Heartburn does not come from too much stomach acid. Unlike antacids, common heartburn remedies can actually stop heartburn without side effects. One well-known natural remedy for heartburn can stop this problem permanently. Here is what you can expect.

The Heartburn Industry

This is a ridiculous industry. Heartburn is treated as a problem of too much stomach acid, which irritates the esophagus by acid reflux. This basic premise is the foundation for a multibillion antacid industry.

Having too much acid is not the problem. In fact, adding antacids to your stomach ruins the carefully balanced pH that you require for good digestion and absorption. Furthermore, the long term side effects of antacids make the original problem worse. Side effects commonly include severe damage to the digestive system, chronic esophagitis, ulcers, and cancer of the esophagus.

Antacids are simply not worth the short term illusion of relief in exchange for ruining your digestive system and your health.

Natural Heartburn Remedy Herbs

Each of the following has been used in folk medicine and has been shown to be helpful in modern scientific studies.

Artichoke

Leaf extracts from the globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus) have been shown to increase bile acid output and improve digestion. Dosages range from 4-5 capsules, each containing 325 mg of standardized leaf extract, for up to 6 weeks.

Licorice Root

Root extracts from licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), standardized for a 100 mg daily dose of the active ingredient, glycirrhetinic acid, enhanced symptomatic relief and increased healing of esophagitis and esophageal ulceration.

Peppermint and Caraway

Oils of peppermint (Mentha piperita) and caraway (Carum carvi), mixed together in an enteric form, showed a significant reduction in pain from non-ulcer dyspepsia. Dosage was one capsule per day, standardized to contain 90 mg of peppermint oil and 50 mg of caraway oil.

Probiotics – Friendly Bacteria for Digestive Health

Normally your GI tract contains several pounds of friendly bacteria, consisting of up to 500 different strains when you are healthy. Antibiotics, antacids, and synthetic chemicals in food and water damage these bacteria, which leads to digestive problems such as heartburn.

Certain fermented foods, such as yogurt, now offer small benefits to the digestive system by supplying one or two strains of living bacteria in low amounts, which help to replenish the population of friendly bacteria.

According to the latest research, however, the best way to replenish your friendly bacteria is to supplement with a sufficiently potent probiotic product. Look for the best results from products that offer at least 10-15 strains of bacteria, in amounts of 15 billion or more cells per dose.

When your digestive system hosts a healthy population of friendly bacteria, you may not even need herbs to take care of heartburn because it will simply disappear.

All the best in natural health,
Dr. D

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Herbal remedies for blood pressure are outstanding. Garlic alone can normalize blood pressure within 3 weeks. Here are the best hypertension herbal remedies.

Herbal Remedies for High Blood Pressure

It has compounds in it which work to relax blood vessel walls. Scientists have also found that it lowers LDL cholesterol. If you’re taking medication to lower blood pressure, tell your doctor before taking this herb.

Beware Misinformation About Blood Pressure

I always say that the impact of an herbal remedy on human health is in direct proportion the the misinformation, propaganda, and hysteria that the mainstream medical community puts out against it. You will find all kinds of scary stuff about herbal remedies for blood pressure. They are just scare tactics that are designed to make you go running to your doctor for a set of drug prescriptions. You have no chance of healing if you take those poisons into your body.

Just food for thought,
Dr. D

Do you ever wonder if all the anti-aging resveratrol mania is out of hand? Well, it is. Here are some red flags to watch out for.

If you have about 10 minutes right now, watch this video to prep yourself for my comments on this topic. It is a phenomenal video about resveratrol research. Just don’t believe any of it.

RESVERATROL! ABC News!

Resveratrol is a Great Antioxidant

Just to keep the record straight, I am all for the benefits of plant natural products for human health. My professional background has been in plant natural products chemistry for more than 35 years, so I am automatically biased in favor of them. However, the hysteria over different substances makes my whole field look bad.

The Problem with Reductionist Thinking

The video above, and all the commentary about resveratrol for that matter, comes from looking at small, single variable explanations for scientific results. This is called reductionist thinking. The long-running joke about reductionist scientists is that they (we!) study smaller and smaller details until we finally know everything about nothing. The whole field of molecular genetics is built around reductionist thinking. That is the nature of the beast.

Goals of Resveratrol Research

If you watched the video you may have noticed that resveratrol was repeatedly referred to as a drug. This is great news in some ways. However, you can bet your bottom dollar that this non-patentable natural product will not be the final product of this research.

What we have here is a high-powered Harvard research lab with financial backing by a high-powered vulture capitalist, er, venture capitalist. The primary goal of this team is to develop something that will be profitable, pay the investment back, and make a lot more money to boot.

These are the very same goals of pharmaceutical drug research. Notice that human health is just a side issue here. The purpose of drug research is to make money, not to make people healthier. Ditto for resveratrol research.

Leap of Faith

When I was doing research with brain cancer, one of my colleagues once said, “Applying results from studies of laboratory animals to humans is like taking a leap of faith the size of the Grand Canyon.” Virtually all of the research on resveratrol that has generated so much excitement is based on lab animals and yeast. Equivalent studies on humans would take a lifetime. Let’s get real real!

By the way, humans have about 30,000 or so genes. The impact of one substance on one gene does not possibly explain how anything works in a whole person.

A complete critique of resveratrol mania could occupy a whole book. I hope my brief comments at least get you started thinking a little more clearly on this issue. It will serve you well for judging all kinds of wild science in the headlines.

My Recommendations

I see nothing wrong with taking resveratrol supplements. Indeed, I encourage it. I encourage you to take antioxidant supplements in general, even including red wine itself. However, if the issue that you want to address is anti-aging or any other health-related concern, I suggest that you find out what the whole-person scientific research says about getting healthy, staying healthy, and living a full and long life.

Sorry to say that I don’t have any recommendations that I can make any money on. Well, I could make some fake recommendations for the purpose of selling you my book, if I had one, or of selling you some supplements. However, I think it is much more important to tell you something that will truly benefit your health. It is this:

Get and read the following two books (cheap used copies at Amazon, I am sure):

“Healthy at 100″ by John Robbins

“The China Study” by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell

Better yet, if you are looking for instant information on these books, you can visit the following two websites:

Healthy at 100

T. Colin Campbell Foundation

All the best in natural health,
Dr. D

Nattokinase enzyme reverses heart disease without side effects. So why would anyone suggest that it might cause brain hemorrhage? This would be a pretty serious nattokinase side effect. Here is the truth:

Does Nattokinase Cause Brain Hemorrhage?

One study of a person taking aspirin who then added natto (400 mg/day for 7 days) to his meds and had an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) (brain hemorrhage) concluded that nattokinase caused the problem.

Determining cause and effect is the most difficult thing for any scientist to do. The article above mostly serves as a great exercise by jumping to an unwarranted conclusion. If nattokinase actually caused brain hemorrhage, we’d have a lot of natto lovers in Japan dropping dead way too young. I suppose that I would classify this worry in the category of paranoia or propaganda, I’m not sure which.

Dr. D

Treatments for angina include herbs that work well in clinical and animal studies. Finding the best formulas is difficult due to marketing hype that is not supported by research results. Here is how to start.

What Is Angina?

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Angina (angina pectoris) is severe chest pain due to lack of blood (i.e., oxygen) in the heart muscle. The main cause is a coronary artery disease called atherosclerosis, or a clogging of the arteries. Angina typically feels like the chest is being strangled. Severity of symptoms may or may not be associated with fatal heart attacks.

Four types of mainstream prescription drugs are available to treat angina: beta-blockers, nitrates (e.g., nitroglycerin), calcium antagonists, and antiplatelet drugs. Herbal medicine also offers solutions for treating angina. Below is a summary of the top herbs and herb ingredients based on scientific research.

Bromelain

Bromelain is a mixture of protein-digesting enzymes from the stems of the pineapple plant (Ananas comosus). Bromelain is widely used as a component of digestive enzyme supplements and as an anti-inflammatory and fibrinolytic systemic enzyme for treating arterial blockages.

Study: Experimental dosages of 1000-1400 mg daily led to disappearance of symptoms angina in human patients within 4-90 days, depending on severity of blockage. Symptoms returned when bromelain treatment was discontinued. (Source: Acta Med. Empirica)

Hawthorn (Crataegus species)

Effects are due to substances called flavonoids and oligomeric proanthocyanidins (OPCs).

Study: Crataegus extracts given orally to rats (2 percent of the diet) significantly reduced damage to myocardial cells. (Source: Arzneim. Forsch.)

Study: The main flavonoids from Crataegus led to improved coronary flow, heart rate, left ventricular pressure, and speed of contraction and relaxation in perfused isolated guinea pig hearts. (Source: Arzneim. Forsch.)

Study: Crataegus extract (3.3 percent OPCs) diminished accumulation of lactic acid, thereby improving oxygen utilization, in perfused isolated rat hearts. (Source: Arzneim. Forsch.)

