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ST KILDA KINESIOLOGY

Pathways to Better Health

The science of mind body health and the wisdom of ancient healing

HEALTH INFO

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A Newsletter from St Kilda Kinesiology\Otway Kinesiology will be available soon.  There is also a brief series of emails (3) on stress management.  Click here to go to the Newsletter page if you are interested in receiving these.

Sugar and Stress are great team mates!  How sugar and processed foods really affect us

Did you know that sugar and stress are great team mates? You may feel that sugar (or caffeins, alcohol or refined carbs) gives you that instant pick-up to get you through the day. In reality it sets up a chain-reaction and stressful cycle in your body.

• Stress releases large amounts of Cortisol and Adrenalin in your system
• This increases your blood sugar. Any additional sugar intake (or caffeine, alcohol or refined carbs) increases this.
• Insulin is over-secreted in response
• This causes a drop in blood glucose (low blood sugar) leaving you feeling tired, drained and craving more sugar for a quick-fix. And so the cycle begins.

Sugar is in many places that you might not expect - processed foods such as fruit juice, yoghurt, pasta sauce, tinned fruit and vegetables and "health" foods. Low-fat products (many coming under the "health" umbrella) are low in fat, but often contain lots of sugar to make up for the lack of tasty fat.  For example for every 100g, tomato pasta sauce contains 5g of sugar.  Reduced-fat Thousand Island dressing contains 17g and beef broth contains 16.7g.  One 375ml can of soft drink contains 10 teaspoons of sugar.  According to WHO guidelines, sugar should account for no more than 10% of our daily calories (50g, or 12 teaspoons).

Our body is simply not equipped to deal with the amount of sugar that we consume.  In order for the body to process sugar, it must release its own stores of vitamins and minerals to aid digestion, so sugar robs the body of essential nutrients.   

When foods are digested they are broken down and the nutrients are moved into the bloodstream, but because sugar contains no nutrients, it breaks down rapidly and moves quickly into the bloodstream.  Sugary treats are often low in protein, water and fibre, which are the elements that make you feel full.  So eating sugar food will still leave you feeling hungry. 

The sugary foods break down rapidly, putting a strain on our digestive system as the body deals with glucose in the blood.  This triggers the production of insulin by the pancreas to move the sugar out of the blood.  One of the side effects is that this excess sugar is not used as energy - it is stored in fat, causing weight gain and contributing to Type 2 diabetes.

Sugar can also suppress the immune system and cause hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, difficulty in concentrating, and behaviour problems in children.  

Coming soon ..... more info about sugar, and why juicing may contribute to the problem.

How processed foods affects our body

Is it possible  ...... that back pain can be related to what you eat ??

Natural back pain treatment depends on knowing the root source of the condition. Once the reason for the particular back pain is found, the treatment often reveals itself. For example, lower back pain, one of the most common complaints today, has the same root source in many cases. Sciatica can be included here as well, although there is a little more to that story.

Processed foods like sugar, bread (“healthy” bread prepared from whole grains is still milled, which is processing), pasta, dried fruit and even fruit juice can create problems that can produce lower back pain.  Really?  This association can be difficult to understand, 

Processed foods instigate a spike in blood sugar levels. It is apparent how white sugar does this. By the way, sugar also comprises the majority of the natural sugars that many believe to be healthier for the body — this isn't always the case.  Ground up grains, even whole grains as mentioned previously, are digested rapidly so that the stored sugar in the grain is released abruptly into the blood stream unlike whole, unbroken grain which release their carbohydrate slowly. It is the additional surface area that permits for quicker digestion of ground grains which abruptly increases blood sugar levels.

The body brings high blood sugar levels down with insulin. However, the speedy rise in blood sugar levels produces an over-response, a release of too much insulin.  The result is that blood sugar levels end up being too low, something the body must also fix. The correction is that the adreanl glands release cortisol, also called cortisone, a stress hormone. One of the things that cortisol does is release stored sugar to bring blood sugar levels up.

So, here’s what could happen. You eat a big meal of pasta and garlic bread,  Afterward, you feel sleepy and have to lie down or rest for awhile. Sooner or later, you feel more alert, and perhaps you feel like having a little dessert.

What happened is that the food of processed grains brought the blood sugar way up, you might have even been having a good time laughing and chatting with your friends, keyed up from the increased blood sugar. Next, once insulin does its job and brings the blood sugar down, but too low, you experience a slump in energy.  This is because the brain is deprived of its main food, sugar. Later on, cortisol brings blood sugar up again, so you wake up again. Furthermore, you want dessert because stored sugar has been used up, and the body wants it replaced. But, that’s just another round about to take place, just like before.

