In Organico we have just started stocking Sara’s Choice Maca, which is one of the best Maca products available and is made by an Irish company based in County Meath. Available in capsules or in powder (which actually tastes great – I take mine with water every morning and I’m really fussy normally!), Sara’s Choice Maca is ideal for anyone with hormone issues or tiredness and sleep problems.

Noreen McCarthy is a very highly qualified and experienced massage therapist. I had heard very good things about her from friends who were her clients and I was very impressed when she came to ‘Babytalk’ (a Healthboard-run group that got parents of new babies together to learn and socialise). Noreen gave us a morning’s instruction on how to massage our babies, and her sensitivity and respect for the babies was very inspiring. She reminded us always to ask or inform our baby that we were going to give them some massage before we started, rather than just launching into it, and I though that was a good lesson to try to apply to other areas of interaction with Lucy, as so many times she must feel like she has no control over what is happening to her body!

Noreen is very good for both pregnancy massage and for stronger deeper massage suitable for sports people. She also gives tips on excercises to do at home to help heal injuries.

Find out more about the types of massage Noreen offers and how to contact her here.

I was sent a very interesting snippet of information recently from A.Vogel, a company who produce and research herbal remedies in a very ethical, safe and environmentally responsible way. Let me know what you think!

”Triple herbal combination: An effective alternative to benzodiazepines”

This is the title of a study into the effect of using a combination of valerian, hops and passiflora to help with sleep, whilst coming off benzodiazepenes.

Benzodiazepines are a group of sedative drugs and the patients taking part in this study had been taking them for an average of 6.8 months. They were coming off the drugs either due to their own request or their physician’s recommendation, or due to poor tolerability. The patients were given the herbal combination to see if it could counteract symptoms sometimes associated with the withdrawal phase from benzodiazepenes.

At the end of the 6-week treatment period, 68% of the patients thought that their sleep quality had improved. 74% indicated that they had more motivation and drive than at the beginning, and day time tiredness improved. At the end of the study, 64% of the patients said that they would continue with the herbal therapy, whilst 34% had improved sufficiently to discontinue therapy.

This information was supplied by A.Vogel.

Reference: Wähling C et al. Zeitschrift Phytotherapie 2009; 30: 69-72

The short dark days of the early New Year leave many of us feeling a little blue – Why is that? Lack of direct sunlight and vitamin D deficiency is a significant factor in the development of SAD, or the ‘winter blues’. This month I’m focusing on Vitamin D. I have been taking vitamin D for a while as there has been so much recent research on the myriad of health benefits it offers, so I thought I’d provide some of the information I have gathered so you can see if you think it might be something that would benefit you. Remember, I’m not a doctor so if you are on prescription medication please consult a healthcare professional. Vitamin D is actually a hormone not a vitamin, though it is known as the Sunshine Vitamin. With the aid of sunlight, vitamin D is made from cholesterol in the skin, liver and kidneys. Recent research has linked a deficiency of Vitamin D with arthritis, bone density loss, auto-immune conditions, heart disease, osteoporosis, viral infections (including the flu) and 17 types of cancer. In Canada, the Cancer Society recommends taking at least 1000 iu’s of vitamin D throughout the winter. From the reports I’ve been reading, people who take Vitamin D say that they have an increased sense of well-being, improved sleep patterns and even weight loss. The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis released a study showing that depressed patients were 11 times more likely to have low levels of Vitamin D. They also determined that low levels of Vitamin D were associated with low mood and also not being able to complete certain mental tests. It takes 10-15 minutes of sunlight on our skin (without any SPF creams on) for our bodies to make a daily supply of vitamin D – and at the moment we would be lucky to get that per week! One reason for there being such high numbers of people being Vitamin D deficient is that we’re encouraged to stay out of the sun and use sunblocks whenever we’re outside. Using sunblock and avoiding too much exposure to the sun is good for preventing skin cancer but means we produce less vitamin D. Also, if you are on a low fat or a low cholesterol diet, you will have decreased production of Vitamin D. Stress also contributes to decreased Vitamin D production and it has been shown that as we age, the ability of the body to produce Vitamin D decreases. Interestingly enough, they are now considering Vitamin D deficiency as an epidemic in the US, as it has been found that even people living in Sunny California don’t have enough in their blood. Dietary sources of vitamin D are oily fish, such as mackerel, herrings, salmon etc, cod liver oil and egg yolks. It is also added in small amounts to some milk. Baby formulas often have vitamin D added to them. It is added to many calcium supplements but only enough to absorb the calcium in the tablet. Without regular exposure to sunlight it is pretty hard for our systems to make enough vitamin D unless you take it in capsule form.

Buy it now and we will ship it via An Post within Ireland. If you want us to ship to another country call us on +353 27 51391. If you are unhappy wiht the product return it unopened for a full refund (less P&P). Pay securely using Paypal (You don’t need a paypal account for this you can use your credit card). We have this product in stock so you should expect to have it in about 3 working days.

Colloidal Silver 100 mls - € 8.65 (plus €2.50 P&P)	Colloidal Silver 250 mls - €14.95 (plus €3.50 P&P)	Colloidal Silver 500mls - €24.95 (plus €4.50 P&P)

Colloidal Silver is used by many as an all-purpose antibiotic, anti-viral, anti-fungal. It is a medicine and should always be used with due caution. There is a lot of information about Colloidal Silver on the internet, some positive, some not; some true, some not. All we can testify to is our own experiece, of using for both humans and animals for many different ailments. We have never had a negative effect – except that it doesn’t cure everything! However, when used in the proper manner it is very effective for many bacterial/viral/fungal infections.

I alwasy used it alongside vitamin C as a boost when my body starts to complain that there is something up – in my case my glands start to swell and become painful. I always take it on the plane in a small spray bottle and spray my mouth regularly as the number of times I have gotten sick after a plane journed is crazy. I also use it to keep milk fresher on our boat because the fridge isn’t as good as it could be.

I have witnessed Colloidal Silver used to keep people whose immune system is very compromised safe from unwanted infections. It seemed highly effective, and there isn’t, according to the US FDA, any toxicity levels. For that purpose the water would be taken 2 to 3 times a day, roughly 1 teaspoon.

Colloidal silver has very little taste. It is essentially purified water that has had silver suspended in it through an elecrical process.

What the manufactures say: ‘Colloidal Silver is anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral and a powerful anti-microbial catalyst. This does not mean that it will cure all manner of serious diseases. It is not a cure-all as some over-zealous advertisers have claimed. Whilst some users may find this product highly effective, high resistance to disease depends on good nutrition, proper hydration, emotional health, regular relaxation, excercise, hygiene and a balanced lifestyle’.

Look out for bandages from Boots impregnated with colloidal silver – but since they are so expensive buy yourself a little bottle and spray your cuts to keep them clean. It is also used for burns, to keep instruments clean in surgery, as a nasal spray for Sinusitis, and as an eye and ear spray. Other uses unclude a gargle and mouthwash.

Prices:

100 mls (Spray – ideal for plane journeys or to keep in a first aid box for minor cuts etc) €8.65

250 mls (good starting size for an individual) €14.95

500 mls (family sized or for someone who is treating something more long term) €24.95

If you can not come into the shop we can post colloidal silver, subject to postage costs . These rates are for within the Rep of Ireland using standard post. For overseas we would need to check current rates.

Our phone number is (027) 51391.

Hannah Dare

1. Remember your mother’s advice – chew your food!
2. Leave time between meals for digestion.
3. Drink more water.

How well do you chew your food? Do you sit down to eat? Do you give yourself enough time to digest before rushing on with your daily tasks? If you don’t chew your food properly you won’t digest it. Chewing starts everything. It is how we break down our food and how we prepare our digestive system to receive the food and produce the enzymes necessary to further digest it. When we chew properly, we mix our food with saliva, which (in the case of carbohydrates especially) starts the whole digestive process. If this process fails, you get partially digested foodstuffs fermenting and blowing you up like a balloon, causing gripping pain, inflammation, and in the long term, serious illnesses. What’s more, if your food isn’t broken down and absorbed effectively, you won’t get the nutrients you need from it, so you’ll become malnourished despite eating plenty of food, and you will crave more and more. So sorting out your digestion can reduce those troublesome cravings as well as removing stomach pains and abdominal cramps!

