Fact: we live in the developed western world. We have lifestyles to maintain, often very busy ones, kids to keep up with, money to make. We prioritise everything but our own health, mentally, physically and emotionally. While we know our lifestyle choices are creating substandard health, we often can't see how life could be fulfilling or rewarding if we did things diferently. People say "sure, I'd love to breathe clean air, eat clean food and drink clean water, but I don't want to move to the middle of nowhere to get it!"
Fair enough, neither do I. But I do want to show respect and care for my whole self. That's a priority for me, because I like to feel energetic, to think clearly, have balanced emotions and look my best, and I know my diet and lifestyle choices have the greatest impact on those factors. I don't always succeed, and sometimes I do fantasise about moving to the middle of nowhere to be rid of temptation, but I know that it's possible to be healthy in the midst of it all.
So here are some thoughts about living a normal life in a healthy way. Please email me any more you think of.
PS: Yes, the following can be used as a weight loss regimen. The healthy, maintainable way.
At home: This is where you have the greatest influence, make the most of it!
- Avoid the supermarket. Get your fruit and vegies organic from a specialist shop or delivered to your home. (Delivered feels like decadence, I promise! Plus the food is fresher that way.)Get organic meat too. Once you're eating predominantly organic you're most of the way there, since organic food has a higher nutritional profile, you don't require as much to satisfy, and your body won't keep asking for more nutrients.
- Filter your water. Heavy metals, flouride and chlorine are the enemy of health, especially of the thyroid
- Don't allow junk foods into your house, ensure your partner is on board with this. Keep nuts and fruit for snacks. Keep yourself satisfied using these foods and you won't miss a thing, especially when you see the effect.
Out for dinner: You'll find something healthy on most menus, as long as you know what you're looking for.
- Avoid wheat including bread and pasta. Empty, nutrition free calories will just get stored
- Opt for Asian if you can. Asian food is some of the healthiest around, which is why those cultures tend to look so good and have lower incidence of lifestyle diseases.
- Go for high vegetable content options like salads and soups, clean proteins like fish, chicken or tofu, or at least neutral dishes like risotto
- If you have to have an alcoholic drink with dinner choose red wine
- Don't do dessert
Friends over:
- Serve snacks like a bowl of roasted nuts, it's amazing how moreish these are, you won't miss the sugar. Other options include dips like mashed avo, hommus, or find a brand that doesn't contain E numbers, serve with carrot and celery sticks and rice crackers.
- Make sure you've eaten well (protein and veg) before people arrive so you're genuinely not hungry anyway.
- If they're over for dinner make something easy and healthy like risotto or a roast or some fish and veg. If they offer to bring something tell them salad, which means you have control over dessert, not them. See Baking section to sort this out.
- If others bring junk with them it can throw a spanner in the works, especially at the beginning of the regimen. If it's soft drink I find that easy to avoid, as I prefer sparkling mineral water anyway. If it's chocolate I may have a problem, in which case I try to ignore it and tell myself "it's not mine, they brought it for them". Always give any left over back to them before they go.
Out for coffee:
- Drink green or herbal tea. Coffee disrupts your Cortisol/DHEA cycle, inhibiting weight loss and depressing immunity by preventing deep sleep. It doesn't matter what time you drink it.
Movies:
- Popcorn and water, not lollies and soft drink
- Fizzy water if you must
Quick meals:
- Stir fries are super fast, fresh and loaded with nutrition
- Soup. So easy, so light, so what your body will love
- 4 bean mix salad with some rice or quinoa (see quinoa blog) and few chopped crunchy veg. Also kid friendly, but a nice dressing and some fresh herbs makes it adult friendly!
- Omelette, with just about any vegetable on hand. Great 'loose ends' meal
- Don't make the mistake of thinking that the expensive, packaged frozen 'diet meals' are going to help you. You might lose weight but you won't gain nutrition, therefore you won't gain health. Without health you won't maintain the weight.
Takeaway: You can't fault the diets of healthy races like the Thais!
- Thai - I don't think they make anything heavy. Coconut is a good fat
- Indian - here opt for dahls, vegie based dishes and avoid the heavy, meaty, creamy ones and the breads
- Malaysian - laksas and vegie dishes
Out for drinks:
- Stick to spirits like gin and vodka, mix with soda water and real lime, or grapefruit juice.
Brunch with the girls:
- Choose bircher muesli and yoghurt or a bowl of porridge, or fruit and yoghurt.
- Drink water or mineral water. So European. So chic
Baking:
- If this is a hobby of yours, buy some Xylitol. It's a natural sugar substitute made from a plant extract that doesn't move your blood sugars, therefore it won't disrupt your pancreas and, in turn, stuff up your whole hormonal system the way sugar does
- Buy some gluten free, or at least wheat free flour, because refined wheat is not much better than sugar
- Fruit based desserts are great when you have people over. Apple crumble with a topping made from oats and almond meal, poached pears, baked peaches etc can all be served with a little organic cream, which won't move your blood sugars. Much better for you than ice cream. Also much easier and quicker than cake baking
Tips that don't take much effort:
- Drink 2 big glasses of water on rising, before anything else goes in.
- Have a high protein breakfast to keep you going and reduce cravings for naughty foods (see blog 'What's for Breakfast' for ideas)
- Carry fruit and nuts with you at all times to ward off evil
- Drink 2+L water daily
- Eat grapefruits regularly. I have a great recipe somewhere for red grapefruit salad, I'll share it when I find it!
- Switch to a natural sea, rock or river salt. Processed, refined salt is bad news
- Take a probiotic and a good quality multi every morning with your first glasses of water.
- Do exercise you enjoy. If you don't enjoy something, do something else. I love to walk, swim, do yoga and go for PT sessions. I once loved to dance, that probably worked better than anything!
- Ignore calories, eat real foods - the ones nature made. Remember, it's the excess sugar in refined, processed foods that you're trying to avoid. Fats will not make you fat. In fact, not enough fat makes you fat, and makes your skin saggy. So eat plenty of avo and nuts and fish and tofu and eggs.
- Decide on a "worth it" food. What's the naughtiness that gives you the most indulgent pleasure? Make it something great, for example you may decide on fresh vanilla slice from the french patisserie. Mentally categorise all chocolate, lollies, pastries, chips, pies, pasta, boxed breaky etc as not worth it and ignore them. Give yourself vanilla slice very occasionally because it's 'worth it'.
For me, using these tips doesn't make life any harder. I can still do all the things I usually do, only the small, insignificant choices are altered. Sometimes some foreplanning is involved, but that's a matter of habit, which comes with determined persistence.
There are times when it's really hard. Especially in the first week when your blood sugars are out of balance (see blog Easter Special for info on blood sugar balancing). But as these tips become habit you'll most certainly notice the difference. I can promise that avoiding processed, sugary foods will work to create health. They're the sole problem with the western diet. It's just a matter of getting used to it.
Best of luck and give me feedback! I want to know what the hardest parts are for you.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Candidiasis - my journey
I've been meaning to write about Candidiasis for a while now, and I've even been asked to by patients who struggle with it, but I haven't yet. This is because it's such a boring subject by itself. A description, some recommendations...yawn...
Yet it's totally integral to good health. Without good intestinal health, we can't be healthy at all, physically, mentally or emotionally. The intestines are the crux of our total health.
Candida albicans is a yeast which lives in our gut along with many other microbes (bacteria such as acidophilus & friends, e-coli etc) which function in a perfectly balanced ecosystem to digest our food. When we mistreat our 'intestinal flora' (the collective name for all these yeasts and bacteria) with sugar, alcohol and excessive antibiotics, the candida becomes too prolific, because the others can't keep it in check. This results in poor digestion of food and poor absorption of nutrients, and without enough nutrients no system can be healthy, including our immune system (allergies, colds & flu, recovery time etc), liver, kidneys, heart, muscles, bones, hormones (which affect weight, fertility, stress) and nervous system (and therefore emotions). This situation is known as 'malabsorption syndrome'. Then of course there are the other little complications such as bloating, gut cramps, oral and vaginal thrush, urinary tract infections, and other rashes and fungal infections anywhere else on the body.
I learned the importance of balanced gut flora the hard way, and it's probably the reason I became a Naturopath. So instead of listing all the treatments for intestinal candidiasis I'm going to share my story, which may be very familiar to you, because it's common amongst little kids. Some of us lucky ones are taken to a natural health professional and recover, others continue with modern medicine and the story continues into adulthood.
