Click for more Natural Health Advice. What's all the fuss about gluten? Is menopause a reason that weigh is hard to shift? Are you what you eat? Why is some people’s odour stronger than other’s? Are all oils created equal? Sarah answers three questions on detoxing. Is it a Question of Milk? Do you have any ideas that could help me get fit and healthy again. How can I lose fat solely from the stomach area? How much fat should a relatively inactive person eat per day? What is the best type of herbal tea to drink when you first give up caffeine based tea? What is your favourite most nutritious meal? Arthritis Does eating too much sugar affect your ability to get pregnant?

Ask Sarah - More Natural Health Advice

Do you have any natural products for excema?

Nigel Davis (Principal Wesley Intermediate School)

Eczema… how do you fix your skin from the inside out?

Hi Nigel and everyone else who will have or know someone in their family with this problem. Some of the remedies outlined below are more suitable for adults. Children's bodies tend to be less embedded with the problems causing the eczema and therefore it may only take a few simple dietary changes to implement a cure.

When I was 14 I developed every skin disorder, including eczema. When I was 20 I met someone who fixed them all from the inside out.

The key to your skin – the biggest organ of the body - is your stomach (the centre of all things). If something is wrong in your system you always start with your stomach. Let’s start with the most basic.

A colonic (did you all just stop reading?) yes, that’s right I suggested the pipe and the water thing up you know where and if you have not had one, it is a good place to start. If you want to have the best day of your life – go and do this! I have just started a fitness studio in Wellington and there is a fabulous lady who does exactly this. Read up on it. Find out the things it can help with including every complaint you could possibly have – a colonic irrigation can, in fact, also help with eczema.

Pre and probiotics – in conjunction with this month’s recipe take a look at "Banana Yum". Pre and probiotics are the necessity of any human. Over-ripe bananas, aloe juice, avocado, papaya, goats milk yoghurt and melon of any kind. Eat them all and, in the case of the fruits, eat them first. Adequate oils – omega 3 and 6 are required and don’t forget virgin coconut oil heals everything and can be added to anything from smoothies to veggie and brown rice dishes.


Probiotics: Take a good vegan capsule first thing every day and reap the benefits. If you are not taking acidophilus capsules every day then you are missing out and your skin is suffering! This was the one thing I was told you could take every day without developing dependence. One-plus a day does a great vegan capsule and I use it all the time. I quite often double the prescription, but you should feel this one out for yourself.

Eat your greens. If you’re not doing this, it’s time to start. Greens and their alkaline properties help balance out all that acidic rubbish like coffee etc that you put into your body. Your body, being the delicate piece of work that it is, requires you to keep it in balance or it will start complaining.

Sugar, wheat, meat and dairy (and, yes, that includes alcohol and a lot of dried fruits). If you are trying to avoid this skin disorder then you need to eliminate all of these. If this doesn’t work then kiss goodbye to carbohydrates in general. White rice, potatoes and pastas of any kind are goners, but not necessarily forever.

Once your disorder is well and truly banished you will find the need to expel the irritants not so great. In truth, everything in moderation (as long as you are not allergic) should be everybody’s aim and reality. Take a few months to clean it up and then take some time reintroducing foods. One food a week is ideal, one every few days should still give you an idea of the affect each particular food has on your body.

Finally, osteopathy, and cold sitz baths. You should always remember that most things are in response to the effects on your central nervous system - your spine and your brain. Should you want to work with this and on this you should try a cold sitz bath before bed. Three to no more than 15 minutes in an ice cold bath and then rub yourself in circular motions towards your heart with a dry towel. Wrap up warm and then go straight to bed. After doing this for a few days, head to a good osteopath.

If all else fails, let me know and I will give you more.

Best of luck,

Sarah Brook.

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What's all the fuss about gluten?

It's seems to be the food bogeyman of the moment. Gluten has been around for centuries so why are we only now hearing about gluten causing health problems for some people. Is this simply the latest marketing ploy by food makers offering gluten-free products? Come to think of it - no one had wheat or nut allergies either when I went to school 30 years ago. How come?

- Campbell (Wellington)

Ah, the age-old question, are we being hoodwinked? And the answer is - yes and no. A better question is: Were we being hoodwinked in the first place?

First some background. As we progress into the 'modern age', Western health seems to, in some respects, be taking a step backwards. With the over-use of harsh cleaning products both in and outside the body, the immune system is both battered by the man-made product and by a lack of learning to fight for itself. Plus, modern farming and processing techniques have taken food to a whole new level.

We have a very delicate system, yet often we run a harsh chemical experiment on it at every turn and hope that it will just come back to normal. The overuse of antibiotics is now causing antibiotic resistant entities. The overuse of bleach is destroying naturally occurring bacteria that once would have been part of our everyday environment. The use of vaccination is also suggested as a cause of mutation in our own cells and some claim that while providing us with a defence against a specific issue, it weakens the immune system overall.

So what about gluten? When it comes to allergens in everyday life, the increase can initially be traced back to processing. About 10 years ago I went to a seminar on electrical nutrition where it was suggested that altering your food to a point where it can no longer be recognised from the plant or animal that it came from will result in a lack of recognition from the body and that food being treated as a toxin. Toxins are stored usually as fat and pushed as far from the vital organs as possible.

Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. Your body actually has an immune system response to toxins. Fearing that this unknown entity might harm the body, it releases antibodies. The result is mucus and rashes and various other issues as the body tries to fight. Not to mention that as the organs freak out you'll start to retain water and bloat.

Also, sadly, the food you eat has now been altered from the inside out. So now you might recognise its origins, but your body might still see it as a toxin. Genetic engineering, hormonal manipulation, and the use of antibiotics in feed - it's all causing disruptions to the growth patterns of the foods we eat. Not only this, but standard growing techniques leave fruit and vegetables lacking. Bananas - a tropical fruit - ripen in the dark in the fridge, along with papayas, avocados, tomatoes etc. This severely compromises the phytonutrients and vitamins that give our body a fighting chance.

You make a good point that certain foods have been around for centuries, but the reality is that our body developed over thousands of years, recognising the foods that we eat and foods such as wheat are not an original grain and have not been around as long as grains such as spelt and rye. Not to forget that our methods of processing are perfected and refined on a daily basis in order to make things more financially viable.

Also, the real problem with allergens generally lies in deformed proteins. In wheat the deformed protein is found in the gluten, in milk it is often the lactose protein. Deformed proteins can occur for any of the above reasons, plus radiation exposure, heat treatments. Exposure to such things at a young age will heighten the risk of developing an allergic reaction. I feel that exposure to these foods will always cause an adverse reaction in the body. That's why I eat them in small amounts. Your question about why some people and not others are affected? Individuality, unique upbringing, and unique diet all play a part. Just because you don't notice a reaction doesn't mean you aren't having one. How tuned in are you really to your own body. My partner is driven nuts by my 'sensitivity' to things. The truth is I am just more aware. I notice when I am tired after eating.

So what is the solution? Stick to whole foods, simple foods and if you suspect you might be having an allergic reaction try an elimination diet for a month. Removing all potential allergens and then, one by one, testing them on a cleaner system will let you know if you have a reaction to them. The reaction might be as simple as being slightly sleepy. Also reduce your general consumption of these foods and introduce some good probiotics and probiotic food into your diet. All toxins make the body more acidic so eat and drink more alkaline foods such as apple cider vinegar (raw); green and white tea; vegetable juice; apples and almost all RAW vegetables especially those organically grown will help to neutralise an over-acid system.

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Is menopause a reason that weigh is hard to shift?

Hi Sarah

I am struggling to shift and lose weight. I eat fairly healthily with three main meals with a snack (banana) mid morning and mid afternoon (handful of nuts) and try to drink over a litre of water each day (I know it should be more), only have two coffees a day and do vibration training 3 to 4 times a week. I also do two 30-45 min walks a week and two half hour sessions on an Exercycle a week.

I try to avoid carbohydrates at night, my breakfast is normally a prepared mix of quinoa, apple, chopped nuts with cinnamon and mixed spices that I cook up once a week and store in the fridge, lunch is usually a salad with chicken/ meat or couscous salad with mixed beans, meat and veggies, and dinner is usually meat with salad lettuce or couscous.

I am at the age where menopause plays a part. Could this be the reason that weigh is hard to shift?

Margaret

Hi Margaret,

the unfortunate answer to this is yes. For those who find it difficult to lose weight despite all their best efforts often it is something in the organs and various hormones released by the body that will fight you. Certainly in the case of menopause your body's hormones have a direct impact on your appetite, metabolism, and fat storage, making it very difficult to control your weight no matter what you do. Fluctuating oestrogen, testosterone, and androgen levels will fight you all the way.

However this is not to say it can’t be done. In the case of any organ such as the kidneys causing you to bloat or extreme problems with the stomach etc there are answers. Find natural ways to work with the problem. In the case of bloated or malfunctioning kidneys, stomach or liver, first you would detox, clearing the board so whatever you put in to help doesn’t have to fight with all the other foods you may crave as a result of your malfunction that are actually making you worse. The word disease comes from two parts dis-ease and often when we are dis-eased we have a tendency to eat items that make our problem worse. Whilst your diet, Margaret, is perhaps one of the healthiest I have seen in a long time it’s perhaps not the detox diet for you. Potentially trying fruits, vegetables and herbal infusion teas only for a few days would help, as would perhaps a detox kit. Please see my previous article about detoxing and detox kits to find out more.

We also have a tendency to allow our moods to dictate our ‘treats’. So you should put a few systems in place, such as exercise to boost these moods and yes Margaret I can see you have already addressed this, which is great. So you are faced with the reality that a good diet and a good exercise regime can only indicate, the body’s state requires more than the diet and exercise is providing. Supplementation is something many people especially here in New Zealand don’t believe in. You should surely be able to get everything you need from your food, shouldn’t you? Well yes, but in modern times with some foods ripening artificially instead of in the sun where they can develop rich and necessary phytonutrients plus the herbicides; pesticides; radiation; cell phones and modern stresses in our world make supplements more of a necessity.

Always when starting on a weight loss endeavour the first thing you must do is start taking things that encourage your digestion including fresh juice made from your own machine; acidophilus to help line the stomach first thing in the morning (preferably a vegan one), digestive enzymes to take after meals and two litres of water a day preferably taken before eating or at least half an hour after. Going into summer you may need up your intake of water. If you need coffee to help you digest your food then you need to consider taking more time to chew it and drink less coffee. Coffee usually causes more problems than it solves and will definitely have an effect on your central nervous system that you could do without. Also it will ultimately encourage bloating.

Finally and more specifically we move to the Superfoods:

Maca, a Peruvian root used for centuries to help balance the body and specifically used for women with hormonal issues may be a great one to reach for and add to your shakes. You will find it in your health food store. Next time I will put my favourite Maca smoothie recipe in the recipe section.

Tincture of Dandelion is said to help reduce your water levels. It helps in removing excess fluid from the cells, nourishing and toning your kidneys, the adrenals and the liver. It increases the ability to digest food and aids hormones to ease menopausal change.

Dong Quai when used regularly, it relieves bloating, and has a diuretic effect, increasing the discharge of urine. It also has a mild sedative effect, soothing the intestines and bladder.

Omega 3 and 6: Oils are important and you should search for the right ones that don’t aggravate your system. The right oils will assist in the toning of your organs and will ultimately help you find your optimal weight.

Now I have to confess, I myself have not hit menopause and I understand that for every woman there are slightly different symptoms. So this is what you need to remember, everybody is different! And you have to perform your own experiment! If I have suggested something that ultimately makes you worse then stop taking it. If you are on medication you may also need to inform your doctor that you are attempting a change of diet and the introduction of new foods or supplements.

Otherwise I hope this helps, and I wish you luck!

Sarah Brook

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Are you what you eat? Why is some people’s odour stronger than other’s?

Hi Sarah,

My senior class had an interesting discussion yesterday on body odour. They had a range of theories as to why some people’s odour is stronger than other’s (ranging from longer underarm hair, to not using soap, to diet). Please can you confirm the best natural way to remain fresh, which would be great advice for students and staff all over the country during these winter months with cramped classes!

Thanks
Andrea

Hey Andrea,

What a great question and a somewhat unusual one. For me, the question here is ‘are you what you eat?’ Most people don’t want to know that there is any question between what they eat and how they smell. Unfortunately plenty of us experience this when we deal with different cultures. I often hear comments like “The Indians smell like spice,” and “the Chinese like cabbage” and comments about western races have often been that we smell like sour milk.

In Tibetan Buddhism they even believe that you consume the karma of the animal. In Maori, Fijian and other ancient tribal traditions, the consumption of a person was said to help you consume the energy and power of your adversary. So are we in fact what we eat?

Antiperspirant and Deodorants’

Many people layer themselves in deodorant and antiperspirant every day, the idea being to block the sweat gland and prevent the smell emanating from your armpits. Sadly this defeats the purpose of the sweat gland and blocks the smell and nasties that your body is trying to detox inside your body. Further to this, deodorants often contain aluminium, a harsh heavy metal, plus chemical fragrances that leek into your liver promoting the incidence of liver disease, cancer and other disorders.

If you really insist on using an antiperspirant, look for one of the natural salt crystals. These last 20x longer than the average roll-on so are worth the $20 investment and are usually available from organic stores, some health shops and pharmacies. Alternatively watering down various essential oils such as tea tree and lemon balm are often very effective deodorants.

So what foods make you smell?

Processed foods and red meat are the killers. Processed food contains no real fibre and has a tendency to irritate things like candida in your system. Candida is naturally occurring in the body but have an imbalance of sugar and processed foods and it will not only cause bad breath and foul smells to erupt from you but it will eventually start leaking out your pores. Sadly I can confess to having it leak out my belly button and completely coat my tongue in a black mould! So whilst I would point to vegetarianism for preventing bad body odour I would also say that vegetarians can smell bad if they eat a high processed diet.

Please note processed foods also include hydrogenated oils. That’s right the deep fried stuff that is stinking up your place and your body!

Also as a bit of a side note, when people smoke a lot they start to get an awful smell. And it’s not a smoky smell it’s more of a sweet sickly rotting from the inside out smell. I have friends who smoke very little but when we go out and party together and they almost double their daily amount of cigarettes, all of a sudden that smell appears. It reminds me of stuff dying and prompts my gag reflex. The odour emanating from your body reflects your health!

Cleansing from the inside out

The answer is really to cleanse from the inside out. As asked – are you what you eat?

As a vegetarian for several years, my own complaint is that I can often smell rotting meat and deep fried fat emulating from certain unhealthy people, not from all people who eat meat mind you, but I am guessing from those who eat a lot of it. Meat takes several days to digest in the system and some even argue that it rots rather than digests. Either way layer upon layer of animal product day after day is probably going to eventually make you smell gamey.

By eating chlorophyll (whole grains, fresh fruits, super-greens, lots of sprouts, raw nuts and seeds, healthy oils and other similar healthy ingredients), your body odour will all but disappear in a matter of weeks. Chlorophyll and other phytonutrients will cleanse you from the inside out. Some of the best foods for cleansing include parsley, cilantro, celery and all mint species. The aromatic herbs are also excellent: sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc. Also don’t forget to drink water in between meals!

In other words, anything that prompts you to empty your bowels two or even up to four times a day will help rid you of body odour.

A challenge for you and your students:

It's very easy to smell your own armpits and get a sense of what's going on. Try going 24 hours with no deodorant. If you can't stand the smell from the outside, just imagine what is going on inside. For obvious reasons tell them to leave the experiment until the weekend and report back on Monday after a long shower.

Finally ditch the red meat and processed foods for a week and eat some whole foods and a bag of spinach or similar greens every two days. Then do the experiment again at the end of this week of healthy eating.

You’ll be surprised at the results.

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Are all fish oils created equal?

The price of Omega oils varies radically at the supermarket. Are some better than others? If so what should I be looking for on the label? Also is flaxseed oil better than fish oil, what are the claimed benefits of taking these oils and can you "overdose"?
Thanks (Love your column!).
Kind regards
Shelly (Auckland)

Hi Shelly,

Thank you for a great question, and I’m glad you enjoy the column and monthly articles. I think that in order to answer this question I need to also raise the question of whether fish oil is polluted and if there are feasible ways of cleaning potentially contaminated products? Further to this are the sources of these products sustainable?

The reality is that with ever increasing pollution in the ocean most fish is contaminated with mercury and PCB’s a known carcinogen. Certainly fish caught in southern waters is less likely to carry contamination and smaller fish that don’t live as long carry lower levels. Fish sources include anchovy, salmon, sardines, tuna, mackerel, halibut, cod liver and other seafood including NZ green lipped mussel, algae and krill, all of which supply long chain fatty acids. NZ Hoki and South Pacific tuna caught in our unpolluted southern oceans are considered mercury free and naturally high in DHAs and EPAs(we’ll get to these in a minute). I personally still wouldn’t risk it but if possible look for products made from contaminant-free fish sources which you are more likely to find in your local organic store – not your supermarket!

