In an excellent article, extracts of which are published on Healthy Soul, Sebastian Pole, ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine practitioner, and co-founder of Pukka Herbs explains how following your intuition enables you to take control of your health. He advocates no withholding of natural urges such as thirst, hunger, sneezing, urinating, sleeping, burping and so it goes on! He says, ‘A teacher once taught me “graze like a cow and let your spirit soar”, meaning live simply according to the needs of your body and let your consciousness flourish.’
His advice for autumn eating includes:
• avoiding cold drinks, raw salads, ice, beans, fermented foods and yeast at this time of year because they cause gas and can destabilise digestion
• sweet, mildly spicy, sour and salty flavours and warm porridge for breakfast made from oats, rice or quinoa and flavoured with maple syrup or cinnamon
• the Ayurvedic remedy Ashwaganda for calming, strengthening, giving energy, and settling the nervous system.
• Sebastian recommends an autumn cleanse to prepare for the approaching winter. Triphala is a combination of three fruits and is excellent for detoxifying the body and rejuvenating the digestive system.
Read more of Sebastian’s autumn tips on:
http://www.healthysoul.co.uk/features/displayfeaturemaster.php?id=00127
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
SUCCESS FOR ASPERGER'S SYNDROME BOY
Parents know when something is wrong with their children. That’s why the debate about MMR is so contentious sometimes as it’s unfair to tell them that they are wrong when they know that their child changed after the vaccination.
A wonderful success story recently appeared in the Weekly News. Dylan was four when he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. His mother, Denise Hubble, knew that there was something different about him compared to her other older sons. He didn’t interact with other children at nursery and completely ignored people who weren’t in his family.
Denise was in a health food store in south-east London and was told to try Viridian’s Viridkid Omega 3 oil. ‘Frankly I was so desperate I would have tried anything,’ she was reported as saying. ‘I couldn’t believe how quickly I saw a change – within a matter of days. Dylan seemed calmer and more relaxed.’
Omega 3 oils are long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs) which are key structural components of the brain and are essential for concentration and learning ability.
Read more in: Omega 3s Have So Many Health Benefits on www.healthysoul.co.uk
A wonderful success story recently appeared in the Weekly News. Dylan was four when he was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. His mother, Denise Hubble, knew that there was something different about him compared to her other older sons. He didn’t interact with other children at nursery and completely ignored people who weren’t in his family.
Denise was in a health food store in south-east London and was told to try Viridian’s Viridkid Omega 3 oil. ‘Frankly I was so desperate I would have tried anything,’ she was reported as saying. ‘I couldn’t believe how quickly I saw a change – within a matter of days. Dylan seemed calmer and more relaxed.’
Omega 3 oils are long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPs) which are key structural components of the brain and are essential for concentration and learning ability.
Read more in: Omega 3s Have So Many Health Benefits on www.healthysoul.co.uk
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
HOW TO ACCESS COUNSELLING
In a world of increasing stress and worries, working through your problems is hugely important. Bottling things up and trying to ignore issues will ultimately only lead to more problems.
Counselling, whilst once the subject of much scepticism and criticism, is now recognised as a hugely beneficial form of therapy.
The act of discussing problems out loud, without fear of judgement, is in itself a healing and cathartic process. However, with the help of a trained professional, the issues at the heart of the problems can be addressed and dealt with, giving a positive outcome allowing the person to move on with their life, free of what was previously holding them back.
Counselling Directory (www.counselling-directory.org.uk) was set up to provide a simple, easy, and most importantly un-daunting way of connecting people that need help with the people that provide it. A comprehensive searching tool, the site allows postcode, town and country searches, and produces a list of counsellors registered in this area. Each counsellor has a profile, listing a bit about themselves, their approaches, what areas they deal with, and all their training, qualification and experience and fees.
The site shows which counsellors are registered/accredited with a professional body, and full profiles are only displayed after insurance and qualification documents are checked or membership with a professional body has been verified.
Counselling Directory is there to put people who need help in contact with the people provide it, and reduce the amount of stress and worrying that can contribute to an already difficult enough process.
www.counselling-directory.org.uk
Counselling, whilst once the subject of much scepticism and criticism, is now recognised as a hugely beneficial form of therapy.
The act of discussing problems out loud, without fear of judgement, is in itself a healing and cathartic process. However, with the help of a trained professional, the issues at the heart of the problems can be addressed and dealt with, giving a positive outcome allowing the person to move on with their life, free of what was previously holding them back.
Counselling Directory (www.counselling-directory.org.uk) was set up to provide a simple, easy, and most importantly un-daunting way of connecting people that need help with the people that provide it. A comprehensive searching tool, the site allows postcode, town and country searches, and produces a list of counsellors registered in this area. Each counsellor has a profile, listing a bit about themselves, their approaches, what areas they deal with, and all their training, qualification and experience and fees.
