Entries from June 2007 ↓

A couple of years ago I had my first ever naturopath appointment because I was feeling a bit out of balance, my skin was really dry, I was tired a lot and I kept feeling like I was about to get a cold or flu. The naturopath asked me what I was eating and when I gave him the rundown he said my diet was ‘poor’. I was shocked! I knew my diet wasn’t that great, but poor! I went straight from the appointment to the supermarket and loaded up my trolley with fruit and vegetables. His comments were enough motivation to completely change my diet, which led to a keen interest in nutritional medicine.

I combined my new diet with exercise and I felt fantastic! My symptoms went away, I was no longer tired all the time, my skin was looking great and without even thinking about it or trying to, I dropped an entire dress size.

Good nutrition is really easy

It’s not rocket science, eating well is actually really basic. These are my healthy eating guidelines (and what I did after my visit to the naturopath):

• Keep it as natural as possible and preferably organic. Have as much fresh fruit and vegetables as you want.
• Avoid all processed foods – everything in a packet is processed.
• Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. I stopped drinking during the week. I was never a big drinker anyway so the most I ended up having was a couple of beers or a glass of wine on weekends.
• Buy some vegetarian cookbooks. The good thing about eating vegetarian foods is you eat more vegetables. I loved the vegetarian food I was cooking so much that I stopped buying meat, much to my then boyfriend’s disgust. I still never buy red meat or chicken to cook at home, the meat I have when I eat out is enough for me.
• Variety is really important, don’t eat too much of the one food. I eat too much bread in my diet so I try to eat rice for lunch if I had toast for breakfast or cereal for breakfast if I’m having bread for lunch. I’ll also mix my grains up, I like to buy rye or spelt bread so I’m not eating so much wheat.
• Avoid refined flours and sugars. There’s a whole new blog post in this one so I won’t go into too much detail just yet. To quickly sum it up, refined flours and sugars have very little nutritional value and can make you feel tired and put on weight. Next time you’re buying a loaf of bread or cereal check the ingredients. What you need to look for is whole grains.
• Drink less dairy or try dairy alternatives. Read my ‘Cow’s milk is for calves’ blog post, I drink rice milk now.

Really all I did was cut refined flour out of my diet. I ate a lot less sugar, red meat, chicken, dairy and alcohol, and as much fruit and vegetables as I wanted. I also try to avoid everything processed or in a packet. When I go food shopping now it’s almost a game, I suss out everyone else’s trolley to see if I’m the healthiest one there. Sounds crazy but it’s kind of fun. Give it a go!

Frances Kerr

I’ve talked about my weak digestive system in previous posts. This problem is partially due to allergies and partially due to an energy blockage around my solar plexus, or Manipura chakra. One of the many physical symptoms I get from this weak digestive system is a production of a lot of ear wax, it’s a bit gross I know. Apart from being a bit yuck and really annoying, this overproduction of ear wax makes my hearing not as good as it should be.

I’ve always considered ear candling to be a good solution. For those of you who are not familiar with the process of ear candling, I’ll refer you to about.com which has a great pictorial. If you’re a little bit squeamish, be careful there’s ear wax in these photos!

Ear Candling Pictorial
http://healing.about.com/od/earcandling/ig/Ear-Candling/?once=true&

How my appointment went

What I wasn’t prepared for was how relaxing the procedure would be. The warmth from the candle and the beautiful little crackling noises were incredibly relaxing. Each ear took around 20 minutes so by the time the practitioner was half way through my second ear I was fighting to keep my eyes open, all I wanted to do was fall asleep! There was no pain at all and I couldn’t feel any kind of suction or vacuum. Occasionally I felt a slight warm liquid feeling in my ear as if wax and liquid were moving around but it wasn’t unpleasant.

Even though ear wax was successfully sucked out of my ears, the procedure didn’t work as well as it should because I have small ear canals. Apparently ear candling doesn’t work as well for those with smaller than average ear canals. It still moved a lot around though and I did feel a bit clearer in my ears, nose and sinuses. I also felt quite light headed after the procedure and waited about an hour before I felt confident enough to drive. I was advised by my practitioner to drink a lot of water to prevent a throat infection from post nasal drip.

