4 St John's courses in Cardiff delivered Live Online

Presentation: Jail & Bail - a breakout success! Emma Farmer, events & corporate fundraiser at St John's Hospice will share all the details of their event. Session aimed at those working in corporate, community & events fundraising roles

Presentation on the latest on Palliative Care research and the CHELsea II Trial at Wirral Hospice St John’s by Cheryl Clements This session will cover: - Introduction to the NIHR (National Institute of Health and Care Research) and the new RRDN (Regional Research Delivery Network). - Overview of palliative care. Why we need research. - Palliative care research, and areas of interest. - About the CHELsea II Trial at Wirral St John's Hospice. - Barriers to implementing palliative care research. - NIHR Training Opportunities and Resources. - Question time

The prevalence of ill health is real. Become an expert practitioner in treating individuals using a truly holistic approach. A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR The great need for practitioners is emphasised today, not only by the prevalence of well-established diseases, but also by the appearance of quite new conditions which are not necessarily regarded as being nutritional illnesses. In fact many students come to Nutritional Therapy after experiencing and their own health problems and seek to help others with similar difficulties. We know that nutrition lies at the very heart of these problems and it is our absolute intention to share that knowledge with you. Every person's nutritional needs differ and our courses teach students to recognise this at the outset - there is no haphazard approach. We are absolutely certain that you will find this a fascinating course as you train to become a practitioner of the highest degree. DR. LAWRENCE PLASKETT Course Duration 3 years Study Hours 3,000 hours Course Content 14 folders Course Fee £1,995 Course Overview The Plaskett Professional Diploma in Nutritional Therapy is the most scientific and advanced practitioner level course that we offer. Nutritional Therapy is a form of therapy that uses food, supplementary nutrients and cleansing procedures to alleviate or prevent chronic health problems and this course will train you to practise as a Nutritional Therapist of the highest degree. You will: Receive a training which is truly holistic in nature Be presented with the unique teachings of Dr. Lawrence Plaskett whose long experience working in the borderlands between nutrition and medicine enables him to offer a synthesis between many fields that are not often brought together: nutrition, pathology, biochemistry, toxicology, pharmacology, cell biology, naturopathy and homoeopathy Develop the professional skills and specific diagnostic insight to be able to apply nutrition to health effectively, a training for successful practice that should be applicable anywhere in the world Be trained to offer help with a wide range of conditions, the majority of which are not necessarily regarded in conventional medicine as being nutritional illnesses. These encompass an extremely wide range of chronic conditions, including most diseases and a vast array of symptoms - physical, emotional, mental - which can frequently be experienced outside the range of conventional medical diagnostic 'labels'. Develop the necessary expertise in nutrition which is often lacking in other fields of complementary or alternative medicine. Any programme of nutritional supplements and diet needs to be matched exactly to individual needs by a well-trained practitioner BREAKDOWN OF THE COURSE SECTIONS The Nutritional Therapy Diploma includes the following 14 folders: FOLDER 1 THE HOLISTIC MODEL OF HEALTH CARE This Folder starts with a suggested programme of study and some simple hints on how to make best use of your study time. It then teaches an understanding of basic principles that underpin your entire grasp of nutrition as a biological process. The naturopathic emphasis is upon freeing the body tissues of toxins and the damaged cell components that drag them down to the chronic level.  The Folder looks closely at the nature of toxins and their sources. It looks at their behaviour and effects when they enter the body, the character and mechanisms of the damage they do and, above all, the mechanisms by which they can be removed and the damage repaired.  These are no flights of fancy, as orthodoxy would often have us believe. Rather they are strongly supported by medical science, as the course material will demonstrate. In order to develop a grasp of these processes they have to be visualized as they really happen, on the cellular level.  A Side Book is included covering the structure and life of the cell. Areas Covered Study skills Looking after the body The Life Force Stopping the rot and starting to recover Movements of toxins within and around the body Our relationship to medical orthodoxy The nature of natural and unnatural chemical toxins The concept of toxin-free food Organic growing and water purification Free radicals and anti-oxidants Routes of toxin entry and elimination Damage caused by toxins lying in the tissues Detoxification The relationship between toxic burden and toxic damage The energy reserve role of fat The lipoproteins of the blood FOLDER 2 MINERALS AT WORK IN NUTRITION - PART 1 The minerals come forward as the strongest contenders for pride of place among the nutrient classes because they are so critically vulnerable to deficiency and imbalance in today’s western world.  “Get the minerals right before anything else” is a penetrating summary of their necessary priority. You will learn how the bulk minerals (those we need in greatest amount) depend upon each other and how the micro minerals cannot fulfil their function correctly without a correct balance of the bulk ones.  This Folder takes “first things first” by laying the soundest possible foundation for the study and management of the bulk metals – sodium, potassium, calcium, with magnesium to follow in Folder 5.  