Tag Archives: ccf tea

Update on CCF Tea: 5 Things to Know About Reducing Inflammation

bladder, bladder pain, chronic prostatitis, fibromyalgia, GERD, IBS, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, vulvodynia, , , ,

Stomach disorder conceptIn the past we’ve discussed CCF tea(cumin coriander and fennel seeds) to bring about cooling in the urinary tract in patients with IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, GERD, and chronic prostatitis)  Each of these herbs target specifically the urinary tract and have a cooling affect  So CCF reduces the severity of IC flares due to its reduction in inflammation

But as we’ve discussed in the several blog posts agni is an important aspect of health and healing IC  As a matter of fact agni or digestive power must be addressed in any chronic disease in order to have any chance of healing

Agni or Digestive Power

Agni is all the enzyme and bacterial systems for digestion, absorption, and assimilation from the mouth to the anus  So you can see how all encompassing this system is  But there’s more  The energy science states that the central system of agni indicates the strength of all metabolic systems in the body including cellular metabolism because agni is in essence the metabolic fire of the body

The matter science talks about agni but in a way that does not make the association between the GI tract(GIT) and the rest of the body  This primary difference in the disciplines allows the energy science to state the origin of disease is known while the matter science continues to struggle to find the molecules responsible for chronic illness

But there’s more  If you have strong agni you’ll have better mental clarity  You’ll make better choices for your health and healing chronic disease  Disease is often self perpetuating due to this “brain fog”  For most people they dont realize they’re fogged until they look back and compare with where they are now and where they were back then(whatever that timeline is) and realize that now they have more clarity  This is the benefit of rejuvenative herbs  They help us with mental clarity….eing able to see things with better understanding and awareness  Sometimes it’s hard to see this because we’re in a fog and the proverbial “Whatever” occurs

Whenever energy is low then agni is low  This may or may not be associated with a change in bowel habit(diarrhea, constipation, or both)  This is the first symptom of disturbed agni and needs to be corrected

CCF and Agni

So CCF tea is not only medicinal to the urinary tract and helpful in the IC bladder pain syndrome but is also very valuable in building agni  Ahh that’s a tremendous benefit  But it gets even better….CCF tea helps improve agni without heating the system up as well  Spices(using the terms spices and herbs interchangeably because spices ARE herbs) can heat the system and provoke IC flares such as garlic, oregano, sage, rosemary, and thyme

And some of the best rejuvenatives you have for improving mental clarity are in your kitchen  How so?  Spices are agni builders which as we discussed earlier enhance the mind, reduce “brain fog”, and create better decision making

You can make CCF tea by placing equal amounts of the seeds(not the powder) in a ziploc bag, toss them around so there is an even mixture of the seeds and then add a 1T of the mixture to 6oz of boiling water for 5minutes  If you want more volume, more tablespoons and boiling water

5 Things to Do to Improve Agni

So the first item on the agenda in healing IC is to improve digestion, absorption, and assimilation of the GIT

1 CCF tea  Cumin, coriander and fennel tea is elemental to improve digestion because it stokes agni  That’s why sipping on this tea all day, everyday is helpful for clearing AMA

2 Stop putting wet logs on your digestion  When I entertain foods that don’t resonate with my energy makeup(Pitta diet at icdiet or VP diet at foodsheal) or use IFC(incompatible food combinations at foodsheal) it’s like dampening my agni which is all the enzyme systems of the GIT from the mouth to lower rectum including the bacteria which are also part of agni  And avoid difficult to digest proteins like gluten(wheat rye barley), lactose, and fats found in nuts and dairy

3 Using other agni enhancers  Fresh ginger tea with a dash of cayenne(agni tea), cardamon, vanilla, cinnamon, turmeric are all excellent agni enhancers that you can use in my cooking or beverages to enhance agni

4  Breathing techniques(pranayama)  Interestingly the yoga tradition has many different ways to physically enhance agni  These breathing techniques can change the course of IC due to the power of clearing AMA

5  Yoga postures  The digestive system is represented in the space of the abdomen and when you do postures that engage this area you literally engage agni and improve it  From a molecular point of view this cannot be understood but energetically it makes perfect sense

So there you have it  A starter sequence that can get you on your way to healing IC   Oh, BTW, if you have poor agni chances are you have undigested and unprocessed food  And because you feel OK,  doesn’t mean you don’t have toxic load

IC and Toxic Load: Where Does It Come From? 5 Things To Do

bladder, bladder pain, chronic prostatitis, fibromyalgia, GERD, IBS, IC, Interstiial cystitis, vulvodynia, , , , , , , , , ,

FireIn the energy science of Ayurveda there can be no disease without the presence of toxicity  In this discipline it’s called AMA(this doesn’t stand for the American Medical Association) which means undigested, unprocessed food  Hmmm, if I have unprocessed, undigested food hanging around in my GIT(GI tract) that must mean that my digestive capability is in some way impaired?  Bingo

Toxicity and Disease

So in the end the root cause of all disease is the presence of bodily AMA  And to heal any disease whether it be the IC(interstitial cystitis) bladder pain syndrome or CPPS(IC, IBS, GERD, chronic prostatitis, vulvodynia, fibromyalgia) or any other disease I must address AMA in the body

AMA physically is a substance that is thick(dense), sticky, heavy, slow to move, cold, slimy, and gross(meaning easy to spot in the body)  Think of a thick plaque in a vessel wall that obstructs blood flow and you have a good idea of what AMA is  And just like that plaque impairs flow of blood to the tissues that it supplies, energetically it impairs the flow of energy in the body

When there is energy stagnation in the physical or mental body there can be pain, either physical or emotional

So when you have pain from a bladder flare it implies that there is energetic stagnation and the free flow of energy has been disrupted

The Importance of Digestive Fire

So if all diseases have AMA and my digestive fire is weak, then if I want to clear the diseases such as IC then I should work on improving my digestive power or agni(the words fire, power, strength, and agni are all used interchangeably here)  This is a radical departure from current medical thinking since the models are so different  But then again that’s why the energy model can be successful since it understands the origin of disease from an energy science view

So the first item on the agenda in healing IC is to improve digestion, absorption, and assimilation of the GIT

1 CCF tea  Cumin, coriander and fennel tea is elemental to improve digestion because it stokes agni  That’s why sipping on this tea all day, everyday is helpful for clearing AMA

2 Stop putting wet logs on your digestion  When I entertain foods that don’t resonate with my energy makeup(Pitta diet or VP diet) or use IFC(incompatible food combinations) it’s like dampening my agni which is all the enzyme systems of the GIT from the mouth to lower rectum including the bacteria which are also part of agni

3 Using other agni enhancers  Fresh ginger tea with a dash of cayenne(agni tea), cardamon, vanilla, cinnamon, turmeric are all excellent agni enhancers that I can use in my cooking or beverages to enhance agni

4  Breathing techniques(pranayama)  Interestingly the yoga tradition has many different ways to physically enhance agni  These breathing techniques can change the course of IC due to the power of clearing AMA

5  Yoga postures  The digestive system is represented in the space of the abdomen and when you do postures that engage this area you literally engage agni and improve it  From a molecular point of view this cannot be understood but energetically it makes perfect sense

So there you have it  A starter sequence that can get you on your way to healing IC   Oh, BTW, people have AMA and because they feel OK, they don’t think they have toxic load  They’re only fooling themselves  Everybody has it, it just depends where it’s going to show up

Another thing  The AMA that occurs in the urinary tract channel has a good chance of getting cleared  When the AMA starts showing up in other places (like fibromyalgia) it’s more difficult, doable but harder

IC and the Antiinflammatory Effects of Colostrum

bladder, bladder pain, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

Colostrum from the sourceIC (interstitial cystitis) bladder pain is a result of inflammation and the energy science describes this in terms of the hot quality  As I have talked about in the past there are many different things that people can do to reduce this quality in the gut:  aloe vera gel, CCF tea, spices such as turmeric  fresh basil and ginger, and herbs

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But not only do you want the antiinflammatory effect but it would be great if you could also enhance digestive strength at the same time  Aloe does this but colostrum does this as well and makes this bovine derived product an excellent choice for the treatment of IC

Digestive Strength and Enhancers

I have alluded to digestive strength in the past but not gone into much detail   This week in our webinar series the group will work on agni or digestive strength because it’s so important for gut health

Anything that enhances digestion induces agni (the word ingnite comes from this word)  So spices are important in food preparation because they stimulate agni or digestive strength

Probiotics enhance agni as well as herbs such as aloe vera   Research has shown that colostrum that has been used in IC with excellent results not only reduces the inflammatory response but also helps improve digestive fire

 

 

Colostrum:  A Two Headed Winner

This first milking substance is an amazing resource of substances necessary to support the  development and repair of cells and tissues, assure the effective and efficient metabolism of nutrients and establish and maintain a healthy immune system

Because of its physiologic functions it mimics the activity of growth hormone, a rejuvenative that could build tissues in people with chronic disease    The link has great resource information so you should check it out

In India, where cows are sacred, colostrum is delivered to the home with the milk and is used for medicinal purposes to treat everything from
age-related symptoms to the common cold   This practice began several thousand years ago with Ayurvedic physicians and sacred healers

In the Scandinavian countries, the birth of a calf is celebrated by the making of a pudding for human consumption from the extra colostrum after the calf is fed   This practice has gone on for centuries and is intended to promote good health   Research conducted in these countries as early as the late 18th century showed the benefits of colostrum on the health and development of cattle and laid the groundwork for the early medicinal use of colostrum by humans   The early Amish farmers in America practiced this same ritual

Where Available

Capsules of colostrum can be obtained in health food stores, on Amazon, or on the ic-solutions Amazon store 

Have a great week     To health as a Skill       Love DB

PS  My book Foods Heal is downloadable for FREE this week only on all mobile reading devices by going to http://amzn.to/fLYS3i under Kindle

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8 Acute and 4 Chronic Management Methods to Reduce IC Flares

bladder, bladder pain, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

 

 

 

 

The accompanying graph depicts what happens in the formation of any disease process of imbalance   There is a gradual buildup of excess qualities such as the hot quality in IC   This can occur over years of unconscious choice making that leads to at first GI tract symptoms that then eventuate in dissemination of the quality(ies) to various parts of the body

In the case of IC the dissemination of the qualities of hot, light, mobile, dry, rough, and subtle to the urinary tract leads to the early symptoms of bladder wall irritability and pain that takes you to the doctor thinking you have a UTI

As the hot quality along with others  progresses over further time the symptoms become flares that become unpredictable and ever more painful to the point of incapacitation   At this point the disease is in its full manifestation and as depicted in the left hand side of the graph these qualities are most often delivered in the foods that are eaten

Chronic Management of IC Flares

From the above you can see that if you don’t do anything with the nutrition that you have been unconsciously taking then all bets are off that you will have any success long term   So the fundamental shift in food choices is important and probably the most difficult for IC patients since the shift requires giving up comfort foods and “friends”

1  As you can see once you stop the aggravating foods that are delivering the qualities that are responsible for your symptoms the ceiling begins to be lowered and instead of the spikes off the top of the chart they begin to come down to lower horizontal lines   The ceiling for symptoms is lowered and so are the symptoms themselves

2  Next avoiding food incompatibilities that overproduce acidic loading can again reduce the chances for flares in the future

3  The third chronic thing to do is help the body eliminate the qualities from the urinary tract by using aloe vera gel on a regular basis   I have written about that earlier

4  Using CCF tea to bathe the urinary tract mucosal lining with these herbs on a regular basis helps calm and soothe the irritated bladder muscle leading to again a reduced ceiling   When you drink this CCF tea on a regular daily basis this goes a long way toward medicinally medicating the bladder

The Acute Flare Management Tips

The ground state is now established with the above chronic work but as you can see we’re not out of the woods yet because there will still be more releasing to go which will mean flares but gratefully not as severe as the ones before you began doing the chronic maintenance work as described above

1  The castor oil pack placed over the two large pelvic and bladder marma(accupuncture) points help cool off the pelvis and bladder   Adding a cooling aroma such as jasmine, sandalwood, or peppermint can be beneficial as well    Ani marma can also be effectively treated with cooling aromas    Ani is located at the inside of the elbow at its crease and massaging for a minute or two can help with pain

2  Eating foods that are cooling and trying cucumber milk or other recipes to cool off is good to do and you can try these recipes:

Coconut Milk Smoothie                                                                                   

1cup coconut milk

1cup sweet strawberries, cherries, or other berries available in season

0.5 tsp sucanat

1 Tablespoon coconut flakes

Blenderize and add water to change consistency

Cucumber Milk

Cut up a half of a cucumber and blenderize it with a cup of room temperature cow’s milk with a 0.5 teaspoon of cumin or turmeric.  Milk acts as a taxi cab to take the cooling qualities of the cucumber to the urinary tract.

