Why I follow the 80/20 principle

It's time to set the record straight.

Sometimes people say things to me like "Laura! You're a Naturopath, you can't eat/drink/say/do that!" And it always shocks me when they do, because I feel like I'm pretty open about who I am and what I do. I purposely post photos of coffee, wine, chocolate etc on my Instagram and Facebook pages and I don't pretend to be a fanatical Naturopath.

My policy is that I will never ask a client to do something that I wouldn't be willing to do myself.

I think that's pretty fair.

I look after myself very well. My partner and I cook our meals from scratch, I drink at least 2 litres of water a day, I buy as much organic produce as I can, I eat lots of veggies and fruit and I'm very aware of what foods and drinks my body can't tolerate and I avoid them.

But sometimes I just want to eat malteasers! And sometimes I drink one too many wines and sometimes I eat takeaway. Yes, I am human.

Have you heard of the 80/20 principle?

I haven't always been a Naturopath. I was once a child who loved kingston biscuits, musk lifesavers and rainbow paddle pops. I was once a teenager who went to backyard parties and drank waaaay too many alco-pops, and I was once a twenty-something who spent too many nights at cargo bar drinking QF's and cowboys!

Yes, I'm a reformed sugar addict and binge drinker. And my health did suffer for it.

Now I like to do things in moderation (most of the time). And I like to subscribe to the guideline of 80% for the body and 20% for the soul. This means that while I mostly fill my body with nourishing, nurturing food and beverages, sometimes I'll have a treat.

This principle works really well and I know a lot of Naturopaths and health professionals who also follow this, or similar guidelines. And this is what I expect of my patients.

Having a balance of the foods that love your body and the foods that you love helps you to be happy and healthy in the body and the spirit.

Following the 80/20 rule means that you don't need to feel guilty about having a treat. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

And for the record, when people try to chastise me for having a treat, my usual answer is:

“I’m a Naturopath, not a saint.”

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Is Irritable Bowel Syndrome Getting You Down?

One of the main things I treat in my clinic is the gut. Recently I’ve been seeing a lot of people come in with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) so I thought it was high time I set the record straight about you and that irritable little gut of yours!

Why is your gut so irritated? AKA What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

In my opinion IBS is a shrug the shoulders “I don’t know” condition. This means you’ve had every test under the sun and nothing shows up. You’re not a coeliac, you don’t have crohn’s disease, there’s no diverticulitis, no cancer (thank goodness), nothing showing up in your bloods and nothing that can give you a medically diagnosed condition.

Hurray there’s nothing wrong with you! But something’s still up.
This is when people often receive the “I don’t know” shoulder shrug and “It’s IBS” diagnosis. Which is fine. If we have to put a name on it, Irritable Bowel Syndrome is just as good as any.

What happens next? Are you stuck with IBS for life?

The problem many people encounter once they are told they have IBS is that everything goes quiet. There are no more tests to be done and you’re sent on your merry way with this name for your condition but no solution.

It bothers me that people believe that having IBS is just something they have to live with. “Oh I have IBS which means I get constipated for four days and then have explosive diarrhoea for one day and then I’m normal for a week or two and then I get constipated again.”

Really? You live your life like this and you think it’s normal and OK?

Enter the Naturopath!

Luckily, there are a lot of people who are not willing to settle for a life full of stomach cramps, bloating, running to the toilet and generally feeling crap (pun intended)!
This is when people end up in my clinic saying that I’m their last option and they have heard that a Naturopath had helped a friend of a friend of a friend who had a similar problem. Yep, this is what we do.

How can I help you?

I was explaining what I do to someone the other day and I told them that I think of myself as a “Health Detective”. Pretty corny I know but I actually had to give myself a pat on the back for finally finding the words to explain what I do!

IBS is a condition where the detective work really comes in to play. No two cases are ever the same and it takes a lot of questioning and investigating to get to the bottom of what is causing the problem.

