April Fools Day

Chronic Fatigue, or Get Drowsy Often

There are many causes of chronic fatigue. It is important to assess whether or you ar getting enough sleep. There are a number of dietary causes of fatigue including a diet that is high in refined sugars, multiple mineral and vitamin deficiencies and a person who is consuming the standard Western diet with too much coffee, alcohol and processed foods.

Other cause include low adrenal function, low thyroid function, food allergies and / or digestive dysfunction.


Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

You'll Never Know

Tendency to Need Sunglasses

The ability of the pupil to adequately constrict in the presence of direct light is partly under the influence of the adrenal glands. Many people with poor adrenal health will display a paradoxical pupilarty response to direct light. Instead of constriction, the pupil of the eye will first constrict a little and then dilate. This is an indication of adrenal fatigue. It is important to remember that contact lenses can increase a person’s sensitivity to light. There may be neurological reasons for the eyes that so not restrict or accommodate in the presence of direct light.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing

Aspirin / Ibuprofen

Aspirin and ibuprofen are painkillers that provide temporary relief for minor problems. If you take painkillers on a regular basis for headaches and aches and pains, it is important to remember that they are not getting at the primary cause for the pain, and are just masking the symptoms. For instance, if you take pain killers regularly for headaches, would it not be more effective to find out the cause of the headaches rather than relying on a band aid to cover up the symptoms?  

Unfortunately the use of aspirin or ibuprofen use does not come without potential side effects: stomach irritation, stomach bleeding, and ulcers, and increased intestinal hyper-permeability that can lead to allergies. These drugs also have effects outside of the role in relieving pain. Aspirin will knock out the clotting ability of your platelets, and will depress your body temperature thus preventing the body from mounting a fever if needed to deal with infections. Additionally all drugs are essentially toxins to the body, and need to be detoxified and eliminated by the liver and kidneys, causing increased stress on these already overworked organs. 

In many cases increasing the levels of essential fatty acids in the diet can go a long way in helping with pain and inflammation, the reasons why many people resort to pain killers such as aspirin or ibuprofen in the first place. 

Many times identifying key imbalances in the body can make a huge difference in the amount of painkillers you may need for your condition.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing.

Foods You Should Eat Everyday

Bach Flower: Heather

Heather And Self-Obsession

The Bach flower remedy Heather is the essence of sympathy and concern for others so you know that when a person is completely the opposite of this, he needs Heather and he needs it badly. You’ll know when this flower essence is needed because the self obsession is so obvious. I, me and myself in thought, word and deed is what characterizes these people. Most of us know people like this and they are usually never counted as belonging to one’s friends circle.

Physical

He can talk and talk and then talk some more. He never stops and it is always about himself. He’ll come into a group at a party or get together and he’ll very quickly hijack the conversation and steer it towards himself. He hates being alone and he loves company basically because he wants a
listening ear. He loves being the center of attention and if people quietly slip away from the group he is monopolizing, he’ll look around for a new group to bore. They tend to make a nuisance of themselves and have been known to physically hold on to you to make a point and you need to be really rude before they let go. Heather makes listeners out of these compulsive talkers.

Mental

His mind revolves around himself. He judges and sees everything from that perspective. He likes to dominate with words and he cannot think that everyone around him will not be interested in him and everything that concerns him. The gamut of his interests is himself, his work, his possessions and he just can’t see beyond that. All that he reads and thinks has something to do with him and this makes him exaggerate his successes as well as his failures. This self-obsession also makes him stretch the truth a bit, not really in a willful, lying manner but because he always makes himself to be more important than he is and this can change his memories.

Emotional

He gets terribly upset and hurt when he finds that people shun him and he honestly cannot understand why. There is something rather simple and child like about him even when he is so self centered. In all fairness, he will help someone who needs help but he will also talk about it to everyone making it out that he is a hero. This makes him an emotional drain for anyone he comes into contact with. Heather takes away this ‘I’ factor and makes him empathize more with people.

Spiritual

He is too self-obsessed to ever give himself over to a higher power. He sees himself as the center of the universe not as one of its creatures and this makes it hard for him to be very spiritual in the true sense of the word. His universe is small and comprises everything around with him as the center.
Heather makes him relax and see the beauty of everything around, feel the beauty within his soul apart from himself.


Reference: Bach Flower Remedies by Shalini Kagal (2012)
Website: http://ohmtalk.com
e-mail: shalini.kagal@gmail.com

Foot Reflex Points

Changed Jobs

A recent change in your working environment is a source of significant stress of our body.

When a person is under a lot of stress, normal organ functions become compromised. The adrenal gland, which produce hormones that provide the stress response, are especially vulnerable. If a stress continues over a long period of time, the adrenal eventually begin to weaken in their ability to keep up, and symptoms of the adrenal hypo-function appear. The class is repsone to a stressful situation is the “fight of flight response”. The blood supply to skeletal and heart muscles, brain, skin and lungs increases. The body evolved to use the “fight or flight response” very infrequently. Unfortunately in our modern lifestyle our body has to deal with Fight or Flight type responses to stressful situation on a regular, if not daily basis. During this response the blood supply to the kidneys, liver, stomach, and intestines diminishes. As a result, digestion, detoxification, and elimination are reduced.

Stress also increases your nutritional requirements. Increased stress leads to a increased demand for B vitamins, zinc, and Vitamin C. It is important to replace these either via the diet or through nutritional supplementation. Some people handle stress by over-eating, with cravings for ice cream, sweets, candy, and other food with low nutritional value. Unfortunately, the intake of these high sugar, high calories and low nutrient food will only exacerbate the problem, and may lead to other health problems.

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing.

Have You Ever Had a Herniated DIsc?

A history of herniated disc is an indication of a general need for connective tissue support. balancing the overall structure of the body is essential and a general protocol for supporting the connective tissue is important.

The following is a list of nutrients that are useful for healing connective tissue:

1. Vitamin B12
2. Glucosamine hydrochloride
3. MSM
4. Vitamin B6
5. Vitamin C complex
6. Calcium and magnesium
7. Essential fatty acids
8. Chondroitin sulfate

Reference: Weatherby, D. (2004). Signs and Symptoms Analysis from a Functional Perspective. Jacksonville, OR: Bear Mountain Publishing