I have never given anything up for Lent. Or at least, I never recall getting to the end of Lent have succeeded giving anything up. But this year, I thought I'd see what would happen if I set my resolve to giving up something important

CHOCOLATE

My love affair with chocolate has been going on for decades. There was Terry's Pyramint, and Terry's Chocoate Orange, of course. Ferreror Rocher; no Christmas is complete without one. Nutella; Ferrero Rocher deconstructed and bottled! Then there are all the lovely things in between - chocolate Brazil nuts, anything by Thorntons, mint choc chip ice-cream from Cadwaladers...... A few years ago my husband and I bought a dinosaur sized thick Belgian chocolate egg that made a deep cracking sound when you broke it. We had to start eating it before Easter and we were still eating it about 2 weeks later - gorgeous....

I'm just starting the 3rd week of a chocolate free Lent and I am very surprised that I really haven't missed it very much! I must admit, I did fancy a nice warm hot chocolate when I got into the office on Monday morning, but the replacement peppermint tea seemed to fill the gap. I have avoided the chocolate coated coffee beans and chocolate coated rice puffs that have come in my Graze Box over the last 2 wees too.

After I had my seizure back in July 2009, I went to see a Nutritionist who explained that chocolate is high in copper. High levels of copper are linked with many illnesses, including seizures. So, for a good few months, I ate chocolate sparingly. But, as time has gone on, I've fallen back into bad habits. So, by giving chocolate up for Lent, it's also a good chance to let my body's coper levels balance too.

So, anyway, Easter is on the 24th April, which means that Lent is 46 days this year, not the 40 days and 40 nights, as promised. 14 days down, 32 days to go. Piece of cake....carrot, not chocolate, obviously

More about Lent...

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From 1 March 2011 the Advertising Standards Authority's online remit was extended to cover companies’ own marketing claims on their own websites and in other non-paid for space they control. This means that complementary therapists all over the country have had to look at their websites with fresh eyes. Even though as Therapists we may know in our heart of hearts that our therapy benefits our clients, we now have to ensure that we do not inadvertently make claims that can not be scientifically substantiated.

The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council's (CNHC) guidance for Complementary Therapists can be accessed here

So, little by little, I am going through my website and re-reading my website from a different perspective. For example, I have seen reflexology benefit clients with back ache, so in my website I need to ensure that I am clear that reflexology 'could' help and that it is my professional experience that it has helped clients and might help clients in the future.

This has prompted me to look a bit more in depth into the research that has been done into reflexology. It seems to come from countries far and wide. Here's just a small sample that I've found....

• REFLEXOTHERAPY INTERVENTION IN THE TREATMENT OF NON SPECIFIED LOW BACK PAIN By F.M.Kovacs, V. Abraira, G. Lopez-Abente and F.Pozo, Spain

• TREATMENT OF ACUTE LUMBAR SPRAIN WITH REFLEXOLOGY: A REPORT OF TWENTY CASES By Xiao Zhengke, Hospital of Beijing College of Languages.

• Gao, W., Wang, Z., and Liu, H.(1996). "Preliminary Exploration of Treatment for Insomnia." 1996 China Reflexology Symposium Report, Beijing : China Reflexology Association, pages 7-8.

• Reflexions, VOLUME 26, NUMBER 2, April. 2005 Editors: Barbara and Kevin Kunz © 2005 Kunz and Kunz 'Reflexology and insomnia'

• EXPLORING THE APPLICATION OF REFLEXOLOGY FOR THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTIPATION By Yang Yu-Ru, Chao Ling-Yun, Meng Guan-Ling, cao Su-wen, Hao Jia-Mo, and Zhang Suhui

• MYALGIC ENCEPHALOMYELITIS By Thomas S. McCreadie, GSSR, Member of the Scottish Institute of Reflexology

• Randomised controlled trial of reflexology for menopausal symptoms, PMID: 12269681

• REFLEXOLOGY TREATMENT FOR MIGRAINE AND TENSION HEADACHES By the National Board of Health Council, Denmark, 1995

• Randomized Controlled Study Of Premenstrual Symptoms Treated with Ear, Hand, and Foot Reflexology by Terry Oleson, Ph.D., and William S. Flocco

During my reflexology training days, we were required to complete 60 hours of case studies. They were extremely intresting and produced interesting results. I've decided that my client feedback forms will now look more in depth at the health benefits or otherwise that clients have noticed since their treatment and develop more contemporaneous case studies so that I can evidence my own practice.

If you would be interested in letting me know more about reflexology research that you have found interesting, please do drop me a line via my contact form.

Tonight I attanded a class and met a man I'd never met before. He was obviously suffering from some problem with his shoulder and was suffering from significantly reduced mobility. When I had an opportunity I explained that I was a Reflexologist and that the reflex point for the shoulder was near his little finger. I asked if he'd had something removed. He said he'd had surgery to remove a tumour. I said if he gently rubbed the reflex point on his hand it would help. He said, with a laugh, that he saw a physio twice a week who did that for him.

At the end of the class an hour later, I saw him again and as I left I called over, "Keep doing your hand!", to which he replied, "Nah. I'll leave that to someone else." I left without replying......

