The Health Benefits of Bilberry

Bilberry is made from a little blue berry that is related to blueberries and cranberries. Bilberry is a powerful anti-inflammatory. The herb is also a powerful antioxidant and has glucoquinine (lowers blood sugar levels). Bilberry contains flavonoids called anthocyanosides that protect the collagen structures in the blood vessels of the eye. Bilberry is used to treat eye problems such as Macular Degeneration, diabetic neuropathy, and/or cataracts.

Benefits of Bilberry

Bilberry is found mostly in dark skinned fruits. It is used to treat diarrhea, vericose veins, and mucous membrane inflammation. The herb is beneficial in the treatment of hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and in eye health.

This herb may also help night vision. During World War II, British Pilots ate bilberry jam before going out on night flights. They claimed it improved their vision. It is believed that the bilberry herb helps the eyes to adjust to changes in light quickly. This is one of the greatest benefits of bilberry and can be very beneficial for ones eyes according to many studies.

In Europe it is used to treat venous insufficiency- a condition that causes swelling and varicose veins. It further relieves pain and itching, and it also. Helps combat skin ulcers on the legs. Reynaud's disease may benefit from bilberry. Reynauds causes pain and numbness in the outer extremities (fingers, toes and nose) when cold.

Bilberry improves circulation and makes artery walls. The herb may reduce inflammation, ease gastro-intestinal problems, and gum problems that have been linked to heart disease. Diarrhea and mouth sores can benefit from Bilberry as well. Bilberry has strong antiseptic properties, relieves peptic ulcers, diabetes, fibrocystic diseases, and painful menstruation.

Our conclusion For The Benefits Of Bilberry

Because of Bilberry's strong antioxidant composition, the herb makes an excellent free radical scavenger, which helps combat the cell damage that leads to premature aging and disease. The most noted benefit that we briefly discussed above, is its ability to treat a range of problems relating to ones eye health. For example, the herb protects collagen structures in the blood vessels of the eyes, thus promoting healthy capillaries that carry many vital nutrients, such as oxygen-rich blood to your eye muscles.

Various Studies have confirmed that the benefits of bilberry go even further than one might be aware of. The herb can be useful for protecting against macular degeneration, cataracts, night blindness, and poor or fading vision. We believe bilberry to be one of the best herbs available for the protection of ones eyes health. Clinical studies have even shown that if given orally to healthy people, it improves visual accuracy. Our conclusion is that everyone should consider consuming bilberry as it helps as part of an overall maintenance of ones health.

Other benefits of bilberry include treating menstrual cramps and helping aid stomach ulcers. Varicose veins, thrombosis, angina, and poor circulation may also be improved with the use of bilberry, as the herb helps with healthy blood flow.

Our last point to note is that bilberry contains a substance called glucoquinine, which has the ability to lower ones blood sugar levels significantly and its antioxidant, anthocyanin, within the herb itself, can reduce high blood pressure.

Possible Precautions for those considering using Bilberry

Some side effects related to the use of Bilberry, include the possibility of: stomach upset, dizziness, or headache. It could cause diarrhea, and thin out blood. Caution should be used as bilberry could interfere with medications. However, there are no known adverse interactions with prescription drugs, or have there been any harmful effects noted in the literature for this herb to the best of our knowledge. As always, though, use your common sense when taking nutritional supplements: if you notice any unwanted side effects, discontinue usage, or reduce your dosage level straight away. Remember to always consult with a qualified physician before beginning supplementation of any kind.

Pregnant or nursing women should always refrain from supplementation with nutritional products until they speak with their personal doctor.

Our opinion on the Bilberry Herb

The evidence for bilberry's benefits as a herb are long, varied, and shown in many clinical trails when it comes to treating eye disorders and maintaining clear vision in healthy individuals. However, many of the recent beneficial discoveries need further study in our opinions to validate the benefits further. Among these new findings are bilberry's benefits for menstrual cramps and helping treat stomach ulcers.