The site shows which counsellors are registered/accredited with a professional body, and full profiles are only displayed after insurance and qualification documents are checked or membership with a professional body has been verified.
Counselling Directory is there to put people who need help in contact with the people provide it, and reduce the amount of stress and worrying that can contribute to an already difficult enough process.
www.counselling-directory.org.uk
Sunday, 21 June 2009
THE SUNSHINE DILEMMA
For years we have been told that too much sunshine is dangerous and it is, but the sun is also vital to healthy living. Vitamin D is produced in the body when it is exposed to sunlight, and recent research has shown that many Britons are deficient in the vitamin and some chronically.
Our Vitamin D levels are very low at the end of winter but they are particularly low among Asians living in Britain all the time. In fact there is talk that rickets has returned among some Asian children.
So what is anyone supposed to do? The answer is moderation as usual. If you are like me and you used to go to Greece for the summer, spend hours and hours in the hot sun, you may now have skin damage. We are lucky not to have skin cancer - this is not the way to deal with the sun.
It takes common sense - being out in the sun for hours on end so that your skin is going pink and getting sore is crazy. But having a healthy amount of sunshine as often as possible is good for you. The sun needs to get to your skin so being covered up all the time doesn't enable your Vitamin D levels to go up. This is why women who wear burkas are particularly deficient in Vitamin D.
You can take Vitamin D supplements, and this is certainly a good idea in winter, and you can get it from food - oily fish, fortified cereal, dairy products and fortified margarine. But it is natural to have sunlight on our bodies. It's good to be cautious but not extreme!
For more info like this go to Frances' website: www.healthysoul.co.uk
Our Vitamin D levels are very low at the end of winter but they are particularly low among Asians living in Britain all the time. In fact there is talk that rickets has returned among some Asian children.
So what is anyone supposed to do? The answer is moderation as usual. If you are like me and you used to go to Greece for the summer, spend hours and hours in the hot sun, you may now have skin damage. We are lucky not to have skin cancer - this is not the way to deal with the sun.
It takes common sense - being out in the sun for hours on end so that your skin is going pink and getting sore is crazy. But having a healthy amount of sunshine as often as possible is good for you. The sun needs to get to your skin so being covered up all the time doesn't enable your Vitamin D levels to go up. This is why women who wear burkas are particularly deficient in Vitamin D.
You can take Vitamin D supplements, and this is certainly a good idea in winter, and you can get it from food - oily fish, fortified cereal, dairy products and fortified margarine. But it is natural to have sunlight on our bodies. It's good to be cautious but not extreme!
For more info like this go to Frances' website: www.healthysoul.co.uk
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
ERNST ATTACKS PRINCE CHARLES AGAIN
There are certain figures in the world of medicine who seem to take a delight in knocking anything complementary. One of these is Edzard Ernst, Professor of complementary medicine at University of Exeter.
His latest attack is on Prince Charles’ Duchy Herbals’ Detox Tincture which is a dandelion and artichoke complex. Recently I contacted him to find out why he was head of complementary medicine at an eminent university but spent much of his time knocking it.
His response to this question was that he was a Professor of Complementary Medicine, as if that answered the question. He said that he had been involved in writing the Oxford Dictionary of Complementary Medicine so he was not against complementary medicine.
He said that there was no scientific evidence that the detox tincture worked and that it gave the impression that people could live unhealthily by drinking too much and taking drugs and then take a detox tincture to make it all right again.
I suggested that most people who drank too much alcohol and took drugs were not interested in herbal medicine. ‘What evidence do you have for that?’ he asked. ‘Only anecdotal,’ I replied. To which he scoffed that anecdotal evidence did not count. Only scientific evidence counted.
I asked, ‘But do you think that this tincture is harmful?’ He replied that it is harmful in several ways, ‘One way it is harmful is to the pocket’. He claims people are wasting their money on remedies that are not scientifically proven. At £10 it is a bit pricey, but when compared with the cost of pharmaceutical drugs it’s a snip.
His premise that it is exploiting people at a time when they are less well off is ridiculous. Who on the breadline would buy a detox tincture in favour of feeding their family?
It is not the first time that Ernst has accused Prince Charles of ‘quackery’ and claimed that there is no scientific evidence to support the detox properties of artichoke and dandelion despite the fact that herbalists have used them for thousands of years.
The BBC website reported that the head of Duchy Originals, Andrew Baker, said that the tincture ‘is not – and has never been described as – a medicine, remedy or cure for any disease. In response to Ernst's accusations he said, 'There is no "quackery", no "make believe" and no "superstition" in any of the Duchy Originals herbal tinctures. We find it unfortunate that Professor Ernst should chase sensationalist headlines in this way rather than concentrating on accuracy and objectivity.’
What people like Ernst fail to notice is that many of the drugs prescribed to an unsuspecting public are not fully proven either, and doctors often do not know which drugs interact badly with others. Hence prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death in the world.
What I find worrying is that people like Ernst are connected to a group called Sense about Science who are hell bent on quashing the public’s love of complementary medicine. So why would they do that? Do they have vested interests?
The fortunate thing is that the majority of users of herbal remedies are not interested in what they say - at least until herbal medicine becomes (like drugs) one of the main causes of death in the world and there is no certainly no evidence that this is the case!
Read more about complementary medicine on www.healthysoul.co.uk
His latest attack is on Prince Charles’ Duchy Herbals’ Detox Tincture which is a dandelion and artichoke complex. Recently I contacted him to find out why he was head of complementary medicine at an eminent university but spent much of his time knocking it.
His response to this question was that he was a Professor of Complementary Medicine, as if that answered the question. He said that he had been involved in writing the Oxford Dictionary of Complementary Medicine so he was not against complementary medicine.
He said that there was no scientific evidence that the detox tincture worked and that it gave the impression that people could live unhealthily by drinking too much and taking drugs and then take a detox tincture to make it all right again.
I suggested that most people who drank too much alcohol and took drugs were not interested in herbal medicine. ‘What evidence do you have for that?’ he asked. ‘Only anecdotal,’ I replied. To which he scoffed that anecdotal evidence did not count. Only scientific evidence counted.
I asked, ‘But do you think that this tincture is harmful?’ He replied that it is harmful in several ways, ‘One way it is harmful is to the pocket’. He claims people are wasting their money on remedies that are not scientifically proven. At £10 it is a bit pricey, but when compared with the cost of pharmaceutical drugs it’s a snip.
His premise that it is exploiting people at a time when they are less well off is ridiculous. Who on the breadline would buy a detox tincture in favour of feeding their family?
It is not the first time that Ernst has accused Prince Charles of ‘quackery’ and claimed that there is no scientific evidence to support the detox properties of artichoke and dandelion despite the fact that herbalists have used them for thousands of years.
The BBC website reported that the head of Duchy Originals, Andrew Baker, said that the tincture ‘is not – and has never been described as – a medicine, remedy or cure for any disease. In response to Ernst's accusations he said, 'There is no "quackery", no "make believe" and no "superstition" in any of the Duchy Originals herbal tinctures. We find it unfortunate that Professor Ernst should chase sensationalist headlines in this way rather than concentrating on accuracy and objectivity.’
What people like Ernst fail to notice is that many of the drugs prescribed to an unsuspecting public are not fully proven either, and doctors often do not know which drugs interact badly with others. Hence prescription drugs are the 4th leading cause of death in the world.
What I find worrying is that people like Ernst are connected to a group called Sense about Science who are hell bent on quashing the public’s love of complementary medicine. So why would they do that? Do they have vested interests?
The fortunate thing is that the majority of users of herbal remedies are not interested in what they say - at least until herbal medicine becomes (like drugs) one of the main causes of death in the world and there is no certainly no evidence that this is the case!
Read more about complementary medicine on www.healthysoul.co.uk
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Trials on complementary therapies prove successful
People who try complementary therapies usually wish that they were available on the NHS. There is a strong argument for advocating therapies because they can nip health problems in the bud, preventing more serious conditions developing. This could save the NHS a lot of money.
A trial by Get Well UK in Northern Ireland involved 713 patients from a variety of backgrounds and all ages with musculo-skeletal and mental health problems. They were given a variety of therapies including acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, homeopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy.
Following the treatments over a year 81 per cent of them claimed that their physical health had improved, 79 per cent reported improvement in mental health, 64 per cent took less time off work and 55 per cent reduced their use of painkillers.
Although their GPs were somewhat sceptical at the start of the project they were pleased with results, particularly as nearly a quarter of the participants (24 per cent) used health services less after the treatment. Some 65 per cent of GPs reported seeing less of their patients afterwards and half of them said that they were prescribing less medication for them. Half of the GPs even reported a reduction in workloads.
The project was developed after a fund was announced by Paul Goggins, MP, former Health Minister for Northern Ireland, to pilot the integration of complementary medicine into the NHS. A new approach was needed to cope with the overload of patients with musculoskeletal and mental health problems.
It takes so long to make changes in the NHS. There are more therapies available than most people realise – for instance, cancer patients are often given free treatments in centres allied to hospitals. But even where it is recognised that some therapies would be helpful it is still a slow process.
Not only does it require management will to change, but often doctors are very averse to anything that they find threatening to their profession. It is a pity that a percentage of them still view anything that is not orthodox as ‘mumbo jumbo’. As they all claim to be overworked, it is surprising that more don’t endorse complementary therapies as both prevention and cure.
Read more like this on Frances' website: www.healthysoul.co.uk
A trial by Get Well UK in Northern Ireland involved 713 patients from a variety of backgrounds and all ages with musculo-skeletal and mental health problems. They were given a variety of therapies including acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathy, homeopathy, reflexology and aromatherapy.
Following the treatments over a year 81 per cent of them claimed that their physical health had improved, 79 per cent reported improvement in mental health, 64 per cent took less time off work and 55 per cent reduced their use of painkillers.
Although their GPs were somewhat sceptical at the start of the project they were pleased with results, particularly as nearly a quarter of the participants (24 per cent) used health services less after the treatment. Some 65 per cent of GPs reported seeing less of their patients afterwards and half of them said that they were prescribing less medication for them. Half of the GPs even reported a reduction in workloads.
The project was developed after a fund was announced by Paul Goggins, MP, former Health Minister for Northern Ireland, to pilot the integration of complementary medicine into the NHS. A new approach was needed to cope with the overload of patients with musculoskeletal and mental health problems.
It takes so long to make changes in the NHS. There are more therapies available than most people realise – for instance, cancer patients are often given free treatments in centres allied to hospitals. But even where it is recognised that some therapies would be helpful it is still a slow process.
Not only does it require management will to change, but often doctors are very averse to anything that they find threatening to their profession. It is a pity that a percentage of them still view anything that is not orthodox as ‘mumbo jumbo’. As they all claim to be overworked, it is surprising that more don’t endorse complementary therapies as both prevention and cure.
Read more like this on Frances' website: www.healthysoul.co.uk
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Is depression properly treated?
The Government commissioned a report into depression a few years ago. The conclusion was overwhelming - that people were more likely to get much better if they had therapy than if they took antidepressants.
Consequently it was suggested that people with mild to moderate depression were given CBT - cognitive behaviour therapy - which is a quicker fix than psychotherapy and gives people coping mechanisms to make them feel better. It works very well but there was one major problem - there were not many therapists available.
So the government suggested that 20,000 were trained. Nothing much more has been said about this for the last couple of years, but as far as I know nothing has changed. You go to the GPs because you're depressed and you are given anti-depressants. There may be some exceptions to this, but not many.
NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) also recommended that people could get access to treatment with the use of a CBT software program, but there seems little evidence that this has happened.
Consequently you are given very strong drugs that suppress the problem for the moment and make you feel better. If you want to give them up what happens? The problem resurfaces or you have such withdrawal symptoms that you have to carry on taking them, whatever the guidelines given by the manufacturer say.
There are occasions when someone has been through a terrible trauma where they need anti-depressants to get them through the day, but in 9/10 cases people can be helped with talking therapies. The sad truth is that unless they can get these from their GP, a local charity or if they or anyone close to them has cancer, they will have to pay for therapy.
I understand that it would be more cost-effective to give people talking therapies than to keep them on prescription drugs for years on end. It makes you wonder why people are still getting the same treatment at the doctor's as they were 30 years ago when Valium was in vogue.
Sales of tranquillizers enabled a leading pharma company in Switzerland to create an entire street of office buildings. Perhaps that's the answer to why nothing ever changes!
For more information like this go to www.healthysoul.co.uk
Consequently it was suggested that people with mild to moderate depression were given CBT - cognitive behaviour therapy - which is a quicker fix than psychotherapy and gives people coping mechanisms to make them feel better. It works very well but there was one major problem - there were not many therapists available.
So the government suggested that 20,000 were trained. Nothing much more has been said about this for the last couple of years, but as far as I know nothing has changed. You go to the GPs because you're depressed and you are given anti-depressants. There may be some exceptions to this, but not many.
NICE (the National Institute for Clinical Excellence) also recommended that people could get access to treatment with the use of a CBT software program, but there seems little evidence that this has happened.
Consequently you are given very strong drugs that suppress the problem for the moment and make you feel better. If you want to give them up what happens? The problem resurfaces or you have such withdrawal symptoms that you have to carry on taking them, whatever the guidelines given by the manufacturer say.
There are occasions when someone has been through a terrible trauma where they need anti-depressants to get them through the day, but in 9/10 cases people can be helped with talking therapies. The sad truth is that unless they can get these from their GP, a local charity or if they or anyone close to them has cancer, they will have to pay for therapy.
I understand that it would be more cost-effective to give people talking therapies than to keep them on prescription drugs for years on end. It makes you wonder why people are still getting the same treatment at the doctor's as they were 30 years ago when Valium was in vogue.
Sales of tranquillizers enabled a leading pharma company in Switzerland to create an entire street of office buildings. Perhaps that's the answer to why nothing ever changes!
For more information like this go to www.healthysoul.co.uk
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