18 06, 2019

6 Key Benefits of Seeing a Naturopath

2019-06-18T11:05:53+00:00By Nick Dale|Uncategorized|

Why Consult With a Naturopath?

Are you looking from a holistic, thorough and proactive kind of healthcare? Are you after time, attention and guidance for symptoms you’re experiencing today as well as your long term health?

I wanted to share with you the main benefits you can get from working with a Naturopath, which I believe are as follows:

1) In-depth Health Review

This is a time to really explain everything that has been on your mind, from obvious symptoms you’re struggling with, to stresses that have rocked you, to niggling aches and pains. I will be there to listen and will take the time to really understand.

The consultation usually lasts about an hour, and allows for an in-depth discussion about your health, and also for me to carry out an iridology assessment. The goal of a Naturopath is to isolate the underlying predisposition to symptoms and health problems you might be experiencing, and to get a better picture of your constitutional health, strengths and weaknesses. This is vital and, over the last 30 years of practicing as a Naturopath, I have observed very clear patterns with health issues. Furthermore, sometimes functional tests are required, which might include stool, urine or hair analysis tests to get a fuller picture.

2) Pinpointing the Root Causes of Health Issues

Focusing on getting a thorough understanding of what is causing symptoms is key to treating them.

If a person has been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in October, it doesn’t mean that it started in October. It could have its roots months or even years prior to this. In this instance, identifying the cause is a vital step, which paves the way for a pinpointed treatment plan.

Catching things early, before they have a chance to evolve is even better. An example of this could be with digestive disorders, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, commonly called IBS. Conventional medicine, such as steroids, might be prescribed to reduce inflammation and suppress symptoms. However, steroids do not address the underlying cause of the problem, so once discontinued the problem can return.

What’s more, if the cause is left unattended it can be allowed to develop further into a wide variety of ailments from migraines and eczema, to fatigue and inflammation, to many more. Getting to it early can save a lot of problems down the line.

3) Holistic Treatment

Treating the body as a whole is the cornerstone of Naturopathy. If one area of the body is not operating well it can have a domino effect.

For example, if a person has headaches or migraines, it’s rarely because of the head itself. It could be related to toxins in the body – where might these toxins be coming from and why are the toxins not being eliminated properly? What is causing this to result in pain in the head? These are the questions Naturopaths will look at. What’s more, these are the questions that will lead to successful treatment.

Through the in-depth review and isolating the cause, answers can be found so that targetted holistic treatment can be applied.

4) Working Towards the Goal of Chronic Disease Prevention

As a Naturopath, I will always have the intention of directing and controlling your health into the future. It’s not just about treating symptoms you have today.

Present day signals with chronic conditions, such as headaches, tiredness and fatigue, depression and anxiety, insomnia, weight problems, hormonal imbalance, skin problems, poor immune system, pain, arthritis and poor bowel health are all illnesses that have their root cause often years earlier.

Bandaids and temporary fixes, such as painrelievers, while they can certainly make you feel better, do very little to rebalance ones health and clear a state of ill health from the body. This is in contrast to the holistic approach used by a Naturopath, which will target the underlying cause, while also providing natural medicine to help relieve symptoms while the healing phase is in progress.

5) Naturopathic Medicine & Treatment Plans

One of the beauties of natural medicine is that programs and treatment plans are tailored to each individual. With the example of Chronic Fatigue, once the reason behind it is identified, a plan using natural therapies can be put in place.

The length of treatment varies from person to person, how long one has had a condition and its severity.

6) Restoring Our Natural Healing Ability

The goal is always to return to you your natural ability to heal and achieve optimum health. This innate ability is strong, but today there are many factors that hamper this ability.

The vast majority of us today have nutritional deficiencies of some kind. This is for many reasons, including:

Food is approximately half as nutritionally dense as it was for our great grandparents.
So much of our food is transported around the world before being stored for days or weeks in our supermarkets.
Research has shown that fresh fruits and vegetables can loose 50% of their nutritional quality in 48 hrs if being picked.
Processing of food is on a mammoth scale today, leading to problems such as farmed fish to chemicals and pesticides in our food.
Agricultural methods are also very different today. We are eating about twenty times more sugar than our our great grandparents. Lifestyles are very different

Correcting toxicity and strengthening your body with natural remedies is extremely beneficial. In my practice I employ nutritional medicine (minerals and vitamins), herbal medicine and homeopathic remedies.

Get in touch to find out more or with any questions on 01379 308707.

9 05, 2018

How to Fix One of the Biggest Causes of Illhealth

2018-05-09T12:51:51+00:00By Nick Dale|Ailments, Uncategorized|

50% of optimizing health is about getting good things into and absorbed by the body, and 50% is about getting rid of waste and toxins from the body efficiently.

What this means is that if your body is not eliminating waste well, your efforts with consuming healthy meals will be severely compromised.

Focusing on digestion is vital for both optimizing absorption of nutrients and for eliminating waste and toxins.

Malnourishment – the West’s Modern Epidemic

This might sound like a sweeping statement, but it is something I see day after day in my practice. In fact it is rare to see someone with a good nutritional status, regardless of whether or not they are following a healthy diet. The repercussions of this are widespread, from fatigue, depression, anxiety, to more serious, chronic health issues, such as Cancer, Dementia, and other degenerative diseases.

Poor digestion is so common today. There are many contributing factors that have brought this about, from overuse of medications and antibiotics which affect the gut flora, to high sugar diets and foods that actually deplete the body rather than feed the body.

Checklist for Digestive Inefficiency

Do you experience any of the following:

Gas / bloating
Constipation
Diarrhoea
Digestive pain
Headaches / Migraines / sinus problems
Eczema / Acne / other skin problems
Candida / Thrush
Mental fog

These are often indicators of poor digestive function, and for optimal health should be addressed as a priority.

How to Correct Digestive Function

There are things that can be done at home to help with digestive function, such as including bone broth or fermented foods in the diet, eg sauerkraut. High quality, high potency probiotics are often a good option too. Additionally, avoiding foods that you are sensitive to is important, as well as highly processed and high sugar foods.

In my experience it usually takes an extra push to correct conditions that have generated for months or years. Diet alone has a vital role, but usually remedies in nearly all cases are required to promote healing and help return health to its optimum state. Herbs, nutritional supplements and homeopathics play an important role, and for recommendations please contact me and I will advise based on your situation.

20 11, 2017

Can Antidepressants Be Avoided With Natural Alternatives?

2017-11-20T14:35:22+00:00By Nick Dale|Uncategorized|

The good news is there are natural alternatives to antidepressants

Depression and anxiety are becoming more and more common.

Last year, 64.7 million antidepressant items were prescribed in England. This is an all time high and an increase of 6% on the previous year and up 400% from 20 years ago.

Why Is This?

Is it because people are more under stress than before?

While we all live in a hectic world, let’s not forget that many of our grandparents lived through two world wars.

So many people I see in consultation definitely have more than their fair share of stress, but there is more going on than stress to cause so many to end up on antidepressants.

Just correcting nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and using natural remedies for many has helped them to recover from their depression and live drug free.

Getting sufficient nutrition is a problem today, not because of a lack of food, but a more a lack of nutrition. One could argue that alot of the stuff people eat these days is not really food at all. I can be nosey when waiting at the supermarket checkout and have a look at what people are buying. It is rare to see a trolley full of fresh veges, wholesome proteins and good fats. Usually I see a variety of high carb foods like bread, pasta, biscuits, TV dinners, crumpets, muffins, and pre-prepared foods and drinks, etc.

Food can be our medicine or our undoing. Getting nutritious food today is not easy, and only has about 40% of the nutrional content of the food our grandparents ate.

Relevance to Mental Health

So how can one expect to keep a healthy body and mind while being exposed to food with such depleted nutrition and an increase in toxicity from not only pesticides, drugs and plastics, but also increasingly high exposures to electronics, wifi, and moblie phones, etc.

Its hard to avoid these in a busy working life, so giving youself the nutrional tools and natural non toxic remedies to support yourself is essential.

Depression and other mental health issues can of course be triggered by excess stress, post traumatic stress, loss and upheaval. But if we have the foundations and buttresses to get us through and support us in life, mental health conditions like depression and anxiety can be kept at bay in the majority of cases. I see this regularly.

Diet

You might know now I’m a big fan of the Ketogenic diet. This diet with good fats, healthy protein and lots of fresh seasonal veges is great to help reduce inflammation, help with weight loss and to deliver essential fats to the nervous system and brain.

Remedies

Minerals, such as Magnesium, Potassium (contraindicated with certain pharmaceutical medications), and Calcium are very important. These are essential for a strong nervous system. Discuss with me first, as these need to be given carefully in balance and taking into account medications a person may be on.

B vitamins. Nearly all the B vitamins play a role with how we feel mentally, particularly B1, B5, B6, B12 and Folic acid.

Vitamin D3, this can help with depression. I find that the dose usually recommended by Doctors is insufficient. Taking D3 with vitamin K2 is also important.

Fish oil/omega 3. I see mixed results with this for depression. Some people definitely notice improvement with sufficient doses of this.

Other good fats: Cold pressed virgin coconut oil used in cooking helps the nervous system

Homeopathic remedies: I’ve witnessed amazing results with depression and anxiety with homeopathy. The key thing is to get the right remedy at the right potency. Homeopathy not only works on physical health, but also mental health. Email me and I’ll give you call (no consultation fee) to discuss the best remedy for you.

Other aspects to take into account are ones thyroid, adrenal and hormonal function.

Taking exercise and getting fresh air is also important, as well as reducing stress as much as you can.

1 11, 2017

Farmed or Wild Salmon?

