IF YOU GET SICK, it is useful to know about therapeutic approaches that can give the healing system a boost, especially dietary modifications, specific supplements, herbal medicines, and alternative methods unknown to most conventional doctors. It is not my purpose to go through an exhaustive list of diseases with complete treatment plans, particularly since I believe that treatment must be customized for each individual, but I can offer you advice about the management of general categories of illness. Bear in mind that the suggestions in this chapter are not meant to be total replacements for standard medicine. Remember also that people react in different ways to substances they ingest. Although the treatments outlined below are safe and effective in my experience, idiosyncratic adverse reactions can occur in response to taking any herb or supplement. Stop using any remedy that causes problems. Also be patient with natural treatments; they usually take longer to work than strong, suppressive drugs. If you change your diet and begin a regimen of natural therapies, it may be six to eight weeks before you notice improvement. The improvement will be gradual, steady, and solid, because it represents lasting activity of the healing system rather than suppression of symptoms.
Allergy is a learned response of the immune system to environmental agents that are not intrinsically harmful. The goal of good treatment should be to calm an over-reactive immune system so that you can live with allergens and not sneeze, cough, or itch. Conventional treatments are more or less toxic and, because they are purely suppressive, may increase immune reactivity over time. The fact that allergies can suddenly come and suddenly go is encouraging; it indicates that the learned patterns of response are not fixed, that what the immune system has learned, it can unlearn. Spontaneous healing of allergy is not an infrequent occurrence. To increase its likelihood, it is a good idea to work on several fronts:
Dietary modification can reduce allergic responsiveness. The most important suggestions I can give are to follow a low-protein diet, to cut down on animal protein in general and, specifically, to eliminate cow’s milk and products made from it, since milk protein acts as an irritant of the immune system in many people. Additionally, I recommend eating organically grown foods as much as possible, because I think residues of agricultural chemicals frequently contribute to immune system reactivity.
Supplement the diet with quercetin, a natural product obtained from buckwheat and citrus fruits. Quercetin stabilizes the membranes of cells that release histamine, the mediator of many allergic reactions. You can buy quercetin tablets in health food stores (some brands contain vitamin C and other related compounds). The recommended dose is 400 milligrams twice a day between meals. Quercetin is a preventive, not a symptomatic, treatment, so it is best to use it regularly. If allergies are seasonal, start taking it several weeks before you expect the onset of symptoms. Otherwise try it for two to three months, then gradually reduce the dose to determine if the improvements are maintained.
A good herbal treatment for hay fever, especially for allergic sneezing and itching eyes, ears, and throats, is stinging nettles (Urtica dioica), especially a freeze-dried extract of the leaves of this plant. (See Appendix for a source.) One to two capsules every two to four hours as needed will control symptoms with none of the toxicity of antihistamines and steroids. The safest standard drug for this problem is cromolyn sodium in the form of a nasal spray (Nasalcrom nasal solution), which works by a mechanism similar to that of quercetin.
Environmental modifications, such as installing air filters in the home, can reduce the allergenic load on the immune system and give it a better chance to calm down.
Mind/body interventions are important. Some people strongly allergic to roses will have allergic reactions on being shown plastic roses, indicating that learning at the level of the higher brain is involved in these misdirected responses of the immune system. Interactive guided imagery therapy may be especially helpful for allergic skin conditions like chronic hives and eczema.
In autoimmune disease, immune responses are directed against the body’s own tissues, causing inflammatory changes and eventual damage to body structures. Predisposition to autoimmune disease may be inherited, and the disease may be triggered by infection or other physical stress or by emotional trauma. Any number of tissues and organs can become targets for the abnormal immune responses: nerves (multiple sclerosis), joints (rheumatoid arthritis), endocrine glands (myasthenia gravis and forms of thyroiditis), muscles (polymyositis), connective tissues throughout the body (systemic lupus erythematosus), kidneys (glomerulonephritis), and so on. The natural history of all of these diseases is marked by alternating periods of exacerbation and remission—a welcome pattern because it demonstrates the potential of the healing system to curb autoimmune disease. The conventional medical approach to this type of illness is unsatisfactory, relying as it does on suppressive drugs that are highly toxic.
Because autoimmune disease has multiple roots (among them heredity, stress, and environmental interactions), good treatment should address the total lifestyle of each patient. In addition to helping the healing system modulate immunity, it is useful to make adjustments in the diet that aim to reduce inflammation, since inflammatory changes mediate the tissue damage in these diseases.
Dietary modification would be the same as it is for allergy: a low-protein diet with minimal intake of foods of animal origin, especially milk and milk products; plenty of organically grown fruits, vegetables, and grains; elimination of polyunsaturated vegetable oils and artificially hydrogenated fats; inclusion of fish or other sources of omega-3 fatty acids, such as flax seeds.
Supplement the diet with antioxidant vitamins and minerals.
Herbal treatments include ginger for its anti-inflammatory effect (capsules of powdered, dried ginger are best; start with one twice a day) and feverfew, which shows efficacy in the treatment of autoimmune arthritis. (I recommend one to two capsules of freeze-dried feverfew leaves twice a day; see the Appendix for a source.) Another possibility is turmeric (Curcuma longa), the spice that makes curry and much prepared mustard yellow. Obtained from the rhizome of a ginger relative, turmeric has significant anti-inflammatory properties and can simply be added to food; however, it is more efficient to take curcumin, the yellow pigment that is the active component, in doses of 400 to 600 milligrams three times a day. Health food stores sell products that combine curcumin with bromelain, an enzyme from pineapple that enhances curcumin’s absorption and has anti-inflammatory effects of its own.
Alternative medical treatments may be of great benefit, especially traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic medicine. I have also seen cases of autoimmune disease respond to homeopathic treatment. (See Appendix for information on finding practitioners.)
Mind/body interventions are key in autoimmune disease, because the ups and downs of these diseases often correlate with emotional ups and downs, and because we know that mental factors influence immune responses. Psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and guided imagery therapy are all useful and worth exploring.
Most diseases of the heart and blood vessels are diseases of lifestyle that can be prevented by following a heart-healthy diet, by not smoking, by getting proper exercise, and by working at building nurturing emotional relationships and neutralizing anger and stress. Even when these diseases appear, their progress can be slowed, halted, or even reversed by changing lifestyle in the proper manner. Here are some additional suggestions:
Dietary modification should stress reduction of fat, especially saturated fat, and substitution of olive oil for other kinds of fat in the diet. A high-fiber, low-fat, vegetarian or semivegetarian diet with fish or other sources of omega-3 fatty acids is probably most protective of the heart. Garlic, onions, chili peppers, green tea, and turmeric all have protective effects on the cardiovascular system.
Supplement the diet with antioxidant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin E. Also take folic acid, 400 micrograms a day, to lower blood levels of homocysteine, which appears to be another cause of atherosclerosis. Two other natural products that I recommend are coenzyme Q (also known as Co-Q-10) and L carnitine. The former improves the use of oxygen at the cellular level, especially in heart muscle cells. I recommend taking 60 milligrams once a day, more if you can afford it, up to 200 milligrams a day. (It is not worth buying Co-Q-10 in dosage forms less than 60 milligrams per capsule.) L carnitine is an amino acid that also improves the metabolism of heart muscle cells (it, too, is not cheap). The recommended dose is 250–500 milligrams twice a day. Both products are available in health food stores and from vitamin suppliers. For cardiac arrhythmias, supplementation with magnesium may be very helpful. Try 1,000 milligrams of magnesium (citrate, gluconate, or chelate) at bedtime plus another 500 milligrams in the morning, along with equal amounts of calcium (citrate). I recommend the same doses of calcium and magnesium for help in managing high blood pressure.
Herbal treatments for the cardiovascular system include hawthorn (Crataegus oxycantha), a natural diuretic and heart tonic, useful in persons with coronary heart disease and heart failure, and tree ear mushrooms (Auricularia polytricha), an ingredient in Chinese cuisine that has an anticoagulant effect similar to that of aspirin. Encapsulated, freeze-dried extract of hawthorn is available (see Appendix); the dose is one to two capsules two to four times a day. You can buy dried tree ears in Oriental grocery stores. Reconstitute them by soaking in hot water until they expand and become soft; then discard any hard bits and add the mushrooms to soups or stir-fries. A reasonable dose is one tablespoon of the soaked mushrooms a day. Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) provides a topical treatment for varicose veins. Creams containing horse chestnut extract, sometimes called “escin,” are available in health food stores.