Just as the symptoms can vary dramatically from person to person, so too can the cause. This can range from stress, anxiety and nervousness, to food intolerance’s or an imbalanced diet or it could be that your digestive system isn’t keeping up with its job description and it needs a bit of retraining to remember how to digest and process your food. My job is to work with you to discover what the cause is and then help you to get your body back into balance so that IBS is a distant memory.

What do IBS treatments involve?

Obviously each person will have a different treatment plan based on what is causing their issue. Some of my patients just need to make a small change to their diet and *BOOM* irritable bowel syndrome is a thing of the past. Others need to take herbs to improve their digestive function and others need to start stress management practices like yoga and meditation while I give them herbs to nourish their overactive nervous system.

The key message here is that there is a reason that you have an irritable gut and there is ALWAYS something we can do to calm it down and help it be a bit more friendly and cooperative.

So you have a choice. Live with IBS and deal with the unpleasant symptoms, or join the growing number of enlightened beings and see a Naturopath who can help you on your path to freedom.

Healthy pancakes

I’m pretty excited about this recipe. If you read my breakfast blog you’ll know I have a life long love affair with lemon and sugar crepes. This love was so strong that when asked the “what would you request as your last meal on earth?” question, my reply was always “Crepes with lemon and sugar”.. I never thought that this would change.

But now, I can honestly say it has!

I’ve been making these healthy pancakes for a few months now and every time I am shocked at how brilliantly delicious they are! I even convinced one of my clients who doesn’t like banana to try them and he also thought they were delicious (surprisingly you can’t taste the banana).

And the most shocking thing is that a few weeks ago I had lemon and sugar crepes and while I enjoyed them at the time, afterwards I thought to myself “I really don’t need to eat them ever again”. I felt quite unwell in the hours after eating them due to the ridiculous amounts of processed castor sugar and all I could think is that I wished I had eaten my healthy pancakes instead.

Sometimes I get an image in my head of the former me gaping at myself in wide eyed horror, mouth open, clearly wondering who this new Laura is! That’s the image that flashes through my head when I think about this pancake scenario!

So without further ado here is the most amazing gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, totally guilt free

Healthy Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:
– 1 Banana
– 2 eggs
– 2 tablespoons blanched almond meal
– A little bit of coconut oil for cooking

Method:
1. Blend or whisk banana, eggs and almond meal together.
2. Heat a small amount of coconut oil in a frying pan.
3. Cook batter like a normal pancake flipping when the edges start to brown and bubbles appear on top (smaller pancakes are easier to flip).

Serve with coconut yoghurt and berries. (Serves 2)

Yes it’s that easy! Enjoy these for breakfast, dessert, morning tea, dinner, lunch ANY TIME!

Honey Soy Salmon with Vegetable Noodles

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Laura

This is a detox friendly dish for anyone on one of the Burton Health Cleanse programs but is delicious at any time 

Ingredients

• 1 leek sliced
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 sweet potato
• 2 salmon steaks

Sauce:

• 4 tbs tamari
• 1 tbs honey
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/4 lemon juice

Method

Place leek in an oven proof dish, lie salmon on top and drizzle sauce over leaving about a tablespoon behind. Cover with foil and bake in oven on 180 for 15mins.

Meanwhile use the Betti Bossy Veggie Twister to make zucchini and sweet potato noodles. Alternatively grate or julienne.

Heat a wok or large frying pan, spray lightly with olive oil, cook sweet potato on med heat tossing occasionally.  When 5mins cooking time left on salmon add zucchini noodles and a little more olive oil spray.

Serve and drizzle with remaining sauce.

Serves 2
Enjoy!

One Week Into My Detox and I'm Still Alive

Not that I ever thought I wouldn’t be, but I think that’s how people sometimes feel when they embark on a detox program.

I have to say that transitioning into this cleanse has been unbelievably easy for me. Yes, I can here you saying “But you’re a Naturopath, of course it’s easy. You should be healthy anyway!”.

And I am. But I’m not perfect and I fall into habits quite easily. Before I started this cleanse I was having a coffee every morning, drinking red wine too regularly and, I just opened a new clinic which was a very busy and full on month, so there were way too many “quick” dinners A.K.A takeaways.

