Natural Herbs and Nutrients that Aid Sleep

by Melanie Grimes, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) What can you do to help improve your natural ability to sleep? With over seventy five percent of Americans claiming to have difficulty sleeping (according to the National Sleep Foundation) sleeplessness has become an epidemic. Forty two million prescriptions for sleeping pills were written last year, for one in five Americans. There are natural herbs that have been used since ancient times as sleep aids.

The most common herb to treat sleeplessness is valerian, whose Latin name is Valeriana. It was even used in ancient Greece to calm restlessness and nervousness. Valerian is a twig, and is easily found in tea or raw form. A simple glass of valerian tea before bedtime can help induce sleep.

Peppermint is another calming nerve herb that is frequently mixed with valerian for flavor. It is a digestive herb, as well as calming to the nervous system.

Another digestive herb is Chamomilla. It is also sleep inducing and readily available in tea form.

Passionflower or Passiflora tea can aid with sleeplessness, but may be more difficult to locate.

In addition to teas, herbal compresses can be placed over the face, or under the pillow.

Lavender is frequently used in this manner. Simply place lavender flowers into a small cotton bag and place under your pillow to induce natural sleep, and dreams.

Lemon balm is another herb known to calm the nervous system and induce sleep.

Meditation or prayer and other quieting activities before bed can also relax the body into sleep.

Nutritional supplements that may help increase sleep are calcium, (as in warm milk) theanine, l-glutamine, and GABA. L-Glutamine is an amino acid, and very plentiful in the body. It improves mood as well as helping to increase GABA level. GABA is a neurotransmitter known to help with general relaxation. Theanine is a natural ingredient found in tea.

If you have trouble with frequent rising at night, or a small bladder, do not drink tea too close to bedtime, but rather a few hours before. You will have the same medicinal effects from the herbs, but avoid the discomfort of a full bladder.

The famous warm milk at bedtime of grandmother`s day was popular for a reason. The calcium is nature`s tranquilizer, and a glass of warm milk speeds the calcium to your nerves and helps induce sleep. The warm milk draws blood to your stomach, away from your brain, which also helps you sleep.

Pleasant dreams.

Use Probiotics to Lose Weight and Treat Illness

by Maddie Ellison, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) Millions of people suffer from colds, flu and stomach upset every year. Research is showing that this could be caused by a lack of good bacteria in your stomach. Fortunately, there are supplements you can take to increase the amount of good bacteria and improve your health.

It’s strange to think that you can treat and even prevent illness with bacteria, but it’s true. Your body contains trillions of bacteria – some are good and some are bad. When the number of good bacteria starts to decrease due to antibiotics or a poor diet your chances for illness are increased.

Probiotic supplements have been shown to have many health benefits. Research has shown that taking probiotics can help aid digestion and keep you regular. Studies show they can also help eczema and vaginal and urinary infections, and they can help prevent or lower your chances of catching a cold or the flu.

Probiotics are not “one size fits all”. There are many different strains of probiotics each having its own power. If you’re having stomach issues like an upset stomach from an illness, from antibiotics or from traveling or because you have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), look for the probiotics that contain lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus GG, and Lactobacillus coagulans. These can be found in your local health food store, drugstore and in yogurt you can purchase from your grocery store.

If you suffer from eczema, studies have shown that taking a probiotic that contains lactobacillus acidophilus can help, especially in children. If you want to avoid getting colds and the flu supplement your diet with probiotic strains lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus casei, or bifidobacterium lactis.

Millions of women get urinary or vaginal infections each year, many due to antibiotics which can kill both the bad bacteria in your body and the good. Taking a probiotic that contains Lactobacillus coagulans, lactobacillus reuteri or lactobacillus rhamnosus can help prevent these kinds of infections and can also lessen their severity if you already have one.

Beyond the above health benefits, studies are showing that probiotics can actually help you lose weight. A recent study done at Stanford University has shown that the amount of good bacteria is higher in those who maintain a healthy weight and it’s lower in those who are overweight. Researchers are suggesting that it’s possible to increase your intake of healthy bacteria (probiotics) to lower your weight.

Whichever probiotic you choose look for products that say “clinically proven” on the box or label. Also pay attention to the directions. Some products need to be refrigerated.

