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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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

If you are someone who often feels fatigue, let’s look at how you can you bounce back into achieving optimal energy levels, significantly improve your quality of life and regain your enthusiasm for living.

Cardoviascular Exercise - Your Wellness CentreTo get you back to bouncing out of bed, you need to lead a healthy life. By starting with these five simple steps, you will be on your way to better energy, and a new lease on life.

  1. Get adequate, regular and consistent amounts of sleep each night.
  2. Eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and drink plenty of water throughout the day.
  3. Exercise regularly.
  4. Learn better ways to relax.
  5. Avoid stimulants or excess alcohol.

To keep your energy levels up, you also need to ensure that all your body systems are in balance and working effectively.

Then you need to ensure that the energy centres of every cell in your body, the mitochondria, are in good working order by supplying them with certain nutrients.

No matter what else is going on in your body, if mitochondrial function is impaired, you will have reduced energy production. This means that supporting healthy mitochondrial function is essential. And so, if you experience fatigue, improving mitochondrial function is an important first step toward improving your energy levels.

Nutrients are the key to increasing energy in your body, as they are used to support the mitochondria. These important nutrients include:

  • Coenzyme Q10 may be helpful in the management of fatigue as it enhances cellular energy production and is also a powerful antioxidant.
  • N-Acetyl Carnitine: Carnitine plays an important role in fat metabolism and energy production. It acts by transporting dietary fats directly into the mitochondria to be broken down and burnt as fuel for energy production. It is also able to cross the blood-brain barrier and assist with mental fatigue.
  • Lipoic Acid is important for the correct transport and conversion of carbohydrates into energy whilst protecting the mitochondria from damage (as it is a potent antioxidant).
  • Magnesium is an essential cofactor required for energy production in all cells. Without adequate levels of magnesium inside your cells, fatigue is inevitable. Magnesium is needed everywhere in the body; in fact, over 300 processes in the body depend on magnesium. With regards to energy production, it is important for the conversion of sugars, fats, and proteins to energy.

Fish Oil - Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy MelbourneOmega-3 Essential Fatty Acids are vital for the integrity and stability of every mitochondrial membrane in the body. Omega-3 oils stimulate the growth and size of the mitochondria, along with helping to lower stress levels, which overall can contribute to higher energy levels.

If you are a sufferer of fatigue, all you have to do is put the above strategies in place step by step, or enlist one of our naturopaths to give you a helping hand.

Contact us to find out more.

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

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

Cancer is a life-altering experience for the person involved, as well as their close family and friends. However, it doesn’t occur overnight. In reality, cancer is the manifestation of a chronic disease that has been developing over time, with many factors contributing to its onset and progression.

The good news is that there is a multitude of supportive and preventative measures available that can help you transform fear into understanding and empowerment, leading to a happier, healthier state of wellbeing.

The Seed and Soil of Cancer

As far back as 1889, an English surgeon, Stephen Paget proposed the ‘seed and soil’ concept – that the spread of cancer depends on cancer cells, “the seeds”, and the environment in the body, which he called “the soil”. It can take the body many years to produce the “soil” or environment that is just right for cancer to flourish. Cancer may develop when changes occur inside the cell and when coupled with the appropriate internal environment, the cancer cell can proliferate in an uncontrolled manner.

Seed and Soil - Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy - Cancer
More than 100 years later, the “seed and soil” concept still holds true; it is both the health of individual cells and the environment in the body that may determine whether cancer may develop or not.  By taking active steps to improve our health, we have the potential to alter the environment in our bodies, reducing the risk of chronic disease and maintaining long-term health.

Prevention is Best Practice

You may be surprised to hear that genetics accounts for only 5-10% of cancers.
Research studies have shown that healthy diet and lifestyle factors have favourable effects in reducing the incidence of many cancers, challenging us to modify our diet and lifestyle for disease prevention.

The Protective Power of Herbal Medicine

The protective actions of particular herbs used in disease prevention are well documented. Key herbs can support the body’s resistance and resilience to chronic disease such as cancer. They provide anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant actions which are all beneficial in supporting the health of our cells:

    • Green tea: Oxidative stress has been shown to damage the DNA in cells and can play a role in promoting cellular dysfunction implicated in tumour development. EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) is found in the leaves of green tea and is a powerful antioxidant which can protect against degenerative diseases. It may also be beneficial in preventing the cellular changes seen in cancer development.
    • Turmeric - Curcuma - Cancer - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyTurmeric: Curcumin is the active constituent of turmeric. This powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory herb have been widely researched for its anti-carcinogenic actions.
    • Resveratrol: Resveratrol is a phytochemical that is found in certain plants, in particular grapes. It has been shown to be an effective anti-inflammatory and inhibits the growth of a wide variety of tumour cells.
    • Yerba Maté: This herb has a long history of use as a tonic and stimulating drink in South America. It protects against oxidative damage, can promote energy production and increases antioxidant defences.

Food Can Produce or Reduce Inflammation

The typical Western diet may actually promote inflammation; high amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates break down quickly into glucose and have been shown to induce inflammatory changes that are linked with many chronic diseases. In some susceptible people, foods such as dairy products and gluten-containing grains can trigger an inflammatory response.

Diet and Lifestyle Tips for Long-Term Health

The following diet and lifestyle recommendations can help keep your cells and your body healthy for the long-term:

  • No smoking - Cancer - Your Wellness Centre NaturopathyQuit smoking: Smoking is carcinogenic so make it a priority to quit smoking for disease prevention and anti-aging.
  • Minimise exposure to environmental toxins in the household and workplace.
  • Make stress management a priority and ensure you are getting a good night’s sleep. Ask us about our Stress Less program for support during stressful periods.
  • Obesity and inactivity have been linked to cancer, so stay active and maintain a healthy weight.
  • Get moving! Just 30 minutes of movement and exercise enhances wellbeing and can help with disease prevention.
  • Cancer cells are said to be ‘addicted’ to sugar as they are fuelled by glucose. Minimise your intake of processed, refined foods to maintain healthy blood sugar balance.
  • Eat a diet rich in fresh fruits, vegetables, and cancer preventing antioxidants.  Choose organic food where possible as it provides higher levels of protective nutrients.
  • Drink pure, filtered water preferably from glass or BPA-free bottles.

Empowered for Health

Consider cancer in a new light and accept the challenge to take responsibility for your health. Herbs and nutrients, together with a healthy diet and lifestyle may well be the ultimate tools for disease prevention.

  • References available on Request.

We can help support you during the Stress of Cancer.
Take the step toward a healthier you!

Call 9879 9596 and book an appointment today!

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne