Liver health in Spring

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the seasons are each associated with a particular organ system, and the Liver is the organ of Spring.  We tend to feel quieter and less active during the winter months but with the arrival of spring we should begin to feel re-energised and more alive.

Healthy liver energy is strong, decisive and free-flowing – the type of energy you need to set goals and motivate yourself to achieve them.  If your liver is unbalanced or sluggish you will feel irritable, depressed and lack motivation.

Poor liver function symptoms

Some other common signs your liver energy is out of balance:

• Pain and tension in the muscles of the upper back, neck, shoulders and jaw. The muscles rely on the smooth flow of liver qi to nourish them, when it stagnates it tends to rise upwards along the meridians of these areas.
• An increase in headaches which tend to be located at the top of the head or the temples, again due to the rising of liver qi.
• Friends and family are on eggshells around you due to your moodiness! When liver energy is unbalanced you will feel irritable and agitated. The little things can cause you to explode into anger, or dissolve into tears of frustration.
• Aggravation of allergies especially with the symptoms of itchy red eyes, itchy skin rashes, and watery eyes and nose.
• Bloating after eating and constipation alternating with loose stools. Hard pebbly stools can be a sign of longer term liver imbalance.
• Women may notice PMS symptoms aggravated – more fluid retention, breast tenderness and emotional sensitivity. Stagnation of liver qi can cause periods to be more painful, heavier or clotted.

If you are suffering from any of these springtime patterns your body is crying out for a course of rebalancing treatments from your acupuncturist!

What we can do for your liver health

Visit Katherine Barley at Holden HealthCare; she will assess your liver health using Traditional Chinese Medicine methods, and offer a programme of acupuncture and lifestyle routines to put you back on track.

Senior Naturopath David Holden offers ten things to think about if you have been diagnosed with cancer.

1. Change your diet – cut out all sugars from processed & packaged foods, fizzy drinks, milk chocolate and any form of added sugar as it feeds cancer cells directly and is the #1 dietary intervention for ALL types of cancer. You can use Stevia safely instead but all other sweeteners need to be used very sparingly if you are serious about reversing cancer!
2. Unload your emotional / mental stresses by using various Mind-Body techniques like Meditation, Prayer, Tai Chi, Yoga, Qi Gung, Massage, etc. We have experts that can help you with this well trained in a wide variety of Mind-Body techniques just ask! Learn Meditation: visit www.fragrantheart.com and do their FREE 5 day email “how to meditate course”.
3. Take several specific high quality dietary supplements that will support, boost and activate your immune competence quickly like Vit C, Vit D3, Selenium, Zinc, ALA, NAC and a wide variety of Medicinal Herbal Medicines that need to be tailor made specifically for your case, there is NO one size fits all with cancer!
4. Ask for professional help! You wouldn’t try and fix a complex modern motor vehicle that needs to be hooked up to a sophisticated diagnostic computer1 as you wouldn’t have the equipment or the knowledge. Go to reputable well qualified and experienced practitioners who know what they are talking about and have a proven track record of help with your specific type of cancer. If in doubt, ASK!
5. Start exercising if you aren’t already. Research clearly shows that women who have had a brush with breast cancer can reduce their reoccurrence by 40% on average with just 45 mins of Cardio exercise DAILY. Why isn’t this taught in Medical Oncology wards throughout the world? Because no money can be made from it or any exercises patented for profit that’s why! Watch and learn about HIIT on YouTube
6. Get real about the side effects of conventional Medical Oncology treatments as most are very toxic and will shorten life. Chemotherapy is extremely profitable for drug companies and money is a very strong motivator to use it and many doctors pressure patients to have it with no other options offered. This is an insult to our intelligence as unfortunately chemo on its own is largely ineffective according to a 5 year Meta-Analysis done by Dr Ralph Moss and like antibiotics is overused by Oncologists world-wide for a wide range of reasons too detailed to go into here. This does NOT include the new Immuno-Therapy drugs (e.g. Keytruda for Melanoma and lung cancer) that are proven performers and do save and lengthen life significantly at a price. Most are well into 5 figures for a month’s supply so unless you have comprehensive health insurance or a fat bank account these therapies are largely unaffordable by most people, unless funded by the tax payer which more and more are. If in doubt, ASK your Medical Oncologist!
7. Balance your pH as cancer thrives in an acid environment. We have sophisticated testing strips and pleasant and safe tasting Alkalising powders and sachets that work well and quickly to help until lifestyle interventions kick in reducing the need for these in many cases with the appropriate repeat testing and measuring.
8. Do explore the wide range of Alternative and Complementary therapies that are out there for cancer as many are very effective at symptom control and management and many will help stimulate a remission in many cases if the cancer is treated in the early stages (1 & 2). Those most effective according the WHO are TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture), Hypnotherapy / Mind-Body Medicine and Dietary, Nutrition and Naturopathic Lifestyle interventions as most of these broach the causes of the cancer not just treat the symptoms.
9. Detoxification is a vital part of a Holistic Treatment Regime with all types of cancer. Many cancers are caused by Xenobiotic toxins like Pesticides, Insecticides, Heavy Metals, Solvents, Exhaust fumes and the myriad of over 4.7 Billion other toxic chemicals that are all too common in our modern 21st Century environment. Most exposures are preventable or at least treatable but unfortunately are largely ignored by Western Medical Oncology. These can be accurately detected and removed with sophisticated testing and treatment in expert hands. This is what we do best at Holden HealthCare!
10. Get specific Naturopathic Oncology & Integrative Medical Treatments for cancer that have a scientific evidence base and are proven to work like Mega dose IVC & Vit D3 / GSH / GcMAF / Medicinal Cannabis / Ozone / B17 Laetrile / Salvesterols / Artemesin / TBL-12 / MMS, etc. Every case is different and needs expert help to tailor make a program for you and your specific case. If you don’t know about these you owe it to yourself to educate yourself about them as most Medical Oncologists have no idea how effective these treatments are because they are not trained in their use unfortunately!

