View the design for the shirt Pammy is wearing and other slow going designs on this page.

Redefining Slow: A Chronic Illness Realities Comic Strip is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Slow Going T-Shirt and Gift Idea Designs Make a statement, raise awareness, and prove that you’re getting...
2. Coping Skills: Special Diets Diets Streamlined for Those with Disabling Chronic Conditions (Revised) There...
3. My Fibromyalgia Story: Living with Fibromyalgia by Julie Wendell Julie Wendell lives with her 2 sons in Naples, FL. ...

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by:

• musculoskeletal pain
• fatigue
• weakness
• tenderness in localized areas of the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips sometimes referred to as tender points or pressure points
• muscle spasms
• sleep disturbances
• irritable bowel syndrome
• and other body disturbances.

Index to Fibromyalgia is a Pain
T-Shirt and Gift Idea Design

For more information on Fibromyalgia, read: What is Fibromyalgia (FM, FMS)?

For additional Fibromyalgia Information and Resources, see:

Chiari Syndrome and/or Cervical Spinal Stenosis

Information on surgery that corrects a problem that causes some forms of Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia Personal Stories

Fibromyalgia and Rheumatoid Arthritis Study

Addressing the Realities of Fibromyalgia Pain

Fibromyalgia Newsletters

Fibromyalgia Support Groups

Is There a Foot-Fibromyalgia Connection?

Hormones and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome / Fibromyalgia

Or visit these resources:

*

FMS-Help.com

Dominie Soo Bush’s personal site on which she gives details about how she copes with her Fibromyalgia and CFIDS.

Fibromyalgia Network Online

The Web site for the publisher of the (print) Fibromyalgia Network Newsletter, this site is also a resource for educational materials on Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Fibromyalgia Research

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases maintains this site of information on current Fibromyalgia research.

Questions and Answers About Fibromyalgia

Another National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases page.

WebMD – Fibromyalgia Health Center

I Hurt All Over

A “Psychology Today” article by Mirinda J. Kossoff about fibromyalgia. The article covers the estimated number of people in the United States who suffer from the disease, the nature and symptoms of the disease, and the research being conducted to understand the disease.

Disabling Realities of Fibromyalgia

In Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) — a brochure from the Fibromyalgia Network, it says: “Overall, studies have shown that FMS can be equally as disabling as rheumatoid arthritis.” Information is available on the FM Network about the actual research that backs up that statement. You can learn how to get an informational packet about Fibromyalgia on the Fibromyalgia Network Web site or by calling 1-800-853-2929.

aboutFIBRO

Fibromyalgia (and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) information site hosted by Kent Holtorf, MD.

Fibromyalgia Directory

Fibromyalgia Directory provides links to a number of online organizations, support groups and informational sites for Fibro patients.

The Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Center

This is the Web site for the Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers (FFC). Founded by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia patient Dr. Kent Holtorf, these centers use a holistic approach to treatment for these conditions.

Fibromyalgia: Resources for Families

This site bills itself as one to help you “understand fibromyalgia in the context of family life.”

The American Fibromyalgia Syndrome Association

A non-profit fibromyalgia syndrome association, located in Arizona.

The pain from fibromyalgia is real, researchers say

An article about how University of Michigan doctors say widespread evidence verifies validity of condition, and say patients need to be taken seriously.

Fibromyalgia Information is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Fibromyalgia Support Groups Index to Fibromyalgia Sucks t shirt and gift ideas...
2. Sleep Medications for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Index for the My To Do List t-shirts and gift...
3. Chronic Fatigue Tests, Treatments, and Research Index to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Warning t-shirt and gift idea...

Index to Fibromyalgia Sucks t shirt and gift ideas design

(Revised)

Fibromyalgia Support Groups

Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by:

• musculoskeletal pain
• fatigue
• weakness
• tenderness in localized areas of the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips sometimes referred to as tender points or pressure points
• muscle spasms
• sleep disturbances
• irritable bowel syndrome
• and other body disturbances.

For more information, read: What is Fibromyalgia (FM, FMS)?

There are support groups throughout the U.S. and the world who help those who suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and/or Fibromyalgia learn ways to cope with those devastating conditions. The sites mentioned here provide contact information for those groups.