Because of the many benefits of bilberry, along with more or less unknown adverse side effects, we would say it is a supplement well worth checking out especially since there is a lack of side effects of bilberry -- unlike many other herbs on the market.

Tips On Getting The Best Benefits Of Bilberry

1. Make sure you purchase a bilberry supplement produced with a standardized extract. Standardized extracts contain the highest level of therapeutic benefits within the herbs. Most other herbal supplements on the market, however, do not even contain the amount of ingredients stated on the label. This is worrying within the nutritional industry and consumers need to take this issue seriously.

2. Dosages range from 20 to 160 mg. However, people who are in good overall health should take lower dosage levels, but maintain long term use. However, those people with specific conditions, such as macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, etc mentioned above in our article, may wish to supplement with dosage levels in the higher ranges, but do not go over what we have stated above.

The product we personally use called Total Balance - http://www.health-product-we-use.com is the best supplement we have come across. We have been using this supplement for over 3 years with excellent health results.

We highly reccomend you take a further look in to our supplement of choice if you are interested in improving your overall health.

John Gibb is the owner of a series of health websites, check out natural nutritional supplements, to view the alternative health supplement we personally use with excellent health results.

Diet to Help Eliminate Anxiety

Water

There is no quicker way to reduce general anxiety than having good eating and drinking habits. One of the most easily implemented and effective additions to your diet is fresh water. Water is a great quencher of thirst--but more importantly here--It is a helpful tool as an anxiety cure.

Nearly every function of the body is monitored and pegged to the efficient flow of water through our system. Water transports hormones, chemical messengers, and nutrients to vital organs of the body. When we don't keep our bodies well-hydrated, they may react with a variety of signals such as anxiety, which we would never think are related to our poor drinking habits.

Diet to Help Eliminate Anxiety : Water Here are some interesting information about water:

1. Seventy-five percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated.

2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.

3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.

4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.

5. Lack of water is the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.

Regular fresh drinking water is a vital ingredient to your diet when looking at anxiety cures. When we are dehydrated, our cells can feel this at a molecular level and communicate this to the subconscious as an underlying subtle anxiety. The key to rebalancing a deficit of fluids is to drink eight glasses of fresh water daily.

Have you noticed the effects of dehydration on your emotions before? If you have ever suffered from a serious hangover from a night out on the tiles, you will understand the feeling of dehydration all too well. Hangovers result from dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. I am sure many of you are familiar with the tendency to have what has become known as "the hangover fear." This is a heightened sense of anxiety and jumpiness that results from the dehydration caused by a hangover. The surest way for someone who suffers from anxiety to experience a panic attack is to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and wait for the hangover to set in the following day. Water is a great cure for anxiety in this particular situation.

It is important to be aware that dehydration is a factor that contributes to anxiety and that a diet to help eliminate anxiety should contain ample amounts of fresh water. Personally, I have found that not only does regular intake of water ward off subtle feelings of anxiety thus greatly helping as a cure for anxiety, but it is also incredibly effective for building stamina and avoiding fatigue.

Diet to Help Eliminate AnxietyDiet (Food) On average, most people have a very acidic diet, which results in not just a lower resistance to stress but to a variety of serious health problems. Your diet is something you can immediately control and help you build your resources of anxiety cures. As you master your diet, not only are you improving your overall well-being but are also building up a positive mental attitude, which says, "I am in control of my body."

If our internal environment is too acidic, this can exaggerate any anxiety we may be experiencing. The body is in a greater state of health when it is balanced internally. What is needed is to bring the body's internal pH balance into acceptable parameters. The elimination of high anxiety is not easy unless you maintain an alkaline balance in the food you eat. If your food is too acidic or you indulge in excessive amounts of foods, your body cannot function at its best. It will have difficulty eliminating toxins from your body, and will have less of a buffer zone to stress, leaving you feeling vulnerable and shaken when anxiety strikes.

Food such as salt, sugar, and refined or processed products lower your body's resistance, whereas food such as fruit and vegetables raise it. As you control your body's needs, you empower yourself and gradually build a body that does not feel threatened by an onslaught of high anxiety.

