Natural Medicine

Flax Seeds – Why You Should Use Daily

November 9, 2016 By Sue

A daily dose of Flax Seeds – provide you with Omega 3’s and help to balance your hormones

Why are flax seeds so good for everyone – in particular helping women balance their hormones?

Flax seeds are very high in lignans or phyto-oestrogens and bear a strong resemblance to the female hormone oestrogen in shape, structure, and some functionality. Phyto-eostrogens are plant compounds that have very mild oestrogenic effects that can be used to modulate the influence of the body’s excess oestrogenic hormones on body tissues. Phyto-oestrogens help with hormone imbalance and may help prevent many types of cancer, such as breast, colon and prostate cancer The flax seed plant contains a higher concentration of photo -oestrogen lignans than any other food.

Aside from the lignans flaxseds are loaded with the best source of vegetarian essential fatty acid Omega-3 (or ALA) essential to our health and wellbeing. More than that, our bodies can’t produce these fatty acids on their own. So you have to get them as part of your diet.

Flaxseed contains a perfect balance of omega-3’s and omega-6’s which work to form the membranes of every cell in your body and play a vital role in the active tissues of your brain.

Flaxseeds can also improve the quality of your hair, nails, and skin, as well as helping you to lose weight or bulk up, and it lowers cholesterol, blood pressure and prevents arthritis and cancers.

Flax seed also really helps the digestive system creating an ease of bowel movement combatting constipation. One of the great benefits also is the help flaxseed can bring during the menopause.

What else do Flax seeds Help You With?
– Contain complete proteins (it has all the essential amino acids your body needs)
– High in minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron and zinc and B vitamins
– Important role in the metabolism of fat
– Full of both soluble and insoluble fibre (you need both types),
– Flaxseeds contribute to an alkaline pH balance in the body

Research Backs Flax Benefits
Recent research indicates that flaxseed may have the ability to reduce blood pressure, lower level of harmful cholesterol, offer both estrogen-like and anti-estrogenic effects, and is being studied for its ability to protect against cancer.

Follow up studies show that just 2-3 tablespoons of flax daily can help up to 2/3rds of severely depressed women bounce back within eight weeks. Flax, says Udo Erasmus, PhD, has a mood boosting ingredient: docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) that is essential for the proper function of brain cells, yet up to 85% of women aren’t getting enough of it.

How to store flax seeds
The best way to keep a fresh supply of flaxseeds either ground or whole is to store them in an airtight container in the freezer and use them as you need them.

How to use flax seeds
For both hormone health and general health, it’s a good idea to have 1-2 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds a day, preferably added to other foods like breakfast cereals, soups, salads, yoghurt.

Here are some ideas:
1. Add to cereals, oats or porridge, topped with fruit and cinnamon
2. Sprinkle on salads, along with ground/whole pumpkin, sesame and sunflower seeds
3. Add to your soup (add at the very end, so that heat doesn’t destroy the essential fatty acids)
4. Sprinkle on baked peaches, custard, rice pudding or fruit and yoghurt just before serving
5. Add to fruit smoothies or green / vegetable smoothies

If you’re struggling with any kind of hormone imbalance, tiredness, low energy or wanting to lose your excess weight. I’ve put together a FREE guide for you, so you can start to learn how and why specific foods, and drinks, can help you have more energy and lose weight naturally.

You’ll find it is easy to add these ingredients into your diet on a daily basis – get your downloadable guide here

In fact, at the end, I’m going to share one simple recipe you can make in under five minutes that incorporates all of these foods.

Get your copy of the FREE guide:
5 Foods that will help boost Your Energy Levels and Lose Weight Naturally.

HERE

Herbal Teas – kitchen healing essentials

May 17, 2016 By admin

Nothing like a good cuppa tea to sort out the problems of the world. My grandmother loved her tea and it was the first thing we’d do when we visited her, I do miss being able to sit down and share a pot of tea with her.

Who meets for a cup of tea these days? It seems we’re all more likely to meet for a coffee. But, a cup of tea is so much more than just about the socialising. I wanted to share with you how ‘just’ a cup of tea could be one of THE most simple ‘healing’ tools that you could have in your kitchen. I know you might say, it’s only a cup of tea!

Research studies and ancient eastern traditions show that herbal teas can have the most positive effect on supporting you with illness, ailments and for ensuring optimum health.

As a herbalist and lover of simple, effective, quick and easy solutions there are some essential herbal teas in my kitchen for when first aid is needed – either to settle a sore or nervous tummy, insomnia, anxiety, cramps, heartaches, the beginnings of a cold or flu, bloating, indigestion and even PMT.

Be sure to stock up on chamomile, rose, peppermint, cinnamon and ginger teas for your home and then you’ll be covered with the basics. Of course you 05_05_10_01_12_chamomile-bsp-150x150 need to know which one to use when and you may have be unaware of some of the other things these common herbal teas can be useful for. Chamomile is calming but so much more, peppermint for wind and so much more, ginger for nausea and so much more…..

Fresh grated ginger is one of my personal favourites, it has an amazing taste and is more than a treatment for nausea, which many pregnant women can attest to. It’s one of the foundation herbs used in Ayurvedic and TCM and it’s brilliant for balancing your digestion, great to have before a meal to boost the ‘fire in your tummy’ to help digest your food and get the nutrients you need. I would say most of us would benefit from drinking warming ginger, daily.

I love having a flask of ginger tea ready to drink at anytime, during the day. Ginger is one of the most researched herbs (along with turmeric) and it has many uses, it’s anti-viral too – so brilliant for colds or flu. Herbalists consider it a universal medicine with multi-healing properties that benefits everybody and all diseases. With ginger think – digestion, lungs and circulation.

Chamomile is most commonly considered a calming tea, but herbalists call it the ‘Mother of the gut’. I found this tea to be particularly useful when ever we have tummy upsets because it works on the nervous system found in your gut or as we like to call it the – ‘second brain’. Think tummy aches from unknown causes, IBS and when someone is nervous about something and have that tight feeling in their tummy. Chamomile excels at treating what is commonly known as a “nervous stomach”, which generally implies digestive upset alongside anxiety, nervous tension.

That aromatic component from Chamomile’s high essential oil content, has a specific relaxing, calming effect on your nervous system and can be helpful for insomnia, cough, bronchitis, cold or fever, gas, gut cramping and mild constipation. .

Rose – heals the heart, balances hormones and is uplifting. It’s a bitter, cooling herb so it can help with headaches and inflammation. Used in combination with other herbs it adds beauty and colour to a blend.

I often recommend rose tea for PMT, periods that are painful, excessive or irregular and if there is an underlying nervousness, sadness or grief the role of rose is nourishing on the nervous system. It has a calming effect on the emotions and as it has an affinity for the heart. It’s often used in times of sadness and grief.

Peppermint – a great pick-me up if you ever need an alternative to coffee. It’s full of aroma that awakens the senses helpful in congestion in the head, use as a hot tea to cause sweating with colds and flu. Useful when there is a lot of mucous. It can lift feelings of emotional ‘heaviness’ and relieves the symptoms of abdominal gas, bloating, muscle spasms and nausea (without vomiting). Peppermint tea can also be made using fresh herbs from the garden’and it’s one of the easiest herbs to grow.

Researchers from the University’s Department of Psychology have found that drinking peppermint tea improves alertness, while chamomile tea has a calming effect. These findings were presented at the annual British Psychological Society Conference in Nottingham this week (26-28 April 2016).

Cinnamon – useful for poor circulation, colds, flu and a bout of diarrhoea but among this spice’s most impressive health benefits is its ability to reduce your sugar cravings. By controlling blood sugar levels you can prevent spikes after meals, normalise your blood sugar levels and improve glucose control.