2017-11-01T14:33:21+00:00By Nick Dale|Uncategorized|

Not all fish is created equal. In fact, some fish I believe should be avoided

Fish is renowned for being healthy. It is packed with healthy oils that help abundantly in so many areas of our health, from our brains, heart and nerves to our eyes.

Wild Alaskan Salmon is an example of some of the finest fish, packed densely with nutrients: vitamins (such as B6, B12, niacin, selenium, magnesium, phosphorous), minerals, lean protein and the beneficial omega-3 fats. Including this particular type of salmon in your diet may offer some protection against conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, depression, high blood pressure, age-related macular degeneration, diabetes and even cancer.

Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington followed 2,700 healthy adults for 16 years who ate 1-2 servings per week of oily fish, such as salmon. Results showed that adults with the highest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids lived 2.2 years longer and had a 35% lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

Salmon used to be a delicacy. My Grandmother would serve it only for the most special of occasions. Today it is the single biggest selling fish in the UK. You can buy a couple of pieces of salmon for the price of a small chicken.

So What’s Changed?

Salmon farming.

What’s the Difference Between Wild Salmon and Farmed Salmon?

There’s a big difference, not just in the price.

DIET: Wild Alaskan Salmon swim in the ocean and have the diet nature intended, typically free-floating crustaceans packed with carotenoids responsible for their bright red/pink colour. The diet of farmed Salmon will vary from farm to farm, but they don’t have the same diet as wild salmon. I have read they can be fed on oil and smaller fish, ground-up feathers, GM yeast, soybeans and chicken fat, and that as a result of the lower amounts of carotenoids in their diet they are actually grey in colour, which is why astaxanthin (synthetic or naturally derived) is added to their food to bring out the red/pink colour in an attempt to mimic nature.
NUTRITIONAL PROFILE: Omega-3 fatty acid levels in farmed salmon are as much as 50% lower than those found in wild salmon. A study by researchers at Stirling University last year found that the Omega 3 content of farmed salmon had halved over the previous five years because of the switch from a diet of predominately oily fish to just around 20%. Farmed salmon has been reported to have much higher levels of Omega 6. The balance between Omega 3 and 6 is important, and having such nigh levels of Omega 6 throws this out, which can in turn wreak havoc in the body.
FISH LIVING CONDITIONS: Wild salmon of course have endless habitat, but in farms conditions are cramped and disease can spread quickly and be problematic. This problem is often dealt with by the use of chemicals, which are said to be harmless, but as a Naturopath I always try to steer my clients away from chemicals where possible. As I write this email, I have just seen an article in the Daily Mail about Scottish farmed salmon, that is found in major UK supermarkets, which it states are crawling with sea lice up to 20x the acceptable levels. To read more about this click here.

ARE SUPPLEMENTS AS GOOD AS EATING FRESH WILD ATLANTIC SALMON?

Its always best to obtain our nutrition from the food that we eat. In order to get decent amounts of fish oil to correct issues this can be difficult from our diet. In these circumstances supplementing is a solution. Look out for what you buy though, make sure it’s clean and check the source. If in any doubt let me know and I’m happy to assist.

18 10, 2017

Are You Eating the Right Fats?

2017-10-18T09:45:26+00:00By Nick Dale|Foods, Nutrition, Uncategorized|

Eating the wrong fats can be devastating to our health and well-being, so it’s important to get this right

There are increasing amounts of research today supporting the theory that cholesterol and saturated fats are not the main villain in heart disease, as has traditionally been taught. When it comes down to it, there is very little evidence to support the traditional view that a low cholesterol and saturated fat diet reduces heart disease. What is coming to light, is that a combination of blood sugar problems, excess carbohydrates (sugars), inflammation, excess Omega 6 fats from vegetable oils and trans-fatty acids are responsible for arterial congestion. This in turn is related to such health issues as heart problems, dementia and stroke.

As a result, dietary advice for arterial health is being turned on its head.

WHICH FATS SHOULD WE BE EATING?

A fat free diet is not something I advocate. What matters, is how much fat and what type. Reducing your intake of some types of fats reduces the risk of several chronic diseases, but other types of fats are absolutely essential to our health and well-being, and in fact today there is a wide-scale deficiency in several kinds of fats, which is behind much of today’s ill-health. It’s always recommended to keep in touch with your Doctor if you have heart disease about changes to your diet.

GOOD FATS

The following are healthy fats that can be included in your diet – for more advice about this please contact me and I’m happy to advise further:

Cold pressed, virgin coconut oil, not refined. (Cooking with coconut oil is fine)
Cold pressed, virgin olive oil (uncooked/heated is best – olive oil heated to high temperatures becomes damaged)
Omega 3 fats obtained from fish (including such fish as mackerel, wild salmon, tuna, sardines, anchovies, krill oil)
Butter from grass fed cattle
Avocado
Nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, hazel nuts, pecans, pistachios, macadamia (not peanuts or cashews)
Eggs (preferably organic)
Grass fed meats

FATS TO AVOID

The main fats to keep away from are trans fatty acids and polyunsaturated vegetable oils. These types of oils promote oxidized cholesterol that become destructive when entering into your LDL particles, thus making LDL particles damaging in this case. LDL fats are normally absorbed by the liver. Damaged LDL particles however can contribute to heart disease. So while LDL readings which are commonly used to measure cholesterol are of some use, what is most important is keeping LDL particles free from oxidation.

Additionally, excessive Omega 6 polyunsaturated fats when eaten in high quantities are vulnerable to oxidation.

Fats to avoid include:

Margarine
Vegetable oils, such as sunflower, corn, rapeseed, peanut, soy
Reheated oils
Refined palm oil
Rancid oils

COOKING FROM SCRATCH

One of the main problems with buying foods from the supermarket is that it’s very likely there will be some damaging fats included. For example, it’s pretty difficult to find biscuits, crisps or cakes made without damaging vegetable oils and transfatty acids. If you are buying pre-made meals too, you’ll find they usually contain oils that I urge my clients to avoid, as well as sugars.

The very best way to avoid the pitfalls of processed foods is to make your meals from scratch. This way you can be sure of the ingredients you are consuming.

HOW THE BODY USES FAT

The human body uses fatty acids to do everything from building cell membranes to performing key functions in the brain, eyes, and lungs. The functions of fats include:

Brain – Fats compose 60% of the brain and are essential to brain function, including learning abilities, memory retention and moods. Fats are especially important for pregnant women, since they are integral to foetal brain development.
Cells – Fatty acids help your cells stay moveable and flexible, as well as being responsible for building cell membranes.
Heart – 60% of our heart’s energy comes from burning fats. Specific fats are also used to help keep the heart beating in a regular rhythm.
Nerves – Fats compose the material that insulates and protects the nerves, isolating electrical impulses and speeding their transmission.
Lungs – Lungs require a high concentration of saturated fats, enables the lungs to work and keeps them from collapsing.
Eyes – Fats are essential to eye function.
Digestion – Fats in a meal slow down the digestion process so the body has more time to absorb nutrients, and help provide a constant level of energy and keeps the body satiated for longer periods of time. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) can only be absorbed if fat is present.
Organs – Fats cushion and protect your internal organs.
Immune System – Fats ease inflammation, helping your metabolism and immune system stay healthy and functioning.

16 10, 2017

Is Eating Yogurt as Good as Taking Probiotics?

2017-10-16T10:19:25+00:00By Nick Dale|Foods, Nutrition, Uncategorized, Vitamins|

Many people ask me if they still need to take Probiotics when they are eating yogurt on a daily basis

Old-fashioned, raw and unpasteurized yogurt was a wonderful source of good bacteria, but unfortunately today it’s very difficult to find yogurt in this form.

Pasteurization kills off or sterilizes much of the good bacteria that gives yogurt it’s good reputation.

WHY DO WE NEED GOOD BACTERIA?

Cultured and fermented foods, such as yogurt, have been consumed by many cultures for years as a source of bacteria, which act as a support to their digestive health and immune function. Today, however, for many it is more practical to take a good quality probiotic supplement, in order to populate the digestive system with good bacteria.

Probiotics, also known as gut flora or healthy bacteria, is a variety of friendly bacteria that benefits the digestive system. The benefits range from helping to normalize digestive function to assisting the immune system, allergies and skin problems.

Probiotics are used to Help Treat & Prevent a Range of Health Conditions:

Probiotics are regularly used by Naturopaths to help treat and prevent the following health problems:

Thrush and candida
Leaky gut (and associated conditions, eg migraines, acne, lymphatic congestion, and more)
Eczema and acne
Colic and acid reflux
Fatigue
Autism
ADHD
Food allergies, such as dairy and gluten
Post-antibiotic diarrhea
Hay fever
Sinusitis
Weight loss
Vaginal infections
Diarrhea, constipation and irregular bowel motions
Crohn’s disease
Irritable bowel syndrome and malabsorption
Ulcerative colitis

Choosing the Right Probiotics for the Right Condition

The quality and potency of probiotics available in healthfood stores and our food varies enormously. For example, some of my clients ask if the probiotics in supermarket yogurt is sufficient, but you would probably need a bucket of the yogurt to equal half a teaspoon of a good quality probiotic supplement. Likewise, products on the shelves of healthfood stores also have widely ranging potencies.

In a healthy bowel there can be 3-4 pounds of healthy bacteria, so to make an impact, you need a high potency product, which I usually recommend is taken at the highest dosage on the bottle for adults.

When looking for a supplement, I recommend you look out for supplements that list specific strands of bacteria on their label. I recommend a product with a variety of different probiotics. Also, the list below gives more detailed information about the health benefits of particular types.

