"Excuse me, but I think your gut is leaking!"

Weird I know! But please hang in there, this one’s a game changer! Here’s a funny cartoon just to keep your interest.

There’s a theory (a very valid one) going around in all the health circles at the moment, called ‘Leaky gut’. It’s where a person’s gut wall breaks down and becomes leaky (more scientifically known as gut impermeability.)  When you have a leaky gut, the bad stuff like toxins, bacteria and undigested food get into your body instead of being dumped in the loo! And when this happens your immune system gets all out of wack and crazy things start happening…

Signs of a leaky gut include (but are not limited to)

Fatigue, depression, weight problems, auto-immune diseases, irritable bowel, psoriasis and asthma.

I myself had nearly all of these symptoms at one stage or another and having MS (an auto-immune disease) it is now commonly known that ALL auto-immune diseases start with a leaky gut.

This is not something that many GP’s will know about- why? Because there is no drug to fix it!

If you think you may be suffering from a leaky gut you can find lots of info on the internet including how to heal it naturally. There is heaps on you-tube and a site I recommend is www.solvingleakygut.com. I myself have done their protocol

8 easy ways to detox your home!

8 EASY WAYS TO DETOX YOUR HOME!

You may have done some weird green drinking, herb taking detox in order to eliminate internal toxins from your body, but can you say that you have done anything about the toxins in your home? 

The average home contains up to 1000 chemicals, many of which we are unable to see or smell. Unfortunately the air inside our home is three times more polluted that outside  and here in Ballarat in winter we spend so much time indoors. 

Common household and body care products are increasingly being found to have negative health effects and while these chemicals may be tolerated individually and in small doses, problems can arise when one is exposed to them in combination. They can have an effect on any of our nervous, immune, reproductive, endocrine, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.

Detoxing our bodies and our living spaces will allow the body’s own detoxification to function more efficiently. This strengthens our resilience to the daily onslaught of factors impacting our health.

You could choose to change one thing a week or one a month or heck just choose one full stop and it will be moving in the right direction…

Tip One

No shoes inside thank you very much!

Yep- it’s that easy. That’s how a lot of dirt pesticides and lead can enter your home.

Tip two

Keep the air clean.

Try opening your doors and windows as much as possible to circulate the stale and toxic air (hard here in Antarctica in winter, I know!)

Tip three

Have indoor plants

Plants remove toxins from the air and renew stale air by exchanging carbon dioxide with oxygen. Read our previous blog post on indoor plants here…

Tip four

Switch from standard household cleaners to greener, safer options.

It’ll be safer and cheaper and not to mention, fun to explore mixing up some concoctions!

Tip five

Replace skin care products with less toxic, chemical free products

On average a woman can be exposed to 500 different chemicals in a day from her daily beauty routine. I personally love Twenty8 skin care and use coconut oil for near everything.

Tip six

Keep plastic to a minimum

Some plastics contain BPA, linked to cancer and others phthalates, which are linked to weight gain and developmental problems. Storing food in glass and ceramics is a safer option.

Tip seven

Check for mould

Check your windows and walls for moulds and remove promptly. Mould is extremely toxic especially to children and babies.

Tip eight

Avoid toxic ‘stinkin thinkin’

Finally no amount of detoxification of the body or the home is as important as removing the toxic thoughts. A house full of resentment, jealousy or unhappiness will be just as toxic!

Why should you eat local and seasonal produce?

Great question that you have asked! So it's really become a bit of a thing at the mo to spend Saturday mornings at your local farmers market getting all the funny looking vegetables - but why exactly should one eat locally grown and seasonal produce?

