If you MUST take prescription drugs, be careful

With shrinking paychecks and rising costs, many US citizens are thinking of buying their prescription drugs on line - and with good reason. They can save a bundle of money.

However, the web can be a deceptive place. We do trust the Canadian pharmacies, but not all those who claim to be Canadian really are. If the price is too good to be true, you might be dealing with drugs coming from "Hango Pango."

The People's Pharmacy offers a guide and tips on how to tell if an online Canadian pharmacy is legitimate. Just go to www.peoplespharmacy.com to order your copy for $2.

Meanwhile, if you're trying to wean yourself from dangerous pharmaceuticals, read Dr. David Tanton's A Drug-Free Approach to Healthcare - Revised Edition. It might be just what you need to start rebuilding your health and getting free of dangerous and expensive drugs.

Yours for good health,
Marte

Heart-healthy whole foods reduce men's risk of heart attack

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in men, according the the Centers for Disease Control. Along with several diseases and lack of exercise, one of the major causes is poor nutrition.

Unfortunately, with all the processed foods and junk foods so quickly and readily available, more and more people are suffering from poor nutrition.

If you want to boost your heart health, leave the processed food on the shelf and enrich your diet with these:

Oatmeal
Salmon
Almonds
Beans (dried beans, lentils - even baked beans)
Fruits and vegetables

Start reading labels and cut down your intake of saturated and trans fats, partially hydrogenated oils, and high fructose corn syrup. (Yes, HFC is bad for you, despite what the new commercials say.)

The women in your life will also benefit from good nutrition, so make eating right a family thing!

Poor Circulation affects your total health

Do you ever think about your circulatory system?

I hadn't thought much about it until I started doing research tonight for my friend at Renu Herbs. She has a new herbal formula that we'll be introducing next week so I wanted to learn more about the subject.

What I learned was that we all need to take steps to keep our blood flowing smoothly throughout our entire bodies. Poor circulation causes everything from heart disease to diabetes to lower leg pain and loss of memory. And a lot of things in between.

A wholesome diet and exercise are important, and quitting smoking is a good idea, too. And of course, natural remedies such as acupuncture, massage, and herbs top the list for prevention and cure.

I found an informative article at Article Alley - and since it's OK to republish those, I'll put it on my pharm-free health site as soon as I can figure out how to download it.

Yours for good health,
Marte

Cold and Flu Season is coming, eat your Vitamin C

Just about everyone thinks first of oranges for a boost in vitamin C - and oranges are good, as are all citrus fruits. But a couple of other food choices are even better.

For instance, just one cup of green pepper will give you 3 times the amount of vitamin C needed for an adult - and an adult actually needs more vitamin C than do children. Other smart choices are broccoli and strawberries - and all dark green leafy vegetables.

The trend toward processed foods and limited fresh fruits and vegetables poses a real threat to families across the U.S. - so make the switch to wholesome foods and help your family stay healthy this winter.

Did you know...? Lack of Vitamin C can cause a condition known as scurvy - it used to be a real threat to sailors who were at sea for months and deprived of fresh foods. The condition, which causes muscle weakness and bleeding gums, could render an entire crew useless. To avoid scurvy, British sailors began stocking their holds with limes, and thus became known as "Limeys."

Natural Cure for Heartburn

Prescription drugs and over-the-counter heartburn relief medications don't work for everyone. And even when they do, they're expensive.

A natural alternative that works well for many heartburn sufferers is apple cider vinegar. 3 tablespoons in a small glass of water three times per day has completely eliminated heartburn for many - and a whole month's treatment comes in under $2.

Check the natural foods section in your supermarket for organic apple cider vinegar, or stop by your local health food store... Reports are that after 4 or 5 days, heartburn symptoms will simply go away.

Breast pain - it could be arthritis

According to a recent report, breast pain affects as many as 7 in 10 women at some point in their lives - being most common in premenopausal women.

And of course, pain generates fear. Breast cancer becomes foremost in a woman's mind. The fact is, pain rarely signifies breast cancer. Often it is the result of arthritis that has developed in the intercoastal spaces, and the pain simply radiates into the breast.

Of course worried women should have an exam and tests necessary to rule out cancer, but in the meantime, discomfort may be relieved with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory over-the-counter drugs, evening primrose, vitamin E, or hot and cold compresses.

Fear and panic could be the very things that weaken your system and allow disease to take a foothold, and according to the Law of Attraction, continual thoughts of disease can bring it to you. So if you're worried, have the tests, set your mind at ease, and banish those thoughts!

Your daughter is at risk - so are you, if you wear makeup

Girls like cosmetics - they like to spend hours trying out different makeup colors and creating new looks for their faces. It's part of growing from little girl to woman.

And that would be fine, if it weren't for the dangerous chemicals in those cosmetics.

It seems that cosmetics manufacturers don't really have any rules to follow, so they can put anything they want into those bottles, jars, and tubes - no matter what the danger to young women's health.

The result: girls are showing dangerous levels of hormone-disrupting chemicals in their bodies. This, along with the estrogen-mimicking chemicals found in plastics, teflon, and other products, could well be the reason why kids bodies are maturing too soon.

The good news is, some manufacturers are responsible, so your girls don't have to give up makeup - they just need to be careful and read labels. You'll find a comprehensive list of ingredients and products to avoid at: The Environmental Working Group's website.

An Inexpensive Cure for Head Lice

But first... an apology. Someone wrote me a note about the Chantrix post and I tried several times to accept it... and it didn't work! Now it says there's nothing to accept. Technology!!

And now... the lice.

It sounds just terrible to think that your children - or you - could get head lice. The condition is associated with unwashed hair, dirty clothes, and dark little hovels for homes.

But that's not true, because lice are very easy to acquire. Especially since children in school all hang their coats and hats on a rack together. All it takes is one kid with lice to infect the entire classroom - and from there, it can keep going.

Those little insects just crawl from one hat or coat to another. Then, when your child comes home from school and flops on the couch, they jump off on the pillows to await the next person who lays down. In short, even people who are fastidious about cleanliness can get head lice.

The bad news is lice shampoo is stinky and expensive. The good news is a common product that's probably in your medicine cabinet can send them packing. The product: Listerine.

Soak the infected scalp with Listerine, top it with a shower cap and let it sit there for a couple hours before combing out the dead lice and washing the hair.

I know, you'll look funny running around in a shower cap for a couple of hours, but that's better than having bugs crawling around on your head! Curl up with a good book and the time will fly.

Will Chantrix make you violent?

Chantrix is a stop smoking drug, so as much as I don't trust pharmaceuticals, I have to wonder if it is the drug that causes violent behavior - or the nicotine withdrawal.

If you've ever tried to quit smoking - or have quit - you probably remember feeling just a bit hostile.

Nevertheless, our newspaper doctor said this week that Chantrix is known to make people violent - even with people they dearly love - and that particular side effect can be accelerated by using alcohol while taking it. So, if you're trying to quit and taking Chantrix, be aware of mood swings. If you start screaming at people you love or punching holes in the wall, go back to your doctor and ask for something different.

Too Many Pills!

In another Q&A, a woman wrote to ask if her Mother's prescriptions might be causing her forgetfulness and dizziness. Then she listed 12 prescriptions the poor woman was taking every day. The doctor's reaction was that some of those drugs weren't even appropriate for an elderly person, and that several of them could cause her symptoms - most especially when taken with the others.

That letter made me think of my Grandmother and what she went through before she changed doctors. I don't know if she was taking a dozen pills - it might have been 20. But she was becoming progressively sicker during my teen years. She even had monthly blood transfusions, and had pretty much withdrawn from everyone. She told me later that she had quit talking because she figured she was dying and so why get interested in anything.

Then, her doctor couldn't think of any more pills to push (this was 40+ years ago, remember), so referred her to a blood specialist.

He took her off everything and began trying just one remedy at a time until he found what worked. And... I got my Grandmother back. We enjoyed her company, and her involvement in our lives for almost another 30 years.

My wish for everyone is to find a doctor like him - dedicated to helping patients be well.