References
WebMD.com – Probiotic Overview
Living.Health.com – Probiotic Packed Foods and Supplements That Really Work
Stanfored.edu – Probiotics May Help Adult Weight Loss, Study Finds

Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-aging effect on cells

by S. L. Baker, features writer

(NaturalNews) As NaturalNews has previously reported, omega-3s, the fatty acids found primarily in cold water fish like salmon, have a host of health benefits, including alleviating depression ,preventing age-related blindness , and protecting against prostate cancer ,And now there’s evidence omega-3s may have a profound anti-aging effect, too.

Telomeres, structures at the end of chromosomes that are involved in the stability and replication of chromosomes, are markers of biological aging. Genetic factors, exposure to certain chemicals and environmental stressors shorten the length of telomeres and are believed to contribute to the aging process. New research just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that omega-3s slow down the shortening of telomeres — this means omega-3 fatty acids may protect against aging on a cellular level.

Previous studies have shown that people with established cardiovascular disease who have a high dietary intake of marine omega-3 fatty acids live longer than others with the same health problems who do not have adequate omega-3s in their diet. However, the exact way omega-3s exert this protective effect is not well understood, according to background information in the JAMA study.

So Ramin Farzaneh-Far, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues decided to investigate whether omega-3 fatty acid blood levels were linked to changes in leukocyte (a type of blood cell) telomere length in a study of 608 people who had stable coronary artery disease. The scientists studied the patients for about five years, measuring leukocyte telomere length at the beginning of the study and at the end of 5 years of follow-up. Their goal? To see if there was any association between baseline levels of two types of omega-3 fatty acids — docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) — in the patients’ bodies and any subsequent change in telomere length. There was.

The scientists found that the research subjects with the least amount of DHA and EPA experienced the most rapid rate of telomere shortening. However, those with the highest levels of the omega-3 fatty experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening.

“Levels of DHA+EPA were associated with less telomere shortening before and after sequential adjustment for established risk factors and potential confounders. Each 1-standard deviation increase in DHA+EPA levels was associated with a 32 percent reduction in the odds of telomere shortening,” the authors wrote in their study. “These findings raise the possibility that omega-3 fatty acids may protect against cellular aging in patients with coronary heart disease.”

This also raises the very real possibility that an abundance of omega-3s in the diet could offer protection from cellular aging for all people — whether they have heart disease or not.

For more information:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/conten…
http://www.naturalnews.com/omega-3.html

Chlorella Superfood Fights Body Fat and Diabetes

by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) A superfood known as chlorella has caught on like wildfire in the United Kingdom, and studies continue to emerge linking the algae to improvement in symptoms of people with everything from diabetes and high blood pressure to digestive or immune problems.

Chlorella is a single-celled algae that naturally occurs in freshwater rivers and ponds in East Asia, tinting those bodies of water green. It is gathered from these natural sources, dried, crushed into a powder, and then packed into tablet form for sale as a dietary supplement. It has twice the protein density of spinach, 38 times that of soy beans and 55 times that of rice, providing nine essential amino acids along with a number of vitamins and minerals.

The algae has shown effectiveness at improving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome — a collection of symptoms linked with cardiovascular disease and diabetes, including high fasting blood sugar, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and central obesity. Studies have found chlorella supplements to reduce blood pressure in 50 percent of hypertension patients, as well as significantly reduce body fat, blood cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

“It seems that chlorella turns on the genes that control the way insulin is normally used by the cells in the body,” said researcher Randall Merchant of Virginia Commonwealth University. “This research shows that chlorella could in theory help correct the problems of metabolic syndrome. It is not a magic bullet, but taking it is one other preventive thing you can do, like exercise or watching your diet.”

Other studies have shown that chlorella encourages the growth of “good bacteria,” absorbs toxins from the intestines, improves digestion, and eases the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis and fibromyalgia. Chlorella supporters claim that it also increases energy levels and fights depression.

After studies showed that chlorella boosts the immune system, preventing secondary infections in people with brain tumors, some British doctors have started using it to complement cancer treatments.

Because chlorella is high in vitamin K1, it can interfere with the effects of blood thinning medications.

Sources for this story include: www.telegraph.co.uk.

Celery is an Ancient Healing Food

by Brett Brown, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) Celery has a long history of use and is truly an ancient healing food. At first glance celery may seem rather unimpressive, but the more you look into its background and medicinal uses the more you realize that we must have been misinformed on the usefulness of this plant. Traditionally celery, or Apium Graveolens, was used to treat an array of ailments and was very bitter in taste. It is believed to have originated from the Mediterranean basin, and has been harvested since about 850 B.C. Its medicinal properties are believed to be from its volatile oils which are found in all parts of the plant, but seem to be concentrated in its seeds. Ayurvedic physicians used celery to treat colds, flu, water retention, poor digestion, arthritis, liver, and spleen ailments.

Our common celery stalk is mostly composed of about 83% water and a healthy amount of fiber. This is well known. What is not well know is the fact that celery also contains many micronutrients which it receives from rain, sunshine, and the soil medium from which it is grown. We have been led to believe that celery does not have much to it when in fact celery truly contains a wealth of health improving nutrients that we can obtain from it. Celery has a profile that is much more than water and fiber!

The effects of celery on the body are diuretic, expectorant, carminative, anti-asthmatic, and digestive aid. Celery is a good source of vitamin K, vitamin C, potassium, folate, and fiber. It also contains molybdenum, manganese, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and tryptophan. Celery also contains about 35 milligrams of a beneficial sodium complex; this is useful in reducing stomach acid levels and raising our hydrochloric acid levels which in turn improves digestion.

Celery has been used for many years in Chinese medicine to alleviate high blood pressure, and this practice is beginning to pick up steam in America. It is believed that the phthalides in celery relax the arteries and allow the vessels to dilate which enables the blood to flow more freely. These phthalides also relieve our stress hormones and in turn the less stressed our body is the lower our blood pressure becomes. Celery is also a very good source of potassium, calcium and magnesium, all of which have been associated with reduced blood pressure.

Celery is also a good source of vitamin C, and along with that comes all the benefits that vitamin C carries with it. Some of these benefits include a boost in the immune system and a reduction in the symptoms and severity of colds. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant which has been shown to lower inflammation in many cases such as arthritis and asthma. Vitamin C is crucial in the production of collagen.

Celery contains compounds called coumarins that help in the prevention of free radicals, thus decreasing the potential for cells to become cancerous due to mutation. Coumarins also have been shown to enhance the activity of certain types of white blood cells, immune defenders that target harmful cells, including cancer cells. In addition, compounds in celery called acetylenics have been shown to stop the growth of tumor cells.

Celery is just one of the many ancient healing foods from our past. As our methods of researching whole foods develop, we are finding out more and more about what we are eating for dinner, and as we have just found out, celery is truly much more than just water and fiber!

Resources:

http://www.weightlossresources.co.u…

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?…

http://www.foodreference.com/html/c…

http://www.indepthinfo.com/celery/h…

If you exercise, be sure to increase your uptake of nutritional supplements and superfoods

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

Here’s an important tip for those of you who are either currently engaged in an exercise program or are considering beginning one. It’s a simple tip, but one that many people, unfortunately, forget. When we exercise, we use up more nutrients than if we were to avoid exercise. (Simply sweating, for example, causes a loss of minerals.) People who engage in regular exercise, therefore, need more nutritional supplementation than those who don’t.

It is easy to think exercise itself is what makes people healthy, but that’s only half the picture. The exercise simulates your body, but it is the adaptation and recovery period after exercise that ultimately makes you healthier. You do not improve your health during the exercise experience, nor do you burn significant amounts of fat during exercise. Virtually all the health benefits associated with exercise are created during the recovery and adaptation period after exercise, which can take anywhere from 24 hours to several weeks, depending on the intensity of your exercise.

It is during that time your body is using nutrients to adapt and rebuild. If you do not have the proper nutrients available during that recovery period, then you are not going to recover fully, and you won’t get the full benefits of all the effort you put into exercise!

Why supplementation goes with exercise

Nutritional supplementation is extremely important during any kind of exercise regimen. Even if you only exercise three days a week, you need to supplement every day of the week. And I’m not talking about just supplementing with protein. This is where a lot of people who engage in exercise go wrong. They think protein is the only nutrient they need to supplement.

