Participants: Don Miller, Valerie Shreiber, Agatha Thrash
Series Code: HYTH
Program Code: HYTH000150
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00:01 Hello, I'm Agatha Thrash
00:03 a staff physician at Uchee Pines Institute 00:06 which is a medical missionary training institute 00:09 in Seale, Alabama. 00:12 We deal with women's problems a lot there 00:15 and some of the problems that women have are quite unique. 00:19 And one of my associates and I will be discussing 00:22 some of these problems in the next half an hour 00:25 and we hope you will join us. 00:47 Welcome to "Help Yourself to Health" 00:49 with Dr. Agatha Thrash of Uchee Pines Institute 00:53 and now, here's your host, Dr. Thrash. 00:57 I suppose most of women's problems actually involve 01:01 the entire family... 01:02 Because as anyone who knows who has ever lived with someone 01:06 who had premenstrual syndrome, 01:09 the unhappiness of the woman who is suffering from the 01:14 premenstrual syndrome actually spills over and involves almost 01:18 everyone in the family. 01:19 PMS or premenstrual syndrome does occur before 01:25 the menstrual period actually begins. 01:28 And some women have trouble with it a good bit of the month. 01:32 Not just at the premenstrual time, 01:35 but also in the period around the ovulation 01:39 or, for some women, they have very few days through the 01:42 entire month when they don't feel uncomfortable with it. 01:45 Some of the symptoms include irritability, fatigue, 01:51 just a sense of not feeling well 01:54 They may have nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite. 01:57 They may have a voracious appetite. 01:59 They may have specific enjoyment, or even cravings 02:03 for various foods or drinks. 02:05 And the problems that women have with PMS 02:10 can be quite pervasive and involve her entire life. 02:13 And, of course, those things that involve women can 02:18 involve the husband and the children and even the neighbors. 02:23 Because of the irritability that the woman feels, 02:26 sometimes she involves everyone around her 02:29 with that irritability. 02:31 Now I'd like to make this appeal to women who have PMS. 02:35 It may be that you do not feel well... 02:37 It may be that you feel like a witch... 02:40 But you do not need to make everybody around you feel 02:43 or know that you feel like a witch. 02:46 What you must do is to realize that other people have the right 02:51 to feel good and to be happy 02:54 and you have that great privilege of helping them 02:57 EVEN though you don't feel like it. 02:59 You still have that privilege of helping them to feel good... 03:03 And as women, to minister and to nurture is a part of the 03:07 thing that gives us the greatest satisfaction in life. 03:10 As so, we should recognize that this is a part of what we can do 03:15 even when we feel bad. 03:17 Now, if you feel bad with premenstrual syndrome, 03:21 there are several things that you can do. 03:23 In fact, I'd like to write on the board a list 03:26 of all those possible treatments that you can give to yourself 03:32 When we think about the fact that these treatments 03:35 are standard... they involve very simple things 03:41 We do not have to spend a lot of money to get these things 03:45 and we do not have to go to any large medical center 03:49 All we have to do is to enjoy those things that we have 03:53 in our own homes as good treatment areas. 03:56 Now let's notice this... 03:58 Well, I'll just make a list of everything that you can 04:02 draw upon to treat yourself. 04:04 Let's start off with hydrotherapy. 04:08 "Hydro," of course, means water and "therapy" means treatment. 04:14 So any kind of treatment that has to do with water, 04:17 that's what you're going to be dealing with 04:20 when you deal with hydrotherapy. 04:21 It may be steam. It may be ice. 04:23 It may be water. 04:24 It may be cold. It may be hot. 04:26 It may be tepid. 04:28 Whatever it may be, 04:29 you will find that water lends itself to a lot of different 04:33 kinds of treatments. 04:34 We'll be talking about those doubtless, and we want you 04:38 to recognize that as you treat yourself for PMS, 04:43 you have water treatments available and they are 04:46 quite effective. 04:47 Now the second thing that we have available is diet. 04:50 You might think... well, there isn't much in diet 04:52 that could help me with PMS but that isn't true... 04:55 There are many things in diet that can help you. 04:58 Then, of course, there is exercise. 05:00 Now, exercise for PMS can be vigorous, or it can be 05:07 quite mild and it can be specific... 05:11 It can be just one area involved in the exercise. 05:15 And then, of course, there is passive exercise... 05:18 which is massage. 05:20 Now we have always thought of massage as being 05:24 something that was just psychologically nice 05:27 But actually, massage is a treatment. 05:30 It changes the pH and the circulation to various tissues 05:37 and, of course, is quite a good treatment. 05:39 Then another treatment that we have is herbal remedies 05:45 Now you will notice that I have put herbal remedies 05:49 AFTER I've put all of these others. 05:51 Herbal remedies are good remedies and I like them. 05:55 BUT, herbal remedies should not be the FIRST thing 05:58 that you go for in any kind of treatment routine. 06:02 And then, here is another one that should not be the first... 06:05 and that is nutrient supplements 06:07 Nutrient supplements are such things as... 06:10 vitamins and minerals but do not go for that first either. 06:17 Always start with the other things first, 06:21 and then go to nutrient supplements. 06:23 And then, there are some special treatments 06:28 that we might think of... 06:29 Special treatments like charcoal and a variety of 06:34 things of this nature. 06:36 And then, there is also trust in Divine Power. 06:42 Now again, we might not think of trust as being a remedy 06:48 but it IS a remedy. 06:49 We have been given trust in Divine Power... 06:54 We've been given prayer as a remedy. 06:57 And we should, of course, be mindful of the fact 07:00 that there is a great power in all of these remedies, but 07:06 not to forget prayer. 07:08 Now I would like to start in talking with you about 07:12 the things having to do with the treatment of PMS 07:14 with diet. 07:15 I like to deal with diet because 07:18 it's something that everybody is doing every day. 07:20 So I have asked one of my associates, Valerie Schreiber, 07:24 to help me to present that matter to you 07:28 because she's about the best cook that I know. 07:31 And I think that as you see what she has prepared here, 07:34 you will agree with that too. 07:35 But before we get into that, 07:37 I'd like us to just consider some of the herbs 07:41 that are available. 07:42 And, she is going to talk with you about some of those. 07:45 Valerie, if you had a patient who came to Uchee Pines 07:48 what would you tell her that she could do? 07:50 How would you handle it. 07:51 Okay, some of the first things that I would probably 07:54 talk to them about besides diet... 07:56 and we know that diet is a major key in PMS. 07:59 We know that high estrogen levels in the body play a major 08:03 role in PMS in women's conditions. 08:08 And so, some of the things that I would talk to them about 08:11 would be herbs... 08:13 And there are various herbs today on the market 08:16 that you can go to your local health food store... 08:19 and that are made and designed especially for women 08:22 and the various conditions that they have... 08:25 Like, for instance, PMS. 08:26 One of the ones that the women love the most and they say 08:32 it's a miracle for them, is the "chaste tree" 08:37 or chaste tree berry herb that they use 08:40 and women are always saying, "Boy, that's just a miracle 08:43 when I use this herb" 08:44 And there is a nice formula that you can put together 08:47 ...there's skullcap, dandelion and chaste tree... seem to do 08:51 wonders for women during this PMS time. 08:55 However, also we know that phytoestrogens play a role 08:59 and you can buy phytoestrogens; 09:01 however, they are made from a soy product... 09:04 and so you can get it from just eating good soybean dishes 09:09 that you can have. 09:10 A few more things that I'd like to share with you 09:12 is they have discovered in some studies that excess estrogen 09:16 is known to increase the body's demand for B vitamins 09:20 and especially B6. 09:21 And B6 does play a role in relieving 09:25 extra fluid in your body as well 09:27 And so that could be a major reason why it helps them 09:31 through the PMS time because you bloat up and swell up 09:34 and you have the irritability which also B6 plays a role 09:38 in the mental processes and your emotions 09:41 And some of the foods, and I've told you this on another 09:45 show... is bananas... is real high in B6 09:48 and your beans and your nuts and naturally, 09:51 your soybean products are, you know, the Cadillac out there 09:54 walnuts, whole grains have B6... 