212 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
- Include virgin olive oil in the daily diet, and use fl axseeds or fl axseed
capsules. - Eat plenty of raw seeds, nuts, sprouts, and beans, and sometimes
cooked beans and seeds.
f Take evening primrose oil (GLA) capsules.
f Use blood- and skin-cleansing herbs. Try three parts burdock root,
two parts red clover fl ower, and two parts dandelion root.
~ Liver and bowel cleanses and detoxifi cation programs are helpful; see
chapter 6.
~ Dr. Christopher often had patients wash in a soothing decoction of
equal parts of burdock root, chickweed leaf, and marshmallow root.
Alternatively, sponge yourself down using a mixture of plantain leaf
and chickweed leaf.
See “Psoriasis” and “Eczema” for further herbal information.
diabetes
More than 1 percent of people in the West are affected by diabetes. In
America, the land of sugar and junk food, it is the direct cause of one in
seven deaths. Diabetes manifests when the body fails to regulate the
metabolism of glucose via a pancreatic hormone. If the pancreatic
hormones are unable to convert a suffi cient amount of glycogen into
glucose, then other organs — primarily the thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary
glands — will become involved, leading to their eventual decline. In some
cases, diseases or dysfunction of these glands can actually result in
diabetes. If there is a history of diabetes in your family, it is advisable to
take preventive action through childhood and into adulthood.
Those who have diabetes before the age of twenty-fi ve are classed as
juvenile diabetics, and it is believed that autoimmune factors may be
involved in their condition. After the age of forty it is classifi ed as late-
onset diabetes. Conventional treatment of the problem involves daily
insulin injections,
but those with less severe diabetes can measure their urine periodically
and use tablets to control their blood sugar levels. If you suffer from
hypoglycemia, then be aware that it is possible for this condition to
develop into diabetes if it becomes severe.
High blood glucose levels (with glucose-starved cells) can lead to
weight loss, thirst, and an increase in the amount of urine passed each day.
If untreated, the person will begin to feel weak and can eventually pass
out or even fall into a coma. Trauma, stress, and shock can push a person
into late-onset diabetes.
diseases 212