Windows to the Soul: An Interview with Iridologist Susan Laing

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by: David Hestrin
Tags: iridology, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) Susan Laing is a Naturopathic Iridologist and is based in Leeds, England UK. She also specializes in Raw Food and runs workshops. Susan is also training to become an Ashtanga Yoga teacher.

David Hestrin: What is an iridologist?

Susan Laing: In the hands of a really well trained iridologist, we can look at the frontal aspect of the eye, which means it`s the iris we`re looking at and the dynamics of the pupil and also the sclera. And when we look at this part of the eye with a certain amount of magnification (times sixty) on the iriscope, and we`re able to take photographs - hopefully we`re able to tell quite a lot about a person. And when we see quite a lot about a person - we mean that we can tell about the physical aspect of the body and also the emotional and spiritual side of the body, and it`s a lot of clues you can use if you`re hoping to treat somebody with imbalances in the body. So you`re able to choose the right herbs, and we`re able to choose the right nutrition for that person, and we`re able to pick up food intolerances and also vitamins and mineral deficiencies and so on. So it`s also used as a preventative measure. So iridology is really a diagnostic. It really helps to diagnose imbalances in the body.

David Hestrin: Can you tell some specific imbalances you can notice just by looking at someone in the eyes?

Susan Laing: Before I look into someone`s eyes, I don`t ask them any questions. I just look at their tongue and nails and then their eyes. I tell folks about what`s causing their imbalances, because iridology gets down to the root cause of the imbalance. If someone has a buttonhole sign on their inner pupil border (the cells around the pupil), then this tells me (100% diagnosis) that their body is unable to get rid of the uric acid build up in the cells. Uric acid builds up causing arthritis, gout, heart problems and some respiratory problems etc. So I can say to them "you have inherited a tendency to build up uric acid and this is what is causing your arthritis or gout." I recommend herbs to help their body eliminate the uric acid, for example nettles, and I get them off uric acid forming foods such as animal produce - dairy being one of the worst culprits for the uric acid formation.

David Hestrin: Do you think people can self-diagnose using iridology? Do you think that`s safe?

Susan Laing: I don`t think you can see what you want to see. I think that using an iriscope is a really good way of diagnosis, because you can only see the cells around the pupil with magnification of times 70-80 really and they are one hundred percent diagnostic in proper medical use. If somebody wants to diagnose, I think that looking with the mirror and using a handbook tends to give people the heebie-jeebies! You might think, ``oh my God, I`ve got such and such,`` and only through somebody who knows what they`re talking you`ll be reassured that it`s nothing to worry about.

David Hestrin: What is the process like of learning to be an iridologist?

Susan Laing: I trained in three colleges. The first two were classical iridology training and then I came across John Andrews` book, and I knew that I was going to train with him. He`s the top leading iridologist in the world and in that research. That was eighteenth months training, but that was because I`d done some anatomy and physiology in the past. Yes, it is certificated. Like a lot of things, there are different depths of practice. I feel that the best teaching in the world is with John Andrews, because it`s based on medical research with Dr. Daniel De La Rito, who`s an Italian EMT consultant, and I can honestly say that that gives you the confidence to treat people.

David Hestrin: Can you tell me a bit about the history of iridology?

Susan Laing: It`s been used for a long time. A lot of iridology is based on classic iridology. You might have heard of Bernard Jensen who was a chiropractor, who was I suppose one of the great promoters of iridology. In the past twenty years has really progressed an awful lot due to John Andrews and Dr. Daniel De La Rito who`s done a lot of medical research. Therefore, the things that have been written recently on the subject are much more accurate and much more clear and easier to understand, and the results you get from using those teachings are just amazing. I`m still amazed when I`m seeing a patient and when I open up a book how accurate it is, the information I`m reading.

David Hestrin: Do western doctors pay attention to the iris?

Susan Laing: In some countries they do. In Germany, it`s accepted - much more medically accepted. The Germans seem to be quite ahead in things like homeopathy, iridology, things like that, and in certain parts like Brazil, South America it`s very accepted. South Africa has used it and it`s more accepted there as well. So certain countries, for example the Russian doctors used iridology as part of their diagnosis in medical conditions because they didn`t have all the machinery that a lot of the Western world has. So they might be able to use iridology. For example: dilated pupils meaning stressed adrenals and so on and so on. So in Russia it`s been used for a long time by the medical world.

David Hestrin: It sounds like it`s a very cost effective method. What tools do you use?

Susan Laing: I use an iriscope which has been built only in the past six years for iridiologists. Before that, we used to have to use a slit lamp which is used by opthalmalogists. So I use my iriscope. There`re only about a handful of people in the UK that have one. So I`m proud to say I`m one of the owners of an iriscope! That has an SLR camera attached and a microscope. That`s the iriscope, and then I use my laptop so I can download the photographs.

David Hestrin: What conditions have you diagnosed and treated with iridology?

Susan Laing: The most common problem of today is assimilation - absorption of nutrients. It`s widespread right across the entire world - the Western world. You would think that with the amount we eat that we`d be absorbing food, but we`re not. The amount of the toxicity of the body is hindering the digestion, and the hub of our immunity is our colon. If we don`t get that right, then this leads to other problems - almost all problems.