For Parents of Sick and Worn-Out Children

Web site maintained by Frank Albrecht, Ph.D. on bluecrab.org that offers support and resources for parents whose child or children have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Support Groups in the United States

This page provides links to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome support groups in the United States.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Support Groups in Canada

This page provides links to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome support groups in Canada.

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Support Groups Outside the United States

Links to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome international support groups (i.e., support groups outside of the United States and Canada).

Daily Strength Fibromyalgia Support Group and Forum

MDJunction Fibromyalgia Online Forum

WebMD Fibromyalgia Community: Support Group

We are FMily Message Board and Chat

Yahoo! Fibromyalgia Support Groups

Fibromyalgia Support Groups is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Fibromyalgia Information Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by: musculoskeletal pain...
2. Fibromyalgia Treatment Index for the Fibromyalgia Warning T-Shirts and Gift Idea design...
3. Sleep Medications for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Index for the My To Do List t-shirts and gift...

(Revised) There are lots of diet plans to choose from. Each has its own claims to fame — or at least its promise of a more healthful eating lifestyle. Part of the problems with those diagnosed with syndromes and conditions like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM) is that not everybody experiences exactly the same symptoms. For example, some with Fibromyalgia have Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS); others do not. Therefore, the same as not every treatment plan works for everyone diagnosed with CFS or FM, there isn’t a “one size fits all” eating regimen either. Many find they must match their diet with their (for lack of a better word) form of their disease, syndrome, or condition.

Details on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™
by Bernie Standish

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ (SCD™) is a grain-free, lactose-free, and sucrose-free diet that was originally designed for Celiac Disease. Today the SCD is also used for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Candida, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Cystic Fibrosis, and Chronic Diarrhea. The SCD™ is proving helpful to many with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia as well. [Read more....]

The Anti-Inflammation Diet

Citing Jack Challem, author of The Inflammation Syndrome, this article by Catherine Guthrie explains the dietary steps to stamp out inflammation leading to high c-reactive protein (CRP) levels associated with the elevated risk of heart disease, arthyritis, fibromyalgia, and other disorders.

May the (Organic) Source Be With You

Most experts agree that organic and all natural foods free of chemical additives and preservatives are the healthiest food choices.

Diabetes and Diabetic Diets:

CookingWithPam.com Diabetic Cooking Section

Chronic-Illness.org Diabetes Section

The Everything Writing Well Cookbook recipe index

Special Diet Web Sites:

Enabled Cooking

Coping Skills: Special Diets is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Redefining Slow: A Chronic Illness Realities Comic Strip View the design for the shirt Pammy is wearing...
2. Slow Going T-Shirt and Gift Idea Designs Make a statement, raise awareness, and prove that you’re getting...
3. Chronic Fatigue Tests, Treatments, and Research Index to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Warning t-shirt and gift idea...

(Revised)

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which is sometimes also referred to as Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (M.E. or ME), is an illness characterized by prolonged, devastating fatigue. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is often also characterized by overlapping allergies, sensitivities, and symptoms from other conditions. The same factors that can make diagnosis difficult also affect how these symptoms are treated. These resources provide information about the tests and treatment protocols available for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Placebo Effect

Prozac – A Problem Drug or a Scapegoat?

New Study Shows Promise that “Skin Tests” May Be Able to Provide a Definitive Diagnosis for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The Grand Challenge for Research

Learn how despite hundreds of millions being spent on AIDS research and more than $100 million on MS research, despite that in 2004 only $3.9 million for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome research, the NIH is imposing further CFS research funding cuts which has put researchers in a difficult position….

CDC Chronic Fatigue Treatment Information

Data from the U.S. government Center for Disease Control about non-pharmacologic therapy (physical activity, education,…) and pharmacologic therapy (prescription medication, experimental drugs and treatment,…) and dietary supplements and herbal preparations.

The Marshall Protocol for Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

In this interview, Trevor Marshall, Ph.D. explains why he believes his (controversial) protocol developed to relieve the symptoms of Sarcoidosis patients also works for those with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Lyme Disease, and other illnesses and conditions.

Additional reading on the Marshall Protocol:
The Marshall Protocol, STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE
Marshall Protocol Study Site

Steroid Medication No Help to CFS Patients Who Get that Faint Feeling

A January 2001 National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH) press release on a study to determine whether steroid medication would provide relief for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome patients who experience light-headedness when standing for long periods of time.

Treatment at the Cheney Clinic

A reprint of an article that first appeared in the July/August 1998 issue of “The CFIDS Chronicle” (Vol. 11 No. 4) that details how Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert Dr. Paul Cheney, M.D., Ph.D. treats his patients, including exercise recommendations such as the Bounce Back chair.

Dr. Paul Cheney on the Clinical Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Audio Tape Transcriptions of Paul Cheney, M.D. on the Clinical Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, from a workshop held in February of 1999.

Dr. Paul Cheney Treatment Information Radio Interview

C-Cure.org page of a radio interview with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert Dr. Paul Cheney about his experience and treatment information associated.

Dr. Paul R. Cheney’s Basic Protocol: 2003 Supplement/Health Aid

A page showing Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert Dr. Paul Cheney’s 2003 basic protocol for treatment and supplement/health aid recommendations.

Dr. Cheney’s Basic Treatment Plan 2002

Information on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert Dr. Paul Cheney’s 2002 Basic Treatment Plan. Includes recommendations for rebound exercise, such as that possible with the Bounce Back Chair; prescription drug and supplements recommendations; and basic diet suggestions.

Cerebral & Systemic Hemodynamics Changes During Upright Tilt in CFS

Abstract and link to full text of a Journal of Neuroimaging article on “Cerebral and Systemic Hemodynamics Changes During Upright Tilt in CFS.” During the “tilt table test,” patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have higher rates of neurally mediated hypotension (NMH) and postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) than healthy controls.

Paul Cheney, M.D.’s Oxygen Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

An explanation of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert Dr. Paul Cheney’s method of prescribing oxygen for patients with alkaline venus blood.

Dr. Paul Cheney Discusses the Benefits of Klonopin

An interview with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome expert Dr. Paul Cheney about what he believes are the benefits of treatment with Klonopin and the supplement magnesium because of their neuroprotective qualities.

An Interview With Paul Cheney M.D., Ph.D.

A transcript of the February 28th, 1999 CFS Radio Program Host Roger G. Mazlen, M.D. interview with Dr. Paul Cheney.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Clinical Trials

A search index of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (and other) Clinical Trials.

Compare the Medical Conditions of Gulf War Veterans to CFS, Other….

Information on a completed Department of Veterans Affairs clinical trial comparing the medical conditions of Gulf War veterans to non-deployed veterans. Comparisons were made between Gulf War Syndrome (GWS) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, other conditions, and general health status.

Orthostatic Intolerance in Adolescent Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The abstract of a New York Medical College study on “Orthostatic Intolerance in Adolescent Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” with links to the full text of the article and to other articles that cite this study.

CFS and the Exercise Conundrum

Lucinda Bateman, MD
A (pdf) article about how one CFS patient was able to restore her muscular strength. Citing the exercise intolerance associated with CFS, the article states:

One thing patients and medical providers agree on is that CFS is characterized by post exertional malaise, a term that often understates a “payback” that varies from escalation of widespread pain, to exhaustion requiring a recovery day in bed, to serious relapse of the entire CFS symptom complex:the
cognitive dysfunction, flu-like achiness, fatigue, low grade fevers, lymph node tenderness and disturbed sleep patterns of weeks or months duration. Post-exertional malaise has always been considered a defining feature of CFS, although we are still uncertain why it occurs (Fukuda).

Holistic Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Center

The Fibromyalgia and Fatigue Center is the Web site for the Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers (FFC) founded by Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia patient Dr. Kent Holtorf. These centers use a holistic approach to treatment for these conditions.

Chronic Fatigue Tests, Treatments, and Research is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Sleep Medications for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Index for the My To Do List t-shirts and gift...
2. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Resources Index to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFIDS, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Sucks...
3. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Newsletters Index for CFS/no respect design When confronted with a Chronic...