The not so good part

That evening my sinuses felt quite sore and continued to be sore on and off for the next few weeks. I blame my small ear canals, I’m sure it moved everything around but didn’t do a good enough job of getting everything out. Unfortunately the sinus problem will probably prevent me from getting ear candling again which is a pity because the procedure was so beautiful and relaxing and I know it works incredibly well for a lot of people.

My practitioner advised me to put two drops of tea tree oil into each ear then put a cotton wool ball in my ears to stop the oil from running out. This softens the ear wax which helps it to come out by itself. She thought this may be a better alternative for me than ear candling and all the other over the counter ear wax products on the market. I haven’t tried this yet but I definitely intend to.

The appointment cost $50 and lasted about an hour. I recommend ear candling to anyone who has a problem with blocked ears from too much ear wax, except for those like me who have small ear canals. I also recommend trying the drops of tea tree oil, it’s practically free, natural and you can do it yourself. I’ll definitely be giving it a go.

Frances Kerr

Interestingly, humans are the only mammals that continue to drink the milk of other species. Cows milk for example is designed for the building of a calf, so it makes me wonder what the health benefits are for us considering we’re humans not calves.

I reduced my dairy intake a while ago in an attempt to control my hay fever symptoms. Dairy is mucus-forming so the more dairy I drink the more mucus I get and therefore the more hay fever. I find if I have as much dairy as I want then I’ll get a sniffly nose and sneezing most mornings. When I cut my dairy intake down the problem is gone.

What’s so bad about dairy?

There are actually heaps of disadvantages to drinking cows milk, including:

• The obvious, dairy is high in fat.
• Pasteurisation and homogenisation (check the milk carton, most commercially sold milk go through these processes) alter the protein structure of milk and kill nutrients.
• Dairy is highly mucus forming, this one I notice a lot.
• Cows milk can increase allergies such as asthma, sinusitis, dermatitis, eczema and hay fever.
• Contributes to conditions such as candidiasis, fibroids, PMS, reproductive system problems, headaches, migraines and bowel disorders.
• Can cause bloating, stomach cramps, flatulence, respiratory problems and worsen arthritic conditions.
• Just like any non-organic foods, residues of hormones, steroids and antibiotics given to cows are found in the milk.

Cows milk is also difficult to digest

There’s an enzyme in the human stomach called ‘rennin’ which helps digest the milk. This enzyme decreases in most children by age eight which makes it hard for the human stomach to digest the milk. In addition, the enzyme lactase which is needed to break down the milk is deficient in most adults. This is where ‘lactose intolerant’ comes from. Surprisingly, 70% of people can’t tolerate cow’s milk.

It’s also important to consider that raw milk is far richer in vitamins and minerals than processed milk. Unfortunately Australia is one of the few countries that don’t allow the production of certified raw cow’s milk, cheese and yoghurt.

What are the dairy alternatives?

Continue reading →

In a previous post I talked about how I once gave up sugar for a recurring case of Candidiasis. I’ve tried to block it out of my memory because it was really unpleasant but I think I suffered on and off with the condition for a period of 12-24 months. Most doctors were very unhelpful. All they did was refer me to over the counter creams at the chemist which cleared it up for a week or two but then it would come straight back. I kept mentioning the pill to doctors because that was the only different thing in my life. They all assured me there was no way the contraceptive pill could cause my problem. Bollocks.

The GP / natural therapist I finally went to that got rid of the problem completely, and note I haven’t had the problem ever again, looked at me strangely and said ‘of course the pill can cause vaginal thrush’. She put me on a strict no sugar, alcohol or yeast diet for a month, told me to stop taking the pill and referred me to more of those over the counter creams I was now so familiar with. It took a couple of weeks, but of course, it worked.

Why the pill can cause thrush

Unfortunately there’s no conclusive evidence as to why the pill can cause recurring Candidiasis. Even though I feel like my past experience is enough evidence!

There are a few theories out there which all seem to be very similar to each other. It essentially comes down to a continuous unnatural stimulation of the hormonal system which creates an imbalance in the body. These theories include:

• Taking the contraceptive pill can increase levels of the hormone oestrogen in the body, which alters the natural alkaline balance of the vagina, providing a fertile breeding ground for thrush over the ‘friendly’ bacteria.
• The progesterone component of the pill appears to encourage candida growth, which is particularly noticeable in the second half of the menstrual cycle.
• Thrush also thrives in a sugary environment, which is very common during pregnancy when there is a natural increase in the sugar content of the vagina. If too much sugar is produced without being converted into an acidic substance, the vagina loses its natural protection and provides an ideal breeding ground for thrush. The pill works by copying many of the conditions of pregnancy and thereby produces ideal conditions for thrush.

