The vaccination debate….

Posted on by drjbdunphy

This letter was sent to the Irish Medical Times by Dr Neville Wilson, Medical Director at The Leinster Clinic, Maynooth.

On vaccination: Being devil’s advocate for concerned parents

 

The Swansea measles outbreak in 2012 occurred despite a massive immunisation campaign in the UK

 

In characteristic combatant style, Dr Ruairi Hanleyreprimands parents of unvaccinated children and attributes blame to them for the spontaneous outbreaks of measles in communities abroad and at home. (‘Battling the anti-vaccination brigade’, IMT, February 20, 2015).

His recommended punishment is the withholding of child benefits from children whose parents fail to provide a vaccination certificate, as proof of their compliance.

Dr Hanley is uninhibited in his attack on the pedigree of such parents, portraying them as “believers in quackery and pseudo-science”, despite the likelihood of them being middle-class citizens and highly educated, and possibly even well informed.

Without any reservation, or recognition that their reasons may be science based and authentic, he acts as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner, and metes out a judgment that many physicians would brand as unjustly harsh.

While I am not opposed to vaccines in principle, I clearly understand that all is not well within the industry, and that many of the concerns expressed by anxious parents are entirely justified. As caring physicians we would be remiss if we failed to listen to the troubled voices of those whose primary concern is the legitimate protection of their children when threats loom.

I have encountered many of these health conscious and concerned parents, and am mindful of the unjust accusations launched against them by persons who are invariably less informed about matters of health.

For that reason I offer myself as devil’s advocate on their behalf.

Questions about the contents of popular vaccines, such as neurotoxins, carcinogens, toxic metals, foreign animal and viral DNA, are entirely legitimate, and their harmful impact on the delicate immune system of the developing brain in young children cannot simply be dismissed without evidence to the contrary. Many insightful parents, who believe in scientific integrity, are thus asking questions about vaccine safety.

These people do not believe in “pseudo-science”. They trust in good science and expect good science to answer their questions truthfully.

Dr Russell Blaylock, a respectable neurosurgeon and expert on excitotoxins, believes that most of the damage caused by vaccines is hidden, and that vaccines in fact suppress, rather than stimulate, immunity.

The backdrop for Dr Hanley’s case against conscientious objectors to enforced vaccination is the recent outbreak of measles in Disneyland, USA, purportedly caused by an unvaccinated visitor to the entertainment centre.

That premature assumption, however, has been dismissed as being groundless, leaving the cause of the outbreak unknown, and purely speculative.

Outbreaks of measles are reported regularly from various countries, with 644 cases being reported in the US in 2004.

In recent years, outbreaks have occurred in the Philippines and in France, and often occurring in unvaccinated, as well as in highly vaccinated communities.

In a New York measles outbreak in 2004, 18 of the 20 people with measles had already been vaccinated against the disease. Was the outbreak caused by the two unvaccinated children, or by the shedding of the live virus by the 18 vaccinated children?

Shedding refers to the common occurrence of vaccinated children carrying live viruses and transmitting them to others through respiratory droplets or urine during the early days following vaccination. Measles outbreaks can theoretically be caused by this method in highly vaccinated communities.

In Colorado, a similar outbreak occurred in 1991, in a community that had a vaccine rate of 98 per cent. It is entirely plausible that the outbreak was caused by vaccinated, rather than unvaccinated children.

The Swansea measles outbreak in 2012 occurred despite a massive immunisation campaign in the UK.

The NEJM reports a measles outbreak in Texas in 1981, in which 99 per cent of the population had been vaccinated. Was the 1 per cent or the 99 per cent to blame for the outbreak?

While one popular, and plausible explanation for these measles outbreaks is the large scale importation of unvaccinated people from other countries across these borders, it was not the case in the Disneyland outbreak.

Another less perceived cause of measles outbreaks is vaccine failure, which may be primary or secondary.

Primary vaccine failure occurs in a small number of vaccines where poor vaccine uptake fails to establish the required level of seroconversion, leaving the individual unprotected, and in need of a second or ‘booster dose’, usually at school entry age.

Secondary vaccine failure is caused by waning immunity in the vaccinated person, resulting in greater susceptibility to the measles virus, and harboured potential for spreading the virus to others.

Primary and secondary vaccination failure may lead to the paradoxical situation whereby measles in highly immunised societies occurs primarily among those previously vaccinated.

Are all vaccines safe?
In a US Congressional hearing, a representative of the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) boldly asserted that all vaccines “were safe and highly effective, and the best way for parents to protect their kids”.

When asked whether there was any scientific evidence that vaccines caused autism, they replied in the negative, reaffirming that all vaccines are safe. When asked about the risks of contracting the measles infection, they offered the fearsome warning about the potential for “death, pneumonia and encephalitis, and other brain disorders”.

Notably, the CDC spokes-person omitted to make reference to the measles vaccine package insert, which in small print, warns of similar conditions being caused by the vaccine, i.e. “death, pneumonia and cerebral disorders” like SSPE, among many others.

Adverse outcomes from measles infections may occur, but these are rare and usually benign, with more severe outcomes likely to be found amongst children whose health and immune status has been compromised by conditions of inadequate hygiene and nutrition, overcrowding, and pre-existing medical conditions.

During the measles outbreak in Swansea, Wales (2012-2013), 664 cases were reported, with one death documented, and that of a 25-year-old male who developed pneumonia after contracting measles.

It was established that he had a compromised health status, was in poor health, and was being treated for alcohol addiction.

Measles mortality
It is well established that measles has a low mortality rate in well nourished, healthy children. Despite this documented fact, scaremongering tactics are commonplace in the popular media, warning of impending death from measles infection, more recently being branded as the ‘killer disease’.

A BMJ editorial in 1963 argued that “measles is a mild disease, and many patients and doctors may feel that no protective agent is required”.

In a 1980 BMJ edition, Prof George Dick, vaccine expert, advocated that a “mild wild measles virus should run its natural course in order to give natural life-long protection to the healthy children of the community, and to offer vaccine selectively to those who are most vulnerable”.

Information from the Vaccine Adverse Reporting System (VAERS) reveals that there have been no measles deaths in the US since 2003, whereas there have been 108 deaths reported due to measles vaccines. We cannot blame intelligent parents for raising concerns in the light of these disturbing statistics.

There are also interesting statistics that show a natural decline in measles, as with all other common infectious diseases, prior to the advent of vaccines, certainly so in the US, where great alarm is being expressed in the media by the current outbreaks.

The mean annual mortality for measles also declined in England and Wales from 1900 to 1950, long before the measles vaccine was introduced there in 1967.

I served in a remote Mission Hospital in rural Africa from 1980 to 1982, where infected children from remote villages were frequently admitted for a variety of childhood infectious diseases, including measles. I do not recall any hospital deaths from measles during this period, but many did contact pneumonia, as a secondary bacterial infection, and these were invariably well managed with standard medical care and appropriate nutrition.

So, is measles the ‘killer disease’ as it is often purported to be? And can the safety of all vaccines be guaranteed?

Compensation grants
The Vaccine Injury Com-pensation Programme (VICP) has so far paid out $2.6 trillion as compensation in 3,535 awards for autism and vaccine damaged children. Vaccine courts in the US and Italy have clearly ruled that certain vaccines have been causally linked to autism, and have accordingly paid substantial amounts in compensation to vaccine-injured children. A similar ruling in a UK court in 2010 implicated the MMR vaccine in brain damage being caused by the MMR vaccine, and awarded compensation for vaccine damages to the victim.

A pharmaceutical and vaccine producer has also been accused of falsifying test data to fabricate a vaccine efficiency rate of 95 per cent or higher, in order to promote evidence of vaccine efficacy to the public.

In the light of these devastating events, the assurances by the CDC that all vaccines are safe and effective has, I believe, a somewhat hollow sound.

A CDC whistle-blower has also recently claimed similar questionable behaviour within the Centers, and the wrongful cover-up of data revealing vaccine harm to vulnerable children.

On August 27, 2014, Dr William Thompson, a senior scientist with the CDC, admitted to omitting data for the 2004 edition of the journal Pediatrics, which critics of vaccinations point out implicate African-American males who were at great risk for autism following the MMR vaccine before the age of 36 months.

Editor writes:
(Dr Thompson’s remarks were apparently secretly filmed and posted on YouTube, with a narration by Andrew Wakefield, by an anti-vaccination lobby group. In a statement, the CDC explained how the 2004 study looked at all children recruited and a smaller set of 355 children with autism and 1,020 without for whom they had Georgia state birth certificates.

“Access to the information on the birth certificates allowed researchers to assess more complete information on race as well as other important characteristics, including possible risk factors for autism such as the child’s birth weight, mother’s age, and education. This information was not available for the children without birth certificates; hence CDC study did not present data by race on black, white, or other race children from the whole study sample. It presented the results on black and white/other race children from the group with birth certificates.”)

It is therefore not surprising that well informed parents have legitimate concerns about vaccine safety and efficacy, and are seeking assurances from those of us who should be equally well informed and concerned.

Their concerns are reinforced by knowledge of legislated immunity being granted to vaccine manufacturers that protects them from litigation in the event of vaccine harm.

Dr Hanley describes these concerned parents as being ignorant about matters of science, and believers in ‘pseudo-science’.

However, a Dutch study reports that these parents are likely to be intelligent and well informed, a finding replicated in a Swiss study in 2005. And a UK survey in 2003 revealed that one-third of family doctors were troubled by the increasing load of infant vaccines being propagated.

Some of these serious-minded parents are patients of mine, and I cannot ignore their concerns. How do we as caring physicians respond to them?

The condemnation of concerned parents who seek assurances of vaccine safety is clearly unwarranted, and the recommendations to withhold child benefits from their children is an unjust and inappropriate response.

Our mandate as physicians is to hear the valid concerns of our patients and to respond to them with compassion and with reason, in ways that are scientifically supported, clinically safe and ethically sound.

Dr Neville Wilson,
Medical Director,
The Leinster Clinic,
Maynooth.

Science shows a high fat and low carb’ diet will make you lose weight

Posted on by drjbdunphy

In this letter to the Irish Examiner Dr. Garry Lee explains his findings on weight loss diets. We hope you find it interesting.

I’ve been studying this area intensively for at least two years.

I’m a retired doctor and have the time to do so in a degree of detail which no working doctor could do. The world population is getting fatter and there is huge increase in diabetes etc which is going to make the health services unaffordable for one country after another.

There’s a huge amount written about obesity and a lot of research devoted to it but the science is there and is being ignored.

What does the science tell us? It tells us things that are quite non-intuitive:

1. Exercise is pretty poor for weight loss despite all the Operation Transformation stuff. I’ve cycled a huge amount for 30+ years and it alone failed to keep me thin.

2. Even though fat has twice the calories per gram of protein or carbohydrates, those who eat the most fat are the thinnest (a robust finding of the famous Framingham study). That is because they eat less carbs and because fat and protein are satiating.

3. Sugar and refined starch (carbs) are probably the main bad boy in the obesity epidemic . The advice to cut fat and eat more carbs had the exact opposite effect of what theoretically was supposed to happen. The linking of fat to abnormal cholesterol profiles in the blood has not stood up well under scientific scrutiny and in fact it is the sugar/carbs which are driving it.

4 There is a collection of symptoms and signs called the Metabolic Syndrome which includes a big belly, fatty liver, pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, gastric reflux, sleep apnoea and lipid disturbances promoting heart disease. All of these are reversed by a low carb’ / high fat diet. This dietary approach is no more a fad than farting is.

Some will say that some populations have always eaten a high proportion of carbs, like China or Japan. They did but the total load of carbs wasn’t huge and these people were working it off. Many don’t.

If you have familial obesity or diabetes etc, it’s likely that you are one of the 70% of the population who have what is called Insulin Resistance and in this case you will always be hungry if you eat a high carb diet and will get fat.

If you cut the carbs you will be satisfied and the weight usually falls off.

I lost 40lb, without being hungry, doing this and maintained it. There are at least 23 comparative trials of low carb’ vs other diets, all of which show it is best. It’s not only best for weight loss but best for diabetics (under medical supervision), for cardiac risk factors and for mood disorders,

Dr Garry Lee

Meryln Lawn

Bishopstown

Cork

The happy secret to better work

Posted on by drjbdunphy

Can positivity make you more productive?

We’ve all heard (and intrinsically know!) that positivity is generally a good force in our lives but can it make us more successful and more productive?

Psychologist Shawn Achor certainly thinks so.  In this entertaining video he argues that happiness actually inspires productivity.

 

Challenging perceptions of addiction

Posted on by drjbdunphy

Do we need to alter our understanding of addiction to tackle it effectively as a society?

This article from the Irish Examiner explores alternative perceptions of addiction and interviews people who have conquered their addiction. The original article can be also read here.

Heroin users and the effect drugs had on them

By Liz Dunphy

 As addiction insidiously strangles our streets and often targets vulnerable youth, new perceptions of addiction, and policies designed to target it are gaining international traction.

Portugal has de-criminalised all drug possession to seemingly positive effect, and even some US states are de-criminalising and legalising drug use amid a growing realisation that the ‘war on drugs’ is failing.

Recently even a fashion trend that was criticised for glamourising everything from drug-use to dirty hair, extreme skinniness to extreme kohl eyeliner has influenced an effecting video project which adds to these new narratives on addiction.

 

Downtown Divas contrasts the high fashion photographed in the ‘Heroin Chic’ look that dominated the 90s with real-life contemporary heroin addiction and the physical, mental and emotional toll that the drug takes on users.

Gigi Ben Artzi and Loral Amir’s project shows women in designer clothes talking about their hopes and dreams, their loves and memories. (https://vimeo.com/108770583 )

These women are addicted to drugs, living dangerous and chaotic lives but the project focuses on their humanity rather than reducing them to their addiction or to the prostitution which helps fund it.

This intimacy and honesty helps viewers to break through the wall that addiction can erect around an individual, which often bars us from recognising our similarities and shared vulnerabilities. Fashion is used as a vehicle to re-contextualise these women’s stories and to subvert prejudices, and the concept of fashion, which is so often concerned with escapism ironically resonates with the escapism inherent in drug use while temporarily allowing these women to escape from their dangerous lives.

Heroin Chic as a sartorial trend originally arose in the 90s as a stark reaction to the glamour-on-amphetamines, hyper-consumerism of the 1980s.

Created largely by fashion photographer Corrine Day and the then adolescent Kate Moss, the photographs that started the ‘Heroin Chic’ aesthetic were often shot in dingy apartments and began Moss’ speedy rise to become arguably the iconic face of that generation and the next.

That it is still spawning influences now, from the resurgence in 90s fashion in 2014 to this intimate portrayal of women suffering from heroin addiction is a reminder of the potency that images can have when they tap into the zeitgeist, especially in today’s hyper-mediated societies where images have become so dominant that we’re arguably moving towards a hybrid form of hieroglyphic communications.

And perhaps this honest and intimate glimpse inside the minds of some of the most marginalised in our society can remind us of our shared humanity and help mount pressure to improve services and perhaps to better understand and relate to addiction.

Tony Duffin, Director of the Ana Liffey Drug Project which is currently calling to legalise medically supervised centres where addicts can inject and have their habits better monitored (and hopefully reduced) while also taking needles and drug use off the streets, believes that such portrayals may be useful.

