Toxins affect your brain and all of your health

Toxins are fine particles that can enter your bloodstream and damage your brain in a variety of ways including cerebrovascular damage, brain nerve damage and brain tumours. Toxins can cause underlying factors such as cellular breakdown, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and autonomic dysfunction. Toxins can also cause inflammation, oxidative stress, infection, and allergies.

Exposure to natural or manmade toxic substances can alter the normal activity of your nervous system. It can disrupt or even kill neurons. These are the key cells that transmit and process signals in your brain and other parts of the nervous system.

Where do they come from?

Toxins can enter your body through exposure to substances in chemotherapy, radiation treatment, drug therapies and organ transplants. Also, heavy metals such as lead and mercury, certain foods and food additives, pesticides, industrial and/or cleaning solvents, cosmetics and artificial or man-made perfumes. There are many more ways toxins can enter your body. Too numerous to list here.

Symptoms of exposure

Symptoms can appear immediately or later when the toxin is out of sight. Some of the symptoms that you may experience include insomnia, short-term memory loss, problems speaking or functioning properly, lack of mental clarity, decline in intellect. Also, you may suffer increased headaches or migraines, have decreased concentration, and experience behavioural or psychological changes.

The health of your brain

Enzymes are molecules that speed up the rate of all chemical reactions inside your cells. Toxins poison these enzymes, making them less effective. Toxins in your body will displace minerals resulting in your bones being weaker. When toxins displace the calcium in your bones with a twofold effect. Your skeleton will be weaker and there is a risk of increased toxin release when you start losing bone cells. For women this happens during menopause.

The toxins being released by the loss of bone will then circulate throughout the body and ultimately, they will affect your brain. They will increase inflammation and brain cell loss in your elderly years.

What do toxins do?

Toxins can damage organs like the brain through something called B4. This is a breach of the blood-brain barrier and an example is like when chlorine binds onto the thyroid receptor sites. This forms what’s called a neo-epitope. This will make your immune system produce antibodies to the chlorine thyroid neo-epitope to fight it. This type of action can also damage DNA. When this happens, it increases the rate of aging and cellular degeneration.

Many commonly used pesticides, phthalates, improperly detoxified estrogens, and products that contain benzene can also damage your DNA. Toxins also modify the way your genes express themselves. Your genes switch on and off to adapt to changes in your bodies and the outer environment. Many toxins will activate or suppress your genes in undesirable ways.

The results of this are health problems in your brain such as depression and dementia. As well as effects that can span for generations. Toxins can also cause anxiety, interfere with hormones and cause other imbalances. Toxins such as BPA can also induce, inhibit, and mimic hormones.

So, what action can I take?

There are a number of studies done on these topics and if you are inclined you can go and read them. The job of a naturopath or natural therapist is to research such topics and to apply them to clients that present with unusual physical symptoms, psychological and emotional symptoms and stresses that many others may put in the ‘too hard’ basket. This clinic specialises in assisting you to get to the root of your toxaemia and getting healthier. Toxins can also impair your body’s ability to detoxify. We can also help you with that as well as to reduce the toxins you are exposed to and give your body a regular detox. Contact us today to find out how we can help.

Treating diabetes with herbs

 

Diabetes is a disease that affect how the body uses blood sugar, or glucose. Glucose is a source of energy that is important for the cells in your body that make up your muscles and tissues. Glucose is your brains main fuel. There are two chronic types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2. There are also types of diabetes that can potentially be reversible. These are pre-diabetes and gestational diabetes. Pre-diabetes is when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, however they are not high enough to be called diabetes. If you have been told you have pre-diabetes you should be aware that this can lead to diabetes unless you take certain steps to prevent it. The other type of diabetes is called Gestational diabetes. This type happens during pregnancy. However, there is a good chance it will go away after you give birth to your baby. Once again you need to be careful and be aware that this may not always be the case.

Causes of Diabetes

The main causes for diabetes vary depending on the type.

All types of diabetes lead to excess sugar in the blood.  If you  have too much sugar in the blood it can lead to other serious health problems.

