The Hidden Ways Our Food and Lifestyle Are Harming Our Immune System

Alarm clock with face made of a half cut orange
Yes, you read the headline right. Our habits and the food we choose to eat are slowly harming our health. They are causing us a myriad of illnesses as we age and sometimes even before we age. We all have habits that we know are not in our best interests yet we keep doing them and we all know that much of our food is sprayed or processed in some way and that all this is lowering our immunity as the years go on.
Let’s start with our habits.
There are tests that you can do that will show what vitamins and minerals you are deficient in. At my clinic I have chosen to do saliva tests as hair tests can sometimes carry residuals of pollution, shampoos, hair dyes etc. A good natural test can tell you what foods you are sensitive to, meaning which foods cause inflammation in your body. This is not an allergy test where you have an immediate allergic reaction to the food. This is a test to see what is causing the underlying inflammation in your body which over time will build up and cause you many unforeseen illnesses.
It is such a difficult process sometimes explaining this to my clients. Say [Josie] comes for a saliva test and the test shows that she is deficient in vitamin C and magnesium and her estrogen level isn’t right and she is lactose intolerant as well as wheat, yeast intolerant and also sensitive to grapes, eggplant and carrots all of which she loves. These are usually only a few of the list of things that show up on a test. What this means is that Josie needs to take a month to start to cut out the foods she is sensitive to and this will reduce her bloating, acidity or any other symptoms she may have regarding her health. Of course, this will really take longer than a month but the symptoms will start to go. As well as this Josie needs to take the correct supplements, in the correct balance to rectify what has already been upset in her system over the years.
The problem is that Josie has HABITS that have formed over the years and whilst Josie is health conscious the subconscious pattern that has been driving Josie to eat her bread and cakes over the years is so deep a pattern for her its hard for her to break it. But Josie will try. And in the next weeks she slowly starts to cut the food out and starts to feel better BUT after a few months the die hard patterns sneak back in.
So, Josie’s immunity is going up and down. Josie gets better a bit, then eats her bread and eggplant and a few grapes here and there that she shouldn’t be eating and before you know it, she is not so well again. This is how our habits sabotage us.
Add to this the gluten free mistake so many of my clients make. They think that gluten free is wheat and yeast free. It’s NOT the same. Supermarkets though will push the gluten free though as being the healthy option because it’s a new source of money for them from the health conscious and this glosses over the fact that you are STILL eating wheat and yeast. Don’t fall for this as it will not get you inflammation free.
Now add to this that Josie uses certain products from the supermarket to clean her house. We all love a clean house but how many chemicals are you inhaling when you spray that mould remover or use the wash up liquid in the kitchen? What about the rain falling on your head as you race to the car? What pollution is in the water in the rain coming down on us and what is in the air we breathe?
This article is not to make you fear what is out there. Fear does nothing for us but freezes us in our motivation and stops us changing or moving forward. What we need is action! Not just lip service or an article. We need action. We need to take action to get healthy and stay healthy. If we take up this challenge it will work and it’s the best challenge you can take up because its for you, your family, your kids and everyone else you love.
Our health is slowly being harmed by our denatured ways, our fast foods, our supermarket packets and we need to just stop supporting this. You and I are the Josie example. You and I must find out what is right for our health and do it. It is so important to find someone who you can trust with your health to lead you on a natural path to detox and become healthier.
In short, there is no way you can avoid the ‘harmful substances’ in our foods and environment unless you follow the A, B, Cs of your results. The gist of it is that is the kind of environment we live in. The more you look after your health the better your natural immunity will be.
Here are some wonderful immune-supporting herbs and nutrients to consider during the winter months: olive leaf extract and Echinacea, these are especially good at the first sign of a throat tickle, quercetin, and essential vitamins like B and C. If your immunity tends to dip in the colder months, starting your support early can make all the difference. Also check in with your naturopath and have a saliva test done. Find out what is upsetting your system and causing inflammation and start to work on how to get rid of these intruders in your life once and for all.

