DETOX for Fitness and Health

An informative look at recent Holistic Fitness News

DR KAPLAN'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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Happy New Year and welcome to January, the great 'detox' month! This is the time that many, many people decide to get their act together and 'clean up'. An employee of a famous coffee shop chain was overheard by one of my friends: "Hey, we must remember to order much more skim milk. It's the new year coming up!"

My friend found this depressing but I'm always impressed by people trying to improve their health. It's better to be healthy for one whole month (if you can last that long) than no months at all! And all the gymns around the world rely on the post-Xmas 'joining up' rush. If all the people who sign up in January had the cheek to turn up regularly, then the gymns would have a serious problem. Fortunately for the business, that never happens!

My main 'detox' tip is: Drink plenty of water! When you drink lots of water, you increase your blood volume temporarily. Your kidneys are then called in to get rid of the extra water and in doing so they also filter the toxins out of your bloodstream.

Watch out for the Alcopops!

(no, they are not a new boy band)

In the health news this week was some distressing statistics about teenage consumption of alcohol. Now this column has cited many sources that state 2 units of alcohol a day to be actually quite healthy -for adults above the legal age! Children do not need the cardiac protection offered by extremely moderate consumption of alcohol.

The study showed that 85% of British teenagers enjoy alcohol and it's usually in the form of binge drinking over two nights a week. (13.8 units a week for boys and 10.7 units for girls) A spokesman for the Institute of Alcohol Studies said: "By the time you are 15, getting slaughtered is a central part of your social activities" Slaughtered? That's a really unfortunate word. And remember these kids getting 'slaughtered' are under the age of consent, for consensual sex that is, not ordering another drink.

The reason for this may be those new drinks that mix fruit juice, sugar, flavourings and alcohol. These alcopops are soaring in popularity among teenagers and are a nice little earner for some one. (The Week reports the alcopop industry as being valued at one billion pounds a year!)

Also in the news this week was a study showing that Echinacea is not that useful in treating colds. When subjects were given the herb at the earliest symptoms for a full 10 days, they fared no better than a control group taking placebo. I've heard patients say that they take Echinacea as prophylactic when there are colds going around. (which is slightly different and could also be tested)

Homeopathic Tip of the Week

How to prevent a cold: Try to take the rest a cold forces you to take, before you get ill. That means recognise when you are getting run down and look after yourself by getting enough sleep, exercise and healthy meals.

Treating a cold homeopathically: At the very first tingle of a sore throat or chill: Aconite 30c hourly for 5 or 6 doses can help but you have got to get it in early which means having the remedy available all the time.

For fatigue, drowsiness, weakness, and more 'flu'-like symptoms: Gelsemium 30c every few hours for a few days.

For that lingering cough after a cold: Bryonia 30c three times a day for a week or until the cough goes away.

Finally, if you do get struck down by a nasty cold, it's best not to spend your energy stressed about what you are 'missing' at workMuch better to relent and give yourself over to a full and restful recovery. A cold can be a way of forcing you to stop, get more bed-rest and look after yourself. And don't forget the healing properties of a good old fashioned chicken soup (which studies have shown, actually breaks down mucus ).

Dr Kaplan's personal website is: www.drkaplan.co.uk and his practice website is www.140harleystreet.co.uk and he can be contacted on (020) 7487 3416