Anxiety is no stranger to any of us and in fact everyone needs to feel anxious sometimes, through this natural emotion the body enables a reaction which pumps adrenaline – the hormone stimulant into our systems.

Adrenaline is enormously important for spurring us on to do challenging and uncongenial tasks, helping us to cope with difficult situations.

Today, our lives seem to be ruled by constantly running from one emotional problem to the next, and unfortunately this is considered to be ‘normal’ life.

This is another excellent reason why ‘good food good health’ has to be part of everybody’s everyday regime, helping our immune system tackle the stress and strains put on our bodies.

Normal anxiety has almost always a cause of which we are aware – such as an exam coming up or an important interview etc, and causes different amount of pressure depending on the individual.

Anxiety becomes problematic when apprehension or worry is experienced for no apparent reason or when situations are deemed far worse than warranted.

A great deal of how we deal with anxiety depends on each individual and their outlook on life and character.

Even though anxiety is an emotional state, physical symptoms can be induced by it. Previously, it was believed that these symptoms were ‘all in the mind’, but it has been proven that some people really do feel pain and become ill from the effects.

The most common affect is of course the need to urinate frequently, of which I am sure we have all experienced, this is definitely myself before flying anywhere.

The most reported symptom of enduring anxiety is pain in the back, head, chest and abdomen. Some sufferers become nauseas and actually vomit. Diarrhoea, dizziness and muscular tension are also common problems.

In the worst cases panic attacks can sometimes occur which generally involve sweating profusely, palpitations and abnormally deep breathing.

For some chronic sufferers it is a vicious repeating cycle, as they can become anxious about being anxious, recurrent attacks that can happen over a period of years – this is known as chronic anxiety. In these cases medical attention should be sought.

Insomnia is another well-known side effect, and this again only adds to the anxiety felt by the sufferer by laying mulling over the problem that is causing concern, making the smallest of problem often seem a giant hurdle in life.

The best self-help to allow your body cope and keep good health under duress is to make sure you are eating good food. A diet rich in vegetables, raw fruit, salads and plenty of proteins will give you a good balance and help to keep your immune system on top.

Carrots, and especially carrot juice is believed to have a calming effect on the nervous system. Camomile tea is another favourite.

Many vitamins are said to help, Vitamins B and C are attributed to help in coping with anxiety and stress, functioning of the central nervous system is said to be improved with Vitamin E, and also calcium, magnesium and zinc minerals.

So by eating a varied nutritional diet these vitamins and minerals should be easy accessed for good food good health to be obtained, otherwise dietary supplements can be taken, but always check with your physician.

The other easy self-help method to try and overcome anxiety is breathing exercises. Controlled breathing exercises calm and relax you. If you have read my previous article on Visualisation Therapy, which I use for relaxation, you will see how easy it is to use and how it can have amazing effects on yourself and your outlook on life.

Many people who suffer from anxiety often tend to dwell on fears and problems making them ill, instead of being positive and this really needs to be addressed. Try to adopt a positive attitude and be kind to yourself, although make sure you are not too indulgent.

Chocolate really does have that good feel factor and a little of what you fancy can be helpful, as so can a glass of wine lift your spirits, but using this as a crutch or using too much obviously has its own side effects.

Aromatherapy is another good mood enhancing remedy, as we all know nice smells lift our spirit and essential oils are a good way of achieving this.

A combination of lavender, sandalwood, clary sage and basil help with panic and anxiety, but if you suffer headache with your anxiety or even muscle tension add camomile and marjoram essential oils.

Why not try using these oils in a pot burner while having a relaxing bath to rid yourself of your daily anxieties.

Listening to music is another great method that helps us to relax, why not try listening to some on a personal stereo or MP3 whilst waiting for that appointment or whatever it is that has you feeling anxious.

Music that appeals to us generally lifts our mood, and sometimes by listening to ‘natural sound’ such as water, whales etc can have a beneficial effect.

Uncovering the root of your anxiety is necessary to help alleviate this problem and talking things through with a good friend can really help or in more severe cases a psychiatrist can be of assistance.

I feel that our outward look on life really does help or aggravate our fight with anxiety throughout our lives, and that by eating good food for good health and keeping a positive attitude can only help to fight the symptoms, maintaining a healthy immune system to keep our bodies in tip top condition.

Remember visualisation is positive food for the brain.

