True Foods NutritionHealth Blog | Nutritionist Sydney

Easy Digestion Remedy

In our world we do things fast. No time to stop to eat, so we eat in the car. Pressure to multi-task: so we eat whilst working. Nobody to eat with: so we eat whilst watching TV. Fast lives don't work well with our human digestive system: it needs things to be done slooooowly. Our digestive system works on the 'rest and digest' mode of the nervous system, whilst many of us are spending way too long in the 'fight and flight' mode during pretty much the entire day. What's wrong with rushed eating? Not enough time for the brain to start thinking about food. Our digestion starts in the brain: thinking about food, smelling food, salivating about food. This is actually how it's supposed to work! Cooking your own meal helps enormously
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What to Eat for Breakfast

Breakfast is controversial. I've come to realise this via the reactions of the men and women who attend my workshops to my statements about breakfast. It usually goes something like this: I inform my workshop attendees that all commercial cereals- all the ones sold in supermarkets with claims like 'plenty of fibre', 'goodness in every bite', 'gives your kids all day energy', etc etc are actually completely devoid of nutrition. Not only do they possess very few nutrients, many of them are actually harmful to our health.
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An ode to the food pyramid

We are the generation of people who have to be told what we should eat. Have you thought about that? Does a tribe in Africa need to be told what to eat? Do native Pacific Islanders wake up and think 'Gee, I really don't know- what should I be eating to keep healthy?" Our ancestors knew through tribal wisdom which foods to hunt and gather, how to cook them and which foods were poisonous. Since we have 'evolved' to higher levels of civilisation, we've lost touch with where food comes from, how to grow it without chemicals, how to harvest it and how to cook it. Most importantly, we've completely lost touch with REAL food and have become a civilisation reliant on food 'products'. In this
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Don’t be part of ‘the Human experiment’!

Last night I had the privilege to attend the premier of Sean Penn's documentary 'the Human Experiment'. I knew this is not going to be a 'light' film- the topic of proliferation of chemicals in the environment and in our bodies is very familiar to me, however, I was still shocked and saddened by just how deep a hole the human race has dug for itself. I was also VERY angry. Angry for my friends who are suffering from different types of cancers before they've hit 45 and for a whole generation of OUR kids whose life expectancy- for the first time in recent history - is expected to be lower than that of our generation. It is no accident that the rates of many types of cancers (especially
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Fussy Eaters: 25 Strategies To Get Kids To Eat Healthy

Just about every parent I know thinks their child is a fussy eater. The degree of 'fussiness' varies widely of course. When my daughter refuses to eat her sauerkraut or bone broth I think she's being fussy! I usually ignore and try again the next day, when she will usually gladly eat these nutrient dense foods because she is USED TO eating them, knows they are very HEALTHY and the whole FAMILY eats them on a regular basis. I do appreciate though that for most parents, the battle is usually focused on regular foods like chicken or fish, the dreaded vegetables - of course:) and for many also fruit. However, no matter what your child is fussy about, I do hope the below strategies prove useful. I
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Why and How I Quit Coffee

So I thought I should write a book 'I Quit Coffee'! It would be a best seller, for sure, just like the 'I quit sugar' by Sarah Wilson. Except I don't think it would sell as well. Not at all. Unfortunately..... Because we are all completely on board with the concept of 'sugar is bad for you' and more and more people are trying to beat their sugar addictions. There is unanimous agreement that sugar is not helpful. However, there is no such consensus on coffee. In fact, most people believe that coffee is good for you. Great in fact! It gives you energy, it has antioxidants and some studies show it can even help you lose weight!! (those I think most definitely funded by the coffee
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Getting your meat right

I've recently heard an interview with Denise Minger, the author of what is no-doubt going to be a controversial book called 'Death by Food Pyramid'. She was discussing the myriad of health issues we are facing as a society today and the numerous mistakes that we have and are making by following the standard food pyramid. Amongst these is which meats we eat and to use her words, 'we don't get our meat right!' I think she is quite spot on and in all the years of research I've done on the subject, I can say I totally agree. Here are the key 'issues' I believe that surround our meat consumption and what to do about it. Issue 1: We eat meat from animals that are fed
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25 Budget Tips for Healthy Living

When switching to a wholefoods, traditional foods, Paleo foods and generally a ‘True Foods’ lifestyle, budgetary concerns definitely come up as many people view this way of eating as expensive, indulgent, exclusive, etc. Whilst I truly believe that a commitment to the right way of eating is paramount and definitely worth an investment that I prioritise above many other expenses, I appreciate that budgets still need to be met. So I’ve been doing a lot of reading on what experts in this way of eating recommend when it comes to planning meals on a budget. Budget Tips for Paleo lifestyle This list is a compilation of my own proven and tested ways of saving as well as the top tips from my favourite bloggers, nutritionists and naturopaths (sources
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Kids and Food Cravings

How often do you hear any of the following: 'Mum, I really really want a cookie!' 'Dad, when can we get some chips, I REALLY feel like some chips!" Or even the pre-verbal toddler just pointing at lollies in the supermarket and then stomping feet just to make sure you got the message "lollies now!" Children's cravings are real, just as adults cravings are. They start early on and are very strong urges. However, they are not always cravings for sugary junk food or fatty chips- a lot of the time kids have particular cravings that seem quite healthy and harmless. My son always craves cheese- whenever I ask him what he would like for breakfast/snack/lunch/dinner the answer usually includes cheese. I've started doing some research on this as many traditional
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The biggest deception in medical history: Cholesterol is bad for you

We've heard it for several decades: saturated fat and cholesterol clog your arteries, make you fat and will give you a heart attack. It's so ingrained in our psyche that we get a bit sweaty looking at our blood results and seeing 'elevated LDL cholesterol' scores. We run home and throw out the butter and the eggs (if these were in the fridge in the first place!) and buy a bottle of canola oil and margarine. Many authors like Gary Taubes and prominent doctors have looked at the research in the last few years and realised that something just doesn't add up. As the cardiologist interviewed in Catalyst said "I was operating on people who had a heart attack and had very low cholesterol!". When people started to
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