Party season damage
I always feel heavy, tired and bad-tempered after Christmas. Is there any kind of herbal quick fix I can take on New Year’s Day to undo some of the damage caused by eating too much chocolate, drinking too much wine and not going to the gym for a fortnight?
Don’t beat yourself up about the chocolate - according to researchers at the Department of Nutrition at the University of California (where else?) chocolate, which is rich in heart-protecting flavanoids, could have more health benefits than we think.
In a new trial carried out by the department’s Professor Carl Keen, volunteers were given either 25g of chocolate pieces or bread to eat. The researchers then tested the blood-clotting platelet activity in blood samples taken both two and six hours after consumption. They found that those who had eaten the confectionary had significantly lower risks of clotting and concluded the chocolate must be having an aspirin-like effect on this mechanism (blood-thinning aspirin is commonly prescribed to many patients who are known to be at risk of deep vein thrombosis, heart attack and stroke).
The best quick detox-in-a-box programme I know of lasts just seven days and so is called Anti-Toxin 7. Described as a complete internal cleanse, if you stick with it you will feel revitalised and raring to go again but be patient; it can take two weeks for all the incredible herbs in this formulation to kick in. Made in America, they include Slippery Elm to cleanse the colon, cat’s claw to rebuild energy levels, echinacea for the immune system, dandelion and milk thistle to detox the liver, burdock to cleanse the bloodstream and red clover which will support the skin; plus the energy-boosting algae superfoods such as kelp and chlorella.
*Nutrition Now’s Anti-Toxin 7 costs £15.95 for 30 capsules and seven packets of colon-cleansing acidophilus fibre. You take one sachet every day building up through the detox week to the maximum dose of seven capsules to support the liver, spleen and pancreas and cleanse the gut. This formulation is only available from Victoria Health on 0800-413596.