What has the phlogiston theory to do with the belief that the only cause
of becoming overweight is eating too many calories and taking too
little exercise? - Well both theories are out of date.
In the 18th century the phlogiston theory of explaining combustion and breathing held sway until the 1780s when Lavoisier
discovered oxygen and explained its role in burning and rusting, etc.
The calories in/calories out theory for excess weight presently held by
most of the orthodox medical world is an oversimplistic explanation for
the excess weight. Essentially it says that overweight people eat too
many calories and take too little exercise, ie they are greedy and lazy.
The glaring omission is the fact that a great deal of excess weight has
nothing to do with calories at all! - That is because it is water - and
there are no calories in water!
Professor Sir Richard Doll wrote in a personal letter to me in August
2001, "I was interested to hear about your experience of being
overweight and losing so much weight when you reduced the amount of salt
in your food. That a high salt diet combined with certain drugs (of
which steroids are an example) will lead to water retention is - or
ought to be - well known and, of course, the contrary follows that
reducing the salt will lead to the loss of water."
There are so many prescription drugs and classes of prescription drugs,
and doctors are constantly being exhorted to prescribe more and more
drugs, especially antidepressants,
many of which cause water retention and its attendant health problems,
notably stroke, high blood pressure and heart conditions, that I would
contend that the ever-increasing numbers of prescription drugs being
taken must certainly be the cause of a high proportion of obese people
being overweight. An additional danger is that so many prescribed drugs
are addictive, especially painkillers. So I hope that the theory that
the only cause of becoming overweight is eating too many calories and
taking too little exercise will soon, like the phlogiston theory of
combustion, be consigned to the dustbin of history, and people can be
saved from all the ill-health that so many prescribed drugs cause.
Tuesday, September 02, 2014
What has the phlogiston theory to do with the belief that the only cause of becoming overweight is eating too many calories and taking too little exercise?
Posted by Willow at 8:52 am
Labels: causes of obesity, lose weight by eating less salt, Phlogiston Theory, prescription drugs, Richard Doll, Salt, Steroids, water retention, weight gain, weight loss
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Get twinkling those toes!
If you've got poor circulation - maybe related to mobility problems - get twinkling those toes! - By which I mean - Twiddle 'em! - Wriggle 'em! - That'll help! - And you could let your fingers dance too! - And squeeze a soft toy! - You could be a Twinkling Star! - Good luck!
Posted by Willow at 8:33 pm
Labels: poor circulation, Twinkling Star, twinkling toes, wriggling toes
Friday, August 22, 2014
Struggling to carry on
Sometimes it's a struggle to carry on and you are in the position of
choosing between options as to what's best to do at the time. And
sometimes additional problems present themselves. And understandingly
you may sometimes choose what is not really the best option.
I wrote in February about meds which cause dehydration and how drinking plain water is what you need to do. - Extract - "By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. And you may
unwittingly increase the problem by drinking, say, coffee, which is widely
considered to have diuretic properties. Alcohol too is a diuretic. If you are thirsty, you would be much better slaking your thirst with plain
water. Salty drinks are clearly inadvisable, and sugary drinks also
tend to increase thirst. You are not in need of vague 'liquid'; you are specifically in need of PLAIN WATER."
- I had found this so helpful myself and I kept rigidly to my own
advice. - But in the last month I have drunk two cups of extremely weak
coffee and one cup of weak tea. - In my constant struggle with
increasing pain and insufficient sleep, I did this in the hope that
these drinks would 'wake me up a bit' from my great tiredness. I hadn't
chosen a good option.
When we struggle, especially with very great
difficulties, and we make a mistake, there may be the temptation to give
up altogether. - Before that, I'd like to suggest asking for help, if you can. There are a lot of kind people in the world. Obviously
I don't mean approaching anyone who is going to label your problems and
difficulties with the catch-all daft label of 'depression' and want you
to take anti-depressants. - You do NOT need even more problems to
deal with! - Drink a glass or two of plain water and continue each day to drink plain water and avoid coffee and alcohol. This will help you in many ways
and clear your head. If you think you need my input, then email me from my website and I'll do my best to get back to you.
Posted by Willow at 2:42 pm
Labels: dehydration, drinking water, meds which cause dehydration, plain water, Struggling to carry on
Sunday, August 17, 2014
OBESITY AND THE SALT CONNECTION - Mensa article by Margaret Wilde
Obesity and the Salt Connection
What
follows is a slightly modified version of an article I wrote for the
British monthly glossy magazine of Mensa, the high IQ society, of which I
am a member. It was published in the December 2004 issue. Four months
later, the April 2005 issue contained a letter from Joyce Barnard, who
has given permission for her name to be used here. She wrote that by
following the advice I had given her a few years earlier - i.e. that to
lower her high blood pressure and lose weight she simply needed to eat
less sodium - she had lost 5 stones in weight (70 pounds) in a year! -
All she did was stop sprinkling salt onto her meals and use LoSalt
instead of ordinary salt when cooking.
Many years ago I
gained a great deal of weight because of taking HRT prescribed by my
GPs, mainly on the advice of an endocrinologist. - I did not realise at
the time that the weight gain was because of the medication.
I
became desperately ill and exhausted and had very high blood pressure
for which I took Atenolol, a beta-blocker. I was so fat I could barely
walk. Yet I was not overeating. My feet, hands and breasts were
exquisitely painful and very red and swollen. I was unable to use my
hands for many tasks. I needed a larger size in shoes. My face and neck
became beetroot red and very swollen. I developed acne and eczema. I
suffered from breathlessness.
Having never sprinkled
salt on my food in my life, and never used it in cooking, in 1997 I
became aware that there was a lot of salt in bread and cheese and
breakfast cereals. Because of the connection between hypertension and
salt intake I altered my eating to reduce, and eventually to exclude,
all avoidable sodium. This lowered my blood pressure and I no longer
needed to take Atenolol.
More spectacularly, and very
unexpectedly to me, eating less salt reduced my weight by 51 pounds! -
This was nothing to do with calories, fat or sugar. - The weight I lost
was clearly water, which I worked out was held in my body by the salt -
held in my veins, which had become massively distended and painful since
I had embarked on the HRT.
I worked out that it was
the oestrogen that had caused the sodium and water retention and this
was confirmed when I looked in the British National Formulary for the
side-effects of oestrogen. I then realised that oestrogen was a steroid,
though it is not normally thought of in that category, and that the
sodium and water retention came about because certain steroids and
certain other prescribed drugs relax/weaken the walls of the blood
vessels so that they take in excess salt and the water which accompanies
it. I realised that I was a 'steroid victim'.
For many
years I have been providing a free telephone helpline for people in
pain in my area and for the last five years have been advising all
callers to reduce their salt intake, particularly when they were obese.
Their weight loss, too, has been dramatic and swift. One Mensa member
whom I helped lost about a stone in a month just by eating less salt.
Her dog, too, lost weight when she stopped salting his food!
I
firmly believe that the massive rise in the incidence of obesity,
especially child obesity, is due to the prevalence of salt in modern
diets, mainly from manufactured foods, and that calorie counting and
advice about reducing fat and sugar intake and increasing exercise are
counter-productive.
But salt causes obesity only in vulnerable people, i.e.
People whose veins are weak because of immaturity (babies, children),
People
whose veins are weak because of steroids or HRT or amitriptyline or
certain other prescribed drugs, too readily prescribed, often in very
high dose,
People whose natural oestrogen levels are higher than normal (e.g. pregnant women).
People whose blood vessel walls have been weakened by 'slimming' – i.e. eating insufficient food.
Inactivity does not cause obesity. Obesity causes inactivity.
In
2001 I wrote to MPs, to medical people, to journalists, to
nutritionists and others, explaining that salt sensitivity is what
causes obesity, and urging that the facts be made known, particularly to
steroid victims. The powerful and influential people to whom I wrote
have taken no action to give publicity to the life-saving message. The
public is not being told the truth about weight gain and weight loss.
The best, the healthiest, the safest way to lose weight is to
concentrate on eating less salt (and more potassium).
An
Emeritus Professor of Medicine at Oxford, Professor Sir Richard Doll,
wrote back to me in August 2001 that I was right about steroids causing
weight gain because of salt and water retention and that weight can be
lost by eating less salt or by taking diuretics. Sadly he seems to be
the only medic who knows this! - A book on salt, written by experts on
hypertension and brought out in a blaze of publicity a few years ago
makes no mention of steroid victims and specifically states, among other
errors, that HRT does not cause a salt problem.
