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What Does Clean Eating Involve?

Eating clean means you’re focused on choosing healthy, natural foods and are paying attention to the sources of your food. Clean eating can transform your life.

Let’s first look at the principle of clean eating:

The Basic principle of clean eating is to eliminate processed foods from the diet.

In addition to being high in sugar and salt, refined foods have many chemicals, preservatives, and additives. They can have a negative impact on the body that ranges from weight gain to allergies. 

Clean eating focuses on a diet of unprocessed and healthy foods.

Instead of counting calories, your centre of attention is on finding and eating whole foods. 

Your entire diet changes after a commitment to eating clean. Your meals are more frequent and smaller during the day.

In addition, you’ll feel fuller and avoid blood sugar spikes. You’ll learn to appreciate food again with a renewed sense of love.  

Consider these tips:

1. Understand this is a lifestyle change. Clean eating is more than a diet trend that vanishes at the end of the week. It’s a lifestyle change. 

  • A true commitment to clean eating requires that it become a permanent lifestyle change. This is not the type of diet that can end after one month of juicing or a couple of weeks of eating raw vegetables. 
  • Without counting calories or worrying about portion sizes, you are able to adjust to the lifestyle change easier. 

2. Accept a gradual transformation of your diet. It’s not easy to eliminate every processed food from your diet, so a more gradual approach lets you slowly exchange the bag of potato chips for baked kale chips you make in your own oven. 

  • It’s easier to switch to clean eating by using a slower approach. Your family members may need time to accept the loss of their favourite pretzels or burgers. 
  • Cutting out junk food may be easy, but processed foods are also lurking in other parts of the kitchen and cabinets. The canned soups and lunch meats aren’t part of a clean eating plan, so you’ll have to get rid of them. 

3. Learn to pay attention to your food. Clean eating will change how you look at food and what you’re willing to accept on your dinner plate. 

  • Today’s busy lifestyles can keep people from paying attention to their meals. They grab a quick breakfast or snack on junk food during the day to deal with hunger pangs. Clean eating addresses all of these issues by making you focus on each bite. 

 

Clean eating is not a diet trend that will fade after a few days or weeks. It is a long-term lifestyle change and commitment to eating better.

 

“To eat with a fuller consciousness of all that is at stake might sound like a burden, but in practice, few things in life can afford quite as much satisfaction. By comparison, the pleasures of eating industrially, which is to say eating in ignorance, are fleeting. Many people today seem perfectly content eating at the end of an industrial food chain . . .” – Michael Pollan

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Natural Treatment for Hypothyroidism

The Butterfly-Shaped Gland

The thyroid is an important gland that regulates many of the body’s functions. Located in the front part of the neck, the thyroid produces hormones necessary for metabolism.

You can think of thyroid hormones as the drums in an orchestra or band; they set the rhythm and pace for most of our body’s functions. Disordered thyroid function can upset the whole rhythm of the body.

The Highs and Lows of Thyroid Function

Dysfunction of the thyroid can cause a number of different symptoms. Thyroid problems can affect weight, energy levels, appetite, and mood; but the effects will be different depending on whether the thyroid gland is over-functioning or under-functioning.

Hyperthyroidism is a state of over-activity of the thyroid gland with excessive production of thyroid hormones and an increased metabolic rate – it’s as if the drums that set the rhythm for our bodies have sped up too much and are making everything function too fast. Symptoms of hyperthyroidism can include:

  • Feeling hot and intolerant of hot weather
  • Weight loss
  • Anxiety, restlessness, and insomnia
  • Excessive sweating
  • Increased heart rate
  • Fine tremors of the fingers
  • High blood pressure

Hypothyroidism, on the other hand, is a state of under-activity of the thyroid gland with underproduction of thyroid hormone – as if the drums have slowed down and the beat that is running how our body functions are too slow. When your body does not produce enough of the thyroid hormone, the body’s metabolism slows so much that you can experience symptoms such as:

  • Tiredness and fatigue
  • Depression
  • Irritability
  • Weight gain
  • Intolerance to cold weather
  • Brittle hair
  • Slow heart rate
  • A croaky, hoarse voice

Herbs to Calm The Thyroid

An overactive thyroid can make you feel anxious and restless and can also be a contributing factor to insomnia. A combination of traditional calming herbs may help to manage these symptoms and slow that beating drum that is increasing your metabolism too much. Lemon balm, Rehmannia, Prunella, and Phyllanthus Emblica are traditional herbs with anti-anxiety actions. They also provide anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant protection, reducing the negative effects of oxidative stress and inflammation on the thyroid.

These herbs are available in one convenient supplement, designed to assist in the management of symptoms associated with excess thyroid activity.

Herbs to Balance The Thyroid

On the other hand, an underactive thyroid can make you feel tired, cold, and depressed. To increase the rhythm of the drum and improve the activity of the thyroid gland, you can use a combination of herbs traditionally used to energize and warm the body. Withania, ginger, goji, and rosemary are energizing herbs that improve circulation, warm the body, and are a great source of antioxidants.

As well to these herbs stimulating thyroid activity, there are some vital nutrients required for an under-active thyroid, including:

  • Iodine – Iodine is an essential element for the production of thyroid hormones. Iodine deficiency is common in many areas of the world, leading to the depletion of iodine stores and reduced production of thyroid hormones.
  • Selenium – This trace element has many important roles in the body, including crucial roles as a cofactor in enzymes essential for the production of thyroid hormones.
  • Zinc – Low zinc levels are associated with poor thyroid hormone production and reduced basal metabolic rate.
    This blend of herbs and nutrients is available in one simple tablet to support healthy thyroid function and assist with the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

By combining the wisdom of nutrition and herbal medicine we can assist in the management of thyroid conditions, helping you feel your best.

So if you feel that the orchestra of your body has lost its rhythm, or is functioning too fast or too slow, please come and see us today.

 

 

 

Glenda Johnson, Naturopath
Your Wellness Centre
102A Oban Rd
Ringwood North

 

 

Your Wellness Centre Naturopathy Melbourne

 

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Allergies – and Gut Health

ALLERGIES and GUT HEALTH

Do you struggle with allergies when the beauty of Spring is in the air? If your eyes itch when you should be enjoying a sunny, spring day, strange though it may sound, it’s time to heal your gut…

Let me explain…

Allergies occur when your immune system overreacts to something that’s generally harmless, such as pollen or dust mites.  This triggers inflammation and produces allergic symptoms. These can range from hay fever (also known as allergic rhinitis), digestive discomfort, eczema, and asthma, to life-threatening anaphylaxis.

While quick-fix medications, such as antihistamines, provide symptomatic relief, targeting the underlying casues of allergy, particularly your gut health and function, can provide long-term health benefits.

Did you know that improving your gut health can increase your tolerance to allergic triggers?
This can help you overcome your allergies and enable you to be outdoors without getting teary, fiery eyeballs.

‘While quick-fix medications, such as antihistamines, provide symptomatic relief, targeting the underlying causes of allergy, particularly your gut health and function, can provide long-term health benefits.’

 

Let’s see how Gut Health affects Allergies

Your microbiome (i.e. your gut bacteria) is a foundation of good health, especially when it comes to regulating your immune system and reducing its reactivity.
In fact, dysbiosis (an imbalance in the types and levels of gut bacteria) has been identified as a distinctive feature of allergy.

Research has actually identified differences in microbiome composition between people with allergies and those without.
The imbalance in the types and levels of gut bacteria has been shown to promote gut inflammation, which also stimulates inflammation beyond the gut.
This includes the release of histamine (an inflammatory chemical produced by immune cells), which causes many of the symptoms associated with allergies. 

Fortunately, you can reduce dysbiosis and improve the composition of your gut bacteria through the use of specific probiotic strains (types of bacteria), which help regulate your immune function to prevent and reduce allergic symptoms.
For instance, the strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG®) has been shown to increase the production of anti-inflammatory immune cells. These act against allergy-associated inflammation and support healthy immunity.

Enhancing your gut bacteria composition has also been shown to suppress histamine release.
Together, these benefits may reduce immune hyper-reactivity and decrease allergy symptoms.

Gut Inflammation can Trigger a Leaky Gut.

Gut inflammation, caused by dysbiosis, has also been shown to trigger a leaky gut, which occurs when your gut barrier (cells that form a physical barrier between your digestive tract and the rest of your body) becomes permeable or ‘leaky’.
When the gut barrier is damaged, food particles, bacteria, and toxins may be able to enter your bloodstream. This aggravates inflammation and triggers an immune response that worsens your allergy symptoms.

Fortunately, specific herbs and nutrients can help restore a leaky gut barrier. These include:

  •   Glutamine: An amino acid (a small compound that combines with other amino acids to form protein) that strengthens the integrity of the gut barrier and reduces the passage of contents between your gut and bloodstream.
  •   Vitamin A: is essential for optimal cell growth and maintenance of the gut barrier, with deficiency of this key nutrient preventing the regeneration of gut barrier cells.
  •   Zinc: is another essential nutrient that supports the integrity of gut barrier cells, with deficiency increasing the likelihood of leaky gut development.
  •   Baical skullcap: a herb that has been found to reduce the gaps that form between gut barrier cells (as a consequence of dysbiosis), causing them to become leaky.
  •   Shiitake mushroom: a medicinal mushroom that regulates immune function and reduces inflammation.

 Support Good Digestive Function to Reduce Allergies

Given the strong connection between the health of the gut and immune system, supporting good digestive system function can address some of the underlying factors that cause your immune system to be over-reactive.

The Allergy and Reactivity Reduction Program used at Your Wellness Centre is specially designed to repair your gut and improve your immune tolerance, reducing allergy symptoms.
This approach can help you gain control of your allergies and how your body reacts so that you can once more indulge in the activities that you enjoy.
To find out if the Allergy and Reactivity Reduction Program is right for you, consult with a naturopath at Your Wellness Centre.

‘Given the strong connection between the health of the gut and immune reactivity, supporting good digestive system function can address some of the underlying factors that cause your immune system to be over-reactive.’

Overcoming Allergies

If your nose has done more running during springtime than you have, perhaps it’s time to consider an allergy plan with long-term health benefits.
Maintaining a healthy gut is key to supporting your immune function and building tolerance to allergic triggers, and is therefore central to providing a lasting solution to allergic conditions. 

For guidance on how best to improve your allergies, speak with a naturopath at Your Wellness Centre to see how we can help you in your journey to wellness.

 

 

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