Cinnamon has more antioxidants than many so-called antioxidant foods, like-for-like. For example, one teaspoon of cinnamon has as much antioxidant capacity as a full cup of pomegranate juice or a half-cup of blueberries. Two of the main types of cinnamon, are Cassia and Ceylon. A better option for taste and health is Ceylon cinnamon (also called Sri Lanka cinnamon or “true cinnamon”).

I recommend that you drink herbal teas because it’s a fantastic and safe way to maintain your health over time. Consistent tea drinking gives your body what it needs in doses that it can handle.

Teas are a really wonderful way to boost your body’s hydration, and because we’re made of 65-80 percent water, the constituents that hot (and cold) water pulls out of the herbs are really absorbable for us. Each herb has a myriad of actions so it isn’t hard to come up with a tasty blend that does a lot of good in your body.

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Pelargonium – Quickly Stops Coughs, Colds & Sore Throats

February 8, 2016 By admin

#Plant Medicine 101

Your nose is running, you can’t breathe, your throat is dry and scratchy – it happens to most of us and it’s especially hard when it effects your kids because there aren’t to many effective solutions.

Pelargonium (Pelargonium sidoides) is gaining huge popularity in Germany because of it’s effectiveness against the symptoms associated with colds and flus, and it is the best researched herbal cold and cough remedy. It helps to reduce the mucus of snotty noses and phlegm that makes it hard to breathe, improves a bad cough and any associated chest pain, and decreases congestion to help open the breathing passages.

I keep this herbal medicine in my Home Medicine Cabinet, along with some of my other favourites – including Echinacea vulgaris.

Pelargonium has long been used by the South African Zulu’s, it’s also known as the black geranium, “umckalwabo”, roughly translated as ‘for heavy cough and chest problems’.

Back in 1897, the remedy was popularised in England as ‘Steven’s Consumption Cure’, having been brought back by an Englishman ‘cured’ of tuberculosis by a Zulu tribal healer. With the advent of anti-tubercular drugs, it went out of fashion until recently rediscovered by researchers in Europe.

In the last few years Pelargonium has gone from being an obscure herbal remedy to become one of Germany’s most popular herbal medicines.

While most other cough, cold and sinus medicines tend to mask your outward symptoms, pelargonium shortens the duration and reduces the severity of your respiratory irritations and helps boost your body’s natural defence system.

Scientific research also shows it to have potent anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and immune-boosting properties.

Pelargomium Sidoides has been successfully used for treatment of:

Respiratory infections like bronchitis, sinusitis, and pneumonia, tonsillitis.It is very effective for treating acute bronchitis as it increases your body’s natural healing rate. Studies have found that 40-60% of patients suffering from acute bronchitis fully resolve their symptoms within a week of Pelargonium sidoides supplementation.Some people reported experiencing benefits after just two to three days. People that are not cured after a week still experience benefits from Pelargonium sidoides supplementation, since it can treat the symptoms associated with bronchitis, including headache, fever, fatigue, cough, chest pain while coughing, sputum in the lungs, rhonchi, and nasal dripping. A 2008 report published in Phytomedicine. In their analysis of six clinical trials testing pelargonium’s efficacy as an acute bronchitis treatment, the report’s authors found that pelargonium significantly improved symptoms of acute bronchitis without causing any serious side effects.
It is often used as an alternative to antibiotics – Pelargonium sidoides has anti-infective properties. It prevents bacteria from adhering to cells, helps fight viruses and stimulates the immune system to hunt down pathogenic invaders.
Acute and chronic ear, nose and throat infections.
Rapid improvement in the symptoms associated with colds and flu. Pelargonium may help relieve your common old cold. A 2007 study published in Explore revealed that pelargonium helped reduce the severity of cold symptoms, as well as shorten the duration of sickness.

The alcoholic extract of the root has been shown to have a three-way effect:

1.) Anti-bacterial: The herb extract prevents bacteria from attaching to cells in your mucous membranes.

2.) Antiviral effect: It prevents viruses from attaching to your mucous membrane cells and stimulates your body’s immune system in such a way that both bacteria and viruses are prevented from multiplying.

