Christmas Clinic Hours

Just want to wish everyone a merry christmas and happy new year!

And just a small reminder -
The clinic will be closed from Friday 21st December 2012, and reopen on Tuesday 8th January at 9.30

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us via the website:
www.fertilityhealth.com.au

Christmas is nearly upon us..

Well with that time of year creeping up on us, we all are in a mad rush to do the christmas shopping before the kids finish school, organise the food for christmas day, while forgetting about actually breathing and looking after ourselves!

For those of you who need a minute down time & didn't get a chance to read our summer newsletter you can have a peek here:

http://www.fertilityhealth.com.au/files/Summer%20Newsletter.pdf

We have offered great tips if your planning on heading away for the break, information on phytonutrients and adaptogens - both useful around this time of year, along with some meditation apps that may come in handy and have also given some of our favourite summer recipe inspirations!

Remember for those who sign up to our newsletter or subscribe to our blog we are offering 20% off all stock left on the shelf (excludes individual herbal mixes), so get in quick to stock up for the festive season.

One last reminder before you rush madly out the door, is that the clinic will close for christmas from 1pm on Friday 21st December and we'll be back 9am January 8th! 

Gluten - What's the big deal?

Gluten is a protein found in a variety of grains such as wheat, 

rye, barley, oats, spelt and related products. Because wheat is added into so many processed foods many people are eating gluten daily without even realising it.  Gluten is an issue for most people only because we each so much of it. The Standard Australian Diet (SAD) generally consists of wheat based cereals for breakfast, crackers as a snack, a sandwich, a few biscuits, pasta for dinner and before you know it you have consumed gluten with every meal!

Celiacs is the name given to an auto-immune disease that causes permanent intestinal intolerance to gluten. Only 1 in 200 people are celiac while it is estimated that 1 in 7 people have a gluten intolerance or sensitivity. You could have a gluten intolerance without necessarily having Celiac’s disease.

The issue is that gluten is a protein that is difficult to digest and can cause inflammation and irritation in the intestinal wall. If not digestive properly it is us to the immune system to break it down. Once the immune system steps in, the gluten can affect pretty much every other system in the body. Issues that arrive can include digestive issues, auto-immune disorders, skin problems, asthma, mood disorders, behavioural and learning difficulties and allergies.

What to do?

The best advice I can give to anyone is to vary your grain intake and avoid overconsumption of gluten. Use a variety of grains in your diet such as rice, corn, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth or millet. All are gluten free and very nutritious.

If you are worried about having a gluten sensitivity, avoid all gluten containing foods for a period of 3 weeks. Assess your health over this period, then introduce the gluten back in and see how you feel. Many people feel that they can tolerate gluten if consumed occasionally and in small amounts.

Please see my next blog all about choosing gluten free grains!

Could your IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome) actually be food intolerances?

                                                                                                         

Being told you have ‘Irritable Bowel Syndrome’ means exactly that- you have symptoms that your bowel is irritated. It’s really just a label for your symptoms and telling you what you already know- your bowel is irritated. IBS encompasses a whole host of digestive discomfort such as diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, stomach cramps, pains and gas. So what causes it? The medical theory behind IBS suggests the symptoms being caused by stress. While stress may be the cause for some, it is not necessarily the cause for all. A food intolerance could be causing your symptoms.  

                 

What is a food intolerance?

Food intolerances are very different to a food allergy. With an allergy, symptoms are usually obvious, immediate and severe in nature.

An intolerance is quite different. A reaction can occur immediately after consumption or up to 3 days following. It is usually dose dependent, so the more often you eat the food the worse the symptoms. This also means it can be difficult to figure out exactly what foods you are reacting to. Who would blame the pasta they had 2 nights ago for their IBS symptoms?

Most common symptoms are nausea, bloating, pain, gas, heartburn, diarrhoea, constipation. Other common symptoms caused by food intolerances include headaches or migranes, skin problems (acne, eczema, psoriasis), hayfever, sinusitis, poor sleep, depression or low energy levels.

Food intolerance testing

Having any of the symptoms above is enough to lead you to suspect food intolerance. I recommend food intolerance testing as the fastest and most accurate way to diagnose food intolerances. This is done via a blood sample and is much less confusing using trial and error. If you think you might be suffering from intolerances, give us a call and we can send you for a simple blood test!

Meditation Challenge

'Anyone fancy joining me on a 21 day meditation challenge?'

‘I am generally hopeless when it comes to meditating, I have all the best intentions but somehow it does not materialise to actually sitting down and meditating. So I was excited to see that Deepak Chopra is offering a 21 day meditation challenge where you get daily guided meditations. This I think I can manage – and its free which is pretty fantastic. So, who's with me?

Have a look at the finer details here: 

http://www.chopracentermeditation.com/bestsellers/LandingPage3.aspx?bookid=172&af=850

The beginning of the end!

Time flies when you are having fun, and as I got into the groove with my detox, I started to feel very comfortable with my food choices and started to really enjoy how good the food tasted. Once you get past the first week the caffeine withdrawal headache goes along with the sugar and salt cravings (thank goodness).

I certainly became more creative in the last days –

-       Breakfast – adding super green smoothie onto ground seed mix

-       Almond milk Smoothies – adding bananas, frozen berries, cocoa powder, chia or flaxseeds (see my almond milk recipe below).

-       Creative salad dressings – to keep the vegies interesting (see below for one of my favourites).

-       Chia seed pots – great little afternoon snack - recipe for this coming soon!

-       Fish parcels – the easiest way to cook fish - place fish with choice of vegies (bok choy, spinach, asparagus etc) in oven proof paper with drizzle if olive oil or squeeze of lemon and cook for 15-20 minutes at 200c.

-       Bliss balls – I have become a master in randomly throwing in nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or (whatever i could find) in a food processor and then adding some carob, tahini and honey.

     Just play around with the ingredients until it suits your taste buds! 

-       Drinks – I'm loving hot ginger tea, but have also been giving a whole range of herbal teas a work out.

With a couple more days left, I'm on easy street, just kicking back and enjoying myself, but am definately looking forward to slowly edging my way out with some cheese, some squares  dark chocolate and maybe even a glass of chilled white wine.

'But remember, if you decide to give detoxing a go, the best advice I can give, is ‘ease yourself in and out of the detox’ no shocking your body, i.e. don’t stop, then binge, you’ll feel terrible and undo all your good work (physically and mentally).' 

Almond Milk Recipe

Ingredients

Soaked almonds (1/2 cup before soaking)

3 cups of water

2 dates (optional)

1-2 drops of vanilla essence

Method

-       Soak nuts overnight and rinse well

-       Blend all ingredients on high until well blended

-       Put through a nut milk bag

    (you can buy these at www.consciouschoice.com.au)

      *Note I have then been using the nut pulp in the bliss balls which gives them a really lovely consistency, you can freeze this, and then use as almond meal when need

Salad dressing

 Ingredients

1 rounded tsp of unpasteurised miso

Juice of ½ an orange (I used a blood orange)

1tbsp mirin

1tbsp olive oil

This goes really well on chopped beetroot, carrot and fennel, with some toasted sesame seeds!

3 days done, only another 27 to go…oh god!

So on day 1 I was feeling pretty good, day 2 I still felt rather virtuous and proud of myself, but day 3 has been tough. Perhaps it was the fact that I started the day with a Boxing class, and I felt as if I was running on empty with no chance of reaching top speed. I did have a Super Green Smoothie before the class, but two days of low carbohydrates hadn’t left me much in the way of energy stores and I felt far from super.

Then by mid-day a headache began which I haven’t managed to shift. I wasn’t expecting it, but even though I am not a coffee drinker, stopping the 2-3 teas (black and green) must have been enough to give me a caffeine withdrawal.

On the up side, I have done pretty well at sticking to the detox; I do feel that I need a little more variation though. 

Planning is certainly the key to sticking to it. Plus, it’s definitely good to clear the house of temptation before starting…a few squares of Green & Black Chocolate have been plaguing me and I can’t quite bring myself to throw them away, instead they wave at me each time I open the fridge, saying “eat me Karen”.

Okay, here is a peek at my three day eating plan…warts and all.

Breakfast	Snack	Lunch	Snack	Dinner	Beverages
Day 1: Hot water and ¼ squeezed lemon Glass of green smoothie 2 boiled eggs, EVO oil and sumac	Apple, cashews and macadamias Bliss ball	2 x organic roasted chicken legs and winter cabbage and carrot slaw	Bliss ball Orange, cashew and macadamias	Fillet steak and mixed leafy salad Fried (in coconut oil) banana and goats yogurt	5 glasses of water 4 herbal teas
Day 2: Hot water and ¼ squeezed lemon 2 boiled eggs, tomatoe and spinach Orange juice	Apple 2 dates and handful of almonds	2 x organic roasted chicken legs and mixed salad Soaked chia seeds, blueberries and passionfruit  pot	Orange and handful of almonds 2 bliss balls 1 glass of Green Smoothie	Flathead fillet and mixed salad with tahini dressing	5 glasses of water 4 herbal teas
Day 3: Glass of Green Smoothie and 2 chlorella tablets 2 boiled eggs, mushrooms and silverbeet	Apple Almonds, Brazils and Walnuts (handful) 1 date and 1 fig	2 chicken legs and mixed salad 2 chlorella tablets Soaked chia and blueberry pot	2 bliss balls Passionfruit and mandarin Flats (vegie and flax dehydrated crackery things) with left over pate	Fish soup (including ocean trout and flathead, lots of fresh coriander, basil and some celery, sprinkle of fennel seeds) 2 chlorella tablets Orange, goats yogurt and kiwi fruit	6 glasses of water 4 herbal teas

