From the time I was a young kid, one of the things I have struggled with the most is a stuffy nose. I grew up in the dryness of Colorado and that dryness not only contributed to a lot of bloody noses, but a lot of stuffy noses too. Later on I moved to more humid climates - and while the moisture in the air helped alleviate some of the problem, the new allergens in the air because of the moisture tended to reintroduce the stuffy nose problems. For years I essentially lived on nasal spray and sudaphed - I mean, if you can't breathe, can you really do anything? I didn't know there were natural solutions.
There are different things that cause stuffy nose, so there are different things that a person can use as a remedy. If your stuffiness is caused from dry air, rub a couple drops of glycerin between your finger and thumb and then apply it just under your nostrils. Immediately run your finger and thumb under water and then wet the glycerin that you just applied with a couple drops of water. Since glycerin attracts water and continues to do so, this will act like a humidifier wherever you go for a period of several hours. Often times this alone is sufficient to rid me of a stuffy nose.
Other times a stuffy nose can be the result of allergies. Many people think that if they have allergies, they are cursed to always have allergies and this cannot be farther from the truth. One way that people can immunize themselves from offending pollens is to regularly consume fresh, raw honey gathered locally. The pollen that the bees gather will, over time, have the same effect on your body as a vaccine. Another method that I have heard success storied from no less than three different friends of mine is a variation of this energy refocusing technique. There are many alternative health practitioners who do this inexpensively, non-invasive, and effectively. I have not known a single person who has tried this who has not been relieved of their allergies.
Finally, for immediate relief one of the most pleasant and effective things to do is to rub a drop of peppermint oil between your finger and thumb and then apply on your upper lip below your nostrils. Not only does it smell good, within seconds your stuffy nose will open up. For a longer lasting effect, apply a drop of glycerin right after you apply the peppermint.
Note that since peppermint oil is strong, it could burn slightly upon application. To prevent this, cut the drop of peppermint oil with a drop of olive or coconut oil. I apply mine straight, but I understand that it is a sensitive area of the skin so some people might want to dilute the peppermint.
Finally, if the stuffy nose is from a sinus infection, one of the first things to focus on is getting rid of the infection. This can usually be accomplished by putting some colloidal silver in a nebulizer and breathing it in as discussed in the strep throat blog. Another helpful thing to do is to add tea tree oil and eucalyptus oil to your hot bath, allowing these antiseptic oils to fill the air that you breathe in. Putting a few drops of them into a bubbling pan of water on the stove or humidifier in the room that you are sleeping in also helps. Finally, using a neti pot is a very effective way to cleanse infections from the sinuses. It's kinda gross looking, but it is very effective and inexpensive.
I won't say that I never use sudaphed anymore, but I will say that the only time I ever use it now is when I am at the worst stage of a cold or flu. Then I only take it long enough to get over that hump.
Naturally, when you are handling these oils, be careful not to get the them in your eyes as this could cause them to burn or be irritated. Have fun experimenting...
The only stupid question is the one that perpetually goes unasked.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Food Poisoning
Most food poisoning comes from Salmonella or E Coli bacteria. It's not uncommon to find it lurking in just about any restaurant that you might find yourself eating in, taking up residency in the leftover meatloaf that you didn't put away after Sunday lunch, or even in your hamburger that's been sitting in your fridge for a few days too long. It doesn't take long for these bacteria to find food that is not very well preserved, attach itself, and begin to grow. If you eat some of this affected food, the symptoms that you might experience can vary from a slight upset stomach to severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and even dehydration that could possibly lead to death.
It can often be identified due to the timing of its arrival - within a few hours of eating something suspicious, especially if there were others with you that may be experiencing the trouble as well. I've had it a handful of times and almost every time, I just kinda "knew" where it came from.
