Aromatherapy Haven

When I first learned that I had acid reflux I knew that I didn’t want to take medication for the rest of my life. I wanted a natural remedy for acid reflux. I have never been a person who enjoys popping pills if I don't need to. I’m going to share with you a few of the natural remedies that I have tried and had some success with.

Apple Cider Vinegar

I first learned about vinegar for acid reflux from a medical expert. He told me that my stomach actually needs acid. The main reason I had acid reflux was due to the fact my stomach was not producing the acid that it needed. The solution was to take a teaspoon of vinegar to help my stomach out with the production of acid. It worked extremely well!

Eating Celery

This was another remedy that I experimented with. What I tried was eating a piece of celery before, during, or after each meal. What I found out was that it would help relax my stomach. I will have a real relaxing and soothing effect on your stomach. This is well worth trying if nothing else seems to work.

Milk

Try drinking a glass of milk before each meal. This will only work if you don't have problems with dairy. I experimented with this one myself. I always found that milk helped me with spicy foods so I tried it on my acid reflux. This worked well for me.

Yogurt

As long as you don’t have a problem with dairy you should find yogurt to be very soothing. Yogurt is really good at helping people diegest their foods better and is generally good for the stomach. A little yogurt after each meal can go a long ways.

Vegetable Diet

Vegetables and fruits can help reduce acid reflux a great deal. What is important is to find out witch ones don't bother your stomach. Some people will find citric to bother their stomach. There are also some people who may find that the citric fruits will offer relief from acid reflux. Some people will find that some citric fruits can actually help your stomach produce the amounts of acid that it really does need.

Stay Away From Red Meat

I have found that many red meats will bother my acid reflux. This may have to do with the amount of grease and fats that are found in it. Keep red meat to a minimum, make sure it is lean if you do eat it, and cook it in the right ways to reduce the amount of grease.

All of these natural remedies should help you stop acid reflux. Go a head and give a few a try!

Do you persistently have trouble falling asleep at night? Do you consistently wake up in the middle of the night? Do you awake in the wee hours of the morning and can not get back to sleep? Does your sleep pattern or lack of sleep cause you to function below par during the day? If any of these scenarios sound familiar to you, you may be experiencing insomnia.

It is estimated that over 30% of adults experience insomnia periodically with over 10% experiencing chronic insomnia. Persistent lack of sleep can be detrimental to the mental and physical health of the body. During the act of sleeping our bodies under go various processes which focus on repair and regeneration.  

It is important however to remember that insomnia is a symptom and not a medical issue unto itself, meaning something is causing it. Therefore if you experience chronic insomnia you need to visit a physician to determine the underlying reason for your inability to sleep.

Many individuals do not like the idea of taking medication especially sleeping aids. If you fall into this category there are many lifestyle changes and natural remedies that you may find beneficial. For instance what you ingest can have a significant effect on your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Foods that contain stimulants should be avoided. Caffeine products such as coffee, chocolate, most teas, and soda pop should be cut out of your diet. Stop smoking, nicotine is a stimulant. Ensure you are getting enough vitamin B12 and iron in your diet, this can be simplified by taking a supplement. Over eating in general can have adverse effects on the amount and quality of your sleep, avoid eating at least three hours before you plan on going to sleep.

Exercise is important to your overall health including your ability to sleep, regular exercise is a must. Many experts suggest exercising in the morning, if this is not possible than make sure you exercise early in the evening. Incorporate relaxation practices into your daily life, this can be as simple as locking yourself in the bathroom for ten minutes a day to simply unwind from your hectic day. Stress and tension have a very negative effect on your body’s ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.

If you are looking for a natural remedy you may want to try essential oils and aromatherapy. This option is easy to use and requires very little time or effort. There are a number of different oils that you can use and a variety of applications. A few of the essential oils that you can use to promote sleep and relaxation are: chamomile, neroli, oregano, sandalwood, ylang ylang, tangerine, and lavender.

To use essential oils for insomnia or to promote sleep in general there are several different applications that can be implemented.

