Traditional Healthy Care

EAT CHOCOLATE FOR BEING HEALTH

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:06:00 +0000

Chocolate's Potential Health Benefits – and its Effect on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients

by Patti Schmidt
ImmuneSupport.com03-29-2002

Advertisement Researchers have some news for chocolate lovers: it may be good for you. Scientists reported preliminary evidence recently that cocoa and other chocolates may keep high blood pressure down, your blood flowing and your heart healthy.
The research, the latest which correlates eating flavonoid-rich foods with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease(1), was presented in February at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston.
One study found that a substance in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide (NO), a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure. Another study showed that flavonols in cocoa prevent fat-like substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries, and make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause clots. Flavonoids are plant compounds with potent antioxidant properties; so far, scientists have found more than 4,000 kinds. Cocoa beans contain large quantities of flavonoids, and so do red wine, tea, cranberries, peanuts, strawberries, apples and many other fruits and vegetables.(2) The flavonoids in chocolate are called flavonols.
Generally, science has found that dark chocolate is higher in flavonoids than milk chocolate.(3) The way that cocoa powder and chocolate syrups are manufactured removes most flavonoids.

Nitric Oxide

In the first study, researchers gave Boston volunteers cocoa with either a high or low amount of flavonols. Those who drank cocoa with more flavonols showed more nitric oxide activity.(4)
"Nitric oxide plays such an important role in the maintenance of healthy blood pressure and, in turn, cardiovascular health," said lead researcher Dr. Norman K. Hollenberg, physician and professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The residents of an island called Kuna in Panama prompted Hollenberg's study. These indigenous people rarely develop high blood pressure, although they drink about 5 cups of cocoa each day and include it in many recipes. But if they leave the island, the risk of high blood pressure increases, and studies found it wasn't related to salt intake or obesity.
Next, Hollenberg's team will determine if regulating nitric oxide with flavonols has a positive impact.
"If our research results continue to support a link between consumption of flavonol-rich cocoa and nitric oxide synthesis, there could be significant implications for public health," said Hollenberg.

Promotes Blood Flow

The other study compared how blood platelets responded to a flavonol-rich cocoa drink with 25 grams of semi-sweet chocolate pieces and a blood-thinning, 81-milligram aspirin dose. The research found similar reactions to the two from a group of 20- to 40-year-olds: both the drink and the aspirin prevented platelets from sticking together or clotting, which can impede blood flow.(5)
In other words, flavonol-rich cocoa and chocolate act similarly to low-dose aspirin in promoting healthy blood flow. Reducing the blood's ability to clot also reduces the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
Lead study author Dr. Carl Keen cautioned that his team isn't suggesting that people eat a couple of candy bars instead of taking their daily dose of aspirin.
"We're not advocating that people consume flavonol-rich foods in place of aspirin," stressed Keen, who is also the University of California-Davis nutrition department chairman. For people who cannot take aspirin, however, he said eating flavonol-rich foods "may be a useful approach."
He noted one important difference between aspirin and flavonol-rich foods: "The effects you see in aspirin are longer-lasting than the effects you see in flavonols," he said.
Although the trial involved just 40 people, Keen called the results "remarkably robust" and said the platelet effect may be related to the nitric oxide benefits found by Hollenberg's study.
Keen's team currently has an article under review in which they show a direct comparison to low-dose aspirin using the same study group.
"The next thing on our agenda is to look at chronic effects," said Keen. "What happens when a person has a high flavonol intake for two weeks? Do you still see the same effects? Many times...the body adapts or adjusts and you don't necessarily see the same thing after two or three weeks."

CFS & Chocolate

Many CFS specialists consider chocolate one of a few substances their patients should stay away from completely. CFS specialist Chuck Lapp, M.D., is one of them.
"I've always recommended that PWCs avoid sugar, caffeine, alcohol, Nutrasweet and tobacco," said Lapp, director of the Hunter Hopkins Center in Charlotte, NC. (He tells patients to remember the things they shouldn't eat by remembering the mnemonic SCANT, the first letter of each of those words.)
"These items are not tolerated well," he said. "PWCs tend to have hypoglycemia, and eating refined sugar - like chocolate candy - triggers reactive hypoglycemia, or a 'let down' in energy a couple hours later. And the cocoa used in cake, for example, doesn't contain refined sugar, but has a caffeine-like effect."
Dick Bruno, M.D., agrees. He's Director of the Fatigue Management Programs and Post-Polio Institute at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in Englewood, NJ.
"PWCs shouldn't use anything containing caffeine- including chocolate, coffee, tea or soda-to pump themselves up," said Dr. Bruno. "What's more, we discourage the 'sugar high' carbs provide and recommend a hypoglycemia diet: using protein as a long-lasting source of fuel to supply and turn on damaged, brain-activating system neurons."

Chocolate's Benefits?

A PWC who was a true chocoholic could do a little research and argue that there are several bioactive compounds in chocolate that promote alertness, lessen pain and promote well-being.
For example, the stimulants theobromine, caffeine, tyramine and phenylethylamine (PEA) provide a brain-fogged PWC with a much-needed lift. Tryptophan, an essential amino acid, lessens anxiety by producing the neurotransmitter serotonin; endorphins, the body's natural opiates, reduce sensitivity to pain.(6)
Anandamide acts like a cannabinoid to promote relaxation.(7) And last but certainly not least, chocolate is a natural analgesic, and high-fat, chocolate foods trigger the brain's production of natural opiates. (6)
So let's sum up. Chocolate gives you an energy lift, less anxiety, a reduction in pain-who wouldn't recommend something that did all that? Well, a nutritionist or biochemist could argue that chocolate doesn't contain much of these ingredients.
For example, while caffeine does encourage alertness, there is less caffeine in chocolate than there is in a cup of coffee. (6) (There are about 30 milligrams of caffeine in your average chocolate bar, while a cup of coffee contains 100 -150 mgs.)
Another example: PEA causes blood pressure and blood sugar to rise, and you'll feel alert and content for awhile. But those good feelings are likely to be followed by a sugar-induced drop in energy that leaves you more tired than before you ate the candy.
Cannabinoids are substances that mimic marijuana. The chemical in marijuana that makes people "high" - tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - binds to certain receptors in the brain. The anandamide in chocolate can bind to the same receptors, producing a "high."(8)
However, Christian Felder at the National Institute of Mental Health would point out that a 130-pound person would have to eat 25 pounds of chocolate all at once to get a marijuana-like effect. (8)
And what about chocolate's ability to trigger the brain's natural opiates? At a CFS conference held September 1999 in Brussels, Belgium, Professor Jonathan Brostoff of London discussed "Allergy in CFS." He said about 25 percent of the population suffers from intolerances or allergies and the percentage is the same for PWCs.
Brostoff said food and inhalant sensitivities could lead to health problems, including migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, arthralgia and chronic fatigue. He suggested an elimination diet to find out whether someone is intolerant. Furthermore, he blamed the "exorphins" (external morphine-like substances) in chocolate for "gut problems" and even "psychological sequelae."(9)
Don't laugh: A study published in 1999 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that chocolate contains "several biologically active constituents (methylxanthines, biogenic amines, and cannabinoid-like fatty acids), all of which potentially cause abnormal behaviors and psychological sensations that parallel those of other addictive substances."(10)
So, about those chocolate cravings: At "The Challenge of Chronic Illness" CFS conference in Sydney, Australia, in 1999, Abhijit Chaudhuri, a neurologist on the Glasgow, Scotland-based team researching CFS, said about 40 percent of his patients routinely craved chocolate. He suggested SSRIs or and low-dose tricyclics to help prevent those cravings.
Some people find that Bupropion (Wellbutrin) reduces chocolate cravings.(6) That may be because Bupropion's chemical structure is similar to PEA.(11)

Antioxidant Power

Here's an argument you could win with the nutritionist: Studies show that cocoa powder, dark chocolate and milk chocolate have higher Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity (ORAC) values than many common foods, such as prunes and blueberries. (12) (ORAC values measure how powerful an antioxidant a substance is. An antioxidant is a substance that inhibits oxidation or reactions promoted by oxygen and peroxides, and that include many held to protect the living body from the deleterious effects of free radicals. Examples include beta-carotene, vitamin C, and alpha-tocopherol.
Dark chocolate has more than 13,000 ORAC units and milk chocolate has about 6,700, according to the Chocolate Manufacturers Association in McLean, Va. Unsweetened powdered cocoa starts out with almost twice as much antioxidants as dark chocolate, but when it's diluted with water or milk and sugar to make hot chocolate, the flavonoid total per serving plummets to about half that in milk chocolate. (13)
In different terms, a 40-gram serving of milk chocolate contains about 400 milligrams of antioxidants, the same as a glass of red wine, according to research published by Joe A. Vinson of the University of Scranton, Pa. (14) Vinson's team's results were also supported by ACRI.
Vinson and his colleagues found that the flavonoids in chocolate are more powerful than vitamins such as ascorbic acid in protecting circulating lipids from oxidation.(14) Atherosclerosis studies suggest that oxidation of lipoproteins is part of the process that creates the plaque that clogs artery walls. (1)
"Chocolate just stands out," Vinson said. "It's much higher than anything else."
If that doesn't convince your doctor, try this: researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that those who eat chocolate and sweets up to three times each month live almost a year longer than those who eat too much or those who steer clear of junk altogether. (15)
Industry-funded Research
Both studies presented at the February AAAS meeting used an experimental cocoa supplied by Mars Incorporated, and the candy company commissioned the research as well. Mars Incorporated makes M&Ms and Mars, Snickers and Dove bars, among other candies.
For the last few years, Mars Incorporated and the American Cocoa Research Institute (ACRI) in McLean, Va., have jointly funded research to try to find health benefits in the delectable dessert. Mars Incorporated external affairs director Marlene Machut said the studies began as "flavor research" but shifted to health benefits as evidence grew.
One problem with that was alluded to in an AAAS symposium on chocolate held in 2000: Why should consumers trust data on chocolate when it comes from industry-funded research?
"That's a valid question," acknowledged John W. Erdman, professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and cochair of that symposium. But he also said in a recent interview that if the candy industry hadn't funded the research, "it would have been very difficult to get off the ground otherwise."
Erdman said the situation is similar to Quaker Oats' preliminary funding of research that showed oats' lowered serum cholesterol, or to Midwestern soy farmers funding most of the initial studies which showed that proteins and antioxidants in soy fight heart disease. Later clinical research done by independent labs around the world confirmed those smaller studies' conclusions and expanded upon them, he said.
"It's often necessary for a lot of promising, peer-reviewed, industry-financed studies to be done before government steps in with financial support for larger-scale research," Erdman said. "Nowadays the FDA wants preliminary information before they fund a major project."
Rather than questioning the data, Professor Keen believes people should applaud the industry for investigating the nutritional value of their products.
"Responsible food companies have a responsibility to fund research into the potential value of nutrients in those foods," he said. "If [these] companies help fund research at independent campuses and universities, and generate exciting data, that tells the NIH, 'This is a worthwhile area in which to invest precious taxpayer dollars.'"

Conclusive Evidence?

So does chocolate contribute to disease prevention? Should we eat chocolate for its health benefits as well as for its terrific taste?
When asked to choose how far along the preliminary-conclusive continuum this research is, Erdman said, "It's moving along. People are starting to say, 'There's something here.' Scientists are finding similar results with compounds in fruits and vegetables, tea, red wine and tomatoes."
Keen agreed, pointing out that the tea, grape and chocolate industries are just a few of the groups exploring antioxidants' potential benefits.
"I think one should view it from a collective perspective," he suggested. "There are a number of industries with very different types of food products who are saying, 'It looks like these compounds may have some potential health benefits,'" he said.
Of course, people should always be "skeptical" until results are repeated and published in peer-reviewed journals, Keen said.
The USDA Food Composition Laboratory is already sold: They're developing a database reporting the levels of flavonoids in plant foods, and cocoa will be included along with fruits, berries and other foods that provide health benefits, said Machut. In addition, the lab adopted Mars Incorporated's methods for looking at the flavonol levels in food products.
Methods Matter
"The cacao bean and its bran have the highest polyphenol levels," nutritionist Angela Miraglio noted in a May 2001 article in Nutrition Notes. "Processing the beans destroys some polyphenols; temperature, chemical changes and duration of exposure contribute to the loss. So the level of polyphenols in the final product vary. Cocoa processors and chocolate manufacturers are beginning to take precautions to minimize the losses."(13)
Mars recently developed a proprietary method for processing cocoa beans called Cocoapro?, which preserves polyphenols by changing the way the beans are selected, fermented, dried, as well as how they're processed and formulated, said external affairs director Machut. Some Mars candy bars feature the CocoaPro label.
"That's how consumers can identify chocolates that retain much of a cocoa bean's initial flavonoid riches," said Machut.
Future?
Both Keen's and Hollenberg's teams plan future research into the benefits of cocoa. As you might expect, Mars Incorporated plans more, too.
But the surest sign of the candy company's faith in its main product is the fact that they're "working with several pharmaceutical companies to isolate and develop cocoa components as cardiovascular pharmaceuticals." In other words, they're trying to develop a drug based on chocolate's cardiovascular health benefits.
"Take a candy bar and call me in the morning." I knew it all along: Those of us who've been self-medicating ourselves with a few chosen chocolate candies were simply ahead of our time.

***
SIDEBAR
CHOCOLATE: WHERE TO FIND IT
Before I begin to list some of the websites devoted to chocolate, I must mention San Francisco’s Exploratorium, which offers a great video webcast about chocolate. Or you can simply go through the site’s nicely designed web pages chock full of information about chocolate. It’s available at:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/chocolate/
The Exploratorium is a museum of science, art and human perception in San Francisco. This online site offers a video webcast titled, “The Sweet Science of Chocolate,” in which host Sedge Thomson talks with chocolatiers, chefs and scientists about the history and science of chocolate. The webcast includes a visit to the Amazon rain forest to see cacao, the source of chocolate growing on the tree; information about the early history of chocolate, its importance to early American cultures and how it spread to Europe; a video tour of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Makers factory; and scientists explaining the chemical properties of chocolate.

http://chocolocate.com/
The Chocolate Lovers' Page is “a guide to chocolate on the web.” Its database lists more than 910 worldwide chocolate web sites, including retailers, manufacturers, suppliers, industry and trade associations, as well as fan sites. It also lists sites with information, places to buy chocolate gift baskets or find chocolate for fundraising, recipe sites, and places with books about chocolate.

http://www.virtualchocolate.com/
Virtual Chocolate sells t-shirts, mouse pads and books, and allows you to send chocolate using an online searchable directory. (If your honey is on a diet, you can also send a “Virtual Chocolate” postcard treat to anyone with an email address.) You can also find chocolate wallpaper for your computer screen.
The rec.food.chocolate newsgroup on the world wide web periodically posts a Chocolate Resources document. See http://www.faqs.org/faqs/food/chocolate/resources/part1/.
Yahoo offers a chocolate resources page too: See http://dir.yahoo.com/society_and_culture/food_and_drink/types_of_foods/desserts_and_sweets/chocolate/
http://www.chocolate.com/
allows you to find chocolate sources as well as meet other chocoholics, find information, books, recipe and gift links.

http://www.candydirect.com calls itself the “world's largest candystore online.”

http://www.candywarehouse.com
The CandyWarehouse.com Factory Outlet Store offers a “huge selection of yummy candies.”
http://www.best-online-shopping-mall.com offers “the best chocolate retailers.”
ENDNOTES/REFERENCES
1 Knekt P, Jarvinen R, Reunanen A, Maatela J. Flavonoid intake and coronary mortality in Finland: a cohort study. Brit Med J 1996;312:478-81. Hertog M, Kromhout D, Aravanis C, et al. Dietary antioxidant flavonoids and risk of coronary heart disease: the Zutphen Elderly Study. Lancet 1993;342:1007-11. Hollman PC, Hertog MGL, Katan MB. Role of dietary flavonoids in protection against cancer and coronary heart disease. Biochem Soc Transact 1996;24:785-9.

2 Hollman PC, Katan MB. Dietary flavonoids: intake, health effects and bioavailability. Food Chem Toxic 1999;37:937-42.

3 Adamson GE et al. HPLC method for the quantification of procyanidins in cocoa and chocolate samples and correlation to total antioxidant capacity J Agric Food Chem 1999;47:4184-8.

4 K Chevaux, L Jackson, ME Villar, J Mundt, J Commisso, G Adamson, MM McCullough, H Schmitz, N Hollenberg Proximate, Mineral and Procyanidin Content of Certain Foods and Beverages Consumed by the Kuna Amerinds of Panama J Food Cmpstn & Anal 2001;14:553-563

5 Rein D, Paglieroni TG, Wun T, Pearson DA, Schmitz HH, Gosselin R, and Keen CL. Cocoa inhibits platelet activation and function Am J Clin Nutr 2000;72:30-5.

6 http://www.chocolate.org/ Chocolate [sorely tempted?] A rampant chocaholic

7 Zurer, P. 1996. Chocolate may mimic marijuana in brain. Chemical and Engineering News 74(Sept. 2):31

8 http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/choco.html Neuroscience Resources for Kids, Discovering the Sweet Mysteries of Chocolate Ellen Kuwana

9 Brostoff J., Second World Congress on CFS and Related Disorders held in Brussels, Belgium, Allergy in CFS September 1999.

10 Bruinsma K, Taren DL Chocolate: food or drug? J Am Diet Assoc 1999 Oct; 99(10):1249-56

11http://extratv.warnerbros.com/reframe.html.

http://extratv.warnerbros.com/dailynews/rxtra/03_01/03_12a_4.html Turning Off the Fat Genes: Chapter Four, The Truth of Chocolate Addiction, March 12, 2001

12 Waterhouse A, Shirley R, Donovan J. Antioxidants in chocolate. Lancet 1996;348:834.

13 Miraglio A, Chocolate’s Potential for Health Benefits Nutrition Notes May 2001

14 Vinson JA, Proch J, Zubik L. Phenol antioxidant quantity and quality in foods: cocoa, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate J Agric Food Chem. 1999 Dec;47(12):4821-4.

15 Lee IM, Paffenbarger R Life is sweet: candy consumption and longevity BMJ 1998; 317: 1683-1684.

(http://www.immunesupport.com/library/showarticle.cfm/ID/3464/)

BEING HEALTHY WITH CYCLING

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:51:00 +0000

Cycling and Health

Getting on your bike regularly not only gets you where you want to go faster than a car, it protects you against a wide range of ill health, and also makes you feel better.
Cycling is good for your heart and health
Everyday cycling, where the exercise leaves you breathing heavily but not being out of breath, is an effective and enjoyable form of aerobic exercise. This is the type of exercise that is most effective at promoting good health. For example, cycling reduces the risk of serious conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity and the most common form of diabetes.1,2,3,4
One rough calculation suggests that new cyclists covering short distances can reduce their risk of death (mainly due to the reduction of heart disease) by as much as 22 per cent.5
Cycling will help with weight management
Cycling can be part of a programme to lose weight2 because it burns the energy supplied by a chocolate bar or a couple of alcoholic drinks in an hour (about 300 calories). A 15-minute bike ride to and from work five times a week burns off the equivalent of 11 pounds of fat in a year.6 That kind of cycling pattern also meets the Government's latest target on exercise: that we should take part in some mild to moderate physical activity that leaves us out of breath for at least 30 minutes five times a week.
Cycling can improve your mood
Cycling can have positive effects on how we feel too.2 Moderate exercise has been found to reduce levels of depression and stress, improve mood and raise self-esteem, and has also been found to relieve symptoms of premenstrual syndrome.4,5,7
Cycling can help to maintain strength and coordination
There can also be indirect benefits in terms of reducing injuries from falls, which can be seriously disabling, especially in older people. The strength and co-ordination that regular cycling brings make them less likely.4,5,8,9 Physically active older people have much reduced rates of hip fracture.10
How cycling improves fitness
A study carried out for the Department of Transport found that 'even a small amount of cycling can lead to significant gains in fitness'. The study found that aerobic fitness was boosted by 11 per cent after just six weeks of cycling 'short distances' four times a week.8 If cycling the equivalent of four miles to and from work in total a day the aerobic benefit increased to 17 per cent.8
According to the Department of Transport study people who do not exercise who start cycling move from the third of the population who are the least fit, to the fittest half of the population in just a few months.8
Leg strength also improved in the cyclists in the study. This is more important than it seems because leg strength improves other mobility by allowing people to get out of chairs more easily, and helps older people especially avoid falls and the broken bones and other injuries associated with them.8
Cycling, the researchers behind the study concluded, is 'one of the few physical activities which can be undertaken by the majority of the population as part of a daily routine'.8
Cyclists breathe in less fumes than car drivers
If you are worried about traffic fumes, there may be no need. Cyclists and pedestrians actually absorb lower levels of pollutants from traffic fumes than car drivers.4,11
Who can cycle?
There are no real age barriers to cycling, and people of most fitness levels can cycle, slowly and gently if necessary. Anyone with heart disease or other conditions affecting their activity should, of course, consult their doctor before starting any exercise programme. Those of all body shapes and all but the most extreme body weights can ride a bike.
Getting Started
What sets cycling apart from most other forms of exercise is how well it fits into our busy, modern lifestyles. Apart from the bicycle itself (and a recommended protective helmet) no other equipment is needed, no special time needs to be set, and no special clothes are needed (although you might want to leave your best suit on the hanger). Instead of spending time stuck in a car or bus, you spend it on the bike, there is no need to find extra time to exercise.
It's as easy as riding a bike. You simply start to use a bike when you would otherwise have gone by car, bus, train or on foot. How much you ride depends on you, your fitness and your lifestyle. New cyclists could start off by using the bike to pop a few hundred yards down the road to the shops or the post box, and gradually increase the distance they cover. In a few weeks aerobic fitness will have improved and you will be able to ride for miles without feeling anything more than a little puffed out.
Helmets
There is still some argument, but there is increasing evidence that cycle helmets can reduce the number and severity of head injuries in cyclists. To be any good at all the helmet must be worn correctly and be close fitting without being pushed to the back of the head. Get expert advice from someone in a bike shop. But remember, the health benefits of cycling significantly outweigh the risks of cycling on British roads.5
Keep at it
Most cyclists are 'utility' cyclists where the bike is a way of getting from A to B, and getting some exercise is an added bonus. Nearly three-quarters of journeys people make are of five miles or less, and these could be acheived by most people.12 On reasonably flat ground you will soon be able to cover at least four to six miles in half an hour - faster than cars in many towns and cities.
But those bitten by the bike bug may improve their fitness and may make long rides to work, or may choose to go leisure cycling where they cover 30-50 miles a day.
Competitive individuals may want to start racing - against other cyclists or against the clock.
Fitter individuals with a taste for adventure may choose to try mountain biking, speeding down specially made trails on the side of hills, leaping over dips and jumping over obstacles.
These more active cyclists are likely to increase their health benefits. In general the more active an individual is, the healthier they are. But, whichever form of cycling you choose to pursue, remember to have fun while you're doing it. As you are whizzing past drivers stuck in a queue, you can enjoy the fact that not only are you getting to your destination quicker, but you are getting fit at the same time.

(http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/healthy_living/lifestyle/exercise/cycling/cycling_health.html)

Further information
Cycle Touring Clubwww.ctc.org.uk
London Cycling Campaignwww.lcc.org.uk

References
Carnall D. Cycling and health promotion. A safer, slower urban road environment is the key. BMJ 2000; 320: 888.
Mersy DJ. Health benefits of aerobic exercise. Postgrad Med 1991; 90: 103-7 and 110-2.
Kelley GA. Effects of Aerobic exercise in normotensive adults: a brief metaanalytic review of controlled clinical trials. South Med J 1995; 88: 42-46.
www.nationalcyclingstrategy.org.uk
Rutter H. Modal shift. Transport and health. A policy report on the health benefits of increasing levels of cycling in Oxfordshirewww.modalshift.org/reports/tandh/print_version.htm
Leeds cycling action group. Cycling and Healthwww.leedscyclists.org.uk/health.htm
Scully D, Kremer J, Meade MM et al. Physical exercise and psychological wellbeing. In MacAuley D (Ed.) Benefits and hazards of exercise. London: BMJ Books 1999.
Fentem PH. ABC of sports medicine. Benefits of exercise in health and disease. BMJ 1994; 308: 1291-5.
Joakimsen RM, Magnus JH, Fonnebo V. Physical activity and predisposition for hip fractures: a review. Osteoporosis Int 1998; 7: 503-13.
Rank J, Folke J, Jespersen PH. Differences in cyclists and car drivers exposure to air pollution from traffic in the city of Copenhagen. Sci Total Environ 2001; 279: 131-6.
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. A new deal for transport: Better for everyone. Chapter 2 Sustainable transport. Published 20 July 1998.

AVOCADO MAKE YOU HEALTH

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:37:00 +0000

Health Benefits of Avocado
The Saturday Statesman , 10/02/2007

Avocados contain oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat that may help to lower cholesterol. In one study of people with moderately high cholesterol levels, individuals who ate a diet high in avocados showed clear health improvements.
After seven days on the diet that included avocados, they had significant decreases in total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol, along with an 11% increase in health promoting HDL cholesterol.
Avocados are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps regulate blood pressure. Adequate intake of potassium can help to guard against circulatory diseases, like high blood pressure, heart disease or stroke.
In fact, the US Food and Drug Association has authorized a health claim that states: "Diets containing foods that are good sources of potassium and low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure and stroke.”
One cup of avocado has 23 percent of the Daily Value for folate, a nutrient important for heart health. To determine the relationship between folate intake and heart disease, researchers followed over 80,000 women for 14 years using dietary questionnaires.
They found that women who had higher intakes of dietary folate had a 55 percent lower risk of having heart attacks or fatal heart disease. Another study showed that individuals who consume folate-rich diets have a much lower risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke than those who do not consume as much of this vital nutrient.
How to select and store
A ripe, ready to eat avocado is slightly soft but should have no dark sunken spots or cracks. If the avocado has a slight neck, rather than being rounded on top, it was probably tree ripened and will have better flavor. A firmer, less mature fruit can be ripened at home and will be less likely to have bruises.
The Hass avocado weighs about 8 ounces on average and has a pebbled dark green or black skin, while the Fuerte avocado has smoother, brighter green skin. Avoid Fuertes with skin that is too light and bright. Florida avocados, which can be as large as 5 pounds, have less fat and calories, but their taste is not as rich as California varieties.
A firm avocado will ripen in a paper bag or in a fruit basket at room temperature within a few days. As the fruit ripens, the skin will turn darker. Avocados should not be refrigerated until they are ripe. Once ripe, they can be kept refrigerated for up to a week.
If you are refrigerating a whole avocado, it is best to keep it whole and not slice it in order to avoid browning that occurs when the flesh is exposed to air.
If you have used a portion of a ripe avocado, it is best to store the remainder in the refrigerator. Store in a plastic bag, wrap with plastic wrap, or place on a plate and cover with plastic wrap.
Sprinkling the exposed surface(s) with lemon juice will help to prevent the browning that can occur when the flesh comes in contact with oxygen in the air.

(http://www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?section=12&newsid=2467)

WALKING IS GOOD FOR HEALTH

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:19:00 +0000

How to walk

If you felt surprised by this title, it is probably because you think everyone knows how to walk. You put one foot in front of the other and there you go.What's the big deal about it? But it is a serious and effective way of getting some exercise.

Don't dismiss walking. It can provide enormous health benefits such as improving your circulation and cardiovascular function, strengthening your bones, helping to build and maintain muscle mass, easing stress and anxiety, improving your sense of well-being and, if done regularly and at a high enough intensity, it can help to shed unwanted kilos.

But to maximise the benefits you get from it, make sure that your walking technique is up to scratch. Perhaps get a friend to assess your body positioning and style.