We believe that few course providers deal as thoroughly with this absolute cornerstone of nutrition as we do. The effects of these mineral balances permeate the entire subject of nutrition. You will look at many aspects of the subject that affect health. Areas Covered Composition of the human body Overview of macro minerals Sources of nutritional minerals Biological concentration of minerals Micro minerals as catalysts Toxic minerals Digestion, absorption and storage Mineral/mineral antagonisms Sodium and potassium balance Symptoms of sodium and potassium excess or deficiency The sodium pump Sodium and potassium in foods Potassium administration in therapy Calcium in the human skeleton and teeth Calcium in body fluids Hormonal control of calcium Osteoporosis and disputes over calcium requirements Calcium in foods Calcium “mishandling” Calcium in supplement Side Book: The Chemistry of Nutrition Whilst it is possible to teach nutrition to some degree without studying the chemical nature of the nutrients, it is much better that you have at least a superficial understanding. Folder Two therefore includes a side book on Chemistry for those who are new to the subject. However, no one expects you to become highly informed on chemical structures. Access to the facts and to an explanation is what is important. This side-book will free you, as a future practitioner, from the need to manipulate the nutrients without understanding them as many others try to do. Elements, compounds and molecules Valency Ions, acids and salts Combining proportions and moles Carbon compounds and functional groups Oxidation and reduction Calculating the vitamin or mineral content of supplements FOLDER 3 THE BULK NUTRIENTS – PROTEIN, CARBOHYDRATE, LIPIDS AND ENERGY These nutrients provide both the fuel and the building materials for the body. Orthodox nutrition teaches these topics very thoroughly. As to the structures of the compounds, we teach the same things they do.  However, all three main classes of bulk nutrients have their distinctive “wrinkles” when examined from an alternative viewpoint.  With the proteins this has to do with avoiding excesses and, to some degree eschewing animal sources for naturopathic and other reasons.  With the carbohydrates it involves recognizing at a sensitive level the long-term harm that can be done by free sugars and the crucial importance of blood sugar maintenance and control. Orthodox treatments may claim to do these things but there is a vast difference of emphasis and effect.  Among the lipids the “wrinkles” have to do with intricate management of the balance among the essential fatty acids and the importance of the phospholipids in the diet.  You will also learn about the propensity of fats to form toxins and the need to moderate fat intake. All of these so-called alternative “wrinkles” have weighty scientific support, which you will have explained for you.  The chemical nature of these bulk nutrients is fully presented for those who wish it, with a “faster track” through for those who do not. Areas covered Different kinds of proteins The amino acids in proteins The structure of proteins Proteins in foods The essential amino acids and protein quality Nitrogen balance and protein metabolism Proteins in therapeutic policy The simple sugars and sugar derivatives Di, tri and polysaccharides Transformations of carbohydrate Sugars and starch in diets Blood sugar control Metabolic energy The make-up of fats Different kinds of fatty acids Essentiality of omega 6 and omega 3 Lipids and coronary thrombosis Cholesterol, Inc. blood cholesterol levels Fats in western diets Toxins from fats by chemical damage Lecithin and other phospholipids Quantifying energy – units of measurement Energy content of foods and fuels Human expenditures of energy Basal metabolic rate FOLDER 4 FOODS AND FOOD CLASSES Properties, Composition and Naturopathic Effects The merits and disadvantages of wheat, milk and meat are carefully analysed and exposed from the standpoint of both scientific and also naturopathic considerations.  There will be much here to ponder, whilst the scientific evidence leaves little to doubt. You will look rather exhaustively at the merits, nature and composition of vegetables and fruits, not only as groups but also as sub-groups and down to the individual plants.  You will find yourself in a position, when it comes to prescribing, to be directive when necessary about which individual fruits and vegetables it will be best to use.  The groups of pulses, nuts, seeds, fish, shellfish and other seafood’s, as well as beverages, will be closely examined for their composition and suitability for prescription in treatment diets.  Acidity and alkalinity in foods is carefully examined. This Folder is “all about food” but it is also food for thought from beginning to end. Areas covered The wheat grain and its milled fractions Types of bread Nutritional problems of wheat and wheat allergy Sprouted wheat and wheat grass Barley, oats and rye The composition of milks Milk as infant feed The variety of dairy products Nutritional and health problems associated with milk Milk allergy and intolerance Hidden milk in foods Vegetable mineral content and vitality Eliminatory effect of vegetables Composition of 49 different vegetables Potential hazards of plant foods Composition and nature of pulses, nuts and seeds The composition of different meats Naturopathic negatives associated with meat The composition of different fish types Fish as an omega 3 source Shell fish and crustacea Nutritional problems of tea and coffee The composition of fruits Strongly eliminative properties in fruits Acid and alkali-forming foods Using the food composition tables FOLDER 5 MINERALS AT WORK IN NUTRITION - PART 2 Each and every member of the micro minerals group will prove a fascinating area of study and will face you at times almost with disbelief that such minute amounts of substance can exert such extraordinarily powerful effects upon the way the body works and therefore upon health.  Each micro mineral displays its own particular pattern of effects arising from either deficiency or excess. This is almost like a personal signature of the mineral. These will be learnt now but employed later in diagnosis to help determine the likely patterns of micro mineral imbalances in your patients. The role of all-important magnesium is examined together with the principles of using magnesium in therapy. This element plays a key macro mineral role and exerts decisive control over naturopathic elimination.  Areas covered Iron, zinc, copper, manganese, selenium, chromium, molybdenum, iodine, silicon, fluorine, vanadium For each of the microminerals where appropriate: Body content; physiology functions; effects of deficiency or excess; toxicity; factors promoting retention or loss; occurrence in foods; different chemical forms; associated diseases; the use of the appropriate supplements Roles of magnesium in the body Magnesium in foods Effects, diseases and symptoms of magnesium deficiency Naturopathic expectations from magnesium therapy FOLDER 6 THE VITAMINS AT WORK IN NUTRITION The vitamins are mostly micro catalysts just as the micro minerals are. Sixteen of them are the subjects of this Folder.  We first explain their known effects in the body and then go on to set out the ways that they may be used, either for direct therapeutic effect, or in support of other components of nutritional therapy.  As in the cases of all the other nutrients, there will be both scientific and naturopathic evidence presented. Good reference material will be provided. Areas covered For each of the vitamins and vitamin-like substances where appropriate: Body content; precursors; physiology functions; effects of deficiency or excess; toxicity; factors promoting retention or loss; occurrence in foods; different chemical forms; associated diseases; the use of the appropriate supplements. Vitamin A; beta-carotene; Vitamins B: thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine, B12, folic acid, choline, inositol; Vitamin C, Vitamins D1 and D2; tocopherols (Vitamin E); Vitamin K. FOLDER 7 BOWEL FLORA AND THE MAINTENANCE OF HEALTH It is possible to manage and manipulate the bowel flora – the bacteria that inhabit the intestines – so as to produce optimal benefits to health.  Antibiotics and certain dietary errors appear to work in the opposite direction and encourage a flora that will generate more toxins. This Folder deals with both scientific and naturopathic facts and technique and explains how to harness the potential that resides here for bringing better health or maintaining health. It is a crucially important area of nutritional management. Every case you will treat will need the possible prescription of bowel flora products to be reviewed. The other part of this Folder is about the maintenance of health. We provide a general round-up of this pre-clinical part of the course with an overview of nutritional requirements and wise practice in the design of those diets that may be intended to be “healthy” but not necessarily therapeutic.  It includes examination of the special needs of vulnerable groups. You can expect, of course, to meet patients of all ages and conditions and, often enough, you will be asked merely to provide guidance upon what type of diet will best maintain their health.  It also reviews the production of toxin-free food and the hazards posed by the industrialization of food. Finally, there is an approach to the use of supplements for health maintenance and a discussion of strategies for on-going cleansing and toxin avoidance so as to assist in maintaining good health. Areas covered The naturopathic view of the benefits of bowel flora Effect of diet on the bowel flora The putrefactive bacteria Balancing lactose fermenters with other types Toxic amines Benefits of the acid producing species Negatives associated with antibiotics Breast feeding and the bowel bacteria Bowel flora products Overview of the British diet Nutrient requirements for the population Higher requirements for the health conscious Special needs of children and the elderly Special needs of vegetarians and vegans The requirements of pregnancy and lactation Organic growing Industrial food processing and food additives Maintenance supplements Maintenance cleansing FOLDER 8 DIAGNOSIS This Folder is divided into two parts. The first gives a detailed understanding of the basis of diagnosis, while the second gives direct instruction in performing diagnoses.  These two parts, taken together, comprise a major step in your induction as a naturopathic nutritionist. The induction into technique and approach is an essential step, but even more than that, the moulding of your thought process is so very important.  You have to move into the particular “observer” position, mentally, from which the diagnosis is best carried out. The first part of the Folder both provides the “nuts and bolts” of nutritional diagnosis but it also provides the mental positioning to enable you to carry it out with confidence and expertise.  The diagnosis requires understanding of the “constitution”, defined both naturopathically and genetically. An optional side book covers both the miasms and the Chinese 5 elements in respect of their bearing upon diagnosis within nutritional therapy. Fundamental to the practical aspect is the technique for taking case histories and then interpreting them along combined naturopathic and scientific lines.  This logically leads onto the next stage – treatment – in a rational sequence. This Folder contains five “demonstration” case histories. FOLDER 9 TREATMENT This is in many ways the crux of the whole course.  However, being released into nutritional treatments – with their full power – without having made the most thorough preparation, would be most unwise.  Absolutely every topic that has been covered before is required in one way or another at this point. It is here that the interpretation of the case history becomes translated into a prescription of diet and supplements that is honed in a sensitive way to the patient as an individual.  We outline a number of “levels” of the diagnosis that feed into the treatment decisions. There is a “whole person” level, a “weak organ” level, a “metabolic imbalances” level, a “nutritional deficiencies” level and, finally, the lowest in the hierarchy, a “named diseases” level. We also introduce here the profound concepts of intensity, direction and level as they apply to the very basis of Nutritional Therapy prescriptions. All these contributions must converge to provide the best overall treatment.  The focus at this point is on defining the dietary guidelines and the careful orchestration of the essential minerals and vitamins that are to be used.  However, this is also the point at which various named treatments are considered, including bowel cleansing procedures, bowel flora treatment and some of the contributions towards Candida treatment.  These options are set out here and then developed more in the later Folders of Part Two. Special approaches such as the liver cleanse are also considered here along with amino acid therapy, antioxidant therapy and the anti-inflammatory prescription.  