Total Wellbeing

Naturopathy in Sunshine Victoria

Recipe

Beat Boring Breakfasts with Banana Bread

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Why Eat Breakfast?

Eating breakfast sets you up for steadier blood sugar throughout the day. This means you will be less likely to find yourself starving at morning tea time and heading to the vending machine for an emergency top up. Your metabolism gets a boost and your brain has the fuel to help you concentrate on your life. Skipping breakfast is a metabolic stress on the body and when typically there is more than enough stress in a day, why add any more!

If you start with a breakfast that has balanced amounts of protein and healthy fats, with a moderate amount of carbs you will find you will be satisfied for longer and have energy that will sustain you until your next meal.

Just 6 ingredients make a healthy banana bread that's moist and naturally sweetened with fruit. You can enjoy a slice with a hot beverage in the morning. My favourite is a dandelion chai with a splash of soy or almond milk. The spices are perfect for warming up as the mornings get cooler and go really well with a slice of banana bread!

This is a very moist banana bread. If you prefer a more dense type of banana bread, please see the receipe options following the instructions below.

Serves: 8

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Almond Flour Banana Bread

  • 2 cups,  Almond Flour
  • 1 tsp, Baking Soda (bi-carb soda)
  • 3 large, Eggs
  • 6 ripe, Bananas
  • 1/4 cup, Sunflower Seeds
  • 1/4 cup, Pumpkin Seeds

Easy Banana Bread Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
  2. Line your loaf tin with baking paper and set aside.
  3. Add all ingredients (except one of the bananas) into a blender or food processor and blend until a well-combined batter. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Alternately, if you don't have a blender or food processor handy, mash your bananas with a fork and mix into all the other ingredients until combined.
  4. Garnish the top of the batter with thinly sliced banana.
  5. Bake for 60 minutes or until the loaf feels firm and the top has browned.
  6. Turn off oven and let the loaf cool completely in the loaf tin.
  7. Slice and store your banana bread in an airtight container in the refrigerator for easy access in the mornings.

Full of Fibre, Healthy Fats and Protein

As you can see, the estimated nutritional breakdown for our banana bread sets us up for a satisfying serve of carbs, fats and protein. Perfect for giving us a great start to the day. If your breakfast choices have become a little tired, try out a slice of hearty banana bread for a change.

Low carb banana bread for breakfast

Recipe Changes You Might Like to Try

The following options are some variations I've tried. Perhaps my flavourite version so far is one cup of rolled oats and one cup of shredded coconut substitued for almond meal/flour, with the addition of 2 Tablespoons of sultanas. Also, the most well received as far as the tastebuds of family and friends – it is a little sweeter, which is more accessible to those not used to eating a wholefood diet.

  1. Use rolled oats instead of almond flour. This makes for a really hearty, dense banana bread which is great if you like your oats!
  2. Use one cup of almond flour and one cup of rolled oats instead of 2 cups of almond flour.
  3. Use one cup of shredded coconut or coconut flour and one cup of rolled oats instead of 2 cups of almond flour.
  4. Add some extra sweetness with 2 Tablespoons of dried sultanas.
  5. Spice it up! Throw in your favourite spices. You might like to try cinnamon, ginger or mixed spice. Enjoy!

Did someone say “salad”? 4 summer favourites to try

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As the days warm up I've been slowly coming around to it being salad season – it takes a bit to transition from the warming foods of winter to finally feeling sun warmed enough to proceed on to salads here in Melbourne in my experience. And with a beautiful day of sunshine, perfect for basking in, scheduled ahead, it has now become urgent to dig out my favourite salad recipes!

We know that the average Australian family aims for 5 serves of vegies each day, however, it's only a slim few of us who actually get there. With a healthy salad in the fridge, you can easily add an extra serve or two to meals throughout the day. If you happen to recall, a cup of fresh salad greens or vegies is generally considered 1 serve, while 1/2 cup of cooked vegies will also satisfy for a serve.

