The liver is one of the body’s most important organs. It is responsible for cleaning the blood of impurities, aiding in digestion, and is essential in the process of waste elimination. Toxins build up in the liver and gallbladder and are eliminated into the colon. That is, if everything is functioning normally. You can imagine that a damaged liver can result in an excess accumulation of toxins and waste in your blood, intestines, and your entire system.
Gallstones are the result of years of blockages and calcification of bile that clog the liver and gallbladder, and even the bile ducts through which they release their wastes. Just about every adult has gallstones. They range in size from smaller than a pea to as big as a golf ball. They vary in number from a few to several thousand. Gallbladder operations are one of the most common surgical procedures in the United States.
What does that tell us? If nothing else, it tells us that liver and gallbladder health is essential to our overall health and wellbeing. In fact, liver detoxification can help our digestion, increase our ability to remove harmful toxins (which cause all sorts of maladies from premature aging to chronic fatigue), and give us more energy and vitality.
<strong>Symptoms of Poor Liver Health</strong>
Symptoms of poor liver health include chronic fatigue, nausea, loss of appetite, yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice), fever, and dark colored urine. Other symptoms include rapid weight gain (poor bile production means poor fat elimination), obesity, and increased allergies. In a reaction to an overload of toxins and lack of nutritional support, the liver often expands and becomes “fat.” Fatty liver is often associated with obesity, starvation, and alcohol abuse. If the liver continues to decline, diseases such as Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), colitis, and even cancer may result.
<strong>What Causes Poor Liver Health</strong>
The most common enemy of the liver is excess alcohol consumption. The liver can only keep up with a certain amount of toxins entering the body, and alcohol has a tendency to go straight to the blood— therefore heavily taxing the liver in its effort to clean the blood. If the liver is overloaded with toxins from alcohol, then it can’t perform its duties very well in removing heavy metals from our blood.
Poor diet is also a cause of poor liver health. Too much fat in our diet interferes with the proper bilerelated functions of the liver and gallbladder. This causes the system to ineffectively eliminate the fats, which puts more pressure on the liver, and so on. The cycle continues until obesity and other problems occur.
Not only the type of food, but the quality of the foods you eat affects the liver. Foods that are laced with toxins from preservatives or artificial additives will force the liver to work harder. Toxicity from extended use of drugs (pharmaceutical or otherwise) takes a heavy toll on the liver.
<strong>Treatments to Support the Liver</strong>
While eating good foods and avoiding bad ones is certainly important in liver health, most people want more specific detail about how to clean their liver and get it back to normal working order.<ul> <li>To best support the liver, your diet should be high in antioxidants. Eat plenty of deepcolored berries, fruits, and vegetables. Foods with carotenoids, such as carrots, papaya, and peaches, are especially good for the liver, as are apples and apple juice.</li> <li>The antioxidant selenium is recommended for liver support. Sources include Brazil nuts, kelp, garlic, onions, and brewer’s yeast.</li> <li>Avoid saturated fats and be sure to get plenty of essential fatty acids from olive oil, flaxseed oil, and sesame oil. Other great sources include fish oils, such as cod liver oil.</li> <li>Studies show that B vitamins strengthen the liver, especially riboflavin and niacin.</li> <li>Take milk thistle extract, olive leaf extract, and dandelion root. Another excellent herb for blood cleansing is burdock root. Artichokes also help support the liver.</li> <li>Eat plenty of alfalfa, known for its positive effects on blood cholesterol levels and bile functions of the liver.</li> <li>Stop excessive drinking, smoking and drug use (including pharmaceutical drugs).</li></ul><strong>Other Considerations</strong>
Lipoic acid, known as LA or alphalipoic acid (ALA), is shown to have chelating qualities, blood and liver purification characteristics, and is high in antioxidants. It also can help stimulate other antioxidants in the system. It enhances insulin sensitivity and glucose response to insulin, and may be an aid to diabetes mellitus patients. You can get LA supplements without prescription and should take them on an empty stomach. Food sources of LA include spinach, broccoli, tomatoes and Brussels sprouts.
The synthetic chemical SAMe is said to have curative effects on the liver, including detoxification, which may help explain its antidepressant effects (clean your liver, clean your mood). SAMe is a synthetic form of a chemical produced naturally in our bodies (mostly in our intestines) and therefore not a natural cure. However, it is presently sold as a dietary supplement. Although promising, much more information is needed on this substance.
Finally, the chemical compound EDTA is a known chelating agent, binding to heavy metal ions in the blood and liver and removing them through the urine and feces. It binds to metals like lead, mercury, aluminum, silver, calcium, manganese, copper, iron, and zirconium. This is a powerful and effective chelating agent, known and used for more than 50 years, that your doctor will never tell you about!
