Showing posts with label food as medicine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food as medicine. Show all posts

Monday, May 27, 2013

Just let go


Go with the flow....




Top 5 Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. The sweetest little apron a friend made just for me. A vintage doily front pocket and cream buttons, a little frill along the bottom and even ‘Little Em’ embroided across the straps with red thread. Love you Rena Rae xx My vintage apron fetish continues to flourish.
2. The flock of black butterflies that followed me on my beach walk today.
3. The satisfaction of cleaning a super dirty car.
4. Gushing over the cakes and slices the little old lady makes at the Thursday morning farmers market with my herbalist at my appointment this week. Hang on, aren’t we meant to be health professionals?! Oh but that’s right, we’re humans too ;)
5. My long raspberry red yoga tights making a comeback now that Autumn has truly set it.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. Try and be aware this week of letting go of things that you cannot control with a big exhaaaaale. You’ll feel lighter. I promise.






So me right now. 

Is anyone else starting to follow their heart more instead of just doing what you think will make other happy?






Top 5 Things I LOVED This Wk:

1. Witnessing two “Chiko roll girls”. They followed a group of guys down the beach with straightened hair and wearing what seemed to be denim undies. When the guys came in from the surf the Chiko roll girls handed them their towel, a box of bbq Shapes and a bottle of lemon squash. I thought this was just a Puberty Blues myth!
2. About ten seconds of sheer panic when I thought my feet had dramatically shrunk!! “How could this have happened?!”  I soon realised that my husband has identical blue Bonds socks like mine. Crisis averted.
3. A fancy midweek double date with beautiful friends.
4. A pair of suede fringed ankle boots for $29 from the markets. One pair + my size = score!!
5. Having a chat with the friendly owner at our fave Thai restaurant about hot curries. He disappeared then returned 5 mins later with some chillies he’d picked from his own plant which he wrapped in a serviette and gave to us.

Emma the Naturopath xx

PS. For various reasons we have gone out for dinner SO MUCH this week. So we’re really looking forward to eating some delicious home cooked meals next week. This week really savour dinnertime with your partner/family/own company and cook something wonderful made with love xx




FOOD AS MEDICINE: Lowering cholesterol

1. OATS: Porridge weather is creeping up on us! I cook mine with water on the stove at a low heat then add a splash of milk (or sometimes coconut cream) at the end to make it creamy! Choose rolled oats over “quick oats” and add in some cinnamon, a piece of fresh fruit and some LSA.
Throw a handful of oats in your smoothie or make up my awesome little oat slice below to have for morning tea.

2. FISH: Eat 2 serves of fish per week. No not fish and chips. Go for mackerel, trout, herring, sardines, tuna, salmon or halibut. Preferably locally caught.

3. NUTS: Snack a on a handful (42.5 grams if you’d like to be pedantic) of nuts each day. Choose from almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts.  Make sure the nuts you eat are raw (not roasted) and aren't salted or coated with sugar. Keep a jar on your desk or a little zip lock bag in your purse (or man bag).

4. COCONUT OIL: What’s not to love about coconut oil?! Use for cooking like you would any other oil, use as a dressing, in smoothies, bliss balls, add to porridge, spread on toast, off the spoon… 2 tablespoons is the goal.

5. HIGH FIBRE FOODS: chia seeds, psyllium, oat bran, brown rice, LSA.



Here's a great cholesterol lowering recipe!!

BANANA BLUEBERRY OAT SLICE

THE GOODS:
3 cups of organic oats
3 Tbsp coconut oil
2 bananas
2 eggs
2 Granny Smith apples
2 Tbsp chia seeds
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 cup organic frozen berries

TO DO:
1. In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork then whisk in the eggs and coconut oil.
2. Throw in the oats, cinnamon and chia seeds.
3. Grate the apples and add to the bowl along with the berries.
4. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper and smoosh mixture down with a wooden spoon.
5. Bake for 30mins in a 180C oven. Boom! That's it!

