Antibiotic - heal or hell? - Does medication heal or harm the body?

Archive for October, 2011

Posted:
October 24, 2011
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Antibiotic – heal or hell? – Does medication heal or harm the body?

Muffet, spider and protein shake

oh my, you're bigger than my head!

Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet ingesting her non-whey protein shake. Along came a spider and bit her on the boob.

I am Miss Muffet and this is my story…

So apparently we have biting spiders in the UK. They are stowing away on bananas and grapes from far off isles and then falling in love with our English spiders and making mean biting love child baby spiders with poor dental hygiene.

In August I unfortunately got bitten by said spider and ended up with a septic walnut sized abscess and flu like symptoms. I dealt with it the same way any sane hardcore “natural medicine” guru would and went running to the doctors for some nuclear strength antibiotics to stop my boob going gangrenous.
Two types of strong antibiotics and a few weeks later my abscess had gone and I was filled with joy but quickly noticed I wasn’t feeling much better.
I haven’t had antibiotics for 4 years so I had taken necessary precautions I’d taken zinc, vitamin C, bifidophilus and antioxidants combined with green juicing but the Hiroshima-style effect of the drugs was far reaching.
My stomach and small intestine have been in knots ever since and I’ve had headaches, low energy, poor immunity and felt rundown.

Luckily I have a trusted Kinesiology business partner so I’ve been fighting back but its made me ask the following question.
How much devastation did the antibiotics create whilst fixing the infection? And how bad do people who are on antibiotics feel or is the body such an amazing buffer do they not notice? I was protecting myself nutritionally but most people don’t so what are the ramifications for their bodies?

I know antibiotics save lives I watched my dad be saved from a rare and horrific form of sepsis from 6 weeks of strong IV antibiotics and for this they are miraculous. However what seems really clear is that once they’ve fixed the problem the healing really needs to start.

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Posted:
October 20, 2011
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Tis the Sneezon – Supporting the Immune System through Autumn

sneezing

tis the sneezon to be snotty

 I’m car-less at the moment. This is a personal disaster on many levels. I get stranded at houses and need frequent rescuing. I’m relying on the kindness of friends and family to give me lifts making me feel like an inconvenient teenager. But worst of all, I’m back on public transport. I say ‘back’ because for 5 years I was a London dweller and train timetables, tube maps and standing in peoples armpits were part of my daily routine. I didn’t mind, I was in my 20s, I had other things to worry about such as how i was going to afford yet another new dress from Oliver Bonas. But I haven’t been on public transport in 18 months and I’m all out of practice.

As I sit on the Clapham Junction platform freezing my pants off thinking how do people do this I become very aware of the coughing and sneezing around me. It’s October, the season of the cold. This kind of makes sense when you look at traditional Chinese medicine. Autumn is the metal element, the organs for metal are lungs and the large intestine. 50% of the immune system is in the gut so autumn hits and we all get ill. But here’s the thing. Colds don’t invade us, we invite them in. Germs can only inhabit a favourable environment – acidic cells, depleted immune systems, stressed bodies. So how can we support ourselves. Vitamin C is a great starter for 10 and needs to be a good quality natural formulation, none of this chewy orange artificial ones. I recommend Rosehips by Higher Nature

Echinacea is great for keeping healthy but it’s function is to create more of the same so not to be taken when ill.

Vitamin A helps the body stay moist so when you have a sore throat or chesty cough this will really help support the lungs. One of my favourite products is Defence Maintenance by Natures Sunshine. This blend of vitamin C, vitamin A and zinc makes an ideal blend for a healthy immune system.

And finally a little diet recommendation, eat lots of garlic and onions which act as a natural anti-viral keeping the bugs (and most family members) away. Not great if you’re begging for a lift to the station though. 

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Posted:
October 18, 2011
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An Apron Dream – Good Nutrition for Children

carrot chewing

this is how I picture my child

I know what kind of parent I’m going to be. I have it all planned out. I will be one of those idyllic mothers who sings in the kitchen, wears aprons even when she’s not baking, is never too busy to play with lego and reads stories like they do on cbeebies. And most of all i will feed my children healthy, nutritious food, full of multi coloured vegetables, homemade soups and steamed fish. Sigh. I have not let the fact that I am an incredibly busy self-employed woman who can’t sing for toffee and doesn’t even own an apron get in the way of this wondrous image I have created.

Until today.

Today I have spent the afternoon watching the tortured face of my friend try to feed lunch to her very gorgeous, very wilful 18month old girl. She starts with meat balls. These are picked up, smeared across the table and then dumped on the floor. One made it into the mouth and stayed there for about 20 mins. Then there are the peas which are flatly ignored. Then yogurt. The spoon is pushed away again and again until the little mouth gives in and some strawberry goo makes it in and sits with the half chewed meat ball. My friend looks at me and pleads ‘how do I get her to eat well?!’

This hadn’t occurred to me. I had planned so beautifully the mother I was going to be, I had completely forgotten to plan the child I needed to go with it! I look at my friend blankly and answer ‘I have no idea’. Me. The Nutritionist. The passionate, healthy one who has food advice for anyone who wants to listen. I don’t have an answer for this.

So I check out google.

Heres a nice suggestion – Create a food collage. Use broccoli florets for trees, carrots and celery for flowers, cauliflower for clouds, and a yellow squash for a sun. Then eat the masterpiece.

I wonder if that would actually work.

Try to focus on the sweeter ‘good for you’ foods, like strawberries, mandarin oranges, cherries, tomatoes, sweet peas, and corn.

Again a nice suggestion and one thats relatively easy to follow especially in the warmer months when fruit is that much tastier. As a nutritionist I would add the darker fruits are preferable, rich in betacarotene (Vitamin A) and not so high in sugar.

Apparently children who do not like cooked vegetables may prefer raw vegetables with a dip and like it if they are arranged into some weird smiley face. Or if they won’t eat, get them to drink and make a juice instead.

Its my turn to cook tonight. I may try these tricks on the 18month old, see what happens. If any of you mothers have other ideas up your sleeve please comment. I fear that if I can’t crack the all important issue of tempting my child with a vegetable I might have to give up the apron dream all together.

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