Many sources of fish oil supplements are harvested using unsustainable fishing practices that either endanger the resource or impact negatively on other species in the food chain and surrounding ecosystem. Look for companies that use raw materials from sustainable sources in their products, harvested and prepared in ways that preserve the quality of the nutrients – again your local organic store will provide more options.

But are all oils created equal? Simply: No! The Omega 3 fatty acids contain nutrients EPA and DHA which enhance quality of life and lower the risk of premature death. It promotes excellent learning potential and optimises behavioural development. Pre- and post-natal brain development requires DHA, whereas behaviour and mood are controlled by EPA. Healthy eyesight function also relies on the DHAs in Omega 3 for retinal development, and insufficient Omega 3 intake during pregnancy risks visual and nerve problems in the developing infant. It stands to reason that the quality of the oil will affect the components. I have even read reports of parents noticing behavioural changes in their children when they switched to a cheaper brand.

Omega oils support the spleen. The spleen is the centre of all function, basically if you improve the spleen you improve everything. Skin, hair, nails, blood, heart condition even trials on early stage Alzheimer’s have shown a slowing of the patients decline. Clinical trials have shown improvement in conditions such as ADHD, autism, poor coordination, fatigue, dyslexia, bi-polar disorder, depression and aggression when Omega 3 was prescribed. Both EPA and DHA have an important role in protection of nerve cell function and conduction of electrical signals. Cognitive function improves; sharper memory, clearer thinking and mental agility are all functions of optimal Omega 3 intake. Omega 3 EPAs are also necessary for the formation of prostaglandins which are essential for immune function, and to regulate inflammatory responses involved in allergic reactions. Because the spleen controls everything, always check the connection between any disease of interest and Omega 3. I believe any disorder can be improved by attaining the right balance of good quality oil.

So the question really is what makes omega oil good and is a plant based oil a better product?
With so many available, it can be a difficult choice. In general, look for a supplement with the highest amount of EPA & DHA per capsule within your budget. 1500mg tablet seems to be the standard dosage in popular brands.

Once you have chosen good oil, it’s most important to get the balance right between Omega 6 to Omega 3. The optimal level is between 4:1 and 2:1. Too much Omega 6 to Omega 3 can cause a pro inflammatory environment and block communication of ALAs and DHAs in the body, and improve the risk of such disorders as depression. Typically, people today eat a western diet containing far more Omega 6 than Omega 3, sometimes 20- 30 times more.

Fish OR Vegetable

I personally prefer a combination of seed oils and coconut oil as it ensures that I avoid pollutants found in sea food. Though there is some argument that plant based sources are harder for the body to process as short chain Omega 3’s (plant based Omega 3’s) are harder for the body to utilise. They are however easier for the body to store and this stability may increase their effectiveness over time. The suggestion to those who only wish to take plant based oils is be consistent so that at any given time your body is both utilising stores of Omega 3 as well as taking from recently digested supplements and further storing.

This stability in plant-derived Omega 3’s comes from their high amount of protective Vitamin E. This vitamin is important in maintaining healthy heart function. Fish oil Omega 3s contain much lower levels of protective Vitamin E, and are therefore not protected from quickly turning rancid.

In summary, don’t skimp on your products! Do your research, spend the money and head for the organic store. What oil is best? That depends on your preference at this point as the jury is still out. Some may suggest that the best results come from a combination of plant and fish. Others may suggest avoid the fish for fear of pollution and work on building up sufficient stores in your body via plant based products. Either way, do your research. All oils are not created equal! Look for contaminant free sources of oil with high levels of DHA’s and EPA’s.

Happy health!

Sarah

For further reading please see the following articles:

http://tstnz.com/health/Articles_archive.html#fats1
http://tstnz.com/health/Articles_archive.html#fats2
http://tstnz.com/health/Articles_archive.html#fat3

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Sarah answers three questions on detoxing.

Hi Sarah,

I'm tempted to try one of the detox regimes but nervous about getting headaches from caffeine withdrawal (although I usually only drink one strong cup a day). Is it okay to take paracetamol during detox? Also, I'm a fairly active person going to the gym and jogging four to five times a week - so will I have sufficient energy for these activities while detoxing?

Thanks, Mark (Auckland)

Hi Mark,

In answer to your question, if you can wean yourself from the coffee before starting a detox then this would be advised. You will find that most detox programmes recommend you try to refrain from drinking coffee but if you can’t then look to limit your consumption or perhaps try green coffee.
In the case of taking paracetamol, if you never took it that would be great! If however you are on a detox and you take it, remember that your cleaner system would be taking in another toxin, which your detox is trying to remove. So if at all possible, avoid both but in a worst case scenario drink the coffee.

As far as training goes, a hard core detox will affect your energy levels but probably only for a couple of days. The result of clearing your system should actually mean you’ll be able to breathe better and ultimately train harder after the detox. I always feel lighter when I run on a detox but usually only train three to four times a week as opposed to five to six times a week. Take it easy on yourself, your body is doing some internal toning.

Good Luck,
Sarah


Hi Sarah,

Is it best to be on holiday during the detox programmes? I don't want to feel lethargic or light-headed at work. Can you list some possible side-effects of detoxing for me? Also, what foods are okay to have during detox?

Thanks, Louise (Auckland)

The problem with being on holiday is that when you go back to work you may have more temptation/ excuses to return to old habits. Only in the case of an extreme detox should you feel lethargic, the Ultimate Herbal Detox advises that this is around day three or four. I personally didn’t find it too much of a problem. Light-headedness is usually something that happens when you don’t eat enough on your detox. A detox does not mean starve. You need to make sure you carry food within your detox prescription with you.

Other side effects of a detox:

Extreme
* Headaches
* Fever
* Chills
* Nausea

Standard
* Diarrhoea
* Pimples/ Skin rashes
* Drowsiness and fatigue
* Sleep interruptions
* Thirst
* Loss of appetite
* Increased urination

Should you suffer extreme side effects then you need to slow your detox down. Usually instructions for this will be indicated on the kit.

Foods depend on your detox. Any kit you buy will usually prescribe a diet. If you are doing your own detox at home without a kit, then I would recommend a candida targeted diet or the Palaeolithic diet. Check your kit and get back to me. Should you need anything further just drop me a line.

Sarah


Hi Sarah,

I'm keen to give my system a long overdue ‘house-clean’, but can't live without good coffee, wine and chocolate, although I'm not excessive about any of these. Once I detox, am I likely to suffer some uncomfortable symptoms once I reintroduce my favourite foods and treats?

Thanks, James (Wellington)

Hi James,

I find this an interesting question and it raises a side issue that needs to be addressed in order to address your question properly. The question is of enjoyment, one after all has to enjoy themselves and I personally love my chocolate. I think the key word here is ‘excessive’. What is ‘excessive’? Certainly it’s a knife that cuts both ways. If you have a coffee every day, drink excessively twice a week or drink a glass or two every day plus eat chocolate once or twice a week, then I would call this excessive. The coffee is probably the one that really tips the scale as it is so acidic, though of course it depends on how high your alcohol consumption is as this is also highly acidic.

If your indulgences are ‘excessive’ and you intend to maintain them then why detox? Measuring an individual’s understanding of ‘excessive’ is impossible without knowing them or looking at a food diary.

You should therefore question your reason for detox. Detox should help you reset your system and correct bad patterns that you have slipped into. Whilst at some stage you may return to a few of your old favourites, to quickly return to everything with the same enthusiasm and vigour as before will cause your system to go into shock and do more damage than not detoxing at all. There is an urban legend circulating that you should ‘clean out’ your system every now and again and then return to normal. This is like the dieting concept and doesn’t work.

If you want to change how your system is running then you need to look more long term. Old habits die hard and sometimes you fall back into old habits, and that’s a good time to revisit the detox.

My own experience

After years of being relatively health conscious – don’t get me wrong I would always have the occasional night drinking or eating chocolate plus a good pizza here and there – I started drinking coffee at least three times a week, drinking alcohol about four days a week and eating anything and everything. I didn’t gain any weight – I know, you all hate me, but I did one day discover my tongue was black. Not a little black, black as coal. I searched for the answer and discovered CANDIDA! No surprises there. My system was shocked and after years of being clean and enjoying the benefits of being lighter, feeling more energetic, sleeping better, having greater stamina, rarely getting sick and looking younger, I had shocked it and it had revolted. My body taught me a sound lesson.

