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The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods by Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D. See book keywords and concepts

For many people in the World, herbal medicines are the only therapeutic agents available. It is difficult to assess the extent to which plants are used as medicines throughout the World, but the World Health Organization has estimated that perhaps 80 percent of the world's population relies on traditional therapies for their primary Health care needs. Since botanical medicine is the major part of traditional therapies, it can be safely stated that the majority of the world's population relies on plants as medicines.

Alcoholism Alcoholism has been defined by the World Health Organization as "alcohol consumption by an individual that exceeds the limits accepted by the culture or injures Health or social relationships." Current estimates indicate that more than 18 million people in the United States (roughly 10 percent of the adult population) are alcoholics, making alcoholism one of the most serious Health problems today.

Mints are now grown and cultivated virtually all over the World. HEALTH BENEFITS Mints exert a wide range of Health benefits. Like other aromatic plants, their primary application has been as a carminative and digestant. The oil of the peppermint plant is an excellent example. It has been shown to relieve spasms of the gastrointestinal tract and gas. In fact, an enteric-coated peppermint oil capsule has been shown to be very effective in relieving symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. (Enteric coating prevents the oil from being released in the stomach.) Peppermint oil relaxes smooth muscle.

Today, the mustard seed is still one of the most popular spices traded around the World. Temperate climates are best suited to mustard cultivation, and Hungary, Great Britain, India, Canada, and the United States are among the top producers in the World. HEALTH BENEFITS One of the oldest home remedies is the use of a mustard plaster (a type of poultice) to help to decongest the chest and airways. To make a mustard poultice, mix one part of dry mustard with three parts of flour, then add enough water to make a paste.

The cashew ranks second only to the almond among the nine tree nuts of importance in World trade. NUTRITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS Cashew nuts are a very good source of monounsaturated fats. They are also a good source of many minerals, including copper, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc. In addition, cashew nuts are a good source of biotin and protein. One-third cup of shelled cashews provides 260 calories, 21 grams of protein, and 15 grams of carbohydrate. HEALTH BENEFITS The Health benefits of cashews center around their excellent nutritional value.

Prescription for Herbal Healing: An Easy-to-Use A-Z Reference to Hundreds of Common Disorders and Their Herbal Remedies Phyllis A. Balch, CNC See book keywords and concepts

Herbs, which have always been the principal form of medicine for the majority of the world's population, are once again becoming popular throughout the developed World. Striving to stay healthy in the face of chronic stress, pollution, and the re-emergence of infectious diseases, more and more people are taking charge of their Health with herbs. The "epidemic" of herb use is evident not only in North America and Europe, but also in China, Japan, Korea, and Latin America.

This information is included for those who are most comfortable using herbs as a healing art, as a healing connection to the natural World. This entire book has been written with an acute and personal awareness of the frequently overwhelming cost of Health care. The most economical approach to regaining and maintaining Health is a combination of conventional medicine with supplemental approaches. Except for minor conditions, the herbs and formulas in this book are not chosen to replace conventional medicine.

Around the World, health-care practitioners are increasingly using herbs and other natural therapies alongside modern forms of treatment, with a renewed understanding of the body's own power to heal. The healing art of herbalism grew from hundreds of millions of personal healing experiences over centuries before the advent of scientific technology. Herbal remedies that resulted in cures were recognized, remembered, and gradually categorized by the great schools of herbal healing.

Garlic Latin name: Allium sativa (Alliaceae [onion] family) Other common names: garlic bulb, garlic clove GENERAL DESCRIPTION Garlic is a pungent herb used around the World in cooking and natural medicine. It is a bulbous perennial with a single stalk that grows to a height of from one to three feet (thirty to ninety centimeters), with green-white or sometimes pale pink flowers. The plant was originally found in Central Asia, where it is the most important herb in unani, or Persian, traditional herbal medicine. EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT Garlic is a popular herb for cardiovascular Health.

It is a native of Asia and is now cultivated throughout the World. EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT Codonopsis prevents stomach pain and headache. It is beneficial in the treatment of both asthma and cancer. Codonopsis reduces stress and enhances tolerance to stress. It also boosts stamina. Benefits of codonopsis for specific Health conditions include the following: • Cancer. Codonopsis increases red and white blood cell counts, which reduces the side effects of toxic drugs such as those used in cancer chemotherapy. It also helps the body recover from radiation therapy. • Headache.

EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT Cinnamon is one of the world's most widely used digestive aids. It is also used as a supplement to fight HIV/ AIDS, to stop uterine bleeding, and to prevent heart attack. Benefits of cinnamon for specific Health conditions include the following: • Fibroids and menstrual problems. Before the twentieth century, cinnamon tinctures were the standard remedy for uterine bleeding. Certain forms of cinnamon have been found to inhibit a substance in the blood called thromboxane A2, which causes platelets in the blood to clump together and form clots.

