Friday, March 14, 2008

Winning the War Against Pain...
Without Harsh Drugs or Dangerous Surgeries

By Jesse Cannone

"Oh that pain in my ______," (you fill in the blank).

I hear it all the time from people suffering from everything from lower back pain to carpal tunnel syndrome. They tell me about how bad their pain is and how they've "tried everything".

Well, the fact is, they haven't tried everything. And if you are suffering from any type of ache or pain I can guarantee that there are numerous things you have not tried that will help you.

The problem for most people is they only treat the symptoms -- meaning the pain. If you truly want to eliminate the pain, you MUST identify and address the underlying cause of the problem.

But often times the pain is so intense that the individual can't even work on addressing the underlying cause; so my recommendation is always to treat the symptom (the pain) and also treat the cause.

While most people do tend to do something to reduce the pain right away, the mistake they make is using NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories) such as Celebrex or their over the counter cousins -- aspirin, ibuprofen, etc. NSAIDs work by blocking the COX enzymes that cause inflammation and pain.

But the problem is that COX enzymes also help to protect and regenerate the tissue of the stomach and kidneys. This is why millions of people have experienced negative and life-threatening side effects like nausea, vomiting, constipation, dizziness, drowsiness, ulcers and even kidney and liver failure.

So what can you do to reduce the swelling, inflammation, and pain without the high risks? The good news is there are several methods that have been proven both safe and effective:

1. If you get an injury, treat it with ice immediately and then for the first day or two. Switch to moist heat thereafter.
2. Take hot baths with minerals such as magnesium (Epsom salts) and sodium bicarbonate. They help relieve inflammation and relax muscles.
3. Learn mental relaxation and other mind-body techniques to reduce the pain.
4. Try acupuncture and/or trigger point therapy to release pain from muscles that are tight or in spasm.
5. Take safe, natural herbs and homeopathic remedies to relieve pain and reduce inflammation and swelling. Here is a partial list of natural substances that may help.

• Proteolytic enzymes: While they are primarily taken as a digestive aid, proteolytic enzymes also "digest" debris from an injured site, lower inflammation, and speed up recovery time.
• Boswella: This ancient herb has been used to relieve arthritis pain for years with no known side effects. It helps to reduce pain and inflammation and improve blood flow to injured and diseased joints.
• Turmeric: This Indian spice is a natural pain reliever. Its powerful anti-inflammatory action helps ease back, muscle, and joint pain.
• Devil's Claw: The active ingredient in this herb is an anti-inflammatory. It has been shown to relieve joint pain, lower back pain, and muscle tension.
• Arnica: The essential oil from this flowering plant is added to many pain-relieving ointments. Arnica reduces inflammation and bruising, and relieves joint and muscle pain.

The key here is to experiment and listen closely to your body. If you try something and it doesn't help, don't assume it won't work for you. You may need to try it in conjunction with other treatments.

Remember, you can fight and win the war against pain... and you can do it without drugs or surgery.

[Ed. Note: Jesse Cannone is a certified fitness trainer, rehabilitation specialist and co-founder of the Healthy Back Institute. For more information on how you can reduce or completely eliminate your pain naturally, click here.]

After doing a bit of research, I decided that comedian George Carlin has the best insight on the subject of hoarding.

"The whole meaning of life is trying to find a place for your stuff."

"Stuff", as Carlin so aptly names it, is what life is all about for 99% (my statistic) of Americans. We are a nation of stuff hoarders. Stuff is what we are about. Our stuff fills our houses, our cars, our offices and even our pockets. We cannot function without our stuff. Our stuff defines our status, our value and often our direction in life. We treasure our stuff so intensely that many of us will shoot you dead if you try to take our stuff away.
Most of our time is spent taking care of our stuff; repairing, cleaning, rearranging, storing and planning how to get more of it. We compare our stuff to other people's stuff in order to feel normal or special or superior. We cannot imagine a life without it and often feel sorry for stuff-deprived individuals from "inferior" cultures who have non-stuff centered values. We have even created a t-shirt that reads "He who dies with the most toys (stuff) wins."

Does our obsession with our stuff make us a nation of hoarders? Yes, absolutely.

Why are we so obsessed with our stuff? The answer to that is not funny. It is sad and even tragic. I am convinced that our passion for stuff, our stuff-hoarding, exists because it is a substitute for soul. We Americans lack a daily connection to and experience of soul. Our post-modern society, a society that values things (stuff) above all, has lost touch with our deepest essence and needs.

We yearn for a soul-fullness (deep meaning) in our relationships, our work, our play and in our experience of ourselves -- but for some strange and sad reason (another article) we missed the exit on the turnpike and are rocketing towards a destination defined solely by stuff...a poor and tragic substitute.

Hoarding, in this context, is a form of addiction. We cannot find the deeper meaning we seek and so desperately need, and so we substitute another substance. That substance functions like a drug. It makes us high for a brief time and distracts us from the pain of the loss (of soul). Then the high wears off and we have to use the drug of stuff once again. We then are trapped in a deadly cycle of pain and an ever-increasing drive to find more drugs (stuff).

