What does vitality mean to you?

An optimal state of vitality can be achieved by everyone, by following the Naturopathic approach that treats each person individually and wholistically.

Natural health practitioners often mention words like vitality, vital force, qi, prana, energy flow, innate healing ability.  These words represent the concept of human beings in an effortless state of health, joy, peace, wellness, longevity.

I too believe that this is a state we can all attain, however, each individual will have their own ideal of what vitality means for them, for now.  For some, vitality may mean being able to turn up for work even though they partied all night.  For others it’s being able to feel energetic and able to smoothly deal with the challenges of parenthood.  Then, for some it’s nurturing their body, mind and spirit to sublime perfection. 

As vitality is different for everyone part of the process is becoming aware of what helps you to meet your individual physical, emotional and spiritual needs for the long term. This will include (amongst many factors) what foods are right for you, how you exercise, your emotional outlook, your stress management techniques, how you listen to the signs expressed by your body and mind, and recognising your constitutional weaknesses – a tendency for colds, headaches, constipation etc.

My aim is to see you enjoying your optimal state of vitality being open to change and flexible to roll with the challenges that life provides.  Naturopathic medicine offers not only pathways to healing specific illnesses but also remedies that support the maintenance of your individual optimal vitality. 

Is your enthusiasm for a New Year resolution starting to fade? Wait, keep the faith!

Here's a tip that may help you get what you really, really want.

Be clear on exactly what you want the outcome to be. What is the feeling that you want to achieve.

Write down what feeling it is that you DON'T want to have anymore. For example, I want to lose weight so I don't feel fat and tired anymore. So, therefore, the positive spin is I want to lose weight so I feel energetic and fabulous about myself.  Keep hold of that vision of feeling energetic and fabulous and always say and think your resolution in the positive - the resolution is to feel energetic and fabulous.

Move forward in time to when you are now feeling energetic and fabulous. Really feel it - how good is that??!!!  From this space of feeling energetic and fabulous look back to see/feel/imagine the steps that you might take towards this feeling.  So... feeling energetic and fabulous, look back towards today to see what you might do next to keep this feeling of, that's right, being energetic and fabulous!!!

You are energetic and fabulous!

Eat your nuts

As you may know, I’m a big fan of almonds as a snack.  

Recent research reports that nuts as a snack compared to a muffin or muffin and nuts (all equal calories) improved blood glucose levels and cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes.  So, eat your nuts! 

For easier digestion, soak, grind, chop or crush nuts.  Buy unsalted, unroasted nuts and then roast them yourself as required.  Dry roast on a baking tray in the oven preheated to 180°C for a quick five minutes. 

REF:  DJA Jenkins, CWC Kendall, MS Banach et al., Nuts as a Replacement for Carbohydrates in the Diabetic Diet, Diabetes Care 2011, 34(8), 1706-11, abstract only; http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/34/8/1706

Naturopath, Jennifer Rollings providing Naturopathic Health Care

See me on
Mondays 3 to 9pm
Tuesdays 8.30am to 2pm
Saturdays 8.30am to 4pm
at Mornington Complementary Medicine
138 Tanti Avenue, Mornington
T: +61 3 5973 6886

OR via Skype - jen.rollings1

More than mood

A bad mood can be caused by more than just simply emotions.  To help you through the tough times in life, understanding the factors that may lower your resilience is vitally important.  Poor digestion, inadequate nutrition, hormone imbalance, immune dysregulation, sleeping habits, chronic pain, some medications, alcohol, and food intolerances can all impact on your mood – and this is certainly not the full list.  Naturopathy can help you determine the factors that negatively affect your mood and give you treatment options.

In support of Earth Hour, here's another reason to turn the lights off

Research has found that exposure to room light compared to dim light for the eight hours before bedtime reduces the body's production of melatonin - a hormone vital for sleep. The authors concluded that regularly keeping on room lights in the hours before bedtime delays the start of melatonin release and reduces its duration as the body thinks night is shorter than what it really is - leading to less sleep.  As melatonin has been found to be involved in a number of regulatory processes, the authors suggest that the reduction in melatonin production not only affects sleep but also regulation of body temperature, blood pressure, and blood glucose.  So, for the sake of good sleep, as well as it being good for the environment and your power bill, turn the lights off!

Ref: Joshua J. Gooley, Kyle Chamberlain, Kurt A. Smith, Sat Bir S. Khalsa, Shantha M. W. Rajaratnam, Eliza Van Reen, Jamie M. Zeitzer, Charles A. Czeisler, and Steven W. Lockley 2011, Exposure to Room Light before Bedtime Suppresses Melatonin Onset and Shortens Melatonin Duration in Humans (abstract only), J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2011 96 (3): E463-E472 , doi:10.1210/jc.2010-2098

If you have trouble sleeping, Naturopathic Health Care can help.

What exactly does a Naturopath do?

When I tell people I'm a Naturopath, I sometimes see a quizzical look on their face... what exactly do Naturopaths do?

Basically, Naturopaths treat or help to manage almost any health condition using natural-based treatment methods such as nutrition, herbal medicine and homoeopathy. My explanation could stop here, but I shall go on.

Naturopathy's holistic approach, recognising the interconnectedness of all things, is guided by the belief that the body has its own innate healing ability with treatment aimed at removing obstacles to healing and strengthening each individual’s vital force (qi, prana, life force), or in other words, restore homoeostasis.

Naturopathic treatment can be undertaken for short periods focusing on addressing a particular complaint, with the person returning to the Naturopath only when another health issue arises.  However, Naturopathy is at its best for people who want to take an holistic, proactive and preventative approach to their health.

Naturopathy can be seen as a long-term resource that helps you achieve and maintain your optimal state of well-being throughout your life-time. As our vital force is continually being challenged by 'life', regular annual/quarterly/monthly Naturopathy consultations can help to keep you vitalised!  Just like regularly servicing your car! 

So, you’re in your first Naturopathy consultation:  while aiming to minimise symptoms and help you to feel better as quickly as possible, Naturopathy takes a thorough look at the big picture: Why are you sick right now? What is going on in your life, your body, your mind that may be contributing to your ill-health? These issues may be hormonal fluctuations, food choices, stress, environmental factors, digestive problems, a relationship, previous illness, or a combination of many.

A simple example: a person gets a cold. They take cold tablets and the symptoms clear, but they still feel worn out and a few weeks later get another cold but this time it’s worse. Naturopathic treatments will indeed treat the cold symptoms, but why is this person now more susceptible to colds? It's revealed that the person has been feeling tired and grumpy for some time and hasn't been sleeping well because of pressure at work... this high level of stress has depressed their immune response. So, treatments are aimed at the respiratory, immune and nervous systems, improving sleep, and supporting the patient to investigate strategies for managing the current and future stressful situations. A range of treatment options may be offered such as food-as-medicine, lifestyle coaching, nutritional supplements, herbal remedies and counselling.

Even if you are already on medication or undergoing other forms of treatment Naturopathy can provide support so you can achieve your best outcome. For example, if you are on an anti-depressant there may be food and supplements that can benefit, say, specifically your digestion to improve assimilation of nutrients and in turn your mood, thereby supporting the action of the anti-depressant.

Naturopathy's value is also clear in situations when patients say, “they can't find what’s wrong with me, the tests show nothing, the medication doesn't seem to be helping”.  Whilst diagnoses are helpful, the Naturopathic approach can formulate a treatment plan based on your medical history, the symptoms of your main complaint, and on information gathered through extensive questioning about other aspects of your body, mind, lifestyle, environment etc. The focus is on treating you the person, not a disease label.

People come to see me for a range of diverse reasons.  The most common can be grouped as follows:

MOOD: anxiety, depression, irritability, sadness, erratic moods, low motivation/energy

DIGESTION: constipation, bloating, cramping, irritable bowel, indigestion/heartburn

HORMONES: irregular periods, excessive bleeding/pain, infertility, low libido, menopause, thyroid dysfunction

The above in the presence of CHRONIC DISEASE: asthma, HIV, autoimmune disease, diabetes, arthritis

I hope reading this has given you information about why you might benefit from Naturopathic Health Care.  If you have a question, please contact me.

Home grown organic veges - yum!
(now cooked, eaten and enjoyed by me)