Type 1 Diabetes is usually from birth though it can be otherwise. It can occur if your immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. Type 1 diabetes may be generic but some environmental factors, such as viruses, can trigger the disease.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. There are a few contributing factors that can cause you to develop this type of diabetes. There are many lifestyle factors involved and some people do believe it is in your genes. Often some type of energetic healing is needed in that case. If you are overweight, eat junk foods, too much sugar or chemical type GMO foods then you have a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Natural ways to manage your diabetes

There is a way that you can help manage your diabetes naturally. You can do this through the use of certain herbs and adjust your diet and lifestyle.

Some of these herbs include bitter melon. This helps to reduce blood sugar levels and helps with other symptoms of diabetes. Gymnema is an herb that can help get rid of sugar levels and increase your insulin levels. It can also assist in helping with the cravings for sugar. Another good herb is cinnamon. This herb can lower your blood pressure, your cholesterol and your glucose levels, while increasing your insulin sensitivity. Ginger is also good for lowering blood sugar levels and it can help your digestion and is an anti-inflammatory.

One herb that is good for slowing the progress of Type 2 diabetes is Aloe Vera. This is because of its antioxidant effects. Milk Thistle also has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Milk Thistle is a good herb to detox your liver. Lastly Fenugreek is a good herb for increasing your insulin levels as well as helping to reduce blood sugar and lower cholesterol.

Prime importance is your diet and enough exercise is key for managing your diabetes. Also reducing your stress levels and taking time out for yourself. You cannot expect herbs, supplements or even doctors’ medication to work properly if you keep messing it up by not attending to what it means for you to heal it yourself. If your lifestyle is bad you can’t expect to be healthy nor to live on this planet for any length of time because it will all catch up to you. So please do something about your health now before all your hard work is of no avail and you risk becoming just another statistic.

How to get help

This clinic specialises in helping people create healthy lifestyles, address their illnesses and eradicate them. Please give us a call for a few minutes chat to see how we can help you. Or email us on www.stressfreemanagement.com.au

How do electromagnetic fields (EMFs) affect your health

You are exposed to EMFs all day long, not only in public but inside your home too. Radiation is emitted from electronics such as mobile phones, cell towers, computers, smart meters and Wi-Fi just to name a few things.

What are EMFs

EMFs are invisible energy, such as radiation, that are associated with the use of electrical power. Your mobile phones, baby monitors, Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, smart meters and Wi-Fi routers all emit EMFs in microwave doses. The microwave radiation that they emit are at levels that may damage your mitochondria in your cells of your body. Studies have shown that double and single strand DNA breaks are actually higher when exposed to non-ionizing microwave radiation than ionizing radiation. This means that these emf’s are affection the very cells that make up your body in a very bad way. The reason for this is because of the excessive oxidative stress that microwave exposure induces.

How EMFs effect your health

Negative health effects from EMFs are not usually immediately noticeable, as they develop gradually over time. Studies indicate your intracellular calcium increases with exposure to EMFs. This in turn increases nitric oxide and increases your free radicals which increases inflammation and makes your body super toxic. You can block or greatly reduce the effects of EMFs using calcium channel blockers but this is with medications commonly prescribed to patients with heart disease. Notably, it is the excess calcium in the cell and increased calcium signalling that are responsible for a vast majority of the biological effects of EMFs. when there’s excess calcium in the cell, it increases levels of both nitric oxide and superoxide. While Nitric Oxide has many beneficial health effects, excessive amounts of it react with superoxide, forming peroxynitrite, which is an extremely potent oxidant stressor. Peroxynitrites, break down to form reactive free radicals, both reactive nitrogen species and reactive oxygen species, including hydroxyl radicals, carbonate radicals and NO2 radicals, all three of which do damage to your body. Peroxynitrites also do damage. EMF radiation activates the VGCCs in the outer cell membrane, triggering a chain reaction of devastating events that causes severe cellular damage, DNA breaks, it dramatically accelerates your ageing process and puts you at higher risk for chronic disease.