09:57 So I would encourage you women to increase these types 10:01 of foods in your diet on a regular basis. 10:03 And, in case you have a really serious condition, 10:06 you might want to jump start yourself by taking some B6 10:10 and then incorporate the foods at the same time 10:13 and then eventually you won't need to do that. 10:15 Also, magnesium deficiencies have been shown to be 10:19 prevalent in women with PMS. 10:21 So you may need to take some magnesium salts that you 10:24 could get at your local health food store... 10:25 But I also encourage you, at the same time, 10:28 start to incorporate foods that are high in magnesium 10:31 and those would be... seeds, and the fruits that 10:34 have a lot of seeds in it... 10:35 like your berries, and okra is a vegetable that has 10:38 a lot of seeds in it. 10:39 Grains... 10:41 So if you incorporate, really God's program into your life, 10:46 you will find that ALL these PMS and problems that you 10:50 really have, will begin to disappear because 10:52 it's all in God's plant kingdom. 10:54 Foods that you may want to consider or take as a 10:59 supplement for a short time would be vitamin E. 11:01 They have shown that vitamin E decreases many of the symptoms 11:05 of PMS including headaches and depression, 11:08 and breast tenderness, as well as weight gain due to bloating. 11:12 So again, we're back to the plant kingdom... 11:15 Almost ALL of God's plant kingdom, 11:18 the foods that we're usually used to eating, 11:21 have vitamin E 11:23 ...although the grains have a higher level of vitamin E... 11:26 your grains, nuts and seeds. 11:27 And so, those are the things that are important for you to 11:34 use but I have another one that I'm especially impressed with... 11:38 and have had wonderful results, not only with my own self, 11:42 but with a number of women that I have helped... 11:46 And that is using the natural "Pro-Gest" creams. 11:50 Now, I know there are many that are on the market 11:54 and you can check with your local health food store 12:00 to find out which one is the very best to use, 12:04 and usually they have the very good ones. 12:06 Now I want to just read to you a little bit about them 12:09 from one of the companies that says, Natural Progesterone Cream 12:12 is a completely natural nutritional supplement 12:15 containing extract of a plant known as the wild Mexican yam. 12:19 Now, please don't get this confused with the sweet potato 12:22 yam because I've heard women that have said... 12:24 "Oh, I'll just eat lots more sweet potatoes"... 12:26 No... it doesn't come from that. 12:28 This plant makes a substance identical to progesterone 12:32 produced by the human body. 12:34 When applied topically, 12:36 it absorbs through the skin and is transported directly 12:39 to the receptor sites where it is needed. 12:41 Because this form of absorption bypasses the liver, 12:46 receptor sites receive the cream much more efficiently 12:50 than oral way of taking it, or suppositories. 12:54 Now, how would you use the natural progesterone cream? 12:57 Well, in your menstrual cycle, you would use it from 13:01 day 16 to days 24. 13:02 However, when you buy these creams, 13:05 they usually will have a nice brochure for you that will show 13:09 you how to do the cycling with your creams 13:12 but it's usually from day 16 to days 24 13:15 and you would put it on your very thin, fleshy parts of 13:20 your body. 13:21 And you don't want to use it but every 4 days in the same spot... 13:24 So, what I suggest that you do is, 13:26 you get a sequence going and the sequence would be 13:28 right here above your breasts, 13:30 underneath your arms in the fleshy, soft areas 13:34 ...then at your midriff, your tummy and then right between 13:38 your legs and if you need another spot, you can go down 13:40 a little closer to your knees, but on the inside. 13:43 And then if you have this sequence going, 13:45 when you finish at the very last spot, 13:48 then you can start up again, and work your way down. 13:51 And you keep doing this... 13:52 and that way you'll never get it in the same spot 13:54 more than 4 or 5 days apart, 13:57 and that's what is the very best to do. 14:00 Now for women that are concerned about the amounts of estrogen, 14:06 because that's one of the things that the natural Pro-Gest cream 14:10 does... is it helps to balance out your hormones because we 14:14 have seen in studies... that most of these women's problems 14:18 and PMS and bad menstrual cramps and so forth, 14:22 are coming from high levels of estrogen... 