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by Elisa Adams
Mouth
Gingivitis.
Add five drops each of thyme oil and eucalyptus oil to 2 tbsp of water and rinse
mouth thoroughly after brushing, 2–3 times a day, especially at bedtime. Kills germs on
contact! Also, see your dentist for adequate oral care.
Halitosis. Stop consuming
all animal products (beef, pork, poultry, eggs, dairy) for 21 days, eat
primarily fruits and vegetables (raw, cooked, and in soup) and cleanse liver and
colon (see below). Add 2 tbsp of liquid chlorophyll to your water 3 times a day
and drink hot alfalfa tea before eating, to warm the digestive tract.
When resuming a “normal”
diet, consume no more than one protein food per meal, and add ginger, curry,
mustard, cinnamon, cloves and/or cayenne pepper while cooking. Ginger-mint tea
is also excellent at mealtimes. When tea is not convenient, use a digestive
supplement with protease and ginger.
If constipation is present, do a
2–3 week colon cleanse and continue to stimulate the liver to
produce sufficient bile with LBS II, cascara sagrada, milk thistle, and other
liver supporting herbs.
Also, have a dentist check your
mouth for any sources of infection, try tongue brushing, and make sure your body
temperature is 98.6º F (see www.wilsonstemperaturesyndrome.com).
Esophagus
Heartburn,
GERD. Almost all holistic professionals are united in their awareness that
the cause of this common and painful disorder is not excess HCL but in fact an
insufficiency of stomach acid, an insufficiency of raw food enzymes in the diet,
and an excess of cooked food.
The stomach is composed of two
parts, the “foyer” and the lower area, where protein foods are broken down
into peptides. In the upper area of the stomach, food remains for about 20
minutes and continues to digest in an enzyme solution, using the enzymes in the
raw food and from saliva. If no enzymes are present, the food begins to ferment,
producing gas.
As the HCL begins to churn in the
lower part of the stomach, the gases cause the cardiac sphincter between the
stomach and esophagus to open, and acid will splash up into the esophagus. The
acid present is fine; the gassy situation is not.
One simple old-time remedy is to
take a drink of honey and vinegar before eating, or even just a tablespoon of
Bragg's vinegar, straight, to ensure adequate enzymes and acid for digestion.
Adding ginger and digestive enzymes is also useful. Try a raw-foods diet for 21
days, along with cultured foods such as yogurt, kefir, fermented beets,
fermented carrots, and sauerkraut. Raw-food cookbooks are available at local
bookstores. You should feel better immediately!
An often overlooked aspect of
this increasingly common malady is the irradiation of foods. By killing the
enzymes in our produce, grocery stores are assured a longer shelf life and
better-looking produce. Unfortunately, plant enzymes are an essential part of
our digestive needs, and they are not found in irradiated foods. Therefore, for
people with GERD, buying organic, non-irradiated foods is not just an option, it
is a necessity, and so is a diet high in raw vegetables and salads, at least for
one year. (See Gut Solutions, by Brenda Watson.)
Gas,
Indigestion
This is an
upper-GI condition, accompanied by burping, as opposed to the lower-GI
condition, where bloating is a more common occurrence. First, make sure the body
temperature is 98.6º F, the ideal temperature for digestion. Next, make sure
your carbohydrates are digesting, not fermenting! Protein foods, which rot,
create a disgusting unmistakable odor, which fat and carbohydrate indigestion
does not. Carbohydrates, when macerated and left in a warm environment (the
gut), will ferment; this is the process that makes wine, beer, vodka, whisky,
etc. Gases are a natural byproduct of fermentation — this is not abnormal at
all.
One simple solution is to
eliminate all carbohydrate foods from your diet. Bloating and burping will cease
immediately! Meats, avocado and salads, green cooked veggies (such as asparagus,
broccoli, and leafy greens -- spinach, kale, collards, Swiss chard, and beet
greens), and soups (such as chicken soup with lots of onion, celery, and chopped
greens, no noodles or potato, but a bit of butternut squash might be OK), make
an ideal diet for a gassy condition.
When reintroducing carbohydrates,
be sure to eat carbs with greens, in a non-protein meal. An example would be a
baked potato with a large green salad. The enzymes in the greens will help
digest the potato. Sprinkling paprika on the potato or adding mustard pickles or
horseradish, ginger tea, salsa, or a small bowl of hot and spicy Oriental soup
before the potato will also help.
Bloating
As above,
in Chinese medicine, this is considered a condition of “cold in the gut.” It
needs to be heated by hot and spicy herbal teas and soups, (think ginger and
other Indian and Oriental spices). Leaky gut and food sensitivities may also be
implicated.
A chronic cold belly will almost
inevitably lead to Candidiasis and a leaky gut situation, where incompletely
digested protein segments find their way through the lining of the small
intestines, leading to confusion in the immune system (what are these proteins?
Bacteria? Viruses?) and consequent food reactions.
Rotting proteins and fermenting
carbohydrates both produce abdominal distention and discomfort. A small amount
of protein, sautéed with grated ginger and served with mustard sauce or salsa,
a small serving of carbohydrate, such as brown rice or winter squash, and lots
of green vegetables — which don’t have enough sugars to easily ferment —
help eliminate the bloating.