Regular aerobic exercise is one of the best influences on the heart, as are all techniques of relaxation and stress reduction.
Here is another large category of diseases that are mostly related to lifestyle, especially to poor habits of eating and managing stress. Conventional medicine controls them poorly. Alternative medicine offers many safe and effective treatments, probably because the healing system, if given a chance, is often able to resolve these conditions completely. A common root cause of many digestive disorders, from esophageal reflux to constipation, is an imbalance between the intrinsic motility of the gastrointestinal musculature and the regulating influence of involuntary nerves that coordinate the whole system. There is so much nervous input to the GI tract that it is very susceptible to stress-induced distortions. In fact, along with the skin, the digestive system is the most common site of expression of stress-related illness.
Dietary modification should always be employed to improve digestive health and function. As a start, eliminate caffeine (especially coffee), tobacco, and other stimulant drugs. Alcohol can be a major irritant of the esophagus and stomach. Pay attention to which foods and combinations of foods cause distress, and change eating habits accordingly. Sometimes eating smaller amounts more frequently will make your digestive system function more smoothly.
Herbal treatment for digestive disorders is often quite effective. Chamomile and peppermint teas both work for simple heartburn and nausea; but peppermint, because it relaxes the sphincter muscle where the esophagus joins the stomach, may make esophageal reflux worse. Ginger in any form works for nausea. For severe gastritis, reflux, or peptic ulcer, try the licorice preparation DGL (see footnote on this page), which increases the natural, protective mucus that coats the stomach lining. Peppermint oil in enteric-coated capsules, available at health food stores, is an excellent treatment for irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, and other intestinal ailments. A good natural remedy for diarrhea and intestinal inflammation is carob powder, available at health food stores. Start with one tablespoon, mixed with some applesauce and honey to make it palatable. Take it with acidophilus (liquid or capsules from the health food store) on an empty stomach (at least an hour and a half before or three hours after eating). For constipation, the Ayurvedic preparation triphala is excellent; follow dosage recommendations on the product.
Relaxation is all-important. The breathing exercise described on this page–this page has especially beneficial effects on the GI system, but it must be practiced regularly. Biofeedback and yoga can be helpful, and I cannot recommend hypnotherapy and guided imagery therapy too highly.
Alternative medical approaches to digestive disorders that give the best results are naturopathy, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, and Ayurvedic medicine. I would try these systems before resorting to allopathic drugs and surgery.
I have noted more than once in this book that the effectiveness of antibiotics for bacterial infections is rapidly declining as organisms develop resistance to them. Infections that are severe, fast moving, or involve vital organs are emergencies requiring allopathic supervision, but even in those cases it is worth using complementary methods to stimulate healing responses. For less severe infections and for chronic or recurrent infections that resist allopathic treatments, the primary focus should be to rouse the healing system to action. For accessible, localized infections, one of the best ways to accomplish this is to increase blood flow to affected areas by applying heat—for example, by using hot, wet compresses or soaks. You can also help the healing system fight infection by giving the body more rest, eating less, increasing fluid intake, and sweating in a steam room or sauna.
Dietary modification can reduce susceptibility to some kinds of infection. For example, cutting down on sugar of all sorts may decrease the frequency of urinary tract infections in women, and increasing intake of fresh fruits and vegetables will help build immunity.
Supplement the diet with antioxidant vitamins and minerals, especially with vitamin C, 2,000 milligrams two to three times a day for chronic or recurrent infections.
Herbal treatments abound for infections, from the familiar (garlic) to the exotic (Oriental mushrooms). Add raw garlic to the diet as a general measure and experiment with echinacea (Echinacea purpurea and related species), a native American herb with antibiotic and immune-enhancing properties. Echinacea preparations are readily available in health food stores and some drugstores. Taste them to make sure they cause a distinct numbing sensation on the tongue after a minute; otherwise they are not effective. Follow dosage recommendations on the product or use one dropperful of the tincture in a little warm water four times a day. For topical infections, try tea tree oil, obtained from an Australian tree (Melaleuca alternifolia). Buy only one hundred percent pure tea tree oil from a health food store; it is an excellent disinfectant, useful in first-aid kits for the home and when traveling. For chronic or recurrent viral infections, try astragalus (see this page–this page).
Alternative medicine can sometimes succeed with infectious illnesses when conventional medicine cannot. My first choice would be traditional Chinese medicine, which has a vast array of medicinal plants with antiviral, antibacterial, and immunomodulating properties.
Mind/body approaches should always be tried. At the least, they can enhance the efficacy of conventional drugs. At best, they can change the balance between the immune system and pathogenic germs in a way that favors resolution of the infection.
The prostate gland is a vulnerable point of male anatomy, often harboring stubborn infections in youth and enlarging in age to the point of interfering with urination. The main irritants of the prostate are coffee and other forms of caffeine, decaffeinated coffee, alcohol, tobacco, red pepper, dehydration, and either too frequent or too infrequent ejaculation. Prolonged sitting and repetitive jarring motion (as from riding a horse, bicycle, or motorcycle) also stress the gland.
Supplement the diet with zinc, 30 milligrams a day of the picolinate form. Also increase intake of soy foods; their phytoestrogens might protect the prostate from the unbalanced influence of male sex hormones.
Herbal treatment for prostatic enlargement relies on two plants: saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and pygeum (Pygeum africanum). Use one or both, following dosage recommendations on the products. You can continue taking them indefinitely.
For sexual deficiency, traditional Chinese medicine offers many treatments, including ginseng (see this page–this page), the preeminent male sexual tonic. Ayurvedic medicine contributes ashwaganda (Withania somnifera), newly available in health food stores. Follow dosages recommended on the product.
Mind/body methods are worth exploring in all sexual and genital problems, hypnotherapy and guided imagery therapy being especially useful.
For anxiety, even the most severe forms of anxiety, the best treatment I know is the breathing exercise on this page–this page. By gradually changing the tone of the involuntary system, it allows deep, internal relaxation that promotes emotional healing. If you start practicing it now, you will have it ready to use in case of need. Regular exercise is also important, and, obviously, relaxation training can be very helpful. Two herbal treatments that I recommend frequently are kava (Piper methysticum) and valerian (Valeriana officinalis). The former is widely available in liquid and tablet forms. Kava relaxes muscles, promotes calm, and is nonaddictive. It may work as a natural alternative to the benzodiazepine tranquilizers doctors prescribe as antianxiety agents. Valerian is a strong enough sedative to be used for insomnia, but small doses—say, ten drops of the tincture in a little warm water—can be used for daytime calming.
For depression, the best single treatment is vigorous, regular aerobic exercise, at least thirty minutes a day, five days a week. Avoidance of alcohol, sedatives, antihistamines, and other depressant drugs is advisable. Dietary modification—less protein and fat, more starches, fruits, and vegetables—may also make a difference. Try this regimen of supplements as well: In the morning, on arising, take 1,500 milligrams of DL-phenylalanine (DLPA, an amino acid), 100 milligrams of vitamin B-6, 500 milligrams of vitamin C, and a piece of fruit or a small glass of juice. Do not eat breakfast for at least an hour. (Use this formula cautiously if you have high blood pressure, as DLPA may worsen that condition temporarily. Start with a lower dose of the amino acid and monitor blood pressure frequently.)
An herbal treatment for depression that is gaining in popularity around the world is St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum), a European weed long used in folk medicine for the relief of mood disorders and other ailments. Use only standardized extracts of this plant containing 0.3 percent hypericin. The starting dose is 300 milligrams three times a day, and full antidepressant effect will not develop in less than two months of regular use. St. John’s wort is nontoxic but may increase sensitivity to sunlight in high doses.
Acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain brings more patients to doctors’ offices than many other categories of illness combined. Conventional drugs and surgery should be regarded as last resorts to be used only after aggressive experimentation with natural and alternative methods has failed to provide relief.
Dietary modification is less important here, except that it is useful to manipulate dietary fats to reduce any inflammatory processes. That means eliminating polyunsaturated and artificially saturated fats and increasing intake of omega-3 fatty acids in any form.
Supplementation with the B-vitamin niacinamide can be very helpful for osteoarthritis. Start with 500 milligrams twice a day, increasing by 500 milligrams at three-week intervals if necessary to a maximum daily dose of 2,000 milligrams.
Herbal treatments for musculoskeletal pain include ginger, especially in dried form, and the Ayurvedic herb Boswellia, or the extract made from it, boswellin. Health food stores sell it; follow dosage recommendations on the products. Ginger and boswellin may provide relief in fibromyalgia and other conditions in which people complain that “it hurts all over.” Also consider using curcumin, the anti-inflammatory agent from turmeric, as described under “Autoimmune Disease.” For extensive bruises and hematomas resulting from trauma, an excellent treatment is bromelain, the pineapple enzyme you can find in capsules at health food stores. Take 200 to 400 milligrams three times a day on an empty stomach. Bromelain promotes healing of tissue injuries, but occasional individuals may develop an allergic rash from it; discontinue it if you develop any itching.
Mind/body interventions, again, are critical. Hypnotherapy can teach people how to distance themselves from chronic pain, which can help the pain to resolve more quickly. Other forms of stress reduction, including guided meditation, have worked for chronic pain syndromes after all conventional approaches have failed.
Alternative treatment is always worth trying for these maladies, especially osteopathic manipulation, chiropractic, therapeutic massages, and other forms of body work. Acupuncture can provide dramatic temporary relief of musculoskeletal pain and may promote healing of some conditions. In combination with Chinese herbal treatment, it may do wonders for individuals with arthritis and other chronically painful musculoskeletal ailments.
Pain has two aspects: the physical sensation arising from some disturbance of body structure or function and the psychic perception of it. The latter aspect can be modified in several ways. My preference is for hypnotherapy, guided imagery, meditation, and acupuncture. Review the story of Ethan’s back pain on this page–this page, which describes the healing of chronic pain through purely psychic intervention.
To the extent that pain is the result of inflammation at the tissue level, it can be approached through all of the dietary changes, herbal treatments, and alternative medical approaches listed under “Autoimmune Disease” and “Musculoskeletal Disorders.”
Therapeutic touch and other forms of energy healing can be dramatically effective in relieving pain.
Because the skin has so many nerve endings, it is another very frequent site for stress-related problems. Again, conventional treatments for many skin diseases, especially topical steroid preparations, are suppressive in nature and potentially toxic.
Lifestyle changes can make a huge difference to the health of the skin, particularly protection from the damaging effects of sun exposure; decrease in frequency of washing with soap, which removes natural protective oils; assiduous use of moisturizers immediately after a bath or shower; and elimination of cosmetic products containing dyes and other harsh chemicals.
Dietary modification is also important in order to eliminate foods that may promote allergic and inflammatory changes and to provide nutrients needed for healthy development of skin, hair, and nails. In general, make the changes recommended under “Autoimmunity,” being sure to provide adequate sources of omega-3 fatty acids.
Supplement the diet with antioxidant vitamins and minerals and with GLA (gamma-linolenic acid, an essential fatty acid of particular benefit to the skin); best sources are black currant oil and evening primrose oil, available in capsules at health food stores. The recommended dose of black currant oil is 500 milligrams twice a day. You will see changes in the skin, hair, and nails after six to eight weeks of continuous use.
Mind/body interventions should be tried in all cases of skin disease to take advantage of the high level of innervation of the skin. I usually send patients to skilled hypnotherapists and guided imagery therapists.
Alternative medicine can be more effective and less toxic than conventional medicine in managing skin disorders. In my experience the greatest chance for success is with homeopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, and traditional Chinese medicine, even for cases of psoriasis and other severe, chronic problems.