14:25 And Dr. Agatha is going to talk to us a minute about that 14:28 as far as diet goes. 14:30 BUT, for those that are interested, 14:32 there is a lab in Oregon called, "ZRT Labs" 14:35 and they do a saliva test... 14:40 and you can send to this lab and you can get this little vial 14:44 You just fill it with your saliva, send it back to them 14:46 and it's the most accurate way to test hormones. 14:50 And so I suggest for you women out there that may be 14:53 concerned about having high estrogen because it plays a role 14:56 in several female cancers as well... 14:59 that you may want to do this 15:00 and you can do this without a doctor's prescription, 15:03 and it is definitely a licensed, reputable lab that does this. 15:07 That sounds good... 15:08 and when you have a patient who you are suggesting 15:12 these things for... it's effective for them, is it? 15:15 Very effective... 15:16 And once they find out that they have an estrogen imbalance 15:20 in their natural progesterone, 15:21 they begin to use these creams 15:23 and I have seen marvelous things happen with women. 15:26 I have seen... let me just tell you about it... 15:28 I have seen one woman in particular who had 15:30 some of the most severest PMS I had ever seen... 15:34 and then she had the worst menstrual cramps I'd ever seen. 15:38 And she began to use this cream and she's normal... I mean... 15:42 I couldn't believe it... she was SO normal. 15:45 I'm glad to hear that about these... 15:47 I have not used these as much as you have... 15:50 So I'm happy to hear that they are effective. 15:52 I've seen them in health food stores and other places, 15:55 but I've not know that they were effective. 15:58 We should make a distinction between PMS and painful 16:03 menstruation. 16:04 Painful menstruation is a serious problem of women 16:08 but painful menstruation is not PMS. 16:11 It is a fact that a person with PMS may also have 16:15 painful menstruation. 16:16 But it isn't essential that the person with the PMS 16:22 have painful menstruation. 16:24 So let me just distinguish between these two for you. 16:26 With painful menstruation, 16:28 the pain usually comes on at least no more than 16:32 one day before the bleeding occurs. 16:36 And so as you recognize that the timing is also important 16:41 whereas, PMS will often come on a week or, at least several days 16:46 before the menstrual period and often 16:48 with the onset of the bleeding, the person no longer 16:52 has the irritability and the bloating and those other things 16:56 that we often associate with the PMS. 16:59 So as you consider the distinction between these two, 17:04 do not try to treat PMS in exactly the same way that 17:08 you do painful menstruation. 17:10 Now, since painful menstruation is so separate, 17:16 we will take that up as a separate topic... 17:20 But now to go to the diet things that you have 17:25 available to you... 17:27 I would like to ask Valerie to help you to understand 17:30 some of those things since a bit of that manipulating 17:36 of foods, while much of it is very simple 17:40 and very straight forward, 17:41 there are some things that it will help you if you see 17:44 somebody who has dealt with these problems in women 17:47 a good bit. 17:48 So, Valerie, as I look at these wonderful things here, 17:52 it just makes me sorry that it's not dinnertime right now. 17:55 Yeah... So what do you have? 17:57 Well, we know that phytoestrogens are so 18:01 important in women's diet... 18:03 And so, what I have developed here is... 18:05 I use soybeans or tofu... 18:08 Now would you just tell me what phytoestrogens are? 18:11 Maybe someone there does not know what "phyto" means 18:14 and I'd like to really tell you because... "It's plant" 18:16 Yes... it just means plant. 18:17 It just means "plant. " 18:18 Yeah... and being a botanist primarily, or I started out 18:24 in botany... In my experience with science I like to tell 18:28 people that "phyto" just means plant. 18:31 That's probably a better way to really tell you out there, 18:34 is that it is plant foods and so it's the important 18:40 estrogens that we can get from natural products... 