Home > Feedback / Testimonials / Archives > Newsletter Archives > Herbal Health September 2004 Natural Health Newsletter Issue 235 Sponsored by www.Insensual.com Toll Free for orders 1-866-467-6444 Issue Editor - Heather Bowman Herbs - Vitamins - Minerals - Magnetics - Candles - Aromatherapy - Holiday Gifts - Bath & Beauty - Essential Oils - Condition & Ailment Guide - Womens Health - Mens Health - Weight Loss - Health Books Using Supplementation To Help Treat Migraines - Click here for full story. When The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease - Click here for full story. New Data Finds Antioxidant Combo Decreases Smokers’ Cancer Risk - Click here for full story. Pooch Supplements - Click here for full story. Tea Keeps Blood Pressure Down - Click here for full story. Our Sponsors Enter coupon code NL092904 when checking out to obtain discounts on your next purchase from http://www.Insensual.com Back to Top Using Supplementation To Help Treat Migraines Submitted by Greg Arnold, DC, September 6, 2004, abstracted from the prevalence of migraine in patients with bipolar and unipolar affective disorders in the November 2001 issue of Cephalalgia Migraine headaches (MH) are a problem exacting a tremendous toll on society. According to the National Headache Foundation (1), MH affect more than 28 million Americans and cost society over $13 billion each year. Research has shown MH to not only run in the family (2), but migraines frequently precipitate depression, which is three times higher among patients with migraine than patients without migraine (3). Supplementation for migraines has received modest to significant success in the literature, and here are three different forms of supplementation to consider: Feverfew. While a recent American review failed to find evidence of feverfew to help prevent migraine (4), past research in Europe (5) has found significant improvements in treating migraine with the use of feverfew. Current recommendations are to take 400 mg of feverfew per day which give 400 micrograms of feverfews active ingredient, parthenolide (6). Magnesium. Magnesium deficiencies have been found to be common in migraine sufferers (7) while reviews (8) have found sufficient, though not definitive, evidence of magnesiums ability to help treat migraines. Current recommendations are to take 500-1000mg of magnesium per day (6). Riboflavin. Research on riboflavin has effectively treated migraines in both American (9) and European (10) studies at a dose of 400 mg per day. When looking at alternative treatment methods for migraines, many have found at least modest success in research. But the biggest advantage alternative treatments have over prescription medications is their lack of side effects and their ability to keep working even after their use is discontinued. These reasons alone should warrant the inclusion of nutritional supplementation to help treat migraines. References: 1. National Headache Foundation www.headaches.org 2. Gardner K. The genetic basis of migraine: how much do we know? Canadian Journal of Neurological Science 1999; 26(3): 37-43a 3. Fasmer, O.B., The prevalence of migraine in patients with bipolar and unipolar affective disorders. Cephalalgia, 2001. 21(9): p. 894-9 4. Pittler, M.H. and E. Ernst, Feverfew for preventing migraine. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2004(1): p. CD002286 5. Murphy, J.J., S. Heptinstall, and J.R. Mitchell, Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial of feverfew in migraine prevention. Lancet, 1988. 2(8604): p. 189-92 6. LEF, Life Extension Foundations Guide to Disease Prevention and Treament. 4th ed. 2003: Life Extension Media 7. Trauninger, A., et al., Oral magnesium load test in patients with migraine. Headache, 2002. 42(2): p. 114-9 8. Bianchi, A., et al., Role of magnesium, coenzyme Q10, riboflavin, and vitamin B12 in migraine prophylaxis. Vitam Horm, 2004. 69: p. 297-312 9. Yee, A.J., Effectiveness of high-dose riboflavin in migraine prophylaxis. Neurology, 1999. 52(2): p. 431-2 10. Boehnke, C., et al., High-dose riboflavin treatment is efficacious in migraine prophylaxis: an open study in a tertiary care centre. Eur J Neurol, 2004. 11(7): p. 475-7 For more information and list of helpful products Migraines Back to Top When The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease Reprinted with permission from Bottom Lines Daily Health News, www.bottomlinesdailyhealthnews.com, September 9, 2004 Some drugs cause more trouble than the diseases theyre meant to heal. This is often said about prednisone, the corticosteroid used to treat a variety of inflammatory ailments -- arthritis, asthma, colitis and some cancers -- and to prevent rejection of transplanted organs. Its nasty side effects -- from a swollen moon face to increased infections -- are legendary. But what many people dont know is that theres a medicinal mushroom called reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) that could, in some cases, do as good a job without wreaking havoc on the body. here Reishi, known