Thoughts on the world, homeopathy, mindfulness and food...
A collection of blog posts - feel free to respond with your thoughts and comments - I love to have feedback - thank you!
Which was a rather sweepingly bold (or so I thought) statement I overhead recently. Not surprisingly coming from someone who works for a company that appears to make a lot of their income from selling supplements. Having had a year where the majority of my food intake has been fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds I would have to say that maybe this isn't quite true. Yes, food quality may have decreased somewhat since the 1950s which did seem to be a large part of his argument, but no, for me, so far so good and whilst I do supplement with Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D, this wasn't quite what he was referring to. But the good thing was that you could get yourself a shake that had everything you needed to kick start your day and get your system raring to go. And they even came in chocolate, strawberry, toffee apple or coffee flavours. Mmmmm. I think I'll stick to my fruity breakfast. That tastes like fruit for the simplest reason there is. Yup. It is fruit. What a revelation. I also heard a lot about protein and how our body requires lots of protein to function properly. The main problem (aside obviously from the absolute lack of nutrients and need to substitute them with a chocolate flavoured mix of dehydrated, extracted vitamins and minerals in a non optimised format (I say that as struggle to believe that we can beat nature at her own game - where is the natural fibre in it please for starters?)) is that none of us have enough protein. I'm aware this may be a contentious issue but even the World Health Organisation suggests that we require approximately 5% of our calorific intake to be from protein. Not a fact that the protein pushers would have us know. A banana has around 5% of it's calorific value which is protein. Milk, by which I mean the milk humans are designed to drink, breastmilk, has around 3% protein. This is the time we are growing the most, that we need the most protein. Fully formed, grown ups, I don't believe that we need the 30% protein that many of us ingest on a daily basis. Studies would suggest that maybe we don't, and that in some instances an excess of protein (in particular from animal sources) may be a negative thing for us, leading us down the track of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune illnesses and more. But back to the supplements, I think I'll take my chances, know what I'm getting (as much as you can these days!) in my actual food and leave the science fiction out of my diet for now. With peace and acceptance that there's a million ways to do anything and nothing means my way is the 'right' one either! Em x PS I did want to say that should you have deficiences in a diet that I believe supplements can be great - however as a matter of course and on a daily basis my view is that we can gain the majority of what we need from a whole food plant based diet with no struggle. Sadly there is no sunshine. Yet. So we continue with the VitD through the winter...
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I just discovered it's World Diabetes Day today. I wasn't entirely sure what the purpose of it was so googled it and found the International Diabetes Federation with a picture of lots of people and emblazoned across them the slogan 'Let's Celebrate'. Which seemed, at least to me, to be a little odd. Let's celebrate that we are experiencing unprecedented growth in a serious condition? Let's celebrate that due to the number of children getting diabetes the label 'Adult Onset Diabetes' has been dropped and now is called Type 2 Diabetes? So I looked further and found the following 4 key messages of the 2013 campaign:
'There is substantial evidence that achieving a healthy body weight and moderate physical activity can help prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. In primary prevention there is an important role for the diabetes educator to help people understand the risks and set realistic goals to improve health. IDF recommends a goal of at least 30 minutes of daily exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, cycling or dancing. Regular walking for at least 30 minutes per day, for example, has been shown to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by 35-40%.' But it still felt pretty woolly to me. What if though there was a way to reverse Type 2 diabetes and to never get it in the first place? Would you want to know about that? If it was of no greater cost than your usual shopping bill, of no greater hassle than simply cooking your meals? And surely you'd want the International Diabetes Federation to tell you about it? I would anyway. I'd want them to be shouting it from the roof tops. And, not that I want to fly in the face of medical convention (well OK I'm alright about that really I suppose) - what if there was a way that someone with Type 1 diabetes could be no longer reliant on insulin? Surely that would make front page news?? It seems not. But research would suggest that there is a way. There is study after study demonstrating that patients with Type 2 diabetes who are dependent on insulin can relieve that dependency by the simple adoption of a whole food, plant based diet. I have read studies of Type 1 diabetes been affected positively and have heard of several people becoming no longer insulin dependent. Not everyone - although nearly everyone was able to significantly reduce their insulin dose. And why are the IDF not stood on the rooftops? I can only imagine that the influence of the food industry is too huge. And so I suggest people could take it into their own hands, take back control of their own health and be your own doctor. Use the diagnostic skills that you need to use - work under the guidance of your doctor but try out eating plant based, minimal oils and whole foods. It might well surprise you more than you'd ever expected. I do want to stress that last point again. Do work with the guidance of your doctor. Changes can be fast and it's important to be aware of your blood sugar levels so you're acting appropriately with medication that you may already be taking. |
AuthorI'm a Homeopath working in the Skipton (North Yorkshire) area. I am also able to offer food intolerance testing using Kinesiology and advice around diet and lifestyle. |
07734 861297
em@emmacolley.co.uk Em Colley Homeopath Practitioner of Classical Homeopathy BSc(Hons) Psychology and Neuroscience Laughter Yoga Leader Focussed Mindfulness Practitioner |