We also provide guidelines on how detailed analysis of the composition of diets, and the design of special diets based on such analysis, can contribute to treatment. This Folder provides the “core” of all this, with various modulations and variations being available from the subsequent Folders for “fine tuning”. FOLDER 10 STUDY OF CASE HISTORIES There is nothing quite like practice where case histories are concerned. To be able to study them with great facility and insight and then discern the routes by which they lead towards exact treatment – that is to be your aim here. The Folder provides the challenge of “interpreting” a number of case histories, with help and with feedback. This is an approach that can lead you towards confidence and competence in this task, which is at the centre of practitioners’ daily work. Approaches and solutions are presented. This Folder gives 11 abridged case histories and 20 fully detailed case histories for analysis by the student, 31 case histories in all. These are selected to provide a variety of different types of treatment situation including some that are special or unusual. FOLDER 11 ADDED OR SPECIAL NUTRIENTS AND HERBS In covering the prescribing of supplement programmes in Folder 9, you will have been focused primarily upon those that rank in orthodox nutrition as “essential nutrients”, particularly minerals and vitamins.  However, Nutritional Therapy is enormously enriched by a wide range of other biochemicals that cannot be classified as “essential”. Life does not stop without them, yet they can be extremely helpful, especially to individuals with compromised health.  These are more often metabolic intermediates than recognised nutrients, but they can be extraordinarily valuable for organ-directed therapy. Many of these involve up-to-the minute discoveries.  We teach about phytonutrients in foods (eg carotenoids, flavonoids, proanthocyanidins, isothiocyanates, organic sulphides and curcuminoids) and about the possibilities, when necessary, to provide them in supplement form. Herbs are covered too in their special role of support-therapy to Nutritional Therapy, usually in an organ-directed or system-directed role. Echinacea, silymarin, aloe, ginkgo, bromelain and St John’s Wort are just examples of these herbs.  We also teach the use of herbal combinations for specific purposes. This wide choice of “extra” items is the subject of specific instruction in this Folder. FOLDER 12 TREATING NAMED MEDICAL CONDITIONS - PART 1 Folder 9 makes it plain that, because this is a holistic discipline, the named medical condition is generally low on the hierarchy of treatment criteria.  Although that is generally the case, the extent to which it holds good may depend upon how advanced is the particular disease condition. At all events, the practitioner does need a degree of disease-related training, which is provided in this Folder and the next.  Some 180 different medical conditions or classes of conditions, mostly chronic, are addressed. Special space is provided to cover fully selected topics that are of key importance in an alternative medicine practice, such as obesity, alcoholism, allergies and the menopause.  We also provide you with specific treatment guidance with the proviso that whole-person treatments and organ-system related treatments either take priority or are provided alongside.  Where appropriate some insights are given into the prior allopathic treatments and environmental and social conditions that may cause or exacerbate the listed conditions.  This provides for the patient’s circumstances and lifestyle to be adjusted in rather specifically apt directions. The main categories in this Folder are: circulatory, rheumatic and digestive diseases, along with obesity, alcoholism and immunity states including autoimmunity and allergies.  All the disease conditions addressed are closely studied from the standpoint of orthodox pathology as well as their Nutritional Therapy treatment.  Hence Folders 12 and 13 in their own right amount to a course in the medical science of pathology and this represents a substantial expansion over earlier versions of the course.  These Folders will constitute invaluable reference material for use when you have set up in practice. FOLDER 13 TREATING NAMED MEDICAL CONDITIONS - PART 2 This Folder continues the work started in Folder 12.  Here included are diseases of the nervous system and brain, skin, reproductive system, urinary system, endocrine system, liver/gallbladder, respiratory system, eye, ear, mouth, nose and bone. Also included are psychological and systemic diseases (including ME), infectious diseases and some directly nutritional diseases. The detailed attention to pathology is maintained throughout. During the course of Folders 10-14 inclusive, students undertake no less than 12 cases on their own, covering full data-collection, analysis and interpretation, with prescription of diet and supplements.  Together with the 36 case histories studied in earlier Folders this gives 48 case histories studied FOLDER 14 MONITORING TREATMENT, THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP AND PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Having got the treatment going, there is a need for specific instruction in the on-going task of monitoring the patient’s condition and reacting accordingly with adjustments to the therapy.  Patient and practitioner alike have to be aware that the first prescription is likely to be just the start of a process. Reading the signs of change looms large in this instruction and familiarization. Responding to them is the second part. Here there is a need to understand the terms “intensity” and “direction” in therapy. “Intensity” refers to the degree of healing and naturopathic pressure being applied and “direction” refers to the aims of the particular choice of treatment being applied.  You will learn to distinguish between situations that call only for a change of “level” and those that call upon you to rethink and change “direction” when the patient’s progress levels off as this may then initiate a new burst of healing changes.  Another way to break out from the “plateau” situation is to assess the exact nutrient composition of the whole diet – an action that is too detailed and time-consuming to do with every patient and usually not needed.  