Even though proteins important to supplement if you are not already eating a high protein diet, it is far more important to supplement trace minerals, macro minerals like magnesium, zinc and calcium; various vitamins including all the B vitamins; plus vitamins C, D and K. In addition, you need to supplement numerous phytonutrients, which means the medicine that comes from plants. Those include various carotenoids like beta keratin or zeaxanthin, lutein, anthocyanidins, Proanthocyanidins like those found in grape seeds or even Resveratrol found in grape skin.

There are hundreds, actually thousands, of different phytonutrients found in foods and nutritional supplements. These are also very important to get into your body when you follow an intense physical exercise program. Eating raw nuts and seeds, I think, is also extremely important. It does not mean this has to be half of your diet, but it needs to be present in your diet at least once a day, if not more than once a day.

It is only through this superior supplementation that your body can adapt to the physical stresses you have placed upon it through exercise. In terms of bone density, for example, you already know that subjecting your bones to stress causes your body to build stronger bones. This does not happen in a matter of hours. It takes days, weeks, even months to rebuilt bones, especially if you start out with very low bone mineral density. During this adaptation period, your body is rebuilding bone mineral density by depositing nutrients, mostly minerals in this case, into the bone structure of your skeletal system.

Obviously, if you do not have excess nutrients available in your body at the time your body is attempting to make this adaptation, then you are not going to build strong bones. In other words, if you exercise and do not supplement with good nutrition, you are wasting most of your exercise effort. You could multiple your results if you were willing to add some good supplementation on top of your physical exercise.

Supplements that boost your health with exercise

What kind of supplements am I talking about? Superfood nutrients and high-quality nutritional supplements from the kind of companies I recommend here on NaturalNews. Aim for a combination of food-based and supplement-based nutrition. Personally, I start each morning with a superfood smoothie that contains a massive serving of various superfood concentrates. This preps my body for the day, allowing me to engage in intense exercise without entering into a nutritionally deficient state.

Remember when you exercise, you place a much higher nutritional demand on your biochemistry. If you do not supplement, then you are not going to get the results you expect from your exercise program.

On the other hand, if you choose to supplement with good nutritional products, then you can multiple the results of any exercise program and experience improved bone density, enhanced cardiovascular health, improved mood and emotional health, prevention of cancer and diabetes, natural reduction in stored body fat and many other phenomenal benefits. Exercise is the single most powerful medicine for enhancing your health, but if you exercise in a nutritionally deficient state, you’re only putting unnecessary biochemical stresses on your body.

Exercise all you want, but supplement your nutritional needs to compensate.

**Here is an all time favorite supplement we recommend: http://www.livewholefoodhealth.com

Pycnogenol pine bark extract shown to protect diabetics from swelling, circulation and vision problems

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

(NaturalNews) A research study conducted by G D’Annunzio University in Italy evaluated the benefits of a popular form of pine bark extract in helping diabetics. Published in the Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, findings revealed that people with diabetes can avoid developing retinopathy and maintain proper micro-circulation by supplementing with pine bark.

A total of 46 diabetic patients were involved in the randomized, controlled study. Twenty-four of them were treated with pine bark extract once a day for three months while the remaining 22 were given a placebo. All the patients had diabetes for at least four years and all were beginning to develop retinopathy. Seventy-five percent of patients in the pine bark group experienced improvement in their vision while none in the placebo group did.

Dr. Robert Steigerwalt, one of the lead researchers of the study, confirmed that not only does pine bark extract halt the progression of diabetic retinopathy, it can cause it to regress by sealing the leaky blood vessels in the eye that lead to the disease. Such results were witnessed in as little as two months. He also noted that diabetics in the early stages of the disease can prevent such complications from ever occurring by supplementing with pine bark extract.

Pycnogenol, the branded formula of the antioxidant plant extract derived from the French maritime pine tree, has proven itself time and time again to be a powerful protective nutrient, particularly for diabetics. When administered during the early stages of diabetes, many studies have shown that pine bark is effective at preventing and treating the diabetic retinal diseases.

Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger

Pycnogenol is one of the “miracle nutrients” we’ve been blessed with on this planet. Time and time again, it has been proven to offer truly remarkable health benefits to those people who taken the supplement.

Now, this research shows how beneficial pycnogenol can be for diabetics. It’s an important piece of research showing how this tree-derived nutrient helps increase circulation that can ultimately help save lives.

It’s not just an antioxidant, you see: It’s also a potent circulation booster. Combined with other circulation-boosting herbs like ginger and ginkgo, it could be an extremely effective natural remedy for preventing diabetic neuropathy (degradation of the nerves) and retinopathy (degradation of the retina).

