Being pregnant is a wonderful thing, though you most likely have to watch your diet and what you drink. If you are an ardent tea lover, you would have to find an alternative beverage or one that is safe for you and your baby. Don’t worry now. You’re not the first mother-to-be who has worried about this. Many have found alternatives which are safe for them and their unborn child!

Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage in the world after water. With 5 out of 6 North Americans drinking tea and the English who average drinking 3.5 to 4.0 cups of tea a day, alternatives to an every day tea had to be found. And since half of the world’s population drinks tea, that didn’t leave much choice to the tea companies! Also, as an expectant mother, you would want to make sure that you still got the medicinal benefits of tea although you are carrying a precious little one.

Here are some of the most common questions answered:

What teas, if any, can I drink during these 9 months?

Your best bet would be Rooibos tea. This is because it contains no caffeine right from the point when it’s harvested. Since caffeine is something which you need to keep an eye on during this special time, rooibos tea is your best bet. It is known to be safe for both pregnant, lactating women, and children of all ages.

Decaffeinated teas are also available on the market.

Is it safe for me to drink herbal teas during these 9 months? And how can I tell which herbal teas are safe for me to drink?

Usually, pregnant women carefully avoid caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, and unnecessary medications but think that drinking herbal teas is okay. It’s not. Herbal teas can be harmful, especially if you drink too much of them. Most of the ingredients in herbal teas are safe, but some are not. Herbs are drugs and thus can be as potent as some medications. Also, only a few of the herbs used for herbal teas have been studied on pregnant women. Hence, it is not 100% sure which of these herbs are safe and which are not.

There are no U.S. regulations which specifically address herbal teas. Most of the herbs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers safe for food use are presumed safe for teas as well. For example, teas made from ginger, lime blossom, peppermint, roasted barley, rose hips, and thyme are probably safe to drink occasionally in small amounts while you’re pregnant or nursing. (Check with your doctor beforehand.) However, drinking excessive amounts of any teas can cause health problems for you and your developing baby.

Which teas are not safe?

Many of the herbs used for teas, when taken in large or medicinal amounts, can potentially stimulate the uterus and induce miscarriage. These include anise, catnip, chamomile, comfrey, ephedra (also known as ma huang in traditional Chinese

medicine), European mistletoe, hibiscus, horehound, Labrador, lemongrass, licorice root, mugwort, pennyroyal, raspberry leaf, rosemary, sage, sassafras, stinging nettle leaf, vetiver, and yarrow.

Although some midwives use raspberry leaf (also known as red raspberry leaf) to aid delivery, its effectiveness hasn’t been proven. In any case, it should be used only under the supervision of a healthcare professional. Avoid the rest of the herbs in this list during pregnancy and lactation.

Note: You can still eat food that contains herbs like rosemary and sage, because the amounts used in food are generally much smaller than those used in tea and not as potent (the brewing process for making tea concentrates the chemicals of the herbs). As usual, check with your doctor beforehand.

Among other reasons to avoid certain herbs used in teas:

Coca (also known as mate de coca) contains small amounts of cocaine.

Comfrey, kava root, skullcap, valerian, and woodruff may damage your liver.

Lobelia contains nicotine.

Mate (or yerba mate) can contain as much caffeine as coffee.

None of these herbs should be taken while you’re pregnant or nursing.

What about the herbal teas that are marketed for pregnant women?

The same cautions apply to teas that are said to be safe for pregnant women, which are sold in supermarkets and health food stores. While the makers of pregnancy teas promote their products as healthy for expectant moms, no clinical studies support these claims and the safety of the ingredients are not regulated.

Pregnancy teas usually include ingredients such as alfalfa, fennel seed, lemongrass leaf, lemon verbena, nettle leaf, rosehips, and strawberry leaf. Not all of these are safe to take during pregnancy. For example, nettle leaf (also known as stinging nettle leaf), which stimulates the uterus and can cause miscarriage, and fennel (including the fruit, seed, and oil) should not be used in tea during pregnancy and lactation due to its potential estrogen-like effects.

Once again, check with your doctor before you think about drinking a tea, even one that is said to be safe for pregnant women. You never can be too careful!

How can I choose a safe herbal tea?

If you enjoy herbal teas, check the packaging labels and steer clear of unsafe or unfamiliar ingredients. Your doctor may be able to recommend certain teas which you could drink. Do not mix your own herbs to create a herbal tea which you think is safe. Once again, we warn you to NOT mix your own herbs.

