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Do you find travelling with food intolerances difficult? On a recent trip to Port Macquarie it is clear that holidaying in the regions with food intolerances is getting easier but there are still a few areas that need to improve.

In this blog you will find some tips for locating friendly restaurants and navigating your way through menus.

First up road food? Depending on where you are travelling you may find it easier to pack your own snacks and lunch or scope out some suitable alternatives. …

Surprisingly large numbers of women (and men) in Australia are being diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis. This is despite a very high rate of dairy consumption in the country. So what is happening and can you build healthy bones as you get older?

There are three major areas that need to be addressed for good bone health, namely exercise, nutrition and lifestyle factors. Most people think about calcium and perhaps Vitamin D but don't necessarily address the other key areas.

Bones are c…

Good quality sleep means that we can build up enough pressure to induce sleep. It is part of the equation with your circadian rhythm. If you are finding it difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep it may be that you haven't build up enough sleep pressure.

What stops you building pressure to sleep? The major areas that you can influence are chronic pain, blue light, and stress. Age and genetics also play a part but these factors are less influenceable.

Chronic Pain affects your ability to g…

Detox is a naturopathic protocol that can be really helpful to restore effective function. Its basic aim is to assist your liver and kidneys so that they can remove toxins that you are exposed to in your diet and through your environment. Typically detox is recommended to support clients when they struggle with hormonal imbalance, find it difficult to lose weight or are suffering from allergies or poor digestive health.

The liver is responsible for processing food and a range of substances t…

Whilst the options for holidays restricted to NSW at the moment it seemed timely to put together an update on tea friendly venues in the Blue Mountains (that also provide gluten free options). It is very disappointing to go to a cafe or restaurant that offers expresso coffee from freshly ground beans and then be offered hot water with a tea bag rather than leaf tea, so here are the best options for the tea lovers!!

One of my favourite spots is the Megalong Valley Tearooms. It’s fairly easy t…

Eating six serves of vegetables a day is a good way to feed your microbiome but are there better choices ? Actually it depends on what is going on with your gut so lets look at six different types of prebiotic fibres from vegetables. They all have different roles so the activity should give you an idea of what may be helpful for you and then you can determine if you may need to increase your consumption of one of these groups.

Six types of prebiotic fibres are inulin, pectin, galactooligosac…

Juicing is a useful way to increase nutrients in the diet and can also be used therapeutically. There are many foods which you can use with health benefits and a regular juice can be a good addition to your diet. It can also be a good way to get your three cups of vegetables daily. Here are three of my favourite combinations that you may find helpful.

Celery juice is known for its benefits in reducing fluid retention however what do you use if you can't stand celery? My first juice is a deli…

Salads can be a good way to increase the amount of vegetables in your diet but its not always an attractive option during the winter months. A better alternative can be soups. It is also a good way to incorporate bone broths for a little extra support for gut healing.

If you are using bone broth in your soups its a good idea to ensure that its the best quality possible. If you are making it yourself then try and use bones from free range or organic sources. The flavour profiles are usually b…

Frequent hand washing and use of hand sanitiser does seem to be doing an excellent job of reducing infection rates but it also come at a cost for many people's skin.

So what are your options? Well conventional wisdom would suggest that moisturising is the solution however most creams really only provide a barrier. Its also not really practical to moisturise every time you wash your hands and it may remove some of the benefits.

Focussing on skin quality needs to be addressed from two perspec…

Spending time at home gives you the opportunity to try things that you may have been wanting to try but may never had the time.  One of my goals is to meditate daily and work my way through all the webinars I signed up for but never got the time to watch. Below are a few ideas to keep you occupied over the next few weeks whilst nurturing mind, body & spirit.

Take an Online course

There are lots of online courses available to cater for every need. TAFE NSW is currently offering 21 courses f…

This Easter weekend with so many of us stuck at home it could be a good time to try your hand at cooking a few new things themed around the holiday. For example fish pie for Good Friday which is usually a fasting day in Catholic households which translates as no meat. Saturday could be about some gluten free hot cross buns and Sunday might be time to get out the big guns with some gorgeous sides for the prawns and ham. Monday you will probably be living on leftovers but these easy banana mu…

Following on from the previous blog (Meal Plan Week One) I am documenting some healthy eating suggestions for my family as I am still not able to prepare food easily. Well I can prep some things but lifting and bending is still challenging post surgery.

This week's meal plan included the following ideas;

• Roast Easy Carve Leg of Lamb with Potatoes and Roast Cauliflower and Broccoli
• Lamb Biriyani (made with leftovers from the leg of lamb)
• Chicken Sausages with a Simple Potato Curry
• Turkey m…