Natural Cures For Dummies

Today’s food supply is often deficient in nutrients, and environmental factors frequently disrupt the body’s natural balance, so sometimes you need natural cures to supplement your diet to correct nutritional deficiencies, boost the immune system, or give your body something extra that has been proven to help it recover from a specific illness.

Eating junk foods isn’t simply a matter of “garbage in, garbage out.” The natural cures approach encourages you to think about the effect this food has on your body. Junk food is bad for your body and your health because of the long-term and possibly irreversible damage it can do to your body as it passes through your system.

Natural medicine isn’t as easy as popping a pill. It’s a juggling act that involves diet, lifestyle, nutritional supplements, herbs, body work, and other factors. It requires a great deal of attention to detail. To help keep track of all the details, sometimes it helps to look at the big picture. Here are ten principles that drive natural medicine and ease the burden of having to remember all the details.

Here are ten rules to good health that may be easy to follow. You don’t have to comply with all the rules, but the more you follow, the greater the benefit. Eat more plants While certain cows may be telling you to “Eat more chickin’,” you should eat a rainbow of plant‐based foods, organically grown, if possible.

You can use the natural cures approach to prevent and treat specific illnesses or to become so healthy that any illness has a difficult time establishing a foothold. Here are ten more ways to get the most out of natural cures. Consulting a natural healthcare provider To truly get the most out of natural medicine, you should consult a natural healthcare provider — a functional medicine practitioner, naturopath, osteopath, or a chiropractor who’s skilled in nutritional medicine.

Natural cures can help with lots of different ailments. Leaky gut syndrome is a condition in which the small intestine becomes more porous and permeable than normal, allowing irritants, such as toxins, undigested food particles, waste products, and microbes, to leak into surrounding areas where these substances shouldn’t be.

Antacids are counter-productive to a natural cures approach. Many people who experience indigestion, heartburn, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and other gastrointestinal disorders take antacids or proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) — a class of medications that shut down the production of hydrochloric acid by glands that line the stomach.

The term natural cures includes many different approaches to health and wellness — everything from aromatherapy and homeopathy to massage and nutritional medicine — but all the methodologies that fall under the natural cures umbrella reflect the following seven core principles: Treat the cause, not the symptoms.

Natural cures can help fight infections. Conventional treatments for the common cold and other infections target symptoms and tend to impair the body’s own defense mechanisms. These mechanisms are designed to purge the viruses or bacteria from the body. Although you may need to alleviate symptoms to make it through the day at work or school, you can speed your recovery by giving your immune system a boost.

Aromatherapy is the practice of using aromatic essential oils extracted from plants to improve mental and physical health. The table highlights the most commonly used essential oils and lists the ailments that each is most often used to treat. Don’t take essential oils internally. Essential oils are commonly combined with salts to be used in baths, mixed with a carrier oil to be used in massage or applied topically, or used with a diffuser to spread the aroma throughout a room.

Pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs, is a common lung infection. Whether the infection is viral or bacterial, it causes cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. Other symptoms may include headache, excessive fatigue, loss of appetite, and confusion (especially in older adults). Pneumonia is a major cause of death worldwide and the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

Homeopathy is based on the law of familiars or treating like with like — using a substance that causes certain symptoms in a healthy person to alleviate those same symptoms in someone who’s ill. For example, coffee keeps most people awake, but for some people who have trouble sleeping, a homeopathic preparation of coffee helps them sleep.

The distinction between conventional and natural medicine boils down to the difference in their goals. Conventional medicine seeks to eliminate illness, while natural medicine seeks to optimize wellness. This is especially true for functional medicine. While conventional medicine focuses on battling infections and symptoms of illnesses, such as asthma, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, fibromyalgia, heart disease, and obesity, with symptom‐suppression pharmaceuticals, functional medicine seeks to treat the imbalances or dysfunctions in the body that give rise to these illnesses.

Fewer than ten foods are responsible for triggering most cases of inflammation and numerous autoimmune disorders in humans: wheat, soy, dairy, sugar, corn, eggs, peanuts, artificial sweeteners, and trans fats. To find out whether any of the items on this list ails you, get tested for food allergies and sensitivities or perform a modified elimination diet.

For as long as humans have walked the earth, plants have been used to treat a host of common ailments, from allergies to headaches to heart disease and even cancer. In fact, many modern medicines have been developed by extracting the active ingredients of various plants. The table lists more than 100 of the most common and helpful herbs still in use today.

Several essential minerals work together along with vitamins and other nutrients to produce tissue, bones, blood, and various chemicals used in ­biological processes; to promote proper blood circulation; to support fluid regulation, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, and energy production; and much more. The following table presents the essential minerals along with the better form of each, a list of health conditions each mineral may be helpful in treating, and a list of foods high in that particular mineral.