Disclaimer: Information on this site is provided for informational purposes and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or dietitian. Information and statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Bertil Hjert asked:


Hair Loss can make a person lose confidence and even self esteem in some cases. It can also result in a good amount of stress and anxiety. Hair on the scalp is very important for good looks. It provides an aura to ones overall personalities. Hence, it is very important to get the right kind of treatment at the right time to save your crowning glory.

Here are some of the natural hair loss remedies that can work wonders to your hair.

a) Massage

This is an age old remedy. Your grandmother must have been prescribing you this remedy for a long time. You can massage your scalp for a couple of minutes in a day. It will increase the flow of blood to the hair follicles. In some cases, this ritual will stimulate hair growth and also prevent hair loss. These days, you get different types of electric massagers on the market for scalp massage. You can purchase one of these to improve blood flow to hair follicles and prevent hair loss.

b) Aromatherapy

This therapy works better to prevent hair loss and also helps in improving hair growth. It is an amalgamation of six drops, each of lavender and bay essential oils blended in to a base of four ounces of either almond, sesame oil or Soybean in to the scalp. Once you apply it to the scalp, wait for twenty minutes and stimulate the scalp. It soothes your mind.

c) Rosemary and Sage

These are known to be miracle herbs for hair if used externally. You must boil rosemary, sage, peach leaf, nettle and burdock in water daily and then strain the herbs from the liquid. Now, use the liquid to wash hair daily.

d) Jojoba Oil

This oil is a good remedy if your scalp suffering from eczema, seborrhea, psoriasis or dandruff. This oil is known widely for its hair growth promoting properties. It also moisturizes the hair and works as the scalps natural serum.

e) Aloe Vera

This is also considered to be the hairs miracle herb. Used by Native Americans, Caribbeans and Indians for ages, this herb promotes healthy hair and prevent hair loss. It can also heal the scalp and balance the pH level of the scalp in addition to cleansing the pores. You can combine Aloe Vera gel, coconut milk and wheat germ oil to be used as a shampoo to enjoy the real benefit.

f) Henna

It is a traditional Indian herb. This herb acts as a natural conditioner and is great for maintaining healthy hair. It works towards healing the hair shaft by repairing and sealing the cuticle. It also protects hair against breakage and loss of shine.

g) Psyllium husk

Fiber is a vital source of cleansing. Psyllium husk is a bulking laxative agent. One can use it to remove waste through the colon. It scrubs the walls of the colon gently to remove waste that has been stucked to the walls. This detoxification method promotes hair growth.

h) Nettle root extract

Nettles are rich sources of vitamins A and C. These provide great benefits to hair.

i) Exercise

Exercise may not have direct effect on hair growth but it works wonders to improve blood circulation and eliminate wastes from the body. This in turn promotes hair growth and prevents hair loss.

Juliet Cohen asked:


Our hair is actually question protein called keratin. Hair is simply the substance known as keratin protein especially noticed on the human head. We are very ardently our hair care, but few of them know that the issue is in fact dead. The real lives of our hair lies beneath the surface of the scalp and is usually called the follicle, which feeds the dead cells for our loops keeping traffic. The hair will look because of the excessive sebum activity, but lack of sebum function could give adverse effects like making hair dry and dull. The blood circulating around the hair follicle allows the big hair appearance in the healthy body.

Anemia or less blood can affect the hair, in which the body is first reflected in unhealthy unhealthy hair. Hair loss and baldness or dandrff is a problem of hair. The best way to combat or prevent hair loss or baldness Such is the use of natural herbs for hair. Herbs such as aloe, nettle, nettles and birch leaves are regarded as the most excellent blood and cleaners of the skin. They also stimulate the growth of hair. Even horsetail is believed to be the ideal source of silica which keeps the hair strong and shiny. Some other herbs as arnica, concern, rosemary and / or Southern Wood also proved effective in preventing hair loss and baldness.

There are many natural herbs available for hair or, in fact, used for hundreds of years by various countries throughout the world. The list of plants used regularly includes Aloe, Arnica, Birch, burdock, Catmint, Chamomile, Horsetail, Liquorice, Marigold, Nettles, parsley, rosemary, sage, Southernwood, Stinging nettle, Psoralea seeds, and Oyster Mulberries. Aloe, nettle, stinging nettle, the leaves of birch and watercress are excellent cleaners blood and skin. Drinking 1 tbsp. Horsetail is a good source of silica and helps keep hair strong and shiny. Soy is also equally important in preventing the hair loss.

Honey is another of nature ’s gift to humanity, and it is useful to solve almost all the problems. A paste of olive oil with hot honey and a teaspoon of cinnamon powder can be rubbed on the scalp, and left for about 15 minutes before washing your hair. It promotes hair growth and keeps hair soft and shiny. Excerpts from licorice may also help prevent hair loss. Parsley, even when used as a tea, strengthens the kidneys, and tea made from the leaves of raspberry or blackberry is also seen as good for the kidneys.Biotin per day and vitamin B-50 complex can also reduce the flakiness and oiliness of the scalp and strengthen the rule of the hair.

Most adult men have an enlarged prostate gland and as a result suffer from (BPH). (BPH) or benign prostatic hypertrophy is the actual enlargement of the prostate gland. This section on prostate health delivers the most up to date inforamtion on (BPH).

What Causes (BPH)?

The exact cause of (BPH) is not known among researchers. It has been known that (BPH) occurs mainly in older men. As a result, researchers believe that factors related to aging and the testes may initiate the onset of (BPH). All men produce testosterone (a male hormone) throughout their lives and also a small amount of estrogen (a female hormone). For nearly all men as they age, the abundance of active testosterone in their blood decreases, which leaves a higher proportion of estrogen. Research conducted on animals has provided information that (BPH) may occur because the increased amount of estrogen within the gland stimulates the activity of substances that initiate cell growth.

Also dihydrotestosterone (DHT) a substance that is a derivative from testosterone in the prostate may influence the growth of the prostate. The accumulation of (DHT) in the prostate may cause the enlargement of the prostate gland. Research links older men with unusually high concentrations of (DHT) in their prostates.

What are the ingredients To Possibly Relieve Prostate Symptoms?

Saw Palmetto – An herb that works slowly to possibly preventing testosterone from breaking down into another form of the hormone (DHT) that is associated with prostate tissue growth.

Selenium – Actually boosts the bodies antioxidant capacity, as a result, may control cell damage in the prostate. Moreover, it could also enhance immune system function.

Stinging Nettle – The nettle appears to reduce the obstruction to urinary flow and decrease the need for nighttime *********. Throughout Europe stinging nettle is used for (BPH). A large number of adult males over 50 awake to pressure in the bladder.

Lycopene – Is a powerful antioxidant and belongs to a family of chemicals called carotenoids. There is some evidence that links high amounts of lycopene with a reduced risk of cancer, but the results are inconclusive.

Pumpkin Seeds – Are a good source of two unsaturated fatty acids called oleic and linoleic acid, which maybe beneficial in relieving symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland.

Pygeum Africanum Grows in the high plateaus of South Africa. The pygeum bark contains three groups of active constituents: phytosterols, the fatty acids ursolic and oleic acids, and ferulic esters of long chain fatty alcohols. Phytosterols are also plant sterols that aid in reducing high cholesterol levels. More than half of the men over 55 have enlarged prostate glands known as (BPH). Did you know that advanced cases could cause kidney damage, bladder infections, and sexual disabilities? Moreover, standard treatments include expensive surgical procedures that can result in bleeding, bladder damage and impotence.

Prostate gland problems are on a pandemic level with millions of men suffering from BPH and not even realizing its coming from their prostate.

DISCLAIMER

The information provided herein should not be construed as a health-care diagnosis, treatment regimen or any other prescribed health-care advice or instruction. The information is provided with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in the practice of medicine or any other health-care profession and does not enter into a health-care practioner/ patient relationship with its readers

peterhutch asked:


Urticaria (Hives) is a condition in which there are raised red spots or eruptions of various size on the surface of the skin, often itchy, which come and go. It is usually an allergy to a drug or some food item. Urticaria may vary in size and may join together to form larger swellings.

Urticaria is a common disorder, characterised by formation of weals on the skin. The disease is also known as nettle-rash as the rash of urticaria resembles the sting of a nettle. The disease may be acute, Chronic, or recurrent.

Urticaria is an allergic skin rash also known as ‘nettle rash’ or hives. There are two distinct types: acute urticaria is often caused by an allergy and can last between several hours and six weeks; chronic urticaria persists beyond six weeks. Most hives go away within days to a few weeks. Occasional unlucky individuals will have itches and swellings that come and go over many years. Urticaria is classified as either acute or chronic. Acute urticaria is defined as urticaria that has been present for less than 6 weeks.

The physical urticarias form a heterogeneous group of diseases due to the wide range of eliciting stimuli or clinical pictures as well as their association with other types of urticaria. Dermographic, cold, and pressure urticaria often occur together with chronic idiopathic, cholinergic, or other physical urticarias. In contrast, solar or heat urticaria mostly appear either as isolated diseases or are associated only with other types of physical urticaria.

