Sexy flowers, Chinese herbs

Flowers Are Sexy and Smart

Posted by Cathy on with 4 Comments

 Flowering plants are smart.  They know how to grab our attention and the attention of passing insects. Flowers actually intentionally, flaunt sex. Makes perfect sense really, since it’s the flowers job to manage the reproduction of the plant.  Plants produce beautiful flower petals of varying colors and shape to advertise the sexual organs ever so masterly hidden inside. Flowers release powerful aphrodisiac scents, an instinctive incentive for insects to come in and play. Nectar and pollen are the insects’ rewards and the plant benefits from the insects who carry their pollen to other plants which ensures rapid fertilization and reproduction. Flowers are smarter than you might think, but there’s more to flowers than just sex.

As spring weather emerges and flowers begin to bloom, you might want to consider that many flowers are so much more than just look pretty.  We have depended on flowers for our food supply, such as rice, wheat, corn and for clothing materials such as cotton and for medicine, continuously for thousands of years. Long before western pharmaceutical drugs, flowers were used as herbal remedies and recorded use goes back to 500 AD.  Chinese medicine, for example, has used flowers in herbal remedies to heal a huge variety of afflictions. Here are a few examples:

Lonicerae Flower – (Jin Yin Hua) has been used in Asian cultures for colds, flu, and sore throats. Recently, it was one of the four herbs in a formula to combat the swine flu and has proven its antibiotic properties successfully through years of research.

Viola Flower – (Zi Hua Di Ding) is known as the purple flower earth herb. This herb/flower has both anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects, meaning it can treat fevers and bacterial infections. It has been used for centuries as an herbal remedy to treat snake bites because it can reduce both swelling and toxicity.

Pagoda Flower – or Sophorae flower (Huai Hua) is used to stop various bleeding disorders. Chinese medicine often uses this herb/flower in the treatment of hemorrhoids and excessive menstrual bleeding.

 

Chrysanthemum Flower– (Ju Hua) This common Chinese medicine herb has over 30 different species and is a wonderful natural eye treatment for dry, irritated eyes. It’s also commonly used for high blood pressure, headaches and other ailments in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  

Safflower also is known as Carthamus – (Hong Hua) is a red flower used to treat menstrual disorders such as cramps and amenorrhea. It’s known to invigorate circulation and help dissolve clots. Safflower has been extensively studied and found beneficial for use in patients with heart disease and joint pain. This flower also has a high success rate in treating flat warts. (Now that’s a fun herbal remedy fact!)

 

Magnolia Flower – (xin yin hua) How about a flower to treat nasal congestion? This flower is one of the most effective herbal remedies for stuffy noses and chronic sinusitis. 

 

Lotus Flower – (Lian Zi Xin) I would be remiss not to mention one of the most famous flowers associated with Chinese medicine, the Lotus flower. Eight parts of the lotus plant are used for their botanical medicine qualities. The flower is known to treat bleeding disorders  (i.e. bloody noses) and often used for irritability and fevers. The stamen of the lotus flower also has healing qualities. One use in Traditional Chinese Medicine is to reduce excessive dreaming.

Flowers truly have wonderful healing properties and have changed our world more than we imagine.  Chinese medicine understands flowers are useful beyond just their sexual appeal of beautiful packaging.  (Many more are used in Traditional Chinese medicine than I could possibly have space to mention here.)    

I thank the flowering plants for their beauty, but even though flowers are beautiful to look at,  I never overlook the fact they also provide us with an abundance of natural herbal remedies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26087234

Balance Your Hormones Naturally

Balance Your Hormones Naturally

Posted by Cathy on

Pacific Herbs can help you naturally restore hormonal balance. Suffering from PMS, menopause or peri-menopausal? Traditional Chinese Medicine from Pacific Herbs can help!

A natural alternative for symptoms of hormonal headaches, PMS, hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, anxiety, mental clarity and other hormonal imbalances.

Asian cultures have used this combination of herbs effectively as a natural alternative for years. Pacific Herbs is a great solution to create hormonal balance for women with natural progesterone.