Archive for the ‘Natural Health’ Category
Liver & Gallbladder Health
Kidney Stones
The pain caused by passing a kidney stone is infamous. But worse things can happen. Kidney stones are crystallized minerals formed from deposits in urine and can be as small as a grain of salt. The larger ones, however, can become lodged in the urinary tract, backing up the flow of urine in the system and causing a great deal of pain. There may also be nausea, bloody urine, and fever. There is almost always some degree of lower back pain and kidney pain.
<strong>What Causes Kidney Stones?</strong>
Kidney stones are usually caused by cholesterol binding with inorganic calcium (from dairy products, drinking water, and other inorganic sources). If your tap water is high in calcium deposits, drinking it can increase the risk of your body’s forming these painful stones. Other causes include:<ul> <li> Eating foods and drinks containing oxalic acid, such as spinach, rhubarb, beets, nuts, tea, wheat bran, strawberries, rhubarb, chocolate, and coffee. The oxalic acid reduces calcium absorption.</li> <li>Eating too much sugar or salt</li> <li>Dehydration</li> <li> Consuming too much phosphoric acid, found primarily in soft drinks</li> <li>Eating too many acid forming foods, such as an overabundance of proteins</li> <li>Gout</li></ul><strong>Treatments for Kidney Stones</strong>
You probably throw away one of the best natural remedies for kidney stones and kidney problems in general each time you eat corn on the cob. Numerous natural health experts recommend corn silk, the long, silky strings linked to the ripe kernels of corn, for kidney problems such as kidney stones. You can make this into a tea by boiling it for a few minutes. Add to a green tea base, if desired. Corn silk helps relieve kidney stones both by acting as a natural diuretic and by soothing the urinary tract, which can become irritated by the stones. It and other emollient diuretics, such as marshmallow root and couch grass, protect the kidneys’ sensitive nephrons (structural and functional units of the kidney) from inflammation and irritation. Besides corn silk tea, you can make kidneyfriendly teas from Watermelon seed, celery seed, and parsley leaves and seeds. Here’s more:<ul> <li>Taking 1,500 mg of vitamin C and 50 mg of vitamin B6 daily can help break up these stones. Magnesium supplements may also help.</li> <li>Liver Tea (see Hepatitis) and Cordyceps mushroom extract will complete the breakdown of the stones and help transport the residue out of your body. In Brazil, a common weed, called quebra pedra (stone breaker) is used to dissolve kidney stones, as is cerveja do campo (beer of the field).</li> <li>Gravel root, uva ursi, horsetail, and dandelion root are all kidney tonics, along with water, water, water. You cannot drink too much water.</li> <li> Eat black cherries and drink a glass of organic apple juice in the morning, and one at night. Take vitamin C supplements and eat plenty of citrus fruit.</li> <li>Avoid alcohol, animal products, and black pepper. Avoid chocolate, coffee, and other foods containing oxalic acid. Many people report that drinking apple cider vinegar helps with kidney stones.</li></ul><strong>Other Considerations</strong>
Along with corn silk, some experts believe that the kombucha mushroom can help dissolve kidney stones. When kombucha is mixed with a sweet tea, it forms a sweet, fermented brew.
If you have gout or a family history of gout, you likely will be prone to develop uric acid stones (a type of kidney stone). Black cherry juice and adequate hydration are important natural treatments. If you have gout, avoid foods high in purines, such as sardines and dried beans.
<strong>Gout</strong>
If you have gout or a family history of gout, you likely will be prone to develop uric acid stones (a type of kidney stone), gallstone, or gouty formation. Black cherry juice and adequate hydration are important natural treatments. If you have gout, avoid foods high in purines, such as sardines and dried beans.
Jet Lag
You may land at your far away destination in a startlingly different mood than when you left home, feeling ill or out of sorts, tired, ready to go to bed, but unable to sleep. You may experience uncharacteristic irritability and mental processes, brain fog, and difficulty with orientation. You may feel the varied sensations of dehydration such as muscle aches, confusion, and heavy headedness. Your appetite may be poor, you may even feel nauseous, and you may have headaches, often with sinus involvement. The sensations may be hard to pin down and explain, even if people are telling you to snap out of it and get with the program. There is actually a physical reason for your discomfort and you can minimize or eliminate it with proper precautions.
<strong>What Causes Jet Lag?</strong>
The popular perception is that jet lag is only lack of proper sleep, but it’s not that simple.
