Organico Bantry

It’s the only time of the year I find myself buying crappy sweets and boxes of cheap chocolates to give away – feeling under pressure to play the game. But our kids don’t need more sugar – so I’m going to try amd make a workable list of alternatives…

• Why not give out other little gifts? Pens, pencils, balloons, fake tattoos, stickers – or even tooth brushes!!!
• For home (maybe not so suitable for Trick or Treaters) you can make little ‘Vampire bites’ by slicing apples into thin long slices and spreading nut butter in the middle, with some bleaches almonds as teeth! Any nut butter in the middle makes a tasty healthy snack…
• Mix nuts and chocolate nuts, this will reduce the sugar and the protein in the nuts will balance their blood sugars a little bit more than pure chocolate…
• I’m not a fan of Baby Bells but it is a cheese that is suitable for Trick or Treat…and again, the protein is a good way of balancing the effects of the sugar. So when they all get home with their bags of goodies, it’s no bad thing to have cheese cubes ready to go…
• Fruit is an obvious option, not always well received, but still good to try.
• Small toys…if you can buy a pack of little somethings that can be given out in singles…
• Do you have any old Christmas Crackers lurking anywhere? Or anything else that goes bang!
• Apples dipped in chocolate is better than apples dipped in toffee, as the latter can really damage teeth.
• Even packets of crisps might be a better option than more sweet things! Still junk food but slightly less damaging.
• Better still would be salty nuts, preferably not peanuts but almonds or cashews, and in an ideal world freshly salted/roasted and salted by you so you know the salt is a healthy sea salt and is lightly used without any added MSG. In tiny bags…
• Little juice cartons – again, not a huge amount of difference perhaps between fruit juice and sugar but at least you can limit the other nasty additives in many sweets. If you buy them in packs and only give one out it’s not too expensive.

All other ideas welcome! Happy Halloween everybody – it only comes once a year so lets enjoy it and make the most of the family time together. Don’t be scared to have some fun!!!

Getting a high cholesterol reading from your GP can be a bit of a shock but if you have been advised to reduce your cholesterol there are lots of natural things you can to help. This month i have researched a few natural tips which you can apply either alongside prescription medication or before you are recommended to take it.

Although it can be upsetting to find your Cholesterol levels are higher than desirable, in some ways it can serve as a very useful motivator to improve your diet and your exercise routine! We all know that avoiding unhealthy fats is important for everyone, so most people who want to have a healthy diet aim to cut out or reduce fried foods, fatty meats, too many rich and sweet foods and too many processed foods.

Alongside these changes it is important to increase amount of soluble and insoluble fibre in your diet (fibre binds to fat and carries it out of your body). So plenty of vegetables – raw, lightly cooked or juiced. And plenty of fruit (fruit is best in its whole form – too many smoothies and juice are actually very sugary and can be worse for you because of the high sugar levels). And of course plenty of wholegrain foods – bread, rice, even pasta can be made healthy by choosing the wholegrain varieties.

Apart from fruit and vegetables, another good way of improving your fibre levels is to eat porridge or muesli (not over-processed cereals like cornflakes) and add a selection of super-healthy ingredients like ground seeds (flax has the best track-record of lowering cholesterol – try Irish Health Oils ground Flax Seed) and lecithin. Some probiotic yoghurt is also excellent – preferably not a sugary yoghurt but a natural one. Add berries, grated apple or pear and you have a super-healthy breakfast!

It’s important to remember that not all fat is bad (confusing I know). For example, cooking on medium to low heats with olive oil, Rape Seed Oil or an organic Sunflower Oil is fine, and so is eating home-made salad dressings with good natural oils (for example try Flax, Udo’s Hemp, Olive, Pumpkin, Avocado). Trying to cut out all fats can actually be harmful – our bodies need fat for many purposes including keeping our heart healthy! It might seem contradictory but taking nutritional oils – as long as they are healthy oils and we use them correctly – is healthy, so for example you might decide to take Eskimo Oil ( a fish oil) or Udo’s Oil (a plant-based omega oil) to keep your ‘good’ HDL cholesterol levels up and your not-so-good LDL levels down. Call into Organico for more information.