The following are some of the best salads on my summer rotation, packed with lots of yummy flavours, textures, colours, and crunch, take your pick with something simple, like the Kale Salad or move up to something fancy like the Beetroot, Seeds and Spinach number by COOKIE+kate.

1. Simple Kale Salad

Having well-deserved superfood status, kale is also at the top of the list for pesticide residue, unfortunately. Never fear, if you have a small space in the sun, Kale is also very easy to grow. Can't do better than homegrown produce, and look at you go, reducing your food miles, greenhouse emissions and combating climate change, just by eating your greens! However, don't worry if you can't access organics at your local green-grocer or afford the extra dollar or two, wash them well to minimise pesticides – after all, conventionally grown greens is much better than no greens at all.

Dressing Ingredients:

  • Juice of 1 orange
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp of ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp of turmeric or paprika
  • 2 tablespoons flaxseed oil
  • Himalayan salt to taste
  • Black pepper to taste

Finely chop your freshly washed Kale, toast some seeds or nuts and drizzle with a tasty dressing and voila, your salad awaits! What could be easier? You will find the full recipe here.

2. Raw Zucchini, Cherry Tomato, and Toasted Almond Salad

Once the summer produce gets going, it seems there are zucchinis everywhere. Being new to homegrown delights, the pleasant over-supply of zucchini did present an opportunity for creative zucchini use. This is one of my favourite ways to sneak extra vegies into your day from last summer, even going so far as eating them with breakfast on hot summer mornings. You really don't need a fancy vegie spiraller, the humble potato peeler did work just as well 🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 zucchini, spiraled or sliced thinly with a vegie peeler
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mixed seeds and nuts – I used pepitas, sunflower, flaked almonds and pine nuts, lightly toasted in a pan
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Fresh basil leaves, torn

For the full recipe, see my earlier post – Raw Zucchini Salad Breakfast.

3.Brussels sprouts as a salad ingredient? Why not!

Raw Brussels sprouts are just really tiny cabbages and coupled with a tangy dressing, a delicate cheese and some red onions, there is really nothing that can be said in opposition to this recipe. You'll probably surprise your guests with the revelation that in fact, they have just enjoyed a Brussels sprout! For other ways to eat Brussels sprouts check out my earlier post here.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 small red onion
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp whole grain mustard
  • 1 pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cups Brussels sprouts (use larger sprouts if possible)
  • 1/2 cup finely grated pecorino romano

I found the original delicious version of this recipe here.

4. Beetroot, edamame and avocado anyone?

This is the type of salad that I like to take to Christmas events, it has so much red and green is the mix, it just feels festive! However, I'm not saving it until then – there will be one of these whipped up this week, you can count on it 😉

Ingredients

Salad

  • ½ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 cup frozen organic edamame (find it in the frozen section – edamame are soy beans, either in a pod or shelled, mine were in a pod and I shelled them after cooking)
  • ⅓ cup slivered almonds or pepitas (green pumpkin seeds) (I used both!)
  • 1 medium raw beetroot, peeled
  • 1 medium-to-large carrot, peeled
  • 2 cups packed baby spinach or arugula roughly chopped (arugula = rocket, this is what I used, I didn’t chop it though),
  • 1 avocado, cubed

Vinaigrette

  • 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or cilantro (cilantro – coriander, I opted for 1 of each)
  • 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup or agave nectar (I used 1 tsp of coconut sugar, you could use any sweetener)
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Check out the full recipe from the fabulous COOKIE+kate here.

There are a few other salads I've yet to share, so look out for a few more to come. Oh, and if you have any gems to share, I'd love to be introduced to your faves for sure 🙂

To cake or not to cake? Healthy zucchini gluten-free chocolate cake recipe, anyone?