As a small child (I'm told) I had many recurrances of urinary tract and ear infections. Each time my Mum would take me to the doctor and I would be prescribed antibiotics. Over and over again. That many courses were probably enough in themselves, but I was also consuming cereal and milk and bread daily, and possibly too many biscuits at Grandma's house! So, by the time I was 8 or 9 I had such a rampant case of candidiasis that I developed very bad vaginal thrush. I remember this part well; no 9 year old should ever have to endure thrush. At the time it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. At her wit's end, my poor Mum took me to a Naturopath. This Naturopath, though I don't remember her at all, changed my life. I was sent home with an eating plan which involved eliminating all sugar in all forms. That is lollies, cakes, biscuits, commercial fruit juice, soft drinks, dried fruit, bread, pasta and other wheat products, and dairy, (with the exception of plain, natural pot-set yoghurt). These high GI foods are what candida albicans loves to eat. I was also given a probiotic powder (these days we have capsules, I did it tough!) to recollonise my gut with good bacteria (the ones the antibiotics killed), and the most vile liquid herbal, to kill the excess candida, both to be taken daily.
Now as a Naturopath I would struggle to believe any 8 or 9 year old would follow this regimen. And of course it is largely up to the parents to ensure the programme is followed, however I remembered and remember still what that thrush felt like. I was more than willing to do whatever was required to ex it. And when I noticed one day that my bloated tummy was now flat, I was hooked!
It wasn't easy at first though. Back then there weren't as many wonderful alternatives to wheat as there are now. The bread for my school lunches was dry and had a nasty habit of crumbling. The wheat free pasta was woeful, I'd rather have eaten brocoli than the wheat free biscuits of the day and all of it was hard to source. Forget the existance of a health food asile in the supermarket. There were no wheat free breakfast cereals that were also sugar free so on schoolday mornings I ate puffed something-or-other, which tasted like cardboard, with either goats milk or yoghurt. We soon abandoned the cereal/milk thing in favour of real food; fruit, yoghut and nuts or eggs or baked beans or rye bread toast with almond spread. (Now I have a lot of porridge too, but Mum has bad childhood memories of the stuff and couldn't bring herself to feed it to us.)
One of my Mum's favourite memories of my first couple of days was about 72 hours into the programme, when I announced that "I feel better in my feelings". When asked to explain I said that the girl down the road was "still annoying, but I don't feel like killing her anymore."
There was pent up irritability that just disappeared. There were loads of physical symptoms that disappeared, including the bloating, and the infections. I was a much happier kid in general, and I never forgot the instant difference the treatment plan made for me. After a while I discontinued the herbal, and only took a course of the probiotics here and there, but I stayed on the diet for the most part. There were, of course, times when it wasn't possible, like our family trip to Rome over Christmas when I was 9 and a half. Thanks to the abundance of sugar and pasta and bread (mmmmmm) some symptoms returned. It's happened like that over the years; I start eating sugar and flour and after a week or so I feel different. But it's never been severe and out of control again. I now know how to manage my gut flora and still live a normal, restaurant-loving Melburninan life.
Now that I'm about to start a family of my own I hope that I can help them to maintain gut flora balance, and prevent all that pain and discomfort. Here are some of the things I will do to ensure their health:
Breast feed and never give formula. There are herbs I can take if there's a supply problem.
Ensure they eat real food at all times, ie fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, legumes, meat, fish, real yoghurt, oats, rice and quinoa. This ensures they get plenty of nutrients and don't get sick much in the first place.
Ensure they never drink soft drinks and grow up knowing that they're poison
Ensure they dont drink processed cow milk
Keep sugary foods (including breakfast cereals) for very special occasions like Christmas, Easter and Birthdays, and even then keep it to a minimum
At home, cook mostly wheat free foods, so that when they are out it's not as big an issue.
Treat ear infections with a drop of garlic oil and a homoeopathic, no need for antibiotics
Treat colds with homoeopathics and (when they're older) herbs unless it's a critical situation
So these are the preventative measures you can use for candidiasis. The great thing about raising kids this way is that they'll be really healthy in general, and you'll never know what other diseases you've prevented. You'll most certainly use less pharmaceuticals because there will be less need for them. They are less likely to develop allergies because their little livers will be clean, and they'll be more emotionally balanced and mentally at their best.
If you're treating yourself for candidiasis, these are the two products you can get from your pharmacy or health shop
Or you can see your Naturopath for an individualised treatment plan. If you also have thrush I find garlic tablets work very quickly, and they don't have to be fancy ones, Natures Own Odourless Garlic works fine, 2 tablets 3 times daily til it's gone, in conjunction with the diet, probiotics and herbs. With garlic treatment thrush is usually gone in a day or so.
If you need to take a course of antibiotics, and I stress the word 'need', as I believe they should be used in very rare circumstances, then always take a course of probiotics immediately after you finish them and spend some time on the diet as well.
Exercise and sleep are also important for treating candidiasis. Exercise is known to boost the immune system in several ways; by increasing happy brain chemicals and by encouraging good quality sleep. During good sleep our bodies replenish, and the immune system is strengthened. If you're not waking feeling refreshed then you're not getting good quality sleep. The clean eating plan alone will probably recitfy this.
It's important to remember that candidiasis is endemic to the westernised world, where we consume highly processed foods every day and feed them to our kids, and overuse antibiotics. As a Naturopath I tend to find it at the core of most of my client's ill health, because we can't be healthy without a perfectly balanced intestinal system. The good news is that the intestinal system regenerates itself very quickly; in 3 months it's an entirely new gut. This means that if you remain on the treatment for 3 solid months you have a gut that's made from good food, and will be functioning beautifully.
If you want more info on candidiasis or you want to share your story, please comment or email me
Wishing you great gut health!
Yet it's totally integral to good health. Without good intestinal health, we can't be healthy at all, physically, mentally or emotionally. The intestines are the crux of our total health.
Candida albicans is a yeast which lives in our gut along with many other microbes (bacteria such as acidophilus & friends, e-coli etc) which function in a perfectly balanced ecosystem to digest our food. When we mistreat our 'intestinal flora' (the collective name for all these yeasts and bacteria) with sugar, alcohol and excessive antibiotics, the candida becomes too prolific, because the others can't keep it in check. This results in poor digestion of food and poor absorption of nutrients, and without enough nutrients no system can be healthy, including our immune system (allergies, colds & flu, recovery time etc), liver, kidneys, heart, muscles, bones, hormones (which affect weight, fertility, stress) and nervous system (and therefore emotions). This situation is known as 'malabsorption syndrome'. Then of course there are the other little complications such as bloating, gut cramps, oral and vaginal thrush, urinary tract infections, and other rashes and fungal infections anywhere else on the body.
I learned the importance of balanced gut flora the hard way, and it's probably the reason I became a Naturopath. So instead of listing all the treatments for intestinal candidiasis I'm going to share my story, which may be very familiar to you, because it's common amongst little kids. Some of us lucky ones are taken to a natural health professional and recover, others continue with modern medicine and the story continues into adulthood.
As a small child (I'm told) I had many recurrances of urinary tract and ear infections. Each time my Mum would take me to the doctor and I would be prescribed antibiotics. Over and over again. That many courses were probably enough in themselves, but I was also consuming cereal and milk and bread daily, and possibly too many biscuits at Grandma's house! So, by the time I was 8 or 9 I had such a rampant case of candidiasis that I developed very bad vaginal thrush. I remember this part well; no 9 year old should ever have to endure thrush. At the time it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. At her wit's end, my poor Mum took me to a Naturopath. This Naturopath, though I don't remember her at all, changed my life. I was sent home with an eating plan which involved eliminating all sugar in all forms. That is lollies, cakes, biscuits, commercial fruit juice, soft drinks, dried fruit, bread, pasta and other wheat products, and dairy, (with the exception of plain, natural pot-set yoghurt). These high GI foods are what candida albicans loves to eat. I was also given a probiotic powder (these days we have capsules, I did it tough!) to recollonise my gut with good bacteria (the ones the antibiotics killed), and the most vile liquid herbal, to kill the excess candida, both to be taken daily.
Now as a Naturopath I would struggle to believe any 8 or 9 year old would follow this regimen. And of course it is largely up to the parents to ensure the programme is followed, however I remembered and remember still what that thrush felt like. I was more than willing to do whatever was required to ex it. And when I noticed one day that my bloated tummy was now flat, I was hooked!