in China as an elixir of immortality, has been used for more than 3,000 years to rev up the immune system and heal chronic inflammatory conditions. Dozens of preliminary studies support its anti-inflammatory properties. One Chinese study found that of the more than 2,000 people with chronic bronchitis who took reishi syrup for two weeks, 60% to 90% said they felt better. The best part? Its side effects are as minimal as those you might have from taking a placebo. I can guarantee that the side effects, if any, will be less than one-quarter of those you might have with prednisone -- and the cost is less than one-quarter that of a drug prescription, says herbalist and botanist Christopher Hobbs, LAc. Hobbs, who has written many books on alternative therapies, including Herbal Health for Dummies (Wiley), acknowledges that prednisone has its place. For short-term life-threatening conditions, it may save your life, he says, noting that his friend recently benefited from the drug when he experienced a flare-up of irritable bowel syndrome. But if you have an ongoing inflammatory condition, reishi may be the best first line of treatment. YOUR BODYS CHEMISTRY Prednisone is a poor long-term solution because it stops inflammation by literally shutting down immune function -- and an operational immune system is not something you want to live without for too long. We need to be able to modulate inflammation because it allows immune cells to come in and fight infections as necessary, Hobbs says. With prednisone, youre impacting the bodys ability to do its job. The drug also causes severe water retention, affects your adrenal hormones, changes your insulin balance and can trigger insomnia, anxiety and depression. Reishi, by contrast, works slowly with your immune system, to reduce abnormal inflammation. Reishi also has an antistress effect, earning it the nickname calming the spirit. If your doctor prescribes prednisone and its not a life-or-death situation, you might discuss trying reishi first. It is available in health-food stores, in powder form, as well as capsules and tablets. CAUTION: Do not take immune-boosting supplements if you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or other autoimmune diseases. Reishi also should be used with caution in individuals with a history of bleeding or those on anticoagulants. Back to Top New Data Finds Antioxidant Combo Decreases Smokers’ Cancer Risk Reprinted with permission from www.NutraIngredients.com, August 9, 2004 Smokers taking a wide range of antioxidants through their diet appear to have a lower risk of lung cancer, according to a recent study. The results counter the findings of a trial carried out in the 90s, the Finnish ATBC study, which found an increased risk of the disease for smokers with high beta-carotene intake. In the new study, researchers from Yale University and other US institutes together with colleagues from the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki, Finland analysed the same data but looked at the total intake of antioxidants, including Selenium, Vitamin E, Vitamin C as well as Carotenoids and Flavonoids, rather than one single antioxidant. At baseline (1985-1988), 27,111 Finnish male smokers aged 50-69 years completed a dietary questionnaire that assessed usual frequency of consumption and portion sizes for the previous 12 months. A total of 1,787 incident cases of lung cancer were identified during a follow-up period of up to 14.4 years (1985-1999). Writing in the 1 July issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology (160:68-76), the researchers report that smokers in the top quintile of dietary antioxidant intake had a 16 percent lower risk of lung cancer compared to those with the lowest intake. Smokers who ate large amounts of meat had a 25 percent decrease, despite red meat having a high oxidative effect. The Vitality Council, a Danish organisation set up by the Danish Society for Orthomolecular Medicine and producers and distributors of vitamins and minerals to inform consumers and health professionals about new research, said the results are of great importance, because they are sourced from the same ATBC study, which has been one of the most outspoken arguments to warn against antioxidants. It noted that two other larger studies have found the risk of lung cancer decreased up to as much as 32 percent and 68 percent. The researchers add in a commentary that the original ATBC study results have been due to the fact that the smokers did not get a combination of vitamins but were given beta-carotene alone. They recommend smokers take a variety of antioxidants as a protection against cancer. Click here for more information about Antioxidants and helpful products. Back to Top Pooch Supplements By Sharon Wong, RN, August 27, 2004 Like many others, I am a pet lover. We have a small dog named Wolfie, an 11-lb. toy poodle. We feed him with natural pet food, which we purchase at our local health food store. Look at the ingredient list on your pet food and then compare it with a natural product. Just