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What Really Works: The Insider’s Guide to Complementary Health

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2019
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Homocysteine is a normal byproduct of the metabolism of protein, but high levels in the blood have been shown to be 40 times more accurate as an indicator of the risk of heart disease than cholesterol. When levels are elevated, it rapidly damages the arteries and causes an immediate build-up of artherosclerotic plaque – the main trigger for both heart attacks and stroke.

This link was first discovered by a Harvard scientist called Dr Kilmer McCully, who was investigating the cases of several infants and young children who had mysteriously died of advanced heart disease. His research, which won him no friends at the time, was first published 30 years ago. However, for political and probably financial reasons, his findings were ignored and McCully was forced to leave Harvard.

Perhaps the major sources of funding for heart disease research were only interested in those projects investigating the link between cholesterol and heart disease. This is bizarre, though, not least because 80% of all fatal heart attacks occur in men who do not have high cholesterol levels. A cynic might suggest the reason this information was suppressed was because commercially, there was less money to be made from a safe and natural supplement than from pharmaceuticals or cholesterol-free and cholesterol-lowering foods. The good news is that this injustice has recently been exposed in the US, where homocysteine research is finally getting the attention and funding it deserves. Sadly, we have yet to see the same trend in the UK.

You can, by the way, ask your doctor to test your homocysteine levels. If they are too high, you need to supplement your diet with vitamins B

B

and folic acid.

Herbalism – How to Use Herbs

The fastest way to get the standardised, active ingredient of a herb into the bloodstream is by taking it in tincture form. This is always my preferred method when I am in a rush and don’t have the time to grind, pulp or infuse fresh herbs.

You can also buy herbs and herbal combinations in tablet, capsule, powdered and dried form.

Organic Tincture Organic tinctures are now readily available in many health stores and by mail order (see Resources). Each herb will have instructions for how much to take and when on the label, so keep a supply in the cupboard for when you need them.

Infusion This is the method herbalists use when they need to extract water-soluble ingredients from the less dense parts of the plant such as the leaves, stems and flowers. You can also use it with the roots and fruits if these have been chopped finely enough.

What to Do: Pour 500ml of off-the-boil water on to 30g of the finely cut herb in a container with a tight-fitting lid. This coverage means that volatile substances which might otherwise evaporate are retained. Leave the solution for 10-15 minutes to infuse. Strain the liquid and allow to cool to body temperature. The usual dose is one cup of infused liquid taken three times a day, before meals.

Poultice This simply describes the technique where the fresh plant is bruised or crushed to a pulp which is then mixed with a moistening material, ready to apply directly to the area where it is needed. You can mix the dried herbs with a little hot water or use a host paste such as flour, bran or corn meal.

What to Do: To make a poultice paste, mix 60g of dried herb or herbs with 500ml of loose paste. Sandwich this paste between layers of sterile, thin cloth or gauze and apply to the wound or affected area.

Compress If you have ever placed a warm facecloth over tired eyes, then you have already used this technique.

What to Do: Soak a clean towel or sterile cloth in a hot or cold herbal infusion or decoction. Wring it out and place gently over the affected area. Repeat several times. If you are in a rush, you can use this same technique with water in which you have dissolved a few drops of your favourite essential oil.

Decoction The harder parts of plants, especially the bark, seeds, roots and rhizomes, only release their active ingredients after a more prolonged hot-water treatment.

What to Do: Soak 30g of your chosen herb in 500ml of cold water for 10 minutes. Pour this mixture into a saucepan, cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10–15 minutes. Remove from the heat, keep covered and allow the liquid to sit and cool for another 15 minutes. Strain and drink as a tea, in the same way as an infusion.

Homoeopathy

The principle underpinning homeopathy is that you use like to treat like. Thus, for the streaming eyes and running nose of hayfever, you take a remedy made up of the pollen of mixed grasses – the very cause of your misery. Technically, homoeopathy does not count as a natural remedy since the tiny homoeopathic pillules you will take have been synthetically manufactured, not harvested from nature, but the underlying principle of treating the whole person and the cause of an illness, not just the symptoms, brings the subject comfortably under the umbrella of complementary health.

