Gillian McKeith's Food Bible (198 page)

Avoid perfume and scented lotions.

Apply castor oil packs to the front and back of the chest for one hour three times a week. Castor oil packs with a hot-water bottle over them can help to clear mucus.

Learn to relax. Stress has a great impact on our breathing. If you feel stressed, inhale so that you feel your abdomen rise and exhale as much as you can. Do this for five minutes, but do not strain. Just go back to normal breathing if it becomes difficult.

Once you have given up smoking and things have started to improve, gradually increase your daily exercise. Walk for 10 minutes a day and increase by one minute a day. Go back to previous levels if you get really breathless or exhausted and start to build up slowly again. Walk in a park or by the sea rather than by a road if possible.

ENDOMETRIOSIS

Endometriosis is a chronic condition whereby tissues that are supposed to develop inside the inner layer of the uterus wall end up outside it, in other parts of the body. This rogue tissue can migrate into the ovaries and fallopian tubes and can even move to the bladder, vagina, colon, and lungs. The biggest problem of all is that the rogue tissue, even though it is outside the uterus, behaves as it would inside the uterus and follows the rhythm of the menstrual cycle. So that means that the escaped tissue fills with blood and bleeds every month. Normal bleeding will shed through the vagina. In women suffering from this condition, the blood accumulates in the pelvic cavity (bowels, bladder, ovaries), forming cysts. These cysts can become very large over time; large enough to affect organs, possibly causing them to stick to one another. Most cysts are on the ovaries but they could be in other places, too.

SYMPTOMS

The most common symptoms include painful periods, heavy periods, lower back pain during menstruation, pelvic pain, pain during sex, bleeding between periods, difficulty becoming pregnant, fatigue, and lower backache. If the endometriosis is affecting the bowel symptoms such as bleeding from the rectum, painful bowel movements and bowel blockages may occur.

CAUSES MAY INCLUDE

Menstrual tissue reflux along fallopian tube.

Genetic predisposition, embryonic defect.

High estrogen and low progesterone.

Liver weakness.

Candida albicans
(see page
219
).

Environmental toxins and estrogens.

Menstrual tissue reflux.