Archive for the ‘allergies’ Category

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Tummy Pain…Reflux, Heartburn & Acid Problems

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

One of the most common conditions we see in people over 40 is gut pain…  reflux, heartburn and acid problems are huge.  Unfortunately it means that many of them are taking drugs which settle down the reflux or heartburn, but also have many unfortunate ’side effects’.  Not side effects in the usual sense of the word, but consequences of long-term health.

  • Somac, nexium & losec (& other similar meds) stop the acid which causes reflux, heartburn & indigestion.  It also stops the ‘good acid’ released from the parietal cells which help to digest proteins.
  • This means that long term our body has a hard time building muscle mass.  This leads to tiredness and lethargy since our thyroid hormones are converted in the muscle mass and our muscle cells give us the largest amount of energy of any cells in our body.  If we have low muscle mass, we struggle getting plenty of energy.
  • It takes some time to get the gut working well.  There are three stages to the process of getting the gut working well:
  1. symptomatic relief: settle the acid reflux and indigestion with supplements that ‘quench’ the acid without shutting down the parietal cells long term.
  2. heal the gut lining: most of the time with acid reflux and indigestion there is a ‘leaky gut’ or tiny ulcerations even if the ‘endoscopy’ says everything is okay.  This means that if we give supplements that help to digest proteins it increases ‘good acid’ which will cause pain, so we need to heal the gut lining BEFORE giving supplements to help the actual digestion; and
  3. get the digestion working properly. We use enzymes and supplements which help the digestion of the gut, getting the parietal cells working correctly and starting the process of having the food we eat broken down again.

By the time we have indigestion, reflux & heartburn our gut hasn’t been working for quite some time.  It doesn’t happen overnight, and it takes some time to correct.  Doctors don’t mention to us that there is ‘good acid’ and ‘bad acid’. Many practitioners don’t see the link, and therefore don’t get good results with gut issues.

Take time to get your gut right.  It takes time, but it’s worth it!  Gut issues cause chronic disease:  cancer; diabetes; depression; food sensitivities; immune problems; allergies and chronic pain.

Madonna Guy ND
New Leaf Natural Therapies

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Posted in Digestion, Pain, Sensitivities & Intolerances, Working with Over 50's, allergies | No Comments »

6 Naturopathic Tips to Weight Loss

Thursday, February 11th, 2010

Here are a few quick tips for weight loss, with the reasons why listed below.  Weight loss can be challenging.  Australia is gaining 6000 tonnes of fat per year, most weight loss programmes are NOT helping long term.  Our weight loss programme focusses on FAT-LOSS and MUSCLE-GAIN and FLUID-BALANCE:  this is the way to have sustained weight-loss long term without creating other health issues such as thyroid issues and diabetes.

  1. Eat a small portion of protein every 3-4 hours to keep your blood sugar balanced.  Proteins and good fats contain little glucose which stores as fat.  About 80-100g protein per meal, 5-6 x daily.
  2. Eat plenty of salad veggies and low-carb veggies.  We need to eat 5-6 cupfuls of veggies per day to keep us alkaline throughout the weightloss process.  The more acidic we are the less weight comes off.
  3. Know your thyroid numbers… take your temperature first thing in the morning before getting out of bed.  If the temperature is less than 36.5 (consistently) your thyroid may be sluggish.  Jacqueline Dekoke ND or I can prescribe natural supplements to help this problem.  When the thyroid is dysfunctional it slows down every metabolic function in the body.
  4. Drink oodles of water.  When the BMI is over 28 we find the body is ALWAYS dehydrated.  Our high BMI and/or waist measurement over 88 are both high risks for many chronic diseases, which are also linked to dehydration and de-oxygenation of the body’s tissues.  We get oxygen from breathing, water, and green leafy veggies.
  5. Avoid grains: rice, breads, cakes, biscuits, rolls…  In weightloss grains have no value.  Grains make the body more acidic which impacts negatively on weight loss.  Grains are mostly carbohydrates and raise blood sugar, therefore causing the body to store fat.
  6. If weight loss doesn’t begin quickly, have yourself checked for the foods you are eating.  Jacqueline Dekoke ND has a technique whereby we can find out if the body has an issue with particular foods.  Sometimes we are eating a healthy food which isn’t doing us any favours – it may be making us acidic, not digesting and creating allergies, slow down our metabolism and cause tiredness and digestive issues.