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell II See book keywords and concepts

In a separate analysis, the World Health Organization ranked the United States thirty-seventh best in the World according to Health care system performance.20 Our Health care system is clearly not the best CHART 1.6: Health CARE EXPENDITURES PER PERSON, 1997 $US17 3912 4000 CHART 1.7: PERCENT OF U.S. GDP SPENT ON Health CARE17 18 1960 1970 1980 1990 1997 in the World, even though we spend, far and away, the most money on it. Too often in the United States, a doctor's treatment decisions are made on the basis of money, not Health.

AN EXPENSIVE GRAVE We pay more for our Health care than any other country in the World (Chart 1.6). We spent over a trillion dollars on Health care in 1997.17 In fact, the cost of our "health" is spiraling so far out of control that the Health Care Financing Administration predicted that our system would cost 16 trillion dollars by 2030.17 Costs have so consistently outpaced inflation that we now spend one out of every seven dollars the economy produces on Health care (Chart 1.7). We have seen almost a 300% increase in expenditures, as a percentage of GDP, in less than forty years!

GDP SPENT ON Health CARE17 18 1960 1970 1980 1990 1997 in the World, even though we spend, far and away, the most money on it. Too often in the United States, a doctor's treatment decisions are made on the basis of money, not Health. The consequences of not having Health insurance, I suspect, have never been more terrifying, and close to 44 million Americans are uninsured.21 It's unacceptable to me that we spend more money on Health care than any other country on this planet, and we still have tens of millions of people without access to basic care.

I have mentioned the wisdom of nature at various points in this book, and I have come to see the power of the workings of the natural World. It is a wondrous web of Health, from molecules, to people, to other animals, to forests, to oceans, to the air we breathe. This is nature at work, from the microscopic to the macroscopic. WHO CARES, ANYWAY? The principles outlined in this chapter began, for me, with a narrowly focused question on diet and cancer in rats, then grew into an ever-expanding universe of questions about human and societal Health around the World.

This time, however, instead of the message being forgotten and confined to library stacks, I believe that the World is finally ready to accept it. More than that, I believe the World is finally ready to change. We have reached a point in our history where our bad habits can no longer be tolerated. We, as a society, are on the edge of a great precipice: we can fall to sickness, poverty and degradation, or we can embrace Health, longevity and bounty. And all it takes is the courage to change. How will our grandchildren find themselves in 100 years?

Furthermore, I have hope for the future because of our new ability to exchange information across the country and around the World. A much greater proportion of the World population is literate, and a much greater proportion of that population has the luxury of choosing what they eat from a wide variety of readily accessible foods. People can make a whole foods, plant-based diet varied, interesting, tasty and convenient. I have hope because people in small towns and in previously isolated parts of the country can now readily access cutting edge Health information and put it into practice.

Healing with Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition Paul Pitchford See book keywords and concepts

As an experiment to test the nutritional value of potatoes, two Danish food scientists lived healthfully for three years during World War II on whole potatoes only. Because potato increases the yin aspect of the body, it improves one's receptive, nurturing, and compassionate nature. Yin also includes the body's structure, and so potatoes can be used to help build and maintain body tissues. In addition to the expansive effect of the nightshades noted above, the potato's yin, earthy nature is frequently craved by those with "jet lag" and other stresses of the high-tech World.

AMARANTH Used by the ancient Aztecs as a valuable food and in their worship rituals, amaranth has recently come to the attention of World Health workers with the discovery that in areas of Africa and Latin America where it is consumed, there exists no malnutrition. Because of its high nutritional value and ability to thrive in poor soil and during drought conditions, amaranth and plants with similar ¦^^J^ properties (such as quinoa) are considered part of a "bene-m ficial lost storehouse" of the world's agriculture and diet.

Medical statistics show that during World War II, people in Norway experienced the best Health of their lives. Heart disease, cancer, and schizophrenia incidences suddenly dropped forty percent. They ate more of their traditional foods—whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fresh fish—but little of the meat, margarine (hydrogenated oils), refined sugar, or processed foods that had become a major part of their pre-war diets.1'2 Ideally, this present generation will discover Health and vitality through choice rather than crisis.

When one is guided by idealistic motives, such as choosing a diet because it is more humane—because it does not promote the killing of animals (vegetarian) or does not oppress Third World peoples (avoiding multinational-corporation products)—then there seem to be not only fewer problems with transition but a healthier attitude, which in turn enables better judgment regarding future dietary choices. When a new diet is adopted, one can expect some reactions as the biochemical processes within each cell change.

