- Guess what?
There are some natural remedies that actually work,
and we utilize them all the time in the hospital.
Today I'm gonna give you 10 natural cures
that absolutely have evidence behind them.
Bee whoop! Honey.
Not only is it absolutely delicious,
but it actually has true medical uses.
Now I'm a little biased here
because I absolutely love my Manuka honey with green tea,
but the American Academy of Pediatrics
actually recommends honey for a nighttime cough
for children over the age of one.
When they compared it in scientific research
to over-the-counter cough suppressants,
it actually performed as well or even better
than some of these cough suppressants.
But we have to make sure that it's given to children
over the age of one because of the Clostridium bacteria
that can be found in honey,
which is potentially lethal for children
under the age of one.
I really wanna hammer that home.
- [Voice Over] I really wanna hammer that home.
- Melatonin supplements.
And I know you're probably like,
"Whoa, Dr. Mike's talking positively on a supplement."
There are certain uses for supplements,
especially when it comes to the hormone melatonin,
which is naturally secreted by the pineal gland
inside your brain.
This hormone actually induces a state of drowsiness,
sleepiness, and it's released late at night,
when your circadian rhythm begins to drop.
In fact that's why I tell you
to not use devices before bedtime,
because when they release blue light,
you actually have a decrease of melatonin
secreted naturally inside your brain,
thereby making it more difficult to fall asleep.
Now melatonin supplements can work in several conditions
and I use them regularly with my patients for jet lag,
when traveling to a new country,
and you want to reset your circadian rhythm.
Supplements, great way to do that.
Second, in delayed sleep-wake phase syndrome,
where you have an individual who constantly
cannot fall asleep before two to four a.m.,
and then they're waking up really late in the day.
Melatonin supplements can play a role here.
Now I'm not suggesting that you start self-medicating
in all of these instances,
but it's definitely a good idea
to bring up melatonin with your doctor
if you're suffering from one of these two conditions.
Saline nasal sprays, also known as good old salt water.
And I can't believe some of these companies
are charging what they charge for a little bottle of water.
Granted they buffer it so it's not as irritating
to the nasal passageways
and it's in a great delivery system
so I won't hate too much.
That being said, nasal saline is an absolute godsend.
Whether we're talking about sinus infections,
colds, allergies,
it does a great job at washing out your nasal passageways,
thereby clearing your nasal passageways
so that you can breathe.
I wish we could all just swim in the ocean
and clear our sinuses and passageways like that,
but not all of us have an ocean near us,
so for those who don't: nasal saline spray.
(slow, sad music)
Sugar, sugar, sugar.
I bet you did not think
I would say sugar has a medical utility
because it does cause a lot of medical problems.
I'm gonna be honest.
Well, the overeating of sugar.
Let's not villainize a single ingredient.
It's like added sugar to something that's already sweet
or it doesn't need to be sweet
where sugar becomes a problem.
In this case, sugar for hiccups actually works.
And there's no like definitive scientific research
as to how it works,
but there is a theory.
If you let the sugar sit on your tongue,
dissolve on your tongue, it will stimulate the vagus nerve,
one of the main nerves
of the parasympathetic nervous system.
The rest and digest nervous system
that also goes to the diaphragm.
The spasming of the diaphragm is what causes the hiccups.
And now with the sugar relaxing the vagus nerve,
thereby relaxing the diaphragm, cure yourself of hiccups.
Little spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.
Helps the medicine go down. (hits table)
Oatmeal.
Another one that's also delicious and a medical remedy,
specifically for eczema.
But we have to make sure that we're using colloidal oatmeal,
which is when you take the oat grain
and you grind it down into a fine powder.
Then that powder can actually be used as a skin protectant
because it prevents the loss of fluid from your skin.
Aloe vera.
It has actually a lot of uses for skin,
but one that gets me most excited is for burns,
specifically sunburns.
Man, do those hurt.
And the office of NCCIH actually has shown this to be true.
Putting aloe vera on burns
speeds up their healing and decreases pain.
The reason all this happens is because aloe vera
contains chemical compounds known as anthraquinones,
which decrease pain, speed up healing,
and is a natural way to do so.
If you have an aloe vera plant, just cut it and apply.
Also be sure if you had multiple sunburns
throughout your life, even as a kid,
it does increase your risk for skin cancer
and you should be getting yearly skin checks
with your dermatologist or family medicine doctor.
