Healthy Lifestyle
Weight Loss & Self Compassion
oday I had a client who wanted to lose weight, and she had been assigned to a dietician, a young skinny woman, for help. The dietician gave her some good advice but my client struggled to implement it because she also cooks for a child and a husband, and she has many other things going on in her life, and a long history of weight gain and all the emotional issues that go along with it. When she tried to express to the dietician that she was struggling, the dietician’s response was “well, are you serious about wanting to lose weight or not?”. My client did not feel seen or heard, and didn’t go back.
Probiotic Tips
The research behind probiotics and the gut microbiome has exploded in the last few years, but I have found that most peoples’ understanding of probiotics is lagging behind what is currently known. So here are a few hot tips.
How to Drink your Coffee
I have written before about coffee, and that I don't think it is a big deal to have your one, perhaps two delicious cups a day. There are even many health benefits that have been studied, and coffee drinking is associated with longevity.
Hot/Cold Showers
I have always had a passion for Naturopathic hydrotherapy, as a traditional, practical and accessible modaility to increase vitality. I have had hot-cold showers for many years through summer and winter.
If you have always been a bit resistant to cold water, now is a wonderful time to practice a gentle form of hot and cold showers because we are in the middle of summer. Changing your hot shower to finish with a cold blast in the middle of winter, can seem heroic and way out of their comfort zone, for many people. Even if they realise the benefits.
Morning Chocolate Study
A recent study has found some surprising benefits to eating some chocolate in the morning. Chocolate tends to be associated with weight gain, especially in menopausal women who are prone to weight gain anyway. However this study (a small study, but hey, the topic is chocolate!) showed that having 100g of chocolate in the morning for 2 weeks showed no weight gain and a natural calorie reduction over the day (eating less because chocolate was satisfying).
Summer of Kindness
I love this marketing program by the Butterfly Foundation to encourage kindness to ourselves around food and eating as we go into Christmas and warmer weather. The Butterfly Foundation is an Australian organisation that supports people with eating disorders and body image issues. I have completed their foundational course for health practitioners.
I find this is quite a significant issue in all sorts of clients, although I tend to see the less extreme end of the spectrum, which I simply call disordered eating. However, over 1 million Australians have an eating disorder, so this is a significant mental health issue with often serious health consequences.
Weight & empathy
Today I had a client who wanted to lose weight, and she had been assigned to a dietician, a young skinny woman, for help. The dietician gave her some good advice but my client struggled to implement it because she also cooks for a fussy child and a hungry husband, and she has many other things going on in her life, and a long history of weight gain and all the emotional issues that go along with it. When she tried to express to the dietician that she was struggling, the dietician’s response was “well, are you serious about wanting to lose weight or not?”. My client did not feel seen or heard, and didn’t go back.
Is it not arrogant and inappropriate for a young, thin person to be giving weight loss advice to an older, non-skinny person?
Health is a like a bank account
While we think of ageing as a negative thing, as far as our bodies go, many people have found increasing wellbeing in their last decades of life. It’s not that the body isn’t eventually going to die- of course, it will- but it is possible to adopt healthier habits and radically turn around health issues or promote better health. Whether by losing excess weight, a change of diet such as going plant-based, or taking up strength training….it is different for different people. …..
Discernment needed
One of the things I find challenging as a naturopath in the vast world of health promoters nowadays, is the absolute certainty with which people push their beliefs.
Just because something is working for them, or helped a particular health condition, they want to convert everyone. Some people are absolutely certain that keto is the way- for just about everyone. That intermittent fasting is amazing, for everyone. Everyone would be slim like them if they adopted their way of living and eating. Vegans can be very dogmatic about their way of eating.
Without extensive training and experience in deciphering good information from bad, I can truly empathise, its very easy to get caught up in a particular approach that may or may not benefit us. ….
Forest Bathing
Forest bathing is a term coined by the Japanese in the 1980s. The intention was to help people recover from corporate burnout and inspire them to reconnect with Japan’s beautiful forests. It is called shinrin-yoku, or ‘taking in the forest atmosphere”, or forest bathing. So, the phenomenon began to be studied in the 1990s, providing scientific backup for what we already know- that spending time in nature is good for us.
Forest bathing has been shown to significantly reduce blood pressure and stress levels. And while that might not sound like much, it can also help cardiovascular and mental health…..
Health Checks for Over 40s
For those of us over 40 years old, several measurable markers can indicate health issues either now or on the horizon if we don’t do something about them. They can be part of our regular self-care and can help prevent major disease and much suffering and financial cost. While I am a Naturopath focusing on nutrition, herbal medicines and lifestyle, we are a complementary health modality and work well with many other types of health practitioners. Here in Australia, we have access to good GPs and many free pathology tests, which can be very useful.
A Healthy Autumn
Autumn is here and we may feel a sense of relief as it brings cooler nights and, at least here in Perth, welcome rain.
It is also a time of transition as we change seasons. It can be of benefit to welcome these transition times with some appropriate behavioural changes. We are heading toward winter, and it is time to start preparing for the cold, flu and covid season by supporting the immune system. It is also time to change our diet as autumn foods come into our stores and gardens.
Healing Water
Sometimes we overlook the most fundamental basics of healing and health, in favour of more complex and expensive solutions. Water has been honoured since ancient times as essential to life, and as carrying a powerful life force, whether directly falling from the sky, or gathered in bodies of water like streams, lakes, rivers and the ocean. By paying attention to the role and place of water, we can bring more balance and awareness into our lives.
Balneotherapy
For thousands of year before the era of pharmaceutical medicines, bathing in certain natural mineral waters was considered an effective remedy for many diseases and health issues, especially musculoskeletal conditions, as well as for general health and even longevity.
