Preventative Medicine now government policy in USA

“The Obama Administration is committed to helping increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life, said CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D.  “Even in your 70s, 80s, or beyond you can reduce your risk of disability and chronic illness if you take care of yourself."  

I certainly congratulate the American medical establishment for this stand on healthy ageing. Teaching people to take care of this one body/mind/spirit has been the work of wisdom traditions and complementary medicine for generations. We advocate that "taking care of yourself" is lifelong, an aspect of life to study, practice and enjoy.

Now even the science of our own western culture  demonstrates the value of taking care of yourself. Eating healthfully, exercising regularly and consciously relaxing will definitely make your life more healthy, more fun and last longer!

IODINE - get it from your diet

My sister told me recently that she was buying an iodine supplement from the internet. She heard that feeling constantly tired and finding it hard to lose weight, amongst other things, is a sign of an under active thyroid gland..
Iodine is an important nutrient. It is especially important for the correct functioning of the thyroid. Once upon a time, we got plenty of iodine from our seafood rich diet. Few modern diets are "rich" in seafood, so we need iodised salt, iodine supplements etc.
Seaweed is an excellent source of iodine, and a very tasty sea vegetable. Take a look at this recipe from www.whfoods.org, it's easy, tasty and iodine rich!

SEAWEED RICE

Prep and Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 medium pieces wakame, (2 TBS soaked and chopped)*
• 2 TBS chopped dulse seaweed
• 2-1/4 cups warm water
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup long grain brown rice
• salt and white pepper to taste
• *For more on Sea vegetables.

Directions:

1. Chop garlic and mince onion and let them sit for 5-10 minutes to enhance their health-promoting benefits.
2. Rinse wakame, and soak in the warm water. After 5 minutes, squeeze out the water from the wakame and chop it. Save water.
3. While wakame is soaking, chop the dulse.
4. Heat 1 TBS of seaweed soaking water in a medium saucepan. Healthy Sauté chopped onion over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in garlic, rice, chopped seaweed, and soaking water.
5. Bring water to a boil on high heat. As soon as it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for about 35 minutes. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Serves 4 as side dish

National Headache Awareness week

There is now good quality scientific evidence for the use of acupuncture and massage when suffering from headaches, especially tension headaches...... In 2009, the Cochrane Collaboration published a review of research covering 2,317 patients suffering from tension headaches, drawn from 11 different studies. The conclusion is that 'acupuncture could be a valuable option for patients suffering from frequent tension headaches'. Similarly, research conducted into the value of massage for chronic headaches found that frequency and severity were greatly reduced with regular massage. Both massage and acupuncture leave your body feeling good. These treatments will also help you to reduce your dependence on medicines like Panadol and Neurofen by reducing the number of headaches you get. You do not need to live in pain.

Eating Organic

Eating organically produced food has always been important to me. The impact of pesticides and artificial fertilisers on the health of our soils and waterways, not to mention valuable insect and bird populations, has always steered me towards chemical free foods.
I actually helped some friends start one of the original organic and bio-dynamic food stores in Sydney in 1973 . . yes, that was a long time ago.
These days, we can identify the nutritional benefits of organic foods. Michael Pollan's great book the Omnivore's Dilemma tells about the assay tests that show higher levels of mineral uptake in organically grown plants. My backyard Gardening book, published by the CSIRO tells of higher levels of phytonutrients in organically grown plants. Phytonutrients are the reason that blueberries and broccoli are so good for us. They are powerful anti-oxidants preventing all sorts of disease making processes from flourishing in our human body. The theory is that the plants produce these chemicals to protect them from bugs and diseases. Organically grown food has higher levels, because organically grown foods are exposed to bugs, not pesticides.

Organic food is readily available, even in supermarkets now. I buy organically produced milk, cottage cheese, some meat, lots of legumes, tomato paste and pasta sauces, tofu and of course chocolate, at the supermarket. I source organic vegetables and eggs from a food co-op and we grow salad greens in my veggie garden.

