Natural Alternative
Have you ever Googled for menstrual pain relief during your time of the month? I know I have, especially when the traditional methods only offered temporary relief or produced undesired side-effects. As if I did not have enough trouble dealing with the bloating, backache and the dreaded mood swings.
During my search for a remedy, I came across a natural one that did miracles for my exhausted body. My menstrual pain was reduced naturally by taking Pycnogenol(R) (pic-noj- en-all), pine bark extract from the French maritime pine tree (Pinus maritime).
There have been recent studies showing Pycnogenol's(R) effectiveness in relieving menstrual disorders, such as relief of menstrual pain and endometriosis. Additional research has shown that Pycnogenol(R) is a natural anti-inflammatory and that Pycnogenol(R) naturally moderates inflammatory pain sensation experienced during menstruation cycles.
While researching French maritime pine bark extract, I have come across information that Pycnogenol® has over 200 different studies on the benefits, efficiency and the safety of the natural ingredients found in it. Pycnogenol(R) is a natural plant extract originating from the bark of the maritime pine that grows along the coast of southwest France and is found to contain a unique combination of procyanidins, bioflavonoids and organic acids, which offer extensive natural health benefits.
Besides the health benefits, scientific studies have also found that Pycnogenol(R) is a powerful antioxidant for the immune system.
In my personal experience, I started taking Pycnogenol(R) two weeks before my period. No over-the-counter drugs and nothing else was used (previously I had usually taken Midol or Aleve). When my period came, I felt the first day was not was painful and my back did not ache as much. It did not affect my flow or the duration of my period, that was still the same. However by the last day, I had no pain and no fatigue.
The second month, my period came and I almost did not know it. The way I found out was by going to the bathroom and I saw the usual brownish discharge and I of course recognized it as the first day of my period. My entire cycle that month was completely pain free! It felt like I had stumbled upon a miracle.
Of course, this is my experience with a natural remedy for menstrual pains and you may not have the same luck. If the pain you have is too severe there may be an underlying problem. Increased menstrual pain can be caused by any number of reasons and can suggest a medical problem. Speak with your gynecologist and always be sure to tell your doctor what you are taking, both over-the-counter and supplement wise!
Alternative Medicine Practitioner
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Want a sneak peek at the newest coupons coming out in the August issue of ALL YOU magazine? I’ve got it right here for ya!
If you’ve never heard of this awesome magazine, check out my all about ALL YOU magazine post. You can only find this mag at Walmart or by subscription. If you’re interested in picking up a subscription, you can get one year for $15!!! You'll definitely recoup the cost of a subscription in no time.
There are some nice buy one get one free coupons this month that you won't want to miss!
And now for the list of coupons in the August issue:
- $1/1 Advil Infants or Children Product, exp. 9-23-10
- $2/1 Ageless Reflection Product, exp. 10-31-10
- $0.35/1 Banquet Fruit Pie, exp. 10-10-10
- $1/1 Body Fortress Product, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Carnation Instant Breakfast Essentials, 10-27-10
- $1/1 Colgate ProClinical Toothpaste (4 oz.), exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Contessa MicroSteam or On the Stove Meals, exp. 10-31-10
- $0.50/1 Country Time Hard Candy Bag (14 oz.), exp. 11-30-10
- $1/1 Disney or Marvel Multivitamins, exp. 9-3-10
- $0.75/1 Dole All Natural Fruit Plastic Jar, exp. 10-31-10
- $1/2 Dole Frozen Fruit Bars, exp. 11-20-10
- $1/3 Dole Fruit Bowls, Gels, or Parfaits, exp. 10-31-10
- $1/1 Enforcer Flea and Tick Product, exp. 10-31-10
- $2/1 Ester-C Tablets, exp. 9-3-10
- $10/$25 Fashion Bug Purchase, exp. 8-27-10
- $3/1 Flex-A-Min Supplement, exp. 9-3-10
- $1/2 Fruit of the Loom Packaged Underwear or Casual Sportswear, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Glade Car Scented Oil Air Freshener or Refill, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Greased Lightning Product (32 oz.), exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Hartz Crunch 'n Clean Dog Biscuits, exp. 3-31-11
- $1/2 Kleenex Bundle Pack Facial Tissue, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/2 Lean Cuisine Market Creations, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Met-Rx Product, exp. 9-30-10
- $0.50/1 Mezzetta or Napa Valley Bistro Product, exp. 12-31-10
- $1/1 Neutrogena Cleansing Product, exp. 9-10-10
- $3/1 Neutrogena Cosmetics Product, exp. 9-10-10
- $1/1 NYC New York Color Product ($1.72+), exp. 9-8-10
- $3/1 Osteo Bi-Flex Caplets, Softgels or Powders, exp. 9-3-10
- $1/1 Osteo Bi-Flex Liquid Joint Aid, exp. 9-3-10
- $3/1 Phillips' Colon Health Probiotic + Fiber Product, exp. 12-31-10
- $1/1 Playtex Gentle Glide Tampons (18 ct.+), exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Powerade Multipack, exp. 10-31-10
- $1/1 Pure Protein Jillian Michaels Whey Protein, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Pure Protein Product, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Reddi-Wip Can (6.5 oz.+), exp. 10-10-10
- B1G1 Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Nail, exp. 8-31-10
- $1/1 Scott Extra Soft Double Roll Tissue (12 pk.), exp. 10-23-10
- $0.50/1 Scott Flushable Moist Wipes Tub, exp. 10-23-10
- $1/1 Scott Towels Mega Roll (6 pk.), exp. 10-23-10
- $0.40/1 Shedd's Spread Country Crock Spread, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Simple Green Product (22 oz.+), exp. 12-31-10
- $1/1 Smithfield Ham, exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 Snickers Marathon Multipack, exp. 12-31-10
- B1G1 Snickers Marathon Single Bars, exp. 12-31-10
- $1/2 VitaminWater Zero Bottles (20 oz.), exp. 8-31-10
- B1G1 Weight Watchers Yogurt Cups (6 oz.), exp. 9-30-10
- $1/1 White Cloud Product, exp. 9-23-10
- $4/1 Zegerid OTC Heartburn Remedy, exp. 9-30-10
Do know of any good match-ups with these coupons?
