Health News Blog

There is nothing worse than the tired, dull, heavy feeling that comes with constipation.  It is the result of auto-intoxication.  Put simply, food lying and stagnating too long in the bowel produces toxins.  Because elimination is slow, there is nowhere else for the toxins to go but through the bowel wall and back into the bloodstream.

The result of self-poisoning is heaviness, bad breath, coated tongue, and strain on the eliminating organs, such as the liver and kidneys - and that’s putting it mildly.

Laxatives don’t get at the root of the problem. If the problem is of long standing, a good Detox would be a good start.  But what’s really needed then is to get the bowel and the other organs of elimination working properly. The best way is to get into the habit of feeding your body foods that assist it to eliminate and also provide it with real nourishment for the cells and organs.  If you take the little extra effort with food shopping and preparation, you will reap huge rewards, including the knowledge that you are in control of your health at last.

Constipation Makers

White flour and sugar top the list.  Avoid sugar whenever you can and replace white flour with wholemeal and/or other grains and seeds. Note: artificial sweeteners are toxic and therefore taboo.

Meats and cheese taken without fibre can also be constipating, because they are such concentrated proteins. Make sure you get plenty of fibre with them.  Though apples alone are not enough, cheese and apples eaten together are delicious!

How To Deal With Constipation - Fibre

Vegetables are a good source of fibre, and so are sunflower seeds - grind them in the coffee grinder.  On the CONSTIPATION page of this blog, I’ve listed the best natural sources of fibre - and the great thing is they all have heaps of other health benefits too.

You can start off by building fibre and other healthful ingredients into whatever food you are already making. Try baking grated carrot into a loaf (without tons of sugar - carrot has its own sweetness.  Add a bit of blackstrap molasses if you must, that’s helpful for constipation, too). Be creative and adapt your favorite recipes - it’s a learning process. Treat it as an adventure.

Here’s what I did to keep my mother regular:

I limited my use of white flour to a very small quantity, used only when making bread.  When I baked bread my ideal recipe for my mom was a quarter white, a quarter sunflower seeds (ground) or grated carrot and half wholemeal flour. The sunflower seeds are very good for keeping things moving, as well as being healthful - up to a quarter of the ingredients by bulk.  The only reason I used white flour at all was because she didn’t like the bits of roughage in wholemeal flour, so it was a concession.

We very often ate muffins instead of bread.  I made muffins using sunflower seeds, coconut (another handy standby) and a little potato flour or wholemeal. Sometimes I made them with oatbran and potato flour, or with grated carrot.  Another grain I kept on hand was ground millet.  You can also add ground sesame seeds, which as well as being very healthful and excellent for the bowel, are great for preventing baked goods from going mouldy quickly.

Sesame seeds have been regarded as a highly nourishing source of food for centuries, going back to ancient Egypt and China. The Greeks issued them as emergency rations to the soldiers in their armies, which speaks volumes. In the 5th century BC, Hippoctrates, the father of medicine, advocated their use and later in the first century Dioscorides commented that sesame “deals with the griefs of the colon” - note!   I still use quite a lot of those - often a cupful in a batch of muffins (grind them first). They are also yummy ground and sprinkled on steamed veggies.  Use plenty.

Getting Flavor Into Your Food

Understand that your tastebuds can get jaded with the likes of sugar and salt, so when you first cut down, they feel deprived.  Just stick with it, and you’ll enjoy your foods better in the long run.  I can actually taste the sugar in tinned foods like beans and spaghetti - and I hate it!

With muffins you can add ginger (good for digestion and dizziness) or vanilla (real) to give extra flavor.  You can also add real fruit, but beware of canned fruit and don’t use sugar or artificial sweeteners - use a bit of blackstrap molasses instead.  If you have to, take this change gradually, keep cutting back on sugar till you phase it out altogether.

When You Have No Option

If you keep your white flour consumption at home really, really low, when you do buy takeaways for a change (maybe a pie, a pizza or a quiche), or when you go visiting, the main part of your diet will compensate for it. I kept very little white flour in the house and white sugar was absolutely taboo.  Fortunately, my mom never took sugar in her tea, never ate sweets and always preferred savory foods.

