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Alternative medicine has always appealed to a niche group in the United States, but has not quite caught on as much as hoped.

However, in recent years, as healthcare costs mount, people are turning more frequently towards alternative cures for common ailments.

The most frequently used alternative medicines in America are:

• nonvitamin, nonmineral natural products (18 percent)
• deep breathing (13 percent)
• meditation (9 percent)
• chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (9 percent)
• massage (8 percent)
• yoga (6 percent)
• special diets (4 percent)
• homeopathy (2 percent)
• acupuncture (1 percent)
• t’ai chi or qigong (1 percent)
• energy healing or Reiki (.5 percent)
• naturopathy (0.3 percent)
• biofeedback (0.2 percent)
• Ayurveda (0.1 percent)

This mostly corresponds to how many people know about these alternative remedies.

As education of alternative remedies increases, so will the use of alternative remedies.

Also, the more widely alternative remedies are adopted, the more affordable they will become.

Which of these alternative remedies have you tried?

If you don’t get out in the sun enough, you may be facing a Vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D is one of those supplements that few people know much about, but is vital to health.

Your body makes it through sun exposure. But if you’re in the winter months or you live in an area that doesn’t get much sunlight, Vitamin D supplements are available to make sure you get your daily amount.

However, not all of these supplements may absorb or interact with your body correctly.

For instance, your prescriptions may affect your Vitamin D intake:

Certain medications interact with the absorption of vitamin D supplements and prevent healthy absorption. These medications include antacids, Lipitor, Dovonex, Lanoxin, Cardizem, Dilacor, Tiazac, Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP 3A4) substrates, Verapamil and water pills.

Also, if you have underlying health conditions, like kidney disease or hardened arteries, you should avoid Vitamin D supplements.

The Brazilians seem to do everything better when it comes to appearance.

It’s a country of beautiful, vibrant people who effortlessly soak up sun.

The secret to their toned bodies may lie in an unusual form of massage.

It’s called “Miracle Touch” and the list of claims are impressive:

Miracle Touch is supposed to reduce the circumference of your limbs, make your hips more defined, and help burn localized fat, all while relaxing and stretching your muscles.

According to one journalist who tried it:

some areas almost hurting as the masseuse kneaded into my muscles with full force (apparently it hurts more where you have more fat). She also massaged my stomach, which was uncomfortable. But even with the moments of awkwardness, I was relaxed and could feel my muscles getting harder as she worked.

Apparently, performed on a regular basis, “Miracle Touch” can tone just as much as workout.

So when you’re looking to get in shape this summer—massage may be the answer.

Now that marijuana is becoming legalized in more states, more products containing active ingredients in cannabis are hitting the market.

One product promises, according to a reporter who tried it, “one of the most gratifying therapeutic exercises I’ve ever experienced”.

This product is Apothecanna Pain Cream, which “includes 240 milligrams of cannabis extracts, “approximately 80 percent THC and 4 percent CBD”.

The product doesn’t get you high.

Instead, it has “a way of opening up the skin’s sensory profile, like a more nuanced Icy Hot. Rub the topical into the area that experiences pain or pressure. Give the topical time to take root. And then gently rub it in, taking time to work the surface skin and the muscles and tendons underneath.”

Currently, this product is available at LoDo Massage in Denver, where marijuana has been legalized.

The THC and CBD mix produce an “otherworldly sensation”, combining a feeling of “subtle float” with “gentle focus”.

It may be hard to find, but to get the best massage of your life—it sounds like it’s more than worth it.

You faithfully take your vitamins.

But are other vitamins or body conditions causing your vitamins to turn into very expensive urine?

For instance, A, D, E, and K are fat-soluble vitamins, which mean you need to consume fats in order to readily absorb them. If you’re on fat-free diets, this poses a problem.

Calcium absorbs at a higher rate with many other vitamins, such as magnesium and vitamin D.

But it also has negative interactions with others:

Calcium competes with iron in normal doses, and the two nutrients should not be taken at the same time. Fluoride, phosphorus, manganese and zinc absorption also decline when these minerals are taken together with calcium.

And lastly, Vitamin C can boost your absorption of other vitamins, such as chromium and iron.

When you start a vitamin supplement regimen, make sure your vitamins work together and don’t compete. Taking too much of any one vitamin is a recipe for health consequences.

Alternative medicine has always been outside of the mainstream. But in the past few years, Americans have been accepting and using alternative remedies at higher rates.

These are the most widely accepted forms of alternative medicine:

In 2007, the most commonly used therapies in America were nonvitamin, nonmineral natural products (18 percent of Americans), deep breathing (13 percent), meditation (9 percent), chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation (9 percent), massage (8 percent), and yoga (6 percent).

None of these are new by any means—some, like meditation, have been practiced for centuries.

But as mainstream healthcare costs become more expensive, more Americans are turning towards alternative remedies instead of costly doctor visits to manage everyday aches and pains.

Physicians are also embracing alternative remedies as science tests and backs up the claims being made by alternative healers.

Alternative medicine has religious roots which, curiously, are not well known by many Americans. In fact:

promotional materials may not use religious or spiritual language, but instead tout scientifically validated health benefits. Consumers who would hesitate to enter a Hindu or Buddhist temple might eagerly practice yoga or mindfulness meditation, if recommended by a physician.

Given that healthcare costs are still increasing and alternative medicines are gaining more mainstream acceptance, it’s likely more Americans will continue to embrace the benefits of alternative medicine.

For decades, people have been obsessed with antibacterial soap.

Bacteria and germs were painted as the devil, responsible for a host of diseases, and everything from compulsive handwashing to Purell stations in every public place became the norm.

However, a new startup called AOBiome is bucking the trend with a mist that’s probiotic.

The logic works like this: natural bacteria on the skin (before being stripped away by soaps and harsh cleansers) are designed to dissolve the ammonia in sweat and body odor while retaining moisture.

AOBiome has developed a revolutionary bodyspray which contains “billions of cultivated Nitrosomonas eutropha, an ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) that is most commonly found in dirt and untreated water.”

A New York Times journalist tried the product for a trial period, and the results are astonishing:

My skin began to change for the better. It actually became softer and smoother, rather than dry and flaky, as though a sauna’s worth of humidity had penetrated my winter-hardened shell. And my complexion, prone to hormone-related breakouts, was clear. For the first time ever, my pores seemed to shrink.

Body odor was not a problem as long as she followed the instructions to mist before she left the house and after she got back home.

Probiotic advocates and scientists hope that this is the first step in using probiotics for good.

Those with wounds that fail to respond to antibiotics could receive a probiotic cocktail adapted to fight the specific strain of infecting bacteria. Body odor could be altered to repel insects and thereby fight malaria and dengue fever. And eczema and other chronic inflammatory disorders could be ameliorated.

Now that more and more diseases are becoming resistant to antibiotics, it may be time to start looking in the other direction.

Headaches are not just endemic to the Western world.

This video shows a traditional African headache memory that’s mindboggling.

It requires an unidentified leafy branch, ashes, and chanting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuyinSJSHes

No word if it works, but when you have a headache—it may seem like ANYthing is worth a try.