Backyard pharmacy and grocery store: spring

On March 29, 2020July 10, 2022 By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn easy and quick recipes, green living, health, healthy choices, life, natural treatment, positive thinking12 Comments

Stay safe during virus outbreak and take good care about your health!

To boost our immune system and overall health, weeds and plants from our backyard and nearby forest or park come at no cost and with extreme benefits.

I hope you are self-isolating and you can do so without worries, since due to nature of their work, many people still need to be out and working.

You have time now, so, use it in a meaningful way!

The COVID-19 outbreak reached Canada in late winter and early spring. It is quite sensitive time for many Canadians because our internal resources get somewhat depleted during the long winter months when there is lack of sunshine and we stay indoors a lot. Now with the outbreak, we must stay away from other people in order to be safe and to prevent virus from spreading. Since we stay home, we can do many things which improve our immune system and provide ourselves with healthy extras.

Nature has taken good care that we always have a wide range of vitamins and minerals available to us. The best part is: everything that we require to sustain good health can be often found in our backyard, nearby forest or park. All we have to do is use our imagination, experience and knowledge and utilize the natural resources to our benefit.

Early spring is the best time for taking advantage of natural resources and also seeding and planting. Nature has everything, and that includes all health boosting substances, all minerals and vitamins in the most suitable and most balanced form with high bioavailability.

This year, I’m suggesting you keep nettles and dandelions in some garden corner. Especially, while their leaves are young and soft, they are a fantastic addition to either meals or preventive measures and therapy.

To survive without watering, many weeds have developed extremely widespread and long roots. Thanks to such roots, weeds can absorb a lot more nutrients than our cultivated plants. Weeds are also stronger and more resistant to plant diseases. They grow without fertilizers and greenhouse conditions. Biologically active substances which we can obtain from wild plants and weeds are also in greater concentration, in a ready-to-use form. Weeds are survivors among plants and they can withstand any harsh conditions. This is a very good reason to use wild plants and weeds for our benefit and for our nutrition.

Strong immune system means a lot for our health at any time, but especially during virus outbreaks. Weeds boost our immune system like nothing else. Weeds are also the first ones which come up as soon as the soil thaws. We collect different parts of wild plants and weeds: leaves, roots, flowers or the entire plant. The best time for collection is early morning or late afternoon before dusk. That is the time period when plants have absorbed nutrients and their content is high.

My family was living in the countryside, not far from a small Latvian town during 60-s of the last century. We didn’t have any pharmacies or drug stores in the area, and, therefore, we didn’t use any synthetic medicines. How did we manage any health issues? There were not many, and we used lots and lots of herbal remedies which were available in extremely wide variety and in abundance. At a very young age, I learned how to recognize each grass, plant, flower and herb and memorized what it does, how much and what way to apply it. Therefore, I am not sharing that much clinical trial findings, but my personal findings and Latvian traditional herbal recipes.

We collect wild plants and weeds only in safe, clean places, definitely not along roads or highways with lots of traffic. Parks, where people walk pets, are also not a good idea. For immediate use, we collect healthy looking, undamaged parts of plants and we definitely blanch most of them. Blanching will also prevent from consuming any undesirable insects or germs.

Each plant comes with its own complex or set of useful biologically active substances. These substances are available in a well-balanced way. You can use wild plants and weeds in salads, soups, green smoothies, stews, pesto, on bread together with other vegetables or specifically for health purposes as herbal tea, extract, tincture, infusion or mixture.

Nettles are definitely a champion among natural treatments and health boosters: stinging nettle Urtica dioica, small nettle Urtica urens L., white nettle or white dead-nettle Lamium album. They grow in almost every backyard. The same goes about dandelions. Quite soon in our area, it will be time to start collecting birch buds and pine-tree buds. I planted specifically a few healthy nettles in a small area where they will be controlled from taking over other plants, hence my backyard does not have rich soil and nettles do not grow there naturally.

Some properties of nettle

Dried and fresh common nettle and small nettle leaves and roots, as well as white nettle flowers and leaves (they are not as rich as common nettle) can be used for numerous conditions and overall improvement of health. Common nettle is high in iron, contains vitamin C, vitamin K, group B vitamins and practically any vitamin which is useful for humans. Nettle contains numerous minerals, carotenoids and fatty acids, as well as various essential amino acids, chlorophyll, tannins, carbohydrates, sterols, polysaccharides, isolectins. Nettle roots contain oleanolic acid, sterols and steryl glycosides. Nettle seeds have also high content of these nutrients. The amount of useful compounds in plant depends on location, season, daytime of collection and how young and healthy the plant is.

Using nettle benefits any body system, but especially the immune system, nervous, respiratory system, hematopoiesis (blood formation at cellular level), cardiovascular system, muscles and bones, improves also gastrointestinal health, treats kidney, liver and gallbladder problems. We traditionally used them for joint pains, as well.

Nettle can help with blood sugar stabilization in diabetics. It has been observed that nettle tea lowers blood sugar. Using nettle makes person stronger after exhaustion or treatment of disease. Nettle is an important herb for treatment of anemia caused by iron deficiency.

Nettle juice and tea has been used orally as an additive for treatment of tuberculosis, bronchitis, cough, whooping cough and other respiratory symptoms. Latvian traditional herbal treatments use nettle to stop bleeding in lungs, abdomen and uterus, to treat upper respiratory problems, and especially for cleaning blood and for removal of toxic substances from the body. Nettle stops also wound bleeding, and not only that: nettle also possesses highly efficient antibacterial properties.

Nettle boosts metabolism within the body, increases hemoglobin and red blood cell levels, constricts blood vessels (thus, you cannot use nettle in hypertension), facilitates blood clotting, development of epithelial cells and tissue granulation (wound treatment, bleeding), normalizes menstrual cycle. Nettle has antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, pain relieving, calming, anti-allergic and diuretic properties. Nettle can be used with many chronic conditions when immune system cannot fight and protect us from harmful impacts.

Who cannot use nettle products and supplements or must be otherwise cautious?

People, who have hypercoagulation, e. g., excessive blood clotting disorder, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, bleeding caused by uterine tumors, cysts and polyps, people with kidney failure and those, who suffer from blood clot formation in veins (thrombophlebitis), as well as during last months of pregnancy.

Some medical literature suggests that nettle hardly affects blood coagulation (content and form of vitamin K), and other literature warns to observe caution. I would always go with moderate use which applies to absolutely everything we introduce into our diet or health routine. Always proceed with caution when it comes to health.

In April, and if it is warm, also at the end of March, we can usually collect new and bright green nettle leaves. We pick common or stinging nettle and small nettle leaves with gloves, and they also require blanching before we use them in salad, soup, omelet, stew or simply as tea or compress. Some sources advice to keep nettle leaves in boiling water for 3-5 minutes. We watch that leaves do not lose their bright green color. Then, we use a strainer and quickly submerge the strained leaves into ice-cold water. We dry them in paper towel and use as we please. Stinging or common nettle goes well with anything that uses spinach as an ingredient. Therefore, similar recipes can be used. We prefer them with green onions or chives and yoghurt, kefir or citrus dressing, plus our favorite herbs.

There have been clinical trials about herbal treatments. Review of some clinical trials about properties of nettle Exploration of nettle properties

Recipes and more suggestions will follow if there is any interest. Please, comment if you think you could make use of such addition. Since most people do not read anything, I’d just like to see whether it makes sense to post an article about nettle juice, nettle tea or some simple salad recipes and also dose suggestions.

Any herbal supplement can cause sensitivity or other reactions. I’d advice always try tiny amount (as with food) first or discuss it with your doctor in case of a chronic condition. Using herbal tea or tincture, as well as infusion requires to follow instruction about daily dose.

Internet advice, helplessness and pill which cures everything, 2

On February 16, 2020March 21, 2021 By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn green living, health, life, lifestyle, natural treatment, nutrition15 Comments

Part 2

Relying on other’s suggestions

If you are easy to convince and sway towards decisions somebody else has made, you end up doing a lot of Internet shopping, following trends and chasing things which are at the top today, but gone by tomorrow.

Judging by TV adds, everything is cheap, almost for free and you just have to get it and sign up whether it’s an investment offer, health program, slimming and dieting web, you just have to buy a supplement, new type of food, treatment, cosmetics and numerous other services, endless devices and all of it is made for you. For you. Afterwards, you might wonder: what was so good about it? Frequently, there won’t be any benefit of using that product or you have a big chance to run into new problems.

Careful with pills

It is mind-blowing how many pills, supplements, drugs, medicines and health boosting substances people are using. It is so that there is a pill for anything. Some honestly admit that, in order to feel ok and go through the day and get a decent sleep, they need to take something. It can be even unclear what this particular thing does, but they need the feeling that they are doing something to look better, to feel better, to be energetic or to relax. Certainly, the numbers of offered solutions are so huge that nobody can anymore be sure what is exactly they need or what they can live without.