My new best friend - the Harvard Medical Review Newsletter - is extolling the benefits of locally grown food today. In 1973 conventional medicine was not interested in diet and nutrition, let alone where our food came from. I bet they will be talking organic in the years to come!

The Harvard Medical school recommends massage and meditation!

"A growing body of evidence suggests that psychological factors are — literally — heartfelt, and can contribute to cardiac risk.



Stress-easing strategies
While you can’t change the world around you, the following lifestyle changes can help you minimize your stress level:

• Get enough sleep. Lack of sound sleep can affect your mood, mental alertness, energy level, and physical health.
• Exercise. Physical activity alleviates stress and reduces your risk of becoming depressed — and it is good for your all-around health.
• Learn relaxation techniques. Meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, deep breathing exercises, and yoga are mainstays of stress relief. Your local hospital or community center may offer meditation or yoga classes, or you can learn about these techniques from books or videos.
• Learn time-management skills. These skills can help you juggle work and family demands.
• Confront stressful situations head-on. Don’t let stressful situations fester. Hold family problem-solving sessions and use negotiation skills at work.
• Nurture yourself. Treat yourself to a massage. Truly savor an experience: eat slowly, focusing on each bite of that orange, or soak up the warm rays of the sun or the scent of blooming flowers during a walk outdoors. Take a nap. Enjoy the sounds of music you find calming."

HEALTHbeat Extra: Reduce your stress to protect your heart

Harvard Medical School [healthbeat@mail.health.harvard.edu]

Perhaps we are simply more stressed ?

“So while it is true that acceleration is found in some contexts [speed of technological change, climate change] the pace of development is actually falling in others [food production, new oil finds, population growth]. The reason we perceive more change is simply that we are more stressed by the increased global competition, the individualisation demands of culture, and our mobile 24/7 preparedness. The chronological myopia of our culture and our own egocentricity simply encourages us to believe that change we are currently experiencing is much greater and more important than that of our past.”  Anders Bjerre – economist and senior researcher at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies

I think Anders is suggesting here, that we need some perspective. As I write this, large world economies are teetering on the edge of collapse. Australia is facing the challenge of moving to a low carbon economy, via a new tax. Is any of this really any worse than what our grandparents lived through?

And yet, I read in a report from Lifeline that 93 % of Australians are suffering so much stress they are at risk of serious illness.

“We cannot solve the more complex societal problems until we have developed better technologies to help people de-stress” Torben Larsen, economist, neuroeconomsit,University of Southern Denmark.

For most of us, technology is a big part of the problem. We are oversupplied with mental stimulation and negative news. As Anders Bjerre says, the changes we are experiencing are not bigger or worse, it’s just that we are more stressed and our coping strategies are poorer!

Luckily, we have the great meditation traditions  of our world to fall back on, re-discover and enjoy. Meditation is now a proven technology to help you manage your stress and improve your health.

Meditation triggers change in the electrical activity of the brain, improving the mind and body in measurable ways, the latest study on work stress, led by Dr Ramesh Manocha at Sydney University, reveals. ( SMH July 12, 2011).

I first taught Meditation for Health back in 2004. My own practice extends back over 30 years. Meditation has become a pleasure. Regular practice has improved my physical health, my emotional health, increased my experience of joy and compassion.

At Kaye Gartner’s Health Centre every practice meeting begins with 10 minutes of meditation. This practice means our meetings are something to look forward to! It supports us in our daily work life. It helps us to remain attentive and focussed on your needs when we leave the meetings. Meditation will do the same for you. Please note, it’s meditation practice, not meditation perfect! Imperfect meditation works really well!

Contrast our experience with these predictions:

Modern life requires work before play. Productivity before relaxation. Ability to afford the time to exercise before one actually gets the time to exercise. Hey, that's life, but take it to the automaton extreme (and add processed food and partially hydrogenated fat), and it rots our brains and ruins our bodies. But we will spend and spend until we have no more credit left. We need to change some of the incentives out there. Chronic, expensive disease is on the back burner, and it will bankrupt us.

