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Homemade Tomato Ketchup

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Did you know that in 15ml of your standard Heinz Ketchup there is 1 teaspoon of sugar?!  That’s a lot of unrefined sugar and most of us wouldn’t dream of giving our child a teaspoon of sugar with a main meal!

I set about making my own homemade version for my daughter’s birthday party last year, we had a forest school birthday party in the woods in November, everyone thought I was crazy but it worked beautifully.  I decided whatever the weather they needed to have warm food and for a BBQ most 6/7 year olds demand ketchup so I had to create something that would pass the young person test! With this recipe I had not a single complaint, all was gobbled up and even the adults couldn’t quite believe it wasn’t Heinz!  The best bit, I didn’t have to use a ton of sugar or salt either.

My little secret!!…. Beetroot powder, not only does it give the ketchup the most authentic colour (goodness knows how Heinz achieves it but I’m guessing it doesn’t come from tomatoes) previously a paler orange in colour but it also adds a delicious natural sweetness to the ketchup.

I make my ketchup in an enormous batch (just over 1 litre size bottle) because, honestly I don’t have the time to keep knocking up ketchup but feel free to half or quater my quantities if you want to use less tomatoes.  The ketchup has kept fresh in my fridge for a good few weeks but I have been known to ferment it too by adding some kraut juice or goat milk kefir whey, leaving it out for a few hours and then transferring to the fridge.  I prefer the kraut juice to ferment with because I don’t like the slightly effervescent texture from whey in my ketchup, in my mind, credibly ketchup should taste silky in texture.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are full of health benefits, I buy on the vine organic tomatoes, I’m sure like myself you’ve realised the superiority in taste but this also allows the tomatoes to retain more nutrients and antioxidants, otherwise they are picked very early to ripen in stores.  Tomatoes are known for the nutrient Lycopene which is shown here and here to have cancer protective capabilities.  Lycopene has been shown to increase its bio-availability through cooking and it is also fat soluble so tomatoes need to be cooked with a fat like this recipe.  Tomatoes are also known for their anti-inflammatory benefits and high levels of vitamin C boosting natural immunity.

 

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Homemade Tomato Ketchup
Author: 
Cuisine: Side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • 900g of large tomatoes chopped
  • 400g of cherry tomatoes halved
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • 2 cloves of garlic sliced
  • 1 red onion
  • 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
  • ½ teaspoon of garam masala
  • Pinch of sea salt and black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of beetroot powder
  • 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon of runny raw honey (optional)
Instructions
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add the tomatoes, red onion and celery and cook gently until soft
  2. Add the spices, salt and pepper and continue to simmer until the vegetable juice releases and the liquid halves in quantity stirring occasionally, allow this to take about 20-30 minutes
  3. Allow to cool and then blend in a liquidiser, I used my vitamix
  4. Add back to the pan and continue to simmer until the ketchup has reached the desired consistency, I like to thicken mine further
  5. Allow to cool again and add the balsamic, beetroot powder and raw honey, I shake mine in the jar to ensure it is well combined.
  6. A delicious addition to your every day meals and a firm favourite with children without the junk!

 

Turmeric – Support Healing with Nature

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turmericTurmeric has been used in Ayurveda for the last 6,000 years, most of us have a little in our curry and if you are a health advocate or foodie you will have at some point read a health article somewhere about the powers of turmeric – turmeric latte is a frequently suggested popular choice.

Last month, there was mainstream media skepticism about the reputed healthy benefits so I wanted to put out some of the research for this powerful spice that has stood the test against many drugs but more importantly without side effects.

The main healing component of turmeric is curcumin which makes up 2-5%, this is often used in supplemental form for treating conditions.

There are now over 2,000 studies on pubmed looking at its use for various conditions..

Anti-depressant – this study showed that turmeric could be used as a treatment for depressed patients when compared against and in conjunction with Prozac.  The study also showed no side affects with using turmeric.

Anti-inflammatory – here is a meta analysis of curcumin affects on patients with high degrees of systemic inflammation

Pain Management – this study found turmeric to be as effective as ibuprofen for treating osteoarthritis but with less abdominal pain and discomfort following treatment.

Cancer Prevention – Here curcumin and resveratrol (antioxidents in berries) were found to have an anti-prolific affect on tumour cells and there are many studies like this one.  Cancer UK has discussed that curcumin can stop precancerous changes becoming cancer.

How do we use turmeric?

For most of us there is no harm and certainly many benefits to using turmeric as a spice in culinary dishes – just make sure you go organic!

A good guide would be to add 1/2 -2 teaspoons of turmeric to your daily routine.  I find this very easy to do, it has a pleasant earthy taste to it when added in small amounts.  It is worth noting for maximum health benefits you need to combine turmeric with black pepper and some fat.  Black pepper enhances it’s bio-availability because it contains a natural drug inhibitor called pepperine so it stops the liver clearing the turmeric too quickly, 1 study has shown it increases the bio-availability of turmeric by 2000% and because turmeric is fat-soluble you need to add a fat too.

Goji and Coconut Energy Balls

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coconut-goji-balls

If you’ve been following my blog you’ll know that I am a big advocate of pure therapeutic- grade essential oils.  I run classes locally and online but if you get the chance to come to one of my classes I nearly always make these…. so after much demand for the recipe I am finally posting it up!  I will be honest, the single 1 drop of cinnamon bark oil* that I use in this recipe transforms the taste.  You can use cinnamon spice but you don’t get the same intensity of flavour.

*Please do not use oils that are not safe for ingestion.

Coconutgojiballs1

While this recipe has no-refined sugar, it does contain quite a few dates so adding cinnamon is a very sensible way to support balancing your blood sugar.  Studies have shown that it cinnamon can lower even fasting blood sugar levels.

Full of healthy saturated fats in the coconut oil and seeds.  Goji berries are one of my favourite berries  cacao nibs which add a lovely nutty texture without actual nuts, therefore they are perfect as lunchbox fillers, an energy food between meals but even as a nibble when hosting a party!

If you’re interested in learning more about pure essential oils, then contact me to join one of my online classes or drop me an email.

 

 

 

 

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Goji and Coconut Energy Balls
Author: 
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 16-20
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of coconut flakes
  • ½ cup of pumpkin seeds
  • 8 dates
  • 2 tablespoons of melted coconut oil
  • ½ cup of goji berries
  • 2 tablespoons cacao nibs
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon of cinnamon or 1 drop of doTERRA cinnamon oil (never more than 1!)
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients into a food processor apart from half of the goji berries and the cacao nibs, blend until the consistency of fine gravel, this may take several minutes depending on the power of the blender
  2. Add the rest of the goji berries and cacao nibs and pulse in to give the energy balls a little texture
  3. Roll the mixture into ping pong size balls or smaller for children and add to the fridge for the coconut oil to harden
  4. Enjoy as a great energy boost when needed or gift to a friend

 

The GAPS Diet Protocol

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GAPS-Protocol

Most people who know me personally know that I’m a strong advocate of the GAPS diet and that the GAPS Protocol has made a big impact healing my family.   It has recently made huge waves on the Internet, it is frequently used by those practicing Natropathic Nutritional Therapy or Functional Medicine and you will find thousands of testimonies all over the Internet from families attesting to its healing capacity. The GAPS premise in the main can be very simple to implement – remove certain inflammatory food groups and introduce foods that heal, allowing the the gut to rest and repair.  For more serious conditions a GAPS healing protocol will entail implementing a diet plan, whilst taking steps to reduce toxicity in the surrounding environment and using minimal supplements where required.

GAPS, standing for Gut and Psychology Syndrome or Gut and Physiology Syndrome, is a strategy developed by Dr Natasha Campbell McBride, a trained Doctor with a post graduate in Neurology and Human Nutrition who resides in the UK.  The protocol is used for a variety of conditions, many that will overlap and some that will not even fit into a diagnostic box.  Here are some of the most common:

  • Autism, ADHD, Schizophrenia, bi-polar and depression
  • Auto-immune conditions of which there are now over 200 (including coeliac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, Lupus, Crohn’s, diabetes type 1 and more)
  • Atopic conditions such as allergies, asthma and eczema
  • Chronic Fatigue, fibromyalgia, ME
  • Digestive conditions such as IBS and gastritis

GAPS is developed from the conclusion that first and foremost these conditions begin in the gut and advancing scientific literature lays out foundations for a new blueprint in how we treat disease.  Hippocrates, the very famous physician who lived over 2000 years ago once said ‘All disease is born in the gut’ and modern science is pioneering that chronic metabolic diseases like those mentioned above, which are prevalent in today’s society, stem from what is now termed professionally as intestinal permeability but also commonly referred to as leaky gut.  Despite the symptom, what all these diseases have common is gut dysbiosis (abnormal gut flora).

The GAPS Protocol is an advanced solution that aims to:

  • Repair the intestinal lining
  • Provide a diet that is gentle and soothing to the digestive tract
  • Repopulate beneficial bacteria into the gut
  • Remove an overload of toxins and pathogenic (unhealthy) bacteria

When following the GAPS diet you would look to remove the following foods:

  • All grains
  • Refined sugar
  • Starchy vegetables such as potatoes and parsnips
  • Processed foods

What you are left with is a very nutrient-dense traditional diet, as close to nature as possible:

  • Bone broth
  • Grass-fed meat
  • Fish
  • Seafood
  • Organic vegetables and fruit
  • Eggs
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Avocado
  • Healthy fats – ghee, coconut oil, animals fats
  • Raw and cultured dairy
  • Fermented foods

Fermented foods are core to the healing process, not only are they inexpensive and simple to make but provide a powerful medicinal treatment. These foods proliferate your gut microbiome (the gut flora which hosts the bacteria in your gut) with healthy bacteria which will eventually crowd out the pathogens. They also have many other very important functions as listed here.