Vitamins are organic compounds or groups of organic compounds that your body needs but either can’t make or may not make in sufficient quantities. So, you need to consume them. The table below presents the essential vitamins, along with a couple other key compounds, that play a role similar to that of vitamins.

When you have bronchitis, the lining of your bronchial tubes are inflamed, and you cough up thick, possibly discolored mucus. To relieve symptoms and speed healing, drink 8 ounces of water with fresh lemon every two hours, eat grandma’s penicillin (chicken soup), drink peppermint and/or ginger tea, and take as many of the following as possible to boost lung function and immunity: Natural Cure Dosage N‐acetyl cysteine 600 mg twice daily taken on an empty stomach Tylophora asthmatica extract (root) 15 mg two to three times daily Boswellia serrata 150 mg two to three times daily Picrorhiza extract (root) 75 mg two to three times daily Quercetin 500 mg two to three times daily Lobelia herb and seed 1,000 mg one to two times daily Echinacea root 250 mg twice daily Ginger 250 mg three to four times daily Andrographis leaf extract 200 to 400 mg daily Follow this regimen for a week, and your bronchitis should improve, but your cough may linger for about a month, which is natural.

If you suffer from chronic infections — yeast overgrowth; a long history of bacterial or fungal infections; constipation, diarrhea, and bowel irritation; or chronic sinus infections — or if you’ve had to take several doses of antibiotics over the years, your immune system has probably been compromised. In most cases, this means that the bad bugs living in your gut are winning the battle against the good bugs.

Some spas feature a eucalyptus steam room or sauna to help patrons with respiratory issues clear their lungs. If your local spa doesn’t offer this feature, gather the supplies you need to create your own mini eucalyptus steam room: eucalyptus and tea tree oil, hot water, a heat‐resistant bowl, and a towel large enough to fit over your head and the bowl.

If you have a temperature above 99.5 degrees F (37.5 degrees C), associated perhaps with chills and shivering, you have a fever. With the exception of high fevers (above 102 degrees F [38.9 degrees C]), the best course of action is to let the fever run its course so that your immune system can fight what’s ailing you.

Unlike the beneficial microorganisms of probiotics, parasites are microorganisms that live off nutrients in your body and usually compromise your health. Parasite infections can cause numerous and varied symptoms, including diarrhea, constipation, abdominal bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn, inflammatory fever, suppressed appetite, skin conditions, behavioral changes, anal itching, weight loss, rectal bleeding, and bowel disease, including colitis and Crohn’s disease.

A natural cures approach to life doesn’t mean you should never take treatment for ailments. Antibiotics are necessary for treating severe bacterial infections, but they’re often overused and frequently cause more harm than good: Antibiotics don’t just target the bad bacteria. They also wipe out many of the beneficial bacteria that improve digestion and produce nutrients, such as B vitamins, that your body needs to survive.

With deep breathing exercises, you become more mindful of every inhalation and exhalation and the sensations of each part of your body in succession. You can find plenty of deep breathing exercises on the web; most of these exercises go something like this: Sit perfectly still and relaxed in a comfortable chair.

Like the common cold, the flu attacks your respiratory system, but it hits harder and faster. Symptoms include fever over 100 degrees F (37.8 degrees C), severe muscle ache, chills, sweating, fatigue, and congestion. If you or the person you are caring for has a severe case of the flu and is in a high‐risk category — a young child, an older adult, a pregnant woman, or someone with a compromised immune system — see your doctor immediately.

Methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, pronounced “mersa”) is an infection caused by a strain of Staphylococcus bacteria that’s become resistant to antibiotics. If left untreated, MRSA may lead to loss of limbs or even death. MRSA first appears as small red bumps that look like pimples and may quickly turn into painful abscesses.

The natural cures approach to healing and wellness relies primarily on nutrition, nutritional supplements, and herbs to give the body what it needs to achieve optimal health and to prevent and fight illness. This cheat sheet brings you up to speed on the fundamentals of natural medicine, recommends which foods to eliminate and add to your diet, and provides protocols you can follow to maintain healthy digestion, prevent or cure leaky gut syndrome, and fight off infection.