Reagan LP, Grillo CA, Piroli GG. The As and Ds of stress: Metabolic, morphological and behavioural consequences. Eur J Pharmacol 2008;585:64-75.

The choice is ours to make. STress can be running and ruining our lives, or we can educate ourselves to wisely manage.

Meditation is available for free on the internet, www.freemeditation.com.au.

Our own Meditation for Health Course is available again in August (Call Linda for details 9960 6339).

Walking the Talk

Yes, I had personal experience of that head cold that is doing the rounds of Sydney homes and offices. It started Friday afternoon with massive sneezes and tight, aching shoulders. Then a tap turned on in my sinuses - copious, clear mucus, lovely. I drove home clutching a box of tissues and prepared for a weekend at the beach! First I packed our Cold and Flu Protocol. I survived the journey, went straight to bed and slept gratefully. Saturday morning I felt awful - still sneezing and clutching the tissue box. So I rugged up and laid on the couch with water and herbs at my side. I stayed there all day, dosing with herbs every 3 hours, just like the protocol says. We had big bowls of homemade soup, i retired very early to bed. I woke on Sunday to an absolutely clear head, healthy body. I was out walking, eating, happily socialising without even a sneeze! Testament to the value of really working the rest, fluids and anti-viral herbs. Testament to stopping to take care of ourselves.
 This modern, technological world discourages a self-care approach to health, but there is no other way. Self- care means resting. Self care means cultivating the ability to deeply relax. Self care means choosing food and medicine wisely. It may seem hard at the beginning. Over time, it is the easy path. The only path that rewards with a flourishing heart, mind and immune system!
Does your immune system fight so well and bounce immediately back? If not, do call us and get some help now.

Warning: winter viruses are about - take preventive action!

Early adopters have been packing this clinic with head colds this week. Lucky ones have a day or 2 of discomfort. Unlucky, or perhaps unprepared ones, have felt dreadful for weeks and are on a repeat course of antibiotics. By this time, the whole family is ill.. . .

Ahh, the joys of winter!

The cold snaps of May alternate with warm, sunny, almost hot days. How do we prepare for that? Even more, how do we keep the children well? Especially as the cold heart of Winter is still coming.

Now, the occasional virus is unavoidable. Ideally, it produces symptoms, the body raises a fever and we rest, the symptoms clear rapidly. How do you give yourself a chance to have the virus pass you by, or at least minimise the illness and recover very quickly? Of course, you follow the Kaye Gartner's Health Centre Cold and Flu Protocol!

I have been prescribing the Cold and Flu Protocol for many years now. Our clients use it and swear by it, just as I do. It works by strengthening your ability to mount an immune response. It is not like the flu shot, targeting one virus. It is strengthening you, so that you can challenge any virus!

I am proud to say that loads of the research I read reinforces everything that Kaye Gartner's Health Centre protocol prescribes.

Anti-Viral treatment, Antibiotic treatment

·         Antitox and Cold and Flu herbal products have demonstrated Anti-Viral effects.

·         Lemon Drift Tea has a refreshing flavour and includes the native herb Lemon Myrtle for anti-viral, throat soothing effects.

Reduce the severity of cold and flu symptoms

·         Antitox and Cold and Flu herbal products reduce the uncomfortable symptoms of sore throat, nasal congestion and fever.

Nutrients to strengthen Immune System

 ·      Zinc, Vitamin C and Probiotics (acidophilus etc)

• lowering stress (think acupuncture, massage)

·     regular exercise (think osteopathy if you're in pain)

So, I have outlined the benefits, reminded you of the research and now invite you to take action.