Don’t get me wrong, you can go too far with all of this stuff and fall into total narcissism, which is not healthy either, never indulging, always reading the label obsessively never eating out for fear of what you can’t see that’s in the food. It’s all a matter of balance.

In answer to the question itself, if you detox you should follow the instructions on the box. An intense detox, such as the Ultimate Herbal Detox instructs the user about the pre and post detox phases in order to allow the body adjustment time. Depending on your level of life toxicity depends on how long these phases should last for. If you suffer break-outs and headaches it is actually suggested that you are detoxing too quickly should slow it down by switching to the longer version of the detox as instructed on the pack. If you are experiencing any problems during your detox please contact me for advice or alternatively contact the manufacturer as usually they will have experts who can advise you on this.

I hope this helps,

Sarah

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Is it a Question of Milk?

You may ask: Where do you get calcium? How do you strengthen your bones? What supplements should I be taking? What foods can I eat in order to improve the state of my osteoporosis?

Unfortunately the truth is, you probably aren't getting it from milk. After milk has been homogenised and pasteurised I would be surprised if you were to get anything from it. It has been suggested that goat products have a higher nutritional value because these products are structurally more similar to what humans recognise and absorb. Some go further and suggest you are better off with dried fruits, nuts and leafy greens than any milk.

Calcium, like any essential is something best sourced from a fresh natural source and in my opinion a vegetarian one. The benefits of eating your greens are age old and for good reason. Not only do they contain chlorophyll, vitamins, other minerals and fatty acids, they are an excellent source of calcium. Juice them, cook them, stew them steam them, turn them into soup, whatever it takes - eat your greens and eat them first. They are low in calories and high in antioxidants, so will help lower the GI hit of any meal.

All greens are good but some do rank higher on the nutrition scale. The top three in relation to calcium are:

1. Rhubarb - giving you almost 30% of your recommended daily calcium intake (Based on 190gms/ 1 cup of boiled greens).
2. Collard Greens - giving you almost 25% of your recommended daily calcium intake (Based on 190gms/1 cup of boiled greens).
3. Spinach/ Silverbeet - giving you almost 25% of your recommended daily calcium intake (Based on 180gms/1 cup of boiled greens).

Of course if you are cooking your veges, I would always recommend steaming over boiling unless you turn the broth into a soup with some other stock and drink it with your greens.

Nutritionally the absolute best greens are collard greens. They are an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A (in the form of beta-carotene), vitamin C, manganese, folate, calcium, and dietary fibre. In addition, collard greens are a very good source of potassium, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, and a good source of vitamin E, magnesium, protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B1, vitamin B5, niacin, zinc, phosphorus, iron, vitamin E, magnesium and pantothenic acid. They are also the best green for assisting with the excretion of bile acid in the stomach, though all greens well chewed will help with this.

Of course we can't always access our greens throughout the day so other foods high in calcium include:

• Yogurt Non-fat yogurt 8 oz 452 or Low-fat yogurt 8 oz 415
• Cheese Goat cheese (hard) 1 oz 254, Part-skim mozzarella 1 oz 207
• Vegetables Collards (frozen, chopped) 1 cup 357, Turnip greens (cooked, frozen) 1 cup 249, Okra (cooked) 1 cup 176, Spinach (cooked, frozen) 1 cup 291, Almonds 1/2 cup 162, Soybeans (edamame) 1/2 cup 197 - if possible eat organic, Organic Tofu 1/4 block 163, Chickpeas 1 cup 105, Egg 1 whole/cooked 55

Please note fish may also be recommended but I question the health content of anything that may be loaded with mercury or other nasties if farmed. If you are going to eat fish avoid tuna and head for salmon, preferably wild.

In the case of supplements some people respond better to magnesium than calcium supplements and since we have magnesium deficient soil it is probably better to experiment with magnesium first. You should find with any supplement that if it is effective, it should give you more energy.

NB - Too much calcium together with excessive amounts of vitamin D, may result in the formation of kidney stones, and symptoms like vomiting and stomach pain. If your calcium is sourced purely from your food this should not be a problem. If you are using supplements especially cheaply made inorganic supplements this is more likely. I would recommend the Solgar brand as a safe bet.

In order to effectively absorb calcium from food or supplement you will need the following:

• Calcium Supplement
• Magnesium Supplement
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• And lysine

Directions:

1. Take vitamin C at the same time you take a calcium supplement. Or eat a food rich in vitamin C, such as an orange. This helps with the absorption of calcium.
2. Eat foods high in the amino acid lysine, which is needed for calcium absorption. These include eggs, fish, lima beans and soy products.
3. Take a sunbath without sunscreen for 15 minutes, three times a week. Sunshine is the easiest way to get vitamin D, which is essential for proper absorption of calcium. Stay out of the sun when the rays are strongest, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. I understand that for some doing this under NZ's rays is difficult to get your head around so I would recommend sourcing a decent Vitamin D supplement. Again I would check with Solgar.
4. Divide up your doses of calcium. It appears to work more effectively if taken in smaller doses spread out over the day, rather than a large dose all at once.
5. Combine calcium with magnesium in a 2-1 ratio - two parts calcium to one part magnesium.
6. Avoid taking iron and calcium together. It reduces the efficacy of both minerals.
7. Avoid taking large doses of zinc with calcium. At high doses, zinc can interfere with calcium absorption.
8. Decrease or eliminate soft drinks from your diet. They are high in phosphorus, which can cause you to lose calcium. High phosphorus intake can lead to calcium excretion in your urine.
9. Decrease or eliminate animal-based products in your diet. High intake of animal-based proteins causes increased amounts of calcium to be excreted in your urine. A high intake of sodium is another culprit.
10. Cut down on junk foods, alcohol, caffeine and white flour. All of these lead to an excessive loss of calcium from your body and a decreased rate of absorption.
11. Eat foods containing oxalic acid in moderation. Oxalic acid interferes with calcium absorption. Foods containing oxalic acid include almonds, beet greens, cashews, chard, kale, rhubarb and spinach.
12. Use wheat bran in moderation. Excessive amounts can interfere with calcium absorption. I would also be careful of taking laxatives - natural or otherwise too often.
13. Check your prescription medications. Some, such as glucocorticoids, can interfere with calcium absorption. Discuss supplementation with your doctor.

Good Luck,

Sarah Brook

Back to headlines

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Tracey, from Pukepoto asks:

Hi Sarah,
I used to be really active, but over the past 5 years I have busted my right knee and broken my left ankle. I find it really difficult to exercise now. Do you have any ideas that could help me get fit and healthy again. I have gained 18kgs in the 5 years since, OMG! Help!’

Sound familiar?

We can all remember body-better days, after all for most of us our teenage years were lighter more active days. Then the twenties hit and even if you don’t sprain an ankle, there are usually some difficult weight periods. Then if you sprain an ankle, bust a hip or end up with some other injury, all of a sudden the weight piles on and it is hard to get rid of.

This time last year I sprained an ankle and my man saw it as an opportunity to ply me with pizza and Indian food while I was immobile. The problem is that your stomach has a hard time dealing with all the wonderful food you are eating. Add immobility to this and you end up with a whole lot of glue and gunk stuck in your stomach. To add insult to injury, even good food is going to end up stuck there, because your lack of physical movement is causing a ‘lack of movement’ elsewhere in your body. So the first thing to do when you are looking to loose some weight and get your fitness back is clean out the inside.

There are many ways to clean out the inside, perhaps the quickest and the most effective in this case is a colonic irrigation. I know, this idea for most may seem horrific but the reality is that it is next to painless. It can also be life changing and in an hour you’re going to notice the difference.

The second and next most effective option is a detox. Detox may seem like a fad diet by another name. This is of course true if you learn nothing from your detox. If this happens you will end up eating the same food as you did before and naturally all the weight you lost will return.

