Tag: Meditate

Healthy Tips for the School Holidays

Matthias Zomer Photography (MZPh) | all rights reserved

Keeping your children active and eating healthy during the school holidays can seem like a daunting task, however with these simple suggestions, it will be easy and rewarding, knowing that your children are living a healthy lifestyle.

Why?

You may be thinking, why should they be healthy and active during the holidays, isn’t it a time for them to “chill out” and not have too many restrictions? Of course they should be able to rest if need be however children do have lots of energy to burn, and if they don’t burn it but continue to eat the same diet then they will put on weight, feel more fatigued and be generally unwell. Encouraging them and allowing them to stay active, is important for their health and spending time in nature is vital for their development. This article here further explains why being in nature is so important for children.

How?

  • Less screen time and more park time! That sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? Letting them run around in the park, taking them camping or staying on a family or friends farm are great ways for them to be active outside. Let them explore and enjoy being in the outdoors. Being winter, just make sure they are rugged up and you take them out in the warmest part of the day.
  • Snow time! Another great way to get out in nature during our chilly winter is to go to the snow. In Melbourne we are very lucky to have Lake Mountain on our doorstep, which is perfect for tobogganing and snow/nature walks. It’s cheap and you can easily hire basic equipment.
  • Kitchen time! Get them involved in preparing their meals or do some fun and healthy cooking together. Let them wash and peel vegetables, and for older children allow them to help chop up the fruit or vegetables. Letting them help out and be a part of the meal preparation encourages them to eat healthier food as children love to eat what they have helped to make. Start with simple tasks and gradually allow them to do more.
  • Garden Time! Letting them get their hands dirty in the garden and become a little green thumb will also encourage them to want to eat fresh produce as they have been a part of the growing process. Show them which herbs are which and then ask them to go collect herbs when you need them, children love some responsibility and enjoy foraging in the garden.
  • Family Time! Do some physical and fun activities as a family, such as bike riding, nature/bush walking, swimming at your local indoor pool, going ten pin bowling -just to name a few!
  • Play Time! There’s nothing better than hearing children laughing and doing some activities they love with their friends or siblings. Balance all the outdoor fun with some imaginative and creative play time.
  • Rest Time! Get them doing some child specific yoga and meditation, importantly do it with them, as leading by example is very powerful. You can easily buy a CD/DVD or download videos or mp3’s from the internet.

As you can see from the list, there is lots to fill the school holidays in with that isn’t based around just watching movies or being on the computer or mobile devices!

Check out these suggestions that are child friendly and healthy, for you to try with your children this school holidays:

  • Fruit kebabs: chop up seasonal and organic (if possible) fruit into cubes or thick slices and place on a bamboo skewer (for younger children – make a fruit salad or cut off the sharp end of the skewer). Get your children involved in making these as they are a fun snack or dessert.
  • Graze plate: create a graze plate for children that tend to graze rather then eat at set meal times. Have it on the table so they can come and eat when they need to rather than when they have to. Individualise them to suit their tastes but include some new foods so they can slowly be introduced to foods they might not normally eat. Some ideas for a graze plate include:
    • cos lettuce or mixed lettuce leaves
    • cherry tomatoes or quartered tomatoes
    • carrot, celery and capsicum sticks
    • sliced or cubed avocado or avocado dip
    • hummus dip
    • Raw and unsalted nuts and seeds (if they don’t have known allergies)
    • Dried fruits such as sultanas, dates, apricots and apple
    • Zucchini slice or fritters
    • Sliced roast vegetable frittata
  • Soup: make a big batch of their favourite soup and have ready for their lunches – during winter, it’s comforting and healthy to have a warm soup instead of cold foods such as sandwiches.

I hope you and your children enjoy these school holidays and manage to stay active and healthy!

Thanks for reading this week’s post,

Erin.

 

 

 

 

 

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Coeliac Disease Awareness Week – Post #3

 

CAW_Poster_puzzle cropped

Picture courtesy of Coeliac Australia, http://www.coeliac.org.au

 

Good Morning!

Wasn’t it great to have a day off yesterday. Its always a treat to have an extra day to spend with loved ones or doing something you really enjoy.

Last night, I went to a meditation class at CERES in East Brunswick and it was a nice way to recharge and start the week. I know, meditation isn’t easy but being ‘perfect’ at mediating isn’t the goal, meditation is a time to be in the present, to be aware of the body, of your thoughts, of how you are feeling at that moment and to just observe, that is it.

Meditation can come in many forms – many people find gardening, cooking, singing, playing music, painting, drawing, being creative, walking and many other activities to be a form of meditation. Sitting down in one position isn’t necessary either, last nights meditation class utilised sitting (either on cushions or on a chair) or lying down and walking meditation. It’s nice to change positions which can break the feeling of it taking a long time or getting aches and pains in certain places in the body. Being mindful and spending the time to meditate (in whichever form it is for you) is a fantastic practice for yourself but also for others as meditation helps people to be calmer and with deeper practice to be more compassionate, which can only be a good thing for the world.

Anyway, this post is about Coeliac Disease (CD) so I will leave the talk about meditation and move on to today’s topic:

The Naturopathic treatment of Coeliac Disease

The medical view of the treatment of CD is simply to go on a strict gluten free diet. Which sounds like a great treatment, as no are medications needed. It certainly is a great start however the treatment of CD is not as simple as just going a gluten free diet and then expecting to feel better.

CD causes inflammation in the small intestine and in other parts of the body – often there is widespread inflammation. Which we don’t really get told much about, if you have CD, do you wonder why you are still fatigued on a GF diet? Do you wonder why your joints ache? Do you wonder why you get headaches? And the list goes on (see associated conditions on the Coeliac Australia website:  http://www.coeliac.org.au/associated-conditions/).

Part of the reason for this ongoing pain is inflammation. Eating a GF diet, eliminates the trigger of the immune system which causes the inflammation so you are treating the cause by going GF, however the inflammatory pathways have been ‘switched on’ and just cutting out gluten doesn’t automatically ‘switch off’ the inflammation.

Having CD causes damage to the gut wall, this in turn leads to ‘intestinal permeability’. Intestinal permeability (also known as leaky gut), is when the tight gap junctions that hold together the intestinal cells, have been compromised, this allows digested particles such as proteins and other metabolic toxins to ‘leak’ through the cells and go into the blood stream, which causes an immune response to food proteins that are normally accepted and utilised by the body. This ongoing immune response leads to chronic inflammation. This is often why people with CD have multiple food intolerance’s. The inflammation occurs in other parts of the body, so if joints become inflamed it causes joint pain which can develop into arthritis and this can happen almost anywhere in the body.

Damage to the gut wall, reduces the ability of the body to absorb nutrients which is another reason for many of the associated conditions. Fatigue is a big issue for anyone with auto-immune disease, this is caused by low nutrient status especially iron and B vitamins and due to the ongoing inflammation, which uses lots of the body’s energy that should be in reserve for exercise and daily activities.

Anti-inflammatory foods and herbs are used to counteract the inflammation (anti-inflammatory drugs are not a good option as this causes more harm to the digestive system) and cutting out pro-inflammatory foods reduces more inflammation from occurring. I will elaborate on this in an upcoming blog post.

Getting the digestive system back on track is very important. This is individual and depends on the extent of the damage that CD has caused. I will often prescribe digestive enzymes as the ability to release the enzymes in the intestinal wall is reduced when CD is active, this is extremely important for people with newly diagnosed CD. I will assess the function of the stomach and ensure there is enough hydrochloric acid in the stomach to breakdown food properly before it reaches the small intestine. Repair of the intestinal wall is very important, once a person is on a GF diet, repair of the intestinal wall can commence, this includes prebiotics, probiotics, antimicrobial herbs, gut healing herbs and nutrients. I assess client’s nutritional status, often nutrients such as vitamin D, iron, B12, calcium and magnesium are low, increasing these using supplements and diet is vital but not until the gut can actually absorb the nutrients effectively.

As you can see, there is much more to improving your health when you have CD or any auto-immune condition.For people with CD, going GF is really the start of your journey, to completely return to good health it is important to reduce inflammation, improve the immune system and treat any nutritional deficiencies.

I hope you enjoyed reading today’s post.

Thank you,

Erin

 

 

For individualised treatment, it is advised to see a healthcare professional. Visit my contact page, if you wish to contact me or for any appointment inquiries.

This article is not intended to replace medical advice or treatment provided by a healthcare professional.

5 tips for a healthy December

  1. Breathe:  don’t let the stress of Christmas shopping get to you, quick meditation sessions each morning and night really helps to calm the mind and reduce stress.
  •  Take 5-10 minutes in the morning and evening to sit still and breathe. Remember there is no wrong way to meditate, so sit somewhere comfortable and quiet, breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth or nose. You can listen to soft relaxing music but you don’t have to.

2. Eat well: eating healthy leading up to Christmas day and between Christmas day and New Year’s Eve can help to prevent any Christmas weight gain and unwanted symptoms. Staying healthy during this time can be really easy, there are many recipes online for healthy versions of our favourite treats such as:

  • Raw “cheesecake” –so easy to make, no cooking required and tastes delicious.
  • Bliss balls – you can make any flavour combination you like
  • Avocado chocolate mousse – freeze to make ‘’ice-cream’’

3. Relax: take some time out to do something for yourself that is relaxing. It might be something simple like going for slow walk, having a bath, or it could be a bit more lavish like having a massage or visiting a day spa.

4. Exercise: exercise is great to increase the feel good hormones, reduce stress and improve fitness.  Do something you enjoy, it can be going to the gym or going for a run or other forms of exercise such as team sports, dancing or rock climbing.

5. Have fun: don’t forget to have fun! Enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends or join a laughter club – http://www.laughterclubsvic.org

Laughter is a great medicine!

Oh and last but not least – Enjoy the holiday season in moderation!