I started my cleanse on a Thursday because I expected to get caffeine withdrawals so didn’t want to be at work when that happened. But it never did.
I expected to get cravings for red wine and chocolate but that still hasn’t happened and on Monday I gave my left over (home made) bounty bars away without even flinching!

What’s the secret to my success? Well I think there are a few things going on here.

The lack of coffee withdrawals I think is due to the fact that I did a 6 week detox at the beginning of this year which really improved my liver function and my liver has (so far) been keeping up with processing my daily coffee intake.

The lack of cravings is partly due mindset, partly because I like being healthy and looking after my body and partly because I am still eating lots of really yummy food! I start my day with a green banana smoothie, then I might snack on some nuts, lunch is a salad with boiled egg, walnuts and pepitas, maybe some rice crackers with macadamia butter as an arvo snack and then something yummy for dinner like salmon and veggies or chicken quinoa salad. So I really don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything when it comes to food.

I’ve also been getting up of a morning and exercising (walking or hula hooping), doing my stretching, I went for a massage on Friday and I had a bath on Saturday AND Sunday. So I really have been practising what I preach and it feels great!

It’s so nice to do a cleanse every 6 months or so just to check in with yourself, mentally and physically, and to get back on track with your health and lifestyle goals. And the fact that I’ve found it so easy this time just reinforces the benefits and proves that a good cleanse program really does have long lasting results 

Buckwheat Biscotti

I am pretty proud of this unbelievably good gluten free, refined sugar free buckwheat biscotti recipe.

Last week I decided I was going to make buckwheat biscotti and bought the ingredients before I'd looked up any recipes online. When I got home and searched for recipes I couldn't really find any! So I had to invent my own!

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1.5 cups buckwheat flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 4 lightly beaten eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup shelled unsalted pistachio nuts

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160C
2. Sift flours and baking powder into a bowl, add sugar and mix together
3. Add eggs, vanilla, cranberries and pistachios. Mix until a dough is formed.
4. Lightly flour your workbench with buckwheat flour and knead the dough until smooth
5. Dived into 2 logs and place on tray lined with baking paper
6. Bake for 30 minutes then remove from oven and allow to cool
7. Use a serrated knife to slice the biscotti log into biscuits - approx. 8mm thickness
8. Place slices back on baking tray and bake for 15minutes or until golden and cooked through
9. Allow to cool and store your delicious buckwheat biscotti in an airtight container

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look after your liver

It’s the Burton Health Christmas party this Saturday (yippee) and as you may have already gathered, I’m rather fond of the occasional glass of wine or 2 (+). So what am I going to do to protect my newly detoxified liver?

I’m quite prone to sluggish liver function so I do a few things every day to help it out such as drinking dandelion tea and doing warm water and lemon or ACV in the morning. But over the Christmas and New Year period I’ll be giving my liver extra love, in the form of herbal medicines, to ensure it can keep up. Read on to find out a bit more about your liver and how you can help it function at its peak.

Did you know that your liver cleans your blood, processes nutrients, makes hormones, regulates blood sugar and stores many vitamins and minerals? Busy little organ!

Here are some symptoms that may indicate that your liver function is not up to scratch:

•   Indigestion, reflux, bad breath
•   Bloating, constipation or feeling sick after a fatty meal
•   Slow metabolism or weight gain
•  Feeling angry, irritable and unable to concentrate
•   Headaches, tiredness, waking between 3am-4am
• Acne, rosacea and dry skin
•  PMS, period pain, tender breasts

Did you find yourself nodding your head as your read that list?

Thankfully there are a few daily practices we can start up to help to cleanse our liver so that it can perform at its peak:

• Start the day with a glass of warm water and ½ a fresh squeezed lemon or 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• Eat bitter foods such as rocket, endive, kale and spinach
• Drink dandelion root tea
• Eat broccoli sprouts, garlic, turmeric and grapefruit*

*If you are taking medications, please read the label or consult your health care provider before including grapefruit as it is contraindicated with some medications.

And of course, give your liver a rest every now and then by having alcohol free days, cutting down on coffee, using chemical free skin products, and eating organic, unprocessed food where possible.