A Dose of Sanity: Mind, Medicine, and Misdiagnosis Sydney Walker III, M.D. See book keywords and concepts

In this less-than-perfect World, however, you're likely to get an intimidating psychiatrist, or one who's too rushed to listen carefully, or one who dismisses your concerns and questions condescendingly. So be prepared. Read the "Patient's Bill of Rights for Psychiatric Treatment," on page 188, before you visit a psychiatrist's office. When you go for your appointment, take along a list of all the questions you want to ask, and don't leave until they're answered. Be assertive; remember that it's your Health at stake, not the doctor's.

The authors of DSM-IV and its counterpart, ICD-10 (the latest version of the International Classification of Diseases, published by the World Health Organization and used by European psychiatrists) warn against using the manuals as medical "cookbooks"—add enough symptomatic ingredients and you have a diagnosis—but it's standard practice to use them in precisely this way.

Adaptogens: Herbs for Strength, Stamina, and Stress Relief David Winston, RH(AHG), and Steven Maimes See book keywords and concepts

STRIVING FOR HEALTH The World Health Organization defines Health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely absence of disease or infirmity." Emphasis may be placed on well-being. According to ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine, Health is a state of balance between the body, mind, and consciousness. Many healers have come to the conclusion that the body naturally self-corrects and moves toward maintaining Health and balance. Maintaining balance is part of life and, as such, is what we knowingly or unknowingly strive for.

The World Health Organization reports that approximately 75 percent of the world's population depends on botanical medicines for its basic Health care needs. In fact, people in a number of countries are using medicinal plants as a significant part of their Health care regimens. Herbs have been used as medicines for millennia. Prior to the introduction of modern pharmaceutical drugs, herbal remedies were among the few reliable healing and treatment methods available. Approximately 25 percent of modern medicines are still made from plants first used in traditional medicine.

Health Benefits of Adaptogens "For every human illness, somewhere in the World there exists a plant which is the cure." Rudolf Steiner When compiling research on the Health benefits of adaptogens, the amount of data is almost overwhelming. This is due to the large number of studies and the fact that adaptogens have such a broad influence on the entire body. The reality of adaptogens is that they are effective tonics and can be taken daily for overall Health. In fact, throughout the World millions of people are using these products on a daily basis.

That country has nearly four hundred thousand registered ayurvedic practitioners, and ayurvedic medicine is the third-largest medical system in the World today. Almost 70 percent of modern medicines used in India are derived from natural products. In Japan, 80 percent of physicians have prescribed a traditional Chinese medicine in the past year, mostly in formulas known as kampo. Approximately two hundred kampo formulas are officially recognized by the Japanese government. According to the World Health Organization, Japan has the highest per capita consumption of herbal medicines in the World.

Medicinal plants can be found in every region of the World. James Duke, PhD, a recently retired botanist for the United States Department of Agriculture, put together a database that includes eighty thousand plants with more than twenty thousand species throughout the World that can be documented as being used for medicinal purposes. In North America, excluding Mexico, there are approximately twenty-two hundred species of plants that have been used for medicinal purposes in a traditional context. Herbal medicine is one of the most ancient forms of Health care known to humankind.

Allergic to the Twentieth Century: The Explosion in Environmental Allergies--From Sick Buildings to Multiple Chemical Sensitivity Peter Radetsky See book keywords and concepts

As I walk through the place, it seems pretty clear that if any home can keep the dangers of the World at bay, this might be the one. It also becomes clear that this house is a personal statement, Rick Kiessig's rejoinder to a World that has dealt him and his family a bad hand. "He's been studying for a long time," Howe told me. "He finally got to the point where he thought he could design a house that's healthy for him." In the first place, there's no wood. Wood can rot, and that means mold. Wood can be eaten by termites, which could necessitate pesticides.

The risky things the Kiessigs must contend with in the outside World — pesticides, perfume, formaldehyde, solvents, auto exhaust, molds, polluted air — will be blessedly absent from this home. This will be a sanctuary for them, the equivalent of a Wimberley retreat, a space station of sanity and Health. At least, that's the idea. As I walk through the place, it seems pretty clear that if any home can keep the dangers of the World at bay, this might be the one.

Soon after the IPCS recommendations came out, a group of more than sixty occupational and environmental Health scientists from around the World signed a letter of protest that was sent to IPCS and its three United Nations sponsors. Among other things, the letter stated that "IPCS has demonstrated extreme bias in favor of the chemical and asbestos industries in its evaluations of environmental Health hazards to the public.

Chapter I Survival Strategies in a Hostile World today sue pitman is fifty-two years old. In 1977, healthy and happy, she, her husband, and their two small children moved to a suburb of Chicago called Lake Bluff. Their house was located in a quiet neighborhood one block from Lake Michigan. It was brand-new. It seemed perfect. It wasn't. During the first winter there, Pitman began suffering headaches. Then came a string of respiratory ailments, including asthma and pneumonia.