For more healthy tips and Chinese herbs to help keep you healthy check out reishi mushroom link and video at https://www.pacherbs.com/boost-your-immune-system-naturally/ or visit https://PacHerbs.com

Chinese herbs organic

How Long Can You Last? The Test of Time

Posted by Cathy on

Chinese herbs Tong Ren TongIn the business world when economic times get tough a business that weathers the storm is a true survivor. A standout,  that must have incredibly popular products that make people come back for more even when unemployment is high and people are unwilling to spend. A business that survives  must have proven itself worthy of providing  great products at a fair price. Products that people simply can’t do without.  When a business does this for 70  to 100 years  or more we are all impressed. The stamina, the fortitude and adaptability to survive for so many years  must mean this business has some incredible products which we all crave.  Ford Motor Company  and Kodak  come to mind, some of the oldest American businesses.

But what do you think about a business that has survived providing the same products for 341 years?  It is truly unheard of in America. We have only been an independent nation for 240 years and no single business has survived since revolutionary days.  Yet, a Chinese herb pharmacy called Tong Ren Tong is still in business after 341 continuous years. They still sell Chinese herbs, just as they did in the year 1669.  In fact, in Beijing they operate from the same location since 1702!

They are a household name in China, Hong Kong and much of Asia. They operate pharmacies, drug retailers and various joint ventures throughout 13 countries in  Asia. Wouldn’t you be a household name if you were 345 years old?   The picture above is me standing in front of their Hong Kong store. (No pictures were allowed inside)

 

Tong Ren Tang was the supplier of medicinal Chinese herbs to the royals of the Qing Dynasty, from 1669 until their collapse  1911. They have succeed in weathering the storms of Chinese government takeovers, communism and now globalization and prescription medications. Tong Ren has been  successful  for hundreds of years because Chinese herbs work, it’s as simple as that.   Chinese herbs worked 300 hundred years ago and they work today for all kinds of illnesses. Whether your buying ginseng or reishi mushrooms Tong Ren has the herbs and they know how to prescribe them for everything from the common cold to cancer. 

 

When you have incredibly popular products that work well, are needed by the masses and provide real value at a fair price your business will survive regardless of the economic times and government takeovers. Chinese herbs have proven to be that commodity. Chinese herbs are medicine that continues to heal people, even centuries after they were first introduced.  

 

Are Herb Supplements Still Bio-Active If They Have Fillers?

Posted by Cathy on

Most plants and herbs are naturally “Bio-Active” meaning they are digestible by humans and our gut (our large and small intestines). Recognizing the chemicals nutrients from plants is not as easy for your body today because often we eat and swallow herbal supplements with tons of “non-bio-active” fillers.

Just like your eyes understand these words because you have been trained in English language, your intestines can decode the language of plant chemicals that come through our guts. But when man-made chemicals arrive, i.e. fillers in herbal supplements such as magnesium stearate, a man-made chemical, then bio-activity slows to a crawl. Your body is not good a deciphering these new man-made chemicals that is has never seen before. It’s like trying to read English without ever learning the alphabet. You simply have no idea what they letters mean.

On the contrary, when herbs and plants are ingested,the curative are more powerful because all the plant chemical constituents become more BIO-AVAILABLE to our human genome. Our bodies, for thousands of years have ingested these chemicals and our bodies can decipher plant chemical make-up.

How do we know this? The research is overwhelming. Chemical pictures via computer programs using high performance liquid chromotography reveal marker chemicals in various herbs. These chemicals, for example, astraglaside #4 in Astragalus (huang qi) is higher in concentration in after boiling astragalus (huang qi) in a pot of hot water for 30 minutes than when testing the raw root material.

If we take it a step further and we cook the herbs in hot water boiling process and start to break down the fibrous plant material the plants will release even more chemical constituents with curative powers. The ancient Chinese knew this and therefore always boiled their herbs and drank the water as a tea, rather than eating the roots or leaves raw.

This tradition survives today. Boil your herbs and enjoy freshly released bio-active compounds and bio-availability of a matrix of healing herbal compounds. If you don’t have time to boil your own, Pacific Herbs line of herbs in granules have already been cooked and concentrated and have all the bio-active compounds you need to stay healthy. Check out the easiest way to get Bio-Active herbs here.