Leave plenty of time between meals so that each lot of food we eat can be digested properly before the next lot arrives. Imagine mixing partially digested food with un-digested food – how does the body know what to do? Either some stays in one part of the digestive system for too long or some moves on before it is ready – either way it causes problems. So try to leave at least 4 hours between meals.

Drink more water. You have heard this a million times, but don’t underestimate it. Dehydration causes huge problems in our bodies – joint pain, heart problems, and back pain, as well as digestive pain. We all need to drink between 1.5-2.5 liters per 24 hours to be healthy.

You will also feel better if you avoid coffee, alcohol, sugar and tobacco particularly if you are constipated, as they upset the gastric secretions and deaden the response of the bowel when used long term.

Foods that will help regulate digestion include:
Short grain brown rice, cooked with lots of water (and chewed well!)
Figs, raw or cooked
Dates, raw or cooked
Carrot juice
Prune juice

Molkosan – a healthy daily drink
If you feel you need additional help with your digestion, I recommend a whey powder called Molkosan Vitality. It helps to create a positive environment in which friendly gut bacteria (probiotics) can grow and thrive. Unfriendly bacteria don’t like these conditions and as they decline in numbers you will notice many beneficial developments:

Digestive symptoms such as constipation and bloating improve and your energy levels and general feeling of well-being may increase
Due to the steadily increasing digestive ability, your metabolism picks up, which can help with weight loss if this is an issue
Thrush, athlete’s foot and fungal nail infestations will get better as unfriendly bacteria are kept at bay
Arthritic symptoms may ease as tissue acidity is reduced

Rude Health Week: 15th to the 20th of February is national Rude Health Week, when Health Stores across the country will be promoting good health. We have Gabrielle McAuley back in Organico on Febuary 19th for free health consultations (10.30 – 3.30). She will be focussing on Digestive Health (but can also answer other questions). Just call in and ask to speak with her.

Organico is open from 9.30 – 6 Monday to Saturday, and Organico Café from 10-4.30 Monday to Saturday. Contact us on 51391 or look up www.organico.ie for recipes & health advice.

Surprisingly, our skin is the largest organ in our body. Somehow, because it is external we seem to think of it as impermeable. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth: it is estimated that the skin absorbs 60% of everything in the atmosphere, so we are very vulnerable to the numerous chemicals all around us. We can, however, control what we actually put onto our skin. When choosing skin care and cosmetic products a good rule of thumb is to ask “what is actually in this? Would I eat it?!’’ When you think about the number of products we use every day – shampoo, conditioner, soap, showergel, deodorant, cleanser, moisturiser, makeup, body lotion, perfume – it would be nice to know they were completely safe. Unfortunately, large cosmetics companies put ‘natural’ and even ‘organic’ on the front of their labels hoping we won’t notice all the chemicals on the back!

When we choose a range of skin care products for Organico we know that skincare is about more than just the surface and we take the health implications very seriously. Brands such as Dr Hauschka, Weleda, Trilogy and Burt’s Bees are the mainstay of our beauty products and although they each have different approaches to their formulation, they are all focused on safe and healthy beauty.

As well as healthy ingredients, truly natural products have a fantastically therapeutic effect on our skin. These companies combine the best of nature and science in preparations that are simple and fuss-free, beautiful to use and incredibly effective. For example, New Zealand comapnyTrilogy make multi-award winning skin creams using organic rosehip oil, which helps to build cell-membranes and to repair, hydrate and strengthen the skin. Trilogy Rosehip Oil is recommended for scars, dry skin, aging skin, and sun damaged skin – but I use it daily on my skin which is pretty ‘normal’ (I’m trying to keep it that way!). They also make Everything Balm, which can be used by everybody for everything! Face, lips, elbows…even babies’ bottoms, so it’s great for travel. Products like these might not taste nice but they are so pure they are actually edible!

