Tag: insomnia

  • How to deal with sleeplessness (Insomnia)

    Sleeplessness or in professional terms, insomnia, is an extremely common disorder that affects people of all races and of all regions on the world. Insomnia does not discriminate between men and women. Both are affected.

    What is Insomnia? Sleeplessness is a condition in which the sufferer has either inadequate volume of sleep (number of hours) that is appropriate for the age and function of the person or having poor quality of sleep, the quality that would have allowed the individual to function sufficiently. Insomnia may also mean no sleep at all.  Insomnia may be a condition of not being able to initiate sleep or maintain sleep even after initiating sleep.  In this article, I have assumed that majority of human beings sleep at night as we are designed to take majority of our sleep at night. Our biological clock and body get used to this pattern of sleep day in, day out.  Any change in this regular pattern may affect our sleep.

    In this article, we will further examine the causes of insomnia and the effects that sleeplessness brings upon the victims. There are different types of insomnia.  Insomnia can be acute such that it lasts a very brief period.

    Acute insomnia can happen as a result of an urgent issue that lays in our mind such as having received bad or stressful news like death of a loved one. Acute sleeplessness may also follow impending issue such as upcoming examination, wedding or upcoming travelling arrangement. Very often, acute insomnia settles or heals as the event that brought the acute impairment get resolved. In some situations, such as in bereavement, acute sleeplessness may require urgent medical support. I have attended to patients in several situations in which the stressful news became unbearable. This led to a lot of agitation and restlessness thus necessitating medical intervention.

    On the other side of the coin, sleeplessness can be long standing or what healthcare practitioners call chronic insomnia.  Chronic insomnia is a disrupted sleep that occurs at least 3 nights per week and have lasted a minimum of three months.

    This can follow a host of conditions, illnesses, or circumstances such as for example when a person changes the usual environment of sleep. Example is when a person leaves his or her usual room or home and stays elsewhere.  Another instance is a lifestyle such as change in what we call changes to our biological lock. A person’s biological clock may be affected by shift work.

    Let us take a look at some of the causes of sleeplessness.

    Sleeplessness may be due to both mental and physical medical conditions and non-medical circumstances.  Let’s start with mental health conditions: Anxiety of any cause, depression of any origin such as grief, dementia of any type, overwork, unemployment, loss of money and materials, life issues and relationship difficulties may cause insomnia.

    Psychosis such as schizophrenia, hypomania and other psychosis may lead to sleeplessness.   Misuse of substances may lead to insomnia. For certainty, coffee, caffeine and long term alcohol may all cause sleeplessness.

    Medically prescribed medications are not spared. As part of the side effects of such medications, sleeplessness may result even though the overall effect of the medication is beneficial.

    On the other hand, there are a lot of medical disorders that on their own may result in sleeplessness or the symptoms of the disease may result in insomnia. Diseases relating to breathing difficulties such as blocked nose, cold illness, nasal allergies, asthma and bronchitis may result in sleeplessness.

    Illnesses that causes the victim to wake frequently to use the toilet such as diabetes mellitus, prostate enlargement may lead to sleep frustration.  Overfunctioning thyroid, arthritis, long standing pain of any cause lead to sleep impairment.  Obesity, leading to sleep apnea is another cause of sleeplessness. Short term or long term pain of any origin may cause insomnia.

    Your lifestyle and outside influences can have significant effect on your sleep. Examples: hostile domestic environment. If your brain remain very active well too late into the night, or you work from home and the brain become too alert or for too long, sleep may be impaired.

    Sleeping in the afternoon which becomes a habit may cause a reversal of normal biological clock to the effect that you lose the ability to fall asleep or maintain your sleep in the at night.

    How much sleep do you need? Well, this is a matter of age. However, there are some persons that function at a lower amount of sleep provided the quality of the sleep is good.

    That said, most adults will require 6-8 hours of sleep per day.  Newborn may spend up to 20 hours or more sleeping. Older children from say 3 years to teenagers require much less hours between or up to 10-12 hours may be sufficient.

    Symptoms of Poor Sleep: Fatigue, irritability, sense of frustration, headache, poor concentration, dizziness, poor state of alertness, anger, low productivity, loss of interest and low energy are some of the likely outcomes of sleeplessness.

    Solutions to Sleeplessness:  For acute sleep disorder, a short course of supporting medication may help especially with the aim to help the person through the stress. Taking sleeping medication when state of alertness such as for driving is anticipated or examination is on the way is not advisable.  For chronic sleep disorder, the sufferer should visit a medical doctor for thorough investigations.  If a specific mental or medical disorder is excluded, you should take a look at your lifestyle and make a change.  Have a structure to your sleep patterns.  Stop consuming food late. Eat lightly in the evening.  Stop such foods and drinks as coffee and alcohol. Stop smoking.  Other measures that may help are physical exercise taken regularly 4 hours before the intended time of sleep.