Alternatives for Period Pain

Posted by Cathy on

Tylenol dangersDid you hear? A really important consumer update from the FDA was released this month concerning the dangers of taking acetaminophen.

 

 

All of us take pain-relievers from time to time, but did you know that one of the most widely used medicines in the U.S. can cause a rare but serious skin reaction? Acetaminophen (Tylenol) can cause 3 serious skin diseases whose symptoms are a rash, blisters, and permanent damage to the skin. If you develop a rash or other skin reaction, or have in the past while taking this drug, stop using it and seek medical attention right away. There is no way to know who will be at risk for these potentially fatal reactions.

Acupuncture and Chinese Herbs have a long history of helping people with pain. Check here if you use any products containing Tylenol (i.e. Midol) for menstrual cramps and period pain. There are alternatives!

The 5 Biggest “Health Insurance” Tips You Will Ever Need

Posted by Cathy on with 1 Comment

Love your body, be healthy and prevent disease.I having been surrounded (quite literally) for the past three days by so called “healthy products”,  everything from fortified lolly pops, safer nail polish to every type of infused water possible. I had three days of endless conversations with wellness experts from around the world, Naturopaths, Dieticians, Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Herbalists, Homeopaths and Bio-Chemists to name a few. Every health professional I spoke to had the same resounding theme, the key to better health is not in any one of these hot new health products that you’ll find at the Natural Products Expo and later on a store shelf.  It’s not about curing a disease, it’s about PREVENTING it in the first place. The key is and always has been about PREVENTION.

So how do you PREVENT disease?  It’s actually not that difficult. Everyone can do it.
What you eat of course plays a big part and being a fast food society does cause “eating challenges”. (the subject of a later blog)
However, every health practitioner that I spoke with agreed that since all dis-ease (disease) is associated with inflammation and hormonal imbalances, getting those two area of the body in balance is the beginning to true prevention.
Think of prevention as the most cost effective “health insurance” available. Here are 5 tips to help your body be less acidic and more alkaline to keep inflammation to a minimum and a couple easy steps to balancing your hormones. (especially essential for women)
1. Reduce the sugar, it leads to inflammation. This includes fruit juices and products sweetened with fruit juice.  Most fruit is highly acidic.
2. Stay away from artificial hormones such as birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy and artificial “muscle building” powders. You can easily balance your own hormones through exercise and diet and you won’t need hormone replacements.
3. Get good quality sleep. Sleep helps the body heal and restores natural energy. When you sleep well, you will naturally produce more hormones. You won’t need that artificial, sugar laced energy drink and one cup of coffee will be enough. 
4. Add tea’s rather than coffee to your diet. There a thousand types of teas to choose from bags, loose leaf everyone can find something pleasing. Green teas (and others) naturally reduce body acidity and help reduce inflammation. Don’t misunderstand coffee has health benefits, but adding variety to your diet with tea’s provides other unique health benefits.
5. Exercise and learn some new stress releasing techniques like Yoga, Qi Gong breathing, Tai Qi and other types of relaxation / breathing exercises to reduce your stress. (All sorts of Youtube videos are freely available on these subjects) Get at least 45 minutes of sustained exercise everyday even if it’s just a brisk walk. Movement helps stimulate natural hormone production in your thymus, pituitary, adrenals and thyroid glands. Do it daily, for the greatest disease insurance.
It’s been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, I think it’s something closer to a ton of cure.
This post is proud to be part of “Prevention Not Prescription Tues” at The Kathleen Show

Can Cash Register Receipts Cause PMS?

Posted by Cathy on

As women, our hormonal cycles can make us an emotional mess! From our first period to our last, we are dominated by our hormones.  These tricky little messengers can run around amuck in our bodies for years and are often never “on a short lease and house trained.”  This is my motto and the way I like my hormones.

 

In other words, I want some predictability.   I don’t want the unknown creeping into my day and then I blow a fuse without any warning.  I think my family appreciates this too, especially my kids!   But life is not always so predictable and neither are our hormones.  If you agree, then it’s time to do something about them!

