BEAT NAGGING ALLERIES & SINUS PROBLEMS - Just by minding your own BEESWAX

By Johnathan V. Wright, M.D.

(Reprinted from "Nutrition and Healing")

It's not everyday you see nuns in full religious garb anymore, so when two walked into the Tahoma Clinic recently, they attracted a bit of attention from both the staff and patients.  But that wasn't what I remember most about their visit.  Before they left the Clinic that day, the nuns taught me an approach to respiratory health I'd never heard of before.

Like many monastic orders, these nuns support themselves and their convent by making and selling products.  Their specialty is 100 percent beeswax candles, which, Mother Thecla told me, actually clean the air, helping to reduce the pollutant and allergen load.

Technology actually made candles worse for your health.

She went on to explain that hundreds of years ago, most candles were made of beeswax.  But over the centuries, beeswax candles were gradually replaced by tallow (animal fat) candles, and then in the last century by paraffin candles, which are probably the kind you have in your home right now.  It sounds innocent enough, but paraffin is made from the sludge at the bottom of barrels of crude oil, which is then treated and bleached with benzene and other chemical solvents to "clean it up" for use in candles.  Paraffin candles put out soot and smoke when you burn them (I thought all candles did that) along with toxins and carcinogens.  Since burning petrochemical paraffin smells bad, synthetic fragrance oils are added, many of which are irritating and even toxic themselves when they're burned.  Breathing what paraffin candles give off has been compared to breathing diesel fumes.

And, to make matters worse, the soot, smoke, and chemical residue for "regular" candles can stick to walls, ceilings, and ventilation ducts and gets re-circulated whenever the heating/cooling system is in action, exposing you to these pollutants even when the paraffin candles aren't burning.

Allergy, sinus, and asthma relief just from lighting a candle.

But beeswax candles don't cause any of those problems.  In fact, Mother Thecla told me people with allergies, sinus problems, and asthmas have reported significant improvement in their symptoms, breathing better and sleeping better after burning the 100 percent beeswax candles in their bedrooms for three to four hours before bedtime.  One person who burned a beeswax candle all day when she was home reported that her asthma gradually went away completely.

After the nuns left, I did a bit of my own research to see if I could turn up any scientific evidence on beeswax effects.  Burning beeswax produces negative ions which purify the air of dust, mold, bacteria, viruses and other pollutants.  Helps with respiratory problems.

These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Bee products may cause an allergic reaction in some individuals. The above information is given for informative purposes. Seek the advice of a licensed health practitioner who is qualified to make diagnoses and recommendations for treatment of illnesses.