Here's how to do it for maximum benefit

Keep your head up, eyes looking forward and focused ahead.
Ensure your back is straight, but relaxed.
�Zip up� your abdominals and squeeze in your gluteal (butt) muscles - this will help you to maintain a straight back. The deepest layer of abdominals act as important stabilisers for your lower back and are very important when walking.
Keep your chest out, your shoulders back, down and relaxed.
Let your arms, which are bent at the elbows, swing naturally from the shoulders. As you speed up, you might find it easier to bend your arms at 90� and use a stronger arm movement.
Your foot strike action is important. After you land on the outer side of your heel, your foot rolls inwards, which is essential for adequate shock absorption and the final phase is a push off with your toes.
Beware of pounding your heels down when walking briskly; this generates unnecessary forces on your joints.
Dorsiflex your foot (bend the top part of your foot back) adequately, rather than just shuffling along. The foot needs 10� to 15� of dorsiflexion in order to walk correctly. Otherwise, to compensate, your foot will roll inwards excessively, which might lead to problems such as shin splints and plantar fasciitis. Stretching your calf muscles daily should help you to achieve adequate dorsiflexion.
Stride length is rather an individual feature of your walking technique. Most walkers take steps of the kind of length that promotes their walking efficiency.
Breathe rhythmically, for example inhale for 3 steps and exhale for the next 3, or at a rate that feels right.

Walking is not as simple as it looks. Different techniques must be used for walking uphill and for walking downhill.

Tips for walking uphill

Since walking uphill is quite demanding, make sure you warm-up by walking on the flat first for about 5 minutes.
Shorten your steps.
If you are fit, you can quicken your step rate with shorter steps, or if you are less fit, then at least try to maintain your step rate.
Lean very slightly forward into the hill. Leaning backwards will unbalance you.
Because hills are hard work, you should experience an increase in your heart rate and breathing rate. However, make sure that you can still conduct a conversation, even if it is somewhat breathless.

Tips for walking downhill

Relax and let your steps flow.
Going downhill, your stride will naturally lengthen. Whilst overstriding when walking on a flat surface is bad, when going downhill it will actually help you to brake slightly as gravity keeps you moving faster.
If you feel like your pace is out of control, shorten your stride and slow down your step rate.
Stay upright and don't lean back in an attempt to slow down.
If it is a very steep downhill, then you might want to lean forward a little for greater stability; keep your knees slightly bent at all times.

Well done on a great exercise choice � enjoy the benefits!

(Kathleen Mc Quaide - Sports Scientist)

(http://www.health24.com/fitness/Specific_Sports)

BONE HEALTH

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:13:00 +0000

Weekly tip - Walk your way to healthier bones

Don't dismiss walking. It can provide enormous health benefits such as strengthening your bones. But to maximise the benefits you get from it, make sure that your walking technique is up to scratch.

Take action:
Keep your head up, eyes looking forward and focused ahead; ensure your back is straight, but relaxed; �zip up� your abdominals and squeeze in your gluteal (butt) muscles � this will help you to maintain a straight back; keep your chest out, your shoulders back, down and relaxed; let your arms, which are bent at the elbows, swing naturally from the shoulders; your foot strike action is important � after you land on the outer side of your heel, your foot rolls inwards, which is essential for adequate shock absorption; beware of pounding your heels down when walking briskly � this generates unnecessary force on your joints.(http://www.health24.com/dietnfood/Health_tips/)

HEALTH IMPLICATIONS OF COFFEE CONSUMPTION

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:46:00 +0000

Coffee and health; benefits and implications!

Coffee extract, in one form or the other is consumed daily by approximately two-thirds of the adult population in the United States and Europe, with an average consumption of two cups of coffee per person per day in the USA; the consumption in Europe is typically twice as much, with Scandinavian countries consuming on average four cups of coffee a day.

It is not surprising that coffee is a major force in international trade with approximately 5 million tonnes being produced annually in the 50 plus countries that grow the coffee crop. In fact coffee is second only to oil in international commerce, though with the price of oil nowadays, it is in a fairly distant second place!

Therefore even relatively minor concerns about the safety of coffee have major implications for international public health and for the world economy.

Coffee is one of the most drank beverages in the world, one of the reasons for its popularity is its distinct flavour and aroma. In addition to this, one of the reasons for its great popularity is the addictive nature of some of the chemicals it contains such as caffeine. The coffee drink is known to be made up of over a thousand different chemicals. These include complex carbohydrates, vitamins, alkaloids and phenol compounds amongst many others. Many of these coffee constituients have health benefits.(www.coffee-tea.co.uk/coffeefruit.jpg&imgrefur)

TIME FOR COFFEE AND TEA

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:41:00 +0000

The wonderful world of coffee and tea.

Have you ever wondered how your cup of coffee gets from the farm to your house? Or what the health benefits of drinking coffee and tea are? Well hopefully after reading a few of the pages of the'time for coffee and tea' site you'll have a fuller insight into both the production and the science of these beverages.

Information on Coffee and Tea

The site is split into two main sections: a general information on coffee and tea section, and a more scientific section that provides information on the science, production and economics of coffee and tea.

Benefits of coffee and tea

The general section contains valuable information on the effects of gourmet coffee and tea upon your health.

Everyday there is more and more data supporting tea as a great way to wade off ill health. As for the health benefits of coffee, well maybe drinking it through the night to keep you awake at work may not be the best idea in the world, but it still contains valuable metabolites that may be of great benefit in helping fight off diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cancers. Did you know that the consumption of coffee has been scientifically shown to reduce the rate of suicides by 13% with every cup consumed; yet another of the great reasons to enjoy your coffee break.

The general section also contains links to articles written about tea and gourmet coffee by other people, though I can't vouch for the quality of all of them, there are some very interesting articles in this section. The final section in the coffee and tea section will guide you through all the blends of tea and coffee, so if you don't know your Earl Grey Tea to your Lady Grey Tea then this is the place to look; this should guarantee you have a fantastic coffee or tea break.

Science and economics of Coffee and tea

The science and economics section of coffee break and tea time will benefit you by providing a better understanding of just how many people depend on coffee and tea plants for a living, from people picking tea leaves, and gourmet coffee beans in Malaysia and Columbia, via cargo carriers to big companies such as Unilever and Starbucks; there are many people who benifit from coffee. You will also learn of the role that plant breeders and biologists play in the improvement of tea and coffee plant biology. For Example the production of coffee in the forest ecosystem can greatly be improved by scientific understanding leading to greater plant yields farmers and companies can keep costs down, leading to better profits and lower costs to the customer.

After reading some of the articles it is hoped that you will have a fuller understanding of the benifits, biology and practicalities of both coffee and tea production and be able to enjoy your cup of gourmet tea or coffee more than ever.

Latest coffee and tea article

The latest addition to the coffee break site takes a look into the healthy relationship between coffee consumption and diabetes. Out of 20 research papers 17 show a corelation between coffee consumption and a lowering of diabetes risk. The benefits are also seen in decaffeinated coffee suggesting that caffeine is responsible for the health benefits.
(www.coffee-tea.co.uk/coffeefruit.jpg&imgrefurl=)

FOODS THAT HEAL

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:21:00 +0000

Eat yourself well.

Feeling bloated? Eat celery. Can't get rid of that cough? Eat lots of apples. Leanne Feris finds that food is indeed the best medicine...

Acne
Flaxseed oil contains essential fatty acids, which help to prevent clogged pores - so sprinkle flaxseed on your cereal. Other acne-busting foods include strawberries, green veggies, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, cucumber, kelp, sweet potatoes, peaches and apricots.

Pharmacy fact: Holding the telephone receiver too tightly against your skin can cause acne to break out around your ear or along the side of your chin.

Allergies
Try up to four cups of anise, ginger or peppermint teas, which have a decongestant effect.

Expert tip: Garden flowers rarely cause allergies because their pollen is too heavy to be carried by the air and must be transported by insects. The most troublesome pollen is grass pollen and the pollen of some oaks, pines, planes, willows and poplars. Fynbos pollen causes allergies in spring and autumn.

Alzheimer's disease
Fish, fish oils and flaxseed are all packed with beneficial omega-3 fats, a vital component of brain cell membranes.

Pharmacy fact: Arthritis sufferers have a strikingly low incidence of Alzheimer's, perhaps because they take ibuprofen, aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories to relieve joint pain. Researchers are studying the possible role of these over-the-counter medicines as weapons against Alzheimer's.

Bad breath
Avocado removes intestinal putrefaction or decomposition, which is one cause of a coated tongue and bad breath. You could also try a drop or two of essential oil of peppermint on the tongue, or chew on fennel, anise seeds, cloves, or parsley.

Top tip: Liquorice-flavoured anise seeds can be made into a breath-freshening mouthwash or beverage. Boil several teaspoons of seeds in a cup of water for a few minutes, strain and cool.

Bronchitis
If you're prone to bronchitis, don't automatically ask for antibiotics. Stock up on garlic - lots of it - and eat it raw or cooked.

Clogged arteries
Some foods help the body to remove arterial residues of fat and cholesterol. Up your intake of legumes, such as mung and soybeans, tofu, peas, beans, and lentils; grains such as rye and oats, rice, sprouted wheat and buckwheat; vegetables and fruits; pungent foods such as radish, horseradish, hot peppers, and the onion family (garlic, onion, leek, shallot, scallion, chive); leafy greens; tomato, citrus, celery, banana, persimmon, seaweed, cucumber, and mushrooms. Get enough healthy oils too, from nuts and seeds such as almonds, hazelnuts, flaxseed, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, walnuts, and sunflower sprouts; fish such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, and other deep/cold-water fish. Besides maintaining a diet with lots of fruit and veggies, soluble fibre and fatty fish, replace sunflower oil with olive or canola oil.

Colds & flu
Besides eating lots of citrus fruit, you can also try ginger. Cut it into small pieces and boil in a cup of water. Strain and drink hot.

Pharmacy fact: When buying zinc lozenges, make sure you buy the right kind. Only zinc gluconate, ascorbate and glycinate work against colds.

Constipation
Popcorn is not fattening and practically starch-free because, in the process of popping, the starch is converted into dextrine and intermediate carbohydrates, which are easily digested. Popcorn also promotes peristalsis because it absorbs moisture.

Honey, which is high in fructose, begins a fermentation process in the large intestine. This allows fluid to be drawn into the bowel, which acts as a laxative.

Pharmacy fact: If you're constipated, drink lots of fluids but not alcoholic or caffeinated drinks, because these cause fluid loss, making constipation worse.

Cough
Eat sweet apples for a dry, hacking cough. Drink lots of water, warm soup, tea and room-temperature fruit and vegetables.

Depression
Turkey, salmon and milk products can help to ease depression because they contain the amino acid tryptophan.

Low tryptophan levels reduce the brain's production of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which helps to regulate mood.

Diabetes
Add soya foods to your diet. Eat more tofu, soya protein, soya milk and soya flour to improve your glucose control, protect against heart disease and lessen the stress on your kidneys.

Pharmacy fact: Poor control of glucose levels can deplete the body's stores of antioxidant nutrients. Vitamins C and E protect the body's cells against damage from free radicals and may reduce the risk of some serious complications of diabetes.

Diarrhoea
Banana soothes the stomach, strengthens the stomach lining against ulcers and has an antibiotic effect.

Pharmacy fact: If you have diarrhoea, dehydration fluid can provide the body with electrolytes. Add half a level teaspoon of salt and eight level teaspoons of sugar or honey (which has an antibacterial effect) to one litre of boiled and cooled water. Drink 150ml every 15 minutes. Babies should be given small amounts of fluid every two to three hours.

Earache
In a recent Finnish study, children who chewed gum sweetened with xylitol, a type of natural sugar that's found in a number of commercial chewing gums, had almost half the number of ear infections as those who chewed other types of gum. Xylitol may help keep harmful microorganisms at the back of the mouth from reaching the ear, where they can cause infections.

Eczema
Keep a closed bottle of mixed seeds in your fridge, and eat a handful with your breakfast everyday. Seeds contain skin-revitalising essential fatty acids that can relieve itching and inflammation.

Did you know? A recent study found that people with eczema who took evening primrose oil for six months experienced less itching and decreased inflammation.

Endometriosis
Women who get more omega-3 fatty acids have decreased menstrual discomfort. So eat more salmon, mackerel, sardines and snoek! Soya products (such as tofu and soya milk) contain phyto-oestrogens that may offset the effects of oestrogen, which is known to worsen endometriosis.

Fatigue
Eat more complex carbohydrates, such as pasta, wholegrains, beans, and fruit and veggies. These foods release their energy slowly, sustaining your energy levels longer.

Flatulence
Turmeric, a major ingredient in curry powder, is a natural antibiotic that relieves intestinal gas by lowering the numbers of gas-forming bacteria. It's also antifungal and has been traditionally used for relieving inflammation. The effective dose is about one gram per day.

Haemorrhoids
Citrus fruit, berries, cherries and onions are good sources of fibre and contain flavonoids, which may help to strengthen the veins.

Insomnia
Eat foods with large amounts of the amino acid tryptophan, such as warm or hot milk, eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, turkey and cashew nuts. Honey also has sleep-inducing properties.

Migraine
Fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as snoek and tuna, may help to prevent migraines. Omega-3s seem to alter blood chemicals, reducing the risk of blood-vessel spasms associated with migraines.

Pharmacy fact: Some foods can trigger migraines. Common culprits are mature cheeses, onions, pickles, cured meats, red wine, beer, sour cream, nuts, freshly baked yeast products, eggs, tomatoes, citrus fruits and caffeine.

Osteoporosis
Eat calcium-rich foods such as tinned salmon (including the soft bones), broccoli and almonds. Pineapple is also good because of its high manganese content.

Parkinson's disease
Avocados, potatoes, bananas, fish and chicken are good sources of vitamin B6, which helps the brain produce dopamine.

Top Tip: use the herb valerian rather than kava kava, because kava kava may interfere with dopamine production.

Premenstrual syndrome
Increase your vitamin-B6 intake by eating more avocados, potatoes, bananas, fish and chicken.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)
Turmeric contains curcumin, a natural anti-inflammatory. Sardines, salmon, mackerel and tuna have high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, which can relieve RA symptoms. (www.clicks.co.za/clicks/Article.aspx?aid=249)

FOOD THERAPY

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 11:12:00 +0000

Diet Therapy - Using food and diet to treat disease, and improve or maintain health.

Food therapy is the oldest known form of medicine. Ancient texts of India (the Vedas) dating back to 4500 BC gave precise descriptions of the therapeutic and medicinal value of hundreds of foods and edible plants. In 400 BC, Hippocrates told his students "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food". The Neijing, a Chinese text dating from 300 BC, states, "Medicine and food are of the same source". All ancient cultures held similar beliefs.

Scholars and historians have shown these ancient cultures provided the foundation for much of contemporary western medicine. Unfortunately, their medicinal knowledge of food did not. This wisdom has mostly been lost to modern cultures. What we eat is no longer used to achieve healing and wellness. Food has become a simple commodity and popular diets are passing fads.

Dr. Francis Pottenger's studies proved wrong diet is a prime factor in the decline of human health. Eight of the top ten leading causes of death can result from poor eating habits alone and can be treated exclusively with diet therapy.

Food is the foundation of health and healing, yet most physicians don't have the time, expertise, or resources to design patient-specific therapeutic diets. Patients are bio-chemically unique; therefore each requires an individualized diet.

Current nutritional software programs are cumbersome for the patient and the practitioner.

Patient compliance is poor because the diets are hard to follow and often cause new problems while attempting to address existing ones.

What is the right diet?

Unfortunately, no single diet fits everyone. Our biochemical individuality determines our unique nutritional needs. Medical conditions, autonomic/oxidative dominance, blood type, body type, allergies, micro and macronutrient imbalances, and ideal weight are factors that must be considered when determining optimal food selections.

Visionary Research - If you want to keep seeing twenty-twenty, try spinach. Preliminary research shows that eating spinach may slow the development of macular degeneration, the number one cause of blindness in older adults.

The study showed the short-term vision of older males with the disease was improved by eating 4 to 7 ounces of spinach per day. Spinach is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin, antioxidants that scientists believe may protect the retina. Other vegetables and fruits with high concentrations of these antioxidants include corn, kiwi fruit, grapes, oranges, and zucchini.

The Auspicious Onion
Onions may be bad for your breath, but they're a boon to your body. Opt for more of the pungent varieties.
A study in the Netherlands showed a strong association between onion consumption and a reduced risk of stomach cancer. Onions contain high concentrations of quercetin, a flavonoid antioxidant that protects cells from free-radical damage. Onions also are thought to protect the heart and arteries. Quercetin is helpful for allergies.

Chives

"Cranberry Juice, a friend to your HEART"

Drinking cranberry juice every day could significantly cut the risk of heart disease. A study suggests 3 glasses a day can raise good cholesterol in the blood, reducing the chances of a range of cardiac conditions by as much as 40%. Dr. Joe Vinson & his colleagues at University of Scranton in Pennsylvania conducted the long-term study with volunteers who had previously high cholesterol. He unveiled his findings at the American Chemical Society in New Orleans yesterday. Antioxidants increased by over 120% in volunteers drinking 3 glasses of cranberry juice a day. Dr. Vinson said that cranberry extracts in capsules or tablets could be similarly beneficial if taken regularly.

Note: use unsweetened cranberry juice for best health, or sweeten only with a small amount of organic unfiltered apple juice or grape juice.

Effect of Aspartame on the Human Energy Field
Donald C. Stouffer, PhD, D. Kaiser, RN, MBA, CHTP, and J. Stouffer

Healing Touch assessment techniques were used to measure the effect of carbonated beverages with and without aspartame on the solar plexus and sacral areas of 50 healthy people. Initially the areas were open. After consumption of a carbonated beverage with regular sweetening about 1/3 were open, 1/3 blocked and 1/3 closed. After consumption of an aspartame sweetened beverage approximately 1/3 were blocked and 2/3 were closed. They noted a possible explanation as due to carbon dioxide, a human waste product and the methanol in aspartame decomposes into formaldehyde.

"Vital Missing Goodness in Ready to Eat Bags of Salad"

Leaves bought in pre-washed packs are missing vital nutrients, scientists have found. Research has shown that a manufacturing technique used to keep greens cripsy for longer also destroys vitamins & protective anti-oxidants. The process called modified atmosphere packaging is particularly damaging to vitamin C. Levels of nutritious p-coumaric acid, caffeic acid & quercetin are also depleted, says scientists at Cornell University. Modified atmosphere packaging creates a balance of gases inside the bag. It is more nutritious to cut up your own salad just before eating, but it is better to eat these packeted salads than to have no salad at all.

Apples

"Vitamin A deficiency, by its action of increasing epithelial irritability and infectibility, can be an important factor in the cause of ulcers" and that "other instances of vitamin A deficiency, are often found in conjunction with infections of the intestinal tract, are infections of the eyes, tonsils, sinuses, lungs, buccal and lingual mucosa, and the skin."

B-vitamin deficiency also produces damage to kidneys, spleen, pancreas, testes, ovaries and liver. Since so many persons have health problems centered in these areas, we may reasonably suspect population wide vitamin B deficiency. Naturopathic authorities suspect exactly this. B-vitamins are lost rapidly by the body when it is under stress. Since most of us are indeed under stress, B-vitamin deficiency is almost assured without supplementation.

bioSupplemente Naturalle

Vitamin K for better absorption of nutrients - Important in dental and gum problems; spider veins on face or legs; osteoporosis; and health concerns where nutrient absorption is in question! American Journal Clinical Nutrition Jan 1999 gave results of a study of 72,000 nurses who were followed for 10 years evaluated dietary intake and the rate of hip fractures. The results were that the women whose diet included more Vitamin K were more protected from hip fractures. Homeopathic Vitamin K can help with absorbtion of Vitamin K from foods such as green vegetables-lettuce, green beans, and whole grains.

Hidden Dangers of Microwaved Foods

Recent studies prove that when plants are watered with water heated first in a microwave oven, then cooled, they wilt and die.

Amino Acids

Vitamin C helps treat and prevent the common cold and flu (to reduce severity some health experts suggest 3,000mg daily). It aids in the prevention of a host of viral and bacterial infections. It is said to increase the effectiveness of white blood cells to fight infection within the body. It is an antioxidant that helps scavenge free radicals which we all know adversely affects the immune system. Interestingly, some factors that multiply free radicals are excessive sunlight and stress, which leads us to the next benefit. Vitamin C helps the adrenal glands manufacture adrenaline and other hormones that help us cope with stress. Stress can destroy Vitamin C stores in the adrenal glands in a matter of seconds. It also helps maintain the circulatory system, and can help prevent lower the incidence of blood clots in veins - a concern for frequent flyers.

Parkinson's Dis-ease: Balancing carbohydrates and proteins makes the drug treatments more effective. It has been demonstrated in studies that a 7 to 1 carbohydrate to protein ratio created higher and more stable levels of neutral amino acids in patients taking levodopa. This eliminated increased symptoms after meals.

Magnesium is considered to be the most deficient nutrient in the average American diet. Medical science reports that more than 200,000 deaths are linked to this deficiency. The suggested RDA of 400 mg. daily is substantially low. The optimal, minimum daily amount is 750 mg. Find magnesium is almonds, figs, apples, alfalfa, dulse, dandelion, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, red clover...

Magnesium is the natural Beta Blocker: Today, in many ER's, magnesium is being used as the Beta Blocker of choice.(www.leaflady.org/nutrition.htm)

ABOUT IODINE

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 09:20:00 +0000

Salt & Iodine

What is Iodine?

Iodine is an essential mineral. It is an integral part of the thyroid hormone that controls human growth and development. Historically, New Zealand soils were known to be low in iodine, and this resulted in a high rate of goitre (a condition where the thyroid gland becomes enlarged due to an inadequate intake of iodine) amongst New Zealanders early this century.

One of the nutrition messages nutritionists have repeated for years is eat less salt. However, in New Zealand, our table salt has had iodine added. Does some recently released research on our iodine status mean we should go back to those heavy handed days with the salt shaker?

The History

In the 1920's it was decided to add iodine to our table salt supply and this resulted in a decreased rate of goitre amongst the New Zealand population.

In more recent times, up until the mid 1980's, we have also had a significant source of iodine from dairy products. Iodine containing compounds were used in the processing of milk products and small amounts were passed on to us in the milk products available. These iodine containing compounds are no longer used and so milk is no longer such a significant source of iodine for us.

Because of the low soil levels, we have always monitored New Zealanders iodine status and recently a study of over 300 school-aged children indicated that a small group of the children had low amounts of iodine in their bodies.

What is being done to fix the problem?

Nutrition issues are rarely straightforward. The experts tell us that the withdrawal of the iodine containing milk processing compounds has had more of an impact on our iodine intake than the health promotion messages telling us to eat less salt.

Should we eat more salt?

No, we get more than enough salt (which is not iodised) from processed foods, however, we should make certain that the salt we do add in cooking or at the table is iodised. The Ministry of Health is including in its planned national children's nutrition survey a series of questions and sample gathering that will help us to quantify the scale of the lack of iodine in children's diets. Decisions will then need to be made on the need for the addition of iodine to any other foodstuff. In the mean time, make sure any salt you do add to food whether in cooking or at the table is iodised.

(http://www.nhf.org.nz/images/peas.gif&imgrefurl)

NUTRITION WITH ANTIOXIDANT

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 09:15:00 +0000

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances used by the body to protect itself from damage caused by oxidation. Oxidation is a process that causes damage in our tissues through the work of free radicals. These harmful free radicals are formed from cigarette smoke, radiation and pollution as well as developing naturally from normal metabolism.

Researchers have shown an association between higher intakes of certain anti-oxidants and lower incidence of some dise ases such as certain cancers and heart disease. The most well known antioxidants are vitamins and are found naturally in foods. They are beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C.

Nutritionists agree that it is best to source all of these antioxidants from foods rather than from tablets because there are many other antioxidant like compounds and other beneficial substances (phyto-chemicals) available in foods such as fruit and vegetables .It is also possible to consume harmful amounts of some antioxidants when taking supplements.

Beta-carotene

Beta-carotene is found in plant foods especially fruit and vegetables. It and some other related compounds are responsible for the orange/yellow colours of many fruit and vegetables. Studies have shown that carotene rich foods have a protective effect against cancers such as lung, bladder and skin cancer. Best sources of beta-carotene are vegetables and fruits especially the orange, yellow and dark green coloured ones.

Vitamin E

Vitamin E is found in nuts, eggs, fish, vegetable oils, wheat germ, margarines, and whole grains. It works to protect polyunsaturated fats found in cell membranes, and vitamin A from oxidation. Most recent data on vitamin E intake in New Zealand indicates that we get enough vitamin E from our diets.

Vitamin C

Along with its other roles in the body, vitamin C seems to protect against many forms of cancer. The primary route for this is by regenerating vitamin E. Vitamin C is found only in plant foods and is richest in fresh fruit and vegetables, for example citrus fruit, berry fruit, capsicum, broccoli, spinach and cabbage.

(http://images.google.co.id/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nhf.org.nz/images/peas.gif&imgrefurl)

REASON TO CONSUME MILK

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 09:00:00 +0000

Milk & Milk Products

This is the name given to a group of foods made from milk. These foods used to be called dairy products but the term milk and milk products excludes cream and butter which have a different nutritional composition (higher in fat).

Milk and milk products are rich in calcium and good sources of the B vitamins riboflavin and vitamin B12. Milk and milk products play an important part in our diet. From the age of two years it is recommended (Food Fantastic, Eating for healthy children 2-12 years, available from your local public health service) that we give young children 2-3 servings of milk and milk products a day where a serving is:

1 cup of milk
2 slices of cheese
1 pottle of yoghurt or
2 scoops ice-cream

Children who eat no foods from this food group need to eat other foods that provide them with these nutrients for growth and energy, and should get advice from a registered dietitian to ensure that they are getting enough for their needs.

Here are some common questions that I get asked about milk and milk products:

What type of milk should my young child drink?

We do not recommend children under the age of one be given cow's milk as a drink. Infants should be given breast milk or an infant formula. From the age of one year whole cow's milk can be introduced. Reduced fat milk or light blue milk can be introduced from about two years of age, and low fat milk (trim milk) can be introduced from the age of five years.

What about milk allergy?

It is very important to get cow's milk allergy diagnosed by a medical doctor before cow's milk is excluded from a young child's diet. It is also important to replace the cow's milk with nutritionally equivalent foods(see above).

What about soy milks?

Soy milks are made from soybeans that have been processed. Some soy milks have had calcium added to them to provide a similar level of calcium to cow's milk. It is also possible to buy soy based infant formula in New Zealand.

There has been concern raised by some researchers regarding the level of some naturally occurring substances called phytoestrogens in soy formula. This concern has led infant nutritionists to recommend that if a child is not breastfed, cow's milk based formula be the formula of choice and medical advice be taken when cow's milk formula is not tolerated by infants.

My 18 month old child won't drink milk, what shall I do?

Provide enough opportunities for your child to eat foods from the milk and milk products group. For example if a child has milk on her breakfast cereal, some yoghurt at lunchtime and fruit and custard at dinner, she will be getting plenty of milk and milk products each day.

(http://images.google.co.id/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nhf.org.nz/images/peas.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.nhf.org.nz)

CONSUME FRUITS FOR HEALTH

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 09:42:00 +0000

Fruit

Apples

A is for Apples, which are probably America’s favorite fall fruit. Sweet or tart, apples should have a firm texture and lots of crunch. There are dozens of varieties to choose from, whether you’re making pies or eating them out of hand. Whole apples, however, make the best snacks, especially with the skin on; most of the nutrients are concentrated in the skin, including an important cancer-fighting flavonoid called quercetin. Apples are also a good source of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Pectin, a form of soluble fiber is found in high concentrations in apples. Commercial pectin is used in making jams and jellies, but apples have so much naturally, that it isn’t necessary to add it when making apple jelly.