Food Poisoning can be dangerous and very uncomfortable. Thankfully, it's also one of the easiest things to cure. As soon as it becomes apparent that you are likely a victim of this poison, drink an ounce of Colloidal Silver. About every twenty minutes for the next three to four hours, repeat. If you have Salmonella or E Coli, the symptoms, including your fever, should have subsided substantially within that three to four hour period, if not completely gone away. If they haven't, chances are strong that you do not have bacterial food poisoning.
It can often be identified due to the timing of its arrival - within a few hours of eating something suspicious, especially if there were others with you that may be experiencing the trouble as well. I've had it a handful of times and almost every time, I just kinda "knew" where it came from.
Food Poisoning can be dangerous and very uncomfortable. Thankfully, it's also one of the easiest things to cure. As soon as it becomes apparent that you are likely a victim of this poison, drink an ounce of Colloidal Silver. About every twenty minutes for the next three to four hours, repeat. If you have Salmonella or E Coli, the symptoms, including your fever, should have subsided substantially within that three to four hour period, if not completely gone away. If they haven't, chances are strong that you do not have bacterial food poisoning.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Warts
Warts have never been a big problem for me. But when I get one, they annoy me to no end. I remember I had one on the palm of my hand when I was a sophomore in high school and the doggone thing just wouldn't go away. Every couple of days I would get my nail clippers out and trim off the new layers of skin that had emerged but it just wouldn't go away. Eventually I guess I cut deep enough to get the seed wart out and, after about two years, it was gone - never to return again. Warts are caused by the human papillomavirus. In most cases they are considered harmless, but they can be considered an eyesore or just annoying.
I recently got another one and in the process of trying to figure out a natural way to get rid of it I stumbled across several internet blogs that suggested using the essential oil frankincense. Yeah, that's the middle eastern fragrant oil that was given to Jesus as a baby. Turns out that frankincense was long used as a skin balm - a cure-all-elixir for just about any kind of skin disease. Because of an organization I used to belong to, I happened to have some frankincense in my house. I decided to give it a whirl.
Day one I applied some frankincense oil to the wart, then covered it with a band-aid. When I removed the band-aid that evening, the skin of the wart was very loose, like when you've been in a tub for a while. I took that opportunity to clip the excess skin with nail clippers. It doesn't hurt. Right after I clipped the skin, I reapplied the oil. Every morning and night for the next week I applied the oil. Here is a picture of it today, about ten days after the first application...
If you can't tell where the wart was, it is just below the "0" key on the computer keyboard. This has been a fun experiment because frankincense smells good, it seems a little exotic, and it really did work. The oil was not harsh at all, didn't burn or sting when I applied it (even while the skin had been cut) and it was very non-toxic. In case you don't know where to find frankincense oil, you can buy it from young living (high-end but noticeably pure oils) or you can find it with little effort on Amazon.com. I found them selling for about $11 an ounce.
I recently got another one and in the process of trying to figure out a natural way to get rid of it I stumbled across several internet blogs that suggested using the essential oil frankincense. Yeah, that's the middle eastern fragrant oil that was given to Jesus as a baby. Turns out that frankincense was long used as a skin balm - a cure-all-elixir for just about any kind of skin disease. Because of an organization I used to belong to, I happened to have some frankincense in my house. I decided to give it a whirl.
Day one I applied some frankincense oil to the wart, then covered it with a band-aid. When I removed the band-aid that evening, the skin of the wart was very loose, like when you've been in a tub for a while. I took that opportunity to clip the excess skin with nail clippers. It doesn't hurt. Right after I clipped the skin, I reapplied the oil. Every morning and night for the next week I applied the oil. Here is a picture of it today, about ten days after the first application...
If you can't tell where the wart was, it is just below the "0" key on the computer keyboard. This has been a fun experiment because frankincense smells good, it seems a little exotic, and it really did work. The oil was not harsh at all, didn't burn or sting when I applied it (even while the skin had been cut) and it was very non-toxic. In case you don't know where to find frankincense oil, you can buy it from young living (high-end but noticeably pure oils) or you can find it with little effort on Amazon.com. I found them selling for about $11 an ounce.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Strep Throat (and respiratory infections)
One of the most common reasons that I hear of people going to the doctor, especially in the fall and spring, is strep throat. We take the kids to the doc, they run a culture, and if the test shows up positive, the doc prescribes antibiotics that we then give our kids for the next 2 weeks.
