News

RECLAIM GOOD HEALTH

WHY BALANCING YOUR ALKALINE/ACID BALANCE IS ESSENTIAL FOR GOOD HEALTH

You may be putting your lack of vitality, your aches and pains, your creaking bones, your catarrh and phlegm, unexplained weight gain and everything you are suffering down to getting older. There is no need to feel under par or for you to experience any of these symptoms. Do something now to put this right. Over-acidity weakens all body systems and most peoples bodies are over acidic and this is conducive to disease. Good health depends on an alkaline environment with alkaline reserves to deal with any urgent demands.

It is vitally important that pH levels (acidity) in the human body are balanced via the bloodstream and the digestive system. More frequently most of us have pH levels that are too low, causing higher acid levels in our body tissues. This is directly connected to the diet and lifestyle of modern day life.

Why should you want to balance the pH in the body?

Because you are looking for a way to regain

good health and enjoy your life.

When your body is extremely acidic it is more prone to sickness and disease as this is a perfect breeding ground to cultivate most illnesses that mankind suffer. Further all functions of the body are weakened, bones can be leached of calcium and vital nutrients, and aging is hastened, not to mention obesity. Quality of life becomes less and less. Energy levels become low and your get and go has long gone

Aim to have in your diet 80% Alkaline foods to a ratio of 20% Acid forming foods. When your health has improved, you can gently shift this ratio to 70% to 30% respectively.

It is said that the ‘Root Cause’ of disease

is an over-acidic body –starting in the cells-

· Aching muscles

· Bladder conditions and Kidney stones

· Cardiovascular damage

· Chronic fatigue syndrome

· Conjunctivitis

· Cracks on corners of lips

· Depression and easily stressed

· Dry skin and skin rashes

· Dull looking hair and split ends

· Excess stomach acid/Gastritis

· Gingivitis

· Headaches

· Hormonal problems

· Immune deficiency

· Joint pain

· Lack of energy and fatigue

· Lactic acid build up

· Leg cramps and spasms

· Loose and painful teeth

· Loss of joie de vivre

· Low energy and stamina

· Lower body temperature

· Mouth and stomach ulcers

· Osteoporosis

· Pale complexion

· Premature aging, acceleration of free radical damage

· Sluggish digestion and elimination

· Split and thin nails

· Susceptible to infections

· Weight gain, obesity and diabetes

· Yeast/fungal overgrowth

All the above conditions can be alleviated

by balancing your pH through diet & Lifestyle

Act now to Save our Herbalists

At present anyone can call themselves a Herbalist, Medical Herbalist or Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner, no qualifications, training or code of conduct is required. There are a number of organisations that have registers of approved practitioners (such as National Institute of Medical Herbalists, Register of Chinese Herbal Medicine and the Association of Master Herbalists) all of which ensure that the practitioners have an exemplary level of training and have strict entry requirements, but there is no legal requirement to belong to any of these organisations to practice Herbal Medicine in any of its forms.

This creates a dilemma for the general public; which practitioner should I choose and are they adequately qualified? If you are connected with herbal medicine then it is easy to choose a genuine practitioner, but if you are looking for a practitioner for your first consultation, you are unlikely to have this level of knowledge and the choice becomes much more difficult without an understanding of the level of training of the practitioner.

The government, through its snappily titled “A joint consultation on the Report to Ministers from the DH (Department of Health) Steering Group on the Statutory Regulation of Practitioners of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Other Traditional Medicine Systems Practised in the UK” consultation document is exploring the possibility of regulating this area of complementary medicine.

In this paper the Government explores the possibility of regulating Herbal Medicine in a similar manner to that enjoyed by osteopaths, dieticians and physiotherapists. This will improve the level of confidence by the general public in Herbal Medicine and the Herbalists’ professional standing.

The concept of regulation by statute will be a good step forward for such disciplines, as it will ensure that all practitioners who describe themselves as “Herbalists” or Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners will have qualified to a high standard and be familiar with both Herbal and Orthodox treatment regimes, this is essential to allow the two treatment systems to support the well being of the patient and complement each other. This is particularly important in herbal treatments as some herbs can have strong contra-indications when taken alongside conventional treatments but a trained Herbalist will know what herbs can be given alongside the G.P.s prescribed medications safely. Without adequate training such contra-indications may not be understood or even explored, with horror stories of so called ‘practitioners’ not taking a case history before commencement of treatment, and even more disturbingly, internet ‘consultations’ or making wild claims of miracle cures.

This framework proposes (together with some less beneficial possibilities explored later) the practitioner having a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check, specific qualifications obtained from reputable training establishments, an ethical and professional framework in the form of a code of conduct as well as continuing professional development requirements, all ensuring that the practitioner is suitable and appropriate to practice. This would then allow your local GP to refer patients to a Herbalist, confident in the knowledge that they are a professional with suitable skills to help the patient as well as exchange of information between the Herbalist and the GP, thus allowing the best of each modality of treatment to support the patient. The two disciplines working in tandem, aptly named ‘Integrative Medicine’ for patient-centered care. HRH The Prince of Wales endorses this; he has set up the Foundation for Integrated Health.

The above would be the ideal situation, other alternatives are explored with products (or treatments only) being required to be approved or certified, if regulation does not occur, herbal remedies could still be dispensed and sold by anyone – thus negating the safeguards that the full statutory regulation of the Herbalist (or TCM) practitioner being a professional health care worker gives the patient.

Other benefits would be the overall saving to the NHS, with many Herbal Treatments being significantly cheaper (and with far fewer side effects) than conventional treatments, thus helping the NHS, treasury and the patient (that should be the main focus of any legislation)

Unless the title of Herbalist is protected by legislation and the profession recognized on November 16th by M.Ps. in the House of Commons, then the E.U. legislation will become law and Herbalists will become criminalized if they practice. The concern is that not enough M.P.s know about this and that the public do not realize the implications of not airing their views and thus the UK will end up limiting the treatment options available to the populous.

How can you ensure that you protect your Herbalist and have the choice of being prescribed natural treatments? You need to act quickly as time is running out. November 16th is the deciding date; you should inform your local M.P. that a meeting will be held on Thursday 12th November in the House of Lords, Room 3 between 6pm and 8pm. There will be representatives of the various Herbal disciplines present at this event.

www.healing-by-nature.co.uk

www.leannahealthguru.co.uk

Leanna Broom Ph.D.