Such a great lunch box snack or yummy for brekkie with yoghurt on top. Try it! Substitute oats for quinoa flakes to make it GF.
Enjoy!

Emma the Naturopath xx

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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Bananas & honey & coconut -oh my!
















I am forever banging on about cooking outside of the square. Maybe it is because alot of cookbooks that I've accumulated over the years no longer suit my nutritional needs...?


I've been working on my sacral chakra lately (yes, I did just realise how much of a hippie I sounded like just then!) which has alot to do with creative expression. I've been observing how people express their creativity in different ways. Some with a paintbrush and canvas, others in the surfcraft they ride. I've come to realise that mine is in the kitchen! There's nothing more exciting than throwing ingredients together in the kitchen and it actually WORKS!



This afternoon I was feeling peckish so I sliced up some organic spelt sourdough bread that I bought at the artisian bakery at the jetty, toasted it up, then spread on some extra virgin coconut oil and raw organic honey, then sliced up some fresh bananas on top. Perfection! Come to think of it, some ground cinnamon on top would have increased the yumminess factor... Next time!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Happy food.



Chai spiced spelt carrot cake.
Soy wrapper vegie dumplings.
Freshly squeezed apple juice with organic cinnamon.
Gluten free coconut and lemon myrtle cupcakes.
Spirulina and mango soy smoothie.
Raw vegan passionfruit cheesecake.

These were just some of the absolutely delicious meals I had in the Bay this wkend. It is so refreshing to visit an open-minded place where healthy food is normal, not weird or for hippies. I hope everywhere else catches up soon!

Hope you had a fantastic wkend xx.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

*Wednesday Website of the Week*

After being diagnosed with breast cancer at 32, Amanda Niehaus decided that nutritious wholefoods were the way forward. Here is her blog Easy Peasy Organic filled with yummy recipes and tips on sustainable living xx






Click here to check out her website.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Local, fresh, perfect.

How many times have you gone to buy seafood from the supermarket and the little sign says it’s from Taiwan or Uganda or some other random country thousands and thousands of kilometres away?

One of the things I love about living in the quiet little coastal town of Coffs Harbour is the fishing co-op located down at the marina. This morning I bought some fresh local prawns which were the size of mini lady finger bananas!

So tonight I sautéed the prawns in a tonne of organic extra virgin olive oil, a splash of Braggs liquid aminos and a handful of pay choy.

In another saucepan I boiled up some organic quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah” til soft and fluffy (12-15mins).

While that was all doing its thing, I whizzed up some pesto in my food processor with a couple of handfuls of freshly picked basil from the garden, a few swirls of olive oil, some toasted pine nuts and a wild amount of garlic.

Then finally I threw together a quick salad of mixed leaves, alfalfa sprouts, carrots, grated beetroot (cleansing for the liver), cucumber and a handful of cherry toms.

I popped the quinoa, salad and prawns on my polka dot plate and spooned the pesto all over it with a big squeeze of lemon.

Now for the washing up.... Eek!

Remember, shop local, cook from scratch, keep it fresh and always get your husband to do the dishes xx.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Pining for pineapple.

I drive an economical red Barina named Ruby. On average she costs me about $12 a week to run. Same price as a kilo of bananas. Petrol or bananas? Hmmm…

So let’s boycott the traditional banana smoothie and get creative in the kitchen!!



Here’s a little something I threw together this afternoon:

Juice half a pineapple, 3 granny smith apples and a chunk of ginger.

Pour into a blender and whiz together with 6 strawberries and a heaped teaspoon of spirulina.

Ta-daaa!

Makes enough for one small naturopath and her thirsty boyfriend.


Perfect pineapple facts:

*Pineapple contains the enzyme bromelain which helps to gobble up inflammation in the body and helps you to digest your food.

