Going for Gold - Health from the inside out

Cyclists in Dorking, Surrey 

Going for Gold - Health from the inside out

Here I am - in the middle of August and still no blog entry!  Let’s just say that the Olympics made me stray!!  Like a lot of people. I am not usually a sports fan but got sucked in, and having the cycling come directly through Dorking at the very start of the games started the ball rolling so to speak ……. all very exciting! 

Here we saw athletes in their prime, and one would hope that as well as dedicated training, they had used optimum nutrition in order to attain this state.

The other day, a friend, who is a keen runner, told me that there had been a third heart “incident” at his running club within the year. Thankfully the latest was still alive to tell the tale, but sadly the others, although quite young, were not.

It is quite common for us to equate “fitness” and the ability to run, cycle, play squash or whatever with being healthy, but often nothing could be farther from the truth.  

I’ve heard many a time someone say “X can eat anything; he never puts an ounce of weight on”.  X eats cake, chips, steak, you name it and remains stick thin, but being stick thin is NOT a measure of health.  

X may be constipated or get headaches, but never questions these, assuming them to be normal because “everyone” gets them. What X is experiencing is the norm, but it certainly isn’t normal.

It isn’t normal to be constipated, or to have headaches. These are symptoms thrown up by the body to tell us that something is out of balance. Nor is it normal for women to experience painful menstruation or hot flushes at menopause (here’s an interesting snippet: the Japanese do not have a word for “hot flush” because with their traditional healthy diet, they do not experience them!). How many people have been to the doctors with aching joints and been told it’s just a part of growing old. No it’s not!!! And it is certainly not normal to keel over with a heart attack in mid-life or to manifest cancer at any time, whether you are young or in your 90s. 

We need to take special notice of the phrase “YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT”.  I know that our human makeup, complicated creatures that we are, is not just the sum of all the food we eat; we also have to take into consideration the air we breathe, our emotional responses to stress and experiences etc, but thinking about what we put in our mouths is a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE part of the jigsaw which makes up “you”.

Interestingly, people who have manifested cancer have said that they thought they were eating healthily. What were they using as a yardstick? Government guidelines. Oh dear!!! We have only got to look at two of the key sponsors of the Olympics - Coca Cola and MacDonald’s - to see that something is dreadfully wrong. This is simply a reflection of food lobbies, where big food companies use mega £s and a lot of clout to sway politicians’ thinking.  As a result we have the comically low “5-a-day” message about fruit and vegetables and a big push about eating lots of animal protein. We do not need as much protein as we think AND, wait for it, we can get ample from plant-based diets. We don’t need to top up with lots of steak and nor do we need to drink milk.

Did you know that the highest rates of osteoporosis are found in countries where dairy is a staple?  For those of you worried about your bones, and health in general, ditch the milk and start eating greens!!! !

I recently read a superb phrase in a book: “Be an active participant in your own health”.  Amen to that I say!! 

And to use an Olympic metaphor……… we have all cheered on our sporting heroes this past fortnight, and felt elated when they achieved gold. How about trying for a few golds ourselves? We don’t need to break any world records (although regular exercise is a big part of a healthy lifestyle) but we could set ourselves some goals to look after our insides better.

I’m sure a lot of you know the spiel by now ……… more water, less stimulants (coffee, tea, alcohol), a zillion veg and fruit (Ok perhaps not quite that much but please aim for way more than 5-a-day), a lot less animal protein (if at all), ditch the cola and fast foods and other refined junk etc …..     

I’m saying this, not as a killjoy, but as a concerned friend.   

Clematis - The Reality Flower

CLEMATIS -  The Reality Flower; Bringing us back down to earth 

I often hear amusing stories of children, when asked where say bananas come from, answer “supermarkets”, obviously not knowing the natural source!!  We have all become so divorced from nature, that it is easy to lose sight of what our ancestors would have considered common knowledge (although let’s face it - some of them might never have seen an actual banana -  but you get the idea!!)

For years I used Bach Flower remedies and simply thought of them as essences in bottles, without giving a thought to the actual flowers used to make them. This all changed when I started studying the essences in earnest and now I enjoy going on an adventure in the wilds (!!) of Surrey, trying to spot as many as possible.

Seeing the actual flowers, where and how they grow, can often give us clues as to their wonderful qualities. A good example of this is when we look at CLEMATIS.  This weekend, in between all the excitement of Olympic cycling in Dorking, I came across lots of Clematis when out walking with friends.