This diet may not be so easy for some people.  Giving up sweets, cakes and sugar may come a bit hard, until you reflect on how far this rubbish is from the foods we were designed to eat and how much damage it does to the body.  If your’e in any doubt, please click below:

Why Bleached Flour May be Worse than Chlorinated Water

Sugar - Food Profile

The Dangers of Sugar

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Well, I’m going to tackle the “unmentionable”, because I think whilst constipation is the problem no-one talks about, there’s a lot of it around, and getting on top of it is really one of the basic keys to good health.

I have recently put together some information about dealing with constipation for my Alzheimers Carer Blog and it got me thinking how much of a problem constipation can be for many people - not just the elderly.  So I’m going to adapt the slant of the information and include it here too.

If you happen to be caring for an elderly person, I really recommend you visit my posts on The Alzheimers Carer also, and get the special insights for the elderly there.

Please Understand the Following about Constipation:

Constipation is not an unavoidable result of getting older.
Constipation isn’t an unavoidable result of reduced mobility.
Constipation does not have to be treated by the ongoing use of laxatives.

Laxatives are damaging to your health and they do nothing to encourage normal functioning of the bowel.  In fact, the continued use of laxatives deprives the bowel of the tone it needs to function properly. Using laxatives is simply avoiding the issue.

The only real solution is to understand what causes constipation and deal with the cause rather than trying to fix the effect.  So follow the advice in this set of posts and on the CONSTIPATION Page of this blog to establish normal bowel function naturally.  The benefits will be enormous. Sorry to be blunt, but your health depends on you going at least once a day.

What Causes Constipation?

Without a shadow of a doubt the most constipating things on this planet are white flour and white sugar. They are constipating firstly because they have been stripped of all the natural fibre in the foods they are derived from, and secondly because they have been stripped of all the natural elements (vitamins, minerals, enzymes etc) that might help the body to digest them effectivsly.  So in both areas they are quite simply a huge tax on the digestion.  That’s without even thinking of the toxic chemicals used in their production.

Now think about the average diet and ask yourself how much white flour and white sugar there is in it - breakfast cereal, bread, cakes, pastries, cookies, bars, pies, pasta, pizza, puddings, dessert, custard, ice cream, canned fruit, soft drinks - it goes on and on and on.  In addition, if food manufacturers have any doubts about how appealing their product might be, they throw in some white sugar for good measure.  They do this with anything and everything, even canned vegetables, spaghetti and sausages, you name it - just check the labels and you’ll see.

Per capita sugar consumption in the USA is estimated at an average of 130 pounds of sugar per person per year, or about 1/3 pound daily. Most people are totally unaware if how much sugar they consume.  And of course, white sugar and white flour are staples in most kitchens.  Hospital kitchens included - Oh My!

I was able to keep my elderly mother (95 years of age and with very reduced mobility) constipation-free by feeding her a healthy diet, which I will describe shortly.  She went to the bathroom every day. However, she got constipated after a week on a hospital diet.  Maybe it’s not surprising.  The reason I am stressing this is because I know as people get older they tend to gravitate towards the “tea, toast, cookies and cakes” diet regime.

Younger People Too …

Younger people too can end up constipated through faulty diet - takeaways, sweets, soft drinks all lead down that road.  When you are young, you don’t feel the effects of it so much, but believe me, if you take this seriously and set yourself up on a constipation-free path of eating, you will thank yourself for it a hundred times as you get older.  Realize too that constipation could be affecting you now - like bad breath, poor skin, urinary problems - and you don’t need to be prone to constipation if you are starting a pregnancy either.

Understand a little about what your body needs to function well and take the common-sense step of feeding it properly.  Get rid of the fast foods habit and you will reap rewards.  Set yourself a foundation of wise feeding to help your own future.

Next post I’ll tell you how to keep constipation-free.

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Having the correct Acid/Alkaline balance of our body fluids is vital for health. Our correct blood pH is 7.4 - very slightly on the alkaline side of neutral. This is how we were designed to function and our body is forever striving to maintain that pH level.

What is The Importance of pH?

It is important to understand that the pH thing is not just a piece of fancy chemistry we don’t need to worry too much about. Here are just three simple reasons why:

• If our body pH sinks below 4.0. we die.
• Bacteria, viruses, fungi and all disease-producing organisms flourish in an acidic medium and die in alkaline conditions. The same is true of Cancer cells. So once our body pH starts to drop below neutral, we are opening the door for disease right there.
• All the many Enzymes required for every function in our bodies will not work under acid conditions.

So if we keep our body fluids alkaline, we are setting up the first line of defence against disease. More than that, if we already have disease in our bodies, changing our body pH from acid to alkaline is the first step towards ridding ourselves of whatever disease we have.

What Affects the Body’s pH?

Body pH is affected by many things - the foods we eat, the drinks we consume, stress, exposure to toxins and chemicals to name just a few. We have a measure of control over all these things - and in particular the foods and drinks we consume. So it makes sense to try and understand how different foods affect our body pH.

For example, Cola rates at 2.5 - way too low. For more information to help you understand pH balance, please read the following, on Health News

• Acidity, Disease and Cancer
• The 80/20 Alkaline-Acid Food Theory for Healthy Living
• Table of Acid/Alkaline Values of Some Common Foods
• Table of Acid/Alkaline Values of Some Common Liquids

Testing Your Body pH

It also makes sense to test your body pH - which will immediately show you where your body is at. You can do this by purchasing saliva pH testing paper, stocked in some health food stores and pharmacies. You need a narrow range pH paper measuring pH 4.5 to 7.5 or 8.5.Do the test about 10am - about 2 hrs after a meal and at the same time of the day every time you test. Rinse out your mouth and get a good flow of saliva. Insert the end of a paper onto your tongue for a few seconds then compare the color with the chart that comes with the pH paper.

Online sources of pH papers:
Healthtreasures.com pH papers - the second item on the page.

Wilderness Family Naturals - the wider range option is the best.

How to Improve Body pH

Make a list of the foods you consume regularly and check their pH values - you may be eating yourself to death literally! Think about your children also - check out the Acidity of Coca Cola and other soft drinks above! We have another source that confirms the pH of Coca Cola HERE.

Remember too that Enzymes are living substances and they require the correct pH range to enable them to function. Given the fact that our foods are most often short on enzymes anyway, it’s not a good idea to kill off those we actually do get into our bodies by providing an acid medium in your body.

For more about enzymes check out Enzymes - The Catalysts - Lack or non-functioning of enzymes leads to rapid ageing and fatigue and lays the foundation for chronic disease to develop.

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While on the subject of blood Pressure, here’s an interesting little tidbit from a medical journal:

Coffee Consumption and Blood Pressure

This study examines the relationship between coffee consumption and blood pressure. Results gathered from previous experimental studies on humans had been inconsistent, reporting either positive or negative correlations, or finding no association.

The relationship between habitual coffee consumption and blood pressure was investigated in an epidemiological study of 3336 male self-defense officials aged 48-56 in Japan. Average coffee consumption over the previous year was assessed via a questionnaire.

Findings indicated an inverse association between habitual coffee intake and blood pressure that were independent of obesity, glucose intolerance, smoking and alcohol consumption.

Intake of caffeine-containing green tea was unrelated to blood pressure.

The authors also found that progressively decreasing systolic and diastolic blood pressures matched increasing levels of coffee intake. Further studies are needed to understand the underlying mechanism of this response.

European Journal of Epidemiology 14 (1998)

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Improving Cholesterol Levels

Exercise, weight-reduction and stopping smoking are the prescribed methods for improving cholesterol levels. Another way to look after your heart and blood-pressure is by taking care with fats. But research has also revealed the role of aged garlic in balancing HDL and LDL in the blood.

This article comes from a piece of personal experience that I think might be worth sharing. Several years ago, I went for a thorough check-up at our local hospital, and part of the associated blood work was a cholesterol level check – something I had never had before.

When I returned for the reports, everything was fine. But one thing stood out. My doctor commented that my HDL / LDL levels were perfect – picture book, in fact. She seemed surprised, and so was I. Though I live as healthily as possible, and was certainly getting plenty of exercise at the time, it surprised me to have such a noteworthy report. I concluded that I might be fortunate in having a good HDL / LDL balance genetically.

