People's Pharmacy

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Noxema Provides Help For Hemmorrhoids

Posting Date: 09/06/2004

Dr. Holick discussed the many benefits of vitamin D as well as the risks and guidelines for safe sun exposure in an hour-long radio interview. For a CD of this session, please send $15 in check or money order to Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. CD-502, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. To avoid toxicity, limit daily intake to 2000 IUs.

Q. I am a 57-year-old woman. I wanted to break my daily habit of drinking wine from the late afternoon until bedtime so I decided to try kudzu. It worked perfectly right from the start, although it causes constipation. What else can you tell me about kudzu?

A. Physicians prescribe several drugs (Antabuse, Campral, ReVia, Zofran) to help people overcome a craving for alcohol. An extract from the root of the notorious creeping vine, kudzu (Pueraria lobata), may also prove helpful. It has been traditionally been used in China for the treatment of alcoholism. Although research in the U.S. is inconclusive, kudzu root extract is available in health food stores.

Q. I am thankful to you for recommending green beans for canker sores. I am plagued with them for some reason. I started rinsing my mouth with the juice from canned string beans. That was about four days ago and now the sores are almost gone. The bean juice does not burn and it does soothe the sores. Where did you learn about this remedy?

A. Another reader wrote in about the value of Gerber?s strained green beans against canker sores. Other remedies for this malady include green peas or sauerkraut juice.

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In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org. Their newest book is The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies (St. Martin's Press).