Insomnia is one of the most common imbalances faced in today’s world.  A number of factors can contribute, including the use of stimulants, lack of exercise, excess stress and dropping melatonin levels. It is known that a good night’s sleep keeps your brain and body healthy, and is vital for achieving vibrant health. Here are some ways to aid getting a great sleep:

• HAVE A REGULAR TIME FOR SLEEPING.  Going to sleep at around the same time allows your body’s circadian rhythm to normalize.  The best times for being asleep are generally at 10pm until 2 am. It is during these times that the immune system regenerates.

• ADD SOME EXERCISE RELAXATION INTO YOUR DAY.  Making sure you have some time during the day for aerobic exercise, yoga, meditation or deep breathing techniques can do wonders to reduce stress hormones in your body and prepare you for a good night’s sleep.

• AVOID STIMULANTS AFTER LUNCH.  Caffeine-containing beverages, including tea/coffee/cola drinks will all interfere with getting restful sleep.

• MOVE ELECTROMAGNETIC DEVICES AWAY FROM YOUR BED.  Electric devices such as an alarm clock in close proximity to your body (ie within one metre) will affect your electrical conductivity of your brain, affecting your ability to sleep peacefully.  Consider attaining an EMF protection device, available from www.biopro.com.au or a Barefoot Connections ® Queen Size Earthing Sheet.

• CHECK YOUR MELATONIN LEVELS. Melatonin is an important hormone produced by the pineal gland in response to darkness at night. Studies have shown that those working shift work, keeping sleep times, or with adrenal fatigue may have low levels of melatonin. Melatonin levels seem to also drop around the late 40s to the early 50s.  You can check your levels via a simple salivary test, ordered by your practitioner.  Supplement melatonin if low.

• CHECK FOR AN ESTROGEN/PROGESTERONE IMBALANCE. A dominance of estrogens in the system relative to progesterone can interfere with sleep as progesterone is a relaxant.  Detoxifying excessive estrogens out of the system may be an important part of holistic treatment for insomnia.

Underactive Thyroid is a colloquial term for hypothyroidism, usually caused by an autoimmune condition called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. This condition appears to be significantly undiagnosed and undertreated. There are a number of nutritional and dietary factors however which play an important role.

Common symptoms of an underactive thyroid include:

1. Fatigue and low energy levels
2. Weight gain and difficulty losing weight
3. Fuzzy thinking and poor concentration
4. Hair loss and poor quality of nails
5. Intolerance to cold weather and changes in body temperature

Some tips that may help the thyroid rebuild:

• Supplement with iodine, zinc, selenium, tyrosine and B vitamins
• Important superfoods to include are maca (a South American root which balances hormones), coconut oil, brazil nuts, kelp or dulse and B pollen.
• Avoid overfeeding on soy products and brassica vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
• Eliminate refined carbohydrates and sugars so as to balance blood glucose. This includes most grains.
• Determine your metabolic type and eat in accordance with it.
• Check for heavy metal toxicity in the system and get onto a holistic protocol to detoxify these out of your system
• Look into your glutathione levels, an important cellular defence nutrient. Supplementing this is particularly useful in autoimmune thyroid disease.
• Test for intolerance to gluten grains such as wheat, oats, barley and rye with anti-gliadin antibodies and tissue transglutaminase antibodies. Once tested, trial a two to three week exclusion and rechallenge of all gluten grains to observe for adverse symptoms.

The following tests and treatments can be useful:

• Take your basal body temperature for at least one week per month and aim for an early morning temperature of 36.5 degrees or above.
• Consider a thyroid reflex test to look at intracellular levels of thyroid function
• Have your thyroid levels checked including free T3 and free T4, a “reverse T3”, DHEA and vitamin D3 levels
• In some cases, natural thyroid extract or T4/T3 combinations may be needed.

Recent observations are that in some people, high-dose iodine can aggravate the immune response against the thyroid gland and worsen a thyroid condition. It is recommended to start with low doses with iodine and monitor with ongoing thyroid testing.

Insulin is the hormone produced by the pancreas in response to sugar entering into the bloodstream. Generally high glycaemic sugars such as white or raw sugar, white flour products, fructose, honey and cooked animal fat appear to all raise the insulin levels and cause the cells to become resistant to insulin. This causes an increase in abdominal fat, fatty liver disease, increases in blood pressure and cholesterol (particularly triglycerides) and promotes inflammation in the body. Other conditions associated with insulin resistance are polycystic ovarian syndrome, ischaemic heart disease, obesity and cancer.

