Tag: nutritional therapy

Why You Need Vitamin B12: Functions and Benefits Explained

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

As a nutritionist you get always surprised when something that you recommended to one of your clients did exactly what your client told you. Sometimes I think they might be a placebo effect when the improvement is so quick, but I must admit that it is possible.

One of my clients, a while back, said that vitamin B12 sublingual made a huge difference from the moment they took it. Now I thought, well the research mention that it might take few weeks to see a big improvement with sublingual or even with B12 injections, which by the way, sublingual and injections seems to have the same quick effect, so I now might choose the sublingual instead.

I had a series of little things recently, which started from my digestions of food, not as noticeable that I thought of a problem, as everything seems to be ok. I did have a bit of stress due to my dog passed away this year, but I did not think that stress and sadness would turn into a healthy issue, even though I should know better. As usual as therapist we think we are invincible and always ok.

Anyway, I did a good liver detox, digestions make over, food and diet a bit healthier than before (pretty healthy, already), a bit more soups and stew, with plenty of vegetables, nutritious proteins and good fats, and plenty of liver detox support supplements. That made my digestions and liver very, very happy. Now due to the liver and digestions problems, my immune system went down, with more viral infections that I usually have.

The last one is the one that is going around, the sore throat and flu. I manage it again with lots of vitamin C and other immune support. But still could not shift it, even with steam and lots of throat support and gargles with salt and water, and more, it seems my body immunity did not fight back quickly enough.

At some point I was much better, but still at night I would have this irritate cough and a sensation that a frog was stuck in my throat, I decide to go and buy some oregano to support my immune system with the vitamin C and a multi vitamin support. I could not find the oregano but for some nutritional instinct I decided to buy a sublingual Vitamin B12. I took 2 sachets of it of a total of about 500 microgram and within less than 10 minutes my irritate frog went completely, to my amazement, my mucus was loose and little. I thought was only my imagination, but did not have any cough at night and woke up still ok. I feel myself again. Now ideally would want to check my B12, but I am not vegetarian and I thought that might be normal. Eventually I will but could be that is going to be private, as the NHS right now is a bit annoying for appointments.

I looked more into the B12, and in reality, the fact that I had a stomach issue, due to low stomach acid, might have stopped the intrinsic factor and the R factor to transport my B12 into the cells.

Now I will explain a bit more about the absorption, and function of the B12 in more details, for everyone to understand the reason why everyone, from vegan to meat eaters can be low in B12, even though B12 is stored for years, if it is not transported into the cells, it is like you have none.

B12, unlike any other water B vitamins that are excreted every few hours from your body, is stored in the liver, with vitamin D, E and A.

Sources of vitamin B12 are only from animal products, any vegetarian source is by contact with animal or cross contamination or fortified vegetarian food, included cereals. Now the source of fortified food depends on the quality and the form of the B12.

B12 has a corrin nucleus and is part of the groups called corrinoids. This is a macrocyclic ring made of four reduced pyrrole rings linked together, this will carry an atom of cobalt, hence quite often you will see the name of the B12 as cyanocobalamin, hydrocobalamin, and Methylcobalamin and more. The methylcobalamin are the active form as coenzymes for many functions in the body.

Bioavailability of B12 can be impaired by vitamin C, so if you take B12 with a high or low dosage of vitamin C together at the same time or up to 1 hour after meal, such as 500mg, you stop from the B12 to work and be absorbed.

Digestion, absorption, transport and storage of vitamin B12:

Once the B12 is ingested from food, it needs to be released from the enzyme pepsin in the stomach (the stomach acid needs to be working well for the pepsin to be secreted, low stomach acid, will impair the secretion of pepsin and hence, B12 is not going to be released from the food, even if you are a meat eaters or eggs eater).

Also with stress, there is no signal to the stomach to release and activate pepsin to digest the proteins. The vagal nerve, is involved in the digestion process, too much into stress mode or sympathetic mode, will stop your full and healthy digestion, hence my stress or sadness caused by the loss of a dog, who was very dear to me, caused my stress, which caused my low stomach acid, which caused my B12 malfunction, which caused my immunity to go down, and so forth. Connecting the dots……

Once B12 is released from the food ingested, it needs two proteins for working. One is the intrinsic factor (IF) and the other is the R proteins. The IF is again made by the gastric cells (made again with a good and healthy stomach acid). IF is made and released by the stomach during a healthy digestion and works in the small intestine. The R proteins are everywhere in the body fluids, and have a high affinity for cobalamin. R will pick up the free cobalamin and transport it to the duodenum, first part of the small intestine, where the pancreatic juices will release the B12 again, unless you have a pancreatic insufficiency, (low enzyme activity) and again the B12 will not be released into the small intestine for transport into the blood stream. Again, if something goes wrong no B12.

In the proximal small intestine, the IF will pick up the freed B12 and transport it to the ileum, where receptors for B12 will wait for it to be transported into the blood stream. IF can transport B12 through the entire ileum and receptors are everywhere in the small intestine.

It seems that calcium ions is an essential mineral for the absorption of B12 into the blood stream.

From normal ingestion of food with B12, the process of absorption might take 3 to 4 hours before is in the blood stream.

As I mentioned before, B12 is the only one that can be stored in the liver for a long time and even years, and it is also found in small amount in kidneys, spleen, bone, heart and brain.

Now if children are vegan from weaning, and they are not given extra B12 supplementation from early age, there is a possibility that the child will be low in B12, which possible serious issues with their growth.

Some of the Function of B12:

  • Co-enzyme for the conversion of homocysteine into methionine.
  • Essential for the maintenance of the protective sheath surrounding nerves, hence, essential for the good function of the nervous system.
  • Has a key role for the making of a healthy red blood cell, hence essential for circulation and healthy blood.
  • Is a co-enzyme for one of the steps in making the ATP, the energy fuel for your cells, in the Kreb cycle, the energy nuclear power, in the mitochondria (where fuel for your body is formed, the CoA mutase).
  • It is part of the making of the serotonin in your body, the feeling good neurotransmitter, hence important for the health of the brain and mood.
  • Essential vitamin for making and repairing of DNA. This is essential for your life, really. The methylation part is an essential step for the DNA building block and the repair of damaged DNA. Without a sufficient B12, the DNA building and repair will be severely disrupted.
  • Supports also the normal function of the immune system. This is done by promoting white blood cells maturation and formation, as well as synthesis of division and replication of the DNA for the immune system.
  • Essential during pregnancy to prevent birth defect, with folate, this promotes cells division and DNA formation of the baby.
  • Essential for the health of the bones, through the synthesis of taurine, an amino acid essential for bone formation. There is also a positive correlation with good amount of B12 function and bone density.
  •  B12 for the eyes, is essential for the myelin sheath of the eyes, reduces dry eyes and reduction of oxidative stress, as well as inflammation.

Tests for B12 deficiency due to IF deficiency is a full blood count, which will measure serum B12 and some active B12.

An anti-intrinsic factor antibody test can be suggested for pernicious anaemia (autoimmune disease) or megaloblastic anaemia (big red blood cell).

Other tests are also recommended with folate as well.

As you have seen from the B12 ingestion, absorption, transportation and life of the B12, this is not just another B vitamin, is an essential vitamin for your health and life.

If you are vegan or you have children that are also vegan, do consider for life to have B12 sublingual supplementation, to make sure that your children will grow well without health issues, and you, yourself, is healthy.

Even as a meat eaters, if you have low stomach acid, or you are taking medication to reduce your stomach acid, if you had a gastric bypass, or you have any issues with digesting your food, pancreatic issues, bile issue, or constant stress, cannot sleep due to stress, have or had a bereavement, moved houses, or changed your lifestyle or you are the last person that you think about, due to overwhelming responsibility, than think about testing for B12 or even take for a while a sublingual B12 with folate if possible.

If you are pregnant and vegan, do take the vitamin, sublingual, as you have seen the long process and possible problems that the normal digestive journey of the B12 is, and possibly in a normal tablet form, will not reach the blood stream due to any of the digestive system problems.

The Knights of St. Johns order and healing connections with more

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

When you work with mind, body and mind, and soul, you come across humans who are meant to be healers, protectors and more. In order for them to go up in frequency, the human body needs to go through a certain healing and process, to be able to work higher. There is a cleansing of past issues in life, and often you need to go a cleansing and forgiveness time, for yourself and others, letting go of anger, and fear and more deep emotions that are keeping you stuck and in pain. When you work with some of the most gifted and spiritual people, I feel that very honoured, as I am supporting now their journey. A journey that I have gone through for the past 16 years, and maybe longer. The first part is quite hard, but the more you heal, the more you let go of the hurt, the pain, the anger and whatever you need to let go, the more clearly you see, the more peace and love gets into your cells, and more healing and Light you can see or feel or sense.

