The Aim of this Newsletter
The aim of this newsletter and indeed the aim of the Cronulla Health for Life Centre is to help people fulfil their inherent health & personal potential.
The information, ideas & advice contained in these monthly Health for Life Newsletters is the result of over 3 decades of personal research, combined with over 22 years of consulting many thousands of patients who have suffered from almost every conceivable illness from cancer to common back problems.
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I want to not only inform you – I will also endeavour to inspire you to live an above average life. To experience drug – free Health For Life, with exceptional energy and an awareness and understanding which will service you well your entire life.
Another aim of the Health for Life Newsletter is to help you understand that much of what you read in the popular newspapers, magazines and hear on the television & radio concerning health is simply not true.
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Because there is so much money tied up in your choice of food, drink & drugs, vested interests & spin doctors will, with the aid of a very friendly media, lure you to part with your money.
Sadly, as you will read, people often part with something much more valuable than their money, and that is their health and even their life.
The food industry, the drug industry & the medical profession are huge businesses & we, as consumers, need to become aware of their benefits & pitfalls. This Newsletter aims to help you become a discerning consumer.
The Bad News.
Around most of the world the statistics on the health front make depressing reading.
As the western world’s economies expand & most people live more comfortably ( materially at least) than previous generations could have dreamed, there is a disturbing fact emerge: we are becoming increasingly sick, overweight, more depressed & drug dependant than ever before.
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Epidemics like coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, asthma, arthritis & auto-immune diseases show no signs of abating, despite literally billions of dollars being spent in the never-ending frantic search to find the “ elusive cures.” We as the public are exhorted to make donation after donation in the “battle” against these scourges.
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Consider these facts:
1) Diabetes is now classified as an epidemic in some countries with worse predicted to come. The youngest child ever to suffer from Type 11 Diabetes ( Adult-onset-non-insulin-dependent) was diagnosed in 2004 in Germany at 8 years of age. Only last week it was revealed that many people are now suffering “double diabetes”- both juvenile ( Type 1) & type 11;
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2) Asthma is again increasing in all age groups & affecting more countries than ever before. Hundreds of deaths result in young & old alike per annum in Australia, yet we are told the only hope lies in more money for more drugs. Every Asthma Foundation denies that diet plays a key role in the cause of asthma. We have proven time & time again that asthma can be reversed if the patient will make the necessary dietary & lifestyle changes.
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3) 70% of Americans & Aussies are overweight & 25% are obese.
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4)More than 75% of children in the States between the ages of 4 & 11 have already developed early stages of heart disease. This was reported in the American Journal of Medical Science.Dr Dean Ornish, amongst others, has proven that heart & blood vessel disease can be reversed without resorting to drugs & surgery, again, if the patient is willing to make the necessary changes in diet & lifestyle.
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5)The drug Vioxx for arthritis which was pulled off the market in September 2004 has killed 55000 people in the States alone, according to Dr David Graham, who recently spoke out from within the organisation that approved the drug despite knowing its adverse risk (the FDA or Food & Drug Administation).
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6)The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recently declared that a Flu Pandemic is not a matter of if but when, with up to 7 million deaths worldwide. The public’s only hope is, the WHO states, in the manufacture & distribution of sufficient anti-viral vaccines. This will be, according to them, our only defence. Remember that’s according to them.
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7)In Malaysia, which is fast copying the living trends of the West, the 2 biggest killers are heart disease & cancer, parallelling western countries. Strokes, diabetes & depression are also rapidly increasing as their way of life becomes more western.
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8)The 4 best-selling vegetables in the States & Australia are potatoes, tomatoes, onions & iceberg lettuce. Great you might say, but that is because they are French fries & crisps & garnishes on burgers.
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9)The average man, woman & child in America today consumes 32 teaspoons of sugar PER DAY, & Australia averages 25.
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10)The Baby Boomers are becoming The Lazy Boomers with at least one third of them completely sedentary- ie no physical exercise whatsoever.”Boomers” are those born between 1946 and 1964 inclusive.
The Good News.
You don’t have to buy into any of those statistics, provided you:
1) have a real desire to be healthy for life;
2) are willing to be responsible for your own health;
3) remain open to fresh ideas & be willing to change when & where necessary.