Personal Stories & Reports (revised)

T-Shirt and Gift Merchandise

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Environmental Illness

Fibromyalgia

Multiple Chemical Sensitivities

Nap Realities Designs

Articles & Resources

PWC Hallie Kretsinger’s Watercolors Raise Money for CFIDS

The story of how PWC Hallie Kretsinger’s watercolors have helped in the efforts to raise money for CFIDS.

Creating hope with ‘happy post’

An article about a UK teenager with CFS — Vikki George — who started the Post Pals service for sending postcards to sick children.

Post Pals – Post a smile on a sick child’s face

Post Pals — the Web site for the “postcards for sick children” service founded by teenage CFS victim Vikki George.

Hollywood Legend Blake Edwards, PWC

Information on Blake Edwards, a PWC for more than 20 years, and his honorary Oscar, plus links to a video clip featuring Edwards’s comments about his struggle with CFIDS from “I Remember Me.”

A dead horse rescued me

An interview with Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit.

Author of ‘Seabiscuit’ endures rough ride

An article about Laura Hillenbrand, the author of “Seabiscuit” who has CFS. The article was written after the publication of her book and shortly before the release of the film based on the book.

Betting on Seabiscuit

An article that originally appeared in the December 2002 issue of Smithonsonian Magazine about how, despite her chronic fatigue syndrome, Laura Hillenbrand beat the odds and wrote a bestseller.

CFIDS Advocate Tom Sheridan

Tom Sheridan of The Sheridan Group is a Capitol Hill lobbysit and advocate for CFIDS causes.

Spotlight on Dr. Lucinda “Cindy” Bateman

An article about Dr. Lucinda “Cindy” Bateman, a doctor who (as of 2005)  has spent more than 15 years working with patients who have CFIDS and Fibromyalgia. Dr. Bateman is the co-founder and executive director of OFFER, the Organization for Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Education and Research.

SupportME.co.UK

Established by a recovering M.E./CFS sufferer, this site is an online resource for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia resource.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? or Chronic Mercury Poisoning?

Jeff Clark’s personal site that includes articles about his claims he was cured of Chronic Fatigue.

Personal Stories

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome robs its victims of their chances to lead normal lives. These are first-person PWC accounts of how devastating the illness has been to the patient, written on a very personal level, often with details about how CFS / CFIDS / ME has affected family life and relationships, friendships, ability to work, social life, and other things that most people take for granted.

Quotes on “How Did Your Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Start?”
CFS Victims Relate Their Personal Experiences

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Multiple Chemical Sensitivities Personal Stories and Reports is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Sleep Medications for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Index for the My To Do List t-shirts and gift...
2. Chronic Fatigue Tests, Treatments, and Research Index to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Warning t-shirt and gift idea...
3. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Resources Index to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFIDS, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Sucks...

Thanks to The Store Wars Veggie Tales-style animation, Chewbroccoli and a galaxy of other characters can help educate you and your family about the benefits of organic foods. The animation even has a “salad bar” cantana sequence!

It doesn’t end there. Unless you’re fortunate to have a store like Whole Foods Market in your neck o’ the woods, finding organic products isn’t always an easy task. More and more supermarkets are adding some organic foods to their store selections, but as anyone who doesn’t have the time and energy to read each and every label can attest, those selections are limited. (Until recently, none of the local supermarkets in my “farm country” smalltown Ohio area have preservative-, nitrite-, or nitrate-free deli meats, for example. So, if I wanted bacon, ham, salami, or other deli cuts, I had to rely on my niece bringing some with her when she visits from Atlanta or a nephew picking some up for me in Detroit — or I had to order directly from the Wellshire Farms Web site. While choices are still limited — and unfortunately far more expensive than regular deli meats, Kroger and WalMart now carry such brands as Hormel® Natural Choice® lunch meats and bacon.)

While the choices may not be certified organic, most local farmer’s markets do have vendor’s who sell locally grown, pesticide-free produce. Another way to find sources of organic foods is to visit The Organic Trade Association Web site; they’re the organization responsible for the “Store Wars” animation and they have an extensive organic foods directory available on their site.

