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Natural remedies/vitamins/suplements

Posted by calais50 • 6/05/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic

Do you swear by natural remedies or take vitamins and supplements? What natural remedies actually work?

I am pretty skeptical of natural remedies, and I don't generally take vitamins, although I sometimes take a multivitamin. I have a friend who takes about 8 vitamins and supplements each day, which seems dangerous to me.

User Comments

6/05/08

shagnast2100

yea I agree I have never been one for that crap either. I used to take supplements and daily multi-vitamin when I was working out or sports, but once you stop it seemed my body feel sharply out of shape..So I'm all natural now..haha

[reply]
1. 6/05/08
  
  richrf
  
  Hi,
  
  I visited your blog. Nice blog. Rated you. Good luck.
  
  Rich
6/05/08

richrf

I pretty much take care of myself. Haven't been to a doctor in more than 25 years. In order of impact to my health:

1) Diet
2) Moderate exercise, massage and stretching
3) Rest and relaxed breathing

When I get ill (e.g. flu), I use massage (Tuina) techniques that I learned from a Chinese doctor. I will use appropriate foods and herbs. Sometimes, though very rarely, I will use some off the shelf herbs or rubs (e.g Tea Tree oil). One thing. Whenever I get ill, it very rarely gets bad because I treat it properly.

Also, I consider illness, just a cleaning out of the body of some junk that I may have been eating or that may have collected because of lack of exercise. So, I just treat it as Nature's way of cleaning out the body and getting things right again.

BTW, today I am visiting blogs so I just rated you. Nice blog.

Rich

[reply]
1. 6/05/08
  
  calais50
  
  Yay! Thanks Rich.
6/05/08

Daudleikr

I take iron supplements. I should probably be taking omega3 but I can't be arsed.

"Haven't been to a doctor in more than 25 years"
You could have colon cancer, you should go see your doctor.

[reply]
1. 6/05/08
  
  richrf
  
  No, don't worry. I'm fine. But it doesn't stop doctors from trying to scare me, into going every year. It is a great marketing tactic. Much of my good health is due to the fact that I don't go to doctors. I've just learned how to take care of myself. Ditto for my ex-wife and my son. But if a doctor works for you, then I am glad that it is.
  
  Rich
2. 6/05/08
  
  Daudleikr
  
  If you get colon cancer and die, I'm going to laugh my ass off. (pun intended) Or if your wife gets breast cancer, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer, gyn cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal cancer or vulvar cancer.
  Or if you get testicular cancer, prostate cancer or penile cancer. I'll even write a blog post about it.
  
  I suggest you do some reading about cancer if you really think you're immune because you're "healthy". Everybody should get checked regularly.
3. 6/05/08
  
  richrf
  
  Thanks for the concern, but I am really just fine. Thanks any way.
  
  Rich
6/05/08

AmyOops

me and my family take vitamins. the hubby is a veggie so i need to make sure the kids have all the essential vitamins they need.

[reply]
6/05/08

timethief

There's a BS line that goes like this: "If you eat properly then you are getting all the vitamins and minerals you need." The BS part of it is that the diets we choose to eat and the "foodstuff" we consume do not contain the nutrient values that the natural and raw foods did contain that people ate 30 years ago. Worse still is that the "additives" to processed foods do not address these deficiencies. And it doesn't end there when you consider the pesticide and herbicide residues in the food we now eat.

[reply]
1. 6/05/08
  
  richrf
  
  I am not sure what kind of accessibility people have to reasonable food, but I never found the need for vitamins. There are many aspects to getting "sufficient food nutrition", including:
  
  1) The ability for fluids and blood to flow, because they are the delivery system. Minimize obstructions that are caused by fats, stress, scarred muscles, etc.
  
  2) The quality of the whole food. The body is designed to assimilate food, not the constituent parts. For example, you do not put carbon and hydrogen into a car, you put oil. Carbon would just gum things up.
  
  3) The quantity of food that you eat at any one time. The body is not able to assimilate too much at one time, so smaller portions are better. Less equals more in this case.
  
  4) Eat small at breakfast, more at lunch, and less at dinner. The body cannot assimilate foods and nutrients well in the morning, because it is not ready to, or at night when it is shutting down.
  
  4) Don't drink cold liquids while eating. It is like throwing ice water on a flame. It kills the warmth necessary for proper assimilation.
  
  So, we in the U.S have adopted lifestyles that are quite counterproductive, and which you will not find in other countries, where the medical costs/capita are a fraction of the U.S, while still having longer life expectancies. I think it is possible to have a very healthy, long life, without vitamins and such, but it does require lifestyle changes. It is just not luck or genes. My ex-wife and son have had similar healthy experiences in their life.
  
  Rich
2. 6/05/08
  
  Daudleikr
  
  Here in Norway, all the kids are fed cod liver oil. Nom nom nom. Adults take Omega 3 supplements, because it's extremely good for you in every single way - especially with your cardiovascular system.
  
  In my opinion, it is all about luck. Anyone can get a disease, regardless of how healthy their lifestyle is. Anyone can die; Jim Fix is an example.
  Having a healthy lifestyle only reduces the risk, it doesn't eliminate it.
3. 6/05/08
  
  richrf
  
  A person came to me with very high blood pressure. About 160/110. He was told by his doctor that he would be on very high doses of medication for the rest of his life. He was getting sick from the drugs, so he took my advice on change in lifestyle. Food, rest, exercise (I taught him some Tai Chi). I also recommended a M.D. who understood and educated herself on alternative approaches to health. He was off the medication and normal blood pressure (110/70) win six months. No luck. Just good understanding of good health.
  
  Rich
6/05/08

suburbqueen

Does chocolate count?

[reply]
1. 6/05/08
  
  richrf
  
  Well, chocolate always counts! Love chocolate, but always in moderation. Yummy.
6/05/08

huggingthecoast

I take Vitamin C and E, Flaxseed, Calcium, and a multivitamin.

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6/05/08

Googlelady

I prefer always to take natural remedies

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9/28/09

mike2305

I always use 500mg per day of vitamin c supplement. If I feel unwell I will up that to 2,000-5,000mg per day. It works every time for me.

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9/28/09

tinat

Natural vitamins etc are good if you suffer from a weak immune system or have dry skin problems etc. They work for me!

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9/28/09

urikalish

If you are generally healthy and have a more or less balanced diet, there’s no need to add anything. Vitamin overdose can be very dangerous, resulting in a serious illness.

Let’s take Vitamin C for example. In spite of what you might have heard, it was proven totally ineffective against the common cold, but adding Vitamin C supplement will decrease your mitochondria production. The Mitochondria is the organelle in your cells that produces ATP – the basic chemical energy molecule. Having less ATP, means a reduced endurance capacity.

The medical benefits of multivitamins are inconclusive. They can be simply ineffective, since many of their ingredients contradict each other, and some Vitamins must be taken with some other types of food to be effectively absorbed in the body.

Even with Antioxidants, it is still not clear if adding them artificially to your diet will do nothing, reduce damaged DNA related diseases, or will do just the opposite causing a rise in Cancerous cells.

Eat less, exercise, and smile often. The rest is pure luck.

[reply]
9/28/09

nogueira

I have fibromyalgia. A natural medicine has helped me a lot. Surely I have to take some others not natural. Just having a natural medicine I'm avoiding the crises of intertitial cystitis. But even they are natural you must have a doctor to prescribe them.

[reply]
1. 9/28/09
  
  timethief
  
  @nogueira
  Please go here for more information www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/fibromyalgia
9/28/09

sjtavo

I absolutely do - I use my best friend as a consultant because she does not take any medications unless absolutely necessary, including for her daughter. Herbal supplements and treatments are an every day course for me - fish oil, green tea, fruco-thin (or something like that, natural energy supplement that doesn't make you jumpy), my multi-vitamin, calcium (from when I had osteomyelitis - keeps my bones strong), flax seed. If I'm sick, I get the herbal remedy from her. Problem sleeping - herbal remedy that really works. We over-chemical ourselves and over-medicate when simple supplements will work just as well if not better!

[reply]
9/28/09

geekchick

I read a lot of professional science journals (the kind only five people in the world ever read), and I have to say that the evidence is in favour of natural products. Turmeric, oregano, and a lot of other spices are mentioned quite frequently, and the Journal of Applied Microbiology is hardly schlock science.

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