 

Hormonal balance is possible, in fact it’s absolutely essential to maintaining our good health. This has become harder to do with all the chemicals we find everywhere and so many products we take for granted our safe to us.  The fact is our bodies absorb many chemicals through our skin that can throw our hormonal balance into a spiraling nose dive.  As you probably know hormonal imbalance is the precursor to PMS, menstrual cramps, peri-menopause and menopause symptoms. So keeping the balance is crucial no matter what your age.

  

Here's one tip on a chemicals you may have already heard about but didn't realize it could be sneeking into your body in ways you never considered.

The chemical is BPA’s (Bisphenol A)  a known endocrine disrupting chemical which acts like estrogen in our body. Did you know that cash register receipts are made from thermal papers that contain high amounts of BPA’s.  When you touch these receipts or even handle cash today, (much of the BPA’s are landing on our cash) you potentially have high amounts of BPA’s on your hands. The cumulative effect is the effect we are worried about here.  Your action step to prevent BPA’s entering your body is easy.

Wash your hands before you eat or touch you mouth.

It should be part of our daily hygiene anyway.  But often times we eat on the run, pick up fast food and have just touched the receipt of the food we bought.   Just be cognitive, that you may not really need that receipt.

Politely decline taking the receipt. Washing your hands may seem like a simple baby step to creating better health and healing for your body from PMS to menopausal symptoms.  But,  adding a whole lot of small healthy steps together takes you from a standstill to a full sprint in creating better health.  If you have more questions revisit the information on BPA’s in the book, Stop Your Bitching…naturally! or get "30 Days of Tips To Stop Your Bitching…naturally!  The book of tips is an easy to follow guidebook with one TIP for everyday of the month to help you bring balance back to your hormonal shifts..NATURALLY.  

Get 30 Days of Tips FREE from October 18-20th, 2013 on Amazon downloadable books. 

 

 

Natural Menstrual Cramp Relief fast with PMS Relief Herb Pack from Pacific Herbs

Ginseng Fights Fatigue Says Mayo Clinic

Posted by Cathy on

natural herbal energy boostersNeed more energy, REAL energy that sustains you and not just a quick jolt of caffeine?   The most famous Chinese herb, ginseng, now has more proof on its fatigue fighting abilities.  

According to the Mayo Clinic, American Ginseng taken for 8 weeks can help decrease cancer-related fatigue symptoms.

This latest study was done in 40 community medical centers in the U.S and Canada on 364 cancer patients.  Half of the patients studied were undergoing cancer treatment at the time of the study and the other half had already completed cancer treatment.

Ginseng has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as a natural energy booster, libido booster and overall tonic herb for thousands of years. These new findings, just presented at the American Socity of Clinical Oncology annual meeting found the study participants’ experienced

 "Significant Improvement" in their general exhaustion levels with no apparent side effects.  

Mayo researcher Debra Barton stated "After eight weeks, we saw a 20-point improvement in fatigue in cancer patients, measured on a 100-point, standardized fatigue scale." "Cancer is a prolonged chronic stress experience and the effects can last 10 years beyond diagnosis and treatment," she said. "If we can help the body be better modulated throughout treatment with the use of ginseng, we may be able to prevent severe long-term fatigue."

Along with ginseng's energy boosting benefits it also has been researched and concluded to decrease inflammation and regulate levels of coritisol (a common stress hormone). Energy Booster Herb Pack by Pacific Herbs is a perfect addition for anyone dealing with fatigue because it contains a high dose of ginseng. This energy drink is safe, delicious easy to take and perfectly packaged for everyone on the run.  Energy Booster Herb Pack has No caffeine, NO sugar and NO fillers. Energy booster can be taken as a energy drink or just straight in the mouth. 

China’s Obsession – Bigger Is Definitely Better

Posted by Cathy on

In China, BIGGER is definitely better.

Take a look for yourself.  These pictures tell it all.  

If you are going to build a statue in Asia, it's got to be big.  I mean really BIG.

Here in the U.S. we don't have much to compare with these. Mount Rushmore comes to mind but it is over 70 years old. 