Angioedema, on the other hand, is usually not red or itchy, but tends to sting and burn, and can be described as numbness. This swelling can be severe, and if it affects a persons ability to breathe, can be life-threatening.

Urticaria also called nettle-rash or hives or wheals in a common language, simply means itching with rash and mainly effects the neck, arms, legs and trunk of the children. Urticaria is an allergic reaction pattern of the skin, characterized by eruption of wheals or hives, which are itchy, transient, reddish and edematous swelling of the skin and mucosal surfaces that spread by peripheral extension and assume bizzare patterns on the skin. Wheals are caused by release of histamine and other chemical mediators which are released by mast cells which accumulate in the dermis of the skin as a response to some immunological or non immunological allergic response in the body.

Hives may appear at any point on the body once the trigger has happened. This may indicate a cause straight away. For example, if the rash appears on the arms or legs, a sun allergy may be responsible. The rash may have appeared underneath a new ring, which could indicate a reaction to a certain metal contained within the ring.

Hives are raised, often itchy, red welts on the surface of the skin. They are usually an allergic reaction to food or medicine. Hives caused by touching cold objects are often caused by infection and often stop after a person takes antibiotics. Doctors usually recommend avoiding aspirin, the most common drug cause of hives. In hives, which is also called urticaria, large red, raisM patches (wheals) appear suddenly on the skin, accompanied by itching. The patches can range up to the size of a half dollar or sometimes even larger.

Kevin Gianni asked:


This interview is an excerpt from Kevin Gianni’s Fountain of Youth Summit, which can be found at http://fountainofyouthworldsummit.com. In this excerpt, David Wolfe shares on the myths about calcium and life changing MSM.

The Fountain of Youth World Summit with David Wolfe, nutrition authority and author of Sunfood Success System.

Kevin: Let’s take another turn here and let’s talk a little bit about some of the common things that people are experiencing nowadays and maybe if you can just give some suggestions on what they can do to help them out. I know that, to start, we’ll start with osteoporosis. A lot of women are concerned about osteoporosis and they’re concerned about calcium and taking these calcium pills. You know, what are some of the pros and cons of that?

David: Okay, well the nations that consume the most calcium, the United States, Canada and the Scandinavian countries, have the worse osteoporosis and that’s because our theory of mineralization or our theory of nutrition is incorrect. The general theory is that a hundred years ago they started looking at people’s bones. They found out that, oh my god; these bones are made out of calcium. When people don’t have enough bone density the thought is, oh they just have to eat more calcium because that’s what builds bones. Calcium does not build bones and that is one of the biggest misconceptions ever and it actually goes to the real core of our problems with science. And that is the human body is a complex biological machine of an unbelievable of mystery. And there is strong evidence that indicates that if you eat some of the calcium, let’s say it’s calcium from coral calcium, for example, oyster shell calcium. That it is almost impossible to get that stuff into your bones to increase bone density. The amount of increasing bone density, at best, is 1 or 2%. It is not good enough.

What increases bone density? Well, it turns out it’s two other minerals and that is silicon and magnesium. Now, the best natural source of magnesium is cacao and cacao is known to be good for your teeth. In fact, there are chemicals in cacao that kill the organism Streptococci mutans that cause cavities. And, in fact, those extracts of the chocolate are now going to be showing up in toothpaste all over the world.

Kevin: No kidding?

David: That’s amazing. That to me is just such a dramatic irony.

Kevin: Wow.

David: All along chocolate has been good for your teeth. It’s the sugar that’s been bad but even then, even then, studies have been done on people who eat chocolate even with the sugar and it’s been found with a study done in Scandinavia on this. It’s been found that even then that people who eat chocolate have been teeth health than people who don’t. To me that’s amazing. But let’s get on to silicon because this is the mineral that is difficult to get in today’s diet. What is silicon? It’s a mineral. You get it in the skin of cucumbers. It’s in the skin of bell peppers. It’s the skin of tomatoes. It’s in certain special herbs, which I’m going to name and you can drink this as a tea or take it in supplemental form and you will notice that it helps with your bone density.

And here are the herbs. One of them is called horse tail, horse tail and it’s not a horse’s tail. It’s actually an herb. Another one is nettle. Stinging nettles have been eaten by the druids in the U.K. for thousands of years and it’s one of the most important foods to eat if you know how to do it or if you juice it or you can just dry it and make a tea out of it, which is what I’m recommending; horse tail, nettle, oat straw. The oat seed of the oat grass has a little straw around it. It has a little coating. It’s the seed capsule. That oat straw is one of the richest sources of silicon. You can buy it in health food stores. You can get in as extracts in health food stores.