They affect your whole body

EMFs can cause health problems with your brain, nervous system, retina, your testes if you are male, and can cause heart arrhythmia. If your brain is subjected to chronic EMF exposure it can cause Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and autism, which results in children from too excessive EMF exposure during pregnancy so it is important to not overuse your phones or other devices if you are pregnant. Also to take your children off these devices or time how long per day they can spend on them. Also, this can cause depression.

Watch your heart

EMFs may cause problems with your heart, especially if you are taking heart medication. The most common heart issues that have been linked to EMF exposure include atrial fibrillation / atrial flutter, bradycardia which is a slow heartbeat, cardiac arrhythmia, heart palpitations and tachycardia which is a fast heartbeat.

EMFs can also affect reproduction in men, EMF exposure can increase your risk of infertility, especially if you routinely carry your mobile phone in a pants pocket near your groin or use your laptop on your lap. If you are a woman, your risk of breast cancer is higher if you regularly carry your mobile phone in your bra. Generally, the most common location for breast cancer is the upper, outer quadrant.

The good news

The good news is that there are many remedies now days for EMF exposure. Everything from protective wall paint to devices that plug in and alleviate the emf affect on your body. There are insoles for your shoes, devices to plug into your car and pendants to wear round your neck. There are also grounding pads and special mattresses and the list goes on. This clinic can help you with some of these devices and to introduce you to the devices correct for you. Alternatively, we can put you in touch with people who can do an inspection of your home. Give us a call or email to see how we can assist if you feel your physical health symptoms are inexplicable and want to find out why you just plain don’t feel well despite all the tests coming up zero.

How to keep your brain strong and healthy

We focus so much attention on keeping our body fit and healthy, that sometimes we forget that our brain needs attention also. There are many things you can do that will help your brain to adapt and change with the times. 

Be sure to enrich your environment by keeping your brain active. Be part of a learning environment that offers you plenty of opportunity for focus, novelty and is a good challenge. These types of environments can stimulate positive changes in your brain. It’s more important during childhood and adolescence but even adults get rewards from this type of stimulation.

Ways to keep your brain active

There are many things that you can do to challenge your brain and keep your mind sharp. Read, create art, travel to explore new places, learn a new language or learn how to play an instrument. Interrupt this with plenty of rest to let your brain recover.

Sleep

Sleep has a very important role in dendritic growth in your brain. Dendrites are the growths at the end of neurons that help transmit information from one neuron to the next. If you strengthen these connections, it will help encourage greater brain plasticity. Sleep also has important effects on your physical and mental health. Make sleep and rest just as important as anything else.

If you need help improving your sleep, try practicing good sleep hygiene. This means developing a consistent sleep schedule and creating an environment that contributes to good sleep. Our clinic can assist with these. Set up a session with one of our sleep specialists today.

Exercise

Regular exercise is also important for your brain’s health. Physical activity has many benefits such as preventing neuron loss in key areas of the hippocampus. This is the part of the brain involved in memory and other functions. Sleep also plays a role in new neuron formation in this same area. Exercise boosts brain plasticity, functional connectivity, and the basal ganglia, which is the part of your brain responsible for motor control and learning.

Playing games

Games aren't just for kids. By playing board, card, video, and other games it can help to improve your brain's neuroplasticity.  

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is when you completely immerse your mind in the present moment, without ruminating over the past or contemplating the future. The key is being aware of the sights, sounds, and sensations around you.  

There are some medical conditions that tend to limit or hinder your brains plasticity. Some of these are epilepsy, cerebral palsy, tuberous sclerosis, and Fragile X syndrome. However there are also natural ways and some medications that can assist you if you have any of these conditions.

The bottom line is that it is important to remember to not only look after your body, but to also look after your brain. This will help keep it sharp and healthy.

What is Neuroplasticity and why is it important?

Your brain has the ability to adapt and change through your experiences. This is called Neuroplasticity. This term is an overall term that means your brain can adapt, change, reorganize, or grow new neural networks. This includes functional changes due to brain damage or structural changes due to learning. Your brain is composed of approximately 100 billion neurons. Your brain's neuroplasticity allows it to reorganize many pathways, create new connections, and, in some cases, even create new neurons.