These huge statues, all in China, have all been built in the last 20 years.

What's the reason BIGGER is better?  Not sure, what do you think?

AD 803

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
1994 
China's obsession over giant statues

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China's obsession over giant statues
Located 30 kilometers south of Guangzhou city, South China's Guangdong province, the 40.8-meter Kwan-yin statue is the tallest gold-plated bronze statue in the world. It was completed in 1994.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China's obsession over giant statues
1996
Situated 160 kilometers north of Chengdu city, Southwest China's Sichuan province, the 71-meter Leshan Grand Buddha was built in AD 803 during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). It is still the biggest stone-carved Buddha in the world and was included on the World Heritage List. It was the world's biggest Buddha for 1,200 years. Now, it only ranks seventh in China in terms of height. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China's obsession over giant statues

China's obsession over giant statues
The 88-meter Lingshan Grand Buddha built in 1996 is the main tourist attraction at Lingshan Buddhist Scenic Spot in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province. It is a bronze statue of Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1998

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China's obsession over giant statues
Xijiaoshan Kwan-yin Statue is 61.9 meters high, situated on the top of a hill in Foshan city, South China's Guangdong province. It was completed in 1998 as the highest sitting Kwan-yin statue.

 

 
China's obsession over giant statues    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2005  
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2006

China's obsession over giant statues

  China's obsession over giant statues
Golden Statue of Puxian on Emei Mountain, in Sichuan province, was built in May 2006 and is 48 meters high. This 66-ton bronze likeness is endowed with 10 heads "to catch winds from 10 directions."

China's obsession over giant statues
The giant Kwan-yin statue is 108 meters high, located at Nanshan Temple in Sanya, South China's Hainan province. It was built in April 2005. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]  

 
   

2008 
 China's obsession over giant statues

  China's obsession over giant statues

 

2007
The 106-meter statue of Yandi (left) and Huangdi emperors was finished in April 2007 in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province. Chinese often refer to themselves as "sons and grandsons of the emperors Huangdi and Yandi."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China's obsession over giant statues
The Spring Temple Buddha built in 2008 is a statue depicting Vairocana Buddha in Zhaocun township of Lushan county, Central China's Henan province. At 128 meters, which includes a 20-meter lotus throne, it is the tallest statue in the world. If the statue's 25-meter pedestal is taken into account, the monument has a total height of 153 meters. The hill on which the statue stands was reshaped to form two more pedestals. The total height of the monument is now 208 meters. It is made of 108 kilograms of gold, 3,300 kilograms of alloy-copper and 15,000 tons of special steel. [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

China's obsession over giant statues

 
2009  China's obsession over giant statues
2010

 

  China's obsession over giant statues
The huge statue of Guan Gong, an ancient Chinese marshal from the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280), in Yuncheng city, North China's Shanxi province, is made of copper and measures 61 meters. It was built in 2010, becoming the tallest statue of Duke Guan in the world.

China's obsession over giant statues
A thousand-hand Kwan-yin statue was finished in 2009 at Weishan Mountain in Central Hunan province. The statue is 99 meters high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hormones and Your Health – Natural Solutions to Menopause Symptoms

Posted by Cathy on with 2 Comments

Hormones and Your Health – Natural Menopause Solutions

There is breaking news from the American Association for Cancer Research. A study presented in Chicago on March 31, 2012  proved long term hormone use dramatically increases a woman's risk factor for developing breast cancer.  Whether you use hormones or not (birth control or HRT) there are many great ways to reduce extra estrogen in your body.  

This video give you 6 easy tips to help you balance your hormones naturally.

 

Breaking News Hormones and Your Health

The study was conducted at Harvard Medical School where they studied over 100,000 registered nurses for approximately 25 years. The results found that the women who used any type of hormone therapy for more than 10 years had a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer. The longer your hormone use, the higher your risks factor.

I wanted to talk about this because so many women take birth control pills when they are young and HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for menopausal symptoms as they age.

Now we have this long term study showing the results of this hormone use. Doctors like Dr. Wendy Chen the lead researcher of the study, is saying  women should use the lowest dose of hormones needed for the shortest time possible.

