage recommendations: Nux vom., Camphor, Stroph., Phos., Plumb. acet., Spigelia, Calc. phos., China, Arsen alb. He says homeopathic medicine can be of great assistance in breaking the habit of tobacco. The appropriate remedy can help break the desire for tobacco.

 

Hawthorn Berries

The Hawthorn Tree, a Rosaceae.

Crataegus Monogyna and Crataegus Oxycanthoides are two common types of Hawthorn which grow in many parts of the Middle East, Europe, India, Africa and Asia. Its Chinese pharmaceutical name is fructus crataegi, commonly called shan zha in Chinese medicine.

The Hawthorn tree has special significance  as a healing herb in the West, because, in the Christian tradition,  it was supposed to have formed the Crown of Christ. It is known as ‘the Mother of the heart’ , perhaps with reference to the Virgin Mary, in traditional Western  herbal medicine.

Hawthorn trees can be anything from the size of a bush to the size of a large tree, depending on where they are grown, and what the genus is.

Hawthorn berries, with their  hard texture, and attractive,  rich,  robust, cherry-like appearance,  are great to use  for decorative purposes.  However,  all the parts of the plant can be used medicinally,  the flowers, leaves and the berries. Note:  Hawthorn should be used  as an  herbal medicine only under the guidance of a professional herbalist, or other health practitioner, especially if you are already taking other medications.

Valuable Nutrients in Hawthorn: Hawthorn berries are rich in sugar and Vitamin C.  They also contain malic acid, citric acid, iron, calcium, carotene, riboflavin and traces of niacin.

Are Hawthorn berries poisonous? Apparently not, if you can believe that  Hawthorn berries were ground and added to British bread in the first world war, which had the effect of ‘keeping down the blood pressure of the population as a whole’, according to Jade Britton, Tamara Kircher, and Edward Linkner M.D., who co-wrote ‘The Complete Book of Home Herbal Remedies’ published by Universal International Pty. Ltd, NSW, Australia, 1998.

These authors also state that ‘there are no adverse effects from long-term use’. Even if you should stop taking hawthorn, after having used it for a while,  there are no side effects according to these experts.

Hawthorn berries, and other parts of the plant have been widely used for their therapeutic action on the cardiovascular system.  It has the effect of normalizing blood pressure, whether it be too low or too high. It is a good medicine to take to help treat varicose veins because it improves the circulation, whilst having a normalizing effect on the blood pressure.

In Chinese medicine, Hawthorn is sometimes used to aid the digestive system, especially where digestion of meats and fats is poor.

Hawthorn is slow in its therapeutic and tonic effect, and generally, it is taken over a period of time to help the cardiovascular system and things like varicose veins and poor circulation.

According to The Complete Book of Home Herbal Remedies, it can be used as a heart medicine for angina, irregular heartbeat, congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy. But of course, under expert supervision, especially if you are already taking other medications.

Chromium

CHROMIUM
Deficiencies of Chromium are thought to be wide spread, affecting roughly 50% of the population in Western societies.

Older women, and expectant mothers, need to ensure that their chromium levels are maintained.
Chromium is necessary for the processing of sugar and alcohol.
It feeds the nerves and helps to promote a calm state of mind.
Chromium helps to monitor your cholesterol levels and helps in the manufacture of essential natural cholesterol.
It helps prevent high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

Chromium is especially important because it helps regulate the supply of insulin in the body. Adequate chromium helps protect you against sugar-related conditions like hypoglycaemia and diabetes.
A normal healthy body will utilize the Chromium within foods to process their sugars: Fruits, honey, root vegetables, treacle, molasses and maple syrup all contain chromium, which is used by the body to process the  sugars they contain.

The reason why  refined, white sugar is so bad for the general health is perhaps not just because of the sugar content, but because processed sugar has been stripped of its chromium value. White sugar  has been left bare of the valuable nutrients which naturally help with the assimilation of sugar in the body:

Sugar cane is extremely high in Chromium. Treacle and molasses, which come from the less refined sugar cane product, are  also rich sources of Chromium.
Chromium is found naturally in the outer part of grains which contains the bran. Hence,  processed grains are deficient in Chromium. Brown rice is preferable to white rice for this reason, just as wholewheat flour is  the preferable choice
to white flour. Use oat bran instead of the more processed fine oatmeal to make your porridge.
Chromium is found in good quality cooking oils such as grape seed, olive oil, avocado oil and rice bran oil.

The recommended daily allowance of Chromium is 200 mcg.
One of the best sources is Brewer’s yeast, which contains 100 mcg per each tablespoonful.
Two eggs contain 60 mcg.
1 cup of fruit juice such as orange or apple contains about 115 mcg.
Kiwifruit is fairly high with 35 mcg per average sized fruit.
One potato contains roughly 20 mcg of Chromium.
Most other vegetables contain roughly 20 mcg per 100 grammes.
Meats contain about 55 mcg per 100 grammes.
One slice of wholemeal bread has about 17 mcg.
One tablespoon of molasses or treacle has about 25 mcg.

