Mens Health Blog. Medical Blog

When treating skin problems, as with most other diseases, it is important that emotional upsets and difficulties be dealt with promptly and in the right way, otherwise they tend to aggravate the condition. That is why I have devoted a whole section in this book to ‘Happiness Means Health’. Special attention has been given to the same question in my book about the liver, since this organ is notably sensitive to emotional influences.

Knowing how to deal with your illness is a step in the right direction, as it is clearly important to maintain mental balance in approaching any problem. One must be determined to elect for natural treatment rather than chemical therapy. By adhering strictly to a natural diet you can be sure you are on the right track. To complete the cure, it is absolutely necessary to carry out the treatment for six months to a year. The treatment need not be expensive since it is mainly a question of correcting one’s dietary habits. Adverse reactions and side effects are usually minor or do not crop up at all if the treatment is undertaken correctly.

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Athletic people usually have strength and resistance, but they must not make the mistake of thinking that their resilience and ability to spring back from overexertion has no limits. Thoughtless waste of any of our potentialities will be followed by loss of fitness. Why sacrifice to sport the energies that could serve you for many years to come? Why dash with abounding strength into overstrenu-ous sports and come out with chronic ill health?

Many may think that I am painting a rather pessimistic picture, but this is not so. Now and then I receive sad letters from sports men and women who were once famous champions; one, for example, was from an athlete who many years ago won the Swiss pentathlon and decathlon. For years now, this once energetic athlete has been suffering from loss of breath when climbing stairs, a weak heart beat, low blood pressure and ear and head noises (tinnitus). At his age he should be full of vitality.

So this is a warning not to carry any sport to extremes, yet is is a warning difficult to heed on the part of those who have already sold themselves ‘body and soul’ to this unrelenting taskmaster. The passion for winning in competitive sports consumes a tremendous amount of strength and energy. And who benefits from this useless drain of energy? Nobody really, and certainly not the athlete’s heart, or why would it become defective so early in life?

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Pick healthy fresh leaves, or flowers when they are just open, after the morning dew has evaporated and they are quite dry. Spread these carefully in a thin layer on your screens, turn them every few days until they are crisp and crackly. Then rub the leaves from the stalks, bottle them in glass screw-topped jars (never in plastic or brown paper bags), and seal tightly. Write the date and the name somewhere on each jar, and if you haven’t used up the herbs in twelve months’ time, tip them out onto the compost heap or around your herb plants. Dried herbs have a limited shelf life under these conditions, so give the compost heap the benefit of their natural material, and put up another batch for yourself.

If moisture is visible several days after bottling, tip the leaves out for further drying. I always like to let the weather work for me here, and quickly rush out and harvest when we have those hot, drying winds that last for three or four days. In such conditions you can bottle the herbs with confidence in five or six days, sometimes less. Never attempt to dry herbs in humid weather—the results will always be poor and the drying time so long that most of the goodness will be gone.

The roots of some herbs are also dried, like horseradish, comfrey, valerian and dandelion. These need different treatment. Dig the roots at the time recommended in the chapters on individual herbs. Wash and scrub them and cut off any fibrous or hair roots. Then cut the root lengthwise in slivers about inch wide, and these can be dried either on the screens (this takes much longer) or in a warm oven with the door slightly ajar. An eagle eye must be kept on them in the latter case, and be prepared for some failures until experience teaches you. The test for dryness is that a sliver of the root will crack and break when bent. If it is not dry, it will still be pliable and will only bend. Store the dried roots in a glass jar lined with tissue paper until you need them. Then grate the required quantity.

Herbs can also be frozen to preserve them through the winter months. Some, like chives, suit this process very well, as does parsley. Snip off the fresh, perfect leaves, wash them and chop them well and immediately put them in tiny foil envelopes into the freezer. Only put in one envelope what you will need for each dish, and keep the different varieties separate.

Be sure to label each envelope clearly, or you may find basil in the soup or savory in the apple pie!

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Valerian likes its roots cool, but its foliage warm, and this seems to explain its liking for growing near stone. It will grow from seed planted in the spring. Just press down the seed gently on top of the damp soil, do not cover it, for it needs the warmth at this stage. Germination can be slow, and usually only about half of the little seeds sown will send their shoots through the soil. The root suckers (strictly speaking it is a rhizome, not a root) can be separated in late summer or autumn and replanted if you need more. Keep the flowering stems nipped off if you want to use the root only; it will have more strength. The mature rhizome can be dug in the autumn of the second growing season. This is a hazardous process if you own a cat: it can be sent into an almost delirious state of intoxication by the strong smell from the freshly dug root. After you have fought off any drunken cats, slice the root in slivers and put these on your screens in some out-of-the-way corner where its putrid smell when drying will not cause too much comment. If there are rats about, they will also come to the smell, and canny rat-bait manufacturers often mix dried valerian root with their poisons. Indeed, the Pied Piper is supposed to have lured the rats with a piece of valerian root as well as his magic music.

