Caffeine: Natural Sources and Man-Made Uses

Caffeine, perhaps the most popular natural drug in the world, is a stimulant found in many plant species including coffee, tea, and cocoa, although a number of other plants produce caffeine-like chemicals.  Less commonly used sources of caffeine include the yerba maté and guarana, two South American plants that have only recently become known around the world, used with greater frequency in the preparation of energy drinks.  Two of caffeine’s alternative names, mateine and guaranine, are derived from the names of these plants.  A typical energy drink made with guarana can contain as much as 259 mgs of caffeine; twice the caffeine found in coffee beans (about 2–4.5% caffeine in guarana seeds compared to 1–2% for coffee beans).  As a dietary supplement, guarana is an effective energy booster, but the long-term effects of this and similar chemicals are as yet unknown.  Read more . . .

Fibromyalgia: Effective Herbal and Dietary Treatments

Current statistics show that fibromyalgia affects approximately 3-5% of the American population, with a female to male incidence ratio of approximately 9:1.  According to current medical criteria, fibromyalgia (also referred to as FM or FMS) is defined as: “A medical disorder characterized by chronic widespread pain and allodynia (pain caused by a stimulus which does not normally induce pain), and a heightened and painful response to pressure.  In that fibromyalgia symptoms are not restricted to physical pain, the alternative term “fibromyalgia syndrome” is also applied to this condition.  Other core symptoms of fibromyalgia include overpowering fatigue, sleep disturbance, and joint stiffness.  Some patients also report difficulty swallowing, bowel and bladder abnormalities, jaw pain, numbness and tingling (especially in the hands and feet), and cognitive dysfunction (what many term ‘brain fog.’)"  Read more . . .

The Art (and Science) of Bathing: Additives to Heal the Body and Soothe the Spirit

In today’s fast-paced world, fewer and fewer people are opting to bathe when a shower is faster, said to use less water, and the idea of soaking in one’s own dirt seems foolish.  There are, however, substantial health benefits to occasionally opting for a soothing bath.  For one, daily hot showers can, in fact, make the skin too clean, stripping it of the healthy bacteria and oils nature provides to ward-off foreign bacterial invasion and protect the skin from a variety of skin conditions.  For another, opting for a bath provides opportunities to add herbs, oils, and other healthful ingredients that can relieve aches and pains, ward-off viruses, and improve one’s state of mind.  Read more . . .

Green Tea: Just the Curative Facts

Today, scientific research in Asia as well as in the west has provided hard evidence for many of the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea.  For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent.
Additionally, University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a chemical compound found in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells and that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.  Read more . . .