In fact, homoeopathy can really come into it’s own as a truly complementary practice. For example, the first time I visited India, I decided to have the conventional anti-malarial treatments since I was a first-time visitor to this part of the world and because an earlier health problem had left my immune system under par. I was planning to travel in rural areas and did not think my immune system would withstand a malarial infection, so I took the allopathic pills but then supported my system with a tailor-made homoeopathic remedy to keep me well.

I rarely, in my columns, recommend more than the very basic homoeopathic remedies for more than the very elementary of illnesses. It can take up to seven years to qualify as a skilled homoeopath (as long as the training for many doctors) which is, to my mind, convincing evidence that this is not something you can pick up over a weekend course. A qualified homoeopath will, for example, take a detailed medical history at your first visit and prescribe according to what is known as your constitutional type.

Each homoeopath will have his or her own intuitive way of working, too. Mine, for instance, will decide on a treatment plan only after determining how the patient reacts to specific types of pain, as well as other factors. Hers is a very precise art, combining clinical training, experience and intuition. Your practitioner will decide on what is called a constitutional remedy. Mine is Gelsemium – and I am given this, along with other remedies, regardless of my specific complaint.

My feeling with homoeopathy is that if you can afford a qualified practitioner, then have a constitutional diagnosis and take advice for more serious conditions. For everyday problems, such as bruising or travel sickness, homeopathic pills and creams can be highly effective, so it is worth keeping these in your holistic medical kit as useful standbys.

In homoeopathy, the potency of the active ingredient of any remedy is so diluted that not only can it cause no harm, sceptics will argue that it can’t possibly do any good either. New research is beginning to suggest the answer may lie in the fact that the human body itself is a natural homoeopathic machine.

Thanks to ongoing UK-based research, where homoeopaths have been investigating the ability of water to record a signal, it is now being suggested that homoeopathy works according to an even deeper principle than that of treating like with like. What is actually going on is something 21st-century healers call Bio-Resonance.

Bio-Resonance is a natural phenomenon and is what happens when, for example, you hit a tuning fork that has been pre-tuned to resonate at a particular frequency. It will only resonate at this frequency, regardless of how hard you hit it. What you will also notice is that anything else in the room which resonates naturally at the same frequency as the fork will also start vibrating. To the human ear, this will sound like a humming noise.

The idea, in health, is to think of normal resonance as being like a melody which illness or an infection shifts to a different key. When, for example, you have a sore throat you not only have the physical pain and symptoms, you are also conscious that you have a sore throat and, therefore, have become aware that you are ill. So, even with a seemingly trivial complaint, both the mind and the body are affected. What this means is that instead of just one particular resonance being out of kilter, the whole body has been disturbed. It then follows, if you accept this thinking, that if you are ill you will need a treatment (or, to follow the musical analogy, a series of tuning forks) which by resonating with your sick state will restore your original harmony.

Good health is maintained by this restored, natural vibration; when we lose it, through stress or shock, we are then vulnerable again to illness. Homoeopathy, it is suggested, mimics what actually happens in the body where vital organs, such as the beating heart, act as the tuning forks which impart that natural vibration or frequency to the body fluids. ‘What we believe is that the signal or what we call the memory effect of resonance is recorded or held in the fluid of the body.’ explains Tony Pinkus, the UK’s leading homoeopathic pharmacist and director of Ainsworths, which is carrying out the new research. ‘The implication is that the body is a natural homeopathic machine and this could very well be the long-awaited explanation of how homoeopathy actually works.’

Acne

Adult acne is not only a fact of life, it is on the increase. There are now 12 different types of acne affecting some 3% of the UK population. Contrary to popular belief, it is not caused by junk diets or poor hygiene but by a hormonal imbalance, the skin’s reaction to this upset and a bacterium called Propionibacterium acne, which has become increasingly resistant to the antibiotics and other creams that are the conventional treatment route.

The dilemma for all acne sufferers is whether to go ahead and take the prescription drugs which, in many cases, can bring a dramatic improvement to the condition of their skin in the short term, or put up with the psychological trauma of bad skin while tackling the problem from the inside out. Roaccutane, for example, will indeed suppress your acne, but, for many, at a price.

You have probably read newspaper reports linking Roaccutance with depression and suicide in younger users. It works by shutting down oil production in the sebaceous glands, but it’s side-effects can include dry, cracked lips, nose bleeds, eye irritation, muscular aches and pains, hair loss, nail brittleness, high blood sugar levels and increased sensitivity of the skin to light. Roaccutane may also alter liver function and harm the unborn foetus if given to a pregnant woman.