Across the world, there are many famous hot springs and baths, such as:
Longevity - Essential 8
When researching longevity, many studies look at what factors help us to live longer. However, many people live longer but have chronic health issues that can make life miserable. So I was interested to see this study which looked at how a healthy lifestyle adds on years of living without chronic disease, compared to a life with it….
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Healthy Eating
- 20 Feb 2024 Extreme Diets 20 Feb 2024
- 30 Jan 2024 Savouring 30 Jan 2024
- 25 Jan 2024 Prunes for bone health 25 Jan 2024
- 23 Nov 2023 Don’t like vegetables? Try this. 23 Nov 2023
- 31 Oct 2023 Getting More Greens 31 Oct 2023
- 30 Oct 2023 Back to basics: 2&5 30 Oct 2023
- 16 Oct 2023 Legumes & Longevity 16 Oct 2023
- 25 Sep 2023 Benefits of a Detox 25 Sep 2023
- 25 Sep 2023 Reclaim your tastebuds 25 Sep 2023
- 7 Sep 2023 Benefits of Juicing 7 Sep 2023
- 26 Jun 2023 Alternatives to Eating Out 26 Jun 2023
- 22 Feb 2023 A Plant Based DIet 22 Feb 2023
- 22 Feb 2023 A Healing Diet 22 Feb 2023
- 16 Feb 2023 Carb Phobia & Fibre 16 Feb 2023
- 16 Feb 2023 Is Canola ok? 16 Feb 2023
- 30 Jan 2023 2 & 5 30 Jan 2023
- 15 Dec 2022 More Veg 15 Dec 2022
- 15 Dec 2022 Insulin Resistance 15 Dec 2022
- 17 Nov 2022 Intermittent Fasting 17 Nov 2022
- 7 Oct 2022 Easy ways to Detox 7 Oct 2022
- 8 Jun 2022 Eating Disorder Risks 8 Jun 2022
- 5 Apr 2022 Binge Eating 5 Apr 2022
- 28 Mar 2022 Coffee & the Heart 28 Mar 2022
- 20 Mar 2022 Local......Mediterranean 20 Mar 2022
- 18 Mar 2022 Anti-Cancer Diet 18 Mar 2022
- 27 Jan 2022 Coffee & Alzheimer's 27 Jan 2022
- 6 Dec 2021 Cravings 6 Dec 2021
- 10 Sep 2021 Food and immunity 10 Sep 2021
- 6 Feb 2020 The 6 tastes 6 Feb 2020
- 6 Feb 2020 Plant-based Sources of Iron 6 Feb 2020
- 12 Dec 2019 Is gluten-free right for you? 12 Dec 2019
- 31 Jul 2019 Have you gone vegan? 31 Jul 2019
- 3 Apr 2019 More vegetables please. 3 Apr 2019
- 15 Dec 2018 Finding Food Balance in the Holidays 15 Dec 2018
- 20 Dec 2017 A Healthier Christmas 20 Dec 2017
- 23 Oct 2017 Superfoods to thrive 23 Oct 2017
- 4 Aug 2017 Arsenic in rice 4 Aug 2017
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Healthy Ageing
- 25 Jan 2024 Prunes for bone health 25 Jan 2024
- 31 Jul 2023 Fats & Brain Health 31 Jul 2023
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Healthy Digestion
- 23 Aug 2023 Tummy Troubles 23 Aug 2023
- 16 Feb 2023 Carb Phobia & Fibre 16 Feb 2023
- 12 Dec 2019 Is gluten-free right for you? 12 Dec 2019
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Healthy Lifestyle
- 26 Jun 2023 Alternatives to Eating Out 26 Jun 2023
- 18 Mar 2022 Avoid Cancer 18 Mar 2022
- 27 Jan 2022 Coffee & Alzheimer's 27 Jan 2022
- 27 Jun 2019 Don't wait to lose weight 27 Jun 2019
- 25 Nov 2018 Liver Loving Tips 25 Nov 2018
- 20 Dec 2017 A Healthier Christmas 20 Dec 2017
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Lifestyle
- 25 Apr 2023 The Autumn Pantry 25 Apr 2023
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Pro Metabolic Eating
- 5 Apr 2022 Binge Eating 5 Apr 2022
- 28 Mar 2022 Coffee & the Heart 28 Mar 2022
- 27 Jan 2022 Coffee & Alzheimer's 27 Jan 2022
- 6 Dec 2021 Cravings 6 Dec 2021
- 3 Dec 2021 Your metabolism 3 Dec 2021
- 10 Aug 2021 Is sugar the real problem? 10 Aug 2021
- 9 Aug 2021 Coffee 9 Aug 2021
- 9 Aug 2021 Breakfast 9 Aug 2021
- 9 Aug 2021 Sugar 9 Aug 2021
- 9 Aug 2021 Orange Juice 9 Aug 2021
- 9 Aug 2021 A nutrient dense food.... 9 Aug 2021
- 8 Aug 2021 Good digestion 8 Aug 2021
- 8 Aug 2021 Food & Mood 8 Aug 2021
- 8 Aug 2021 Food purity & sugar 8 Aug 2021
- 8 Aug 2021 Are you undereating? 8 Aug 2021
- 7 Aug 2021 Arthritis & Fruit 7 Aug 2021
- 6 Aug 2021 Milk 6 Aug 2021
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Pro-metabolic Eating
- 9 Aug 2021 Dairy and Calcium 9 Aug 2021
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Healthy Hormones
- 12 Dec 2019 Is gluten-free right for you? 12 Dec 2019
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Natural Approaches
- 14 Jun 2018 Kitchen remedies for Colds and Flu 14 Jun 2018
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Recipes
- 20 Dec 2017 A Healthier Christmas 20 Dec 2017
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