HDL / LDL Balance - What It Means

You probably know that the balance of these two lipoproteins – high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein – is an indication of coronary health. Lipoproteins are formed in the liver by the binding of fats to proteins, to enable cholesterol to be carried in the bloodstream, which is water-based.

When too much low-density lipoprotein circulates in the blood, it allows cholesterol to build up as plaque on the arteries that feed the heart and brain, and the individual is at risk of coronary heart disease or a stroke. On the other hand, higher levels of high-density lipoprotein in the blood lower the risk of coronary heart disease, possibly by carrying cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it is processed for excretion from the body.

The more LDL-cholesterol you have in your blood, the greater your risk of heart disease. The higher your level of HDL-cholesterol, the better your prognosis is.

Garlic and HDL-Cholesterol

Some time later, I was researching garlic and had bought Garlic for Health by Benjamin Lau, MD, PhD, (1988 ISBN 0-941524-32-9), which deals specifically with research on aged garlic.  One of the areas he researched was the effect of aged garlic on regulating lipid metabolism. Perhaps the best way to make my point is by a brief quote from his text:

“In this part of the study, we differentiated between low-density lipoproteins, considered to be detrimental to health, and high-density lipoprotein, known to protect against heart-attack and stroke.  Those taking garlic experienced an initial rise in the level of LDL and VLDL.  The initial rise was followed by a significant drop beginning in the third month.  As the study progressed, subjects experienced an increase in HDL (high-density lipoprotein) (see Figure 6).  In other words, garlic can reduce the levels of  “bad” cholesterol while increasing the levels of “good” cholesterol.”  (Pp. 13-14).

The Light-Bulb Moment

Reading this gave me one of those light-bulb moments, because I regularly take aged garlic capsules, and was certainly taking them at the time I had the cholesterol level check. I was already a fan of aged garlic, for its antibacterial and antifungal effects – now it appeared there was another very good reason to take it in one’s diet.

For anyone trying to achieve a good HDL / LDL balance, exercise, weight-reduction and stopping smoking are the prescribed methods. All of these are vital to good health and should be implemented. But it’s nice to know you can support your dietary and exercise measures by taking an herb that was initially proved to work in at least 65% of cases.

What about the other 35%? This is where it gets interesting. I’ll quote Dr Lau again:

“Reviewing their dietary history, we discovered that they were heavy meat-eaters with diets consisting regularly of steak, pastries, and ice-cream, particularly during the evening meals. When we incorporated dietary modification for these individuals, lowering of lipids was then observed in those who were able to follow the recommended dietary changes. Our conclusion is that garlic should be used together with a good diet to achieve the best result.” (Pp. 15-16).

Caution

Note: In these tests, Dr Lau reported an initial “modest rise in cholesterol and triglycerides” in the first 2 months of the test as the aged garlic moved lipid deposits from the tissues, with normal serum lipid values being reached by 6 months. Be aware that this temporary result is to be expected if you have high LDL levels and are considering using aged garlic.

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Blood Pressure Medication

Here are some thoughts on the experience I’ve had with blood pressure, which I know is a huge concern to many people. We had never had problems with it in my immediate family until my mom had an accident and fell down the stairs about 5 years ago (no broken bones, thank goodness).  When they examined her at our local hospital they found her blood pressure was up and prescribed medication for it.

“Oh-Oh”

I picked up the medication from the pharmacy on the way home and once mom was settled I opened the packet. The first thing that caught my eye was a notice on the pack that said “DO NOT DISCONTINUE THIS MEDICATION”.

Alarm bells went off in my head immediately.  I rang the clinic to check up and the receptionist said, “Yes, once you are on that medication you have to stay on it”  - more and even louder alarm bells.

I got another appointment with the doctor and asked him if I could try to treat this naturally. He went rather red in the face, and asked me what I wanted to use.  I told him I had experience in alternative remedies and I wanted to try her on Garlic and Hawthorne capsules.  Rather grudgingly, he agreed to let me have a 3 months window to trial it.