If you are advised to try to reduce your levels in a few months and feel you need extra help, you might find it useful to try taking Plant Sterol Esthers. We have all heard the adverts for Plant Sterols, they have been shown to reduce LDL levels by at least 10% in 6 weeks, which when combined with the reduction you will gain by changing your diet and lifestyle is very significant. Plant Sterols are now being added to margarine and sweet drinks – but to me anyway it seems strange that you need to take a lot of either fatty or very sweet foods in order to get the active dose! Like many things that are healthy it is vey hard to get the required dose through diet alone. We now have an alternative called Zerochol, a tablet of pure Plant Sterol Esthers which you take once a day with your main meal. And the interesting news is that the manufacturers say it is safe to take even if you are on medication, and can increase the effectiveness of some anti-cholesterol medication to the extent that your GP might reduce the dose.

Here is a synopsis of a recent email from Patrick Holford. You can sign up for his emails by going to www.patrickholford.com and signing up. They are fairly useful – he is very keen you buy his books, but then they are pretty good books!

I had read this already, when I was researching for an article on healthy oils, but it is still amazing – a study published in the Clinical Journal of Oncology found that eating flaxseeds can reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer by up to 40% This is due to the lignan content of flax. Lignans, a very important type of phytoestrogen, apparently kill off cancer cells and prevent secondary tumours by stopping the growth of new cells.

In the bowel, lignans are turned into enterolactone. The study looked at 1,140 postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Women with the highest blood levels of enterolactone had an approximately 40% lower mortality risk and a lower risk for disease progression. It was found that enterolactone protects against cancer growth, irrespective of oestroegen, by promoting cell death and inhibiting sprouting of new blood vessels. This is pretty amazing – and luckily eating flaxseeds is not expensive or unpleasant.

Holford says: ‘We are losing the cancer war. The number of new cancer cases has increased by 20% in under a decade and now stands at 12 million a year, according to new figures from the World Cancer Research Fund. Conventional treatments are actually not that effective. A comprehensive meta-analysis of trials on chemotherapy concludes: “The contribution of chemotherapy to five-year survival in adults was 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in the USA.” The scientists conducting this meta-analysis emphasized that these figures are an optimistic estimate. The ‘holy grail’ for targeting cancer is some kind of treatment that kills cancer cells, but not healthy cells. My three favourite alternatives to conventional chemotherapy are photodynamic therapy, mega-dose vitamin C and salvestrols. I explore these and other ways to make yourself cancer-proof in my book ‘“>Say No To Cancer’.

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With the changing weather we can already see an increase in the number of bugs going around – the last week in August brought a sharp rise in the numbers of people looking for Echinacea and Ivy Thyme (a good cough remedy), as well as Vitamin C and Garlic. But a home remedy I am very fond of (and have been trying out a lot this week!) is simple Steam Inhalation – I use A.Vogel’s Po Ho Oil Inhaler (for sale in most healthfood shops €15.99 including a bottle of oil that will last you for years) but you can also simply use a towel and a bowel of water.

You can use inhalation to help with nasal congestion, coughs, and sore throats. If you are too congested to breathe in through your nose then use your mouth but purse your lips – the steam will moisturise and looses the congestion in your nose.

The main thing I find is not to have the water too hot. Too cold clearly doesn’t work – no steam – but too hot means your nostrils (and eyes and face if you are using the towel method) get burned and it’s hard to breath the steam deep into your lungs. If you get the right temperature you find you can inhale deeply and it’s not too uncomfortable.