A part of the Folder is about drugs, when and when not to encourage their use, and how to manage the drug-dependent patient. You need to acquire at least a passing familiarity with the main classes of prescription drugs, which are explained in this Folder. This Folder also provides information on Laboratory testing procedures that may be recommended to patients. Finally we offer subjects of crucial importance to working practitioners, namely a study of “The Therapeutic Relationship” and “Practice Management – Running The Practice as a Business”. TESTIMONIALS Here's what students have to say about the course Grace Kingswell, Nutritional Therapist UK "I was recommended Plaskett by my own functional medicine practitioner. I knew that if she was recommending it, it would be worthwhile. I wanted a full body overview and not a “match the supplement to the symptom” approach, and that is certainly what the Plaskett Dip;oma in Nutritional Medicine course delivered. I wanted to be qualified to run my own business as a practitioner afterwards, and it is the most complete and highest level course that the Plaskett College offer. My knowledge of naturopathy and nutritional medicine was pretty solid before I started due to personal experience, but I’ve really built on this now and feel confident that I know how to help others. I’ve also learnt a lot more of the biochemistry behind the science too. The study experience was really good, but it’s a lot of self-motivation, and if you don’t have that then it might be touch to finish it, as it’s completely self-driven". Ben C Alberts, Director South African Institute of Behavioural Nutrition South Africa The Plaskett Nutritional Therapy Diploma was one of the most rewarding programmes of my life. Apart from the media hype around healthy living it is only after the completion of a proper programme that one truly start to understand the intricacy of the human body and what healthy living really is. Within the Plaskett programme the combination of nutrition, pure science and a naturopathic view provided me with a completely new perspective on health management. Against a fairly orthodox background it took me some time within the programme to understand the true principles, and once realized fundamentally changed the way I view personal health management. Throughout the programme the support from my tutor was phenomenal with concise and very valued feedback, and certainly at exceptional detail. The course content was of a high standard and must not be underestimated in both volume and complexity. For me personally, the programme delivered immense value and I will recommend it to any of my peers and clients. Diane Brough, Nutritional Therapist Canada When I first started thinking about taking a course in nutrition, I was living in Botswana, in Africa. I was looking for a college that would offer me the support and guidance that is so important for long distance learning. I’m probably one of the college’s longest registered students because my family moved to five different countries during my studies! I am very thankful for the college’s patience and continued support. Plaskett College impressed me with their personal approach to the course and the fact that all modules were composed by Dr. Lawrence Plaskett, a medical research biochemist and the college’s Founder and Principal. I studied the Diploma in Nutritional Medicine because my plan was to have my own practice. I practised at a herbal clinic as a Nutritional Therapist and Iridologist after I completed my diploma, but then decided to study massage therapy, so put my practice aside while at school. I recently established Revitalife Therapeutics and offer massage therapy, manual lymphatic drainage, nutritional therapy and iridology. Vittoria Viglietti, Nutritional Therapist & Founder of Nutriwild Namibia I chose Plaskett College because I really wanted to make a difference where natural medicine was concerned. After losing my father to Cancer, and experiencing malpractice with all the orthodox medicine we followed, this pushed me even more to pursue an in-depth education in nutritional medicine. I chose Plaskett College’s, Nutritional Medicine Course, because I found this to be very informative for anyone interested in perusing a future in the field of Natural medicine and Nutritional Therapy. My studies have been such a memorable journey for me. I started studying just over 2 months, after losing my father. A very difficult time in my life. The course I chose to do with Plaskett would take me 4 years to complete. I am in my 5th year (nearly my 6th year), doing this particular course and I have only experienced encouragement, understanding of my situation and support from the college to continue to complete the course in my time. I could not show more gratitude towards them for this. I did not expect that after losing my father my life would hit lots unforeseen hurdles, causing my study time to suffer greatly. Yet, through all this, Plaskett College only showed me more support and encouragement to persist with my studies.

BECOME A NUTRITIONAL CONSULTANT AND LEARN HOW TO STEER YOUR CLIENTS TOWARDS BETTER HEALTH A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR This course is a must for anyone who is passionate about health & well-being and would like to fast-track to a practitioner role whereby you can confidently advise your clients on the best route to achieving good health in a world where ill-health is prevalent. The hope is expressed that this course will lead you feeling well informed, on a deeper naturopathic level, and provide you with a range of measures that you can apply to practice as you steer your clients towards better health. DR. LAWRENCE PLASKETT Course Duration 12 months Study Hours 300 hours Course Content 27 sections Course Fee £595 Course Overview The Plaskett Diploma in Nutritional Consultancy is especially useful for those whereby holistic health is a feature of your line of work and you would like to enhance the service that you provide, or for those that wish to set up an independent practice as a Nutritional Consultant. In Part One you will: Be introduced to the concept of naturopathy Gain a general understanding of the subject of health and nutrition Grasp the fundamentals of the cell's need for nutrients Appreciate the role of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals and understand the basics of how these nutrients work in the body Be aware of the enormous health benefits that can come from favourable dietary change Appreciate the merits of particular foods and nutrients Ultimately gain the knowledge that will lead towards a better standard of well-being now, and a prolonging of good health in the future In Part Two you will:Gain a deeper understanding of naturopathy and its principles which you can then apply to practise in nutritional therapies.Obtain the skills to understand the depth of disease in your patients to then find a route back from chronic disease and enable you to advise the best treatment plan.Develop an understanding of the role of the practitioner from the initial consultation, the taking of a case history, the interpretation and the subsequent advising of a treatment plan.Learn the ‘tools of the trade’ in using diets, supplements, herbs, phytonutrients in treatment, with flexibility and insight. BREAKDOWN OF THE COURSE SECTIONS PART ONE includes the following 12 sections: SECTION 1 THE PRINCIPLE BULK