Seasonal foods are picked at the peak of freshness and offer higher nutritional content with a variety of vitamins, minerals enzymes and anti-oxidants. When you eat with the seasons you can enjoy a rainbow of colorful and diverse foods that are in tune with our natural rhythms and  help support our bodies natural cleansing and healing abilities. For example in winter we are supplied with root vegetables that can be cooked in warming foods (think stews, soups and roasts.) Whereas in spring the focus is on green leafy vegetables to promote cleansing and detoxing ready for summer when all the delicious  fruits and summer vegetables are available. Eating with the seasons will stop you from having potatoes, carrots and peas on your plate all year round! (I seem to remember having meat and those three veggies a lot as a kid) Many out of season fruit and vegetables depend on waxes, chemicals and preservatives to keep them looking half edible and consequently less nutritious. 

So why local? Most foods begin to loses their nutrients the moment they are picked, so the quicker you can get them on your plate the better they will be for your body. Some fruit and vegetables on supermarket shelves were picked up to a year ago and have been in cold storage since! Not to mention some poor little buggers that have been flown across half the world just so you can have apples in December! By eating locally produced foods not only are you helping the environment by decreasing 'food miles' you are also contributing to your community and supporting it's farmers.

Just something for you to think about? I'm no angel at it, my kids want their apples year round and I'd rather feed them an out of season apple than a processed LCM bar. But I am becoming more conscious and increasing the amount of local and seasonal produce I purchase

Have a great day! x 

Is wheat really that bad for me? or is gluten free just another fad?!

The answer to this from my research is a resounding YES, it really is bad and no- definitely not just a fad!

The problem with modern day wheat is that Agri-business has genetically changed the crop from a 4 and a half ft plant to a 2 ft dwarf, high yield plant that is easier to harvest. Consequently it is now higher in gluten (a protein) than it was 10,000 years ago and it's not just the gluten component that causes problems within the body and mind.

Modern day wheat is also higher in gliadin (a sugar) that stimulates the appetite and has an opiate effect on the body (that's why the idea of giving up wheat breaks you into a sweat!) Amaylopectin (the starch component) is also way higher. This starch has a proven link to heart disease diabetes and obesity. Since the introduction of wheat 10,000 years ago, fossil records of humans show a decrease in brain size, a loss in bone size and height and an explosion in tooth decay and crooked teeth.

According to Dr William Davis author of 'Wheat belly' 100% of people are affected in some way by the consumption of wheat, whether it be irritable bowel, brain fog, depression or a chronic disease. "Nobody escapes the increased bowel permeability caused by the gliadin protein" says Davis, a  leading cardiologist in USA. This gut permeability is the first stage of all (possibly 200) auto-immune diseases. "All grains are a problem, but wheat is by far the worse" says Davis.

A Lot of children are becoming intolerant to wheat, showing up in things such as rashes and asthma. It also causes behavioural outbursts and impairs learning. There is a strong link between wheat consumption and ADHD and autism.

Another problem is that you find wheat in almost everything. We all know of bread, pasta, cake and biscuits but check out packaging labels- it's in chips, sauces, vinegar, lollies, processed meat, gravies, soup and even many personal care products. Look for words such as dextrose, glucose, maltodextrin, 1422, hydrolysed vegetable protein as this is all wheat!

Dr William Davis suggests that you will notice a change within a week to a month when you take wheat out of a child's diet. Adults more likely to be months. When I took wheat out of my sons diet 100% his teacher (not knowing I had) exclaimed to me that 'Kipp has been a different boy this week, he's so happy and not emotional!'

So why don't you just try and take it out of your child's diet for a week and see what changes you notice? It certainly won't hurt but it may just change a life!

You don't have to take my word for it, if you're interested and want to know more I suggest www.wheatbellyblog.com and the book 'Grain brain' by David Perlmutter

A letter to the 18 year old me! Pre- M.S diagnosis

I wish I knew then what I know now!

Dear 18 year old me,

In 7 years time you will be diagnosed with M.S, an auto-immune disease that will greatly affect you and those you love. It’s not one thing that causes it, it’s everything! So here are a few tips of things that I have learnt along my journey that will prevent this from occurring.