A
person who gains weight has a higher calorie requirement. There are two
reasons for this. Having to carry a greater mass around and service a
more massive body uses more calories. And having a bigger surface area
means greater heat loss, since heat lost is proportional to surface
area. - A greater calorie requirement results in greater
appetite/hunger, so, really, overweight people need to eat more than
people of normal weight. If the overweight eat insufficient calories (ie
if they 'diet') they may lose weight, but it is at the cost of being
hungry. There has never been the slightest evidence that the practice of
fewer calories in and more calories out by way of exercise reduces
obesity! - It is often confidently stated that fat will be lost by doing
this. - Sadly, what is more often lost is lean tissue, usually an
irreversible adverse effect.
The result of the
misunderstanding of the cause of obesity is the well-known fact that
over 95% of dieters actually gain weight in the long term! - They cannot
be expected to go hungry all the time. - Nor would staying hungry all
the time benefit them. - With insufficient calories for the body's
needs, the body feeds on itself. - The skin becomes thinner; the bones
become less dense; there is some hair loss, etc.
Contrast
this with the right way to lose weight - by eating less sodium. -
Eating less sodium releases some of the excess water held in the blood
stream. This lowers the blood pressure and, significantly, lowers the
weight. - Weighing less results in a lower calorie requirement so very
gradually less food is eaten and this becomes a virtuous circle because
less food eaten results in lower sodium intake.
In
societies in which no salt is eaten (what some might describe as
undeveloped or uncivilised societies) there is no obesity and no
hypertension.
The cavemen and women who were our
ancestors lived for millennia without added salt. Our bodies evolved on a
low sodium and high potassium intake. The modern diet has reversed this
to high sodium and low potassium. The intake of salt has massively
increased in recent years - as has the incidence of obesity.
I
submit that the universal 'slimming' advice - to eat fewer
calories/less fat/sugar - is a major cause of obesity. - All that is
normally necessary to lose weight is to eat less salt/sodium. This is a
drug-free, cost-free course of action. There are no hunger pangs and no
adverse side-effects. It requires no visits to the doctor or to the gym
and it WILL work.
Lose weight by eating less salt! - Go on! -Try it! My website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
provides more details and advice. (The site does not sell anything and
has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
Margaret Wilde
Anyone
is welcome to copy this article in whole or in part, provided only that
it is always attributed to me, Margaret Wilde, that the information is
provided free, and that my web-site address http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ is always included.
If you wish to get in touch with me, you can email me from my website.
Posted by Willow at 10:13 pm
Labels: 'Slimming', amitriptyline, Breathlessness, HRT, Mensa article, Obesity and the Salt connection, oestrogen, Prescribed Steroids, Richard Doll, Salt Intake, Salt Sensitivity, sodium retention
Thursday, August 07, 2014
Do you know that a high salt diet can lead to cataracts?
Developing cataracts is one if the lesser-known possible consequences of eating a high salt diet. - See http://www.saltmatters.org/site/uploads/PDFs/SRHP%2025+table.pdf - See also http://wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
Posted by Willow at 10:11 pm
Labels: cataracts, high salt diet, salt-related health problems
There is evidence that Salt-Related Health Problems include calcium urinary stones
Posted by Willow at 5:43 pm
Labels: calcium stones, calcium urinary stones, eat less salt and salty food, kidney stones, reduce salt intake, reduce sodium intake, salt-related health problems, salt/sodium
Sunday, February 09, 2014
Many prescribed meds cause dehydration
By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. And you may unwittingly increase the problem by drinking, say, coffee, which is widely considered to have diuretic properties. Alcohol too is a diuretic. If you are thirsty, you would be much better slaking your thirst with plain water. Salty drinks are clearly inadvisable, and sugary drinks also tend to increase thirst. You are not in need of vague 'liquid'; you are specifically in need of PLAIN WATER.
So a major, rather strange, consequence of taking these dangerous, over-prescribed drugs, is that while taking them you tend to be chronically thirsty (particularly if taking a high dose), and chronically in a state of dehydration, yet carrying around with you a lot of excess water, mainly in your blood vessels, particularly in your poor, over-stretched, weakened, increasingly painful veins. See my website for helpful information and suggestions relating to these problems.
