Traditional Naturopath

Essentials oils are powerful tools in our arsenal to live well naturally. They permeate the skin readily and get right into the bloodstream. For this reason, you should be well informed about the use of essential oils before using them. However, here is a “short list” of essential oils that have excellent uses with regard to health!

Top 10 Essential Oils for Natural First Aid

“Science has begun validating the time-tested value of essential oils to heal our aches and pains. They are an effective, natural first aid remedy when absorbed through the skin. Below is a list of the top ten essential oils that you can massage on for healing, but make sure to always dilute them in a carrier oil, such as almond or olive. A good formula to use on the average person is two ounces of a carrier oil with 10 to 12 drops of essential oil.

Essential oils for healing:

Cypress– heavy menstruation, sore throat, varicose veins.
German chamomile– bruises, inflammation, pain, sprains, tension.
Eucalyptus– chickenpox, colds, congestion, flu, herpes, inflammation, shingles.
Lavender– acne, bee stings, bruises, headaches, insect bites, rash, sprains, sunburn.
Lemon– detoxification, digestive tonic, lymphatic congestion, sore throat.
Marjoram– insomnia, menstrual cramps, sore muscles.
Rose– digestive and liver tonic, menstrual aid, grief, vascular tonic.
Rosemary– circulation, constipation, fatigue, hangover, headaches, muscle aches.
Spearmint– fatigue, fever, headaches, indigestion, nausea, sinusitis, poison ivy.
Tea Tree– acne, athlete’s foot, burns, cold sores, insect bites, warts.”

There are many factors that are leading causes of the epidemic of diabetes. Chief among these causes are over-consumption of sugar, high fructose corn syrups in many over-processed “foods,” and over-prescription of some drugs. “What? What was that last item? You you saying certain drugs can cause diabetes?” Well, the article at the link below makes just that claim!

Is diabetes caused by pharmaceuticals?

“On July 31st, Patrick Bills filed a lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb claiming that its drug, Tequin, the brand name of gatafloxacin, caused his diabetes. The New England Journal of Medicine reported on March 30, 2006 that gatifloxacin causes both hypo- and hyperglycemia, the precursor of diabetes. Is this drug unique, or is it possible that many drugs increase the chance of this debilitating and fatal disease? The number of people becoming diabetic is increasing dramatically. According to Express Scripts, in the U.S. it doubled in 5-19 year olds between 2002 and 2005. In a study for the Financial Times, Medco found that type 2 diabetes more than doubled in children between 2001 and 2005. The most common explanation for this very troubling increase is that it’s dietary, the result of eating too much and eating unhealthy food. Is this, though, the only reason? Atypical antipsychotics, modern drugs used to control symptoms of schizophrenia, are known to cause diabetes—but is it possible that other drugs do, too? Could it be that unnecessary prescribing is a factor in the explosive increase in diabetes? Jeni Dingman, founder of PULSE America (Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors in Healthcare), responds, ‘There has been an alarming increase in children taking medications. It makes someone wonder if there’s a link.’

These commonly prescribed drugs have the chemical characteristic that may cause diabetes:

* Antibiotics: penicillins, cephalosporins, erythomycin
* Tranquilizers: barbiturates, benzodiazepines (such as Valium)
* Others: syntocinon (labor inducer), ergometrine (stops postpartum bleeding), acetaminophen (Tylenol)

Dr. Landymore-Lim says that she is unaware of any studies to determine whether these drugs can be definitively implicated for inducing diabetes. Her research documents how such drugs may induce diabetes and that areas in which they are prescribed more have a higher incidence of diabetes Ultimately, though, it will require funding and the cooperation of the medical profession to provide the research needed to definitively document whether these common drugs cause diabetes.

The diabetes epidemic may be partially caused by the medical profession’s overuse of drugs. How can parents protect their children against unnecessary or dangerous prescriptions? Jeni Dingman suggests, ‘My advice is that everyone should be very informed as a patient. You should never take anything you’re told by your medical professional at face value when it concerns medication. Always learn for yourself by using the internet and going to the website of the companies that make the medications and learn all about side effects, interactions, and other potential problems with medications.'”

We have seen that Vitamin D has long been misunderstood and we have been further deprived of it by the media scare against going out in the sun (the sun interacting with your skin produces Vitamin D in your body.) But, now, new research is indicating it may lengthen you life!

Vitamin D Supplements May Lengthen Life

“Vitamin D supplements could prolong your life, a new European study suggests. “The intake of usual doses of vitamin D seems to decrease mortality from any cause of death,’ said lead researcher Dr. Philippe Autier, from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France. The new finding, published in the Sept. 10 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, is a bit of an anomaly, because the benefits of vitamin supplements remains uncertain at best. While they are often touted as a means of reducing risks for cancer and heart disease, some studies have found supplements have no effect on these conditions. For example, other studies have shown that vitamin E has no effect on cancer, Autier said. And prior research suggests that multivitamin supplements do nothing to reduce cancer risk, he added. But vitamin D may be the exception, according to the results of this new study. ‘This is the first study that shows that taking one vitamin has an impact on mortality,’ Autier said. ‘If you want to increase your vitamin D intake by taking supplements, it looks like a great idea.’ In the study, Autier, and his colleague Sara Gandini, from the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, looked at data from 18 trials involving more than 57,000 people. Doses of vitamin D in the trials varied from 300 to 2,000 international units (IUs), with an average dose of 528 IUs. Over a follow-up of almost 6 years, 4,777 of the people in the studies died. Those who took vitamin D supplements had a 7 percent lower risk of death compared with those who didn’t take the supplement, Autier and Gandini found. Nine of the trials had collected blood samples. Those subjects who took the supplements had a 1.4- to 5.2-fold higher level of vitamin D in their blood compared to those who did not, the researchers note. This finding could lead to new drugs to fight cancer and other diseases, Autier said. ‘Vitamin D can reduce the proliferation of cells; the proliferation of cells is something you see in cancer,’ he said.

