Sunday, June 21, 2009

Do Natural Healing Remedies Offer Hope For Major Health Problems?

By Connie Stevens

It is easy to think to put aloe vera on a burn or tea tree on an insect bite, but what about more serious ailments like asthma, cancer, arthritis or heart disease? Do we have to rely on prescription medicines to treat these ailments or are there natural healing remedies for these conditions as well?

Most natural healing remedies make use of plants which contain healing ingredients that impact on the body. In some remedies, the whole plant is used, other use just part of the plant or extract substances from the plant that are therapeutic. These plant remedies have been proven over time to be both safe and effective.

It is interesting that many of the most advanced natural treatments have originated from Eastern countries like China and India. Ancient China, in particular, is renowned for its natural medicine traditions, much of which survives to this day. You can find Chinese medicine practitioners in most capital cities in America. It is China that has given us green tea, ginseng and wolfberry, all very powerful natural healing remedies.

In the past, anyone who wanted to use natural healing remedies had to go out and find the relevant plants growing in the wild, if they didn't have them growing in their own garden. Now days, we just have to select suitable products from the shelves of local stores that stock natural treatments. You can get lots of information from books, articles and websites to help you decide what products you need and the efficacy of different remedies.

Inflammation of different parts of the body is a symptom of many serious illnesses, such as some cancers, heart disease and arthritis. Prescription drugs only offer temporary relief from the symptoms of inflammation and most have side-effects and long-term implications to kidney and liver health.

There are several natural healing remedies for treating inflammation that do not have side effects and cause no damage. These are foods - some vegetables, fish, fruit and green tea. The substances that these foods contain that actively impact inflammation are resveratrol, alpha lipoic acid, flavonoids, carnosine and glutathione. You don't even need to pop any pills because you can get these therapeutic ingredients by eating a balanced diet that contains increased amounts of green leafy vegetable, especially kale, a variety of fresh fruit and whole grains. Include foods that are high in antioxidants like green tea, and those that contain good amounts of vitamins A, C and E.

You are probably aware that any example of a healthy, balanced diet, always contains many plant foods. The reason for this is that plants contain antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals that are so good for our health and help us fight disease. Some plant foods are better than others in keeping us healthy " green tea has one of the highest levels of antioxidants and polyphenols, and it is known to be good for strengthening the immune system and the heart. Green tea also has implications for treating asthma, gout, cholesterol, blood pressure and cancer.

There are everyday foods that are useful as natural healing remedies. Garlic and onion has been shown to prevent colds, high blood pressure and cardio-vascular disease, while ginger is useful for asthma and blood pressure. Fruits like grapes and apples strengthen and tone the heart, citrus fruit, being rich in vitamin C, strengthens the arteries and lowers high cholesterol. Gingko biloba is useful in cases of high blood pressure and Alzheimer's disease.

It will be comforting for many people to know that there are alternatives to prescription medicines. There are natural healing remedies that are applicable to these more serious medical conditions that seem to be more prevalent today. - 14130

About the Author:

No comments: