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Natural Options for Cold and Flu Season

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

We all know that it’s not fun to come down with a nasty cold or flu. Many of us can not even afford the time to get sick. Does that leave you feeling stressed and wondering what your options are to protect you and your family?

There are many options to choose from and much information is available online which can leave many of us confused. The first step at this time of year is prevention. We need to make sure that we are getting enough rest, exercising, drinking enough water, washing our hands frequently and avoiding unnecessary sugar. Sugar will decrease the functioning of your white blood cells and impair your immune system for at least 30 minutes after eating it.

There are many natural health products available on the market to help build the immune system. These can include healthy super foods, essential oils, herbs, vitamins, minerals, and homeopathic remedies. Some of my favorite immune system builders include: cat’s claw, echinacea, astragalus, probiotics (good bacteria), vitamin C with bioflavonoids, fish oil and vitamin D3. In fact, the latest research by Dr. Michael Holick from Boston University Medical Center, as published in the New England Journal of Medicine, is showing that vitamin D plays a major role in our immune system and the body’s ability to fight off disease. Vitamin D is something that we generally get from the sun. In the summer our body will make 20 000 IU of vitamin D from 20 minutes of sun exposure on bare skin. The problem is that many of us never get sun exposure. We have been trained to not be in the sun unless we are wearing sunscreen which blocks the sun and thus our body’s ability to produce adequate amounts of vitamin D. If you are someone who rarely sees the sun, you may wish to have your vitamin D level tested by your medical doctor. According to Dr. Holick we need to maintain a circulating level of 25-Hydroxyvitamin D of >75 nmol/L or 30 ng/mL to maximize vitamin D’s health benefits. For most people a minimum of 1000 IU of Vitamin D3 daily is required to maintain this level. Health Canada recommends 200-600 IU daily depending on age.

There are a couple of homeopathic remedies that have been proven to be over 80% effective in preventing the flu. These are: Muco Coccinum® from UNDA® and Influenzinum® Plus Thymuline® from Boiron®. I caution anyone who suffers from an autoimmune disease to check with your health care provider before taking any immune system-building supplement.

With all the best intentions, you may still end up coming down with a nasty cold or flu, in which case you may be tempted to take over-the-counter cold and flu medications. These are generally designed to suppress your symptoms. Overall you may temporarily feel better but you will generally find that your flu or cold will last much longer.

So what are some alternatives? First, increase your vitamin D intake. At the first sign of a cold or flu you may wish to take a single dose of 50000 IU of vitamin D3 and then decrease to 1000 IU daily based on your body’s vitamin D level. Homeopathic remedies that you could consider at the first sign of flu are Oscillococcinum® from Boiron® or Muco Coccinum® from UNDA®. Other remedies you may also wish to consider are garlic, oil of oregano, olive leaf extract, tea tree oil and grapefruit seed extract. Colloidal or liquid silver is known to kill many kinds of bacteria and viruses. This may be ingested in small doses as directed. It also works great for ear infections. Use a few drops 3-4 times a day in the infected ear.

When choosing natural remedies, always follow the directions listed on the package or given by your health care provider. Natural remedies can have serious consequences if taken incorrectly or mixed incorrectly with medications. Always check with your healthcare provider or medical doctor if you have any questions or concerns.

Tips for Preparing Healthy Lunches for Your Kids

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

Do you struggle with packing healthy lunches for your kids? What is a healthy lunch anyway? Let’s start with the basics. Firstly, ensure that your child has a lunch container that you can include a small ice pack. Secondly, make sure that your child has a stainless steel water bottle and that he or she takes a full bottle of filtered water (I suggest reverse osmosis water) to school every day. A handy item to have on hand would also be a thermos. As the days get colder many things can be packed in a thermos such as yummy leftovers from supper the night before. All lunches should include healthy fats, protein and carbohydrates.

After talking with many teachers the most common thing I hear (next to the fact that most kids bring way too much junk food to school) is that most children do not have any or enough protein in their lunches. Protein is needed for proper brain function and development. Protein also builds muscle and will keep your child full longer. To include more protein in your kids lunches, look to include things like: hard boiled eggs or egg salad sandwiches, seeds mixed with dried fruits, salmon or tuna salad sandwiches, dips such as hummus, bean salads and dairy items such as yogurt and cheese. If you choose to send processed lunch meat, try to find lunch meats that do not contain nitrates. Left over roast beef, chicken and turkey make a great addition to a lunch.

Healthy fats are a little more difficult to incorporate, although not impossible. Omega 3 fats are the ones most often missing from the diet. They are important because they feed the brain. You will find them in all seeds and seed butters, fish, and oils like flax or hemp. Try mixing your own dips or salad dressings with these oils.

Carbohydrates are the easiest of all foods to pack, including: fruit and fruit juices, vegetables and all grains which include bread, rice, crackers, chips, granola bars, cookies, etc. All sugary snacks also fall into the carbohydrate category. Be careful not to pack a lunch with only carbohydrates in it. Your child may be less focused and able to learn, feel tired and lethargic or have less energy if you leave out good fats and protein.

My number one suggestion regarding packing a healthy lunch is to plan ahead. On the weekend after you do your grocery shopping, try washing and cleaning all the fruit and vegetables for the week ahead and put them in proper storage containers in the fridge so they are ready to go each morning. Make a pot of hard boiled eggs to be used thoughout the week as needed. Mix up a trail mix with various raw seeds (unsalted) and dried fruits (store seeds in the fridge once you bring them home). When you are cooking meals, make extra and freeze the leftovers in lunch-size portions. This can be done with most soups, casseroles, chili, etc. Take these items out of the freezer the night before, heat in the morning and put in the thermos for school. Make muffins or waffles on the weekend and freeze them so that you just need to pull them out of the freezer in the morning and pop them into the lunch bag.

Ask your kids to help you plan their lunches. Make a menu together and post it on the fridge each week so that you are not scrambling at the last minute and end up taking a fast food meal to school for them. Ensure each lunch includes healthy fat, protein and carbohydrates.

It’s inevitable that your kids are going to want a sweet treat in their lunches at times. There are, however, many healthy options available. Homemade wholegrain cookies such as oatmeal raisin are a great option. Also, check the health section in your local grocery store or health food store for options. Anything that is organic generally does not have genetically modified ingredients or as many preservatives, chemicals and food dyes/colors. Keep in mind that sugar is still sugar and whether it’s organic or not and should be limited.

Cheers to healthier lunches!

Look to Prevention for the Cure

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

Many of us these days are looking for the magic bullet. We want the magic bullet for everything - including our heath. If anything goes wrong with our health, we want the magic pill to get us back to normal as fast as possible.

How many of us ever stop to think about our lifestyle and how it may be affecting our long term health? We assume that any time heart disease, cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, MS, diabetes or any other "disease" or condition comes our way, we can just go off to the doctor and get the magic pill. You may already know that most of these medical conditions don't develop overnight. Many conditions take 20 or 30 years to actually become pathology in the body and that is when you are diagnosed with a "disease" or a condition.

What if we started to listen to our bodies? What if we started to pay attention to the warning signs that the body gives us when we are starting to get out of balance? When we get a headache, why not try and figure out why we got it in the first place and do things to fix the cause? Instead, we take ibuprofen or acetaminophen and keep going. We forget that the reason we got the headache was not because we were ibuprofen or acetaminophen deficient! In order for our body to rest, repair and detoxify we need seven to nine hours of sleep each night. Many people don't sleep anywhere near that much because they have too much to do or figure they don't need that much sleep. Then when it happens that we can't sleep much at all we think we are sleeping pill deficient. During the day when we are tired we think it must be because we are caffeine deficient. It's very easy to pick up bad habits that mask what our body is actually trying to tell us.

We are spending billions of dollars every year looking for magical cures for many lifestyle diseases and conditions that can be prevented. We know that fast foods including boxed and package foods containing additives, preservatives and trans fat do not make us healthy. In fact, most of these items are just empty calories. In North America, we are the most over-fed and under-nourished nation in the world.

We know that stress, lack of exercise and sleep will eventually haunt us in a negative way. How many of us drink enough water? Clean pure water is needed by every cell in your body to stay hydrated and to keep you detoxified. I am always asked how much water we need to drink. For that answer, take your body weight in pounds and divide it in half. That equals the amount of water in ounces per day that your body requires - on top of any other beverage that you consume. Buy organic foods - especially fruits, vegetables and meat. Non-organic fruit and vegetables are loaded with herbicides and pesticides. Non-organic meat contains antibiotics and hormones. These substances will store in your body, mostly in fatty tissue and in your organs. Gradually over time, these will break down your immune system and make you sick. For more helpful information visit: www.ewg.org.

It's time to start taking personal responsibility for our health and start making positive lifestyle changes that will prevent disease instead of waiting for the magic pill that may never come.

Concerned about your Child's Behavior, Mood Swings or Ability to Focus?

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

Have you ever fed your child a sweet treat and then wondered what happened to your perfectly behaved child? Suddenly you feel like you are dealing with a cranky monster that you have no control over and you don't know what to do with. Has your child's teacher ever told you that your child can't focus or concentrate in class after a nutrition/lunch break?

Today's processed foods are laced with thousands of different chemical additives, preservatives and food dyes, all of which can affect our brain function in a negative way. Children can be especially sensitive to these substances because their brains are still growing and developing. Some children only need to consume trace amounts of these substances to have a negative reaction of some type.

If you are a processed food purchaser, try reading the package label to see if you can find a package that does not contain some kind of sweetener. Look for cane sugar or cane juice, fructose (fruit sugar), glucose, sucrose, dextrose or dextrin (corn sugar), high fructose corn syrup, rice syrup, sugar alcohols such as xylitol, maltitol and sorbitol. Then there are more natural sugars like honey, maple syrup and sucanat.

On average, most people consume about 1 cup of sweetener on a daily basis. One can of regular pop contains about 40 grams of sugar. All of these hidden sugars affect our blood sugar balance, so after eating sugary foods we get a quick surge in energy because of all the sugar that was just pumped into our body. Then shortly thereafter if our body is functioning properly we feel a drop in energy because insulin was secreted to take away the extra sugar from the blood. Our body was not designed to have to deal with the large amount of sugar that we now consume in our society. Much of this sugar is hidden in processed convenience foods like juice, bread, muffins, breakfast cereals, granola bars, crackers, cookies, ice cream, etc. This is the sad reason so many of our children are overweight and being diagnosed at very young ages with Type 2 diabetes.

Many children are picky eaters and will only eat a few foods. Often these foods are the processed foods that they have become addicted to. The addiction is generally to the sweeteners, additives and preservatives that are hidden in the food.

If you having difficulty with your child's behavior, moods and focus, try removing food dyes, additives, preservatives and sugars from their diet. You may also wish to consider eliminating other common foods on a rotational basis such as corn (dextrose), wheat and dairy. In my clinical experience, I have found that these items are the most common culprits of sudden behavioral changes, mood swings, sleeping disturbances and lack or change of ability to concentrate or focus at school.

Fats: The Missing Link to Vital Health?

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

"Don't eat fat...it will make you fat!" How many of us have heard that? Getting the right fats in the right balance affects your health on many different levels. Do you or your kids have trouble learning or remembering things? Our brain is sixty percent fat and needs to be fed with good fats. This must start from the time you are in the womb and continue on throughout your entire life.

Essential fats cannot be made or manufactured by your body, so they must be consumed daily in order for your body to function optimally.

Signs that the fat in your body is out of balance may include depression, lack of energy, poor memory, difficulty learning, skin problems, behavioral problems, joint pain and inflammation, cholesterol imbalances, difficulty losing weight, hormonal issues and a depressed immune system.

Fats considered "essential" that we must consume are Omega 6 and Omega 3. These fats must also be consumed in the proper ratio. The average person consumes a ratio of 20:1 of Omega 6 fats to Omega 3 fats. To have a proper fat balance we should be consuming a ratio of 3:1 Omega 6 to Omega 3.

Most of us get too many Omega 6 fats because they are cheap and found in many of our processed foods. These fats are found in vegetable oils such as sunflower, safflower, canola, corn, soy, and sesame.

The best source of Omega 3 fats are derived from fatty fish, nuts and seeds. Many of us are not eating fatty fish every day - and that would be a bad idea anyway because we need to be concerned about the mercury levels in farmed fish. For more information on that you may visit: http://www.ewg.org/files/fishguide.pdf

So what is the solution to getting our fats in balance?

  • Consume wild fish in moderation (once a week).
  • Eat a variety of raw nuts and seeds such as almonds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, ground flaxseeds, hemp, and sunflower seeds on a daily basis (not peanuts).
  • Cut back on cheaply processed vegetable oils. When purchasing a vegetable oil, look for cold pressed oils in dark glass bottles.
  • Avoid hydrogenated and trans fats as these are dangerous to your health.
  • Cook with olive or coconut oil (olive oil is actually an Omega 9 fat but has many health promoting properties).
  • Use hemp and flaxseed oils for salad dressings but never heat these oils as they become unstable when heated.


With all of the above being said, it would be a wise idea for everyone to take a "good quality" fish oil supplement. Look for Omega 3 supplements that are broken into both EPA and DHA for best absorption. If you or your kids are having difficulty with memory or learning, look for a supplement high in DHA as this is the part of the fat that feeds the brain. If you are in need of balancing your cholesterol levels look for a supplement high in EPA as this part of the fat feeds the heart and arteries. Most good supplements have a balance of both EPA and DHA. Supplements come in liquid, capsule or chewable forms and many are flavored with lemon or orange so you can avoid the "fishy" taste and smell. Cheers to fat and good health!

Wise Weight Loss

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

As we celebrate the holidays many of us will probably partake in a little too much good food and decide in January that we need to lose weight.

For some people that might be as easy as watching what they eat for a few weeks and the extra pounds will come off easily. For others it may be a little more difficult. You may be one of those people who have consciously decided to lose weight many times only to gain it all back plus more once you are no longer on "the diet".

There are many different types of "diets" that one can follow to lose weight. Most of them work while you are following the plan very closely. The problem is that once you stop following the plan, the weight comes back.

A better solution may be to make gradual positive, healthy lifestyle changes that you can live with forever. These changes will positively impact your weight and your overall health and well-being. How does one begin to make lifestyle changes? You may wish to start by doing a daily journal for a seven day period keeping track of your dietary intake, how much time you spend exercising, working, watching TV, playing on the computer, how many hours of sleep per night you average and how you feel each day. Once your journal is complete, you may be surprised at the results and that alone may be enough for you to see exactly where you need to start making lifestyle changes. Ask yourself what you would need to do in order to feel better each day.

Change can be difficult because we are creatures of habit. Start by changing one or two things at a time and do them until they truly become habits. Once you are successful with a couple of things, change another habit or two.

Some habits that one may consider changing are: drinking more water, trying a new vegetable every week, buying some new cookbooks that use fresh whole ingredients and using them to cook at home more often, not eating at fast food restaurants, reading food labels and not consuming products containing aspartame, MSG, nitrates, food dyes, hydrogenated fats, high-fructose corn syrup and other chemicals, eating less food from cans and cardboard boxes, eating less white foods (sugar, wheat, potatoes), eating in a relaxed environment while enjoying what you are eating, exercising more and finding positive ways to reduce or deal with stress in your life. Stress is a major cause of weight gain and can prevent weight loss.