*If you feel really bloated and heavy after eating meat, chop up some pineapple and place it in a bowl with the marinating meat. The bromelain in the pineapple “pre-digests” the protein in the meat and makes it super tender.

*Before a meal have a little entrée of a piece of pineapple, some paw paw (contains papain) and half a kiwi fruit (actinidin) -which are all high in digestive enzymes, to get your tummy all hungry and grumbly.

*On an empty stomach, bromelain has a Pac Man effect on inflammation. Therefore pineapple is awesome for inflammatory conditions like arthritis, ulcerative colitis, back pain and hayfever.

*Bromelain is particularly beneficial for A blood types.

*You can get bromelain in supplement form like in BioCeuticals Quercetain.


How good is using food as medicine!


Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Beating a cold... Bear Grylls style!!











Guess who is at home today with a cold? Yes that’s right. Even naturopaths get sick!

However because I couldn’t remember the last time I was sick I’d donated my Ethical Nutrients Zinc Fix (tastes like orange sherbet) and Fusion Cold Cough Flu liquid (tastes like death) to my other half. Then I woke up this morning with glands the size of golf balls and my head felt like I was hungover –without the awesome night out.

Going down to the shop to pick up some supplies was asking more than I could give so I decided to treat my cold naturally using my own defences with what I had at home. Bear Grylls style!

Rug up!! As I sit and write I am currently sporting socks, uggies, trackies, two long sleeve tops, a hoodie, knitted scarf and nursing a hot water bottle. Yes I look like a homeless bag lady, but I am as warm as gluten-free toast. I also made a chai on the stove with a cinnamon stick, extra ground spices and grated ginger. Joy.

To add insult to injury, not only are my muscles aching from being sick, but I also have delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) from my run yesterday and pilates on Monday night. Triple ouch! So I ran a hot bath with one cup of Epsom salts and six drops of lavender. Make sure you make it a hot one to get your sweat on! You want to ENCOURAGE a fever because when your temperature goes up it burns all the bugs rather than suppressing it with pharmaceutical medications.

This time of year I tell customers on a daily basis that they could take every supplement in the shop but the most valuable thing they can do is to take the day off and rest. I often feel like I’m too honest to work in retail…This is called convalescing! Don’t try and be a hero.

I had no vitamin C powder in the cupboard so I’ve been hooking into strawberries, tomatoes, freshly squeezed vegie juice and countless mugs of rosehip tea with fresh lemon and lime slices. Ahhh, you gotta love food as medicine!

Other awesome immune boosters:
*Acupuncture, acupuncture, acupuncture! Beg your pardon? ACUPUNCTURE!
* Sunshine! The latest scientific research proves that vitamin D is 800% more effective at preventing the flu than the actual flu vaccine. Oh… my… goodness!
*Miso soup is rich in good bacteria that colonise your gut. 80% of your immune system resides in your gut. See what I’m getting at?
*Burn grapefruit oil in an oil burner to blitz air borne bugs.

Avoid:
*Astragalus and Korean ginseng are herbs that can prolong an acute infection.
*No sugar! Sugar feeds the bad bacteria and helps it grow! Say “bugger off” to Butter Menthols! Greenridge and Olive Leaf both do really great throat sprays.
*No dairy or “damp” foods like bananas or spirulina which encourage mucous production.
*Get that snot moving! Charming… Bacteria LOVE the warm, moist environment of mucous. When mucous stagnates, bugs breed. So get into the ear candles, chilli, wasabi, turmeric, garlic, onions, ginger, pepper, hot baths and saunas!
*Get a new toothbrush after you’ve had a cold. Makes sense right?

Lesson of the day:
Figure out why are you sick right now. It’s an excuse to say there must have been a lot of germs around or to blame someone you talked to that day who had a cold. Germs are everywhere, so why was YOUR immune system weakened? Stress from work or a relationship? Recently been on antibiotics and didn’t take a probiotic afterwards? Haven’t been eating enough fresh foods? Been burning the candle at both ends? Hmmmm...