It wasn't easy at first though. Back then there weren't as many wonderful alternatives to wheat as there are now. The bread for my school lunches was dry and had a nasty habit of crumbling. The wheat free pasta was woeful, I'd rather have eaten brocoli than the wheat free biscuits of the day and all of it was hard to source. Forget the existance of a health food asile in the supermarket. There were no wheat free breakfast cereals that were also sugar free so on schoolday mornings I ate puffed something-or-other, which tasted like cardboard, with either goats milk or yoghurt. We soon abandoned the cereal/milk thing in favour of real food; fruit, yoghut and nuts or eggs or baked beans or rye bread toast with almond spread. (Now I have a lot of porridge too, but Mum has bad childhood memories of the stuff and couldn't bring herself to feed it to us.)
One of my Mum's favourite memories of my first couple of days was about 72 hours into the programme, when I announced that "I feel better in my feelings". When asked to explain I said that the girl down the road was "still annoying, but I don't feel like killing her anymore."
There was pent up irritability that just disappeared. There were loads of physical symptoms that disappeared, including the bloating, and the infections. I was a much happier kid in general, and I never forgot the instant difference the treatment plan made for me. After a while I discontinued the herbal, and only took a course of the probiotics here and there, but I stayed on the diet for the most part. There were, of course, times when it wasn't possible, like our family trip to Rome over Christmas when I was 9 and a half. Thanks to the abundance of sugar and pasta and bread (mmmmmm) some symptoms returned. It's happened like that over the years; I start eating sugar and flour and after a week or so I feel different. But it's never been severe and out of control again. I now know how to manage my gut flora and still live a normal, restaurant-loving Melburninan life.
Now that I'm about to start a family of my own I hope that I can help them to maintain gut flora balance, and prevent all that pain and discomfort. Here are some of the things I will do to ensure their health:
Breast feed and never give formula. There are herbs I can take if there's a supply problem.
Ensure they eat real food at all times, ie fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, legumes, meat, fish, real yoghurt, oats, rice and quinoa. This ensures they get plenty of nutrients and don't get sick much in the first place.
Ensure they never drink soft drinks and grow up knowing that they're poison
Ensure they dont drink processed cow milk
Keep sugary foods (including breakfast cereals) for very special occasions like Christmas, Easter and Birthdays, and even then keep it to a minimum
At home, cook mostly wheat free foods, so that when they are out it's not as big an issue.
Treat ear infections with a drop of garlic oil and a homoeopathic, no need for antibiotics
Treat colds with homoeopathics and (when they're older) herbs unless it's a critical situation
So these are the preventative measures you can use for candidiasis. The great thing about raising kids this way is that they'll be really healthy in general, and you'll never know what other diseases you've prevented. You'll most certainly use less pharmaceuticals because there will be less need for them. They are less likely to develop allergies because their little livers will be clean, and they'll be more emotionally balanced and mentally at their best.
If you're treating yourself for candidiasis, these are the two products you can get from your pharmacy or health shop
Or you can see your Naturopath for an individualised treatment plan. If you also have thrush I find garlic tablets work very quickly, and they don't have to be fancy ones, Natures Own Odourless Garlic works fine, 2 tablets 3 times daily til it's gone, in conjunction with the diet, probiotics and herbs. With garlic treatment thrush is usually gone in a day or so.
If you need to take a course of antibiotics, and I stress the word 'need', as I believe they should be used in very rare circumstances, then always take a course of probiotics immediately after you finish them and spend some time on the diet as well.
Exercise and sleep are also important for treating candidiasis. Exercise is known to boost the immune system in several ways; by increasing happy brain chemicals and by encouraging good quality sleep. During good sleep our bodies replenish, and the immune system is strengthened. If you're not waking feeling refreshed then you're not getting good quality sleep. The clean eating plan alone will probably recitfy this.
It's important to remember that candidiasis is endemic to the westernised world, where we consume highly processed foods every day and feed them to our kids, and overuse antibiotics. As a Naturopath I tend to find it at the core of most of my client's ill health, because we can't be healthy without a perfectly balanced intestinal system. The good news is that the intestinal system regenerates itself very quickly; in 3 months it's an entirely new gut. This means that if you remain on the treatment for 3 solid months you have a gut that's made from good food, and will be functioning beautifully.
If you want more info on candidiasis or you want to share your story, please comment or email me
Wishing you great gut health!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Eating warm part 2 - Recipes!
Following on from last weeks blog, here are some of my favourite Winter comfort foods. Other than these recipes I also make lots of soups, stews, and meat/fish/veg type stuff, but although my man prefers the simple things, those recipes were too boring to bother blogging!
My awesome korma recipe
I found this recipe on the net and it’s really great! I make it at least every couple of weeks, either with some chicken or lamb and a couple of veggies, or just with veggies. It’s really tasty and really warming.
Diced lamb or chicken breast
Cubed veg, either sweet spud, pumpkin, eggplant etc
Green veg like green beans or broccoli
2 cloves garlic
3 cm piece ginger
1 finely chopped onion
1 tin organic chopped tomato
½ cup natural pot set yoghurt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 cloves, whole
2 cardamoms, whole
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 small stick cinnamon, whole
Salt and chilli powder to taste. Sometimes I use fresh chilli, whatever you’re in the mood for!
Mince the garlic and ginger together, place in a bowl and cover with 2 cups cold water. Set aside.
In a frypan with a fitted lid, gently sauté the chopped onion in some butter or ghee. Add the cumin and stir til fragrant, then add the tomatoes, then the remaining spices. Allow the tomatoes to reduce a little.
Meanwhile brown meat in another pan in some butter or ghee. If I’m using potato or sweet potato I fry them too for extra flavour!
Stir the yoghurt into the tomato and spice mixture, then add the meat and any firm veggies, pop the lid on and let it sit on a low heat about 20 mins til the meat is tender. Every so often lift the lid and add some ginger/garlic water and stir. This gives the right texture to the sauce.
Finally, add the green veg and allow to cook through. Serve with rice.
Pumpkin & Spinach Risotto
Make an ordinary risotto, starting with a base of organic butter and onion, then adding your home made chicken stock, seasoned with sea or rock salt. Just before the rice finishes cooking add some big handfuls of spinach. In another pan fry about 3 cups of pumpkin cut into 1cm cubes til they get a little caramelised on the sides, then stir into the risotto as it finishes absorbing the stock. Add lots off parmesan to serve.
Grilled Veg and Quinoa Salad
This is a good winter salad and great for the lunchbox the following day. It’s great with some grilled haloumi too!
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves of garlic
a little butter
rind of one lemon
juice of half lemon
1 or 2 tsp turmeric
a zuchini
an eggplant
some cherry tomatoes
more garlic
olive oil
Slice up the vegies, mince a clove garlic and combine with oil in a bowl, toss the veg to coat.
Mince another clove of garlic and warm in the butter in a medium pot, then add quinoa and warm through. Add turmeric and stock, bring to a boil, pop lid on and turn to lowest heat on smallest element until quinoa is cooked.
Meanwhile, grill veg on a grill pan.
Once the quinoa is cooked remove it from the heat and add lemon rind and juice and stir through. Mix the grilled vegies through the quinoa, drizzle with olive oil and serve with some fish or chicken, or a salad of baby spinach leaves.
Polenta and lentils
As a kid I loved lentils! So soft and flavoursome. The best thing about making polenta is making extra then letting it set in a biscuit tray, cutting it into bars, crumbing them and grilling or frying them into big fat polenta chips! (Which are also great for lunch boxes)
You’ll need lots of your home made stock, maybe 6 cups to serve 2 with some left over for chips, then a little more for the lentils, organic instant polenta, organic dried lentils, organic tinned chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, carrot and celery and some dried Italian herbs. It’s also a great treat to occasionally include some free range spicy Italian pork sausage!
This one is an overnight process since you’ll have to soak the lentils, and the cooking process needs to be started early too. Once they’ve soaked for 24 hours boil the lentils til they’re mostly soft, then drain. In another pot, heat some butter and fry the diced onion, carrot and celery, then add the garlic once the others have softened. Add the dried herbs, then the tin of chopped tomatoes and cook them down for a bit. The tomatoes need to spend some time losing their acidity. If you’re adding sausages, fry them now in a dry pan, cut into forkfuls and set aside. Finally, add the cooked lentils and a little stock (and sausage if you’re using it), and allow everything to sit with the lid on over a low heat while the flavours entwine! Season with good salt.
The polenta part is really easy, just season the stock and add the instant polenta, whisking it up until it’s thick. You can add a handful of fresh chopped parsley at this point if you like. Serve onto plates, (with the lentils over the top) then immediately pour the remainder onto a tray with sides and stick in the fridge.
Polenta chips
Once the polenta has set cut into bars and cover with egg and salted breadcrumbs, then either grill or fry them in a non stick pan with a little oil. They’re good either hot or cold!
My awesome korma recipe
I found this recipe on the net and it’s really great! I make it at least every couple of weeks, either with some chicken or lamb and a couple of veggies, or just with veggies. It’s really tasty and really warming.
Diced lamb or chicken breast
Cubed veg, either sweet spud, pumpkin, eggplant etc
Green veg like green beans or broccoli
2 cloves garlic
3 cm piece ginger
1 finely chopped onion
1 tin organic chopped tomato
½ cup natural pot set yoghurt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander powder
2 cloves, whole
2 cardamoms, whole
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 small stick cinnamon, whole
Salt and chilli powder to taste. Sometimes I use fresh chilli, whatever you’re in the mood for!
Mince the garlic and ginger together, place in a bowl and cover with 2 cups cold water. Set aside.
In a frypan with a fitted lid, gently sauté the chopped onion in some butter or ghee. Add the cumin and stir til fragrant, then add the tomatoes, then the remaining spices. Allow the tomatoes to reduce a little.
Meanwhile brown meat in another pan in some butter or ghee. If I’m using potato or sweet potato I fry them too for extra flavour!
Stir the yoghurt into the tomato and spice mixture, then add the meat and any firm veggies, pop the lid on and let it sit on a low heat about 20 mins til the meat is tender. Every so often lift the lid and add some ginger/garlic water and stir. This gives the right texture to the sauce.
Finally, add the green veg and allow to cook through. Serve with rice.
Pumpkin & Spinach Risotto
Make an ordinary risotto, starting with a base of organic butter and onion, then adding your home made chicken stock, seasoned with sea or rock salt. Just before the rice finishes cooking add some big handfuls of spinach. In another pan fry about 3 cups of pumpkin cut into 1cm cubes til they get a little caramelised on the sides, then stir into the risotto as it finishes absorbing the stock. Add lots off parmesan to serve.
Grilled Veg and Quinoa Salad
This is a good winter salad and great for the lunchbox the following day. It’s great with some grilled haloumi too!
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cloves of garlic
a little butter
rind of one lemon
juice of half lemon
1 or 2 tsp turmeric
a zuchini
an eggplant
some cherry tomatoes
more garlic
olive oil
Slice up the vegies, mince a clove garlic and combine with oil in a bowl, toss the veg to coat.
Mince another clove of garlic and warm in the butter in a medium pot, then add quinoa and warm through. Add turmeric and stock, bring to a boil, pop lid on and turn to lowest heat on smallest element until quinoa is cooked.
Meanwhile, grill veg on a grill pan.
Once the quinoa is cooked remove it from the heat and add lemon rind and juice and stir through. Mix the grilled vegies through the quinoa, drizzle with olive oil and serve with some fish or chicken, or a salad of baby spinach leaves.
Polenta and lentils
As a kid I loved lentils! So soft and flavoursome. The best thing about making polenta is making extra then letting it set in a biscuit tray, cutting it into bars, crumbing them and grilling or frying them into big fat polenta chips! (Which are also great for lunch boxes)
You’ll need lots of your home made stock, maybe 6 cups to serve 2 with some left over for chips, then a little more for the lentils, organic instant polenta, organic dried lentils, organic tinned chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, carrot and celery and some dried Italian herbs. It’s also a great treat to occasionally include some free range spicy Italian pork sausage!
This one is an overnight process since you’ll have to soak the lentils, and the cooking process needs to be started early too. Once they’ve soaked for 24 hours boil the lentils til they’re mostly soft, then drain. In another pot, heat some butter and fry the diced onion, carrot and celery, then add the garlic once the others have softened. Add the dried herbs, then the tin of chopped tomatoes and cook them down for a bit. The tomatoes need to spend some time losing their acidity. If you’re adding sausages, fry them now in a dry pan, cut into forkfuls and set aside. Finally, add the cooked lentils and a little stock (and sausage if you’re using it), and allow everything to sit with the lid on over a low heat while the flavours entwine! Season with good salt.
The polenta part is really easy, just season the stock and add the instant polenta, whisking it up until it’s thick. You can add a handful of fresh chopped parsley at this point if you like. Serve onto plates, (with the lentils over the top) then immediately pour the remainder onto a tray with sides and stick in the fridge.
Polenta chips
Once the polenta has set cut into bars and cover with egg and salted breadcrumbs, then either grill or fry them in a non stick pan with a little oil. They’re good either hot or cold!
Monday, July 26, 2010
"Catching a Cold" - Germ theory and the immune system
How and why does sickness occur? This is truly a multi billion dollar question. Yet to me it's fairly simple. Here's my take on illness.
I hear people around me make reference to "catching a cold" from someone, or blaming their illness on germs in their environment. It makes me realise what a fantastic job advertising is doing for chemical cleaning products. If it was essential to douse our homes and children with pine-o-clean in order to prevent illness, why is it that we're more unwell now than we were before it was on the market?
In the 19th century in France there was a guy called Louis Pasteur. He proved the theory that disease was caused by pathogenic microbes, which became known as "germ theory". He also provided several solutions to common causes of poisoning, and this is why we now pasteurise milk, to make it hygenic and increase shelf life.
In the time since then we began to discover the fabulous complexity of the human immune system. We still have not finished discovering its fabulousness and complexity, but we do know that its role is to protect us from these nasty germs. In the 19th century the germ was an important discovery which saved many lives, however, in these hygenic and sanitised times of the 21st century, I think we're ready for the next step. It's time we took responsibility for our own immunity.
To my mind, germs are a part of our environment, part of our ecosystem. They inhabit our bodies (skin, mouth, throat, intestines etc) at all times and always have. They live in harmonious balance with our immune system. That is, unless our immune system is under assault. This is inevitably the case for all us city dwellers. In order for our immune system to function well there are several things we need. They are:
Clean air, free of pollutants and chemicals
Clean food, free of pollutnants and chemicals
Clean water, free of pollutants and chemicals
Exercise and
Sleep
In addition to these basics, other immune strengtheners include anything that feels good, such as massage, laughing, dancing, hobbies etc.
Therefore the reason our immune systems are under assault these days is because
our air is full of pollutants and chemicals, from industry and cars etc
our food is full of pollutants and chemicals, from modern farming techniques, refining of foods and food additives
our water is full of pollutants and chemicals, such as flouride and 'cleaned' with chlorine.
we live increasingly sedentary lives
we don't sleep well thanks to caffiene, electricity, stress and late nights
So if these are the true reasons why we're sick, should we treat with more chemicals? I would suggest not. I'd also like to point out that when it comes to germ killing, few chemicals come close to being as effective as a single drop of essential oil. The best choices for cleaning are eucalyptus, tea tree, lemon and lavender. In addition to these, I use Eco Store cleaning products in my home. But when it comes to my immune system, I choose to eat organic foods, limit sugar, dairy and refined foods, drink filtered water, and get good sleep and regular exercise. There's not much I can do about the air, short of vote Green! And I could certainly use more massages! I honestly never get sick unless I'm stressed and or eating badly. I can even cope with a certain amount of sleep deprivation provided my diet is really good. For me, this is totally worthwhile.
Recently I treated a woman who came to me complaining that she'd had a cold for two years continuously. She was on a high daily dose of rhinocort and nothing she took was helping at all. She was certainly not pine-o-clean deficient. I'm sure her home was very hygenic. As it turned out she had a severe milk intollerance. One week later she was symptom free (and rhinocort free) after eliminating the dairy products from her diet. It's worth remembering that dairy is a common cause of excess mucous production, which can lead to cold symptoms and sinus infections.
Finally, my advice if you do have a cold is see your Naturopath! A Naturopath can help you to kill the infection and also bring your health back to 100%, where it belongs, by identifying and treating the cause of the problem. For ideas on how to treat yourself at home, check out my blog "Get Well Soon" from May last year.
I hear people around me make reference to "catching a cold" from someone, or blaming their illness on germs in their environment. It makes me realise what a fantastic job advertising is doing for chemical cleaning products. If it was essential to douse our homes and children with pine-o-clean in order to prevent illness, why is it that we're more unwell now than we were before it was on the market?
In the 19th century in France there was a guy called Louis Pasteur. He proved the theory that disease was caused by pathogenic microbes, which became known as "germ theory". He also provided several solutions to common causes of poisoning, and this is why we now pasteurise milk, to make it hygenic and increase shelf life.
In the time since then we began to discover the fabulous complexity of the human immune system. We still have not finished discovering its fabulousness and complexity, but we do know that its role is to protect us from these nasty germs. In the 19th century the germ was an important discovery which saved many lives, however, in these hygenic and sanitised times of the 21st century, I think we're ready for the next step. It's time we took responsibility for our own immunity.
To my mind, germs are a part of our environment, part of our ecosystem. They inhabit our bodies (skin, mouth, throat, intestines etc) at all times and always have. They live in harmonious balance with our immune system. That is, unless our immune system is under assault. This is inevitably the case for all us city dwellers. In order for our immune system to function well there are several things we need. They are:
Clean air, free of pollutants and chemicals
Clean food, free of pollutnants and chemicals
Clean water, free of pollutants and chemicals
Exercise and
Sleep
In addition to these basics, other immune strengtheners include anything that feels good, such as massage, laughing, dancing, hobbies etc.
Therefore the reason our immune systems are under assault these days is because
our air is full of pollutants and chemicals, from industry and cars etc
our food is full of pollutants and chemicals, from modern farming techniques, refining of foods and food additives
our water is full of pollutants and chemicals, such as flouride and 'cleaned' with chlorine.
we live increasingly sedentary lives
we don't sleep well thanks to caffiene, electricity, stress and late nights
So if these are the true reasons why we're sick, should we treat with more chemicals? I would suggest not. I'd also like to point out that when it comes to germ killing, few chemicals come close to being as effective as a single drop of essential oil. The best choices for cleaning are eucalyptus, tea tree, lemon and lavender. In addition to these, I use Eco Store cleaning products in my home. But when it comes to my immune system, I choose to eat organic foods, limit sugar, dairy and refined foods, drink filtered water, and get good sleep and regular exercise. There's not much I can do about the air, short of vote Green! And I could certainly use more massages! I honestly never get sick unless I'm stressed and or eating badly. I can even cope with a certain amount of sleep deprivation provided my diet is really good. For me, this is totally worthwhile.
Recently I treated a woman who came to me complaining that she'd had a cold for two years continuously. She was on a high daily dose of rhinocort and nothing she took was helping at all. She was certainly not pine-o-clean deficient. I'm sure her home was very hygenic. As it turned out she had a severe milk intollerance. One week later she was symptom free (and rhinocort free) after eliminating the dairy products from her diet. It's worth remembering that dairy is a common cause of excess mucous production, which can lead to cold symptoms and sinus infections.
Finally, my advice if you do have a cold is see your Naturopath! A Naturopath can help you to kill the infection and also bring your health back to 100%, where it belongs, by identifying and treating the cause of the problem. For ideas on how to treat yourself at home, check out my blog "Get Well Soon" from May last year.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Eating warm
There is no one right way to eat. I believe the only rule about nutrition is this; if you're not feeling vital and energetic, looking and feeling fabulous, change something. We all deserve to feel awesome all the time, and food choices are one of the biggest determining factors. However 'correct food choices' means something different at different times of the year, depending on your ethnicity, age, level of activity, job and so many other lifestyle factors.
Thus, when I'm asked what we should eat during Winter, I find it a little difficult to launch into the discussion. So what I will do is take the opportunity to talk about seasonal eating, since this topic takes things like geography into account.
First, I shall yet again point out the flaws in the current prevailing supermarket food supply. If you buy 'fresh' food from the supermarket you probably have no idea what's in season at what time of year, since supermarkets transport frozen foods over vast distances and keep them in cold storage for very long periods so they can be available year round. So while some of the produce may be reasonably fresh, some will not be, and those that aren't have seriously compromised nutritional values. Even when you buy organic you need to be aware that some things may have been flown in, so familiarise yourself with what is in season in your local area each season.
When it comes to preparation of foods it's important to observe your body's instincts and inclinations. A salad is a very healthy choice in summer, but is far too light at midwinter, when the body needs as much help to warm up as possible. Therefore soups, stews, stir-fries, curries and roasts are the healthy choice for Winter. Of course, cooking the begeezers out of your vegies certainly reduces the nutritional content, so nature thought up a balancer for that too.
Here's a fantastic tip for boosting the nutritional content of your food in Winter time: Cook with your own home made stock.
Stock recipe
(You will need an enormous pot with a lid, a silicone muffin tray and some tuppaware, as well as lots of time.)
2 or 3 chicken carcasses or some beef bones from the biodynamic butcher
2 or 3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
2 unpeeled onions, halved
2 or 3 tbsp white vinegar
Place carcasses or bones into the pot, cover with cold water and add vinegar. Allow to stand for one hour. Add roughly chopped veg and bring to a boil. Using a seive, skim off any scum from the surface, then turn the heat way down to very low, cover and simmer for 6-12 hours for chicken and up to 24 hours for beef stock. Add water if you need to.
Once this has cooled, strain and discard the solids, and freeze the liquid into tuppaware and muffin pans. I find it's useful to mark the number of cups on the container for when you need a specific amount. This won't matter if you're making soup, but for things like rice and quinoa you'll need to know a more exact quantity.
So that's my stock recipe. I make this once every 3 weeks or so to keep my freezer full. The purpose of standing the bones in the vinegar water is to liberate the gelatin and the lovely minerals from them. Preparing food with this stock is a wonderful way to increase the nutritional content. And also much tastier than the packaged stuff! Bonus.
Adding spices to food is another great idea during winter. Cumin, ginger, cloves, black pepper, turmeric, chilli, cardamom, cinnamon and herbs like parsley, thyme, corriander, sage and galangal are really important during winter to warm the body and boost immunity. Cumin turns a pumpkin soup into restaurant quality, along with a little last minute orange zest over the plate. Toss some chilli, garlic and olive oil throgh some lightly blanched greens, or make poached pears with cinnamon or baked apples with cloves, (both can be sweetened with honey) for dessert. Nature provided us with these gorgeous warming spices to keep us healthy. They're used at midwinter in most traditions, just think of the traditional Yule tide plum pudding or mulled wine!
It's important that we get enough salt through Winter, so make sure you cook with a good quality sea salt or rock salt. As always, avoid processed salts containing anti-caking agents and other additives.
Animal products like meat and eggs are very warming foods and therefore best consumed in Winter. During the Summer they can be too heavy and acid forming, but in small amounts they are great during the cold months. If you imagine our primitive ancestor's diet, meat would have featured more during Winter due to a shortage of most other foods, and this is what our bodies are genetically accustomed to.
Other warming foods are the high carbohydrate veg like pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, leeks, parsnips etc, legumes like beans and lentils, nuts and seeds, and grains like rice, oats and quinoa.
In winter we still require our 2 litres of water daily, but drinking cool water is often the last thing we feel like doing, and quite rightly. During the cold months it's much better to drink warm cups of herbal tea for our fluid intake. Some of the most useful are rosehip tea, which tastes yummy and is a great source of vitamin C, liquorice tea, which soothes the lungs and digestion and decreases stress, and green tea, which is full of antioxidants like quercetin (which is helpful in treating varicose veins).
When I was going through school I remember being freezing in the classroom and playground during winter. It's really difficult to combat this using food since it has to be sent in a lunch box, but it is possible. Personally I would love to see tuck shops producing some healthy warm food for kids lunches. But until that time, here are some tips for keeping little ones (and big little ones) warm using food.
Breakfast should be warm and heavy; eggs, either soft boiled, lightly fried or poached, or some organic oatmeal with honey are perfect. Then fill the lunchbox with heavy, wholesome snacks like organic salted nuts, crispy polenta sticks, real cheese (not the processed stuff), vegie patties made with grated sweet potato, leek or zucchini, or a cold rice or quinoa pilau made with your homemade stock, some spices and some vegies. If you have to put in a sandwich, replace the salad and sprouts with a piece of grilled chicken or roast lamb, some cheese, avocado and some grilled veggies. Use a heavier bread like rye or oat flour bread, and maybe even grill it. When their food keeps them warm they'll learn better and have more energy to run around and warm up even more.
So to conclude, follow your instincts in every season. Find a way to continue to eat healthy, whole foods so they keep you warm, using ideas like homemade stock, quality salt and spices.
If your immunity needs an extra boost, try a good quality powdered vitamin C supplement and some zinc tablets, or see your naturopath for individualised treatment.
Warm fuzzies! Love, Sara
Thus, when I'm asked what we should eat during Winter, I find it a little difficult to launch into the discussion. So what I will do is take the opportunity to talk about seasonal eating, since this topic takes things like geography into account.
