The body is mortal, i.e. the death rate is still 100%. The doctor’s purpose is not to keep a person alive indefinitely, but rather to improve quality of life and help prevent illness.

We are natural beings, born of nature, part of nature, we belong to nature and live in nature. It, therefore, makes sense to me to eat and use as many natural products as possible. As humans we have managed to pollute our seas, air, rivers, drinking water and food sources.

When we are ill we are sometimes prescribed drugs. Used correctly, these can help a situation enormously. However, at times, due to harsh side-effects or incorrect use, these can be harmful to our bodies.

Good health is a privilege, not a right! If you want to get well and remain well you will need to put in some effort. You cannot expect your doctor to make you well, especially if you have a chronic illness. In conventional medicine there are a few remedies that can effectively and safely manage chronic illness. The current norm in treating chronic illness tends to be the prescribing of drugs meant for short-term use to be taken every day over an extended period of time. This often leads to undesirable side-effects, which can even be fatal. Nature, on the other hand, provides safer and often very effective remedies that work in harmony with the body to enhance good health.

Over the last 30 years that I have been a doctor I have come up with what I perceive as common-sense advice on how the average adult person can improve their health. In this document I am not giving any specific treatment for any condition, only advice on improving health in general, so please don’t expect a long list of references for each recommendation; these can be found easily enough by doing a Web search on each individual topic. Some vitamins, minerals, herbs, oils and other supplements can clash with prescription medicines, so always check with your doctor before taking any supplements and/or refer to an A-Z Guide to Drug-Herb-Vitamin Interactions.