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So many recipes abound where parsley is used that here I will give you only a tasty seventeenth-century one.

Green Chicken

Take 6 chicken breasts, bones removed where possible, and skin them. Divide into flat portions. Dredge with seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Dip into egg and milk, coat thoroughly with fine breadcrumbs. Saute over medium heat till cooked through. Remove, and let cool enough to handle. Coat the top side of each piece with beaten egg, then press on the chopped parsley, making sure it adheres to the chicken. Bake in a warm oven for about 10 minutes.

Italian or Hamburg Parsley (P. sativum) is a taller, flat-leaved type mainly grown for its root, the flavour of which is a blend of parsley and parsnip. The root can be dug at the end of the first growing season, and sliced thinly to add to soups or Irish stews, casseroles and many other savoury dishes. Thin slices of the root can also be sauteed in butter and served alone as a vegetable. I think the green leaves of this variety have even more flavour than the curly common type, and they grow so large that you will always have enough and to spare. So, Ogden Nash, parsley is not garsley!

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Clean and scale the fish, leaving on the head and tail. Then make a marinade of oil, vinegar, and chopped fennel (use the leaves and a couple of stems), and steep the fish in this for about one hour. Place the fish then on a shallow cook-and-serve platter. Blanch several stalks of fennel until they will bend easily. (Dip them in water close to the boil, but not boiling.) Wrap these around the body of the fish; fasten with toothpicks if necessary. Then cook the fish in a moderate oven until the flesh is tender, basting with a knob of butter when necessary. Serve it straight from the oven, with the fennel still in place. Garnish with tiny boiled or steamed potatoes, and chopped fennel leaves sprinkled over.

This fennel butter to glaze fish or vegetables is very appetising too: Chop sprigs of fennel leaves, and mix with two tablespoons of butter, and vegetable salt to taste. Blend well, and drop in little balls on the fish or vegetable dish.

Fennel should not be grown anywhere near the vegetable garden. It will inhibit the growth and fruiting of tomato plants. Coriander should not be grown near fennel either: seed formation of both plants will be poor. If you have a dog, “Plant fennel near the kennel.” It will help to keep fleas away, for they are repelled by its scent.

There is an annual variety of fennel, Florence Fennel, or Finocchio. This is a much shorter, less straggly plant, which as it matures swells out at the base to form a thickened stem about 4 to 6 inches across.

Cut off the whole plant just above the root, and trim off the foliage and top part of the stem, leaving a plump juicy vege¬table about 6 to 8 inches long, ready to slice into your salad bowl, or steam and serve hot, drizzled over with a knob of butter.

You can slice it very thin diagonally, dress it lightly with oil and lemon juice, and serve it as a salad on its own; you can also saute the thin slices quickly in oil or butter, and serve on wedges of toast or with other vegetables.

Use finocchio in egg dishes and hors d’oeuvres too. This unusual omelette is a meal in itself, or a light first course, depending only on the size of the helping.

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Ways of using salad burnet are more varied than the often rather limited culinary uses of the stronger, more aromatic herbs. It has no perfume at all, so it can be added to any salad or vegetable dish without clashing with other strong flavours. It is seldom used with meat, and never cooked. Try it chopped over asparagus or steamed celery, or as a garnish with a cheese and pineapple salad. Add it to potato salad with parsley and chives, or place a small leaf sprig on sliced cucumber or tomato. Its bland flavour will not offend anyone.

In a fruit cup or claret cup, burnet leaves look fresh and inviting. Add them to fruit salad, too; and they are very compatible with fresh strawberries.

So use your own favourite recipes, and freshen them up with salad burnet. Remember always to use it fresh. It can be quite bitter and unpleasant if cooked.

The herb is very hardy, and will recover from a drought or a flood with equanimity. If you wish to increase your stock of plants, set out several salad burnet near each other and allow some to flower while keeping others to pick for culinary use. The seeds will eventually drop and re-sow themselves, and small plants will spring up around the old ones. This process does not seem to work so well if only a single plant sets seed. Salad burnet is gregarious, and flourishes best in a small colony.

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Some researchers claim that vitamin C protects against catching cold. However, the protection lasts for only a few hours. If you are exposed to someone with a cold, or are sneezed at, it has been claimed that you can intercept and squelch a cold by taking 600-700 mg of ascorbic acid as soon as possible. Three hours later, the same dose should be repeated.

