Dour Addict

Posted By Ronnie Bohnert on October 10, 2013

Q I’m worried that by detoxing then dieting during the winter months I’m going to compromise my immunity. How can I ensure I avoid bugs while trying to lose weight?

 

There are a number of factors which may challenge your immune system during your efforts to be healthier. Exercise is a healthy addition to a dieting and detoxing regime, however starting a new workout routine or increasing intensity of workouts may compromise immune function and give you greater susceptibility to illness.

 

In addition the benefits of coconut oil, fat cells store pollutants and toxins. As you lose weight, these toxins are released into your bloodstream, which may tax immune function.

 

Suggestions for improving immunity during dieting and detoxing include the following.

 

1Ensure pathways of elimination are fully functioning, and drink two litres of water daily.

 

Increase fibre to ensure regular bowel movements. Quality sources include: apples, ground flaxseeds, oats, whole grains and green leafy vegetables.

 

Eat foods rich in nutrients that support liver detoxification. Protein, from fish, eggs, and legumes, provides amino acids which are essential for the body’s proper detoxification. B vitamins are also important for health. Quality sources include eggs, fish, legumes, avocado, mushrooms, spelt, and dark green vegetables.

 

Increase your intake of antioxidant and immune-supporting nutrients like vitamin C. Sources include berries, citrus fruit, and green vegetables. Bee propolis, elderberry, olive leaf and beta glucans all strengthen immunity.

 

Q Since Christmas I’ve felt so down in the dumps and unmotivated. What can I do to get myself feeling back on track?

 

The first thing to remember is that a lot of people suffer from winter or post-Christmas blues. I always think it is good to remember this because it is easy to feel alone with your feelings.

 

Light therapy is effective. It is not available on the NHS but see for some recommended light box manufacturers. Cognitive behaviour therapy can be of use. It shows the links between our thoughts, feelings and actions. It is important to make time for yourself to relax, so at least once a week do something you enjoy, be it going for coffee or a massage. Take time to treat and appreciate yourself. Supplementing with Vitamin D3 and omega 3 fish oils is also thought to be helpful in countering low mood.

 

Practise mindfulness tonight when you brush your teeth, instead of letting your mind wander, spend some time focusing on brushing your teeth, the sensations you feel and the sounds and how it makes you feel. You can try this whenever you are doing anything routine, from washing up to having a shower. Becoming more aware can help distract us from our internal chatter and leave a clearer mind.

 

More than 100 scientific studies have shown the benefits of meditations. You can give it a go yourself by sitting comfortably with your eyes closed and trying to quieten your mind. A good way to try is to count as high as you can before your thoughts come in and distract you. Most people rarely get above three so don’t feel frustrated. It is normal to have thoughts coming in, so it is important to just push these thoughts away and start again and not to get frustrated.

 

Q I’ve realised I’ve been thinking a bit too much alcohol for quite a while. I want to change this for the new year. Can you help please?

 

A Firstly see drinking too much as something you do rather than as a facet of your personality.

 

This makes it easier to change. Then getting leverage on yourself is important. Your nervous system is hard-wired to create motivation by avoiding pain and gaining pleasure. Let’s start with the pain. Think of how Scrooge was motivated in A Christmas Carol by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Take a piece of paper and divide it into three columns. In the first column write down what your drinking has cost you in the past; physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. In the middle column do the same for what your drinking is costing you right now in the present. In the final column write down what your drinking will cost you in the future if you don’t change it.

 

Now for the pleasure bit! Take another piece of paper and write on it all the ways that your life will improve when you stop drinking too much. The mistake that most people make about habits is that they believe they are random, whereas actually they follow patterns. You will have subconscious triggers that make you drink too much. You need to become consciously aware of these, because you can’t control something that you are not aware of.

 

Keep a diary for two weeks. Make an entry for every alcoholic drink you have. For each entry complete the following; the date, the exact time to the minute, where you were, who you were with, what you were doing, how you were feeling and your purpose in having that particular drink.

