Alternative Medicine and Your Diet

One of the things that practitioners of the alternative medicine industry push is the fact that what you put into your body has an intense effect on your health. Many practitioners will recommend herbs, vitamins and other supplements to assist the average person with occasional complaints, but for people with chronic or serious illnesses a special diet is often recommended.

There are many different diets that are commonly prescribed by alternative medicine practitioners for those patients with regular complaints. Patients with diabetes and acid reflux are often put on diets to help improve their conditions. For more serious illnesses like cancer, more strict diets are enforced. Many people have had incredible luck beating cancer by using a macrobiotic diet. Other people who have complaints of fatigue, weight gain, or just general poor health can often benefit from a detoxifying or cleansing diet. It is important to follow a medical professional’s advice when trying a diet, so be sure to check with your practitioner before starting any restrictive diet.

Herbally Alternative

What is it about herbs and natural supplements that make so many doctors flinch? Is it that these supplements are actually not good for us, or is it something else? While some doctors are beginning to support patient use of herbal remedies such as Echinacea, others are highly opposed to the use of some of the most beneficial herbal supplements on the market.

There is some reason for caution on the part of the medical community: many of these herbal remedies have not been tested thoroughly by the FDA. However, many people claim that they will continue taking these herbal supplements despite the opinion of the FDA. So who is right? Many holistic practitioners feel that anything that seems to work does, in fact, work; therefore, there is no harm in drinking an herbal tea or taking a supplement to support and boost one’s immune system.

Criticizing Reiki

As with almost all other forms of alternative medicine and natural healing therapies, reiki is subject to come criticism. While there are no known direct negative effects of receiving reiki treatment, some members of the professional medical community fear that recipients of reiki (and other alternative medicine therapies) might forgo conventional methods of treatment in favor of the reiki treatment. While this is certainly a legitimate concern, many reiki practitioners have begun to advise their patients to seek conventional medical help in addition to receiving reiki.

Of course, there is no complete, definitive evidence proving the validity or efficacy of reiki. Most of the benefits reaped from reiki are attributed to mindset and the placebo effect. While this may be true, it is definitely not harmful to the patient. Some of the most disturbing criticism comes from religious circles that deplore reiki as a method of communicating with “Satan” or other occult practices. This should be viewed as subjective as reiki is not directly linked with established religion in any way.

What Can I Treat With Iridology?

There is a very simple answer for the above question: nothing. Iridology, which is a branch of alternative therapy that focuses on the eyes as a way of determining a patient’s health, is used for assessment only. It is a common misconception that Iridology is actually a practice used for diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.

Probably one of the biggest reasons that Iridology is often misunderstood is because most of the other forms of alternative medicine and therapy are actually treatments: acupuncture, herbal therapy, and homeopathy are a few of these treatment options. But Iridology is simply the study of the patient’s eyes to estimate current illnesses and to attempt to foresee any future illnesses. Once a patient has seen an Iridologist, he or she should seek more conclusive diagnosis from another medical professional, and then an appropriate treatment suggested by that same practitioner.

Your Personality and Your Disease Resistance

Researchers have recently been looking into why some people succumb to different chronic illnesses while others retain their good health. There has been a lot of discussion about the possibilities of a type of personality that is, in a very real way, “disease resistant”.

So how is this possible? Researchers have found that the way a person deals with stress greatly affects their ability to deal with illness and, as a result, they can successfully ward off severe chronic illness. It is thought that just by changing the outlook on everyday stressors  such as having a sense of humor about backing the car out of the garage with the door open can improve a person’s overall wellbeing. This also applies to people who already have chronic illnesses: there is a better survival rate among patients with positive attitudes than in patients with depression.

Healing Your Body Naturally: Drug Difficulties

There is a lot that can be said for natural healing and alternative medical therapies. While some therapies don’t have very conclusive research results, the benefits of some of these therapies are often a much better option than resulting to traditional medicine and the prescription drug market.

It is a fact that there are an increasing number of problems resulting from prescription drug abuse, overuse, and misuse. While prescription drug abuse falls on the patient, overuse and misuse falls on the doctor and the drug companies. Many drugs are prescribed for illnesses that will not respond to drug therapy. Other drugs are given in doses that are higher than needed, risking the patient’s overall health. And some physicians prescribe contraindicated drugs to a patient causing serious medical problems. Of course this is not to say that prescription drugs are bad; they should be used for their intended, proven purposes, especially in emergencies.

Music Therapy and Your Physical Wellbeing

Music therapy has become more and more popular over the last few years in part because the medical community is giving it more attention that it had before. Many hospitals actually have professional music therapists on staff who help admitted hospital patients with their symptoms through the practice of music therapy. The fact that music therapy is available through hospitals shows that the medical community is taking the practice much more seriously.

Music therapy, like many alternative therapies, has limited scientific proof of efficacy; however, the research that is available is complete and reassuring. Patients rarely if ever do worse after music therapy. But its rate of success depends largely on the personality of the patient. For medical purposes, music therapy is mostly used to bring pain relief to many patients who suffer from chronic conditions like cancer.

Healing Your Body Naturally: Antioxidants

Green and leafy. These are two of the most important things to remember when you are looking for foods high in antioxidants. But this is really not new information for most people, especially those who are natural healing proponents. But many people still aren�t sure why antioxidants are good for the body, or how they help.

Antioxidants boost the immune system. Basically, antioxidants help to protect the body at the cellular level. This can lower your risk of illnesses and infections. The chlorophyll in green, leafy vegetables will also help to protect the internal organs from damage. Plus, antioxidants promote the cleansing of the colon. It is important to take into consideration where your green, leafy vegetables come from; poor environmental conditions in the growing area can lower the vegetable’s ability to provide you with antioxidants. If this is a concern, take an antioxidant supplement.