Caroline Cranshaw: How to recover your health quickly

When it comes to healing quickly, I consider myself bit of an expert. I've had pretty much every health issue under the sun, as well as recovering completely from a head-on car collision where my prognosis was not good. Now as a health practitioner and working with thousands of clients, there are a few things that seem to universally work to help people regain their health faster than average.

Here are my best tips to heal your body quickly

1. Tell yourself you're in perfect health

Every cell in your body is listening to your thoughts as well as what other people tell you. What you believe about your health and your body's ability to heal has a massive impact on your well-being. I was sick most of the time in my childhood and 20s. I had allergies, eczema, asthma, anaphylactic allergies to food, endometriosis, liver issues, osteo and rheumatoid arthritis just to name a few. After breaking pretty much everything bone possible in a car accident, I started to visualize myself totally healed and in perfect health.

I refused to listen to doctor’s negative predictions for me and healed rapidly. I realized that I had focused more on feeling like I was getting sick or that something was wrong with me than putting my focus on being well. My new mantra became “I am in perfect health.” I drove my family nuts when they all came down with colds of flu’s, and I walked around chanting “I'm in perfect health”, without getting sick. Negative thoughts, worry, and stress all impact your immune system.

2. Rest

This seems obvious, but this is one most people seem to avoid doing. If you are sick, the best thing you can do, is do nothing. The more you rest, the more energy your body will have to repair and heal. If it’s absolutely impossible for you to take time off, make sure you take several breaks during the day to listen to a guided meditation, a healing hypnotherapy track or meditate to reset your body into a relaxed healing state. The more stressed you are while sick, the slower your healing process will be.

3. Supplements

I know, I know. You should be able to get everything you need from your food. But the fact of the matter is - you don't. Taking supplements has changed my physical and mental health and I am walking proof that they work. Check out my favourite place to buy them here.

My favorite supplements for healing quickly

  • NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine)

NAC is an amino acid which is a precursor of glutathione, considered to be the most important antioxidant in the body. Glutathione plays a major role in detoxification and fighting oxidative stress. I believe NAC can help you heal from pretty much everything.

It is commonly used in hospitals intravenously or orally for acute poisoning from pain-relieving drugs, liver failure, treatment of the flu, HIV infection and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It’s extremely beneficial and protective of the liver, kidneys and lungs. It is highly effective for treating infertility in both men and women as well as improving Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

If you take NAC before and after drinking alcohol, it significantly reduces hangovers or even stops you from having one. Trust me on this, I have tried this technique personally. 1200mgs before you drink and 1200 mgs before bed and you wake up feeling like you didn’t drink at all. Studies have shown NAC to be helpful with reducing many different addictions like smoking, cocaine, marijuana, gambling as well as reducing habits like nail biting and hair pulling.

Warning: You do need to make sure you are taking Vitamin C with NAC, or you may have an increased risk of kidney stones. Vitamin C is also one of the most important supplements you can take to help your body heal and boost your immune system.

Dosage: NAC (N-Acetyl-Cysteine) – 1200 mgs of NAC a day, with 2000 mgs of Vitamin C (to prevent kidney stones).

  • Zinc

Zinc has so many health benefits it would be impossible to list them all in this one article. Like vitamin C, your body doesn't store zinc so you need to keep replenishing your levels. Zinc along with copper create copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD), one of your body’s most powerful natural defense mechanisms. Zinc is key for a healthy immune system, skin health, wound healing, reducing inflammation, reproductive health, mental health and energy just to name a few.

You need to take make sure your copper levels are supplemented when you take zinc as too much zinc can decrease copper levels in your body, which increases your risk of a heart attack and proper vascular function.

Dosage: Zinc - 15-50 mgs and 1-2mg copper a day with food

  • Vitamin A

Like vitamin C and zinc, vitamin A is incredibly important for your health and an immune system, not to mention skin and vision. Unless you're eating organ meats like heart, kidney and liver - without supplementation you are probably deficient. Plants don't have vitamin A, they only have beta-carotene which is poorly converted to vitamin A so if you're a vegetarian or vegan - you need to supplement.

Dosage: Vitamin A - 5,000-10,000 IU / day. (with food)

  • Selenium

Selenium is incredibly important for health. It protects us from inflammation, cancer, boosts the immune system, is anti-aging, increases mental clarity and lowers our risk of mental health issues just to name a few of selenium's many benefits. New Zealand’s soil is deficient in selenium as well as many other countries, which makes it incredibly hard to get enough from your food.

Dosage: Selenium – 200 mcg a day (with food)

Read more about supplements I recommend here. 

4. Ask Yourself Why You Got Sick

I find whenever I ask someone why they got sick, they always have an answer that's incredibly insightful. It's not because I caught a virus, or an infection etc. The answer tends to be more along the lines of I’ve been working myself to death and really needed a break. I'm sick of my marriage or my family life and the stress of it all has made me sick. Studies show an unhappy marriage can increase your chances of getting sick by 35% and even shorten your life by an average of four to eight years.

Or maybe the answer is you just haven't been looking after yourself. Deep down, we always know the true reason why we've gotten sick. Examine why you've gotten sick and look into getting help for the underlying problem. A good hypnotherapist, health coach or therapist can help you to identify and heal the issue at its core.

Your health is the most valuable asset you have, more than love, more than money, more than anything. Because without your health, everything else is harder to enjoy. Your health starts with your mind, then your habits and environment. The key to being healthy is making sure you address your health from every angle.

Caroline Cranshaw is a hypnotherapist, founder and trainer at the New Zealand Integrative Hypnotherapy Training Institute and the author of The Smoking Cure. Find out more about her at nzhypnotherapy.co.nz

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