Benefits of Dandelion

Dandelion is a traditional herb which is widely used by physicians to cleanse and tone the liver, stimulate bile flow and prevent gallstones.

Supplementing your diet with Dandelion Complex will ensure a healthy liver and bile function, a healthy digestion, relief of indigestion, heartburn and gastritis.

It also provides relief of fluid retention and inflammation. In some cases, it can also help in the control of obesity.

Popular Fixes

There are several other alternative medicines that have therapeutic value and hence are hugely popular. Some of them are:

Aromatherapy - This form of therapy involves tech use of essential oils during a massage. They can also be used in the bath, inhaled, dabbed on pulse points, used as compresses and occasionally but only under proper direction, ingested.

Reflexology - Or zone therapy as it is commonly called, is a form specialized foot massage which concentrates on specific areas on the soles of the feet. These areas or zones are though to be connected to the major organ systems of tech body. Stimulating and kneading these points is believed to enable therapists to detect an treat several conditions and ailments afflicting the body as a whole.

Hydrotherapy - Spa treatment or "taking the waters" is probably one of the oldest and the most natural forms of therapy. Form showering and sea-bathing to sitting in a warm bath or dipping at a warm natal spring, water stimulates blood flow, relaxes muscles, eases pain and invigorates tech system. Hydrotherapy is the use of water for special treatments sand with modern technology, the techniques may include steam baths, jacuzzi, aerated pools, fine shower sprays or sit baths.

There can be no disputing the fact that alternative medicines are definitely here to stay. Some of these alternative methods of treatment have their origins much earlier than that of allopathic medicine and have withstood the test of time. What remains to be seen is the extent to which alternative medicine is accepted as available alternative around the world and how fast the shift will take.

Ayurvedic Medicine

Ayurveda is an intricate system of healing that originated in India more than 6,000 years ago. There is historical evidence of Ayurveda in the ancient books of wisdom known as tech Vedas. It has become increasingly popular in the West as awareness grows and its benefits have become known.

The term Ayurveda is derived from two Sanskrit words. Ayur, meaning "life" and Veda meaning "knowledge" or "study of". Ayurveda is thus more than just a medical system, it is the science of life. The basis of Ayurvedic medicine is to achieve an equilibrium with one's true self by using the inherent principles of nature. The three basic forces (tridoshas) are:

• Vata (like the wind), this force controls movement and the nervous system.
• Pitta (like the sun), is the source of energy and controls bio-chemical and digestive proceses.
• Kapha (like the moon), controls cell growth and tissue development.

Ayurveda believes that we are all made up of unique proportions of vata, pitta and kapha. The ratios of the doshas vary in each individual and because of this. Ayurveda sees each person as a special mixture that accounts for our diversity. When any of the doshas accumulate, Ayurveda will suggest specific lifestyle and nutritional guidelines to assist the individual in reducing the dosha that has become excessive. There may also be some herbal supplements prescribed to hasten the healing process.

Ayurvedic physicians believe disease can arise because of physical causes (infections and tissue degeneration, etc), mental causes (depression, prolonged anger, etc) accidental causes (blows, cuts,stings, etc) and natural causes (old age, wrong dietary approach, etc). These physicians examine the history of the patient, paying special attention to diet, the tongue , breathing and sleeping pattern and emotional and mental state of mind.

Naturopathy

Consciously or unconsciously, this form of therapy has been practised in some form or other since time immemorial. Bathing a sprain or fasting when unwell is a form of naturopathy. It has had its famous proponents throughout the ages, including the ancient Greek physician hippocrates whose principal axiom was "First do no harm".

Naturopathy as a system of healing was first develop in the 19th century by a German therapist, Vincent Preissnitz. n the 1890s, American Benedict Lust was successfully treated by these methods under the care of an Austrian priest called Sebastian Kneipp and subsequently established a school of taining in teh US for it.

Naturopathy or "nature cure" is both a way of life and a concept of healing by employing various natural means of treating human infirmities and diseases. Though eclectic in scope, the philosophy guiding the practice of naturophaty is clearly defined as helping the body heal itself in the least invasive, most fundamentally curative manner possible.

A naturopathic cure follows this kind of programme:

• Elimination of "evil habits" or the "weed of life" such as overeating , alcoholic drinks, drugs, the use of tea, coffee and cocoa that contain poisons, meat eating, improper hours of living, waste of vital forces. lowered vitality, worry, etc.
• Corrective habits such as correct breathing, correct exercise, right mental attitude, etc, are inculcated.
• New principles of living are instilled through proper fasting, selection of food, hydropathy, light and air baths, mud baths, osteopathy, electropathy, helicopathy, etc.

Naturopaths believe that illnesses arise as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle and poor posture. Restoring the body to a natural state by natural means allows the body to recover.

Acupuncture

The first record of acupuncture is found in the 4,700-year-old Huang Di Nei Jing (The yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine), claimed to be the oldest medical textbook in the world. it is said to be written based on theories by Shen Nung, the father of Chinese medicine.

Shen Nung theorized that the body has an energy running throughout it. This energy force is kn own as the qi (roughly pronounced, "chee"). The qi consists of all essential life activities which include the emotional, spiritual, mental and the physical aspects of life. A person's health is influenced by the flow of qi in the body, in combination with the universal forces of yin and yang.

Yin energy (reflecting the feminine side) is said to be "soft", "dark", "cold" and "dry". In a healthy person, yin and yang energies flow throughout the body and are in constant flux ever changing to produce balance and harmony. If the flow of qi is insufficient, unbalanced or interrupted, yin and yang become unbalanced and illness may occur.

The qi flows through 12 main channels or meridians and two accessory channels. All along the meridians through which the qi flows, there are acupuncture points where the qi can be stimulated and the flow corrected. So an acupuncturist will, after making his assessment, place needles along the selected points in order to correct any imbalances in tech flow of energy that has been detected.

Homeopathy

Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician was one of the earliest person to advocate homeopathy as a treatment. Homeopathy means "similar suffering". Its basic principles include the notion encapsulated in the Latin phrase Similia similibus curentur - Like cures like".

Homeopathy is a scientific system of healing which assists the natural tendency of tech body to heal itself. it recognizes that all symptoms of ill health are expressions of disharmony within the whole person,so it is the whole person that needs treatment, not just the disease.

According to practitioners, homeopathic remedies work by stimulating the body's own healing power. This power is very great and many complaints heal them selves unaided. it is only when the healing process is faulty, blocked or slowed down that homeopathic remedy is needed to act as a stimulus to the curative powers of the body.

Homeopathy is the most holistic of all alternative medicines. Homeopathy believes in the "total cure" of the person an not just the superficial symptoms of the illness.

The return of Alternative Medicine

The traditional western mode of practising medicine is undergoing a shake-up as more and more people are looking elsewhere for answers and turning back to the not-so-new practice of "alternative medicine". According to the Oxford Dictionary, alternative medicine is "any type of treatment that promotes health without using artificial drugs". A recent article on "Traditional and Complementary Healing" states that " alternative medicine is also termed complementary medicine".

Many alternative healing traditions have survived hundreds of years. Other systems such as homeopathy and psychotherapy and holistic treatment have come about more recently in conjunction with scientific medicine. These traditional medicines are now moving into the mainstream. Alternative medicine is the medicine of the 21 st century.

The term "alternative medicine' covers a vast range of activities which are grouped into various categories. The complete systems of healing have a theoretical base as tot he causation of disease in addition to their diagnostic, investigative an therapeutic understanding. In this respect, they share some similarities to orthodox medicine.

Most of these systems of healing have an educational framework and by and large consider themselves to be competent enough to deal with he problems that come their way.