NUTRIENTS & ASSOCIATED FOODS In Section 1, we begin the study of nutrients and foods by looking at the main bulk nutrients that our diets contain: protein, carbohydrate and fat. Before one can consider individual vitamins and minerals, one has to know about the nutrients that make up most of our diets, namely the bulk nutrients. These are the suppliers of food energy, essential amino acids and fatty acids. You will need to understand these so as to manipulate them with skill. Areas Covered Proteins The carbohydrates Fibre Fats Classes of foods based upon composition SECTION 2 THE CELL & CELL ENERGY This section will illuminate the nature of the cell and explain how the energy of the cell is generated and what functions the cell must perform using that energy. It explains calories as units of energy measurement and the dynamic role of the enzymes in the cells. Areas Covered The cell Cell energy The energy content of food What else does the body have to do with its energy? How does the body release energy from food? Enzymes The overwhelming importance of cell energy The vitality of cells and tissues The key role of blood glucose What key factors are most likely to erode good vitality? Go-factors for enzymes Internal cell environment Enzyme poisons SECTION 3 THE ENVIRONMENT INSIDE THE CELL This section explains the importance of the controlled environment inside the cell. It particularly stresses how important it is to maintain the balance between sodium and potassium and between calcium and magnesium. Areas covered Out of balance intakes of sodium and potassium Calcium and magnesium balance Calcium mishandling SECTION 4 THE NEED FOR THE CELL TO SELF CLEANSE This section shows you how the cell needs to remain vital and active and to maintain the integrity of its energy systems and enzymes. It stresses the cell's need to excrete waste and toxic materials and to actively cleanse. This approach is both naturopathic and science-based. Areas covered Naturopathic elimination The concept of self-cleansing Naturopathy Vitality Chronic and acute Suppression SECTION 5 THE MICRO-MINERALS & THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CELL This section emphasises and explains the importance of micro-minerals. It shows them in their role as enzyme activators and how they contribute in this way to cell energy and to maintaining the cell's integrity and function. It explains the key roles and characteristics of individual micro-minerals. Areas covered How metals act as enzyme activators Iron Zinc Manganese Copper Chromium Selenium Molybdenum General supplementation policy on trace metals Non-metallic micro-minerals Toxic metals Notes on metallic macro-minerals SECTION 6 THE VITAMINS This section covers the entire group of vitamins. It shows how they activate enzymes, contribute to cell energy and increase vitality. It explains their differing functions and characteristics. Areas covered Vitamins defined Intakes and rnis for vitamins How vitamins work The vitamins Non-vitamin nutrients How vitamins contribute to cell energy and increase the life force Food sources of the vitamins SECTION 7 BOWEL FLORA – HOW IT AIDS CLEANSING & MAINTENANCE OF A GOOD BODY ENVIRONMENT This section explains how the complex population of bacteria in the intestines contribute to maintaining vitality and health. In particular, it will become clear how these bacteria aid cleansing and the maintenance of a good environment within the body, which is so essential to good health. It includes how to nurture your own bowel flora organisms. Areas covered The bacteria of the large intestine (the bowel) The alternative view of desirable and undesirable bowel flora The benefits from an acidic lower bowel The effect of bowel flora upon cleansing Association of lactobacillus with milk Synthesis and absorption of b vitamins The reciprocal effects of bowel flora The bowel flora from infancy to adulthood Candida albicans How to maintain the bowel flora The use of bowel flora products SECTION 8 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAIN FOODS. SUPPRESSIVE VERSUS ELIMINATIVE FOODS This section identifies the 'suppressive' foods - those which block the body's elimination of toxins. It separates them from the 'eliminative' foods - those which enable or enhance the voiding of toxins. It gives the characteristics (in this respect) of the main food groups. It will tell you what problem foods to avoid and identify the acid-producing foods. Areas Covered Milk as a problem food Wheat and rye as problem foods Vegetables Relation of elimination to acidity The two-step process of elimination The neutral grains Salt Sugar SECTION 9 THE COMPOSITION OF FOODS This section provides a great deal of data on the composition of foods, their content and the main differences between them. This is a working mass of data to enable your own design of health-giving diets. Areas Covered Commentary on food tables The spread of bulk nutrients The spread of mineral nutrients SECTION 10 ALLERGIES, INTOLERANCE & SENSITIVITY. MICRO-MINERALS & THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE CELL This section is an introduction to allergies or intolerances - what they are; physical signs and symptoms, the most frequent; masked/hidden and/or addictive allergies; causes of allergy - food, chemical, emotional and mental; stages of allergy; different types of allergy - fixed, variable, cyclic; managing allergies and sensitivities - how to handle them; rotation diets (including the rotation chart); allergy testing and its limitations; food additives and chemicals; the role of nutrition in all this. Areas Covered Allergic reactions defined The nature of allergies and the effect they have Obvious reactions The four main classes of allergy The possible underlying causes of allergy Viewing allergy tests and their limitations What help is available to deal with allergies The key role of nutrition in the underlying case and treatment of allergy How allergies interfere with treatment The concept of neutralisation The allopathic or orthodox drug approach SECTION 11 DESIGNING DIETS This section provides clear guidance on designing maintenance nutritional diets that, compared to most ordinary diets, should improve health. Areas Covered Dietary paragraphs Using the dietary paragraphs to make up diets SECTION 12 THE USE OF SUPPLEMENTS This section explains and demystifies the subject of vitamin and mineral supplements and their use. It enables you to design simple maintenance and health-giving programmes of supplementation. Areas Covered General guidelines in the use of supplements Always attend to the diet first Preparing for mineral and vitamin supplementation Steps in supplement intake Simple and effective combinations The eliminative qualities of magnesium and calcium Less frequently used combinations Use of multiple formulations Adding in the trace elements as a further stimulant of toxin elimination & for correction of deficiencies On to the next stage – zinc and manganese Conditions where practitioners of nutritional medicine might use such formulae Vitamins a & d Vitamins c & e Choline & inositol Calcium pantothenate The role of the practitioner of nutritional medicine PART TWO includes the following 15 sections: SECTION 1  NATUROPATHY, ITS NATURE AND ITS HISTORY In this section we introduce the medical system known as “naturopathy”. We do so because this system provides the basis for understanding and using naturopathic nutritional therapies. Throughout this Course we shall refer to naturopathy and naturopathic principles and in learning and using these principles, you will hopefully discover a dynamic view of health and illness that will excite you and will inform and motivate your future practice. Areas Covered The Basic Principles of Naturopathy The Early Days: Hydrotherapy as the Core Therapy Progress of Naturopathy in the United States The Halycon Years of Naturopathy in Britain The Suppression of Naturopathy and its Rebirth The Details of Hydrotherapy Techniques The Range of Today’s Naturopathic Techniques Published Research into Naturopathy and General Acceptance Today’s Activities at Health Spas Naturopathy in Relation to Scientific Medicine Naturopathy in Relation to Biochemistry: the Principles of “General Chronicity” Naturopathy as the Philosophical Base for other Therapies SECTION 2 PHILOSOPHY OF NATUROPATHIC NUTRITIONAL THERAPEUTICS In order to begin to understand Nutritional Therapeutics, we have to understand the philosophy that is at its very basis. One will be departing quite fundamentally from conventionality and as the truth about natural medicine and natural nutrition unfolds in this Course, the student will, in all probability, come to realise that holism is a higher form of knowledge; one that transcends the materialistic and the mechanistic and will lead you on the first steps of this most exciting of all journeys. Areas Covered The status of knowledge about diet in relation to health The pressure of conventional opinion The limitations of the conventional approach What goes in must affect health in the long run The body's resistance to deterioration Profound effects from treatment The life force in relation to scientific concepts The nature of toxins Starting to look at the route for recovery Acute conditions, inflammation and hyperactivity Routes by which toxins enter the body Routes of exit of toxins Movement of toxins within the body: toxic locations Iridology Knife edge between healing and non-healing The effects to be expected from toxins residing in tissues SECTION 3 SYNTHESIS OF NATUROPATHY & SCIENCE What is to be presented in this Section is pertinent to the whole question of the initiation of chronic diseases. If we look in the pathology texts and consult the sections on individual types of chronic disease, we usually find an explanation of the cause (aetiology) on a superficial level. However, when we begin to probe into the cause of the causes, we soon hit an impenetrable wall of “not knowing”. It is in this Section that we aim to open the door to this question and therefore give a route back from chronic disease. Areas covered Introduction: a specialized meaning of “Chronicity” The Nature of Toxic Damage – Non-Specific Cell Toxicity The Nature of Membranes Mechanisms of Protein Synthesis and their Vulnerability to Toxins Damage to Mitochondria and the Endoplasmic Reticulum Relationship of General Cellular Damage to Cancer The Nucleus, DNA and their Vulnerability to Toxins DNA Repair Mechanisms The Nature of Toxic Damage – Specific Cell Toxicity Cell Damage and the “General Chronicity” Theory SECTION 4 THE PRACTITIONER’S ROLE In this Section we wish to paint a picture that fairly fully describes this role. It is important to build a set of views about your future role that is fully compatible and interwoven with the naturopathic philosophy and data given in the previous Sections of the Course.  Areas covered Introduction to the Role of the practitioner The Wider Environment The Microcosm of the Consulting Room patient & treatment pimary components of the Practitioner’s role a working relationship & commitment to each patient physical examination communicating & recording the prescription providing nutritional products required for therapy communication with doctors spreading the word SECTION 5 UNDERSTANDING THE DEPTH OF DISEASE Here is where the clinical work begins. We begin by thinking about this one aspect – how sick is your patient? You need some idea as to how big the problem is that lies before you. Areas covered The Nature of Health and Disease and the Approach to Treatment Some of the Misconceptions Flexibility of Disease Definitions Arthritis as an Example Do You Need a Hospital Diagnosis When You Are Not Unwell? Homotoxicology and the Teachings of Reckeweg Reckeweg’s Six Levels of Deterioration Examples of Progressive Sequences of Medical Conditions The Miasmic Background: Important but Disputed territory The Three Basic Homeopathic Miasms The Tubercular Miasm The Carcinocin Miasm The Sub-divisions of the Tubercular Miasm Note on Iridology SECTION 6 THE CONCEPT OF ELIMINATORY PRESSURE & ITS MANAGEMENT Eliminatory pressure is the term we use to denote the combined effect of all the various naturopathic-type measures we apply to help the body biochemistry of a sick person to return to normal. According to the “Theory of General Chronicity”, the normality of the biochemistry of the body cells, and hence their degree of freedom from toxicity and damage, is our yardstick of general health and vitality. Areas covered The Nature of Eliminatory Pressure Differences of Response to Naturopathic Pressure The Interactions between Toxins and Toxic Damage Regulating Eliminative Pressure at Manageable Levels The Basics of Generating Eliminatory Pressure Fasting: Free Radicals and Antioxidants “Firing up” Eliminatory Pressure with Fruit The Stage I and Stage 2 Elimination Using Foods to Generate Controlled Levels of Eliminatory Pressure Using Supplements to Generate Controlled Levels of Eliminatory Pressure Contributions to Eliminatory Pressure from Herbs and Special Nutrients Levels of Eliminatory Pressure, Understanding and Managing Them The Effectiveness’, or Otherwise, of Eliminatory Reactions The Concept of the “Chronically Acute” The Approach to Overall Management of the Case SECTION 7 TAKING THE CASE HISTORY & UNDERSTANDING ORGANS AND ORGAN FUNCTIONS In this Section we concern ourselves with the actual technique for taking down the particulars of the case. Before we can carry out a full naturopathic diagnosis, we shall need to understand the principles of ‘Plotting the Course of Disease’. It is from this that we will gain a full appreciation of how the sick person came to be in their present condition and this will then lead us on to the question of what to do about it.  