How to Win the Cold War

The common cold is caused by one of more than 200 viruses. Symptoms can include a fever, watery eyes, a runny nose, a sore throat, and a cough. Enhancing your body's immune system will help you avoid catching a cold, says Kristin Bjornsen.

Unless you live in a plastic bubble, you can’t seal yourself away from all germs in life. They’re everywhere—especially this time of year. Your best bet to stay healthy is to strengthen your immune system so it can defeat any microscopic invaders before they lay siege.

But if you took all the immune boosters recommended by magazines, books, and Mom, you’d not only empty your pocketbook, but you’d likely harm your health too. “Don’t get trapped into thinking you want to boost your immunity as much as possible,” says Mark Moyad, MD, director of preventive and alternative medicine at the University of Michigan Medical Center. “Allergies and autoimmune diseases are examples of a hyperreactive immune system.” Moyad suggests taking most immune-bolstering supplements during cold season but then scaling back for the rest of the year (with the exception of multivitamins and vitamin D3).

But the question remains: Which of the myriad supplements and strategies out there really work? We asked our experts, and you’ll be surprised at how simple and effective their top picks are. Read more

Naturally Better Than Flu Shots: Probiotics, Digestive Enzymes, and Fiber

Gabriella Filippi interviews Dr. Udo Erasmus to find out what is better for the flu than flu shots.

I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with Dr. Erasmus. His research has been primarily in the areas of fats, digestion, and energy. Dr. Erasmus seeks to clarify information in the literature in these areas, and presents a great point: what does a picture of health look like? While diseases and sick cells are classified and organized, there exists no sensible categorization for health. Here Dr. Erasmus educates us on how to stay healthy during flu season, and answers the question, what is better for the flu than flu shots.

Dr. Erasmus asks, so what would it look like if everything was functioning well? And what would it take to get there? He further purports the importance of the appropriate use of food, water, and air (that is what the body is made from) and the minimization of pesticides, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical drugs, and food molecules that are broken down by processing or by food preparation.

Dr. Udo Erasmus finds the following most helpful for health: Read more

Medicinal Mushrooms Can Help Fight Cancer

Medicinal mushrooms like reishi and maitake can help fight cancer. Natural News has assembled a unique collection of supporting statements about medicinal mushrooms and cancer.

The cure for cancer already exists. But it wasn't created in a lab, and it wasn't funded by pink-ribbon products or walkathons. It was created for free by Mother Nature, and it exists as a collection of literally thousands of powerful anti-cancer phytonutrients found in medicinal mushrooms.

Medicinal mushrooms contain some of the most potent medicine in the world. They are living pharmaceutical factories, but they file no patents and ask for no royalties. They just mind their own business, manufacturing healing medicines day by day, and waiting for someone wise and humble enough to come along and pick them.

Here, we've assembled a unique collection of supporting statements about medicinal mushrooms and cancer from some of the top authors in the industry. If you (or someone you know) suffers from any form of cancer, make sure to send them this information so they can learn what their conventional cancer doctor won't dare tell them... that medicinal mushrooms make chemotherapy virtually obsolete! Read more

Tantric Breathing and Orgasm

Anyone who’s had any kind of sex life knows that breathing is an intrinsic part of the sexual experience. In general, during the human sexual response cycle normal breathing speeds up, builds to a rapid pace, the breath is held for a few moments before/during a climax, after the climax there is a long exhale, then the breath slows down and gradually returns to normal. Tantra teacher Suzie Heumann explains the connection between breathing and orgasm.

Breathing doesn't seem very sexy but it's the key to orgasmic pleasure and self-empowerment for women and to lasting longer for men. The benefits of learning new, simple ways of breathing are extraordinary and have direct health benefits, too. Breathing deeply into your belly increases relaxation, decreases tension and stress, helps women focus on pleasure and puts more oxygen into your blood stream. Oxygen is what delivers the 'O' in Orgasm. Read more

Homeopathy for Allergies: Nothing to Sneeze At

What would you rather do: invest in box after box of Kleenex, or try some simple and safe homeopathic medicine to treat your allergies.? Although these natural medicines will not "cure" one's allergy, they will often provide effective relief and will do so without side effects.

... One of the common homeopathic medicines for respiratory allergies is Allium cepa (the common onion). Because onions are known to cause tearing of the eyes and running of the nose, it is wonderfully effective in treating such symptoms when given in homeopathic microdoses. Specifically, people who will benefit from Allium cep experience a profuse, fluent, burning nasal discharge which is worse in a warm room and better in the open air. They have a profuse, bland (non-burning) tearing from the eyes with reddened eyes, and will desire to rub their eyes frequently. They experience a raw feeling in the nose with a tingling sensation and violent sneezing. A frontal congestive headache may be concurrent with their allergy symptoms. These symptoms tend to exacerbate after damp winds. Read more

Placebo Effect Starts in the Spine - Not Just the Mind

The placebo effect isn't just in the mind. It starts in the spine cord with the release of endorphins that block incoming pain signals, new research suggests.