In time, the adrenal glands become worn out. They didn’t evolve to contend with processed foods at all, and in our modern society of processed foods, they are called upon to do this over and over again. The link with the lower back is that the exhausted adrenal glands obtain the nutrients they need from available sources together with stealing them away from the ligaments and tendons (they use many of the same nutrients). Since the lower back supports the weight of the upper body, that is where you are most likely to experience a weakness from depleted ligaments first. Without ligament strength, the joints in the lower back and hips go out of alignment causing lower back pain that is so common today.

In this case, lower back pain treatment is obvious. A change of eating practices is vital, and furnishing nutrients that the adrenals and ligaments must have seems like a good therapy as well.

Back pain treatment possibilities for the many other back pain conditions can be often just as evident when the root cause is recognized.  However everyone is different and it is always advisable to seek medical opinion.

The information in this article is offered as information only and is in no way intended as medical advice.  Always seek the opinion of your doctor if in doubt, or experiencing ongoing back pain.  The views  expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of this organisation.

Article courtesy of "Natural Healing and Back Pain Relief"  http://selfadjustingtechnique.com/

The Dance of Anger
A woman's guide to changing the patterns of intimate relationships
Harriet Lerner PhD - Harper Perennial ISBN 0-06-091565-X  RRP $33.95
"Anger is one of the most painful emotions we experience and the most difficult to use wisely and well.  Yet our anger is an important signal that always deserves our attention and respect.  The difficulty is that feeling angry doesn't tell us what is wrong or what specifically we can do that will make things better rather than worse".  "The Dance of Anger teaches readers to understand how relationships operate and how to change our part in them.  It encourages readers to go the hard route".

The Four Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz - Amber-Allen Publishing ISBN 978-I-878424-3I-0  RRP $19.95
"In The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering.  Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness and love".

Minding the Body, Mending the Mind
Joan Borysenko PhD - A Bantam New Age Book ISBN 0-553-34556-7  RRP $33.95
"Based on groundbreaking work at the Mind/Body Clinic at New England Deaconess Hospital, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind shows you how to take control of your own physical and emotional well-being.  The clinic's dramatic success with more than 2,500 patients - with conditions ranging from allergies to cancer - is vivid proof of the effectiveness of this new scientific understanding of mind and body - and its power to transform your life.  Using a unique blend of mental and physical exercises, Dr Borysenko teaches yo how to elicit the mind's powerful relaxation response to boost your immune system, overcome chronic pain and alleviate the symptoms of a host of stress-related illnesses.  Inspiring, reassuring and practical, Minding the Body, Mending the Mind guides us to a new understanding of illness and health - and shows how each of us can take an active role in healing ourselves".

A great way to start the day

This simple series of Yoga movements (bends and stretches) activate all of your energy centres and has many other benefits.  It  increases circulation, oxygenates the whole body, warms the muscles, releases stiffness from joints, increases flexibility in the spine, increases fitness, health and tones and strengthens the back, abdominals, legs and arms.

The Salute to the Sun (Surya Namaskar)is performed in a single, graceful flow.  Each movement is coordinated with the breath.  Inhale as you extend or stretch, and exhale as you fold or contract.

Different styles of yoga perform the Salute to the Sun with their own variations. However, the flow presented below covers core steps used in most styles.

If you have not done this before, approach it gently and do not overstretch or extend.   Be very aware of what you can feel in your body and only bend or stretch within your comfort zone. 

Just do the basic movements and don't worry that you cannot do the postures as shown - not many people have this level of flexibility.  However with regular use you will notice an increase in flexibility.

After performing the Salute to the Sun, lie down on your back, just allow the breath to come naturally and notice any sensations in your body.

Click on this link to download a PDF copy

The Study of Water - Masaru Emoto

Mr. Emoto has discovered many fascinating differences in the crystalline structures of water from many different sources and different conditions around the planet. Water from pristine mountain streams and springs show the beautifully formed geometric designs in their crystalline patterns.

Polluted and toxic water from industrial and populated areas and stagnated water from water pipes and storage dams show definitively distorted and randomly formed crystalline structures.

Mr. Emoto has been visually documenting these molecular changes in water by means of his photographic techniques. He freezes droplets of water and then examines them under a dark field microscope that has photographic capabilities.

Snow has been falling on the earth for more than a few million years. Each snowflake, as we have been told, has a very unique shape and structure. By freezing water and taking a photograph of the structure, as Mr. Emoto has done, you get incredible information about the water.

His work clearly demonstrates the diversity of the molecular structure of water and the effect of the environment upon the structure of the water.

The body is very much like a sponge and is composed of trillions of chambers called cells that hold liquid. The quality of our life is directly connected to the quality of our water.

There is no doubt that your thoughts affect everything in, and around you.

Masaru Emoto published "The Message from Water" (from which a series of books evolved) detailing the findings of his research.

If you would like to print information about this, you are welcome to open the Water Pics document.