Tag: vitamin c

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‘

Importance of Copper

COPPER is important in the daily diet. The importance of Copper cannot be underestimated, as copper has many functions. Some of the functions of copper are discussed below, to give some idea about the effect of copper on the body and the brain.

Copper is essential for the absorption of iron in the body. Copper also  helps to form strong red blood cells which prevent you from becoming anaemic.
Healthy blood cells prevent fatigue.
Copper helps in the formation of bone and muscle tissue.
It helps build strong cartilage which aids the smooth functioning of the joints.

Copper helps to prevent osteoarthritis.
It helps to prevent osteoporosis, because it is instrumental in building good cartilage around the vertebrae along the spine.

Copper plays an important part in keeping the connective tissue healthy in the arteries, capilliaries and veins, hence it helps keep the heart healthy and also helps to prevent varicose veins.
Copper, along with Vitamin C,  is needed to combine collagen and elastin which form the connective tissue: these tissues are also used to form the brain, so keeping your copper levels maintained helps keep the brain healthy. It is important, therefore, for expectant mothers to ensure that they have plenty of carrots in the diet, or some other food which is plentiful in copper.

Copper helps to regulate brain impulses. Good brain impulses are important for your memory function, and  for the discernment and judgement faculties of the brain.
It helps to keep the hair healthy and assists in maintaining your natural hair color.
It helps keep skin healthy and unblemished, as it aids in the pigmentation of the skin.
It helps keep the nervous system healthy and strong.

During pregnancy it is usual for Copper levels to increase within the body so that the new born child will have a plentiful supply through the mother’s milk.

In some women, the body continues to behave as if it is still nurturing an unborn child, and this can lead to excess copper levels, which can cause post-natal depression. Hormones in food and toxins in the environment can cause this deception.  Plenty of non-acidic Vitamin C – say 1000 mg morning and night for a few days, then cutting back to one 1000 mg dose in the evening, should help the problem. Extra zinc and magnesium are needed also, to counteract post-natal depression.

Taking the contraceptive pill can cause the body to mimick a pregnancy:
Escess copper: The birth control pill can cause a build up of Copper in women in amounts which are far in  excess of normal.  Symptoms can be erratic behaviour which mimic mental conditions such as schizophrenia and depression.
Extra Vitamin C, Zinc and Magnesium are needed to counteract an excess of Copper in the body.

If you take the contraceptive pill, then you need to take supplements of  Vitamin C, and zinc and magnesium..
If you are pregnant, than Vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables, and those which contain Zinc and Magnesium should be included as part of the daily diet. Onions and garlic and Vitamin C foods help to balance out excesses of minerals and help to negate the effect of, and eliminate, toxins from the blood.

A good free-range diet is best for expectant mothers. Taking vitamin and mineral supplements can be helpful, but you should try to get your nourishment from eating good food.

Pre menstrual women can become deficient in copper. This can cause sleeping problems, with insomnia, or broken sleep
Deficiency of copper can result in fatigue: since copper is needed to assimilate iron, then anaemia can result if copper levels are low, and this contributes to mental and body fatigue. It is recommended that two milligrams of copper be taken each day to help prevent these problems during the menopausal  and post-menopausal times of life.
If you are taking extra zinc supplements, then you probably need to take extra copper daily as well, as
zinc tends to rob the body of some copper. One milligram of copper to 10 milligrams of zinc is recommended.

SMOKERS NEED MORE COPPER;
Smokers and alcohol users may need to improve their copper intake: copper helps to repair the damage done by smoking. Smoking causes the endothelial cells which line the inside of the blood vessels to become damaged. When these become damaged, which happens because of smoking or having  high blood cholesterol,  these damaged areas can build up cholesterol plaque and form blood clots.  Copper helps to heal this damage, along with Vitamins B6, B12, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Folic acid.
If you are a beer drinker, then your copper intake should be adequate, as one pint of beer apparently  contains about 600 mcg.

As discussed above, regarding post-natal depression, too much copper in the body can be just as harmful to the health as insufficient copper.  Sometimes abnormally high levels of copper in the blood can result  by drinking water which has come from copper pipes, or by drinking bore water which is unusually high in copper. This  can happen if you live near a copper mine.
Too much copper can cause arthritis,  high blood pressure,  heart attack and stroke.