If you thought the placebo effect was all in the mind, think again. Scientists have solved the mystery of why some people benefit from remedies that do not contain any active pain-relief ingredients.

Research suggests that placebos work, in part, by blocking pain signals in the spinal cord from arriving at the brain in the first place.

When patients expect a treatment to be effective the brain area responsible for pain control is activated, causing the release of natural endorphins.

The endorphins send a cascade of instructions down to the spinal cord to suppress incoming pain signals and patients feel better whether or not the treatment had any direct effect. Read more

Ancient Herbal Remedy Beats Hayfever

Researchers have discovered that the ancient herbal remedy butterbur is as effective as antihistamine drugs, but has none of the side effects.

Butterbur has been used by generations of herbalists as a potent way of treating the itchy eyes and runny noses of hay fever sufferers. Doctors have frequently dismissed such remedies as “old wives tales”. Now scientists have discovered that butterbur is as effective as the widely used antihistamine drugs, but has none of the nasty side-effects.

“Up to 20 per cent of antihistamine users suffer from drowsiness as a side-effect,” says Dr Andreas Schapowal, the scientist who led the team of researchers in Davos, Switzerland. “There are no specific side-effects with butterbur. It’s a safe and effective treatment.”

Over the past few years Dr Schapowal’s team has conducted a series of medical experiments using the plant. His latest investigation, a comprehensive “double-blind” trial of the type widely used in the pharmaceutical industry, has conclusively proved the effectiveness of the herb. Read more

Detox Your Body Now!

Obesity and a host of other nasty health problems can be caused or exacerbated by toxins in food.

Detoxification is a basic natural health solution. It is particularly important in this day and age when toxic chemicals are in our homes, our food, our air and our water.

A toxin is a substance that creates irritating and/or harmful effects to the body. Toxins tend to overwhelm our bodies and undermine our health over time. Signs of toxicity include lack of energy, forgetfulness, insomnia, digestive problems, arthritis and other joint related problems, bad breath or offensive body odor, acne, allergies, colitis, lower back pain, depression, neurological problems, etc.

There are currently 80,000 chemicals that are licensed for commercial use, with approximately 2,000 new chemical compounds being introduced each year. What most of us fail to realize is how and where these toxins are used. Many of these chemicals are in products we are exposed to every day. Much of our food contains chemicals that do not have to be disclosed. Read more

Pedicures Aren't Just for Women: Cracked Heel, Ingrown Toenails Can Be Source of Disease

Taking care of your feet, even getting pedicures, shouldn't be just for women. Cracked heels or ingrown toenails, for example, can be a source of disease - even fatal disease.

One night as Chris Banting was undressing for bed, he was surprised when his wife Helen pointed out to him that the back of his right calf was a worrying scarlet colour.

'It was strange because I wasn't in any discomfort at all,' says Chris, 62.

'If you have an infection, you think you'd be in pain or running a temperature, but I felt fine.'

It was November 2007 and the busiest time of the year in his job as a charity fundraising manager, but he decided it was something he should get checked out.

In fact, Chris was suffering from cellulitis - a serious bacterial infection of the skin.

Left untreated, the bacteria can spread through the body and cause potentially fatal blood poisoning or an infection of the muscle, bone or heart valve. Read more

9 Practical Tips for a Healthier Life

Margaret Durst, N.D., lists nine simple steps to improving your diet, digestion, and overall health.

1. Eat breakfast. How many times have you heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day? It is, especially if you have low energy, headaches, and are stressed. What you eat for breakfast is important. Skip products made with white flour and white sugar – they will make you tired and more stressed. Make sure that you eat some form of protein – eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, leftover supper, protein smoothie, etc.

2. Stay regular. Many health problems begin in the colon. Constipation is epidemic in America due to the processed nature of the typical diet. There are many natural solutions for constipation. One of the least well known is magnesium, which helps hydrate the colon and encourage regularity. Read more

12 Favorite Curative Herbs

Herbalist Cascade Anderson Geller reveals the dozen curative herbs that she turns to most often.

The criteria for getting on this list of favorite herbs is that I have to have known the herb very well, have used it for a long time, and it would have had to be successful the majority of times I used it. If you take any one of these plants, you can do so much with it. You don’t need to use too many herbs—my great-grandmother, who used only a handful of plants on a regular basis, was a very good herbalist. Below I discuss some of the herbs I turn to most often. Read more