Osteoporosis: A Hole Cure

Best Single Herb: Nettle

Best Combinations: Alfalfa, marshmallow, plantain, horsetail, oatstraw, wheat grass, hops; liquid chlorophyll; sarsaparilla (for hormonal balance); wild yam

Other Helpful Supplements: Food enzymes with hydrochloric acid (especially a protein digestive aid); Omega-3 oils; and vitamin D

Possible Causes: Improper digestion; mineral imbalance; calcium deficiency

Complementary Help: Eat raw honey; don’t drink distilled water; avoid meat, carbonated beverages, citrus fruits, and coffee; juice carrots and celery, eat powdered goat’s whey (add to juices), nuts, seeds, and fresh fish (salmon)

Osteoporosis is a loss of bony tissue and condition in which the bones become porous, making them brittle and easily broken or fractured. It is estimated that one in three women in the United States will suffer from this in their lifetime.

Prevention is the key for fighting osteoporosis, and it’s not too late to start now.

Many factors cause osteoporosis, including:

> Infections

> Injuries

> Osteoporosis of an adjacent bone

> Cushing’s disease

> Long-term steroid therapy

> Calcium and other mineral deficiency

> Lack of estrogen (as in menopause or a hysterectomy)

Osteoporosis is commonly found in women. Regular exercise will build bone strength and is one of the best preventative therapies against osteoporosis.

About overcoming an ailment with herbs

World-renowned holistic practitioner Dr. Paavo Airola says that honey increases calcium retention in the structural system. Raw honey is best because the enzymes are intact Add a little to your herb tea daily, or take some on a slice of whole-wheat bread with peanut butter. Any way you do it, honey can help your bones — so eat your honey, honey!

Nettle for the Holey

Nettle (Urtica dioica) also earned another well-deserved common name, stinging nettle. This plant’s nasty stinging hairs under its leaves will give you blisters and burning if you are unfortunate to touch it. Some people have stung themselves on purpose, however, claiming that if you suffer from arthritis, the sting of the nettle will offer an immediate cure. I wouldn’t recommend this because I’m not into sadomasochism, but for those of you who get stung unwittingly, the remedy for the sting is in the juice of the plant. If you don’t want to be anywhere near it, try some yellow dock or plantain on your rash; this is also an effective antidote.

Terms related to herbs or holistic health

Nutritive is an herbal property meaning that the plant has plenty of food value and may be used as a nourishing food.

Singing properties aside, nettle is a wonderfully useful herb. It is salty to the taste, and if you remember what that means from “What to Expect with Herbs,” when we talked about energetics, you might remember that the salty taste indicates a high amount of minerals, making it a nutritive. Nettle is rich in iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A, Bs, C, D, and K.

You can use nettle for osteoporosis to feed your body necessary minerals from nature. Nettle is also known by many moms as a great enhancer of breast milk. Likewise, if you are a farmer or have chickens, try feeding nettle to your chickens to help them produce more eggs. This herb has been used to treat infertility in females and has come in handy as a remedy for arthritis, gout, kidney inflammation, rickets, and jaundice. I could go on and on about the uses of this herb, but for now, we will get onto some other herbs and supplements that can help you with osteoporosis.

Other Herbs to Fill in the Gaps

Many times, those suffering with osteoporosis are already taking calcium supplements, but the calcium needs to be absorbed to be properly utilized. If digestion is insufficient to break down and absorb calcium, the minerals won’t help in the rebuilding of bone tissue.

Consider supplementing with a natural form of calcium (herbs), such as the combination listed in the table in the end of this chapter, since herbs will ensure you that you are getting a wide range of minerals. Otherwise, make sure your vitamin calcium supplement includes vitamin D. This vitamin is synthesized by our body when we get sunshine and helps us utilize calcium.

Some controversy arises over whether drinking distilled water leeches out minerals from the body. I suggest drinking distilled water only if you are on a short cleansing diet. Drink purified water, such as reverse osmosis water, instead. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had “reverse osteoporosis” water?

Juicing and ingesting vegetables daily will help you get easily absorbed minerals in your diet. Eat carrots for calcium and celery for sodium. Add powdered goat’s whey to this mixture for extra minerals. Also eat a more wholesome diet with more alkaline foods in case you are over-acidic (acid can be eating away at the holes in your bones).

About overcoming an ailment with herbs

You only need about 15 minutes per week in the sunshine for your skin to capture the vitamin D that you need, but some of us don’t get out much! Make sure you are getting your minimum sunshine intake — it’s good for you and your bones.

Leg Cramps Cramping Your Style?

Legs, Cramps, Twitches

Best Single Herb: Dulse

Best Combinations: Kelp, dulse, watercress, wild cabbage, horseradish, horsetail

Other Helpful Supplements: Magnesium; trace mineral supplement; calcium

Possible Cause: Mineral imbalance

Complementary Help: Stretch daily, exercise lightly

Leg cramps can be caused by overexertion of the muscles. Sometimes I will get a cramp in my foot or leg when I am wearing a heeled shoe all day; when I get to bed, my foot or leg will begin to cramp (to get me back I suppose). But some folks who don’t wear high heels are still affected by this condition.

