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Time to Help out our Innards by David Dixon, Summerland, BC
Let me begin by saying that I hope every one of you enjoyed a very healthy, happy holiday season! It means spending (quality) time with a loved one. A nice dinner, perhaps, some wine (possibly) and soft music. Oh, and chocolate! Can’t forget the chocolate…or can we? With this time of year and the celebrating that comes along with it, we can expect to overload/overwork our liver, thanks, especially to overindulgence, (read “chocolate”). There can be too much of a good thing and often this is the case, especially when it comes to chocolate. You can expect to indulge alright, but no sense overdoing it and taxing your liver to a great extent. Sure, we are being told that the “new” research is showing that chocolate is actually good for us. And, to some extent, this is true. But we need to make sure of the quality, for one thing. Cheaper chocolate, while generally tasting more like car wax has, far fewer antioxidant properties. And it’s these antioxidants that help to make chocolate a healthy food for us…in moderation, of course. We would do well to be aware of what antioxidants and free radicals are all about before putting on any great chocolate feedbag. Free radicals are everywhere; there is no way to get away from them, completely. They come from our televisions, our computers, like the one I’m using here, our bodies even produce copious amounts of them whenever we exercise. Free radicals tend to destroy our healthy cells, making them…you guessed it – unhealthy. This action that tends to exacerbate some of the premature aging we experience. Not a good thing. BUT there are ways to overcome this AND still enjoy our chocolate, even a fair amount of it, like around Valentine’s Day. Cheaper chocolate often tends to lack the ability to render free radicals harmless. This is because they tend to have less antioxidant properties and more sugar, which whittles away at the immune system (more on this aspect at another time). Free radicals are not our friends; chocolate can be. Making sure that the chocolate you consume (or offer to someone special) is of higher quality generally means that you (or that special someone) is getting a pretty healthy dose of antioxidants. And that, my friends, is my excuse for eating chocolate. The way I see it, chocolate should be (if it isn’t already) one of the main food groups. Sure we can survive quite nicely without it, but who wants to? So, on Valentine’s Day, when you are handing out chocolate treats, make sure they really are treats, not just car wax-coated chocolate substitutes. There are times when we get what we pay for. Okay, now what if you overindulged anyway, even if you resorted to higher quality chocolate? Good question. There are ways to counter the effects of same. For example, since the liver is so adversely affected, something used to detoxify it might be a good idea. Milk thistle has been known to help ailing livers. So has dandelion. Both tend to clean out many of the harmful toxins which accumulate and even help to rebuild the organ in question, especially over a festive season or - as mentioned - Valentine’s Day. This is not the time to go into panic mode. In fact, the whole situation is really pretty simple: If you eat chocolate over Valentine’s Day – or any other time – make sure you do/take something to counter the adverse effects of such indulgence. And the more you consume, the more you will need milk thistle and/or dandelion to undo the effects. Also, the “cheaper” the chocolate, the more of the herbs you will require and the more you will require them. See? It’s not “rocket science” after all. Here it is in a proverbial nutshell: Have fun; life is too short and we may go around only once…maybe. In any case, enjoy without becoming too extreme. Most anyone can diffuse the negative affects of partying, i.e. eating far too much chocolate, so do yourself a favour and go for it. Just make sure you keep some good detoxifying herbs close by. And for those who choose to imbibe, you can rely on the same herbs to help detoxify your liver after overindulging. This is not to say that it’s okay to get “rip roaring drunk”. It means that, in moderation, a few drinks will do slight damage to the liver…damage that can be alleviated by using some appropriate herbs, like those mentioned above. There are several other aspects to consider when this time of year rolls around, but we have space for only this list of suggestions. Should the above scare you off of chocolate (not my intent), why not give something different this year? Have you considered, for example, vanilla? Whatever you do, keep a friendly smile on your face and see how much farther you can go with it. People do tend to smile right back…and that is a very good thing. (It may also tend to make them wonder if you just finished consuming some rather good chocolate.) Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day! by David Dixon For the past 40 years, Dave has been a devout Vegetarian. During this time frame, he has become certified as a Nutritional Consultant, worked as a Fitness Trainer, a certified Reflexologist, Deep Muscle Therapist as well as Quantum Biofeedback Practitioner in the South Okanagan area. Dave currently has a biofeedback practice in Penticton ~ 1-778-516-1198. Back to Newsletter
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