NUTRITION

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The Truth About Detox Programs

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Feeling sluggish after winter? Many of us reach for the comfort foods a little too often when the weather is cold. But now that it’s warming up, you might be thinking about a spring cleanse.

Why most detox programs just don’t stack up!

Most qualified health practitioners are very skeptical of most detox programs available on the market. Here are a few reasons why:

They neglect the power of food as medicine

Detox programs are usually product-based – and expensive products at that. They will either neglect the diet entirely, or give you a bland, generic meal plan.

But some of the best ways to support your body’s detox processes can be found in the supermarket! Foods like berries, green leafy vegetables, herbs and spices are just some examples. There is no such thing as a supplement deficiency – only a nutrient deficiency.

They aren’t personalised to you

Everyone has different nutritional needs, different preferences for foods and a different lifestyle. It might not be feasible for you to live off shakes for a week if you live an active lifestyle, or juice every 3 hours if you’re a working professional. Any change to your diet – short-term or long-term – should be tailored to suit you.

They are a quick fix

Very few programs will help you transition to a balanced diet that suits your body. Most are a few weeks long, then you go back to your usual eating pattern. If you do lose weight, it usually piles right back on.

How your body’s detoxification system actually works

Your liver does the bulk of the detoxification work. Here, there are two main phases that take place. Phase 1 converts potentially problematic chemicals into intermediate compounds. Phase 2 then converts these compounds into water-soluble waste products for the body to excrete.

It’s important that phase 2 occurs, as the intermediate compounds can be quite toxic and reactive. It is this phase that many practitioners will focus on when supporting natural detoxification.

Your elimination channels include sweat, urine and faeces. The body will dump waste products into one or more of these channels to eliminate them.

Easy tips to support your detox pathways

Want to give your liver some love without spending hundreds on fancy laxatives? Here are some simple ways to support your detox pathways naturally.

Drink plenty of water

Water is essential for almost every process in the body, including detoxification. It makes up the fluid that runs through the elimination channels and lymphatic system. So if you’ve been a bit slack with your water intake, now is your chance to boost it back up. If you need some tips to increase your water check out our blog here.

Eat more greens

Vegetables are detoxification superstars, and greens are some of the best out there. So find some way to include more green in your daily diet. Make green leafy vegetables the base of your plate, and build your meal around that. Snack on celery and cucumber sticks with your dip of choice. You can even add greens to a smoothie or omelette with breakfast. For more ways to increase your greens click here.

Don’t forget your protein

Many of the processes in phase 2 detox rely on amino acids, which are the building blocks found in protein. So make sure you’re including quality sources of protein with each meal. Grassfed meat, free range chicken and eggs, fish, shellfish, legumes, beans and pseudograins like quinoa are a few options to include.

If you want to take part in a individualized professionally guided detoxification program for real results book your free detoxification assessment with our Naturopath Tanya Jones today.

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Feeling Fatigued? Why You Should Reach For Water Before Coffee

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Fatigue is such a common symptom that we suffer from and it’s just one of the signs that we may just be lacking in a little H2O. Though our first response may be to go for a coffee as a pick me up – it may be contributing to your hydration issue.

Why is water so important?

Without water, your body wouldn’t be able to function. Water plays a role in nearly every function of the body, either directly or indirectly. It makes up about 60% of your body – men and infants have a little more, whereas women and people with a high body fat percentage have a little less. You will find water in your intracellular and extracellular fluids, plasma, organs, spine and digestive tract.

Water is needed for actions including:

  • Maintaining body temperature
  • Forming a barrier in the skin to protect against foreign bodies
  • Brain function
  • Digestion of food
  • Excreting waste through urine, sweat and faeces
  • Supporting a healthy metabolic rate
  • Increasing satiety levels

Without enough water in the body, we become dehydrated. Even a little bit can make a big difference. Research has shown that 1-3% dehydration can impact on processes such as brain function, memory, energy and mood so if you want to eliminate fatigue, you need to start monitoring your water intake.

How to boost your water intake

Now that you know how important hydration is for fatigue, how can you get enough? Here are some simple tips to get more water into your day.

