• Use substances with infection fighting properties:

It is very important to keep infections under control, as they can do a great deal of harm to your body if allowed to flourish. Following a healthy diet free of sugar is important, as sugar feeds bacteria, yeast, fingi and parasites in our body. If you have a sweet tooth a healthy alternative to sugar is stevia. This is available in tablet, powder and liquid form. Stevia can be added to tea and coffee, as well as used in cooking.

Vegetables in the cruciferous family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) all have infection fighting properties because they contain organic sulphur compounds. If you don’t eat enough of these vegetables, you can obtain similar benefits by taking the supplement MSM. Garlic, onion, leeks, chives and spring onions are all strong natural antibiotics. They are most potent when eaten raw.

Olive leaf extract contains the active ingredient oleuropein, which studies have shown possesses antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties. Olive leaf works well for a variety of infections, such as colds and flu, respiratory infections, digestive and urinary infections. It is available in liquid or capsule form.

• Do a bowel and liver detox:

Sometimes the greatest amount of toxins in your body is generated in your digestive tract. Toxins created in your own body are referred to as endotoxins. Bad habits such as eating when stressed or rushed, not chewing properly and eating processed junk food can all create a toxic state inside your gut. If you are prone to constipation the situation will be even worse because toxins you are supposed to excrete will be reabsorbed back into your bloodstream.

All the blood from your digestive tract travels to your liver via the hepatic portal vein. If your intestines are toxic, then your liver will be before too long. This scenario will place a great stress on the detoxification ability of your liver, and will result in toxins spilling into your bloodstream. Your immune system will be overworked, placing you at greater risk of developing infections and allergies. Many of these toxic compounds act as free radicals in the body and have direct inflammation inducing actions.

• Take vitamins and minerals to strengthen your immune system:

Our immune system needs plenty of vitamins and minerals to stay strong, and with modern day diets and farming techniques, it is very easy to be deficient in these. Selenium is a mineral that is usually deficient in Australian and New Zealand soils. It is a powerful antioxidant, and has strong anti inflammatory and antiviral properties. Selenium is excellent for people who get repeated infections; have a long standing infection they can’t get rid of; suffer with allergies, or an autoimmune disease. If your body is deficient in selenium, viruses entering it are more likely to mutate into a more harmful form. It is best to take selenium in its organic form called selenomethionine. An ideal dose would be 100-200mcg per day. Selenium works best when it is combined with vitamin E, zinc and vitamin C; it can be obtained in tablet form with these other nutrients.

As well as helping to fight infections, vitamin Ñ and bioflavonoids have an anti allergic effect in our body; they reduce the amount of histamine released from white blood cells. If you suffer with allergies such as hay fever, sinusitis or eczema, it is strongly recommended that you take a good vitamin Ñ supplement.

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Nearly all animals make vitamin Ñ in their bodies, except humans, guinea pigs, fruit-eating bats, primates, the red-vented bulbul bird and the teleost fish! We have to get it all from our diet.

Studies have established that vitamin Ñ enhances sperm quality. As a powerful antioxidant, it can protect the sperm and its DNA from damage.

In one study a group of men had their vitamin Ñ intake deliberately reduced from 250mg a day to 5mg a day. Their sperm had double the normal DNA damage. (We do not yet know for sure but it is possible that certain types of DNA damage make it difficult to conceive in the first place or cause an increased risk of miscarriage or a chromosome problem in the developing baby.)

When sperm stick together (agglutinate), this can obviously reduce the chances of conceiving. Yet research has shown that sometimes as little as 500mg of vitamin Ñ per day can help prevent this.

Some placebo-controlled trials (where some of the men were given a ‘dummy’ pill instead of vitamin C) have shown that supplementing with 1000 mg of vitamin Ñ per day increased sperm counts, improved motility and reduced the percentage of abnormal sperm.