You’re coughing and sneezing, your nose is running, your throat is sore, and maybe you’re running a fever. Those are all symptoms of the common cold. Colds generally last seven to ten days, and symptoms may linger for a couple weeks. To speed your recovery, hit back with the following acute cold protocol when you first notice symptoms: Supplement Dosage Colostrum 10,000 mg one or two times daily Proline‐rich polypeptides 4 sprays in mouth, hold for 30 seconds and then swallow, twice daily early morning and before bed for a total of 16 mg daily Probiotics (Saccharomyces boulardii; multistrain containing Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium longum, and Lactobacillus plantarum; and Bifidobacterium lactis [HOWARU Bifido] 250 mg Saccharomyces boulardii; 15 billion CFU multistrain probiotic, and 15 billion CFU HOWARU Bifido twice daily Vitamin C (mineral ascorbates) 1,000 to 3,000 mg daily Whole beta glucan 500 mg twice daily Vitamin A 10,000 to 25,000 IU daily Vitamin D3 5,000 to 10,000 IU daily, depending on blood levels Zinc (lozenges and pill form) Lozenges several times daily plus 20 mg in pill form twice daily during acute illness, not to exceed 40 mg total daily Andrographis 200 mg twice daily Isatis extract 150 mg twice daily Licorice extract 80 mg twice daily Olive leaf 1 to 2 g daily The best cure for the common cold is not to get one.

in addition to the conventional treatments for hepatitis and at the earliest stages of the disease, use natural cures to prevent the virus from replicating, reduce the severity of the illness, and repair liver damage. Hepatitis refers to a group of inflammatory diseases of the liver. Symptoms of acute hepatitis include fatigue, vomiting, nausea, fever, loss of appetite, dark urine, yellowing of the skin (jaundice), enlarged and tender liver, and elevated liver enzymes.

Most diets recommend some form of calorie counting, the natural cures approach included, but foods are more than merely energy that your body either burns or stores as fat. Food also provides the building blocks for every cell in your body and conveys crucial information that your DNA uses to help your body adapt to the environment in which it lives.

Do you just grab whatever vitamin is on sale? You may want to consider buying their better forms for a true natural cures approach. Not all vitamins and minerals are created equal. Here’s why: Certain forms of a vitamin or mineral are more bioavailable than others. Bioavailability is a measure of how readily the body absorbs the nutrient and delivers it to the targeted cells or tissues in the body.

Your body manufactures and uses hormones as part of its internal communication system to regulate all of your body’s biological processes, including those related to growth and development, digestion, heart rate, immune response, sexual function, reproduction, mood, and much more. Too much or too little of a hormone can result in major disturbances in these biological processes, leading to illness.

Abscesses, boils, and carbuncles are sometimes painful inflamed areas of the skin that you can ease naturally. An abscess is an inflamed, pus‐filled mass surrounded by pink or red. Abscesses typically occur in the armpits; in the groin, anal, or vaginal areas; near the base of the spine; on the face; and inside the mouth.

Acne is related more to what you put into your body than what you put on it. Therefore, the most effective approach to treating acne is to adjust your diet. Here are some suggestions: Lower the glycemic load in your diet by avoiding sugar, bread, rice, cereal, pasta, and all flour products. Stop drinking cow milk, because it has high levels of androgens, which have been linked to acne outbreaks.

You don’t want to pop a blister; instead, let it heal naturally. Blisters result from friction, chemical exposure, or infection and are the body’s way of protecting the underlying skin as the body grows new skin. The following natural cures may help in the meantime: Aloe vera: Break off a piece of the plant, rub the broken end gently over the blister, and cover with a breathable bandage.

Dandruff is usually more embarrassing than it is a health risk, but it may be a symptom of something more serious, such as eczema, psoriasis, or a fungal infection. If your scalp itches, avoid the temptation to scratch, which may cause bleeding and make your scalp more susceptible to infection. Try one or more of the following treatments: Use over‐the‐counter shampoos containing ketoconazole, zinc pyrithione, selenium sulfide, or salicylic acid.

Dermatitis is an inflammation of the skin, which typically causes the skin to be red, dry, and itchy. There are several forms of dermatitis, including contact dermatitis (for example, poison ivy), atopic dermatitis (such as eczema), and seborrheic dermatitis. The first step in treating dermatitis is to identify and remove whatever’s causing it.

Normally, you shed about 50 to 100 hairs daily. If you’re losing more than that, something’s wrong, and you need to find out what it is. Common causes of hair loss include medical issues, such as thyroid malfunction, autoimmune conditions (including autoimmune alopecia [hair loss]), ringworm, and lupus erythematous; side effects of medications, such as cholesterol lowering drugs, Parkinson’s medications, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for blocking stomach acid, anti‐inflammatories, and beta blockers; hormonal changes in both men and women; poor diet and nutrition; and other things like pregnancy, excessive stress, certain hairstyles and hair products, and so on.

Herpes simplex is a highly contagious virus that causes blisters or lesions. Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV‐1) typically appears above the waist (in and around the mouth) in the form of cold sores. Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV‐2) typically appears below the waist (in and around the genital area). The virus can spread through direct contact with an infected person who is producing or shedding the virus — whether or not the person is experiencing an active outbreak.

