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Category: Nutrition, Nutritional Supplements, Vitamins, & Herbal Remedies

Nutritional counseling focuses on helping clients understanding foods and their role in preventive nutrition. Nutrition, supplements, vitamins and herbal remedies help achieve and maintain healthy body composition, (lean muscle-to-fat ratio) in order to improve health, manage disease, feel better, and reduce the risk of serious conditions.

Pau d’arco

To treat a host of ills ranging from fungal infections to the common cold, traditional healers in South and Central America have long brewed a tea made from the inner bark of a native evergreen tree of the Tabebuia species.

Today, this healing brew, variously referred to as pau d’arco or Taheebo, is readily available in North American health-food stores and sold as a “cure” for cancer and numerous other ills (including diabetes, warts, and vaginal yeast infections). Whether pau d’arco actually works for any of these conditions is unclear and the subject of ongoing confusion and controversy.

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Parsley

A common herb found in kitchens and on party platters from Dresden to Detroit, the bright green parsley plant comes in numerous varieties. Different parsleys are distinguished primarily by the appearance of their leaves: Some are curly, others flat, still others divided or featherlike. Overall, the flat-leafed variety (Petroselinum crispum) is the one most commonly used for medicinal purposes.

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Pantothenic Acid (B5)

Also known as vitamin B5, pantothenic acid is essential for a number of basic bodily functions–from growth to reproduction. It participates in the continual breakdown of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins from food, converting them into compounds the body can use. This vitamin also produces numerous enzymes and helps maintain precise communication between the central nervous system and the brain.

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Oregano

The leaves and flowering tops of more than two dozen fragrant plant species are endowed with a distinctive mildly minty flavor widely recognized as the herb oregano. The most popular of the Origanum species in North America is Origanum vulgare, otherwise known as European oregano or origanum. It’s actually a member of the mint family (Labiatae).

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Omega-6 Fatty Acids

Omega-6 fatty acids belong to a group of “good” fats called polyunsaturated fatty acids. Unlike such “bad” fats as cholesterol and saturated fatty acids (which contribute to the worsening of a host of ailments including heart disease and other degenerative conditions), omega-6s can actually be beneficial to your health.

Omega-6 fatty acids are one of two types of essential fatty acids (EFAs) that people need to consume to stay healthy. Omega-3s are the other. Both are considered “essential” because the body can’t produce them on its own; it can only get them through foods.

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are a form of polyunsaturated fats, one of four basic types of fat that the body derives from food. (Cholesterol, saturated fat, and monounsaturated fat are the others.) All polyunsaturated fats, including the omega-3s, are increasingly recognized as important to human health.

Eating too many foods rich in saturated fats has been associated with the development of degenerative diseases, including heart disease and even cancer. Polyunsaturated fatty acids, however, are actually good for you. Omega-3s (found primarily in cold-water fish) fall into this category, along with omega-6s, another type of polyunsaturated fatty acids found in grains, most plant-based oils, poultry, and eggs. (For more information, see our WholeHealth Chicago entry on Omega-6 Fatty Acids.)

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Oat Straw

Native to the warm Mediterranean regions, oats have been cultivated for thousands of years as a source of food and folk remedies. Today, the oat plant (Avena sativa) is most famous for the nutritious cereal grain that it provides–think morning oatmeal. However, the whole plant, referred to as oat straw, gathered when the grains are ripe, includes also the leaves, stems. The whole plant is then dried and chopped, and used in both internal and external forms by traditional herbalists. The grain itself, harvested in late summer, is milled to produce oatmeal and oat bran. Oatmeal, the ground grain, has a high silica content, and can be used externally for skin problems. Oat bran, produced from the coarse husks of the grain, is good at reducing cholesterol levels.

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Oak Bark

From generation to generation, the majestic oak tree has provided shade on sunny days, timber for furniture-makers and ship-builders, and even food in times of famine. Many Native American tribes relied on its acorns for nourishment.

Not surprisingly, medicinal uses for the oak tree have a long history as well. Of the hundreds of Quercus species found in the northern hemisphere, Quercus alba is most valued in North America for medicinal purposes. Europeans rely more heavily on Quercus robur and Q. petraea.

