It is a major health risk and a common cause of many diseases and disorders.

There are 3 types of vitamin D namely D1, D2 and D3. Vitamin D3 is the type that can only be produced in skin that is exposed to sunlight. It is one of the only vitamins produced naturally by the body. To have the body produce adequate amounts, an average of 1 hour exposure to sunlight per week is needed. Surprisingly, many people are still not producing the beneficial amounts.

Vitamin D deficiency is proven to lead to 3 main diseases which are

1. Rickets

childhood disease characterized by impeded growth, and deformity, of the long bones.

2. Osteomalacia

a bone-thinning disorder that occurs exclusively in adults and is characterized by proximal muscle weakness and bone fragility.

3. Osteoporosis

a condition characterized by reduced bone mineral density and increased bone fragility.

Vitamin D malnutrition is also linked to several chronic diseases like high blood pressure, tuberculosis, cancer, periodontal disease, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, depression, schizophrenia, seasonal affective disorder and several autoimmune diseases.

Be aware of the risks involved. Get some sun. The older you get the more you need it. Here’s the recommended daily vitamin D intake according to the US Dietary Reference Intake.

• 1 to 50 year olds = 5 micrograms/day or 200 IU/day (IU is the International Unit for measuring vitamins)
• 51 to 70 year olds = 10 micrograms/day or 400 IU/day
• Past 70 year olds = 15 micrograms/day or 600 IU/day

Other facts about vitamin D absorption that you should know are :

• Obese individuals may have lower levels of the circulating form of vitamin D, probably because of reduced bioavailability, and are at higher risk of deficiency.
• Patients with chronic liver disease or intestinal malabsorption disorders may also require larger doses of vitamin D (up to 40,000 IU or 1 mg (1000 micrograms) daily).
• The use of sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 8 inhibits more than 95% of vitamin D production in the skin
• Dark-skinned individuals tend to block more sunlight to be absorbed even at higher latitudes, thereby increasing the risk of vitamin D deficiency.
• Individuals such as certain female residents of conservative Muslim nations in the Middle East clad in full body coverings during all their outdoor activity are at much higher risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Food that is rich in vitamin D are :

• 3 ounces of mushrooms exposed to 5 minutes of UV light after harvesting provides 2700 IU. This is one of the very few natural sources for vegetarians.
• 1 tablespoon of cod liver oil provides 1,360 IU. Most fish liver oil has the same amount.
• 3 ounces / 85 grams of catfish brings 425 IU.
• 3.5 ounces of cooked salmon supplies 360 IU.
• 3.5 ounces of cooked mackerel gives 345 IU.
• 1.75 ounces of drained sardines canned in oil produces 250 IU.
• 3 ounces of tuna canned in oil presents 200 IU.
• 3.5 ounces of cooked eel yields 200 IU.
• A glass of vitamin D fortified milk contains 100 IU.
• 1 whole egg supplies about 20 IU.

Having enough vitamin D in the body contributes to a lot of benefits including

• regulating calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood by promoting their absorption from food in the intestines, and by promoting re-absorption of calcium in the kidneys.
• promoting bone formation and mineralization and is essential in the development of an intact and strong skeleton.
• inhibiting parathyroid hormone secretion from the parathyroid gland. Excessive secretion leads to kidney diseases.
• affecting the immune system by promoting immunosuppression, phagocytosis, and anti-tumor activity.

America’s leading drugstore in sales, earnings, growth, same-store sales increases, prescription drug market share and prescription sales per store. Not only that, Walgreens has been kind and caring towards ’special’ people. It’s really admirable of Walgreens. Watch the video.

Fortune : Global Most Admired Companies 2006
No.1 most admired food and drugstore company

• 8% of women suffer from either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.
• the 3rd most common chronic illness in adolescent girls is eating disorder.
• Almost 1 in 5 people in North America with eating disorder lose their lives.
• 81% of 10-year-olds and more than 46% of 9-year-olds restricted eating.
• Fear of cancer? Nuclear war? Losing your parents? None of them can compare to the fear of being fat among young girls.

Here’s a video of 4 women from a Florida treatment center telling their story of ‘dying to be thin’.

National Eating Disorder Information Centre
Astonishing eating disorder statistics

In 2006, according to the World Health Organization, at least 171 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. Its incidence is increasing rapidly, and it is estimated that by the year 2030, this number will double.

The statistics above show that diabetes is becoming a worrying trend in the United States. A total of 20.8 million people in the United States have diabetes and the number is increasing. Once you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, know that there is nothing in the world at the moment that can cure it. You can only control it. To give yourself power over it, you have to know everything there is to know about it.

Although there are 3 types of diabetes, all forms share the same characteristic of high blood sugar.

Type 1

is due to autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells which produce insulin that prevents high blood sugar.

Type 2

the pancreatic beta cells are working, but a huge portion of tissues in the body are insulin resistant.

Gestational

insulin resistance caused by pregnancy in women who have a family history of developing diabetes.

People with diabetes are 3 times more likely to experience complications compared to non-diabetics. Below are several of the most common complications faces by diabetics.

1. Heart disease and stroke account for 65 percent of deaths in people with diabetes.
2. High blood pressure is experienced by more than 7 in 10 diabetics.
3. Blindness from diabetics is the highest cause of blindness between adults of 20 to 74 years.
4. Kidney disease like kidney failure accounts for 44 percent of new cases in 2002.
5. Nervous system damage happens to about 65% of diabetics. Results of such damage include slow food digestion, carpal tunnel syndrome, impaired sensation in the feet and hands.
6. Amputations on nontraumatic lower-limbs are carried out on more than 60 percent of diabetics.
7. Dental diseases such as periodontal disease (loss of attachment between teeth and gums) happens to more than 3 in 10 diabetics
8. Complications of pregnancy will only happen to ignorant diabetics. Major birth defects will happen to 7% of them. Their life will be at risk if the baby grows excessively large during the third trimester.

Here’s an advice for people new to diabetes. Let time help overcome the disorder. If you take care of yourself you will be happier than you ever were. There are 4 basic things that diabetics ought to do, especially Type 2’s.

• Exercise daily. Go for morning and evening walks. If your legs have problems, swim. Join a local gym. Let the fees paid be a daily motivation to exercise. Check the fitness section of this blog.
• Eat healthily. Lower calories equals to lower blood glucose. Combine daily exercising and healthy eating, you’ll get weight loss. Know that ALMOST everyone with Type 2 is overweight. Check out the food / cooking section of this blog.
• Focus on what you want, and what you don’t want will fall away by itself. Stay relaxed, be content and stay happy.
• Prescriptions are what you don’t need. Independence and freedom is what you need. Remember, if you don’t take control of your own life, prescriptions will.

Asparagus



Use :

• Kidney problems.
• Dissolves uric acid deposits.
• Promotes urination




Preparation :

• Boil in water and drink.

Basil Tea



Use :

• Colds, flu
• Cramps
• Bladder




Preparation :

• Add fresh herb or seeds to boiled water to make tea for migraines and bed time restlessness.
• Douche for yeast infections.
• Gargle and mouthwash to eliminates candida.
• Pregnant women should avoid medicinal use of basil.

Black Pepper



Photo by Swamibu

Use:

• Take at first sign of any disease
• Pain relief from toothache
• Brings down a fever.

Celery



Use :

• Sedative.
• Seed and stalk reduces hypertension.
• Celery seed tea for the kidneys as a cleanser.

Chamomile flowers



Use:

• Fever and restlessness in children

Cinnamon



Use :

• Diarrhea
• Dysentery
• General Indigestion
• Yeast infection
• Athlete’s foot
• Reduces cancer causing tendencies of many food additives.
• Cold




Preparation :

• Cinnamon ground or taken with milk is a good balance after a heavy meal or dessert
• Simmer sticks with cloves for 3 min, add 2 tsp. lemon juice, 2 tsp. honey, 2 tbs. whiskey as cold medication.
• Boil 8-10 sticks in 4 cups water, simmer 5 min, steep 45 min, then douche or apply to athlete’s foot.

Cloves



Use:

• Toothache
• Nasuea
• Vomiting
• Sore gums
• Topical pain relief of arthritis
• Antiseptic mouthwash
• Alcohol craving suppressor




Preparation :

• Chew for toothache, nausea or vomiting.
• Use oil for pain relief for sore gums and toothache.
• Add clove oil to neutral oils for topical pain relief of arthritis.
• Small amounts of clove in a tea for nausea.
• 3 cloves in two cups of boiled water, steeped for 20 minutes, as an antiseptic and mouthwash.
• Former alcoholics can suck on one or two cloves when the craving strikes to curb the desire.

Freshly Brewed Coffee



Use :

• Alleviate headaches
• Clean bowels
• Break mucus congestion




Preparation :

• Caffeine in coffee is used to alleviate headaches (particularly those caused by caffeine withdrawal)
• Coffee enemas with olive oil are used to cleanse the bowels and are one of the safest and most thoroughly cleansing enemas available.
• Hot black coffee sipped through a straw helps break up mucus congestion in the lungs.
• Caution and common sense must be used to avoid dependency.