May the (Organic) Source Be With You is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Coping Skills: Special Diets Diets Streamlined for Those with Disabling Chronic Conditions (Revised) There...
2. Redefining Slow: A Chronic Illness Realities Comic Strip View the design for the shirt Pammy is wearing...
3. Sleep Medications for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Index for the My To Do List t-shirts and gift...

Excerpt from:

10 Natural Remedies That Can Save Your Life
by James F. Balch (Doubleday, April 1999)

GARLIC :

No one is neutral about garlic, just as no one is neutral about skunks. Some people love the look of a skunk’s soft, furry body, its quizzical face, its seemingly gentle demeanor. Others bluntly say that a skunk stinks, and they want nothing to do with it.

And then there’s garlic. Some cuisines seem to start with garlic, the other ingredients, like tomatoes, herbs, and shellfish, serving as mere afterthoughts. There are gourmets, bon vivants, and, if truth be told, gluttons who all speak of garlic the way wine connoisseurs speak of their favorite vintage and cheese lovers talk of the subtle distinctions in flavor of one variety over another.

The garlic haters, on the other hand, say it smells terrible. They can’t stand the way it comes out on the breath, the way the odor seems to ooze through the pores of the eater. They even joke that garlic is an excellent method of birth control; if one lover eats garlic, the other will maintain a distance of at least ten feet. For some people, garlic is even mildly toxic, upsetting their stomachs.

Garlic and alcohol are substances that are not metabolized. They are absorbed through the stomach lining, which is why they leave the telltale odor. And it’s why some people are sick to the stomach after ingesting them.

Fortunately, there is an aged garlic product that is detoxified and thus deodorized. Just as deodorized skunks make great house pets, so the more sociable garlic, with slightly altered chemistry and sold under the name Kyolic, can be used by people who can’t eat ordinary garlic. In fact, a number of studies indicate that Kyolic may be more effective than raw garlic when it comes to boosting the body’s immune system.

Why is garlic, in its original form or as the extract of the aged vegetable, good for you? Garlic contains germanium and selenium, which are sulfur-containing antioxidants that boost the immune system. In the study mentioned, conducted by Dr. Tariq Abdullah, Kyolic killed 20 percent more of the tumor cells in laboratory cultures than did raw garlic. And raw garlic is by itself one of the most potent boosters of your natural killer cells.

Kyolic has also been found more beneficial for hypoglycemics–people with low blood sugar levels–than raw garlic. The latter lowers the blood sugar level, unfortunately, but Kyolic stabilizes it. The aging process that creates Kyolic produces a supplement whose benefits I find stronger than those of raw garlic.

As enthusiastic as I am about barley grass, if someone were to ask me which single supplement he or she should use, I would recommend Kyolic garlic. It is among the oldest and most versatile of the documented natural remedies. When Hippocrates, the father of diagnostic medicine, was busy noting which treatments worked for the Greek people he treated, he listed garlic. A total of twenty-two ancient Egyptian remedies were found to use garlic, as noted in the Ebers Papyrus dating from the sixteenth century B.C.E. Garlic was a tool against the plague when it struck Marseilles in the 1770s. Albert Schweitzer found that, when he ran out of pharmaceutical supplies in his African mission, garlic successfully stopped dysentery. Louis Pasteur discovered that garlic had antibacterial properties. The Vikings would not go on long sea voyages without garlic. And, of course, as we know from fiction, garlic is an excellent defense against vampires.

Garlic’s value for your heart is well known. First, it contains properties for fighting “bad” cholesterol. We know now that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is not dangerous, but low-density lipoprotein (LDL) certainly is, because it can be oxidized by dangerous free radicals. Oxidized LDL is an enemy of the white blood cells, which become enlarged as “foam cells,” and ultimately are deposited on the arterial walls in the form of plaque. The lumen, the open space of the artery, becomes more and more narrow until it is completely clogged.

HDL works in a more positive fashion. It is thicker than LDL and acts a little like an older sibling assigned to keep the younger one out of trouble. HDL, in a way, takes the LDL by the scruff of the neck and escorts it to the liver, where it is broken down and removed from the body. LDL behaves itself only if it has not been oxidized. And it is the antioxidant quality of garlic that so diminishes the free radical damage to the cholesterol that LDL doesn’t need its sibling HDL to hang around. It can be safely removed by itself. The result is that the garlic reduces the start and the progression of arteriosclerosis.

