The Health Blog

Useful Suggestions When Following the Purification Diet

• Get as much rest and sleep as possible. The body heals and repairs faster on an elimination

diet if the body is adequately rested.

• Try to drink at least eight glasses of pure water throughout the day also. Dilute all juices

50/50 with pure water.

• Do only gentle exercise like light walking, stretching, yoga, tai chi.

• Regular dry skin brushing daily is useful to help remove dead skin cells and promote

detoxification through the skin.

• Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) baths are great for cleansing, relaxation and soothing sore

muscles.

• Drink as many herbal teas as you like. The best herbal teas for cleansing and boosting

immune system function include dandelion tea, pau d’ arco, echinacea tea, lemongrass tea,

peppermint tea, red clover tea, rosehips tea, burdock, milk thistle, yellow-dock herbal tea.

• If desired, you can take spirulina during the fast. Spirulina is rich in protein, vitamins and

minerals and contains large amounts of chlorophyll for cleansing. There are some excellent

‘green’ powder combinations available including Greens plus from Orange Peel Enterprises,

Nature’s Secret, Earth Source Green’s Plus and More by Solgar, Pro-greens from Nutricology

and Kyo-Green from Wakunaga of America.

Symptoms That May Be Experienced During the Purification Diet

Fatigue, bad breath, body odour, scaly skin, skin eruptions, headaches, dizziness, irritability, anxiety, nausea, coughing, confusion, body aches, smelling stools, diarrhoea, dark urine, insomnia, mucous discharge, visual or hearing problems.

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Below are easy steps used to develop and maintain a positive mental attitude and outlook on life. These can be incorporated easily into your everyday life improving your health, well-being and contentment.

Become an Optimist – Be Aware of Your Everyday Dialogue and Conversations with Others

The first step to developing a more positive attitude and outlook on life is to become an optimist (positive thinker), rather than a pessimist (negative thinker). As human beings we are inherently optimists by nature. An optimistic outlook on life allows us to succeed in achieving our goals, creates better levels of health and happiness and prevents illness. Optimism is a vital friend in our fight against cancer and disease.

The first way to begin your optimistic path is to be aware of your speech patterns. See if you can go a whole day without saying something negative or derogatory. Every day we engage in conversation at home, work and in society. Not only is it important to be aware of our internal self-talk, it is also necessary to become aware of what we say to others. Our everyday conversation also has an effect on our lives, our self-image, relationships and mental attitude. Any type of talk or thought leaves an imprint on our subconscious mind and will ultimately lead towards fulfillment or lack of fulfillment of our life’s dreams.

Become aware of what you say and try to say positive comments and words. If you catch yourself saying a negative phrase, turn the negativity around by saying a positive phrase or making a positive comment. Think positive thoughts, perform positive actions and avoid negativity in every form. Try to say at least one positive, honest comment to another being every day and watch the magic unfold in your life.

Be Aware of Your Internal Self-talk

As humans, a constant dialogue of words occurs daily within our minds. This self-talk or mental chatter makes an impression on our subconscious mind. In order to develop a more positive mental attitude it is important to guard against negative self-talk. Become aware of your self-talk and consciously work to imprint positive self-talk and comments on your subconscious mind. A powerful tool in creating positive internal self-talk is to use affirmations. If you catch yourself saying negative comments in your mind, imagine yourself crossing this out with a pen and writing inside your mind the opposite positive comment. A positive always outweighs a negative every time. Consciously think positive thoughts and your positive thoughts will become your reality.

Use Positive Affirmations and Phrases Daily

An affirmation is a statement with an emotional intensity. Affirmations leave a mark on our subconscious mind to create a healthy, positive self-image and enhance positive changes in our lives. Affirmations enable us to fulfill our desires and attain success, happiness and inner fulfillment. By achieving our goals through setting and fulfilling affirmations, our self-confidence is increased, attaining a positive mental attitude (read on for a list of life-transforming affirmations). Try writing down positive affirmations on a piece of pink or yellow paper. Fold this piece of paper eight times and place this under your pillow. Within no time, your inner wishes and dreams will manifest right before your eyes!

Set Positive Short Term and Long Term Goals

Motivated, successful people have written hundreds of books on the benefits of goal setting. Setting goals enables us to attain our short and long term desires. Achieving goals enables you to feel better about who you are and the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to reach your goals.

Always state or write down the goal in positive terms and never use any negative terms in the goal. Always try to make your goal attainable and achievable. Be specific and certain about your goal. The clearer it is, the more likely it is you will reach it -be precise and exact about what you want. Always state the goal in the present or past tense. In order to achieve your goal, you have to believe you have already attained it.