Blueberries

Blueberries are one of summer’s simple pleasures, and are as good for you as they are delicious. Their dark blue skins contain very powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds. Native Americans valued them for their nutritional as well as medicinal properties; the roots, leaves and stems of the woody plants were boiled into teas and syrups as medicines. Their antioxidant power comes from anthocyanin pigments that give blueberries their characteristic color. Blueberry skins also contain the pigment cyanidin, which is a potent anti-inflammatory. The one-two punch of these pigments has been found in studies to improve memory function by increasing the growth rate of brain cells and improving receptor communication between neurons—both “brainy” reasons to eat your blueberries! When shopping for blueberries, look for firm, round fruit with no sign of shriveling. Blueberries should have a dusky-blue color, and as with all colored fruits and vegetables, the deeper the color, the better for you.

A good way to enjoy blueberries all year long is to pick them yourself at a local u-pick blueberry farm in season, and freeze them for later use. Pick the blueberries at their peak of ripeness (the berry should separate from the stem very easily). Wash and stem your berries, and spread them in a single layer on a counter to drain on paper towels. When the berries are dry, simply package them in zip-lock bags, removing any excess air, and flash freeze. Frozen berries can be measured out of the bag all year for pies, jams or snacking.

Cherries

Sour cherries are not only good in pies, but some people claim they help with arthritis pain! Three anthocyanin pigments found in sour cherries, which gives them their characteristic deep red color, have demonstrated in some studies that they could work just as well as some pain relievers in relieving mild arthritis symptoms. Other flavonoids in cherries block the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, so they’re heart-healthy as well. Look for fruit that is firm and shiny, with no cracks or pits in the skin. Here again, the more intense the color, the sweeter the fruit, and the more nutrients it will contain.

Grapes

Thanks to their pigments and other phytonutrients, Concord grapes have some of the highest antioxidant strength of any fruit. With as many as 31 types of anthocyanins, these deep-purple confections are right up there with blueberries in packing health benefits. You might not find them as readily in farm markets, so buy them when you see them. Their skins contain a compound known as resveratrol, which acts to protect the fruit and the plant from fungal and bacterial attacks, much like human antibodies. Even the seeds are good for you!

Oranges

Pretty isn’t always perfect when it comes to oranges. You might notice that Florida Valencia oranges have thinner, more scarred skin than their California navel cousins. However, their outer appearance belies the sweetness within. While thick-skinned navels are great for snacking, Valencias are better juice oranges because they grow in a wetter environment. Their skins are thinner due to the pressure from the ripening fruit inside, which makes them harder to peel, but much juicier. Valencias stay on the tree anywhere from a year to 17 months before being picked, even as new fruits are starting to form. The longer they stay on, the more chlorophyll they absorb, so if you see some greenish Valencias, it’s not because they were picked too soon—it’s because they stayed on the tree late—and are probably all the sweeter for it.

Although oranges are known for their Vitamin C content, there are other reasons to eat them. They also contain a flavonoid called hesperetin, as do other citrus fruit such as mandarins, lemons, limes and grapefruit. Hesperetin helps regenerate vitamin C, and restricts the liver’s production of the components which make up LDL cholesterol. Oranges also contain limonene in their peels, membranes, seeds and juice, which research has found inhibits lung, skin and stomach cancers, and also repels insects. The waxed container packaging of processed orange juices can absorb limonene, however. To get the most health benefits from citrus fruits, use orange and lemon zest and/or whole citrus slices in cooking, buy orange juice with pulp in glass containers, or squeeze your own. When selecting citrus fruit, look for specimens that are heavy for their size with no soft spots.(www.agri-culturehealth.com/pics/apples2.jpg&imgrefur)

HEALTH BENEFITS OF MANGOSTEEN

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:26:00 +0000

Mangosteen Fruit (Garcinia Mangostana)

The accumulated knowledge of centuries of ancient Asian medicine has been passed down from generation to generation and also passed on to early European explorers and settlers. Consequently it is no wonder that so much recent modern scientific research has been conducted on the Mangosteen and the beneficial properties of the pericarp (rind).

An enormous amount of modern study and research has been channelled toward unlocking the secrets of this remarkable fruit. Scientists have actually identified the major compounds found in the Mangosteen that are responsible for its healthful characteristics.

These days, just about everybody knows about free radicals and the damage they wreak on the body and most would know, to counteract the effects of free radicals, we need a diet high in antioxidants. Free radicals attack the cells in our bodies every second of every day, whilst antioxidants work actively with the immune system to the repair the damage before cellular degeneration occurs. If the balance between free radical attack and the body's ability to overcome free radical activity is weighted on the side of the free radicals... well you are destined for early onset of metabolic disease and a premature death!

Much has been made of the extensive antioxidant properties of vitamins, especially Vitamin C and Vitamin E. But did you know that there exists an antioxidant that is much more powerful than any vitamin?

This powerful, life-enhancing substance is called Xanthone.

In fact, there's a whole family of Xanthones, and the most dynamic of these are found in the amazing whole fruit Mangosteen which includes the pericarp. While most people know about the antioxidant benefits of Vitamins C and E, far fewer are aware of the incredibly potent antioxidant power of Xanthones and many other phyto-chemicals. Xanthones are natural plant chemical substances that have recently won high praise from numerous scientists and researchers. Xanthones have been studied for their medicinal potential, since they demonstrate a number of pharmaceutical properties and are proving to be exceptional substances for good health.

The Research on Xanthones:

Xanthones have been the subject of quite a degree of research for several decades. They're found in a select number of rain forest plants and dark red fruits, but nowhere are they found in more abundance than in the pericarp or rind, of the Mangosteen fruit. This smooth, purple/dark red covering that was traditionally ground with ancient mortars and used to heal infection turns out to be the mother lode of beneficial Xanthones and potent antioxidants.

The two most beneficial Xanthones found in the Mangosteen have been named Alpha Mangostin and Gamma Mangostin. When isolated and thoroughly tested by researchers, these two Xanthones have been found to carry a host of benefits. According to professional journals such as Free Radical Research, Journal of Pharmacology, and the Indian Journal of Experimental Biology, these Xanthones have a remarkable effect on cardiovascular health; are naturally antibiotic, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory; and are amongst the most powerful antioxidants found in nature.

Research laboratories around the world have now been helping us understand how the Mangosteen fruit imparts such wonderful benefits. Modern science is just catching up with what herbal doctors have already known for centuries about mangosteen.

For more information go to www.pubmed.com and search for “Xanthones" or "Garcinia Mangostana" in the database and read the scientific research.

PROVEN BENEFITS OF XANTHONES - YOU CAN FEEL THE DIFFERENCE

1.) Anti-fatigue
2.) Anti-obesity
3.) Anti-depression
4.) Anti-anxiety
5.) Anti-Alzheimer’s
6.) Anti-arthritis
7.) Anti--periodontic (gum disease)
8.) Anti-allergenic
9.) Anti-seborrheic (skin disease)
10.) Anti-pyretic (anti-fever)
11.) Anti-Parkinsonism
12.) Anti-diarrhea
13.) Anti-neuralgia (nerve pain)
14.) Anti-vertigo (dizziness)
15.) Anti-glaucoma
16.) Anti-pain (for example, dental pain)
17.) Anti-inflammatory (cox-2 inhibitor; like Vioxx & Celebrex but without side effects)
18.) Anti-ulcer (for example, ulcers of stomach, mouth, small bowel, large bowel)

MORE BENEFITS … WHETHER YOU “FEEL” THEM, OR NOT

1.) Anti-oxidant (can be measured)
2.) Anti-cancer (can be measured)
3.) Anti-aging (can be measured)
4.) Anti-hypertension (can be measured)
5.) Anti-hypoglycemia (can be measured)
6.) Anti-immune-system-depression (can be measured)
7.) Anti-blood fat (can be measured)
8.) Anti-atherosclerosis (blood vessel, heart disease) (can be measured)
9.) Anti-osteoporosis (can be measured)
10.) Anti-viral (can be measured)
11.) Anti-bacterial (can be measured)
12.) Anti-fungal (can be measured)
13.) Anti-kidney stones (can be measured)
14.) Anti-cataracts (can be measured)

Mangosteen Facts:

Mangosteen is a small and very slow-growing tropical evergreen tree. The height of the tree attains 20 to 82 feet. The length of its leaves is up to 10 inches. The width of its flowers is 1 ½ to 2 inches. And maybe male or hermaphrodite is on the same tree.

Mangosteen is native to South East Asia and requires a year round, warm, very humid, equatorial climate. In spite of that, many people have tried to plant Mangosteen in other places, such as California, Florida, or special greenhouses somewhere outside South East Asia. The outcome is seldom successful due to the different living conditions. The tree only can grow well in tropical areas and requires abundant moisture. Thailand or Burma are the original countries people found Mangosteen.

Mangosteen Health Benefits

Mangosteen is a fruit found in tropical countries throughout Asia, for example Thailand, India, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. It also grows reasonably well in areas such as Hawaii and tropical Northern Australia from Innisfail north to Cooktown.

The mangosteen fruit consist of 3 major parts.

The Mangosteen Pericarp - which is the rind or peel and contains the highest level of xanthones.

The pulp - which is the fruit and is known for being one of the tastiest fruits in the world.

The seeds - Found within the white pulp.

Properties:

Mangosteen fruit contains compounds that have antioxidant - anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. Scientific research indicates activity against several cancer cell lines, including breast cancer, liver cancer and leukemia. In addition, Mangosteen also exhibits anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory properties. Traditionally, mangosteen has been used for many years as a medicinal treatment for diarrhea, skin infection and wounds in throughout South Asia.

The latest in scientific research shows mangosteen contains a class of naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds known as xanthones. Xanthones may provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular diseases, including ischemic heart disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, and thrombosis. Mangosteen also shows vasorelaxant properties.

Mangosteen has demonstrated an inhibitory action against the bacterial organisms Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Staphylococcus aureus. Mangosteen is also proving to be highly effective in supporting and strengthening a weak immune system. There are several important compounds found in the Mangosteen that would appear to make this fruit an active and important nutritional supplement for the human body.

Mangosteen Xanthones are broken down even further into mangostin, mangostenol, mangostenone A, Mangostenone B, trapezifolixanthone, tovophyllin B, alpha- and beta-mangostins, garcinone B, mangostinone, mangostanol and the flavonoid epicatechin. A study of the antiproliferation, antioxidation and induction of apoptosis by Garcinia mangostana on SKBR3 human breast cancer cell line, showed SKBR3 cells were cultured in the presence of mangosteen extract at various concentrations. Mangosteen showed a dose dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. "We found that an antiproliferative effect of mangosteen was associated with apoptosis on breast cancer cell line by determinations of morphological changes and oligonucleosomal DNA fragments."

Mangosteen also was found to inhibit ROS production. These investigations suggest that mangosteen has strong anti-proliferation, potent anti-oxidation and induction of apoptosis properties. Mangosteen has potential for cancer chemoprevention, which is dose dependent as well as exposure time dependent. The ethanol extract of Mangosteen showed potent inhibitory activity against HIV-1 protease. The activity-guided purification of the extract resulted in the isolation of two active known compounds. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were established by spectroscopic analysis as mangostin and gamma-mangostin.

Potential Benefits of Mangosteen

Anti-viral

Anti-bacterial

Free radical fighter

Cardio support

Immune system Enhancer

Powerful antioxidant

Skin rashes, infections and wounds

Diarrhea

Anti-inflammatory

Vasorelaxant

(www.health-report.co.uk/mangosteen.htm)

THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF TEA

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:46:00 +0000

Introduction

A significant number of studies have shown that the tea flavonoids have anti-cancer properties and they are increasingly recognised as potential cancer preventative compounds

Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water. Tea drinking originated in China more than four and a half thousand years ago and the habit was adopted in the UK during the 17th Century after the sea routes to China from Europe had been opened up.

The most commonly consumed type of tea, black tea, comes from an evergreen plant called Camellia sinensis. There are three main types of Camellia sinensis: China, Assam (mostly found in India) and Cambodian (mainly a cross between the other two). Even though only three types of plant exist, there are hundreds of varieties of teas available.

Types of teas

The huge number of types of tea is due to differences in soil and climate in which Camellia sinensis is grown, as well as the way the plant is harvested and processed. Oolong tea, green tea and white tea are also produced from the same plant and the difference between these and black tea involves the processing of the plant leaves. The leaves for black tea undergo a fermentation process before drying and they become fully oxidised. However, the leaves for green tea are not fermented but lightly steamed before drying; they do not become oxidised. The leaves for oolong tea are processed to a degree somewhere between black and green tea and they become partially oxidised. In producing white tea, the leaves are picked and harvested before the leaves open fully, when the buds are still covered by fine white hair, hence the name white tea. The leaves go through less processing than the leaves for black, oolong and green tea and are not oxidised.

In addition to tea from the Camellia sinensis plant, herbal teas can be made by steeping fresh or dried herbs in hot water. There are also fruit teas, which usually consist of a blend of herbs and fruit essences, sometimes with added spices.

Health benefits

Flavonoids are a group of compounds with powerful antioxidant activity, antioxidants being protective against the damage caused by excess free radicals. They are found within all plant foods in our diet and Camellia sinensis has one of the highest flavonoid contents of all plants at 15% of the leaf by dry weight¹.

A significant number of studies have shown that the tea flavonoids have anti-cancer properties and they are increasingly recognised as potential cancer preventative compounds. There are also suggestions that the tea flavonoids may be helpful for those already diagnosed with cancer, as highlighted by a study from Japan that found that the regular consumption of green tea (more than 3 cups a day) might be protective against recurrence of breast cancer in the early stages².

Black, oolong, green and white teas contain similar amounts of flavonoids, however they differ in their chemical structure. The green and white teas contain more of the simple flavonoids called catechins, while the oxidation that the leaves undergo to produce oolong and black tea converts these simple flavonoids to the more complex varieties called theaflavins and thearubigins³.

In the past a lot of the research investigating the health benefits of tea has focused on the catechins, giving green tea a glowing reputation as a health promoting drink. Recently, scientists have expanded their studies to include black tea and are concluding that black and green tea have similar beneficial attributes in lowering the risk of many human diseases⁴.

In addition to the antioxidants, teas contain trace amounts of various nutrients such as the minerals calcium, magnesium, manganese and potassium and the vitamins C and K.

The health benefits of herbal teas will differ from those of the black, oolong, green and white teas and will depend on the properties of the particular herb. Most herbs are good sources of antioxidants and also contain trace amounts of other nutrients. They also possess a variety of other health benefits, for example peppermint aids digestion, ginger counteracts nausea and chamomile acts as a mild sedative.

A herbal tea that has recently become popular in the UK is prepared from the leaves and stems of the South African plant Aspalathus linearis (rooibos). The tea is commonly known as red bush or rooibos tea. Like the teas prepared from the Camellia sinensis plant, red bush tea has been shown to contain very high levels of antioxidants. Unlike most other herbal teas, red bush mixes well with milk (we would recommend non-dairy milk).

Caffeine in tea

All teas produced from the Camellia sinensis plant contain caffeine. Black tea contains the highest amount, then oolong, green and white tea (which has the lowest amount). Herbal teas including red bush are naturally caffeine-free.

An average size cup of black tea contains around 50mg caffeine, which is approximately half the amount present in a cup of coffee of the same size⁵.

De-caffeinated teas are available, however some de-caffeination processes involve the use of toxic solvents, traces of which can remain in the tea. Safe removal of caffeine involves the use of carbon dioxide gas; good quality tea companies such as Clipper and Twinings use this method of de-caffeination. (www.pennybrohncancercare.org)

THE WORLD'S 7 MOST POTENT DISEASE-FIGHTING SPICES

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 06:38:00 +0000

Spices can add much more than flavor, color and variety to your favorite foods; many also have unique health-promoting properties. So if salt and pepper are the only spices in your kitchen, you're missing out on a host of interesting flavors and some potentially potent health benefits.

"There have been many recent studies validating the historic habit of using spices for health benefits,'' says Donna Tainter, a food technologist and author of "Spices and Seasonings, A Food Technology Handbook."

If you're looking for the most health bang for your buck, these seven spices top the list in terms of taste and disease-fighting capabilities.

Ginger

Health Benefits: The active ingredient in ginger is gingerol, a compound that's thought to relax blood vessels, stimulate blood flow and relieve pain. It's commonly used as a digestive aid and contains compounds that ease motion sickness and nausea and inhibit vomiting. This makes it a helpful spice for morning sickness or for people suffering from the side effects of chemotherapy.

Ginger is also an anti-inflammatory, which means it may be useful in fighting heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease and arthritis. Plus, it's high in antioxidants that fight all kinds of diseases.

How it's Used: Ginger can be used freshly ground from the root (see picture) in Asian dishes, as well as in any type of meat, seafood or vegetable dish. Ginger is commonly served along with sushi. Dried ground ginger is typically used in desserts and baking (gingerbread cookies, etc.), and it's also available candied and pickled. Fresh ginger root can also be used to make a soothing ginger tea.

Interesting Tidbit: The health benefits of ginger were documented over 2,000 years ago!

Oregano

Health Benefits: Two of oregano's compounds, thymol and carvacrol, have potent antibacterial properties. In fact, a study in Mexico found that oregano was more effective against an amoeba than a common prescription drug called tinidazol.

Oregano is also a potent antioxidant, rich in phytonutrients. On a per gram basis, fresh oregano has:

42 times more antioxidant activity than apples
30 times more than potatoes
12 times more than oranges
4 times more than blueberries

How it's Used: Fresh or dried oregano can be added to Italian dishes, salad dressings, egg dishes, vegetables, meats and more.

Interesting Tidbit: Oregano means "mountain joy" and is sometimes called wild marjoram in Europe. It's closely related to the herb sweet marjoram.

Cinnamon

Health Benefits: Cinnamon is an anti-microbial food that can stop the growth of bacteria, fungi and yeast. A study in the August 2003 International Journal of Food Microbiology also found that a few drops of cinnamon essential oil added to carrot broth was able to effectively preserve the food and fight pathogenic organisms--all while improving the flavor of the broth.

It also has anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties, which help prevent unwanted clumping of blood platelets. And, it may help boost brain function.

People with diabetes should also take note that cinnamon is a useful tool to help control blood sugar. A study in the December 2003 Diabetes Care found that eating one to six grams of cinnamon daily significantly reduced blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, it also reduced their triglyceride levels, LDL (bad) cholesterol and total cholesterol levels.

Plus, a study in the February 2004 Hormone Metabolism Research found that this tasty spice appears to prevent insulin resistance even in animals eating a high-fructose diet.

And that's not all. Cinnamon is a powerful antioxidant. A study in the Journal of Nutrition found that out of all spices, cinnamon is one of the richest sources of disease-fighting antioxidants.

How it's Used: Cinnamon comes ground and in sticks, and can be used in Mexican, Middle Eastern and other ethnic dishes, curries, vegetables, tea, beverages, and of course, desserts.

Interesting Tidbit: In traditional Chinese medicine, cinnamon is used in a tea along with ginger to fight the onset of colds and flu.

Turmeric

Health Benefits: Curcumin, which gives turmeric its bright yellow color, is thought to be the active ingredient in this spice. It's a potent anti-inflammatory that studies have found is just as effective as drugs like hydrocortisone, phenylbutazone and Motrin. This spice has been found to be helpful in fighting inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, cancer and Alzheimer's disease. It's also shown promise in offering cardiovascular and liver protection.

How it's Used: Turmeric powder can be added to rice dishes, egg salad, salad dressings, curries, beans and sauces. It has a warm, peppery flavor similar to ginger and orange.

Interesting Tidbit: Turmeric is the spice commonly used in curries that gives them their yellow color. It's also what makes traditional mustard yellow!

Sage

Health Benefits: Sage is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. It contains flavonoids, phenolic acids and oxygen-handling enzymes, all of which give it a unique ability to prevent oxygen-based damage to cells. Sage may be useful in fighting rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, bronchial asthma and atherosclerosis.

Sage also appears to promote better brain function. A study in the June 2003 Pharmacological Biochemical Behavior found that people given sage essential oil extracts had significantly improved recall abilities compared to those given a placebo.

How it's Used: Sage's subtle, sweet flavor makes it a very versatile herb. It can be added to soups, sauces, salad dressings, meat dishes, casseroles, vegetables, eggs, salads and more.

Interesting Tidbit: Sage means "to be saved." Because sage is so effective in protecting oxygen-based damage, several companies have been conducting experiments using sage as a natural additive to cooking oils to extend shelf life and prevent the oils from going rancid.

Red Chili Peppers

Health Benefits: These peppers, which include the popular cayenne pepper, contain capsaicin, an anti-inflammatory compound that helps with pain relief. Chili peppers have been found to help:

Clear congestion by clearing mucus from the lungs and nose
Boost immunity
Prevent stomach ulcers by killing bacteria
Help with weight loss
Reduce blood cholesterol, triglyceride levels and platelet aggregation
Prevent cancers, including stomach cancer
Relieve pain

How it's Used: Chili peppers are, of course, great in Mexican dishes, but that's not all. Try them with other vegetables, tuna salad, chili, corn bread, dips, curries, soups, sauces and more.

Interesting Tidbit: The hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains. Some of the hottest chili peppers out there are the habañero, Scotch bonnet, and jalapeño peppers.

Parsley

Health Benefits: Chief among parsley's beneficial properties is its ability to fight cancer. Animal studies have shown that it can inhibit tumor formation, particularly in the lungs. It's also known to neutralize carcinogens including those found in cigarette smoke and charcoal grill smoke.

Parsley is also a rich source of antioxidants and heart-protective nutrients including vitamin C, beta-carotene and folic acid.

How it's Used: Parsley comes in two popular varieties, curly and flat leaf. Fresh parsley is more flavorful than the dried variety. The curly version tends to have a more intense flavor than the flat-leaf variety. Use it in soups, salads and casseroles, or to top fish, meat, potatoes, vegetables and more.

Interesting Tidbit: Parsley is a great breath freshener at the end of a meal.(www.sixwise.com)

TULSI QUEEN OF HERBS

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 10:18:00 +0000

Tulsi's Health Highlights

Modern scientific research provides evidence that Tulsi offers
the following benefits:

Holistic Health Promotion

Enhances general health and well-being, having positive overall effects on the body and mind.

Stress Resilience

Increases the capacity to cope and adapt to changing and challenging environments, and reduces the negative physical and psychological effects of stress (adaptogenic).

Energy and Performance Enhancement

Improves stamina and endurance, and increases the body’s efficiency in using oxygen. Enhances protein synthesis and strength.

Anti-Aging Effects

Slows the biological aging process by reducing the impact of physiological aging factors.

Antioxidant Activity

Provides significant antioxidant and free radical scavenging protection. Neutralizes dangerous biochemicals that contribute to premature aging, cataracts, cancer and other degenerative diseases.

Radiation Protection

Reduces the cell and tissue damage caused by harmful rays of the sun, TV, computers, X-rays, radiation therapy, high altitude air travel, etc.

Immunity Tune-Up

Strengthens and modulates the immune system. Reduces allergic histamine, asthmatic and other adverse immune reactions.

Anti-inflammatory Action

Reduces the painful and dangerous inflammation that plays a key role in various forms of arthritis, cancer and degenerative neurological disorders.

Antibiotic Protection

Offers significant natural antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal protection and is, thereby, helpful in treating many serious systemic diseases, as well as localized infections.

Heart and Vascular Protection

Lowers dangerous cholesterol and stress related high blood pressure, protects the heart and blood vessels, and has mild blood thinning qualities, thereby decreasing the likelihood of strokes.

Liver Support

Generally contributes to healthy liver function, improves the metabolic breakdown and elimination of dangerous chemicals in the blood, and counteracts various liver diseases.

Lung and Bronchial Support

In addition to contributing generally to respiratory health, Tulsi has been shown to be helpful in the treatment of a variety of serious allergic, inflammatory and infectious disorders affecting the lungs and related tissues.

Nutrition

Contains vitamins C and A, and minerals calcium, zinc and iron, as well as chlorophyll and many other phytonutrients. Also enhances the efficient digestion, absorption and use of nutrients from food and other herbs.

Allopathic Medicine Complement

Enhances the effectiveness and reduces the negative and often dangerous side effects of many standard modern medical treatments.

Other Benefits

Lowers fevers, protects against gastric ulcers, reduces dangerous blood sugar levels in diabetics, and supports dental and periodontal health (and diminishes “bad breath”). Also protects against mercury poisoning, speeds healing of bone fractures, reduces nausea, vomiting and cramping, and repels insects, including mosquitoes and lice.

High Safety Margin

Research indicates that the holy basil Tulsi has a very high safety margin with exceptionally low toxicity, providing general beneficial effects at doses without adverse reactions or other undesirable side effects.(www.organicindia.com)

AYURVEDA

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:17:00 +0000

"AYUSHO VEDA HA AYUR VEDA HA"
Ayur means Life Veda means Knowledge

Ayurveda the traditional Health maintaining form of Indian medicine, was developed by ancient sages, more than 5000 years back. Living beings are originated and surviving with the help of soul mind and body.

Three doshas (Vatha, Pitha, Kapha) 7 dhathus, 5 malas are some properties, which, exist in our body, in a balanced state, which regulate the body and mind with a healthy state whenever the balance get into an altered state, it is considered to be disease.

Body is constituted by "Panchabhoothas"(Earth, Water, Fire and Space). Ayurveda is treating with the help of these Panchabhoothas. Revitalising the healthy condition and making on vigorous and immune to disease, one of the cardinal principles of Ayurveda. Movement and activity; Pitha, the entire bio-chemical process operating in a body and Kapha is the entire physical volume in living organisms. A disturbance in any of the three doshas results in a particular disease and the treatment administered accordingly. Treatments vary in duration and intensity. Treatment is either with medicines or with oil baths and massages. Ayurveda recommends Panchakarma processes of Vamana (emesis), Virechana (purgation), Vasti (enema), Rakthamoksham (bloodletting) and Nasya (Nasal medication) for rejuvenating the body and the mind.

Methods of Treatment

Sodhana - Elimination of accumulated dosha, dhathus, mala from the body. Which include "Panchakarma" (Vamanaemisis, Rechanam- Purging, Nasyam-errhines, Anuvasa- application of enema that is oily, Niruham application of Enema, which is not oily, Rakthamoksham leaching (other option).

Samana - Curative treatments after the elimination process, which are pachanam (Digestive therapies) Deepanam (Appetizer) Trishna Nigraham (Sweet rush) Kshuth Nigraham (Appetite controlling) Vyayamam (Exercise) Athapam (Sun exposure) marutham (air exposure).

In the Ayurvedic system, treatment could be given even before the diagnosis. This is just because Ayurveda is not treating the disease but the whole person, considering the mind and the body.(www.ayursanctuary.org)

TRADITIONAL THAI FOOT MASSAGE

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 08:26:00 +0000

EXPERIENCE THE DEEP RELAXATION OF
TRADITIONAL THAI FOOT MASSAGE

Thai Foot Massage originated in Thailand about 2000 years ago. The massage starts with a warm footbath and then continues with light pressure from the giver’ s fingers, hands and a traditional wooden stick. All parts of the foot & lower legs are included and involves hands on stretching, massage, stimulating reflex points and follows the Thai energy lines (Sen). It has elements of Shiatsu, Reflexology, Chinese massage and Yoga incorporated into the massage itself. It is said to stimulate the activity of internal organs and thus is hugely beneficial for optimum internal health. It is still taught by Buddhist monks in the temples of Thailand.

INFLUENCE OF REFLEXOLOGY

The science of reflexology is based on the premise that on the soles and on top of the feet there is a complete map of the human body. There are zones and reflex areas in the feet which correspond to all glands, organs, parts and systems of the body. The act of reading signs on the feet, understanding the client and of applying pressure using thumb, finger and hand techniques through specialized combinations of pressure are an art.

The therapist assists the body through the applied pressure which stimulates all the reflexes, nerve connections and energy pathways that extend from the feet to the rest of the body encouraging homeostasis. The whole body is treated rather than treating symptomatically isolated problems which is unfortunately often the case. The reflexologist assists the whole person body, mind and spirit with the object of inducing a state of balance.

INFLUENCE OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE
MEDICINE/SHIATSU

The points of the Meridians of Traditional Chinese
Medicine as found on the foot

SEN (MERIDIAN) LINES FOUND IN LOWER LEGS


Spleen/Pancreas	Kidney	Liver


Stomach	Bladder	Gallbladder


THE TREATMENT On the first appointment the Therapies will take a medical case history, in order to establish the pathway of illness and to determine where there are imbalances within the body and what the causes of these imbalances may be. The Thai Foot Massage treatment itself takes up one hour. Begins with opening the Sen (Meridian) lines (energy pathways) and then into the treatment itself. A wooden stick is used to gently open up and stimulate the reflexes, energy pathways, lymph and circulation. The therapist may advise on future treatments and any other factors which may contribute to your well being. In chronic cases two sessions per week are recommended until improvements are seen. Once a week is recommended in milder cases. WHEN TRADITIONAL THAI FOOT MASSAGE SHOULD BE DONE WITH CAUTION Like any other health-care professional we have a responsibility to our clients and in some instances the feet and body need to be treated with care or another health care professional referred. If the client has been immobile for some time Thai Foot Massage should be introduced gradually to invigorate the body. If the foot has stitches we do not work on that particular area. AIDS we stay away from broken skin and open sores. In hip or knee injures the leg must be held firmly in position. Diabetics should have something small to eat prior to treatment and monitor blood sugar levels after treatment. Osteoporosis is treated gently. An epileptic patient should be on medication. WHEN TRADITIONAL THAI FOOT MASSAGE CAN NOT BE DONE Internal bleeding e.g. from accident or stomach ulcer. Conditions such as swellings of the calf or leg need immediate specialist referral. Also ulceration’s, phlebitis or thrombosis of the lower leg would denote caution on the part of the therapist. Severe conditions (e.g. bad varicose veins in the leg, open sores in the leg, oozing, cracked athlete’s foot would not be appropriate. Fracture in foot/ankle area or swelling due to break or sprain. Infectious illness – to avoid cross-infection with other clients e.g. colds, flu, etc. In the first Trimester of pregnancy it is not recommended simply from a liable issue should there be complications, although the treatment will not cause any harm. SO WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TRADITIONAL THAI FOOT MASSAGE? To improve the functions within the body systems for health promotion such as stimulating the circulatory system of blood and lymph. To prevent and relieve some problems such as constipation, asthma, gall bladder problems, cystitis, headache, renal disease, migraine, sinusitis and stress. Other Benefits: Stimulation of the mind improved circulation in legs and hands stimulates lymphatic drainage helps remove toxins helps boost the immune system reduces stiffness and improves flexibility detoxification of the immune system Accelerated physical healing Stress relief and Improved sleep YOUR HEALTH BELONGS TO YOU Even though treatments can restore the body balance, you will not seriously get better until there is an overall balance. Your emotional well-being, lifestyle and nutrition are important factors, which all play important roles in connection with your health. The therapist indicates which factors may be likely causes of possible imbalances. By following the advice of the therapist, you play an important role in achieving and maintaining your good health. The therapist readily co-operates with doctors and other therapists. REACTIONS WHICH MAY OCCUR AFTER TREATMENT The object of all true natural healing is to assist the body to eliminate waste and poisonous matter. When the vitality has been raised to sufficient strength the body will create conditions necessary to throw off this morbid material. The term for this reaction is a ‘healing crises’. When you have a ‘healing crisis’ it means that the vitality of the body has been increased by the sessions, subsequently creating detoxification. The body will only be able to create the necessary conditions to bring about a healing crisis if it has enough available vitality. Reactions may be different. Any reaction is connected to a better balance and general condition. It is impossible to predict exactly how the body reacts, as the reactions are individual. Herrings Law of cure states that “all healing takes place from within, out, from the head down and in the reverse order that they appeared”. It is important not to suppress these healing symptoms as it is the body’s way of healing and suppressing will create further congestion. Some typical reactions may be: Relaxation, tiredness and deep sleep Increased discharges ie. Catarrh, sinuses, vaginal Turbid, dark urine Increased bowel movement Change in bowel movement pattern Secretion from nose, throat and ears Previous disorders, which have not earlier been healed, may reappear Mood changes These reactions should not be regarded as worsening, on the contrary they are signs of the treatments showing results, and that improvement is on the way. A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT YOUR FEET! Each foot has over 7,000 nerve endings, 26 bones, 107 ligaments and 19 muscles. This type of drugless therapy creates a physiological change in the body by naturally restoring homeostasis.(www.thefountainhead.co.za)

CHINESE MEDICINE

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:38:00 +0000

1. The Conceptual Basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine

One of the major assumptions inherent in traditional Chinese medicine is that disease is due to an internal imbalance of Yin and Yang; therefore disease can be treated by correcting the Yin Yang imbalance, thereby returning the body to a healthy state. Western medicine tends to approach disease by assuming that it is due to an external force, such as a virus or bacteria, or a slow degeneration of the functional ability of the body. Both Chinese and Western concepts are valid alternatives. Although this chapter is devoted to the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine it is useful to start by examining briefly some of the assumptions and philosophies of Western medicine. This will provide a useful comparative basis which will elucidate the understanding of both systems. Western medicine is based on the Cartesian philosophy that the body represents one functioning system and the mind another It accepts that each system may affect the other, but essentially it sees disease as either physical or mental. The Chinese assume that the body is whole, and each part of it is intimately connected. Each organ has a mental as well as a physical function, as will be discussed later.

Until fairly recently most Western doctors and pharmaceutical companies have worked on the basis that there is 'a pill for every ill'. The philosophical approach behind this idea is that an external force, or chemical, can cure disease, but although some pills are of great value, both the general public and the medical profession have become considerably more skeptical about the widespread use of such chemicals. Traditional Chinese medicine states that the body has the potential to cure its own diseases if pushed (or needled) in the correct way.

Some authors, such as Ivan Illich, have been hypercritical of Western medicine and thus some people have looked upon acupuncture as not just an alternative but a superior system of medicine. Acupuncture is just another medical system, with ideas that may be of benefit to the individual patient and Western medicine as a whole, but it cannot be promulgated as either superior or a cure all. The major disadvantage of Western medicine is that it has the potential to cause a great deal of harm. Acupuncture, on the other hand, is most unlikely to cause any serious damage as it is a particularly safe form of therapy; this is undoubtedly one of its main advantages.

Even though the traditional Chinese explanations for acupuncture are somewhat enigmatic to the Western doctor, acupuncture does seem to have a clearly validated scientific basis. In spite of their radically different philosophical assumptions it is wiser to look at these two medical systems as mutually beneficial, rather than mutually exclusive. Each system has ideas and therapeutic methods that can be explained both scientifically and philosophically, each can benefit the individual, and together they can broaden the philosophical and ideological basis of medicine.

2. The Balance of Nature

The Chinese believe that health is achieved, and disease prevented, by maintaining the body in a 'balanced state'. This concept was applied to both individuals and society at large. In individual terms the ancient Chinese physicians preached moderation in all things, such as alcoholic intake and gastronomic excess. They also stated that daily activities should include mental as well as physical tasks. The wealthier Chinese visited their doctor when they were well, paying a retainer to the doctor to keep them healthy. If they became ill the doctor lost his fee.

Such a highly sophisticated and personal system of health care is impracticable within the current limitations of Western society, but the concept behind such ideas represents a radically different approach to health and disease. The Chinese culture was also one of the first to grasp the potential within the broader field of preventative medicine. Many of these ideas were effected in the public health measures, which first began to be introduced during the Warring States period. The body is a delicate balance of Yin and Yang. Yin represents water, quiet, substance and night, whilst Yang represents fire, noise, function and day. The two are polar opposites and because of this one must be present to allow the other to exist; for instance, how can you experience joy if you do not understand misery? The state of the body is determined by the balance of Yin and Yang within it. Each of the organs of the body has an element of Yin and Yang, although one organ may be more Yang in its nature, whilst the other is more Yin. One organ may be more important in its substantive form (Yin) whilst another is more important because of its functional abilities (Yang). When the healthy body is examined as a complete functioning system the Yin and Yang properties within it are in a fluctuating balance.

The balance of Yin and Yang is not always exact. Sometimes a person's mood may be more fiery, or Yang, whilst at other times he may be quieter and therefore more Yin. Normally the balance changes from hour to hour and day to day, but if the balance is permanently disordered, for instance if Yin consistently outweighs Yang, then the body is unhealthy and disease results.

3.The Therapeutic Application of Yin and Yang

When there is imbalance external agents can invade the body and cause disease, these external agents being called pathogens. The essential principle of Chinese traditional medicine is to decide on the exact nature of the imbalance between Yin and Yang, and the pathogen causing the trouble, and then to correct these pathological processes. As the natural forces of the body return to a normal balance the disease is then cured.

The art of traditional Chinese medicine is to particularize the imbalance accurately so that it can be corrected quite specifically The patient is then treated by using specific acupuncture points on the body, or the ear, in order to re-balance the body. This broad system of traditional medicine applies to all aspects of therapy used by the ancient Chinese, particularly acupuncture and herbal medicine.

The diagnostic and therapeutic principles of Yin and Yang and the pathogens are based on a system of anatomy and physiology peculiar to traditional medicine. The anatomy of traditional medicine is represented by the acupuncture points and the channels that connect them. The physiology is represented by the organ functions that are outlined in the Nei Ching Su Wen,1 and will be discussed later in this chapter.

4.The Anatomy of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The channels are a system of conduits that carry and distribute Qi, or vital energy, throughout the body. Each of the organs of the body is represented by a channel, and diseases of a particular organ can be treated by using acupuncture points on the channel representing that organ.

Disease is present when the flow of vital energy through the channels is disrupted. This may occur when the integrity of the channels themselves is damaged by a sprain or strain. The Chinese describe this as a disease of 'Bi', or pain, caused by a localized disruption to the flow of Qi. The flow of Qi through the channels may also reflect the result of internal disease; for instance, if there is a disease of the liver then the flow of Qi through the liver channel will be abnormal.

The concept of channels exists exclusively in traditional Chinese medicine. Many of the facts handed down to us by the ancient Chinese do seem to have scientifically explicable reasons, but their ideas about the channels have eluded any explanation, so far. A variety of research workers have tried to correlate the channels with nerve pathways or muscle groups in the body, but all these explanations are inadequate. In spite of their elusiveness the channels represent a practical working system for acupuncture and are therefore still useful.

Acupuncture points are quite specific areas on the channels. They represent points of maximum influence on the flow of vital energy, or Qi, through the channels. This can be demonstrated clinically by thinking about the disease process that occurs when someone tears a muscle. The traditional Chinese explanation for this disorder is that the channel running through the damaged muscle has been physically disrupted, resulting in local pain, a disease of Bi. In order to treat the pain, the integrity of the channel and the flow of vital energy through the channel, must be restored. This can be achieved by the selective use of acupuncture points on the damaged channel, which restores the flow of Qi and relieves the pain.

If the internal balance of Yin and Yang is seriously disrupted (so that disease results), then there will be an abnormal flow of Qi, or vital energy, through the channel representing the diseased organ. The diseased organ must be diagnosed and then acupuncture points can be selected from the relevant channel. The use of these specific acupuncture points corrects the flow of Qi in the channel and this, in turn, has an effect on the diseased internal organ. The overall result of this therapy is to correct the imbalance within the body, and thus heal the disease; an internal disease can therefore be treated by external means.

5.The Chinese Biological Clock

Vital energy flows through the channels in a well defined circadian rhythm. As the diagram overleaf shows, vital energy, or Qi, flows through the stomach channel in the early part of the day. A recent French survey showed that an accident driving to work is much more likely if breakfast has been missed. The ancient Chinese would explain this by saying that the energy required by the stomach, during the morning, has not been absorbed and therefore the body is not in a healthy state because it has 'missed breakfast'. Perhaps the idea of a large English breakfasts is more healthy than previously supposed.

The lung channel is dominant between 3.00 a.m. and 5.00 a.m. If there is a disease of the lung it should manifest itself at these times, as indeed it does; the worst time for a sufferer from bronchial asthma is usually in the early hours of the morning.

The circulation of Qi represents the traditional Chinese view of the biological clock within all of us, and, in the light of current medical knowledge, it is interesting to note how accurate are some of their observations.

6. The Physiology of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The physiology of traditional Chinese medicine has many similarities to that of Western medicine. Most of the specific organ functions defined in the Nei Ching Su Wen are astonishingly accurate in the light of modern scientific discoveries.

The heart is said to dominate the circulation of the blood. The Nei Ching Su Wen says, 'The heart fills the pulse with blood . . . and the force of the pulse flows into the arteries and the force of the arteries ascends into the lungs'. This seems to be a clear description of the circulation of the blood through the body, via the lungs. The idea that blood circulated in this way was peculiar to Chinese medicine until it was 'rediscovered' by William Harvey in the early seventeenth century. The publication of Harvey's work Du Mote Cordis has subsequently been hailed as one of the great landmarks of Western medicine, although at the time Harvey was thought to be mad, 'inflaming the medical profession by the suggestion of such a preposterous idea'.

The Nei Ching Su Wen also makes some surprising observations about the kidneys. It states that the kidneys dominate bone, that they play an integral part in the process of growth and reproduction (in fact the Chinese character for kidney and testicle is sometimes indistinguishable) and that the kidneys control body fluid in concert with the lungs.

During the last forty years it has become obvious that vitamin D is a very important factor in bone growth, and if it is not present then rickets results. The exact mechanism of this disease process was unclear as it was not really understood how vitamin D actually worked, but recently it has been shown that the kidney provides the missing link in the control of bone growth and development, by changing the chemistry of vitamin D. The idea that the 'kidney dominates bone' is therefore an accurate, detailed, complex and surprising observation to have been made some 2,500 years ago.

Embryology is the study of the growth and development of the foetus in the mother's womb. With the advent of good microscopic technique, in the early part of this century, embryology developed apace. It has been shown, quite conclusively, that both the ovaries and the testicles develop from the same original cells as the kidney. This process begins when the foetus is about five weeks old, (when a baby is born it is said to be in its fortieth week of development). The kidneys therefore, do seem to play an important part in the process of growth and reproduction.

The detailed and specific control of body fluid is a very complex chemical system, and one that we are only just beginning to understand properly, but it is quite obvious that the kidney and the lung do work together to control the fluid in our bodies. Most of this information has become available since the Second World War, with the development of complex and expensive machines to look at small changes in the chemicals and fluid within the body.

7. Communication Problems

The Nei Ching Su Wen contains a vast array of medical knowledge, much of which has been hidden from the West by the Chinese language, and it was not until this text was translated that the information became freely available. Many of the observations and rules within the Nei Ching Su Wen are based on the intricate and detailed observations made by the Chinese physicians. It does not seem to be part of the cultural make-up of Western societies to use this time-consuming method of gaining knowledge. Often we tend to be too impatient to 'waste time' observing petty detail, seeming to pursue instead the idea of scientific 'break-throughs', although, in the end, both approaches yield the same answer. One of the major precepts of Taoism is that if the individual waits and watches the 'Way' will become clear. In the West we are motivated to search actively for the answer and therefore the 'Way' sometimes takes far longer to become clear. This is well illustrated by medical concepts contained in the Nei Ching Su Wen, and their subsequent rediscovery.

8. The Five Zang Organs

Although many organs have the same functions as in Western medicine there are also radical differences between the Western and Chinese systems. In traditional Chinese medicine the major functions of the body are built around the five main organs which are the heart, the lungs, the kidneys, the liver and the spleen. In Western medicine these organs are important, but not to the same extent as in traditional Chinese medicine. The Chinese call them the five Zang or five solid organs, and the system of the five Zang organs controls the main Yin Yang balance of the body.

Each of the Zang, or solid, organs is linked to a hollow or Fu organ. For instance, the kidney is linked both structurally and functionally to the urinary bladder. In Eastern and Western medicine both organs control the production and passage of urine. The channels representing the kidney and urinary bladder are also 'paired' as Qi is said to flow from one channel to the other. The liver and gall bladder are linked in a similar manner; they both control the formation and secretion of bile and they are also 'paired' charnels.

For these specific 'paired' organs the linked functions are exactly the same as in Western medicine. The 'pairing' of the channels is particularly important when deciding on which acupuncture points should be used. Diseases of any organ can be treated by using the 'paired' channels; for example, diseases of the liver can be treated by using acupuncture points on the gall bladder channel. Traditional Chinese medicine considers migraine headaches to be a disease of the liver and they can be effectively treated (with acupuncture) by using points on the gall bladder channel.

9.The Emotions and Mental Disease

Traditional Chinese medicine considers that the emotions are governed by individual organs. They do not consider the brain, or subconscious, as discrete entities, therefore the body and the mind are a real part of the same functional system. Each organ is given a particular emotion; for instance, the liver is said to be the organ affected by anger. The concept that emotional functions are completely tied in with physical ones is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. In China there is less 'mental disease' as we know it in the West, because the neurotic is considered to have a disease of the liver or spleen, rather than anxiety or depression. Perhaps this explains the fallacious claim that 'no mental disease exists in China'. In my experience, having worked in a Chinese hospital, the Chinese are just as prone to neurosis as we are in the West.

There are great advantages in seeing mental functions in this way because, instead of being labeled a depressive, the patient feels that the liver is playing up and therefore perceives the disease in a different context. In the West a depressive may still be stigmatized and considered weak because he, or she, is unable to cope. In China this is not so because the cultural history and social context of mental disease is different, the depressed patient being made to feel that the disease is real and organic, rather than imagined. In spite of the constructive efforts of those who work in the field of mental health in Western nations, the body and the mind are generally still considered to be separate, and those who are unable to keep the mind under control are thought, by some, to have failed.

In acupuncture, the Chinese have a method of effectively treating a proportion of mental disease, which therefore has not been considered incurable, and there has been no necessity to shut all sufferers away in institutions. In the West most of those who are working within the area of mental disease are dealing with diseases that are poorly understood. As a general rule the level of understanding in any area of human knowledge can be judged by the number of theories that are used to explain a single phenomenon. If there is one theory that seems to explain all the facts, for a given observation, then it is probably correct. If many ideas are used to explain the same set of facts then it is likely that most of them are, at best half truths. At present the field of mental health embraces a large number of theories which are used to give opposing explanations for the same basic facts.

Without a defined idea of the origin of disease, treatment is difficult, therefore a wide variety of poorly understood treatment methods are used in mental disease, such as electroconvulsive therapy. Perhaps the lack of social stigma attached to mental disease in China is because there has been some form of consistent explanation, and treatment, for this type of problem for the last 2,000 years. The area of mental disease is particularly interesting as I am sure that there is as much mental disease in China, if not more, than in the United Kingdom, but it would seem that the cultural and medical heritage of the Chinese people has allowed them to deal with it in a different manner from that in the West, and possibly more effectively.

10. Vital Energy (Qi) and Blood

The force behind the biological functions occurring in any living tissue is Qi. Qi represents the vital energy of the body but it also has a material form. It is both substance and function; the substantive or material form of Qi is oxygen (clean Qi) or food, the non-substantive form of Qi is the real but evasive concept of 'vital force'. The idea of a 'vital force' is common to many early, medical systems, but it has been highly developed within the concept of traditional Chinese medicine.

If a substance has no Qi then it is dead. The Qi of the liver is the functional ability of the liver, and the Qi of the body is the total vital force of a human being. Qi is disseminated through out the body by the channels. It is also divided into various sub groups such as original Qi, or the Qi with which you are born and nourishing Qi, or the Qi that you gain from the food you eat. Defensive Qi is the Qi that protects the body from invasion by disease, circulating just below the skin and fending off invasion by viruses and bacteria (pathogens).

Qi is a very wide concept, difficult to understand in detail, but it is an essential part of the traditional Chinese picture of the body. Blood also exists in the system of traditional Chines medicine, and blood production is said to be dependent on the liver, the kidney and the bone marrow. The modern medical theories on blood production also tie up these three organs as being the functional system for blood production.

11. Pathogens

Disease results when the Qi of the body is weakened and unable to resist the onslaught of pathogens (disease-causing factors). In Chinese medicine the agents that cause disease are given the name of meteorological conditions; an infection (often associated with a fever) is called a disease of heat, and a chronically painful joint is usually a disease of cold. These pathogens allow diseases to be grouped according to their broad symptoms. The pathogen wind is an interesting idea. Wind means a changeable symptom, so the type of muscular ache often occurring with 'flu, would be classed as invasion by wind. The idea that disease is due to physical conditions is an intuitive explanation for many common aches and pains. People often complain that 'the caught a chill when they got wet', or that their 'neck is stiff after having slept in a draught'. The Chinese pathogens represent formalization of this approach. A particular pathogen usually presents itself with a defined symptom complex. By using the information gained from the history of the disease, and the physical examination of the patient, it is often possible to make a clear diagnosis of the pathogen causing the disease. If the patient has a fever then heat is one of the pathogens involved in the disease process. Once the diagnosis has been made, then specific acupuncture points can be used to disperse the pathogen; when heat is the invading pathogen, then specific points are used to reduce the fever. Acupuncture points are therefore used to correct the Yin Yang balance of the body and to disperse pathogens.

If the pathogen cold is responsible for a particular disease process, then heat must be used to treat it. Moxa is the Chinese version of the heat lamp and, as shall be discussed in a late chapter, the Chinese burn the dried leaves of Artemisia vulgaris over the areas that require heat. Heat, or more specifically smoldering moxa, provides local heat for a variety of chronic muscular aches. It is interesting to note that the types of disease due to cold are commonly the muscular and rheumatic ache which are temporarily alleviated by heat lamps.

More than one pathogen can invade at the same time; if a patient is suffering from 'flu, then there will be a fever and all muscular aches that wander all over the body. This is defined as invasion by the pathogens wind and heat and, as one doctor said when I described this to him, 'the patient will be suffering from a great deal of hot air.'

Other factors may also cause disease, such as worry, or eating contaminated food. The Nei Ching Su Wen states that excessive grief, anxiety and overthinking will cause cancer. This idea has been supported by some recent comments in the medical press which suggest that if a woman has a breast removed for cancer she will survive longer if she is of a 'happy' disposition.

12. Pulse Diagnosis

For the acupuncturist, one of the most difficult aspects of traditional Chinese medicine is the diagnosis of the specific organ affected by any particular disease. In ancient China this was achieved by using a refined form of pulse diagnosis.

The palpation of the pulse enables the acupuncturist to assess which organ is diseased, whether the organ is over- or underactive, and the pathogen causing the damage. This is achieved by feeling the pulse at three positions at each wrist, and by feeling the pulse at the superficial and deep positions at each end of three positions on the wrist. There are six pulses at each wrist, three superficial and three deep. There are twelve main organs in the Chinese medical system2 and each of these is represented by one of the pulses at one of the wrist positions. It is unclear how this system of pulse diagnosis came into existence but it was a refined and very important system by the time the Nei Ching Su Wen was written. This method of diagnosis allows the whole body to be assessed, and it also defines the relative balance between each of the organs. In addition, pulse diagnosis is said to give a clear idea of the type of disease process, whether it is acute or chronic, and to give a prognosis for that disease in that individual patient. This allowed the Chinese physician to give an indication of how the disease would affect the individual.

The observation that each of these pulses represents a different organ is a difficult fact to accept and understand. It is astonishing to think that different organs are represented by the pulse in the left and right hands, and that these pulses are separated only by a centimeter or so. There are also severe different types of pulse that can be felt in any given position, for instance the pulse in the spleen position can be described as a 'Fu' pulse in one disease, or a 'Ch'en' pulse in another disease. These pulses were given rather poetic descriptions. A 'Fu' pulse is described as a superficial pulse, it is light and flowing like a piece of wood floating on water, whilst a 'Ch'en' purse is a deep pulse, like a stone thrown into water.

Surprisingly enough, these pulses can be recorded accurately with the aid of modern technology. They can be printed out from a six channel oscilloscope with three pulse sensors at each wrist. In terms of modern electronics this is not a particularly complex device and allows clear graphic verification of the idea of the ancient Chinese. The poetic description of the pulse characteristics also seems to be verified by the recording; a superficial pulse is indeed superficial in that there is an upward deflection of the pulse wave on the recording, and very little downward motion of the pulse in that position.

In Western medicine examination of the pulse only gives information about the rate, rhythm and volume of the pulse wave, and this information is correlated with the state of the heart and blood vessels. From the pulse recordings it is obvious that the pulse shows a great deal of variation over a small area at the wrist. It is also obvious that the shape of the pulse wave changes radically when a little pressure is placed on the artery. A superficial pulse is felt superficially and a deep pulse is felt when a little pressure is put on the artery by a finger or, in the case of the pulse-recording machine, an inflatable cuff. Although not easily explicable these facts are certainly of interest.

13. The Ancient Diagnostic System

Pulse diagnosis is not used in isolation, but as part of a system that involves taking the history of the disease and examining the patient. The facial complexion, smell and posture of the patient are also used diagnostically. Assessing the history of the complaint is the basis of all good medical practice, whether Western or Eastern, and can be summed up by an old Chines quotation called the ten askings: 'One, ask chill and fever; two perspiration; three, ask head and trunk; four, stool and urine; five, food intake and six, chest. Deafness and thirst are seven and eight; nine, past history and ten, causes. Besides this, you should ask about the drugs taken and for women you should ask the menstrual and obstetric history. Finally, for infants ask about normal childhood diseases'. This ancient Chinese system of history-taking is almost exactly the same as that employed in the West today. Pulse diagnosis was therefore included as an important part of a sophisticated system for diagnosing disease.

14. Modern Chinese Diagnosis

Modern Chinese acupuncture differs from the old tradition system. The old traditional system of diagnosis by the 'twelve pulses' takes many years to learn to a standard of competence which allows the acupuncturist to make a clear diagnosis Although there are some people in both China and the West who are able to diagnose by the twelve pulses, they are few in number, and a modified system of pulse diagnosis has therefore been developed by the Chinese. This allows a simple but relatively accurate system of traditional diagnosis to be taught and practiced, quite quickly and proficiently, the mainstays of this 'shorter method' being the use of a pulse generalization and the tongue.

The pulse is not felt in any particular position, but for its general character, hence the term 'pulse generalization'. The pulse can be felt at either wrist and classed as generally excessive or deficient. The tongue is also used to give quite specific information about the disease process and, in combination with the history, this system gives much the same answer as the 'twelve pulses'. Proficiency at this method will usually give the same traditional diagnosis as the pulse-recording machine, so the simplification of this system has not caused a significant loss of diagnostic accuracy.

15.The Selection of Acupuncture Points

The diagnosis of a particular problem does not tell the acupuncturist where to place the acupuncture needle. A set of therapeutic rules must be applied to solve that problem. To a large degree all medical systems are based on clinical experience and acupuncture is no exception to this; the rules that govern point selection are therefore based on a combination of philosophic concepts and empirical clinical experience. There are special points that can be used to disperse the invasion of specific pathogens, such as cold or heat, and judging by some recent Chinese research work it would seem that the points used to disperse heat do lower fever. These pathogen-dispersing points are based largely on practical experience, and they form part of the basic grammar of acupuncture.

The other rules of point selection are many and varied; for example, points can be selected on the basis of the law of the five elements. This law assumes that each of the organs represents one of the five elements in traditional Chinese thought (earth, fire, water, metal and wood). They have a creating and destroying cycle. On each of the channels there are points representing one of these elements and by applying a complex set of rules the diseased organ can be sedated, (if it is overactive) or tonified, (if it is underactive). There are also points on the back and front of the body that represent specific organs, and these too can be used to treat the represented organs when they are diseased. There is a plethora of such rules, each of which is applied in specific conditions and at specific times. The problem for the acupuncturist is to define the few points that will be best in any particular condition. The skill of point selection is based largely on clinical experience; the rules of point selection give guidelines, although they are not the complete answer.

16. The Use of Specific Points

Why does acupuncture need such specific diagnostic and treatment methods7 Why not use all the acupuncture points at the same time? It would seem logical that if one acupuncture point helps, then two will help even more, and if all the points are used then the patient is bound to get better!

