Welcome one and all to September’s blog. It has been some time since the last blog and I put that down to the London Olympics. We have had quite a summer, with the privilege of having Olympic cyclists come through our town and being able to go to the Games, our summer has flown by.
I have enjoyed reading about the various athletes using naturopathic medicine for not only peak fitness but overall health maintenance including the fastest man in the world! In this blog I want to share with you the benefits of naturopathic medicine before the winter sets and so avoiding or reducing the severity of the so-called ‘winter blues’.
Right now in England we are experiencing yet another Indian Summer and if we are to believe the media, October will be another ‘summer’ month. We forget that winter is actually right around the corner. It is this shift in seasonal weather that then leads to an increase in ‘winter blue’ casualties.
By ‘blues’, I mean anything from SAD (seasonal affective disorder), chest infections, asthma, flu, arthritis, sinusitis, depression (that is more related to thyroid function), ear infections to name a few.
Last November and December my clinic was busy with individuals with the ‘winter blues’. Let’s not get to that stage this winter. Time and experience has shown that if naturopathic health advise is implemented well before the winter months one can avoid the above conditions or at least reduce the severity of such conditions.
So as from now (yes whilst the sun is shining and winter is a far distant memory) I am encouraging you to think ahead and boost your constitution before the winter months present us with their finery.
I do want to add that having a flu once or twice a year IS a sign of good health, as long as the flu is not an on going flu or re-occurring one like every few weeks/months. From a naturopathic viewpoint a flu that lasts about 48hrs with a fever is the body’s mechanism of clearing out, dumping the junk…or as I say burning out the toxins. It is also a means of the body trying to grab your attention to ‘take some time out’. Taking some vitamin C and some good quality water along side sleep is key to not only a healthy recovery but to building your overall health (overall encompassing emotional as well as physical health).
Imagine all that mucus and congestion, that most people tend to want to suppress with antibiotics, it is actually ‘toxins’ being excreted from your body. A fever is great at burning this off. Even simple fresh ginger at this time will help the ‘clearing out’ process. Nowadays some people don’t even ‘do’ fevers. Not ‘doing a fever’ is NOT a sign of good health. Unfortunately, when I ask any client who has experienced one of the most immune challenging diseases, cancer, “when was the last time they had a cold let alone a fever?” They usually cannot remember as it was over several years ago. This is an indication of a suppressed immune system, in other words one that is not able to ‘express’ itself ‘openly’, so the toxins remain stuck within the body hampering various natural biochemical processes vital for optimal health.
So to boost health during the winter season, I usually start prescribing homeopathic and nutritional supplements by September/October. That way the dynamic body either avoids the winter’ blues’ or experiences reduced symptoms of the ‘blues’.
Some of you who may be on thyroid medication, may need more support for the thyroid and/or adrenals at this time of the year as the thyroid ‘revs’ up to keep the metabolism going during the colder months. Balancing your ferritin and vitamin levels including Vitamin D will help the thyroid function better. To maintain and/or achieve well-being it is key to support the body emotionally as well as physically.
Interestingly, we as a nation (Britain) do not like talking about our feelings…and sometimes these emotions can clog up the immune system as well as creating an imbalance within the body. ….let me give you one case example…
Last year, I saw a 62 year old gentleman (Dan) with an on going cough in December. He had already been on 2 lots of antibiotics. By the time he came to see me he was prescribed another dose…but by this time he was experiencing an urinary tract infection (aka UTI, which can occur due to the over use of antibiotics). So we addressed the UTI first using cranberry extract and the homeopathic remedy apis. This cleared the UTI but the cough was still there although not as incessant. Dan’s cough started when his long-term business partner decided to let go of their business and wanted to sell his share….Dan felt upset by this and was missing his business partner. I prescribed a homeopathic remedy called Ignatia for the next couple of days (a remedy for grief, not being able to let go of acute sorrow) and within finishing his last dose of Ignatia his cough all cleared up.
So in essence, if Dan had come for a visit in September rather than December, he could have avoided not only the antibiotics but the general weakening impact of the grief of losing his business partner.
Not a single human body on this earth functions as a mechanical system; our emotions, are linked to our neurons, hormones and immune cells and vice versa. This is what the medical world call the Psycho-Neuro Immuno Endocrine (PNIE) System. …but Western Medicine as we know it to date, gets a gold medal for non-integrated medicine. Western Medicine is great for acute situations such as asthma ‘attacks’, heart attacks, broken bones, etc but overall long term health, I don’t think so …it definitely deserves a Gold for the lack of integration within the various disciplines of medicine.
Let’s not wait for the ‘winter blues’ but start boosting and supporting our health as from now.
To health!