Mostly, you need to know what your muscle mass is to start with.  When we have held weight for a long time, we often lose muscle mass.  This causes thyroid issues and chronic fatigue.  Our Cellular Analysis (VLA) machine takes these measurements accurately and quickly.  Therefore we can start you on the right treatments immediately to support your weight loss goals!

Madonna Guy ND
New Leaf Natural Therapies

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Posted in Fat Loss Programme, Sensitivities & Intolerances, Thyroid Issues, Working with Over 50's, allergies, chronic fatigue, weight loss | No Comments »

About Jacqueline Dekoke ND

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Jacqueline Dekoke ND is a wonderful therapist who’s been working at New Leaf Natural Therapies since 2008.  Having over 20 years in the massage industry and adding naturopathy and kinesiology to her skillbase, she’s a well-balanced practitioner who is passionate about health.

Jacqueline has helped many people through conditions such as pain relief, with our Chronic Pain Programme (using Frequency Specific Microcurrent); Infrared sauna therapy, Bowen Technique and Kinesiology techniques which balance our structural problems.  Using our FSM equipment particularly she has seen huge improvement with chronic foot, knee and hip problems, spinal issues such as chronic disc pain and more.

With kinesiology Jacqueline has been working for many years testing for food intolerances, along with chemical sensitivities.  She uses a combination of natural therapies and kinesiology in order to boost immunity and balance food intolerances.

Using N.O.T. Neural Organisational Technique, as developed by Dr Carl Ferrari, she uses a technique to boost the immune system and/or endocrine system, and then uses this technique to assess sensitivities and intolerances.  Severe sensitivites and intolerances can create full-blown allergens the more depressed the immune system is.

By working with the body as a whole, Jacqueline has seen many people recover fully from food sensitivities.  With Live Blood Analysis she can tell whether or not the body is in an allergic state, or whether kinesiology and food sensitivity testing and balancing and treatments will create the improvement people are after!

Regardless of the health problem, Jacq’s passion for nutritional improvement in people’s life, helping them cope with the stresses of daily life and her calm and gentle manner help to make her an excellent therapist who may be just what you’re looking for!

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Posted in Cellular Regeneration, Our Practitioners, Sensitivities & Intolerances, allergies, kinesiology | No Comments »

Allergy Testing & Treatments: New Government Regulations AND What Can We Do To Help?

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

There have been new government regulations enforced this year in relation to allergy testing and treatments and  is targeting natural therapy clinics. 

There have been several natural health clinics targeted for doing allergy testing and treatments in Brisbane this year due to new government regulations.  The government position is that ‘There is no treatment for allergies’, therefore anyone claiming that they treat allergies will be targeted.  These clinics have been asked to write to each and every one of their past clients stating that allergies cannot be treated.  So, can allergies be treated??

What Can New Leaf Natural Therapies do to help Allergies, sensitivities and intolerances?

We start with an initial live blood analysis to get an idea about how allergic your body is.  The eosinophils (white blood cells) are the allergy-markers, and the higher the percentage of the eosinophills, the more allergic your body is.  We can also see ‘how active’ your immune system is – since the blood is live, we see ‘movement’ of the white blood cells within 10 minutes or so, so we will know whether or not your immune system is functional, or whether it needs support.  The less functional immunity, the less likely your body can deal with other things like bacteria, parasites, viruses, viral particles AND dealing with cancer cells. 

As eosinophils are only in the blood for 3 hours (once released they travel through the blood to the area where the allergic reaction is taking place), if people suspect an allergy, for example wheat or dairy, we often ask them to eat some before their visit to see how raised the levels are.  If the eosinophil level is normal, we know that it’s not an allergy to those foods.

We use a combination of natural supplements which help to boost natural immunity and reduce the number of eosinophils.  There are 3 key types of cells involved in this process – Th1 cells are suppressed, Th2 cells (allergic process) are raised and Th3 cells are dysfunctional.  This is the key to good health and wellbeing, and an immune system which is working beautifully.

Jacqueline Dekoke ND, Linda Hoggard ND and Madonna Guy ND all have many years of experience in dealing with the underlying causes of allergies, balancing the immune system and cleansing the body of toxins which may upset the balance of the immune system. 

Madonna Guy ND

Chief Clinician at New Leaf Natural Therapies

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Posted in Our tests and equipment, Sensitivities & Intolerances, allergies | No Comments »

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