When you jump time zones, it disrupts more than 100 essential body functions, including hormone, heart rate, and temperature regulation. For example, if you fly west across six time zones, it can take up to six days for your reaction time to return to normal, according to Dr. Robert M. Giller, author of Natural Prescriptions. Traveling east makes jet lag even worse, although experts don’t understand why. Each person handles the disruption differently, but passing through many time zones disrupts the internal clock we all have that tells us when to sleep and eat. The unfamiliar light/dark cycle disrupts the circadian rhythms, especially under certain conditions that you often cannot control. Being in a plane is dehydrating, especially if you drink alcohol and are stressed.
<strong>Treatments</strong>
Jet lag prevention should start before your trip. Drink several glasses of water. Nothing else is processed like water, so although you may gain some additional benefit from drinking juices or decaffeinated tea, pure water is most advantageous by far, and is best drunk when you are not eating a meal.<ul> <li>Go to bed at a regular time for a few days before your trip. Then, two days before you leave, go to bed 15 to 30 minutes before your actual bedtime to give your body the extra rest it needs.</li> <li>About five to ten minutes before you board the plane, take one ginger tablet and a 6C dose of homeopathic Cocculus.</li> <li>Drink until you urinate on the flight, then drink a glass of pure water every 30 minutes, preferably water without ice (cold drinks pull blood from your extremities so as to warm the icy drink in your stomach; Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners believe that icy drinks cause you to age faster).</li> <li>Avoid drinking alcohol, carbonated beverages, or coffee before or during long flights, as these will only make jet lag worse.</li> <li>For a natural remedy, the best treatment for jet lag is to take a maximum of 1 mg of melatonin as a sub lingual tablet before bedtime. Melatonin naturally controls your body’s circadian rhythm. When you awaken, you’ll be in your new time zone.</li> <li>Valerian root and ginseng can also help you acclimate quickly to your new environment.</li></ul>
Insomnia
Insomnia is a type of sleep disorder with a variety of causes. Our bodies need an average of 8 hours of sleep a night; without it, our minds and bodies do not function at full capacity. Also, lack of sleep affects our muscle tone, immunity, and mood. If it progresses, it can lead to adrenal depletion and a viscous cycle of sleeplessness and hormone imbalances.
<strong>Biochemical Causes of Insomnia</strong><ul> <li> Medicines</li> <li>Hormonal imbalances, periodic or chronic</li> <li>Deficiencies in magnesium, calcium, and other nutrients</li> <li>Many believe that body parasites can keep a person awake and that they are especially restless during the full moon. Sleeplessness during the full or new moon cycles can also be caused by your body rhythms.</li> <li>Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia make it difficult to get restful sleep.</li> <li>A disrupted sleep schedule can throw off sleep, but can usually be restored when the schedule returns to normal.</li> <li>Inadequate exercise can cause sleeplessness.</li> <li>Eating too close to bedtime. Also, an over¬acidic body composition can make you lose sleep.</li></ul><strong>Neuro Emotional Causes of Insomnia</strong><ul> <li> Emotionally caused stress and anxiety</li> <li>Excessive mental activity, too much going on in your head. Ayurvedic medicine associates this with a particular body type called the vata dosha.</li> <li>TMJ and dental stress from improper bite are common causes of insomnia.</li> <li>Post traumatic stress disorder after an overwhelming event or series of events can cause insomnia.</li> <li>Depression and grief</li></ul><strong>Treatments for Insomnia</strong><ul> <li> Use melatonin (35 mg) supplements in the late afternoon to help you sleep at night. You can take one every night over extended periods.</li> <li>Drink a strong decoction (tea) of valerian root, skullcap, kava kava herb, and chamomile.</li> <li>Most insomnia is caused by caffeine, including caffeine in soft drinks, coffee, dark chocolate, and many over-the-counter drugs.</li> <li>Some experts believe that aspartame causes insomnia, so that diet cola you’re drinking may pose a double risk for insomnia (and myriad other health problems).</li> <li>Make non-caffeinated teas your new drink of choice. If you need an afternoon pick-me-up drink while at work, drink a cup of ginseng tea rather than coffee. In the evening, drink relaxing teas such as chamomile, valerian, hops, wild lettuce (contains opiates), and catnip.</li> <li>Taking power naps; 15 to 30 minutes in the midday is very helpful if your schedule allows. This is particularly helpful for individuals with porphyria.</li> <li>Try hypnosis to help you enter a state of sleepiness at a certain time of the evening.</li> <li>Acupressure, acupuncture, and reflexology, and especially Jin Shin Do, can release habit patterns, imbalances, and set your body back in alignment. You can try some acupressure on yourself before you go to sleep: press the inside of the wrist crease with your palm up, at the base of the hand and in line with the little finger.</li> <li>Instead of letting your mind think for too long, start focusing on trying to have a dream.</li> <li>Go to a chiropractor or deep tissue body worker to help you release deep¬seated tension stored in your body. If you suffer from TMJ or teeth grinding, you might seek out a dentist or practitioner who can help realign your jaw and relax your TJM stress.</li> <li>Do a long herbal parasite cleanse that includes black walnut hulls and wormwood, and cloves to kill the eggs. Put your pets on herbal parasite maintenance as well. You can take powder from capsules and spread it over their food in the proportionate amount to human weight.</li> <li>Consider natural anti-depressants such as St. John’s wort, kava kava, 5-HTP or SAMe.</li></ul>
Inflammation
Inflammation is implicated in many illnesses. Where the inflammation occurs is what gives an illness a particular label, from Alzheimer’s, arthritis, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease to heart and arterial disease.
Causes of Inflammation
A wound can become inflamed without adequate hygiene, so it’s best to keep them clean, with a goldenseal paste and a bandage. Any part of the body can become inflamed. Inflammation is now understood as an autoimmune reaction doing its work, bringing circulation and protection to an injury in the form of swelling and heat. The white blood cells travel to the site to fight the infection.
For some, inflammation becomes a chronic state and many experts believe this is caused by digestive problems. Bloating may indicate that your intestines are inflamed as the immune system fights parasites, viruses, and bacteria, as well as foods you are allergic to. Sugar, simple carbs, trans fatty acids, polyunsaturated oils, wheat, and dairy cause inflammation in the intestines, which cause reflex pain throughout the body. Insulin levels cause inflammation when they rise too high. Inflammation is regulated by hormones, which are made from omega 3 fatty acids found in such foods as wild salmon, tuna, walnuts, and almonds. Eating the wrong balance of oils, carbohydrates, and proteins overwhelms the body’s response, and it has a hard time healing other inflammation. Prescription drugs may also cause inflammation.
Treatments for Inflammation
The best thing you can take to reduce inflammation is large, consistent doses of enzymes. Enzymes sustain life. Enzymes are proteins. They are biocatalysts, which means they either begin a chemical reaction or cause a chemical reaction in the body to speed up. Enzymes cause the chemical reactions responsible for breathing, digestion, growth, nerve health, reproduction, and all other body functions. They are critical in warding off all forms of disease and support injury repair and food metabolism. As you age, your enzyme levels decrease. Stress, injuries, and poor diet cause even more enzymes depletion.
Physicians in Europe and Asia have long prescribed enzyme supplementation to restore a multitude of bodily functions and promote natural healing in their patients. Most arthritis is caused by the loss of a certain enzyme in the body. Taking enzymes on an empty stomach breaks down the products of inflammation, reducing pain. As such, they are a perfect substitute for aspirin and ibuprofen, which are known to have ill effects on the liver, kidneys, and stomach. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) can help remove the waste in the circulatory system caused by the Standard American Diet (SAD) high in the wrong kind of fats, carbs, and proteins. Curcumin, the yellow pigment in the turmeric herb, promotes healthy circulation and lowers inflammation. More ideas include:
- Avoid sugar and simple starches, as they can make inflammation worse.
- Boost your antioxidant levels to keep your joints healthy. Vitamins A, C, and E prevent inflammation and protect your joints from free radical damage.
- Hydrate. When you do not drink enough water, inflammation worsens. Avoid caffeine and alcohol, as they are harsh diuretics.
- Food sensitivities are common, and some have a delayed reaction that confuses the issue. Food sensitivities increase inflammation. The most common culprits are milk and dairy, wheat, corn, eggs, beef, yeast, and soy.
- Devil’s Claw, white willow bark (natural aspirin, containing the same active ingredient), ginger, and tumeric are all good inflammation reducing herbs.
- Quercetin, an anti inflammatory, can be taken in supplement form, and it is also found in garlic, red grapes, and onions.
- Many berries are rich in polyphenols, which help fight inflammation.
Other Considerations
You don’t need dangerous anti inflammatory pharmaceuticals. Use the alga Chlorella and foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids. If you don’t like the taste of fish, you can also fulfill your omega 3 needs with fish oil supplements. However, even if you are a vegetarian, you can find plenty of omega 3 essential fatty acid sources for your diet, such as walnuts, flaxseed oil, and pumpkin seeds
Homeopathic physicians swear by Arnica for minor inflammatory wounds. This can be used internally or topically.