Alternative Health looks at alternative ways of treating illness apart from the medical system.
D-Mannose for UTI Prevention Validated in a Clinical Trial
A new study found D-mannose worked just as well as antibiotics for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs), with significantly fewer side effects. D-mannose is a naturally occurring sugar that sticks to the E. coli bacteria that most commonly causes UTIs, so it can be effectively “rinsed” out when you urinate. D-mannose is the active ingredient in cranberry juice, but the amount of D-mannose in cranberry juice is significantly less than its supplement form.
How to Prevent the Spread of Drug-Resistant Bacteria in Your Kitchen
Two million American adults and children become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year. At least 23,000 of them die as a direct result of those infections. According to the CDC, as many as 22 percent of antibiotic-resistant illness in humans is linked to food, and research has shown that nearly half of all meats sold in the US harbor drug-resistant bacteria. These drug-resistant bacteria can easily spread during food preparation in your own kitchen. Learn how to avoid cross-contamination with other foods and the spread of potentially harmful bacteria in your kitchen.
Honey Out-Performs Antibiotics in Fighting Superbugs
Honey has been used for centuries to counteract infections, but until recently few realized just how antibiotic honey was. There is overwhelming evidence from research showing that honey beats some pharmaceutical antibiotics when it comes to a variety of superbugs.
A Third of Americans Say Government Is Suppressing Access to Natural Cures
While one third of Americans believe the government is suppressing access to natural cures, a new JAMA “study” says they are medical conspiracy kooks who are unscientific and foolish. Are you concerned about government limitations on your access to natural treatments and dietary supplements? Are you alarmed by the safety and integrity of our food system? Do you worry about fluoride in your food supply? According to an article published in JAMA Internal Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association, you are a head case.
Study: Essential Oils and Coconut Oil Effective For Skin Disorders on Dogs
The results of research published in April 2014 in the Journal of Medical Mycology demonstrated the benefits of using essential oils for treating Malassezia dermatitis. The researchers treated 20 dogs with dermatitis caused by Malassezia pachydermatis. They used a blend of essential oils containing a mixture of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) 1%, lavender (Lavandula officinalis) 1%, oregano (Origanum vulgare) 0.5%, marjoram (Origanum majorana) 0.5%, peppermint (Mentha piperita) 0.5% and Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum var. italicum) 0.5%. These essential oils were mixed into a base of sweet almond oil and coconut oil. The essential oil blend that they tested was a safe and natural solution to a common problem, which offered an important alternative to conventional pharmaceutical treatments.
Gram Positive Bacteria Destroyed by Cashew Nuts
Gram positive bacteria, which cause tooth decay, acne, tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Francisella tularensis, and leprosy are all killed by anacardic chemicals present in cashew nuts.
Dallas City Council Moves to Stop Forced Water Fluoridation
A raging debate between consumer health rights and special interest groups is currently being waged in Dallas, Texas, where the Dallas City Council has recently decided to side with consumer health rights and end government funded fluoridation of city water. Such a move would save the city over $1 million dollars, which of course is a big business loss for the huge chemical industry. If Dallas is successful in ending its fluoridation program, it will join most other major cities around the world in developed countries, and a growing number of U.S. cities as well. Last year, Portland, Oregon, became the largest city in the U.S. to fight off strong lobbying efforts by the fluoride industry and end government fluoridation. If you live in Dallas, however, you should realize that the dental and chemical industry is fighting hard to oppose this, using typical tactics such as ad hominem attacks against "anti-fluoride cranks" and appeals to authority claiming that the "science" proves fluoride is safe and healthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. The dangers of fluoride and its toxicity are well documented. The decision of whether or not to use fluoride should be a personal decision and not forced on entire metropolitan populations. Almost all of the studies claiming fluoride is safe have been sponsored by the fluoride chemical industry.
Ginger’s Many Amazing Medicinal Benefits Revealed in Recent Research
Ginger is one of the most versatile food-spice-herbs known. Ginger is a fundamental herbal treatment among among Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda, Traditional Thai Medicine, Japanese Kampo Medicine and various others. An accumulation of studies and chemical analyses in 2000 determined that ginger has at least 477 active constituents. Finally, researchers are getting wind that ginger can treat numerous ailments – as purported in these traditional medicines thousands of years ago. In fact, in the past five years, a number of human clinical studies have shown some of ginger’s amazing properties to treat and prevent various disease conditions—just as predicted by the ancient medicines.
15 Natural Remedies for the Treatment of Acid Reflux and Ulcers
Acid reflux affects an estimated 50 percent of Americans. The hallmark symptom of acid reflux is “heartburn”—a burning sensation behind your breastbone that sometimes travels up your throat. Acid reflux is not a disease caused by excessive acid production in your stomach; rather it’s a symptom more commonly related to hiatal hernia and/or Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. The problem also typically results from having too little acid in your stomach, which is why proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) typically just perpetuate the problem, and make acid reflux worse. The answer to heartburn and acid indigestion is to restore your natural gastric balance and function. Instead of harmful drugs with serious side effects, here are 15 natural remedies that work.
Goldenseal Proves to be Natural Antibiotic and Antiviral
Despite the research proving that antibiotics are producing more deadly superbugs, antibiotic medications are still prescribed for even the most easily conquered bacterial infection. And unbelievably, antibiotics are still being prescribed for a number of viral infections. Of course antibiotics will not cure a viral infection. And they often will not cure a bacterial infection of a bacteria that has grown resistant to the antibiotic being used. Luckily, nature provides a means to fight off bacterial and viral infections without producing resistant bacteria. One of those agents is Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis). Goldenseal has been shown in the research to be both antibiotic and antiviral.
Black Garlic and Sprouted Garlic Have Enhanced Health Benefits
Garlic has been shown to have positive effects for more than 150 different diseases due to its numerous powerful natural phytochemicals. Garlic reduces inflammation, boosts immune function, is toxic to 14 types of cancer, and boosts cardiovascular health in multiple ways. One of garlic’s compounds is allicin, a sulfur-rich compound that is likely its most powerful weapon against bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Black garlic has recently been discovered to contain twice the antioxidant punch of fresh garlic due to an extensive aging or curing process.
Essential Oils Beat Chlorhexidine for Fighting Superbugs
As the battle against superbugs like MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections rages on, researchers have determined that oils derived from plants outperform the commonly used antiseptic chlorhexidine and even ethanol in the inhibition of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Essential Oils Found Antibiotic Against Tonsillitis Bacteria
Research from France’s University of Angers has determined that certain essential oils are effective in killing the bacteria known to cause tonsillitis. Cinnamon oil, Thyme oil, Lemongrass oil, Marjoram oil, and Winter Savory oil had the greatest antibiotic activity against the tonsillitis bacteria S. pyogenes.
What Is Cholesterol, and Why Do You Need It?
You do need cholesterol. This soft, waxy substance is found not only in your bloodstream but also in every cell in your body, where it helps to produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids that help you digest fat. Cholesterol also helps in the formation of your memories and is vital for neurological function.
Could Magnesium Deficiency Be Causing Many of Your Health Problems?
Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals required for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It controls nerve impulses, body temperature regulation, detoxification, energy production, and the formation of healthy bones and teeth. There are over hundred different symptoms and cofactors of magnesium deficiency, some of which include muscle pain, insomnia, fibromyalgia, migraines, and low bone density.
How Turmeric Can Save the Aging Brain From Dementia and Premature Death
A promising study published in Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry reveals the primary polyphenol in turmeric known as curcumin (which gives it its golden hue) may provide what the study authors describe as an "effective therapeutic strategy to reverse age-related cerebrovascular dysfunction." Age-related cerebrovascular dysfunction is occurring on an epidemic scale in Western countries and include, "stroke, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, cognitive decline and neurodegenerative diseases." Presently, very few if any conventional medical interventions are capable of providing effective solutions, and none have been found to reverse underlying pathologies in conditions whose trajectories are generally characterized as 'incurable.' All the more reason why the new study holds so much promise in providing an evidence-based natural solution that is safe, effective, affordable and easily accessible as a familiar food ingredient.
Aged Garlic and Other Natural Strategies Reduce Hypertension
Researchers from Australia’s University of Adelaide have confirmed that garlic is effective for reducing blood pressure. We can now add garlic to the list of several natural strategies to reduce hypertension. The researchers conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial with 79 patients who had been diagnosed with uncontrolled systolic hypertension. Researchers said their trial suggests aged garlic extract to be an effective and tolerable treatment in uncontrolled hypertension, and may be considered as a safe adjunct treatment to conventional antihypertensive therapy.
The Spice That Prevents Fluoride From Destroying Your Brain
Fluoride is found everywhere today, from antibiotics to drinking water, non stick pans to toothpaste, making exposure inevitable. All the more reason why new research proving this common spice can prevent fluoride damage is so promising. Fluoride's neurotoxicity has been the subject of academic debate for decades, and now a matter of increasingly impassioned controversy among the general public as well. A new study published in the Pharmacognosy Magazine, adds experimental support to the suspicion that fluoride is indeed a brain-damaging substance, also revealing that a curcumin (found in turmeric) helps protect against the various health effects associated with fluoride exposure.
Study: Mixed Vitamin E Forms Slow Cognition Decline and Alzheimer’s Disease
This research reported by Case Adams shows how there are multiple forms of vitamin E in nature, and that mixed forms of vitamin E as found in food have tremendous health benefits. Most vitamin E supplements in pill form are simply encapsulated soybean oil, containing mainly just one form of the tocopherol. Soybeans are also over 90% GMO. In addition to the various forms of tocopherols that are classified as vitamin E, there are also tocotrienols which are generally not found in supplements, but in food. The following chart shows how red palm oil (not the processed version) is nature's richest source of tocotrienols and vitamin E. Much like coconut oil, palm oil has been vilified because of its high saturated fat content, although recent meta-studies have been published disproving that saturated fats have any impact on heart disease at all. Unfortunately, palm oil also gets vilified for ecological reasons where it has been reported to destroy natural habitat on the island of Sumatra in Malaysia and Indonesia. However, palm oil is an introduced crop in Southeast Asia where large scale plantations exist, but in areas where it is native, most of the production is by small-scale sustainable operations, particularly in Africa. Hence, if you are purchasing virgin red palm oil from one of those areas, not only are you purchasing a healthy and sustainable product, but you are also helping to provide jobs for people in some of the poorest areas of the world in Africa. As Case Adams reports here, these mixed forms of vitamin E with their super high levels of antioxidants have been shown to slow cognition decline and Alzheimer's Disease.
Immediate Ban on Dental Mercury Amalgam in Philippines Pushed
The mercury used by dentists to manufacture dental amalgam is shipped as a hazardous material to the dental office. Any amalgam leftover is also treated as hazardous waste and requires special precautions to dispose of, yet it’s supposed to be “safe” to keep it in your mouth for years to come. Sadly, many live with toxic reactions for extended periods of time, never connecting the dots between their failing health and the mercury in their teeth and their environment.