If we`re not putting the right food in our mouth or the right water or the amount of water, then that tends to cause all the other imbalances in the body. It tends to be a lot of the time digestion oriented. We can diagnose almost every imbalance in the digestive system due to lack of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, which is very common and mis-diagnosed as having too much acid in the body and in the stomach. In actual fact, from the age of 35 onward most people start to have depletion in hydrochloric acid. What I would say is the hub of most problems is what goes in the mouth and what doesn`t.

From there, we`re able to take problems from the hormonal systems: thyroid imbalances, pituitary imbalances, hypothalamic imbalances, adrenal imbalances, and the blood sugar problem that`s really common nowadays where people have their blood sugar dropping too low after going sky high and due to, again, not eating the right foods or eating often enough or eating too much. That`s the hub of all the hormonal system, and then that effects the adrenals, and that effects the thyroid. This is the biggest, the largest, most common problem that I seem to see people coming through the door - blood sugar imbalances, and it depends on the scale 1-10. From there you go out on the peripheral - auto-immune problems from rheumatoid arthritis to systemic lupus erythematosus - lupus and so on. When the body has come to that sort of stage, the problems were caused before that and again usually it is: what`s going in the mouth, what isn`t going in the mouth, or lack of hydrochloric acid and so on. So we`re able to pick that up. It`s preventative - that`s the great thing about iridology. If somebody comes to me and I see that they have a potential heart problem then I`m able to get them on herbs like hawthorne berry or crategus and hopefully alter their diet in a positive way and a manageable way that person. You can prevent future problems. It`s great!

David Hestrin: What is the process of helping alter their diet like?

Susan Laing: My philosophy in life is to keep it simple. On the first visit, increase your water intake by say advising them have a half glass of water every hour. Then I might get them to avoid dairy, and then I might give them some herbs and that might be all I recommend on the first visit after looking at their eyes. I keep it simple so that when they walk out the door they feel like they can do what I`ve recommended for them to do. Every single patient who can add a green smoothie which is fifty percent greens fifty percent fruit and off dairy, just that slight change or increase in their water intake, transforms their lives very quickly.

If someone has a more serious condition then I might ask them to change their diet radically. A gentleman came to me last week with a cholesterol reading of 7.5! So I had to ask him to be quite strict with his diet, but he wanted to do this rather than go on drugs.

David Hestrin: Would you like to share a story?

Susan Laing: Okay! I saw an elderly lady and she was suffering from depression and for quite a number of years and her mother suffered from depression. When I looked in her eyes she had what`s called a cat`s ear sign. This indicates the history of depression. So I changed her diet and made her get off the dairy products as this really congests the liver and the meridian of the liver and got her on various food-state supplements and especially vitamin b-complex and magnesium, which is very good for depression. And within three to four weeks her life changed completely. Not only that but she brought her daughter, who was seventeen and suffering from depression. The daughter was lacking energy and really depressed, and again I did similar tactics - got her off the dairy products. Really simple things because she had dairy intolerance and various other things. When they started to eat the dairy products and missed some supplements they noticed that the depression, a lot of the symptoms, would start to come back.

David Hestrin: How do you know a supplement is good quality? If you wanted to find a good b-vitamin supplement or magnesium supplement how do you know what`s going to work for your body?

Susan Laing: If they are made from foods their body, their cell body, recognizes the receptor sites in the cell that receives the information. It likes nature. It likes natural things. If you use synthetic products only fifteen percent of synthetic products are absorbed. So if it comes from the foods your body can use much more of it.

David Hestrin: So for B-12 is cyanocobalamin okay or should you just take methylcobalamin? Can you clarify that?

Susan Laing: The research done that I`ve read that methylcobalamin was very good because it passed the blood-brain barrier, but the most recent research is definitely from Dr. Clements and Gabriel Cousens (M.D.).

David Hestrin: Is there anything you`d like to say directly to the reading audience?

Susan Laing: I think the half glass of water is quite a good tip to expand on - as this helps to boost the adrenal glands. And most people are in need of water these days as most of us are dehydrated which leads to a stressed body and of course stressed adrenals. So just changing this one habit can be life enhancing.. It helps to reduce any high histamine levels in the body, improve digestion, improve elimination, improve many many bodily functions to work more efficiently after all our blood is 90% water!

I also recommend to avoid all pasteurized & non organic dairy products. Dairy is one of the biggest mucus and acidity producers and this leads to a lot of cellular imbalances - blocking the receptor sites on the cell. Cow milk has been linked to diabetes. The dairy blocks the insulin receptor site and so the insulin does not work as efficiently. Most dairy products also contain things like pesticides & hormones which all interfere again with the cells` receptor sites.

I am also passionate about eating organic vegetables and fruits. It is the soil that contains the many nutrients we need these days. We are so de-mineralized due to the over farmed soils which have become so depleted in many minerals. Our cellular function is dependent on these vital nutrients. For example did you know that 80% of the population lacks magnesium - the anti-stress mineral! It is not only the pesticides sprayed on the fruits and vegies, but it is the quality of the soil that is the hub of all nutrition. I liken our bodies to being like a garden and if we manage to maintain a good healthy soil we will be free from disease. So the earth`s soil is dependent to what our own body`s gardens will be like.

About the author

David Shlomo Hestrin is the author of The "Cure" For Blur an e-book written to help people improve their eyesight naturally by improving their relaxation and enjoyment of life. He also does health and nutritional research for the Better Earth Institute.
http://thecureforblur.com