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Niacin

Also known as vitamin B3, niacin has earned a reputation (in supplement form) as a natural cholesterol-lowering agent that often rivals prescription drugs in mild to moderate cases. It may also help to prevent or treat a number of other disorders, from arthritis and depression to diabetes. Three forms of niacin supplements–each with a specific therapeutic role–are commercially available: nicotinic acid (also called nicotinate), niacinamide and inositol hexaniacinate, a compound of niacin and inositol (another B-family vitamin).

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Nettle

Also known as “stinging nettle” because the prickly hollow needles on its dark green leaves sting and burn upon contact, nettle (Urtica dioica) is an ancient herbal remedy for snakebites, asthma, arthritis, urinary tract inflammation, and excessive menstrual flow. While the above-ground parts of the plant–the leaf and the stem–are generally still used for these purposes, the roots are now popular for treating the discomforts of an enlarged prostate.

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Natural Progesterone Cream

For many women, natural progesterone cream appears to provide significant relief from symptoms related to shifts in the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.

For younger women, such imbalances are often associated with PMS or endometriosis, and bring on symptoms such as irritability, breast tenderness, and pelvic pain. For older women entering menopause, decreasing supplies of estrogen can cause hormonal imbalances, producing hot flashes, mood swings, urinary urgency, and poor concentration.

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Naringin

A flavonoid compound found in grapefruit, naringin gives grapefruit its characteristic bitter flavor. Grapefruit processors attempt to select fruits with a low naringin content, and often blend juices obtained from different grapefruit varieties to obtain the desired degree of bitterness. Naringin is believed to enhance our perception of taste by stimulating the taste buds (some people consume a small amount of grapefruit juice before a meal for this reason).

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Mushrooms

Along with the bold yet delicate taste that shiitake, maitake, and reishi mushrooms add to soups and other dishes, these gourmet delicacies are prized as herbal medicines. Traditional Asian healers have used them for centuries to strengthen the immune system and promote longevity. Recently, an extract from a different mushroom altogether–PSK (Coriolus versicolor)–was identified as a possible ally in the fight against cancer. While mushrooms other than these may well have specific health-promoting actions, they haven’t been as thoroughly researched for medicinal purposes.

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by WholeHealth Chicago
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Mullein

A roadside weed native to Asia and Europe and now common in North America, mullein flower (Verbascum thapsus and other Verbascum varieties) has long been used by folk healers to soothe irritated skin and treat respiratory problems. In fact, Native Americans, once introduced to the herb by settlers, quickly adopted the practice of smoking the plant’s dried roots and flowers to relieve asthma and bronchitis. At one point, mullein flower was even considered a remedy for tuberculosis.

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Mistletoe

Long before holiday revelers started a custom of kissing under the mistletoe, traditional folk healers used this evergreen shrub to treat various ailments. While they recognized early on that the sticky white berries of the mistletoe plant were poisonous, they brewed the leathery leaves into a therapeutic tea, a remedy that has long endured for ailments ranging from nervous tension to skin sores.

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Milk Thistle

Healers have used the prickly milk thistle plant to treat liver ailments for more than 2,000 years. Somehow these early practitioners figured out that preparations of this purple-flowered member of the sunflower family could stimulate the flow of bile from the liver, improving digestion and various liver-related ills.

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Methionine

The importance of adequate stores of the amino acid methionine cannot be underestimated. Methionine is particularly important because it supplies sulfur–a mineral–that helps to maintain healthy skin tone, well-conditioned hair, and strong nails. Because your body can’t produce this essential amino acid on its own, you must get it from methionine-rich foods, such as cheddar cheese, eggs, chicken, and beef. Supplements are also a source.

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Menopause Herbal Combination

As indicated by its name, a menopausal herbal combination provides a number of helpful herbs in one convenient capsule, sparing you the inconvenience of taking an assortment of products. Standard components of such combination products include such traditional “female-healthy” herbs as black cohosh, chasteberry, dong quai, and soy. Many contain additional herbs such as kava and dandelion root that can help with specific symptoms, as well as key nutrients such as calcium, vitamins E , C, and B, and magnesium.

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