Garlic



Use :

• Chronic and acute bacterial colds and flus
• Bronchitis, asthma, whooping cough
• High and low blood pressure
• Removing parasites and infections
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Hypoglycemia
• Diabetes
• Destroys intestinal parasites
• Reduces cholesterol
• Repels insects
• Reduces sting effects of insects and red ants

Ginger



Photo by Fotoosvanrobin

Use :

• Cold / Flu
• Suppressing cough
• Cramps
• Nausea
• Stiffness
• Detoxify meat
• Blood Thinner
• Ease bruises & sprains
• Stimulate delayed period
• Break up congestion and fever




Preparations :

• Ginger prepared in tea form is useful for cramps, nausea, thinning blood, as a substitute for coumadin, break up congestion and fever.
• Use externally for stiffness
• Add in cooking to detoxify meat, especially chicken.
• Boil 2/3 cup of freshly chopped root in 1 gallon water, wrapped in cheesecloth (or old nylon stocking) until the water is yellow. Then soak towel and lay on bruises and sprains while still hot, to ease them.
• Ginger is one of the few herbs that easily passes the blood/brain membrane and is used in conjunction with other herbs that are meant to have an effect on the mind.
• Pregnant women should avoid medicinal concentrations of ginger.

Lemon



Use :

• Colds
• Cough

Mint (Peppermint)



Use :

• Migraines
• Nervousness
• Stomach disorders
• Heartburn
• Abdominal cramps, stomachache
• Herpes




Preparation :

• Herpes sufferers can take 2 cups of tea a day to ease the symptoms when the virus is active.
• Mints are used to buffer the action of other herbs that have uncomfortable effects on the stomach and intestines.
• Can be used in any combination for flavor.

Mustard



Use :

• Sprained backs
• Deep rattling coughs




Preparation :

• 1 ½cups of dry yellow mustard in a bathtub of water for sprained backs.
• Make a paste with water and apply to knee and elbow sprains till blisters appear!
• 1 tsp. each mustard and ginger powder mixed with 2 ½tbs. of olive oil for deep rattling coughs. Rub over chest and back and put on an old T-shirt (or cover with cloth diaper).

Nutmeg and mace



Use :

• Gas
• Indigestion
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Kidney problems




Preparation:

• Make a paste of powder with cold water and then add to boiled water. 1 tbs. 1/4 tbs of powdered nutmeg is enough to produce a floating euphoria for hours. Can cause erections for men during that time.
• Side effects are bone and muscle aches, burning eyes, sinus drainage, and limited diarrhea.

Onion bulb



Use:

• Cold
• Cough
• Life prolonger
• Dressing for burns
• Bee and wasp stings
• Asthma




Preparation :

• Interviews with hundreds of people who lived to 100 plus all indicated a heavy intake of onions in the diet.
• Onion is an excellent dressing for burns.
• Crush sliced onions with a little bit of salt and apply to burns.
• Apply sliced onion to bee and wasp stings.
• For asthma, puree an onion, cover it with brandy and let sit overnight, strain it, filter it through a coffee filter, and refrigerate. Take 2 tbs. 20 minutes before expected onset or before going to bed.

Parsley



Use :

• Purifier
• Halitosis
• Tumor inhibitor
• Kidney stones and other kidney related problems
• Painful urination
• Sexual stimulant




Preparation :

• Chew for halitosis.
• A few sprigs provide 2/3 the vitamin C of an orange, lots of vitamin A, and the important amino acid histidine, which is a tumor inhibitor.
• Parsley tea is good for kidney problems, painful urination, and kidney stones.
• One cup of parsley to 1 quart of water makes a strong tea. Two cups of parsley to 1 quart of water, steep an hour and drink warm, as an aphrodisiac. In Spain they have found that feeding parsley to sheep will bring them into heat at any time of year!

Rosemary Tea



Use:

• Headaches
• Body aches
• Breath purifier
• Aid in digestion of fat
• Free radicals reducer
• Stress
• Headaches
• Muscular stiffness and pain




Preparation :

• Flower tea for the breath.
• Boil water with rosemary in it to make it safe to drink.
• Diuretic and liver aid, increases bile flow. Two handfuls of flowering tips into 2 cups of good brandy, soak 10 days, strain and seal. Mouthful twice daily.
• Oil of rosemary is a natural anti-oxidant, and stress reliever
• Sniff for headaches.
• Chop a double handful of twigs and put in a pint of olive oil for one week, and use as a muscle liniment.

