Winter Wellness - Medicinal foods in your garden, pantry and fridge

Winter is here. That means the season for coughs, cold, snot, ear infections, tonsillitis, upper respiratory sickness, croup, you name it! How well prepared are you??

The germ, bacteria, bug, virus, whatever you want to call it is not the problem, it is the host in which it is living. The germ can only thrive in the right environment, that is our immune system. When the immune system is not as strong and resilient as it should be, it will really struggle to fight off these bugs and more often than not will succumb to them.

There is so much goodness in our garden and pantry that is truly medicinal in nature and  have stood the test of time. Wouldn't it better to use these than feel helpless and use over the counter medication which do have a damaging effect on our eco system, the MAIN hub of the immune system?

With a little education and a little preparation, you can be fully prepared for whatever is thrown your way.

Harnessing the medicinal properties of readily available herbs:

• Rosemary – It’s aromatic smell has been known to help improve memory tasks. Great for upper respiratory tract infections and is anti-microbial

• Oregano – This herb is highly antimicrobial and is very effective at treating chronic & acute infections. Add it to food regularly or have as a medicinal tea with a little raw honey

• Lavender – who is not a fan of the smell of lavender, me actually, but that is a story for another day. Not only is the fragrant soothing and helps you fall asleep, it also contains anti-oxidants called polyphenols that fight belly bloating

• Thyme – This has to my favourite herb for medicinal purposes and is my go to when the dreaded cough kicks in. This is a great herb to use for respiratory problems and is also very antiseptic. I will share an easy cough tea recipe in the download below. My daughter loves it when I make this tea.

• Basil – This little beauty is great at calming the nerves and also has a detoxing effect on the liver

• Parsley – This common garnish is packed full of nutrients. It contains Vit A & C and just teaspoon offers nearly half your daily intake of vit k

• Chives – A member of the onion family that can help boost the immune system. Admittedly I don't use this herb as often I could do.

• Coriander – This is my go to herb for stirfries and salads. It provides iron and fibre and is also known as a great chelator of heavy metals to help draw them out of your tissues

• Mint – A rich source of Vit A and useful for the breath, digestion, nausea and headaches.

In short, add a variety of herbs daily where ever you can in your diet and reap the benefits, a little really goes a long way.

Suggestions – Garnish, salads, add to stirfries, casserole, soups and make your own brew of tea

Medicine in your pantry:

• Apple Cider Vinegar – Rich in it’s own probiotics, it has been known to be great for detoxification, supporting digestion, anti-microbial and supports the immune system. It is also known to have benefits of topical applications for dry skin, as an anti-fungal agent, whiten teeth and relieve rashes. One little product and so many uses.

• Honey – no pantry should be without a good quality local if possible, raw honey. It is definitely my go to for the first sign of sore throat or cough, taken straight off the spoon. It is very useful as part of a gut healing journey harnessing the prebiotic benefits, however still to be used in small amounts. Also fabulous a moisturiser for dry skin, acne and wound healing.

• Olive oil – Firstly make sure it is a good quality. Not only it is wonderful as a moisturiser for hair and skin, it is a great source of good fats which are essential for the immune & gut cells, not to mention the brain.

• Good Quality ORGANIC tea bags – These are fabulous to have on hand during sickness and a good selection will be found in any good health food store. My favourites are:

  • Rosehip & hibiscus

  • Ginger & lemon

  • Chamomile

  • Peppermint or mint

  • Immune tea

  • Digestive tea

What's hiding in your fridge that can serve as medicine?

• GINGER – This little innocent unassuming vegetable is so potent. Really get creative how you can incorporate it into your diet as much as possible. It is known to be useful for treating:

  • Inflammation

  • Remedies motion sickness or an upset tummy

  • Cold & flu prevention

  • Assists digestion

  • Assists common respiratory conditions that helps break down and remove phelm and mucous

  • Strengthens the immune system

• TUMERIC (fresh) or spice from the pantry - It’s the compound curcumin in this food that makes it so magical and gives it the amazing anti inflammatory and antioxidant properties. I love adding to broth to pimp it up and a few shakes of the spice where ever I can.

