Avoid Chemicals and Use Common Herbs as Pesticides
February 15, 2010
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
Essential oils extracted from common kitchen herbs and spices can be used as safer, less destructive pesticides, according to research led by Murray Isman of the University of British Columbia and presented at the Fall Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.
“We are exploring the potential use of natural pesticides based on plant essential oils — commonly used in foods and beverages as flavorings,” Isman said.
Isman’s team has been researching the pest control properties of clove, mint, rosemary and thyme for 10 years, and has found that diluted mixtures of the essential oils from two to four of the plants can be used to both repel and kill agricultural pests. These natural pesticides have been effectively used to fight aphids and mites that would otherwise prey on spinach, strawberry and tomato crops.
The essential oils provide several major advantages over synthetic pesticides. They are significantly less toxic to farm workers and the surrounding environment than synthetic chemicals. Because they break down quickly, they are less likely to cause lasting harm to the environment or human health. Researchers also claim that insects are less likely to evolve resistance to the plant compounds.
Because they are not engineered but simply extracted from foods already deemed safe, essential oil pesticides do not need regulatory approval and can be used on organic crops.
Because the essential oils degrade so quickly in the environment, however — lasting as little as a few hours — they need to be applied relatively frequently. In comparison, synthetic pesticides may remain in the soil for months and resist breakdown long after this time, which is part of what makes them so dangerous. The herb and spice-based pesticides also need to be applied in larger doses than synthetic pesticides.
“They’re not a panacea for pest control,” Isman said. “It comes down to what’s good for the environment and what’s good for human health.”
Click here for the full report
Milk Thistle Herb May Help Chemo Patients
December 16, 2009
ABC News
By Amy Norton
An herb used since ancient times to treat liver ailments may help reduce the liver damage caused by some cancer drugs, a study published Monday suggests.
In a study of 50 children undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), researchers found that an herb called milk thistle appeared to reduce treatment-related liver inflammation.
The study, published online in the journal Cancer, is the first clinical trial to test the herb in children undergoing chemotherapy, and the investigators caution that more research is still needed.
However, the findings are “promising” — particularly since there is currently no way to help protect the liver from chemotherapy-induced damage, said senior researcher Dr. Kara M. Kelly, a pediatric oncologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.
Liver inflammation is common among children undergoing chemotherapy for ALL, Kelly told Reuters Health — with about two-thirds developing liver toxicity at some point during treatment.
Traditionally, doctors have dealt with the side effect by lowering patients’ chemotherapy doses — which, in turn, can lower the chances of seeing a complete remission. Kelly said that more recently, there has been a movement toward “accepting” the liver toxicity and sticking with the chemo regimen. But it’s not clear what the long-range consequences of that might be.
“So we still need an alternative option,” Kelly said.
That is where milk thistle comes in. The plant’s flowers and seeds have been used for more than 2,000 years to treat disorders of the liver and gallbladder. In recent years, lab research has found that the active substance in milk thistle — an antioxidant called silybin
– might help prevent body tissue damage by blocking toxins from breaching cell walls.
Several clinical trials have investigated milk thistle as a way to prevent or treat liver damage in people with hepatitis, an inflammation that can be caused by an infection, and in those with cirrhosis, a buildup of scar tissue in the liver often linked to alcoholism. The results of those studies have been mixed.
Thomas James of HempUSA.org
Click the picture or link below to hear Kevin’s interview with Thomas James, the Administrative Director of HempUSA.org.
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 12-15-09
Today, Kevin explains why the government is taking away the spirit of Christmas and how your freedoms are taken away. Also, find out why our standard of living is declining at rapid speeds and the top 3 things you can do to survive it.
Get the headlines you aren’t hearing from the mainstream media:
The Lazy Man’s Way to A Fortune
Text Messaging Causing Blindness
BPA Linked To Serious Health Problems
Big Brother Isn’t a Protect Our Borders
D.C. Hands Out $15M in Bonuses
Fructose Fueling Childhood Obesity
Tamiflu Proven Useless
Swine Flu Less Lethal Than Feared
CT Scans Leads To Cancer in Thousands
Antidepressants Raise Stroke Risk
Herb To Treat Chemotherapy Liver Damage
Plus, the Administrative Director of HempUSA.org, Thomas James, gives you the REAL story behind the power of hemp and why the government wants to keep it from you!
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click below to hear The Kevin Trudeau Show RIGHT NOW!!!
Herb May Treat Chemotherapy Liver Damage
December 15, 2009
U.S. News
By Steven Reinberg
Chemo drugs
often cause liver inflammation, making it necessary to lower the dose or suspend treatment until the inflammation subsides. These interruptions in therapy can make treatment less effective, the researchers said.
“We found that milk thistle, compared to placebo, was more effective in reducing inflammation,” said lead researcher Dr. Kara Kelly, from New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center’s Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center in New York City.
“If these results are confirmed, milk thistle may allow us to treat liver inflammation or prevent it from occurring, which will allow better delivery of chemotherapy drugs,” she added.
The report is published in the Dec. 14 online edition of Cancer.
Milk thistle, a longtime folk remedy, is often recommended to treat liver damage and mushroom poisoning. No other treatment for liver toxicity exists, Kelly said.
For the study, Kelly’s team randomly assigned 50 children undergoing chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia to receive milk thistle or a placebo for 28 days. All the children had liver inflammation at the start of the study.
Twenty-eight days later, the children who had received milk thistle had improved liver enzymes, compared with the children who received a placebo, the researchers said.
The milk thistle group had significantly lower levels of one enzyme in particular, AST, and a trend towards lower levels of another enzyme called ALT, Kelly’s group found.
In addition, milk thistle appeared to help patients tolerate higher doses of chemotherapy. Sixty-one percent of the children receiving milk thistle needed dose reductions, compared with 72 percent of the children receiving placebo, but this difference is not significant, the researchers noted.
Related lab experiments showed the herb did not lessen the effectiveness of the chemotherapy drugs, and Kelly thinks milk thistle might reduce liver inflammation for patients with other cancers who are taking other types of chemotherapy as well. Further research is needed, she said, to determine the appropriate dose and duration of milk thistle therapy.
Her team also hopes to evaluate the herb’s ability to prevent chemo-induced liver inflammation.
Still, some experts remain unconvinced about the herb’s value in cancer treatment. Dr. Julio C. Barredo, director of pediatric hematology-oncology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that the study’s small size, the low doses of milk thistle used and the short time frame of the study make the findings inconclusive.
Also, there was no difference in the delay of treatment in either group, he said.
“Improvement in one liver enzyme did not lead to patients who received the drug being delayed less than patients who received placebo in getting their chemotherapy,” Barredo said.
“I don’t think that you could recommend that people go and take this supplement when they are taking chemotherapy from the results of this study,” Barredo said. “Maybe a larger study, using a higher dose is warranted.”
Liver inflammation from chemotherapy usually abates when treatment stops or doses get reduced, Barredo added.
Click here for the full report
A Cup of Brazilian Mint Tea Relieves Pain as Well as Aspirin
November 30, 2009
Natural News
By Mike Adams
Researchers from Newcastle University have scientifically proven that Hyptis crenata, also known as Brazilian mint, is a powerful pain reliever that works just as well as Indometacin, a synthetic drug similar to aspirin. A traditional remedy for treating the flu, stomach problems, high fevers, and headaches, Brazilian mint was found to be extremely powerful and safe.
The team, led by Graciela Rocha, set out to perform the study using the traditional preparation of the herb. Surveys were conducted in Brazil to figure out exactly how this was done and how much should be consumed in order to achieve beneficial results. The preparation the team ended up using consisted of the herb’s dried leaves being steeped in boiling water for 30 minutes. Once cool, the tea was consumed in the same way as any other brewed tea would be. The results indicated efficacy in a wide range of ailments.