Spearmint



Use :

• Colds, flus
• Mild fever
• Antispasmodic
• Prevents vomiting
• Relieves stomach
• Intestinal gas
• Diaphoretic
• Reduces pain

Tea



Photo by alfhild

Use :

• Relieve migraines
• Dental plaque remover




Preparation :

• Caffeine relieves migraines.
• Tea drinkers suffer less hardening of the arteries than coffee drinkers.
• Black tea kills dental plaque.

Vinegar



Use :

• Blood cleanser
• Arthritis cure
• Reduce inflammation




Preparation :

• Naturally brewed apple cider vinegar is one of the finest blood cleansers and arthritis cures known.
• Take 1 tbs. per day of equal parts vinegar and honey in water to taste to cleanse the blood and reduce inflammation from arthritis.
• Be sure to use naturally brewed vinegar, as the white cheap stuff in the grocery store is actually acetic acid, a petroleum by-product, and pretty well useless except as a window cleaner!

Walnut Hulls, Black



Use :

• Athletes foot
• Fungal infections, parasites
• Abscesses
• Boils

Watercress herb



Use :

• Cold / Flu

Natural Medicines
medicinal uses of herbs and spices

According to research carried out in the United States, Social Anxiety Disorder (SA) is the third most common psychiatric disorder after depression and alcoholism.

However, perhaps because by it’s very nature sufferers of Social Anxiety are reluctant to talk about their problems or seek help, the condition is still not widely known amongst the general public, and was only recognized as a disorder in it’s own right as recently as 1980.

In it’s simplest terms social anxiety or ‘SA’ is a fear of people: of being around, having to interact with, being watched, criticized or judged negatively by, other human beings.

Common anxiety provoking social situations include:

• talking with people in authority
• dating and developing close relationships
• making a phone call or answering the phone
• interviewing
• attending and participating in class
• speaking with strangers
• meeting new people
• eating, drinking, or writing in public
• using public bathrooms
• driving
• shopping

Physical symptoms that may occur during, or in anticipation of, the situation include:

• rapid heartbeat
• sweating
• muscle tension
• upset stomach
• trembling
• shaky voice
• dry mouth
• blushing
• queasiness
• ticks
• hyper ventilation
• difficulty making eye contact

At a deeper level, sufferers often experience chronic insecurity about their relationships with others, hypersensitivity to criticism, and deep-rooted fears of being judged negatively, mocked, or rejected by others.

There are two forms of SA, performance social anxiety where these feelings only occur in a few specific situations such as public speaking, eating in public or dealing with authority figures, and generalized social anxiety which affects most, if not all areas of the sufferers life. The latter is the most common type, affecting around 70% of SA sufferers.

Social Anxiety
Fear of social situations

Don’t Do Try This
Getting stuck in a copy machine.

Depression may come from many factors or just a single one. Depression may strike very healthy people who may be coping with an important life even such as a death in the family or a sudden illness. Whatever it is, it needs to be stopped and treated.

Whatever it is you can treat depression successfully and it lies in finding the correct method. As well as medication, support groups can help some people deal with major life changes that require new coping skills or social support and psychological treatments are also useful to treat depression.

Choosing the right treatment is an individual process that will depend not only on the severity and the type of depression, but also on the person’s circumstances and his or her preferences and the doctor’s recommendation.

Psychotherapy



Psychotherapy can be worthwhile for some people with depression. This treatment helps people identify the factors that contribute to their depression. Psychotherapy also provides support to help people deal effectively with the psychological, behavioral, interpersonal and environmental causes of their depression. Certain types of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy, seem to be particularly useful.

Antidepressant drugs



Some people with depression require medical treatment and need medication. The doctor will prescribe antidepressants or antidepressant drugs. When prescribing such medication, the doctor should clearly explain what dose to take and talk about possible side effects and the way antidepressants could interact with other medication.

Antidepressants can improve mood, sleep, appetite, and concentration. However, it can take from 6 to 12 weeks before real signs of improvement are experienced for some medications. This may dishearten people as they cannot see the promised improvements immediately. It is important to keep on taking your medication or discuss the medication with your doctor.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)



Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) only tends to be used if no other treatment works or if waiting for a drug to take effect would be impractical (e.g. when a person is very likely to attempt suicide). ECT is considered an effective treatment for people with severe depression, and works quickly in most people.

The Depression Site
Understand and treat depression