If you are given antibiotics and you take them for a prolonged period of time, there is a risk you will, inadvertently, exacerbate the very condition you are taking them to treat. This is because antibiotics can also damage the lining of the gut. In one study, for example, tests showed 50% of those with a severe acne problem also had higher levels of toxins in their bloodstream. What this suggests is what the holistic skin specialists have been arguing for some time – that treating acne has to start from the inside. To replenish the microflora wiped out by the prolonged use of antibiotics, for example, take a probiotic supplement and eat bananas, which act as natural probiotics.

Teenage boys suffer spots and acne because of a surge in the male hormone, testosterone. In adults of both sexes, the same condition has been linked to the abnormally high levels of an enzyme called 5-alpha-reductase. Enzymes are the catalysts which trigger the body’s chemical reactions. What this one does, unhelpfully, is convert testosterone to a more potent form called dihydrotestosterone, and it is this substance, which is now believed to play the key role in causing the condition.

As well as a hormonal imbalance, researchers have also identified an inability among sufferers to digest saturated fats. This means that eliminating dairy products and all animal fats, especially red meats, should help manage the symptoms. Both tofu and soya are phytoestrogens – substances which can help naturally rebalance the hormones in both sexes – and so eating these foods at least three times a week can help. Sufferers should also avoid yeast and white sugar. Women who develop acne-like outbreaks in their later 20s and 30s may also be suffering from a hidden condition called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (see page 203).

A calcium-rich diet has been found to help reduce the severity of an acne infection. While the obvious source is milk, if the lining of the gut is damaged, acne sufferers are likely to be intolerant to and unable to digest lactose (the sugar in milk), making green leafy vegetables, broccoli, tofu and shellfish better natural sources.

Vitamin A helps maintain all the surfaces of the body, inside and out. Good dietary sources include all yellow fruits and vegetables, unpolluted fish oils, and, of course, carrots. Zinc, which helps boost the immune system and which enhances the absorption of vitamin A, is lost in food processing or simply missing from non-organic food harvested from nutrient-stripped soil. Excessive sweating also depletes the body’s zinc resources, causing the loss of up to 3mg a day. Foods that are rich in this mineral include shellfish, pecans, turkey and wheatgerm, so include plenty of these in your diet.

Foods for Acne

Eat calcium-rich green leafy vegetables and organic dairy products unless you are intolerant. Include broccoli, tofu and shellfish in your diet. Add rich sources of zinc, including wheat germ, peanuts, pecans, turkey and, if you’re feeling flush, oysters. Eat bananas to help repopulate the gut with good bacteria that help flush out toxins. Avoid tea, coffee, alcohol and sugar.

Supplements for Acne

You should be drinking plenty of water – up to eight glasses a day – to flush out toxins. You will also benefit from taking B vitamins, MSM (organic sulphur, or Methyl Sulphonyl Methane), flax seed oil and zinc, all of which are known to nurture the skin.

Make-up that Will Not Make it Worse

The Canadian-born skin psychologist, Helen Sher, has helped thousands of sufferers worldwide with her skincare system which relies on water to rehydrate and soothe the skin. The Sher Skincare system is not cheap and will not work for everyone, but I’ve seen the before and after results with enough sufferers, young and old, to suggest you investigate it. (See Resources for full details).

Light Therapy

A UK-led study of some 10,000 sufferers is reporting excellent results using light therapy, with over 70% of those participating reporting significant improvement in their condition. The doctor pioneering this treatment, Dr Tony Chu, is based at the Hammersmith Hospital in London, England. He has dedicated his career to finding a drug-free and chemical-free treatment for acne. He has been widely quoted as saying his findings show light therapy is the most significant advance in the treatment of acne for two decades.

The treatment relies on the use of a device called the DermaLux – a kind of light box, which the user sits in front of for 15 minutes a day. The theory is that the bacteria which can cause acne can be killed by the right mix of blue and red light. Patients in the recent trials of this device also applied benzoyl peroxide cream, twice a day.

Allergy

Everything under the sun – including the sun – is a potential allergen. What is amazing is that we do not have more, not less, allergies.

Jonathan Brostoff, Professor of Allergy and Environmental Health,
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