GAPS Controversy
When you google GAPS, it must be noted you will find some Doctors critical of the GAPS diet because there have up until now been no clinical trials of this treatment, they will state that the science is “unfounded” and “experimental”. This will soon be changing as a study has received funding from Virginia Commonwealth University by Austen M. Mulluy PhD and the results will be published shortly.

This certainly didn’t deter me because more importantly when you break apart the components of the GAPS diet there are thousands of studies that prove:

  • Probiotics remove toxins, improve digestion, immunity and more
  • Bone Broth provides collagen that heals and seals the gut
  • Real whole-food nutrition supplies vitamins and minerals for optimum health
  • Grains (when not prepared properly) are problematic for a large proportion of the population
  • Healthy fats are a necessity for heart health, brain function

Anecdotal it may be, I have seen the results that have worked for each and every one of my family. Nothing has 100% success rate because we are all biologically unique but when properly implementing a diet of whole-food nutrition you ultimately risk very little and have so much to gain.

Look at your symptoms kindly as a warning that your health needs your attention, give your body the right tools and it has an incredible capacity to heal.

If you would like to learn more about GAPS please subscribe to my newsletter or if you would like to discuss how you implement the GAPS protocol please contact me for an appointment.

3 steps to be Hayfever-Free this Summer with the GAPS Protocol

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hayfever

Hayfever is for many people a miserable affliction, every summer you learn to dread the next door neighbours mowing their lawn and those really hot windy days when you can see the pollen blowing in the breeze. Medications make you drowsy and hayfever symptoms make you irritable, I know I’ve been there!  I also know people suffer with far worse conditions than these but there are some important reasons NOT to ignore these symptoms.

For many people antihistamines offer little comfort, nasal sprays perhaps a little more but you have to remember to take them religiously. I suffered with hayfever from the age of 5 years old, add to that an allergy to any animal that molted and dust, I can fully empathise with 25% of the population who now experience this.  The NHS will spend £50 million on hayfever medications this year and up to £900 million on allergy-related illnesses, hayfever also accounts for 2-3% of Doctors visits, so it’s also a big burden on the health system too.

 What is Histermine?

Histermine is a neurotransmitter (sends messages between the cells) and has the required function of reducing inflammation and allergic responses.  Histermine is released by the immune cells to work against pathogens and toxins.  If your body becomes too toxic by an imbalance of beneficial bacteria or inflamed, histermine up-scales to counter.  The resulting hayfever or allergy is a signal that your body doesn’t have enough beneficial bacteria to remove the excessive histermine as exemplified in studies where probiotics are introduced. Hayfever is therefore one of the first signals that you have a gut imbalance. 

It’s not the Pollen

Pollen is not the problem, if it were we would have experienced hayfever related issues from birth but the reality is most people incur symptoms later in life only to get progressively worse.

Some of you will want to blame genetics but the reality is although you have a genetic predisposition to these types of allergies, whether you switch on those genes is determined by outside influences (health, external environment etc), which you have ultimate control over.  It is important to note that you will also inherit the gut microbiome (your gut flora of bacteria) from your parents so their health at pregnancy will determine your health at birth.  These explanations help to determine why you may experience these symptoms but what can you do about it?

Hayfever Relief

You need to find the route cause which is based in the gut.  Introduce plenty of beneficial bacteria to remove the pathogens and toxins and allow histermine to rebalance .  Support gut healing by eating foods as close to nature as possible – organic fruit and vegetables, grass-fed meats, bone broth, fish and healthy natural fats such as olive oil and avocados. The good news is that relief can be found pretty quickly, I did the GAPS introduction diet and stopped having hayfever within a couple of weeks. I have not encountered hayfever for the last 3 years and summer is now bliss, I want to share the secrets with you so that you no longer need to fear pollen.

3 steps to Hayfever Relief

  1. Take out food groups that are inflammatory and difficult for the gut to digest, predominantly grains and sugar
  2. Introduce probiotics, either in tablet form or fermented foods such as fermented kefir or sauerkraut, this will rebalance your gut flora and help remove toxins from the body
  3. Consume plenty of bone broth to heal and seal the gut.  Bone broth contains many critical amino acids which repair and protect the cells in the gut lining while detoxifying the body.

