We hate when we are right about tragedies but we did forecast the recent events in Japan in our Chinese New Year Forecast 2011. The huge earthquake in with the resulting global Tsunami and breakdown of Japan's infrastructure makes us again think about how to protect ourselves from toxic after effects.
With the nuclear reactors going critical, it is horrifying to remember that after the Chernobyl disaster, there was no supplies of the herb chickweed that was not contaminated with radiation.
This is where the fact that good quality control is vital because the supplement industry is often self-monitored and monitoring is self-funded. You have to care enough to spend the extra money be informed, invest in labs and test every batch of raw product.
Nature's Sunshine was the only company that suspended availability of their products containing this herb until it was again safe to use. The reason is that most of the chickweed grown worldwide is grown in a region that was immediately contaminated by the fallout from that event.
It remains to be seen how many supplements are affected by the recent event but you must be ever vigilant about the quality standards of the producers of the supplements you take. Remember, chickweed was readily available from many companies during the 3 years that NSP would not purchase any from their vendors. All of it had measurable radiation content.
Beyond being careful about what you ingest that might have received a dose of radiation because of this current nuclear incident, what can you do to protect yourself from the ill effects of not only ingested contaminants but airborne radiation that might be coming our way?
We have heard that the herb, Astragalus was issued to soldiers in their kit bag during the war in Korea to use in case of radiation exposure. Astragalus is a great tonic for the thymus gland, which in turn is an important part of our immune system. We are told that this is still in practice today and we certainly hope it is true.
We often recommend it to clients today who are exposed to a lot of electromagnetic and other pollution in their daily environment. We receive mild doses of radiation all of the time and if we have continued exposure, we are at higher risk for the cumulative ill effects.
Kelp and Black Walnut are two other natural supplements that have a similar quality of being able to rid the body of this radiation before it can do serious damage. Kelp contains iodine which supports the thyroid gland, which is especially sensitive to radiation. Of course, the more exposure you have, the more herbs you should take.
Antioxidants are another good idea to make certain that your body is continuously working on the free radicals that do so much damage on a daily basis. Radiation causes tons of free radicals to be created in your system which is why the damage is so widespread. Certainly loading up on anti-oxidants like pycnogenols and proanthocyanadins like those found in Thai-Go or Grapine are a great preventive measure since the extra electrons needed to neutralize those free radicals are ready and waiting to report for duty.
Remember what Granny told you... "An Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". In this case, make that an ounce (or two) of herbal supplements and you will even sleep better since you won't be up worrying all night.
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