Green Life in Action

About The Natural Healing Arts

To understand natural healing arts, one must understand what natural healing is. Natural healing also is known as alternative healing. This is best defined as any form of medical healing that does not fall under the same realm as modern medicine. Many of these forms of natural healing are used in combination with modern medical practices. Alternative healing can fall under religious, spiritual, or metaphysical practices. There are a variety of natural healing arts and each has their own historical background and may be a derivative of another form, a branching off if you will.

Just To Name A Few

There are truly a vast amount of natural healing arts to discover. A small sampling would include:

Ayurveda ?? This is an ancient Hindu system of care and is native to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It is gaining popularity in the west. The word roughly translates to knowledge of life. Life is defined as the combination of the sense organs, body, mind and soul, which are the factors responsible for protecting against decay and death. This sustains the body over time and guides the processes of rebirth. This natural health art is concerned with measures to protect the body with healthy living, along with therapeutic tactics that relate to physical, mental, spiritual, and social harmony.
â?¢ Chiropractic â?? This has gained more popularity in the west. This focuses on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mechanical disorders in the musculoskeletal system. Also the effects these disorders have on the functions of the nervous system and the general health of the patient. This is achieved by manual therapy including spinal adjustment and other joint or soft-tissue manipulation.
Naturopathy. Also known as natural medicine comes under a bit of doubt with the modern world of practitioners. This is a complimentary and alternative medice that focuses on the body`s ability to heal itself. This practice may include the use of abstinence, colonic irrigation, counseling, diet, exercise, hydrotherapy, environmental medicine, manual therapy, and relaxation. This is only naming a few practices that are used with this natural healing art form. Practitioners of this art do not like to use invasive surgery or synthetic drugs. They prefer natural remedies that comprise of unprocessed medications such as herbs and foods.
Osteopathy ?? This focuses on the musculoskeletal system, both in health and in disease. It emphasizes the holistic approach and a range of manual and physical treatments. Practitioners look at problems relating to back or neck pain and use an array of techniques of manual treatment of the musculoskeletal system. This is combined with dietary, postural, occupational advice. This may include counseling to help a patient recover from illness or pain or at least minimize pain due to disease.
â?¢ Chinese Medicine â?? This is a form of alternative medicine in most of the world and is commonly referred to as TCM. Massage, herbal medicine, and acupuncture are used in the diagnosis and treatments of a variety of ailments. The theories of TCM are derived from sources including Yin-yang, the Five Phases, Zang Fu organ theory, the human body Channel system, and many others. A few practices may include things like: acupuncture, Chinese food therapy, Tui na (massage therapy), Qigong (breathing and meditation exercise), Feng shui (mental health therapy), Chinese martial arts, and many more. Many of these treatments and practices are time honored and have been proven successful in a wide range of ages and cultures.

Consider Energizing

By this, it does not mean to find your nearest battery pack. Energy medicine is one of many domains of complimentary and alternative medicine, which is a form of the natural healing arts. Opinions differ on philosophy, approach, and origin. Given energy or explained energy is sometimes called putative energy. Sometimes spiritual energy or veritable energy is explained by putative energy. For example, someoneâ??s aura is equal to electromagnetism. Types of veritable energy medicine may include: magnetic therapy and light therapy. Cymatic therapy uses sound waves. Putative energy therapy include: acupuncture, qi gong, homeopathy, therapeutic touch, and distant healing.

The natural healing arts combine a variety of philosophies, theories, and forms of healing. Many are from countries abroad but the west has adopted some of these arts or at least certain aspects of them. Some of these natural healing arts are used in combination with modern medicinal practices to achieve top healing capabilities. Doing some research will allow a person to find a path that is right for them.

People have taken interest on wheatgrass because of the many health benefits it gives. For the health-conscious individuals, wheatgrass juice is the way to go. If you are planning on taking the natural road to a healthy you, here are some things you have to know to get you started on wheatgrass juice.

What is wheatgrass?
Wheatgrass is the young grass of wheat plant that is dried or juiced. Because it has a high amount of Chlorophyll, it is rich in many vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that wheatgrass has various curative and detoxifying functions.

Because wheatgrass has increased in popularity for some time now, you can easily buy wheatgrass prepared in various forms. Some bars and restaurants also included wheatgrass juice in their menu.

What are the benefits of taking wheatgrass?

• Improves metabolism and cares for your heart
Wheatgrass is good for your heart as it lowers down your blood pressure. It also makes your blood healthier by increasing the red blood cells in your blood. The properties of wheatgrass also reduce the acidity of your blood because wheatgrass is very rich in alkaline minerals. Taking wheatgrass will also help enhance your thyroid functions. It is also said that wheatgrass is effective in treating gastrointestinal diseases like constipation, diarrhea, peptic ulcers and ulcerative colitis.
• detoxifying agent
Because of the presence of minerals and antioxidants, wheatgrass is a very effective detoxifying agent. It also fights off and gets rid of harmful chemicals and other substances that may develop into various types of cancers and other illnesses. Wheatgrass makes your blood healthy and cleanses the liver effectively. Using this to treat tumors and toxins helps patient recover from their illnesses without the harmful side effects of synthetic drugs.
• Slows down the aging process
Aging is part of an individual’s normal growth and development but it doesn’t mean that your health should be affected by aging. Taking wheatgrass puts aging on a different level. It does not only slows down the process, but it makes you age healthily by cleansing your body off harmful toxins and keeping your cells healthy.
• Aids individuals to lose weight
Wheatgrass has fat-burning properties. It also suppresses your appetite. Losing weight doesn’t have to mean taking those weight-loss pills or undergoing surgery. A regular dose of wheatgrass will do wonders to your body.

Preparations
The popularity of wheatgrass resulted to it being available in various forms. Now, you can take wheatgrass in powdered juice, tablets or through juice shots.

Some people also decide to grow wheatgrass in their homes so they can always have it easily available to them. Whatever preparations you prefer, the important thing is to be able to have your regular intake of wheatgrass.

Wheatgrass juice is prepared like any other type of juice. Add water and enjoy. You can also add some ice. Juice shots are also available in the market. A 5ml shot is equal to a tablet of wheatgrass. Wheatgrass tablets are taken twice daily.

Wheatgrass has many healthy benefits for you. Take a dose of wheatgrass everyday and start your journey to a healthier you.

Alternative energy is more often than not a phrase used to describe anything other than fossil fuels-and most of these alternative energy solutions fall into the category of renewable energy. Renewable energy is important to us for two reasons. First, it helps save the environment from future harm caused by fossil fuels and the greenhouse effect. Renewable forms of energy are typically safe for the earth, making them a much cleaner option. Second, renewable energy sources are exactly what their name implies-renewable. Therefore, these sources of energy will not run out or become scarce and expensive, as fossil fuels eventually will. As renewable energy technology is researched and becomes more cost-effective, we may see a switch to these forms of energy from fossil fuels by all the major energy companies in the world.

There are many different types of renewable energy, including solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass, and tidal. Each has great benefits when it comes to protecting the environment, because no harmful byproducts are produced. Solar energy refers to power from the sun. We see this in everyday life as solar covers are placed on swimming pools to help then gather and retain heat. We can even feel the effects of the sun’s energy-wear a black shirt on a sunny day and you will soon be overheated. Solar power takes this heat and turns it into useful energy, which we can use to heat our homes and power other electronic devices. Wind energy is one of the oldest forms of alternative energy, along with water power, Windmills and waterwheels were used as early as the middle ages to produce energy, and are still being used in many countries today in refined forms. By converting their power to useful electricity by using generators, windmills and waterwheels, although ancient technologies are still very useful. Geothermal energy taps into the heat from the earth, by using geological hotspots such as volcanic sites, to produce energy. Biomass is also a very earth-like way of producing heat. This form of renewable energy refers to the use of once living organisms to produce heat and other forms of energy. Tidal energy works by harnessing the power of the ocean’s tides and currents, in much of the same way energy is gathered from waterwheels and windmills. The ocean can also be used for it’s heated surface temperatures and cool deep water temperatures to convert heat energy into useful electricity.

Overall, the only drawback to using renewable energies in place of fossil fuels is the current cost. However, as these technologies are further researched, cost of production is sure to go down, making these forms of energy production more efficient. Solar, wind, water, geothermal, biomass, and tidal energies are just a few of the renewable alternative energies being studied today. Critics agree-fossil fuels will not last forever, and so, it is time to begin looking for healthier and less expensive means of producing energy to run the world.

Your visit to the doctor now contains a page where you sign that you acknowledge that the physician’s office has notified you about their compliance with HIPAA laws. More often than not, you probably read through quickly or barely skim the authorization form before signing it. However, HIPAA laws are important, and they are in place to protect you from identity theft, being denied care, and/or health insurance coverage.

HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, enacted in 1996. HIPAA laws created a new national standard in protecting your health information. As you see different physicians or become admitted to different hospitals, your health information should follow you. HIPAA delineates the need to properly protect your health information as it flows through to these different channels. As more and more transactions are completed electronically these days, HIPAA laws focus on the protection of your health information specifically through these channels.

So what does HIPAA protect? For you, HIPAA protects personally identifiable health information, such as your Social Security number, birth date, address, etc., as well as current, past, or even future physical and/or mental conditions or treatment. Such information may not be disclosed except for specific uses. Information that HIPAA does not cover must specifically be personally non-identifiable. In protecting this sort of information, there is more protection against identity theft and more recourse if such a thing should happen.

HIPAA also protects how health insurance providers may use your health information. These entities may use your information without your authorization only if they are sending you information, using this information to provide the best treatment or health care, or collecting payment on medical expenses, among other things. If disclosure of your health information does not fall under these categories, you must authorize the transfer of information in writing. Furthermore, because the government understands that highly technical language can be a barrier in understanding your health information privacy rights, any authorization must be in plain language.

This may all seem like unnecessary paperwork, but beyond identity theft, HIPAA laws also help those looking for health insurance coverage. Title 1 of the HIPAA laws oversees the availability and range of health insurance plans for those without perfect health. It outlaws any health insurance plan from creating discriminatory rules to create premium rates or deny coverage. HIPAA laws are quite extensive, but this gives you a look at how your health information is being protected and used. Your department of health should be able to give you further information, or you can search the government’s Web site for the entire HIPAA law.

Coronary heart disease and heart attack like heart infarction can in great extend be prevented by lifestyle measures.

THE DIRECT CAUSES OF HEART DISEASE

The direct causes of coronary heart disease and heart attack are factors like these:

- Narrowing of blood vessels in the heart and the rest of the body by arteriosclerosis.
- High blood cholesterol level.
- High blood pressure.
- Over-weight.
- Diabetes.
- High level of the amino acid homocystein in the blood.
- High content of low density lipoprotein (LDL) and low content of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in the blood. Lipoprotein is a combination of protein and fatty substances bound together.
- Inflammation in the circulatory system.
- High age.
- Inherited tendencies for high cholesterol levels and heart disease.
- Men have somewhat greater chance of getting heart disease than women.

These factors are interrelated in complicated ways, and are causing or amplifying each other. For example, arteriosclerosis will cause higher blood pressure, and high blood pressure will cause even more arteriosclerosis. Many of these factors are ultimately caused or aggravated by these lifestyle factors:

-A too high consume of fat, cholesterol and sugar.
-Consuming the wrong fat types.
-Lack of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other diet deficiencies.
-Stress at work and in the daily life.
-Smoking.
-Lack of exercise.

Lifestyle adjustments will therefore be the main methods of preventing heart failure.

GENERAL DIET ADVICES

A diet with the aim of preventing heart disease is generally the same as a diet to prevent cancer and other diseases. Here are the general diet advices

- Avoid or reduce the amount of food that are industrially processed, artificially made or heavily fried.

- Eat fish at least every second day. Also eat seafood and fouls.

- Do not eat very much red meat.

- Eat 5 fruits or vegetables each day. Each piece should be of the size of an apple or carrot. They should be raw or carefully boiled so that the nutrients are not washed out.

- Eat full corn bread, full corn cereals, peas, beans and potatoes.

- Eat just a moderate amount of fat.

- Consume cholesterol rich foods like egg, spawn or liver in just moderate amounts.

- Ideally most fat you eat, should be of the type mono-unsaturated. You also need some poly-unsaturated fat of the types omega-3, and omega 6, but not too much of omega-6. The consumption of saturated fat should be moderate.

- In order to achieve right fat balance, much of the fat supply should come from a blending of sources like olive, olive oil, canola oil, nuts, nut oil, sunflower, sunflower oil, linseed oil (flax oil), fish and fish oil.

- Use only a moderate amount of soy oil and corn oil in the diet. Only using such oil types will give you too much poly-unsaturated fat of the omega-6-type.

- Use just a very moderate amount of fat sources like butter, coconut oil and palm oil. A high consumption of these fat sources gives you too much saturated fat.

- Avoid altogether fat that has been chemically altered, giving so-called trans-fat. This type of fat is often found in margarine, cookies, snacks, fast food and other pre-made food.

- Consume just a very moderate amount of sugar, refined flour or refined cereals.

- Consume just a moderate amount of tranquilizers and stimulants like alcohol and caffeine.

- Use just a moderate amount of salt in the food. However, in warm weather and by hard physical work, you will need more salt.

DIET SUPPLEMENTS THAT HELP PREVENT HEART DISEASE

Evidence suggests that it will be helpful to take some supplements of natural substances to prevent heart disease and help to ameliorate already manifest heart problems. These supplements are:

- Omega-3-fatty acids derived from fish and other marine sources, especially the fatty acids EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and alfa-linolaeic acid. 1 gram a day of each of these substances may be taken as a supplement. Higher amounts should only be taken under medical supervision, since higher amount of these substances may cause bleeding tendencies, and may suppress the immune system.

- Supplement of vitamin C has been thought to help prevent heart disease, but newer findings cast doubt upon this.

- Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), folic acid / folate, vitamin b12 and riboflavin seem to prevent the building up of the substance homocystein in the blood and thereby help prevent heart disease, according to results from research projects.

GET RID OF OVER-WEIGHT

The lifestyle measures listed in this article will also help you loose weight. If these measures are not enough, you should consider engaging in a more specific weight reduction program. You should choose a program that has a moderate fat content philosophy. Some weight reduction programs have a higher fat and low carbohydrate consume philosophy, and those are probably not the best ones to reduce the chance of getting heart disease.

EXERCISE

You should do some exercise of at least half an hour at least every second day. Condition training as vigorous walking, jogging, cycling or swimming is best for reducing the heart attack probability. Muscular building exercises are also of value, especially exercises building leg muscles

STOP SMOKING

If you smoke, stopping or reducing this habit radically will decrease the chance of getting heart problems.

CONTROL DIABETES

If you suffer from diabetes type 1, a good control of the disease by insulin medication and by diet adjustments will help to prevent heart disease.

Many people over the age of 50, and an increasing number of young people suffer from diabetes type 2 because of bad lifestyle. This disease does not necessarily give dramatic symptoms, but the disease increases the chance of getting serious heart problems, and many have the disease without knowing it. This disease can be prevented by the same lifestyle measures depicted above. If you already have got the disease, a more rigorous control of carbohydrate intake is necessary. And sometimes also medication must be used. People over the age of 50 and younger people that do not feel well should find out if they suffer from this condition.

TAKING ASPIRIN

Low doses of acetyl salicylic acid or aspirin prevent heart disease by persons bearing a high risk for heart disease. However, this medication increases the risk of bleeding and should not be used without constant medical supervision. For persons with a low risk of heart disease, the dangers of aspirin will be greater than the benefits.