Tag: gastrointestinal

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Anti inflammatory Eggplant Curry

Anti inflammatory eggplant curry

Anti inflammatory foods are important to our health and wellbeing as a whole as well as for specific health complaints such as headaches, muscle and joint aches and pains and immune support to name a few.

Curries are a great source of anti inflammatory herbs and spices. Ayurvedic medicine or Indian medicines have been using the spices in curries for many years to address various health conditions.

This Anti inflammatory Eggplant Curry with provide you with a fabulous dose of anti inflammatory support.

Enjoy!

Anti inflammatory Eggplant Curry Recipe

1 large eggplant (multi-vitamin and mineral powerhouse!)
• 2 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil (anti-inflammatory)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (immune booster and digestion enhancer)
• 1 medium to large onion, sliced finely (immune enhancing, anti-inflammatory, allergy fighting, cholesterol lowering)
• 2 crushed garlic cloves (immune enhancing, anti-inflammatory and cholesterol lowering)
• 2 – 3 cm piece ginger (depending how much you love ginger, me, I go for THREE), peeled and finely chopped (anti-inflammatory goodness!)
• 1 tablespoon curry powder (anti-inflammatory goodness!)
• 1 large diced tomato (Lovely lycopene and vitamin C antioxidants)
• 1 finely chopped green chilli (anti-inflammatory goodness! metabolism boosting)
• 1 teaspoon Celtic or Himalayan salt (these salts contain wonderful minerals that regular table salts do not)
• 1/4 bunch finely chopped coriander (all round awesome herb for almost everything)

 

Preheat your oven to 190C.

Place the eggplant on a medium sized baking sheet. Use a fork to spike the eggplant all over to allow heat to penetrate through. Place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes or until it feels soft/tender.  Remove from the oven, allow to cool enough to be able to peel and chop the eggplant.

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and onion to the oil. Stir until the onion softens and slightly browns, roughly 5 minutes.

Add the pre-prepared tomato, garlic, ginger and curry powder to the saucepan with the onion and cook for a further 1 minute.

Stir in the chopped eggplant and green chilli, and season with salt to taste. Place a lid or appropriate cover over the mix, turn to a higher heat and cook for 10 minutes to allow the flavours to soak in.

Lift the lid or cover, turn the heat right down to low and cook for a further 5 minutes with the lid off. Garnish with the coriander.

This curry can be served as a side dish or as a dish on its own, possibly with brown basmati rice or quinoa

I served mine with fish, asparagus, roasted capsicum and fish. Random I know, but it was worth it 🙂

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Goss on Detox – Is it for you?

The Goss on Detox

Fatigue, Bowel Irritation, Bloating, Gas, Food Sensitives, Tummy Cramps

Bad Breath, Allergies, Abdominal Pain, Excess Fluid, Eczema, Dermatitis

Do any of these sound like you?

A detox may be your key to ridding these uncomfortable bodily ailments.

First of all.. what are toxins? 

Toxins are poisonous substances produced by almost everything we come into contact with…

The Importance of Detoxing

Our body has an amazing natural ability to process and eliminate toxins within itself. These toxins can come from a range of environmental sources, such as, breathing in chemicals, pollution, heavy metals, harmful cosmetic products, alcohol, parasites, food and medications. Toxins may also be the result of natural chemical reactions within our body- that is right, we produce our own toxic materials.

When we are exposed excessively to environmental toxins, our body struggles and is unable to keep up with the processing and eliminating. Much like when a machine is over worked, it either stops output altogether or slows down to become inefficient.

What do we do to encourage detoxification?

To counteract this breakdown, we need a steady balance of dietary:

  • antioxidants -specifically zinc, copper, vitamin C, glutathione
  • nutrients – such as amino acids, vitamins B
  • minerals magnesium and iron

These dietary inclusions with help to nurture our detoxifying organs.

The main organs of detoxification being the liver, kidneys, skin and lungs.

*note- everyone’s requirements for the mentions vitamins and minerals vary as each person is unique. If the diet holds variety and nutritional substance, additional intakes of these may not be necessary.

Other non-nutritive detoxing aids may be:

  • Intermittent fasting – fasting allows the digestive system to catch a break and work on waste elimination.
  • Exercise – sweat is not only a strategy to cool our body down but it releases toxins through our skin. Exercise also helps to circulate toxins to the appropriate organs for effective detoxification.

What could the consequences be if we don’t assist our body to detox?

Without these dietary supports we may develop consequential:

  • gastrointestinal problems
  • chronic fatigue
  • aches and pains
  • skin conditions (eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis)
  • weight gain
  • immune breakdown
  • mood disorders (depression, anxiety, irritability, rage)
  • learning and behavioural issues
  • neurodegenerative disorders
  • neurological complaints
  • poor cardiovascular health
  • fatty liver
  • hormonal dysregulation
  • fibromyalgia
  • triggering of autoimmune conditions

How do our organs detox?

Our skin sweats out toxic materials, sheds, causes other eruptions to pushes them out through pimples and acne – ever had a breakout after a big night or wondered why we sweat with fever?

Our kidneys send toxins our through our urine – this is one reason it is vital to drink plenty of water throughout the day.

The liver processes materials and excretes through the urine, skin and faeces. It is our most important organ of detoxification as almost everything we eat, drink, inhale and put on our body is sent through our liver.

Our lungs send out Co2 gases from our blood and lungs.

The digestive tract eliminates toxic foods by promoting vomiting, diarrhoea or normal bowel motions.

