Fatigue is one of the most pervasive illnesses on the planet. Last time I looked, fatigue was a symptom in about 260 different diseases.
Either the diseases are causing the fatigue, or the fatigue is causing the disease or what ever is causing the disease is also causing the fatigue (remember associated factors are not causes).
This being Naturality, I'm not going to give you the normal garbage of "eat a balanced diet" and "exercise regularly" because we all know that doesn't work. So here are my insider secrets for beating fatigue:
Breakfast cereals are not "health" foods. They are processed foods that come in a packet. Those not high in fat and sugar are completely devoid of any nutritional value. The "high fibre" foods have been stripped of at least 22 natural vitamins and minerals and they are then "enriched" with 5 synthetic ones. If I took 22 English pounds off you and gave you back 5 French Francs, would you feel enriched? Others are made almost entirely of wheat bran is too rough for most people's digestion and the sugar and fat raises insulin which puts you into fat storage mode and makes it difficult for you to lose weight. If you want fibre, eat vegetables.
Instead - eat real food. Real food is stuff that grows. In fact, real food is food that rots, spoils and goes off. Fruits, vegetables (yes, carrots for breakfast, they're yummy), soup, eggs, avocado and very occasionally a whole grain like porridge or millet. Try it for 2 weeks, you'll be amazed.
TV and computer watching activates the brain without tiring the body. Switching them off will give you a chance to calm your mind before bed - which hopefully will be before 10pm. This will give you lots of time to get the 7 or 8 hours sleep you need.
Dairy products seem to stimulate the mind long after the body is exhausted. That nice cup of Horlicks or evening chocolate can play havoc with your adrenal glands and keep you up long past your watershed.
If you like a hot drink at bedtime, try rice milk with a little (1/2tsp) cocoa powder, sweetened if you like with maple syrup or brown rice syrup.
These stimulants will do nothing to help you sleep. Although you might think they are giving you energy, they do so by elevating your blood sugar levels, giving you an insulin response and the a very stressful sugar low later. If you tend to wake through the night, try cutting out the tea and coffee
Drink Rooibush tea with rice milk as a refreshing alternative to traditional tea.
Sounds crazy doesn't it. Exercise when you're tired? That's exactly what you need to do. Exercise, especially running, uses your calf muscles. Experiments in cats have proven than contraction of calf muscles directly stimulates the adrenal glands. More circulating adrenal hormones will fire up your energy, enthusiasm and stamina. This is why runners get a "high" from running.
If you want to boost your energy from running, you don't have to run for 45 minutes at a time, just 10 minutes will do - if you do it right. What you need is maximum effort in small bursts. Hill sprints are a great way to get fit and feel better quickly. Walk or jog slowly to the bottom of a hill. Choose two landmarks about 50 yards apart (two telegraph poles are fine) then sprint as hard as you can between them. Slow down and walk or jog slowly back to your starting point. Do the same again. Do as many as you feel comfortable with (usually 8-10) and then go home. Try to do more for longer each time you go. Three times a week is maximum, you need the recovery in between.
NB Please don't try hill sprints if you are not confident in your ability to do them. If you're not sure about whether you should be doing them or not, have a checkover at Naturality Wellness Centre.
When I was at high school, I always used to take my watch off during school holidays and I noticed I felt better for doing it. Naturally, I thought it was because I was less conscious of time. Now I know it is because I was no longer stimulating the withdrawal reflex.
How does a watch or neckchain make you tired? It causes muscle inhibition. Some neckchains irritate nerves in the skin. These nerves connect directly to muscles which then try to pull you away from the irritation, just as they would do if you had a knife poking into you, or someone was tickling you. This is called the withdrawal reflex. The withdrawal reflex activates some muscles and de-activates others. Chronically de-activated muscles burn less calories and provide less stimulation to the brain than they should do and this makes you tired.
Take the two-week challenge. Remove all jewellery, especially piercings and see how you feel. If your jewellery was affecting you, you will be amazed at the difference. If it wasn't, you can put your jewellery back on and you have lost nothing.
Both nasty energy zappers. Sugars are hidden in many foods and starches. Bad fats are heated vegetable oils which include margarines, crisps and chips. Stick to butter and olive oil for frying (olive oil is a mono-unsaturated oil which means it is stable under high temperatures, as opposed to polyunsaturates which turn into nasty trans-fats when they are heated.
If you want the ultimate energy boost - try having just raw food for a week. Some people live like this for years. It is difficult but for some it is the only way. Excessive consumption of salads and fruits is the trick, combines with avocados, nuts and seeds.