A detox especially following a colonic irrigation should be seen as a good way to start new eating habits. Currently on the market are several good detox kits that supply you with everything you need in order to detox and maintain health during your detox. Brett Elliot’s Herbal Cleanse is probably one of the best, followed by the cheaper Good Health Body Cleanse. It doesn’t come with a great lengthy explanation or quite as many pills and therefore isn’t quite as effective, but it still pretty good and at a third of the price might be more within budget. The third option is to drink a very strong pot of herbal laxative tea and stay home with twelve rolls of toilet paper for a day. It doesn’t go as deep as a colonic or a detox but it is a start. My recommendation is to do some reading on all of the above and decide what you think will be a good start for you.
Exercise

Once everything internally is moving, you should feel light and ready to fly. If you are over a size 16NZ for a woman or a size XL for a man, high impact exercises are less advisable until your weight drops a bit. If you’ve been injured then high impact may also be something you want to avoid until you have recovered a bit and built up strength in those weakened muscles. In either case walking, cycling, swimming, yoga and Pilates are all advisable. In fact, depending on the injury, Pilates and or yoga may be the most helpful in your recovery.

In any case if you are fit or not, the key to improving you current body is Variance. Cutting edge trainers specialising in the long lean muscle look, or the sculpted look without looking like you have been eating steroids, recommend 40 minutes cardio four to six times a week and 50 minutes resistance four to six times per week. I recommend upping your exercise regime slowly to this. So if you are doing nothing commit to doing one or maybe two sessions a week as an absolute must and anything over that is a bonus. If you currently do two sessions of 20 minutes a week then up it to three without fail and aim for four or five and maybe increase the length of time exercising by five or ten minutes adding in a couple of rehabilitation exercises recommended by your specialist.

Once you are moving it’s up to you to keep up with your exercise regime. You need to also remember the body is clever and it adjusts to regular patterns in order to become energy efficient, so in order for regular exercise to keep working, you need to trick it. You can do this by one day going for a run and doing lunges, then the next day you could walk, do squats and high leg lifts for example. The key is variance in your exercise! It makes exercise more enjoyable too!

I hope this helps, if you have any further questions then don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Best wishes for a healthy New Year,

Sarah Brook

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Rob, from Manawatu asks:
How can I lose fat solely from the stomach area?”

Hi Rob,

What a great question. It was chosen because of my current myth busting mood and how many myths surround this. I would also like everyone to note that men suffering from the beer belly commonly suffer the problem of fit legs and arms and big solid bellies, so I will talk specifically on this as well.

I would however like to remind everyone that we are all individual and as a result need to experiment with our own bodies to find out what works and what is really going on.

Myth 1: That Crunches and abdominal exercises will help a person lose fat on their stomachs.

Strength exercises build muscle and abdominal exercises such as crunches are strength exercises. Extra muscle helps you burn more fat as it needs energy to survive but crunches themselves will not cause you to lose fat directly, cardio such as running would probably give a quicker response. In fact I would suggest anything that improves digestion and your oxygen levels in your blood stream, such as cathartic exercise and stretching would be better than crunches. Though they are not without their merits and done correctly will help to massage the digestive system. That said massage would also be beneficial as it helps improve your oxygenation which helps everything to function and digest more efficiently.

Myth 2: That it is possible to lose only fat on your stomach without affecting any other area of your body.

Taking myself as an average example, I gain and lose weight over my entire body. My body responds to exercise and diet in much the same way, I lose weight everywhere. Whilst I might carry more weight in the classic female problem zones I still lose weight generally. This of course makes sense, your body is a carbon network that functions together, and food goes in through the mouth hits the stomach and is spread throughout the entire system from there. More impressively oxygen is taken in through the nose mouth and skin and is spread throughout the blood stream almost instantly.

However in the case of excess fat on the thighs or bloating or the classic beer belly, you may find there is more to it than a simple weight problem. Maybe it’s organ dysfunction, and given the nature of our world, our diets and our posture, this is likely to a greater or lesser extent.

Myth 3: Candida only affects women and its only symptom is thrush.

If you haven’t read my articles on Candida, then they are a must. Please follow the link:
www.tstnz.com/health.html 

I will also take this opportunity to point out that if you want to lose weight reading ‘How to read the label’ will help to keep informed about what you are buying and what damage you are doing.

I was once told by an amazing nutritionist who worked with Lady Di, that if you eat wheat, meat, dairy or sugar you WILL have problems with candida. And he meant that irrespective of your gender. Fermented foods such as beer and alcohol should also be thrown in here along with highly processed and burnt oils.

I notice instant bloating in my legs and saddle bags after a binge on all that yummy bad stuff and I am sure you will notice a difference in your energy and digestion if you limit them.

Myth 4: Eating less will help you lose weight.

This is an odd myth because it’s partly true. If you stuff yourself until you can’t move your organs can’t breathe and they will swell then cease to function efficiently. You will then bloat and retain water wherever it will fit. So if this is you then you need to eat less per sitting.

However it doesn’t mean you need to stop eating. In fact three nicely portioned meals per day and a couple of raw snacks will change your world, but it doesn’t have to be a hard and fast rule. Sometimes I eat three times a day, sometimes I eat most of my food between 5pm and midnight grazing on my healthy and overstuffed French-style fridge. Time of day and amount of meals don’t matter. Eat if you are hungry and don’t overdo it. If you have the problem where you never stop then maybe you need to impose some rules where you stop eating at 8pm and only have three meals and two snacks but everyone is an individual and you need to find out what works for you.

Not eating or starvation diets are a bad idea and will ultimately lead to you gaining more weight when you finally give it up. I do however think that the odd day of fasting or fruit cleansing is very beneficial. I also don’t condone the six small meals a day regime, I find it indulgent and fad like. Ultimately you need to get in touch with your body, eat when you need to, and eat well.

POOR POSTURE?

Poor posture as a result of sitting at your desk sitting, in your car and sitting on your couch can lead to sluggish digestion. With a sedentary lifestyle, not only do you need to get moving but you need to correct all of that sitting.

If you are suffering from a strange distribution of fat it may be worth a trip to a good osteopath to see what state your spine is in. It may also be worth looking into a personal trainer who specialises in postural correction.

Note that I recommend an osteopath over a chiropractor as an osteopath in my opinion is less forceful with the body which allows the body and muscles to gain new shape over time. I believe this has more lasting effects.

IMPACTED COLON? (Sorry it has to be said)

Through years of bad eating, your colon becomes sluggish. That is why there may be more force required to eliminate faecal matter. Elimination is supposed to require little effort. However, because your colon's walls are lined with debris, you strain. ‘Straining’ indicates a blocked colon.

A blocked colon leaves food behind to rot in the digestive tract: Therefore, the final process of digestion is not completed. The debris then rots and candida albicans, bacteria and toxins take residence. Food which is undigested in the colon contributes to colon cancer. John Wayne, the world famous western actor, died from complications of colon cancer. It is said that he had more than 40 pounds of undigested food in his colon.

Mucoid plaque consists of the layers of mucous and rotting food which compact themselves year after year along the entire length of the digestive tract. This plaque forms in the intestine and continues to produce mucous as a normal response to the undigested food. Food is not supposed to just sit there and rot. Our body is designed to store three meals at any given time, but most people are storing six to twelve! Mucous is not powerful enough to move the toxic, enzyme-free sludge left behind from fake, chemically-laced and high-processed foods such as, Big Macs, Wendy’s shakes and double orders of spicy wedges fries.

However, as a natural defence mechanism, your body continues to produce more and more mucous. This causes the colon to grow in diameter and create the appearance of belly fat. So, if you are doing everything in your power to lose weight and can't seem to lose the belly fat, it's probable that you have undigested food rotting in your colon.

INSTANT REMEDY (Boys you’re not going to like it)
Colonic Irrigation - is a powerful enema performed by a licensed professional. It has an immediate affect and flushes out old, putrefied food and debris from the colon. Many doctors have stated that rotten food can be removed with this hydro-cleanse. And I have found this to be true, with my own irrigationist claiming she had found undigested pieces of meat that were more than forty years old in some of her patients

RAW FOOD (A less instant but effective remedy)

It’s summer, it’s time to eat a little lighter, eat salad! Raw vegetables well chewed before you devour your main meal will help with the digestion of your food. Raw foods also take more energy to digest and are richer in nutrients – mainly because we haven’t boiled them all out. If you can’t eat raw eat more greens and try to eat them first.

IN Summary

Eat more raw food and eat less rubbish, drop the alcohol and drink quality water. Educate yourself on candida, give up the idea that you can lose fat only from one area of your body at a time and get to know your body. Before undertaking any extreme exercise consult a physician, in the meantime stretch and walk every day.

Sarah

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Elizabeth, from Christchurch asks:

How much fat should a relatively inactive person eat per day?

