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Winter Wellness

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - Immune systemMost of us are no strangers to those dreaded colds and flu that can leave you and your family with runny noses, coughs, sore throats, headaches, fevers, and fatigue through the winter months.

This means it is the perfect time to boost your immune system and defend against cold and flu symptoms which are the leading cause of time away from school and work. Remember, prevention is always better than cure.

There is natural support for your immune defences against both viruses and bacteria so they won’t keep bugging you and making you sick.

Key Herbs and Nutrients play a crucial role

These act as natural winter warriors and can help to protect you and your family this season. Here are some examples:

• Andrographis: This immune herb given at 6 g has been shown to be as effective as paracetamol for reducing fever and sore throat. Together with Zinc and Picrorrhiza, Andrographis may also help to reduce duration of illness.

• Elderberry is an excellent herb to help reduce flu symptoms such as fever and runny noses.

• Cordyceps, Coriolus and Reishi are medicinal mushrooms that specifically target virally-infected cells, often the cause of those winter colds and flus. These medicinal mushrooms can be taken for both acute and chronic infections, to help restore a healthy functioning immune system.

• Zinc, Vitamin D and Vitamin C: These key nutrients are all important to help reduce the severity and duration of illness, whilst also supporting your immune system to function optimally.

Let’s remember The Gut – Your Link to Immunity

Did you know that 70 to 80% of your immune system is actually located in your digestive system? Understanding this will emphasise how important it is to look after your gut health. Your diet and the overall functioning of your digestive system will affect your immune system.

Probiotics not only help with digestion, but there are also key probiotics that help your immune system. The beneficial strains, Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM, Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, and Bifidobacterium lactis HN019 have been shown to help boost your immune system function.

Eating To Stay Well Through Winter

Healthy eating plans are essential throughout winter to help strengthen your immune system. Maintaining good nutritional status can help keep you healthy and reduce your risk of getting sick, as well as aiding faster recovery.

• Eat seasonally, fresh and organic as much as possible.Your Wellness Centre - Healthy Food - Immune System

• Eat a well-balanced Mediterranean style diet with plenty of

fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, fish and lean meats.

• Reduce inflammatory foods that can suppress immune function and are mucous-forming. These are dairy, sugar, white breads, cakes, and soft drinks.

• Try a hot fresh lemon, garlic and ginger tea with a dash of honey, or thyme tea to soothe a sore throat.

• Drink plenty of water, a minimum of eight glasses per day, and avoid excessive alcohol and caffeine.

• Take time to rest and relax, and get a good night’s sleep.

So act now and boost your immune system to prime it against common invaders. Give yourself the chance of getting through these winter months without suffering at the hands of the common cold or flu. Even if  someone has already started kindly ‘sharing’ their bugs, immune herbs and nutrients and a healthy diet will still help you by reducing the severity and duration of your symptoms. Let’s look forward to winter this year and experience it in a state of wellness.

Take the step toward a healthier you!
Call 9879 9596 and book in an appointment today!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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The Silent Epidemic of Insulin Resistance

So Why Would Insulin Resistance be Important?

Insulin resistance means that your body doesn’t respond to the signals of insulin like it should. This increases your risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.

Insulin is a hormone secreted by your pancreas to help regulate your blood sugar levels. After you eat, food is broken down into glucose, the simple sugar that is the main source of energy for the body’s cells.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - Insulin ResistanceBut your cells cannot use glucose without insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas.

Insulin helps transport glucose into the body’s cells for use as energy. If you have insulin resistance, your muscle, fat and liver cells do not use insulin properly. This means that you could feel tired instead of energetic. (You know how we associate sugar with energy!) The extra glucose in the bloodstream means that more insulin is needed and so the pancreas tries to keep up with this demand by producing more.

When blood glucose (sugar) levels rise, insulin is released to store that excess sugar as glycogen. Unfortunately, our body can only store a little glycogen at any one time. Once you have filled up your glycogen stores, any leftover sugar will be stored as fat.

Insulin also blocks the breakdown of existing body fat. So, it becomes virtually impossible to lose fat if you have raised insulin levels.

This is the reason why we need to address insulin resistance if you are to lose weight efficiently.

High levels of dietary carbohydrates, also known as high glycaemic load foods (e.g. sugars, like our very favourite chocolates and lollies, starchy foods, such as bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes) increase your production of insulin to ‘switch off’ fat burning and increase fat gain. If you have constantly high levels of insulin, you can develop a condition known as insulin resistance. Insulin resistance causes excess weight and obesity.

If you would like to improve your blood sugar control and improve your long-term health, ring us on (03) 9879 9596 or message us today. Take the step toward a healthier you! 

Don’t forget to like our Facebook Page Your Wellness Centre, Twitter @YWCnaturopath and GPlus +YourWellnessCentreAu.

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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How Antioxidants Protect Us from Free Radicals

There are many effects of Free Radical damage that has been implicated in diseases such as Cancer, Heart Disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Arthritis, Dementia, Memory Loss and much more. You can check these diseases that are mentioned in the previous blog post. With a long list like that, it makes good sense to reduce the free radicals in the body with an abundant supply of Antioxidants.

How Antioxidants Protect our bodies against Free Radicals

Fortunately, if we take timely steps and fill our diets with Nature’s Antioxidants we have a much better chance of living a healthy life to a grand Old Age!

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - Antioxidants
Antioxidants protect our bodies from the ravages of Free Radicals by reacting with them, and not allowing the free radical to react with our body structures. This allows your body to function as it should – efficiently!

Ask about our free radical test today.

It is a great way to see if you have enough antioxidant fruit and vegetables in your diet or to see if your antioxidants supplement is doing a good job. So take advantage of our “Immune System” Test today.

It is a good idea to make an appointment today. Your Wellness Centre offers you real solutions to help improve your health and overall well-being.

Ring us at 9879 9596 or Contact us here.

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Why We All Need Antioxidants

Nails rust when exposed to air and peeled apples go brown.

We all know this but most of us don’t know why. This is really the visible action of free radicals. Less obvious is the effect of free radicals on our bodies.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - AntioxidantsSimply put, free radicals are unstable chemicals which when in excess in the body become more stable by interacting with some of our bodies important cellular structures.

Free radicals cause or aggravate many of the ailments we humans prematurely die from.

The most devastating illnesses promoted are Cancer, Heart Disease, and Premature Ageing!

Here is how it can happen:
Toxins in the body are dealt with in the tissues. Energy is needed for this to take place and results in the formation of free radicals as a by-product. These free radicals are unstable and to gain stability, they ‘steal’ an electron from your blood vessels, your immune system, and other cells. These body structures are then left without electrons and become unstable. And then the damage to our bodies begins.

Sources of free radicals are also food, exercise, stress, cigarette smoke, pollution, radiation, chemicals, pesticides, steroids, antibiotics, microbes and more.

The effects of these are far-reaching and Free Radical damage has been implicated in:

  • Cancer
  • Cataracts
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Heart Disease
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Dementia
  • Premature Ageing
  • ArthritisEffects of Free Radicals, we need Antioxidants
  • Memory Loss
  • Chrohn’s Disease
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Decreased Learning Ability
  • Ulcerative Colitis
  • Multiple Sclerosis
  • Male Infertility
  • Pancreatitis
  • Parkinson’s Disease
  • …and more

With a list this long it makes good sense to reduce the free radicals in the body with an abundant supply of Antioxidants.

Ring 9879 9596 to make an appointment today.
Take the step toward a healthier you today!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Halt your Cravings for Comfort Food

Any cravings for comfort food like chocolate, cakes and bread you experience can be reduced by eating the foods that help curb this inclination. Weight loss naturopaths in Ringwood, Melbourne can show you how. They can also give you an effective nutritional supplement to help you stop sugar cravings and also carbohydrate craving.
This is especially beneficial if you are wanting to lose weight as well.

LYour Wellness Centre Naturopaths - Tiredow energy, mood swings and poor sleep patterns are common side effects of giving in to cravings for comfort food regularly.
You often do this continually because you want to feel better. And yes, you do, but unfortunately it is only a short “feel good feeling” that you get, before your want more of these foods. And you can end up in a cycle of cravings for comfort food, the need for which must be satisfied.
All it does is give you a lift short term and long term you feel bad because of weight gain.

You may then find yourself in a vicious cycle of food craving that slow down your metabolism as well.

What and how to Eat to reduce craving for comfort food…

The aim is really to balance your own blood sugars and this reduces cravings for comfort food..
Eating a good quality protein food at three meals a day, meaning breakfast, lunch and dinner is a good start! The amount to eat, should be about the circumference and thickness of the palm of your hand.
Ok, I know it sounds boring! But you’ll feel so good after a few days, that you’ll keep going. Add to this a stack of green vegetables or salad. And if really needed a tiny bit of your favourite starchy food.

How Balancing Blood Sugars helps

Well it could stop you being overweight which often means you won’t struggle with hard to control symptoms. These symptoms which include low energy, sugar cravings, generalised aches and pains and digestive problems such as bloating, reflux and irritable bowel syndrome could be dramatically reduced.

In fact we find that within a week of eating the foods that suit your metabolism, you not only start to lose weight, but you also experience a tremendous improvement in feelings of wellbeing.
It is also common to start sleeping throughout the night while reflux and digestive complaints vanish and you even find that energy surges.

When visiting Weight loss naturopaths in Ringwood, Melbourne where naturopaths go through a naturopathic health assessment to find those factors that influence weight gain and then tailor programs to suit you.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - UltraLiteAmong the many weight loss strategies we use, we find that a fast, safe way to get the body fat down and improve your wellbeing, is the Ultralite weight management program, which we have used at our clinic for the past 18 years.

An example of a great result is Joan, mother of 3 and busy teacher, who lost approximately 29kg in 15 weeks. Not only did she find the weight loss to be excellent, but she also felt so much healthier and much more energetic.

If you feel you would like to lose surplus body fat, gain more energy and confidence, and once more enjoy life to the fullest, simply make an appointment so we can help you choose the foods that suit your metabolism as well as the appropriate supplement to help reduce your cravings.

Ring 9879 9596 to get benefits in those important weeks leading up to Christmas or Contact us here

Take the step toward a healthier you!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Allergies and Hayfever

Spring is here and this means pollen, dust, allergies and hayfever. We seem to be becoming increasingly intolerant to our environment, but help is at hand if you read on…

A stuffy runny nose, sore red eyes, a head full of cotton wool and bouts of involuntary sneezing, you don’t have to needlessly suffer the debilitating effects of Hay Fever or Sinus!

Help is at hand!  You don’t have to suffer needlessly from these irritating symptoms.  Don’t run to the chemist and self-prescribe the latest drug that supposedly suppresses these symptoms.

Instead, win the battle and boost your natural immunity so that your hay fever and sinus complaints naturally diminish.  By doing this now and improving the integrity of your upper respiratory tract, this will also help lay the foundations for improved winter immunity next year so that you don’t catch the first cold of the season when everyone else around you is coughing and sniffing.

Allergies are Nothing to Sneeze At!

While allergy and asthma appear to be caused by outside triggers, such as dust, pollen, dry air and stressful events, the underlying problem actually lies within us. Both allergy and asthma occur when a particular part of our immune system is out of balance. Our immune system is designed to protect us from infections and to keep us healthy. An allergy occurs when your immune system mistakes something that is normally harmless as being a threat to you and while “protecting” you from it, creates a strong inflammatory response. This inflammatory response is what produces the symptoms that you experience allergies. In asthma, this inflammation presents as difficulty breathing or may trigger an asthma attack.

Breathe Easy; Help is at Hand

Many of us know licorice as a confectionery, but did you know that licorice is a very effective herb for the treatment of allergy and asthma? Licorice is an immune regulator, meaning that it helps to bring a wayward immune system back into balance. Licorice is particularly helpful in relieving all types of allergy as well as asthma because it addresses the underlying immune problem in these conditions. Importantly, you won’t get this same effect from just eating the lolly, you need the strong herbal formula to do the trick. Combining licorice with the Chinese remedies Reiishi mushroom and Sophora root creates a potent formula with great effectiveness against allergy and asthma.

With over 4000 years of use in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Reiishi mushroom is tried and trusted in the treatment of asthma and allergy, providing relief for symptoms such as wheezing, tight chest and coughing. Sophora root is also outstanding in its ability to relax the lungs, making it highly effective for asthma. The fact that these herbs also prevent and treat eczema, dermatitis, itching skin and eyes and hayfever tells us that their benefit actually comes from correcting the underlying immune problem. This combination of herbs does not just suppress symptoms, but creates real healing, genuinely improving your health.

We Have the Skills and Experience to Help You

So whether you need help with occasional hayfever or suffer from persistent asthma or irritating dermatitis, we have the formula to help you. As your Healthcare Professional, I have the experience and skills to prescribe the most suitable treatment for your needs and help you to understand how to achieve your health potential. Call today to make an appointment to review your immune health and discuss what can be done to keep you in top shape.

“Licorice is an immune regulator, meaning that it helps to bring a wayward immune system back into balance.”

Ring us on 9879 9596 for advice.

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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3 Habits that Hamper Weight Loss

Weight Loss

With a few more rays of sunshine peeping through, you may be thinking of losing a kilo or two. By simply paying attention to a few habits you may achieve a better result when you undertake the weight loss program of your choice.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Weight Loss

Real food eaten in the right amounts helps efficient Weight Loss

1. Eating Without Thinking

Have you ever eaten a chocolate and at the end of it realise that it disappeared really fast? This could be because you did not pay attention to the process of eating it. You may even dive into biscuits or nibbles while preparing the evening meal and then constantly taste while you cook.

Address these habits by practising mindful eating. Keep a daily record of every single thing you eat. Eat only when you actually sit down at a table and do so without watching TV or reading. Chew really well and enjoy each bite.

2.  Life is too Busy

You don’t have the time to cook good food, so a quick calorie laden takeaway will do.

If you have a range of other reasons or excuses, then list them all and think of ways you can overcome them.

For example, if you lack time, then cook a big batch of nutritious food and divide it into portions to enjoy during the week. Perhaps buy ready cut up veggies.

3. You Skip Breakfast

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Weight Loss

Traditional Breakfast – bread, cheese, eggs, and milk

Having regular meals keeps your metabolism going throughout the day, supplying you with abundant energy. You will also find that your mood and memory improve too.

If you have to leave for work really early in the morning and don’t have time to eat before leaving home, try to have breakfast first thing when you get to work.

By taking these few tips on board, you are sure to be successful with your weight loss.

If you would like more tips on losing weight, simply contact us. We regularly help clients lose weight through a variety of ways.

The Ultralite program, Shake it program and HCG programs of weight loss are regularly used at our clinic.

Simply ring 9879 9596 to find out more or contact us here.

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Naturopathy and your Lifestyle

Does Lifestyle Affect your Health?

We are often asked why we want to know about lifestyle habits like eating, moving and thinking in our consultations, so I thought I’d discuss it here.

Quite simply, whether you have arthritis, digestive problems or cancer makes little difference, our focus remains the same: to teach you to eat, move and think in ways that are more beneficial to you and your health. 

The fact is that what is best for your health is also what is best to combat your disease.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - healthy choice lifestyle

Eating Fruit is a healthy choice

However, there is no guarantee that improving your diet, becoming more flexible, getting the rest you require or worrying less improves any specific symptom or illness.

Eliminating a Food Sensitivity can ‘Heal’ Symptoms

Occasionally a sensitivity to a particular food can provoke certain symptoms such as rashes, headaches and joint pain. Eliminating this food can ‘heal’ these symptoms. However, this type of symptomatic relief is more the exception than the rule.

Symptoms decrease as you improve in general ways.

Typically, you will find your entire system improves in more general, non-specific ways. You feel stronger and more energetic, sleep more soundly, female menstrual periods are less troublesome, joints are less stiff and sore, your digestion improves, you can concentrate and remember better and you find yourself less irritable and happier overall.

As you improve in these general ways, you will find that many of your specific symptoms will lessen in frequency and severity.

This is for the good of the whole rather than for any specific organ or function. The benefit to any particular part is almost always the result of a strengthening, nourishing and resting of the whole.

Underlying Causes of Symptoms are addressed.

Our care will also provide you with intelligent methods for symptomatic relief.
We are committed to providing the finest healthcare of which we are able. That includes both symptomatic relief and education to address the underlying causes of your symptoms. We will also refer you to others for further education or therapy whenever we see it to be in your best interest.

You Benefit from using what we Teach you.

So, if you want to learn how to take better care of your health;  if it makes sense that your health and happiness are the product of your own actions;  and if you value yourself enough to devote time to caring for your health: a visit to discuss this is just the thing for you!

You will not be disappointed.
We guarantee that what we teach will always benefit you to the exact degree that you use it.

We’d love to partner you in Attaining your Goals

We intend to meet you wherever you are currently in your process of health and healing.

You will be provided with clear, achievable steps that you can incorporate into your current lifestyle. We will inspire and support you, not overwhelm you. We look forward to being your partner in the attainment of your health goals.

Ring 9879 9596 to make an appointment today.

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Biological Markers of Ageing

A biological marker of ageing is considered universal. By this, it is meant that it will occur to most people as they age.

At Your Wellness Centre, we take these biological factors into consideration in our Vitality, Longevity and Anti-Ageing Program, and go about slowing the rate of their occurrence.

Any anti-aging strategy needs to include reversing the biological markers of ageing. There is a great range of variability in ageing. Some people age quickly, others more slowly.

The markers are a broad list of physiological changes but they can all be related to one single factor – excess levels of the hormone insulin.

Some Biological Markers of Human Ageing are:

Markers that Increase with Age

  • Insulin Resistance
  • Systolic blood pressure
  • Percent body fat
  • Lipid ratios

Markers that Decrease with Age

  • Glucose tolerance
  • Aerobic capacity
  • Muscle mass
  • Strength
  • Temperature regulation
  • Immune function

Contact us to find out more about out Vitality, Longevity and Anti-Ageing Program.
Take the step toward a healthier you!
Call 9879 9596 and book an appointment today!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne - Ageing

 

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Understanding Fatigue

Some people are calling fatigue a symptom of living in the 21st Century.

And since one of the most common symptoms we see in our clinic is fatigue, we will focus on the many aspects of fatigue this month.

Fatigue is such a common condition that it is often misunderstood or even dismissed. It is especially dismissed if there is no identifiable ‘cause’ from diagnostic procedures, such as blood tests. But that doesn’t mean you should just put up with it. If no disease has been medically diagnosed, then something can usually be done using natural methods.

fatigue - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyIf fatigue persists, it can start interfering with your ability to perform at work, with personal relationships and ultimately reduce your enjoyment of life in general. It can be a sign of more serious problems and the underlying cause needs to be identified and resolved. Left untreated, it creates a self-perpetuating downward spiral which can be very difficult to break.

For many of us, loss of energy is something that simply sneaks up on us. The reduction in our energy most often happens so gradually that we don’t notice the change from one day to the next. The sad thing is that we actually get used to feeling low in energy and this becomes our new “normal”.

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - Fatigue - Stress Fatigue can be caused by a great variety of problems, some of which are obvious to us, while others are not so obvious and may need professional assistance to identify. Underlying problems that may contribute includes:

  • Emotional stress
  • Inflammatory conditions, including arthritis
  • Digestive problems which reduce the absorption of key energy-producing nutrients
  • Hormonal imbalances
  • Blood sugar problem
  • An imbalance in the diet
  • Exposure to chemicals and environmental toxins
  • Physical stress; either through exercise or other laborious work, and
  • Muscle pain or injury.

In order to treat it effectively and restore your energy and vitality, it is important to correct these underlying problems, and at the same time support and repair the energy-producing factories, called mitochondria, within your cells.

In my next post, I will talk more about overcoming fatigue.

Read more about chronic fatigue syndrome.

Take the step toward a healthier you!
Call 9879 9596 and book an appointment today!

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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