Effect of Garlic and Hawthorne

Well, the upshot was that the hospital forgot about it, I put her on Garlic and Hawthorne capsules, and some six months later when a District Nurse was here we checked her blood pressure and it was found to be completly NORMAL. That would have been about 4 years before she died, and from then on, what with the visiting nurses and her admissions to hospital she would have had a pretty regular check kept on that blood pressure - and it remained normal until her final admission in February 2007, at which time it was “slightly elevated, but nothing to worry about.”

I have to add, that we do live on a healthy diet - for those blood pressure sufferers who are not adjusting their diet and don’t plan to, PLEASE don’t expect any kind of supplement to work a miracle.  You have to also take responsibility for your eating and lifestyle habits. But if you do that, then taking the right supplements can hep you greatly. 

I have a friend who used to own a service station and garage.  Because of the extreme black circles around her eyes, I felt concerned enough one day as I filled my tank to ask her if she had problems with her kidneys and she said yes - it was her blood pressure medication. She was in her early 50s.

Side-Effects of Medication

Now I ask you - how many people are put on medication and kept on it for the rest of their lives - medication that causes side effects of this magnitude?  It bears thinking about.  I am not a doctor and I would hate to look like I am advising people, but my own mother is a case in point.

At 94/95 years old whenever she went in for Respite Care for a week per month to give me a break, she was the only elderly person in our small rest home and hospital complex who was not on medication of some kind - and in some cases there was medication upon medication to stop the side effects of this or that drug. Stacks of pills. Stacks of chemicals. I used to watch the meds trolley doing its rounds and shudder. I was grateful my mother wasn’t part of it.  And frankly, I’m inclined to think that’s one reason she lived as long as she did.

People actually seem to use medication as a badge of honour.  “Oh yes, now they’ve got me on XXX.”  Or, “They’ve just changed my medication again to YYY.”  Hmmmm…

Pharmaceutical drugs are fine for emergency situations.  We have much to be grateful for there.  But I recently saw a video clip of some dolly-bird rep of a pharmaceutical company on US television openly stating that her company wanted everyone to know that they needed her company’s products to stay well.  As if the human body requires artificial chemicals to enable it to function normally and repair itself if given half a chance.  What rubbish - what arrant, arrogant, money-grubbing rubbish!

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

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I want to say one thing right up front here at the start. I am NOT a Representative or an Affiliate of ANY alternative health remedy marketing program. I am not writing this blog as a marketing ploy.

I have trialled a number of these programs in the past for myself - the products are overpriced for what they do, and in most cases the hype is unwarranted. The autoship and marketing requirements cause more stress than the product alleviates.

What I am going to be sharing here is simply information that I’ve gleaned from a lifetime in this arena, and also from 10 years as a lawyer working in the Government medico-legal field and more recently 7 years’ working sole charge part-time in a health store. I hope you find something here that will open your eyes to some at least of the truths behind how our wonderful bodies are constructed, and how to keep - or make - them well.

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Copyright © 1996-2009 Patricia Howitt and HealthNews-NZ.com
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My oldest website HealthNews-NZ has been in existence since Christmas 1996. It developed from a lifetime interest in natural health remedies, born out of 20 years grappling with a health challenge that the medical profession was unable to diagnose.  Needless to say, because they could not diagnose it, in their minds it did not exist, and I went through some degrading stuff on occasions, unfortunately.

My family turned to alternative remedies to try to help me, and by the time I was finally diagnosed with a long-term systemic candida infection, I was at my wits’ end.  This happened before the medical profession acknowledged the existence of candida, and I shall be forever grateful to a doctor with the insight to think outside the pharmaceutical trap that hamstrings Western medicine.

So when I came to the internet in July 1996 and started playing with websites and HTML, I was inspired to set up a website that would share what I’d learned over the years about wellness and natural health remedies with others.

This blog will be a continuation and an outreach for that site, and it will deal with many topics in the field of natural health and wellness, as it grows. I hope it helps people - with information and encouragement.

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Copyright © 1996-2009 Patricia Howitt and HealthNews-NZ.com
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