• LEMON – This wonderful citrus fruit so readily available and has many health benefits such as:

  • The juice of a lemon is useful in assisting indigestion and constipation

  • It is one of go to treatments for fever and works a charm breaking a fever by increasing perspiration.

  • Soothes respiratiory disorders

  • Helps to flush out bacteria and toxins from the body

  • With it’s antibacterial properties, it’s a fabulous choice for sore throats

Here you can download a few DIY recipes using the ingredients above to get yourself all ready for winter:

Included in the EBOOK are recipes for the following, however they all have multiple uses:

• Immune System

• Cough

• Resiliency Tonic

• Digestive

• Tummy Upsets

Chantal Khoury is a Certified and Accredited Nutrition & Wellness Coach with a special interest helping mum's implement Healing Wholefood & transformational wellness practices to improve the health of their family one personalised step at a time.

Packing a Gut Friendly Lunchbox

Holy Moly – here we are again. Back to school and packing lunches.  It was fabulous to have a break from it, but I’m keen to get back into all things routine until I’m not again! Lol.

Today’s article will be short and sharp.

We are all busy doing the best we can, but let’s not forget that the health of our children is in our hands. We have such a short period of time to have a profound effect on the foundation of their health, and that is primarily through nutrition and wellness practices. For the purpose of today, the focus will be on nutrition.

You can listen to the audio summary of the article here:

Here are some of my top tips for packing a gut friendly lunchbox:

1. Wholefood ingredients AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE is the first start. Look at what you are currently packing and ask how can you improve it from there. Just start somewhere.

2. Make the base ingredients the best quality you can afford. For example:

   1. Use sourdough bread instead of conventional commercial baked bread to avoid the plethora of additives and preservatives

   2. Use spelt bread for a lower gluten load

   3. Try making your own loaf from time to time using quality ingredients

   4. Use good quality grassfed butter, even better, make it organic – AVOID MARGARINE AT ALL COSTS, even the so called “healthy ones”

   5. Check the ingredients of cheese, it should only contain 4 ingredients, NOTHING ELSE. Stay away from the plastic wrapped cheese....need I say more?

3. Do not be afraid to use butter liberally (if it can be tolerated of course)– it contains amazing fat soluble vitamins that is needed for optimal development, not to mention great for cellular health and stabilisation of blood sugar levels. I know what you are going to say next, but it doesn't spread that easily. Solution - take it out 2 minutes before you need it - PROBLEM FIXED - USE REAL BUTTER

4. Instead of a packaged/processed item for recess, include a homemade baked goodie. When using quality ingredients and wholefood sweeteners (in moderation) these actually provide nutrients rather just empty calories and a chemical sh&t storm. Try out a new recipe at home for a snack or on the weekend BEFORE putting it into the lunchbox.

5. Use left-overs where ever you can, either as a sandwich filling or in a thermos container

6. If you are incorporating a packaged item of some sort - CHECK THE LABEL. Ask yourself, will my child's body recognise these ingredients as a food?

7. Avoid those sugar laddened poppers claiming to be healthy. Did you know one 250ml popper can contain 5-7 tsp of sugar??!!!! There is nothing wrong with water. Make fruit infused water if they need some flavour

8. If you are wanting to move to a more wholefood lunchbox, include food items your child will like. For example, if I was to put a blueberry muffin into my son’s box, I can guarantee you it will not be eaten. Put in a savoury type muffin and it will be gobbled up. Vice versa with my daughter.

9. Lastly, but most importantly.....PLAN IT & BATCH IT. I am not even going to pretend that it is super simple and easy to just whip up healthy nourishing lunchboxes EVERYDAY for weeks on end. However, you can simplify and move through it with ease by planning first and foremost and then batching it.

To combat the issue of the food not eaten or going to waste. I have a rule – “What is not eaten at school will be eaten as a snack when they get home BEFORE anything else is provided” I am very firm with this and so far this has worked really well.

To help you with some inspiration beyond the humble sandwich, I’ve put together a Snacks & Lunches Guide that provides 26 Snack & lunch ideas (sweet & savoury) and 10 of my favourite recipes that are well recycled and on high rotation in my house. The majority of the recipes are freezer & batch cooking friendly.