3.)Expectorant: the extract acts as an expectorant, allowing your body to expel contaminated mucous making conditions less suitable for the multiplication of the bacteria and viruses.

The three-way effect stabilises the immune system, preventing a re-infection, shortens the recovery phase.

Due to its anti-bacterial and immune-modulating characteristics Pelargonium appears to be a good alternative to the conventional therapy of treating respiratory illnesses with antibiotics.

Whether you’re considering using herbs for colds, flu, and boosting your immune system it’s best to see a qualified Herbalist.

A Herbalist will formulate a personalised treatment plan to suit each person depending on their needs, with the correct dosage and combination of herbs.

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(Please note: The information in this article is general information and not a substitute for medical care. As always, consult your own physician should you have any concerns.)

Hummus so much more than a dip

November 11, 2015 By admin

Do you plan or consider what you’re going to eat for the day? Do you ever consider the role of functional foods? These are foods that have a beneficial nutritional role – whether it be to provide your body with essential nutrients, balance hormones or to help your liver with the detoxification process. Of course, if food doesn’t look or taste good then you’ll struggle to find me eating it – it’s best when all 3 are delivered.

Hummus is a creamy Middle Eastern dip that I’d class as a superfood with all it’s health benefits and I hope it will be a staple in your home after reading this.

Why eat hummus?

The classic hummus recipes contains 6 ingredients: chickpeas, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, sea salt, and tahini.Hummus contains the following nutrients: Protein, Fiber, Healthy Fat, Carbs, Vitamins – A, C, Vitamin B6, Folate and Minerals – Iron, Zinc, Calcium, Phosphorus and Manganese

The benefits of each ingredient:

Chickpeas are protein, fibre-rich legumes, a natural source of phytoestrogen, (which isn’t actually estrogen but does a good job of standing in for it) and a great choice if you’re looking to reduce your meat consumption. They’ll keep you feeling fuller for longer because of that combination of fiber and protein.
Many Mediterranean nations experience great health, low heart disease and greater longevity. This may be due to the high fibre content – like chickpeas. Studies show that having just one daily serving (about 3/4 cup cooked) of beans of any kind can help to decrease chances of a heart attack and to help balance “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Chickpeas have also been shown to have protective properties against cancer, while the fiber helps to keep waste moving out of the body quickly.

It helps to balance blood sugar levels and decreases the chance of developing diabetes or insulin resistance.

Diets rich in beans have been shown to help protect heart health partially due to their low score on the glycemic index. A high-fibre diet that includes legumes can help lower blood cholesterol levels, among other benefits, such as lowering heart disease risk, type 2 diabetes risk, and aiding in weight loss.

Tahini or sesame seeds contain lignin’s another natural source of phytoestrogens, loaded with fibre, and they’re also a great source of minerals.Sesame seeds are considered one of the ultimate reproductive foods in Ayurveda.as they enhance egg and sperm quality and quantity.
Olive oil is not cooked, and will therefore not be oxidised and hydrogenated. Olive oil has been found to reduce inflammation in your body. Regularly consuming olive oil has been correlated with improving blood pressure levels, glucose metabolism, and reducing harmful cholesterol.
Raw garlic has a whole host of benefits including flavonoids, oligosaccharides, selenium, high levels of sulfur, and more. Garlic has been proven to help reduce your risk factors associated with heart disease, cancers and it acts as an anti-fungal, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-viral.
Lemon juice is alkalising and helps reduce acidity common in most modern diets, it also helps to increase your immunity, boost digestion, and to help keep blood sugar levels stable.
Sea salt best from a good quality source i.e. Himalayan sea salt which contains 60 trace minerals that have numerous health benefits:

Hummus is an anti-inflammatory food:

Extracts from garlic have been shown to reduce inflammation and help fight wrinkles and aging.
Chick Peas reduce inflammation, blood clots and inflammation markers.
Olive oil and sesame seeds reduce inflammation and provide important antioxidants, both which play a part in maintaining heart health by keeping the structure of arteries and cell walls healthy.The role of inflamm- ageing in a previous post you can read it here.