You can get it raw and make your own tea out of it. You combine those three together and you want you can add alfalfa, which is also a great source of silicon. You can either make a tea out of that or you can just eat those any way you can find them. And you will find if you do three strong teas of that per day you will start increasing your bone density but how? It’s the silicon. Now, how does silicon increase calcium? I mean that doesn’t make sense. It’s because our theory of minerals is incorrect. Our atomic theory is incorrect. And that is if you eat silicon rich food your body, through the power of enzymes transmutates it into calcium, turns the silicon into calcium. That was discovered by a great French researcher by the name of Louis Curvan, a Nobel prize nominee, who wrote five books and 5,000 pages of research on just this particular subject; how silicon and calcium are related to each other.

It was very well honored in France and he is very intimately entwined in the science of what’s going on in France; but because of the language barrier his research really never made it to the English-speaking nations.

Kevin: Interesting when we’re still taking calcium pills from, you know, sea shells and everything.

David: I recommend to god, you know, this is so engrained in our minds about calcium that if you are confused about this, get on the Internet and research exactly whose getting the results of remineralizing their bones and you’ll find it’s people who are not taking these forms of calcium that are toxic, which is the oyster shell calcium and to some degree even coral calcium.

Kevin: Now, bones are alkaline and doesn’t the acidity of meats and sugars – does that eat away at the bone? I mean has that been proven or is that just a theory that I think I have, you know?

David: Well, that’s a great question and that’s the other side of the equation about osteoporosis. One is we’ve got to make sure we get the right nutrition to build strong bones. The other side of the equation is we’ve got to make sure we are doing things that aren’t hurting our bones. Eating lots of sugar is one of the worse things we can do to our overall health of our teeth, which are living bones and to the density of our bones because when we take in lots of sugar our body has to use calcium, it has to pull calcium out of the bones to buffer or neutralize the intense acidity of the sugar. Calcium is highly alkaline, as you stated. Our bones are alkaline and, therefore, alkaline minerals are used whenever we’re exposed to real strong acids. Sugar is a very strong acid. I mean, you know, we used to dissolve the corrosion on our battery terminals of our bus by dumping soda pop onto it because that sugar just dissolves and the phosphoric acid just dissolves all the corrosion right on the battery terminal. I mean you don’t’ want to be putting that in your body. That’s dangerous.

Kevin: Let’s get into supplements little bit. And you walk into a health food store and there are literally thousands of them. How do you get through them to find the ones that help with weight loss, and longevity, is really what I think the fountain of youth is all about? Which ones of those are the best? I mean rhodiola, turmeric, cinnamon. I mean which ones are the ones that people should be focusing on, not necessarily take but should be focusing on?

David: That’s such an excellent question. My job is to basically guide people into health food stores and create order out of chaos. There are so many things. Okay, well the most important thing, in my opinion, that you can buy in a health food store in that department is going to be vitamin C.

Kevin: Okay. In what form?

David: Well, there’s different forms. Now, I recommend that you start experimenting, moving away from synthetic forms of vitamin C or ascorbic acid, which is still beneficial, still good for you, and moving towards powdered
, really high vitamin C plants. For example, you can get acerola cherry. It’s a tropical berry that is really high in vitamin C. It’s like 1 or 2% vitamin C and basically what they do is they grow these berries. They dry them and they powder them down and the encapsulate them or put them in a glass jar and sell them in health food stores as vitamin C. Now, that’s a real great way to get lots of vitamin C natural with all the cofactors. Vitamin C needs cofactors like rutin and bioflavonoids that are all naturally present in those powders, like acerola cherry. You can either take it supplementally as capsules or you add it onto your smoothies. You can literally put it in your water that you drink in your morning and it kind of sweetens the water. It sweetens the water but doesn’t sugarize the water.

Kevin: Gotcha.

David: Vitamin C is sweet but not sugary. So it makes your morning water easier to drink. So that’s one thing, vitamin C. The next thing is, what I believe to be, the greatest discovery in the last — probably in the last hundred years in the field of nutrition other than vitamin C and enzymes and that is sulfur, MSM, Methylsulfonylmethane. MSM is a biologically available form of sulfur that’s naturally found in wild food, untended food. We don’t really have access to that hardly at all any more. I mean, almost all our food is grown on farms for us. It’s not being watered naturally by the rain. I’m talking about the natural sulfur that’s produced in the oceans that helps create clouds, then drops them on the land that we need nutritionally in order to produce flexible collagen. Now that in the world does that mean? It means that sulfur produces flexible skin and flexible muscle tissue. It stops, in essence, wrinkling and increases the juiciness of the collagen and the discs, the joints that basically separate our bones from each other. On top of all that, it increases the growth of our hair, our nails, so that we have thicker, richer growth of our hair and nails. This can all be easily experienced within two weeks of taking MSM.

