Tag Archive for: natural health

What The Tongue And Eyes Can Reveal About Your Health

in , , /by

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine is a practice that is over 2500 years old and includes practices like acupuncture, acupressure, massage and chi kung (or qigong). The idea is to cure the cause of disease which in turn cures the symptoms. Here are some assessment tools that are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The Tongue

The tongue is a map of the bodily organs according to traditional Chinese medicine. There are specific areas of the tongue that correspond to different organs of the body as well as the meridian lines. This is similar to reflexology. The person that knows how to read this map has the ability to learn about a persons overall well being.

Practitioners of Chinese medicine look for several indications on the tongue to assess the health of the patient. They look for the color of the tongue. Pink or light red is a normal healthy tongue. The tongue can be purple, have a red body or a red tip. It can have a scarlet, dark red, pale or even a green color. Each one of these colors indicate different conditions in the body.

Another indication of health is the overall tongue shape. It can be stiff, flaccid, long, thin, short or it can display a variety of swollen areas. Other indications of poor health are the tongue body features (rough, spotty, numb, loose, quivering or moving a lot), tongue moisture, tongue coating (white, yellow, gray, black), tongue coat thickness, cracks in the tongue or the tongue coat root.

The Eyes

Iridology is another way of assessing the health of a person and has been practiced since the beginning of recorded history. It was part of general health care in the ancient societies of India, China and Egypt.

The concept behind Iridology is the same as the tongue assessment. Different areas of the eyes correspond to organs of the body. For example the top of the eyes show the health of the brain and the lower part of the eye shows the condition of the kidneys.

Learn more about Traditional Chinese Medicine here.

The Body

Kinesiology is the study of human movement. The way the body moves and the overall structure of the body can be indicative of the general health of a person. There are several bodywork modalities that are based on the science of Kinesiology.

The human body is highly adaptable and will change its structure to balance itself. If you look around you will see a large percentage of the western population that have a forward head posture. This has become the accepted posture because of our office worker population. As this posture develops and becomes more extreme the body adapts and the upper spine curves, calcium builds up and creates what is called a “Dowager’s Hump”.

When you see someone with proper structure you think they are confident and maybe a little too proud. Generally the person with the upright posture and easy movement is more healthy that the person that is bent over and moves awkwardly.

Western medicine is all about measuring indicators. If it can’t be measured with instruments it doesn’t exist. The human body is a very sensitive instrument that is often overlooked by doctors as a tool for diagnosis. The implementation of these assessment techniques have the ability to enhance proper diagnosis and make personal assessment possible.

We hope you learned something about what the tongue and eyes can reveal about your health. Please let us know if you have any comments.

Healthy Natural Sugar Substitutes

in , , /by

What Are Good Healthy Sugar Substitutes?

Sugar that is added to your diet has the potential to cause some pretty bad health problems. Some of these problems include: Tooth decay, liver problems, fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cancer, weight gain and heart disease.

Don’t despair because there are several natural healthy sugar substitutes available. Real sugar is not bad taken in moderation but the more often you can use alternatives the better your health can be.

According to Dawn Combs, a certified herbalist and author. There are some great healthy sugar substitutes to add to your diet and some not so great.

Agave nectar has a low glycemic index and therefore is believed to help keep blood sugar levels in check and thusly prevent fluctuations in hormones. Worrying solely about the glycemic index of a food is not a good indicator of health. Unfortunately, agave syrup contains the highest fructose amount of any commercial sweetener, even worse than high fructose corn syrup. High levels of fructose create insulin resistance, an even bigger problem than a temporary spike due to sugar intake. Further, agave nectar is mostly produced from Agave americana.

Found at Natural Sugar Substitutes: Which are Really Healthy?

Main Sugar Alternatives

  • Maple syrup – Great for baking and we like to use it in our oatmeal as well as the lower gluten einkorn pancakes that we love to have for breakfast.
  • Honey – Find local raw honey for an excellent sugar substitute. We use it in our tea and it is great to bake with. Honey baked ham, honey dips and honey in bread is wonderful. I personally like honey for its extra antibacterial benefits.
  • Agave – This is a popular sugar substitute but not always the best choice for healthy eating as it contains the highest amount of fructose that any of the other alternatives. Not my favorite flavor.
  • Coconut sugar – You are probably aware of the benefits of coconut oils and coconut sugar is no exception because of the low fructose content. Make sure you get pure coconut sugar if you choose this alternative .
  • Brown rice syrup – Good if it is organic. This sugar substitute is mostly used in baking or cooking.

Other Natural Sugar Alternatives

Some other natural sugar alternatives are products made from stevia which is an herb commonly found in Central and South America and is sweeter than sugar without the blood sugar spike. There is however a bitter aftertaste that is a bit like licorice but there are some good products out there like Sweetleaf and Truvia that are good sugar alternatives.