You can pick up the Cold and Flu Protocol sheet at the clinic, or ask Linda to email it. Send it to your family and friends. Spread the word that Winter can be healthy. We can enjoy the sharp, sunny days, brisk walks and chilly night air. We only get 3 months of it, after all! (acidophilus etc)

Eating seasonal vegetables to up your Vitamin C and Zinc

Try spinach, silverbeet, beetroot leaves, rainbow chard

Bright, vibrant-looking spinach leaves are not only more appealing to the eye but more nourishing as well. Recent research has shown that spinach leaves that look fully alive and vital have greater concentrations of vitamin C than spinach leaves that are pale in color. The study authors suggest that the greater supply of vitamin C helps protect all of the oxygen-sensitive phytonutrients in the spinach leaves and makes them look vibrant and alive.  These delicious leafy greens are a good source of Zinc too. These vegetables are in season now, so eat up!

PS do not overcook! Overcooking destroys the VitaminC we need and does not have much impact on oxalate levels. For most people, spinach and chards are well tolerated and can be eaten lightly steamed or raw.

Source: Worlds Healthiest Foods (whfoods.org)

A True story from the Kaye Gartner Household

My step-daughter Emily came in after school yesterday to tell me she was coming down with a cold.

“Sore throat?” I asked.

“No just sneezing a lot and runny nose”.

“You know what that means” I said as I opened the kitchen drawer to find the Antitox and Cold and Flu.

“Yeah” she rolled her eyes, “Pill me up!”

Healthy brain, healthy mind

Listening to morning radio today, I was lucky enough to catch an eminent doctor from the UK talking about dementia. Dementia is recognised as a huge worldwide problem, costing billions of dollars in long-term care for dementia patients every year. The message of this doctor was about early detection. His research shows that the earlier a diagnosis is made and a care plan activated, the less severe the consequences of dementia will be.

Of course, we can step back one more time and look at how we can age - as we will - without mental deterioration. Can we look forward, in fact, to wisdom years?

Nutrition is all important - good quality antioxidants and B vitamins, including folic acid, are crucial to the metabolic processes that maintain healthy brain function and therefore healthy brain tissue. I always advise you to eat organic wherever possible to increase the nutrition available from the food you eat.

Our relaxation processes are also fundamental. Consistently sound sleep - for 7 hours or more a night - increases mental alertness and mental function. A regular relaxation practice -  like massage, meditation, yoga or prayer - also has a profound effect the health of our mind. Our mood, firstly, benefits from relaxation; then our brain benefits from the reduction in stress related biochemicals. I always recommend a proactive approach. Maintain your mental health into the wisdom years by establishing good habits now. Relax - deeply and regularly. Eat well and eat organic food - just not too much!

 

Summer Viruses are here

This summer has certainly been dominated by La Nina, that wonderful, wet weather system. Don't we love her when she breals a long drought? Her up and down temperatures and suddden showers have been creating problems, though, this year.
Now the children are back at school swapping holiday stories, they are also swapping new viruses. Sore throats, temperatures, symptoms of head colds are laying low the children of our community this week.
Parents can feel helpless at times like this, but there is a lot you can do. Keeping the children rested and hydrated is a start. If you are concerned, acupuncture really helps thebody to throw off a virus. Even young children can benefit, as we have laser acupuncture available - no needles, just a laser beam!
Treatment usually results in the fever breaking and energy returning over a night or two. This lessens the burden of illness for parents and children alike!

Go with the flow!!

Some days, the flow is a torrent. I am thinking back to the images of Queenslanders gazing over the Brisbane River, aghast at the destruction. Going with that flow meant ending up deposited in the Pacific Ocean. Wise action in the face of a torrent is to move out of the way ... to higher ground.
And what about those days that feel like a whirlpool. I am having one today. Apointments changing. Some people arriving early, others not arriving at all .... but standing on the roadside as their car is towed away. One of our doors is not opening. The tradesman can come, what a miracle we say. Then he can't come. In a fit of frustration we call all the clients and abandon the room until tomorrow.Seems like a lot of incessant and pointless change! How do I flow with this?

