Ancient Health Knowledge of India Finally Catalogued and Shared on Web

Via Utne and the Ecologist.

"the government of India recently finished a massive database that puts thousands of years' worth of traditional Indian remedies, medicines, and practices in the public domain" - Utne

I didn't know this, but apparently people in the U.S. and Europe have tried to patent plants, herbs and even yoga poses that have been used for healing in India and other countries for thousands of years. Crazy, right? Patenting was attempted on the spice, turmeric, neem trees and even basmati rice. The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library exposes some of these past attempts at intellectual thievery and thwarts any future bio-piracy by establishing a classification system for wisdom inherent in India's ancient healing arts and sciences .

Right now, you can find information only on the principles, therapies and medicines of Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha, but eventually a section on Yoga and all of its 1,500 yoga poses will be included.

"India has effectively made its store of wisdom ‘public property’, which can now be accessed and used by anyone, but patented by no-one." - the Ecologist

ToothPaste Alternatives

A friend of mine just asked me if I use tooth soap, so I will answer that question and elaborate on what I have been using on my teeth these days.

No, I am not currently using tooth soap, but I will more than likely (as I've been experimenting a lot with different tooth cleaners lately) make my own tooth soap using the following recipe;

1 tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's castile liquid soap

5 tablespoons of coconut oil

1 tablespoon of olive oil

10 -- 12 drops of orange oil

10 -- 12 drops of peppermint oil

What I have been using lately is a combination of bentonite clay, filtered water, stevia and peppermint essential oil. Feels pretty good on the teeth and my five year old son loves to use it. The clay has also been shown to absorb bacteria from the gums and teeth, especially when left on overnight. My son has a brown spot on his front tooth that is caused from food bacteria getting caught in a surface cavity. When I dab some clay on the brown spot, the next morning it's gone.

Some other of my favorite store bought toothpaste alternatives are using 3 parts baking soda to one part sea salt - (makes your teeth feel extra squeaky clean!) and simply scraping my toothbrush over a bar of unscented Neutrogena glycerin soap (usually if I'm pressed for time).

A lot of people debate over whether glycerin coats the teeth and stops remineralization

or not, but I tend to agree with Dr. Paul Keyes at the OraMedia Dental Self-Sufficiency site.

In his article "What are you Brushing With?" he talks about his experience with glycerin leaving a very clean feeling to his teeth with no residue at all and that just a drop of glycerin can be seen to instantly stop bacteria motility under a microscope.

Here's another great dentifrice recipe I found on the Cooking Traditions forum boards;

2 TB extra virgin coconut oil

3 TB Baking Soda

Stevia to taste

20-25 drops peppermint oil

Related, but on another aspect of dental health, there's a great book by Ramiel Nagel called "Cure Tooth Decay" that explores the possibility of remineralizing and preventing tooth decay through nutrition. The book specifically explores the findings and research of famed dentist Dr. Weston Price, who studied the diets of traditional peoples across the world in the 30's and 40's to find why their incidences of mal-formed jaws and tooth decay were much less than inthe modern West.

More posts on this to come. Also look out for a post on "chewsticks" - another way to clean the gums and teeth practiced in Africa and many other parts of the world.

Happy brushing with your new toothpaste ideas!

Is it Better to Sleep on the Hard Ground?

The other day I listened to the interview with Victoria Boutenko on the first night of the Raw Mom Summitt and she spoke about her whole family sleeping on either the floor or another hard surface. She explained for the first couple of nights or so your body would be detoxifying and you would probably feel discomfort, but after about seven nights, you would feel aches and pains sleeping on your soft bed! I talked to my partner, Laye about it and he said that back in Senegal growing up they used to sleep on the ground as well and often children would just fall asleep wherever they were on any surface. It reminds me of watching my own son just fall asleep so deeply after playing with trains for hours on the living room floor and simply letting a train drop from his hand and rolling over on his side.
In one of Victoria's first books "12 Steps to Raw" she writes "our bodies need to stretch out at night. All the bones and joints can only stretch out when we lie on a hard surface...the spine is improperly positioned while driving, in front of the computer, watching tv, such that some joints don’t get adequate spinal fluid and blood enriching oxygen."

This great article on zafu.net (the website of a company that sells yoga props and meditation pillows) gives a more in depth exploration of "Sleep Ergonomics" and the habit of traditional peoples to sleep on hard surfaces. You can find it here