You can add all kinds of things to the water to increase the effectiveness of steaming. Olbas Oil is the most well-known oil, and it is pretty good, but the oils it is made with are not actually natural oils. I actually prefer A.Vogel’s Po Ho Oil because they use pure essential oils (including peppermint which is very good for clearing the head – also for nausea). You could also make up a blend of what you have at home, just be very aware not to use too many drops as essential oils are very strong! Two or three drops in total is actually enough. Tea tree oil is good, as is Eucalyptus and Peppermint. You can also use fresh or dried thyme leaves as an inhalation for chesty coughs and for sore throats you can make Sage leaf and honey tea…it’s very soothing. I’ve written before about Carrageen Moss drink for colds, and don’t forget cider vinegar and honey – if it appeals to you it can be an excellent disinfectant and detoxing remedy when you have a cold.

I find steaming particularly good just before bed. If you have a little one and you want to improve their breathing, you can put some oils one the shower floor and run the shower hot and bring them into the room for 5 minutes. You can also use an oil burner or candle (add drops of oil to the melted wax of a natural wax candle) and just take the candle or burner out of their room before you leave.

If someone else in the house has a cold and you want to minimise your risk of catching it, you can do steam and oil inhalations to disinfect your nasal passages and keep the germs from getting a hold of you. You can also breath in sea salty water – but that’s another whole article! Look up Neti Pots and how to use them on Google if you are interested.

Stay well! Hannah Dare

It’s really easy to make a nourishing soothing drink from Carrageen Moss. It makes a jelly-like thick drink which, when you add lots of honey and lemon juice, tastes pretty OK and really feels like its doing you good. I personally use the dried seaweed you buy in most healthfood shops – but if you are very keen you can harvest it yourself in Ireland!

What you need:

Carrageen Moss – a good handful of the dried seaweed (about 5 grams)
1 Organic un-waxed lemon
1 Teaspoon manuka honey or local honey per person
1 pint cold water (preferably spring water or filtered water)

Juice your lemon. Put the carrageen moss into a medium stainless steel pan, add water to cover, add the shell of the lemon if it is organic, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice. To serve, strain into a large mug and add honey to taste. keep the pan near the stove and heat up more as needed.

You can also add sage leaves or thyme leaves – sage is good for sore throats and thyme for chesty coughs.

Drink as often as you need to – 3 to 4 mugs a day while you are feeling under the weather always works for me!

I hope you are enjoying the amazing spring we are having this year! Sunshine, blue skies and bird-song – we couldn’t be luckier. However, for some of us the spring is the start of a miserable time of constant sniffling, itchy eyes and more sneezing than anyone should ever have to put up with. Every year we have people pouring in to Organico looking for hay fever remedies in May and June – but by that time their symptoms have already taken hold and it can be much harder to help them. So if you know you are annual sufferer, it’s a good idea to get started early, as herbs and homeopathics are best used to prevent Hay fever rather than to treat it when the symptoms are very strong. Many of the conventional Hay fever medicines have undesirable side effects including drowsiness so if you can find the alternative remedy that works for you your life will be much more comfortable!

There are many different causes of Hay fever. Children and adults alike suffer from seasonal allergies to pollens from blooming plants and from allergic reactions to animal hair, feathers, and a huge variety of environmental elements. Hay fever is the result of your immune system mistakenly identifying these normally harmless allergens as infectious agents and attempting to “fight” them, which results in inflammation, sneezing and a range of unpleasant symptoms. Researchers have failed to explain why some people’s immune system goes berserk while others in the same house are unaffected, however anything you can do to help balance your immune system will generally help with this problem.
It seems obvious but staying away from certain foods and making sure you get enough of others can really help your immune system to function at its best all year round.
Foods to eat lots of include – fruit and vegetables (for vitamins and antioxidants); seeds (rich in selenium and zinc); seaweeds (they come in handy flakes now that you can add to your soup or vegetable dishes and contain loads of immune-boosting nutrients) and anything containing essential fats (for example oily fish, chia seeds) which help reduce inflammation. Also – drink more water! Whenever your body is trying to clear something out help it by upping your water intake – water is the great detoxifier.
Foods to reduce: wheat, dairy and sugar – all know as allergens and even though you might think hay fever is just about you nose there is more and more evidence to suggest it is also due to an aggravated system which starts with an unhealthy diet. Alcohol is also associated with an increase in symptoms.

There are also a range of natural remedies that can help you. Your immune system is highly complex and you’ll have to find what combination suits you – I have seen people get lucky with the first homeopathic they try and also people who need to go to a qualified therapist for advice because their case is stubborn. A good natural remedy to start with can be honey – specifically a local honey contains pollen from plants and trees that may be causing your allergic reaction. Unfortunately that can be very hard to find at this time of year, and especially this year because of the bee problems. But look for a local honey that has not been boiled and take a spoonful a day starting at least a month before your reaction usually starts.

I know people who use Chamomile Tea to reduce the duration of their hay fever attack. Leave the bag in for a good 5 minutes to get the full effect. Nettle Tea can also be helpful as nettles are an expectorant and reduce sinus inflammation. Traditionally nettles are a ‘’spring tonic’’ made into a soup to cleanse the blood after a long winter – which makes sense given they are good for a spring-time illness! Use a bag of each as your first drink every morning.

You will find Po Ho Oil inhaler in most health food shops – it’s a combination of essential oils which are great for steam inhalation if you have a cold or inflamed sinuses for any reasons including hay fever. It also now comes in a handy pocket size tube. I especially like the peppermint oil it contains because it makes me feel alert – often having a stuffed up nose can make me feel very fuzzy so this can be very useful!

On the vitamin front, Patrick Holford recommends all allergy suffers to take a good multi-vitamin, a good anti-oxidant and a good vitamin C. These form the base of a healthy body in his opinion.

In terms of stronger herbal remedies the bioflavonoid Quercetin which is a natural anti-histamine that modulates immune system response to antigens is getting a lot of research attention at the moment for both asthma and hay fever. Solgar make a good Quercetin Complex by combining it with Bromelain which reduces inflammation.

Another popular option is Weleda’s ‘’Hayfever kit’’ – it contains a homeopathic remedy made form the most common forms of pollen which can help switch off the allergic reaction, and a soothing nasal spray made from aloe vera which can really help keep nasal passages clear and working effectively. Uur nose is often called our first line of defence so making sure is in working at its best makes sense!

Finally, a neat little hay fever remedy is called Hay Max – a blend of beeswax and oils that you put under your nose which makes a barrier and traps the pollen before it gets a chance to cause its mischief. Voted Best Organic Product by the Health Food Institute in the UK Haymax is simple to use and does not cause drowsiness!

At the start of April we are celebrating Rude Health Week in Organico which is organised by the Irish Association of Health Food Stores – so have a look at what’s on in the Bantry listings and come along and take advantage of the fantastic free events we have organised! For more details see www.organico.ie or call us on 027 51391. Organico Shop, Café and Bakery is located on Glengarriff Road in Bantry.

One day I was sauntering along the main shopping street in Bantry, enjoying the sunny day and the agreeable buzz of the shoppers, when a car drew up sharply on the opposite side of the road and a harassed faced woman, yelled out across the noise of the traffic “are you the menopause woman?” well that took me by surprise to say the least! I crossed the road to enter into conversation and the poor woman held up the traffic to pour out her distress.

This was one of many women looking for support and information around the time of hormonal transition, not wanting to go down the road of HRT, or maybe wanting to come off HRT and looking for an approach, that considers the whole person rather than simply treating or masking symptoms.

The important thing to remember is that the menopause is not an illness but a time of transition just like the start of our periods was a transition from childhood to being a young woman. I love to recommend that women take note of the pause in the word menopause, so that it’s not just a time of stopped periods but it’s a great opportunity to pause and consider how you’re life is going and what changes you might like to make to enhance and enjoy it more.

