Cinnamon, a “gem” for Emetophobics

You may think of cinnamon as a spice associated with sweetness but did you know it has anti-microbial agents as well? Below are some very good reasons to stock up on cinnamon.

Here are some facts, not theories, facts. Cinnamon oil has exhibited antifungal, antiviral, bactericidal, and larvicidal activities. Specifically, ingredients in cinnamon kill escherichia coli, staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, the Asian flu virus A, and echo virus. What does this mean? These are all nasty bacteria that can make you exceptionally ill.

Salmonella causes food poisoning, escherichia coli causes Montezuma’s revenge, and staphylococcus aureus causes lesions, pustules, and boils that can be terminal if they spread to the organs. Not a pretty picture, but the good news is that cinnamon has been proven to suppress their growth, and the growth of several other gram-positive bacteria.

Cinnamon can stop bacteria, fungus, and viruses from attacking food or persons
If your stomach is upset by a bug of sorts, cinnamon will kill it (the bug). If your stomach is all in a knot, cinnamon will relax it.
(Source: http://www.planetbotanic.ca/fact_sheets/cinnamon.htm )

Cinnamon warms and stimulates the digestive system, useful in weak digestion, colic, griping, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, wind and distension. The tannins have an astringent action, stemming bleeding in nosebleeds, heavy periods and resolving diarrhea and catarrhal congestion.

Cinnamon may help to soothe an upset stomach:

Cinnamon extracts have been used medically to treat gastrointestinal problems and to help calm the stomach. Cinnamon is a carminative, an agent that helps break up intestinal gas that has traditionally been used to combat diarrhea and morning sickness. Both test-tube and some animal studies have found that cinnamon may help to relieve mild abdominal discomfort caused by excess gas.
(Source: http://www.herbwisdom.com/herb-cinnamon.html)

Foods Emetophobics Should Stock Up On – Ginger and Peppermint

For this blog entry, I decided to write something a little different. I thought I’d include some helpful information for those readers who are also emetophobic, rather than whine, bitch and complain about it. So this post will be about healing foods. These foods will be of particular interest to emetophobia sufferers as they either help with symptoms of nausea and vomiting, or they have anti-viral and anti-bacterial qualities.

Let’s start with the two most obvious foods: Ginger and Peppermint.

Ginger is an ancient remedy for nausea, gas and indigestion. Scientific studies have shown its effective for motion sickness, morning sickness, chemotherapy, and following surgery. A big plus about ginger is that it’s easy to get and inexpensive.

I keep ginger tea in my pantry, ginger capsules in my medicine cabinet, ginger chews in the candy canister, and fresh ginger in my kitchen for cooking. Ginger chews are available in major health food stores or at this web site www.gingerpeople.com.

Ginger is also said to help inflammation and have anti-cancer effects.

Links to sites about the medicinal qualities of ginger:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3X_Ginger.asp?sitearea=ETO

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/id/REM00012

Peppermint relieves indigestion by calming the muscles of the stomach and improves the flow of bile, which the body uses to digest fats. As a result, food passes through the stomach more quickly. It relaxes the muscles that allow the body to relieve gas and enteric-coated peppermint capsules help with irritable bowel syndrome.

Scientific evidence shows peppermint was found to treat nausea after surgery and relieve menstrual cramps. But here’s the best part, Peppermint oil has exhibited antiviral properties against a number of infectious agents, including herpes. I’m not sure if norovirus is one of these viruses but it still sounds encouraging. In addition, peppermint helps chest congestion from that nasty cold and headaches.

Peppermint oil is the most effective for nausea but peppermint tea, and mint candy are suitable for a small stomach upset due to overeating or bloating.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/peppermint-000269.htm

Memorial Day BBQ Cut Short Thanks to My Emetophobia

After many days with heavy rain and chilly temperatures, we finally have perfect weather for the Memorial Day weekend. I was feeling great all day and even treated myself to a sundae at Baskin Robbins. Like many nice days I took Maya (my Golden Retriever) for a swim at Tyler Park. It wasn’t until the Memorial Day BBQ at my Mother and Father’s house that thinks started turn around. The first sign of my emetophobia appeared when my Mother served cole slaw.

I love cole slaw but don’t eat it often. This is because the last time I vomited, which was many years ago, happened one day after eating cole slaw and I have often wondered if it was contaminated cole slaw that made me sick. Cole slaw is one of the foods I’m afraid to eat but will if it’s fresh. After eating the cole slaw, my Mother told me she bought it two days ago which didn’t sit well with me. It was probably ok, but I took two cinnamon capsules just to be on the side of caution. Scientific studies show that cinnamon kills common foodbourne bacteria that causes illness.

Right after dinner but before dessert, my stomach started grumbling and cramps began. I went to the upstairs bathroom so no one would miss me.

Afterwards I was still feeling bloated and queasy and started to feel panicky. My carry-along anti-emet kit came in handy as I started sucking on both mint altoids and a ginger chew at the same time.

With the panic coming on stronger, I felt it best to leave early and used “getting my period” as an excuse. Now that I’m home, I feel much better. Still gassy but I’m not panicky anymore. I’m really upset with myself because I was having a good time and didn’t want to leave when I did, but the emetophobia won.

Strange Behavior from Emetophobia – Vomit Scenes on TV and in Movies

Non-emetophobics don’t  realize how many times references to vomiting – whether it’s scenes showing the act, the sounds of it, or just references to it – pop up in TV and movies.

As a mild to moderate sufferer of emetophobia,  it doesn’t bother me that much when I see or hear this on a screen any more than it bothers the average person.  Even normal people don’t enjoy watching a vomit scene but severe sufferers will tighten up and panic.

As an emetophobic, my fear is  just myself getting sick and vomiting.  It scares me to no end being around someone else who is sick because I’m afraid of catching it.  It disgusts me to be around vomit on the street or someone near me vomiting because the sounds and smell make me gag.  Many normal people have this same disgust.  However, more severe sufferers are just as afraid of seeing someone else vomit as they would be if they were doing it themselves.  I’ve even met a few people who are only afraid of others doing it and not themselves.

There is a list of movies that contain vomit scenes on one of the emetophobia forums.  Most emetophobes will not see these movies.

Walking You Through an Emetophobic’s Panic Attack

As I write this blog entry, I’m calming down from a mild to moderate panic attack. I’m still shaking and shivering. My face feels warm to the touch. My breathing is irratic but that’s starting to slow down. My heart is no longer racing. This time I didn’t cry but the thought of “never eating again” kept creeping into my mind.

If you’re one of the emetophobic readers of this blog, you’re probably shaking your head in agreement because you can relate to what I’m feeling. For those lucky readers who never have had phobias, I hope to open myself up a bit so you will understand how devastating this phobia can be.

What caused my panic attack? Would you believe a simple case of bloating caused by gas? Emetophobics are controled by fear. We are so scared of vomiting and the symptoms that lead to it, we can no longer differentiate certain stomach conditions with actual nausea. A simple rumble of gas in my intestines sometimes sets off my panic button especially if it’s accompanied by diarrhea.

Tonight it was that bloated, gassy, acidy feeling that did it. What makes even more irrational is that these feelings started after I drank a glass of pineapple juice – an acid rich fruit which always causes me to feel this way everytime I eat it or drink the juice from it. It’s not from a stomach virus or food poisoning, merely a high acid juice.

The bottom line is, I know what caused me to feel physically rotten and I know it won’t make me vomit – yet I still get panic attacks. That’s the nature of phobias.

fearsandphobias.blogspot.com

Strange Behavior From Emetophobia – Grilling Sick People

As soon as someone tells me they’re sick, regardless of how well or how little I know them, they are questioned harder than a witness to a crime scene.

I have to know the details of what kind of sick they are and what the symptoms were. Is it just a cold? Do they have a headache? Fever? Stomach ailments? If they even hint there’s a stomach problem, there are more questions. Was there diarrhea? Stomach pain? Heartburn? And of course the worst illness related symptom in the world – VOMITING accompanied with nausea.

The next round of questions would be to determine if it was something they ate, food poisoning, a hangover, or {GULP} a stomach virus. I don’t know why I do this. It’s probably the paranoia that a stomach virus may be going around.

For www.fearsandphobias.blogspot.com