  • Ortom’s autumnal and guber insomnia

    Are we perchance going to witness a season of insomnia for our state governors soon? Some context first: recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently whooped state governors wondering how they could in good conscience find sleep while their workers go to bed on empty stomach. He could neither understand nor live it down, he told them as they salivate for more funds from the national treasury.

    But last Monday, Benue State governor, the gentlemanly Samuel Ortom confessed that he actually cannot find sleep. Hear him: “But honestly I feel pained, I’m not sleeping either because there is no way I can have my peace when I have a challenge like this affecting everybody in Benue State including my own family who are also on my neck to ensure salaries are paid, that is how traumatized I am on the matter.”

    Gee, how wonderful it would be if all governors who cannot manage to pay their workers suffer this manner of psychological hiatus. They are not allowed to snore and rumble under their elaborate, silky white duvets. But let us return to the self-confessed vicissitudes of kindly Governor Ortom.

    The Benue helmsman from his account is truly troubled by his inability to discharge his basic function. He seeks understanding; he seeks empathy and help even. He also waits on time. And there lies the problem. He seems to hope that with time enough, the current woes would vanish; or by some alchemy, the price of crude oil would jump back to $100/per barrel and he would be awash with cash once again. This is governor Ortom’s distorted mindset.

    This explains why he apparently would not think through nor attempt to confront the problem in a businesslike manner. Consider his debacle: he met a debt of about N69 billion in arrears of salaries, pensions and gratuity. He met a monthly wage bill of about N8.2 billion when he came to power about three years ago. He managed to work it down to N7.8 billion. He has a monthly federal allocation of N5 billion (which has increased to N6 billion as crude price rise) and he generates about N600 million internally monthly.

    Now hear this strange confession of Ortom’s: “Do you know that so many people are residing in parts of the country and they come here to draw salaries? I know of a chief who has 15 wives and all of them are on the payroll of a local government; he has about 20 children in secondary school and tertiary institutions… they are drawing salaries.”

    Well, Mr. Governor, if Benue State were your personal business, would you in good conscience carry a monthly wage bill of N8 b? Would that fraudulent Chief and his ilk not be in jail? Would you not harness more revenues from Benue’s rich agric wealth?

    Well, Hardball thinks any governor who cannot pay salaries really shouldn’t sleep.

     

     

  • Chronic insomnia and trainload of troubles (3)

    Two weeks and two articles on why modern wheat and foods derived from it have become modern killer foods, and another two articles on how Asparagus vegetable may become a health elixir of life, have separated the series on sleep disorders and possible solutions to them. In those columns on chronic insomnia titled: CHRONIC INSOMNIA AND TRAINLOAD OF TROUBLES, an exploration was made of the traditional understanding on those activities inside the brain which keep us awake when we should and make us fall asleep when it is time to rest our bodies and free our spirits for their nocturnal flights and experiences which we call dreams. In the exploration, good play was given to the roles of the interfaces of Tryptophan, Serotonin and Melatonin, the wake/sleep brain chemicals. Attention was invited as well to the role of electropollution or “dirty electricity” in the bedroom, and to poor earthing of free radicals in the human body. From that second part of the series, the exploration should have moved on to (a) underground water currents and how to recognise if they are culprits, and (b) the places of water and noise in sleep disasters, but for an urgent need to invite attention to Wheat and Asparagus. Today, the series moves to that third part or section…

     

    The African Black Ant

    The African Black Ants which threatened to invade my house about 10 years ago must have learned their lessons now. At that time, they came in a large army of a long, long column. I had not known them for their medicinal values then. They presented to me only as terrible big-head, black ants which could bite their victims to death. The urgent and agonising barks of my local guard dog woke me up from deep sleep. I had chained it down with three belts because it was in the habit of breaking single or double chains wound around one of the pillars of the house, and escaping, through a small clearance under the gate, into the street at night, for a prowl. This night, I quickly unchained it when I notice that the ants were over its cage. I lit paper and rags and threw the bonfire on this army of ants. But this did not help much, as they soon regrouped and, tenaciously, made for the wall as though they wished to enter the house through the window. I got petrol from the car, but the effect was always short-lived.

    I remembered my first encounter with the African Black Ant. It was in the home of Bunmi Idowu in Ipaja area of Lagos. She was a young reporter who worked with me in the early 1990s. She hadn’t come to work for about three days because an invasion of these ants of their home made it impossible for her to sleep. Petrol and kerosene and all sorts of fire did not help. I learned later that wood ash was their waterloo. I wondered about where and how easily I could quickly obtain it! I could obtain some from a local food canteen. But in a superstitious society such as Nigeria’s, the provider may assume you are up to some diabolical mischief to “devalue the star of the business” and appreciate yours. So, before sunrise next day, and before the local canteen nearby opened shop, I went to its outdoor kitchen and packed enough wood ash to fill about four shopping bags. I began to hand spray it on the unrelenting long column of ants. And, to my surprise, the column burst at every point where it was treated with wood ash. The ants lost their orientation, forgot their mission, never regrouped or returned ever since. For I began to trace the column to its origin, pounding it all the way with wood ash. Many of them died outright or were disabled or frightened off. Next, I deposited wood ash all round the external wall of the house and the perimeter fence, such that, if you did not know me, you’d think the house belonged to a ritualist or diabolical person.