Clematis is a late bloomer, appearing on the scene in July and August. It is a creeper with no means of supporting itself, so uses trees, hedges and fences to support it as it climbs its way up towards the sky and light. The profusion of its exquisite creamy-white tufted flowers can give its host the appearance of having a cloth of lace draped over it. In Winter, when everything else is bare, Clematis, aptly nicknamed “Old Man’s Beard”, resembles fluffy balls of grey cotton wool, giving hedges an out-of-world appearance.

When in a Clematis-state, a person has no interest whatsoever in the here and now. “In cloud cuckoo land”; “Off with the fairies”; “In La-La land” are all apt descriptions for such people. Ordinary life holds no interest; reality is too mundane and dull and the day to day BBN (boring but necessary) tasks are not for them!  They wish to escape into their fantasy world, perhaps thinking about a place where they would love to live, or a dream job, but in reality they do no ground work to change their current circumstances to achieve these!  Often those in Clematis state are very drowsy, using sleep as an escape.

Clematis Essence can help ground us and bring us back to the present.  It helps us concentrate and have a realistic perspective on life. This doesn’t mean that it stops our dreaming and creativity. Instead it can help to channel it into something concrete. Often with Clematis type people, artistic gifts can go wasted. The essence can help such creative creatures translate their visions into for example a painting or poem.

Clematis is one of the five essences used to make up Rescue Remedy and is included to alleviate the out-of-body feeling which often precedes fainting or loss of consciousness.  

In all situations, whether in a day-to-day dreamy state or in an actual emergency, Clematis Essence can help bring us back to earth.  

Agrimony - The Honesty Flower

AGRIMONY - The Honesty Flower

Where might you see a collection of church steeples in Dorking, Surrey? Answer - at the foot of Box Hill along the River Mole. I’m not talking grand Victorian edifices but instead the delicate stems of the Agrimony flower, given its nickname “church steeple” because of its long pointed stem covered in bright yellow flowers, not too dissimilar to the ornaments on an actual church spire.

Agrimony is another of the flowers used to make Bach essences. The five-petalled flowers also bring to mind mini satellite dishes, poised waiting to receive outside signals.  

By August, the petals have disappeared and all that remains are conical fruits which eagerly stick to passing objects, like Velcro, using them as vehicles for seed dispersal.   

The typical “Agrimony type” person, just like the plant, is externally focused, and will eagerly seek out the company of others. Troubled by mental anguish, he will do anything to avoid his own company, instead preferring to play the “life and soul” of any party. Whether he uses the company of others, or addictive substances such as alcohol, drugs or overeating, the name of the game is escape - escape from his own emotions.  Like the clown at the circus, his public mask hides secret worries. 

Highly sensitive, the Agrimony type also hates any form of conflict and will do anything to keep the peace, often sacrificing his own needs and wishes to do so.   

Taking Bach Essence Agrimony can bring about a genuine inner peace and joyfulness. We can see our problems in the right light and perhaps laugh at our own worries, recognising their relative unimportance. We can also deal with both positive and negative situations and grow from them. And rather than shying away, we can deal with confrontation. Being open and honest means we can now discuss how we feel with others rather than pretending that everything is fine. 

In essence, we can be honest with ourselves and others - thanks to the Honesty Flower, Agrimony. 

Edible Flowers - Nasturtium

Edible Flowers  NASTURTIUM

For a while now, I have grown various herbs each summer, but a couple of years ago I branched out into growing edible flowers too. Reading articles on the subject, it turns out that flowers have been used for centuries in the kitchen, but I like to use mine raw so that I can get the most out of them nutrient-wise.

One of my favourites is Nasturtium.

Also known as Indian Cress or Monks Cress, Nasturtium gets its name from the Latin “nasus tortus” which means “twisted nose”, referring to its pungent flavour. Unlike most other edible flowers with their ever so delicate flavour, Nasturtium carries quite a peppery punch.

Both the leaves and flowers (beautiful reds, yellows and oranges) can be eaten and make a wonderful addition to salads. I confess one of my faves is a simple Nasturtium sandwich: granary bread and butter with a generous helping of leaves and a couple of flowers.

A great advantage to Nasturtium is that it is incredible easy to grow. I grow mine in three terracotta pots on the lounge window sill. Its jewel-like colours brighten up a rainy day (like today!). All it asks for is regular water, and it just keeps giving and giving throughout the summer months. In fact, it is sometimes hard to keep up with it!!

Needless to say, I grow it organically, without any nasties, and it’s a great way to top up your quota of daily greens. 

Just a word of warning, however, to anyone who suffers with any sensitivities: they have been known to cause a slight tingling in the mouth in some people, so go slowly when you first try them!! 

