Always tired? Check your thyroid

We all get tired from time to time, but if you feel your energy levels are on a permanent low and you tend to nod off the minute you are sitting quietly without doing anything then you might have a thyroid malfunction. Your head is a very sensitive indicator of thyroid hormone status so if it feels heavy or tired, especially in the afternoon that might alert you to a potential problem here. Apart from the symptoms above, you may also notice forgetfulness, depression, constipation, changes in weight and appetite, greater sensitivity to cold, dry, rough or scaly skin, dry, tangled hair and hair loss, particularly from the outer part of your eyebrows, and brittle nails.

The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped, gland that produces the hormones that influence virtually every organ, tissue and cell in your body. Your doctor can carry out a simple test to see if your thyroid isn’t working properly, but they often prescribe the use of synthetic thyroid hormone. If you think you might be at risk, it could be worth trying some alternative methods first to see if they make a difference.

Natural Methods to Restore Your Thyroid:
As usual, it starts with a healthy diet, and you need to ensure you have adequate amounts of iodine and selenium, which provide the raw materials for your thyroid gland to work better. Natural food sources of iodine include cod, tinned tuna in oil, milk, eggs, baked potatoes (eat the skin) and turkey breast.

Selenium can be found in many of our foodstuffs including garlic, broccoli, onions, walnuts, brazil nuts, salmon, halibut, brown rice, chicken breast meat, wholemeal bread, and milk.

The next key element is to include plenty of omega-3 fats not least because the human brain is more than 60% structural fat, just as your muscles are made of protein and your bones are made of calcium. But it’s not just any fat that our brains are made of, and unfortunately we tend to eat far more of the man-made trans- fats and excessive amounts of saturated fats and vegetable oils high in Omega-6 fatty acids, all of which interfere which our body’s attempt to utilize the tiny amount of Omega-3 fats that it gets. This is particularly important for children as if they do not have sufficient Omega-3 essential fatty acids they are significantly more likely to be hyperactive, have learning disorders, and to display behavioural problems.

So what should you be eating to get good levels of omega-3? Not dissimilar to some of the good iodine sources, you need flax seed oil and walnuts, then organic meat, fish, olive oil, fruits and green leafy vegetables.

Finally, get sufficient sleep, and in a completely dark bedroom, and tackle any stress in your life. The vast majority of people’s thyroid glands become impaired as a result of weak adrenal glands, due particularly to emotional stress, and the thyroid gland tries to compensate for this and eventually just gives up and stops working.

Cancer update on apricots

One of the many natural supplements that keeps resurfacing in connection with cancer treatment, and prevention, is apricot kernels. I recently met a lady who has had cancer who has been taking them for some time and is convinced they have helped her. The evidence on this is not cut and dried, but there is certainly a body of anecdotal evidence and some clinical trials that seems to support this view, but there are also very clear dangers in this somewhat innocuous fruit.

It has been suggested that eating 7-10 Apricot Kernels a day may help to prevent cancer, alongside a healthy lifestyle and a good diet though this is outside the limit recommended as safe by many authorities. Certainly apricots themselves have been held up as the substance that helped the Hunza to achieve their very long life span, and relative freedom from cancer. Apricot Kernels are especially rich in Vitamin B17, which is also known rather confusingly by three different names: Amygdaline, Amygdalin or Laetrile. It is B17 that is the substance that is believed to both help prevent cancer, and have a direct impact upon cancer cells and many of the best sources we simply do not eat. For instance, we core our apples, and peel our parsnips and usually give the compost heap the B17 we need for ourselves. The best source is in apricot kernels and the lady I referred to at the beginning of this piece tells me she buys the ground kernels from Dayspring on 01483 418258. They also have a website at www.anticancerinfo.co.uk/suppliers.htm for more information.

The kernels should be chewed, or ground and sprinkled on food or in fruit juice. An excellent way to take Apricot Kernels is to fill a jar half full, add a 1/4 of a jar of organic or Manuka honey and mixed well with a fork, and keep in a fridge or cool cupboard. The kernels can then be added to fruit and muesli or simply taken straight from the spoon. For anyone who is not ill but wants to guard themselves from cancer they should just take a small amount – say a small half teaspoon of the ground kernels, but for more treatment levels up to three full teaspoons is usual, but I strongly suggest you consult with a qualified natural practitioner before you begin on a regime such as this.