Other factors that can inhibit weight loss and should be considered if you are having trouble losing weight include: thyroid dysfunction, liver toxicity, candida albicans, parasites, allergies and hormone imbalances. If you think that you suffer from any of these conditions, please seek advice from a health care professional.

Overall, continue to make gradual positive lifestyle changes day by day and don't ever give up!!!

To Supplement or Not to Supplement?

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

Why would anyone want to take supplements and what are they anyway? When we speak of supplements we are often referring to nutrients in the form of vitamins, minerals and herbs that we are consuming in addition to our daily diet.

There are many reasons for taking supplements. People who do not need supplements would include those who are in perfect health; never experience stress; breathe pure, clean air; eat only organically grown food; exercise daily; never eat processed foods with preservatives, dyes or additives; drink pure, clean water (not tap); refrain from all over-the-counter and prescription drugs, tobacco, alcohol, sugar and caffeine; just to name a few. If all of these apply to you then you may live to a ripe old age without taking any supplements. For the rest of us, it may be a good idea to include high-quality supplements in our diet.

The new Canada's Food Guide is suggesting that all women who could become pregnant or who are pregnant should supplement themselves with a multi-vitamin containing folic acid every day and those who are pregnant should ensure that they have iron in their multi-vitamin. They are also suggesting that anyone over the age of fifty has a greater need for vitamin D and should supplement with 400 IU daily.

Some people are familiar with the RDI or Recommended Daily Intake amount of certain vitamins, minerals and nutrients. These are guidelines set out for us by the government as to the minimum amount of nutrients we should be consuming on a daily basis. Did you know that the RDI amounts are the minimum amounts required for an already healthy body living in a perfect environment to prevent deficiency diseases such as scurvy and rickets? Many of us do not currently have a perfectly healthy body and do not live in a perfect environment. Some of us want to have vibrant health. How many of us pay attention to all of the RDI's we consume on a daily basis anyway?

Research suggests that some people may need up to 40 times the amount of certain nutrients that others do depending on their lifestyles and health concerns.

All nutritional supplements are not the same. If you choose to add supplements to your health care regime, look for natural rather than synthetic. With supplements, you often get what you pay for. If you feel lost in this area but know you could benefit from adding some supplements to your diet, look to a qualified health care professional for help. Many health conditions can be treated or supported with the proper supplements.

"Take care of your body, it's the only place you have to live." - Jim Rohn

Sweet Nothings: Natural vs. Artificial Sweeteners

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

Do you have a sweet tooth? Of all the flavors, sweet is probably the one that we like best. It's the most comforting of flavors. When we are stressed or depressed we reach for something sweet to make us feel better.

When you are shopping do you look for products with natural or artificial sweeteners?

The first artificial sweetener on the market was saccharin which is sold under the brand name "Hermesetas". It was discovered by accident in 1879. In fact, all artificial sweeteners were discovered by mistake when scientists in labs were trying to discover new chemical drugs or insecticides. Saccharin is only available as tablets in Canada and is not in any packaged food or beverages.

There are many artificial sweeteners available in Canada. In fact, you probably need to look harder to find foods without these ingredients than foods with them. You may wish to check the ingredient list for: cyclamate (Sweet'N LowTM, Sugar TwinTM, SucarylTM), acesulfame-potassium or "Ace-K" (SunettTM), aspartame (NutraSweetTM, EqualTM, Sugar TwinTM, Sweet'N LowTM) and sucralose (SplendaTM). SplendaTM is currently the most popular artificial sweetener (with emphasis on "artificial").

If you choose to consume artificial sweeteners, please note that the FDA has received over 10,000 complaints of aspartame reactions and admits that less than 1% of people who experience side effects ever report it. If you experience unexplained joint pain, migraines, headaches, depression, hallucination, mental confusion, balance problems, rashes, hives, sleeping problems or neurological problems, you may wish to remove artificial sweeteners from your diet. Studies on artificial sweeteners in general show very negative results such as cancer and DNA damage to laboratory animals. There are no known health benefits to consuming artificial sweeteners.