So here we are boys and girls, a nation of addictive hoarders of stuff of many colors, so intent on holding on that we cannot see the wall that this train is headed for...meaninglessness. But, as they say: "She who dies with the most stuff wins" and we are intent on winning no matter the cost.

I say, "Wins what?"

I ask, "What happens if we drop the stuff and look for soul?"

[Ed. note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. To find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight including Eating to Kill, click here.]

Every day patients come into my practice and ask me why they can't lose weight. You would not believe the multitude of excuses I have heard from people who just can't seem to lose the extra pounds. Their reasons include everything -- being born with a slow metabolism, being fat because of the way they were raised, thyroid problems, and my personal favorite, "I am fat because I enjoy being fat."

As I teach people the principles of maintaining a healthy weight, I am constantly amazed at how often I hear, "I am already doing all that stuff. There is something about me that is different. Isn't there some drug you can give me to take the weight off?"

The fact is, there are only a few metabolic diseases and hormonal imbalances that can make losing weight more difficult. In addition, there are only a few medicines that can be prescribed to help reduce appetite and take off the pounds. The reality is that for the overwhelming majority of people, it comes down to relearning how to eat and exercise better.

We, as a society, have been duped into believing things about good health that are simply not true. Unfortunately most of this information comes from corporate marketing strategies that are trying to sell you their products.

In the 80s, we were taught that the reason we were all gaining weight was because we were eating high fat foods. Hundreds of food companies rushed to create foods that were "low fat." The shelves of our supermarkets were inundated with these low fat foods.

Interestingly however, the fat was replaced by something much worse…….SUGAR. I am in the process of writing a book called It's The Sugar, Stupid that explains that Americans aren't fat from eating fat, but from consuming pounds and pounds of sugar. This sugar can be disguised in many ways, but ultimately, it's still sugar.

They recently took all the soda out of the soda machines at my children's school. The Administration did this because they said that the children of America are getting fat from drinking sodas (which are full of sugar). I thought that was a noble idea, but was amazed to find out that they replaced the sodas not with healthy alternatives such as juices -- but with Gatorade, PowerAde, and vitamin water.

While the promoters of these drinks love to tout them as being healthy, the fact is that their sugar content is equivalent to that of a soda. There is no difference. So we replaced one sugar-laden drink with another, but the schools are happy because they are promoting "healthy" alternatives to soda. It's truly insane when you think about it.

By simply paying attention to your sugar intake, you can dramatically affect your total calories and the quality of those calories -- for the better. Read food labels carefully, checking for sugar content listed under carbohydrates. A good rule of thumb is that if it has over 10 grams of sugar per serving, don't eat it -- no matter what!

I actually use 5 grams as a cutoff, but 10 is a good place to start. An even healthier alternative is to put the processed food down and pick up natural whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

We are constantly bombarded by advertising that tries to convince us of what's good for us and what's not. We need to train ourselves to see past what the advertisers want us to see and actually read the nutritional labels. If there are more than 10 grams of sugar per serving, make a healthier choice.

[Ed. Note: Tim Reynolds, M.D., is a practicing physician and a health and lifestyle expert. For more information, click here.]

Substituting beets for potatoes in traditional latkes not only saves on calories, but also reduces the glycemic index of the dish and adds a powerful cancer-fighting nutrient, as well. Betacyanin -- the pigment that gives beets their rich, purple-crimson color, was recently found to increase the number of immune cells in the colon (called CD8 cells) which are responsible for detecting and eliminating abnormal cells. ^1-3

Serves: 15

Time to Table: 25 minutes

Healing Nutrient Spotlight
Betacyanin
Good source of folate

Ingredients
6 cups coarsely shredded peeled organic beets (about 6 medium)
6 tablespoons organic whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon non-aluminum baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 large organic omega-3 eggs, beaten to blend
3 tablespoons organic expeller pressed canola oil (for sautéing )

Preparation
Place beets in large bowl; press with paper towels to absorb any moisture. In another large bowl, whisk flour and next 5 ingredients. Mix in beets, then eggs.

Pour enough oil into large skillet to just cover bottom; heat over medium. Working in batches, drop beet mixture by 1/4 cupfuls into skillet; spread to 3 1/2-inch rounds. Cook until golden, about 5 minutes per side.

Transfer latkes to baking sheet. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven until crisp, about 10 minutes.)

Nutrition Information
75 calories, 4 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 2.5 g monounsaturated fats, 0.5 g polyunsaturated fats, 42 mg cholesterol, 290 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 4 g sugars, 3 g protein

References

1. Ishizuka S, et al. Carcinogenesis 1999 Jun;20(6):1005-9.
2. Ishizuka S, Tanaka S. Exp Biol Med 2002 Dec;227(11):1017-21.
3. Nagai T, et al. J Nutr 2000 Jul;130(7):1682-7.

[Ed. Note: Kelley Herring is the Founder & CEO of Healing Gourmet. She is also the creator of Healing Gourmet's Personalized Nutrition Software and Editor-in-Chief of the Healing Gourmet book series published by McGraw-Hill, including Eat to Fight Cancer, Eat to Beat Diabetes, Eat to Lower Cholesterol and Eat to Boost Fertility. For more information, click here.]

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