There are herbs and nutrients that you can use to specifically protect and improve the function of your liver. Dandelion, St Marys Thistle (milk thistle), Turmeric, Schizandra, vitamins A, C and E, selenium, zinc and glutamine are just a few of the key liver helpers.

Your Naturopath will be able to advise you on the best herbs and supplements to take during the silly season.

And remember, while you’re at your Christmas and New Year functions, moderation is the best way to avoid a hangover ,as well as alternating your alcoholic beverages with water.

Sneaky tip: soda water in ashort glass with a piece of lemon/lime looks just like vodka and soda – drink these to avoid attention from your colleagues (you’re welcome).

Warm Quinoa Salad

This is a great easy midweek dish, left over chicken could be used if you have any hanging about in the fridge.Quinoa pronounced keen-wah, is a complete protein, packed full of macronutrients such as zinc, magnesium and iron. It’s wheat and gluten free so it’s a great alternative to couscous and it tastes great! Before cooking quinoa it is important to rinse it well, this will remove the saponin from the quinoa.

Ingredients

•   1 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cups gluten free chicken stock (no nasties)
• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons macadamia oil (or olive oil)
•  ½ cup pepitas
•  Juice of 1 lemon
•   ½ cup basil pesto
•   1 bunch broccolini, trimmed
•   Fresh basil leaves

Method

1.       Place chicken breasts in a saucepan of simmering water for 5 minutes, cover and remove from heat, stand for 20 minutes until cooked through, remove from liquid.

2.       Meanwhile, place quinoa in a saucepan with the stock and bring to boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until tender. Remove from heat and stand, covered for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

3.       Steam or blanch your broccolini.

4.       Shred the chicken and toss with the lemon juice and oil, then add all other ingredients and toss until well combined.

Serve and enjoy!

If you can't go 100% organic is it worth going organic at all?

Not everyone has easy access to organic food and I often get asked by my clients if it’s worth buying some foods organic and the rest non-organic.

The short answer is:

Yes.

The long answer is:

Organic food, in my opinion, is real food. It has been farmed without the harsh chemicals that are used in conventional farming. These chemicals might be pesticides, fertilisers, weed killers, hormones or antibiotics that if used in the farming process will undoubtedly result in us ingesting those chemicals with the food.

Filling your diet with as many organic foods as possible will lower your exposure to these chemicals, and reducing chemical load on your body has a great impact on your health and wellbeing.

Organic food contains higher levels of nutrients which will help to keep you well and reduce your need to take supplements such as multivitamins and minerals.

Organic food is happy food. This is relevant to vegetarians and carnivores alike. Organic vegetables have been grown in fertile soil, at the proper pace and are usually available seasonally (when they’re fresh). The welfare standard of organic meat is considered to very high plus the animals are not fed waste and genetically modified junk. Generally they are allowed to graze on grass, the way nature intended.

Organic food tastes better. Do the taste test, you’ll see what I mean. If you want strawberries that make your taste buds tingle, apples that taste like an orchard and milk that tastes like your childhood – go organic.

What about the cost? The second most common thing I hear when it comes to organic food is “but it’s so expensive”. My thought on this is that organic food represents the real price of food. Obviously if a carrot has to be left in the ground longer to grow without chemicals, it means that the farmer has a slower rate of production and therefore needs to charge more to cover costs and make a living. I’m cool with that.

Choosing to buy organic is about prioritising your health and quality of food over things like getting your nails done and buying new clothes every week. I choose to spend my money on organic food and to be honest I don’t think the price is that different. Organic fruit and vegetables generally last longer so there is less waste and eating food that makes you healthier means that you potentially will spend less on health care and medications in the future.

So if you’re wondering if you should venture down the organic route when you’re at the supermarket, give it a go! Your meals will be tastier, more satisfying, healthier and fresher and there is no harm in mixing a bit of organic with a bit of conventionally farmed food if that is all that’s available. At the end of the day no matter how your food is farmed, fresh is best and we can just take baby steps from there