Healthwise Clinic Natural Health Blog

Here’s a recipe from my repertoire for a highly nutritious chicken stock and soup that will boost your immune system and give you lots of energy. Eat it at least 3 times per week, but it can be eaten daily for optimum results.

Chicken stock recipe
This makes a clear stock that you can use as a soup base alone or with other foods.

Ingredients:
I recommend using organic products if possible. I leave everything whole so that the stock remains fairly clear.

1 whole chicken
1 large onion
6-8 bay leaves
3 sticks celery
2 leeks
8 shiitake mushrooms
1 tsp sea salt or ideally Himalayan salt
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons Goji berries
Water to cover the chicken completely

Instructions:
Place the chicken in the pot and add all of the ingredients (whole) and then add the water to cover over the chicken.
Turn heat on and slowly heat it up. Do NOT bring it to a boil or simmer at any point during cooking.
It must cook for most of the day 6-8 hours and very slowly. For the first 40 minutes you need to skim off the frothy stuff that comes to the top. Keep doing this every few hours and you’ll be rewarded with a clear beautiful stock. Season with salt and pepper. Do not boil or simmer just let it get very hot.

If you want a better stock start it in the morning and cook it very slowly all day. Then let it cool down overnight and reheat the next day and cook for a few more hours. The longer you cook it the better it tastes but one day is sufficient for getting health results.
Once cooked, take the chicken out carefully so as to not leave anything in the stock. Remove the skin and discard and then take all of the meat off the bone. Let cool down and refrigerate. To finish the stock, strain the vegetables out and either eat or discard them. You now have a very healthy, immune boosting stock. For increased immunity add more Shitake mushrooms and more goji berries and 9 grams of Astragalus (herb), available at Healthwise. This herb is one of the best in the world for improving immunity.
Try the recipe below for a meal idea.

Meal idea:
Once cooked, put the stock in a bowl, add cooked noodles, some of the chicken meat and raw pak choi or other leafy greens (finely chopped) and uncooked finely sliced Shiitake mushrooms and enjoy

Adding lemons to your diet in spring is the secret traditional chinese medicine tip to lose weight.

In Spring your body is detoxing naturally – yes really!  This excellent news means this is the perfect time to lose weight.

Why add lemons to your diet?

Lemons break down mucus build up

Lemons also help to reduce blood fats

which leads to you losing extra weight and being healthier.

However, you don’t need too much of the sour taste in Spring as it will upset the Liver which is the organ associated with Spring.  About half a lemon a day – or posssibly even one whole one – is easily enough.  If you have too much of the sour taste you can damage your tendons and soft tissue.

One of the best ways to get the benefits of lemon is to squeeze the juice of a lemon into boiled and slightly cooled water, and drink.  Go on, try it!

The winds in spring are bitterly cold this year.  According to traditional chinese medicine the winds in Spring can cause health problems, and we need to protect ourselves and wrap up warmly.

Our skin is usually left unprotected, however, even if we are wearing coats, scarves and gloves, as well as thick warm boots.

One of the best ways to protect the skin is to use 100% natural skin balms.  At Healthwise Clinic, Andrew Loosely has been so concerned about the quality of the high street skin creams available that he has formulated four natural skin balms to deal with many skin problems.

At this time of year children can often be seen with red, sore-looking cheeks and the perfect way to deal with this is to use Purple Balm which is expecially created to help with all red skin problems.  The wind can be very harmful to children’s skin particularly, and Purple Balm will soothe the skin.

Beauty Balm from Healthwise Clinic

Adult skin which is not red still needs protecting with natural organic products.  Beauty Balm from Healthwise provides a protective layer from the bitter wind, and you can be sure contains no harmful parabens or any of the toxic substances that unfortunately are used to “improve” the touch experience of many skin balms and creams.

Beauty Balm and Purple Balm can be lightly massaged and warmed in between the fingers for a moment to make the application easier if the balm has been left in a cool place.