I came across the St Johns Knights order about 10 years ago in Malta, understanding a bit of their establishment, and what they did. There are various theory of the and some facts in various sources on the internet about where it started, it seems a Merchant of Amalfi was the originator, who wanted to protect the merchants but also heal the merchants at the same time. The order went from Amalfi to Jerusalem, where it started, and then to Greece, specifically to Rhodes and Cyprus and than established in Malta. The Order of knights of St. Johns, in Jerusalem, they are called the Knights Hospitaller. They would treat any humans, no matter their religion or creed.

I would add the spiritual part of the Knight now, which it feels like they are pretty much connected to the masculine healing of humans (female, male and all gender). The feeling that I had with working spiritually with them, it was about protection, flexibility, honour, truth, integrity, peace, and compassion with kindness. The heart needs to be of a higher frequency, of a higher frequency.

Spiritually, I felt that they were also connected to the Great White Light Brotherhood, which are White Light of God that helps humanity in achieving their higher frequency, and healing, protecting and helping humanity achieve their greatest frequency, you can read more about them in the spiritual blogs.

I felt that Both the White Light Brotherhood and the Knights of St. Johns, have been working together for at least a 1000 years and more. And who ever enters their order, will have ascended into their order in some way or another and will eventually find them both physically and spiritually.

It is funny that according to my DNA, I am almost half Greek, from possible Rhodes, my ancestors come from maybe merchants and landed in and around the area where my grand-parents grew up.

I feel honoured and curious about life and what is more than life. Right now, we are all been drawn to raise our voice, raise our frequency and connect to our higher self, in order to heal ourselves, heal our children and eventually heal our world!

Function of the left and right Amygdala from birth

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

The importance of self-regulation, emotions and attachments since birth

  • The central nucleus of the amygdala has direct correlations to the hypothalamus and brainstem – areas directly related to fear and anxiety.
  • Many projection areas of the amygdala are critically involved in specific signs that are used to measure fear and anxiety.
  • There is a direct relationship between the activation of the amygdala and the level of anxiety the subject feels.
  • Feelings of anxiety start with a catalyst – an environmental stimulus that provokes stress. This can include various smells, sights, and internal feelings that result in anxiety.
  • Fear responses can include dizziness, faint, giving up, pleasing others, freeze, startle, high heart rate, etc. (stress cascade response). This can be felt through craniosacral treatment all over their system.
  • Moderate fear level causes a startle reflex, while a bigger fear does not. The amygdala is thought to be involved in enhancing the startle reflex in the moderate fear reaction (Walker).
  • Facial expression of fear or acknowledged fear is connected with the right amygdala. 
  • The right amygdala seems to be more connected and activated with the conditional fear, while the left is more connected with the non-conditional fears.
  • The amygdala in males, is bigger than the female one as the amygdala has got more androgen receptors and therefore testosterone stimulates the amygdala to grow more.
  • There is also difference in the left and right amygdala for both female and male.
  • The left full growth is about 1.5 to 2 years before the right full growth.
  • Right amygdala is connected to the face recognition. 
  • It is thought that the early left amygdala development, is due to giving infants the ability to detect danger (possible connection to primitive brain, the occipital brain). 
  • In childhood, the amygdala is found to react differently to same-sex versus opposite-sex individuals.
  • This reactivity decreases until a person enters adolescence, where it increases dramatically at puberty.
  • So, the amygdala is very important during the most difficult times in teenagers! If you have some now, brace yourself and blame it on the amygdala!
  • Difference in emotional stimulation in men and women have also been found.
  • A recollection of a horror film in women, would activate more the left amygdala, while same thing for men would activate more the right amygdala.
  • The right amygdala has been linked to taking action and to negative emotions. This is one of the reasons that men might fight when scared.
  • This is why men and women also respond differently to stressful stimuli, as the left amygdala allows for the recall of details, but it also results in more thought rather than action.
  • Amygdala can be affected by meditation, possibly resulting in more compassion and connection towards others, according to a study with Buddha Monks.
  • Left amygdala has been connected to anxiety in children.
  • Low activity of the gland in general though, results in more anxiety and depression.
  • The use of serotonin drugs increases the size of the amygdala (as we have mentioned above because of the receptors 5HT for serotonin).
  • Some studies also have connected autism to small left amygdala.
  • It seems that artistic or creative activity would increase the size and activity of the amygdala.
  • Amygdala also deals with positive emotions, (it could be because of more 5HT receptors in the right amygdala).
  • Amygdala size is also connected to the social interaction and network. The bigger the activity and size the more social the people were.
  • Emotional fear as we mentioned above is very much connected to the gland, as damage to both of them leads to having no fears at all, which can be dangerous for the person and people surrounding that person. 