Excess copper in the body  gives poor mental and emotional health:

Insomnia and anxiety can be symptoms of insufficient copper, and also of
excess copper in the body.
The contraceptive pill interferes with copper levels, and other mineral absorption.
People with an inherited condition called Wilson’s disease absorb too much copper into the liver.
Too much copper can also make children hyper-active and limit their attention span.
Supplementing the diet with foods rich in Vitamin C,  Zinc and Magnesium helps to balance out copper excesses.

COPPER – RDA 2-3 milligramms daily, or 2000-3000 mcg

Foods with Copper:

Lobster, crayfish, shrimps and oysters are naturally high in copper.

Avocado, and milk,  are extremely rich in copper.
Sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, almonds, nuts, mushrooms, the pulses:

beans and peas, the outer bran part of grains, egg yolk and red meats are  all good sources  of copper. Carrots are very high in copper.

Cocoa is also a good source or copper.

One cup of whole milk contains 500 mcg of copper
One cup of non-fat milk contains less copper than whole milk, with  only 100 mcg
One egg contains 150 mcg
One tablespoonful of butter contains 70 mcg
25 grammes of cheese contains 200 mcg
One cup of apple juice contains 500 mcg of copper
One avocado contains 800 mcg
One pear contains 300 mcg
An apple or a banana or a peach will give you 200 mcg – 600 mcg if you eat one of each
One cup of pure orange juice gives about 200 mcg
Half a cup of cooked prunes gives 200 mcg
About two cups of watermelon or rockmelon will give you about 200 mcg
One slice of wholemeal bread contains about 50 mcg
Half a cup of cooked brown rice gives about 200 mcg
Half a cup of peanuts gives about 220 mcg
Half a cup of cooked yams contain 600 mcg
One large mushroom has 125 mcg
One potato, cooked and eaten with its skin gives 150 mcg
1 kumara, also with the skin on, gives 200 mcg
100 gms of cooked liver gives 3000 mcg of copper
One tablespoon of wheatgerm has 180 mcg
One tablespoon of Brewer’s Yeast has 300 mcg
One tablespoon of Molasses has 300 mcg

Lupus Treatments

Some Natural Remedies To Help Lupus.

People with this condition need to be treated by a doctor or an alternative medical therapist. The suggestions given here could be discussed with your health professional.

Lupus is a condition which affects the immune system. Many people have a genetic weakness which predisposes them to getting the disease, but there is usually an outside trigger of an environmental or emotional nature which causes the immune system to become weakened dramatically, which, in turn, leads to the onset of the disease.

With lupus, the immune system literally goes hay-wire: instead of doing its job of attacking outside invaders, the immune system begins to also attack the cells within the body.  It is similar to cancer in this way.

One in every 2,000 women in the USA are thought to have lupus, either the more common systemic lupus erythematosus, or discoid lupus erythematosus, which causes skin problems.
The most common conventional treatment is with corticosteroid drugs. Prednisone, an anti-inflammatory drug, is commonly prescribed for lupus. Unfortunately, this drug has side effects: bone loss with eventual osteoporosis are just two conditions which are likely to occur with continued use of prednisone.
Aspirin, another anti-inflammatory drug, is sometimes successful in treating people who have only mild symptoms of the disease. This is less harmful than corticosteroid drugs in some respects, however, its blood-thinning capacity can cause problems too.  Internal haemorrhage and weakening of the arteries can result from taking aspirin over a long duration.
The taking of anti-inflammatory drugs can cause vitamin and mineral imbalances. Over time this can affect cholesterol levels, cause heart irregularities, which includes stroke and heart attack, give rise to hormonal imbalances,and cause stomach,liver and kidney problems.

However, Vitamin and mineral treatment, and a diet which eliminates problematic foods, has been shown to be effective in preventing a worsening of the disease, and in many cases, in restoring the body to a healthy condition again.
Nutritive therapy has been shown to be helpful, both for people who opt for a holistic, natural approach, as well asfor those who decide on an orthodox treatment for a lupus condition.

The essential aspects of treating lupus are through nutritional, environmental, and emotional means.
The key points are:

Maintain a nutritive diet.
 Avoid all dairy products, wheat and rye. Reducing sugar intake is recommended

Some health practitionersinclude dairy products in the lupus diet.