Sources for this story include:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea…

Probiotics are Essential in Preventing Disease and Maintaining Health

by Ethan Huff, citizen journalist

(NaturalNews) The August, 2009 issue of the journal Pediatrics contains a study analyzing and confirming the positive effects of probiotics in maintaining immunity and preventing disease, particularly in children who experienced a significant decrease in cold and influenza incidences following sustained probiotic supplementation. The study also confirmed that probiotic supplementation decreased the length and severity of illness symptoms in those that did get sick, vindicating what has been known in the natural health community for years concerning probiotics.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted with 326 children between the ages of three and five separated into three groups that received one of three milk solutions twice a day for six months. The first group received milk containing the probiotic strain Lactobacillus acidophilus, the second group received milk containing L acidophilus as well as Bifidobacterium animalis, and the third group received plain milk with a placebo.

The results of the single and combination probiotic groups, respectively, were reductions in fever incidence by 53% and 72.7%, coughing incidence by 41.4% and 62.1%, and rhinorrhea incidence by 28.2% and 58.8%, relative to placebo. Duration of fever, coughing, and rhinorrhea were also reduced by 32% and 48%, respectively. Consequently, there were crucial reductions in both the use of antibiotics in the single and combination probiotic groups equaling 68.4% and 84.2% as well as in truancy days from group child care equaling 31.8% and 27.7%, respectively.

Overall, the study results definitively prove the efficacy of probiotic supplementation in maintaining health and preventing disease. Since about 70% of a person’s immune system resides in the glands, mucosa, and mucosa-associated lymphoid system of the gastrointestinal tract, it is vital that the intestinal flora residing in the tract maintain optimal levels and function. The colonic bacteria that interact with the gastrointestinal lymphatic and immune tissue are what regulate the systemic immune system and inhibit the bacterial enzymes responsible for synthesizing colonic carcinogens. In other words, probiotics populate the gut and maintain a vibrant immune system by fending off foreign invaders from taking over while simultaneously assimilating vital nutrients from food and supplements.

While the body is naturally inhabited by healthy probiotics, inadequate diet, environmental toxins, antibiotics, and other foreign invaders can disrupt and even destroy intestinal flora leading to stomach illness, digestive problems, and other serious maladies such as Crohn’s disease or colon cancer. Thus, probiotic supplementation is a necessary component to any healthy lifestyle, whether it be through eating cultured and fermented foods like raw milk, kefir, yogurt, miso or kombucha, or through taking probiotic powder, liquid or capsule supplements.

Some of the popular probiotic strains commonly present in cultured foods and supplements include L rhamnosus, L casei, B Bifidum, B longum, B lactis, L paracasei, L plantarum, L salivarius, L bulgarious, L sporogenes, as well as L acidophilus and B animalis which were the strains used in the study.

While there is still much to learn concerning probiotics, it is certain that they are gaining popularity in the mainstream for their essential health-maintaining properties.

Sources:

Gregory J. Leyer, Shuguang Li, Mohamed E. Mubasher, Cheryl Reifer, and Arthur C. Ouwehand. Probiotic Effects on Cold and Influenza-Like Symptom Incidence and Duration in Children. Pediatrics 2009 124: e172-e179.

Bengmark S. Gut microbial ecology in critical illness: is there a role for prebiotics, probiotics, and synbiotics? Curr Opin Crit Care 2002 Apr;8(2):145-51.

Rolfe RD. The role of probiotic cultures in the control of gastrointestinal health. J Nutr Feb;130(2S Suppl):396S-402S.

The aloe vera miracle: A natural medicine for cancer, cholesterol, diabetes, inflammation, IBS, and other health conditions

by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor

I’m truly excited to be bringing you this information today about the miraculous healing abilities of aloe vera. First off, in case you don’t know, let me emphasize that I don’t sell aloe vera products of any kind, I haven’t been paid to write this article, and I don’t earn any commissions from the sale of any products mentioned here. I am, however, an enthusiastic supporter of natural medicine, and I personally grow and eat aloe vera plants in Tucson, Arizona.