Try to balance your goals between your physical, mental and emotional needs, rather than purely financial needs. Many people tend to write only work-orientated goals. Try to work out which areas of your life have received the least attention, personal growth or health. Set goals to fill in these missing gaps in your life and watch the happiness unfold. See and feel yourself having already achieved your goal and success will naturally be yours for the taking.

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This is largely caused from the killing of the microvilli in the intestines. Microvilli are needed to absorb nutrients from food. If these are destroyed, no nutrition is being gained from food and the body is unable to create natural cellular energy as normal.

Diet

• Eat a wholesome diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, and fresh vegetable and fruit juices

• Make sure you eat adequate protein, including deep water fish, nuts, legumes, cottage cheese, soybeans, seeds) chicken breast and red meat (no more than 3 times per week).

• Add a protein supplement to your juice or smoothie, or try making a protein/energy shake.

• Energy boosting foods include borage, grapes, nuts, cayenne pepper, figs, honey and kelp, bananas, cabbage, carrots, dates, oatmeal, onion, peas, prunes, raisins, soybeans, spinach, borage and strawberries.

• Try to eat one fresh salad daily with a variety of different coloured vegetables. For extra energy make up a salad dressing from organic flaxseed oil and pure apple cider vinegar.

• Try not to skip meals. If you are feeling nauseous, try pureeing your foods in a blender.

• Eat a wholesome breakfast that includes a protein source such as an egg (no more than 3-4 a week), cottage cheese or fish. Porridge is a long-term source of energy.

• Avoid energy-robbing foods like sugar, alcohol, fats, caffeine, white flour products and highly processed foods.

Vitamins and Nutrients

• It is recommended to ask your doctor for regular injections of vitamins, particularly  group vitamins such as B complex, vitamin B12 and vitamin Ñ. This guarantees your body is receiving adequate nutrients to produce energy. Alternatively, take a good  complex vitamin supplement, rich in Bl, B3, B5, B6 and choline.

• Check for vitamin Â12, iron and folic acid deficiency.

• Check for any signs of Candida – if present, supplement with lactobacillus acidophilus and avoid yeast foods.

• It is difficult to absorb vitamins because the microvilli are easily destroyed during radiation treatment. To improve absorption in the gut, take digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid (if a deficiency is present). This increases absorption of vitamins and minerals, allowing the body the correct nutrients to make energy.

• Vitamin B3 in its active form, (NAD) assists with energy production.

• Vitamin Ñ and the amino acid, tyrosine improves adrenal gland function.

• Coenzyme Q10 (up to 270 mg/day during treatment) improves energy levels dramatically.

• Acetyl L Carnitine is a powerful energy stimulant, as is alpha keto gluterate

• Bee pollen, a few granules daily for 3 days, often has a marked effect on energy levels.

• Free form amino acid complexes are great for improving energy levels.

• Spirulina, barley greens, wheatgrass and chlorella are great whole food sources for providing energy.

Herbs

• Ginseng root, licorice (do not take if you have high blood pressure), gingko biloba, damiana, yerba mate, oatseed, star anise, peppermint, cayenne and gotu kola are all useful herbs for enhancing energy levels. Try to take in herbal tea form or as tinctures.

• A herbal tea made from burdock root, dandelion root and red clover promotes healing by cleansing the blood and enhancing immune system function.

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Essential Oils

Aromatherapy oils are oils obtained from flowers, roots or leaves of plants in their purest form. They are very useful for relaxation, healing, cleansing and uplifting the moods and emotions. In hospital it is beneficial to use oils to aid relaxation and uplift the emotions, as depression can often occur after surgery. Essential oils can be added with water to an oil burner and burnt throughout the day and night. Useful oils are listed below.

• Lavender – Relaxes the nervous system, brings a sense of peace and calmness, good for headaches, nausea, insomnia, shock and uplifts moods. Externally, great for burns.

• Bergamot – Great for uplifting the moods, aids depression, anxiety and nervous tension, and enhances creativity.

• Clary Sage – Specifically for depression, aids positivity, helps to eliminate fear, paranoia and delusions.

• Patchouli – Uplifts the moods, enhances creativity and increases acceptance.

• Jasmine – Sedates the central nervous system, aiding relaxation.

• Basil oil – Relaxes the entire nervous system and enhances appetite, clears the head and can be used for weakness, indecision and hysteria. It is good for people who need protecting due to a debilitating illness or for low resistance conditions.

• Lemongrass – Relaxes the nervous system slightly, and brings a sense of happiness and positivity.

• Tea Tree oil – Great for cuts and external wounds, and acts as an antiseptic.

• Eucalyptus – Great for colds, flu’s and lowered immunity. Also improves breathing and clears airway passages.

