If you a family of 3 or four, just how easy do you find putting yourself through a diet plan!

It can’t be easy making different food for yourself when you’re cooking different foods for your family. So why don’t you make your life easier? Or perhaps get the husband to join in with you so that you can both do the plan together.

You can try grilling more instead of frying foods, eat more stews and try to minimise the red meat intake as these meats are high in saturated fats.

Grill some fish and have it with some short grain brown rice and include some vegetables with it or a salad.

As for the kids, fish is good for them and contains good essential fats. Children are pretty flexible if they are taught to eat a variety of foods when they are small, which makes life a lot easier for the parents.

If the husband enjoys grilling on a sunny day, have some chicken or fish, and have this with a baked potato and salad. Most people enjoy baked potatoes including children.

Caesar salad is another good option, it contains chicken and salad, cheese, you can also include grilled peppers (try to minimising on the cheese when you’re on a diet). Drinking water is also very good for the entire family, if children find this hard, then add some fresh mint leaves, or do some juicing at home, this way the whole family will enjoy fresh pressed juices.

Juicing is also good as a cleanser, you can juice, celery, spinach and apple if you like beetroot this can also be included.

You can also try a small buffet, with salad, grilled meat, or wraps with vegetables, salads, rice, the variety is endless.

Try alternating between wheat free for all the family, including the kids. Kids love pasta, and this type is also good for you when trying to lose weight. So make it fun for all, food does not have to be boring when you’re trying to lose weight.

People tend to think that these are one of the same. Intolerance will happen over a course of time; normally those foods that we tend to eat a lot of like wheat and gluten.

Clients tend to experience different symptoms, more than likely there is bloating involved and discomfort, one may even experience an increase in clothes sizes. When you have food intolerance it will also cause other effects such as constipation, feeling sluggish and a decrease in concentration or even irritability. People with food intolerances may suffer from an impaired digestive system or other symptoms can be stomach cramps, or find it difficult digesting certain substances like lactose.

With food intolerance you may start experiencing symptoms several hours after you have ingested the substance and need to eat a larger amount to start a trigger. This condition is not life-threatening.

Let’s look at an allergy; the symptoms are totally different such as itching, tingling and immediate swelling of the mouth, lips or throat. Food culprits will be as we know peanuts, bee sting, fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts.

These reactions can be mild, but they can also sometimes be very serious. Allergies can affect different areas of the body at the same time. Common symptoms include itching inside the mouth, throat or ears, raised itchy skin rash, swelling of the face for example eyes, lips tongue and the roof of the mouth.

In the more serious conditions people can go into anaphylaxis shock and this can be life-threatening, in these cases you have to call emergency services or get immediate help or assistance. People can experience difficulty in breathing or swollen lips. The immune system treats protein in foods as a threat to the body, when in fact they should be harmless, releasing a number of chemicals that cause an allergic reaction, in other words the immune system’s body defences react against these proteins. These foods are shellfish, nuts, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, and fresh fruit like apples, pears, kiwi and vegetables such as celery, carrots and parsnips. The most common type of food allergy is triggered by an antibody called immunoglobulin E IgE causing rapid symptoms when exposed to the food culprits.

When I qualified as a naturopath, I remember one of the questions I had in my exam was, in your opinion, what do you think the biggest breakthrough in medicine is? I had to say the discovery of the antibiotic by Alexander Fleming, although the discovery was found purely by chance, due to a contaminated Petri dish. The mold that had contaminated the dish turned out to contain powerful antibiotic called penicillin. This antibiotic will only get rid of harmful bacteria not a viral infection.

During winter our bodies are at their lowest, so I would say that many of us do catch some sort of viral infection, be it ears, throat, chest. I hate to say but people always go for the quick fix, even if that fix is not appropriate. The antibiotic should be taken when you have a bacterial infection not a viral infection. The only thing that the antibiotic will do is kill the good bacteria in the gut as well as the bad, eventually causing an imbalance in the gut, which then causes other health issues.

