Tag: vitamin B

Giving Up Alcohol Vitamins

GIVING UP ALCOHOL – VITAMINS CAN HELP: If you have come to this site because you seriously wish to stop drinking, then I would say that you are halfway there to achieving your goal. Recognizing that one has a problem begins the process whereby we get on to fixing it. We visualize ourselves as we wish to be – a non-drinker. The next step is to begin examining and trying methods which might help us achieve our goal.

For me, finally, there was only one route which I knew I had to take if I was to survive, and that was through the well known body of people who devote themselves to their own sobriety and to helping others give up the booze. (I don’t think I am permitted to quote the organization) However, whether or not you choose to follow a similar path to my own, there is no doubt that in giving up alcohol, vitamins can be of enormous value.

In aiding recovery from any addiction, I would put Vitamin C in the form of a non-acidic type such as calcium ascorbate powder, or Ester C, at the top of my list. Vitamin B would come very close to this. But I think Vitamin C in the above mentioned forms is highly recommended because of its multiple benefits to the person giving up alcohol. The non-acidic types of Vitamin C enable you to take large quantities without your stomach acids being upset at all.

Large doses of Vitamin C are beneficial for the person giving up alcohol, as this helps you cope with anxiety and stress while you are making the adjustment to living without alcohol: Vitamin C in 1000mg doses also works as a sedative and a pain-killer.  It is therefore of great value in giving up addictions. A dose of 1000mg morning and night will help in the general scheme of things  in giving up alcohol- you should sleep better, also, if you take the second (or third) dose for the day in the evening. Don’t worry if your bowel motions are on the loose side to begin with: this is beneficial for the body initially, as many toxins will be expelled via the Vitamin C.  After a few days, you can reduce the amount slightly so that the bowel motions become more normal. You might decide that only the one dose at night-time, to help sleep as well as detoxify, is necessary.

Remember to drink plenty of WATER . Alcohol lovers often drink nothing else except the booze, or coffee, and become used to being dehydrated. Being dehydrated causes another stress in the body and brain which could lead to your succumbing again to a drink of booze, apart from the possibility of damaging your kidneys, liver, and limiting your brain power. You need more water whilst you are giving up alcohol; Vitamins C and B supplements, and indeed all supplements, need extra water for their efficient assimilation.

Vitamin C also helps the body achieve an alkaline state: an acidic body which results from eating too much processed food, dairy products, wheat flour products like bread and pastries and animal protein, bring about an acidic condition in the body. An acidic body creates a stress on the vital organs and the brain, and so you are more likely to want to drink alcohol or take some pacifier which will alleviate this if your body is in an acidic condition. Vitamin C such as calcium ascorbate in 1000mg doses will help you very quickly to restore an alkaline state to the body.

In giving up alcohol, vitamins such as Vitamin C must be supplemented with a good alkaline diet to obtain the best results, the main goal being to create a favourable state of mind and body so that you can make the transition easily. Limit your intake of all acid forming foods such as meats, dairy products, and wheat and sugar. Maximize your intake of foods such as all raw and cooked greens, sprouted grains and seeds like mung beans and alfalfa, which are very alkaline forming, use brown rice when you can to replace wheat products, olive oil to replace butter if you can afford it, raw egg yolk from free range chickens (2 a day – but not the white, as this is acid forming and mucous forming). Eat fruit, but do not overdo, otherwise you may still be overdoing the sugar content in your diet. This brings us to the problem of hypoglycaemia:

Hypoglycaemia,which is, in layman’s terms, the rocketing of blood sugar levels which drop drastically leaving you feeling tired and listless, can be the reason people are drawn to drinking excessively. Alcohol contains a lot of sugar. The hypoglycaemic problem can easily be disguised by taking another drink, as this makes sugar readily available to the body: It is absorbed very quickly into the blood stream. This is a contributing factor in the classic hang-over: your blood sugar is extremely low.  You feel dreadful. You don’t feel right again until you take another drink: bingo. You feel OK again, because you have just had an enormous hit of sugar, but meanwhile the problem is worsening. Hypoglycaemia leads, in many cases, to diabetes, because in the end, the adrenal glands cannot cope with the state of affairs, that is, surviving on a diet of excessive sugar. If you let yourself get to this chronic state of ill-health, then it is very likely you will be forced to give up alcohol anyway. Far better that you are giving up alcohol willingly before this dire situation arises.

If you think you might be hypoglycaemic, with rocketing blood sugar levels contributing to your being addicted to the bottle, then you need to follow the above dietary advice, the ‘Giving up alcohol Vitamins’ included. You also need to be especially careful not to fall into the trap of drinking sweetened bottled drinks to substitute alcohol. You can become addicted to these also.  Apart from the fact that they might cause you to gain weight, the high sugar content and low nutritional value in such drinks will not help you to stabilize your blood sugar levels and will not help you regain your health.