The Western doctor sometimes assumes that 'more is better'. If a drug does not give therapeutic benefit, or side effects at a given dose, then he may double the dose and the patient will probably improve. Traditional Chinese medicine implies that a small stimulus is probably more effective than a large one. Biological systems do seem to respond to small stimuli; for instance, a small change in the ecology of a 'food chain' can be amplified to cause major damage to another animal species in that environment. The emphasis in acupuncture therapy is to select a minimal number of acupuncture points in order to give the body a small but specific stimulus, as this seems to result in a better therapeutic response.

17. Clinical Skill

It is quite simple to practice acupuncture because it is quite simple to needle patients, but it is difficult to learn and practice the traditional Chinese acupuncture properly. It also takes some time to gain the clinical skill required to insert and manipulate the acupuncture needle. The Chinese teach that each needle inserted should be manipulated so that the patient receives a numbing or burning sensation in the acupuncture point. Many Western schools of acupuncture do not believe this and state that this sensation, which the Chinese call needling sensation, is not required. The available evidence suggests that if a needling sensation is obtained then the acupuncture is more effective, although many patients obtain adequate symptom relief without experiencing needling sensation.

Acupuncture is not a static subject. The Chinese have achieved a great deal by adapting and redefining the ideas of traditional Chinese medicine so that they are more understandable and acceptable to Western doctors. Thus the adoption of acupuncture and other Chinese traditional methodologies are being more readily accepted by the West.(www.ebeijing.gov.cn)

THE HERBAL TRADITION

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:18:00 +0000

1.EGYPTIAN HERBAL MEDICINE

Egyptian medicine was widely respected throughout the ancient Mediterranean world.

The earliest written records of its practices are to be found in the Ebers Papyrus, dating from the sixteenth century BC. This is historically of value since in itself, it represents a compilation of earlier works that contain a large number (877) of prescriptions and recipes. Once again we see how many of the plants currently used by herbalists are mentioned, including opium, cannabis, myrrh, frankincense, castor oil, fennel, cassia, senna, thyme, henna, juniper, linseed, aloe and castor oil. Cloves of garlic have been found in Egyptian burials, including the tomb of Tutankhamun and in the sacred underground temple of the bulls at Saqqara.

In a somewhat cryptic statement about the pyramid builders by Herodotus (since there are no inscriptions relating to the affairs of mortals involved with this monumental enterprise), it is claimed that to aid endurance, they consumed large quantities of garlic and onions. Garlic was an important healing agent to the ancient Egyptians just as it still is to the modern Egyptian Copts and in all Mediterranean countries. At a later time, Pliny, the Roman, devotes a lengthy section of praise to the use of garlic. Raw garlic was routinely given to asthmatics and for those suffering with other bronchial-pulmonary complaints.

Fresh Garlic cloves can be peeled and mashed and macerated in a equal parts vinegar and water. This can be used to gargle, rinse the mouth, or take internally to treat sore throats and toothache. Another delicious way to take garlic both for prevention as well as treatment is to macerate several cloves of mashed garlic in olive oil. This can be used as an external liniment or taken internally for all bronchial and lung complaints including colds. A freshly peeled clove of raw garlic wrapped in muslin or cheesecloth and pinned to the undergarment will protect against infectious diseases such as colds and flus. Besides these, garlic has many more uses when applied externally or internally to relieve pain, promote healing, stimulate digestion, stimulate sexual libido, treat insomnia and to eliminate and prevent parasites. In fact, it has been said that garlic is able to effectively treat all diseases except the ones it causes. If this is a problem, one can use parsley to alleviate the strong smelling breath, or use deodorized or fermented enteric coated garlic products that are currently commercially available.

Other herbs used by the Egyptians include:

Coriander (C. Sativum): commonly used by the ancient and modern Egyptians (Copts). It is considered to have cooling, stimulant, carminative and digestive properties. Both the seeds and the plant are used as a spice in cooking to prevent and eliminate flatulence, they are also taken as a tea for stomach and all kinds of urinary complaints including cystitis. Coriander leaves are commonly added fresh to spicy foods to moderate their irritating effects. Coriander was one of the herbs offered to the temple by the king, and seeds were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun and in other ancient burial sites.

Cumin seeds (Cumin cyminum): is an umbelliferous herb indigenous to Egypt. The seeds are considered to be stimulant and carminative. They are often used together with coriander for flavoring (especially in curries together with turmeric). Besides its use as a condiment it has many medicinal uses. Cumin powder mixed with a little wheat flour as a binder, mixed with a little water can be applied to relieve the pain of any aching or arthritic joints. Powdered cumin mixed with lard or pork fat can be inserted as an anal suppository to disperse heat from the anus and stop itching. A teaspoon of powdered cumin seeds mixed with a little honey can be taken along with warm milk to calm a cough.

Cyperus (C. esculentus): this plant belongs to a family that has many species growing through widely diverse areas of the world, the most famous being Egyptian papyrus, which was commonly used as a pulp for the manufacture of paper. There are several small varieties that grow wild as weeds in North America. A Chinese species known as "zhang fu" (C. rotundus) is used as a carminative and energy and hormone regulating herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Currently, the North American cyperus grass is merely regarded as another obnoxious weed, however, historically its small tuberous rhizomes were used both as a food and medicine by the Native Americans. Even today, the Egyptians cultivate a native species of cyperus in moist soils or sandy shores for their edible tubers. These are called "tiger nuts" and are first dried, then soaked in water. Reportedly, the taste is similar to hazelnuts. It was another species, the famous papyrus (C. papyrus), that the Egyptians used to make paper, sails, cloth, mats, ropes or plaited into sandals. I personally learned from a trip to the Peruvian Amazon jungle of a native species of cyperus that has had widespread use by tribal women as a natural contraceptive. Botanist, Dr. James Duke attributes this to a certain mold that grows on the root of the Amazonian species that has oxytoxic (abortive properties) similar to Ergot, a fungus that grows on rye.

The Egyptians were also well known for other healing techniques. They practiced various methods of spiritual healing, color healing, massage and surgery as well as the extensive use of therapeutic herbs and foods.

One interesting section in the Papyrus Ebers describes several charms and invocations that were used to encourage healing. One is used before taking an herbal remedy as follows: "Come Remedy! Come thou who expellest (evil) things in this my stomach and in these my limbs!" Obviously the ancient Egyptians had no problem utilizing the psychological aspect of healing to best advantage whenever possible

The most reknowned figure of Eqyptian healing was Imhotep. Honored as the first physician known by name, he evidently was an Egyptian physician and vizier (prime minister) to King Zoser of the third Egyptian dynasty. His fame was so great that after his death the Egyptians elevated him to the stature of a god and worshipped him for his healing powers.

He was the architect of Zoser's step pyramid at Saqqara. This is located a relatively short distance from the more famous great pyramids outside of Cairo. Despite the fact that the older pyramid in Saqqara is in a more advanced state of sandy ruin, its surrounding environs offers proof of a possible open sports and ceremonial arena, once verdant arbors and walkways, small niches for worship and meditation along the fragmented wall that encircles the enclave.

It is hard to imagine amidst the sand, that probably in ancient times, before the ravages of erosion from over cultivation, these sacred areas where once fertile and green. At Saqqara, there is evoked a sense of wonder as we conjure images of King Zoser and his chief philosopher and physician, Imhotep, contemplating and holding discourse on the mysteries of the universe.

The Egyptians believed that disease and death were neither natural nor inevitable, but was caused by some malign influence which might use any agency, natural or invisible, and very often was part of the spirit world. Often a god, a spirit, or the soul of a dead man was responsible for cunningly entering the psyche of a living person, or blamed for inflicting some irresistible violence or disease.

The Egyptian Shaman-physician had two important functions. First, to discover the nature of the particular entity possessing the person and then attack, drive it out, or otherwise destroy it. This was done by some powerful magic for which rituals, spells, incantations, talismans and amulets were used. Physical medicines such as herbs were only expected to assuage the pain while magic alone was expected to effect the cure.

The art of divination was first known to be used by the Mesopotamians (now occupying the area roughly encompassed by Iraq) along with the use of astrology to determine the influence of the stellar constellations on human welfare and medical ethics. The contributions of Crete were hygiene, temple medicine and the cult of the serpent deity. The symbol of the serpent was pervasive throughout ancient Mediterranean civilizations. It was positive when associated with healing rites and apparently negative as it is depicted assuming the form of Satan in the first book of Genesis.

Egyptian, along with other Mediterranean and Indian medicine was therefore strongly magico-religious even though there were many practical cures and remedies using herbs, minerals and various animal parts. Historically, hygiene (named after the ancient Greek goddess, Hygeia) has been one of the most decisive elements of health and with the ancient Egyptians, a high level of personal and social hygiene was attained.

Despite their tendency to worship strange animal headed deities, the Egyptians also tended to deify their outstanding physicians. Thus temples were erected to honor the humanized physician-god, Imhotep. Bronze statues of him have been preserved and found in burial cites as evidence of their deep respect. It is said that the Greeks later identified Imhotep with their own humanized god of healing, Asclepias. As the first historically recorded physician, a statue of Imhotep standing in the Hall of Immortals, is to be found at the International College of Surgeons in Chicago.

GREEK HERBAL MEDICINE

Through the process of exploration, conquest and more important, the desire to aid the sick, ancient civilizations tended to borrow and adopt the skills and knowledge of medicine and healing of various cultures to their own. When Alexander the Great conquered and encompassed virtually all of the known world -- Persia, Egypt, India and the rest, -- he did so with the intention of extolling the humanizing glory of Greece. All the nations brought under the wing of Greece, however, brought with them their own traditions and customs including their healing knowledge.

One year before his death in 323 BC, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria. It was here that the exchange of knowledge between all countries of the ancient world occurred. Ptolomy Soter, Egypt's ruler for almost forty years after Alexander's death, founded the huge Alexandrian library where up to seven hundred rolls of papyri were eventually collected and housed. Legend states that any stranger arriving there with a work not represented in the collection was detained until it was copied and placed in the library. One of the great intellectual tragedies was the destruction of the Alexandrian Library that at the time housed all the accumulated knowledge of the ancient world.

Hippocrates (460-357 b.c.)

This tendency to fuse and build new empires upon the knowledge and remnants of the old can be seen in all areas of knowledge and artisanship down to the very disassembling of stone pillars and temples for use in their own buildings. Certainly it was of primary concern in terms of medicine and pharmacy. As Barbara Griggs points out in Green Pharmacy, "the drug inventories of the three great civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt and India show such remarkable similarities that there was obviously a continual exchange of discovery and information among the professionals."

Following are a few representative examples of 100's of herbs and their uses common to India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome:

Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus communis), while the plant is poisonous, the expressed thick, viscid oil is used as a powerful laxative and purgative. Dose: one teaspoon to two tablespoons in the evening.

Fennel Plant (Foeniculum vulgare), a member of the umbelliferae family, the stalks are eaten like celery while the seeds are used as a stomachic, carminative for the relief of intestinal colic and gas. It is also very beneficial for the liver, aiding regeneration of liver cells and therefore making it a pleasant flavoring addition to formulas with the many bitter herbs customarily used as cholagogues for the liver. Dose: 1 tsp. steeped in a cup of water; of the liquid extract, 20 to 30 drops; of the oil, one to two drops.

Linseed or flax seed (linum usitatissimum) is used as a soothing demulcent, emollient, laxative, antitussive and pectoral. It is applied externally as a poultice for burns, scalds, boils etc. and also made into a soothing cough medicine.

Asafoetida (Ferula assafoetida), which is the gum resin of the roots, has antispasmodic, expectorant and carminative properties, making it a good substitute for garlic and very useful to prevent and eliminative colic and gas and aiding digestion and assimilation. It is also used as an antispasmodic nervine to calm hysteria and nervousness and emotional symptoms associated with PMS, food allergies and candidiasis. Dose: 0.3 to 1 gram two or three times daily.

Galangal (Alpinia officinarum) used similarly to ginger as a carminative, stimulant for dyspepsia. It is widely used as a condiment especially in Thailand. A paste of the root mixed together with bloodroot has been used topically for periodontal disease such as gingivitis and to cure skin cancer. Dose of the powder: 1 to 2 grams or a teaspoon; of the liquid extract, 20 to 30 drops.

Juniper (Juniperus communis) the berries are used as a diuretic, antiseptic, carminative and anti-inflammatory. For chronic cystitis, backache and rheumatism, a teaspoon of the crushed berries are steeped in a covered cup of boiling water until cool enough to drink. Three cups are taken daily.

Saffron (Crocus sativus) this consists of the three filiform, deep orange-red stigmas attached to the upper part of the style. They give the appearance of loose threads. The flavor is aromatic and pleasantly bitter. It is used as a carminative, diaphoretic, and emmenagogue or blood moving herb. A small pinch is typically added as a coloring and flavoring to food. Traditional Chinese Medicine uses saffron for shock, depression and menstrual difficulties.

Not only were the actual herbs commonly shared and used between these civilizations and cultures but aspects of the theoretical basis for their use and application were also adopted. Most notably we see a common thread of evaluating herbs according to their atmospheric energies, hot, warm, neutral, cool, cold and their flavors spicy, bitter, sweet, sour, salty and bland. The dynamics of physiological holism was expressed through the various humoural theories which were common to countries as far distant as India, China and eventually Greece and Rome.

The Four humors of the Greeks and Romans consisted of:

1. Sanguine (air), hot/moist 3. Phlegmatic (water, cold/moist

2. Melancholic (earth), cold, dry 4. Choleric (fire) hot/dry

Sanguine qualities in an individual exhibited symptoms of heat and moisture, ruddy complexion, cheerful, confident and optimistic, with a tendency towards feverish, inflammatory diseases.

Melancholic qualities had opposing qualities of cold, dryness, pale complexion, heightened sensitivity and visionary tendencies. These were more susceptible to nervous and reproductive disorders.

Phlegmatic qualities were cold and moist, duller, slower and less sensitivity than the sanguine. Theirs was a tendency towards diseases associated with congestion, stagnation, rheumatic and mucus conditions.

Choleric qualities in an individual being hot and dry were the opposite of phlegmatic. They would tend to have a hot and fiery temperament and thus more easily angered. They tended to develop liver diseases, high blood pressure, rashes, sun sensitivity, burns and fevers with little perspiration.

The humoural system is elucidated in a treatise called "Affections" in the Hippocratic Corpus which states: "In men, all diseases are caused by bile and phlegm. Bile and phlegm give rise to diseases when they become too dry or too wet or too hot or too cold in the body"; and the author goes on to state how such derangement’s are precipitated by imbalances in food and drink, exercise, injuries, "smell, hearing and sight", sexual excesses and "hot" and "cold" themselves.

Such theories, common to most ancient civilizations, point out the essential difference in perspective between the holistic objectives of traditional medicine of diverse countries, in contrast to that of contemporary Western medicine. The traditional approach tends to be more integrative, emphasizing the attainment of health through a combined holistic integrating body, mind and spirit, using diet, exercise and lifestyle changes as well as ritual, chants and prayer. The contemporary Western medical approach tends to be disintegrative and myopic, viewing the body more mechanically as a conglomerate of separate physiological organs and molecules. The emphases is in merely relieving symptoms rather than maintaining health, While the ancient approach provides a wider, more far sighted view. Both have their respective strengths and weaknesses.

The two great personalities in ancient Greek medicine were respectively divine and mortal. Hippocrates being the human and Asclepias the immortal god of medicine.

The great legacy of the ancient Greeks was their veneration for thought and beauty. This is especially reflected in their raising the human form to the level of divinity, in dramatic contrast to the animal headed gods of the Egyptians.

By regarding Asclepias as a later manifestation of the Egyptian physician of the 3rd dynasty, Imhotep, the Greeks attributed greater human compassion to their god of medicine. Asclepias, the healer of healers, sprang from the union of the god, Apollo, with a mortal maid of Thessaly, named Coronis.

Legend states that the young demigod, Asclepias was presented to Chiron, a wise old centaur who took him under his tutelage in a cave on Mount Pelion. Other revered protégés of Chiron included a pantheon of Greek heroes including Jason, Hercules and Achilles. Chiron, being master of both the art of war as well as that of medicine instructed his gifted students accordingly. Eventually his students excelled their master. As for Asclepias, sufferers throughout Greece came to him to be healed their infirmities and injuries.

Most of the gods from great Zeus himself to Apollo, Helios the sun god, to Athena were revered as having healing powers. Legends, however, sprang up and abounded about Asclepias' magic powers making the other gods jealous with envy. Asclepias was even credited with restoring the dead to life. This enraged Pluto, the god of the underworld, who bitterly complained to Zeus at being shortchanged in his supply of souls. Zeus, deciding that the power over life and death should be his alone, slew the healer with a thunderbolt.

Being of mixed divine and mortal parentage, Asclepias seems to have exhibited practical qualities. He is credited with evolving dietetic cures, surgery and pharmacology along with various techniques ranging from mundane purges to tooth extraction. Two of his offspring, Machaon and Podalirius are to be found as mortal army surgeons in the works of Homer. Some of his other children ranked celestial status with their names becoming bywords.

Panacea, a mythological daughter of Asclepias became the personification of medicinal herbs while Hygeia, her sister, was the embodiment of preventive health. Hygeia is often depicted with her father, the healer, representing the appreciation by the Greeks of the two aspects of health, the cure and prevention of disease. A son, Telesphorus, is also shown with his father. Being small of stature, garbed in his mantle and pointed hood, Telesphorus is taken as the symbol of youthful vitality with the power of "recovery" being his special domain.

One indication of the Greeks' human affinity with Asclepias is that he is depicted partially draped, never completely naked. The other gods, more lofty in Greek mythology, Zeus and Apollo are always depicted in their full blown glory, nude.

In almost all civilizations, the serpent is represented as a symbol of healing. Because it lives close to the earth, it is credited with the knowledge of all healing substances. The shedding of its skin has been interpreted as the ability to renew its life and to live eternally. As such, Hindu mythology describes one of the aspects of Vishnu, the God of Preservation, as the snake of eternity called Ananta. Snakes were once prayed to by the sick and were eaten by ancient doctor-magicians to enhance their healing powers. The very name of Asclepias may be derived from the Greek, askalabos, or serpent. Since that time Asclepias’ knotted staff, the origin of which can be traced to the magician’s wand used by the Egyptians and by Moses has a single serpent entwined around it. For centuries this staff, known also as the caduceus, the winged staff of Hermes-Mercury, the messenger of the gods, is depicted with two entwining serpents and has been the symbol of the medical profession.

In the fourth century BC, temples of healing, venerating the god Asclepias were erected all over the Grecian world from Epidaurus to Tricca, from Pergamon to Corinth. They were lavishly graced with art treasures and often erected over some healthful sight with an inspiring view perhaps near a mineral spring. Commonly, these also had a snake nursery where snakes were bred for use for the healing ceremonies. Patient sufferers would come to the temple to be healed. If the temple was small, they were instructed by the priest to sleep near the statues to encourage the god to appear to them in their dreams and hopefully either cure them of their malady or instruct them of a cure.

So as not to be in competition with the gods, the priests laid no claim to healing knowledge. They were often merely officiators and groundskeepers, attempting to provide a suitable environment were the aid of Asclepias could be suitably invoked. To maintain a spotless record of "no-patient-ever-lost, the critically ill along with pregnant women were forbidden entrance.

Upon admission, the patients were attended by priests, stretcher-bearers, bath masters, torchbearers, caretakers of the sacrificial alter and eventually an audience with the head priest himself, who offered words of counsel before each of his freshly bathed, white-sheeted charges laid down for their fateful, healing sleep. The dormitory became a necessary part of the temple as increasing numbers of patients awaited the revelation of their healing dream.

Before reclining for their haunted sleep the sacrifice was offered in accordance with the patient's financial status. The poorest gave their shoes, while others brought barley cakes sweetened with wine, the wealthy offered swine and sheep. The most acceptable sacrifice was a cock. In Phaedo, Plato quotes Socrates last words as "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepias, discharge this debt for me."

The preparations and sacrifices over, the poet Aristophanes describes the scene from apparently first hand observation:

"soon the temple servitor
Put out the Lights, and bade us fall asleep,
Nor stir, nor speak, whatever noise we heard.
So down we lay in orderly repose."

In the hushed flicker of dimming lights and rustling priests, the hopeful patients sleep. Perhaps in their dreams and imaginings, they sense the presence of Asclepias with his sacred dogs and gentle serpents. The soft touch of his hand cools a feverish forehead, his kiss calming a restless body or raging mind as his healing presence glides back and forth amongst the dreamers.

With dawn, the patients arise. Those feeling that they have been fully cured, make their payment and leave but not without sharing their visions and success with others. This adds to the excitement and creates a healing mood of hopeful optimism within the others who often stay on, often for days or weeks in anticipation of the day when they will awaken whole and well.

Their is no doubt that remarkable cures were effected, perhaps through auto-suggestion, just as they are in other holy places such as Lourdes and in a similar Native American Vision Quest ritual of a time of solitude in nature, prayer and fasting. The priests, without any deceitful intent, aided the process by burning opiate laden incense whose fumes were wafted over the sleepers to heighten the fantasies. Aristophanes, in one of his comic dramas, depicts how the tallest of the priests, impersonating Asclepias would softly walk among the drugged and drowsy.

The serpents of Greece were extensively used in Asclepian worship. Some were often placed in cradles with newborn babies. At Epidaurus, the center of the Asclepian cult, a large snake nursery was maintained which supplied not only its own needs but that of neighboring temples as well. The staff of Asclepias, which can be traced back to the magic wand of the early Egyptians and Moses, depicts a single serpent twined around it. Up until recent times, this was the symbol of the medical profession. The caduceus, which is a winged staff with two serpents entwined is a further variation of the staff of Asclepias and the symbol of Hermes-Mercury, the god of trade and the messenger of the gods. This same symbol was used by the Romans and is worn by medical personnel of the United States Army Medical Corps to indicate noncombat status in war.

Stone slabs from temple walls found at the temple of Epidaurus and other Asclepian centers offer eloquent testimony of the wondrous "cures" effected at these centers. Often they resorted to psychological trickery such as planting a seeming dumb boy to come as a suppliant to the temple and then to recover his voice. When asked by the temple priest "do you promise to pay within a year the fees for the cure, if you obtain that for which you have come?" The young boy suddenly spoke out "I do."

Evidence that surgery was occasionally practiced in the Asclepian temples is shown in the following: "A man with an ulcer in his stomach. He incubated, and saw a vision: the god seemed to order his followers to seize and hold him that he might incise his stomach. So he fled, but they caught and tied him to the door-knocker. The Asclepian opened his stomach, cut out the ulcer, sewed him up again and loosed his bonds. He went away whole, but the floor of his chamber was covered with his blood."

Despite the aura of mysticism surrounding the Asclepian temples, the priests were evidently hard-fisted businessmen when it came time to be paid for cures effected. As with many religious institutions today, a goodwill offering was expected but since these were relied upon to sustain the temple, it was unlikely that they were as voluntary as the officiators pretended.

Time payments were available but for no longer than a year. The offerings of the rich were automatically expected to be more than the poor. An ironic story crops up where an unbelieving temple visitant who left cured, despite her disbelief, was requested to leave as her offering a silver pig "as a testament to her stupidity." A small boy offered his ten jackstones while Alexander the Great, visiting the temple at Gortys, left his spear and breastplate. For those who were of lower income status, perhaps only a song of praise or a lock of hair was offered.

The Asclepian temples survived for centuries, extending into the Christian era. While the same general approach (sleep, dream, recovery) remained, there was a gradual shift of emphasis. While Asclepias was still consulted in the second century AD, the remedies were often herbal. There is further evidence that in the fourth century, the temples offered some common sense herbal prescriptions. Nevertheless, even as the early Christian church forbade the use of rational medicines, relying primarily upon the divine healing of Christ, the emphasis of the Asclepian temples similarly remained focused on a mystical reliance on the power of the gods.

Hippocrates

Hippocrates (460?-377? BC), considered the father of medicine. His principles formulated 400 years before the birth of Christ, attempted to weed out various aspects of superstition which dominated people's minds at the time in favor of applied logic and reason. Since the 18th century medical students would, upon graduating from their studies recite aloud the following Hippocratic oath.

The Oath of Hippocrates

I swear by Apollo, the physician, and Aesculepius and Health and All-Heal and all the gods and goddesses that according to my ability and judgment, I will keep this oath and stipulation:

To reckon him who taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance with him and relieve his necessities if required; to regard his offspring as on the same footing with my own brothers, and to teach them this art if they should wish to learn it, without fee or stipulation, and that by precept, lecture and every other mode of instruction, I will impart a knowledge of the art to my own sons and to those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a stipulation and oath, according to the law of medicine, but to none others.

I will follow that method of treatment which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel; I will not give to a woman an instrument to produce abortion.

With purity and with holiness I will pass my life and practice my art. I will not cut a person who is suffering from a stone, but will leave this to be done by practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I enter I will go into them for the benefit of the sick and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and further from the seduction of females or males, bond or free.

Whatever, in connection with my professional practice, or not in connection with it, I may see or hear in the lives of men which ought not to be spoken abroad I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should be kept secret.

While I continue to keep this oath unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art, respected by all men at all times but should I trespass and violate this oath, may the reverse be my lot.

We know practically nothing of Hippocrates' life except that he was born on or around 460 BC, on Cos, an island close to the Asiatic mainland. He settled eventually in Thessaly; he died an old and honored man, at Larissa.

The earliest and most reliable authorities are Plato, Aristotle, and Aristotle's pupil, Meno, the historian of medicine. These established that Hippocrates was a historical personage of great esteem who nevertheless taught medicine for a fee. There are few definite known facts about either his methods or doctrines. Despite the centuries of scholarly attempts to define the authentic writings and teachings of Hippocrates, the voluminous works ascribed to him as the Hippocratic corpus are all apparently anonymous.

The Hippocratic Writings consists of sixty treatises, some of which are in several books, varying widely in subject-matter, style and date. These include subjects on pathology, diagnosis and prognosis, methods of treatment, preservation of health, physiology, embryology, gynecology, surgery and medical ethics. While a formidable body of work, it is impossible to identify which are the actual authentic writings of Hippocrates. Therefore, the Hippocratic treatises must be viewed as the collective efforts of many individuals and schools over a period of 3 centuries who made anonymous contributions.

Hippocrates lived during the fifth century BC, a time of great auspiciousness as there seemed to be a flowering of thought and wisdom that occurred throughout in all corners of the world. Giants walked the earth including Buddha, Socrates, Xenophon,

Phidias and Plato.

Hippocrates practiced a system of holistic medicine focusing his treatments on the person rather than the disease. From early Greek philosophy, he based his understanding of medicine on natural laws in which the course of disease was seen to exhibit a discernible pattern as opposed to being divinely inflicted. A headache, according to him, could be one thing if it afflicted a stoneworker in Corinth and quite another if it plagued a philosopher of Athens.

Plato articulated Hippocrates' credo: " to heal even an eye, one must heal the head, and indeed the whole body."

Just as the Greek universe was ordered according to the principles of four dynamic elements (fire, water, air, earth), Hippocrates saw the body governed by four corresponding "humors," as described previously. Health and disease was seen as a question of humoural balance or imbalance with foods and herbs classified according to their ability to effect natural homeostasis.

Of his many aphorisms the three most memorable are: "above all else, do no harm", -- " Let your medicine be your food and your food, medicine." -- "The body heals itself." He was a patient, keen observer, carefully noting down the course of a disease as part of the process of healing, seeking for precisely the right moment to support the patient with some mild forms of physio-therapies, massage, baths, a few herbs (not more than 200) and most importantly, mild foods.