“We work with thousands of people who are affected by addiction in Ireland and they all have hopes, fears and dreams like anyone else. People who use drugs need to be portrayed as human beings and not merely as drug users.

It is important that the lived experience of people affected by addiction is portrayed and the stigma they encounter is challenged. It is also important that this is done in such a way that promotes the dignity and respect of those people who are telling their story,” says Duffin.

James from Cork, now 18 months free from heroin, also believes that it is important to amplify marginalised voices in our community.

“Hearing people’s stories allows to you to empathise with those people on the streets who are often easy to ignore. When you hear their stories you recognise that it could have been you, had your circumstances been different.”

Bruce Alexander, a psychologist and professor emeritus at Simon Fraser University, Canada has found that it may be those societal circumstances that predict addictive behaviours in the first place.

He conducted experiments which contradicted contemporary orthodoxies about addiction as far back as the 1980’s. Up until that point, studies on addiction had found that when rats isolated in cages were given access to morphine they would quickly develop addictions and consume the drug until it killed them.

This finding formed the still largely dominant theory that physically addictive substances such as opiates (like heroin) will turn most users into addicts.

Alexander interrogated this study by creating ‘Rat Park’, a veritable rat heaven where rats could play, mate, rest and feed in a pleasant, stimulating, clean environment. Rats were given access to two water sources, one contained morphine and one contained plain water.

None of these rats developed heroin habits despite having ready access to the drug. Even when Alexander and his team added sugar to the morphine laden water source, rats still chose the clean water.

And after he force-fed the rats morphine for two months they reverted to the clean water supply when given the choice, despite exhibiting withdrawal symptoms.

Alexander simultaneously monitored rats kept isolated in cages and these less fortunate subjects consistently chose morphine over clean water, leading Alexander to the conclusion that happy rats (and as a likely extension happy humans) choose to avoid opiates even when introduced to them, but isolated, unhappy rats self-medicate and presumably escape their miserable reality through addiction.

These findings led Alexander to theorise that addiction is caused by social fragmentation. As the historically close ties to family, culture and spirituality are loosened by a modern global society focused on individualism and unrelenting competition, his thesis contests that people adapt to this dislocation by finding substitutes which often manifests as addiction in all its chameleon guises.

So although differences in vulnerability are partially dictated by genetics, individual experiences and character, addiction in his view is more of a social problem than an individual disorder, caused by wider societal, cultural and political pressures.

And perhaps this is a more useful paradigm to help us understand (and hopefully tackle) addiction.

Brain plasticity – the brain’s ability to grow and change – was only fully accepted and understood in the past decade, so it seems conceivable that with the right support and will people can re-wire their brains to break addiction’s insidious grip.

James sees merit in Alexander’s theory.

“I remember looking in the mirror with tears rolling down my face, not wanting to use heroin but still feeling this compulsion to use. When I moved to a treatment centre in Carlow we were taught Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), we had councillors who helped us challenge our thought processes in a calm, peaceful environment on a farm close to nature. I didn’t feel that compulsion to use there.”

On leaving the treatment centre he was homeless.

“Cork Simon had just opened a rehabilitation house for recovering addicts. They took me in and they gave me work to do in the organisation. I would have been lost without them.” James is hugely grateful to Cork Simon.

He is now studying Social Studies and Applied Psychology (in the Cork College of Commerce) and plans to continue his studies in Social Science at UCC specialising in Youth and Community, so that he can use his experiences to help other young people.

James feels that the very nature of addiction depends on isolation.

“Addiction wants you alone and dead. And it’s the same mentality regardless of what you’re addicted to, whether it’s drugs, alcohol, food, whatever. That’s how my addiction was, I’d use alone and have suicidal thoughts but through Narcotics Anonymous (NA) I learned to control my thoughts which empowered me. Now I’m in college and the world is my oyster.”

Áine Duffy speaking for Alone, a charity that addresses homelessness and also recognises the link between social isolation and addiction.

“Studies show that isolation and loneliness makes it harder to regulate behaviour,” says Duffy.

