Do you have the guts to be happy?

What’s your gut got to do with happiness?

When you feel depressed, stressed or anxious, the chances are you don’t think that your digestive system has anything to do with it. Yet science is discovering that the gut acts like a ‘second brain’, producing substances which can affect your mood. For example, in a healthy person, the vast majority of serotonin – the feel-good neurotransmitter – is made in the digestive tract.

Ensuring your digestive system is in good shape is therefore vital to both your physical and mental health.

If your gut health is compromised, it can also cause your immune system to over-react to certain foods and generate allergic reactions. According to a study published in Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, you can encourage this process to ‘switch off’ by increasing your intake of omega 3 fats, both from fish and from seeds such as flax and pumpkin seeds.

Weight and stress increase food reactions.

Being overweight, diabetic – or suffering with stress – also increases your likelihood of reacting against the food you eat, inhibiting its proper digestion and absorption. Likewise, if your gut has any degree of damage – often caused by everyday lifestyle practices – you are also more likely to react against your food.

 

Much to the anger of conventional medicine, the homeopathic remedy Arnica has been officially recognised as a successful remedy for treating sprains and bruises.

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHPRA) has registered the product, which means that the manufacturer can now make claims for its effectiveness.

Arnica 30c, manufactured by Nelsons, is the first homeopathic remedy to be recognised without going through clinical trials. Since 1971, homeopathic products have not been allowed to make any health claim without proper evidence.

But new rules, introduced in 2006, allow a manufacturer to make health claims for a product provided there is a tradition for its use in the UK, and it is for the treatment only of minor problems.

The Health Minister in Northern Ireland decided on a soft launch for
the results of the complementary medicine pilot project and has made the independent evaluation report available to download on the Department’s website. As well as an extensive report with detailed responses from patients, GPs and practitioners, using a validated audit tool, focus groups and surveys, the report has made
recommendations about the way forward.
http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/hss/complementary-alternative-medicine.htm

The Results:
Following the pilot, 80% of patients reported an improvement in their symptoms, 64% took less time off work and 55% reduced their use of painkillers.

In the pilot, 713 patients with a range of ages and demographic
backgrounds and either physical or mental health conditions were
referred to various complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
therapies via nine GP practices in Belfast and Londonderry.

Health improvement

• 81% of patients reported an improvement in their physical health

• 79% reported an improvement in their mental health

• 84% of patients linked an improvement in their health and
wellbeing directly to their CAM treatment

• In 65% of patient cases, GPs documented a health improvement,
correlating closely to patient-reported improvements

• 94% of patients said they would recommend CAM to another patient
with their condition

• 87% of patient indicated a desire to continue with their CAM
treatment

Painkillers and medication

• Half of GPs reported prescribing less medication and all reported
that patients had indicated to them that they needed less

• 62% of patients reported suffering from less pain

• 55% reported using less painkillers following treatment

• Patients using medication reduced from 75% before treatment to
61%