18 Natural Health Options Instead of Drugs

A growing number of people now turn to complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) for treatment of their ailments before trying traditional drugs.

People are moving toward this for a variety of reasons. Some want to be more natural, understand more about Eastern medicine that has thousands of years of development, or just distrust or dislike of pharmaceutical companies for various reasons.

The following are some natural remedies to common ailments. These do not replace doctor’s advice and should not be used exclusively without common sense and proper medical advice.

These recommendations come from “Prescription for Natural Cures, Revised Edition” (Wiley, 2011), James F. Balch, M.D., Mark Stengler, N.M.D., and Robin Young Balch, N.D. To read more, please visit www.wiley.com.

Headaches

• 500 mg of Calcium twice a day can help calm a tension headache.
• 60 mg 2-3 times per day of Ginkgo biloba of a 24 percent flavone glycoside extract can improve circulation to the brain and help with anti-platelet activity.
• Tension headaches can also be treated with menthol cream, or lavender  or peppermint oil rubbed on the temples.
• Ask someone to rub ice on the back of your neck and/or upper back.
• Lean over a sink to allow for drainage and rub around your eye sockets if your sinuses are stuffed up.
• Inhale eucalyptus in a steamer to help open sinuses

Motion Sickness

• Drinking fresh vegetable juice or eating dry crackers can help.
• Try to avoid greasy foods before travel.
• 500 mg of Ginger root (Zingiber officinale) before traveling and every 2 hours while traveling can help.
• Take 300 mg of Peppermint (Mentha piperita) or a cup of peppermint tea.
• Take 300 mg of Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) or a cup of fennel tea.
• Open a window – fresh air can help if you are in a car.

Muscle Aches and Cramping

• High calcium foods can help including cheese, dark leafy greens, yogurt, milk, broccoli and calcium enriched rice and soymilk.

• Food high in magnesium can also help. These include whole grains, nuts, legumes, soy and green leafy vegetables.

• High potassium foods are also a great source for cramp alleviation including apples, strawberries, bananas, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, peaches, meat and fish.

• 50 mg twice daily of B vitamins can help alleviate stress which can cause pain.
• One capsule with each meal of protease enzymes reduces inflammation and aches.
• 300 mg two times a day of Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) can help with leg spasms caused by poor circulation.

The book recommends care when trying these remedies because they may interact with other medications or treatments you are taking. They also note that most supplements have not been safety tested on pregnant or nursing women.

If you would like to read more about these and find out how to talk to your health care provider about these cures, please visit NCCAM’s Time to Talk campaign at www.nccam.nih.gov.