Synthetic supplements versus natural nutrients

More is not better when it comes to medicine and supplements

It is concerning that we believe the more substances and health improving supplements we take, the better we are going to be. It is forgotten that the human body has so many mechanisms to regulate and adjust everything, and that literary includes every process from tiniest within a part of a cell to the most systemic processes. The body’s natural regulation and adaption mechanisms work until we step in and start unnecessary improving them. We destroy the balance our body works hard to maintain. It was never about more of one substance or nutrient, it was always about balance! Once we recover from one pill or drug, we quickly rush to another: maybe this is going to be the missing miraculous treatment! So, it just goes until we start suffering from allergies, hypo- or hyper levels of some hormone, enzyme, mineral and nutrient. Nature has it safe and right, but we always want to be smarter

Over-the-counter drugs and supplements

OTC medicinal products are designed so that they should not harm one when following the dosage advice. These products are also not designed to treat clinically significant issues and deficiencies; such treatments will take much higher and differently administered doses. Therefore, it is silly to make a serious health issue go away by using OTC drugs and supplements.

The effects of herbal remedies might appear much slower, but they are also safer. With supplement market so huge, it can be dangerous to buy and use unknown substances online, especially, if it is unclear who manufactures and distributes the product. Many supplements claim doing things which they never could. We cannot believe every claim which is not proven in documented and real clinical trials. Most supplements have not been tested clinically because it is a very long and very expensive process. Phrases: dermatologist, dentist, pharmacist or doctor recommended mean literally nothing. It is just a phrase to convince you. For clinically tested medicinal products, there are clinical trial references, as well as clearly identified data about safety, doses and precautions. Lists of recalls are available in any country, and one should check them out at least time to time. You’d be surprised what you will find there.

It might be not what it seems

Our body can take a lot. Sometimes, all the stress signals go off and trigger protective mechanisms which are many and various. We don’t give up without fight, and the survival is encoded in every cell of us assuming there are no brain defects or mental barriers whether chemical, hormonal or substance induced. The signal that we are in danger will trigger all kinds of symptoms, and the body will immediately engage everything what’s available. If you take a pill every time to regulate these symptoms, the self-regulation mechanism might simply die off.

Make distinction between vitally important and unnecessary

There are life-threatening conditions which need to be cured, and there are so many symptoms which do not need interference with heavy drugs. Therefore, whatever the reason, you have decided to supplement your diet with anything synthetic or processed which all capsules, pills and powders are, regardless of their organic or herbal origin, you have to evaluate the necessity of this step. Unbelievably, drugs are trendy and supplements are trendy, too. For the matters explained before, you might not experience any improvement whatsoever, not to mention that when profit is behind the health claim, the ingredients of your capsule or pill might be not even be the ones what are listed.

Supplements versus real food

Placebo effect

One might ask: why somebody reports feeling better if they take a pill which contains no active ingredients or nothing which relates to their actual health problem? Placebo effect has been recognized in practically all clinical trials, and, for the reason of comparing whether some particular drug really treats the condition, first phases of clinical trial involve a patient group which takes or is administered a placebo. This substance is neither improving nor harming a person because it does not contain any active ingredients. Yet, the outcomes frequently reveal that quite significant part of trial population on placebo feels better.

Real life placebo effects

We can frequently observe this effect in real life. There are many examples which relate to supplements. While celiac disease according Health Canada statistics is diagnosed only in hardly 1% of population, any grocery store will have large amounts of gluten-free products. Does any person who does not have celiac disease benefit from gluten-free diet? The answer is no. It would be like you are wearing strong glasses when you do not need them. This is treating a disease which one does not have. In fact, they are avoiding very useful and nutrient-dense products, as well as paying more for things they do not need at all. So, why do they feel better? First, that might be becoming more selective when using different products. Secondly, it is for sure the placebo effect. A person feels better because they are convinced that they are doing something for their health.

It’s in your brain, isn’t it?

Body as a whole system can be convinced and affected to a huge extent by being sure about something. There are examples in history how a person can die when they have been told they just took a dose of very strong poison for which there is no antidote. The same goes for miraculous healing. There are numerous examples how a person can recover when taking a pill of pressed mild herbal ingredients and being told that they are given the best drug which currently exists for that condition. We can definitely convince us one way or another. That is why most people want to take something, which is like a dot on “i”. One can talk and discuss their condition endlessly, but if they are given a pill or a capsule, even some powder, they will start feeling better. That certainly won’t be a lasting case with clinically serious or systemic diseases. You can test it for yourself. Give somebody a completely harmless pill of compressed low-dose herbal ingredient or just simple sugar pill (assuming they are not diabetics). You have to tell that person that they will sleep extremely well if they have insomnia, or they will stop experiencing indigestion if they have clinically insignificant digestive disorders, anxiety or depression. There will be results.