I would need to write a book to describe all the gorgeous lotions and potions we have in Organico. Instead I have asked our suppliers for samples and information and we have put together a number of free Beauty Bags (first come first served!) that you can come and collect from the shop and try them yourselves!

Organico News & Offers:
• Don’t forget our delicious handmade Christmas Cakes and Mince Pies – you can come in and taste both in the Café before you order (we also offer mince pies frozen so they can be cooked off at home at your convenience).
• We also have lots of Christmas goodies instore such as Booja Booja organic handmade chocolates, organic wines, Ports and Sparkling Cavas, chestnuts, Turkish Delight… all of which can be made into magnificent hampersfor fantastic tasty gifts!
• Weleda Shampoos and Conditioners are on offer 2 for the price of 1;
• Red, Orange and Green Organic Alpro Soyamilks are now €1.27 (RSP €1.86) or €14.99 for a case;
• 8th of December:10% off wines and Organic Wine Tasting with Mary Pawle
• Free Beauty Bags available from December 1st in Organico
Organico Shop will be open until 4pm on Christmas Eve and will re-open on Tuesday the 29th of December.

And finally – we would like to wish everyone a happy tasty Christmas and a healthy New Year!

We are all very aware of the need to keep our immune system in good working order at the moment. I have compiled a quick list of immune boosting foods and some natural remedies that might help keep you healthy or help fight a cold or viral infection if you are unlucky enough to contract one. Obviously you will consider if you need to go to the GP but here are some home remedies to try as well.

You might notice something here that you could easily add to your daily diet, or feel better about eating something that you already eat but didn’t realise how good it was! Please ask our staff if you need tips for cooking anything that is new to you. On www.organico.ie we have a lot of great soup recipes that use things like sweet potatoes and pumpkins if you would like to add them to your diets.

Good foods to help keep you healthy:

Manuka Honey (anti-bacterial) a teaspoon of number 10 taken every day
All the greens – organic broccoli, kale, watercress, nastursium leaves, pursalane, parsley …all good sources of vitamin C
Onions, garlic, leeks and chives are all immune-boosting and are good sources of vitamin C, potassium, selenium, and sulphur. Try to get local fresh leeks for maximum benefits.
Cider Vinegar (1 tbsp in warm water every morning – with manuka honey if you like) is very alkalising
Foods rich in calcium: carrots, turnips, celery, parsnips, figs, brazil nuts, pine nuts, almonds and pecans. Calcium helps strengthen the immune system.
Good quality juices are a very valuable source of vitamins and minerals, preferably fresh pressed or at least without sugar. If you don’t have a juicer try some of the better bottled ones:
Organic Blackcurrant Juice, Beetroot Juice, Blueberry juice, carrot juice or grapefruit – all diluted with water and drunk in regular small quantites.
Organic Chamomile or Elderflower tea with manuka honey is a good evening drink
Green Tea is full of anti-oxidents, but it does contain caffeine so don’t go overboard!
Carrageen moss made into a drink with water, lemon and honey – good source of minerals and very soothing
Echinacea Tea from Dr Stuart is also a good daily drink
Anything orange – sweet potato, carrots, pumpkins – all contain beta-caroteins
Shitake mushrooms added to soups or vegetable dishes (available dried) have been shown to boost red blood cell production
All probiotic yoghurts boost our digestive defences(a few spoonfuls of ‘live’ yoghurt with some fruit every day is great, but avoid the drinks as they contain lots of sugar)
Oats and barley contain beta-glucan, a type of fibre which has strong immune boosting actions in both humans and animals. So stick with your morning porridge! I have started adding cinnamon, sunflower seeds and manuka honey to mine on the advice of a friend. It tastes great and is even more nutritious.

Let me kow what you are currently doing to help boost your immune system!

