Your Home, The Medicine Cabinet:

What every home should have for all of life’s little accidents

Households all around the world are armed with standard first-aid kits that are there when someone gets a knick or scrap that can be easily managed. But what if the antibiotic cream is out-dated and band-aids just do solve the problem. Luckily for nature, there is a whole new realm of holistic cures that can offer relief, speed up healing, and be less harsh than alcohols.

Below is a list of a few common natural ingredients that are smart to place alongside your first-aid kit. These remedies range in effect and treatment of symptoms. Though these natural, alternative methods treat the everyday mishap, the practice of alternative and complementary treatments goes much deeper. There are more powerful therapies, which are normally complementary to allopathic medicines that can help treat certain cancers and other serious aliments. Many doctors suggest patients with any cancer prognosis to adopt a complementary therapy to help ease pain, promote natural healing, and reduce symptoms of conventional treatments.

Lavender:  To receive the full effect of lavender, you must use true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). Used as and oil or spray, this plant is very versatile and can be used to treat headaches, burns, insomnia, and reduce anxiety. The aromatherapy qualities of this plant are endless. Pillows stuffed with some lavender, make for a calming sleep as-well-as deterring insects. Throughout history, lavender was used to treat war-wounds and burns because of its analgesic, antibiotic, and antiseptic properties.

Peppermint: This holiday treat, when used as oil, can treat tension headaches. When you start to feel that pressure, a few drops of peppermint oil rubbed on the temples can help ease the pain and cure the headache. This oil and plant can also be used to treat indigestion, clear nasal passages, and relieve spasmodic pain.

Tea Tree: Though widely known for its antiseptic qualities, this oil is the teenagers’ dream. It helps treat many infections, like athlete’s foot and acne. Cold sores, warts, and shingles have also been treated with tea tree oil. Back in the 1920s, tea tree paste was used to dissolve pus and clean a wound perfectly for surgeries.

Garlic: This little seasoning is not only good for cooking, but is perfect for the winter and spring months when colds and flus are popular. The notable smell of garlic is due to the group of sulfur-containing compounds; most notable allicin, a natural antibiotic. Since these chemicals can only be excreted via sweating or through the lungs, it is helpful for lung infections and skin problems. Anyone suffering from colds, flu, bronchitis, lung infections, or a sore throat should include plenty of garlic in their diet. Garlic is also a good insect repellent.

Witch Hazel: This plant is perfect for sore muscles, backaches, bruises, and sprains; perfect for the athletes of the family. Witch Hazel used to be used a rub or a cold compress, but now you can find it in stores as lotion for burns and bug bite

note: the views in this blog are those belonging to guest blogger Allison Brooks

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Become aware

The comings, and the more noticeable goings, of popular products have affected everyone, leaving grassroots producers with the biggest pill to swallow. The larger companies have been forced to pull product or change formulas. Practitioners are unable to locate products upon which they’ve come to rely. And the public is suffering a foreign experience: the lack of supply to meet demand.

Healthcare is competitive. Medical appropriation of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a palpable theme. The conventional medical system and pharmaceutical companies have institutional support to conduct product trials. Medically patented versions of NHPs are growing in number and far surpassing health industry brands in evidence.

Although expanding in total area, the pie has also increased its sum of stakeholders leaving smaller portions for each, resulting in rations. This classic market competition has resulted in the sceptics (federal government, pharmaceutical and medical fields) taking a big share, while concurrently claiming ownership. No doubt the industry is anxious.

We must not sit still and complain. Become aware of the changing situation. Perk up to the realities and work for access to therapeutic products, in safe forms.

– Millennia Lytle, ND, MPH, The Big Carrot, Toronto, www.thebigcarrot.ca

Getting Your Immunity Ready:  Did you know a large percentage of your immune system can be found in your gut? From the tonsils to the Peyer’s Patches of the small intestines, the M.A.L.T. system regulates a large majority of the immune system; help to fend off microorganisms that might bring on a cold or flu.  Millie Lytle, will discuss different ways to improve healthy immune habits on a daily basis.

Held in Carrot Common, room 212, 2nd floor, 7-8:30 p.m., entrance beside Book City. 348 Danforth Ave, Toronto ON

Depending on your age and color of your skin, choose the length of time with an exposed body part to maximize daily Vitamin D production.  Some studies say short exposure each day over the hottest days in the summer will produce enough vitamin D for the whole year, but in the winter there is always cod liver oil or vitamin D supplementation. 

Determine the length of time needed based on the following estimates:

• the lightest: newborn 5 minutes, child 10 minutes, teen 15 minutes, adult 20 minutes

• the darkest: 30 minutes for newborn, 1 hour for a child, 1.5 hours for a teen, adult 2 hours

natural oils on your skin are needed for the conversion of cholesterol to vitamin D so leave skin unwashed for 20 minutes before and after sun exposure, or just apply sun screen afterwards.

Rotate the exposed part each day maximum for skin cancer prevention.

free

xox dr millie lytle nd, mph

“rain, rain, go away” segment

http://www.globaltoronto.com/video/index.html?releasePID=a_P8w_Aumy3W_E_rpUm4fxy_eDnz_HoA

xox dr millie lytle nd mph

xox dr millie lytle nd mph

xox dr millie lytle nd

xox dr millie lytle nd, mph

xox dr millie lytle nd, mph