Oesophageal Cancer, Cholesterol, Athlete's Foot, and Diarrhoea: What Researchers Say About Natural Interventions

While natural interventions used to be primarily an Eastern science, Western scientists who publish in peer reviewed journals are becoming increasingly optimistic about the potential health effects of some natural substances.

One major cause of oesophageal cancer is pepsin that eats away at the oesophagus. Pepsin is an enzyme that lives in the stomach and that is responsible for the breakdown of food. The stomach's lining is designed to handle huge amounts of acid, but the oesophagus is not meant to be an acidic environment. 

When the acidic enzymes in the stomach churn too wildly to coat large, high-protein meals, it enters the oesophagus and deposits pepsin onto its walls. The pepsin then remains there and becomes active whenever you eat an acidic meal. 

This then damages the lining of the oesophagus which erodes it or causes oesophageal cancer.

An important study by Doctors Jamie Koufman and Nikki Johnston discovered that alkaline water with a pH above 8.0 could permanently de-activate pepsin in the oesophageal lining.

They compared it with two brands of bottled water and found that high-alkaline water was the only water that could do this. Once the pepsin is de-activated, acidic food can no longer trigger it to become active. The oesophagus is, thus, protected from future damage. This could save you, not only from oesophageal cancer, but also from many cases of heartburn and acid reflux.

Cholesterol is a sterol compound that is found in most body tissues and that is an important constituent of cell membranes. When it occurs in the blood in high concentrations, however, it increases the risk that it will harden and stick to the lining of arteries, increase blood pressure, and even cut off the blood supply to some parts of the body. As such, it is one of the chief causes of cardiovascular disease. 

The two types of cholesterol are HDL and LDL. LDL is bad cholesterol because it sticks to arterial walls. HDL is good cholesterol because it carries LDL cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver where it can be broken down in preparation for excretion. Triglycerides are fats that act similarly to LDL cholesterol.

Several studies have concluded that Omega 3 fatty acids lowers bad cholesterol, lowers triglycerides, and increases good cholesterol. Even if you choose to supplement your diet with omega 3, this is no reason to binge on creamy cakes and cheesy pizzas, as not even the best medicine can completely outweigh an unhealthy diet. But it can serve as a helpful aid, especially for those who used to eat unhealthy foods before switching to a healthier lifestyle.

Athlete's foot is a fungal infection of the feet. It causes itchiness, redness, peeling, cracking, and even blisters in the worse cases. Physicians normally prescribe a topical antifungal spray to kill the fungi responsible for it. These fungi live in moist areas like closed shoes, sweaty socks, wet shower floors, and so on.

Those people who want to avoid athlete's foot or address it without visiting a doctor can try colloidal silver spray. The science behind it is quite persuasive. This study shows that the nanoparticles in silver disrupt the structure of the fungus's cell membrane and inhibit the normal budding process by destroying the integrity of its membrane, and this study shows that it can destroy several fungi that congregate in both low and high concentrations.

Ringworm, jock itch, and yeast infections are, similarly, caused by fungi. 

People who work with lots of children in nurseries may want to consider spraying some colloidal silver spray on their hands, as ringworm is spread via contact with infected people and animals.

Those who struggle with jock itch or yeast infections can spray some on their clothes, especially on their underwear that comes into contact with the moist parts of their bodies where these fungi thrive.

In fact, since studies have discovered silver to be effective against bacteria too, and since a lot of acne can be caused by bacteria in hair follicles just below the skin, it can do no damage to try it as an intervention against acne as well. It has not been tested specifically for it, so you may feel like you are making medical history.

In a review of 34 masked, randomised, placebo-controlled trials, researchers found that almost all of them concluded that probiotics could substantially reduce various types of diarrhoea: the diarrhoea associated with anti-biotic use by 52 per cent, the risk of travellers' diarrhoea by eight per cent, and the risk of acute diarrhoea from diverse causes by 34 per cent. 

This finding is all the more incredible because the studies they surveyed tested the probiotics that contained different strains of bacteria and found them all to be effective.

Stomach viruses, food poisoning, alcohol, anxiety, and detox fasts can all cause diarrhoea. 

While probiotics may not prevent diarrhoea in its entirety, it may reduce its severity. After all, when you consume only liquids as part of a detox fast, you want some diarrhoea to occur to clean your bowels, but you do not want to become seriously sick.

People who are anxiety-prone should try a probiotic to find out whether it blocks the diarrhoea that makes an already stressful situation a lot worse.

Many types of synthetic medication can cause diarrhoea. According to the NHS, these include antibiotics, some antacids, some chemotherapy medicines, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI antidepressants), and statins. These are all used by a large number of people at some point during their lives.

Just remember that a probiotic takes a few weeks to change the constitution of the bacteria population in your intestines, which means that you cannot wait until you need one of the medicines before you begin to take it. The regular consumption of a good probiotic is necessary.

It is better to read this article as a research review rather than a list of medical recommendations.

Many of these studies are on the cutting edge of science, and it is not impossible that future research could be less optimistic. It does, however, give natural health enthusiasts the necessary information to make informed decisions about their own health, which is valuable to those who want to avoid synthetic drugs as long as they can.