Symptoms such as weight gain, headaches, gas, bloating, heartburn, constipation and/or diarrhea are all signs that someone may have allergies, intolerances, or sensitivities to food. Sometimes the symptoms can happen immediately and sometimes they may not be experienced for several days after eating a particular food. Many times we do not even associate our symptoms with the reactions we have to consuming sensitive foods.

For many people when they ingest gluten, the body perceives the grain as a dangerous foreign invader. Consequently, the body starts an immune attack to get rid of the attacker by causing inflammation (our body’s way of attacking an antigen). Constant exposure to gluten means constant inflammation and puts a real burden on the body’s defense mechanism. Not only that, the continual need for cortisol (our body’s natural anti-inflammatory made from the adrenals) causes the adrenal glands to burn out. You may recall that your adrenals are also required for blood sugar stabilization (insulin output). So if we are having difficulty managing our blood sugar levels due to Adrenal exhaustion, we are also going to find it difficult to lose weight.

Second to this, is that gluten has an effect on the functioning of your thyroid hormone which is responsible for energy and fat metabolism.

Continually consumption of glutinous foods and the inflammatory response causes your body to go into a state of auto immunity, hence why Celiac disease is an auto- immune disease. The body cannot differentiate between gluten and its own glands and as a result starts thinking that your thyroid gland is a foreign invader.
So those of you, who have had reports of high levels of Anti-TPO (Thyroperoxidase Abs) and have had their doctor discuss an Auto-immune Thyroiditis, please take note; your body is attacking its own thyroid. If this is the case, it is HIGHLY recommended that you exclude gluten from your diet as a faulty thyroid affects your metabolism and how well you can burn fat!

Finally, if your adrenals are exhausted (from daily stressors such as diet, vigorous exercise or poor quality sleep), this will have an effect on your thyroid gland. Excessive cortisol output is also linked with inhibiting your TSH levels and the enzyme that converts T4 to T3 (the active form).

So just by eating gluten may have a double hormonal whammy in your quest to lose weight.

To the nervous system and hormonal system, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve just had a car accident, are going through a divorce, are under the pressure of too many deadlines at work, or even just won $100,000,000 in the lottery!

Your hormonal and nervous systems react the same way – it’s just stress”

~ Paul Chek, Founder PPS Mastery Programme, From his e-book The last 4 doctors

Wednesday 7th October, 2009

OOPS!

OK, I got too excited about digestive health without realizing that there is so much more to digestive illness that simply boils down to how we handle our external and internal stressors. Whether they be emotional, physical, mental and spiritual stressors, if we are not responsible for our own health and deal with each facet of our being then we lose the opportunity to heal from within.

So folks, I will still incorporate digestive wellness into my practice but as you will see my site will evolve into a stress management site that teaches clients how to manage stress effectively and ultimately find true happiness.

Speak shortly!

Previous Post as of July 31, 2009

Well as you can probably tell I have been away from the cyber world for a long time! Truth be known, I’ve been enjoying my Masters, sinking my teeth into each module and deciding what my topic will be for my thesis. I’ve toyed with the idea of pre and post natal nutrition, depression and anxiety and my old favourite that I keep coming back to is digestion!

I must admit when I first set up my consultancy I didn’t fancy the idea of calling myself a digestive wellness coach or specializing in just digestion or having to share tales of my debilitating IBS symptoms. But as I look at my ongoing efforts of trying to help everyone (not really working) I realize that its impossible and that I have spread myself out in too many areas of the health arena.

I continually read that in order to build your business you need to tailor your services to a particular audience and find your niche market. So I have finally succumbed to advertising myself as a Digestive Wellness Coach (has a nice ring to it!).

Don’t get me wrong, I think I’m the best person for the role as I have been through a long and agonizing journey with my digestive tract so I can TRULY empathize with people and their symptoms. I’m sure I’ve had the worst! But it’s been a private journey that I didn’t initially feel comfortable sharing with the world. Yet as a result of the ongoing natural treatments and lifestyle changes I have healed my GI tract SO much that I know I can help other sufferers.

So readers, please watch this space as I re-vamp my site, AGAIN! and focus specifically on digestive issues!

I feel so much better I’ve put this in print!

Poor Oprah, she is merely supporting topics that the public are obviously interested in. Did anyone see the Doctors edition with Jenny McCarthy and Autism??

It’s a shame when at the end of the day all ‘health professionals’ (regardless of backgrounds and beliefs) get bad mouthed and discredited and leave the public misinformed about the true benefits of each discipline!

Don’t we ultimately share the same goal of helping clients achieve optimum health and be free from disease?

Lastly, I think Deepak Chopra’s comment says it all………

Dr. Deepak Chopra responded to the Oprah bashing with this Alternet article, where he states,

“The criticism the medical establishment is directing at Oprah through this article only exposes their own frustration in having squandered their credibility with the public. They hope that if they can successfully attack Oprah’s immense credibility, then they can magically get some of that credibility back for themselves. However, if people still trusted the health care industry to act in their best interest the way they did decades ago, then it would be unnecessary to brand Oprah for “crazy talk” simply because she occasionally provides a forum for ideas outside of mainstream medicine.

The medical profession is burdened with a host of problems that Oprah addresses with more candor and force than the AMA. She promotes wellness and prevention, two areas that drastically need improvement. She brings up creative solutions to problems that medical science is baffled by, such as the healing response itself and the role of subjectivity in patient response. These are issues that few M.D.s are willing to explore, yet she has done so for decades.

… What this tells me is that medicine needs Oprah and other patient advocates who are demanding that official medicine heal itself. To accuse them of lacking medical credibility is a red herring. Patients aren’t supposed to know more than their physicians. The fact that they often do, at least insofar as alternative treatment goes, is both a sign of hope and cause for distress.”

Read the article here