Not only is the doc visit expensive, but the anti-biotics are expensive as well. But even if you've got a great health plan that pays for practically everything there's still the time out of your day to go to the doc and sit in the waiting room, then drive to the pharmacy... easily half a day wasted for something that most of us can fairly easily identify after we've had it a time or two. Besides the time and the money, there are the increasing potentials for allergic reactions to antibiotics, resistent strains of bacteria, and the havoc that antibiotics wreck on our digestive system. Broad spectrum antibiotics will kill any kind of bacteria in your body. Unfortunately, we need many kinds of bacteria in our body to maintain good health. Those "good" bacteria help us squeeze the nutrients out of our food and aid in digestion. Indescriminate antibiotic use has led to an increasing amount of allergic reactions to foods. While i would take an antibiotic if I was dying of an infection and had no other alternative, thankfully I do have an alternative that is effective, inexpensive, and much less damaging to my body. Interestingly enough, even though I have been talking about writing this blog for about a week, all day I have felt the beginning of a throat infection coming on. I will quite literally be taking "my own medicine" tonight.
I have been using colloidal silver for the past fifteen years. You might be interested to know that prior to the 1940s, it was widely used as an antibacterial agent in medicine. Unfortunately, when the pharma companies discovered penicillin they began to demonize their "competition" - which was cheap and easy to make at home. Eventually with enough pressure from the drug makers, the FDA said it is useless and has no medical merit. I will be using this useless material tonight to rid me of this sore throat.
As an aside, my daughter did a science experiment a few years ago to demonstrate the effectiveness of colloidal silver. It was by far the most effective of all the methods that we tried to kill the bacterial cultures we had grown. I have also successfully used it on pear trees that had the fungal disease called fire blight (for which there is no known cure).
So how do you use it? The best way is to gargle about an ounce of it - focusing on the sore areas of your throat - for about 30 seconds. When you are done, don't spit it out, swallow it. Do this about four or five times a day for about two days, and wait about 30 minutes to drink anything after you've gargled. Get some rest. You're done, and so is your strep.
Sometimes bacterial infections of the throat (like strep) spread into the lungs and can cause respiratory infections. If you feel this is happening, take about 2 ml of colloidal silver and put it in a nebulizer. Inhale it for about fifteen minute, three or four times a day for about three days. Accompany this with the gargling/swallowing of the colloidal silver and you are done. Of course any time you are sick, avoid sugars, drink lots of fluids, and get plenty of rest. Also note that the farther along you are in the illness before you begin to treat it, the longer you will need to treat it. While colloidal silver kills bacteria, it doesn't fix chronic cough due to chemical poisoning or smoker's cough. Know what you are trying to fix.
Overdosing
You almost have to be drop dead stupid to overdose on colloidal silver. I'm not gonna say it can't be done, but you won't do it. I know people who drink a quart a day of the stuff to stay healthy. Now, I personally think they are idiots. But the point is that they are not poisoned by it and in history, no one has ever died of Colloidal Silver poisoning (although wikipedia does claim one person - in history - that an author of a journal article might have had silver contribute to his death.) Contrast that with people who routinely die from antibiotic allergies. You are far safer with CS than your pharma pills.
Bear in mind that colloidal silver kills bacteria, so that would also include some of the good bacteria in your intestinal track. If you ingest it, make sure you eat sauerkraut or yogurt or some other probiotic to replenish the beneficial bacteria in your digestive system.
You can buy Colloidal Silver at a health food store for anywhere from $10 - $30 an ounce. Or you can make your own at home for about $1 a gallon. That's what I do. If you don't want to learn how to make your own, I would encourage you to learn to trust yourself more and the so-called experts less. I will give you some if you want it. It takes me about 30 minutes to make a quart of it.
Argyria
The pharma industry, in an effort to save their multi-billion dollar yearly income from antibiotics, has teamed up with the FDA to tell you that if you use colloidal silver that you will turn a Smurfish blue-gray in color as a side effect. I will first of all say...this is pretty funny. I will second of all say, this is hogwash. It doesn't happen. It has been documented less than 100 times in more that 100 years. But even with those few people who did see a change in skin color, the condition is reversable. The people whom it has happened to are (as referenced above) drop dead stupid. They drink the stuff in large quantities like it's a daily milkshake, whether they are sick or in good health. Dumb. Folks, it's a medicine, not a daily elixir. The other few that have claimed to get it have been taking a citrus silver mixture or have been using contaminated ingredients. The proteins in that mixture are not colloidal silver and should not even be marketed as such (and if you make it at home you wouldn't be that silly). Bottom line, you won't turn blue.
If you want to know how to make it at home, the initial cost is about $30 and the parts are easily available at radio shack or on ebay. I've attached a link below to the instructions that I used to make the one I've been using for the past ten years.
There are other ways to treat an infected throat if you do not have CS in your house but with things that you might have in your pantry (or by using essential oils). I won't go into those here, but if you have questions, ask them.
How to make your own colloidal silver.
Not only is the doc visit expensive, but the anti-biotics are expensive as well. But even if you've got a great health plan that pays for practically everything there's still the time out of your day to go to the doc and sit in the waiting room, then drive to the pharmacy... easily half a day wasted for something that most of us can fairly easily identify after we've had it a time or two. Besides the time and the money, there are the increasing potentials for allergic reactions to antibiotics, resistent strains of bacteria, and the havoc that antibiotics wreck on our digestive system. Broad spectrum antibiotics will kill any kind of bacteria in your body. Unfortunately, we need many kinds of bacteria in our body to maintain good health. Those "good" bacteria help us squeeze the nutrients out of our food and aid in digestion. Indescriminate antibiotic use has led to an increasing amount of allergic reactions to foods. While i would take an antibiotic if I was dying of an infection and had no other alternative, thankfully I do have an alternative that is effective, inexpensive, and much less damaging to my body. Interestingly enough, even though I have been talking about writing this blog for about a week, all day I have felt the beginning of a throat infection coming on. I will quite literally be taking "my own medicine" tonight.
I have been using colloidal silver for the past fifteen years. You might be interested to know that prior to the 1940s, it was widely used as an antibacterial agent in medicine. Unfortunately, when the pharma companies discovered penicillin they began to demonize their "competition" - which was cheap and easy to make at home. Eventually with enough pressure from the drug makers, the FDA said it is useless and has no medical merit. I will be using this useless material tonight to rid me of this sore throat.
As an aside, my daughter did a science experiment a few years ago to demonstrate the effectiveness of colloidal silver. It was by far the most effective of all the methods that we tried to kill the bacterial cultures we had grown. I have also successfully used it on pear trees that had the fungal disease called fire blight (for which there is no known cure).
So how do you use it? The best way is to gargle about an ounce of it - focusing on the sore areas of your throat - for about 30 seconds. When you are done, don't spit it out, swallow it. Do this about four or five times a day for about two days, and wait about 30 minutes to drink anything after you've gargled. Get some rest. You're done, and so is your strep.
Sometimes bacterial infections of the throat (like strep) spread into the lungs and can cause respiratory infections. If you feel this is happening, take about 2 ml of colloidal silver and put it in a nebulizer. Inhale it for about fifteen minute, three or four times a day for about three days. Accompany this with the gargling/swallowing of the colloidal silver and you are done. Of course any time you are sick, avoid sugars, drink lots of fluids, and get plenty of rest. Also note that the farther along you are in the illness before you begin to treat it, the longer you will need to treat it. While colloidal silver kills bacteria, it doesn't fix chronic cough due to chemical poisoning or smoker's cough. Know what you are trying to fix.