Food Sources:
There are many foods that contain Vitamin B17 in varying amounts and these include: apple seeds, alfalfa sprouts, apricot kernels, bamboo shoots, barley, beet tops, bitter almond, blackberries, boysenberries, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, buckwheat, cashews, cherry kernels, cranberries, currants, fava beans, flax seeds, garbanzo beans, gooseberries, huckleberries, lentils, lima beans, linseed meat, loganberries, macadamia nuts, millet, millet seed, peach kernels, pecans, plum kernels, quince, raspberries, sorghum cane syrup, spinach, sprouts (alfalfa, lentil, mung bean, buckwheat, garbanzo), strawberries, walnuts, watercress, yams.

WARNING!
I would not be responsible if I didn’t repeat that you need to use apricot kernels with caution. The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment suggests that you eat no more than one or two apricot kernels a day. This is because they have a high natural level of amygdalin and, during digestion, highly toxic hydrocyanic acid is released from it. This can lead to symptoms of acute poisoning like cramp, vomiting and respiratory distress. At high doses it can even lead to a fatal respiratory paralysis, which can lead to severe, acute poisoning. At very high doses it can even prove fatal.

Painful Hands?

If your hands are painful, do you know for sure whether what causes it? You could have arthritis or might it actually be Carpal tunnel syndrome, one of the most common forms of Repetitive Strain Injury? About three in 100 of people in the UK suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome and it is characterised by pain, tingling or numbness in the hand.

About half of all carpal tunnel cases are work-related, and it a ccounts for the highest number of days missed at work compared to all other work-related injuries or illnesses. The condition develops when the median nerve in the wrist becomes compressed as it passes through the carpal tunnel, the narrow passageway of bones and ligaments on the underside of the wrist. The median nerve controls sensations to the palm side of the thumb and fingers (not the little finger), as well as impulses to some small muscles in the hand that allow the fingers and thumb to move. Symptoms include:

· difficulty holding objects
· difficulty performing repetitive movements without pain
· numbness, burning pain, tingling in hand or wrist that increases at night

Some professions are more vulnerable to this condition than others. Particularly at risk are musicians, particularly pianists and violinists, hairdressers, reflexologists and masseuse, manual labourers, computer operators, and even surgeons. If you already have arthritis or any rheumatic conditions then this again can increase the risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome as can conditions such as obesity, pregnancy, hypothyroidism, and diabetes.

What can you do about it?

Well painkillers, cortisone injections, splints and surgery (usually the final option) are the conventional route to go. However, my personal experience of a small sample of people I know that have had it done is that it needs to be carefully considered before you go under the knife. It can be painful and success is certainly not guaranteed, even orthopaedic surgeons admit that although surgery can cure night symptoms and transient tingling, if the nerve has been damaged as a result of carpal tunnel syndrome it probably won’t fully recover and complications from surgery can include complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS),which will permanently affect hand function.

On the alternative front, there are several options available:

1 Acupuncture can relieve the pain as it releases natural pain-relieving chemicals into the body, promotes circulation and balances the nervous system. If you can’t abide needles, then Acupressure will do the same job but usually takes a little longer to be effective in my experience.

2 Vitamin B6 deficiency has been associated with carpal tunnel syndrome in several research studies. If your diet is low in food sources such as sweet potatoes, avocados, brown rice, sunflower seeds, chick peas, salmon, pork, chicken, turkey, potatoes, bananas, and mangoes then supplementing with 50 mg 2 to 3 times a day is the suggested dose. At particular risk of B6 deficiency, in addition to poor diet, are those using oral contraceptives or HRT. The maximum intake of B6 from all sources should be less than 200 mg a day, unless otherwise recommended by your doctor or nutritionist.

3 Vitamin B12 – a study looked at the effectiveness of vitamin B12 for people with carpal tunnel syndrome due to overuse of the nonparalyzed arm after a stroke. For two years, 67 people in the study received 1500 mcg of vitamin B12 a day, and the remaining 68 did not. After two years, there was significant improvement in the group taking vitamin B12 compared to the untreated group. B12 is normally found in organ meats, and vegetarians may find they need supplemental amounts via injection which is often available on the NHS.

4 Enzyme supplements such as bromelain, found naturally in the juice and stems of pineapples, which are believed to help with the digestion of protein and may help to reduce tissue swelling associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. It can take several weeks to notice results.