All illnesses should be assumed to be stress-related until proved otherwise. Even if stress is not the primary cause of illness, it is frequently an aggravating factor. To say that a bodily complaint is stress-related does not in any way mean that it is unreal or unimportant; it simply means that time spent at stress reduction and relaxation training may be very worthwhile in terms of obtaining relief. Some of the most common stress-related ailments are headache, insomnia, musculoskeletal pain (especially in the back and neck), gastrointestinal disorders of all sorts, skin disorders of all sorts, sexual deficiency, menstrual problems, and increased susceptibility to infection; that accounts for quite a few symptoms, visits to doctors, and prescriptions for suppressive drugs. In all of these conditions, regardless of what other interventions you try, I recommend working with the relaxing breath, using mind/body approaches, and all relaxation methods that appeal to you in order to give the healing system the best possible chance to solve any problems on the physical level.
Lifestyle change is critical here, because the most common stressors of the kidneys are tobacco; high blood pressure; dehydration; alcohol, caffeine, and other stimulant drugs; and high-protein diets. The metabolism of protein puts a huge workload on the kidneys. If you know that you have abnormal kidneys or have had any kidney disease in the past, the most important preventive strategies you can employ are to adopt a very low-protein diet and never to allow yourself to become dehydrated.
Because the urinary system filters toxins from the blood and concentrates them in urine, it is susceptible to toxic injury that may initiate malignant transformation, especially in the bladder. Following the advice in Chapter 10 of this book on protecting yourself from toxins will help you, as will the regular use of antioxidant supplements.
Women are much more vulnerable than men to urinary tract infections. They can reduce susceptibility by eliminating or minimizing the use of tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine, by avoiding traumatic or excessive sexual activity, and by always maintaining good urinary output by drinking plenty of water. Also, cranberries contain a substance that makes it harder for bacteria to stick to the bladder wall. If you are experiencing frequent urinary tract infections, try drinking cranberry juice often or use unsweetened cranberry concentrate from the health food store that you can dilute to your own taste with water or sparkling water. Taking acidophilus in liquid or capsule form after meals can also help increase resistance to bladder infections.
An herbal treatment that can help the urinary tract is bearberry, or uva ursi (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). Tinctures and encapsulated extracts of the leaves can be found at health food stores and are useful for a variety of urinary problems. The dose is one dropperful of the tincture in a little water or one or two capsules of extract three to four times a day. This should be used as a short-term remedy only, since prolonged use may cause irritation.
Mind/body methods can be extremely valuable in managing urinary problems. Guided imagery with a trained therapist would be my first choice.
Alternative medicine can also be helpful, especially naturopathy, homeopathy, and traditional Chinese medicine.
Menstrual problems, including painful periods and premenstrual syndrome (PMS), can be moderated by eliminating caffeine and inflammation-promoting fats (see “Autoimmune Disease,” this page–this page) and by supplementing the diet with GLA (see “Skin Disorders,” this page–this page), vitamin E, and vitamin B-6 (100 milligrams twice a day). Dong quai (Angelica sinensis) is a useful tonic for a wide range of female problems (see this page–this page). Another useful herbal treatment is chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus), which may be taken in tincture or capsule form (one dropperful of the tincture in water or one or two capsules twice a day); it helps regulate the female reproductive cycle. Regular, moderate aerobic exercise is also important.
To avoid imbalances of estrogen metabolism, it is essential to avoid consuming foods with added estrogen (commercially raised meats and poultry), to avoid exposure to pollutants that may have estrogenic activity, to minimize consumption of alcohol, to eat a low-fat diet, and to increase intake of soy foods for their protective phytoestrogens.
Menopausal symptoms can be managed without resorting to hormone replacement therapy, although women who are already losing bone density or are at high risk for coronary heart disease may choose hormone replacement for those reasons. An herbal formula that will reduce or eliminate hot flashes in most women consists of dong quai, chaste tree, and damiana (Turnera diffusa). Take one dropperful of the tinctures of each, or two capsules of each, once a day at noon.
Mind/body approaches are invaluable in all disorders of the female reproductive system. Results of hypnotherapy and guided imagery therapy can be rapid, dramatic, and surprisingly effective.