    Today, I know the African Black Ant for its medicinal values, and for its aid, like many other insects, to help us know if an underground water is flowing in an area or if underground rivers are crossing each other, creating earth radiations which may be offensive to good health. Knowledge of the medicinal values of this ant comes from the Asians. They subjected the African Black Ant to an exclusive sugar diet for a long period of time, hoping it would become diabetic. But the sugar diet had no effect on it. Next, it was kept in the colony of germs in the expectation that it would fall ill. But it did not. So, it was known that it had immune-boosting properties, and has, since then, had its extracts factored into some immune promoting food supplements. Since then, the African Black Ant has found use in the male libido market as an enhancer of male sexual vitality.

     

    Water 

    Crossings

    What are underground water crossings, what have they to do with health, and what have ants, nay, fire ants and the Black African Ant got to do with them?

    Many of us think of only the rivers, seas or oceans on the earth’s surface as the only bodies of water on earth. But inside the earth, it is estimated by scientists that there may be more water than there is on the surface. Underground water flows in what are called water veins. When a water vein flows across a rock, it sets the rock under pressure, and the pressure on or against the rock results in the rock producing electric fields. The electric fields are said to then interfere with the natural magnetic fields of the earth. The interference produces turbulence. The turbulence then produces radiation fields which expand beyond the surface of the earth. We are informed, also, underground water veins may flow under such great pressure that causes the release upwards of ions. Thus, water veins are very energetic. Even brief exposure to this energy is said to have strong effects on not only us humans but on all living things as well. On trees, it is believed such invigorating and detrimental effects cause proliferation and scoliosis. In humans, its effects can be cancers. Underground water veins may be as wide as 15 to 1,000meters. Their effects on us would, quite naturally, depend on their sizes and distance from the surface of the earth. But those that are deep, deep down can still affect us.

    Unfortunately today, architects and builders do not take these factors into consideration when sites are laid out and houses are designed and built. We are too happy to find land on which to build our dream houses. If a house is built on a water vein, it may be affected by the electric field of this water vein. The effects may be different in different rooms and floors of a house.

    When water veins cross each other or flow into each other, the negative energy they release thereby may cause disease progression and outbreak. Researchers believe that there are more water veins with more radiation impact in regions where rain fall is more frequent.

    I was excited when I learned that, underneath the Sahara Desert, there was a huge deposit of fossil water. I remembered immediately that NOSTRADAMUS, that great seer who predicted world events about 400 years ahead, had said that, by the time the poles of the earth change positions again, many coastal regions of the earth would be eaten up by water and a huge lake would surface in the Sahara Desert. I see pictures of elemental or Nature beings at work. But a discussion of this is not today’s subject. But permit me to mention that one of the two biggest aquifers (underground water) that scientists have discovered is in the Sahara. It spans four countries and holds a stupendous volume of water.

    Through the Ant Hill, ants enable us to predict occurence or existence of an underground water flow. The Ant Hill is an ant city or country built on strong earth radiation point, with much more extensive construction deep down in the earth. I did not find an Ant Hill on the side of my house, so I presume the ones are intercepted were following a familiar root to a destination. Nevertheless, this taught me to protect the floor and the walls of the house against earth radiations and encourage vegetation on the grounds which is said to absorb earth radiations. If we suffer inexplicable insomnia which defies many treatments, we may wish to look round us for any evidence of the house in which we live being on an underground water course. If the house sits on such a location, we may need protection against “dirty electricity” or electropollution as explained in the second part of this series.

     

    Water as an answer

    What has noisy or bad music got to do with inability to sleep?

    Dr. Mosaru Emoto has an answer. But it is an answer I deduced from his research on water. We are here again looking at the impact of water on our health. Water forms about 75percent of the earth’s surface. That volume of water is to be found in the constitution of living things, the body of a human being inclusive.

