Health News and Information

Poor blood circulation can be helped with a hot water bottle or bed warmer if you cannot warm up naturally. Better still, take a foot bath, or alternate hot and cold baths, to warm your feet. A warm shower or bath is recommended when the body has cooled down considerably and just does not get warm. If you do have poor circulation, never go to bed with cold feet because they can keep you awake for hours. In that case it is better to make the effort and have a warm bath.

Sleeping drugs are the worst thing anyone can take because they do not cure insomnia, unless you use natural remedies. A person who does not subject himself to the laws of nature as regards sleep and rest can become a slave of chemical drugs when constantly resorting to sleeping pills.

Salutary sleep means learning to go to bed early. Soft harmonious music, not loud noise, may send you to sleep, and uplifting reading has a calming effect, in contrast to some exciting television entertainment. Quietly meditating on the deeper meaning of life can free us from the sickening happenings of our times and help us find the necessary rest.

So then, salutary sleep is based on many small necessities and requirements. Give due consideration to them before you consult your doctor about insomnia, because the answer to your problem is generally to be found simply by observing them.

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First thing in the morning I would do my breathing exercises, repeating them at noon during my lunch hour and again at night before going to bed. I began to sleep better, as the intensive breathing exercises gave me a feeling of pleasant tiredness and relaxation. Sleep became more restful and worries, sorrows and anxieties were no longer able to wake me up in the middle of the night. What a marvellous thing it is that breathing exercises have such a profound effect, even being able to influence our mind!

From a physical point of view, my abdominal muscles seemed to be the first to benefit. They became stronger, my diaphragm developed and my digestion improved. I no longer felt any trace of pain and the inflammation which had plagued me for weeks disappeared.

No doubt the natural remedies I took also helped, but without the breathing exercises it would have been difficult to achieve such success.

Some time after this experiment I saw a chiropractor, who was a friend of mine. The X-rays he took showed a normal spine, no arthritis, in fact, no signs of degeneration. Happily he assured me that my diaphragm muscles were exceptionally well developed, better than average, which I attributed to the breathing exercises. Slowly, I began to realise that the exercises had contributed to relieving the mental pressures that had bothered me. It only took five, ten or fifteen minutes each time, but eventually I began to feel more cheerful. It was now easier for me to bear the problems that had weighed so heavily on my mind. Light and sunshine entered my life once more. Indeed, in my case, ‘breathing meant life’!

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Generally speaking, coffee has the dilatory and stimulating effect described above; however, I learned an interesting fact with regard to coffee as the Arabs drink it. It surprised me that it can be prepared in a way that is much less harmful than the coffee made in the European or American home. In fact, I was quite astonished to see that the usual stimulating and insomniac effect was barely noticeable when I had coffee in Arab lands.

The Arabs serve it as the Turks do, in little cups together with the grounds. As a rule, they do not keep it roasted and ground but prepare it when the guests arrive. They roast the beans and grind them shortly before use, bring the ground coffee rapidly to the boil, let it bubble briefly, and pour a little cold water over the froth to settle. Then it is served very strong and thick with plenty of sugar.

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Since reports continue to circulate that seek to discredit natural foods and justify the use of denatured, refined products, it is high time that we clarify the question of sugar once and for all, so that the consumer can be sure of what is genuine and wholesome, and what is misleading and false.

The goodness of fruit sugar is not in any doubt, but when you buy dried fruit take care to select only the produce that is not sulphurised, bleached or denatured in any other way. Nothing but natural, pure fruit guarantees the benefits we intend to derive from it in the first place.

So what do we mean by ‘grape sugar’, as referred to in this book? We refer to the genuine sugar made from grapes, the condensed pure grape juice made from vine-ripened grapes. The manufactured grape sugar is artificial, but the genuine article can be described as nutritive grape sugar or grape concentrate. This syrup can also be made from raisins, sultanas and currants. It is by far the best sweetener available, in many ways equal to honey and in other respects even superior to it because some people cannot take honey, whereas practically everyone can tolerate real grape sugar.

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You can use your imagination to create quite a variety of sandwiches. Serve wholegrain (wholewheat) bread or crispbread, lightly spread with butter, then perhaps just a touch of vegetable extract such as Herbaforce or a yeast extract. A variety of fillings can be used, such as curds or cottage cheese mixed with chives or some other culinary herb. If you like garlic, chop some finely or mince it and spread it on the buttered bread. Garlic, chives and watercress go very well together in a tomato sandwich and so does finely chopped onion in place of the garlic. Grated carrot and a little horseradish is also a tasty combination. There is almost no end to the variety of sandwiches that can be prepared according to your taste and preferences. Herbs mixed with soft cheese and a little cream can be spread on bread or eaten with potatoes boiled in their skins. In the spring, radishes are a welcome addition to the sandwich menu, but they should be used sparingly because they are quite strong and too many can overstimulate or even irritate the liver. The resulting upset would be contrary to the objective of a health diet. Small cucumbers, thinly sliced, are delicious in a sandwich, and even white cabbage, also finely sliced, tastes surprisingly good.

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As a good diet for the liver we suggest the following:

Morning: one glass of carrot juice; a slice of toast or crispbread with a little butter or yeast extract; a soupspoon of wheat germ, either dry or in the carrot juice.

Midday: vegetable soup; brown rice or potatoes boiled in their skins; chicory and raw carrot salad, or any other raw salad vegetable, preferably the bitter kind. Steamed vegetables may also be added. All fried and sweet dishes and desserts must be avoided.

You can vary the lunch menu as follows:

First day: brown rice; fennel root; mixed salad.

Second day: potatoes boiled in their skins, with a little cottage

cheese and fresh butter; mixed salad.

Third day: vegetable soup; sandwiches made with rye or wholewheat bread or crispbread, spread with a little butter and yeast extract, topped with onion, garlic, sliced tomatoes; mixed salad.

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‘Death resides in the bowels’ is a warning the meaning of which we should carefully take to heart. It is an undisputed fact that constipation is the cause of many ailments. People who have been complaining about headaches for years never think that their discomfort could be caused by a transfer of accumulated metabolic toxins from the intestines to the bloodstream. Stomach, liver and kidney disorders may also stem from constipation or irregular bowel movement. Skin eruptions, spots and various eczematous conditions may be due to it. It is even possible for certain diseases or disorders to fail to respond to any kind of natural remedy until constipation, which poisons the system time and again, has been completely eradicated. Women are generally more affected by constipation than men.

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Not long ago I received good news from a patient in South Africa whose epileptic seizures had formerly occurred almost daily, but had diminished to only one a month – and the monthly attacks were milder than before. The improvement had been attributed to the patient’s taking Urticalcin, Vitaforce (a vitamin supplement) and kelp tablets. It is likely that the organic potassium iodide contained in these seaweed tablets was responsible for the strong influence on the endocrine glands. No doubt other minerals found in kelp had also helped to produce the desired result.

In any case, as various studies have shown, epilepsy can now be treated with less harmful medications than bromine. As suggested above, the diet should consist of mild, alkaline-based foods, supplemented by a biological calcium preparation such as Urticalcin. Vitaforce should be taken at the same time, since its vitamin D content will make it easier for the body to assimilate the calcium. The main remedy, however, is kelp in tablet form, one tablet to be taken in the morning and one in the evening. None of these are specific remedies, but nutritional supplements giving the body what it needs most. Another plant which has helped in the treatment of epilepsy is the oak mistletoe (yellow-berried mistletoe), Loranthus europaeus, which is native to the Balkan region.

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During the menopause practically every women experiences hot flushes and other distressing symptoms to a greater or lesser degree. At times a woman may be affected so severely that her nerves and emotions become totally upset, and any relief is always welcome. It is important to take even better care of the body than usual during the changes of life. Excellent benefits are obtained by exercising regularly out-of-doors; the importance of activities such as walking and hiking and the practice of taking deep breaths of fresh air cannot be emphasised enough and will bring about a striking improvement.

Physical therapy may also contribute to improving the condition. For example, daily brush massages and twice weekly sitz baths (hip baths) with a decoction of hay flowers or lady’s mantle added to the water are recommended. Extreme emotional depression may be relieved through Kuhne’s cold water treatment. As with menstrual problems, physical exertion as well as occupational stress should be avoided at all costs. In addition, learn to do without coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages, as it is indeed best to leave them alone altogether during the menopause.

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Some time ago it was considered fashionable to remove the appendix, even if it was healthy, whenever the surgeon had cause to open a patient’s right abdomen. Their justification for this was that it might become diseased one day and would have to be removed then anyway. Fortunately, the profession is more enlightened today and such short-sighted decisions have been abandoned so that an appendix is removed only when absolutely necessary. The same goes for the tonsils; they too can be treated and regenerated long before they are beyond repair. Really, then, there can be no excuse for neglect. We usually know our physical weaknesses. If we give immediate attention to even slight physical signals, and with persevering care and patience treat them in a natural way, the body will respond. We have the remedies; you only have to use your intelligence, understanding and willpower to apply them, and the results will be rewarding.

Anyone who suffers from varicose veins should treat them by natural means, and with perseverance. There is no immediate cure; it is impossible to blow them away from one day to the next, for it took a considerable time for the veins to become diseased in the first place. Healthy veins play such an important part in our bodies that the patient attention and care we give them to ensure their proper function will be well worth our while.

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