The hypoglycaemic needs to eat small amounts of healthy food throughout the day in order to establish an unfluctuating blood sugar level. As long as you avoid dairy products, wheat and sugar, you won’t get fat. You will also need to limit your intake of fruit until your blood sugar levels remain more constant. Definately avoid bread and other wheat products, and use brown rice instead, with olive oil added to the meal. Eat lots of greens, raw and cooked, and a reasonable amount of protein.  A vegetarian approach which draws its protein source from raw egg yolk, 2 a day, avocado and almonds and nuts is excellent. Great quantities of meat are best avoided, but a nice, balanced meal which includes some protein, meat if you wish, some raw food and some rice, should be the aim at every meal. When you begin to improve, you can introduce more fruit into your diet. I find, having been in this very situation myself, that fruit mixed with a protein food like soya milk, almonds and a couple of raw egg yolks, all blended up together, produces an easily palatable drink which does not affect the blood sugar level adversely. This is because protein and fats help the sugar in the fruit to be assimilated more slowly and gently into the bloodstream so that you don’t experience the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome.

If you are giving up alcohol, vitamins such as Vitamin B Complex, and the minerals zinc and magnesium are also very important. Vitamin B is another vitamin which helps you to manage stress effectively. The stress from giving up alcohol can be overwhelming in the beginning of your self-treatment. Vitamins C and B can be so effective that they can substitute, in many cases, the need to take a palliative drug in order to cope with the stress.

The minerals zinc and magnesium, which you can usually buy as a combination, do wonders for restoring the body’s ability to process carbohydrates. They help prevent the blood sugar levels from rocketing too much, and this, in turn, makes you feel less like taking an alcoholic drink which is charged with sugar.

Evening Primrose oil has been found to be helpful for many people, or St John’s Wort. Take care NOT to overdose on these herbal supplements. If you are taking zinc, magnesium and B complex as well, I would recommend taking a lesser amount then the stated dose of these herbs. You can create a stress in the body by suddenly putting into it a variety of foreign substances such as vitamins and minerals. Be moderate. Vitamins C and B, Zinc and magnesium are ESSENTIALS. You can use larger quantities of Vitamin C than is stated, but do not exceed the stated dose on anything else.

Breathing Exercises for Deep Relaxation are very important in giving up alcohol. See my post to ‘Maximize Your Prana Intake’ and ‘Yoga Nidra’. Good breathing practice is as important as diet and vitamins in the wholistic approach towards regaining health. Good breathing practice helps you cope with anxiety, lowers stress and oxygenates the body and brain. Do look at these posts – and one which includes breathing for better sleep.

If you faithfully try to do your best using all the above measures, you will surely succeed in giving up alcohol. Best wishes.

Curing Candida

Candida albicans is a naturally occuring organism which lives in the intestines. When the body becomes too acid, or becomes toxic because of effete matter congested in the bowel, candida albicans can overgrow. This tips the delicate balance of intestinal flora so that the favourable organisms get outnumbered, with candida albicans dominating the field.

See Merrilyn’s post: http://merrilynhope.com/roundup-herbicide-causes-severe-candidiasis/

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Candida can also take over when the immune system has been shocked. Emotional shock, or environmental shock such as sudden exposure to harmful chemicals, or radiation from  X rays, can weaken the immune system drastically and kill off the organisms which we need in order to digest food properly. On-going radiation such as that emitted from electrical transformers,  cell phones and overhead high tension wires can also kill the beneficial organisms in the bowel as quickly as pesticides and herbicides can and do.

Chemicals in the environment can cause candida overgrowth.

A deficiency of vitamins and minerals can cause candida overgrowth.

An acidic diet with lack of green vegetables and vitamin c rich foods can cause candida.

The symptoms of candida infection are many and varied. You might get one or many of the following: migraines, constipation, loose bowel movements, nausea, dizziness, lethargy, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, sinus trouble, bone pain, nerve pain, arthritic swelling, heart palpitations, insomnia, memory loss, allergies, eczema or depression.

The candida diet is interchangeable with the diet for hypoglycaemia. The idea is to keep the blood sugar regulated without it fluctuating dramatically, hence the accent on avoiding sugar and all foods which have a high sugar content, or are converted to sugars too quickly.