Posted by Willow at 3:03 pm
Labels: anti-convulsants, anti-depressants, anti-epileptics, antipsychotics, constantly thirsty, dehydration, diuretics, Prescribed Steroids, sugary drinks, tricyclic antidepressants, urinary retention, Water
Thursday, January 02, 2014
It was a different kind of Today programme on Radio 4 this morning, in which contributors spoke Truth about the Abuse of Power
We heard the media itself indicted in the global conspiracy of the powerful against the powerless masses of the poor. (Noam Chomsky and John Pilger and others have told us about this many times before.) We heard much about "War and the Pity of War". We heard from individuals who are suffering from the physical and psychological trauma and indignities inflicted on them as a result of Wars. We heard of the overwhelming greed associated with power.
I wasn't taking notes, and I missed much of the programme, so I do not know whether it included the malign power of the Drug Companies, the ghastly cruelty of much of the Farming Industry, the Food Industry's assaults on our health, and the corruption that put profits before truth in so much of what purports to be Science.
Were I to become a guest editor on the Today programme, I would seek to draw attention the word games devised for the NHS to abuse its power/unaccountability in order carry out profitable state torture and murder of many elderly and other vulnerable patients. - You remember, don't you, the so-called Liverpool Care Pathway? - I believe they are intending to continue using the LCP under a new name...
I would seek to draw attention to the prevalence of pharmaceutical drugs which deplete the body's vitamins and minerals, food processing which adulterates and transforms healthy fats to unhealthy fats (see also http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/health/a-lifelong-fight-against-trans-fat.html?_r=5&), adds chemical toxins and minimises nutrients to produce processed pretendfood/crap/junk, instead of good, nourishing food; food processing that kills off good bacteria, distorts our body's mineral and fat metabolisms, interferes with our hormones and with our gut activity, and thus makes us chronically ill, as well as ill-informed.
The programme would seek to explain how so much of the human race, and the animals and crops that feed us, are now become grotesque distortions of their healthier ancestors. - And who knows what horrors still await us when Genetically Modified Organisms have had longer in which to wreak their havoc?
Posted by Willow at 1:43 pm
Labels: abuse of power, corruption, drug companies, food industry, GMOs, LCP, Liverpool Care Pathway, pharmaceutical drugs, PJ Harvey MBE, pretend food, Radio 4, Today programme
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Don't damage your health for the sake of being polite
Don't damage your health for the sake of appearing polite to your host/hostess/family/fellow guests, etc! - The Christmas season can be a difficult time for people who are trying to avoid foodstuffs and drinks that they know are harmful to them. - If your host/ess is pressing you to have a second helping when you've really had enough, or tempting you to a salty food or sugary confection you would rather forego, be resolute! - Just politely say, 'No thank you'. - You do not have to give a reason (which could invite dissension). - Be polite, clear and firm. - If you waver and allow yourself to be persuaded against your better judgment, you may find your tempter conclude that you did want it after all and that you are someone who usually needs to be asked more than once. Similarly if you would prefer not to have a cigarette or an alcoholic drink. - Resist the "Go on! - It's Christmas! - It won't harm you to have a little drink/treat once in a while!" - That may - or more likely may not - be true, but you are an autonomous adult and should be allowed to make your own decisions about whether to partake or not. It is not obligatory to over-indulge when you'd rather not.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Well done, Hull! - Here's wishing you all the best for your year as UK City of Culture 2017!
Posted by Willow at 4:16 pm
Labels: Hull, UK City of Culture 2017
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Many people who were not sensitive to salt become so when they take certain prescription drugs
Many people who were not sensitive to salt become so when they take certain prescription drugs. - Yes. These are some of the pharmaceutical drugs that cause salt sensitivity and a host of associated health problems: amitriptyline and the other tricyclic antidepressants, also many prescribed steroid meds, including HRT and some birth control meds, also Epilim and other anticonvulsants, and some painkillers, and some anti-psychotic drugs. And you can read here about other groups of people who are or who can become vulnerable to salt in different ways.
Posted by Willow at 7:24 pm
Labels: amitriptyline, anti-epileptics, anti-psychotics, anticonvulsants, Birth control meds, Epilim, HRT, Prescribed Steroids, sensitive to salt, tricyclics, vulnerable to salt, weight gain caused by prescribed meds
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Black and Blue - Short Story by Margaret Wilde
Posted by Willow at 12:27 am
Labels: Black and Blue, Margaret Wilde, Short Stories, Short Story