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zucchine chocolate chip cake and fresh zucchinis

Enter, the nutritionally dense vegie cake! Earlier this year we had a glut of zucchini's as my partner tried his hand at gardening for the first time (very successfully!) and unleashed his inner farmer.

The thing with making your deserts nutritionally dense is that they contain a lot of fibre, they are naturally sweetened with fruit and don't give you the same quickly absorbed blood sugar high that plummets as soon as you've consumed it. Think kids having a meltdown after a birthday party.

Adding in some superfoods, good fats or protein sources also keeps the release of sugars into the bloodstream at a reasonable level and most importantly satisfies the principles of cake. Celebration and reward, love and sharing! This is the recipe I based the chocolate zucchini cake on. Have a play with variations yourself – this is what I ended up with 🙂

As the original recipe says:

It turned out like actual, edible zucchini bread. It doesn’t fall apart, it’s not too dry, and not too soggy.

Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1-1/2 cup blanched almond flour
  • 1 cup  of chickpea flour (also called besan flour, this has quite a strong flavour but you can't taste it over the dark chocolate flavour of the cacao – you could also use buckwheat or any gluten free/nut flour)
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla protein powder
  • 4 tablespoons raw cacao (or cocoa powder – the raw stuff does have more antioxidants, however)
  • 2 tablespoons cacao nibs
  • 2 tablespoons pepitas (the green kernels from pumpkin seeds are high in zinc!)
  • 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
  • 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 4 tablespoons stewed apples (you could also use a ripe banana, I just happened to have stewed apples!)
  • 12 dates, chopped
  • 1 large zucchini, grated (unpeeled)

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
  2. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl.
  3. Mix wet ingredients in with the zucchini and pour in dry ingredients, a little at a time. Stir through until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated.
  4. Line your loaf tin with baking paper and pour the mixture in, smoothing over with a spoon. You could possibly also use the mixture to make cupcakes/muffins.
  5. Bake for 60 minutes until the middle is set and a fine skewer comes out clean.

Remember that raw cacao, like chocolate and coffee, contains plant chemicals that are stimulating for sensitive people. This is great if you want a mood enhancing pick me up during the day but like all stimulants, they are best avoided in the late afternoon and especially if you are being extra careful with your sleep routine.

This gem is great served with a cuppa at afternoon tea time and is gluten-free to boot! Enjoy 🙂

So, why do we need a refined sugar-free, gluten-free, chocolate zucchini cake?

Sugar and white flour are two ingredients that are generally considered some of the not so healthy imaginings of modern living and also two of the essential ingredients in cake. Cake, as a word is layered with associations – celebration, reward, sharing, milestones, comfort, hospitality, as mentioned above. It could mean a catch up with some special friends, your nephew's fourth birthday, dessert for a special guest, some time to grieve or soothe your tensions away in a world that sometimes offers very little real comfort. It is a word accompanied by love.

Natural medicine or what we call naturopathy in many ways works its magic by manipulating the ways we eat, how we move, the times we choose to sleep and how we think about our lives, to make a difference to our health and happiness. Taking the supplements, the herbs, the vitamins in little bottles, these are also part of a naturopath's dispensary and do make a difference to help us get on track, but it's the things that we can do for free – choosing to eat vegies every day, going for a walk, sleeping more and hanging out with people who love and inspire us, they are the long-term cures to most of our modern ailments. And we know this. We've tried it out, read the studies on vegan diets, listened to our mothers but somehow, with all the knowledge, it seems harder than it looks on paper.

Good nutritiously dense food, needs to edge out the processed foods – but it's one step at a time, and we need something to replace it with!

We all know that health is not handed to us on a platter (or maybe it is – depending what's on the platter!) and for the vast majority of us, we'd have to admit, our current habits require revision. It does take some work to look after this wonderful organism we walk around in, and it is worth it. Even the six-fingered man from the 80's spoof classic, ‘The Princess Bride' was advised,

Get some rest. If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything.

I couldn't agree more. Still, wrestling with a chocolate, mint-slice, gummi bear addiction can mean that cake is now one of the bad guys. But what about all the things that make cake meaningful? Does this mean no more celebrations, no more comfort, no more love? I really don't think it can. Cake is a part of the colour of life and if you're not celebrating life, then we might need to prescribe some cake to get you back on track. Oh my, a naturopath just prescribed cake!

In my opinion, there are two types of cake eaters. Those who can do moderation and those who eat the whole cake. Personally, I have to confess, I'm on the ‘eat the whole cake' end of the spectrum. Following which I'd be wrestling with cravings tempting me to further fuel my delicious sugar bender every day for the whole next week… If only it were a health food, *sigh*.

So, if you can do moderation, have your cake, eat it even 😉 Maybe this looks like ordering a half slice, sharing it with your friends, eating a couple of bites and (gasp!) leaving the rest. All good options for the moderate cake consumer. Order the dessert, share it, celebrate it, savour it. You know already it's not a major food group.

If you can't do moderation, the alternative can seem like an eternity of misery, particularly when you're in the throes of a sugar addiction denial. However, when you've come to terms with said sugar addiction, misery is going back to being riddled with anxiety, itching all over, and foregoing sleep to drive to the shops at midnight because you can't stop thinking about cake. I remember the feeling and truly, this is what keeps me looking for alternatives to the seductive temptations concocted of white sugar and flour. That's why we definitely need zucchini chocolate chip yumminess!

Spiced apricot and almond bliss balls

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Cococut covered almond and apricot bliss balls with orange zest

In the interest of finding healthy snacks, accompaniments for afternoon tea and options for nutrient-dense desserts I have been experimenting again with bliss balls. Trawling the internet I found a treasure chest of delicious concoctions and have melded a few together to create this little gem. With the addition of festive spices, I might even tag this one for Christmas as an alternative to the condensed milk and Marie biscuits which are the traditional ingredients for Christmas Rum Balls in my family. Look out Santa!

You might notice I've snuck in a carrot, which has delicious sweetness and helps to lift our vegie quota for the day to boot! There is also plenty of fibre to feed our good bacteria and make these treats nice and satisfying. The orange rind has a prominent flavour overall but the spices are not overpowering. If you do like spices you could easily double the spice ingredients (ginger and cinnamon powder) or add nutmeg and ground cloves for a stronger (and oh so festive) flavour. Maybe Christmas in July could feature some of these too 🙂

Ingredients

  • ½ cup almond meal
  • 1 medium carrot, grated
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla protein powder
  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp flax meal
  • 2 Tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup desiccated coconut for rolling
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • Zest and juice of 1 orange (lemon also works really well if you prefer lemon flavours!)
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 1 tsp ginger powder

Method

  1. Heat the dried apricots with 1 cup of water in a small saucepan stirring continuously until the water has absorbed and the apricots are nice and plump. Stir in the tablespoon of coconut oil and Set aside.
  2. Place the dry ingredients, except the desiccated coconut into your food processor and mix well.
  3. Add in the rehydrated apricots and oil mixture along with the orange juice and blend until it forms a soft dough.
  4. Shape the mixture into a tablespoon or teaspoon-sized balls (depending on what size you like and the requirements of your consumer, if you're making them for kids you might like to make them smaller) and roll in the desiccated coconut until covered. Shredded coconut can also be used if you don't mind the look of the longer strands.
  5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

To serve, take out of the fridge and bring to room temperature for full flavour. Enjoy!

Very Banana Bliss Balls

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Healthy banana bliss ball snacks coated in coconut
Photo by Taylor Kiser on Unsplash

This week I was experimenting with bliss balls. These are the tasty little snacks filled with power foods, that many people are making instead of cookies (also called biscuits or bikkies if you grew up in Australia as I did) these days.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of pitted Medjool dates
  • 3 very ripe bananas
  • 1 cup of organic coconut flour
  • 1 Tbsp of coconut oil
  • 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 tsp of sea salt
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla protein powder (I used Nutra Organics Thriving Protein Exotic Vanilla in this recipe but you can use whichever one you have handy)
  • 2 Tbsp flax meal
  • 1/3 cup shredded coconut (to roll them in at the end)

Note: if you don't have Medjool dates, just put a cup of dried, pitted dates in a small saucepan with a cup of water. Stir until most of the water is absorbed and the dates are a soft paste. Add to recipe as follows.

Variations to try: Add 1 tbsp of chia seeds, it's also a good way to include a plain non-acidic vitamin C powder (such as Melrose Calcium Ascorbate), spirulina, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon or blueberry powder. 

Method

  1. In your food processor put all the dry ingredients (except the coconut for rolling) and mix well. Add the dates, banana and oil until it is a soft, smooth paste. It might even feel a little too soft, but remember coconut flour absorbs moisture quickly and it needs to be a good consistency to roll into balls. They will become firmer once they are in the fridge.
  2. Roll about a tablespoon of mixture into balls and roll them in the coconut. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or they can be frozen and brought out when needed, to thaw. I challenge you to make them last more than a few days, everyone is going to want one!

Makes about 25-30 delicious bliss balls. Share with your friends and family. A lovely addition to a cup of tea mid-way through the day 🙂

Change of Season Natural Health Insurance

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Warming foods for cooler nights

As the nights start to get cooler and our lovely autumn days move towards winter, it's time to think about warming foods in your diet. This keeps balance in our bodies by warming from within, while our outer environment cools down. Keeping warm also encourages good circulation and keeps your immune defences patrolling.

Great tips for this time of year include eating cooked foods, including warming soups, roasted #vegetables, porridges, stewed fruits and using more spices like ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and turmeric. Drinking chai-flavoured teas and spicy herbal blends is another nice way to add these spices to your day.

Soups are perfect – make one up and you have go to meals for up to a week

This week I have started the soup trail and have been enjoying the warm delights of pumpkin, cannellini beans, cumin, garlic and rainbow silverbeet (chard) in my lunch. Using beans instead of lentils this recipe is really easy to make.

Simmer until the vegetables are soft, take off the heat and let cool. Using an immersion blender gently blend the soup, make sure it is not over-processed and there is still some texture.

Curated from Pumpkin and Lentil Curry Soup recipe – All recipes Australia NZ

Soups are easy to freeze, so if you make a new variety each week, eat it fresh and also freeze portion sizes, these can easily be thawed out to add variety to the next weeks batch or help you get through busy days when it has not been as easy to cook. Exactly the time you want nutritious food on hand!

Vegetables high in Vitamins A and C for immunity

Red, orange and green vegetables give us a good dose of vitamins A and C which are important this time of year to help support our immune systems. Including garlic and ginger which help break down mucous and adds some anti-bacterial, gut supporting garlic goodness to your meals, is also a great idea.

A great vegetable to add to your shopping list s beetroot. It is so beautiful and packed with phytonutrients. Beetroot can be grated into risotto, soups, added to dahls, baked, or used in a warm salad such as this one using red and yellow beetroot. Although I've not seen yellow beetroot yet in my local shops, so my version is probably going to be red and red beetroot 😉

To assemble, layer the beets in small stacks alternating colors. Pour the dressing (blood orange juice, olive oil, salt and pepper) over the stack and finish with a sprinkle of feta cheese, fresh parsley and a crack of pepper.

Do you get cold hands and feet?