Overdosing
You almost have to be drop dead stupid to overdose on colloidal silver. I'm not gonna say it can't be done, but you won't do it. I know people who drink a quart a day of the stuff to stay healthy. Now, I personally think they are idiots. But the point is that they are not poisoned by it and in history, no one has ever died of Colloidal Silver poisoning (although wikipedia does claim one person - in history - that an author of a journal article might have had silver contribute to his death.) Contrast that with people who routinely die from antibiotic allergies. You are far safer with CS than your pharma pills.
Bear in mind that colloidal silver kills bacteria, so that would also include some of the good bacteria in your intestinal track. If you ingest it, make sure you eat sauerkraut or yogurt or some other probiotic to replenish the beneficial bacteria in your digestive system.
You can buy Colloidal Silver at a health food store for anywhere from $10 - $30 an ounce. Or you can make your own at home for about $1 a gallon. That's what I do. If you don't want to learn how to make your own, I would encourage you to learn to trust yourself more and the so-called experts less. I will give you some if you want it. It takes me about 30 minutes to make a quart of it.
Argyria
The pharma industry, in an effort to save their multi-billion dollar yearly income from antibiotics, has teamed up with the FDA to tell you that if you use colloidal silver that you will turn a Smurfish blue-gray in color as a side effect. I will first of all say...this is pretty funny. I will second of all say, this is hogwash. It doesn't happen. It has been documented less than 100 times in more that 100 years. But even with those few people who did see a change in skin color, the condition is reversable. The people whom it has happened to are (as referenced above) drop dead stupid. They drink the stuff in large quantities like it's a daily milkshake, whether they are sick or in good health. Dumb. Folks, it's a medicine, not a daily elixir. The other few that have claimed to get it have been taking a citrus silver mixture or have been using contaminated ingredients. The proteins in that mixture are not colloidal silver and should not even be marketed as such (and if you make it at home you wouldn't be that silly). Bottom line, you won't turn blue.
If you want to know how to make it at home, the initial cost is about $30 and the parts are easily available at radio shack or on ebay. I've attached a link below to the instructions that I used to make the one I've been using for the past ten years.
There are other ways to treat an infected throat if you do not have CS in your house but with things that you might have in your pantry (or by using essential oils). I won't go into those here, but if you have questions, ask them.
How to make your own colloidal silver.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Home Remedies - the basics
Ok, so I will admit it. I really don't trust very many people. The reason for this is fairly simple. I am a seeker. When I desire to know an answer, I look for it. And keep looking until I find something that makes sense...and lines up with what I know to be true from my experiences in life. I don't think common sense requires a college degree (even though I've got one). I see profit motives to smear legitimate God given cures everywhere, and disinformation campaigns that are supported by governmental entities that have the same effect. Bought an paid for. Don't get me wrong, there are "naturalists" who do the same profiteering crap. So I'm starting a blog of natural cures and alternatives to "the system" that I know work. Yeah, things that have actually fixed a problem for me, or at least made a noticeable difference in my life. Most of them are very inexpensive. Some of them smell kinda funny. Some of them taste kinda funny. But they all work and came from someone's tender loving care or their back yard. I'm always experimenting with new ideas and will post those ideas as they prove themselves. Feel free to post questions, blog ideas, or your own experiences. If you do post your own experiences, all I ask is that they be your own experiences, not someone else's. I don't want to hear what worked for Great Aunt Minnie. Only you.