Sitting at home with nothing to do all day (except look after my lovely little 10 week old daughter!) I have put together a list of some of the good things we sell that might help fight off an infection. Of course, I am not a GP so please if you feel you should get checked out do; these are things to try when you want to prevent or treat everyday ailments. Most good healthfood shops will sell these or give us a call on 0035327 51391 and we’ll post you out whatever you need.

Quick Combinations for treatment for colds or flues:
• Immune +, Kyolic Garlic 600, Echinacea
• Esther C, Elderberry Capsules,, Vitamin D3
• Sambucol, Food State Vitamin C, Echinacea

Prevention: (take daily)
• Echinacea & vitamin C
• Immune +
For those who are very vulnerable/exposed, add:
• Colloidal Silver, Vitamin D3, Kyolic 600

Anti-virals
Elderberry capsules (Solgar) or Sambucol (Elderberry extract)
Immune + (vitamin C, Black Elderberry, Blackcurrant and Zinc; Higher Nature)
Colloidal Silver or Citricidal Tablets, drops, capsules
Kyolic Garlic (600 or 1000), Vitamin D3 from Solgar
 

Immune Boosters
Echinacea Tincture and Tincture tablets (A.Vogel)
Vitamin C (Esther C from Solgar, Food State Vitamin C from Higher Nature, Quest Time Release C1000, A.Vogel Nature C)
Olive Leaf Extract, Kyolic Garlic from Quest
Probiotics (Udo’s, Higher Nature, Quest)
Zinc (Higher Nature Food State)
A good multi-vitamin (see Higher Nature, Solgar, or Salus Haus Epresat)

Cough syrups, lozenges & throat sprays
ZinC from Sona
Echinacea throat spray from A.Vogel, Naturalife Throat Spray
Citricidal Throat Spray , Citritidal lozenges
Manuka Honey lozenges
Drosulina or Santasapina Syrups (A.Vogel)
Molkosan – as a gargle
Ivy-Thyme from A.Vogel

Sinus
Apart from the immune boosting remedies mentioned above, try inhaling Po Ho Oil from A.Vogel (they offer a great inhaler that makes taking it even easier)
Heel make some good homeopathic combinations for sinuses, sprays and drops

Hand sanitizers
Burt’s Bees spray or Silver water spray or Citricidal drops added to hand wash

Remedies for children
Junior Echinacea from A.Vogel
Kindervital – good as a preventative, and to speed up recovery
Nature C from A.Vogel (check minimum age?)
Children’s multivitamins – Solgar do very good ones that taste good too.

 
Apart from eating well, many women take some supplements for pregnancy because it is a time when there is a huge nutritional demand on your body. The baby is gets first call on nutrients so you might need more than you can get from food alone.
I take Solgar’s Pre-Natal Nutrients – a very good all-rounder which you can start when you are planning a baby and carry through until you stop breast feeding (it contains the folic acid you need). Another really good choice is Higher Nature’s Mum-2-Be. Both contain the Folic Acid you need for pre-conception and for the early stages of pregnancy. Along with this, I take fish oils for Omega – needed for brain development, helping prevent complications including premature birth, and helping prevent post-natal depression. It also keeps your skin and hair looking good! I take the Eskimo-3 capsules because I’m a wimp and don’t like the texture of the oil.
On the advice of Patrick Holford, I also take extra zinc, magnesium, B6, calcium and occasionally some iron. I have put in a sample of each of the Floradix iron drinks – one has yeast (great for energy) and the other does not (great if you get thrush, bloating, or have candida over-growth). I sometimes also take Spatone Iron Sachets because they are great when you are on the move.
Patrick recommends zinc and B6 for regulating hormones, thus helping to prevent post-natal depression; the calcium and magnesium are necessary for baby’s bones and for preventing mum’s leg cramps.
Another supplement to consider is vitamin D during the winter months especially if you work inside, as most of us do. In ‘Northern’ countries doctors routinely prescribe vitamin D; they don’t here but I wonder if they should. It helps with calcium absorption and bone health as well as mood swings. I would at the least take a calcium supplement with vitamin D in it (Solgar do a good one).

