Alternative Ways to Protect Your Natural Defense System
Stress is bound to affect your life from time to time.
When it hits, it can disrupt your emotions and your physical health, so you want to create a natural barrier so that it can’t do much damage to your system.
Stress takes its toll on your immune system. Your immune system is like your army of protection to battle the germs that invade your body.
Too much stress weakens the immune system and opens the door for frequent colds and viral infections.
If you’re prone to high stress levels and your immune system is deeply compromised, then you might suffer stronger symptoms of the ailment than if you had your defenses built up.
The doctor can’t prescribe you a magic pill that builds up your immune system, but you can use alternative methods to do the job.
Stress reduction techniques are one thing you can do, such as hypnotherapy, aromatherapy, and meditation.
Your nutrition is also important to your immune system. Make sure you get plenty of vitamins and nutrients that balance out your body’s needed intake.
Try to eat with the color of the rainbow in mind, mixing a combination of nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Many natural herbs can provide a boost in your immune system, too.
Herbs like Astragalus, Sage, Garlic, Honey, mushrooms, and St. John’s Wort all have immunity-enhancing qualities.
Astragalus is generally used as a tonic. In Chinese medicine, it’s been touted to restore the immune system and help tissue cells regenerate.
They’ve found it crates a natural obstacle to cancer cell growth, and provides many other health benefits.
Specific to the immune system, it increases the white blood cells that act as your army of protection against foreign invaders.
St. John’s Wort and garlic have been active in helping fight Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).
Aside from inhibiting infections of AIDS patients, they’ve also been known to prevent herpes outbreaks, an obvious sign of their immune-boosting powers.
To help stave off frequent infections, make sure you adhere to a healthier lifestyle that includes exercise and nutrition.
But get an added boost by enhancing your immune system with alternative therapies that reduce stress and elevate your body’s natural defense system.
Alternative Ways to Treat Sleep Apnea
There are many causes for sleep apnea, including obesity and obstructed air passages.
Its symptoms are loud snoring sounds that are sometimes interrupted by a few seconds (or minutes) of lapses in breathing.
The silence is often followed by loud gasps for air until regular breathing resumes.
Sufferers of sleep apnea often have trouble functioning during the day and may fall asleep at their desks or even while driving a car.
This extreme tiredness often leads to depression, high blood pressure, loss of memory and impotency.
That’s why a swift diagnosis is so important and why those who suffer from sleep apnea must change their lifestyle immediately.
Here are some ways to prevent and even cure sleep apnea:
- Weight Loss – If you’re overweight and suffering from sleep apnea, begin a diet program that will normalize your weight. You should also eliminate sugar and all allergenic foods from your diet.
- Exercise – Even a mild form of exercise, such as yoga and stretching, will help to alleviate sleep apnea. Walking or any type of aerobic exercises is also an effective remedy. Practice deep breathing exercises to help clean your air passages.
- 5-HTP – The neurotransmitter, 5-hydroxy-trytophan (5-HTP) is a compound used to regulate serotonin levels. Research shows that if serotonin levels are too low, sleep apnea may occur. 5-HTP also helps release hormones such as cortisol which regulates muscles used for breathing.
- Avoid Alcohol – Drugs such as sleeping pills and alcohol may relax the throat muscles, causing breathing obstructions. When you eliminate alcohol, oxygen levels in the blood are increased and a deeper sleep is possible.
- Practice Good Sleeping Habits – Don’t sleep on your back. Use pillows to elevate your head and shoulders. Sleeping on your back can sometimes cause your tongue to block an air passage and cause sleep apnea symptoms.
- Aromatherapy – Although aromatherapy isn’t a cure-all for sleep apnea, aromatic oils from plants and herbs such as nutmeg, lavender and orange can reduce the more severe effects of sleep apnea.
“Apnea” is the Greek word for “without breath.”
When you succeed in regulating how you breathe when sleeping, sleep apnea will be a thing of the past and you’ll be more relaxed, rested and ready to meet the world.
Alternative Ways to Give First Aid to Your Skin
The skin is an organ – the largest one in your body. It’s always renewing and repairing itself by sloughing off dead cells.
These dead cells must be removed before they increase and prevent the skin from breathing and eliminating toxic waste.
Oily skin can produce acne, especially in adolescence, while dry skin occurs as we age.
But if you understand the skin and take care of it, there’s no reason that you can’t look gorgeous all your life.
Problems with facial skin is the number one complaint, and what to do about dry skin or wrinkles caused from aging is the priority for most people.
After all, your face, more than any other part of your body is exposed to the elements that eventually affect it.
Home remedies are much less expensive than those you can buy from a department store’s cosmetic counter, and they don’t contain harmful chemicals and additives.
Here are some popular home remedies for common skin ailments:
Dry, Chapped Skin
Saline baths (six pounds of table or rock salt added to warm bath water) can relieve dry, itchy skin.
Soak for about 20 minutes and then massage almond or olive oil into your skin.
Home humidifiers are excellent to reduce the moisture loss, especially if your home has central heat. Getting enough sleep is imperative for the skin to repair cells.
Rather than soap, cleanse your skin with a mixture of flour and cream.
Use virgin coconut oil or butter for the best natural moisturizer. If you’re sunburned and peeling, slice an Aloe Vera leaf and rub the gel onto your skin.
Wrinkles
Avoid prolonged exposure to the sun. If you must be out in the sun, use a good sunscreen. Drink green tea. It’s rich in antioxidants, which can prevent wrinkles.
Use evening primrose oil supplements to strengthen skin cells and increase moisture. Use a mask of one egg white and one ground almond.
Apply to the face until dry and then remove gently with water.
Dab egg whites under your eyes to prevent wrinkles and make them less noticeable.
Castor oil (odor free) applied under the eyes and on your throat is a great moisturizer.
Diet, exercise and drinking plenty of water are the best ways to maintain a beautiful and radiant skin.
The outside of your body will always reflect what’s going on inside.
Alternative Therapies for Menopause
Menopause can be very disruptive in the lives of women who experience hot flashes, mood swings, and other symptoms.
Hormone therapy scares have led many women to seek alternative treatments for menopausal symptoms such as osteoporosis and postmenopausal cardiovascular disease.
Alternative therapies for irritability and depression during menopause are also being explored.
Below are some remedies that are believed to alleviate menopausal side effects:
- Soy – Scientific tests show that bone density is increased and depression, irritability and hot flashes are lessened. Although soy can decrease some symptoms associated with menopause, large amounts must be ingested for it to be completely effective.
- Natural Progesterone – Extracted from plant sources, “natural” progesterone has been widely used to treat menopausal symptoms, but no scientific evidence exists to prove its effectiveness.
- Fish Oils – Rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil can be a positive component in preventing cardiovascular disease in menopausal women. You can get it through the consumption of fish or via a fish oil capsule if it’s more convenient.
- Magnesium – Studies have found that the use of magnesium significantly increases bone mineral density in both the elderly and menopausal women.
- Evening Primrose Oil – Commonly used to treat symptoms associated with menopause, Evening Primrose Oil may reduce hot flashes and depression.
- Black Cohosh – An herb that’s used extensively in Europe to treat menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.
- Exercise – Women who exercise regularly are found to suffer from menopausal symptoms much less than sedentary women.
- Red Clover – An herb that is sometimes used to prevent cardiovascular disease in menopausal and post-menopausal women.
Non-traditional, alternative therapies have been used for centuries to treat menopausal symptoms in women.
While these therapies can be effective, be sure to consult with your health care professional before you begin such treatment – especially if you suffer from another condition that might be adversely affected.