5 One of my favourite homoeopathic remedies is Arnica, and in a double blind random study by the Department of Plastic Surgery of Queen Victoria Hospital in West Sussex, they found that arnica can speed up the recovery of hand surgery compared to a placebo. They used a combination of tablets and arnica ointment and saw a significant reduction in pain after two weeks.

Let them eat grass – Wheatgrass

Wheatgrass seems to be the hot health idea at the moment and you can’t go into a trendy juice bar – as I am sure you do every other day – without being offered an expensive shot of green liquid. Like all ‘hot’ ideas it has actually been around for some time. In fact it has been something of a cottage industry, rather the old sprouters on the windowsill that were seen in all healthy homes in the 1970′s, you now find trays of wheatgrass or, if they are flat dwellers like me, it’s probably ‘grow your own grass’ for the cats.

However, wheatgrass has many great qualities as a supplement to your diet but unlike the sprouts, you don’t eat it – you juice it to get the maximum benefit. So what are these benefits? Well, increasing numbers of people are turning to it in their fight against cancer, to boost their immune system, and as an essential part of any detox programme. Wheatgrass first earned its reputation from people with terminal illnesses, who took it at the eleventh hour after conventional medicine left them with no hope. In the 1970s, Dr Ann Wigmore opened the Hippocrates Health Institute, in Boston, nourishing terminally ill patients back to health with fresh squeezed wheatgrass and from then on it has been an underground health story passed on by word of mouth.

Wheat grass has been called one of nature’s finest medicines. It is perhaps the most nutritious and cleansing juice there is. In its natural state, wheat grass is indigestible for humans; so don’t go plucking it straight out of the field. However, wheatgrass juice is easily digested and its nutrients and enzymes are quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, providing an instant boost of energy and ongoing nourishment. It is high in chlorophyll, potassium, calcium, and magnesium and is a highly effective detoxifier, especially for the liver and gallbladder. Wheat grass has nearly a gram of protein per teaspoon, and includes all eight of the essential amino acids, as well as 13 of the remaining 16. It contains Vitamins A, B1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 12; C, E and K. A teaspoon of wheat grass contains around 15mg of Calcium, 8mcg Iodine, 3.5mcg Selenium, 870mcg Iron, 62mcg Zinc, and many other minerals.

There is another good reason to take a daily shot of wheatgrass: it contains Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), and it has been found that cancerous cells have a deficiency, or a complete lack of, SOD. Anti-oxidants have the ability to mop up free radicals and so reduce or avoid cell mutation. Mutation is part of the first stage of cancer formation so, if you supplement your diet with wheat grass you will almost certainly be helping your body to avoid, or deal with, cancerous conditions.

You don’t have to drink gallons of the stuff either, the intense green juice is best taken in ‘shots’ of about 1tbsp at a time. Like all fresh juices it needs to be drunk immediately, it goes off in about 30 minutes, so cut from the tray and juice, or cut the shoots and keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator where they will retain their nutrients for up to seven days after cutting.

For those with an intolerance to gluten, do not be put off because the grain metamorphoses completely into a vegetable, with none of the allergic proteins common to the glutenous grains. You can indeed follow the advice of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who said “our food is our medicine and our medicine is our food”

Oh, and if you are not a gardener, even of the windowsill variety, then you will be delighted to learn you can actually buy the stuff ready grown, cut and ready to stuff in your juicer. Ask at your local health store as it can often be found as tablets or powder supplements and in bags in the chiller cabinet, or you can order trays of wheat, barley, oat and rye grass from this site: www.browfarmwheatproducts.co.uk

Whatever you do, start with small amounts as it is a powerful detoxifier and you can mix it with juice if you find the taste not to your liking.

How to lower stroke risk

Do you have plenty of asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, chick peas, oranges, wheat germ and kidney beans in your diet? If so, then you are naturally getting high levels of folate, which is a water soluble member of the B vitamin family, B9 to be exact. Folate is vital in protecting you against the risk of a cerebral infarction, the most common kind of stroke. In fact it accounts for 80% of all strokes, and so a recent study wanted to look at whether supplementing with vitamins, or increased intake of foods high in , could make a difference.

A dual study in Sweden and Finland have been looking at the relationship between folate, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and the amino acid methionine – all of which are involved with homocysteine production. Why should they be interested in that? Because high levels of blood homocysteine are linked to increased stroke risk, and much interest is being shown in how to use supplements, and diet, in a more preventive way in healthcare.

The findings of the study are encouraging if you are at risk of a stroke: those with the highest intake of folate had a 20% lower risk of stroke than those with the lowest levels.

These findings are based on the subjects’ normal, everyday, diet. They were not given any supplements or asked to eat any differently with special foods. So if you have any incidence of strokes in your family, it makes sense to include as many of these foods as possible in your diet. I certainly have a family history and much as I dislike Brussels sprouts, I must try to love them – although I think it will be my asparagus intake that goes up first!

Get rid of gout pain

Unfortunately it is seen as a bit of a joke, an old man’s disease caused by too much port, but gout is far from funny. It is in fact a form of arthritis, and the pain in the infected joints can be severe and is caused when the body produces or retains too much uric acid. The acid forms sharp crystals in soft connective tissue around the joints with the big toe being a primary focus. Gout does not appear overnight, it is the result of years of more uric acid being produced than you expel on a daily basis.

Why would you produce excess uric acid? It can be caused by obesity, high intake of diuretic drugs, excessive alcohol consumption, and hereditary factors. Certain foods are recognised as being triggers for an attack of gout so the first step is to eliminate as many as you can.

Common triggers include:

• High protein and diuretic foods such as organ meats
• Asparagus and broccoli
• Coffee, orange juice
• soft drinks**

**Those soft drinks are a new addition to the list of potential triggers. A study done over the past 12 years by researchers at the University of British Columbia has shown that a frequent intake of sugar-sweetened soft drinks was significantly linked to gout risk. If you know someone who drinks just one soft drink a day they are increasing their gout risk by 45%, and two or more a day leaps to 85%. ‘Healthy’ drinks like apple and orange juice are not immune either as they have high levels of fructose. Bizarrely, diet drinks which contain sweeteners do not carry a risk of gout – but they do pose other health problems.

Natural help is available for gout, and the first step would be to cut out all soft drinks and substitute with plain water to help eliminate the uric acid crystals. The next best thing is to eat cherries and drink their juice. Cherries help prompt uric acid excretion and many people have found that adding them to their diet helps relieve the sharp pain associated with gout.

Two other nature’s helpers are celery seed extract and extract of juniper and some sufferers have kept themselves attack free by also taking up yoga. So no need to prop your foot up on a cushion and wait for the pain to go away, have a large bag of cherries and a bottle of still water and you could soon be hopping about again.

Prostate health and Zinc

As I am a great believer in pro-active health care, there is another story about prostate health that came up this week that I thought might prove revealing. The risk of prostate cancer is increased if a man is exposed to enough cadmium, a toxic heavy metal that many people are regularly exposed to. It is present in cigarette smoke, so anyone exposed to that – even secondhand – is at risk.

Cadmium is also an environmental pollutant, pumped into the air by various industries and the burning of coal and household wastes. Once airborne, cadmium can travel long distances, eventually falling to ground or into water. We can then ingest it through our diet; particularly from fish and shellfish or vegetables grown in soil that has absorbed cadmium from the air water. According to the Department of Health and Human Resources, “Cadmium stays in the body a very long time and can build up from many years of exposure to low levels. However, it is not all doom and gloom because just adding a little of the mineral zinc to your diet can counteract its effects as US researchers at Rochester have found. Apparently, zinc prompts the production of a protein that binds cadmium to help move the toxin out of the body. Plus, zinc enhances your immune system, helps repair damaged tissues, inhibits the abnormal clotting that contributes to cardiovascular disease, assists in maintaining healthy vision, and is one of the key elements required for DNA reproduction and repair. Sounds like it’s worth increasing in your diet doesn’t it? Good dietary sources of zinc include cabbage, red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains, and dairy products.

Lets hear it for nuts!

This is another natural food that can get a bad press. They are shunned because people – particularly those on a diet – believe that they are bad for you as they are high in natural fats and oils, but this is far from being the case. Raw, not processed or salted, nuts can help fight depression, heart disease and bad cholesterol. That last one may be a bit of a shock, but although it is true that nuts in general contain as much as 80 per cent fat, but there are good fats and bad ones. The type of fat found in nuts is unsaturated fat – specifically monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat and both of these unsaturated fats are known for their ability to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also called “bad” cholesterol, when consumed in moderation.

A few months ago in the USA, a survey examined and reported on the diets of more than 31,000 Seventh Day Adventists – chosen for the similarity of their lifestyle choices – and it was found tha t those who ate nuts more than four times per week experienced 51% fewer heart attacks compared to those who ate nuts less than once per week.

