There are many different types of alternative medicine that each offers their own philosophy and discipline. You will have to decide for yourself where your interests lie as well as what form of alternative medicine is best able to help you heal any particular health problems that you have. The following types of alternative medicine are presented in no particular order:

There are many other forms and variations of alternative medicines for you to choose from when it comes to promoting natural health and healing in your life. Take the time to research what will work best for you, your health issues, and your lifestyle.

Echinacea has become one of the top selling herbal products in North America due to its healing properties. But Echinacea, also known as Purple Coneflower, isn’t just a pretty wild flower. Using Echinacea on a regular basis is a great way to boost your immune system and fight off a cold, the flu, or other infections such as bronchitis.

Traditionally Echinacea was used by the Native Indians of North America. Tribes such as the Comanche and the Cheyenne used this wild flower for many medical reasons such as coughs, sore throats, tooth problems, and blood diseases. The Plains Indians used Echinacea to treat snake bites as well as poisonous insect bites. When the settlers arrived they were quick to follow the practice of the Native Indians by using Echinacea as a therapeutic aid and since then it has been used as a medical herb throughout North America.

Echinacea contains a variety of components that make it so powerful in building up your immune system and fighting disease. Some of the more concentrated elements include essential oils, polyacetylenes, betain, and polysaccharides. Other elements found in Echinacea are iron, copper, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and tannins. It’s the polysaccharides in Echinacea that make this herb so effective in stimulating your immune system.

The way that Echinacea works is by working in tune with the defense mechanisms in your body. The polysaccharides, also known as Echinacins, adhere to the cells in your body and fight against pathogens. When these cells are protected from breaking down they are better able to fight against the inflammation and the spreading of these pathogens. Your immune system is improved as your healthy cells rush to the area of an infection and destroy the pathogens.

Although Echinacea works well to prevent colds and the flu, you shouldn’t be taking it on a full time basis. Echinacea should be taken on and off throughout the year so that you keep your immune system as strong as possible. Even if you don’t use Echinacea on a regular basis, taking it at the first signs of an illness can lessen the severity of your cold or the flu. You can greatly ease your cold symptoms by starting to take Echinacea, thereby preventing the cold from settling into your lungs.

Echinacea can be bought over the counter in most pharmacy and grocery stores. You have the option of taking the herb in pill form or as a tincture. For younger children, adding the tincture to a glass of juice may be your best bet. Your goal should be to keep your family on a level dose of Echinacea throughout the year. This means taking the herb for a period of six weeks, stopping it for three weeks, and then taking it again for six weeks. This cycle of Echinacea is sure to keep you and your family healthy year round and lessen the severity of colds and the flu.

There are many aspects to Chinese medicine but the general underlying philosophy is the same: internal harmony and balance is represented by yin and yang, and this balance affects all areas of your life. The goal of Chinese medicine is to fully and successfully restore this balance through a variety of integrated methods.

This balance of yin and yang must exist in order for your body, mind, and spirit to be healthy. Ancient China used certain elements to represent yin and yang, such as water and fire, cold and hot, or light and dark. In relation to your body, yin and yang can be viewed in this way: every organ and part of your body has properties of yin and yang in varying amounts. When your body is healthy the opposite sides of yin and yang are functioning in equal harmony in a fine tuned state of alternating balance. Chinese medicine uses various forms of alternative health, such as diet, exercise, herbal remedies, acupuncture, and massage to achieve this balance of yin and yang.

Chinese medicine incorporates a healthy diet into its philosophy. A healthy diet consists of the following:

Eat a well balanced diet that is combined with a regular exercise program and daily physical activity. There are certain foods that you should eliminate from your daily diet, or reduce the consumption of. These foods include:

If you are making a diet change in your life you may want to slowly make the necessary changes so that you are gentle with your body. If you make sudden, severe changes to your daily diet you are more likely to slip back into old eating habits to relieve the emotional stress that you will be feeling. A gentle process of diet change is recommended.

Herbal remedies are used to treat all aspects of your health including the physical and emotional. What types of herbal remedies you take, and for how long you take them, will be determined by what your health problem is under the advice of a Chinese herbal practitioner.