18:42 Isn't that just wonderful to know that you can get 18:44 your natural hormones just from eating the foods that God 18:48 has provided for us. 18:49 The plant hormones are very similar to those that 18:53 are human hormones. yeah. 18:56 Okay, so what I'm going to show you here... 18:57 I try to make it as easy in the kitchen as I possibly can 19:00 because my time is limited and I know your time 19:03 is probably limited as well. 19:05 And so what I have done is, I have made a cheese, 19:09 but I usually start out and I take tofu... 19:13 and this is just a real simple one, mom, for you at home 19:16 that don't have a real lot of time, 19:19 there are various ways that you can use... oh.. Soy Supremes 19:22 and different soy flours but a REAL quick one... 19:24 is to just take tofu, and you can use the silken tofu, 19:27 and you can use this tofu... 19:29 Now there different kinds of tofu, I understand... 19:34 This is the silken? No, this isn't the silken, 19:37 this is the firm and it's just packaged a little different. 19:41 There are some that are packaged in little tubs with 19:43 water and then there's the silken one that's on 19:45 your regular shelves and that comes in soft and medium 19:48 and firm, I think, and extra firm... Yeah 19:52 And so, when I start out, many times I will use 19:56 the firm because I do a couple of things with it. 19:58 I blend it in my blender... 20:02 ...this is a quick one I'm going to show you. 20:03 You can buy Hidden Valley Ranch Dip Dressing and it really has 20:08 absolutely nothing in it but just parsley and garlic and salt 20:14 And so there are no other bad chemicals in it for you... 20:17 So it's a pretty good one to use for a real quick dressing 20:20 Now, I START out that way... 20:22 and when I get through, it has firmed up and now I have 20:26 sort of like a mayonnaise... and you can probably see here 20:30 the consistency is very much like mayonnaise. 20:33 And, so I'll leave that plain... 20:37 Then, I will dip out some more 20:40 and I will put a seasoning in this because I like to have a 20:43 spread for my bread... 20:44 And so I will then put in, many times, 20:48 I'll put dill in this one, or I might put basil in it 20:52 and right here, I have a little bit of paprika on it 20:54 And you could see right here, I will just spread this for you 20:57 It makes just a nice spread for your bread. 21:00 And so after I finish that, 21:04 I still have some left in my blender, 21:07 and now I have to add just a little bit more water to do it 21:11 because it's too thick for a salad dressing. 21:14 So, I will add the water to it and 21:20 I will just stir it up this way 21:22 Now, I might say to myself, "Hmm, I think I will put 21:27 a little bit of basil... I love basil dressing. 21:30 So I'll sprinkle a little bit of basil in it, 21:34 Smells good... 21:36 And I'll tell you, the smoke flavor just gives a real good 21:41 delicious flavor to the salad dressing. 21:43 So, I will just put just a little bit in.. 21:47 don't have to put very much. 21:51 And see... what's nice about doing this is the same batch 21:54 but you can have 3 different flavors... 21:56 ...one for your spread, one for your mayonnaise and 21:58 one for your dressing. 22:02 So now this is done, and you can make it... 22:04 you know, if you like a real thick dressing, 22:06 you can make it nice and thick. 22:08 I usually have just about this consistency... 22:12 ...just how you see it happening right here. 22:14 And so now, I have a wonderful dressing... 22:17 And what's so nice about it, is I've made 3 things 22:21 out of one of these. 22:23 Now, then I'll have... you know how you have your blender 22:27 and you look down in your blender and you say... 22:28 "Boy, all that good leftover stuff in there... I hate 22:32 to rinse it out with water and just throw it down the drain" 22:34 So, I don't do that. 22:35 What I do is... that's the day I make my cheese. 22:38 So then I take another package of tofu like this. 22:42 I put it in here and I go ahead and add the Emes gelatin 22:48 and various other seasonings that I want to make my cheese 22:51 and then I go ahead and make my cheese. 22:53 And then I feel like... well, I've used everything 22:57 I have no waste, I guess you could say, leftover... 23:00 Because I've got my spread, my mayonnaise, my salad dressing 23:04 and I have my cheese. 