The good news is there are many ways to balance your hormones and reduce the estrogen in your body. I want to give you a couple easy and natural tips on how to do this.

1. First, try to eat meat that is hormone free. Whether it's chicken, beef or pork, look for meat that says raised without hormones. The same goes for milk. Certified Organic milk  (or raw organic) milk is the only milk that does not contain hormones.

2. Add a powdered green supplement to your diet everyday. Something that contains the herb milk thistle and or dandelion root and this will help your liver process estrogen and remove it from your body.

3. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts and cauliflower all help reduce estrogen dominance. If these are not your favorite vegetables, you can take a supplement that does this is called indinol 3.

4. Drink filtered water is another good idea because there are large amount of hormones in our water supply.

5. Also reducing your caffeine intake will help balance your hormones and stop microwaving your food in plastic containers because this leach toxin that act as estrogen into your body.

6. If you are dealing with menopausal symptoms such as night sweats and hot flashes, there are natural alternatives to HRT – Chinese herbs have been used for centuries and are a safe solution. Pacific Herbs sells a Menopause Relief Herb Pack that works fast for these symptoms and is made from herbs that have more than 500 years of use.  You can find Menopause Relief here.

I hope you will research the new study results for yourself and please pass on this information to other women.  It could be a life saver.

 

Study link:   http://www.abstractsonline.com/Plan/ViewAbstract.aspx?sKey=489622a8-6ba9-4309-b54c-6e00a5886d06&cKey=726a2cb6-a357-418f-8fe2-cc997d8ce387&mKey={2D8C569E-B72C-4E7D-AB3B-070BEC7EB280}

More studies on Estrogen:

It is generally accepted that high levels of estrogen are associated with cancer of the breast, uterus and cervix; with cystic breast disease, uterine fibroids and endometriosis; with heavy bleeding and premenstrual syndrome; with depressed thyroid function; and with fluid retention and weight gain. Some lesser known associations are the following, as reported in the Nutri-Spec Letter of Guy R. Schenker, DC (1-800-736-4320):

Estrogen levels increase under the stress of injury, surgery, exposure to cold, infection and fasting. (Am J Vet Res, Feb 1998; Keio J Med, Sept 1989; Prog Clin Biol Res, 1989; J Clin Endocrine Metabl, 1974; Am J Clin Nutri, 1989)

Postmenopausal women with higher levels of circulating estrogen experience greater cognitive decline. (J Am Ger Soc 1998, Vol 46, Pages 816-21)

Alcoholism is associated with abnormally high levels of estrogen. (S Gastroienterol, Oct 1988 German)

Estrogen exacerbates symptoms of allergies and asthma. (Rev Pheumol Clin, Oct 1999, Vol 55, No 5, Pages 296-300; Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol, Sep 1998, Vol 81 No 3, Pages 243-6) One study presented evidence that the increasing incidence of asthma in children is due to the mother's oral contraceptive use prior to pregnancy. (Pediatr Allergy Immunol, Nov 1997, Vol 8, No 4, Pages 200-4.)

Estrogen can actually cause osteoporosis! (Menopause 1991 1(3):131-136) According to Dr. Schenker, between the ages of 21 and 40 there is a considerable increase in women's estrogen production. However, bone loss has been shown to actually begin around the age of 23 and progresses through the years when estrogen levels are actually rising. Weight gain patterns in middle age women can interfere with bone mass scans, leading to false conclusions about the effects of estrogen on bone health.

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Feel Compelled to include this information from Dr. John Foster MD

We are living in the age of estrogen. The food supply is laden with traces of herbicides, pesticides and petrochemical residues from plastics, all of which have estrogen-like, endocrine disrupting effects in animals and humans. These xenobiotics, or foreign biological substances, have been linked to abnormalities and cancers of human tissues that are hormone sensitive, including fibrocystic breast disease, breast cancer, cervical cancer and dysplasia, endometrial cancer, endometriosis and ovarian disease as well as prostatic hypertrophy and cancer.