This list is not exhaustive but is a good start! For help or any questions please contact us

At this time of year many of us take time off work to relax and celebrate the summer holidays with friends and family. In many households, this involves hosting gatherings and parties with edible and drinkable treats.

Most of our clients at Holden HealthCare come away from their consultations with dietary advice, what to eat and what to avoid. However, let’s bear in mind that unless you are coeliac, have an anaphylactic (life-threatening) reaction or an immediate reaction such as diarrhoea and cramps (or if there are other serious circumstances present), these dietary guidelines may be relaxed a little occasionally. Far from being extremist, modern naturopathy is about regaining balance in our lives, and Christmas and New Year is a time where applying the 80:20 principle (do everything right 80% of the time, and allow things from the “naughty” list 20% of the time) can come into its own for a short period.

So, we may have more alcohol and sugary food than normal over the festive season without feeling guilty if our normal pattern is more restrained.

Remember that we have other tools apart from pharmaceutical medication if we feel worse for wear. Vitamin C (as a supplement or as squeezed lemons) and plenty of water is excellent to help rehydrate after imbibing excess alcohol, and bicarbonate of soda in water is helpful for settling a stomach queasy after too much rich food.

If you have been told that your digestive enzymes are low, then our summer fruits that are coming into stores now are great to perk these up – think of kiwifruit or pineapple, mango or pawpaw, and have a slice or two or a small glass of their juice before meals – a delicious way to make sure you are getting nutrients from the lovely food you may be serving or being served.

All toxins (and yes, alcohol is one too!) pass through the liver, and these days there are many tasty salads which incorporate liver cleansing foods.

A favourite, and so easy to make, is the Grated Beetroot and Carrot salad. Both these vegetables are very liver-friendly.

Simple grate a raw beetroot and a raw carrot (some like to grate in an apple as well), mix well and add a little salt, pepper and red balsamic vinegar, and a tablespoon of pumpkin seeds. A dash of pure maple syrup is nice. A tiny bit (½ teaspoon) of umeboshi plum paste cuts through any blandness and is so-o-o good for digestion. But don’t overdo it, it is very strong! It is also wonderful for morning sickness, by the way.

Any type of green smoothie or berry smoothie is full of antioxidants and can help you feel virtuous the morning after a big night.

Once it is all over, a one-day fruit or vegetable juice fast can give the body a chance to recover. Contact your practitioner for tasty combinations. And make sure you drink plenty of clean, filtered water – one guideline is 1 glass per 10kg of your own bodyweight.

If after the celebrations are over you feel that you need an extra liver clearance boost (feeling sluggish, skin not looking so good, or weight gain), do not hesitate to book in to see Marianne the Medical Herbalist for an herbal liver tonic (liquid tincture or tablet, your choice) or for more nutritional recommendations to build on the foundations of good health which were laid in 2016.

Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and all the very best for 2017!

Marianne Stobie

Photo credit: Al404 Cheers via photopin (license)

David Holden ND is a natural on TV. Gerrard Smith, the host of  longest running New Zealand talk show, The Beat Goes On, interviews Holden Health Care’s David Holden on Weight Loss, Longevity, and Vitality for the older generation. Click on the interview here.

Holden Health Care is located in Takapuna at 7 Anzac Street across from the Berkeley Cinema – Level 1, Suite 2. Come see David for your Health Assessment and then Mary Garner for your program.  See all Testing at David Holden website. Ring:   09 282 3588 or info@hhc.nz for booking and information.

Science has shown that the effects of detoxification on our body’s cells is nothing short of miraculous.

Kathryn Alexander, one of the leading experts in detoxification and dietary healing states it succinctly, “The legacy of 50 years exposure to persistent man-made chemicals combined with the denigration of the food chain has increased our susceptibility to chronic degenerative disease and cancer.  Reversal can only come about by resolving these primary causes of disease.  By releasing the toxic burden of the body and restoring its nutritional status, we can change our internal environment and achieve good health.”

The most common symptom of autointoxication (self-poisoning caused by endogenous microorganisms, metabolic wastes, or other toxins produced within the body) is mental dullness and fatigue.  Other common symptoms are headache, constipation, diarrhea, colds, general aches and pains, particularly up and down the spine and especially in the low back, skin problems, common infections (due to lowered immuno-competence), morning sluggishness, gas, bad breath, foul-smelling stool, allergies, intolerance to fatty foods, premenstrual tension, breast soreness and tendency to repeated vaginal infections.  The good news?  Detoxification can relieve these symptoms! (more…)