There has been a huge increase in the popularity of cold therapy; plunges and ice baths. As is usually the case, the popularity goes hand in hand with some health professionals and social media influences claiming it a cure for EVERYBODY after all it can’t hurt… well actually for some people it can…
We often blame a pathogen ie ‘bug - virus or bacteria’ for us being unwell with colds and flu.
Consider that it might not necessarily be the pathogen but our general state of poor health that is the issue and that maybe each year the pathogen usually a ‘virus’ seems 'stronger' because we as a population are actually weaker.
The microbiome from the Greek words mikrós - small and bíos - life, is an environment consisting of a community of micro organisms existing together. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and yeasts are some of the very many micro organisms living in our gut. They all perform important functions to ensure our body is functioning optimally. We have microbiomes in various parts of our bodies including nasal passages, in our skin folds like armpits and groin, in genital areas and in our large intestine or gut. The gut one is the microbiome most determinate of our overall health.
Each of these microbiomes have their own ideal balance of micro organisms and when in balance all is well for the larger organism ie the human body. Problems arise when these micro organisms are either out of balance of find themselves in microbiomes not native to them.
There are many approaches to supporting gut health. We all want a quick fix, especially when living with uncomfortable symptoms. A lot of people go in all guns blazing, hitting their fragile digestive system with copious amounts of ‘healing’ food and supplements, more often than not this approach tends to do more harm than good. After 2 decades of working in this field, my experience has shown me that a slow, measured approach focusing on inclusion more so than elimination, tends to be more effective and sustainable.
Nearly every day I see examples of just how destructive our current day ‘nutrition wars’ are on our physical, emotional and mental health.
People frozen in confusion and fear in supermarket aisles, farmers markets and their own kitchens as to the ‘right’ food to buy and cook has become a very real thing.
It is completely absurd and completely understandable.
Each way you turn you have someone telling you:
‘eat this’, ‘no don’t eat that, eat this’,
‘that food causes cancer’, ‘actually that food protects you from cancer’,
‘this food has magical superfood powers’, ‘no that superfood is actually toxic’…
Who do you believe?
Obviously in a profession like mine people often tell me about how healthily they eat and nearly always it will be something like ‘oh I mainly eat chicken and fish. I hardly ever eat red meat’
Ahhrrrg
Worse still they only eat chicken breast, in my opinion, the least nutritious part of the chicken (the least tastiest too, again in my opinion).
I'm going to deal with chicken today and share about fish in another post.
This chicken, particular certain cuts, being a healthy choice is really quite new (I am not saying that it’s unhealthy) and our favouring of the skinless, boneless breast came hand in hand with the whole low-fat disaster.
Once a month we have an interfaith gathering in our local area and ours occurred last night.
The theme was transformation and was centered around the quote 'change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.'
Toward the end of my sharing last night I warned that while transformation can be joyful and bring us much freedom, it can also bring us some pain. Often our changing doesn't sit well with others.
Being a practitioner who looks to food before supplements, it is very common, in my treatment plan following a consultation, for me to suggest including bitter foods and drinks into the diet especially when the complaint is around digestion, or liver related like reproductive and skin issues – that pretty much covers almost everyone these days...
I am constantly in awe at how people generations before us, without all the science, technology and research grants we have today, just knew the most nourishing parts of animals and plants and about food preparation to increase nutrient density and digestibility or decrease toxicity.
Besides the benefits to the health of ourselves, animals and the planet, doing so would help ensure that we continued to have Australian grown food and not be dependent on other countries, especially if SOMETHING should happen that prevented us from importing food...
Well SOMETHING has happened folks!
No wonder more connected generations before us paid so much attention to nourishing and nurturing the pregnant woman and more so the post partum woman, insisting on a good whole month at a minimum to completely rest and recover to some degree. Another example of traditional wisdom getting it so right without all the science and technology we have available to us today.
While obviously nothing was keeping me away from the most precious milestone of the birth of my grandchild - my daughter living on the other side of the world, was only one of some significant challenges - there was more than just the maternal desire and joy to be present. For me (and fortunately my daughter) there is an innate responsibility passed down through generations of women, though sadly these days neglected to our societal and personal detriment.
It seems sharing about the process of hormesis is coming up frequently in consultations recently
Have you heard of hormesis?
Hormesis is the process of stressing the body to a degree to strengthen or produce positive benefits.
Now you will have heard me frequently emphasise the deleterious effects of stress to our overall health. In fact I believe stress is the main contributor to much of our poor health today. However