If you take dairy milk, it might be best to source out raw milk.  Goat’s milk is even better than cow’s milk. Unpasteurized, raw milk is often best for people with digestive difficulties of any kind.  Switching to raw milk often cures so-called asthma attacks, as it has with my own grandson.
Avoid all foods with additives such as chemical preservatives, colorings and flavorings.
Eat plenty of vegetable roughage to keep the elimination process working optimally. Roughage also helps toregulate cholesterol in the body, which is especially important for lupus sufferers, as they tend to have a higher incidence of heart disease than people without the condition. Roughage, roughage, and more roughage is the motto

.
Keep the home and work environment free of chemicals. The avoidance of insecticides, herbicides, petro-chemicals, brake fluid, paints and glues which contain formaldehyde, and other toxic chemicals, is imperative in preventing a worsening of the
condition.
It is also important that no dodgy cosmetics, face creams,hair dyes,nail polish etc, are used on the body.
Avoid Radiation and Electromagnetic Devices.  Choose a  home and work environment which do not expose you to excess amounts of radiation such as that which is emitted from high tension power lines, electricity transformers, and cell phone towers.

Cell phone use should also be minimised. Better not to use one at all, but if you do – do not sleep with it in the bedroom.  Same goes for your computer:  Put that in another room, well away from your sleeping area.  Do not spend long periods at a time on the computer.

Earth Yourself:  Make sure you walk barefoot on grass at some time during the day.  The damp dewey grass of the morning is best for earthing your body and drawing out excess magnetic energy.  If you do spend much time working in electrically-charged environments, such as on a computer, or in a high-wired office, then you need to do the barefoot thing – walking on grass – more often during the day.

Lying on the fresh grass in a nice park is also very good for the body’s function and the soul.  Excess magnetic energy and radiation is absorbed by the grass, and this benefits the health, both physically, emotionally, and mentally.
Get enough sleep  Keep the mind and body free of stress and anxiety;  Maintain a positive attitude.

Practice Yoga  on a daily basis for deep relaxation.  See my posts on how to do Yoga Nidra in the Satyananda Yoga tradition.  Not spooky at all – just an age-old relaxation technique which has been used for 1000’s of years in Indian yoga practices.  Most modern techniques for relaxation are based on the old yogic methods.

The Benefits of Fish and Fish Oil for Lupus Sufferers:
Fish, and fish oil, is helpful in treating auto-immune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis,Raynaud’s disease, psoriasis, and scleroderma.
Oily fish, and fish oil supplements, have been shown to be highly effective in reducing lupus-related inflammation within the body.
Fish oil was found to benefit some people who were also taking aspirin supplements to suppress lupus-related inflammation. However, it might be worth a try to do without the aspirin whilst you pull out hammer and tongs to strengthen the immune system naturally with a nutritive diet rich in fish.

Eating some oily fish like mackerel, tuna, salmon, and sardines every day is recommended for people with lupus.

Suggested Vitamins and Minerals For Treating Lupus
The anti-oxidants Vitamins C, E, and Selenium are important for lupus sufferers.Talk to your medical adviser about these supplements.
Vitamins C and E, whilst helping the body to rid itself of toxins, are helpful in reducing inflammation. These two vitamins also help prevent heart disease, which is an important consideration for the lupus sufferer.

Vitamin C:
At least 1,000 mg daily of calcium ascorbate, or Ester C, are recommended.Up to 4,000 mg of Vitamin C can be taken in divided doses throughout the day. 1000 mg daily is a reasonable, moderately high dose for most people.

I find that 3000 -4000mg per day, divided into doses of 1000 mg, is a good amount for treating chronic conditions and degenerative disease of any kind.
If you wish, you could divide your doses up into several of 500 mg. Vitamin C is not retained in the body, so it is a safe one to take in larger amounts.

Vitamin A, or Beta-carotene:
25,000 international units daily of Vitamin A can be helpful in treating lupus.Much of this amount can be gotten from your foods:
Eat plenty of Vitamin A rich foods like carrots, pumpkin, apricots, mangoes, in fact, any orange or yellow-
colored fruit or vegetable, supplies you with Vitamin A. A daily glass of carrot juice, obtained from organically grown carrots, will provide you with ample Vitamin A.