Make drinking more fun

Many people find plain water a bit boring. But if that’s the case, you can make it more interesting and still reap the benefits. As the weather warms up, you can add fresh or frozen fruit and herbs to your water. Berries, citrus, mint and rosemary are some refreshing options to start with <feel free to add your own favourites here, or even give them recipes for infused water>. When the temperature drops, find some herbal teas you enjoy to replace plain water.

If you’re out at a social event and want an alternative for soft drinks, grab some sparkling water. Many supermarkets now have flavoured options – just make sure there’s no added sugars.

Eat your water

You don’t have to rely on your water bottle for all of your hydration needs. There are plenty of high-water foods around, especially as the warmer months bring tropical produce back!

Stock up on:

  • Melons
  • Berries
  • Peaches
  • Cucumber
  • Celery
  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Green leafy vegetable
  • Broccoli

Create a habit

The easiest way to incorporate a new habit is to tie it to a current one. This goes for drinking water as well. You could try drinking a glass of water after brushing your teeth or when you go to make a cup of coffee. If you check your emails regularly, have a few mouthfuls every time your inbox loads up.

Figure out what you do at least 4-5 times each day and make those the times that you drink a glass of water.

Remind yourself

Sometimes, we need someone to push us until we get into a habit. In that case, it’s time to set up some reminders. You can simply set alarms on your phone throughout the day. There are plenty of apps out there that track water, from general diet trackers to specific water trackers.

If you aren’t into tech, you can get water bottles with measures on the side to remind you visually. Like the Healthish bottle!

How much water should you drink?

Different people have different needs for water, depending on their body composition , exercise, medication use and other lifestyle factors. Even the weather can influence how much you should be drinking.

Government recommendations are around 2.1-2.6L of fluid per day. But if you’re not drinking water much, it’s best to start slowly and work your way up.

If you’re exercising, you’ll want to add 1-2 cups of water for every 30 min of exercise you do. If the temperature is over 30 degrees C, add an extra 2 cups per day.

Drinking enough water is just one piece of the puzzle. If you’re feeling fatigue, book in a session with Naturopath Tanya Jones to start your health journey.

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Feeling Stressed? The effects of meditation on our brain

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Stress is very common and ongoing stress can lead to psychological issues such as depression and anxiety. There are natural ways in which we can reduce our stress levels, that includes meditation and yoga. This is due to the effect the meditation and yoga have on the brains stress response system.

Do you ever think about how you are going to breathe? Or thinking about making your heart beat? Or how you are going to process the food you just ate? That is because our bodies are unconsciously controlled by our autonomic nervous system, which is divided into two;

 

The Fight and Flight also known as the sympathetic nervous system.

This system helps us when we are in stressful or threatening situations by controlled our internal muscles, organs and glands. This increases our heart rate and blood pressure

 

Rest and Digest also known as the parasympathetic nervous system.

This system returns our body to its natural baseline state.

When we are stressed we are constantly using our sympathetic nervous system, the fight and flight! It has been shown that meditation and yoga can help reduce your blood pressure, compared to people who aren’t practising any kind of meditation or yoga.

Need ways to stop activating that fight and flight system?

  • Open monitoring or mindfulness-based meditation -> this includes becoming reflectively aware of cognitive or emotional patterns. When we think of an experience, pay attention and monitor the experience without any judgement or attachment.
  • Focused attention meditation -> this includes focusing on a particular object and bringing your mind back to this particular object when your mind wanders off.
  • Yoga class
  • Come to our Kick Stress and Burnout Workshop on Wednesday the 19th September @ Unwind Health at 7pm.

 

 

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Why your allergies are beyond your nose!

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We are coming into that season! The one where the birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and you are sneezing! Many people dread the change of season, the itchy watery eyes, a constant runny nose, brain fog and sneezing. Maybe for years you have put up with your ‘terrible sinuses’, spending the season house bound and popping anti-histamines?  If this is you, then you will know all too well the reality of living with an allergic condition such as hay-fever!

 

So why does your body respond this way? Why are you suffering while others are out rolling around in meadows? For some reason your body has identified some allergens like grasses and pollens as a threat. So, when you make contact with these substances you have an influx of the chemical histamine. Imagine histamine as the big, burley bouncer outside the club. Its job is to keep allergens out by what ever means necessary. Unfortunately for you its methods include producing redness, inflammation, a runny nose, itchy eyes, constricted airways and possibly even bloating or diarrhea!

 

Current approaches to allergies include avoiding the allergen and reducing histamine, via anti-histamine medications. Though spending a whole season in-doors may not appeal to most, and is this approach getting to what’s underlying this overactive immune response? When treating allergies Naturopathically there are a few factors included;

  • Our immune system is mostly found in our digestive tract. Inflammation in the digestion can then cause our immune response to get a little (or a lot) out of control.

 

  • The integrity of our digestive tract is not what it was 50-100 years ago. With the introduction of processed foods, food chemicals, pesticides on our fresh foods and increased stress, we have an increased intestinal permeability. This means undigested foods, particles, toxins and bacteria enter the system with easier access through to the blood stream causing an inflammatory immune response as self-protection.

 

  • The increased use of anti-biotics in our world, over use of antibacterials and the over cleanliness of our environment has reduced the levels of good bacteria we have in our intestine also interfering with the immune response.

 

In clinic we aim for truly holistic allergy management by providing symptomatic relief whilst retraining the body’s immune system to tolerate its perceived threatening allergens. A number of herbs and nutrients provide natural anti-histamine, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant support to help reduce symptoms and start to retrain the immune system.

Diet and lifestyle are also a large competent to the puzzle. By removing inflammatory foods like processed sugar and processed fats, and increasing phytonutrient filled vegetables and fruits we can cultivate a healthy digestive tract filled with a diverse range of gut microbiome supporting optimal immune function.

 

Now is the time for you to address those irritating and sometimes debilitating allergic symptoms. Work with our Naturopath to get to the underlying causes, gain control over your reactivity and increase your tolerance levels. Imagine cuddling up to your cat or pooch without itchy eyes, smelling the roses without sneezing or rolling in the grass without itching – now that would be life changing!

 

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How to Veg and LOVE them!

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By Tanya Jones – Naturopath

We all know how important it is to eat our vegetables. But for some people it feels like a punishment or grueling event. It’s much easier and more pleasurable to eat the processed, sugary foods……of course!

Though it is only so long before we get to an age that the sugar catches up with us causing weight gain that won’t be shifted, cardiovascular conditions (our number one killer), type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, a weakened immune system and even cancer. It gets to a point when we really need to make some positive changes.

Did you know that less than 30% of people actually eat the dietary recommendations of 3 cups of vegetables per day? And did you know that for optimal health, 3 cups of vegetables fall short in providing the nutrients we need for our body to cope with our busy, stressful lives? So really whether you like your vegetables or not, we need to eat them, and we need to eat more of them!

When working with clients to improve our dietary habits, focusing on the positive can provide much more successful results. By working with small achievable steps, we can build better habits that will last us a lifetime. Let’s face it, how well it go when we put ourselves through the last restrictive, deprivation diet?

Are you someone who is constantly reaching for sweet things? Junk food? Savoury snacks? Well it’s time to take on my technique to squash out the poor foods by crowding your day with nourishing goodness. By focusing your mind on all the healthy foods you need in order to get our nutritional requirements we can make it difficult to find time or fit in the foods we are constantly trying to resist.

So, I challenge you to UP your Veg! And here are some delish ways to do it!

VEG FOR BREAKFAST!

We have 3 meals and 2-3 snacks per day, yet some people only eat their vegetables at dinner time. I don’t know about you but trying to eat 3 or more cups of vegetables in one meal might be a little uncomfortable. So, spread your veg through the day and start with breakfast.

Replace the high carb toast or cereal which is lacking in nutrients and most likely filled with sugar and chemicals. Instead cook up a veggie filled frittata on the weekend and have portions ready to grab, heat and eat.

SNACK ON THEM

Sure, we can have the vegetable sticks to nibble on for a snack, though for many this is not very appetising. How about some roasted Sweet potato chips served with a dollop of hummus? Now we are talking!

SEASON THEM

By adding some easy products found at the supermarket or health food store you can actually increase the nutritional punch of those vegetables whilst enhancing the flavour. Herbamare is a seasoned salt which contains herbs and plants including garlic, basil, parsley, chives, thyme, celery, onion, marjoram, cress, rosemary, leek and kelp.

SUPERFOOD THEM

Savoury Yeast Flakes are a deactivated yeast that looks like fine yellow flakes/powder. Sprinkled on roast vegetables, soups, casseroles they provide a mild salty flavour and are a great cheese replacement. They contain B vitamins for energy and healthy mood, and 9 essential amino acids that we have to get from foods and are a great source of protein.

Dulse flakes are a dried red seaweed flake. They can be sprinkled on all vegetables and salads to add flavour along with iodine, potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus.

CARE FOR THEM

This may seem odd, though we need to cook our vegetables with love and not kill the nutrients or drain them of taste. A fast cook for a stir-fry, a slow gentle roast or steaming will help keep those flavours. Avoid boiling vegetables as it takes all the goodness and yumminess away.

HIDE & ADD THEM

Bulk out any meal with extra vegetables. Making a Beef Stroganoff? Finely dice some zucchini up and cook it with the meat. Making a curry? Dice up some pumpkin / sweet potato and cook in the sauce with the protein. Making Chicken Nuggets? Blend up the chicken thigh, carrots and zucchini before shaping and rolling in crumbs. Having spaghetti bolognaise? Serve it on steamed broccolini, a roasted sweet potato or spiralized zucchini noodles rather than pasta. So many ideas!

ADD BUTTER AND SALT

Using a quality pasture raised butter and Himalayan salt can compliment any vegetable group. And before you ask, good quality butter or fats are not going to increase your cholesterol or make you fat. Many of the nutrients in the vegetables are actually ‘fat soluble’, which means they need fat to be absorbed into the body.

COOK TOO MANY

Often when people are trying to eat healthier and they empty their cupboard and fridge of the convenient processed foods, they get caught out with nothing prepared to eat when hungry. A simple key is to always have leftover vegetables from dinners available. Add them to a spruce up a salad, eat them to some protein for lunch or serve with a dip as a snack.

BLEND THEM

When we make a smoothie it’s easy to use lots of yummy fruit like bananas and berries, they taste great, though too much fruit can not be so good for us. Keep your smoothies mostly to 1 fruit and then add in a zucchini or a cucumber with spinach. These vegetables don’t have a strong flavour to overpower your smoothie, it gets your veg intake up and keeps the sugar levels down.

 

 

 

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The Benefits of Exercising in Winter

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Winter is here!

It’s starting to get colder and when it is cold it is really hard to stay motivated about your health and fitness. We all want to go into hibernation – which includes snuggling up into a little ball and eating more food, especially junk. What is a better way to beat those winter blues and to stop you from eating unhealthy? EXERCISE!

Beating those Winter Blues
It is easy to go in a downward spiral during those colder months, as we aren’t seeing the sun as often, we are eating more food and we are spending most of our days inside. With depression being the number one psychological disorder in the western world, the prevenance is continuing to grow in all age groups (1). There are several medications that help with the treatment for depression which help us feel happy and upbeat, however research has found that physical activity has brought similar changes in the brain that is normally achieved through antidepressant drugs. That feeling of being at ease, happy and relaxed after you exercise is from the brain. The brain releases serotonin and dopamine, which are known as those ‘feel good’ chemicals. This can help reduce anxiety and depression and boost your general wellbeing and health (1). As well as helping with depression it also has been found to reduce your levels of stress through a decrease in the hormone cortisol (1).

Find the Sun
On those sunny winter days make sure you are out and about enjoying the strong winter sun. The easiest source of vitamin D we can obtain is from our bare skin in the sun. So get moving outside in the sun, to keep your immune system strong, keep your bones nice and healthy and enjoy being outdoors instead of cooped up inside.

Aging and exercise;
Aging is a part of a natural process and there are multiple factors that can play a role in this process, some that we can even change, one being exercise! Exercise contributes to ‘successful aging’ due to the role it plays in both prevention and control of chronic diseases affecting the quality of life and life expectancy. Exercising will decrease the risk of death, lower the risk of osteoporosis and increase longevity! (2)

It’s time to get off the couch, get out and exercise and have fun!

1. Effects of Exercise on Anxiety and Depression Disorders: Review of Meta- Analyses and Neurobiological Mechanisms. Mirko Wegner, Ingo Helmich, Sergio Machado, Antonio Nardi, Oscar Arias-Carrion, Henning Budde. CNS & Neurological Disorders – Drug Targets, 2014; 13 (6): 1002 DOI: 10.2174/1871527313666140612102841
2. Gremeaux, V, Gayda, M, Lepers, R, Sosner, P, Juneau, M and Nigam, A, (2012), “Exercise and Longevity,” Maturitas. 2012 Dec;73(4):312-7. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2012.09.012. Epub 2012 Oct 11.

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How to beat the cold and flu season this year

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It’s that time of year again when congestion and coughs are floating around. The common cold or influenza are both caused by viral infections. They share similar symptoms with runny nose, sore throat, cough and sinus congestion, however the flu comes with more severe symptoms of muscle aches, fever and fatigue.

None of us have time to be sick, and usually it happens when we can least afford the time off. So, what can you do to give your family the best chance to make it through the winter?

The first step is to work on prevention. Think of your car. If you keep driving your car around, not getting it serviced, never checking the oil and just not looking after it, once a crisis happens like the engine blowing up, it’s not going to help to go back and top up the oil.

Just like our cars, we need to take steps before hand to make sure we are in top working order, ready to overcome any cold or flu virus that comes our way.

Build Your Immune Army

You might be surprised to find that there are more immune cells living in our intestinal cells than any other area of our body.  The bacteria that live in our gut are constantly communicating and influencing our immune system. Eating a large range of whole foods including vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes and fermented foods will provide an environment to create a healthy diverse range of supportive bacteria. If you have had antibiotics recently it may also be a good idea to speak to your health professional to get an appropriate probiotic.

Watch Your Stress Dial

Being stressed actually impairs our immune system’s ability to fight off antigens, this leaves us more susceptible to infections. So, whilst taking the time out to relax with stress reducing activities seems stressful in itself, it’s time better spent than the time in bed whilst you struggle to recover from a cold or flu. Doing some daily yoga, meditation or even just taking a bath are great ways to bring down your stress hormones to allow the immune system to function properly.

The Immune Backups

Vitamin C is well known as a potent antioxidant which plays a key role in our immune system defences. Some of the best sources of vitamin C include papaya, broccoli, kiwi fruit, pineapple, oranges, red capsicum and berries.

Zinc is also helps our immune response by deploying infection-fighting white blood cells when an invader such as a virus or bacteria enters our system. To get some more zinc into your diet choose from a variety of meats, eggs, nuts, seeds and seafoods, especially some oysters!

A Naturopaths Big Guns

As well as our important nutrients there are herbs that have been used since ancient times to help treat infections. Echinacea is one that provides immune modulating, antiviral and anti-inflammatory benefits. Scientific evidence has shown it to reduce the risk of recurring upper respiratory tract infections and their complications (1).

Andrographis is a popular herb used by Ayurvedic medicine which has immune enhancing properties.  A review of thirty-three randomised control trials found Andrographis to be beneficial and safe in relieving acute upper respiratory tract infections and reducing the time to symptom resolution (2).

High quality, clinically effective supplements and herbs will help to improve your infection-fighting capacity. So, if you often get sick through the cold and flu season or just don’t have time for the knockdown our Naturopath, Tanya Jones, is here to arm you with your winter immune support. Remember prevention is our first step to a healthy and productive winter!

References available on request.
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Sleep Hygiene for your zzzz’s

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If you are having trouble with falling asleep or staying asleep maybe your sleep hygiene needs some TLC? No, this doesn’t mean that you need to clean yourself better before you go to bed.

Sleep hygiene is the habits we create in the hours leading up to our sleep time. If we think back to before we had electricity and how that may have been, we could imagine families spending time together, no televisions, no internet, no phones. Once it was dark they went to bed. Candles were probably a luxury for many.