 

This will give you all of your triggers for drinking. Once you know them, you can avoid them or just decide to do something different when they occur. It won’t happen overnight but do it for a month and a new pattern of behaviour will be installed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted By Ronnie Bohnert on September 24, 2013

We tend to associate great psychological highs and emotional buzzes with alcohol, drugs, chocolate binges or perhaps leaping from a plane with a parachute strapped to your back ‑ but there’s no need to risk your health or sanity to enjoy a much-needed fillip. Instead, why not make the most of a simple, guilt-free pick-me-up? Here are 20 of the best natural ways to get the feel good factor…

PAY SOMEONE A COMPLIMENT

 

When it comes to being nice to others, you reap what you sow, says Trudy Hill, psychologist at the Susie Ambrose Clinic. “Reciprocal liking is the key element – we all like to be liked, and if someone thinks you like them they are much more likely to like you back,” she says. “If you feel liked, it’ll make you feel good – it’s as simple as that.”

 

Make a start on what you’ve been stopping your finances, tidying the house… whatever it is, if you delay it, you can start to worry about it, until it becomes a bigger problem than it needs to be. “The classic thing is to quickly tidy your desk,” says hypnotherapist and confidence coach Caroline Carr. “It’ll make an amazing difference to how you feel.” And if something larger is looming? “Make a plan. Break it up into bite-size chunks. Then forget ‘ tomorrow.”

 

Be fishy

A lot of women fail to get enough omega 3s in their diet, possibly due to cutting back on calories from fats. ‘The higher your blood levels of omega 3 fats, the higher your levels of serotonin are likely to be, as omega 3 helps increase the reception of serotonin in the brain,” says nutritionist Julia Alderman. “Snack on some walnuts, drink green coffee or try sardines on rye toast.”

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Posted By Ronnie Bohnert on May 23, 2013

Of the hundreds of kinds of rodents around the world, four main species of rats have in­timately linked their destinies with man’s (pages 66-7). These nocturnal scavengers, along with the common house mouse, wear the label “commensal,” meaning literally that they share our table. From their common homeland in Asia, they have hitchhiked on camel caravans and covered wagons, on ships and airplanes, and with us they have con­quered the world.

Meet them:

•             Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus). Overrun­ning Europe in the 1700′s, the “huge mouse” stowed away on vessels of every maritime nation, including Norway, thus unfairly ac­quiring the name of that lovely land. This burly burrower is the principal rat of the United States and is regarded by many experts as the most destructive mammal on earth.

•             Roof rat (R. rattus). Bearer of the plague that decimated Europe, the daintier, agile roof rat inhabits both burrows and above­ground nests, often in ceilings and

attics. Only it and the Norway species make their homes in the continental U. S.

•             Polynesian rat (R. exulans). When daring mariners colonized Pacific islands three thou­sand years ago, they carried rats with them, perhaps as a self-replenishing source of food. Today the destructive little “Poly” is found from its native Southeast Asia to New Zealand and Hawaii.

•             Lesser bandicoot (Bandicota bengalensis). Scourge of southern Asia, the shaggy bandi­coot gorges in grainfield and granary, hoard­ing in its burrow four to eight times as much as it devours on the surface. In recent decades bandicoots have spread from the fields to become the dominant rat in many of India’s villages and cities—commensalism evolving before our eyes. No other rat equals their staggering reproduction rate—a litter a month for each female, seven pups per litter.

The Heroes—a Small Band of “Rat Men”

These are earth’s most destructive four-legged creatures. And against them, a small and beleaguered fraternity of “rat men”—affiliated with universities and governments, pest-control companies and sprawling United Nations agencies—wage a silent, almost anonymous struggle around the globe.

As photographer Jim Stanfield and I em­barked for front-line coverage of the struggle, we mulled a friendly word of warning from biologist Michael Fall, a U. S. Fish and Wild­life Service specialist who has helped combat cropland rats on four continents.

“To someone who lives in the temperate zone,” Mike Fall cautioned, “the rat problem in the tropics defies comprehension.”

Comprehension dawned beneath a blazing Philippine sun as an airboat whisked us across a vast swamp on Luzon. Our pilot was Russell F. Reidinger, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist assigned to the Rodent Re­search Center (RRc) at Los Banos, a project of the Philippine Government and the U. S. Agency for International Development (AID).

“The marsh is a great place for growing rice,” explained Russ. “Unfortunately, it’s also a great place for rats. You can have a population of one per square yard in a place like this.” Dozens of rodents—a subspecies of the roof rat—scattered before our speeding vehicle, scurrying into mats of water hyacinths, leap­ing like frogs from lily pads.

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