10 things you can do starting tomorrow that can INCREASE NOURISHMENT and REDUCE TOXICITY in your life

When people start learning about the toxicity that surrounds us in our modern day life, they can often feel overwhelmed.  From the “food” we eat, the tap water we drink, the toxins found in personal care products and household cleaning products, the blue lights we are exposed to at night, the chronic levels of stress we labour with, the electromagnetic radiation we are bombarded with, and the list goes on and on. 

Indeed, one door opens another door which opens another door and suddenly you feel like you’ve been doing everything wrong and you’ve ruined not only your life but also your childrens’ lives! I’ve been there! It is indeed tragic that we live in an increasingly toxic world where we are exposed to unprecedent levels of toxins that have directly contributed to this epidemic of chronic illness and degenerative disease. However, burying our heads in the sand is not the answer. But neither is getting overwhelmed – which just adds to our stress levels. 

When I start telling people about the toxicity that surrounds us, their response is “Ok! Ok! I’m in! I’m in! Let’s do this!! But where on earth do I start?!??!” 

Great question! We start one step at a time. One baby step, then another and then another. With your hand held tight for support (or as tight as you need!) my team and I help you start making SMALL changes that have a BIG impact. At your pace and in your own time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. I’m been walking this road for over 2 decades now and there’s still things I’m learning, tweaking and changing. It’s part of evolving and growing as a person. 

Ok, so where to start?

Set out below are 10 things that can INCREASE NOURISHMENT and REDUCE TOXICITY in your home (the ONE environment that you can control!). Start where it feels right for you and once you’re comfy with opening one door and exploring that room, then open another door. Remember, YOU are in the driver’s seat. I’m just here to provide you with all the support, education, tools and resources you need.  

1. Be conscious and curious about everything you put in and on your and your childrens’ bodies. Question everything. Don’t just accept that if something is allowed to be sold it must mean that it is safe. Sadly not. 

2. Learn to read labels on ALL packaged goods – food or otherwise - to educate ourselves and make healthier, informed choices. A good rule of thumb for food ingredients– if your great grandmother wouldn’t have recognized that ingredient, don’t touch it. If it’s a non food item – if it doubt plug the ingredient into the EWG (Environmental Working Group) website which rates it toxicity (1 or A being the least toxic, 10 or F being the most toxic). 

3. Buy nutrient-rich whole unprocessed foods – starting with organic produce from farmers markets, co-ops, or organic stores. Try to buy as many single ingredient unpackaged food as possible.

4. Learn how to make nourishing meals for your family with those single ingredients. To that end learn how to make nourishing staples like gelatinous bone broths, slow cook meals, organ meat dishes and gluten-free baked cakes in my online cooking workshops. Subscribe to my website or follow me on social media to learn of upcoming in person cooking classes.

5. If you don’t have the time, energy or bandwidth to make all your meals every single day from scratch, know that at Broth Bar & Larder we make onsite organic bone broth, broth based soups, 15 hour slow cooked meals, fermented foods and drinks, activated nuts and seeds, nutrient-dense raw treats free of all refined and artificial ingredients. We also have an online store.

6. Learn how to reduce the toxicity in your home by attending a healthy homes gathering where my team and I can help you swap out the toxins in your personal care products and household cleaning products in a positive and empowering way without the overwhelm. My team run these at least once a month in Sydney and further afield (including all over Australia in 2019 as part of an Australian tour). 

7. If you really want to get serious about reclaiming and maintaining vibrant health, invest in a life-changing one on one health coaching session with me (either in person or via skype) or attend at a fraction of the price a group Food as Medicine talk (which I am presenting all around Australia in 2019). 

8. For healthy lunch box inspiration, follow me on social media to see what I pack for my 2 chipmunks every single day. I also have a lunchbox inspiration ebook.

9. Educate your children and loved ones, gently and from a place of love.

10. Enjoy the journey of learning new knowledge and using it to make SMALL changes that have a BIG impact. Many think ignorance is bliss but there’s nothing blissful about chronic illness and a ravaged planet. Knowledge is power. Power brings choice. And choice brings an opportunity to change your health, your childrens’ health and the planet’s health. 

When we increase nourishment (in all areas of our life), and decrease toxins (again in all areas of our life) - that’s when our children can grow and function properly, perform their best and reach their true genetic potential, so that ultimately they can be the best possible versions of themselves! At the end of the day that’s essentially what we parents want for our children!

Ultimately this is a message of hope because as parents we are in the driver’s seat. We can dial up our childrens’ nutrient-density. We can reduce their toxic exposure. In our lap lies an awesome and empowering responsibility. 

So I implore you to join me on this journey for the sake of this next generation in any one or more of the ways set out above. MY reach is only so great. And YOUR reach is only so great. But if we work together as a community, our reach is POTENTIALLY UNLIMITED! If I tell 3 people about the benefits of making more nourishing, less toxic choices, and each of those 3 people in turn tells 3 people who each in turn tell 3 people, this creates a ripple effect that can be the force of change that this planet so radically needs. 