    Dr. Emoto, born in 1943, is a Japanese medical doctor who thought that water responds to our thoughts, spoken words and sounds and music. That suggests that water has memory or intelligence. For the Doubting Thomasses, Dr. Emoto soon provided useful scientific evidence, sometimes from double-blind, placebo-controlled experiments which swept his colleagues or unbelievers off their feet. He has written books and sent videos of his studies round the world. For people who follow developments on earth from a spiritual viewpoint, water, like the air, earth and fire, carries deep, within it, secrets of life that are still millions of light years beyond the reach of today’s intellectual mankind. Intellectual mankind is that mankind which believes there is nothing to life beyond that which his senses of touch, taste, vision, smell et.c. can perceive. On the other hand, spiritual mankind is that mankind which in humility acknowledges that, while indeed he may be a Lord in Creation over other creatures, he did not bring Creation about and has to yield to the forces of Creation for guidance and education about the hidden secrets of those facilities which these forces, in obedience to the Will of God, have been privileged to bring about for his nurture and sustenance. Thus, in my humble spiritual view, these forces watch developments on earth and know when to oblige mankind the knowledge of one principle of Creation or another. They are, in a sense, like the lactating mothers who know when and how to introduce solid foods to breast-feeding babies. About 200years ago, who would have known or believed the air we breathe has the potentials we have discovered in it today. Electricity came out of the air. So did telephony. So did radio and television. So did aircraft flight and rocketing to the moon. So have FACEBOOK, WHATSAPP, GOOGLE and the rest of them. Yet we are told by the Wise One that our “masterpieces are yet to come.” At the time of His departure from the flesh, we are advised, the Wise One remarked, that mankind knew nothing about water! How true, from what Dr. Emoto is espousing about the potentials of water for technology and the cure of diseases.

    Here, I can only summarise some of his research and findings.

    Dr. Emoto collected samples of dirty water from a dam and divided them into petri dishes which he seperated in different rooms. To some, he always whispered kind and ennobling words. To others, he whispered ugly words. Then, he frooze the water samples the same way and photographed the crystalline structures of their molecular structure or arrangement. The water in petri dishes he whispered kind and ennobling words upon presented beautiful and colourful molecular structures, whereas the ones he ultered ugly words upon presented dull colours and ugly molecular structure.

    Again, Dr. Emoto took samples of water from the same sources, bottled them and kept them apart. On some, he pasted labels of the inscriptions of names or words which promote positive feelings or emotions. These inscriptions included the name JESUS CHRIST. The crystalline structures were again most beautiful and colourful. The water with labels such as LUCIFER or ADOLF HITLER presented ugly and dull molecular structure.

    Another experiment was with music or sound…and this is where we are heading. Bottles of water were kept in different rooms where different music was played upon them. Classical music yielded beautiful colours and molecular structure, whereas popular music produced ugly forms and colours.

    It is intriguing to me that the Universe came out of one Power, one Source and is governed by one Law. The earth’s surface is about 75 percent water. So is vegetation such as leaves, plants or trees. So is the physical human body. If the human body, solid as it presents from the outside, is about 75 percent water, and if one Law governs the universe, this presupposes that the water content of the human body would respond structurally in its crystalline form to human thought, the spoken word and to noise or music and colours which impact on human senses everyday, everywhere. As the emotional responses of many of us to everyday events are dark, evil and ugly, so will the molecular structure of the 75percent of our physical body. As there is water everywhere in our bodies (the brain, the eyes, the nerves, the ears, the mouth, intestine, liver, kidney, pancreas, uterus, prostate gland, the bones and the joints et.c), so will these organs and their tissues will be negatively affected, stressed up and predisposed to disease, degradation, weakness, even premature death, all of which are manifesting on the whole body, especially in times of personal or economic depression.

    We collapse structurally, also, when ugly thought forms from other people entomb us. Look at Nigerian leaders. Think of the millions of curses hurled at them everyday. If they have no knowledge of rebalancing the molecular structure of their water content, sooner than later, this may collapse and lead to all kinds of illnesses.

    In the sub-urban mini buses in Lagos, passengers are pumped with loud, noisy popular music, in many cases founded on ugly concepts and bedecked with ugly, nether region words. What do we expect? Passengers arrive home stressed up, unknown to them what had just hit them.

    In the churches, a probably well-meaning but unknowing priest (called pastor) asks members of his congregation to hold hands for prayers. Do I know what is emanating from my neighbour? What if the pastor does not have the competence, which he often claims, to cast out dross? In any case, if he is competent and casts it off at that time, where is the ugliness earthed? In my own body? So, when social gatherings are turned into church services and hands are to be held, I fold my arms and tuck my hands in. Some terrible people may then wish to place their hand on my shoulder. I politely remove it or, if he or she is recalcitrant, I yark off the intruding hand.

    I brought up my children never to wear second-hand clothes. For the radiations of the owners still sometimes suffuse these clothes by the time they are bought, linking new owner and last owner together like a broadcasting station and the receiving radio or television set. Today, many Nigerian women wear third hand brassieres or panties. Breast and cervical cancers are growing in occurence. While there may be other causes for this, we should remember it was more known elsewhere than here before second-hand-everything became the norm in our country.