Click on the BUTTON below to get it delivered straight to your inbox.

Chantal is a Certified Nutrition & Wellness Coach with a special interest helping stressed and overwhelmed parents implement gut healing protocols using a personalised step by step approach to improve the health of their family.

4 Steps to keeping the family's immune system & gut healthy over the holiday period

Yay, school is out, it's the festive season and it's summer holidays. So much to look forward to!

Let’s not be fooled into a false sense of security just because the weather has warmed up. The truth be told, the bugs are just as rampant in the summer.

The primary reason why the immune is weakened is through poor nutrition & STRESS!

For this reason, we don’t want to let our guard down in terms of nutrition & wellness.

Let's be honest, for the few days over the festive period, all eating standards will go out the door (WITHOUT GUILT), but we definitely not for the WHOLE of the holiday period. This is just counter productive longer term.

It is best to maintain ideal nutrition & wellness 80-90% of the time. My preference is 90% because at 80%, this leaves room for up to 4 meals in a week that can slip and personally I think this is too much. At the end of the day, start where ever you are, and improve one step at a time.

The main focus during the holidays and just about EVERY day of the year should be on the following:

• WHOLE REAL FOOD

• Plenty of vegetables – get creative how you can get this into them. This time of year is perfect to have the rainbow cut up and served with your favourite dip

• Healthy fats – think nuts, seeds, olive oils, butter, oily fish, avocado and full fat dairy if tolerated

• Minimal fruit - remember to eat seasonal. So many awesome fruits this time of year such as watermelon, peaches, cherries, berries, mango

• Pasture fed protein

• Clean Water

• Fermented foods & drinks

• Broth & gelatin

Steps to keeping the family's immune & gut healthy:

1. Wholefood ONLY 80-90% of the time.

2. Include gut healing foods DAILY. In this blog I detail how you can easily include gut healing foods daily without even trying

3. Make Healthy Swaps 80-90% of the time:

   1. Margarine =====> Butter

   2. Vegetable Oils=====> Olive oil

   3. Flavoured, preservative laddened crisps =====> plain chips, better quality or air popped popcorn

   4. Sugary Yoghurt =====> Greek yoghurt topped with your favourite fruit, granola and a swirl of maple syrup or honey if you need a sweetener

   5. Soft drinks =====> Water, make your own fermented drinks or flavoured coconut water (you still need to check the ingredients and sugar content of these)

   6. Commercial ice-creams ====> Make your own with 4 easy ingredients or make a smoothie and freeze into popsicles. Even better, add a quality probiotic and then you will have a probiotic smoothie/popsicle

4. Keep hydrated with clean water mainly. The body is 60-70% water.

Just keep in mind, food is medicine and it is lways fueling one of 2 things , sickness or health. What do you you choose?

Relaxing the rules every now and then is unlikely to have a detrimental effect longer term, provided you know how to press the RESET button. Enjoy the summer, choose wisely and most of all be peaceful, happy and grateful.

xx

Chantal is a Certified Nutrition & Wellness coach with a special interest simplifying and implementing gut healing nutritional protocols using a personalised wholistic step by step approach.

The Lessons I Learnt during 2017

As I start to wind down from what has been a challenging yet rewarding 2017, I wanted to reflect on the year that saw so much personal growth for me and the lessons I learnt along the way and how I want to enter 2018.

I've had my own coaches and mentors this year and they have been priceless as they've guided me through not only my professional journey, but that of self too.

Here are some the lessons that stood out for me and in no particular order:

1. Find the gold in EVERY challenging situation

Always find the rainbow...

I've come to know and understand that in EVERY challenging situation, there is a golden lesson and a rainbow. We just need to be present enough to see it. We need to keep the faith and belief that we are protected and everything will work out the way it should. This lesson was by no means easy, but this mindset is what kept me going plenty of times in the face of wanting to give up or succumb to a victim mentality.