Sandra & Ted

Most of us that are of the female sex and mothers are aware that folic acid, or as it is also known – Vitamin B9, Folate, Folacin or Pteroylglutamic acid is important during pregnancy, although it is an essential vitamin for everyone.

Folic acid was named after the Latin word folium meaning leaf, as scientists first isolated it from green leafy vegetables, and in the 1930′s was identified in helping to prevent low blood cell levels – anaemia.

Natural foods that contain folic acid include citrus fruits, strawberries, leafy green vegetables, dried peas, beans and nuts. Also some breads and cereals are enriched with it.

So by eating a varied diet of good food for good health we can all attain a healthy balance of essential vitamins including folic acid.

Folate – being a water-soluble vitamin is needed in your diet every day, as the body cannot store it, and is easily attainable by eating a well balanced diet.

The amount of folic acid recommended varies greatly in different countries but generally 0.2mcg – 200 micrograms for an adult, increasing to 400 mcg for pregnant women or women thinking of having a baby.

Folate acid is destroyed or greatly reduced in overcooked foods, so lightly cooked or steamed vegetables are best. Salad is a good option.

Sources for folic acid- micrograms per 100 grams /3.5 oz

Dark green leafy vegetables 120 – 160 mcg

Other vegetables 40 – 100 mcg

Beans – legumes 50 – 300 mcg

Breakfast cereals 100 – 400 mcg

Whole grains 60 – 120 mcg

A medium orange has 45 mcg,

AÂ large boiled egg 22 mcg,

Large jacket potato 39 mcg,

10 brussels sprouts 115 mcg,

4 spears asparagus boiled
or steamed 88 mcg

2 spears steamed broccoli 61 mcg,

1oz / 25g wheat germ 100 mcg,

7 tablespoons bran flakes 113 mcg,

One of folates most important functions is that it works in conjunction with vitamin B12 and together form healthy red blood cells.

Signs of folate-deficiency anaemia have symptoms very similar to iron deficiency anaemia, and leave you felling fatigued and weak. A lack of folate can also leave you edgy and grumpy.

Scientists agree that folic acid reduces the risk of neural tube defects – serious birth defects, and say that all women of childbearing age should take it and not just whilst pregnant, as this is often to late to prevent these defects.

Spina bifida and anencephaly are among the most serious defects that folic acid can prevent and reduce the risk by up to 70 per cent.

Anencephaly is a condition resulting from the baby’s brain not developing properly and most or all of the brain tissue is missing, this can often cause stillbirth or death soon after delivery.

Spina bifida occurs when the spinal column of the fetus does not close, this should happen during the first few weeks of pregnancy to protect the spinal cord, resulting in neurological problems and or other deformities.

Studies carried out in the 1960′s and 1970′s between folic acid and cancer connections found that cells from the cervix in women with folate deficiency looked similar to cervix cells showing early signs of cancer, and so suspected a link.

Later by the 1990′s studies found that people were more likely to develop certain cancers when lower blood levels of folic acid were present, such as colorectal and cervical.

It is not exactly clear how folic acid might affect cancer, but it is needed to help cells make and repair DNA when they divide creating new cells, also it is thought to be involved in how cells are able to tune certain genes on and off.

Scientists think that low levels can amount to changes in chemicals that affect DNA, maybe altering how well cells

can repair or divide without making mistakes, which might lead to cancer.

There is promising evidence but not conclusive that folic acid can help prevent cancer, and that it may also depend on when it is taken.

Some researchers are concerned that this may be harmful in people that have pre-cancerous conditions or who already have cancer.

Recently folic acid is also thought to help stave off dementia in the elderly as doctors found those with low levels of folate in the blood face triple the risk of Alzheimer’s developing. People who had high levels were found to have the least risk of mental deterioration.

Higher blood folate levels also suggests it may well ward off strokes and heart disease, and has been shown to reduce levels of an amino acid – homocysteine, as high levels of this has been linked with Alzheimer’s.

So for the elderly it is important that they eat a diet that is folate rich or take supplements. The safe upper level of folic acid is 1,000 micrograms.

A well-balanced varied diet of good food good health is essential for all of us and improves our immune system, which affects our well being, at any age and all stages of our lives.

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We all know cod liver oil is great for the heart but did you know that it has properties that can combat depression also.

I am a great believer in cod liver oil and take supplements of it daily along with the rest of the family. The benefits of taking omega -3 fatty acids, which are a major constituent of cod liver oil, are tremendous and greatly enhance good health.