The candida diet is very simple, but you need to exercise a great deal of perseverance in order to get well. This is because, initially, after following the diet for a week or two, you will begin to feel much better. This can cause you to believe you are recovered, which in turn can lead one to lapse on the diet and allow sugars or other problematic foods into the diet. This can set the health back severely, as the candida albicans will race away again at the reintroduction of sugar into the diet. This will result in a rampant candida infection which will require all your best and concentrated efforts to overcome.  The diet therefore is as demanding as that modelled for treating cancer patients -generally, you need to stick at it for at least six months, by which time the immune system  should be much strengthened, and you might be ready to introduce other foods into the diet, like fresh fruit in moderation, and other grains like  barley, oatmeal and rye.

The ALKALINE MAINENANCE DIET FOR CURING CANDIDA is as follows:

The aims – keep the body alkaline, keep the body detoxifying.To do these things,the bulk of the diet should consist mainly of raw green vegetables. Cooked greens such as broccoli can be added to the diet after an initial cleansing period.

No sugar at all

No alcohol at all

No wheat flour products, including bread. Use brown rice in moderation instead of wheat flour. Eat this with alkaline greens, raw and cooked, and olive oil or butter, plus some protein. Millet and buckwheat may be eaten after you have brought the infection under control by following the alkaline maintenaance diet outlined here. Eat the millet or buckwheat  with oils or butter and almonds.  Don’t forget to eat some salad greens either with the grain, or directly afterward.

Eat a green salad with EVERY meal. Never eat food without something raw. Mung bean sprouts are very good, but must be fresh, as yeasts begin to grow on the sprouts after a few days. Wash them well in salted water before using. Other beans and peas can be sprouted. Eat these with protein foods and butter or a good quality oil like olive oil.

No dairy products, except for butter. Fresh, raw goat’s milk might bo good to use at a later date when you have recovered, but for the meantime, no milks.

Use olive oil, almond oil, avocado oil or butter every day. Candida thrives on a diet which excludes these good quality oils and proteins. Oils and butter slow down the aborption of converted sugars into the bloodstream and nourish the nervous system.

No foods containing yeasts.Vinegar is the main thing to watch out for, as it is in many products. avoid: vinegar, alcohol, soya sauce, tomato sauce, chutneys, vegemite, as all these are made with yeast. Eating any food with yeast in it will cause the candida infection to recur. This includes all breads, unless you make an unleavened bread out of something other than wheat, but this is best left until you have recovered and can more safely experiment.

Keep off fruits until you are better. Raw celery is best used as a substitute for fruits, as it is excellent for treating cnadida. This is because it is very alkaline. It  has an antiseptic effect whilst providing roughage which cleans the walls of the bowel. It is good also for cleansing the blood, strengthening the bones and providing iron.

Protein can be taken from a variety of sources, animal and vegetable. Vegetable proteins include:

Almonds. These are especially good, and some should be eaten every day. Avocados are easy to digest and rich in oil which is needed to combat candida. Make sure they are not over-ripe, as they will be harbouring yeasts which will encourage the candida to grow if they are over-ripe. If chemical poisoning has occurred and your immune system is still very weak, you might need to avoid avodacos for some time.

Sprouted grains and beans. These need to be very freshly sprouted. It is important to rinse them well several times a day. Keep in the fridge once sprouted, and keep no more than two or three days. If you have a rampant candida infection, then you will need to wait before introducing any sprouted grains and beans into the diet. Use plenty of celery in this last case.

Animal protein: Two raw egg yolks can be eaten per day instead of eating meat. These must be from an organic, free-range source. Do not eat the white of the egg, as this can cause mucous problems and is hard to digest.

If you follow the alkaline diet, avoid wheat, dairy foods and sugar COMPLETELY, your colesterol will not be affected by eating just two free range egg YOLKS daily. This  practice is very good for the health, as egg yolk contains lecithin which helps the liver in the absorbtion of fats and is rich in iron, Vitamin E and other goodies.

Lean meat can be used in moderation – several times a week.

Try to eat a small can of sardines once a day and eat the oil with it. This is a good source of iodine and calcium as well as protein, all of which are needed to overcome candida infection.

Eat GARLIC with every meal. This prevents candida from taking over.

SEA SALT can be used dissolved in water and used as a mouth rinse after meals. This inhibits candida growth in the mouth. Just half a teaspoonful in half a cup of water is enough.

ACIDOPHILUS tablets or powder can be used. Avoid taking yoghurt which has acidophilus, as yoghurt is not only a milk product, but is a fermented food which can start candida  infection again.

ENEMAS are very important to help you recover quickly. These are needed, especially in the initial stages of detoxification, as many poisons will be eliminated. These can make you feel worse if they are not taken away quickly from the bowel, as they get reabsorbed through the bowel walls and into the blood. Taking enemas will prevent this type of auto-intoxication.