The same prophylactic dose could protect you if you anticipate being exposed to a cold virus. Take 600-700 mg of vitamin C just prior to the exposure and a similar dose three hours later.

Don’t forget to eat the 80-10-10 way so that your diet contains an abundance of complex carbohydrates (fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes) and a minimum of fats and oils, meat, whole milk dairy products, eggs, fried foods and refined flour or sugar.

If at least 80 percent of your diet does not consist of complex carbohydrates, you should take a good quality multiple vitamin-mineral supplement together with a timed release B-complex supplement containing the entire range of vitamin B components.

To minimize chances of catching cold, most nutritionists advise a daily intake from all sources of: vitamin A 5,000 IU; vitamin C 250 mg three times a day with each major meal; vitamin D 400 IU; vitamin E 100 IU; calcium 750 mg for men, 1,000 mg for women; iron 20 mg; magnesium 400 mg; selenium 100 meg; (twice a week); and zinc 15-20 mg.

And don’t forget to exercise every day.

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Hot soups act as expectorants by helping loosen secretions from the chest. In our opinion, the very best natural expectorant is a soup made with plenty of onions and garlic simmered in a pot of water with cayenne added.

Tangerines have been found to be effective natural decongestants. In 1960, the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station reported that tangerines contain synephrine, a powerful decongestant. Many people have since reported that a tangerine is more effective than nose drops.

Investigations by Eric Block of the State University of New York at Albany, uncovered the fact that garlic possesses antifungal and antibiotic properties. It was found that garlic contains the chemical allicin which wards off fungi, bacteria and yeast (Later, ailicin turns into ajoene, a substance which inhibits blood clotting and may help prevent a stroke.)

While nothing was found to link garlic with fighting cold or flu viruses, nonetheless eating garlic raw has long been a traditional folk remedy for colds. Garlic is best taken with foods. Or you can squeeze the oil out of a clove and use it to flavor foods. Alternatively, you can take garlic oil in capsule form. Or you could cut open the capsules and squeeze the oil onto food. Garlic’s principal drawback is its unsavory smell.

Plain low-fat yogurt makes a good source of protein and calcium while suffering from an infection. Calcium is essential for metabolism of vitamin C. Yogurt containing Lactobacillus acidophilus appears to possess the added property of being able to help heal cold sores and cankers due to herpes simplex virus which may appear on the lips during or after a cold. Acidophilus yogurt is available in most health food stores.

When antibiotics are given to annihilate bacteria during a complication, the antibiotic frequently destroys all or most of the bacterial flora in the digestive tract. Acidophilus yogurt aids in restoring this digestive bacterial flora back to normal.

During the first two days of influenza, adults and children are often unable to eat solid foods. When appetite returns on the third day, it’s best to start with a bland diet consisting of soups, steamed vegetables, baked beans and broiled chicken or baked fish.

Finally, any new mother who is wondering whether it’s OK to continue to nurse a baby when the mother has a cold, can relax. Most pediatricians concur that a mother can safely continue to nurse an infant. They also advise eating plenty of fruits and not skipping any meals.

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A deficiency of iron has been observed to cause a wide variety of defects in immune system function. However, too much iron can aid bacterial invaders in multiplying. The suggested daily intake is 25 mg during a cold and 20 mg otherwise.

Magnesium dilates arteries and relaxes muscles throughout the body, thereby inducing a feeling of calm. This serenity, in turn, helps to enhance immunocompetence. All evidence suggests that an adequate magnesium intake is essential for keeping arteries relaxed and for remaining at ease during the stress of a cold or flu infection. There commended daily intake is 500 mg during a cold and 400 mg otherwise.

Summing Up. The massive build-up of white blood cells and antibodies needed to overcome a viral infection can occur only when sufficient vitamins A, C and E, the B complex, zinc and other essential nutrients are present There is considerable evidence that megadoses of a single nutrient, such as vitamin C or zinc, achieve no greater result than more moderate amounts. For optimal benefit, most evidence seems to support a more holistic form of nutritional therapy based on taking the smaller amounts of essential nutrients. Since no study has been made using a holistic nutritional approach, we cannot say with certainty how swiftly your cold is likely to disappear.

But every indication is that cold symptoms should vanish more rapidly than by using a single nutrient such as vitamin C or zinc. The smaller amounts of each nutrient should also eliminate any risk of intestinal or other discomfort. However, if you do experience any adverse effects due to supplementation, you should cease taking the supplements until you can identify the specific nutrient that is responsible.

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