By Dr Barry Peatfield and Nikki Tovell
Vitamin C:
Powerful adrenal helper, and therefore immune system too. Also acts as
antioxidant, eliminating free radicals which cause damage to your body;
builds collagen (the elastic fibres that keep your skin, bones, hair and
nails supple and strong), helps maintain cellular integrity. The adrenals
have the highest concentration of vitamin C than any other organ in the
body. You need to take an awful lot more vitamin C than you probably realise
to maintain optimum health, and that applies even more so when you've
been ill for a long time. Your body's' needs for vitamin C will vary from
time to time, dependent on how well your adrenals and other systems are
coping with whatever stresses they are trying to deal with at that time.
How do you tell how much you need ? Very simple. You have to apply the
Bowel Intolerance Test, which is a standard homeopathic medicine protocol.
This means that you must take as much vitamin C as it takes to give you
a slightly urgent bowel movement. Because vitamin C is a water-soluble
vitamin, the body takes what it needs, and chucks out the rest. You cannot
over-dose on it. Find your current Bowel Intolerance level, then reduce
that dose by 1 gram (1,000mg), and that will be your maintenance dose
for the time being. The average amount needed to give this result is about
9 grams daily. It's best to take it in blocks of 2 grams, and on an empty
stomach. Vitamin C neutralises stomach acid, so if you take it immediately
before or after food, you will be unable to digest that meal properly.
As you begin to get better, you will find that you need less vitamin C
to reach the bowel intolerance level. If you become ill with a virus or
a bug, or become generally run-down, you will need more. Sometimes it
will take 3 grams to send you to the loo, sometimes it may take 30 grams.
It all depends on how much your adrenals need at the time. Be prepared
to adjust your dose accordingly.
Milk Thistle:
This is an amazing herb, the active ingredient of which is called Silymarin.
It is used widely in European emergency rooms as the standard treatment
for fatal Amanita mushroom poisoning. Your liver will currently be extremely
stressed, and needs as much help as it can get. This helps with allergies
and intolerances, illness, hormone imbalances, and to generally relieve
some of the load on your liver. Standard daily dose is 560mg, but if you
experience a bad headache, nausea, shakiness, or feel "poisoned",
take another 560mg immediately. You will get to know how much of it you
need to help your own particular system.
Echinacea:
Another powerful herb, greatly helps the immune system. Take 20-25 drops
every two hours for the first day at the onset of any virus or bacterial
infection, and a maintenance dose of 20-25 drops twice a day thereafter.
As you begin to get better, you won't need to rely on it so much, but
whilst your immune system is delicate, it's an enormous help to take it
every day.
Valerian and Hypericum:
Both of these herbs help with all the anxiety and depression that are
common features of hypometabolic disorders. Valerian is very calming and
relaxing. Take at any particularly stressful times, and before going to
bed. Immensely helpful at those times when you cannot sleep, even though
you feel utterly exhausted.
Hypericum (St Johns' Wort) should not be taken if you are on any prescription
medication for depression, and there are a few rare incidences of it interfering
with the effectiveness of the contraceptive pill. If you are on the pill
and take Hypericum, stop taking it if you experience any breakthrough
bleeding or spotting. Other than that, it's as safe as houses. It really
is most effective at relieving depression, however badly you get it. One
of it's names is "Natural Prozac" !
Flax Seed Oil:
Rich in the essential fatty acids vital to reduce inflammation, this is
very helpful wherever you have any inflamed conditions such as eczema,
acne, rashes, arthritis (or any other -itis, since "-itis" means
inflammation in medical jargon), inflamed bowel conditions, and even constipation.
You may take up to 2 tablespoons a day. Add it on to food in place of
other dressings or oils. It has a pleasant, slightly nutty taste. A useful
note - we are told by a local pharmacist that all of the hormone medications,
such as thyroid and adrenal medications (so T3, Armour, cortisone, progesterone,
etc), are better absorbed, when taken orally, in the presence of oily
substances. If you can bear it, try taking a drop along with your meds.
Replenish Your Mineral Levels!
Read the "Nutrition - An
Overview" document, which you can also get from us at the clinic.
You can buy good quality colloidal minerals from a number of suppliers,
including Nutrimax, who can be reached on 01580 831 830. "Colloidal"
is a term meaning that the particle size is extremely small - 7,000 times
smaller than a red blood cell, so it is far more readily available to
your body than the larger particle sizes commonly found in other preparations
such as tablets. A lot of vitamin and mineral supplements only give you
roughly 20% of what they say they contain, because the body cannot absorb
large particles effectively.
Other:
Where possible, buy your supplements in either a liquid or capsule form,
since these are better absorbed. Also, many of the binders and fillers
in tablets can cause sensitivity reactions - if your liver is stressed,
which it will be if you've been ill for a long time, it will be unable
to cope and you are therefore likely to react badly to a lot of substances
which would normally not cause a problem. Avoid coffee, if you can bear
to. Coffee causes the liver an awful lot of work. If you are the sort
of person who can drink coffee to no apparent effect, this means that
the two sections of your livers' detoxifying system are not working in
harmony. Phase One breaks down chemicals and passes them on in an even
more potentially toxic form to the second phase, which then eliminates
them. If drinking coffee makes you very "hyper", Phase One is
underactive and not breaking it down effectively, and extra loading then
gets put on to Phase Two. If you are the opposite, and drinking coffee
has little or no effect on you, then Phase One is overactive, which means
it is producing even more toxic substances to be passed on to Phase Two.
Drinking Green Tea, or any other herbal teas, is far less stress for your
poor exhausted system. Green Tea is rich in all kinds of good and friendly
things. It goes without saying that where possible, you should try to
eat organic produce. Less toxins = less loading. Less loading = better
healing potential.