Heart patients, therefore, are especially blessed by garlic, but it is important to check with your doctor before adding garlic to your regimen, because there are pharmaceuticals that match its chemical properties. This is especially the case with popular blood thinners. In fact, Germany licenses garlic supplements as drugs for the treatment of arteriosclerosis.

In the 1920s, the world was introduced to one of the most valuable yet dangerous drugs ever created. This was aspirin, and 25 percent of all people will, at some point, have a serious, perhaps life-threatening reaction to it. Even more important, some children may develop Reye’s syndrome from aspirin because their body chemistry is not sufficiently stable. Yet despite the risks, most emergency medical physicians and heart experts say that at the first sign of heart attack, you should take an aspirin and then call 911, because aspirin thins the blood, and this can delay or prevent a heart attack.

Garlic is natural aspirin, not because it contains salicylic acid, which was first identified in willow bark tea as a substance to ease headaches and reduce joint inflammation, but because it can help to prevent red blood cells from clumping together. Other qualities of garlic, so different from aspirin that they present no risk, dissolve clots and lengthen clotting time. This natural thinning of the blood helps every aspect of blood flow within your body. It is the safest source of prevention of heart attacks and strokes. Keeping that aspirin bottle tucked in with emergency medical supplies is still a good idea, but the regular consumption of Kyolic will almost certainly preclude the need for more drastic measures.

We know that garlic provides a benefit for the cardiovascular system. Perhaps you or someone you know has a little difficulty in walking. It doesn’t seem serious, but maybe it’s reached the point where you just don’t want to walk any more than you have to. You find that your legs feel weak, or you have a certain amount of leg pain. And when you stop walking to pause for a rest or sit down, the discomfort goes away.

That discomfort is caused by poor blood circulation in your legs. The technical term for the problem is intermittent claudication. Since it is known that garlic improves circulation to the body’s peripheries, studies were conducted with patients experiencing this problem. The regular use of garlic lengthened the distance they could walk without weakness or discomfort. And as a side benefit, their cholesterol levels were lowered, and their blood pressure dropped to a healthy level.

This is what happens when garlic becomes part of the diet and supplement program of those with heart problems. In these cases, we know that individuals who, by all rights of family history, should be experiencing problems with their hearts are not having problems. They are doing better than their ancestors. In longer-term studies, they have outlived everyone simply by adding garlic in one form or another.

Are these individuals genetically unique? Possibly, but it is doubtful. Instead, it is safe to assume that the garlic made the difference. Yet this is not scientific methodology. It is just common sense, which, when it comes to the use of garlic to counter genetics, makes for good medicine.

Where scientific methods can be applied, as with antibacterial factors, garlic has been repeatedly proven safe and effective. Probably every woman and most men have heard of “yeast infection” (a.k.a. yeast syndrome or chronic candidiasis), a term defined mostly through symptoms. Blood tests or stool cultures can reveal the infection. But usually it is determined through a careful, complete physical history that reveals such problems as depression, irritability, vaginal yeast infections, frequent bladder infections, chronic fatigue, lack of energy, reduced sex drive, inability to concentrate, and other distresses. Any one of these is a concern; several in combination generally indicate the presence of chronic candidiasis.

Because yeast infections, along with fungus problems and viral infections, are not usually life-threatening, double-blind studies have been carried out on garlic as a treatment. The findings from these studies have repeatedly shown the value of garlic, in some cases used alone, and in others administered in combination with other natural therapeutics.

Note: Be certain not to self-medicate with garlic in response to the problems mentioned above. With candidiasis, for example, there may be several other concerns. You must eliminate from your diet alcohol, high-sugar foods, and other substances with a high-yeast or mold content. Your digestion must be improved. Detoxification of the liver must be pursued and the immune system strengthened. Then you must coordinate your efforts with your doctor’s for continued treatment, because yeast infections can lie dormant and suddenly return if you fail to continue your care after the immediate flare-up.