Hi Elizabeth,

This I found to be an interesting question and one I had to look up. Not having any health issues that I know of and not being afraid of virgin fats, saturated or otherwise, I use a lot and I am a size 8-10. But I am active. Even in my party days of alcohol and full English breakfasts I was a size 14-16.

You must have fats! I have heard many horror stories where people avoid fat and end up very ill, as the immune system breaks down but on the other hand man cannot live on fat alone.

So what is the answer?

First I would like to reiterate that eating fat will not make you fat, eating bad fat will make you fat and adversely damage your entire system just like eating processed sugars, carbohydrates, meat, juices etc can. The rule is that the more the food is messed with, the further away from you it should be. Martyrdom is of course not allowed! If you really want it, have it but do it right and really satisfy the craving! If you want it all the time then maybe it’s time to reassess though.

You should also remember that fat is very energy dense when compared to carbohydrates and proteins. Carbohydrates and protein both contain four calories per gram while fat contains nine calories per gram. If you eat the same amount (in weight) of fat as protein or carbohydrates, your calorie intake will be doubled. However fat will make you feel full. I can only drink one glass of my avocado coconut smoothie for breakfast but I could eat the entire box of cereal. I personally prefer fat mixed with fibre and low carbohydrates over carbohydrate dense foods, but any whole food finds its way into my diet. I try to avoid eating fats on their own, as I try to lower the Glycaemic hit of anything I put in my mouth. This means I slow down the energy release of the food so I feel fuller for longer and have more time to utilise the energy before it is turned into body fat and stored.

If you are a ‘normal’ person of ‘normal’ activity then the general info out there seems to recommend that you eat no more than 30% of your daily calories in fat. This should provide you with everything you need in order to support your system function and ease your digestive processes.

There are lots of discussions about lowering your fat intake if you are trying to lose weight on the web. Many of these sites are also the ones that still blindly recommend lowering fat intake to help heart disease (please see “Have You Read The Label” articles for further discussion). As you will see from my article, I don’t believe this approach works. People eat too much. Weight loss is not quite as simple as Energy In v Energy Out but if your diet is clean then it almost is. You also need the right balance of nutrients but this is a constant experiment as your body is constantly being bombarded and changing.

You also should consider the right balance of omega 3 and 6 in your oils. There will be more discussion about this in next month’s 3rd instalment of “Not all Fats are created Equal”.

In summary, try to have no more than 30% of the good fat, avoid the bad stuff. If you’re inactive, lower the calorie intake. When I am less active I eat from a breakfast bowl and don’t go back for seconds until I am suffering from hunger. Finally if that doesn’t help, you need someone to assess your situation on a one to one basis.

Happy experimenting!

Sarah
 

What is the best type of herbal tea to drink when you first give up caffeine based tea?
I get severe headaches if I don't get my caffeine fix each day but I do want to cut down or give up caffeine!

Sheree

Hi Sheree,

Great question! We all have our addictions; caffeine is one of the most insidious and may give rise to other addictions in your diet. After a while it will sneak into so much of your diet you don’t even realise you are eating it most of the time.
The first step on the road to giving up is identifying your sources of caffeine.

Common sources of caffeine might be:

• Coffee
• Tea (except for naturally caffeine-free tisanes)
• Colas with added caffeine, including root beer
  (You may also want to reduce/eliminate drinks with other stimulants, such as guarine)
• Chocolate
• Yerba mate

Keep in mind that “decaf” coffees and teas are lower in caffeine than their regular counterparts, but they still contain some caffeine.
You also need to take note if you are adding sugar to your caffeine, if this is the case you may be addicted to the sugar as much as the caffeine and it too may give you headaches and quite severe withdrawal symptoms. The first thing to do is change your sugar for a raw honey and continue to use it as you wean yourself off the caffeine, once this is done you can then start to remove the honey.
For those who are fond of the more potent forms of caffeine, such as coffee shop lattes and percolated coffee I would suggest you go to half shot coffees if the jump to black tea is too much for your system. The next step is to work on cutting down your cups of coffee by alternating with other tea options including black teas.
The process of ‘phasing out’ caffeine should be achieved by playing with your symptoms of withdrawal and pushing your limits slightly. Should severe symptoms like headaches or dizziness occur now is the time to pick your caffeine hit. As you work through the phasing-out process you should weaken the caffeine level of your hit. Try and catch your headache at the onset, after all there is no point in suffering unnecessarily. Headaches are often a sign that you are detoxing too quickly.
Once coffee is phased out you must phase out the black tea. This I actually found very easy, giving up black tea had very few side effects for me what-so-ever; I did however cross into drinking green tea from there, which of course still has caffeine.
In my opinion oolong tea, green tea/jasmine tea and white tea are all fabulous and mild forms of caffeine. Please note that jasmine tea is often a combination of jasmine flower and green tea so I have placed them together. Once you are in the realm of the less oxidised versions of the tea plant it is simply a matter of working your way down to the weakest form of caffeine. Please see the table below for caffeine content.

Green tea has a wealth of research behind it demonstrating a number of health-promoting benefits including anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant properties.  Many of green tea’s benefits are due to its effects on the immune system, though there is research to suggest that green tea may cause an imbalance in certain people jeopardising the immune system, much like Echinacea might.

White tea is said to lower bad cholesterol and has more health promoting benefits than green tea except with lower caffeine. Benefits include; antioxidants, flavanoids that prevent cancer, improvement of heart health by lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol, improvement of bone density, antiviral and antibacterial all this of course will contribute to a youthful complexion and probably weight loss.

This chart provides a general guideline.

I personally don’t believe in decaffeinated products. In the case of coffee it makes it worse for you and in the case of tea it removes the antioxidants without removing the acid effects on your system plus it is now a processed product instead of a relatively natural one. I would instead start introducing herbal teas.
Personally I prefer my tea without milk so I like to drink good detoxifying teas such as liquorice, mint, fennel and nettle. Ginger tea especially made with fresh ginger is lovely with some lemon and honey in it and is a great way to ‘wake up’ if you need the boost that caffeinated drinks normally give you. Note that some brands taste better than others and I definitely recommend organic teas for flavour as well as purity over normal brands.
If you are a milk and honey fan then I recommend roibos. For chai lovers the brand Yogi make some lovely spice laden tea blends that are similar to black chai blends but without the addition of black tea. Lastly do avoid chai tea lattes in your average coffee bar as these are generally full of sugar and caffeinated black tea so you may as well have a coffee or normal black tea as drink these.

I hope this answers your question and then some!
Happy quitting,
Sarah Brook

Want to know more? Email asksarah@tstnz.com with your questions.

A basic question and a very good one. I think at this point I should confess that I am one of those dreaded vegetarians and I have taken it so far so as to have settled close to vegan.

I was wondering how I was going to break the news to those avid meat eaters out there; being a Kiwi girl it has been hard enough breaking it to friends and family. I came to vegetarianism when I was 20 and apart from a fall to fish once about two years ago, I have been vegetarian for ten years.

Once swearing I could never give up meat and feeding porterhouse to friends as a snack when they came to our family home - I remember every meaty flavour vividly - the only reason for becoming vegetarian was an interest in meditation where sustaining the body with only plant life is meant to lead to a clearer mind.

I decided I’d rather live a life where I was open to try anything and through experimenting with various different restrictions on my eating I learned to cook better. My food became more creative and more flavoursome. Then I would lift a restriction and combine techniques and food became magical.

Becoming a vegetarian once you have eaten meat is a delicate process. It requires a good knowledge of nutrition and an understanding of the addiction your body has to meat. I guess what I am saying is don’t go vegetarian unless you know what you are doing and have clear nutritional programme that leads you into it, to minimise meat withdrawal symptoms. You could start with experimentation, a vegetarian night, a raw food night, a gluten free night, a grain free night and then combinations of these and other food experiments, your body will quickly tell you what it prefers to digest.

My favourite most nutritious meal would have to be mung beans cooked till they are the consistency of refried beans with baby spinach leaves stirred through on a bed of short grain brown rice with fresh tomato, avocado and basil salad dressed in flax oil and tamari sauce (a gluten free soy) and with freshly toasted pine nuts sprinkled on top. If you cook your pine nuts in a normal frying pan without oil and keep them moving it will keep the fat content down. I also like to sprinkle LSA (Ground linseeds, sunflower seeds and almond) and of course black pepper over the meal. This perhaps has everything a vegetarian or any tarian could ask for.

