HERB SPECIALIST

B  U  L  L  E  T  I  N

Issue 3                                                                                                                               February 2002

This month’s Herb Specialist Bulletin is all about the    Digestive System and its suggested remedies.

What’s the point of eating well, or taking good quality supplements to feed and support our body systems, if the digestive system can’t deliver them to the blood stream for distribution and utilisation? That’s why the stomach has been considered to be the seat of disease and death by some traditional healers. Hippocrates thought that all disease started in the stomach, while Samuel Thomson believed that the stomach is the place where the flow of life-energy begins, and that clearing the stomach automatically helped alleviate every disease. And don’t forget that the large intestine, or colon, is also part of the digestive system and mustn’t be overlooked. The consensus of most natural healers is that the digestive system, consisting of the stomach, liver, pancreas, small intestine and colon, is of primary importance in building and maintaining a state of health.

Many of you will be pleased to hear that Peter Klein, Nature’s Sunshine’s excellent herbalist, is coming to Orpington again on 25^th April to give one of his talks. Anyone who’s heard or met Peter realises immediately how dedicated he is to helping people become healthy again, and how well he explains the conditions and remedies. It will be so beneficial to hear him speak again and I certainly recommend you put this evening in your diary as an event not to be missed. It can be quite expensive to visit a herbalist, but it’s FREE to ask Peter his advice. So give me a call on 01689 856581 as soon as you can to reserve your seat.

If you’ve ever completed a Lifestyle Analysis Form, you’ll know how interesting and accurate it can be. So why not get a few friends and neighbours together (at least 8) at your home and I’ll come and help everyone with their forms and give advice on nutrition and lifestyle changes. These evenings are usually great fun as well as being informative. And, as the hostess, you’ll be entitled to a £50 voucher at a cost of just £10, for you to buy any of the products at retail price! Call me to arrange a date before I get booked up!

Lynne Gully

The Digestive System

The digestive system breaks down the food we eat, extracting nutrients and assimilating them for use throughout the body. Proper digestive-system function is essential to maintaining good health and energy levels. The body requires nutrients from all three food categories (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) to survive.

Much of the digestive process depends on enzymes, and each one has a definite function and knows its assigned duty. For example, a starch enzyme will not digest a protein, and a protein enzyme will not digest a fat. Whenever food is processed or cooked at temperatures above 110 degrees F, the enzymes are destroyed and can no longer carry on their jobs. Food enzymes, which are found in raw food, begin the process of digestion whenever they are present in the diet. Digestive enzymes, which are produced by the body, break down food into their simplest form, i.e. small particles that pass through the walls of the intestines and into the blood stream to nourish the body.

The human body is maintained only by the food that the digestive system manages to break down into simpler building blocks, a process that requires enzymes. The more enzymes you get from outside food sources, the fewer enzymes will be borrowed from the body’s supply. Nature has given us enzymes in our food to assist in the digestive process instead of forcing the body’s enzymes to do all the work. In an enzyme-deficient diet the body will draw on its reserves from the pancreas and all organs, tissues, muscles and glands.

A connection exists between the strength of the immune system and your enzyme level – the greater the number of enzymes you have in reserve, the stronger your immune system is, the healthier you will be!

Digestive concerns include indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, insufficient enzymes, stomach ulcers and stomach cramps.

Did you know…?

• By age 50, many people will produce only 15% of the hydrochloric acid they produced at age 25, and about one third of all people over the age of 65 secrete almost no hydrochloric acid!
• 70-year olds may produce as little as half the enzymes they produced when they were 20
• Silymarin, a mixture of bioflavonoids found in the plant milk thistle, helps protect the liver. Clinical studies show that silymarin has anti-toxic properties and is effective in preventing liver damage.

Lifestyle Suggestions

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Avoid caffeine, alcohol and soft drinks

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Eat raw fruits and vegetables rich in enzymes

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Avoid overeating; eat slowly; chew your food well

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Eat no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime

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Avoid lying down after meals

Digestive System Products

If you refer to your digestive system flowchart you will see the Key System Product, Proactazyme. This is a full spectrum enzyme product from plant sources, a combination of six natural enzymes usually missing from a diet of cooked and processed foods. Proactazyme should be taken BEFORE a meal, because enzymes in food, including those found in Proactazyme, work in the upper part of the stomach.