Often the GP will take a swab or a urine test to find out if you have any harmful bacteria. If you try to minimise taking antibiotics your immune system will response much better to infection. People often ask my opinion about taking these, and my response to them is these should be taken when needed. Our immune systems are very proactive and efficient in getting rid of viruses. When you feel run down make sure you get enough rest, eat well and try to limit anything in excess!

Viruses are also caught from others; make sure that you always wash your hands. You have to stop viruses from being able to reproduce and release new viruses into your body, or stop them from being able to get inside your cells in the first place.

There are many views on whether it is good to have plants in the room where ones sleep.

You should not have many plants overnight in a sick person’s room, because they absorb oxygen as well as provide it and give off C02.

I always think that a bed room should be well aired, as this is the room we tend to stay in the most. When we are sick with flu, the germs are floating around in the air. I also recommend not eating in your bedroom, food smells which linger in the room.

The bedroom should be a place where you can chill out and feel comfortable, obviously, some people do like to eat in their room, but from a health and hygienic point of view, I would recommend that you do the eating in the dining room; a room better suited for this purpose.

Some plants create small little midges which fly around and are very annoying. Plant pots can also become mossy which may create spores in the environment, and for those who have a weaker immune system, this may cause irritation in the bronchial. Orchids are also common breeding grounds for insects and grubs. This spread can be controlled by quarantining them for a few weeks and checking now and again for fungus or insects.

Moulds can also cause sinus congestion and body fatigue. Plants need to be well lit and well maintained.

I know artificial plants are not as nice as real ones, however, this is an option for those who want to place plants in their bedrooms, unless maintained by dusting, and this can also present other issues, as dust accumulates on the plant.

One important rule about the bedroom, this is your sanctuary, a place of rest, a place to retire of an evening…

Health package – Food Intolerance plus a full case history – two hour

Why not get the flexibility of tailoring your own health packages? When you book your health session with me ask about the tailored health packages. Most of my clients ask for food intolerance and a full case history.

With this package you get the food intolerance plus a vitamin and minerals check, a full report and results within the hour. The next hour will be focused on your full case history. You can opt to get the basic report which will be included in the full case history consultation, or if you want a more detailed and broken down report, you can opt to have this done at an extra cost of £180 – £240 (this will depend on the length of the report normally between 5 – 12 pages).

Food Intolerance plus a session of hormonal balancing

With this package you get the food intolerance plus a vitamin and minerals check, a full report and results within the hour. The next half hour will be focused on providing you with a hormonal balancing session.

The machine used to balance your hormones also provides many other positive health functions within the body such as circulation; increases calcium by triggering the spleen and bone marrow; shortens recovery and repair time for athletes and disability by strengthening muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments; and much more. The machine is truly a technological breakthrough in electronic health care products. It will replace negative potential energy with high frequency energy using your body as a capacitor. Clients may rent the equipment for a period of a week, with a view to purchasing. Practitioners may purchase the equipment via Future Health Management as we are the distributors for London.

To receive more information about the packages I provide, please feel free to contact me and I will discuss these in further detail.

The days leading up to your holiday are pretty exciting, especially if you are well overdue a good break. One thinks about all the things you have to prepare in case you forget something and when you are in a hurry, trust me, you will always forget to bring the camera or something important along.

The best thing that I would recommend to alleviate stress is to plan ahead, make sure you give yourself at least a couple of weeks to plan, make a list of things you need to bring with you. For women who like getting their hair colour done, try getting this done at least a week to four days before you leave and while you’re at it try a herbal tint. If you take supplements purchase a pill dispenser which you can buy at your local chemist. You don’t need anything big, a simple Monday to Sunday pill dispenser will suffice. Make sure you prepare all your supplements and divide them into each individual day, once done put them straight into your suitcase.

Speaking of your suitcase, again, don’t leave packing until the last moment, do it at least a few days in advance, this way any little thing like packing your supplements can go straight into your case. Organise your currency at least a week in advance, you may even find it beneficial to try and lower your credit card in order to use this as the main source of purchasing (to spend money), this may sometimes works out well with the exchange rate.