First, I shall yet again point out the flaws in the current prevailing supermarket food supply. If you buy 'fresh' food from the supermarket you probably have no idea what's in season at what time of year, since supermarkets transport frozen foods over vast distances and keep them in cold storage for very long periods so they can be available year round. So while some of the produce may be reasonably fresh, some will not be, and those that aren't have seriously compromised nutritional values. Even when you buy organic you need to be aware that some things may have been flown in, so familiarise yourself with what is in season in your local area each season.
When it comes to preparation of foods it's important to observe your body's instincts and inclinations. A salad is a very healthy choice in summer, but is far too light at midwinter, when the body needs as much help to warm up as possible. Therefore soups, stews, stir-fries, curries and roasts are the healthy choice for Winter. Of course, cooking the begeezers out of your vegies certainly reduces the nutritional content, so nature thought up a balancer for that too.
Here's a fantastic tip for boosting the nutritional content of your food in Winter time: Cook with your own home made stock.
Stock recipe
(You will need an enormous pot with a lid, a silicone muffin tray and some tuppaware, as well as lots of time.)
2 or 3 chicken carcasses or some beef bones from the biodynamic butcher
2 or 3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
2 unpeeled onions, halved
2 or 3 tbsp white vinegar
Place carcasses or bones into the pot, cover with cold water and add vinegar. Allow to stand for one hour. Add roughly chopped veg and bring to a boil. Using a seive, skim off any scum from the surface, then turn the heat way down to very low, cover and simmer for 6-12 hours for chicken and up to 24 hours for beef stock. Add water if you need to.
Once this has cooled, strain and discard the solids, and freeze the liquid into tuppaware and muffin pans. I find it's useful to mark the number of cups on the container for when you need a specific amount. This won't matter if you're making soup, but for things like rice and quinoa you'll need to know a more exact quantity.
So that's my stock recipe. I make this once every 3 weeks or so to keep my freezer full. The purpose of standing the bones in the vinegar water is to liberate the gelatin and the lovely minerals from them. Preparing food with this stock is a wonderful way to increase the nutritional content. And also much tastier than the packaged stuff! Bonus.
Adding spices to food is another great idea during winter. Cumin, ginger, cloves, black pepper, turmeric, chilli, cardamom, cinnamon and herbs like parsley, thyme, corriander, sage and galangal are really important during winter to warm the body and boost immunity. Cumin turns a pumpkin soup into restaurant quality, along with a little last minute orange zest over the plate. Toss some chilli, garlic and olive oil throgh some lightly blanched greens, or make poached pears with cinnamon or baked apples with cloves, (both can be sweetened with honey) for dessert. Nature provided us with these gorgeous warming spices to keep us healthy. They're used at midwinter in most traditions, just think of the traditional Yule tide plum pudding or mulled wine!
It's important that we get enough salt through Winter, so make sure you cook with a good quality sea salt or rock salt. As always, avoid processed salts containing anti-caking agents and other additives.
Animal products like meat and eggs are very warming foods and therefore best consumed in Winter. During the Summer they can be too heavy and acid forming, but in small amounts they are great during the cold months. If you imagine our primitive ancestor's diet, meat would have featured more during Winter due to a shortage of most other foods, and this is what our bodies are genetically accustomed to.
Other warming foods are the high carbohydrate veg like pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, leeks, parsnips etc, legumes like beans and lentils, nuts and seeds, and grains like rice, oats and quinoa.
In winter we still require our 2 litres of water daily, but drinking cool water is often the last thing we feel like doing, and quite rightly. During the cold months it's much better to drink warm cups of herbal tea for our fluid intake. Some of the most useful are rosehip tea, which tastes yummy and is a great source of vitamin C, liquorice tea, which soothes the lungs and digestion and decreases stress, and green tea, which is full of antioxidants like quercetin (which is helpful in treating varicose veins).
When I was going through school I remember being freezing in the classroom and playground during winter. It's really difficult to combat this using food since it has to be sent in a lunch box, but it is possible. Personally I would love to see tuck shops producing some healthy warm food for kids lunches. But until that time, here are some tips for keeping little ones (and big little ones) warm using food.
Breakfast should be warm and heavy; eggs, either soft boiled, lightly fried or poached, or some organic oatmeal with honey are perfect. Then fill the lunchbox with heavy, wholesome snacks like organic salted nuts, crispy polenta sticks, real cheese (not the processed stuff), vegie patties made with grated sweet potato, leek or zucchini, or a cold rice or quinoa pilau made with your homemade stock, some spices and some vegies. If you have to put in a sandwich, replace the salad and sprouts with a piece of grilled chicken or roast lamb, some cheese, avocado and some grilled veggies. Use a heavier bread like rye or oat flour bread, and maybe even grill it. When their food keeps them warm they'll learn better and have more energy to run around and warm up even more.
So to conclude, follow your instincts in every season. Find a way to continue to eat healthy, whole foods so they keep you warm, using ideas like homemade stock, quality salt and spices.
If your immunity needs an extra boost, try a good quality powdered vitamin C supplement and some zinc tablets, or see your naturopath for individualised treatment.
Warm fuzzies! Love, Sara
Thursday, July 1, 2010
What Is Natural?
I came across this really interesting question as I leafed through the food legislation news headlines this week. The reason I find it so interesting is because there are currently too many definitions of the word natural within the language of the Western diet, and I believe it's really important that we pause and consider what 'natural' means to each of us.
Food industry use the word 'natural' liberally on food packaging. This is understandable, it appeals to people who value health. But how natural is natural? The dictionary defines it as "existing in or formed by nature". This definition works well for me. As a naturopath I believe all our food should be formed by nature and untouched by man. Thus, if you're reading a package label, you're often way off the mark already! Even if it does claim to be natural, it probably wasn't formed by nature. With the exception of natural pot set yoghurt (the really sour stuff), possibly a couple of items in the health asile (but by no means all of them), most things claiming natural ingredients are far from being formed by nature.
Colourings and flavourings are often advertised as natural. This strikes me as odd considering they're often synthesised in a lab. Currently the laws allow food industry to call a colour or flavour natural even if it's a synthetic copy of a substance found in nature. This said, I can't think of a single food containing added colours and flavours, natural or otherwise, that I would call a real food.
Sugars often confuse people attempting to eat well. When refined sugar is added to food it becomes junk food. This is true of many things we may think are good for us, like breakfast cereals, yoghurts, cheeses, breads and juice. Many commercial juices scream that they have no added sugar. What they fail to mention is that they have added loads of concentrated fructose (this is the meaning of 'reconstituted'), which science is learning can be more damaging than ordinary sugar. Eating a whole fruit is fine because it's dilute. The fibre and water in the fruit act as buffers and slow the absorption of the sugars. Other truly natural sugars include raw, unprocessed honey, raw, unprocessed maple syrup, palm sugar and agave syrup. Even these should be used sparingly.
Grains are another misleading area. Grains are made to sound natural by use of the word 'wholegrain'. A whole grain should be one that is visibly whole, exactly as is was when it was pulled from the stalk, like rice, oats or quinoa. Most breakfast cereals are made from refined, processed grains, while their box advertises the 'wholegrain goodness' of the contents. Remember, if it's not a true whole grain, it's sugar, not complex carbohydrate, and therefore not a good breakfast choice. The same is true of crispbreads, rice crackers, pasta, bread and couscous.
Oils are another problem. Any oil sold in a clear bottle, or that doesn't say 'cold pressed' is not natural. It's been mixed with petrochemicals and boiled to incredible temperatures to give it shelf life. These oils and the margarines made from them are certainly not natural or healthy, despite sporting the heart foundation tick.
In fact, if I'm going to be really picky, how natural is it to use chemical fertilisers, pesticides and fungicides on our food crops? Or to freeze them for weeks before selling them? For me, the only truly natural foods are fresh, organic plant foods and biodynamic animal products.
I think it's really important that we all consider what our food is made from, because our body is made from what we choose to eat. It's sad that food has become so complex that we have to wonder 'which food is really food?', but in the west its the only way to stay healthy. So, next time you see the word 'natural' on some 'food' ask yourself "was this formed by nature or by a guy in a factory?".