Below are some tips to keep insulin levels down:

1. AVOID SWEETENERS OTHER THAN XYLITOL OR STEVIA. Most sweeteners (including honey) raise blood sugar levels, and thus insulin. Artificial sweeteners often act as excitotoxins in the brain and can contribute to neurodegenerative conditions. Xylitol is a polyol extracted from birch sap. Stevia is a sweet leaf and the sweetener contains no glucose or fructose. Both can be   purchased from your local health food store. The ideal type of stevia is a green powder, not the   clear drops.
2. MINIMIZE SOFT DRINKS.  Most soft drinks and even some commercial juices contain high fructose corn syrup, sugar and/or caffine. Stick with water and herbal teas for optimal reduction of insulin levels and longevity.
3. EAT LOW GLYCAEMIC FRUIT ONLY.  Sweet fruit such as mangoes, bananas, pineapple etc are often hybridized and contain high levels of fructose, which appears to also contribute greatly to insulin resistance syndrome. Stick to berries, cherries and grapefruit for insulin balance.
4. LOAD UP ON GREEN VEGETABLES AND SEA VEGETABLES.  These high nutrient foods contain important minerals to support the pancreas in insulin production.
5. CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTING WITH A GLUCOSE FORMULA containing chromium, vanadium, magnesium and zinc along with herbs with gymnema or bitter melon to support healthy blood sugar metabolism.
6. TAKE YOUR METABOLIC TYPE INTO ACCOUNT. Some people have a greater need for protein and fat then others in order to balance their blood glucose system. A fast oxidizer or parasympathetic constitution is the classic sign that this may apply to you. The advanced Healthexcel Metabolic Typing ®  test  is available here.

Phytonutrients are powerful and vital nutrients found in plant foods, particularly fruit and vegetables. Research has demonstrated that  obtaining adequate amounts of these nutrients on a daily level is vital to achieving long-term health and longevity.

Nature’s foods are often colour-coded to represent the nutrients that are contained within them. For instance red fruits and vegetables such as tomato, red capsicum, cherries and raspberries contain powerful nutrients such as resveratrol , lycopene and quecertin. Resveratrol has been shown to activate a “longevity gene” that appears to have a significant effect on life span. It also appears to block cancer-promoting genes and protect against heart and blood vessel disease.

Green vegetables such as parsley, lettuce, arugula and lettuce contain other important phytonutrients such as indole-3-carbinol (which has powerful effects in preventing breast and prostate cancer), zeazanthin (which is important for maintaining eye health and preventing macular degeneration), thiocyanates and more. They also contain the important nutrient chlorophyll, which is responsible for the green colour of these foods, and are also loaded with minerals.

Orange foods such as carrots, oranges and squash contain an important class of nutrients call carotenoids. They include beta-carotene, which is a precursor of vitamin A. Blue foods include anthocyanins and are found in blueberries and blue-green algae. Each of these colour groups also represents one of the chakra, or energy centre of the body.
Getting a good spread from the various colour groups throughout the day ensures that you have a good selection of phytonutrients to boost your system throughout the day. The standard recommendation of two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day probably can be seen as an absolute minimum. One serve is approximately equal to a fist-sized serving.

Importantly, the majority of phytonutrients are degraded to some extent by cooking the food. With some foods, the loss can be up to 80%. Although there are rare exceptions, such as lycopene, which seems higher in tomato sauce than fresh tomatoes, in general one is wise to eat most vegetables in the raw state.  These foods are highest in water content, minerals, enzymes and electrical energy.

A great way to start the day is by getting a phytonutrient rich smoothie or shake, rather than the standard western practices of eating grains and sugars first thing up. This will set you up on the right foot towards  getting a good spread of phytonutrients for the day. Adding a vegetable juice through the day, particular one emphasizing green vegetables such as celery and cucumber is another huge boost.  As Victoria Boutenko states in “Green For Life”, green vegetables are an important missing factor in the current Western diet. They allow us to remineralize, alkalize and reach our highest potential.

In fact, the standard advice of having two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables a day is an absolute minimum. One serve is around a fist-sized portion. Adding vegetable juice or somoothies into our regime is a sure way of assuring we get well above this “minimum level”. Adding high nutrient “superfoods” such as berries, maca or spirulina take us even further towards reaching a level of super nutrition capable of turning around any chronic health complaint.

Adrenal Exhaustion is a colloquial term for functional adrenal insufficiency, caused by prolonged internal or external stress. It has been described in the medical literature as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysfunction.

Although not considered a conventional diagnosis by the medical world, common symptoms include:

1. Difficulty getting out of bed in the morning
2. Fatigue – often worse with exercise
3. Fuzzy thinking and poor concentration
4. Poor quality sleep and lack of refreshment from sleep
5. Dizziness and craving for salt

Some tips that may help the adrenals rest and rebuild:

• Seek life-work balance and learn to schedule “me time” as part of your daily routine
• Eliminate refined carbohydrates and sugars so as to balance blood glucose
• Determine your metabolic type and eat in accordance with it: click here for the test
• Add a pinch of himalayan or celtic sea salt to all your water and aim for 2-3 litres per day
• Try to sleep before 10pm, avoid stimulants late at night and remove electric devices from near your bed.
• In severe cases, further testing and cortisol replacement may be necessary.

Healing adrenal exhaustion is an ongoing process, and it can be helpful to find a holistic practitioner to work with.

Recent research on cardiovascular disease has suggested that although “traditional” risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and diabetes indeed greatly increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, a number of other risk factors are also important in the process of plaque formation in the arteries. These include:

1) Inflammation – this means a low-grade response from the body causing redness, heat and swelling in the arteries, making plaques more susceptible to rupture.

2) Endothelial dysfunction – this includes high levels of homocysteine, a product of metabolism of the amino acid methionine. This can often be corrected by therapeutic doses of vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid.

3) Abnormal platelet aggregation – this can be related to high levels of fibrinogen in the blood and makes the blood more thick and able to form clots.

4) LDL oxidation – this relates to a subtype of cholesterol which when oxidized, or affected by free radical compounds, becomes more likely to be able to penetrate blood vessels and start the process of plaque formation.

The top three foods for preventing or reversing the above processes appear to be:

1) Pomegranate - a low-sugar extract of pomegranate can help increase the activity of “good” HDL cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol, and prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

2) Chocolate – dark chocolate (or raw cacao beans)  appear to have a beneficial effect on endothelial dysfunction, lower levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol and prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

3) Green Tea – while black tea theoflavins appear to have a stronger effect on lowering LDL cholesterol, green tea extracts appear to have a significantly beneficial effect on reducing platelet aggregation and decreasing inflammation of the heart arteries.

Other important lifestyle factors include regular exercise and flossing the teeth, as periodontal disease also has a significant effect on increasing risk for cardiovascular disease.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) is the common name for a series of common symptoms occuring in women in the days prior to their menstrual period. These can include anxiety, irritability, abdominal bloating, breast tenderness and swelling, tiredness and depression.

Physiological studies have showed that in many cases the underlying abnormality may be an imbalance between the two major female hormones: estrogen and progesterone. This causes a chain of effects in the body. Some studies have also shown that deficiencies of magnesium and vitamin B6 can also contribute towards the cause.

Some tips for getting on top of PMS:

1. Create a good relationship with a health practitioner experienced at treating PMS.

2. Try adding a magnesium and B6 supplement to your diet. High magnesium foods include all green vegetables, buckwheat (a grain), nuts and seeds and raw chocolate (cacao).

3. Exercise regularly and incorporate some relaxation or meditation into your lifestyle.

4. Try to avoid exposure to plastics, pesticides/herbicides and pollution, all of which can imbalance your female hormones

5. Try to take some “Me Time” every day and sleep six to eight hours per night (depending on your constitution).

Osteoporosis means weak, brittle bones, and is a risk factor for bone fractures. It can be easily prevented by some simple lifestyle measures.

FOODS AND LIFESTYLE FACTORS TO EMPHASIZE

•    Emphasize green vegetables – these high magnesium foods can be introduced in the form of fresh, raw salads, or in the form of vegetable juices or green smoothies.

•    Emphasize berries, citrus fruit, tomatoes and other high vitamin C containing foods

•    Add in sea vegetables such as dulse, kelp, wakame and nori for all minerals including boron

•    Try Horsetail and nettle tea – these common herbs grow wildly and are an excellent source of silicon

•    Weight-bearing exercise – walking, jogging, weights, 30min five times a week walking is a good starting point

•    Sunlight exposure – 10-15 minutes at ‘off-peak’ times is ideal for a light-skinned person – try 10am or 3pm – this will generally provide approximately 20,000iu of vitamin D3.

•    Ignore calcium supplements – numerous studies have shown that calcium has very little impact on osteoporosis and may actually negatively impact vitamin D status

•    Consider a salivary hormone test panel to check for hormonal imbalances that may impact hormone balance

•   Consider adding maca root to your diet – maca is a traditional South American herb that has been shown to increase all steroid hormones

FOODS TO AVOID

•    White sugar products (including commercial sweets / soft drinks / pastries) – XYLITOL is a excellent alternative for sugar. Sugar leaches minerals from bone.

•    Artificial additives (eg Monosodium Glutamate, Aspartame, Saccharin, Nutrasweet)

•    Dairy products (including milk / butter / cheese / yoghurt) – are not essential for adequate calcium intake and in fact most likely detrimental to bone health

•    Caffeine (coffee / black tea) – are highly acidic and leach bone minerals – green tea is an acceptable transition food

•    Red and white meats are also highly acid forming and leach minerals from bone – emphasize plant-based foods

Further reading: “Building Bone Vitality” by Lanou and Castleman. Purchase from Amazon.com

Estrogens are a group of hormones, which are primarily female reproductive hormones. In today’s society it is very common for both females and males to have a relative excess of estrogens in the body, due to several factors. Below are some hints in keeping these levels under control.

1. BUY ORGANIC WHERE POSSIBLE. Pesticides and herbicides contain compounds which are classed as “xeno-estrogens” as they have a strong estrogen-like effect in the human body.

2. LIMIT MEAT AND DAIRY INTAKE. Conventional meat, poultry and dairy products contain estrogen-like compounds in the form of hormones injected to the livestock to increase the yield of the stock.

3. EAT BROCCOLI AND OTHER CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES. These vegetables contain and compound called ‘Indole-3-Carbinol’ which promotes healthy estrogen metabolism.

4. TAKE GROUND FLAXSEED DAILY. Flaxseed contains ‘alpha-linolenic acid’, an important Omega-3 fatty acid, and also contains ‘lignans which are vitally important in protecting from breast cancer and detoxifying estrogens in the body.

5. MAINTAIN HEALTHY LIVER AND BOWEL FUNCTION. The liver and bowel are the primary organs which excrete and detoxify estrogens.

Make sure you pass a good bowel motion each day, by having plenty of filtered water and also fibre in your diet.

Liver function can be supported by drinking fresh vegetable juice every week and periodically undergoing a liver-gallbladder cleanse.

6. LIMIT USE OF PLASTIC PRODUCTS. Many plastic products act as synthetic estrogens within the body. Plastics outgas oestrogenic compounds when exposed to sunlight, heat or air. Especially hazardous are soft plastics and water bottles when left in the sun.

Research cited in “The China Study” by T. Colin Cambell, PhD, the largest human epidemiological study ever conducted, suggests that animal protein consumption has a direct association with cancer. The most striking association with cancer was with casein, a protein found in cow’s milk and other cow dairy products. This association was also reproduced amongst other categories of chronic disease, such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Vegetable proteins were not associated with increased chronic disease at all in this study.

Research published in Diabetes Care in 1988 showed that cooked animal protein is just as potent a stimulator of insulin as is pure glucose in type 2 diabetes. Insulin is the hormone released by the pancreas in response to a high sugar meal, and high levels are implicated in type 2 diabetes, obesity and a variety of other disoreders. This information combined with epidemiological data suggesting a direct correlation between intake of animal protein and incidence of diabetes and other insulin disturbances points to a significant role of cooked animal products in the causation of these disorders.

This information is in direct contrast to that provided by proponents of the many high animal protein diets currently available. Certainly, most holistic physicians would advocate the exclusion of refined carbohydrates such as white sugar and refined grains as part of the journey to wellness. Furthermore, certain people have a constitution with a greater need for protein and fat (eg fast oxidizer and parasympathetic metabolic types) than others, however experienced clinicians such as Dr Gabriel Cousens M.D. in Arizona, USA, have found that using concentrated plant-based protein superfoods such as spirulina, chlorella, bee pollen, hemp protein and fermented rice proteins (which are up to 80% complete protein) can provide the effect needed to balance their metabolism, without the higher rates of cancer and chronic disease.

Dr Joel Fuhrmann in his book “The Eat to Live Diet” quotes the nutrient density of various commonly eaten foods according to their concentration of health-promoting nutrients. On a scale of 1 to 1000, almost all animal-based foods rated in the 1 to 100 bracket, while dark green vegetables like kale rating over 900 on the scale.

In addition, a multitude of spiritual traditions from around the world, including the yogic, Buddhist and Essene traditions have described the plant-based diet as the most beneficial diet for personal spiritual evolution.

Recent data on Greenhouse gases has also suggested that methane as well as nitrous oxide from animal agriculture not only plays a very significant part in Global Warming, but in effect may be more significant than carbon dioxide production, as backed up by research from James Hansen, the pre-eminent researcher in the field.

The message is simple: consider a plant-based diet for health, spiritual, ecological and ethical reasons.