23:05 And right here in front of me, 23:07 you will see that I have a nice cheese 23:11 And this is a white cheese that I make and it is absolutely 23:14 scrumptious. 23:16 And I'm going to cut you a piece right now 23:18 and show you how nice and firm this turns out... 23:26 ...well, let me get it here... 23:32 You can see... It looks really firm. 23:34 You put it on a nice sandwich 23:37 and you can see just how nice and firm it is. 23:41 And I used just tofu to do everything that 23:45 you've seen here today. 23:47 Well, I'm amazed that so many things can be made 23:54 in one step... 23:55 You can make the mayonnaise, the dip or the spread, 23:57 and the salad dressing all in one step. 24:00 And that makes it so nice for mothers that are busy... 24:03 is to be able to do it all in one day and then it lasts you 24:06 for the rest of the week. 24:07 And I like that cheese... I'm sure you spent a good bit of 24:09 time on that one... developing that one just right. 24:12 And I like the garnishing, when you garnish it nicely... 24:15 that makes the family want to eat it... For sure. 24:18 Now, I hope that this gives you a bit of a handle on PMS 24:23 and helps you to know that you do not need to feel 24:26 hopeless and helpless against this disorder. 24:29 It is due to some kind of hormone imbalance... 24:33 But there are probably also some sensitivities, 24:36 perhaps food sensitivities, 24:38 or perhaps other kinds of sensitivities... 24:40 maybe pollution in the atmosphere 24:42 or whatever that may also be a part of the total syndrome 24:47 of PMS. 24:48 But we'd like to go into the matter of painful menstruation 24:53 for you now. 24:54 Painful menstruation is usually pain in the lower 24:58 abdomen but it may also include the back. 25:01 It may include the thighs or the legs, or it may be 25:05 the entire abdomen. 25:06 Some women have pain in many different places with painful 25:10 menstruation... 25:11 and it is all due to the same kind of thing. 25:14 It is sort of a cramping of the uterine muscle. 25:17 The uterine muscle is quite a firm and BIG muscle 25:21 and it is, of course, quite strong 25:23 And if it cramps long enough, or the blood vessels cramp 25:26 long enough, then of course, you're going to get pain. 25:30 Or if certain blood vessels dilate, 25:33 such as blood vessels like varicose veins. 25:36 If they dilate a lot, if they dilate long enough, 25:39 then you're going to be having pain with it. 25:42 Now, because this is due to cramping, 25:46 then there are some simple things that we can do 25:48 ...such things as massage, as heat, as the application of ice 25:53 and whatever these things may be that you decide on, 25:57 they are very useful and will be helpful. 26:01 In fact, one of the very simple things that a woman can do is 26:04 simply to drink hot water. 26:07 But certain hot herbal teas are also extremely nice 26:12 and you can take those as well. 26:13 Once upon a time, there was, I believe the name was 26:17 "Lydia Pinkham's Compound" and I remember in my youth 26:22 ...this was what every woman was using and it was very effective. 26:26 My parents sort of poo-poo'd the idea that there might be 26:31 anything wrong with... or any beneficial thing with 26:36 Lydia Pinkham's Compound because it also was sort of 26:40 used in jest a good bit. 26:42 But, there is no question but that Lydia Pinkham's Compound 26:46 was helpful. 26:47 Now also, the use of ice can be very helpful. 26:51 Ice can be applied to the lower abdomen, 26:54 or it can be applied to the back. 26:56 A hot bath can also be helpful. 26:59 A walk can sometimes be helpful. 27:03 We had one woman who worked with us at Uchee Pines one time 27:08 who could be expected to be absent from work 2 days 27:11 every month because of painful menstruation. 27:14 And she would be practically prostrate. 27:16 One time, she was away from Uchee Pines 27:19 and it was not possible for her to lie down 27:21 and so we said to her... 27:25 Why don't you try some other thing and that other thing 27:29 turned out to be charcoal. 27:31 She took a big dose of charcoal 27:32 and then shortly thereafter another big dose of charcoal 27:36 and 30 minutes after that... 27:38 another big dose of charcoal 27:40 and she was not in pain at all that month. 27:44 So we were all thanking the Lord for these very simple things 27:47 that can be SO effective in the treatment of something 27:51 that can be as disabling 27:52 as painful menstruation. |
Revised 2014-12-17