Note that from the quotes in the story, they were trying very hard NOT to believe that vitamins supplementation was beneficial, yet the results STILL proven to be valid… and they call it “an anomaly!” No, they just have yet to admit that nutritional supplementation can be a benefit to health!

Are your kids hyperactive? Do they fidget all the time? Then cut out the artificial preservatives, flavorings, colors, and other ingredients in their junk food… and, let’s face it, most of their food IS junk!

Hyper Kids? Cut Out Preservatives

“Parents who suspect that artificial ingredients in food are affecting their children’s behavior can now point to some cold, hard proof. A carefully designed study released Thursday in The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, shows that a variety of common food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate — an ingredient in many soft drinks, fruit juices, salad dressings and other foods — causes some children to become more hyperactive and distractible than usual. ‘In terms of a question that’s been raging for years, it’s the best study to date — an extremely good study,’ says Dr. Philip Shaw, a research psychiatrist in the Child Psychiatry branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. The study prompted Britain’s Food Standards Agency to issue an immediate advisory to parents to limit their children’s intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior. In the U.S., there’s been no such official response, but doctors say it makes sense for parents to be on the alert.”

Flaxseed is a tremendous food, and has a lot of health benefits! Flaxseed and its derivative flaxseed oil are rich sources of the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, which is a biologic precursor to omega-3 fatty acids. Increasing consumption of flaxseed is always a good idea! Now, it seems there is growing evidence for an additional benefit!

Flaxseed May Relieve Hot Flashes

“Flaxseed may be one way to reduce the bothersome hot flashes of menopause, Mayo Clinic researchers report. A small pilot study found that postmenopausal women not on estrogen who used dietary flaxseed daily reported a 50 percent reduction in hot flashes over the course of six weeks. ‘Flaxseed worked very well,’ said Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, director of the Mayo Breast Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. ‘The women who used it said it really helped them.’ But another expert, Dr. Wulf H. Utian, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, cautioned that the study was too preliminary to prove that flaxseed is effective. While hormone replacement therapy, particularly estrogen, is effective against hot flashes, its long-term use has fallen out of favor since the large study known as the Women’s Health Initiative found an increased risk of heart disease, breast cancer and other problems with long-term HRT use. So, Pruthi and her team were looking at options for women who suffered from hot flashes but didn’t want to take estrogen. They enrolled 29 postmenopausal women, median age 55, in the study. To join, the women had to have at least 14 hot flashes a week for at least one month. ‘Flaxseed has some natural phytoestrogens,’ Pruthi said, explaining how it, like the hormone estrogen, could possibly have an effect on hot flashes. Over the course of the study, the women sprinkled 40 grams of crushed flaxseed daily into yogurt or cereal or mixed it with orange juice or water. In the end, 21 women completed the study; others had dropped out because of side effects. Of those who finished, the researchers said, the frequency of hot flashes declined 50 percent, and the hot flash score — a combined measure of a flash’s severity and frequency — was found to have decreased about 57 percent. ‘By the second or third week, most women noticed improvement,’ Pruthi said, adding that she is now planning a larger study to compare flaxseed to a placebo.”

Now, first let me say that way too much has been made of cholesterol levels… “healthy rates” have been “officially” dropping for some time as lobbyists from Big Pharma have influenced studies that are saying we should have ever lower cholesterol levels! What was healthy just a few years ago is now considered “high!” Why? Can you say, “To sell more drugs!?” Well, for what it is worth, a study in The Lancet has found that Omega-3s are protective of the heart in those with high cholesterol!

EPA omega-3 oils protect the heart in people with high cholesterol

“(NewsTarget) Supplementing with an omega-3 fatty acid called eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) may lower the risk of non-fatal coronary events by 20 percent, according to a new Japanese study published in The Lancet. Researchers followed 18,645 Japanese high-cholesterol patients for four and a half years. All the patients were already taking cholesterol medications known as statins when the study began. Over the course of the study, half of the patients were assigned a daily EPA supplement in addition to their medication, while the other half received only medication. The group receiving the EPA supplement had a 24 percent lower occurrence of a type of chest pain known as angina pectoris, and a 19 percent lower occurrence of non-fatal coronary events. The researchers did not report any effect on mortality risk. ‘Overall, this study shows that EPA, at a dose of 1,800 milligrams per day, is a very promising regimen for prevention of major coronary events,’ the researchers wrote. However, they cautioned that their results might not generalize to other ethnic groups. EPAs occur naturally in fish oils, as well as spirulina and microalgae. They are only one of many types of omega-3 fatty acid. Previous studies have linked consumption of omega-3s to improved heart health and reduced risk of cancer. Experts are still undecided, however, on the health benefits of EPAs in particular. A study recently published in the British Medical Journal examined a variety of prior studies on the subject, and found no evidence linking EPA to improved heart health.”