HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE?

Posted on January 30, 2015January 30, 2015 by jenny

February is heart health month –

..so over the next few weeks we are going to be having a look at the ways in which natural medicine may help you achieve a healthy heart. Starting with high blood pressure.

IN THE DIET

Most people are aware that salt is linked to high blood pressure, so obviously you should try not to add it to your cooking or at the table. Also be aware that certain foods like bacon, ham, cheese and tuna in brine, will have a very high salt level, so try to limit their consumption too.

On top of this we would suggest that you want to limit your intake of caffeine, as this can raise the blood pressure. You may also want to make sure you are drinking enough water. Becoming dehydrated is another common cause of higher blood pressure.

HELP FROM SUPPLEMENTS

There are two supplements that are often used by people who are trying to reduce their blood pressure naturally. Both are actually made using concentrated amounts of really common foods!

BEETROOT: Beetroot is these days, often the first choice for people with high blood pressure. This is thanks to reports in the newspapers that people who were drinking a big glass of beetroot juice every day found that their blood pressure decreased dramatically within a few days!

The problem with this though is that beetroot juice is not to everyone’s taste. Plus if you do start drinking a full glass every day your wee tends to turn red – which can be disturbing! This is why Beetroot Capsules were brought out – to give people the benefit of beetroot, without having to take the juice everyday. We have had some great feedback on it, with one gentleman informing us that after using beetroot for two weeks his blood pressure was the best it had been for years!

GARLIC: The other favourite natural remedy for high blood pressure is Garlic! Again you do need a strong dose though and many people do not like the potential that they will smell of this most pungent food.
It is for this reason that we often suggest those looking for a good strong garlic supplement try Quest Kyolic 600. This is a concentrated aged garlic. The ageing process actually gets rid of a lot of the smell, so no worries about bad breath! Plus each tablet has 600mg of garlic – a great amount. There has been a lot of research done on Quest Kyolic, but I always tend to prefer customer feedback and I have to say, that is consistently good. So many people return to buy another pot each month, that I know it must be helping them – after all no one carries on buying something that isn’t helping, do they?

If you have high blood pressure and want some help:

We are running a blood pressure challenge – challenge us to help you reduce your blood pressure in two weeks! Is it possible? We want to find out!

Weight Loss Woes

Posted on January 23, 2015January 23, 2015 by jenny

DIETING DRAMAS

THE QUICK FIX

One thing that really upsets me, especially during the month of January, is the amount of ‘quick fix’, extreme and fad diet regimes that are promoted.

It is seemingly never ending – programs on TV, adverts, and social media all promoting the idea that we must lose some weight and we must do it quickly. Extreme exercise regimes and/or hugely restrictive diets may yield quick results. However, they are never sustainable and often the weight piles back on again, leaving you feeling more rotten than you did before!

The other problem is that all of these regimes promote the idea that weight loss is a simple matter of reducing calories in and increasing exercise. This is not always the case.

METABOLIC ISSUES

As I said last week, through our weight loss clinic we have discovered many different metabolic and emotional issues, which affect our clients ability to lose weight. If these are not taken into account, people will always struggle. In my opinion, understanding your possible metabolic issues and dealing with stress, anxiety and emotions will have a much greater effect long term on your ability and motivation to lose weight and keep it off.

UNDERACTIVE THYROID?

For example, we have discovered that there are many, many people out there struggling with a mildly under-active thyroid, which is responsible for poor weight loss, low motivation and low energy. If you suffer with a number of the following symptoms, this could be one of your issues as well:
Sensitive to cold;

low mood;
weight gain;
dry skin;
low energy;
menstrual problems;
muscle and joint pain;
forgetfulness;
falling hair;
anxiety.

If this does sound like you, then it is possible that until this is dealt with, energy, motivation, mood and therefore weight loss are always going to be a struggle for you. On top of this, if you do get desperate enough to try an extreme regime, there is the possibility that your metabolism could slow down even further!

So what is the solution?

IF YOU DO NOT TAKE THYROID MEDICATION:

Try Higher Nature Thyroid Support Formula. This contains all the nutrients known to support better thyroid function. I have used this for a number of people in our weight loss clinic and each time been impressed with the improvements in mood, energy and weight loss that follow.

