Coconut macaroon cookies ease diarrhea
Q: After reading about coconut macaroon cookies for diarrhea in your newsletter, I had my son try this remedy. He has had diarrhea every day for a couple of years.
I bought him some Trader Joe’s Coconut Macaroons. They worked on day one of the trial and have worked every day for a month.
His stools are soft, but with no diarrhea. Placebo? Well, just yesterday he told me he forgot to eat the cookies two days in a row. His diarrhea came back on the second day. A daily macaroon cookie is one “pill” he now remembers to take!
A: Many readers have reported that Archway Coconut Macaroon cookies can help relieve chronic diarrhea associated with irritable bowel syndrome. We’re delighted to learn that other brands also work.
For those who wish to make their own coconut macaroon cookies, here is a recipe:
Mix 2 2⁄ cup shredded
3 coconut, 2⁄ cup sugar, 1⁄
3 4 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon almond extract and 4 egg whites. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 325 F or until lightly browned.
Q: During a very cold winter, I began to feel more sad than usual, as well as fuzzy, forgetful and achy. This worried me enough to send me to the doctor.
All my blood tests were fine except for my vitamin D, which was very low. Some high-dose supplements eventually caught me up, but apparently my ordinary multivitamin hadn’t been working.
Now I am reading that low vitamin D has been linked to breast cancer, immune problems and other conditions, as well as seasonal affective disorder. If I couldn’t get enough sun exposure to make vitamin D where I live, below the Mason- Dixon line, what about people in the North? Can older people who don’t go outside get enough vitamin D?
A: Research links low circulating levels of vitamin D to seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and depression (Psychiatry Research, May 30, 2015; PLoS One, Sept. 23, 2015).
Vitamin D deficiency also has been associated with conditions such as cancer, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes and multiple sclerosis (Nutrition Journal, Dec. 8, 2010).
You are correct that people in Northern states may have difficulty getting enough vitamin D. In fact, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey showed that 29 percent of Americans were deficient in vitamin D and another 41 percent had low levels (British Journal of Nutrition, April 28, 2018).
Q: I am an asthmatic. When I was a child and young adult, terpin hydrate was the only cough medicine that could calm my coughing spells. Terpin hydrate saved my life more than once!
I’ve been looking for terpin hydrate, but my pharmacy does not carry it. Could you please advise?
A: Terpin hydrate was a popular cough medicine from the 1880s till the 1990s. This expectorant was created from ingredients in thyme, oregano and eucalyptus. It also was manufactured from the resin of pine trees (oil of turpentine).
In the 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration determined that there was not enough evidence of effectiveness, and the compound was effectively banned. You can still obtain terpin hydrate from a compounding pharmacy. To locate one in your area, search www.IACPRX.org. You will need a prescription from your physician, however. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Send questions to them via www.peoplespharmacy.com.