… including genetic strengths and weaknesses, levels of inflammation, efficiency of the organs and the causes of symptoms.
Marcia Harewood, who is also trained in Osteopathy, Herbal Medicine and Naturopathy, will spend two hours creating a comprehensive health plan for you, based on an examination of your eyes.
TNT went along to get checked out.
I arrive in Harewood’s clinic, clutching the four-page health questionnaire I filled in last night, feeling, if truth be told, a bit sceptical about Iridology.
A friendly, confident, Harewood takes my pulse and blood pressure before the examination of my irises begins.
Iridologists are looking for minute differences in the colour and pattern of the iris, which, according to the practice, point to variations in the function and make-up of our bodies.
Harewood shines a torch into my eyes, instructing me to look up, down and to either side. I then put my head into an opticians’ examining apparatus and try to sit still as Harewood charts a diagram of my eye.
Iris exam over, it’s time for the moment of truth. What do the results say about my state of health?
“Do you suffer from a poor constitution and get lots of colds,” Harewood asks after comparing her diagram to a series of iris pictures.
I don’t. But, on second try, Harewood gets it right, pinpointing the fact that I have a bad stomach. She goes on to correctly suggest that I am somewhat hyper and nervy. This, unfortunately, is me sussed.
These revelations come before the questionnaire has been opened, something that happens now, confirming Harewood’s prognosis.
My bad stomach and neurotic disposition are both long-term ailments which traditional doctors have failed to either take seriously or find a cure for. Harewood, however, plans a course of supplements and diet changes for me, along with a four-week bowel detox.
Whether these successfully cure me remains to be seen – overnight magic is not claimed – but there’s no denying the therapeutic benefit of having someone spend two hours discussing, and suggesting solutions to, your health worries.
The jury is still out as to the science of Iridology, but as a tool to promote discussion of health and wellbeing, you can’t knock it.
255A Lavender Hill, SW11 1JD
Overground: Clapham Junction; Tube: Clapham Common
marcia-harewood.co.uk
Guild of Naturopathic Iridologists International – gni-internal.org
