Natural Medicine For The Recovering Addict
... The term "addiction" encompasses almost all imbalanced and self-destructive behavior. Substance abuse can create an illusory sense of well-being, but in the end it severely damages physical, psycholog...

Aromatherapy for the Musculoskeletal System
... Bones and muscles give form to the body and permit physical movement. Unless damaged by injury, the health of this system depends on the overall health of the body. With degenerative conditions such a...

Intestinal Dysbiosis and the Causes of Disease
... ABSTRACT: With the advent of biochemical and microbial stool analysis panels, an increasing number of physicians are seeking a clearer understanding of the relationship between the ecology of the dige...

Therapeutic Uses of Aromatherapy
... In this chapter we explain how essential oils heal the body. We have divided the chapter into sections dealing with the major systems in the body-circulatory, digestive, respiratory, nervous, glandula...

Childhood Constipation
... Constipation is when you can’t pass solid waste, or stool. (Passing stool is also called “having a bowel movement.”) Constipation is not usually serious. Here are some reasons for constipation: Your c...

Children and Herbal Therapy
... With its focus on preventive medicine, holistic approaches to health can be most helpful in many of the common problems of childhood. If conditions are brought under control during childhood they can ...

Colic
... Colic has been defined as a long period of vigorous crying that persists despite all efforts at consolation. The term itself comes from the Greek word for the large intestine, reflecting the belief th...

Constipation
... Constipation is when you have trouble having bowel movements. Abdominal swelling, straining during bowel movements, hard stools and the feeling of continued fullness even after a bowel movement are al...

Constipation
... This can be defined as difficulty or infrequent passage of feces, and must be seen as a symptom and not a `disease'' state. Diagnosis is thus vitally important. Acute constipation is a definite, recog...

Constipation
... The term constipation refers to a change in daily bowel habits, particularly a decrease in the number or consistency of bowel movements, or pain or difficulty passing stools. By the end of their first...

Leaky Gut Syndromes: Breaking the Vicious Cycle
... From the perspective of function, the contents of the gut lumen lie outside the body and contain a toxic/antigenic load from which the body needs to be protected. Protection is supplied by complex mec...

Burdock: A Lion in Porcupine''s Clothes
... Many years ago, on a cold morning in February, the Kimura family went out to the edge of the forest to gather the roots of a wild herb growing there. A few days before, the grandfather had fallen ill ...

Tonics, Bitters and Digestion
... "What does bitter have to do with good digestion?" an American might ask, promptly making an awful face to indicate that a bitter flavor is the last thing in the world he or she would voluntarily let ...

Astringents
... Astringents are remedies that have a ''binding'' action on tissue, usually due to a group of complex chemicals called tannins. The name tannin derives from their use in the tanning industry, and they ...

Bitters
... Bitter herbs are fundamental to Phytotherapy''s contribution to holistic medicine. They are quite simply herbs that have a bitter taste, ranging from mildly bitter Yarrow to fiercely bitter Rue. Absin...

Diverticulitis
... Inflammation of one or more diverticula, potentially leading to obstruction or perforation, and to abscises and fistula formation. Diverticula are small sac like herniations of the mucosal lining of t...

Esophagitis & Gastroesophageal reflux
... Reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus leading to localized infection. This relatively common and unpleasant problem is usually caused by problems to do with control of the esophageal sphincter...

Flatulence
... Flatulence is a common problem that might be associated with a pathology or be simply related an inappropriate diet. The production of excessive gas by the digestive system has many causes, but the Gr...

Hemorrhoids
... Cushions of tissue that line the lower rectum & serve to produce complete closure of the anal canal. Symptoms due to hemorrhoids are bleeding, protrusion and pain. Such bleeding must never be assumed ...

Hepatitis
... An inflammatory process in the liver characterized by diffuse or patchyhepatocellular necrosis affecting all acini. Pathologically this can be due to a range of causes: viruses infection, often extrem...

Herbal Detoxification
... The herbal approach to detoxification is based upon the premise that the human body is a self healing and homeostatic organism, and that the therapist simply has to support normal processes. The body ...

Herbal Therapy for Digestive System Disorders
... Herbal medicine is uniquely suited for the treatment of illness of the digestive system. Throughout the evolutionary process, our food has been our medicine, ensuring that the unique healing propertie...

Indigestion
... Symptoms referred to the GI system in which a pathological condition is not present, is poorly established, or, if present, does not entirely explain the clinical state. This is a vague and variable p...

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
... Motility disorders involving the small intestine and large bowel associated with variable degrees of abdominal pain, constipation or diarrhea, largely as are action to stress in a susceptible individu...

Mugwort
... Artemisia vulgaris Compositae Collection: The leaves and flowering stalks should be gathered just at blossoming time, which is between July and September. Part Used: Leaves or root. Constituents: Vola...

Tansy
... Tanacetum vulgare Compositae Names: Batchelor''s Buttons Habitat: A common European wild plant. Collection: The leaves and flowers are collected during the flowering time between June and September. P...

Uterine Tonics
... These are plants that have a toning, strengthening, nourishing effect upon both the tissue and functioning of the female reproductive system. The hows and whys are usually unknown, but this should not...

A One-Week Cleansing and Detoxification Program
... In both Chinese and Naturopathic medicine, the spring season is the optimal time of year for cleansing and detoxification. But remember, cleansing can be beneficial during all seasons of the year. An...

Homeopathic Medicines for Indigestion, Gas, and Heartburn: Natural Remedies You Can Stomach
... It is sometimes difficult, literally and figuratively, to stomach the gas, heartburn, and indigestion pains. It hurts, it is discomforting, and it is upsetting that our body''s normally magnificent al...

Healthy Digestion
... Many diseases are silent and difficult to detect, but digestive dysfunction usually announces itself loudly and odorously through burps and flatulence, uncomfortably with distention, heartburn, cramp...

Introduction to the Digestive System
... The digestive or gastrointestinal intestinal system, which is also known as the gut, is important for many reasons. Problems with it may result not only in one of the many digestive system disorders, ...

Case from the Center: Illness and Intestinal Parasites
... Non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms and persistent diarrhea may indicate intestinal parasites, a diagnostic possibility generally not tested for in the clinician''s office. Usually a stool sample i...

Digestion and Metabolism
... Proteins are first broken down in the stomach by hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and proteases into peptides (amino acid chains) by splitting peptide bonds between the amino acid protein chains. In the fir...

Digestive Enzymes
... (Note: People should be aware that the use of digestive enzymes is not suggested when there is inflammation of the stomach lining.) A number of digestive enzyme supplements are available. The simple o...

Hydrochloric Acid
... A great many factors contribute to proper digestion, absorption, and utilization of the foods so needed to nourish our cells, tissues, and organs. The stomach, small intestine, liver, gallbladder, pan...

Intestinal Bacteria—Acidophilus and More
... Several "friendly" intestinal bacteria perform many important bodily functions. There are actually a great many lactobacillus and other bacteria that can inhabit the human colon, but I will mention th...

Nutritional Program for Digestive Disorders
... When patients come to me for advice about specific medical problems, they usually have been told that they need medication or surgery, and they are seeking ways to avoid those treatments. Sometimes th...