A Rose By Any Other Name

Spring is here and I expect many of you are out in your gardens getting them ready for a beautiful display of colourful flowers over the coming months. But are you troubled by weeds spoiling your view? And if you are what do you about it?

• You could pull them up – but that only results in them growing back even stronger, especially if you don’t remove all the roots.
• Or you could spray them with chemicals – but that’s going to create a toxic environment and may even kill the beautiful blooms.
• By far the best way is to simply plant more flowers to smother all the weeds.

The same applies to our health. In particular, recent scientific research has found that the key to optimum health is to have a healthy gut, because in our gut we have good and bad bacteria that work together to keep us healthy. The good bacteria are the flowers and the bad ones are the weeds.

A good balance between good and bad is 85% good to 15% bad but for many people this ratio is reversed with the “weeds” taking over. This may be the evidenced by a number of factors including taking medication (especially antibiotics), vitamin and mineral deficiencies, stress, skin problems and even some autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and IBS.

So it stands to reason we need to nourish the flowers and smother the weeds and here are some simple steps to help you balance your gut bacteria:

1. Avoid toxins, including sugars and saturated fats (amongst other things), that help to nourish the bad bacteria.
2. Eat fermented foods, such as Sauerkraut, kimchi, yoghurt or kefir, to help nourish the good bacteria.
3. Take Probiotic supplements – but just like gut bacteria there are good and bad ones:
   *  Stay away from “bargain bin” prices; you get what you pay for.
   *  Ensure they are potent with at least 10billion bacteria and more than 5 different strains of bacteria per dose – I recommend ProB11 which has 11 strains.
4. Manage your stress

The good news is that with knowledge and smart action it is possible to literally heal yourself from the inside out.
It won’t happen overnight but changing your gut might be the first step to changing your life.

Till next time.

Vicky Farmer
Feelgood Factor – The Holistic Approach to a Healthier Lifestyle

Vicky is a nutrition adviser with a mission to help the nation achieve elite health. We are all living longer so it’s really important to ensure we live as long and healthy a life as we can. Healthy eating, a natural approach to skincare and a reduction in the amount of harmful chemicals in the home all play a part in ensuring we are as healthy as we can be rather than simply not ill. For more information visit vickyfarmer.com

All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. vickyfarmer.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis

TO DETOX OR NOT TO DETOX, THAT IS THE QUESTION?

Well here it is – my first blog. And the most difficult thing has been deciding how to start and what to write about.

One of the things I’m often asked about is detoxing. It’s a minefield out there with many different methods being marketed so how do you decide whether it’s for you, and if so how do you go about choosing a detox programme?

I often hear people say – “I don’t believe in detoxing. I eat a healthy diet so I receive all the nutrients I need from my food”.

The fact is that our bodies are under constant assault from toxins as a direct result of our environment, our lifestyle choices (however healthily we think we eat) and stress. Normally our body is quite capable of helping itself and eliminating all the waste products through our liver, kidneys, intestines, circulatory and respiratory systems. But sometimes if we have accumulated too many toxins, our bodies can struggle to get rid of them quickly enough. The result is, amongst other things, to make us feel bloated, gain weight, lack energy. It can compromise our immunity, affect our mental clarity and impact on our skin. This is because when our main detoxification organs are unable to cope, the skin takes over which can result in skin problems as the toxins are flushed out.

There is a  tendency when tackling skin problems to apply topical products onto the skin in the hope it will sooth the problem. My approach is always to work from the inside out because in the case of many skin problems, the cause lies in the toxicity within.

Which is where the detox, or cleanse, comes in. And this is where it gets tricky because there are many methods you can choose. Essentially the aim of a cleanse is to give your body a chance to eliminate toxins and recover, resetting your digestive system and leaving you feeling rejuvenated. And the actual cleanse should be a pleasant experience  – so if it involves taking unpleasant tasting products, making you feel like you can’t go out of the house because you need to stay within 2 metres of a toilet, leaving you feeling hungry, or worse, making you feel ill, then you should not even consider it.

Any product based cleanse should also involve eating nutritious food alongside it, not starving yourself or living on reduced calorie intake for the duration. This is even more important if you are using the cleanse as a kick start to a weight management programme. My clients tell me they can’t believe how much food they need to eat on my cleanse programme and yet still get to the end lighter than when they started.

Bear in mind that the purpose of a good cleanse programme is to support your body’s own detoxification system so that it can do its job naturally without the stress of having to process toxins as well – this is where the term “clean eating” comes from. So as long as you adopt a clean eating regime, you’ll be eating plenty of delicious, healthy foods with a wide variety of nutrients and you won’t feel like you’re on a restricted diet.

And there’s no better time to detox than in the spring when the body feels a renewal of energy. What are you waiting for?

Till next time.

Vicky Farmer
Feelgood Factor – The Holistic Approach to a Healthier Lifestyle

Vicky is a nutrition adviser with a mission to help the nation achieve elite health. We are all living longer so it’s really important to ensure we live as long and healthy a life as we can. Healthy eating, a natural approach to skincare and a reduction in the amount of harmful chemicals in the home all play a part in ensuring we are as healthy as we can be rather than simply not ill. For more information visit www.vickyfarmer.com

All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. vickyfarmer.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis