Go To Your Happy Place.

When I finished highschool I moved to Byron Bay. “You’ll get over it” I was told. “It’s just a phase”. It wasn’t. “It’s like anywhere, the novelty will wear off”. It didn’t. It just grew and grew. After all the countless places I’ve lived over the last 26 years, nowhere has felt more like home than the Bay.

I am unbelievably lucky enough to have my other half living in Byron so it has become my second home where I get to escape to every second weekend.

I’m a whole different person there. My heart becomes lighter. I’m not "Emma the naturopath" and my head isn’t filled with BAS statements, invoices, superannuation contributions and stock deliveries. It’s just about doing what I love: eating delicious fresh food, enjoying spectacular beaches and having fun with the person I love dearly and just soaking up the bubbly energy. I am able to put myself first.

We all need a place like this to keep our lives balanced. It’s important to remind yourself about who you are. Where you don’t have to play a role as “mummy” or “business owner” or “uni student”. All you have to do is be you.

You don't necessarily have to leave your postcode to do this. This might be out to breakfast with your girlfriends on a Sunday morning, doing a sun salutation at your weekly yoga class or sending the family out to the movies while you soak in a hot bath with the phone off the hook. Create somewhere to break away from your usual life so when you go back to it, you love and appreciate it even more.

Does your life reflect who you truly are? Where is your happy place where you recognise yourself?

Treats.

The Bellingen Valley

Ceres RAW Food Bars from NZ

Drishti Candles from Bellingen

CocoLuscious coconut icecream from the Goldy

Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon


There’s a quaint little town that’s a half hour drive from where I live in Coffs Harbour called Bellingen. Nestled at the top of the main street in Bello is my favourite health food shop (apart from my own!) called Kombu Wholefoods. It has an amazingly earthy and community feel to it and has that “organised chaos” look about it.

After loitering around touching everything for so long that I’m sure the staff were convinced that I was a shop lifter, I departed the shop with a cardboard box containing a copy of Sally Fallon’s classic book Nourishing Traditions, a spicy smelling Drishti ‘Fire Dancer’ cinnamon candle, a quickly melting tub of Organic Chai CocoLuscious ice cream and an apple and cinnamon Ceres RAW Food bar –there’s no hiding my cinnamon fetish!

I’m not sure what I love more… all of these mentally and physically wholesome treats or the fact that my accountant allows me to pay for them all on the company credit card as “research”!

Here’s a quick rundown of my loot:

I am becoming painfully aware of the toxicity of paraffin wax candles and the noxious perfumes added to them. Drishti candles have 100% cotton wicks, are sourced from sustainable palm wax, are scented with 100% pure essential oils and are Australian made and owned. My massive 120 hour candle was about $30. Even when the candles not lit my lounge room smells all spicy and warm.

If I eat anything pre-made like snack bars or pasta sauce, I like to be familiar with everything that’s in it and I prefer to be able to count all of those ingredients on one hand. Ceres RAW Food bars from NZ cost $2.95 are certified organic and contain: apples, dates, almonds and cinnamon. The CocoLuscious ice cream from Burleigh Heads contains: coconut cream, coconut milk, agave nectar, pure vanilla extract, chai spices and guar gum. 500ml was $11.95 and I’m getting the mint choc chip next time!

I know of a number of naturopaths and nutritionists that base their practise solely around the book Nourishing Traditions. I’ve added it to the ever growing mountain of books to read on my bedside table.

Click here to check out Drishti candles.
Click here to check out Ceres RAW Food bars.
Click here to check out CocoLuscious ice cream.
Click here to check out Nourishing Traditions.
Click here to check out Kombu Wholefoods.

And go and have a look and count the number of ingredients in your muesli bars, then see if you can recognise them all without pulling out The Chemical Maze book.

Pumping iron.

In my clinic I have an awesome diagnostic tool called Hemaview. I get one drop of blood from my patient's finger (don't be a sook, it doesn't hurt), which goes on a slide under my microscope that's connected to a flat screen monitor. On the monitor is the live footage of what's going on in your blood! It's like a little solar system of red blood cells rushing past the screen like a river with white blood cells (your immune system) slowly crawling around like lazy sloths. Today we're going to talk about the cells we might see in your blood if you were lacking iron -which is unbelievable how many people are!

See on this slide how some red blood cells are smaller than the others? They're called microcytes and indicate an iron deficiency.







"Oh no Sir! There's a hotdog in your blood!" Just kidding, this elongated red blood cell in amongst the normal circular cells is an elliptocyte.

Both of these signs indicate iron deficiency. So if you've been getting head spins, dragging yourself through the day and are looking more pastey than Snow White, here are some awesome iron boosting suggestions that will have you bounding through the day:

© If you’re eating red meat, have a salad on the side with tomato or a squeeze of lemon juice in water before you’re meal as the vitamin C will increase the acidity of your gut to increase iron absorption
© Cut up parsley and add on top of salads and eggs
© Sprinkle toasted pinenuts over your salad
© Make a fresh pesto with lots of pinenuts and parsley
© Throw some parsley into your veggie juice
© Before bed have a glass of hot milk with some molasses
© Sweeten your chai or cup of tea with molasses
© Add molasses and wheat germ to your smoothie
© Snack on a handful of pinenuts, dried figs and dried apricots
© Google “green smoothie” and add some spinach
© Choose baby spinach in your wraps over iceberg lettuce
© If you’re not vegetarian, make meatballs, spag bol, rissoles, hamburgers, beef stirfry, lamb casserole, satay beef wraps
© Add bok choy at the end of cooking your strifry
© Make a spinach and ricotta pie

We love BioCeuticals Iron Sustain ($14.95 for 30 tabs) as a highly absorbable supplement.