The amygdala is an essential part of the connection and social activity and behaviour for later on in life. In babies, any birth trauma, in utero and post-birth can lead to possible unstable social behaviour from the start, they might either sleep too much and not connect or engage with the environment around them or scream their head off. Some babies will need more attention than others, and 1 to 3 or more, sessions of craniosacral therapy might help with balancing up their autonomic nervous system.

For adults it might take 10 or more sessions, but it is worth every single session, it will change their way of perceive life, by balancing the vagal nerve.

Written by Maria Esposito BSc (Hons), therapists, teacher and author.

Preparing for pregnancy: Nutrition and connections for having a human being!

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Making a human being, needs to be thought and prepare the vessel, or a woman body, as well as the man sperm, to make sure that the human being that you are making, is healthy, and stays healthy in their adult life.

And it is true that sometimes, the grandmothers health is as important as the parents themselves. That is because the eggs of the women are already there since birth. So the health of the father or the mother, has been determined in some way already by the health of their mothers.

The second stage of your baby health is the parents body health. For the man, if they want a healthy sperm, they need to prepare at least 3 months before to even started to have a baby, as the cycle of the sperm take almost 3 months to complete. So for the sperm to be healthy the man needs to start giving up alcohol, and increase their exercise and healthy eating at least 3 months before.

For the mother, again if they smoke (or both parents smoke, ideally start reducing or giving up, without the vape either, as that is pure nicotine, 6 months or a year before hand).

The mother vitamin A needs to be there stored in the liver. Vitamin A is essential for fertility for both parents, cell division and replication, when there an insemination and then for implantation of the embryo, as well as for the eyes health.

For the vegetarian form, beta-carotene during pregnancy does not convert well to Retinol, so might be important that a supplement of vitamin A, or retinol, before falling pregnant is essential for vegetarian and vegan mothers.

Iron status also needs to be at optimum level for mothers, so that they do not fall too low during pregnancy. Iron is essential for many functions and growth during pregnancy for the mother and the baby.

Vitamin D is also essential to be at optimum level for mothers prior to pregnancy, as well as vitamin E. Vitamin D for calcium uptake for mothers and babies, and vitamin E a anti-oxidant for both.

Vitamin B12, is also essential to be at optimum level prior to pregnancy as essential for many function during pregnancy, especially for vegetarian, vegans and any one that had eating disorders, or disorder eating in the past.

Zinc also essential in many function during pregnancy.

Other essential vitamins for everyday health and fertility are the water soluble vitamin Bs, all of them, and in particular B3 and B6. Water soluble vitamins like the B vitamins and vitamin C and iodine, do get eliminated everyday, so you need to eat food that has them every day.

Also your thyroid is essential for you to get pregnant, so make sure that your thyroid is in good health. You might need to take kelp or iodine if you are low, to fall pregnant. The thyroid is essential to maintain the metabolism and your energy during pregnancy and after, and it is the one that is quite tired at the end of pregnancy and during breastfeeding.

There are lots more vitamins and minerals, as well as carbohydrates, fat essentials and non essential, and proteins, that are in need to be in a balanced way, before, during and after pregnancy. If you had multiple pregnancy before, than you might need to top up on some of the nutrients before you have your next one!

and ALSO

Connecting to your baby when you are pregnant will make so much difference to that baby landing to the outside world. There are more and more studies now, (if you are want proof), that baby do feel if the mother touches their belly, or talk to the belly, even at an early stage, and if you explain to your baby in your belly, that one day you were upset or stressed or overwhelmed, and that way of being had nothing to do with the baby, that whatever they are feeling or sensing, is something that you as a mother were going through, the baby will come out in this world understanding that what he/she felt was not his/hers and hence they do not hold on to it through their lives!.

Talk and communicate with your baby, before they are born or certainly when they are born. Communications is the way a baby will understand you, and when they cry is the way they communicate with you that something is not right with them.

Most of all when they are born, do cuddle them, hold them, go to them when they cry, kiss them and tell them that they are so precious and important. Sing and laugh with them, from conception to birth and beyond! Enjoy the little ones!

You can book an appointment with me by email me or call me to make sure that you are preparing nutritionally and mentally for your first baby or multiple babies.