1. Minimise effects of environmental toxins
• In food; we know that vegetable organic food has a higher number of vitamins and minerals, they do not contain pesticides and they also contain the chemicals that the plant produced to withstand stress and disease. Organic meat and milk is free of the antibiotics and the hormones that are often used to make the animal grow faster. Eat organic food whenever this is possible on the pocket.
• In water; Drinking water is generally safe straight from the tap, but many people don’t like the taste or the higher levels of chlorine. Sometimes drinking water contains hormones from women using the contraceptive pill and toxic metals such as lead. I recommend a simple water filter such as the Brita® or one of the more sophisticated water purifiers. These filters do not remove hormones such as oestrogen very effectively, so it may be of greater benefit to drink spring water that is stored in glass bottles. Chemicals from plastic can enter water and drinks stored in plastic bottles.
• In air; the air in our homes can be ‘cleaned’ by putting an ioniser into the room, especially if someone is asthmatic or allergic to things like pollen and mould spores. Sometimes, special allergy vacuum cleaners and special bedding are necessary. Obviously, if you are a smoker – stop! Help in giving up is easy to find these days.
• In the bathroom; examples of potential problems are the aluminium in deodorants, SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) in shampoo and parabens in skin creams. Simple deodorants that are free of parabens and aluminium, e.g. Ice Guard® Natural Crystal Deodorant and Bionsen®, are easy to find these days. Some commercial hair dyes contain DIAMINO compounds such as P-Toluene diamine, P-Phenylenediamine and 2,4-Diaminophenol. Rather use shampoos like 'No Tears' or 'Johnsons Baby Shampoo' or other natural hair dyes. Natural shampoos and tooth pastes are freely available from health shops. Avoid skin creams that contain parabens.
• In dental fillings; amalgam dental fillings contain mercury. The truth about amalgam fillings potentially causing ill-health will vary according to who you ask. I only recommend replacing amalgam fillings if there is some evidence that the person has raised mercury levels in a sweat or blood sample. What I do recommend is that all new fillings be white composite so as to prevent any potential future harm.
2. Minimise the harmful effects of stress through taking regular exercise, doing deep breathing exercises and getting sufficient sleep.
• Exercise should be regular and non-damaging to joints. Healthy types of aerobic exercise include brisk walking, Nordic walking, swimming, Pilates and partaking in a sport. For those who are unable to do aerobic exercise, isometric exercises will help keep muscles toned. All exercise should be subject to your ability to perform them safely.
• One way to do breathing exercises is as follows;
• Whilst walking at a gentle pace;
• Breathe in for a count of three (each step counts one)
• Hold your breath in for a count of three
• Breathe out for a count of six
• Now increase the duration of holding your breath to 4, then 5, then 6, etc, until you can hold your breath for a count of 10. The entire procedure should be done twice a day until the stress is resolved. It can also be done by counting rather than taking actual steps, e.g. when lying in bed or sitting in a chair.
• Many people struggle to sleep well. This is for a wide range of reasons, e.g. pain and anxiety. The first thing to do is to try to get the underlying cause under control. It is best to discuss natural sleeping aids with your practitioner, but here are some tips;
• Avoid a heavy meal and spices at bedtime.
• Don't eat less than two hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine and smoking four hours before bedtime.
• Avoid alcohol two hours before bedtime.
• Exercise in the daytime, at least three hours prior to bedtime.
• Have a relaxing bedtime routine: read, listen to music, take a warm bath, keep the temperature comfortable, wear comfortable clothing, do some deep breathing, avoid bright light and noisy clocks.
• Go to bed and get up at the same time each day (regular sleep-wake cycle).
• Don't nap in the daytime.
3. Food, eating and drinking; we are what we eat, so let’s eat properly!
• Restrict total calories. In other words don’t over-eat! Restricting calories to the minimum required to maintain a healthy weight can increase longevity.
• Eat a healthy diet. In general terms a healthy diet can be described as follows;
• Low in refined sugars (sugar, cake, sweets, biscuits, white bread, crisps, ice-cream, donuts, muffins, sugar-sweetened drinks). Rather eat complex carbohydrates (pasta, oats porridge, root vegetables, muesli, pulses [e.g. lentils, beans, runner beans, and peas], brown or wild rice, buckwheat, granary bread).
• Low in saturated animal fats, e.g. fat on bacon, fat attached to red meat, chicken skin, full cream milk, high fat yoghurt. Eat organic red meat about twice a week unless there is reason to increase your iron or vitamin-B12 intake, in which case you may increase portions appropriately. Lean meats and healthy fats (olive oil, flax oil, fish oils, nuts & seeds, avocado) are preferable. Fish high in Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, pilchards and herring) have been shown to be good for brain and eye function, depression, joints, blood pressure, general inflammation, raised cholesterol, ADHD, hardened ear-wax, a tendency to DVT or thrombophlebitis, and many other conditions. Some people should not take fish oils, e.g. those with epilepsy, so always check with your doctor if it would be safe before taking these oils.
• Low in salt (sodium chloride). This is especially important for preventing some forms of high blood pressure and fluid retention.
• Have some vegetarian-only days in the course of a week. This helps to clear toxins from meat products as well as to maintain a healthy pH.
• Eat a minimum of five fruits and vegetables every day. Include plenty of herbs and spices (e.g. turmeric, garlic), which are known to have beneficial health effects. Fruit consumption may be best between meals so as to prevent bloating.
• Organic food is richer in minerals and lacks additives, pesticides, antibiotics and added hormones.
• Some people advise, “If God made it, eat it! If man made it, don’t!”
• Some individuals cannot tolerate certain foods, e.g. people with IBS, arthritis, eczema, nasal congestion, ADHD, migraines, asthma. This is where an individual assessment specifically targeted to you is indicated. Some migraine sufferers do well to add a magnesium supplement and to avoid cheese, chocolate, citrus fruit, bananas and alcohol because these contain specific chemicals that can aggravate migraine.
• Some people with low blood sugar feel better if they eat little and often (three meals and three snacks a day).
• Although there is some controversy about trying to alter one’s pH with diet, this may well be useful if it helps the symptoms of illnesses such as some forms of arthritis. Saliva pH test strips are a better indicator of tissue pH than are urine test strips.
• Fast (miss a few meals) from time to time so as to give your digestive tract a rest and to clear toxins. Don’t follow this advice if you are diabetic or if you are taking medication that needs to be taken with meals.
• Cook fresh food from scratch rather than heat up pre-prepared food.
• Cooking with aluminium pots and other utensils may not be healthy. Stainless steel utensils may be preferable.
• Food preparation; if possible, avoid heating food in plastic and covered with plastic. Some scientists suggest we use the microwave as little as possible.
• Drink clean, glass-bottled water every day, unless there is a medical reason not to. The amount to drink can be calculated by entering your weight into a Human Water Requirement Calculator (on-line).
• Drink alcohol in moderation; equivalent to one or two small glasses of wine a day.
4. Vitamin, Mineral, Herbal and other Supplements. We know that farm soil in the UK today has less than half of the mineral levels that were present just after WWII. The better one eats, however, the less likely it is that any additional supplements will be necessary. Some vitamins, minerals, herbs, oils and other supplements can clash with prescription medicines, so always check with your doctor before taking any. Some supplements can aggravate a medical condition rather than help it, so remember to check it out with your doctor or qualified practitioner first.
• General well-being; a low dose general multivitamin and mineral supplement may be all that is needed to improve the general sense of well-being.
• In the winter months; add Vitamin-C and D to improve immunity. Vitamin-D levels can fall very low in the winter months when our exposure to natural sunlight is limited, especially in dark-skinned people.
• Vegetarians who are lacking iron will benefit from vegetarian haem iron, e.g. Higher Nature’s True Food Easy Iron. Those needing vitamin B12 will also benefit by supplementing with small amounts of Methylcobalamin, a particular type of vitamin B12.
• Sometimes supplements can minimise side-effects caused by medication, e.g. the fatigue that is caused by statin drugs is often alleviated by taking a supplement of Coenzyme-Q10. By the way, some people taking soluble Aspirin every day for long periods of time may prevent gastritis and stomach bleeding by simply changing to the enteric-coated form, which is available from pharmacies or on prescription.
5. If you are likely to have inherited any illness like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, if you are over- or under-weight, or if you are feeling below par, get yourself tested. Knowing about potential problems sooner rather than later is what prevention is all about. Remember the saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Disclaimer: As I have stated above, none of this advice is meant to treat, heal or cure any particular illness. It is a common-sense approach to help you be instrumental in improving your health. I accept no responsibility for any adverse reactions to any of the advice given above. Children, pregnant and lactating women will always require specialist advice.

Dr Brian McDonogh