like people food, it pays to be educated. Wolfie is also is fed some table snacks which arent always healthy. However, like most pets, he has some problems. One was that he gagged and regurgitated most days. I bought a book about natural pet health for him called Dr. Pitcairns Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs & Cats, a veterinarian. He recommends raw foods for pets (which I havent tried yet) and a healthy diet, exercise, and supplements. I feed Wolfie dog twice a day and add organic ground turkey and natural gravy (1-2TB) as he is a picky eater. Per Dr. Pitcairns recommendations, I started giving Wolfie supplements and also adding Healthy Powder to his pet food. I made the recipe using NOW products. I store the extra product in my freezer. HEALTHY POWDER 2 cups yeast (I use NOW Brewers Yeast Powder, but granules would also work.) 1 cup Lecithin Granules ¼ cup Kelp Powder ¼ cup bone meal 1000 mg Vitamin C (I use NOW Ester-C and open the capsule into the mix) or ¼ tsp. sodium ascorbate (optional) Mix ingredients in a 1 quart container and refrigerate. Dr. Pitcaim recommends adding this to commercial food as follows: 1-2 tsp. per day for cats or small dogs, 2-3 tsp. per day for medium-sized dogs, 1-2 TB/day for large dogs. I add 1 tsp. per day to my dogs food and also add 100IU Vitamin E MT or d-alpha. I break the capsule and pour the oil onto his food. He seems to like the taste of it, but I still give him a little meat and gravy as well. For snacks, both my vet and Dr. Pitcairn recommend fruits and vegetables. Our dog likes small pieces of apple, banana, and small cooked vegetables. I started supplementing him just to improve his health but it has almost eliminated his gagging and regurgitating. I would recommend this book and these products to help improve your pets health. Of course, check with your vet if you have any questions.. Click here for more information on Natural Pet Care and helpful products Back to Top Tea Keeps Blood Pressure Down Reprinted with permission from www.NutraIngredients.com, July 27, 2004 Tea drinkers are less likely to suffer from hypertension, report Chinese researchers in a study out this week. Tea has long been believed to possess hypotensive effects in popular Chinese medicine, noted the researchers, but conflicting results have been shown among human trials and animal studies on the relation between tea consumption and blood pressure. Epidemiological evidence about the long-term effect of tea on hypertensive risk is also inconsistent. In the new study, the scientists from the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan examined the effect of tea drinking on the risk of newly diagnosed hypertension in 1507 subjects aged 20 or older, who did not have a hypertensive history when the study started. Almost 40 percent of the subjects were defined by the scientists as habitual tea drinkers, meaning they consumed at least 120 millilitres of green tea or oolong tea everyday for at least one year. The more tea people drank, the lower their risk of high blood pressure, write the authors in yesterdays Archives of Internal Medicine (164:1534-1540). Compared with non-habitual tea drinkers, the risk of developing hypertension decreased by 46 percent for those who drank 120-599 ml per day and was further reduced by 65 percent for those who drank 600 ml daily or more. The results were confirmed after adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, family history of hypertension, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, lifestyle factors and dietary factors. Tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world. Research has already found that it can lower cholesterol levels, protect against heart attacks and EGCG, one of the numerous catechins contained in green tea, is also being studied for its anti-cancer activity. A recently published Japanese study found that black tea may be healthy for the heart through its action on blood vessels. The small study suggested that the drink dilates the vessels allowing faster blood flow. Much of the research on tea is filtering through to consumers and in markets without traditional consumption of the most widely researched type - green tea - sales have boomed. According to a Datamonitor report in 2003, green tea consumption in the UK the previous year was more than 20 times the 1997 figure. Click here for more information about Herbal Tea, Tinctures & Tonics and helpful products. Do you have a question for us? If so please send in your questions to newseditor@insensual.com We will answer all email ASAP! Back to Top For assistance or to purchase products by phone call toll free in the USA 1-866-467- 6444 or World Wide 1-307-577-6444 or e-mail your questions to newseditor@insensual.com. We will answer e-mails in the newsletter as space allows. Our Sponsors Insensual.com Get the finest all natural health products, get the best service, and low cost worldwide delivery. Enter coupon code NL092904 when checking out to obtain discounts on your next purchase from www.Insensual.com