Reducing stress levels to help your cholesterol

The usual, simple advice is:

• Eat a healthy, balanced diet
• Take regular exercise
• Stop smoking and take alcohol in moderation

The balanced diet idea is straight forward enough, but the nature of stress is that it tends to make us reach for high fat, high sugar foods for an energy boost.  Also, eating 'bad' foods makes us feel better emotionally which helps us manage the stress!

Try boosting your diet with

• Vitamin C - boost the immune system which is supressed by stress. Eat more kiwi fruit, citrus fruit, berries, red peppers and green leafy veg
• L-theanine - an amino acid found in the tea plant which has a calming effect - hence the great British 'reach for a cup of tea' in a crisis.
• Magnesium - low magnesium levels contribute to poor sleep, anxiety and irregular heartbeat.  Eat dark green leafy veg, whole grains, nuts, seeds and seafood
• B vitamins  - help support the nervous system and balance moods and energy levels. Eat whole grains and dark green leafy veg.
• Potassium - helps maintain blood pressure. Increase your fruit and veg especially bananas, potatoes, fruit juice and avocados. Potassium is also found in milk, tea, meat, fish, nuts, seeds and coffee.
• Omega 3 fats - lower noradrenaline levels (thus reducing stress), may protect against depression and help mood regulation. Found in oil rich fish such as tuna, mackerel, salmon and trout
• Tryptophan - Helps control appetite, raising levels of serotonin which make you feel better and calmer and sleep better. Eat more turkey, milk, red meat and soya.
• ALA - Is a plant form of Omega-3 and helps reduce anxiety. Found in nuts and seeds but particularly walnuts.

Take some snacks to work which fit these broad guidelines - otherwise it is all too easy to eat cake and biscuits! I like Graze boxes (www.graze.co.uk) as you can choose the kinds of snacks you like and get them delivered to work. Get a voucher for 2 free boxes as you can try them out then.

However, you can also try

• Yoga or meditation to help calm yourself
• Take up a sport you enjoy - dance class, zumba, swimming etc. Something that you can fit into your normal week routine
• Listen to music
• Meet up with friends
• Do things you enjoy - go to the cinema, garden, read - whatever floats your boat!
• Make the most of your journey to and from work - listen to the radio, download some good podcasts to your ipod, read a book - anything but work!
• Make time at the weekend for yourself - start small (so you don't feel guilty for not working) and then flex with your work load. 

These are straight forward, easy to implement life changes which in turn will help you sleep better, feel better and in turn help your cholesterol levels.

What happens in a homeopathic appointment?

 

The first appointment

An initial homeopathic consultation will last around 1 hour and during that time we will talk about your son/daughters health problems,how they are feeling and how their symptoms affect their everyday life.

We will discuss their health issues – the specific symptoms they are suffering with whether they are physical, emotional or a combination of both.  We will also explore their personal and family medical history since these often hold other clues about how they got to their current state of health.

In order to get to know and understand your child, we will spend time chatting to them (depending on their age!) and watching them play.  Since homeopathy treats the whole of the person and not just their symptoms it is important for us to gain a sense of who they are. 

With your permission, older children (and especially teens) may be offered the opportunity to chat to me on their own.  Getting the child’s insight into their health condition and how it affects them is very important, as well as using the important information you as parents bring to the consultation.  If you come and see us at the Low-cost clinic in Canterbury, we may well arrange to chat to your school age child by Facetime or Skype at a later time (since the clinic is held during the day).

Follow-up Appointments

After the initial appointment, we will meet again to discuss your child’s progress around a month later.  This appointment will last for around 30-45 minutes and we will discuss what changes there have been to their symptoms and to their behaviour and mood.

How long will my child need treatment for?

This depends on how long they have been ill for.  Generally speaking, the longer the child has been ill, the longer they need to stay in treatment for; commonly a minimum of 4 appointments is normally recommended, but this varies. The approximate rule of thumb is one month of treatment for each year of illness.  However, since Homeopathy treats your child as an individual, it may take time to find the right remedy to help them.

Many parents choose to keep their children in long term treatment to maintain their level of health and lower the risks of developing any other illness. These patients generally have 1 or 2 visits a year as a kind of MOT to keep them as well as possible.

What if my child develops a minor illness during treatment?
If in doubt please get in touch. For example you may have come to see us since your child has sleep problems and recurrent ear infections, but if your child then develops another minor illness such as a cough, or tonsillitis please call us.  This is useful information for us to have and we can also offer support for treating this illness too.

Think of different episodes of minor illnesses and facets of your child's personality and behaviour as being jigsaw pieces - they are all part of the same child and all provide useful information for us to understand your child and the remedy they may need.

Medications

If your child is currently taking any prescribed medications, please bring a list of these with you to the consultation.  The responsibility for changing how you give these medications lies with you and your doctor; your current regime of medical treatment must not be altered without consultation with your GP.

Confidentiality

Generally the law protects the confidentiality between a client and the homeopath.  We are both registered with the Society of Homeopaths and work according to their code of ethics and practice.

However there are exceptions to this strict confidentiality which include suspected child abuse, abuse towards a dependant adult or elder, a threat of serious bodily harm to another person or if a client intends to harm themselves.  In any such instance, the appropriate agency will be contacted.