Types of neuroplasticity

There are two main types of neuroplasticity, these are functional plasticity which is your brain's ability to move functions from a damaged area of the brain to other undamaged areas. The other is structural plasticity which is your brain's ability to actually change its physical structure as a result of learning.

How Neuroplasticity Works

When you are born and in the first few years of your life your brain is rapidly growing. At birth, every neuron in the cerebral cortex has an estimated 2,500 synapses, or small gaps between neurons where nerve impulses are relayed. By the time you are three, this number has grown to 15,000 synapses per neuron.

However, as an adult your brain only has about half that number of synapses. This is because as you gain new experiences, some connections are strengthened and others are eliminated. This process is called synaptic pruning. By developing these new connections and removing the weaker ones, your brain can adapt to your changing environment.

What does neuroplasticity do for your brain?

There are many things neuroplasticity does for your brain. It allows your brain to adapt to changes and this change helps promote improvements that can boost brain fitness, give you the ability to learn new things, to enhance existing cognitive capabilities and help with the recovery from strokes and traumatic brain injuries. It also strengthens areas where function is lost or has declined.

Characteristics of Neuroplasticity

Your age and environment play an important role in what the neuroplasticity looks like. While plasticity happens throughout your lifetime, there are certain types of changes that are more predominant at specific ages. Your brain changes a lot during your early years. It grows, matures and organises itself during these years. Your young brain would be more sensitive and responsive to experiences than your much older brain. However, adult brains are still capable of adaptation. Your genetics can influence neuroplasticity as well, as the interaction between the environment and your genetics plays a role in shaping your brain's plasticity.

Limitations of Neuroplasticity

You should be aware that the brain is not infinitely changeable. There are certain areas of your brain that are largely responsible for certain actions. These are areas that control movement, language, speech, and cognition. If you damage any of these areas it can result in deficits in those areas. Some recovery may be possible but other areas of the brain simply cannot fully take over these functions when they are affected by the damage.

What to do to improve your brain and life

It is very handy to know that your brain can change, learn and grow into new ways of doing things. This means you are in control of your learnt behaviours to some degree and can be very empowering. This is why it is important to feed your brain lots of positive information. Right now, you and the world have been through a hard time recovering from much misinformation and major historic events that threw us into a spin. Don’t buy into the negativity around you as it will lead to you being miserable and hibernate. Let’s stay positive and get our lives back on track to ‘normal’. This is important not only for yourself but for your family, career and peace of mind. Don’t fill your mind with negative garbage, endless webinars on doom and gloom for people and the planet. Be informed by all means but don’t dwell on it as it will lead you down a path of depression and anxiety. Read positive self-improvement books, meditate, socialise, eat good food, go on holiday and spend time with people you love. This is the best food for not only your brain but for your mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing also. 

Aromatherapy and weight loss

Are you one of those people who have tried everything out there to lose weight and have not found something that works for you? Well, this might be just what you are looking for.

Along with changes to your lifestyle, eating habits and your approach to food, Aromatherapy can play a part in helping you to lose weight. Research has been done with aromatherapy, putting your sense of smell into action to help suppress your appetite.

If you inhale a strong spicy or food-related fragrance for at least five minutes before you eat you can suppress your appetite. The problem is, that if you inhale that fragrance for less than five minutes before eating you will actually increase your appetite.

Suppressing Your Appetite

To help you suppress your appetite create an aromatherapy blend that you can put on a tissue. Place the tissue in a shirt pocket or in your bra. If you are someone that tends to graze or snack throughout the day this will help keep that at bay. You only need three drops of each aromatherapy oils you choose to use. Use up to 3 oils at a time on the one tissue, and inhale it as required.

Best oils to choose

Some of the oils that have the most effect on appetite suppression include Grapefruit, Vanilla, Benzoin, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Clove, Fennel, Lemon, Marjoram, Orange, Mandarin, Ginger and Black Pepper. If you find oils that remind you of the foods you like to eat it will make them more effective. For me I like the sweet stuff, such as lollies, biscuits and chocolate, so I would use oils such as Vanilla, Cinnamon, Grapefruit or Orange on my tissue. Using this along with a healthy diet and exercise will help you see results.