Top 5 Ways to Heal Eczema Naturally

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Eczema can be healed naturally at the root cause by healing the gut and introducing fermented foods – nature’s secret weapon to healing.

My top 5 ways to heal eczema naturally are:

  1. Eliminate problem food groups from the diet – dairy, eggs, gluten containing grains and possibly nightshades (not everyone)
  2. Avoid triggers by reducing the exposure to toxins in the environment
  3. Introduce probiotics in the form of fermented foods
  4. Increase levels of Vitamin D from the sunshine and the diet
  5. Eat Healthy fats – such as grass-fed animal fats, coconut oil, fish oil, cold pressed olive oil, nuts and seeds

The solution offered to most parents for their children are harsh steroid creams, these are well-known to thin the skin, making it dry and fragile.  Sadly these creams rarely offer a long-term solution because they are only treating the symptom and not the root cause.  Some children will grow out of eczema but it rarely means that the gut issue is resolved and frequently a different symptom will flare up as the child ages.  My personal experience with eczema was for it to disappear only to flare up as continuous hayfever from age 5 years old which subsequently ceased when I healed my gut.  Many of these conditions are accepted as a normal part of growing up and we need to consider they are usually an indication of a deeper seated health concern that requires your attention and can be remedied.

Some useful supplements to consider

For more tips check out my youtube clip above or read about how I healed my daughter’s eczema here.

Fermented Foods – Nature’s Secret Weapon to Healing

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Fermented foods are eaten by many traditional cultures all over the world and before refrigerators, were a critical component of preserving food to last several months, even years.  You’ve probably heard of Sauerkraut (Sour Cabbage) from Germany or maybe even Natto (soy beans) from Japan but there are many others spanning the globe such as Kimchi, Kefir and Kvass.  In fact let it be said that you can ferment any naturally occurring food whether it be fruit, vegetable, meat or fish.  What you may not realise is that homemade Sauerkraut* has more beneficial bacteria than many therapeutic-strength probiotics you buy.

We live in a symbiotic relationship with microbes in the environment.  Today we are taught to fear bacteria, continually encouraged to use anti-bacterial wipes, soaps and bleaching to kill 99.9% of bacteria.  The reality is that we are bacteria, in fact 90% of our bodies consist of bacteria, and we are only 10% skin and bones.  For weight loss and the avoidance of associated metabolic dysfunctions studies show the requirement to harness the power of these friendly microbes that make up your cells and introduce them back into your guts. Your gut flora (community of microbes living within your gut) coats every surface of the gut providing a protective layer with bacteria.

The functions of the gut flora are:

  • Digestion and absorption of food 
  • Synthesise minerals and vitamins in the body
  • Provide protection for the delicate digestive tract
  • Chelate (remove) toxins from the body
  • Keep pathogenic microbes at bay
  • Responsible for your immune system 

If your body is the orchestra think of your gut flora as the conductor signalling every important function within the body and allowing it to play in perfect harmony.

Due to environmental toxins, antibiotics, food manufacturers heavily processing food and many other present-day factors, many will suffer with a subsequent gut imbalance.  The very famous Physician, Hippocrates once said “All Diseases begin in the gut” and modern science is now able to determine that chronic metabolic diseases can be linked back to the digestive system.

Atopic conditions are more prevalent then ever and studies have shown probiotics are a critical component to healing

  • 25% of people now suffer with hayfever
  • 20% of children suffer from eczema
  • 1 in 11 children has asthma

Many people are also suffering with food sensitivities, exemplified by bloating, upset stomach or IBS.  These are some of the first signs you have a gut imbalance (although please be aware you may not have gut symptoms at all) and by omitting certain trigger foods and implementing a healing protocol of probiotics and / or fermented foods the studies are now showing the effectiveness of this treatment.  85% of your immune system is contained in your gut so the right sustenance is essential to re-balance your gut flora and heal your body.  I’ve seen and experienced the power of these wonderful life-enhancing foods within my own family, healing my daughter’s eczema and my hayfever, which you can read about here.

You can of course purchase therapeutic-strength probiotics but please note you will not receive the health benefits from a live-cultured yoghurt available in a supermarket.  Probiotic tablets can be expensive so my preferred method is to very simply produce lacto-fermented foods.  Homemade fermented foods contain literally billions of beneficial bacteria, so much so that you have to be very careful to introduce these foods gradually, literally a half teaspoon of sauerkraut juice to start so as to minimise a die off reaction, a very normal bi-product of healing.

Fermented foods go beyond healing known health conditions, they can slow down skin-aging, help you lose weight, sleep better and improve your energy.  Once you discover health and vitality through these foods they really will change your life.

