Thursday, December 10, 2015

Healthy Holiday Food & Drink Tips

Happy Holidays!

No matter what religion (or lack thereof) you are, most of us still spend the next few weeks attending parties and often having people over. By the end of it all we usually feel bloated and tired and wishing the holidays were over. Make this year the one that you feel great and enjoy yourself all season long.  Here are some healthy food and drink ideas to keep you going from party to party!
 
Serve Iced Tea (skip the grog and soft drink). Make a gorgeous jug of Fruity Energy-Zing or Decaf Chai tea. These colourful drinks are sure to catch the eye of young and old. To make, boil some water and then turn the heat off. Add either tea mix and let steep for about 10 mins before cooling down in the fridge. Add apple or lemon and lots of ice to serve. These are great for a party or to just have in the fridge for a hot day. Too easy!
Healthy Pasta Salad.  When asked to bring a salad to a party, try this super easy pasta veggie salad. Make pasta as usual and then drain. While the pasta is still hot add frozen peas. Then mix in any variety of veggies. I like to include onion, broccoli, tomatoes, and capsicum. I like to end up with more veggies than pasta making it a super healthy side to any meal. Then mix through a good portion of pesto and you are ready to party!
Veggies are fun too! When having people over, put out a veggie and dip plate instead of chips and fruit instead of lollies and chocolates. You will be surprised at what kids will eat when they are presented with healthy foods. Don't worry, they won't go hungry!
Great Dessert Idea. If you are looking for a dessert, check out these gorgeous and fun (and healthy!) coconut cubes. You can find the recipe on Justine Schofield's website. What kid (and adult) wouldn't want to try one of these!

 
Is Caffeine Really Good for You?
Check out my latest blog article that discusses the risks and benefits and you can decide.
Gorgeous Gifts!
Looking for last minute gift ideas?  How about a teapot and some tea?  Get 20% off all teapots, travel mugs and infusers until Christmas Day.  Enter code Holiday15 at checkout. With FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50 you can't go wrong! Emily's Little Tea Company
 
Last Market
The last market for the year will be thePeakhurst Organic Foodies Market on Tuesday 22 December from 3-9pm.  Come out and sample my full range of teas or pick up a last minute present package.

Is Caffeine Really Good for You?


Caffeine can be found in coffee, tea, chocolate, soft drinks, and energy drinks.  It is a central nervous system stimulant so people use it to increase wakefulness, enable faster and clearer flow of thought, increase focus, and improve general body co-ordination.  In some situations it has been found to improve performance in sport and in moderate amounts may even decrease the risk of some cancers.  But that doesn’t mean that it is really good for you.

Caffeine is one of the most common causes of health problems I see in practice. Excess caffeine intake manifests as many disorders such as:
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Headaches
  • Weight gain
  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Increased risk of cardiovascular disease
  • High blood pressure
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Poor judgment
  • Lowered mood
  • Decreased ability to learn and retain information
  • A higher risk of accidents and injury 
Caffeine can cause:
  • Nervousness
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Heart palpitations
  • Increased the risk of bladder cancer and osteoporosis
It is a diuretic so can also cause dehydration.  It is addictive and people can build up a tolerance to it so they have to drink more to get the same stimulating effects.

Because caffeine is a stimulant it can cause sleep disorders.  It takes 6 hours for the body
to clear half the caffeine taken in.  This means that at 10pm when you are trying to sleep there is still half the caffeine from that 4pm coffee in your system.  This length of time increases with age and impaired liver function. Oral contraceptive use doubles it while pregnancy can triple it.  Some medications can increase it by ten times.  Due to the length of time it takes the body to clear caffeine, it should not be consumed after about noon, and some people may find they need to eliminate it all together to get a good sleep.

What is a safe amount of caffeine?
There are no standards for a safe limit of caffeine.  Food Standards Australia New Zealand recommends no more than 3mg per kg of body weight. So for someone weighing 70kg this is 210mg per day.  Most energy drinks have about 80mg so should be limited to two a day based on their caffeine content.  They still contain all the sugar of soft drinks though so should be avoided.  A Starbucks Grande coffee has 330 mg of caffeine so these should only be for special occasions. 

Due to its addictive quality, stopping caffeine consumption can cause withdrawal symptoms including:
  • Headaches
  • Irritability
  • Inability to concentrate
  • Drowsiness
  • Insomnia
  • Pain in the stomach, upper body, and joints.
These may appear 12 to 24 hours after discontinuation of caffeine intake, peak at roughly 48 hours, and usually last from 2 to 9 days.

The benefits of caffeine are negligible so really it is best not to drink caffeine at all. If you must, only drink it in the morning. Children should never drink caffeine and teenagers, pregnant women and people on certain medications should limit their intake.

To see the caffeine content in your favourite drink check out this website:
http://www.energyfiend.com/caffeine-content-of-australia-and-new-zealand-drinks


Monday, November 16, 2015

Don’t Upset Your Microbiome

Last article I talked about how important all the bacteria living in your digestive system are – your gut microbiome.  They have many functions and without them we can acquire many serious illnesses and diseases. 

There are some things that disrupt our microbiome that we don’t have much control over.  Caesarean sections save baby’s lives but this means that they don’t get exposed to mother’s bacteria in the vaginal canal at birth.  Formula has also saved lives but formula does not expose the baby to mom’s healthy bacteria.  When antibiotics are used correctly they save many lives but these can wipe out a lifetime of healthy gut bacteria leaving a very upset microbiome.

So how do you keep your little bacteria friends happy you ask?

