“My name is Shalani. I have a passion for inspiring joy and optimal wellbeing.
Let me help you to understand how what you believe and the way you think, eat and live can impact your body, your moods, your energy and your joy.
Together we can create your sensational new normal so that you too can Live Alive!”
An increasing number of people in my life are being diagnosed with cancer.
In nearly every case stressful event/s have preceded the diagnosis.
The microbiome from the Greek words mikrós - small and bíos - life, is an environment consisting of a community of micro organisms existing together. Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and yeasts are some of the very many micro organisms living in our gut. They all perform important functions to ensure our body is functioning optimally. We have microbiomes in various parts of our bodies including nasal passages, in our skin folds like armpits and groin, in genital areas and in our large intestine or gut. The gut one is the microbiome most determinate of our overall health.
Each of these microbiomes have their own ideal balance of micro organisms and when in balance all is well for the larger organism ie the human body. Problems arise when these micro organisms are either out of balance of find themselves in microbiomes not native to them.
There are many approaches to supporting gut health. We all want a quick fix, especially when living with uncomfortable symptoms. A lot of people go in all guns blazing, hitting their fragile digestive system with copious amounts of ‘healing’ food and supplements, more often than not this approach tends to do more harm than good. After 2 decades of working in this field, my experience has shown me that a slow, measured approach focusing on inclusion more so than elimination, tends to be more effective and sustainable.
Nearly every day I see examples of just how destructive our current day ‘nutrition wars’ are on our physical, emotional and mental health.
People frozen in confusion and fear in supermarket aisles, farmers markets and their own kitchens as to the ‘right’ food to buy and cook has become a very real thing.
It is completely absurd and completely understandable.
Each way you turn you have someone telling you:
‘eat this’, ‘no don’t eat that, eat this’,
‘that food causes cancer’, ‘actually that food protects you from cancer’,
‘this food has magical superfood powers’, ‘no that superfood is actually toxic’…
Who do you believe?
Obviously in a profession like mine people often tell me about how healthily they eat and nearly always it will be something like ‘oh I mainly eat chicken and fish. I hardly ever eat red meat’
Ahhrrrg
Worse still they only eat chicken breast, in my opinion, the least nutritious part of the chicken (the least tastiest too, again in my opinion).
I'm going to deal with chicken today and share about fish in another post.
This chicken, particular certain cuts, being a healthy choice is really quite new (I am not saying that it’s unhealthy) and our favouring of the skinless, boneless breast came hand in hand with the whole low-fat disaster.
Once a month we have an interfaith gathering in our local area and ours occurred last night.
The theme was transformation and was centered around the quote 'change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.'
Toward the end of my sharing last night I warned that while transformation can be joyful and bring us much freedom, it can also bring us some pain. Often our changing doesn't sit well with others.
Being a practitioner who looks to food before supplements, it is very common, in my treatment plan following a consultation, for me to suggest including bitter foods and drinks into the diet especially when the complaint is around digestion, or liver related like reproductive and skin issues – that pretty much covers almost everyone these days...
I am constantly in awe at how people generations before us, without all the science, technology and research grants we have today, just knew the most nourishing parts of animals and plants and about food preparation to increase nutrient density and digestibility or decrease toxicity.
So yesterday I got food poisoning. This is a rare occurrence for me. I can count on one hand the times I have had it in my nearly 53 years. I share this ‘news’ with you because it allows me to share with you yet again the importance of optimal digestive health.
We often blame a virus for us being unwell with colds and flu in winter.
Consider that it might not necessarily be the virus…
People often look shocked when I suggest that white rice is a healthier option than brown rice - and even white (as opposed to bleached) flour therefore white bread and pasta etc...
My usual reasoning in the case of rice is: