Galway Advertiser 2006/2006_10_19/GA_1910_E1_016R.pdf 

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Galway Advertiser

October 19 2006

NEWS

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FASHION

BEAUTY

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H E A LT H

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LIFE

MARY
When someone asks you how do you feel do you usually answer "All right?" It is an accurate reflection of your health, you do not feel either wonderful or awful, just something in between. Many of us fall into that category. We chug along never quite feeling 100 per cent healthy but relieved that we manage to get through life somehow. World famous nutritionist and bestselling author Patrick Holford, who spoke in Galway recently, says feeling just "all right" is not "all right". He insists it is possible to feel and look fantastic all day, every day. "Health isn't just an absence of illness, it's the abundance of vitality. I believe there exists for all of us the tangible and achievable experience of a profound sense of wellbeing. This is characterised by a consistent, clear and high level of energy, an emotional balance, a sharp mind, a desire to maintain physical fitness and a direct awareness of what suits our bodies." This state of health includes a resilience to infectious diseases and protection from the major killer diseases such as heart disease and cancer, he explains. It means slowing down the ageing process and living a long and healthy life. "At its most profound level health is not merely the absence of pain or tension but a joy in living, a real appreciation of what it is to have a healthy body with which to taste the many pleasures of the world." problems, from colds to PMS [pre menstrual syndrome]. As your overdraft grows you develop diseases and when you exceed your overdraft limit that's when you die! "Of course it's only at the disease stage that conventional medicine kicks in. Once you are horizontally ill, their job is to get you vertical again functioning but not necessarily super healthy. Most people are walking around vertically ill standing up but hardly bounding about full of the joys of spring." If you are super healthy, you will have boundless energy, a sharp mind, positive outlook, will rarely or never become ill and will be content. If you fall into the vertically ill category - as a great number of people do - you will feel constantly tired and drained, be dissatisfied and easily overwhelmed, have mood swings and poor concentration and be exhausted by exercise. The horizontally ill suffer from depression, chronic fatigue and feel life is "hard work". They have constant aches, feel pessimistic and believe life is against them." Patrick Holford says there are six steps to superhealth. These are the "energy supercharge, digestion tune-up, hormonal superhealth, detox, immune system boost, and memory and mood improvement". Almost all diseases result from an imbalance in one or more of these six key processes.

O'CONNOR
nutrition. Wholegrains, such as wholemeal pasta, rice and breads are rich in slowreleasing sugars while most fruits are rich in slow-releasing fructose fruit sugar. Sweets and sweet foods contain fast releasing sucrose which shoots blood sugar up too quickly giving that consequent slump. Stimulants and stress have similar effects on blood sugar. "Eating the right foods is very important. You should look for foods which release their sugar content slowly. Basically, the body and brain runs on glucose. If you have a steady, even blood sugar glucose level then you'll have consistently good energy, concentration and mood." When you wake up in the morning, your blood sugar is often at its lowest so is vital to have breakfast, according to Mr Holford. "The best thing to have is oats, either hot or cold with a slow release fruit, such as berries (frozen in winter). Apples and pears are good, too. The worst thing you can have is coffee and a croissant. You should have breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks each day with the snacks consisting of fruit. Oat cakes are great snacks, too."

Digging our graves with a knife and fork

Health is not merely the absence of pain but is a joy in living, says world famous nutritionist Patrick Holford

Health makeover
So, how can you achieve this state of optimum health? Mr Holford, the author of The Optimum Nutrition Bible, says before you embark on a health makeover check you health balance. "Imagine you are born with a health reserve - a certain amount of money in your health deposit account. Depending what you eat, drink, breathe and think, gradually money is lost from that account. Once you go overdraft your energy is low, you can't get out of bed in the morning and you suffer from niggling health

Much of the western world's illness is the consequence of too much food, and of eating the wrong kinds of foods, he says. Some foods are unfriendly to the digestive tract. "You get bloating or indigestion or feel tired after meals. One possibility is you are not digesting foods properly.

wheat is at the root of your problem. The most common symptoms of wheat sensitivity are constipation, abdominal bloating or pain.

Heals the gut
He recommends a product called Glutamine which he says heals the gut. "Take a heaped teaspoon at night in a glass of water. It literally rebuilds the digestive tract, it takes four days to replace the first layer of cells within the digestive tract." He describes hormones as some of the most powerful chemicals in the body and says imbalances can wreak havoc with your health. Many women experience pre menstrual syndrome, the symptoms of which include anxiety, irritability, fluid retention breast tenderness, sweet cravings and fatigue. He says eating nutritious wholefoods dense in nutrients and avoiding refined sugar should help control food cravings. Magnesium, chromium and essential fats, such as evening primrose or flax oils are often deficient also. PMS associated with water retention can be relieved by taking B6, magnesium and vitamin E. While food is good for us it can contain toxins as well as nutrients. Detoxing or spring-cleaning the body should ideally take place at the weekend when you have more free time, he says. He recommends

Inside skin
He says coffee is highly addictive. It takes four days to break the habit. Tea is not as bad for you as coffee, he says, unless you like your tea well stewed! Regarding digestion, he says we are not so much what we eat, more what we digest and absorb. "Nothing is more important to your overall health than the health of your digestive tract. It is the interface between your body and the outside world. Over a lifetime no less than 100 tons of food passes along it, much of it destined to become you. The digestive tract is your `inside skin' and has a surface area the size of a small football pitch." He believes most of us are digging our graves with a knife and fork.

Sub-optimally nourished
The British nutritionist says most of us are suboptimally nourished. Our body cells cannot make energy efficiently and the first sign of this is fatigue. To keep your energy levels stable and to overcome the influence of the three "baddies" - sugar, stress and stimulants - he recommends increasing s l ow - r e l e a s i n g carbohydrates in your diet, reducing stress and stimulants and introducing energy

Nothing is more important to your overall health than the state of your digistive track, says Patrick Holford
The second reason is you may be eating something that's irritating your gut. One of the most common intestinal irritants is wheat. It is rich in a protein called gluten which contains gliadin which is known to irritate the intestines." Abstaining from eating wheat for a period of six weeks will let you know if

walking 15 minutes daily, drinking at least two litres of distilled or bottled water a day, and having half a pint of fruit or vegetable juice, either carrot or apple juice, as part of your detox action plan. He advises eating lots of fruit, grains, fish, and nuts and seeds in moderation and avoiding all wheat products, meat, salt, dairy produce, alcohol, fried foods, spices and artificial sweeteners. Mr Holford describes food additives, stress, incorrect food balance (too much salt, fat or sugar), poor vitamin balance, infections, unhappiness and a negative attitude to life as immune system enemies. "Vitamin A is one of the key immune boosting nutrients. It helps strengthen the skin, inside and out and therefore acts in the first line of defence, keeping the lungs, digestive tract and skin intact. By strengthening cell membranes, it keeps viruses out. Aloe vera has immune boosting, anti viral and antiseptic properties. It's a good all round tonic as well as a booster during infection." He also recommends bee pollen, vitamin C ( " incredible antiviral agent), vitamin E, echinacea, garlic ( "garlic eaters have the lowest incidence of cancer"), ginger (good for sore throats and stomach upsets) and probiotics. * Patrick Holford is the author of a number of health bibles including The Optimum Nutrition Bible, 6 Weeks to Super Health, Boost your Immune System, and Say no to Cancer.