Because our body relies on us to get arm it with the appropriate tools for effective detoxification it is important to ensure we are consuming sufficient amounts of healthy fats, lean proteins, fruits, vegetables and fibre to enhance and optimise its detoxing functions. Some great detoxing and antioxidant foods include:

  • asparagus
  • fresh beetroot
  • granny smith apples
  • ginger
  • turmeric
  • green leafy vegetables
  • lemons, grapefruit
  • garlic
  • green tea
  • capsicum
  • cucumber
  • broccoli sprouts
  • nuts and seeds

Include these into your daily routine and watch the magic happen!

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Gut Health: Our Gut and Brain Talk to Each Other

Our Gut and Brain Talk to Each Other

Our gut and brain are more connected than we think

Nutritionists, Naturopaths and Psychologists alike are discovering the power of what is now called the gut-brain axis and the role our gut health plays in mental health.

Did you know we host an entire nervous system in our gut?

Even more fascinating is that this nervous system sends signals to our brain and the brain responds, sending signals and messages back to the gut!

This means, under times of high stress, our gut health can often suffer the consequences, presenting as:

  • IBS, gas, bloating, constipation
  • Weight gain, weight loss
  • increased or decreased appetites
  • blood sugar spikes and dips
  • even vomiting and diarrhoea

Similarly, when we stress our gut by:

  • putting the wrong foods in
  • contract a parasite
  • drink alcohol
  • take excesses of medications
  • cause alterations to our protective healthy gut bacteria

Our gut signals these stress messages to the brain and it responds by sending unpleasant chemical reactions around the body, often resulting in:

  • anxiety, depression, irritability
  • aches and pains
  • sleeplessness
  • hormonal alterations
  • blood sugar dysregulations such as hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar)
  • and more.

To protect ourselves from these resulting complications, we require a diet high in:

  • prebiotic fibres
  • balanced protein and low GI carbohydrates
  • minimal saturated fats
  • generous amounts of essential fatty acids (healthy fats)
  • minimising alcoholic beverages and non-prescription medications

These will all greatly reduce gut-brain axis complications from impacting on our quality of life, leaving us to live a healthy happy life!

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Is Stress Impacting Your Health?

stress
Stress: The commonly used 6 letter word unveiled… 

We are all subjected to stress at one time or another in our lives. In today’s busy lifestyles we are probably subjected to it more than we have ever been in the past and more and more on a daily basis. Some stress is beneficial. It keeps our minds active, our blood pumping and our problem-solving skills in check.

Stress causes a fight or flight response within us, where our stress hormones are released from our adrenal glands. These hormones are known as adrenaline, epinephrine, cortisol and noradrenaline. These are released to protect us from danger, if a bear or lion might be chasing us, so to speak in cave man terms. When cortisol and adrenaline are released, the liver is prompted to release glucose from its stores to provide fuel to move rapidly and trigger the brain to kick into action and the heart to beat faster to pump blood to the muscles. This creates elevations in blood pressure.

This process is great in short bursts.

Like anything, too much of a good thing can also be harmful. Prolonged, frequent and long term stressors can send our stress hormones into overdrive, deplete output from our adrenal glands and cause havoc throughout our body. This havoc can present in the form of elevated cholesterol, high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose levels (contributing to diabetes), and neurotransmitter depletions making it even more difficult to respond normally to stressful and emotional situations and contribute to reductions in libido and reproductive function due to the body switching off its parasympathetic systems and turning on its sympathetic nervous system. This switch also switches off digestive processes in order to focus on the task at hand, leading to symptoms of IBS, constipation, reflux and more.

It is extremely difficult to find balance in a rapidly changing and busy environment, with work, children, study, continuous moving of houses, finances, relationships and even things as small as driving a car.

It is important to take a moment each day to stop, reflect, take some deep breaths and enjoy life.

Go for a walk alone if you can, or with a partner, where you discuss the next exciting thing in your lives or take your kids to the park and play with them on the swings. Walk in fresh air along the beach, listen to some light music, read a book, do some light exercise or yoga. Anything that will allow you to just be at peach and let go of all the stressors in life even for just a moment.

Speak with a health professional on breathing or relaxing strategies that you can fit into your busy schedule.

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IBS: Gut Problems Got You Beat?

Diet Consultation IBS

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Do you suffer from the following?

IBS

Gas
Bloating
Sore or upset stomach
Fatigue
Nausea
Irritability
Reflux or heartburn

Digestive Enzymes and IBS Type Symptoms

If you are suffering from one or more of the above digestive complaints, it is possible that you are lacking vital enzymes.

Digestive enzymes play a pivotal role in how the food we eat is broken down, digested, absorbed and used. These special little fellows occupy our digestion from our mouth (tongue) right through to our large intestine.

They are also present within our blood, assisting in anti-inflammatory and antihistaminic reactions, but that is a topic for another time.

Many things are known to deplete the number of digestive enzymes we secrete including, insufficient/incorrect pH environment for their survival and activation, tissue trauma to a secreting organ such as the pancreas, chemicals and pesticides stripping them from our plant foods, medications, drinking around food times, excessive intake of saturated and hydrogenated fats, fluorinated water, microwaving foods, heavy metals, dental fillings and pasteurisation.

As you can see, what happens to our foods has a lot to do with the number of enzymes that are viable to our body.

There are certain foods that are naturally designed to possess larger qualities of enzymes, but sometimes, eating enough of these at each meal can be a difficult task.

Sometimes the use of digestive enzyme supplements can fill this dietary gap.

But which enzymes are best for you? When do you take them? There are so many on the market, which provide the most benefit to your symptoms? It is important to speak with a dietary specialist to help determine the best fit for dietary intake of enzymatic foods as well as supplementation.

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