Remember that this is not about deprivation. It’s about healthy swaps. We need to change our mindset about healthy swapping and view it as an act of self love because its saying “I care (or give a sh#t) about my health, my kids’ health and the planet’s health.” And at the end of the day, what is more important or empowering than that?!

Food as Medicine tour coming to country NSW!!!

You kept asking for it and now we are doing it. I am thrilled to announce that my Food as Medicine Australian  tour is coming to Bathurst on Saturday 6 July. 

This FULL DAY event for $150pp consists of a morning Food as Medicine talk and an afternoon Healthy Homes/Healthy Swaps/ Essential Oils talk with a free organic wholefoods lunch provided in between.

> Book your place here

Spending the past 2 weeks with my mama who is quickly slipping away with dementia and witnessing the devastating effect that this has had on not only her life but the lives of those around her, has made me more determined than ever in my mission to empower people with the education, tools and resources they need to reclaim their health and to live less toxic, more nourishing lives before it is too little too late. By turning ignorance into education, we can raise conscious awareness about the effect of what we put in and on our body.

From what we eat and drink, the personal care products we put on our skin, the household cleaning products we unwittingly inhale, how we move, sleep, breathe, and play, how much time we spend in nature, whether we have a strong reason for living, our inner dialogue and our ability to manage our stress… all these pillars or lifestyle choices profoundly influence our health, and switch our genes on and off for better or for worse. Modern science tells us that chronic illness is not, as we previously thought, primarily driven by our hard coded genes but by the expression of our genes which in turn is driven by OUR lifestyle choices. This is a message of hope as we are in the driver’s seat! But as a society and individually we need to urgently shift gears and change lanes in order to change the trajectory of our health and arrest the epidemic of chronic illness and degenerative disease.

In our lap lies an awesome and empowering responsibility as we control to a very large degree these lifestyle choices! Join me in stepping up to that responsibility for the sake of our health, our children’s health and the planet’s health. This is why I do the work that I do and why I shout this message from the rooftops of houses across Australia in my Australian Food as Medicine tour. 

It’s a simple message but there’s much work to be done. 

Last year I started my Australian tour with pre-eminent holistic dietician, gut health expert and GAPS practitioner Marieke Rodenstein to spread this important message to make a greater impact on people’s lives. We have had SOLD OUT events and brilliant responses from Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and South East Queensland to date. I’m delighted that we can now also spread this message in country NSW. 

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Here is more information on the talks to be provided:

1. FOOD AS MEDICINE TALK: 9am – 1pm Saturday 6th July Perthville, Bathurst 

In this comprehensive 1/2 day presentation, I dive deep into the Fundamentals of Robust Nutrition and provide you with a comprehensive How To manual that sets you up for life. While health is mulifactoral and influenced by a number of different pillars or foundations of health, nourishing your body with the very nutrient-rich whole unprocessed foods that we as a species are biologically designed to eat is, I believe, the fastest and easiest way of reclaiming and maintaining spectacular health with the most profound impact. I spend time explaining the most nutrient dense foods on the planet and how to incorporate them into your diet, the 3 main buckets of dietary toxins and I bust mainstream myths that have led to an epidemic of chronic illness and degenerative disease. What you will hear and receive is exactly the same information that I provide in my one on one health coaching sessions but at a fraction of the price in these group Food as Medicine talks.

Marieke Rodenstein will hone in on the fundamentals of robust gut health. Our collective forte is to combine the wisdom of ancestral diets with the latest developments in nutritional medicine and robust science, to provide you with all the tools and resources you need on how to nourish your body and optimise your health. 

Health issues, pharmaceutical band-aids, and confusion and stress over what, when and how to eat might be considered “normal” in today’s society, but this is not a natural state of being and you don’t have to settle to live that way.  

By the end of our presentation, our mission is to make you feel empowered that you have all the information, tools and resources you need to reclaim and maintain your and your family’s health and wellbeing so that you can be the best possible version of yourself and live the full and vibrant life that you so truly deserve.

> To book or to learn more about our presentation click here!

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2. HEALTHY HOMES / HEALTHY SWAPS / ESSENTIAL OILS: 2pm- 5:30pm Saturday 6th July Perthville, Bathurst

While the focus of the Food as Medicine talk is helping you to recognise and eliminate DIETARY toxins (and nourishing our bodies with the nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory whole unprocessed foods), the focus of my HEALTHY HOMES talk is to help you become aware of and eliminate ENVIRONMENTAL toxins lurking in conventional personal care products, household cleaning products, make up and perfumes  (and to healthy swap to all-natural, yet super-powerful, cost-effective versions). For what we put on our skin and breathe into our lungs is just as, if not more, important than the food we eat as our skin and lungs have no digestive filters!

This gathering is free to all Food As Medicine attendees as my mission is to help you kick toxins in ALL areas of your life! So if you are booked into the Food As Medicine talk you will receive automatic entry to the Healthy Homes talk as we want you to make a whole day transforming your health in ALL areas of your life. 

> To book or to learn more about our presentation click here!

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I can’t wait to see you in Bathurst  in July for this full day event. This will be our last time to tour in this region. Please forward this email to your friends and family. These could be the talks that could change the course of their life!

Together let’s spread this powerful message that food can be the most powerful medicine, our genes are not our destiny and that our health and our planet’s health lies in our hands. 

After Bathurst, we are headed to Melbourne (July), Tasmania (Aug), ACT  (Sept), Bunbury (Oct), Perth (Oct), and finishing the tour in Sydney in November. Places are booking fast to all these cities so please secure your tickets quickly to avoid disappointment. To book into other Australian cities on the Food as Medicine tour click here and select the relevant city from the drop down menu. 

My raw and real musings on motherhood...and our limited edition Mother’s Day offering

Motherhood.

The most rewarding yet difficult endeavour I have ever embarked upon. My children bring me endless wonderment coupled with exasperation (and which dose is greater depends on the day). I have never experienced a love so pure, intense and unconditional as the love I have for my children. Yet motherhood is by far a vocation that is more painful than anything I have ever experienced. It makes my 2 honours degrees (in law and commerce), a university medal, and the running of my 4 businesses look like absolute child’s play in contrast to the daily struggle of parenting 2 children without my fiery Greek-Cypriot temper getting the better of me. As a close friend often muses “Hell hath no fury like Cypriot scorn”. Just when I think it gets easier they enter a new stage of growth and I’m back to feeling like a novice. Most of the time I feel like I am failing miserably, undeserving of the 2 beautiful souls that I have been entrusted with for such a fleeting amount of time. Guilt, shame and incompetence often riddle me. And the more I talk to other mothers (no matter how zen or perfect they appear, or how many parenting books, courses or programs they have completed) the more I realise that I am not alone. What is portrayed on social media is only one teeny part of the picture.

Don’t ever be fooled to think that it’s all roses, butterflies and unicorns for any given mother as you don’t really know what she’s going through or what goes on behind the scenes. So I’m here to tell you that no mother is perfect, that whatever you’re feeling I guarantee that we have all felt it, and that we are all doing our best to raise children without the village they have evolved to be raised in. And that mismatch in itself brings a myriad of issues. 

While the impact mothers have on their children etches deep and can last generations (for better or for worse) the saving grace is that our children are incredibly forgiving and resilient, and each day is a new start with new intentions. 

The rapid demise of my own mother to dementia over the past few years has given me great cause to stop and ponder my relationship with her and all the sacrifices she made as a mother which I only started to appreciate when I became a mother myself. To see one of the most capable, competent, and driven women I have ever met be reduced to a person devoid of mental and physical faculties, is painful beyond words. When there is nothing left to say all that can be said is “I’m sorry, and I love you”. 

As mothers, we not only bring forth life, we feed, nurture, care, support, love and protect with all our hearts. Yes motherhood involves pain and suffering (often from the first trimester). But it also involves wonder and joy. And let’s not forget that as we celebrate our special day in May. Tonight my son asked me “Mum, why did you have children?” My response: “To grow as a person…. To love and to be loved in returned, to teach you what I know and to learn from you in return.” Indeed, my children are my greatest teachers, my shiny mirrors reflecting back everything I dislike in myself and exquisitely pressing my buttons in a way that only they know how to press.  They will keep pressing and pushing until I show up as the best possible version of myself – happy, confident, capable, fair, supportive, honest, accessible, with clear boundaries. If they don’t feel I’m stepping up in any one of these areas, they will poke and prod (“act out”) until I step up.  As my children grow and mature, I feel it’s an opportunity for me to grow and mature as a person. There are many lessons to embrace, as every mother knows. 

“Mothers have the power not only to rock the cradle but to rock the world””

— Dr. Bernard Jensen

So I dedicate this newsletter to my mother, and to mothers everywhere, who have done and who are doing so much for their children. I see you coming into my Broth Bar and to my classes and talks, driven by a desire to provide the best possible start to your childrens’ lives. It warms my heart to think that the next generation of children that we are raising will be more robust, resilient, taller, smarter and beautiful than our generation, due to our hard work. And for that we can pat ourselves on the back! 

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Limited Edition: Organic Choc-Coated Macadamias for Mamas

To celebrate, acknowledge and honour the mothers in our lives and the incredible role they play, we have crafted as a Mother’s Day special limited edition, our signature activated macadamia nuts smothered in our signature raw dark chocolate: organic choc coated maccas for mamas! Simply superb!

Who doesn’t love that winning combo!? I hope you enjoy them as much as we have enjoyed bringing them back for sale to you as a Mothers’ Day limited edition. Throw into a larger hamper, or simply gift as a stand alone special treat. These are sure to please the yummiest/tiredest/grumpiest/happiest of mummies – for we are all these things rolled into one plus more ;-) 

Sold exclusively at Broth Bar & Larder. To organise a courier to any area within metropolitan Sydney or Wollongong simply call Broth Bar & Larder on 0421 786 009. Limited quantities available, so get in quick to avoid disappointment!

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