In fact, my yard is an aloe farm, and each day before I make my superfood breakfast smoothie, I walk out to my yard, slice off an aloe vera leaf, thank the plant for granting me its healing medicine, then I fillet the leaf and drop the aloe vera gel into my blender. A few minutes later, I’m enjoying the most impressive medicinal herb that nature has ever created.

(When I say aloe vera is the most impressive medicinal herb invented by nature, I don’t make that statement lightly. Of all the herbs I’ve ever studied — and I’ve written thousands of articles on nutrition and disease prevention — aloe vera is the most impressive herb of them all. (Garlic would be a close second.) There is nothing on this planet that offers the amazing variety of healing benefits granted by aloe vera. In a single plant, aloe vera offers potent, natural medicine that:

• Halts the growth of cancer tumors.
• Lowers high cholesterol.
• Repairs “sludge blood” and reverses “sticky blood”.
• Boosts the oxygenation of your blood.
• Eases inflammation and soothes arthritis pain.
• Protects the body from oxidative stress.
• Prevents kidney stones and protects the body from oxalates in coffee and tea.
• Alkalizes the body, helping to balance overly acidic dietary habits.
• Cures ulcers, IBS, Crohn’s disease and other digestive disorders.
• Reduces high blood pressure natural, by treating the cause, not just the symptoms.
• Nourishes the body with minerals, vitamins, enzymes and glyconutrients.
• Accelerates healing from physical burns and radiation burns.
• Replaces dozens of first aid products, makes bandages and antibacterial sprays obsolete.
• Halts colon cancer, heals the intestines and lubricates the digestive tract.
• Ends constipation.
• Stabilizes blood sugar and reduces triglycerides in diabetics.
• Prevents and treats candida infections.
• Protects the kidneys from disease.
• Functions as nature’s own “sports drink” for electrolyte balance, making common sports drinks obsolete.
• Boosts cardiovascular performance and physical endurance.
• Speeds recovery from injury or physical exertion.
• Hydrates the skin, accelerates skin repair.

Truly, there is nothing else that compares to the medicinal potential of aloe vera. And yet most people only know about the topical applications of aloe vera gel. They think it’s only good for sunburns. In reality, aloe vera is useful for both external and internal use. In this article, I’ll discuss both.

Journey with me to the desert

To understand why aloe vera is so important, come with me to the deserts of Arizona. There, you’ll find an abundant diversity of plant life featuring impressive adaptations to living in a nearly water-free environment. Some of the trees, for example, have green bark and almost no leaves in order to reduce water loss. Small weeds have incredibly strong tap roots that thrust deep underground to find every last drop of moisture, and succulents have developed water storage techniques that capture water in an internal matrix of unique long-chain polysaccharides.

After a rain in the desert, you can actually watch the succulents swell to 130% their usual size as they take in water. During periods of drought, they slowly shrink back to normal as the excess water locked in their gel matrix is consumed.

It is these succulents we’re interested in here, and it’s only the inner gel that we’re focused on, because this inner gel has medicinal properties you’d be surprised to learn. For starters, there’s the fact that all succulents have self-repairing abilities. They don’t simply store water in a giant internal “water tank” that leaks out if torn or punctured: Their internal gel repairs any cut or tear by automatically shrinking the wound and creating a new water-tight seal. This gel matrix is comprised of hundreds of different phytochemicals that not only store water and repair injury; they also grant notable medicinal effects to humans who consume them.

Until now, there was only one good way to get aloe vera gel: Grow it yourself. I’ve done that for years, and when I’m making a smoothie, I often cut a large aloe vera leaf out of my yard, slice off the thick green skin of the leaf, and drop the large gel piece into a blender.
The reason I’m writing about aloe vera now is because a company I know here in Arizona called Good Cause Wellness (www.GoodCauseWellness.com) has launched a line of low-temperature dried aloe vera & berry products that you can use as ingredients in any smoothie. It’s the next best thing to growing your own fresh aloe vera leaves. It’s a high-grade, pesticide-free, highly concentrated aloe vera gel powder (just the gel, not the leaf) available in two mixtures: Aloe Vera + Raspberry Powder and Aloe Vera + Blueberry Powder. This makes aloe vera gel available to everyone, not just those who live in the desert.