If a woman isn’t ovulating she is usually given the drug clomiphene to stimulate ovulation. Sometimes the drug docs not work and there is still no ovulation. But it appears that if vitamin Ñ is taken at the same time as the clomiphene it can help trigger ovulation.

You may have been worried by newspaper scare stories claiming that vitamin Ñ could ‘promote cancer’. These were actually due to the press misinterpreting the findings of a preliminary investigation. In fact, the study to assess the effect of vitamin Ñ on cellular damage drew very conflicting conclusions and attracted criticism from the scientific world which felt that ‘the conclusions were not justified by the data’.

In any event, one piece of research should always be weighed against other existing research. In this case numerous other studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of supplementing with good levels of vitamin C.

You should take 1000 mg a day.

Your partner should take 1000 mg a day.

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• Too much sugar has not been proved harmful to the blood pressure in humans but it has in animals. One experiment in monkeys found that adding sugar to a high-salt diet made the blood pressure jump even higher. (Refined sugar definitely has an adverse effect on cholesterol metabolism-putting up the levels of harmful blood fats which also predispose to heart disease. Unrefined, complex sugars do the opposite.)

• Stress undoubtedly plays a part in producing at least some cases of high blood pressure, and almost certainly keeps it high in others. Many studies have now proved that biofeedback, autogenic training and self-hypnosis can all be used to reduce blood pressure in hypertensives. Simple meditation can reduce blood pressure both at the time and long-term. In a study reported in 1981 one group of hypertensives was taught how to relax, while a parallel group was left alone. The relaxation group had a three times greater drop in blood pressure than the others. On checking six months later the difference in blood pressures was still the same.

It appears that if you expect relaxation techniques to be successful they are more likely to be so. A study of thirty patients under medical treatment for high blood pressure divided the patients into two groups. The first group was told that the muscle-relaxation exercises they were to do could produce immediate results which would persist with increased practice and the second group were told that the value of the relaxation could be delayed and that they might even expect a small rise in blood pressure. The ‘expectant’ group achieved a 17 point fall in systolic blood pressure but the ‘delayed’ group had only a 2-4 point fall.

We see how dangerous caffeine can be. A study in Nashville found a 14 per cent rise in blood pressure in volunteers who consumed the equivalent of about two cups of coffee. This made the researchers conclude that habitual coffee drinkers keep their blood pressures artificially high and that some will push marginal blood pressures into the seriously hypertensive range that needs treatment.

• Exercise can provably reduce blood pressure. A study in Florida looked at 370 hypertensive patients and measured their blood pressure before and after several twenty-minute rides on a stationary bicycle. About 96 per cent of the volunteers had a fall of blood pressure (of between 10 and 50 points) after three months’ exercise.

• Noise can produce blood pressure and removing it prevents it. Monkey experiments found that after nine months of exposure to a noise level typically experienced by industrial workers the animals’ blood pressures went up by an average of 27 per cent. After the end of the experiment the monkeys’ blood pressure remained high for over a month even in the absence of noise. Investigations at the Volvo car factory in Sweden checked the effect of industrial noise on the blood pressure of their workers. Because some people are thought to be more sensitive to noise the researchers selected out all those with noise-induced hearing loss. All 414 men with hearing loss turned out to have significantly higher blood pressures than the 74 men with normal hearing.

Further evidence of the strain of noise comes from studies done on people who live near airports. A study of those living around Los Angeles International Airport found that people living within 3 miles of the airport had 29 per cent more admissions to mental hospital than those living 6 miles away. A similar study of London’s Heathrow Airport found the figure to be 31 per cent.

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In self-help groups, people bond together to solve their common problems. Members know they can learn from others who are further along in recovery while helping those who still have a way to go. A self-help group offers members the chance to share experiences, fellowship, and advice.

The notion of self-help is an ancient one. Some American Indian tribes had healing cults in which people who survived a disease became tribal healers. They acquired their knowledge through suffering as they struggled to overcome a particular illness.