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Legislation/What-natural-means-in-food-regulations/?c=mvNDRfNEiPf7l3PB0f6h2g%3D%3D&utm_source=Newsletter_Subject&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BSubject
Food industry use the word 'natural' liberally on food packaging. This is understandable, it appeals to people who value health. But how natural is natural? The dictionary defines it as "existing in or formed by nature". This definition works well for me. As a naturopath I believe all our food should be formed by nature and untouched by man. Thus, if you're reading a package label, you're often way off the mark already! Even if it does claim to be natural, it probably wasn't formed by nature. With the exception of natural pot set yoghurt (the really sour stuff), possibly a couple of items in the health asile (but by no means all of them), most things claiming natural ingredients are far from being formed by nature.
Colourings and flavourings are often advertised as natural. This strikes me as odd considering they're often synthesised in a lab. Currently the laws allow food industry to call a colour or flavour natural even if it's a synthetic copy of a substance found in nature. This said, I can't think of a single food containing added colours and flavours, natural or otherwise, that I would call a real food.
Sugars often confuse people attempting to eat well. When refined sugar is added to food it becomes junk food. This is true of many things we may think are good for us, like breakfast cereals, yoghurts, cheeses, breads and juice. Many commercial juices scream that they have no added sugar. What they fail to mention is that they have added loads of concentrated fructose (this is the meaning of 'reconstituted'), which science is learning can be more damaging than ordinary sugar. Eating a whole fruit is fine because it's dilute. The fibre and water in the fruit act as buffers and slow the absorption of the sugars. Other truly natural sugars include raw, unprocessed honey, raw, unprocessed maple syrup, palm sugar and agave syrup. Even these should be used sparingly.
Grains are another misleading area. Grains are made to sound natural by use of the word 'wholegrain'. A whole grain should be one that is visibly whole, exactly as is was when it was pulled from the stalk, like rice, oats or quinoa. Most breakfast cereals are made from refined, processed grains, while their box advertises the 'wholegrain goodness' of the contents. Remember, if it's not a true whole grain, it's sugar, not complex carbohydrate, and therefore not a good breakfast choice. The same is true of crispbreads, rice crackers, pasta, bread and couscous.
Oils are another problem. Any oil sold in a clear bottle, or that doesn't say 'cold pressed' is not natural. It's been mixed with petrochemicals and boiled to incredible temperatures to give it shelf life. These oils and the margarines made from them are certainly not natural or healthy, despite sporting the heart foundation tick.
In fact, if I'm going to be really picky, how natural is it to use chemical fertilisers, pesticides and fungicides on our food crops? Or to freeze them for weeks before selling them? For me, the only truly natural foods are fresh, organic plant foods and biodynamic animal products.
I think it's really important that we all consider what our food is made from, because our body is made from what we choose to eat. It's sad that food has become so complex that we have to wonder 'which food is really food?', but in the west its the only way to stay healthy. So, next time you see the word 'natural' on some 'food' ask yourself "was this formed by nature or by a guy in a factory?".
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Legislation/What-natural-means-in-food-regulations/?c=mvNDRfNEiPf7l3PB0f6h2g%3D%3D&utm_source=Newsletter_Subject&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter%2BSubject
Monday, June 28, 2010
Pregnancy nutrition from experience and my story so far
Hello again, let me appologise for the long pause between blogs! I've been gestating these last 6 months, and writing has slipped my mind as I've delighted in my ever changing body.
I've experienced first hand the effectiveness of good nutrition during pregnancy, and also the pitfalls of slipping up. For all those women who have yet to concieve their babies, let me share my experiences in the spirit of sisterly advice.
Also during this time I had to make a decision between birthing at home and birthing in the hospital system, and that's been a journey well worth sharing.
First though, the food! When a woman decides to become pregnant, ideally she should prepare for as long as possible by cleansing her body, nourishing it with pure, organic foods, stocks made fresh at home from biodynamic animal bones, by eliminating alcohol, processed foods, sugary foods and damaged (fried or hydrogenated) fats, and replacing all harsh chemical beauty (eg deodorants and shampoos) and cleaning products with eco friendly, chemical free versions. (And of course there's plenty of spiritual and emotional preparation to consider, but I'll leave that to other blogs!)
Since I was not planning to become pregnant, I was not actively doing any preconception care, although the organic food, stocks, and use of natural cleaning and beauty products are mostly part of my routine. My big trip-up was (and is) Sugar.
This baby was concieved in the wake of the enormous sugar binge known as Christmas. Luckily, when I discovered that I was pregnant I'd already begun a blood sugar balancing regimen, eliminating sugar and wheat in a bid to rebalance after the holidays. I kept this diet up throughout the first trimester, and consequently suffered minimal tiredness and nausea. I most certainly found that if I did enjoy a pizza or sweet treat, the nausea would be much worse the following day, and in fact on one occasion, after an Easter indiscretion, I actually did throw up.
Now, I do realise everyone is different on account of varying hormone levels. If your hormones are out of balance when you concieve you will certainly struggle to rebalance them while you're throwing up your breakfast (and sometimes lunch and dinner) every day. This is why it's a good idea to see a Naturopath for preconception care, but even after you have concieved, avoiding sugar and refined grains will make a difference to those with severe imbalances.
Once I'd reached the end of my first trimester I was almost back to full energy levels and the nausea had ebbed off. I was most grateful! But during pregnancy it becomes even more difficult than usual to balance blood sugars thanks to an increased nutritional requirement. My stumbling block was my body's insistance on an early dinner. This meant that at 5pm, while leaving work and heading through a city full of food to the train station, my body was asking for a full meal. On a good day this would constitute avocado rolls from the sushi bar. On a less good day, Lord of the Fries was suddenly in my way. Or worse. And so, with the nausea issues out of the way, I became lax with my diet and my blood sugars were more uncontrolled than I ever rememeber them. This may have contributed to my low iron count when my blood test results came through. It certainly contributed to more weight gain than was necessary.
However I have recently rectified the situation, just in time to head into my final trimester (which begins tomorrow). It was actually easier than I expected. With the help of some magnesium powder, which helps the pancreas deal with sugar, and the diet tips detailed in my last blog, I was able to nip the sugar cravings in the bud and I'm feeling much healthier.
Finally, here's a list of foods to enjoy abundantly during a pregnancy:
Avocado - loads of good fats which will give the baby a healthy nervous system, hormonal system and skin, and a dose of smarts!
Nuts and seeds - same as above, but also with protein to help baby grow, and to keep your blood sugars in check
Sprouts - these are baby plants, with loads of vitality and potential, (and vitamins and minerals) which you and baby absorb to give energy and zing!
Fruits - these become great snacks to prevent sugar binges, and provide vitamins, fibre and a little water
Veggies - alwyas the best source of fibre, carbs and protein, rich in vitamins and minerals. These should make up the bulk of your diet
Eggs - the whites (cooked) provide protein and the yolk (left runny) provide vitamin D and great fats such as phospholipids, to feed the brain. Eggs make a great breakfast
Quinoa - called the Mother Grain by the Inca people, which is believed to be part reference to the staple grain, part reference to its usefulness for pregnant women and nursing mothers. See my blog on quinoa for info and recipes
Oats - provide a balance of complex carbs and protein to keep blood sugars balanced. Also provide fabulous fibre to keep the intestinal system clean.
Fresh fruit and veggie juices - to increase your intake
Pot set, unsweetened yoghurt - keep that gut flora balanced
And now the story of the home / hospital birth question.
The first thing I did when I discovered I was having a baby was to order a stack of books on the subject, amongst which was a book by some lovely Australian naturopaths, entitled "The Natural Way to Better Birth and Bonding". This book cited the overwhelming evidence in favour of natural, non interventionist birthing, which gives the child and mother the best chance of perfect health and a great relationship. Its message was that the birthing mother should be as relaxed as possible and comfortable in her surroundings in order that things proceed as they should. This, they argued, was most likely to be achieved if the mother remained at home to deliver with a midwife, rather than removing to the foreign environment of the hospital with loud machines, sick people, bright lights and uncomfortable, unfamiliar furniture.
So I decided that my age and profession put me in a very low risk category, making it safe to birth at home, and cosied up to the idea. My man was supportive, having been convinced by the same literature I'd read, and together we began to research such details as midwives, costs and equipment.
As it turns out, homebirthing is a very political thing. In this country it's very uncommon practice, and the AMA strongly advise against it. (On the other hand, the WHO stats are quite supportive of homebirth, and rather critical of the hospital system.) All this makes it the most expensive way to give birth, since homebirth midwives are unable to gain insurance. We found that by the time the baby is born the costs, including the midwife's fees, a birth pool and so on, may leave little change out of 10 grand. Even this we were prepared to wear, though, and we plugged on with the planning.
