Lupus: Heavy Metals and Environmental Toxins - Lifestyle Changes to Restore Your Health

Lupus: Environmental Factors That You Can Control for Better Health Often, doctors cite “environmental causes” as a vague and somewhat uncontrollable underlying cause of lupus. So we’re providing a list of lifestyle changes supported by scientific research that can help your body heal if you’ve been diagnosed with this disease.  Making changes to the way you live your life takes time and the results may take several years to really manifest and pay off. Your body needs time and patience to heal. So, if you endeavor to make these lifestyle changes, look at them as an investment in your general health and longevity and stay positive! It certainly won’t hurt you to change to a less toxic detergent or to quit smoking! These lifestyle changes will inevitably pay high dividends if you gi...

Mucuna pruriens for Treatment of NPSLE (Neuropsychiatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus)

How to Use the Mucuna Bean to Treat NPSLE Mucuna pruriens - Dried beans Some people with lupus are affected with neuropsychiatric conditions such as anxiety disorders, depression, cognitive dysfunction, and personality and mood disorders. Although not all neuropsychiatric conditions can be treated with Mucuna pruriens, many of these symptoms can be significantly relieved by supplementing with this plant.  Mucuna pruriens has an impact on dopamine levels in the brain which, in turn, affects and regulates cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol is the stress hormone and in lupus patients, this hormone is often dysregulated. Taking Mucuna can help lower stress levels while treating depression, anxiety, and other mood problems. It gives the body an opportunity to reboot and rebalance...

Vitamin D: The Harmful Effects of Supplementing without Vitamin K2

Vitamin K2 with Vitamin D: Two Vitamins That Work Together Most people don’t realize it, but when taken by itself, vitamin D (which includes vitamin D3 or vitamin D2) can cause calcification of soft tissues throughout the body (such as calcium buildup in the arteries or calcium deposits in the kidneys or bladder, pancreas, liver, breasts (as breast calcifications), and more). Vitamin D causes calcium to be absorbed into the bloodstream but then, rather than depositing it in either the bones and teeth, vitamin D by itself puts calcium into the soft tissues. Without vitamin K2 / Menaquinone-7 / MK-77, vitamin D will direct the calcium into any number of soft tissues where it decidedly does not belong. The vitamin K2 is necessary to ensure that calcium in the diet (or in supplements though g...

Lupus and Helicobacter pylori: Hydrochloric Acid Supplements for SLE

H. pylori and Lupus Taking a Betaine, Pepsin and Hydrochloric Acid supplement can help you digest your food more thoroughly which can help correct nutritional deficiencies that may be causing some or all of your lupus symptoms. In fact, doctors who work with lupus patients say that it’s common for people with lupus to have low Hydrochloric Acid levels. You’ll have to experiment with a Hydrochloric Acid supplement to figure out if it’s right for you. Strangely, a hydrochloric acid deficiency may actually manifest with symptoms of heartburn or Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). That’s because the esophagus contains receptors that can detect whether the stomach is producing acid or not. When the stomach produces enough acid (usually due to the presence of food), the esop...

Lithium Orotate: Not Just an Alternative Treatment for Depression, Bipolar, and Anxiety

 The Virtues of Lithium Orotate   Lithium orotate is the natural form of lithium that exists as a salt. Most people are familiar with lithium carbonate, a pharmaceutical that was once prescribed in high doses to bipolar patients. But lithium orotate is a natural lithium SALT that can be administered at a low dose (5 to 20 mg per day). It has a broad medicinal action on the body and also on the mind and mood. It works in tandem with Lugol’s iodine / Iodoral supplements to restore normal thyroid function to the body.  Below are some of the medicinal benefits of lithium orotate: Boosts cognitive function Promotes the growth of neurons Prevents neuron damage due to high cortisol levels Stimulate neurogenesis in Down's Syndrome patients Stabilizes mood Alterna...

Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) for Lupus Cystitis and Autoimmune Arthritis

DMSO for Lupus Cystitis Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) is an amazing medicine that can be used in many different ways to treat a wide variety of different illnesses, disorders, and injuries. In fact, DMSO has the broadest medicinal action of any FDA approved medication currently available and it’s available over-the-counter. For people with lupus, DMSO can be used to quell bladder problems that may develop as a part of the course of disease. The ability to self-treat bladder problems like chronic interstitial cystitis is important because some lupus specialists believe that lupus cystitis (bladder irritation in lupus patients) may be the causative force behind other serious lupus symptoms such as: 1) neurogenic dysfunction 2) neuropathy and 3) lowered immunity. The Bladder: Pissed Off and...

Fumaric Acid / Fumaria officinalis for Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus (CLE) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)

The Earth Smoke Plant: Herbal Medicine for Lupus The bolete mushroom is a natural source of fumaric acid. Fumaric acid esters are an effective treatment option for not only lupus, but also for psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. They are often prescribed and administered in Germany as dimethyl fumarate under the brand name Fumaderm. This substance is most frequently found in processed foods as a preservative or artificial flavoring, but it can also be found in nature as a component of the earth smoke plant (Fumaria officinalis), Icelandic moss, and bolete mushrooms. It is also produced naturally by the body upon exposure to the sun. In Europe, dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is a relatively common conventional treatment for psoriasis (although it is also an accepted, though less known, treatmen...

Thymus Gland Extract for Lupus: Cure or Not?

Thymus Extract for SLE What is Thymus Gland Extract? Thymus extracts typically come from the thymus glands of young cows. Humans have a thymus gland that's located just behind the sternum in the middle of the rib cage, but the thymus gland is most active when we're young. It has a weaker influence on our health and immunity as we get older. This important immune system gland sits just below the thyroid. It shrivels up a bit as people grow into adulthood, but that doesn't lessen its importance. Taking thymus gland extract can help your immune system rebalance and normalize which is extremely important for people who are suffering from an autoimmune disease like lupus. But thymus gland is best used to kick-start your efforts toward natural treatment for lupus. This is a supplement that can...

Vitamin K2 for Bone Remineralization and Cardiovascular Health: Cure Osteoporosis and Arteriosclerosis 

Prevent Osteoporosis and Cardiovascular Disease with Vitamin K2 and Vitamin D3 Supplements Humans have a difficult relationship with calcium. We know that we need this mineral, but despite drinking tons of milk and taking calcium supplements in huge doses, we still end up with osteoporosis and dental cavities. What gives? If you really think about calcium and how the dairy industry promotes milk as the end-all cure for osteoporosis, you might notice that people who drink a lot of milk are far from immune to this disease. In fact, people who drink milk are predisposed to developing osteoporosis, according to The China Study, the largest nutritional study ever conducted in the world. How is this possible? Watch Forks Over Knives for more information about why drinking milk won’t save you fr...