About Me

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Birmingham, United Kingdom
Welcome to my blog, and thank you for stopping by. I hope you find it informative, and if there is anything I have missed or you would like me to talk about please drop me a line of suggestion. After seeing a nutritional therapist I decided from the improvement of my own health that I would like to be there in the same way for others, therefore, I studied two degrees; one in Nutritional Therapy and another in Bioscience Nutrition so that i could be equipped to support a number of health conditions. I now work for a supplement company on a clinical team supporting practitioners and keeping upto date with all new scientific information and provide private consultations too aswel as keeping my blog going :)

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Monday 30 September 2013

Sober October

So tomorrow many people have signed upto the challenge of an alcohol free month with Macmillan Cancer.
Great benefits to sober October
·         Giving your body a nice well earned break before the Christmas season begins
·         Feeling smug when everyone has a hangover and you feel on good form
·         Getting back into a fitness regime, you can become more than a ‘gym member’
·         Spending time doing old hobbies and new
·         You are setting a new routine,  who knows it may stick after October
·         Extra spending money for December shopping and events


Getting into good health
·         Think about when you use antibacterial gel on your hands, it is made from alcohol to remove any signs of bacteria! Exactly the same happens when you drink alcohol you end up stripping your gut of beneficial bacteria that can leave you feeling ‘alcohol blues’ and lower your metabolism meaning weight gain is easier.  During your detox include probiotics from live yoghurt, prebiotic foods such as banana and onion and take a potent good probiotic.

·         Treat yourself to a massage preferably a lymphatic massage to breakdown any toxins in the body, make sure you have plenty of water to drink after a massage as the release of toxins into the system can make you feel a bit queasy

·         Have plenty of liver supportive foods daily in your diet such as beetroot, artichoke, onion and salmon to really help remove toxins from the system.  You could even think about doing a 9 Day Detox to get you into

·         Have a challenge, like a project that you want to have completed at the end of the month so that you have a distraction from social drinking activities, this could be a night class or a project that you schedule in at home.  This can be really rewarding and could be the start of you doing hobbies you have not done in a while.
 
·         When you have friends around, you can get non-alcoholic champagne from Waitrose if you don’t want to have obvious soft drinks. However, this is a great time to experiment with mocktails. Invite your friends round and see who can be the most creative. Go sober have some great recipes

First recipe of October

It is predicted to snow in October so if it does begin to get chilly, I have come up with a nice alcohol free mulled wine for you to try…Enjoy






Support to quit smoking

October when big changes happen  
One day left until we enter October when many people are giving up one of life’s vices such as smoking or other addictions.  It’s not an easy challenge but with support definitely possible and therefore below I have put together some explanations on what to expect and some tips to help through any symptoms you may experience.
Smoking –  putting you in a yoyo state of emotions
You have a smoke and within seconds you are having a surge in your rewarding hormone dopamine; don’t you feel great? However, this isn’t as satisfied as you could feel if you didn’t smoke at all. Addiction and dependence on nicotine actually limits your dopamine levels so when you chase the next cigarette to perk your levels up.
Preparing for the first stages
Smoking is a stimulant and therefore when you cut it out initially you can feel the opposite effects that you did from smoking. Remember that symptoms tend to be temporary and can gradually improve within 3-10 days.
When you first quit you may find that you experience abstinence symptoms, below is a list of these which you should score from 0 (no symptoms) -5 (high level of symptoms).  Try filling this out on the first day and then again a week later after following the tips below. You may find that you need to alter your protocol after a week depending on your results. Filling out the form at least once a week can help you keep an eye on where you are at and how things are improving and how far you have come.

0              
no symptoms
1
2
3
4
5
high
Craving sweet foods






Craving salt






Craving cigarettes






Over eating






Suppressed appetite






Sense of emptiness






anxiety






shakes






restless






Brain fog






irritable






depression






insomnia






Drowsy






Lack of motivation






Irrational






Hypersensitive













Score







Tips:
·         Stoptober app can be added to your phone to help support you through, they also have a kit that you can order to help you along your way. In addition add the smokefree app which allows you to track the amount of days that you have quit for and also how much money you have saved.
·         Everyday put the money you would have spent on your addiction in a jar and buy yourself something with it on a weekly basis.
·         Cravings Take a supplement to aim at re-balancing your reward hormone dopamine by taking high levels of Niacin (preferably the non- blushing form, don’t want to be looking embarrassed!) In addition have plenty of protein and fat with each meal to curb cravings and to aim at preventing low moods.
·         Sleep, depression and anxiety Patrick Holford has Mood food which contains ingredients such as 5-HTP which support the synthesis of the sleeping hormone; melatonin and happy hormone; serotonin.  Also try meditation to calm your nerves and ease yourself into sleep.   
·         Loss of appetite zinc is supportive in encouraging appetite, sense of taste and smell.  Zinc levels also tend to be depleted through smoking so it can be a nice additional supplement to take to support healthy levels. By using this supplement you can test if you have a deficiency in zinc and then use it as a supplement also.
·         Fatigue, drowsiness and a complete imbalance of energy is a common symptom of quitting smoking as your central nervous system has been disrupted. Try having liquorice in the morning to perk your energy levels and take a B complex first thing in the morning and then early afternoon.