Enjoy! :) 

Panda Regularity

Panda Regularity

Last summer, there was an article in the papers which caught my eye, mainly because it was accompanied by a cute picture of pandas, but also, with my naturopathic hat on, it was talking about bowels! In particular it was reporting on how panda poo contains potent bacteria capable of breaking down tough plant material, essential for extracting ethanol, which can be used as a biofuel. What struck me most was that the average adult panda chomps its way through about 11 kg of bamboo shoots a day (not a very balanced diet) and wait for it ………….. can poo up to 40 times!!! At the time of reading I was suffering with a temporary (though it didn’t feel it at the time) bout of traveller’s constipation – so my immediate thought was “LUCKY PANDAS”!! 

As I was feeling sluggish, headachy and generally out of sorts with my lack of panda-regularity, this got me thinking about just how incredibly important our bowels are for health, so now, having exhausted my somewhat limited knowledge of the bowel habits of pandas, I shall share with you some thoughts on human digestion ………… in particular, bowels ….. so don’t be shy ……. and read on!!     

Naturopathically speaking, we are constipated if we don’t have 3 good well-formed bowel motions a day. Yes, you read that correctly – THREE!! Just count your blessings you aren’t a panda!!  A* for anyone who achieves that; B++ for the once-a-dayers and a “come to my office” for everyone else!!

When our cells cleanse, the toxins discarded take a circuitous route, ending up in the colon, before being escorted via the stools off our premises for good. The colon is therefore a temporary holding dock, with the emphasis on temporary. If the stools are allowed to linger a little too long, toxins can literally recycle via the bloodstream. Not only does this rather defeat the object but you can auto-toxicate, leading to all sorts of symptoms, such as headaches, joint aches, skin rashes, feeling under the weather, even depression. It can also irritate the colon itself, setting the scene for more digestive problems.

So what do we need to make things work a little more smoothly?

Four things: hydration; bulk; good muscle tone; and a healthy environment in your digestive tract.

·    Hydration is a fairly easy one. Bottom line (sorry – no pun intended)  – we need to drink water regularly (4 pints spread throughout the day), and try to avoid drinks such as coffee and tea which are diuretics and serve only to take water away from us. Eating water-rich foods also helps. Fruit, vegetables and soups all belong to this category. Dry foods however, draw on our water reserves. So if you are starting your day with toast (very dry) and coffee (strong diuretic), you are not doing your colon any favours!!

·    Bulk = fibre, found in whole foods, fruit and vegetables. This helps to sweep the colon clean (it draws up toxins as it goes) as well as gives the colon muscles something to work against …… which leads onto ………….

·    Good muscle tone.  The old adage “use it or lose it” applies just as much to the colon as to anywhere else in the body. We need to exercise it every day to keep it in tip-top condition. Fibre is of great importance; also exercise. A good brisk walk can help tone the colon. I often find that if I am sedentary for a couple of days say, my bowels can become sluggish. Never rely on laxatives, as these just make the colon lazy.

·    Healthy Environment – we provide this through drinking water and eating healthily. Good bacteria (probiotics) also give us a helping hand ……… these little fellows support our whole digestive tract, aiding digestion as well as keeping bad bacteria at bay. Adding in some good bacteria as well as cleaning up your diet can really help with regularity. Note that when buying supplements, it is better to buy a combined pre- and pro-biotic. The Pre- provides the food for the pro. Also, there is no point in throwing supplements in if you don’t change your diet!! We need a nice healthy environment in our digestive tract for the good bacteria to THRIVE in! J   

Hopefully this has given you a few helpful hints to achieving an A* colon. If digestion is a problem for you, I would recommend you seeking the advice of a practitioner, who can help tailor your diet to improve your bowel health as well as digestion in general. 

Tom and Jerry and Life's Pause Button

I was recently driving down to the south coast and was horrified to find huge swathes of woodland chopped down at the side of the road, no doubt in preparation for widening the road to accommodate yet more traffic. To my simple way of thinking, this is just a temporary “plaster” for an ever increasing problem. What happens when the new third lane becomes congested too? Do we extend again and then again?  Wouldn’t it be better to research ways of taking cars off  the road? 

Obviously I’m not writing an article about the UK transport system …….. but seeing this rather depressing sight made me think about how we approach our health in a similar fashion.

For starters I think we sometimes forget to hit the pause button on our life. Most of us live a fast-paced life, “stressed-bunny syndrome” as I like to think of it, and even exercise and hobbies become just another entry or two on the list of things to fit in each week, and instead of creating relaxation, add to our already hefty stress load.   

We can find ourselves running on “full”, with no room to manoeuvre and so when something unexpected turns up, especially something unwanted, like an illness, it’s natural to want to give it the least amount of time and energy. Colds and headaches are perfect examples. We don’t want the cold or headache so we down painkillers and decongestants in order to carry on regardless. These are our “plasters”, things which allow us to continue doing the same with as little inconvenience as possible.

