Recently, I was invited back to Studio Artes to participate in Mental Health Week. The first time I visited and made a podcast about nutrition with an amazing group of people, I had so much fun! So I couldn’t resist joining them again, this time in the kitchen….
The top 10 best calcium foods that aren’t dairy!
Did you know there are so many ways to get calcium, even if you can’t eat dairy? And that calcium is just one piece of the puzzle for healthy bones?…
Bone healing sesame and chia bliss balls
Since I fractured my back, I’ve been careful to include essential bone building nutrients in my diet. While calcium is essential for bone health, it can’t get into our bones without a healthy dose of vitamin D from the sun, and a well-functioning gut….
Apple quinoa crumble
Apple crumble is a delicious, warming dessert. My crumble is low in sugar, full of fibre and high in protein. The apples are packed with insoluble fibre, as I leave the skins on. The crumble topping is made with almond meal, quinoa and coconut sugar – a natural sweetener packed with nutrients.
It is gluten free, and dairy free and can be used as a topping on apple crumble muffins too….
Chickpea vegetable curry – mild and coconut creamy
This creamy, coconutty vegetable curry with chickpeas is one of my simple go-to dinners. You can use whatever veggies you have in the fridge, so it’s a great way to use up excess, or if you’re just not sure what to do for dinner!
The chickpeas add a bit of protein to the dish, without the need for meat or fish. There’s extra calcium from the anchovies (any edible fish bones are packed with calcium). And it’s nice to have an easy dinner that can be whipped up in one pan in minutes!…
Garlicy butter bean hummus
Hummus is such a delicious snack with seeded, wholegrain crackers or veggies sticks – think carrots, capsicum, cucumber and peeled broccoli stems are great too! What’s great is that it’s healthy too. And naturally dairy free, unlike many of the dips you buy in the shops.
You can use any beans you like, but also chickpeas. This recipe uses white beans – cannellini or butter – but any bean will do.
There’s no citrus, just apple cider vinegar, so this recipe is fine for citric acid intolerances. If you’d like low salicylates, use a different oil, such as rice bran, and leave out the cumin.
Also really tasty with fresh crusty bread – this gluten free bread is soft and has a lovely crust – and some coriander pesto, which is great for detoxing heavy metals from your system.…
BBQ plum sauce
I needed a pizza sauce that had no tomatoes and no citric acid. Plums are naturally low in citric acid, unlike most other fruits! And BBQ sauce is pretty awesome, so this tasty (little bit sweet, little bit sour) sauce was born….
what is ‘reactivity’? and is it a life sentence?
Reactivity means, simply, that your body reacts to many things. This can be anything – foods, chemicals in the environment, criticism, emotions, pain. If you’re a reactive person, you feel everything strongly. Your system over-reacts to everything. (Feeling things strongly is not necessarily a bad thing, but reacting to everyday things can be really difficult.) Signs and symptoms cover every body system, but primarily skin, lungs, nose and eyes, nervous system (mood and headaches) and gut.
So, how do we quieten these reactions and make life easier on the reactive person? …
Emotional Eating and how to overcome it
Stress is becoming more common, with around 70% of Australians admitting it affects their physical and mental health. Emotional eating is one way our stress can play out. Stress affects our emotions and eating can make us feel better – in the short term. But if we eat unhealthy foods, our bodies will feel worse and we might feel guilty too. …
Winter immunity – my top 5 tips
Did you know our immunity begins in our gut? That’s right, the gut is where it’s all happening! 80% of our immune cells are made in our gut. (So are our happy hormones, by the way, such as dopamine and serotonin.)
So, if you start with good gut health, you’ll have good immunity too….