Now researchers have another claim that it staves off depression and helps to alleviate the symptoms of depression, these new tests carried out have suggested.

The good old Scientists say that by taking a spoonful of cod liver oil or its equivalent a day, cuts the risk by 30 per cent. This is just the latest evidence of the good health benefits of the omega-3 fatty acids.

Researchers carried out tests and examined the health and dietary habits of 22,000 people, aged 40 and over, and guess what they found? The results showed that those who never or rarely consumed cod liver oil had much higher rates of stress, depression and anxiety.

And yes the nine per cent of people who took a spoonful of cod liver oil daily were 30 per cent less likely to be struck down by the blues. The scientists from Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen wrote in the Journal of Affective Disorders that ‘Daily users were less likely to suffer high levels of depression’, relating this to the probable protective effect of omega-3, reassuring this is a good food for your good health.

Did you know that around one fifth of the population at some point of their lives will suffer from depression. In England alone last year, 31 million anti-depressant pills were prescribed, a new record level!

Depression can strike at any age, rendering the sufferer incapable of carrying out many normal daily activities and very difficult to hold down a steady job.

Omega-3s are said to reduce the risk of heart attack and protect against cancer. Recently in the media, it was announced that hospitals were going to give all patients with heart attack and other cardiac problems cod liver oil supplements.

Schools over the last few years have also shown great interest in omega-3, as it is said that it boosts a child’s brain, so much so that some were said to be giving it to pupils daily. Tests were carried out showing that after a child had taken cod liver oil daily over a period of six to eight weeks, their concentration increased and there were less behavioural problems in the class.

As a family we love fish and eat it regularly, but even so, to get the full benefit of the protective effect, you need to eat oily fish for four main meals a week, and so for this reason we take capsules. Today there is no excuse for not taking cod liver oil, as generally the capsules are odourless and do not repeat, very different to my first introduction to it.

Mum used to give it me on a spoon daily and I dreaded it. I was always sure my friends at school could smell it, and this caused more arguments at home than any thing else. But now I really appreciate mum for her perseverance, especially as experts are still finding more and more benefits of regular consumption of cod liver oil.

Oily fish such as mackerel, trout and salmon are not the only source of omega-3, Walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil are naturally good sources too.

Of course you can also get your daily requirements from foods that are produced now that are enriched with the nutrient, this includes some types of milk, eggs and margarine spreads. Many yoghurts and yoghurt type drinks are manufactured with omega-3.

For optimum health the daily amount experts recommend we consume is 0.5mg of omega-3.

The oil is extracted from the liver by steaming and then pressing, and is rich in vitamins A and D.

Over the years cod liver oil was given to wartime children because of the lack of good food, the high vitamin content improved their physical good health, it

was also distributed free to pregnant women and nursing mothers.

So do not forget good food is good health

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Well at this time of year we are lucky if we are not suffering from the symptoms of coughs or colds, keeping them at bay is not easy especially when you have to travel in close proximity to others on busses and trains.

Keeping the immune system strong by eating a well-balanced varied diet-’good food good health’ gives our bodies the best chance at fighting viruses and infections.

Also keeping body fluid levels up is as always very important, and often gets overlooked during the winter month’s when people often drink less, so make sure a drink is always at hand.

Children can go from one cold to another as nurseries and schools are often a haven for illness, in what seems a continuous period of illness and is very distressing for parents.

The most common illness is the common cold, which features – sore throat, runny nose, earache and a chesty cough, and generally lasts seven to ten days.

Sometimes fever is a feature too, which many parents find very worrying, generally only temperatures of 39C and above cause concern to health professionals, but nobody knows your child like you, and I believe we have a great instinct on these things and if in doubt should always consult medical advice.

Most of these symptoms can be alleviated with regular treatment of paracetamol or ibuprofen syrup that your pharmacist can assist you with.

Honey is excellent for coughs and sore throats, but is not recommended for children under the age of one.

Honey being natural and full of anti-oxidants and antimicrobial agents, tastes great and is relatively cheap compared to many cough syrups. Research has shown that honey has proven to be better in alleviating symptoms of colds and infections than over the counter products.

Mix honey with other ingredients such as ginger and lemon, just as my Nan used to many years ago, quick and easy and has a good shelf life.

Decongesting the nose often helps relieve stuffiness and earache. There are several nasal sprays on the market for adults that help, but for children are not advised, and I really think if I had tried to administer these to my children when they were young, would have been quite a fight and stressed myself and them more. Some cough medicines come as an all-in-one and include a decongestant.

Olbas oil and Karvol are recommended for children, and if you can create a steam as in the bathroom after a shower by adding to hot water works well.

Two variants of the common cold that are very distressing to the child and parent alike are croup and bronchitis.

Young children aged one and upwards often suffer from a cold called ‘croup’ that affects the upper airways and voice box. This produces a distinctive cough sounding a bit like a gruff dog or sea lion barking. This cough comes in spasms and can last for a few minutes, and is generally worse at night.

Using steam can help break up the cough.

Bronchitis affects children under the age of one. It causes runny noses and a very chesty cough that often leaves the baby or child with breathing and feeding problems. It can be a virus called RSV -Respiratory Syncitial Virus.

Bronchitis can be serious especially in the very young and requires medical help. Those in most need show a very fast rate of breathing, look out for the spaces between the ribs being sucked inward and the windpipe appearing to be moved up and down the neck.

Earache is always nasty, and is often due to a catarrh build up in the nasal passages, blocking and pulling the eardrum inward and can be relieved by use of decongestants and pain relief.

Ear infections are rarely given anti-biotics nowadays, as many GP’s say that recent research has shown that they make little difference to the length of illness, and often have side effects such as diarrhoea and sickness.

Make children’s meal times fun, try introducing new foods often into their diets to keep a healthy well balanced diet, with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, but while they are feeling poorly chicken soup is by far the best, it is easy to consume and very nourishing.

Chicken soup is a great way to build a child up as it has several ingredients that affect the immune system, and specifically anti-inflammatory properties that ease the discomfort of colds and flu and soothes sore throats.

Home made is the best but tinned varieties still have excellent medicinal properties.

Ice cream and ice lollies are also a good way of soothing a sore throat and help to keep the fluid level up, which is extremely important in times of illness, as children often go of their food when they are ‘bunged up’.

Our children are important to us, so it is only fair to give them good food for good health.

Sandra & Ted

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Sandra Ted

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Did you know lurking at the back of your kitchen cupboard you probably have a jar of honey that good old grandma gave you and has never seen the light of day.

Well if you have children and they have coughs, colds or sore throats, honey is great for helping to alleviate the problem.

As we always say you are what you eat and that ‘good food good health’ is the basis for a healthy life and healthy outlook on life. By adding honey to your diet is definitely a step in the right direction.

For centuries the healing power of honey has been legendary, and new research finds that it truly is a ‘miracle of nature’.

This golden sticky liquid made from nectar by bees is full of antioxidants that are great for us, and also antimicrobial agents that help to fight infection.

So now you can see why it is time to add this golden nectar to your regular shopping list, as its uses are endless and is the healthiest way to s

weeten your diet, being completely natural and not refined or processed like other sweeteners.

Honey was used abundantly in ancient times, especially being spread on wounds to stop infection, prevent gangrene and improve recovery, and therefore was an important item on the battlefield – a fore runner to antiseptic cream today.

My grandparents swore by a mixture of honey, a dash of vinegar or lemon and a little boiling water mixed together as a remedy for coughs and colds. I remember taking this many times, and especially just before bed it really did help. It was great for sore throats too.

Recent research carried out has shown that it easily outperforms a pharmaceutical cough suppressant that is widely used in many of the popular children’s medicines on sale today.

The key active ingredient in many over the counter cough mixtures is Dextromethorphan or (DM), and is even used in flavoured syrups as well, but was found not to work as well as a spoonful of ordinary buckwheat honey given before bedtime.

They found honey did a better job of reducing and soothing the frequency, severity and bothersome nature of coughs and colds, thus giving a positive effect on the child and parent by enabling a better quality of sleep.

During the tests DM made no appreciable difference to symptoms compared when offering no treatment at all, unlike honey.

Researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine in Pennsylvania said ‘Our study adds to the growing literature questioning the use of DM in children, but it also offers a legitimate and safe alternative for physicians and parents’.

Recently in the United States there have been deaths in young children linked to over the counter cough and cold remedies, and it was disclosed that they have been found to cause serious side effects in children under the age of two.

Some of the same ingredients used in the American remedies are also included in some British brands as well – including some of the most popular, but if taken at the correct amount and intervals have been deemed safe.

Therefore if we can use honey, with it being completely natural must be a plus and with its great flavour should be easier to administer to our little ones.

The researchers also suggested that parents that regularly bought expensive cough medicines might be wasting their money.

As always, medical assistance should be sought with persistent coughs and colds whether in children or adults and if honey is great for children then it is also excellent for adults as well.

Being able to use natural substance and knowing there are no additives is a great bonus, when you look at the length of the list of ingredients on some cough remedies it is amazing, especially today when we are trying to be more aware of what we put into our bodies.

So perhaps we should keep honey in the bathroom cabinet as well as the kitchen.

Yet again you can see that we are what we eat, so just remember good food is good health.

Sandra & Ted

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Did you know that Diesel Fumes are destroying our Health?

Most of us today drive, and in many families each member possesses their own vehicle, and being honest we too can be counted in this category.

Ted and I have our own cars and so does the eldest daughter, the youngest will be starting driving lessons next week on her seventeenth birthday and would love her own car, and I guess we are just like every other family up and down the country.

But do we really need them? If we all knew the damage that we are doing to ourselves perhaps we might think twice and cut back.

With the amount of cars and lorries on the road today, especially in towns and cities, we all know pollution from fumes are bound to build up, but did you realise that our health suffers, our arteries are being clogged up by these fumes, leading to an increase of strokes and heart attacks.

Pollution is causing deadly hardening of the arteries through a chain reaction in the blood, from the exhaust emissions of cars, busses and lorries.

This is really bad news for people who suffer from chronic heart disease and lung conditions. Staying outside when pollution levels are high for any period of time should be avoided, to minimise any problems.

I find this quite disturbing as although I feel and look completely healthy, through contracting bronchial pneumonia as a teenager and having a really nasty chest infection two years ago, I am now considered to have COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

I am so pleased that the new ‘no smoking in public enclosed areas’ has become law, so now we can enjoy having a drink, eating a meal or dancing in a club, with clean air around us and our clothes and hair still smell fresh. More importantly not breathing in second hand smoke. I have never smoked a cigarette in my life, but I do wonder how many I have passively smoked without knowing it and how its damaged my health.

For some time now scientists have known about the link between strokes and heart disease with pollution, but only recently have found through a new study that blood vessel inflammation is caused by fine particles of diesel pollution, these particles ‘work’ with an artery clogging cholesterol which then switch on the genes to cause the inflammation.

I think we all know that we are guilty of causing pollution, but we have grown up enjoying our freedom, myself too, and it is so very hard to give up or change out ways, but small changes really do help.

There are several schemes where people can share driving into work; I do this with my friend three days a week. Not only is it beneficial to the environment, it saves money through only one parking and petrol payment and obviously less wear and tear.

The school run is one of the biggest offenders, when our vehicles probably are lucky to get off choke. We were lucky with our primary school being only 800 metres or so from home, that we always walked, but the pressure was there from the children who saw others being ferried by car, living just a couple of doors away, who did not get cold or wet. So some days it was a battle but the only time I gave in was due to illness.

Park and ride schemes are good, keeping more vehicles out of our town centres helping to eliminate some of the pollution. Unfortunately in our area these services do not run on Sundays or bank holidays, when nowadays towns are just as busy as a regular working day.

Not only does the pollution cause us great harm, but also our wildlife and plants. Many trees in cities and towns are dying because of the fumes. We really do need to act now, however small, to try and curb some of our wasted journeys.

I have heard people saying, we do not have to worry as we live in the country side and the air is of good quality, but if we all think like this and carry on as we are the country side is going to suffer as well.

For our health and our children’s health we really should all be trying to cut back, a study found that new asthma cases are on the increase in general but has sharply elevated in children over the last decade. These findings were especially high in areas where there is more pollution from exhaust fumes.

Do not forget good food is good health

Sandra and Ted

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Are you like me, confused from the amount of information we have been given recently about the amount of salt in our food and how it can affect our health. We are told having too much salt causes health problems but then again too little can also be detrimental to our health Salt consists of about 40 per cent sodium and is a mineral, in virtually all-basic foods – from fruits and vegetables to common tap water, sodium is present in small amounts.

For maintaining good health we all do need some sodium in our diet, but too much, and especially continuous high amounts causes high blood pressure, this greatly increases the risk of developing heart disease and strokes.

I believe more and more of us are aware of these health risks due to recent media coverage, but lesser known is that it is also linked to stomach cancer and brittle bones. Water retention is also a side effect.

