Half Marathon for Sussex Beacon February 2010
Hi,
This is a quick post to let you know that I will be running half marathon in Brighton on 21st February 2010 in aid of Sussex Beacon, an HIV/AIDS charity in based in Brighton. I would appreciate it so much if you could afford to sponsor me for any amount to help out this incredibly worthy cause. You can visit my fundraising site at http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Cheeseman to donate.
Thank you very much.
Muscle Cramps – What they are and how to beat them
You don’t have to be old or an athlete to suffer from muscle pain. Most painful muscle conditions are caused by simple ‘overuse injury’. Over use can be caused by running 15 miles and pulling your hamstring, or by sitting at a desk all day with your shoulders hunched.
Muscles work on an ‘agonist and antagonist’ basis – the simplest example is the biceps and triceps. For the biceps to contract, the triceps have to relax. Another example would be the quadriceps and hamstrings in the thighs, or the pectoralis in the chest and trapezius in the upper back. When there is an imbalance or over use issue, a part of the muscle will be shortened (or contracted) and it’s antagonist will be weak and lengthened, for example, usually when someone has rounded shoulders, the pectoralis is shortened and the trapezius is lengthened. The problem with muscles is that they only do exactly what is asked of them. If you sit hunched at a desk all day, your shoulder muscles will retain a memory of that, and just keep their hunched position, even when you go home. Similarly, sat at a desk, one’s leg are bent all day and therefore the hamstrings tend to shorten, which can refer pain to the lower back.
Massage and stretching can help as they stretch out and relax shortened muscle fibres. Exercise is also helpful, in order to strengthen weak, lengthened muscles and therefore balance muscle tonicity.
Muscle contraction is dependant upon calcium, sodium and potassium. Calcium allows a process to start in which sodium rushes into the muscle cell, and potassium trickles out. This causes the muscle fibre to become positively charged, and create and action potential. Magnesium is needed to close the calcium channels, and therefore stop this process, so that the muscle can relax. An imbalance of any of these minerals can cause muscle cramps. Magnesium deficiency is incredibly common in the UK. Leafy green vegetbles are a good source of magnesium, but only if grown in magnesium rich soil, and most of our soil is depleted in magnesium through intensive farming. Lime also cancels out magnesium, and UK soil is rich in lime. Common symptoms of magnesium deficiency are muscle spasms such as eyelid twitches, restless legs, quivering tongue, anxiety, irregular heartbeat. I see a lot of this in my clinic and supplementation usually sorts out the problem.
Too much sodium can also be a problem. This is common in the UK diet. Dehydration too, this will cause a high concentration of sodium in the tissues. Do you drink your 2 litres per day?
Therefore, before you go to your doctor with back pain, try some of the tips here; a healthy balanced diet, multi vitamin and mineral, magnesium supplements, lots of water, exercise and massage. I know most of it isn’t the easy answer you want, but the best things need to be worked for!
The Difference between types of Massage
Right, i’m in the business – I’ve been a massage therapist for a few years now, and even I find all the different names for types of massage confusing!
I’m going to try to make it clear to you – so that if you are looking for a massage, and you’re new to it, you’ll know what kind to ask for.
I specialise in deep tissue massage. This does what it says on the tin. It is a slower, more precise kind of massage that is designed to locate and treat specific areas of tension. If you have aches and pains that you want to get rid of, this is the kind for you. This kind of massage takes longer, as to treat an area of tension effectively, you need to spend some time there, and maybe go back to the area a couple of times. Therefore, don’t go for a one hour deep tissue massage expecting to get your whole body treated. Deep tissue massage can be painful, but most of my clients describe it as a ‘good pain’. I think this is because it feels good to have someone put some pressure on tense muscles, it is at least a productive pain, and it’s always nice when you know the pain won’t last too long! It is also usual to feel some soreness for one to two days after a treatment. This is a good sign, it’s just your muscles readjusting, and you should feel great afterwards.
Swedish massage is your middle weight kind of massage. If you go for a full body massage in a salon or spa, this is probably the kind you will get. It uses some techniques to help relax the muscles, but doesn’t concentrate in one particular area, or go too deep.
Aromatherapy massage is a very light pressure. It’s main aim is to rub the essential oils into the skin so that they can be absorbed and have the specific effect on the body and mind required. Expect a lot of ‘effleurage’, a basic relaxing stroking kind of technique. Aromatherapy massage will be very relaxing, better if you are stressed rather than sore.
Sports and remedial massage – not that different to deep tissue massage. In deep tissue we are treating ‘overuse symdrome’ in a muscle or part of a muscle. Over use can be caused by sitting at your computer with bad posture, or running ten miles. Your body doesn’t really know the difference. Therefore a lot of the same techniques are used for sports massage. The only specific needs come when you are preparing an athlete just before an event, or when they have a serious injury in the acute stage, something that you wouldn’t normally treat in a non-sports person.
Holistic massage – one of my biggest annoyances in life is the over use of the word ‘holistic’ – the concept of holism means treating the person as a whole. This means considering all of the body, not just the part you are treating and the mind and spirit of the person. This is the guiding principle of just about any complementary and alternative medicine.
My favourite is by far deep tissue. I am a ‘getting the job done’ kind of girl. When I go a massage I want someone to ‘really get in there’. The most frustrating thing is laying with someone gliding over my knots rather than giving them ‘what for’.
Anyway, I hope this helps and enjoy your treatment!
Addictions
I watched a fascinating documentary by Louis Theroux the other night on the BBC about Fresno, California and the huge problem the town has with Crystal Meth addiction. The documentary blamed the town’s poverty for the addiction, but it got me thinking about what I have learnt about addiction from my studies as a nutritional therapist.
The fascinating thing is that some people are more likely to develop addictions because of a lack of chemicals in their brain – maybe what we call ‘an addictive personality’. Chemical messengers in the brain are called neurotranmitters. They bind to receptor sites on the end of the nerve cells and tell the cell what to do. There are ‘feel good’ neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and GABA, and neurotransmitters that help with motivation, such as adrenaline, noradrenaline and histamine.
There is evidence that some people have fewer receptor sites for Dopamine, meaning that there is nowhere for the neurotransmitter to ‘dock’ and give it’s message to the nervous system. Therefore people who suffer from this will try to self medicate by seeking substances or activities that promote dopamine. Cannabis, heroin and cocaine all promote dopamine.
Cocaine is a dopamine re-uptake inhibitor, meaning it prevents the reuptake and breakdown of dopamine. Normally, when dopamine is released into the synapse (the gap between nerve cells where the receptors are), once it has docked and sent it’s message it is recycled back into the body to be broken down or stored for later. Cocaine prevents the dopamine from being reabsorbed, so it is constantly present in the synapse, sending it’s message over and over again. This gives the user the high that they experience.
The problem with this is that the body, in its innate wisdom, is always striving for balance or ‘homeostasis’. If it senses too much of a neurotransmitter in the synapse, it will shut down some receptors in order to lessen the effect of the message. This gives the user the ‘comedown’ experienced after a heavy night. Long term use will eventually result in the body down-regulating it’s production of neurotransmitters, perhaps resulting in depression and greater dependency.
Addiction doesn’t just mean drugs, sugar and alcohol are also common addictions, and they both also stimulate the dopamine pathway.
A diet rich in essential fats (fats that cannot be made by the body, such as omega 3 and 6), protein, vitamins and minerals is essential for healthy brain chemistry.
Neurotransmitters are made from protein, and many vitamins and minerals are needed to convert them into their active form, (folic acid, Biotin, B6, zinc and vitamin C are needed just to convert Tryptophan, an amino acid, into serotonin).
Essential fatty acids make up the membrane of every cell and therefore cell receptors, and most (60%) of the solid mass of the brain. They are absolutely vital for brain structure and function. They are found in oily fish, nuts, seeds, avocados and healthy oils such as flaxseed oil.
Regulation for Nutritional Therapists
I have finally completed my studies to become a nutritional Therapist and now have my diploma in my hot little hands!
Unfortunately my joy at this has been somewhat dulled by all the different information being thrown at new practitioners about regulation and representation. If you are a nutritional therapist then you will be familiar with the Nutritional Therapy Council. They are a regulatory body set up in order to regulate Nutritional therapists and answer claims by the media and concerns of the public that Nutritional therapists are unqualified or even ‘charlatans’. In order to register with the NTC one must go through a rigourous and expensive process in order to prove the quality of one’s training, character and experience. Once on this register the public can be assured that any practitioner they choose from it will be well qualified and insured.
The NTC is about to handover to the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC), a similar register that has just been set to include other disciplines in the field of complementary medicine.
Whilst I agree that regulation is important, I feel sorry for myself and other Nutritional Therapists trying to work out who we need to register with and why. There is so much contradictory information out there, and nobody can speak to an actual human at the NTC. We are also lead to believe that we have to become members of the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT). Sometimes it seems that they all just want our money (as to register with all these assocations will cost hundreds).
At the moment I am a member of the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT), and at present I am still trying to work out who else I need to register with. Having just spent thousands on fees, I would like to save myself some money and not register with everyone if I don’t have to.
If you are a therapist and have any comments I would be very interested to hear from you!
Whilst I
Why Diets Don’t Work
Short term fixes, such as diets never seem to work. This is because one needs to adopt a permanent change in habits and thinking in order to truly change and get healthy. It took me a couple of years to really make dietary and lifestyle change, so I know it’s not easy.
From a physiological point of view, when we diet, we often consume a lot less calories. This makes the body think it is being starved. To compensate for this, the thyroid gland, which regulates the metabolism of fats, protein and carbohydrates, slows down so that we burn calories slower. Therefore, when we return to our normal eating regime after the diet has ended, we put all the weight back on, plus a little extra if we’re unlucky, as the thyroid takes a little while to catch on.
The easiest way to burn calories faster is to exercise as this increases the basal metabolic rate, the rate at which our body uses energy (calories) to perform basic functions such as maintaining heartbeat, digestion, breathing, and the many chemical reactions that take place all the time. It is basically the calories you’re burning whilst sitting on your bum!
By increasing muscle, you are automatically burning more calories, as muscles contain thousands of little guys called mitochondria, which are the ‘power stations’ of the cells in our body. They burn up the food we eat (once it’s been absorbed by the digestive system) and turn it into energy.
Exercise should be combined with as natural a diet as possible. If foods come in lots of packaging and contain ingredients that you’ve never heard of and which sound like you need a degree in chemistry to understand them, then it’s not a natural food and should be avoided.
The basic rule is to eat really well 80% of the time, leaving 20% to be a bit naughty if you need to!
How Do We Really Change Our Eating Habits?
I’m going to graduate as a nutritional therapist this summer – bringing to an end 5 years of continuous study, hooray! – and I have realised that I need to have a slightly more complex approach to the treatment of my clients. After all, we are complex beings.
Nutritional therapy is amazing, don’t get me wrong. I have learnt how to use a natural approach to food and lifestyle to potentially make a huge difference to people’s lives; in the treatment and prevention of disease, the pursuit of optimum health, and of course the delaying of a miserable old age and early death. But the thing about nutritional therapy is that as practitioners we approach food in a scientific way, stripping healthy and unhealthy foods back to their chemical constituents, and knowing how these chemicals affect the body, we can use them to aid many conditions.
The practical problem with this in the treatment of our clients is that humans are emotional beings. Most people do not eat food just because it is a fuel as our ancestors would have done; we eat to feel less lonely, or because we are happy, or sad, or to celebrate, etc, etc. Therefore, when trying to encourage our clients to change eating habits we need to realise what emotions or needs are behind those habits. For example, you may have an obese lady who is desperate to loose weight and lonely, but still eating KFC 3 times per week. Telling her to stop isn’t going to work, because she knows she needs to stop, but she is useing the food to fill a void in her life elsewhere. She may be lonely and depressed. She may have a self image that says ‘i’ve always been large, that’s just the way i’m meant to be no matter what I eat’.
Therefore, I intend to study techniques to help people identify their needs and inner beliefs, and to find other ways to fulfill them and bring about a change in the way they see themselves. I believe in this way, change will be easier to achieve and permanent.
Emotional aspects of cancer
I had an excellent lecture on cancer at the weekend. There is so much I could write about the treatment of cancer, but as a massage therapist and nutritional therapist to-be, cancer is contraindicated for both treatments. This is incredibly sad, as this is a time when people really need some extra support and advice.
Something I have always found really interesting is the potential link between cancer and the emotions. I believe that if you have gone through a trauma or bad experience such as depression, bereavement, abuse, etc then you simply must seek help to deal with the emotional aftermath of these experiences. If one holds these feelings inside, they eventually poison us. I think this can be a contributing factor to developing cancer. The typical ‘cancer personality’ as described to me at the weekend is someone who fears loosing control, and especially loosing face in front of others. They must appear to be always perfectly in control, keeping up with the Jones’s, always fine. Apparently there are also different emotional aspects linked to different kinds of cancer, linked in to our Chakras (an ayurvedic medicinal concept). The message is that unless the deeper emotional aspect behind the illness is dealt with, the cancer may come back.
Breast cancer is linked with the heart chakra and sufferers may have had a tendency to do lots for others and be very giving, but give little to themselves in terms of time and love.
Testicular cancer is the base or sex chakra and can be to do with issues such as survival, protection and money worries.
Colon cancer can be to do with an inability to let go.
Lung cancer: the lungs are the organs of sadness in TCM. I think many of us find it difficult to feel truly happy these days.
Pancreatic cancer: The pancreas produces insulin to break down ingested sugars. Emotions can be to do with trying to nourish a part of oneself that isn’t being nourished – filling a void.
Thyroid cancer: Link to the throat chakra. Linked to the feeling of not being listened to, or not listening to others. Needing an outlet to express oneself, for example a creative outlet.
My response to the “One Show” article on Water
Last wednesday evening BBC 1’s “One Show” aired a report on the body’s need for water, presented by a doctor (not sure what kind). She was obviously not a doctor of nutriton though.
The report set out to disprove the fact that 2 litres of water needs to be drunk in the form of pure water and herbal teas every day. The doctor in the report claimed that tea, coffee and juice were hydrating and a completely adequate source of fluids for our body, and that in fact ‘9 cups of tea and 4 cups of coffee are fine’. She claimed we could get much of our water needs met through the liquid in our food. She even went so far as to say that drinking too much water can kill you.
Now i’m certainly not one of those easily outraged or highly strung people, but I do feel strongly about my profession and about educating people to live healthy long lives, so by the end of this report I was pretty angry. I think it was utterly irresponsible and biased, this doctor clearly has never studied nutrition, and a nutritional therapist should have been brought into the report to refute her ridiculous claims.
So for all those people who might have watched that show, and are now enjoying their coffee and 7up drink plan validated by the One Show, I have some bad news for you. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR WATER! All you have to do is start drinking more and you can feel the difference yourself.
The body is made up of 70% water, and it is the most vital nutrient for the body. Water is used in the body:
- To regulate body temperature
- To maintain blood volume (blood plasma is 91.5% water)
- To act as a lubricant and a cushion for your joints, eyes, spinal cord and in pregnancy for the foetus.
- For digestion. You need water to make hydrochloric acid, and foods must be made water soluble before they can be assimilated.
- In order for nutrients to be stored and converted into their active form for your body to use, chemical reactions take place for which water is a medium. In fact water is needed for thousands of chemical reactions to take place every second in your body.