These days many of us have created habits that we feel we need to wind down, when in actual fact they interfere with our hormonal and biochemical controls which promote sleep. The things we tend to rely on usually include television, phones, alcohol, caffeine, chocolate or sweets. Though all of these things actually simulate our system in one way or another hindering our beauty sleep.

If you want to flip to some new rituals so you can get the most out of your sleep time here are some sleep hygiene tips to start today.

Listen to your body clock

Go to bed at night when you feel tired. It sounds simple, though how many of us push through to watch that one more episode on Netflix, only to be watching it through our eyelids at the end?

Set a routine

Have a regular go to bed time and wake up time. The routine will help to set your body clock and soon you will be feeling tired at the same time each night.

If you fail – try again

If you can’t fall asleep after 20-30 minutes in bed, get up and move yourself to another quite, dark room and sit down for a while. Once you feel sleepy go back to bed. As important sleep is for our body, we can still benefit from rest, so take the time out until you are ready to back to bed.

Set up the sleep environment

Make sure your bedroom is dark to encourage the body clock to know it is time to rest. Have all distractions out of the bedroom. This includes removing laptops, mobile phones and televisions. If you have a clock in the room, cover it up so you are not looking at the time all night. Make sure your bed, as well as your pillow are comfortable.

Eating before bed

It’s important to not go to bed hungry, though ensure you have had dinner at least 2 hours before bed time to allow for sufficient digestion. Maybe a small snack after dinner if you are still hungry, check out our blog on foods for sleep for some good suggestions.

Avoid caffeine, sugar, smoking and alcohol before bed. While alcohol may make it seem easier to fall asleep it can interfere with your ability to stay asleep and increase health problems such as sleep apnoea and snoring.

Limit your naps

Avoid large sleeps through the day so it does not interfere with your body clock signals. If getting through the days seems too much to handle, a short nap may be needed. Napping will never make up for lost sleep at night time, though it has been found that 15-20 minutes can increase alertness, mood and performance.

Make sleep rituals

Do relaxing rituals to teach your body it’s time to wind down. This may be some mediation, yoga or taking a lovely bath.

If you are a night-time worrier, make a time before bed to write down your worries.  Once in bed if you start worrying, stop and remind yourself that you have already had your worry time. Writing it down can often allow permission to ourselves to remove it from our mind.

Exercise

Regular exercise can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Though make sure all strenuous activity is completed at least 4 hours before bed.

 

By Tanya Jones

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Food for Sleep

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It is becoming well known that good sleep is a key part of good health. Have you noticed that what you eat and drink before going to bed effects how you sleep?

There are many foods that provide antioxidants and anti-inflammatory benefits along with important vitamins and minerals that have been proven to improve production of sleep regulating hormones such as serotonin and melatonin.

On the other hand, foods that contain stimulants like sugar and caffeine will hinder our body from winding down and getting the rest it needs.

To gain the most sleep benefit from our foods they should be eaten at least 2 hours before going to sleep to allow for proper digestion.

Here is our list of top 5 sleepy foods to munch on in the evenings!

Almonds

Almonds are a great source of magnesium which have been shown in studies to improve sleep onset and quality through its muscle relaxing action.
Almonds also provide tryptophan, an amino acid that helps us produce serotonin and melatonin, our day and night hormones.

Fatty fish

Fish like anchovies, sardines, salmon, tuna, and mackerel are a rich source of Omega-3 Fatty acids which provide an anti-inflammatory action, and vitamin D, both found to improve sleep quality.

Hummus

Chickpeas as well as being a great source of protein also provide Vitamin B6, an important precursor for producing our sleep regulating melatonin.

Dark Green Leafy Vegetables

Kale, spinach, collard greens, dandelion greens and other dark green, leafy vegetables are rich forms of calcium. In studies calcium deficiency has been linked to difficulty in falling asleep. Dark leafy vegetables being bitter in taste also assist in liver detoxification. A healthy liver helps balance blood sugar and hormone levels which are important for a good sleep.

Bananas

Potassium and magnesium which we get from eating bananas provide muscle relaxing effects. Bananas also give us Tryptophan, contributing to our production of serotonin and melatonin.