[caption id="attachment_4772" align="alignleft" width="194"] Dr Perlmutter's book Grain Brain[/caption] This is the title of an article by a doctor and health writer I follow called Christine Northrup. Surprised? So was I! But I was also intrigued, so I did some digging. My mother gave me one of Dr Northrup’s first books - called Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom - when I was 20, and I have found it a great resource for over 20 years. So when she published a video that claimed we could all get smarter with age, I sat up and watched! And then I realised this was information worth sharing. Many of us know someone who suffers from Alzheimer's or Dementia, or we are close to someone who has a family member who suffers. And from reading the newspapers you would think brain and memory decline is inevitable as we age, as it certainly on the rise in many Western countries. However, Christine Northrup argues that we shouldn’t just accept that our mental sharpness will decline with age - she maintains we are in charge of our own lives and we can influence how our health develops into our older years. Continue reading →

[caption id="attachment_4783" align="alignleft" width="300"] Spring grasses give off pollen[/caption] Summer is certainly coming! Great news for most of us as we welcome the lengthening of the days, unfortunately for others this means the start of the dreaded hay fever season. Personally I have never suffered from this condition, but I have some family members who do and I know it can be really miserable. Hay fever is caused by an allergic reaction to pollen causing the release of histamine, which causes inflammation around the nose and eyes. Characteristic symptoms include red, itchy eyes, and a runny or congested nose, and can include a cough and an inflamed throat. Continue reading →

Let’s face it: many of us love our coffee! But is it a guilty pleasure or a healthy drink that is good for us? It feels like one day we see studies that support coffee and the next day we see 10 reasons why coffee is bad! What’s the truth about this aromatic beverage that so many of us love? I’ve been reading some very interesting articles on coffee by Dr Mark Hyman (an American Physician). Coffee contains antioxidants and can be the number one source of antioxidants in the modern diet (a sad state of affairs considering we ought to be eating 6-9 portions of antioxidant rich fruit and veg every day).

A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology showed improvements in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cholesterol when mice consumed coffee and fat together. (More on that combo in a minute.) They also found coffee can help reduce gut permeability or leaky gut.

Read More...

Shakespeare is known for saying our eyes are the windows to our soul. I was squinting recently to watch an escaped helium balloon disappear into the blue sky when it struck me just how precious my vision is. It’s a cliche but our vision is one of the things we can easily take for granted until it starts to desert us, and at the same time it is something that many of us simply assume will degenerate as we get older. But if you do some reading you realise that much of what happens to our eye health is under our control, despite what we have been led to believe. When I was first prescribed glasses I was told to wear them as little as possible. My Optician was also very reluctant to give in to my pleas for contact lenses, only prescribing them when I promised to wear them for only the occasional wedding or festival, when I wanted more freedom. He explained that where I might take off my glasses and give my eyes a break, with contacts this wasn’t possible and my eye muscles would weaken through lack of use if I wore contacts constantly. I think this is pretty sound advice, and now 20+ years on my vision has actually improved slightly (my prescription has decreased). While researching this article I have been reminded of another eye specialist from the 1860’s called Dr Bates who routinely smashed his patient’s eyeglasses and instead taught various exercises to strengthen eye muscles which he claimed would make glasses unnecessary. His methods made him hugely unpopular - perhaps because he challenged a large industry - but his methods are still being practiced today and while I’m not advising you throw away your driving glasses it certainly seems to makes sense to try some exercises out - especially if it costs nothing and causes no harm. Read More...

We are proud to stock a range of sauerkrauts and kimchi made by West Cork's The Cultured Food Company, which is owned and run by Hayley Milthorpe... "I started the business in 2014, as through studying as a nutritional therapist I was well aware of the health benefits of live fermented foods and saw an opening in the Irish market for...

[caption id="attachment_4423" align="alignleft" width="1000"]         Summertime in West Cork[/caption] Summertime is my favourite time of the year, I just love it! I even love the damp days - I love not having to wear layers, or shoes, and not having to think about firewood. I love leaving home in the light and getting home in the light. But summertime can be exhausting if we aren’t careful, and whether you are staying at home or going abroad, here are a few essentials for summertime health and wellbeing... Continue reading →

I was on my way back from a weekend in the Aran Islands recently, feeling great as I had spent the weekend in the sun and sea, walking and swimming and generally being enthralled with our incredible amazing beautiful country. On my journey home I stopped to visit a lovely shop run by Nancy Flexman. Nancy picks the products she stocks with extreme care and attention, so when I saw she has a large area dedicated to something I had only vaguely heard about I was intrigued. The most prominent item was a book, called ‘Earthing - The most important health discovery ever’. I bought the book, and found the information it contained completely fascinating and absorbing. Here is my take on it. Continue reading →

I was at a very interesting talk recently, at the Ballymaloe Litfest. It was given by a Professor at UCC called Ted Dinan, who is a psychiatrist at UCC and is also involved in a lab which studies gut health and how it affects brain health. Professor Dinan argues that our guts and our brains are much more closely aligned...

Brian Murphy, a local primary school teacher, was diagnosed  with asthma in 2013 after suffering from a severe chest infection and bronchitis. This led him to the Buteyko Breathing Method and within days he knew that he had found a way to manage his asthma and chest problems. He has lived medication free ever since. Continue reading →

[caption id="attachment_4317" align="alignleft" width="1000"] A selection of our great Digestive Wellness and Probiotic range at Organico[/caption] At this time of the year it can often feel like we are conducting a relentless war against bacteria and viruses and that the baddies are winning! Rather than battling the bugs once we’ve already caught something perhaps we need to think more in terms of preparation. By maintaining microbial balance and harmony within our bodies we may be stronger and more able to stay well when we do encounter a bug. What is interesting to me is that even in the conventional medical world, scientists are arguing that we should abandon the language of warfare and rather than use antibiotics to slaughter all the bacteria in our system, we should manage our inner wildlife. Continue reading →