Hippocrates was seemingly opposed to blind dogmatic belief either in religious or superstitious arguments or apparent medical theories. The classification of herbs as "hot, "cold", "wet", "dry' for instance was not thought to represent absolutes in the scientific sense, but rather aspects to be utilized as part of the art of medicine. In the most remarkable treatise entitled Tradition in Medicine, he says," They have supposed that there are but one or two causes; heat or cold, moisture, dryness or anything else they may fancy." Later he states, "I am utterly at a loss to know how those who prefer these hypothetical arguments and reduce science to a simple matter of postulates, ever cure anyone on the basis of their assumptions. I do not think that they have ever discovered anything that is purely `hot' or `cold', `dry' or `wet', without it sharing some other qualities". The writer further states in chapter 16 that hot and cold are "the weakest of the forces which operate in the body."

Later however, despite his criticism of hot, cold, wet, dry and other postulates as being in themselves too simplistic, the writer advances his assumptions which are considerably more complex. In chapter 14 he states, "There exists in man saltiness, bitterness, sweetness, sharpness, astringency, flabbiness and countless other qualities having every kind of influence, number and strength. When these are properly mixed and compounded with one another, they can neither be observed nor are they harmful. but when one is separated out and stands alone it becomes both apparent and harmful."

The Greek Doctor

The practice of medicine in ancient Greece was typically a middle class profession and generally did not occupy the high esteem it does in our own time. The normal Greek doctor was regarded as somewhat of a craftsman --- probably lower than a goldsmith and only slightly higher than a shoemaker. He might be considered as somewhat of a more formalized version of the village healer or herbalist.

Many doctors were itinerant wanderers -- Hippocrates among them. Such a wandering doctor might temporarily set up shop in the market place of a town, treating those who choose to consult him. In this way, there was opportunity for an exchange of practical trade secrets either voluntarily or surreptitiously by spying on the work of others.

Referring to the proverbial doctor's medicine bag, Hippocrates stated a gentle note of warning for those who tended to grow a little careless: "Keep your bag clean and well arranged. Lack in these matters means helplessness and harm .... the physician cannot possibly go through everything."

There was a different style of treatment between those doctors who were itinerants and those who set up more permanent shop in cities. The itinerant doctor, in order to prosper, had to be able to quickly and accurately tell the patient the nature and course of their disease. The city doctor practiced either in their homes or they worked in the public clinics or "iatreions" as they were called. These were often run communally with patients being treated together in a common room. The official town doctor had to demonstrate that they had been under the prior tutelage of an acknowledged practitioner. Hippocrates was one who, according to Plato, trained young doctors "for a fee."

The iatreion was usually supported by the community through a special tax. It had well lit rooms, stocked with all necessary surgical instruments, and served as both a consulting and surgical room. Usually the doctor had apprentices who would work with him and therefore learn the art of medicine through hands-on experience. Hippocrates had advice both for the doctor's surgical assistants as well as the novices learning the various surgical operations. To the assistant he says, "Let those who look after the patient present the part for operation as you want it, so as to be all steady, keeping silence, obeying their superior." To the novice surgeons he states, "Perform them with each hand and with both together, your object being to attain ability, grace, speed, painlessness, elegance and readiness."

In exchange for freely treating the poor and indigent, the communal doctors who headed the iatreia received a number of practical benefits. They were exempt from taxes, showered with endowments and received free tickets to athletic games.

Outstanding doctors were especially honored. Empedocles (495?-435? BC) was both a noted philosopher, the first to delineate the principle of the four elements, as well as a celebrated Sicilian doctor. He ordered the nearby swamps and marshes in the city of Salinus to be drained, in order to prevent an unknown pestilence, probably malaria. To honor him, his grateful neighbors ordered special gold coins to be minted, twelve of which are preserved in the British Museum. A stone found at the Acropolis in Athens tells of the bestowal of a crown of green olives upon Evenor, the physician "for his good will toward the people of Athens." Others doctors were similarly honored for their great zeal and generosity in treating the sick.

Not all schools agreed with the prevailing Hippocratic ideal of holism. In Alexandria, Eristratos was one doctor who was scornful of the general Hippocratic concept. "Why bother with the whole body," he claimed, "if only part of the man is sick?" It is said that he went so far as to open the abdomen of a patient with kidney disorders to apply direct medication. As an anatomist, Eristratos was the first to distinguish between the sensory and motor nerves. He also compared the heart to a blacksmith's bellows, thus developing a discovery some 2000 years before Harvey in the 18th century, concerning the circulation of blood.

Also in Alexandria, adjoining Egypt, the land made famous for its embalming practices, Herophilos, a staunch advocate of the Hippocratic model, spent much of his time dissecting cadavers. He later became known as "Herophilus the Butcher" as a result of the emperor Tertullian later accusing him of opening the body cavities of six hundred living criminals! Herophilos nevertheless made a number of brilliant medical contributions. For one, he was the first to explain the function of the brain, dispelling the Aristotelian idea that the heart was the center of thought (an idea still, however, supported and maintained in Traditional Chinese Medicine).

Poisons: the Foundation of Pharmacy

Being a powerful ruler or aristocratic figure in the ancient world was not without a certain level of risk. Most commonly, being poisoned by an envious relative or another dissenting member. This was a time when poisoning was raised to a high art, and in turn spurred dazzling efforts to discover or create effective antidotes. Thus the art of Greek pharmacy was strongly supported and encouraged by the wealthy.

Mithridaticum was a shotgun antidote containing no less than 54 ingredients developed for Mithridates, King of Pontos during the first century BC Living in mortal fear of poisoning, his remedy consisted of small amounts of various poisons which taken over a period of time was supposed to make one immune to their fatal effects. He died at around the age of 70 but not before, as legend has it, he first tried to poison himself unsuccessfully because of his self immunized body. He was eventually killed by his son's henchmen. Ironically, Mithridaticum eventually became known as a health giver and was still in use up to the sixteenth century. As the Roman Juvenal states, "If your liver is getting impatient, buy the composition of Mithridates, and you will live to eat figs and gather roses another year."

The Roman's, famous for incorporating the best of their Greek forbears, attempted through the efforts of Andromachus, Nero's physician, to improve or at least enlarge upon Mithridates' shotgun anti-poison by increasing the number of toxic ingredients from 54 to 70. Under the name "Theriacum" it was described in pharmacopoeias for centuries up through the European Renaissance.

Apart from the development of royal poison antidotes, there was increasing demands for a wide range of non-poisonous plants from all parts of the known world. As today, a combination of unwitting ignorance along with calculated unscrupulousness caused a plethora of confusion as bogus species and fraudulent imitations of compounds were widely traded.

There were also customs and regulations concerning when and how certain plants were to be harvested. Some of these ideas became laden with superstitions. Some included picking certain plants only with the left hand.

Others were:

"Do not look behind you as you pluck; this will deprive a plant of medicinal value."

"Be sure to stand to windward, to avoid poisonous effluxions from the plant." And:

"Beware of the woodpecker when plucking peony."

Such strange admonitions extended to actual mixing of medicines. Many Greek pharmacists insisted that stirring medicines with the fourth finger was the best for maximizing effectiveness. The finger was thought to contain a vein that communicated directly with the heart, an idea which may also account for its long-accepted use as the ring finger in marriage.

Originally most Greek doctors collected and mixed their own drugs. When the drug trade became world-wide, however, they began to rely upon wholesalers for raw materials and upon pharmacists for compounding them. As Greek pharmacists found that there was more money to be made in compounding and mixing cosmetics, physicians were compelled out of necessity to return to making their own drugs.

To this day Jupiter's symbol, which was put atop most prescription forms as a kind of invocation, survives in the modern physician’s statement "Take thou....," and is actually traceable back through the Jupiter sign to the Eye of Horus itself.

ROMAN HERBAL MEDICINE

One of the most significant virtues of the Romans, responsible for the long lasting success of their civilization, was their practicality. This is best seen in their ability to adopt local customs, religions and cultural mores, along with incorporating the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of foreign cultures under Roman dominion. Being great administrators, they soon saw the value of hygienic principles such as forbidding the burial of the dead within city limits, providing a minimum space of two feet between neighboring buildings, water transport via aqueducts, refuse and sewerage disposal. The Cloaca Maxima, which was a sewer built by the Etruscan Tarquins in the sixth century BC was first used to drain the marsh close to the Roman Forum and went on to serve the City of Rome for centuries to follow.

While private medical practice continued, the Romans were very instrumental in evolving group medicine in the form of hospitals. This was especially important to serve the needs of the military. Each Roman legion, numbering from seven to eight thousand men, were divided into ten to twelve cohorts, and to each, Augustus Caesar assigned four doctors with a supervising legionary physician. In addition, the soldiers themselves were well versed in first aid.

Army hospitals called valetudinaria were used to receive the soldiers. The remains of these hospitals are to be found throughout the Roman Empire. One located on the old Roman road to Cologne, called Novaesium was typical. It contained forty sick wards, administration buildings, large kitchens, and a well-stocked apothecary shop.

What the Romans contributed to practical organization and medical care, they lacked in human sensitivity. The hospitals operated on a strictly military basis with physicians taking orders from military commanders. Soldiers shocked by the brutal combat of war, stationed 100's of miles from their family with inevitable concomitant mental suffering were nevertheless expected to maintain a strict code of discipline even while hospitalized. An order issued by Emperor Aurelius indicates the type of discipline:

"Let each soldier aid and serve his fellow; Let them conduct themselves quietly in the hospitalls... and he who would raise strife, let him be lashed."

It is no wonder that due to previous Roman lack of compassion, the new religion of Christianity was able to make significant headway, despite its early emphasis on faith healing. This occurred with the evolution of monasticism and a renewed spirit of humane compassion, exemplified by the tradition of maintaining a medicinal herb garden and a monastic pharmacy, available to its reclusive residents as well as to the local people.

One of the most important steps in Roman medicine occurred in the year 46 BC when Julius Caesar granted citizenship to foreign doctors. Since the best doctors along with the best philosophers were Greek, this meant that the couple of centuries previous, wrought with suspicion and distrust associated with Greeks generally, and Greek doctors in particular, was lifted. Again this was a wise and practical decision on the part of the Romans, since by the second century AD, Rome with its vast army was sprawled over an empire ranging from Africa to England. Such expansiveness is often subject to squalor and disease for which trained medical personnel were required.

Previous to this edict Greek doctors were maintained as skilled and knowledgeable slaves. In part, due to the skill of one such doctor slave, the emperor Augustus in 23 BC went so far as to exempt doctors from taxes. Augustus had been a sickly man, suffering with rheumatism that effected his left leg that caused him to limp, arthritis, which had stiffened his right hand, chronic insomnia and frequent severe colds which in winter caused him to wear four tunics along with a heavy toga. No doctor had been able to alleviate his suffering until Antonius Musa, a freed slave diagnosed his problem as inflammation of the liver and prescribed cold sulfur baths. In gratitude for his cure, Augustus ordered Musa to be sculptured in the form of Asclepias.

The two most important medical figures of Rome whose contributions remained the uncontested "standard" for botany and medicine were Dioscorides and Galen. Dioscorides, was born in Anazarbus which is a town presently part of Turkey. Living sometime in the first century, his most significant contribution was the five botanical books entitled De Materia Medica. This became the foundation for all subsequent materia medicas for the next 1600 years throughout Europe.

Approximately 80% of Dioscorides’ materia medica consists of plant medicines while the remaining 20% is divided more or less 10% mineral and 10% animal. This approximates a 1976 report describing the sources of Western drugs as follows: (a) chemically synthesized 50 percent; (b) higher flowering plants, 25%; (c) minerals, 7 percent; (d) animals, 6 percent. If we consider that many chemically synthesized drugs were once derived from plant products, the percentages of Dioscorides is remarkably similar to today’s.

The organization of Dioscorides' work, especially with plants follows an organized pattern of one plant, one chapter. The description of the plants themselves are laid out as follows:

1. plant name, synonyms and picture
2. habitats
3. botanical description
4. drug properties or actions
5. medicinal usages
6. harmful side effects
7. quantities and dosages
8. harvesting, preparation and storage instructions
9. adulteration and methods of detection
10. veterinary uses

The most significant aspect of his work which he, himself described as "new and superior", despite his surmise that it would be immediately apparent, seemed to escape the understanding of scholars for centuries. Instead of grouping various plants according to botanical families, or treatment of specific diseases, or even according to the organoleptic criteria of flavors and energies (hot, cold, moist, dry), he arranged them according to their physiological effects. Being first and foremost an empiricist, Dioscorides sought to classify drugs according to broad physiological categories of action. These include the following:

1. Warming

2. Mollifying and softening

3. Astringent, bitter, or binding

4. Diuretics

5. Drying

6. Cooling

7. Concocting

8. Sharpening

9. Making thin

10. Dilating

11. Gluing

12. Sleep inducing

13. Relaxing

14. Diaphoretic

15. Stopping of pores

16. Causing thirst

17. Checking

18. Cleaning

19. Cleaning thoroughly or emetic

20. Decocting

21. Hardening

22. Nourishing

By so doing, Dioscorides raised herbal medicine beyond the purely empirical principle of finding a specific herb for a specific disease. It presupposed a corresponding system of diagnosis for which the above physiologic actions would be useful. Separating the diagnostic "system" from the treatment or the temptation to name a specific disease and treatment regardless of the holistic evaluation of the patient and the symptom complex, does not allow one to perceive either the meaning or the value of Dioscorides’ "new and superior" method of organization.

In fact, his method as set forth in De Materia Medica is not at all unsimilar to methods used in the organization of traditional Chinese materia medicas. A materia medica such as that described in Planetary Herbology or in subsequent lessons of this course is organized according to functional intention and use in clinical practice.

A traditional Chinese materia medica includes the following:

1. relieving the surface

2. purging Heat

3. lubricating dryness

4. heat clearing

5. stimulant

6. dampness dispelling

7. clearing phlegm dampness

8. internal warming

9. relaxing

10. calming the spirit

11. blood regulating

12. chi regulating

13. tonics

14. parasiticides

.....and so forth.

How are these different from the pharmaceutical classification of substances as diaphoretics, laxatives, alteratives, stimulants, sedatives, nervines, emmenagogues, carminatives, etc.? Certainly both materia medica’s include these elements as well as the organoleptic classification according to flavors as well as organs effected and so forth. The difference is in the idea that an expectorant can be either cooling or heating. For instance, coltsfoot and elecampane are both classified as expectorants. Where coltsfoot is more suitable as an expectorant for a hot cough with accompanying feverishness and yellow phlegm. While elecampane (Inula helinum) root is better used for a cold or cough associated with coldness, weak digestion, low energy and whitish to clear mucus discharge.

As another example different nervines and sedatives will be more appropriate for certain kinds of nervousness. Some forms of nervousness are caused by a toxic or stagnant liver for which skullcap (scutellaria lateriflora) is more suitable, other forms of anxiety (associated with food allergies and diseases such as candidiasis) are caused by depressed circulation and digestion for which asafoetida taken with food will be more appropriate. Skullcap will probably not be very effective for the individual with weak digestion and internal coldness while asafoetida will probably not be effective for the individual with a toxic, stagnant liver. Valerian (V. officinalis), is a nervine with a warm, acrid flavor. This suggests that it might not be so effective for an individual with a tendency towards liver congestion and hypertension as skullcap might be, for instance. Finally, extreme nervous restlessness, mania or breakdown, may require a heavier substance to lower the energy such as calcium carbonate from oyster shells, abalone or pearls decocted in a tea. These are very cold and would not be appropriate by themselves, for the individual suffering from internal coldness and associated weak digestion.

Since one plant, such as Red clover (Trifollium pratense), usually has more than one property, its placement as an alterative with cooling properties in a materia medica is merely a reflection of its primary use by one or a consensus number of practitioners. Its placement as a cooling, anti-inflammatory herb however also allows the practitioner to access its primary therapeutic effect. In actual usage, red clover could be used not only for fevers and infections but to help dissolve blood clots and thus aid circulation, calm the nerves and relieve hot bronchial conditions. It can also be used to aid the metabolism of protein and thus be useful in the treatment of certain forms of cancer.

One may also mistakenly assume herbal traditions as settled matters. In fact, the history of herbalism shows a quite different state of affairs. What has come down to us as tradition is really the current expression and distillation, in most instances, of centuries of opposing views and opinions.

Tradition is useful when it provides continuity and a point of departure for understanding. It is useless when it inhibits our ability to act and respond to the demands of the moment. According to John M. Riddle, the most modern translator of the only English version of De Materia Medica and sad to say, a work that has been long out of print, he says, "By Dioscorides' time medical practitioners were neither unified about the nature of disease and illness nor in agreement on a set principle on which to organize experiences and to approach therapy." Regarding the notion that the humoural theory was a universally accepted concept among Greeks and Romans, he further says, "there was never complete agreement about the number, designation, or even existence of humours. Among the dissenters was Dioscorides, who did not accept so few as four humours and largely ignored the whole matter."

Parallels can be drawn today between the theoretical basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine with its Yin-Yang and Five element theories or the theoretical basis of East Indian Ayurvedic medicine with its sacrosanct Tridosha (Three humour) and other theories compared with clinical practice. The same can be said for any theoretical concept of Western scientific medicine and the pragmatic reality of what works. What may be gained from theoretical study has much value including developing some intangible attitude or way of approaching a condition that may inspire greater confidence within the practitioner involved in the enterprise of healing, a fundamentally imprecise and therefore artful science.

What Dioscorides was attempting in the organization of his materia medica was to create a definitive and practical clinical manual. The fact that he had differences conforming to strict traditional theoretical precepts such as the flavors as absolute indicators of medicinal properties or the humors shows the limits of theory. Rather, Dioscorides, the successful clinician, sought to treat disease according to the complex of its symptoms and what was empirically most effective. Like other Greek physicians of his time, he integrated "diet, exercise, and baths" as being "preferable to harsh drugs and surgery." Being the great herbalist that he obviously was, he sought "to cure, safely, swiftly, and pleasantly." Just as he rejected the hard theoretical humoural line of the Hippocratic practitioners of his day, he also rejected the more psycho-spiritual Asclepians. While he chose not to tell why, one can only surmise that such methods of healing, again tending towards a dogmatic methodology, was contrary to Dioscorides thought process.

EUROPEAN HERBALISM FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE PRESENT

Dioscorides and were two of the most important doctors of the late Roman Empire living approximately at the same time. Their work became the foundation of European herbalism through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. Dioscorides, who lived sometime around 50AD, was a physician in Nero’s army. He traveled extensively through Greece, Italy, Germany, Gaul, Spain and other countries, detailing the properties of around 600 plants, giving the name, habitat, directions for use, properties and indications. His definitive herbal, De Materia Medica, was actually a compilation from many works including Hippocrates, Theophrastus, Andreas, Niger, Crateuas and other scientific botanists and herbalists. His work was the primary source of herbalists of all nations for over 1500 years.

Galen who lived around 130 AD was the last of the important Greek herbalists. He learned anatomy at the Greek School in Alexandria. He is the most distinguished physician of antiquity after Hippocrates. He authored over 400 works, of which 83 are extant. His major herbal, De Simplicibus represents the fruit of his extensive travel and research. Galen described the European humoural system which prevailed throughout the middle ages.

The early Christian church discouraged the formal practice of medicine with the avowed intention to imitate Christ, and thus, they encouraged the use of faith healing. As a result of this tendency, there was an attempt to destroy and suppress the ancient knowledge of herbs and natural medicine. Fortunately, it was preserved forever in the form of hand copied manuscripts which were secretly handed down through the centuries. The monasteries, however, did become centers of simple herbal folklore and practice, storing a large number of herbs in their herb storeroom called the "officina", giving rise to the Latin "Offinalis." Some plants with the name officinalis are: comfrey-symphytum officinalis; calendula officinalis; vervaine-verbena officinalis; dandelion-taraxacum officinalis. These same monasteries became famous for maintaining their own herb gardens.

During the Middle Ages which lasted from AD 400 to the 1500’s, the Muslim Empire of Southwest and Central Asia made significant contributions to medicine. Rhazes, a Persian-born physician of the late 800’s and early 900’s wrote the first accurate descriptions of measles and smallpox, Avicenna, an Arab physician of the late 900’s and early 1000’s, wrote a vast medical encyclopedia called Canon of Medicine. It represented a summation of medical knowledge of the time and influenced medical education for moth 600 years.

The Middle Ages was wracked by a series of devastating plagues. Outbreaks of leprosy began in the 500’s and reached their peak in the 1200’s. In the mid-1300’s the deadly bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, killed about a quarter of Europe’s population. Throughout the medieval period, smallpox and other infectious diseases attacked thousands of people.

The primary medical advance of the Middle Ages was the founding of many hospitals and university medical schools. Christian religious groups maintained hundreds of charitable hospitals for victims of leprosy. In the 900’s a medical school established in Salerno, Italy, became the primary center of medical learning in Europe during the 1000’s and 1100’s.

Some of the important herbal’s of this period were as follows:

500 AD

Herbarium of Apuleius

A translation of this work connected the English with the herbal medicine of Southern Europe.

800 AD

During these years many of the old herbal’s and Books of Simples were destroyed. Norman invasions resulted in the destruction of Saxon works and Danish invasions destroyed most of the written works of the continent. Druidic uses of plants were mostly lost.

950 AD

Leech Book of the Bald, the oldest existing leech (doctoring) book was written in the vernacular. It is the first medical treatise of Western Europe. It is probably a copy of an older book, The Leech Book, a manual of a Saxon doctor. It is largely secondary knowledge and includes much herbal lore as well as superstition.

1200 AD

Hildegard of Bingen (St. Hildegard), With the recent revival of interest in the music of the visionary 12^th century mystic, Hildegard also wrote widely on devotion, mysticism and healing. Hildegard claims her knowledge is derived from visionary sources. Nevertheless, she utilizes the four-element and four-humour system that dated back to the ancient Greeks. Her approach integrates, body-mind and spirit with specific descriptions of diet, herbs and gems. She recommends the use of psyllium for constipation, aloe for jaundice and horehound for cough. She employs many spices from the orient. One that she recommends frequently is galangal (alpinia galana) which she uses to treat indigestion, stomach pain, arthritic pain and heart pain (angina). She also uses some uncommon remedies such as geranium for colds and columbine for scrofula. Many of the common herbs she describes include fennel, parsley and nettles with descriptions of preparing them as wines, teas, syrups, oils, salves, powders and smoking mixtures. She also describes how to make herbal eggs and herbal cookies. As their use in Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, Hildegard also integrates the therapeutic use of animal parts. Hildegard’s balanced diet describes the dangers of cold or raw food as well as the shortcomings of too much meat and fat. Her diet includes some meat, much seafood, vegetables, grains, (spelt, a variety of wheat which is her favorite). She also prescribes beer and wine for certain conditions as well. Some of her more unusual prescriptions is the use of the chestnut as the ideal food for the brain and nerves. Hildegard also uses other healing modalities including fasting, bloodletting, cupping and saunas.

A history of dominated by prominent male figures, who served as both the players and authors, we know little of the contribution of women in the history of medicine. Hildegard, therefore, assumes an important figure in the history of women healers.

1485 AD

German

The Herbarius and in 1491 AD, Ortus Sanitatus both have some of the best woodcuts prior to the new period of botanical illustration beginning in 1530.

1500

In France, Le Grand Herbier is important because of its later English translation in 1526 as Grete Herball.

The Renaissance

During this period, new political independence from the church and a renewed interest in the classics fostered a flowering of scientific, medical and cultural achievement that is unparalleled in human history. Many of the great herbal’s were written, compiled and printed during this time. Some of these were as follows:

1525

Bancke’s Herbal was the first printed herbal.

1526

Grete Herball printed by Peter Treveris had the highest reputation of the earlier English herbal’s.

1550

Turner’s Herbs, by the physician and divine, William Turner (1510-1568). He was regarded as ‘the father of British Botany," because he was the first Englishman who studied plants scientifically.

At the same time, the German, Fuch’s Herbal by Leonhard Fuchs (1501-1566) was written and became another landmark work with beautiful illustrations.

1552

Aztec Herbal, published in 1552 is the earliest treatise on Aztec pharmacology. Written by Martin de la Cruz, an Aztec doctor, it was later translated by Juan Badiano, an Indian doctor from Xochimilco. It was discovered in the Vatican library in 1919 and has become known as the Baliano Codex.

1554

Rembert Dodoens (1517-1585) was a Belgian botanist. His herbal called Histoire de Plantes incorporated many of Fuch’s woodcuts along with some new illustrations. His most important book, The Pemptades, became the basis of the English herbal known as Gerard’s Herbal.

1597 & 1633

Gerard’s Herbal by John Gerard (1545-1612) is the second of the three greatest English herbalists, Turner, Gerard and Parkinson. Gerard was a surgeon, well traveled and a dedicated gardener. He grew over 1000 plants mostly for seed. His herbal is largely based on the early Pemptades by Dodoens and was probably translated into English on commission by a Dr. Priest. Gerard altered the classification of plants and added a great deal from his personal observations. First published in 1597, it was later corrected and reprinted in 1633. Even to this day, amateurs calling themselves, "herbalists, freely plagiarize material from Gerard’s herbal.

In his work we see the old belief in the efficacy of herbs to treat not only physical diseases but those of the mind and spirit. This belief is shared by the greatest civilizations of antiquity. Gerard also describes methods of aromatherapy involving the inhalation of volatile oils, the absorption of these through the skin into the circulatory system.

1629 & 1640

John Parkinson (1567-1650) was the last of the great English herbalists. His books include Paradisi in Sole Terrestris (A Garden of Pleasant Flowers) published in 1629, and Theatrum Botanicum (The Theater of Plants) published in 1640 at the age of 73.

Parkinson’s monumental Theatrum Botanicum describes over 3800 plants and was the most complete and aesthetically beautiful English treatise on plants of the day.

1652

Nicolas Culpeper (1616-1654) expounded on the relationship of astrology and herbs and the older belief in the "Doctrine of Signatures". This belief extending deep into the distant past herbal traditions of the world maintains that there is a relationship between the way a plant appears and the condition for which it is indicated.

Culpeper was the most loved by the people and hated by his professional colleagues herbal doctor of his day. It was the custom of the time for official medical knowledge to be printed and discussed only in Latin. In Culpeper’s opinion, this was simply an elitist ploy to keep the knowledge of herbs and healing from the masses and thereby ensure the vested interests of the medical profession. There was also some sense, that this would protect the masses from possibly mistreating themselves. Medical elitism, of course, continues to this day in many forms and the many branches of medicine and with the American Medical Association (AMA) and other countries such as the British Medical Association (BMA).

Always the physician of the people, Culpeper was the most hated by his professional colleagues because he violated a solemn oath of London’s College of Physicians by translating from the Latin some of the elitist works of the time, notably the Pharmacopoeia which he retitled A Physicall Directory. Some of this information eventually found its way into his ever popular Culpeper’s Herbal.

He was the most loved because by translating the works of his greedy and paranoid colleagues, he was able to empower common folk with the knowledge of self treatment. Always a man of the people, Culpeper charged small fees, had an unaffected manner and was especially loved by his poor London West-end patients. The result is that he continues to be honored in the minds of the people with Culpeper’s Herbal being reprinted through countless versions and editions up to the present.

1656

William Coles (1626-1662) authored two books, The Art of Simpling and Adam in Eden. Like Culpeper, he also wrote in colloquial English but he was severely critical of Culpeper and described him as being, "ignorant in the forme of Simples" and "transcribing out of old works only what was useful". Cole was also critical of Culpeper’s astrological botany and the association of plants with planetary influences. Cole is regarded as a major exponent in English of the Doctrine of Signatures.

Because medicine tended to be the official domain of either the church or the state, folk medicine throughout the Middle Ages, developed and was relegated to the practice of herbalists and healers who utilized non-official healing methods associated with previous pagan religions to attend to the needs of the those who were unable to afford the ministrations of the wealthy medical elite. This included women who were branded as witches (see the following section, Women and Healing), men who were called warlocks and other social outcasts who rebelled against the domination of Church and state and sought to rediscover their ancient so-called pagan religious customs and healing with the use of herbs and various charms. In the name of preserving Christian values, the Inquisition and witch-hunts became a convenient method to suppress and denigrate the efforts of unofficial lay healers.