Cilantro Smoothie

2cups of cilantro(this is the leafy part of the coriander plant and cooling)

1cup of kale

1cup of carrot

0.5 teaspoon of cumin

Blenderize to pleasing consistency

Add water as needed

—————

3  Sipping on freshly grated ginger that has been steeped in hot water can be cleansing to the GI tract and help bring the hot quality back to the GI tract where it can be eliminated

4 Getting plenty of rest during these energy draining times is very valuable and avoiding any exercise.

5 If you live in a hot climate such as Florida, Texas or the Southwest, it’s important to stay out of the heat   Use sunglasses as often as possible.

6  If it can be tolerated using targeted herbal therapy instillations to the bladder lining can be therapeutic as well

7  Lastly take time during an acute flare to nourish yourself   Try not to be impatient but compassionate with the body as it sheds this unwanted hot quality

8 Continue to do the maintenance work as above

All the best                  To Health as a Skill   Love DrBill

 

7 Herbs for Targeted Intravesical Use in Interstitial Cystitis

bladder, bladder pain, CPPS, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, vulvodynia, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s estimated that 50 to as high as 70% of people experiencing IC have spontaneous resolution of bladder pain symptoms or after a period of time go away entirely or move to a more manageable symptom complex.  This is typified in the accompanying bell curve graph which shows to the left of the line those that have resolved completely or have manageable symptoms and those to the right who have repeated flares for an extended period of time.

This latter debilitated group of patients(CPPS) suffer not only unrelenting flares but lose marriages, relationships, and jobs leaving them on disability, helpless and with little positive outlook.  I believe the urologist is equally frustrated with these tormented souls as the pharma tools that they have are often inadequate for the job.  This is primarily because the origin of disease by the matter science is not understood and hence the pharma used is not targeted therapy.

Matter and Energy Science Urology:  Use of Bladder Instillation Therapy

Anyone with chronic interstitial cystitis(IC) with numerous trips to the urologist has experienced cystoscopy and catheterizations necessary to instill medicinal agents such as DMSO or medications such as heparin and steroid.   Some patients who have severe frequency and urgency are taught to by some urologists to do self administered intermittent catheterization thinking that decreasing residuals might help these lower tract irritative symptoms.

The energy science of Ayurveda has used catheterization for 1000’s of years and it is called basti.   There are many different forms of basti dependent on what locale of the body’s anatomy the healer wishes to treat.  Basti is used for various disease states from eye disorders to low back pain to constipation.

Basti helps to target the specific imbalanced organ in this case the bladder but can also be used for vulvodynia or vaginal pain which I blogged about in the past using topically administered herbs placed by hand or tampon.

Energy Science Targeted Therapy

Recently in the past 12 years there has been growing interest in the cancer literature on “targeted therapy” which has been used to describe cancer treating molecules that specifically “target” specific cancer cell processes that arrest cancer growth.  This avoids the broad chemotherapy effects that can be hard on treated patients.

I have described in previous posts that the origin of disease is understood from an energy science perspective to be an imbalance in qualities.  When herbs are used they specifically “target” the imbalance in the organs that are symptomatic, in this case the bladder or vagina.

What herbs target the bladder lining and can be used safely for topical intravesical use?  Let’s list them.

Aloe vera gel   This time honored herb reduces the hot of  inflammation and so is excellent when the Pitta energy pattern is causing the burning in the pelvic cavity as well as on urination or vaginal burning.

Cumin Coriander Fennel   These three herbs are medicinal to the urinary tract since all are cooling to the bladder mucosa.  Taken orally as a tea or making a decoction to deliver other herbs to the bladder mucosa can be therapeutically effective.

Goksura(aka Caltrops)   This herb is an antiinflammatory and targets the urinary tract and can be effective in reducing stone formation hence suggesting that it is important in GAG layer function.  It is also a nervine and shows the broad effects that happen to be characteristic of herbs in general.  It is one of the roots in dashamula below.

Guduchi  This is a commonly used herb for high Pitta conditions because it’s a rejuvenative for Pitta but has the unique quality of heating hence useful in toxic conditions which is often the case when there is longstanding IC.

Dashamula   This is a combination of 1o roots all with specific properties hence the name which means 10 roots.  Whenever there is Pitta in the tissue the tissue there is Vata as well and this herb is helpful in clearing the Vata energy pattern from the bladder wall.

Shatavari   This herb is tissue building and great for high Pitta conditions.  As I have said earlier it should not be used if there is a condition called polycystic ovarian syndrome.

Neem   This is a commonly used antiinflammatory and great for high Vata conditions and debility.

Applications of Energy Science Targeted Therapies

If you know how to self cath then this type of therapy under guidance as to which herbs to use is fairly easy.