Lactobacillus Acidophilus DDS1
Helps with immune support and digestive function, as well as to assist with lactose intolerance
Bifidis Regularis
Gut health and digestion
Bifidobacterium Infantis 35624
IBS
Bifidobacterium lactis Bb12
Immune system support and gut health
Lactobacillus Casei Shirota
Immune system support and gut health
Lactobacillus Immunitas
Immune system support, duration of colds and flu in older people
Lactobacillus Rhamnosus GR11
Helps vaginal infections
Lactobacillus Reuteri 55730
Helps with diarrhea associated by antibiotic usage
Saccharomyces Boulardii Yeast
Helps with diarrhea associated by antibiotic usage

What Puts Healthy Bacteria in the Gut at Threat?

There are several key things which kill and undermine healthy bacteria in the gut, as well as things which fuel bad bacteria. The main things to be aware of are:

Antibiotics
Drugs
Some pharmaceutical medicines
Alcohol
Sugar
Stress

For more information about how to correct and rebalance your gut flora please contact me.

12 10, 2017

The Hazards of Sugar

2017-10-12T12:18:09+00:00By Nick Dale|Ailments, Cancer, Foods, Nutrition, Uncategorized|

Sugar is in fact essential to life, however sugar is a major contributing factor to much of today’s ill-health

Average dietary intake of sugar today is four times as much as it was 100 years ago, becoming a staple part of the Western diet.

If you walk into a supermarket today, most of the packaged and processed foods are packed with added-sugar in some form or other, even those that you find in healthfood sections. Added sugar is the problem, not sugar found in form of fructose in things like fresh fruit. The easiest and best way to get away from it is to cook from scratch, that way you know what is going into your food. Is it worth the trouble? I would say a resounding YES.

Health Hazards of Added Sugar

Added sugar creates inflammation in the body, raises blood acidity levels, causes excess mucus and is the fuel that cancer thrives on. Sugar converts to fat, contributes to blood sugar problems which in turn can contribute to diabetes. Heart health problems, high blood pressure, dementia and obesity are also linked with sugar. Each of these areas on their own could fill a book, as there is so much information about it.

The single most important piece of health advice I can pass on to my clients, is to avoid this kind of sugar altogether. This means as a habit don’t add sugar to your food or buy food that has sugar added to it. Of course, there are times where this isn’t realistic, but your daily habits are the thing I would like to emphasis and where you can make real gains. Also, there are alternatives, which I go over below.

A healthy diet should be very low in added sugar, low in non-vegetable carbohydrates and contain some protein.

Does the Body Need Sugar?

Sugar is broken down in the body to produce glucose. Glucose is used by every cell for energy, with the brain needing a large proportion and without which it could not function. This does not mean that lots of sugar equals a healthy brain – but the brain does need a steady supply. When the supply of sugar is not steady then there are clear side affects, such as hypo- or hyperglycemia (diabetes).

Your body controls sugar by secreting insulin, a hormone to keep sugar levels within a certain safe range.

Because sugar comes in many different forms and not just the crystalline granules we put in our tea or coffee, most average people get far too much and this glucose gets stored as fat.

Avoiding Added Sugar

Added sugar has no nutritional value whatsoever. In fact, added sugar leaches nutrients out of your body.

Unfortunately, when we label-read in a supermarket, there are so many names that sugar can come under, that’s it’s easy to miss. Here are just some:

Corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup, Dextrose or crystal dextrose, Fructose, Maltose, Lactose, Sucrose, Glucose, Evaporated cane juice or fruit juice, Caramel, Carob syrup, Brown sugar, Raw sugar, Dextrin and maltodextrin, Rice syrup, Molasses, Evaporated corn sweetener, Confectioner’s powdered sugar, Agave nectar, Other fruit nectar (for example, pear nectar)

Processed foods often contain high levels of added sugar that has been separated from its original co-nutrients. This means that it is ingested in the body without the fibre, healthy fats or protein that naturally slow down the sugar absorption.

Foods to watch out for include things like sweetened yogurts, breakfast cereals, snack bars, sweet treats, juices, fizzy drinks – with high amounts of refined sugar and fructose.

Non-Vegetable Carbohydrates

Sugar comes in many forms. Sugar is in syrups, candy, cakes, soda, alcohol, canned fruit and vegetables, peanut butter and jam, pickles and relishes, mayonnaise, powdered milk, processed meat, bread and even cigarettes.

A double handful of dried pasta equals about three tablespoons of sugar. Potato, bread and rice also are very high in a form sugar, all of which your body has to process and which will end up being a form of glucose.

Giving your body high amounts of carbohydrates like rice, pasta, potatoes and bread, as well as other simpler forms of sugars, will contribute to weight gain and many more conditions, such as inflammatory conditions, skin problems, joint and muscle pain, insomnia, elevated cholesterol, increased mucus production, impaired immunity, mental fog, depression, lack of libido, and dizziness.

When blood sugar levels go up insulin is produced in the body which triggers fat to be stored on the body. It also creates free radical which act on the body by destroying cells and shortening their life span.