The latest information we have been given is that consuming too much salt in out diet can give you ulcers, according to new research carried out. Ulcers affect one in eight people’s health in Britain, and salt has been found to help nurture the bacteria behind most stomach ulcers, leading to symptoms ranging from mild burning sensations to actually vomiting blood.

Many of these cases are caused by the Heliobacter pylori bacterium, which tricks the stomach into the over production of acid, hence causing ulcers and ill health. Researchers at the American Health Sciences University, found that high levels of salt are causing genetic changes in this bug making it all the more powerful, and warned that we should all learn about the health risks associated with too much salt.

The food Standards Agency recommends that adults should eat no more than 6g of salt, which is equivalent to around 2.5g of sodium. For children, obviously it varies with age as shown in the table below

salt           sodium

up to 6 months old – less than    1g               0.4 mg

6 – 12 months                          1g               0.4mg

1-3 year olds                            2g              800mg

4-6 year olds                             3g             1.2g

7-10 year olds                           5g               2g

Children over 11 years              6g              2.4g

An easy way to calculate salt from sodium, is to multiply the amount of sodium by 2.5, this can be very helpful when calculating the amount of salt on some food products where labelling is confusing.

Naturally, parents should not add salt to children’s food and definitely not to babies as their kidneys are unable to process high levels of it, and in fact it has been known that too much of it has been fatal in children under the age of one.

We are becoming aware that for good health we should know exactly what salt we are consuming in our diet, but it is difficult today to know just how much as more and more people today eat ready meals and processed foods, and these products do not always have clear and precise quantities shown.

Food manufacturers are adding sodium to many types of food that we would never have dreamt contained it, or of the quantity, because apparently our palette ‘taste buds’ have changed over the years saying that consumers expect this ‘taste’ now. Our taste buds are generally a good guide to how salty our food is, but manufacturers also frequently use sugars in these foods that disguise the saltiness and fools our taste buds!

Experts now say that generally only 6 per cent of salt is actually added to food at the table, 9 per cent added while cooking and a whopping 75 per cent of all what we consume comes from processed foods and this includes bread, puddings and breakfast cereals.

Health professionals have been campaigning for clear labelling of the quantity used in the manufacturing of foods and for greater awareness of the health concerns with eating too much salt, and I hope after reading this article you will be more familiar with the health concerns attributed to high salt consumption.

So now we all need to get used to scrutinising product labels, and remember not to confuse salt with sodium when doing this. A high salt product is one with 1.5g (0.6g sodium) or higher content per 100g of product, so anything with a lower level is a much healthier choice, and obviously the lower the content all the better for your good health.

If you are a fan of the salt cellar and regularly add it to your food, the best way to cut down on this is to give your taste buds an alternative healthier flavour enhancer. There are many you can try, garlic is one, black pepper freshly ground is excellent, try using lemon juice or fresh herbs and spices to add great taste. Chilli is also another good one to try but is an acquired taste.

Another way to wean yourself of too much is to gradually reduce the amount you are adding to your food, allowing your taste buds to adjust.

Hyponatremia is a condition when someone has a lack of sodium, and when this is left untreated can cause dizziness, confusion and unexplained tiredness.

Hyponatremia is more likely to affect the elderly, especially if they are using diuretics. Diuretic drugs are used to treat problems such as high blood pressure and heart conditions, reducing the level of excess fluid in the body that can affect the essential body salt (or electrolytes) levels that are needed to maintain good health and vital functions.

Only this year a marathon runner died not long after finishing his race, and the diagnosis was due to drinking so much water, that by urinating and sweating profusely he had lost too many body salts.

So obviously there is a worry that some over zealous health conscientious people might cut down too low on salt intake and cause problems for themselves. Eating a healthy balanced diet is always best for good health.

So like myself now, do not forget to make it a habit to read your food product labels including bread whether you purchase it from a bakery or supermarket as it is always included in the ingredients, to make sure you are only eating the healthy required amount. I know this can be confusing and tedious but it is for our advantage.

Sandra and Ted

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Do you ever wonder how marvellous our brains are, or just take it for granted like every other organ in our body?

Visualisation therapy is something everyone can use to make them selves feel better and more positive about their health and lives, and we actually do it without knowing – in our dreams.

I believe a positive attitude is like good food for your brain of which our bodies feed off, just the same as ‘good food good health’ makes our bodies strong – a positive attitude keeps our minds strong.

Have you ever wondered why some people just seem to always be feeling on top of the world, running their family life and holding down a career? Well these people have a positive attitude and see things clearly and balanced.

