We are all looking for natural ways to help us out in order to get rid of some of the medications in our medicine cabinets. No matter what the pharmaceutical companies say, there are always side effects from using medication, and some of them unfortunately aren’t discovered until years after people have been taking them. A new study has found that turmeric is just as effective (if not more so) at controlling the pain of arthritis as ibuprofen. This is great news as the side effects from ibuprofen range from vomiting to bloody stools to fainting. Turmeric is an all natural solution with a plethora of health benefits.
Arthritis is a serious disease that afflicts more than 25 million Americans. A sad statistic is that about one in two people will develop osteoarthritis over the course of their life which means that this disease will affect about half of the U.S. adult population. Arthritis is a degenerative disease which wears away the cartilage of your joints. The cartilage acts as a cushion between bones so that bone isn’t rubbing on bone, and when it gets worn away, it is very painful for an individual. People with arthritis have trouble moving their joints and this can lead to difficulty with walking and general movement. There’s no way to re-grow the cartilage, so people with arthritis try to manage their pain with medication. But chronic use of the pain medications can lead to terrible side effects like liver and kidney damage, heart problems and gastrointestinal issues.
This new study with turmeric gives hope to the millions of arthritis suffers that a natural solution for pain management is a real possibility. In this study, patients were receiving either turmeric or ibuprofen over the course of 6 weeks. Their pain levels were tracked and measured, and it turned out that taking the turmeric was just as effective as taking the ibuprofen. Doctors believe that the turmeric worked because of the curcumin in turmeric. Curcurmin is what gives turmeric its beautiful rich golden orange coloring. It has powerful anti-inflammatory properties that can influence both genes and enzymes. And curcumin doesn’t just help arthritis, it also helps a myriad of other diseases such as psoriasis, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, and diabetes.
The good news is that turmeric is inexpensive and there are a lot of ways you can take it. The first thing to do is to start cooking with it. It’s delicious and can be incorporated into dishes ranging from curries to meats to vegetables. You can also take it in a supplement form in capsules, but make sure that your supplement contains 100% organic ingredients. And if you’re cooking with turmeric, don’t be afraid to throw in other spices like ginger and cumin which also have great anti-inflammatory effects.
So many of us are either affected by arthritis of have loved ones who suffer from the disease. It’s wonderful to discover natural herbs and spices that can truly help with the pain and management of arthritis without all of the negative side effects of manufactured medications. Perhaps we can put more money toward researching these natural remedies as opposed to creating new chemical concoctions.
Dogs can also detect other types of cancer through scent. One dog named Marine has been trained to detect colon cancer and can do so with 97% accuracy. She even beats the normal blood tests for cancer by a full 25%. Another test used dogs to detect bladder cancer and achieved over 40% accuracy. Researchers at the Pine Street Foundation in California trained five dogs to smell both breast cancer and lung cancer on a patient’s breath. The dogs had an accuracy rate between 88-99% and even navigated around odors like smoke.
There is evidence that the topical application of creams with green tea extract can help reduce sun damage and the risk of skin cancer. But it’s not that the green tea offers UV protection. What the green tea actually does to protect skin is to reduce inflammation and scavenge free radicals. Researchers are looking at using green tea extract in sunscreens in combination with UV blocking ingredients to create a synergistic effect. And since it’s the antioxidants in green tea that seem to help our skin fight sun damage, the good news is that you also get the benefits of these antioxidants through drinking tea, which means that you can also protect your skin from the inside out.
Some people may ask, “What’s the harm? Is anything bad happening because of it?” Here are some scary facts. Every day we use personal care products with a plethora of toxic chemicals in them. How can this be? The laws that govern the industry were passed over seventy years ago. Think of how many new chemicals have been created over the past seventy years. Those obviously aren’t included in any laws. In Europe, the EU has listed over 1,000 chemicals which it considers toxic and that are banned from being included in products. How many chemicals are banned in the U.S.? Ten. Yes, that is not a type- it is just ten chemicals which are considered too dangerous to use in our personal care products. This means that even chemicals which are known to be toxic are allowed to be used in our products, and they are. They also leech into our rivers and landfills in the form of pollution, so even if you buy organic products, you are still exposed to these toxins.
There are few different things people can do to prevent skin irritations from their phones. The first is to use an earbud or Bluetooth headset. If the phone isn’t touching your face, then it can’t cause problems on your skin. Another option is to check with the phone manufacturers and find cell phones that don’t contain nickel. And of course reducing the amount of time that you talk on your cell phone will help.
But luckily there is change coming, much in the same way change has come to our food industry. Small manufacturers are starting to make their own natural and healthy products which work better than the traditional chemical ones. Some are organic certified and some just use wholesome, good ingredients. How can you tell which products are good for you? Turn over products and start reading labels. A good rule of thumb is, if you know what it is, and it’s something you can eat, then it’s probably OK. Don’t be confused by the Latin names under which many ingredients are listed. Usually the common name will put in parenthesis as well since few us speak Latin. For example, if you see “Helianus Annuus” you may think that it’s a chemical because you don’t know what it is, but in fact it is just sunflower seed oil.
Another great benefit of exercise is that it stimulates detoxification. This is the body’s opportunity to get rid of the toxins floating around and to sweat them out. As the skin is one of the major organs involved in eliminating toxins, there is a tight connection to skin health and toxins. If the body cannot eliminate the toxins, they are going to sit in our systems causing damage, including damage to the skin. But in order for the skin to function effectively, the pores cannot be blocked. This means that it’s better not to exercise with makeup on. Makeup often clogs pores and prevents proper sweating or elimination. Also, after you work out, it’s a good idea to wash your face and body to get rid of the oil, sweat and toxins you’ve produced during your work out. There’s no point in doing all the work to get rid of the toxins just to let this sit on top of your skin for hours.
There are numerous essential oils which can help with the symptoms of eczema. Essential oils have numerous fatty acids, phytosterols and polyphenos which can help with the symptoms of eczema. Some of the ones which may be helpful include: