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Detoxification: Organophosphates |
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Al's Column:
My personal 'battle of the
bulge' |
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New section: Stress Stories |
Stress is frequently caused by what we think about. If you find yourself either worrying
about a future event or if you can’t get a bad experience out of your mind try
the following.
Firstly, write down the worries or ruminations you
want to stop, this raises your awareness of them.
Secondly, the next time you find yourself dwelling on these
unwanted thoughts interrupt the thought process by shouting in your mind (or out
loud if you want to) STOP
!
As soon as you shout stop
bring yourself back into the here and now by looking
at everything around you and listening to everything
around you.
If you focus your attention on what you can see and hear
in the present it is impossible to worry about the
future or past at the same time.
If you persevere with this exercise for a few weeks you
will find you can banish unwanted thoughts that can cause you
stress.
Alastair Taylor
ORGANOPHOSPHATES
The organophosphates originated from the German nerve gas, Sarin, developed in World War Two. After the war it was necessary to try to feed the millions of starving people in war-torn Europe and it was found that if you removed the part of the gas that was fatal to humans, what was left killed insects. Unfortunately it is being increasingly recognised that the remaining part of this pesticide was toxic to part of the human population. This article is written for anyone who has a negative reaction to organophosphates. Many people come into contact with them and have no noticeable negative effects, it is those who experience negative symptoms that have to be careful.
Nowadays, organophosphates are used in chemical pesticides used by farmers throughout the world on crops, in sheep dip, and for other uses such as fly strips (now banned) and head lice shampoos. For some reason wheat concentrates the organophosphates in its grains more than any other cereal. So, many people, who may have been told they cannot take wheat actually can if pesticides have not been used eg. organic wheat products. As a result many people may think that they have a wheat allergy when in fact it is an organophosphate sensitivity.
Once
organophosphates are in the bodies of susceptible individuals they are very
toxic. They can cause a variety of
symptoms.
The following is taken from the Journal of Nutritional and Environmental medicine:
The Most Common Symptoms taken from a group of people sensitive to Organophosphates in Wheat are:
If you have seven or more of these symptoms you are considered to be wheat sensitive and should have a trial of organic wheat for three weeks, then introduce non-organic wheat, and if the symptoms return, stay on organic wheat for life.
Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine (1995) 5, 243-253 Original Research A Clinical Evaluation of a Wheat-free Diet Dr Sheila L. M. Gibson et. al. Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital.
The organophosphates accumulate in the body. Toxicity builds up, especially in the body fat. Anti-oxidants such as Revenol and Oxyguard can be used to remove these toxins gradually.
Dr David Mason Brown
AL'S COLUMN (it’s
a long one this month): My personal ‘battle of the bulge’ Food is one of the great joys in life. I’ve been a lover of food as long as I
can remember, and undoubtedly before that also. According to reliable sources (my
parents) I used to go missing as a toddler and was generally found begging for
food from somebody having a picnic.
When I was 12 and on holiday near where I used to live, someone came up
to me, and said: “Remember me, you used to come along the beach looking for
food. We used to feed you and take
you back to your family.” I also
begged when going round the shops with my Mum. We lived in a village and all the
shopkeepers knew me, and apparently fed me. Most of them spoke Welsh but language is
no barrier to the toddler on the hunt for goodies. I
think I must have developed a look (endearing, hungry, mild desperation),
because people continued to feed me well into my twenties. I had a sales job for a while that
involved visiting potential customers at home, and people used to take pity on
me. I remember someone once cooked
me a whole flatfish. It was
delicious. It will be no surprise to you then that I have struggled with my
weight. Indeed, a previous column
also revealed that I am also partial to a glass of ale, which doesn’t help. It was OK when I was in my teens. I ate massive quantities, for example I
used to eat six slices of buttered toast every night before going to bed, but
was so active that I was like a rake. As
I became more slothful and slob-like in my twenties I started to put on the
pounds and then the stones, and in early 1988 I weighed 17 and a half
stone. Not a pretty sight, even on
my magnificently proportioned, 6 foot 3 frame. I had to go on a diet and eventually
decided to go to Weight Watchers.
My local class was in Morningside in Edinburgh (where a crèche is a
collision between two motor vehicles).
I was the only male amongst about 50 women attending – I highly recommend
it to those of you in search of the well-proportioned woman. Over a period of months I lost about four stone and became a
lifetime member of Weight Watchers through my efforts, something I’m actually
quite proud of but don’t share with everyone! Ever since then I have been fascinated
by the whole ‘diet class' thing.
The classes themselves were amazing, involving a pep talk and the ritual
public humiliation of being weighed in front of everyone. Of course it was OK if you had done
well, but God help you if you hadn’t.
Our leader was a Morningside lady of the old school, who held no truck
with quietly spoken excuses. Weight
‘gainers’ were given a damn good dressing down. While
I was losing weight, I gradually found my own way, and can now confess that I
didn’t really follow the ‘rules’, but carried on attending the classes because
they were so entertaining. I have
become progressively more convinced that losing weight is as much about what
goes on between your ears as what goes into your mouth. Most people know about healthy eating.
They know what they should be eating more of and less of, and know about
exercise, yet we’re still getting fatter. And the projections on obesity are
really quite disturbing. It’s only fitting that we end with Al’s recipe for losing
weight:
Disclaimer: The above recipe is Al's and Al's alone, is biased, has not been rigorously tested, and is not based on scientific evidence, but rather on one man's 'battle of the bulge'.
Edited by Jan Lawrence