The biggest selling book of the summer, apart from the latest Harry Potter novel, is the New Atkins Diet Book. But research is showing that the new fad for such instant diets can be bad for the general population and particularly dangerous for HIV positive people.
Pioneered by New York cardiologist Dr Robert Atkins over 20 years ago, the Atkins diet advocates a high protein and low carbohydrate regime which allows high levels of bacon, eggs and meat, but bans bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and beer. Since Dr Atkins collapsed and died outside his Manhattan apartment earlier this year, his diet books have shot back up the bestseller lists.
Endorsed by celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Minnie Driver, the Atkins diet is now reputed to have encouraged over two million people in Britain alone to shun carbohydrates and try and lose weight rapidly by forcing the body to burn stored fat instead of carbohydrates.
But now research is suggesting that high protein diets can accelerate liver and kidney disease as well as lead to high levels of osteoporosis (bone disease) and heart attacks, and can even lead to spotty skin and persistent bad breath.
The increased metabolic rate of the body, due to an imbalance of protein, is now believed to lead to long-term consequences for the circulatory system.
Other opponents of the Atkins diet say that you need to be wealthy to afford lots of expensive protein and the demographic group in Britain which most needs to lose weight and change its unhealthy sedentary lifestyle, the poor on low incomes, cannot afford such luxury.
The dangers of eating lots of fatty and convenience foods have been well documented, and the long life of our European Mediterranean counterparts (see right) has been put down to a diet of ‘peasant food’ containing high levels of carbohydrates and fish and low levels of animal fat and milk products.
But for people living with HIV the problems of what to eat become even more complicated when you take severe weight loss, high levels of fat in the bloodstream, occasional or constant diarrhoea and loss of body fat (due to lipoatrophy or lipodystrophy) into consideration.
In the early days of the HIV epidemic in Africa, the disease was called ‘Slim’ for the good reason that people lost vast amounts of weight, and as their immune system became weaker they became susceptible to a host of life-threatening opportunistic infections.
For most people with HIV the problem is not so much to lose weight but to put it back on. Dietitians stress the importance of an adequate, varied and balanced diet particularly for people living with the virus and say most fad diets do more harm than good.
However to rebuild lost muscle mass and strengthen the immune system generally, more food is necessary, not less. And when you add into the equation the high levels of fat in the blood of people who are living long-term on antiretroviral drugs, attention to what, how much and how often to eat becomes even more essential.
A new study in the June edition of the journal Aids advises patients living with the virus not to eat a low-fat diet but rather to modify their fat intake so that they are consuming less saturated fat (such as butter and animal fat) and more polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats (such as fish and olive oils).
This healthy living regime of complex carbohydrates, fibre, fresh fruit and vegetables as well as exercise was shown to lower blood cholesterol levels in the Australian study.
So for people living with HIV eating a diet rich in fish, olive oil and fresh vegetables is the best option. Then, perhaps, like the Latin people we’ll live to a ripe old age!
South of Europe is healthierThe UK has the highest death rate from respiratory diseases and the highest levels of obesity in Europe. A study from the drug company Pfizer says that life expectancy in Britain is now 77.61 years, compared to a European average of 78.2. Highest life expectancies on the continent are Spain (82.31), Italy (79.12) and France (78.89) which the report puts down to the beneficial health effects of a Mediterranean diet high in fish, vegetables and olive oil and low in milk products and other animal fats. More sex, less cancer!The more sex men have, the less likely they are to suffer from prostate cancer later in life, according to a new study. Research from the Cancer Council in Melbourne concludes that the more men ejaculate, the less likely they are to develop prostate cancer. The study said that ejaculation prevents carcinogens building up in the prostate, which secretes the bulk of fluid in the semen. “If these findings are true, then it’s perfectly reasonable that men should be encouraged to masturbate,” said Anthony Smith of the Australian Centre in Sex, Health and Society. Tattoos can be dangerous
Laws demanding tattoo artists to use gloves and sterile needles do not include rules about dyes, which could be impure and dirty. The EU study says that there is a risk of catching diseases such as HIV, hepatitis or bacterial infections from dirty needles and that there is a danger that tattooing could cause skin cancer, psoriasis, toxic shock syndrome and behavioural changes. |
Nathan Fox describes how hypnotherapy has helped him acquire a greater confidence and control in his life
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Last year, I found myself experiencing anxiety and panic attacks. I’ve been living for nine years with HIV and have the virus under the control of combination therapy. But it became evident that the slow healing process that accompanies an HIV diagnosis was much more extensive than I had previously imagined. Having confronted issues of guilt and anger, and learned to live with the loss of certain freedoms in my life, I had hoped that the depression I experienced a few years ago was firmly in the past. How could I deal with these new symptoms?
When the doctor’s job is done, we turn to the therapist. I was drawn to an advert in a magazine offering hypnotherapy for emotional healing. There my journey began. Once a week I journeyed to my hypnotherapist’s office and would be eased gently into a state of meditation similar to the dream-state you experience prior to sleep. Through a series of guided meditations, I learned to yield control of my conscious self and to relax deeply, and in turn to allow my own subconscious to offer its own voice. I began to see what was needed to allow not just my body but also my mind to heal and let go of the past.
With each week and each new revelation I experienced an immense boost of energy and power. I often left feeling a warm glow on my skin. I found control in those moments of panic and with time my confidence and self-esteem grew and grew. I began to trust my decisions and myself.
As I approached the natural end of this journey, my hypnotherapist asked if I would participate in a guided healing meditation for my immune system. The aim was to use my mind to heal my body; to target the HIV within my body and to boost my natural immune system. It was a modification to an established meditation practice and could be used later in private meditation at home.
This is how the healing meditation worked: I would picture the virus in my mind at a cellular level. I would then picture my immune system. I began to see a series of images: little soldiers fighting the HIV, sometimes winning, sometimes not. More troops would then be called in, and as the images deepened in my mind, the soldiers became stronger and grew in numbers, defeating the enemy. They moved throughout my body searching out the enemy. Once the battle was won, they were left on constant standby ready to fight again at a moment’s notice.
Two weeks after my last hypnotherapy session I received blood results. These were tests from blood taken earlier in my hypnotherapy treatment, before this guided healing meditation had taken place. Nevertheless I was encouraged to see that my CD4 count had risen to 535, the highest that I had ever seen it.
Three months later, I received the real shock. Receiving blood results back from tests taken just two weeks after the guided healing meditation, I discovered that not only had my viral load remained undetectable but that my CD4 count had now jumped to an unprecedented level - 735. I was lost for words.
I told my doctor; he remained both unimpressed and sceptical. Patients’ natural CD4 level’s can fluctuate between 500-1200 in people living with and without HIV, he said. It could be a natural fluctuation, with no immediate benefit on my day-to-day health.
I accept the science, but I know my body and I know that if I had not used my mind as I did on that day last year, my results would have remained at the constant and predictable level that they had done for the past year. Only I truly know my body and now I saw the power of my own mind - and with this knowledge, I now have hope.
Though I would never prescribe hypnotherapy as an alternative to modern medical practice, it cannot be denied that there is more to alternative practice than some doctors are willing to admit, and maybe the best therapy is a combination of both.
For further information on Hypnotherapy for Emotional Healing, contact Adeline Kam (below left) on 07931 378197 or send an email to: enquiries@hypnotherapist-london.com
Tattoos and body piercing can carry serious health risks, an EU report says. It warns that most chemicals in tattoos are industrial pigments, used more commonly in car paints or writing inks, and have no safety data supporting their use on the human body.