Ross Walter Nutritionist and Naturopath health articles and blog

why detoxes do not work!

18/1/2019

I do get asked a lot what I would recommend for a detox. If you think you overdid it with the xmas and new years celebrations, and you have made your list of new years resolutions starting with a detox, then you need to read this article further!

Many people think they are doing their bodies a great service, by having a yearly... well, service... with a detox of a few days or a week at most. It sounds like a good idea in principle!

Assuming that you want to undertake a 7-day detox with a water fast, or juicing, or detox program pack from your chemist, or some other online detox method, I have some news for you - it won't work! You can't do a weekly detox and hope that it undoes all the damage and toxic accumulation from the previous 51 weeks of the year! It's not possible!

Also, what is it exactly that you want to detox?! Not actually knowing this is also setting up for failing in your detox. Short term detoxes are useless, but targeted detoxes that are tailored against specific toxins, organs or heavy metals CAN and DO work very well! The key is to know what toxins you may have and then setup a treatment plan for that. This can be done with a number of options for testing, such as with a HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) test, Oligoscan or other tests. I can help with these! I've seen some great improvements with targeted detox treatments, including those with high amounts of lead, mercury, aluminium or other toxins or heavy metals.

Many toxic chemicals from foods or household/cleaning/work products are stored in body fat as a "safe" and out of the way place. When you detox, you are generally on a diet, which is actually a restriction of nutrients (NOT a restriction of calories as such) that your body really needs. The reduced food intake will mean that body fat will be broken down to provide energy. That's all good for reducing your weight, but when you lose a reasonable amount of body fat, those stored toxins are also released into the blood. This is not a good thing, and it WILL make you feel worse. This is why you feel terrible on a detox program - you feel like your brain is fuzzy, aching all over, headaches, gut problems and fatigued... This is why you should never detox when you are sick or not feeling well - you will feel worse. And also why you need to support your body to detox when you are losing weight!

A non-specific detox for the body is a great idea, but this needs to be a part of a regular lifestyle, not something you do once or twice per year! It needs to be done all the time! A general detox can be done properly though without feeling terrible when you do it, with a regular and holistic program that covers all aspects of health - physical, mental, emotional, environmental and more.

Detoxing starts with an analysis of what you are normally eating and drinking, and what chemicals you are being exposed to. Then you should be making some changes to reduce your toxin exposure by replacing some items with safer and less toxic ones, and supporting the body's natural elimination channels to remove stored toxins.

So perhaps please reconsider your short term "detox" plans on your new years resolutions list! Replace it instead with aiming for a "healthy lifestyle" in 2019 instead, or using testing to find out what toxins your body has first, then use a targeted detox against those. I can help you with this!

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Roundup (Glyphosate) is in foods and known to cause cancer

13/8/2018

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Being a Clinical Nutritionist and Naturopath isn't just about helping people with what to eat, but is also about education on what to eat, when, and how, and in even more detail!

One extra little detail is what your food was exposed to in terms of chemicals, toxins, or manipulation during or after production (such as irradiation or genetic modification, and how foods are cooked) which can make all the difference between a food that is healthy and a similar food that is damaging to your health.

One such suggestion I like to make is to avoid your food being exposed to toxic chemicals, such as herbicides, pesticides, fungicides etc. One of the most prominent and dangerous herbicides used on food crops is Roundup (also known as glyphosate, and found in many other brands of herbicides). Even though Roundup is promoted as safe (by its manufacturer, Monsanto), it can cause severe adverse health effects as found in recent research, including birth defects, spontaneous abortions, infertility, hormone disruptions, autoimmune conditions, neuro-degenerative diseases and even cancer (especially Non-Hodgkins lymphoma). It also gets into the environment, animals and the water supply, causing more issues.

Many food crops are genetically modified to be "Roundup Ready", meaning that the crop can be sprayed with Roundup when it's still young to kill the weeds around them, but the young plants can survive being sprayed. Such Roundup Ready crops include wheat, corn, canola, soy, and even cotton.

Roundup is also sprayed on cereal crops (ie wheat and corn), to kill the plants once their grains/seeds have set, to make it easier to harvest them. Unfortunately this leads to the chemical being present in your foods - breakfast cereals, breads, bakery products, soy foods and canola oil. This is one reason why I do not recommend people to eat wheat, corn, soy, or any processed foods with canola oil - unless it has been tested and certified as "organic".

A judge and jury in the USA have just awarded a 46-year old man about $289 MILLION in damages after successfully proving that Roundup caused his cancer. He was a gardener/groundsman and used Roundup regularly, but he isn't expected to live much longer because of his cancer. There are many hundreds more people suing Monsanto for health issues caused by Roundup.

Avoid using Roundup in your gardens or around food crops, as it can be absorbed through your skin to have the same effect. Have a look online for safe, natural herbicides or pesticides that you can cheaply and easily make at home, or just pull your weeds out by hand!

Local councils around Australia are notorious for using Roundup around the streets and parks, but some are heeding the warnings of Roundup and are trialling using steam as a more environmentally friendly and safer alternative to killing weeds! And of course it will be much safer for their employees and the general public too.

For your health and that of your family, please avoid using Roundup in your garden, and avoid Roundup Ready GMO foods.

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What is MTHFR?

19/1/2018

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What is MTHFR?! No, it isn't an acronym for something very rude, but for Methylene-TetraHydroFolate Reductase, which is a bit of a mouthful, so MTHFR is much easier!

MTHFR is a human gene, which codes for the production of an enzyme of the same name. The MTHFR enzyme is important for chemical reactions in the body involving vitamin B9 (also called "folate"). The enzyme converts the folate in your food (mainly in plant based foods) into the active form of folate which your body can then use.

Folate is important for many purposes - the synthesis of DNA and the production of new cells, for "methylation" reactions (such as turning on and off gene expression), for metabolising amino acids from proteins (for hormone and neurotransmitter production), for the production of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, to turn off inflammation, for energy production, for critical detoxification functions, and many more functions.

The MTHFR gene and enzyme are especially important because mutations of this gene can have significant impacts on your health. Depending on which mutation of this gene you may have, of which there are 34 different ones, there are 2 main variants which can be tested for, because of their importance in your body.

Depending on the type of MTHFR mutation you may have, it can mean a 20% loss of function, or 40% or even up to a 70% loss of function to the MTHFR enzyme activity. This means that all of the uses of folate can be severely compromised. One of the biggest impacts of a MTHFR mutation is regarding detoxification of chemicals from the body. If your body cannot detoxify environmental toxins efficiently, this can cause a lot of chronic physical and mental health issues.

"Folic Acid", which is an artificially synthesised form of folate found in many vitamin and mineral supplements, is not the same thing as the natural folate. It doesn't have the same effects at all. But most importantly, IF you have the a MTHFR genetic mutation, you MUST NOT be taking any supplement with folic acid in it. Because your body cannot metabolise folic acid properly, folate levels in your blood and body can build up and reach toxic levels, and also inhibit the metabolism of natural folate. Some studies and researchers have suggested that even people without any MTHFR mutation should still avoid all supplements with folic acid in them. There are other forms of folate in supplements which are safer and more effective!

MTHFR mutations are common in people who have heart disease, glaucoma, many psychiatric or mental health conditions, some types of cancers, high levels of inflammation, infertility and recurrent miscarriages, autism spectrum disorders, and many other chronic health issues which don't seem to go away no matter what you do for them. If you suspect you may have a MTHFR mutation due to chronic health issues, you can get tested for this.

Testing for the MTHFR mutation can easily be done with a simple blood test. This test costs just $90, but can be very useful in helping you to achieve your health goals! If you have (or someone you know has) health issues which don't seem to be improving, despite being on a good treatment plan, then a MTHFR genetic mutation can often be the cause of this. Testing for the mutation can give peace of mind and the effects of the mutation can be greatly reduced as there are additional steps in a treatment plan which you may need to include. Please contact me or the clinic to arrange a MTHFR test!

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Do you need to detox from 2015?

1/1/2016

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So it's a new year again! I hope you have a very healthy one!

If you think you overdid it with the xmas and new years celebrations, and you have made your list of new years resolutions starting with a detox, then you need to read this article further!

Many people think they are doing their bodies a great service, by having a yearly... well, service... with a detox of a few days or a week at most. It sounds like a good idea in principle!

Assuming that you want to undertake a 7-day detox with a water fast, or juicing, or detox program pack from your chemist, or some other detox method, I have some news for you - it won't work! You can't do a weekly detox and hope that it undoes all the damage and toxic accumulation from the previous 51 weeks of the year! It's not possible!

Many toxic chemicals from foods or household/cleaning/work products are stored in body fat as a "safe" and out of the way place. When you detox, you are generally on a diet, which is a restriction of nutrition (NOT a restriction of calories as such) that your body really needs. The reduced food intake will mean that body fat will be broken down to provide energy. That's all good for reducing your weight, but when you lose a reasonable amount of body fat, those stored toxins are also released into the blood. This is not a good thing, and it WILL make you feel worse. This is why you feel terrible on a detox program - you feel like your brain is fuzzy, aching all over, headaches, gut problems and fatigued... This is why you should never detox when you are sick or not feeling well - you will feel worse.

Detoxing the body is great, but it needs to be a part of a regular lifestyle, not something you do once or twice per year! It needs to be done all the time! Detoxing can be done properly though without feeling terrible when you do it, with a regular and holistic program that covers all aspects of health - physical, mental, emotional, environmental and more.

Detoxing starts with an analysis of what you are normally eating and drinking and what chemicals you are being exposed to. Then making some changes to reduce your toxin exposure by replacing some items with safer and less toxic ones, and supporting the body's natural elimination channels to remove stored toxins. This is something that I can help with.

So perhaps please reconsider your "detox" plans on your new years resolutions list! Replace it instead with aiming for a "healthy lifestyle" in 2016 instead, with a little help from Ross Walter Nutritionist!

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why detoxes do not work!

Roundup (Glyphosate) is in foods and known to cause cancer

What is MTHFR?

Do you need to detox from 2015?

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