Make very careful and individually adjusted decisions

That brings us back to necessity of synthetic supplements. Many of them will be in doses which cannot affect one dramatically. However, buying supplements and vitamins, essential oils, cosmetic products, hair and skin care products from unknown sources can be very dangerous. It is not only because of extra high or low dose, but also there might be ingredients which you did not know about. Many drugs have been recalled since lab testing proved there were harmful substances in an even clinically strictly tested drug. They got there during manufacturing process. Now imagine how supplements which normally do not require strict documented testing could have just about anything! You should also be aware that consuming natural and unmodified food which you cook from scratch will provide you with all necessary nutrients and they will come in naturally suitable doses because you cannot eat 10 kilograms of beets, onions, bread, fish or meat at once. Therefore, whatever the advice, tailor it to your personal needs, condition, preferences and lifestyle, as well as age and gender.

Synthetic isn’t as it occurs in nature, it is easy to overdose or treat non-existing issues

Overdoing with any nutrients and substances, which we call vitamins for simplicity, can have harmful and dangerous sequences, too. More in following posts.

Using life skills and recipe of powerful health boosting tea

On August 25, 2018November 25, 2020 By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn green living, health, healthy habits, lifestyle, natural treatment, positive energy19 Comments

Life skills

Many diplomas and grades, but no life skills? That is a very common issue. Lack of life skills leads to numerous problems: we are tested every single day. It is a wide area of not only good practical habits and best recipes for many situations in life, but also people skills and knowledge of things that help us get through illnesses and mentally challenging periods.

Let your experience guide you

Our experience and life skills are a huge treasure. We should have learned something about living and getting along with other people at some point in our life. We could have become expert with our daily tasks: cooking, cleaning, maintaining health, using natural products, staying fit, staying young and maintaining a good energy for life. Do not let somebody convince you that you know nothing and only internet couches and self-help books can tell you what you should and shouldn’t do.

You know who you are

We usually know who we have become by the age of 40 or at least 50. We have some idea of what we have achieved or not, what we would love or not and how we would like to continue. We know our pains, we have a long history of events behind us. We know our weaknesses and strength. We know how to overcome cravings and what has been left unresolved.

Happiness or joy?

While there is a big push towards happiness wherever we look, the main task of life is being satisfied, accepted, having pleasant memories and things we enjoy doing. I leave happiness for special moments, for special occasions, and I think having happy meals every day is a bit too much. If we have only vacations and no work days, we lose the feeling of being rewarded with time off and we get bored. If we eat only dessert, we do not perceive the special taste and delight of a dessert. That kind of thing. There are not only Sundays in our life. When we enjoy the things we do, we invite pleasure and satisfaction in our life leaving less time for disappointments and arguments.

My perfect cures and treatments

If you have a job that does not make you feel good, you should have at least something that takes care of your physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing. I do art and gardening to lift my mood. Art is a very specific area which has so many functions that it is difficult to even list everything great that happens when people start almost meditating when creating art. Gardening keeps one in good shape and puts clean, healthy food on our table.

Real versus improved, modified and altered

Less stuff from the health food store and more from your own backyard and garden is a huge advantage. The older I get, the more I learn about everything simple herbs and plants can do. If you grow your own vegetables, fruit and herbs you most likely not only water them, but also send them some good thoughts, you really enjoy turning seeds into plants, and plants into food.

Do you think there is a difference between an apple that has been grown in a garden for profit and with use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and a very naturally grown apple from a tree to which you have sent your happy thoughts while it was blooming and ripening? The difference is as big as between day and night.

Beet we grow is good because it has balanced amounts of all nutrients. Beet powder might be advertised as wonderful, but it will cause imbalance in your body. Plant proteins are great, but they come in the right amount only in plants, especially plants which are almost alive and come straight from the garden.

Natural treatments

By using pills, powders and liquids that have been modified and altered, we are always at risk of destroying the balance between nutrients our body needs. Our body definitely does not need or consume properly synthetic vitamins and minerals.

Natural treatments can be a huge health boost.

Warning: if you suffer from serious conditions and if you have to use medications, you should always check with your doctor how the natural products will affect your condition and whether it is safe to use such products.

I will share with you a very simple recipe of tea that will definitely make some positive changes and cost you absolutely nothing, just a little work picking and drying apple tree leaves.

Apple leaves: have you ever tried this tea?