- In order for cells to reproduce.
- For the elasticity and integrity of muscles, tendons and ligament, skin, other connective tissue.
- For the dilution of toxins in the body.
- For the production of various secretions, eg hydrochloric acid as already mentioned, saliva and sweat.
- For the transportation of signals from your brain to the rest of your body.
- etc, etc, etc.
You can start to get an idea of how important water is!
Symptoms of dehydration include:
- Thirst
- Difficulty concentrating
- Infrequent urination/dark urine
- Lethargy
- Wrinkles
- Muscle spasms
- Constipation
Most people are probably familiar with some of these symptoms.
Tea and coffee do not count towards your water intake, neither does juice. Dr Batmanghelidj, who has written extensively for many years on the subject of water, inluding the famous book “Your body’s many cries for water”, states that “In advanced societies, thinking that tea, coffee, alcohol, and manufactured beverages are desirable substitutes for the natural water needs of the daily ’stressed’ body is an elementary – but catastrophic – mistake. It is true that these beverages contain water, but they also contain dehydrating agents. They get rid of the water they are dissolved in, plus some more water from the reserves of the body! Modern lifestyles make people dependant on all sorts of beverages that are commercially manufactured. Children are not educated to drink water; they become dependant on sodas and juices. This is a self-imposed restriction on the water needs of the body….. At the same time, a cultivated preference for the taste of these sodas automatically reduces the urge to drink water when sodas are not available, thus leading to dehydration.”
Caffeine also leaches nutrients out of food, so avoid drinking it with meals. Iron is one such nutrient to mention, and most of us are familiar with the consequences of iron deficiency anaemia, a common problem in women. Caffeine really should be kept to a minimum, an absolute maximum would be 3 cups of tea or 2 cups of coffee per day to promote optimum health. There are so many herbal teas out there, and even coffee substitutes. Sugary drinks causes the body to pull water out of the cells into the bloodstream in order to dilute the sugar, so they should be avoided as much as possible too. Fruit juices are better diluted as they are high in sugar.
Lastly it would be extremely unlikely that you would kill yourself by drinking too much water, I have only heard of it in cases where the person was taking ecstasy, therefore their thinking and body functioning were pretty badly impaired already.
I know somebody who has recently cured their asthma through reading Dr Batmanghelidj’s book on water, and increasing their pure water intake. I know how rubbish I feel if I don’t drink enough. After a day I will have a headache, feel tired and be constipated. Sorry, probably too much information! I’d recommend reading the book and just seeing how you feel by increasing your intake of pure water.
The Wonders of Carob – Chocolate subsitute
Carob is a chocolate subsitute used in raw food. I have been using it a lot lately in my experiments with raw foodie treats (see nutty balls of joy, etc).
The Scientific stuff
Carob comes from a tree and is a memeber of the pea family of plants. Carob is naturally sweet because it contains natural sugars, not the processed sugars in chocolate. So it won’t spike your blood sugar in the same way. It doesn’t contain caffeine and doesn’t cause migraines, the way that chocolate can. It contains lots of nice nutrients too. It’s high in calcium, phosphorous, potassium and magnesium. It also contains the vitamins A, B2, B3 and D.
Are you tempted?
You can buy carob powder ready to use in most health food shops. Tonight i’m making a dessert using carob. Here’s the recipe:
‘black forrest’ banana and carob sauce
In a food processor whizz 2 bananas until completely liquified. Add 2-3 heaped tablespoons of cashew nut butter, 2 tablespoons of carob powder and 1 tablespoon of Ameretto if you’re feeling really naughty (not necessary and less healthy!). Whizz it all together. Mix in some roughly chopped cherries, blackberries and blueberries. Serve in wine glass to make it look posh! Yum.
This is great for your blood sugar as the berries are low glycaemic load and the protein from the nut butter will delay the release of the sugars in the banana.