    For now, until we learn more about how Dr. Emoto is using transformed molecular structure of water to cure diseases, we may practise our own self-healing. We can fill bottles with water and paste beautiful inscriptions on them. These may be such words as PLEASE HEAL ME or HEALING WATER or BEAUTIFUL WATER.

    We may drink this water morning and before bed. We may also play classical music on it. The better if the water is in an energy cup. And we should not forget to pray at meal times in gratitude for the meal and prayerfully that it may bring us health and strength. I believe such measures will make the water more health promoting.

    Sleep disorders are inevitable when the organs and their tissues are disarranged molecularly through badly structured water content. Are these organs not the ones to manufacture Tryptophan, convert Tryptophan to Serotonin and Serotonin to Melatonin to make us sleep well? If they are badly hurt, will they be able to efficiently absorb these substances from food supplements? Thus, healthy mood, healthy emotional responses to life’s challenges and protection of the aura or magnetic (psychic) field against poisonous thought forms through the intake of healthy water and food are the keys to restful sleep.

     

  • Chronic insomnia and trainload of many troubles (2)

    Begun on 25 May 2017, the first part of this series explored some of the reasons why many people do not easily fall asleep or suffer from shallow sleep, which leaves them devitalised and weak in the morning. Sometimes, such sleep deficiencies end up in depression, hallucinations, mental disorders and…in a psychiatric hospital. The sleep cycle occurs when the body can deliver the amino acid Tryptophan to the brain, and the brain can convert Tryptophan to Serotonin, which keeps us awake, and, then convert Serotonin to Melatonin at night fall, for Melatonin to make us fall asleep. Possible reasons why the body fails to do this were examined, with possible solutions for the cycle-breaks.

    This part of the series will examine questions which arose from the last publication, questions some readers of the column have asked.

    What is electro-pollution, and what has this got to do with sound sleep?

    Electro-pollution is pollution of the human body by “dirty” electricity. There is no doubt that we live in a world of electricity. Lightening during the rain season charges the air with electricity. In our towns and cities, overhead power cables hang up here and there. As electrons move in them, conveying electricity or electrical power, they create electrical fields. An electrical field is the space around a charged particle where another charged particle can experience its force. This means that, if a charged particle or object, like the human cell for example, enters the electric field of another object, it can be affected positively or negatively by the other electric field.

    Thanks to Italian physician and physicist Luigi Galvani who, in the late 18th Century, discovered what we now know as action potential in muscles, it is now known that the cells of a human body, too, produce electricity and electric fields. He was conducting an experiment on static electricity and dissecting a frog on a table. He observed muscle activation, which he termed animal electricity. He and his contemporaries thought that muscle activation was caused by an electrical fluid or substance in a nerve. Anyone, who has touched an electric fish, as the eel for example is called, will experience an electric shock which this fish and some other aquatic animals deploy in hunting preys and self defence.

    In the modern world, we live in houses and work in offices with many electrical equipment which generate electrical fields. The radio and television sets, like the refrigerator and the washing machine and the air conditioner or the cooker are generating electric fields. Gone are the days of the mechanical barbing clipper. Today’s clippers are electricity driven. In the saloon, women expose their hair and scalp to electricity powered dryers. These gadgets create electric fields which influence the electric fields of the cell of the body. University of Michigan researcher Raoul Kopelman, a chemistry professor, carried out a study which revealed that the internal fluid in brain cancer cells exhibited force fields as large as 15million volts per metre. This was about five times stronger than the electric field found in a lightening bolt. Although Prof. Kopelman’s work was on electric fields across cell membranes, other researchers have since that study discovered that force fields existed inside the cell as well.

    The long and short of it all, as we say, is that everything which exists is a form of energy, and that energy establishes a force field, small or huge; that huge force fields may consume or suppress lesser force fields. In his definition of electro pollution of the earth, with consequences for human cell electric fields, and by extension human health, Robert Becker, an M.D. twice nominated for the Nobel Prize, said “the greatest polluting element in the earth environment is the proliferation of electromagnetic field. I consider that to be a greater threat on global scale than warming or the increase in chemical elements in the environment.”

    Electro pollution may be ionizing and non-ionizing. Ionizing force fields may break down oxygen molecules and chemical bonds in the cell, create free radicals and disrupt living processes, prevent energy manufacturing, curb cell signalling and communication and cause disease. It is unknown to many people that ultraviolet rays may leak from factory-faulty fluorescent tubes and cause skin cancer. It is unknown to many people as well that the force or electrical field from the blue light of LED light (energy-saving bulbs) emitting at about 400 to 500 nanometers may suppress the production of Melatonin in the pineal gland inside the brain. This causes a disruption of the biological clock in humans with the attendant disruption of sleep patterns. Tingling sensations have been linked also to exposure to some types of electro pollution.

