A linky one… enjoy x
Hi everyone, straight into the newsletter items this week – hope you enjoy it and find something useful – do let me know; sometimes it feels like I’m just talking to myself like some crazy woman 😉
A lot of people have been searching the website for info on gallbladder shoulder pain, I noticed, so I’ve refreshed the Gallbladder Pain page in the A-Z for you. I’ve included the most common causes of gallbladder ‘grumbling’ I’ve seen in-clinic, my favourite all-round supplements for if you’ve had your gallbladder removed or not, and some useful resources. I hope it helps 🙂
I’m continuing to build the shop into a one-stop wellness place for you so you know where you can find good stuff that works. This week, I’ve added Vibrant Blue Oils onto the Essential Oils section. These are fantastic. They focus on oils to support histamine intolerance, mast cell problems, brain re-training, vagus nerve and limbic system impairment. It’s a US brand, not easy to get in the UK – honestly I am really starting to wonder if I need to stock these sort of things for us! – but they do ship internationally and, if you happen to be across the pond, I’ve listed the key ones on my US shop for you too. Go here to read all about them.
I’ve also started to build the homeopathics section for you, so you know where to get those. Many you can get from Natural Dispensary as usual, who stock Helios and Weleda, both good brands. But I have added Heels onto the shop, because I think they have the best combination remedies. I’ll gradually build up the list of the best ones for you – Traumeel, the eternal favourite for musculoskeletal inflammation and injury, is there for now. Check the new section out. Next, I’m working on Guna remedies – including homeopathics for pets!
Talking of homeopathy – just got a useful newsletter from my colleague Karen, who’s done a nice piece on remedies for migraine. That’ll tie in nicely with the migraine factsheet I’m in the middle of for you!
Subscriber question this week comes from K, who asked about heart rate variability. I’ve actually been doing quite a bit on vagus nerve tone myself – I’m testing out one of the new brain retraining/nervous system re-regulation programmes for us all, as I said last issue – stop press: impressed so far :).
Anyway, the quickest way to explain heart rate variability is that is a good way of testing your vagus nerve tone, which is all-important in recovering from chronic illness and dealing with stressors – physical, mental and emotional.
HRV is not a perfect measurement of vagal tone, but it’s the best we’ve got really. I thought this was a good explanation and actually the whole article is worth a read as it’s not too techy:
The most precise metric for assessing vagal tone is heart-rate variability (HRV)…. A healthy heartbeat is not perfectly symmetrical; the rhythm varies slightly as the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems engage in a dynamic push and pull. HRV measures the time between individual heartbeats. High HRV (more variance between heartbeats) corresponds to greater vagal tone, while low HRV suggests an overactivated sympathetic response and lower vagal tone.
If you prefer to get a little more techy and deeper into this, here is a fascinating podcast/video that I thought was really good.
Essentially, all you need to know is that if your HRV is low, it suggests your vagus nerve needs some work. Check my vagus nerve book out for more on that.
Bonus tip: if you have eg. MCAS or are hypersensitive, go for the Voo breath in the last issue rather than shocking things like HIIT and cold water! The trick, I have found is to go slowly – don’t overstimulate the vagus nerve; it likes gentle!
You’ll see in there that the doc recommends electrical stimulation devices that you use on your neck and ear. I have found that they can overstimulate, certainly at the beginning, which is why I’ve recommended the Sensate for now. Has anyone used a good electrical device – let us know any recommendations or cautions?
Oh, and look at the Vibrant Blue Oils Limbic Reset and Parasympathetic oils – see how this is all coming together as a comprehensive service for you? Goodness, I astound myself sometimes 😉
Finally, a couple of lunch ideas for you.
In this first one, I made a small amount of chickpea ‘rice’ ie. tiny chickpea pasta, then cooked a mushroom mix like this and sliced courgettes in a pan and added the rice. I then threw in some shredded kale, chopped broccoli, pine nuts, plus a little mango – for colour mainly as it looked a bit ‘earthy’ if you know what I mean? Then, I cooked up some tuna bits I’ve been buying recently – really useful. I chop the large bits in half and it makes at least 3 or 4 meals. Take it off the heat whilst it still looks pink in the middle as it will carry on cooking and there’s nothing worse than overcooked tuna, ugh. Season, add some really good quality olive oil on top and serve.
This works hot or cold. I’ve been having this, or a variation of it, for lunch sometimes. Not sure yet if the chickpea likes me blood sugar-wise; I’m trialling it.
You could, of course, use anything in the fridge that needs finishing or meat, tofu, nuts or other fish as an alternative to tuna – I’ve even used canned sardines! Chicken might be nice but I can’t do fowl yet – grain fed!
I did, in fact, use prawns the following day. I usually keep a dish of the base mix in the fridge and add the protein and other bits to it. I use these dishes – so useful! Just make sure you only buy Pyrex versions; there are a lot of knock-offs about and they are nowhere near as good. I bought two sets about 12 years ago and chucked out anything plastic.
Anyway, here’s the prawny version. We had this out at a pub yesterday (the Pier House in Charlestown, where a lot of Poldark is/was filmed) – I go there and ask for an empty plate as their plates are so pretty. Otherwise, I sit there and eat out of my dish!
So, for this one, I added chestnut mushrooms, pomegranate seeds for colour, raw fennel for crunch and popped some watercress and rocket on the side. It was delish. Just as good as P’s vegan feta focaccia. So there. In fact, one of the waitresses said it should be on the menu! I treated myself to a glass of Pinot blush in the sunshine. Life is for living. I paid for it later and had to have a sleep, ha ha!
Ok, that’s it folks – a nice, quick one for you this week but with plenty there to interest you, I hope. Thank you for those of you who gave feedback on how you’re getting on with my Substack newsletter at its 9 month anniversary! I do try my best not to overwhelm you with too much too frequently. I hope it’s working for you x
Oh, and don’t forget the Notes – I’m doing interesting bits there so save this newsletter becoming enormoose.
OK, that’s it for this issue, peeps. I hope you found something useful there. Please leave this post a ❤️ and restack/share if you liked it – it really helps other people find me and possibly info that could really help them. Have a fab week x
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July 25