Kevin: It’s going to grow like weeds.

David: It’s really incredible and people who want thick quick growth of their hair and nails are almost always completely shocked by how powerful MSM can be. You can get it in capsule form. You can get it in a powder form. It’s available in every single health food store now. Once you start looking into it, and especially when you take it, here’s what you’re going to find out. You’re going to find it’s one of the most important things you’ve ever taken. I have randomly polled hundreds of people about MSM. I almost always to a T here from people who have taken it before. Oh, MSM changed my life. I’ve heard that dozens of times, that exact quote. Oh, MSM changed my life.

Lambert Klein asked:


have arthritis? If so you are not alone. 66,000,000 people do almost 1 in 3 adults.

Arthritis is second only to heart disease as a cause of work disability. Besides limiting daily activities arthritis can cause many lifestyle problems. You may assume there’s nothing you can do that will help. Don’t believe that. There are steps including supplements and lifestyle changes you can make to significantly improve your life.

Your doctor may ask a few of these questions:

Where is your pain When does it hurt How long have you had it Any swelling or redness Family history of arthritis

He may wish to perform a movement test and have some x-rays taken.

Inflammation from your arthritis is a significant source of pain. Your physician may recommend OTC medicines or a prescription.

You should be aware of alternatives such as natural supplements and physical exercise.

Nettle Leaf Extract This supplement appears to suppress TNF-alpha and IL-1-beta. Nettle leaf may inhibit inflammatory cascade in rheumatoid arthritis. Also joint protection is assisted with nettle leaf.

MSM: Msm contain Sulfur and anti-inflammatory properties

Glucosamine Sulfate/Chondroitin: Reduces joint pain and may substantially rebuild cartilage. This may take a while to see results.

Fish Oil: DHA, EPA and Omega 3 found in quality fish oil. Reduces painful inflammation and may promote joint lubrication. Look for a high quality, low mercury supplements like Carlson’s fish oils. Flax seed is another practical choice.

Try high quality multivitamins such as Purity’s Perfect Multi Super Greens.

Vitamin E: Use a natural product like Vitamin E-8 daily.

Cherries: Recent research has shown that tart cherries contain powerful antioxidants that may help relieve the pain of arthritis and gout and also protect the body against cardiovascular disease and inhibit cancer tumors.

There is also a cherry capsule that is very good named Fruit Advantage.

Exercise: Exercise is important not only for arthritis but your overall health.

Weight Control: Even modest weight loss will bring healthy results. Start slow if you need to, and then try to reach your target weight.

Stress: Ah Stress. This one unnecessarily causes us so many health concerns. It practically seems to be the source of most health problems.

There are many options to help deal with excess stress. Exercise is one of these. Even if you begin by walking to the corner and back, then around the block pretty soon you will be walking a mile or more.

Other things you may consider are Yoga, Meditation, Music and a new hobby.

There is a rather unique procedure I came across a while back called Emotional Freedom Technique or EFT for short. This works on the principles of Acupressure and Acupuncture.

Wait! Don’t let that intimidate you. Even though EFT is a remarkable tool it is actually easy to grasp. I personally have seen significant results. You won’t have to poke yourself at all. It just basically requires limited number of words and some tapping on certain key points.

So don’t give up. There are many options for you to vastly improve your health.

Steve Mathew asked:


Nettle

Urtica dioica, commonly called nettle, nettles, or stinging nettle, is often regarded as a noxious weed. Urtica comes from the latin urere, meaning “to burn,” and is the source of the medical term urticaria. Direct contact with the mature plant can break off tiny trichomes or hairs on the leaves and stems, injecting chemicals into the skin that cause long-lasting irritation and stinging. The flowering plant and its roots are used medicinally, and the toxic trichomes are destroyed in processing.

Uses and Benefits:

Nettle is predominately employed in Western cultures for the treatment of arthritis pain, allergies, and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). In European herbal traditions, it is also considered to have diuretic properties. Historical and folk uses of nettle include treatment for diarrhea, constipation, asthma, pleurisy, and eczema; it has also been used as an astringent or hemostatic for nose bleeds, uterine hemorrhage, and the like. The leaves are used for their analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and diuretic properties, while the root is used for its anti proliferative effect on prostatie cells.