If you can’t cath then accessing your friendly urologist to help with the instillation of the tea can be done.  The instillation schedule varies according to the clearance of symptoms but usually would be daily for at least 8 days while doing other therapies.

I have found basti as targeted therapy to be immensely rewarding for chronic IC over the years.  Try it, you’ll like it!

To Health as a Skill         DB

4 Ways to Deal With the “Horrible Flare”

bladder, bladder pain, IC, Interstiial cystitis, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

I have found it interesting that quite often the physical problems that we have often seek their verbal expressions in the physically manifested universe    This indirectly supports that we know we are intuitively part of Nature   That we are not apart from Her but an aspect of Her   We are Her in a real sense

To divorce ourselves from Nature through technology and the study of molecules misses our ability to resourcefully look within for the answers

As the saying goes, you haven’t lived until you’ve had a good bladder pain flare   And while that’s over the top for anyone who has experienced one nonetheless let’s lighten up and realize that no one has ever died from one   Here are 4 ways to deal with the tormenting flare

Short Course of Steroids

The inflammatory response that occurs with a flare from an energy science view is the Pitta energy pattern which carries the hot and spreading qualities   These qualities are enhanced by the mobile and light qualities of Vata   These two energy patterns tied together can make the flare unbearable

The energy patterns are most concentrated in the bladder wall muscle and a quick way to manage the muscular spasm caused by Pitta is by the potent steroids available by prescription   You can ask your urologist or family physician about the use of a short 7 day tapering pack of Medrol which has the dosings all laid out in the packaging   This is highly effective in the management of uncontrollable muscle spasm

By removing Pitta from the tissue using the cold quality of the steroid there will be an unblocking of Vata from the tissues which releases the light and mobile qualities from the bladder muscle

Cool Off

A flare is hardly the time to use hot spices like garlic, heavy fatty or oily foods(fatty acids =hot quality), or sit under the sun  since all these situations carry the hot quality   Better to start looking for a cool area of the house that’s dimly lit(intense light aggravates the hot quality) and take in nourishing cool sounds that are not jarring   Using cooling aromas such as rose, khus, mint, or jasmine are excellent particularly with your castor oil pack

This is a good time to go by the rule, “Feed a fever, starve a cold”   A flare is a fever whether the body’s temperature is elevated or not   So nutritionally(and it’s very natural) it’s best to do simple foods like juice  fasting based on your energy makeup(predominant Vata should leave this suggestion alone)  But the nutrition during a flare should be very simple   Maybe just dal(split mungl)rice, and veggies

 Castor Oil Pack

I’ve talked about the cooling external effects of castor and applying it over  the bladder acupuncture site(aka marma point) is an ideal way to relax the area involved    In addition the use of the above aromas with heat can be highly therapeutic   The use of heat with the pack can be helpful to reduce abdominal wall muscle spasm

So treating the horrible flare with acceptance and cooling off are energy science ways of thinking through the flare scientifically not hit and miss  And yes there are many other things you can do energetically that make sense eg chamomile or CCF tea    And the value of the flare is that it can bring on renewed commitment to stay on the energy science approach

Lay Low and Nourish Yourself 

This one may be surprising but it goes without saying that this is a time to nourish the body and not be disappointed in what’s happening   Who would say to a frightened child,  “Buck up kid!  You’re overreacting   How you’re acting is complete nonsense” ?

So too with the body, be compassionate, don’t force it to do what it doesn’t want to do   Allow it to be the way it wants to be   Be gentle, be kind   For people with IC the imbalance is the hot and mobile qualities and the pain makes you irritable, upset, not in control, and impatient(“Is it over yet?  Why isn’t it over?”)

The hot quality brings a strong sense of need for control of situations, circumstances, and things   There is also intensity, focus, competitiveness with this quality but impatience, and yes, anger, sometimes rage at not being well   A sense of disgust becomes overwhelming that the body is not cooperating

At that point say, “I know you’re not feeling well, dear body   But don’t worry   I’ll take care of you and we’ll get through this together   And I promise that when we’re through this that I’ll make better choices for you because I know I’m hurting you but I don’t know how or why”

Total acceptance of the difficult situation of flare can in itself reduce the pain and begin the restoration of balance   Fighting(hot quality) with it, wishing it was different, hoping that the body is going to “get over it”,is completely counterproductive to healing this acute situation

And if this post pissed you off you know you still have the hot quality lingering in excess

Until next time                    To Health as a Skill  Love DB