Aspirin / Ibuprofen

Aspirin and ibuprofen are painkillers that provide temporary relief for minor problems. If you take painkillers on a regular basis for headaches and aches and pains, it is important to remember that they are not getting at the primary cause for the pain, and are just masking the symptoms. For instance, if you take pain killers regularly for headaches, would it not be more effective to find out the cause of the headaches rather than relying on a band aid to cover up the symptoms?  

Unfortunately the use of aspirin or ibuprofen use does not come without potential side effects: stomach irritation, stomach bleeding, and ulcers, and increased intestinal hyper-permeability that can lead to allergies. These drugs also have effects outside of the role in relieving pain. Aspirin will knock out the clotting ability of your platelets, and will depress your body temperature thus preventing the body from mounting a fever if needed to deal with infections. Additionally all drugs are essentially toxins to the body, and need to be detoxified and eliminated by the liver and kidneys, causing increased stress on these already overworked organs. 

In many cases increasing the levels of essential fatty acids in the diet can go a long way in helping with pain and inflammation, the reasons why many people resort to pain killers such as aspirin or ibuprofen in the first place. 

Many times identifying key imbalances in the body can make a huge difference in the amount of painkillers you may need for your condition.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing.

Foods You Should Eat Everyday

Bach Flower: Heather

Heather And Self-Obsession

The Bach flower remedy Heather is the essence of sympathy and concern for others so you know that when a person is completely the opposite of this, he needs Heather and he needs it badly. You’ll know when this flower essence is needed because the self obsession is so obvious. I, me and myself in thought, word and deed is what characterizes these people. Most of us know people like this and they are usually never counted as belonging to one’s friends circle.

Physical

He can talk and talk and then talk some more. He never stops and it is always about himself. He’ll come into a group at a party or get together and he’ll very quickly hijack the conversation and steer it towards himself. He hates being alone and he loves company basically because he wants a
listening ear. He loves being the center of attention and if people quietly slip away from the group he is monopolizing, he’ll look around for a new group to bore. They tend to make a nuisance of themselves and have been known to physically hold on to you to make a point and you need to be really rude before they let go. Heather makes listeners out of these compulsive talkers.

Mental

His mind revolves around himself. He judges and sees everything from that perspective. He likes to dominate with words and he cannot think that everyone around him will not be interested in him and everything that concerns him. The gamut of his interests is himself, his work, his possessions and he just can’t see beyond that. All that he reads and thinks has something to do with him and this makes him exaggerate his successes as well as his failures. This self-obsession also makes him stretch the truth a bit, not really in a willful, lying manner but because he always makes himself to be more important than he is and this can change his memories.

Emotional

He gets terribly upset and hurt when he finds that people shun him and he honestly cannot understand why. There is something rather simple and child like about him even when he is so self centered. In all fairness, he will help someone who needs help but he will also talk about it to everyone making it out that he is a hero. This makes him an emotional drain for anyone he comes into contact with. Heather takes away this ‘I’ factor and makes him empathize more with people.

Spiritual

He is too self-obsessed to ever give himself over to a higher power. He sees himself as the center of the universe not as one of its creatures and this makes it hard for him to be very spiritual in the true sense of the word. His universe is small and comprises everything around with him as the center.
Heather makes him relax and see the beauty of everything around, feel the beauty within his soul apart from himself.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Foot Reflex Points

Changed Jobs

A recent change in your working environment is a source of significant stress of our body.

When a person is under a lot of stress, normal organ functions become compromised. The adrenal gland, which produce hormones that provide the stress response, are especially vulnerable. If a stress continues over a long period of time, the adrenal eventually begin to weaken in their ability to keep up, and symptoms of the adrenal hypo-function appear. The class is repsone to a stressful situation is the “fight of flight response”. The blood supply to skeletal and heart muscles, brain, skin and lungs increases. The body evolved to use the “fight or flight response” very infrequently. Unfortunately in our modern lifestyle our body has to deal with Fight or Flight type responses to stressful situation on a regular, if not daily basis. During this response the blood supply to the kidneys, liver, stomach, and intestines diminishes. As a result, digestion, detoxification, and elimination are reduced.

Stress also increases your nutritional requirements. Increased stress leads to a increased demand for B vitamins, zinc, and Vitamin C. It is important to replace these either via the diet or through nutritional supplementation. Some people handle stress by over-eating, with cravings for ice cream, sweets, candy, and other food with low nutritional value. Unfortunately, the intake of these high sugar, high calories and low nutrient food will only exacerbate the problem, and may lead to other health problems.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing.

Have You Ever Had a Herniated DIsc?

A history of herniated disc is an indication of a general need for connective tissue support. balancing the overall structure of the body is essential and a general protocol for supporting the connective tissue is important.

The following is a list of nutrients that are useful for healing connective tissue:

1. Vitamin B12
2. Glucosamine hydrochloride
3. MSM
4. Vitamin B6
5. Vitamin C complex
6. Calcium and magnesium
7. Essential fatty acids
8. Chondroitin sulfate

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Bach Flower: Gentian

Gentian And Pessimism

The Bach flower remedy Gentian is, in its positive state, a supreme sense of faith – in God, in life, in self. However, in the negative state, it spells
pessimism, negativity and the cup-half-empty syndrome. A person who needs Gentian will only see the negative side of things, no matter how much he tries not to.

Physical

There’s a slight droop to his shoulders, his eyes don’t light up even when he hears something positive and he tends to avoid company when he feels too negative about things. If he does succumb to any infection, things could get worse simply because he expects them to and doesn’t make the
effort to get better. Gentian gives him hope to look forward with optimism.

Mental

He feels his life is in a bad way and things can only get worse, not better. So he looks at life with a jaundiced eye, always choosing to be unhappy rather than happy and contented. This naturally makes him gravitate to the unhappy areas in life and things just get worse. Gentian makes his mind look up and be more optimistic.

Emotional

This negative attitude does not really make for good relationships. Any little argument or fight and he sees the relationship as crumbling and falling apart. Any small cloud on his emotional horizon is seen as a huge impediment so any relationship just spirals to a break up very soon. He also tends to be drawn to other negative people and this doesn’t help. Gentian helps him relax and see the positive side of things – and it helps him to ignore the little negative moments.

Spiritual

He finds it difficult to have faith and constantly questions. With Gentian, he is filled with a simple, overflowing faith that opens out the floodgates of optimism. Once this happens, more and more positive opportunities will present themselves to him and he can vibrate to the frequency of his
higher self. The self that was created to live in a state of joyfulness.

Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Water, Tap

The quality of municiple tap water is questionable. Recent reports have indicated that many municipal water authorities are in violation of clean water standards. Significant levels of organic and inorganic chemical such as pesticides, insecticides, fertilizers and lead have been found in musical water supplies. Unfortunately many of these pollutants are difficult to get rid of using the common purification methods that are in place in many areas of the country today.

Tap water contains pollutants such as fecal coliform bacteria, parasites, other water born pathogens. It also contains chlorine and in some cases fluoride, both of which are toxic to the body. It is bet to filter your tap water before consuming it.  Good, hgh quality water filtration system is a sound and healthy investment. Methods such as reverse osmosis, distillation, charcoal filtering and demonization are acceptable methods of water treatment.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing.

Depression During Periods

Depression during the period is often a sign of magnesium deficiency or low thyroid function. There has been some interesting work done that postulates low serotonin levels in some women after ovulation and into menstration.  Low serotonin levels are linked to depression. There is evidence that estrogen levels have some impact on serotonin levels in the body.


Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Bach Flower: Elm

Elm And Inadequacy

The Back flower remedy Elm is great in the lives of strong and responsible people when they have their occasional moments of inadequacy or weakness. In general, those who might need Elm usually do not need it on a continuing basis – they need it  occasionally when they hit the potholes  of exhaustion and weakness on a road that they usually travel with a great deal of hard work, courage and strength.

Physical

Elm people are capable and usually hold positions of responsibility and power. They come up in any organization by the sheer don't of hard work
and they can be thoroughly relied on to get any job done. They never shirk their responsibilities and it is only when there is far too much work for them to manage that they show signs of not being able to cope. A few doses of Elm is all it takes to get them up and going again. Elm also makes them see that there are some things that are simply too much for them to handle – so maybe they should leave it to be done later or get more hands on the job.

Mental

For the most part, Elm people are optimistic and altruistic. They take things in their stride and if there is one fault, they think that they can handle anything - not in a proud, boastful way but in a very practical way. This sometimes means that they bite off more than they can chew simply because they did not view it with objectivity. When they find that they cannot cope, there is a momentary feeling of depression and if this is allowed to continue, they may just lose their self confidence. With a few
doses of Elm, they regain the mental strength to cope with whatever needs to be done.

Emotional

Very often, the Elm person relies on himself a little too much and this can lay him open to hurt. He thinks if he does things well, emotionally, too, things will go the way he expects them to. Moderation is something that Elm teaches him – that and the objectivity to see things as they are and not expect them to be what he wants them to be. Elm has been called ‘psychological smelling salts’ and the moment a person like this feels low, he should take a dose of Elm to feel good again. Elm really is a great revitalizer even in matters of the heart.

Spiritual

Many Elm people will offer to do a lot when it comes to their church or their religious place of worship. Very soon, they find that everyone else just passes on any work to be done to them and there comes a time when it can be overwhelming. To prevent being at the receiving end of others’ laziness and not to feel a sense of despair, a few doses of Elm will help you feel much better.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com