Another healthy sugar substitute is Xylitol. This is not one that I think of as a great alternative because of the way that it is processed. Xylitol is basically processed birch sap. Anything that is processed and hydrogenated I try to stay away from. Also the name makes it sound like a cough medicine.

I like to stick with honey, maple syrup and raw sugar for my sweet tooth because I know where they come from and that the process from nature to the store is very simple.

How To Reduce Inflammation Naturally (2020 Update)

in , /by

Natural Anti-Inflammatory Foods (2020 Update)

Today we are talking about natural anti-inflammatory foods and how they are used to create better health. We will discuss inflammation and what it is, medications and natural alternatives to medications.

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is the activation of the immune system in response to infection, irritation or injury.

Characterized by an influx of white blood cells, redness, heat, swelling, pain, and dysfunction of the organs involved, inflammation has different names when it appears in different parts of the body.

Most allergy and asthma sufferers are familiar with rhinitis (inflammation of the nose), sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses), and asthma (inflammation of the airways), but inflammation is also behind arthritis (inflammation of the joints), dermatitis (inflammation of the skin), and so on.

Note that they mostly have the suffix ‘itis’, if you get a diagnosis with that ending in means inflammation.

You may think that only your joints are affected by inflammation, but inflammation actually affects all of your major organ systems and therefore affects everyone. Because inflammation management is linked to whole-body health, a supplement that promotes a healthy inflammation response may be fundamental to your entire well being.

Anti-Inflammatory Medications

There are many anti-inflammatory medications on the market today. Several of them have side effects that you don’t really want but can’t do anything about.

The most common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, decreased appetite, rash, dizziness, headache, and drowsiness. The most serious side effects are kidney failure (primarily with chronic use), liver failure, ulcers and prolonged bleeding after an injury or surgery.

Natural Lifestyle Solutions

Studies have shown that there are many lifestyle choices that contribute to inflammation on a daily basis.

  • Sleep deprivation – reduced sleep and insomnia does not allow the body time enough to repair and heal during the night.
  • Stress and anxiety – reducing your stress or anxiety also helps reduce the inflammatory response in your body.
  • Diet – eating a healthy diet with plenty of water, fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates reduces inflammation. Adding healthy fats such as omega 3s and olive oil to your diet will also help.
  • Detoxification – detoxing the lymphatic system of pollutants and chemicals.
  • Exercise – Exercise removes toxins from the lymph system and reduces inflammation.
  • Supplements/Vitamins – Choose a whole food vitamin and mineral supplement, not one that is synthetically made. Folic acid, B vitamins, and vitamins C, D and E have anti-inflammatory effects for the body.
  • Immune System – support your immune system with probiotic and enzyme supplements for a healthy intestinal tract.

Natural Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Herbs and Spices

Extensive research conducted within the last two decades has indicated that phytochemicals present in herbs and spices can safely and effectively promote a healthy anti-inflammation response.

There are many natural products available on the market today. Turmeric is one of our favorites as it has some amazing anti-inflammatory properties. You can learn more about using turmeric powder and other herbs and diet to control inflammation in this book The Anti-Inflammatory Diet & Action Plans: 4-Week Meal Plans to Heal the Immune System and Restore Overall Health by Dorothy Calimeris

Essential Oils

Another great way to reduce inflammation is to use essential oils.

Essential oils contain many different medicinal properties that are documented to help the physical and emotional body. They easily penetrate the skin and can be carried throughout the blood and tissues within minutes.

Oils that are high in carvacrol, a phenol, can be very effective as a natural anti-inflammatory. Carvacrol can be found in Oregano, Thyme , and Mountain Savory Essential Oils. Also Copaiba (pronounced “Ko-pah-ee-bah”) essential oil is potentially the highest anti-inflammatory substance known to man either natural or synthetic.

A study published in the January 2010 in the Journal of Lipid Research found that 6 essential oils reduce inflammation very effectively. In this study, it was found that the oils suppressed the COX-2 enzyme, which is responsible for the inflammatory process in the body, by as much as 75 percent!

Thyme essential oil ranked number one out of six different oils tested and there are over 50 different oils that show natural anti-inflammatory properties.

CBD Products

You can also use CBD products and they are becoming more and more popular and for a good reason. One of the main reasons to take CBD supplements is that it has amazing natural anti-inflammatory properties.

“Overall, the research literature indicates that cannabinoids, including CBD, could potentially be very effective anti-inflammatory agents for nervous tissue inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, vascular inflammation and certain types of cancers that are triggered by chronic inflammation” ~ Jeremy Riggle, Ph.D.

The use of CBD is a great way to naturally start using natural anti-inflammatory products.

Conclusion:

If you have inflammation in your body and are concerned about your health, there are several natural products to help reduce your inflammation as well as lifestyle changes that you can incorporate easily.