I will post the cause and cure for Strep throat tomorrow. It's super easy to cure. But before I do that, lemme start with a quick health primer. Very quick. Your body constantly comes into contact with viruses, bacteria, and lots of nasty germs. Yet your body is not constantly sick. Why is that? It is because your body tries very much to maintain a balance - and as much as we throw at it to disrupt that balance, the body does a pretty good job of trying to juggle what we give it to work with. But almost invariably when we are out of balance for too long, symptoms show up and diseases begin to manifest. Sometimes our balance is disrupted by improper nutrition, lack of sleep, excess stress, lack of physical exercise, lack of sunlight, exposure to chemicals or radiation, or even a spiritual deficiency. Of course there are other contributors as well, but in general, if you become too involved in any one thing at the expense of another, your body, mind, and spirit will suffer. Period. Don't think there is a way around this. No pill will fix it. There might be a way to alleviate the symptoms of your problem, but the only thing that will fix it is bringing your mind, body, and spirit back into balance.
What physical problems can be caused by your body/mind/spirit being out of balance? In a word, anything. Cancers, hormone imbalances, infections, you name it. Sometimes it amazes me to talk with people and see the ways that spiritual issues have manifested in their physical bodies. Do not discount this aspect of physical well being. It is well documented that the power of the mind is very influential to our physical well-being...the very concept of placebo bears witness to this. Beyond placebo, it has been documented that the simple acts of prayer and meditation can cure diseases. When examining for spiritual deficiencies, introspection is always a good place to start. Thinking about where we are overly proud or greedy, where we have unresolved unforgiveness (towards ourselves or others), or where we live in fear are a few things to focus on. Meditation can be beneficial if for no other reason than it teaches us to stop dwelling on certain things for a few minutes. Sometimes it is better to think about nothing than to ruminate on the wrong thing.
Nutritionally, try to think about how people have lived for centuries - and to the degree that you can, mimic that. In other words, processed and chemically treated foods are generally harmful to you. There are a variety of reasons for this and it is not hard to find a number of good articles on the internet telling you why. Generally, parts of whole foods compliment other parts, leading to better utilization in the body. One part might help make the other part digest better or fill you up faster while another part provides the nutrition or energy. We are what we eat, quite literally, and it is wise to keep in mind that we are now eating things that human beings never ate in the past. While scientists will tell us that the trace amounts of pesticide residue on our fruits and vegetables are inconsequential, I would assert to them that no one would want me to piss a "trace amount" into their morning coffee. These chemicals and processed foods can cause us to become unbalanced.
Physically, know that humans are social beings who need touch, exercise, and daylight. We may have adapted to florescent lighting and office cubicles, but it doesn't make it a healthy choice for us. And while it may have become socially acceptable for people to become couch potatoes, it is not healthy. And despite what your doctor says, it is not healthy for you to avoid the sun, either. You may need to take a supplement before heading out in the sun, but you certainly should not avoid it. Nor should you eschew touch and affection (Nor should you become overly needy of it). That daily hug really can improve your attitude, outlook, and health. Keep all things in balance to the degree that we can.
It is a pretty good bet that if you are alive today, you have allowed yourself to become unbalanced in one way or another. There are numerous ways that you can ascertain whether or not this is true and many of them involve certain tests that you can take. I'll not spend time on emotional/spiritual tests here right now (although please, please do not underestimate this!) rather I will focus on some of the physical tests that you can take to note whether or not your body is a welcoming host to infection and disease or an unwelcoming host.
One area where most Americans are very weak is in the balance of Omega 3:Omega 6 fatty acids. In nature, this ratio should be about 1:1. However, it is not uncommon for many Americans to have a ratio of 1:40. It's not a particularly cheap test (currently $175), but you can find out where you stand by clicking here and ordering the kit. We are generally very far out of balance because of the amount of grains (high Omega 6 content) in our diets far exceeds the amount of greens (high Omega 3 content) in our diets. Not only do we eat a lot of corn and wheat, but our livestock that we consume have also been fed a great deal of corn and wheat. In nature where cattle graze on green grass this is not true.