Areas covered The More Basic Facts The Aims and Objectives in Taking the Case The Organ States Assessing the Naturopathic State of Organs Hierarchy of Organs Organ-Specific Diagnosis Individually Important Organs and Systems Blood Sugar in Relation to Vitality: Hypoglycaemia The Adrenal Glands how should we recognise adrenal exhaustion clinically? The Liver The Kidneys The Immune System Location of Immune System Components. Functions of Immune System Components. Nutritional Therapy Interpretation of Immune System Signs The Skin SECTION 8 INTERPRETATION OF CASE HISTORY AND UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL REACTIVITY In this Section, we would like you to consider the inevitability of the rules that apply to progression along the pathway to chronic disease, and to the possibility of return from any position that is well down that path. From understanding the case, you will be able to determine what the treatment should be. Areas Covered The Naturopathic Laws and Observational Skills The Progression of Disease More about the Acute and the Chronic The Nutritional Therapist’s View of Disease The Allopathic View of Disease More about “Charting the Naturopathic Ebb and Flow” The Multifactorial Diagnosis See What’s Moving, What’s Changing Assessing Individual Reactivity Let the Case Taking Stage Foreshadow the Interpretation just a Little Note on The Chinese Medicine Connections SECTION 9 THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE & USING DIETS AS TREATMENT Using the information presented to you in Part One of the course, you will be able to use those same dietary paragraphs and move towards a very flexible prescribing of individually designed diets. You will make up a diet for each patient that will embody a carefully thought out modulation of the elimination/suppression aspect of our approach to health.  Areas Covered What we have covered already Many people may seem not to need special diets Avoid becoming paranoid Choices in dietary design More about the food classes Facing realism in your range of non-therapeutic prescriptions Adaptation for vegetarians Elements of directional dietary prescribing The approach to actual therapeutic prescription SECTION 10 THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE & USING SUPPLEMENTS AS TREATMENT We provided advice in Part One of the Course on the use of supplements. We introduced the ratio between magnesium and calcium, the use of micro-minerals and the use of zinc and manganese to name but a few. Here we explain further the steps needed to apply these essential tools to ensure that your treatment advice is successful. Areas Covered The latest advice provided by the Introductory Nutritional Course supplementation Legal Restraint upon use of Supplements SECTION 11 THE TOOLS OF THE TRADE & USING HERBS AS TREATMENT In the course of our treatment we often need to deal with common herbs. This is to produce certain organ-specific or system-specific effects, not obtainable with other nutrients. The effect of this is not to make Herbalists of us, but to ensure that these remedies are very carefully selected for their compatibility with other nutrients.  Areas Covered Aloe vera Bromelain St john’s wort Gingko biloba Silymarin SECTION 12 ACTIONS OF GROUPS OF PHYTONUTRIENTS This Section begins to delve into what lies behind the known fact that fruit and vegetable consumption inhibits many diseases. What are the substances within them that are responsible for such an important protection of the human body? Each of the main groups is examined with the main purpose being to familiarize the Student with these substances and to offer scientific evidence that some of these really do protect against disease. Areas Covered The Position of Phytonutrients Among Other Factors What are Phytonutrients? The Place of Phytonutrients among Secondary Plant Metabolites The Different Groups of Beneficial Phytonutrients Evidence for anti-disease activity SECTION 13 SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS & THE COMBINED PRESCRIPTION When we write about “special supplements”, we mean to refer to those substances that are used as nutritional supplements and which do not fit into any of the previous categories mentioned. Here we teach the Student that they may in fact include many substances from many groups, leading to a diversified classification that each has their own special effects, conferring unique advantages upon the taker of them. Areas Covered Special Supplements & combined prescription Conducting the Consultation SECTION 14 STEERING A COURSE THROUGH TREATMENT – FLEXIBILITY AND INSIGHT Having not specifically addressed the question of what happens after the initial consultation, it is here that we bring together all the information that has been presented to you in the pages of this Nutritional Therapeutics Course, therefore, making this Section a recapitulation of things we have covered already, but brought together in a cohesive treatment of the subject. Areas Covered Progressing the Case Things to do at the First Consultation to help towards the Second The Second Consultation the meaning of different outcomes Constipation and Diarrhoea as incidents in Treatment. Titration of Bowel Flora The Nutritional Therapy Intensive Cleanse Diet Enemas Supplements Juices Duration Supplement Sequences in Treatment From Calcium Formulations to Calcium-Free Formulations Other Progressions Allergies, Intolerances and Hypersensitivities SECTION 15 SNAGS, CLEANSES AND CASE HISTORIES TESTIMONIALS Here's what students have to say about the course Kate Woolger, pilates instructor UK I chose the Plaskett College as I wanted something which was flexible and could be done in my own time. The content of the course really appealed. The study experience has been enjoyable - sometimes hard if a subject wasn’t so interesting. In regards to changes I have already implemented, I’m more thoughtful of thinking things through from the inception rather than just looking at the problem"