Understanding the Link between Food, Stress and Mental Health

Woman touching pressure points on side of head in pain

It is vital that the link between nutrition and mental health be recognised by your practitioner if you are to maintain your wellbeing. I have seen the proof for this with my clients through my many years of experience as a practitioner. Years ago a less polluted planet with less artificial toxins made it much easier to remain healthy. There were more organic (less toxic pesticides), home grown foods and better unprocessed meats. Now there are many detrimental factors to consider when people become ill which can confuse the issue as to the causes. When you come for a consultation and I discover you have a poor diet of packaged, sweet or over salty, fatty foods that is the first place I look as to what is happening in your body, and mind. Just treating your symptoms however will not pull the roots out of your illness. If you are going to be healthy I need to pull the roots of the cause.

The importance of good nutrition

Nutritionists and naturopaths alike are taught that good health begins in the gut. That means all good health, including mental health. It is important for you to realise that if you are suffering with overwhelm, intrusive thoughts, worry, stress, anxiety, depression etc. that this is not only in your head. Your head is connected to your toe. If your toe hurts your head knows it. We cannot divorce one part of the body from another. If you have any kind of worry or other mental health issues then it is important for you to also address what is going on in your stomach, liver, lymphatic system, heart, lungs etc. Are you breathing properly, are your bowels working properly, do you drink enough water, do you get enough sleep, do you exercise enough? All these matter and your trained natural therapist will take these into account when you visit. So you will need to treat and heal your gut as part of healing your stress.

What is stress?

Everyone has an idea of what it means to be stressed. What you communicate to me about your stress is in the way you walk, talk, dress, look, act and that is before anyone has listened to your heart beat or taken your blood pressure. Some people though are stressed and don’t know it. They tell me they have been ‘doing that for years’ and my answer is that they have been stressed for years. It is so important for you to ‘slow down’ and take time out to meditate and relax. Sometimes you don’t realise just how stressed you are until you have slowed down. Stress is inside, not outside. It is not in the traffic jam in the morning, in the heavy meeting or workload overwhelm. Stress is in the demands YOU put on yourself and the perspective YOU have on life. Stress is in the lack of boundaries when you let other people demand you meet their picture of how you should be. Stress is in the image you look at in the mirror which YOU tell yourself is not good enough. If you change your perspective by learning new techniques to re-shape your outlook in a positive way, the stress will become less. Unfortunately for some though that does not work. Why?

When people call me for an appointment for mental health one of my first questions to them is regarding their hormones. How is your menstrual cycle? When you come I check if your cortisol and melatonin levels are messed up. I ask you to get a blood test from your doctor to check your thyroid and hormone levels. Over the years I have found many people who have issues with anxiety, depression, stress and other mental health issues often have a hormonal factor involved which goes back to borderline or existing thyroid issues.

Case study

I remember one client Julie (name changed) who came with anxiety, stress, irregular menstrual cycle. She had seen a naturopath previously but this did not work quickly enough so she gave up and stopped going. In our session I suggested Julie have a sensitivity test to see which foods were causing inflammation in her body. Also some natural supplements for her gut and to stabilise hormones. I began to teach her meditation to relax. Julie was happy with that and agreed to go for a blood test for me to compare with the sensitivity test. I also put her on a more natural diet.

Next session we correlated all the results. I found Julie had an imbalance in oestrogen and iodine deficiencies. Very slight. Julie then remembered her previous naturopath had also mentioned it. This corroborated my evidence from many previous cases where I had found hormonal imbalances quite often precede a thyroid imbalance which impact other stressors such as food sensitivities, digestion issues etc.

The importance of a healthy thyroid

The thyroid is very important because an imbalanced thyroid can affect all areas of your life. Physically, mentally, emotionally. It affects your mood, your menstrual cycle, your thoughts even. Whenever there is an imbalance your hormones and thyroid may come into play. At this point we have come full circle. A mix of toxins, deficiencies, nutrition looking at the gut health, absorption levels. If these are overlooked often solutions for better health are not found.

It took about two months for Julie’s mental health to improve as has been the case with many other clients. Food affects every area of your life. Dismiss any of these other factors though and you will soon find the healing process incomplete. There are many trained specialists to help but YOU have to put into play their advice. You need to eat the right food and follow the a, b, c’s your professional has given you and you will soon find that there is a bit more spring in your step and you are feeling much, much better.