Bloating, Pain, Hospitals and Parasites Become Your Own Best Health Advocate If you follow me on my Facebook page you’ll know that last Wednesday I was woken in the early hours with EXCRUCIATING lower right, abdominal pain followed by vomiting bile. I was taken to hospital and drugged up on morphine, asked to pee in a jar, fill up with fluid for a couple of ultrasounds, then drink a litre of dye and be injected with contrast for a CT scan. The suspects – kidneys, ovaries and appendix – were all clear, but not before they offered to call a surgeon to cut me
READ MORE →MINDBODYFOOD PODCAST This week Daniel Biernoff joins me on the Mind-Body-Food Podcast talking about REAL food nutrition in our busy modern lifestyles. Daniel is a fully qualified naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist with over 15 years of clinical experience working with people from all walks of life. He is a firm believer that our modern diet – full of nutritionally depleted foods and chemical additives – is making us sick and that our bodies can heal themselves from almost any health problem with the right nutrition and supplement support. An open and highly educational look into food and the modern diet,
READ MORE →Well dear readers, it’s a brand new year. And research shows that January is usually accompanied by resolutions to lose weight, change employment or finally sort out your finances. Which category are you focused on? Because of the area I specialize in, many people who employ my coaching and therapy services in the new year are usually wanting to lose weight, be happy, and find more peace and inner calm. The biggest lesson I teach them is that they won’t find what they’re looking for by going on a new diet. What your body desperately wants and needs is homeostasis,
READ MORE →PB CHOC BALLS Peanut Butter Chocolate Balls – need I say more…. They’re simple and very easy to make because you only need one bowl, one spoon and one tray to make them! If you’re a lover of wholefood and nutrient dense treats, chances are you’ll already have these ingredients staples in your pantry. Enjoy! V xo PB (peanut butter) Choc Balls Recipe Ingredients 1 cup organic smooth peanut butter 1/2 cup organic hulled tahini 1/2 cup raw cacao powder 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 to 3/4 cup rice malt syrup (Optional 1 tablespoon of raw honey can
READ MORE →CHOCOLATE JAFFA CAKE that’s healthy! I’m pretty sure you all know how much I love to create whole food dishes to replace the store-bought and processed versions. This one does not disappoint – it’s bloody delicious! I decided to have a play with the Chocolate Chia Berry Cake from my Healthy Chocolate Delights eBook that’s always a winner. By doubling the mixture and changing a few key items to achieve the flavour I was after, it’s turned out to be a deliciously moist and rich cake with a beautiful aroma and flavour. The chocolate ganache icing is a delightfully
READ MORE →Healthy Homemade Chocolate Almond Spread! Super easy! I wished I had have come up with this one sooner! It’s such an easy and indulgent chocolate flavoured nut butter, and a fantastic substitute to commercial spreads, conveniently targeted at children. You won’t experience an insulin high with this one, nor the cravings an hour later – unless of course you have a bit of a sugar addiction and are still weening your gut bacteria off of the sweet stuff! This delicious homemade chocolate almond spread is a great raw food treat that doesn’t require any cooking whatsoever – just a glass jar to mix
READ MORE →Raw Vanilla & Blueberry Cheesecake (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free) Cheesecake growing up in the 70’s and 80’s was quite a regular indulgence in our house because my parents often hosted celebratory parties. The cheesecakes were ALWAYS homemade back then, but even still, as a teenager I just didn’t know that gobbling them up was a cause of my stomach upsets. Now that I do, I’ve been making and teaching a VERY healthy and satisfying way to enjoy the mouthfeel, texture and flavours of cheesecake but without the components that make my digestive tract upset and unhappy. This particular recipe is
READ MORE →How healthy is your diet? Guest post by Daniel Biernoff (Nourished Health Through Nutrition) As a naturopath with twenty years of clinical experience , I often have people tell me that they stick to a “healthy diet”- then proceed to run off a list of debilitating health problems. The reality is that the average “healthy” Australian diet which is heavy on dairy, meat and processed foods, directly contributes to our disturbing health statistics where heart disease, dementia, obesity, diabetes and cancers are becoming increasingly common. So what’s not adding up? We are told by all sorts of people in
READ MORE →Healthy Hot Cross Buns – Gothic Fig & Double Choc Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free, Egg Free It’s Good Friday 2015 as I type this and I’ve spent the morning with my Beloved in the kitchen, baking two versions of my Spelt Hot Cross Buns. The first is my Orange, Fig and Pecan Buns, the second, my Gothic Fig and Double Choc Buns below! Honey thought that these particular hot cross buns looked a little dark and Gothic with the melted chocolate crossed over the top – hence the name! Whether you celebrate Easter or not, love the family get-togethers, or
READ MORE →Healthy Hot Cross Buns – Orange, Fig & Pecan Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free, Egg Free It’s Good Friday 2015 as I type this and I’ve spent the morning with my Beloved in the kitchen, baking two versions of my Spelt Hot Cross Buns. The first is my Orange, Fig and Pecan Buns below, the second, my Gothic Fig and Double Choc Buns here. (Honey thought they looked a little dark and Gothic with the melted chocolate crosses over the top!) Whether you celebrate Easter or not, love the family get-togethers, or simply look forward to 4 days away from work, it’s
READ MORE →Super Seed & Herb Crackers Finally! I’ve cracked the code on home made crackers that don’t require a dehydrator! I’ve made so many seed and gluten free, grain free loaves of bread now, that I’ve wanted to finally break our Jatsz cracker habit by creating some kind of delicious and super healthy home made version of crackers that will make a decent amount to last for a while before having to make them again. I like the idea of all the things I can create with a dehydrator, but we don’t have one and I’m not ready to find extra
READ MORE →Drink Water, it’s Healthy Do you notice if you’re thirsty right now as you read this? Are you tired, or struggling to stay awake, or concentrate? Water does way more than simply quench our thirst, and yet we often don’t realise the benefits of drinking up. Blood is 83% water. The brain is 74.5% water. It’s fair to say that without enough water being replenished into the blood stream to carry nutrients and oxygen to your cells, regulate your body temperature and nourish your brain, you’d easily start to feel tired, cranky and thirsty. As much as I know myself
READ MORE →Feeding Your Bacteria Is the food we’re eating on a regular basis the reason why we get sick? If we change our food, could we change the state of our health? Can we also affect our moods by making changes to our diet? I firmly believe we can. The collective human microbe colony weighs about 1 and a-half kilos – as much as our brains. Bacterial cells outnumber our human cells by 10 to 1 and they live predominantly inside our gut. Our gut bacteria, also known as the Microbiome (pronounced micro-bi-ome) lives off of the food we eat. The problem is that certain
READ MORE →Mind or Body Cravings? In previous blog posts I’ve explained how when we restrict and deny nourishment to our body (dieting), we often wrestle with cravings (also tiredness and mood swings) until the brain overrides our willpower and has us reaching for a quick fix of fat, sugar and salt. Hunger and cravings are two different sensations. The body regulates our hunger, while the mind wields greater power over food cravings. Hunger serves a more functional purpose, signalling our brains that it’s time to eat and replenish the energy and information we’re running low on. To recap previous articles about the
READ MORE →Green Smoothies and Raw Chocolate This last week I presented and spoke at the Annual ‘QLD Rural, Regional & Remote Women’s Network’ Ag Show Luncheon in Toowoomba. Packing my mason jars, greens, and Omniblend I was prepared for an inspiring food demonstration educating the ladies on the benefits of blending your greens (check out my article and greens video here) for health, energy, reduced cravings and better sleep and concentration. Sharing the stage with three other panellists from different backgrounds and expertise, we engaged in a discussion on, “Eating is an Agricultural Act” and discussed how we can start to improve our health by being aware
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