I had the good fortune to meet Walter Last in 1976, and to gain from his insights. This was after my family and I had been aerial sprayed with 245T in the previous year. After the blackberry surrounding our house had been sprayed by helicopter that day, we grew very sick. When my unborn child arrived, she could barely breathe. She died three months later in the hospital where she was being treated for an unidentified illness, although, strangely enough, she died not directly from the 245T poisoning, but from another kind of poisoning – an overdose of ventalin which a 14 year old nurse aid administered. A test tube full of ventalin syrup was poured down my baby’s throat as I watched, dumbfounded, unable to reach her before the act was done. She suffered heart failure within half an hour which resulted in brain damage. One month later, after we had been whisked away by the authorities to another hospital, more or less to get away from the scene of the crime, I felt, she died.

Six months later, my two year old son and I were no better. I had suffered asthma-like breathing from the time the spraying was done, with enormous fever. My son had chronic eczema. This is when a friend from Whangarei suggested I see Walter Last.

Walter recognized the candida yeast condition, and researched it, long before others began to write about it. He gave me a handout on his findings about the the mysterious organism which he thought was responsible for 60% or 70% of the ailments of the New Zealanders whom he was treating at the time.

The methods outlined above are modelled, more or less, on Walter’s prescription for recovery- including the enema.

At first, I followed Walter’s programme religiously, except for one thing – the ENEMA. I thought it would not make a lot of difference, as long as I was thorough about everything else he advised me to do.  Not so – after initial recovery within the first two or three weeks, I suddenly grew extremely sick. We made the journey back to Walter’s clinic. He did a quick iris diagnosis which took all of about half a minute of gazing into my eye, then he angrily said:

‘You have not been taking the enemas I told you to do. If you don’t do what I tell you to, then don’t bother coming back’, and he thrust an enema kit into my hands, charged me for the kit and the consultation, and sent me packing. There was nothing else to do except use it, as no further help would come from Walter until I did exactly as he said. This was the turning point in my recovery.

EXERCISE  ENJOYMENT AND SUNSHINE  Remember to enjoy the sunshine and the outdoors. You need sunshine on the body for good health. Sun-bathe for about 10 or 15 minutes every day. Sun-bathing is best done before 10AM and after 4PM in the summer. It is important not to get burnt. Take country walks, walks on the beach, walks in the bush. Swimming in sea water is very healing and is especially good for helping to cure candida. Rinse the mouth out with the salt water and rinse the sinus passages while you are swimming. Light jogging or skipping is very good also. Anything which speeds up the heart rate a bit is good – candida tends to thrive in people with low blood pressure. Yoga practice is very good – even if you choose just three or four exercises to do each day.

Breathing exercises are good. Yoga Breath, and also the post on Maximize Your Prana Intake.

Deep relaxation should be practiced every day: read my post on Yoga Nidra

Vitamins for Hair Growth

Vitamin and Mineral Supplements are very useful in helping to maintain, or to regain, good health. We are fortunate that we can buy these at most supermarkets and health food stores, and we pray that this situation may long continue. The best vitamins for hair growth are outlined below, with that king of minerals, zinc, and his trusty retainers, magnesium and silica.

Vitamin B Complex

Vitamin B is important for good digestion. It is important to have enough of this in the diet for us to be able to deal with stress. If we are deficient in Vitamin B, then stress related conditions like eczema and hypoglycemia can result, with a lowering of normal stress levels. This can, of course, result in the hair falling or thinning.

Falling hair is a sure sign that your diet and your life style need adjustment. While you are working on improving the state of these things, it is a good idea to take a Vitamin B complex supplement to give your health a boost so that you may recover both your health and your hair more quickly.

Vitamin B is a priority for hair growth. Take the maximum dose on a daily basis to improve the health of your hair.

Vitamin C

This is needed especially if you are not eating enough fresh fruit, but Vitamin C is good for overall health as it helps in the assimilation of other vitamins and works as an antioxidant.  It also helps in maintaining good skin tone. The scalp is skin, and so it benefits by having an adequate supply of Vitamin C in the diet.

Vitamin C helps enormously in our ability to cope with stress. Take ester C, or calcium ascorbate at night to help you sleep well.

If your health is below par and your hair is showing signs of falling out, then taking 1000 mgs morning and night will help.  Start with just 1000 mg in the morning. After a few days,  build up the dosage by taking again at night. Cut back to just the evening dose if your bowel motions remain disturbed.

Vitamin C also aids digestion. Good digestion means you will absorb more of the nutrients which you are eating in your food, which, in turn, helps to build up good health and strengthen the immune system.