    The website www.globalhealing.com advises us:

    “There are multiple effects of radiation and many of them go unnoticed in the body. Overtime, low level exposure can lead to major digestive imbalance, blood alteration and even the destruction of many cellular structures in the body’s key organs and tissue systems. Common signs of low level radiation exposure include symptoms such as fatigue, headache, nausea, scalp tenderness, scalp discoloration and dry, itchy skin. In extreme cases, low level of radiation exposure may also cause brain damage, memory problems, mood changes and reduced listening capacity, pschomotor and memory problems.”

    We are in an electro polluted world, and we cannot roll back the hands of the clock. But we can minimise our exposure to it and empower the cells to protect and rebuild their infrastructure. We all use cell phones and are exposed to laptops and computer screens. Although the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other health-watching international organisations say the cell phone can be classified under class B Carcinogenic (cancer causing agent), and although they have tried to limit many home electrical appliances to save electric fields, I often wonder about what may be going on around me when people around me receive WHATSAPP or FACEBOOK or SMS and other messages on their telephones. These messages passed through the walls of many houses, probably across many countries, and human bodies, probably including mine, to reach their phones. If we imagine that about millions of messages and data may be passing through our bodies every minute, in several ways affecting our cells, we may become able to suspect electro pollution as a possible cause of many of the symptoms we complain about for which we gobble suppressive pharmaceutical medications.

    So, what do we do to survive in a sea of electro pollution agents? Apart from limiting exposure to man-made “dirty” electricity, as electro pollution is also called, earthing and a diet high in antioxidants are canvassed. So is the use of dirty electricity filters in homes, hospitals, offices and schools. Experiment with them in Europe show that they can make teachers more focus and student more receptive. I doubt if they are in use in Nigeria.

    Nobel Prize Winner Richard Feynman suggests that we walk barefoot sometimes on sand and on grass. Our bodies are made from earth materials. Connecting to the earth or being grounded to the earth connects us with its electric fields, which can detoxify us of electric fields from the atmosphere and electric fields from man-made gadgets. Indeed, experiments with humans, who had high voltages of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and were “earthed” showed that, after the earthing, their EMFs voltages crashed to normal or near normal. The trouble is that today, in Nigeria, many so-called civilised people do not earth themselves…even in their bedrooms.

    Regarding food, diet and herbs, Dr. AXE suggests that, since electro pollution creates free radicals through ionization and other processes, we consume foods high in ORAC values. ORAC means Oxygen Radical Absorbent Capacity. His recommendations are:

    “Pecans, Pomegranate seeds, Rosemary, Asparagus, Blueberries, Walnuts, Prunes, Cruciferous vegetables, Cenamon, Dates, Broccoli and Cilantro. Certain nutrients and amazing super foods such as Iodine, Vitamin D3, Spirulina, Noni, B-complex vitamins, Melatonin, Holy Basil, Omega-3 fatty acids, Selenium and Zinc are just a few beneficial options you can easily incorporate into your daily life.”

    His top 10 antioxidant foods and herbs are: FOODS…Goji berries, Wild blueberries, Dark chocolate, Picans, Artichoke, Elder berries, Kidney beans, Cranberries, Blackberries, Cilantro…HERBS…Cloves, Cinnamon, Oregano, Tumeric, Cocoa, Cumin, Parsley (dried), Basil, Ginger, Thyme.

     

    What is earthing, and what has it got to do with sound sleep? 

    Despite stupendous advances in science and technology, we still seem to know little or nothing about our Earth and our Universe. For the more we know, the more we realise that we knew nothing in the past. I am told that Google has just come up with a breakthrough in its attempts to map the Universe and that, from a starting point in California, United States, it has gone off the edge of our Universe, beyond all previous observable limits, and now confronts us with the stark possibility that another or other Universes may exist besides ours.

    Well, this column salutes this effort, if the breakthrough is real. It has often spoken about Seven Universes and urges that the Message of the Book of Revelations in the Bible should not be taken literally or in earthly terms. Happily, my Moslem friends tell me that the Book of Revelation, like the Psalms, the Ten Commandments and the Koran are Four Messages sent to man kind by the Almighty Creator. Therefore, if the Book of Revelations speaks about a Message to each of the seven Ark Angels, who preside over each of the “Seven Churches in Asia”, these seven Churches may very well be the seven Universes in Creation, if we do not take these messages literally, assuming that the churches are human Christian congregation in the earthly Asian continent. Every earthly concept has a trans-earthly concept which was nearly “received” on earth by knowing people. Thus, Ephesus is the spiritual name of our Universe. Philadelphia is the name of another Universe. As for Asia, I do not remember now if it is the spiritual name of Creation or the World (to call the earth the World is a misnomer).

    That is about all I can say about that except to add that there is a Message on the face of the Earth today, which transcends other Messages and conforms the grains of Truth in them, while stripping them of misconceptions of man.

