Archive for January, 2005
Me and my body
Tuesday, January 11th, 2005
Unislim talks to RTE star Caroline Morahan, who presents The Fame Game and Off The Rails, about her eating habits and how she keeps looking so good.
My real belly
As for Caroline’s diet, she eats healthily but is not obsessed about it. “I don’t buy pre-packaged, microwaveable, ready in a minute foods. I can taste the preservatives in them. I buy organic when I can although it is very expensive. I am a big promoter of eating five fruit and vegetables per day, although I am not a purist, I am a real person with a real belly.”
When we speak Caroline is just finishing a strict three week detox diet, for health reasons rather than to lose weight. “It has been hellish,” she says. Caroline follows very good eating habits, has completely eliminated beer and bread from her diet, and is not a heavy drinker, and yet she was suffering from cold sores. So she went to see a homeopath at the Centre of Integrated Medicine in Naas where they checked her body for allergies and discovered that she had a build-up of yeast which was giving her immune system a hard time. Hence, the detox diet.
The diet was pretty strict - no sugar and no dairy products apart from sheep and goat’s milk and cheese, and when Caroline went out to eat she could only have a plain steak with nothing else. But it seems to have worked and she is fighting fit and ready for the new autumn series of Off the Rail.
“I love wine, but on this diet I was only allowed to drink vodka and gin. So I couldn’t drink champagne on my birthday even though all my friends were. “I love my food, probably a lot more than most people, and no-one has ever said that I should trim down but I do tend to put expectations on myself. Saying this, when I go on holidays I don’t worry about food and eat whatever I like. When I went to my sister’s wedding this summer in Italy I ate whatever I liked, and have a few extra pounds to show for it!
“I have a policy that I never deny myself anything on a permanent basis. Even if I’m on a very strict diet I always have Saturday to eat and drink what I want. I think that if someone says you can’t have something then you really want it. Eating habits should be a life change, a strict diet is like a jail sentence and you just want to break free.” Caroline is a real believer in complementary therapies such as reflexology and homeopathy. “I take milk thistle for a week after a big night out - 15 drops in a glass of water three times of day gets your body more quickly into recovery mode. I was taking liquorice drops as part of my detox diet, and Goldenseal kills off the bad bacteria in the gut. I don’t drink water out of the rap I always drink out of a water filter. Amazingly my homeopath was able to find metal in my body which is coming from my fillings. So I’m having those taken out soon and changed to white fillings.”
For further information please contact Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine , St. Johns Grove, Johnstown, Naas, Co. Kildare. Tel./Fax.: 00353 0 45 844819 or e-mail: info@icim.ie
Tried and Tested: Heal Yourself the Alternative Way
Sunday, January 9th, 2005
What is it? Allergy Testing
Where? The Irish Centre of Integrated medicine
Cost? 80 Euros For a 90 minuite Consultation and Diagnosis
Verdict? An uplifting, enlightening experience worth every penny
By Sylvia Pownall
In today’s busy world of convenience foods and super pubs there are few of us who haven’t picked up an unwanted toxin or two along the way. Detox is one of the buzzwords of the minute and while there are countless options available there are none as detailed and accurate as allergy testing using the bio-energetics system.
When used by a practitioner it can help diagnose ailments, pinpoint areas of stress and come up with a lifestyle plan to promote and sustain healthy living. Stylefile went along to the Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine - the first of its kind in Ireland - in Monread, Naas to see what it was all about.
Practitioner Jean FitzGerald - one of the leading experts in this field in Europe - introduced the concept of Bio-resonance in Ireland and her services have been much in demand ever since. “I would say this is the most accurate method of diagnosis I have ever seen,” she said. “I have had 95 to 98 per cent accuracy with it so that speaks for itself.” The Bio-energy device designed for stress detection and reduction - is calibrated to measure subtle electrical reactions to biological and medical substances. Using metal conductors around the client’s head, wrists and ankles, its sensitivity is set so fine as to pick up the earliest signs of disease and distress. Jean typically spends 45 minutes assessing a client before beginning the procedure. She suspected digestive problems in my case (including a wheat intolerance known as candida), and her suspicions were borne out by the results of the test.
Jean could then advise on diet, supplements and other lifestyle changes to purge the system and counteract imbalance. Only a computer can calculate the vast quantities of information - over 65 million bits of date - processed during the test. Each patient’s reaction to 20 samples of a low reactive distilled water and samples of toxic sugar and insecticide - the highest known reactive substance - is measured at the outset. Then follows screening for vitamins, minerals and toxicity as well as certain nutritional groups. Each area of the body is looked at the minute detail and an appropriate course of action or treatment can be diagnosed.
The 90 minutes consultation costs €80 but its worth in terms of assessing an individual’s health and well-being is immeasurable. ICIM can be contacted at 045 883224 or by their website: www.icim.ie
Other services available at ICIM include:
- Acupuncture - a system of therapy by which the brain, nervous system and vital organs are stimulated by fine stainless steel needles inserted into acupoints or vital-energy points of the body.
- Aromatherapy - a system of healing in which illnesses are treated with highly scented essential oils that are extracted from plants with medicinal properties. It is a very relaxing treatment.
- Bio Energy Therapy - an ancient healing art which essentially reactivates the body’s own natural energy and capacity to heal using the practitioners own energy to scan the energy field of the patient.
- Cranial Osteopathy - a type of therapy which encourages the release of stresses and tensions throughout the body including the head.
- Homeopathy - a system of medicine in which natural remedies are used to support the body’s own powers of recovery.
- Healing massage - a combination of healing and gentle massage which soothes the nervous system and enables healing of mind, body and spirit.
- Hypnotherapy - a technique by which the therapist can help the patient to deal with stress, weight loss, stammering and various other problems.
- Psychotherapy - the treatment of illnesses whatever their nature of causes by psychological methods.
- Reflexology - a type of foot massage which helps to energise the body and treat various ailments which respond to certain parts of the feet.
- Tuina Massage - a type of massage which combines the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water along with acupuncture.
- Medical Qi Gong - a system f meditative and physical exercises using the science of anatomy physiology and body dynamics.
- Neural Development Therapy - non-invasive, drug free therapy for treatment of special learning difficulties assessing and managing dysfunction in people with neurological impairments.
- Neuro Linguistic Programming - helps people detect and reprogram unconscious patterns of thought and behaviour.
- Osteopathy - a system of diagnosis and treatment which works with the structure and function of the body. This type of treatment aims to restore the structure and function of the body to a state of balance and harmony.
- Qi Gong or Chi Kong - a system of meditative exercises intended to cultivate physical and mental perfection.
- Reiki - a hands on healing art, which energizes your everyday life, raises self-awareness and removes possible energy stagnations.
- Swedish massage - a style of massage that incorporates gymnastics movement and massage in a healthcare regime using soothing tapping and kneading to work the entire body.
- Sports Massage - a style of massage applied to achieve fast pain relief using a series of compressions with specific stretches.
- Western Herbalism - a system of treatment that uses leaves, flowers, stems, berries and roots of plants to prevent, relieve and treat illness.
For further information please contact Irish Centre of Integrated Medicine Tel./Fax.: 00353 0 45 844819 or e-mail: info@icim.ie