Australian Bush Flower Remedies and Bach Remedies

Emotions have a powerful impact on a person’s ability to recover from illness. Negative emotions are known to weaken our body’s immune system through a number of internal metabolic reactions. Therefore, to increase your ability to heal following surgery, you must ensure that you maintain a positive attitude before surgery by eliminating any niggling fears, anxieties or emotional blocks in your life.

Two useful combination remedies for pre and post surgery are the Australian Bush Flower Remedy – ‘Emergency Essence’ and the Bach Flower Remedy — ‘Rescue Remedy’. Both these combination remedies are used to alleviate panic, distress and fear. They ease these feelings, provide comfort until your surgery and ease stress following surgery.

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As humans we are made up of millions of cells, each uniquely different in shape and structure. However, one thing is common to every single cell within the body. Each cell contains amazing, life-giving structures. One of these unique structures is known as mitochondria. Mitochondria occur in the cytoplasm (fluid) of the cell and this is the primary site of cellular energy production within the body (similar to a ‘power plant’). The method of energy production is known as the ‘Kreb’s Cycle’. This occurs in the mitochondria by means of oxidation – using oxygen, producing a substance known as ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate).

Deoxyribonucleic acid, commonly known as DNA, is our genetic information that also resides within the mitochondria. Around every cell we have a protective coating known as the cell membrane. Cell membranes regulate every substance that enters or leaves the cell, carries signals into and out of the cell and consumes seventy per cent of the cell’s energy. Cancer-causing substances are able to penetrate cell membranes, breaking into the cell lining. This can reduce normal mitochondrial function and the formation of healthy DNA.

If our cell membrane is strong and stable, certain carcinogens are unable to enter and are usually destroyed by the immune system, if it is functioning correctly. However, if cell membranes are weak and the immune system is deficient, a cancer-causing substance is able to enter and cause damage to the cell. This damage also affects cellular energy production and damages the mitochondria and DNA sequence. When the cell replicates itself to heal and repair tissue the replicated cell will be damaged, possibly leading to the initial formation of cancerous cells. If the immune system still hasn’t stepped in due to deficiencies, the cancerous cells may continue to reproduce, eventually causing a tumour to form.

Therefore, to prevent and also to beat cancer, the cells throughout the body need to be normalized. This includes strengthening cell membranes, regulating ATP production in the mitochondria (the cell’s ‘power plant’) and enhancing immune system function. Certain substances enhance the function of the mitochondria, such as carnitine, alpha-linolenic acid (LNA), co-enzyme Q10, gingko biloba and vitamin C.

Likewise, avoiding cancer-causing substances, eating a healthy, nutrient-rich diet, positive emotions, regular intake of antioxidants and immune system support are essential ingredients in preventing and beating cancer.

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The first step in testing for these infections is examination by a health care provider. If you have symptoms in the anal or rectal area, and if your sexual practices have involved either anal intercourse or oral-anal contact, tell your health care provider. This is important, because the range of possible diagnoses for these symptoms is greater for a person who has participated in these sexual practices. Raising this issue may be awkward for you, and even your provider may feel too embarrassed to ask you (or not even think to ask), but being open about this part of your history will help you receive the correct diagnosis and appropriate care.

Testing usually involves culturing lesions, culturing stool, and looking into the colon with special instruments to examine the infected areas.

For proctitis, a visual examination of the anal area and of the mucosal area of the rectum is necessary. The latter can be performed by anoscopy (which involves inserting a small plastic or metal scope into the anal area to allow the health care provider to see the internal tissue) or sigmoidoscopy, which involves looking farther into the colon with a flexible tube.

If areas farther up in the colon may be involved (as in proctocolitis), then a more comprehensive test, a colonoscopy, must be done. In this test, the health care provider (usually a gastroenterologist) looks into the colon through a longer flexible tube. No matter which procedure is performed, a swab is used to take a sample of material that is then examined for white blood cells under the microscope; cultures can be performed for gonorrhea and chlamydia, which are two of the most common causes of proctitis. Sometimes a biopsy of the rectal tissue must be taken to make a diagnosis; this painless procedure is performed during the sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.

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Testing later in the pregnancy is also a good idea, to make sure that a woman has not acquired herpes during the pregnancy. Both the pregnant woman and her partner must be tested. A woman who acquires a herpes infection during her pregnancy, especially during the last trimester, runs the highest risk of transmitting the infection to the fetus.

The mother experiences a first infection, and the fetus may become infected in the uterus. A woman who is newly infected is also more likely to shed the virus at delivery, so the newborn has a higher chance of being exposed to virus during passage through the birth canal. If the infection occurs earlier in the pregnancy, there is a possibility that the mother will develop antibody and transmit it to the fetus, so that by the time the baby is born he or she will have some protection against infection. However, if a new infection of the mother occurs later in the pregnancy, such as during the last trimester, it is not likely that there will have been time for the mother to develop antibody and pass it to the fetus, so the baby, will be at higher risk of becoming infected if exposed to virus at delivery.

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Yeast infections can be especially difficult to treat in pregnant women. A longer course of topical treatment—ten to fourteen days— is usually necessary to eliminate the infection. The antifungal medications, if used in the first trimester of pregnancy, are potentially harmful to the fetus. After consulting her health care provider, a woman may face a difficult decision about whether to use such medications in this stage of the pregnancy.

Whenever the standard therapies are not effective for a man or woman, taking a culture to make sure that yeast is actually causing the infection is recommended, because the symptoms may be caused by something other than yeast. Occasionally an unusual yeast species—one that is not easily treated by the standard medications—is the cause, and this, too, can be determined by culture.

In addition to using medication, those with chronic or recurrent yeast infections must also try to eliminate any underlying factors that may make them susceptible to yeast infections. If a woman is talcing birth control pills, she may want to stop taking them or switch to a pill with a lower dose of estrogen to see if this helps. (Another reliable birth control method must be used if the pills are discontinued altogether.) Medications that suppress the immune system, such as steroids, can also cause a yeast infection; if the medications can be stopped, the infection may be easier to cure. Switching to looser-fitting, cotton clothing can help. Douching is discouraged.

Other approaches to treatment whose effectiveness has not been proven but that might help include using yogurt douches and eating yogurt or acidophilus tablets to recolonize the vagina, and decreasing the intake of sweets, bread, and alcohol. Although the Lactobacillus in yogurt is different from the Lactobacillus in the vagina, and the vagina does not become colonized with the yogurt Lactobacillus, some women find relief this way, and the practice is not harmful. Although treating a male partner with antifungal medication while the woman is being treated has not been proven to affect her recovery, if the man has evidence of a yeast infection, he should certainly also be treated.

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Monogamy means having sex with a partner who only has sex with you.

This strategy dramatically reduces your likelihood of acquiring an infection. Having partners outside your relationship puts both you and your steady partner at risk for acquiring a sexually transmitted infection. The fewer partners people have, the less likely they are to become infected with an STD.

Having sex with one partner can still pose a risk if that partner has had unprotected sex with other partners in the past or has engaged in other high-risk activity, such as sharing equipment for injection drug use. The only sure way to know if a partner is infected with STDs is for that partner to be tested. Otherwise it is a good idea to abstain from sex, or to use barrier methods such as condoms, to keep yourself safer.

Some people, particularly some teenagers, believe that having sex with only one person at a time, even if it’s only for a few weeks at a time, will prevent them from becoming infected with an STD, and that it is therefore safe not to use condoms. This practice, called “serial monogamy,” does not offer any protection against getting an STD, since any partner could be infected with an STD from a previous relationship and not know it. If there is any risk of having acquired STDs in the past, even if both partners are symptom free, employ safer sex practices or abstain from sex until both partners have been tested. If a partner refuses to be tested and you decide to have sex with that partner, continue to practice safer sex.

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Because (unlike BPH) the disease generally begins its growth pretty far away from the urethra, most prostate cancer is fairly advanced before it leads to symptoms that men notice and worry about. But another problem is that there really aren ‘t any clear-cut, telltale symptoms of prostate cancer—signs that make a doctor say, “Aha! This can only be prostate cancer!” All of the symptoms of prostate cancer can be attributed to other causes. Some, for example, are caused when a tumor becomes large enough to encroach on the urethra and block the urinary tract. These symptoms—frequent or urgent urination, hesitancy, interrupted or weakened flow, dribbling, trouble urinating at all, or even blood in the urine—are often mistaken for BPH. Another (although less common) symptom is the development of impotence or of less rigid erections, which can happen as cancer invades the nerves involved in erection. This, too, is accepted as something else—a sign of aging, not a cause for alarm; so is a decrease in the amount of fluid ejaculated, a problem that results when the ejaculatory ducts become blocked by the tumor. (This blockage also can cause blood in the semen.) Still other manifestations, such as severe pain in the back, pelvis, hips or thighs (which can develop as the cancer begins to attack the bone), also might be thought to spring from other causes.

Symptoms of Prostate Cancer

BPH-like symptoms (trouble urinating, frequent or urgent urination, interrupted or weakened flow, hesitancy, dribbling) Blood in the urine or ejaculate Severe pain in the back, pelvis, hips, or thighs Less rigid erections or impotence A decrease in the amount of fluid ejaculated

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