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The 4 key words are desire, responsible, open & change. Both my parents suffered appalling health as long as I can recall. Headaches were common & both took liberal quantities of Bex, Vincents & APC’s- common headache powders then. Both ate any food that tasted good, drank tea & alcohol & did no exercise. They were what I used to call “doctors’ delights” much to their annoyance, & this was when I was a school teacher, long before I entered the health field. In fact it was their chronic ill-health that led me to devote myself to the pursuit of health truth. They were great people, just not to themselves. They had no real desire to attain their health potential, were not responsible or open to change. Both passed away of cancer & not once in their lives were they ever advised by their many doctors to reform their mode of living in order to build better health- nor did they seek it out. Doctors just kept changing the scripts, like re-arranging the deck chairs on the titanic! My profound sadness at their plight & pain has indirectly led to this Newsletter.
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The human body is a wondrous, magnificent creation. It is self-developing, self-defending & self-healing. Unlike machines, the body has the ability to HEAL ITSELF, provided the causes of the illness are removed. I remember many years ago when Dr Alec Burton fell off his push bike at high speed, breaking some bones & ruining his bike. Rushing to Alec’s aid his friend asked how he was. Alec wittily responded “I’ll be OK but my bike won’t”.
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In future issues we will discuss the two types of disease- acute & chronic- & how the way you respond to your acute illnesses ( colds, flu, fevers, diarrhoea, vomiting etc) largely determines the development or not of chronic, degenerative disease.
The Power of Habits.
Our lives revolve around habits. Habits of eating, drinking, thinking, exercising (or lack of), TV, socialising etc. Many human habits are detrimental to great health, even habits which seem innocuous. Everyone today is aware of smoking & its damage to the entire human system. Very few people & that includes doctors & health care practitioners are aware of the adverse effects of caffeine, however. Over 90% of the world’s population regularly imbibes tea & coffee. It is even extolled in some quarters as health- conveying, with green tea containing anti-oxidants. But so does marijuana & lawn clippings but we avoid them. Just because something contains a nutrient doesn’t mean it is a healthy food.
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Regular drinking of tea, coffee, coca-& pepsi-cola, chocolate, mountain dew soft drink & other caffeinated foods & beverages irritates the Central Nervous System, causing tension at the base of the skull ( the sub-occipital areas), between the shoulder blades & is a major contributor to recurrent headaches. It also reduces iron absorption, (leading to tiredness), is associated with breast lumps ( benign fibro-cystic disease) & restless leg syndrome. Many habitual drinkers of tea & coffee also suffer “brain fog”. It has also been linked quite recently to cardiac irregularities.
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In my Clinic over the years we have found over 90% of patients who present with chronic headaches, migraines & persitent neck tension get marked improvement within 2 weeks by stopping the tea & coffee habits immediately. This is the first step to headache recovery. We give nearly all patients the sheets titled “The Effects of Caffeine”& strongly encourage them to go 1 week at first without these nervous system irritants & watch the results. Be warned if you do abstain that the withdrawal symptoms can be severe- more headaches( temporarily as the irritants are moved from the system), fatigue & flu-like symptoms in some people, (these are more detoxifying symptoms). Sometimes vomiting occurs in a small number of people, mainly females who have a history of 4-5 cups of either tea &/or coffee daily.
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The results are worth it. You can drink warm water with lemon juice, herbal teas or if you want the odd substitute coffee try that- but not de-caffeinated coffee as other caffeine- like chemicals ( methyl xanthines) are still active.
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It’s interesting that when we give a good habit a day or two off (like eating fruit for breakfast or doing an hour’s walk), then no physical pain follows. This is generally not the case with bad habits. When we give them a day or two off, Kapow!! The alcoholic suffers, the drug addicts go through hell, the smoker feels temporarily worse & the caffeine addict gets intense discomfort.
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We are subjected to enough sensory overload in a normal day externally from noise, traffic & stress, without adding internally to it with caffeine-laced stimulants.
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Most people, by just stopping this 1 habit, would notice a decided difference in their overall health within 1 week. It is not difficult. You can do it!
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Lord Bacon said over 100 years ago:
“Let not a man force a habit upon himself with a perpetual continuance, but with some intermission.”
A wise man indeed!!
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Wishing you all a happy, healthy & peaceful month.
Greg Fitzgerald.