If you would like to learn how to start fermenting food at home then please click here to view my next available workshops.

*This does not apply to shop bought sauerkraut which is mostly pasteurised before sale and therefore loses it’s probiotic content.

 

 

Healing Scarlett’s Eczema and Food Allergies

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scarlett-beforescarlett-after

We started with a small patch of eczema on Scarlett’s bottom, a stubborn little rash that would invariably go away for a few days only to flare up again.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we are family that suffer with childhood eczema so I imagined it would heal with time.  I tried steroid cream once or twice but as the eczema came back after a couple of weeks I knew this wasnt healing the root cause.  The eczema spread to the back of her knees and eventually her back, as you can see pictured in the before shot.  Then came the food intolerances, she would eat a tomato or a red pepper and her face would flare up red and blotchy and when she was eating with her hands she would say her fingers were stinging.  This is where my research for healing began.

For years reading nutrition books, I’ve been fascinated by tribal cultures where these modern diseases and skin issues don’t exist.  I’ve endeavoured to adapt my diet over the years to emulate as close to a whole-food diet as possible.  I find it intriguing that in nearly every primitive culture, they will use food in its natural state i.e. milk that is raw (not pasteurised) or eating every part of the animal (organs, liver, tongue, bones) probably without realising this is key to health.  I was therefore not surprised to learn that the culprit was the modern diet and environment that we live in today and the place we needed to start.

GAPS – Gut and Psychology Syndrome

One day I was listening to the pod casts from The Gluten Summit, the first of its kind pulling together the top Doctors specialising in food and health from all over the world.  I was listening to an interview with Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride, she has a degree in medicine and a postgraduate degree in Neurology and Human Nutrition.  She talked passionately about her own experience curing her son of severe autism with nutrition aged 3 and allowing him to lead a normal life.  She has dedicated the last decade to helping other children with psychological disorders all over the world.  Her work is well-known and respected in the nutrition field but many parents are sadly yet to know of this important work that takes place.  Dr Campbell- McBride established that children afflicted with autism, dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, schizophrenia, dyspraxia, allergies, eczema and asthma will also suffer with digestive issues.  She writes about the connection of the gut (also heralded the second brain) and the brain and how the link to improving psychological disorders (and skin disorders) stem from improving the gut flora.  Her book is called GAPS – Gut and Psychology Syndrome and for anyone suffering with one the aforementioned conditions it is a must read that I can highly recommend.

90% of all our genetic material is made up of our gut flora so the rest of our body makes up only 10%.  Our gut flora contains millions of bacteria so the key to being healthy is having enough beneficial or probiotic species of microbes to keep the pathogenic bacteria at bay.  Beneficial bacteria are wiped out in our modern world by processed food, antibiotics, environmental toxins and man-made chemicals.

Elimination

Life without Bread

I’ve alluded to this already but as a family we no longer eat gluten, the sticky protein used to bind processed carbohydrates such as pasta and bread but also now used as a cheap and addictive filler in nearly every item of  food purchased was the first food group to go.  Most people’s reaction when I say we don’t eat gluten is, “I can’t possibly imagine life without a sandwich or a bowl of pasta” but when you start to learn what this protein is doing to your gut and also your brain you might want to re-evaluate.  As humans, we have lived for 99.9% of the time on the planet avoiding grains.  It wasn’t until the period of industrialisation that grains were used as a cheap commodity and our health has suffered ever since.  No human can digest gluten and the damage it does to our intestinal gut lining is hidden until it presents itself in a variety of symptoms.

I weaned Scarlett on wholemeal pitta when she was very little and I strongly believe this was the start of the problem.  By the age of 1, Scarlett was 90% gluten-free, she never ate it with me but she had free rein at parties and school.  I tried to continue like this and start implementing some of the steps of the GAPS protocol but this didn’t work for us.  I had to get everyone on board and eliminate grains and further food groups in order to start seeing results.

The White Stuff – Sugar

It’s pretty difficult not to be aware of the health concerns with refined sugar.  When trying to allow the probiotic or beneficial bacteria to rebalance within the gut it’s really important to ensure you provide the right sustenance with food.  Sugar feeds the bad bacteria so on GAPS, that small biscuit Scarlett would eat at school would affect her moods (horrendous tantrums) and her eczema.

In my experience it has to be 100% no sugar and no gluten!  There is no cheating this path if you want the results but by adhering to the protocol these results were accomplished in only 3 months.

Dairy

Lastly, I also eliminated dairy a known trigger for eczema.  This was a temporary measure and I have since been able to introduce certain dairy products back into her diet.  The pasteurised dairy sold to us in the supermarket is very different to the raw dairy you can buy from a local farm.  Pasteurisation is used to prolong the shelf life but consequently kills all the naturel probiotics that exist in raw milk.  One of the probiotics I have used, raw milk kefir, a cultured home-made yoghurt made with kefir grains, is the elixir of life to my family.

