The reason i am passionate about this is because I’ve known folks, as well as myself, who spent tons of money chasing one alleged cure or treatment after another and who in the end may have ended up hurting themselves in the process-
I know when people are hurting, not feeling well, they get desperate- I’ve been there myself- and it’s hard not to fall for the hype or claims made of one supplement or another- and it really bothered me that unscrupulous producers of vitamins, minerals, herbs etc would take advantage of the desperation that people have like that-
I’m not against all natural products- for sure there are3 some legit claims out there- but for folks with autoimmune problems, even things like heart disease, cancers etc- they really really need to research a particular herbal product or vitamin product or whatever, and see if there are any serious side effects that could happen- like many docs say- just because something is ‘natural’ doesn’t mean it’s safe for everyone
Some popular herbs for various conditions like anxiety, nervousness, low energy etc can have serious side effects in certain people=- Other ‘natural’ products really whack hormone levels and can cause all kinds of ill effects-
If you have high blood pressure, you need to be very careful of certain herbs- they can raise blood pressure to dangerous levels- Yuo have autoimmune problem too- so you need to really be careful because you don’t want ot cause more inflammation- more so than other folks-
I always research key phrases when looking into new herbs or minerals- such as say “Hawthorn berries and autoimmune diseases’, or ‘watermelon seed extract and diverticulitis’ etc- and always try to read the medical sites along with herbal sites as herbal sites often don’t mention problems that could be associated with an herb- medical sites do clinical trials and such and are more apt to warn about possible problems
It usually takes a few hours of research, but after possibly harming myself in the past- I now take the time to do as thorough a research as possible- if I’m not comfortable in the least- I’ll pass on the herb-
Magnesium is a pretty good mineral- pretty safe- and will likely be the most help- olive leaf I believe is a form of antibiotic/antibacterial- so be careful with that one- not sure the jury is out on whether it destroy healthy bacteria or not- coudl also interfere with antibiotics- Hawthorn is for heart and circulation, and be godo for high blood pressure- but it can itneract with certain meds- here’s a site with a list:
http://www.umm.edu/health/medical/altmed/herb/hawthorn
Again, thanks. Hawthorn Berry raised my resting heart rate significantly and It dropped when I stopped taking it.
I’ve spent a great deal of money on supplements, herbs and essential oils. Some things are effective: lemon essential oil in a diffuser cured cold systems overnight; pau de arco lotion cleared up impetigo on my son.
Between my son’s asthma and my autoimmune disease I have learned to be cautious with advice regarding natural treatments.
There’s really no such thing as a cure-all that works just as well for every single person, there’s a lot of variability and individual tolerance. About the only thing I’d brag on to a high extent for just about everybody would be fresh dietary garlic, but some dislike the taste as well as the potential breath and body odor, and those who are taking prescription blood thinners should avoid it.
Turmeric for me was pleasant up to a point, I felt good, nice warm tingly sensation in my extremities, aches in my lower back and left knee were reduced to a comfortable level, even seemed to have a little effect upon mood to the positive. But, even though it’s “dose to tolerance” meaning that there’s no toxic dose of it, just take what you can handle, I found that I couldn’t take too much of it without digestive distress. This was fairly high potency liquid in vegan gel caps from Gaia Herbs here in NC, reputed at that time to be one of the better ones.
Another that I can speak very highly of personally is L-Theanine for anxiety and mild depression. Very subtle, just smoothed off the rough edges and kept everything on a nice, calm, even keel. No other effects at all, not upon me, not that I noticed.
SAM-e is another good one, but it’s something of a stimulant so be very cautious if anxiety is any issue for you. Clinically proven to have positive effect on not just mood and mild depression but also joint pain and liver function. Sounds like snake oil salesman time with all those seemingly unrelated conditions for which it’s beneficial, but clinical studies on all of it. I got turned on to SAM-e when my dog’s veterinary oncologist prescribed it for him to help liver function during chemo. He perked up and seemed to feel so much better which was a surprise, as that wasn’t the reason I was giving it to him, so I started looking around.