 "We are lucky to get half the nutrition our parents and grandparents did in the Fifties and Sixties," said Amanda Williams, managing director of Cytoplan, a UK distributor of the "food-state" supplements in an article in The Independent today. Over the last 60 years the food chain has changed out of all recognition, becoming industrialised and chemicalised, and causing depletion of the nutrient levels in the soil. This, combined with an increasing trend towards food production becoming more and more processed, makes it ever more difficult to be sure that our food is providing all the nutrients we require. Our body is designed to live on fresh fruit and vegetables and the more natural the food, the greater the benefit it provides to the body. We need our food to provide essential vitamins and minerals or we need to find alternative sources of these essential elements to good health in the form of supplements. But are supplements all they’re cracked up to be? Most vitamin supplements are synthetic and as such may have limited benefits: they do not contain the complex mixture of factors that are available from nature, and may also contain fillers or binders and artificial flavourings. Some claim that these synthetic vitamin supplements act as free radicals in the body increasing toxicity. The best way to top up your mineral and vitamin reserve is through a varied diet, high in (organic) fresh fruit and vegetables, white meat and whole grains, but if you feel you need a supplement, then seek out food-state supplements. These are nutrients which are combined with other appropriate food bases to ensure they come complete with the phytonutrients and associated food factors that are necessary for optimal absorption and use in the body. The advantages of this more natural approach to supplements are: 1. They are easy for the body to absorb because the particles are smaller 2. They are more effective because they provide nutrients in a state as close as possible to food 3. They avoid increasing the toxic load on the body because they contain no GMO materials, synthetic chemicals, fungicides or herbicides And if you’re trying to conceive, it’s important to get all the vitamins and minerals you need to improve fertility, in as natural a way as possible. Looking for suppliers? Just Google food-state supplement suppliers, but be warned, they're expensive, very expensive! MAXIMISE YOUR FERTILITY, NATURALLY Your body naturally strives to be in a state of balance and it's constantly adjusting to maintain that state of balance: your breathing, temperature, blood pressure, blood volume, fluid levels, cell life cycles, hormone levels and a multitude of other adjustments are being made by your body every minute. This balance is created from a dynamic process that responds to internal and external factors: what you eat, your level of physical activity, stress, environmental pollution, and a whole range of factors.
And your body needs to be in balance with your mental and emotional state - thought patterns and emotions have a physical impact – your thoughts and feelings can affect posture and chemical responses in the body: the stress response is a great example of how mind and emotions can affect physical state. So here are a few ways to maximise your fertility, naturally: Eat Naturally When it comes to diet, go for organic, unprocessed, colourful food. If possible, cook from scratch to avoid additives, and have a wide variety of food. Avoid white or grey foods such as white bread, pasta and rice and avoid diet foods as they are likely to contain artificial sweeteners such Aspartame. Cut out crackers, pastries, cakes and chocolate as they are likely to contain transfats which are linked to lower fertility and avoid products with MSG such as chinese meals, flavoured crisps, meat seasonings and packaged soups. Live Naturally Alcohol, caffeine, smoking, recreational drugs, and unnecessary medications are all no no's. Avoid stress or develop powerful coping strategies to deal with stress - try meditation to help detox the mind and take the edge off negative mindsets. Exercise Gently Avoid the gym and excessive exercise (long runs, rows, etc). Walking is great exercise and extremely beneficial, especially if you walk in a natural environment. Go for natural forms of exercise such as yoga and if possible find a fertility yoga class. Muscle building exercise diverts testosterone from the reproductive organs to the muscles. Avoid cycling and swimming. Ensure A Natural Environment Check your house for cleaning products - many of these contain toxic chemicals. Many of these chemicals were tested in the 1950's and 60's and not in the more stringent health criteria that exist today. Try cleaning your house with lemon juice and baking of soda or buy natural products from your health food store. If you feel like being a bit more creative, you can go online and discover how to make your own cleaning products. And that goes for beauty and personal care products for hair, body and personal hygiene. Check online to see if you can find more natural versions of your beauty and personal care products. Laptops should not be kept on laps and mobiles should not be kept in pockets - they give off low levels of radiation. If possible avoid low level radiation from TV, VDU, digital clocks and electric blankets and avoid living near pylons, radio stations/masts, phone exchanges for the same reasons. Live A Natural Lifestyle Be creative - draw or paint, sew, bake, write or do whatever you do to get your creative juices going. Being creative connects mind, body and emotion to your desire to create a baby. Look at your life and strip it back to the bare essentials. Look at your life and how you spend your time and ask yourself whether it gives you joy or if it's just there to fill in the time. Go for joy! To help you work your way through this more easily, write down a list of all the things you'd like to do to establish a more natural lifestyle. Then work out what are the three easiest things to do and do them. Then work out what are the three most impactful things and work out a plan for implementing them. Then knock of the rest of the list at a rate of three items a week. I hope you have joy in living a more natural life and maximising your fertility, naturally.
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Maximise your fertility, naturally Have you been trying to conceive for 12 months or more, without success?
Are you confused by all the conflicting information on the internet? Would you like to feel more supported with your efforts to get pregnant? Fertility Support Workshops
Sign up for a series of 6 Fertility Support Workshops: Only 10 places available When: Mondays 7.30-9pm on: 22 Sept, 6 Oct, 20 Oct, 3 Nov, 17 Nov, 1 Dec 2014 Where: The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre 25 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh How Much: £15 per session Book: Contact Doris Wylie on 07724 197627 or email doriswylie@btinternet.com Doris Wylie Lothian Reflexology www.lothianreflexology.co.uk 07724 197627 www.facebook.com/lothianreflexology  I was surfing "biological age" recently and I came across this article in the Mail Online by Elizabeth Peyton-Jones about eating yourself younger. Click on this link if you want to read the whole thing.
She suggests that the five ageing accelerators are:
Signs of inflammation are digestive gas, bloating, loose stools, runny nose or eyes. As we age our natural inflammatory response - the response that helps us heal and fight off infection - can become overactive, leaving activated immune cells circulating in the body. Foods that can trigger inflammation are: red meat, sugar, white flour and some dairy products. The best anti-inflammatory suggested in the article is turmeric: "Aim for one teaspoon of dried turmeric or a thumb-sized piece of fresh root every day". But watch out as it can stain hands and clothes. Oxidation is another process which accelerates ageing. Increasing the level of anti-oxidents which reduce the level of free radicals has been heavily emphasised over the past few years as a way to protect against cancer. There are indications that this may have been over-emphasised, but anti-oxidents are still important to robust health. Elizabeth Peyton-Jones suggests that the best antioxidant are red beans: kidney, pinto or aduki beans. Hormone imbalances can have a dramatic effect on ageing including: weight gain, wrinkles, headaches, muscle weakness, fatigue, dry skin, thinning hair, brittle nails, cellulite, sagging skin, poor memory. The article suggests that key hormone balancers are: pumpkin seeds, asparagus, unrefined whole grains, nuts (especially brazil nuts) and the best of them all if garlic - aim to eat one clove a day. Acidification is chronic acidity of the body and can lead to premature ageing. Acid producing foods include: red mean, coffee, cheese, cereal,and sugary drinks and snacks. Too much acid and the body pulls calcium and magnesium from bones, and iodine from soft tissue: this can lead to osteoporosis, fatigue and depression, weight gain and diabetes. But acid foods may not be acid forming, for example, citrus fruits are acidic, but have an alkalising effect on the body. Elizabeth Payton-Jones suggests that the best alkaliser is lemon and we should start our day with a drink of lemon juice in warm water - but use a straw, so acid doesn't harm tooth enamel. And she suggests that the five most ageing foods are:
No surprise there then! Well, Reflexology might not make you younger, but I'd like to suggest that the gentle rebalancing and detox that seems to accompany a Reflexology treatment would be a perfect supplement to a nutritional approach to ageing well. Vouchers are available, so why not treat your mother for Mother's Day! |
Photos used under Creative Commons from Rance Costa, happy_serendipity, Royalty-free image collection, ToOb, Mr. Thimble, Jessica Bee, Justin Marty, RubyGoes, Koshyk, Rafael Acorsi, Steve A Johnson, Images_of_Money, Imagaday, Manel, Key Foster, Roby Ferrari, Allie_Caulfield, Brett Jordan