You see, until now, I’ve been a strong proponent of the health benefits of aloe vera, but I had no advice for teaching others how to take the product. The typical aloe vera liquids available in retail are very weak, and some contain almost no aloe vera juice whatsoever. Many are mixed with food thickeners to make them look like a gel, but most have been heated, destroying a significant portion of their healing effects. This new aloe vera gel powder is the best form of aloe vera I’ve seen yet, and it’s in a convenient format that’s perfect for using in your own smoothies.

I’ll talk more about the products in a different article. Here, I’d like to focus on the substantial health benefits of aloe vera to let you see just why I’m so excited about the medicinal applications of this miracle plant.

Health benefits of aloe vera gel

Here’s what I know about aloe vera’s health benefits:

Aloe vera boosts immune function and destroys cancer tumors
Scientific research shows strong immunomodulatory and antitumour properties for aloe vera polysaccharides. That means the gel helps boosts immune system function while destroying cancer tumors. One study published in International Immunopharmacology (1995) showed that aloe vera polysaccharides exhibited potent macrophage-activating activities including producing increased volumes of nitric oxide (which has antitumor potential).

Personally, I believe that anyone wishing to prevent or cure cancer should seriously investigate aloe vera as part of their recipe for eliminating cancer for life. I wouldn’t rely solely on aloe vera, especially since there are dozens of cancer cures that are now well known in naturopathic medicine. Combining the right herbs (like cat’s claw), superfoods (like spirulina), advanced therapies (like intravenous vitamin C), oxygen therapy and other modalities will give you the best results when battling any form of cancer. Work with a naturopathic physician to learn more.

Aloe vera halts inflammation
Using aloe topically is well known to ease inflammation of joints, reducing arthritis pain. But aloe can also be used internally, reducing inflammation throughout the body from the inside out. People who drink aloe vera for two weeks typically begin to experience a significant reduction of inflammation symptoms.

Aloe vera enhances skin health

Aloe is one of the most widely-used ingredients in high-grade skin care  products. There’s a reason for that: It’s great medicine for the skin! Aloe soothes the skin, hydrates it, nourishes it and accelerates the regeneration of new skin tissue. (In fact, simply removing the gel from a living aloe vera leaf and placing the raw gel on your face is far superior to even the most expensive eye cream or skin care product on the market.) And while most people are only familiar with using aloe vera externally, aloe also enhances skin health when used internally. Drink more aloe and your skin glows!

Aloe vera stabilizes blood sugar in diabetics
Diabetic patients who take aloe vera for 3 months experience a significant drop in fasting blood sugar levels. They also exhibit lower cholesterol levels and slight improvements in total cholesterol. Numerous clinical studies have been published that demonstrate aloe vera’s antidiabetic properties.

Diabetics are also likely to benefit strongly from aloe vera’s blood enhancements (see below). Since aloe reverses “sludge blood” and boosts circulation to extremities, diabetics suffering from peripheral neuropathy (hands and feet going numb) are likely to benefit strongly from aloe vera supplements.

Aloe vera lowers cholesterol and triglycerides
When used internally, aloe vera gel improves the quality of the blood and helps rebalance the blood chemistry in a way that lowers cholesterol and total triglycerides (in people with elevated levels). When you consider that blueberries are also powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines, you realize why the Good Cause Wellness Aloe Vera + Blueberry product is such a smart idea: Both ingredients lower high cholesterol! Plus, this is far safer than using statin drugs, which have extremely harmful negative side effects while depleting the body of nutrients such as CoQ10.

My advice to anyone on statin drugs is to strongly consider using high doses of aloe vera + blueberries to safety transition off statin drugs (all under the supervision of a naturopathic physician, of course). Aloe vera won’t kill you like statin drugs can, either. Aloe is completely safe to eat like a food. Given the cholesterol benefits of aloe and blueberries, statin drugs are actually obsolete. There are natural alternatives that are far safer, less expensive and more effective. Aloe vera is one of them.

Aloe vera relieves joint and muscle pain
This effect is directly related to the inflammation factor mentioned above. It works when used both internally and externally. Essentially, aloe reduces overall inflammation. Of course, is you continue eating a pro-inflammatory diet (red meat, milk, sugar, white flour, fried foods etc.) then you’ll never get rid of all your inflammation with aloe alone, but aloe can help ease your pain while you transition to a healthier lifestyle that eliminates the inflammation for good!