Philip McCarthy, a successful film maker who beat a heroin addiction agrees.

“Even when I was young I had the makings of an addict but I didn’t recognise it. I had the best parents in the world but I always felt like I was an outsider looking in at my happy family, I didn’t really feel part of it.”

McCarthy says that suffering sustained sexual abuse and not telling anyone due to threats from the abuser from the age of nine made him turn to drugs to deaden the pain and confusion that the abuse caused. Both McCarthy and James are emphatic that heroin is unfortunately here to stay, and that the only way to prevent new users is through education and support.

“We need more workshops to make kids aware. Many now think that smoking heroin is ok, that you have to use needles to be an addict which is not true. If you have awareness you have choice,” says James.

McCarthy believes that it is vital to get people who have battled addiction and managed to turn their lives around into schools to talk to youths.

“I spoke to kids in Deerpark CBS in Cork and you could hear a pin drop. They listen to you because they know that you’ve been there. All kids will experiment so we need to give them the tools to deal with it,” says McCarthy.

He pours his energy into his films now, he is currently in pre-production on a film about gangland Ireland and he has already cast some Hollywood names and a few members of the RTÉ series Love/Hate in the production which is due to start filming in Cork this summer, and he is also writing his first book.

“The sense of achievement of seeing my films and all that hard work come alive on a screen gives me a rush that no drug ever could,” says McCarthy.

“That sense of achievement is unbeatable and utterly priceless.”

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

How mighty is the oat?! Scientists find more than grain of truth in benefits of porridge

Posted on by drjbdunphy

Oats could help clean the arteries

Remember being told about the virtues of porridge when you were a sceptical child? Well those stories appear to be even more true than your parents and teachers may have predicted. New research is finding that the mighty oat could actually lower cholesterol and clean the arteries while delivering other powerful heart-protective qualities.

The article below is by LAURA DONNELLY for the Irish Independent.

Fans of porridge have long claimed that it gives them the best start to the day – but scientists say there is evidence that it could also have a special ingredient that actively cleans the arteries, protecting against cancer and heart disease.

A meeting of researchers says there is growing evidence that a bioactive compound contained only in oats may possess protective antioxidant properties.

Oats are the breakfast of choice for many athletes and dieters, who find the high fibre levels give them energy for longer. The combination of fibre, vitamins and minerals in whole grains has also been linked to a reduced risk of diseases.

One particular fibre found only in oats – called beta-glucan – has already been credited with lowering cholesterol.

But scientists at the annual conference of the American Chemical Society in Dallas, Texas, yesterday said there was growing evidence that the benefits of oats do not just come from the fibre.

Researchers said studies suggested that a bioactive compound called avenanthramide could stop fat forming in the arteries, causing heart attacks and strokes.

Dr Shengmin Sang, from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, said: “While the data to support the importance of oat beta-glucan remains, these studies reveal that the heart health benefit of eating oats may go beyond fibre. As the scientific investigators dig deeper, we have discovered that the bioactive compounds found in oats may provide additional cardio-protective benefits.”

CRUCIAL

Fat formation in the arteries can become a condition called atherosclerosis in which the arteries become clogged. This can lead to organ damage or blood clots that result in heart attacks or strokes.

Previous studies have suggested that the fibre contained in porridge can reduce cholesterol levels by as much as 23pc.

Studies on children have suggested the traditional breakfast dish can help to keep obesity at bay. Youngsters who eat oats regularly are 50pc less likely to be overweight, one study of 10,000 children found.

Oats can reduce high blood pressure, which is closely linked to stroke and heart disease. They are also a source of vitamin B1 (thiamin) which is crucial for the nervous system, and folic acid, which is essential for healthy foetal development.

In an attempt to increase folic acid levels, pregnancy advisers have joined doctors in urging the British government to fortify flour with the acid to cut the number of babies developing defects such as spina bifida.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service has also said it is time recommendations to fortify flour with the vitamin were implemented in the UK.