The plans changed, however, when it became apparent that our parents' concerns were impossible to ignore. The fears didn't affect me much, but the argument that got me was provided by my Mum, a nurse, who pointed out that though homebirthing might be perfectly safe in those countries that are set up for it, imagine what would happen should you need to transfer to hospital in this country. It's true. Without any medical records for the birthing mother, a doctor in an ED would be within his rights to become stroppy. In other countries this wouldn't be the case.
At this point I was 16 weeks pregnant and becoming afraid that there was no way I'd find an obstetritian who wasn't booked for my due date. Boy did I get lucky!!! Not only did I find an ob on my thrid phone call, I found Lionel Steinberg, aka Vaginal Lionel. How blessed I felt when I sat down with him for my first appointment, explained that the reason I was making first contact at 16 weeks was because I'd been planning a homebirth, and his calm reaction was "oh, well then I know exactly what kind of birth you'd like". I could have kissed him. He explained that though the hospital has a C section rate of a whopping 50%, his personal rate was a measly 11%, and he added that about half of those were electives. (Which makes me wonder why you'd take up Lionel's time if you didn't mind having a C section...) I suddenly felt a renewed faith in the medical system, and with my private health insurance it was even going to be the cheapest option. I was overjoyed. As were my family. My man still hasn't had the oportunity to meet Lionel, who's recovering from a back injury, and is a little uncertain about whether this is what I really want, but I know as soon as they meet he'll be as grateful as I am.
And that's my story so far! I'm now, as I said, entering my final trimester, so I'm onto the Raspberry leaf teas to strengthen up my uterus! I promise to keep up the info as I go.
I've experienced first hand the effectiveness of good nutrition during pregnancy, and also the pitfalls of slipping up. For all those women who have yet to concieve their babies, let me share my experiences in the spirit of sisterly advice.
Also during this time I had to make a decision between birthing at home and birthing in the hospital system, and that's been a journey well worth sharing.
First though, the food! When a woman decides to become pregnant, ideally she should prepare for as long as possible by cleansing her body, nourishing it with pure, organic foods, stocks made fresh at home from biodynamic animal bones, by eliminating alcohol, processed foods, sugary foods and damaged (fried or hydrogenated) fats, and replacing all harsh chemical beauty (eg deodorants and shampoos) and cleaning products with eco friendly, chemical free versions. (And of course there's plenty of spiritual and emotional preparation to consider, but I'll leave that to other blogs!)
Since I was not planning to become pregnant, I was not actively doing any preconception care, although the organic food, stocks, and use of natural cleaning and beauty products are mostly part of my routine. My big trip-up was (and is) Sugar.
This baby was concieved in the wake of the enormous sugar binge known as Christmas. Luckily, when I discovered that I was pregnant I'd already begun a blood sugar balancing regimen, eliminating sugar and wheat in a bid to rebalance after the holidays. I kept this diet up throughout the first trimester, and consequently suffered minimal tiredness and nausea. I most certainly found that if I did enjoy a pizza or sweet treat, the nausea would be much worse the following day, and in fact on one occasion, after an Easter indiscretion, I actually did throw up.
Now, I do realise everyone is different on account of varying hormone levels. If your hormones are out of balance when you concieve you will certainly struggle to rebalance them while you're throwing up your breakfast (and sometimes lunch and dinner) every day. This is why it's a good idea to see a Naturopath for preconception care, but even after you have concieved, avoiding sugar and refined grains will make a difference to those with severe imbalances.
Once I'd reached the end of my first trimester I was almost back to full energy levels and the nausea had ebbed off. I was most grateful! But during pregnancy it becomes even more difficult than usual to balance blood sugars thanks to an increased nutritional requirement. My stumbling block was my body's insistance on an early dinner. This meant that at 5pm, while leaving work and heading through a city full of food to the train station, my body was asking for a full meal. On a good day this would constitute avocado rolls from the sushi bar. On a less good day, Lord of the Fries was suddenly in my way. Or worse. And so, with the nausea issues out of the way, I became lax with my diet and my blood sugars were more uncontrolled than I ever rememeber them. This may have contributed to my low iron count when my blood test results came through. It certainly contributed to more weight gain than was necessary.
However I have recently rectified the situation, just in time to head into my final trimester (which begins tomorrow). It was actually easier than I expected. With the help of some magnesium powder, which helps the pancreas deal with sugar, and the diet tips detailed in my last blog, I was able to nip the sugar cravings in the bud and I'm feeling much healthier.
Finally, here's a list of foods to enjoy abundantly during a pregnancy:
Avocado - loads of good fats which will give the baby a healthy nervous system, hormonal system and skin, and a dose of smarts!
Nuts and seeds - same as above, but also with protein to help baby grow, and to keep your blood sugars in check
Sprouts - these are baby plants, with loads of vitality and potential, (and vitamins and minerals) which you and baby absorb to give energy and zing!
Fruits - these become great snacks to prevent sugar binges, and provide vitamins, fibre and a little water
Veggies - alwyas the best source of fibre, carbs and protein, rich in vitamins and minerals. These should make up the bulk of your diet
Eggs - the whites (cooked) provide protein and the yolk (left runny) provide vitamin D and great fats such as phospholipids, to feed the brain. Eggs make a great breakfast
Quinoa - called the Mother Grain by the Inca people, which is believed to be part reference to the staple grain, part reference to its usefulness for pregnant women and nursing mothers. See my blog on quinoa for info and recipes
Oats - provide a balance of complex carbs and protein to keep blood sugars balanced. Also provide fabulous fibre to keep the intestinal system clean.
Fresh fruit and veggie juices - to increase your intake
Pot set, unsweetened yoghurt - keep that gut flora balanced
And now the story of the home / hospital birth question.
The first thing I did when I discovered I was having a baby was to order a stack of books on the subject, amongst which was a book by some lovely Australian naturopaths, entitled "The Natural Way to Better Birth and Bonding". This book cited the overwhelming evidence in favour of natural, non interventionist birthing, which gives the child and mother the best chance of perfect health and a great relationship. Its message was that the birthing mother should be as relaxed as possible and comfortable in her surroundings in order that things proceed as they should. This, they argued, was most likely to be achieved if the mother remained at home to deliver with a midwife, rather than removing to the foreign environment of the hospital with loud machines, sick people, bright lights and uncomfortable, unfamiliar furniture.
So I decided that my age and profession put me in a very low risk category, making it safe to birth at home, and cosied up to the idea. My man was supportive, having been convinced by the same literature I'd read, and together we began to research such details as midwives, costs and equipment.
As it turns out, homebirthing is a very political thing. In this country it's very uncommon practice, and the AMA strongly advise against it. (On the other hand, the WHO stats are quite supportive of homebirth, and rather critical of the hospital system.) All this makes it the most expensive way to give birth, since homebirth midwives are unable to gain insurance. We found that by the time the baby is born the costs, including the midwife's fees, a birth pool and so on, may leave little change out of 10 grand. Even this we were prepared to wear, though, and we plugged on with the planning.
The plans changed, however, when it became apparent that our parents' concerns were impossible to ignore. The fears didn't affect me much, but the argument that got me was provided by my Mum, a nurse, who pointed out that though homebirthing might be perfectly safe in those countries that are set up for it, imagine what would happen should you need to transfer to hospital in this country. It's true. Without any medical records for the birthing mother, a doctor in an ED would be within his rights to become stroppy. In other countries this wouldn't be the case.
At this point I was 16 weeks pregnant and becoming afraid that there was no way I'd find an obstetritian who wasn't booked for my due date. Boy did I get lucky!!! Not only did I find an ob on my thrid phone call, I found Lionel Steinberg, aka Vaginal Lionel. How blessed I felt when I sat down with him for my first appointment, explained that the reason I was making first contact at 16 weeks was because I'd been planning a homebirth, and his calm reaction was "oh, well then I know exactly what kind of birth you'd like". I could have kissed him. He explained that though the hospital has a C section rate of a whopping 50%, his personal rate was a measly 11%, and he added that about half of those were electives. (Which makes me wonder why you'd take up Lionel's time if you didn't mind having a C section...) I suddenly felt a renewed faith in the medical system, and with my private health insurance it was even going to be the cheapest option. I was overjoyed. As were my family. My man still hasn't had the oportunity to meet Lionel, who's recovering from a back injury, and is a little uncertain about whether this is what I really want, but I know as soon as they meet he'll be as grateful as I am.
And that's my story so far! I'm now, as I said, entering my final trimester, so I'm onto the Raspberry leaf teas to strengthen up my uterus! I promise to keep up the info as I go.
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