Craniosacral therapy is a perfect combination of a healthy body and mind and connecting to your beautiful baby or babies, during pregnancy. North London clinic

Understanding Hypoglycemia: Causes and Effects

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Hypoglycemia, is quite common or more common than you think. Some times is due to genetic but most of the time, and especially in the modern diet, is due to what we eat and drink. Especially for young children and teenagers, the modern diet now is full of fizzy drinks, coca cola, red bull (full of caffeine which increases the blood sugar), juices, even the fresh made ones, as there is no fiber, that includes carrots juice.

How would you fill with hypoglycemia, either as an adult or child/teenager?:

  • Tired
  • dizziness
  • lightheaded
  • irritate
  • fainting spells
  • depressed
  • anxious
  • craving for sweet or a quick fix
  • confusion
  • night sweats
  • legs weakness
  • swollen feet (for older adults)
  • tight chest feeling
  • hungry all the time
  • insomnia (especially if eating sugary food before bedtime) (blood sugar goes down quickly and person or child or even babies wake up hungry)

Hypoglycemia can lead to aggressive behaviours and quick change of temper. This can happen shortly after eating sweets or sugary drinks. This is not just when you eat sugary foods or drinks, if you eat white simple carbohydrates such as white pasta and rice/bread, alcohol, lots of caffeine, lots of chocolate, and eat only vegetables as well, without any protein, fat or whole carbohydrate.

The whole carbohydrate, is whole bread, pasta and brown rice, quinoa, barley and whole grains and foods, including potatoes with the skin on.

To have a slow release of sugar, and hence reduce the chance of your child, yourself or your teenager to have bounces of low blood sugar levels, and hence irritability, burst of anger and screaming for no reasons, or sleeping problems, is important that each meal has some carbohydrate, protein and fat.

A lunch or dinner or both, you can have portions of grains, or potatoes or greens for adults that are worried about their weight, with a portion of either fish, or meat, or beans, lentils, chickpeas (cooked with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to soften the shells, so that do not cause much gas).

Fruits are best eaten either with breakfast with porridge of whatever grains is suitable for you, with plain yogurt, a bit of pure honey, some nuts or seeds (if not allergic to).

Snacks in between are apples, pears, with skin on, or mandarins or blueberries with a bit of yogurts, or humus, avocado with rice cakes or whole bread. There are lots of alternative foods out there, but the best way to get all the nutrients you need and more is to get as fresh and without packed food as possible.

To balance blood sugar, you need a good amount of B vitamins, chromium, good fats, fiber and a slow releasing food intake, with avoidance of sugary foods and drinks. As sometimes it is hard to have a good intake of B vitamins, especially now days, where the trend is eat what you want for 5 days and fast for two days in a week. Or avoid food for 16 hours, plus go to sleep and avoid foods for another 12 hours, have a coffee to get you some sugar and wake you up, than have another one later with a sweet pastry or worse. Have red bull (someone in a casual chat while hiking said to me, it is quite good for the heart, it has got taurine!), for the afternoon and evening, well get some chips only and have alcohol for some more energy!

and yes

I would still take and give some multivitamins as well, as if you live in London, is very hard to get a really fresh food that gives you everything, as well as to fight the toxins from the big city, and as vegetables and fruits lose their nutrients by the day, it will be hard for us to get the amount of vitamins and minerals from the food alone. Unless you are lucky enough to live near a farm or have an allotment and a garden, where you can just pick up your vegetables from there before eating it, than forget the vitamins. You must have also a fruit garden and free range animals and chickens for the eggs and …….

My parents moved to the countryside from a town and that was a blessing, as they still grow seasonal vegetables in big vases. I cannot do it in London, I know that some people can, and that is amazing!

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapists – NAET – R-Craniosacral therapist –NLP health coach practitioner – Certified Angel Guide – Mindfulness Meditation teacher – The resilient Heart (HeartMath) meditation and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) – MBant – M-CSTA – CHNC registered

All problems stem from birth and beyond! Imprints and Unconditional love and Craniosacral therapy and more with Maria Esposito BSc (Hons)

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Having worked as a therapists from sport massage to Nutritional advice with over reaction of food and craniosacral therapy for the past 30 years, I have found that the majority of the problems stem from either a birth trauma, or even before we were born a trauma that has left an imprint on your parents or grandparents. We all have that, as this depends on where you are from, what history your parents had and what major event has happened in their lifetime, either personal or local or globally.