Natural Sugars

Fructose is the form of natural sugar found in small amounts in fruits and veg, which usually have a good balance of the different forms of sugar. If you are eating a balanced diet it’s not something to worry about because the body is geared up to metabolize these kinds of natural sugars with their co-factors that are found in the fruits and vegetables themselves. Including fresh vegetables and fruits in your diet is shown through research to help protect against disease and is a healthy option. Added sugar is the focus of concern, not natural sugars when eaten in their wholefood form.

One thing to note however, is that some natural products have very high amounts of fructose, such as honey and agave. In fact agave (which is often processed) contains more fructose than the dreaded High Fructose Corn Syrup. Evidence suggests that large amounts of fructose consumption is actually the most damaging form of sugar for your health. While honey is also a concentrated form of sugar, you can buy it in its natural form and if eaten in moderation does offer some health benefits.

Fat Free Doesn’t Mean Sugar Free

One of the troubles with low fat foods is that the way the taste is compensated for is often through added sugar.

Fat is not actually the problem. Healthy fats are essential to good health.

Sugar Alternatives

Of course we all like to have sweet treats and while alternatives.

I recommend avoiding processed sweeteners, such as aspartame.

The one sweetener I would opt for is the herb Stevia because it doesn’t increase blood sugar levels. You can use this in cooking or to add to your tea and coffee, meaning that you don’t have to sacrifice sweet treats.

Case Example

Here is an example of the above with a client of mine who visited me.

When I saw Sarah she was a 32 year-old sales rep working long hours. Her main complaints were that she was over weight, constantly tired yet could not sleep well at night and was also experiencing mood swings that included anxiety and depression. She also said that she felt she looked terrible and her skin and complexion was lacking tone, with an unhealthy complexion.

Sarah was working some 50-60 hours a week and was relying on several strong coffees every day and a couple of alcoholic drinks at night to get her through the day.

On top of all this, her performance at work was now under threat since her production was being affected by her condition and this was causing her to go into a diminishing spiral of low morale and further emotional strain.

Sarah’s diet was our first issue. Typically she was having a muffin (packed with sugar), orange juice and a coffee with one sugar for breakfast. Sometimes she would skip lunch – but if she did have lunch it would be a sandwich with salad and meat. Dinner was typically pasta and vegetarian sauce or grilled meat with potato and vegetables with a glass of wine.

Well this is a pretty typical diet for most you might think – and you would be right!

Sarah’s orange juice, muffin and coffee were causing a massive spike of insulin – she said it helped her “wake up” but this was causing an acceleration of the ageing process and causing adrenal exhaustion in her body. The bread she was having at lunch was competing for digestion with the meat in her sandwich and causing more weight gain and the pasta at night was dramatically causing further blood sugar spikes increasing weight gain.

There is another key thing wrong with Sarah’s diet ? virtually no protein.

I got Sarah to drop out the pasta, muffin, orange juice and bread as these were the main culprits in her fatigue, weight gain and other symptoms.

In its place she introduced an omelet for breakfast made with 1 whole egg and two egg whites. Lunch was chicken or turkey with salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. This was followed by a salad in the evening with grilled salmon or tuna. I told her that having a glass of wine was fine with her evening meal. This was a high protein, low carbohydrate diet.

In addition to this, minerals in specific forms and amounts were introduced. She also started on a homeopathic formula to help with stress and anxiety, a multivitamin mineral supplement to give her B vitamins and antioxidant and trace minerals for energy.

Two weeks later Sarah returned looking quite different; happy and bright. She was sleeping well and energy was way up. Sagging in her face and eyes was visibly reduced and her face looked toned and healthy. She said she was feeling bright mentally and her anxiety had gone.

6 10, 2017

Natural Anxiety Treatment

2017-10-06T18:23:02+00:00By Nick Dale|Uncategorized|

Anxiety, along with mental health problems in general, is a major concern with 1 in 4 experiencing such problems each year

While the overall number of mental health problems in the UK is not rising, self harm and suicidal thoughts are. How people cope with mental health problems appears to be getting worse.

Anxiety can be a normal response to life’s stresses, but for some it is overwhelming and coping becomes a real problem. Your genes, personality, grief, marital problems, stress, money or work worries, and many more play their role. Factors, which may not appear to be so directly related, such as mobile phone usage and EMF exposure, sugar consumption, shallow breathing, lack of exercise, processed food and food additives, bowel health and nutritional deficiencies are also important to consider.

While life’s events may be out of your control, there is a lot you can do to minimize the effects of stress and to lower anxiety levels by addressing the things that can be corrected.

ANXIETY PRESENTS IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS

There is such a long list of different labels for types of anxiety, from post traumatic stress to panic attacks, and OCD for example. Many people who come and see me in consultation have a generalized anxiety, such as worries about the future, health, finances, loved ones, or just a constant worry that something might happen.

Here is a breakdown from a survey (see footnote) in 1996, of how prevalent some mental health conditions are today:

Generalised anxiety disorder: 5.9 in 100 people

Depression: 3.3 in 100 people

Phobias: 2.4 in 100 people

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): 1.3 in 100 people

Panic disorder: 0.6 in 100 people

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): 4.4 in 100 people

Mixed anxiety and depression: 7.8 in 100 people

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES CAN UNDERLIE OR EXACERBATE ANXIETY

One of the key areas I focus on when someone comes to see me with anxiety is there nutritional status. Someone who is armed with optimum levels of specific nutrients, in my experience, will have a much better time warding off anxiety symptoms and coping with stress. If your body is strengthened nutritionally, this will help to build resilience against the effects such traumas have in your life. Conversely, if your body is rundown or nutritionally imbalanced this can open the door much wider to a condition like anxiety, allowing it to create an effect in a person’s life.

Anxiety can be greatly helped by giving the nutritional tools and equipment the body needs, supporting the nervous system, adrenals, and applying natural medicines that can help treat how a person feels mentally and emotionally.

ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT FOR ANXIETY

Optimizing nutritional status is done through vitamin and mineral supplementation. B vitamins, Vitamin D, magnesium, among others are key things I will look at.

Homeopathy is another natural medicine I will often use in the case of anxiety. The beauty of homeopathics in such cases is that they can be matched very exactly to the symptoms people are experiencing. There are literally hundreds of homeopathics for anxiety, and finding the one that suits your constitution as well as the symptoms being experienced is the key.

Herbs can also be very useful in alleviating feelings of anxiety.

Lifestyle factors are also very important to address, from diet and exercise, to time outside in the fresh air and screen time exposure.

CONSCLUSION

While the prevalence of anxiety and general health problems is high, by systematically addressing the underlying contributing factors, a person can experience major change for the better.

FOOTNOTE: McManus S, Bebbington P, Jenkins R, Brugha T. (eds.) (2016). Mental health and wellbeing in England: Adult psychiatric morbidity survey 2014. Leeds: NHS digital.

26 09, 2017

Repercussions of Adrenal Fatigue

2017-09-26T13:40:26+00:00By Nick Dale|Ailments, Uncategorized|

Impacts of adrenal fatigue are far reaching and can affect both how we function physically and how we feel emotionally

Identifying and correcting adrenal fatigue prior to it causing broad negative affects in the body is strongly advisable and quite simple to do.

Examples of how adrenal fatigue can affect us are:

Contributing to blood sugar swings
This in itself can cause sleep problems, anxiety, tiredness, and more
Disrupt hormonal levels
For example excess adrenal cortisone will interrupt and reduce progesterone function, in turn affecting hormonal balance, and such things as PCOS and infertility can result.
Can open the door to anxiety, depression and irritability
Fatigue (both physical and mental)
Fatigue is a very common side effect to adrenals being rundown.
Lowered immune function
Excess cortisol, the hormone produced by the adrenals during stress, has been shown to affect lymphocyte numbers – thus affecting the immune system. This in turn can allow things like Candida to flourish, as well as problems with colds and flus, cold sores, etc
Other association symptoms can include
Low body temperature, hair loss, excessive hunger/weight gain, heart palpitations, sugar cravings, low libido, bone loss, inflammation, allergies, and more

There can be other causes of the symptoms listed above. Call me to discuss any concerns that you have so that the right areas can be addressed.

7 07, 2017

What’s the Truth about Dairy?

2017-07-07T08:47:47+00:00By Nick Dale|Ailments, Foods, Nutrition, Uncategorized|

Is Dairy Right for You?

We used to take for granted that cow’s milk was good for us. Indeed many people believe that their health will be jeopardized if they don’t have milk regularly, something that has been pushed hard by the commercial dairy industry. In addition, milk itself was a very different product in the past, when it was drank in its raw, unpasteurized, un-homogenised form – but this is not what we are buying in supermarkets today.

I don’t recommend pasteurized milk at all.

In fact, I’ve been told by a few farmers that if a calf is given supermarket (pasteurized/homogenised) cow’s milk it will kill the calf within 72 hours.

PASTURISED COW’S MILK

Pasturized milk and raw milk are two very different things, but pasteurized milk is the product we are exposed to and consume on a massive scale. The calcium content after pasteurization is hard for the body to take up, so the very reason people are drinking it is compromised. In addition, other vitamins, enzymes and nutrients are destroyed through the pasteurization process.

The idea that the cow’s milk we buy in supermarkets may contribute to the very diseases it’s meant to prevent is controversial. The story of milk is one of evidence and counter-evidence. At stake are enormous commercial interests, deeply rooted patterns of agriculture and consumption – and our health.

PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH MILK

The anti-milk lobby claims that consumption of pasteurized dairy products contributes to diabetes and can aggravate rheumatoid arthritis and has been implicated in colic, acne, heart disease, asthma, lymphoma, ovarian cancer and multiple sclerosis. Studies suggesting a link between milk and prostate cancer have been appearing since the 1970s, culminating in findings by the Harvard School of Public Health in 2000 that men who consumed two and a half servings of dairy products a day had a third greater risk of getting prostate cancer than those who ate less than half a serving a day. In the same year, T Colin Campbell, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, said that “cows’ milk protein may be the single most significant chemical carcinogen to which humans are exposed”.

