Penny Mckay

Archive for the ‘Have you heard of........’ Category

The five freedoms… what’s that all about? The five freeedoms are based on the welfare needs of animals and are as equally important whether you are keeping livestock in your back garden or have a small holding.

What are they then?  

1. Freedom from hunger and thirst - by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour

2. Freedom from discomfort - by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area

3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease - by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment

4. Freedom to express normal behaviour - by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind

5. Freedom from fear and distress - by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering.

What else do I need to know? According to the Farm Animal Welfare Council “These freedoms define ideal states rather than standards for acceptable welfare” (hmm - interesting)

How do I find out more? For loads more check out www.ciwf.org.uk

Aspartame? What’s that? A potentially deadly artificial sweetener (aren’t they all!)

Where will I find it? In food, sweets, cereals, as a sweetener itself such as nutri-sweet, in drinks such as orange squash and fizzy drinks too.

What’s so deadly about it? There are cited to be 92 different side effects associated with consuming aspartame ranging from kidney problems to neurological problems.

What can I do about that? Start checking the lables of what you are consuming. Then stop eating and drinking products with it in.

What else do I need to know? Manufacturers are clever with their marketing and will promote a ”no added sugar” drink so you think its healthy, but if there’s no added sugar there will be added artificial sweeteners. Look for products that claim to have no artifical sweeteners. A little natural sugar is actually better for you long term because your body knows how to deal with it. For many of us it is a drip feed effect, we have been consuming products with this stuff in for years and its not natural, so the body tries to adapt to it, eventually we may become ill. Switch back to naturally occuring sugars such as honey.

How do I find out more? Google it, there is tons of stuff on it and other artificial sweeteners such as sucrolose.

Huh? WDDTY? - Yes it stands for “What Doctors Don’t Tell You”

What’s that all about? - ”WDDTY” is a journal that uncovers the hard-to-get facts about health and the causes of illness.

What sort of facts are those then? - “Real” information on conditions such as diabetes, asthma, colitis, cancer and arthritis plus loads upon loads of health advice. Check out the section on drugs and side effects.

How do I find out more? www.wddty.com - Challenging convention - Empowering Health Decisions. It sure sounds good to me!

Huh? What’s that about? It’s all about “wild food” and making the most of what nature provides through the seasons.

Wild food? Yes edible wild food, found in the woodlands and hedgerows in your local area.

What else do I need to know? Plant identification, what plants to avoid and what tastes good. Sustainable harvesting and how to prepare what you have foraged.

Sounds yum! How do I find out more? Get on a course run by Lucie Cowles. Summer, Autumn and Winter courses remaining.

Contact Lucie on 07903 587376 or email  naturalpathconservation@googlemail.com

Huh? What are they? Parabens are a class of chemicals widely used as preservatives in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.

Where will I find them? In cosmetics, toothpaste, moisturisers, facecreams etc

What’s your point? Parabens could be a contributory factor in breast cancer.

The lead researcher of the UK study, molecular biologist Philippa Darbre, reported that the ester-bearing form of the parabens found in the tumors indicate that they came from something applied to the skin, such as an underarm deodorant, cream or body spray, and stated that the results helped to explain why up to 60% of all breast tumors are found in just one-fifth of the breast - the upper-outer quadrant, nearest the underarm.(Wikepedia)

How do I find out more? Google it.

Anything else? Check out SLS, Sodium Laurel Sulphate another chemical used as a foaming agent in toothpaste and soap. It’s another one where more research is needed.

Explore and consider using products now being produced without any of these “uncertain” chemicals. For example www.calendula-organics.co.uk and www.pitrock.co.uk

Pitrok supply crystals that you wet a little and rub under the arm as you would a deoderant. The way it works is that you may still sweat but the bacteria that makes the sweat smell is nuetralised.

What’s that? Near Death Experiences

What’s that about? A “near-death experience” (NDE), refers to a broad range of personal experiences associated with impending death, encompassing multiple possible sensations including detachment from the body; feelings of levitation; extreme fear; total serenity, security, or warmth; the experience of absolute dissolution; and the presence of a light, which some people interpret as a diety. Some see NDEs as a paranormal and spiritual glimpse into the afterlife. These phenomena are usually reported after an individual has been pronounced clinically dead, or otherwise very close to death, hence the term near-deathexperience. (Wikipedia)

What else can you tell me? Many of the sources of information about the near death experience have come from people who have been resuscitated. They have died for a short period of time and when they have been revived they are able to relate back exactly what was going on in the operating theatre during their resuscitation aswell as their other incredible journey experiences.

For example - A man had had a heart attack and while the resuscitating team were caring for him a nurse removed his false teeth for safety reasons and put them in a draw in a portable cabinet that was in the resuscitation  room. The man recovered fully and later when he was discharged he was collecting his things and his teeth were not amongst them. He was able to recall, how, while the team were shocking him back to life he was in the room, detached from his body and watching from a place above them. Aswell as recounting things that were said and done he recalled where the nurse had put his teeth and subsequently was able to retrieve them to the amazement of all concerned.

How do I find out more?Google it - there’s loads of info out there or read - “The Truth in the Light - Investigation of Over 300 Near Death Experiences” by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick.

Have you heard of…….?

Karen Bishop

Who’s she? Inter-dimensional traveller, communicator for the masses, author and much, much more.

What’s she into? “Emerging earth angels”, “the Ascension process” and “What’s up on Planet Earth.”  

How do I find out more?  www.emergingearthangels.com

What’s that? Medical treatment administered to a schedule that corresponds to a person’s daily, monthly, seasonal or yearly biological clock. Also known as bio-rhythms.

What’s it good for? Primarily used for  treating sleep disorders but is having great affect with nocturnal asthma, cardiac issues and cancer treatment. 

How does it work? In the treatment of cancer, by bringing a persons chemotherapy treatment in line with their body’s natural rhythm the recurring side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue are greatly reduced. They feel better and are therefore able to tolerate a greater and more potent dose of chemo than would be possible otherwise. 

For the treatment of insomnia, altering an indiviuals sleeping and waking times, resets his or her biological clock.

How do I find out more?  Google it.

Pick up “The Body Clock Guide to Better Health” by Michael Smolensky & Lynne Lamberg.

Check out the American Association of Medical Chronobiology and Chronotherapeutics.

What’s that? A new scheme that connects growers with landowners.

How does it work? (i) You - landowner, grower or helper. (ii) Post a listing - telling others where you are and what you are offering or looking for. (iii) Get responses - using the mail system to recieve and send messages. (iv) Have a chat - and see what happens.

How do I find out more? www.channel4.com/landshare

Currently there are more looking for land to grow on, than are offering land - so if you have a garden you can no longer manage or surplus land that you do not use, then get on line! One pub offered a stretch of its gardens to it’s locals to grow on! What a fantastic idea!