Vitamin C works as an antiseptic and a healer. It is also a  mild sedative, so this should help you to sleep well if you take a dose at night-time. Loose bowel motions can occur initially, but do not worry. This is just your insides  clearing themselves of debris. Drink extra water to help with the cleansing process.

Halibut Liver Oil

This contains high amounts of Vitamins A and D. Both these vitamins, taken in the fish oil, help the growth of nice, healthy, shiny hair. Take the maximum dose each day if you are working on hair which is thinning.

I took slightly more than the stated dose when I needed the benefit of Halibut Liver Oil Vitamins, but I cannot recommend this practice to people reading my article. Especially when any of the family had a chest infection, I doubled the dose, but for one or two doses only, as that was all that was needed to beat most infections. After that, I would return to a maintenance dose about twice weekly.

Best to take this in the morning, as Halibut Liver Oil  might interfere with your sleep if taken too late in the day.

Zinc and Magnesium

The above list of Vitamins for Hair Growth should be helpful to all those who are building their health in order to have better hair.

But the supplements Zinc and Magnesium  must be mentioned in this article. These two minerals are highly important for recovering your health and your hair. It is best if you take the full set of recommended vitamins, rather than just buying these, but if you are on a budget and can only afford ONE vitamin, then get the combination which has both of these.

Zinc helps you cope with stress. A deficiency of zinc and magnesium could result in your having thin hair, or hair which is falling rapidly.

Zinc helps in the digestion of carbohydrates, so it is especially important for anyone with allergies, or anyone who suffers from hypoglycaemia.These conditions can cause the hair to fall out. A diet low in sugar is needed. It is best to avoid wheat and dairy products if you think you might be sensitive to these. Upping your zinc intake is sometimes all that is needed to improve digestion of these foods.

Zinc is low in New Zealand soils, so most N Zers need an extra boost of zinc with magnesium at least once a week. If your hair is thinning, then you should take a daily amount of the recommended dose. Do not ever take more than the stated dose.

Because our food is lacking in these minerals which creates  a need for NZers   to buy these supplements , it seems a crime that drug companies are driving to get the monopoly on sales.

Zinc with Magnesium should be the first mineral  supplement to the diet if one has thinning hair.

Silica is an essential mineral for the health of the hair. You can buy homeopathic silica in what are known as ‘cell salts’. But the easiest way which you can help your hair in its requirements of silica is to eat a bowl of oatmeal porridge every day.  OR you can drink oat straw tea, which is especially high in silica. Comfrey tea is also high in silica……….

Comfrey Tea – for internal and external use

A good natural way to get a high count of minerals and vitamins into the body to benefit the hair is to take comfrey tea on a regular basis. Two leaves simmered in a pint of water will give you a tea which is high in silica. This helps the growth of hair, nails, teeth and bones. It helps heal liver and intestines and skin conditions like ezcema. Take a small cupful morning and night. Keep the remainder in the fridge for up to two days, then make a fresh lot if you haven’t finished the first brew.

Comfrey Hair Rinse:  The same brew can be used, once it has cooled, to put through the hair after washing. If you are making a special brew for use on the hair, then you could make the mixture slightly stronger by adding a 3rd leaf to the pot. The silica in the sliminess of the leaf really makes the hair shine beautifully. It also helps heal the scalp to prevent dandruff.

Comfrey supplements in tablet form, if you can get them, and shampoos and soaps with added comfrey, are a good idea. But nothing beats the effects of the fresh herb, brewed up for 5 or 10 minutes, taken as a tea and/or applied as a hair rinse.

Apple Cider Vinegar:   This is great for promoting hair growth. If you apply it after using soap or shampoo, then the alkaline effect from these products is negated. Apple cider vinegar is rich in potassium and other minerals and vitamins which nourish the scalp. It is best not to use iodine on the scalp right away if you have rubbed apple cider vinegar into it. The two do not combine well. Wait for the following day after the application of cider vinegar to apply any iodine to the scalp.

It is best not to take apple cider vinegar internally on a regular basis if you have falling or thinning hair. This is because candida albicans is a problem with many people, and this condition can contribute to hair loss. Putting the apple cider vinegar onto the hair when it is still wet will feed the hair follicles directly. This shouldn’t cause problems with candida unless you are in the early stages of recovery. Use about a dessertspoonful of apple cider vinegar for one treatment. Don’t wash it off.

If you found this article informative you may also be interested merrilyn’s update: Best Vitamins For Hair Growth.  The posts entitled  Regrow Hair; and Iodine scalp/Hair Remedy have more ideas for improving hair growth.