Book in with a naturopath who uses Hemaview to see if there are any hotdogs in your blood!

Juice of the Day.

Santa gave me a Vitality 4 Life Oscar 900 juicer a couple of years back and far out, was he on the money when he picked that baby out! Or when he made it in his workshop…? You can make pesto, olive tapenade, grind up dried fruit and nuts for bliss balls, spelt spaghetti, frozen fruit gelati, even sausages!

I make a smoothie or a juice every morning because it makes me feel light and energetic. I guess it’s my “coffee”.

This was today’s creation:

The Top of the Morning Juice
Juice a few slices of watermelon and pineapple then pour into a blender with the pulp of one passionfruit and one teaspoon of spirulina powder.

Whizz up and enjoy!

Keep It Simple Sexy (K.I.S.S.)

I am like a sniffer dog for food additives. If there is MSG in something my nose gets insanely itchy. This happened last week while eating sushi. My nose started going crazy again. I turned over the wasabi packet and read the contents and was shocked to see the long list of “ingredients” which were mainly numbers.

So I decided to make my own wasabi. I bought some organic horseradish powder and mixed that together with some water and opened a spirulina capsule for the colour. Easy.

Being Fathers Day today, it is a bit of a tradition to buy a treat from Darrell Lea. But this year instead of buying ready-made rocky road I made my own using dark chocolate, butter, desiccated coconut and almonds. Four ingredients. All organic. Plus it’s more special giving someone something homemade.

Be conscious of what you put into (and on) your body. Cook from scratch. Simplify your foods. Nourish your body with wholefoods, not numbers.

Learn more about food additive with Sue Dengate at:

http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/

Weekend inspiration.

"Through yoga, I became interested in meditation and positive affirmations. Everyday, I tell myself I am a vibrant being of love and light". -Miranda Kerr

I'm currently practising Purna yoga on Tuesday nights with an infectiously uplifting teacher. Purna yoga means "integrated" and "complete" as it holistically combines specific alignments of physical postures, yogic philosophy, pranayama breathing and meditation.

I find Purna yoga, actually yoga in general, brings me immeasurable amounts of joy, makes my heart feel light and I walk out of class with an amazing sense of clarity about my life.

Put your fears and judgements aside and find a class to go to on a regular basis.

Namaste.

Get the most out of oats.

It's the last week of Winter!! So make the most of delicious hot breakfasts while you can! I made up a porridge handout for the shop after I realised that nearly every person was making "quick oats" in the microwave and adding brown sugar to it. Some people even add butter!! I felt like it was time to intervene...

What are the benefits of eating porridge?
Oats are a wholefood that are packed with protein to stabilise blood sugar levels, fibre which binds to cholesterol and eliminates it from the body and measurable levels of magnesium, tryptophan and B vitamins to improve mood. They also have a thermogenic effect on the body which means they keep you warm! When you microwave oats (or anything!) the nutritional value is lost.

How do I cook porridge for one?
Add half a cup of rolled oats (or brown rice flakes if coeliac) to a small saucepan, cover with water and leave for 10 minutes. In a perfect world we would soak them overnight, but 10 minutes will do for busy people. This will “pre-digest” the oats for you, making them easier for your body to break down. Place the saucepan on the stove and add ½ a cup of water and ½ a cup of milk and simmer on a low heat until creamy and tender. Add extra milk if you want it creamier.

What sort do I buy?
Try to buy organic rolled oats, not flavoured “quick oats” that have had their goodness steamed out of them and have artificial flavours and added sugar.

Banana and coconut porridge
Add 1 chopped banana and 2 teaspoons of shredded or dessicated coconut. At end squeeze on honey and a tablespoon of coconut cream.

Gourmet Aussie Porridge
Add 1 tsp of wattle seeds to soaking porridge and cook as per usual, add maple syrup and squeeze of lime to taste.

Chai spiced Oats
Let a chai teabag steep for four minutes in one cup of boiling water. Remove the teabag and use this water/tea to soak the oats in instead of plain water. Add honey and cinnamon to taste.

Mixed Seed Porridge
Soak the oats in water for 15 mins with a mixture of seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame and linseeds. The seeds swell and are delicious when cooked in the porridge this way.

Cran-Hazelnut Oats

Combine 1 Tbsp of dried cranberries, a little orange zest and ¼ cup of crushed hazelnuts to your morning porridge.

Apricot-Almond Oats
Dice 4 organic dried apricots (black in colour) with 1 Tbsp of toasted flaked almonds.

Canadian Porridge
Add 1 Tbsp of chopped walnuts, stewed apples, cinnamon and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Cinnamon-Sultana Porridge
Add 2 tsp of sultanas, a Tbsp of LSA (linseed, sunflower, almond meal) and a sprinkling of ground cinnamon. Yummy served with some stewed apple and Greek yoghurt.

Strawberry-LSA Porridge
Add 1 Tbsp of LSA and 3 sliced strawberries at the end of the cooking time.

Pear-Pecan Porridge
Add ¼ cup of chopped pecans with some stewed pear

Jaffa Porridge
Add 2 tsp of cacao powder (raw unrefined powder from cocoa beans that has that bittersweet dark chocolate taste) and some orange zest.

Peach-Nutmeg Porridge
Add a few sliced of chopped tinned peaches with a sprinkling of nutmeg.

Date-Walnut Porridge
Add 4 chopped dates to your soaking oats and ¼ cup of chopped walnuts.

Which one to choose first??