These symptoms, however, are there for a reason. They are telling us to hit the pause button, step away from that hectic life of ours, even if it’s only for a day or two, and give our physical, mental and emotional self a rest.

This is a good time to reflect. Why am I getting these headaches? Am I eating healthily enough? Am I drinking enough water? Can I reduce my alcohol intake? Can I get more sleep or fresh air? Instead of reaching for another plaster, it is good instead to look at the possible cause, and consider making small changes, doing things differently in future so we don’t have a repeat performance the next month and the month after that. 

I’m not suggesting we get paranoid and fearful about every twinge and sniffle, but instead try to listen to our bodies and review how well we are looking after ourselves.  Sometimes a simple change can reap great benefits.

If we ignore the small things - those niggling symptoms - then sometimes the body comes along with a whopping big mallet and hits us over the head, which makes us reach not so much for the pause as the stop button.  

It reminds me of the old Tom and Jerry cartoons I used to watch as a child.  Jerry (mouse) hits Tom (cat) over the head with something, and a lump pops up; Tom pushes the lump down and another pops up elsewhere; he pushes that down and - yes you have guessed it - it pops up in yet another place!! In the same way, by ignoring our symptoms, we are simply moving the problem elsewhere. 

So what am I suggesting? Instead of being swept along with what we think we ought to be doing, and what we think other people expect of us, filling up every minute of every day, holding it all together whether “well”  or ill, we need to get in tune with what is truly good for us.  

      

I am currently sitting here with a suspected torn cartilage two months after the first symptoms appeared, waiting (in limbo) for a scan. At the time, I just assumed I had strained something so carried on regardless. I had commitments; I didn’t want to let people down - you get the picture. My knee has now told me in no uncertain terms that it has had enough!! With it, my energy and mojo decided to go walkabout too - thankfully only temporarily.  

So what have I done? I have hit my pause button and am exploring ways to support myself through this without using “plasters”.  I have taken up meditation again, and instead of it being a task on my to-do list each day as it was many years ago (which equated to yet more stress!; I was doing it because it was “good for me”), I now set aside half an hour each day just to sit and enjoy time to just be, and the meditation just comes naturally.  Meditation isn’t for everybody, but just allowing yourself to sit quietly, with no distractions and perhaps using the time to let your mind wander can help to recharge your batteries.  Perhaps too, if you feel stressed or under par, instead of reaching for a quick fix “plaster”, you could consider in a very relaxed way how you could look after yourself better? Remember it is far better to ponder the smaller symptoms and fine tune your life now rather than have to make much bigger changes later when that mallet hits hard.  

Hornbeam - Nature's "Pick-me-up"

Hornbeam - Nature's "Pick-me-up" 

Each of the 39 Bach Flower Essences is what I call a “healing helper” and I regularly use them to help rebalance me emotionally. My focus today is on Hornbeam, mainly because it spoke to me directly at the beginning of last week, but also because its qualities relate to how a lot of people around me seem to be feeling right now. So, let’s take a look at what Hornbeam essence can offer us.     

I shall start off by telling you a little about why I felt the need for it, to illustrate its use.

For the past few weeks, I was having trouble with my right knee. I had cut out my regular and much loved dancing to be “sensible”, and over a busy fortnight, in preparation for various events I was running and participating in, I had been doing a lot of sitting on bottom, in front of the PC. I had intended going for a gentle walk each day, but inertia seemed to set in, encouraged by the soggy weather. So, in summary, I channelled most of my energy into mental activities, with little physical activity to balance it out. As a result I was left feeling mentally and a little physically weary, and although I had lots of projects that I wanted to get on with, I found that I just couldn’t be bothered!!  Enter Hornbeam ………….   

Hornbeam is indicated where we have that “Monday morning feeling”; where we feel weary at just the thought of the day ahead and fear we may not have the energy to meet its demands; where we feel the need for a stimulant such as coffee to kick start us; life perhaps is too routine and lacks variety so we feel jaded; fatigue is more mental than physical. It can be useful, as in the example above, where a student has been glued to his books in preparation for an exam but has failed to balance the mental exertion with physical activity and fresh air. It can also be useful when our heads are buzzing from too much TV. Our spiritual vitality has faded, we are in a mental rut, but amazingly this weariness disappears instantly when something out of the ordinary happens, or something challenging enough is presented!!   

A few drops in water, sipped throughout the day, can really help. The negative Hornbeam state can be temporary or more long lasting. If the latter, take at least 4 times a day for a week or two or until you feel more refreshed. It is also a good idea to support this with a break in routine, doing something out of the ordinary or a change of scenery, perhaps weaving in some daily physical activity.