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Just 24 Ounces of Soda Can Shock the Immune System

As little as 24 ounces of soda for the average person is quite a bit of soda. But many people drink more than that on a regular basis – hence the 48 ounce super-gulpy mega drinks they serve at most fast food restaurants. But that amount of soda packs more than a few servings of sugar, and enough to send the immune system into a five hour coma.

The white blood cells need vitamin C to fight of infection, and both vitamin C and glucose use the same “entry portals” to get into the white blood cells. If your body is over-flowing with sugar, you are bound to have more glucose entering into your blood cells than vitamin C, and not helping your immune system fight off bacteria. In fact, the body’s ability to fight off infection is reduced by at least 50% for around five hours, just by ingesting the amount of sugar in 24 oz. of soda. That’s a huge risk on the body, and especially if included in the daily diet. If the body is comstantly in a reduced state of immunity, the risk of illness increases greatly. But there is a balance to everything, and certainly to the body’s ability to fight off infection. Finding your body’s balance, while maintaining a healthy diet, will provide your immune system with the best defense against infection, and a better quality of life.

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Natural Antibiotic Properties of Garlic

I’m sure you’ve already heard how good garlic can be for cholesterol and high blood pressure, but that’s not all that garlic can do. The medicinal use of garlic goes back through ancient history, and has been used to cure and prevent many illnesses for many generations. Most commonly today, it is avoided due to it’s reputation for causing bad breath. Some people may even cook with it thinking that they may use “a little extra” for their health, and not just for flavor. But the amount that most people would tolerate as a flavoring is much less than the dosages used for natural healing.

Garlic, or the stinking rose as it is sometimes referred to, contains an antibiotic and anti-fungal properties. To benefit from the antibiotic properties, the garlic must be well guarded from heat, especially the microwave. The chemical, allicin, which is produced when garlic is chopped or crushed, is quite sensitive to heat. While there are many healing properties to garlic even once it has been cooked, the antibiotic properties are greatly diminished during the cooking process. Too much raw garlic is not without side effects, and one should take great care when eating raw garlic, as it can cause irritation to the stomach lining, and even ulcers. Some people can develop skin irritation when coming in contact with raw garlic.

As for bad breath, garlic does not have to be eaten to end up causing the odor – if you put a clove of garlic in your sock you would be able to smell it on the breath in about an hour. Not many people enjoy the smell it can create within a person, however, the power of garlic to enter into the blood stream and saturate every part of the body is nearly unmatched. Using other herbs to counteract the odor can be extremely useful, such as parsley. However, parsley is a diuretic, used in herbal medicine to relieve water retention, could cause dehydration if too much is taken. For a basic rule of thumb when making herbal teas, including parsley, stick to one teaspoon per 8 oz. of water, which is a typical adult dose of dried herb. Take extra precaution anytime you are taking an herb for the first time, and consider the advice of a qualified medical professional whenever you question your body’s ability to tolerate medicinal herbs.

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Red Raspberry Leaf is a Pregnancy Wonder Herb

During pregnancy there are many different stages that the body goes through. During each trimester there are many diverse changes within the body, affecting how a person feels. Some herbs are useful during some stages of the pregnancy, and others are are useful during another. But there are few herbs that have wonderful effects on the body during most stages of pregnancy. 

As mentioned in one of our previous articles, Overall Health and Natural Foods, certain herbs and foods have a beneficial effect on specific areas of the body. Red raspberry leaf is no exception, it is a tonic herb that has beneficial properties working specifically on the pelvic region, and most specifically the female reproductive system. During pregnancy, it can help tone the uterus and prepare the muscles for childbirth. The herb has been used for thousands of years, and known in many countries around the world for it’s ability to ease some of the discomforts during the pregnancy. Since it can help facilitate the childbirth process, it should be used with caution, and your physician should be contacted prior to using the herb. However, red raspberry leaf is considered generally safe to take, and is not generally considered an herb that induces labor.

Red raspberry leaf is a wonderful herb, suitable for uses other than pregnancy, with many healing properties for all types of people. For instance, the tannins in the tea (one teaspoon per eight ounces of boiled water) act as an astringent, an anti-diarrheal, and soothes intestinal inflammation. The leaves are high in vitamins A, C, E, and some B complex vitamins, in addition to calcium, phosphorus, potassium. The calcium in red raspberry leaves is easily assimilated (absorbed by the body), making it a great dietary suppliment for those who are seeking substitutions for the calcium in milk. Red raspberry helpful in aiding sore throats, canker sores, astringent for cleansing wounds, burns and scalds, laxative (as a cold infusion), and stomach aches. It can be used alone or in conjunction with other herbs. Enjoy a cup of warm tea before bedtime for relaxation. Red raspberry leaf tea is great by itself, but if you feel the need to sweeten, try honey instead of sugar. Sugar can destroy some of the natural properties of herbs as well as prevent proper absorption. If you absolutely must use sugar, go with raw instead of bleached sugar.

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Milk Causes More Harm Than Good

For much of our lives in America we are programmed to believe that the choice of breakfast drinks should be milk, that we should have a glass of milk before bed, and the latest scam – we should have three glasses of milk a day to help loose weight. Huh? Okay, so let me see if I understand their concept…drink the substance that is maternally designed to facilitate the growth of a six-hundred pound animal, and it’s going to help you shed some weight? I think not, and even worse, it can and will cause more harm than good in the human body. Why do we stop drinking breast milk after infancy? Because the properties that are found in milk are designed specifically for the needs of the growing youngster, not for toddlers, teens, and adults.

Most people don’t know that milk by itself is not what most people are allergic to. The pasteurization process causes changes in the milk, and the result of those changes are what cause most people to have allergic reactions, intestinal tract disorders, and other digestive problems. The process of raising the temperature of the milk (pasteurizing) can destroy the lactase enzymes, preventing in some people the body’s inability to process the milk sugar. Most of those people are fully able to digest “raw” milk. Pasteurization also alters the protein in milk.

One important fact to know, that there is not much publicity about, is that the pasteurization process was designed to kill bacteria in milk. Most dairy cows are now being kept in close quarters, are not permitted exercise, often their bodies are rubbing against each other causing sores, and their diet consists of manufactured protein substitutions and grains. Cows naturally walk through pastures eating grass, as naturally intended. Since many dairy cows are fed an unnatural diet with little or no exercise, and kept in an crowded unclean environment, they are fed antibiotics, which you then ingest when you drink the milk. First the milk is altered by the diet the cows are fed, pumped up with antibiotics, and then cooked to make it “safe” again.

There is another part of the hidden danger of milk that very few people talk about. The milk of cows is not designed for digestion or the absorption of vitamins in humans, and therefore much of the nutrition you would assume you are getting is not being properly assimilated by your body. Pasteurization was originally created to destroy the possibility of tuberculosis in the milk. Not the tuberculosis bacteria was not guaranteed to be in the milk, but acidophilus and bifidus (good bacteria) that is supposed to naturally occur in the milk was being destroyed as well in the heating process, again changing the chemicals present in the milk.

All of these factors have a potentially dangerous effect on the human body, and more people should take their health into their own hands and make informed decisions as to what is best for themselves. If you’d like to get a full indepth look at medical research on the effects of milk on the body, read the book Don’t Drink Your Milk, it’s an excellent resource. Should so many people continue to trust the multi-million dollar dairy industry asking us if we’ve “got milk?”

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Getting the Most From a Natural Health Diet

When selecting natural foods and potentially healing herbs to put into your body, you’d do well to learn about your particular health needs and design your diet around your own individual needs. This will help to support a healthy immune system. If you look back over the years, you probably know which illnesses you regularly catch, and which ones you aren’t as susceptable to. Some people very easily catch colds, others may be extremely sensitive to digestive problems or allergies. In a way, we all really suffer many of the same ailaments, but for some of us, certain things seem to afflict us more often than others.

By getting to know your own body, and the type of system you have, you can better understand which healthy foods and herbal remediess will benefit your system the most. With the right combination of natural food and healing herbs, you can boost your immune system, have more energy and endurance, loose weight, and gain muscle tone and strength. Certain natural foods have a greater effect on particular areas of the body, and through studying your body type, you can gain an understanding of what foods are right for you.

Whether you are seeking to improve your immediate health, or whether you are in fit condition an looking towards better general health and well-being, you can benefit from a wide variety of whole foods geared towards your body’s particular needs. Since many natural foods provide nutritional content to specific areas of the body, it would seem logical to study your own body to discover which healthy foods will provide the most benefit to your own individual needs. Many people who hear of altering their diet for better health assume this means spending a large amount of money each week on organic specialty foods, but this is simply not true. Since eating the proper foods can cause a person to feel more “satisfied” and nurished, people who are eating the right foods tend to eat less, have fewer cravings, and therefore spend less money on junk foods and impulse snacks. Eating the proper foods for your body can provide a huge benefit (even when not buying higher priced organic foods) as opposed to eating the harmful diets that many Americans consume on a daily basis to “save time”.

The process of studying your body will undoubtedly lead you to other interesting discoveries about your health. You will probably become very aware of the ingredients in the foods you are eating, the way you feel physically after eating certain unhealthy foods, and which snacks and junk foods you commonly reach when you are in a hurry. If you find yourself reading labels in the grocery store, you know you are well on your way to better health. Awareness is the key, all else will fall into place as you get to know yourself better. As you learn what goes into prepared foods, they will likely become less appealing to you, and you will naturally begin to search for alternatives. For example, if staying away from sugar is a person’s goal, they may notice that there few brands of spaghetti sauce lack sugar as an ingredient.

Whatever you are seeking to gain by getting to know your own body, the process will take you through the grocery store in a whole new way. Don’t worry if this doesn’t come quickly, take the time to really get to know your body, and pay close attention to how you feel during and after you eat. If you are the type of person to do well with a personal log, then document how what you eat, the time of day, and how you felt afterwards. If you find that there are certain foods that cause you to feel sluggish, tired, or even jittery, stay away from the food for a few days to a week. Then try eating it again, and if the food was genuinly making you feel different, this process would even magnify the effect – you will be aware of how that particular food causes you to feel. Try this with several types of foods, but when you reintroduce the food, it’s always good to make that they only thing you eat for the moment, giving you an unclouded view of the effects of that food on your body.

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