Stock No:1643     Price: £13.90

Food Digestive Enzymes, on the other hand, should be taken with food or at the end of a meal since it contains hydrochloric acid, which works in the middle part of the stomach. Food Digestive Enzymes can be taken for indigestion and a heavy feeling associated with general food intake, bloating, debility, chronic fatigue syndrome, food allergies, headache, heartburn, pancreatic weakness and duodenal ulcers.

Stock No: 1836     Price: £10.14

Stomach Comfort is a combination of natural ingredients that help neutralise excess acid, soothe the stomach, improve digestion and control acid reflux. This product is for symptomatic relief and is not intended to address underlying causes of digestive disturbances.

Stock No: 1820     Price: £8.75

Papaya Mint – the freshness of peppermint is combined with the sweetness of papaya to bring you a product that provides soothing benefits to the system. Papaya contains enzymes that enhance the digestion of proteins, while peppermint encourages the production of digestive fluids as it sweetens your breath – I’ve always got a bottle in my handbag!

Stock No: 485     Price: £6.95

Intestinal Soothe and Build combines slippery elm, plantain, marshmallow, chamomile, rose hips and bugleweed to soothe and tone the digestive tract. It helps to reduce irritation and to relieve inflammation in the stomach, small intestine and colon.

Stock No: 1105     Price: £6.95

Herbal Hp Fighter helps to promote digestion and inhibit the growth of the Helicobacter Pylori bacteria, quite often the reason for gastric ulcers, while doing no harm to friendly intestinal flora.

Stock No: 917     Price: £11.35

Milk Thistle Combination is a nutritional tonic that protects the liver against poisons. It contains antioxidants and blood purifiers to support the health of the liver, and also has a cooling effect on the liver, gallbladder and spleen tissue. Other historical uses include, bronchitis, cirrhosis of the liver, gallstones, hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, jaundice, inflammatory skin conditions, liver congestion and degeneration, fatigue, haemorrhage and fatty liver deposits, to name but a few.

Stock No: 4044     Price: £15.95

 LIV-C contains a host of Chinese herbs. It helps cool a hot liver and is especially beneficial for people who have food allergies or who are easily irritated. It promotes the flow of bile, relieving a congested and ‘stuffy’ feeling in the liver and intestines.

Stock No: 1860     Price: £ 10.25

BP-C is a Chinese herbal combination containing ganoderma, dang gui, peony, lycium and fourteen other herbs that purify and cleanse the blood. It is particularly helpful for those with hepatitis, jaundice and menstrual disorders.

Stock No: 1881     Price: £12.75

UC-C combines a generous mixture of Chinese herbs that ‘warm the centre’, meaning they increase the energy of the stomach and aid the digestive process. This formula is a tonic for those with chronically weak digestion that leaves them thin and pale.

Stock No: 1880     Price: £12.25

Korean Ginseng is the most widely used and studied ginseng in the world. It is revered as an excellent source of nutritional support for the entire body. As an adaptogen it helps the body adapt to many biological conditions, providing benefits to the circulatory, nervous and glandular systems.

Stock No: 665     Price: £9.95

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EXPERIMENT

The following experiment was carried out with some amazing results!

Two bowls were set out containing equal amounts of raw oats to which equal parts of lukewarm water was added. To one bowl the contents of three capsules of Proactazyme were added and stirred. After about three hours the oats with the Proactazyme had liquefied, indicating that the enzymes had reacted with it to break it down, while the oats in the second bowl were a solid mass! Interestingly, when Proactazyme was then added to a bowl of ‘instant oat breakfast cereal’ it had no effect, which makes you wonder what’s done to the oats before they’re put into the packet!

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FORTHCOMING EVENTS/DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Thursday 21 February 2002  7.30 – 9.00pm

How to Keep Young and Beautiful – Terry Rigby, an accomplished speaker on this subject, will be giving a talk at Chelsfield Golf Club, Orpington. The talk will include information on anti-oxidants, which help delay the aging process.

Thursday 21 March 2002  7.30 – 9.00pm

Terry Rigby will be giving another talk, joined by Clinton Sellers, another expert on health and nutrition. The subject of the talk is to be confirmed. The venue is Chelsfield Golf Club.

To order products from Nature’s Sunshine just call the Order Hot-Line on 08458 40 50 60 (9am-5pm Mon-Fri), quoting
your account number, stock number(s) and your credit/debit card number.  Please allow up to four days for delivery.