If you want to stick to the most healthy nuts around, these are the top 5 to go for:

1 Pistachios can produce a 10 point drop in your triglycerides and a 16 point decline in your LDL (bad) cholesterol, according to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.

2 Walnuts Contains omega 3s which may help ward off depression and heart attack, according to Harvard research. Maybe you should stuff those sardines with lemon and walnuts for extra benefit!

3 Brazil nuts contain selenium, a mineral linked to prostate cancer protection, according to scientists at the University of Arizona.

4 Pecans have the most antioxidants of any nut. Could help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

5 Hazelnuts a handful daily boosts HDL (good) cholesterol levels by 12 percent, according to a study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Ginger up your diet

Ginger may be the single most important ingredient you can add to your diet for maximum health effectiveness. It has proven to be so valuable because it not only has antioxidant and cancer fighting properties, but a new study has also found that the ginger component gingerol exerts anti-inflammatory effects by mediating NF-KB, a protein complex that regulates your immune system’s response to infection.

Not only all that, but it may also prove to be useful for treating and preventing ovarian cancer, according to a new study just reported in the BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine Journal. Chinese researchers tested the effect of ginger on cultivated ovarian tumour cell growth. Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women. They found that ginger inhibited growth and modulated the secretion of angiogenic factors, which is a fundamental step in the transition of tumours from a dormant to a malignant state.

This is good news and ginger is only one of a number of foods that when found in good quantities in the diet are thought to thought to contribute to the decreased incidence of colon, gastrointestinal, prostate, breast and other cancers. The other cancer-fighting foods are garlic, soy, cumin, chillies and green tea so sounds like switching to cooking up some Asian food might be a healthy option.

Natural help for gum disease

Noticed your gums are inflamed and tender or bleed slightly when brushing your teeth? These, together with receding gums, chronic bad breath and loose teeth or widening space between gums and teeth are symptoms of gum disease.

Gum disease starts with plaque on the teeth which is formed when bacteria in the mouth mixes with saliva and residues from starchy foods and sugar in your diet. If you don’t remove it properly then it accumulates and hardens underneath the gumline into tartar. That is much more difficult to remove than everyday plaque and will mean a visit to the dentist. If you have bleeding from the gums with pain, called periodontitis, then that is a sign that the infection and inflammation has spread to the deeper tissues and bone. After the age of 30, periodontitis is responsible for more tooth loss than cavities. Brushing your teeth after every meal, and especially after eating anything containing sugar, is a good preventive programme but there is also natural help on hand.

Vitamin C
The link between vitamin C deficiency and gum disease is well known and is one of the reasons that back in the 18th century, sailors ate limes during long trips at sea to keep their gums from bleeding. It probably helped the taste of the rum as well. There is research showing a link between low intake of vitamin C and higher rates of gum disease, particularly gingivitis, so make sure you have a minimum of 250mg a day and eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as grapefruit, oranges, kiwi fruit, mango, papaya, strawberry, red pepper, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and cantaloupe melon. If you are taking supplements, don’t get the chewable vitamin C because the acidity may promote the erosion of tooth enamel over time.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D has been found to have anti-inflammatory effects and may reduce susceptibility to gum disease, again research by Boston University shows a link between low levels of vitamin D and gingivitis. Being out in sunlight is one of the best ways to boost levels of this vitamin so get out into the sun wherever you can and no need for sun block at this time of year, unless of course you are off to the Caribbean for the winter.

Stress reduction
Of course stress affects virtually every aspect of your health and wellbeing, but in this context it contributes to gum disease by increasing plaque accumulation. A University of Dusseldorf study examined how exam stress would impact plaque and gum bleeding. All students had a professional tooth cleaning 4 weeks prior to exams and then 4 weeks after exams. They found that students had significantly higher rates of plaque and gingivitis after their exams compared to a control group of students that didn’t take exams. I suspect they didn’t take into account the fact that under stress our diets also lean heavily on sugar and chocolate which also increases plaque.

Tea tree oil
Tea tree oil has so many uses it’s invaluable in my natural first aid box and as it has proven antibiotic properties it can help reduce gingivitis and bleeding, but it won’t reduce the amount of plaque. You must NOT use neat tea tree oil in the mouth or anywhere else. You can get tea tree toothpaste from a health store or you can put one drop in a cup of warm water and rinse it round your gums. DO NOT SWALLOW but spit it out immediately and I suggest you don’t eat or drink for at least 15 minutes as it tastes pretty grim.

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