CNM (The College of Naturopathic Medicine) are long-serving writers for Positive Life, and we love what they do! We were especially excited to read this article by Ciara Roberts, which appeared in our Winter 2019/20 issue. She described what her studies with CNM meant to her, both in terms of her personal healing journey, and how she now works with clients. Read on to learn all about it!
College of Naturopathic Medicine
A Life-Changing Career: Students of CNM Share Their Motivation
In this extract from our Spring 2019 magazine, we heard from a number of CNM (College of Naturopathic Medicine) students, who told us how their decision to enrol in CNM’s Naturopathic Nutrition course changed their lives and their careers.
Supporting Your Teeth: What Does Your Mouth Say About Your Health?
In our Winter 2018/19 issue, Gemma Hurditch of the College of Naturopathic Medicine (CNM) shared her tips for maintaining excellent dental health, and why this is vital for overall health and wellbeing. We are pleased to share her article in full below!
This is a CNM excerpt from our Winter 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!
By Nutritionist Jacqueline Ryan
Our immune systems can be supported in many ways throughout the cold winter months, such as with supplementation, exercise, ensuring adequate sleep, proper hydration, managing our stress levels and avoiding alcohol and smoking. The food we feed our bodies daily is the most important way to keep the immune system functioning to its optimum.
Choosing the right foods isn’t that difficult. Basically, stick to the essentials by avoiding all processed and sugarladen foods. Instead, eat a wide range of vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, nuts, seeds, fish and meat. Introduce fermented foods such as kefir, kombucha or sauerkraut which maintain a healthy gut, to ensure your immune system runs well. Increase immune boosting foods and herbs such as garlic, mushrooms (shiitake/ maitake/ reishi), vitamin C and zinc-rich foods, ginger, turmeric, elderberry and echinacea.
As the cold, dark days of winter appear, our cravings often turn to comfort foods – so a hearty stew may be
the ultimate meal to warm you inside and out. Stews are an ideal winter dinner as they are a comforting, soothing meal, which is easy to digest and packed full of nutrition to help support the immune system. Beef stew is an excellent source of protein, iron, fibre, antioxidants, B vitamins, zinc, selenium, phosphorus, vitamins A and K. One of the main ways to really boost the immune properties of your stew is by making it with a homemade bone both.
This is a CNM excerpt from our Winter 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!
Autumn 2017 CNM Sneak Peek: Ferment Your Way to Optimal Health
This is a sneak peek of an article on the many positive health benefits of fermented foods, written by nutritionist and CNM graduate, Caroline Punch. You can read the full article in our Autumn 2017 issue, available now from our lovely stockists across Ireland.
By Caroline Punch
The practice of fermentation has been around for centuries. However, its re-emergence as the latest buzzword in health news is reflected in the ever-expanding range of products, from kefir to kimchi, lining the shelves of our local health stores.
Fermentation is a process of converting starches and sugars in certain foods into lactic acid. This is a natural preservative which can kill harmful bacteria while promoting plenty of beneficial enzymes, highly supportive to our intestinal gut flora. This explains why our ancestors used this as a healthy method of food preservation.
How fermented foods can benefit our health:
- The abundance of fermented food in our ancestors’ diets served not only the purpose of preservation and a satisfying taste, but more significantly, to ensure optimal gut health, and thus, overall health. The high density of good bacteria present in such food makes it an excellent natural prebiotic source; by adding just a small portion to every meal, this can contain up to 100 times the amount of probiotics than that of a supplement.
- Given that up to 80% of our immune system is found in the gut, ensuring optimal gut function should be a priority for everybody. The probiotic properties in fermented and cultured foods support the development of the mucosal immune system in our digestive tract and protect against disease.
- A strong source of essential nutrients can be found in some fermented products such as Vitamin K2, which is heart-protective, and B vitamins, which are essential for metabolism and red blood cell production.
This is a sneak peek from our Autumn 2017 issue. To read the full article, pick up a cop of the magazine from one of our stockists today.
Summer 2017 CNM Sneak Peek: Eating According to Ayurveda
This is a CNM excerpt from our Summer 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!
By Pamela Ryan
Ayurveda, meaning ‘science of life’, is an ancient Indian system of healing which has guided people in their pursuit of health for thousands of years. According to Ayurveda, the energy of the world is in constant flux, shifting with the seasons. Similarly, our bodies are constantly changing in response to this flux, and have an innate orientation towards homeostasis (balance) and health. Imbalances can lead to illness, and the goal of Ayurveda is to prevent illness, looking to the root cause and providing the tools required to restore health.
Ayurveda identifies three elemental groups known as doshas; Vata, Pitta and Kapha. The doshas are three particular combinations of the natural elements which are the building blocks of our bodies and the world; ether, air, fire, water and earth. Together they are responsible for everything that happens inside our bodies. We each contain all three doshas, all elements, however in varying degrees of intensity. Your dominant dosha is your ‘Prakruti’ (original nature). Once you understand your prakruti you can recognise symptoms of imbalance and implement changes to your nutrition and lifestyle to restore balance and prevent illness.
This is a CNM excerpt from our Spring 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!
This is a CNM excerpt from our Spring 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!
By Claire Clerkin
We are often inclined to do an annual ‘spring clean’ of our homes, but what about our bodies?
Spring is a time when we move out of a period of conservation and into a more active phase. It is the perfect opportunity to give our body’s detoxification systems a boost with a gentle cleanse. Just as the birds, insects and animals come out of hibernation, so too does the human system shake off the cobwebs in preparation for a busy summer period.
The body has a fabulous, intelligent detoxification system already installed. The liver, kidneys and other organs of the digestive system spearhead the major detoxification processes. When working as they should, they effectively rid our bodies of poisons that could cause health problems if left unmanaged.
How does detoxification work?
The liver is crucial in getting rid of toxins. First, it breaks them down and then packages them into forms that can be excreted by the digestive system or kidneys. B vitamins, zinc, sulphur, amino acids and the anti-oxidant vitamins E and C are required by the liver to do its work properly. If you don’t get enough of these nutrients, the process of detoxification will be compromised.
This is a CNM excerpt from our Spring 2017 issue. Read the rest of the article by subscribing soon so we can post you a copy or picking up a magazine from one of our lovely stockists all over Ireland. Tell them we said hello!