Are natural sweeteners better? Overall, choosing a natural sweetener would be a much better choice than an artificial one. Natural sweeteners contain small amounts of nutrients in their natural state and are therefore better metabolized by the body. Artificial means a man-made chemical not found in nature. Our body does not require a daily dose of any kind of sugar or artificial sweetener to be healthy. If you are diabetic or on a weight loss program you would be best to avoid all sweeteners; however, you may wish to investigate stevia if you must consume a sweetener.

Our body was designed to eat whole natural foods found in nature complete with vitamins, minerals and fiber. The problem with "natural sugar" is that it is often over processed and devoid of all nutrients. As a society, we are consuming way too many sweets. All processed sugars have many negative effects on our body. One teaspoon of white sugar weakens your immune system for 30 minutes. A can of pop contains 40 grams of sugar. How much sugar do you consume on a daily basis? Over consumption of sugar is causing lifestyle diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cancer. Nancy Appleton, PhD has a great book called "Lick the Sugar Habit" and in it she lists 76 ways that sugar can destroy your health.

When you are looking for sweeteners, the best choice of natural sweeteners would be raw honey (not to be consumed during pregnancy or for children under 1 year of age), maple syrup, stevia, date sugar, brown rice syrup, sugar alcohols (sorbitol, xylitol and malitol), barley malt and molasses. More processed sugars include sucant, turbanado sugar, fructose, corn syrup, brown sugar, white table sugar and icing sugar. These should all be consumed in small quantities.

If you would like more detailed information regarding sugars and artificial sweeteners, please e-mail me and ask for my summary on sugars and artificial sweetners. You may also wish to read Dr. Mercola's new book called "Sweet Deception".

Whole Grains vs. Whole Wheat

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

We hear it all the time. Eat more whole grains. What does that really mean? Most people think that eating more whole grains means eating more whole wheat.
It is true that whole wheat is better for you and higher in fiber than bleached white wheat but there is a downside to wheat that many people aren't familiar with. Wheat in North America is over-produced and highly refined, which leaves it lacking in essential vitamins and minerals. It is often genetically engineered and we don't know what effects genetically engineered foods have on our body. Wheat is also very high in gluten, which is a protein that our body has a difficult time digesting. It is also proven that wheat (even whole wheat) encourages growth, weight gain and fat formation. Many people have had great success with weight loss by eliminating wheat from their diets. This however does not mean that you should cut whole grains out of your diet. I am asked every day "what can I eat?" when I suggest that people eliminate wheat from their regular daily diet. The answer is: lots! There are many other healthy grains to choose from which are full of vitamins, minerals, fiber and are much tastier and more satisfying than wheat. A grain that is close to wheat but much healthier and can be used interchangeably in your recipes is spelt. Spelt has a nutty taste and is a relative of wheat but is much lower in gluten, so many people who are gluten intolerant handle this grain very well. Other grains to consider instead of wheat are rye, kamut, oats, brown rice, quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), millet, buckwheat (kasha), amaranth, barley, and teff. Many of these can be purchased in local stores already prepared into breads, muffins, wraps, pizza crusts, cookies etc. You can also purchase them as flours and bake with them at home or try them in their whole, unrefined states. Quinoa can be used instead of rice and is much tastier.
Grains are best consumed in their whole state. Did you know that flour actually comes from the berry on the plant? When we take this berry and grind it, we lose many of its essential vitamins and minerals. The reason cereal and processed foods are fortified with synthetic vitamins and minerals is because they are so refined that there are not adequate amounts left after the refining process. The only problem is that our body cannot properly absorb synthetic vitamins and minerals, which leaves us overfed and malnourished.
I challenge you all to make a resolution to cut back on wheat and try some of the other great grains out there! Your body will thank you.