Then we see other people who go from one problem to another who are often very negative in their thoughts, and who always believe they are unlucky as it seems ‘bad’ things only ever happen to them.

The power of the mind is a powerful force, and we need to be able to put ourselves in the right ‘mind set’ to be able to unleash this and benefit our health by reinforcing positive feelings.

There are so many views from specialists saying that we have lost use of some of the features our brain used thousands of years ago, even though through evolution we are far more advanced in many other aspects.

With visualisation therapy you use mental pictures. Making images is a natural mental process that occurs every night during dreams and visualisation is very similar, but this involves making a deliberate attempt with the conscious mind to imagine particularly beneficial events.

I believe that mind and body are not separate – well literally I know they are, but a body with out a mind or a mind with out a body just doesn’t work, but that they affect each other directly so that thoughts have physical effects as well as mental ones.

Visualisation works in that there is a close link between emotions, images and sensations. Our emotions are accompanied by physical sensations such as a sad face when we are unhappy or a deep sigh, as is a laugh or smile when we are happy, and so images call up emotions and emotions are experienced in terms of images.

I bet like me you can picture a funny event that has happened to you or a loved one that brings a smile to your face, and then people around you wonder what you are smiling at.

One of the best visual images I use to make myself feel better, and I am sure a lot of you do it as well is to imagine laying on a hot sunny beach faraway from any body, listening to the breeze in the trees and the crash of the waves. This relaxes me and always lifts my mood as well and seems to make by body feel warmer.

This is visualisation.

This is what I use when I feel tense or want to unwind after a hectic day, and is especially good in the dentist’s waiting room!

In everyday life people often tend to dwell on fears and problems, making them ill, instead of being positive.

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I use visualisation for relaxation and breathing exercises, as you will know if you have read other articles I have written that I suffer from COPD- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

For this condition I do practice breathing exercises- diaphragmatic, to ensure natural full use of the whole lung, and whilst doing this I visualise a circle in front of me, imagining I am drawing one half of the circle with my breath as I inhale and the other half when I exhale.

Continue to do this until your circle seems as smooth and as round as you can make it. Then after this spend a few minutes visualising your breath in travelling from the tip of your toes up your body along your spine to the top of your head and your breath out the reverse, through your head, down your spine and legs to your toes, this has the added benefit of enhancing the effect of muscular relaxation and most of us could do with this.

I also visualise a shield, I am not sure if that is the right word, but a protective layer around my lungs and internal organs that defends from external viruses, that goes round and round like a vortex – writing this makes it sound silly like something from ‘star trek’, but I just apply it every morning when I get up like clockwork now.

I repeat this process several times, and when I first started I would sometimes giggle at myself and have to start over, but I have mastered it now and the mental picture is so easy for me to recall that I can do this exercise anywhere such as commuting to work or even walking the dog!

Visualisation is the rediscovery of an ancient art used in healing from early times and was used by ‘witchdoctors’ or ‘shamans’ in Africa and South America, and was an integral part of most oriental therapies.

Many people will link this to ‘voodoo’ where the power of visualisation and thought was used and was said to have a strong hold on any person it was cast – although the person had to believe, so this just shows if you believe something how great an effect it can have.

Visualisation has been studied many times over the years and today is often used for relaxation in cancer patients.

Edmund Jacobson, an American, who in the 1920’s discovered that when a subject visualised himself running the muscles in his legs would twitch involuntary, and the same for other images and corresponding parts of the body.

It does not cost anything to do visualisation; it just takes a little time and practice, although you can go to a practicing therapist first to teach you the techniques.

There can be great benefit even if only used for relaxation to de-stress us from our busy lives. So do not forget to take time out to relax and eat a healthy diet as good food is good health and a healthy mind is a healthy body.

The other proven way of course is to listen to binaural music. Depending on what you want to achieve the music applies to that part of the brain to apply all its energy to this task whether it is sleeping, thinking or even giving up smoking. See our link in our resource box for Quantum mind power for more information.

Just remember good food is good health.

Sandra & Ted

http://www.goodfoodgoodhealth.com

http://www.thetalkingbooksite.com

http://www.quantum-mind-power.com

If you read my last article on those beastly little cold viruses that plague us all, you will know that your best line of defence is keeping your immune system in tip top condition. Not just for fighting colds but for any infection or illness that our body encounters.