Today, some may still look disdainfully on the witches’ strange use of animal and mineral substances described in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. However, this only alludes to the outlaw status of many women healers and their use of bonafide and potent remedies, however strange. Interestingly Shakespeare’s son-in-saw and next door neighbor, John Hall was a great herbalist of the time whose official medical armamentarium included various animal parts, herbs and minerals much as these even today are also part of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The psychological aspects of healing through the use of rituals, prayers, charms and talismans represent another aspect of traditional herbal shamanism. It was not the power and validity of such methods of healing with which the Church took issue, for priests similarly employed various religious relics, specially consecrated ‘holy’ water and the symbol of the cross in a similar way. Rather is was the question by whose authority the healing was achieved. If, therefore, an individual was healed with a non-Christian symbol, it must have been by the power of the devil.

During the 17th century, the Swiss physician, Philippus Paracelsus advocated the use of minerals. These included methods of purifying and using minerals such as copper, sulfur, arsenic, mercury and iron. Because of his emphasis on the importance of Chemistry, Paracelsus holds two seeming contradictory distinctions as the "father of alchemy" and the founder of a system of mineral drug medicine that has ultimately resulted in the primacy of plants used for medicine.

WOMEN AND HEALING

It may be noticed that thus far, that other than mythological figures such as Hygeia, Hepatica and other ancient goddesses, the only prominent historical woman described in this overview of the history of herbal medicine is Hildegard. While there were undoubtedly others, little seems to be known about them and they certainly do not play a prominent role in the chronicled history of medicine with the exception of a few in comparatively recent times. Certainly this is not because women, as a group, had no interest in healing. Quite the opposite.

With the preponderant numbers of women who enroll in our course and attend our various seminars, women as a group, in my opinion are the most apt healers, with a natural tendency of compassion required for healing. Further, unlike men, their monthly and cyclic physiological needs (menses, childbirth and menopause) involve them directly on a regular basis with healing. We can only assume, therefore, that women have always had a lively and direct involvement with health and healing but were, along with other disadvantaged groups of peoples such as native people, blacks and Jews, simply overlooked in the chronicles of history.

Before the great holocaust of the 20^th century with the execution of 100’s of thousands of Jews, gypsies and other ethnic groups by the Germans during the 2^nd world war, another holocaust involving perhaps even greater numbers of women healers occurred between the 14^th and 17^th centuries with the systemic torture and executions of millions of women as witches. According to Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English in their very important booklet entitled Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers (Glass Mountain Pamphlets, P. O. box 238, Oyster Bay, N.Y., 11771), "The great majority of them were lay healers serving the peasant population, and their suppression marks one of the struggles in the history of man’s suppression of women as healers."

They go on to say that "The witch-hunts represented well-organized campaigns, initiated, financed and executed by Church and State." They came about coincident with the evolution of the European medical profession and the apparent need to suppress any attempts by the lay people to minister to their own medical needs.

….. Because of the Medieval Church, with the support of kings, princes and secular authorities, controlled medical education and practice, the Inquisition (witch-hunts) constitutes, among other things, an early instance of the ‘professional’ repudiating the skills and interfering with the rights of the ‘nonprofessional’ to minister to the poor. (Thomas Szasz, The Manufacture of Madness)

As Ehrenreich and English state, "Witch hunts did not eliminate the lower class woman healer, but they branded her forever as superstitious and possibly malevolent. So thoroughly was she discredited among the emerging middle classes that in the 17^th and 18^th centuries it was possible for male practitioners to make serious inroads into that last preserve of female healing --- midwifery. Nonprofessional male practitioners — "barber surgeons" – lead the assault in England, claiming technical superiority on the basis of their use of the obstetrical forceps. ---- Female midwives in England organized and charged the male intruders with commercialism and dangerous misuse of the forceps. But it was too late – the women were easily put down as ignorant "old wives" clinging to the superstitions of the past."

Ehrenreich and English’s book goes on to describe the male take over of the roles of healing from the 1800’s through the early 20^th century throughout all European countries and in the US.

It is difficult for us today to conceive of the profound lack of personal rights and the historical repression of women that has been so characteristic of the history of both Western and Eastern countries of the world. Rather than to over simplistically condemn men as a group, since I believe that ultimately both men and women suffer from female repression, the cause seems to coincide with the rise of warlike civilizations where physical strength and brutality became more of a necessity for survival and highly valued by both sexes. Witness our own time, that as war is becoming more technological and mechanized, it is less the exclusive domain of men as women are admitted into the military. Concomitantly, women’s rights are emerging more strongly to the fore in all sectors of society.

It is valuable to study more feminine oriented ancient civilizations such as the Mycenaean civilization of Crete which existed from around 1500 to 1100 B.C that made many important contributions to the evolution of civilization.

The following section of describes the rise of the Eclectic medical system in the US. Among the many unique achievements of the Eclectics was the recognition, admission and graduation of women and blacks into the medical profession.

THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE

David Winston, Herbalist A.H.G.

In the early part of the 19th century medical practice in the United States was in a dismal state. General lack of medical knowledge, poor, hygiene, and allopathy's adherence to worthless theories and toxic remedies made going to a physician both a frightening and dangerous experience. The overuse of bleeding, mercury, arsenic, opium, emetics, and purgatives weakened patients almost as much as the diseases of the day.

As an alternative to this cruel hoax, a poorly educated farmer, Samuel Thomson (1769-1843) was driven to create an herbal alternative: Thomsonian Medicine. This system, which borrowed heavily from Native American herbal remedies and sweat baths, was quite heroic but substantially less toxic than the orthodox medicines commonly used.

Major tenets of Thomsonian Medicine included the Jeffersonian belief in "every man as his own doctor" and "heat is life and cold is death." The materia medica of the botanic practitioners utilized a limited number of medicines including stimulant diaphoretics (capsicum, achillea, hedeoma, zingiber), astringents (myrica, quercus, commiphora), emetics (lobelia, Eupatorium perfoliatum), sedatives (scutellaria, cypripedium, symplocarpus) and bitters (chelone, populus, berberis). Thomson's system usually included several "courses" of steamings purging with lobelia emetics, and sweating, followed by tonification of the stomach, lungs, and bowels. While unpleasant in its pronounced activity, this protocol very successfully treated many common scourges of that time, i.e., typhus, typhoid fever, influenza (la grippe), yellow fever, diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, and malaria.

The best known of Thomson's formulas was Composition powder (formula #2) which was used to allay dysentery, stomach and bowel pain, and to increase vital heat:

o Bayberry root bark, 2 lbs.

o Hemlock inner bark, 1 lb.

o Ginger, 1 lb.

o Cayenne, 2 oz

o Cloves, 2 oz.

One of the many failings in this system was Thomson's total aversion to further medical education; he had a profound anti-intellectual attitude to medical elitism.

In response to Thomson's rigidity and dictatorial nature, one of his assistants, Alva Curtis (1797-1881), created his own professional group of physicians, the Physio-medicalists. They founded their own sectarian medical schools and focused on the use of a large materia medica of nontoxic herbs. In addition, they developed a very complex (some would say obtuse) theoretical basis for their practice. Part of the Physio-medicalist theory included an energetic diagnostic system somewhat similar to the Chinese concept of yin and yang. Patients' constitutions and organ systems were seen as either Asthenic (hypoactive, deficient) or Sthenic (hyperactive, excess). Herbs were then prescribed according to information ascertained by pulse, tongue, and other physical diagnostic procedures.

This system never developed strong support in the United States; at their height of popularity in the 1880s they only numbered 1000 practitioners. Interestingly enough, this system was transported to England where it flourished and was taught at the four-year College of Herbal Medicine until the 1970s.

Another sectarian group of "herbal" physicians was started in the 1830s by Wooster Beach, MD (1794-1868). Beach founded the Reformed Botanic movement (or the "American System of Medicine") to create an effective, professional medical system emphasizing indigenous vegetable (herbal) materia medica. He founded the Reformed Botanic College in New York which later relocated in Ohio (Worthington, then Cincinnati). Eventually Beach's presence faded, and the movement chose a new name: Eclectic Medicine. The Eclectics introduced many herbs into common use. Following is an outline of a few important ones:

Purple Coneflower root -- Echinacea, spp. -- Acute viral and bacterial infection: colds, flu, bronchitis, urethritis, septicemia

Goldenseal root -- Hydrastis canadensis --- Boggy, atonic mucus membranes with tendency toward infection - strep throat, cervicitis, conjunctivitis

Blue Flag root -- Iris versicolor -- Enlarged thyroid, clay-colored stools with Lymphatic congestion

Black Cohosh root (Macrotys) -- Cimicifuga racemosa -- Muscular neuralgia - fibromyalgia, uterine pain, post-partum pain

Culver's Root (Leptandra) -- Veronicastrum virginica -- Sluggish liver with constipation, liver tender to touch, frontal headaches

Gelsemium -- Gelsemium sempervirons -- Nervous irritation - flushed face, contracted pupils, facial neuralgia

Wild Indigo -- Baptisia tinctoria -- Tissue that is purplish with infection and impaired circulation - septicemia, gangrene, putrid sore throat

Cactus -- Selenicereus grandiflorus -- Functional irregularities of the heart, valvular murmurs, feebleness of old age

The Eclectic philosophy allowed physicians to select therapies from other medical sects such as Allopathy, Homeopathy, and Hydrotherapy that would benefit the individual patient. By the late 1850s the Eclectics were flourishing; Eclecticism and Homeopathy were the two primary alternatives to medical orthodoxy. The maxim that "in success are the seeds of failure and in failure are the seeds of success" proved true for Eclecticism. Constant internecine fighting, "the Eclectic resinoid craze" ' and declining enrollment in the Eclectic Medical schools during the Civil War left the Eclectic Movement in near collapse by 1865. From the ashes of disaster John Milton Scudder (1829-1894) almost single handedly resurrected Eclectic Medicine.

In his books, Specific Medication and Specific Medicines and Specific Diagnosis, Scudder proposed a new model for practice. In this system small doses of high quality single herbs replaced large quantities of often nauseating polyherbal preparations. Each herb was carefully studied to find its "specific indication" in clinical practice. A system of differential diagnosis was developed to give the practitioner clear insights to effective prescribing. In short Scudder took the best of Eclectic Medicine, Homeopathy, Rademacher's Organ Remedies, and vast empirical experience to create a "Unique System of Herbal Practice." Initially many Eclectics balked at the new system (called Scudderism or Neo-homeopathy by critics) but experience proved its value and effectiveness. The Golden Era of Eclectic Medical Practice, 1875-1895, found over 10,000 Eclectic physicians practicing throughout the United States. There were eight legitimate eclectic medical schools and the "American System of Herbal Medicine" seemed secure in its place.

Changing centuries, new ideas that the Eclectics were reluctant to embrace, the onslaught of the American Medical Association and foundation money (Rockefeller and Carnegie, the Flexnor Report), and the deaths of many Eclectic giants (Scudder, King, A.J. Howe), led to the gradual decline and eventual disappearance of Eclectic Medicine. The Eclectic Medical College, the last school of Eclectic Medicine, closed its doors in 1939.

During the waning days of Eclectic Medicine, three men stand out as successors to J.M. Scudder and his Specific medication. Each of these physicians helped to evolve Scudder's philosophies closer to the ideal he initiated.

Harvey Wickes Felter (1865- 1927) was editor of the Eclectic Medical Journal and Eclectic Medical Gleaner, co-author with John Uri Lloyd of King's Dispensatory, 19th edition (1983 reprint Eclectic Medical Publication) and author of The Eclectic Materia Medica. Pharmacology, and Therapeutics, a manual for clinical practice.

The history of Eclectic Medicine could not be told without mention of one of the greatest geniuses of herbal pharmacy, John Uri Lloyd. The Lloyd brothers pharmacy made it their primary focus to produce the highest quality herbal extracts and other Eclectic products to serve the 1000’s of Eclectic doctors throughout the United States. Upon closing of the Lloyd brothers’ pharmacy, a grant was bestowed in perpetuum to maintain an Eclectic library in Cincinnati, Ohio, the site of the last and most important Eclectic Medical college. The library, as a result of the Lloyd grant, remains open today and continues to be funded. It is the Vatican for any serious herbal student and practitioner of North America. It houses the entire Eclectic medical library as well as some of the most outstanding books on herbalism and botany collected by the Lloyd brothers and donated to the library.

Finley Ellingwood (1852-1920) was publisher of the Chicago Medical Times and Ellingwood's Therapeutist He was author of American Materia Medica and Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy (11 th edition 1919, reprinted by Eclectic Medical Publications, 1995), one of the greatest works on specific medication ever published.

Eli G. Jones (1850-1933) authored Definite Medication (1985 reprint Jain, New Delhi) and Cancer, Its Causes, Its Treatment, and Its Cure. Jones created a synthesis of Eclectic, Homeopathic, Biochemic, and Physio-medicalist systems that utilizes tongue, pulse, and facial diagnosis to precisely ascertain which remedies are appropriate for each specific patient's unique symptom picture. Felter's, Ellingwood's, and Jones' books are so useful that they are still in print and are the best guides we have to effective practice of Specific/Definite Medication

While few herbalists, M.D.s, or N.D.s are fluent in this system of practice, the textbooks and their authors' accumulated wisdom are available to learn from, synthesize, and utilize to make herbal practice more effective, precise, and safe.

NOTES

1. These active constituent resins, discovered by John King, MD (1813-1893) - podophyllin, irisin, macrotin, and leptandrin - were stable and active resins precipitated out of liquid extracts. Unfortunately, the drug companies of the day used the same idea to produce "resinoids" from the entire materia medica only to belatedly discover these products were totally inert.

2. The new sciences of bacteriology and pharmacology are prominent examples.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Boyle, Wade. The Herb Doctors. Buckeye Naturopathic Press: East Palestine, Ohio. 1988.

Griggs, Barbara. Green Pharmacy. Healing Arts Press: Rochester, Vermont. 199I.

Haller, J.S. Medical Protestants. South Illinois University Press: Carbondale. Illinois. 1994.

Wilder, A. The History of Medicine. Maine Farmer Publications: Augusta, Maine. 1904.

Wood, Matthew. The Magical Staff North Atlantic Books: Berkeley, California. 1992.

Books on Specific Medication:

Ellingwood. American Materia Medica and Therapeutics. 1919.

Felter. The Eclectic Materia Medica and Therapeutics. 1911:

Jones, E.G. Definite Medication. 1911.

Rademacher, J.G. Rademachers Universal and Organ Remedies. Boericke and Tafel: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Scudder, J.M. Specific Medicines and Specific Medication. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1874.

Scudder, J.M. Specific Diagnosis. Cincinnati, Ohio. 1874.

OUTLINE OF HISTORY OF CHINESE MEDICINE

As with all traditional cultures, the Chinese knowledge of the therapeutic properties of plants is primarily based upon trial and error. The earliest recorded Chinese herbal was the Shen Nong Pen T’sao Jing or Emperor Shen Nong’s Classic Herbal. Shen Nong, the God-Farmer was one of three legendary kings of ancient Chinese history. He was also known as Di Huang, King of the Earth while the other two were Tian Huang, the King of Heaven, and Ren Huang, the King of Humans.

Before Shen Nong, Chinese society was based on hunting and gathering. Legend states that to encourage greater social stability and continuity, Shen Nong was the first to teach farming and agriculture to the Chinese and the first to discover the knowledge of medicinal herbs. Because of his compassion for the sick, he would go into the countryside and poison himself a hundred times by tasting various plants and substances, each time finding a natural antidote. The results of Shen Nong’s discovery was recorded in the Shen Nong Pen T’sao, meaning Shen Nong’s Herbal.

Out of myth and legend, Chinese herbalism evolved and every official herbal has since been titled ‘Pen T’sao’ in honor of Shen Nong’s contribution. The first Shen Nong Pen T’sao published in 200 BC was lost but subsequent references inform us that it contained 365 herbs. These were subdivided as follows: 120 emperor herbs of high, food grade quality which are non- toxic and can be taken in large quantities to maintain health over a long period of time, 120 minister herbs, some mildly toxic and some not, that have stronger therapeutic action to heal diseases, finally there are 125 servant herbs that have specific action to treat disease and eliminate stagnation. Most of those in the last group are toxic and are not intended to be used daily over a prolonged period of weeks and months.

Portrait of the Yellow Emperor Huang Ti (2698-2598 B.C.)

The earliest known and most important document of Traditional Chinese Medicine is the Huang-ti Nei-ching (The yellow Emperor’s classic of internal medicine, written in the 3^rd century BC. It’s authorship is ascribed to the fabled Yellow Emperor, Huang-ti and expounds on the theoretical concepts of Yin Yang, Five Elements and other principles related to health and healing that have been the cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine down through the ages.

Hua Tuo (100-208) is regarded as one of the greatest acupuncturists and surgeons of Chinese medical history. He is famous for the discovery and use of a special set of accessory points along the spine which are called ‘Hua-Tuo’ points. He was also a highly skilled herbalist.

There is a famous story that bespeaks the psychological aspect of healing that was part of his practice. It involved a famous governor who, having been sick for a prolonged period, bestowed generous gifts on his renowned physician, Hua Tuo, in expectation of treatment. The governor eventually became increasingly frustrated and angry because despite his lavish endowments, Hua Tuo did not give him any medicine to relieve his malady. In fact, he would further taunt and scoff at the governor. This eventually resulted in Hua Tou fleeing the district for his life to escape the governor’s wrath. Fortunately, the governor was unable to apprehend the exiled Hua Tuo. His anger, however, rose to such a pitch of intensity that he vomited dark bile and blood, after which he completely recovered.

Between 220 and 589 China was once again wracked by civil wars. As a result the Shen Nong Pen T’sao Jing was threatened by abuse and neglect. During this time Buddhism was promulgated throughout the Northern and Southern Dynasties of China. Northern Chinese society was strongly influenced by the cultures of the steppe and the Sino-Tibetan frontier region and tended to lack strong central direction and was warlike and illiterate. In contrast, the Southern Dynasty situated around the Yang Zi basin was aristocratic and sophisticated. During this time famous Buddhist caves with giant carvings were created as natural sanctuaries and the emperor was regarded as the ‘living Buddha’.

There was a wide dissemination of knowledge between distant cultures as Chinese monks such as Faxian during the 5th century ventured into India and Indian monks during the 6th century disseminated Indian culture throughout China. Because of commercial trading, there were also influences to and from Japan, Korea and far-off Arab lands.

During this time alchemy was further developed. Taoism links medicine and alchemy. The Taoist quest for longevity, begun in earlier times, persisted with research and experimentation in the consumption of cinnabar. Unfortunately this led to a plethora of characteristic symptoms of mercury toxicity.

With the interest in alchemy came the development of pharmaceutical science and the creation of a number of books including in 492, Tao Hong Jing’s (456-536) compilation of the Pen T’sao Jing Ji Zhu (Commentaries on the Herbal Classic) based on the Shen Nong Pen T’sao Jing. In that book 730 herbs were described and classified in six categories: 1) stone (minerals), 2) grasses and trees, 3) insects and animals, 4) fruits and vegetables, 5 grains and 6) named but unused. This has become the most influential and oldest herbal found in the Tun Huang District, northwest of Kansu Province.

Because of frequent wars, medicine developed which led to the creation of the first Chinese text on surgery being written during this time. Another contribution of the Chinese ‘Middle Ages’ was the establishment of the first formal Chinese medical school created in 443 by the Emperor’s physician Qin Chengzu during one of the Southern Dynasties. Before this time medical knowledge was exclusively passed down from master to pupil.

During the 2nd century, Wang Shuhe compiled all previously known knowledge of the pulse in his famous Maijing (Pulse Classic). This in turn led to the introduction of pulsology into Arabic medicine.

During the Sui (589-618) the study of herbal medicine blossomed with the creation of specialized books on plants and herbal medicine. Some of these set forth the method for the gathering of herbs in the wild as well as their cultivation. Over 20 herbal’s were chronicled in the Sui Shu Jing Ji Zhi (Bibliography of the history of Sui). These include the books Zhong Zhi Yue Fa (How to Cultivate Herbs) and the Ru Lin Cai Yue Fa (How to collect Herbs in the Forest.

The most important clinical manual of Traditional Chinese Medicine is the Shang Hang Lun (Treatise On the Treatment of Acute Diseases Caused by Cold). It was written by Chang Chung-Ching (Ad 142-220) and describes the Six Stages of acute disease caused by the invasion of Cold. It was written as a result of Chang’s tragic experience of losing three-quarters of his family from a plague. During that time, he observed the ineffective treatment of many of the herb doctors of the time with their inability to effectively respond to the changing character of acute disease. The Six Stages, presented in a later lesson in this course, offers an approach to diagnosis and treatment of acute diseases and common colds, influenza, allergies, coughs, and other communicable diseases.

The fame and reputation of the Shang Han Lun as well as its companion book, Chin Kuei Yao Lueh (Prescriptions from the Golden Chamber) both by Chang Chung Ching, is the historical origin of the most important classical herbal formulas that have became the basis of Chinese and Japanese-Chinese herbalism (called "Kanpo"). The formulas described in these texts have since been extensively studied and their use expanded to treat a wide variety of both acute and chronic diseases.

The Tang (618-907) is regarded as the greatest dynasty in Chinese history because of the many contributions to art, medicine and the sciences made during that period. The Tang Xin Pen T’sao, (Tang Materia Medica) the official materia medica of the Tang Dynasty was China’s first illustrated herbal and contained 844 entries. Besides officially sanctioned herbal’s, many works created by independent citizens were also created during the Tang including the Yue Xing Pen T’sao (The Book of Herb Properties) by Zhen Quan. It was when Zhen Quan was 120 years old that Emperor Tai Zong (629-649) visited him and the aged herbalist bestowed his work upon the Emperor.

Sun Simiao (581-682) regarded as the ‘King of Prescribers’ was perhaps the most popular figure in Chinese medicine. Having steeped himself in the three pillars of Chinese wisdom based on Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, Sun, being of fragile health decided to dedicate his life to the study and practice of medicine.

Because he refused many tempting offers of wealth and prestige from various emperors of the time to live the life of a humble country doctor, Sun Simiao has since been revered and respected as a great humanitarian. His actual practice and knowledge are known only through two works, Qianjin Yaofang (Prescriptions of the Thousand Ounces of Gold) and Qianjin Yifang (Supplement). Because Sun regarded human life as precious, the term ‘gold’ reflects his regard for human life.

Sun regarded the integration of acupuncture, moxibustion and the use of drugs as a complete system of medicine. Relying solely on the Four Methods of Diagnosis (observation, listening, interrogation and palpation), he considered that the pulse should only be studied after listening to the patient and observing the tone of voice and complexion. He also strongly advocated prevention and pre-diagnosis to be superior than the treatment of disease. The ideal physician, Sun Simiao’s interest and influence extended to his incorporation of the principles of the Shang Han Lun, proper harvesting of medicinal plants, the causes of disease and his enthusiastic advocation of maternal and infant care.

In Qian Jin Shi Zhi, Sun said: "In the old days, herbalists collected herbs themselves at the right time and in the right place, and they processed the herbs properly. That is why they were able to cure nine out of ten of their patients. Nowadays, doctors only know how to prescribe. Most of the herbs they are using were not collected and processed properly so they can only cure five or six out of ten of their patients." More than any of his contributions, Sun Simia has come to represent the exalted embodiment of integrity, compassion and benevolence.

During the Song dynasty (960-1279) the first herbal that was officially published was the Kai Bao Pen T’sao (Kai Bao was the name of the emperor of that time) in 973. It was later revised and enlarged by the Taoist, Liu Han and others and published as Kai Bao Zhong Ding Pen T’sao (Revised Kai Bao Herbal).

In 1552, during the later Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Li Shi Zhen (1518-1593) began work on the monumental Pen T’sao Kan Mu (Herbal with Commentary). Li, dedicated his life to travel throughout the distant reaches of the empire to consult directly with people in many places regarding local remedies. He further consulted 277 herbal’s as references, the classics, histories and many other books --- a total of approximately 440 in all. After 27 years and three revisions, the Pen T’sao Kan Mu was completed in 1578. The book lists 1892 drugs, 376 described for the first time with 1160 drawings. It also lists more than 11,000 prescriptions.

Li’s compilation of the Pen T’sao Kan Mu represents an attempt to correct the errors of his predecessors regarding the names and descriptions of medical substances. He also carefully noted the time and methods of harvest and the preparation and use of drugs. He derided as foolish the belief that the mushroom Lingzhi or Reishi (Ganoderma Lucidum) could prevent death. Besides his monumental materia medica, Li Shi Zhen was also the author of the Binhu Maixue (A Study of the Pulse) and Qijing Bamai Kao (An Examination of the Eight Extra Meridians). During his lifetime he was also regarded as a great physician who set forth the hitherto unique concept of the ‘brain as the location of the principal vital influence’ i.e. mental awareness. Li relied heavily on the classics, the Huang-ti Nei-ching and the Shang Han Lun yet maintained a fresh critical stance whenever he personally observed in practice situations and conditions that were at variance with tradition. Among his many contributions to pathology was his observation of cholelithiasis as a disease distinct from mere hypochondria or epigastic pain. He also promoted the use of ice to bring down fever and the technique of disinfection which involved soaking patient’s clothes in a steam bath to protect family members from contamination. To protect patients from epidemic disease, Li advocated the burning of Atractylodes lancea (Cang Zhu) as a fumigant.

As with Sun Simiao and other great Chinese physicians, Li attributed greater significance to prevention than cure following the approach of the Neijing which states:

"To cure disease is like waiting until one is thirsty before digging a well, or to fabricate weapons after the war has commenced." Thus the Pen T’sao Kan Mu lists more than 500 remedies to maintain and strengthen the body, with over 50 of these created by Li Shi Zhen himself. He described the use and preparation of a wide variety of preparations including ointments, pills and powders and recommended the preparation of various medicinal broth’s with herbs including wheat, rice, chestnut, radish, garlic, ginger and vital organ meats of various animals.

Li Shi Zhen was a great pharmacognocist, pharmacologist, physician, zoologist, botanist and mineralogist and made a profound and lasting contribution to humanity as well as the Chinese people in particular. Like Sun Simiao, he was also a great humanitarian with high Confucian-inspired medical ethics, promoting all to the care and welfare of their fellow humanity. The most popular image we have of him is observing the flower of the Datura.

During the Qing dynasty beginning in 1644 to the first Opium war in 1839-42, more than 20 herbal were published. These included the Pen T’sao Kan Mu Shi Yi (Herbs Not Listed in the Pen T’sao Kan Mu) . During this period European influence gradually spread into China, the Huang Ti Nei-Ching (Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine) became recognized as the ‘bible’ of Chinese medicine with wide interest from commentators extending from the 17th to the 19th century. The fame and reputation of the Shang Han Lun as well as the companion book, Chin Kuei Yao Lueh (Prescriptions from the Golden Chamber) both by Chang Chung Ching, also grew during this time. One of the most important evolution’s that occurred was the theory of diseases caused by Heat, in distinction to the Shang Han Lun (‘cold induced diseases’). While the notion of Heat as a pathogenic influence was first formulated by Liu Wansu, it became more firmly established as a pathogenic influence during the 17th century with Wou Youxin who postulated and observed the effect of epidemic pestilence and plague as Heat diseases entering through the mouth and nose.

From 1842-4 various treaties, missionaries and foreign doctors established hospitals, treaty ports and the translation of western medical works. Chinese doctors began to be educated in Western medicine and even sent abroad to study. With the influence of Western medicine the practice of Chinese medicine, based on time honored tradition, continued to evolve throughout the period from 1840 to 1911. The physician Zhu Peiwen, author of Huayang Zangxiang Yuezuan (1892) conceptualized a comparative understanding of the organs based on Chinese and Western concepts. He decided that there were both advantages and disadvantages to Chinese and western approaches.

