Nutritional Coaching - Creating Health

NATURAL MEDICINE - THE MEDICINE OF THE FUTURE

The World Health Organisation defines health as:

‘’a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’’

This definition includes a very positive range of health that goes well beyond the absence of obvious sickness or disease.

Conventional medicine focuses primarily on treating disease with drugs or surgery rather than promoting good health. Natural medicine, by contrast, is a system of medicine that focuses on prevention and the use of non-toxic, natural therapies and is based on seven time-honoured principles:

1. First, do no harm.
2. Nature has healing powers.
3. Identify and treat the cause.
4. Treat the whole person.
5. The physician is a teacher.
6. Prevention is the best cure.
7. Establish health and wellness.

Clinical nutrition, or nutritional therapy, i.e. the use of diet and nutrition as a fundamental therapeutic tool, serves as the foundation of modern-day natural medicine. This is due to the fact that there is now an enormous body of scientific evidence that supports the use of whole-food nutrition and nutritional supplements both in the maintenance and promotion of good health and in the treatment of disease.
Clearly prevention is better than cure, a lot less painful, and considerably more cost-effective. Scientists around the world are now advising governments that dietary and lifestyle factors are largely responsible for the alarming rise in many serious health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, etc.

You are what you eat, absorb and utilize at the cellular level!

There is many a slip between the nutrients in the food on your plate and the nutrients made available for utilization by the cells of the body. Poor digestion and elimination are commonplace. Many of the top selling drugs in recent times have been those which are taken to treat digestive disorders! Do you think it strange that the human race is afflicted with so much digestive distress? When watching any form of wildlife do you see them queuing up for antacids and indigestion remedies, painkillers and all manner of drug-based remedies for their various aches and pains? No, only humans are so foolish and so out of touch to transgress the laws of nature that they have become disconnected from an innate and intuitive understanding of their own anatomical and physiologically adapted needs.

As we no longer live in a natural environment that would supply all our needs according to demands we are reliant on our rational faculties to develop knowledge regarding our food and nutrition. We can then choose to respect our needs and supply them or we can ignore them and suffer the consequences.

Good health depends upon a careful balance of at least fifty different nutrients and, even though some of these are only required in minute quantities, each has a vital role to play. Several studies have indicated that many people have either deficiencies or imbalance of various essential vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids or deficiency of highly beneficial semi-essential phytonutrients found in fresh, whole plant foods and this is considered by nutritional experts to be an extremely important factor in the development of ill-health and disease.

Various influences including poor or imbalanced dietary choices, over-processed food, nutrient deficient soils, long term food storage and the overheating and cooking of foods all contribute to these deficiencies. Other factors such as poor digestion and absorption, high stress levels, pollution, medicinal drugs, smoking and consumption of alcohol, coffee, tea, sugar and phytates can also either increase the need for certain nutrients, upset the correct balance between nutrients, or interfere with their bio-availability, utilisation and retention.

Five a day…you’re having a laugh?!!!

Current government guidelines advise us to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day as part of a health promoting lifestyle. Currently the average consumption in the UK is 2.8 servings per person per day! But hold on a minute……5 portions a day is not an optimum amount, it is a minimum amount! This is why many governments around the world are now advising people to consume 9 or 10 portions of fruit and vegetables daily in order to really promote good health. This should come as no great surprise when you consider that fruit and vegetables are the very foods that we are designed for and have evolved with over a period of many millions of years!!!

To make matters worse, in relatively recent times we have introduced new foods, preparation practices and eating habits that we are fundamentally not adapted to and that are causing untold misery and harm. Unfortunately, these adverse effects are typically slow and insidious to manifest and this, coupled with the very powerfully addictive processes associated with these changes, clouds our perceptions and awareness of what is really happening to us when things go wrong…..we can’t see the wood for the trees!

A diet based on raw and living plant foods is not a new idea for humans! This was quite clearly the natural way of things for many millions of years. Many ancient cultures knew the value of eating uncooked vegetables and fruits and of germinating and sprouting grains, seeds, legumes and nuts. Research has shown that a very significant percentage of nutrients are either destroyed or become non-bioavailable when food is cooked. The enzymes which are naturally present in raw food and which are an important aid to normal digestion and health are totally destroyed with typical cooking temperatures. Are you eating according to your natural design?!

Some conditions that we have been able to improve or eliminate utilizing a Natural Medicine approach:

Fatigue, headaches, migraines, dental problems, hay fever, food allergies & sensitivities, recurrent colds, low immune function, candidiasis, bacterial overgrowth, parasites, digestive problems, IBS, crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, hormonal problems, infertility, menopausal problems, PMS, asthma, eczema, psoriasis, arthritis, osteoporosis, joint problems, depression, mood swings, weight control problems, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, blood sugar imbalance ……… and many other conditions.

However, it should be noted that our approach is predominantly non-specific, i.e. we do not ‘focus’ our attention solely on the particular health concern or disease. We do not utilise a ‘pill for an ill’ approach but rather work from the ground up utilizing key essentials to human health which then provides the basis and opportunity for healing to take place.
 
THE CONSULTATION

Consultations are only held during weekdays, morning or afternoon. Telephone consultations are not available.
The first consultation is approximately 1½ hours long. Follow-up consultations are normally at monthly intervals and last for up to 1 hour.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

You are very welcome to telephone or e-mail Tim Axon to discuss any questions that you may have. Questionnaires may be sent to you prior to your first consultation, according to need, and a detailed five day diet-diary typical of your normal eating is required at the first consultation.

Tel 01622 715576