Garlic is also excellent in the handling of body fat. This does not mean that you can eat garlic instead of getting exercise. You might be able to scare a vampire, but sloth, indolence, and overindulgence have no fear of garlic. Garlic, however, is acknowledged as one of the most effective means of reducing fat in conjunction with a healthy diet and exercise program.

This is not to say that you can eat all you want, using garlic as a magic pill. What you eat and how much you eat determine one source of fat, perhaps the most controllable source of fat in your body. The younger you are, the easier it is to burn the fat you take in through diet. As you get older, the ability to burn fat decreases. You may be as active at forty as you were at twenty, but you will find that a diet that left you with a flat stomach and slim hips in your youth is now forcing you to go to a larger size of clothing. This is natural and not unhealthy, but excess fat is never a good situation.

Note: Recent reports of long-term studies on body weight and health show that excess weight alone is not the danger it was once believed to be. The more excess fat you carry, the greater the stress on your body, but repeated dieting causes even greater stress. An important factor is your volume of exercise. An overweight person whose weight is stable, who is physically active, and who eats a healthy diet, including the appropriate supplements, will be far better off than the “hard body” whose diet and exercise habits are wrong. To be fat is not necessarily to be unhealthy. It is simply the most visible sign of a potentially dangerous condition that may manifest itself if you do not respect all the other factors that insure good health.

The fat we scold for clinging to our bodies as we age comes from two sources. One fat stays there because our bodies fail to break it down and eliminate it. The other fat is made by our bodies, a process known as endogenous lipogenesis. Both may be products of our lifestyle as much as our age and eating habits.

For example, do you drink? I don’t mean to excess. I mean a beer after work or some wine with dinner. Nothing to worry about. Nothing excessive.

What you probably don’t realize is that the alcohol you consume interferes with the breakdown of dietary fats and stimulates endogenous lipogenesis. In other words, alcohol triggers the body’s fat-producing mechanism and inhibits the body’s ability to break down and eliminate fat.

Taking garlic is not an excuse to drink. I don’t want to see you spending your happy hour sipping margaritas and downing quantities of Kyolic. However, garlic does slow or stop our body’s production of fat by breaking down the lipids and enhancing the elimination of various by-products. Garlic also moves lipids from tissue to the bloodstream for eventual removal. Garlic can dramatically reduce the bad consequences of a multitude of dietary “sins.” It truly is a good thing.

Perhaps one of the most promising findings of research on the use of garlic has come in the field of cancer. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York has found that garlic inhibits the growth of cancer cells in the laboratory. And in a study of colon cancer conducted at the M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Dr. Michael Wargovich determined that diallyl sulfide, a major component of garlic, reduced the growth of colon cancer in mice. A related experiment showed that diallyl sulfide may prevent cancer of the esophagus and help in preventing prostate cancer in some individuals.

The experiments have been thorough and the results encouraging. Garlic is gradually proving to be an effective treatment for cancer as well as a preventive, and is now being tried, in conjunction with other treatments, on immune-system disorders like AIDS. Laboratory results are consistently positive, and trials on humans show similar findings, though they are not yet far enough along for garlic to be stipulated as a treatment. However, as I said at the start of this chapter, if I had to take just one supplement for my health, it would be Kyolic garlic.
Copyright© 1999 by James F. Balch

From:
10 Natural Remedies That Can Save Your Life
by James F. Balch

Garlic: One of 10 Natural Remedies That Can Save Your Life is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Coping Skills: Special Diets Diets Streamlined for Those with Disabling Chronic Conditions (Revised) There...
2. Redefining Slow: A Chronic Illness Realities Comic Strip View the design for the shirt Pammy is wearing...
3. Slow Going T-Shirt and Gift Idea Designs Make a statement, raise awareness, and prove that you’re getting...

Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet by Elaine Gloria Gottschall

The Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ (SCD™) is a grain-free, lactose-free, and sucrose-free diet that was originally designed for Celiac Disease. Today the SCD is also used for Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Candida, Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Diverticulitis, Cystic Fibrosis, and Chronic Diarrhea. The SCD™ is proving helpful to many with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia as well. The SCD was designed by Dr. Sidney Haas for his young Celiac patients. Years later his son, Dr. Merrill Haas also joined him in his research and together in 1951 they published a book called Management of Celiac Disease. Elaine Gottschall popularized the SCD after her daughter successfully used the diet in the late 1950s to recover from Ulcerative Colitis.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in biology and later a Masters of Science, Ms. Gottschall further studied and improved upon the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. She spent four years investigating the effects of various sugars on the digestive tract working mainly on the cellular level.