It also becomes clear that this house is a personal statement, Rick Kiessig's rejoinder to a World that has dealt him and his family a bad hand. "He's been studying for a long time," Howe told me. "He finally got to the point where he thought he could design a house that's healthy for him." In the first place, there's no wood. Wood can rot, and that means mold. Wood can be eaten by termites, which could necessitate pesticides. Soft woods give off chemicals called "ter-penes," which the Kiessigs cannot tolerate.

Enter this World, and you're in a sophisticated, high-tech treatment facility. The Environmental Health Center (or EHC-Dallas) staff includes Rea and two other physicians, Alfred Johnson and Gerald Ross, nutritionists, counselors, physical therapists, nurses and technicians, an on-site lab, and working relationships with two psychiatrists and two psychologists — seventy-five people in all. The waiting room looks like something out of Star Wars: transparent glass entry and door, glass-covered walls, shiny marble tile floors, high white ceiling covered by nontoxic paint.

Best Choices From the People's Pharmacy Joe Graedon, M.S. and Teresa Graedon, Ph.D. See book keywords and concepts

Eggplant is a popular vegetable in many parts of the World. It is also referred to as aubergine, garden egg, or melanzana. The peel contains antho-cyanidins, compounds like those in blackberries or purple grapes, and the flesh is rich in soluble fiber, which may help lower cholesterol. The Nurse's Health Study has been tracking tens of thousands of women for decades to see how diet and lifestyle affect Health. Surprisingly, eggplant consumption was associated with higher blood pressure (Hypertension, May 1996). Based on this research, we wouldn't trade medicine for eggplant.

It is one of the most popular prescription asthma medications in the World, found in asthma inhalers such as Advair and Serevent. Although salmeterol has been on the market since 1994, it wasn't until May 2006 that the FDA required the manufacturer "to alert health-care professionals and patients that these medicines may increase the chance of severe asthma episodes, and death when those episodes occur.

We communicate with the World through our fingers. Everyone tells us that exercise is the most important thing we can do for our overall Health. Yet it's hard to walk, jog, or play tennis or golf if your knees, hips, and shoulders are sore. No wonder we turn to drugs to relieve our inflammation and ease the pain. A friend who hiked the Appalachian Trail dubbed ibuprofen "vitamin I." Weekend warriors frequently rely on Advil (ibuprofen) or Aleve (naproxen) before, during, and after tennis matches, basketball games, or karate competitions.

Vitamin D is the cheapest nutrient in the World because you don't have to pay a penny for it. All you need is a few minutes of sun exposure every day and your body will make all the vitamin D you need. This compound is essential for overall good Health and yet millions of people are deficient in vitamin D. That's because they are totally þ ???* Vitamin D The sunshine vitamin is the best deal in town because it is free. This nutrient is associated with a lower risk of osteoporosis, fractures, depression, cancer, and arthritis.

A muscle in your leg is contract-with not a care in the World. Then, like a bolt ing so strongly that it wakes you out of a sound of lightning, you are wide awake and in excru- sleep. To ease the pain, you need the muscle to relax. But coaxing a muscle to let go can be tricky. If such sudden nighttime leg pains occur frequently, they can wreak havoc with your rest. And that can have negative consequences for your overall Health. When I get severe leg cramps, my calf muscle becomes hard as a rock. The pain is so severe that I panic until I can stop it.

1001 Chemicals in Everyday Products Grace Ross Lewis See book keywords and concepts

Precautions: According to the FDA, National Institute of Health, World Health Organization, Dept. of Health and Human Services, AMA, and so on, the milk and meat are safe to consume. Synonyms: BGH ? BST ? BOVINE SOMATOTROPINE bromelin_ Products and Uses: Utilized in beer, bread, cereals (precooked), meat (raw cuts), poultry, and wine. For chillproofing of beer, milk-clotting enzyme, meat tenderizing, cereals (preparation of precooked), and tissue softening agent. Derived from pineapple juice. Precautions: GRAS (generally recognized as safe). Synonyms: CAS: 9001-00-7 ? ANANASE ? BROMELAINS ?

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ABOUT THE CREATOR OF NATURALPEDIA: Mike Adams, the creator of this NaturalNews Naturalpedia, is the editor of NaturalNews.com, the internet's top natural health news site, creator of the Honest Food Guide (www.HonestFoodGuide.org), a free downloadable consumer food guide based on natural health principles, author of Grocery Warning, The 7 Laws of Nutrition, Natural Health Solutions, and many other books available at www.TruthPublishing.com, creator of the earth-friendly EcoLEDs company (www.EcoLEDs.com) that manufactures energy-efficient LED lighting products, founder of Arial Software (www.ArialSoftware.com), a permission e-mail technology company, creator of the CounterThink Cartoon series (www.NaturalNews.com/index-cartoons.html) and author of over 1,500 articles, interviews, special reports and reference guides available at www.NaturalNews.com. Adams' personal philosophy and health statistics are available at www.HealthRanger.org.