Please note that I still cook meat for others, transferring flavours used on tofu or tomatoes to meat dishes and transferring the flavours I use for meat dishes to flavour tofu and well so many things.
 

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Arthritis

“I have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my neck and have heard that it can be helped with diet - do you have any information about this?”
- Osteo Sufferer

Dear Osteo Sufferer,

This is an interesting question and is oddly topical in my latest article. Given the suggested possibility that yeast may be linked to arthritis I would proceed with an anti-candida diet with a focus on cinnamon, recent research suggests cinnamon may kill yeasts in the blood stream that are contributing to the arthritis. You could even buy a cinnamon supplement.
As the osteoarthritis is in the neck I would suggest consulting a postural correctional specialist or trainer and check with your health professional about massage to help correct the alignment of the neck. I would also try and get a 'yoga boxing' video. It’s an excellent low impact spinal realignment video.

Causes of primary osteoarthritis

• Diets predominant in sucrose, white flour products and refined processed foods.
• The nightshade family (Solanaceae) of vegetables have been known to trigger osteoarthritis. These include tomatoes, potatoes and eggplant. Some speculate that it is not the vegetables themselves but pesticides residues on the plants that are to blame.
• 'Junk in the joints'. Leaky gut syndrome is a condition where excessive wear on the intestinal membranes (usually by gluten and other antagonists), render them permeable to undigested food proteins passing from the digestive tract into the bloodstream, thickening up the blood (a condition known as 'Rouleau'). The body attempts to stash the junk, sometimes into the joint area, provoking an immune system reaction. Excess acid is a common by-product of 21st century diets, which inhibits the formation of new cartilage.

Causes of secondary osteoarthritis
Include 'primary events' that trigger the condition. This could be a fall, hormonal problems, or other conditions usually revolving around an overly acidic body system.

Diet
Commence hydrating the body by drinking at least eight glasses of good water a day with a teaspoon (tsp) of dissolved Himalayan salt. Maintain this diet over the long term.

COMMENCE THE ANTI-CANDIDA DIETARY REGIMEN. High quality, organic food is the key here, as always, eaten four or five times per day. The diet should be at least 70% raw to preserve enzyme activity, vitamins and other nutrients. Remember, cooked food is dead food nutritionally. Avoid cow’s milk and dairy in general.

DETOXIFICATION: Magnesium oxide bowel cleanse or colonic irrigation (don’t go mad, colonic irrigationists often encourage you to do more than is necessary).

Try 10mls of Hyaline Liquid Formula supplement 10 which includes high grade forms of glucosamine, chondroitin, aggrecan, dermatan sulphate, keratan sulphate, hyaluronic acid, fibronectin, collagen and elastin, boron, manganese, chromium and zinc, once a day or as directed by your healthcare professional. Children should only take the supplement as directed by a healthcare professional.

RESTORE NUTRIENT BALANCE: COMMENCE THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM, ensuring you take:

• Two Grammes of Vitamin C complex (ascorbates plus bioflavonoids) four times per day.
• Vitamin D3, 5000-10,000iu/ day or better still, decent sunlight for at least 30 minutes a day. If you are worried you are taking the wrong amount of supplement or are not getting enough sunlight, you can have periodic checks on D3 levels. Optimum levels should be around 60ng/ml and can be confirmed with a 25 hydroxy test. If your levels are too low, you can supplement with D3.
• Selenium, 200 mcg per day.
• Frankincense extract capsules, as directed.
• Digestive enzyme supplement, as directed, taken between meals on an empty stomach

TIP: Essential fatty acid intake is vital (this is part of THE BASIC SUPPLEMENT PROGRAM). Ideally, increased intakes of fish oils and flaxseed oil (1 tbsp per day) meal should be included. The diet can also include oily fish such as mackerel, herring, halibut and salmon (not farmed, but cold caught).

TIP: Pay special attention to foods that need to be avoided in THE ANTI-CANDIDA DIETARY REGIMEN. These will also include the nightshade family, e.g. potatoes, peppers, tobacco, eggplant and tomatoes.

Other supplements that may be effective:

Flax Seed Oil:
Flax Seed Oil's main content, Omega-3 fats, help our body produce Prostaglandins Series 1 and 3, which are anti-inflammatory hormone-like molecules. These molecules help reduce the inflammation associated with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis, therefore Flax Seed is often believed to be a natural cure for arthritis.

Cold pressed Flax Seed Oil can also be used instead of the raw seeds and I personally think it is more effective. Take 1 teaspoon of Flax Seed Oil 3 times daily. The oil can be added to food as well.

Simply take one tablespoon of Flax Seeds or 1 teaspoon of Flax Seed Oil three times daily. Continue this remedy for at least one month to cure the primary forms of arthritis.

Epsom Salt:
Epsom Salt is high in magnesium. Magnesium is important for bone growth and regulates the body's pH level. A deficiency of magnesium lowers the ability of the body to absorb and use calcium and phosphorus, which are the two primary bone-building minerals.

The following home remedies using Epsom Salt can be used to reduce the symptoms associated with arthritis.

NOTE: If you have heart or kidney disease, consult your doctor before using these remedies. Excessive magnesium can cause diarrhoea, nausea, cramps, muscle weakness, and heart abnormalities.
* Mix 3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of Epsom Salt in one pint of warm water and take one teaspoon in the morning and one at night – only use this if you are not using the Himalayan salt in your drinking water.
* Add three cups of Epsom Salt in hot bath water and soak in it. The magnesium in the salt is absorbed by the body, soothing and relaxing stiff joints and muscles.

Alfalfa:
A tea made from Alfalfa, especially from its seeds, has shown beneficial results in the treatment of arthritis. Simply add one teaspoon of Alfalfa seeds to one cup of boiling water. Take three to four cups of this tea daily for approximately two weeks to reduce inflammation. Another option is to regularly take alfalfa capsules or add a small amount of alfalfa to your diet.

Cod Liver Oil:
Research has shown that consuming a small amount of Cod Liver Oil each day can potentially slow down cartilage degeneration, which is one of the main symptoms of osteoarthritis. Additionally, the omega-3 acids contained in the oil can help reduce the pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. Therefore, simply consuming one to two teaspoons of cod liver oil daily could be very beneficial.

Turmeric:
Turmeric, a common spice in Indian cuisine, has been used to reduce inflammation for hundreds of years in Ayurvedic medicine. By taking 500mg to 1000mg Turmeric capsules three times per day, many individuals have reported significant relief from osteoarthritis pain.

Ginger:
Similar to Turmeric, the common kitchen spice Ginger has been found to be an effective natural anti-inflammatory. Therefore, a great remedy for Arthritis is to peel and slice 1/2 inch of fresh ginger and take it with each meal.

In addition to this, Shyam Singha, perhaps one of the worlds best and most controversial ayurvedic specialists, suggests the following. His remedies are often in direct controversy with common advice but they always seem to work in my experience and therefore I recommend following them.

Mr Singha’s advice:

Generically, arthritis refers to inflammation of the bones. There are a number of forms: rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid spondylitis, to name just a few, but rheumatoid arthritis is probably the most painful. Arthritis is caused by an over-production of acid which is deposited in the joints in the form of crystals. The treatment aims to completely eliminate these crystals without causing damage to the body. A good treatment to achieve this is a potato peel diet.

Remedy:
Boil 1kg of 12mm-thick potato peelings in 3½ litres of water. Mash them and eat nothing else for at least seven days, drinking lots of hot water at the same time. This diet provides dramatic, sudden relief. Avoid aspirin-based tablets during this period. Follow this diet by eating only raw food for 28 days. The two diets should relieve the acute pain and result in the body functioning more effectively. After the two diets (7 days and 28 days), continue to eat only non-protein food. If you require protein, eat only vegetable proteins such as lentils, legumes and soya beans. Avoid eating eggs, poultry and, most definitely, red meat. If your desire for protein proves irresistible eat sea fish, but avoid the scavengers such as prawns, shrimps and shellfish.

It is advisable to consult a medical practitioner before commencing the above diets and allow for supervision from the medical practitioner during the five weeks of self-treatment.

In addition to the above diets, the discomfort of arthritis can be further minimized by taking hot baths containing 500g of Epsom salts, 500g of sea salt and 125g of bicarbonate of soda. The bath should be as hot as you can bear it, adding hot water every 5 minutes and taken for 20-30 minutes. This enables all the pores to open fully. Follow this bath with a cold shower to close the pores. Go directly to bed after drying the body. The sweating will help dispel excessive acid from the body.

While osteoarthritis is difficult to treat with juices they certainly help treating rheumatoid arthritis during the early stages.

Fresh Juice Recipe:

Make 500inl from equal amounts of the following juices:
carrot
celery
raw beetroot
cucumber (with skin)

Drink undiluted on an empty stomach and at the same time chew and eat 100g of ripe pineapple.

Prevention:

The best way to prevent a chronic disease such as arthritis is to ensure that you eat balanced meals. An effective diet contains 80 per cent alkaline-forming and 20 per cent acid-forming foods. Remember the general rule - food that is acidic or sour before eating becomes alkaline when digested. Most vegetables and fruits are alkaline-forming. Berries are acid-forming. Grains are acid-forming with the exception of millet. Fizzy drinks, coffee, black tea and beverages are all acid-forming. Water, fresh fruit and vegetables, juices and herb teas are alkaline-forming.

This diet has a preventative effect so try it from time to time if you are prone to arthritis.

Sarah.

If you have any questions about your health, email: asksarah@tstnz.com 
 

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”Does eating too much sugar affect your ability to get pregnant?”

First of all eating badly is not a form of contraception, though it may make a difference to fertility. There are no certainties as to what causes infertility as we are all different. Therefore a definitive answer to this question is not simple.

Holistic medicine has its basis within biology. The body is a complex network of nerves governed by the central nervous system, the spine and the brain. The brain sends signals through the body down the spine into main nerve channels and the body including its organs and the reproductive system send signals back. Thus your thoughts have the potential to affect your body and your body has the potential to affect your thoughts.

I don't believe in holistic medicine, I know it works. It has always done me more good than anything else. I have seen and experienced things that many would describe as miracles but those that know describe as basic science combined with the healing nature of the body and mind. If your body is ill your mind is also not at ease.

Having had my own problems with reproductive, liver, kidneys, blood, and digestive I can honestly say that whilst admitting to your own negative and destructive ways of thinking is challenging, it is also hilarious and ultimately very empowering.

In my opinion there are at least two ways in which the mind will usually be diseased in the case of reproduction.

One way may be how you relate to men, your femininity and maybe even your body. It may also have something to do with your motivation for wanting to get pregnant in the first place. In some cases it may simply be the stress of too much motivation. It may be all three. Either way the answer to this is gentle exercise and meditation (better referred to as chill-out time as trying to achieve in meditation will ultimately result in the opposite of meditation). In other words take time to relax fully not planning or worrying about anything. If you can't fix it, worrying about it certainly won't help and a clear relaxed mind may suddenly spring you the insight to a solution when you are next confronted with the problem.

The second way your mind could be affected is that in any case of disease your mind will crave the things that maintain the disease. It will also reject the things that will kill off the disease. So if you are prone to over exercising stopping this will be difficult. If you are prone to eating badly, such as eating too much sugar, then your cravings will be strong and anything that would negate the cravings would seem revolting, such as celery or exercise or breathing (something by the way that according to many great yogis and meditators the ordinary human being does very badly).

The solution is to pay attention to your food. See what you obsess over. See if you eat the same thing every night and constantly avoid certain foods. Start by writing down your cravings, your dislikes, the things you eat and the things you don't but wouldn't mind eating. Include fluids in your list as well. This will educate you to some extent as to where you are currently at with regard to your life-style.

Sugar is something that can upset all the organs that connect into the reproductive system. Sugar is what Candida needs in order to feed and over-run the body because Candida is essentially a fungus. You must remember that the body is a network and everything is interconnected. The stomach, kidneys, liver, spleen, lungs etc are all connected and affect each other. So if you have fungus and disease in the other organs it seems reasonable to suggest that getting pregnant will become difficult. A swollen liver will literally create extra pressure on the reproductive organs. It also seems reasonable to suggest that any fungus may spread to the other organs of the body and affect their function.

It may also according to holistic medicine, seem reasonable to suggest that any negativity forming in your thoughts due to an illness in one organ may open the door for further negativity creating more illness in other parts of the body.

Directly eating refined sugar affects the hormone balance and insulin levels. Both will affect your fertility. Hormone imbalance can occur as a result of eating sugar. That 'energy rush' that lasts all of 15 minutes to half an hour comes from a sharp rise in your blood sugar levels, but that 'high' soon plummets, leaving you drained and exhausted. Now in a state of emergency because your adrenal glands (also responsible for the secretion of sex hormones) are secreting extra cortisol - the so-called flight or fight hormone - in an attempt to replenish your system's sugar levels because glucose (which all food is converted into) is essential fuel for every body system. Over time, too much cortisol stimulated by chronic low blood sugar levels weakens your adrenal glands to the point where they produce lower levels of sex hormones thus potentially leading to a hormone imbalance that impacts fertility.

Overly high insulin levels result from high blood sugar. In order to get all this sugar out of the blood and into cells, where it's converted into energy, the pancreas has to keep secreting insulin. Excess insulin secretion eventually causes insulin resistance, which is known to be associated with infertility.

In summary, the answer, to anyone’s infertility issues are, individual. You can however give yourself a fighting chance by getting real with where you are at mentally and physically. Then do your best to get as healthy as possible in both realms without going to extremes. In other words, leave your loved ones alone! Never be an extremist, keep yourself in perspective. Being extreme is okay for a detox but permanently it's just annoying and an unhealthy mindset.

Oh and lay off the refined sugar! :)

If you have any more questions, drop me a line

Best wishes and good luck,

Sarah
 

Promote Healthy Eating Amongst Your Peers...

“How can I promote healthy eating among the staff at school?
We are part of the way.”

What a great question, and a difficult quest.

The question when trying to promote an ideal is at what point does it become enforcing the ideal? Healthy eating – whilst necessary and required for all human beings is still an individual choice and ultimately you can’t MAKE people choose to be healthy. You can however provide them with the information that they need to make an informed decision. Education about the apple in the Garden of Eden is one thing but removing the temptation is perhaps just as, if not more effective.

The reason why we make bad choices when it comes to food is often due to a lack of education. That is not to say that we haven’t been told, but just that we all too quickly forget. Often the only thing we remember when we go to eat something a little naughty is, that we might gain a little weight or our teeth may suffer. Yet sugar does more than rot your teeth, bad fats do more than make you fat, wheat, dairy, gluten and nuts may be the wrong thing for some people and the right thing for others.

So we need to promote healthy eating with education. Maybe it’s time to get a notice board in your staff room solely for health, drop copies of health articles on the chairs and tables in the staffroom and send out emails of fascinating stuff you have found like my series of articles “Have You Read the Label?

You can this exercise interactive, provide a roster, encouraging other staff members to be responsible for finding a week’s information. If you start reading it regularly, you will find it easier to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  

You could start a recipe of the week club in your staffroom. Again maybe using the roster idea or just making sure someone different is volunteering each week to provide a quick, easy and tasty recipe. People need to be involved with their food. They need to learn to love the flavours, the subtleties and the richness of good food. You can even go a step further and start placing some of the information and recipes in your newsletters to parents. In this way you will make the information so available that the whole community will soak up the knowledge. 

Mainly situated in secondary schools, vending machines can pose a problem as they ensure temptation is always there. Vending machines can also provide schools with money and can be hard to remove from schools because of contractual and other obligations. Why not therefore insist that the supplier only stocks the machine with healthy options. Looking at the bigger picture, if enough schools and organisations insisted on only stocking healthy products in them, it would be uneconomic for vendors to supply anything else.  

You could also place a healthy option by the vending machine or in a location that students and teachers will pass before they reach the machine such as a water cooler or in the staffroom an honesty box for a bowl of fruit and herbal or fancy black tea bags at cost price. Quite often a lack of pull on their purse strings may be enough to change their snack habits to healthier options.
Be aware though that the temptation will still be there and the pull of the sugary demon will prove too great for some to resist.  

Finally provide some jugs of water with some lemon or mint leaves everywhere you can. Add a few drops of stevia or a squeeze of lime or orange. You can even make your own iced tea using diluted green or white tea. Add flavours as above, a little raw honey (Be careful not to boil your honey) or stevia if it’s in your budget to make a refreshing cold drink. Water itself helps keep you alert and stifles cravings. Green or white tea and lemon or mint also does the same.

Well I hope this helps with your quest. If you’re already doing all of this then feel free to provide me with more specific details as to your efforts and your glitches.

Good Luck
Sarah Brook