Prunes.
For those who never had them,
prudes can actually aid in the treatment of constipation.
(record scratch) What's wrong?
You were like looking at me.
- [Sam] I think you said prudes instead of prunes.
- Really? (machine beeps)
- Prunes work in two specific ways.
Not only do they contain fiber which helps you go,
but they also contain sorbitol,
which is a sugar alcohol that your body doesn't digest.
That actually hangs around in your intestines
and through osmosis sucks water in,
therefore having a laxative effect, helping you go.
There's some studies that actually show
that prunes work better than psyllium,
which is one of the ingredients found
in a lot of anti-constipation medications.
Just be careful if you have IBS.
Prunes can sometimes make your symptoms worse.
That's why I think it's always smart
to discuss first with your doctor.
Calamine lotion.
It actually works on burns itches and irritation.
A prime example of a natural ingredient
that once was labeled useless by the FDA
and now has found to be scientifically proven
to work on minor skin irritations,
specifically in cases of poison ivy.
Probiotics.
This one is a little bit of a controversial one.
If you walk into a supplement store
and you read some of the labels on the supplements,
it looks like probiotics fix everything
and anything inside your body,
and that's just simply not true.
The evidence we have for probiotics
comes from antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
And basically what happens is when you take
oral antibiotics for a skin wound,
for an infection in your upper airway,
it actually act everywhere inside your body,
including your gut,
thereby killing the good bacteria, the probiotics.
In fact, that's what probiotics actually means.
Because inside of our bodies, and on the outside,
we have a ton of bacteria living on us.
And this bacteria lives in symbiosis with us.
It actually helps us live,
sometimes getting nutrients out of certain foods,
ones that we can't digest on our own.
So it's usually a healthy relationship.
But now when we take antibiotics
to fight off the bad bacteria,
we incidentally kill the good bacteria as well.
So by taking probiotics,
you can actually help prevent
antibiotic-associated diarrhea.
As more evidence evolves,
we're gonna find out more and more about the bacteria
that's living in our gut.
Yummy.
Duct tape.
And I'm not talking about fixing something in your home.
I'm talking about warts,
warts that are caused by a virus
known as the human papillomavirus.
You cover it in duct tape.
Every six days you change it.
And it potentially can help speed up
the healing of that wart.
This method actually has a scientific name
called the tape occlusion method.
And they found that the stickier your tape,
the more likely it is to stay on for that six-day period,
the more likely that your wart is to go away.
Now there are other methods of treating warts
like salicylic acid and cryotherapy,
but those sometimes can be uncomfortable and painful,
especially for children.
Teabags.
And I'm not talking about drinking the tea.
Well I'm talking about drinking the tea
because it's delicious,
but once you're done drinking the tea,
you can take the warm teabag,
make sure it's warm and not hot.
And use it as a warm compress
on your eye if you have a stye.
What do you know about those rhymes?
A stye is actually a blocked gland in your eye
that causes a buildup of bacteria,
potentially a mild infection.
And when you put a warm compress on,
you help open that gland up and facilitate drainage.
The natural remedy that I think has done
the biggest disservice to our society is soda.
People say, "You have an upset stomach.
"Have some ginger ale.
"Have some Coca Cola."
In fact that's how some of my friends, when they were kids,
got hooked on Coca Cola.
And it's not that you shouldn't drink soda ever.
Evidence is there that children drinking
gallons and gallons of soda a week, maybe a month,
actually have higher rates of obesity later in life
because the cholesterol plaques that cause heart attacks
start forming in your early teens.
We're actually propagating two problems:
not fixing the upset stomach, and two,
increasing rates of obesity.
To me, that's a big, big no-no.
There's been research that actually tested
these theories of drinking soda
to help replenish electrolytes or hydrate sick kids.
And it doesn't work.
In fact ginger ale was thought to work
because ginger has some anti-nausea properties
helping relax the digestive system.
But you're much better off drinking a true ginger tea
than you are a ginger soda
because the traditional ginger sodas
have barely any natural ginger in them.
(sigh) I get frustrated when those natural remedies
try and trick you.
Here's some natural remedies that are absolutely absurd
from Facebook health posts.
Click here to check that out.
And as always, stay happy and healthy.
(upbeat music)