MILK ALLERGY

The idea that cows’ milk is the most complete food to serve youngsters is widespread. Even as long ago as 1974, the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) was answering the question, “Should milk drinking by children be discouraged?” with a “maybe”. Today the AAP has changed its mind and now recommends dairy products for children.

It is widely accepted that some people are allergic to milk, although this implies that problem lies in the individual’s constitution, rather than milk. Yet, when you look at it more closely, the extent of lactose intolerance is extraordinary.

Lactose is the sugar in milk, which needs to be broken down by lactase in our intestines and bowels. If the lactose we absorb is greater than our lactase capacity, undigested lactose travels to the large intestine, where it ferments, producing gas, carbon dioxide and lactic acid, which in turn causes bloating, cramps, diarrhea and wind.

In practice I often see a link a between digestive problems and milk, as well as skin problems, glue ear, sinus problems, asthma, eczema and more.

BENEFITS RELATED TO MILK

To milk advocates, this is outrageous and they present counter arguments. They counter that milk actively protects against a whole cluster of diseases, reducing the risk of hypertension and perhaps kidney stones, that it helps remineralise tooth enamel and can be positively anticarcinogenic (particularly against colon cancer). What’s more, Harvard University’s huge Nurses’ Health Study found a lower risk of breast cancer in pre- (but not post-) menopausal women who consumed a lot of low-fat dairy foods such as skimmed milk. Even more dramatic is a Norwegian study of premenopausal women that showed those who drank three glasses of milk a day had a 50% lower incidence of breast cancer. But before you reach for the milk, another Norwegian study found that those who drank three-quarters of a litre or more of full-fat milk a day had a significantly greater risk of breast cancer than those who drank more modest amounts. And so it goes.

CHILDREN AND MILK

The best milk for babies and infants is breast milk. The worldwide average age for stopping breastfeeding is about four years old – and this is ideal, but in Australia, UK and other western countries it tends to be much lower.

After the first year of life children don’t necessarily need milk so long as they are having a diet that provides the balance of nutrients needed in sufficient quantities. It’s best to contact me if you have a small child and want to work out whether to include milk in their diet and which type. It’s very important that a small child is receiving the right nutrition and milk can be useful and easy for many children, depending on how a child responds to it.

OSTEOPOROSIS

There’s often the idea that milk helps to protect against osteoporosis because of the calcium content.

Mark Hegsted, a retired Harvard professor of nutrition, has said, “To assume that osteoporosis is due to calcium deficiency is like assuming that infection is due to penicillin deficiency.” In fact, the bone loss and deteriorating bone tissue that take place in osteoporosis are due usually not to calcium deficiency but rather to its resorption: so it’s more an issue of our bodies excreting too much calcium.

To help protect against this the key thing is to have a balanced diet. For example too much protein has been linked to a leaching of calcium in the body, so the most important thing is to get the balance in.

I also recommend supplementing with a balance of minerals. To make sure that calcium is absorbed in the body, it also needs to be taken with a balance of other minerals. Many practitioners consider osteoporosis to be more of a magnesium deficiency rather than a calcium deficiency, as a magnesium deficiency opens the door to a leaching of calcium from the bones and prevents its absorption also. Vitamins D3 and K2 are also very important for good calcium and magnesium balance and absorption. Contact me to find out more.

CHEMICALS IN MILK

There are other controversies with milk too. Only today I read about chemicals found in milk in the Daily Mail (UK) in an article titled ‘It’s not all white: a cocktail of up to 20 chemicals in a glass of milk’ The article states, “A glass of milk can contain a cocktail of up to 20 painkillers, antibiotics and growth hormones, scientists have shown. Using a highly sensitive test, they found a host of chemicals used to treat illnesses in animals and people in samples of cow, goat and human breast milk. The doses of drugs were far too small to have an effect on anyone drinking them, but the results highlight how man-made chemicals are now found throughout the food chain. the highest quantities of medicines were found in cow’s milk.”

RECOMMENDATIONS

I don’t generally recommend pasteurized or homogenised cow’s milk. There are some different types of cow’s milk on the market today, which are healthier, including A2 milk. Different milks you can try include goats milk, sheeps milk, Almond milk, oat milk, A2 milk, lactose-free milk and rice milk. Also of note, milk from older types of cows, such as Jerseys, Asian and African cows are less likely to cause problems.

With infants, if the ideal situation of breastfeeding has ceased early, then I recommend that you monitor how your child reacts to cow’s milk or goat’s milk, either the formulas or milk from the carton (depending on their age). It’s not recommended to introduce other types of milk to small children.

There are also some useful homeopathics that help to correct health issues associated with milk intolerance that can be applied. Additionally, probiotics help to build resistance to milk allergy.

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