Study: 46 patients were given either a tablet with 100 mg of Crataegus leaves or a placebo. Results were that 46 percent of the Crataegus group showed improved EKG readings within 4 weeks, whereby the control group showed 3 percent improved readings. (Source: J. Tradit. Chin. Med.)

Study: Crataegus leaf extract led to decreased oxygen consumption and improved oxygen utilization and heart function when given to dogs. (Source: J. Tradit. Chin. Med.)

Study: 60 patients with mild stable forms of angina were given either a tablet with Crataegus extract (brand: Crategutt novo) or a placebo 3 times daily. EKG readings under exertion improved significantly in the treated group vs. the control group. (Source: Therapiewoche)

Other Angina Treatment Herbs

Additional research has also shown the beneficial effects for treating angina with the following:

Khella (Ammi visnaga): Commercial supplements are widely available for healthcare professionals. Effects are less than those reported for hawthorn. Active ingredients may have toxic effects at clinical doses.

Astragalus membranaceus (currently correct name: Astragalus propinquus): Widely available in supplement form. Better known as an herb for boosting the immune system. One major Chinese study showed significant benefits in treating heart disease in humans. However, treatment was not with any available oral form.

Terminalia arjuna: Important cardiotonic herb in Ayurvedic medicine. One small clinical study (10 patients) showed significant improvement in several indicators of heart health, including lower frequency of angina.

Comments

As far as herbs for treating angina go, hawthorn has been the star of the show in herbal medicine for centuries. Research confirms its traditional uses for treating angina and other heart health issues.

Hawthorn berries are the most common source for supplement products. However, it is not at all clear that this source offers maximum benefit for heart health. Active ingredients also occur in flowering tops and in leaves. Anyone considering the use of hawthorn for heart health should first read any full monograph on this herb before buying or using any herbal preparation.

Bromelain is now commonly incorporated into formulas that contain additional anti-inflammatory proteolytic systemic enzymes. These include nattokinase, serrapeptase, trypsin, papain, and a multi-enzyme mixture called pancreatin. The totality of research on these enzymes for heart health is immense. We now know that bromelain alone is not as powerful as a good enzyme formula that contains some or all of these other enzymes.

All the best in natural health,
Dr. D

Sexual enhancement herbs have a very long folk history. These were medicine before synthetic drugs. Herbal Viagra was not an issue because there was no such thing as Viagra. Herbs are still the best combination for effectiveness and safety for sexual enhancement. Take a look at this video overview for some important pointers.

Sex Enhancers & Sexual Herbs, Natural Viagra, More Sexy Sex

Every culture throughout human history has discovered natural solutions for sexual enhancement. We do not have to re-invent the wheel here, folks!

All the best in herbal health,

Dr. D

Natural sleep tips come from all cultures over the history of folk medicine. People benefit most from herbs that do not have side effects or leftover drowsiness the next day. They truly relieve stress and anxiety that lead to sleep deprivation. Natural sleep remedies are easy to find and easy to use. See how you can sleep like a baby again, naturally!

Here is the perspective from one medical doctor who has seen the light on how to sleep well. Good sleep sometimes seems like a miracle. Without it, nothing else in life goes right.

Natural Solutions To Sleep Deprivation. READ MORE…

All the best in natural health,

Dr. D

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Depression is one of the most difficult disorders to deal with. However, throughout human history herbs have been used against depression. Anti-depression herbs are helpful in so many ways. I have found the following three articles to be excellent in helping understand what is best to do about depression naturally.

Magnificent Role of Herbal Supplements for Fighting Depression. READ HERE…

Natural Remedies for Depression. READ HERE…

Natural Depression Treatments: Non-prescription Alternatives. READ HERE…

All the best in natural health,

Dr. D

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Herbal sleep aids are known around the world in every culture. They are backed centuries of use as folk medicines. Some also have modern research behind them. These include valerian, kava kava, hops, chamomile, and mulungu.

The certainty that is associated with all natural sleep supplements is that they give your body a chance to relax and do what it is supposed to do for a good night’s sleep. And without the side effects or morning-after sluggishness that comes with so many prescription sleeping pills. Nice!

Herbs For Stress – Best Herbs For Stress Relief

Chamomile helps in relaxation and promotes sleep. It is usually taken in the form of tea. Two teaspoons of dried flowers are to be used per cup of tea. This herb is now being used to prepare several herbal cures in the form of powder …

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All the best in natural health,

Dr. D

See my blog post at SupplementDocPros.com about how product labels are misleading.