Joe Keohane argues in the Boston Globe that humans are predisposed to use information to confirm their existing beliefs, which makes democratic governance impossible.
It’s one of the great assumptions underlying modern democracy that an informed citizenry is preferable to an uninformed one. “Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government,” Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1789. This notion, carried down through the years, underlies everything from humble political pamphlets to presidential debates to the very notion of a free press. Mankind may be crooked timber, as Kant put it, uniquely susceptible to ignorance and misinformation, but it’s an article of faith that knowledge is the best remedy. If people are furnished with the facts, they will be clearer thinkers and better citizens. If they are ignorant, facts will enlighten them. If they are mistaken, facts will set them straight.
In the end, truth will out. Won’t it?
Maybe not. Recently, a few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs. Facts, they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.
This bodes ill for a democracy, because most voters — the people making decisions about how the country runs — aren’t blank slates. They already have beliefs, and a set of facts lodged in their minds. The problem is that sometimes the things they think they know are objectively, provably false. And in the presence of the correct information, such people react very, very differently than the merely uninformed. Instead of changing their minds to reflect the correct information, they can entrench themselves even deeper.
“The general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyhan, the lead researcher on the Michigan study. The phenomenon — known as “backfire” — is “a natural defense mechanism to avoid that cognitive dissonance.”
These findings open a long-running argument about the political ignorance of American citizens to broader questions about the interplay between the nature of human intelligence and our democratic ideals. Most of us like to believe that our opinions have been formed over time by careful, rational consideration of facts and ideas, and that the decisions based on those opinions, therefore, have the ring of soundness and intelligence. In reality, we often base our opinions on our beliefs, which can have an uneasy relationship with facts. And rather than facts driving beliefs, our beliefs can dictate the facts we chose to accept. They can cause us to twist facts so they fit better with our preconceived notions. Worst of all, they can lead us to uncritically accept bad information just because it reinforces our beliefs. This reinforcement makes us more confident we’re right, and even less likely to listen to any new information. And then we vote.
This effect is only heightened by the information glut, which offers — alongside an unprecedented amount of good information — endless rumors, misinformation, and questionable variations on the truth. In other words, it’s never been easier for people to be wrong, and at the same time feel more certain that they’re right.
There’s much more to the piece, which constitutes a selective review of the political behavior literature. That was never my research interest and my readings in the subfield are something like 17 years out of date but Keohane’s presentation comports well with my observations over the past decade or so. Certainly, large numbers of people believe that Bush promised Iraq would be easy, that we found WMD in Iraq, that Obama was born in Kenya, and many other things that simply don’t jibe with the known facts.
I’m not sure what the implications of any of this are for representative democracy. Perhaps it provides support to those who argue that government by referendum is a bad idea. But does it somehow render us unable to vote for politicians who will make public policy decisions for us? I don’t see how.
There’s not much doubt that most voters are poorly informed. And, the cited studies would seem to add further reason to be dubious of the influence of negative television advertising.
But, even if people are slow to evaluate facts, that doesn’t mean they don’t form impressions that are close enough to reality. Certainly, they’re pretty good punishing politicians who underperform expectations and replacing them. That this isn’t always an entirely rational process doesn’t alter the fact that it tends to reward the political party in charge during good times and punish them during bad times.
Additionally, political parties serve as a pretty fair proxy for all manner of things which actually matter to citizens. So, even poorly informed voters can pick candidates whose values more-or-less match up with their own and, every four years, either keep the current president or his party in power or toss them out. In the off years, they can either choose candidates that encourage the president to stay course or signal that it’s time to try something new.
Finally, it’s not at all clear what Keohane’s preferred alternative is. Churchill’s old saw about democracy being the worst form of government except all others we’ve tried remains true.
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