Modern self-help groups follow this ancient principle, that people who have emerged from a “trial by fire” can offer guidance to those struggling with similar problems. Self-help groups reflect traditions of self-reliance and voluntarism.

A thread that ties most self-help groups together is support through empathy and mutual affirmation. The groups reinforce change by offering role models for behavior and a forum for sharing successful strategies and attitudes. Self-help groups emphasize personal responsibility and effectiveness-valuable lessons for anyone with an eating disorder. They communicate the message that members are not helpless or hopeless, even though they may feel that way at times.

For some, a self-help group is the first step toward recovery; for others, it may be the only step they take. Ideally, such groups reinforce other kinds of treatment and offer ongoing support through a network of concerned, like-minded people.

Some self-help groups arise because patients feel that professionals have failed to understand their condition or treat it properly. Sometimes groups form because facilities don’t exist in their areas of the country. People may turn to such groups when they can’t afford other treatment.

Let me state my bias clearly: I strongly believe that self-help groups can do tremendous good. Ideally, self-help is a complement to professional treatment, not an alternative. Patients usually do better when they combine self-help with other forms of treatment. Using self-help exclusively can lead to problems if the patient is actively suicidal or psychotic. In these cases, a sensitive self-help group leader can steer the patient to find the professional help she needs.

The chief advantages of self-help treatment include its low cost, its availability (in areas where programs exist), and the limited degree of commitment required. Other benefits include anonymity, confidentiality, education about the illness, positive feelings of effectiveness and self-esteem, an increased sense of control, and the feeling that one is valuable to oneself and others.

How they work: The concept of self-help for eating disorders is about thirty years old. Goals, formats, and principles are still evolving.

Most eating disorder self-help groups welcome both anorexics and bulimics. Some groups start off with a lecture, and then open the floor for discussion. Other groups prefer to let members bring up the subjects they want to discuss. The most helpful part of the meeting may come during the informal interaction afterward, as members chat freely, exchange phone numbers, and share advice.

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Susan DeFusco knows how to lose 100 pounds. She’s done it twice. Only now she knows she has the formula right.

The first time she topped 200 pounds was in high school. “At the time, I had a jealous boyfriend,” Susan says. “We didn’t socialize much. In fact, about all we did was eat out. I think my overeating was a means of compensating for a lack of interaction with other people.”

When she was 19 years old, she stopped getting her periods. Her doctor told her that it was because she was so overweight. This ST was the wake-up call that Susan needed. Once she made up her | ^ mind to slim down, she cut her weight by almost half in 1 year. “I | § did it mostly by changing my eating habits and giving up certain fattening foods,” she says. “The trouble was, I never changed my attitude toward food. So once the weight was gone, my old eating habits returned.”

A decade later, with two kids and bills to pay, Susan went over 200 pounds again. “I wasn’t making the right choices food-wise, and I wasn’t exercising like I should have been,” she says. “I can put on weight very quickly, and it came back fast.”

By 1994, Susan weighed 260 pounds. Her back hurt so badly that she had trouble walking, let alone playing with her kids out in the yard. It was time to lose weight again.

While her overall goal was to shed 100 pounds, from day to day she focused only on losing the next 5. Each time she met one of her mini-goals, she rewarded herself with a small treat, like a bubble bath or an exercise tape.

“To wait until you get to your goal to say ‘I’m going to treat myself is too long a time,” says the Warren, Rhode Island, resident. “You need to look at each 5 pounds as something worth celebrating because it’s closer and closer to where you want to be.”

After a year and a few months of sensible eating, exercising, and participating in the support group TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), Susan had met all of her little goals. They added up to 100 pounds—gone for good.

Inspired by her weight loss and religious about her exercise, Susan became a fitness instructor. And she lost another 25 pounds.

Now in her late thirties, Susan passes along her success story to her support group and at the fitness center where she works. “It

gives people hope,” she says. “They realize that if I did it, they can do it.”

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