Spelt- a healthy alternative to wheat

In the last post, I spoke about WHY everyone should take gluten out of their diet.

This post will be focused on HOW to avoid wheat, rye and barley and what to substitute them with!

Many people, myself included, find they can enjoy small amounts of 'ancient' grains such as kamut and spelt without any digestive discomfort. 

Note: If you have been diagnosed as Coeliac, you will need to stick to grains/seeds that are completely gluten free- many ancient grains do contain 'some' gluten.

What is Spelt?

Source: www.natureslegacyforlife.com

Spelt itself is very similar to wheat, however it has lower gluten content and higher protein. It is considered 'ancient' because Spelt hasn’t changed since biblical times. It remains unaffected by concepts such as ‘agribusiness’, ‘cross-breeding,’ ‘hybridization’ and ‘genetically modified’ – words that have come to dominate our modern food supply especially when it comes to wheat, corn and soy.

What can you do with Spelt?

You can use spelt flour instead of wheat flour to make breads, pasta, biscuits, crackers, cakes, muffins, cereals and pancakes. In addition to spelt flour, spelt is also available in its de-hulled, whole grain form (often referred to as spelt berries), which can ground at home in a thermomix or high powered blender to make any of the above from home ground flour, or prepared in whole form, cooked and eaten like rice.You can purchase many pre-made spelt products such as pasta, crackers and breads at health food stores or specialty delicatessens.

We are getting married next month, and I have requested our cake maker to use spelt flour instead of wheat. It really is, in most instances, a direct substitute (for wheat) and tastes delicious!

Fancy some recipe ideas?

Click here for some Spelt inspiration and make the change from wheat to spelt for your digestive comfort and others.

Gluten, Wheat and Grains. Does anyone really need gluten?

Gluten intolerance is a label that people have clung to a lot in recent years. Whether your label is self diagnosed, or medically diagnosed, there are ways to live a gluten free life without missing out on anything!

What is GLUTEN?

Definition: a mixture of two proteins present in certain grains, especially wheat, rye, and barley which is responsible for the elastic texture of dough.

Why is it such a problem?

Because the wheat that is available today in the commercial setting is NOTHING like it used to be a few hundred years ago. 

The modern-day commercially available wheat based products are often refined (as opposed to whole grain), with many emulsifiers, preservatives, sugars and salts added into the product to add shelf life and stability to a product. 

Refined grains and packaged foods act like "anti- nutrients" because they lack the nutrients they had prior to being processed, they leach those nutrients from  the body in order to break down, and assimilate food. This sets up a vicious cycle as the body craves more nutrients (often Magnesium), the person eating the refined foods continues to eat more of the same sweet, refined foods they are craving, leading to over consumption of all the WRONG foods. 
Did somebody say obesity epidemic? Type II diabetes? These are NOT due to genetics. These are diet and lifestyle related diseases that are treated by one thing- diet and lifestyle changes!

Add to this, some companies such as Monsanto are attempting to grow genetically modified (GMO) crops which are not proven to be safe for human or animal consumption. I don't know about you, but if the insects that would normally eat a plant are dying because they eat a GMO plant, I would be steering clear of that plant.

Anyway, back to gluten.

The gluten protein itself is a known irritant to ALL humans. FACT. It doesn't matter if you are coeliac or not, gluten causes inflammation in your digestive tract.

The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) contains about 80% of your immune system. If you are constantly bombarding your GIT with gluten, guess what happens to your inflammation levels and your immune system? Yes, that's right- inflammation rises and the immune system goes into attack mode.

Source: www.glutenfreesociety.org

For some, the inflammatory effects (of gluten) may not be present as soon as you eat your white bread vegemite sandwich for morning tea, but long term inflammation and what we Naturopaths call 'leaky gut' has been linked to many chronic, degenerative diseases. These types of diseases may take a few decades to show up as 'symptoms' and even longer to gain a diagnosis from a medical professional. For other people, they may have symptoms almost instantaneously, especially if it is allergy related.

I really don't think it is worth eating refined gluten products. I equally don't believe in substituting the gluten-containing refined products for 'gluten-free' ones. There are many clients in my clinic who are just as reactive to soy and corn (common gluten substitutes) as they are to wheat and gluten.

The only way to gain balance in your health and GIT is to not only avoid gluten, but also to avoid refined foods. Eat foods as close to how they occur in nature as possible. Eat them in their WHOLE form and eat them with enjoyment. Eat seasonally and locally. Even better, grow your own!

If you are one of the people who does have GIT 'symptoms' (bloating, irregular bowel motions, burping, flatulence, bad breath), find a health care practitioner who will give you holistic suggestions for your condition. Simply going gluten free after being diagnosed gluten or wheat intolerant is not enough to actually heal your GIT.

I am a Naturopath and specialise in digestive disorders, dermatological conditions, hormonal regulation and much much more. The information above is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical conditions. If you have made dietary changes and have not noticed a difference in your health, I strongly advise you to seek professional advice.

Health is a top priority in my life. I believe prevention is truly better than a cure.

Wholefood lemon slice

Yesterday I realised I hadn't made a dessert for quite a while.

This is a quick and easy to make wholefood based recipe for LEMON SLICE.

All you need is a high speed blender or food processor, and the following ingredients.

Ingredients:

Base: 
12 Medjool Dates
2 1/2 cups shredded Organic Coconut

Topping: 
2 Cups Raw Macadamias, 
1 cup Raw Cashews, 
3 TBsp raw honey, 
Zest and juice of one Organic Lemon
1 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract.

What to do...

1. Make the base. Add shredded coconut and dates to food processor and blend until mixture rolls into a big ball, or starts to stick together.

2. Press the base mixture into the bottom of a parchment paper lined 20cm x 20cm slice tin and pop it into the freezer.

3. Make the topping. Add the nuts and lemon zest to the food processor. Blend until smooth- this may take a few minutes depending on the speed/strength of your appliance.

4. Add the honey and pulse. Then gradually add vanilla, and then lemon juice bit by bit until combined.

5. Add the topping to the tin, on top of the base and place back into freezer for about 1.5 - 2 hours to set.

6. Once set, pull the slice out of the tin and parchment paper and chop into small slices.

7. Keeps well in fridge for about a week.

NB: If you make the lemon slice and it is only you eating it, keep most of it in the freezer in an air tight container and bring small portions out as you need it!

Also, if you are vegan, just swap the honey for maple syrup :-)
 

 

 

Home made facial

Today I really felt like I could do with a little bit of a pamper. What better way to feel good, but to nourish yourself with skincare made from ingredients most households would possess?

What do you need?

About a tablespoon of Bi carb, with a dash of water to make a paste.

1-2 drops of your choice of essential oil. I used 1 drop of lemon (refreshing) and 1 drop of geranium (balancing).

A tsp of raw, local, organic honey.

1/2 tsp coconut oil or hemp seed oil.

What to do!

1. Make a paste in your hand with the bicarb & water. Add your essential oil. Not sure which one to use? Here's some ideas- Lavender is calming, grapefruit or any other citrus is refreshing, patchouli is grounding, geranium is balancing, peppermint is cooling.

2. Apply the paste to your face and neck in small, gentle, circular movements. Add a little more water and keep moving the paste around (avoiding the eye area). Some people might notice their face feels a little bit stingy under the nose or in any sensitive areas of the face. Since the bi carb is sodium based, it can cause slight irritation to sensitive skin. If this is you, either skip the bi carb step, or use much less and be super gentle.

3. Rinse your face with water and pate dry with a clean towel.

4. Apply the raw honey to your face and neck and leave on for about 10 minutes. Apart from smelling like you've been diving into a beehive, raw honey naturally contains healing nutrients and anti inflammatory enzymes, that may assist in healing any break outs and/or evening out skin tone.

5. After you've rinsed the honey with water, pat dry with a towel, and apply the coconut or hemp oil. 1/2 tsp may be a bit much if you generally have oily skin. If this applies to you, just use enough to cover your face & neck.

That's it! Simple huh?

It is so important to remember to look after yourself and indulge a little in the right ways. You don't need to spend heaps of money or time on natural beauty regimes to make yourself feel like a goddess.

What do you do to allow a little indulgence in your life? 

It could be worms

I tend to be in alignment with the seasons, generally speaking. The food we eat is in season from local Organic growers and the clothes we wear are not too heavy and not too light for the ambient temperature. But when it comes to our internal environment inside our bodies, who actually thinks about parasites?

If you have patted a domestic creature such as a cat/dog/bird in the past year, or traveled overseas EVER, chances are you could have as many as 100 different parasites in your body, happily living off their healthy, human host- You.

I don't say this to gross you out, or to induce any neurotic behaviours, but it is a good idea at the change of season, three to four times per year, to undergo a worming treatment for general well being and keeping your intestinal health in good shape.

Symptoms of parasites can vary. Some, but not all are listed below.

• Constipation, diarrhoea, gas, wind, bloating, belching (general digestive upset that comes and goes for no apparent reason, or possibly diagnosed as IBS)
• Itchy bottom/anus or gentials
• Joint and muscle aches
• Anaemia
• Allergies and skin issues such as hives, rashes, eczema, dermatitis or dry/flaky, itchy scalp
• Nervousness or irritability
• Teeth grinding & wakefulness (2-3am), especially in children
• Fatigue
• Poor immunity

 Thankfully, there are many natural ways to treat and prevent parasites in adults, children AND household pets.
 

• Wash hands with soap and water after patting animals and before eating. (For prevention)
• Eat plenty of fibre rich foods such as fruits, vegetables and legumes.
• Take 6 whole organic lemons and 20 large cloves of garlic. Send though a cold press juice extractor (not a regular centrifugal juicer). Drink 30ml, 3 times a day before meals (adults) for two weeks, then have a week break, then repeat treatment for a week. Dosage for children will vary dependent on age and weight. Not recommended for children under 2.
  
• For babies, slice 2-3 slices of raw garlic and place into their socks at bedtime and leave on overnight. Repeat for 3-5 days, have a week break, then repeat treatment for 3-5 days. Homeopathics are also very beneficial alongside this treatment.
• For pets- use homeopathics (see website below)
• Always begin worming regimes on a full moon- this is when they are most likely to be active!
• After worming, take a good quality probiotic to re-inocculate your intestines with good bacteria and prevent reinfection.
• There are many herbal tinctures and homeopathic remedies available by visiting a Naturopath. See my website here for further information on treatments for you and your family.

 
*Disclaimer* 
These are the household remedies that *may* work for you and your family. This blog post is not intended to diagnose or replace any advice from your medical doctor. If you are unsure if home remedies are suitable with medications you are taking, please consult your doctor.

Our breast feeding journey. Mimi is for morning.

With Max approaching his 19 month birthday, I am rather chuffed we still have a great breast feeding relationship between us. According to current Australian breast feeding statistics, Max and I are of the vast minority of parents/children who continue breast feeding past 6 months of age. We are part of something like 9% of the population. Wow.

It's pretty shocking to think that so many parents feel they are forced to wean early if they are returning to work and believe it's all to hard to keep breastfeeding their baby and to work full-time. Or maybe the baby shows less interest for breast feeding during the day than what they used to, and the parents read that as weaning 'readiness'. The world is an exciting place for babies & toddlers, so it is really hard for them to stop and relax for more than 3 seconds, let alone snuggle into your lap for a leisurely breast feed some days! Some babies become night feeders during this time and that is ok, so long as mum is ok with being woken more during the night.

I am blessed to be able to return to work and still provide Max with *almost* as many breast feeds as he needs during the day. It isn't many anymore- maybe 3 or 4, and it has taken a long time to reach such a low number of feeds.

Over the past month, he has been cutting his canine teeth and therefore wanting mimi (his word for breast milk) several times during the night. I was becoming exhausted & depleted.

Matt with Max when he was about 8 weeks old

So here's where the tricky part began for us. We all needed to have more sleep. It was becoming detrimental to the whole family as we share a bed. So I began to gently introduce other methods of lovingly assisting Max to get back to sleep at night, instead of mimi. I had heard of other mamas using the Jay Gordon Method with success, so I gave it a try. I felt he was old enough, and he ate enough food to start having less/no breast feeds during the night.

It came with a few nights of 45mins to 1.5 hours of trying to get him back to sleep, and a bout of mastitis for me, but 5 weeks into our night weaning journey, I feel like Max can easily go back to sleep next to me, knowing all is well and he is loved just as much as if the mimi was in his mouth.

Does he still ask for it? Yes. Several times some nights. But I am ok with what I say gently and calmly. Mimi's are sleeping, you can have mimi in the morning when we wake up. It is sleep time now. He loves his little back being massaged until he falls back to sleep, and yes, he has a bit of a grumble some nights when he might have a bit of a bad dream or some teething pain, but there is always lots of cuddles, kisses and massages available. He knows and understands that.

This is what has happened on our breastfeeding journey. If you are considering night weaning your toddler, visit the Jay Gordon website and see if it is right for you. I honestly had not considered it until I felt I could explain to Max and he could understand my reasoning.

Like all parts of our parenting journey, everything happens when it feels it needs to. I am blessed to have a completely supportive partner & Papa for Max, and that Max accepts the way we have approached the next phase of our breastfeeding journey. It was hard some nights, and I just wanted to present the mimi so we could all go back to sleep, but I kept reminding myself- You've just got out of bed to calm him & the past 30 minutes would be a waste of time if you just give the mimi right now. It certainly would have given Max mixed messages! It has been worth the small amount of sleep deprivation for the long term benefits we have now of a 7 hour block of sleep per night (most nights). I feel we are a happier, more rested family for it.

