Wave: College of Naturopathic Medicine
Your queries about natural health answered by Jacquie Lane for the College of Naturopathic Medicine
How can I combat the after-effects of Christmas indulgence, naturally?
Since Christmas is the season to relax and enjoy time with family and friends, it’s not surprising that most of us relax our dietary habits and over indulge. However, what we eat and drink over Christmas usually contains a lot of sweet, rich and fatty foods and although they entertain our taste buds regally, they overload our digestive system far beyond its normal capacity.
Start your day with a glass of hot water with lemon juice to help cleanse and stimulate the liver.
A milk thistle supplement may help to strengthen and detoxify the liver, as well as rejuvenate liver cells.
Ginger tea may help with headache and nausea.
Drink at least two litres of water a day to flush toxins through your body, and replace tea and coffee with dandelion tea/coffee which is caffeine free and strengthens liver function while aiding digestion.
Kick-start your metabolism first thing with proteins and complex carbohydrates, e.g. poached eggs on wholemeal toast, porridge with crushed seeds and nuts and smoothies made with yoghurt and fruit. The combination of protein and complex carbs stabilises blood sugar levels, giving sustained energy levels for longer.
Get your heart pumping with 45 minutes of aerobic exercise every day – varying your schedule as much as possible.
Eat plenty of essential vitamins and nutrients to eliminate anti-oxidants which put too much stress on your liver. Fill up on fruit and vegetables including kiwi fruit, broccoli and red peppers, as well as nuts and oily fish.
Be kind to your kidneys and drink cranberry juice to help get rid of toxins. Also eat foods rich in vitamin B6 such as fish, avocados and bananas, and vitamin C such as citrus fruits, sweet potatoes and broccoli.
Vitamin A helps to maintain the health of the skin, and can be found in carrots, sweet potatoes and eggs.
Finally, cut alcohol out of your diet for a month while you detox, or at least reduce your intake; avoid sugar and salt where possible and give up caffeine, which is dehydrating and puts strain on your adrenal glands.
See your health professional for personal advice.
Attend a FREE Open Evening at CNM Brighton to find out about training with CNM for a career as a Nutritional Therapist.
Visit www.naturopathy-uk.com
Jacquie Lane is both a lecturer and the Director of Studies at CNM, (College of Naturopathic Medicine) in Brighton. Jacquie also runs her own nutrition clinic and manages a biological testing lab specialising in digestive issues. Email Jacquie at:
sunshinenutrition@hotmail.co.uk
