(dramatic music)
- You don't need to buy aspirin,
go out and chew on some willow bark.
Well, anyhow, I'm only being facetious.
But ancient remedies for modern ailments.
It's a growing trend in modern medicine.
Herbs, supplements,essential oils and foods
are used to treat around75 different conditions.
And some of these naturaltreatments can be traced
all the way back to father Abraham.
So what are they?
Well, our medical reporter Lorie Johnson
has the explanation.
Lorie.
- [Lorie] Since its inception,
many have called modern medicine
a gift from God.
Sometimes, however,
we look back to thetreatments of our ancestors.
- Up until 150 years ago,
when somebody used the word medicine
it typically didn't meana synthetic medicine.
It typically meant an herb or spice
like ginger or frankincenseand all of these things
that are referenced in the Bible today,
that's what we meant by medicine.
- [Lorie] In his newbook, "Ancient Remedies",
Dr. Josh Axe recommends herbs,supplements, essential oils,
and foods to treat about75 different conditions.
- For instance,
if somebody is strugglingwith hypothyroidism,
I go through those top five herbs
so people know exactly what to do.
If somebody has Alzheimer's,I go through what to do.
If somebody has inflammation,heart disease, diabetes,
chronic pain, hormone imbalance,
I go through all of those things in there.
- [Lorie] Some date back tothe dawn of civilization.
- But actually it's believed that Abraham
actually taught a lot ofthese natural ways of healing
using different herbs andfoods to support healing.
And that actually is the basis of Chinese
or different types of Asian medicine.
- May of us are okay withmedicines that are made in a lab,
but if given the choice,
might prefer somethinga little more natural.
Man-made drugs often began as imitations
of their natural counterparts.
- For instance, take white willow bark.
That's where they got the idea for asprin.
White willow bark helpsnaturally thin the blood,
reduces pain naturally,is anti-inflammatory.
Well, aspirin is actually taken from that,
but these pharmaceuticalcompanies wanted to save money
so they started making itthemselves that are synthetic.
- [Lorie] As we've reported,
that process can result in side effects
like nutritional deficiencies.
- Diabetes drugs actuallypull coenzyme Q10
from your body andcertain other B vitamins.
So if you're on a diabetic drug,
it increases your risk ofa heart attack and stroke.
If you have taken an antibiotic drug,
it kills the good bacteria inyour body, those probiotics,
and it also depletes your body of zinc.
- [Lorie] Dr. Axe maintainsregardless of the disease
the first step towards healing
involves building a better gut,
since that's where most ofour immune system resides.
- The foods that aremost healing to the gut,
number one is bone broth.
The reason being bone brothis made up of 90% collagen,
and your gut itself is madeup of around 70% collagen.
And so you have to have collagenin order for it to heal.
- [Lorie] What to avoid?
- Pretty much gluten, dairy and sugar
are the things that will mostweaken our immune systems.
- [Lorie] We can alsoboost our body's defenses
by balancing hormones, lowering stress,
and getting a good night's sleep.
He says, believe it or not,marijuana's sober cousin, CBD,
can do all three.
- So there's two maincompounds found in hemp
which are CBD and THC.
THC is that sort of,
that's that compound that cancause hallucinogenic effects
where people hear about getting high.
CBD is a completely different compound.
- [Lorie] So while drugcompanies churn out their pills,
Dr. Josh Axe points to nature,
and describes how we, likepeople centuries before us,
can use the remedies thereto cure what ails us.
- Well Lorie is joining usnow with more on this topic.
Lorie, it's fascinating, isn't it?
Where's this whole ideaof using food as medicine,
can you tell us how to treatspecific diseases with food?
- Well, you know, Pat,
I interviewed one of thenation's leading diabetes doctors
at Duke and he uses diet totreat his diabetic patients.
He puts them on a no-sugarand no-starch diet.
And oftentimes they come offtheir insulin really fast.
And he actually showed me a medical manual
from way back in the days beforeinsulin was even developed.
And that was the treatmentthat doctors used
on their diabetic patients.
Think about arthritis.
We know that's an inflammatory condition.
So you can take an anti-inflammatory drug
or you can adopt ananti-inflammatory diet.
What does that mean?
That means avoiding sugar,artificial sweeteners,
processed foods, wheat, friedfood, even red meat and dairy,
and then eating thingslike certain types of fish,
olive oil, walnuts, blueberries.
Things that you like to eat, Pat.
- (laughing) Well, we talk about
these certain essentialoils that act like drugs.
Can we get these from apharmacist, by any way?
- Well, they are sort oflike nature's pharmacy.
And it's important toremember that essential oils,
just like the drugs thatwe get at the pharmacy,
are very powerful andyou really need to know
how to use them.
Because if you use them the wrong way,
it can be very dangerous.
What am I talking about?
Well, we know thatoregano oil is often used
as an alternative to antibiotics.
But it's important thatwhen you take oregano oil
you don't put it directly onyour mouth because it can burn.
Don't take it for more than 10 days.
And if you're pregnant,don't take it at all.
Same thing with tea tree oil.
It's a wonderful antiviral essential oil,
but you don't need to ingest that at all.
You need to breathe itin or use it topically.
Same thing with holy basil.
It's a wonderfulanticoagulant essential oil,
but people who haveblood clotting disorders
need to avoid it.
Peppermint oil should not beput on the skin of infants.
I could go on and on,but you get the idea.
If you're having surgery,
make sure to tell your doctor
all the different essentialoils that you're taking
just like you would
with synthetic pharmaceutical medications.
- When you say taking, I mean,
you're ingesting these things
or you're rubbing them on your face?
- Great question.
And for some essential oilsyou take it, you ingest it,
for other ones, you put themtopically or you breathe them,
you diffuse them into the air.
So they're all very different.
And that's why it's importantto consult a manual like this
and consult people whohave had lots of training
in these things, becausethey are very serious,
just like regularmedications that we would get
at a pharmacy.
- For example, you've gotthis stuff like frankincense.
If you just put it on your face
that'll cause blood problems?
- No, I was talking aboutholy basil oil, essential oil.
That can sometimes cause problems
if you have blood clotting issues.
Frankincense is one of the,
they call it the king of essential oils.
And we know that the wisemen brought that to Jesus
and also myrrh.
And so these two essentialoils are fantastic
and have many healing properties.
And so it's really fascinating
to look at all thesedifferent essential oils.
- Well, we've been talkingso much about this gut flora.
About 80% or so of of theimmune system is in the gut.
And what foods should weuse again to make sure
that that gut is happy?
- Well, it's a two-fold answer,
and we need to eat the right foods, Pat,
but we also need toavoid those wrong foods.
And that's what trips up a lot of us
because the things that harm our gut
are things that we love to eat
like sugar and processed foods.
And we also need to watch our antibiotics.
We know that those canbe harmful for our gut.
They're vastly over prescribed.
But we know thatantibiotics are life-saving.
And so we need to be judiciousabout using antibiotics.
But to answer your question,
the foods that are great for our gut
are things like bone broth,
those fermented foods likekimchi and sauerkraut and yogurt,
and also lots of vegetablesand natural things
that come from the ground.
- Well amen.
Well, I hope that the...
Dr. Axe, has he got abook out on this stuff now
that we're talking about?
- Absolutely.
It's called, "AncientRemedies", it's brand new,
I highly recommend it.
- All right.
Well, he's a great guy.
Thank you, Lorie, appreciate it.