Keeping warm fortifies your body and immune system. If your feet are little ice-blocks in winter, chances are your circulation could do with a little help. Supporting blood and blood vessel health with herbs and foods, getting some aerobic exercise and taking warm foot baths before bed is all part of a program to help keep your feet toasty warm this winter and your immune system healthy. As Dr. Kerry Bone, the master of circulatory health reminds us, blood vessel health and circulation are supported by increasing these foods in particular:

  • Boost green leafy vegetables, and beets as juice or a supplement, raw or roasted (not boiled) to increase dietary nitrates.
  • Increase cocoa intake: 85% chocolate, 20 g/day or 2/3 oz. Now that's a prescription many people can get behind!
  • Increase berry anthocyanin intake: 60-90g or 2 to 3 oz/day of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Or while scarce in the winter you can try a supplement or a Bilberry tablet. Or stew up some frozen ones and serve warm over your porridge or with a dollop of yoghurt and some toasted nuts and seeds – yum!
  • Raw crushed Garlic: ½ to 1 clove/day. As I mentioned above, this also has benefits for the immune system. Add to your meals just before serving.
  • Increase herbs and spices: especially Green Tea (3 to 4 of those tiny sized teacups you see in restaurants serving green tea/day), turmeric and ginger.

Sleep for staying healthy

Take a leaf out of the hibernating animals book – cooler nights are great for sleeping. It is also a good opportunity to help your body prepare for the additional stresses of cold weather and the inevitable cold and flu season. Going to bed a little earlier helps remain in good spirits and helps reduce stress, which we know is something that reduces immunity. Burning the candle at both ends isn't the best prescription and as we move further into the working year it is a good idea to reassess how much rest you are regularly getting and make some adjustments if needed.

Look after your good bacteria for immune protection

Include as many whole foods as possible, which means eating as close to nature as you can. Try to avoid gut irritants like refined sugar, processed foods and alcohol. This is to ensure your digestive system is extracting the best from your foods and not causing unnecessary stress on your immune system. Probiotics as supplements and fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, yoghurts, kefir and vegies for fibre all help to keep your digestive immune responses healthy.

Is it possible to avoid germs in winter?

Viruses are hard to avoid completely during winter, but infection can be minimised by good hygiene, washing hands with mild, gentle soaps and encouraging friends, family, and colleagues to take time out to get better before coming back to work or attending gatherings. Perhaps drop them off some of your stores of soup at home – they'll be very grateful and you'll avoid exposure to their nasty lurgy! Of course, if it's your kids who are always bringing home coughs and colds, hand washing, avoiding finishing their meals and building up your and their immunity is the best defence plan around.

Stock up on your favourite herbs and vitamins

If you are prone to colds and flu as the weather turns colder, chat to your naturopath about a personalised check up and defence plan. Supporting your resilience before cold and flus hit is a good way to ensure you recover well and improve your chances of a clear run through winter.

Raw Zucchini Salad Breakfast

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Getting more vegies in your day, sometimes has to start early. Thinking about what to have for breakfast today I was confronted by a glut of homegrown zucchinis and a craving for something fresh! Not a bad problem as it turned out. Combining a few cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, lemon juice, a little pink Himalayan salt and some lightly toasted seeds I'm loving this super quick, easy, tangy, fresh start to my day 🙂

Our friend Tracy had mentioned she was doing Veganuary – Vegan for January, so feeling inspired took out my regular old vegie peeler (no special zucchini spiraliser in our house, so a little improvisation was in order), and made short work of a medium-sized zucchini. The result is like a wide, flat noodle and looks really pretty with the dark green skin along the edges.

Ingredients

  • 1 zucchini, spiraled or sliced thinly with a vegie peeler
  • 1-2 tablespoons of mixed seeds and nuts – I used pepitas, sunflower, flaked almonds and pine nuts, lightly toasted in a pan
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Fresh basil leaves, torn

Method

Googling for recipes this morning, I didn't find one that exactly fit the ingredients in my pantry so I drew from the inspiration of Jaime Oliver who loves a

few sprigs of fresh basil,

and the genius Lisa Featherby of Gourmet Traveller, who suggested I take my zucchini noodles and

season with sea salt flakes and stand until zucchini softens (2 minutes).