I haven’t taken the pill now for about six years, and haven’t had a single case of Candidiasis during this time. My experiences have made me a bit wary about trying the pill again, even with these new low dose pills doctors keep telling me about. That’s another thing, some doctors act shocked when I tell them I’m not on the pill. Their attitude is kind of ‘what is your problem?’. The last doctor I went to, probably a month ago, even said to me ‘the pill isn’t just about preventing babies you know.’. Well, what are women taking it for then? I personally don’t think putting unnatural hormones and chemicals into my body is worth an easy fix for acne and PMS.

Cancer and the contraceptive pill

This is an interesting question. Can the pill increase or decrease the risk of certain cancers? Consider one of the main causes of cancer – a continuous overuse of unnatural chemicals in the body from sources such as foods, medications, cosmetics and your surrounding environment.

The cancer council of Australia released a heavily referenced position statement in January 2006 outlining the cancer risks for women who take the contraceptive pill. The key messages include:

• An increased risk for developing cervical and breast cancer.
• A protection against endometrial and ovarian cancers.

They also state that further research needs to be done to assess the long term affects of taking the pill. That I find a bit scary.

Position statement, combined oral contraceptives and cancer risk
http://www.cancer.org.au/documents/Combined%20oral%20
contraceptives%20and%20cancer%20risk.pdf

It may seem like it but I’m not against the pill at all. I think it’s a great way to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I just feel that women who aren’t sexually active that are taking the pill for alternative reasons need to be wary of the possible side affects. In my experiences I wasn’t informed of any side effects nor did doctors really talk to me to find out why I would want to take the pill and what my options were. Luckily for me I found a doctor who fixed my problem and I’m grateful for that. In my case it seems obvious that the contraceptive pill was the cause of my recurring Candidiasis.

I went to see my Chinese Herbalist a week ago who’s turned into a bit of a counselor as well. He’s been helping me with some physical and emotional stuff, I guess it makes sense because the two are connected. Every time I go I complain about my pimples and he usually ignores me, brushing it off as just another outcome to some emotional stuff. This time I decided to make him aware of how much it affects my self esteem and how it’s constantly on my mind. I mean really, I’m in my late twenties, I should be over the whole acne thing by now.

Thankfully this time he listened and even asked me to show him these pimples. I had makeup on at the time and my no sugar diet has helped a lot so I admit, he did have to get up pretty close. But, he saw them and modified my herbs to add something to help, and he gave me these tiny little tablets that look a lot like paw paw seeds. I don’t know if it was the herbs or the paw paw seeds but when I got out of the shower today I could really notice the difference. I’m currently in the danger time for acne, in that nasty week before my period where I’m sad, grumpy, a bit sore and usually totally breaking out. Miraculously, my skin has been improving! I’m starting to wonder whether these little paw paw seeds are the reason.

What are they?

They’re not really paw paw seeds, these tablets are called ‘Xiao Yong Wan’ and are for relieving Carbuncles. If you’re like me and don’t know what Carbuncles are, I’ve already googled it. Apparently they’re pus-filled bumps that form under your skin when bacteria infect and inflame one or more of your hair follicles. Yep, that’s a bit gross but it’s a pimple.

I take 12 of these little tablets twice a day with warm water, 1/2 to 1 hour away from food. Further googling revealed they work by clearing heat and toxicity and promoting blood circulation. Very interesting considering I know for a fact that I always have a problem with too much heat in my body and I have poor blood circulation. The tablets also reduce swelling and promote the discharge of pus, which is a bit yuck. I also discovered there’s a reason why these tablets are for practitioner dispensing only, they can be combined with other herbs depending on the condition. I guess this is what my doctor did when he modified my usual herbs.

I’d say there’s another week left of tablets before I run out, and I’m not seeing my doctor for another two weeks. Hopefully by week two all this giving up sugar and taking supplements will give me skin I’m proud of.

Frances Kerr