How can we protect ourselves from these influences? Eating a whole food diet of organic or biodynamic foods, free of pesticides, is an important first step. Healthy water is the next. Municipal water supplies may be sources of many chemicals and water in plastic bottles can contain residues of polycarbonate plastics called phthalates, which are endocrine disrupters. It is important to drink only pure mineral water or water that has been treated by a reverse osmosis (RO) system.

Our bodies regulate and eliminate estrogens by the action of detoxifying enzymes in the liver. There are two pathways of estrogen oxidation and conversion, one of which converts it to a beneficial and non-toxic form 2-OH estrogen and another which converts it to the 16-OH estrogen form. The 16-OH form is carcinogenic and causes diseases of tissues that are responsive to hormones, including disorders and cancers of breast, uterus, cervix and prostate, and probably lung and colon. Xenoestrogens push the system toward the 16-OH pathway both directly and indirectly.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, bok choy, Brussels sprouts and cabbage contain a substance called indole-3-carbinol (I3C) which is activated and liberated when the vegetables are crushed in a wet environment, that is, when they are chewed, chopped or pounded. In the presence of stomach acid, I3C combines with itself to form DIM (di-indollyl methane). DIM induces certain P-450 enzymes in the liver to block the production of the toxic 16-OH estrogens and enhance the production of the beneficial 2-OH forms.

Studies have demonstrated that DIM reduces the incidence of fibrocystic breast disease, cervical dysplasia, endometriosis and prostate enlargement. In fact, the 2-OH form is not only benign but also enhances the process of apoptosis, the spontaneous death of damaged and cancerous cells. DIM also acts as an active surveillance for cancer cells. This is very exciting and while there is much to learn and more to say, I can state with assurance that this phyto-nutrient may be one of the most important protective substances of this new century.

It is very important to eat cruciferous vegetables every day for protection against diseases that may be induced by exposure to environmental estrogens. As raw cruciferous vegetables contain goitrogens, it is best to eat them fermented, because fermentation neutralizes these thyroid-depressing substances. (Cooking also neutralizes the goitrogens, but also deactivates I3C.) In fact, low rates of breast cancer in Polish women have been attributed to their daily consumption of sauerkraut. (Science News 9/23/00)

The amount of vegetables needed to supply adequate DIM for full protection or as part of a program of cancer treatment is at least two pounds daily. Of course, it is not always practical or possible to eat such large amounts of pickled vegetables. Fortunately, DIM is available as a supplement. I recommend it to almost any patient over 40 and anyone with a family history of breast or uterine problems as well as cancer of the lung, colon or prostate. I also add DIM to any hormone replacement therapy program for an added safety factor to prevent the above diseases.

 

Yaz and Yasmin Birth Control Pill Side Effects & Lawsuits

Posted by Cathy on

No Yaz or Yasmin birth control Please don't be one of the thousands of women who are being injured by Yaz or Yasmin birth control pills.  

 

"The birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, which were endorsed by an FDA advisory committee last December, contain a drug called drospirenone. Women who take it are nearly seven times more likely to develop thromboembolism (obstruction of a blood vessel by a blood clot, which can cause deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke, heart attack, and death) compared to women who do not take any contraceptive pill, and twice the risk of women who take a contraceptive pill containing levonorgestrel."  The Alliance for Natural Health.  http://www.anh-usa.org/fda-huge-conflicts-of-interest-with-big-pharma/comment-page-1/#comment-90047 

 

Thousand of women have filed a lawsuit against Bayer, saying they were injuried, but this doesn't change the fact that many are scarred for life.  After a stroke, many women never regain complete use of their arms and legs as before. Many are under age 35 and will live the rest of their lives in bodies that can't run, walk up stairs or even have the use of an arm or hand.   

 

Reconsider your options for birth control and learn about safer ways to handle menstrual cramps and PMS. There are many good options beyond the pill.   PMS symtoms can be addressed with natural remedies and menstrual cramps are managable with Chinese herbs.  I thought birth control pills were the answer once… before I studied Chinese medicine. Then I learned how to put the body back into balance with herbs and diet I realized how much better I could feel without using a drug.  You can do it too.  PMS Relief Herb Pack will change the way you feel about your monthly periods and your body with thank you.