IF YOU DO TAKE THYROID MEDICATION ALREADY:

Your body may not be using it efficiently. We have discovered that your body has to convert your thyroid medication into its active form and that the mineral selenium is needed for this. Therefore we often suggest that people who do take thyroid medication try Natures Aid Selenium for a couple of months and again we have been impressed with the feedback we have received.
FOR MORE HELP
If you are unsure what metabolic issues you may have, we are happy to provide a free metabolic analysis. To do this, click the link below, download your questionnaire and send it back to us when you have completed it. This should help you understand how to take more control not just of your weight loss, but also of you energy, mood and motivation as well.

Detox and Cleansing

Posted on January 23, 2015January 23, 2015 by jenny

WHAT IS IT?
Many people talk about detox and cleansing but what should it actually mean. If we ignore all the celebrity endorsements and wild claims. If we also ignore fad and extreme diets – does detox and cleansing still have a role to play?
IT SHOULD…
The simple answer is yes. It helps to support the proper functioning of your body and your metabolism. It helps to clear toxins like alcohol, medications, tea and coffee and environmental toxins from your body. It should help to clear out a sluggish bowel.
It should make your feel better, help you lose weight and give you better skin.
It should be simple to follow with sensible dietary instructions and supportive supplements.
It should take around 5-10 days to do it properly, but that shouldn’t be a problem, because the diet will be sensible and easy to follow and the supplements supportive and strengthening rather than string and purging.
IT SHOULD NOT..
It should not involve extreme dieting or fasting – in fact your body needs good healthy food in order to detox properly, so a sensible diet is necessary to achieve the right result.
It should not involve anything which is purging – this is unnecessary and very unpleasant. The supplements should facilitate a bowel cleanse without any urgent toilet visits.
It should not claim to give you results in 48 hours or less, because this is genuinely not possible. Your body needs at least 5 days to cleanse and detox properly.
TO HELP…
We have a number of articles on Detox and cleansing and a number of supportive supplements. Have a look and you will see that there are a number of different ways to detox and cleanse you body, largely depending on what you want to achieve…

Beat that Bloated Stomach

Posted on January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 by jenny

BLOATED STOMACH? WINDY?
BEAT THE BLOAT…
Last week we started looking at simple detox regimes to clear out the bowel and liver. One of the questions I am often asked is whether detox regimes actually work or are they just celebrity hype. My answer is always that the regimes which are often in the paper are usually extreme and unnecessary. Anything offering quick weight loss and an extreme diet is never going to be sustainable, nor are the results going to last.
However, done correctly, with the right support and for the right reasons detox and cleansing can be extremely beneficial.
Many people suffer with a bloated stomach for example. They may wake with a flat stomach which then grows throughout the day. For others that bloated stomach may never go away. This bloating may also be accompanied by low energy – feeling tired all the time. It is also often linked with bowel issues and maybe even recurrent thrush problems. A ‘Beat the Bloat’ detox may be just the thing to sort this out.
Beat the Bloat detox is designed to kill off the unfriendly, fermentative bacteria in your gut – the ones that are linked with causing bloating, bowel problems and thrush. It will also boost up the numbers of good bacteria, which should help to keep things healthy long term.
This is achieved with the following methods:
IN THE DIET:
We suggest cutting out all sugars for two weeks, including fruit and fruit juices. The reason for this is because the sugars feed the fermentation process which is usually behind all that bloating. Sugar also feeds the unfriendly bacteria that are linked with thrush. Cutting it out therefore will help to starve the bad bacteria out!
TO KILL THE BADDIES:
We often suggest a course of citricidal – a liquid extract from the grapefruit seed. Citricidal is said to have natural anti bacterial and anti fungal activity. Certainly the feedback we have had indicates that whilst this supplement may not taste the best (it is horrid in my opinion) it certainly seems to help a number of people with their bloated stomach and bowel issues.
TO BOOST THE GOODIES:
My favourite product to try and boost the number of good bacteria in the gut is Higher Narures ProBio Daily. I have personally used this product and found that it made a tremendous difference both to my bloating and my bowel habits! I will say that for the first few days I used it, I actually felt more bloated and unsettled, but after that first few days my bloating disappeared completely, leaving me feeling so much more comfortable.
I have used this Beat the Bloat detox on a number of people over the years, including one lady with terrible thrush, IBS and bloating. She cut the sugars out of her diet and took the citricidal and ProBio daily for two weeks and at the end reported that everything had settled down beautifully. She carried on using the ProBio every day and was able to maintain the benefits she had achieved.