I know that for many people, COVID 19 has left an imprint, which it means, that might be passed on to the next generation. An imprint is the memory of something, happy or traumatic, that has been stored in the DNA.

We have survived all this years on Earth, as per that imprint. For example if someone in the pre-historic time, when someone witnessed someone being killed by a tiger or killed by another force, than who ever survived got that traumatic imprint and passed it on, to the next generation to watch out for tiger, or snakes, or food that should not have been eaten. Some was passed on verbally or drawing, and others were just imprinted in the next generation in the DNA.

Now, Craniosacral therapy works with body, mind and soul. Any unconscious memory or trauma that has been passed on, can also still affect the person or baby. Usually with babies and mothers is the birth trauma, any other memory will be dealt when the baby is older or ready to deal with it.

With adults, when they start having sessions, the session will bring up what the person is ready to deal with. And with the support of the therapist (Maria Esposito), this will be put to the awareness of the person and dealt with accordingly or let go and transmute into unconditional love.

I always start my sessions with a breathing cycles of unconditional love. Some people during my hiking group, asked, what if I don not what unconditional love is?

Well sometimes that is the case. If you have a pet, or children, you will know what unconditional love is, as they will give that unconditional love no matter how you are with them, till a certain point. Children at some point might also close down if you do not show some love for them or treat them right.

Also with you do not have children or pets, than connect to nature for that. Trees give you oxygen without asking anything from you. The sun shines everyday somewhere in the world, without asking you for anything. The majority will get rain and hence water for you to drink, and to water the food that the farmers grow for you. Unless you are a farmer or you can grow your own food, and in that case, you get the rain unconditionally. The tree will take your toxins from your exhalation of Carbon Dioxide and transmute it, into oxygen for you to breathe. Without them we would not survive more than two minutes!

So you can see how much unconditional love we have around us and how much we are helped without us asking, we take these things for granted.

Nervous system and polyvagal balance with craniosacral therapy

Featured by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

The polyvagal nerve, is part of the nervous system and the nervous system is part of the brain that will give signal when things are ok and when they are not. In some cases, in adults with childhood trauma, can all of the sudden experience stress related episodes with no recollection of when and where that happen. For most people the talking therapy will be good when they know what the problem or issue are, and often they are resolved. But some stress response or trauma will not be reached just by the conscious mind, or it will take months or even years before you can reach it.

Often traumas from childhood are stored in our body or even cells, and those unconscious traumas, can be triggered at any time in the life of the adults. Quite often with a body injury or illness. Craniosacral therapy allows the body system to feel safe enough to show the trauma, big or small, at the time that the person is ready to deal with, usually when they feel safe enough to share or deal with whatever emotion is attached to that trauma. With mindfulness meditation and heart meditation, the person has a tool to be able to connect with their heart and deal with whatever comes up in a loving space. My work is to connect to my heart and the person heart to reach a stillness where anything is possible, and any healing is allowed to happen in a loving experience. Craniosacral therapy, does not force any trauma out without the person being ready. That is the magical part of this wonderful therapy.

Craniosacral therapy is the only one that will help the nervous system to feel calm, relaxed and safe enough to be able to reach that stress trigger and allow the person to deal with it in a more gentle and compassionate way.

Sometimes the trigger of stress is just that, too many things to deal with and no enough time to deal with them apart from night time, when all is quite and the body does nothing. This means that the stress mode or emotions and feeling can be address, even though the person wants to sleep, they do not manage to sleep well and hence is a catch 22. They feel tired during the day, irritated, get busy and drink coffee, teas, or even worse Bull, which is an equivalent of 4 coffees in a can.

Craniosacral therapy, allows the brain to calm down enough and allow the person to deal with whatever situation they are conflicting with or need to deal with during the day, rather than night time, allowing the person to start having more sleep and be more productive in a day time. For me craniosacral therapy is a bit of magical touch, where the person can enter a state of deep relaxion, without too much effort and getting in touch with their inner wisdom and higher self!

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapists – NAET – R-Craniosacral therapist – PCI NLP Coaching programme – Certified Angel Guide – Mindfulness Meditation teacher – HeartMath meditation -Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) – Trauma certification (PESI) – MBant – M-CSTA – CHNC registered

A proven naturally way to Lowering your cholesterol and tri-glycerides

Featured by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

I am so thankful that after three years I can still pass my Christmas in Italy with my family. Lots of things have changed, people do different things, some with family and others by themselves travelling a bit more. There is still a lot more fears attached to Covid than in other places, and any new news about it becomes an extra worry. In pharmacies people still wear a mask and you feel like the odd out if you don’t. There was a new strain of flu going around and young and older people felt worse than ever with it. This is due to the immune system not being challenged for 3 years. My parents, even in their old age are always worried about lack of food, so they buy more than they will ever eat in one week, and they love to plant seasonal vegetables, even in big pots. When they were given big pots as a gift, they were so happy that they can manage to plant their seasonal vegetables without much effort, as the planting them on the land would be too much for them.