If acidity strikes in the middle of the night (I got this in the early stages a lot) try eating some live natural yoghurt before you go to sleep and keep snacks, such as nuts or ginger biscuits, by the bed. Frutin (sold in Organico and many good Health Food Shops) is a natural anti-acid supplement that is safe for use during pregnancy and gives quick relief.
For nausea I found the Sea Bands (from O’Sullivans Pharmacy in Bantry and many good Pharmacies) very helpful, as well as Nux Vom 6 a homeopathic for nausea, and B6 and Magnesium are both recommended to help reduce ‘morning’ sickness. A hot drink made with fresh ginger helps – you can add a little honey to taste. Alternatively, you can get ginger in capsules or tincture if you don’t feel like the tea. I also kept a bottle of peppermint oil handy to use like the smelling salts of old – it clears the head and settles the stomach. Eating calming foods like rice, yoghurt, bananas, toast, crackers (I really liked oat cakes) as well as nuts, dried fruit, and soups. Nairns make some really good ginger biscuits – I was known to munch them in the middle of the night even!
For constipation eat lots of fibre (Linwoods flaxseed can be added to cereal or yoghuty for added fibre and omega oils), drink lots, take weekly yoga classes and if necessary see an osteopath! Also it might be caused by Iron in tablet form – check with your doctor if you are on one. The iron in the 2 multi-vitamins I have suggested should not cause constipation.

Skin and hair
For strechmarks I have used Trilogy Body Oil which contains rosehip oil which is amazing for treating scars, stretchmarks and generally to give your skin a treat!
For sore feet, legs, shoulders etc I use Arnica Gel from A.Vogel which can be very soothing. I also invested in a pair of Fit Flops (very bouncy sandles available in many sport’s shops and some pharmacies and shoe shops) which I have worn every day since I bought them 2 months ago – and they eased my feet a lot.
 There is alsoVenegel by A.Vogel which can sooth veins considerable – though taking care of your back seems to be the best way of taking care of your veins – or so my osteopath tells me!
For dry or flaky scalps (this condition seems to affect several girls I know who are pregnant and many who are not!) I am trying a combination of internal and external treatments – Eskimo oil internally and Dead Sea Mineral products by Dead Sea Magic externally. They do a good shampoo and a fantastic Scalp Mud which I put directly on my scalp and leave for a few minutes before running it through my hair like a conditioner and washing out.
I used a skin brush a lot during the first 5 months as I was very itchy – I think it is the skin stretching – and as I said, lots of oil.

Books
Patrick Holford’s ‘Optimum Nutrition for Pregnancy’ is fantastic resource for diet and supplement tips. We sell it if you would likt to have a browse through.
I also found ‘Birth and Beyond’ by Dr. Yehudi Gordon very helpful – it is a huge book which covers everything from a very balanced perspective – he is a medical doctor but one with a very holistic outlook. I bought it on Amazon for about €15.
‘Birthing From Within’ is also amazing from an emotional perspective – there are instructors trained in this technique in West Cork who can help you to address the fear that surrounds birth for many women.

Teas
Raspberry Leaf Tea is recommended from about week 30 to tone the uterus (comes in loose leaf or capsules). Goldenrod tea is very good to keep the urinary system healthy and prevent infections. Rooibosh is a good substitute for regular tea (no caffeine) and Traidcraft Decaffeinated coffee tastes great.

Some Local Resounces:
Betty O’Toole for Shiatsu Massage and Pregnancy Yoga 087 7972059
Jessie Field for Pregnancy Yoga (and hopefully for mum and baby yoga in the autumn!) 086 0766608
Liz Ewing – for nutrition, general health and stress management 028 30895
Christine Meadows – nutritionist 027 51615
Catherine O’Sullivan Homeopath Bantry 027 52689
James Heggarty Homeopath Bantry 027 50501
Kieran English Osteopaths 028 38638
Florence Vion 023 8834748 Osteopath Clonakilty
Home Birth Association of Ireland http://www.homebirth.ie/