Tossing everything together for this really clean, January breakfast, I'm feeling ready to take on the world. Serves 1-2, depends if you're willing to share 😉 If you do, your friend will be really impressed, I know mine was!

Summer is often a time for reassessing your diet, making a few changes to bring up your energy and getting set for a great start to the year. If you've done this before or need a reminder, a naturopathy consult could be what you need to help talk through some practical changes in line with your goals, mix you up a herbal potion to complement your needs and plant the seeds for good habits in 2018. Book online or give me a call to set it up today.

Tips for Surviving a Cold or Flu

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You know all those common sense tips that are on tip of your tongue when someone else is sick? Sometimes it all leaves you when you are under the weather yourself. With that in mind, I thought I'd add these little gems here, in case you (or I!) run into a nasty cold or flu.

Usually, a cold or flu can be weathered with good rest, nutritional and herbal support, however, if you have more serious symptoms, it is essential to seek medical help. These include if,

  1. You have trouble breathing or chest pain.
  2. Your fever doesn't get better.
  3. You are at risk of dehydration because you can't keep anything down.

My top 3 tips to help you recover well are:

Steam Inhalations

Steam inhalations can be very soothing and help ease congestion and soothe inflamed airways. Try a few drops of eucalyptus in the bottom of your shower or lean your face over a sink of warm water and drape a towel over your head (the old fashioned way!) to gently inhale the steam. Even without the addition of essential oils, a warm shower or bath can help ease congestion before bed and make sleeping easier.

Lots of Fluids – Try this Savoury Broth

Drink lots of warm fluids, keep warm and eat easy to digest foods. Soups are great at this time and drinks like lemon and Manuka honey are particularly helpful for sore throats. You can make an easy savoury broth by boiling together in water some common kitchen herbs, especially sage, thyme, a bay leaf, rosemary, ginger and sliced fresh garlic. This makes a tasty broth that is very nourishing between meals. Garlic and ginger help break down mucous, and sage and thyme are soothing respiratory antiseptics and are great for sore throats.

Soups for Recovering from your Cold or Flu

Soups are also a great, easily digested food for when you are unwell. Lots of red, orange and green vegies help to supply you with lots of Vitamin A and C to help repair your airways and support your immune system. A couple of easy recipes include my favourite pink Sweet beetroot, pumpkin and red lentil soup and this fantastic sweet potato, cauliflower curry. It's very easy to make, although if you can ask your friends, partner or family to make it, even better:

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Decrease heat to medium. Add cauliflower, onion, and curry powder; cook 1 minute, stirring mixture constantly. Add broth and next 3 ingredients (through tomatoes); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

Both of these recipes can easily take some baby spinach or whatever greens you have on hand to boost up the healing power.

Rest

Remember to rest! This is the most important tip. Going to bed early and having naps throughout the day is essential to your recovery. Keep this in mind after you recover too – completing a period of post-illness follow-up strengthens your resilience, which reduces the chance of relapse. Make it your mission to get to bed earlier than usual for the next two weeks also. For some tips on staying well in the winter, check out this article here.

Remember, I offer existing clients ten minute, over the phone consults for acute conditions like colds and flu. Herbs and nutritional supplements can help you recover well. Book online here or call me on 0402 097 028 if you need an appointment today.

Hopefully, you won't need this advice for some time, but if you do, it's always here for you to look back on!

Diet tips for happy hormones

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Hormones are wonderful things, and with everything running smoothly they keep your skin plump and healthy, your sex drive humming along and a pep in your step. That said, excessive hormonal influence can make you think your body is taking you on a wild ride of emotional instability, uncomfortable periods and a myriad of other nasty symptoms. The simplest method of modifying the way your body processes hormones is through diet. What's the trick to keeping your hormones on side?

Hormones should be one use only

Hormones, like estrogen are broken down in the liver and eliminated via the bowel. This is the ideal situation, as once they have had an effect on your hormonally sensitive tissues, we are done with them. However, if the path out of the bowel is a little slow, we can end up with these hormones being reabsorbed, essentially ‘recycled' and having a more intense impact on the body. This is where fibre and good bowel habits come in. Making sure you have a bowel motion at least once a day is the best way to ensure hormones only have the effect they were intended to have.

Where do you find fibre?

Fibre is best found in fruits and vegies, whole grain cereals, beans and nuts and seeds. Seeds like ground flaxseeds and chia seeds are easily added to meals, smoothies and desserts if you feel like your fibre is lacking despite your best efforts. Flaxmeal can even be added to burger recipes to increase the fibre of your dishes while taking advantage of its use as a binder, keeping everything together. Another way to use it is as a topper for fruit and yoghurt – the crunch of flaxmeal and the nutty flavour works really well in my opinion. Try it out and see if it works to your taste.

Phytoestrogens actually reduce the impact of your hormones

Phytoestrogens are found in plants, like lentils, beans, soy and  flaxmeal that have a very mildly estrogenic quality. These bind with the hormone receptors in the body and in effect block the action of the stronger hormones circulating in the blood. The positive effect here is that your hormonal response is soothed and there is less negative impact of over-active hormones in the body. So, eating more beans, lentils, a little tofu or tempe along with plenty of green vegies can lead to smoother menstrual cycles and emotions.

Try out these recipes:

Sweet beetroot, pumpkin and red lentil soup

Mushroom miso soup

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There are lots of things to love about soup! It definitely warms you up from the inside and is a great way to keep all the nutrition of your ingredients in one delicious pot. This easy soup is one of my favourites, takes about 10 minutes to prepare and has a noodle-y texture without the gluten (or carbs) if that's something you're looking out for.

Ingredients

500g button mushrooms, sliced

125g of enoki mushrooms, tails chopped off and separated

1 brown onion, finely diced

2-3 generous Tbsp of miso paste, to taste (I like the red one, but the white is good too)

1 Tbsp of freshly grated ginger

1 bunch of choy sum, roughly chopped (or other favourite leafy green)

200g of silken tofu, cut into small cubes

Spring onions, sliced finely for garnish

Olive oil for sauteing

2L of water

Method

Saute onion and button mushrooms in olive oil until starting to brown. Add ginger and stir until warm and fragrant. Add water and bring to the boil. Add silken tofu and enoki mushrooms (these are the noodles in the soup!). Once heated through add leafy greens and heat until just cooked. Dilute miso paste in a cup of warm, boiled water. Turn soup off the heat and add miso liquid. Stir through, garnish with sliced spring onions (these give a lovely fresh flavour to the soup) and serve!

Miso

This is a salty, fermented soy paste used to flavour Japanese dishes. It is also a live probiotic food, hence it is generally not heated at high temperatures for long periods. This preserves the health-giving properties of the miso. You can find it in most major supermarkets these days, usually alongside the noodles and other specialty foods for Asian dishes.

Tofu

Tofu is one of those foods that can be difficult to bring into your diet at first. With a neutral taste, it generally takes up the flavours of the dish it is prepared in. As a phytoestrogen, tofu can have beneficial effects on hormones, balancing the effect of estrogen whether you have an over or under supply of the hormone.

Ginger

This is a wonderful anti-inflammatory spice, helpful for stimulating a sluggish circulation, soothing a nauseous tummy and warming your digestive fire. I try to have a little ginger in my meals every day. I even grated a little over my breakfast creation of yoghurt, chia seeds, walnuts, pepitas, a sliced navel orange and rolled oats this morning 🙂 How do you use ginger?

Enoki Mushrooms

These are the stringy looking mushrooms that are starting to be available in more greengrocers these days. However, if your local doesn't have them, you can be assured that your local Asian market will, along with the other ingredients mentioned above! Enjoy!