Calcium Rich Foods

ABOUT CALCIUM:

Calcium is necessary for forming and maintaining healthy bones, teeth, nails and hair. Calcium helps to nourish the nervous system, which  helps  to prevent anxiety and keep your brain function up to scratch.  Calcium is a natural tranquillizer.
Magnesium is Important:  For the body to absorb and use calcium appropriately, it is important to include plenty of Magnesium-rich foods in the diet. The other  essential ingredients for maximizing your Calcium absorption are   Zinc, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Vitamin K.

Health worries which may result from a diet with insufficient calcium are:

irritability, insomnia, and mental disorders,

irregular heart beat, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, numbness and tingling in the legs, muscle cramps, and slow blood clotting,
osteo-arthritis, osteoporosis, calcium growths, eye cataracts,

colon cancer.

Calcium helps to keep the heart muscle healthy.  Lack of Calcium is linked also to high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which, in turn affect the heart muscle:  some people with these conditions have been helped by increasing their Calcium intake through diet and additional Dolomite supplements.

Adequate Calcium intake is thought to help prevent sunburn and skin cancer.

Milk is the best food source for calcium, although many people have an intolerance to milk. There is a link between protein and calcium absorption:  It could be that some high protein diets consume large amounts of calcium in the digestion process, thereby robbing the body of the  dietary calcium in Vitamin C-rich fruits and vegetables. But the reason could very well be that people who consume large amounts of animal pretein simply do not eat enough of  the Vitamin C-rich, magnesium-rich, fresh fruit and vegetables.
It has been found that vegetarians process the calcium from their food better than  those meat-eaters do, which is perhaps why vegans, who often do not take any meats or dairy products,  still manage to maintain
healthy calcium levels. Vegans and vegetarians  might also be inclined to use Dolomite powder as a supplement: this is highly concentrated in Calcium and Magnesium.
However, Dolomite should be used in moderation, as it sometimes contains traces of lead and asbestos.

The RDA, or recommended daily allowance  of Calcium is 800 mg daily, but this amount seems conservative in the light of several studies which show that a higher intake of calcium does protect against many diseases:
Peope who have an abundant intake of calcium-rich foods in their diets tend to have less colon cancer than those whose intake of calcium  is less than 800 milligrams daily: Of course, the lower rate of colon cancer in this group would also be attributable to the high-fiber content in the foods which are high in calcium, with the exception of milk and cheese.

It is recommended that you try to have more than 1000 milligrams  of calcium daily, half of which should come from your high fiber greens, to help prevent colon cancer.

Expectant and breastfeeding mothers and growing teenagers need a minimum of 1300 mg daily.

You get 600 mg of Calcium per every 2 cups of milk which you drink – nearly the RDA of Calcium. However,for those who
cannot take milk, there are many other excellent sources of calcium which rate very well in their calcium content:
Dolomite powder is the richest source of calcium, beating milk by far. One teaspoon of Dolomite equals 2500 mg of calcium, which, on its own,  would give you more than the needed recommended daily allowance.

One cup of cooked broccoli yields about 160 mg of Calcium. If your meal were to include 3/4 cup of baked beans, then you would have another 80 mg of easily-digested Calcium.

All the brassica family contain high amounts of calcium:   These are: brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, and that trojan of vegetables,  broccoli.
Parsley is high in Calcium and in other minerals and vitamins.
It is easy to see how you can make up your calcium intake just from eating healthy, calcium-rich, ,magnesium-rich  vegetables.
Adding Dolomite powder to a meal ensures that your Calcium intake is more than adequate.
You might like to try the home-made calcium and magnesium-rich tonic made from egg shells:  see the recipe below.

If your diet is too rich in fats (but we DO need fats – it is best to eat a range of the different fats, but of course, in moderation),  or you eat a diet high in protein, or grains, cocoa/chocolate, spinach/silverbeetsoy bean products, then you need to increase your broccoli-brussels sprouts-cabbage intake.

These foods listed directly above can impair your calcium absorption if other foods are not used  to compensate Calcium lost through the digestion of these foods.

Cocoa, spinach and silverbeet contain high amounts of oxalic acid
This latches on to Calcium in the body, robbing it of some food Calcium. However, the effect of oxalic acid in some food items,  such as silver beet
and spinach,  can be negated if you eat baked beans and an egg with these foods, or some oily fish, or follow the meal with some fresh fruit,
a glass of milk, either dairy milk, or soy milk, or a nut milk such as almond or cashew milk.

Remember to include Vitamin D in the diet if you are relying on vegetable sources for your intake of Calcium:
Vitamin D is necessary for the assimilation of Calcium in the body.

You can get Vitamin D from the sun’s rays directly falling onto your skin, and also by taking foods such as oily fish, cod liver oil, butter and eggs. Dolomite Powder, which has high concentrations of both Calcium and Magnesium, is usually enriched with Vitamin D to aid its absorption.

HOME- MADE:   CALCIUM-Rich, MAGNESIUM-Rich  TONIC:
Crumble the dry egg shells of two free range eggs into a small glass jar. Cover with apple cider vinegar and leave the mixture for 24 hours. Keep  it in the fridge so that it does not spoil.  Take a teaspoonful morning and night, or more if you have a condition such as osteoporosis where
you need to take more than a maintenance dose. The acid in the vinegar is neutralized by the calcium in the egg shell, and so the  combination should not upset those delicate stomachs which cannot normally take cider vinegar.