The other balms in the range solve more pervasive skin problems.  Yellow Balm is formulated to help with the type of eczema where there is weeping skin, and Clarifying Balm is perfect for situations such as Athlete’s foot.

Feedback to the balms is very positive for solving skin problems, and the fact that they are 100% natural, and 90% organic and certified by the Soil Association is also seen as a great benefit.

Traditional Chinese medicine links to the lunar calendar which is based on the Moon.  Health is affected by the seasons and each season is linked to different functions within the body.

This year 2010 the first day of the new year, which is also the first day of Spring, is on 14th February.

The Chinese approach is to dedicate each year to an animal.  2009 for example was the year of the Ox, and 2010 is the Year of the Tiger.  An ox and a tiger have little or nothing in common, and the year ahead has the potential to be very different from the past year.

The years rotate, and you can work out which year you were born in.  To have “Tiger” qualities you would be born in 1902, 1914, 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, and 1998.

Here is a brief summary of the qualities of Tiger people:

Tiger people are sensitive, given to deep thinking, capable of great sympathy. They are naturally centre of attention, and if ill demand a great deal of sympathy.  They can also be extremely short-tempered, however.

Other people have great respect for them, but sometimes tiger people come into conflict with older people or those in authority. Tiger people cannot make up their minds, which can result in a poor, hasty decision or a sound decision made too late. They are courageous and powerful. Tigers are most compatible with Horses, Dragons, and Dogs

Chinese medicine and your health

In chinese medicine as you probably know we treat the whole individual rather than the symptom.

Even within each Year of the tiger there are other influencing factors, and each year is dominated by a particular element:

Water, Wood, Fire, Earth or Metal.

While it can be fun to find out about the qualities of a particular year, or Chinese animal type, the most important aspect for your well-being is to have a personalised diagnosis.

Your health is determined by the balance of energies within your body.  some of these may have been influenced by your year of birth, some by upbringing, and some by your dominant thoughts.  Your health is a complex and fascinating subject, and our great joy at Healthwise is to help people realise how much of their own health is within their own power.

The magnificent energy of the Year of the Tiger will, we hope, help us to improve the health and well-being of a lot more people who are suffering.

Related

• Year of the (Metal) Golden Tiger – 2010 (coconuter.blogspot.com)

A report today in the Daily Mail talks about the fact that a little girl’s tumour disappeared…quite agaisnt medical expectation.

Comments on the article cover all kind of responses, some very negative, some delighted.

For us at Healthwise it simply confirms our view that health is much more than simply a physical phenomenon  affecting the body.

The mind and the spirit are involved, too.

Treatment with acupuncture, traditional chinese medicine and herbal remedies affects every part… and that includes the mind and spirit as well as the body. It is wonderful that this little girl has not gone blind – or worse.  While we are delighted we are not astonished.

Doctors know a lot, but the best keep an open mind, too.  In traditional chinese medicine we genuinely value the relationship with our patients, as it is a key part in treatment.   Trusting the medical practitioner and feeling heard and listened  are factors in re-establishing health and well-being in the adults we see.

The article does not mention the relationship with the doctors and the girl’s attitude towards her condition, but we would expect it to be a contributing factor.

May she and her family have a wonderful life together.

Fresh fruit and vegetables are so good for you and they don’t need expensive wrapping and lots of packaging.

We think that simply looking at the beautiful colours will help to make you feel good!

Fresh fruit and vegetables

Unfortunately there are not a lot of fruit and vegetable shops on the high street in Buckinghamshire, so it is difficult to walk down the street and get a good burst of visual health.

As winter comes to an end it is important to eat healthy food and especially to avoid sugar.

This photograph is taken in London.  Hope you enjoy it.

Snow and ice in Britain over the last few days have made a difference to our health.  While the weather has created problems it has also given us opportunities for better health.

• The hills have been alive with sledging, skiing and snowboarding.  Conditions have been so good that the snow has rivalled experiences you would normally get in the Alps.  Lots of fun ways to take exercise.

• Parents who would normally be at work are taking the time to be with their children whose schools have been closed.  Spending quality time with those who are most important to you is important for our health.

