Editor’s Letter
Calm and Chaos in Balance
Are you overworked, rushed, worried about the state of the world, your family and friends, to vaccinate or not, concerned about your health, finances… shall I go on? We are often reminded to slow down and calm down BUT practically this is a challenge. The whole vaccination and mask situation alone is very upsetting for most of us as we are confronted with loss of our freedom, judgemental people, discrimination, stupidity and lies!
Sure, we need calm and stillness in our search for truth and wisdom. With the arrival of COVID and everything that goes along with it, the need has become very real now to establish a more holistic, natural and conscious way of living for ourselves and our loved ones. Can we do this with calm, or do we need chaos?
Not every situation calls for calm and stillness. A calm ocean may inspire gentleness and peace, but I know that crashing waves make me feel alive. Stillness has enormous benefits, but so does overpowering hits of sea air filled with salt. Cold, fear and a million emotions that roll, roar and tumble bring awareness to hidden broken bits that need healing.
This life is about calm and chaos, as long as it is in balance. In this issue of Natural Medicine World we have gone out of our way to inspire you with heartfelt articles that reflect this dynamic balance. We trust you will find pleasure and benefit in each one of them!
THANK YOU TO OUR EXPERTS
Our authors receive no payment or any other form of remuneration from us or from the industry. They take time out from their busy schedules to write articles – and then we insist that they meet our deadlines, submit extra references, answer endless queries from reviewers and copy editors, and respond to the letters we receive from you, our readers. Here’s to all of them! May their tireless and tremendous efforts bring them well-deserved rewards.
Yours in Healthy Living
Probiotics and Their Conversations in Our Bodies
Table of Contents ↑|We are less than 1% human, if you factor in that more than 99% of the DNA contained within us belongs not to us, but to the microbes which we effectively host. The microbiome was only discovered in 2010! And it is not just a colony of good bacteria (gut microflora) but a complex organ that is responsible for the development and function of all the other organs and systems, from our brain to the immune system.
Dr Are Waerland
Table of Contents ↑|Finnish-born biologist, lecturer and writer Are Waerland has positively influenced the living habits of countless people through the health movement that carries his name.
Spotlight on Bone Health and Supplementation
Table of Contents ↑|Calcium is the principal mineral in bone, and if you don’t get enough calcium you either can’t make enough bone during growth or you tear down your bone as an adult in order to make up for what your diet doesn’t provide. Now vitamin D comes into the story, because vitamin D is necessary to help the body regulate calcium absorption so that you use your food calcium with maximum efficiency.
The Natural Treatment of Back Pain
Table of Contents ↑|This is not intended to be an in-depth article on the management of back pain. Rather, Dr Bernard Brom shares his personal views on this problem and shares what he has learnt about the back in over 30 years of practice as a doctor of Integrative Medicine.
Vegetables Frozen vs. Fresh – a question of nutrition?
Table of Contents ↑|Frozen vegetables are undeniably handy – they are relatively inexpensive, require minimal preparation, last for ages in the freezer, and can be prepared in minutes. Any form of vegetables would be better than no vegetables at all, but are we sacrificing nutrition for the sake of convenience?
Smoking – taking a positive step towards quitting
Table of Contents ↑|It’s not only your lungs that are compromised by smoking – every organ in your body can be adversely affected. Statistics show that tobacco kills more people than AIDS, drugs, accidents and alcohol together. But even after many years of smoking, quitting can reduce smoking-associated health risk.
