Natural Remedies
Prevention of Breast Cancer
In ‘Natural Alternatives To Dieting’, author Dr Marilyn Glenville has quite a lot to say about the benefits of including GE-free soya in the diet.
Soya is cholesterol-free and a complete protein in itself. It is the only edible bean which contains all the eight essential amino acids, which makes it an ideal protein food for vegetarians. Soya is the perfect substitute for dairy milk.
Soya not only helps you to lose weight, it can help prevent cancer, says Dr Glenville.
She refers to research done recently: Japanese women, whilst they remain on their traditional diet which includes soya products such as tofu, miso, soy sauces, etc, have a low incidence of breast cancer, as well as minimal menopausal symptoms, and, I presume, lower obesity levels. Japanese women, though, do not have such good health when they move away from Japan and assume a western-style diet in America. Under these new conditions, rates of breast cancer increase dramatically.
Of course, there will be other beneficial foods in their traditional diet besides soya, such as fish and seaweed, which may account for their supreme good health. These may not be as abundant in the diet once the homeland has been left behind.
It also might be a trend, once in America, to switch from the healthy Japanese diet to one which includes plentiful dairy foods, wheat flour products, and meat, none of which are known for their ability to prevent cancer.
There is also the stress level to consider: Moving to a new place is supposed to be one of the most stressful conditions we might suffer, even more stressful than losing a loved one.
So, while it is probable that it is not just soya which prevents Japanese women from getting cancer, there is a scientific basis to the argument that soya has cancer-inhibiting properties.
According to Dr Glenville, soya contains a number of cancer-inhibitors, including a chemical similar to Tamoxifen, which is a pharmaceutical drug given for the treatment of oestrogen-caused breast cancers.
Soya beans’ phyto-oestrogens, genistein and daidzein, are just two of the several known to exist within the soya bean: These have a beneficial effect in that they inhibit cancer cells from developing in the breast. They somehow act to prevent the hormonal type of oestrogen, which is carcinogenic, from forming.
Japanese women eating a traditional diet rich in soya products have less breast cancers than their American counterparts. This correlates with the amount of phyto-oestrogens found in the urine: The Japanese who consumed a large amount of soy in the diet had 100-1,000 times more phtyo-oestrogens in their urine than their American counterparts.
It is interesting to note that Japanese men seem to benefit from eating plentiful amounts of soya products also. Whilst their rates of prostate cancer seem to be equivalent to those found in the UK, not so many Japanese men actually die of the disease.
Dr Glenville concludes that the phyto-oestrogens in soya products have ‘a balancing effect on hormones in both men and women’.
Natural Remedies
Culpeper says of Sage that it ’causes the hair to become black’.
Garden sage has many therapeutic uses.
In the garden, its flowers provide medicine and nectar for the bees, as well as a herbal tonic to the neighbouring plants.
It is well-known as an aid to oral hygiene. It has strong antiseptic qualities and is supposed to whiten tooth enamel.
Sage is still used today in some tooth-pastes. It is reputedly one effective remedy for bleeding gums, and improving gum health: The crushed fresh leaves are massaged several times a day onto the gums and teeth.
The tea is gargled to relieve sore throats, colds and flu, and ulcers in the mouth.
It can be effective to reduce fevers, and has been used in the past for thyphoid fever. (see ‘Herbal Remedies and Homeopathy’ published by Geddes and Grosset.)
It is a valuable nerve medicine, and is a useful stomach remedy for improving a weak appetite.
Natural Herbal Hair Dye and Tonic: Sage can help restore healthy hair and improve the colour.
Strong sage tea encourages hair growth and darkens the hair, if it is used on a regular basis. Many herbalists describe it in their writings: see John Heinerman’s ‘Encyclopedia of Fruits Vegetables and Herbs’.
Rosemary is another wonderful herb which can help hair growth, but it does not have such a darkening effect on the hair, as sage does.
Recipe For Sage Hair Dye: Here is a simple, natural hair dye and tonic which you can try. It is perfectly safe to use, as it does not contain any harmful additives such as you might find in commercial dyes for darkening the hair.
Take two cups of fresh sage leaves and put into a stainless steel saucepan.
Add one cup of dry black tea leaves
Add half a cup of cider vinegar and eight cups of water.
Simmer very gently, with no lid, for one hour on a very low heat. You should have around half the original quantity of liquid left at the end of an hour. If you need to add a little more water, make sure you do so well before you finish simmering the brew. If you add more water at the end of the simmering, then your mixture will not keep so well.
Take off the heat after an hour of simmering. Set aside to cool.
Once your sage mixture has cooled properly, strain it off.
To the liquid remaining add the same amount of vodka.
Put into a bottle with a screw-top lid and store in a cool place.
Massage around a tablespoonful of the sage infusion into the hair each day. Use more or less, depending on how much hair you need to cover.
Massage the sage tonic well into the roots of the hair as well, so that it feeds the scalp and hair follicles. Massaging the scalp with the sage tonic will help the hair to grow again.
The oils in the sage leaves will put a natural shine to the hair.
Once the hair is sufficiently darkened, which may take several weeks, you can reduce the amount of applications each week. Once or twice a week may be enough to maintain the darker colour.
Sage is really very good for the hair in so many ways.
Alternative Sage Tonic Without Alcohol: You could make up your sage tea without the alcohol if you wish. Only, remember that your mixture will not keep for longer than a week, and it must be kept in the fridge. You could make up a lesser amount, enough to last a week, and then make up a fresh brew of tea for the following week.
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