Apple leaves have more nutrients, vitamins and minerals than apples, and tea or extract in boiling water are easy to make.

We collect medium size healthy looking leaves either in early spring before blooming or in the fall after fruit has been removed. Apple trees grow almost everywhere, therefore, the main ingredient is easy to find and will cost you nothing.

Tea made of dried apple leaves is recommended for:

Anemia: use 200 ml boiling water over 1 tablespoon of dried, crushed apple leaves, allow to steep for 1 hour, strain, use 100 ml of extract with honey 3 times a day 1.5 hours after meal;

Cold, bronchitis, cough, hoarseness: use 200 ml boiling water over 1 tablespoon of dried, crushed apple leaves, allow to steep for 30 minutes, strain, use 1/3 of 200 ml glass 4-5 times a day. Such apple leaf extract kills germs and causes you to sweat;

Colitis, inflammation of gastrointestinal tract: 200 ml water pour over 3 tablespoons of chopped apple leaves and boil for 15 minutes, cool and strain. Use 2-3 tablespoons of extract before meals 4-5 times a day. Such extract can be also used to improve digestion, decrease the low density (bad) cholesterol level and to facilitate liver function;

Insomnia: cup of warm apple leaf tea will help falling asleep and relaxing;

Nutrient balance, lack of vitamins, depression, fatigue: if you are lacking vitamins, essential nutrients and minerals, apple leaf tea will bring you back to balance and increase energy levels, use approximately 1 tablespoon of dried leaves on 200 ml of boiling water and drink as tea a few times a day;

Skin problems, skin inflammation and wounds: washing face with extract of apple leaves in water will clear your skin, compresses will decrease inflammation and heal wounds faster.

Just like dried apple tea, apple leaf tea will warm you up and help maintaining good health during winter months and in any occasion when you need extra vitamins and minerals.

I know people who used apple leaves as tea or extract regularly for many years, and they reached 100 years while staying energetic and fit.

I will share more extra simple and effective health improving recipes as soon as I will have time again. Good luck!

Healthy lifestyle habits that put you at risk for undesirable side effects

On February 20, 2017April 1, 2022 By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn happiness, health, lifestyle, natural treatment, nutrition, prevention8 Comments

We live in a global environment: any news flies around the planet in seconds and that includes fake promises, expectations and lies about healing miracles. It is quite difficult to distinguish between scientifically proven truth and assumptions on which many potential cures are based.

Why does that happen? We have to understand that in nowadays profit-taking world it is not consumers’ health that always comes first. While many companies which intend to manufacture health promoting products start out honestly, there are also very many companies that use the consumers’ trust in miracles in their favor. TV and media advertising do not promote only good and well-tested products: they will advertise anything that looks like it might be true and brings in money.

Considering the epidemic obesity rates, which include early childhood and young age obesity, abnormally high numbers of patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular, as well as heart diseases, not to mention cancer epidemics, people need something promising. TV, phone, laptop and computer screens scream to us: vitamins and supplements are the answer!

This era is also characterized by extreme efforts trying to maintain youthful look and energy, as well as live and stay active longer. There was no long-term research present when the first statements about the beneficial use of synthetic vitamins and supplements as our daily routine were made publicly available. Since the naturally occurring vitamins, amino acids and minerals played such an important role in functioning of our body and mind, it was simply believed that more of these nutrients are better. It was believed that the source of these nutrients was not the most important aspect.

For how many decades now have you heard from your doctor: just take some multivitamins, use omega-3 or fish oils, don’t forget vitamin C and E; obviously we all suffer from lack of vitamin D and calcium, so these should not be forgotten either? That has become such an indisputable healthy life-style feature that you will find hardly any person in the developed countries who hasn’t been on lots of vitamins and supplements at some moment of their life.

The CONCERN ABOUT OVERUSE OF SYNTHETIC VITAMINS and SUPPLEMENTS is growing with every new clinical trial that has been carried out to observe whether there are any significant benefits from such synthetic supplement use. The findings are shocking at some point. While almost everybody knows by now that multivitamin use did not result in any health benefits, not everybody is still aware that over-the-counter supplements do not do what they are supposed to, as well.

Millions of people reach every day for their calcium or vitamin D3 pill, or combination thereof. Here is a quote from Science Daily (summary of a clinical trial): “Taking calcium in the form of supplements may raise the risk of plaque buildup in arteries and heart damage, although a diet high in calcium-rich foods appears be protective, say researchers at conclusion of their study that analyzed 10 years of medical tests on more than 2,700 people.”

Almost everybody over 50 believes that taking calcium supplements will aid in avoiding bone fractures and loss of bone mass and its mineral density: osteoporosis. That is not the only review; there are quite a few clinical trial conclusions that state the same: calcium in the form of a synthetic supplement does not provide with the same effects as consumption of dietary calcium, calcium naturally occurring in food products.

Meticulous testing showed that most of calcium taken as supplements did not even get to the bones: it was partially excreted with urine (hypercalciuria was quite common among calcium supplement users) and also calcium spikes were observed which does not happen with calcium-rich food intake. Judging by tests which showed no improvement with bone density, researchers believe that the other part of synthetic calcium dose is absorbed by soft tissue which explains arterial plagues and calcification of arteries. Calcium spikes were also responsible for heart conditions. Strokes and coronary artery blockages occurred much more frequently in those taking high doses of synthetic calcium supplements. Moreover, there was not observed decrease in fractures or osteoporosis.

Quote: “Because of the widespread awareness and treatment of osteoporosis with calcium supplements among older adults, this population would appear to be at greater risk of developing the adverse consequences of positive calcium balance, including vascular calcification.”

“Calcium may be involved in pathogenesis of CVD (cardiovascular diseases) through multiple pathways, including through influences in lipid metabolism, insulin secretion and sensitivity, inflammation, thrombosis, regulation of body weight, and vascular calcification.”

The same goes for so much widely popularized omega-3 or healthy fatty acids. The evidence from many clinical trials exploring different conditions, such as omega-3 effects on cardiovascular and heart diseases, strokes and heart attacks, impact on brain function and delays of age-related dementia, rheumatoid arthritis and quite a few others, is very unconvincing. The widespread assumption that fatty acids may help delaying onset of some heart conditions, eye degeneration, brain malfunction and prevent cancers has no strong scientific evidence. It was noted that people who lived far north and consumed mostly fish suffered less from the above mentioned conditions. It wasn’t taken into account that their physical loads may be way different or their environment might be almost pollution-free. Therefore, it was soon assumed (and that was based on the facts that human body does not produce omega-3 fatty acids, therefore they have to be consumed) that synthetically processed omega-3 might contribute to higher levels of absorbed omega-3 fatty acids. We know by now that more is not better. MORE SUPPLEMENTS that exceed the daily allowance for such doses can cause significant health risks. Omega-3 fatty acids interact with medications, as well. If you are taking fish oil, especially fish liver oil, vitamin D and vitamin E, you are at significantly higher risk for bleeding. When all these supplements are combined with blood thinning medications (anticoagulants) that many people take to prevent thrombosis or heart attacks, the outcome might be seriously bad because the blood clotting will be significantly affected.

None of the previously carried out clinical trials about benefits of supplemented omega-3 use has provided with statistically significant proof that such use is beneficial for any of these conditions, but healthy life style and consumption of omega-3 fatty acids from clean food sources is. Therefore, it is much more advisable to eat good food and stay away from supplements, unless your doctor has prescribed them. That might be a drug form that is different from the over-the-counter form and, therefore, it might work for you. Uncontrolled use of any kind of supplements when somebody is already on prescription medications can be DANGEROUS and it CAN AFFECT THE WAY YOUR PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION WORKS. Always consult a doctor, assuming your doctor is aware of the newest scientific discoveries and follows up on developments in the area of synthetic vitamins and synthetic supplements.

The truth is that synthetic supplements have a different chemical composition; it is not the same respective vitamin or mineral which we are absorbing from food. Therefore, the metabolism pathways and the way this supplement or vitamin act and behave in the body are not completely known. It is also believed that vitamins and minerals from natural sources work the way they do because food usually contains a set or combination of minerals, amino acids and vitamins in their natural form which is recognized by the body; and this recognition is due to the program which is set by our very individual DNA.

Next articles will review the problems with synthetic antioxidants, vitamin E (the only synthetic form which is available at pharmacies: alpha-tocopherol), vitamin C and some other supplements. If you do not know where to look for supplement and vitamin recalls (there are quite a lot of them), google Health Canada and FDA websites. Such lists are publicly available.

Food for brain: feed your happiness, not depression

On December 28, 2015August 3, 2017 By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn depression, happiness, health, life, lifestyle, natural treatment, nutrition20 Comments

Do you sometimes think that everything you eat can make you happy, full of energy and joy, or upset, depressed and exhausted? The truth is, feeding our brain the right way will provide us with more power to overcome bad days, allow to have much fewer bad days and to feel better and less stressed out or anxious.

We are aware by now that we can successfully teach and exercise our emotions and feelings provided the chemical reactions and levels of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters are in balance. However, we rarely think, that food we consume and nutrients we provide our body with have an extremely huge impact on our mental state, emotions, feelings and ability to determine whether we are having more bad or good days. Among the most important brain chemicals are serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, melatonin, insulin and prostaglandins.

Due to external and internal stresses, many people might complain about very long-lasting mild depression. I have heard recently many saying they experience a seasonal affective disorder. Well, we all do to some extent if any nutrients are lacking in our diet and we don’t give an appropriate boost of those.

I used to have extremely bad intolerance to winter darkness and was upset most of the time when the weather was cold and I couldn’t get enough air and sunlight. I had sort of no energy to deal with any issues. I refused jobs just because I didn’t feel I could handle them. As many of you know, I’ve devoted many years to medical research, writing and analysis of patient data and symptoms; therefore, I have come to conclusions that everything which is within us affects everything from our physical condition to our mental states.

Digestive and metabolism disorders heavily affect the balance of brain chemicals. For instance, most of serotonin is produced in our gut and during the sleep. It’s extremely simple: people who have good metabolism and no noticeable lack of nutrients and who take their time to rest and pay attention to long enough and good sleep, shouldn’t be having too many bad days either.

How about external stressors which do not depend on us? Like the angry voice of your boss or piles of work that needs to be done, but you’re stuck in a traffic jam, or kids insisting you do one thing, husband being grumpy about something else while you’d rather do nothing of that, but something totally different you believe you need at the moment? That’s exactly the same story: we have built in coping mechanisms, and when our brain chemicals are in good balance, when we do have our thyroid and adrenal glands not working in hypo-or hiper- regimen, these coping mechanisms can work properly, too. That is why you will see in the same situation one person laughing, the other person ignoring this situation completely, but the third one will be crying or going crazy. It’s not exactly their personality that causes these reactions; it’s how well they are prepared for dealing with any issues.

Everything starts in the gut. When we are treating a mood disorder or mild depression with strong medicines, alcohol, drugs and comfort food, we are aiming for side effects and reactions which we actually want to avoid. The New Year is almost at our door step and holiday season is in full swing, so alcohol consumption is high. Your liver does not care how beautiful the cocktail looks or how expensive the drink is: once the processing starts, a big label “toxins” is assigned to the contents of the decorated drink. Many pre-processed foods, soft drinks and food with high content of artificial ingredients get assigned the same label: “toxins”. When we add to this some damage which over years has happened to parts of our body that take care of removing any toxins and leftovers, the picture becomes quite clear: these toxins are going nowhere, but accumulating straight within us, poisoning our mood, destroying our chemical balance and making levels of brain chemicals significantly off. Therefore, it should be very easy to understand: treating bad mood with a pill, drug, alcohol or sweets is absolutely wrong. This means relieving symptoms for a short-term while, in fact, we need a long-term adjustment and correction to the cause of all these disorders and imbalances. That’s how we get caught in a roller coaster of sweets and sugars that we decorate with a glass of wine or champagne.

Artificial supplements and drug store vitamins might not always get absorbed as good as the ones which come from the real sources, just because your ancient DNA and your body recognizes them much better.

If you love engaging in writing New Year’s resolutions, the first and the most important item should address the BALANCE: balanced activities, balanced sleep-awake periods, balanced intake of nutrients, balanced body processes, balanced reactions due to balanced metabolism. Everything else is secondary.

I love not only eating vegetables, but I’m extremely happy to take their pictures, as well. This activity alone lifts my mood. I paint these things quite often also: beautiful shapes, colors, it’s pleasure for eyes, as well.

Therapeutic horticulture for realistic optimists: one step closer to good life

On July 9, 2015April 1, 2022 By Inese, visual artist, writer and life sciences bloggerIn challenge, flower photography, happiness, health, lifestyle, natural treatment5 Comments

I would like to suggest implementing a few rewarding activities in our daily routine.

We can certainly find happiness within ourselves, but since we are also very social creatures, our happiness, feeling of fulfillment, pride, love, satisfaction with life and desire to embrace life as is, will quite often depend on relationships, appreciation of other people and interactions with them whether in a small family circle, in a larger social group or even global context. Therefore, we need a strong support. A strong something to hold on, or somebody who is always up to the challenge, who we can always rely on, who we can trust completely.

There is a person who we can always count on. This person is us. It can be extremely hard to make somebody else feel happy and satisfied with the current life settings if the situation is far from brilliant. However, it is practically always possible to make ourselves satisfied with life.