My hat goes off to those mamas who can endure the sleeplessness and still function during the day. I guess we all go through it at some stage.

This brings me to my favourite parenting quote...This too shall pass. xx

Feeding time- for kids

As a mama, I know how kids can be all for a food one day, and completely off it the next. My boy is 17 months old, and still breastfed a few times a day, so I know he is getting a good portion of nourishment from me.

I know how I might be feeling though, if he wasn't breastfed AND wasn't eating what I was offering. A bit worried to say the least.

I hope for those of you who might be at this point that I can shed some light on how to easily incorporate healthy, nutrient dense foods into a little one's day.

When children have access to a variety of wholefoods, they experience tastes, flavours, aromas, textures and temperatures. Between the ages of 6 months and 3 years of age, believe it or not, a child may need to be offered a food 15 times before he/she will eat it. Sounds crazy, but children need to have the opportunity to experiment with foods, and at this stage of life, it may translate to us as 'fussy eaters', when in fact they are simply learning what the food is, how to get it into their mouth, and how to deal with the textures.

I have found it is a big learning experience for me also. Knowing when Max wants a whole piece of something or have it chopped up, or rustically mashed for example. Small children need to experiment & learn new skills independently, but they also need a little help until they have worked things out like how to get a spoonful of porridge into their mouth without it spilling on their shirt first!

My view on how children need to eat is quite different to what mainstream healthy choices might sound like. Toddlers need a moderate amount of fat in their diet, followed by protein, then carbohydrates. Some examples of good quality fats include coconut (oil, milk, cream, butter), grass fed meat, unpasturised, unhomogenised whole milk dairy, avocadoes and deep sea oily fish. 

The reason why I feel the need to highlight the need for fats is because many parents feed their children so-called 'healthy' food, which might be fine for an adult with a mature digestive system- things like carrot sticks, celery sticks, puffed rice crackers and other light snack foods. 
However these foods are difficult for young ones to digest, as they are energetically cooling for the stomach. These raw food snacks also contain 'negative calories', so they cause an energy deficit when we eat them.

When we eat, energy will go first to the running of the body, and second to the growth & function of the nervous system, brain, bones, muscles etc. So it is important while children are still growing (up until 18 years old) that adequate amounts of nutrient dense foods are eaten as opposed to eating negative calories.

How to incorporate nutrient dense foods into everyday life

Include lightly cooked wholefoods in your child's meal that have different colours, textures and flavours. 

Put the foods out in front of them, and allow the child to choose what they eat. Kind of like toddler tapas!

Remember kids have little stomachs. They require small amounts of food, often. If they don't finish a meal, don't throw it away. Keep it for later. I find re-offering leftovers 10-30 minutes later can sometimes encourage eating if they weren't ready for it when you first offered it.

Include kids at family meal time. I know some families eat after their child is in bed, so perhaps start eating dinner earlier, as a family. This will encourage a good social relationship with food and children are more likely to try foods they can see the rest of the family are eating. They are great at mirroring our behaviour!

Some ideas...
Steam carrot sticks, broccoli florets and zucchini sticks.
Crush half a clove of garlic and mix with a tsp melted butter and tsp olive oil and pour over the vegetables.

When you make porridge, use steel cut oats (soaked overnight) as opposed to instant or quick oats (these are very refined & not very nutrient dense). Add coconut cream and a few pomegranate seeds before serving. This is a great example of balanced temperature, nutrients, colour, texture and flavours.

When cooking homemade organic popcorn, add lots of coconut oil and butter before the corn pops. Use celtic or himalayan salt to taste, and add asafoetida (indian spice) powder for some extra flavour. Add shredded coconut and goji berries (about a handful of each).

Make dips with avocado as the base. Add natural, unsweetened yoghurt, a little ground cinnamon (1/4 tsp) and clove (just a pinch).

Add mild spices such as turmeric, cumin, paprika and coriander to meals.

Be creative with eggs- boiled, scrambled, fried in coconut oil or butter, omelettes, fritattas with a variety of seasonal vegetables and meats. Leaves great wholesome leftovers, and you (or the kids) can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Roast sweet potato and pumpkin (chopped into spear shapes) in coconut oil for about 20 minutes. Add rosemary and a little salt. A great healthy version of chips!

 

You can try including older children in the cooking process to encourage them learning how to cook from a young age.

Cooking and eating wholefoods might take you a little time to get used to, but it is worth it in many more ways than one.

Remember- the way you approach and view food will influence food choices your children will make in the future. Feed them real food, then they will have a taste for real food, and they might even enjoy it ;)