Proteins, nuts, grains, and dairy products (except yoghurt) along with alcohol, sugar, and salt are acidic foods.

Fruit, vegetables, and juices, are alkaline.

Diet to help eliminate anxiety

For optimum balance you need an 80% alkaline diet. This means concentrating on fruits and raw vegetables using proteins in small quantities for when you need energy. A person with a good diet needs only 50 g of protein a day. This should consist of 7 ounces of animal protein (or a vegetarian equivalent) or 36 ounces of good yoghurt. The rest of your diet to help eliminate anxiety should be alkaline (should you have a very strenuous or physical occupation you may need more than 50 g of protein a day). Below is a more comprehensive list of alkaline foods that will help bring greater balance to your diet and help you cure your anxiety more easily.

Diet to Help Eliminate AnxietyA diet to help eliminate anxiety should contain.... Parsnips Rutabagas Cauliflower Mushrooms Green Beans Green Peas White Potatoes Tomatoes Muskmelon Cantaloupe Limes Tangerines Strawberries Pineapple Oranges Grapes Apricots Blackberries Peaches Raspberries Pears Apples Beans, Dried Dried Figs Dried Dates Bananas Raisins Avocados Prunes Sweet Potatoes Watermelons Honeydew Melon Almonds Millet Molasse Beet Greens Celery Chard Leaves Watercress Sauerkraut Lettuce Green Limas Cucumbers Radishes Cabbage Broccoli Beets Brussel Sprouts Carrots Green Soybeans Raw Spinach

Diet to help eliminate anxiety Minerals to help cure anxiety

Mineral stores in your body have a buffering action on acid and tend to alkalize the acidity in the internal environment. Low or deficient mineral stores can lead to acidic bodily pH. The buffering action of mineral stores keeps the pH toward the healthier and slightly alkaline side of the pH scale. This buffering system is delicately balanced and can get disrupted under mineral-deficient conditions. Both the acid and mineral residues are discarded through the urinary tract. Over time, this depletes the mineral stores if they are not replaced. This is the reason we should ensure to get adequate mineral levels in a proper diet to help eliminate anxiety. If we don't get adequate levels through the fruits and vegetables we eat, then we need to use good quality supplement minerals to help aid our efforts to cure anxiety.

Nutrients that are paramount in helping the body cope with stress include B complex, raw adrenal concentrate, desiccated liver, flax seed oil, and colloidal minerals. A balanced B-complex vitamin supplement is essential in normal pituitary and adrenal function. Without B complex, these glands will not produce adequate hormone levels.

Minerals are absolutely essential in normal bodily functions including autonomic nervous system function. A good example of their importance is demonstrated by the role a mineral, such as magnesium, plays in bodily functioning. Magnesium is instrumental in over 270 biochemical reactions in the body. It also helps regulate the pH (acid-base balance) of the human physiology. The human body functions within a very narrow pH range. Sodium and potassium are essential in nervous system functioning. Without either one of them, our nervous system would be inoperable and we would die. These minerals are usually found naturally in the vegetable that we eat. However, the mineral content in vegetables has diminished over the years from the depletion of the soil. Therefore, it may be necessary to take mineral supplements as part of a diet to help eliminate anxiety.

The truth is that it can be very difficult to maintain composure and confidence in your ability to handle all that life throws your way if your body is malnourished or deficient in vital foodstuffs. Look after your body's needs, and you will be strengthening your body's ability to cure anxiety and panic attacks.

I am convinced over the next five to ten years, a definitive link will be made between diet and helping cure anxiety. There are some very interesting research currently being conducted in 2004 into the connection between improving schizophrenia dramatically using a gluten-free diet. Although schizophrenia has nothing to do with anxiety or panic attacks, it is an example of how science is now looking to foodstuffs and their connection to our mental health.

http://www.panic-and-anxiety-attacks.com/diet-to-help-eliminate-anxiety.html

Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach.

His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here:

http://www.panic-and-anxiety-attacks.com/