Should You Put Castor Oil in Your Belly Button?

                                              Castor oil seeds

The latest TikTok craze is calling for the application of castor oil in the belly button, a so-called “ancient” practice that will do everything from detoxification and improving your digestion to enhancing bowel movements and even making you more fertile. So what is this all about?

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Why is Homeopathy New Age?

JM writes: “I just read the blog question and answer on homeopathy.  This is a very serious matter to me as my family and I have been using homeopathic remedies very successfully over the past three years.  I was introduced to them by a very conservative Roman Catholic group of ladies.  In doing my own research, I was not troubled about the “vital force” that Dr. Hahneman refers to because anyone who does not know the Christian faith would of course grasp for some kind of word to describe the human soul and the life of that soul as given and designed by God, and the soul’s inter-connectedness to our physical bodies. . . .”

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Six Ways to Spot Health Care Fraud

The New Age has made huge inroads into the healthcare industry, especially in the area of self-help “cures” in the form of everything from pills to chi machines. However, New Age miracles are usually more hype than fact, which is why consumers would be wise to review new guidelines from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on how to spot a fraud before it costs them their money – and their health.

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Catholics and The Wellness Industry

What should a Catholic do when they encounter a wellness organization that presents itself as Catholic and yet promotes Eastern meditation techniques, naturopathy, homeopathy, and other New Age modalities? Can a Catholic healthcare provider really have it both ways?

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TENS Machines are Safe to Use

(Image courtesy of Wikicommons, Yeza, CC BY-SA-4.0)

PW writes: “Could you please tell me if the Tens Machine is any way a New Age modality?  I have severe chronic pain, and it has been suggested that I use this, but I have felt instinctively that it is New Age and I thought I once saw you wrote or said something about this.”

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A Pseudoscience Known as Rubenfeld Synergy

JW asks: “I have a friend who is seeing a Rubenfeld Synergy practitioner (Synergist) for pain relief.  I’ve expressed my concern that it sounds New Age to me. She assures me that it is not New Age but a form of Touch/Talk therapy.  Could you give me some insight into this and let me know if it is something I should avoid?”

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