From 1911 to 1949 with the establishment of the People’s Republic the nationalist government under Sun Yat-sen declared in 1924 that China must ‘grasp the initiative and not remain backward’. Since Sun Yat-sen received western-styled medical training, he probably was a strong advocate of establishing western medicine as the premiere medical approach. There were considerable benefits in improved public hygiene, especially in urban areas with clear running water and the establishment of a central bureau to help combat epidemics. In rural China, however, traditional Chinese medicine continued to be practiced by itinerant Barefoot Doctors whose training was on the basis of student apprenticeship.

It was the vision of Chairman Ma Zedong who declared Traditional Chinese Medicine a national treasure and stated that ‘we must strive to explore it fully and raise it to a higher level’. As a result Traditional Chinese Medicine represents an attempt to rationalize Chinese Medicine with western scientific medicine, by initiating state sponsored research of herbs and treatments and downplaying the role of Taoist-Buddhist psycho-spiritual practices. With the introduction of TCM in the west there is currently a renewed interest in the value and reintegration of psycho-spiritual orientation for the treatment of disease.

BRIEF BACKGROUND & HISTORY OF AYURVEDA

Ayurveda is the term for the traditional medicine of ancient India. Ayur means life and veda means the study of, which is the origin of the term. The Vedas are the earliest sacred books of India of which there are four: Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharva-veda. While there was really no Veda called Ayurveda, Susruta, one of the earliest and most celebrated doctors of Ayurveda and the author of one of the classic texts, the Susruta Samhita, calls Ayurveda an upanga or minor Veda of the Atharva-Veda.

The earliest Vedic texts, dating from 1500-1200 BC were especially concerned with aging, various afflictions, the prescription of cures involving prayers and herbal medicines. Later Ayurvedic concepts and descriptions derive from the early Vedic perspective of the make-up of the human being.

As with all medical knowledge, Ayurveda is originated from the combination of empirical knowledge handed down by word of mouth from one generation to the next and the meditation of learned sages. The Caraka Samhita, the classic text of Ayurveda, depicts the gathering of famous healers and sages with the Indian god of healing, Dhanwantari, expounding on the principles of health and healing.

Ayurveda may well be the source for universal Planetary principles of healing throughout the ancient world based on balance and harmony with nature and the utilization of therapeutic diet, herbs, rituals, various physio-therapies. These principles were accordingly modified as they became modified by the different cultures, customs and geographical conditions. In Tibetan medicine, for instance, we see an obvious blend of Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine, with the use of herbs, the principles of Five Elements, the Three Humours, acupuncture and moxibustion, all characteristic of Traditional Chinese Medicine and found to a varying extent in Ayurveda.

Today, with the growing appreciation of traditional Asian culture and spiritual disciplines such as Yoga and meditation, there is a general renewal of interest perhaps because many consider that Ayurveda, represents a much closer connection to spiritual principles of healing. This, in contrast to Traditional Chinese Medicine, from which the overtones of spiritual Taoism has been expunged by the communists in recent times, and in the materialistic orientation. As Traditional Chinese Medicine reintegrates its Taoist orientation, and Western holistic medicine reintegrates body-mind principles of healing, there is a path where all systems of medicine are once again rediscovering their psycho- spiritual roots with physical holistic medicine.(www.planetherbs.com)

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE OF CHINESE

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 08:08:00 +0000

Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is the oldest, continually practiced, literate medicine in the world. Its written literature dates back 2,500 years, but the actual practice of this ancient holistic medicine is undoubtedly much older. Some estimate TCM to be at least 5,000 years old.

TCM is not "folk medicine." It is an intricate and precise system of health care, born from the efforts of China's brightest minds to understand the secrets of the body. These scholars recorded their theories, experiences, observations, and results from generation to generation. Indeed, at the start of the 20th Century, there were 30-40,000 books already in existence. Since that time, thousands of additional texts and articles have been written and published throughout Asia and the United States. As we enter the next century, even more extensive research and clinical experiences are being catalogued and written about by today's practitioners.

"Do you remember how electrical currents and 'unseen waves' were laughed at?
The knowledge about man is still in its infancy."
Albert Einstein

How Does TCM Work?

TCM is based on the principle that Qi (chee), also known as Energy or Life Force and Xue (shoo), otherwise known as Blood, flow through the body along specific pathways. These pathways are called Meridians, and they cover the body in much the same way that nerves and blood vessels do. The flow of Qi and Xue regulate health. TCM allows Qi to flow to areas where it is Deficient, and away from areas where it is Excess. By adjusting and managing the flow of Qi, TCM restores and maintains the harmony of the body.

Unlike western medicine, which tends to treat solely on the basis of physical symptoms, TCM considers the whole picture. Your emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being are all equally important pieces of your health puzzle. Your mental outlook, sleep patterns, physical activities, digestion, particular cravings, and even a "sluggishness" of spirit, among other factors, are integral to an overall diagnosis of your condition. TCM recognizes your body as an entire organism, with all its functions, interconnected and interrelated. TCM is truly a holistic approach to health.

What health problems can be treated by TCM?

TCM treats the full range of diseases, making it a wise choice for treating acute or chronic conditions, trauma, infections and internal disorders. TCM is an especially excellent choice at the beginning of any illness or disease. It is also a viable alternative for many conditions western medicine fails to understand, such as autoimmune disorders and menopause. Indeed, this ancient holistic medicine is even effective in treating today's epidemic of anxiety and stress.

In some cases, where a disease is extremely virulent, and there are already serious changes in organic tissue, TCM, by itself, is not always powerful or fast enough to make a difference. In these certain specific instances, western medicine is an appropriate choice. Yet even during those times, Chinese Medicine is a good companion, offering relief from the side effects of powerful, western drugs and therapies. For example, TCM used in conjunction with chemotherapy, counteracts hair loss and nausea.

In a recent study, The National Institute of Health found acupuncture effective in treating "adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in post operative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low pack pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful..."

What's more, The World Health Organization has said that acupuncture is effective in treating eye, ear, nose, and throat disorders, ranging from sinus problems, earaches, bronchial asthma, and uncomplicated cataracts.

TCM is skilled in treating acute conditions, such as the flu and common cold, as well as chronic disorders, such as gynecological problems, allergies, and degenerative diseases due to aging.

Gastrointestinal diseases are also handled by TCM. Problems with digestion, stomach inflammation, duodenal ulcers, colon problems, constipation, diarrhea, Crohn's disease, and irritable bowel are all capably handled by Chinese Medicine..

TCM helps nervous system and muscular disorders. Headaches, migraines, nerve pain, weakness after a stroke, sports or occupational injuries, and sciatica are are helped through TCM.

Pregnant women can take Chinese herbs when they are prescribed by a professional TCM practitioner. This holistic system treats complaints and disorders occurring during pregnancy without risk of harm to either mother or child.

Pediatrics is a specialty within TCM. There are special prepared pediatric medicines used to treat common discomfort, such as colic or fussiness from teething. TCM is also well practiced in treating earaches, diarrhea, coughs, colds, and fevers in babies and children.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mystical.
It is the source of all true art and science."
Albert Einstein

What to expect

An initial examination follows a somewhat different format than western medicine. First, and just like western medicine, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine is interested in your complete medical history, family health history, and, of course, any acute condition you're currently suffering from.

Then, the TCM examination starts to vary from the western model. Attention is paid to your face, body, and your tongue, particularly its color and coating. A Doctor of Oriental Medicine also listens to the sound of your voice and breath.

The next aspect of the examination is based on pulse. A Doctor of Oriental Medicine listens to more than your heart rate. Palpating the pulse on both wrists, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine assesses the condition of all the organs' vitality, by attuning to the flow of Qi.

The entire TCM examination is based on discovering what imbalances exist and how to reestablish your personal harmony. From the first examination TCM approaches your health with an attitude of strengthening and supporting the flow of Qi. When Qi is strong, your entire system strikes a harmonious chord. That harmony translates into a vigorous immune system, capable of resisting illness.

What methods are used in the practice of TCM?

Most of us tend to stereotype this ancient health-care system as a "needles only" approach. But Chinese Medicine includes a broad spectrum of treatment alternatives. The two major methods of treatment are acupuncture and herbs.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the insertion of fine needles into the body at specific points along the Meridians. These points have been studied and mapped by the Chinese over the long history of TCM. Most recently, electromagnetic research is proving and confirming their locations.

Sterilized, individually packaged, disposable needles made of surgical steel are used in every treatment. No needles are saved and reused for later treatments.

Herbs

Herbs play a leading role in creating health and balance. It's important to be discriminating about herbs. While a specific herb may be effective in treating one patient, that doesn't necessarily imply it will have the same effect on another. Again, TCM is about your individual needs.

I exercise great care in choosing the herbal brands I recommend. I caution people against using certain brands easily found on the market. There's no way of assessing what many of these products actually contain. The herbs I suggest using are exact in their composition, effective, easily assimilated, and free of toxins. I want you to use herbs that are safe and reliable.

Unlike western herbal medicine which treats on the basis of symptoms, Chinese herbal medicine is based on your individual diagnosis. This means you receive a custom written herbal prescription designed to treat both your immediate symptoms, and the underlying causal pattern.

Most Chinese herbs have a very low toxicity compared to over the counter western drugs. If the formula is written correctly, there are no side effects. If you experience any discomfort while taking your formula, you should tell me, and I will modify your prescription.

In acute conditions, results can be expected almost immediately. Chronic conditions may take longer to correct, but results should be seen within the first several weeks. Although some chronic conditions could require taking your Chinese herbal formula for a long time, early indications that it is working should be apparent to you from the very start.

Non-Needle Alternatives

There are also several supporting alternate methods used to supplement treatment or used when needles are not an option. For example, acupressure, Chinese bodywork (Tui Na), electro stim, cupping, counseling, and moxabustion are used when needed. Diet and life-style counseling are also important facets in any overall plan.

A Treatment Plan

The number and frequency of treatments varies according to your condition. Some acute conditions can be cleared up in a single treatment. Chronic problems may require a series of treatments. A degenerative condition could require many treatments over a long period of time.

Two additional thoughts on treatment plans: First, neither acute nor chronic conditions are the only reason to experience the benefits of TCM. Some people schedule regular weekly or monthly treatments in order relieve the stresses and strains of daily life. Second, regular treatments allow your body to build strong Qi. Strong Qi is a key ingredient in prevention.

After your initial examination and first treatment, I'll prepare a treatment plan. Naturally, I'll want to discuss the nature of your problem and the treatment I'm recommending. Time will be spent assessing your overall condition and any other recommendations I may have about keeping your body strong and healthy. As part of every treatment, I'll be asking lots of questions about how you're feeling and what, if any, symptoms are still bothersome.(soul-centered-healing.com)

THE MEDICAL PLANT

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 07:32:00 +0000

Explore the Medicinal Plant Wealth of Van Vihar at Potter's Hill

“Traditional Knowledge or ‘local knowledge’ is a record achievement in comprehending the complexities of life and survival in often unfriendly environments. This knowledge was obtained as part of the great human experiment of survival and development.” It provides the basis for problem solving strategies for local communities. Traditional Himalayan medicine is one such example, which has affected the lives of poor people around the globe. “According to an estimate of the World Health Organisation, approximately 80% of the people in developing countries depend on traditional medicine for primary health care needs.

Since time immemorial, people have gathered plant and animal resources for their needs. These include edible nuts, mushrooms, fruits, herbs, spices, gums, game, fodder, fibres used for construction of shelter and housing, clothing or utensils, and plant or animal products for medicinal, cosmetic or cultural uses. Among these uses, medicinal plants play a central role, not only as traditional medicines used in many cultures, but also as trade commodities which meet the demand of often distant-markets. In simple words Medicinal Plants are those plant species, which are commonly used in the treatment and prevention of specific ailments and diseases. These plants have traditionally occupied an important position in our socio-cultural lives, especially in the rural areas.

We in Himachal have a rich repository of medicinal wealth, which occupies an important place in the Vedas [Sanjivni]. It has been the abode of Rishis and Munies, like Vyasa, Bhardwaja, Kalidas and the legendary Pandavas. Ayurveda has had its origin in Himachal, with the first ever seminar being held here. (Charak Samhita). Jantras, mantras coupled with herbs are still being used to cure peelia, snake/scorpion bites, rabies, bone fractures, gangrene, body pains, eczema. Childbirth, etc.

Potters Hill is a place, rich in medicinal plant diversity. Van Vihar and its surroundings with sub temperate to temperate forest has a collection of more than 50 species of minor and major medicinal herbs. It was felt opportune to compile a few medicinal plants to educate the general community in large. A small but much needed gesture to disperse knowledge and lay emphasis on the sustainable use of our natural resources.

Punica granatum L.
Family: Punicaceae
Common Names: Wild Pomegranate, Daroo, Daran, Darmu.
Large shrub or small tree, often armed. Flowers are bright red, tubular having numerous stamens. Fruit being globular with a crown like appendage.
Medicinal Use: Paste of its green leaves is applied on eyes for conjunctivitis. Leaf juice is given during dysentery. Whereas, its fruit rind is useful in chronic dysentery and diarrhoea. Bark of its roots and stems is used against tapeworms. Seed pulp is also used as laxative. Fruit rind is used as an astringent in diarrhoea and dysentery. An important ingredient of Lavan Bhaskar Churan.

Berberis aristata DC.
Family: Berberidaceae.
Common Names: Kashmal, Kamoshar, Kashmbal, Rasonth, Daru-Haldi, Daru-Haridra, Kando.
Thorny deciduous shrub with pale rough furrowed bark. Wood and roots yellow from inside. Leaves fascicled in the axils of simple or branched spines. Flowers yellow in compound racemes. Fruits grey white when young, bluish when ripe.
Medicinal Use: Its properties are analogous to that of turmeric. Useful in curing various skin diseases, diarrhoea, jaundice and eye affections. It is also used in chronic uterine troubles, piles and in cholera. Dry fruits act as a mild laxative for children.

Dioscorea deltoidea Wall. ex Kunth.
Family: Dioscoreaceae
Common Names: Wild Yam, Shingli-Mingli, Kinz.
An extensive rhizomatic climber with stems twining to the left. Rhizomes are horizontal, greyish brown with rigid scattered roots on them. Leaves are stalked, cordate and acute. Fruits three winged.
Medicinal Use: An important plant for the pharmaceutical industry, used mainly as a source of steroidal harmones. Used in the preparation of injections and tablets for use in modern medicines like, birth-control-pills. It is also used to treat rheumatic pains, allergies and certain ophthalmic disorders.

Plantago Major Wall. Ex Kunth.
Family: Plantaginaceae.
Common Names: Psyllium or Indian Plantain, Common Plantain, Jangli Isabgol.
“Plantago” is derived from a Latin word meaning “sole of the foot.” A Perennial plant, which sprouts anew from its fibrous taproot around mid-spring. The oval, ribbed, short-stemmed leaves form basal rosettes, which tend to hug the ground. The flower stalks bear densely packed greenish white flowers each of which will become a small capsule-like seedpad containing numerous seeds.
Medicinal Uses: Has been used as a cough remedy and a laxative. The broad leaves can be used as a remedy for wounds and inflamed areas, and in rural areas are used to treat insect bites and bruises. A tea made from either the leaves or the whole plant and taken internally has been used to treat lung disorders and stomach problems. This same tea may be used as a mouthwash to treat sours in the mouth and toothaches.

Taraxacum officinale Wigg.
Family: Asteraceae
Common Names: Common Dandelion, Dugdapheni, Dudhli, Dudal, Kanphul.
This herb is common throughout the Temperate Himalaya. Small herbaceous plant with milky juice and a bright golden yellow solitary flower. Leaves all basal, variable in shape, irregularly pinnatifid and toothed. Pappus while, hairy.
Medicinal Uses: Useful remedy for chronic disorders of the kidneys and liver, therefore it is an important ingredient of liver tonics and other preparations. Besides regulating blood sugars, it is also useful for gallstones, jaundice and muscular rheumatism. In Chinese system of medicine it is used against breast cancer.

Valeriana jatamansi Jones.
Family: Valerianaceae
Common Names: Indian Valerian, Mushkbala, Naknihani, Nihani, Sugandhbala, Tagger.
Erect pubescent, aromatic herbs with big demand from the Dhoop industry. Rootstock thick, horizontal with thick descending fibrous roots. Basal leaves long stalked, ovate-orbiculate, toothed or wavy-margined and pilose, stem leaves few, much smaller. Flowers white or pink tinged, in terminal corymbs, on nearly leafless stems; fruit crowned with a persistent pappus like calyx.
Medicinal Uses: Used in Ayurveda for multiple preparations. The drug valerian is obtained from the roots, which is regarded as aphrodisiac, antiseptic, cardiac stimulant, carminative, diuretic, expectorant, febrifuge, nervine tonic, ophthalmic and sedative. The crushed leaves are applied to the forehead in extreme headache.

Prunus cerasoides D. Don.
Family: Rosaceae
Common Names: Himalayan Wild Cherry, Padmakha, Pajja, Paddam.
A medium sized attractive, deciduous tree. It is the only flowering tree in winters, January – February. Flowers pinkish White. Bark is smooth, brown. Fruit is ovoid, yellow, turning red on ripening.
Medicinal Uses: All members of this genus produce hydrogen cyanide, a toxin. This toxin is found mainly in the leaves and seed and is bitter in taste. It is usually present in too small a quantity to do any harm. In small amounts this exceedingly poisonous compound stimulates respiration, improve digestion and gives a sense of well-being. It is also claimed to be beneficial in the treatment of cancer.

Oxalis corniculata L.
Family: Oxalidaceae
Common Names: Wood Sorrel, Alori, Changeri, Khat-mith, Umalori.
Common herb along trails and open slopes. Stems spreading, hairy, rooting at nodes. Leaves with three heart shaped hairy leaflets. Flowers yellow, solitary or 2-5 n stalked axillary umbels.
Medicinal Uses: Aerial parts of the herb are ground to a fine paste with black pepper and applied to boils, abscesses, wounds and weeping eczems. Leaf juice is also used to cure eye cataract and warts removal.

Thymus linearisL.
Family: Lamiaceae
Common Names: Wild Thyme, Banajwain, Jangli ajwain, Masho, Hasha, Pangdumna.
Small spreading, extremely aromatic, often forming dense tufted mats. Leaves numerous, tiny, elliptic oblong, entire, gland dotted. Flowers in small whorls of purple to pink, crowded into short dense terminal clusters.
Medicinal Uses: The leaves and floral shoots are used for the treatment of whooping cough, epilepsy, urine and menstrual problems. Its infusion is used in the treatment of itching and skin eruptions. But the most popular use in the hills is the stomach complaints, cough and cold. It forms an important ingredient of gargles, mouthwashes and toothpastes.

Viola pilosa Blume
Family: Violaceae
Common Names: Violet, Banafsha, Banaksha.
Small hairy herbs with short tufted rootstock. Stems short, but distinct, often producing runners. Leaves ovate-cordate, crenate-serrate, stipules present. Flowers violet, blue or at times white.
Medicinal Uses: The entire plant is taken and boiled in milk till it become gelatinous. Bandage is made from it and used as poultice for wounds. It is boiled in water and the decoction taken for relief in cough, cold and chest congestion.

Duschesnia indica (Andrews) Focke
Family: Rosaceae
Common Names: Wild strawberry, Bulbaso, bhuin, aakhe, kophal.
The small plants bearing bright-red fruits are commonly found at cool and shady locations in wastelands as well as in the cultivated fields. The plant resembles the strawberry to a great extent. It has trifoliate leaves like its cousin the strawberry, and also spreads via stolons, but this common ground cover has yellow flowers. The flowering, starts from the third week of March and continues up to the end of June. Fruiting starts from the beginning of April and continues up to the end of August.
Medicinal Uses: Children eat the small fruits. They are, not popular, as they lack sweetness and have a flat taste. No specific medicinal value, but owing to the fibrous nature of the fruit it aids digestion.

Hypericum perforatum I.
Family: Hypericaceae
Common Names: St. John’s Wort, Bassant.
Perforatum is Latin for “perforated”. The leaves of Hypericum perforatum, when held to the light, reveal translucent dots, giving the impression that the leaf is perforated. The dots are not holes in the leaf, but a layer of colorless essential plant oils and resin. The flowers are a bright yellow-orange. The petals are peppered with black dots. When the black dots are rubbed between the fingers, the fingers become red. This species is being cultivated commercially.
Medicinal Uses: Used in sunburn oil as cosmetic protection to skin. Oil obtained from its fresh flowers, in combination of olive oil is used externally for sores, wounds, ulcers and swellings. Also used in hair-restorer preparations.

Solanum surattense Burm.f.
Family: Solanaceae
Common Names: Yellow-berried nightshade, Kanthikari, Chitrankaayi, Kandankathiri.
Herbs, prostate, prickly, stems zigzag, Leaves simple, prickly, ovate or elliptic, lobed, base acute, apex obtuse. Flowers violet, in few flowered cymes. Berries globose, green turning golden yellow.
Medicinal Uses: Fruits eaten as an anthelmintic and for indigestion. Root is an expectorant, used in Ayurvedic medicine for cough, asthma, chest pain. Also used for flatulence, sore throat, and toothache. Has high concentration of solasodine, a starting material for the manufacture of cortisone and sex hormones.

Prunella vulgaris L.
Family: Lamiaceae
Common Names: Common Self-Heal, All Heal, Austakhandus, Ustakhandus.
Small annual herb of moist locations, with numerous, spreading or ascending stems. Leaves opposite, ovate to obtuse, hairy. Flowers bright blue-violet, at times white or light pink, in dense cylindrical terminal heads. Broad ovate, purplish, overlapping bracts, with purplish calyx, lies below the flower head.
Medicinal Uses: Used in fever and cough. Leaves coated with castor oil, warmed over fire are applied to cure painful piles. Infusion is used as mouthwash. A German saying goes as “He needs neither physician nor surgeon, that hath self-heal to help himself”.

Solena amplexicaulis (Lam.) Gandhi
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Common Names: Creeping cucumber, Mohkari, Tarali, Van Kakri.
Scadent herb with tuberous roots. Leaves polymorphic. Flowers small, yellow. Fruit oblong, indehiscent, red when ripe, edible.
Medicinal Uses: Root is stimulant and purgative. Leaf has anti-inflamatory properties as regards rashes. It helps maintain a healthy skin and is an important ingredient of skin conditioning lotions.

Rubus ellipticus Sm.
Family: Asteraceae
Common Names: Himalayan Yellow Raspberry, Golden Raspberry, Ainselu, Hinsar, Rasbhari.
Stout evergreen shrub with prickly stems. Leaves thick about 3-4 inches wide, divided into roughly three equal robes with toothed leaf margins and inch-long leaf stalks that are densely covered with prickles. The flowers are white and occurs in short, terminal panicles. The fruit is yellow, edible and highly sought after.
Medicinal Uses: It is relished in summers, to promote perspiration and urination. It also controls dysentery and being fibrous it aids in digestion.(hpforest.nic.in/potter.htm)

TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 05:05:00 +0000

Traditional Chinese medicine is still widely practiced in Taiwan.

Traditional Medicine

Chinese medicine has gained popularity in the West over recent years. It is based on the belief that the body will recover from illness when the person's Yin and Yang energies and Qi energy are in balance.

A wide range of Traditional therapies are available in Taiwan, including:
Acupuncture (using needles to activate change in the body) , Herbalism (traditional herbal remedies), Nutrition or food therapy, Cupping (applying heated cups to draw energy and toxins from the body), Qigong exercises, Gua Sha or coin-rubbing, Acupressure and various styles of massage such as Tuina and Sonopuncture or phonophorese--the

A phonophorese therapist

use of sound vibration on acupoints.

The theory and philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine is that if all the energies are in balance, the body heals as a natural outcome; the energy is the foundation of the body as well as the mind.(www.go2taiwan.net)

HERBAL MEDICINE

noreply@blogger.com (traditional healthy) — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 04:53:00 +0000

Herbal medicine

Regulatory Status of Herbal Medicine Worldwide

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4 billion people--80 percent of the world population--use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care (Farnsworth et al., 1985). Herbal medicine is a major component in all indigenous peoples' traditional medicine and is a common element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional oriental, and Native American Indian medicine.

The sophistication of herbal remedies used around the world varies with the technological advancement of countries that produce and use them. These remedies range from medicinal teas and crude tablets used in traditional medicine to concentrated, standardized extracts produced in modern pharmaceutical facilities and used in modern medical systems under a physician's supervision.

about herbal medicine

History of Herbal Medicine

Early humans recognized their dependence on nature in both health and illness. Led by instinct, taste, and experience, primitive men and women treated illness by using plants, animal parts, and minerals that were not part of their usual diet. Physical evidence of use of herbal remedies goes back some 60,000 years to a burial site of a Neanderthal man uncovered in 1960 (Solecki, 1975). In a cave in northern Iraq, scientists found what appeared to be ordinary human bones. An analysis of the soil around the bones revealed extraordinary quantities of plant pollen that could not have been introduced accidentally at the burial site. Someone in the small cave community had consciously gathered eight species of plants to surround the dead man. Seven of these are medicinal plants still used throughout the herbal world (Bensky and Gamble, 1993). All cultures have long folk medicine histories that include the use of plants. Even in ancient cultures, people methodically and scientifically collected information on herbs and developed well-defined herbal pharmacopoeias. Indeed, well into the 20th century much of the pharmacopoeia of scientific medicine was derived from the herbal lore of native peoples. Many drugs, including strychnine, aspirin, vincristine, taxol, curare, and ergot, are of herbal origin. About one-quarter of the prescription drugs dispensed by community pharmacies in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived from plant material (Farnsworth and Morris, 1976).

Middle East medicine. The invention of writing was a focus around which herbal knowledge could accumulate and grow. The first written records detailing the use of herbs in the treatment of illness are the Mesopotamian clay tablet writings and the Egyptian papyrus. About 2000 B.C., King Assurbanipal of Sumeria ordered the compilation of the first known materia medica--an ancient form of today's United States Pharmacopoeia--containing 250 herbal drugs (including garlic, still a favorite of herbal doctors). The Ebers Papyrus, the most important of the preserved Egyptian manuscripts, was written around 1500 B.C. and includes much earlier information. It contains 876 prescriptions made up of more than 500 different substances, including many herbs (Ackerknecht, 1973).

Greece and Rome. One of the earliest materia medica was the Rhizotomikon, written by Diocles of Caryotos, a pupil of Aristotle. Unfortunately, the book is now lost. Other Greek and Roman compilations followed, but none was as important or influential as that written by Dioscorides in the 1st century A.D., better known by its Latin name De Materia Medica. This text contains 950 curative substances, of which 600 are plant products and the rest are of animal or mineral origin (Ackerknecht, 1973). Each entry includes a drawing, a description of the plant, an account of its medicinal qualities and method of preparation, and warnings about undesirable effects.

Muslim world. The Arabs preserved and built on the body of knowledge of the Greco-Roman period as they learned of new remedies from remote places. They even introduced to the West the Chinese technique of chemically preparing minerals. The principal storehouse of the Muslim materia medica is the text of Jami of Ibn Baiar (died 1248 A.D.), which lists more than 2,000 substances, including many plant products (Ackerknecht, 1973). Eventually this entire body of knowledge was reintroduced to Europe by Christian doctors traveling with the Crusaders. Indeed, during the Middle Ages, trade in herbs became a vast international commerce.

East India. India, located between China and the West, underwent a similar process in the development of its medicine. The healing that took place before India's Ayurvedic medical corpus was similar to that of ancient Egypt or China (i.e., sickness was viewed as a punishment from the gods for a particular sin). Ayurvedic medicine emerged during the rise of the philosophies of the Upanishads, Buddhism, and other schools of thought in India. Herbs played an important role in Ayurvedic medicine. The principal Ayurvedic book on internal medicine, the Characka Samhita, describes 582 herbs (Majno, 1975). The main book on surgery, the Sushruta Samhita, lists some 600 herbal remedies. Most experts agree that these books are at least 2,000 years old.(medicinesherbal.com)