Getting Sick Can Be a Sign of Good Health

With considerable frequency, clients sit in my office and list a sizeable range of nagging symptoms, chronic conditions, and perhaps their numerous surgical or pharmaceutical treatments. Just as common is to follow this list with some version of the statement, “My health is quite good really”.

To me this is an astounding assessment.

However with further questioning I have come to understand that what people mean is they don’t often have illnesses of the brief but intense, possibly bed-domiciled variety such as colds or flu. Another version of this reasoning is evident from ex-smokers. They remark incredulously that they never got ‘sick’ until they gave up smoking. There are similar reasons for both of these situations.

The Demon Drink You Give to Children

Picture yourself seated at the dining table and devouring one kilo bag of sugar. New Zealanders average even more added sugar than this each week.

Auckland University Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences hosted a two day symposium: Sugary Drink Free Pacific by 2030? Rarely have I heard esteemed scientists so vehement in their views. Endocrinologist Robert Lustig (his expose on sugar has over 4 million views on YouTube) said, “Sugar is the alcohol of the child”. He explained how this food is processed differently than other fuels, which leads to fatty liver. Dr Richard Johnson, kidney disease specialist, diagrammed how sugar lowers ATP production – our key vitality provider. He employed a verb used with caution in science, “Fructose causes metabolic syndrome”. This cluster of markers is associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, kidney disease and dementia. Read more

THINK ZINC for Clear Skin and Eyes; Strong Nails and Immunity; Prostate, Reproductive and Hormonal Health

Zinc is very busy in your brain. It is needed by the hippocampus, which is the central train station for relaying messages to and from the ceaselessly busy nervous system, endocrine system and the rest of your body. Without zinc, people do poorly in both memory and cognitive tests and are more likely to suffer mood disorders. Zinc activates brain centres that process data from taste and smell sensors and thus influences appetite. People with anorexia and bulimia usually suffer from low levels, which distort their appetites further. Athletes and those who perspire profusely lose this mineral through fluid loss; as do those with diarrhea, vomiting or after gastrointestinal surgery.

MALE HEALTH and MALE POWER

What To Do, How To Do It, and What It Will Achieve For You

Do you feel tired, grumpy, stressed or depressed? Are you, your doctor or loved ones concerned about your weight, blood pressure, sleep, digestion, cholesterol levels, or plain lack of ‘zing’? These are signs of burnout, of your engine being under-serviced and over-extended. Good health is your most important investment. How effective and dynamic can you be – at work, at home, with others – without it?

Happy, Healthy Children – How Food and Exercise Affect Moods and Learning

Your child is an amazing creation whose every cell depends on the food you provide. What may be more difficult to imagine is how foods can affect their moods; perhaps their orientation toward particular substances, rewards or risks – even what you assume to be the essential nature of their personality.

SEX HORMONES: Menstrual, Menopausal, Prostate, Weight or Libido Problems?

If so, check your hormone balance.

Hormones are like food. Too much is as bad as too little. Men and women produce the same sex hormones: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone, but what differs is how much and the ratio of one to another. For everyone, if a hormonal imbalance is in the mix – due to inflammatory foods, drinks or other habits – this is most likely to be high estrogen in relation to progesterone and/or testosterone. Some of the complaints I hear most frequently from patients are about fatigue; weight, sleep, skin, bowel, fluid/urination problems; moods and mental function. Addressing hormonal triggers can prove transformative. Read more

FERTILITY PROBLEMS: Why This Is Happening to 1 in 6 Couples

A definition of foolishness is: “Do the same thing in the same way, yet expect different results”. Another folly is to consider only the immediate nature of a problem and not fully examine it for causative factors.

Years ago if clients presented with troubling skin conditions, practitioners had to work hard at convincing them that somehow this related to deeper, systemic issues such as liver function or low nutrient levels. Now this relationship is readily acknowledged. Yet often when couples have difficulty conceiving they rush to achieve their desired outcome through applying the mechanical and chemical force of IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) or similar forms of ART (assisted reproductive technology). This is similar to taking steroids for eczema. Drugs may work by aggressively – and briefly – achieving the goal of clear skin, but because systemic cause was not addressed, the initiating problem remains and the symptoms return.