Eat fibre.  Avoid sugar.  Eat lots of fruit and veggies (with the skin on).  This provides great food for your microbiome as well as making sure everything keeps moving.  Bacteria don’t like it when stool sticks around too long.  Sugar only helps to feed the bad bacteria so try to limit your intake.

Don’t eat preservatives.  Preservatives are designed to kill and stop the growth of
bacteria, and that is just what they keep on doing inside your body.  These pesky chemicals have only been in our diet for less than a century and they are wreaking havoc on our gut bacteria.  Avoid products with preservatives listed.  ‘Flavouring’ and ‘colouring’ are full of preservatives, which might not be listed separately on the label so avoid any products with these.   Product labels only have to show ingredients that are higher than 10 parts per million, but many preservatives are very effective at even this low level.  Keep in mind that food manufacturers are out to make money so they may lie on their labels (even if it is illegal).  So if there is a product that doesn’t go off within a few days, don’t eat it!          

Buy organic from the dirty list.  Pesticides are also designed to kill.  Organophosphates have been banned in Europe and restricted in the US but are still widely used in Australia.  These pesticides are linked to reduced IQ, weight gain, Type II diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.  Children under 7 years old do not have the enzyme required to excrete these chemicals from their little bodies so it just builds.  The ‘dirty’ foods with the highest pesticide residues in Australia are, in order, apples, wheat, strawberries, pears, grapes, lettuce, nectarines, peaches, and tomatoes.  To save money, buy these foods organic and buy foods from the ‘clean’ list conventional.  The ‘clean’ foods are onions, sweet corn, pineapple, asparagus, sweet peas, mango, eggplant, kiwi and cabbage.

If you are worried about the state of your gut bacteria or already have symptoms of an imbalance, taking a probiotic supplement may help.

The bacteria in your gut are very important to your health and longevity.  Be nice to them and they will be nice to you.  If you have any questions, talk to your local naturopath.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

10% Human

I just can't stop talking about the importance of healthy gut bacteria.  I borrowed the title for this article from a book I have been reading by Alanna Collen.  In it she discusses the importance of gut bacteria, also known as your microbiome.  The title refers to the percentage of our bodies that are actually human cells.  Of all the cells we walk around with each day, only 10% by number are actually our skin, blood, organs, tissues, etc.  The rest are mostly bacteria with some fungi and viruses. Slowly science is realizing just how important all these bugs in our body really are.  In order for us to evolve, we have had to hire out some of our essential functions.  These bacteria help break down plant fibers, fight off bad bacteria, create vitamin B12 and shape the intestinal wall just to name a few.  And in return we give them a nice place to live with lots of food.  But what happens when this symbiotic relationship gets disrupted?

Most people think their gut is only for digesting food, but in fact the digestive tract is the central area for the nervous, hormonal and immune systems.   This means that an imbalance in this area can have far reaching, and seemingly unrelated, effects throughout the body.

Improper or lacking gut bacteria (dysbiosis) are associated with digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bowel disease, Crohn’s disease, celiac disease and food intolerances.  Any of these problems can cause debilitating symptoms.  Several autoimmune diseases are also associated with dysbiosis.  These include rheumatoid arthritis, MS, Type I diabetes and lupus. 

Our digestive tract and our little bacterial friends play a role in regulating our mood.  One of the functions of gut bacteria is to make neurotransmitters such as GABA.  GABA is the calming chemical in the brain that decreases anxiety and helps relieve anxious depression.  Therefore a lack of gut bacteria can lead to anxiety and depression.  Gut bacteria are also involved in other mental health disorders.  A recent study found that supplementing a baby with probiotics (supplement form of good gut bacteria) decreased the incidence of ADHD when these children became teenagers.

Dysbiosis is also associated with autism, allergies, eczema, asthma, some cancers and obesity.  And these are just the health problems we know of so far.  Research is only just beginning to understand the importance of the bugs that live in our digestive tract.  Scientists keep looking for a genetic cause for diseases because we have the technology to change some genes, at least for the coming generation.  But most of these disorders didn’t exist 100 years ago.  Human genetics have not changed that fast.  So that means something must have changed in our environment and lifestyles.

Next article I will talk about what you might be doing to upset your precious bacterial friends in your gut and how you can keep them happy and working hard for you.

In the meantime be nice to your microbiome!

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Carrot Ginger Soup with Coconut Poached Chicken

I'm not usually one to share recipes but this one worked out so well I needed to share it.  Delicious on a cold rainy day (like it is here today!).  It will warm you up and even my kids ate it!


Ingredients:
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 – 1 inch pieces of fresh ginger
3 large carrots (I also added a small sweet potato)
3 cups stock (I used A.Vogel Herbamare Bouillon Plantaforce)
2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil
1 can coconut milk
500g chicken breast – cut up into slices to decrease cooking time


Cut up onion, garlic, ginger, carrot and sweet potato.  Carrot and sweet potato can be in large pieces as they are going to be blended later.  Put in a pot with the butter and cook until onion is translucent.  Add 2 cups of stock and cook until tender.  Once cooked, blend until smooth.  I put it through my Vitamix but a stick blender is also useful.

While that is cooking put coconut milk and remaining 1 cup of stock in another pot and heat up.  Add the chicken.  Cook until chicken is cooked through.  Don’t let the coconut milk boil or it will separate. 

Once the chicken is cooked, fish it out with a slotted spoon.  Poor the remaining coconut milk/stock mixture into the carrot mixture until the desired consistency is reached. 

Take two forks and shred the chicken to bite sized pieces.  Add the chicken back into the soup and you’re done!  Add a sprig of cilantro to serve if desired.  I served it with homemade garlic bread. Mmmmmmm