Lavender for Generalized Anxiety Disorder

 “Lavender for Generalized Anxiety Disorder” Lavender oil, distilled from lavender flowers, is most often used in aromatherapy and massage. Despite its popularity, only recently have scientifically-based investigations have been undertaken into its biological activity, however. There have been small-scale studies suggesting a benefit from lavender massage, but maybe it’s the massage, not the lavender. There was a study on patients in intensive care comparing massage with odorless oil to massage with lavender oil, and through patients massaged with lavender oil did say they felt less anxious and more positive, there were no objective differences found in terms of blood pressure, breathing, or heart rate. Frankly, maybe the lavender was just covering up the nasty hospital smells. Subsequent studies using more sensitive tests did find physiological changes, though. We know, for example, the smell of lavender changes brain wave patterns, but what effect does this have? Well, it makes people feel better, and perform math better, faster, and more accurately, whereas the smell of rosemary, for example, seemed to enable folks only to do the math faster —not necessarily with greater accuracy. What if you eat lavender flowers, or in this case take capsules of lavender-infused oil so you could double-blind the study to compare lavender head-to-head to a drug like valium, lorazepam, known as Ativan, for generalized anxiety disorder? Generalized and persistent anxiety is a frequent problem and is treated with benzodiazepines, “benzos”, or downers like valium. Unfortunately, these substances not only make you feel like you have a hangover, but have a high potential for drug abuse and addiction, so they decided to give lavender a try. The drug Ativan certainly reduces anxiety… but so does lavender. By the end, you couldn’t tell which was which! And in fact, among those that responded to either, the lavender seemed to work better.  Since lavender oil has no potential for drug abuse and causes no hangover effects, it appears to be an effective and well-tolerated alternative to benzodiazepine drugs for the amelioration of generalized anxiety. One cautionary note, however. There was a case series published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Prepuberty gynecomastia linked to lavender. Reports of young boys exposed to lavender-containing lotions, soaps, hair gel, and shampoo, starting to develop breasts, which disappeared after these products were discontinued, suggesting that lavender oil may possess hormone-disrupting activity. Indeed, when dripped on estrogen receptor positive human breast cancer cells, lavender does show estrogenic effects and a decline in male hormone activity, though it’s unknown if similar reactions occur inside the body when lavender flowers or lavender oil is ingested.As found on YouTubeSeanCooper🗯 The Shyness & Social Guy ⇝ The 3 WORST Mistakes You Must AVOID If You Want To Overcome Shyness (PLUS: 1 weird trick that targets the root biological cause of shyness so you can stop being nervous, awkward, and quiet around people…) By Sean Cooper, The Shyness & Social Anxiety Guy. The fact that you’re reading this article tells me you may have already reached a point where you feel your shyness is NOT going away on its own… or you fear it’s getting worse and worse. And I don’t want you to waste one more day living a life where you feel left out, bored, or depressed because you don’t have the relationships which would make you happy. That’s why I’ve put together this page to help you avoid the worst mistakes that keep many people stuck with shyness for years… often giving up hope of ever improving as you watch other people have interesting “normal” lives without you. Yet this doesn’t have to happen. 732d01adf780998f105af3460737a431

Herbal Tea Update: Rooibos & Nettle

 “Herbal Tea Update: Rooibos & Nettle” Rooibos, or red tea, is anecdotally reported to aid stress-related symptoms but has none of the mood-altering phytonutrients thought responsible for the increased calm and decreased stress after drinking green tea. So, why do some people feel less stressed drinking red tea? Well, researchers recently found human adrenal gland cells in a petri dish produce about four times fewer steroid hormones in the presence of red tea. Yes, this could quite possibly contribute to “the alleviation of negative effects arising from elevated [stress hormone levels]” if it damped down adrenal function that much in real life. But, the effect was so dramatic they became concerned it might adversely affect the production of sex hormones, as well. But, that’s not what they found when they tested it on “human test subjects.” The same may not be true, however, of nettle tea. Nettle is used to relieve symptoms of prostate enlargement by boosting estrogen levels. But, men drinking too much may grow breasts, and women may start lactating. Nettles are often picked wild, so there’s always a risk that someone might accidentally pick something like this, instead of this, and come down with atropine poisoning because the nettle tea you thought you were drinking had some belladonna (deadly nightshade). Also, not a good idea to put the leaves in your mouth fresh. They don’t call themstinging nettles for anything This is a close-up of the impalement of a nettle spicule in the skin— not something you want your tongue. Nettle tea is touted for its high mineral content, which always seemed kind of strange to me. I mean, yes, if you boil dark green leafy vegetables long enough, you do lose minerals in the cooking water. But, how many minerals could we be getting if we just steep some tea? We never knew because it hadn’t been tested—until now.  They compared the mineral content of nettle tea to chamomile tea, mint tea, St. John’s wort, and sage. Nettle tea didn’t seem to have much more than any of the others— but, maybe they’re all high? Well, one cup of nettle tea does have the iron of a dried apricot (that’s more than I expected), the zinc found in one pumpkin seed, one-twentieth of a mushroom’s worth of copper— but four peanuts’ worth of magnesium, and an entire fig’s worth of calcium. I agree with the researchers that, you know, a cup of herbal tea may not be an important source of minerals, but it’s not negligible. You know, greens are so packed with nutrition that you can benefit from just drinking some hot water they’ve been soaking in for a few minutes.As found on YouTubeThe Destroy Depression ꆛ System-Cure Depression Naturally YOUR DEPRESSION HAS BEEN IN CONTROL LONG ENOUGH. It’s Time to Fight Back ☂🗯 “Depression Sufferer Of Over 20 Years Reveals His Simple 7-Step System That Gives You The Power To Destroy Your Depression, End Your Feelings Of Sadness And Hopelessness, And Get Your Life Back.” “This didn’t just change my life, it saved my life.