Jock itch is a fungal infection that affects the groin area. Symptoms include itching and burning around the affected area along with red, flaking, peeling, and cracking skin. Common causes of jock itch include a lowered immune system; tight, restrictive clothing; fungal contact through shared showers, locker rooms, clothing, or towels; and being overweight.

The most effective approach to treating psoriasis generally focuses on diet and nutrition. Psoriasis is a chronic recurring autoimmune skin condition characterized by raised, inflamed lesions covered with silvery white scales. In psoriasis, skin cells replicate rapidly, giving the new cells no place to go, thus creating mounds of skin.

Ringworm is a very common fungal infection (not caused by worms) that often appears in ring‐shaped patterns on the arms, legs, face, and torso. The fungi feed on keratin — a protein in skin, hair, and nails, and the resulting rash may be very itchy and thick, dry, and scaly. Ringworm can also affect other parts of the body, including the feet (causing athlete’s foot), finger nails and toe nails (causing onychomycosis), the groin area (causing jock itch), the hands, or the scalp.

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by facial redness most prevalent on the cheeks, nose, forehead, and around the eyes. It affects women three times more than men. Although rosacea appears on the surface of the body, its causes usually run deeper: food allergies or intolerances; leaky gut; foods that contain high levels of histamine; small‐intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO); and alcohol, spicy foods, and hot beverages.

Shingles is the sequel to chicken pox. It causes pain typically followed by blisters that appear on either the left or right side of the body. It may also cause headache, fever, chills, and fatigue. Although the rash typically clears up in two to four weeks, nerve pain (post‐herpetic neuralgia) may last for ­several weeks or months afterwards.

A rash is an outbreak on the skin characterized by discoloration and inflammation. Keeping the affected area clean and dry and exposing it to air as much as possible is usually sufficient for clearing up most rashes, but if that’s not enough, try one or more of the following treatments: Bentonite clay: Apply extra‐virgin, untreated bentonite clay over the affected area several times daily.

Head lice are ugly bugs that live in your hair. Over‐the‐counter products for ridding your hair of lice are typically powerful and potentially dangerous insecticides. Instead of exposing yourself or your children to these products, try the following approach: Saturate the hair with olive or almond oil right down to the scalp, paying close attention to the areas around the ears and hairline.

Corns and calluses are thick, hardened layers of skin that develop as your skin tries to protect itself from excess friction or pressure. A corn is smaller than a callous, usually appears on the top or side of the foot or toe, and is characterized by a hard center surrounded by inflamed skin. A callous is larger but rarely painful and usually forms on the palms of the hands or soles of the feet.

A natural cures approach to health and healing offers numerous benefits. Before investing time, effort, and money in any endeavor, it’s a good idea to weigh the pros and cons so that you can make a well‐informed decision regarding the type of healthcare you want. Provides a user‐friendly alternative to the typical doctor‐patient interaction.

People generally don’t want to think about the critters living inside of them, feasting on their food and leaving toxic waste behind. The good news is that some of these microorganisms live symbiotically with your body, performing essential biological processes that keep you healthy. The bad news is that some of these microorganisms are parasites — living in you at the expense of your health.

Conventional science often questions the effectiveness of natural medicine by citing the dearth of well‐designed clinical studies, but natural medicine actually has a growing body of scientific evidence to back it up. This evidence comes primarily in two forms: Randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled (RDBPC) clinical trials: RDBPC studies, which test the effectiveness and safety of medications, are the gold standard in the pharmaceutical industry.

Biofeedback is a mind‐over‐matter approach to treating common physical and mental health issues, including anxiety, asthma, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic pain, depression, epilepsy, headaches (including migraines), high blood pressure, post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Raynaud’s disease, sleep disorders, and urinary incontinence.

Chelation is used in conventional medicine to remove from the body toxic heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, aluminum, nickel, and arsenic, that the body itself can’t otherwise excrete. Chelating agents, including EDTA (ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid) and DMSA (dimercaptosuccinic acid), bind chemically to the toxic metal molecules, so the newly formed compounds can be flushed from the system.

In functional medicine, knowing what kind of patient has the disease is more important than knowing what kind of disease the patient has. With conventional medicine, health is the absence of illness. Your doctor diagnoses what ails you and then prescribes a medication to treat it. This approach is usually fine for acute illnesses, trauma, and infections, but it falls short in the treatment of chronic illnesses, including allergies, hormonal imbalances, heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, neurological conditions, and cancer.

Natural medicine is any healing practice that harnesses the power of nature, including the human body’s self‐defense and self‐healing mechanisms, to ­prevent and cure illness. Natural medicine includes the following practices: Aromatherapy: Essential oils extracted from plants are used in numerous preparations, including massage oils and bath salts, to enhance physical and psychological well-being.