Sometimes a cramp or twitch is due to a muscle that has been overworked or stretched improperly. This can happen by any of the following:

• Utilizing free weights or exercise equipment incorrectly
• Overexertion in any activity
• Sitting incorrectly at a desk all day while working
• Repetitive movements over long periods of time
• Spinal misalignment while doing any activity

Other than overexertion and occasional cramping, ongoing problems with leg cramps or twitches can indicate a mineral imbalance, usually due to a deficiency of at least one mineral. All minerals work to keep each other in balance and need to be in proper quantities to function correctly. For instance, iron is a mineral that is antagonistic to calcium, which means that calcium can inhibit or suppress the complete absorption of iron in the body. Therefore, taking a calcium supplement and an iron supplement at different times of the day is best. (That’s another reason to rely on herbs to give you the right balance of these minerals.) Leg cramps commonly occur during pregnancy, when the fetus is utilizing many nutrients, so Mom should take more, too.

Warnings about the use of herbs

Pay attention to recurring muscle pains, cramps, or spasms because this could be your body’s way of warning you that you are overworking your muscles. It could also indicate a mineral imbalance, which can be corrected nutritionally.

Do They Call You Thumper?

Leg or other muscle twitches are caused by involuntary spasms. These can happen anywhere in the body, including the hands and shoulders, or under your eyes. My husband thinks that when I say something important and my eye twitches, that means I am thinking more than what I’m saying. Some superstitious folks believe that a twitch in your eye is a sure sign that you’re lying — I think it’s a sign of mineral imbalance or nervous system depletion.

I once had a client who asked for some help for his twitching leg. His e-mail explained that as soon as he was getting ready to fall asleep each night, his leg would begin twitching uncontrollably! This twitching would aggravate him and keep him awake.

I was amused at his symptom because I couldn’t help getting the visual image of a dog shaking its leg when it’s tickled. When I realized that this person had a sense of humor, I also couldn’t refrain from addressing him as “Thumper.” Thumper went along with this name game while he began to take an herbal trace mineral supplement along with an herbal combination that would soothe his nervous system to help him relax.

Thumper says he put some of the liquid supplements in his bowl, lapped ‘em right up, and slept like a baby that very first night! He told me that he didn’t know anything about herbs and that he might have been “barking up the wrong tree” by consulting me, but so far he has seen results. All kidding aside, since he has taken his herbs, he has not reported any more thumpin’.

Terms related to herbs or holistic health

In the body, some minerals are antagonistic to each other, which means that they are not compatible taken together. This also means that one mineral will suppress the absorption of the other.

Loosening Up with Dulse

I chose the seaweed dulse as the best single herb in this case because we already talked about alfalfa, which is one of the most mineral-rich land plants. Dulse is a sea plant that may be as rich in minerals from the sea as alfalfa is from the soil.

Dulse is very similar to kelp, another sea “weed” used for its rich iodine content. Both of these herbs are also rich in potassium, which works with sodium to keep the acid/alkaline balance in the body, to strengthen the heart and other muscles, and to keep the body healthy. Just a little of this herb goes a long way. It usually comes in a liquid form, and you can add a few drops daily in your water to obtain all that dulse has to offer. Otherwise, an encapsulated combination made from kelp, dulse, watercress, wild cabbage horseradish, and horsetail will supply you with a great array of minerals rich in potassium, among other minerals. Supplementing with extra calcium and magnesium will round out your program and feed your nervous and structural systems to keep you from twitching and cramping.

About overcoming an ailment with herbs

Dulse is a rich source of iodine and makes an excellent remedy to feed an underactive thyroid.

Joint injuries can happen to anyone due to a fall, playing vigorous sports, break-dancing, bungie-jumping the Brooklyn bridge, climbing the face of Mt. Rushmore, or during other normal activities. Our joints give us mobility, and when they are injured, we can feel very restricted and frustrated. You probably want to heal yourself as quickly as possible when you have an injured joint so that you can get back to those sports again.

But, slow down cowboy or girl — it is important to understand that if joint injuries are a common, recurring problem with you, there could be a deeper underlying problem to address. I know, you hyperactive sports types are now thinking, “Oh great, here we go again — she’s getting deep on me.” I’ll spare you the details this time around: If you just had your first joint injury and would like to help yourself fast-forward through the healing process, take a look at comfrey and the other supplements first. Then we’ll get back to the in-depth talk a little later.

Comfrey: Comfy for Them Joints

Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) has been used for more than 150 years, both externally and internally, by probably millions of folks; it has been hailed as a miraculous herb for healing bones. Unfortunately, this miraculous herb is banned in many places, but you should understand its value and may want to secure some for yourself before it is gone everywhere. For our purposes, we will discuss the external application of comfrey only. If you cannot get comfrey, I will give you some useful substitutes that have also worked well for many. So make yourself comfy, and we’ll talk a little more about this herb.

First, take a look at some of comfrey’s values:

• It helps the body to promote new cell growth.
• It destroys and then prevents amoebic bacteria growth.
• It’s very rich in trace minerals, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamins A and C.
• It has also been used successfully for burns, wounds, open sores, ulcers, and gangrene, and has an amazing ability to basically weld tissues together.

Because comfrey seems to accelerate tissue repair, soak your injured ankle or wrist into a large bowel or bucket of comfrey decoction to heal injuries quickly. If you have a hip or knee joint injury, for instance, a fomentation or a comfrey poultice would be more appropriate.

Warnings about the use of herbs

Comfrey has a great reputation amongst herbalists and a bad reputation with the FDA. Because many herbal companies comply with the FDA and do not use it in their formulas, comfrey is hard to find — and even banned in many places. The ban is based on a rat study that showed liver damage after the rat was highly overdosed on the herb. However, most applications of comfrey are used externally anyway!

For all-over joints (an Evel Knieval type) you can certainly make a tubful and soak in the bath!

Herb Lore: information related to holistic health

Why is it that something that has been growing out of the ground for hundreds of years and used by many moms to treat their family’s injuries has now become banned based on a rat study? How is that possible when at the same time, sweeteners synthesized from petroleum by-products and flavorings made from old tires are being legally added to sodas and many foods daily? When did we get so ignorant that we need the government to take away our thoughtful use of plants as foods and medicines? And what are we thinking when we believe that these manmade chemicals are safe for us just because the FDA approved them? Just a few thoughts to get the brain wheels turning!

Other supplements to consider when comfrey is not available include:

• Glucosamine sulfite and chondroitin are supplements that have been used both together and separately to support the joints, with good results.
• Calcium with magnesium and vitamin D works as a team to help you absorb the calcium and aid in bone healing.
• Uña de gato (cat’s claw) or yucca both may help with any inflammation while you recover.
• Reducing the inflammation usually will alleviate your pain, but if not, use white willow bark in place of aspirin.
• A combination of yarrow (which reduces inner heat associated with injury), mullein, plantain, and rehmannia all have healing properties and support the structural system. If comfrey is not available, a mixture of any of the previously listed herbs will still support your recovery.

Healing Is a Joint Effort

If you are continually getting joint injuries, you may have some other issues going on that could be aggravating your problem. Consider a hair analysis to determine if you could have too much calcium in your body or some sort of great mineral imbalance that needs attention. Yes, too much calcium is possible.

• See your joint specialist, and get his or her assessment.
• If there is a misalignment in the joints, a chiropractor can help.
• If there is some significant deterioration in your cartilage or other joint tissues, you may be having a problem with digestion that could be creating a problem in your structural system. Proper digestion is essential for absorbing the minerals and nutrients needed by our structural system.

Let me explain. Our internal chemistry lab is a very complicated system that requires balance for perfect health. One of these balances is our pH balance between acidity and alkalinity. If the body is too acidic, it can harbor the overgrowth of bacteria, parasites, and fungus — and it even can make a perfect environment for growing cancer. On the other hand, being too alkaline is just as dangerous — and being severely too alkaline means death. Needless to say, balance is important. Diet and physical or emotional stress can throw this pH balance out of kilter.

About overcoming an ailment with herbs

I commonly see people who suffer from arthritis and other structural problems also have problems with overacidity and poor digestion. The only way to get completely well is to support the digestion at the same time you work with the structural system.

Pain usually results when the body is too acid, just like in fibromyalgia, arthritis, rheumatism, osteoarthritis, and recurring joint injuries. This is because the body tries to compensate for the overacidity in the body by neutralizing the acid with calcium. Calcium is alkaline and is stored in the bones.

So why are you overly acidic? Here are a few clues:

• Your digestion is poor (usually the cause for the overacidity in the first place).
• You are not getting enough calcium in your diet.
• There is a mineral imbalance in the body (minerals all work together in an intricate balance).
• Your absorption of minerals is poor due to mineral imbalance, improper diet, and poor digestion.
• You’re experiencing high levels of stress.
• You’re getting lots of physical exercise.

These factors can make it difficult for the body to properly utilize the calcium that you do ingest. In its attempt to compensate and keep you alive, your body takes its alkaline calcium from your largest storehouse of calcium: your bones. This process will eventually weaken your entire structural system, and you will see more injuries and displacements, such as back misalignments, stiff necks, injuries, and aching muscles and joints. I see this happen with the elderly too often; their hips finally give out and they fall, shattering the already weakened bones.

When this calcium-robbing business continues, the body also needs sodium to keep calcium in the blood stream. Guess where it gets the sodium? From your joints! Your joints contain one of the largest stores of sodium in the body. So, now you can see why you would want to support your digestion for the prevention of joint injuries — or any structural problems, for that matter.

Herbs and supplements that support digestion include:

• Papaya
• Peppermint
• Spearmint
• Liquid chlorophyll
• Food enzymes with or without hydrochloric acid
• Ginger
• Catnip
• Marshmallow
• Pepsin