Graciela emphasized the fact that more than 50,000 plants worldwide are used for some type of medicinal purpose and that researchers should focus on identifying these types of plants and testing their efficacy. Since more than half of all prescription drugs are derived from plant compounds, it is a worthy effort to study plant medicines in their natural, safe forms.
Findings were put forward at the 2nd International Symposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants in New Delhi, India and are set to be published in the society’s journal Acta Horticulturae. Clinical trials are the next step for the group who hopes to discover not only the various effective dose levels for various pains and illnesses but also the specific characteristics of the herb that make it so advantageous.
Comments by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Living in South America, I find myself surrounded by abundant natural medicine. I can’t walk fifty feet out my front door without discovering medicinal plants.
South America is an undiscovered medicine chest that continues to remain largely ignored by western nations. Ecuador, for example, offers seemingly countless medicinal plants that have yet to be properly studied and understood. Brazil, meanwhile, is a huge, incredibly biodiverse nation with a rich collection of undiscovered medicinal plants that very quite literally save the western world from chronic disease.
In Ecuador, I recently took a weekend trip and harvested fresh Sangre de Drago from the trees found in the local rainforests. We also harvested tres filos herb from the local hillsides, and we even found some amazing guayusa herb leaves that we harvested to make some invigorating tea. In these three herbs alone, thousands of medicinal compounds exist. Most are entirely unknown by western science, but they were well understood in function by the South American Indians who inhabited regions throughout South American which now include Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and several others.
Click here for the full report
Remove Heavy Metals in the Body With Cilantro
November 09, 2009
Natural News
By Mike Adams
Heavy metals are extremely toxic to human neurology. Mercury, lead and cadmium all contribute aggressively to the deterioration of neurological function. Fortunately, there’s a simple, natural way to detox your body and remove these toxic substances from your tissues.
The solution is cilantro. It’s that magical-tasting herb often used in Mexican food recipes. As it turns out, cilantro not only taste great, it also binds to heavy metals and helps remove them from your body.
Below, we’re collected some important research on this remarkable ability of the cilantro herb. Read them all to learn more, then whip up your own delicious recipes using raw cilantro in your own kitchen!
Food, after all, is really potent medicine. You can also purchase cilantro liquid extracts from places like Baseline Nutritionals (their product is called “Metal Magic”) or other vendors of quality superfood supplements.
Cilantro removes heavy metals
Supplements helpful in the detoxification process include: cilantro, Vitamin C, selenium, garlic and others. Eating a clean diet, free of pesticides and hormones, is a must for a detoxification program. I encourage my patients to eat whole foods, with adequate amounts of protein. Eliminating the “whites”– refined sugar, refined flour, and refined salt will help any health condition and help any detoxification program. The glycemic index of carbohydrates can be a helpful guide on which carbohydrates to eat and which to avoid.
- The Miracle of Natural Hormones by David Brownstein
Add cilantro to meals; it can help remove heavy metals. Add dark green leafy vegetables, which contain chlorophyll, a helpful detoxifier. Get curcuminoids from spices such as turmeric. Try herbal detoxification teas containing mixtures of burdock root, dandelion root, ginger root, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, cardamom seed, cinnamon bark, and other herbs.
- Ultraprevention : The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life by Mark Hyman, M.D.
There are several natural chelation products that use only the cilantro and chlorella to extremely positive effect supporting the basic premises being put forth here. The addition of ALA brings in the leading work of Dr. Andrew Hall Cutler, who is one of the world’s leading experts on mercury detoxification. His extensive and successful use of ALA has won him a large devoted audience.
- Transdermal Magnesium Therapy by Mark Sircus
Metal Magic is made from two simple herbs: cilantro and chlorella. Alone, each of these has the ability to bind with heavy metals, and together they make a very powerful metal detoxification substance that can literally pull mercury, lead, cadmium, and other heavy metals right out of your body, thereby sparing your body the damage that would normally be caused by those heavy metals. This is potentially a life-saving product, and it can certainly save the health of a fetus, if you happen to be pregnant or you plan to have a pregnancy in the near future.
Click here for the full report
