Tag: natural-remedies

  • Prevent and Alleviate Headaches Without Drugs!

    Headaches are a common symptom and source of pain and debilitation for many people. Headaches can come from stress, tension, allergens or unknown cause. Conventional medical advice recommends taking over-the-counter medications for headaches including ibuprofen and acetaminophen products such as Tylenol. Did you know that Tylenol is dangerous that it has a “black box warning” (the FDA’s strongest drug label warning)? The FDA is completely aware of the dangers associated acetaminophen. They promised to implement safety measures and dosage restrictions, warnings, and safety measures to protect consumers from the harms of Tylenol way back when, but never followed through.
    It’s been 40 years and they haven’t done a thing. Tylenol makes way too much money and you know about the FDA’s impressive ability to write-off children damaged by billion dollar industries. These pain relievers come with many side effects and should be avoided.

    Here’s a short list of natural remedies for headaches and suggestions on dietary changes to help eliminate headaches from Healthmade.co . 

    Dietary changes to prevent and support healing for headache

    • Avoid processed and packaged foods, ingredients, and other products. Processed foods contain ingredients that can cause headaches and other chronic health issues to occur.
    • Consume real, organic foods – nutrient-dense foods such as grassfed and finished meats, pasture-raised poultry and eggs and safe-sourced seafood. All these foods are abundant in important nutrients including fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) and Omega 3 essential fatty acids important for health.
    • Avoid sugar – sugar depletes the body of important minerals and displaces truly nutrient-dense foods that support wellness.
    • Avoid alcohol. Alcohol causes dehydration and mineral depletion (see avoid sugar and processed products, above. Both contain sugar and other ingredients that can easily deplete nutrients from the body, contain toxins, and contribute to headaches and other chronic health issues).  
    • Consume fermented and cultured foods – sauerkraut, pickles and other cultured vegetables, yogurt, sour cream and kefir made from organic, whole, raw milk.
    • Consume fermented beverages – cultured vegetable juices from sauerkraut, pickles, beet kvass (a Ukrainian drink made from beets, salt and filtered water), kombucha and water kefir. Fermented foods and beverages contain minerals, vitamins and enzymes that contribute to health and can help keep the body replete with nutrients that prevent headaches and other chronic health issues.
    • Consume homemade bone broth with sea salt – broths and sea salt contain amino acids and trace minerals that are helpful in maintaining wellness and can contribute to keeping headaches away.
    • Use sea salt in food preparation and cooking – sea salt contains critical, trace minerals for health including magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, boron, zinc, iron, and many others that can help eliminate headaches.
    • Avoid foods that can contribute to nutrient-depletion – soy, corn, grain and gluten foods that aren’t traditionally prepared via soaking, sprouting and fermentation can leach minerals from the body – which contributes to headaches – and also contribute to other health issues

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4325021/

    Source: https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/vegetarianism-and-plant-foods/living-with-phytic-acid/

    • Heal your digestive tract, naturally. The digestive tract is where most illness and disease originates.
    •  Avoid GMOs (genetically-modified organisms, found in 90% or more of our mainstream food supply). Any artificial, synthetic, or toxic substances in your diet or environment can contribute to headaches and other chronic health issues. 

    Source: https://migraine.com/stories/gmo-foods-something-seriously-consider/

    Natural remedies and other preparations for headaches

    • Magnesium oil (topical application) spray. Our bodies become depleted from important minerals such as magnesium easily from daily stress, anxiety and life tasks. Magnesium spray absorbs quickly and easily via the skin, and is more easily absorbed than through the digestive track topically. Recommended: 12foru magnesium spray, can also be put into capsules and taken orally.
    • Liposomal Vitamin C – Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and important nutrient. Reduces bioaccumulation of toxins and enhancesand rebuilds glutathione functions, both of which can help prevent headaches.Recommended: 12foru liposomal Vitamin C.
    • Epsom and/or magnesium salt baths as needed or 2-3 times weekly. Epsom and magnesium salts can be purchased at most health food stores and are excellent for promoting relaxation and detox in the body to help prevent headaches and other chronic health issues.
    • Use a water filtration / purification system for drinking/bathing and cooking, if possible
    • Avoid chemicals and toxins in clothing, personal and beauty care products, and commercial products in your home or business environments – eliminate commercial and chemical cleaners, detergents, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, toothpaste, solvents, plastics, formaldehyde and others that could be lurking in garments, furniture, paint, carpets, and others. Read labels and purchasing natural products with few ingredients, and those that are real, plant-based, and eco-friendly. For example, products with vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide and essential oils are preferable to products containing harmful chemicals with warning labels.
    • Reduce stress and anxiety. Lowering your blood pressure naturally via diet and other means is one way to accomplish this task.
    • Drink plenty of filtered water throughout the day. See above on water purification / filtration.
    • Obtain adequate sleep and rest. Sleep and rest allow the body to replenish, repair and rejuvenate its cells, organ systems and the brain. These can all contribute to reduction and avoidance of headaches and other chronic health issues.
    • Use massage, chiropractic, reflexology and other holistic care to help promote circulation, muscle-loosening and relaxation, stress-relief and obstructions in the spine or muscular-skeletal system that can contribute to headaches and other chronic health issues.
    • Herbal tinctures (or teas) to help with headache tension and relief: feverfew, ginger, butterbur, willow, and lemon balm tinctures.

    Note: as with any one dietary, supplemental or habit change, daily tea and/or consumption of extracts can help keep headaches away, but should not be considered a stand-alone cure for a headache or any health challenge. Underlying issues (see above) such as nutrient deficiencies, environmental toxins, rest, stress, and others also need consideration and addressing. Tinctures and teas can also be found at most health food stores.

    Learn how to make a lemon balm/feverfew tincture at home here.

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3210009/

    Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23030536

    Source: https://tinyurl.com/ycxg9e26

    Source: http://pennstatehershey.adam.com/content.aspx?productId=107&pid=33&gid=000281

    This article originally appeared at: https://healthmade.co/prevent-and-alleviate-headaches-without-drugs.

    RESOURCES

    Dangers of Tylenol

    Tylenol is hazardous – They Have Known It For 40 years

    Now might not be the best time to tell you that Tylenol has a “black box warning” (the FDA’s strongest drug label warning) and contains the following ingredients:

    Carboxymethylcellulose sodium (a thickening agent), carrageenan (associated with cancer and gastrointestinal disease), citric acid, flavor, glycerin, hydroxyethyl cellulose, microcrystalline cellulose, propylene glycol (a common ingredient in antifreeze that could be neurotoxic), propylparaben (a hazardous substance and endocrine disruptor), purified water, sodium benzoate, sorbitol solution, sucralose, and of course – acetaminophen.

  • Benefits and uses of Yarrow

    Yarrow is an herb that I always keep on hand, especially with kids. It is part of my Sweet Dreams Sleep Tincture and I often add it to teas or preparations for the kids.Native American herbal medicine makes extensive use of yarrow. Among the Micmac people of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, the stalk was chewed or stewed to induce sweating to “break” fevers and colds. They also pounded the stalks into a pulp to be applied to bruises, sprains, and swelling. Yarrow is also a natural insect repellant. This beneficial plant grows fairly easily in the Treasure Valley. 

    Dramatic Benefits of Yarrow:
    from LearningHerbs.com

    My first introduction to yarrow was quite dramatic. While out camping, a friend sliced open her hand quite deeply and it started to profusely flow with blood. After sitting her down and raising her hand above her heart, yarrow was picked fresh and place on the wound. Within seconds it stopped bleeding. Later at the emergency room the doctor was at first annoyed with the “dirty” plant material that was placed in the wound, but then amazed as he realized how deep the cut was, and how very little blood there was. 

    Yarrow is another magical herb that can not only stop bleeding almost instantly, but can also increase circulation when taken internally or used externally to promote blood flow in bruises or varicose veins. Yarrow’s healing abilities have been known for an immeasurable amount of time and have even been made famous in our myths of Achilles.

    Read More at https://learningherbs.com/remedies-recipes/natural-insect-repellent/

    Wellness Mama talks about the benefits of yarrow with her young children.

    Yarrow is one of my go-to herbs for children. It is helpful in relieving fevers, shortening the duration of cold and flu, helping improve relaxation during illness, and relieving cramps associated with hormones or illness. Applied topically, it is helpful with skin itching, rash or other issues.

    An external tincture or poultice will often help with hemorrhoids, rashes and broken skin. Some people will notice relief from allergy symptoms by drinking a tea of yarrow and mint.

    From Practical Herbalism:

    “Yarrow flower used in chronic diseases of the urinary apparatus, is especially recommended by Prof. J. M. Scudder. It exerts a tonic influence upon the venous system, as well as upon mucous membranes. It has been efficacious in sore throat, hemoptysis, hematuria and other forms of hemorrhage where the bleeding is mall in amount; incontinence of urine, diabetes, hemorrhoids with bloody and mucoid discharges, and dysentery. Also in amenorrhea, flatulency and spasmodic diseases, and in the form of injection in leucorrhea with relaxed vaginal walls. It will be found to be one of our best agents for the relief of menorrhagia.”

    Priest & Priest tell us that it is a mild, slow, and stimulating diaphoretic that is best used for the first stage of acute fevers, and for atonic and relaxed tissues where there is free discharge or passive hemorrhage of bright red blood. They recommend cold preparations to stimulate the appetite and tone the digestive organs, and give the following specific indications: Acute stage of colds; influenza and respiratory catarrhs; chronic diarrhea and dysentery; epistaxis; intestinal hemorrhage, bleeding hemorrhoids, uterine hemorrhage; profuse or protracted menstruation; and leucorrhea.”

    From Mountain Rose Herbs:

    “The British Herbal Compendium notes that preparations of yarrow lower fevers, induce sweating, stop cramps, encourage menstruation, relieve inflammation, and stimulate the release of stomach acid to digest proteins and fats. The herb is taken internally to treat colds, fevers, and indigestion, and used in skin treatments of slow-healing wounds. The Complete German Commission E Monographs recommends sitz baths with yarrow added to the bath water to relieve pelvic cramps in women.”

    How We Use Yarrow:

    • In homemade Buckwheat Relaxation pillows to help promote restful sleep
    • In sweet dreams sleep tincture for times when falling asleep is difficult
    • In teas (with mint and chamomile) during illness
    • As a tea, tincture or poultice on skin for rashes and itching
    • As a tincture to help ease menstrual cramps and hormone issues (not for use during pregnancy)
    • Yarrow tea often helps with congestion symptoms from allergies and illness
    • Adding yarrow to skin lotions, oils or salves can help with eczema or dry skin
    • I add a strong yarrow tea to my child’s bath for a high fever that I want to bring down naturally
    • Since it is helpful in stopping bleeding and avoiding infection, poultices of yarrow and plantain can be helpful on wounds

    Have you ever used yarrow? How do you use it? Share your tips below!