Pharmacology:

The major constituents of the leaves include organic acids (e.g., carbonic, formic, citric), amines, and flavonoid compounds. The stinging source of nettle is in the leaf and stemandular hairs, which contain acetylcholine, serotonin, formic acid, and histamine. The roots containsitosterol and other sterols, lectins, polysaccharides, hydroxycoumarins and lignans. In addition, the plant is rich in amino acids, vitamins, and other nutrients.

Nettle extracts can partially inhibit prostaglandin and leukotriene synthesis in vitro,and have been found to inhibit specific inflam?matory mediators such as IL-2, IFN-gamma, and NF-kappa B,l,8

A decreased release of lipopolysaccharide-stimulated TNF-alph, and IL-1 was demonstrated in blood from human volunteers takinu a nettle leaf extract, but other in vitro effects were not validated:

Hormonally responsive prostate tissue is altered in subject Husing nettle root extracts, and this has been attributed to severnl compounds present in the roop, A steroidal-like hydrophobio compound inhibits Na+/K+-ATPase, which can suppress prostatic cell growth, Lignans inhibit the binding of *** hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) to androgens and nettle decreases SHBG serum levels in controlled studies. Specific compounds may also inhibit 5-alpha-reductase or aromatase activity in the prostate, blocking the formation of dihydrotestosterone or estradiol, respec?tively. Further, polysaccharide fractions of methanolic extracts have anti-proliferative effects on prostate epithelia.

A diuretic effect was observed in rats after intravenous or in?traperitoneal injections of a nettle extract, but no effect was observed after oral administration. Parenteral administration of nettle extracts can also cause depression of the central nervous system (CNS), hypotension, and bradycardia in animals.

Clinical Trials:

Many of these studies have been performed in Germany.

Arthritis-The anti-inflammatory/analgesic property of nettle leaf has been used for arthritis symptoms. Topical application appeared to be beneficial in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) for base-of-thumb osteoarthritis; however, the double-blinding (which is difficult to provide for a stinging preparation) was incom?pleteY Oral preparations were reported to be beneficial in four German studies, primarily in terms of NSAID dose reduction. However, the quality of these studies is questionable because only two were controlled, one randomized, and none blinded.

Allergies-For the treatment of allergic rhinitis, a double-blind RCT in the U.S. evaluated the effect of an orally administered freeze-dried preparation for 1 week. Global assessments of subjective effectiveness were favorable after therapy was completed, but personal diary data revealed only a slightly better outcome than placebo. The large drop-out rate (mainly in the nettle group), unclear dosing, and lack of statistical analysis weaken the results of this study.

. Adverse Effects:

Nettle is well tolerated; side effects are generally similar to placebo in the controlled studies. Mild gastrointestinal irritation has been reported, but is uncommon.

Side Effects and Interactions:

Because nettle extract has CNS-depressant effects in rodent toxicity studies, some authorities warn against conmmitant use with CNS depressants. However, it is doubtful that these results apply to humans; there are no reported adverse CNS effects or drug interactions with nettle in the herbal or medical literature.

Cautions:

Uteroactivity has been reported in pregnant and non-pregnant mice, so caution is warranted in pregnant and breast-feeding women. Herbalists have generally found no adverse effects in these populations, however.

Preparations & Doses:

Multiple preparations and formulations of nettle are available, and controlled studies have examined different oral dosing regimens. For the anti-inflammatory effect in acute arthritis, 1340 mg/day of a powdered extract or 50 g/day of stewed nettle leaf was used. For allergic rhinitis, two 300-mg capsules of freeze-dried stinging nettle were dosed 1-7 times per day (mean t.i.d.). For BPH, typical doses are 300-600 mg b.i.lt of a methanol extract of the root. In the herbalist literature, 2-5 g t.i.d. of dried herb is usually taken as an infusion or extract. Topical application of the fresh leaf can be an effective analgesic, as long as the nettle produces a stinging sensation with wheals (it may act as a simple counterirritant), and treatment is repeated daily for several days.

Summary Evaluation

Several clinical trials have found nettle to be beneficial for arthritis pain and BPH symptoms, but poorly designed or unknown study methodology limits the potential benefits reported in these investi?gations. Minimal clinical evidence is available for the use of nettlo in allergic rhinitis and as a diuretic. As the use of nettle appears to be safe and well tolerated, it is acceptable for patients to try this herb for mild arthritic, allergic, or BPH symptoms. However, the efficacy for any indication remains unproven.

Aron Wallad asked:


Joint inflammation or arthritis has been a plaguing mankind for centuries. Seems like every one knows someone with this afflication.

Osteoarthritis, the most common, affects about 16 million Americans with an average age of 45. It usually attacks weight bearing joints like knees, hips, and ankles but has been found in the fingers, neck and spine. Each of our joints is cushioned by cartilage, a very dense, sponge-like substance. Osteoarthritis damages that cartilage and gradually wears it down. The majority of arthritis pain relief remedies are targeted towards osteoarthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also cause inflammation of the tissue around the joints, as well as other organs in the body.

Psoriatic Arthritis is not as well known as the previous two, but actually eats away at the joints and can also manifest as psoriasis on the skin.

Knowing what natural arthritis remedies to use is very important. Here are some you may want to mull over.

Celery Seeds

Use dried ripe fruits to use as an anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, diuretic or anti-spasmodic. These seeds are great for treating rheumatism, arthritis and gout.

Nettle

This herb is another one of those “universal” plants. They are found all over the world and they strengthen the entire body. Rheumatism, arthritis, eczema, nosebleeds, arteries, lessen blood pressure are just a few applications. Nettles contain calcium, chlorine, iron, potassium, silicon, sodium and sulphur. Nettle is a great natural arthritis remedy.

Saffron

A natural hydrochloric acid (utilizes sugar of fruits and oils), thus helping arthritics get rid of the uric acid which holds the calcium deposited in the joints. Also reduces lactic acid build up. Good for measles, skin, scarlet fever and perspiration.

Yucca

Hope for arthritics. The extract from the plant has been used with surprising success on arthritis and rheumatism sufferers.

Fish oil has been claimed to have positive results as an arthritis natural remedy. Some researchers recommend simply adding omega 3’s to the diet by eating cold-water fish like mackerel, herring, tuna, salmon, anchovies, bluefish and mullet.

All of the arthritis natural remedies mentioned here should be available at your local health food store along with suggestions on how to prepare them. Some applications will be to ingest in teas while others may facilitate creating a topical treatment.

Resources

NutraSanus

Essortmant

Medicine.net

The Arthritis Society

Please pass this article on to people looking for an arthritis natural remedy. You may help someone.

Kaye Fretz asked:


There is no shortage of herbs for arthritis. It is true that they may not really be able to cure arthritis. They can however greatly reduce the pain and swelling that arthritis patients commonly suffer from. These herbs may be a good option for you if nothing else works. Among the possible herbal options are:

-Nettle Leaves- Stinging nettle is believed to be the natural counterpart of NSAIDs. The anti-inflammatory components of this herb reduce arthritis swelling. The herb also has boron which is a recommended nutrient for those with arthritis. Nettle can be eaten or used for tea.

-Devil’s Claw- Its name is actually derived from the appearance of its fruits that look much like claws. This is a herb found in Africa and is prized for its pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. It is also believed to help improve the joint movement of arthritic patients.

-Ginger- If you love the taste of ginger, you will love it even more for its anti-inflammatory properties. It can also help reduce the sensation of pain. Those who are very fond of ginger often report that there seem to be no side effects associated with it. Ginger can be mixed with food or taken as tea.

-Celery- Another ingredient found in the kitchen that can be used for arthritis relief is celery. Early European settlers introduced this herb to the North American continent. The herb has anti-inflammatory substances and potassium which is beneficial for arthritis patients.

-Red Pepper- No herbs for arthritis list will be complete without red pepper. This is probably one of the most well known natural pain relievers that is useful even to those who do not have arthritis. Capsaicin which makes peppers taste hot can also help hamper the perception of pain. It also causes the release of more endorphins which are natural pain relievers in the body. Another compound in red peppers is salicylate which closely mimics aspirin.

-Alfalfa- The major contribution of this herb to arthritis relief is its nourishing nutrient content. It also serves to minimize the retention of fluid. It is recommended that arthritic patients take this herb in tea form. Alfalfa powder may increase arthritis symptoms.

-Angelica- One species of this herb is also popularly known as dong quai. This herb is used for both the relief of inflammation and arthritis pain. Like other herbs, this one can be taken in tea form.

A couple of other herbs have pain and inflammation reducing components. Those who take herbs seriously and properly can truly attest to the effectiveness of herbs. You should always remember though to always have safety in mind. Some herbs, when taken with some medicines can result in serious and dangerous side effects.

Herbs also have no standard dosages and mixtures. Different sources and herbal experts will have different recommendations. This means there is no guarantee that one specific dosage recommendation will work well for you.

Herbs should not be taken without your doctor’s advice. The safest way to take herbs for arthritis is with your doctor’s knowledge and consent.