Healing

Bone Broth

For generations our Grandparents or Great Grandparents have been making soup stocks with meat bones.  Not only was this thrifty, it was nutritious and was given to people frequently when they were ill.  Well, it turns out this bone broth has some pretty magical powers, it heals the gut lining and allows the probiotic to take effect.  It’s actually pretty tasty so it turns out the professional chefs who never really stopped using bone broth were on to something too.   It’s now pretty rare for me to make a meal without a ladle full of bone broth, I’ve been known to drink it by the mug-full although I’m still yet to convince Scarlett!

Probiotics and Fermented Foods

To replenish and restore your gut flora you need to introduce probiotics, you have 2 choices you can either use supplements or make your own.  Don’t be fooled by the probiotics available in the supermarket, most do not contain a therapeutic level and will often have many additives added.  Your plain naturel yoghurt with live cultures is a start but really you want to move on quickly to the stronger options.  There are plenty of probiotics you can purchase but the ones with enough beneficial bacteria are expensive, I chose the most naturel and inexpensive option which is to ferment food.

I started with the simplest, sauerkraut (cultured cabbage) but you can pretty much ferment any kind of food – meat, fish, vegetables, fruit.  I’ve since moved onto to Kefir a very delicious nourishing home-made probiotic yoghurt which is very simple to make and I can’t imagine not having now.

Please note: I need to caveat this advise, do not rush fermented foods.  These are naturel but they are extremely powerful and you need to minimise a “die-off” reaction of the pathogens in your gut so start with 1/2 a teaspoon of sauerkraut juice.

Life Now

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These are Scarlett’s legs, the transformation I’m sure you’ll agree is pretty amazing.  Her worst eczema was on her bottom but I’m not sure Scarlett will forgive me in years to come if I photograph her bottom for the web but that has healed now too.  I have re-introduced some dairy although only fermented and raw.  Much to her delight she can now go swimming again and with time I know the food intolerances will improve too.

The human body has a wonderful capacity to heal, I find it incredible that in 2 years every cell in the body (bones take 7 years) will replace itself so we have the ability to regenerate and ultimately heal ourselves too.  We are designed to be happy, healthy and symptom free.   I’m sure there will be some of you experiencing some pretty serious conditions but if I’ve learnt anything from this journey, keep researching until you find the answers you’re looking for.  Someone, somewhere will be curing their symptoms and if they can, why can’t you.

I can’t imagine my life before these miraculous healing foods.  This might seem like a lot of effort but you soon get into a routine and making soups and stews from wonderful bone broth is quick and delicious.  I only have to look at my daughter’s skin and how happy she is to know that it is worth every effort.

If you want to learn more, I’ll be posting some instructions and recipes soon but for more details please contact me  here.

A love story with food and its power to heal

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I was asked by my friends this past weekend what led me on my journey with food and my interest in nutrition and I started to ponder about where it began and how eating evolved for me.  It’s difficult to pinpoint the start because if you’ve read my about me page, it’s been a slow, gradual adaptation but I wanted to share my highlights and my significant discovery about the power of food.

My family has always been what you would probably call foodies, we like to cook and we REALLY like to eat!  I have a Granny still going strong at 101 years old and I reckon you can pretty much put that down to old-school very healthy nutrition.  It has been passed down the generations and I’m lucky I’ve been brought up on home-cooked food and butter!  However, like everyone my generation, in my teens I was convinced I needed to be on a constant diet and that low-fat was the way forward, this was my downfall.  I subsequently picked up some bad habits that I’ve since had to work hard to undo.

In my 20s, I started reading nutrition books and one of the first books I read was ‘Fats that Heal and Fats that Kill’, my fascination began and these books made me start to question everything..

The Power of Food

A few years ago, I was teaching a lot of Zumba classes about 14 a week and I began to really struggle with energy levels, particularly on the day when I had 4 classes.  I refused to let me body get the better of me and stubbornly knew there would be a way to fuel this level of exercise, I just hadn’t found it yet.. Professional athletes train all day so what was their secret?  I started to increase my carbohydrates, because we all “know” bread is a perfect reserve of stored energy, right?  I ate more wholemeal, organic toast with butter and Marmite.  The problem was this had the opposite effect, the more toast or pasta I ate the more tired I became, not only was I starting to feel exhausted all the time but I was getting this brain fog in the afternoon.  I was teaching in schools and finding no amount of caffeine would help lift the fatigue.  I started my research again came upon Paleo, this was just the start of a life-changing journey.