    Back to earthing. The moon is believed to have broken away from the earth ages ago. A big ball of fire rages in the depths of the earth. This fire is rapped up by heavy rocks to prevent it from melting down the earth itself to vapour. When these rocks crack anywhere and heat and gas escape through the cravices, earth movements or earthquakes occur, melting rocks into liquid lava till the liquefied rocks reach the earth’s surface and are cooled by air to form the rocks we see around. Thus, like the sun which provides us energy and etheric nurture, the earth is also a source of power for its inhabitants. What modern health researchers are now informing us is that we must absorb as much of the radiations of the earth as we do those of the sun to be in balance, health wise, between them. That means we must be connected with or grounded to the earth. Some people do this by walking on dew-covered grass on lawns in the mornings before sunrise, by walking barefoot, also, in a beach, by lying, sitting or standing with “direct skin contact” with the ground. Now, earthing has gone beyond these traditional modes to using earthing bedsheets which are wired up in a way to make them carry away harmful electric fields from the body through cables and earth them in the ground outside the bedroom.

    Clint Ober, a retired cable TV executive, got the world thinking again about earthing in the 1990s, faced with skepticism at first. He knew that a TV cable installation which did not allow signals to leak out and prevented leakages from the atmosphere from leaking into the signals provided a “crisp, high quality image.” After his retirement, he noticed that many people were wearing shoes made from synthetic materials which did not allow conductivity from the body into the earth and vice-versa. The shoes, made of rubber and plastic soles, prevented groundedness. He wondered if this disconnection from the earth could have a damaging effect on health. At that  time, I lived in a house with unpaved grounds. Just granite strewn everywhere. So, as he advocated, I would walk, barefoot, on the granite earth on rising every morning.

    Orber called his children to a meeting, asked them to take as gifts whatever they wanted from his house, sold the house, bought a caravan and traveled all over the United States sleeping in beaches and anywhere he could test out his hypothesis on earthing. After initial resistance by scientists, he gained the attention of such giants among them as cardiologist Stephen Sinatra.

    Early experiments showed that participants slept better and without pain. Ober thought at first this was due to the elimination of static electricity in electric flow in the body. But this was only a part of the answer. Ober knew that the surface of the earth was filled with negative-charge electrons (free electrons) which move more freely and reduce positive charges (free radicals). Positive charges generate free radicals which destroy the cells and promote degenerative diseases and premature aging. They cause inflammation. The free radicals seek electrons from our cells to stabilise themselves. Some experiments have shown that, while in search of electrons to stabilise themselves, free radicals may bore thousands of holes in a cell in one single day. The cell, spending valuable time, energy and resources sealing these holes, becomes leaky, ages and vulnerable to toxins and germs. Yet on the surface of the earth are a bounty of electrons which, if inducted into the body through grounding, literally offers “food” for the positive charges and saves our bodies from harm.

    In 2004, one of Ober’s studies was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. It shows that “earthing during sleep resynchronises cortisol secretion more in alignment with its natural, normal rhythm.” The body produces cortisol in reaction to stress.

    Other studies followed Ober’s. In the 1960s and 70s researchers at Max Planck Institute, Germany, put volunteers in underground rooms in which they were shielded from the earth’s electric field. The participants developed physiological issues, including “chaotic hormonal production, disturbed sleep patterns and a general disruption of basic body regulations.”

    When the participants were not shielded from electric field, they reported “improved sleep, decreased pain and inflammation, reduced feelings of stress, improvements in gastrointestinal symptoms”, with evidence suggesting that “negative-charged free electrons on the earth’s surface are responsible for bringing the electric energy levels of the human body in accordance with that of the earth which, in turn, promotes overall health and vitality.”

    Earthing is likely to revolutionise medicine. All studies so far show it curbs inflammation and pain. Inflammation is linked to about 70 degenerative diseases, including cancer and Type 2 diabetes.

    So, let’s go earthing. Let’s pull off our shoes and earth our feet and bodies for at least 20 or 30 minutes everyday or use earthing products such as bedsheets. We would certainly sleep better and derail the train of chronic insomnia and its other troubles. I suspect when Moses was on the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments, and he was commanded to remove his shoes, the anchorage of Power on the land may have been such that promoted eradiation response on the surface of the earth where he was that will be of profit to his body and endeavour. To receive such a monumental Message, and to engrave it in stone tablet, he may have been in need of equilibrium throughout his body and balanced co-ordination between his spirit and intellect. Walking in the midst of such Power intensity, his capacities for the task may have been inhibited if he wasn’t enamored for the task. So, onces again, let go earthing, stop wearing shoes and even bathroom slippers in our homes.

  • Bitter leaf can cure insomnia

    The bitter-leaf plant contains Vernodalin, Venomygdin and Saponin. Bitter leaf should always be taken fresh. Boiling or cooking reduces the potency of most herbs. The Igbo of Eastern Nigeria eat a lot of bitter leaf.