Aloe vera amplifies the antioxidant effects of vitamins
This is an especially interesting effect of aloe: It makes vitamin C, vitamin E and other antioxidants work better! It actually potentiates antioxidants, probably due to its effect on enhancing blood quality and allowing the blood to more effectively transport oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells. In fact, it is my belief that aloe vera makes everything nutritious work better due to its blood-enhancing effects. If I’m right about that, it means aloe can potentiate anti-cancer herbs, too, helping them more effectively target tumors.

Aloe vera actually contains advanced biochemical technology that the drug companies can only help to understand someday. This technology was built by nature, and it’s 100% compatible with the human body. All you have to do to experience this technology for yourself is eat aloe vera gel!

Aloe vera cures ulcers, IBS, Crohn’s disease and Celiac disease Polysaccharides in the aloe vera plant have curative effects on numerous digestive disorders. The Internet is a storehouse of information and testimonials about aloe vera curing IBS, ulcers, Crohn’s disease and other disorders of the digestive tract. This is one of the best-known applications of aloe vera gel.

Taking aloe certainly isn’t a magic bullet cure, of course. It won’t reverse your disease after drinking one glass of aloe vera gel. It needs to be used regularly. Most people report positive results in 3 – 30 days, depending on the condition.

Aloe vera contains acemannan, a natural immune booster
There’s research being done now on the anti-cancer effects of acemannan, a phytonutrient found in aloe vera. In one study, dogs and cats undergoing radiation for cancer were given acemannan as an adjunctive therapy. Not only did the tumors shrink more in the acemannan-treated group, but post-treatment survival was significantly extended.

Scientists discover how Cordyceps mushrooms fight cancer

by S. L. Baker, features writer

(NaturalNews) For thousands of years, the mushroom known as Cordyceps has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat problems ranging from coughs and fatigue to impotence and cancer. And once Western scientists started considering that anecdotal reports of the mushroom’s curative powers might be something more than “folk tales”, research started accumulating that backs up many ancient claims about Cordyceps’ health benefits. For example, scientists from the University of Nottingham in Great Britain say they’ve documented how Cordiceps can fight cancer — and the new discovery could increase the effectiveness of mushroom-derived cancer treatments.

For the study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dr. Cornelia de Moor of the University of Nottingham and her colleagues investigated a drug called cordycepin, which was originally extracted from wild growing Cordyceps and is now prepared from a cultivated form of the mushroom.

“Because of technical obstacles and people moving on to other subjects, it’s taken a long time to figure out exactly how cordycepin works on cells. With this knowledge, it will be possible to predict what types of cancers might be sensitive and what other cancer drugs it may effectively combine with. It could also lay the groundwork for the design of new cancer drugs that work on the same principle,” Dr. de Moor said in a statement to the media.

The University of Nottingham scientists found that the Cordyceps-derived treatment has two important effects on cells that could impact the growth of malignant tumors. At low doses, cordycepin inhibits the uncontrolled growth and division of cells while at high doses it prevents cells from sticking together, essentially blocking the cells from growing.

The research team concluded that each of these effects most likely is the result of a single underlying mechanism — cordycepin interferes with how cells make proteins. Specifically, low doses of the mushroom-derived treatment interfere with the production of mRNA (the molecule that directs cells to assemble a protein) and at higher doses cordycepin directly interacts with the making of proteins.

“Our discovery will open up the possibility of investigating the range of different cancers that could be treated with cordycepin,” Dr de Moor stated. “We have also developed a very effective method that can be used to test new, more efficient or more stable versions of the drug in the Petri dish.This is a great advantage as it will allow us to rule out any non-runners before anyone considers testing them in animals.”

More Cordyceps news

Scientists at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, published research in the November 30th edition of the journal Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy showing that oral Cordyceps can reduce the occurrence of cancer spreading to the lungs in metastatic breast cancer. Although the researchers found that Cordyceps does not reduce the growth of the primary breast tumor, they noted that deaths from breast cancer are primarily due to the development of metastases. That means a treatment that stops the spread of metastatic tumors could save countless lives.

Although various medical therapies currently exist that attempt to stop the growth of cancerous metastatic tumors, they have little effect — so this makes the Dalhousie University research into Cordyceps very important. The Canadian researchers stated the evidence they have so far suggests that the mushroom reduces the growth of metastases due to Cordyceps’ effects on the tumors’ cell cycles.