• Cars have been left in the drive, and people have walked.  Simply walking for 20 minutes is soo much better than always going by car.

• We have noticed there have been more conversations with strangers.  The weather is a good subject to talk about but there has been a better connection between people and a chance to get to know new people.  (We are social creatures – we need to be in contact with others)

• This is of course in addition to all the people who have helped each other dig cars out of the snow, and generally be good neighbours…our mind and spirit affects our health.  Being helped as well as helping others contributes massively to our well-being.

• Food is being bought in a more planned way.  More snow is continually being threatened, so many families have stocked up.

• We have become more aware of the weather.  In traditional chinese medicine the seasons play a large part in health, and often in modern life we simply fail to notice the season we are in.  Looking at a snow scene is also an opportunity for reflection.

• Last but not least, winter is a time of rest and recuperation.  The snow has given us all a chance to stop and take life more quietly for a day or two.  Stopping the frenetic lifestyle is a key aspect of better health.

However, we are looking forward to seeing all of you whose appointments were affected by the weather, and hope we will be able to catch up in the next few days.

A report into period pain conducted with 650 female  students at the University of Birmingham concludes that no link was found between exercise and removing period pain.

“After taking into account mood, ethnicity, weight, smoking, and use of the contraceptive pill, they found no link with how much exercise a woman did and whether she suffered from period pain, or how bad her pain was.”

At Healthwise we never assume that exercise on its own is the answer but the right exercise combined with the right diet, and the right attitude at the right stage in the month can contribute greatly.

Acupuncture is often the catalyst which can get the body balanced and reduce pain, and increase a feeling of well-being.  We don’t just want to stop period pain but help women feel well and enjoy life.

Even more interesting is the comment by Professor Steve Field who is Chairman of the College of GPs – as reported on the BBC -

“Some exercise is good for you of course but the main treatment for period pain is the contraceptive pill.”

We strongly dispute this and in our experience at Healthwise the main treatment for period pain is to get to the source of the unbalanced energy.

Professor Field is also quoted as saying  “It is a common problem and people usually self medicate”.

Self medication presumably means pain killers which again are not correcting the original problem.  Period pain may be common, unfortunately, but it is most definitely not normal.

Andrew Loosely will explain all this in more detail in an ebook to be published shortly.  If you have period pain and would like to be notified when the book is released please sign up to the newsletter list.  The book will help all women to understand the four stages of the monthly cycle, and the food, exercise and approach that is needed at all stages throughout the month.

Please don’t take the contraceptive pill assuming that is the best route to pain-free periods.

Read more about the research

Comm

Eating the right food in winter begins with thinking about how our food can best sustain us during the winter period.  While the weather is colder we need food that will warm us because of its temperature, and it is the season to add spices which are also warming to the body.

So please do not eat cold ice-cream or drinks straight from the fridge during winter.  Better to have warm oven-baked food, preferably with some spices added.

Ginger is particularly good during winter and will help the circulation in the cold.  Cinammon and Fennel are excellent right now, but if you are trying to conceive please avoid these after ovulation.

If you have any digestive problems telephone the clinic 44 (0) 1628 668339 and claim your free 15 minute consultation.

Anti aging creams have been found to encourage a risk of cancer.

There are so many anti-aging processes available to women and men from Botox to the surgeon’s knife, that anti-aging creams have seemed like a safe alternative.

We all want to look better for longer – how can a simple cream be harmful?

The views of a US professor have been published this week in the tabloids .. he thinks anti-aging creams could be the most dangerous cosmetic products on the market.

At Heathwise we believe in natural, not chemical products.  Even if we are assured that the chemical quantities are so slight that they cannot make a difference, the incremental toxic overload in cosmetic and bodycare products is harmful.

The additional factor is that the environment generally has become more toxic and minor increases in toxins from a multitude of different sources adds up to dangerous quantities.

Far better to use a natural product to enhance beauty like Beauty Balm.  The skin will not be stripped, and the product is certified by the Soil Association.. so it is good for the planet, too.