Over the next half hour, my emotions have gone from fuming to irritated to sad. Having gone through the trauma of having a tumour removed, I'd have thought anyone would be only to eagre to help themselves. After all, who's tumour was it? And who's recovery is it? The physiotherapist?

I could go on and vent my frustration, but what would that solve? I guess all we can do as therapists is help those who are willing to help themselves whilst the overworked, overstretched NHS professionals have to care for those that don't

Panic attacks are extremely frightening. They seem to come out of the blue, strike at random, make people feel powerless, out of control, and as if they are about to die or go mad. Many people experience this problem, but many also learn to cope and, eventually, to overcome Panic Attacks successfully.

A panic attack is an exaggeration of the body’s normal response to fear, stress or excitement. When faced with a situation seen as potentially threatening, the body automatically gears itself up for danger, by producing quantities of adrenalin for 'fight or flight'. This would have prepared our cave-dwelling ancestors to fight or run away from danger, but it’s much less appropriate to the stresses we encounter today.

Adrenalin has the following effects on your body:

• muscles tense up
• difficulty breathing
• breathing becomes faster to take in more oxygen, which muscles need to help them transform sugar into energy
• racing heartbeat
• blood is diverted to the muscles, away from areas that don't need it, so you become pale
• dizziness and light headedness
• digestion slows down and salivary glands dry up, causing a dry mouth
• your senses become more alert; the slightest sound or touch provokes a reaction
• sweating increases.
• terror and feeling paralysed
• trembling, shaking and sweating
• pins and needles in fingers and toes

These reactions can occur in a matter of seconds.

But, just so as if to keep you on your toes, Panic Attacks can also come out of nowhere and have no apparent link with fear, stress or excitement. They could be linked to a sound, a smell, a voice, a picture, a scene, a location.... You need to identify your own triggers.

The good news is that by learning simple techniques as well as learning to control and change your thoughts, panic attacks can be completely controlled. Alix Needham can help you to do this, teaching you all the practical techniques you need to know in order to recognise a panic attack as it arrives and practise the right relaxation and thinking patterns to put you in control.

Tips & Advice

Practise Deep Breathing and be consciously aware of breathing into your stomach rather than just into your chest.
Reassure yourself that even if you experience any of these symptoms that everything is going to be OK.
Practise deep relaxation by taking time out on a regular basis to listen to gentle calming music or practise relaxation techniques.
Take up meditation to help you to still your mind and slow down any racing thoughts.
Seek qualified help if this problem persists. It will put you back in control of your life and everyone can succeed in overcoming panic attacks.

Where to find out more....

• NHS Choices - Panic Disorders
• NHS Choices - Panic Attacks
• No More Panic
• BBC Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Sugar or sweetener.... difficult one isn't it? One has an impact on the waiste but what impact does the other one have?

Diabetes UK says, "..the myth that people with diabetes shouldn't eat any sugar still persists but the truth is that people with diabetes can eat sugar. Although sugar should be limited as part of a healthy balanced diet, good blood glucose control can still be achieved when sugar and sugar-containing foods are eaten."

What is a sweetener? Wikipedia says, "A sugar substitute is a food additives that duplicates the effect of sugar in taste, usually with less food energy. Some sugar substitutes are natural and some are synthetic. Those that are not natural are, in general, called artificial sweeteners."

I'm not a fan of sweeteners and generally advise my clients who are looking to change their diet to just use less natural sugar, rather than opt for for an artificial sweetener.

Sweeteners that we know by name tend to be: saccharin, sucralose, stevia, sorbitol and NutraSweet or 'aspartame'. The latter, aspartame has links will lots of elements of poor health.

In the UK, the Food Standards Agency confirms, "foods that contain both sugar and sweetener must carry the statement 'with sugar and sweetener(s)'. In addition, foods that contain aspartame must be labelled with a warning 'contains a source of phenylalanine'."

Dr Janet Starr Hull's website, http://www.sweetpoison.com has lots of interesting and frightening information about aspartame.

She says, "Aspartame was determined to be a dangerous chemical as early as the 1960s. Over the past 30 years, aspartame has been identified as a carcinogen, a chemical that eats holes in brain tissue, and a dangerous food additive during pregnancy." "aspartame WAS removed from the public market after it was approved. Aspartame has actually been approved for market TWICE. In the 1970s, aspartame was first approved by the FDA, but that approval was immediately rescinded when research was presented, showing that aspartame ate holes in the brains of the lab animals at Washington University."

http://www.healingdaily.com says, "NutraSweet (Aspartame) is composed of linkages of aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. The aspartic acid acts as a neuroexcitatory agent. When NutraSweet is digested, it yields 10% methanol (wood alcohol). The wood alcohol (methanol) is widely distributed throughout the body including brain, muscle, fat and nervous tissue. It is then metabolized to FORMALDEHYDE which enters the cells and binds to the proteins and DNA (the genetic material). Cytogenetic effects (changes in DNA) have been shown to result from FORMALDEHYDE exposure and DNA damage occurs from FORMALDEHYDE. The nature of the injury generally involves breaking and then creation of cross linking within the genetic material which alters the cells. This finding has been confirmed numerous times...". It is believed that the negative impact of aspartame is cumulative.

So, if you have a choice, go for natural sugar, but less of it!