1. Use several drops of your chosen essential oil in your diffuser, this should be done in the evening while you are winding down getting ready for bed. Never leave your diffuser on throughout the night, it must always be attended as it is a heat source.

2. Use 8 to 10 drops of the essential oil of choice in your bath water. Add the oil only after you have finished running your water and make sure you mix it into the water so that it isn’t sitting on top of the water in a little puddle.

3. Another option is to put several drops of the essential oil on a tissue and place it inside your pillow case. You will have to replace the tissue nightly before sleep.

4. Mix your essential oil into your favorite carrier oil and massage onto your body before bed.

Play around with the applications until you find the one that works best for you and for best results chose an essential oil that you enjoy the fragrance of. Again you may have to experiment with a couple of different essential oils until you find which work best for you. Another option is to mix a couple together for instance chamomile and lavender work together very effectively. Be patient and use over a few weeks before you determine whether an oil is working for you or not.

To learn more visit Essential Oils, Aromatherapy and Pheromones.

One of the basic principles about natural health remedies is that they are food. Natural remedies come from plant roots, stems, and leaves. These plant parts, herbs, are then dried and have very little other processing that would affect their potency. Of course, you have some manufacturers that may apply excess heat or vacuum in their processing, which would reduce the herbs quality.

Natural remedies are also considered all those products, single or formulations that consist of herbs, minerals, vitamins, and special natural products.

Remedy History

Natural health remedies have a long history with all cultures. In fact before drugs ever existed the only medication available to doctors was natural remedies. These natural health remedies were the plant themselves, teas and tinctures.

The Start of Drugs

Once drugs started to appear on the market, doctors and patients found these to be easy to apply and use. All drugs at the time came from processing plants and extracting the active ingredient for a specific condition. Later drugs started to appear that were synthetic and chemical similar to the active ingredient in plants.

Any food or chemical that is synthetic is processed differently by your body. It may cause an allergic reaction or it may produce a side effect. Even drugs produced from plants will produce side effects. This is an important consideration when taking drugs, since some drugs have side effects equal to the body condition they are trying to eliminate. For example a high blood pressure drug may cause high blood pressure if it is used to long.

All drugs have side effects if used to long. Drugs should only be used for a short term. Use of drugs for a loing time will kill you with their side effect. Once a doctor puts his patient on one drug, it sometimes wouldn’t be long before they are on 3 or 4 more drugs. Many people are on 10 and sometimes even more drugs at the same time.

When you are on one drug, it can produce a side effect that requires another drug to suppress that side effect. Most drugs do not cure, but suppresses the body’s illness or condition so that the body has a chance to heal. After that time, you should come off that drug, but many doctors continue to prescribe these drugs, even after you don’t need them.

Using Natural Remedies

Natural health remedies typically don’t have side effects. If you use them in high concentration and too often, then you could have side effects. Or, if you are allergic to a specific plant, then, you could have side effects.

Natural remedies have not been known to kill people. Drugs have a horrible history in that thousands of people have been kill by the use of drugs. Remedies have such a long history that every type of illness or diseases has a remedy that is useful for that illness.

You can always research what remedies you need to help your condition. Doctors don’t like that you do this, since you take away business from them when you find a remedy that works for you.

Natural remedies are also used for preventing disease, whereas drugs are not design for this purpose. Drugs suppress a symptom; remedies give whole body support and specific support for the indicated illness that they target.

In his book, Herbal Pathfinders, Robert Conrow and Arlene Hechksel describe the lives of many herbalists. Here are a few comments from this book.

Vasant lad, says that “Ayurveda sprang from cognitions that occurred in the meditative minds of the ancient seers of truth…”

Wabum says that “usually herbalists are considered to be medicine people of a certain degree… their work in the past could be considered the work of a doctor, psychologist, counselor, or teacher.”

Ellwood Carr says that “out of all the plants on the face of the earth, 90% of human energy around the world comes from only 15 species of plants…”

Natural Health Remedies such as herbs, herbal formulations, minerals, vitamins are now finding new application by consumers. Consumers are slowly becoming more independent and are questioning the excess use of drugs by doctors. They are returning to the use of natural remedies that have been effective for centuries and have little or no side effects.