    Everybody seems to know it. It grows everywhere. Bitter leaf, vernonia amydalina, is a very homely plant.

    Wherever it grows, it flourishes. And it’s ever green. The Igbos call it Onugbu. The Yorubas call it Ewuro. The Hausas call it Shiwaka. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the plant its bitterness. Every part is bitter.

    The Igbos use the bitter leaf mostly as a vegetable, while the Yorubas use it more as a medicine. Bitter leaf is popular among the old for its bitterness. But the young of today do not like its bitterness. They would rather prefer biscuits, ice cream, chocolate and other sugary products. Their philosophy is ‘Life is sweet; therefore, food must be sweet’.

    The fact is that bitter herbs are good for the body. They remind us that life is not always sweet; that life is not ‘a bed of roses’; that both sweetness and bitterness are essential parts of life and so are not opposed. Bitter herbs help to tone the vital organs of the body, especially the liver and kidney.

    The liver is the largest organ of the body. It weighs between one to three kilogrammes in the adult. Its major functions are (a) secretion of bile and (b) formation of glycogen. The liver is essential in the metabolism of fats and protein; it must, therefore, be well taken care of.

    The kidney is another important organ in the body. The kidney is the organ that helps to expel waste materials from the body. It secretes urine that flows into the urethras. If the kidney breaks down, there will be a general disorder in the body. Bitter leaf is very useful in the care of the kidney and the liver. It is for this reason that we refer to bitter leaf as a cure-all, for if the kidney and liver are healthy the whole system will function well.

    Always remember that raw vegetables are better than cooked ones. And half cooked vegetables are better than over-cooked ones. Bitter-leaf, like other plants, is a sacred plant. Therefore, respect it and pray over the plant before you cut it. We need to cultivate an attitude of reverence for God’s creatures so that we can be in harmony with them.

    The following are some of the uses of bitter leaf.

     

    Stomach ache:

     

    Chew the tender stem of the plant like a chewing stick and swallow the bitterness. This is a well-known remedy for stomach aches. In some cases, the ache stops within a few minutes. An alternative is to pound the fresh leaves in a mortar and press out the juice. Drink three tablespoons of the undiluted juice. This brings immediate relief.

     

    Skin infection:

     

    For skin infections such as ring worm, itching, rashes and eczema, the pure, undiluted extract of bitter leaf is excellent. Simply apply it to the affected part daily.

     

    Diabetes:

     

    Diabetics should listen carefully to this good news. They do not need to despair or lose hope. God has not abandoned them. God has given them bitter leaf as a sign of God’s love and care. From time immemorial, herbalists have been using the bitter leaf plant in the treatment of diabetes. Bitter leaf not only reduces the sugar level drastically; it also helps to repair the pancreas. Squeeze 10 handfuls of the fresh leaves in 10 litres of water and take two glasses thrice daily for one month, this amounts to six glasses daily.

     

    Loss of memory:

     

    Loss of memory can be a symptom of diabetes, or a sickness on its own. Whatever its nature may be, bitter leaf is good for this ailment. Take one glass thrice daily for at least two months.

     

    Prostate cancer:

     

    Prostrate cancer is common among men who are over 40 years. Its symptom is difficult and painful urination, among others. Bitter leaf is very good for this ailment. It increases the flow of urine and reduces the pain, as well as regulates the spread of the cell. Simply squeeze the fresh leaves in water and take a glassful four times daily. Don’t be surprised if you begin to urinate very frequently when you take the bitter leaf extract. It’s part of the cleansing and healing process that your body needs.

     

    General weakness:

     

    Do you often feel weak and tired? Do you lack vitality and vigour? Then get up and take a walk into the bush. You don’t need to trek far before you find a bitter leaf plant. Squeeze the leaves in water and take a glass thrice daily. Soon you will experience a new lease of energy.

    Stroke: Bitter leaf solution calms the nerves, strengthens the muscles and cleanses the system. I have seen the marvels that bitter leaf extract has done for many people and I testify that it is good.

     

    Pneumonia:

     

    Squeeze the fresh leaves of the plant in water. Take a glass-full thrice daily. Warm the solution on fire each time before drinking. Remember, do not boil, just warm. Continue the medication for a month. You do not need to squeeze the leaves each time you want to drink it. You can squeeze a large quantity at once and add some honey.

    This will help preserve the solution.

    However, note that if you store bitter leaf extract for twenty-four hours or more, the bitterness will disappear or diminish. But the efficacy remains.

    Insomnia: Bitter leaf extract has done wonders for those suffering from sleeplessness. Simply take two glasses of bitter leaf solution every night. You will experience great calm and well being. You may add a little honey if you wish.

    Arthritis: Arthritis or rheumatism patients who have tried bitter-leaf solution as described above attest to its effectiveness. It soothes inflamed joints and eradicates the pain.