When we first moved to Boston, we went on a walk into the woods. I found a little vine with reddish stems and three leaves. I never had seen anything so beautiful and modest. Therefore I unearthed it, roots and all, and planted it in a pot on our roof.
A few days later, my husband developed a palm-sized inflamed red patch on his right buttock. Then I got some bizarre formations with blisters on my arms – and from there, the rash went everywhere.
First we thought we had bedbugs. We pulled the bed apart and sprayed everything. We cleaned and vacuumed our place (was about time!). But the lesions became more.
At work, I showed my arms to colleagues, and drew a blank (!). Finally, an ER doc took one look and said (you guessed it): “Poison ivy.” Of course, I had never encountered poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) - there is none in all of Europe.
But despite all out efforts, our rashes and itches did not go away. Weeks later, I consulted the ER doc again. He quizzed me – but we seemed to have done all the right moves. Only, the lesions were still there. He looked at me hard and asked: “You are not eating cashews every day, are you?”
That was exactly what we were doing – every morning in our muesli. Cashews and poison ivy (and mangoes) are in the same botanical family, Anacardiaceae (I talked about that devious family already in connection with back pain), and eating cashews daily kept the poison ivy rash blooming. The rash-producing ingredient is urushiol. Most people are sensitive to urushiol.
Here is what one can do against poison ivy (and poison oak, poison sumac):
• Don’t touch your face and eyes!
• Stop eating cashews and mangoes until all lesions are well healed.
• Wash with soap or a commercial anti-poison-ivy product (they are petroleum-based) all exposed and affected areas twice daily initially, later once a day until no new lesions crop up anymore.
• One prescription suggested using only cold water because warm water might disperse the poisonous oil even more. As much as I am a fan of cold water, there are no studies about this, and I would think that the bodily warmth will spread the oil anyway. But cold water won’t hurt, and it will relieve the itch.
• For more itch relief try the inside jelly of an aloe plant (any aloe will do), or Calamine lotion. I use tea tree oil for about everything (ask my husband!), and I would probably dab it on the rash for itch relief – but I have no scientific proof that it works. Another unproven remedy is jewelweed – but if I were out in the woods and it grew nearby, I would break a stem and apply its juice. Can’t hurt.
• Wash all your clothing and, if you already slept in your bed, your sheets.
• If the rash spreads into your face or, worse, near your eyes, see a physician. You need cortisone immediately because poison ivy in the eyes can lead to blindness.
• Don’t ever burn poison ivy – it can lead to fatal lung reactions. Pull poison ivy with gloved hands and dispose of it in plastic bags. Wash gloves and tools. Often shoes and pets carry the sticky resin.
Poison ivy plants look very variable - it took me years to comfortably identify them. Better stay away from anything reddish and three-leaved! Read More
Blog: On Health. On Writing. On Life. On Everything.
Dairy II: Bone Health
May 25, 2010
Bones contain calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, silica, iron, zinc, selenium, boron, phosphorus, sulfur, chromium, and more – but the dairy industry tries to tell us all we need for strong bones is calcium?
Cows eat nothing but grass – and we can’t compare with their bone strength (granted, they have different stomachs than we have – but I also haven’t asked you to eat grass…).
Vegetables contain enough calcium for strong bones. Plus they contain all the other minerals healthy bones require. We don’t need fortified, adulterated, hormone-injected dairy products for our bones. Also, the daily requirements for calcium seem to be put artificially high: In one study in Africa, women took in about only half the recommended dose and maintained excellent bone health.
Nuts are also full with all the different minerals we need. The problem with nuts of course, are allergies and reactions to lectins. So, if nuts don’t agree with you, don’t push them! And beware of rancid/roasted nuts! Their bad fats do more harm than good whereas fresh nuts contain beneficial omega-3’s.
Another problem with dairy is that it provides protein – and the Standard American Diet (SAD) contains too much protein as it is. We are omnivores by nature – once in a while a piece of meat (not deli!) between our teeth provides us with essential nutrients like vitamin B12 that are hard to come by otherwise – just not every day. But too much protein leaches out calcium from the bone – at least that is one theory. It says that the metabolic products of protein digestion are acidic, and need alkaline buffering for buffering, and so calcium is leached out of the bones. Regardless if this hypothesis is true, high protein (meats and dairy) diets have been linked to osteoporosis.
Lists of calcium contents, comparing dairy with vegetables, often show higher values for dairy products. What these lists don’t tell you is that calcium from dairy is not as easily absorbed as from vegetal matters (fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts – everything that has really grown) because high protein hinders calcium absorption.
Don’t think you get much benefit from a calcium supplement! Number one, the calcium without the other minerals will not do you much good. Number two, as a physician I am all too familiar with that oblong white spot on an x-ray of the bowels – the not-absorbed calcium pill. You better put your money into fresh produce!
Did I mention movement for bone health? I should. Read More