Two of the most common causes of
bloating and indigestion are dairy and wheat. If this is the case, no herbs will
help until you eliminate the milk and Wheaties and toast/bagels/muffins/noodles,
etc. Muscle testing will help determine whether you need to give up milk, wheat,
or both.
Celiac
This is a
somewhat underdiagnosed disorder, causing GI distress due to a sensitivity to
all gluten foods, namely wheat, barley, rye, and oatmeal. The current treatment
is to limit one’s diet to all gluten-free foods, which include all unprocessed
fruits and vegetables, yogurt, butter, dairy, eggs, nuts, fish and meats. Being
gluten-free for two weeks makes a remarkable change in one’s health. The gene
pool where Celiac disease is the most common is the Nordic peoples, with fair
and freckled skin and blue/gray/green eyes.
Crohn’s
Disease
This is
another medically diagnosable digestive disorder, perhaps considered one step
more serious than celiac disease. In addition to diarrhea and the risk of
dehydration, Crohn’s is incredibly painful. It is caused by a sensitivity to
all grains and dairy. For more information on the appropriate diet, see The
Specific Carbohydrate Diet (www.scdiet.org).
Following
diagnosis, eliminate all sugars, sugar-cane products, grains, and dairy
products, while retaining a remarkably healthy diet of protein foods (meat,
poultry, fish and eggs), green vegetables, root vegetables (beets, carrots,
potatoes, yams, turnip, onions), other carbohydrate vegetables (such as squash,
peas, and beans, which are good sources of fiber), herb teas, and water.
Irritable
Bowel Syndrome
It has been
estimated that perhaps 20 per cent of adults in the USA suffer from IBS, with
symptoms including pain, bloating, diarrhea, and/or constipation. Less serious
than celiac and Crohn’s, it is distressing and very disruptive of one’s
quality of life. In IBS, the rhythm of peristalsis through the small and large
intestine is disrupted, and weight loss and dehydration can occur.
Blackcurrant tea and jam are good
for counteracting diarrhea, as are slippery elm, marshmallow, and chamomile. A
good NSP herbal combination, Intestinal Soothe and Build, works wonders for IBS,
along with the following diet:
No wheat or dairy, with the
exception of butter, which seems to be okay. No raw fruits or vegetables, no
salads.
Every day: At least two eggs, as
a source of protein and vitamin A, to repair the lining of the gastrointestinal
tract. Sweet potatoes, at least one daily and preferably two, to provide the
perfect fiber for the regrowth of friendly bacteria in the colon and prevent
dehydration. (If you absolutely hate sweet potatoes, cooked carrots or winter
squash are an option.) Liver, if you like it, up to 3 times a week. All cooked
vegetables are fine. Take an herbal combination containing chamomile and
slippery elm with each meal. Expect to feel fine in two days!
Constipation
This
condition, a precursor to hemorrhoids and varicose veins, is normally found only
in technologically advanced countries. It may be caused by any combination of
the following: refined starches and sugars, cheese, excess dairy products,
supplements high in calcium and low in magnesium, a magnesium deficiency caused
by insufficient apples, cornmeal, and leafy greens, and/or iron supplements.
Herbal support for a sluggish
colon generally includes herbs such as cascara sagrada, turkey rhubarb, buckthorn
bark, barberry rootbark, licorice, ginger, and lobelia. Lobelia is an
antispasmodic, helping prevent constriction of the colon.
Senna leaf has some measure of
renown as an herbal laxative and is useful for purgatives and antiparasitic
formulas, but it causes cramping and is urgent in its results. Cascara is much
gentler and may be used safely for a longer period of time.
Hemorrhoids
This
uncomfortable enlargement of the veins around the anus is fairly common as a
side effect of constipation and sometimes pregnancy. Wheat bran, other whole
grains, lentil soup and hummus and other legumes, and cooked leafy greens, with
adequate drinking water, make a remarkable difference in a short time. Try
organic five-minute oatmeal “parritch” for breakfast (with raisins,
cinnamon, and chopped prunes and apricots) for a delicious, inexpensive,
high-fiber way to start the day. The herb most highly recommended for
hemorrhoids is white oak bark; its tannins work to shrink flaccid tissue.
Longstanding, chronic hemorrhoids may still need medical intervention, but a
short-term condition should heal up easily.
Quick
Herbal Reference
Anxious
stomachache. Passionflower, chamomile, hops, skullcap
Appetite,
lack. Gentian, horehound, rosemary
Constipation.
Cascara sagrada, buckthorn berries, flaxseed, psyllium, rhubarb, yellow dock,
senna
Diarrhea.
Chamomile, red raspberry leaves, slippery elm, marshmallow, kudzu
Digestion.
Blessed thistle, dandelion, gentian, ginger
Gas,
digestive. Catnip, fennel, gentian, ginger
Hemorrhoids.
White oak bark, witch hazel
Irritable
bowel syndrome. Flaxseed (ground), psyllium, slippery elm, wild yam
Liver
disorders. Milk thistle, dandelion, schizandra, yellow dock, kudzu, turmeric
Motion
sickness, morning sickness, nausea. Ginger
Nausea, flu.
Chamomile, ginger, peppermint
Ulcers, stomach or duodenal. Licorice, DGL (deglycerized licorice)
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