Losing centimetres and reducing Cellulite 

If you are looking to reduce your centimetres and cellulite then these aromatherapy oils can help you with that as well. Use up to three of these essential oils - Rosemary, Grapefruit, Juniper, Angelica, Cypress, Lemon, Bergamot in 20mls of a carrier oil such as sweet almond oil. Massage yourself in the areas you want to focus on such as your legs, hips and thighs. Massage vigorously using plenty of percussion movements, like hacking and cupping. If you do this daily you will see inch loss in about six weeks. If you find you have an increased urge to urinate it means the blend is working. Remember to drink plenty of water to help your body remove any toxins.

Motivation

Sometimes finding the energy to actually show up at the gym is one of the hardest parts of dieting. The essential oils Frankincense, Grapefruit, Juniper, Ginger, Peppermint will help to improve your state of mind and get you moving.

Emotional Eating

If you comfort eat, meaning you reward yourself with food when things go well, eat if you are bored or stop eating if you are very unhappy, then you emotionally eat. If you know you do this, then you need to tackle these habits too. Try any of the following essential oils to help you break any habits you have developed as a result of emotional eating. Lemongrass, Melissa, Frankincense, May Chang, Geranium, Palmarosa, Juniper, Cypress, Sandalwood.

This clinic uses essential oils to assist our clients. We can mix you up a blend that suits you and post it to you. Easy payment system and it will get to you in a week or so. Give us a call or email us on https://www.stressfreemanagement.com.au/ to purchase an oil.

Silica for your skin, hair, nails and even more

Silica is important for our bodies overall optimal functioning. It plays a big part in all areas of our health.

Research has found that silica plays a big part in proper growth and development. It is also needed for our body to create and maintain collagen. Many studies have concluded that deficiencies in silica develop abnormalities and affect growth. Silica supplementation helps in all stages of your life.

Collagen is a very tough, fibrous material. Its job is to hold us together physically. As we age, many problems are a result of your body not being able to maintain adequate collagen. These problems include dry skin, weakened teeth and gums, joint deterioration, brittle bones, several organs not working properly, hardening of the arteries and the inability to digest food properly. When you are young, silica levels in your body are high and making your bones and joints more flexible and your skin is supple and glowing. As we age, Silica levels decline, this leaves your body without adequate silica in your tissues. We tend to manifest many of the symptoms of aging like joint disease, weakened digestion, and wrinkled skin.

Health benefits

There is many health benefit that you get from silica. These include connective tissue strength and support for your joints, ligaments and muscles. Bone strength and support is another great benefit. This happens because calcium absorption is enhanced within the bone. Silica is the essential component involved with the collagen and calcium absorption. A deficiency in these means it is difficult to form bone. You need both the calcium and silica. It helps strengthen your teeth and gums and even assists in cardiovascular support by creating supple arteries and veins. It is also effective in removing plaque from your artery walls. Many stomach and digestive disorder involve a degeneration of the lining of the gastrointestinal tract and silica assists in rebuilding these tissues.  

Silica is also great for your whole immune system. Your skin as your first line of defence against bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens needs this to maintain healthy skin tissue. Even with wound or burns it aids in the healing process. Silica also stimulates fast re-growth of damaged skin.

If you find that you are getting thinning hair, brittle nails, and dry skin check your collagen levels as these are all problems that occur when the levels are low. Lastly silica helps with aluminium elimination. Aluminium has been found to be a factor when it comes to getting Alzheimer’s disease.

Supplements

The research shows that there are many benefits in taking a supplement. The reason you may need to supplement with silica is because as you age, your body retains less and less silica. Silica does not occur in sufficient amounts in food to do the job properly for you. It is however found in oats, millet, barley, wheat and potatoes. The problem is if you eat these foods, they are normally refined so much that all the silica has been removed and depending on your food sensitivities some of these can really upset your gut. Most people don’t not have adequate levels of essential nutrients, especially Silica when it comes to their diet.