Well, take 7 deep breaths and exhale slowly, that always works to clear the nervous irritation and stress. I remember to feel some symapthy for the client and the tradesman who are both in worse circumstances than me. If her car is being towed, she may have been in an accident. I hope she is safe.

Breathing consciously, experiencing the flow of our in and out breath, is the one and only flow we have control of. Awareness of this flow is the built in tool we have for calming our mind, relaxing our body.
Is the breath rapid and shallow? I am responding to adrenalin. The solution is to slowly deepen the breathing, to slow the exhalation down. Ahhhhhh ... that's better.

Do I always breath into the top of my chest? Or do I fill the lungs with a strong, slow flow of oxygen. Do I breathe out until I am squeezing are right down to the belly muscles, expelling all that stale air and waste product from my lungs?

In a world where we sit most of the day and lean over a computer, our lungs are rarely exercised this way. The flow is minor, stagnation is the result. We believe we are to busy to notice such a given as breathing. Ironic, that breathing is the single thing that we must do. So as we must breath, let's flow with it, do it with awareness. Let's use the awareness to calm and relax our mind and body. Now that we are relaxed, let's really breathe with depth and enjoyment. Breathe and flow with it ... for the simple pleasure of it!

This is a year when changing our habits and routines will be useful.

The rise of the new moon on Thursday, February 3^rd marked the arrival of the Chinese New Year, Year of the Rabbit. Rabbit years are fabled to be positive and progressive years. Problems that have proved difficult can now move forward in leaps and bounds. Essential to making the most of the potential of a Rabbit Year is the focus on personal growth and personal development. New solutions are called for. New solutions come out of expanded viewpoints and original ideas. Original ideas occur when old pieces of information are seen to relate in new and interesting ways. This is a year when changing our habits and routines will be useful. Curiosity and inspiration will produce satisfaction and reward.

                          

We can see signs of this exciting, expanding energy at work in Tunisia and Egypt right now. Fortunately, in a peaceful and wealthy democracy like Australia, our efforts will be more personal. We are just beginning to understand that our society is in a gradual shift from “survival issues” toward “Post Materialist “ priorities like self-expression and the pursuit of a meaningful life. In the words of American author Daniel Pink: “there are two practical whole-minded ways to begin the search for meaning: start taking spirituality seriously and start taking happiness seriously” (Whole New Mind, D. Pink 2005).

I will be stepping up to the starting block to teach Mindfullness Meditation Courses in Mosman. I have practiced this form of meditation for over 20 years, but rarely ventured out to teach. I hope that when I step up to do the teaching, it will support many of you to step up to learn “Meditation for Health and Wellbeing.” I would love to share the exquisite benefits that I enjoy from Mindfullness Meditation with each and every one of you. Dwelling in positive mental states is absolutely good for us. Expect far-reaching impacts on mental, physical and spiritual health and wellness.

Over summer, we have all learned from watching our fellow Australians dealing with demanding natural disasters. How often did those stoic people who had lost everything remark “We are still alive. We have our health. We can recover.” This nightly demonstration of remarkable spirit was truly inspiring. It inspired us all to give – again, to make a difference. We can take time to reflect on how that inspiration and resilience could be working in our own lives. What could we be rebuilding?

Exercising my curiosity on a recent Sunday, I actually read an article called: ‘Battle acupuncture’ used to heal concussed US soldiers in Afghanistan. Would you believe that army doctors are successfully treating concussion with acupuncture! It helps the soldiers sleep (well, everybody) and sleep is the “most important cure for concussion.” Maybe we should mention this to all those football – you know rugby and soccer – players and clubs.

Even more extraordinary, US Defence Department personnel are meeting with the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine “to discuss the military’s continued exploration of acupuncture.” (SMH 12-13 Feb, 2011 p20.)

Now that is a new set of ideas! Who can imagine what will come of it?