In order to avoid disappointments, I’d say we should

rely on ourselves whenever possible;

ask for support and advice people who we trust when we feel lost, and

always treat the situation realistically and appropriately. problems don’t solve themselves, we do.

Plenty of people suffer from pain, severe disorders, stress, nervousness, anxiety, insomnia, mental disorders, obesity, diabetes, liver or kidney diseases, cardiac and vascular illnesses, post-disease traumas and simply fear from life once they have experienced an unpleasant treatment from somebody, bad situations and accidents or loss of and detachment from people who they cared about.

That is painful, devastating and overwhelming; and although, we tell ourselves to forget and live our life as if nothing ever happened, it takes time and huge effort to either start everything from new, or correct whatever we are able to correct, change and adjust.

After a very bad accident about 2 decades ago, I can hardly recall any single day when there was no pain. It can be extremely bad or just irritating, but pain is always with me; my nasty companion, never leaving me alone. Multiple surgeries and long treatments were the reason I got into complications. Quite honestly, it’s not a pleasure, even though nobody would notice any visible changes in me. It is tough because I am on a strict schedule which doesn’t allow for any deviations. So, what do I do?

I love life even with all its troubles, with all its restrictions and limitations. There are many. However, I choose not to focus on limitations, but my abilities, talents and rewarding things.

I am writing in my other blog how art can be an extremely useful tool for maximizing our potential and doing something valuable which brings a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment in our life. There are many people who attend my classes, I would not have met them without my love to art and teaching.

Many people do gardening, love flowers, plants and nature, and that is fantastic!

Gardening can mean many different things: gardening for profit, gardening to provide oneself or family with clean and nutrition-rich produce, gardening for fun and as a hobby and gardening as therapeutic horticulture. You probably have not heard that much about the latter before, but this means using your garden, balcony, backyard or any natural space for growing plants, vegetables, herbs, flowers and similar, and doing this all mainly for therapeutic purposes. “Hortus” means “garden” in Latin, and that’s why we call it horticulture (cultivation of a garden). Horticulture has extremely long history and it deals with multiple food growing, exploring and enriching, and non-food aspects, including psychology, design and even treatments.

One does not have to be a scientist to see how many beneficial effects gardening has on the person who loves it.

How could gardening for therapeutic purposes help somebody who is not a gardener and doesn’t want to be one, but would love to still enjoy being out in the nature?

Beautiful and delicious

We are spending enormous time indoors: in buildings and in vehicles nowadays. That is a huge part of our life. We have lost the connection with natural processes and we have forgotten that nature has and always has had a cure for everything. The truth is, we simply walked away from it being sure that chemicals will replace anything we need and technology will make our life a dream. That did not quite happen, and the easy life came at a very high price: epidemic numbers of incurable and difficult-to-cure diseases, damaged DNA and inherited conditions from which children suffer and will keep suffering as adults all life.

Most people have forgotten or have never known how that feels: to touch the soil.

Well, they should try that because the Earth has incredible powers, and it can do both: cleansing and re-energizing. Therefore, people who would benefit most from growing something or participating in outdoor gardening activities are first of all small children, kids, adolescents, elderly and sick people or those who suffer from mental conditions.

Contact with soil, plants and flowers can be not only of huge aesthetic value, but it also contributes to everything we so badly want emotionally and physically: get rid of stress, sleep well without pills, become more confident, happy and satisfied with life by watching the growing and life cycle in the garden.

Here is what clinical research has found: therapeutic horticulture can help with

reduction of pain and stress, improvement of attention and focusing ability, decrease in agitation and anxiety, improvement of the quality of life;

gaining new skills and regaining the lost ones, improvement of memory, sense of responsibility and social interaction and many more depending on the person who needs some relief.

My beautiful garden: there is always only good news

How does the therapeutic horticulture work for me?

I do it mostly for pleasure and I simply must have a garden. I have always had one and have made numerous new gardens anywhere I lived, always from scratch. I take care about my flowers, plants and herbs every day and every moment when I can afford to be outdoors.

If I cannot walk or something else is wrong on that day, I can sit there and simply adore all shapes, colors and the natural perfection. The morning dew or afternoon heat, the mystic colors through foliage at sunset, the first berries or tomatoes: that is a source of endless calm, happiness and satisfaction. Being out in the garden re-energizes, takes away pain and cheers me up even in the worst days. I am drawing and painting my garden, flowers and vegetables, and garden becomes my art and inspiration. Well, it is an integral part of my life. It can replace so many things which I cannot do, attend or go to. I will return to this theme some time again because it is essential for me to share with others how much such simple activity can give us.