I have to confess I have had a few slip ups: 

*goats yogurt (I know its dairy, but I had some left in the fridge and it’s too good to throw away)

*used butter to fry the flathead (more dairy, but in my defence butter is a stable fat, should have steamed it or baked it to avoid the butter ) 

*I ate pate (it was duck liver pate, French, but not exactly organic, very tasty though).

Still finding my detox feet…

The Beginning of a Detox

Since Spring has rapidly graced us with its presence, I feel the need to Detox some of the winter sludge and lighten my diet somewhat, keeping my motivation alive by sharing my progress and experiences with you! 

I have decided on the following detox plan:

EAT	AVOID
Meat (lean red & organic poultry)	Sugar
Fish	Processed food
Eggs	Grains
Nuts and seeds	Beans and Legumes
Fruits	Dairy
Vegetables (especially green ones)	Starchy foods
Oil –  EV Olive Oil & Flaxseed oil
DRINK	AVOID
Water (At least 2 litres)	Alcohol
Herbal tea	Caffeine
	Sugary drinks

I suppose this detox is nudging at a Palaeolithic style diet, and this feels right for me because it’s been a Winter of maxing out on carbohydrates – roasted potatoes, risottos, pastas, porridges and breads – and my body has wanted all of it. 

Now with Spring well and truly in the air I am ready to move away from the grains and starch – and ramp up the vegetables and lean protein.

Preparation is the key in any Detox, so my day before went a little bit like this: 

-        Shopping – first to Frenchs Forest market to get some organic vegetables plus I picked up some organic fuji apples, lemons and bananas. Then I nipped to Coles to get some organic chicken and some lean fillet (not organic but hormone free)

-        Cooking – roasted some chicken legs to have cold for lunches

-        Snacks – I’ve made a batch of ‘Bliss Balls’ (check out recipe ) feeling a bit flash with new food processor so made two batches – a low dried fruit version for me and a bit more dried fruit for ‘sweet tooth’ Hans.

-        Last supper – I’ve invited 4 friends round to join us in our ‘last supper’ before we start – on the menu is Vegetable Lasagna (with extra cheeseJ) and a couple of salads, washed down with some red wine, then chocolate for dessert – Ha! Well I might as well have something to detox.

      Wish me luck...! 

Food from Plants

Well I am finally biting the bullet, creative juices flowing, committing to a weekly juicy bite to send out to the world. I have roped in my colleagues Karen and Hayley to contribute too - their insight & perspective on wellbeing, nutrition, herbal medicine and what makes us healthy is spot-on. Karen recently embarked on a 'must practice what I preach' detox and will share her experience in the following weeks. I can feel myself get a little itchy, on the verge of daily postings that irritate even the most avid fans...this should be fun! 

So in brief, a bit of food for thought for this week - the key to healthy eating lies in not what we shouldn't eat (there is plenty of that we know about), but what we SHOULD be eating. 

Food from Plants.

Only 9% of Australian adults, according to the Bureau of Statistics, consume the recommended daily intake of vegetables (5 serves) and fruit (1 -2 serves). And just to shock you even more (I made an audible 'what!' when I read this) - 40% of Australians do not recall eating ANY vegetables on a given day. Imagine how we could change our health outlook if we simply ate more plant food? 

Fresh and green

Yes I have said to many that "I am not a Facebook person", much more a 'face to face' person, and yet here I am, inspired to write a blog in the hope that someone will be interested enough to read my thoughts, musings and comments on all things healthy. 
Why SeedPod news? Well simply because a seed pod is the beginning of life, a seed of an idea, the start of something great, a new baby, a new thought propelling us on the search for betterment... and... it is small, digestible, quick to capture and hold in ones hand to take through the day. 

So let's make it short and sweet each time, with a potential adventurous journey in each capsule. 

I am green and fresh and hoping that this will be fun!