It is believed that intestinal microbes (bacteria and yeast) contribute to intestinal problems. These microbes need carbohydrates for their energy. The SCD uses carbohydrates known as monosaccharides (single sugars) that are easily digested in the first part of the small intestine, where they are well absorbed and therefore don’t remain in the digestive tract where they can feed the microbes.

The more popular elimination diets, particularly the Candida diets, believe that the ingestion of yeasts and fungi also contribute to the overgrowth of yeast and bacteria in the intestinal tract. However, the SCD concentrates on the elimination of the disaccharides (double sugars) and polysaccharides (starches). The disaccharides include lactose, sucrose, maltose, and isomaltose. The more complex carbohydrates do not completely breakdown in the small intestine and therefore arrive undigested in the further sections of the small intestine and the colon. There they are able to feed the bacteria and yeast. This can lead to malabsorption of nutrients because of injury to the surface of the intestine.

The suggested diet is an all natural diet, including meats, fish, canned fish packed in water or oil, poultry, some cheeses, dry-curd cottage cheese, home-made yogurt, eggs, nuts, fats, butter and oils, whole fruits, some juices, and non-starchy vegetables. Honey is also permitted as it is a single sugar. Yogurt must be home-made and left to sit for 24 hours to ensure it is lactose free. (Store bought yogurt has anywhere from 4.5 to 7 grams of lactose per cup.)

A partial list of foods to avoid are all grains, including rice, cereal and pasta; table sugar; molasses; corn syrup; maple syrup; milk and milk products except those listed above; processed meats; smoked meats; canned meats; canned vegetables; white potatoes; sweet potatoes; yams; corn; parsnips; and margarine.

After following this diet, most people will notice some improvement in as little as three to four weeks. By six months some people are able to decrease or stop taking their meds, and after approximately six months to two years most people can start adding back the forbidden foods one at a time without a return of their symptoms. (Instructions on which foods can be added back to the diet are given beside each food on Elaine Gottschall’s Legal / Illegal Foods Lists.)

Information on Elaine Gottschall’s Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet

How to Make Homemade Yogurt (as recommended for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™)

Index of Web Sites Featuring the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™

Breaking the Vicious Cycle Web Site

SCD Web Library with SCD Recipes

Revision Copyright © 2010 Blue Rose Bouquet Group, LLC
All Rights Reserved

Details on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet™ is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Coping Skills: Special Diets Diets Streamlined for Those with Disabling Chronic Conditions (Revised) There...
2. Redefining Slow: A Chronic Illness Realities Comic Strip View the design for the shirt Pammy is wearing...
3. Sleep Medications for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Index for the My To Do List t-shirts and gift...

To help in your efforts to educate yourself about additives that can adversely affect your health, consult:

Wikipedia Food Additives Information

MedLine Plus Food Additives Information
U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health

Alphabetical Listing of Food Additives, Their Codes, and Links to National Library of Medicine Citations

Food Additives (uses other than as flavouring agents) Database
Administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO)

Food Intolerance Network
This Australian Web site is “http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/” and shouldn’t be confused with the .com site by the same name that was created to counter the food additives information mentioned on this site.

Birds Eye in the UK bans artificial food additives from their products

U. S. Food and Drug Administration Explanation of (Justification for?) Food Additives

Food Navigator
Breaking News on Food & Beverage Development in Europe

Nutritional Ingredients: Preservatives and Their Link to Allergies and Sensitivities is a post from: Chronic Illness.org

Related posts:

1. Coping Skills: Special Diets Diets Streamlined for Those with Disabling Chronic Conditions (Revised) There...
2. Redefining Slow: A Chronic Illness Realities Comic Strip View the design for the shirt Pammy is wearing...
3. Slow Going T-Shirt and Gift Idea Designs Make a statement, raise awareness, and prove that you’re getting...