Vitamin E:
NOTE: Do not take ANY Vitamin E if you are taking blood thinning drugs such as aspirin, or any other anti-coagulant. It is dangerous to combine Vitamin E with anti-coagulants.
Up to 1,000 international units of Vitamin E can be taken daily if you are not on any medications already, however, 600 international units daily is a more reasonable, moderate dose.

Ask your doctor or naturopath if you should increase your Vitamin E intake.

Vitamin D
400 international units of Vitamin D daily can be helpful for lupus sufferers. Extra Vitamin D will help your
assimilation of calcium, which is an important consideration for the maintenance of bone density.
Egg yolks, milk,butter and fatty fish such as salmon, are the best sources of Vitamin D.

Calcium
Lupus sufferers need to keep high levels of calcium and Vitamin D in their diets in order to prevent bone loss.
1,000 mg of Calcium is recommended for lupus sufferers. This can easily be gained from stirring a half teaspoon of dolomite powder into your carrot juice, or adding it to some other nutritious drink, or sprinkling it over your cooked vegetables.

Zinc.
15 milligrams daily is recommended. Much of this can be gotten from onions and garlic. A zinc tonic can be made by stewing the outer skins of two onions in two cups of water for an hour. Take off the stove and leave overnight before straining off the liquid and putting it in the fridge.

Take two teaspoonsful before food once or twice a day.

Selenium
Take care with selenium.
Up to 50 micrograms of selenium, taken daily, is considered therapeutic for the lupus sufferer. If you think you might consider taking a selenium supplement, then ask your naturopath or doctor for advice. Selenium is great for putting oxygen into the blood, and it is vital for our health. However, since we need such minute amounts of it, one can easily over-do selenium.

Digestive Enzymes

Coenzymes: These are very beneficial for anyone with weak digestion.  They help the pancreas and the liver, which are often deficient in important functions, and so they help you to digest your food better.  People suffering degenerative diseases of any kind may find Coenzymes very good.

Walter Last recommended these for cancer sufferers, and for all other people who had degenerative conditions such as Lupus, Cystic Fibrosis, Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Bromelain, derived from pineapple, may also be helpful as an aid to digestion.

Apples:  Raw, grated apple is a help to good digestion.  Eat your grated raw apple, skin and all, 20 minutes before your meals.  This helps the intestines by providing bulk and provides extra nutrients, such as Vitamin C and phytochemicals, which help fight cancer cells, and which aid digestion.  The mucilage in apples is very soothing to the stomach and bowel.

Homeopathic Remedies For Lupus

Some people have been completely cured of Lupus with the help of certain homeopathic remedies.  I will put up a post within the next few days on some of the treatments.

Colonic Cleansing or Enemas

As with any degenerative disease, results from natural therapies are better if the bowel is washed out with water occasionally.

Since Lupus sufferers have inadequate digestion, they usually have more toxins and mucous floating about in the intestines than people with healthy digestive systems.  So – if your condition is severe, then a daily enema might be a good thing.

Ginger Rogers, icon of the silver screen who famously partnered Fred Astaire, wizard of dance,  was once asked how she managed to keep he’r good looks for so long.  She dryly announced that it was ‘due to a daily enema’, and left it at that.

You can go to a colonic irrigation clinic to get it done professionally, or you can buy an enema kit and do the cleansing process yourself.

With a simple water enema, use warm water – around one pint and a bit for a start.  Add half a teaspoon of sea salt to the water.  Always lie down to wash out the bowel – if you stand up, then the water will not travel up and around the bowel.  Hold the water in for a few minutes, if comfortable.  Then release.  Walter Last recommends repeating the process until the expelled water is clean.  But even one douche of water will be helpful in removing toxic residues from the walls of the bowel.

Castor Oil and the Gerson Therapy For Cancer

This method would do wonders for Lupus sufferers, if they were to follow Gerson’s castor oil and enema method religiously.  Gerson always maintained that his castor oil, enema, raw food treatment worked for many cases of terminal cancer, it would work for any degenerative disease.

The basis of his method was raw food and juices, with more cooked vegetables being introduced gradually, as health improved.  One large bowl of porridge, eaten each morning with one grated apple, was the only cooked food to be used for the first few months.

See Merrilyn’s posts on healing with Dr Gerson’s cancer method.