Chinese herbal remedies can treat many conditions and symptoms that include:

When you use conventional Western drugs you are only treating the symptoms of your health problem and not changing the course of the disease. When you use Chinese herbal remedies you are treating all aspects of your disease or health issue. An important note to keep in mind is that Chinese herbal medicine rarely will cause any side effects, unlike Western medicine that often creates a multitude of side effects, many of which create additional health problems.

Chinese herbal remedies are prepared in carefully combined formulas so that the properties of certain herbs combine with others to achieve the maximum effect. Certain herbs are used for particular symptoms and ailments. Each herbal remedy is prepared separately for each individual, according to what is being treated. You can purchase Chinese herbal remedies in a variety of forms that include:

When you purchase your Chinese herbal remedies you will be informed of: how to take them, with what to take them, and for how long to take them.

Every woman wants to have a healthy pregnancy and many women these days are opting for natural health remedies and supplements to achieve this health. There are many natural substances and remedies that are available for the pregnant women. There are also some herbs, herbal formulas, and supplements that are NOT safe to take during pregnancy. If you are pregnant you should always check with your health care provider or with a natural health practitioner to find out which herbs are safe for you to take while you are pregnant.

Following are a list of herbs and supplements that are known to be safe to take during pregnancy. You should still check with your health care provider to be sure that there are no hidden complications specific to your own pregnancy that you are not aware of.

Combining a healthy pregnancy, exercise, and emotional health is the goal of every pregnant woman during the nine months of pregnancy. By using the above herbal remedies and supplements your pregnancy has a better chance of being problem and worry free.

The first year of your baby’s life is filled with many new discoveries and wonders. This is also the time where certain aspects of your child’s future health are established and some of the decisions that you make during this first year will have a life long affect.

The most important issue during your baby’s first year is the issue of breastfeeding. Many mothers these days are opting to breastfeed for only a short period of time, or worse yet, not to breastfeed at all. The colostrum that is found in mother’s milk is very important for your baby’s health. It is filled with many nutrients but its most important role is that it has a high immunoglobulin and protein count. The immunoglobulin contains antibodies that are essential in helping to build your baby’s immune system. When babies are denied breast milk they miss out on this important part of breast milk.

Deciding to breastfeed is a personal decision but one that should be weighed carefully in the favor of what is best for your baby.

There are many health issues that will come up in your baby’s first year. You may want to consider using alternative medicine and natural health techniques to keep your baby healthy and to cure any health problems that arise. It’s never too early to introduce your baby to natural health.

Leading a healthy life begins in childhood and the sooner you start introducing natural health concepts to children the more likely they are to continue with these life long choices. The younger the age of the child the more receptive they will be to healthy concepts that include diet, exercise, and alternative medicine.

If you are the parent of children you will often have to take a hard stand when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for your children. The majority of society will be against you as your children are flooded with ideas of junk food, video games, violent television shows, and a general push towards anything technological. Keeping them healthy involves the whole picture of diet and a realistic approach to what is trendy in the world today.

There are many specific areas of your children’s health that you can have control over and manage without a visit to the doctor each time something is not quite right. A big issue that many parents deal with on a daily basis is hyper children. The classic solution for a child that is hyper and more active, both physically and mentally than other children, is to give them a wide range of medications, such as Ritalin, that (a) don’t work, (b) change the personality of your child, or (c) have serious side effects. There are much simpler, more effective, and gentler ways to control hyperactivity in your child.

Hyperactivity in children is often known by several other medical names: Hyperkinetic Child Syndrome, Minor Cerebral Dysfunction, or Attention Deficit Disorder.

The consensus among most natural health and herbal practitioners is that hyperactivity is often the result of both emotional and physical trauma in a child.

This by no means indicates that your child has severe or emotional or physical problems but that these are issues that have some affect on hyperactivity in children.

There are several things that you can to do to alleviate and cure hyperactivity in your child, as well as several herbal remedies that you can give to your children to calm them and balance their emotions.

Emotional environment. Make sure that the atmosphere in your home is caring, loving, and positive. Take time to listen to your children when they talk, letting them know that they are important and are a vital part of your life.

Reduce the sugar. Cut back on the amount of sugar that your child consumes by using alternative sweeteners. Excellent sweeter alternatives include licorice, barley malt, brown rice syrup,