Eat heart….
Hi folks, I have written many times in the past about the benefits and importance of including heart in your menu at least once a month if not once a…
Hi folks, I have written many times in the past about the benefits and importance of including heart in your menu at least once a month if not once a…
This is a lovely article written by Jodi of Vibrant Blue oils, to add to the lifestyle, diet and supplements advice that we give you here in the clinic:
We keep almost all of the Vibrant Blue oils product range in the clinic for use with healing treatments; clients LOVE them <3
Before you get stuck into the article I would like to draw your attention to this wonderful article on sleep and how a solid 8 hours sleep may not be natural to the majority of us. This will help remove a lot of anxiety around the topic! Nightly 8-Hour Sleep Isn’t a Rule. It’s a Myth.
Also that sleep may cycle with the moon cycles and many clients including myself report less sleep and more vivid dreaming around the time of the full or new moon.
Also there is a significant amount of seasonal variation in relation to sleep; we tend to need more sleep in Winter and less in Summer; roll with it!
Women need more sleep than men, athletes need more sleep than ‘normal’ persons, women athletes will require even more and children need a lot more sleep than adults….
Restful sleep, defined as the ability to both fall asleep and stay asleep, is critical for health and healing. It allows time for the body to rest and repair, detoxify, balance blood sugar levels, burn calories and reset our energy reserves. Without restful sleep, we feel fatigued and our body compensates with cortisol spikes, sugar cravings and other tricks to keep us awake and functioning.
There is also growing evidence that sleep cycles impact other cycles in the body including the rhythmic patterns of the digestive and immune systems. When we sleep, the brain produces 90 minute cycles of slow wave sleep. This is followed by periods of rapid eye movement (REM) during which dreams occur. During the night, the gut also produces 90 minute slow wave muscle contractions which are followed by short burst of rapid movement. Poor sleep cycles can disrupt this digestive function and the healing process within the gut.
Here is a nice article written by the HeartMath Institute; worth a read if healing, health, contentment, and abundance is something you are chasing in your life. Click the link here…
Hello all,
So in light of my own recent brush with allergic dermatitis and from what I experience on a daily basis when I work as a pharmacist dealing with concerned parents of highly allergic children I am going to write a brief blog touching on skin allergies.
This will not be an in-depth review, mostly because skin allergies are a highly complex and diverse individual topic but I will touch on a few key points. If you suffer with skin or other allergies I suggest that you address this with an expert, if not a team of experts to best support your way back to full health without symptoms. At the very minimal I suggest that you consider all the following approaches: functional medicine, diet & nutrition, herbal remedies and plant essences, standard medical approach (for fire-fighting symptoms when needed), and perhaps complementary support from acupuncture, energy healing, stress relief and mindfulness.
Firstly I would like to highlight an important culprit that may go amiss in the quest to identify the cause of skin allergies.
My own skin allergy has me personally baffled for almost a month now. I have been frustrated and challenged by an extremely itchy and painful skin allergy on the back of my neck (how did you burn yourself was my boyfriends comment); to the point where I even sought the advice of another pharmacist although her diagnosis of suspected shingles was a bit off given my symptomology.
I cannot be certain that this ‘culprit’ was the trigger to my own skin allergy but I am more confident that this is the cause than the shingles that another pharmacist terrified me with!
So what is this chemical?
Take a moment to read my latest blog and voice blog recorded from Clifden on January 3rd 2016. Enjoy! Andrea
Take a few minutes to reflect this Christmas and New year.... make it meaningful Hi Folks, There were just too many thoughts flying around my head this morning to share…
The bread is a healthier tweak on bread. It is still a carbohydrate dominant food source but the carbs are slow releasing in nature and provide nutrition; the bread also contains omega 3 from flax, protein and healthy fats from the duck egg and a nice dose of beta carotene from carrots. Psyllium adds fibre as well as texture hence supporting the gastrointestinal system while also blunting the absorptions of sugars.
If you haven’t eaten caraway seeds before they add lovely flavour to bread (and also home-made red onion marmalade). Caraway seeds although in small quantity in this bread do still add nutrition in the form of healthy fats, antioxidants and also digestion soothing essential oils. When it comes to food every bit of goodness adds to your health.
Sweet apple-cherry gluten-free flax-oat bread
Here is a bread recipe that I threw together last Sunday looking for something sweet and not overly high in carbohydrates. I always aim to add some healthy ingredients so this bread benefits from oats, flax seeds, bitter cherries, and apple.
Many Paleo and Banting bread options can actually be very high in protein and fat. I do believe that active athletes and persons with good health do need some carbohydrates to fuel their health and training. So a slice or two of this served with grass-fed butter or nut butter is perfect to aid recovery and preparation for subsequent training sessions.
The bread is still a carbohydrate dominant food source but the carbs are slow releasing in nature and provide nutrition; the bread also contains omega 3 from flax, protein and healthy fats from the duck egg and a nice dose of antioxidants from the cherries and apple. Psyllium adds fibre as well as texture hence supporting the gastrointestinal system while also blunting the absorptions of sugars. (more…)