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Tis the time of Christmas cheer for most of us in the Western World.  This usually translates into social engagements such as Christmas drinks, office parties, local get-togethers and family gatherings with the aftermath of uncomfortable symptoms from overeating and drinking including brain fog, wind and bloating, to name a few.  The weather doesn’t help either with cold, miserable, grey light-deficient days and long nights.

This year the Herb Society AGM was held at Weleda, who sponsored the entire event.  Weleda describes itself as a “unique organisation – economically thriving, kind at heart and committed to the well-being of our planet, our environment and our people.”    The weather was perfect and the meeting was held in the terrace conference room that opened out through glass sliding doors on to the original Weleda herb garden.  A perfect setting for any meeting. With the strong connection to nature and healing herbs, this could not have been better.

As with most things in the UK around working hours and conditions there is legislation that dictates the amount of hours worked in relation to the time allocated and legally allowed for a break.  I would suggest that most companies are not only aware of this, but also follow the legislation, explaining to employees the amount of time they are entitled to for a break and in some situations, such as restaurants, and other service institutions, when that break can be taken.   On the other hand there are jobs such as couriers who are paid by the number of deliveries and not by the hour who probably focus more on earning capacity, rather than taking a break to eat something.  Despite all the legislation, lunch breaks are being swallowed up as we resign to eating lunch at our desk, opting to

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov was a Ukrainian and Russian pathologist best known for his pioneering research in immunology.  Known as the Father of Orthobiosis theory and Probiotics, he was credited in 1882 with the discovery of phagocytes, which came to be known as the major defence mechanism in innate immunity.

No less than 75% of the immune cells of the body are thought to be found in the gut.  This means that the gut flora is important to ensuring our immune defence is functioning correctly.  Together with Mechnikov’s discovery, functional medicine believes that if the gut is healthy, the person is healthy. Therefore, treat the gut first.