Colds are one of the most common reasons we have time off work through the winter period and hospital beds are tied up with cold and flu cases. Colds and flu viruses are the biggest single killer of the elderly over winter.

I really cannot stress how everybody should take our motto “good food good health” of eating a nutritionally balanced diet to give your body the best fighting chance at beating off viruses and illness.

Although diet is the main factor in keeping your immune system up to scratch, other factors are equally important, I believe sleep is also so very important and that we should all look at our sleep patterns and make sure we get a good seven hours sleep a night. A good nights sleep increases the release of immune stimulating hormones.

Stress is another strong factor, as this puts our body under untold pressure. People who have busy lives are generally under great amounts of stress and although all of us actually perform better when under a small amount of pressure, constant high stress levels are most certainly not good for us.

A lot of people are actually highly stressed because they cannot sleep, and therefore it is a vicious circle for many, this greatly weakens their immune system making it easier for them to be the victim of colds and other ailments, always feeling lethargic and rundown.

Our immune system is a highly specialised network of cells and organs working together, protecting us from bacterial and viral infections.

Obviously during the winter period our bodies are much more susceptible to viruses especially colds and flu, so to help maintain a healthy immune system we need to make sure we are eating a nutritionally balanced diet rich in minerals and vitamins that are vital for this.

So “good food good health” really is the key. I know that during the winter months our diets alter but we still really do need to eat the five portions of different fruit and vegetables a day.

There are plenty of cheap vegetables at this time of the year and dried fruit counts just the same as fresh, also frozen fruit and veg is equally good, even some tinned fruit and vegetables count as well, as does a serving of fruit juice. There are also some very good vegetable drinks available now.

Another steadfast recipe of my dear old Nan is chicken soup or broth. Home made is best of course but even tinned is excellent and it is a proven fact that it helps to combat colds, flu and chills.

Eating a healthy diet does not have to be expensive if you try to use seasonal fruit and vegetables, and farm shops and markets give excellent value for money.

Relaxation is important to keep stress levels under control, and laughing is known to reduce stress hormones and increase the immune systems activity. So taking a little time out of your busy schedule will only benefit you, even if it is only putting your feet up for half an hour and watching a good comedy, chasing the children around the garden or park, anything that makes you feel good.

Exercise carried out in moderation regularly is beneficial for the immune system, reducing the risk of common infections and also help protect us from serious diseases too such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer.

30 minutes a day of moderate intensity five days a week is thought to be the recommended exercise regime, and the 30 minutes does not have to be carried out all at the same time, it can be broken down into smaller periods to work into your schedule.

Wrapping up warm may help to keep colds at bay even though colds are caused by viruses and not by chilly weather. But being chilly makes blood vessels constrict, especially in the nose inhibiting immune response and making it more likely that viruses can take hold. So perhaps our parents and grandparents were right in telling us to dress sensibly after all!

The main vitamins and minerals we need for a healthy immune system are vitamin B6, C, D, E and copper, selenium and zinc. Although it is best to get these through a varied diet many of us would benefit from taking supplements through the winter periods, there are many reputable supplements and suppliers that can be taken to enhance and top up your diet.

Vitamin B6 is found in vegetables, whole cereals, bread, milk, pork, chicken and cod. It is available in supplement on its own or in a vitamin B complex.

Vitamin C is found in fruit and vegetables especially oranges, kiwis, peppers, broccoli and yams, and is available in supplements and tonics.

Vitamin D is found in oily fish and eggs. Is formed in the body when skin is exposed to sunlight and readily available in supplement form.

Vitamin E is found in nuts, seeds, wheat germ and plant oils such as soya, rape and corn. Available in supplement form.

So just take a look at your usual diet and see if there is any of the above requirements missing, and if so add these into your meals and get the natural benefits of good food good health.

Making meal times fun is a great way of getting children to eat vegetables they like and to add new ones to their diets, be a little imaginary when serving up.

For Children, many of the cereals that are now targeted at them often do have added vitamins, but I believe it still is best for whole grain cereals and plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy products.

I am a strong believer in the power of garlic, and have long taken it in a supplement form to help my body fight colds. Many countries have used it not only in cooking, but some believe rubbing it on the soles of their feet helps too! not one I feel inclined to try. Garlic is also a strong natural antiseptic.

Do not forget good food is good health

Sandra & Ted

http://www.goodfoodgoodhealth.com

http://www.thetalkingbooksite.com

http://www.quantum-mind-power.com