Food, Mood & Relationships

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

Have you ever thought about the fact that the foods you choose to eat have a great impact on your mood and that your mood has a great impact on the relationships in your life?

The food choices you make determine your energy level, mental activity and overall state of physical and mental health. How so? You have probably heard the saying "garbage in, garbage out". That statement is very true.

When you fail to provide the required nutrients to your body that it needs on a daily basis, your body becomes out of balance and begins to weaken, thus creating an environment for disease. When this happens, you may start to feel tired for no reason, become depressed, be unable to handle stress, have severe food cravings leading to weight gain, suffer often from colds and flus, develop allergies, get headaches and have digestive or bowel problems - just to name a few. All of these plus many other diet related health conditions will affect your relationships with your family, friends and co-workers.

We live in a fast-paced environment with the conveniences of fast, frozen and packaged food - not to mention the amount of times we eat out each week. Unfortunately, these foods do not provide the nutrients that our body requires to function at its best.

What is the solution? We need to start assessing how much of this food we are consuming on a daily basis. How much food do you eat that does not come out of a cardboard box, can, carton, package, freezer or restaurant?

When you eat a natural diet of good quality, whole foods you are giving your body its daily required amounts of good fats, complex carbohydrates, high quality protein, vitamins, minerals, water, and fiber - all of which are required daily by your body so that it will function at its best, with a strong immune system free from disease.

There are many options for eating healthy. Start by cutting back on anything white in your diet which includes sugar, white bread, white rice and potatoes. Increase your daily intake of fruit and vegetables. Ensure you are getting high quality protein daily which can include baked meats (not fried), nuts & seeds and legumes. Include essential fatty acids or good fats daily. These are essential because your body can't make them. Most important, increase your daily intake of fiber and water.

Once you start eating healthier, your overall health will improve, making you feel better - and that will improve your relationships. You are worth it!

Are Allergies Driving You Nuts?

By: Kim Edmundson, R.N.C.P., R.h.A.

In the last 50 years, allergies have increased by over 200%. Why is this? In the last 100 years the food industry has refined, force-grown and processed our food supply. In addition, our food is preserved using thousands of additives, preservatives and chemicals that our bodies were never designed to tolerate. The air we breathe is full of harmful toxins and pollutants, all of which enter our body through our respiratory tract or are absorbed through our skin. We are first affected by all of this while we are still in the womb. Babies are fed processed cereal before their digestive tracts are developed enough to digest it, which causes undigested food to leak into their bloodstream, setting the stage for allergies and intolerances.

In 1926, the medical community defined an allergy as an allergen-antibody immune system response in the body. The medical establishment still follows this definition today. Often people will experience symptoms that do not produce a detectable allergen-antibody immune system response. This is then referred to as an intolerance. Intolerances may range from a minor irritation to an extreme reaction. There are many ways to detect allergies and intolerances, including blood tests, skin tests and applied kinesiology.

Common symptoms experienced by individuals suffering from allergies and intolerances include itchy and/or watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing, coughing, diarrhea, cramps, bloating, rashes, hives, asthma and sinus problems. However, there are many other symptoms that you may not be aware of, including weight gain, ear infections and/or excessive ear wax, migraine headaches, acne, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis, depression, fatigue, fluid retention, hemorrhoids, insomnia, learning disabilities, red circles on the cheeks, bags under the eyes, PMS and body odour.

There are many ways of treating allergies. Anti-histamines and corticosteroids are favoured by some people, but they only treat allergy symptoms and burden your already over-taxed liver. In the long run, this can result in the development of more allergies and diseases as your immune system becomes weaker. Many people have success with food elimination and rotational diets, liver and candida cleanses, herbal supplements, homeopathic remedies and supporting the immune system with good quality, natural, whole foods. There is also a new non-invasive, drug-free technique called BioEnergetic Intolerance Elimination (B.I.E.) which can permanently relieve allergy symptoms.

You can make allergies a thing of the past!

 

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