Green and red salad

They try their best not to take extra medication that they can avoid, even though they might take some that are essential. Both my parents were tested high for cholesterol last year, and of course, they were given by their GP the usual medication to lower it. They both did not react well with it, and I mentioned to try to see if with Benecol, as I knew that it would work, would go down enough for the doctors to be ok with it. I also suggested to take fish oil in capsules for both of them, for two reasons, one for the brain, and the other to reduce tri-glycerides, which again they both had a bit high. They have been taking it since the summer, and I asked if their cholesterol was low. They said they were so happy with it, as the cholesterol got down so much, as well as the tri-glycerides, with the fish oil. To be fair the doctor in Italy did suggest the fish oil for that too, which is good. They have not told the doctor about the Benecol though and the reason for being lower. My mum had a heart operation 6 years ago so she had to have a lower cholesterol.

The main ingredients that is beneficial to reduce cholesterol in Benecol is plant sterol ester, and I would not agree with all the ingredients in Benecol, but for people, like my parents that would rather have a food that keep taking pills, this is the 2nd best option.

Freshly squeezed orange juice

The best one is to take plant sterol and phytosterol in capsule as well as combining the dietary changes. My parents do eat their own seasonal vegetables, and fennel, endive and salads, as well as broccoli, chicory, and broccoletti (found in Italy but not England), are part of their stable diet, as well as beans, lentils and fruits. Green leafy vegetables, sage, nuts contain plant sterols as well as the food above.

We were so fortunate to have my mum make us freshly squeezed orange juice every morning, that is because a couple of kilos of oranges would cost two Euros, compared to 2 pounds for a pack of 5 oranges here. They would also eat good nuts such as pecans and walnuts as snacks, which would help with having higher good fats as well. At their age, they eat less meat and hard cheese, due to my insistence, less frying and more oven baked food, as well as using only olive oil if any food needs to be cooked. Using their own olive oil from their own olive tree only raw with salads and food.

© Fennel

 If you do have high cholesterol and high tri-glycerides, you need to consider the entire life style change as well, to make the most of it and get things sorted out for good, and that would include walking 30 minutes, twice a day, to keep your circulation going and keep your heart pumping well.

Some of the plant sterols in supplements might cost as much as the Benecol, so maybe worth getting that instead and you get more for them, like a monthly supply. Fish oil with high EPA and DHA, again get a good brand as that would still be worth it, and even if you eat fish, you might not get enough from a couple of times that you eat it a week. At least you can get the plant sterols and fish oil till your tests come back normal and then keep going with the dietary changes and walking to keep it stable, and maybe just get the Benecol every now and then to keep it down.

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapist – NAET for allergies – R-Craniosacral Therapist – NLP – Angel Guide Certified – Mindfulness Meditation teacher- Resilient heart (heart-Math

Understanding Migraine Triggers: Causes and Solutions

by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

Headaches and Migraines are very common from children having migraines to adult. The triggers and cause of migraines are different for everyone. Below are some of the possible triggers:

  • Fasting
  • Food
  • Hormonal – pre and menstrual cycle –
  • Sleep – oversleep or lack of sleep, change of time of sleep and week end different sleep
  • Activities
  • Stress – due to high demand job, conflicts, arguments, family problems, society, aggressiveness
  • Emotional such as crying and anxiety
  • Environmental – hay-fever, allergies, pollution, wind, rain, cold weather, hot weather, dust, cigarette in the air, cigarette smoking, air pollution, perfumes, strong perfumes (due to possibly liver detox slow, cleaning products, gasoline,
basil

Certain foods that trigger more than others are:

  • Chocolate
  • Sausage
  • Allergies to foods and drinks
  • Salami or processed meat
  • Monosodium glutamate (from soy sauce and Chinese food), as well as some vegetables cubes and olive (check labels for any processed food).
  • Cheese, some hard cheese and fermented cheese more than others
  • Dairy milk
  • Aspartame in certain foods including some chew gums, fizzy drinks and processed drinks
  • Alcohol
  • Red wine, depending on the amount of sulphur and additive that they have, women more susceptible for the red wine.
  • Coffee is a catch 22, as caffeine helps reduce the headaches and some migraines and for some people the withdraw of coffee can trigger a migraines or headaches
  • Citric fruits
  • Ice creams
  • Nuts
cinque terre. peace

What worked in the research studies is a combination of Magnesium citrate (as most absorbed) at about 350 mg for an adult to 600mg a day, combined with a good multivitamins and minerals during the day and CoQ10.

Magnesium is found in drinking bottled water, all green leafy vegetables, bananas, nuts and seeds. For some people though food intake of magnesium is not enough, depends on their triggers, stress level and the way their own bodies deals with magnesium.

I would suggest a good multivitamin from any of the good brand and the CoQ10 from my experience is G&G brand, you just need one capsule a day. Magnesium citrate or a mix of magnesium from BioCare powder as you can increase or decrease your magnesium intake according to your needs and at the start of your headache/migraines and during, as well as investigating the trigger of your headache and eliminating it. If you are taking any prescribed medications do consult your doctor before taking any magnesium, especially if you have had a heart surgery or any heart problems.

As a therapist I would treat any possible food trigger with the method NAET and combine the treatment or even by itself with CRANIOSACRAL THERAPY, MINDFULNESS MEDITATION and HEART RESILIENT meditation, as well as Neuro-Linguistic Programming tools for old emotional and learning or positive resources, to reduce the stress level and the muscle tension, as well as allowing the system to flow nicely.

This is combined with nutrients and supplements if that is essential as well.

Reference:

Fukuil et al. (2008). Migraines triggers factors. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2008;66(3-A):494-499

Gaul et al. (2015). Improvement of migraine symptoms with a proprietary supplement containing riboflavin, magnesium and Q10: a randomized,

placebo-controlled, double-blind, multi-center trial. The Journal of Headache and Pain (2015) 16:32.

Izabela Domitrz and Joanna Cegielska (2022). Magnesium as an Important Factor in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Migraine—From Theory to Practice. Nutrients. Nutrients, 14, 1089. https:/doi.org/10.3390/nu14051089.

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapist – NAET for allergies – R-Craniosacral Therapist – NLP – Angel Guide Certified – Mindfulness Meditation teacher- Resilient heart (heart-Math)

Babies and mothers craniosacral therapy sessions

Featured by Craniosacral Therapy/Paediatric craniosacral therapy/Nutrition/NAET/ NLP Health Coach/Mindfulness meditation, posted in Blog

From reflux, during pregnancy, to tiredness and relaxions for anxious mothers to babies and mothers birth trauma, Craniosacral therapy is a gentle but very powerful and magical therapy that allows the entire body system to settle and balance up. This will reduce, anxiety for the mother, and stress mode, or vagal irritation for the baby when they are born. In turn for the baby means, less colic, less irritation or fear mode, less reflux, improved breastfeeding, more peaceful sleep for baby and mother. craniosacral therapy is a gift of a lifetime for your baby, as it will improve the mother and baby connection, a HAPPY BABY, will increase the good positive neurons forming and good memory that will positively affect them for their lifetime!

For babies with a small amount of birth trauma just few sessions is enough to settle them in a balance way. This improve the connection after a tongue tie for a good latching and hence feeding well.

For the past 30 years, I have heard of mothers saying that their baby do not poo for few days or even a week or more at the time, and they have been told that it is normal.

After just one session and suggestions of babies infants probiotics, babies poo few times a day, as they should do.

The foundation of good bacteria from the start of the baby’s life, will set them for a lifetime of good intestinal tract. There are plenty of research now connecting the gut health with the brain healthy development of the baby in their adult time.

The past 50 years with the use of too much anti-biotics, which at times, they do save lives, but others were prescribed as sweet, have seen the stripping of the good bacteria, with an increase in gut dysbiosis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and other Irritable Bowel disorders. Now that we have learned how important our friendly gut bacteria are from the start, let’s keep them in and start from the beginning!

Give yourself and your baby the gift of life, with craniosacral therapy. For the mothers and adults, the change is a bit more slow, but worth starting and carrying on!

© Maria Esposito BSc (Hons) R-Nutritional Therapist – NAET for allergies – R-Craniosacral Therapist – NLP – Angel Guide Certified – Mindfulness Meditation teacher- Heart Meditation certificated (Heart-Math)