People often ask me if they are going to have to alter their diets and commit to fasting or change their habits in drastic measures in order for homoeopathy to work for them. In fact, occasionally they come to me assuming that I am going to ‘make them’ implement the changes that they already know they need to make in their lives!
The hot news in the public health forums these day inevitably has some link or other to do with diet. How to lose weight, how to gain weight, wheat intolerance, glucose intolerance, dairy intolerance… Image is probably one of strongest tools for drawing attention to what we do or do not eat. Celebrity diets are on the ‘up’ and miracle cures are touted continuously. More and more of us are being made aware of the increase of chronic illnesses such as Cancer, Diabetes, Coeliac Disease, IBS… The media bombards us with the new super foods and supplements that are promising the cure to all our ills; from obesity to ageing, depression to sleeplessness. It’s a veritable minefield out there, information overload leading many of us to retreat back into our comfortable patterns and surrender to what may or may not amount to low-level chronic illness.
I am not a nutritionist. As an homoeopath, what I will do is take a detailed summary of your health history, including your eating habits. Cravings and aversions are an important part of the profile because they not only give a sense of the overall shape and balance of a person’s diet, but they indicate certain important features about the person’s individual constitution. Homoeopathy recognizes that all of us are individual and so it makes sense that we each have different nutritional requirements and sensitivities. During the course of treatment, if people have had significant imbalances in their appetite or cravings these naturally balance themselves out. The goal of every homoeopath is not to restrict and control someone’s dietary options but to help them reach a state of health where they naturally make the best choices for themselves – because it feels right. Food intolerance can be borne of an overall sensitivity that can often be addressed with the use of remedies on a constitutional basis. Feeling well in yourself also reflects in a healthful level of weight, stamina and flexibility.
That said, there are certain basic principles that seem to work as a guideline to healthful eating. Eat sensibly. A diet rich in variety, fresh fruit and vegetables and a minimum of processed foods. Too much of ANYTHING is not good for anyone.
Homoeopathy, though well known and established in this country for almost 200 hundred years, is still a bit of a mystery to people. There seem to be so many different therapies and healing modalities available these days that it can be pretty baffling trying to figure out which is which, let alone whether the therapy is appropriate for you or not. If you have digestive related symptoms or basic questions about a balanced diet, call an Homoeopath!