At the menopause the ovaries decline in their production of oestrogen, however post menopause we are still able to produce a form of oestrogen called oestrone from our adrenal gland’s we may also experience fluctuations in levels of progesterone and testosterone. For this transition to go smoothly we need to be in optimum health; and nutrition, emotional well-being , stress management, exercise and environment all play crucial part in this. Menopause can be a time of inner reflection and great happiness but it is also a time when life catches up with you and presents all your unfinished business regarding all aspects of your health and demands that you sort them out in order to continue happily on life’s journey. So this is an ideal time to go on retreat, have counselling, visit a health practitioner and get you physical health in better shape particularly if you’ve been living life on the fast track.

The most frequent symptoms of menopause that women experience are hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, urinary symptoms and mood swings. It can be helpful to make sure your diet contains enough Omega 3 fatty Acids (from oily fish, seeds, or supplements like Udo’s Oil or a Fish Oil supplement like Krill Oil), and that you are getting a good supply or vitamins and minerals (if you are in doubt perhaps consider a good multivitamin such as Solgar’s VM Prime or Higher Nature’s True Food Supernutrition Plus). The most frequent herbs used to support the body at this time are Black Cohosh, Agnus Castus, Shatavari, Dong Quai, Uva Ursi and Sage; for example Menosan (a sage extract) from A.Vogel can be very helpful for hot flushes. For information on these and other supportive products call to Organico. If you want to read more Christine Northrup M.D’s.book The Wisdom of the Menopause it gives in depth medical information and combines with a holistic approach is excellent.

Gabrielle McCauley will give free consultations on hormonal and urinary health for women on Friday 6th May in Organico; call to book your place. Tel 027 51391.
Organico Shop Café and Bakery is open in Bantry from 9.30 till 6pm Monday to Saturday.

The time of year between the spring equinox and mid-summer is for me the most wonderful. I begin to spend more and more time outside, while the days are lengthening and the sun is starting to feel stronger the layers of clothes that I happily swaddled myself in through the harshness of winter are being shed. It’s almost a surprise to discover the body underneath….By the time this is printed we may already have had a mini heat wave and in our delirious state be spending entire days soaking up the rays! Here is some information on how to enjoy the sun safely and take good care of yourself and your family.

When I was growing up we thought nothing of a few days of sunburn to initiate ourselves into the summer sun, we didn’t really think about nor have information about the consequences of our behaviour. However, according to the Irish Cancer Society, Skin Cancer is the most common cancer in Ireland for both men and women. Ultraviolet light (UVA and UVB) from the sun is the main cause of most skin cancers (over exposure to some chemicals being another) and there are approximately 7,500 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed in Ireland every year. UVB rays attack the skin’s outer layers, while UVA rays attack the underlying layers, and both are dangerous.

People who work outdoors for a living such as farm workers, builders and gardeners are at an increased risk of developing skin cancer because of prolonged exposure to the sun. A fair skinned person who tends to go red or freckles in the sun will be most at risk, also those with naturally red or fair hair and blue green or grey eyes; also those people who have a large number of moles (50 or more) and those who have a history of sunburn or have already had skin cancer. If you fall into these categories or are planning to sun bath, you can increase your skins’ internal protection by taking Beta Carotene (or even better, Mixed Carotenoids) and/or drink a lot of carrot juice to give your skin a better chance of tanning without burning.

The Irish Cancer Society advises us to follow the Sun Smart Code; Cover up – wear a wide brimmed hat or a hat with a neck flap to protect your neck, and a tee shirt or other shirt with close weave material (and presumably long sleeves). Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) 15 or higher. Make sure it has UVA and UVB protection. When out in the sun apply carefully over all exposed areas of the body and re apply every 2 hours if you have been swimming or sweating. Put sunscreen on 20 minutes before going out into the sun. Seek shade, use sun umbrellas, and avoid being out in the sun between 11am and 3p.m. when sunlight is strongest. Protect your eyes by wearing sunglasses that give a high protection against UV rays. Look at the label and check the standard: BS Standard (BS 27 24 19 87) or European Standard (EN 1836). Also remember that about 80% of the sun’s rays pass through the clouds and reflections from water, metal, sand or snow may increase the amount of ultra violet you absorb.

”Green People” do a range of organic sun lotions that protect the skin from UVA and UVB rays with naturally derived ingredients that are gentle but effective. Their award winning SPF 25 sun cream is carefully formulated with more than 80% organic ingredients to protect and keep skin beautifully moisturised, and are suitable for people with sensitive skin and allergies. Their organic sun lotion SPF 15 with tan accelerator contains an extract from the carob tree which speeds up tanning naturally by 25% and reduces the tan fading rate by almost 50%. And they do a fantastic Children’s SPF 25.

Some people want a higher SPF than 25, but actually SPF 15 gives you 93% protection and an SPF 25 will give you 96% protection, so there is no real need to go higher. In fact, a higher sunscreen often just makes us feel more protected so we end up doing more damage. SPF 15 applied every 2 hours is the best for most people. To achieve higher than SPF 25 you need very strong chemicals, which come with their own problems. Research has shown that the chemicals in synthetic sun screens can accumulate in the body and can mimic the harmful effects of oestrogen. They have even been found in breast milk.

Children spend more time outdoors than adults. As a result most people will get 80% of their lifetime exposure to the suns UV rays in their youth. Sunburn in childhood increases the risk of developing skin cancer later in life. Children’s skin is very sensitive to the suns rays all children whether they tan easily or not they should be protected. Babies under 6 months should be kept out of the sun completely. For babies and children over 6 months Green People and Lavera do a range of Organic sun lotions to protect from UVA and UVB and are ideal for children with sensitive skin or are prone to eczema or psoriasis.

Achieve a healthy natural looking tan without going near the sun with a certified organic Self Tan lotion from Green People. Fast, non streaky and effective, it is ideal for all skin types. Winner of the best fake tan at the Natural Health Magazine Beauty Awards 2011, it is scented with essential oils of Rose Geranium and Sandalwood. And if you do accidentally get burnt, Aloe Vera Gel is very soothing, and St John’s Wort Oil heals and relieves the pain.

Finally, don’t forget a little sunlight directly on your skin is essential for vitamin D production which protects us against cancer, osteoporosis and many more illnesses, so try to spend 10-15 minutes in the sun a few times a week. Look after your precious skin and enjoy the summer!

Organico Shop Café and Bakery, Glengarriff Road Bantry opens Monday to Saturday 9.30 till 6pm. Please call 027 51391 or email info@organico.ie for any natural health queries.

Anyone who would like to start their own garden should come along to a free Open Evening in Organico Cafe on Friday the 15th of April at 7.30. Get Growing, a local Charity run by vollunteers who are experienced and passionate gardeners, is starting a serise of hands-on classes which will help you to plan and start to grow vegetables in whatever space is available to you. The classes are free. For more information contact Shalila on 02766296 or on getgrowingirl.sb@gmailcom.

Celebrate National Rude Health Week 2011 – Come and join us in learning more about naturally good health at Organico. Enjoy a range of free talks and consultations:

Friday 8th April Sinead Ni Ghealbhain (Pukka Herbs) – Free Consultations on Ayurvedic Medicine and Family Health 11-3pm
Monday 11th April Roisin O’Shea (Nutritional product Consultant)
free consultations on Hormonal Health for Women 11-1pm
Tues 12th April Christine Meadows (Nutritionist) 11-1pm for free 20 minute consultations on a healthy diet.
Tuesday 12th 8.30 – 9.30pm John Garvey will present a free talk on ‘Raising a Healthy Family’ in Organico Café. All welcome.
Wednesday 13th Brid Walsh (Solgar) Free Consultations on Natural Treatments for Hayfever and Allergies 11-2.30 pm
Thursday 14th Liz Ewing (Stress Management Consultant) free half hour Stress Management consultations 2.30 – 4.30pm

All week: Free samples, tastings and special offers in Organico!

Please Note: Places are very limited – register to avoid disappointment Tel 027 51391