2. Great health is soooo much more than just the food we eat

I've said this numerous times that nutrition is pivitol and synergistic for good health, but this is only one piece of the puzzle. You are truly misguided if you think that there is NO impact for choosing to eat good food 80-90% of the time. There will be consequences, if not now, down the track, especially for our kids who are already in a health epidemic according to the World Health Organisation. Yours like mine, are already part of the statistic, however it CAN be turned around, IF you choose to. So there really is no argument whether we need to eat wholefood to experience good physical health. As Nike says - JUST DO IT! However, optimum health is truly a wholistic approach of mind & body and true health cannot be experienced without the balance of these 2. Our mental and emotional state matters just as much to our health as does our physical state. This has become abundantly clear to me this year and probably would not have believed it until I experienced it myself. I am grateful, that I am open and teachable

3. Be who you are unapologetically

I'm not going to lie to you, being in this space is incredibly difficult for me and not to mention so far out of my comfort zone, I cannot even begin to tell you. It has taken a while and much soul searching to understand who am I in this space. If I'm honest I was trying to be someone I'm not because I wanted to be liked, after all who doesn't want to be liked? But this has felt very much out of alignment and I've come to realise that it is OK to be me and that some people may not like that, and I'm OK with that too. I am pretty much a no nonsense, no BS, straight to the point type of person (with love and compassion) who is immensely passionate about empowering and supporting one family at a time to eat one HEALING wholefood at a time to break this vicious health epidemic we are in.

Be who you are and don't apologise for it. You are perfect just the way you are and rock it - there is no one like you and you are by no means flawed.

4. We are so much more in control of our destiny than we think we are

There is not much in this human experience that we can control, but what we can control is what matters the most and can determine our outcome:

• The food we choose to eat - ALL in our control

• The thoughts to we CHOOSE to think - ALL in our control

• The actions CHOOSE to do or not do - ALL in our control

Focus on what you CAN control and let the rest go. There is actually so much choice that we do have

5. The art of letting go and surrendering

This ties in with the above and lesson and was not an easy lesson for me to learn this year. As a recovering control freak, I was very much attached to an outcome and devastated when it was not achieved. This caused so much unnecessary angst. My own mentors kept telling me, to let it go, but I refused until I got smacked so many times, I finally decided to listen....what a concept! It has actually been so freeing to practise this mindset the second part of the year. I am now a firm believer of "What will be, will be"

6. The work is in the rest

My mentors told me. Yep, sure I know what you mean. Upon further thinking, I was like, no actually I don't know what you mean. Eventually I came to understand that we need to STOP from time to time and just be and become present, ideally daily and multiple times during the day. It is during these REST breaks that our best work is done, i.e. answers to life's questions (your subconscious is talking to you ALL of the time, but you need to be in state to hear it), your creativity flows and solutions to problems show up. Neuroscience tells us that the brain needs to reset often during the day, it likes specific tasks. This is how I decided take this information on board and rest everyday:

• I have a golden hour (ideal) or golden what ever time I get before the family wakes for the day. This has truly become non negotiable for me and has made a massive difference to my mindset for the rest of the day, not to mention the flow on effect for the rest of the family. I use this time to exercise, meditate, reflect, read etc. If for whatever reason I cannot get my full hour, I use the time I do have and do what I feel will best serve me that day. This is not easy or convenient, but then again, nothing worthwhile is. I am prepared to sacrifice some sleep for inner peace. It is so worth it!

• I have a timer set on my phone that rings every hour. I use this 30 seconds to one minute to regroup, refocus and make sure I'm on track to get done what needs to get done in a peaceful and calming manner for the rest of the day.

These small consistent tweaks have made a massive difference to my mindset, productivity and energy during the day, which has resulted in a much calmer household....most of the time! It has also meant that when I do slump, I bounce back that much quicker because of the new level of awareness of self.

Reflecting on all of the above lessons, I have so much gratitude for what I've learnt as I know I'm not the same person I was at the start of 2017. The words I choose for 2018 are flow and ease taking the above lessons into account and how I even further connect to self and do what makes my heart sing.

What lessons have showed up for you in 2017 and how have you decided to enter 2018? I'd love to know....

On that note, I will be taking a much needed rest break myself and spent quality present time with my family.

Lots of love Chantal XO