Irish Independent

Have a happy and healthy New Year!

Posted on by drjbdunphy

At this time of year you may be energetically and economically burnt out so here at Dunphy Medical we’d like to share some easy and cost-effective tips to have you on-track for the new year.

1.  Golden Honey – Honey is delicious and has antiseptic and  anti-bacterial properties and turmeric is an immune-boosting powerhouse, it is an excellent antioxidant and antibiotic; it has cancer-fighting properties and it is also anti-inflammatory. It has been used in Ayurvedic and eastern medicine for thousands of years, partly thanks to curcumin, it’s active phenol which also causes turmeric’s yellow colour.

Golden Honey is simply a mixture of these two ingredients, just mix 1 tbsp of tumeric powder with 100gr of raw organic honey, store in a clean glass jar, you can leave it at room temperature and take a spoon as needed. 

turmeric-honey-super-booster (4)

http://www.WithFoodandLove.com recommends taking a spoonful directly in your mouth, or diluted as a drink with hot water, or taken as a spread on toast to ward off allergies in spring time.

And upon the first symptoms of colds and flu, http://www.BestHerbalHealth.com recommends keeping the Golden Honey mixture in your mouth until it completely dissolves for:

  1. Day 1 – Take ½ tsp. every hour during the day.
  2. Day 2 – Take ½ tsp. every two hours during the day.
  3. Day 3 – Take ½ tsp. three times a day.

Golden Honey is also useful to combat respiratory diseases and it lowers blood pressure, and turmeric reduces blood sugar levels.

Turmeric also causes muscle contractions of the gallbladder so avoid turmeric if you suffer from gallbladder disease.

 

2. A turmeric, lemon, cinnamon and black pepper drink is delicious, quick, healthy, warming and cheering at this time of year.

Simply add a pinch (or two) of turmeric, a pinch of cinnamon and a grind or two of black pepper to some hot water with some sliced lemon. Stir occasionally as the spices can sink to the bottom.

 

Black pepper makes the wonder-spice turmeric more easily absorbed by the body and cinnamon, along with tasting yummy and festive, also boasts anti-inflammatory properties and helps regulate blood-sugar levels.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, cinnamon is used to help treat muscle spasms, vomiting, diarrhea, infections, the common cold, loss of appetite, and erectile dysfunction.

 

According to a study in Diabetes Care, cinnamon may help improve glucose and lipid levels in patients with type 2 diabetes, and at Tel Aviv University researchers discovered that cinnamon may help prevent Alzheimers disease.

 

Cinnamon may also help stop the destructive process of multiple sclerosis (MS) according to a neurological scientist at Rush University Medical Center, and Penn State researchers revealed that diets rich in cinnamon can help reduce the body’s negative responses to eating high-fat meals.

 

 

Lemon has antioxidants and vitamin C which is always useful, but it’s particularly great when the immune system is busy battling colds, flus and various bugs at this time of year.

 

3. Exercise! It boosts the immune system, causes a rush of endorphins and it is vital to balance your body and your brain to keep you healthy and happy. Here’s a favourite video of ours that nicely sums up the benefits of exercise.

 

4. Smile and Laugh! It floods the body with feel-good chemicals called endorphins, it relieves stress, boosts the immune system, relieves pain, improves heart health (it improves blood vessel function and increases blood flow) and it fosters social bonding.

And it’s 100% free, it has no side-effects (bar perhaps the odd wrinkle!) and almost everyone can do it almost everywhere, but best of all, it’s contagious! So by making yourself happier and healthier, you’re also helping others to do the same!

5. Remember the ratio 5:1 – Eminent psychologist Maureen Gaffney has found that the golden ratio of positive to negative thoughts that you need everyday to push (or keep) your life in a positive, fulfilling upward spiral is 5 positive thoughts to 1 negative. So keep that in mind throughout the day and pay attention to all the positives, there may be many more than you realise! For more tips on making 2015 your best year yet check out Gaffney’s book called ‘Flourishing’.