*The world today is quite toxic, you must do all you can to remove toxins from your body. They are coming to you in the form of the food you eat, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the things you put on your skin and even your toxic thoughts.

*Please note that your often occurring farting is NOT ok just because you have 3 older brothers but a warning sign that something wrong is going on inside your gut. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine 2000 years ago said “All chronic disease begins in the gut”

*So PLEASE investigate foods that you are intolerant to. Even though they may be ok for someone else, they are causing inflammation in YOUR gut.  I’ll save you the trouble.....for you its gluten and dairy!

*Please take note of the other warning signs, i.e.: the acne you’ve just developed especially as you never had it in your early teens when others did- another sign of inflammation in your body.  The little pot belly you’ve always had- it’s not just cause Mum has it too- It’s inflammation!

*I want you to get your mercury fillings removed that you had put in as a child; every time you chew toxic mercury vapour is released into your body. There is a strict protocol for the disposal of mercury into the environment but apparently it’s ok to put it in to people’s mouths!

*Please buy a water filter. The chlorine they put in the water to kill bacteria will also kill the good bacteria in your gut, imperatively needed for digestion. Not to mention the added fluoride in our water that is causing an iodine deficiency and your thyroid to slow.

*Don’t play with plastic toys and especially don’t put them in your mouth (hang on- your too old for toys, but I had to put that in to make it relevant to my blog!) Most plastic toys are made from non- renewable petroleum that contains many chemicals including arsenic, lead, bromine, chlorine, BPA, mercury and phthalates. If you don’t play with toys anymore be mindful of the amount of plastic you are exposed to. Packaged foods, receipts and food storage to name just a few.

*Pay attention to the things you are putting on your skin and using to cleaning your house (not that you have one yet) All of the products you are currently using contain chemicals. On average a woman puts 500 chemicals on her body per day through all her body care products! Recent research has classified that two chemicals commonly found in beauty products- parabens and phthalates as obesogens, meaning they promote fat storage in the body (remember phthalates in toys- hello chubby bubby!) MSG and fructose also have this same effect (rampant in processed foods these days) which brings me to the next tip.

*Just eat REAL food- not packaged, denatured chemically altered, low fat, high carb CRAP. Investigate into the Primal diet (It’s not a fad yet) But hey, it’s only been around for about 2 million years. It’s the way your paleolithic ancestors ate and they didn’t get M.S (or Alzheimer’s or cancer for that matter). Eat as organically as much as you can afford at each stage of your life. Eating organic grass fed meat is specifically important as grain-fed cattle are toxic! Your body stores toxins in your fat (hello muffin top) so the more toxins you ingest the more fat that will follow! Fat does not make you fat Jane- toxins do!

*Take note: DO NOT go running around like a headless chook, doing one thing only whilst thinking of the next task. It will only cause your adrenals to be exhausted. It is not your god given right as a woman to multi-task! Your future husband will break his leg 6 weeks before the wedding! You will run on adrenaline for weeks, working full time, organizing a wedding, and taking care of your beloved invalid. SLOW DOWN- this is just further depleting your adrenals, where cortisol is made, a hormone needed to calm the inflammation down consequently there because you’re living off low fat yogurt crap and exercising heaps too loose a few kilos for the wedding. Is there any wonder that you will suffer from you first M.S attack on your honeymoon!

*Quit your Interior design course half way through.  You don’t have to finish it just because you don’t like anything to get the better of you. It’s ok to reassess your life and take a different direction. You won’t enjoy decorating other people’s houses in the end anyway!

*So, find your life purpose! Hang on maybe you ARE supposed to get M.S so you can research all this stuff and spread the word to your family and friends?!

*The most important lesson that I have learnt is to be kind to yourself! If you talked to your friends the way you talk to yourself then you wouldn’t have any!!  You would never expect as much from them as you do yourself. YOU are the MOST important person in YOUR life (have you ever noticed that in EVERYTHING you do, you’re there?!)

Best of luck

Love from 33 year old me. Xx