I’ve always been pro-natural alternatives, believing we are meant to eat the way the earth supplies our food so something clicked into place when I read paleo books.  If you’ve not come across paleo before it is embedded with ancestral ways of eating i.e. trying to replicate the diet of our ancestors millions of years ago, eating from the land.  There is a strong ethic in organic and sustainable farming but most significantly it is about removing processed food of all kind.

I started to realise the power of food within a month of taking wheat out of my diet, my life transformed and I have never looked back.  I felt healthier, happier, I was sleeping a solid 9 hours, my complexion improved and I had all the endless energy I needed.

Twice I tried to eat wheat in the 6 months following, at first I was a little embarrassed to tell people I didn’t eat wheat, I didn’t want to be one of “those” people with their special diet but both times I suffered with extreme stomach cramps through the night for about a week following.  I know I am gluten intolerant but this didn’t become apparent until it was removed from my diet, although it is my strong suspicion that we all are in some form or another (more on this to follow..)  There was more…I realised I had gone from being ill with colds and flu probably 4x a year to not at all and it wasn’t just me, apart from chicken pox, Scarlett also has not been ill in at least 2 years.  My hayfever and allergic reactions to animals that moult (that started when I was 5 years old) also disappeared.

I started reading all the nutrition books I could find on ancestral health and studying current scientific papers and I realised that everything we have been taught about nutrition has been based on flawed science, see here.

Healing Scarlett

Portrait 167aThis was probably the biggest milestone on my journey, although Scarlett has eaten Paleo with me these last 2 years, I weaned her on wholemeal pitta and houmous (before I knew differently) and when she wasn’t with me, she would eat like most regular toddlers – sandwiches, cakes and sweets at parties.  From a young age she developed eczema, I didn’t think too much of it as most of my family have suffered with childhood eczema.  On the advise of the Doctor, I put steroid creams on her a couple of times but after a few days of relief the eczema would always return.  Alarm bells started ringing when she started experiencing allergies to food, I noticed after she ate a tomato her face would flare up in a red rash all over her face, she was developing what I have since learned to be auto-immunity, due to gluten sensitivity and a subsequent leaky gut.  I have lots more to tell you about this journey, its been my biggest learning curve and we still have a way to go but 6 months of bone broth and probiotics (made from food) we are probably 90% there with curing her eczema.

Healing Aggie

AggieIf you think my dog, Aggie got off scott-free, think again, even she got the Vanessa healing treatment.  I was spending a fortune on natural dog food and in a bid to save some money, I introduced her to the delights of pedigree chum, (a grain containing dog food).  Within 6 months she developed this incessant scratching so I took her to the Vet £40 later I was told, nope, absolutely nothing wrong with her.  My friend who is a dog hydrotherapist suggested a raw dog food diet and something twigged, if I could heal Scarlett’s eczema why not Aggie’s so with her raw food she was given bone broth and fermented vegetables.  I’m happy to say the results were much quicker, within a month no scratching and even the dog groomer recently commented on how lovely her coat is, one happy dog again.

Probiotics

I have so much to share with you about these exciting, life-changing foods.   Having been around for centuries and particularly used in traditional cultures, natural probiotics are now making waves in nutrition circles.  Nutritional Science is now at an exciting time because for the last 100 years we can now determine what food can cure.

We’re also lucky enough to live in a generation where we can now expect to live past 100 years old but I also think we should expect to be in good health for those years, without symptoms and without age holding us back from being physically active as well as looking young too.  There has been a big shift in people looking at holistic, natural, homeopathic cures and what I’ve learnt on my journey is that you shouldnt underestimate the power of food, it is literally your most powerful medicine so you should be mindful of what you eat.

It’s been on a slow gradual journey on what many now term clean-eating. I am fussy with what I eat but with very good reason, I know how certain foods used to make me feel and I’m not willing to go back there. It makes me smile when people enquire as to what strange food I’m eating now because I’m wondering whether I do actually eat that strangely or has eating fast, processed, junk food just become so engrained in society it is now accepted as the norm?

I hope this blog has interested you and maybe there has been something here that you can relate to as well.  You can probably gather, I have lots more information to share so I hope you’ll continue to read them as my journey with food continues.  My next blog will be on wheat because this food group has a big impact for everyone..

Sugar.. Making Sense of the Latest Health Fix!