Recipe
Go here

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The Amazing Benefits of Turmeric

October 12, 2015 By admin

You may already use turmeric root powder in your cooking, particularly if you like Indian-inspired dishes. It’s the key ingredient in your curry powder. Turmeric has been a staple of Indian food traditions for millennia and has a long history of healing use (over 4000 years) in Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese medicinal traditions.

What is turmeric and what’s it’s secret?

Turmeric has a mellow flavor and is a bright yellow colour.

Turmeric may be the most effective natural supplement you could find as few others possess such a wide spectrum of qualities and medicinal uses.

Many recently published research studies are showing that it has major benefits for your body and brain.

Science has started to back up what ancient health traditions like Ayurveda & TCM have known for a long time, that it really does contain compounds with medicinal properties.

Curcumin is the main active ingredient in turmeric.

The latest research on Turmeric & Curcumin

A new study from universities in China confirmed the antidepressant effects.
Scientists have demonstrated that turmeric may be helpful in decreasing blood sugar levels associated insulin resistance.
Oxidative damage one of the mechanisms behind ageing and many diseases. Curcumin has powerful antioxidant effects.
Now researchers from The University of Nottingham and Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich have found that curcumin may help reduce inflammation associated with tendinitis.
Chronic inflammation is a contributor to many common diseases. Curcumin can inhibit many molecules known to play major roles in inflammation.
Both turmeric and curcumin have shown potential to prevent DNA damage and help DNA repair. That is good news for preventing disease and slowing the aging process.

What Ayurveda have known for 1000’s of years about turmeric

It is strengthening and warming to your whole body it will promote proper metabolism correcting both excesses and deficiencies.
Improves your digestion – balances gut flora, will cleanse and strengthen your liver.
You can use it topically in the prevention and treatment of skin diseases.
Relieves arthritis, swelling is applied to sprains, burns, cuts, bruises, insect bites and itches.
Is considered a blood purifier and and is antimicrobial.

What are the Incredible Health Benefits of Curcumin?

✓Reduces your response to inflammation
✓Boosts your joint flexibility and comfort
✓Supports a healthy heart
✓Helps keep your mood balanced
✓Increases your memory retention and clarity
✓Supports good liver health
✓Encourages optimum immune
✓Helps you maintain a healthy digestion

How to take your Turmeric or Curcumin

It’s great for infections or inflammation like achey joints.

It’s probably best to avoid the heat of a curry, when you have inflammation, and take the powder with water – 1/4 teaspoon 3-4 x per day depending on the severity. If the taste is unbearable get some capsules.

It also turns out that the piperine in black pepper enhances the bioavailability of the curcumin in turmeric by 2000% (Shoba et al. 1998), when you cook with turmeric be sure to add a little black pepper.

Whether by incorporating it into cooking or taking it as a powder or one of several herbs in a tea, turmeric is at the heart of many different remedies and continues to prove its value after thousands of years of use.

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Part 2: Have You’re Hormones Suddenly Gone Crazy or Are You Perimenopausal?

August 10, 2013 By admin

In Part 1, we took a closer look at perimenopause (versus menopause) what the common signs are, how you can use food to address hormonal imbalances and how it can start as early as your 30’s (if you’re unlucky enough to experience that).

The 1st strategy included essential foods and how they can have such a huge impact on helping you balance your hormones. If you missed it you can read it on my blog here.

If, however, you’ve been following the recommendations and you’re still struggling with annoying and maybe debilitating symptoms, you may need a little more to get your body back into balance.

You might want to consider using some of nature’s medicines like herbs and a combination of nutritional supplements to address any deficiencies, that may have built up over the years.

Strategy #2: Which Supplements?

Women’s Multiple vitamin & mineral formula – most of us aren’t perfect, myself included, when it comes to getting all the nutrients you’re body needs on a daily basis from food. Taking a multi is my insurance policy, this way you can be guaranteed to get some of the basic nutrients you need everyday.Make sure it contains at least 50 – 100mg of Vitamin B. The British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, reviewed studies that show how Vitamin B6 is thought to be unique in its ability to increase the synthesis serotonin and dopamine, which if are too low have been implicated in hormonal symptoms or PMS.
Omega 3,6,9 or EFA’s (essential fatty acids – found in oily fish, chia and flax seeds) I can’t emphasise enough, how much you absolutely need good oil in your diet, forget the low fat craze it could be very detrimental to your body. EFA’s play an essential role in producing the hormones your body needs plus so many other things – the list is very long. You have to get your EFA’s from food or supplementation because your body cannot make them.If you have PMS, cramps or abnormal bleeding get yourself some Omega 3 & 6 as they are essential for the reduction of inflammation in these situations. Some options – flax or chia seeds (high in omega-3 fatty acids), borage oil (high in 3 and 6), evening primrose oil(high in 3 and 6), and fish oils (high in omega- 3 oils)·
Vitamin E – handy if you’re struggling with hot flushes or breast tenderness, consider taking a daily dose of 400 IU of natural vitamin E (as mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols) to help alleviate your symptoms.NB: This is a very short list of the essential supplements every women should consider taking as part of her daily routine. If you have specific issues and imbalances your nutritional requirements may be very different to someone else’s and might need a more in-depth investigation.

Strategy #3: Herbal Medicines

Herbs can be used with your new and frustrating symptoms of PMS or Perimenopause. You may need one or a combination of herbs. It all depends on whether you have low or high – oestrogen, cortisol, progesterone or testosterone levels?

If your treating yourself at home, try one herb at a time or better yet consult a qualified herbalist as they use combinations based on your situation.

The most well known herbs used are those that contain phytoestrogens (soya, red clover, fennel, licourice, dong quai, black cohosh), with oestrogen like effects in the body. However a hormonal imbalance is never so simple and often requires a combination of herbs and actions.

The most commonly herbs used for perimenopause include:-

Dong quai – is known both in China and the West for its ability to support and maintain the natural balance of female hormones. Avoid if with heavy bleeding.
Black cohosh – One of the best-studied herbs used for supporting and maintaining your hormonal levels and lessening the severity of hot flashes. In one of the largest studies, results showed as early as 4 weeks, clear improvements in the menopausal ailments in 80 percent of the women. Complete disappearance of symptoms occurred in approximately 50 percent. Symptoms included hot flashes, night sweats, headaches, insomnia and mood swings. The other studies reported improvements in fatigue, irritability, hot flashes and vaginal dryness

Hops contains a potent phytoestrogen and is used for hot flushes associated with anxiety or stress, and associated insomnia (sleeplessness).

However a herbalist might also consider including the following herbs in a formula:-

Siberian ginseng – is one of my all time favorite herbs and I take this regularly as it reduces mental and physical fatigue, and helps to enhance the ability to cope with various physical and mentalstressors by supporting you’re adrenal glands. It has also been used to treat vaginal changes, like dryness, due to lack of oestrogen. Ginseng is for you if you’re – stressed, tired or perimenopausal.

St John’s Wort – is not a phyto-oestrogen herb but it can be very useful for hot flushes triggered by anxiety or stress. It can also be used for mild to moderate anxiety and depression associated with hormones.
Other herbs that would be considered are – red clover, lemon balm, oats, passiflora, ashwaganda, shatavari plus many more.

Your situation might be very different to someone else’s – none of us are alike. If you’re confused or tired of trying a number of things that aren’t working then it might be a good time to start dealing with the cause and imbalances.

If you really want to find a solution for what’s going on in your body and causing you a lot of unhappiness or frustration, my detailed hormonal questionnaire will help us identify where exactly your imbalances are so that your issues can be addressed correctly, without guessing, and help you get started on your journey to optimal health and wellness.

Please do get in touch you can contact me at sue@suehardman.com

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