Also make sure you go on a good website to compare holiday insurance and its coverage. As for car hire, organise this a few months in advance (providing you know where you’re going). If you have dogs or animals organize the kennels with the same kind of lead time so you’re not disappointed should you not get a place for them; this can cause a lot of stress, especially if you don’t have anyone that can look after your animals while you’re on holiday.

If you travel to the continent take your European health cover card with you to cover you for any medical issues. Get a wallet especially for passports, European health card and currency and make sure you keep this with you at all times, perhaps in a zipped up pocket. If you have a very early plane to catch, lay out your travelling clothes the night before so that you don’t have to worry about what you’re going to wear.

If you have children, I would advise making sure that you pack your child’s medication, such as an inhaler. Take their supplements with you and as a precaution take children’s ibuprofen/paracetamol and pack it into a small first aid kit, this always comes in handy.

If you don’t like flying and get a bit nervous, I would suggest taking some B5 with you, this helps calm the adrenals. You can even take B5 a few weeks before you leave and drink some camomile or valerian tea which also helps you to relax.

Make sure you leave your house key and details with a trusted neighbour, ask them to take out your recycling and rubbish and generally keep an eye on your house.

If you plan a few months ahead, you should be well organised with practically no stress at all.

Sometimes regular foods can have a negative effect on the body and can make you feel quite ill. Food intolerances are quite common these days, particularly intolerance to gluten or wheat, though you can become intolerant to any particular food.

Why do we become intolerant to a foodstuff? It could be because the body may not be producing enough of a particular enzyme to process it. For example some people may become lactose intolerant due to a shortage of the enzyme lactase which helps the process of breaking down the milk sugar into simpler forms that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Another reason may be eating fast which can cause intolerances due to undigested food particles being present in the body.

People experience different symptoms some of which may be these:

• Aching joints
• ADHD (attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder)
• Bloating
• Diarrhoea
• Fatigue or low energy levels
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Migraines
• Stress

When do you need a Food Intolerance Test (FIT)?

If your body exhibits symptoms like the ones above it is always advisable to do something sooner rather than later. If left untreated it may cause bigger issues like Candida, which is a yeast infection in the gut. Toxicity levels can rise in your body, causing other problems like leaky gut, further intolerance and inflammation.

What does the FIT machine do?

The original concept behind the machine, to be used to complete a food intolerance test, was developed in Germany and has been used for the past few years by doctors and natural healthcare practitioners, including naturopaths.

The machine is capable of measuring changes in the body’s resistance, which helps determine potentially harmful foods. This form of testing is known as Bioenergetics Resonance Medicine (BER). The machine has an accuracy rate of 75 – 80% AND PROVIDES IMMEDIATE RESULTS. Once the test has been interpreted, I provide clients with results by giving them a comprehensive report pinpointing potential problem foods and advising them accordingly.

Another test that is available takes a small amount of blood which is sent to a laboratory. With this test you will not get an immediate response until you receive your results through the post, which may take a week.

Please feel free to ask for further information.

How does the FIT machine work?

The Bioenergetics resonance machine works by running a specialised pen over the tip of the finger. It tests against a homeopathic poetised version of the food or item, placed in the intolerance machine, where a reading is made. This reading shows me if there is a resistance which in turn indicates intolerance to the food in question. The test takes an hour and once completed I will provide you with a twelve page report indicating the items that have shown up.

Testing your Vitamin and Mineral levels

The machine is also capable of testing your vitamin and mineral levels to find out if you are deficient in any of these. These will also be made available on the report provided if you choose to have these tested.

What is the cost of the Food intolerance test?

The test (100 foods) and a basic nutritional programme, costs from £150 to £200.

Follow-up sessions cost between £70-£100 depending on the programme.

Where can I have the test done?

You can have this done at Ealing (W5 Clinic), Wimpole Street (W1 Clinic), or Harley Street (W1). Just let me know which clinic is best for you.

What are the benefits of having this test done?

• Understanding your food intolerance and vitamin or mineral deficiencies will allow you to combat or substantially reduce your health complaints.
• You will be provided a basic nutritional programme designed by a nutritional expert who will enable you to put your new found knowledge into practise and ensure you don’t slip back into old eating habits.
• If you follow the programme you can expect to experience increased energy and concentration levels.