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sugar

I had a rare chance to catch up on the newspapers last weekend and was drawn to articles proposing sugar as the secret to weight loss and health.  There has been quite a bit about this in the press lately but that particular weekend was saturated with special ‘how to guides’ for cutting sugar out of your diet.  I personally thought the reporting on this new health kick was confusing, maybe you did too?  If you’ve not had a chance to read them yet, the majority of the papers were attaching pullout guides highlighting your teaspoon equivalent of sugar in produce.  For processed foods that might actually be quite helpful because quite often products are touted with health benefits, when actually they contain hidden sugars making them worst offenders.  For example, it’s helpful to see that your low-fat greek-style yoghurt contains 2 teaspoons of sugar or your Cheerios have 3 teaspoons per bowl.  However, my qualms came into play when I read, swede 8.5 teaspoons quoted as “a villain” and a banana too, with 7 teaspoons.  The message just seemed convoluted,  I’m sure anyone reading these would start to think, what the hell am I supposed to eat?

I want to put this new stance in context and hopefully interpret it in a way that becomes easy to adopt and subsequently you might make a small change today in the right direction.  Bear in mind however that one method will not not suit all and healthy eating should be a progression of small changes.  I’ll elaborate, I’ve tried a low-carb diet which is consequently low in sugar and it didn’t work for me.  Low carb did not sustain my energy levels needed for exercise it made me hypoglycemic, irritable, I lost muscle mass, too much weight and it disrupted my sleep.  Needless to say three months in, I decided to add carbs (a little sweet potato) back in on intense exercise days and normality was resumed!  That’s not to say low carb doesn’t work for others and it is a great weight loss tool.

I wanted to give you an example of the personalization involved in making dietary changes but also how different groups of sugars cannot be classed in the same bracket.  This example of low carb / no refined sugar is likely the extreme so how does the average person trying to improve their health make changes?  Is swede really the villain compared to Cheerios?

What does sugar do?  On consumption blood sugar rises which triggers the pancreas to release the hormone insulin to regulate sugar levels.   Insulin allows the body to make use of this glucose (blood sugar) as energy.  Insulin will turn excessive sugar into glycogen as a back-up but also fat, which will then be stored around the body.  One of the many and very important hormonal tasks insulin has is to regulate appetite.  Insulin in overdrive is not a symptom reserved for diabetics, many people with excessive sugar in their diets are insulin resistant and have lost the ability for this important hormone to function properly.  Excessive sugar in your diet will have substantial health consequences.

The World Health Organisation is recommending 5 teaspoons of sugar per day but without looking at labels or trying to add up quantities in every item we eat, how do we monitor this and do we need to?  This is my simpler guide to using sugar, naturel and otherwise.

My Low Down on Sugar

Should we avoid refined table sugar? Yes, in an ideal world wherever possible.

Use alternatives (raw honey, stevia, maple syrup) or slowly wean yourself off table sugar, a little less in your tea will make a big difference.  Refined sugar is highly addictive (studies have shown even more than cocaine or heroin) but it is possible in baby steps.

Should we avoid hidden sugar in processed food? Yes and endeavour to check quantities on packaging. 

Ingredients are written in the quantity order so if sugar features as the 2nd or 3rd item on the ingredients list, it’s probably going to be high in sugar despite any health claims.  Very small amounts of sugar in sauces or dark chocolate isn’t going to make you insulin resistant but a bowl of coco pops every morning might!

Do we need to avoid starchy vegetables with sugar? No, not necessarily. 

Exercising will help you make use of these sugars and if you exercise a lot, you probably need to add a few more starchy vegetables into your diet, i.e potaotes, carrots, swede, parsnips.  I know I need starches but the quantity are a personal preference and will need adjusting for lifestyle, goals and your own ability to utilise the glucose.

Should we be eating fruit? Moderately

This might sound a little confusing but bear with me.  Fruit is a healthy, whole food but if we think about it logically fruit does not grow all year round naturally in our local environment.  We are designed to eat fruit when it is ripe for a few months of the year in summer but because of air freighting, we now have the capacity to eat fruit every day all year round.  I don’t think you should avoid fruit altogether and it is certainly a prefered substitution to table sugar (so perhaps a transition to fruit is your appropriate next step) but for healthy eating or particularly weight loss my recommendation would be not to consume more than 1 fruit a day.

Conclusion

It’s great that the nutrition story is changing to include sugar and highlight its damaging effects but I do think there needs to be a greater emphasis on the type of food so we look at food groups differently.

Sugar desensitizes your taste buds and the more you eat, the more you need to taste it, cut it back and you start to taste your food completely differently, vegetables taste sweet, even lettuce and cucumber can have intense sweet flavour.

The best part about being refined sugar-free is that you start to feel satiated, you eat a meal and naturally feel full and can wait comfortably till the next meal.  Eating the right amount of food isn’t about willpower as we’ve been led to believe, it’s about eating the right foods that align your hormones properly and send the correct messages to your brain to tell you are full.

These new guidelines need a little interpreting but let’s hope they build awareness for consumers to shop differently and force food manufactures to reduce sugar contents accordingly.  It would seem a step in the right direction at least!