A second area where many Americans fall short is in the alkaline levels of our blood. All liquids fall somewhere along a pH scale of acidity/alkalinity. A pH of 7 is neutral and desirable (actually about 7.4 - a slight alkaline level - is the most desirable). Like the Richter scale of earthquakes, the pH scale is exponential. A pH of 6 is 10x as acidic as a pH of 7. A pH of 5 is 100x as acidic as a 7. A pH of 4 is 1000x as acidic as a 7, etc. What researchers have found is that nearly all cancer patients have an acidic pH. In fact, disease in general (bacterial, fungal, viral) seems to thrive in acidic blood. When we alkalize our body, we become an unwelcome host for such diseases. It's not that they cannot live in us, but it becomes much harder for them to thrive as the conditions that those diseases prefer do not exist in a pH of higher than 7. Ever tried to plant a tree in the wrong kind of soil? Yeah, it's the same thing. Go to Amazon.com or your favorite health food store/website (I prefer this one) and order some pH strips. Spit on them every morning, or pee on them a couple of times every day. You will get a pretty good idea of where you are. If you're acidic, don't panic, just make an effort to fix it. There's a good chance that if you are acidic and have cancer, you can actually reverse the cancer by becoming an unwelcome host for it. Try the test strips for a month. Make a note of your pH.
I've already made this initial link far longer than I wanted to make it. I wanted to note, though, the differences between Western medicine which seeks to alleviate a symptom while leaving the problem, and holistic medicine which seeks to balance the system and thus alleviate the symptom AND the problem. Holistic medicine usually does not grant immediate relief. It requires a little bit of patience, a willingness to experiment, and an open mind.
As always, use your brain before you read something and decide to believe it. Not everything you read is true and all things should be studied before you decide to start applying, inhaling, or licking them. Remember that even hemlock is natural, so don't be stupid. That being said, I believe that once a person begins to embrace what God has given us, their life will be changed in many ways. It's a wonderful journey.
Tomorrow I will talk about Strep Throat and why you don't need antibiotics to cure it.
I will post the cause and cure for Strep throat tomorrow. It's super easy to cure. But before I do that, lemme start with a quick health primer. Very quick. Your body constantly comes into contact with viruses, bacteria, and lots of nasty germs. Yet your body is not constantly sick. Why is that? It is because your body tries very much to maintain a balance - and as much as we throw at it to disrupt that balance, the body does a pretty good job of trying to juggle what we give it to work with. But almost invariably when we are out of balance for too long, symptoms show up and diseases begin to manifest. Sometimes our balance is disrupted by improper nutrition, lack of sleep, excess stress, lack of physical exercise, lack of sunlight, exposure to chemicals or radiation, or even a spiritual deficiency. Of course there are other contributors as well, but in general, if you become too involved in any one thing at the expense of another, your body, mind, and spirit will suffer. Period. Don't think there is a way around this. No pill will fix it. There might be a way to alleviate the symptoms of your problem, but the only thing that will fix it is bringing your mind, body, and spirit back into balance.
What physical problems can be caused by your body/mind/spirit being out of balance? In a word, anything. Cancers, hormone imbalances, infections, you name it. Sometimes it amazes me to talk with people and see the ways that spiritual issues have manifested in their physical bodies. Do not discount this aspect of physical well being. It is well documented that the power of the mind is very influential to our physical well-being...the very concept of placebo bears witness to this. Beyond placebo, it has been documented that the simple acts of prayer and meditation can cure diseases. When examining for spiritual deficiencies, introspection is always a good place to start. Thinking about where we are overly proud or greedy, where we have unresolved unforgiveness (towards ourselves or others), or where we live in fear are a few things to focus on. Meditation can be beneficial if for no other reason than it teaches us to stop dwelling on certain things for a few minutes. Sometimes it is better to think about nothing than to ruminate on the wrong thing.
Nutritionally, try to think about how people have lived for centuries - and to the degree that you can, mimic that. In other words, processed and chemically treated foods are generally harmful to you. There are a variety of reasons for this and it is not hard to find a number of good articles on the internet telling you why. Generally, parts of whole foods compliment other parts, leading to better utilization in the body. One part might help make the other part digest better or fill you up faster while another part provides the nutrition or energy. We are what we eat, quite literally, and it is wise to keep in mind that we are now eating things that human beings never ate in the past. While scientists will tell us that the trace amounts of pesticide residue on our fruits and vegetables are inconsequential, I would assert to them that no one would want me to piss a "trace amount" into their morning coffee. These chemicals and processed foods can cause us to become unbalanced.
Physically, know that humans are social beings who need touch, exercise, and daylight. We may have adapted to florescent lighting and office cubicles, but it doesn't make it a healthy choice for us. And while it may have become socially acceptable for people to become couch potatoes, it is not healthy. And despite what your doctor says, it is not healthy for you to avoid the sun, either. You may need to take a supplement before heading out in the sun, but you certainly should not avoid it. Nor should you eschew touch and affection (Nor should you become overly needy of it). That daily hug really can improve your attitude, outlook, and health. Keep all things in balance to the degree that we can.
It is a pretty good bet that if you are alive today, you have allowed yourself to become unbalanced in one way or another. There are numerous ways that you can ascertain whether or not this is true and many of them involve certain tests that you can take. I'll not spend time on emotional/spiritual tests here right now (although please, please do not underestimate this!) rather I will focus on some of the physical tests that you can take to note whether or not your body is a welcoming host to infection and disease or an unwelcoming host.
One area where most Americans are very weak is in the balance of Omega 3:Omega 6 fatty acids. In nature, this ratio should be about 1:1. However, it is not uncommon for many Americans to have a ratio of 1:40. It's not a particularly cheap test (currently $175), but you can find out where you stand by clicking here and ordering the kit. We are generally very far out of balance because of the amount of grains (high Omega 6 content) in our diets far exceeds the amount of greens (high Omega 3 content) in our diets. Not only do we eat a lot of corn and wheat, but our livestock that we consume have also been fed a great deal of corn and wheat. In nature where cattle graze on green grass this is not true.
A second area where many Americans fall short is in the alkaline levels of our blood. All liquids fall somewhere along a pH scale of acidity/alkalinity. A pH of 7 is neutral and desirable (actually about 7.4 - a slight alkaline level - is the most desirable). Like the Richter scale of earthquakes, the pH scale is exponential. A pH of 6 is 10x as acidic as a pH of 7. A pH of 5 is 100x as acidic as a 7. A pH of 4 is 1000x as acidic as a 7, etc. What researchers have found is that nearly all cancer patients have an acidic pH. In fact, disease in general (bacterial, fungal, viral) seems to thrive in acidic blood. When we alkalize our body, we become an unwelcome host for such diseases. It's not that they cannot live in us, but it becomes much harder for them to thrive as the conditions that those diseases prefer do not exist in a pH of higher than 7. Ever tried to plant a tree in the wrong kind of soil? Yeah, it's the same thing. Go to Amazon.com or your favorite health food store/website (I prefer this one) and order some pH strips. Spit on them every morning, or pee on them a couple of times every day. You will get a pretty good idea of where you are. If you're acidic, don't panic, just make an effort to fix it. There's a good chance that if you are acidic and have cancer, you can actually reverse the cancer by becoming an unwelcome host for it. Try the test strips for a month. Make a note of your pH.
I've already made this initial link far longer than I wanted to make it. I wanted to note, though, the differences between Western medicine which seeks to alleviate a symptom while leaving the problem, and holistic medicine which seeks to balance the system and thus alleviate the symptom AND the problem. Holistic medicine usually does not grant immediate relief. It requires a little bit of patience, a willingness to experiment, and an open mind.
As always, use your brain before you read something and decide to believe it. Not everything you read is true and all things should be studied before you decide to start applying, inhaling, or licking them. Remember that even hemlock is natural, so don't be stupid. That being said, I believe that once a person begins to embrace what God has given us, their life will be changed in many ways. It's a wonderful journey.
Tomorrow I will talk about Strep Throat and why you don't need antibiotics to cure it.
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