What do you do for fun? Do you have a list of things that fill your tank emotionally? Do you do them every day. It's great to have a passion for what you do, it's even better to have a passion for life. Work on your list and do something great every day.
We are very pleased to welcome two of Berkhamsted's top acupuncturists to Naturality
Rebecca Avern has moved her very successful acupuncture practise to our clinic. She will be practising here on Tuesdays and Fridays. You can reach Rebecca on 01442 879213. Her website is http://www.berkhamsted-acupuncture.com/.
Sean Heneghan is a colleague of Rebecca who has also joined Naturality. Sean Heneghan holds a BSc (hons) degree in Acupuncture from the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine and practices an integrated Five Element and Traditional style.
Sean is a member of the British Acupuncture Council which is the main regulatory body for the practice of Acupuncture in the UK. He will be available Thursdays and Saturdays. Please book through clinic reception on 01442 800400. You can contact Sean on 07717 515 013 or via his website which is www.seanheneghan.com.
Jean Gale is quite pleased at her progress. When she started with us in May she was taking a lot of medication and felt her body was only working about 60%. She had taken thyroxine for 15years, blood pressure tablets for 4 years, tablets for Meniere's disease, tablets to reduce her cholesterol, and salbutamol for her breathing. Even with the tablets, her blood pressure was 180/95.
Two months later, her blood pressure is 145/80 and she is on NO medication. She feels great.
Well done Jean! Our star for this month.
Do you or one of your family have a story you would like to share? We are always looking for testimonials, especially ones written by the friends and family members of our patients. All we need is a couple of paragraphs stating how you (or they) used to be and how you are after your treatment. How has it changed your life?
By sharing your story, you save other people from years of suffering. People who would otherwise think they had to live with their problem.
The Truth about cosmetics is now being told in the mainstream media. The daily mail picked up the story this week in an article entitled "Is your bubble bath safe?" .Of course, it's not. Neither is your toothpaste, shampoo, body cream or sunblock. If you don't want to risk your health and the environment with synthetic petrochemicals, you need to stick to cosmetic ranges that have no synthetics in them. The Miessence range contains only ingredients known to be beneficial and, because of the international food-grade organic certification, the company has to be able to trace every ingredient back to the organic farm on which it was grown. These products are available in the clinic or via our website www.naturality.org.uk. If you join as an independent distributor, you can get discounts on the products which increase with the size of your order.
Many Naturality clients have already given up their toxic toiletries. They come back and ask "What's next?
Next is all those toxic cleaning products lurking deep inside your cupboards. Do you know that it is possible to completely clean your house, in half the time, using a fraction of the water for a fraction of the cost? Naturally, we have the solution. We are now addicted to our Enjo cleaning system and we are pleased to recommend it to our patients. Enjo is only sold via consultants who will happily come and demonstrate the system in your home and leave you samples to try. No pressure or obligation (they don't need pressure, the system sells itself). Just wait until you try the car cleaning glove. No chemicals, no rinsing, no need to worry about the hose-pipe ban.
If you would like an Enjo consultant to come and help you clean your house, just ask Jane at reception or ring 01442 800400 and she can arrange an appointment for you.
For all the dire health problems associated with aspartame -- the worst of them being cancer -- the original "anything-but-sugar" substitute may have an ideal purpose to exist, not as a food additive, but as an ant poison
Already aware of aspartame's origins as a toxic chemical, a health-conscious consumer with an ant problem emptied one packet of aspartame in the corner of each of her bathrooms two years ago. The "sweet" solution worked brilliantly, as she's seen no signs of carpenter ants crawling around for the past year.
Aspartame may be just the thing for getting rid of fire ants (impervious to many poisons) too, although this solution takes a bit more effort. Initially, fire ants ignored their aspartame treat until a light rain moistened it. After the rain, however, the fire ants came back with a vengeance, taking the aspartame back to the mound by the hundreds. Within two days, any evidence that fire ants existed at all, save for an empty mound, vanished.
No mystery aspartame works like a pesticide, as the asparctic acid contained in this toxic product is a well-documented excitotoxin that causes specific brain cells to become excessively excited to the point they quickly die, just as both kinds of ants did.
Makes you wonder if aspartame is a far safer, better alternative to getting rid of lawn and home pests than the average toxic pesticides found at your neighbourhood hardware store ...
That's it for this month. Hope you enjoyed it.
I won't be
in the clinic this Saturday 9th of September as my teaching programme
has started again. Reception will be open to help other practitioners
who will be working that morning.
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